App

Google claims more than 2 million businesses and 20 million people have switched to Google Apps, a movement the company is touting through its expanding "Gone Google" marketing program.

Google's official blog on Monday put in a plug for the ongoing flow of companies that have adopted its services, including not just Google Apps, but also the Postini spam filtering and Google's Enterprise Search Appliance.

In August, Google asked customers to tweet the benefits of using its online apps and services, and now the company has gathered together those tweets in its GoogleAtWork Twitter page.

Through … Read more

If you're a frequent Amazon shopper, you might be looking out for tools to help enhance the experience of buying products on the site. There are services on the Web to help you get more out of Amazon than simply picking up a few products from the company's pages.

Let's take a look.

AmaDig If you're looking for a different way to search Amazon, AmaDig will provide it.

When you get to the site, you can pick which Amazon category you want to sift through. From there, the site lists images of different products offered in that category. When you click on a respective product, you can view its specs, pricing, and reviews. You can also view the listing on Amazon or add it to your shopping cart from the site. It's a neat tool, but beware that the interface is a little clunky.

Amazon Mobile If you're ready to buy a product at the store, you might want to consider using the Amazon app on your iPhone before you plunk down the cash.

Amazon Mobile not only lets you search for products and pricing, you can also take a picture of a product and have the app search Amazon's database to get its pricing. You can add items to your cart and use Amazon's 1-click payment system to place an order. (Read our full review here).… Read more

Developers of iPhone and iPod Touch applications can now enable purchases from within their freely available App Store applications.

Until now, Apple has permitted in-app sales of content, subscriptions, and digital services only for apps costing at least 99 cents.

Apple on Thursday sent the following e-mail to developers:

Considering all the drama surrounding the App Store approval process, this latest move by Apple appears to be a positive one for iPhone SDK developers, as it gives them a bit more flexibility in how they design and potentially profit from the applications they build.

We'd like to hear from … Read more

404 dear friend and marketing expert Rana Sobhany is back on The 404 Podcast today in lieu of Jeff who is taking a day off from his hard video game reviewing work. Rana always brings us something when she comes on the show, last time she brought cupcakes, so we definitely owe her a batch; however, this time she brings us exciting news that she's currently unemployed! Hooray! After building Medialets up into the iPhone powerhouse that it is today, Rana's ready to jump into a new project, but not before taking a bit of a break and focusing more on brand consulting. So congrats to Rana on her new horizons!

Of course, with Jeff away the show is left in the hands of the very capable Wilson G. Tang, who handles the board with the finesse and delicacy of a heavyweight-class UFC fighter. The first story on today's rundown is about Pepsi's controversial new app that supposedly helps men "score" with women by offering dozens of stereotypes with targeted pickup lines, talking points, and a scoreboard to "keep track of their conquests." Since we just so happen to have a stunning female in the room with us today, we have to try out a few pick up lines...and you can see where this is going.

Rana also brings us news about Twitter-branded wine! That's right, the popular social networking site has partnered with San Francisco-based winery Crushpad that lets users select a wine (only pinot noir and chardonnay for now) and even customize the label on the bottle! I wonder how The 404's own wine would taste...I'm thinking very bitter with an awful aftertaste.

Also, a big thanks goes out to Tony and Ashton from Lacey, Washington who called in this week to tell us that their entire second period Science class listens to The 404 together! Although we never considered The 404 to have any parochial merit, one thing is for sure: you have the coolest science teacher ever! I never had any high school teachers that let us listen to podcasts during class time...speaking of which, get to work! Study hard, and one day you can invite us as guests on your podcast! Speaking of which, we want the whole class and your teacher to call and leave us a voice mail, 1-866-404-CNET!

Have a great Thursday, everyone!

Wolfgang's Vault is an online archive containing hundreds of high-quality concert recordings, mostly from big classic-rock artists like The Who and U2, but with a few newer artists, such as The Walkmen, thrown in as well. (Here's a complete list of performers whose recordings are available on the service.)

Last month, Wolfgang released an updated version of its much-lauded free iPhone application, Concert Vault, which gives you access to these amazing shows directly from your iPhone or iPod Touch.

The update adds a couple minor features, including a list of featured concerts--helpful for keeping track of shows that … Read more

Today's episode of The 404 Podcast starts with a big change in the show title format. That's right, we're now announcing the date with the episode number and name. Can you feel the excitement! Well, if that didn't do the trick, check out this funny headline from the first story of the day: "Woman fired for eating boss' meatball." I don't even think that requires any further explanation, but you can read the whole story here

Now that you can invite friends to Google Voice, maybe Wilson will be generous and spread the love. Google Voice is great for users that want to consolidate several phone numbers into one. The service also transcribes voice mails, assign personalized greetings by caller, forward voice mails, and many more convenient features that help you screen your communication with the outside world. Do you have a Google Voice number already? Let us know what you think of the service, and share the wealth, will you!?

Models, high schoolers, and crime scene investigators will love this next story: Polaroids are making their triumphant comeback in 2010! A group called The Impossible Project is taking the reigns and collaborating with Polaroid to reproduce a limited edition of the Instant Film in mid 2010. If you can't wait that long, they've also partnered with Urban Outfitters and have the classic film and a special edition Polaroid camera kit available in stores now.

Finally, we definitely want to show our support to Drew Olanoff and Drew Carey for actually making philanthropic use of Twitter! Drew Carey will give away $1,000,000 to the LiveStrong foundation if his Twitter account receives a million followers by midnight on December 31, 2009. In the small chance that he doesn't get the million followers by that time, the amount will be prorated according to how many he ends up with. In other words, if he finishes with 600,000 followers, the LiveStrong foundation will receive $600,000. Right now he's at 92,017 followers--with The 404's help, we can get him closer to that million!

Oh yeah, do yourself a favor and go check out Loaded today to see Natali talking about the Love Vibes iPhone app that rates your lovemaking skill...or lack thereof.

PepsiCo has tweeted an apology on its Amp Energy Twitter account, as well as its Pepsi account, to those who may be offended by its new iPhone application, Amp Up Before You Score, which some have complained is insensitive to women.

"Our app tried 2 (sic) show the humorous lengths guys go 2 pick up women," a tweet read on Amp Energy's Twitter page. "We apologize if it's in bad taste & appreciate your feedback." The message was retweeted on Pepsi's official Twitter page.

The soft-drink maker stopped short of removing the free … Read more

Car security company Directed Electronics is unveiling a new iPhone application Tuesday that lets customers control parts of their Viper SmartStart-enabled vehicle from their iPhone or iPod Touch.

The app, called Viper SmartStart, is quite similar toZipcar's recently released iPhone app, except it can work with your car, and not one you're renting for the weekend. It, too, creates a virtual keychain control module that can do things like lock and unlock your vehicle, open the trunk, and activate the alarm, getting rid of the need to carry around one of those keychain clickers as long as you've got your phone handy.

Coolest of all, though, there's a "Smart Start" button in the center of the screen that can turn on your vehicle. The company is promoting this as a simple way to defrost or cool off a car before you get in--that is, assuming you correctly set the climate controls the last time you were inside.

Since the app uses the iPhone's data connection to send the commands, you can control your car (or cars) from anywhere you have an EDGE or 3G signal. It also means you can use it on a non-cellular data device like the iPod Touch, as long as it's near Wi-Fi.

The app is completely free, but it requires you have Viper's SmartStart system installed in each car you want to take control of. This costs $499 for a new installation, or $299 for cars that already have a Viper alarm system, as well as an active subscription to Viper's Smart Start service. Buyers of the system get a year of the $29.99 service included when they get the service installed; then they have to pay after that.

I'm still waiting for a version that can give you live video and steering controls, like the ridiculous, yet awesome remote-controlled BMW in "Tomorrow Never Dies" Though something tells me that's not happening anytime soon.

You can watch the company's promo video after the break.

Correction 9:07 a.m. on October 13: This story initially misidentified the remote-controlled car and James Bond film it was featured in. It is a BMW, and it appeared in "Tomorrow Never Dies."… Read more

Gist on Tuesday is releasing an application for the iPhone that brings many of the site's big features to user's small pockets. The free app is meant to compliment Gist.com's people-analyzing and organizing tools, letting users get an alert on upcoming meetings as well as background information on those who they're meeting with. This includes how important the user's contacts are, as determined by Gist's algorithms.

Where users will spend most of their time though is the app's dashboard, which breaks down the latest news about people and companies they're corresponding … Read more