Mobile software

Alerts on our connected Android devices can sometimes pick the worst moment to sound off. For instance, when you're in the middle of working with raw meat in the kitchen or carrying in 10 bags of groceries at once -- these are prime opportunities to get alerts... right? Yeah, not really. So why not just have your device read the alert to you? That's exactly what SpeakMe does.

The capability to read notifications out loud is available on most versions of Android. However, that option also reads each menu item, each action -- and everything in … Read more

One of the most anticipated mobile games this year is launching today.

Angry Birds Star Wars is available today across a wide array of platforms, including iOS, Android, Mac, PC, and Windows Phone. As one might expect, given the name, the title melds elements from Angry Birds with the "Star Wars" universe.

The title, which is available for 99 cents in Apple's App Store, puts gamers in control of Rebel Birds fighting Imperial Pigs. The game lets players use the Force, hack away with a lightsaber, and take on Pigtroopers as they fight to take down Darth … Read more

Google Maps might not gain admission to Apple's App Store, a new report claims.

Although Google is hard at work developing a Maps app that will be available in Apple's App Store, the Guardian is reporting today, citing sources, that it might never find its way to that marketplace. After speaking to Google employees, the Guardian found that the search giant is "not optimistic" that Apple will approve Google Maps.

There is certainly no love lost between Apple and Google. Since the inception of iOS, Apple offered a built-in version of Google Maps. However, with the … Read more

A new display technology being tested in Japan could eventually allow mobile users to stack up smartphones and tablets to create one, big display.

Dubbed "Pinch," the software is being developed at the Tokyo University of Technology. According to Diginfo, which was first to report on the news, users can place smartphones or tablets next to each other in any way they wish, and by using a simple "pinch" motion, link the two displays to create one larger screen.

The pinch motion is achieved by placing one finger on one display and another finger on the … Read more

Software utility maker Bjango has released a new $5 version of its iStat app for iOS that now lets people remotely monitor their Windows machines, not just Macs.

I've been a big fan of iStat Menus, a $16 utility that uses the OS X menu to show a variety of usage details such as CPU utilization, upload and download speeds, free storage space, and fan temperature.

iStat for iOS shows statistics such as free storage space, battery life, and network usage for iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches. And if you have an agent called iStat Server installed on your … Read more

Skype's VoIP app is "coming soon" for Windows Phone 8, but when it arrives, it'll be outfitted with more options than its Skype sibling for Windows Phone 7.5.

Written in native code, the app integrates into your address book and partially into the dialer, so you can receive incoming Skype calls the same way you would receive a cellular call. You'll be able to answer with a video chat in addition to voice. Skype contacts also integrate into your address book, so you can find your buddies from your contacts screen, not solely from … Read more

While Google's big press event scheduled for today in New York may have been canceled, the company still decided to move forward with a slew of announcements via blog post. Among them was the release of Android 4.2, an updated version of Jelly Bean to come preinstalled on the new line of Nexus devices.

Swype fans will be pleased to hear that Android 4.2 includes a keyboard that lets users input text via gliding gestures. Not only that, it offers predictions based on common strings of word combinations for "smarter" typing. While the news is … Read more

Vodafone, one of the larger carriers in the world, is bringing a mobile-payments service to its customers next year.

The companies announced the plans today, saying that CorFire -- the mobile-commerce arm of SK C&C, a South Korea-based IT service provider -- will deliver the technology behind it. According to CorFire, Vodafone customers will be able to make payments from their smartphones, just as customers do with competing services, like Google Wallet.

The deal could be a major opportunity for CorFire, since Vodafone has over 406 million customers in 30 countries around the world.

However, CorFire needs to … Read more

Looks like Android's top-selling keyboard app, SwiftKey, has a sibling in the works, in the form of a new program called SwiftKey Flow. Officially announced today, SwiftKey Flow takes a page out of competitor Swype's book, by letting its users input text via continuous gliding gestures.

What differentiates SwiftKey Flow, however, is the underlying natural-language technology that's been migrated over from the original SwiftKey keyboard app. This means that users of the new Flow will get not only the flexibility of choosing between a traditional tapping style and a Swype-like gliding style of typing, but also the … Read more