Hasta La Gadget!

Here’s something that may surprise you: yesterday, Yelp users couldn’t actually post reviews from within the company’s iPhone app. Wild, right? Today’s update, however, changes that, bringing it more in line with rival Foursquare. The revised iOS app, which should be hitting the App Store momentarily, will bring the feature to all users across 22 countries, and we’re told that the new button for reviews will appear where the “Tips” button has sat in the past. Interestingly, Yelp intends to still hold some power over what you write — if your “review” is deemed too brief, it could end up as a tip; thankfully, users can always go back later, add a bit more detail and have it ported over to the review side. Just remember: you can totally get sued for posting negative reviews. Womp, womp.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Apple

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: Apple App Store

Microsoft knows that Windows Phone 8 is only as successful as its apps. To that end, it’s blowing the doors open in terms of major app support. It’s not only promising a Windows Phone version of Pandora Radio for early 2013, it’s offering ad-free listening for the first year. How’s that for strong out-of-the-box content? On top of this, Microsoft is vowing a slew of new apps and games that had previously only been available in the Android or iOS camps, including Asphalt 7, Cut the Rope, Temple Run, Urbanspoon and Where’s My Water. By the time the expansion is done, Microsoft hopes to have 46 out of the 50 most popular apps onboard, making any platform switch that much gentler. Instagram is a notable omission — still, it’s a big leap in terms of equality.

Update: If you need even more detail, Microsoft has posted a wider list of new apps as part of its official Windows Phone 8 launch post. If that’s not enough, you can catch a video overview of the platform after the break.

For more, check out our Windows Phone 8 event liveblog!

Continue reading Windows Phone 8 gets Pandora Radio, Cut the Rope, Urbanspoon and more (update: full list)

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft

Windows Phone 8 gets Pandora Radio, Cut the Rope, Urbanspoon and more (update: full list) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Oct 2012 13:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s no secret that Facebook saw FarmVille for iOS as writing on the wall: it had to either tap into mobile app revenue or risk losing income (and marketing-savvy developers) whenever someone left the web. Following a beta this summer, the company’s solution to its dilemma is now open to everyone. All developers on the social network can build ads that link from Facebook’s Android and iOS apps to either Google Play or the App Store — offering both an easy plug for their native apps and that all-important ad revenue for Facebook. The system currently takes a shotgun approach and may pitch social networkers for apps they already have or don’t want, but it should be refined in the next few months to where some curious purchasers won’t even have to leave Facebook to load that hot new title. Hopefully the increased recognition for mobile developers is worth sullying our once pristine news feeds.

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Facebook

Facebook opens mobile ads for apps to all developers, keeps them on the money train originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Oct 2012 23:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rdio has spent a large part of 2012 revamping its mobile app, and a new beta shows that it’s still full of ideas with two months left to go. The 2.3 test version makes the ubiquitous hidden sidebar even more unavoidable than we’ve seen before, but those not irked by UI homogeneity will be happy to see Rdio gain some multi-device harmony: along with syncing whatever’s being played from desktop to mobile and back, the beta introduces a remote control that lets Android gear either serve as the remote or as a target for other devices. A play-later queue persists across devices, too. Although we haven’t been given a timeframe for the finished version pushing out through Google Play, there’s nothing stopping avid subscribers from taking a slight risk with the beta and getting a taste of their musical future.

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio/Video, Mobile

Rdio posts Android beta app with new sidebar UI, unified playback and remote control originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Oct 2012 21:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android developers need as much tender loving care for their interfaces as the users, don’t they? Google thinks so, as it just reworked Google Play’s Developer Console to offer a more direct, faster loading design. Along with scaling elegantly to let app writers see and manage many releases at a glance, the makeover gives developers a much more refined historical breakdown of app ratings. Creators can filter the star count through Android versions, carriers, countries, language, updates and even specific devices — if you’re convinced adding Kyocera Echo support was the ticket to improved ratings, you might have a chance to prove it. For anyone who isn’t that determined to keep everyone happy, there’s still a simplified publishing process and automatic translations for app descriptions in the store. Developers comfortable with a few limits on APK bundles can try the new console in a rough but mostly ready state ahead of its wider launch in the near future.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Google

Google revamps Developer Console for Google Play, eases tracking Android app ratings over time originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Oct 2012 04:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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