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Social Browser Rockmelt Launches an Android App

Mike Isaac in Social on June 19 at 8:02 am PT

Rockmelt, the startup that aims to reinvent the Web browser with a social focus, launched an Android application on Wednesday morning. Unlike the company’s existing iPad and iPhone apps, Rockmelt’s new Android app has been reconfigured to fit the many screen sizes that Android devices come in. Rockmelt also made updates to the navigation user interface, vertical and horizontal viewing modes, and added place-saving “elevator buttons” for easier browsing. The new Rockmelt apps host more than 1.1 million users to date.

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Twitter Adds Viacom to TV Ad Lineup

Peter Kafka in Media on June 19 at 8:00 am PT

Twitter is linking up with Viacom in an ad partnership; the cable giant joins a list of media partners, including ESPN, Fox and Discovery, in Twitter’s TV/video push. Twitter users should see the first set of Viacom video ads in August, during MTV’s Video Music Awards, which has become a hotbed of Twitter activity.

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Twitter Backs Google, Says Facebook Made Mistake in Data Disclosure Deal With Feds

Mike Isaac in News on June 14 at 10:11 pm PT

After Facebook came to an agreement with the Federal government in which the social giant could disclose information request numbers to the public, Google said Facebook’s deal wasn’t enough, condemning Facebook for agreeing to publish the data in aggregate. Twitter legal director Ben Lee chimed in shortly thereafter, siding with Google: “We agree with @Google: It’s important to be able to publish numbers of national security requests — including FISA disclosures — separately,” he said in a tweet on Friday evening. The back and forth comes in the wake of a week of intense scrutiny of the NSA and tech companies, after whistleblower Edward Snowden released a series of potentially damning documents suggesting a data-sharing relationship between the Feds and a number of Valley giants.