Lately I’ve been hearing it more and more – you’re a nobody in the online world if you don’t use Twitter. Surprisingly, I’ve been part of the online world for quite a few years now, and did not actually have a private Twitter account up until a few days ago. It wasn’t laziness or lack of knowledge, I just don’t like Twitter.

As rare as it is for Apple to publicly admit a malfunction, this one is too big to overlook. According to Apple, the batteries of some first generation iPod nanos may overheat and become a safety risk. While this is a rare occurrence, Apple has decided not to take risks this time. If you own a first gen iPod nano, check out Apple’s replacement program.

The Kindle Fire is planned to launch tomorrow, and Amazon is definitely preparing for it. Amazon’s App Store, until now just another app we had to download through the Market, will be the integrated and exclusive app store on the Kindle Fire. As such, it needed a major overhaul – and it got one.

Did you notice the changes to Google Reader? You must have noticed how the color scheme changed, how the spacing changed in list mode, and to top it all off, that you can’t share items anymore, unless you use Google+. Here are two add-ons that will help you restore some of these features and get your good old Reader back.

If you have a new Google+ Page, you can now also have a Google+ Badge. As you probably know, Google recently launched Google+ Pages, so brands, companies, websites, etc. can also have a Google+ presence. But as it is now, this presence is not very easy to find. To the rescue comes Google+ Badges.

A huge majority of computer users use Qwerty as their keyboard layout; it’s the default in almost every keyboard in the world, and everyone is used to it. But there are at least two more layouts out there, and according to the people who use them, they’re actually better. So what do MakeUseOf readers think of them?

Google is giving away 10 Galaxy Nexus devices with Ice Cream Sandwich over the next 10 days, starting today. The contest will involve daily Twitter challenges, and the ones who tweet the right answers may win the coveted Galaxy Nexus.

In a surprising move (or not so surprising), Adobe is discontinuing its development of Flash plugin for mobile browsers. According to Adobe’s official announcement, they will now focus their efforts on HTML5 instead, as it is “now universally supported on major mobile devices, in some cases exclusively”. They will also continue development of mobile apps based on Adobe AIR and of Flash for desktop.

Spotify and Microsoft have announced the release of Spotify for Windows Phone 7. This highly anticipated app brings Spotify’s music streaming services to Mango OS, and is another breakthrough for Microsoft’s mobile enterprise. According to Spotify, the app is available on a wide variety of WP7 mobiles, which together with their apps for Android and iOS makes them one of the most widespread music apps.

Do you ever wish you could read your tweets no matter where you are or what you’re doing? Or maybe you’re just so addicted to Twitter that you need to get your hit even while driving or folding your laundry? If one of these is true, you should give Tweet Speaker ($1.99 for a limited time, usually $2.99) a spin. Tweet Speaker for iOS turns your Twitter timeline into your own, personal news podcast.

If you’ve been looking for a good reason to download IE9, Microsoft is trying to give you one. They’ve just launched a new campaign called “Where’s the love?”, and they’re offering to give you free stuff if you download and install IE9. You heard right. Microsoft will give you prizes if you go ahead and just get IE9 already.

Barnes & Noble have officially announced the release of their new tablet reader, named simply the Nook tablet. It is designed to offer direct competition to Amazon’s Kindle Fire, and the two devices are in fact quite similar. The Nook tablet will sell for $249, which is $50 more than the Kindle Fire, but will also come equipped with double the storage and double the RAM.

Miss your old neighborhood library? Amazon is trying to help with their newly announced Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. This service allows Kindle users to check out books from the library and later “return” them and get a different book, all without buying any of the books.

The world of Voice over IP is expanding fast, and we’re getting more and more options for calling our friends without paying cellphone providers. The strongest, and most known contender in this area is obviously Skype, and they’ve been rather good at it. However, Tango offers a pretty good alternative, especially since the latest updates to Skype have not been to everyone’s liking.

The world is divided into two sections – Phone lovers and Android enthusiasts. Or so it seems sometimes. But in reality, things are not as black and white as all that. I, for example, own an iPad and an Android device, and actually wish I could own a Nokia. So it doesn’t come as a surprise that some Android owners are looking for ways to turn their device into something more iPhone-ish.