Applications

Barnes & Noble has taken the opportunity afforded by an Android OS update to bring some tablet-like functionality to its NOOK Color e-Reader. The version 1.2 firmware update brings specially-designed apps, full-featured email, enhanced browsing and new multimedia content. It's available now for free manual download but existing devices will be automatically updated via built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi over the coming weeks. Read More

Gone are the days when we simply used our mobile phones for calling people – now we can conduct our own ECGs. We’ve already seen iPhone and Android applications that can create ultrasound images and that measure air pollution. Now tech companies IMEC and the Holst Center, together with TASS software professionals, have released a new heart rate monitoring application. Read More

Spending time at an airport waiting for connecting flights or just trying to negotiate your way to your hotel can be frustrating, especially if you're on a tight schedule or budget. Like lots of problems we encounter these days ... there's an app for that. This one – FLYsmart – maps and displays all the immediate information air travelers may need, so backpackers can easily navigate their way to the cheapest form of transport leaving the airport or the business traveler can make layovers as hassle-free as possible. Read More

Apple has caused a lot of confusion for iPhone app developers by banning them from creating apps using any compiler not created by Apple, but then approving apps that break this rule – even going so far as to promote them in the App Store. Finally it looks like Apple has seen the light (and presumably the benefits) and announced that it has relaxed restrictions on its iOS developer license, opening the doors to native Flash and AdMob applications – as long as the resulting apps do not download any code. Read More

While augmented reality still hasn't quite lived up to the initial hype (at least in terms of practical applications), it's still a great source of eye candy and geeky fun, especially in Japan. Panasonic is the latest company to jump on the AR bandwagon, as they recently released an iPhone app called '3D VIERA AR Greeting' that uses augmented reality to promote the new 3D VIERA TVs. Read More

Digital artists will no doubt be excited to hear that the online art community deviantART has just released Muro, a free, web-based drawing tool. And as an added bonus, Muro is built with HTML5 (read, 'No flash') which means you can use your iPad as a drawing tablet. Read More

When Google announced this past Monday that the company would be releasing App Inventor, an app development tool requiring zero programming knowledge, a number of questions arose around the tech sphere. Would this lead to an explosion of Android apps? And if so, how are we supposed to filter through all the 'crapps' that are sure to enter the marketplace (Attention, World, I invented a word: crap+apps=crapps). Does this mark a turning point where programmers start to become obsolete? Read More

If you’re a fan of Adobe’s indispensable digital darkroom software, Lightroom then chances are you might have already had a nose around some of its new features and improvements in the beta. Although most of the major updates were introduced during this public pre-release we’re pleased to say a few more features have come to light in the final version announced today. Read More

Android Market is the online software store for Android devices – it's Google's answer to Apple's Appstore on iTunes and for much of its short life (born 22 October 2008), it has been but a pale imitation of the all-conquering iPhone's biggest strength. Just 12 months ago Android Market held less than 3000 apps compared to the AppStore's 35,000 but the marketplace is now beginning to roll, and developers are responding, and with 8,000 + apps added in each of the last two months, the Android Market now holds 50,000 apps and should pass 100,000 by the end of the year. Read More