Grubwithus launches a social dining app for the impatient: GrubTonight
For its first mobile app launch, social dining startup Grubwithus is doing away with coordinated dinner themes and focusing on immediate gratification. Read more »
Meet the faces of big data with interactive iPad app
photo: Against All Odds Productions
In his latest book, The Human Face of Big Data, photojournalist Rick Smolan depicts the many ways big data is transforming the world. On Tuesday, he and his team released an iPad app that puts an interactive twist on many of the book’s examples. Read more »
Does Hailo have Uber on the run in New York’s taxi wars?
Two of the biggest taxi service startups are preparing to go head-to-head as San Francisco’s Uber and London’s Hailo gear up for launch in New York. Who will win? Evidence so far suggests it’s a tough game, but the British company may just have the edge. Read more »
Vodio brings its personalized web video app to iPhone
The iPad “Flipboard for video” app Vodio is shrinking down to iPhone size starting Tuesday. We talked to the Tel Aviv-based Vodio about why the iPhone came next for the app instead of Android tablets. Read more »
Romney campaign builds iOS, Android app for VP announcement
Mitt Romney’s VP pick will be announced via a smartphone app. His campaign is updating President Obama’s own VP announcement method in 2008, which was via text message, for this era, which is undeniably the era of native mobile apps. Read more »
Yandex bets on iPhone to get Russia paying for music
Moscow-based search engine Yandex is hoping to steal a march on international rivals with a new music subscription app for the iPhone — but it’s gambling that users will be ready to stump up cash for the service in a country where paid-for digital music is […] Read more »
Draw Something nosedives: Is Zynga losing its touch?
Statistics suggest that a third of Draw Something‘s active users have deserted the game in just a month — bringing into question Zynga’s actions and judgment since deciding to purchase maker OMGPOP for $200 million. Read more »
With new app, Sharypic aims to be Instagram for events
Location-based photo sharing app Color famously flamed out after raising millions of dollars in funding. Now, with them out of the picture, French service Sharypic wants to step into the gap and provide photo sharing for events. Can it compete in a crowded market? Read more »
Ringtones reborn: Just call them notifications now
Remember Crazy Frog? The bike-riding amphibian and his irritating, ubiquitous song symbolized the premium ringtone market a few years ago, before fading into obscurity. The frog has disappeared, but one startup thinks it has found a way to evolve the idea for the modern mobile user. Read more »
This man wants to kill QR codes. Can he do it?
Advertisers and publishers have swarmed over QR codes as they try to add interactivity to analog media. Now the Swiss team behind retooled mobile app Shortcut hopes they can help make the black-and-white glyphs a thing of the past. Read more »
Nooka’s mystery dial watches get an iPhone app
Matthew Waldman’s Nooka watches are far from your standard time-keeping devices, with various dial designs that often use digital, visual markers to indicate the passing of hours, minutes and seconds. With a new app launched Thursday, Nooka brings that time-telling magic to the iPhone. Read more »
Hands on with Remarks, a remarkable iPad PDF annotation app
App developer Readdle has been busy lately. A big update arrived recently for its PDF Expert software for iPad, and now the company is also launching a new note-taking and PDF annotation app called Remarks. Here’s a hands on look at what the app offers users. Read more »
SocialFolders plugs into Evernote to be your social media diary
SocialFolders, a freemium application that launched last month to let you store and manage any file created on the social web, rolled out an integration with Evernote on Tuesday that lets users drag-and-drop content such as Tweets, Facebook updates, Instagram photos into their Evernote accounts. Read more »
Games for the weekend: Trenches II
Trenches II is the latest in a lineup of World War I-themed games from Thunder Game Works. Falling somewhere between Plants vs. Zombies and Flight Control, Trenches II offers slightly more advanced, compelling gameplay, so much so that it approaches the realm of real-time strategy gaming. Read more »
CES Video: Moto’s Droid Razr Maxx with 21-hour runtime
During my CES show floor travels, I swung by Motorola’s booth and see the Droid Razr Max. Why? Because battery technology hasn’t changed much and Moto claims a 21-hour runtime for it’s latest Android smartphone. But it’s still only 8.99 millimeters in thickness! Read more »
Microsoft debuts official Xbox LIVE client for iOS devices
Microsoft may have launched its companion app for Xbox consoles on Windows Phone 7 devices exclusively, but it isn’t leaving iOS users completely out in the cold. The official My Xbox LIVE app, which works on both iPhone and iPad, is in the App Store now. Read more »
Hands on with Touch: Is a solid product enough at this stage?
Messaging apps. The words could just make you sigh at this point. From Facebook to WhatsApp to Apple, everyone has something to offer in this space. So can a new entry at this point possibly stand a chance? Touch, a new app, hopes so. Read more »
Hands on with Path 2.0: What Facebook should be
The original Path, a social network designed around exclusive, photo-centric sharing, proved a tad underwhelming in my opinion. But version 2.0, available Wednesday, is more than just lipstick on a pig. It’s an entirely new course for Path, and a very promising one. Read more »
Gmail returns to the App Store, now with fewer bugs
Google has re-introduced its native iOS Gmail app to the App Store, with a new version number and instructions to delete the old version if you managed to grab it before it was pulled prior to installing this one. Besides bug fixes, little has changed. Read more »
iPhone 4S won’t face Australian injunction hearing until March 2012
In an Australian federal court on Tuesday, an agreement between the court and Samsung means Apple will continue to be able to sell its iPhone 4S down under throughout the holiday season and into 2012 before facing the possibility of an injunction. Read more »
iZettle, Europe’s answer to Square, is out of beta
Stockholm-based iZettle — a company that is building a payments system not entirely unlike the much-heralded Square — is taking a big step forwards today by coming out of beta. The system, which consists of a plug-in device and app, goes live today, with approval from […] Read more »
Shuffler.fm brings blog-based music discovery to iPad
Shuffler.fm finally released its official iPad app for public consumption in the App Store on Tuesday, after talking about its plans for an Apple tablet version first in August. The music discovery tool pulls its content from music blogs, combining them in a Flipboard-style experience. Read more »
Apple Store 2.0 brings Personal Pickup and EasyPay
The rumored update to the Apple Store app for iPhone, which we noted last week could revolutionize retail, has arrived, albeit a bit later than expected. Apple Store 2.0 brings many improvements, the most notable among them being Personal Pickup and EasyPay services. Read more »
First look at Oink, Kevin Rose’s app for rating stuff
Oink, Kevin Rose’s much-discussed app about rating not places, but things within places, is now in the App Store. It’s a little like Yelp, and a little like Foursquare, and a little like Foodspotting. But will this pig fly? I kicked the tires to find out. Read more »
Warehouse 13 fans get a Farnsworth app from makers of the real thing
SyFy shows, I love you so hard. Which is why I was thrilled to see the release of an official Farnsworth app tied to Warehouse 13. The app is actually made by the same special effects wizards that create some of the show’s prop-based magic. Read more »
Use your iPhone or iPad to carve a cooler pumpkin
Every Halloween for the past few years, my family and I have used apps to design our jack-o-lanterns. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you do it, too, from our favorite apps to a way to include the whole family, using your Apple TV. Read more »
Hands on with Adobe Carousel for iOS and Mac
Adobe’s cross-platform photo management service, Carousel, is now available on iOS devices and the Mac. New apps for both platforms, released on Thursday, let you manage, sync, share and even edit your photo collection on all of your Apple devices. Read more »
Quick tip: Disable Siri from the lock screen
Media reports are making a big deal about Siri being accessible from a locked device. It’s true that by default Siri works on a code-locked iPhone, but don’t fret, there’s a simple — albeit somewhat oddly placed — setting to make sure Siri doesn’t give up your info. Read more »
Hands on with Instapaper 4.0
Whether you’ve got a new iPhone 4S, an iPad 2 or on older iOS device, Instapaper is a must-have application. Now, a huge new update ups the game all around for an already great product. Here’s a first-hand look at what’s new and notable. Read more »
Why the iPad app will be my first choice for Facebook
Facebook finally released its official iPad app yesterday, in the form of a universal add-on to its existing iPhone application. Its features and interface, along with when it arrived, make the iPad app a much more attractive option for accessing Facebook than any other available. Read more »
Skype’s new iOS apps brings Bluetooth support, advertising
Skype has updated its iPhone and iPad apps as of Tuesday, introducing some new features. Bluetooth headsets are now supported on select devices, and video has been improved with image stabilization, but these enhancements will cost you: The apps now display ads for non-paying users. Read more »
Facebook’s iPad app is ‘feature-complete,’ in limbo
I was hoping for the reveal of Facebook’s official iPad app during last week’s f8 developer conference. But despite the confirmed knowledge of its existence, it didn’t come. And now its developer has left Facebook because of the delays in getting it to market. Read more »
Logitech’s remote app is the smart play for the two-screen living room
Logitech unveiled its new Harmony Link hardware/software combo for iPad, iPhone and Android devices Tuesday. The Link lets you use your device as a universal remote for your entertainment system. Logitech isn’t the first to try this, but it looks like it could be the best. Read more »
Turntable.fm for iPhone review: Lots of potential, lots of bugs
For fans of streamed music, another choice has arrived on the iPhone. Turntable.fm’s official, free iPhone app hit the App Store today. It requires nothing more than your Facebook credentials to get started, and looks to bring the success of the desktop version to Apple devices. Read more »
Foodspotting spots daily deals with Scoutmob
Foodspotting, the app for finding and rating restaurant dishes, is getting in on the daily deals action. It plans to announce Tuesday that it is hooking up with Atlanta-based local deals purveyor Scoutmob to offer 50 percent and 100 percent off coupons for nearby restaurants. Read more »
Please Stay Calm thinks location is key to mobile MMOs
New iPhone MMORPG Please Stay Calm takes a lot of what makes freemium gaming titles successful on the App Store, and adds in a dash of zombies, and a heaping helping of location services. It’s social survival horror in your backyard — and it’s pretty awesome. Read more »
Adaptive Path iPad app provides great UX for great UX talks
User experience design firm Adaptive Path released its own dedicated iPad app on Monday, and guess what: It provides a terrific user experience. Great content also helps, as the app contains more than a hundred talks from user experience experts from a wide variety of backgrounds. Read more »
Hands on with Amazon Student for iPhone
If you are or have ever been a college student, then you probably know that textbooks are the biggest racket going. Amazon Student, a new official iPhone app put out by Amazon.com, should help you find better prices than you would at your school bookstore. Read more »
Badger makes iPhone photo sharing more relevant
There’s no shortage of photo-sharing apps on the iPhone, thanks to Instagram’s instant success. But Badger, a new app that hit the iOS App Store Friday, has a genuinely fresh approach that just might succeed in turning heads. Read more »
Adding GPS info to iPhoto with myTracks
Keeping track of where you’ve taken photos is not as easy as you might think. Your iPhone automatically geotags images, but most digital cameras aren’t GPS enabled. You can manually add the data, but there’s a better way to do it automatically in batches. Read more »
