Today's tidbits: iPhone apps, Netvibes updates, and special Spore

FriendFeed's new iPhone app is now hand and eye-friendly.

(Credit: FriendFeed)

Here are some news tidbits from today that were too small to fill out entire posts. We've grouped together three that are worth your time.

FriendFeed puts out an iPhone app. Social aggregator FriendFeed has launched an iPhone-friendly version of its news feed (http://friendfeed.com/i). Previously users had to use a service like FFtoGo to get the stream of news reformatted to match the resolution on the popular handheld device. The new look incorporates image sharing, using a bit of a work-around with Mail2FF, a service that posts e-mailed photos and messages to your activity stream or private rooms.

Netvibes adds Google search, trend tracking. Netvibes users will find a new Google search box in their start pages. Any search will show up with results that keep the user in the Netvibes environment, and will be saved as a new tab. As TechCrunch noticed, the company also soft launched a new section called Buzz that tracks some of the most favorite links using Netvibes' starring system. Results can be honed down to within the last hour or the last two days.

A Spore with more parts. Too cheap to shell out $10 for the full version of EA's Spore Creature Creator? Computer maker HP is offering a free demo version that has a few more parts than the standard demo offering. Like I said when I checked it out earlier this month, this is one piece of software that's got a fully connected Web 2.0 presence with a community site and YouTube integration.

[JBSacks]

I luv u, Josh Lowensohn. Your words make my glasses steam up... (when I wear glasses... which is usually only at night... after I take my contacts out). meeeeow.

[Josh.Lowensohn]

Joel Sacks! I didn't know you could read--or that you wore glasses. Texas must be doing funny things to you. Welcome.

[tweedyson]

I used NetVibes, but it doesn't work for Google Apps, which I use for my blog (SpencerTweedy.com/blog). Does anyone know how to set up an IMAP account for Google Apps within Netvibes?

[Josh.Lowensohn]

Not sure if that's possible. The existing mail widgets don't use IMAP to pull in the data. Have you tried digging around Google Groups?

[zeroplane]

I sure would love to play this game, I bought the $10 version not the demo. But sadly the software doesn't run at all. I am using windows XP SP3 on a very beefy hardware setup. I am also a very knowledgeable software engineer and have virus, process, and mallware software installed on my computer to protect it from the typical garbage that would make it unstable. To my surprise installing Spore from spore website that I bought lit my detection software up like a Christmas tree.

This software is loaded with SecureROM DRM software that is very nasty. I have heard you can circumvent the security checks it run by running the application in Window 98 compatibility mode. But regardless the software installs SecureROM DRM software. There is no mention of this software in the installation, in the readme documents or on the spore or EA website. By the way once you install the DRM software you can't uninstall it without digging deep into your registry, configuration files, and deleting files from the windows directory and programs directory directly. This is unacceptable! I am going to spend the next few days attempting to clean my computer of this vermin.

I suggest you don't install it unless you are:
A) totally ignorant and don't care that you will be monitored by EA.
B) don't mind that you computer's security and anti virus software will have been disabled making your PC even more vulnerable to viruses and mall ware.

Until the DRM rootkit is not included in this software I won't buy anything from EA from this point on.
BOYCOTT EA!