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Remember Firesheep? Well, the cookie snatching Firefox extension now has a more portable cousin called FaceNiff. This Android app listens in on WiFi networks (even ones encrypted with WEP, WPA, or WPA2) and lets you hop on to the accounts of anyone sharing the wireless connection with you. Right now it works with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Nasza-Klasa (a Polish Facebook clone), but developer Bartosz Ponurkiewicz promises more are coming. You'll need to be rooted to run FaceNiff -- luckily, we had such a device laying around and gave the tap-to-hack app a try. Within 30 seconds it identified the Facebook account we had open on our laptop and had us posting updates from the phone. At least with Firesheep you had to sit down and open up a laptop, now you can hijack Twitter profiles as you stroll by Starbucks and it'll just look like you're sending a text message (but you wouldn't do that... would you?). One more image and a video are after the break. FaceNiff

Well, it's not exactly a good day for anyone that placed their bets on a Twitter-linked photo service. As expected, Twitter today announced its own integrated photo-sharing service, which will launch "over the next several weeks" and let folks upload an image and attach it directly to their tweet from Twitter.com -- the same functionality is also said to be coming to its official mobile apps "soon." The service isn't completely  in-house, though -- Twitter has partnered with Photobucket to actually host the photos. In more immediate news, Twitter has also announced that a "completely new version" of Twitter search is rolling out today. It promises to deliver more relevant results for searches and trending topics, as well as related photos and videos that will be displayed next to your results (which can also be browsed and explored in-depth). Head on past the break for a quick demo video. Twitter Blog

We've been hearing rumors for a while that Twitter was looking to make TweetDeck a member of its flock, and now, the blue bird crew has made it official.  All Things D  reports that the deal was done for between $40 to 50 million, and that TweetDeck CEO Iain Dodsworth will stay on to run the platform. In its official announcement, Twitter said it will continue to "invest in the TweetDeck that users know and love" -- time will tell if the new boss birdie is a boon or bane for the popular tweet tracking app. Twitter

Been loving the Opera Mini experience on your iPhone and wishing for it on your larger iOS device? Opera is today turning that desire into reality with the release of v6.0 of its Mini mobile browser, which now has support for all iOS portables, including the iPad and iPad 2, plus a specific shoutout for the iPhone 4's retina display. The overall design of the web explorer has also been freshened up, with a "new look and feel," while a social sharing function will let you blast URLs into Twitter and Facebook directly from the app. Additionally, the new version includes the ability to load tabs in the background and improves support for non-Latin alphabets like Arabic and Chinese. Hit the source link for the download. iTunes

Mango may no longer be a secret in and of itself, but we doubt Microsoft would've set up an entire eventto preview its big Windows Phone update if there was nothing hidden up that Redmond sleeve. To that end, we've just come across an official press release from the company, released on its Romanian website. The machine translation awaits after the break. Update:  We've now swapped in the natively English press release. There's also confirmation that Mango will indeed be known as Windows Phone 7.1. Update 2:  Turns out Microsoft "had to give [the SDK] a name" and dubbed it 7.1, so Mango retains its formal WP7 moniker. The first thing to note is that the update will be "freely available" to all current Windows Phone handsets, something Microsoft already committed to, and will be ready for download "at the beginning of  this summer. " (Update: it looks like our translation machinery betrayed us, tipsters are saying it's actually th...

Hey there fellow iOS users, just thought we'd let you know that the Engadget app for iPhone and iPod touch has now been updated to version 2.2. What's new, you ask? Well, on top of a stash of performance tweaks, there's now a handy landscape viewing mode along with much improved sharing features; or if you prefer saving the goodies for yourself, then you'll also like our new "save for later" options for Evernote, Instapaper, and Read It Later. Head over to the App Store to nab the fresh update now. Oh, don't worry, we haven't forgotten our buddies on the Windows Phone boat. We can assure you that our devs are hard at work at cooking up an Engadget app for Windows Phone 7 just as we speak, so stay tuned for an announcement soon. iTunes

Until now, Honeycomb users looking to get their social networking fix have had to rely on blown up smartphone apps that don't make particularly good use of the additional screen real estate. Then, the other day, an app called TweetComb arrived in the Android Market... and there was much rejoicing. Finally, Android tablets owners have a Twitter app that caters their needs and takes advantage of the OS's unique capabilities. But is the experience improved enough to warrant the $2.99 price of entry? Well, we plunked down the cash and fired up our Xoom to find out for you. The big appeal of TweetComb is that it's multi-column which, if you ask us, is a must have feature for any tablet Twitter app. Upon first launch you're greeted with separate, scrollable lists for your timeline, mentions and direct messages, and you can add your own updates, favorites, up to three saved searches and three lists from the "customize dashboard" menu. In addition to being able to ...

Microsoft Home is a sort of "world of tomorrow" for the computer nerd set where Surface takes the place of video phones and dinner pills. The only difference is that, unlike those World's Fair staples, Redmond's vision of the not-so-distant future isn't open to the public. This is a private testing ground where researchers can try out concepts, like a watch that records health data and syncs it with your home network or a media center that can analyze video and identify products and locations featured on screen. You might not be able to swing by the campus and visit, but you can catch a glimpse of suburban life in 2025 -- populated by touchscreen wireless charging trays and interactive walls -- in the video after the break. We'll take it all, except the wallpaper -- we don't need #winning tweets floating overhead while we try to get some shut-eye.   WinBeta Channel 9

We awoke this morning to a deluge of hype surrounding Tweetbot, the version 1.0 Twitter client from Tapbot. So we sucked down some legal stimulant and ponied up the entrance fee to give it a go on an iPhone 4 (the app requires iOS 4.1 or later). Granted, we're still in the honeymoon period but we're definitely impressed. The design elements, animations, and audio tones are slickly implemented and the functionality is rich and intuitive. We're especially smitten by the right and left swiping actions used to reveal conversations and replies, respectively, and the customizable tab bar that gives quick access to lists and retweets. In fact, the list integration is so good as to finally make Twitter lists useful on a smartphone. We also applaud Tapbot's plucky release in light of Twitter Inc.'s preference that developers stop reproducing the Twitter client experience, especially since the result is superior to Twitter's own  free  iOS app. Sure, the user interface c...

It looks like we finally know what the US Department of Homeland Security plans to use instead of the now infamous color-coded terrorism alert system. According to a draft document obtained by the Associated Press , the department's new system will simply have two levels of alerts -- "elevated" and "imminent" -- and it seems those warnings will even be published online using Facebook and Twitter "when appropriate." There's no word as to exactly how those alerts will be published, however, or any indication that the two companies have actually committed to aiding the department in any way, for that matter. We should know more soon enough, though -- the new system is expected to be in place by April 27th. The Globe and Mail Associated Press