Lightbox closing its doors as the team joins Facebook

Seems like the Facebook train just keeps on rolling, with todays news that the Lightbox team will be joining the social network. For Lightbox users, the end is sadly nigh as the service will be closing down completely from June 15. Existing users can continue to use the service until then, but no more new signups will be accepted.

This isn’t an acquisition, not like the $1 billion buyout submitted for Instagram. As such, none of the user data stored by Lightbox will become the property of Facebook. The staff is the only part transitioning, and as such closing the doors for good. Until June 15, all your photos can be exported, and the Android application has already been removed from Google Play. Additionally, parts of the code will be open-sourced in the coming weeks.

 

via [androidcentral.com, blog.lightbox.com]

Related articles

• Lightbox is joining Facebook! (lightbox.com)
• Facebook Snaps Up Team From Mobile Firm Lightbox (mashable.com)
• Facebook gets even more aggressive with photo sharing, acquires the Lighbox team (thenextweb.com)
• Instagram rival Lightbox also purchased by Facebook (androidcommunity.com)

69% Of Tablet Owners Surf The Web While Watching TV

A recent report by Nielsen reveals some insightful findings about how we use our tablet devices while watching TV.

According to the report, 69% of tablet owners watch TV and use the internet simultaneously, several times a week. 45% of tablet owners would do so at least once a day. Only 12% of tablet owners surveyed said they never used the device while watching TV. Last year the findings would have been shocking, but given the fast-growing presence of mobile devices, the findings are not surprising.

There were also discrepancies between men and women. Men were more likely to use their tablets to look up info related to the TV program they were watching, while women were more likely to look up information related to an advertisement. Men were also more likely to check sports scores than women (44% to 24%).

The younger generation also uses tablets differently than their older counterparts. Younger people were more likely to check social networking sites, while older adults checked their email more.

Checking email remains the most popular tablet activity while watching TV, where 61% of people surveyed checking their email while watching TV. The second most popular activity was with 47% of people checking social networking sites.

It seems with this information that TV stations will strive to produce tablet based apps for their viewers. Do you think there will be more tablet activity like this in the future? Let us know.

via [WholeLottaWonder!]

Related articles

• Report: 69% Of Tablet Owners Watch TV And Surf The Web Simultaneously (techcrunch.com)
• Women email, visit social networks while watching TV (vator.tv)
• Nielsen: Most U.S. tablet owners use their device while watching TV – paidContent (digitaltvnewssummary.wordpress.com)
• Nielsen: Women more likely to visit a social networking site while watching TV (gigaom.com)
• Nielsen study says 88% of tablet owners tab away while watching TV (slashgear.com)

Flipboard for Android

Flipboard is finally coming to Android. Exclusively on the Galaxy S III, we’re told, at least for some amount of time. Now, thanks to one enterprising member over at the XDA forums, an unofficial build of Flipboard for Android is available to all, and it looks great.

Waiting for end of the month (or later, depending on the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S III) didn’t sit well with XDA forum member Valcho, and considering he had an SGS III “lying around,” he decided to extract the APK and share it with the world. You can grab it at the link below.

Download Flipboard for Android here.

The app is definitely nice! Eye candy is there, smooth animations are present and functionality is maintained from the iOS counterpart. There’s also a Flipboard widget that was not covered in the video, which allows you to view your most recent cover photos in a 2×4 widescreen view.

Related articles

• Flipboard for Android now unofficially available to all (9to5google.com)
• [Download] Flipboard APK For Android Available Now; Pulled From The Galaxy S III (gadgetian.com)
• Flipboard Unofficially Available For Any Android Device And Here’s How To Install It (techcrunch.com)
• Flipboard for Android leaks (thetechblock.com)

Samsung Galaxy S3 hands-on preview: Yes, it’s amazing

It’s here. The Galaxy S3, Samsung’s flagship phone for the 2012/2013 smartphone battle, has just been unveiled at the official launch in London. We’re here, and we’ve had a chance to get hands-on and close-up with what could well be your next phone. What’s the big deal? Read on to find out.

So, this is the Samsung Galaxy S3. After more rumour, speculation and hype than a Samsung launch has ever been involved in before, we’ve had the privilege of being personally introduced to it. The verdict? It’s an absolute stonker.

The phone has a huge 4.8-inch HD Super-AMOLED display, which really, really shines. Samsung says the resolution is HD – 1280 x 720. In real life terms, that means it’s amazing, but to your eyes there’s nothing between it and the iPhone 4S’ Retina Display, albeit the monstrous size.

Inside there’s the Exynos 4412 1.4GHz quad-core processor, which we’ve known about for a while. On paper it’s insanely powerful, but it’s hard in such a small amount of time to get a feel for what that can really do. We’ll tell you this: you can’t break its brain.

We’ve flicked around from screen to screen, app to app, with no problems whatsoever. Want something that puts it through its paces? How about Pop-up Play? If you’re watching a video, you can press an icon in the bottom right and a small version of it appears on the home screen, or whatever app you open. You can reposition it to allow you to watch Sky Go while checking Facebook, for instance. That’s really powerful stuff.

The version of the TouchWiz UI Samsung’s using here is brand new and totally tricked out with loads of other new features, like S Voice, a smart voice assistant that you can wake up simply by saying “Hi Galaxy!” We had mixed results with this, but we’ll put it down to the noise at tonight’s event. Smart Stay is another very clever feature, which keeps the screen on as long as you’re looking at it. Meanwhile, Direct Call will ring the person you’re texting if you bring it up to your ear.

Galaxy S3: Does it beat the best of Android?

In terms of build, the Galaxy S3 is a looker, not dissimilar at all to the Galaxy Nexus. It’s designed around nature, with a ‘Hyperglaze’ mold. It’s very hard to avoid using stupid phrases when describing how a phone feels, but this has a destinctive airiness about it. Of course, screen size is still a dividing issue, and this is far bigger than the competition from Apple. Still, despite the 4.8-inch size, Samsung’s made a good job of fitting it in your hand, thanks to a thinner bezel than the Galaxy S2 had.

Available initially in Pebble Blue and Marble White, Samsung said that it will introduce a variety of additional colour options at a later date.

Samsung Galaxy S3 Full Product Specifications

Network: 2.5G (GSM/ GPRS/ EDGE): 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz
3G (HSPA+ 21Mbps): 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 MHz
4G (Dependent on market)
Display: 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED (1280×720) display
OS: Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
Camera Main(Rear): 8 Mega pixel Auto Focus camera with Flash & Zero Shutter Lag, BIS
Camera Sub (Front): 1.9 Mega pixel camera, HD recording @30fps with Zero Shutter Lag, BSI
Video Codec: MPEG4, H.264, H.263, DivX, DivX3.11, VC-1, VP8, WMV7/8, Sorenson Spark
Recording & Playback: Full HD (1080p)
Audio Codec: MP3, AMR-NB/WB, AAC/AAC+/eAAC+, WMA, OGG, FLAC, AC-3, apt-X
Connectivity: WiFi a/b/g/n, WiFi HT40, GPS/GLONASS, NFC, Bluetooth® 4.0(LE)
Sensor: Accelerometer, RGB light, Digital compass, Proximity, Gyro, Barometer
Memory: 16/ 32GB User memory (64GB available soon) + microSD slot (up to 64GB)
Dimension: 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm, 133g
Battery: 2,100 mAh

Related articles

• Samsung Galaxy S3 features at a glance (telegraph.co.uk)
• Galaxy S III set for May 29th release (slashgear.com)
• Samsung Galaxy S3 Coming in Blue and White? Screen Protector Leaks (gadgetian.com)
• The Samsung Galaxy SIII Arrives (insydetech.info)
• Meet The New Android Emperor: The Samsung Galaxy S III (GOOG) (businessinsider.com)
• Samsung Galaxy S III: Meet the New Android Emperor [Galaxy S Iii] (gizmodo.com)
• Samsung Galaxy S III official (slashgear.com)
• Samsung Galaxy S III official – 4.8 inch HD display, quad-core Exynos CPU in tow (intomobile.com)

 

Every Modern Superhero Movie Packed into a Five Minutes Video

Appropriate for the impending release of superhero conglomeration The Avengers, editor sleepyskunk has put together this awesome five-minute montage containing pretty much every superhero movie you can remember–and even some you can’t remember until you see Robert Townsend and shout, “Oh, shit, so Meteor Man WAS real!”

 

See the YouTube description for a full list of the films. Consider the lack of Superhero Movie clips a merciful omission.

Related articles

• Here’s a few dozen superhero movies smushed into five minutes [Video] (io9.com)
• K’s Review: The Avengers Are The “World’s Greatest Heroes,” but are they The World’s Greatest Superhero Movie? (hypethemovies.wordpress.com)
• Five Minutes Of What Seems Like Every Superhero Cartoon, Movie and TV Show Ever (gizmodo.com.au)