Category: Software and apps
Here’s a pretty interesting story from The Atlantic (no, me neither) with some revelations from Chris DeSalvo. He worked with Andy Rubin at Danger before switching to Google to work on Android. It was 2005 and Android was in the early stages, but by January 2007 and – …
The latest update to SwiftKey keyboard brings improvement to the installation process, but most importantly also brings a bit of winter cheer with a new keyboard theme. After switching over to the new “Ice” theme, you’ll be greeted by a deep blue background with snow-capped keys that drop …
My lunch break has become increasingly interesting in recent years. I meet new people and literally bump into them as I head out to grab a sandwich. It’s the “phone zombies” – those people who walk down a street staring at their phones. They put walking and avoiding …
I must admit I’m a heavy Evernote user, I use it for everything – shopping lists, I take a picture of where I park the car, and when ever I buy anything on line I always clip the receipt/order confirmation page to Evernote. An update to the Evernote app is …
There has been an update today to the BBC’s iPlayer radio app for Android which sees several enhancements. The main feature to be added is support for widgets, now you can add your favourite station straight to your homescreen and scale the widget to the size that you …
HTC is continuing to keep their promise of providing updates to their recent handsets with an over the air (OTA) update to the HTC One mini. Android 4.3 improvements are well documented; the update includes improved multi-tasking, music player improvements and an updated user interface. However, the big …
Having an infra red blaster on my phone has recently become something that I can really appreciate. The app offerings from HTC, LG and Samsung are a bit basic or they get bogged down with TV listings and the like. What I wanted was something I could fiddle …
No one realised the potential of the franchise when the original Grand Theft Auto launched way back in the depths of beyond. The top down splat them up was a great success and was swiftly followed by sequel after sequel with the latest installment becoming one of the …
It was hinted at a short while ago (here to be precise) but it is now official, Spotify users can now stream music for free on the iOS and Android apps, but not Windows Phone yet. This now brings the apps in line with the desktop version of …
Almost everyone knows of Angry Birds now and Rovio have fired out another game continuing the series. This one is a little different to the usual fling the birds at the pigs. The birds are driving cars. Check out the trailer below. The game has come to the …
One of the most popular third party launchers available for Android is Teslacoil’s Nova Launcher. The feature packed app has now seen a major update which brings it into line with Android 4.4 Kitkat after the release of the beta version a little over a month ago. Many …
The rather good and much loved Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2 has spawned the inevitable spin off merchandise and of course mobile games. Despicable Me: Minion rush is one such game, an endless runner in 3D that is already a massive hit on Android and iOS and …
Twitter for iOS got an update today. Coming in at version 6 you now get added “enhancements”. The focus of this update seems to be on direct messaging. A refreshed look and feel makes it easier to access your direct messages. Not only that, direct messages can now …
Google today released an update to the Google Books App. The update now brings additional functionality including giving you the ability to upload EPUB or PDF files to your library from your phone or tablet. The full changelog is as follows Books open more quickly and smoothly. Upload …
According to the Wall Street Journal Spotify is planning free, ad-supported listening for its iOS and Android apps. In the past, Spotify has limited mobile listening to “Premium” paying members. Free, ad-supported listening was only available on desktop and laptop computers. With the policy change, non-paying listeners will …
Federal Trade Commission stated GoldenShores Technologies took ID and location data from the millions using its Brightest Flashlight app. The developer shared the data with ad networks but did not tell users about this practice. To settle the charges, GoldenShores has agreed to give users more control over …
The new version of KitKat brings lots of smaller changes Following the first maintenance release of Android KitKat, the big news is that there are many camera fixes and enhancements for the Nexus 5, but it turns out there are also a lot of smaller changes and improvements …
Sky Go is a free app that allows you to watch the channels you pay for on the go via wifi or 3/4G, previously the only tablets it had been available for were iPads. Now Sky have released a new version of the app specifically for Android tablets …
If you like a good custom ROM on your Android device, but don’t want to bother with all those buggy nightly releases, you’ll probably be looking forward to the final stable version of CyanogenMod 10.2 (their take on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean). The final release candidate has been …
Hill Climb Racing, the rather popular Android game that has seen over 50 million installs from Google Play has found its way onto Windows Phone. The game which is published by Fingersoft sees you take control of Newton Bill in order to get your vehicle as far along …
As if playing pool in two dimensions isn’t hard enough, there is now 3D Pool. This is definitely a game that will test your mental acuity and give that redundant geometry knowledge a workout. As you can imagine from the title, the game is based around a regular …
The Moves app for Android has seen an update which has seen the addition of user accounts and the ability to connect to other apps. The accounts option will mean that data can be transferred between devices without being lost whilst the connected apps option means that data …
Are you one of those people who simply must be able to get online to read email? Or send a tweet? Is the mere thought of having no data coverage your worst nightmare? If so then the Be-Bound app, available on Android. might be just the thing. The …
” Your good camera hardware is going to get better with a future software update from Google” Google has confirmed that the rumors of RAW file support coming to Android are true, as well as native burst shot for the camera application. According to Google spokesperson Gina Scigliano, …
The perennial Android favourite Swiftkey has today seen an update to version 4.3.1 The update brings various fixes and changes, the most notable being the ability to change the location of the numeric keypad from left to right or right to left. Also fixed is the missing $ …
Read all about it, read all about it. Google Play Magazine is no more. Google Currents is no longer current. The information gathering behemoth that is Google has replaced both apps with one that has been rumoured for some time. Enter Google Play Newsstand. The app takes all …
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been writing several furious letters to those people at Sky TV about the lack of TV channels such as Eden, Alibi and Animal Planet on their mobile TV platform – Sky Go. The system lets you watch a range of channels …
Time wasting. There are plenty of apps that can be classed as time wasters, games that you can dip in and out of, a quick read of social network feeds whilst waiting for the kettle to boil and so on. One such game that can firmly be put …
Vine, the six second video service that originally launched on iOS followed by Android is finally available for Windows Phone. Windows Blog made the announcement early yesterday saying “The popularity of Vine, a mobile service for shooting and sharing six-second looping videos, is nothing short of astonishing: In barely a …
Everyone’s got a phone these days, and every third person is an expert telling you what to buy and why you’re on the wrong tariff. The vast majority of people will never have heard of CyanogenMod, and even those who have probably won’t have heard of OPPO. Why …
Sony have come under heavy fire in the past for not providing updates to its Android phones, but the release of its update schedule will come as pleasant reading to many Sony owners. Android Jelly Bean 4.3 will be rolled-out in December to the following devices: Xperia Z …
Not content with launching Firefox OS phones via Ebay in the UK and USA and via mobile networks in Spain, Colombia, Venezuela, Poland, Germany and soon Hungary and Greece Mozilla have announced today that their Android web browser will come pre-installed on the latest batch of Kobo tablets …
Swiftkey is the most popular third party keyboard replacement app for Android, and it’s easy to see why due to the uncanny predictions, swipe and standard input options, cloud sync and various themes. Now though, it’s got even more features! Fully paid up Swiftkey users will find an …
I live in the UK and, right now, it’s pretty dark. I leave for work, it’s dark. I drive home… dark. Those daylight hours are pretty short at this time of year and, as I learned today to my cost, it’s probably not wise to remind those solar-panel …
The budget baby of HTC’s One range, the One SV is receiving an over the air update to Android 4.2.2 and Sense 5 as we speak. Whilst this is still a good few iterations behind its senior counterparts, the fact that HTC are showing willing to keep supporting its …
Hot on the heals of the news from Google that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus will not be getting Android 4.4 KitKat, and less than 48 hours after the release of this latest version of Android on the Nexus 5, the clever bods over at XDA Developers have a …
The word hero is bandied around to cover anything from a footballer scoring a last minute goal to someone that helps an old lady to cross the street. Whilst some may view these people as heroes, the reality is that heroes are few and far between in today’s …
I have to admit that I am one of the few people that did not play the original Plants vs Zombies however apparently Plants vs Zombies 2 is now available on the Google Play store. The follow up to the hit game from Electronic Arts “brings the fun” …
Google released the Chromecast in the US back in July where it has been rather well received and as such it is a point of consternation that it cannot be obtained worldwide direct from Google. That however could be about to change, at least here in the UK, …
HSBC have released a brand new mobile banking app which brings the majority of their online banking features to the mobile arena. The brand new app which is available on both iOS and Android has features whereby you can: View balances and up to 90 recent transactions Make …
