Apps

Facebook rumored to step on Vine’s turf with Instagram Video

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 17, 2013

Facebook last week sent out invitations for its June 20 press event snail mail style, down to clean white envelopes. The graphics alludes the social networking giant has been working on "big ideas" and today TechCrunch chimes in to claim knowledge of the event's agenda.

What Facebook apparently has in store is a video sharing feature for the Instagram generation. Rather boldly proclaiming that "Instagram will get video on June 20", the story cites sketchy sources as asserting that the Instagram video service is much like Twitter's Vine, which focuses on short six-second videos...

Forrester: iOS is shoppers’ platform of choice

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

Owners of mobile gadgets running on Apple's iOS operating system are more likely to make purchases from their iPhone, iPod touch or iPad and use their iDevices for product research. According to research firm Forrester, iOS owners are nearly one-third, or thirty percent, more likely to make purchases using their smartphone or tablet and fifteen percent more likely to research products, compared to Android users.

Although Apple's software is overwhelmingly chosen by shoppers, 96 percent of e-businesses planned to develop mobile applications for both Android and iOS. However, while companies such as Microsoft and others encourage developers to create apps for their platform, only very large companies intend to stray from the iOS-Android duopoly...

Skype rolls out Video Messaging

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 17, 2013

Microsoft-owned Skype started testing out Video Messages in mid-February. The new feature is meant to let Skype users send short video snippets to each other up to three minutes long, even when offline. Now out of beta, Skype Video Messaging is available to everyone via a free update to Skype mobile and desktop apps across Windows, Mac, iOS, BlackBerry and Android platforms. Here's a closer look at Skype Video Messaging and how to use this new capability on your devices...

Poster app acquired by WordPress.com owner Automattic

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 17, 2013

The blogging platform space has certainly seen some consolidating recently. First, Twitter rather infamously snapped up the rival micro-blogging platform Posterous only to kill it shortly after. Seeing what's coming, Posterous founders launched their new blogging thing, Posthaven.

If you blog on the go using your iPhone or iPad, chances are you've switched from the somewhat clunky WordPress iOS app to Poster, an elegant iOS blogging client by developer Tom Witkin. In a blog post Monday, Tom confirmed he sold out Poster to Automattic, a company which happens to run WordPress.com. Here's what you should expect if your daily blogging depends on either the Poster or WordPress app...

New tweak based on Sentry’s ‘fan out app grouping’ concept coming soon

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 31, 2017

The news cycle was completely dominated by iOS 7 this week. As most of you know, Apple took the wraps off of its next generation mobile operating system on Monday during its WWDC keynote. And good or bad, people can't stop talking about it.

But that doesn't mean things have quieted down on the jailbreak front—it's just the opposite. Caughtinflux, an iOS developer and one half of the group A3Tweaks, announced this week that him and Sentry have a new jailbreak tweak in the works.

And it looks awesome...

Apple still leading apps and profits in iOS-Android horserace

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

From a distance, the horse race between Apple's iOS and Google's Android appears as if the open-source mobile operating system is a clear winner. However, a closer look reveals other levels of competition not so clearly defined.

Android unmistakably is the leader when it comes to the share of mobile devices being shipped. The inexpensive operating system is also ahead in attracting developing nations, such as India and China. But don't cry for Apple, according to mobile advertising network Flurry. The iPhone maker tops Android for app usage, as well as profits...

Microsoft releases Office 365 for iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

After months of speculation and years of waiting, Windows maker Microsoft has finally relented and released the official Office suite on iOS. But don't get your hopes up too high, it isn't what you've been looking for.

As the lengthy name suggests, 'Office Mobile for Office 365 subscribers' (seriously, Microsoft?) requires an Office 365 subscription, is iPhone-only and is more of an Office companion than a full-blown productivity application.

You can edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents on the go, though we're talking limited editing capability here. Go past the fold for the full info...

Google+ notifications will soon sync across devices

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

One of the annoyances about notifications in today's multi-platform world is the alert conundrum. We've all been there: an alert comes in, you act on it on one device and yet it doesn't clear on the other. And with apps constantly producing all sorts of notifications, managing these things across our gadgets is tricky, to put it mildly.

Matter of fact, you'd be right to argue that notifications tend to get a little out of hand, up to the point where they turn your daily computing into a nightmare.

Apple feels your pain: that's why it gave iOS 7 a new Notification Sync feature where reading a notification on your iPad automatically marks it as read on your iPhone, and vice versa, courtesy of iCloud. Google isn't standing still either: today, the search monster started rolling Google+ notification sync across the web, Android and iOS...

MTV iOS app gains second-screen features, on-demand streaming

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 13, 2013

MTV's beleaguered iOS app has received a massive update which brings it on par with entertainment apps by other major networks. The software has been rebuilt from the ground up "to bring the ultimate MTV video experience to your iPhone and iPad".

Indeed, among the new features are long overdue second-screen capabilities, free clips and on-demand streams of select MTV shows. Second-screen experience entails interactive features like Facebook chat and relevant Twiter feeds, image galleries, polls and quizzes, various backgrounders, behind-the-scenes facts, MTV charts and so forth...

Square Wallet redesigned in a major update

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 19, 2018

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey's mobile payment startup Square has been gaining serious traction, slowly but steadily. Just recently, the company released a stylish Stand accessory which turns your iPad into a full-blown cash register.

Square has also updated its Register app with kitchen tickets and a bunch of new features for restaurants and today their universal Wallet iOS app has received a face-lift and gained several new capabilities in a major 3.0 update...

Comcast demos next-gen X2 TV platform

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 12, 2013

While Apple CEO Tim Cook continues teasing the public with respect to a rumored standalone television set with the shiny Apple logo on it, market incumbents are beginning to take notice of the buzz.

Not content with sitting on the sidelines and watch Apple potentially make deeper inroads into the living room, the cable giant Comcast, the nation's top pay TV provider, today took the wraps off its next generation, cloud-enabled X1 Platform from Xfinity.

They are calling it the X2, it's coming this Fall, has a sleek new user interface, is social, can talk to you and run apps and integrates with Facebook, Instagram, Pandora, Rotten Tomatoes and more. I've included more details and a promo video after the jump...

Apple posts new video: ‘Making a difference. One app at a time.’

Cody Lee ∙ Updated August 4, 2016

Apple has posted a new, lengthy video to the iOS section of its website today. The 10-minute clip is called 'Making a difference. One app at a time.' and it highlights how folks around the globe are using apps on Apple's mobile products.

As usual, the videography in the short film is beautiful and the message is concise. Apple is showing how iOS apps help make the world a little bit better, and things a little bit easier, for people from all different walks of life. Watch it...