If you’ve been using your BlackBerry in the last 24 hours or so, you’ve probably noticed that red star plastered on the App World icon, signaling it’s time for an upgrade. Yes, RIM’s version of the app store has hit version 1.1, and the bulk of the update concerns better navigation options — new categories, top downloads for free and premium apps, and the ability to sort search results by name, release date, rating, price, and developer. Outside of that, we’ve also got the option to now archive apps on SD card or other memory, but unfortunately there’s no option to run those programs without reinstalling to internal memory. The update is available for all countries, including the recently-introduced group of ten. Full details after the break.
Yeah, we’re pretty much all peeved by Apple suddenly ejecting all traces of Google Voice from the app store, but now it looks to have drawn the ire of the Federal Communications Commission, as well. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, the agency has sent out three letters, one each to Apple, AT&T, and Google. To the latter company, it asked for a description of the Google Voice app and whether previous Google apps have been approved for the store (it has, but that’s anotherinteresting story). To Cupertino, it’s asking the phone manufacturer to explain itself over the sudden exorcism and what involvement, if any, AT&T had in this decision. The report doesn’t make a direct indication of what the letter to the carrier said, but we can imagine it’s similar to what Apple got, plus some doodles at the end of a stick figure letting out an exasperated sigh. In a statement today, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said it “has a mission to foster a competitive wireless marketplace, protect and empower consumers, and promote innovation and investment.” Hey Julius, while you’re at it, can you see about Skype and Slingbox for us, too? Thanks.
Update:TechCrunch has published the three letters sent out, all very interesting reads. The FCC asks Apple specifically if any approved VoIP apps are allowed to be used over AT&T’s 3G network, and more generally what are the “standards for considering and approving iPhone applications” and more details into the approval process. It also asks for the contact information of all developers of rejected Google Voice apps, presumably for further investigation. In the Google letter, it seems to be asking if Voice will be able to be utilized in any capacity over the web, without inclusion in the iTunes store. Unsurprisingly, a number of questions to Apple and AT&T concern the carrier’s involvement in which apps or types of apps get rejected. All companies have until August 21st to respond and can request confidentiality on all or portions of their response.
Update 2: AT&T spokesman Brad Mays has sent us a statement denying any involvement in the app store process: “AT&T does not manage or approve applications for the App Store. We have received the letter and will, of course, respond to it,” he says. That said, its involvement in Slingbox’s rejection certainly does raise some eyebrows here.
It still can’t multitask, but as of today, it’s finally capable of accessing and sharing iDisk files. Apple has at long last let loose a long-awaited application for iPhone OS 3.0 that enables iPhone and iPod touch users with MobileMe accounts to access the inner sanctums of their own iDisk. The app lets you login, view files (up to 20MB or so, sayeth Apple) and share files by sending others a link via email to whatever you deem appropriate. There’s also an option to password protect those files and limit the amount of days the download is active, though viewing files is limited to iPhone-supported file types such as iWork, Office, QuickTime, PDF, etc. If you’re a paying MobileMe user, go on and give this one a download — it’s free, you know?
Read – iDisk [opens in iTunes] Read – TUAW’s First Look: iDisk app
We’re doing our darnedest not to be recklessly optimistic here, but after weeks and weeks of nothing, a few new somethings have sauntered into Palm’s App Catalog. If you’ll recall, we actually heard earlier this month that said catalog was destined to get some serious additions in the near future, and we’re hoping that the surfacing of these two is a sign of things to come. Announced this morning over on Palm’s official blog, OpenTable and Fliq Bookmarks are now available to download on the Pre. The former allows hungry owners to secure themselves a spot at a nearby eatery, while the latter works with The Missing Sync for Palm Pre to transfer Safari bookmarks from your desktop (Mac for now, PC coming soon) to the Pre. Sure, it’s not like these two are the killer apps we’ve been longing for, but at this point, any progress is great progress.
So well-mannered, straight-laced iPhone users got a pretty big slap in the face yesterday by way of Apple’s (and AT&T’s, no doubt) total Google Voice rejection. Looks like jailbreakers are picking up the pieces, as GV Mobile developer Sean Kovacs — whose app was in the iTunes store for some time before being yanked yesterday — has ported the Voice client over to Cydia free of charge, although donations are gladly accepted. Even more interesting, but less concrete, Kovacs said he was already working on a web app version, possibly for submission to Palm’s app catalog. No word on the fate of GVdialer, an app that was also unceremoniously pulled, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it followed in similar footsteps.
Read – GV Mobile now on Cydia Read – Sean Kovacs on Twitter
Um, yikes? An unexpected (and unwanted) surprise struck some 145,000 BlackBerry users in the UAE this time last week, when an official looking prompt coerced many of the aforesaid Etisalat customers to follow through with a software update. Rather than bringing about performance enhancements, the SS8-built app enabled the carrier to keep tabs on customers’ messages. According to RIM:
“Etisalat appears to have distributed a telecommunications surveillance application… independent sources have concluded that it is possible that the installed software could then enable unauthorized access to private or confidential information stored on the user’s smartphone. Independent sources have concluded that the Etisalat update is not designed to improve performance of your BlackBerry Handheld, but rather to send received messages back to a central server.”
Like we said, yikes. The zaniest part is that Etisalat isn’t backing down, still assuring the world that the upgrades were “required for service enhancements.” At any rate, RIM has made remarkably clear that the update wasn’t one authorized by the company, and it’s even providing an app remover for those who’d prefer their BlackBerry to be in working order and, you know, not forwarding all their email to some dude in an Etisalat supply closet. Good on you, RIM. Bad on you, Etisalat.
[Thanks, Gerald]
Read – Confirmation of spyware Read – RIM app remover
Verizon’s getting very keen on entering the app store industry, but not without some rough decrees to its smartphone partners. According to GigaOm, VP Partner Management Ryan Hughes said in an interview Friday that its VZW-branded shop will house content from all the major platforms under one roof, with purchases being billed through the customer’s Verizon account and not requiring a separate signup / credit card entry. Convenient for consumers, and devs are also being promised a more streamlined approval process and a “competitive” revenue-sharing program, but here’s where things take a turn for the worse: according to Hughes, non-VZW app stores like BlackBerry App World or Windows Mobile Marketplace won’t be bundled with the smartphones out of the box, meaning consumers will have to take the initiative to download those portals for themselves. An incredibly jerk move, and an extra burden on developers who’ll be having to submit two approval applications if they want inclusion on Verizon’s own store. Of course, that large subscriber base is the reason it can get away with it, but let’s hope we hear some better justifications other than “because we can” when the full details are rolled out at the Verizon Developer Community Conference on July 28th.
Stalk your friends, have brunch with them at a Zagat-rated spot nearby and stream the whole thing live from your Android phone. Saw VII? No, it’s just this month in Android apps.
The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Zagat nru: You know that compass thing the iPhone 3GS does? Yeah, whatever. Imagine it repurposed to show you nearby restaurants or bars with Zagat power. Zagat nru is flashy, and neat, though a bit limited, since the places are plotted according to proximity on a radar-type interface rather than an actual map. When you click one, it takes you to Zagat’s mobile site, so it’s not a completely in-app experience. Also, to get to the full reviews, you’ve got be a paying Zagat customer. Still worth a download—a hunch on where to eat is better than starving while you figure out where the hell you are. Free.
The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Brightkite: Another semi-famous social thinger making its way to Android. After sitting in beta for a bit, Brightkite’s finally released its Android app for everybody. For the uninitiated, Brightkite is another location-based social network dealio—you see friends and people around you, post notes and photos to wherever you’re at, that kind of thing. Stalking will only get easier and prettier from here on out people, might as well get used to it. Free.
Qik alpha: It’s the live video streaming app Qik! On Android! That pretty much sums it up, actually—but if you’re not familiar with Qik, it’s a live video streaming app/service that’s basically on every major smartphone platform (with one major exception). You can share via Twitter, Facebook or GooTube. It does require Cupcake, as well as an SD card for storing video. Pretty awesome that it’s finally here. Free.
The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Places: Not to be outdone, Google’s got their Places directory app—guess what it does? It’s rather standard directory-style fare, though it covers pretty much the whole gamut of stuff you’d wanna find close by—restaurants, bars, parking, shopping, hotels, theaters, “attractions,” and more. Where it really loses to Yelp is the reviews of places—there are so pitifully few of them by users that you won’t have any idea where a place is worth a crap or not. Where is that Android Yelp app, anyway? Free. Update: As commenters have noted, Where, an app that’s been out for a bit, is the best directory app by far and it does access Yelp—I was just curious where an official Yelp app was, since we seem to be entering a “brand name” phase of Android apps.
Flickr Photos Nearby: Not technically an app, but mobile Flickr will now show Android users photos taken nearby with some new location hotness using the regular ol’ browser.
This list is in no way definitive. If you’ve spotted a great app that hit the store this week, give us a heads up or, better yet, your firsthand impressions in the comments. And for even more apps: see our past app coverage here. Also, why isn’t it easier to take a screenshot in Android dammit? Have a good week everybody.
If there’s one thing we can decisively say about iPhone users — and everyone else, for that matter — it’s that they shouldn’t see naked people, even if they want to. Ever. Apple agrees, and it turns out that they were responsible for the removal of the Hottest Girls app after all, contrary to a statement by its developer that the app had tapped out his server which supposedly forced him to ask Apple to pull it while he ramped up capacity. Apple released a statement today confirming this, but here’s where it gets interesting: the company says that “the developer of this application added inappropriate content directly from their server after the application had been approved and distributed” — in other words, the guy pulled a bait-and-switch on Apple by serving different content to his app after it had been approved using more PG-rated content. Look, we’re all for filling our iPhones with gigabytes upon gigabytes of stuff that would make us especially anxious to trigger the Remote Wipe feature if we were to misplace it, but we’ve got to admit — the dude went about it the wrong way here, Apple caught him, the world keeps turning. Come on, it’s not like you don’t have thousands of naughty pics in a folder cleverly named “recipes” that you can just sync anyway.
Looking to make the wild and not-entirely-wondrous world of printers exciting for the first time in decades, HP has just unveiled the “world’s first web-connected printer.” If you’re wondering how it plans on accomplishing such an impossible mission, let us just say this: the Photosmart Premium is going the way of the widget. Up on the 4.33-inch front panel is Touchsmart Web, a touchscreen interface with several bundled, online apps to accommodate usual paper-friendly tasks such as printing Google maps, tickets from Fandango, coupons, recipes, Sudoku, etc. There’s even a full-on HD Apps Studio just in case downloading new apps on one’s printer really becomes the new hotness. The API’s being made open for the entire realm of developers, but we have to wonder what kind of interest we’ll see here. Pricing is set for $399, and if you’re thinking “why not just buy a cheap netbook and plug it into my current model” we hear ya, but we get the impression this is aimed squarely at another crowd. Lots more details are just past the break.
Update: We just had a chance to try the printer / Touchsmart for ourselves. First off, surprise, the screen is capacitive touch, and it works well — but only one finger at a time. We asked a rep about multitouch and were told that while technically feasible, it’s not gonna be supported at this time. The widgets are created with a combination of HTML5 and Java, and much to our surprise, video streaming has been implemented. The Monsters vs. Aliens trailer we saw was decent resolution, but really, it’s not a place where we need pristine quality. More screens in the gallery below.
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Stalk your friends, have brunch with them at a Zagat-rated spot nearby and stream the whole thing live from your Android phone. Saw VII? No, it’s just this month in 
Qik alpha: It’s the 
