notifications

Nook goes HD to face-off with Kindle

Wednesday's CNET Update puts a filter on it:

Barnes & Noble added two Nooks to the tablet family that have better screens and faster processors. Arriving in October, there's the 7-inch Nook HD (starting at $200 with 8 GB) and the 9-inch Nook HD+ (starting at $270 with 16 GB). They weigh in lighter than the competition and both have slots to add your own memory cards. But neither has a camera.

Gamers will be interested in the Wikipad, 10.1-inch tablet that has a controller dock with two analog sticks, a directional pad and four buttons. It … Read more

Foursquare lets users toggle friends to 'Always On'

It's never been easier to stalk, ahem follow, your friends on Foursquare. The social network announced a new feature today called "Always On."

This feature lets users get all check-in notifications from their specified friends at all times, no matter where they are. To use the feature, members simply need to go to their friends' profiles on the site and toggle the "Always On" button from the drop down menu.

According to Foursquare, this feature will help people know the necessary goings-on with friends without having to text or call them. It also lets armchair … Read more

How push notifications can save your app from getting dumped

Generally, I'm not a fan of apps shooting push notifications out to my phone.

No, "Words with Friends," I don't care that I'm about to forfeit my game. There's a reason I stopped playing it. I don't need an alert any time I get a new friend on Facebook.

But apparently, notifications do make a difference when it comes to engagement, and sometimes they're what keeps an app from getting deleted off the phone or being one of the myriad of unused "zombie" apps left ignored on a smartphone. With … Read more

How to set up Find My Friends notifications

Find My Friends, an iOS app aimed at helping friends and family members keep tabs on one another, was updated with the release of iOS 6. Other than some simple user interface changes, there wasn't a whole lot added to the app, with one exception -- notifications.

You can now set notifications to get alerted when a contact in your Find My Friends app arrives at or leaves a location you set.

To set up a notification for a friend, view their current location. In the upper-left corner of your screen, you'll see a button titled "Notify … Read more

Growl update adds OS X Notification Center support

The popular notification management tool Growl has been updated to add full support for Apple's Notification Center in Mountain Lion.

When Apple introduced its notification service in Mountain Lion, its functions directly conflicted with those of the popular Growl software, resulting in duplicate messages being presented for application alerts and other features. While one could temporarily disable Notification Center or quit it altogether if desired, this approach is not an optimal solution.

The Growl developers have just issued a new version of Growl that is compatible with Mountain Lion's Notification Center, so if you would prefer to continue … Read more

How to set up Do Not Disturb on iOS 6

When Apple unveiled iOS 6 last June at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, a new feature called Do Not Disturb was one of the key functions highlighted.

Do Not Disturb, when turned on, will not only completely silence your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, but it will prevent the screen from turning on when an alert is received.

To enable or disable Do Not Disturb (DND), launch Settings, where you'll find a toggle switch. Alerts will then be silenced until you return to Settings and turn DND off. But there's more to it than that. Since you're … Read more

Manage application alerts in OS X

When you receive application alerts in OS X, the system has a couple of ways of notifying you. The first is the classic method in which you hear an audible alert tone followed by seeing the application's icon bouncing in the Dock. The second is the new Notification Center option in Mountain Lion in which the system displays small informational and/or warning banners.

While using Notification Center may reduce the number of classic notification alerts, they still occur quite regularly for various programs in Mountain Lion. Even though these notifications are useful, sometimes their default behaviors are a … Read more

LinkedIn adds Facebook-like alerts

LinkedIn hums along on its promised site redesign, rolling out a notifications stream today that may strike a familiar cord with Facebook users.

The professional networking site adds icons to the top left corner of a user homepage, including a little flag that will feature a red circle if you have any new activity, according to a blog post written by LinkedIn Associate Product Manager Angela Yang.

"Launching today is our new notifications feature, which will keep you notified in real-time when someone likes what you've shared on LinkedIn, views your profile, accepts your invitation, and much more,&… Read more

Facebook gives apps the freedom to notify you directly

If you feel like you've been getting more Facebook notifications than usual, it's because app developers can now contact you directly via the notifications channel, Facebook officially announced to developers today.

The social network has allowed developers to directly contact app users through notifications, which are easily accessible through the little globe icon at the top of the page and the main way most users get updates on their profile activity.

So if your friend has just passed your high score on a game, you could get a notification from a game egging you on to win back … Read more