Without a doubt, today’s first and most major keynote at f8 2011 showed Facebook to be making some major changes in the very near future. Starting with a whole new layout and set of functions they’re calling “Timeline” and moving through app enhancements that have the potential to change the way we use apps on all platforms, we’ve got a guide here for you, the Facebook user, to easily understand what you’ve got in store. This is Facebook as it will exist starting at the tail end of 2011.
Open Graph is a whole new class of apps, this is the main message that Zuckerberg wants to push forth this week at f8 2011. Open Graph apps allow you to add activity to your news stream without having to press “OK” ever again. No more prompts, ever. With this functionality, “discovering new things through your friends”, one of the main goals of the future of apps on Facebook, being accomplished simply. With Open Graph apps you will get a single “permissions” page that’ll have you allowing all publishing all at once – Frictionless Experiences and Real-time Serendipity are the big power-points here, and sharing on the fly in real time is the vehicle.
One of the most obvious and correct steps any forward and mobile-thinking event these days should have is a companion app to help attendees navigate their way through the day. Better yet, someone should create an app that makes it easy for events to set up a guide for themselves, little to no hassle involved. Wait, that exists? It’s simply called Guidebook? Well that’s great! We took a few minutes today to check out the Facebook f8 entry into the Guidebook app to prepare for tomorrow’s events and we’d just love to show you what it’s all about.
When we heard today that the folks at Syndicate Apps (a third-party developer group known for their fun pre-release Android antics) were creating an Ice Cream Sandwich launcher, we just had to get our hands on it as soon as possible. So when they dropped their first version of what we know at this moment may well be Ice Cream Sandwich, or Android 2.4 for handsets, as the developer team making this app call it, we went to downloading and now have a hands-on video for you to take a look at. What you’re going to see is a few different ways to launch apps, a slightly different look to the interface, and the way you can download this free launcher for yourself.
The Google+ social network is about to get more interesting now that it's opened up for third-party developers. In a post on the Google Plus Platform Blog, the company has just unleashed the much anticipated API, giving developers the tools to build apps for the platform.
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Soon after the big reveal for Windows 8 at Microsoft's BUILD conference, system on chip manufacturers NVIDIA stepped up to present their Windows 8 Developer Program, made to help those creating future applications for the Windows 8 platform. Noting that this program will include both tools and resources for "hundreds of millions of ARM and x86-based devices" that will soon be using Windows 8, NVIDIA added that all four of their processor brands will support Windows 8 in full. This includes, you guessed it, NVIDIA's upcoming quad-core Tegra processor codenamed Project Kal-El. Kal-El, for those of you that do not know, is an ARM-based system on what NVIDIA reminds us is "on a chip that will power lightweight, energy-efficient tablets and notebooks." Deliverance!
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Today we finally were able to see what Microsoft has been working so hard on, and that is Windows 8. With the Microsoft BUILD keynote going today there should be plenty of Windows 8 details and we've already received some good news. For those waiting for an official version instead of those iffy leaked builds the wait is finally over.
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This week Microsoft Build developer conference is set to start off with a keynote this morning and there's been a bit of speculation as to what we might see. We are here live and will be bringing you all the news and updates as they happen so be sure and stay tuned. Could we see a quad-core tablet? We just might. From Windows 8 to tablets and more this should be an exciting week for Microsoft and developers.
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According to a study conducted by Yankee Group and Skyhook, Apple users download six times more paid apps than Android users do, this indicative of a much more lucrative position for developers creating applications for Apple products exclusively. This study published today found that users in the USA download approximately 40 apps per user per year. This study also showed that Android developers make "much less" money from the sales of paid apps than Apple iOS developers, a further study of 75 Android developers showing "rampant piracy" of Android apps as the main reason why.
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It is a brand new studio by the name of Camouflaj that creative director Ryan Payton now seeks to expand, leaving Microsoft and the Halo 4 franchise months before the fourth installment in the globally-popular shooter is ready for release. Microsoft owned 343 Industries loses Payton after approximately three years service working on the Halo franchise specifically. Before he worked with Microsoft in the USA, Payton lived in Japan where he was international manager then producer at Kojima Productions, working then in another large role: making sure Metal Gear Solid 4's controls were at top notch pre-release.
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Not even a week has passed since some heavy controversy surrounding GameStop and "Coupon-Gate" and they're already aiming to patch things up with customers with a coupon and a gift card - nice of them, yes? It was less than a week ago that Gamestop discovered one of the PC games they'd been carrying, "Deus Ex: Human Revolution", had inside its box a coupon for OnLive, one of GameStop's newest competitors. What ensued was a series of actions that, in the end, (or at least we hope this is the end,) had GameStop apologizing to their customers and offering them both a $50 gift card and a Buy Two, Get One Free used game purchase coupon. Will this be enough?
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Hardware company Samsung today has been revealed to have acquired one of the single most notorious names in Android modification, that being Steve Kondik, aka "Cyanogen" of CyanogenMod 7. For those whose life in the after-hours of their day is hacking and pushing their Android devices to the limits, this news has the potential to be much bigger than Google's early morning acquisition of Motorola. How exactly this will affect how Samsung will operate is not yet known - the next most important question, about what's going to happen to CyanogenMod now that Cyanogen himself is working for Samsung, we've got a bit more insight on that side of the situation.
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