Flipboard’s magazine feature, which unleashed some creative personal magazines on iOS, is now available on Android. The 2.0 update brings this along with other improvements to the app for Google’s mobile OS.

Android users can now add content throughout Flipboard into their own customized magazine. By hitting the + button on an interesting article it becomes one of the posts inside your customized publication.

And because you don’t get enough notifications, count on some from Flipboard when others comment, like, or subscribe to your magazines.

Below is the full changelog from Google Play:

-Collect and save content into your own magazines, tap the “+” button to begin
-Your magazines are public, but can be made private
-Integrated Android share: add content from the Gallery & other apps to your magazines
-Bookmarklet to add items to your magazines from a browser
-Get notifications when people like, comment or subscribe to your magazines
-Share magazines via email or social networks
-Personalized recommendations for more to read
-Search is now front & center, with improved results

Twitter for Android 4.0, available today in Google Play, vastly improves the Twitter interface and gives it a Holo-themed design aesthetic.

The app now includes many smooth animations, sliding panels, and larger text which pops out from the increased white space. While there is not yet a tablet-specific version, the app looks much better on a Nexus 7.

Users can swipe from one column to another instead of being forced to only tap the heading. Twitter for Android now also recommends Twitter user names and hash tags when typing a tweet.

Also I found it to be far more responsive when alerting me about @mentions or new follows.

It is another good sign for Android users, who increasingly less need to be jealous of all those applications running on the rival iPhone or iPad. Yes, there are still those current exclusives like Tempo, but even that and other apps that first debut on iOS have plans to make their way to Android.

Nonetheless, as operat
ing systems get more powerful and integrated, developers continue to respond with compelling applications that take a central role in users’ mobile computing.

Evernote Smart Notebooks can finally be used with the note-taking service’s Android app. An update rolled out from Google Play early this morning which adds additional features supporting the Moleskine and Evernote Android app functionality.

The notebooks are a collaboration between Evernote and Moleskine, blending the traditional note taking of pen and paper with the evolution in digital file-keeping. Through a series of stickers users are able to take pictures of their handwritten notes for easy filing inside of Evernote. The paper is also said to be designed by Evernote for better picture quality.

The new version of the app also includes a “Page Camera,” which is designed for more accurate digitization of physical documents and pages.

The Moleskine notebooks have been available for several months in tandem with the company’s iOS apps. Today’s Android app update brings these specific Evernote features to devices powered with Google’s mobile operating system.

Those who purchase one of the Moleskine notebooks get a three-month subscription to Evernote Premium, which includes the more robust camera features, offline storage and additional space for saving files.

Evernote Premium subscribers also now have access to search in attached office documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with the latest Android app.

Just after updating the iOS versions of its Chrome browser, Google is back to pumping out more features in the beta version of its Android browser forward by adding in autofill, password sync and speed boosting technology.

It only works for those who are currently running both the beta version of Chrome on their desktop as well as Android device. For early adopters, however, it has been another effort in making the mobile browsing experience similar to using a computer.

For those who fee like being experimental Google is also using its data compression technology for a faster experience. To turn it on, type chrome://flags in to the browser’s Omnibox. Then, check the box for the setting titled, “Enable Data Compression Proxy.”

Google claims this can speed up browsing by up to 50 percent. I can’t speak to the specifics of the data, but my experience was that it was very rapid when surfing through a large number of sites, both on HSPA+ and over WiFi.

As always, the beta version can be on the buggy side, so proceed with caution and be willing to keep other browsers on standby. [Read more...]