Hasta La Gadget!

Google’s Senior Mobile VP Andy Rubin has been cool towards tablet apps, arguing that mobile titles shouldn’t be tuned to a specific form factor. Whether you agree with that assessment or not, his company has produced an (arguably overdue) tablet app checklist to help developers with big screen ambitions. The step-by-step walkthrough tells developers how to make the most of all that free space and optimize for the larger hardware, touch input targets and widgets. There’s a difference between having guidelines and getting app writers to follow them, but the checklist is an important step towards keeping that Galaxy Note 10.1 or Nexus 7 well-fed.

[Thanks, Christopher]

Filed under: Tablets, Google

Google drafts checklist for making top-notch Android tablet apps originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 19:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While MoviePass was in early beta, it got more than a small amount of pushback from theaters that didn’t like someone changing the price formula without their explicit say-so. The company just found an end-run around that conspicuous obstacle. It’s releasing both an iPhone app and a reloadable card that, when combined, let MoviePass’ effectively unlimited subscription model work at just about any US theater. The app unlocks the card for a specific showing; after that, it’s only a matter of swiping the plastic at a payment kiosk like any old credit card. It’s not as sophisticated as NFC or Pay With Square, to be sure, but it should keep the rude surprises to a minimum. Both the iOS app and the card require an invitation to the $30 monthly service if you’re eager to get watching movies today. If either is too limiting, there’s promises of both an Android app and wider availability in the future.

Continue reading MoviePass launches iPhone app and card combo, takes unlimited viewing to all US theaters

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, HD

MoviePass launches iPhone app and card combo, takes unlimited viewing to all US theaters originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Oct 2012 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We usually associate smartphones in news reporting with citizen journalism, not full-time journalists. However, a confluence of events has just led to the BBC’s Nick Garnett becoming a pioneer for mobile broadcasting on the professional level. When a shortage of satellite trucks prevented Garnett from getting the usual video feed for the BBC News Channel, he successfully arranged the British network’s first live video interview piped through a smartphone. The key, Garnett says, was Dejero’s Live+ iPhone app: while live streaming apps are already commonplace, Dejero’s let him merge the 3G and WiFi connections together, getting enough bandwidth to make a TV-worthy broadcast in a country where LTE is still very new. Combined with some very ad hoc staging and help from the BBC’s technical teams, the coordination resulted in a surprisingly smooth interview about flooding in northeastern England with relatively few hints of the extra-tiny recording equipment involved. It’s unlikely that broadcast crews will reach to their pockets for live coverage solutions before anything else, but the BBC is actively testing Dejero and other apps that could make smartphones as much a part of the field reporting arsenal as a camcorder and an eye for a good story. As we can’t embed the clip, check the source link to see it for yourself.

Update: We’ve now managed to embed the clip after the break.

Continue reading BBC News Channel conducts live video interview over smartphone, goes where satellites can’t (update with video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Alt

BBC News Channel conducts live video interview over smartphone, goes where satellites can’t (update with video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Sep 2012 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Call it a hunch, but we suspect that at least a few of you picked up an iPhone 5 today, or at least made the leap to iOS 6. If you’re in either position, you may be wondering just what apps to feed Apple’s flagship (or that fresh new firmware) once it’s ready to go. We’ve got a quick-hit list of titles that have been updated to take advantage of the tall display and new OS that go beyond Apple’s own work. The biggest upgrades of the lot come from keynote darling CNN as well as Flipboard: both have done more than add extra columns on the iPhone 5, offering an interface you won’t see on any mere 3.5-inch iPhone. Some bread-and-butter apps have made the launch week cut as well, such as Facebook and Twitter.

There’s even more if you’re willing to dig deep. Third-party Twitter client Tweetbot beat the official app to the punch by days, and we’ve likewise spotted updates to Evernote, its rival Remember the Milk and Yelp. We know some apps aren’t fully iPhone 5- or iOS 6-native — Instagram, for example, and most anything from Google — but it’s apparent that the holdouts are increasingly the exception, rather than the rule. Did you catch any other noteworthy apps that received a boost in recent hours? Let fellow owners know in the comments.

CNN – App Store
Evernote – App Store
Facebook – App Store
Flipboard – App Store
Kindle – App Store
Pulse – App Store
Remember the Milk – App Store
Tweetbot – App Store
Twitter – App Store
Yelp – App Store

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

iPhone 5 / iOS 6 app update roundup: new versions for a taller world originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Sep 2012 19:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Twitter’s iPad app is sometimes the neglected stepchild of its mobile app family: newer features usually come to the Android and iPhone versions first and are handed down to the iPad later, if they come at all. The company is making amends for that in style with a major update to the iPad version as of today. Whether you like them or not, expanded tweets are now baked in and will optionally show some photos, videos and web links within the timeline rather than disrupting the entire experience. The Connect, Discover and Me sections we’ve seen elsewhere also come to the tablet-tuned app, albeit at the expense of more quickly finding direct messages and lists.

You’ll soon notice a much more visual spin on people’s profiles, regardless of whether or not Apple’s slate factors into the daily routine. Both the Twitter site as well as the official Android and iOS apps now show a header photo behind the bio to provide a little more color than avatars and background pictures can manage. If you’re on one of the mobile platforms, you’ll also see a photo stream in the profile that will help relive memories without hunting down individual tweets. The phone and tablet makeovers require an update to shine, so hit the relevant source link if you’re ready for a prettier (if not always more functional) social experience.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Internet, Mobile

Twitter revamps its iPad app for expanded content, adds header photos and image streams originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Sep 2012 10:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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