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Instagram tests sharing posts with only your closest friends
Instagram's algorithmic timeline is an abject failure if you actually want to see all of your friends' posts. As a way of seemingly admitting that, the photo-and-video-minded social network is testing a new feature called "favorites," according to The Verge. The idea is pretty simple: you make a list of the people you want to see your post as soon as possible, and then send it to them privately, either as a Story or the timeline. It sounds a lot like sending photos to your friends on Snapchat versus pushing them to that service's Story. Hrm. Posts that go out to your friends list will appear in their timelines and will have a green check mark in them.
Twitch starts rolling out access to its 'Friends' feature
Last month, Twitch continued its transformation into a fully fledged social network with a feature called "Friends." And now the streaming service is opening it up to users, albeit in limited beta form. The list, which can have up to 500 people per account, will let you see who's online and, if need be, send private messages (aka Whispers) with a single click. Right now, Twitch says it has activated accounts for anyone who signed up at PAX East in April, as well as a few other members of the community.
PlayStation 4 friends list will accomodate up to 2,000 of your best buds
So it seems that PlayStation 4 owners will have more friends than their Xbox One counterparts -- well, you know, in theory, at least. Sony announced this morning, by way of rather chipper Q&A video, that the PS4 will have a Party Chat to call its own, along with friends lists that support up to 2,000 users -- that's double the number that Microsoft announced toward the end of May (though, all said, both numbers are a big improvement over the last gens' 100-person cap). Good news for social PlayStation gamers, though you might want to start saving up now -- that's a whole lot of extra birthdays gifts next year.
Xbox One installs discs to the HDD, friends list capped at 1,000
The Xbox One's 50GB Blu-ray discs will automatically rip to your 500GB hard drive, Microsoft tells us, and it looks like you won't have to wait til they're done to get going. That's according to the Xbox One landing page on Xbox.com, spotted by our friends at Joystiq, which says, "With Xbox One, you can start playing immediately as games install. And updates install seamlessly in the background, so your games and entertainment won't be interrupted." And that's not all they've sussed out in details -- the Xbox One will also have a 1,000-person friend cap. How does that tie into the Skype integration? Good question! That's not clear just yet, but it stands to reason that they're independent of each other.
Airtime testing new video post features, improved buddy list
Remember Airtime, the Facebook-integrated video calling / media sharing service with a Chatroulette flavor? Well if not, we don't blame you -- usage stats suggest it hasn't quite taken off, but maybe the new features it's testing will secure a few more fans. No longer is the service restricted to the here and now, as the major change is all about video posts. Use Airtime to record a message and you can post it to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or via a traditional email to get the conversation started. Friends can then reply to your message through Airtime with a video post of their own, and so on. Its buddy list has also been given a little love, so now it shows friends as online, idle or offline, and details your interaction timeline. Whether the features are enough to inspire wider uptake is questionable, but for the few that actively use Airtime, the updates are out in the wild now on a "limited public release."
Google code reveals inner Circles, a social secret weapon?
Nothing livens the day like a blurry screen grab of some Javascript, especially when it hints at the ghostly form of a social networking tool that doesn't officially exist. The code was spotted hiding in plain sight at Google Profiles by Austrian blogger Florian Rohrweck, who fortunately enjoys browsing computer-speak more than playing in the park. Rohrweck noticed the word "circles" used repeatedly in the context of people adding and maintaining groups of contacts, and made the connection to the Google Circles social networking platform that was feverishly rumored and then vehemently denied earlier this year (a saga fully recapped at the More Coverage link). It's impossible to know whether these few lines of code represent a forthcoming service, another social layer on top of existing services, or just pure experimentation on the part of Google devs. In any case, the circular references have apparently now been zapped, leaving us with nothing more than that screen grab -- oh yeah, and Facebook.
Xbox v1 games, systems no longer Live; Microsoft's pulling the plug April 15
It's been no secret that original Xbox games and systems have been the vestigial limb holding back much wanted XBL features including raising the limit on our friends list to over 100 or mobile tie-ins, and on April 15 Live access for all of them comes to an end. Even those Xbox Originals downloaded to the 360 or played via backwards compatibility will be cut off from online play, so we'd suggest getting those last few rounds of Halo 2 in now or at least look into an alternative solution like XBConnect. Affected users should keep an eye on their inbox, Xbox Live GM Marc Whitten has promised "details and opportunities" to come for you as partners in this process -- we're figuring a coupon or two or an extended XBL subscription as the lights are turned out is the least they can do. For the rest of us already living in the future? The timing of this announcement mere days before the X10 event in San Francisco February 11 can't be coincidental, we should find out what comes next by then.
The best way to manage your XBL friends list
Our good friend Chris Paladino over at the Gamerscore Blog decided to write up an article explaining how he handles his ever bloating Xbox Live friends list. Chris, being a high status celeb, receives numerous friend requests which constantly pushes him towards the 100 friends limit and so often he has to remove people to keep it around 95. But how does Chris choose who he boots off his sacred friends list? With a spreadsheet, of course! He keeps track of EVERY time he plays with a friend, what game, random notes, and all kinds of other stats. Then, when it's time to remove some friends, he uses his spreadsheet proof to nix those who he hasn't played with and sends them a message stating that they no longer can fit on his list. Props to you Chris, you have quite the organized system.Our friends lists requires weeding from time to time and we can safely say our list management is far from as organized as Chris'. But what about you? Do you have a hard time keeping your XBL friends list below 100 or are you rocking an exclusive list with 10 or so? Please, share your friends list strategies, etiquette and how you trim the fat when the fat needs trimming.
Mac OS 10.4 gets answer to Windows Live friends list
Mac users sometime get the shaft from Microsoft. Messenger is neutered, for one thing, especially on the Xbox Live front. So, James Howard decided to do something about it, and wrote MacLive, giving users with Mac OS 10.4 a cool little app to view their friends list with. It even has Growl alerts, allowing you to track specific friends or games' activity. Here, we can see Dustin Burg doing what he does ... well, not exactly "best", but maybe "most". Geometry Wars #1 player K4rn4ge hitting up Root Beer Tapper, having recently completed it. And finally we have community member and fellow podcaster TheMan661 hitting up Lost Planet's multiplayer.* So, all in all, the app works pretty good, and Howard says that after today's attention, he'll be sprucing up the features in the coming days, and we'll keep you posted. So, have you tried this, and do you find it useful?[Thanks, Darksaviour69]*Gamertags shown with owner's permission.
Friends beta now available in the Steam client
According to Eurogamer, the "Friends" feature of Steam is "'nearing the end of its beta phase' and will soon be available."In an update made to the Steam client and noted on Steam News this afternoon, you can now also "join the Friends Beta via the Friends button inside of Steam."Great to hear about the progress, but Xbox owners might take some pride in Live's functioning Friends list on the console side over this prominent PC-based service (third-party friends apps notwithstanding, of course).[Via Eurogamer]
