Mobile Archives - Page 13 of 15

StartUp Watch: USTVnow

With all the recent backlash against major Cable providers and a push to “Cutting The Cord” USTV Now is hoping to assist in that process. As recent StartUp, not much press has been given to the company but as you read more into what they provide, the more you can’t wait to use it. However, there may be a catch, Is it legal?

You can sign up for a free trial of 2 weeks, but after that, the service costs $19 / month for the first three months ($29 / month if you want DVR services included). You can also purchase 1 day – week long plans.

Google Play Is The Wrong Step In The Right Direction [OPINION]

With Google finally having launched all three of its additional components to the Android Market, it’s understandable that they wanted a streamlined interface for users to understand what they were purchasing and that they were purchasing it from the same vendor. Google Books, Google Videos, and Google Music had all been slightly separate until now. They were still obviously tied together through Android, but it wasn’t fully understood to the average consumer that Google is offering all of the media needed to more than just their Android phone. PC’s, tablets, and of course, any phones running Android all have access to what is now called Google Play, and I am happy to see Google doing something about that.

What I am not happy about however, is the name and idea of Google “Play”. It’s not just that I don’t particularly like the name “Play”, no, it’s deeper than that from a consumer standpoint. If Google is trying to brand Android into people’s minds with “Android Market” just the way Apple has done with “Now Available in the App Store”, then they took the right step. I’m just not 100% sure they took a step in quite the right direction.

More after the break

Yes, Google needed to streamline all of its content. There’s no doubt about that. It’s how they do that though, and the branding that they use, that will ultimately affect user’s thoughts on Android. Google is trying to get people to understand that their content isn’t delivered just through Android. No one who hears “Android Market” will assume that the content provided by such a service is also available on things that don’t run Android, such as PC’s and Google TV. With “Play” though, Google has taken that thought out of user’s minds and instead replaces it with one massive, combined content provider for everything a user needs. The only problem with this idea, is they decided to call it “Play”. When a user sees “Now Available in the App Store” they know iOS, but “Google Play” doesn’t really send an Android message at all, in fact, other competing products have similar names such as the RIM’s Playbook and Sony’s Playstation products. This is obviously going to confuse some people, and Google is trying to get away from “confusing” in Android, especially with the recent release of Ice Cream Sandwich.

Sure, Google Play will be fine. There are too many Android users who will immediately grasp the concept and easily make the switch to “Play” branded product names. However, they have sort of shot themselves in the foot when it comes to trying not to confuse new users. The Android ecosystem is pretty well known, but nothing Google has ever done has been remotely tied to “Play”. This isn’t to say it will not be a great service, though. Google accomplished what they needed to accomplish, and I’m glad to see that. I’m just not completely sold that “Google Play” was the way to go.

New Revelations Of Naveen Selvadurai Separation From Foursquare

On Sunday we reported Naveen Seladurai one of the co-founders of Foursquare had left the company. We believed the statements made by both Foursquare and Naveen in their respective blogs. However, Business Insider is telling a different story how things went down and the new story is quite different than what was told to the public at first. Originally, we were led to believe he left under his own will as he wrote,

More after the break… Read More…

Newest iPad release date confirmed by Apple employee

And the camping has started, not really but 9to5Mac has been told by an Apple employee that the newest iPad “would” be launched on 16 March. It could either go by iPad3 or iPad HD which the rumors are pointing to. Seeing how it could have a retina display where as the “older” iPads lacked, Apple would need a way to differentiate between them as this would be the best way in doing so.

More after the break… Read More…

YouTube remotely accesses the camera on your tablet or phone

According to a “security expert” YouTube can remotely access the camera on your tablet or phone reports Read Write Web via The London Times (paywall). The reason I even paid attention to this was the fact that it was found at the bottom of the article and was mentioned in passing. If this were truly the case, would this not be the headline? With all the discussions of privacy and contacts happening lately certainly this would make waves with different government agencies. This is a very serious accusation to make and yet there is no solid evidence to support this claim; actually the “evidence” provided by the “security expert” uses the description found in the permission description (read below).

In an article about Facebook reading users emails (more on that later) the London Times and RWW accused Google owned YouTube of remotely accessing the camera found on tablets and smartphones. “Facebook, according to the report, joins several high-profile Web firms that have been caught snooping on their customers. Flickr, dating site Badoo and Yahoo Messenger have all been accused of accessing users’ private data, and YouTube can remotely access and operate a smartphone’s camera, security experts told the Times.” We pinged Google for an official statement and received this reply;

This is so silly…it requests the camera permission so you can launch camera to take a video from within the YouTube app. It’s not like the app can turn on your camera without asking you.

The permission being discussed is found in Hardware Controls and reads as follows:

TAKE PICTURES AND VIDEOS
Allows application to take pictures and videos with the camera. This allows the application at any time to collect images the camera is seeing.

The idea that Google or YouTube would give themselves the ability to remotely access your video camera is, well, silly. It illustrates the very real issue that companies are facing when it comes to permissions and users privacy. What is needed is more education regarding permissions and the use of data by these companies.

Sources: Read Write Web via The London Times

Wow More iPhone Apps Dipping Into Your Address Book

A little over a week ago everyone was up in arms over the fact that Path was stealing people’s address book information.

Path was taking user’s contact information and uploading names, phone numbers and email addresses to their private servers. Path’s CEO Dave Morin, was applauded by many for facing the issue head on, apologizing and fixing it. Even after he was linked to posts when he was at Facebook that showed a similar behavior.

Of course as we expected, once this story broke more apps came out of the woodwork for doing the exact same thing. In Silicon Valley don’t dare throw stones unless you’re ready to break everyone’s windows.

Silicon Alley Insider dug up a handful of other apps that are taking a peak at what you may think is your private address book:

More after the break
Read More…

App Of The Week: Any.DO

As busy as we are nowadays, you would think we would have figured out how to manage our time wisely. Still however, we find people being double-booked, forgetting appointments, and sometimes not getting a single thing done that you wanted to throughout the day. We find ourselves constantly pressured by the busy agendas that rule our life, and have since started to turn to mobile calendars and planners to help us through our days. While I still use my calendar all the time, sometimes I just want a simple list of the things I need to get done, accompanied with reminders due dates. Separate categories, yes, but other than that just one list of things that I need to accomplish. And after stumbling upon it in the Market, Any.DO has completely taken over as my task manager of choice.

Any.DO is one of those apps that I install within 5 minutes of every phone that I get. I live by my task manager, and it all integrates with Google Tasks and my Gmail. But as we all know, Google has completely ignored the need for a task managing app built in to Android that syncs with your Google account and Google Tasks. After giving support to many of its other products and even launching new ones, El Goog hasn’t payed the slightest bit of attention to a task manager. However, the developers of Any.DO have.

Any.DO is a simple, beautiful task manager that offers just about every option you could want. At the open of the app you are given a neat little list of the things the app does, and after swiping through all of them you are brought to a point where you can sign into your Gmail account and start syncing your tasks. Once you sync these tasks, you can decide whether you want them to be defined by folder or due date (personally I choose folder because I feel it offers more organization). You can then add and complete tasks very easily, in a beautiful application. Any.DO has an awesome way of notifying you of your task due dates as well. The app pops a notification up on your screen, and in your notification bar. When the notification pops up, you can mark it as done, snooze it, or just ignore it as a whole. Another great feature of Any.DO is whenever you receive a missed call, it will allow you to automatically add calling that person back as a task with a notification. Also, the little bell that rings (on-screen and audibly) every time a task needs completed is just another example of the devs dedication to making sure users have a great experience with their app. This application is without a doubt one of the most beautiful apps that I have used on an Android device. You can choose between a light and dark theme, and both of them look amazing. There are many fluid animations throughout the app, and the whole experience is much better than any other taks managers that I have used. Not only can you use it natively, but Any.DO also syncs with your Google account both ways, so if you complete a task and scratch it off the list on the app or in the browser, it will sync to the other respectively.

Any.DO is a free and fantastic app that everyone should give a shot. It works seamlessly with your Google account, and I can’t remember a time it has failed to notify me or frozen up when I tried to use it. As I said earlier, I install this app on every device I get, right when I get it, and there are many reasons why. Be sure to check out Any.DO for free in the Android Market and be sure to check back with Nibletz for more awesome Android apps and reviews.

Surprise Surprise: Greg Kumparak Joins Pando Daily

Greg Kamparak photo: Kamparak's Google+

The exodus at AOL owned TechCrunch continues. Earlier this week it was leaked that TechCrunch’s mobile editor, Greg Kumparak, was leaving TechCrunch. At the time Kumparak announced his departure he didn’t say he was going, but of course the obvious place was PandoDaily.

PandoDaily is the new start up focused site that was started by former TechCrunch editor Sarah Lacy. Michael Arrington’s CrunchFund led an angel round for the new site that was over 2.5 million dollars.

Lacy announced a couple of weeks ago that PandoDaily was holding monthly meet ups. The first of which was tonight. Arrington was the featured guest and had a fireside chat with Lacy. It was also announced that Kumparak was joining the PandoDaily team tonight.

More after the break
Read More…

We Go One On One With Apsalar To Find Out How They Are Changing Mobile Gaming Forever

We were able to sit down with Apsalar, a Mobile Engagement Management company, as well as walk through the company’s offices. Right off the back when walking in, the look is prototypical start-up, with no cubicles, only desks in the open, relaxed, yet get-work-down type of feel. However, unlike most start-up companies, Apsalar has within a year evolved in a way most take longer to do. Originally, the company gave Mobile Game developers the ability to see cohorting stats weekly; they are now providing the same type of information daily to enhance what developers are looking for. When asked, Michael Oiknine stated,

More after the break… Read More…

Unboxing And Review Of The ClarityOne EB110 Earbuds From CES

While at CES, we were privileged to be invited to the ClarityOne press conference where we heard first hand of the clarity and the sounds of the audio of what they put into their speakers. Using what they’ve learned after 12 years of testing and tinkering they presented the EB110 Earbuds. At a price of $129.99 USD they are not the cheap headphones you pick up at Wal-Mart or Target, and you can tell. The minute you put these on and turn up the volume you can tell right away something is different. At a frequency range of 15Hz to 20kHz and a transducer at 7.5mm the sounds coming from these little earbuds are something that can’t be truly appropriated even with words. Currently

More after the break… Read More…

[REVIEW] iLuv’s Bluetooth Keyboard Portfolio Case For The Galaxy Tab 10.1

One of my biggest problems with recommending tablets to people has been a lack of productivity from them. I don’t know about you, but if I can’t get as much productivity out of a tablet as I can my Macbook, I just can’t justify picking one of for the high price tag most high-end tablets carry. However, recommending a tablet as a third device is a differnent story, that is if one has a smartphone and a laptop already.

One specific accessory has come very close to changing my mind, though, and I’m using it to type this story right now. iLuv’s Bluetooth Keyboard Portfolio case for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and iPad has increased my tablet productivity immensely, almost to the point of taking it instead of my computer every single time. The only reason I still haven’t completely switched, is the fact that tablet technology and software isn’t there just yet.

More after the break

The Bluetooth Portfolio case allows me to take out my Galaxy Tab at any time, and start writing and navigating my tablet while it’s resting in an upright position identical to a laptop. The sleek, leather case has a small leg on the back that snaps off and props the tablet up to an angle that is ideal for reading and writing. And if you don’t want to use the tablet as a laptop-style device, just fold the keyboard back and it sits on your lap or in your hands just like a tablet normally would. It offers the complete package for anyone trying to get something done on their Galaxy Tab or iPad.

Now that I’ve explained how the case looks and feels, the Bluetooth keyboard itself is up next. The keyboard is a full, laptop-style keyboard with all the necessary rows and numbers. The buttons are easily pressed and respond immediately, closely replicating the experience of typing on a real keyboard. Another fantastic addition that sets this keyboard apart from a standard Bluetooth keyboard is the specialized buttons for Android functions. These go from the home, menu, search, and back buttons, to dedicated buttons for things like recent apps, opening the status bar, opening the browser, adjusting sound and brightness, opening all apps, and pausing and skipping through songs in the music player. Everything works fantastically and the tablet responds quickly to all of the buttons. I really can’t find a reason to not to take the Portfolio case with me every time I bring my Galaxy Tab along.

The iLuv Bluetooth Portfolio case is the best tablet case I’ve ever owned, and believe me, I’ve owned plenty. It provides a safe place to carry your tablet while traveling, and increases the productivity by much more than I can explain in this article. Any tablet users out their, Android or iPad, should definitely think about investing in one, and if you do, you will not be disappointed. Be sure to stay tuned to TheDroidGuy for more Android news and reviews.

App Of The Week: Voxer

One of the apps I’ve found myself using a lot lately, is Voxer. Voxer is a chatting app for Android and iOS that let’s you seamlessly communicate with all your buddies–you know the drill. One of the big reasons to get a smartphone is to communicate all the time with everyone you know using any service you want. There’s simple text chatting apps. There’s messaging apps provided by social giants like Facebook and Google+. Then there’s Voxer.

More after the break
Read More…

CES 2012: ecoATM Lets You Recycle Your Old Phones And Pays You For It

One of the coolest things we saw at CES wasn’t at a booth, it wasn’t even in one of the halls, it was just a small machine near the entrance of the food court. This machine however, does some pretty awesome things, and we definitely think you’ll be seeing more of this machine in the future.

The machine I’m talking about, is the ecoATM. The ecoATM is a kiosk about the size of a Redbox that allows consumers to sell their old mobile devices and MP3 players to ecoATM for resale or recycling. The ecoATM can recognize over 5000 models of cell phones, and many of the major MP3 players. The way it works, is if you have an old cell phone, or a few old cell phones, you can take them to an ecoATM and the kiosk will scan, identify, and find the best market cell price for your device. The best part is the fact that it is all automated, with no assistance required. You just bring your phones in, and leave with cash.

When you first bring your phone to an ecoATM, you pick which device it is, and then receive a small ID sticker to place on the back of your device. The machine will then scan your phone, and after comparing your device with images and specs of a “perfect” model it was trained on, it will determine the condition of your device. Then a charging wheel will spin until your charger appears, and after plugging it in, it will determine if the device is still functional or not. After all of this is completed, the ecoATM will give you a price for how much your device is worth, and spit the cash out in the given dispenser. You can do this with multiple phones at a time as well and MP3 players and cell phones in the same transaction. Most of the phones are given a new home if in good enough condition, and if not ecoATM will recycle the phones so you can feel good about getting rid of your old phones, and have some extra cash in your pocket while you’re at it. ecoATM has told us they are currently in mostly west coast areas, and their goal is to work from west-to-east in the US, soon giving everyone a local ecoATM to stop by.

CES 2012: Autoref.com Makes Car Buying Easier

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjQ1c0U-_90&version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0]

One of the most painstaking things you can do in life is buy a new car. Of course the payoff is always great, you in a brand new car, it’s a big pain point for many consumers.

One of the most painful parts of the car buying experience is that actual haggling. You know what you want, you know what you want to pay but some car dealer feels he needs to take a good 4-8 hours of your day to show you cars you don’t want at prices you don’t want to pay. That’s where autoref.com comes in.

Now the “ref” part in Autoref has nothing to do with “reference” it actually stands for referee. The Autoref referee isn’t the referee between you and the car dealers, it’s between the dealers and the dealers. Autoref has designed a system to allow car dealers to bid against each other for your business.

It all starts with you signing up for Autoref. Once signed up you let Autoref know everything you can about the car you want and what you want to pay. From there you let them “hold” $33. If you actually test drive just one of the autoref bids you get the $33 back. If you’re serious about buying a car and won’t take a hassle free test drive the $33 is Autoref’s to keep.

Once the haggling between the dealers is over Autoref gives you a few recommendations of vehicles to buy. The recommendations include everything you need about the car from the car itself, to the features, the discount you’re getting and then your financing options based on credit.

It’s actually pretty easy and very pain relieving try it yourself autoref.com