Placeme for iOS and Android may be both the scariest and amazingly futuristic app I’ve seen yet. The free software uses every sensor in your handset to track your activities, location and environment. Scary, yes, but it could power the smartphone personal assistant of the future. Read more »
For the local small business or artist building up a Facebook fan page, creating a mobile optimized web app can be another hurdle or headache. But why not combine the two efforts? That’s the premise behind a new product called Fan Page Mobilizer. Read more »
Research In Motion clarified earlier statements about removing the ability to manually install Android applications on the BlackBerry PlayBook. The company previously said it was closing the loophole in the next PlayBook software update. Now it says the option will still be available for developers. Read more »
Saavn has been hailed as India’s Spotify. But with much of its customer base being in India and much of its catalog being Bollywood fare, things work a little different for the company. One example: Saavn has high hopes for its Blackberry and Symbian apps. Read more »
Everyme launched a new iPhone application which aims to allow private sharing among friends and family, by automatically creating circles of contacts. Users can then share all their pictures, thoughts and news with only the people that they want to see them. Read more »
Eight Symbian handsets gained Microsoft Office support on Tuesday. There’s no question that Microsoft’s software — both Windows Phone and Office — are helping Nokia manage a transition to the modern smartphone age. But is Symbian’s death greatly exaggerated or is it a Plan B? Read more »
Amazon is turning on a key money-making tool for developers in its Appstore for Android, letting app makers offer in-app purchase through Amazon. The service allows developers to easily sell in-game currency, upgrades, content and magazine issues with one-click checkouts. Read more »
As Time Out New York rolls out a new digital strategy, the company hopes its trusted editorial brand will outweigh New Yorkers’ possible app fatigue. Read more at paidContent »
Facebook’s stunning $1 billion acquisition of Instagram appears to be the largest deal ever for a company built entirely around a single mobile app experience, either proving that the mobile app business has truly arrived or that there’s a new bubble in town. Read more »
Instagram is pretty proud of the infrastructure it built atop the Amazon Web Services cloud, but does an acquisition by Facebook mean goodbye to Amazon? If I were a betting man, I’d say there are already some engineers working really hard to make that happen. Read more »
After 16 months of iPhone exclusivity, Instagram is on Android, although some iPhone owners aren’t impressed. A Galaxy Note review unit arrived and the large size is already becoming a benefit to me. Plus, Sprint has two LTE phones ready before the 4G network arrives. Read more »
Social and mobile analytics startup Kontagent has expanded its business to include a data-mining service powered by Hive, the SQL-like interface for querying data stored within Hadoop. It’s a smart move by the company, and one that other cloud-based analytics providers would be wise to replicate. Read more »
If you spend a lot of time writing in the margins of reports or filling out endless forms, there’s something you should know: You should be using a tablet for all of these things. Here are four iPad apps to get you on your way. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Yahoo has open sourced Mojito, a JavaScript-based developer framework that will allow developers to leverage both client- and server-side technologies to get the best performance out of any device. The framework is now available on GitHub for anyone to play around with. Read more »
The Google Nexus tablet rumor is closer to reality with reports that Google will sell hardware from Asus and Samsung directly to consumers. The stylus isn’t holding back Samsung’s Galaxy Note; it passed 5 million sales. And Opera Mini can save on your data plan usage. Read more »
It’s obvious by now that iOS and Android are the top dogs in mobile, so the battle is on for the third platform player. Windows Phone is looking better to be No. 3 to my eyes, but mobile analytics firm Flurry suggests a different player: Amazon. Read more »
The Hulu Plus mobile app is now available for Android tablets, complete with an updated user interface. The software has a visual redesign offering easier navigation on large touchscreen devices. But not every Android tablet owner can use the software; only seven devices are supported. Read more »
Kindle Fire owners wanting to include locations in their tweets can do so with the updated version of TweetCaster. Nearby tweets are available too, even though Amazon’s tablet doesn’t include a GPS radio. Instead the slate uses a Wi-Fi location solution from Boston-based Skyhook Wireless. Read more »
Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a crystal ball to predict the potential success for a mobile app? Unfortunately, there isn’t, but the next best thing might be here: A look at the success rate over 6 months from more than 100,000 Android apps. Read more »
Netflix customers may be moving away from mailed discs in favor of streamed content, but that doesn’t mean it should be difficult to manage Netflix discs. ScanFLX, a nifty $0.99 iOS app, can add titles to your list of DVDs or Blu-Rays by scanning them. Read more »
Over this past weekend, “The Hunger Games” set the highest opening weekend for a non-sequel, raking in an estimated $155 million at the box office. Fandango, one of the first movie ticket sales sites, says “The Hunger Games” pushed its mobile platform to new heights. Read more »
Parse is taking its “Heroku for app developers” backend-as-a-service out of beta and making it available as a freemium model. With its SDK, developers can quickly get up and running, allowing it to manage databases, user authentication, push notifications, and even file storage. Read more »
OMGPOP can thank the cloud for its acquisition by Zynga on Wednesday. The gaming startup, whose Draw Something iPhone used cloud computing and a NoSQL database to scale from zero (relatively speaking) to more than 35 million downloads in three weeks and never miss a beat. Read more »
UPDATED: Angry Birds Space is another huge hit for Rovio who said Thursday is won’t be building a version for Windows Phone, according to Peter Vesterbacka, the chief marketing officer of Rovio. Rovio, however, reversed course Friday and said they would develop a WP7 app. Read more »
Windows Phone handset owners have good reason to hit their app store today: Wunderlist, a free task management app, landed on the platform. The software, found in the Windows Marketplace, offers cloud-based task synching and the ability to email tasks directly to the app. Read more »
Five months after debuting an app for iOS, the team at Fitbit launched a version for Android smartphones and tablets. The free software works in conjunction with the Fitbit Wireless Tracker, a $99 sensor that tracks steps, flights of stairs walked, and hours of sleep. Read more »
Could a smartphone run solely on web code instead of native software? Mozilla thinks so and recently demonstrated such a device on video, replacing the Google Android operating system on a Samsung Galaxy S II phone with its Boot 2 Gecko (B2G) technology. Read more »
Quick question: How many times have you seen someone using a tablet to capture video or take pictures? The odds are likely that most will answer “never,” but with the introduction Apple’s new iPad I think that answer is about to change, for three reasons. Read more »
With each passing March Madness tournament, we’re a more mobile society. So what apps can we best leverage to enjoy all 67 NCAA games? Here are my “final four,” with links for each supported platform so you’re ready for tip-off; most are free or relatively inexpensive. Read more »
Based on metering of 5,000 smartphone phones, Nielsen said five top retailers found that smartphone users during the holidays preferred mobile retail sites 51 percent to 28 percent for native apps. The findings suggest retailers need to focused on both native apps and the mobile web. Read more »
This week on the podcast, Matt and Kevin chat about the new iPad and share which versions they bought, along with their reasons. Microsoft Windows 8 on an old netbook runs nicely, but even better if you know the correct driver tweak, shared on the show. Read more »
Sprint’s newest Android is a 3G phone that can be a mobile hotspot and uses a powerful processor. But the best spec is the price: $20 with contract. Slice is a must-have new Android app for digital shoppers, while one app maker is abandoning Android. Read more »
The latest iOS photo-sharing software has a unique twist. SpinCam not only takes 360-degree panoramic photos, but it can also take a 360-degree image of a single object. The software reminds me of the “bullet time” photo approach made famous in The Matrix movie. Read more »
One of the top apps for iOS landed on Android devices today: Slice, a free, online shopping organizer, is now available in the Google Play app store. Slice consolidates online orders, providing one place to look at your purchase history, your spending habits, and real-time package delivery tracking. Read more »
After recently capping my running streak at 425 days and buying a Bluetooth 4.0 heart monitor, I’m adding more mobile tech to my health-tracking obsession by tracking daily nutrition on my smartphone. After some research, I settled on the free MyFitnessPal app. Here’s why. Read more »
In 2012, the next big thing will be what we do with iPads in the office. Here are a few interesting iPad apps that give us new ways to gather, absorb and manipulate data necessary to get our jobs done. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The rise of the app economy and new platforms has triggered a sharp increase in startups. For the new startups, the world needs a new kind of a VC model, argues Tero Ojanpera, a former Nokia executive and the man behind a new investment fund, Vision+. Read more »
Tablets and smartphones are very personal devices, but software for them is built for the masses. What if you need a very specific app on your Android phone? You could build it yourself with the MIT App Inventor even if you have very little programming knowledge. Read more »
