iOS

Selecting text, particularly entire paragraphs in Notes and other text-heavy apps can be tricky, if not somewhat difficult.

If you need to select an entire paragraph, the first intuition most iPhone and iPad users have is to double-tap a word and drag the text selection handles to cover the entire paragraph.

Though this is an effective method of getting all your text selected, there's an easier way.

Next time you have to select a paragraph to copy and paste somewhere else, try using two fingers and swiping across the paragraph you wish to copy. The text will be selected … Read more

I'm going to let you all in on a little secret: I love math. It may seem out of character for someone who spends her days manipulating the English language, but there you have it. This is a roundabout way of explaining that I actually enjoy tinkering with budgets, which is why I'm a big fan of the Mint app for Android and iOS.

I know financial software isn't the most titillating subject for most people, but Mint's mobile app is worth a download no matter what your predilections. This handy program lets you track all … Read more

We've been hearing a lot recently about all the upcoming tablets taking on the iPad. Whether it's the Motorola Xoom and its Android Honeycomb OS, the HP TouchPad, or RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook, the sharks are circling, and they all want a bite of Apple.

For the most part, the latest, greatest tablets are luring customers with dual-core processors, HDMI output, Adobe Flash support, memory expansion, video chat, HD camcorders, and 4G wireless connections. The specs are impressive, and some of them (such as Flash support) won't likely find their way onto the second generation of the … Read more

For now, the dust has settled following Sony's back-to-back announcements, starting with the NGP and now this past weekend's Sony Ericsson Xperia Play unveiling. Regardless of how one might feel about the position Sony is attempting to secure in the portable gaming market, there are more ramifications that may not be present on the surface.

Portable gaming is no longer a two-console market. Five years ago it seemed Nintendo and Sony would battle to the death with the DS and PSP. Now, in a portable gaming market that has expanded to the world of "waiting room" casual games, the iOS and Android platforms have proven themselves worthy of bringing legitimate competition. Categorize these mobile OSes how you will, but they are directly affecting the sales of gaming-focused devices.

In an effort to bring some sort of familiar gaming experience to the core gamers who might be sick of sliding and tapping their way to victory, Sony felt the need to develop the first-ever PlayStation Certified mobile smartphone in the form of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play--a device running Android 2.3. Though it may seem like a trivial detail of just another OS on a mobile device, Sony has chosen Google and Android as an ally in what's becoming a serious portable gaming turf war.… Read more

Rdio, from the makers of Skype (Windows/Mac/iPhone), is a subscription-based music service offering more than 5 million songs as well as added social components that let you connect with friends to share and discover new music. Today, the service announced an updated version of its iPhone app that features an entirely redesigned interface and new options for song recommendations, popular music charts, and new releases. It also offers improved search tools and better syncing controls than previous versions.

Get started by downloading the free app, then sign up at the Rdio Web site for a 30-day free trial. … Read more

Apple iBooks users who jailbreak their iPhone may find themselves locked out of their own book collection.

Apple has allegedly built a jailbreak checker into iOS version 4 and above to see if someone's iPhone has been jailbroken with a hack known as greenpois0n, according to the Web site Social Apples. If the hack is found, then Apple reportedly blocks access to content in the latest version of the iBooks e-reader app.

The unlucky iBooks user who reported the experience on Social Apples ran into the following error when trying to access an e-book on a jailbroken device: "… Read more

App store GetJar plans to "aggressively expand" its software for Android devices with at least part of a new $25 million funding round.

GetJar, which started its app shop in 2005, touts itself as the world's largest open app store and the second largest app store behind Apple's. GetJar boasts more than 1.5 billion downloads to date for multiple mobile platforms, including iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and Symbian.

With the new capital, GetJar said it plans to expand its sales, marketing and engineering efforts. The company is eyeing the Android arena in particular and … Read more

Android has strengthened its leading position as the most popular smartphone platform on Millennial Media's mobile ad network, according to the company's January Mobile Mix report.

For January, Google's mobile OS captured 54 percent of all ad impressions seen on smartphone platforms on the network, up from 46 percent in December. At the same time, the share of impressions held by Apple's iOS fell to 28 percent from 32 percent the prior month.

In third place was Research In Motion's BlackBerry with a 14 percent share, followed by Nokia's Symbian and Microsoft's Windows … Read more

I grew up playing video games and was part of the era of going to arcades and dropping quarter after quarter into my favorite games. Back then, if you would have told me that one day I could play the same games on a mobile phone I would probably have said, "I doubt it, and who would want to lug one of those giant things around anyway?" In the '80s, mobile phones were huge. In other words, I would never have believed it.

Now, there are hundreds of games in the iTunes App Store that bring old classics to your touch screen. Not all of them are perfect, certainly. Sometimes the controls don't translate well to the touch screen, for example. But even with mediocre controls, it's still fun to be able to play a game you loved as a kid while you're commuting to work or in between classes.

This week, two games were released that were favorites of mine in the arcades, and both work relatively well on the touch screen. My question to you is, What games from the old days should be made for iOS? What games should not? Let's talk about it in the comments.

This week's apps are a classic gory fighting game and an arcade basketball remake that might already be one of my favorite games of 2011.… Read more