Facebook’s game notifications are getting more detailed, slightly less annoying
Everyone is friends with that one guy who can’t stop playing Facebook games — and who more importantly, can’t stop asking you to join him. Now a request from your BFF can tell you he’s in the market for an extra cow in FarmVille without forcing you to load up your own virtual farm up to see what he wants. At GDC Wednesday Facebook announced it’s giving developers the option to add a little more detail to notifications. So instead of a generic “request” you’ll know specifically what your buddy is hoping for. Facebook is responsible for an astounding 735 million referrals into games every day, and more than 375 million people play Facebook-connected games every month. Detailed notifications are a small change, but one that could make the Facebook gaming experience slightly less annoying for everyone.
Filed under: Gaming
Source: Facebook Developers
Google Keyboard Updates to v3.0 with Enhancements and Personalization [APK Download]
Hey, is today Wednesday? Oh, it is. Google must be pushing out a bunch of app updates. We just picked up an update for Google Keyboard that moves it version 3.0.19373. That is a whole number improvement over the previous 2.0v. The update offers up a few little tweaks to the keyboard like an “ABC” button when you are in the Emoji tab to help make it crystal clear that that is how you get back to the regular keyboard mode. Apparently the Keyboard icon wasn’t enough. Image on the left is the new keyboard.
There is also a new settings icon when you long press on the mic key.
The big update comes in the form of Personalized Suggestions. When you first load up the new install you you are presented with a screen that tells you “Personalization is on. Touch for Info.” The info screen lets you know that the new Google Keyboard now uses data from your other Google suite of apps in help improve your suggestions and corrections. The data is supposedly store on your phone and not in the servers. This option is set to “On” by default, so if you aren’t a fan of it you will need to head into the keyboard settings to disable it.
You can kick back and wait for the update to reach your device through the Play Store if you want. It is rolling out oin the typical staged roll out fashion. If you are impatient and want to grab it now, head over to Gappsearly and pick it up.
Via Droid-Life
New Cloak app helps you hide from ‘that guy’
There are a plethora of geo-location-based apps that make it incredibly convenient to do friendly things, like chat with nearby peers about local hotspots or meet up with a coworker on the fly. A new iOS app called Cloak, however, utilizes services from Foursquare and Instagram for a more anti-social purpose. The brainchild of Brian Moore and former Buzzfeed director creative director Chris Baker, Cloak identifies the location of friends (read: those you’d rather not bump into) based upon their latest check-in. While perusing the map, you can choose to “flag” certain undesirables, like exes or annoying third-wheels, to be notified when they wander within a preset distance of your personal bubble. Or you could, ya know, skip town altogether just to be safe.
Filed under: Misc, Internet, Software, Mobile
Source: The Washington Post, Cloak
Valve’s free pro-gaming documentary hits iTunes, Steam and YouTube (video)
If you didn’t make it to Free to Play‘s San Francisco premiere last night, Valve (yes, that Valve) has you covered. The Dota 2 tournament doc is now available on iTunes, Steam and YouTube for the very reasonable price of zero dollars. The Valve-produced documentary clocks in at a little over an hour, and, as SlashGear has noticed, the gaming giant has also released a few outtakes and behind the scenes clips as well. We’ve embedded everything after the break should you want to give it a peek for yourself. If you’re in the dark about exactly why the game’s so popular, maybe watching players from all over the world duke it out for a million-dollar top prize will clear a few things up.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, Internet, HD
Via: SlashGear
Source: Valve (YouTube)
NSA claims that technology firms are aware of its data collection
If you ask technology leaders like Apple or Google, the NSA has been snooping on their customers without permission. However, the NSA has a very different story. Agency general counsel Rajesh De tells an oversight board that these companies are fully aware of and assisting data collection under the PRISM surveillance program, whether it targets servers or internet traffic. There’s a “compulsory legal process” for the firms involved, the attorney says. If accurate, the statement at least partly contradicts repeated claims from these companies that the NSA leaves them in the dark. With that said, it’s still possible for both sides to be right. Leaks from last June suggest that company staff handling these government requests are required to keep the details secret, even when speaking to coworkers — higher-ups won’t necessarily hear about cooperation with the intelligence community.
Filed under: Networking, Internet, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook
Via: CNET
Source: The Guardian
Engadget HD Podcast 390 – 3.19.14
Streaming services, set-top boxes and dongles are dominating HD news this week, and there’s quite a few to discuss. Rumors are bubbling up about more Amazon hardware to match the competition’s offerings and Chromecast continues to make headlines with the international roll out of its diminutive device. Surprisingly, Richard isn’t going on about March Madness and Ben is lukewarm about the arrival of an ACC Sports channel for Apple TV. Signs of the robopocalypse perhaps? We hope not, since there’s plenty of Titanfall still to play and the Xbox One was catching up to PlayStation 4 sales numbers. Keep in mind that Microsoft has only just decided to take its console global. We’ve got plenty in store and its all packed into this episode of the Engadget HD Podcast, conveniently located at the streaming links below.
Hosts: Richard Lawler, Ben Drawbaugh
Producer: Jon Turi
Hear the podcast:
05:46 – Rumors of an Amazon music service, TV set-top box swirl yet again
07:16 – Amazon’s streaming device is reportedly a dongle with gaming support
13:10 – Plex adds free Chromecast support for all, media shuffling and camera uploads to iOS
14:23 – Chromecast Android app prepped for upcoming international rollout
14:34 – Big UK retailer lists Chromecast ahead of an official launch
16:06 – Google settles its seven-year YouTube copyright battle with Viacom
19:10 – PlayStation 4 tops US console sales in February, but Xbox One narrows the gap
24:14 – Microsoft to take Xbox One to 26 new countries in September
27:16 – ACC Sports channel arrives on Apple TV with on-demand analysis and highlights
28:43 – Torrent front end Popcorn Time made streaming movies free and easy, so of course it’s gone
33:03 – Veronica Mars Ultraviolet digital copies frustrate many backers, Warner Bros. offers refunds
35:24 – Dish’s Super Joey DVR extender arrives, lets you record eight shows at once
36:15 – Netflix’s three new originals include ‘Shrek’ and ‘Madagascar’ spin-offs
38:00 – March Madness Live 2014: new apps, redesigned brackets and more social features
38:58 – Must See HDTV for the week of March 17th: March Madness, American Hustle, Infamous
43:18 – ‘Project Morpheus’ is Sony’s virtual reality headset for the PlayStation 4
Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3).
[RSS – AAC] Enhanced feed, subscribe to this with iTunes.
[RSS – MP3] Add the Engadget HD Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator.
Contact the podcast:
Huawei has ‘no plans’ to launch an Android/Windows Phone hybrid
If two heads are better than one, does that mean two mobile operating systems are better than one? Huawei seemed to think so. CMO Shao Yang recently told TrustedReviews that it was working on a phone that ran Android and Windows Phone, but the company did an about-face today and said it has “no plans” to launch such a dual-booting Frankenphone. When Yang first brought up the notion, he said that an Android/Windows Phone combination could be more enticing to consumers than a standalone WP device. He may have had a point (if only because of sheer novelty), but c’mon now: while geeks may swoon, average phone buyers probably wouldn’t embrace it as enthusiastically. Even if Huawei made switching between platforms seamless (a very big if, mind you), users would still have to grapple with the intricacies of two very different OSes. The world probably won’t mourn the loss of Huawei’s hybrid, but hey — at least the dual-boot dream lives on with Ubuntu and Karbonn.
Filed under: Mobile
Via: TechCrunch
Source: FierceWireless
‘Okay Google, take a photo’ comes to Search for Android app
Glass users are all too familiar with the battery of commands required to get the headwear to spring into action. Beginning today, two of those lines are available in the Google Search for Android app. If you say “Okay Google” followed by “take a photo,” your device will launch the camera app. Similarly, “take a video” accomplishes the same, albeit it in movie mode. Of course, we prefer to speak into a smartphone only when absolutely necessary, and with plenty of other methods for launching into photo mode (including, of course, simply tapping the camera icon), this is a feature we don’t plan to use anytime soon.
Filed under: Cellphones, Google
Source: Google
Netflix signs Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin to original series, but what about Dolly?
When Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton came together to form the holy trinity of dark comedy in 1980′s 9 to 5, VHS was still relatively young. Fast-forward 34 years and your VCR (if you still have one) is likely covered in dust and cobwebs, but the star power of those three women hasn’t faded. Netflix, the company arguably responsible for the death of the video store, is bringing Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda together again for yet another original series called Grace and Frankie. The comedy, which shares a creator with Friends, will run 13, 30-minute episodes, and finds Grace (Fonda) and Frankie (Tomlin) as bitter rivals brought together when their husbands fall in love and announce plans to get married.
Netflix has seen previous success with original hit series like Orange is the New Black and Emmy-award-wining House of Cards, and recently announced that it surpassed HBO in paid US subscribers. There are no specifics on an airdate for Grace and Frankie, or whether Dolly Parton will appear in a cameo (please, oh pop culture gods!), but Ted Sarandos, Netflix Chief Content Officer, has called it “anything but wholesome.” Fingers crossed that means we’ll see Fonda returning to her roots with some Barbarella-esque oddity.
(Images: AP / Getty)
Google Keyboard 3.0 released adding personalised word suggestions
Google’s very own keyboard has today been updated to version 3.0, or more specifically 3.0.19373. The update brings a few minor bug fixes and tweaks, such as a dedicated “ABC” button to switch from emoji.
Of most interest in the Google Keyboard 3.0 update is a new personalised suggestions feature which uses data from other Google Apps and Services to improve suggestions and corrections.
The settings is enabled by default, so will need turning off if you aren’t too happy with Google capturing keyboard info in other apps.
Google Keyboard 3.0 is now available in the Google Play Store.
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