The Android Site

Well it looks like we finally got that Facebook application that we’ve been waiting for. It’s fairly simple, if not lacking in features. Wall posts, profile views, post photos, and that’s about it. No chat, events or even messaging, but it does have notifications and enough features to keep the Facebook addict happy for now till we see an update. Although you may want to hit up x.facebook.com from your Android browser if you want a few more features and a more polished look.

There’s some speculation floating around that this may not be the official application from Facebook and I don’t see much merit to that, just my opinion. Phandroid is calling attention to the fact that the developer email address is Facebook.Android@gmail.com instead of something more official, but is that really far fetched that Facebook would use a Gmail address? Although the application is still not listed on Facebook’s mobile applications list, and the counterpart on Facebook shows the application as “not developed by Facebook”, but as it is pointed out by a commenter on that page, the applications for Palm and Blackberry say the same thing. Perhaps a simple announcement from Facebook would have saved me from having to write this paragraph.

Either way, most people probably don’t care. You can access Facebook, and it works, bottom line. The mere fact that it’s called “Facebook” is enough to show you that it’s probably not an impostor. You can bet the developers of “Babbler”, “Bloo”, “Fbook” all wanted that name.

The app is available in the Android Market now. Download it, try it out, leave a comment with your thoughts.

Edit: Just another quick note, a few users are reporting this crashes on the HTC Hero and those running custom ROMs such as Cyanogen. Let us know if you’re having trouble with the app.

Ben Marvin Rumors, Software applications, Facebook, Rumors, Software

The Brightkite application that was demoed at Google I/O is now out in public beta announce via Brightkite’s official account on Brightkite. For those that are not familiar, Brightkite is a location based social network that lets users share with their friends their location, notes, and photos, all in real-time via the web, applications, email or even SMS.

With applications out for Blackberry and iPhone platforms, it was only a matter of time before they gave us more Android love, the most recent being the addition of Google Gears support on i.brightkite.com. Those of you that have been using i.brightkite.com on the web or have used the iPhone application are going to love the Android version. Even in Beta form, the interface is very slick and polished. All the features are there, including guessing your location via GPS or cell towers. Viewing placestreams and friends is all just a click away. It’s also very easy to upload photos from the phone or take a photo and post instantly to your Brightkite stream. And for those of you that like privacy, there’s an easy one-click button to hide your location right on the home screen. You can also search the public Brightkite universe easily.

If this is the Beta, I can’t wait to see what other goodies they’re going to add for us in later releases. After all, there already is a project that lets you auto check-in via Google Latitude.

The application is not in the Android Market yet. You can download it here, or scan the QR code below with Barcode Reader on your Android handset:

Ben Marvin Software applications, beta, Blackberry, Brightkite, Google Gears, Google I/O, Google Latitude, GPS, iPhone, location-based services, Software

Question Of The Day: What applications would you like to see in the Android Market?

Sure, there are plenty of useful and fun applications, but with apps coming out like “101 Farts,” you have to wonder, what applications should developers be focusing on? There’s still a large gap between the Android Market and the iPhone App Store in terms of number of applications. Are there any iPhone apps you would like to see Android versions of? One area that Android is seriously lacking is in gaming.

Leave a comment and tell everyone what you would like to see developers working on.

Ben Marvin QOTD, Software Android Market, applications, Games, QOTD

This screenshot from Jake Wharton’s Flickr shows some of the upcoming features to expect in the 2.0 revision of the banned app SMSBarrage. It’s about to get a whole lot better and a whole lot more evil. Added to the core feature of sending massive amounts of SMS messages, we can also see support for backgrounding, multiple barrages, scheduling, and barrage blocking. Currently at version 1.1.3 you will have to head over to Jake Wharton’s site to download this app. Hopefully this update will arrive soon, as the iPhone version is coming, albeit with only the 1.0 feature set to begin with.

Ben Marvin Software applications, SMS, SMSbarrage, Software

Yesterday, PayPal announced their new Android application, simply titled PayPal. Allowing you to check your balance, send and receive money, and view transactions, all from the convenience of you Android device. PayPal claims the highest security measures are in place to keep your transactions as safe as using the website.

Key features:

• Direct integration with the contact list.  You won’t need to remember people’s numbers or emails anymore to send them money!  Just select their name from your list of contacts, and we’ll make sure they get paid.
• Recent history. You can use your phone to look at your transactions over the last couple of months.  So if you ever need to check whether or not a payment has come through, it’ll be simple to find out.
• Balance checks.  We show you all your balances in any of the currencies you hold.

The app is available now in the Android Market, just search for PayPal.

[via Paypal Blog]

Ben Marvin Software Android, applications, paypal, Software