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How to bring your Google Reader feeds over to Flipboard

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 14, 2013

Some of us are adamant that a bright future lies ahead of RSS. Though the majority of my news discovery happens on Twitter and Facebook these days, I still rely on RSS feeds every now and then. In fact, you could say I am a regular Google Reader user.

But with the impending shutdown of the service, loyal fans like myself have no other choice but find a new home for their feeds.

Cody has put together a useful list of the ten most popular Reader alternatives and there's also that upcoming Digg Reader app. People who happen to manage their news sources in the excellent Flipboard app can bring their Google Reader feeds quite easily, here's how...

Digg: we’re going to build a Google Reader replacement, starting today

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 14, 2013

Digg, a social news service struggling for relevance in the age of Reddit and mobile apps that gather news, says it's going to build its own RSS client. The company actually aimed to release such a software in the second half of 2013, but has now accelerated those plans after news of Google Reader's demise.

Digg's Reader will make the Internet "a more approachable and digestible place." It's being built around modern web technologies, making it "fit the Internet of 2013." Digg has pledged to rebuild the most popular Google Reader APIs so its Reader could sync with existing third-party clients and replicate the most popular Google Reader capabilities.

Some form of integration with other social media sources like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit and Hacker News is also being mulled. This should be an exciting development for all you loyal Reader fans out there...

YouTube Capture is now optimized for iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 13, 2018

Google's standalone YouTube video recording and uploading software, YouTube Capture, has been updated today to work natively on the iPad and iPad mini.

Now a universal binary supporting all your iDevices natively, the program enables you to quickly capture a clip on your iPad, perform basic touch ups, type in some meta data and upload your work in full HD to YouTube.

We're not sure who in their right mind would want to record footage on a tablet, but editing and managing those clips surely feels much more natural on the iPad's bigger canvas...

Google breaks up mapping and commerce biz

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 21, 2018

More major corporate changes happening at Google. After Andy Rubin yesterday stepped down as Android boss, The Wall Street Journal just reported (and Reuters corroborated) that the Internet giant is breaking up mapping and commerce unit, with Senior Vice President of Maps and Commerce Jeff Huber stepping aside. The two-part management shift at Google also saw some major shakeup of Google's Android and Chrome OS teams. Google's mapping business will be folded into the company's search unit as part of these changes...

Google to shut down Google Reader on July 1

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

In a new blog post entitled "A second spring of cleaning" this afternoon, Google announced that it was going to be closing down a number of its projects and services over the next several months.

Included in the shutdowns is Google Reader—a popular RSS news aggregation service, which a number of apps and users still depend on to serve up headlines. Keep reading for more details....

Android head Andy Rubin steps down, Chrome VP Sundar Pichai takes the reins

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 13, 2013

In a totally unexpected move, Google Wednesday announced its long-time Android head and Senior Vice President of Mobile and Digital Content, Andy Rubin, is stepping down.

He will be replaced by Chrome vice president Cundar Pichai, who will lead Android, in addition to his existing work with Chrome and Apps. Google CEO Larry Page wrote in a blog post he expects Pichai to "double down on Android", noting "the pace of innovation has never been greater".

Despite Android's indisputable lead in terms of device activations, latest data suggests that Apple's iOS stole some share from Google's mobile platform in the United States, the most important market for smartphones. The iOS platform is also the preferred choice for developers because Apple leads in terms of metrics that matter.

The decision to replace Rubin at the height of his career cries for parallels with Apple CEO Tim Cook's firing of iOS boss Scott Forstall in August 2012, whose abrasive management style is said to have created unnecessary friction between key Apple executives...

Chrome for iOS updated to fix jailbreak-related startup crash

Cody Lee ∙ March 12, 2013

Last week, Google rolled out an update for its Chrome browser on iOS. The update included a new sharing feature, the ability to quickly view your browsing history, and unfortunately, a major bug for jailbroken devices.

Users on jailbroken iPhones and iPads noticed that after installing the update, Chrome would crash upon startup. And it's a good thing we found a fix for it when we did, because Google is just now getting around to it...

Alleged Google Now for iOS promo video surfaces on YouTube

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

This is pretty interesting. An alleged promotional video showcasing a Google Now—Google's impressive voice assistant that debuted in Android Jelly Bean last summer—for iOS app surfaced on YouTube this afternoon.

The big deal here is that while Google added some Now elements to its iOS Search app last fall, it kept location and contextual-based features exclusive to Android. But if the promo clip is real, that could be changing soon...

As smaller tablets catch on, IDC expects Android to overtake iPad in 2013

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 28, 2017

Research firm IDC today updated its tablet shipments forecast to reflect the growing popularity of low-cost tablets coming from the Android camp.

IDC now predicts that Android tablets will overtake the iPad in terms of volume during the course of 2013.

The firm pegged Apple's share of the global tablet market in 2012 at 51 percent, with Android-driven tablets accounting for 41.5 percent of shipments. The new forecast calls for Android’s share hitting a peak of 48.8 percent in 2013, mostly at the expense of Apple’s iOS predicted to drop down to 46 percent this year.

But why stop there, IDC futurists project tablet shipments nearly four years into the future: in 2017, they expect Android to own 46 percent of the market, with the iPad dropping to a 43.5 percent share. As we know all too well, Apple isn't one to blindly pursue market share, as evident in smartphones where it captures three-quarters of industry profits with barely one-tenth of total handset shipments...

Vevo wants to become the next MTV, launches always-on broadcast channel

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 12, 2013

Today at SXSW, Vevo announced a 24/7 channel coming to your traditional television via the Roku set-top box and the Xbox gaming console, but also to the Vevo web site and mobile platforms like Apple's iOS, Google's Android, Microsoft's Windows Phone. As you know, Vevo streams official music videos licensed from record labels, both through its web site and via a dedicated YouTube channel, where most of its 52 million monthly uniques come from.

Vevo's mobile apps will be updated with an around-the-clock curated experience of original programming, including live concerts and television shows. The experience is being described as multicast, meaning everyone gets to watch the same programming at the exact same time, regardless of the platform they're accessing it from. Vevo TV will even feature a 24-hour schedule of static programming blocks, just like your regular dumb-ified tube...

Google updates mobile Gmail web app with new UI and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 14, 2018

Google has updated its mobile web application for Gmail this afternoon with a refreshed user interface, similar to that of its recently revamped iOS email client, and a few other improvements.

In addition to its new look, Google says that the mobile app update also brings new features such as improved search and integration with Google Calendar, search predictions, and more...

Social apps become the third highest App Store category in terms of revenue

Ed Sutherland ∙ March 8, 2013

Last year saw the rise of social networking apps. While not as dominant as games, apps such as Facebook, Twitter and Skype helped revenue for the category skyrocket nearly 90 percent, compared to the previous year. Likewise, social networking apps flew to third place on Apple's App Store, behind only games and productivity. That's a notable jump from 2011, when social apps ranked only twelveth.

Revenues for the category on the App Store jumped 87 percent year-over-year in January 2013, with a 30 percent rise in monthly downloads now accounting for fiver percent of total downloads. On Google Play, social networking apps became the number one category, besides games, an app research firm announced Friday...