mobile apps

Google and the Chinese government seemed to be at odds once again today, as online services related to the search giant's Android.com market in that country were apparently inaccessible. But what appeared to be an intentional government blocking was merely a glitch related to a software update, Google told CNET.

"We identified a technical issue during a software update and have now fixed it," Google spokesman Taj Meadows wrote in an e-mail.

Two Web sites that test URLs to see if they're available in China revealed Google's online store for mobile apps was inaccessible … Read more

Nuance has beefed up its Dragon Go iPhone app to let you search for information across a wider array of Web sites and services.

Available for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch since July, this free search-by-voice app is unique compared with the Google and Bing iOS apps. Dragon Go can find results and run commands across dozens of different Web sites, including Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia, Craiglist, Amazon, eBay, CNN, Reuters, and even CNET.

The latest update adds even more sites to the mix, notably Netflix, Spotify, Wolfram Alpha, Ask.com, and Google+. And when you tap the app's … Read more

Recently Foursquare rolled out a new feature that allowed users to create and share a list of recommended venues and tips. Users can then follow that list, or if the creator allows it, they can even contribute to the list themselves. The Lists feature on Foursquare is fun to use, easy to share, and are very simple create. Read on to find out how to make one.

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Windows Phone has officially reached 30,000 apps in its marketplace, according to a Microsoft blog.

Dropping the news yesterday in the Windows Phone developer blog, Todd Brix, senior director of Windows Phone Marketplace, added that the "nearly 30,000 Windows Phone app and game titles available today will also run on Mango."

The first major upgrade to Windows Phone, Mango was provided to device manufacturers about a month ago. An official release is being eyed for this fall.

Since its debut toward the end of last year, the Windows Phone Marketplace has seen steady growth in the … Read more

Android owners like to use mobile apps over the mobile Web, says a new study from Nielsen.

The average Android user in the U.S. spends 56 minutes a day surfing the Web and firing up apps on their phone. In that amount of time, two-thirds is spent using mobile apps, while only one-third is spent using mobile Web sites.

Even further, among the hundreds of thousands of apps available in the Android Market, only a small number of them are used the majority of the time.

The top 10 Android apps chew up 43 percent of the time spent … Read more

With the help of a new partner, Nokia is planning to launch more than 300 mobile apps for its smartphones over the next year.

Announced today, the team-up with Polar Mobile will see Nokia smartphone apps specificially from a variety of global media companies, including Advertising Age, Wired UK, Kompas, Globe and Mail, Shanghai Daily, and 7DAYS.

The apps will be available to current owners of Symbian smartphones, the new Nokia N9, and to upcoming Nokia devices running Microsoft's Windows Phone. The first 50 apps will debut next month for Symbian and be accessible through Nokia's Ovi Store.… Read more

Maybe everyone really is shifting to building mobile sites in HTML5. Adobe Systems recently debuted its Edge tool set in public preview mode for developers interested in creating motion and interactive graphics written natively in the language.

Although this isn't quite the same as Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and others being relatively forced into HTML5 by Flash-resistant Apple for selling products on mobile sites, LinkedIn is getting on board with HTML5 with a new "experience" that can be viewed in nearly any mobile Web browser.

The HTML5-optimized version, along with updated iPhone and Android apps, are … Read more

Facebook today doubled down on its mobile efforts with a new mobile application that breaks out its messaging service into a single app.

Dubbed "Messenger," Facebook is making the app available for both Apple's iOS and Google's Android. Users can log in with their Facebook credentials to get access to existing chats and message threads from Facebook for interacting with them on the go. Included is group messaging, along with a component that lets users share photos and their location.

"The Messenger app is an extension of Facebook messages, so all your conversations are in … Read more

HTC just inked a deal with Dashwire, a Seattle-based company founded in 2006 that develops a cloud-based platform for mobile and web applications.

Fred Liu, president of engineering and operations for HTC, noted briefly in a statement about how Dashwire will fit into the HTC Corporation:

Cloud services are key to delivering the promise of connected services to our customers. People want access to all of their important content wherever they are on any device. The addition of Dashwire's cutting-edge sync services and deep mobile cloud experience strengthens our ability to deliver these services in a more powerful way.… Read more