Among many other new features announced today for OS X Mountain Lion was Twitter integration, built right into many of the core Mac apps.

"Tweet right from your apps. OS X Mountain Lion keeps you on top of all things Twitter. Sign in once and you’re all set to start tweeting — and you don’t have to leave the app you’re in. Tweet links and photos directly from Safari, iPhoto, or Photo Booth with the new Tweet Sheet. Tweet comments and add locations. And when someone mentions you in a tweet or sends you a direct message, you’ll get a Twitter notification right then and there."

Twitter was borne of mobile, so it's a big step for the social network to be integrated deeply and natively in a desktop operating system. Apple first started getting cozy with Twitter in iOS 5, and it's clear that from here on in, they'll keep supporting the ubiquitous social network. That being said, after years of lukewarm social networking initiatives inside Apple, including Ping, is it smart for Apple to just let Twitter handle their social networking?

Given how comfortable the two companies are getting with each other, I'm curious if down the line Apple would consider an acquisition... After all, they've got more money than most countries at this point. Apple doesn't traditionally like to be beholden too, or dependent on, outside companies for their services or user experience.

Combined with the new OS X Notification Center, you'll never have to deal with redundant notifications of @ replies or direct messages again, which is pretty sweet.

"I'm a big fan of Localmind because, unlike a lot of location-based apps, this one actually has a pretty solid userbase, even in my relatively tiny hometown."

Localmind 2.0 uses your iPhone's GPS to help you zero-in on local experts so you can chat with them live and ask them questions about the things that are important to you in your area. If you're familiar with Foursquare and Quora, it's almost a hybrid of those services where you can questions like, "are there any good bars around this restaurant you just suggested?"

Previously, LocalMind functioned like a helpful bulletin board where folks could leave questions for knowledgeable locals to answer. Now it's much more precise and meaningful. Questions in LocalMind 2.0 are fed into different categories, enabling others to easily find existing answers for nearby restaurants, pubs, shopping, travel, services, arts, and outdoors. Right now, my only qualm is that those filters are by default applied to your current location, as are any search results. I'd love to be able to do some advance scouting for Barcelona when I head over there for Mobile World Congress at the end of the month, but the only way you can hop between cities is to pinch-zoom out on the embedded Google Map a million times, then hunt around for your destination. Even then, one wayward tap, and you're zipped back to your current location. At least there's the browser companion which is more full-bodied.

Why would local experts want to help? Not simply out of the goodness of their hearts, of course. They get points. Once earning expert status at a particular venue, you earn karma points for answering questions, and as you hit certain milestones, you earn tiered titles. Think of it as Foursquare Mayorships, only with granularity and legitimacy.  If you don't want people harassing you with questions about your favourite haunts, you can always opt out of venue expertise. On top of Foursquare, Localmind can recognize Facebook Places check-ins, and also lets you share questions on Twitter.

I'm a big fan of Localmind because, unlike a lot of location-based apps that piggyback on Foursquare, this one actually has a pretty solid userbase, even in my relatively tiny hometown of Ottawa, Ontario. Generally, these sorts of apps have a decent amount of activity in the big cities, like New York and San Francisco, but those of us outside of gargantuan metropolises don't have much use for them. Beyond that, it finally feels like check-ins are actually worth something to someone now, and that I'm not just grasping for stupid virtual badges or stickers.

Free - Download Now

There was a bit of noise yesterday about a popular mobile social networking app, Path, taking the address books of users wholesale, and storing them on their servers. Despite being transferred over SSL, and the data only being used to notifications when friends signed up, Path has apologized profusely and wiped any personal address book information from their servers. A patch to their iPhone app now provides a prompt if you're interested in receiving notifications when friends sign up.

It's good to see Path is being clear, prompt, proactive, and apologetic about the whole thing, but the whole situation still serves as a reminder that many of these mobile apps have access to a lot of personal information, and if you're uncomfortable with that situation, it's probably best not to go crazy signing up for every trendy new service to come along.

Personally, I've already surrendered to the fact that Google has an obscene amount of insight to my life, and if a few smaller software companies do too, fine. The worst they can do is deliver ads that are more relevant to my interests, and that doesn't sound like such a bad thing.

Source: Path

Iconic iPhone hacker George Hotz has quit Facebook and joined a new startup named Backplane. The folks over at BusinessInsider met up with Geohot recently and it looks like Backplane, funded by Lady Gaga and Google Ventures, is keeping him busy with hacking and coding.

Backplane empowers social community. We are a canvas for self-expression. We unite people around interests, affinities and movements. We are just getting started.

During a recent hackathon, Hotz was working on coding a program that would find all your friends on Facebook and put them on a map. Even though their project didn't win, it's good to see Hotz back to doing what he appears to be best at. Anyone besides me hoping he'll become involved in the iOS jailbreak community again?

Source: BusinessInsider

While Apple and social networking didn't get off to a good start with Ping!, it appears Apple may be willing to try again with a new patent pointing to a social networking feature they are titling "Places". (Does this sound familiar to anyone else?)

The patent shows that Places will be a social networking type service that will use the assistance of GPS to locate users on iOS devices. Whether or not it will integrate with Ping! is yet to be seen. The service is pretty much the same thing most mobile users already know how to use through apps like Gowalla and Foursquare. Ping! didn't seem to do as well as Apple would have liked so this may be a move to try and tie in the two services.

My big issue with Apple creating services like this is that it only encompasses the Apple ecosystem. What about my friends that are on other platforms such as Android? I can already interact with them through services like Gowalla and Foursquare, which are cross-platform. Apple would have to give me a really good reason to use their service to get me to abandon apps I'm already familiar with. Perhaps they'll integrate access to those services through their own. I'm still surprised they're using the title "Places" since Facebook already uses that title for their check-in service, and Apple already uses it for its facial recognition in iPhoto and Aperture.

What do you guys think? Would you use it or stick with what you already have?

Patently Apple

The latest patent filed by Apple shows a possible Ping-like social networking tool for the retail shopping world. It would allow for iPhone owners to share comments, opinions and recommendations for different products from different stores for their friends to view. Like any patent there's no telling when, if ever, this particular one will find its way into a real, shipping product, but it does hive us a glimpse at what Apple is working on.

Basically what it would entail is using your iPhone while shopping to gain product lists from a kiosk located inside the store. Those products and any information about them would be viewable in the proposed social networking app. Once you view a product you could ask your friends their opinions on the item to help you decide if you should make the purchase or hold off for the time being. Your friends can rate, review, or check yes or no for the products you share.

Apple feels it is a lot of work trying to coordinate shopping with friends or gaining the attention of a salesclerk. Personally I think I can handle shopping for myself but what about you? Do you need Apple's help in deciding what to buy in the form of yet another social network?

[ Apple Insider ]

Gowalla for iPad is a social app from some fine folks in Austin, TX that allows you to check-in to locations, see where your friends are checking-in, collect items and complete trips. Gowalla for iPad is available now in the App Store for free [Free- iTunes Link]

Gowalla is the newest entry into the whole "check-in" craze. Why check-in? With Gowalla the main goals are to see where your friends are and to collect items. However, this process is mainly reserved for the iPhone app. The iPad version of Gowalla provides beautiful access to view your activities (where you and your friends have checked-in), see what spots are in your area (spots are places to check-in) and your Passport (a summary of where you have checked in, stamps, pins and items collected.

This app is an excellent companion app to its iPhone cousin. The large screen really gives you great access to view where your friends are in real-time across the world. You can pinch and zoom from your city to the whole world in a breeze. You can learn more about a location or friend by tapping on their name on the map. Spots also dynamically appear when the map is moved to a new location, very slick.

One of the nice advantages of Gowalla compared to its competition is that Gowalla's main focus is not becoming a Mayor' but rather on collecting items left behind by other users. When you check-in with Gowalla you have an opportunity to swap an item you have with an item you are checking-in at. If it is a new location, there may not be an item but you can leave an item behind for another user and you then become the founder for that location.

If you are up for a challenge you can complete a Trip in Gowalla. Trips consist of checking into a series of locations in a city. Once complete, you get a trip badge to add to your collection. If you don't have trips in your city, you can create your own and submit it to Gowalla. Regretfully, trips are not accessible at this time in the iPad app.

Gowalla renders all of this with beautiful icons and graphics that really allows you to enjoy the experience of the application. It is important to remember that this really is not meant to replace the iPhone version of Gowalla, at least in its current state, but to enhance your experience with Gowalla. There is a substantial amount of functionality missing from this application and we look forward to what Gowalla will bring in future versions. Check out the video and pics below!

Pros

• Wonderful artistry
• Get directions to a spot
• Check-in
• View leaderboard
• Save items to your vault
• Awesome companion app to the iPhone version

Cons

• Trips are not viewable
• Cannot edit Spots
• Cannot create trips

While third parties have developed several of their own social gaming networks for the iPhone and iPad, Apple entered the space themselves today with iPhone OS 4 and their Game Center Social Network. (Think Microsoft Xbox Live or Sony Playstation Network for iPhone and iPad apps).

With Game Center you'll be able to invite friends to play, use matchmaking to challenge other players, gain achievements, and have your scores displayed on a leader board.

Game Center won't launch with iPhone OS 4 this summer, but is scheduled for release "later" this year.

According to Patently Apple, Apple is laying the foundations for a potential iGroups app that would allow like-minded iPhone (or iPod touch and iPad users, presumably) to set up MobileMe-powered social networks at events like WWDC (Apple's yearly World Wide Developers Conference).

The idea is to allow groups of friends or colleagues attending such events as a concert, a tradeshow, business meeting, wedding or rally to stay in communication with each other as a group to share information or reactions to live events as they're occurring. The technology behind the new iGroup social networking applications works with a very sophisticated cryptographic key generation system to ensure security and privacy of your communications. Interestingly, the patent states that if one of the devices in your group happens to be without true positioning technology, it appears that Apple's MobileMe service will provide some sort of "virtual GPS" capability to that user so that they could be aware of the locations of others in the group. Apple's patent provides us with example scenarios of both a concert and WWDC event to clarify the service. This marks Apple's fourth social networking application made public since the start of 2010 - which clearly indicates that Apple now has this hot new sector in its crosshairs.

As with anything Apple patent-related, whether or not it ever makes its way in front of consumers is anyone's guess. Still, this looks interesting and given how other companies and devices are embracing the social experience, it's something Apple has to be paying attention to.

You want?

Loopt [Free - iTunes link], which matches social networks with location-based services into one smoldering hot Web 2.0 sammich, has struck a deal with AT&T that will let them update their iPhone users' location information even when the Loopt app proper isn't running.

Yes, you read that correctly -- the Loopt iPhone app isn't being granted any extra special background multi-tasking sanction by Apple for the iPhone, this is strictly a server-to-server, Loopt-to-AT&T deal, and it will come at a price. BusinessInsider scores the scoop:

Loopt will first offer the new always-on service in a trial for 5,000 users. You can sign up at Loopt's site using your iPhone's MobileSafari browser. After the 14-day trial, the always-on feature will cost $3.99 per month, added to your AT&T bill.

BusinessInsider also renews that old rumor about how Apple is seriously considering limited multi-tasking in a future software update. And, yes, they'll have to have something interesting to tempt users with in iPhone 4.0/4G next summer, so why not run with that? We'd like it!

But back to Loopt, anyone dying to give AT&T an extra $4 a month for precise stalking tracking of their friends and family?

[Via Daring Fireball]

South by Southwest (SXSW) 2009 is trendy, twitter-filling, and the source of increasingly social iPhone news releases. What's going on this year?

FaceBook connect comes to the iPhone. Sure, they may just have redesigned their home pages to basically become Twitter with invitations to apps you don't want and events on continents you can't attend, but behind the scenes:

You can now use Facebook Connect on your iPhone in the same way you can for a website. Simply download any application featuring Facebook Connect and log in using your Facebook account from your iPhone. Then, you'll be able to easily find your Facebook friends. They will be able to see the same profile information as they can on the site, controlled by your privacy settings. You can also share what you're doing with your iPhone applications with all of your Facebook friends by publishing stories back to your profile.

Pelago has launched Whrrl 2.0:

an application for the iPhone that enables people to capture and share the moments of their lives, as they happen, as a story. Through location, photos and text updates, users can easily turn everyday life experiences into lasting stories that can be remembered, organized and shared. Each user controls exactly who can view their story, ranging from public to private, and includes the option to broadcast status updates on Facebook and Twitter.

SGN Launched Agency Wars, a game tied into -- you guessed it! -- social networking and Facebook connect!

Agency Wars is capitalizing on the classic spy genre and offeres massively multiplayer game play so you can become the most deadly spy around.

TUAW is also live and on location at SXSW 2009, and have posted up coverage of the iPhone Gaming Panel.

Although there are numerous apps that take advantage of the location-based feature the iPhone offers in order to serve up local eats, treats and other items, Goodrec is worth a hard look and download.

Even though it's free, does Goodrec deliver the goods? Is it worth taking up some space on your iPhone, or is it something you'll use a couple times and then banish to the electronic void of deleted apps? Read on for my take on Goodrec!

First Impressions

The interface is simple to use. You can use the "Search" screen or "Nearby" to find what you are looking for, from restaurants to movie theaters. Easily look up "Recents" that you have checked before, see which of your friends are online in Goodrec, and even check the history of recommendations you have made over time (more on this in a moment).

Goodrec takes up very little memory on your iPhone and offers a simple menu structure to quickly find what you are looking for. Not only can you find it, but the premise of Goodrec is to build in a community of your friends - people whose opinions and recommendations you trust - so you can make better choices because someone else has "been there, done that, ate that."

How It Works

In order to find recommended movies, books, restaurants, etc., you need to use Goodrec's menu. "Search" allows for selecting the category, location, and optionally, a name. If you are more visual, there is a scrolling bar of icons along the bottom of the screen with pictures representing the categories for easy swipe-and-tap.

Using "Nearby", you can view establishments represented by a pin on a scrollable map. The scrolling map is an excellent feature which I really like. The map is dynamic, so if your desired destination is just off the edge of the map, just scroll and other businesses will appear with their corresponding pins and names. Tapping on the name will whisk you off to the information screen, including address, phone number, and recommendation. Look up more details here and even pull up a map of the location and get directions. Interestingly, the map on the information is a Yahoo map. Tapping on "Directions" then takes you to the Google Maps app on your iPhone. I really wish the mapping was better integrated in this app so that you don't have to leave the app, check the map, then open the app again to get back to where you were - somewhat of a hassle.

The "Recents" tab will, as you might expect, give you a list of your recent searches, including a way to filter categories, sources of Goodrecs, and location. The "Friends" tab keeps a list of your friends and allows you to "Invite" more friends to use the app. A very nice feature of Goodrec is the social element - you are able to connect with your friends for recommendations. The database you have access to is created by other Goodrec users, so fortunately you won't usually be buried by an avalanche of recommendations when you are looking for something.

When you take our turn to recommend something, you will see it immediately appear on the map as soon as you recommend it. While you are there, you can mark the location as "My Location" for easier location reference. Once you give a recommendation, it's stored in the Goodrec database for other people to hopefully benefit from your critique. While you are recommending something, take a picture and store it on your Goodrec so other people can see what you are talking about.

If you are a user of social sites like Facebook, Twitter, or friendfeed, you will be happy to know that you can publish your Goodrecs directly on your site for others to read. Goodrec takes advantage of the location-based capabilities of your iPhone and provides a social network of it's own or integration into one of your favorite social networking sites so you can share your recommendations with your friends and others.

Final Thoughts

The recommendation system for Goodrec is simple and effective - thumbs up, down, or neutral, with just enough space to leave a helpful comment or two. The social networking aspect is an excellent way to get trusted recommendations and share your recommendations with your friends. Recommendations can be made quickly, privately, and shared on your social networking sites. After using Goodrec a few times, it should be an app that stays on your iPhone for a long time.

Pros

• Easy and useful interface for iPhone and web site access.
• Simple, effective rating system.
• Share recommendations with those you trust - your friends.
• Dynamic scrolling map and directions support.

Cons

• Somewhat clumsy mapping migration between app and Google Maps.
• Social network aspect is reliant on update by your could-be-burned out friends.

Rating:

Last month, Dieter let us know that Facebook's popular, but feature-thin App Store application would be getting an update to (hopefully!) bring it up to par with the older WebApp version accessible via MobileSafari browsing. The due date was September, and boy did they just manage to sneak it in under the wire! Check out the iTunes App Store for Facebook 2.0 (still free!).

So what's in the Facebook 2.0 update?

• Notifications
• Full news feed
• News feed story comments
• People search
• Friend requests
• Photo tagging
• Photo captioning
• Photo posts to friends' walls
• Full mini-feed combined with the wall
• Entire inbox, including sent and updates
• Inbox search
• Message attachments
• Speed and stability improvements

(Thanks to Gregory for sending this in!)