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Google Calendar for Android becomes stand-alone app
Google has historically broken out preloaded Android apps like Gmail and Maps as stand-alone titles so that they don't have to be upgraded in lock-step with the main OS, but its Calendar app typically hasn't had that privilege. The isolation ends with a newly distinct Google Calendar that's treated as just another Google Play download. You'll need at least Android 4.0 or 4.1, which leaves relatively few differences between the download and what's already on your device, but that's not the point -- the change really lets Google move users on to the Jelly Bean app and beyond, even if their device makers aren't ready. Owners currently running Jelly Bean will still get a few extras, such as better support for non-Nexus hardware and a wider time range for calendar syncing. Hit the source link if you're game for that kind of futureproofing.
Rdio posts Android beta app with new sidebar UI, unified playback and remote control
Rdio has spent a large part of 2012 revamping its mobile app, and a new beta shows that it's still full of ideas with two months left to go. The 2.3 test version makes the ubiquitous hidden sidebar even more unavoidable than we've seen before, but those not irked by UI homogeneity will be happy to see Rdio gain some multi-device harmony: along with syncing whatever's being played from desktop to mobile and back, the beta introduces a remote control that lets Android gear either serve as the remote or as a target for other devices. A play-later queue persists across devices, too. Although we haven't been given a timeframe for the finished version pushing out through Google Play, there's nothing stopping avid subscribers from taking a slight risk with the beta and getting a taste of their musical future.
Star Trek Online shows off its new gateway
Avid players of Star Trek Online are going to have a new tool to use starting with the game's next major update, Season 7. But it's not an in-game tool -- it's specifically meant for use when you're not in the game. The latest development blog for the game outlines the upcoming Star Trek Online Gateway, allowing players to access in-game information remotely via desktop, smartphone, or tablet. At launch, the Gateway will only allow players to look up character status, ship status, officer status, and accolades. The development team is working on expanding the tool's functionality for the future, with the current features only scratching the surface of long term plans. And if you need to remember that you're playing Star Trek Online, the tool has been designed to resemble the ubiquitous LCARS interface from the series and game. It's not a groundswell of new content, but if you've long been waiting for the game to have some form of mobile functionality, the wait will be over soon.
Isis Mobile Wallet app for Android surfaces in Google Play, you probably can't run it
Unofficial rumblings have pointed to Isis Mobile Wallet's trial getting close. If you've remained skeptical all the same, we're pretty sure that seeing Isis' Android app in Google Play will change your mind. The currently T-Mobile-only software confirms that pilot program members will tie their American Express, Capital One or Chase card (as well as a unique card) to Isis for paying through NFC at stores with a SmartTap terminal. We're also promised streamlined loyalty cards and coupons. Before anyone rushes to try the app at the local shop, remember that it's just one piece of the puzzle on top of the special SIM card, one of three NFC-equipped phones and that small matter of living in Austin or Salt Lake City when the service goes live. Having the official app at least lets those who qualify get a head start on what could soon be the only major alternative to Google Wallet in the US.
Google revamps Developer Console for Google Play, eases tracking Android app ratings over time
Android developers need as much tender loving care for their interfaces as the users, don't they? Google thinks so, as it just reworked Google Play's Developer Console to offer a more direct, faster loading design. Along with scaling elegantly to let app writers see and manage many releases at a glance, the makeover gives developers a much more refined historical breakdown of app ratings. Creators can filter the star count through Android versions, carriers, countries, language, updates and even specific devices -- if you're convinced adding Kyocera Echo support was the ticket to improved ratings, you might have a chance to prove it. For anyone who isn't that determined to keep everyone happy, there's still a simplified publishing process and automatic translations for app descriptions in the store. Developers comfortable with a few limits on APK bundles can try the new console in a rough but mostly ready state ahead of its wider launch in the near future.
Rogers, CIBC may launch Suretap NFC-based payments on October 15th, require a unique SIM
Rogers and Canadian bank CIBC struck a deal for NFC-based mobile payments back in May, long enough ago that it was starting to fade out of the public consciousness. The alliance may be near refreshing our memory with a commercial launch in the cards. MobileSyrup has reportedly scored internal documents that has the two launching their e-commerce collaboration on October 15th under a slightly catchier Suretap name. Unfortunately, the text also suggests that the initial launch will require at least as much hoop-jumping from customers as for the original Google Wallet plans. Avoiding a traditional wallet will demand a BlackBerry Bold 9900 or Curve 9360 on Rogers, a CIBC MasterCard, nearby stores with PayPass terminals, a CIBC app and now a special NFC-enabled SIM card -- a set of criteria that disqualifies almost everyone, especially when there's supposedly a $50 ceiling on transactions. It remains a step forward for mobile payments in a country that has had very few options to start with, but we'd only anticipate widespread adoption once there's a much wider selection of devices and banks.
RIM opens BlackBerry 10 app submissions
Any BlackBerry 10 developers sufficiently entranced by their Dev Alpha units can now make good on the work they've accomplished so far. As promised, RIM is accepting app submissions for the platform ahead of its launch early next year. Fast-acting teams who jump in today should see their titles at the front of the queue when BlackBerry App World starts supporting the modern platform. They'll have to focus on full-touch hardware rather than mixed QWERTY and touch devices, however. There's no guarantee that RIM will see a flood of apps after opening its doors, but the company reminds us that there's incentives to move quickly -- 10,000 incentives, in fact.
Google drafts checklist for making top-notch Android tablet apps
Google's Senior Mobile VP Andy Rubin has been cool towards tablet apps, arguing that mobile titles shouldn't be tuned to a specific form factor. Whether you agree with that assessment or not, his company has produced an (arguably overdue) tablet app checklist to help developers with big screen ambitions. The step-by-step walkthrough tells developers how to make the most of all that free space and optimize for the larger hardware, touch input targets and widgets. There's a difference between having guidelines and getting app writers to follow them, but the checklist is an important step towards keeping that Galaxy Note 10.1 or Nexus 7 well-fed. [Thanks, Christopher]
BFI to digitize 10,000 British films as part of Film Forever investment plan
The British Film Institute plans to digitize and provide easier access to 10,000 British flicks as part of a new £500 million (approximately $800 million) "Film Forever" initiative. In addition to driving growth in the UK industry by investing in education, filmmaking and the like, the institute wants to put a mixture of free and paid content on its website, YouTube and VoD services. A BFIPlayer app will be providing a similar service to Samsung Smart TVs, PCs and mobile devices. Cinemas, DVDs and TV channels will also play host to the films, selected for digital rebirth by a bunch of experts and in part, by the general public. And, in the spirit of digitization, full details of the ambitious Film Forever enterprise (slated to run from 2012-2017) are available in e-brochure format at the source link below.
MoviePass launches iPhone app and card combo, takes unlimited viewing to all US theaters
While MoviePass was in early beta, it got more than a small amount of pushback from theaters that didn't like someone changing the price formula without their explicit say-so. The company just found an end-run around that conspicuous obstacle. It's releasing both an iPhone app and a reloadable card that, when combined, let MoviePass' effectively unlimited subscription model work at just about any US theater. The app unlocks the card for a specific showing; after that, it's only a matter of swiping the plastic at a payment kiosk like any old credit card. It's not as sophisticated as NFC or Pay With Square, to be sure, but it should keep the rude surprises to a minimum. Both the iOS app and the card require an invitation to the $30 monthly service if you're eager to get watching movies today. If either is too limiting, there's promises of both an Android app and wider availability in the future.
Visa lets iPhone-toting NatWest and RBS customers pay with NFC cases, join the future
Two can play at the UK-banks-with-NFC-payments game. RBS (and by extension, NatWest) is partnering with Visa Europe to roll out TouchPay, a mobile payment system based around an iCarte case for the iPhone 4 and 4S -- sorry, early iPhone 5 owners. In tandem with a native app, the service allows paying for goods at British shops by tapping the phone at a Visa-capable NFC terminal without needing the short-range wireless built-in. Any purchases under £20 ($32) can even skip the PIN code, if you're just in that much of a hurry to get a Pret À Manger sandwich. Only 1,000 of the 9,000 who pre-registered for TouchPay are getting into Visa's wallet-free initiative at this stage, although all NatWest and RBS customers with one of Apple's semi-recent smartphones can participate once a trial run is over. We're just wondering if and when Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 8 owners get in on the action.
BBC News Channel conducts live video interview over smartphone, goes where satellites can't (update with video)
We usually associate smartphones in news reporting with citizen journalism, not full-time journalists. However, a confluence of events has just led to the BBC's Nick Garnett becoming a pioneer for mobile broadcasting on the professional level. When a shortage of satellite trucks prevented Garnett from getting the usual video feed for the BBC News Channel, he successfully arranged the British network's first live video interview piped through a smartphone. The key, Garnett says, was Dejero's Live+ iPhone app: while live streaming apps are already commonplace, Dejero's let him merge the 3G and WiFi connections together, getting enough bandwidth to make a TV-worthy broadcast in a country where LTE is still very new. Combined with some very ad hoc staging and help from the BBC's technical teams, the coordination resulted in a surprisingly smooth interview about flooding in northeastern England with relatively few hints of the extra-tiny recording equipment involved. It's unlikely that broadcast crews will reach to their pockets for live coverage solutions before anything else, but the BBC is actively testing Dejero and other apps that could make smartphones as much a part of the field reporting arsenal as a camcorder and an eye for a good story. As we can't embed the clip, check the source link to see it for yourself. Update: We've now managed to embed the clip after the break.
BlueStacks teams with AMD to optimize Android App Player for Fusion, Radeon chips (video)
AMD has a disproportionately large $6.4 million investment in BlueStacks, and now we're seeing one clear reason why. The two companies have teamed up to create a special version of the BlueStacks App Player that's tuned for AMD's Fusion-based processors and Radeon graphics cards, running Android apps with the full help of the chip designer's hardware in Windows 7 and 8 PCs. Accordingly, over 500,000 Android apps are invading AMD's new AppZone portal without any needed tweaks of their own, giving the service a much larger catalog than if it had gone with Windows alone. Both companies have a clear incentive to this melding of desktop and mobile: BlueStacks suddenly gets exposure to as many as 100 million AMD-running users, while AMD can tout a giant app catalog that may be preloaded on future PCs using its components. We don't know if the world needs yet another avenue for playing Angry Birds, especially when many AMD-based PCs won't have touchscreens, but the BlueStacks partnership could be a strong lure for new PC buyers who'd like an instant software library.
iPhone 5 / iOS 6 app update roundup: new versions for a taller world
Call it a hunch, but we suspect that at least a few of you picked up an iPhone 5 today, or at least made the leap to iOS 6. If you're in either position, you may be wondering just what apps to feed Apple's flagship (or that fresh new firmware) once it's ready to go. We've got a quick-hit list of titles that have been updated to take advantage of the tall display and new OS that go beyond Apple's own work. The biggest upgrades of the lot come from keynote darling CNN as well as Flipboard: both have done more than add extra columns on the iPhone 5, offering an interface you won't see on any mere 3.5-inch iPhone. Some bread-and-butter apps have made the launch week cut as well, such as Facebook and Twitter. There's even more if you're willing to dig deep. Third-party Twitter client Tweetbot beat the official app to the punch by days, and we've likewise spotted updates to Evernote, its rival Remember the Milk and Yelp. We know some apps aren't fully iPhone 5- or iOS 6-native -- Instagram, for example, and most anything from Google -- but it's apparent that the holdouts are increasingly the exception, rather than the rule. Did you catch any other noteworthy apps that received a boost in recent hours? Let fellow owners know in the comments. CNN - App Store Evernote - App Store Facebook - App Store Flipboard - App Store Kindle - App Store Pulse - App Store Remember the Milk - App Store Tweetbot - App Store Twitter - App Store Yelp - App Store
Facebook revamps Messenger for Android with friendlier chats, teases core app update soon (update 2: iOS refresh as well)
Facebook has already been making its mea culpas for the state of its main Android app, and it's showing further atonement through an Android-first update to its Facebook Messenger companion release. The new app is imbued with a "more conversational" (if fairly familiar-looking) bubble-driven layout for chats. Likewise, it's easier to see if a conversation is needed in the first place: a friend status list is always available with a swipe, while fresh support for texting directly from Messenger can keep the discussion flowing when SMS comes into play. Android users can get the Messenger upgrade today, with promise of an iOS equivalent soon. The regular Android app is getting an update as well, although we wouldn't cry with joy just yet: it's more of a parallel to the Messenger update than the speed-up that some of us crave. Update: The company's Christian Legnitto has posted a lengthy explanation that the Messenger rework and the core Facebook update (already available) are part of a new strategy that brings Android and iOS updates at regular intervals, rather than waiting solely for major features. If all goes well, the social network can provide speed upgrades and bug fixes at a much quicker pace. Update 2: And the hits just keep on coming -- although today is mostly about Android, Facebook has tweaked its main app's iOS version (App Store) for iPhone 5 and iOS 6 support.
Enter at Your Own Rift: Fall colors... and more mead!
It wasn't that long ago that if you ever asked me what my favorite season was, I'd respond without hesitation, "Spring!" Being a Midwesterner means that spring is the rescue of winter doldrums and the march to summer. However, the past few years have swayed me to a different answer. I honestly feel that autumn has so much more to offer. Maybe it's that my favorite holiday, Halloween, lies smack-dab in the middle of it. Perhaps it's the fragrant smells and gorgeous sights of leaves turning. Definitely it has something to do with bonfires, hot apple cider, hayrides, and fleece jackets. So even while the last vestiges of 80-degree weather clings to my state, I'm already eager to dive head-first into a pile of leaves. Barring that, I'm more than content to revel in RIFT's newest festival, Autumn Harvest. Now with 100% more MEAD!
Twitter revamps its iPad app for expanded content, adds header photos and image streams
Twitter's iPad app is sometimes the neglected stepchild of its mobile app family: newer features usually come to the Android and iPhone versions first and are handed down to the iPad later, if they come at all. The company is making amends for that in style with a major update to the iPad version as of today. Whether you like them or not, expanded tweets are now baked in and will optionally show some photos, videos and web links within the timeline rather than disrupting the entire experience. The Connect, Discover and Me sections we've seen elsewhere also come to the tablet-tuned app, albeit at the expense of more quickly finding direct messages and lists. You'll soon notice a much more visual spin on people's profiles, regardless of whether or not Apple's slate factors into the daily routine. Both the Twitter site as well as the official Android and iOS apps now show a header photo behind the bio to provide a little more color than avatars and background pictures can manage. If you're on one of the mobile platforms, you'll also see a photo stream in the profile that will help relive memories without hunting down individual tweets. The phone and tablet makeovers require an update to shine, so hit the relevant source link if you're ready for a prettier (if not always more functional) social experience.
RIFT adds pumpkin patch lootables to mobile app
RIFT's recent 1.10 patch triggered the start of a brand-new festival for the game, the Autumn Harvest, and now Trion Worlds' mobile app is getting in on the fun. The team has added a Pumpkin Patch scratcher to its lootables section, giving users a chance to win festival loot for their in-game characters. The new lootable is available for a limited time only, presumably until the end of the game's festival. Lucky winners can nab currency for the event or a goodie bag containing special food. Lootables are free lottery-type scratchers that are granted once every hour on the mobile app, with a maximum of six kept in reserve at any one time.
Google buys Snapseed developer Nik Software, raises the eyebrows of Instagram shutterbugs
Google makes a lot of acquisitions, some of them more important than others. Its latest purchase might skew towards the grander side, as it just bought imaging app developer Nik Software. While the company is known for pro photography apps like Capture NX and its Efex Pro series, the real prize might be Snapseed, Nik's simpler image tool for desktop and iOS users. Both Nik and Google's Senior Engineering VP Vic Gundotra are silent on the exact plans, but it doesn't take much to imagine a parallel between Facebook's buyout of Instagram and what Google is doing here: there's no direct, Google-run equivalent to Instagram's social photo service in Android or for Google+ users, and Nik's technology might bridge the gap. Whether or not Googlegram becomes a reality, the deal is likely to create waves among photographers of all kinds -- including those who've never bought a dedicated camera.
Shazam now rides shotgun with any TV show in the US, gets cozier with Facebook
Shazam doesn't want to let GetGlue control all our couch potato time -- it just rolled out an upgrade to its TV component that lets the mobile app provide social sharing, soundtrack and trivia details for nearly any TV show in the US, not just those deemed worthy of special attention. The app mirrors the program it's looking at -- we'll see stats instead of IMDb if we're watching hockey, for example. Whether or not attention is locked on the bigger screen in the living room, Shazam's little screen is making Facebook more a centerpiece of the experience. Media mavens can comment on friends' tagging habits and post their own tags to their Facebook timelines for all to see. The wider universe of TV shows should be available today, although we'll have to wait for an update in the "coming weeks" to broadcast our tastes in media with the rest of the world.
