Facebook Poke app now available for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad -- because, why not?

It's pretty tough to "Poke" someone -- digitally, anyway -- with a straight face. But toss a sophisticated smartphone into that equation, and... well, it's still just as tough. For those who'd like to make awkward family gatherings even more awkward way less awkward this holiday season, hit up the source links to get the (free) Facebook Poke app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. With the Poke app, you can poke or send a message, photo, or video to Facebook friends "to share what you're up to in a lightweight way," with each message expiring after 1, 3, 5 or 10 seconds. If you ever see something you're uncomfortable with, you can click the gear menu and report it. Not that you have any friends that would weird you out or anything.

[Source: Engadget]

UK offers long-awaited copyright reform that sanctions format shifting, remote education

Believe it or not, it's still illegal in the UK to rip a favorite CD, or even to show copyrighted work in distance education -- both fair use permissions that many North Americans take for granted. Some sense is at last coming around now that the Intellectual Property Office is putting forward copyright reforms that accept a digital reality. The measures explicitly approve private copying for personal use, making it legal to shift formats as long as it's to play purchased content. Many of the reforms also clear up the murkiness surrounding institutional use: analysts, researchers and teachers should have access to copyrighted material over networks, as long as it's for non-commercial purposes. The fair use terms aren't as broadly outlined as they are in the US -- these are exceptions, not general rules -- but they go a long way towards legitimizing what many wanted all along. Or, let's be honest, were already doing.

[Image credit: Department for Business Innovation and Skills, Flickr]
[Source: Engadget]

Amazon Instant Video app now available on (some) Google TV devices

Hot on the heels of making it available on the iPhone and iPod touch, Amazon's now bringing a native app for its Instant Video service to Mountain View's TV platform. It's always been accessible via the web browser, although navigating the site via remote was painful and the Flash video quality suffered. Granted, the on-demand application doesn't appear to be compatible with some devices at the moment, with a few folks pointing out that they are not seeing it be friendly with their particular Google TV-powered set-top box -- including ones such as the Logitech Revue and the (much) newer Vizio Co-Star. Here's to hoping the giant e-tailer makes Instant Video friendly with more Google TVs pretty soon -- according to Google, it's only available on LG TVs so far, since they've received the latest v3 updates already.

[Source: Engadget]

Facebook 'experiment' lets select users pay to have messages routed directly to a stranger's inbox

Get ready to have your preconceived notions of email destroyed. In a Facebook blog post today, the company has gone to great lengths to bury the lede -- which, essentially, says that it's experimenting with the idea of letting non-connected users pay in order to have a message routed to one's inbox instead of that ill-fated "Other" folder. According to the company, it's being dubbed a "small experiment" to "test the usefulness of economic signals to determine relevance." As an excuse, Facebook has evidently consulted with "several commentators and researchers," which "have noted that imposing a financial cost on the sender may be the most effective way to discourage unwanted messages and facilitate delivery of messages that are relevant and useful."

Bitterness aside, there is some value in being able to directly ping a stranger you heard speak at an event, or you want to really show your interest in a job opportunity, but it still destroys the level playing field that we've all come to know and respect as it relates to digital communication. This message routing feature is only for personal messages between individuals in the United States, and if there's a silver lining to be found, we're told that the number of messages a person can have routed from their Other folder to their Inbox will be limited to a maximum of one per week. It's unclear how the service will evolve once the testing ends, but perhaps it depends on how much blowback occurs compared to the whole Instagate thing.

[Source: Engadget]

Facebook adds drag-and-drop photos, trials simplified Timeline and delivers new privacy controls

Anyone who's returned from an event with a virtual armful of photos may have been frustrated with Facebook's upload interface, which until now has involved a less-than-intuitive file browser. The company is quietly solving that problem: an update pushing out to individual users lets them drag-and-drop photos into a new post, like we've seen on other social networks, and to a newly streamlined Messages format that's rolling out at the same time. A much smaller circle is seeing a second update. Facebook has confirmed to ABC News that it's conducting limited trials of an updated Timeline that moves the news feed to a single column, replaces the thumbnail navigation with simpler-looking tabs and makes all profile page information available through scrolling. A spokesperson wouldn't say if or when the new Timeline would reach the wider public, but history points to "when" being more likely. They did however mention that the new privacy shortcuts, activity log and untagging tool would be going live for all users starting tonight, and we've already seen them pop up on some of our accounts.

[Source: Engadget]

Hisense Pulse with Google TV priced at $100, now available from Amazon

It's been a while since we saw it at IFA, but it looks like the Hisense Pulse with Google TV is finally available for purchase a month after its promised release date. You can finally snag the Google TV set-top box from Amazon for $100 -- it misses that "under $99" mark mentioned in its initial announcement, but it's certainly close enough. The compact entertainment box supports 1080p output and has WiFi, HDMI, USB and Ethernet ports, letting you pump in content through a host of connections. Much like other Google TV products, the remote that ships with the device is double-sided -- there's a QWERTY keyboard on the bottom and more traditional controls (along with a trackpad) up top. We didn't think much of the touchpad's small size at the initial hands-on, so hopefully the manufacturer's solved that in the final product. Hisense is certainly cutting things close with this late-December release, but if you click "add to cart" now, it may just arrive in time to make its way underneath a tree.

[Source: Engadget]

Google Play Books gets high quality read aloud, pinch zoom, recommendations

If you like having your classics read to you by your handheld device but don't care for the usual robot-stuck-in-a-well tones, Google Play Books has been updated with a more dulcet option. The "read aloud" function (which has been around for several versions, despite Google saying it's new) now has a high quality voice option, which only works if you're connected to the internet. We gave it a whirl ourselves, and it's now far more tolerable to listen to "Oliver Twist" or other flowing text books, thanks to a more natural sounding voice -- as heard in the audio file after the break. In addition, Google has added pinch or double-tap zoom options, text editing features for notes, personalized recommendations and "numerous bug fixes and performance enhancements." To give it a look (or listen) for yourself, check the source for more info.

[Source: Engadget]

CloudOn outs v3.0: iPhone compatibility, optimization for 7-inch tablets and SkyDrive integration

Suffice it to say, CloudOn never quite stops polishing its iOS / Android productivity app, with the service often adding feature after feature and reaching more and more folks around the world -- with that in mind, today's update will be no exception. With the introduction of version 3.0, CloudOn's now bringing its handy Microsoft Office tools to the iPhone, marking this the first time the application will be available on any smartphone. In addition to making its debut on the smaller screen, CloudOn has also included optimization for 7-inch tablets like the ASUS-made Nexus 7 and the slightly larger iPad mini, while integration with Redmond's SkyDrive cloud and support for Mountain View's Jelly Bean OS can be found inside v3.0 as well. All in all, CloudOn's third major installment could very well be considered its most substantial yet -- and, according to CEO Millind Gadekar, there are no plans to slow down anytime soon, telling us that this is just another step toward the outfit's "mission of reinventing mobile productivity." Very well, then.

[Source: Engadget]

Google adds the scrolls of Genesis and the Ten Commandments to the cloud

Following through on its mission to help digitally preserve the Dead Sea Scrolls, Google announced today that it's working with the Israel Antiquities Authority to bring more ancient text to the cloud. The latest archived entries include an early copy of the Book of Deuteronomy and part of the first chapter of Genesis, which describes the creation of the world. In addition, hundreds of other 2,000 year-old texts outlining the history of Judaism and the life of Jesus will be added to the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library at a 1,215 dpi resolution. Utilizing Google's hosting, this project houses around 900 manuscripts that support commenting, image zoom and fullscreen viewing. Stop by the coverage link below to get up close and personal with these pieces of history.

[Image Credit: Israel Antiquities Authority]
[Source: Engadget]

Twitter notches more than 200 million active monthly users

Sure, Facebook may have scored one billion active monthly users earlier this fall, but Twitter has some celebrating to do as well -- albeit for a significantly smaller figure. Rather than commemorating the announcement with an awkward commercial comparing itself to furniture, Twitter sent out a solitary tweet stating that it now has more than 200 million monthly active users. We last checked in on the microblogging service's traction when it had 175 million registered users in 2010, and as of last summer it's said to be sitting pretty with more than 500 million in total. Costolo and Co. may not have numbers as enormous as Facebook, but these stats aren't exactly something to scoff at.

[Image credit: Coletivo Mambembe, Flickr]
[Source: Engadget]

Spotify now streaming to premium customers on TiVo Premiere boxes but no radio

Spotify is continuing its bid for electronic ubiquity, today announcing yet another device its streaming tunes will be available on: TiVo Premiere. The Premiere series of set top boxes from TiVo come in a variety of flavors, but it sounds like the service should work on any of the line -- of course, you need to be a paying Premium Spotify member to actually use the service, just like Spotify's mobile variations. There's a snappy TV-centric UI, optimized for use with TiVo's controller, and a full screen mode should you choose a more minimalist approach to your music consumption. And hey, now that Lars Ulrich is on board, you can have an all Metallica jam session, right from your living room entertainment center. Hot dog. TiVo reps tell us that the Spotify app doesn't contain the radio functionality found in other iterations of the software, and resultantly, the Spotify for TiVo app is premium member-exclusive.

[Source: Engadget]

Netflix vs Lovefilm: Television Content

For many people, the choice to go with an online streaming and DVD rental service is made for many different reasons. One of the most commonly cited ones is the extensive selection of content. These online services are able to provide more variety given their smaller overhead costs than your traditional brick and mortar rental store. Two of the most popular services today include LOVEFiLM vs Netflix.
Both services offer customers access to television series. However, they do go about it in a different manner. While both services have a wide selection of TV programmes it seems that Netflix offers more variety with its streaming service. LoveFilm does offer some streaming television shows, but many of its popular titles are found as DVD rentals. There are also some differences in that if you’re looking for a specific show you may find it streaming on LoveFilm but not on Netflix. However, even if the show isn’t streaming on LoveFilm it can usually still be obtained through the mail service.
When perusing through the television programme content for both services customers will notice they both offer many different vintage shows that are fairly old. Many people enjoy watching these older shows whether for their nostalgic value or simply to watch for the first time. Both services also offer many of the current popular television programmes as part of their offerings. However, many of these shows do not go back far enough for the satisfaction of some customers. For instance, with Netflix the popular show, Top Gear, only is available as far back as 2009.
Both services also offer stand-up comedy. The major difference is that Netflix’s comes through streaming video. LoveFilm’s selection is greatest on DVD which can be obtained easily through the mail. There is a Netflix free trial as well as one for LoveFilm that are a great way to try out the service without any obligation."