star apps

Star Apps: American Idol Live! tour

Attention "American Idol" superfans: if you've been in major withdrawal since Candice Glover won Season 12 of Fox's blockbuster talent competition last May, you'll get your fix soon enough. On July 19, the American Idol Live! tour--a 30-stop national extravaganza, featuring the top 11 contestants--makes its way across the U.S. to a city near you. Expect to see Amber Holcomb, Angie Miller, Burnell Taylor, Candice Glover, Curtis Finch Jr, Devin Velez, Janelle Arthur, Kree Harrison, Lazaro Arbos, Paul Jolley, and fan-saved Aubrey Cleland re-creating your favorite performances from this past season and surprising you … Read more

Star Apps: Seth Green on Hipstamatic

Superstar Seth Green is perhaps best known for his work on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," three "Austin Powers" films, "Party Monster," "Family Guy," and his Emmy Award-winning, stop-motion-animated series "Robot Chicken."

What many fans might not know is that Green, who will soon appear on-camera in the upcoming feature "The Identical," the upcoming miniseries "Delete," and on fall's Fox comedy series "Dads," is quite the pro behind the camera as well, as his online photo album demonstrates. Green opened up about his HipstamaticRead more

Star Apps: Engadget's Tim Stevens

Founded in 2004, award-winning tech blog Engadget has brought a lot of shiny and new aspirational gadgets and software into the light through the years. Tim Stevens--named "the nicest guy in tech" by "Fortune" magazine--has acted as the blog's editor-in-chief since 2011. Tim was gracious enough to share some of his latest and greatest software finds--for work and play--with Download.com readers.

What are your top five apps and why? 1. Gmail: I'd be lost without this app. There are some mail apps that are a little better, but none integrate with labels, filters, … Read more

Star Apps: Courtney Love

If Courtney Love were an app, she'd be one that's potent, durable, and endlessly fascinating. It's been almost 20 years since Hole's fearless leader--the blonde rocker in the baby doll dress, always strapped to a guitar--body surfed her way into our hearts across such hits as "Miss World," "Doll Parts," "Violet," "Celebrity Skin," and "Malibu." Although Love has always been a polarizing figure, there's no denying her legacy as a rock 'n' roll star who's endured tremendous loss, addiction, and media scrutiny.

2013 will … Read more

Star Apps: 'The Heat' director Paul Feig

The hilarious, new buddy movie "The Heat" stars Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy as Special Agent Sarah Ashburn and Det. Shannon Mullins, respectively -- two fiercely independent crime fighters who must first forge their own connection and learn to respect and trust each other's abilities if they are ever to connect the dots on a major case.

Download.com caught up with the film's director, Paul Feig -- best known for directing the Oscar-nominated "Bridesmaids," co-producing the TV series "Freaks and Geeks," and playing science teacher Mr. Eugene Pool on "Sabrina, … Read more

Star Apps: eBay's Steve Yankovich

When an Apple rep initially contacted eBay about developing a proprietary app back in 2008, the latter hadn't even heard of the iPhone or Objective-C. But seeing the potential of mobile software, a number of eBay employees believed that developing a mobile app would profit the global commerce and payments leader in the long run. In early 2009, they began raising funds for the formation of a mobile-specific group and commissioned an outside company to build the first eBay app.

Many software releases later, the app has helped the largest online marketplace blast off into mobile commerce, as eBay'… Read more

Star Apps: Dream Theater's Jordan Rudess

For his contribution to seven Dream Theater albums, Jordan Rudess is regarded as one of the finest keyboardists of all time. In fact, MusicRadar.com bestowed that top honor upon him back in 2011 (over Elton John and Stevie Wonder), in a ranking of the top 27 keyboardists ever.

These days the synth wiz is applying his technical savvy to the development of new apps that allow fans to unleash their own musical masterpieces. Along with his company, Wizdom Music, Rudess recently released Shapesonix and Maestro. Shapesonix lets users can create stunning audio-visual extravaganzas with the movement of a finger. … Read more

Star Apps: OKCupid co-founder Christian Rudder

If a profile like Christian Rudder's turned up in an OKCupid user's search results, it would certainly merit a deeper look. As a Harvard graduate, who's helped launch and sell two successful companies (SparkNotes, in 1999, which sold to Barnes & Noble; OKCupid, in 2004, which sold to Match.com) and an indie musician who's appeared in the romcom, "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist," he'd be a catch by most standards.

Download.com caught up with Rudder, who's also OKCupid's General Manager and Editorial Director, to discuss his company's … Read more

Star Apps: GigaOM's Om Malik

Award-winning journalist Om Malik leveraged years of tech and business media experience -- senior editor at Forbes.com, senior writer at "Red Herring" and later "Business 2.0," and contributor to "The Wall Street Journal," "The Economist," and "MIT Technology Review" -- to found leading indie tech blog GigaOM, back in 2006.

Offering news and opinion on startups, social media, cloud computing, mobile gadgets, and of course, software, Malik's CNET Blog 100-recognized Web magazine has since spawned numerous conferences such as GigaOM Structure (cloud computing and Internet infrastructure), GigaOM … Read more

Star Apps: Penny Arcade's Tycho

As one of the longest-running and most successful Web comics of all time, Penny Arcade has garnered an enormous and devoted fanbase who lives for the topical, no-holds-barred commentary of gamer characters John "Gabe" Gabriel and Tycho Brahe. The Web comic has also spawned the annual gaming convention PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) and multiple video games.

In a recent e-mail interview with Download.com, Penny Arcade's co-creator and writer Jerry Holkins, the man behind Tycho, discussed, among other things, his experiences developing games, current gaming trends, and his top five mobile game apps.

When is On the Rain-Slick Precipice of DarknessRead more