iOS

Microsoft's Windows Phone grabbed third place from BlackBerry in global smartphone shipments in the first quarter, market researcher IDC said Thursday.

Windows Phone accounted for shipments of 7 million smartphones, earning itself a market share of 3.2 percent last quarter. That was a gain from the first quarter of 2012, which saw shipments of 3 million and a market share of 2 percent.

Over the same period, BlackBerry saw its fortunes fall. Last quarter, shipments fell to 6.3 million from 9.7 million in the year-ago quarter, while BlackBerry's market share dropped to 2.9 percent … Read more

Apple's App Store on Wednesday passed another major benchmark, topping 50 billion app downloads.

That's according to the countdown timer on Apple's Web site and in iTunes. Apple also confirmed the benchmark on Twitter:

We just hit 50 billion app downloads. Thank you. It couldn't have happened without you. #50BillionApps tw.appstore.com/hgE

The person who downloaded the 50 billionth app will get a $10,000 App Store gift card from Apple, and the 50 people who downloaded apps right after that each will receive a $500 gift card. … Read more

Google, on Wednesday, unveiled some new and some enhanced products that Android, Chrome, Maps, and Web users are sure to love. One of the new products announced was Hangouts. Now, I know what you're thinking: Google+ has had Hangouts for a while, and you're right. But Google has taken Hangouts out of Google+ and built it into a standalone instant messaging app for mobile devices.

The app, available on iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android devices allows users to keep a unified chat experience in sync across not only the devices listed above, but also within Chrome, Google+ … Read more

Did you see the multidevice game demo during the Google I/O keynote? If you missed it, running Chrome on several devices, Google was able to show a game taking advantage of every screen on the desk. By drawing a race track across all of the devices, various colored cars were able to race around the track, from screen to screen, device to device.

Thankfully, Google isn't keeping the game, called Racer, to itself. You can use Chrome on your Android or iOS device to play the game with friends and family members right now.

Before you begin playing … 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

The more I run, the more I realize my regular playlist isn't cutting it. Even with some 150 hand-picked songs, I get bored hearing the same ones over and over. And although they're among my favorite power-pop tunes, they're quite diverse when it comes to tempo. I need songs of at least 128 beats per minute (bpm) to keep me running strong.

Enter Fit Radio, a free app (Android|iOS|Web) that streams up-tempo playlists designed to amp up your workout. It's like Songza for sprinters, or maybe Pandora for bike peddlers.

The app is divided … Read more

Last year, Google I/O -- Google's annual event for the developer community -- treated us to skydiving, arena-cycling Google Glass wearers, and a whole crazy landscape of wearable tech. This year, Glass is finally in the hands of thousands of developers, tech journalists, and other early adopters, but as we head back to another Google I/O, there's a lot about Glass that's yet to be discovered.

The present of Google Glass is intriguing, embryonic, and very bare-bones. Here's what I hope we see in the near future, starting this week.

Apps, apps, apps There … Read more

Pentagon employees may soon start using Apple mobile devices, like iPhones and iPads, on the U.S. Defense Department's secure network.

The department expects to clear the devices for use on its network early next week, Bloomberg reported Friday.

It's a space that's normally dominated by BlackBerry, but with other smartphone brands gaining popularity, the federal government is considering other options. Those options include Samsung, which officials cleared last week.

Approval means employees using government-issued iOS 6 devices can access military networks after the department builds a mobile-device management system to secure the phones and … Read more

It was barely two weeks ago that Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes made a wonderful iOS debut, and suddenly there's another Lego-themed game in the App Store: Lego Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles. Woot!

The bad news: This isn't a port of any of the classic Lego Star Wars games that have appeared on consoles over the years. Instead, it's something new and original, a real-time strategy/action blend set in the "Clone Wars" universe and aimed at younger players. (Arguably, all the Lego games have a similar audience, but most of them are fun … Read more