Dropbox Meets The iPhone; Access Files On The Go

Dropbox Meets The iPhone; Access Files On The Go: "

Dropbox, the easy to use file access manager which syncs your files across all your computers and the web, has introduced an iPhone application to make it even easier to access your files anywhere in the world. After almost 7 weeks of waiting, Apple has finally approved the application. With this new iPhone app, users will get access to all their Dropbox documents, PDF’s, pictures, videos and much more. Dropbox also introduced offline viewing in the iPhone app, with “Favorites.” If you add a file to your ‘Favorites’, they’ll be accessible at any time. To do so, just hit the star at the bottom of any file, and it’ll be added. Otherwise, your files stay in the cloud.

One of Dropbox’s core features is sharing your files and folders stored in the cloud with anyone else who has a Dropbox account, and the iPhone is no exception. Users can easily share their Dropbox files and folders from their iPhone to any other Dropbox user by putting in their email address, just like on the web. The app allows users to upload photos for 3G users, and videos if you have an iPhone 3GS.

What’s really cool about Dropbox’s iPhone app is that you can even stream music and movies from your Dropbox straight to your iPhone, without any noticeable delay. Dropbox’s app is also heavily integrated into Apple’s camera API with straight photo and video uploading available too.

Just a few days ago, Dropbox reached 2 million users. Dropbox was a finalist at the 2008 TechCrunch50 conference.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

TechCrunch50 Conference 2009: September 14-15, 2009, San Francisco

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Facebook for iPhone 3.0 – Full Tour & First Impressions (w/ Screenshots)

Facebook for iPhone 3.0 – Full Tour & First Impressions (w/ Screenshots): "

Facebook for iPhone 3.0 has been submitted to Apple and is awaiting approval any minute now, but we have an advance copy and have been testing it this morning.

Version 3.0, which has been in development for months, adds a number of new features and improvements to what has become one of the most heavily used iPhone applications ever – nearly 12 million people around the world use Facebook for iPhone each month. But without further ado, let’s take a look at all the new features:

1. Full News Feed Interaction, with Likes and Comments

Facebook for iPhone includes the “new” News Feed that’s been live on Facebook for a few months, including comments and likes.

You can easily comment or like on feed items in the stream as well.

Checking out comments and likes in detail is also easy:

2. Full Support for Facebook Pages

One major improvement in Facebook for iPhone 3.0 is the new full support for Pages. Now, you can check out any Page just like you can any personal profile, and Page owners can post status updates or Photos directly from the iPhone. You can also become a fan of a Page.

3. New Home Page Navigation

Perhaps the biggest navigational change to Facebook for iPhone is the new home page. Users are given the following buttons by default, but you can add your own friends and Pages starting on the second page. The new “button array” is a really helpful way to get around the app, and these may be made fully editable in future versions.

4. See Upcoming Events and RSVP

Several new features around Facebook events were added in Facebook for iPhone 3.0. Now, you can view upcoming events, check out details for a specific event, and RSVP.

5. Video Uploading

Of course, many users and application developers will be excited to hear that video uploading is now also included for iPhone 3GS owners. It’s really easy – and behaves just like photo uploading. You can do it right from your profile Page on the iPhone. Here’s how it looks – once uploaded, videos go directly onto your Facebook profile.

6. Complete Photo Management

Now, users can create and delete albums, upload photos to any album, delete photos, and delete photo tags. It’s a big improvement over Facebook for iPhone 2.0, which had pretty limited photo management capabilities. You can also now change your profile picture and zoom into photos.

7. Write Notes and Read Your Friends’ Notes

That about says it all. The interface is simple and there’s no tagging, but you can now post Notes.

8. And More

In addition, Facebook for iPhone 3.0 also adds the ability to:

• View friends’ birthdays
• Visit links in a built-in web browser
• See all of your friends’ friends and Pages
• See mutual friends
• Easily search for people and Pages

What’s Missing

While Facebook for iPhone includes many major new features, some things aren’t yet included in the new version:

• Push Notifications – Lead developer Joe Hewitt says full push support will be included in version 3.1.
• Hiding people from the News Feed – While you can do this on Facebook.com, you can’t yet do it on 3.0.
• Event Walls are not yet accessible – Although you can RSVP, you can’t write on event walls.
• Videos are not yet playable inside 3.0
• The app can only be used in Portrait mode – though Hewitt says Landscape mode is coming soon
• Application Integration – While application notifications are accessible, clicking them takes you into full browser mode inside the new Facebook app. Applications invitations are not accessible.

Conclusion

All in all, 3.0 is a major improvement that makes it easier to interact with friends in the feed, post rich content to profiles and Pages, and navigate Facebook more easily. Facebook for iPhone is a very meaty application – for instance, it also includes full Facebook Chat integration – and there are a lot of valuable little features under the hood.

When version 3.0 goes live, we’re likely to see many more Facebook Page administrators updating their Pages through their iPhones, many more mobile videos posted to user profiles, and much more feed interaction (comments and likes) happening while users are on the go. It’s a great step forward for users and businesses, and many people are already clamoring for more features for version 3.1

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Flickr, Late to the iPhone App Party, Now Faces a Crowded Market

Flickr, Late to the iPhone App Party, Now Faces a Crowded Market: "

Flickr, the Yahoo-owned photo-sharing site, has launched a free iPhone application that lets you shoot, upload and share photos and videos directly from the device. Given that it’s the camera of choice for Flickr users, many will find it a welcome addition. But a number of similar apps already available on the iPhone have done a fine job filling the void left by Flickr in the meantime, notably those of social networks.

The iPhone app closely replicates the full Flickr experience, including letting users geo-tag photos before uploading them, and it only took us five quick taps on the iPhone to email a photo to friends. You can’t log directly into the app, however, but are instead directed to the Flickr site via Safari. Still, the cumbersome log-in process was the only major gripe we had with it, so hopefully future versions will address this problem.

But if you’re not plugged into the Flickr community, you may find it easier to share your mobile pics with either the Facebook or MySpace apps. Even TwitPic or TwitterFon work great in a pinch if you’re looking to quickly send out a snap to the folks that follow you on Twitter. Flickr had 26.9 million unique visitors in July, according to web analytics company Compete. But in light of the 65 million people that Facebook alone serves on mobile devices, the photo-sharing site could have a tough time catching up.

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Facebook for iPhone 3.0 Now Available

Facebook for iPhone 3.0 Now Available: "

Facebook for iPhone 3.0, which was submitted to Apple 11 days ago, has just been approved and is now available in the App Store.

The new version, which we reviewed in detail last week, brings a bevy of new features to Facebook’s iPhone app, including commenting and likes in the News Feed, full support for Facebook Pages, new and improved navigation, events and RSVPs, video uploading, complete photo management, notes, and more. Push notifications will not be released until version 3.1. Overall, it looks fantastic.

Now that the new version is released, we expect to see many more Facebook Page administrators updating their Pages through their iPhones, many more mobile videos posted to user profiles, and much more feed interaction (comments and likes) happening while users are on the go.

Facebook for iPhone is of the most heavily used iPhone applications ever – nearly 12 million people around the world have used it in the last month.

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Apple Announces iTunes 9

Apple Announces iTunes 9: "

UPDATE: iTunes 9 has been released and is now available for download on the iTunes download page.

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Today is Apple’s Rock and Roll keynote, where the company is expected to announce a range of new products and software upgrades. One of new products has leaked a little early though: iTunes 9.

While iTunes 9 is not yet downloadable, we were able to gaze over Apple’s promotional feature list. We’re still processing all of the new features, but here are the basic additions to the new version of Apple’s music software:

- Easier iTunes Store browsing and navigation (which was a sorely needed upgrade)

- Previews of any song, TV show, album, or movie from the Apple Store

- iTunes LP, which allows you to download a digital version of specific albums with animations, videos, and other visual items.

- iTunes Extras: It essentially turns movie downloads into true DVDs, with the video commentary, cast interviews, and photo galleries in-tacty

- Genius Mixes: It turns your playlists into something akin to a radio station. It knows what songs just go together.

- More detailed and improved syncing

- App management: Yes, you can finally manage your iPhone apps in a clean way. This is something we’ve been dying for.

As for the rumored integration with Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm, we haven’t heard or seen anything about it, though that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Stay tuned for more.

Update: The sharing on social media websites feature is confirmed.

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Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: apple, itunes

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