Mobile and Wireless

Mobile Apps and Services Topic Center

Trends, news, analysis and reviews of mobile applications and mobile services

Quickbooks Online outage leaves some customers in sour mood

Intuit's Quickbooks Online service suffered an outage this week that left "a small subset" of customers unable to access their data, but the company says the problems with the on-demand accounting software have now been fixed.
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Sony brings streaming music service to the iPhone

Sony released an iPhone app to access its streaming Music Unlimited service, part of its efforts to expand its online platforms to devices from rival manufacturers.

Facebook beefs up mobile photo sharing with Camera

Facebook introduced its own mobile photo app, Camera, on Thursday, bringing richer photo-sharing features to the platform even before the company closes its deal to acquire the popular photo-sharing app Instagram.

Motorola Mobility has infringed Microsoft patent, says Munich court

Google-owned Motorola Mobility has infringed a Microsoft patent related to SMS messaging, according to a ruling in the Munich regional court, which also dismissed a second case related to a localization patent.

Apple claims US government sides with monopoly in e-book case

The U.S. government has sided with monopoly rather than competition in bringing a case of e-book price-fixing against Apple, the company said in a filing on Tuesday before a federal court.

Obama orders agencies to optimize Web content for mobile

U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered all major government agencies to make two key services available on mobile phones within a year, in an effort to embrace a growing trend toward Web surfing on mobile devices.

Updated Soti SDK allows remote control of iOS devices

Businesses can now remotely control enterprise mobile applications developed for Apple's mobile platform with the latest version of Soti's MobiControl Software Developer Kit for iOS, announced Tuesday.

Verizon looks to Alcatel's new core router for capacity, efficiency

Verizon Communications on Tuesday became the first service provider to say it will use Alcatel-Lucent's upcoming 7950 XRS core routing system, which will bring the French-American equipment vendor into the carrier core routing business for the first time in about a decade.

Fewer US mobile users are paying a monthly bill

Traditional mobile phone plans are now on the wane in the U.S., but the country's biggest carriers are still bringing in more money and leading the world in revenue, according to a report based on first-quarter results.

Upcoming Salesforce.com release adds real-time chat

Salesforce.com, which has placed ample emphasis on its Chatter social networking application, will actually begin providing real-time chat functionality as part of an imminent upgrade to its family of cloud-based software, according to a company document.

Parents get new weapons in war over kids' phones

Kids' phones expose them to bullying, predators, adult content and Internet addiction. Now parents are fighting back, writes columnist Mike Elgan.

Two World War II reference apps for the iPad

When I was about 10 years old, I decided it was time to graduate from the Scholastic Reader-approved books of my youth to what I determined was meatier, more adult fare. I checked out a book from the library about World War II--it may well have been one of those Time-Life overviews of the war that doubtlessly make serious historians cringe. But for a 10-year-old it was just the sort of stuff to spark an interest in history that continues to this day.

Hands on with Facebook Camera for iPhone

Facebook on Thursday launched Camera, a new standalone iPhone app for browsing your friends' photos and sharing new ones of your own. Were Instagram owned by anyone else, it might be sweating bullets right now.

Diary of an App Maker: What it's like to develop for iOS

In my time at Macworld, I've reviewed and tested numerous iOS apps. I've also reported on the challenges that iOS developers face. But it was only recently that I built my first iOS app, along with developer (and frequent Macworld contributor) Marco Tabini. The experience left me with insights into the iOS development process that I probably would never have otherwise discovered, and a better understanding of what the developers of many of our favorite apps go through on a regular basis.

Wunderkit for iPhone

Wunderkit helps you work. That's what a productivity app should do, of course, but some unnecessarily bog you down in details. In contrast, Wunderkit--a free iPhone offering from 6 Wunderkinder--makes it easy to create projects and schedule tasks. And it's better than many competing apps at recognizing the realities of the workplace.

BYOD: New animal, new taming techniques

Bottom Line

ChannelCaster for iPhone and iPad

The best news aggregation apps make it very easy for you to assemble your favorite social networks and news sources into one attractive package. ChannelCaster--a free offering for both the iPhone and iPad from OneLouder--doesn't quite measure up to that standard. At least, not yet.

Team Stream for iPhone and iPad

Sports fans have it easy nowadays. We have team blogs, websites, Twitter feeds and up-to-the-minute video clips on demand. Yet for all these conveniences, fans still have to do the legwork of subscribing to feeds or following the tweets of players or beat writers. The Team Stream and Team Stream HD apps from Bleacher Report aim to make it easier for fans to find and follow content on their favorite teams.

Backgammon NJ and FaceMe Backgammon for iPhone and iPad

Backgammon is a board game that is perfectly suited to iOS devices. The shape of the board fits the iPhone and iPad, and the gameplay--rolling dice and moving pieces--is greatly simplified when you tap to perform these tasks. Over the past few months, I've tried out a number of backgammon apps, and two stand out: Backgammon NJ (available for the iPad in a separate version called Backgammon NJ HD), and FaceMe Backgammon.

6 Ways to Use Multiple Displays With Your Laptop

Dual monitors improve productivity, but it can be hard to get laptops to use multiple displays. It's not impossible, though. Check out these six tips for connecting laptops to external monitors.