Facebook addresses privacy concerns over Facebook Home

Facebook answers important user privacy questions. Read them before you install or buy anything.

A lot of folks have serious privacy concerns about Facebook's new Home application. Questions about location gathering, message reading, and the general "safeness" of Facebook tracking what you do on your Android phone. We have our own here as well, and have had plenty of internal discussion.

Facebook doesn't want folks to worry, so they released a privacy FAQ about the new product. It's a short read that everyone who might install the app needs to look at, but here are some highlights:

• You can use Facebook without using Facebook Home
• Facebook Home is just another app you install from Google Play. You can uninstall it at any time.
• Facebook Home collects your Facebook activity, location, Facebook messages, and the apps in your Home app launcher. This data is user-identifiable for 90 days.
• Facebook can not collect any data outside of the Home app, unless you use the HTC First  -- then it can track what apps generate notifications, but not the content of the notification.

We're not going to judge any of these policies -- that's for you to do. We are going to tell you about them and direct you to the full statement so you can read it and discuss. And you should.

[Source: AndroidCentral]

Vine now lets you embed your 6-second clips on Websites

Viners rejoice -- you can now embed your 6-second mini-movie masterpieces on Websites. The Twitter-owned service has just added the functionality, itannounced in a blog post.

If you want to give your movies a home on a site, you'll just have to enter some simple code. You can choose from three sizes: 320px, 480px, or 600px. Choosing the "simple" option will embed just the video, while the "postcard" one will retain the clip's original format, complete with text description and location.

Or you can embed your clip using the iOS app, which has just been updated to include the feature. Tap the ellipses in the bottom-right corner, then "Share this post", then "Embed". It might not work on all sites though, so best check before you start shouting about it too much.

Head to our US cousins' site and you'll see our very own Ken German's brief retrospective of old mobile phones. It's like a sped-up shuffle down memory lane.

Vine launched a couple of months ago, but is still only for iOS. Hopefully us Android users will get a version soon. It's been a massive hit though, with 6-second clips springing up everywhere. The new Wolverine film even had its very own trailer on the service. At least it didn't give away the whole story, like a lot of trailers.

If you fancy seeing what people are making vids of, a site called Vinepeek will give you a glimpse. It's pretty addictive viewing, though I don't want to be held responsible if anyone posts anything not safe for work. Viewer discretion is advised, as they used to say at the start ofWorld's Scariest Police Chases.

[Source: CNET]

Temple Run Finally Available On Windows Phone

Temple Run, one of the most popular endless runners around, is finally arriving for Windows Phone—months after Microsoft promised the game would launch. Better late than never, even though Temple Run 2 is already available for iOS and Android.

It may not seem like a huge deal, but getting a big title like this will do well to push theWindows Phone platform forward. However, it certainly doesn’t do fans of devices running WP8 any favors when big name titles—Temple Run 2, for instance—don’t launch simultaneously, or shortly after, for Microsoft’s mobile OS. Temple Run will have to tide WP owners over for now.

Windows Phone is getting a handful of other titles as well, including Gravity Guy 2, Chaos Rings, 6th Planet, Propel Man, Orcs Must Survive, Ruzzle, Fling Theory and Drift Mania Championship 2. Microsoft said the games will roll out during the week, so if any of them tickle your fancy, keep checking the marketplace to see if they’re live.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Is iOS 6.1.3 Making Battery Life Worse?

Things can go a little hinky whenever a new software update comes out. And so maybe it shouldn’t surprise anyone that iOS 6.1.3, which released earlier this month to fix a lockscreen bug, might kick up some glitches itself.

Some users on Apple Support forums are complaining that, after downloading and installing the latest update, the battery drain on their iOS devices has accelerated. Commenters have tried the usual route of shutting down notifications, tweaking location settings and restoring tofactory settings, but nothing seems to help. A few people on the boards blame a Microsoft Exchange bug for zapping the battery, though this doesn’t appear to be a universal problem.

In addition, some (though not all ) users also say they’re experiencing Wi-Fi issues, with wireless connections being grayed out or otherwise not functioning. This isn’t entirely new, though. It first reared its ugly head in iOS 6.0, then vanished with subsequent updates, only to return with 6.1.3.

And to add insult to injury, even though the incremental update was pushed out to address security vulnerabilities, lockscreen issues still persist.

If you haven’t updated yet, I’d advise against doing so unless you absolutely have to. If you’ve already done it and have spotted these problems in your own devices, hang tight. Hopefully a solution will be forthcoming. Have you noticed any of these behaviors in your own iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch? Report in and let us if you experienced these problems too, what you saw and what device you’re using.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Hive Hatches On iTunes and Google Play – Evolve Baby Aliens in Sliding Tile/Match-3 Hybrid

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - March 21, 2013 - Appxplore today launched Alien Hive, a sliding-tile puzzle game about evolving baby aliens that’s free to play for both iOS and Android. Pastel watercolor graphics and a cute alien protagonist make the game appropriate for all ages, yet challenging enough for puzzle veterans. This mellow title is the latest from Appxplore, known for their award-winning game Lightopus (published by Bulkypix) as well as their recent biological puzzler Sporos. Harvest resources to grow and evolve new species of aliens, deploy massive power-ups, zap the villainous Naughty Bots and collect dozens of Supreme Aliens – there truly is life on Mars! Download Alien Hive today, free for iOS and Android.

Watch the trailer on the official website: Appxplore.com/index.php/games/alien-hive 

Alien Hive is all about evolving aliens, blending match-3 with sliding tile puzzles for a game that feels both familiar and fresh. Swipe tiles to make matches – combine eggs to hatch cute baby aliens, and then help them fully evolve into Supreme Aliens.

Match resource tiles for upgrades that let you take command of the board, with the goal of building the ultimate alien hive. Strategically avoid the Naughty Bots, who block your progress, by crafting power-ups to eliminate these baddies. As you advance, you will uncover the mystery of the hidden aliens… can you tame the Red Planet?!

Alien Hive Features:                                   

• Evolving-aliens puzzle gameplay: hybrid of match-3 and sliding tile puzzles… it’s a whole new type of casual fun
• Match tiles to harvest resources, grow new species of aliens and zap the villainous Naughty Bots
• Chill out: pastel graphics and mellow soundtrack, with no time limit to harsh the vibe
• Advance the alien society: collect and unleash dozens of Supreme Aliens
• 70 Achievements to suit all styles of play
• High Score and Achievements sharing via Facebook
• Free-to-play universal app for iPad, iPhone and Android
• iCloud & Game Center Support, with Scoreloop support on Android

UK budget leaked on Twitter as government re-states 4G vow

The UK budget was leaked on Twitter today, granting politically minded surfers a sneak peek at George Osborne's number-crunching ahead of time.

The key aspects of the chancellor's new measures emerged early when London's Evening Standard newspaper tweeted its front page, which detailed the most crucial aspects of the annual ploy to make the UK more economically healthy.

The Standard posted an apology on its site, with editor Sarah Sands saying, "An investigation is immediately under way into how this front page was made public." The person who sent the tweet has been suspended while that investigation happens, the newspaper boss says.

As for the budget itself, there was little for tech and gadget fiends to get excited about (though we can all rally around 1p off a pint of beer). Mr Osborne did take the opportunity to re-iterate hisplans for the UK's Internet speeds, saying, "We're giving Britain the fastest broadband and mobile telephony in Europe."

That doesn't quite jive with Ofcom's report on the UK's broadband progress from earlier this month, which places the UK third for superfast broadband take-up, for example.

The UK will get faster mobile data this year, as operators have just walked away from a big spectrum auction with slices of bandwidth to use in 4G networks. That auction raised £2.34bn for the UK, but fell short of the £3.5bn Mr Osborne had already factored into the nation's budget.

[Source: CNET]

Evernote Food Updated to Include OpenTable Reservations and Foursquare Ratings

Evernote Food, Evernote's app dedicated to documenting cooking and dining experiences, was today updated to version 2.1. The release brings OpenTable reservations and Foursquare ratings to the universal app, allowing users to book seatings at restaurants within the app. 

In addition, users are now able to share recipes via Facebook, Twitter, or email, and new tag-based syncing capabilities have been implemented in the standard Evernote app. Recipes that are saved to Evernote can be synced with Evernote Food.

Evernote Food has a few other minor updates including improved search results and faster image uploads.

Sharing 
- Share recipes via Facebook, Twitter and email 

Restaurants 
- OpenTable integration lets you make restaurant reservations from the app 
- See venue ratings from Foursquare 

Images 
- Upload images from other albums 
- Meal images load more quickly 

Search 
- Improved search results for recipes and meals 

General 
- Various other bug fixes and performance improvements

[Source: MacRumors]

Apple gets defensive with new iPhone campaign

Apple has launched a new section of its website dedicated to singing the iPhone's praises. The timing is no surprise, seeing as Samsung has just lifted the lid on the Galaxy S4, which is the iPhone's biggest threat by far.

The Cupertino company also took the opportunity to fire a few potshots at rival operating systems. Which seems a bit defensive if you ask me.

The whole thrust of the page is how much people love their iPhones. Apple makes a big deal of the fact it's won eight straight awards from J.D Power and Associates. It bigs up the device's design too: "every detail and every material -- particularly the sleek aluminium enclosure -- has been meticulously considered and refined." This attention to detail is usually seen in high-end watches, Apple reckons.

Apple also praises the iPhone's Retina display, battery life, A6 processor, 4G skills, and camera. But it's when it comes to the App Store that the gloves really come off. Apple says the "App Store is home to over 800,000 apps -- all reviewed by Apple to guard against malware. Other mobile platforms have a myriad of fragmented store options, resulting in availability issues, developer frustration, and security risks." Could that be Android and Google Play it's thinking of, by any chance?

iOS 6, Siri, iCloud, and Apple's support teams also have smoke blown up their behinds.

Apple is obviously proud of its handset -- and justifiably so -- but I can't help but think this seems a bit defensive. Does it really need to slate Android? The only reason I can see it would is because it feels threatened by Google. Whatever happened to the Apple of old, the one with such swagger it didn't even really bother with marketing? The one that didn't feel the need to tell you how good its products were, just let them speak for themselves?

[Source: CNET]

Mozilla: Forget Firefox for iOS

Mozilla launched Firefox Home for iOS back in July 2010, but it wasn’t a full featured browser experience that Mozilla was particularly proud of, especially because it was limited to only providing access to Firefox desktop history, bookmarks and open tabs. Mozilla recently commented on that release, which was yanked in September, and said that because Apple is so limiting on its app store controls it won’t launch a full fledged browser for the platform.

Still, somehow Google has managed to keep a relatively decent experience on its Chrome for iOS browser, so we’re not entirely sure why Mozilla is limited where Google is not. To clarify a bit, Mozilla’s vice president of product Jay Sullivan told CNET that it’s about an inability to add the JavaScript and rendering enhancements that it wants to provide. Meanwhile,.Firefox offers a full browser on Android because Google allows the company much more control over the experience, but it faces steep competition from Chrome and Dolphin among other third-party browsers.

Perhaps the real story is that Mozilla doesn’t think it can compete effectively enough against Safari and Chrome on iOS. Still, it’s not the first company to complain about Apple’s limiting approval policy.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Chrome update improves stability, fixes text rendering issue

Chrome for Android (stable, not beta) has just received a small follow-up update to the large version 25 release from last week, with mostly behind the scenes performance enhancements. There are unexplained "stability improvements" as well as a fix for text that wasn't being clearly rendered. The big fixes came in the last version, which added some more forward-facing improvements, but each of these background improvements lead to an overall faster browsing experience as well.

[Source: AndroidCentral]

PayPal introducing new iOS SDK, APIs at SXSW

PayPal has announced that it's bringing a new iOS SDK and some new API tools to SXSW next week. As you might expect, the API will allow apps to use PayPal's tools to integrate payment information directly rather than having to go through a separate authorization page. As you can see on the official website, devs will be able to simply use a few method calls to set up PayPal payments, and get proof back that payment has taken place.

The API also includes credit card scanning software from Card.io, which PayPal acquired last year. And finally, PayPal's also released some code to work with other platforms and languages, including some Javascript buttons, as well as APIs for REST, OAuth and JSON.

So developers will have a lot of new tools to work with PayPal's payment system. It's unclear, however, what Apple thinks of this development -- it seems to me that paying through PayPal from an iOS app gets around Apple's requirement of taking a cut from everything sold on the App Store. But that's something that Apple and PayPal will need to work out. If you're a developer who wants to dive in to what's available here, you can download the PayPal iOS SDK for free right now.

Update: PayPal president David Marcus just contacted me via Twitter to say that this SDK is meant for service transactions, not digital sales, so it doesn't fall under Apple's rules. In other words, the tools here are to be used for selling things outside the iPhone with Apple's device, not selling iPhone content or other items directly.

[Source: TUAW]

Official Twitter app updated with new 'top tweets' feature, smoother animations

It might be all doom and gloom for popular third-party Twitter clients, but at least the official app is getting some love. Twitter's own Android app has been updated to version 3.8 today, with a trio of new features alongside the usual big fixes. First up there's a new "top tweets" feature, which is supposed to make significant tweets from the past pop up when searching for specific topics. (We tried searching for "Election 2012" and "Olympics" to no avail, but Twitter had plenty of tweets to highlight when searching for "grumpy cat," including news of the disgruntled feline's upcoming appearance at SXSW.)

Other additions include the ability to see all replies to tweets in details view, and smoother animations for pull-to-refresh in the "Discover" tab.

[Source: AndroidCentral]