Cool Apps

After a pilot program that began last year and was expanded in January, Google has announced that all developers can now reply to reviews of their apps on Google Play. This ability will allow developers to complete the circuit of communication, offering them the ability to create a conversation, rather than a one-sided complaint forum. Continue Reading →

This week ABC will quietly revolutionize its app for iPhones and iPads with a button called “live.” Users around New York and Philadelphia will be able to live stream all the programming from ABC’s local stations there, the first time that any major broadcaster has turned on such a technology. The functionality will be featured Continue Reading →

Facebook is in talks to buy Israeli crowdsourced traffic and navigation app, Waze, for $1 billion.  Waze got started as a way for drivers to report in on their traffic observations using their smart phones. As Bardin explained, “Ehud Shabtai, a software engineer, was given a handheld device that came pre-installed with navigation software. Thrilled Continue Reading →

Flipboard’s CEO called version 2.0 of the hugely popular news-aggregating app “the most epic release we’ve ever done” when it launched on iOS in late March, and now Flipboard 2.0 has finally arrived for Android devices. In functionality, the Android app is now on par with what was released for iOS — the new magazine Continue Reading →

Microsoft is updating its YouTube application for Windows Phone in a significant way. Previously, the app was simply a web link to the mobile YouTube interface, but it’s now a full application for Windows Phone 8 devices. You can now access videos, channels, playlists, and pin them to the Windows Phone 8 Start Screen. Microsoft Continue Reading →

Wireless internet provider Boingo offers specialized apps for every major phone or computer platform, but iOS users now have the moderate advantage of being able to sign up almost instantly through their iTunes account. The latest version of Boingo Wi-Finder for iOS includes the option to buy Wi-Fi as an in-app purchase, rather than getting Continue Reading →

Google Now was probably the best thing to happen to mobile devices in 2012. Google’s brilliant virtual assistant uses location, search history and other data to automatically present users with information like the weather, driving directions to meetings and travel times, sports scores and more without any interaction required on the user’s part. After a Continue Reading →

Yahoo has acquired the to-do list app Astrid, which will continue running as is for the next 90 days. “Over the next 90 days, Astrid will continue to work as is, and we will no longer be accepting new premium subscriptions. To make future changes as easy as possible, we’ll be in touch with users Continue Reading →

Software developer Stonly Baptiste has created a new Web-based service called Retwact to help people write and share corrections on Twitter. The tool, spotted by National Journal, looks at the user’s most recent tweets that have been reshared by other people on Twitter. Clicking on the green icon next to the appropriate message then brings Continue Reading →

Just a few days after Uber got the official go-ahead to operate under a New York City pilot program for taxi-hailing apps, the UberTAXI service has gone live. There are a few limitations at present, however. The app doesn’t support automatic payments, so you’ll have to remember to pay your driver the regular way, and Continue Reading →