Mobile software

Record iOS, Android app downloads tallied in last week of 2012

The last week of 2012 saw a significant surge in the number of apps downloaded by iOS and Android users, according to new data from research firm Flurry Analytics.

From December 25 through December 31, 1.76 billion applications were downloaded by iOS and Android users, up 65 percent compared with the weekly average of 1.07 billion between December 4 and December 17. On Christmas Day alone, 328 million applications were downloaded across iOS and Android.

Flurry's data was taken from analysis it performed on more than 260,000 applications available on iOS and Android. The company claims … Read more

Falcon Pro updates, integrates YouTube API

The folks behind the increasingly popular Falcon Pro Twitter client for Android have managed to push one last app update out the door before the new year, and it's not all about bug fixes. Version 1.4 of the slick client brings a host of new features, including double-tapping on tweets and a log-out button. See the full changelog below.

Added YouTube API integration Added option to enable double tap on tweets Added log-out button Added hide keyboard on RT Added report for spam Added mute management from settings Added hash tag autofill when searching for tweets Added slider … Read more

BlueStacks for Mac quietly moves to beta

After launching to public alpha back in June of this year, BlueStacks for Mac today advances to beta. This means that Mac users are one step closer to accessing a chunk of Google Play's Android-apps catalog on their Apple-made desktops and laptops.

Earlier this year, BlueStacks made headlines when it won the Best of CES software award for bringing its powers to Windows 8. The program successfully showcased a swathe of Android apps on Microsoft's newest OS and was even announced to come preinstalled on select Windows 8 machines.

BlueStacks Beta for Mac is available now for free … Read more

Google names best Android apps of 2012

By way of a new staff-curated page on Google Play, Google lists its picks for best apps of 2012. Titles include big-name hits like Pinterest and Evernote, as well as more-obscure choices like Ancestry and Grimm's Show White. Overall, I find the list a bit underwhelming, but since it is composed solely of staff recommendations (and not best sellers), there's certainly room for differing opinions. See the full list of Google's recommendations below.

Zappos Evernote Pinterest Grimm's Snow White Pocket Expedia Hotels & Flights Ancestry Fancy Mint.com Personal Finance SeriesGuide Show Manager Pixlr Express Ted … Read more

Flickr offers three months of Pro service for free

Filckr is offering three months of its Pro service for free as a "holiday gift" to new and existing members.

It's not a hugely expensive gift on an individual basis: the Pro service costs just about $25 per year, or a bit less than $2.10 a month (or about $45/year and about $1.88/month). But it gives users a nothing-to-lose chance to try Pro, which offers among other things unlimited uploads (of up to 50MB per photo), unlimited viewing of one's entire uploaded library, the ability to download one's original high-rez photos, and ad-free viewing of Flickr.… Read more

Four security trends defined 2012, will impact 2013

The Internet is slowly changing, and security experts say that today's security issues will continue to be major players in driving that change. Here are four trends that dominated headlines in 2012, and will continue to play a major role in 2013.

The Internet as governmental tool The collective realization by governments around the world that the Internet is an excellent network for conducting surveillance, monitoring, espionage, and war, says Finnish computer security firm F-Secure's Chief Technical Officer Mikko Hypponen, may not come to full fruition in 2013. But the foundation for that change is already underway.

"… Read more

Photo organizer startup Everpix expands to Windows

PARIS -- After a year doing its Apple-centric groundwork, start-up Everpix is ready to find a wider audience for its photo sync and organization service.

Today, the company announced version 1.0 of its Windows software, an out-of-the-way utility that slurps photos from people's hard drives and uploads them to company's servers. There, Everpix analyzes each photo mathematically for a variety of characteristics then synchronize the files with iPhones, iPads, and the Everpix Web site.

Everpix, though, isn't really about syncing files like Dropbox or Google Drive. It's also not about online photo communities such as … Read more

HTC nixed WP8 handset over Microsoft's display guidelines -- report

HTC decided against launching a Windows Phone 8 handset it had planned because of Microsoft's restrictions on display resolution, a new report claims.

HTC was ready to get working on a large-screen Windows Phone 8 device, but believed that Microsoft's limit on screen display resolutions of 1,280x720 and 1,280x768 would have made its handset look less appealing compared with Android alternatives, Bloomberg is reporting today, citing people with knowledge of HTC's thinking.

Google's Android platform has no such restrictions on display quality. In fact, the Droid DNA that HTC released recently comes with a … Read more

Facebook for Android hits 2.0, gets speed boost

Announced today, Facebook for Android version 2.0 is officially out and apparently, it should blow previous versions out of the water, speedwise. According to Facebook's blog post, the app is twice as fast at displaying photos and Timeline items.

Previously, the Facebook app functioned in a sort of hybrid native/Web view, which was a major reason for its sluggish performance. With today's update, however, users will get to enjoy a completely rebuilt app, made entirely with native code. This is a big deal. The main news feed, notifications, and Timeline should feel faster, and photo loading … Read more