Tag: iPhone

Google, ITA Software Talks Causing Stir in Travel Industry

Reuters is reporting that Google is in discussions to buy ITA Software (which has been rumored for months), an airline IT and services provider. The company is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and provides airfare info to airlines, travel agencies, and travel web services.

According to Reuters, there is a great deal of concern about such a deal among the travel industry. (hat tip: Greg Sterling).

Last week, Salesforce made Chatter available to everyone. This has been described as a "Facebook for the enterprise." It’s also been described as "more than just Facebook for the enterprise." Either way, the company has now published a Best Practices guide for using it.

UnwiredView.com reports on some alleged details and specs for the next (after FroYo) version of Android – Gingerbread.

MeeGo announced "Day 1" of the MeeGo proejct. The MeeGo handset baseline source code is now available to the developer community.

TechCrunch points to an interesting new service that launched from Appsfire. It’s called AppTrends, and it aims to rank iPhone apps based on how much people are talking about them on Twitter. This may not only be a good tool for discovering new and interesting apps, but it also illustrates a practical use of real-time search.

Microsoft has issued a reminder that its Windows Anytime Upgrade offer will come to an end on July 3rd. Engadget points to more details from Geek.com.

Apple’s iPhone 4 antenna issues have received a lot of press since the release of the phone. Most recently, there is a lot of discussion about Apple’s hiring of antenna engineers, a job posting that appeared the day people started complaining, as Engadget points out. Meanwhile, Boy Genius Report has an interesting article about Apple’s troubleshooting process.

I personally seem to have been caught in some “old experiment” of Google’s which is now preventing me from seeing Google’s recently rolled out interface in Firefox. While I can see it in other browsers, and until today could in Firefox, I am no longer able to see the new UI, and am instead presented with the old version of Google results pages (where I have to click a link to bring up the search options).

I asked Google about this, and Jake Hubert from the company’s Global Communications and Public Affairs division told me, “I’ve verified that what you are seeing is likely related to an old experiment. We have no plans to remove the left-hand panel.”

Has this happened to anyone else?

June 30, 2010
Windows Live Messenger iPhone App Gets Over a Million Downloads in 5 Days

Microsoft launched its Windows Live Messenger app for the iphone last week. Today, the company has announced that in only five days, the app was downloaded by over a million people.

"While Messenger for iPhone is relatively new, for many connecting with Messenger friends on your mobile phone is not new," says Microsoft’s Michael Chang. "In addition to the more than one million iPhone Messenger users, there are over 24 million people who connect with Messenger friends from other mobile phones through a client application, their phone’s browser, or SMS."

"Along with Messenger Connect, Messenger IM in Hotmail, and the coming integration with Xbox LIVE, the new iPhone app is just one more way that we are bringing Messenger to you across the web and on your phone," adds Chang.

Last week, MySpace announced its own new integration with Windows Live Messenger (as well as Hotmail). That said, the popularity of the app could be a good thing for MySpace as well as Microsoft.

Microsoft says it will be updating the app shortly, in order to address some issues users have complained about.

June 29, 2010
The Secret iPhone Charging Issue

Thinking about getting yourself an iPhone 4, or perhaps you have the iPhone 3G S and aren’t eligible for your upgrade yet, here’s a tip for y0u about an important issue that Apple doesn’t seem to want to share (or atleast make it visibly public). Simply put, your iPhone can be charged 400 Times, a charge being each time you plug in the power cord… so if you charge your iPhone through the night, use it during the day, then charge it in the car on the drive home, you’ve just used 2 of your precious charges. Do this every day and the battery in your device (which is not swappable) will provide optimal power for about 200 days.

When the iPhone battery charges are used up, users will soon notice of considerable lack of battery sustainability with a “full charge” lasting only several hours and getting progressively worse. As an example, my 9 month old iPhone 3GS currently lasts about 3 hours after a full night’s charge. I spent some time with Apple support – luckily my one year factory warranty is still in place. Apparently this is a very well known issue and Apple has the solution for you – BUY THE $69 PROTECTION PLAN when you purchase your device… or, if you don’t have it go add it to your account now. Apple informs me that those who possess the protection plan with their account can receive a “free” replacement battery, although I believe that by replacement they actually will replace your iPhone with a new one and discard your old device – after-all, the battery is not swappable so simply replacing the battery is likely not an option.

I’m guessing that with the new, iPhone 4 this issue will likely continue and even get worse (not confirmed) the reason – multi-tasking. With iPhone iOS4 users can run several tasks simultaneously, thus adding to the drain on power and result in the need for more frequent charging. And so I urge you to grab yourself the extra $69 protection, otherwise the cost will be $100 when you eventually have to address this matter… and you will! Hey Apple, thanks for telling us.

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June 28, 2010
Amazon Adds Video/Audio to Kindle Apps

Amazon has announced an update for its Kindle apps for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch that lets users see embedded video and hear audio clips within Kindle books. Of course new books that actually take advantage of this functionality have been announced as well.

The first books to utilize it were Rick Steves’ London from Rick Steves and Together We Cannot Fail by Terry Golway. However, there are 13 on the list currently (including more Rick Steves books).

"We are excited to add this functionality to Kindle for iPad and Kindle for iPhone and iPod touch," said Dorothy Nicholls, director, Amazon Kindle. "Readers will already find some Kindle Editions with audio/video clips in the Kindle Store today–from Rose’s Heavenly Cakes with video tips on preparing the perfect cake to Bird Songs with audio clips that relate the songs and calls to the birds’ appearances. This is just the beginning–we look forward to seeing what authors and publishers create for Kindle customers using the new functionality of the Kindle apps."

"In the new Kindle Edition with audio/video of Rick Steves’ London, the embedded walking tours allow customers to listen to Rick as they explore the sites of London," said Bill Newlin, publisher, Avalon Travel. "Rick’s narration adds depth to the reader’s experience, while listeners can follow the routes more easily with the text."

Last week Amazon lowered the price on its actual Kindle device in response to a lower price on the competing Nook from Barnes and Noble.

June 28, 2010
iPhone 4 Sells Like Crazy, but Not Without Complaints

The Huffington Post has an article putting together the biggest iPhone 4 complaints so far. Among these complaints are: camera malfunctions, supply, screen discoloration, scratchable cases, poor reception, switched volume keys, and search limitations.

It is the reception problems that seem to be getting the most attention. This may be due to Apple’s response to the issue. Engadget provides this official statement from the company:

Gripping any mobile phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If you ever experience this on your iPhone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases.

There have also been complaints about a bug preventing the iPhone 4 from using visual voicemail. "Whenever we went into Phone and clicked on the Voicemail button, instead of going to the Apple Visual Voicemail, it instead placed a call to Voicemail. So basically, it wasn’t working right at all," writes Alex at RustyBrick, adding, ""The trick is, on most new iPhones, you have to receive a voicemail (or two) before the iPhone will launch the prompt that asks you for your ATT voicemail PIN number."

Regardless of complaints and minor inconveniences, the iPhone has had no problem selling so far. Some calculations put sales at 1.5 million for the first day. A Piper Jaffray analyst says 77% of the sales were upgrades.

June 25, 2010
eBay Acquires Barcode-Scanning iPhone App

A popular iPhone app is now the property of eBay and about to get much better. eBay announced this afternoon that it’s acquired RedLaser, and the company best known for its auction site intends to make the app free, increase merchandise selection, and integrate it into other products.

RedLaser is actually free as of this moment – eBay made that transition immediately – so don’t hesitate to act if you’re interested in trying it out. The app is meant to help consumers look up product information and compare prices online.

As for the tricks eBay will need a little more time to perform, the company promised in a statement that it will "significantly increase selection on RedLaser by integrating more than 200 million listings from eBay, as well as product inventory from over 7,000 global merchants on Shopping.com, including 95 of the top 100 online retailers."

Furthermore, "eBay plans to integrate RedLaser’s barcode-scanning technology into its leading iPhone applications, including its eBay Marketplace, eBay Selling, StubHub and Shopping.com applications," and improving developer support is on the official "to do" list, as well.

One last interesting note: according to Richard Brewer-Hay, eBay’s corporate blogger, Robert Scoble recently recommended in a private conversation that eBay acquire RedLaser. So there’s a vote of confidence.

Unfortunately, neither eBay’s official announcement nor Brewer-Hay disclosed the terms of the deal.

June 23, 2010
iPhone 4 Reviews Take Over the Web

iPhone 4 reviews are all over the web now. Techmeme has a pretty huge roundup of them. You can find just about every angle of this phone covered, including the insides.

TechCrunch is reporting that Apple may be adding another patent infringement lawsuit against HTC. These two companies already have suits against each other.

Fortune points to a Piper Jaffray report indicating that the App Store accounts for about 1% of Apple’s gross profit.

A report from SMobile Systems suggests that about 20% of Android Apps "grant a third party application access to private or sensitive information that an attacker could use for malicious purposes." The methodology used to come up with this statistic has been questioned, however.

Verizon held its "Next Generation of Droid" event today, in which it unveiled the Droid X, which will be shipping on July 15th (with Android 2.1) for $199 after a $100 rebate, according to this liveblogged coverage of the event.

Nokia is reportedly ditching Symbian on its N Series devices in favor of MeeGo, with the N8 being the last Symbian device in the series.

June 23, 2010
Malware Targeting iPhones Can Also Infect iPads

Malware aimed at infecting iPhones can also compromise the iPad, according to a new report from PandaLabs.

"This doesn’t mean we’re about to face an avalanche of infections. We have always stated that as Apple increases its market share, cyber-crooks will begin to show more interest in targeting the platform," said Luis Corrons, technical director of PandaLabs.

Eeki.A Worm Infecting an Apple iPad from Panda Security on Vimeo.

"However, we are certainly beginning to see more proofs of concept, and so advise all Mac users to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations to maximize security on their operating systems."

Even though Apple has made it impossible to install software outside of those found in its own App Store, cybercriminals can infect jailbroken iPads with malware.

All malware targeting iPhones will have the same ability to infect and spread to iPads since they share the same operating system.

June 23, 2010
eBay Lists its iPhone 4 Sales Guidelines

The iPhone 4 is scheduled for release on June 24th. eBay has prepared for this and has set some rules for how the site will handle sales.

On eBay, Apple authorized resellers will be allowed to list an unlimited number of items per week. eBay Top-rated sellers will be allowed to list up to 8 items per week. Sellers with a history of selling in the Cell Phones & PDAs category will be allowed to list up to 8 items per week. Everyone else will be allowed to list up to 4 items per week. All sellers are required to accept PayPal as their only method of payment.

Some that have ordered the new iPhones are getting them early, according to reports. According to Electronista, they will not activate yet though.

Some iPhone owners found that as they downloaded the newly released iOS 4, they didn’t get all of the features. Gizmodo has an explanation of why 3G users haven’t been able to get backgrounds or multitasking.

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Barclays says Verizon will probably begin selling iPhones early next year.

June 22, 2010
Verizon May Follow AT&T Pricing Model, Eliminating Unlimited Data Plans

Verizon may soon be following in the footsteps of AT&T with a tiered pricing plan. Bloomberg interviewed Verizon Communications CFO John Killian, who told them they’d "probably need to change the design of our pricing where it will not be [a] totally unlimited, flat rate." There were mixed feelings about this when AT&T did it, with a large amount of negative opinion. Verizon will no doubt face a similar uproar.

Chitika Research has shared some findings looking at Android distribution by Handset. The Motorola Droid is the most popular Android handset "by far" according to the firm.

Speaking of Droids, popular gadget blog Gizmodo has shared some first impressions of the Droid 2 from a reader who was able to get his hands on one. According to this reader, it may not be actually called the Droid 2, but it is the successor to the Droid.

Apple’s release of the new MobileMe Mail is the subject of a great deal of discussion throughout the Blogosphere. More on that here.

Nokia announced that all of its phones in 2011 will come with NFC (Near Field Communication), which can be used to turn devices into transportation tickets, debit cards, and house keys. Should be interesting for Nokia sales. According to TheStreet.com, Apple may have some suppy-and-demand issues with the recently announced iPhone 4, citing a production problem with display screens holding up the whole process.

Digitimes (via BoyGenius)reports that Apple is shipping 1.2 million iPads per month. Here are some stats Steve Jobs reported at Apple’s recent Worldwide Developer Conference (where the iPhone 4 was officially unveiled).

June 18, 2010
Apple Launches Apple Store App

Apple has introduced a free mobile application, the Apple Store App, that allows users in the U.S. to buy Apple products including the new iPhone 4, directly from their iPhone or iPod touch.

The new Apple Store app allows users to find an Apple retail store in their local area and make reservations for retail services including free tech support and advice at the Genius Bar, personal shopping appointments and personal training sessions through Apple’s One to One program.

Users can also shop the selection of more than 1,000 products and accessories available from the Apple Online Store, get Apple product news, read customer reviews and get answers to their product questions.

June 15, 2010
Quantcast: Android’s Market Share Near 20 Percent

Look for (or hide from) more debates about the iPhone and Android devices. Even as Apple fans prepare for all the hoopla surrounding another iPhone launch, it seems that Android’s achieved another victory, with Quantcast putting its U.S. market share up by a significant amount for May.

Android ended May with a market share of 19.9 percent, according to the audience research firm, which means it achieved a month-over-month increase of 1.3 percent. Quarter-over-quarter, its growth looks even more impressive, at 4.6 percent, and Android managed to gain 12.2 percent compared to a year earlier.

Meanwhile, at least on a month-over-month basis, the rest of the categories Quantcast tracks were down. iPhone OS’s share fell by 0.9 percent, the "Other" grouping lost 0.3 percent, and RIM OS experienced a decrease of 0.1 percent.

The graph below shows that Android’s doing well compared to its competitors over an extended period of time, too.

Of course, as always, these numbers will bear watching, and that holds especially true with the next iPhone’s release date so close. But if the launch of the next iPhone isn’t able to give iOS a significant boost, things will start to look undeniably bad for Apple.

June 14, 2010
Quality Of The iPhone 4.0 Screen

Yeah, people are arguing about whether it really is a “retina display.” IE, can your eye see individual pixels on the new iPhone’s screen?

I say hell with that. The screen is the best one I’ve seen — by far.

How good is it? Well, click on the photo above and you’ll be taken to the full resolution photo straight off of my Canon 5D MK II’s sensor of the 960×640 screen on the iPhone (you will have to scroll around a bit to get to the right part of the screen).

Now THAT is sharp!

Oh, and if you still can’t get enough, here’s a video (make sure you click “watch in HD” and open it in full screen mode to get the full effect:

UPDATE: Just for comparison sake, here’s the iPhone 3GS’ screen with the New York Times on it so you can see the difference. It’s not even close! On the 3GS you can’t read any of the text without zooming in, while on the iPhone 4 you can clearly read the text.

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June 14, 2010
Which Will Be More Critical to Marketing: iPhone or Android?

While there are other mobile operating systems that shouldn’t be ignored (Blackberry for one), there are two that seem to get the most attention, and that may end up competing most for user and marketer attention above the rest in the foreseeable future. These are of course the iPhone OS and the Android OS.

Which will you place more focus on: iPhone or Android? Let us know.

Obviously the iPhone OS runs on iPhones, and now on iPads. These are very popular devices, but in the smartphone market Android is gaining a great deal of ground, and in the tablet market, Android hasn’t really arrived yet, but it is expected to soon.

The Smartphone Space

At Google I/O last month, Google announced that Android activations had passed 100,000 a day. Also last month, a report from the NPD Group found that in the first quarter of 2010, Android devices actually outsold iPhones in the U.S. The legitimacy of this has been disputed, but I don’t think anyone’s disputed the fact that Android use is gaining significant momentum.

The Tablet Space

A recent study from Retevo found that over half of consumers surveyed would buy an Android tablet over an iPad if it were cheaper. $100 Android Tablets are expected to arrive this year. Now that’s not to say that this version of the Android tablet would be the iPad killer. You have to consider that Android will likely be implemented across a wide range of devices, as opposed to the iPhone OS, which will operate on Apple’s devices.

One reason Android has been able to grow so much in the smartphone market because of pricing deals. For example, Verizon has offered buy-one-get-one-free deals on Android phones. The tablet market could see a similar scenario – pricing playing a major role.

Google TV – Will It Be a Real Edge?

At Google I/O Google unveiled Google TV, a platform that merges the web experience with the television experience. Launch partners include Adobe, Intel, Sony, Logitech, Best Buy, and Dish Network. Sony will sell TVs and Blu-ray players which come with the platform. Logitech will make set-top boxes, and Dish Network will provide its customers with it.

This week, Apple CEO Steve Jobs implied that it is destined to fail, mainly talking about the lack of success of set-top boxes in general and the lack of nationwide cable services as the main barriers. However, Dish Network is nationwide, and is making moves that could net the company more customers away from competitors, even before Google TV arrives this fall. That could mean good things for Google TV.

What does this have to do with Android? During the announcement, Google demonstrated some of Google TV’s Android integration. You will be able to use Android devices to control Google TV, for one. You will also be able to send apps from your Android device to Google TV to interact with them on your television, effectively turning your TV into an Android device. Google TV users may find Android devices useful.

Not To Take Anything Away from iPhone OS

None of this is to discount the importance of reaching Apple’s users. They are consumers too, and there are a lot of them. However, when resources are limited, businesses may have to do some prioritizing. Ideally, you want to get in front of as many potential customers as possible. It just looks like at this point, that Google is positioning itself to get Android in front of a whole lot of people. But still, a lot of this is forward looking.

Quick Tips

1. If you can find an angle that makes sense for your business, and you can afford the resources, develop mobile apps for mobile platforms.

2. Regardless of whether or not you have your own apps, look for ways that you can get be found in other mobile apps.

3. Look at the most popular apps and find angles for how your business can take advantage of some of them.

4. There may be a great deal of creativity involved in finding the right angles, but there are so many apps out there already (and the number will continue to grow rapidly), there will continue to be more unique and innovative opportunities. Just explore them. By the way, Google is putting apps directly in its mobile search results now for both Android and iPhone users.

5. Advertise. There is also a growing number of mobile advertising opportunities, including various forms of in-app advertising. Watch for Google to offer more interesting formats, now that it has acquired AdMob and Invite Media.

"What’s important for marketers to realize is that it’s a similar redux of the Mac PC wars in the 80s/90s where Apple puts out a great product but constrains the market with its controls & dictation while Android with its openness & no licensing costs allows it to flurish," Michael Martin, who founded GoogleAndBlog (often cited as a top Android site), and currently runs Mobile Martin tells WebProNews. "Case in point, the iPhone is self constrained to AT&T for some time while Android is available on all 4 major US mobile providers as well [as] pre-paid service Cricket along with 50+ other carriers around the world amounting to over 100,000 activations per day – this provides greater marketshare."

He continues, "Next is mindshare, which for smartphones is predominantly based on the quality and number of applications (as welll device specs & usability)…While Apple allienates developers with its cryptic & arbitrary acceptance rules for the App Store which people had to bite their lip to endure due to both marketshare & mindshare, they are relieved of this with OPTIONS that include the Android Market while they are FREE to provide their applications through other venues."

"So marketers can see the tide is turning while also saving costs. If developing apps, with a cheaper Android programmer in Java vs a more expensive iPhone developer in C as well, there are now tools from Ansca & Rhomobile that allow cross mobile application development with one click instead of recoding for iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, Palm."

Do you think Android will be a critical platform for reaching consumers? How about compared to the iPhone? Tell us what you think.

June 8, 2010
Bing Becomes iPhone Search Option

Although Steve Ballmer did not, as some outlandish rumors asserted he would, make an appearance at WWDC 2010 today, Steve Jobs did say something important concerning Microsoft’s search engine. Jobs indicated that Bing will now be an official search option on the iPhone.

This could constitute a significant win for Microsoft in a couple of ways. It and Apple haven’t always been on friendly terms, of course, and Apple and Google used to be extremely close, so the fact that Apple has started to accommodate Bing might mean tensions are thawing.

(Skeptical? Okay, but consider that the Justin Long-John Hodgman Apple-PC ads have been retired, too.)

Then there’s the simple matter of attracting users. If Bing’s presented as an easy-to-choose alternative to Google rather than left off the menu, it stands to reason that more people will give Bing a shot. And according to Joshua Topolsky, Jobs even said during his keynote, "Microsoft has done a great job on this. Check it out, it’s kinda cool."

Note that Google remains the default search engine on the iPhone, though, so Apple and Jobs don’t appear to have had a total change of heart regarding the search giant.

June 7, 2010
Steve Jobs Rattles Off Some Interesting Apple Stats

Steve Jobs of course unveiled the new iPhone today, and some new iPhone apps were revealed as well. However, between these unveilings, a lot of interesting statistics were rattled off, so here is a round of up of those (via this liveblogged account of the keynote).

– 8,500 native iPad apps in the app store.

– 5 million books, at an average of 2.5 books per iPad in first 65 days

– 22% – iBook’s market share for 5/6 major publishers

– App store supports over over 225,000 apps

– 15,000 apps submitted each week (in 30 languages)

– 95% of apps approved within 7 days

– passed 5 Billion downloads in the app store last week

– 70% of revenue goes to developers – passed 1 billion dollars

– Going to hit 100 millionth iOS device this month (iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads)

– Apple has over 150 million credit cards (across App Stores, iTunes, iBooks)

– 16 billion downloads (also across these stores)

In addition to these numbers, Steve Jobs shared some smartphone market numbers from Nielsen, which had the U.S. market share pegged as: RIM (35%), iPhone (28%), Windows (19%), Android (9%), other (9%). Numbers around this subject have been controversial for a while, and these will no doubt spark further discussion. Jobs noted that according to these, the iPhone’s share is 3 times more than Android.

Which OS will marketers have to be more concerned about moving ahead: iOS or Android? We discussed this here.

June 7, 2010
Apple Unveils iPhone 4, Shows Off New Features

Today at the Apple Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco, after the unveiling of apps for Netflix, Farmville and Guitar Hero, Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone 4, just as everyone expected him to.

Features of the device (based on these liveblogged notes from the keynote) include:

– All New Design
– Thinnest Smartphone ever
– Stainless steel for strength
– Glass for optical quality and scratch resistance
– Integrated Antennas
– "Extraordinary build quality"
– 3.5 inch display
– 960×640 pixels (4x more)
– 326 pixels per inch
– 800:1 contrast ration (4x better)
– IPS technology
– Front facing camera
– Camera + LED Flash on the Back
– Retina display (higher resolution) – 326 pixels per inch
– A4 processor
– improved battery by 40% – 7 hours of 3g talk, 6 hours of 3g browsing, 10 hrs of Wifi Browsing, 10 hrs of video, 300 hrs of standby
– Up to 32 GB of storage
– Gyroscope
– 5 megapixel camera
– camera records HD Video
– Built-in video editing
– Google will stay as default search, but Bing added as new option
– Video chatting (called Face Time)…WiFi only at this po
– comes in 2 colors. Black and White
– $199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB
– Goes on sale June 24

Apps for iMovie (video editing) and iBooks, as well as Apple’s advertising platform iAds (going live on July 1) were also demonstrated. We will no doubt have a more official rundown of the new iPhone and its features before long.

The iPhone OS has now been renamed iOS, with this one being called iOS 4. This makes sense, since the operating system is on more than just phones.

June 7, 2010
Netflix, Farmville Coming to the iPhone

Netflix launched on the iPad earlier this year, and CEO Reed Hastings said that it’s quickly becoming one of the most popular platform. That’s why during the keynote at the Apple Worldwide Develoepr Conference today (via this liveblogged account of it), he announced that Netflix for the iPhone would be coming this summer.

The timing of a Netflix iPhone app announcement seems pretty interesting, given all of the dicussion of late regarding AT&T’s new pricing plans around data. Much of that discussion has been primarily fixed on the notion that watching large amounts of video will run up phone bills.

Apparently you’ll be able to resume movies where you left off if you’ve been watching them on other platforms, and the app will be pretty much like the iPad version. It will include access to the full instant catalogue and queue.

It will also be free (save for a potentially high phone bill), and should be available sometime this summer. I’m sure we’ll see more details from Netflix soon.

Also at the event, Zynga announced a new iPhone app for its wildly popular Farmville app (made famous on Facebook of couse). This should be available later this month. A Guitar Hero app from Activision has also been made available today.

June 7, 2010
Google Adds Android, iPhone Apps to Mobile Search Results

Google has started including mobile apps in it search results on iPhones and Android devices. Users of such devices can simply go to Google.com, search for an app, and get special links and content at the top of the search results.

These links can be tapped to go directly to either the Android Market or App Store page for that particular app, making it easy to download the app right away. Users can also see some of the apps’ details, such as price, rating, and publisher from these pages.

"As mobile apps continue to proliferate in stores like Android Market and the iPhone App Store, finding relevant information on the web about these apps is becoming more important to help you decide which apps to download," say Google software engineers Milena Nikolic and Paul Hadfield in a joint blog post.

"These results will appear when your search pertains to a mobile application and relevant, well-rated apps are found," the two add. "For example, try searching for download shazam on your Android-powered device or bank of america app on your iPhone."

Frankly, if you’re already using your iPhone or Android device, I’m not sure why you wouldn’t just go to the Market/App Store instead of Google.com, and search for the app you’re looking for, but Google is trying to organize the world’s information, so I suppose it can’t hurt to list apps in search results.

The app results are currently available in the US, but Google says other countries, as well as other devices, will get them in the future.

June 3, 2010
TweetDeck Adds Some Popular Features
Twitter desktop and iPhone utility Tweetdeck, a popular time saver for managing your presence across multiple social networks, has released an upgrade which includes:

Foursquare integration

Google Buzz integration

Maps

Global Filters

Custom Twitter APIs

Custom URL shorteners

Scheduling updates

Upload to TwitVid from file or webcam

Video Introduction To The Tweetdeck Upgrade:

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May 27, 2010
Mozilla Readies App to Sync Firefox to iPhone

Mozilla is working on a new iPhone app for Firefox users, called Firefox Home. It’s based on Firefox Sync (formerly Weave Sync), and allows users to access their Firefox browsing history, bookmarks, and tabs from the most recent browser session on the desktop.

"Firefox Home for iPhone is part of a broader Mozilla effort to provide a more personal Web experience with more user control," says Mozilla says. "For devices or platforms where we’re unable to provide the "full" Firefox browser (either technically or due to policy), we aim to provide users with “on the go” instant access to their personal Firefox history, bookmarks and open tabs on their iPhones, giving them another reason to keep loving Firefox on their desktops."

Mozilla has offered this "sneak peek" at the app, which is still under development:

Firefox has been losing some ground in the web browser market share space, to Google Chrome, which just released a new stable version for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Creating a useful mobile experience across multiple platforms could go along way to help the Firefox cause. Firefox home would be a step in the right direction. A solid Android offering would also be helpful.

Mozilla says Firefox Home will be ready to submit to Apple’s App Store soon.

May 27, 2010