apps

CES is coming in early January, but contrary to popular belief, it isn't just about gadgets. A lot of software vendors make the trek to Las Vegas to show new and updated versions of software for just about every platform.

With the app stores for Apple, Google, and Windows exploding with new offerings over the course of 2012, we think this year's CES will have more new and updated software on hand than ever before.

As the in-house software editors at CNET, we have put together a list of predictions for this year's CES, from the probable … Read more

The developer of a mobile app for children temporarily pulled the free game from the Apple App Store and Google Android Play store today after learning it was the subject of a complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission.

Mobbles, a geolocation game in which children collect and care for virtual pets, collected personal information such as e-mail addresses without parental consent, according to a complaint filed yesterday by the Center for Digital Democracy. The federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) requires Web site operators to obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from children younger than … Read more

This is exciting!

Starting today, you'll be able to watch full-length CNET shows on your Xbox 360. Later this month, you'll be able to do the same on your Samsung Smart TV.

CNET is proud to create shows and videos that you'll want to watch everywhere, including your living room with a bowl of snacks nearby and your feet on the coffee table. Longer shows like Always On with Molly Wood and Brian Cooley's On Cars have already taken off on Roku and YouTube; now we're putting them on even more screens.

Our goal is … Read more

The original Swivl was basically a motorized platform for your iPhone that tracked your movement. Turn on the camera and you could easily record video of yourself or make FaceTime calls without worrying about drifting out of the picture.

Since its launch earlier this year, the device's creator, Satarii, has been getting a steady stream of requests for a model that supports an iPad, digital SLRs, or Android devices.

The new Swivl is basically the same thing as the original, but with expanded capabilities thanks to a redesigned base and built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. It can now support all … Read more

Playing the new Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on my iPad (it's coming soon for Android) made me nostalgic for other GTA games. Not so much for the gratuitous violence, but for the radio stations that have become a hallmark of the series.

Indeed, these in-game stations play not only a huge variety of commercial tunes (in GTA IV alone, you'll find everything from Count Basie to Genesis to Kanye West), but also some crackling DJ banter and hilarious fake ads. (The Public Liberty Radio station is bust-a-gut funny.)… Read more

Microsoft and Apple are fighting a behind-the-scenes battle over App Store revenue sharing, The Next Web reports.

Apple is currently blocking any Microsoft SkyDrive updates in its App Store until the software giant agrees to share revenue generated through its application, the site reports, citing sources who claim to have knowledge of the disagreement.

Microsoft currently offers its SkyDrive storage app to iOS users. The company rolled out the ability for users to purchase more storage from within the application. However, upon doing so, Microsoft decided that it wouldn't share 30 percent of the revenue generated through those transactions … Read more

Bakery Story (iOS, Android) is a cute and simple interactive social networking game along the same lines as FarmVille. It's part of a series of "story" games made by the same studio (TeamLava), and just like FarmVille, it can become extremely addicting.

In Bakery Story, players open their own bakery where they can create and sell an assortment of sweets, desserts, and beverages in exchange for money (coins). The process of creating a confection is nothing more than a few taps, after which the player must wait a certain amount of time before the item is ready. … Read more

In February 2012, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a report titled Mobile Apps for Kids: Current Privacy Disclosures are Disappointing (PDF) that pointed out that there was "little or no" privacy information available to parents in the Android Google Play and Apple iOS app stores prior to download and scarce data in the apps themselves or on the app vendors websites.

And on Monday, the FTC issued a follow up report, Mobile Apps for Kids Disclosures Still Not Making the Grade that complains that "despite many high-visibility efforts to increase transparency in the mobile marketplace, little … Read more