Apps

Facebook Buying Instagram for a Cool Billion (video)

by David Novak on Wed, 2012-04-11 08:52

Facebook has agreed to buy mobile photo-sharing app Instagram for approximately $1 billion in stock and cash. It is Facebook's largest acquisition to date, and comes just weeks before its highly-anticipated IPO.

According to its registration documents, Facebook had around $3.9 billion in cash on hand as of year-end 2011.

"This is an important milestone for Facebook because it's the first time we've ever acquired a product and company with so many users," said Mark Zuckerberg, in a statement posted on his Facebook timeline. "We don't plan on doing many more of these, if any at all. But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together."

San Francisco-based Instagram had raised around $8 million in venture capital funding, from Andreessen Horowitz, Baseline Ventures, Benchmark Capital, Chris Sacca, Adam D'Angelo and Jack Dorsey.Read more

Smartphone Apps Can Help Ease Pain at the Pump

Anyone driving a motor vehicle in the United States has experienced pain at the pump lately. Luckily, help is just a click away on your smartphone thanks to some great applications designed to steer you to some serious savings.

According to the American Automobile Association, gas prices are rising at an average of two cents a day. With Americans driving three trillion annual miles in their cars, those with smartphones like the DROID 4 by Motorola or tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 are poised to save the most on the price of fuel.

You find a number of highly-rated apps for your iOS or Android device (data rates may apply for download/use). Here are a few that can help get you back on the road and give your wallet a break.

VZ Navigator: Updated every 60 seconds using 1.8 billion traffic probes offering turn-by-turn traffic directions and detours, VZ Navigator helps drivers discover the most efficient ways to get to their destinations, avoiding wasted fuel. It also shows local gas prices (including distance from current location and address) without initiating a search.

Gas Buddy: Locates gas stations near you and shows current gas prices.Read more

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Shopkick Users Miss Better Deals Online Nearly 50% of Time

A few months ago, the increasingly popular Shopkick app announced that it had recently reached 3 million active users. These millions of consumers cash in on in-store savings from the shopping rewards application by earning points, as well as unlocking special discounts redeemable at the cash register. This obviously excites anyone invested in brick-and-mortar retail, but is the app really providing a sizable advantage over online shopping?

As a site that focuses mainly on defined, immediate discounts, we were most curious about the coupon codes users can unlock while out and about. To the best of our knowledge, we could only obtain these codes by making a store a "favorite," then viewing the "faves" tab and looking for current promotions. We found that, typically, these offers were only ads indicating the store's current sales promotion. Depending on the day and the stores deemed favorites, about a third feature an in-store coupon.

The goal here is likely to make in-store shopping — and specifically, in-store buying — more appealing by offering customers an incentive to shop at the brick-and-mortar location. But we at dealnews know how frequently many of these stores offer coupons online, which makes us question if these in-store offers actually provide any additional savings.Read more

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Walgreens' Latest Offer, Plus New Shopping Apps

Walgreens' customers are no strangers to savings. And though the deals abound, shopping at this national drugstore chain just got cheaper as long as you tap into your smartphone.

Walgreens recently announced an arrangement with FourSquare -- the geo-based social media app where users update their location by "checking in" -- to offer customers a unique mobile coupon for checking in to any of their retail locations. With the largest FourSquare following of any retailer in the U.S., Walgreens' innovative program is exemplary of the increasing popularity of mobile shopping apps and the savings potential available to consumers who use them.

With over 300,000 apps introduced to the market in the last three years, there are lots of savvy-shopping and money-saving apps to flag. Read on for several top recommendations.

1. MyShopperApp
There are some great shopping-list apps out there, but this one takes the cake. MyShopper app allows you to keep tabs on spending before you actually spend by totaling the prices of each item on your list as you shop. You know the minute a product puts you over-budget, reducing the tendency for impulse buys. Read more

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Help Protect Your Child from Cyber-Bullying with the Word Bully App

by jessica on Fri, 2012-03-09 05:00

Let me ask you a question. How do you communicate the most? In today's society (especially where children are concerned) one of the most common forms of communication is via text message. Because of this, both children and adults are easy targets for, and potential victims of cyber-bullying. Here to help is Word Bully, an app from Iconosys that helps combat cyber-bullying.

It works like this: Word Bully allows a parent/guardian to customize a filter for profanity, vulgar or threatening language, and other offensive communications. This is all done with the protection of password-enabled access for the parent/guardian. If a message is sent with this type of language it is automatically sent to the parent/guardian's phone stating what was said.Read more

Android Marketplace Launches OnLive Desktop (video)

by David Novak on Wed, 2012-03-07 11:50

OnLive Desktop for the iPad launched recently. The service allows users to access a virtual Windows 7 based computer remotely so that spreadsheets and documents can be edited and flash content can be browsed online. This app for connecting to that service is now available for Android devices.

The service allows software like Word, Excel and PowerPoint to be used on the Android platform. It is free to use, although limited by way of 2GB of storage.

There are two paying options available... actually 1 at the moment as the other is coming soon. The first is $4.99/month and gives priority access to the service on what I believe is higher performance machines. The second option which isn't available yet, will cost $9.99 and will also include 50GB of storage.

OnLive Desktop offers enormous potential in cloud computing, allowing people to carry desktops around with them in their pockets and access them from any range of devices. Upgrades wouldn't need to be worried about as the provider would take care of hardware challenges. But, local networking could become an issue unless a whole PC/Server config could be set up in the cloud.Read more

Personal Data: Free Stuff Costs a Lot

"Hunted by the authorities; we work in secret. You will never find us, but victim or perpetrator; if your numbers up... we'll find you." – Harold Finch, Person of Interest, CBS, 2011

There are millions of people around the globe who are deathly afraid that "Big Brother" -- super-government capable of tracking our every move and controlling our thoughts and opinions – is slyly coming to the forefront.

Others – including the governments – are concerned that our privacy is being horribly violated.

At the same time, most of these people want to have assistance to shop online or find a store with just the product they want at the cheapest possible cost, ensure their mobile calls and text messages go through clearly, flawlessly.

Yes, you want privacy; but you also want instant service, support, help…preferably before you know you need it.

And you want it for free.

It's tough to have it both ways.Read more

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Meridian's Core Control App for iPad Now Available

by jessica on Mon, 2012-02-27 12:13

First announced in January at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show, Meridian Audio's Core Control App for iPad is now available as a free download from the Apple App Store.

The new Core Control App for iPad allows Meridian Digital Media System owners to control their Meridian system using an iPad.

Core Control App for iPad features:

Cover Browser – arrange the graphical display of your music collection by Artist, by Import Date, by Release Date, by Play Count, or to show your favorite internet radio channels. The browser allows you to visualize your entire music library – an experience reminiscent of flicking through album covers, a far superior experience to trawling through lists.
Focus – This navigation tool enables you to target how you view your collection. Focus on almost any criterion from album info, Genres, Composers and Credits, to Labels, Tags, Moods, and even forensic detail such as quality or when a track was last played. You can also recall previous saved focuses. The unique and powerful Focus feature allows you to search your collection in a way that better mirrors how we think about our music – without needing to know exactly which album, track or artist.
Swim – Accessible from any of the main display modes, Swim is a unique and intelligent function that continually and intuitively selects more tracks and adds them to your Play Queue. Swim helps you rediscover music you had forgotten and providing a truly inspiring experience.
Select and Edit mode – edit frequently-accessed album details. You can also create and edit album sets. This feature allows you to manage album Genre and Tags while you listen, and while the current album is most in mind.
Play Queue – is a dynamic list of those albums and tracks that you have chosen to play. From the Play Queue view of your Meridian Digital Media System you can manage the order in which your chosen tracks will play. Choose to re-order, remove, replay, loop or shuffle the contents of the Play Queue. You can even save a Play Queue as a Playlist, making it available to listen to again at any time.
Album Details – places the equivalent of traditional sleeve liner notes in the palm of your hand. Enjoy album artwork, see other related albums – even read online reviews. There is also track-level detail including play count, duration, and Track Pick/Skip status.
Search – provides instant access to a powerful text-based search facility covering combinations of Album, Artist, and Track detail. Perfect when you know part of the information about what it is you want to listen to.
Transport and Volume Controls – give you immediate control over what you listening to, and how you listen to it, in any zone of a Meridian Digital Media System, providing control of all Meridian Source devices.
Zone Selector – the Meridian Core Control App for iPad can control all the zones of your Digital Media System. Use the Zone Selector to choose your zone, link zones, and even transfer Play Queues between one zone and another. Start listening in the living room and take your chosen music with you as you move around the house.
Explore - browse your music collection in a more traditional, linear fashion, based on specific criteria. Choose to play either albums or individual tracks now, next, or by adding to the current Play Queue.

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Rdio Unveils New Android App

Total Redesign Delivers More of Rdio's Discovery Features and Instant Music Accessibility into One Streamlined Application

Feb. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Rdio (www.rdio.com), the digital music service started by the creators of Skype, today announced the availability of a completely redesigned Rdio for Android app, now available as a free download from Android Market or as an update for existing users.

The new app offers intuitive navigation with one-click access to features previously available on Rdio for Android, along with several new enhancements and key features including collection, playlists, new releases, top charts, recommendations, and support for Android Ice Cream Sandwich's new remote control client. Now Android users not only have easy access to Rdio's catalog of more than 12 million songs, they can also take advantage of Rdio's rich social features and extensive music discovery options.

"With the Rdio for Android redesign, we were focused on bringing Android users the best mobile music discovery application possible," said Malthe Sigurdsson, VP of Product, Rdio. "We believe this launch further reinforces our commitment to creating the most visual, social and interactive experience of music across every platform."Read more

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Iconosys Debuts Four New Alternative Fuels Apps

"Alternative Fuels" apps from Iconosys give you a GPS guide to find refueling locations along your travel routes.

February 2012 - Iconosys, Inc., a leader in mobile safety communication and life-style applications, recently announced the release of a suite of four new "Alternative Fuels" directory apps, designed to empower you and your family to do your part to fight our nation's dependence on foreign oil.

"Alternative fuels" are vehicle fuels that aren't made from petroleum. There are many kinds of fuels that vehicles can run on that are not made from petroleum. Indeed, the United States Department of Energy officially recognizes following list of alternative fuels:

Alcohols - ethanol and methanol.
Compressed natural gas (CNG) - natural gas under high pressure.
Electricity - stored in batteries.
Hydrogen - a very special type of gas.
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) - natural gas that is very, very cold.
Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) (also called propane) - hydrocarbon gases under low pressure.
Liquids made from coal - gasoline and diesel fuel that doesn't come from petroleum.
Biodiesel - a lot like diesel fuel, but made from plant oil or animal fat.

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