Floata for Twitter helps you get your tweeting fix while in any App
The floating notifications, Chat Head-like functionality that we have seen in Facebook Messenger has been a very unique and desirable feature to see in apps, most recently being used to great effect in Chris Lacy’s Link Bubble app which allows you to load web pages in the background while scrolling through another app. Floata for Twitter is taking that same convenience and applying it to Twitter, letting you Tweet from within whatever app you are currently using.
As you would expect, Floata gives you access to a little Twitter “Chat Head” which stays persistently on top of whatever app is currently running (in its current iteration, including even games). It’s not without its bugs and downsides however, like being restricted to text only tweets and the “Chat Head” not being terribly manoeuvrable. It’s still early days, however, and with a few more features and more fixes, Floata is likely going to be a tweeter’s best friend. And probably the best thing about Floata is that it is compatible with Android devices from Gingerbread and up (i.e. 2.3+), allowing almost everyone the chance to give the app a try.
If you’re interested in giving Floata for Twitter a try, you can download it now from the Google Play Store (links are below).
Source: XDA
//<![CDATA[
ord = window.ord || Math.floor(Math.random()*1E16);
document.write('’);
//]]>
Live-tweets narrate the D-Day landings exactly as they happened
To mark the anniversary of the Allied invasion of Western Europe on June 6, 1944, one Twitter account is sharing the events exactly as they happened exactly 70 years ago. The UK’s National Archives has thrown open official army war diaries, RAF squadron records, government cabinet papers and messages sent to Prime Minister Winston Churchill to describe D-Day events in real time. Tweets laden with photos and snapshots of documents provide additional detail, giving us a valuable insight into the decision-making processes and endeavours of British and Commonwealth forces over the course the Normandy landings. Google is also honoring the event by launching a new collection on its Cultural Institute website, which features 470 documents and images from Operation Overlord. Some messages are hard to read, but others provide a little light in what was otherwise a dark time for Allied servicemen and women.
1/Queen’s Own Royal Rifles of Canada: A cafe just off the beach is opened up and selling wine to all and sundry http://t.co/chgJ8JuKHj
– War Cabinet (@ukwarcabinet) June 6, 2014
[Image credit: Downing Street, Flickr]
Filed under: Internet
Via: Pocket-lint
Source: War Cabinet (Twitter), National Archive Cabinet Papers
Google and Twitter join forces for disaster alerts
Google’s and Twitter’s relationship has been a bit rocky since the former launched a social network of its own, but, for the greater good, that’s changing. When a “more extreme” natural disaster strikes, Google Now, Search and Maps will populate with tweets related to the Public Alert event in an effort to add context, both on mobile and the desktop. On Google+, the search giant notes that these related tweets will serve to answer questions about school closings, nearby evacuations and to display what people closest to a storm are seeing. At the moment, this is only available for English-speaking countries, but Mountain View says it’s working to add new kinds of social content to more places and its other products for the future. It isn’t quite the Realtime Search of yore that added everyone’s tweets to Search results, but it is something. If you had bets on The Blue Bird and Big G never ever getting back together, it’s time to pay up.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google
Tech CEOs push US Senate for stronger surveillance reform
The CEOs of AOL, Apple, Dropbox, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo! all agree: more needs to be done to reform the government’s snooping capabilities. That’s the thrust of a letter that appeared online yesterday, anyway. Though the list of signatories contains a handful of rivals, all of them agree that the version of the USA Freedom Act that recently passed through the US House of Representatives still sucks and that the US Senate needs to fix it.
Why? Well, it was originally meant to stop the NSA’s bulk collection of metadata (like who emailed you or when you called someone) outright, but some (including the nine companies who issued the letter) believe the version of the act that passed was watered down to the point where it could easily be exploited. Naturally, there’s still a raging debate on just how valuable and safe that bulk collection actually is. The undersigned nine also call for greater transparency when it comes to user data requests it receives from the government, though that’s not a surprise considering how frequently they already bring up the issue. Just take a peek at, say, Facebook’s most recent transparency report — you’ll find that the social giant received between 0 and 999 national security requests for data. Painting in strokes that broad is unsatisfying at best and obscurantist at worse, which is why companies like Twitter are weighing legal options to push for more specificity.
Source: Reform Government Surveillance
Xbox One getting Twitter, Vine, and HBO Go by year’s end
There you were, using your Xbox One, thinking how much you’d like to watch a variety of six second video clips. Right? Maybe? Okay, maybe you were using your Xbox One, thinking how much you’d like to see a list of what’s trending on Twitter? Alright, let’s stop kidding ourselves: there’s a high likelihood no one is doing those things, but Microsoft is answering the non-existent call regardless and adding both services to the Xbox One. Those are just two of the 45 new apps heading to Xbox One, including the long-promised HBO Go app, Comedy Central, Watch ABC and more. Moreover, the “most popular experiences” are scheduled to launch “by the end of this holiday season.” Head below for the full, lengthy list of new apps and a video showing off Twitter integration. Spoilers: it’s pretty silly!
- Antena 3. Xbox One: ES
- ChiliTV. Xbox One: IT
- Comedy Central. Xbox One: US
- Crunchyroll. Xbox One: AU, AT, BR, CA, DE, ES, FR, IE, IT, MX, NZ, UK, US
- ENCORE Play. Xbox One: US
- EPIX. Xbox One: US
- Filmbox Live. Xbox 360: AR, AU, AT, BE, BR, CA, CL, CO, CZ, DK, FI, FR, DE, GR, HK, HU, IN, IE, IL, IT, JP, MX, NL, NZ, NO, PL, PT, RU, SA, SG, SK, ZA, KR, ES, SE, CH, TW, TR, AE, UK, US
- Fox Play. Xbox One: MX, BR. Xbox 360: MX, BR, AR, CO, CH
- Frightflix. Xbox One: US
- FXNOW. Xbox 360: US
- Gol TV. Xbox One: ES
- GoPro. Xbox One: US, CA, MX, UK, FR, DE, IT, ES, AU, BR, AT, NZ, IR
- HBO GO. Xbox One: US: Xbox 360: MX, BR, AR, CO, CH
- iHeartRadio. Xbox One: US
- Infinity. Xbox One: IT
- IVI. Xbox 360: RU
- KDrama. Xbox One: AU, AT, BR, CA, DE, ES, FR, IE, IT, MX, NZ, UK, US. Xbox 360: AR, AU, AT, BE, BR, CA, CL, CO, CZ, DK, FI, FR, DE, GR, HK, HU, IN, IE, IL, IT, MX, NL, NZ, NO, PL, PT, RU, SA, SG, SK, ZA, ES, SE, CH, TW, TR, AE, UK, US
- maxdome. Xbox One: AT, DE
- MLG. Xbox One: US, UK, CA, AU
- MOVIEPLEX Play. Xbox One: US
- MTV. Xbox One: US
- NBA. Xbox One: AT, AU, BR, CA, FR, DE, IE, IT, MX, ES, NZ, UK, US
- NHL. Xbox One: US, CA, MX, UK, FR, DE, IT, ES, AU, BR, AT, NZ, IR. Xbox 360: US, CA, MX, UK, FR, DE, IT, ES, JP, AU, BR, NL, SE, RU, TW, PL, IN, HK, TR, BE, AT, NZ, SA, AR, NO, CH, SG, ZA, IR, DK, CO, CL, FI, CZ, HU, IL, GR, PT, SK
- Now TV. Xbox One: UK
- Picturebox. Xbox 360: UK
- Popcornflix. Xbox One: US
- ShowTime Anytime. Xbox 360: US
- Sky News. Xbox One: UK, IE, US, CA. Xbox 360: UK, IE, US, CA
- Sky Online. Xbox One: IT
- STARZ Play. Xbox One: US
- STV. Xbox 360: UK
- Syfy Now. Xbox One: US
- Target Ticket. Xbox One: US
- TuneIn. Xbox One: US, CA, MX, UK, FR, DE, IT, ES, AU, BR, AT, NZ, IR
- TV2. Xbox 360: DK
- Twitter. Xbox One: US
- USA Now. Xbox One: US
- VEO. Xbox One: MX. Xbox 360: MX
- Vevo. Xbox One: CA, US, AU, FR, DE, IR, BR,ES, IT, UK, NZ
- VH1. Xbox One: US
- Vine. Xbox One: US
- WATCH ABC. Xbox 360: US
- WATCH Disney Channel. Xbox 360: US
- WATCH Disney Junior. Xbox 360: US
- WATCH Disney XD. Xbox 360: US
- Watchever. Xbox One: DE
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Software, HD, Microsoft
Source: Microsoft
Turkey finally drops its ban on YouTube
YouTube joined in Twitter’s freedom last night as the government of Turkey lifted its two-month ban. The move, unsupported by Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, follows an April 4th ruling of the country’s Constitutional Court. After Google filed its complaint, the legislature came to the consensus that the ban did indeed violate human rights and ordered a repeal, which was reluctantly carried out by the Turkish government almost a month later.
Why was Google’s video service, like Twitter, blocked at all? On the surface, both banishments were part of an attempt to squash politically controversial media, including several posts and videos that allegedly leaked top-secret military plans (which, per the ruling, are still restricted). At its core, however, this debacle spins from a larger movement of authoritarian censorship affecting similar social media companies like WhatsApp and even the internet itself.
Let’s take another look at Twitter. Yes, it may have escaped the blockade, but Turkey still has tight grips on the micro-blogging site. Thanks to its Communications Minister Lütfi Elvan, the country and social giant are working together to neutralize “malicious” content. The TIB also has the power to censor offensive posts and accounts at its discretion. So, what counts as malicious or offensive content? That’s the million dollar question — and it’s scary. The implications of such extensive social control are vast, but for now, at least YouTube is available once more.
Filed under: Misc, Internet, Google
Source: Wall Street Journal
The Secret Service’s proposed Twitter sarcasm detector is totally going to work
Governments are often eager to watch out for online threats, but it’s sometimes tough to spot the real dangers when the internet is rife with sarcasm; just witness the confusion when someone jokingly threatens to blow up an airport. For the US Secret Service, spotting humor is important enough that it has posted a request for automated Twitter monitoring software that, among other things, detects “sarcasm and false positives.” In theory, officials wouldn’t have to read every poor attempt at comedy just to find the few tweets from those who mean real harm.
The proposed technology wouldn’t just be for identifying sarcastic posts. A spokesman tells the Washington Post that the tool will help the Secret Service gauge its online influence, and even address complaints. If such code had been available during the President’s 2009 inauguration, for instance, the agency could have resolved a security bottleneck preventing people from getting in. We’re a long way from seeing a finished tracking system in action, so it’s tough to know how well it’ll work — it’s difficult for computers to interpret literal meanings, let alone subtexts. If agents don’t knock on your door after you make an off-color remark, though, you’ll know the software is doing its job.
[Image credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images]
Filed under: Internet
Via: Nextgov, Washington Post
Source: FedBizOpps.gov
Sony teasing upcoming smartphone on Twitter, likely Z2 Ultra
Sony Xperia Z Ultra was announced a year ago, a 6.3″ behemoth from Sony’s workshop. That phone was (and still is) huge, you need to use it in order to realize how huge that device is. And now it seems Sony is going to bring us the Z Ultra’s refresh.
Sony released a following statement on Twitter alongside an image above: “Shh… do you want to know a secret? Stay tuned for the next big thing this season.” If you ask us this is obviously a teaser for the upcoming Xperia Z Ultra 2 (just look at that picture), or whatever they intend to call this thing. Z Ultra had rather high-end specs at the time of the announcement, so we don’t doubt its successor will too.
We’ll let you know as soon as we get some more information regarding this. Do you own a Z Ultra? Would you buy its successor?
SOURCE: Sony Xperia (Twitter)
The post Sony teasing upcoming smartphone on Twitter, likely Z2 Ultra appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Twitter abandons one of humanity’s most widely used fonts
The next time you visit Twitter.com things may look a little different, now that the site is rolling out a new font. After years of using Helvetica Neue, it’s switching to the Gotham typeface. Already, design and typography fans are expressing dismay at the switch, although if you’re still reading Tweets mostly through apps, it could be a while before you notice any difference at all. Check after the break to see the new style in action (and some of the responses to it.)
[Image credit: AP Photo/Kathy Willens]
Starting today, we’re rolling out a new font on http://t.co/zDdcbPwclU, moving from Helvetica Neue to Gotham.
– Twitter Support (@Support) May 30, 2014
We’re rolling out new typography on Twitter today. Say hello to Gotham! http://t.co/DwrAfEJOT1
– Mike Davidson (@mikeindustries) May 30, 2014
Filed under: Internet
Source: @Support (Twitter)
#NowPlaying: Twitter and Billboard flip the switch on real-time music charts
Back in March, Billboard and Twitter announced plans to bring real-time tune-tracking charts to the masses. Well, today a couple of those charts went live. The Trending 140 keeps tabs on shared songs in the US, calculated by increased action in the last 60 minutes. As you might expect, you can filter the results for the last 24 hours and stats will get posted weekly as the Billboard Twitter Top Tracks chart. There’s an Emerging Artists ranking too, and it’ll work and be published in the same way. In case you’re wondering what lights up the ticker, tweets containing links to streaming services like Spotify or iTunes, music-specific hashtags (like #nowplaying or a song title) and words like “music,” “song,” or “listen” all weigh into the minute-by-minute tally. In the few minutes it took to write this post, John Mayer, Demi Lovato and Austin Mahone have all spent a moment in the number one spot.
Filed under: Internet
Source: Billboard
AIVAnet 