Samsung squashes social network rumors, says family story update is on the way

It turns out that the rumors of a Samsung social network, which have been circulating the blogosphere since yesterday, were a bit overblown. The Korean tech giant officially put an end to all speculation by stating that no such project is on its agenda.

What is being developed instead is an upgrade to Family Story – which is a"family-oriented convergence service that focuses on sharing and storing families’ special moments." The service has been around on Samsung Smart TVs, smartphones, and tablets since February of 2012. The overhaul, however, is not going to turn Family Story into a social network of any kind, let alone a competitor to Facebook.

Yet wouldn't it have been nice if Samsung had come up with a social network of its own? Or would such a Facebook alternative be doomed from the beginning? Feel free to let us know what you think.

source: Samsung

iOS 6 brings deep Facebook integration

As it was predicted, Facebook integration is officially a feature of the new iOS 6, and Apple is surely sparing no effort to convince us how good the experience is. In fact, Apple claims that by interweaving the popular social network with its platform, iOS 6 will deliver "the best Facebook experience on a mobile device." Bold claim indeed, yet judging by the way Scott Forstall described it on stage at WWDC 2012, Apple appears to have done a pretty good job.

To start, a "Post to Facebook" button has been added to the notification center, right next to the Twitter button. Photos can be posted online quickly straight from the gallery, and location info can be shared without leaving the Maps app. Also, Facebook features have been added to the App Store and iTunes, so users can effortlessly "like" content, such as apps, games, songs, or movies. And if that is not enough, syncing your Facebook contacts has been added, so events and birthdays will appear in the user's calendar. APIs will be made available to developers so that they can take full advantage of the iOS 6 Facebook integration.

Sounds quite promising don't you think? Now feel free to check out a few screenshots of how Facebook integration in iOS 6 will look like.

source: The Verge

Facebook for Android software update addresses some random crashes with the app

Don’t you hate it when you write up a long post on Facebook for Android and you’re on the verge of clicking that post button, then suddenly out of nowhere, the entire thing inexplicably crashes and exits out? Needless to say, some people are simply programmed to automatically copy written text prior to hitting that post button, since they’ve probably been burned too often in the past, but for the rest of us, we’re left steaming with anger.

Luckily, it seems that those random crashes with Facebook for Android are being addressed in the latest software update for it. Available right now to download through Google Play, users can post with no worries thanks to this latest update. Specifically, it’s noted that this version “fixes crashes after logout and long period of app activity.”

Well, that’s pretty much it for this update, seeing there isn’t anything else new found with this one. Nevertheless, you can now post or do whatever with the app without the terror of it randomly crashing. So if you haven’t seen that notification just yet, head on over to Google Play and download the new update yourself.

source: Google Play via Android Central

Facebook App Center launches

Earlier today, we found out that Facebook's App Center might be launched at some point this week, and it looks like that "some point" is right now. Facebook's App Center has now begun rolling out to users in the US, and should be rolling out worldwide "in the coming weeks". 

The App Center is really just an easy way for Facebook to drive even more traffic to apps that have some sort of Facebook integration. Right now, that is a list of some 600 apps, both native and web apps, which will pop up as a top level link on the left hand side of your Facebook page. Facebook is promising ease in discovering apps, installing apps for both iOS and Android (via a "Send to Mobile" link), and also being able to preview apps in screenshots and descriptions. There will also be recommendations based on the apps that you or your friends use. 

As of right now, this is a discovery service that will drive more traffic to app stores, but since Facebook is now a publicly traded company, it's not unreasonable to think that this may become a proper app store (at least for Android) in order to help Facebook prove to investors that it can monetize the platform. The press release claims that Facebook drove 83 million referrals to the iTunes App Store in May, which would have been just via normal likes and shares, so this kind of centralized service would likely boost that number. 

source: App Center & Facebook via TechCrunch