Facebook updated its Android app Tuesday, and enhanced Facebook Home, its all-encompassing skin for Android smartphones.

Facebook Home now has a dock, making it easier to access favorite apps.

The addition of the dock is the first of many improvements Facebook has planned for Home, improvements being made in part based on the reactions of early adopters to the launcher.

“We’ve spent a lot of time digging through the one star ratings,” Facebook's Director of Mobile Engineering Cory Ondrejka told a small group of reporters earlier this month.

Facebook already has plans to add folders for grouping your apps to Home as well.

In addition to the changes to Home, Facebook added the ability to send multiple photos in a single message, and the ability to change who can see something you’ve already shared to its traditional Android app Thursday.

The updated Facebook Home and Facebook Android app are available now from Google Play.

Images courtesy of Facebook

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An update to the YouTube app for Android and Google TV gives you the option to automatically pair these devices, and watch videos from your phone or tablet on the TV.

Once the devices are paired, you can browse videos on your Android YouTube app and click the TV icon to play them on your Google TV.

The Android device can also be used as a remote control, with pause, scroll and skip options at your disposal. While the video is playing on the Google TV, you can use the Android device to find the next video to watch or browse the web without interrupting playback. Finally, you can connect multiple Android devices to the TV, all of which can then add videos to the playlist.

Google has been working on connecting Android devices with Google TVs for several years. In November 2010, Google launched YouTube Remote for Android. In February, Google filed a patent that describes a system of voice commands through which you can operate your Google TV with your Android device.

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Twitter updated its iOS and Android apps Thursday, adding new functionality particularly in the areas of Search and Discover.

Now you can preview article summaries and photos in both Search and Discover without tapping on those stories in order to so.

Just like on Twitter’s website, the Discover tab on mobile now lets you discover popular tweets. Tapping on the “View all Tweets” button will bring up a stream of stories, news, and photos being shared by people in your network. Read more…

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Twitter updated its iOS and Android apps on Wednesday by improving the photo uploading experience and making it easier to switch between multiple accounts.

Now when you add an image to tweet from Twitter’s mobile app, you’ll see a full preview of the photo rather than a cropped version. Images are also easier to upload; simply use a button in the bottom right corner of the compose box for a new tweet. When uploading a photo from the camera roll, images appear below the compose window, letting you quickly select your desired image.

When creating a new tweet, your avatar and username will now appear on the page, too. People with several linked Twitter accounts can toggle between the two by simply tapping on the avatar. This feature also makes it easier to quickly check which account you're tweeting from — with a visual verification — so you don't accidentally send out personal tweets from your business account, or vice versa. Read more…

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Facebook urged its employees in August to switch from iOS devices to Android so that flaws in the company's mobile app could be addressed more rapidly.

Now, photos have emerged of posters hung around the Menlo Park, Calif. headquarters of Facebook, which further urge employees to make the switch that they're calling 'Droidfooding — as in testing your own product. Read more…

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A friend of mine, Sam, recently listed his Nokia Lumia phone for sale online. After making arrangements to meet a buyer, he went to the AT&T store to have them wipe his phone of personal data. Unfortunately, the process killed his phone. He let the buyer know, who then, apparently angered by the cancelled deal, began sending weird texts to Sam's new iPhone.

How could Sam have avoided the hassle? He could have used Burner, an app that lets people create disposable numbers that they can give out in place of their real number. Burner released an app for Android phones and a major update for iPhone.

The software takes the place of burner phones, cheap mobiles that can be picked up at a local convenience store with no identifying account information associated with them. Burner offers similar anonymity without the need for another phone. Instead of tossing the phone, you delete the phone number the app generated.

Disposable numbers aren't only for drug dealers — just ask Sam. In fact, anonymous numbers come in handy for a variety of activities, such as getting quotes on a service when you don't want follow-up calls, first dates when you're really not sure if there will be a second one and, as in Sam's case, whenever you sell something online. Read more…

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LAS VEGAS — Netatmo's Urban Weather station debuted in August for iOS devices, and has now added support for Android devices as well.

An update announced at CES, Android users can now use their phone or tablets along with the Urban Weather Station to receive real-time notifications on the air quality and weather conditions specific to their home or office.

Monitoring is done through small indoor and outdoor modules that are possibly best described as the size of a toilet paper roll. The smaller of the two is mounted outside — the unit comes with everything you need except the tools — and the larger module is placed inside. Read more…

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