Mobile Software

PicSay's stated purpose is to e-mail or text annotated photo messages to friends, but there's nothing stopping you from using the free program as a makeshift photo editor.

PicSay is a simple application made especially for Google Android, but it's nevertheless the most customization-focused application I've reviewed today. You start by choosing a picture from your photo album or the image you most recently viewed (this won't work if your Android phone is in mass storage mode.) Then press the Menu key to start adding in the special effects: word balloons, colorful headings, cartoony images, … Read more

WikiMobile Encyclopedia has been around for awhile for the BlackBerry and Windows Mobile Pocket PC, so it's no surprise to see it formatted for the Google Android G1 phone.

Just as advertised, WikiMobile Encyclopedia crawls Wikipedia.com for articles, offering up predictive search queries as you type your term. You can also search Wikipedia for a random article or browse what's popular, especially if you have a few minutes to kill or are looking for a factoid to impress people at a dinner party.

Interestingly, instead of scrolling or flicking the results page vertically, the app slices the … Read more

Why isn't there ever a cab around when you need one?

The free Google Android application Cab4Me Light makes finding, scheduling, and calling cabs to your side virtually brainless. Cab4Me Light's interface is simple and efficient, with one tab that shows where you are on the map and another that shows the details of cab companies in your area.

Step 1, drag your approximate location on a zoomable Google map. You can use GPS to locate yourself or enter a new address or a contacts' address to call the cab to a different location. Step 2, either click … Read more

BreadCrumbz (beta) is another one of the new Android apps I like. I got a run-through of the free multimedia directions app a few months ago with the developer, and I gave it a spin on my own here in San Francisco. BreadCrumbz uses GPS, Google maps, and the G1's camera phone to help you track a route, like directions from the train station to your house.

You essentially start a new route, take photos along the way to mark the path, and label everything with helpful hints. You can tag an image and annotate it with an arrow … Read more

I won't lie. It feels good getting a G1 Google Android phone in my hands. It's also a little paralyzing: so many new apps to explore, a new interface to learn; where to start? The free Google Talk app Maverick is as good as any. Admittedly, the G1 dutifully hosts individual IM clients for AIM, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo, and of course, Google Talk. The difference is that Maverick adds some panache and pizazz by layering in multimedia capabilities, like sending photos, scribbles, your GPS location, emoticons, and snippets of text.

It's a fun idea that pans … Read more

As someone who types all day, I'd like to compose all the notes and e-mails I want in iPhone without ever lifting a finger. Until telepathic inputting catches on, WritingPad for iPhone (and iPod touch) is the next best thing. You still have to lift your finger, but only when you've finished tracing a word onto the virtual keyboard. Check out this First Look video to see what I mean.

>>See all iPhone apps on Download.com

Google officially opened its Android Market Wednesday and promised that beginning next year, programmers will get the lion's share of revenue from applications sold on the download site for the company's mobile phone operating system.

The first incarnation of the Android Market has more than 50 applications available for download, but they're all free. Google said the site will be able to distribute paid applications early in the first quarter of 2009.

More applications are on the way, and programmers will be able to add their own starting Monday in a process that reflects a much more … Read more

New mobile app stores launched by Apple, Google, and Research In Motion could shift the balance of power in the mobile market away from wireless operators and toward device and platform developers.

Until recently, wireless operators served as the gatekeepers of what content and applications made it onto mobile phones. Now mobile platform developers such as Apple, Google, and Research In Motion are providing marketplaces where consumers can get access to thousands of new applications tailored specifically for each of these device platforms.

On Tuesday, Research In Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, became the latest device maker to … Read more

Zeemote isn't sharing any details about when its fun, handheld joystick will maneuver cell phone games in North America, but developers can still hatch plans to write Zeemote-controllable games for BlackBerry phones.

On Tuesday, Zeemote announced plans to release the beta version of its software development kit for BlackBerry sometime in early 2009.

We've demoed Zeemote in the past and are starting to wonder what's taking so gosh-darn long to get things rolling. In Europe, Zeemote's Bluetooth joystick (officially called the Zeemote JS1 Controller) has begun to ship with some smartphones--it launched in the Netherlands with … Read more