With Printic, just choose a handful of photos from one or more sources, and the app will deliver Polaroid-style prints to you door. (Credit: Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET) It’s one thing to share your photos on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but sometimes you just want old-fashioned prints. You know, the kind you can stick to your fridge, clip to a board, hang on a wall, and so on.
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Zinio's Z-Pass gives you a choice of three magazines for $5 monthly. But is that really a good deal? (Credit: Zinio) I love a good magazine. That’s why I’m hoping digital distribution services like Next Issue and Zinio can help usher in the age of the digital periodical. Yesterday, Zinio gave it a little nudge by unveiling Z-Pass, a sort of a la carte subscription option: three magazines for $5 per month
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The seventh version of Apple’s iOS software is almost upon us! But which features does Apple’s grid-based operating system desperately need to add, and which ones will Tim Cook and pals probably ignore completely? That’s what we’re asking in this video, so hit play on the clip above as we rattle through the apps and tweaks that we want to see, as well as the things we probably won’t. A fresh, ‘flat’ redesign
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(Credit: Sharon Vaknin/CNET) Good assistants — the kind you can’t live without — are hard to come by. For starters, they should always be on time; any lag simply won’t do. They should also get things right the first time, because who has time for inaccuracies? And, last of all, the assistant should be so good, they’re always a few steps ahead of their boss.
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(Credit: Millennial Media) Android scooped up more than half of all ad impressions seen by Millennial Media last quarter, according to the ad network’s new MobileMix report. For the first quarter, Android won 52 percent of all impressions (the number of times a mobile ad is displayed), up from 49 percent in the year-ago quarter. In second place, iOS accounted for 39 percent of all impressions, up from 33 percent.
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Tim-e can wake you up with interactive games, music, or snarky comments. (Credit: Kickstarter) For the snooze kings and queens of the world, an even more annoying alarm clock is a must. Well, here’s a droid with a “hilarious personality” that looks like it needs a good kick.
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Findables is your basic two-piece smartphone case, but with a custom QR code used for sharing information. (Credit: Findables) QR codes haven’t exactly set the world on fire, yet most people know what they are, and most phones can scan them, either out of the box or with a third-party app. The Findables Case takes that idea to heart by emblazoning a unique QR code on each hard-plastic shell, the idea being to use that code to share information about yourself or help recover your lost phone. In other words, your case can now take the place of your business card, while at the same time offering good Samaritans a means of contacting you (that doesn’t involve poring through your address book)
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At its BlackBerry Live conference in Orlando, Fla., BlackBerry announced that it’s finally bringing its BlackBerry Messenger service (BBM) to Android phones and iPhones this summer. The app allows you to send messages and photos using your Internet connection, rather than using your text allowance. It’ll be going up against messaging apps WhatsApp and Viber, both of which offer very similar services and are already available across iOS, Android, and other platforms. I’ve pitted all three against each other to see which should take pride of place on your phone. Head on over to the full article on CNET UK to read more.
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Looking for workout tunes that play at least 128 bpm? Fit Radio has those and a lot more, all streamed to your phone or PC free of charge. (Credit: Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET) The more I run, the more I realize my regular playlist isn’t cutting it. Even with some 150 hand-picked songs, I get bored hearing the same ones over and over
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(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET) Last year, Google I/O — Google’s annual event for the developer community — treated us to skydiving, arena-cycling Google Glass wearers, and a whole crazy landscape of wearable tech. This year, Glass is finally in the hands of thousands of developers, tech journalists, and other early adopters, but as we head back to another Google I/O, there’s a lot about Glass that’s yet to be discovered. The present of Google Glass is intriguing, embryonic, and very bare-bones. Here’s what I hope we see in the near future, starting this week. Apps, apps, apps There are precious few actual apps for Google Glass
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Lego Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles offers fun, fairly simple RTS action. (Credit: Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET) It was barely two weeks ago that Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes made a wonderful iOS debut, and suddenly there’s another Lego-themed game in the App Store: Lego Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles. Woot! The bad news: This isn’t a port of any of the classic Lego Star Wars games that have appeared on consoles over the years.
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(Credit: Aio Wireless) Well, this is interesting. AT&T launched a brand-new prepaid network on Thursday that goes head-to-head with T-Mobile’s new no-contract model. Called Aio Wireless (pronounced AY-oh), the new wireless service provider leans on AT&T’s network and offers a range of prepaid devices, including Apple’s iPhone 5, which costs 649.99 full retail. Other smartphones are decidedly more entry-level, and Aio does not offer premium devices like the Samsung Galaxy S4 or Nokia Lumia 920. It does, however, sell Nokia’s budget Lumia 620 Windows phone 8 device for $179.99
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(Credit: Apple) A boost in hiring from one of Apple’s key suppliers could be yet another sign of a low-cost iPhone. Pegatron, which makes the iPhone and iPad, said that it will build up its workforce in China by up to 40 percent during the second half of the year, Reuters reported today. Such a huge increase suggests that the company could be equipping its factories to produce the much-rumored low-cost iPhone, which could launch sometime in the third quarter. Certain suppliers have already told Reuters that Apple is prepping a less expensive model of its smartphone geared toward developing markets
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Morgan Stanley chimed in Wednesday with a note to investors about upcoming iPhone models. (Credit: Apple) A Morgan Stanley note to investors adds to the mounting evidence of new iPhones coming in the fall. In a research note on Wednesday titled, “Systems and PC Hardware Asia Trip Takeaways Part I,” Katy Huberty of Morgan Stanley said new iPhones appear to be on the way. “Multiple new iPhone SKUs begin production in Jun/Jul, on track with the Sept launch we model,” she wrote in a note sent to investors and obtained by CNET. Related stories The iPhone 5S rumor roundup That’s not exactly breaking news — as speculation of new iPhones has been rife — but the fact the Huberty is in Asia talking to suppliers lends credence to the September launch of new iPhones, such as the rumored iPhone 5S
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A device with an invisible button that illuminates when needed. (Credit: Apple/USPTO) The iPhone could one day come with buttons and controls that blend right into the background, effectively making them invisible. Granted to Apple on Tuesday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, a patent dubbed “Disappearing button or slider” describes how various controls on the iPhone and other devices would normally stay hidden and fully appear only when needed. A button would be made of the same material as the housing of the phone, so it would blend in seamlessly.
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Mass production will begin in June for the 'next' iPhone, according to a Japanese-language industrial newspaper. (Credit: Apple) A Japan-based report indicates that production of at least one key component for the next iPhone will begin next month. Sharp will begin volume production in June of the display “panel” for the “next” iPhone model at its Kameyama plant in Mie prefecture, according to a report in Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, a major Japanese industrial newspaper. Related stories The iPhone 5S rumor roundup Sharp’s Kameyama plant has not been operating at anywhere near full capacity but production of the next iPhone’s display is expected to bring the plant to “full production,” the report said
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The callback code opens links from third-party iOS apps in Chrome with a return button. (Click the image for full size.) (Credit: Google) Code is king at Google, and a Google-made software module for iOS released on Tuesday allows you to go from third-party app to Chrome for iOS and back again with a simple tap. The module, called OpenInChromeController class with x-callback is the second end-run around core Apple restrictions in as many days. On Monday, Google updated Gmail for iOS with the ability to open links from Gmail in Google’s other iOS apps. Once developers incorporate the new software module, it will open links from the app in Google Chrome, provided that the user has Chrome for iOS installed.
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(Credit: CNET) It wasn’t very long ago that for a developer to make a successful weather app, it had to have the most information possible. This meant developers would compete to pack tons of graphs, maps, diagrams, written forecasts, and even forums where people could talk about weather, into busy confusing apps that tried to cover it all. But what you ended up with were long list-like menus when the only information you probably wanted was what the weather might be like for the weekend. Don’t get me wrong, the feature-packed weather apps have their place, particularly when you’re monitoring hurricanes, tornadoes, and other potentially disastrous weather systems
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(Credit: Scott Stein/CNET) When the Pebble watch unveiled its first Kickstarter videos, it seemed like a magic device. Some features, like health-tracking apps, played a major role in that perception. They haven’t been available, however, until today, when RunKeeper finally updated its iOS and Android apps to support the little wearable device. It’s a small moment for RunKeeper, but a big moment for Pebble.
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We test the strength of Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3 at CES 2013 On the surface, smartphones screens made of sapphire sound superb — they’re naturally strong, extremely scratch resistant, can withstand flexing, and transmit light very well. That’s the widely accepted story, at least. Disputing this view is Corning, makers of the Gorilla Glass material that covers a majority of smartphone screens. Related stories: This sapphire smartphone screen is strong, strong, strong A look at the tougher Gorilla Glass 3 Corning, whose aeronautics branch has worked with lab-grown sapphire since the 1970s, says it tested the strength of sapphire claims — a potential cover glass alternative — in-house
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