Apps

Facebook launches Chat Heads for staying in touch with friends

Facebook today unveiled its new Chat Head feature for Android devices, giving users a way to stay in constant contact with friends, no matter what they're doing on their mobile devices.

Whenever someone messages you either through text or chat messaging, a small photo of the person will pop up at the top of your screen. It will initially show a brief preview so you know what the message is about. While the preview will go away, the Chat Head image will remain on the top of the screen, no matter what app you access or what else you … Read more

Calendar app Tempo cuts its wait list, expands to Canada

Having healthy demand for your product is ideal, but Raj Singh, the CEO behind popular calendar app Tempo, knows that it's not good to keep people waiting in line too long.

That's why starting today, people will get access to Tempo twice as fast, Singh told CNET. "The goal is we want to get rid of the line. We know nobody likes lines," he said, adding that there are a few thousand people left on the wait list.

And although Tempo, the iOS app that had thousands waiting to use it at launch, isn't done … Read more

Apple bans Chinese bookstore app over 'illegal content'

Apple's iTunes Store in China has kicked out an iOS app that offered electronic versions of books banned by the Chinese government.

Hao Peiqiang, the developer of the bookstore app, yesterday posted a letter that he received from Apple informing him that the app would be removed, because "it includes content that is illegal in China."

Apple's letter explained that while the app is no longer available in China, it can still be downloaded from the iTunes store in other countries.

Apple's form e-mail didn't specify which content was illegal. Known as "Jingdian … Read more

Blink, Google's new Chrome browser engine, comes to life

Blink, Google's new fork of the WebKit browser engine, is alive.

Yesterday, Google announced the project, which splits its browser work from Apple's in the open-source WebKit project. Today, Blink is up and running.

The first updates -- including a new list of 36 Blink "owners" who have authority to approve changes -- are arriving.

"Chrome 28 will be the first blinking release," Chrome programmer Mike West said in a Hacker News comment. The current stable version of Chrome is version 26; new versions arrive about every six weeks.

"The repository seems to … Read more

Get Android 4.2 Quick Settings on any device

As one of the more handy options in Android 4.2.2, the Quick Settings menu gives users easy access to common device settings.

Accessible by swiping down from the right side of the notification bar, the menu allows for toggling of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, brightness, and more.

Unfortunately, only 2 percent of today's Android smartphones run Android 4.2, with even fewer running this particular release. Enter AntTek Quick Settings.

Available for any Android device running 2.1 or later, this free application provides not only the standard Quick Settings options, but a ton of extras as well.

Even … Read more

Google Now update adds real-time package tracking

Google Now, the predictive search feature for the latest version of Android, rolled out an update today that includes the ability to track packages in real time.

Triggered by swiping from the bottom of the screen, Google Now draws on calendar, location, and search history to automatically present information that a device thinks its user needs to know. The update, which is available to users of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean at the Google Play store, allows people to monitor the progress of packages slated to be delivered to them from select carriers once a tracking number has arrived in … Read more

Better sync lined up in Chrome for Android

Chrome on desktops has been able to sync personal data like passwords and online form fields for ages, but the features just landed in the Android version of the browser today.

Chrome 26 for Android (download) brings automatic form filling and password synchonrization to the mobile browser, as well as unnamed performance and stability fixes. The new version of the browser also repairs a problem where a blank page would be shown instead of loading the correct URL.

Some features that made it into the beta version of Chrome 26 for Android don't appear to be in today's … Read more

Googlers exultant over launch of Blink browser engine

Today, Google launched Blink, its fork of the WebKit browser engine, and members of Google's Chrome team clearly are excited about their liberation.

With the fork, Google will concentrate its core browser development efforts on Blink, which will gradually diverge from the WebKit project on which it's based. You can read more about the context and history leading to Blink in CNET's coverage, or read the official Blink blog post and Blink FAQ for the party line.

But to get a feel for the emotion involved, check the commentary from the Chrome team members themselves. They're … Read more

Google parts ways with Apple over WebKit, launches Blink

A years-long marriage of convenience that linked Google and Apple browser technologies is ending in divorce.

In a move that Google says will technologically liberate both Chrome and Safari, the company has begun its own offshoot of the WebKit browser engine project called Blink. Initially it uses the same software code base that all WebKit-based browsers share, but over time it will diverge into a totally separate project, Google announced today.

The move marks the end of years of direct WebKit programming cooperation between the two rivals. WebKit is an open-source project, meaning that anyone can use and modify the … Read more