Mobile Applications
Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello Leaving
March 19, 2013 9:16 am | by Barbara Ortutay, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsVideo game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. said Monday that its CEO, John Riccitiello, will step down on March 30. The company has named Larry Probst as executive chairman while it searches for Riccitiello's replacement. Probst has been chairman...
Monitoring Your Kids on Facebook? That's so 2009
March 18, 2013 10:42 am | by Anne Flaherty, Associated Press | News | CommentsRelieved your kids aren't posting embarrassing messages and goofy self-portraits on Facebook? They're probably doing it on Instagram and Snapchat instead. The number of popular social media sites available on kids' mobile device...
Review: Despite Flaws, Voice Search Has Potential
March 7, 2013 9:16 am | by Anick Jesdanun, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsI never thought I'd be telling my phone what to do. But I often find myself talking to various digital assistants — Siri on the iPhone and Google Now on Android devices — to request driving directions, restaurant recommendations and answers...
BlackBerry Developer Support Still Shaky as Netflix Bows Out
March 5, 2013 10:21 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsIt's all about the apps for any mobile platform hopeful and it seems BlackBerry 10 just continues to prove that it can't attract the heavy hitters. In the wake of Yahoo! reporting yesterday that it will kill support for its dedicated BlackBerry app, Netflix says it too is steering clear of the platform...
Yahoo! Kills BlackBerry App, Other Services
March 4, 2013 9:58 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsAs part of CEO Marissa Mayer's extensive revamp of Yahoo!, the company says it will be streamline its mobile offerings, eliminating apps, including its Blackberry offering. Jay Rossiter, executive vice president of Platforms for Yahoo!, said in a blog post...
Mozilla Touts Carrier, OEM Support for Firefox OS at MWC
February 25, 2013 9:45 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsThe mobile Firefox OS from non-profit browser-maker Mozilla might have seemed a longshot to even make it to market, much less garner the kind of carrier support the company has announced at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Spain. Mozilla has announced 18 carrier...
Keynote Mobile News and Portal Index: January - February 2013
February 20, 2013 9:35 am | by Wireless Week Staff | News | CommentsThis month, the Keynote Mobile News & Portal performance index featured a number of smartphone sites that posted extremely slow response times. With that in mind, we thought we would look at how site infrastructure contributes to the performance of one of these slower sites...
Bump Updates App for Mobile to PC File Sharing
February 15, 2013 10:30 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsBump today launched an updated version of its contact and file sharing app for iOS and Android that enables the apps to interact with the company's web version of Bump at http://bu.mp. In a blog post on the company's website the company explains that the new functionality wil allow everything...
Opera Acquires Skyfire for Video Optimization Tech
February 15, 2013 9:52 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsOpera Software today announced that it has acquired Silicon Valley based Skyfire Labs, which specializes in mobile video optimization and cloud solutions for mobility. Skyfire also produces a mobile browser that allows iOS users to watch Flash-based video content on their devices...
Tamagotchi Returns: Electronic Pet Reborn as App
February 14, 2013 9:25 am | by Derrik J. Lang, AP Entertainment Writer | News | CommentsTamagotchi is re-hatching as an app. Bandai America Inc. and Sync Beatz Entertainment are hoping to revive the electronic pet craze of the 1990s with a new mobile app launching Thursday for Android devices. The app duplicates the egg-shaped plastic toy...
Mailbox App Review: Return to Sender
February 13, 2013 5:23 pm | by Andrew Berg | Articles | CommentsAs much as it pains me to say it, the new iOS app, Mailbox from Orchestra, will not revolutionize email as we know it. In fact, it’s only a hair better than the Gmail experience it aims to improve. I've had about a week to play around with Mailbox, and I have to say...
AT&T Aims to Speed Content Delivery with Akamai Deployment
February 13, 2013 10:34 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsAT&T today announced a new Content Delivery Network for businesses that aims to provide speedy delivery of mobile apps, web pages and videos. AT&T CDN Service is available to U.S. customers as part of a previously annoucned partnership with Akamai Technologies...
Yahoo CEO Plans to Prune Company's Mobile Apps
February 13, 2013 9:54 am | by Michael Liedtke, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsYahoo CEO Marissa Mayer thinks the Internet company will be able to please more people with fewer smartphone applications. Mayer told an audience of investors during a Tuesday presentation that she thinks Yahoo...
First News Briefs for February 6, 2013
February 6, 2013 10:54 am | by Wireless Week Staff | News | CommentsInterop Technologies today announced that its Rich Communication Services (RCS) solution now supports a network address book and social presence. The network address book synchronizes a user’s contacts among different devices...
Tango Focuses on Differentiation from the Rest of the OTT Pack
February 6, 2013 10:11 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsThe Over-the-Top (OTT) messaging and calling space is crowded. Facebook, Google and Apple have all entered the market, as have many others, including names like Tango, which was one of the first to the video calling over 3G space and has grown...
Mozilla Unveils Developer Preview Phones
January 22, 2013 11:48 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsMozilla today unveiled some developer hardware to accompany its HTML-5-powered mobile Firefox OS, which is built entirely using open web standards. The company showed off new Firefox OS developer preview phones via its blog, saying that it's developers...
RIM Launches BlackBerry World Ahead of BB 10 Unveiling
January 21, 2013 10:08 am | News | CommentsIn what appears to be more preparation for the Jan. 31 unveiling of BlackBerry 10, RIM today took the wraps off a redesign app store called BlackBerry World, previously known as BlackBerry App World. The changes are being rolled out in stages...
The Keynote Dec. - Jan. Mobile News and Portal Index
January 21, 2013 9:38 am | by Wireless Week Staff | News | CommentsHappy New Year! Another year arrives and with it another Keynote Mobile News and Portal Index to review. We’ve talked a lot in the past about how some of the leading mobile news sites can improve their performance by paying attention to key best practices for site...
EBay's 4Q Performance Caps Company's Best Year Yet
January 17, 2013 9:47 am | by Michael Liedtke, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsEBay finished last year with a flourish as bargain-hunting holiday shoppers flocked to its Internet shopping mall and digital payment service to help lift the company's fourth-quarter earnings above analyst projections. The results announced Wednesday served as the exclamation point on the best year...
Tip of the Thumb: Apps that Made the Homescreen
January 16, 2013 12:45 pm | Articles | CommentsIn the past, I've finished the year with a look at my iPhone and the apps that have proven they have staying power. This year, I decided to look at what pieces of software have made their way to my homescreen. These apps earn their chunk of beachfront property...
Cricket's Muve Music Hits 1 Million Customers
January 8, 2013 9:20 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsCricket Communications' on-demand Muve Music service has logged over 1.1 million customers. The service, which launched at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in 2010, has been a successful value-add for the prepaid carrier...
Apple App Store Hits 40 Billion App Downloads
January 7, 2013 10:11 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsApple today announced that customers have downloaded over 40 billion apps from the iTunes App Store, with nearly 20 billion in 2012 alone. According to a press release, the App Store has over 500 million active accounts, which recorded a record-breaking December with over two billion...
Samsung Continues Evolution of ChatON to Version 2.0
December 27, 2012 9:27 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsSamsung today announced the launch of version 2.0 of ChatON, the company’s Over-the-Top (OTT) messaging service. Much like Apple’s iMessage and FaceTime products, ChatOn allows users of the service to connect with others via voice, video...
First News Briefs for December 14, 2012
December 14, 2012 10:22 am | by Wireless Week Staff | News | CommentsFacebook announced a faster Facebook app for people who use Android devices. Facebook for Android 2.0 is twice as fast when looking at photos and opening your Timeline and quicker to launch. Facebook rebuilt several of Facebook for Android's core features in native code...
Review: New Google Maps Boasts Big Improvements
December 14, 2012 9:26 am | by Bree Fowler, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsLike a lot of people, I was happy and relieved to see Google Maps return to the iPhone. I'd been frustrated with the Apple mapping software that had replaced it three months ago. For one thing, it didn't have public transit directions, a feature important for New Yorkers like me...
