Mobile Apps

Welcome, dear readers, to a new installment of Gadget Dreams and Nightmares, a fresh peek at gadgets hurtling down the pipeline toward our homes. On the docket this time around are a motivational wearable device, a smart yoga mat, a golfer-focused smartwatch, a drone with a difference, and a way to ...

Google's Niantic Labs last week announced a new Missions feature that can incorporate user-generated content in its Ingress augmented reality game. Now available to Android users, Missions challenges players to visit a series of places, complete a game action such as hacking or capturing a portal, o...

BlackBerry on Wednesday officially launched its new square form factor smartphone, the Passport. This new handset has the size and shape of most national passports, which the company dubbed the "international symbol of mobility." The Passport is now available for $599 in an unlocked version, or abou...

Logitech has announced four new products for the smart home in its Harmony family that let users control TVs, set-top boxes, speakers, lighting, thermostats, door locks, window shades and more. Users can trigger activities such as dimming the house lights in several ways: by pressing a button on the...

Apple made the latest version of its iOS mobile operating system available for download on Wednesday, and while it looks familiar, it contains lots of new delights not only for fans, but also for its legions of developers. "If you already have iOS 7, you're going to immediately know how to use this,...

Microsoft on Thursday unveiled the Nokia Lumia 830, 730 and 735 smartphones, along with several accessories and feature updates, at the IFA 2014 consumer electronics show in Berlin. The 830 is the thinnest and lightest member of the Lumia family. It has a 10mp camera and is positioned as an affordab...

Instagram has released Hyperlapse, a free iOS app that takes the jitters out of time-lapse video. Just two weeks ago, Microsoft demonstrated a similar technology that bears the same name. The Instagram app "is the most impressive effect to hit smartphone video in recent memory," said tech analyst Ro...

HOT TECH RUMOR

'iWatch' Could Be Late for a Very Important Date

There is a chance that Apple may be forced to postpone the launch of the hotly anticipated "iWatch" or health band -- perhaps pushing it back to 2015. Apple apparently is facing wide-ranging production issues involving components, system design, manufacturing, and integration between hardware and so...

After Barnes & Noble bled serious cash trying to create its own Nook e-reading tablets to compete with Amazon's Fire and Apple's iPad -- eventually, scrapping most of the Nook-building unit -- I figured it was pretty much down for the count. The announcement in June of its deal to let Samsung gi...

Barnes & Noble and Samsung on Wednesday jointly announced the Samsung the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook. It is essentially the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 tablet, rebranded and preloaded with B&N's content. The move immediately sparked a not-quite-favorable comparison to Amazon. "It's an impressive effort, b...

Google has acquired Jetpac, according to a statement that appeared Friday on the Jetpac website. Jetpac is the creator of a handful of apps, including City Guides, which analyzes Instagram photos and then automatically creates guides based on the collected data. That information translates into a lo...

EXPERT ADVICE

Mobile App Attacks: No Malware, No Problem

Traditional attack methods, like those used with the recent mobile online banking Trojan Svpeng, involve the installation of malware on the device to steal information and commit fraud. However, new techniques are emerging that would enable an attacker to compromise a device and steal private inform...

Intel on Friday announced it is working with rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson's SMS Audio to develop earbuds that will monitor users' heart rates. The SMS Audio BioSport In-Ear Headphones will have an earhook and will be powered by the user's smartphone. They will be sweat- and water-resistant. The e...

Apple has begun ramping up for an incursion into the healthcare market, two months after announcing its HealthKit app at WWDC. The app will collate all a user's fitness and health data. Apple reportedly has discussed HealthKit with healthcare providers Mount Sinai, the Cleveland Clinic and Johns Hop...

The inventors of Apple's Siri personal assistant have launched an independent effort that could make their first offspring look kind of dumb. Billed as "the global brain," Viv aims to radically simplify the world by providing an intelligent interface to everything. "They are trying to abstract Siri'...

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