Friday, May 13, 2011

MobileCrunch

MobileCrunch

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NTT Docomo Partners With Twitter For New Location-Based Service In Japan

Posted: 13 May 2011 02:50 AM PDT

Japan's biggest mobile carrier NTT Docomo today announced it will develop with Twitter a set of new mobile services for its domestic customer base of 58 million. Under the deal, Docomo plans to integrate a "touch and follow" app into NFC-equipped feature phones, allowing two users to start following each other just by placing their handsets together. Read the rest on TechCrunch.


Netflix For Android Released For Select Samsung, HTC Handsets

Posted: 12 May 2011 12:37 PM PDT

Whoa! Talk about a welcome surprise. After many long months in the works, Netflix has just pushed the first release of their Android application to the Android Market.

Alas, there’s a catch: it’s only working on a handful of Android devices right now. With this first release, the only supported devices are the HTC Incredible, HTC Nexus One, HTC Evo 4G, HTC G2, and Samsung Nexus S. We’re checking to see if it can be finagled onto other devices as we type this — but given how carefully Netflix is treading with Android with regards to DRM, we’re not expecting much.

(Update: The APK is already floating around online. We just tried it on the Samsung Infuse 4G, which isn’t on the supported list. We got it to launch, at which point it shouted at us for running it on a non-supported device — but it’ll still let you try to log in. Unfortunately, that’s where it crashed.)

This is particularly surprising because, as far as anyone knew, the LG Revolution was going to be the first device to get the Netflix app. Just weeks back, Qualcomm was talking up how closely they were working with Netflix to ensure that the chips inside the Revolution played friendly with Netflix’s DRM system. (Check out a video of a somewhat-broken build of Netflix running on the LG Revolution here)

This is a rather monumental moment for Android. It’s been less than a year since Netflix launched their streaming-compatible app for iOS, but it quickly became something of a killer app. With Android hardware growing increasingly amazing and the platform itself matching or improving upon many of iOS’ best features, the nearly-exclusive Netflix streaming support was one of the few things that seems to be keeping many iPhone owners (including yours truly) from jumping ship.

You can find the Netflix app in the Android Market right here.

HTC Trophy To Hit Verizon Soon, Says A Thousand Leaks

Posted: 12 May 2011 10:32 AM PDT

Wuh oh — looks like someone at Verizon pushed back an ad campaign and forgot to tell… everyone else.

Remember the HTC 7 Trophy? That Windows Phone 7 handset that HTC first showed off a few months ago? It launched on Verifone UK exclusively a few months back, but never poked its head up stateside.

Last night, however, ads went up all over the place indicating that a Verizon launch was imminent. It showed up on an Xbox 360 homescreen tile, ads went up across the Internet, dummy units hit Best Buy, this mostly-broken product page went up.. and all the while, neither Verizon nor HTC made a peep. Most of the ads we were seeing earlier have since been pulled, but let it be known: the HTC Trophy is hittin’ Verizon soon. At least, they were expecting it to when they bought up all that ad space.

Kobo Adds Twitter Integration To iOS eReading Apps

Posted: 12 May 2011 10:00 AM PDT

Kobo, creators of the Kobo eReader, today announced new upgrades to its iOS eReading app, most significantly the extension of Reading Life to Twitter, and the ability to share quotes, passages, notes, book covers, and awards on Twitter. For those of you who don't know, Reading Life is the social component of Kobo's eReading service, allowing readers to track personal reading history, check-in with characters and places within books, and earn awards for reading.

Initially, Reading Life only offered Facebook integration, but the update coming to the eReading app will bring with it our other favorite social network, Twitter. Twitter integration isn't the only enhancement coming to the app, though. Users will also be able to view friends' awards by tapping the shared award on the Activity feed, and check out friends' recommended books by tapping the shared book cover. The Kobo eReading apps will also feature the ability to chat with friends, and allow readers to organize their library by creating and customizing shelves to categorize books, newspapers, magazines, and documents in whatever way they'd like.

The Kobo eReading app is available as a free download for the iPhone, iPod touch, and the iPad from the Apple App Store, and current users can download the update straight to their device right now.


Apple, Google Grilled By Senate Over DUI Checkpoint Apps

Posted: 12 May 2011 09:07 AM PDT

Both Google and Apple got an earful from Congress this week concerning a few different DUI checkpoint apps that were floating around in the App Store and Android Market. Senator Charles Schumer, who was one of four senators to spearhead resolving this issue through a letter to the companies in March, grilled both of the tech giants during the inaugural hearing of the Privacy and Technology Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary this week.

"Apple and Google shouldn't be in the business of selling apps that help drunk drivers evade the police, and they shouldn't be selling apps that they themselves admit are 'terrible'," said Schumer. Back in late March, Sen. Schumer joined Sens. Harry Reid, Frank Lautenberg, and Mark Udall in scribing a letter asking Google, Apple, and RIM to remove any DUI checkpoint apps from their app stores. RIM was the only company to comply.

Both Apple and Google still feature DUI checkpoint apps, with titles like Fuzz Alert, Buzzed, Checkpointer, or Tipsy. Some of these apps are even free, such as Checkpoint Wingman and Mr. DUI. What's more is these applications show little to no shame in advertising their services. "The super small, one time fee of $4.99 spent today on Checkpointer could potentially save you thousands of dollars by helping you avoid an arrest for DUI," read the app description.

At this week’s hearing, Google's director of public policy Alan Davidson said that the company adheres to a set of content policies to remove apps that are unlawful or that spread malware, but that these DUI checkpoint apps are not a cause for concern. Apple's response to the situation was that the company will be "looking into" the legality of DUI checkpoint apps. "We have a policy that we don't allow apps that encourage illegal activity," said Guy Tribble, VP of software technology at Apple. "If the app's intent is to encourage people to break the law, then we will pull it."

Schumer was displeased with both companies' responses to the issue, calling it a "weak read" on the situation. Especially since Apple, in particular, hasn't wasted time scrapping apps in the past. A "gay cure" app, an illegal immigrant smuggling game, and an app titled "Baby Shaker" have all been trashed by Apple after its consumers objected. Judging from the way this story is playing out, this won't be the last time we see apps in a controversial spotlight.

[via Mobiledia]

Catholic Nun Taps iPhone Apps, Social Media For Fundraising

Posted: 12 May 2011 07:46 AM PDT

Former banker, current Benedictine nun, and iPhone fangal Sister Catherine Wybourne is looking for a little saving grace in application development and sales, as the monastery she founded with two other sisters faces continued financial turmoil. Using Phonegap, Sister Wybourne is creating two different iPhone apps: a free app focused on the rule of Saint Benedict, and a paid app that will help parish priests.

Wisely, Sister Wybourne neglected to elaborate, but she did mention that she was shocked to find out that no one had beaten her to the punch with this idea. "We are going to charge for our apps because we are in the middle of a fundraising campaign, and we are trying to get people to get hold of the idea of philanthropic investment," said Wybourne. "So, it would not be a good idea on the one hand to say please invest in us, and on the other, give everything away for free."

This isn't Sister Wybourne's first brush with modern technology and new media, as the nun has regularly spearheaded campaigns that leverage new technology, including online retreat services, spreading awareness through blogs, and sharing ideas on Facebook and Twitter. The monatstery even offers an email prayer-line, which is translatable and offers the same anonymity we've grown to love on the web, so no one feels embarrassed or awkward about their prayer request. While the prayer-line is intended to be an aggregation tool for prayer requests, some of the congregants use the prayer-line as a way of confessing sins.

Sister Wybourne's embrace of the technological world isn't exactly what we'd expect to see out of a nun, as the last great communication-based invention in history was Gutenberg's printing press, which replaced the work done by monks in monasteries, and left them shying away from technological advancement as much as possible.

Sister Wybourne's concerns lie elsewhere, mainly in the plethora of unreliable sources on the web. However, the nun said that she doesn't believe that the traditions, rituals, or sacraments of the Catholic church will be modified by new technology, but that the way people share and express them will.

[via Mobiledia]

Sony Joins Car Connectivity Consortium To Build Smartphone Portal In Car Dashboard

Posted: 12 May 2011 07:40 AM PDT

Sony has become the most recent in a rather long list of companies to join the Car Connectivity Consortium, a group of phone and car companies working together to connect phones to cars. Formed back in March, the CCC already boasts some pretty big-name companies, including Nokia, Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Alpine, Daimler, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota, and Volkswagen.

These companies are jointly developing and promoting a new system to display smartphone applications on the dashboard of the car, using a USB, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi connection. In other words, the car's dashboard will work as a portal to the phone, potentially eliminating risky behavior while driving.

The new system is expected to feature different gestures and controls, such as touchscreen taps and steering wheel buttons, that relay commands back to the smartphone. The first commercial CCC products aren't expected until later this year.
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