Category Archives: Mobile applications
The Sun heralds Facebook’s Android vapourware
Rating: Never mind versions for WP8 & iOS – what about all Android users?
here at GoMo News we had to giggle. As usual Facebook is lining itself up for a pasting. The UK’s leading national newspaper, The Sun, had been given an exclusive to test out Facebook’s new ‘super-app’ – Facebook Home. The newspaper was absolutely correct in stating that today [April 17th 2013] the Home app is at last available in territories other that Facbeook’s Home market of the USA. Might it accidentally exaggerated the true availability of this particular Android app. Continue reading
New Facebook ‘super app’ leaves users under-whelmed
Clutters up other mobile functions, it’s claimed
Facebook‘s recently launched ‘super app’ for mobile devices has so far proved to be a resounding flop, with fewer than 100,000 people installing it and around half of those giving it the worst possible rating. The social networking site’s app, Facebook Home, was hailed by CEO Mark Zuckerberg as “the best version of Facebook there is” when it was launched last week, but within hours of its release it was hit with a torrent of negative reviews. It replaces the home screen on certain Android devices with its own home screen in which pictures and messages from friends appear. It is also intended to make other aspects of Facebook quicker and easier to locate. Continue reading
App Quality Alliance releases mobile app testing guide
Rating: Free guide aimed at developers, distributors & users
App Quality Alliance (AQuA), has released its ‘Essentials of Mobile App Testing’ guide. The aim is to demystify some of the terminology and phrases relating to ensuring the quality of mobile applications. AQuA members including AT&T, Orange and Sony Mobile, have pooled their knowledge (together with input from the AQuA-approved Test Houses) to produce this free guide that explores the way an app is developed. Continue reading
GoMo tries to put Oyster onto its Android RAZR HD
Rating: It has support for NFC but the app is still missing
One of the facilities built into our sparking new Motorola RAZR HD is – of course, the ability to support NFC (Near Field Communication). NFC is a bit like Bluetooth in that it is a cellular related wireless technology that has plenty of applications. Nokia has utilised NFC, for example, to permit the wireless exchange of business cards just by tapping two handsets together. There’s a facility called Android Beam built into the Android OS to facilitate just that sort of thing. But NFC is most heavily associated with contactless payments. And being London based, GoMo News‘ main exposure to contactless payments is via the Oyster card for transport payments. So is there a way of putting Oyster on the RAZR? Nope. The app is still missing and the biggest drawback is a lack of a mobile wallet. Maybe Weve will be able to sort that out. Continue reading
Plane finding AR app not banned in the USA after all
Rating: Our investigation reveals WP7 version the most expensive
There’s nothing like a little adverse publicity to aid your app sales, is there? Well, British software house Pinkfroot seems to have befitted from it in our case. The rumour going around was that its Plane Finder AR app had been banned in the USA. Chiefly because it could allegedly be used as a terrorist tool to shoot down aircraft. Actually, that suggestion was made back in 2010 and the app is very much available in the iTunes App Store now. To prove the point our investigator actually bought a copy of the app. What an effective sales tool that rumour was. Continue reading
GoMo backs the wrong horse in Grand National
Rating: We investigate the Paddy Power Android betting app
There’s a long standing tradition here at GoMo News Towers that every year we try to place a bet on a horse running in the UK’s Grand National steeplechase. This year [2013] was no exception. And, before you ask, No we didn’t win. But it was an interesting experience – especially since it allowed us to test our newly loaned Motorola RAZR HD. It also showed how an event so popular as this horse race [in the UK at least] obviously put a strain on the mobile networks. Continue reading
Lo-Q makes virtue out of virtual queuing
Combines payment, ticketing, & queue-line management in app
Mobile technology is subtly changing every aspect of our everyday lives. Pretty soon there will be an app for everything. Now technology is about to revolutionise an aspect of everyday life that the British have been ridiculed for ages. When it comes to ‘queuing ‘, say at the concert, doctor, the joke is the British enjoy forming nice orderly lines. Well one small British company is turning that joke on its head and taking on the world to prove that the British really are the best at queuing or rather virtual queuing. Continue reading
Shazam forms exclusive new partnership with Saavn for the best Indian music Discovery Experience
Bollywood’s massive and growing fan base now has a new way to discover, buy and share their favourite songs
Press release
April 3 rd 2013. Shazam, the world’s leading media engagement company, has announced an exclusive new partnership with Saavn, the world’s largest Indian music streaming service. The new partnership gives music fans a great new way to discover the latest tracks from their favourite South Asian artists in Bollywood and beyond, with popular genres such as bhangra, devotional, ghazals, Carnatic, Indipop, and more; and music in regional languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada, and Bhojpuri. Continue reading
BMW owners able to share location via iPhone
Rating: In-car apps emerging as new sector
An indication of how a whole new sector could be opening up in the mobile apps market has been provided by Glympse which has just partners with BMW and Mini to provide in-car location sharing. Drivers will simply plug in their iPhone and the custom BMW UI shows up on the in-car dash. They can then select their contact’s email; attendees of an upcoming calendar event; Facebook; or Twitter to share their location from their. Recipients can view the sender’s location on a dynamic map in real-time, either on a desktop or mobile device, and they do not need even have to download the app to be able to watch their friend’s location. Continue reading
UK teenager sells app to Yahoo for estimated £20m
A British teenagers has become one of the country’s youngest millionaires after selling his smartphone app to Yahoo.
Nick D’Aloisio, 17, designed and built Summly, an iPhone app that turns news items into bite-sized chunks so that people can read them on the move. He was just 15 when he compiled the program, teaching himself to write computer code from books and tutorials. Continue reading
Guest Post: Mobile application development – key ways to success
by Harsha Mistry, a blogger who sometimes works occasionally with Contus
There is one driving factor to make smartphones more essential in today’s world: – it is nothing other than the ‘app’ factor. Today, a large number of mobile application development companies and developers are putting in their efforts into coming up with better apps to fulfil users’ needs in best ways. There are a plenty of factors a developer needs to be concerned with prior to entering mobile application development. Continue reading
Windows Store apps pass magic 50,000 mark
Bunging developers $100 for every app made seems to be working
Microsoft’s initiative to pay developers $100 for every app they make for Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8 looks to be paying off, with 50,000 programs now available. The landmark number was passed at the weekend [March 2013], according to industry watcher MetroStore Scanner, which says that an average of 279 apps have been developed daily in March alone, reversing what had been a rapid decline. Continue reading
Guest Post: 2013 is the year of the enterprise app
by Ian Schenkel, CEO with EuroSmartz
It was clear Apple was on to something when it opened its app store in 2007, with over 10 million downloads in the first weekend. However, some sceptics still doubted the longevity of apps, many suggesting they were just a fad. Today, mobile apps are no longer confined to just the smartphone. Tablet devices have joined the category and have gained widespread popularity. It’s no longer the early adopters who are using mobile apps and keeping their lives organised with mobile devices. Now it’s busy commuters, corporate business executives and small business owners alike, who are embracing the convenience of mobile apps to run their daily lives and accomplish tasks on the go. Some small businesses even use apps to help them run their business. Continue reading
Red Bull invigorates its F1 branding with neat Spy app
Rating: Finally an app that puts F1 race meets in your diary
Whilst Vodafone has just announced its decision to pull its logo off the McLaren F1 racing cars next year [2014], Red Bull has re-invigorated its F1 branding with a neat little app. Called F1 Spy, the app claims to give deep insights into the glamorous world of F1 racing by reporting on “the real world of F1, not shown on the cameras.” Then, of course, Red Bull is behind not just one F1 race team but two of them. [Toro Rosso as well as Red Bull Racing]. Even though it is free, this app has a facility which GoMobile News has long searched for – the ability to insert the F1 racing meets into your smartphone calendar. It also runs on both iOS and Android. Continue reading
