blogging

Tumblr rolls out its newfangled Android app

Tumblr launched its redesigned Android mobile app today, making some major upgrades over its last version.

"Tumblr for Android just got a total face-lift," the company wrote in a blog post today. "We've completely redesigned the interface, added fancy post animations, made images pop, and a whole lot more."

The app, which is available on Google Play, has an entirely new "post anything" screen that lets users share photos, videos, quotes, chats, links, and text with one tap. The intuitive interface also gives users the option of advanced controls like saving drafts, queuing … Read more

Sony PlayStation event: Join us Wednesday (live blog)

Sony is widely expected to reveal the first details of its next game console later today.

The "PlayStation Meeting 2013" event will take place in New York at 3 p.m. PT/6 p.m. ET. CNET will offer both a live blog, with live analysis from myself, Roger Cheng, Scott Stein, and Jeff Bakalar, as well as a live video stream, featuring commentary from Brian Tong and Donald Bell both before and after the event.

While the actual details of the PlayStation 4 (and even its name) are still under wraps, some widely reported possible features include … Read more

Tumblr makes blog post creation faster and easier

Tumblr is making it easier for bloggers to blog. The site began rolling out its revamped Dashboard today, which lets users create entire posts without leaving the page.

"It's a step toward making the Dashboard a smaller and more streamlined experience," a Tumblr spokesperson told The Verge. " With this new way to create a post, the Dashboard has become a single experience. Now you're making posts the same way you're reading them."

Before the revamp, users often had to go to new pages when creating blog posts. Now, users can pop in text, … Read more

Quora launches blogging tool in move to revitalize service

Quora today expanded beyond its question-and-answer roots with the release of a blog product that aims to help both nobodies and somebodies get their words in front of large audiences.

Founded in 2009, Quora has raised $61 million in funding to build what amounts to a more intellectual version of Yahoo Answers. Quora's new blog product aborts its standard Q&A structure to provide users with something more open-ended. Blogs are connected to the regular site experience through topic tags and are accessible inside the company's mobile applications.

There's nothing particularly innovative about Quora's take … Read more

The 404 1,193: Where we take the number 2 train (podcast)

Welcome to today's show, where we're finally analyzing the food photography trend for what it is, with the help of this article in the New York Times that profiles restaurateur David Bouley and the creative tactics he's come up with to stop the dining room distractions.

The way we see it, the problem with food photography is that we've collectively lost our shame and sense of subtlety when it comes time to dine. Instead of snapping a quick 3-second iPhone pic, we've seen folks stand on chairs, use tripods with a giant dSLR, and even ask the restaurant to adjust the ceiling lights to suit the mood of the picture.

The fact is that there's really no better way to prove you're eating above your budget than to take a picture of it. Argue all you want, it's just a tacky move and plenty of restaurants agree. Check out today's show to hear some places are doing to avoid the awkwardness.… Read more

Join us Tuesday at 10 a.m. PT for Facebook's press event (live blog)

Give Facebook this much: They know how to bait a hook.

After sending out a media invitation last week to "Come and See What We're Building," we're all chomping at the bit to learn more. Many on Wall Street believe this is going to be a Very Big Deal in the company's ongoing efforts to better monetize its billion-plus users.

Is it a phone? Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg last summer denied that was in the works. But it's possible. Is it a new building? Nobody cares. How about something tied to search? That's … Read more

Former Windows chief Sinofsky pens new blog

Less than two months after his high-profile exit from Microsoft, Steven Sinofsky looks to be staying in the tech dialog.

The former Microsoft Windows president is penning a new blog that he launched today called "Learning by Shipping." Sinofsky writes that the aim of his blog is to offer thoughts and perspectives on product development and management.

While working for Microsoft, Sinofsky wrote extensively for the company's Intranet about several of its major products, such as Windows, Internet Explorer, and Bing, as "an effort modernize the communication channels."

Here's some of his first blog post: … Read more

Tumblr goes dark with massive outage

Tumblr has been hit with another sweeping outage. The blogging platform has been completely inaccessible to all users, as of the last couple of hours.

Tumblr confirmed its outage via a tweet from its official Twitter account earlier this afternoon that said, "We're experiencing slow loading or intermittent errors on certain pages and are working quickly to restore performance."

Since then, the company tweeted that it took down the entire site "in order to resolve a network issue."

The blogging platform has had a rough go the past couple of months. In October, it was … Read more

Create a Web site right on your iPhone

It's been about 18 months since I first wrote about Zapd, a clever app that lets you build simple, attractive Web sites using nothing more than your iPhone.

Why would you want to do that? To chronicle something cool, of course, like a wedding, vacation, party, or even a work project. I mean, your photos are already in the phone, right? The next logical step is to publish them where friends and family can have a look.

Of course, most such events involve your friends, family members, and/or co-workers, who will no doubt be snapping photos of their … Read more