app

As Facebook Launches a Standalone Camera App, the Instagram Buy Comes Into Focus

Mike Isaac in Social on May 24 at 10:00 am PT

Facebook launches a camera app, and it’s not Instagram.

News Byte

Mobile App Bump Can Now Push Photos to Your Desktop

Mike Isaac in Mobile on May 24 at 6:00 am PT

Bump Technologies launched a new Web site feature on Thursday morning, allowing Bump’s mobile app users the ability to share smartphone photos to their computers by physically bumping the phone against the PC keyboard. The photos are hosted online, and users can choose to download the images to their hard drive or share them using a short URL. Previously, Bump’s mobile app allowed for sharing photos and contact information between mobile phones, but not directly to a computer.

In Its First Acquisition as a Public Company, Facebook Buys Social Gifting App Karma

Mike Isaac in Social on May 18 at 1:52 pm PT

Facebook apparently figured out what to do with its newfound cash injection.

iSwifter’s New App Brings All Flash-Based Facebook Games to the iPad

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on May 16 at 9:55 am PT

While Facebook is slowly working out the kinks to bring more games to mobile, there’s a small company in Menlo Park, Calif., that has beat them to it.

ESPN Retools Radio App, Launches on iPad

Lauren Goode in Product News on May 15 at 7:00 am PT

ESPN is boasting better sound and offline listening with its new $4.99 radio app. Like rabid sports fans needed an excuse to download it.

The Secret Life of NPR’s Terry Gross (Video)

Liz Gannes in News on May 11 at 4:30 am PT

Ever wonder what Terry Gross does after she wraps up her “Fresh Air” show on NPR and ever-so-sincerely thanks one of her guests?

News Byte

Google Revamps Google+ for iPhone

Lauren Goode in News on May 9 at 1:23 pm PT

Google has launched an updated version of Google+ for iPhone, with larger profile pics, optical cues, a more prominent “+1” atop the news stream and other visual enhancements to create a more eye-friendly app. Google+ app users can also sync photos from their iPhones to a Google+ album, use mobile “Hangouts” to video chat with friends and view a “Nearby” news feed to see status updates from people around the same location.

News Byte

Flint Mobile Raises $3 Million in Capital for Mobile Payments App

Tricia Duryee in Mobile on May 9 at 4:30 am PT

Flint Mobile said it has raised $3 million in a first round of capital, and that it is launching its new mobile payments app, which enables merchants to process payments with a mobile phone. But rather than requiring a merchant to buy a card reader, the app allows the merchant to snap a picture of a credit card. The round, which will be used on product development and hiring, was led by Storm Ventures and True Ventures.

A Real-Estate App When You’re Buying or Just Nosy

Walt Mossberg in Personal Technology on May 8 at 6:05 pm PT

HomeSnap lets you take a picture of a home and get a price estimate and more.

News Byte

Average Facebook Mobile Use Beats Desktop Access

Mike Isaac in Social on May 8 at 8:02 am PT

Facebook users spent an average of nearly 7.5 hours accessing the site from mobile phones in March, according to a recent comScore report, surpassing the average time spent accessing the site via desktop by nearly an hour. The trend is consistent with the shift of users relying more heavily on mobile devices to access the site, as the company itself has noted; more than half-a-billion people accessed Facebook via mobile device in March.