Facebook Apps

Social Connect Facebook App

Professor Appy

Social Connect (A Facebook Dating App)

I came across this app that just launched on Facebook. It’s billed as a lifestyle and dating app, and it’s all that and much more – Social Connect can be just for fun and it’s very entertaining and informative.

Even though I already have a girlfriend, and so I’m not searching for a mate, I can see why Social Connect can become popular for those users seeking to add a little spice or romance in their lives by connecting with a compatible partner.

I used Social Connect to find a sports partner, as I’m trying to get in top shape. I found a gowl named Lara, and she’s been teaching me Yoga, spinning, Tai Chi, and we help each other with cardio training.

Social Connect is a real hoot! You can ask users secret questions. Someone asked me if I had ever displayed public affection, and of course I have – in trees, in the cloud forest, in the forest canopy and just above the waterfalls. In fact, most of my romantic encounters have been outdoors.

There’s also a section called Rate Me, where you can rate members based on appearance, if they so choose to be rated. I’m a little shy, but I may be tempted to get rated in the future.

I really love the charm section where you can send other users charms such as single roses, diamond rings (of the virtual kind), chocolate kisses, wine, tropical flowers, and cards. You also can send what they call “Connects”, which are messages, as well as winks and ice-breakers.

You can keep your favorite charms in a treasure box, and you can send charms and invites to your selected friends.

Social Connect has to be the most exciting dating app, with all its nifty features such as the Guardian feature for safer dating, Favescape for checking in and checking out local hot spots, and its location-aware and updating platform through its integration with Foursquare and Twitter (one of my fave applications; after all, it’s got a bird as its logo), a Social Card, which provides your profile and whatever faves, and a What’s New section to check out your new charms, messages, and to even check out who might have peeked at your profile.

If I were not in a serious relationship, I’d use the Social Connect app to find a compatible mate. But it’s also fun for rating and sending charms, and the FaveScape section sure provides some great tips on trying out local eateries and taverns and cafes.

Professor Appy gives Social Connect the highest rating: 5 Hoots

Design: Super-fantastic – 5 Hoots

User Friendly: Indeed it is! – 5 Hoots

Entertaining: Fun times and very creative – 5 Hoots

Useful: Absolutely – Targeted Search, Updates, Reviews, – 5 Hoots

Original: Highly imaginative – 5 Hoots

5 Hoots!

Xobni Mobile BlackBerry App Review

You receive emails from lots of people, some with the sender’s contact info and others without them, and most likely, there’ll be plenty of such messages that you’ve not bothered to copy into a contact and sync it with your BlackBerry’s address book. The Xobni Mobile app for BlackBerry eases the job for you by pulling together phone calls, emails and text messages you’ve exchanged with others, with incoming contact details, to build a comprehensive address book that virtually links to everyone who is a common factor in the circle. It is similar to the Social Networking websites that shows common friends between you and another person, even if he/she is not in your friend’s list.

Xobni Mobile BlackBerry App Features

BlackBerry Xobni Mobile app can be used in two ways; either you can let it mine information for you from incoming emails and text messages automatically, or you can pay for letting it sync all the information it had extracted from all your email in Outlook, and get it to your BlackBerry. The second option is more precise as the mobile application automatically mining info from incoming emails is not that fool proof (sometimes, it extracts unwanted numbers as well). Further, no frequent syncing is required, even if the other guy had not mailed you for a month as the app syncs across from Outlook over the web, thereby getting all updated info.

The Xobini address book can be accessed by scrolling to the top, while you are typing an email. The contacts are sorted by those who you are in contact most often, even though specific search using letters/words is also possible. Alternatively, you can add the addresses the standard way, if you want to.

Given the size of information that Xobini puts together, it goes without mention that quite a few memory space will be taken up for the same. So, the app gives you, the user, an option whether to accumulate data in the phone memory or external memory card.

On the downside, the install experience could have been made much better. Also, you are required to set up the online account before you can use the app in the BlackBerry. And quite oddly, the app requires you to click open the app permissions page while you install it.

Conclusion

Xobini Mobile is an excellent BlackBerry app that combines the utilities of LinkedIn, Facebook, and Gwabbit, backed by seamless integration with the BlackBerry OS. With this app at your disposal, no longer would you be required to scavenge old emails for a person’s contact details again. Single license of Xobni Mobile BlackBerry app comes at a price tag of $9.99, while Xobni Mobile with Xobni One: $6.99 + $3.99 monthly fee or $39.90/year.

Marketplace App For Facebook

App Name: Marketplace for Facebook

Summary
One of the best applications of Facebook, Marketplace allows you to sell, give away, ask for or look for anything that you want. You can also sell for a cause to support charities. This application makes it simpler to see what your friends have posted and what can be found in your region.
The main categories found under Marketplace application include:
1.      Items for Sale
2.      Housing
3.      Vehicles
4.      Jobs

User interaction
With a conversational approach, Marketplace lets users search for the required items in the given categories.

User interface
The listing process is easy and comments are aggregated on a listed item’s “Wall”. Great emphasis is placed on items listed by your friends along with listings of items listed by people in your local area.

Utility and Productivity
The easy communication on Facebook allows people to list things on Marketplace that they wouldn’t mail to their friends otherwise. You can sell for a cause and express yourself through the causes you support. Introduced by Oodle, this concept is being leveraged by creating ways for Facebook users to sell items that benefit charity.

App Rating

(8 out of 10)

Marketplace is an excellent approach to integrating classified listings. Oodle’s conversational approach makes selling and buying items more than just a transaction, but rather an interesting experience.

Birthday Calendar Facebook App Reviews

Application name – Birthday Calendar App

Summary

Birthday Calendar application makes plotting your friends birthdays on a calendar much easier. Apart from your Facebook friends, you can add birthdays of your parents, see them in calendar format, view upcoming birthdays in your profile and send cards from Facebook collection.

User interaction

This easy to use application has great features and lets users make birthday calendar. Upcoming birthdays can be seen on the profile page in a well organized list format. These can be sorted out by last name or first name.

User interface

Adding friends to your Birthday Calendar is very simple. Not only that, you can decide when and how to receive your alerts, select holidays, set your time zone preferences and choose gifts and greeting cards from a virtual collection.

Utility and Productivity
One of the most popular applications on Facebook, Birthday Calendar provides service to online users as well as iPhone users. Most of the functions and functionalities remain the same for both, including viewing friend list, receiving alerts and notifications, sending virtual gifts to friends, text, email or calling your friends, selecting holidays and adding non-Facebook friends. Each user has a lot of flexibility to personalize their Birthday Calendar.

Rating

(9 out of 10)

Birthdays just got more interesting with this cool application that lets you send a wall post, greetings or gifts to your Facebook friends. The email notification is an opt-in feature that reminds you of upcoming birthdays, one week in advance.  Birthday Calendar is the best way to start the celebrations!