Mobile

Yahoo buys iOS photography shop to improve Flickr

In a maneuver to improve Flickr, Yahoo has purchased GhostBird Software, makers of iOS camera apps, for an undisclosed sum. The buy comes less than a month after the media titan released an overhauled version of its photo service that wasn't greeted with the warmest of welcomes.

Today we acquired @ghostbirdsoft for @flickr. Get ready to see your mobile photos in a whole new light! bit.ly/11zOvNY

— Yahoo! Inc.(@YahooInc) June 12, 2013

Yahoo announced the acquisition with a tweet Wednesday and told Flickr users to expect to see their mobile photos in "a whole new light.&… Read more

Uber cuts ride-share prices below taxi fares

Uber is now offering its ride-sharing service -- which lets users get rides from people in their personal cars -- at prices lower than taxi cabs, the company announced today.

The peer-to-peer service uberX, which mimics the models of companies like Lyft and Sidecar, will now have fares in San Francisco that are 10 percent lower than taxi prices, according to Uber. San Francisco is just now seeing this competitive pricing that Uber's other ride-share cities already have, aside from New York. UberX in Seattle, San Diego, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston are cheaper than taxis.

"This is … Read more

Speed boost for Photosmith, a Lightroom-linked iPad app

C2 Enterprises has improved the performance and abilities of Photosmith, its iPad app for screening, cataloging, and rating photos before they're handed off to Adobe Systems' Lightroom.

Photosmith 3 is a complete overhaul, developers said in a blog post: "Much of the core of the app has been rewritten or updated to provide more stability. Key areas have been optimized for speed." The software arrived on the App Store on Wednesday.

Version 3's reworked import process is much more flexible, they promised. Instead of storing photos in the iPad's camera roll, Photosmith 3 can store … Read more

Fashion app Polyvore hits 1 million downloads

Polyvore, the e-commerce site for fashionistas, announced Wednesday that users have downloaded its iOS app 1 million times.

To mark its milestone, the profitable company has added a few features, including hashtags and ways to edit your collections. Users can now undo or redo changes they make in the editor, resize the images to fit the screen, realign text, and add arrows, numbers, textures, and patterns.

In addition to hashtags, Polyvore added another social layer. Users also can add friend mentions in comments with an "@" symbol. The mention will prompt a notification to the friend, and clicking on … Read more

Image of HTC One Mini leaks

The rumored HTC One Mini takes another step closer to reality. An image reported to be the fabled, micronized handset has bubbled up into view courtesy of gadget blog Engadget.

If the photo is legit, then the One Mini's hardware will indeed match all the hearsay and speculation. The device is said to be a shrunken-down version of HTC's flagship device, which, unlike the HTC One, features a 4.3-inch LCD screen and a thinner and shorter frame. The phone will likely sport the same gorgeous unibody aluminum chassis as the HTC One.

Other speculation points to a … Read more

AT&T grabs Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet with LTE

AT&T announced on Wednesday that the LTE-capable Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 will join the carrier's roster in "the coming weeks" as an AT&T exclusive.

First unveiled at Mobile World Congress, the Note 8.0 runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and features a 1.6GHz quad-core processor. Additional details include a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, 16GB of internal memory, and a microSD slot for cards up to 32GB. It's got a 4,600mAh battery inside.

The Galaxy Note 8.0 features an integrated S Pen digital stylus … Read more

Justin Timberlake's Myspace releases iPhone app -- with GIFs

Five months after launching the new Myspace to the public, Justin Timberlake and friends are making their social service for creatives, artists, and their fans available on the iPhone, perhaps where it was meant to be all along.

In 2011, Specific Media co-founders Chris and Tim Vanderhook and their music-mogul pal Justin Timberlake acquired what was left of the forgotten social network for $35 million. Since then, a Los Angeles team has set about rebuilding Myspace into a destination people actually want to visit -- not for traditional social networking per se, but for streaming music and connecting to everything … Read more

iPhone owners more loyal than Android users -- study

Android vendors shouldn't expect to make many friends with Apple's current customers.

In a study released Tuesday by gadget-comparison company Retrevo, 81 percent of current iPhone owners will buy another Apple handset when their contracts are up and they have to purchase another device. Another 14 percent of current iPhone owners identify themselves as "undecided." Just 4 percent say that they plan to switch to Android.

It's a different story on the Android side. Just under two-thirds of current Android owners -- 63 percent -- say that they'd stick with a handset running Google'… Read more

JLo's Viva Movil opens first store to sell wireless products

JLo's new mobile venture has launched its first retail outlet.

Set up as a Verizon Wireless premium retailer, Viva Movil by Jennifer Lopez launched its initial store on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, the company announced Wednesday. Designed to attract customers from the Hispanic community, the store will sell smartphones and tablets from Apple, Samsung, BlackBerry, Motorola, LG, Nokia, and other vendors, all running on Verizon's network. Also on tap will be fashion cases from Jennifer Lopez and accessories from Samsung, BlackBerry, Otterbox, and Harman Kardon.

The store's staffers are bilingual, allowing them to speak with customers in … Read more