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My Xbox Live, released today, is a universal iOS app that connects you with Microsoft's gaming service for Xbox 360. With this free app, you'll now be able to connect with your personal account on Xbox Live.

With My Xbox Live, you'll now be able to connect with friends, customize your avatar, track achievements, and more, all from your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. You can then view your friends' gamer cards, compare your achievements on games, and view recently played games.

In addition to being able to connect with your account and view friends' info, you'll also be able to access Xbox spotlight feeds to see the latest games, get breaking news from Xbox Live, browse through games tips and tricks, and more.

Facebook started pushing out a shiny new app for Android today, which should have users of the previous version jumping for joy.

With the app's brand-new UI, users should now be able to zip around through photos, messages, and the News feed with ease.

The biggest improvement over the previous version of the Facebook app is its main navigation. Now, there are links to Friends Requests, Messages, and Notifications right at the top of your screen. This means you can respond to Friends without leaving the page you're on.

Photos have been improved, as they now show tags as well as captions, comments, and Likes. Facebook also claims that Photos and Albums are "up to two times faster than the previous Android app."

Finally, there's a new left-hand Menu that should look familiar to anyone who has seen Facebook for iPhone. This nifty slide-out panel gives you quick access to your News Feed, Groups, games, and apps.

The updated Facebook app for Android will be available sometime today in the Android Market.

Dear Download.com Community,

Some press surfaced yesterday about how we're bundling advertising offers with an open source software called Nmap. The bundling of this software was a mistake on our part and we apologize to the user and developer communities for the unrest it caused. In addition to immediately taking Nmap out of the download manager, we reviewed all open source files in our catalog to ensure none are being bundled. It is a Download.com policy not to bundle open source software and we will continue to take pains to ensure this does not happen again.

Following on the heels of the Nmap post, there was much speculation about how Download.com protects user security. The security of our users is extremely important to us and we put all files through a rigorous scanning and compliance process before adding them to the Download.com catalog or to the download manager. Some files have been flagged after our initial screening; however, in each case, the flag was proven a false positive. In addition to our scanning, all third-party offers are clearly identified as such, and there is no requirement for the user to download and install the offer; rather, a user has the option to Accept or Decline. Further on the point of user engagement, we are removing the registration requirement to use the Direct Download Link on our site. This allows you, the user, to download the Installer without using the download manager.

Thank you for your patience... [Read more]

A new version of Google+ for Android just hit the Market, and it includes Search.

One of the most user-requested features, according to Google, the new Search icon lets you quickly find posts or people on Google+ right from the app's Dashboard.

The update also includes a nice feature that lets you see who's online and currently typing in Messenger conversations. And to start your own Messenger conversation, now you can just enter a phone number.

Other improvements include higher-resolution photo uploads, the ability to +1 photos and comments, and numerous bug and stability fixes. And finally, Google+ now supports Instant Upload for videos, which should be a big hit, considering how convenient Instant Upload for photos has been.

Version 2.2 of Google+ for Android (download) is available now in the Android Market.

The award-winning World of Goo is now available in the Android Market.

Previously a hit on the PC, Mac, Wii Ware, and iOS platforms, now Google Android users get to join in on all the ooey, gooey physics-based fun.

If you've never played World of Goo, it's a visually stunning puzzler that lets you create structures out of tiny, elastic balls of goo. Think Apparatus or X Construction, but covered in slime. As you can imagine, it's incredibly challenging to create, say, a structurally sound bridge from elastic gooballs, but that's why this game is so fun. Also, each level only gives you a finite number of gooballs to work with, which teases your brain even further.

With its superb graphics, sound, intuitive gameplay, and superchallenging puzzles, we think World of Goo is a winner. Give the demo version a try, and let us know if you're as addicted as we are.

The World of Goo demo is available for free in the Android Market. The full version, with every chapter, is available for $4.99.

What's the best way to keep track of the gift cards, and their respective balances, you received from family and friends around the holidays?

While we may not have a concrete answer to a common problem, we do have three apps that aim to help you keep better track of your gift cards. Some solutions are free, and others will cost you no more than 99 cents.

GiftCards-Balance Tracker [iTunes link] GiftCards-Balance Tracker (99 cents) allows you quickly enter and store gift card information. You are also able to enter card names and an opening balance. Once a gift card and beginning balance have been entered, you can then keep track of transactions for the card by entering a name for the transaction as well as dollar amount. GiftCards will keep track of your balance, including entered transactions automatically, no math required.

This app works great, if you can remember to take a few seconds to enter your transactions.

Gift Card [iTunes link] Gift Card (99 cents) goes a bit more into the details of keeping track of gift cards. You are able to enter gift card names, pictures for each card, expiration dates, and transactions.

Flipboard's iPhone app is so popular, the company's service has gone down, it announced today.

"Due to high demand, our service is currently down," Flipboard tweeted out to followers this morning. "We are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience."

Flipboard launched its social-magazine application on the iPhone yesterday. Like the iPad version, which has proven wildly popular, the app lets users pull information from Facebook and Twitter accounts, check out professional news content, and more, all within its unique interface. CNET editor Rafe Needleman took the application for a spin yesterday, saying that, for the most part, it's a program worth using.

"Get this app on your iPhone," he wrote. "Especially if you already use it on the iPad. It really makes short work of powering through your main content feeds, and it looks good and works well enough to vanish into the background as you use it."

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One of the most popular and customizable third-party clients in the multiservice chat category for Mac continues to impress. Adium supports multiple services, including AIM, Yahoo, MSN, Facebook, Windows Live, and Google Chat. The app still struggles with file transfers with some clients, but the ease of use and ability to connect with multiple networks makes it a must-have for those who use chat clients regularly on the Mac.

Also this week, we have the latest version of Google Earth improving support for printing maps in Google Earth Pro, and adding a simplified user interface for making movies within the client.

Our game this week is Pinball Shuffle, a fun arcade-style pinball game with unique additions like Boss Battles that send bad guys around the playing field to ruin your day.

Don't forget to check out this week's iOS app collection: 2D snowboarding games for iOS.