Mobile

Jack Dorsey, the 35-year-old tech star who runs mobile payment company Square, today announced what he called an "epic" deal with Starbucks that could bring the "Pay with Square" app into the mainstream.

How big? It's too soon to say for sure, of course. But a firm that researches private companies, PrivCo, calculates that Square's deal with Starbucks will add $120 million in annual revenue for Square next year and, even more impressive, boost its valuation by $2.2 billion by the end of 2013. That would give Square -- already one of the most highly valued private tech companies … Read more

Apple's iOS 6 likely won't be out until next month, but Spotify's app is already supporting it.

Out today, version 0.5.4 touts its iOS 6 support. Developers running the latest beta of iOS 6 can test Spotify to see if the claim holds true. The rest of us will have to wait until Apple actually launches its latest mobile OS.

iPad users who download the update can see more stations. Otherwise, the new version is focused on bug fixes, taking care of login issues for Facebook users and offering the usual "improved stability."… Read more

Facebook has a new saving feature rolling out across mobile devices and its site, according to new reports.

The folks over at Apple site iMore today published photos of a new Facebook app feature in iOS, called "Save." The feature, according to iMore, will allow users to save a post in their timeline for viewing later on. In order to do so, users must hold their finger over a post and click "save" when the option pops up.

The Verge is also reporting today that the "Save" option has made its way to Facebook.com. … Read more

Zite, the app designed to get you reading more of what you like, has moved to the Windows Phone 7 platform.

Yeah, you read that right.

While it may seem strange to expand the popular CNN-owned news app to a platform branded with the stigma of being the uncool kid at the mobile handset party, Zite CEO Mark Johnson sees it as a way to move into a market that Microsoft -- and Nokia -- are working hard to build.

"I think there's some real merit to what Microsoft is doing in the marketplace right now. Microsoft isn'… Read more

This morning, I installed the Firefox 15 beta on my two favored Android devices: a Samsung Galaxy Nexus phone and an Asus Nexus 7 tablet.

Big deal, you say. Installing a browser. Ho-hum.

It shouldn't be a big deal, but it is -- because you can't install Firefox on an iPhone, an iPad, or a forthcoming Windows RT tablet.

But on Android, Google has chosen to let any other browser compete directly against its own. For that reason, I regularly use Opera Mini and Opera Mobile alongside Google's Chrome. The Dolphin Browser HD, installed more than 10 … Read more

Those of us who are fans of IMDB's mobile app will find a few healthy enhancements in the latest version.

Designed for both Apple's iOS and Android, the newest flavor of the IMDB (Internet Movie Database) app is easier to navigate in key ways and taps more heavily into the world of social media.

You can more quickly jump from one season to another of any TV series simply by clicking on the season number. You can also hop from one episode to another by clicking on forward and backward buttons. Holding down the back button now shows … Read more

A new and improved edition of Twitter's iOS app may be around the corner, pleasing users who are less than thrilled with the current version.

Release notes and screenshots posted by 9to5Mac about the iOS 6 App Store seem to reveal a slew of changes destined for Twitter for iPhone version 4.3.

Among the features touted in the description are push notifications for tweets that you follow, an alert when new stories are available, better support for password entries, avatars that take you directly to someone's profile, and improvements to auto-complete.

Also promised are more interactive experiences … Read more

A law firm that has worked with Apple now is in possession of the iPad3.com domain.

Fusible yesterday reported that the Whois record for the domain name has changed, and now, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton (KTS), a multinational law firm, owns it. KTS has represented Apple in the past, most notably helping the company in its legal fight against Psystar, the Florida company that was selling computers running Mac OS X.

Although the Whois record doesn't show Apple as the domain's owner, it's quite possible that the company will soon take it over. DomainWire reported last … Read more

The Google Places iOS app has a new name and new features.

Redubbed Google+ Local as of yesterday, the travel app now offers iOS users several handy, new options.

First up is voice search. You can speak the name or description of what you're seeking.

For example, saying the phrase "Mexican restaurants" displays a list of places serving Mexican cuisine in my local area. Uttering the words "Dunkin' Donuts" shows me a list of all Dunkin' Donut establishments nearby. And speaking the name of a local restaurant calls up its specific listing. Simply tap the … Read more