Late yesterday, everyone’s favorite social media website Facebook announced an update for their Android version of the Facebook app. This update brings the application to version 1.5, for those of you who keep track of that sort of thing.

Some of the main features of this update include support for Facebook chat (In both background and foreground) as well as the much requested Push notifications. Unfortunately, Push notifications will only work on devices running Android 2.2 or higher.

The update also includes the requisite other “bug fixes” which are, let’s face it, nice to have. Sadly, still no photo tagging in this update. But I guess you can’t have everything. . . yet.

As usual, the update is available in the Android Market. If you do update, let us know your experiences, good or bad, in the comments. Now to start updating our Android phones here at the office.

Have you heard about the new Twitter.com? The revised site offers embedded media, infinite scroll, and a host of new user experience enhancements. World-wide roll-out begins today, but depending on where exactly you are, it could take several weeks for the new features to reach you.

One of the biggest changes facing Twitter.com users is the different layout, which in my opinion, resembles the new iPad native Twitter app. Your @mentions, retweets, searches, and lists sits directly above your timeline now, creating an easy way to switch your view depending on what you’re interested in seeing. On the right, the default starting panel will show you recent followers, who you’re following, along with recent trending topics and suggestions on who to follow.

Clicking a specific tweet causes a panel to slide out to the right, showing you that user’s recent tweets and if they’ve embedded some media with their tweet, you can see a larger version of that as well. If the tweet was geo-tagged, the right-hand panel will display the location on a map. Twitter is offering an easy way to embed both photos and video directly in your tweets, which will be visible within other user’s timelines or visible upon clicking a tweet containing embedded media.

With partnerships with the likes of Vimeo, YouTube, twitpic, Flickr and others, embedding will be easy and seamless. One of the coolest examples of this new feature is sharing a link to an entire Flickr set of pictures. When you do, those who follow will be able to see a bunch of little thumbnails in their right pane. And near the bottom of this pane, a slideshow for the pictures is also automatically created. Very slick indeed.

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Here at The Flickcast we like to experiment with cool gadgets, software and such that can add something fun to our otherwise dreary lives toiling away for the man. Of course you can find most of us on Twitter and Facebook and yes, the site itself has its own Twitter and Facebook presence as well.

Another social media site and software we’ve been having a go with is called GetGlue. I could describe the site and its mission to you, but instead I’m going to let the folks who know it best tell you all about it (Plus, its Friday and I’m lazy). From the GetGlue website:

GetGlue is a social network for entertainment, with more than 4.5M new unique ratings and check-ins for tv shows, movies, music and books every month. GetGlue users rate and check-in to things they like to get recommendations and earn rewards.

The GetGlue mobile app enables users to check-in to tv shows, movies, music and books, plus see what their friends are consuming in real-time. On GetGlue.com users can quickly build up their taste profile, get fresh suggestions every week, browse top lists and find taste neighbors.

And with that, a cool new idea was born which now consumes time in my day. Fortunately, the GetGlue team make it very easy to check in and share your favorite items with applications for the iPhone, Android and now the iPad.

This is good news for us iPad users because using the GetGlue iPhone app on the iPad wasn’t working so well. Now that there’s a native iPad app, my use of GetGlue will undoubtedly increase. Plus, did I mention the stickers?

Over the years, Google has had some pretty amazing ideas. Google Maps has revolutionized the way we travel, Gmail has changed the way we communicate, and Android has taken the smartphone world by storm. One thing that really never caught on, though, was the Google Wave service.

At first it sounded cool: on AIM or Google Talk, you’d always be able to see that whoever was chatting with you was in the middle of typing something. Instead, Google Wave allowed conversations to exist in real-time, with no more waiting in anticipation as the person on the other end typed away. This, theoretically, would speed up conversations, leading to more productivity and less time just staring at the screen, waiting for a reply.

Unfortunately, Google Wave is no more. Google had this to say today on their blog on the subject:

Wave has not seen the user adoption we would have liked. We don’t plan to continue developing Wave as a standalone product, but we will maintain the site at least through the end of the year and extend the technology for use in other Google projects. The central parts of the code, as well as the protocols that have driven many of Wave’s innovations, like drag-and-drop and character-by-character live typing, are already available as open source, so customers and partners can continue the innovation we began. In addition, we will work on tools so that users can easily “liberate” their content from Wave.

Wave has taught us a lot, and we are proud of the team for the ways in which they have pushed the boundaries of computer science. We are excited about what they will develop next as we continue to create innovations with the potential to advance technology and the wider web.

We wave goodbye to Google Wave, those of us who used it. Those who didn’t shall carry on emailing, IMing, Tweeting, Facebooking and  texting as usual.

When I first heard that David Fincher was directing and Aaron Sorkin was writing The Social Network, a movie about the founding of Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg’s adventures at Harvard University, I have to admit I wasn’t completely sold on the idea. Sure, Facebook is a giant beast that millions of people use every day to communicate with friends and family around the world but still, I wondered if it would make an interesting movie.

As more and more info, including the first teaser, came out for the film I began to see the appeal. Now, with this new full trailer, just put up over at Yahoo Movies, I’m even more convinced that this film will really be one to watch. Apologies Mr. Fincher and Mr. Sorkin, I should never have doubted you.

In the new trailer we get our best look yet at Zuckerberg’s life at Harvard as well as some insight into his motivations for starting Facebook. In short, he was a nerd that wanted to fit in so he decided to start a website detailing college life so he could get noticed by his peers and perhaps, one day, be accepted by them. Plus, the trailer is accompanieed by a great choral rendition of  “Creep.” A very nice touch.

I wonder how those people that ignored him back in college feel now that Zuckerberg is not only a rich man but is having a movie made about him by none other than David Fincher? Based on how he seems in the movie from this trailer, they probably still don’t like him.

Take a look at the full trailer and believe after the jump. The Social Network hits theaters on October 1, 2010.

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Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are so popular they are starting to consume more and more time. People flock to them to update their status, communicate with friends and generally let the world know the ins and outs of their daily lives. It’s hard to believe Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg knew what he was starting back in the day but whatever he thought, I would bet the success of Facebook has surpassed even his wildest estimations.

If success means you end up having a movie made about your life and the social networking site you founded with a few friends, then check Zuckerberg off the list, he’s made it. David Fincher’s The Social Network tells the story of the founding of Facebook and the trails and tribulations associated with something that got very big very fast.

In it Zombieland‘s Jesse Eisenberg plays Zuckerberg and soon-to-be-Spider-Man Andrew Garfield plays co-founder Eduardo Severin. Plus, the film also features Rashida Jones, Josheph Mazello and Justin Timberlake. To help get you ready for the film, we’ve got a new teaser to share with you today, so click through to check it out.

The Social Network hits theaters on October 1st. What do you guys think? Are you interested in a movie about the founding of Facebook?

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Have you been looking for a way to keep track of all the important news and info for Marvel’s upcoming blockbuster release of Iron Man 2? Do you also happen to be an iPhone or iPod Touch user? If so, then this is your lucky day. Why? Well, read on.

Today, Marvel has released the Iron Man Central application into the wild and its available on the Apple iTunes Store for iPhone and iPod Touch. Here’s all the info for this new app directly from the Marvel press release:

Suit up with the world’s most popular super hero in anticipation of Marvel Studios’ Iron Man 2 feature film, and learn everything about Iron Man with this totally free app!

Iron Man Central is perfect for Iron Man fans new and old, providing access to all things Iron Man including news, exclusive wallpapers, video content, direct links to Iron Man content on iTunes and more. This brand-new app also seamlessly integrates with users’ e-mail, Twitter and Facebook accounts, allowing them to share exciting new Iron Man content with friends and family.

Head on over to iTunes to get this app. Also, be sure to check out some screenshots from it after the jump. Oh, and as if you didn’t already know, Iron Man 2 hits theaters this Friday.

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Before we get started, congratulations are in order for QuakeHOLD I of Escondido California who is officially the one millionth user to sign up for a Foursquare account. It’s always a momentous occasion when an app or web service surpasses the one-million user threshold and I’m guessing that there will be some celebrating in Foursquare’s HQ this Friday as they savor this achievement. In fact, a tweet from the popular location-aware service implied exactly those sort of festivities are on tap:

“We’re closing in on 1 million users! Current count is 969,775. Looks like that’s we may have something to toast during Friday Happy Hour ”

Exciting stuff indeed, but what I’m really enthused about is a novel way for brands and organizations to leverage Foursquare to help users unlock their immediate surroundings. With Foursquare, one of the sticking points is that unless your friends live in your immediate area, Foursquare doesn’t really offer a lot of regional intelligence.

Sure, you could check-in at nearby locations, maybe even become the mayor, but after a while, the allure of such things wore off and the general sentiment seemed to be, “So what?”

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Responding to rather vocal criticism from much of the online community, Google is making adjustments to its two-day-old Google Buzz service to enhance, and enable users to more easily manage, privacy. Buzz, as it currently exists, was to be Google’s answer to Twitter and Facebook with a dash of FriendFeed thrown in, but so far it seems off to a somewhat rocky start — at least when it comes to user privacy concerns.

The changes, to be implemented later today, include:

• More visible option to not show followers/people you follow on your public profile
• Ability to block anyone who starts following you
• More clarity on which of your followers/people you follow can appear on your public profile

These changes will hopefully help users feel more comfortable with the service. I, for one, turned it off due to concerns that my contact list was being viewed by anyone who follows me, regardless if they are someone I know. With these new privacy features, let’s hope Google gets Buzz going in the right direction again.

Do you use Buzz? Or, is it something you’re not interested in? Let us know in the comments.

During a special event today at Google Headquarters in Mountain View, CA, the search giant unveiled its new Google Buzz approach to sharing and several new features designed to enhance its Gmail service and bring it more in line with other mainstream social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

Google Buzz, which works inside the Gmail interface, includes the following features:

• Auto-following. We didn’t want users to have to peck out a totally new social graph. There has always been a giant social network under Gmail.

• Rich, fast sharing experience. Same nice Gmail UI and keyboard shortcuts. Special attention to media.

• Public and private sharing. We want things Google can index, but also private messages.

• Inbox integration. The inbox is the center for communication.

• Just the good stuff. Some much social data, we need to filter the noise.

• Go to google.com on your iPhone or Android phone web browser.

• New application for Buzz.

• Update to Google Maps for mobiles. Android, Windows Mobile and Symbian today

According to Google, they will be rolling out the starting today so keep an eye out. One question to consider, though, is if Google’s answer to social networking will actually be successful or not? As someone who uses Twitter and Facebook daily but has less time for something like Friendfeed (which Buzz is similar to) I wonder if users will take to these new features or not.

Also, if you’re interested, there’s a video produced by Google that explains Buzz a bit more after the jump.

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There’s no denying Twitter’s popularity. It’s everywhere and many people use it all day, every day. So, if you need to Tweet while on the go, you need an smartphone with a Twitter app on it. The iPhone has several, with Tweetie and Twitterific probably being the most popular.

That’s great, but what if you’re using a cool Android powered smartphone like Verizon’s DROID? Fortunately, there’s a app for you too in the form of Seesmic. And now, the folks who make Seesmic have updated their app with some cool new features.

Among the new features are multiple account support with cross-posting, extra large font size, auto-correction of typing, automatic profile updates, on device twitter password management and optional timeline position memory so you jump back to the last tweets that you were reading.

The latest version of Seesmic is available now for free from the Android Market. If you check it out, be sure to come back and let us know how it compares to other Android Twitter apps like Twidroid and Tweetcaster.

Announced at E3 2009 by everyone’s favorite geek goddess, Felicia Day, the arrival of popular social networking sites Last.fm, Facebook, and Twitter to Xbox Live has been much anticipated by gamers and socialites alike. But these sites, as simple as they are to use, have their own style and reasons for being easy and fun to use. Did that ease of use translate well onto the Xbox? The Flickcast took a look, and here’s what we found.

Facebook

After the recent addition of the News and Live Feeds on the Facebook website, Facebook on the Xbox feels pretty refreshing. It comes with all the standard Facebook staples: your News Feed, your profile, your pictures, your friend’s pictures, etc. Each new update to the News Feed comes up in its own box, and within that box you have the option to like, comment, or read the comments of your friends, just like the website.

You can update your status, but that’s the only change you can make to your profile. Friend’s profiles show up in boxes similar to the news feed, but will just show their status, photos, and information. The only thing this version of Facebook seems to be missing is wall posts and the chat feature, both of which would be complicated on the Xbox and are.

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