Foursquare unbundles app, introduces Swarm to locate friends
Foursquare have taken to their blog today to announce a fundamental change to their App and by doing so have introduced a new App called Swarm.
The company identified that you spend a lot of time asking friends where they are whilst you are out at the place you’ve just checked into using Foursquare. Consequently, they’ve chosen to break the App out and bring the ability to see exactly where your friends are with Swarm.
With Swarm, you can easily see which of your friends are out nearby, figure out who is up for grabbing a drink later, and share what you’re up to (faster and more easily than you can in Foursquare today).
Swarm will be available on iOS and Android in the coming weeks and can sign up at swarmapp.com to be notified when it’s ready.
In addition, Foursquare are revamping the way their App works by offering a discovery-based approach on places they think you’d like to visit. The company says they are also still working on this, so whilst it seems Foursquare are fundamentally changing the way it all works, nothing is yet out for us to take for a test drive.
Are you excited for the Foursquare change?
SOURCE: Foursquare
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Vine on the web gets sections like the app, doesn’t require log in
You could peruse Vine clips on the web since early January, but now the app’s browser-based presence is getting more of what its mobile companion offers. The new version of the site allows you to scroll through channels and curated playlists and feature clips alongside what’s trending. What’s more, you’ll be able to access the site if you haven’t logged in, sending six-second links to anyone for full-screen viewing in TV mode. Once you do log in, you can gaze at your feed, populated with content from the folks you follow. Unfortunately, there’s no word on when you’ll be able to use the web cam for your next selfie. Bummer.
Source: Vine
Can’t get enough of LeBron James? Samsung’s here to help
Listen, LeBron James is the best basketball player ever of all time. And I love everything about him. His shoes. His jerseys. His Samsung commercials. Thankfully, I now have constant access to his life and can monitor his playoff performance with the new LeBron app. I can keep a watchful eye on his meals, clothes and which color of LeBron 11s he’s wearing in tonight’s game. Stats and scores are piped in through NBA’s Game Time app, which you know is a staple on my home screen. There’s a LeBron radio station too, so I can pretend he’s on the sideline queuing up selections from Kanye in the five minutes per game he’s not on the court. Now when I leave game six early, this app will alert me to come back. Of course, this is only available if you’re wielding a Galaxy S5, Galaxy S4, Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note 3, or Galaxy Note II. Because Samsung. And LeBron.
Source: LeBron (Google Play)
Beats Music finally outfits the iPad after an iOS update
Spotify and Rdio have offered iPad-friendly apps for quite some time, but Beats Music didn’t appropriately outfit Apple’s slate with its streaming service until today. Thanks to iOS update, subscribers can snag the dedicated tablet version and swipe through unique sections like Just for You and The Sentence. That’s all the new features that the update offers, but at least now streaming playlists on an iPad doesn’t require you to ogle an enlarged smartphone app to do so. Of course, we still have to wait patiently for a desktop app so we can blast Kendrick Lamar at the office without being tethered to a handset.
Filed under: Tablets, Software
Via: The Verge
Source: Beats Music
Aviary for iOS appeals to tweens with blemish-removing selfie tools
You know what veritable selfie addicts would love to get for their birthday? A fairy godmother to magically erase their flaws — or a darn good photo editor. Aviary claims the newest version of its Photo Editor for iOS is a cross between the two. After all, it has a brand new selfie suite that people can use to edit their photos to the nines before uploading them to Facebook to be judged by their peers. This wondrous suite features a Blemish tool that can magically zap those zits into oblivion with just one tap of its virtual wand and a Blur tool to soften the lines and wrinkles of more mature selfie enthusiasts. It also has an upgraded Red Eye Remover, as well as a Teeth Whitening Tool that can instantly bleach those yellowing chompers. Other than making users look good, the updated app also comes with new one-tap enhance tools and an undo/redo option that’s absolutely necessary in people’s quest for selfie perfection.
Source: iTunes
Oral-B’s app-connected toothbrush now rescuing British teeth for £230
Oral-B’s electric toothbrushes spin, vibrate and get into places your standard scrubber can only imagine, but none are more extravagant than the new “Smart Series” launched today. The Bluetooth-endowed brushes — yes, they’re a thing now — pair with iOS devices (an Android app’s due in August) and tell you how terrible your oral hygiene is, with the hope of improving it. Basically, the app allows you to choose different brushing routines, with your iPhone showing a timer (as well as news and weather reports to distract you from the dull task at hand), telling you when to move on to different areas of your chops, and notifying you when you’re putting too much pressure on your teeth. Oral-B’s actually had toothbrushes with similar functionality for many years, but they’ve all required additional hardware that’s replaced by your phone in this new Smart Series. Kind of like a fitness tracker for brushing, the app will also store session data so you can build up a record of successful scrubs.
The idea is that you’ll take better care of your teeth when you’re more aware of your habits, and that dentists can recommend the right routine for you after reviewing the data stored on your phone, and looking at your teeth, of course. “Limited quantities” of the new range are available on Boots’ website from today, with Amazon receiving stock in June and other retailers in July. At £230 for the “Pro 6000″ model or £250 for the “Limited Edition Pro 6500,” you’ve gotta be pretty obsessed with your gnashers, or silly gadgetry, to actually consider buying one. You should probably also factor in the cost of phone insurance, too, if you’re going to start taking it on regular visits to the sink area.
Filed under: Cellphones, Household, Peripherals, Software
Source: Oral-B
Snapchat now does video chat and IM, with self-destruct still included
Snapchat, the photo messaging app beloved of cheeky monkeys everywhere, has just undergone a major transformation. Self-destructing messages are still at the core of what it does, but the iOS and Android app is today being updated to also handle instant messaging and live video chats — just swipe to the right from the main camera screen and you’ll see a list of your friends, allowing you to chat with them using these more traditional methods.
Texts are wiped by default when you back out of the chat screen, except for any that you deliberately tap to make the app remember them. Video chats, meanwhile, are ephemeral by their very nature: A throbbing blue icon pops up to tell you when a friend is paying attention to your chat (as opposed to the general “online” status used by other messaging apps), and you press and hold this to open up a one-way video stream of your beautiful nakedness self. If your friend wants to, they can do the same in order to make it a two-way thing, and both sides can use gestures to quickly flip between their back- and front-facing cameras. Overall, these changes constitute a big expansion to what Snapchat can do, but they cleverly avoid changing what Snapchat is. The upgrade could well take the app to new heights, in which case Zuckerberg might just have to up his alleged offer to buy it out.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Software, Mobile
Source: Snapchat
Sky Go and Now TV both coming to British PS4s this summer
Quietly mentioned inside Sky’s financial report for this quarter, the broadcaster has revealed that two of its streaming services will arrive on the PlayStation 4 in just a few months. Details are scant (it just says what we’ve written above), but both Sky Go (for existing Sky subscribers) and the more free-and-loose Now TV will both debut on the Sony console. They’ll have a fight on their hands: they’ll be up against the likes of Netflix and Amazon Instant Video. Sky also announced that it’s renewed its movie deal with Paramount, giving it exclusive broadcast rights to the likes of Anchorman 2 and Noah. So, not even a mention of the Xbox One — but at least that console’s doing its own thing.
Update: Sky has issued a fuller press release which also mentions that Sky Go will find its way to PS3 owners (who’ve so far only had access to Now TV on their consoles).
Filed under: Gaming, Internet, Software, HD, Sony
Source: Sky
Google Now for Android remembers where you parked
You probably have a trick or two up your sleeve to remember where you’ve parked amidst a sea of other cars. But if you’re still prone to forgetting your parking spot, Google’s refreshed Android Search app might be able to help you out. The update adds a new Google Now parking card that lists the address of the place where you left your car, along with a map that shows how far you are from that location. In case the card got it wrong the first time (ever got lost because Google Maps gave you faulty directions?), it can also offer alternative places that you can check. Yes, that’s a nightmare if you’re in a massive parking lot, but it sure beats going around in circles for hours. Update not showing up for you? You download the APK from Android Police instead.
Filed under: Misc, Mobile, Google
Via: 9to5 Google
Source: Google Play, Android Police
Windows Phone 8.1’s new apps let you make reading lists and bite-sized movies
The perks for Windows Phone 8.1′s early users just keep on coming. Microsoft has posted versions of two desktop Windows 8.1 apps, Movie Moments and Reading List, that are built solely for its new mobile OS. Reading List is arguably the bigger of the two releases — you can now save articles on your Windows Phone to digest them later on any synced device, whether it’s the handset or your PC at home. Like its full-size counterpart, the mobile app both highlights articles in its Live Tile and lets you pin favorite reading categories to your home screen.
Movie Moments is a tad more straightforward. The app lets you distill recorded videos down to minute-long clips with captions and your choice of soundtrack. After that, it’s just a matter of sharing the resulting masterpiece to Facebook or OneDrive. It’s doubtful that the tool will replace Instagram or Vine in your life, but it may be handy if you’d like to have a little more control over your short-form movie projects.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft
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