Category Archives: iOS
Skyfire targets Europe with data optimisation
Rating: Company’s browser is an accidental iOS app hit
Chatting to the CEO of Skyfire, Jeff Glueck, yesterday, GoMo News suddenly appreciated why around 12 million people have downloaded the company’s browser for iOS and Android. The split is roughly 7 million Android users and 5 million iOS users. The browser’s chief capability is to be able to convert video formats on the fly. So if a web site is utilising Adobe Flash, then the data will be converted to HTML 5. “It enables iOS device owners to unlock the potential of the full Internet rather than rely on Apple-friendly sites,” Glueck explained. Amazingly, Glueck was almost dismissive of the million of dollars these apps rake in per annum. Why? Because his company’s main focus is on helping out operators and the move into Europe (via a UK office) is to promote SkyFire’s on-the-fly video data compression offering. However, he did also mention that an add-on for an Android browser will present one US based operator with opportunities to advertise to its own customers. Glueck described it as an antidote to the demise of the operator portal – which quite frankly hardly anyone ever visits these days. Continue reading
New Music service from Pure to launch
Rating: Get your free track by registering for Pure Music
Flicking through an article in The Sunday Times Ingear supplement, GoMo News spotted a new music download service which is set to be launched any time now by Pure in the UK. This will be a subscription service – £4.99 per month – and supported by at least two dedicated mobile apps –one for iOS and the other for Android. There’s a little incentive for showing interest in what will be known as Pure Music. If you go to the Pure web site now here and register, you will be rewarded with a few music track. Only the first 10,000 who do so will get this free track (which GoMo News reckons is worth up to 99 pence), so hurry. Continue reading
Apps help Bristol police recover stolen mobile devices
Rating: Three apps – Locatemyphone, Findmyiphone and Prey seem particularly effective
It seems that the Avon and Somerset police in the Bristol area are enjoying considerable success re-uniting smartphone and laptop owners with their stolen property. A report on the Avon and Somerset Constabulary blog here shows that three apps in particular have enabled them to [...]
Shazam adds new features for iOS device owners
Rating: Shazam Player supports a whole host of new stuff
It seems that the popular music recognition app, Shazam, has now been improved for those with an iOS device in the USA or UK. This new version is known as Shazam Player and offers considerable new features. These include the ability to see streaming lyrics and watch YouTube videos of your favourite tracks and artists. Plus Shazam Player provides one of the best ways to order your own music collection. Continue reading
BSkyB reveals Mintel research on mobile
Rating: While launching another app for the Apple iPad
It seems that leading media company, News International, has definitely been bitten with the iPad app bug. Hot on the heels of our story (here) about a new iOS-centric division, Project Two22, another arm of the company has just annouced a new iPad app. This time it is BSkyB which has released Sky Sports News for iPad. It offers live and on-demand video; rich interactive graphics; and up-to-the-minute data. In a blog on the official Sky site here, the company’s director of mobile, David Gibbs, revealed that it had specially commissioned research from Mintel looking at the popularity of mobile tablets and smartphones. This makes very interesting reading indeed. Continue reading
Mystery surrounds Murdoch’s Project Two22 initiative
Rating: A more upmarket iPad app from News International
Following our story here about the Page 360 feature built into The Sun’s iPad app, a helpful reader alerted GoMo News to a story which has just sufaced in London’s Evening Standard newspaper here. It concerns a News International initiative. Most Brits are aware that News International runs The Times and The Sun newspapers whose boss in one Rupert Murdoch. Anyway, the company is plotting something called Project Two22 which according to the Evening Standard is focused on digital innovations such as iPhone and iPad apps. Continue reading
Sun uses AR to spice up its iPad app
Rating: Naked ladies in 36o degrees
Why on Earth does News International think that the typical UK chauvinistic male possesses an iPad? Rather than, an Android tablet? Well, it’s marketing department must think so because the infamous British red top newspaper only offers its Page 360 feature for those who download The Sun‘s iPad app. For those who can’t guess, this app has interactive animations which bring to life the UK’s most notorious topless models. We’re not quite sure that the inventors of augmented reality had quite this sort of thing in mind when they designed the technology. But, by an odd quirk of fate, iPage 360 is going to introduce AR to the great British public. And just to make sure of this, News International is offering a free 30-day trial of the iPad app for a limited period. Continue reading
Apple loses interest in iOS 3.1.3 users
Rating: No news iOS apps for 8 days over Xmas
Speculation is rife that Apple may be unwilling to support existing owners of iOS devices which are still running version 3.1.3. The reason for this can be traced to problems those users started to experience when trying to access the iTunes App Store directly from their devices. Some users who contacted Apple claimed that they were advised to upgrade their operating system. Which is strange because iOS 4.x and 5.x support only newer devices and those with older iPhones and iPod Touches are stuck with version 3.1.3. As usual Apple has not seen fit to issue a Press release saying that it has fixed the bug – but that does appear to be the case. GoMo News was also intrigued to learn that the company rushed to fix the bug because it locks down the App Store over the Xmas holidays for eight days. Continue reading
New social scanning app for iOS from ScanMe
Rating: History function shows who you’ve scanned the morning after the Xmas party
A new app for iOS devices lets users have their very own personalised barcode for social networking purpose. Called ScanMe Barcode, it uses personalised QR barcodes to let people in the real world get instantly connected online. With SanMe, your unique barcode stores your personal contact information and links others to your social network profiles with one quick scan. Available to download from the Apple App Store right now here, the new free app from ScanMe is a convenient and simple way to get started. Continue reading
iOS app helps Scots trace their roots
Rating: Find you clan on your Apple mobile
An app designed to enable all proud Scots to trace their roots back to the clans has just been launched by internet clan experts – ScotClans. The hope with the Scottish Clans app is to unite Scottish families around the world this Xmas. Even the meanest Scot could surely afford the £0.69 for this app. [Oops. That's stereotyping.] Anyway, the app lets Scots to trace every aspect of their clan members and to share that information with friends and family. Continue reading
Get your Xmas apps cheap from Paragon
Rating: This outfit covers Android, bada, BlackBerry, iOS, Symbian, Windows Mobile & W7 Mango
Stuck for Xmas present ideas? Why not buy them a mobile app or dictionary? That’s because Paragon Software Group has announced a sale from now until January 10th 2012 which includes up to 50 per cent off the regular retail prices of its best-selling utility apps such as Handy Safe Desktop, Handy Converter and PenReader. Paragon is a prolific publisher of apps which cover Android, bada, BlackBerry, iOS, Symbian, Windows Mobile, and even Windows Phone 7 (W7 Mango). Even GoMo News has heard of some of the brand names of dictionaries which the company can offer. The list includes: – Encyclopedia Britannica, Collins, Duden, Merriam-Webster, Oxford, and Paragon’s own Slovoed. The company also says that it has launched all of its apps for iOS5 to include great new features and multitasking support. Continue reading
Avoid bill shock after Xmas with Telicost Lite
Rating: W7 Mango version doesn’t seem ready yet
As we approach the Xmas holiday travel season, the likelihood increases of handset users being prone to be hit with excess voice and data roaming charges. Hence Anomalous Networks is promoting the existence of its free app, Telicost Lite, which should help to prevent ‘bill shock’. In its hurry to spread the news, Anomalous Networks forgot to say that there is a version of this app for Windows Mobile. Curiously, although the company has place the Windows Phone logo on the web site’s Home page, it seems to link to a download for Windows Mobile only. So those with W7 Mango handsets are going to be disappointed, we suspect. Telicost Lite also seems to be a teaser for the full version which is cloud based and aimed at SMBs and enterprises managing multiple devices. Continue reading
Brainshark’s app solves PowerPoint’s incompatibility with the iPad
Rating: SlideShark is answer for managers trying to migrate to iOS devices
There’s absolutely no doubting the fact that SlideShark from Brainshark must be doing something right. The company claims that it is resolving the problem of Microsoft PowerPoint’s incompatibility with the Apple iOS platform. The company maintains that it is getting two downloads per minute ever since its launch on October 18th [2011]. It’s also believes that the app has consistently ranked among the Top Five productivity apps in Apple’s iTunes App Store. This cloud-based offering now has a whole host of extra features. For example, all accounts now offer a minimum of 100MB of free storage. Continue reading
Grandma creates iOS app for children
Rating: Actually there’s a free version of Nice Bear, Naughty Bear, too
You’re never too old to create an iPhone app, apparently. Avril Lethbridge – a 79 year old grandmother from Oxford, has just so. The app is called Nice Bear, Naughty Bear and costs £1.99. You can download it from the iTunes App Store here. The app features 16 bears with the aim of teaching young children good manners. Most reports only mention the good bears – such as the Thank You bear but GoMo News was amused to discover there is also a Nose Picker bear. The app has been developed from a card game two years ago but Avril has tried it out on her own iPad to make sure that it really does work. Continue reading
Talking? No, I’m playing Words with Friends
Rating: Actor Alec Baldwin gives massive plug to Zynga agme
What absolutely brilliant publicity for a mobile phone game, although GoMo News wouldn’t personally risk being thrown off an airplane to perpetuate it. American actor, Alec Baldwin – who is apparently a star in a show called 30 Rock where he plays the role of executive Jack Donaghy – claims he was playing the game Words with Friends. It’s available from the iTunes Store on on the Android Market here. However, an attendant on an American Airlines flight to New York from Los Angeles was convinced he was chatting on his mobile phone. So he was asked to leave. Zygna which makes the game, probably can’t believe its luck. Continue reading
