In 2010, Qwiki captured the TechCrunch Disrupt cup, thanks to an ambitious product that sought to transform the way people consume information online. Like an interactive, multimedia version of Wikipedia, Qwiki essentially combined images, audio and video for pretty much anything you could search for on the Web into a multidimensional, narrated movies. → Read More
Impending and Realmac software, the team behind super simple to-do list Clear, has a new project in the works called Hatch. This is a marked departure from a GTD app, one that has more in common with the Tamagotchis that were once everywhere, long before the advent of the smartphone. But that’s also a fairly tired refrain at this point: many have tried their hands at virtual pets for the… → Read More
Two new patent applications published by the USPTO today describe a couple of pieces of tech that both help make mobile devices smarter, albeit in very different ways. The first is a facial recognition system that can identify people and things using vector-based “faceprints” picked up from photos, and the second is a call waiting system that can provide inbound callers with a lot more than just a… → Read More
A new report from mobile ad network Chartboost suggests that while the iPad is the best platform in terms of getting return on advertising spend for mobile game developers, the iPhone is still seen as the marquee iOS platform for mobile games, since it commands an impressive 61 percent of all gaming time spent on iOS devices. So despite lower acquisition costs on iPad, advertisers are still… → Read More
An Apple patent filing published by the USPTO on Thursday describes a task manager that goes well beyond the standard Reminders app that is now built in to iOS and Mac devices. The patent describes a smart to-do list that combines natural language processing for easy text entry, with contextual information sourced from your device to fill in all the little details that you might omit in making a… → Read More
Casio announced this week that its G-Shock watch with low-power Bluetooth 4.0 is shipping out to U.S. retailers now, after a delay of a year or more owing to a number of issues, including flooding in Thailand. As far as smart watches go, the Casio is a little barebones: it syncs with iPhone to provide alerts for inbound emails and phone calls, and also helps you find misplaced devices by… → Read More
Ever used your iOS device to imagine yourself as Lt. Nyota Uhura receiving an urgent communique from Starfleet? Then you are in luck — the second version of the official Star Trek PADD app is now available with native iPhone 5 and iPad mini support. → Read More
BlackBerrys are still wildly popular with a certain cash-strapped sub-set of mobile users in parts of Europe: namely teenagers. A wide-ranging research report looking at mobile users’ habits in France, Spain and the U.K found that BlackBerry penetration amongst teenagers in the UK and Spain was two and three times higher respectively than the overall “mobile media user” population. → Read More
The iPhone’s Calendar app is pretty good overall, and that’s something that even Fantastical creator and Flexibits co-founder Michael Simmons admitted to in an interview regarding the launch of Fantastical for iPhone today. But “pretty good” also means there’s plenty of room for improvement, and that’s where Simmons and co-founder Kent Sutherland saw opportunity. → Read More
You might be familiar with “sweding,” the concept spawned by 2008 Michel Gondry film Be Kind Rewind that involves making low-budget remakes of your favorite movies with friends. That’s a little like what Honest&Smile are doing with the creation of so-called “analog apps.” The group’s latest project is a partnership with Moleskine for a hardware photo filter and effects iPhone add-on. → Read More
AT&T definitely didn’t win any fans with its initial reaction to Apple’s decision to open up FaceTime video chat services to cellular networks. Now, though, it seems like the carrier may be making FaceTime available even to users on grandfathered unlimited data plans as the service begins to roll out live, though whether that’s an intentional move remains to be seen. → Read More
Chances are, if you ask a kid in the U.S. what they want to find under the tree (or holiday symbol of your choosing) this year, they’ll ask for an iPhone, iPod touch, iPad or iPad mini. Those devices occupied four of the top five spots on Nielsen’s annual holiday shopping study among kids aged 6 to 12, which tracks interest in consumer buying habits over the next six months. → Read More
I like gadgets, and almost out of necessity I also like bags. The Phorce, a new project hitting Kickstarter today, knows that there are many out there like me, and wants to provide a bag-based charging solution to help you keep your gadgets protected and topped off, with the added benefit of additional power management options communicated via Bluetooth to an iPhone app. → Read More
We’ve seen a few apps try to manage the ambitious feat of becoming the journal for your entire mobile life, but a new Apple patent suggests the company may be trying to build that kind of functionality right into iOS, in a way that keeps track of all your phone events, including when and where they happened. Keeping track of every action on your phone sounds creepy, but it could be very useful. → Read More
We told you about Nokia Here’s iOS launch this morning, something Nokia CEO Stephen Elop promised us last week, but now we’ve had the chance to actually put it through its paces. Here’s a short demo video of Nokia Here doing its thing, including video of how the different map views work, place detail information and the much appreciated transit directions. → Read More
Nokia has released Here, its newly rebranded mapping application, for iOS devices. The app is universal, so it works on both iPhone and iPad, and it’s free. Users of Nokia’s Windows Phone devices may find the experience familiar, as it includes similar features like nearby places discovery, but there are also crucial components like transit direction that aren’t present in Apple’s own… → Read More
Do you like power? It’s very useful for using all those electronic devices we have. But often, those devices have less power than we’d like them to, especially when we’re traveling or fighting for socket space at a coffee shop or conference. The HyperJuice 2 can provide that power, and lots of it, enough to double the life of a new Retina MacBook Pro, and charge iPads and iPhones, too. → Read More
Google is said to have distributed an external test version of its native maps app for iOS, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. Citing “a person with direct knowledge of the matter,” the WSJ says that Google is readying the app for submission to the App Store review and approval process, though there’s no clear timeline for when that will take place. → Read More
Apple has a couple new patent applications this morning, spotted by AppleInsider and detailing two very useful features for mobile devices. The first is a method for detecting and adjusting noise resulting from an iPhone vibrating in silent mode, and the second is a design for auto-zooming of content based on the proximity of a user’s face to a screen to present content at the best size for… → Read More
When I first started at TechCrunch oh so many months ago, I asked the team “Why don’t we have an iPhone app?” As an iPhone user, I find it handy to be able to read on the go the news from the publication that I work for. I was told the team was working on one. Other than being quite stoked that we had a team for this, I impatiently waited to get my hands on it. Today, it’s available on the App… → Read More
Shipping times for Apple’s iPhone 5 have improved from 3-4 weeks, to 2-3 weeks as of today. Times are now one week better for all models of iPhone, including 16 through 64GB of storage and on all carriers. The iPhone 5 expected ship times had dropped to 3-4 weeks as of Tuesday, Sept. 18, a few days after pre-orders began, and remained there until today. → Read More
Samsung has reportedly increased the price of the mobile processors it manufactures for Apple’s iOS devices by 20 percent, according to South Korean daily newspaper Chosun Ilbo, which says it received the information with someone familiar with negotiations between the two firms. Apple apparently wanted to walk away rather than accept the new terms, according to the report, but had no replacement… → Read More
As a scientist practicing actual, bona fide science, I have often found myself in need of immediate g-force readings or barometric pressure analyses for my scientific problems. Whereas before I had to use my sextant and trident and thermowhozzit, I can instead use the Node. → Read More
The U.S. Government will now be looking into solutions for provisioning iOS and Android devices in addition to those featuring RIM’s BlackBerry OS, according to a new report from Reuters. That means RIM will no longer have the exclusive contract for smartphone devices at the U.S. Defense Department, though it will remain another option. → Read More
An Apple patent application spotted Thursday by AppleInsider shows a system for detecting unusual motion via a portable gadget’s accelerometer which would sound an alarm, making said device harder to steal. The system is a simple one, without the kind of sophisticated face detection we saw in a previous application, but it could be much more effective for curbing thefts at the moment they occur. → Read More
Apple added the Nike+ FuelBand to its online store this morning, with two new colors and availability not only in the U.S., but in the U.K. and Canada, too. In addition to Apple Store shelves, the FuelBand will also be available via Nike’s online and physical retail stores in those countries in the new colors. That’s a first for Canadians. → Read More
Apple only offers its iPhone 5 in sober black or white/gray, and while I respect their minimalist design sensibilities, some people might want more color options for their smartphone companion. Well, if you’re willing to pay more than double the asking price of the unlocked 16GB iPhone 5, you can get whatever color iPhone you want, along with the ability to mix and match for freakish results. → Read More
Corning’s Gorilla Glass got famous for being the scratch-resistant front screen cover material on Apple’s iPhone. Then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs talked Corning CEO Wendell Weeks into producing production quantities of the stuff, the legend goes, and now, it’s been featured on over 1 billion devices worldwide, the company announced in its quarterly earnings release, but the news wasn’t all good. → Read More
The U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) office, part of the Department of Homeland Security, recently revealed that it will be adopting iOS devices from a variety of service providers for its 17,676 users. It’s a win for Apple in terms of landing a sizeable government client, but also a significant vote of confidence for the overall security of iOS as a mobile platform. → Read More
Startup Ad Hoc Labs, creators of temporary phone number generator app Burner, today announced a new investment round of undisclosed quantity that includes some notable Silicon Valley angels like Dave McClure’s 500 Startups, David Cohen, Kevin Slavin, Ted Rheingold and others. The money will go towards helping the company add staff, and continue expanding its mobile privacy protecting services. → Read More
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