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Sprint is the latest carrier to stop selling location data
Sprint has announced that it will cease selling users' location data to third parties, following similar moves made by Verizon (Engadget's parent company), T-Mobile and AT&T. The four major US carriers are responding to a report published by Motherboard last week that revealed just how easy it was for anyone to purchase another person's mobile location information. While the companies said selling location data to aggregators was intended for legitimate services like spotting fraud and offering roadside assistance, Motherboard reporters demonstrated how simple it was to secure a phone's location with a few hundred dollars and the right contact.
AT&T will sever ties with location aggregators as well
Earlier this week, a Motherboard report described just how it easy it was for anyone to get the location of another person's phone. By handing over $300 to a bounty hunter, the publication was able to buy the location of a specific phone, which was accurate to within a few hundred meters. And the process showed just how flawed the data chain is between mobile carriers and the companies they provide location data to. Now, carriers are cutting ties with location aggregators, and AT&T is the latest to announce its plans to do so.
Pipes brings powerful push notifications to customized news
Pipes is a customizable news reader for iPhone and iPad that allows users to select categories and topics of news and read through only what appeals to them. The app aggregates news from a variety of sources and delivers them to your home feed based on the topics you select as well as through optional push notifications. Choose to read a story at its full length or in summary mode, which intelligently picks out the most important information and cuts out the filler details, plus save your favorites. Pipes is free and requires iOS 7.1 or later. To start, Pipes includes one section for the current top stories. Each news topic you add is called a "pipe." Add a new section by tapping "Add Pipe" on the bottom right and then searching for anything that piques your interest. Think of pipes more like tags. Adding one basically tracks stories revolving around that pipe. There's an unlimited amount of options within the four main categories of technology, business, sports and politics. Even just searching for "Apple" brings up topics for "Apple," "Apple Inc," "Apple Event" and "Apple Pay" among others. The stories that display in each pipe aren't ordered by time, so I'm not sure of the arrangement of articles. Perhaps it's based off of popularity. Tap one to read the story. While Summary mode is present throughout most of Pipes, it's not available for every story. However, I've noticed that when Summary mode does work, it's better than reading the full article because Pipes is pulling a bit too much content from the article so that it's not easy to understand. In a nutshell, you're actually better off using Summary mode when possible, but note that it's still in beat. Pipes features powerful push notification capabilities with options to tweak exactly what push notifications you want and when. Rather than deliver notifications for the entire app, notifications are specific to individual pipes. Choose getting notified either once per day, twice per day or never for one pipe, then customize the notifications for the next pipe. It's extraordinary and especially useful for power users. In addition to news, Pipes also delivers tweets revolving around a topic (i.e. "pipe") and a related Wikipedia entry. They don't carry much functionality within themselves, but they offer some nice context outside of the news stories. If you come across a news story you like, tapping the bookmark icon on the top right saves it. All of your saved stories are available in a collection in the left slide-in menu. While you're there, tap "Settings" to manage your connected accounts, setup Pocket integration to save stories for later and a tinker around with some other options. Future idea: Pocket integration should include viewing your list of saved-for-later articles within Pipes as its own pipe. Pipes still has a few bugs to squash and doesn't quite match up to the likes of Flipboard right now, but it's both well designed and solid enough to be a viable alternative. The notification abilities in particular set it apart. Get the iPhone and iPad app free in the App Store.
Apple reportedly acquires video discovery service Matcha.tv
It's time to add another entry on our "Apple television rumors" timeline, as reports tonight indicate the company has acquired the team behind the second screen web / iPad app Matcha.tv. VentureBeat initially posted news of the acquisition at a price of between $1 and $1.5 million, which would appear to explain the aggregator's sudden disappearance back in May. If you weren't familiar with it before now, Matcha.tv was one of a number of efforts seeking to enable content discovery from mobile devices. By the time it closed its doors, it included TV listings of what's on cable / satellite, queues for online streaming from services like Netflix and Hulu, personalized recommendations and social network tie-ins. CEO Guy Piekarz told TechCrunch in May that the company has a "plan to provide something better in the future." We'll wait and see if speculation leans towards an IR blaster tie-in for the iPhone similar to the Galaxy S 4 and HTC One, controls for an integrated living room TV experience or something else entirely.
Dropbox continues media buying spree with photo aggregator Snapjoy
Dropbox is further framing up its media ambitions with the acquisition of photo service Snapjoy, coming hot on the heels of its Audiogalaxy purchase and photo-centric Dropbox 2.0 iOS launch. Snapjoy lets you archive and view all your photos from one place, whether they're stocked on your camera, smartphone, PC or sites like Flickr and Instagram. The terms of the purchase weren't disclosed, but the two companies know each other well, having each scored seed money, advice and connections from the co-called Y Combinator venture capital program. In a blog post, Snapjoy said it's stopped accepting any new signups as part of the deal, though it assured current users that they "can continue to use Snapjoy to share and enjoy photos just as you do now." It added that the sale will bring its service to more than 100 million Dropbox users at some point, and it looks to give its new owner options in the photo space. That might see Dropbox butting heads with the likes of Flickr, Picasa and new partner Facebook -- who recently launched its own Photo Sync service.
Verizon's Viewdini for Android hunts streaming video on Comcast Xfinity, Hulu and Netflix, strains our 4G
Verizon is clearly looking to make itself the front door for Internet video this year. Bolstering its tie-ins with Color and Redbox, it's now kicking off Viewdini, a carrier-specific Android app that will help you find video across multiple services: along with Internet-only providers like Hulu Plus, mSpot and Netflix, it will sift through the online component of Comcast's Xfinity brand, taking a little bit more advantage of that cross-sales deal coming out of the proposed spectrum handover. Even Verizon's own FiOS video will be late to its own party, coming "soon." Viewdini will only be available for 4G LTE-equipped Android phones and tablets later this month, with "other operating systems" and services due in the future -- given the currently very short list of non-Android 4G devices, we have a few ideas as to where the app might go next. Either way, get ready to collide with bandwidth caps faster than usual if you love what Verizon plans to offer. [Image credit: AllThingsD]
Flipboard launches on iPhone, iPod Touch, introduces 'Cover Stories' feature
Flipboard has now arrived on a slightly smaller board. Previously available as an iPad-only affair, the popular magazine and social media app has now launched on both the iPhone and iPod Touch, bringing graphics-laden aggregation to a wider swath of the iOS community. This new universal version features much of the same functionality you'll find on its iPad predecessor, along with a new Cover Stories interface, which collects and displays all your recent photo uploads, shared articles and status updates from select social networks. If you're intrigued, you can download it for free at the source link, below.
CNN acquires Zite, plans to operate as independent business
A week ago we reported on the rumors that CNN reportedly purchased iPad magazine app Zite, a magazine aggregater which collects news based on your personal preferences and presents it to you in a magazine-like format. Today, CNN confirmed those rumors. In a post on CNNTech, the company says it bought Zite and plans to operate it as an independent business. And yes, that means that Zite will continue to pull information from several sources -- not just CNN. The app will remain free and will launch without ads, though though you may expect that to change. While CNN does plan to make an Android version of Zite the company says the iPad will remain its "primary platform." While Zite will run as an independent business out of San Fransisco (CNN in headquartered in Atlanta) the cable company does plan to integrate Zite technology into its existing iOS apps. It was rumored that CNN paid up to US$25 million for magazine aggregater app, but the company declined to comment on the purchase price. Zite is a free download from the App Store. You can also read our review of the app here.
Lost Pages of Taborea: Customization in Guild Wars 2 and Runes of Magic
It took me a little while, but you should know by now that I was going to do a Guild Wars 2 comparison. It's a little later than I previously said I'd write it, but there's no time like the present, right? Runes of Magic has been chugging along for over two years now, while GW2 is -- sort of -- just around the corner, and Guild Wars is the veteran of the bunch at six years of age. What do these MMOs have in common that would provoke me to attempt a comparison? I'll give you a hint: It has nothing to do with jumping. What they do share is character customization, which, really, many MMOs have. It's a pretty standard feature. In this week's Lost Pages of Taborea, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at how RoM could have taken some customization cues from GW, while GW2 might be taking some from RoM -- sort of like a movie based off a show based off a movie.
CNN reportedly buys iPad magazine app Zite
Techvibes is reporting that CNN is buying Vancouver-based iPad magazine app Zite for up to US$25 million. Zite is an iPad magazine app that aggregates news based on your personal preferences. Personalized magazine aggregator apps are becoming increasingly popular on the iPad. Other similar apps to Zite include Pulse, Flipboard, AOL Editions, and more. All the apps basically work in the same way: you input your preferences for the stories you want to read, or the app reads your preferences from social media sites and presents you with news stories. CNN's interest in Zite as a stand-alone news aggregator would be an interesting departure from its video-heavy iPad app. While that app does also have print stories, it's possible CNN wants Zite for its underlying technology to incorporate into its existing iPad app, allowing for a more personalized experience for its users. Or, who knows, perhaps CNN wants to get into the magazine aggregator business on all its own, though it would be rather self-limiting if CNN only used its own sources for the aggregator app. After all, the appeal of such apps is that they pull news from multiple news sources around the web. At this time, Zite is still available as a free download from the App Store.
Lost Pages of Taborea: Armor customizing and coloring
Quite frankly, I don't know why I waited so long to do an article about customizing and coloring armor in Runes of Magic. Indeed, it's one of my absolute favorite aspects of RoM. But thanks to Rubi's coverage of Guild Wars 2 and the recent ArenaNet posts, I've been spurred on to do this article. The GW2 news of late is, of course, all about how ArenaNet plans on implementing armor customization through the use of Transmutation stones you will be able to buy from a cash shop. After reading over Rubi's coverage, I felt that GW2 was heading in a very similar direction to the one taken by RoM. I find this to be very cool! So for anyone who didn't know this flexible system was in the game or that it was so flexible, I present a guide on customizing your RoM character any way you see fit. I've also included a short video tutorial to help illustrate how customizing works.
iPad Pulse Reader app goes from keynote hero to App Store zero thanks to NYT (update -- it's back!)
Pulse News Reader -- a news aggregating app for the iPad -- got itself the ultimate stamp of approval yesterday by being featured in Steve Jobs' keynote speech. A few hours later, however, Apple had removed the application from its App Store, following a complaint by the New York Times that it was infringing on its rights. Although Pulse collates publicly available RSS feeds, the fact it costs $4 a pop is being interpreted as a "commercial use" of those feeds, and therefore a violation of the New York Times and Boston Globe's Terms of Use. Its makers have said they'll be getting in touch with Apple and stripping out the offending content, but it's certainly a head scratcher of a decision by the news company. We wonder if this signals the start of a crusade against all paid RSS readers or if Pulse has something peculiarly intolerable about it. Visit the source link to read the complaint in full. Update: From what we're reading, it sounds like what the NYT is really complaining about is that its feeds are preloaded into Pulse, and that Pulse is using NYT content and images in its promotional materials, not that Pulse is a paid app. Seems like those are easy fixes -- we'll see what happens. Update 2: And it's back! As we guessed, it looks like all Pulse had to do was resubmit without preloading the NYT's RSS feed and take some new screenshots of different sites, so that's just peachy. Still, it's insanely troublesome that Apple's first response is to just pull apps without verifying any claims or allowing devs to respond -- your store is still broken, Steve, no matter what percentage of apps you're approving.
Fluent Mobile releases the first news aggregator iPhone app
Fluent Mobile has released an innovative news oriented iPhone app that may be a game changer. The Fluent Mobile app aggregates mobile ready content from multiple content providers. According to M:Metrics in January of this year, mobile news sites were visited over 63 million times and the number is growing. This is a huge market. Currently 1.5% of all web content is Google optimized and nicely formatted for mobile devices and the number is increasing. Fluent Mobile takes advantage of this content and aggregates it, creating a news portal with content from Bloomberg for business, ESPN for sports, The Washington Post, CNN, Fox News and USA Today, among others, for news. Upon launch, content will be provided by 32 separate sources and more will be added as relevant sites become mobile enhanced. For the first time an app provides one-stop shopping for news.The information is organized well, allowing you to choose from a number of categories including U.S. News, Entertainment, Sports, Business, and Travel.
Plusmo mobile RSS service
Another day, another mobile RSS reader, this one coming from San Jose-based startup Plusmo. To be fair, Plusmo does appear to offer a few more features than the average RSS reader, most notably what they call Plusmo Gadgets -- which is just a clever name for a whole raft of widget-like utilities including things like a Starbucks locator, a Flickr browser, a cheapest gas locator, as well as tools for MySpace, LiveJournal, and other sites. They also have something called Plusmo Channels, which basically just combines a bunch of related RSS feeds into one "channel" for easier browsing. Still, it's free, and it runs on just about anything, including Java MIDP 2.0 and MIDP 1.0 enabled cellphones, BlackBerrys, and Windows Mobile devices. Plusmo says a BREW version and a native Symbian version are also coming soon.
Google Reader Go Mobile brings RSS to your cell
Google world domination step #12,875: get inside their phones. In the latest attempt to filter every bit of data that could possibly hit your eyeballs, Google has introduced a mobile interface for its Google Reader RSS aggregator, so now you can get your news, read your email, and do the search thing without ever surfing away from a Google-owned domain. As long as you have a Google Personalized Homepage with the Reader Homepage Module installed, you can access Google Reader Go Mobile from any cellphone browser, giving you immediate access to the headlines from your favorite sites like Engadget and Engadget Mobile. Google's next step? Implantable RFID chips: get inside their heads.
