Google+ Games moved to Next Level

Friday
The Google+ Team has announced two very important improvements to the gaming experience on Google+.These two improvements consists of having the ability to add your own comments to personalize games posts, and an improved Games stream.

You now also get notifications for games invitations and gifts in your Google+ bar. If you want to stop seeing these, you can simply click “Mute game notifications.”

Thank you for playing games on Google+ and all your feedback. As always, let us know what you think in the comments!Thanks to +Satyajeet Salgar

TO watch video Clickhere
Read more ...

5 Major Upcoming Features Discovered Within The Google+ Source code

Thursday
Thanks +Matt Mastracci, a Google+ user who has been looking closely at the social network’s source code, we are now able to predict with some evidence whats coming next to Google+.

Two interesting upcoming Google+ features: photos from your posts and photos from Messenger.

Any idea what Messenger is?

New shiny profile privacy presets coming to Google+.

Discovered in the source.

Google+/Google Voice integration coming soon as well.

Discovered in the source.

Earlier finds tonight.
Read more ...

Google + Circles can be Share with others

Wednesday
the Google+ team has rolled out a new feature for Google+ that lets users share the circles they’ve gathered with their friends. Now you can actually share your favorite circles with your friends on G+. So if you’ve got a great Photographers, Authors, Celebrities circle, for example, then you can share a copy with your friends on the stream.


“Starting today, you can actually share your favorite circles with others,” Google+ engineer Owen Prater said on Google+. “So if you’ve got a great Photographers or Celebrities circle, for instance, then you can share a copy with your friends.”

There is a new “Share” link that now is visible when you hover over a circle on the Google+ Circles page. Clicking the link “share” will let you add a comment and share that circle with your friends on Google+. However, Google points out that this only shares the members of the circle you’re sharing and not what you’ve named the circle and that will always remain private
For more details click here
Read more ...

Facebook users warned vs $9.99 'gold membership' hoax

Monday
Facebook users were warned over the weekend against a new scam claiming the social networking giant may charge a $9.99 “gold membership" unless users forward a message before midnight.

Computer security firm Sophos said the hoax has duped many users into “sharing" the message with their online friends, lest they be charged between $3.99 and $9.99 a month.

“It’s amazing what people will believe when they are sent a message from a trusted friend - but let me assure you, Facebook is *not* going to ask you for your payment when you sign onto the site tomorrow morning. And no, the announcement of Facebook beginning to charge its users has *not* been on the news," Sophos senior technology consultant Graham Cluley said in a blog post.

Sophos said the message claims Facebook just released a “price grid" for membership, including $9.99 a month for Gold Member services, $6.99 for Silver Member services, and $3.99 for Bronze Member services.

The message claimed Facebook will continue to be free “IF YOU COPY AND PASTE THIS MESSAGE BEFORE MIDNIGHT TONIGHT."

It also cited the message claiming the charges are “DUE TO THE NEW PROFILE CHANGES" Facebook announced last week.

“As I explained at the end of last week, these claims are complete and utter poppycock. If a friend of yours forwards you the message, admonish them for spreading a chain letter and suggest they inform all of their friends that they were mistaken," Cluley said. — RSJ, GMA News
Read more ...

Klout addes G+

Saturday
Klout has added Google Plus which became the third social network icon on your Klout dashboard, together with the Twitter and Facebook buttons.
Latching onto news Tuesday that Google+ went public so that anyone can sign up for the social network, Klout CEO Joe Fernandez revealed the Google+ integration via a tweet: “Boom! I just connected my @klout account with Google+..............
Read more ...

Facebook launches New Subscribe Button allows one to follow an unknown person’s public feed

Friday
Facebook launched New subscribe button that would facilitate access to the news published by our contacts, making customized content subscriptions reported by each of them. The Facebook Blog discuss their features, allowing you to configure the access to the news of three categories: All, some or only the really important.
In facebook subscriptions have the page that allows us to create the button on our profile, allowing subscribers begin to grasp who may decide the kind of content you want to read. It is important to remember that subscribers can only see things that we share publicly. They can also choose the amount and type of public who want to receive updates. To let people subscribe, go to the Subscriptions Page and click Allow Subscribers.
Once you allow subscribers, you can decide who can comment and what notifications you get. You’ll also see a Subscribers tab on your profile, where you can see who subscribes to you. So going to make full use of Facebook New subscribe button or not going to enable it for security-privacy concerns?
Read more ...

9 New Google+ Released Features This Weeks

Thursday
Google+ has open up its door’s for anyone to sign up who is 18 years old or older. Google+ went from private (invitation only) to beta. However, that is not the only great news Google+ released this week, but the many of new features. The list below contains the name and description of these new features.
1) Open Beta – This means invitations are no longer needed – 18+ only. 2) Search in Google+ – Organizing the information within Google+ and making it easy to discover content you’re allowed to view! Find people, posts, and hot topics! 3) Mobile Hangouts – Now you don’t have to tell your friends “Oh dang, that party last night was killer!” Now, you can party with 9 friends in real time via your mobile phone! (Available on Android devices to start) 4) Hangouts with extras – A preview of new features including named Hangouts, note-sharing, screensharing, and Google Docs collaboration! 5) Hangouts On Air – Tune into a live public stream of a Hangout inside the Google+ stream and once you’re “On Air,” up to 9 others can join your hangout, and anyone can watch your live stream. (limited number of hosts at start) 5) Hangouts API – The world is your oyster with the Hangouts platform – we’re releasing a basic set of APIs today! 6) Mobile has too much good stuff so I made them a section (see below)! Mobile is rockin’ out – here’s what’s new 1) Renaming Huddle to Messenger – the evolution of something great! 2) Set your profile photo from any photo of you on your phone, tagged of you, or in the cloud – because you express yourself anywhere, at anytime. 3) +1 comments and see who else +1’d a comment (coming soon) – Yay! 4) Move your Google+ app to your SD card (Android only) – Yay! 5) Improved +Mention support – we’re always looking to make your experience better! 6) Send a photo in Messenger – making conversations richer! 7) Granular push notification options – so you see just what you want! 8) Receive and participate in Messenger, Post to Google+, and receive Google+ Notifications via SMS (US and India only) – Yay! 9) Playback user uploaded videos (not just YouTube videos) in your stream and share videos that have been uploaded via Instant Upload (Android only) – because we’re always wanting to share those cool vids our friends share with us! Thanks to +Natalie Villalobos for the tip.
Read more ...

Google+ Goes Public and Rolls Out New Features

Wednesday
Google Plus has been live since late June and after being invite-only for nearly three months, Google+ has gone public so that anyone can signup. Many features have been implemented to improve the social network since launching, Google’s +Vic Gundotra wrote, “We’re ready to move from field trial to beta, and introduce our 100th feature: open signups.” Today’s update also comes with big improvements to Google+ Hangouts, including the ability to use them on Android devices (version 2.3 and higher). It also includes search, which is a hybrid of content shared on Google+ and results from around the web. “Just type what you’re looking for into the Google+ search box, and we’ll return relevant people and posts, as well as popular content from around the web,” Gundotra wrote.
Read more ...

Google Propeller and It’s Aimed at Flipboard (and Facebook, Too, Natch)

Tuesday
Digerati dude Robert Scoble posted on his social feed on Google+ that the search giant was working on a social and news reader. “I heard from someone working with Google that Google is working on a Flipboard competitor for both Android and iPad,” posted Scoble. “My source says that the versions he’s seen so far are mind-blowing good.”
If blowing the minds of hot Silicon Valley start-up Flipboard and Facebook is the goal, then Scooby-Don’t's rumor is pretty spot-on. According to numerous sources close to the situation, Google is indeed working on rolling out the new product, which is currently called Propeller. Sources said Propeller is apparently one of a number of new socially focused announcements Google is prepping, including new apps. But the timing for their launch is unclear. Here’s what is: Propeller is a souped-up version of similar reader apps such as Flipboard, AOL’s Editions, Yahoo’s Livestand, Zite (which was just bought by Time Warner’s CNN) and Pulse. Facebook is also making social versions of publications available within its site. So, instead of just seeing a sidebar on a news site of what stories your friends liked, you’ll get a personalized and reformatted version of the latest news when you visit that publication’s page within Facebook. All these apps are part of the drastically changing habits of media consumers, helping them better navigate numerous social and media feeds — such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as news sites and more — using handsome interfaces and touch technologies. Flipboard is the most prominent and elegant of these offerings, available only on the Apple iPad. The company is working on an iPhone version, too. Flipboard’s traction among elite users, along with its high-level design ethos and strong reviews, is why Google tried to buy the well-funded company last year, sources said. But Flipboard — which is backed by some of tech’s biggest venture players, who have invested more than $60 million at a $200 million valuation — declined the kind offer. At the time, sources said, Google told Flipboard execs that if it did not buy the start-up, it planned to do a version of its own. Hence, after I heard about the product earlier this year, I dubbed it the Flipinator. Propeller is probably a better name, I will admit. It’s not clear what Google’s Propeller will include in the product, such as Facebook integration, since the pair of Silicon Valley behemoths have not been able to partner over data exchange. Which is an understatement, I know. But sources said it would be available on both Apple’s iPad and Google’s Android tablets. In any case, stay tuned and thanks to Scoobs for the tip! [Photo credit: This Noogler Propeller Hat -- which is given to all new Googlers -- is in the collection at the Computer History Museum, the gift of Marcin Wichary; the image is by Mark Richards.]
Read more ...

Redsn0w 0.0.9b1

Monday
MuscleNerd iPhone Dec Team member has just released a new version of Redsn0w with a bunch of new exciting features that will definitely help users in Jailbreaking their device.


Here is a list of all features that Redsn0w 0.9.9ba brings:

uses DFU mode to try to automatically determine which device and FW you have
fetches pieces of public IPSWs from Apple (once). Non-public IPSWs must be provided manually (once). It then caches those pieces for future use.
“Just boot” is a tethered boot. Uses whatever “Preferences” you’ve set for boot logo and kernel boot-args
“Pwned DFU” puts your device in a pwned DFU state for some of the iTunes stuff detailed below
“Recovery fix” gets past 1015 types of errors (when baseband portion of restore fails). Should work on iOS5 beta too
“Select IPSW” is for picking non-public IPSWs, or overriding auto-detection
“SHSH blobs” has a bunch of options…
“Fetch” – fetch current PARTIAL blobs on device. Should complete in under 10 or 15 seconds. Puts the set of PARTIAL of blobs on your computer as a plist. Checks if Cydia already has a full set for this device and build. If not, it submits this PARTIAL set and returns Cydia’s acknowledgement or rejection
“Verify” – cryptographically verifies existing blob files from either redsn0w, TinyUmbrella, or Cydia server. You can select a whole bunch of blobs to verify at once if you want (like the TinyUmbrella directory)
“Submit” – both verifies and submits one or more blob files to Cydia. This lets you copy your entire TinyUmbrella cache of blobs up to the Cydia server
“Query” - queries the Cydia server for all available FULL or PARTIAL blobs for a given set of ECIDs
“Stitch” – stitches either FULL or PARTIAL blobs to a STOCK or CUSTOM IPSW



FULL blobs stitched to a STOCK IPSW gives you a completely self-contained signed IPSW that iTunes will accept without any tricks (no need to go into pwned DFU mode, no need to start TinyUmbrella TSS server, no need to redirect to Cydia server for blobs)
PARTIAL blobs stitched to any IPSW requires you to go into pwned DFU mode before running iTunes. No need to start TU or use Cydia though.
Stitching either FULL or PARTIAL blobs to a CUSTOM IPSW also requires a pwned DFU start before iTunes restores. No need to start TU or use Cydia though.
Stitching is NOT yet supported on iPhones! Need to work out the baseband part of the restore process.
Will eventually support fetching the blobs directly from Cydia instead of a file on your computer.
Download redsn0w for Mac
Download Redsn0w for Windows
Read more ...

Carol Bartz's goodbye note to employees

Sunday
Few days back, the CEO of Yahoo Inc. was fired after her two-and-a-half years tenure at Yahoo. She sent a memo to Yahoo employees from her iPad in which she onfirmed that she has been fired by the company's board.
I found a copy of the note on a post in mashable



To all,


I am very sad to tell you that I've just been fired over the phone by Yahoo's Chairman of the Board. It has been my pleasure to work with all of you and I wish you only the best going forward.


Carol


Sent from my iPad
Read more ...

Google+ is testing a new feature that broadcasts and records the Hangouts to YouTube Live in real-time

Saturday
Google+ is testing a new feature that broadcasts and records the Hangouts to YouTube Live in real-time. +Eric Martindale +Mohamed Mansour are working on it.So far, no idea why but I’ll keep you posted. What do you think?


How to RECORD your Hangout using the new (secret) tool:
1) Join / create a Hangout.
2) Look at the addressbar. You should see a something like this: https://talkgadget.google.com/hangouts/7d727f30da8aefb15f78a11059bbe8335267b020?authuser=0&hl=en"
3) Copy paste the portion after “hangouts/” and before the ? mark.
4) Take the following URL, and replace with the number above: https://talkgadget.google.com/hangouts/broadcast/hangout.google.com/
Thanks to +Robert McGee for helping us out with this.
Read more ...

Google releases first + API

Friday
Google+ Team has just released its first Google+ API at http://googleplusplatform.blogspot.com/.



Google just released some G+ APIs. This is great news for the developers! If you have ideas on ways to utilize these API’s or have ideas for future possibilities once more API’s are released…

Looking over it briefly, the Facebook API is much more intuitive than the Google+ API. I wish they would learn from that. All you have to understand on Facebook is objects and connections. Use the GUID of the object you’re trying to get info about, do a GET request, and boom – you’ve got all the info on that object you need.

UPDATE: To my friends on the Google+ API team – this isn’t intended as a complaint per se – it’s hopefully just seen as constructive feedback. I only offer feedback I am willing to roll up my sleeves to get in and support – if you ever want my thoughts or help I am happy to do so.

Overall, the API is a great move for Google+. This will create some amazing things (including things I’m hoping to create). I also understand this is just the first release.

Keep up the good work, and congratulations!

+Jesse Stay
Read more ...

Simple and Clean Windows 8 Themepack for Windows 7

Thursday
With the release of developer preview of Windows 8, everyone seems to be reviewing the new interface along with the start menu. If you liked Windows 8, here is a simple and clean themepack for Windows 7 based on the new version. The theme comes with Windows 8 wallpapers. The theme comes with 5 wallpapers.






Download Windows 8 themepack for Windows 7
Read more ...

Windows 8 Official Developer Preview now Available Free for Download

Wednesday
Earlier Today Microsoft showed the demos Windows 8 to the attendees of the BUILD conference and released Windows 8 Developer Preview Build along with the sneak peek of the developers platform and tools. Windows 8 is certainly very impressive, modern, incredibly fast, introduces Metro UI, lot of exciting features, and is specially targeted towards Touch PCs and modern tablet devices.


You probably want to try out the preview release—and you can. Starting later tonight you can download the Windows 8 Developer Preview. This includes a 64-bit (x64) build with development tools to build apps and a 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) build without development tools. The releases also include a suite of sample applications (please note these are merely illustrations of potential apps, not apps that we intend to ship with Windows 8). The ISOs are linked to from http://dev.windows.com.

Download Windows 8 Developer Preview Build [Link].
Windows 8 Test version doesn’t requires an activation and offers no support. You won’t be able to install this developer preview alongside another OS as it requires a clean install. I take that to mean you can still install it as a virtual machine, however, using software like that offered by VMWare or VirtualBox. Microsoft also intends to roll out regular updates and drivers, so if your install doesn’t work out tonight, keep checking the developer site as next week it may have the drivers you need.
Read more ...

Wipro has won Microsoft Country Partner award

Tuesday
Indian IT company Wipro has announced that it has won the Microsoft Country Partner of the Year Award for 2011.



"We take immense pride in being awarded the Microsoft Country Partner of the Year for India for two consecutive years. This award is a reflection of Wipro's deep capabilities on Microsoft Technology and our success in delivering innovative and high-value solutions to our customers," said Ashok Tripathy, VP and Business Head, Wipro Systems and Technologies & Infrastructure Availability Services, Wipro Infotech.


This award shows the success of Wipro Ltdin engagement with Microsoft.


"We are pleased to recognise Wipro Ltd of India as Microsoft's Country Partner of the Year," said Ramkumar Pichai, General Manager, Microsoft India.


"Wipro Ltd demonstrates a commitment to serving its customers, and our strong partnership is core to us winning together," he added.
Read more ...

Facebook’s new feature- users can screen which pics they are tagged in

Monday
Facebook users can select their taggged pics as they want. Facebook has launched a new privacy setting, which allows users to screen which pictures they are tagged in before they appear online.


The move will give people much greater control over what pictures they are linked to and has the potential to stop partners or employers finding incriminating or embarrassing shots online.
The new tagging feature significantly improves users' ability to mould their Facebook personas, and eliminate those snaps of a drunken night out ever becoming visible.
Earlier, their only option was damage control - a tagged photo would appear instantly on a profile and remain there until the user was able to get to a computer to de-tag it.
The update also allows users to vet when they are mentioned by other people in their posts. And it has expanded its 'de-tagging' tool so users can request a photo be removed, report abusive posts and even block other users.
Facebook in its announcement of the privacy upgrades said that the changes have been a long time coming.
"One of the top requests we've heard is for the ability to approve these tags before they show up on your profile," the Daily Mail quoted the company as saying.
"This new way of protecting your privacy is balanced against the more liberal features, which allow users to tag anyone in their posts, whether they are friends with that person or not," it said.
Another big switch rolled out by Facebook will allow people to see how their profiles are viewed by others, simply by typing in the name of that person.
Read more ...

Facebook Updated For iPhone Now Tag Friends in Posts, UI Improved

Sunday
Facebook has updated it’s official app for iPhone bringing UI improvements and the ability to tag friends and places in posts. The app now also allows you the privacy control on posts and match your settings on the web site. Besides some new features the updated Facebook app for iPhone brings many improvements and bugs fixes.


Changelog of Facebook 3.5 for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad:

Made it easier to share with who you want
- Added the ability to tag friends and places in posts
- Added the ability to share external links from a web view
- Added new design for Profile and Group Walls
- Improved the sharing tool to add privacy controls on posts and match your settings on the web site

Improvements and bug fixes:
- Improved Notifications speed
- Fixed a number of Chat bugs
- Made it easier to select filters in News Feed
- Fixed a bug with the Notifications bar disappearing
- Fixed a number of Photos bugs
- Improved performance and stability overall

On the downside, 9to5 Mac reports that Facebook has taken this update opportunity to remove the Facebook for iPad code that accidentally leaked out in July. An official iPad app remains missing in action.

Download Facebook for iPhone and iPod touch [iTunes Link]
Read more ...

Google updates new advanced image search page!!

Saturday


Google has today updated the advance search image page with the new interface which look like web search page. Now the advance search is easier to use and also have options which were available on sidebar.
Google advance options includes restricting the results to a filetype, finding Creative Commons images, finding images from a domain or from a country.
Google has updated this advance search after a long time. Now options are easier to find and use. Now users can find more releavent results.
Access this new interface by the link
Read more ...

Google+ Update: Limit how your photos are shared

Friday
Today+Matt Steiner, from lead the engineering team for Google+ Photos just announce a new rolled out feature that allows for more privacy. If you want to have the ability to lock your albums to prevent them from being shared around Google+ then this feature is for you.

You can lock an album from two places — your Photos page, or album posts in the Stream — and when you do a few things happen:

- Viewers won’t be able to +mention new people
- Photo tags by viewers won’t expand who can see your album
- All of your posts about your album will also be locked

To lock an album from your Photos page:

1. Click Your albums
2. Click on the album
3. Click on who can currently view the album (e.g. Limited)
4. Check the Lock this album box
5. Click Save

Or from an album post in the Stream:

1. Find the post with the album you want to lock
2. Choose Lock this post from the drop-down menu located at the top right

In both cases the word “Locked” will appear, and that’s it! We’re always trying to make Google+ a safer and more comfortable place to share your photo memories. As always, please keep sending us your feedback. We’re always listening and iterating!

Thanks to +Kedar Kanitkar and +Dom Carr for making this feature happen!Collapse this post
Read more ...

Yahoo! Fires CEO Carol, And Puts Company Up For Sale

Thursday
Carol Bartz’s tumultuous tenure as the CEO of Yahoo came to an abrupt end on Tuesday. In a terse email, Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz informed company staffers that she is leaving after 30 months. Around the all the buzz about the ousted Yahoo CEO, Yahoo also revealed that it is up for sale.



Yahoo confirmed the news and stated that Chief Financial Officer Tim Morse would step in as interim CEO while the company searches for a new chief.

The Board sees enormous growth opportunities on which Yahoo! can capitalize, and our primary objective is to leverage the Company’s leadership and current business assets and platforms to execute against these opportunities,” Yahoo! chairman Roy Bostock said in the statement. “We are committed to exploring and evaluating possibilities and opportunities that will put Yahoo! on a trajectory for growth and innovation and deliver value to shareholders.”

BGR Notes:

Following the news, a Yahoo employee speaking with The Wall Street Journal also confirmed that the company would be open to selling itself. “Yahoo is open to selling itself to the right bidder,” the Journal wrote. No additional details were provided.

Here is a stunning email by Bartz to her staff:

From: “Carol Bartz”
To: “all-worldwide@yahoo-inc.com”

Subject: Goodbye

To all,

I am very sad to tell you that I’ve just been fired over the phone by Yahoo’s Chairman of the Board. It has been my pleasure to work with all of you and I wish you only the best going forward.

Carol
Read more ...

Google+ Photo Importer

Wednesday
Google Plus Photo Importer lets you Import 100 photos in less than a minute, straight to your Google+ profile from Facebook, Instagram, Flickr and Photobucket. It is an Iphone app and it is available on the app store for $0.99.



Click Here to Download
Read more ...
Tuesday
G++ turns Google Plus into an integrated social platform by incorporating feeds, posting capabilities, comments, likes, retweets, and other features from Facebook and Twitter right in into Google+.


To Download G++ click here
Read more ...

Google+ desktop Gadget

Monday
Google+ has gained good momentum initially and Google was able to add some new features including games in Google+. If you are a Google Plus user, then here is a desktop gadget for Google+ for Windows 7. G+7 is a free desktop gadget for Windows 7 users which brings in Google+ to desktop and you can access your stream and updates from friends easily.


The gadget comes with different sizes for docking and you can select the one which is suitable for your desktop. There are only predefined sizes and you cannot set custom sizes. There is option only to view your Google+ feed, no option to update them. If you click on any feed item, it opens a window where you can see more details and comments.
Download G+7
Read more ...

Google +1 button for Mobile web

Sunday
Just after the day of launching +1 button for Chrome as extension, Google has launched it for mobile web browser. Now people browsing the web with smart phones can +1 their favorite web page on the web.


Users brwsing the web with smartphones,, Android or iOS will be able to see +1 button installed on the websites.
Lead Product Manager, Google+ Games and Mobile, Punit soni wrote,"To help, we’ve made the +1 button available on the mobile web. Now you can tap to +1 directly from your mobile phone or tablet."
"The button will automatically be visible to anyone on Android 2.1+ and iOS 4.0+ browsers. When you +1 something, it will be displayed publicly across the Web as an annotation on the content you +1’d," he added.
But other mobile users will have to wait for this button to be launched for those. Now Google has widely announced this button on the web. So we can expect the importance of this button for search results
Read more ...

Google acquires Zave networks, digital coupon platform!!

Saturday
Zave networks which is known for digitalcoupons and loyalty rewards programs has announced that the company is now the part of Search giant Google. Company had announced this via its website and wrote, "We are delighted to share that Zave Networks has been acquired by Google!"
"When we had the opportunity to join Google, we felt it was the perfect fit for our company and the perfect opportunity to rapidly drive the deployment and use of our platform to the next level," it added.


Google spokeperson also announced about this deal and welcomes the employee of Zave networks teak to Google. He said. “We’re thrilled to welcome the Zave Networks team to Google. They have developed an impressive platform to connect consumers with coupons, special offers and reward programs for their favorite businesses, and we look forward to their joining our Commerce team.”
Read more ...

Facebook to Launch Music Services with Spotify!

Friday
Facebook has partnered with Spotify on a music-streaming service that could be launched in as little as two weeks, sources close to the deal have told Forbes.



The integrated service is currently going through testing, but when launched, Facebook users will see a Spotify icon appear on the left side of their newsfeed, along with the usual icons for photos and events.

Clicking on the Spotify icon will install the service on their desktop in the background, and also allow users to play from Spotify’s library of millions of songs through Facebook. The service will include a function that lets Facebook users listen to music simultaneously with their friends over the social network, one of the sources said.

The partnership is another indication of how Facebook is moving towards becoming a hub for media like movies and music. Last March for instance, Warner Bros. announced it would make movies available to stream and rent through Facebook using Facebook credits.

It has yet to be decided if the new service will be called “Facebook Music” or “Spotify on Facebook,” but it will only be available for Facebook users in countries where Spotify has a presence, excluding the all-important United States.

While news reports have suggested some success to Spotify’s recent negotiations with music labels about bringing its streaming service to the U.S., those talks are still ongoing. Once completed, however, Facebook’s Spotify will be launched Stateside too.

A Spotify spokesperson claimed to have no knowledge of the new music deal with Facebook: “We have a Facebook integration. We’re continuously working with them to make that as good as it can be. But that’s the extent of our relationship.” Spotify’s co-founder Daniel Ek did not wish to comment.
Spotify already has Facebook Connect integrated into its own desktop interface, allowing users to see what their friends on Facebook are listening to, and opt to have music choices show up on their news feeds. The new service on the Facebook platform will have similar social features.

No money is changing hands with this partnership, but the benefits to both are obvious: Facebook gets the music service it has wanted for years, having reached out to the likes of Last.FM and others way back in 2008. And while Spotify won’t get a cut of Facebook’s ad revenue, it will reach millions more users, offering them the option of its premium service which costs £10 per month in the U.K. and 10 euros in parts of continental Europe like France, Spain and the Netherlands. Spotify has a free service, but it only allows 10 hours worth of listening time per month.

The partnership with Spotify signifies how Facebook is flexing its muscles in the media space, offering services that keep people within the social network, rather than scouring other parts of the web for content. With movies and now music being integrated into the social network, TV shows are bound to find their way in too, as people become more inclined to consume their content in a social way. (Why listen to a great new song by yourself when you can hear it with your friends too?)

Facebook initiated this social aspect of entertainment with social gaming, to the benefit of some games developers. Zynga, which makes the wildly popular social gaming app FarmVille, is now a $10 billion company on the road to an IPO, in large part because of its successful integration with Facebook. Spotify will be looking capitalize on Facebook in a similar way.

The company’s challenge till now has been raising money through advertising and premium subscriptions, to offset the costs of royalty streaming payments to the big four music labels: Sony BMG, Universal Music, Warner Music and EMI. Hopping onto the platform of Facebook should significantly boost its chance of picking up more paid-for subscribers. As the service gets licensed in more countries like the U.S., Facebook will help it compete with other existing music services like Shazam and Last.FM with a unique social element.
Read more ...

Apple loses iPhone 5 Prototype in a Bar, Again?

Thursday
An Apple employee has lost a prototype iPhone at a bar, again. The iPhone was lost in late July at Cava 22, a Mexican restaurant and bar in San Francisco’s Mission District, according to CNET.



According to the website, Apple never filed a police report based on such loss, likely from an employee field-testing the unit, although it ”sparked a scramble by Apple security” in an effort to recover it quickly. The device, CNET says, was lost in July. Rumors surrounding the next-generation iPhone date back to late 2010, although they have intensified lately as the company approaches the rumored October release date for the “iPhone 5″.

CNET postulates that the phone may have been sold on Craigslist for $200. But it doesn’t provide any evidence of that, nor does it name any sources, which is kind of odd. But based on what it does reveal, my guess is that it has a source within the San Francisco Police Department. There’s a lot of inside information that only a cop or prosecutor would know.

It’s unknown if Apple ever got the iPhone back, but jeez. How does this happen twice in a row? Maybe Steve better send out an email to its boozier employees: if you’re going to go out drinking, leave your priceless iPhone test prototype at home
Read more ...