The ink has barely dried on the contract for Facebook’s aquisition of Instagram and the company has already dropped a brand new camera app for iOS devices. The new app, called Camera for iOS, and is intended to make uploading and viewing Facebook photos faster and easier.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the app features Instagram-like filters to modify users’ photographs before uploading and also offers the ability to upload multiple photos, unlike Facebook’s current app for iOS. The timing of this release is more than likely just a coincidence as the company had to have had this app in development long before their purchase of Instagram.

It’s more likely they were trying to mimic some of Instagram’s features in their own app but then decided it would probably just be easier to buy Instagram and incorporate it info Facebook. Plus, they get one more important thing with that purchase: the users. This new app is just the beginning. Look for an improved app sooner rather than later.

Facebook’s Camera for iOS is available now on the Apple’s App Store. And no, there’s no Android version . . . yet.

Google+ hasn’t quite caught on with people as much as something like Twitter or Facebook, at least not yet. However, that hasn’t stopped Google from trying make it the best social networking experience possible.

Going a long way towards that goal is the update to its Google+ app or iOS users, which the company rolled out late yesterday. With the new update, users will see a completely redone user experience and Google’s goal is to basically simplify and beautify Google+. They released a statement on this new philosophy:

To be clear, we’re not interested in a mobile or social experience that’s just smaller. We’re embracing the sensor-rich smartphone (with its touchable screen and high-density display), and transforming Google+ into something more intimate, and more expressive.

Sounds good. And if you check out the app, you can see they’ve done pretty much what they set out to do. The new version of the app is extremely well done and, dare we say it, quite beautiful.

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As far as music services go, iTunes has pretty much been the dominant player for several years. However, Spotify has made great strides and has become a personal favorite of many members of The Flickcast staff. But as good as the service is, there’s been something lacking: an iPad app.

Fortunately, the company is changing that today. That’s right, Spotify has announced that its iPad application is now available in Apple’s App Store. The free app allows premium Spotify subscribers to access the services huge library of music, stream tracks and playlists, and share songs.

The new Spotify iPad app also features gapless playback, a crossfade function and AirPlay integration, allowing users to stream music wirelessly from the iPad to AirPlay-compatible devices. In other words, if your an ipad and Spotify user, this is just the thing you’ve been waiting for.

On a side note, if you’re a Spotify user and want to listen to music at home I highly recomment pairing the service with some Sonos speakers. The Sonos Play 5 / Spotify combo is really hard to beat.

Check out a video highlighting all the new features of Spotify for iPad, as well as the full press release, after the break.

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Developing apps for the iPhone, iPad and other iOS devices is a booming business. There’s also money to be made developing apps for the Mac and Mac OS X as well.

There’s so much to gain, and Apple wants to keep developers as happy as they can, that the company holds an annual developer’s conference in San Francisco to make sure everyone is on the same page and to help developers get all the tools they need to create great apps. In fact, the company just announced that its Worldwide Developer Conference will take place in San Francisco from June 11th to June 15th.

For the event, Apple is providing over 100 sessions on iOS and OS X, in addition to a student scholarship program. If you’re a first-time developer of apps for the iPhone or a seasoned veteran, this even surely offers a great deal of useful information and contact building.

Read on for all the details from Apple’s official press release.

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If you’re one of the millions of people who have and use an iPhone or iPad (or both) on a daily basis, you may have considered Jailbreaking it from time to time in order to take advantage of extra features, applications and more. However, if you haven’t done it up to this point, perhaps you just haven’t heard enough reasons why Jailbreaking is a great way to go for many people.

Fortunately, if you’re on the fence at all, a video from Mario Dabek of Jailbreak Matrix covering 100 reasons why you should crack it open may help convince you. Plus, it has a pretty girl in it, which is always a plus.

Sure, it’s still a dicey proposition to some people. But that doesn’t stop it from also being pretty amazing once you get access to all the great stuff out there in the world that people put together to help make your iPhone and iPad using experience that much better.

Because Jailbreaking your iPhone can cause problems, we can’t endorse it officially here at The Flickcast. However, we’ve heard about some people who’ve done it and it seemed to go okay. Proceeded at your own risk.

Check out the video after the break. If this video convinces you, let us know your Jailbreaking stories.

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If you’re not a fan of launching birds into the air so they can land on and destroy pigs who’ve built castles and more, then you haven’t really lived. Angry Birds pretty much came out of nowhere and now dominates the mobile gaming space.

So, when Rovio, the makers of the game, decide to release a new version and, more to the point, make it really affordable, we take notice and bring the details to you. That’s right, today the company released Angry Birds Space for iOS and Android devices, as well as OS X and Windows PCs.

In this, the fourth major Birds release, users will get to fling birds on zero-gravity planets while utilizing new gameplay features such as slow-motion and lightspeed destruction. Sounds awesome.

“This is Rovio at its finest, and we are more than excited to bring Angry Birds Space to all our fans worldwide,” said Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio. “This launch marks a huge step for us as a company, and our whole team and partners have really pulled together to bring out a fantastic array of exciting products and experiences.”

Angry Birds Space is available for $0.99 for the iPhone and iPod touch, with the HD version available for $2.99 on the iPad. The Mac version is available for $4.99 in the Mac App Store. The Android version is free with advertisements in the Google Play marketplace, with an ad-free versions available for $0.99 and an HD version for Android tablets available for $2.99 in the Amazon Appstore.

Click through fior the full Rovio press release and a bonus video highlighting aspects of the game.

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Well, this is a bit disappointing. Granted, it will probably only affect a small percentage of you out there, but it’s still kinda lame.

According to reports, even if you have Apple’s shiny new iPad and want to engage in a little FaceTime with a, um, friend, you won’t be able to do it, even if you have super fast 4G LTE. It will only work over Wi-Fi.

If you try, you will be prompted to connect to an available Wi-Fi network. Curiously, if you are using your iPad as a Wi-Fi hotspot, which you can with the Verizon version, FaceTime will work if you initiate a call using an supported iPhone or iPod.

Apple has so far been moot on this issue but you can be sure people are going to be asking about it. After all, in many cases 4G LTE is as fast (or faster) than available Wi-Fi networks so the fact that FaceTime isn’t supported is difficult to understand.

Again, this isn’t a critical point for most of you, we just found it interesting as it gives a bit of insight into how Apple deals with wireless carriers. Of course, it could be a decision on Apple’s part. . . but we kinda doubt it.

If for whatever reason, chance, circumstances, sloth, you were not able to secure a pre-order on a brand new, shiny iPad when they were announced last week, redemption is at hand for you. Well, on Friday at least.

That’s right, for those of you without an iPad pre-order, the devices will arrive in Apple stores this Friday at 8AM local time. In addition, you can go to your local AT&T or Verizon Wireless store at 8AM and pick up a new iPad too.

But wait, there’s more. If you don’t happen to have an Apple, AT&T or Verizon store conveniently located near you, the iPad will also be available at Best Buy and Target stores in the US. The iPad will also be released in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland and the United Kingdom on Friday as well.

For all the details, check out the official press release from Apple after the break.

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It isn’t just movies and music at the South By Southwest event, there’s also comics. Comics and technology, to be exact.

That’s right, at SXSW in Austin, TX yesterday Marvel announced a new initiative, in the form of an iOS and Android app, and the first of many steps in its Marvel ReEvolution called Marvel AR. This new app, developed in conjunction with Aurasma “brings the world of print and digital media together for a comics experience like never before.”

Sound exciting? Well, if you want to know more, check out all the info below from the official press release.

Yesterday, at the SXSW Interactive Festival, Marvel Entertainment unveiled Marvel AR, the first major augmented reality app from a comic book company. As part of the recently announced Marvel ReEvolution, which brings the world of print and digital media together for a comics experience like never before, the Marvel AR app powered by Aurasma will be released on April 2 for iOS and Android devices. Fans can first discover the power of this new app in Avengers VS X-Men #1, arriving in comic stores on April 4 and kicking off the comic book event of the year in which the world’s most popular Super Heroes go to war!

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You have to hand it to the Hacker community. They are indeed persistant. Not even 24 hours after Apple updates iOS to version 5.1, there’s already a tethered tool available to jailbreak it.

Now, we don’t necessarily condone that kind of behavior around here (at least publicly) and we are just providing this as a public service and not endorsing it one way or the other. However, according to the website Redmond Pie, the iPhone Dev Team has updated its Redsn0w too which will enable users to jailbreak their iOS 5.1 devices.

The jailbreak is tethered, however, so you’ll have to connect your IOS device to a computer each time you power it on. However, expect that limitation to be lifted shortly, a it usually is.

This exploit works for all devices running iOS 5.1, except for the Phone 4S and iPad 2. Those are going to take a bit longer too.

Enjoy your “new” iDevice.

(thanks to Redmond Pie for the image)

Today at a press conference in San Francisco, Apple CEO Tim Cook unveiled the next generation iPad to an enthusiastic crowd. The new device, officially dubbed the iPad (not iPad HD), features a host of new improvements over the iPad 2 and looks to become a huge seller for the company.

As we predicted yesterday, the new device will feature the 9.7-inch Retina Display with 2,048 x 1,536-pixel resolution, Apple’s new Apple A5X processor with quad-core graphics and the camera from the iPhone 4S with 5-megapixel resolution.

In addition, the new iPad will feature 1080p HD video capture with built-in stabilization, no Siri but a new “Dictation” app and the one thing ww’re most excited about, 4G LTE support for both AT&T and Verizon Wireless here in the U.S.

So, a great bunch of new features that will surely lead to to millions of new iPad owners. It will retain the same pricing structure as the previous iPad, with 4G LTE coming at an average $129 premium. It is available for pre-order today and will ship on March 16.

However, that’s not all Apple revealed today.

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It’s possible some people don’t care about Apple or its products. I’m sure people like that do exist. For the vast majority of us, however, tomorrow is sure to be a magical day as Apple is set to reveal the next generation of its hugely successful iPad.

The company will unveil the latest hotness at a press conference tomorrow morning in San Francisco at 10AM Pacific. As usual, Apple has keep the lid on pretty tight and tried to keep all details about the device out of the press.

However, some information has managed to leak out and we’ve got one or two sources of our own so unless something radical happens, we’ve got a pretty good idea what to expect tomorrow. Of course, it’s no fun keeping that kind of info to ourselves so we’re going to share it with you. No need to thank us.

Here’s some predictions on what to expect from the iPad 3. (Note: We’re not calling it the iPad HD and we don’t think Apple will either)

• HD  (aka “Retina”) Display — It’s pretty much a given the next iPad will at least have to match the iPhone 4′s screen quality. In fact, we think it will sport four-times as many pixels as the iPad 2. That’s 2048 x 1536 pixels in the same 9.7″ size. In other words, the display should be amazing.

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