Apple's Ping offers Twitter integration

Twitter has announced it will link its service with Apple’s Ping. More than 175 million registered Twitter users can now connect their accounts to iTunes. The linking occurs from within Ping: iTunes users today are being greeted with a new banner telling them to add their Twitter accounts. “iTunes song previews are available on Twitter.com in the 23 countries where the iTunes Store offers music,” the company said in a statement.

Once the accounts are linked, whenever you Post, Like, Review, or tell your friends why you purchased a song or album on Ping, your Twitter will be notified. Song previews and links to buy music from the iTunes store are included in the messages. Clicking on a link shared through Ping from Twitter’s website shows song details and the song preview right there on the site. The integration is also meant to help Ping users more easily find their Twitter friends on the service.

Twitter’s deal comes after Apple failed to strike a Ping partnership with Facebook, which has more than 500 million users. Apple launched the Ping social network two months ago. It works within iTunes to let users follow artists and recommend songs to their chosen circle of friends. The company originally held talks with Facebook, but the discussions did not result in an agreement.

The Social Network (2010) – Movie

A story about the founders of the social-networking website, Facebook.

Story Line:

On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history… but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications.

Opinion: This was one of the movies that I was dying to see, because it’s not easy to create a compelling story about the creation of a website, in a biopic about someone still alive and in his mid twenties.

This (allegedly) true story about the creation of Facebook is basically a legal drama, mostly focusing on the dispute between Mark Zuckerberg and the other Harvard University students who claimed that they have also influenced the social networking website’s creation.

Director:

David Fincher

Writers:

Aaron Sorkin (screenplay), Ben Mezrich (book)

Stars:

Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake

Release Date:

12 November 2010 (India)

TRAILER:

Related Articles

• “The Social Network (David Fincher, 2010)” and related posts (criticafterdark.blogspot.com)

Facebook Application for BlackBerry v1.9

Stay on top of your social life with Facebook® for BlackBerry® smartphones. This free application makes Facebook services – like sending messages, poking friends, writing wall posts, inviting friends to join and uploading photos – available on the go! Take Facebook wherever life takes you and don’t miss a beat!

By Research In Motion Limited

Screen Shots:

Download or Upgrade from BlackBerry App World [External link]

Related Articles

• “Facebook Places Comes to BlackBerry” and related posts (palmaddict.typepad.com)

Google fights back at Facebook, warns users of data protection

The fight between Google and Facebook has been heating up in recent months, ever since Microsoft joined the social network giant in a massive partnership. TechCrunch spotted that Google is now warning users that exporting their contact data to Facebook might be a bad idea.

Before today, Gmail users could login through Facebook, allowing the service to collect contacts, finding them on Facebook to connect with. Shortly after Facebook made this a feature on their website, Google blocked API access, preventing users from importing their data. Facebook then found a work-around for exporting your data, by exporting your contacts through Gmail, uploading them to the website.

Facebook allows users to import data onto their website, but not export it to sites such as Google. After Facebook found a work-around for exporting your Gmail contact data, Google struck back by putting up a stern warning to users about sharing data on “a service that won’t let you get it out.”

The warning messages does not prevent users from exporting their data, as Google believes everyone should have control over their own data. The warning message, titled “trap my contacts now” allows users the option o file a complaint over data protectionism on their behalf.

Also Read :

Facebook imports Gmail data anyway, Google “disappointed”

Google locks Facebook out of Gmail

Twitter growing as fast as Facebook

Twitter seems to have exploded in the last few months, making an impressive amount of headway in the social network realm in the past year. Twitter has added over 30 million users in the past two months, according to TechCrunch.

Since the launch of the new Twitter home page two months ago, the site has acquired over 30 million users. The new design could explain the massive increase in users over the last two months, as the sites re-design is much easier to use and navigate, not to mention it actually looks nice.

What’s more surprising is Twitter is actually growing as fast as Facebook, the number one social network in the world. Both Facebook and Twitter are growing by 15 million members per month, as more and more users are joining on the social network bandwagon.

Twitter is now 175 million members strong, but Facebook is still far ahead of pack with 500 million users announced back in July, and an estimated 545 million users as of today.

Don’t forget to follow @Tech2hell on Twitter to get the most up-to-date, breaking tech-related news and contests. We are also on Facebook! You can get all the latest headline news right in your feed.

 

RockMelt's new social browser

It’s been over a year since we first heard about RockMelt’s plan to enter the increasingly competitive browser market with an alternative that heavily focuses on social network integration – particularly Facebook. Although the idea is certainly not new (think Flock), the fact that browser pioneer Marc Andreessen of Netscape fame is backing it has helped RockMelt garner a lot of attention around the web as it launched in limited beta today.

The new browser is based on Chromium, so it inherits Google Chrome’s looks, feel and basic functionality, except with two thin rails down the edge of each side that incorporate Facebook and Twitter friends as well as other social features. You’ll be able to check your Facebook feed, share links and chat with friends, manage multiple Twitter accounts, add RSS feeds from your favorite sites, and even shorten URL links using RockMelt’s own http://me.lt service.

The search box at the top loads up a list of results in a drop-down menu, and begins preloading all of them so that you can flip back and forth between individual results faster. To be honest, one of the reasons I switched to Chrome is for its streamlined interface and speed, so I’m not sure I would want to clutter my browser with social networking features and the like. That said, it might attract hardcore social-media users and serious multi-taskers.

As mentioned earlier, RockMelt is currently in a testing phase but is accepting invitation requests through a Facebook connection for both Mac and Windows users. The company will reportedly be sending out download links as quickly as it can manage on a first-come, first-served basis.

Rockmelt beta invites are available if you connect to their site via Facebook. Use this link to get invites:

Download RockMelt