This week’s Technologizer column on TIME.com is about e-books–and how e-reading software for computers and smartphones lets you enjoy them without splurging on a Kindle, Nook, or other piece of specialized hardware. Writing it got me thinking about a fact I’d forgotten about: I started reading e-books back in the mid-1990s, before …
Apps & Software
Angry Birds Headed To TV?
They’ve taken over your iPhone and your free time, and now Rovio’s Angry Birds may be about to take over your television, as well. According to Rovio CEO Mikael Hed, the popular game is being adapted into an animated series that could appear on television.
That last part isn’t necessarily set in stone; Hed says that it’s undecided …
Playboy, Nudity, Come To iPad
The potential of the iPad has finally been fulfilled with the news that Playboy will be getting its own App, allowing access to the entire back catalog of the iconic girlie mag, uncensored. Quite how this fits with Apple’s notorious censorship of content in other apps remains to be seen – beyond the obvious “Playboy is a really big …
Roku Signs First Cable Channel
Introducing the unexpected major new player in the ongoing television/VoD struggle: WealthTV. Why is this minor cable channel suddenly so important? Because WealthTV has become the first cable channel to become available through Roku, for just $2.99 per month.
This won’t be the first bold move from the channel; Wealth – which will …
App Of The Week: GamesRadar Cheats And Guides For iPhone
Cheating at video games. It’s one of the few, purely victimless crimes left on the planet. Unless you cheat at multiplayer games—that’s more of a crime against a faceless victim you’ll hopefully never run into.
At any rate, GamesRadar.com is chock full of video game tips, guides, cheats and walkthroughs, but we can all agree that …
Angry Birds Ousted From Top App Spot By Eighth Grader
Look out, Angry Birds, there’s a new addictive app in town. But it wasn’t made by another app developing company–Bubble Ball was designed by fourteen-year-old Robert Nay, with only a little help from mom.
Bubble Ball is a classic physics game that requires players to place metal and wooden planks strategically so that when a ball is …
TurboTax Unveils New Mobile App To Help You File Taxes
We apologize: We’re betting that you don’t want to be reminded of tax season this early in the year, nor did you really wish for filing tax app. But Turbo Tax’s new app hopes to make the tedious act of filing taxes a whole lot easier, and since all of us have to embark on this terrible journey of showing Uncle Sam what is due to us (or …
GoPayment Goes ‘Freemium,’ Gets Back in the Mobile Payment Game
Intuit’s mobile payment service, GoPayment, which allows users to accept credit card payments on their smart phones, is trying to swipe its way back into the spotlight this week by going “freemium.”
GoPayment is a downloadable mobile app that works in conjunction with a credit card reader to allow small businesses to accept credit …
Free PBS App Comes to iPhone, Streams Full Episodes
If you’ve been looking to get your NOVA fix on the go, you’re in luck.
Following up on the success of its free iPad app, which was unveiled in October, PBS is now offering a free iPhone app that streams full episodes. While the two apps are quite similar, the iPad does offer a slightly more extensive list of shows and episodes. Even …
Google Places: Google’s Own Local Recommendation App
Move over, Yelp and Urbanspoon–Google’s getting in on the local recommendation app action.
The company has come a long way from being just a search engine. And with this week’s release of its latest iOS app, Google Places, Google is moving ever closer to social network territory.
The free app, which is available now in the iTunes …
Google ‘Translate’ Voice App: In Goes English, Out Comes Spanish
Babel be damned. Google’s free “Translate” app for Android now includes a feature called Conversation Mode that does a pretty decent job of facilitating a verbal back-and-forth between English and Spanish.
Per Google’s blog post:
“In conversation mode, simply press the microphone for your language and start speaking. Google …
TV Networks Upset Over Comcast App
You’d think that Comcast would’ve learned from Google’s mistakes, but apparently not. The cable company’s new Xfinity TV app for the iPad is currently under fire from broadcasters and content providers unhappy with an app that streams their programs live or on-demand without their permission.
According to Mediaweek, a presentation of …