Fruit Ninja, the fruit-slashing Iphone and Facebook App, is now a trending discussion in various Chatwing chatrooms. Fans of the application are now exchanging tips and hints that can improve everyone’s game play. Adding to that, these players are competing for online leaderboard scores. Chatwing’s developers are always keeping in touch with these fans in order to provide an efficient communication service.

Chatwing’s main goal is to provide an efficient chat widget and clear stream of communication for people all around the world. Its developers believe that this can be achieved by proper implementation of website chat. This is a strong reason why large percentage of Fruit Ninja fans has chosen the widget to communicate with others. Chatwing also gives people the chance to log in with their Facebook accounts. Aside from exchange of tips, people can now send out Facebook invitations to each other.

Since Chatwing is a widget, it can also be installed to most blogs and websites. To do this, the user must undergo domain registration and account creation. Following that, customization takes place. The user can edit the appearance of the shout box. Height and width can be adjusted by dragging sliders, while colors can be matched to create perfect hues. The chat box can also be renamed. Casual game bloggers, especially those who write about Fruit Ninja, have used the chat application to drive traffic to their blog. With that, they observed moderate spikes of visibility in just a week.

Easy installation is also one of the strong features of Chatwing. Bloggers can install it within seconds, and they can also customize the widget. Any color or hue is possible and the title can also be changed. After registration and installation, the user can now retrieve the HTML code and embed it to a blog or website’s custom design panel.

Chat applications were created for many known purposes. Perhaps the most famous purpose is friendship. Through chatrooms, people can search for new friends that can be turned into love interests. If Internet will be divided into a pie, these chatrooms will take up a large percentage. Chatwing, an advanced chat widget, is dedicated to the pursuit of an improved chatting experience.

Chatwing operates with basic simplicity, yet this chat box is powerful enough to reach many people within a given time. Since it is a free chat widget, it can be embedded to any blog or website. The more active the blog chats, the greater the connection is.

It has been proven that Chatwing fares well in blogs specializing on people connection. People who are looking for friends used Chatwing often, delving in different kinds of topics. Chatwing also has a Facebook log-in option. Through this, people can exchange profile information with relative ease. Sending out Facebook invitations through a chat box has never been easier.

There are many chat sites out there that have the same premise with Chatwing. However, only few of them can deliver good standards. Chatwing has better connection and its simple installation mechanics appealed to a lot of people.

Bloggers also benefited a lot from Chatwing. According to a study, bloggers who used Chatwing observed spikes in their blogs’ visibility by about 80%. This observation takes place during the first week of Chatwing usage.

appMobi (www.appmobi.com) today announced public beta availability of playMobi™, a cross-platform HTML5-based game development, deployment, and monetization SDK. playMobi gives HTML5 game developers an elegant JavaScript API solution to the many issues they face, including user authentication, in-game payments, social player engagement, scoring and leaderboard management. The core technology of playMobi is based on TapJs, which pioneered the social network category for HTML5 games and was acquired by appMobi in 2011. Developers can apply to join the playMobi beta program at www.appmobi.com/playmobi.

“With a single JavaScript API, playMobi gives HTML5 game developers all the tools they need to create interesting and socially engaging games that run on iOS, Android and Facebook platforms,” said Sam Abadir, CTO of appMobi. “playMobi includes slick in-app purchasing capabilities based on appMobi’s patent-pending ‘1Touch’ technology, making the experience very simple and highly secure. playMobi leverages the rapidly expanding HTML5 platform, offering game developers the unique ability to ‘write it once’ and deploy the same code to iOS, Android, Facebook, and the open Web — fully compliant with each platform’s terms of service.”

Scirra is the developer of “Construct 2,” a leading HTML5 game development environment. Director Ashley Gullen said, “Like appMobi, Scirra believes HTML5 is the gaming platform of the future. We’re excited by the potential of cross-platform IAP, leaderboards and achievements. We look forward to making playMobi really easy to use in games made with Construct 2.”

One interface enables In-App Purchases for all platforms
In an industry “first,” playMobi enables cross-platform in-app purchasing with its 1Touch in-app payment system. When a player makes a purchase, playMobi automatically completes the transaction using the correct in-app-purchase backend system, based on the device in use. When running on iOS, playMobi uses iTunes; on Android, Google Payments; on Facebook, Facebook Credits; and on the Open Web, PayPal. By providing a simple JavaScript programming interface that seamlessly supports e-commerce on the four most popular mobile gaming platforms, playMobi eliminates a huge headache for game developers who want to make money with their games.

Built-in Social Player Engagement Features – Interactive Leaderboards & Badges
playMobi includes social gaming tools that game developers can use to increase the “stickiness” of their games. User login is simple and easy using Facebook Connect. Tools are also provided to create and manage leaderboards, game achievements, player analytics, and cloud-based storage of game status and inventory.

Game Levels, Scores and Inventories Saved across Multiple Devices, even Across Platforms
Because today’s casual gamers increasingly play on multiple devices (both mobile and desktop), playMobi enables multi-device and even multi-platform social game play, supporting HTML5 Web-based games, Facebook games, and iOS and Android hybrid games created with PhoneGap or appMobi. For example, with playMobi, the achievement level and high score from a player’s lunchtime session on his iOS iPhone game will be in place when he plays the Facebook version of the game later on his home laptop. playMobi’s cross device/cross platform social gaming capability is another industry “first.”

Game Analytics Let Developers “Look Over Players’ Shoulders” to Improve Gameplay
playMobi gives HTML5 game developers important new insight into how their games are actually being played. Detailed analytics can be captured as the game is played, isolating trouble spots or levels that are too easy. Because high-score cheating is an issue on the open Web, playMobi allows developers to create rules-based checks on posted scores, eliminating most score hacks and protecting leaderboard validity. Integrating playMobi analytics into a game is simply a matter of adding the playMobi JavaScript library and a few lines of JavaScript code.

playMobi complements appMobi’s existing HTML5 gaming technology, which includes directCanvas, multiSound, and directBox2D, forming an integrated, high performance platform that creates games that perform well as native iOS and Android app store games on Facebook and on the open mobile Web. playMobi is being offered free of charge to a limited number of developers during a short testing phase. Interested developers can sign up for the beta program at www.appmobi.com/playmobi.

NASA has launched its first multi-player online game to test players’ knowledge of the space program. Who was the first American to walk in space? Who launched the first liquid-fueled rocket? These are only a few of the questions players can answer in Space Race Blastoff.

Available on Facebook, Space Race Blastoff tests players’ knowledge of NASA history, technology, science and pop culture. Players who correctly answer questions earn virtual badges depicting NASA astronauts, spacecraft and celestial objects. Players also earn points they can use to obtain additional badges to complete sets and earn premium badges.

“Space Race Blastoff opens NASA’s history and research to a wide new audience of people accustomed to using social media,” said David Weaver, NASA’s associate administrator for communications. “Space experts and novices will learn new things about how exploration continues to impact our world.”

NASA chose to make the game available through Facebook to take advantage of the social media site’s large audience and enable players to compete against others. Individuals also can play solo games.

Once in the game, players choose an avatar and answer 10 multiple-choice questions. Each correct answer earns 100 points, with a 20-point bonus to the player who answers first. The winner advances to the bonus round to answer one additional question for more points. Correctly answering the bonus question earns the player a badge.

Space Race Blastoff was developed by Scott Hanger, Todd Powell and Jamie Noguchi of NASA’s Internet Services Group in the Office of Communications. Play the game now at:

http://apps.facebook.com/spacerace

Since its very beginnings, Facebook seems to have had a love-hate relationship with its users. Now, another controversy has emerged following the release of an American Academy of Pediatrics report addressing a new phenomenon described as “Facebook Depression.”

In the report, Facebook Depression is defined as “depression that develops when preteens and teens spend a great deal of time on social media sites, such as Facebook, and then begin to exhibit classic symptoms of depression.” It also argues that these types of websites can create a skewed reality that makes teens feel alienated.

But is this enough to conclude that Facebook is causing more teens to be depressed? Many other resources are arguing that if Facebook causes depression, the same could be said for a teen sitting alone in the cafeteria. Whichever side you agree with, the fact is that teen depression is a serious issue. About 20% of teens will confront depression before they reach adulthood and about 5% are suffering from severe depression at any given time.

The Psychiatry Department at Miami Children’s Hospital has extensive experience helping children and adolescents with behavioral, social and emotional problems. Psychologist Dr. Sara Rivero-Conil, the department’s Clinical Manager, has helped many teens and their families cope with the effects of adolescent depression. “Adolescents with underlying poor self-esteem may be impacted by the sight of others enjoying activities or declaring their happiness. On the other hand, social media sites also allow for well-adjusted individuals to share ideas, emotions and feel connected. As a parent, you can set curfews or time limits around non-school-related activities and keep open communication with your children, allowing them to discuss their stressors, emotions and positive aspects of their day,” she said.

“Teen depression can affect anyone regardless of gender, ethnicity or social background,” said Dr. Rivero-Conil. “It’s important to be aware of the signs, which can include anger, irritability, withdrawal and frequent crying.”

So while we can’t be sure if Facebook is causing teens to become depressed, it is safe to conclude that monitoring your teen’s social media habits, along with their overall behavior and interests, can help you in identifying a potential problem and getting them the correct medical attention in time.

For more information on childhood and adolescent depression, visit www.mch.com.

Joy Aether, the maker of the D33P series of apps (http://d33papp.com) known for being the first 2D-to-3D Facebook photo app, announced “Facebook Timeline Covers by D33P,” an Android app that creates seamless Facebook Timeline cover photos, from the user’s own Facebook photos and D33P-produced cover arts.

Media outlet USA Today comments about Facebook Timeline: “Your [Facebook Timeline] cover photo is your chance to make a splash.” “Facebook Timeline Covers by D33P” is an app that helps Facebook users to do just that.

“The Facebook Timeline design has already been adopted by users around the world, and the design has the cover photo and the profile picture placed tightly together. This layout has resulted some designers creating playful designs that allows interaction between the cover photo and the profile picture,” says Ricky Lui, COO & Co-founder of Joy Aether.

“Our new app brings the creation of a ‘Facebook Timeline Seamless Combo’ to the hands of us non-designers, who don’t necessarily have the Photoshop skills. The app makes it very easy to create both the cover photo and the profile picture at the same time. The D33P series of apps have a single mission in mind: Have Fun With Photos. Facebook is the largest photo repository on the planet, and our Facebook Timeline Covers app enables user to play with their photos, unleash their creativity, and showcase their creation as their Facebook Timeline cover.”

With the latest release 1.2 of this app, a Facebook user can choose a photo from his/her own Facebook albums, Friends’ Albums, News Feeds, to be the cover photo. After chosen a cover photo, the user can choose to take a photo for his/her profile picture. While taking the picture, the chosen cover photo will also be shown on the screen, like a multi-exposure shot, allowing the user to see how the profile picture would look like alongside the cover photo.

E.g. If the user has chosen a sunrise photo as the cover photo, when she takes the profile picture, she can act out squinting or hand covering her face. Then when both the cover photo and the profile pic is uploaded, the two pictures work well together in the Facebook Timeline layout. This previewing of the photos would be important to many users who likes to visualize the end result before posting.

A second way of creating the seamless combo would be to start with one of the Cover Arts that is pre-installed into the app. Some of these Cover Arts will allow the user to interact the profile picture with the cover photo, e.g. a bunch of zombies in the Cover Art and the user can pose as being scared, in the profile picture. A preview is also available to see how the cover photo will go with the current profile picture. In release 1.2 of the app, more Cover Arts for various festivities and special days are included, such as MLK (Martin Luther King) Day, Australia Day, Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Chinese New Year, etc.

For more information, and to start using “Facebook Timeline Covers by D33P,” visit http://www.d33papp.com. For a video trailer about our app, please see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsVBTVJ8VPA

Pricing and Availability:
“Facebook Timeline Covers by D33P” is now available on a limited time special for free, in the Android Market. Availability in the other Android marketplaces will soon follow.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.joyaether.d33p.coverart

The new QWiPS (www.qwips.com) apps is available for download from the Apple app store – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/qwips/id473262882?mt=8 And MC Hammer has already sent a QWiPS message. http://qwips.com/4j5zx8

The premise of QWiPS is simple: We all know the billions of messages traded and shared via the social web every day. However, the large majority of those messages are text, photos, or videos – NOT audio. Right now, the social web is silent.

That’s odd right? Think for a moment about the power of voice and sound. The first thing a new baby hears is usually the sound of their parents’ voice. Every day, billions of voice mails are recorded – messages to boyfriends, girlfriends, wives, husbands, co-workers, friends.

What if we were able to add voice to all the social snippets that we are sharing today on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks? That’s the target of QWiPS new social voice platform.

Using the QWiPS app:

- You can spontaneously create 30-second audio QWiPS and tag them to any static image or text, Facebook or Twitter post, bringing those messages to life with emotion, personality, and authenticity.

- You can tell the story behind a photo in their own voice, share voice comments, jokes and anecdotes.

- With effects, you can alter your voice message to sound like a robot, chipmunk, etc.

- With themes, you can easily create a voice eCard and share it with your friends and family.

- Celebrities, musicians, athletes, brands and marketers can utilize QWiPS to stay in touch – via voice – with their social audiences and fans.

- Friends, colleagues, and family can easily respond to your messages via QwipBacks – creating a threaded, voice conversation via the social web.

Today OneLouder announced a major update to its leading FriendCaster for Facebook app for Android, including a number of new features and enhancements available as a free upgrade in version 4.1.

FriendCaster is now the only Facebook app for Android to offer photo manipulation and filters allowing users to personalize their photos. This includes adding different effects, cropping, re-coloring, deleting redeye, whitening teeth and more. For a fun twist, the new photo features also allow users to edit any of their friend’s photos and re-post to their news feed. This new feature is powered by Aviary, a leader in API-based photo manipulation and effects.

Additionally, FriendCaster includes a new photo launcher that will place an instant camera link in the app drawer. This allows users to quickly and easily shoot and edit a photo before posting to Facebook.

“For many users, Facebook represents a modern day photo album,” said Evan Conway, President, OneLouder. “The addition of these innovative photo features is another great example of how FriendCaster continues to prove its position as the top Facebook app for Android.”

Other FriendCaster updates include:

•     New photo comment bar allows user to check comments and likes on a photo much faster
•     New “dark” theme saves battery and gives users an alternative look to the traditional “blue” of Facebook
•     Improvements to user interface and overall stability

FriendCaster is the #1 ranked third-party Facebook app for Android. To download now or for more information, visit http://www.friendcasterapp.com.

Frendz LLC is pleased to announce the addition of status post commenting to BuzzE for iPhone giving users a simple convenient way to share and comment on other user’s thoughts of the day. The original version of BuzzE offered users a friendly way to break the ice and meet people in their neighborhood or around the world with chat, media exchange, and ice breaker games as well as a way to find local social events. Version 2.4 expands on this basic premise and allows users to post messages, audio, and video to other user’s status post comments.

This extends the basic idea of BuzzE as a way to interact with new and old friends on an individual basis and opens up group interactions. A status comment is no longer just a status comment. It becomes a forum to share ideas, pictures, and even audio and video with a wide range of BuzzE users. This moves BuzzE from the realm of a social networking tool to a true mobile community.

With this offering BuzzE provides users with a simple straight forward way to interact and share their status with other users without the excessive complexity of the latest Facebook offering. In addition as always user’s personal and profile information is completely private except to their friends.

Commenting on the new release Frendz LLC managing partner Brett Rosen said “This seemed like a natural evolution for BuzzE. Some of our users have jokingly called us ‘Facebook for Strangers’. This seemed like an opportunity to give people just that a simple straightforward forum for people to share their ideas and lives while making new friends.”

With version 2.4 BuzzE offers the most complete proximity based social networking experience for iPhone. The team continues to build on that success and the BuzzE community should expect new and exciting features and enhancements in the months ahead.

LiveGO iPhone Application delivers more developed Facebook and Twitter interface with 1.2.1 version. It practically carries the Facebook and Twitter to the mobile. The main screen of the LiveGO iPhone allows access to both Facebook and Twitter and instant messaging with only one touch.

The new application is capable of keeping online status up to 36 hours via Push Notifications.
And has the Google Plus mobile interface now, to send status updates, and follow the G+ circles.

The founder of the LiveGO, Yusuf YILDIRIM tells following about the new application:

“As LiveGO, we esteem the mobile platforms. We aim to eliminate the complexity caused by number of applications, and to bring all social platforms all together.
Thus, users don’t need to download many applications and make continuous transitions between applications. We plan to provide service in all mobile platforms by posting iPad, Android and Windows Mobile versions in subsequent months.”

The LiveGO iPhone application includes the Google Plus interface to be developed in parallel with interest of users and this shows once again that the team follows up the innovations closely and cares the mobile users.

The LiveGO which reaches 1.8 million members for 10 months of time of period aims to exceed 2.5 million members at the end of the 2011.