droidist

Reader users can choose between adding a cursive-looking signature or drawing their "mark" directly into their PDF documents with a simple toolbar (shown here).

But wait, there'a more. New features of Reader include additional annotation tools, so you can add comments, sticky notes or other marginalia to your PDFs. And also starting today, Adobe has a mobile update 10.2 to Reader that will have e-signature capability, as well. It is available for both iOS and Android phones.

E-signatures are not exactly popular, probably adopted by only a few percent of users - comparable to the use of encrypted emails. And this is the case despite the numerous warnings of PDF exploits and other infections that are easily installed inside these types of files.

One issue has been the extra-purchase and steps that are needed to set things up. Another problem is the lack of awareness that Reader is a free app and its feature set has greatly expanded over time. It used to be that you needed to pay for a different version that would allow you to edit or annotate files. With Reader X, that is no longer the case, and you can do a fair amount of collaboration with the free software.

Having these annotation features and e-signatures available directly inside Reader might be the push that will get more people to begin using both of them. Or there might be other factors inhibiting adoption of e-signatures. We're about to find out.

See Also

• Adobe Joins Forces With PayPal For Automated Forms Processing
• 10 Most Important Flash Platform Developments of 2010
• AIR for AppUp: What Developers Need to Know
• Silverlight Developers: Are You Going to Move On?

While you're watching a giant lizard on your TV, "second screen" apps add an extra social and content layer to the experience.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- While you're on the couch watching American Idol, chances are you're also updating your Facebook status on your smartphone or tablet, or hitting Google for the name of that ubiquitous character actor you can't quite identify. There's also Twitter. Posts on it set two all-time records during the Super Bowl, one at halftime and another just two hours later at the game's end.

It's an advertiser's dream: not one, but two screens to capture consumers' attention. Companies are jumping on the trend with apps to enhance the television experience -- and, of course, to sell more ads.

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"The consumer has led the revolution, in that they're already having these social conversations," says Radha Subramanyam, a media analytics executive at Nielsen. "Marketers and programmers are just catching up with regular behavior."

But it's hard to publicize a trend without a buzzword. There's a pile of clunky phrases being kicked around: Are these "second screen" apps? Or "social TV"? How about "simultaneous viewing" tools?

That's clearly not going to work.

"The nomenclature is very confusing," Subramanyam acknowledges. "People may not know they're doing it, but they are. And it's a mainstream phenomenon, not just young people or tech geeks."

According to Nielsen, whose most recent stats are from the third quarter of last year, 68% of tablet users say they're on their devices at least "several times a week" while watching TV. About 63% of smartphone users say the same.

It's a market ripe for ad dollars, but brand advertisers, show creators and a new crop of social-TV startups all have different ideas about what to do with that cash.

The simplest and quickest tactic, slapping a Twitter hashtag on a commercial or hawking a Facebook page in the corner of the screen during a TV show, is becoming passé.

"It's social 101 to put out a hashtag," says Christy Tanner, the general manager of TVGuide's website and mobile products. "It's not a failure, but it's just step one of many."

The pro move is to find a way to get inside the storyline -- so content, conversation and marketing all collide.

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo offered up an example at a tech trade show last year: "Glee" actors, and even their characters, tweeting during airtime. Fans love the interaction, which deepens their loyalty and -- sneaky bonus -- gets more of them to skip the DVR and watch the show live.

Others are testing how many eyeballs they can lure with exclusive extra content.

Late-night show "Conan," which airs on TBS (a subsidiary of CNNMoney parent Time Warner), recently launched its "Team Coco Tablet Sync App," which offers a real-time stream of conversation, contests, photos and videos as the show airs.

"Consumers get interactive ways to connect with shows, and advertisers can reach people who are deeply engaged," says Jonathan Weitz, a partner at broadband consulting firm IBB.

The startup surge: When Silicon Valley detects a new trend, it flings hundreds of startups into the field to map out the terrain. Right now, we're in the "experimentation" phase, with a swarm of companies trying out different approaches to see what sticks.

A long list of startups focus on different pieces of the puzzle. One of the best known is GetGlue, which bills itself as "a social network for entertainment." It's like Foursquare for television: users "check in" to say they're watching a show, and earn badges, points and other rewards.

New York-based Umami takes an automatic approach. The company's free iPad app uses "audio fingerprinting" to recognize what a user is watching, whether it's live or on a DVR. The app then pulls up information about the show's cast, news, gossip, social feeds and more.

After a four-month "beta" test run, Umami took its app offline two weeks ago. "We're now retooling based on what we've learned," Umami CEO Scott Rosenberg says. The company hasn't set a launch date yet for its next version.

Another buzzy offering comes from Miso, which has evolved over its two years in business and includes aspects of both GetGlue and Umami. Miso started out as a check-in service, but CEO Somrat Niyogi says he quickly realized that wasn't enough.

"There are fundamental flaws with the check-in model," Niyogi says. "People don't want to list everything they watch -- it is not cool. You only want to share things that makes you look cool."

So Miso expanded to include a feature called SideShows: a tool for networks or fans to create their own second-screen content. USA rolled out a White Collar-themed game, while Mad Men fans have created drinking games. One avid Glee watcher writes commentary each week in the voice of a chosen character.

Users can access SideShow content through Miso's iPhone app, and the company is beta-testing an Umami-like audio fingerprinting feature that would automatically sync the app with a show. Alternatively, AT&T U-Verse and DirecTV customers can sync the Miso app with their set-top boxes. Networks and advertisers can pay to place ads in SideShows

Will SideShows draw a big enough audience for advertisers to care?

Stay tuned.

"All of these companies have recognized that something real is happening here," says Subramanyam, the Nielsen analyst. "But not everyone will win."

Or even survive. The bodies are already piling up: Would-be contender BeeTV, a "hub" for social TV viewing folded in November, a few months after the check-in site Philo sold itself to social ad company LocalResponse.

Though more will die off, a few winners could break out and reshape the TV-meets-gadgets landscape.

"In technology, we always have all of these new terms for new behavior," says TVGuide's Tanner. "But two years from now, we'll be back to calling it regular old TV."  

While you're watching a giant lizard on your TV, "second screen" apps add an extra social and content layer to the experience.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- While you're on the couch watching American Idol, chances are you're also updating your Facebook status on your smartphone or tablet, or hitting Google for the name of that ubiquitous character actor you can't quite identify. There's also Twitter. Posts on it set two all-time records during the Super Bowl, one at halftime and another just two hours later at the game's end.

It's an advertiser's dream: not one, but two screens to capture consumers' attention. Companies are jumping on the trend with apps to enhance the television experience -- and, of course, to sell more ads.

Email-->

Print

Comment

"The consumer has led the revolution, in that they're already having these social conversations," says Radha Subramanyam, a media analytics executive at Nielsen. "Marketers and programmers are just catching up with regular behavior."

But it's hard to publicize a trend without a buzzword. There's a pile of clunky phrases being kicked around: Are these "second screen" apps? Or "social TV"? How about "simultaneous viewing" tools?

That's clearly not going to work.

"The nomenclature is very confusing," Subramanyam acknowledges. "People may not know they're doing it, but they are. And it's a mainstream phenomenon, not just young people or tech geeks."

According to Nielsen, whose most recent stats are from the third quarter of last year, 68% of tablet users say they're on their devices at least "several times a week" while watching TV. About 63% of smartphone users say the same.

It's a market ripe for ad dollars, but brand advertisers, show creators and a new crop of social-TV startups all have different ideas about what to do with that cash.

The simplest and quickest tactic, slapping a Twitter hashtag on a commercial or hawking a Facebook page in the corner of the screen during a TV show, is becoming passé.

"It's social 101 to put out a hashtag," says Christy Tanner, the general manager of TVGuide's website and mobile products. "It's not a failure, but it's just step one of many."

The pro move is to find a way to get inside the storyline -- so content, conversation and marketing all collide.

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo offered up an example at a tech trade show last year: "Glee" actors, and even their characters, tweeting during airtime. Fans love the interaction, which deepens their loyalty and -- sneaky bonus -- gets more of them to skip the DVR and watch the show live.

Others are testing how many eyeballs they can lure with exclusive extra content.

Late-night show "Conan," which airs on TBS (a subsidiary of CNNMoney parent Time Warner), recently launched its "Team Coco Tablet Sync App," which offers a real-time stream of conversation, contests, photos and videos as the show airs.

"Consumers get interactive ways to connect with shows, and advertisers can reach people who are deeply engaged," says Jonathan Weitz, a partner at broadband consulting firm IBB.

The startup surge: When Silicon Valley detects a new trend, it flings hundreds of startups into the field to map out the terrain. Right now, we're in the "experimentation" phase, with a swarm of companies trying out different approaches to see what sticks.

A long list of startups focus on different pieces of the puzzle. One of the best known is GetGlue, which bills itself as "a social network for entertainment." It's like Foursquare for television: users "check in" to say they're watching a show, and earn badges, points and other rewards.

New York-based Umami takes an automatic approach. The company's free iPad app uses "audio fingerprinting" to recognize what a user is watching, whether it's live or on a DVR. The app then pulls up information about the show's cast, news, gossip, social feeds and more.

After a four-month "beta" test run, Umami took its app offline two weeks ago. "We're now retooling based on what we've learned," Umami CEO Scott Rosenberg says. The company hasn't set a launch date yet for its next version.

Another buzzy offering comes from Miso, which has evolved over its two years in business and includes aspects of both GetGlue and Umami. Miso started out as a check-in service, but CEO Somrat Niyogi says he quickly realized that wasn't enough.

"There are fundamental flaws with the check-in model," Niyogi says. "People don't want to list everything they watch -- it is not cool. You only want to share things that makes you look cool."

So Miso expanded to include a feature called SideShows: a tool for networks or fans to create their own second-screen content. USA rolled out a White Collar-themed game, while Mad Men fans have created drinking games. One avid Glee watcher writes commentary each week in the voice of a chosen character.

Users can access SideShow content through Miso's iPhone app, and the company is beta-testing an Umami-like audio fingerprinting feature that would automatically sync the app with a show. Alternatively, AT&T U-Verse and DirecTV customers can sync the Miso app with their set-top boxes. Networks and advertisers can pay to place ads in SideShows

Will SideShows draw a big enough audience for advertisers to care?

Stay tuned.

"All of these companies have recognized that something real is happening here," says Subramanyam, the Nielsen analyst. "But not everyone will win."

Or even survive. The bodies are already piling up: Would-be contender BeeTV, a "hub" for social TV viewing folded in November, a few months after the check-in site Philo sold itself to social ad company LocalResponse.

Though more will die off, a few winners could break out and reshape the TV-meets-gadgets landscape.

"In technology, we always have all of these new terms for new behavior," says TVGuide's Tanner. "But two years from now, we'll be back to calling it regular old TV."  

The official Tumblr app was a late-comer to Android, and, sigh, hasn't kept pace in the years since. That's all changed. Today's update simply puts the iOS version to shame. Surely this lead can't last.

Tumblr for Android has a spiffy new user interface, which look and feel -- including post-type icons -- is more like the social network. The revamped UI is the real deal; well close to it. The app is speedier, and that includes photo browsing as well as loading blogs and posting to them. By comparison, Tumblr for iOS looks ugly and lacking. Access to Tumblr Radar from the Android app rocks. Still there are omissions that favor Tumblr for iOS, such as audio uploads. I'm surprised this feature isn't available on the Android app (Wasn't it once?).

"Its very rare for me to say that an app is sexy", jozefd14 comments on the Google Play product page. "This is truly an awesome update. Hopefully iPhone/iPod Touch update will look like this. Its very nice to the eyes". The Android user has HTC myTouch 4G.

Brett, who uses Droid Bionic: "A really good update for the app. Things are better, and I can actually open the photos on ny dashboard to get a better look. I just wish I could go through all of my 'liked' posts, because it seems I'm limited to a certain amount. I see the three periods at the end, so does it mean I have to stop there?"

Lee, who uses HTC Thunderbolt, offers more mixed reaction: "Love the new UI. Really well done. This app was just terrible before, definitely usable now! Problem: logs me out a lot and says its unable to reach the network. Really annoying!"

I must admit to rarely using Tumblr for Android, having likewise found previous versions deficient. But the update is promising.

Earlier today, I explained that for this week I'm putting away the RSS reader and using social media to ferret out the news. Thanks to software developer Aaron Burrell, whose post alerted me to Tumblr for Android -- something that likely wouldn't have popped up in Google Reader.

Just about a month ago now Meg Whitman announced to the world that webOS was going to follow in Android’s footsteps and go open source. Much of the tech world rejoiced…us included, but what does that mean for the short term? What about further out?

Being the EiC of a webOS focused site I get asked a good bit as to what my thoughts are about it and whether or not 2012 is going to be “the year” of webOS [Don't we ask that every year? - Ed].

Will the fact that webOS is now open source change how the world sees our beloved framework? The answer could be yes…but there is a tough climb ahead. At WOR we are known for not pulling punches and we aren’t about to start now. So without further ado…here is what I believe it will take to make webOS a contender in the OS wars.

We need hardware. Period.

Here is the unvarnished truth: an OS that doesn’t have hardware isn’t an OS at all because it isn’t actually operating anything. HP has said very clearly that it is out of the smartphone business for at least the foreseeable future if not forever (probably forever). They have further said that they might make tablets sometime in 2013…that isn’t good enough. Not by a long shot. By 2013 webOS will be a distant memory.

In order to become more than a has been one or more major manufacturers need to embrace webOS this year. Now I am not saying that they need to focus purely on webOS and forsake all others, but a company like HTC, Samsung, or even one of the many Chinese companies that are beginning to flex their muscles will need to release a few models that have webOS as the primary operating system.

Is this likely? Hard to say. On the positive side, we have Googlerola out there. This merger ticked off a lot of the major Android brands because it is hard to see a future where Motorola isn’t going to get favored treatment.

Could this be enough to push them over the edge to try out webOS? In all honesty, the fact that Android is such a powerhouse makes this seem unlikely. Being a second class citizen to the biggest of the big is probably more enticing than being the champion of a brand that most people have never heard of. However, stranger things have happened.

Another possibility is that HP pulls a Microsoft and throws gobs of money at a respected manufacturer in return for them putting webOS on their devices. This strategy is just getting up and running with Nokia so it is hard to say whether this tactic works at all. Regardless, the real question there is whether HP has any interest in such a strategy.

Realistically the best chance of webOS getting its own hardware lies in some of the smaller, or less prominent brands, such as Huawei or even Lenovo (they like Android right now, but they are really just getting started in the smartphone market).

Why do I say that? Let’s jump to part 2.

Software

When webOS came out it truly was way ahead of everyone else. It may not have been the fastest on the block, but functionality like cards, synergy, etc. put it above everyone else. Fast forward to now and the things that made webOS unique are ingrained in every OS out there (except perhaps iOS).

Both the latest versions of WP7 and Android have a respectable implementation of cards. Android 4.0 also has, for all intents and purposes, synergy through their people functions.

So the playing field is basically leveled in terms of functionality, so where does webOS go from here? It has to innovate again. In an open source environment is that possible? That will really depend on HP.

When HP released webOS to the world what did that really mean? Did that mean that they washed their hands of it and were done? Or, perhaps, did it mean that they were going to be like Google and be its champion by improving on it constantly and making sure that the app store was up and running for all those who use it?

We don’t know the answer to that yet, but my big question is, why would HP spend millions or billions of dollars on improving it? Google has a lot of incentives…ads mainly and a lot of app sales. Does HP have some? It very well might. Having a top tier OS that they can leverage in their consumer and enterprise products could give them a competitive advantage when fighting with Dell, Lenovo, etc. Another possibility is that they could use webOS as the glue between their servers, printers, laptops, and other doodads that they produce. Having custom apps could allow these devices to talk to each other in completely new ways. More importantly these “new ways” would belong to HP.

The only hint as to the direction HP is going is the fact that they have kept a reported 600 people who are focused on webOS in some capacity. This includes the SWAT team that exists to build apps for corporations. Both of these are good signs and show that, at least for now, HP is content with being the overseer of development.

Hardware and software truly go together here. No manufacturer is going to put out a device for a dead OS, but if they are convinced that HP, and the avid community, is behind it, then they very well might take a risk and see if they can set themselves apart from the Android army.

Bringing it home

So will webOS take the world by storm in 2012? Not likely. The days where we dreamed that webOS would become number one, second, or even third in the smartphone wars are most likely behind us; however, if some hardware comes out this year and HP really does get behind the software, then it is entirely possible that webOS could have a small, yet profitable, place in the smartphone arena.

Selling 50 million devices a year is not required to be profitable. What needs to happen is that webOS needs to find its niche this year. Will it be the tinker toy for the super geeks like Linux has been for all these years? Will it be home to a new brand of business device championed by HP?

What do you think? In your estimation, where do you think webOS will be a year from now?

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more specifically about my dual-booting hp touchpad than android per se, but still..

By JR Raphael (@jr_raphael)

If you're among the lucky few who've been able to get their hands on Asus's Transformer Prime, congratulations: You're now among the first tablet owners to experience Android 4.0, aka Ice Cream Sandwich.

Asus had previously planned to upgrade its Transformer Prime to Ice Cream Sandwich this Thursday, January 12, but provided a pleasant surprise by announcing an early delivery during a press event at the Consumer Electronics Show Monday night. Asus started rolling out Android 4.0 to Prime users that very evening and is continuing to distribute the software today.

The Asus Transformer Prime's Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade is being done over-the-air, which means you'll get a notification on your tablet when the download is available to you. You can also manually check for the software by going into the "Firmware Update" section of your tablet's "About Tablet" settings menu.

The Transformer Prime's upgrade to Android 4.0 is particularly significant, as it makes Asus the first manufacturer to get ICS delivered to an existing Android tablet. This is especially surprising given the existence of the Motorola Xoom, a developer-targeted "Google experience" device whose software updates have previously been handled by Google, resulting in fast and early OS upgrades.

Asus not only beat out the Xoom -- it did it on a tablet that isn't a vanilla Android experience, meaning the company had to make its own set of custom changes to the software before it could ship to users. While I've long been a vocal opponent of baked-in Android skins, Asus is really showing how to do it right. Its OS-level modifications are relatively light and unobtrusive, and its most prominent software changes -- things like a custom system keyboard and expanded status panel -- can easily be disabled if a user so chooses.

Perhaps most important, though, Asus's changes aren't preventing it from shipping OS updates in a timely fashion, as tends to be the case with most Android manufacturers. We've seen the story play out far too many times with manufacturer-modified phones and tablets ('m looking at you, Samsung). So watch and learn, hardware-makers: This is how the Android upgrade game should be played.

For more on Ice Cream Sandwich and how it'll change your tablet, click over to my complete Android Ice Cream Sandwich FAQ. And to get the latest upgrade status for any Android phone or tablet, check out my Android 4.0 upgrade list; it's always kept up-to-date with the most current info available for all devices.   

JR Raphael writes about smartphones and other tasty technology. You can find him on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

been using this on my droid 2 in place of the stock swype. love. stumbled across this tablet version today to make bigger and prettier on my touchpad. still force closes a lot, but so nice.

Evernote for Android updated with notebook sharing, stand-alone widget app

News by Dan Seifert on Thursday November 17, 2011.0 Comments

Evernote has released version 3.3 of its note-taking and syncing app for Android, and with the update it has included improved notebook sharing and better integration with the Evernote-owned Skitch app. Additionally, Evernote has released a seperate widget app that lets users make use of the widget while the main Evernote app is stored on an SD card.

The new update lets users share entire notebooks with their colleagues, not just individual notes. Notebooks can be shared privately or publicly, but Evernote does say that an internet connection is required to make use of the sharing feature. Premium Evernote users can allow others to edit and make changes to their shared notes.

It is now possible to edit images in Skitch that are saved in Evernote notes. A user just has to tap and hold on an image and then choose the "Edit in Skitch" option, which will then send the image over to Skitch for annotation. Once the image has been adjusted to the user's liking, they can hit the elephant icon in Skitch to send the edited product back to Evernote, which will prompt them if they want to overwrite their existing image or append the edited version to the original note.

Those who have smartphones with limited internal storage have the option to store the Evernote app on an SD card. The downside of this is once the app is on an SD card, you cannot make use of the homescreen widgets. Evernote has come up with a solution for this with the stand-alone Evernote Widget app that just provides a homescreen widget to control the main Evernote app, but takes up much less internal storage. The Evernote Widget app has a small shortcut version and a larger option that shows previews of recently accessed notes.

The Evernote for Android app is free and available to download in the Android Market now. The Evernote Widget app is also free, and available through the Android Market as well. [via Evernote]

More stories in the archives...

Facebook’s new timeline profile encourages users of the social network to share more of their past. Exfoliate, a new app for the Android platform, basically functions as the anti-timeline.

Exfoliate allows users to automatically remove content from Facebook, simply by specifying the type of content to be deleted, and which date to start from. The app costs $2.99.

Users can choose to purge their own posts, comments, and likes, as well as any of those three types of content that were posted to their page by their friends, or that they posted to their friends’ pages.

The developers of Exfoliate claim that although users must log in to Facebook to begin the process, neither they, nor anyone else, will ever gain access to any personal data.

Be warned, however: Exfoliate is a huge battery hog.

This comes from its description on the Android Market:

Exfoliate will find and delete all of the items matching your selections. Behind the scenes, this requires a large volume of web service transactions. To put it bluntly, Exfoliate is a network and battery hog, and there’s simply no way around this.

To manage the impact, you can stop Exfoliate at any time, and restart Exfoliate later. Exfoliate, when restarted, will resume where it left off. Ideally, run Exfoliate when your device is plugged in. Also, Exfoliate may perform much faster on a WiFi network, so you may want to run it at home, through your WiFi, while you are asleep.

If you have chosen to disallow background data transfers on your Android device, Exfoliate will not be able to function as designed. You can authorize Exfoliate to do its work despite this setting by enabling the “allow background” setting in Exfoliate advanced settings.

Exfoliate will likely take many hours, or longer, to complete its work. This can be especially true if you are fresh out of college, facing the job market with four years of forgotten social networking data scattered across hundreds of friends’ walls.

To make this long process more manageable, you can start and stop Exfoliate at any time. The next time you start it, it will resume where it left off unless you optionally delete all clean-up data. You may choose to limit what content you ask Exfoliate to delete so you can get more immediate results.

For example, if you choose to clean only your wall, Exfoliate can complete its work fairly quickly. Cleaning your posts, comments, and likes off of your friends’ walls is what takes the largest share of the time. By default, Exfoliate does this after completing the process on your own wall.

Readers: Would you consider using an app like Exfoliate to start the cleansing process?