application

Apple has approved 1 million iOS apps, according to an application discovery company.

Appsfire revealed the findings on its Twitter account yesterday. In an e-mailed statement to CNET, an Appsfire spokesperson said that its tally includes all of the apps "that have been submitted and approved by Apple and that went live in the App Store" since its launch in 2008. The spokesperson was quick to point out that the tally does not include those apps that have been submitted and rejected.

The Next Web was first to report on the Appsfire tally.

Apple announced last month that … Read more

Texas Instruments is officially getting out of the consumer smartphone business, as major phone suppliers like Apple turn to internal chip designs.

"TI...will reduce costs and focus investments in its wireless business on embedded markets with greater potential for sustainable growth. Cost reductions include the elimination of about 1,700 jobs worldwide," TI said in a statement today.

While TI didn't mention any names, one of the most telling statements alluded to companies that are now designing their own chips. That would include Apple, which designs processors for its iPhone.

"Large customers are increasingly developing … Read more

Winmail Reader is a useful and simple tool for anyone who sends or receives messages from the older Microsoft Outlook 97 and 2000 applications (winmail.dat). With Winmail Reader, the user can read, convert, and save file attachments that come from Outlook, Outlook Express, and Microsoft Exchange applications as well as Thunderbird and Lotus Notes e-mail clients. It is a freeware application that works on the later versions of the Windows operating system including XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

The layout of Winmail Reader will be familiar to any Windows user, and there aren't many options, so most people … Read more

A new mobile application centering on President Barack Obama and his daily activities has launched. But it hasn't launched where you might expect.

The U.S. Government Printing Office and the National Archives' Office of the Federal Register announced today that they have launched the Presidential Documents app (PDF). The program comes with access to all of the president's executive orders, speeches, approved acts, and White House press releases, among other documents.

However, while developers are constantly delivering new applications to mobile marketplaces, like Apple's App Store and Google Play, the government agencies balked at that idea. … Read more

Apple's iPad is now home to a Groupon application designed for restaurants.

Dubbed Breadcrumb, the application is meant to include everything a restaurant would need to handle transactions. The application includes menus, allowing servers to input a person's order and send it off to the kitchen. In addition, restaurant owners will be able to manage their tables to see what's open, how many people are sitting at a table, and so on.

According to Groupon, Breadcrumb is designed to replace the current point-of-sale products restaurants are already using. So, in addition to the application, Breadcrumb supports cash … Read more

Office apps running natively on iOS and Android will finally launch early next year, according to a Czech Web report.

Microsoft product manager Petr Bobek said at a press event in the Czech Republic that native Office apps for iOS and Android will be available in March 2013. Czech site IHNED was first to report on the news.

The Verge also reported today that it had seen a press release sent out from Microsoft's Czech Republic office confirming that Office would be coming to Android, iOS, and Symbian. That press release claims a consumer launch of the new Office … Read more

Apple's exploits in the world of software patents are under close scrutiny, and with good reason. Every few weeks new applications are unearthed providing possible clues to future products, or insights into what's already been released.

In recent years though, the focus has been less about products and more about how Apple can use these patents in court -- or to avoid it entirely. Case in point, just a handful of patents (seven to be precise) were enough to set the stage for a dramatic U.S. court battle between Apple and Samsung, a fight that already has is sequel lined up. … Read more

Google Play will soon have another competitor.

Russian search engine Yandex announced today that it will soon launch an "alternative" application marketplace for Android users. Dubbed Yandex.Store, the marketplace will offer nearly 40,000 applications and allow vendors to bundle another app store into their devices.

Yandex.Store is also a white-box offering, meaning vendors can place their own branding on top of it. According to Yandex, Russian carrier MegaFon has already signed on to the service.

As with other application stores, Yandex's option takes 30 percent of the revenue generated from apps. In addition, Yandex.… Read more

Apple has brought its new App Store design to iOS 6.

The company recently updated its iOS 6 beta with the new App Store design. As 9to5 Mac, which was first to report on the update, points out: the design boasts "cards" that display the app's icon, price, and rating, as well as a screenshot showing it in action.

After searching for programs in the new App Store design, users will see the cards displayed in a grid-like format. Users can scroll down the page to see all of the apps. In addition, Apple has made the … Read more