mobile apps - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Android apps double Web use

  The question of whether Android users really value mobile applications has been answered in the affirmative, according to a new Nielsen report.

• 4 reasons Windows Phone 7 will beat iPhone and Android

  Microsoft has a relatively long history with mobile operating systems, stretching back to the mid-1990s and Windows CE.

• Google upgrades Android platform

  Google has unveiled an incremental release of the Android platform featuring optimizations for a wider range of tablets and a compatibility enhancement for fixed-size applications.

• Skype launches Android 2.0 app for mobile after security flaws found in original app

  Skype has launched an update to its video calling app for Android devices only months after a security flaw was discovered in an earlier version of the application.

• Google Maps now tracks public transportation

  While Google's software can't make the trains run on time, it can now tell you just how late they'll be.

• Google adds '+1' rating feature to Android Market

  Google is giving Android Market users a new way to evaluate applications even as it struggles to keep malicious ones off the store.

• 8 Android apps for IT

  The Gearhead column has been keeping tabs on the best Android apps for IT workers. Here's the cream of the crop.

• Top 15 innovative mobile apps to watch in 2011

  Mobile apps are becoming increasingly influential, as they have the potential to spread to millions of tablets and smartphones. Here are 15 that we think will make a difference in 2011.

• 10 free sports apps for Android and iPhone

  Calling all sports fans: Check out these 10 great apps for Google Android and Apple iPhone that will keep you up to date on your favorite sport or team while on the go. And save your spending money for the ballpark.

• Motopia acquires AFL app developer

  Mobile marketing and content company, Motopia (ASX:MOT), has arranged to acquire a sports mobile apps developer in an all-stock deal worth $1 million.

• Apple iOS, Google Android apps tweaked for on-demand, video-like content

  Brainshark has unveiled features for its video presentation service to create a more interactive experience for smartphone users.

• Most Android, iPhone apps violate open source rules

  Seven out of 10 Android and iOS apps that contain open source "failed to comply with basic open source license requirements," according to a new analysis.

• Android roars past BlackBerry globally

  Google's Android mobile OS surpassed RIM's BlackBerry OS globally and in the United States for the first time last month, with the Google smartphone and tablet software nearly tripling its worldwide market share to 15.2 per cent over the past 12 months, according to Web watcher StatCounter. 

• How Google and Android users can make a secure mobile market

  Android has a lot going for it, but as the last week has shown its approach to selling and distributing applications is going to need some improvement. Ever since launching Android in 2007, Google has gone out of its way to making the mobile operating system the most accessible and app-friendly in the industry. 

• Five new ways to build apps for iPhone, Android and Web browsers

  Five start-ups unveiled services for building mobile applications and Web services this week at DEMO Spring 2011, bringing application development capabilities to the masses - or, at least, to people who lack traditional programming and mobile development skills.