Yap.TV Brings Real-Time Chat to iOS TV Guide

by Christina Warren

Yap.tv, a social TV guide app for iOS was updated to version 3.0 on Wednesday, adding enhanced navigation, instant live chat and access to better social discovery tools.

What sets yap.TV apart from other mobile TV guide apps? It is designed to connect users with their friends and social circles. Not only can users share what they’re watching with friends and family, they can also chat with friends or with fellow show-fans within the app itself.

The new yap.TV 3.0 app has been redesigned for a better visual experience. The iPad version now can be browsed using a 100% picture-based guide or the traditional channel grid.

The app is now easier to navigate by category, time of day or day of week. The iPad version also includes a special movie-browsing mode. Yap.TV has also updated its programming infrastructure to support providers across the nation.

What I like about yap.TV as a TV guide is that you can easily arrange channel lineups and customize what types of channels you want to see.

Of course, the real distinguishing feature of yap.TV are its social features. Similar to BeeTV, the app lets users see what people are saying about a show on Twitter. Users can also follow stars and celebrities associated with a show within the app and send out tweets and retweets. In addition, viewers can browse through yap.TV polls, as well as create new polls for other yap.TV users to vote on.

For us, though, live chat has the most potential within the app. Each show has its own live chat room. You can chat with the yap.TV users watching that show (assuming others are online and in the app) or you can invite your friends to join a private party chat.

Of course, for live chat to work, the userbase needs to be of a sufficient size. Still, it’s a smart idea. We think a real-time live-chat element within the TV guide itself adds value to the application.

What is your favorite TV guide and listing app for the iPhone or iPad? Let us know in the comme

Facebook Launches Dedicated Messaging App for iPhone & Android

 by Ben Parr

Facebook has unveiled Facebook Messenger, an Android and iPhone app dedicated to sending messages and texts through the world’s largest social network.

The mobile app, which is now available in the Android Marketplace and iOS App Store, is the direct result of its March acquisition of group messaging app Beluga. Facebook Messenger is the first mobile application the company has developed and released outside of its official Facebook app.

“It’s a mobile app about real-time communication,” Beluga co-founder and Facebook engineer Ben Davenport told Mashable. All messages are sent and received in real time — no refreshing required.

The app, much like Beluga, is simple and straightforward. Once users log into Messenger with their Facebook credentials, they’re taken to a screen with all of their recent Facebook chats and messages. Users can jump into any of their past conversations or create a new one. Messages can either be sent via Facebook Messenger or via SMS.

Users can also send photos to their friends with the app. It also lets you give message threads a name, for easier organization.

One of the key elements of Messenger is its alert system. Users can choose to receive alerts for new messages, or they can turn them off. They can also delay alerts for an hour or until 8:00 a.m. the next day. The alert settings can be tailored for individual message threads or for all messages through Messenger.

Facebook admits its official mobile app will eventually have all of Messenger’s functionality, but the company believes that having an app dedicated to quick messaging on the Facebook platform is something that will benefit its millions of mobile users. And it could give other group messaging apps like GroupMe a run for their money.

Check out the screenshots of the iOS and Android apps below, and let us know what you think of Messenger.

10 Free iPhone Apps for a More Romantic Valentine’s Day

February 14, love it or hate it, is just around the corner. Valentine’s Day is yet another holiday that has been over-marketed and over-commercialized, judging by the onslaught of pink hearts and red roses, but if you have someone in your life to profess your love to, you won’t mind a little visit from Cupid this year.
If you’re planning a special night, the following 10 free apps can help you take your romance game to the next level. And even if you aren’t presently in a relationship, Valentine’s Day is good excuse to tell someone that they’re special. C’mon, you can break out the warm fuzzies, at least for one day.

1. Valentine RADIO

As you get ready for your Valentine’s Day festivities, you can set the mood with some romantic music. Valentine RADIO is a compilation of 20+ radio stations from around the country and streams the music directly to your phone so you can get your Luther Vandross, Barry White and slow jam fix.

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2. Valentine Photo Free -- Picture With Love

If you want to demonstrate your love in more visual ways, you can send a custom-made Valentine’s Day photo that you personally designed. The Valentine Photo Free app lets you personalize photos with cutesy images like hearts, swirly designs and presents. You can e-mail your creation to the lucky recipient or post it on a social network to publicly declare your love.

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3. Be Mine Lite

Be Mine Lite is another Valentine’s Day card-making app, but rather than decorate photos, this one lets you choose from a number of templates to create you custom card. You can add a whole slew of visual effects –- like hearts, whimsical swirls, flowers –- and declare your love. There is also a paid version for $0.99 that offers a wider variety of backgrounds and effects.

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4. California Blooms

If you’re more of a traditionalist and prefer to go the rose route, California Blooms is a great app for ordering that beautiful bouquet on the go. The app features gorgeous photos of the variety of bouquets they sell, as well as information on the care and handling of roses, and California Blooms’ eco-friendly growing process. The company is so confident in the quality of its roses that it guarantees your satisfaction or your money back.

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5. Candy Valentines Hearts Free

No Valentine’s Day is complete without those little, all-too-familiar candy conversation hearts. With this app, you can add anyone’s name to the “I ♥” message and send the image to the lucky recipient. If you’d like to pay for the full version ($0.99), you can create your own entire message and have more options for background designs and colors.

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6. Cook's Illustrated

You know the expression “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” Well another to consider is “The way to a woman’s heart is by cooking her dinner.” Yes, it’s that simple. The Cook’s Illustrated app tries to make it even easier. Featuring 50 of the magazine’s best recipes (and complementary videos for each), this app will provide you with the perfect meal for a romantic evening.

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7. Say I Love You

If you really want to impress your special someone, how about whipping out “I love you” in a different language? This app provides simple translations of these three special words in a large variety of languages. So if you want to learn to say it in Indonesian (Saya cinta padamu) or Ukrainian (Ya tebe kahayu), or a host of other languages, now you can.

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8. Love Horoscopes

Gather your daily horoscope and your forecast for love with this app. It shows you a three-day range (yesterday, today and tomorrow), provides lucky numbers and also offers a view of how likely you are to achieve success in attributes like wellness, creativity, money, work and more.

9. Love♥

As you’re professing your deepest feelings, you can mix in profound quotes with the help of the Love♥ app: A compilation of beautiful sayings about the magic of love. Quotes include: “Within you I lose myself. Without you I find myself wanting to become lost again.” What a way to sweep someone off his or her feet!

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1. Valentine RADIO

As you get ready for your Valentine’s Day festivities, you can set the mood with some romantic music. Valentine RADIO is a compilation of 20+ radio stations from around the country and streams the music directly to your phone so you can get your Luther Vandross, Barry White and slow jam fix.

As you get ready for your Valentine’s Day festivities, you can set the mood with some romantic music. Valentine RADIO is a compilation of 20+ radio stations from around the country and streams the music directly to your phone so you can get your Luther Vandross, Barry White and slow jam fix.

1. Valentine RADIO

1

If you want to demonstrate your love in more visual ways, you can send a custom-made Valentine’s Day photo that you personally designed. The Valentine Photo Free app lets you personalize photos with cutesy images like hearts, swirly designs and presents. You can e-mail your creation to the lucky recipient or post it on a social network to publicly declare your love.

2. Valentine Photo Free -- Picture With Love

2

Be Mine Lite is another Valentine’s Day card-making app, but rather than decorate photos, this one lets you choose from a number of templates to create you custom card. You can add a whole slew of visual effects –- like hearts, whimsical swirls, flowers –- and declare your love. There is also a paid version for $0.99 that offers a wider variety of backgrounds and effects.

3. Be Mine Lite

3

If you’re more of a traditionalist and prefer to go the rose route, California Blooms is a great app for ordering that beautiful bouquet on the go. The app features gorgeous photos of the variety of bouquets they sell, as well as information on the care and handling of roses, and California Blooms’ eco-friendly growing process. The company is so confident in the quality of its roses that it guarantees your satisfaction or your money back.

4. California Blooms

4

No Valentine’s Day is complete without those little, all-too-familiar candy conversation hearts. With this app, you can add anyone’s name to the “I ♥” message and send the image to the lucky recipient. If you’d like to pay for the full version ($0.99), you can create your own entire message and have more options for background designs and colors.

5. Candy Valentines Hearts Free

5

You know the expression “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” Well another to consider is “The way to a woman’s heart is by cooking her dinner.” Yes, it’s that simple. The Cook’s Illustrated app tries to make it even easier. Featuring 50 of the magazine’s best recipes (and complementary videos for each), this app will provide you with the perfect meal for a romantic evening.

6. Cook's Illustrated

6

If you really want to impress your special someone, how about whipping out “I love you” in a different language? This app provides simple translations of these three special words in a large variety of languages. So if you want to learn to say it in Indonesian (Saya cinta padamu) or Ukrainian (Ya tebe kahayu), or a host of other languages, now you can.

7. Say I Love You

7

Gather your daily horoscope and your forecast for love with this app. It shows you a three-day range (yesterday, today and tomorrow), provides lucky numbers and also offers a view of how likely you are to achieve success in attributes like wellness, creativity, money, work and more.

8. Love Horoscopes

8

As you’re professing your deepest feelings, you can mix in profound quotes with the help of the Love♥ app: A compilation of beautiful sayings about the magic of love. Quotes include: “Within you I lose myself. Without you I find myself wanting to become lost again.” What a way to sweep someone off his or her feet!

9. Love♥

9

Guys, you’ve wined and dined her, now, it’s time to step it up. If you’re ready for the big leagues, this is a great app to see a selection of engagement ring styles and see what’s au courant in the world of ultimate bling (just don’t look at the prices). Before you even have a chance to pop the question, she’ll be screaming "YES" as soon as she sees that little blue box.

10. Tiffany & Co. Engagement Ring Finder

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If you hate Valentine’s Day and are just bitter all around, consider downloading the Anti-Valentine’s Day Sounds app. You can commiserate with other haters and listen to the no-frills app spew things like, “Roses are red, violets are blue, you suck,” or “Valentine’s this.” It’s $0.99. (You must really hate the holiday to buy this app.)

BONUS: Anti-Valentine's Day Sounds

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“Rio” Super Bowl Ad Features “Angry Birds” Hidden Level Clues

by Christina Warren

As announced earlier last week, the Angry Birds got a cameo in a Super Bowl ad Sunday night.
In the 20th Century Fox spot for the upcoming computer-animated film, Rio, Angry Birds fans were directed to a special hidden egg on level 13-12 of the best-selling mobile phone game.

This level is part of the new Angry Birds update that hit iPhone and Android devices earlier this weekend. Fans that unlock the hidden egg will be treated to a Super Bowl-themed secret level.
The clue comes at the 26 second mark in the ad for Rio, which you can watch below.



If you want to uncover the special golden egg — go to that level and shoot a white bird backwards and then drop an egg. This will unlock a new football-shaped golden egg in the Golden Egg menu in the game.
Complete that game level and players will have the opportunity to enter a contest to attend the Rio movie premiere.
In addition to offering up a special Super Bowl-themed level and the contest for the movie premiere, Rovio will also be offering a special Rio version of Angry Birds in conjunction with the film’s March 22, 2011 release date.

Angry Birds Gets Facebook-Infused Valentine’s Day Edition

by Christina Warren
The special Valentine’s Day edition of Angry Birds is now available for iPhone, iPad and Android.
The Valentine-themed levels are part of Angry Birds Seasons, the spin-off version of Angry Birds that first made its debut last fall.

In addition to 15 standard levels of pig-busting fun, Angry Birds Valentine’s Day features some interesting new tie-ins with Facebook and Bing.
On the main app screen, users are invited to go to Facebook to send Angry Birds-themed Valentine’s Day cards. We were able to connect to our Facebook accounts on the iPhone and iPad versions of the game, but weren’t able to actually send the bird-themed greeting.
Fortunately, the page can be accessed from a regular web browser too.
Moving on, by clicking on a link on the second page in the app and clicking the Facebook “Like” button, three more levels are opened.
And of course, it wouldn’t be Angry Birds without hidden surprises. It looks like there are three different golden eggs in this latest Angry Birds update, and Rovio has partnered with Bing to offer an instant link to a pre-filled Bing web search.
In past Angry Birds updates, we’ve seen Rovio push more of its other content, including Angry Birds plush toys and other merchandise, but this is the first time extra content has been linked to fan pages or other partnerships.
During Sunday’s Super Bowl, the birds received a cameo in a spot for the upcoming film Rio (which will be getting its own edition of Angry Birds this March) that gave fans a clue to a hidden level.
The game is one of the most successful mobile phone games of all time — with tens of millions of fans across mobile platforms.

Path Finally Adds Comments to iPhone App

 by Jennifer Van Grove

The “private network” startup Path released an update Monday to its iPhone app that finally adds comments to the service. Path Chat, as the comment feature is called, will find its way to users who update to version 1.4.

Path Chat is a simple addition that adds traditional commenting to an otherwise untraditional service. Prior to the update, users could only provide feedback on photos by sharing an “emotion” or sending the contact a text message.

Path has faced criticism for some of its seemingly odd restrictions or limitations, such as 10-second video. Still, the startup appears to be growing in popularity and is now well-positioned to iterate and hire at a rapid pace with $8.65 million in fresh funding.