Like what you've seen so far of Home, Facebook's newly announced UI for Android devices? devices? Well, get used to it because, according to Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, it's the "next version of Facebook." The people-centric integration, shown off today on the AT&T-exclusive HTC First, makes your individual user profile the "hub" and relies heavily upon a card-like interface for swipe notifications that can be easily read and dismissed. That Facebook would look to Home, a seemingly mobile-native implementation of the social network, as the framework for its platform going forward is unsurprising -- changes recently made to News Feed were done specifically to adapt it to the smartphone space. Whether or not that means you'll see this new interface take over your desktop anytime soon remains to be seen. But take this as a sure sign that Facebook, oft criticized for lagging behind in mobile, is in major course correction mode.
As for when Home will make the transition to iOS, Zuckerberg seemed less optimistic, telling reporters that Android's openness and lack of direct oversight from Google was the major contributing factor to its unveiling today. A version of Home for iOS would require a "partnership" with Apple, which maintains strict control over its "closed" ecosystem; a pairing that would implicitly see Facebook ceding some control to Cupertino. Frame it in that manner and it's easy to see why Home's First debut is a Google-based affair and may continue to be for the foreseeable future. It does seem likely, however, that Microsoft's Windows Phone platform could play host to Home before even iOS, as Zuckerberg's referred to the live-tile OS as falling "somewhere in between" due to the licenses involved.
Developing...
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Google, Facebook
Source: Facebook>//
At 4:16pm last Wednesday I got a short and to-the-point email from Nilay Patel at The Verge with only a link that started with the host “googlereader.blogspot.com”. The sudden spike in NewsBlur’s visitors immediately confirmed — Google was shutting down Reader.
I had been preparing for a black swan event like this for the last four years since I began NewsBlur. With the deprecation of their social features a year ago I knew it was only a matter of time before Google stopped supporting Reader entirely. I did not expect it to come this soon.
As the Storify history of the Reader-o-calypse, NewsBlur suffered a number of hurdles with the onslaught of new subscribers.
I was able to handle the 1,500 users who were using the service everyday, but when 50,000 users hit an uncachable and resource intensive backend, unless you’ve done your homework and load tested the living crap out of your entire stack, there’s going to be trouble brewing. Here’s just a few of the immediate challenges I faced over the past four days:
Paypal’s fraud department just called, asked me what’s going on. Asked the rep from Omaha if she’s heard of Reader, and then a big Ohhh.
— NewsBlur (@NewsBlur) March 17, 2013
As a one-man-shop it has been humbling to receive the benefit of the doubt from many who have withheld their judgment despite the admittedly slow loadtimes and downtime NewsBlur experienced. Having the support of the amazing NewsBlur community is more than a guy could ask for. The tweets of encouragement, voting NewsBlur up on replacereader.com (If you haven’t yet, please tweet a vote for “#newsblur to #replacereader”), and the many positive comments and blog posts from people who have tried NewsBlur is great.
It has also been a dream come true to receive accolades from the many who are trying NewsBlur for the first time and loving it. Since the announcement, NewsBlur has welcomed 5,000 new premium subscribers and 60,000 new users (from 50,000 users originally).
Over the next three months I’ll be working on:
For those of you who are still trying to decide where to go now that you’re a Reader refugee let me tell you a few of the unique things NewsBlur has to offer:
With NewsBlur’s native iOS app and Android app, you can read your news and share it with your friends anywhere. And with the coming improvements over the next three months, you bet NewsBlur will be the #1 choice for Google Reader survivors.
Join NewsBlur for $24/year and discover what RSS should have been.