Australia Tech Gadget: Apps

Showing posts with label Apps. Show all posts

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Top 100 Windows Phone Apps

As Marketplace grows larger it can become increasingly difficult to find the cream of the crop, the best of the best apps.

Electric Pig has decided to save you the trouble of trawling through 65,000 apps by doing it themselves, and have come up with a list which they call the Best Windows Phone Apps of all time: Top 100.

The list contains some established favourites, such as Plants vs Zombies, but I think miss out on some pretty well known good apps, such as 4th and Mayor and Cocktail flow, amongst others.

Monday, February 20, 2012

iOS 5.1 Will Finally Bring Rich Text To Notes App [Rumor]

Apple finally brought the rich text format to its Mail app in iOS 5, but the Cupertino company is yet to introduce it to an app that I think needs it just as much: Notes. According to the screenshot above, however, it’s coming in iOS 5.1.
There are several features that have been left out of the iOS 5.1 developers betas, such as the new lock screen camera slider and Japanese support within Siri that we discovered last week. And it seems rich text formatting for the Notes app is another thing we can add to that list.
iPhone Hellas, which published the screenshot above, claims Apple’s next iOS update will finally bring bulleted lists, links, underlined text, new fonts, and font colors to the Notes app.
And there’s never been a better time, with rich text formatting part of the new Notes app for Mac that will make its debut with OS X Mountain Lion this summer.
Its migration to the Mac, as well as its new features, could suggest Apple has big plans for the Notes app. What has essentially been a very basic text editor since it made its debut on the first iPhone could turn out to become a real rival to services like Evernote in future, though admittedly there’s a long way to go just yet.
The iOS 5.1 update is expected to go public during Apple’s iPad 3 unveiling next month.
[via iMore]

Sunday, February 19, 2012

SPB Shell 3D Launcher – Android App Review

One of the best features about Android is having total control over how you customize your device. More specifically, Launchers and Skins give Android users access to tons of new user interfaces and features. In addition, a bunch of Android devices are subject to bloatware. When this happens, the average user probably is not interested in playing around with custom ROM’s or even rooting. Putting aside some of the more well known launchers, SPB Software recently release SPB Shell 3D. The app, which will cost you $14.95 in the Android Market, will bring a whole new look and feel to your Android 2.1+ device. Over 100,000 people, including us, have already downloaded the launcher. Don’t be scared off by the steep price tag, SPB Shell 3D packs dynamic folders, custom widgets and panels, sweet animations and a full 3D experience. Once you download this app, no additional skins or plugins are needed.

The second you start using the Launcher, you’ll notice that it fits your screen much better than the standard launcher by utilizing just about every pixel. Also, swiping between screens is incredibly smooth. You’ll notice that SPB Shell 3D is different than other launchers because it does not simply give you a set amount of screens to mess around with. Instead, SPB starts their users off with pre-loaded panels such as:

Home
Contacts
Travel
Calculator (A Beautiful Full-Screen Calculator)
Pictures
Deals
Weather
Communication
Notes (A Beautiful Full-Screen Notepad)
News
Moon
Time
Calendar

Out of those pre-set “panels”, you are free to add apps and widgets. Furthermore, SPB Shell 3D allows for the creation of custom panels. For example, I created my own “Music” Panel to store my variety of music applications and widgets.

As you can see in the image above, all of your panels are arranged side-by-side in an infinite circle. When you click the ovular button in the bottom of your customizable dock, the launcher zooms out so you can have a birds-eye view of all of your panels. In addition, after waiting a second or two after pushing that button, SPB Shell 3D will take you on a tour of your panels. In this tour, any folders or widgets that were created by SPB will become animated.

As previously mentioned, the app is $14.95 in the Android Market. SPB Shell 3D will completely reinvent your phones user interface. The app was just released not long ago and it has already been purchased by over 100,000 Android 2.1+ users. After having the privilege to test SPB Shell 3D, I highly recommend this application, especially to someone looking for a way around the standard Android launcher.

Check out the video below for a full walk-through and demo of SPB Shell 3D:

Friday, February 17, 2012

Apple Teaches You How To Make Your First App Store App With New Guide

Are you interested in making iPhone and iPad apps for the App Store? If you’d like to get your feet wet, or at least see what’s involved, Apple has posted a new walkthrough called “Start Developing iOS Apps Today.”

The simple guide takes you through the initial setup and teaches you about basic tools, frameworks, Apple’s design policies, and more. The goal is that you will be able to create an app from scratch and have it ready to debut in the App Store.

While not the most technical explanation of iOS development, Apple has done a great job of consolidating information into one easy destination for curious eyes. Here’s the official rundown:

Creating iOS apps is fun and rewarding, and if you’re a new developer you might be wondering where to begin. This road map provides the perfect starting point for iOS app development. On your Mac computer, you can create iOS apps that run on iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. Follow this road map to learn where to get the tools you need, understand the major concepts and best practices, and see where to find more information.
As you proceed through the road map, you will use Xcode and the iOS SDK, Apple’s tools for app development. You will learn the basics of programming with Objective-C, the language that powers all iOS apps and frameworks, and will explore the Cocoa Touch frameworks. You will create a simple iOS app and learn how to test it on a device. Finally, you will learn how to submit an app to the App Store.

The document is broken up into 13 pages. There’s only a couple paragraphs and illustrations per section, but Apple has included helpful links to more detailed resources from the iOS Developer Library, like how to write Objective-C code.

Anyone can access Apple’s new guide from this link. To actually publish an app in the App Store, you must purchase an official developer account from Apple for $99/year.

Gooroovster brings Google Music to Windows Phone

Google Music, Google’s online music locker service, allows you to access music from pretty much any device that has a web browser. But as we all know, most web apps have limitations when compared to native apps and at the moment there is no official Google Music app for Windows Phone. A developer has decided to solve the problem by creating their own Google Music app called Gooroovster.

Available now on the Windows Marketplace, it gives users a way to access the music service through a native app. All users have to do is login to their Google account and they’re good to go. In addition to browsing through music by songs, artists, and albums, support for playlists is included as well. Judging by the reviews posted on the app’s Marketplace entry, it looks like users aren’t disappointed as well.

Gooroovster is available now for $3.99 (Google Music account needed) and there is a trial version that is available for free. Head over the Windows Marketplace to download it.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Two-Tap Reminder 1.2 – now you can pin the various reminders to your start screen

The best quick-and-dirty reminder app out there! Two taps are all you need to set a simple reminder, and 3 taps to set a reminder with text on it. On top of that, with the new version, you have the ability to pin the various reminder types to the start menu so it’s even faster (this was voted on in the in-app poll!).
Features

Pin one, two or all three reminder options to the start screen for quicker access.
Set a “quick reminder” for really quick, ad-hoc reminders.
Choose from the quick-buttons if you want to be reminded 1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes etc. into the future.
Choose from a list of text options if you want to remember something specific
Record a short message to yourself if you can’t type right now
View your pending and past-due reminders.
Vote on new features you’d want to see in the product.
Free to try

What people say about the app:

Just works! Using it almost every day since installed
Developer is committed and provides updates. This alone makes the app unique and wonderful.
Ok, this thing rocks
After using it for a few weeks, I now realize how much I needed that kind of app!
I’d give it 6 stars if I could!!

Download it now.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Wants Answers From Apple On Apps Stealing Address Book Contacts

A week ago, it was discovered that the popular social networking app Path uploads users entire address books to their servers. They’ve since apologized and nuked the data. But Path’s not the only ones doing this: other high profile companies like Twitter are also doing it. And Apple’s letting them.
Not so surprisingly, Congress isn’t liking what it’s hearing about the address book security issue. In fact, House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and Commerce Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee Chair G.K. Butterfield have written Apple a letter asking some hard questions about how Apple has allowed this to happen, and “whether Apple’s iOS app developer policies and practices may fall short when it comes to protecting the information of iPhone users and their contacts.”

Here’s the letter in full:

Mr. Tim Cook
Chief Executive Officer, Apple Inc.
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
Dear Mr. Cook:
Last week, independent iOS app developer Arun Thampi blogged about his discovery that the social networking app “Path” was accessing and collecting the contents of his iPhone address book without ever having asked for his consent.[1] The information taken without his permission – or that of the individual contacts who own that information – included full names, phone numbers, and email addresses.[2] Following media coverage of Mr. Thampi’s discovery, Path’s Co-Founder and CEO Dave Morin quickly apologized, promised to delete from Path’s servers all data it had taken from its users’ address books, and announced the release of a new version of Path that would prompt users to opt in to sharing their address book contacts.[3]
This incident raises questions about whether Apple’s iOS app developer policies and practices may fall short when it comes to protecting the information of iPhone users and their contacts.
The data management section of your iOS developer website states: “iOS has a comprehensive collection of tools and frameworks for storing, accessing, and sharing data. . . . iOS apps even have access to a device’s global data such as contacts in the Address Book, and photos in the Photo Library.”[4]The app store review guidelines section states: “We review every app on the App Store based on a set of technical, content, and design criteria. This review criteria is now available to you in the App Store Review Guidelines.”[5] This same section indicates that the guidelines are available only to registered members of the iOS Developer Program.[6] However, tech blogs following the Path controversy indicate that the iOS App Guidelines require apps to get a user’s permission before “transmit[ting] data about a user”.[7]
In spite of this guidance, claims have been made that “there’s a quiet understanding among many iOS app developers that it is acceptable to send a user’s entire address book, without their permission, to remote servers and then store it for future reference. It’s common practice, and many companies likely have your address book stored in their database.”[8] One blogger claims to have conducted a survey of developers of popular iOS apps and found that 13 of 15 had a “contacts database with millions of records” – with one claiming to have a database containing “Mark Zuckerberg’s cell phone number, Larry Ellison’s home phone number and Bill Gates’ cell phone number.”[9]
The fact that the previous version of Path was able to gain approval for distribution through the Apple iTunes Store despite taking the contents of users’ address books without their permission suggests that there could be some truth to these claims. To more fully understand and assess these claims, we are requesting that you respond to the following questions:
- Please describe all iOS App Guidelines that concern criteria related to the privacy and security of data that will be accessed or transmitted by an app.
- Please describe how you determine whether an app meets those criteria.
- What data do you consider to be “data about a user” that is subject to the requirement that the app obtain the user’s consent before it is transmitted?
- To the extent not addressed in the response to question 2, please describe how you determine whether an app will transmit “data about a user” and whether the consent requirement has been met.
- How many iOS apps in the U.S. iTunes Store transmit “data about a user”?
- Do you consider the contents of the address book to be “data about a user”?
- Do you consider the contents of the address book to be data of the contact? If not, please explain why not. Please explain how you protect the privacy and security interests of that contact in his or her information.
- How many iOS apps in the U.S. iTunes Store transmit information from the address book? How many of those ask for the user’s consent before transmitting their contacts’ information?
- You have built into your devices the ability to turn off in one place the transmission of location information entirely or on an app-by-app basis. Please explain why you have not done the same for address book information.
Please provide the information requested no later than February 29, 2012. If you have any questions regarding this request, you can contact Felipe Mendoza with the Energy and Commerce Committee Staff at 202-226-3400.
Sincerely,
Henry A. Waxman, Ranking Member
G.K. Butterfield, Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade

Apple has until March 9th until they respond. My guess at this point is that by the time iOS 5.1 rolls around, Apple will require explicit user permission for an app to grab address book data. There’s no reason that shouldn’t already be the case, and this is just causing too much bad press for too many companies.

App Development By the Numbers – Android Sputters While iOS Surges

Beyond the sheer number of devices sold, one of the biggest ways to Apple and Google try to position themselves as having the top mobile platform is by comparing the number of third-party apps available for users to download. Apple usually takes the number of apps available one step further when comparing iOS to Android by pointing out how many apps take advantage of the iPad’s tablet features such as screen size.
This is one of the reasons that an active and developer community is crucial a mobile platform’s success. Although Android entered the app race after Apple had begun to establish a successful developer community, the platform began to catch up quickly. All that seems to have changed over the past year, with a new report showing iOS developers are now creating three apps for every single new Android app.
The trend was identified by Flurry, a company that helps mobile developers integrate analytics and advertising into their apps. Flurry noted that at the beginning of 2011, the rates were much closer with two new Android apps for every three iOS apps. Peter Farago, vice president of marketing at Flurry noted that the company “saw a greater migration to iOS.”
That has longterm implications for both consumers and business users of third-party apps and some of the same trends causing developers to prefer iOS could easily apply to in-house app development at enterprise companies – particularly if you look at some of the trends that Businessweek identified based on the Flurry data and developer interviews, which include:

The simpler development process and toolkit for iOS
The variety of of Android devices including non-standard Android platforms like Amazon’s Kindle Fire
The single Apple-managed App Store versus as many as 90 Android storefronts, including Google’s Android Market
The differences in purchasing culture (iOS tends to offer more paid app success compared to Android where there is an expectation for apps to be free and developers to make money by in-app sales and ads)

For businesses developing apps, two of those trends – the ease of development and the limited variation between devices – certainly make iOS a much more attractive candidate. The inherently better security of iOS is also likely to sway corporate IT departments to prefer iOS as a platform for internal apps compared to Android.
It’s also worth noting that these four trends may be part of the reason that Android developers haven’t yet embraced tablet development in the same way that iOS developers have jumped on the iPad bandwagon.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Windows 8 app name requirement for Windows Store developers

Microsoft revealed some additional details about its Windows Store certification process this week. The biggest change is that developers will have to pick a unique name for Windows 8 apps, preventing others from using an identical name to create a fake application, as we have witnessed on the Windows Phone marketplace — we countedover 70 apps using the CNN name and logo recently. The company's Windows Store will debut later this month alongside a Windows 8 Consumer Preview, and developers can opt to reserve a name for their application prior to its completion, ensuring it remains unique for its entire life in the Windows Store.

Developers will be able to submit applications under a six step process, designed to validate and test a Windows 8 Metro style app. Pre-processing (one hour) checks the necessary developer account and paperwork, followed by a number of security tests (three hours) to protect against viruses and malware. Microsoft's third and fourth steps involve technical (six hours) and content compliance (five days) where the company checks the app adheres to content and technical policies. Following a successful test, the app will then move into a release stage before it's signed and published in the Windows Store (two hours). The entire process length will vary per app but the average certification time, based on Microsoft's example, is around six days.

Microsoft uses a similar system for Windows Phone apps, but the company does not support unique app names. Microsoft decided to change this for Windows 8 apps so that consumers can find apps reliably, admitting that the company "needed to ensure that all apps had a unique name." Details are light on the app name reservation system, but we certainly hope this won't lead to squatters holding back fellow developers.

Apple Flips Kill Switch On Non-iPhone 4S Siri Users

Jailbreakers have the ability to run a homegrown version of Siri on unsupported iOS devices, and it appears that Apple doesn’t like it. According to mixed reports, a large amount of unsupported Siri users are now unable to use Siri. Has Apple stepped up its game, or is this merely a routine update to the spunky digital assistant?
iDownloadBlog says that Apple has added a ”SetActivationToken” requirement for Siri to function properly. According to the report, Siri server users on Twitter are claiming that deleting the com.apple.assistant.plist file located in the jaibroken iOS device’s var/mobile/Library/Preferences/ folder fixes the issue.

Because the problem can be fixed so easy, it’s unclear as to whether this is a direct attack by Apple on non-4S Siri users. It could be a coincidence that this new token blocks unsupported access. To get Siri up and running on a non-4S device, jailbreakers must install Spire and set up their own SiriProxy server. The process isn’t for the faint of heart, and the number of unofficial Siri users can’t be too high. We’re hoping that Apple has bigger fish to fry, and that this added Siri token is something for the iPad 3.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Digital Whiteboard App DoodleDesk Would Work Better On Touch-Screen Macs, If We Had Them

DoodleDesk ($5.99) turns your Mac’s desktop into a digital whiteboard you can write on and attach sticky notes to.

It’s very simple, but suffers a fundamental flaw: while apps like this work wonderfully on an iPad, where you can use your finger to draw directly on screen, they really don’t work so well using a Trackpad or mouse.
My efforts to write on DoodleDesk with my MacBook Pro’s Trackpad produced awkward, clumsy lettering. Each letter required a great deal of careful finger manoeuvring, which in turn made writing a whole sentence rather painful.
DoodleDesk does have one other feature – little sticky notes, just like the ones you’d use on a real whiteboard. Also just like the ones that come with OS X, in the form of the Stickies app.
I can see what DoodleDesk is trying to offer here. It’s deliberately been kept as simple as possible, so that it’s incredibly easy to use. There’s no user manual required. There are just three pen colors for writing, and just one sticky note (you can’t change the note color). You can save your entire whiteboard (stickies and all) as a file, and start a new one. Lots of thought has gone into making it simple.
If anything, I think its biggest problem is that it’s ahead of its time: if and when Apple releases those touch-screen Macs that some people keep spreading rumors about, DoodleDesk might suddenly come into its own as the ultimate simple note pad for busy Mac users. But for now, it’s a frustrating experience.
DoodleDesk for iPad, though? I think that would be great.
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

BlackBerry Messenger updated to v6.1.0.68 in BlackBerry Beta Zone

BlackBerry Messenger 6.1.0.49 has already been released to the masses through BlackBerry App World, however those who have a BlackBerry Beta Zone account can update to version 6.1.0.68. This update is of a hotfix to address a few issues that users have been encountering. The two main issues this update fixes are:

You couldn't open locations in BlackBerry Maps that you sent or received
The Group Updates section didn't show a red star on new items

The beta program for BBM 6.1 is still ongoing so if you do encounter any issues be sure to report them via BlackBerry Beta Zone. If you haven't already signed up to Beta Zone, sign up today at www.blackberry.com/beta.
More information / Download BBM 6.1.0.68

How to stop apps like Path from stealing your contacts

Path caused quite a stir last week when it was discovered that the app secretly transmitted users’ entire contact lists to its servers. Without giving users the option to approve the transfer or even giving an indication that this data was being sent, Path was basically stealing personal data. The company’s CEO would later apologize and a recent update makes the process more transparent, but the damage has been done and the company’s image is tarnished. Apple is known for having strict guidelines by which iOS apps are judged before being allowed in the App Store, but apparently the theft of user data falls within those guidelines. Luckily for iPhone users, one developer decided to take matters into his own hands. Read on for more.
IOS developer Ryan Petrich has created a simple utility called ContactPrivacy that has just one function: notify users when an app is about to upload contacts to its servers. Path, of course, is just one of a number of apps that takes possession of your contact list following installation, and Petrich’s utility makes the process transparent when Apple and developers do not.
In the event an app installed on an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch attempts to upload a user’s contact list, ContactPrivacy will block the transfer and pop up a warning. Users will then have the option to allow the app to transmit their contacts, or they can opt to block the transfer.
While ContactPrivacy is completely free to users, there is of course a catch. In order to be effective, this tweak must make use of OS functions that are off limits according to Apple’s developer guidelines — yes, developers can steal your private data but they can’t warn you when an app is about to do so. As a result, ContactPrivacy is only available to users who first jailbreak their devices. Thanks to the combined efforts of the iPhone Dev Team, the Chronic Dev Team and pod2g, every iOS device can now be jailbroken very easily.
ContactPrivacy is available for free and can be found by searching the name of the app in Cydia once a device has been jailbroken.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Valentine’s Day app guide, iOS Apps To Make You The Perfect Catch This Valentine’s Day

Still struggling to think of things to do this Valentine’s Day? Maybe you haven’t even got a date yet. But don’t worry, our app guide is here to help. We’ve compiled a list of great iOS apps that will make you the perfect valentine on February 14. They’ll help you find a date, book a table for dinner, buy movie tickets, and even send flowers. All you’ll need is your iPhone.

PlentyOfFish

The first thing you need for Valentine’s Day — if you haven’t already got one — is a valentine. And you can use the free PlentyOfFish app for the iPhone to help you find one. The service boasts over 145 million monthly visitors making it the world’s largest online dating site. And unlike other services, PlentyOfFish won’t charge you to contact other members.
The app allows you to see who’s online, who’s looking for love in your area, who’s been looking at your profile, and who’s the perfect match for you. With over 40,000 new users every day, you’re bound to find a valentine with PlentyOfFish.

Flixster and Netflix

Now that you’ve got your valentine, you need to arrange a date. These three applications will help you find a movie at your local cinema, or on your television if you fancy staying in. I’m sure you’re already quite familiar with both of these apps, but here’s a brief description just in case.
Flixster (Free)

Flixster allows you to preview movies that are currently showing and find out what’s hot at the box office. You can also check out what’s new on Blu-ray and DVD, and browse a catalog of over 50,000 films. Once you find one you and your valentine like the look of, you can watch high-quality trailers and read review from Rotten Tomatoes.
Now that you’ve chosen the film you want to see, you can use Flixster to look up showtimes at cinemas near you, and to purchase tickets from movietickets.com. The app will also provide a handy map to show you how to get there.
Netflix ($7.99/month with a free trial)

If you don’t fancy venturing out into the cold, why not cuddle up on the couch and watch a film at home? With Netflix, you can stream thousands of movies to your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, and other internet-connected devices like your Mac, Apple TV, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Netflix costs $7.99 per month for a subscription, but if you haven’t used the service before, you can get a free trial.

Yelp and AllRecipes.com

So the movie’s finished and — assuming all is going well — you and your valentine will want to grab a bite to eat. Yelp will help you find fancy restaurants nearby, while AllRecipes.com will help you find the perfect dish to cook at home.
Yelp (Free)

Yelp is a terrific search tool that helps you find nearby bars, restaurants, cafes and more. You can search by neighborhood, distance, price, and “what’s open now” to find a joint nearby, then read thousand of reviews to ensure it’s perfect for your valentine. Once you’ve found that place, you can use the OpenTable service to make a reservation from directly within the Yelp app, and then get directions to the door.
AllRecipes.com (Free)

If you’re staying in on Valentine’s Day, you can use the AllRecipes.com app to find a great dish from thousands of top-rated recipes. Choose dish type, ingredients, and cooking times to find a meal that suits you both, including appetizers, mains, side dishes, desserts, and even drinks. Or if you’re feeling adventurous, shake your iPhone to view a random selection of recipes.
One you’ve found your dish, AllRecipes.com will tell you what you need and how to cook it.

1800Flowers and Amazon

If you want to give your valentine a little more than just a movie and dinner, how about a bouquet of flowers of a gift? 1800Flowers and Amazon will be able to help you with that.
1800Flowers (Free)

With the 1800Flowers app installed on your iPhone, you can send your valentine something special on February 14, and this app makes it incredibly simple. Choose a stunning bouquet from a selection of best-selling flowers, and use the streamlined checkout service to make your purchase quick and simple.
Amazon (Free)

If you’ve been together a while and a bouquet alone just won’t cut it, you can use the free Amazon app to buy your valentine a gift. With so many products in so many different categories, it’s impossible not to find something — no matter what they’re in to. And it couldn’t be easier to shop with the Amazon app on your iPhone.
View product images, ratings, and reviews; compare prices; create wish lists; find products by scanning barcodes with your iPhone; and most importantly, get your gift wrapped before it’s dispatched.

Good luck!

So that concludes our app guide. With these apps installed on your iPhone, you should have no problems impressing your date this Valentine’s Day. We’ve covered everything from finding someone special to showering them with gifts. And if you have any tips of your own, be sure to leave them in the comments.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

digital Valentine with Lovestagram Create Your Valentine Post With Lovestagram

Love for programming or programming for love? This is what Kaitlyn Trigger has done for her partner. Kaitlyn is the girlfriend of Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger.

By her imagination and compassion, she was able to make the Lovestagram – an online Valentine creator that uses one’s Instagram photos. She taught herself how to code and she familiarized herself to Python (an extensible programming language), Django (a web framework for clean and pragmatic designs), Jinja (a modern templating language for Phyton), HTML, CSS, jQuery, and Photoshop for the sake of this project.

Even though she has never taken a computer class, she was able to create an electronic-Valentine due to her determination of giving Mike another memorable Valentine season. Lovestagram is now available to all the Instagram users. With this, Lovestagram, provides a nice and less expensive way of showing your thoughtfulness to others . All you need to have is an account on Instagram and follow the procedures indicated.

Via- Venture Beat

Friday, February 10, 2012

Instagram Gets Revamped With A Fresh Interface And New Features

Instagram has been updated to version 2.1 in the App Store. The update brings several improvements, including a revamped interface. More photo editing features have been added, like the “Lux” editing tool and the new “Sierra” filter.
Here’s how the guys at Instagram explain Lux:

We’ve given you a new way to instantly transform the look and feel of your photos. In just one tap, Lux works its magic by making your photos more vibrant and bringing out details you couldn’t see before. Use it with a filter or without.

Camera+ users will be reminded of the “Clarity” tool that instantly enhances your photos. Lux can be applied to any photo by simply tapping the new sunlight icon under the list of available filters.

The Sierra filter has also been added to Instagram’s arsenal. Push notifications will finally take you directly to a specific photo from Notification Center. The design refresh is fantastic, and the capture button has finally been resized to align with the rest of the bottom menu.

Overall, version 2.1 is a fantastic update to a great app. Download the latest version of Instagram for free in the App Store.

Windows Phone App Review: Call the World

Here's a short take on a simple Windows Phone app that will help you with international dialing. Call the World is a dialing app that will add the country dialing codes when you make calls or texts while traveling abroad.
Call the World is laid out fairly simple. You have a drop down menu to choose the country you are calling and the "+" extension is displayed in front of the dialing field. Call the World currently supports (automatically inserts the code) France, Germany, Spain, U.S. and the U.K. One would hope that more country codes will be added with future updates but in the meantime you can manually add the codes in the prefix field that aren't covered automatically.

You can enter the phone number manually or tap the "Look Up" button to select the number from your contacts. At the bottom of the screen are two buttons to toggle between using the app for phone calls and sending text messages.
It's a simple Windows Phone app that could come in handy for quickly adding country codes. The alternative is to manually add the codes in your contacts when you travel. Call the World is a free app that you can grab here at the Windows Phone Marketplace.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Amazing Weather 2.0, a unique WP7 App

The last time you saw Amazing Weather, it was simply gorgeous, but with 2.0 update things have changed dramatically! There are now tons of detailed weather information from the current conditions page to the hourly and daily pages, new radar and satellite images as well as the much asked for, GPS support and Personal Weather Stations.
Amazing weather 2.0 comes with the best of the two worlds: simplicity and full blown details.
From the moment you open Amazing Weather you will be mesmerized by the astonishing animations that will let you feel everything from the tiniest rain drop to the strike of lightening.

Here are some user reactions on the new version:

“Wow, what a difference an update makes!“
“Best weather app I’ve ever seen, and the latest update has made it better still. Looks awesome, and still manages to provide a lot of detailed information.“

Awesome features:

Astonishing animations based on current conditions, and daily forecast.
Detailed current conditions data.
Sunrise and Sunset times.
Live tiles with updated weather conditions.
Seven days quick view weather forecast.
Detailed text and daily forecast.
Radar, infrared and satellite imagery.
Access to nearby Personal weather stations using GPS location.
Access to nearest station using GPS location.
Pinch out for detailed hour by hour weather conditions.
Flexible update intervals changed from settings.

Changes in V2.0.4:

NEW: Detailed current conditions data.
NEW: Sunrise and Sunset times.
NEW: Detailed daily forecast.
NEW: Text forecast.
NEW: Radar, infrared and satellite imagery.
NEW: Personal weather stations.
NEW: GPS for nearest weather station.
NEW: Quick tutorial.
Refined interface for easier navigation.
Enriched displayed conditions in the now and hourly sections.
Various bug fixes.

App Price: 1.99$ USD.
Trial: Yes 12 hours, limited to one city at a time.

Marketplace: http://goo.gl/9vPlO

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Guide: How to download and install apps on the Nokia Lumia 710

This tutorial will explain how to add new app content to your Lumia 710
Your Nokia Lumia 710 can download and install a number of apps and games, as well as music tracks, via the Windows Phone Martketplace. This guide will show you how to access and add new content to your phone.

From the homescreen tap the ‘Marketplace’ tile. Here you can browse through the various categories, including applications, games and music. You can also view recommended or top rated apps and content.
Alternatively, you can conduct a search using the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the screen.
When you find the app you want to install, tap on it and you can view reviews, screenshots and descriptions for that app.

Free applications can be downloaded straight away by tapping the ‘Install’ button. You will be prompted to confirm that you want to install.
Paid apps will have two options. You can press ‘Try’ to download a free trial with limited functionality. Or you can press ‘Buy’ to buy the app there and then. If you press ‘Buy’ you’ll be prompted twice and will have to go through a payment process. Follow the onscreen instructions.

Once complete the app will be installed onto your phone.
Depending on the size of the app this could take some time. You should be able to see a progress indicator to show the app installing

Monday, February 6, 2012

Reason Why Only The iPhone 4S Has Siri

When you ask most iPhone 4 owners why they didn’t get Siri in a software update for their devices when the almost-identical iPhone 4S came out, the common answer is extremely cynical: Siri is the arbitrary, software-only feature that Apple decided to limit to the iPhone 4S simply to differentiate it from the iPhone 4 in marketing,
The truth? Apple may not be as cynical as all that. In fact, according to a new report from a chips analyst, it all comes down to special noise-reduction circuitry unique to the iPhone 4S’s A5 chip.

CNet reports:

Apple’s A5 processor includes noise-reduction circuitry licensed from a start-up called Audience, and a chip analyst believes that fact resolves an iPhone 4S mystery and explains why the iPhone 4 lacks the Siri voice-control system.
Audience revealed details of its Apple partnership in January, when it filed paperwork for an initial public offering (IPO) of stock. Teardown work from iFixit and Chipworks revealed a dedicated Audience chip in the iPhone 4, but the iPhone 4S integrates Audience’s “EarSmart” technology directly into the A5 processor, the company’s S-1 filing said.

While the iPhone 4 does have noise-reduction circuitry, it only works when you place the iPhone to your ear. The EarSmart tech built into the A5 processor can handle what is called “fair-field speech:” in other words, it filters out noise a few feet away.
Obviously, at the end of the day, the iPhone 4 is still technically capable of running Siri. Look no further than the Cydia-only ports of Siri (like Spire) that run just fine on older hardware. The point, however, is that only the iPhone 4S’s noise-reduction technology met Cupertino’s exacting standards, while hackers will take what they can get.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

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Sunday, February 12, 2012

PlentyOfFish

Flixster and Netflix

Yelp and AllRecipes.com

1800Flowers and Amazon

Good luck!

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