It's the end of summer and a holiday weekend, and apparently all the app makers are on vacation. As a result, we've only got a small haul of new apps this week. But maybe they're enough to help distract you from the annoying guests at your Labor Day cookout.
Last Friday, Adidas introduced a new app called #miZXFLUX. A novel little iOS and Android app that lets you create custom shoes from your own photography. Finally, I can give all my friends the perfect pair of kicks with my beautiful face all over them.
The latest versions of Android include a handy feature that you might not know about: the option to display your contact information on the lockscreen, which can be used if you misplace your phone or tablet. You can access the feature from the Settings app by tapping Security and then Owner info. Tick the box and compose your on-screen message accordingly.
So we know that Twitch's online broadcasts trump those of WWE and traditional sports, but how does it stack up against cable networks like CNN? According to the New York Times, the game-streaming giant's peak viewership numbers have surpassed the...
If you're an email fiend, you already know the value of filters -- you can easily color code and label incoming emails with a few simple rules so that your inbox isn't a cluttered mess. Unfortunately, however, if you're a Gmail user, you were only...![Expand Your Android, Make a Robot Clean Your House, SodaStream [Deals]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_u6bLLzZMJmmO6EVc9saeO-13jfr4jRkpxhaJ9Lf35pmuOii-_5ObDKiOkuDS0v3lwNY41DyA=s0-d)
If you've ever wanted an easier way to move data on and off your Android phone, this 16GB flash drive includes a Micro USB plug and free file management software. If you're going on vacation and plan to take a lot of photos with your phone, this would be a great option for backing them up. [Sony 16GB MicroVault USB Flash Drive for Smartphones, $11]
Relations between Google and Samsung are already a little tense, but the Korean smartphone maker may just have elevated those frustrations a little further. Extending its existing deal to provide mapping data on Samsung's Tizen wearables, Nokia (the...
Just in time for the start of a new NFL season, ESPN has updated its SportsCenter application on iOS and Android. The main highlight here is the addition of an On-Air feature, which allows users to get access to broadcasts of live events, like games...
OneDrive, Microsoft's cloud storage service formerly known as SkyDrive, just got updated across several platforms. Most significant, perhaps, is its Android app refresh that adds OneDrive for Business integration, so you can easily access both...
Late last night, LG released the first images of its second Android Wear smartwatch, the G Watch R. Coming mere months after the introduction of the rectangular and uninspiring G Watch, this new wearable is much more smartly designed and — LG makes a big point of this — uses the full circle of its round display. Motorola's Moto 360 had many of us swooning when it debuted alongside the original G Watch, but one of its intrinsic failures remains a small sliver of disused screen space at the...
Envious of Android's stream-wrangling AllCast app, but not ready to switch mobile platforms? You're in luck: the app's creator just teased the iOS version of the app on his Google+ page. A pair of screenshots (featured above) shows the...
LG's G Watch was one of the first Android Wear devices to hit the market, but it didn't quite capture the fancy of the buying public the way the beautiful, round Moto 360 did. So LG went back to work, and came up with a beautiful, round smartwatch of its own. Meet the G Watch R.
The G Watch R's key feature is its display, a 1.3-inch Plastic OLED panel that takes up 100 percent of the watch's round face. LG promises that it's viewable in sunlight and clear from any angle, and the plastic...
Not one to wait around for trade shows to officially begin before flaunting its new products to the world, LG is no longer teasing the G Watch R, its upcoming circular Android Wear smartwatch -- it's showing it off in all its glory. And just as the...
Around a year ago, Apple announced the iPhone 5S, the first and so far only phone to run on a 64-bit processor. Now, as noted by AnandTech , HTC has announced the first Android phone to make use of the same ARMv8 technology that Apple's A7 chip employs. Unlike the iPhone 5S, though, HTC's Desire 510 is a pretty budget-conscious affair; aside from the 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 401 processor, it features a 4.7-inch 854 x 480 screen, a five-megapixel camera, and 1GB of RAM.
The primary advantage of 64-bit processing is the ability to address more than 4GB of RAM, so the Desire 510 isn't going to set any power records. Android itself doesn't even support 64-bit yet, so unless this phone gets updated from 4.4 KitKat to the new...
The stock Android faithful have been peering at the same UI inside its News and Weather app for quite some time, but today there's a welcome update. Folks carrying the unskinned version of Google's OS are now privy to Now's card-based organization...
Spotify has offered free, ad-supported streaming to Android and iOS for months, leaving Windows Phone users what they'd done wrong to be so roundly ignored. Today, it seems, Spotify has finally remembered that they exist, and has announced that both...
If you've been trying to look up your forecast on the National Weather Service's website this afternoon, you may have noticed that the forecasts are days out of date or not loading at all. Apparently, this is the result of a single "abusive" Android app overloading the agency's servers.
It's official: after plenty of rumors about both Google and Amazon buying massively popular video streaming service Twitch, Amazon announced it as official this afternoon. The acquisition will cost Amazon $970 million, though it's yet to go through...
Fans of mobile operating systems not called "Android" or 'iOS" might be sad to hear what Huawei's head honcho just told the Wall Street Journal. In an interview, Richard Yu spoke about the company's plans regarding Tizen, Windows Phone and a...
The Chinese computing market looks much like most of the world. Windows rules desktops. Android rules smartphones. Now, the Chinese government wants to challenge both giants by putting its own homegrown operating system on everything.
Of the three Android Wear smartwatches introduced at Google's developer conference in June, the Moto 360 was by far the crowd favorite; its circular watchface gives it a classic, elegant look, and a stark contrast to the squarish Samsung Gear Live...
Y'all must've been good little smartphone users, because Appaclaus brought a giant bag of new Android, iOS, and Windows Phone apps for you this week. Why is there an app-focused Santa, and why does he visit randomly in the middle of August? Nobody knows. Quit asking and start downloading!
Between your home and corporate networks, from MiFis to Open Access Points and everything in between, keeping track of which network your mobile device is using and managing access to all these connectivity options is getting really tough these days. It doesn't have to be.
Is that Costa Coffee Club rewards card weighing down your wallet and generally just giving you the hump? Well, slice it up and chuck it in the bin, because now there's an app for that. With Costa's new Coffee Club app (new to Android, anyway, and...
Now that everyone from Google to Amazon is getting into the Android gaming set-top box business, Ouya is going to have to get creative. It's already announced plans for "Ouya Everywhere" to extend its sizable library of 900+ TV and game...ESPN is bringing all the sports to your wrist with a new Pebble smartwatch app. Pair your Android or iPhone, pick your pro or college teams, and your Pebble will vibrate whenever the score changes in any of the games you're tracking. No way that'll get annoying during playoffs. Nope. [Variety via Techmeme]
There's mounting evidence that HP, once the leading PC maker, does not know what it's doing. After announcing plans to cut up to 5 percent of its work force, the company is basically throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks. Recent...
Tesla's Model S is so technologically advanced, it gets software updates the way your old fashioned car gets oil changes. And rumor has it the newest update will let iPhone-using Tesla owners forget their car keys forever: The car will soon recognize the owner's phone to start the car.
Skype just announced a great new feature that should be part of every single app, plugin, or digital service you use: When you're actively Skyping, the app's notifications will only go to the device you're currently using. Why didn't this kind of setup become a universal standard, like, five years ago?
In typical Twitter fashion, Vine success has largely been attributed to its simplicity and spontaneity. And in typical Twitter fashion, Vine is also evolving in exciting ways. Namely, Vine now lets you turn old videos from your camera roll into six-second snippets of goodness. This is great news!
You may think that the Play Store is a fine place to get Android apps, but Verizon apparently isn't very happy with Google's dominance -- it wants carriers to have some control. Sources for The Information claim that Verizon is in early talks with...
If you think people look dumb taking pictures with a tablet, or a selfie with one of those extendable poles, you haven't seen someone make a Google Photo Sphere. The process involves going around in a full circle with your phone, then up and down. People might think you're looking for reception, but the result is a very pretty 360 degree view of whatever's around you that can be attached to Google Maps locations or shared with friends. That feature's been a part of Android since version 4.2, but iOS users have been left in the dark. Google's changed that today with a new app called Photo Sphere Camera that lets you make and share your own Photo Spheres.
Google's all-encompassing Photo Spheres are no longer limited to Android users and those comfy with photo stitching software -- the internet giant has just released a Photo Sphere Camera app for the iPhone-toting crowd. As before, it lets you create...
Back in April, Mailbox promised it would be bring a beta version of its popular mobile email client to Mac. Today, it delivered on that promise. Users who've signed up for the public beta as well as select Mailbox users will be given access to the beta in a rollout process. The team hasn't announced any firm date when the final version will be released.
Since making its debut on Android a little over a year ago, Photo Sphere has been one of those "Hey, look what my phone can do!" things that Android users have lorded over their non-Android friends. Today, though, Google is opening the doors to iPhone users with the Photo Sphere Camera app of iOS. This is good news for those of us who love looking at these awesome images.
Microsoft's OneNote has long been available for Android (among many other platforms), but this latest update makes it easier to use specifically on tablets. The note-taking app now comes with handwriting support that takes advantage of the devices'...
In case you've wondered what a flagship Android phone would look like if it ran Windows Phone, it looks like you'll get your chance to find out. This morning, HTC officially announced that the One M8 is getting a twin brother, complete with...
If you've been wondering just what parts let Google's Project Tango tablet work its 3D mapping magic, iFixit is more than happy to show you. The DIY repair outlet has torn down the experimental Android slate to reveal a truly unique sensor array....
If we're honest, it's reasonable to assume that ASUS will announce a smartwatch on September 3rd. After all, if the rumors saying that the company's working on an Android Wear device aren't enough, then the pretty obvious teaser image should be....
The term "big" seems like a bit of an understatement when it comes to the Big Tab HD, a new lineup of tablets that are no smaller than 20 inches. Produced by Fuhu, these massive slates are essentially a larger version of the company's DreamTab...
Looks like you won't have to wait for Mozilla's streaming dongle to stream from Firefox: the browser's nightly Android build now supports Chromecast natively. Mozilla's Lucas Rocha casually mentioned the new feature on his Google+ page and, sure...
HTC has its metallic-hewn, well-received One smartphone series. Oh, and its cheaper Desire collection, which has also hit a creative groove of late. But then there's the company's Butterfly phones: high-spec Android devices that rarely make it out of...
Sisyphus is a tragic figure of ancient Greek myth, cursed to forever be pushing a boulder up a mountain only to see it return to the bottom every night. The futility and absurdity of his daily pursuit is something most gadget enthusiasts can relate to, having been conditioned to always desire the next great thing — which, by definition, remains perpetually out of grasp. Perhaps I'm overthinking this video of a tortoise chasing a blue remote control truck, but I can't help but see the Moto 360, the iPhone 6, and the next generation of Android phones embodied in that truck. What we want is permanently on the horizon, teasingly out of reach, no matter how hard we thrust our inadequate little tortoise legs in its pursuit.
Android Police reports that Google's forthcoming subscription version of YouTube will be called YouTube music key. And even if there are tons of streaming music services out there, this YouTube offering sounds like it could be different in some exciting ways.
Never heard of a Sharp smartphone? It's not surprising since the company, known best for its televisions, has never brought a handset to the U.S. But today Sharp announced two new virtually bezel-less smartphones under the "Aquos Crystal" banner and one will be making its way across the Pacific.
AllCast has let almost any Android device send photos and videos to the Chrome desktop browser for a while, but mirroring your screen has been a pain; if you didn't have a Nexus 5, you were out of luck. That clever feature is about to get a lot more...
What can only be described as the "end of days" for angsty teens eager to escape the yoke of overbearing parents, a new $2 Android app called Ignore No More turns any misbehaving miscreants' smartphone into a really, really dumb phone. In fact once locked, it can only do two things—call 911 or call mom.
Sony may have given up on its Xperia Play, but Chinese gaming companies 78point and Much think there's still a demand for Android phones with built-in gaming buttons and joysticks. Funnily enough, both brands ended up sourcing their hardware from the...
You've probably been checking your smartphone for bad news all week. And it's been there, faithfully obeying. Take a break, and reward that little glowing rectangle with these, our favorite new apps this week.
Most of us can trace back the recent history of smartphones through a plethora of Androids, iPhones, and Blackberrys. Maybe you recall a nascent phone-PDA hybrid from Palm or Kyocera. But I bet you don't remember the IBM Simon, the world's first smartphone, which hit the streets 20 years ago today.
