mobile applications
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Google+ web app adds two new features, iOS and Android soon to follow
Twitter recently revamped its web interface, and now Google has decided to do the same for the Google+ web app, bringing two new features that should be a boon for the Big G's thriving social network. You can now see who's been rolling out +1's to your latest Hello Kitty pics with a simple click of the +1 count near the button. There's also a "What's Hot" stream, a section focused on the most interesting shared content that's accessed by flicking your thumb right on the main Circles timeline. The only casualty from this update was the Incoming feed page, which was replaced due to lack of use according to its creator. The iOS and Android applications are expected to make the jump soon, but in the meantime, the web app should satisfy the need to indulge.
Verizon opens Application Innovation Center in San Francisco, we go eyes-on (video)
Verizon's made good on its promise to open an Application Innovation Center in San Francisco, and kindly invited us down to have a gander. It's much like its sister facility in Boston, except it eschews the LTE focus for one on mobile-app innovation. Developers both big and small will be able to take advantage of several labs, where they'll be privy to Verizon equipment and services "not available elsewhere," all while being a stone's throw from Big Red's in-house engineers and developers. On hand was Qualcomm, whose MDPs garnished the test lab, and Chomp, whose app-search tech powered an impressive nine pane multi-touch App Wall -- allowing one to find and explore apps, replete with informative videos and QR codes for each. Want to know more? Check the gallery, videos and PR after the break. Myriam Joire contributed to this report. %Gallery-130367%
EverQuest II is now mobile
Have you ever thought during a boring business meeting, "What is going on in Norrath?" Perhaps that's what the designers at Sony Online Entertainment were thinking when they developed the mobile application for EverQuest II. Today, SOE announced EverQuest II Mobile. This free application is designed to keep you connected to your friends and characters in EverQuest II. Whether you're on an iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android phone, you can now speak to other Norrathians via any world channel or in-game email. You can track your character's location with the world map. Your character's profile, stats, and equipment are available for viewing. Most importantly, you can see what your guildmates are doing with the guild map tracker. For all the information about this new innovation from SOE, check out the official website or head to the iPhone, Android, or Blackberry store.
360iDev: Saurik on the mobile application market
Jay "Saurik" Freeman took the stage here at 360iDev last night to explain the mobile application marketplace. The entire mobile application marketplace, that is. Most people wrongly perceive the App Store to be a simple user-and-developer relationship, but in reality, it's a much more complicated place, with lots of inputs and outputs for time, money, and work. You can see the big picture of his chart above -- the "user" is the faceless woman near the middle, and the "developer" is the bearded man to her left. But everything else is a company or a connection that Saurik spoke about. Saurik runs the jailbreak app store Cydia (which has over 10,000 packages available, hundreds of which for a fee, on which they've pulled in over $1.3 million so far), and so he's closely interested in almost all facets of this relationship chart, and how money can flow from users of all kinds to developers across the world. In an entertaining and very insightful presentation, he basically walked the audience through his chart and, piece by piece, gave a wide-reaching overview of how the mobile app marketplace works today.
iPhone devsugar: The need for multiple ipa delivery
App Store clutter remains an ongoing issue. In addition to "business card" applications that offer little or no functionality beyond a simple web page[1], there are lite editions, demo editions, full editions, and even in the case of Tweetie 2, completely new applications providing upgraded functionality. Each of those applications must be registered with a unique app identifier, each one takes up a separate slot when installed on your iPhone's home screen, each application occupies a separate App Store listing, complete with its own screen shots, marketing material, reviews, and so forth. Each one must be managed by you in iTunes, where you must decide which to sync, which to keep, and so forth. Add to the mix, the possibility that we're likely to see iPad- and iPhone-specific application releases in the near future in addition to the Universal Application solution that Apple has been heavily promoting. That's because iPad applications offer developers the opportunity to re-imagine their interfaces, adding features without the constraints of the iPhone's small screen and modal interaction limitations. An iPad app that adds significant new functionality may branch off and become yet another related app in a single application family.
Battle.net authenticator now available for other platforms
The Battle.net mobile authenticator is now available for a wide variety of mobile platforms in several different countries through the Battle.net mobile store. Originally available only for the iPhone through the App Store, the mobile authenticator can now be used on virtually any phone that can run third-party applications. There's only one catch - unlike the original mobile authenticator found in the App Store, these new versions aren't free. The prices vary depending on your country due to PayPal conversion rates, but they amount to roughly $1 (it's €0.50 in parts of Europe).Despite the need to purchase it, we at WoW.com can't recommend it highly enough. Account security is an important thing, particularly with the rampant account hacking and phishing going on these days. Now that it's available to use in a wide variety of platforms, there's little reason not use the Battle.net mobile authenticator. A dollar is a very small price to pay for that additional layer of security.Editor's Note: Apparently now the download is showing as "Coming soon" for US/EU carriers. It was showing as up before, but now is not. We blame the Gnomes. Or Ghostcrawler.Thanks to Medros from All Things Azeroth for the tip!
CCP Games aims to extend EVE Online to iPhone and mobile phones
Nathan 'Oveur' Richardsson, Executive Producer for CCP Games, gave a 'state of the game' address last month about EVE Online, and hinted at some of the ways he'd like to see EVE evolve. Namely, how the game might expand by leveraging the EVE API. It looks like CCP is taking the next step in making this happen, from the announcement an EVE player came across -- one that suggests mobile and iPhone applications for EVE Online may be coming. Reykjavik University and MIT maintain cooperation through the MIT Industrial Liaison Program (ILP), which is essentially a way to tap the expertise of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for specific projects. An announcement on the ILP site states that CCP Games is interested in seeing what MIT students can come up with in terms of EVE mobile and iPhone applications that make use of EVE Online's API.
Forum post of the day: Mobile love
Recently, rumors have been spreading about a mobile application for WoW. Blizzard has been trying to get some information through a series of mobile service polls on the forums. Bornakk began a poll regarding the number of times forum users have downloaded games or applications for cellular devices. In the cellular era, Blizzard appears to be making our favorite MMORPG more mobile friendly. Many of the posters indicated that they have the latest in smartphones and thus are constantly adding new aps. This will likely encourage Blizzard to provide better mobile support. This will be handy considering that they have been resistant to third party mobile applications.
