iOS

Last year Apple managed to get 676 patents awarded to it by the U.S. Patent Office, and 2012 is showing no signs of Apple slowing down. In its latest application, Apple is proposing technology that would control a 3D interface using touch-free motion-based gestures on your iOS device.

The concept of controlling a device with motion is, of course, not a new one. Microsoft's Kinect has proven the technology to not only be practical and applicable, but popular as well. But that technology is for a gaming console connected to your television in the comfort of your home.… Read more

The Dirty Dozen app is handy to have on your iPhone for trips to the grocery store. It's free and simple: it lists the 12 fruits and vegetables that contain the most pesticide residue.

I'm lucky to live in a part of the country where there are farms nearby and farmer's markets that run all summer and into the fall. When winter arrives, however, I still have to keep berries in the fridge or my fruit-loving offspring may revolt. With the Dirty Dozen app, I have a quick reference to help me decide when to buy organic. … Read more

I'm a sucker for cool visuals, which is why I'm gaga over the new Shazam Player app for iOS. It takes something fairly straightforward--song lyrics--and presents it in a visually stimulating, impossible-to-look-away way.

Shazam, of course, is best known for the eponymous app that listens to and identifies the song that's playing on the radio, in the cafe, during that TV commercial, etc.

Shazam Player aims to replace the stock iPod app with one that offers a few nifty amenities, starting with LyricPlay, a slick feature that visualizes song lyrics as you listen.

For any "compatible" song (more on that in a minute), Shazam Player will stream the lyrics using one of several cool themes. Think karaoke machine, but with fancy fonts and cool transitions.… Read more

If you've been patiently waiting for a jailbreak solution for your A5-based device--in other words, your iPhone 4S or iPad 2--it should be exciting news that the jailbreak community has gotten its current program out of the sandbox stage, which generally signals an imminent release.

According to a tweet picked up by iDownloadBlog, hacker "planetbeing" has announced that the iPhone 4S/iPad 2 jailbreak has left the sandbox stage of development. He also states that the jailbreak is "turning out to be more complex than X-Gold 618."

X-Gold 618 was the baseband chip in the … Read more

LAS VEGAS--TomTom's iOS app for iPhone and iPad devices is about to get a helping of the same social-networking love that surprised us in the Go Live 1535M navigation device...and then some.

The new update to the TomTom App, version 1.10, gains integration with Facebook and Twitter, allowing users to share destinations and arrival times via the social networks, SMS text messages, and e-mail. Users can also access their Facebook places, events, and friends as potential destinations for turn-by-turn navigation--even the 1535M PND can't pull off that last trick.

Like previous versions of the TomTom App, … Read more

Android is still beating Apple in the smartphone wars, but the iPhone 4S has narrowed the gap between the two rivals, according to NPD data released yesterday at CES.

Analyzing last year's smartphone market, NPD found that iOS's share surged to 43 percent in October and November from just 26 percent in the third quarter, thanks largely to demand for the iPhone 4S. Though Google's mobile OS maintained its lead, its share dropped in October and November to 47 percent from 60 percent in the previous quarter.

With Apple and Android vying for the top spot, other … Read more

LAS VEGAS--If you've ever wanted to tell the Car Talk guys to shut it, now's your chance because a Sync AppLink-enabled version of the NPR app for Android and iPhone will give select Ford drivers voice control over their NPR programming.

By saying "Hourly News," users can call up a 4- to 5-minute audio stream of the latest news of the hour. After saying "Stations," the driver will be able to select a live stream of his or her favorite local NPR affiliate. Likewise, the "Programs" command allows for quick access to … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Initially launched in July of last year, Aurasma, the augmented reality platform for Android and iOS, has just gone 3D. And did we mention it's a top-10 finalist in this year's Mobile Apps Showdown at CES?

If you're not familiar with Aurasma, it's a bit like a QR code reader that doesn't actually use any QR codes. See, with Aurasma, you simply have to point your device's camera at something, and if the app's image recognition technology fires, then a 3D pop-up will appear. You can watch the pop-up as-is, overlayed on … Read more

LAS VEGAS--You'd think that Ford's own Sync Destinations app would be among the select few that offer connectivity with the automaker's voice-controlled Sync AppLink technology, but oddly it wasn't...until now.

Ford has announced an updated version of the Sync Destinations app for iPhone that gives drivers voice control over the app when connected to an AppLink-enabled vehicle. Like the original app, users will be able to save favorite destinations and access driving directions and traffic reports to them utilizing their cloud-based Sync Services account. However, now users can simply speak the commands "Mobile Apps,&… Read more