Google+ update handles notifications and links better.

Google social network just got better at handling notifications and embedded links in its app for Android devices. The update also plays nice with links inside post making them look better and proper. I'll leave it to you to find out more about the update.

Here's the change log:
- Support for adding a link when creating a post
- New notifications tray
- Additional Community moderation features

The update should already be available on your device. If not download on the Play store.

avast! Mobile Security for Android gets slew of updates and fixes.

A lot have been written about Android being the target of malware or other sorts of attack targeting the platform and its users. The result was the increasing availability of security apps each of them claiming to provide the most secure protection against all sorts of cyber attack. While I've never personally been victim of such attacks, touch wood, I decided to be on the safe side and downloaded avast! Mobile Security on my Galaxy Nexus to serve as a barrage just in case I become a target. But there's more to avast! Mobile Security. 

The app also provides an anti-thief module. In the event your phone gets stolen and the SIM card is replaced, a SMS is automatically sent to a pre-set number without the thief even knowing. A feature that has helped in the past on my Windows Mobile 2003SE phone. The thief landed in jail for a year. So if you haven't got avast! Mobile Security yet, I strongly recommend you download it from Google Play Store. It is free, so there's really no excuse for you not to get it. The apps also works as a firewall and antivirus.

What's in this version:

• Fixed "Invalid context during scan" issue
• Simplified Anti-Theft installation
• New "Low-battery notification" feature in Anti-Theft component.
• Network Meter now has a "Billing day" option
• Fixed various issues in Firewall and Call/SMS filter
• Web Shield now supports Boat Browser app and Boat Browser Mini app
• Added a Turkish language pack
• Minor user interface (UI) changes
• Other tweaks and bugfixes

Skype for Android tablets gets blessed with portrait mode. Chrome Beta updated to 25.0.1364.47.

Never too late. Android tablets are now able to make calls in portrait mode after Skype issued an update yesterday. Since most Android devices defaults to landscape, owners of these devices have complained about the lack of support for portrait mode in Skype. The latter has listened and posted the update that does  bring portrait mode when making video calls only. The default landscape mode remains throughout the rest of the app. The update also contains the usual performance improvements and fixes. New language support has been added for Portuguese, Norwegian and English (UK). Check the notification center on your device to download the update. Note that the update is also available for Android phones. Skype can be downloaded free on Google Play Store.

Have you joined the band of Chrome Beta testers yet? I've been into it for a week or two now and my Galaxy Nexus is still alive. The Chrome team is regularly publishing updates and fixes. Today's update contains the following fixes:

• 143146 - Support for chrome://flags!

Known Issues:

• 169616 - Keyboard pops up after Chrome is closed
• Issues with GMail and Google image search on Galaxy Note II
• 170653 - Scroll position is reset momentarily when double-tapping in footer/gutter on some pages
• Sometimes flickering and graphical glitches are observed while opening new tab
• Frequent freeze on devices with specific versions of Qualcomm GPU driver
• Text autosizing may break formatting on some sites
• Video continues playing after exiting fullscreen on android phones
• [HTC Droid DNA] Getting crash on tabswitcher mode
• 163439 - yahoo.com page links are not working
• 166233 - Cannot submit comments on facebook posts or pictures
• 158633: Tap disambiguation overaggressive

Facebook Messenger gets voice support, reduces typing.

Tired of typing? The latest update to Facebook Messenger now lets you do more with your voice. Last week, Facebook published a similar update for the Facebook app for Android. Which brings me to ask why are there two apps for Android with the same feature? Why not get rid of the Facebook Messenger app? Anyone knows?

The update also includes the usual performance enhancements and bug fixes.

Download link.

Facebook for Android update makes viewing photos faster.

In an update published today to Google Play Store, Facebook app for Android has been enhanced for faster opening and viewing of photos. There is also an option to share your friends' stories to timelines, pages and groups. The last added feature is the ability to send voice messages within the app. Unless my memory is failing me, It seems to me that the voice message feature was always there. Checkout the notification center to download the update or head over to Google Play Store to download the app.

 

Zynga adds banners to highlight new features while you play Word with friends.

Zynga today posted an update to its fame Word with friends game that adds a banner which purpose is bring you live updates about new features added to your favorite game while you play. The change does not go into details about this, but we can only assume that tapping on the banner will take you to the store so you can update the app, if needed.

Besides the usual bug fixes and performance enhancement, Word with Friends now lets you reconnect with your friends if you haven't played for a while.

Check out the notification center on your device to update. If you haven't been hit with the Words with Friends frenzy yet, check it out on Google Play Store.

Camera MX update introduces "Atmosphere Mode"; adds glowing effect around images.

Camera MX is a must-have for photo lovers. It lets you optimize and edit your photos and the best feature is the ability to add effects and photo frame live in the camera. The latest update introduces another interesting feature called "Atmosphere Mode".

CameraMX now shows a glow around images that would have been displayed with black frames otherwise. It is slowly animated and its colors depend on the colors of the image. This mode is activated by default on dual core devices that runs Android version of Honeycomb or later. Of course, "Atmosphere mode" can be disabled in the settings.

Camera MX is free to download on Google Play. If the built in effects are not enough for you, additional packages are available for purchase for as low as $0.99.

Chrome Beta gets first update already.

Released last week for early adopters and beta testers, Chrome beta for Android today received its first batch of bug fixes. This update contains a number of fixes, including:

• 164632 - Edit Bookmark is broken
• 167351 - Youtube video controls are lost after returning from fullscreen
• 167016 - Some Samsung Galaxy S2 freezes
• 168062 - Double tapping on non-zoomable sites scrolls the page to the top briefly before returning to original position
• 167379 - Sometimes tabswitcher is frozen
• 166998 - Tab content stretched out while returning to it through side swipe gesture
• 168632 - Crash - Stack Signature: TabAndroidImpl::FromWebContents
• 168388 - Sync signed in info text's font size is too small
• 168430 - Bookmark star icon doesn't turn grey/white immediately after bookmarking URL /deleting URL from bookmarks

Known Issues:

• Performance is sluggish, noticeably on Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S
• Frequent freeze on devices with specific versions of Qualcomm GPU driver
• Text autosizing may break formatting on some sites
• Video continues playing after exiting fullscreen on android phones
• [HTC Droid DNA] Getting crash on tabswitcher mode
• 163439 - yahoo.com page links are not working
• 166233 - Cannot submit comments on facebook posts or pictures
• 165244 - Text handler jumps or disappears when moving
• 162486 - iframe scrolling broken
• 158633: Tap disambiguation overaggressive
• 169910 - Flickering while opening new tab

Source: Chrome releases

Official Chrome Beta for Android released for early adopters.

Google has released a beta version of Chrome for Android devices that will let users try out the new features before they get released. The beta version will run alongside your current version of Chrome without any problems. However, since this is a beta, expect to see some bugs pop up or other behavior linked to it. 

Google Chrome beta is free for download on Google Play. Make sure you use the link. A search in Google Play will yield no results.

Source: Chrome Blog