Scott Gilbertson

Macworld: Flock Promises an Update for the ‘Social Web Browser’

Flock, the social web browser based on Firefox, has taken the Macworld opportunity to announce a new beta that will go live in two weeks. Despite yet another promised release from a browser that has historical failed to the deliver on time, there’s a few reasons for Flock users to get excited about the new […]

flock.jpgFlock, the social web browser based on Firefox, has taken the Macworld opportunity to announce a new beta that will go live in two weeks. Despite yet another promised release from a browser that has historical failed to the deliver on time, there's a few reasons for Flock users to get excited about the new beta.

Flock v1.1, as the new version will be known, is said to add Yahoo Mail and Gmail functionality within the browser interface with features like a click-to-compose button and more. Additionally, Google's Picasa service joins Flickr, YouTube, Facebook and others on the list of Flock-supported photo/video sharing sites.

The other noteworthy new feature is a notification system for friends' updates. Flock 1.1 will let you know when any of your friends has changed their profile, added pictures, posted to Twitter and more.

Flock's release notes describe the new features thusly:

  • Web Mail Integration - Flock has integrated Yahoo Mail and Gmail to let users easily share web pages, images and articles with a simple click-to-compose function within the browser. When users receive new email, the Flock Mail icon lights up to let Flock users know that new messages are waiting for them.
  • Friend Activity - Flock helps you stay in touch with your favorite people across Flock's supported social services. Now Flock lets users know when their friends have changed their profile or online status, uploaded new photos or even if they have just Twittered or posted something new.
  • Picasa Integration - Flock now supports Picasa, one of today's most popular photo sharing services. Picasa photos can now be quickly and easily uploaded using the Flock photo uploader. Flock users will now be able to share their Picasa photos via web mail or by simply dragging and dropping them into the Flock People Sidebar. This capability was introduced with YouTube, Photobucket, Facebook, Flickr, Truveo, and Piczo in Flock's 1.0 release.

Despite the long wait for Flock 1.0, I ended up liking the browser, and while it hasn't replaced Firefox on my machine, if you're heavily invested in social networks Flock is definitely worth a look. And if the Flock team delivers the new 1.1 beta two weeks from the announcement (Jan 30) I promise I'll stop giving them a hard time about pre-release announcements.

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