Apps

All Things Appy: 5 Best Android News Apps
March 27, 2013

With the unexpected news that Google's RSS feed reader, Google Reader, is being put out to pasture, many users are scrambling to find new tools for news consumption. There are still plenty of excellent free news apps out there, and here's a look at the top five available for the Android platform. Google Currents is a pretty, magazine-like aggregator with a true offline solution that works well in airplane mode.

Google+ App Updates Focus on Photos, Tweak Text
March 26, 2013

Google has made another bid in its attempt to take on Facebook for social media supremacy with the launch of iOS and Android updates for Google+. The revamped apps have improvements in four areas -- photos, posts, profiles and communities. "Everybody wants to share whatever they're doing whenever they're doing it, and mobile is the place to be," said Andrew Eisner, director of community and content at Retrevo.

Travel Industry Grapples With Mobile App Challenges
March 26, 2013

Consumers give hotels, airlines and car rental companies high marks in customer satisfaction for the mobile experience they provide, according to the "ForeSee Mobile Satisfaction Index: Travel Edition." Online travel agencies, however -- not so much. Specifically, of the measured travel categories, hotel mobile sites and apps had an average score of 78.

Salesforce.com's New Mobile Chatter Expands the Conversation
March 22, 2013

Salesforce.com has rolled out the latest iteration of its Chatter app designed specifically for the mobile environment. "With this version, we are taking [it] to a new level, allowing users to really drill down into accounts and take many different types of actions while in the field," said Michael Peachy, senior director of solutions marketing at Salesforce.

Pie Control Pro Is a GUI Delight
March 22, 2013

The early-90s Windows 3.11 operating system offered a graphical user interface that was a breakthrough for me. It was, in fact, my first GUI. I'd been using command-line, error-prone MS-DOS for two or three years before that, and it was a delight to suddenly be able to maximize screens, switch programs, and point around with a mouse, after living with the syntactically regimented MS-DOS.

Google Keep May Not Be a Keeper
March 21, 2013

Google on Wednesday launched Google Keep, a mobile application designed to let users store notes and checklists in a way that could compete with popular productivity app Evernote. Keep allows users to tap out a note or checklist, or record a voice memo that Keep will transcribe and store.

All Things Appy: Top 5 Chrome Entertainment Apps
March 20, 2013

Here's a look at the top five must-have free entertainment apps for the Chrome Web-browser based platform. Google's Chrome Web browser features three types of add-ons -- Web apps, themes and extensions -- available at the Chrome Web Store. Crackle, owned by Sony, supplies a vast array of free movies on demand. They aren't the latest, but they are full-length and uncut, and a lot of them were blockbusters at one time.

Slices Pro for Twitter Cuts Through the Chaos
March 15, 2013

We're seeing an entire genre of Twitter clients proliferating within the Android ecosystem -- each app with its own idea about the best way to interact with the monolithic, 500 million-strong social network. OneLouder's Slices Pro for Twitter is the latest client to grab my attention -- not least because it provides a way to browse Twitter directories by category to find the best Follows.

Twitter May Rock the Music Scene
March 14, 2013

Those who eagerly await the latest tweets from Lady Gaga, Kanye West and Justin Bieber may soon have one more reason to tie their musical interests to Twitter: The social network will reportedly use a recent acquisition to set up a Twitter Music app. Technology from the music discovery company We Are Hunted, which Twitter bought last year, will reportedly serve as the app's foundation.

All Things Appy: 5 Best Firefox Add-ons for Mobile-Desktop Syncing
March 13, 2013

One of the killer features in the Firefox Web browser is its ability to sync between desktops and mobile devices. Well, you don't have to stop there. Firefox's desktop Web ecosystem includes add-ons that will let you sync open tabs across other ecosystems, like over to Chrome; keep favorite Firefox extensions synced with all your computers; sync passwords; and sync reading matter.

Automatic Link Kicks Your Car's Brain Into High Gear
March 12, 2013

A new smartphone app and plug-in device unveiled Tuesday promises to give cars some of the same tech-based features available only from certain factory models or through services like OnStar. Automatic Labs announced the Automatic Link, a combination iOS app and dongle for automotive diagnostics.

Phishers Cast Longlines to Hook More Victims
March 11, 2013

Phishing and spear phishing have long been thought to be mutually exclusive hacking tricks, but cybercrooks have found a way to combine the two in a technique called longline phishing. "The technique allows you to hit a lot of people very quickly and largely go undetected," said Dave Jevans, founder and CTO of Marble Security.

123D Creature Is an Awesome Exercise in Facing Your Monsters
March 11, 2013

When I saw Autodesk's 123D Creature, an iPad app that lets you build three-dimensional monsters, I filed it away in the back of my mind as an app to try out on a lazy Sunday afternoon. I finally tried it, and I wish I would have done so sooner -- and that's not because I'm awesome at creating creatures. I wish I would have tried it sooner because 123D Creature has revitalized my faith in humanity.

Hackers Escalate Reign of Malware Terror on Android
March 08, 2013

Android has become a mobile malware magnet, according to F-Secure. A whopping 79 percent of all mobile malware targeted the Google OS in 2012, based on a new report from the firm. That was up from 66.7 percent in 2011 and just 11.25 percent in 2010. The fourth quarter of 2012 was particularly bad, it said, with attacks on Android spiking to account for 96 percent of all mobile malware.

Pandora Tunes In Good Q4 Despite Royalty, Mobile Challenges
March 08, 2013

Pandora exceeded Wall Street expectations with its quarterly earnings report Thursday, sending the company's stock soaring. The streaming music service still faces the inherent challenges in its sector, however -- namely rising royalty costs and how to monetize a mobile presence.

Storage Analyzer: A Must-Have App That Has No Business Being Free
March 08, 2013

I've been running into major headaches with file-storage memory on my Android tablet. If you too have been having problems getting files to fit on your device, it may not be that your device's memory or SD card is full, but that phantom files are hogging resources. I'm usually -- carefully -- buying cheap gear. In the device business, that usually means limited on-board memory.

All Things Appy: Top 5 Windows 8 Tools
March 06, 2013

Forget software, applications and programs. While you're at it, forget utilities -- they're now called "tools." The future is apps, and Windows 8 is not going to be left out. Windows 8 has been designed for touch, yet many of us still use keyboards and mice. Consequently, our No. 1 spot is dedicated to a tool for translating commands.

Hackathon's Goal: A Smartphone Game That Scores Points for Cancer Research
March 02, 2013

A UK-based charity is sponsoring a weekend hackathon, but those invited won't be using their coding talents to advance any business causes. The 40 programmers, gamers, graphic designers and other specialists will spend the time designing a smartphone game that can let average users help with cancer research.

OruxMaps Lets You Go as Far as Your Mapmaking Skill Takes You
March 01, 2013

Have you ever considered becoming a cartographer? It's not as hard as you might think. I've been trying out OruxMaps, a map viewer for Android that functions two ways. One mode is online with the usual suspects like Google maps, OpenStreetMap, and so on; the second and more intriguing method is offline with maps you've created yourself. Creating your own maps, while not hard, is a project.

Exploring the New World of Travel Apps
March 01, 2013

When Richard Rygg, the co-founder of HipGeo, sailed with his family last year through the islands of French Polynesia, he used his company's app to document the experience. The result is a multimedia blog complete with a GPS track of his adventure, and a collection of dozens of geo-tagged photos of sunsets, beaches and bays.