apps

A couple of years ago I was talking to the folks from Sony's PlayStation division in a hotel suite in Manhattan where they were showing us the second-generation PSP, the PSP-2000. I was telling them all the things I would like to see in the PSP. "This is a mini computer," I said, complimenting them on what a great device it was. But I thought it was being underutilized. "Why don't you open this thing?" I suggested. "Let people develop for it. Screw the UMD. It's got built-in wireless, you should be able download all kinds of games and apps to it. Slap on a detachable BlackBerry-style keyboard and you're good to go."

At the time, Sony's marketing department had seemingly grappled with and settled on selling the PSP as a gaming device first and foremost with a dash of multimedia thrown in for good measure. Even if there was an active homebrew market percolating, there was little beyond the idea that the PSP could play games, music, and movies (from a UMD disc) and surf the Web on a second-rate browser. Yes, the whole PSP "store" concept was in the works, but it seemed to be moving at a glacial pace. VoIP support in the form of a Skype client was also on the table. … Read more

The iPhone 3G brought changes in shape, function, features, etc., relative to original model, but, to the dismay of many cell phone, photographers, the device retains the same 2.0 megapixel camera. Apple enhanced the camera by coupling the camera to the GPS features of the iPhone 3G to enable photo geotagging, but this did little to calm the complaints about the camera's resolution, lack of flash and other features available on a few other phones. Last October, I wrote a lengthy article about the state of photography on the iPhone and, months later, I'm still amazed by … Read more

Even if you're not one to trust a groundhog's shadow as your weather vane, watching a pet rodent emerge from a hole before hundreds of onlookers is a fascinating North American ritual. The rest of us may not have the prognosticating meteorological savvy of a Punxsutawney Phil, Buckeye Chuck, or Shubenacadie Sam, but on February 2, we can have the next best thing--weather widgets and applications.

Here are some of our favorite ways to read the mercury on our Windows PCs.

Weather Watcher Live A full, but well-ordered display, detailed forecast, animated map, and severe weather alerts are … Read more

Apple may be planning a new section of the App Store dedicated to premium game titles that will put more cash in the pockets of developers.

The new section will supposedly cater to games that sell for about $20, according to the blog PocketGamer.biz, which first reported the rumor.

The new section will be restricted to only games of large publishers, rather than titles created by smaller gaming developers that are already offered through the main App Store, the site said.

PocketGamer believes that Apple will likely introduce the new section its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June.

The … Read more

The iPhone developer behind Podcaster has found a way to get into Apple's App Store without invoking the wrath of iPhone Inspector No. 5.

The developer, who has a private Blogger profile but appears to go by Alex according to Uneasy Silence, has a new application called RSS Player that duplicates the basic function of Podcaster--letting you download podcasts to your iPhone or iPod Touch--but without some of the features that Apple appears to have disliked. For example, you can't search for podcasts through the app, you have to subscribe to the RSS feed for those podcasts.

Back … Read more

To critics, cloud computing can't be trusted because you aren't in control of the data outside your network.

But if that's the case, then how secure are the data and collocation centers that corporations contract with to host their data?

"It does come down to vetting the practices of the provider and making sure they meet the standards you want for your business," Phil Hochmuth, a senior analyst at Yankee Group, said Monday, the eve of Cloud Computing Innovation Day in Santa Clara, Calif.

Companies like Salesforce.com, Amazon.com, and Google have built businesses … Read more

Another day, another automaker releases an iPhone/iPod Touch app. This time, it's Mini Financial Services launching the Mini Liquid Assets game.

The game is a digital version of those water-filled handheld toys where you press a button to push a plastic trinket into a goal with a jet of water. In this case, you're firing nickels into Minis--the idea being that with Mini, you get to "keep more liquid assets." Get it? Liquid? Assets?

The game features three stages of difficulty and eight levels (one featuring the Mini-E against a backdrop of wind power generators) … Read more

Despite the fact that I finally caved and purchased a second-gen iPod Touch, history will tell you that I'm no iPod fangirl. Still, one thing the iPod has going for it that no other MP3 player can match is a seemingly endless array of third-party add-ons.

There are hordes of cases; gaggles of speakers; and a shocking supply of docks, recorders, FM transmitters, and other feature-adding devices...not to mention all those apps for the Touch and the iPhone.

Over the past several years, there have been a number of iPod accessories that tempted me to bow to the … Read more

Research In Motion will not be as tough a gatekeeper as Apple in admitting applications to its storefront, but it will reject BlackBerry apps it thinks use too much network bandwidth, the company's developer relations chief has told ZDNet UK.

Mike Kirkup said on Thursday that the Canadian handset manufacturer will welcome third-party software that replicates the functionality of native BlackBerry applications onto the BlackBerry Application Storefront--a strategy that is not followed by Apple with its iPhone App Store. However, certain types of applications, such as those offering streaming video, might be turned down.

"If somebody builds … Read more