apps

Six iOS apps you need right now

If you're going to be buying (or receiving) a new iOS device over the holidays, you're going to want to grab the hottest apps to see what the App Store has to offer. But with close to 750,000 apps available, it can be a bit daunting to figure out which ones to choose.

To get you started, I put together a list of apps that include both all-time hits and up-and-coming new software. Each of these is available for iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, and give you a sampling of what your new iOS device can do.… Read more

Best Buy trims prices on iTunes gift cards

Holiday shoppers looking for iTunes gift cards can save a bit of change via Best Buy.

The retail outlet is offering 15 percent off the full cost of cards ranging in price from $15 to $100. So a $15 card will cost you $12.75, a $25 card $21.25, a $50 card $42.50, and a $100 card $85. A 3-pack of $10 iTunes gift cards will run you $25.50.

Beyond opting for an iTunes card, you can choose an App Store card or a iBookstore card, giving you the full gamut of Apple's offerings for iOS … Read more

Access the hottest TV shows and movies on the Web with Netflix

Having access to a potentially infinite cache of media files at your fingertips is a nice thought. However, you need a stable app that can deliver those files quickly and efficiently to your Android device, and that is exactly what the Netflix app is designed to do.

Placed on a throne as the world's leading Internet subscription service for streaming movies and TV shows, Netflix went an extra mile and created its mini version for Android devices. The interface of the Netflix app is more or less straightforward; there's a shows option, a search bar, and some account-based … Read more

Facebook uses posters to push employees to switch to Android

Borrowing a page from war posters of yesteryear, Facebook is using posters of its own to encourage employees to dump their iPhones for Android devices.

After it was reported in August that Facebook employees were being "nudged, cajoled, and even ordered to give up their iPhones for Android devices," the social networking giant appears to be stepping up its campaign. Posters encouraging employees to "switch today" have begun appearing on the walls at the company's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters, according to a TechCrunch report.

While Facebook used to give its employees primarily iPhones, the aim … Read more

Recycle old iOS devices into always-on video messaging units

Perch is an iOS app, though there isn't an iPad-specific version yet. The idea is you take an iOS device like an iPhone, attach it to your wall, and start up the Perch app. It just hangs out there, waiting for someone to come along.

Perch is always on. It uses facial recognition to identify a person who steps up to it, gives you a countdown, then automatically starts to record. You share your message ("I finally reached Level 60 in World of Warcraft!") and it sends it along to the remote users in your Perch family. Those people can check the message at their leisure and then record and send replies. … Read more

Six Android apps you need now

With the holiday season fully under way, there's a good chance many of you are planning to pick up a new Android phone or tablet. Heck, you might even be looking into one of these new "phablet" thingies that people are talking about. Whatever the case may be, if you're rocking a new Android device, there's no question you're going to want to some killer apps to test its limits. Lucky for you, we've put together a list of some of the hottest ones.

Editors' note: For six of the hottest apps on … Read more

Tech deals and apps for Black Friday

Wednesday's CNET Update has mall madness:

This episode of CNET Update is chock-full of tips for conquering Black Friday. Start your research with CNET's Black Friday page and Holiday Gift Guide. You'll also want to load your phone up with helpful apps, like Black Friday Survival Guide, ListBliss and ShopSavvy.

Be sure to also comb through CNET's slideshow of the best Black Friday tech deals. If you spot a deal on a Blu-ray player, it could be smart to grab it.

For those shopping online, do your homework to know if a sale price is really … Read more

Comcast Xfinity app now lets you download movies for offline viewing

There are plenty of apps that can stream movies and TV shows to your tablet or smartphone -- Amazon Instant Video, Crackle, HBO Go, Hulu Plus, Netflix... shall I go on? -- but very few that let you download content for offline viewing.

That's kind of a bummer, because it means if you want to watch something on, say, an airplane, you have little choice but to buy from iTunes or rip from DVDs.

If you're a Comcast subscriber, now you have another option. The newly updated Comcast Xfinity TV Player app (Android|iOS) now offers the enviable … Read more

Top holiday cooking apps for Android

Let's be honest: family and friends are swell, but food is really the star of the show whenever the November holiday rolls around, right? That means that whether you're celebrating at home or heading out to a potluck, the heat is on to make something oh-so-delicious for the festivities.

To help you in your endeavor, we've got a list of our favorite cooking apps for the Android platform. They'll not only help you find the best Thanksgiving recipes to get you started, but they'll also provide you with some extra tools to get the cooking … Read more

Can Highlight be our sixth sense? New version is first, slow step

It's hard to listen to Paul Davison and not get swept up in his enthusiasm, hard not to want to buy into his grand vision for the app his small company built.

Davison is the high-energy CEO of Highlight, a people discovery app for iPhone that came out last January, and that was widely predicted to start its world domination tour at the 2012 South by Southwest Interactive festival in much the same way that Twitter did in 2007 and Foursquare did in 2009.

Looking back, it's clear that much of the reason so many people expected so … Read more