UPDATED 07:59 EDT / DECEMBER 11 2012

Twitter Gets Its Own Instagram For The Holiday Photo Rush

In today’s mobile news roundup: Twitter unveils filters to go against Instagram; Apple rewrites Mpas after huge Australian kerfuffle; Microsoft Office for iOS leaks; and Motorola bids South Korea goodbye.

Twitter unveils filters to go against Instagram

After all the rumors and falling out with Instagram, Twitter has finally unveiled their photo filtering feature for their iOS and Android apps.

“Every day, millions of people come to Twitter to connect with the things they care about and find out what’s happening around the world. As one of the most compelling forms of self-expression, photos have long been an important part of these experiences.

“Starting today, you’ll be able to edit and refine your photos, right from Twitter. The latest versions of Twitter for iPhone and Twitter for Android introduce a few new ways to enhance the images you tweet. We’re grateful to our partner, Aviary, for powering our filters and effects,” Coleen Baik, Twitter’s Senior Designer said on their official blog post.

The updated mobile apps would allow users to apply one of eight filters to their photos directly from Twitter, see how the photos would look or compare it with other filters before publishing, crop and pinch to zoom to focus the attention, and allows you to auto-enhance so light and colors would be balanced.

Apple rewrites Maps after huge Australian kerfuffle

A number of people had to be rescued in the sun-baked trails of the Australian Murray-Sunset National Park after they followed Apple’s Maps direction going to Mildura.  According to the Guardian, one man was stranded in the park in scorching heat of 118ºF for 24 hours.

“We’ve had at least four documented cases,” senior sergeant Stephen Phelan said before Apple made the update. “The map puts it at least 70 kilometres (45 miles) from where it should be. We have had people bogged down in Sunset country.”

Getting lost near Mildura can be fatal.  Aside from the scorching hot temperature, there’s no water source and people can get bogged down.  The Mildura authorities issued a warning regarding the use of Apple’s Maps.

Microsoft Office for iOS leaks

Reports are surfacing that support for Mobile Office – the mobile version of Microsoft Office, is said to making their way onto Microsoft’s support site which could only mean that Mobile Office will soon be available to iOs users.

 

In November, the Verge revealed that Microsoft is planning on releasing Microsoft Office early next year, despite the fact that in October, Microsoft’s head of corporate communications, Frank X. Shaw, denied Petr Bobek’s, Microsoft Office portfolio manager in the Czech Republic, statement that Office 2013 will be released by March 2013.

Motorola bids South Korea goodbye

Motorola Mobility will be closing down most of their South Korean operations next year as they reorganize under the leadership of Google.  They will be keeping 10 percent of their R&D workforce who will be offered relocation packages.

“The changes in Korea reflect our plans to consolidate our global R&D efforts to foster collaboration, and to focus more attention on markets where we are best positioned to compete effectively,” Motorola said in a statement.

Motorola isn’t the first mobile manufacturer to leave South Korea.  In July, HTC announced that they will closing shop in South Korea to streamline operations but it can’t be denied that it has something to do with Apple, Samsung and LG dominating the mobile scene in the country.


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