Amazon Cloud Player Finally Launches On iPhone And iPod Touch [Updates]

It seems like forever since Amazon launched their Cloud Player, but now it is finally available on iOS devices. The Cloud Player app on iOS allows users to stream and download any music stored with Amazon to their device.

Just like Google and Apple’s Cloud based music service, you can buy songs through Amazon’s Cloud Player and upload an entire music library that was acquired elsewhere. Of course, you will need to have the space on your Amazon account to fit the music from your own library. You can purchase more space if you need it.

One feature that is conspicuously absent from the iOS version of Amazon Cloud Player is the ability to buy music. Apple takes 30% of all revenue generated through in-app purchases, so it seems Amazon would prefer that their music sales do not help line the pockets of Apple.

The player itself looks quite nice, and has all the features you would expect to see from an app trying to compete with iTunes and Google. You can listen to and create playlists, browse music by artist, album and genre and do everything else you would expect to do with a top-tier music player.

You can download the Amazon Cloud Player app from the iTunes App Store.

Source: TheNextWeb

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Facebook Launches App Center; Makes it Easier to Discover Social Apps For iOS And Android

Facebook has announced the launch of App Center, an app recommendation portal that takes advantage of Facebook's social graph in delivering suggestions to users.
The App Center features native iOS and Android apps, as well as web apps, including the ones that run inside Facebook's website.
Facebook's doing quite a bit to ensure that the apps that are showcased to users are of high quality, as described on its developer blog:

Success through the App Center is tied to the quality of an app. We use a variety of signals, such as user ratings and engagement, to determine if an app is listed in the App Center.
[...]
Well-designed apps that people enjoy will be prominently displayed. Apps that receive poor user ratings or don’t meet the quality guidelines won't be listed.

The App Center already lists more than 600 apps at launch, which span across various categories like games, music, news, sports and photos. Any app using Facebook's login framework can be listed on the App Center, provided it follows guidelines set up by Facebook.
App Center is available on Facebook's native iOS and Android apps, as well as Facebook's desktop and mobile websites at this URL. Just like the App Store, every app in the App Center has a details page which features screenshots along with a description of the app.
Upon clicking a mobile app you would be redirected to the App Store or Google Play if you're on mobile,  and if you're on a PC you have the option of sending a link to the app on your mobile. You could of course start using the app right away if it's web based.

This isn't the full blown mobile HTML5 platform that Facebook was rumored to debut, but a front end to apps on the App Store and Google Play. Of course, there are web apps and apps that run within Facebook's canvas, but it isn't the mobile HTML5 platform that could compete with Apple or Google.
This is obviously good news for developers, who are constantly looking for new ways to increase visibility of their apps, and it'll be interesting to see how well this works out for them. (If you're a developer, you could even try our forums to get some eyeballs for your app.)
Head over to this link on your PC or iOS device to have a look at Facebook's App Center.

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Microsoft Launches So.cl, A ‘Social Search Experiment’ And Social Network [Updates]

Microsoft has just launched So.cl, their own version of a social network, but it is a little different from what you typically see from social networks. Generally, a social network is a place to share status updates, locations, photos and general information about what is going on with your life. Microsoft’s social spot is all about sharing web searches.
The idea behind so.cl is that sharing searches on the web will lead to interesting discussion and conversation with your friends about the things you find. Are you looking for information about the life of Doc Holliday? Well you may have a friend who is an expert on the matter and could offer some interesting ideas. This could lead to a valuable exchange of information. In theory, this could lead to more meaningful conversations than those about what you had for dinner or how some guy cut you off driving down the road.
When you share a search you can filter out results that are not up to par. So if you searched for Doc Holliday, and only three of the websites were worthwhile, you can cut out the others and only share the useful ones.

Like all social networks, users will have profiles and be able to follow other users. The obvious difference is the type of posts you follow. The general backbone of So.cl should feel familial to anyone who uses any other popular social network.
Users can sign up for this new service with a Windows Live ID or Facebook. If you sign in through Facebook, So.cl will show you any of your Facebook friends who are on the service so you can follow some people you already know.

Clearly, they are not trying to compete with Facebook, as they allow you to sign in through them, but could this be a service that actually takes off? Would you be interested in sharing the interesting things you find on the web with So.cl?
Source: Wired

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Angry Birds Friends Launches On Facebook [Updates]

Rovio has taken its hugely popular pig-popping game to the next social level by launching Angry Birds Friends on Facebook. Players can now compete against their Facebook friends in weekly tournaments, earning new trophies and power-ups as they play.
The game launches with four new levels already available, with more due to be added on a weekly basis. Competitions run from Monday to Sunday and players with the highest scores can earn gold, silver and bronze trophies which are saved to their accounts forever.
Players can also earn even more power-ups for every level they attempt in tournament mode, in addition to daily rewards for just playing the game. If you’re a dedicated pig-popper then you’ll undoubtedly love the chance to prove it to your friends, especially now that you can send challenges straight to your worthy adversaries.
Rovio’s Angry Birds franchise continues to expand on an almost monthly basis, with the recently announced Angry Birds: Heikki racing game launching next month. We’ll make sure we keep you posted!
Play: Angry Birds Friends @ Facebook
Have you played Angry Birds Friends? What do you think? Do you play Facebook games? Add your thoughts in the comments!
Source: Rovio

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Yahoo launches Axis, it's new mobile browser that is also a search tool

Yahoo is entering the crowded and competitive world of mobile browsing on Wednesday night when it launches Yahoo Axis on the Apple App Store. The browser can also be used as a plug-in for IE, Safari, Chrome and Firefox. Obviously, with the Yahoo name, search is a major function and instead of  a list in blue print you get visual responses to a query. For example, search for a web site and you will get a visual representation of the site. Yahoo says it has images representing 85% of all web sites. Bing will still be used for algorithmic search, but Yahoo will present results based on its long database of user history.

While searching with the browser, users will be able to see what's trending, answers and thumbnails of the top search results. Click on one of the thumbnails and Axis becomes a browser. Swipe from the top and you're back in search mode using what Yahoo calls "elastic refresh" to navigate results pages. Searches, recently visited sites and bookmarks stay constant across multiple platforms. Yahoo Axis will be part of a toolbar bundling deal with Firefox and Internet Explorer which resulted in the company shipping more than 80 million browsers last year

Yahoo will not look to make money with this, at least at first, with paid listing showing up in search results eventually. Built on HTML5, Yahoo Axis does not do Flash, nor will it show inline video although the latter is expected to change. Versions for Android and Windows Phone are expected and BlackBerry users will be shut out. Yahoo is also working on a Metro version, possibly for Windows Phone 8. The search engine can do basic web searches and image searches. And those who use social networks will be happy to know that Yahoo Axis has a tool for easily sharing web pages via Twitter, email or Pinterest (no Facebook, for some reason).

Again, Yahoo Axis will be available for free from the Apple App Store later Wednesday night. In the meantime, check out the three ads Yahoo produced, one each for the Apple iPhone, Apple iPad and for desktop users.

source: Yahoo via Forbes

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