Since then, I’ve scoured the Android Market for the most useful and enjoyable apps available. All of the apps found in this guide can be downloaded from the Android Market, and the majority of them for free.

Social Networking Apps

Plume

I’m pretty much in love with Twitter.  I like it for a number of reasons: Twitter is great for random thoughts, it seems more acceptable to update Twitter every few hours (or minutes) than Facebook, I can be a little more liberal with what I say on Twitter than Facebook (don’t have family following me on Twitter), and I can keep updated with friends, news, and celebrities.

I’ve tried so many Twitter apps it’s ridiculous. None of them have even come close to Plume (formerly known as Touiteur, but renamed at Twitter’s request due to name similarity).

This app is beautifully designed and highly customizable. With Plume you can add multiple Twitter accounts and switch among them easily. You can compose a tweet by dragging the Plume bar at the top of the screen down with the flick of your finger. There is also the option to attach a photo (by uploading from gallery, taking a picture, etc.) and shrinking the tweet (available only with the premium version).

By tapping on a tweet, a menu bar pops down with options that allows you to reply, follow any links, retweet, favorite and more (this option includes showing profile of tweeter,  direct messaging tweeter, sharing tweet, copying tweet to clipboard, and marking tweet as spam). On the bottom of the page, you can easily select between tweets, mentions, direct messages, more (includes new tweet, search, lists, trends, and favorites), and refresh the twitter timeline.

Plume is well-organized, sleek, and allows for color coding of tweets (which comes in handy with multiple accounts). The app also alerts you with a bird tweeting/chirp sound and vibrates when you are mentioned in a tweet or have a direct message.

Overall, it’s a great app for those that love Twitter!

An ad-supported version is available for free, and a premium version for just $2.57.  If you use Twitter a lot, I would recommend purchasing the premium version because there are no ads on your timeline and it allows you to shrink tweets, among other features.

Facebook

I’m a big fan of Facebook, but I really hated the Facebook app for Android until they updated it in early November. Some of the new features they added were Facebook Places, Inbox, Facebook Chat and new a layout. The way you receive notifications was also updated.

Instead of being redirected to the mobile web version of Facebook every time you clicked on a notification, now you are redirected to the app. It makes everything a lot easier and faster. You can now view posts, comments, photos, and shared links right through the app, instead of being redirected.

The app could still use some improvement, especially regarding creating and managing events through the app. But it’s a grand improvement from the previous Facebook app for Android.

YouTube

Another app that I use a LOT is YouTube. Like Facebook, this app was also updated in the beginning of November in a pretty big way.

One of the biggest changes in the app was the new user interface.When watching a video in portrait mode, you can play a smaller version of the video while viewing information, comments, and related videos. In landscape mode, the video plays full screen with a circle tab that you can grab and slide with your fingers in order to rewind and forward the video. You can also pause and play the video by tapping your finger on the screen.

Another addition is a personalized home screen when you open the app, displaying your video subscriptions.

Video also seems to play faster and without as many lags and bugs that was present in the previous version.

I use this app all the time to watch movie trailers, listen to music, or watch tutorials (like how to tie a tie). If you have an Android phone, the YouTube app is must have.

Backgrounds

I’m the type of person that gets bored easily, especially with the background on my phone.

Backgrounds is one of my favorite apps because it allows me to easily browse through over 8,000 pictures and designs and then easily set it as my background. Backgrounds are added daily and in addition to being searched by popular and recent, you can search via 50 categories including funny, animals, movies, and holidays. The pictures and designs can also be set as contact pictures and favorites.

I also use it along with social networking sites because the images can be saved to your SD card for later use or to share via Facebook and Twitter.

The best thing about this app is that it’s completely free!

Games

I’m not a huge gamer – but when I’m bored sitting in class, an airport, or long car ride, I like something to keep me busy and the following games do just that.

Angry Birds

Angry Birds is a game that uses the touch screen interface with simple controls, cartoon graphics and physics. The game is based on the story of a few hungry pigs that steal some eggs from a pack of birds – who then start a journey to take revenge.

The birds sit in a sling shot and shoot themselves at the pigs, who are hiding in different protective forts made of glass, wood, stone, and other materials. As the game progresses there are different birds introduced that have special abilities, such as the miniature blue birds that when tapped break into three birds. Other birds possess the special abilities of head-butting, accelerating, droppings egg bombs, boomerangs, and extra strength.

You rack up points by breaking the materials that structurally makeup the forts as well as destroying the pigs. In order to progress to the next level, you must kill all the pigs. The scoring comes into play when it rates you from one to three stars. The goal is to perfect your aim in order to get three stars on each level.  The game is a really fun puzzle that takes multiple tries to advance levels. You must aim just perfect!

There is also a spin-off game called Angry Birds Seasons – which is the same game but based on a Halloween and Christmas theme.

The game is actually so popular that Mattel is adapting it into a board game. There are also rumors that it will soon be turned into a TV show. Talk about milking a franchise…

Unblock Me: Free

Unblock Me: Free is a very simple puzzle game that is easy to learn and play – it’s also easy to become addicted.

All you have to do is move the red block from its current location through the exit on the right of the screen. Before you can move it through the exit, you must first clear a path by moving horizontal and vertical blocks out its way.  Some are easy, some are hard, and some will drive you crazy! You can play the game in two modes: Relax and Challenge.

With the free version you get 400 levels (that you can play as many times as you want), where as the paid version has 800. With 400 free levels, what’s the point in buying the game? Since the game is a puzzle, and the graphics never change, you might not remember how to beat a level after you’ve beat it. 400 levels is a generous quantity for a free version.

Abduction

Abduction is really cool because it utilizes the phone’s accelerometer. Basically, you have to make a cow jump up numerous platforms until it’s abducted by aliens. You do this by simply tilting the phone left to right. On your way up to your abduction you can obtain bonus points and the chance to hit parachuting cows giving you extra abilities, such as high jumps, safety nets, and sometimes not such extra abilities with crumbles.  The high jumps allow you to jump twice as high, the safety nets save you if you fall, and the crumbles are platforms that only last one jump.

The game is fun and addicting. The graphics are cute. The accelerometer is what really adds to the game by making it more interactive.

There is a free demo version and a premium version for $2.10.

What are some of your favorite social networking apps and games for Android? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post 7 Great Apps and Games for Android first appeared on Techerator.

After years of wanting and months of speculations, the iPhone is finally coming to the Verizon network. I honestly never thought this would happen!

Announcement

A press conference was held this morning in New York City. At the press conference, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam and Apple COO Tim Cook, along with Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead made the big announcement. Apple CEO Steve Jobs was not in attendance, or at least not on stage.

Via press conference this morning, Verizon officially announced that the iPhone 4 will be available from Verizon on February 10 – less than a month away – with pre-sale starting for current Verizon customers on February 3. Those not currently on the Verizon network must unfortunately wait until the 10^th to get the phone, with no pre-sale.

Pricing

The Verizon iPhone 4 will be available in two sizes: 16GB and 32GB. With a new two-year contract, the 16GB iPhone 4 will be $199, and the 32GB iPhone 4 will come in just a hundred dollars more at $299.

Network

Unfortunately, the iPhone 4 on the Verizon network seems to lack some of the features that are currently on the AT&T network. Since the phone is a Verizon 3G phone (EV-DO), the phone won’t support 4G data nor will it support GSM roaming. In order to support the 4G network, the phone would have had to have a new design. With the phone having been in testing for over a year, Verizon didn’t want to make their customers wait even longer because of redesign. So, basically, the phone won’t work globally.

Another feature that the Verizon network doesn’t support, which could be a deal breaker, is that you can’t surf the web and talk on the phone at the same time. Besides the difference among the networks, it seems from the press conference that the Verizon’s iPhone 4 will be unchanged from the iPhone 4 on the AT&T network.

Software

One of the biggest software changes is the addition of a 5 user Wi-Fi hotspot – something that is found on the Android phones.  For those who aren’t familiar with the technology, it allows your phone to tether to more than one computer. The phone on the AT&T network still is only able to tether to one computer. In essence, the Verizon phone will be able to share its 3G connection with up to five other Wi-Fi devices. That feature, however, will most likely have an additional monthly cost.

Physical Device

The Verizon iPhone 4 looks very similar to its AT&T counterpart. One of the most surprising things to me is that Verizon’s branding is nowhere to be found on the phone. Another slight change, which really isn’t all that noticeable, is a small bump near the volume buttons.  This is due to the extra antenna that was added to the phone for Verizon’s network. The Verizon phone has four antennas, while the AT&T phone has three.

Conclusion

Will you be jumping on the Verizon bandwagon to get the iPhone 4, or switching from your current device if you’re already on the Verizon network? I’m thinking about it, but with so many great Android phones on the market now (and the promise of greater ones) – I don’t really see the point. I think the iPhone craze is starting to fade.

I will be interested to see just how many people leave AT&T for Verizon. My bet: a lot of people!

Leave me a comment below, telling me what you think about Verizon finally getting the iPhone and if you’re going to be one of those people in line on Feb 10.

The post iPhone 4: Coming to Verizon on February 10 first appeared on Techerator.

Gift Ideas for Grandparents

My grandparents live down south, but they love to keep in touch with me and the rest of my family. If I had lots of money to spend this holiday season, I know exactly what I would purchase them – Cisco Umi.

Webcams/Video Conferencing

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Cisco Umi is a consumer-focused telecommunications system that offers the ability to connect with people via videoconferencing on HDTVs. Cisco Umi comes with a high-definition camera embedded with a microphone, a set-top box, and a remote. In order to use it, however, you must possess internet service and an HDTV – if you are really feeling generous this holiday season you could buy them an HDTV as well, just in case they don’t have one.

In essence, Cisco Umi is a product that offers extremely high-quality videoconferencing.  It can bring your grandparents into your living room and vice versa. (Note: in order to use Cisco Umi, both parties must possess it.)

Cisco Umi retails for around $599.00 plus a $24.00 monthly fee.

If you aren’t interested in spending that much money on your grandparents, I have a few other suggestions:

• Buy them a webcam and tell them about the magic of Skype.
• Buy them a notebook, laptop, or computer with a built in webcam and then tell about the magic of Skype.
• Or buy them a plane ticket to come visit.

Digital Picture Frames

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A much cheaper gift idea that would bring you guys closer is a digital picture frame. Digital picture frames are picture frames that digitally display pictures – for this they generally use a memory card to store the pictures. They have been on the market for a few years now, but have dropped significantly in price so that they are more affordable.

When they digital picture frames first came out they cost a few hundred dollars, but now you can purchase one for around $50 dollars. I actually bought my grandparents and my mom one for Christmas this year (hope they aren’t reading this). I bought them on Black Friday for only $40.

They can be purchased in assorted sizes (from 6” to 26″), assorted colors, styles, and brands. There are even have digital photo frames available now that connect to the internet so you can post your favorite pictures to the web, or even print pictures off using a built in picture printer.

Gift Ideas for Parents

Electronic Book Readers

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Being huge fans of reading and books in general, I think a perfect gift for any parent that likes to read would be an electronic reader. Electronic readers are a great gift idea because in the long run it will cost you less money since eBooks are much cheaper than print books, it saves on paper (yay! for the saving the environment) and it will clear up some clutter in your parents’ house (my dad has books everywhere).

Electronic readers (eReaders) read electronic books (eBooks). They also do much more than just allowing you to read. They allow you to take notes and look up definitions. Some allow you to access the internet, play music, and even watch movies.

eReaders have only been around for the past five years or so, but have really caught on. A lot of colleges and classrooms have adopted eReaders, opting out of traditional books. When looking for eReaders, you will come across brands including Sony, the Nook by Barnes and Noble, The Cruise Tablet by Borders, The Kindle by Amazon and the Apple iPad (more of a tablet computer, but does have the iBook app), among other brands. Each one has their advantages and disadvantages, but I will leave the brand choosing up to you. I will say that The Kindle remains the most purchased and highest rated eReader on the market.

eReaders retails for as little as $80 and go as high as $600. The average, however, is right around the $200 mark.

Gift Ideas for Teens

Smartphones

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There are so many great gift ideas for teenagers, today more than ever, thanks to the tech-savvy world we live in.

Even though cell phones have become a staple in our society, I think they are still a great gift – especially now that so many great smartphones have hit the market. Connecting with each other has become such a large past time thanks to texting, emailing, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. With a smartphone, you can get all that in one device.

When shopping for a smartphone, I highly suggest looking into an Android smartphone. Some of Android’s biggest advantages over other smartphones (dare I say the Apple iPhone?) is the ability to multitask (yes this can be done on iPhone 4), upgrade to new versions of Android, choose carriers (iPhone is locked into AT&T), an open market (consumers drive the app store, not the producers – store also isn’t censored as heavily as the Apple Store), customizable home screens, integrated with Google, and there is a larger selection of phones (this comes in handy when shopping with a budget).

Android smartphones range in price and availability depending on the carrier.

Apple iPad

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If your teen already has a smartphone, then why not splurge a little and get them an Apple iPad? I was against it at first, because I have a computer and an iPod Touch and an iPad is basically those two things combined. It is those two things combined, but it’s a really slick device. There is so much you can do with it – listen to music, surf the web, watch movies, play games, study, write papers, etc. It’s a great item for travel and great to use while lounging around the house.

I love sitting on the couch and playing with the iPad, whether it’s reading a good book, playing a game, or connecting with people on Facebook and Twitter. It’s really a universal item that makes a great gift because it does so much!

Gift Ideas for Preteens

Gaming Systems

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What better gift to give a preteen than a gaming system?

I would recommend getting them any of the major gaming systems: Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, or PlayStation 3. Those are great gifts because they are fairly universal as well. By universal, I mean you can do such much more with them than just playing games. They act as DVD players (excluding Wii), a Blu-Ray player (if you get the PS3), connect to the internet, and so much more.

If you purchase an Xbox 360 make sure to also purchase Kinect, and if you purchase a PS3 make sure to purchase Playstation Move. They provide the game with a more interactive experience by using motion, and gets kids active. Long gone are the days where you just sit down and play video games, now people of all ages can be active while playing – even exercising. It’s really a great gift for the entire family because it’s something that can bring the family together. Game nights have never been so much fun!

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Gift Ideas for Kids

Educational Gifts

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In my opinion, one of the best gifts you can give a kid is the gift of education. Sounds boring right? Not necessarily. Last year I bought my niece a LeapFrog Tag Reader for Christmas. It’s a special pen, that when used with LeapFrog Tag Books, will read the story out loud to the child. With each touch of the pen, words are read out, pictures come alive, and overall the book becomes interactive. It redefines the reading and learning experience for kids.

My niece uses it constantly and it really improves a kid’s reading skills. LeapFrog has a library of over 40 books, including story books, game books, and map books that contain kids’ favorite characters (SpongeBob, Toy Story, Disney Princess, etc). The LeapFrog Tag Reader Pen retails for around $30, with the books costing anywhere from $10 to $20 (most of them are $13.99).

Art Gifts

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Another great gift idea is the Color Wonder Magic Light Brush from Crayola. This is one of the gifts under my tree  for my niece already, and I’m excited for her to open it on Christmas because I really want to play with it. The product uses specially coated paper and a fiber-optic brush. It only works on the right type of paper – making it mess free. It retails for right around $20.

Another cool product from Crayola that’s worth checking out is the new Crayola Glow Station Day and Night. With the set, kids can create images in either light or the dark. In the light, the drawing turn out bright purple; in the dark, they magically appear to be bright green. This one retails a little higher at $25.

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These are two products that are great gift ideas for kids because they are mess free (no more writing on the walls) and encourage kid’s imaginations and creativity.

Gift Ideas for the Whole Family

Google TV

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I thought a good way to finish up this gift guide would be to suggest a gift that the whole family can use. Seeing that the TV is an item that generally brings the family together, I thought a great gift for the family would be the Google TV. Google TV combines television and internet into a seamless entertainment experience. It allows you to search your TV so that you can find exactly what you want to watch, and adds perhaps one of the best channels ever – the internet. You can also download hundreds of apps from the app store including some of the most popular apps: Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, Pandora, Weather, News, etc. Your Android smartphone, iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad can even be used as a universal remote to control the TV.

There are three products when it comes to the technology of Google TV. There is the Sony Internet TV (an HDTV with internet built in) which starts at $599. There is the Sony Internet TV Blu-Ray Player (which is a Blu-Ray player with internet built in that connects to your existing HDTV and retails for $399. Finally, there is the Logitech Revue (which is just a set-box, running Google TV, that connects to your existing HDTV and retails at $299).

With hundreds of dollar differences in the price tags, one wonders how the products differ. In essence, the main difference between them is that one is a TV, one is Blu-Ray player, and one is a set-box. If you already own an HDTV, then I recommend going for the Sony Internet TV Blu-Ray Player, because from reviews it seems run faster and have a cleaner interface than the Logitech Revue, and it’s a Blu-Ray player.

Conclusion

I hope by reading through this guide you got some ideas for Christmas presents. Happy Shopping!

The post Holiday Gift Guide: Something For The Whole Family Edition first appeared on Techerator.

One of the biggest ways that technology has impacted the holidays is by changing the way that we shop. When I was younger it was always a big thing for my family to go to the mall and we would split off individually to do shopping for each other. My brother and I would also get dropped off with neighbors or family occasionally so my parents could go out Christmas shopping alone. That doesn’t happen anymore – partly because we are older now and on our own, but  because we rely on the internet for shopping instead of heading to the nearest mall.

For me, the days of fighting crowds and waiting in lines to checkout are in the past as I do the majority of my shopping online. It’s not even December – yet I’ve already purchased the majority of my Christmas presents for family and friends. 95% of those gifts were purchased online through different vendors such as Woot.com, Amazon, eBay, American Eagle and Wal-Mart.

Shopping online is extremely convenient. It has evolved a lot over the years and continues to evolve every day. With security risks becoming less of a threat these days, a lot of people are opting out of shopping brick-and-mortar and turning to the awesomeness of online shopping. It saves time and energy, better deals can generally be found online than in stores, wider varieties of products can often be found online, products can be easily compared, reviews can be easily accessed and it opens up our shopping experience to a global market.

It also helps keep the magic of Christmas alive for children. I know when I was younger the magic of Christmas was ruined for me after finding multiple presents stowed away in an upstairs closet. Now, however, parents can have presents shipped to the house (sometime already gift wrapped) and they can stay in the boxes until it’s time for wrapping. While there are some perks to shopping in the store (such as tangibly feeling the product or demoing it), I think online shopping (especially online holiday shopping) is going to get even more popular as the years pass by.

I know I’m going to sound like Scrooge, but I personally hate the greeting card industry. My motive behind my hatred is because I think greeting cards are 1) expensive, 2) a waste of trees, and 3) they are generally trashed after Christmas or other occasions.

I never send out tangible greeting cards – instead I send out handy dandy e-cards (electronic card). I also like receiving e-cards more than tangible greeting cards because I don’t feel as bad deleting the email as I do when I trash greeting cards because I feel like I’m killing a tree and wasting $3.50.

E-cards have definitely become a part of my holiday tradition. I actually just sent an e-card to family on Thanksgiving and plan on doing it as Christmas gets closer.

Christmas decorating has also changed over the years thanks to increased technology and the internet. I remember when I was younger we would put that tacky, silver tinsel on the tree that would never go away. It would be the middle of July and you’d be vacuuming and sure enough you would find tinsel on the ground. We also had those ugly wicker reindeer and that plastic nativity set – which my brother burnt down one year.

In this day and age, we have inflatable and animatronics Christmas characters, LED lights that flash and that can be synchronized with music. There are even apps now, both mobile and desktop, that will allow you to turn your Christmas decorations on and off without ever touching a light switch or power bar.

Back in the day, Christmas use to be that one big holiday where everyone got together. My family would always gather at my grandfather’s house for Christmas. When I say family, I mean all my family. I would have aunts, uncles, and cousins I never got to see driving and flying in from all over the United States to be together for Christmas.

With the recent economic pressures, it’s not as easy as to jump on a plane and with gas prices the way they are driving 600 miles isn’t what it used to be. So a little holiday tradition that my family has adopted over the past few years is keeping in touch with each other via video chat, provided by Skype. Granted we couldn’t all be together on the same screen, (at least not in the past, but with Skype’s 5.0 update with 10-way video calling we will be able to do that this year), we would still Skype each other for a few minutes and say our “Merry Christmases”.

Another holiday tradition that has become one of my favorites is tracking Santa during December using NORAD Santa. NORAD Santa started back in the 50s when an advertisement ran Santa’s phone number, which actually was the number for the Continental Air Defense Command. Playing along with the hundreds of calls they received from kids looking for Santa, they tracked him on their radar system and gave updates.

That tradition lives strong 60 years later. Today NORAD Santa can be tracked via their website, their twitter and/or by their Facebook. By following the website, their status updates or their tweets, starting December 1, you will able to get information on what Santa’s up to and starting on Christmas Eve you will be able to know where Santa is delivering presents.

Last Christmas, my family really got into it and on Christmas Eve when we were all sitting around stringing popcorn for the Christmas Tree, I would get updates every few minutes from Twitter. It was neat to see where Santa was and what he was up too. At least my niece thought it was neat.

The internet has also had an impact on Christmas music. When I was younger my mom would play Dolly Parton’s Christmas over and over and over again. I can still hear Hard Candy Christmas in the back of my head. We listened to that cassette tape because it was one of the only Christmas cassettes we had. Now with the evolution of online radio and playlists, such as Pandora, Grooveshark, and Playlist.com, you can build endless Christmas music playlists, stations and queues so that you never have to hear Dolly Parton more than once.

While some traditions have faded, others have evolved and new ones have been formed – it’s obvious that the internet has had an impact on the holiday season. But is that a good thing? I think so! I’m very glad that I was born when I was. I would have hated to be alive back in the day when you had to cut down your own tree, carry it across the forest to your house, scare the squirrels out of it and then decorate with it real, burning candles. I know – it sounds exhausting.  I’m very thankful that I live in the day and age that I live in.

Because of technology, especially the internet, we have so many opportunities to communicate, be more efficient, and share in the joy of Christmas.

The post How The Internet Has Changed (and created new) Holiday Rituals first appeared on Techerator.

On Monday, Facebook held a conference in California where a new messaging service powered by the uber-giant, social-networking site was unveiled.

There has been a lot of speculation and buzz the past few weeks and months about Facebook’s version of email.  While it’s being officially called “Project Titan”, I think its “codename” the “Gmail Killer” is a lot cooler. And let’s face it, if anyone can take on Google – it’s Facebook.

So will Facebook’s new messaging client bring an end to the ever so popular Gmail or will it be able to compete with Yahoo, MSN and other various web emails?

From the looks of it – I think that “Project Titan” has the potential to be an “email killer” in general even though it’s really not a form of email, but more a form of omnipotent communication.

Let’s face it, our society today is moving past connecting through email. We have moved onto more instant forms of communications, like texting.

I can tell you from personal experience, it’s true. I’m the President of business group (Collegiate DECA) and an honor society (Phi Theta Kappa) and I learned that if I want to get in contact with my members that email is not the way. It took almost two weeks for everyone to contact me back via email. The next time I needed to contact everyone I texted them and within a day I had responses from everyone. Texting and instant messaging are taking over our world.

Email is not real time. We want to be able to communicate instantly. Facebook knows this and they are creating their messaging client around that concept.

The three main elements of the messaging client are seamless messaging, conversation history and a social inbox.  So how do these work? Let’s break them down.

Seamless Messaging

From the press conference, Zuckerburg talked about how the messaging client will be seamlessly integrated among all the ways that people communicate. What I got from this was that people will be able to write and respond to messages from various platforms such as texting, instant messaging, chat, and email. This will happen all within one page. If that not handy then I don’t know what it is. Forget trying to remember the best ways to get in touch with someone.

Conversation History

All these different types of communications from different types of platforms are really a hassle. Zuckerburg agrees.

I know I communicate through a myriad of platforms and a lot of times I get confused about where information is. Which email is it in, was it sent over IM, was it texted to me, did he/she tweet that to me, etc.

To have a client that combines all that would be amazing and would make my life so much easier and productive. It’s the future.

So basically, this messaging client is somehow going to take all the different platforms that two people communicate through and combine them into one thread. So for example, my brother and I will be able to see all the communications we have had through different platforms in one place. We will be able to see what we talked about over IM, over texting, and over email.

Nifty, right?

Social Inbox

From what Zuckerburg said in the press conference, the social inbox is going to be an inbox where Facebook will separate messages into three different categories. There will be a category that focuses on what’s important to you, what’s important to others, and a junk category. Basically Facebook is going to go through the messages and filter them so you get exactly what you want from who you want. As Zuckerburg noted, no more finding bills sandwiched in between a messages from you and your buddies.

Other Stuff

Besides the basics of Project Titan’s features, some of the other information disclosed during the press conference include: apps for cell phones, iPads, iPods, etc. are on their way;  350 million people use the messaging system that is already incorporated into Facebook, the majority of those messages are between two people; this is the biggest engineering task that Facebook has ever put together, and that team has been working on Project Titan for 15 months now; and that people will get a @facebook.com email address if they choose to sign up for the service.

That’s pretty much a short summary of what was talked about at the press conference in San Francisco on Monday. While specific information wasn’t given out, we really got a gist of what Facebook is about to do – which is making communication that much quicker, easier and more productive. They are making the future.

When Can I Get It?

Let me guess. After reading this, you want to sign up for “Project Titan”. Well I have some bad news – it’s not available just yet. Bummer, I know!

According to the press conference, the messaging system is going to be gradually rolled out over the next few months with invitations sent to certain people – more than likely people in the press and those that request invitations (you have to be logged in to request an invite).

My guess is that “Project Titan” is going to available for public use by summer 2011.

For more information on “Project Titan” you can visit the Facebook blog and remember to check back here at Techerator for future information!

For a little author/reader communication let me know what you think about the name? I’m actually not sure if “Project Titan” is going to be the official name or just what it’s being called now. Regardless, I think it’s a pretty stupid and cliché name. If you were asked to name Facebook’s new messaging client, what would you call it?

Leave your answer below in the comment section. Person with the best answer gets bonus points – which mean nothing.

The post Facebook Unveils New Messaging Service That Will Revolutionize Communication first appeared on Techerator.

More than likely you have heard of a little – I mean HUGE – company called Netflix. Yes, the company that runs on ingenuity and has made thousands of movies, TV shows and documentaries available via mail and instant streaming. While they are still mailing out movies and TV shows, it’s nothing compared to the amount of content that is streamed instantly every hour of every day.

Some of the different platforms through which a person can stream instantly include game consoles, streaming players, Blu-ray players, HDTV, DVRs, mobile devices and home theater systems. You can learn more about that here.

Over a year ago, Netflix decided to capitalize on gaming consoles.  Instant streaming was first available on the Xbox 360 via a software upgrade, and the feature was later brought to the Wii and PlayStation 3 by mailing out discs, upon request, that would allow access to Netflix instant streaming. This all changed recently, though, as Netflix has made a native application available to both PS3 and Wii owners.

The PS3 Netflix interface is very user friendly, intuitive and simple. The movie icons are on the right, while the menu is on the left. Finding a movie to watch has never been easier as flipping through titles takes no time at all. You will be able to browse through hundreds of titles within minutes.

You also have the availability to go through five “menus” including Suggestions for You, New Arrivals, Genres, Instant Queue, and Search.  Netflix instant streaming on the PS3 also boasts certain movies and shows available in 1080p HD, 5.1 digital surround sound, and the availability to watch a good portion of films with subtitles.

Below are some steps that you can take to get Netflix instant streaming up and running in no time so you can watch your favorite movies and shows.

To utilize instant streaming via PS3:

“Connect your PS3 system to the internet. Sign-up for or sign-in to your free PlayStation Network account. Go to the PlayStation Network section of the XMB then select “What’s New”. Click on the Netflix icon to download and install the Netflix application.”

To utilize instant streaming via Nintendo Wii:

“Go to your Wii menu, download and install the Netflix application from within the Wii Shop Channel, and follow the on screen instructions to connect your Wii to your Netflix account.”

To utilize instant streaming via Xbox 360:

“If you have these, go to your Xbox menu, download and install the Netflix application from within the Video Marketplace, then go http://www.netflix.com/Activate to activate your device.”

If you are a Netflix subscriber, then you know just how awesome Netflix really is! The fact that you can now instantly stream thousands of movies, TV shows, cartoons,and documentaries through multiple gaming consoles without the hassle of waiting for a disc to come in the mail, keeping up with the disc, and having to take a game out of the console every time you want to watch a movie is another reason why Netflix is slowly putting other movie rental places to shame. I’ve had my Netflix account for over two years and will continue to enjoy it.

Netflix currently offers several plans:

• $8.99 a month: 1 DVD out at a time+ unlimited instant watching
• $13.99 a month: 2 DVDs out at a time + unlimited instant watching
• $16.99 a month: 3 DVDs out at a time + unlimited instant watching
• $23.99 a month: 4 DVDs out at a time + unlimited instant watching

For more about Netflix or instant streaming, visit the Netflix website.

The post Netflix on PS3 and Wii is Finally Disc-Free! first appeared on Techerator.

Since mid-Summer, Skype 5.0 Beta has been available, but this past week they rolled out the full version, jam-packed with new features, updates, and a slick new user interface that wasn’t available in the recent beta.

Probably some of the biggest and most talked about features within the new Skype 5.0 is the 10-way video calling, which is an improvement from the 5-way video calling within the beta, and its integration with Facebook.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few years, you more than likely have a Facebook account or have at least heard of Facebook. The social network giant unveiled “Facebook Connect” a few months back, which allows third party websites to access the Facebook platform by connecting and building it into their sites.

Have you ever been to a website and seen a link that says “Sign in with Facebook”? That’s Facebook Connect, a wonderful tool that saves us time by not having to sign in with numerous accounts and remember them – instead we can just sign in through our Facebook accounts. Now Skype has jumped on the bandwagon and have done an overhaul by integrating Facebook within their 5.0 version.

In order to utilize Facebook within Skype, you have to either update your current version of Skype to the 5.0 version or download it for the first time. This can be done through their website at www.skype.com.

Once you download Skype, sign in or create an account, click on the home tab.

Once you click the home tab, the Skype Home Window will open. This is where you will be able to edit your profile and connect to Facebook. Click the Facebook tab to open the “Facebook Connect” dialog box.

Sign into Facebook and then click “allow” on the bottom right of the window.

You will notice that your news feed shows up in Skype almost identical to your news feed in Facebook (you can even update your status), but with a few additions. There are now “SMS” and “call” buttons next to the posts of your friends. With these you can call and text your friends right through Skype. For these to work, however, your friends have to have their numbers listed in the info section on their Facebook profiles and you must have Skype credit (I guess Skype has to make their money somehow).

Skype has also integrated a Facebook Contact Book that shows a listing of all of your Facebook friends with their contact information.

Another neat feature within the Facebook integration is the ease of adding contacts to Skype from Facebook. The way it works is if someone has a Skype account registered with the same email account that is registered with Facebook, you will see a little green button with a white plus sign next to their statuses. By clicking that button, you will be able to add them to your contacts on Skype directly from the Facebook integration. The best thing about this is that you may not know that your Facebook friends are on Skype, but now you can Skype-to-Skype call them with one button (Skype-to-Skype calling, with or without video, is free!).

Some people may be confused about what costs money and what doesn’t on Skype, so let me clear up some of the confusion. What costs money is when you want to call someone on their cell phone or landline using Skype. In order to do that you must buy Skype Credit. While some may frown on having to pay, their rates are ridiculously cheap at 2.3 cents a minute and even cheaper (0.9 cents/min) with the purchase of a monthly-subscription.

You may also want to look into downloading SkypeMobile on your smart phones for free. SkypeMobile features free Skype-to-Skype call and IM (with Verizon), Skype remains on all the time so that you can receive calls at any time, and most notably Skype-to-Skype, IM and global calls don’t use up any of your wireless plan minutes.

If you don’t have a smart phone (Skype runs on Android, iPhone, Blackberry, and a few other smart phone platforms) and can’t download SkypeMobile, check out Skype To Go. For more information on SkypeMobile or Skye To Go, check out this link.

Version 5.0, in addition to the awesomeness of Facebook integration, features some pretty wicked features such as a much simpler user interface, addition of photos to Skype contact lists (which should help in searching for people), a home dashboard with a feed of your contacts mood and statuses, as well as tutorials on using Skype and the myriad of features available.

While many thought that the 5-way video calling, available in the beta version this past summer, was pretty cool, Skype decided to roll out with 10-way video calling in the full 5.0 version. The 10-way video calling is a great tool to use for connecting with multiple family members at once (say good bye to family reunions), catching up with friends, holding study sessions and working on projects with classmates, and for holding business meetings and conferences.

If connecting with 10 people via video at the same time wasn’t cool enough, Skype decided to add additional features within the video calling such as automatic call recovery, which will automatically reconnect you if you are disconnected – almost like it never happened. They also added a feature that will automatically position the person currently talking into the middle and largest video window within Skype.

• Some things to note regarding 10-way video calling is that it is free only for a trial version, which lasts 28 days. After that is up, you will have to pony up some cash in order to continue the feature. Also in order to use it with other people, they all must have the 5.0 version, a webcam, and a broadband connection. 10-way video calling is also in beta, which means it’s a work in progress but go ahead and use it, just don’t be surprised if there are minor glitches or problems.
• The new Skype 5.0 is only available on the Windows platform, with no word on when the Mac and Linux updates will be available.

Head over to the Skype website to learn more, update to the 5.0 version, or create an account.

The post Skype Rolls Out Version 5.0 With Facebook Integration and 10-Way Video Calling first appeared on Techerator.