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US Census Bureau posts its first API, allows smartphone apps for the stat-obsessed
As much as the US Census Bureau has worked to embrace the digital space, its sea of data has been largely locked away from developers not keen on doing much of the heavy lifting. As of late last week, however, there's now a public app programming interface (API) for quickly putting all of that knowledge to work. Both mobile and web apps can hook into either the complete 2010 census or the 2006-2010 American Community Survey, bringing in basic demographics as well as more complicated subjects such as commuting habits and education. The Bureau sees the API leading to not just a more informed public, but to smarter government as well -- imagine a state government that knows the income levels by county through a custom smartphone app. Budding statistics hounds can request a key for API use right away, but if you'd rather just see what public access will mean in practice, you can check out an app gallery at the second source link below.
Homescreen.me out of beta, lets you share your most essential apps
Created by iXyr, Homescreen.me is a neat little web app that lets you share your iOS homescreens for the world to see. Once you grab an image of your homescreen (by simultaneously pressing the power and home button), you can upload the image manually to Homescreen.me using a web interface or send it to the service using a unique email address that automatically posts it to your account. The service also lets you add text to each homescreen post so you can explain your chosen layout and describe your apps. There's no commenting and you can't follow other profiles, so right now, it's a one-way conversation from you to the world. You can sign up for a profile at Homescreen.me and let us know what you think in the comments. I like what I see in this early version and look forward to seeing the service expand. [hat tip The Next Web] #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; } #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
Canonical integrating Ubuntu WebApps in Quantal Quetzal (video)
Soon enough, Chrome OS won't be the only game in town when it comes to tightly integrated web apps running on a Linux core. Today Canonical announced Ubuntu WebApps, a new feature that will be integrated into version 12.10 of the open-source OS, Quantal Queztal. In its simplest form this means being able to place an icon in the launcher and open your favorite sites and services as standalone windows. When you visit a compatible page in the browser an alert pops up asking if you want to "install" it as a WebApp. So far, most of the engineers' efforts have focused on Firefox, but Pete Goodall (a product manager at Canonical) said Chrome and Chromium support is also in the works. The really fun starts, though, when devs start playing with the new APIs and Greasemonkey-like extensibility offered. WebApps will be able to access many of Unity's finer features like progress bars in the launcher, the sound menu and messaging menu as well. So now you can get desktop alerts from Gmail without installing some wonky app or setting up Thunderbird. WebApps can even tap into the HUD, though, it'll be up to the devs to expose the appropriate actions to the search-as-you-type menu system. Of course, this is all just the first step. More APIs will eventually expose additional features, and high on that list is hardware access -- an essential feature for video and voice chat. Another key plan is integrating web credentials with desktop apps. So, if you log into Facebook in the browser, Shotwell will recognize that and upload imported photos to your profile. The initial list of recognized apps is small, but impressive, including Twitter, Last.FM, GMail, Google+, Facebook and YouTube. And, while the feature is set to debut in October with Quantal, Pangolin devotees will also be able to take advantage simply by adding a repository to their software sources. Update: You'll now find the PR and a nice demo video after the break.
Zoho's Office suite gets Google Drive integration, keeps its freemium status
Zoho's been offering its handy Office suite for quite some time on the web, but now the company's making it even better by integrating its productivity applications with Google's cloudy Drive. Naturally, this includes the full set of internet-based apps, such as Zoho Writer for word processing, Zoho Sheet to take care of spreads and Zoho Show for when you need to knock out some presentations. Best of all, you won't have to shell out any cash on the app trio, and you can grab 'em all from the Chrome Web Store link below.
Enyo 2.0 released in finished form, shares webOS' web app legacy with everyone
HP's plans to open-source webOS included mention of Enyo 2.0, a framework designed to spread webOS' learnings to other platforms -- to spread the love around, so to speak. The code foundation, while behind schedule, has just left beta: any developer with a mind to producing web apps can now create interface elements and whole apps using the technology derived from Palm's legacy. Any reasonably modern browser will run the end result, whether it's running Android, iOS or a full-fledged desktop release. We may never recreate the exact feeling of using an HP TouchPad on our iPads and Galaxy Tabs, but we know that some of its software design heritage will carry on.
Facebook App Center goes globetrotting with 7 new countries, blankets all of the English-speaking world
Facebook's App Center is having its passport stamped quite a lot lately. Just days after the HTML5 app portal set foot in the UK, it's making the leap to seven more countries. Brazil, France, Germany, Russia, Spain, Taiwan and Turkey will all get a crack at using web apps both on the desktop as well as in the Android and iOS native clients. The new group is coming onboard in the next few weeks. In the meantime, countries where English makes a frequent appearance -- Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK and the US -- now supply the App Center for every single user. To help speed along the virtual customs claims, Facebook is trotting out a translation tool to get developers on the right track. It shouldn't be long before App Center is a mainstay of the entire Facebook world, even though we may end up cursing the company after hour three of a Jetpack Joyride marathon.
BitTorrent Torque alpha puts file seeds on the web, makes desktop apps look stale
Almost without fail, BitTorrent downloads have had to spread through a dedicated client, whether it's on the desktop or a router. Thankfully, BitTorrent Torque has just come in alpha form to liberate the peer download service from its software chains. All that's needed now is a web browser that can parse a JavaScript app. Going the new route gives some freedom to enable sharing that hasn't always been practical: among the tricks in the company's Torque Labs are drag-and-drop sharing, conversion of torrents into traditional downloads and easing the burden on a server for video streaming. The alpha stage leaves Torque with awhile to go before it's ready for the limelight, but experimenters can hit the source link to start tinkering with distributed file sharing today.
Chrome Web Store offers app recommendations from your Google+ mates, allows you to return the favor
Looking to your online pals for some Chrome Web Store suggestions? If so, the folks at Google have just made accessing said list of recommendations much easier. The outfit unveiled a new feature for the app repository that allows you to see all of the add-ons that your Google+ mates are raving about. You'll also be able to provide some tips of your own thanks to the addition of the trusty +1 button on the detail page of each offering. Just in case you forget to hit the "From Your Circles" link before browsing, each application will bear a stamp of approval -- should it be deemed worthy of the extra clicks. If you're short on acquaintances or are still new to the social network, the Chrome dev team's lists will appear for you as well.
Google: Chromebooks now serve web-happy students in over 500 European, US school districts
Whatever you think of the latest round of Chromebooks, school districts have clearly latched on to existing models. Over 500 school districts across Europe and the US are currently deploying the Google-powered laptops for learning the web way. Specialized web app packs and that rare leasing model are already keeping the material relevant and the hardware evergreen, but new certification for US ready-for-college criteria will go a long way towards making sure principals everywhere take a shine to Chrome OS in the future. That still leaves a lot of schools going the more traditional Mac or Windows PC route, with the occasional tablet strategy thrown in; regardless, we're sure Google doesn't mind taking any noticeable chunk of the market in a relatively brief period of time. We'll see if there's more reasons for Mountain View to get excited in a few days.
Chrome Web Store adds offline app section, more markets and greater analytics for developers
Just two months ago, Google added badges to its Chrome Web Store to denote whether a specific app offers offline functionality. Now, the company is making it easier for users to specifically root out these apps with a new offline section in the Chrome Web Store. The change won't be immediately apparent to many, as the "Offline Apps" section is nested within the "Collections" portion of the store, but once here, users will find a host of familiar titles such as Angry Birds, Google Calendar, Google Docs and Offline Google Mail, along with selections such as Nitro for task management, NYTimes for news and Space Invaders for those who like to kick it old school. Along with the new collection, Google is also making life a bit sweeter for developers. First, it's announcing the availability of the Chrome Web Store in Turkey, Ukraine, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. Along with this, devs will find new analytics tools to view the trending performance of their titles throughout the past 90 days. For a bit more insight, feel free to hit up the source link below.
Mozilla Marketplace is live, lets you run web apps like desktop programs
An early version of the Mozilla Marketplace is currently live, offering users with the Firefox 16 Nightly build some 100-plus apps to install, including Evernote, Jolicloud and Springpad. Apps from the store can run on Mac or Windows machines, and it looks like Linux support is here, too. As Liliputing reports, rather than just providing web apps and extensions à la the Chrome Web Store, the Mozilla Marketplace offers apps that act more like desktop programs once installed: they'll show up in your list of installed programs, for instance, and they can be launched from the Windows Start Menu.
Facebook App Center for mobile leaks out on iOS, uses peer pressure to clinch the sale
While Facebook said it would deliver a version of its App Center store for mobile, it was shy on how that would work. An early iOS tester (since confirmed by TechCrunch) apparently didn't want to wait for an official explanation and slipped out a handful of shots: they show a mobile-optimized store that will look familiar to anyone who's picked up an iPhone or an Android phone in the past few years, but with an appropriately social bent. Friends' recommendations come front and center, and are so prominent that they take precedence over the app description; we're wondering if Facebook isn't pressuring us into downloading apps like it's a schoolyard dare. Facebook is still reluctant to say when App Center will hit pint-size proportions for everyone, though the largely complete-looking test version gives us hope for a quicker launch.
Google acquires Quickoffice, expands cloud-based app suite for enterprise
What's a search giant with nigh endless cash reserves to do? Acquire, acquire, acquire -- that's what. In keeping with its recent track record, Google's taken yet another company under its ever expansive wing with the purchase of Quickoffice. The move, no doubt positioned to further the company's reach in enterprise cloud services, should enhance its existing portfolio of GApps and, by logical extension, Docs. It's safe to say that the company just bought itself an existing suit-and-tie user base and a mobile future filled with even more native productivity applications. Check out the source below for Mountain View's official release.
Google snags the webOS Enyo team, HP says open source plans are still on schedule (Update)
At one time the Enyo app framework was supposed to help webOS run faster and on a wider variety of devices, but as HP continues to struggle, reports have surfaced from The Verge and AllThingsD that much of the team behind it, including leader Matthew McNulty, has been hired away by Google. Numbering a half dozen or so, the immediate danger is the effect this might have on HP's efforts to open source webOS, but in a statement the company indicated it remains on track and will stick to the roadmap it announced in January. Less clear is what these employees might end up working on for Google, although Enyo's focus on web apps and HTML5 suggests the possibility they'll end up working on ChromeOS projects. Update: The remaining members of the Enyo team have also chimed in now, with a blog post indicating yes, some "key members" have left, but that "the majority of the engineering and leadership team remains." Of course, while it continues work on the product there are some job openings now, so interested coders are encouraged to toss an application HP's way.
Google Search for iPhone gets the 2.0 remake, full-screen search and swipes aplenty
Google gave its official search app an iPad remake late last year, and now it's smaller iPhone and iPod touch devices getting the new UI's treatment. As of Google Search App 2.0, the smaller iOS devices see a big emphasis on full-screen navigation, with an automatic full-screen mode and a dedicated full-screen photo search making the most of the limited display real estate. You can now swipe back to search results like you could with the iPad, and it's overall much faster in the app to hop between different search types as well as web apps like Calendar or Gmail. There's still something in it for you if you've already been deep into the iPad port's interface, as the tablet and the iPhone alike can now save photos directly to the iOS camera roll. You'll need at least iOS 4.2 to live in Google's non-Android mobile universe, but those that measure up can leap in through the source link.
Upcoming Mozilla Marketplace lacks Linux support; open-source fix in the works
Back in March, Mozilla outlined plans to further integrate web apps into Firefox to complement its upcoming Marketplace. And while the web store will launch with Windows and OS X compatibility, the browser has -- at least for the time being -- snubbed Linux. Given that Firefox is the default browser for most Linux distros, the community behind that OS is none too pleased. Though Mozilla execs have expressed their desire to add Linux support eventually, community contributors are already working on a patch to add compatibility for GNOME desktop. How's that for taking matters into your own hands?
iCloud.com slip-up shows Notes and Reminders, iOS 6 references
Looks like Apple's going to add more than just banner notifications to iCloud.com in the near future: a randomly available beta.icloud.com page has shown Notes and Reminders alongside familiar iCloud fixtures like email and Find My iPhone. If that wasn't enough, some skulking about in the HTML code of the beta page showed for a time that access to the new features requires signing in to the "iOS 6 beta," a fairly strong indicator that a web refresh will go hand-in-hand with a new mobile platform at this year's WWDC. What else is in store will likely have to wait until the developer event next month, but we at least know now that our iPhone's grocery lists will survive on the web. [Thanks, Tommy]
Facebook starts App Center beta, readies itself for paid web apps
Facebook is no stranger to letting members use real money in web apps, but only for in-app purchases. Its new App Center on the web and in mobile versions will let you buy web apps that have an up-front cost to use rather than shoehorning you into a freemium or subscription model. The portal will even have its own shopping portal, although it'll mostly be based around -- surprise -- recommendations coming from your social network profile. The addition should, in theory, lead to premium games and other apps that wouldn't fit into the Facebook Credit mould. Facebook is taking developer beta sign-ups now, although the apps themselves will have to wait.
Apple inadvertently teases iCloud.com banner notifications, pings your browser iOS 5-style
Apple already made clear that it was expanding iOS 5-like notifications to the desktop with OS X Mountain Lion, but it now looks as though that's extending to your web browser, too. Some visitors to iCloud.com have reported seeing notifications show at the top of the page that were both based on iOS' look and which were clearly not ready for prime time -- not unless Default Title for English is a new iCloud feature, at least. There's no indication of how advanced notifications might become in Apple's web portal, or if they'll transition from development cocoon to public butterfly at all. In the meantime, though, keep an eye on the top of your browser and let us know if you see anything leap out in the near future.
Flickr outs new Uploadr feature for image uploads: HTML5-based, drag-and-drop UI
If you'll recall, it was only a few weeks ago when Flickr announced Aviary was replacing the vanished Picnik as the main photo-editing tool on the site. Now, continuing its ongoing makeover, the Yahoo-owned image hosting service is introducing yet another feature. Uploadr, as it's very cleverly dubbed, is an HTML5 web apparatus, which Flickr says will make for a "completely new uploading experience." There's a few major attributes Uploadr brings to the table, including improvements in the speed department, a drag-and-drop UI and bigger file size limits for paid and free users. Flickr notes that folks will now see a boost in uploading speeds of up to 30 percent, while "some" international users may see a spike of somewhere between 50-60 percent. As for file sizes, the limits have been bumped to 50MB for Pro hogs and 30MB for those enjoying the freebies. Uploadr's set to be rolling out over the "next couple of weeks," and is currently offering browser support for Chrome, Safari and Firefox.
