Google has updated Google Maps for iPhone and iPad with several features. The version 3.2 now has improved search results as they now come with descriptions. Google Maps for Android and iOS got updated with support to save maps for offline viewing, Uber integration and more back in May. Earlier this year these apps got faster route notification.
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The Unicode Consortium has just updated the Unicode Standard with new emojis, characters and symbols. The latest version 7.0 will bring 250 new emoji characters to iOS, Android and Windows Phone smartphones. This is possible as Apple, Google and Microsoft are among the nine full members of the Unicode Consortium.
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Facebook is adding more power to Messenger with updates and features. Today, the social network has rolled out instant video messaging feature that will enable users to send 15 second videos within the app. Currently, the video messaging feature has launched to the Facebook Messenger’s iOS app and it will soon land on Android as well.
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Facebook has updated its Android and iOS apps with few features. The version 11.0 update for iOS brings the ‘Nearby Friends’ feature that enable users to see which friends are close to you. Launched in April, the feature not only lets you check out nearby friends but also makes it possible to share your exact location with others.
Continue reading “Facebook for Android gets offline likes, iOS app gets Nearby Friends”
At the Apple Developer Conference event WWDC 2014 in San Francisco, which was held yesterday, Apple announced a lot of improvements and new features for their OS X and iOS operating systems. The iOS 8, as it would be called, will succeed iOS 7 and will be available for devices – iPhone 5s, iPhone 5, iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s. Of course it would debut on the upcoming iPhone 6. However, iPhone 4, which was a significant milestone for Apple has been left out of iOS 8 support, meaning that iOS 7 would be its last operating system.
Continue reading “RIP iPhone 4: One of Apple’s best iPhones will not get iOS 8”
At the WWDC 2014 event in San Franscisco, Apple made a number of announcements that were improvements to the iOS and OS X platforms. One of the things that was common to both the platforms was a much better and improved in-built search engine. Spotlight, as Apple calls it, is now smarter, brighter and faster.
Among the numerous announcements at the Apple WWDC 2014 event in San Francisco, the announcement that brought the largest cheers and applause from the audience was the announcement of ‘Swift’, a new programming language. Apple’s Craig Federighi said that Apple wanted to create a language without the complications of Objective-C and they came up with ‘Swift’.
One of the biggest advantages of ‘Swift’ is that the developers will be able to have a real time view of the results as they type the code which was not possible in Objective-C. The press release for Swift reads as follows
Swift is a powerful new programming language for iOS and OS X® that makes it easier than ever for developers to create incredible apps. Designed for Cocoa® and Cocoa Touch®, Swift combines the performance and efficiency of compiled languages with the simplicity and interactivity of popular scripting languages. By design, Swift helps developers write safer and more reliable code by eliminating entire categories of common programming errors, and coexists with Objective-C® code, so developers can easily integrate Swift into their existing apps. Xcode® Playgrounds make writing Swift code incredibly interactive by instantly displaying the output of Swift code.
To make the transition from Objective-C to Swift smooth, developers can write the code such that Swift can reside side by side with Objective-C in the same application. Apple has published a 500page guide for Swift language on the iBooks store and developers can start using Swift which is available in XCode 6 beta.
Apple held its annual developer conference WWDC 2014 at San Francisco yesterday and at the event, Apple made a lot of announcements about the upcoming software features. During the keynote, Apple also mentioned that they had sold more than 800 million iOS devices and well on course for hitting a billion iOS devices.
Continue reading “Apple has sold 800 million iOS devices with over half a billion iPhones”
In an effort to enhance its Google Translate service, Google has acquired Quest Visual for an undisclosed sum. Founded by former video game developer Otavio Good in 2009, the company is the maker of the popular translation app Word Lens.
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Flappy Bird, the insanely popular game is returning to the App Store as per Business Insider. The painfully addictive game was taken down from iOS and Android by its creator Dong Nguyen in early February.
Continue reading “Flappy Bird coming back in August with multiplayer capabilities”
Facebook just unveiled “App links”, an open source solution that works across all the major mobile platforms, to solve a longstanding problem. This is perhaps the biggest and boldest move we have seen Facebook take, in mobile. Why? Well, because it aims to fix a problem that has been lingering over mobile, ever since the inception of the app store – interlinking of applications. Remember the time your phone took you to the web browser for seeing a Facebook photo instead of the app, even when the first party app was installed? The company aims to solve this exact problem by directly linking users to apps, or part of them, hence enabling the “Internet of Apps”. Think of it as the web hyperlink, but for apps, so you will tend to start browsing apps rather than websites.
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According to new statistics released by App Annie Index, Google’s Play Store exceeded the iOS app store by 45% in total downloads but still lagged behind when it comes to actual revenues. Worldwide, it is clear that Android is dominating the market, with over 80% marketshare, which has led to a surge in downloads from emerging markets like Russia and Brazil, but the downside is that a large number of apps on Android are free or based on the freemium model, which drastically lowers the barrier of entry, keeping the target markets in mind, whereas Apple’s iOS enjoys higher marketshare and install base in developed countries. This news might not surprise you, but head past the break for some more interesting analysis based on the data.
LINE messenger which entered India last year has been aggressively trying to capture the market with various tie-ups and offers. Today, the popular Japanese platform has unveiled Sticons which is a merger of stickers and emoticons. Sticons can be used in text messages in the same way as emoticons, but they can also be used like stickers as large, individual images.
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Amazon has bought digital comic book store ComiXology for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 2007, ComiXology has a collection of digital comic books from more than 75 publishers. It boasts of graphic novels from popular publishers like Marvel and DC along with many independent creators.
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Soon after giving its profiles pages a Facebook like overhaul, Twitter has now added a new feature to its website. The popular microblogging site has announced that it is rolling out pop-up notifications for users of Twitter.com.
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