While TripAdvisor first looked at building a mobile app that “didn’t suck,” it’s now looking at how deep it can go with mobile apps by taking advantage of all the capabilities of mobile devices. Read more »
Now that touch input has revolutionized the mobile device market, what’s next? Voice interaction and natural language processing (NLP) surely have to be high on the list. But it’s not always easy for app developers to enable voice features. Enter OneTok, a cloud-based NLP solution. Read more »
A solid app gets even better today with the ability to read aloud saved articles on an Android device. This will make Pocket, already one of my most used apps, an even bigger part of my day, allowing me to hear offline articles at spare moments. Read more »
Who needs a light switch when you have smart bulbs paired with smartphones? LIFX is just that: a Wi-Fi connected LED bulb that you remotely control or even change the color. But will consumers want one-off connected gadgets or centrally-managed smart homes in the future? Read more »
Owners of older Nokia Lumia smartphones may be missing out when Windows Phone 8 arrives, but Nokia is bringing some new innovation to the old models. City Lens, an augmented reality application, is now freely available for the Lumia 710, 800 and 900 smartphones. Read more »
Gartner said that 89 percent of app downloads in 2012 are expected to be free and that number will only go up. But in-app purchase is rising as a monetization tool and will be present in 30 percent of apps by 2016. Read more »
After releasing Google Drive for iOS in June, iPhone and iPad owners were disappointed by the lack of editing capabilities. Google fixes that with an app update today, but it’s still fairly limited: Only documents can be edited, even though Google’s demo video shows spreadsheet editing. Read more »
Mobile analytics provider Localytics has raised $5.5 million led by Polaris Venture Partners. The money will help Localytics launch a new automated mobile app marketing platform that allows developers to message their customers and encourage them to take certain actions or make purchases. Read more »
Gamified classroom management platform ClassDojo is rolling out its first mobile app. Through the iOS app teachers will be able to give students feedback in real-time from their smartphones and tablets. The company said an Android app will follow shortly. Read more »
Six months after being acquired by photobook creation company Mixbook, the former Yobongo team is announcing a mobile-first photobook creation app. Called Mosaic, the app will let users select images from their smartphones to create printed photobooks. Read more »
Which is better for a mobile app: short term revenues or long term relationships with a growing user base? RunKeeper thinks the latter is better over time and it can monetize later. The exercise tracking app for smartphones dropped fees for its training plans. Read more »
As unlimited data plans disappear, consumers need new data-savings solutions. Snappli is the latest to out a mobile service that cuts down on data use through compression techniques; the free software, available today, works on iOS and saves data for the web, apps and even videos. Read more »
App makers have a new way to promote their apps with Ooomf, a discovery service that lets users see upcoming apps and allows them to participate in the creation process. Montreal-based Ooomf announced it has raised $500,000 in seed funding. Read more »
Even with a glut of app discovery services and search engines available and improved features coming in Apple’s App Store, there are still more and more startups looking to solve the app recommendation problem. We take a look at new entrants: Xyologic, AppHero and AppAide. Read more »
Chicago’s Excelerate Labs may not have quite the outsized demo day as Y Combinator, but the 10 companies that just graduated from is accelerator program were still impressive. Here are the five startups that made the biggest impression on us: Orbeus, Lasso, Cureeo, Pictarine and Whimseybox. Read more »
Placed is broadening its horizons by letting mobile web developers take advantage of its unique approach to location analytics. Previously available for mobile apps, Placed cross-references location data against a massive database to paint a picture of where apps or sites are being used most. Read more »
With a reported 50 percent of all smartphone owners not knowing how much mobile broadband their handsets use each month, data usage tracking tools are becoming valuable utilities. Boingo just added one to its Wi-Finder for iOS app, which can help save you money. Read more »
Mocana, a startup that is dedicated to securing the Internet of things has raised $25 million in a Series D round led by Trident Capital. While securing devices is Mocana’s biggest business, the fastest growing product is Mocana’s solution for protecting mobile applications. Read more »
Combining two products into one doesn’t always make for one that’s better, but Nikon is onto something here by adding Android 2.3, Wi-Fi and a touchscreen to its latest digital point-and-shoot. Instead of using Nikon’s imaging software, you can download the app of your choice. Read more »
Standalone GPS navigation makers continue to face the battle against smartphones and location based service apps. At least one of them is embracing the change: TomTom first added support for Facebook Places and now it includes Foursquare, making it easier to get directions and check-in. Read more »
The switch from voice to data isn’t just affecting carriers. The new mobile data reality is driving device makers to change the way handsets are designed, Internet companies to deal with the smaller screen, and infrastructure makers to re-architect the fundamental topologies of their networks. Read more »
Global positioning systems provide better location accuracy over solutions that use Wi-Fi networks, but just how much better is GPS? Yelp sifted through its check-in data to see and not only found out the accuracy variance, but also an interesting location tidbit on iPhones vs Androids. Read more »
After months with a sub-par user experience, the Google Play store is gaining needed improvements. Application updates comprised of just changed code now helps limit mobile broadband use while gift cards and wishlists are coming soon, per the latest version of Google Play. Read more »
No mobile browser has passed through the first two hurdles in the Ringmark test, a tool created by Facebook that checks for a wide range of HTML5 support. That is, no mobile browser until now. The most recent beta of Dolphin Browser for Android just did. Read more »
Eric Schmidt’s Tomorrow Ventures is leading a $2 million Series A round in biNu, an Australian startup that enables feature phones to run cloud-based smartphone apps such as Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia and Google. BiNu highlights the opportunity in developing markets where smartphone penetration is low. Read more »
Facebook’s App Center was launched in June as part of the social network’s attempt to be more relevant to mobile users and help them find apps they like for their smartphones. It’s also another way of attacking the mobile app discovery problem plaguing both iOS and Android. Read more »
Thanks to Apple’s AirPlay, it’s easier than ever to stream content over Wi-Fi between Apple devices. And Android devices too thanks to Android HiFi, a free mobile app that lets you listen to your iTunes library wirelessly on an Android phone or tablet. Read more »
Home cooks are using digital tools to help them cook: smartphones, video streaming, cooking apps and social media sites, according to an Allrecipes.com poll. But our increased dependence on the internet for cooking advice is also destroying our faith in the recipe itself. Read more »
What was once only in the realm of network operators is now a feature for custom ROM Android developers. OTA Update Center allows programmers to sent over the air updates to Android device owners that use their software builds. For users, and devs, this is fantastic. Read more »
The Google Translate app is taking on the ability to handle translations of pictured text. It’s a feature that first appeared in Google Goggles, but it now allows users to highlight which text they want to translate by running their fingers over specific words. Read more »
Facebook is turning on mobile ads for apps, allowing developers to target users in their news feed with ads about their software. This will likely generate new revenue for Facebook and help developers. But it remains to be seen how users will react. Read more »
The Kindle Fire gains a free new mobile music app in Spotify, but it’s only mobile if you have a Wi-Fi connection; offline support requires a Spotify Premium subscription. However, the app supports high-quality music streaming and full access to Spotify’s millions of digital tracks. Read more »
A new survey explains that the no. 1 frustration on tablets and smartphones is the slow loading of web pages. That shouldn’t surprise, but the preferred activities for a smartphone and a tablet just might, suggesting that we’re not ready to dump the phone just yet. Read more »
Indoor-positioning-startup Wifarer has landed its first customer, the Royal BC Museum, in Victoria, Canada. Wifarer and the BC, however, aren’t just slinging location-triggered coupons. The museum is using Wifarer technology to create an object-aware virtual guide to its exhibits. Read more »
Nimbuzz didn’t impress when it launched its VoIP and instant messaging app, but thanks to the evolution of mobile, the company crossed a new milestone: 100 million users. Now that we want to choose where, how and on what device to communicate Nimbuzz’s future sounds good. Read more »
Amazon takes another step on Apple’s digital media turf: Amazon Instant Video is now available for iPad, bringing another media option for movie purchases, rentals and television shows to Apple’s tablet. For now, Amazon is keeping this away from Android tablets, save its own Kindle Fire. Read more »
Fanhattan’s guide to entertainment on your iPad just got a lot more useful: The app added content from new partners, including NBC and HBO, and a new WatchList feature. The idea: Add your favorite movies and shows once, and get notifications whereever and whenever they’re available. Read more »
Spotify’s conversion rate isn’t bad: Out of 15 million active users, more than 4 million are paying subscribers. That number may soon increase thanks to Android support for Spotify radio, which is ad-supported and offers unlimited playback of Spotify’s entire digital music catalog. Read more »
A new app called Saga hit the App Store promising to be a personal assistant that knows what users are up to even if they don’t. It wants to tell users where they’ve been, where they’ll go next and how long it will take to get there. Read more »
Barnes & Noble is skipping out on Google Maps for tablets and is partnering instead with Berlin-based mobile map company skobbler. skobbler’s ForeverMap 2 app is available in the Nook store today, and Nook will open up to location-based app developers later this year. Read more at paidContent »
