Applications

It seems like just about everyone has a Twitter or Facebook account these days and I find myself checking the so called "status updates" for my friends and family more than I'd like to admit. I never thought when these services launched that a status update could become anything more than a simple yawn-worthy report of personal activity. But as we've seen with these services' growing popularity, and the recent explosion of activity during the aftermath of Iran's election, the idea of a status update has morphed into something much bigger. A simple sentence or … Read more

We expected a slew of turn-by-turn GPS navigation apps when Apple's iPhone 3.0 software emerged, and we'll get it--slowly. AT&T's Navigator app entered the App Store today, preceded almost a week ago by Gokivo. We're still waiting for TomTom's offering.

Gokivo is made by Networks in Motion, the same company behind AAA Mobile, Verizon's VZ Navigator, and AT&T's Yellowpages.com, so we expected a little sophistication. It has been in our testing queue since last Wednesday, but some technical difficulties impeded our progress. Mainly, a possessed in-app purchase … Read more

Though everyone knows the iPhone OS 3.0 brought welcome and long-awaited changes like multimedia messaging; a landscape keyboard; and cut, copy, and paste, there are a host of other tweaks from the software update that Apple has not publicized. According to Apple, the update offers 100 additions to the iPhone, but we covered just a handful in our iPhone 3GS review.

What other features are new? Well, a week after Apple released the update to the world we have a better idea. We've done our own exploring, but last week we also asked for your help in finding the update's hidden treasures. Thankfully, you responded in force, so we're glad to offer you this list. It's still not complete, so we'll be adding more as we (and you) find them. (Note: I've only included features not listed in the review.) Also, Apple has posted a handy chart detailing which OS 3.0 features are available on the iPhone Classic and iPhone 3G. … Read more

The thought of losing your Android phone can be quite frightening, but a free app from the Android Market can give you some comfort. If your lose your handset, Contact Owner will display your contact information on its lock screen.

Setting up Contact Owner is easy and only needs to be performed once. Simply launch the application, select a contact, and choose which information to display. You can pull the information directly from your stored contacts list or type it in manually.

Once the message is saved, it will show automatically each time your phone's lock screen is engaged. … Read more

When Sirius XM released its iPhone application last week, one of the conspicuous omissions was Howard Stern. After fielding a call from a fan on Monday, Stern discussed why his channels won't be featured on the iPhone app.

"It was a rights thing, a contractual-rights thing," Stern told listeners. "It was a rights issue and a whole entanglement thing. So, we're not on it. Maybe one day, we will be."

Stern sidekick Artie Lange chimed in, saying, "Apple shouldn't profit off Howard Stern."

After trying to find the words to answer … Read more

Not only did the recent Android 1.5 "cupcake" update add many new components that allow users to customize the look of their phones, but it also included a widget API for developers to create their own widgets. In the short time this feature has been available, over 200 widgets have appeared in the Android Market.

The widgets, which come in all shapes and sizes, can show weather forecasts, battery information, and more. They also can display information directly on the home screen, change the look of your phone, toggle system settings, and perform actions without launching an … Read more

Just the other day my daughter was trying to sing along with Coldplay's "Viva La Vida"--but, let's face it, those are some tough lyrics to catch. If only I'd had Lyrical, a new app that looks up song lyrics--for the currently playing song.

That's pretty slick. Just start a song on your iPhone or iPod Touch, then run the app. In a matter of seconds it retrieves the lyrics from crowd-sourced site LyricWiki.org.

Of course, you don't have to play a particular song to get its lyrics: Lyrical also lets … Read more

Though we thought that TomTom would bring us the first turn-by-turn GPS app for the iPhone, AT&T is offering an alternative of its own. On Tuesday, the carrier released a version of its AT&T Navigator specifically for the the iPhone 3GS and earlier iPhone models with the OS 3.0 software update.

Features include voice-guided and onscreen directions, automatic rerouting, real-time traffic updates, a points-of-interest database and regular map updates. You'll also be able to search local gas prices when you need to fill up your tank.

Though the app downland is free, a $9.… Read more

T-Mobile has finally unveiled its second Android phone, but how does it stack up with the carrier's first release? If you purchased a G1 back in October, is it time to upgrade? How were the major concerns of the first phone addressed?

The MyTouch 3G won't launch in the United States until August, but the phone has been available in other parts of the world for months. The Google Ion, which made the rounds at the Google I/O conference last month, is a limited edition version of the HTC Magic, and shares the same hardware and many features with the MyTouch 3G.

Battery life One of the biggest complaints of the G1 concerned its limited battery life. Users were forced to disable many features in order to prolong use. Indeed, on my G1, I routinely had to disable Wi-Fi, GPS, and other features that I wasn't using. Normally, my phone would normally survive the day, but it was near dead when I placed it on the charger at night.

Luckily, the battery life is no longer an issue on the second Android phone. The Ion's 1300mAh battery offers increased capacity over its predecessor. Though it's only 13 percent larger than the G1's 1150mAh battery, it feels as if it has twice the capacity. Even if I leave all features turned on, my phone is still going strong at night. There have even been a few nights where I skipped charging the Ion, which is something that I could never do with the G1.… Read more