Many social networkers have found it too burdensome to constantly update their statuses on both Facebook and Twitter. As a result, some have been neglecting Facebook. Instead, they keep their friends on both sites informed by setting up Twitter to automatically post tweets on Facebook, and they never have to visit the site.
So far, it has not been easy to do the reverse and send Facebook status updates to Twitter. But that is changing. Will new tools encourage people to neglect Twitter for Facebook?
Of course, it is unclear whether Twitter-to-Facebook publishing has actually resulted in a loss in traffic for Facebook, and many Internet users actively use both sites or have chosen Facebook over Twitter. But as competition heats up between Facebook and Twitter, Facebook does not want to lose valuable traffic as it tries to build advertising revenue.
So, last week, Facebook made it possible for businesses and celebrities, though not individuals, to syndicate their updates to Twitter. And an app released Monday by SocialToo allows anybody to publish Facebook updates on Twitter.
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AppleInsider is reporting that Apple is working on refreshing the $999 white MacBook that’s its cheapest portable computer–and, AppleInsider, reports, still a best-seller. Makes sense to me. I’m assuming we’ll see one with new (but economical) specs, a better display, a sealed battery with longer battery life, and an SD reader. Timing? Probably early next year, whenever Apple decides to announce the products it’s not going to be rolling out at Macworld Expo.
It’s also only a matter of time until Apple ships a non-Air MacBook with no DVD drive–in part to save money, in part to make the system thinner, and hey, maybe even to encourage consumption of movies and music from the iTunes store. It wouldn’t stun me if the next-generation plastic MacBook were that machine–or if Apple knocked $100 or so off the pricetag to make it into an upscale alternative to a netbook. (No matter how cool an Apple tablet might be, some folks are going to want a traditional portable system at a relatively low price.)
One thing I hope Apple doesn’t do is to give the white MacBook’s replacement an aluminum case. As I wrote recent, I’m not so sure that plastic-clad notebooks don’t preserve their good looks better than their aluminum cousins, at least if you drop computers as often as I do. (Hey, I used to own a Saturn car, in part because of the plastic body.)
And yes, I know I illustrated this post with a photo of the black MacBook, which is already gone. Apple, which invented the idea of selling computers in different colors, doesn’t offer any model in more than one hue at the moment. But if black came back, I’ll bet Apple would once again find people who’d pay a premium for it.
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Motorola's not yet spilling many details, but the telecommunications company has something big planned for September 10th. What's more, unless the company's representatives have just developed a love of little robots, the announcement is related to Google's Android operating system.
You can see the invitation that Motorola's been sending around - complete with Android figure - below for yourself. All we've removed from the image is one email address for the sake of saving somebody from spam.
It's possible to make a few guesses about the meaning of the invite in the absence of concrete info, though. A short setup: late last year, Motorola's co-CEO commited giving up on at least four software platforms in order to focus on Android and two others. And at the moment, Motorola doesn't have any Android devices on the market.