iPhone app wants you to 'poop for a purpose'

A mobile application released just last week allows iPhone users to chat with their friends and mostly strangers while they sit on the throne; and by throne, yes, the developers mean toilet.

The app is called “Pooductive” and the developers want users to “poop for a purpose.”

Pooductive, however, does not only function as a real-time messaging application while you do your business; it also seeks to raise awareness for people across the globe who have no access to clean water.

“We hope to connect Pooductive with some big charities that focus on both clean water and improving hygiene in developing countries,” the developers said.

On their website, the application developers opened a fundraising campaign to help at least 663 million people get access to clean water.

As of this writing, only $60 or around P2,700 has been raised.

“Think of it as a magical place where people from around the globe can anonymously meet to enjoy their time of zen, peace and tranquility together, by conversing, philosophising and sharing ideas with each other,” the developers said.

Pooductive allows users to add and chat with friends, as well as have group chats, like any other messaging application.

But the developers say “it's so much more” than a messaging app, calling it a “community, made up of people who are all in the same position as you…pardon the pun.”

Users can choose either to chat with other users near them based on their location, or they can chat with the global community. The app allows users to choose the distance radius of their chat partners. —Kathrina Charmaine Alvarez/ALG, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Twitter supports bigger photos on iPhone app

Twitter users can now see bigger photos on their timelines on the iPhone, with the newest update to the micro-blogging site's iOS app.

On Thursday (PHL time), Twitter said it will introduce bigger photos.

A separate report on tech site The Next Web said this means "a whole lot prettier" scrolling through content on Twitter, at least for Apple's popular smartphone.

With the update, Twitter's app can now display full-width images.

"It’s a neat improvement to the previous setup, where images would appear as small thumbnails you’d have to click on to enlarge, so the new layout should save you some time besides looking nicer," TNW said.  — Joel Locsin/LBG, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

YouTube rolls out new version of iPhone app

SAN FRANCISCO —Google Inc is releasing a new version of its YouTube video app for iPhones that will for the first time feature advertising but won’t have the benefit of being pre-loaded on Apple Inc’s popular smartphones.

The new YouTube app will be available for download at Apple’s App Store beginning on Tuesday, Google said in a blog on the company website on Tuesday.

Web-connected smartphones are increasingly important to YouTube’s business. One billion of YouTube’s daily video views now occur on mobile devices, said Google. Earlier this year YouTube said it was streaming 4 billion videos every day.

The new YouTube app for the iPhone will feature thousands of additional videos, according to the blog post, as well as improved features for finding videos and sharing videos on social networks.

Unlike the previous version of the YouTube iPhone app, the new version will feature online advertising, a Google spokesman said.

Online ads generate the bulk of Google’s revenue, the world’s No. 1 web search engine, and YouTube already offers ads on its mobile website and on the version of the app for Android smartphones.

Apple said last month that its license to include the YouTube app in the iOS operating system used by the iPhone and iPad had ended.

The relationship between Google and Apple has frayed over the years, as the shift from PCs to mobile devices has increased the competition between the two companies. Earlier this year, Apple said it would dump Google’s mapping software from its mobile devices.

Apple is holding a press event in San Francisco on Wednesday where many expect the company to unveil a new version of its iPhone.

YouTube has been among a handful of apps that came pre-loaded onto the screens of Apple’s mobile devices since the original iPhone was introduced in 2007.

The pre-installed YouTube app—which was actually built by Apple using YouTube standards—was not as full-featured as YouTube’s own website, but it was popular.

According to data measurement firm Nielsen, YouTube was the third most popular iPhone app by users, including both pre-installed apps and downloaded apps, in the U.S. in June.

Google said it was working on a version of the YouTube app specially-designed for iPads, which should be available in the coming months.

source: japantoday.com