friend

At long last, iOS 5 is finally here, two days before the launch of the iPhone 4S.

(Related: We've heard that a number of users have had problems installing the update. Get the latest news on install issues in this post from CNET's Josh Lowensohn.)

Though iOS 5 is not as drastic of an upgrade as we saw with iOS 4 in June 2010, it does offer some much-needed and exciting enhancements for iOS users. A few are quiet and long overdue and others will seriously change how you use your Apple handset.

On that note, perhaps the … Read more

Ahead of releasing iOS 5 to users today, Apple released two new universal iOS apps: one for keeping track of other friends with iOS devices, and another for setting up and managing the company's wireless networking equipment.

The first of those is Find My Friends (iTunes), an app Apple debuted at last week's "Let's talk iPhone" event. Like the company's "Find My iPhone" app, it lets you see where one or more iOS devices are on a map, though in Find My Friends' case, these are people who do not share your … Read more

Apple announces the iPhone 4S with Siri and a new 8-megapixel camera, the iPods get a slight refresh and price drop, and AppleCare+ finally gives customers accidental damage protection.

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded:

Google+ for Android is a clean and intuitive mobile app that has all of the powers of its desktop counterpart save for the games and a few other minor features.

The Google+ app opens up to a dashboard of icons leading to the different sections of the service: Stream, Messenger, Photos, Profile, and Circles. As a whole, the interface looks and feels very much like the full desktop version of Google+, and navigating the app is incredibly intuitive.

Stream Stream is really the lifeblood of Google+. By default, this section of the app displays feeds for All Circles, Nearby Google+ … Read more

With all the coverage last week regarding Facebook and the changes that will be rolling out, it was discovered that Facebook users can now see who unfriended them in the new Timeline view. But, for some users, Facebook isn't a preferred social network. What about people who care to know who has stopped following them on Twitter?

By default, Twitter sends you an e-mail when you gain a new follower, but not when you lose a follower. Luckily, there are some pretty good services out there to fill the void.… Read more

Facebook is giving users a hands-off option for managing friends lists.

Dubbed Smart Lists, the latest improvement to the social network automatically creates friend groups, so users don't need to manage their lists on their own. According to Facebook, for now the feature will create lists connected to workplace, school, family, and city. For example, if a user lists their college on their profile, Smart Lists will automatically find all their friends that did the same, and group them together for easier sharing of content between them.

Even though the feature automatically creates lists, Facebook says that users can … Read more

A new feature in Apple's forthcoming iOS 5 update, Find My Friends, will help users see where their contacts are. Think GPS tracking for your social life, included in iOS.

According to sources reporting to 9to5Mac a few months ago, Apple had been working on the Find My Friends feature for quite some time, though the project was on and off several times.

Now, after new HTML code in the MobileMe/iCloud Web site has been found, it appears that Find My Friends is back. And it could signal one of the most significant entries into the social networking … Read more

We know what it's like to have Facebook friends who send an event invite for anything and everything they have going on in life; trust us, we get just as annoyed. If you have ever wondered how to ignore event invites, or how to block someone from sending you invites at all--we have your back.

… Read more

With all of these high-end smartphones coming out, it's easy to get the impression that joining the smartphone revolution has an entry fee of anywhere from $200 to $500. And though there are plenty of awesome devices in that price range, not everyone can afford to spend so much on a handset, especially in this economy.

Fortunately, carriers and handset manufacturers are seeing the need and demand for more affordable options, and you can now find a number of smartphones at wallet-friendly prices. Of course, they come with some trade-offs and require the signing of a two-year contract, but … Read more