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500px launches Android app, adds iPad update on the side
Confined to the imposing shadow of a certain filter-heavy Facebook purchase, 500px is another photo-sharing network making the eco-system leap to Android. 500px is built around collections of high-quality images that are automatically updated and streamed, with a full search option to seek out specific images. Alongside the ability to share photos on the likes of Twitter and Facebook, professionals can attempt to make their fortune by selling their images through the app and companion website. If you're just there for the sumptuous landscapes and close-ups, however, you can collate slideshows from photostreams and build up your own collection of favorite images. 500px has unleashed an update to its iPad version at the same time, cranking up the resolution to make the most of the new retina display and adding the ability to download full-size HD versions of your purchased photos. Anyone concerned with the little ones perusing some of the more risqué images can also breathe a sigh of relief -- 500px has added an improved NSFW filter. If you're overwhelmed with Instagram's new influx of enthusiastic patrons, you can try 500px's slightly different approach to photo sharing at the download links below.
Nest Thermostat update adds 10-day history, helps send chilly air through the home
There's a first for everything, including Engadget stories about software updates for thermostats. If we're going to suddenly start getting granular in our coverage of home automation products, though, we may as well start with the Nest, a device slick enough to make us use "thermostat" and "sexy' in the same sentence. Now that it's been out on the market for about five months, the company's issuing a software update that introduces a couple new features. For starters, particularly fastidious users can now access a detailed 10-day history, showing precisely when and for how long their heating and cooling systems kicked in, as well as the reason for that shift (e.g., you manually changed the temperature, were away). Though you can't view all that data on the device's small, circular screen, you can look it up online or through Nest's iOS and Android apps. Next up is Airwave, a feature that uses your fan to distribute chilled air through the home after your air conditioner has turned off (you know, instead of letting one room get intensely, unnecessarily cold). According to Nest, that feature turns on automatically when the temperature is high and the humidity low, though we're hazy on the algorithm being used there. Rounding out the list, Nest has made certain settings easier to access, and the hardware itself will ship with redesigned connectors that purport to work well even without wall anchors. Save for that last bit, current owners can enjoy all these tweaks via a free software update -- fully automated, 'o course.
Twitter for BlackBerry 3.0 brings easier photo-uploading, automatic link-shortening, BBM integration
Listen up, you BlackBerry users, you: RIM's just released a new version of its Twitter app, and though the list of new features is hardly earth-shaking, they should all be welcome additions to those of you who've been making do with version 2.0. On board we've got automatic link-shortening, for starters, along with BlackBerry Messenger integration (read: the ability to link your Twitter account with BBM). So far so good, right? You can also upload photos to pic.twitter.com directly from your device's camera, or as you're composing tweets. Finally, Twitter says it's made it easier to share websites from within the browser. So long as you've got BlackBerry 5 installed as your OS, you can get your download on at the link below. Still haven't upgraded from 4.6? Sorry, folks, you're stuck with version 2.0.
Box for Android updated to 1.5: adds widgets, uploading from any app, magic
Box.net, an online cloud storage service, has made a few facelifts to the latest version of its Android app to help you get the most out of that 50GB storage limit it offered last month. The newest update offers a front page widget that shows you the progress of any files currently undergoing modifications or uploads; it also includes the ability to upload email attachments or other downloaded files directly from whatever app you're in. Lastly, version 1.5 also gives you the option of creating documents in the office app of your choice and saving it in Box, rather than the doc editor. The service now boasts 1.9 million mobile users, so it's nice to see the company get serious about making some crucial improvements to its user experience.
Google Translate app update adds handwriting recognition, breaks barriers
The Google Translate app for Android received a pretty significant update yesterday, bringing handwriting recognition to its bullpen of functionalities. The app, which added voice recognition back in October, can now recognize handwriting in seven different languages, including English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish. It's probably most important, however, for Chinese- and Japanese-speaking contingents, who can now use their handsets to translate characters that aren't typically featured on English keypads. The update to version 2.3 is available now, at the source link below.
Google+ update will add new Hangout features, give first dibs to famous people
The Big G has detailed a few changes that are en route in forthcoming updates to both the Google+ desktop interface, the Android app and -- with an undisclosed lag -- the iOS app. You and your inner circle will soon be able to attach Hangout invitations to specific posts, so you can "upgrade the conversation from long-form to live" with a single click. The Hangouts On Air self-broadcasting feature is still in development and only available to selected celebs, but Google is about to roll it out to "hundreds more" public figures and users with large followings, while also adding features that will eventually appeal to normal people's vanity too: including the ability to upload full-length and private recordings of your supposedly charismatic rants to your YouTube account. See the source link for more.
Mobile Miscellany: week of July 25, 2011
Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of July 18, 2011: Remember the Samsung i927 with AT&T logos we saw spy shots of a few days back? These photos came with others' speculation -- and our skepticism -- that this would be the Galaxy S II Rethought Possible. Our hesitation to call this one a surety was spot-on, however, as we've now been told this phone model is not the mystical Samsung Attain after all. Could the i777, just seen wandering through the FCC testing facilities, be it instead? [via BGR] Google's updated its Maps for Android app to include My Places, photo uploading, and a few other goodies. [via Google] Foursquare posted an update to its BlackBerry application; within it, the app now offers support for BBM integration. [via PhoneArena] T-Mobile's rumored Value plans took effect this week, offering a lower price point for anyone who either owns a T-Mobile device already or brings an unlocked GSM handset to start the plan. [via T-Mobile] Sprint unveiled new "Business Freedom Plans" -- business pooled voice and data options that don't come attached with any commitments. [via Sprint]
Barnes and Noble's Nook Android app now supports magazines, tablets, your Cosmo obsession
Barnes and Noble's Nook app for Android just got a bit more bathroom-friendly. Yesterday, the company unveiled an update that supports magazines on devices running Android 2.1 or higher, allowing users to subscribe to publications and download single issues directly from their tablets. Once you update, you'll notice a new magazines section in the app's shop, where you can purchase, download and read to your heart's desire. The update also patches up a few bugs for HTC Thunderbolt, adds support for tablet users on Honeycomb and should help tide us over until later this month, when B&N may or may not announce something even bigger. Full PR after the break.
TripIt goes First Class with new universal app for iPad
For those of us who use the TripIt service and app to keep track of our upcoming travel plans, the lack of an iPad version of the app was somewhat annoying. You could always load the iPhone app onto your iPad and use the 2X button to expand the size, but it just didn't look or feel right. Third-party apps that accessed TripIt's API, like TravelTracker Pro, filled the gap, but they didn't have that TripIt 'made here' feel. All of our requests for the iPad app were answered today, as the travel organizer has come out with a new universal version of the app. The app is available in two flavors -- a free, ad-supported version and a US$3.99 version without advertising. The TripIt iPad edition is nicely designed to take advantage of the extra space afforded by the tablet's screen, and large maps that display your trip plans to accentuate the information in your itineraries. If you already use TripIt and have been wanting a bit of additional "legroom" in the app, download the update right now. A few screenshots of the iPad version can be seen in the gallery below. %Gallery-122730%
Keeping your Mac apps up-to-date without the Mac App Store
One of the great features of the Mac App Store is the notification system that tells you when there is an update to one of you apps. However as we've seen, unless you buy all your apps through the Mac App Store, you won't receive notice of updates to apps purchased or download outside the store. Luckily there is a very handy widget I've used for years (and that we've noted before) that automatically scours the net for updates to installed apps on your Mac. AppUpdate is the brainchild of Georg Kaindl and with the click of a button searches three software tracking sites: Apple's (soon to be defunct) Downloads page, MacUpdate, and Version Tracker (now owned by Cnet). After running the widget, you'll see links all the updates to the apps on your Mac. You'll still have to click the links to go to the app's download pages, but running this widget is a lot less time-consuming than going to all of the software tracking sites and entering your apps manually, or even running the "Check for Updates" menu command that many apps offer. (If you prefer a non-widget update manager, both Cnet's TechTracker Free and the under-development Appfresh are worth checking out.) The developer notes that he knows Version Tracker has been rolled into Cnet, and that he will be updating the widget to scan Cnet's Download pages in the future. As for the Apple Downloads pages, the scanning works for now. But even without these two sources, I've found MacUpdate always offers the most current listings of any app updates. AppUpdate is a free download -- best of all it works on any Mac that is running Mac OS X 10.4 or later.
Gmail for Android update improves Priority Inbox, adds additional compose and send options
Hey, Google just rolled out Gmail for Android 2.3.2, which improves support for Priority Inbox and adds in a couple much-needed compose and send options. Priority Inbox gets some buffed-up views and controls to change importance settings, and Gmail can now send a notification upon receipt of an important email, which is incredibly cool. Even better, the compose screen now lets you specify any sending address you've setup in desktop Gmail, which is a slice of pure email heaven for those of us who juggle multiple accounts from one inbox. You can also respond to messages inline now and swap between reply, reply-all, and forward much more easily. Best of all, if you're running Froyo you can hit that QR code and go grab the update right now since Google broke Gmail out into a Market app -- no need to wait for your pokey manufacturer / carrier to roll out Gingerbread. (Then again, if you're still waiting for Froyo you might not be quite as pleased.) Ain't modularity grand?
VersionTracker.com officially 'absorbed' by CNET
Have you been to VersionTracker.com lately? If you try today, you'll be redirected to the CNET site, where you'll get a brief explanation that the venerable VersionTracker site is now a branded part of the CNET empire. VersionTracker Pro, a paid feature, will be discontinued after the current subscriptions run out. The VersionTracker newsletters will continue, but they will be rebranded as CNET products. CNET has put up a page explaining the changes. This process actually began in 2007, when CNET acquired VersionTracker, MacFixIt, and iPhone Atlas. VersionTracker goes back to 1995, when it was a Mac only site. Over time, the content expanded to include Windows software. The familiar layout of VersionTracker has been changed, and it may startle a few users. I don't think MacFixIt was improved any by the CNET takeover, and I don't have high hopes for VersionTracker, either, but I'm going to keep an open mind. CNET was acquired by CBS two years ago. Other than the irritating and frequent plugs for CBS TV, the site is still useful and continues to aggressively cover all things related to tech. If you need an alternative to VersionTracker, MacUpdate is still around, and AppFresh (based on i use this) and Logiciel are worth a look. There is also a Dashboard Widget called App Update that will check for software updates. [via Daring Fireball]
Widget Watch: App Update
I could've sworn we've blogged this, but a peek at our extensive archives turned up nothing: App Update, like Widget Update, is a widget that acts like Software Update for all your non-Apple apps. It allows you to specify any extra directories where you store your apps if, like me, you put them wherever you want, and it can ping Apple, MacUpdate and VersionTracker to see if any updates are available. App Update even has limited support for checking on Quicktime Components, Frameworks and Preference Panes, and it can be automated, with Growl support rounding off the list.App Update is free, really handy and available from DashboardWidgets.Thanks Alex
