Mobile software

The attractions of Snapchat are essentially intellectual.

In creating the conditions for a spontaneous "now you see me, now you don't" aspect to your life, it allows for a greater and more nuanced level of excitement to permeate human relationships.

Recently, however, there have been concerns that the topless, bottomless, or merely hapless shots sent by Snapchat users might not truly disappear. … Read more

Mozilla is taking steps to lock down mixed content Web sites for Firefox in an update Friday to Firefox 23 Aurora.

In Firefox 23 Aurora, the pre-beta version of the browser for Windows, Mac, and Linux, Mozilla will block by default mixed active content. Mixed content is a term that refers to a Web site secured with HTTPS that loads some of its content, such as images or scripts, from standard HTTP sources, and can lead to eavesdroppers and man-in-the-middle attacks.

Mixed active content describes things like scripts because they can actively change how you interact with the site. Mixed … Read more

The quest to free the browser from plug-ins that can impede performance took another step forward on Thursday when Mozilla activated by default Web Real-Time Communication in its latest Firefox beta.

WebRTC, as it's known, is the HTML5 standard for streaming files, video, and audio on the Web. Mozilla activated getUserMedia in Firefox in April, which WebRTC uses to access the Webcam and microphone. Now, PeerConnection and DataChannels have been turned on in the Firefox 22 Beta, available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

PeerConnection lets the browser set up real-time video and audio calls, while DataChannels enables peer-to-peer data … Read more

Google and Microsoft are in the middle of a scuffle over the updated YouTube app in Windows Phone, but the software giant is apparently willing to compromise.

Earlier this week, Google sent a cease-and-desist letter to Microsoft, saying that it must remove the YouTube application from the Windows Phone marketplace. That app, which Microsoft updated to make it look like those on other mobile platforms, was criticized by Google for allegedly violating its terms of service. The company specifically took aim at Microsoft over the application's lack of ad support.

In a statement to CNET sister site ZDNet on Wednesday, … Read more

Supermarkets are labyrinthine behemoths laid out in a convenient linear fashion. So where's the maze? On the supermarket shelves, of course. Food products galore stare back at us, silently appealing to our penchants for sugar, salt, and fat. We pick and choose, knowing full well what we are getting into. But it's the hidden components that are increasingly becoming a salient issue.

If supermarket shelves are overwhelming due to the sheer diversity of items, imagine the corporate structure behind the packaging. Or don't; just let your phone do it. Scan any bar code (UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN8, EAN13...) with your phone and the free Buycott app (for iOS; a previously available Android version is now "Coming soon") will display the product's corporate family tree on the screen. The app takes knowing where your food comes from further, telling you not only what brand belongs to what company, but what that company does with your dollars.… Read more

ABC's new live TV video service Watch ABC has arrived on smartphones, tablets, and the Web, though its availability is highly limited for now.

Disney/ABC on Tuesday announced the availability of the live programming feature in its mobile app in New York City as well as Philadelphia though local respective networks WABC-TV and WPVI. The update adds a "live" button to ABC's newly renamed Watch ABC software for iOS devices that lets users in those markets watch live streams of those two stations, just like they would on a TV.

News of the feature came over the weekend … Read more

A more granular approach to how Firefox has implemented the controversial "Do Not Track" setting leads off the changes to Firefox 21, which updated on Tuesday. Also in the browser is support for more social networks including MSN Now and a "Firefox Health Report."

More options for the Social API, which debuted at the end of last year with Facebook Messenger integration, allows Firefox 21 (download for Windows | Mac | Linux) to work with MSN Now, Cliqz, China's Weibo, and the Japan-only Mixi. While there's no doubt that they're not even on a scale … Read more

The most important feature your to-do list needs is accessibility. A written grocery list you forgot on your kitchen counter doesn't help you much at the store. For this reason, among others, many people use a to-do list manager on their mobile device. But what happens when the app you're using shuts down their service? That's the thought on many users' minds following Yahoo's recent acquisition of Astrid

Fortunately, some of the other to-do list apps are stepping up to help you migrate your data. Such is the case with Any.Do, which released … Read more

Android head Sundar Pichai might be new to the job of leading Google's mobile operating system, but he's already working at improving the update process for that software.

In a Wired interview published Monday, Pichai acknowledged that update paths to new versions of Android can be difficult, but that he and his team "are thinking about how to make Android handle updates better."

"We see ways we can do this," he told Wired. "It's early days. We're talking with our partners and working our way through it. We need time to … Read more