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If you're not familiar with Flipboard, it's a magazine-style news reader that has been wildly popular on iOS for quite some time. What gives it extra cool points is its ability to handle social media. See, Flipboard can integrate your social accounts into its feed, and present tweets or other status updates just as it would news stories or blog posts (complete with images and video thumbnails). Couple this with Flipboard's gorgeous tiled interface, and it's easy to see why the app is such a fan favorite.

With its clean design, vibrant display of photographic tiles, … Read more

Facebook's news feed may have seemed a little different today...that's because it is. The social network has begun to brandish its new feed with larger photos.

"Starting today, we're rolling out an improved design for posts in news feed on the Web," a Facebook spokesperson told CNET. "Photos are up to two times larger and when a friend adds photos to an album, you'll be able to enjoy more of those photos directly from your feed."

Besides enlarging all photos, the new display also changes how albums are seen. Now, it … Read more

The new Facebook Camera app for iPhone offers many of the features people love about Instagram, and adds new ones that Facebook users will definitely appreciate.

Right as soon as you launch the app, you can see the camera icon in the upper left for taking a picture (which I'll get to in a moment), but you can also see thumbnails of your latest shots. Below that is your Facebook feed, with great big images posted by your friends and options to Like the photo, or comment on the post in the lower left. The new layout is excellent … Read more

Gone is the dashboard of icons that once greeted you upon opening Google+ for Android. Now, you can zip around the app with a drop-down navigation ribbon on the left of the screen. This gives you easier access to your Stream, Profile, Messenger, Hangout, Photos, and Circles. As a whole, the app is easy to use and just as intuitive as its desktop counterpart.

Stream Stream is really the lifeblood of Google+. Your primary view will probably be All Circles, but you can also swipe left or right to view other feeds like What's Hot (trending posts on the … Read more

Google+ for iPhone is a clean and intuitive mobile app that has all of the powers of its desktop counterpart, save for the games and a few other minor features. The latest update to the app (as reported by Josh Lowensohn) adds a newly redesigned visual interface for Stream and other notable enhancements.

The Google+ app opens up to the redesigned Stream interface, but a button at the top left takes you to a dashboard of icons leading to the different sections of the service: Stream, Messenger, Photos, Profile, and Circles. Despite the new look, the interface works much like … Read more

Whether you're a fan of social video apps or not, there's something to be said for short, quick videos you make on the fly and then share with your friends. These apps are a lot like Twitter in that you can post your own short videos, follow other video creators, and view a feed of your favorites to see their latest updates.

This week's iOS apps have been out for some time, but over the past couple of weeks, social video app fans are choosing sides, downloading their favorites, and even posting to social networks to talk … Read more

Your cousin just announced the birth of his child, and you're the very first to leave a congratulatory comment. The excitement for your beloved family member is quickly replaced with a steady flow of beeps and dings, alerting you to each and every comment left on the same post.

Luckily, there's a way for you to leave your comment and then politely excuse yourself from the conversation, without anyone even knowing.

Update: Facebook has since rolled out a new notification box, complete with a shortcut to unfollow posts. The method explained below still works, but you can save … Read more

Firefox's Live Bookmarks feature does a fine job of keeping track of RSS feeds. Feed Sidebar is a free add-on that opens feeds in a sidebar equipped with a handy toolbar that makes it easy to search and sort feeds, mark them as read, and limit their age. It doesn't replace Live Bookmarks in Firefox; it augments the standard tool. But if you follow a lot of feeds, you'll like what it adds.

After a quick and trouble-free external download, we restarted Firefox. We clicked the RSS button on the toolbar, and clicked Feed Sidebar's left-hand … Read more

As I noted back in January, the only smart way to buy Apple gear is to buy it refurbished.

You're guaranteed to save money while getting gear that's literally as good as new.

Just one problem: how can you keep tabs on Apple's latest refurb deals? Suppose, for example, you're in the market for a refurbished fourth-gen iPod Touch, the one with the built-in cameras and Retina display. (As it happens, that's exactly what my kids are after.)

For a long while, there weren't any for sale. I know because I checked the store … Read more