Twitter gets even better with the introduction of a new opt-in geolocation feature that will allow you to identify where you are tweeting from. Attaching your location to a tweet is nothing new to smartphone owners, but having the location-aware feature baked into Twitter opens the floodgates to hosts of cool new Twitter tricks.
Twitters geolocation feature works by embedding geographic metadata to tweets. Developers get to play around with this feature first, and presumably geolaction will follow for average Twitter users.
Twitter’s upcoming geolocation feature is a nifty idea — but mainly in theory. A quick look at the applications of Twitter geolocation could give those close to you, and not only those people, some ideas of taking advantage of the service to your detriment.
Soon arriving at a Twitter client near you (and online), Twitter geolocation can attach information about your current location to each tweet you send to the world. Whether you are out and about or just at home, the whole Twitter community can see your approximate position.
Twitter geolocation, though, is not the first service of its kind. Google’s Latitude works in a similar way as well. However, when Twitter geolocation is launched, the feature will be disabled by default. So here are three reasons why I won’t press the “enable” button.v
A majority of college-bound students gearing up for school will not consider buying a Mac laptop, a study reveals. Instead, students are gravitating toward affordable netbooks from a variety of manufacturers, according to Retrevo, a consumer electronics website, that conducted the study.
Retrevo says Macs are at the bottom of student wish lists this year. While 49 percent of students will buy full-sized Windows laptops, 34 percent will purchase netbooks. Bringing up the rear is Mac with only 17 percent of students saying they intend to buy one, the study shows. [Read article]
Research In Motion is set to bring full Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight support to the company’s BlackBerry phones. The BoyGenius Report blog claims RIM will introduce the new functionality sometime next summer, together with more powerful handsets.
The BlackBerry Web browser is not particularly famous for its capability to display pages properly, but RIM is working on a major overhaul of the software. The crown jewel of the new BlackBerry browser though, would be full Flash and Silverlight support, according to the BoyGenius report. [Read article]
An Apple tablet concept, as envisioned by Chris Messina (CC)
What’s better than a rumor about one Apple tablet? A rumor about two. That’s right: not one, but two Apple tablets could come either this year or early next year. Market researcher Richard Doherty told BusinessWeek that Apple has developed two tablet computers prototypes: a 6-inch oversized-iPod version and another with a bigger display.
According to Doherty, the 6-inch Apple tablet, which we have been hearing about for the past month, will be aimed mainly at watching videos, playing games, and reading e-books. The second model will have a larger screen and will be able to run all Mac applications, including audio/video editing and graphic animation, he said. [Read article]
TomTom released Monday its turn-by-turn navigation application for iPhone. The app costs $100 and uses the iPhone’s built-in GPS chip to provide users with real-time navigation directions.
The iPhone TomTom software offers most of the features found on stand-alone devices from the company. The iPhone app features both landscape and portrait views, points of interest, 3D and 2D maps, and night/day views. [Read article]
Great video illustrating how the Internet is changing the way we find and consume news through social media. I would like to know though where all those numbers came from.
Micro-blogging service Twitter says it is working on a new tool to help you “retweet.” Retweeting is jargon for re-posting something posted (or tweeted) by another user. Retweeting typically gives credit to the original poster. In offering this feature Twitter is just playing catch-up to what 3rd party apps already do.
Reposting or retweeting a mesage you like on Twitter.com can only be done via cutting and pasting the tweet and then adding attribution (such as RT: @username) at the beginning or the end of the post. But now Twitter is working on a new method to repost tweets on its online interface that will show in your friend’s timeline only the original message you retweeted. [Read article]
Apple’s upcoming operating system, Mac OSX Snow Leopard, could arrive earlier than the expected September launch date. Multiple sources are reporting that Snow Leopard has now been designated “Gold Master” status, which means the OS is ready to ship to users. [Read article]
We are just over a month away from the launch of Microsoft’s contender to the iPod Touch, the Zune HD. Microsoft has put all its creative forces behind the upcoming Zune HD portable media player, and by the looks of it, the iPod Touch is up for some serious competition.
From April onwards, we have seen plenty of leaked information about the Zune HD, from marketing pictures to specifications, pricing and availability. So there is enough info out there to make a healthy comparison between the Apple iPod Touch and its upcoming rival, the Zune HD. [Continue reading]
The chart puts head-to-head some of the concrete information we have on the Zune HD so far and the latest (2nd generation) Apple iPod Touch.
Microsoft is expected to launch a mobile version of its Office suite software for select Nokia phones today, a person with knowledge of the agreement told The New York Times.
UPDATE: Indeed, Nokia and Microsoft partnered to “deliver a groundbreaking, enterprise-grade solution for mobile productivity,” the two companies announced earlier today in a press release. [Read article]
Merely hours after acquiring FriendFeed, Facebook is now rolling out an improved real-time search product for all of the social network’s users. The new Facebook search will deliver results from your friends’ status updates, photos, link and videos.
Facebook Buys FriendFeed: What Does It Mean? | PC World JR Raphael digs on what FriendFeed’s acquisition by Facebook could mean for the social network. I’d like to see FriendFeed’s live feeds incorporated into Facebook’s news feeds and the pause feature would come handy for the hardcore users as well. While you are at it, you could check out JR’s new geek humour gig called eSarcasm.
Apple working on software fix for MacBook Pro hard drives | CNet Good news for unibody MacBook Pro users coming from Jim Dalrymple’s way: Apple is working on a software fix for the clicks made by the new 500GB 7200RPM HDDs. I got mine replaced, but it still clicks once in a while. Come on Apple! Spare us the pain already…
Major labels preparing new digital album format | Guardian Sean Michaels brings the news of another upcoming formats war, this time for digital music albums. As Apple is preparing Cocktail to deliver an alternative experience to music CDs, so are the the record labels. Interesting news, especially as iTunes is the king of the digital music marketplace but all the music comes from the record labels.
SlingPlayer 1.1 for iPhone promises 3G streaming | Engadget Ross Miller has the scoop on Sling’s new player app for iPhone, which could bring 3G streaming to those outside the US. SlingPlayer for iPhone is crippled to WiFi-only streaming at the moment.The update has been submitted to Apple but that doesn’t guarantee it will get approved.
Caffeine: Google’s New Search Index | Search Engine Land Google unveiled its next architecture for search, code-named Caffeine, and includes crawling, indexing, and ranking changes. Vanessa Fox has the low-down on what implications this has and how it compares to Microsoft’s recently-launched Bing.
Main: Jeff Jarvis at TheNextWeb conference 2009 (CC: Richard Pyrker) Medallion: Rupert Murdoch at the Web 2.0 Summit (C: James Duncan Davidson)
“Newspapers have had 15 years since the launch of the internet browser to reimagine and rebuild themselves for the reality of the post-Gutenberg age. But they didn’t. Now they are trying to reclaim old business models for a new media economy — a link economy, I call it, in which links give content value. Cut yourself off from links, behind pay walls, and you cut yourself off from the internet and its real value.”
Motorola’s upcoming Android phones | Left: The elegant Moto Sholes for Verizon from MotoFan.ru; Right: Moto Morrison for T-Mobile from Mini-Suit.
Motorola’s not messing around with its debut of two Android smartphones expected to launch this fall. The phones, code name Morrison and a the second Sholes, pack some serious specifications, according to reports at the site Android and Me. If these specs are the real deal Apple’s iPhone may have some serious competition.
After throwing your laptop, charger, and spare battery into your travel bag as you head out the door, suddenly you don’t feel so mobile anymore. One solution is to rely more on your iPhone for basic business tasks, such as grabbing data from your company’s computer systems, managing a Web site, and even viewing, editing, and storing Word and Excel files.
For road warriors, the iPhone isn’t just about games–it can be a powerful business tool. With Apple’s release of the iPhone 3GS, the handset gains better security and improved real-time e-mail delivery, both appealing features for business users and their companies’ IT departments.
Need to keep track of invoices, manage your eBay storefront, or log your mileage? “Yep, there’s an app for that!” After consulting with mobile business experts, we collected the best business apps that the iPhone has to offer.
Who knows–maybe on your next business trip you’ll be able to leave that hulking ultraportable laptop behind.
Thousands of iPhone and iPod Touch games clog Apple’s App Store, making it increasingly difficult to spot the gems among the junk. PC World to the rescue! We spent hours ferreting out the best brain-twister games, shoot-everything-that-moves games, and adventure games so you won’t get stuck with a stinker.
Playing games on your iPhone does take a toll on battery life, however. To keep your phone in game condition, have a look at this cure for iPhone battery woes.
Note that iPhone app sellers and developers may sell applications for a reduced price from time to time. Though all of the prices in this list are correct as of this article’s posting date, they may change at any time.
As PC World launched their App Guide, this three-part series should get you started with the basics. Also part of the series, essential games and business apps.
Bored? You won’t be after you download a few of these entertaining gems for the iPhone. In the following slides, you’ll see multimedia apps that let you get the most out of your digital vault of MP3s, videos, and photos. We also have apps that can help with other media, too. Want to manage your Netflix queue on your iPhone, or even place-shift your TV through your iPhone? You can.
The Apple App Store has a dizzying array of media-related apps to choose from. Here are some must-have iPhone apps for multimedia junkies–all guaranteed to keep you well entertained.
Toshiba Planning Blu-ray Disc Players, Laptops | PC World After losing the high-definition discs format war to Sony, Martyn Williams reports on Toshiba’s plans to launch players and laptops with support for Blu-ray discs later this year.Will we see some cheaper players? I hope so.
Url Shortener Tr.im Shuts Down – What happens to your links now? | Inquisitr Just in case you will miss tr.im, TinyURL, Bit.ly, and is.gd are still up and running. Meanwhile, I would love to see more media outlets using their own domain for short URLs on Twitter. Hear that CNN and Guardian?
Apple Tablet Could Shake Up Netbook Market, Analysts Say | eWeek Nicholas Kolakowski brings the latest on the rumors that Apple could roll out a tablet PC in early 2010. As you might have heard before, the Apple Tablet should be more like an oversized iPod Touch and prices somewhere between $500 and $700. If it ever comes out, I want one.
Google Voice Can Sneak onto iPhone | PC World Paul Suarez reports on Google’s plans to put Google Voice on the iPhone in the shape of an web app, after Apple rejected their official app. Meanwhile, the FCC is looking into the whole drama of the Google Voice app rejection and is questioning Apple, AT&T and Google.
Adobe kills low-end Photoshop, urges users online | CNet As Adobe discontinues Photoshop Album Starter Edition, Stephen Shankland reveals the company’s alternative online photo editing suite. I’m not really sure about it, but so far Piknic in Flickr does the job just fine for me (just in case Photoshop CS4 decides to take a nap on my laptop).
We still don’t know exactly when the TomTom for iPhone GPS application will be available. But, we may know how much it will cost: a UK online electronics store has apparently leaked the price of the upcoming app via a pre-order listing.
According to pre-order pricing from HandTec, the TomTom for iPhone GPS app will cost £113.85 — about $194. This price is for a kit that includes the satellite navigation software, and a special car kit for your iPhone that is used for docking, enhancing GPS signal and sound, charging, and hands-free calling.
