iOS software

Google exposes 'smart' results in search

SAN FRANCISCO -- Your search results in Google are about to get a big dose of Knowledge, the company announced today at a press breakfast at its San Francisco office.

Google's Knowledge Graph, its "smart" recognition of people, places, and things in search queries, is coming to English-language search results in a big way, starting with a rollout tomorrow.

Integrating the Knowledge Graph The main component of the Knowledge Graph integration will be rolled out in parts, with all English-language searches getting the basic integration. This means that if you're searching for "Chiefs," for … Read more

HipGeo makes documenting your travels easy on iOS

HipGeo Travel Blog and Trip Journal (free) lets you tell the story of your vacation with images, videos, text, tags, and more all tied to your geolocation. You start by signing up through Facebook or Twitter, then you can choose people to share your travels with. If you just want to see the app in action before you take your trip (and see best practices from other users) you can use an explore button to check out blogs of popular or featured users, or look at posts from near your location.… Read more

Nuance unveils Nina, a Siri sister that lives in third-party apps

Nuance, a company that plays a part in some of the most well-known speech-recognition services on the market, has unveiled its own intra-app service, called Nina.

With Nina's help, iOS and Android developers can bring speech recognition, text-to-speech, and voice biometrics to their individual applications. Nina works much in the same way as Siri, allowing users to provide voice commands that the technology then follows. And with the open software development kit, Nuance says that it can be integrated quickly into existing apps.

Nuance has played an integral role in Siri's development. Nuance provided technology to Siri before … Read more

Free Aesop for Children app brings classic fables to smartphones, tablets

Your tax dollars at work.

How better to describe Aesop for Children, a new iOS app (update: it's also available for Android, though not through Google Play) offered free by the Library of Congress?

I'm sure there's a debate to be had on whether the government should be in the app-development business, especially when there are competing commercial apps like Aesop's Wheel of Fables.

Personally, I don't mind seeing my taxes used for education, literacy, reading, and all that good stuff. But, like I said, it's open for debate.

In the meantime, let's … Read more

Defend against enemy onslaughts on iOS

My gaming addiction tends to go in phases. Sometimes I like puzzle games, then I'll move on to shooting games. After that, I might switch to racing games or go on to classic arcade. Whatever the flavor of the week is, I like to really get into it to see what the App Store has to offer.

The recent release of a classic iOS game sequel got me back into playing tower defense strategy games. There is something about finding just the right combination of turrets to pass challenging levels that appeals to me right now. After playing the sequel for a bit, I started to check out a few other games. If you like tower defense, this collection is for you.

This week's collection of iOS apps are my favorite tower defense games of the moment. The first has been around for awhile, but continues to be a go-to game when I'm playing tower defense. The second adds unique game elements that change the gameplay by keeping you busy. The third is a sequel to one of the most popular iOS tower defense games of all time.… Read more

iTunes Match vs. Amazon Cloud Player: What's the better option?

With Amazon's recently updated Cloud Player service, music fans now have one more way to store and stream their tunes from the cloud. It bears many similarities to Apple's iTunes Match, but after playing around with both services I can attest to some clear differences, as well. If you're looking for some guidance on which service is a better fit for your music collection, you've come to the right place.

iTunes Match Cloud Player Free option n/a 250 songs, scan & match, purchases do not count against total Paid option $24.99/yr, scan & … Read more

Rumor Has It: iPhone 5 isn't the only trick up Apple's sleeve

On this week's show, we discuss the latest iPhone 5 release date rumors, Samsung's possible Retina Display, and an alleged new tablet from Sony, and we wonder if Apple is really interested in buying a stake in Twitter.

The New York Times came out with a report over the weekend describing talks between Apple and the 140-character proselytizer. The report alleged that Apple has considered buying a minority stake in Twitter, a company that hasn't yet filed an IPO. The Wall Street Journal chimed in to say the talks were more than a year ago, and its … Read more

iTunes vs. Amazon: What's the best video service on the iPad?

The future of TV, movies, and home entertainment feels like it's changing by the day, thanks to the impact of the digital revolution. Netflix is the top dog thanks to its $8 subscription streaming service, but your viewing choices are severely limited. For a la carte, pay-as-you-go services, Apple's iTunes has been the default choice for many when it comes to buying, renting, and viewing videos. Splitting the difference was Amazon's Instant Video: it offers a diverse library of pay-per-view TV shows and movies, plus a subset of "free" content for subscribers to the company'… Read more

Fanhattan for iOS adds HBO and Cinemax, still trying to be iPad's perfect video app

Devices like the iPad have become spectacular as repositories for streaming TV apps and video services, but they're not so great at discovery of said streaming shows, which tend to be scattered around like Easter eggs across different apps. The latest version of Fanhattan takes a small step forward in the great Mission To Help iPad Users Find Their Videos, but it's not the perfect app yet. … Read more