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Docs.com: Facebook and Microsoft partner for social office apps
Facebook Like buttons unleashed on the web
Ash cloud spotted on Nokia Ovi Store
iPhone owners get Wi-Fi finder app from The Cloud
iPhone 4.0: five ways it’ll revolutionise mobile. Again.
WhipCar neighbour-to-neighbour car rental service launches
Asus Eee Keyboard up for pre-order
Lunchtime Lowdown: Google Maps Navigation UK, Bluetooth 4.0 and Apple teases new iPhone
Google Maps Navigation goes official in the UK!
New iPhone teased as Apple reveals record sales

Docs.com: Facebook and Microsoft partner for social office apps

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 11:43 AM PDT

Facebook announced a new breed of Like buttons for the wider web today, but that's not all. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg also showed off a "glimpse into the future" in the shape of Docs.com a new social office suite from Microsoft.

Built in partnership between Facebook and Microsoft, Docs.com is a web-based office suite, not unlike Google Docs or Apple's iWork.com. There's a key difference here though: Docs.com already knows all about you, your friends and what you're interested in.

Start using Docs.com and you'll be able to create documents to share with existing Facebook friends. They'll be told about your documents through standard Facebook messages, and able to view, edit, or comment on your work.

It side-steps an annoying quirk of Google Docs – needing to know your buddie's contact details, and the need for them too to have a Google account. It's also more open than Apple's iWork.com, which only lets you view shared files. We mean, c'mon, who isn't on Facebook, and who doesn't like documents?!…. put your hand down at the back.

Microsoft Office heading to Nokia phones

Zuckerberg, or "Zuck" to his friends, showed off Docs.com saying "this product was built from the ground up with the assumption that every user has their own friends. It's designed to be social," going on to say that Facebook has been working with select companies, such as Microsoft, to imagine a web where social information is taken for granted.

What he didn't say was how quickly Microsoft was able to throw Docs.com together. "From concept to its initial implementation in less than four months," explained Lili Cheng, Microsoft's Fuze Labs, which built Docs.com

Docs.com supports word documents and Powerpoint presentations, as well as Excel spreadsheets, for real thrill-seekers. And the best bit? You can take Docs.com for a spin right now. It's built using Microsoft Silverlight, and from our first few minutes with it, incredibly slick.

Out now | £free | Docs.com

Facebook Like buttons unleashed on the web

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 11:09 AM PDT

Facebook just announced it's unleashing the Like buttons you already know and love, but this time they won't be stuck on Facebook alone. Soon, you'll start seeing Like buttons appear on other websites, ready for you to click each time you see something worth sharing.

Announcing the move at Facebook's F8 conference in San Francisco, Bret Taylor, Facebook's director of product said "Connections between people and the things they care about will play as big a part as hyperlinks do today in connecting people and their internet experience."

Facebook has partnered with 30 websites to kick-start the new Like buttons' roll out across the web. They include ESPN and IMDB, with visitors able to tap Like buttons next to athletes and films to tell their mates' what they're interested in.

Facebook privacy changes: Plan to open information to other websites revealed

But Facebook's integration runs deeper. Tap a Like button on an IMDB film page, and you'll have the movie added to your friend stream, as well as automatically inserted into the list of films you like within your Facebook profile.

Facebook is promising similar tight integration through its new Open Graph coding system, letting web developers tinker with the behaviour of Like buttons behind the scenes. Creating the code, which Facebook is calling a Social Plugin, is a simple process for developers too.

So simple, and so effective that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is expecting to serve a billion Like buttons in the first 24 hours they're allowed on other websites. That's a whole lotta clickin'!

Out now | £free | Facebook

Ash cloud spotted on Nokia Ovi Store

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 10:10 AM PDT

Stranded by the volcanic ash? Trapped in blighty and cursing the heavenly dust? Now you can track it with a free app for Nokia phones, available now on the Ovi Store.

It might’ve grounded planes, coated cars and kept the nation’s mind off the looming election, but until now the ash cloud had stayed clear of our gadgets. Until it invaded Nokia’s Ovi Store that is. A new travel app gives you the latest news on airline delays caused by the Icelandic ash-chucker, and best of all it’s free.

Simply dubbed Ash Cloud, it’s available now at the Nokia Ovi Store, and packs in a second-by-second needs feed from the National Air Traffic Services – they’re the peeps responsible for shutting our nation’s transport hubs at the faintest whiff of skydust.

It’ll work on almost all Nokia smartphones, so if you’re one of the millions packing the Big N’s kit, and anxiously awaiting some cheery transport news, download it now.

Out now | £free | Ovi Store (via NokNok)

iPhone owners get Wi-Fi finder app from The Cloud

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 08:58 AM PDT

Hunting for Wi-Fi with the iPhone is a miserable experience, but tracking down free hostpots from The Cloud just got a little easier. The wireless wizards just launched a new Fast Connect app for Apple's phone.

The Fast Connect iPhone app lets you track down nearby Cloud hotspots, and gives automatic connection to them whenever you're in range.

There's a directory of hotspots too, so you don't need to be nearby to find one. They'll show in a list, or on Google Maps, so you can plot a route to the quickest connection available.

Of course, hooking up to The Cloud's Wi-Fi hotspots is only free with an iPhone, and it'll let you stream video and music quicker than over 3G. The Fast Connect app is completely free, too. Check it out in action below.

Out now | £Free | The Cloud

iPhone 4.0: five ways it’ll revolutionise mobile. Again.

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 06:31 AM PDT

The iPhone 4.0 leaks have been splashed all over the web, but so far the majority of gadget fans' speculation, scrutiny and inspection of the device has been on its specs. Sure there are some new goodies in there, but more interesting is how Apple could use its new toy to reshape mobile all over again.

1. Put the video back in video games
Sure, Apple will show off that front-facing camera on the iPhone 4.0 with iChat and video calls, but we don't reckon that's what it's really for.

To date, tons of phones have offered front-facing cameras, but they're always been smudgy, and video chat on the move is a pain. Once developers get their hands on it however, that front-facing camera will be an invaluable weapon for the iPhone.

Obviously, it has the potential to take on the Nintendo DSi, but games developers could also seize it as a chance to make augmented reality gaming a reality. Imagine playing story-based games that read your facial expressions to figure out how infuriated or amused you are by the plot-line. Or which quietly monitor your attention span, pausing the game when you're distracted, or need to hop off the bus.

2. Unparalleled screen quality
The first hands-on reports with the iPhone 4.0 suggested that its resolution has been hugely increased. Gizmodo reported it was difficult to discern individual pixels, while Daring Fireball's John Gruber explains the ramifications of a huge resolution increase on the iPhone 4.0.

In short, Apple's mobile will finally have a screen quality to rival high quality magazines. According to Gruber, a doubling of its resolution to 960?×?640 would create unprecedented quality for a mobile phone, and mean the iPhone 4.0 display was "indistinguishable, or nearly so, from high-quality print."

Consider Apple has already announced it'll bring iBooks to the iPhone with iPhone OS 4.0, and the implications are clear: Apple is out to make the new iPhone a fantastic device for reading, and will pack in enough pixels to display close-to-HD video, even considering its small screen.

3. Next-gen miniaturisation
Gizmodo, acting as temporary custodians of the leaked iPhone 4.0 prototype, didn't just photograph the outside of the device, they ripped it apart. In doing so, they revealed the logic board, or brains of the new iPhone, have shrunk dramatically.

The iPhone 4.0 has a processor and associated circuitry around a third the size of its predecessor, the iPhone 3GS. The extra space allows for a battery that's bigger, taking up roughly half of the phone's inside and 19% bigger than the iPhone 3GS.

Until Apple releases the new iPhone 4.0, there's no way to know what that increased battery, and shrunken circuitry mean, but if we had to bet, we'd say Apple's about to blow all our expectations of battery life out of the water.

4. Wireless one-upmanship
The iPad debuted with Wi-Fi, but look closely at its specs and you'll see it's N-standard Wi-Fi, offering greater speed and improved range. It's impossible to tell from the evidence to date, but in the past Apple has used identikit components across the iPod and iPhone range, so it's natural to assume the same can be expected of the iPad.

If we're right, then the iPhone 4.0, and by association the next iPod touch, will also come with super-fast Wi-Fi. The implications are huge.

The iPhone will obviously surf at greater speeds, when connected through Wi-Fi to a beefy broadband connection, but it's the local use of wireless we're really excited about. Multi-player games with nearby friends will see a speed increase, iPhone owners will enjoy better performance at greater distances, and there's the possiblity of new uses: such as wireless syncing with iTunes.

The latter could make the iPhone 4.0 more efficient and enjoyable all round. Imagine an iPhone that automatically syncs new songs, podcasts and videos as soon as you walk within range of your home network. The Apple TV has synced with iTunes wirelessly since its introduction in March 2007, and packs N-standard Wi-Fi for this very reason.

And then there's the speculation around Apple and NFC technology. Like that used in London's Oyster cards, and company ID cards all over the world, Apple has applied for patents to use NFC in iPhones and iPods, as well as Macs. Its latest scheme would see owners use the iPhone as a ticket to events, letting you swipe in or out using its NFC technology.

We already know the iPhone 4.0 has a special glass back to allow better wireless reception. Maybe these two wireless technologies are the reason why.

5. Apple's secret weapon
It's no secret that the iPhone has put Apple head to head with network operators. Since its launch in June 2007 there have been rows over data usage and video streaming, tariffs and visual voicemail, unlocking and exclusivity, but now Apple is nearing the position where, at least in Europe, its handset is available on almost all major networks.

It's a powerful position for Apple to be in: no single network has control over its device, and if any restrictions, such as on data usage, are applied there are rivals ready to offer an alternative to disgruntled customers.

Pretty soon, Apple will be able to play the operators' demands off against each other, rather than itself. Perhaps iPhone 4.0 will finally see Apple leverage its position, and usher in a new layer of control over the iPhone: how calls themselves are made.

How could it happen? Maybe it already has. Last December rumours were rife, although never confirmed, that Apple had purchased VoIP firm iCall. The benefits to Apple were obvious. For a start, the company owns the iCall trademark, and it also has unique technology: allowing voice calls from the mobile network to be passed almost seamlessly to its VoIP app.

Reports circulated that Apple had splashed up to $60 million on acquiring iCall. However, it continues to operate within its own right, and Apple's involvement has never been clear.

Imagine for a minute however, how iCall could fit inside the iPhone ecosystem. iPhones could become equipped to place calls to each other straight out of the box, circumnavigating network operator's charges completely and using those handy unlimited data tariffs, negotiated by Apple from the day the iPhone was born.

Drop out of a data network, and your iCall would become a normal call. Fuss-free and fool-proof, just the way Apple likes it.

Of course, it's all conjecture. But it is interesting to note that iCall has made no public announcements since February, despite Apple showcasing iPhone OS 4.0 last month, complete with multitasking and VoIP abilities built in. Now, you'd think iCall would have something to say about that, wouldn't you?

WhipCar neighbour-to-neighbour car rental service launches

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 05:30 AM PDT

WhipCar is a bit like Zipcar – and we're not just talking about the eerie similarity between the services' names. While Zipcar lets you rent out the nearest vehicle owned by the company, WhipCar focusses on private cars – so you can hire your neighbour's motor, or let him hire yours.

Like Zipcar, WhipCar is aimed mainly at non-car owners who only need occasional use of a set of wheels. Users (and those wishing to rent out their jalopy) can register for free at www.whipcar.com – both will be screened to make sure they fit the bill, of course – and after that they can put out word whenever they want to rent a car. The website will put them in touch with the nearest applicable owner.

WhipCar then notifies the owner via text and email when there's a potential approved driver in their area. If the owner approves then the driver's insurance replaces the owner's insurance for the duration of the rental. Clever stuff.

WhipCar is currently limited to London.

Out now | £Free to register | WhipCar

Asus Eee Keyboard up for pre-order

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 05:00 AM PDT

The long awaited Asus Eee Keyboard multimedia PC is finally launching! Yes, the consumer tech equivalent of Duke Nukem Forever will start shipping in the US from 23 April, with Amazon listing the price as $599 (£389).

That's not cheap for a netbook-class PC crammed into a keyboard, but the Asus Eee Keyboard does offer some fairly unique features: namely high-speed UWB (ultra wideband) wireless technology and a multitouch-compatible 5-inch 800 x 480 capacitive touchscreen. UWB is used for cable-free streaming between the Asus Eee Keyboard and a TV or monitor.

According to Amazon, the other Asus Eee Keyboard specs include an Atom N270 processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of SSD storage, Windows XP Home (wot no Windows 7?), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 and three USB 2.0 ports.

We'll keep an eye out for details of the Asus Eee Keyboard's UK launch. Stay tuned for more info.

Out TBC | £TBC | Asus (via Amazon and Netbooked.net)

Lunchtime Lowdown: Google Maps Navigation UK, Bluetooth 4.0 and Apple teases new iPhone

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 04:30 AM PDT

We’re bang on halfway through the working week, which calls for a celebration in our books. Kick back with a party post stuffed full of all the latest gadget news, rounded up for you right here in the lunchtime lowdown.

We’ve got lots of juicy news for mobile heads up first. The game is already up on the new iPhone 4.0, but it’s still a surprise to find Apple itself alluding to it in a recent conference. Symbian fans will also be sated by our in depth review of the Nokia X6, breaking down how that vaunted capacitive touchscreen works, its music skills and more.

But the biggest news is happening on Android. Google Maps Navigation, the free turn by turn satnav service, has officially rolled out in the UK, months after we showed you how to test it out early. That means you’ll be able to check it out on your HTC Legend, HTC Desire or Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, all of which we’ve got detailed guides to over at our Android hub.

Elsewhere in gadgetry, we checked out Asus’ latest twisting touchscreen Eee PC, the Asus Eee PC T101MT, and the details for Bluetooth 4.0 have been released: it promises much longer battery life for all your remotes.

Speaking of wireless data slinging, we’ve also got detailed tutorials to show you how to do it at much faster speeds with Q-waves‘ wireless USB gear. Find out more about Q-waves.

Still want more news? Get it over on the homepage, right now.

Check out our Android Invasion, starting with our first robot romance video below!

Google Maps Navigation goes official in the UK!

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 04:00 AM PDT

Last year we showed you Google Maps Navigation could be made to work in the UK, despite its then US-only limitations. Users then reported that the workaround stopped working, suggesting that Google had blocked it. But get ready to be happy, Android users, because Google has finally broken the shackles and launched Google Maps Navigation officially in the UK!

And the news gets even better. The free turn-by-turn satnav service isn't limited to the newest Android 2.0 and 2.1 phones: yep, Google Maps Navigation will happily work with Android 1.6 devices like the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10.

Google Maps Navigation isn't the only free satnav service available for phones, of course. Nokia Ovi Maps also went cost-free recently.

We’ve also just received word from readers that Google Maps Navigation is working properly in the UK [thanks Steve!].

Out now | £Free | Google Maps Navigation (via FoneHome)

New iPhone teased as Apple reveals record sales

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 03:30 AM PDT

The new iPhone may be generating all the buzz at the moment, but let's not forget that there is already the pretty impressive iPhone 3GS already out there, and it's selling like the proverbial hotcakes. Apple just spilled its quarterly financials – and also made a fairly veiled mention of the new iPhone at the same time.

Apple's total revenue in the last quarter was $13.5 billion, with $5.3 billion of that coming from iPhone sales. The Cupertino company shifted a staggering 8.75 million iPhones in that period.

Perhaps most interesting about the quarterly report was a mention of "new hardware" by Apple COO Tim Cook when quizzed about the current iPhone. While it's hardly a confirmation, it seems to be a suggestion from Apple that the new iPhone is on its way:

"The things that we do to drive overall iPhone demand is focused on product innovation. And that’s software, that hopefully you saw with the preview that we gave of the new iPhone release that will be coming this summer. It’s new hardware and new products. It’s new distribution points. It’s additional carriers and geographic expansion, which we’ll continue to do."

Not exactly a "yes, there is a new iPhone coming this summer" statement, but a definite hint that something is in the works.

Out TBC | £TBC | Apple (via Gizmodo)