Jepsen was joined by serial entrepreneurs Julia Hartz, co-founder and president of Eventbrite, Slava Rubin, CEO and co-founder of Indegogo, and Caterina Fake, founder and CEO of Findery and co-founder of Flickr. It was on this panel that Jepsen made the case for not just a broken device hardware startup model, but for new entrants into this startup world to be aiming for the moon. It was from within Google X, after all, that Google Glass originated.

“Assuming that you start big and swing for the fences – don’t do something small, first off. But assuming you do, and you get to that point where you’re taking on one of the largest companies in the world – even though you didn’t mean to – I’ve never started to mean to – be prepared to give away most of your stocks so you can win that gain, because otherwise you’re crushed.

Plan that early on, for what you’re going to do – at One Laptop Per Child, there’s this 60-minute expose on some of the larger forces that we came up against – and there’s a lot of stories I’ve not yet told about Pixel Qi. When you get in that seat, you have to be able to figure out a way where it’s more attractive for companies not to crush you.

And that’s very difficult.” – Mary Lou Jepsen

She added assurance that joining a big company is not for everyone – startups are great, she said, especially if you don’t want to get involved in the politics of working with a big company. You’ll be in a lifeboat, she explained, but though you’ll be dealing with holes in your boat here and there, you’ll be working with people that want to help you and are ready and willing to go that extra mile for you.

Meanwhile she warned that hardware funding, again, isn’t in a place where it should be. Groups that push cash to software startups are far easier to find at this time in history than those looking to build up a group for a hardware device.

“VCs (Venture Capital companies) don’t have the core competence anymore. Silicon Valley, pretty much, too – and I’m sure there’s exceptions, but by-and-large, to fund or even to due diligence on hardware.

But there are places that do fund hardware, and you can find them depending upon your bend – you have to be creative. There are Angels, certainly, and Super Angels to fund it.

But there’s not this sort of – path – but there’s not much competition, so you have an advantage.” – Mary Lou Jepsen

Have a peek at the video below for additional insight from Jepsen and let us know how well you’re taking the news – or the advice, as it were. Are you encouraged by the idea that Jepsen, one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world and a ranking member of the top 50 female computer scientists of all time is suggesting that jumping in on a startup is a situation you should want to be a part of? Let us know!

Alain Vongsouvanh is a Developer Programs Engineer on Google Glass and the Google Mirror API. Jenny Murphy is also a Developer Programs Engineer for Glass with Google and both of these folks help developers work with the code that brings Google Glass apps to life.

Timeline and Menu

“The Mirror API is one managed through requests made through connections. The main one is a Timeline text card.” This connection is separate from a Gmail connection and separate from a Map connection – it exists as its own element unique to Glass. The most basic setup here is with text and an image.

Customizing these cards are as simple as writing HTML code, but it’s not as all-inclusive as, say, a Chrome web browser-displayed webpage. Google provides a Playground where tests and development can be done, offering here basic templates for developers and allowing them to start from scratch.

This system offers a variety of basic menu items like back and send, and developers are able to create custom menu items like “Complete!” The theme here is simplicity – this development environment is as simple as writing a bit of Java – not something someone off the street will be able to pick up in no time without any knowledge of creating with code, but certainly something that’s simple for a web developer or creator of apps for smart devices.

Contacts

Contacts is a system that a user will share to – just like they are on an Android smartphone. Developers can create a Contact Resource where they’ll have to set an ID that corresponds to a user, users, or a third party app. By default, a shareable element will trigger a list of apps and elements that are compatible with sharing.

Subscriptions and Locations

With Subscriptions, developers will be bringing forward notifications about changes. Instead of you posting to the API, the API will post to the device – input rather than output, so to speak. The developer will specify elements like Collection, User Token, Token Verification, and a Callback URL where needed.

A developer working with Subscriptions in Glass will be working with Timeline as well as Locations – this means they’ve got to account for both how the element is posted and what’s being posted, where it came from and what it’s doing.

Cat Facts

With an extremely simple Glassware app by the name of Cat Facts, Vongsouvanh showed how each of the five different elements in the Mirror API. Below you’ll see his explanation of how it’s not always necessary to work with all five of these bits and pieces, but how even something so simple as this app will be working with more than one.

When you open up the app, you have the ability to register for an eBay account by either filling in a bunch of text boxes, or you can simply scan your driver’s license to have the app do most of the filling out for you, such as your name, city, state, etc. Of course, privacy might be a big issue for some users, and while you’re already submitting personal information their way, scanning your driver’s license makes room for unnecessary information to get through.

UPDATE: We’ve received more info from eBay about its driver’s license scanning feature regarding privacy, and they say that “only the name and address are pulled to complete the initial registration form. eBay does not send or store any other driver’s license information.”

As for the new UI, it’s looks relatively the same from past iterations, but boxes and text are a lot smoother now and it looks a lot cleaner overall. And while Android users have been enjoying the new shopping cart where you can check out multiple items at once, that feature is now available to iPhone and iPad users, so they no longer have to deal with a mess of a shopping cart that past versions were plagued with.

The app also now comes with the ability to view larger photos, which have always been a bit cumbersome in the past when browsing through the app on a mobile device, and since photos are crucial in an eBay listing, it seems the company is finally giving them more attention. Other than that, you can expect the usual bug fixes and overall performance improvements to the app. Both the iPhone and iPad versions are available now in the iTunes App Store.

Each of these apps will have their own unique twist in order to seamlessly work for Google Glass. For instance, Twitter will allow users to tweet to their account, and every tweet you send through Glass will be automatically tagged with the #throughglass hashtag. You can also receive notifications for mentions, messages, and replies.

As for the Facebook app, it too will feature so Glass-centric abilities, including the ability to take and upload a photo using Glass straight to your Timeline, and even add a description to the photo using Glass’s voice dictation feature. Tumblr will also let you do the same thing, by posting a photo to your blog right through Glass.

Evernote’s Glass app focuses on two main actions that you can perform. You’ll be able to take a photo or video and send it to your Evernote account from Google Glass. You’ll also be able to choose specific notes from your Evernote account and send them directly to Glass, so that you can bring it up on the HUD when needed. A great example of this is a grocery shopping list — no having to fish your phone out of your pocket to see what the grab next off the shelves.

CNN’s app is a little self-explanatory, but it goes a little further than just being able to swipe through headlines. You’ll be able to pick the types of alerts you want, such as sports scores or breaking news at certain times. You can also have articles be read aloud to you, as well as the ability to watch video.

Of course, it’ll be a while before Google Glass will be in the hands of the mainstream public, but it’s nice to know that Google is already building up a repertoire of apps that people will be able to take advantage of right away.

VIA: The New York Times

Both Android Police and Phandroid say that they have received official confirmation that the Nexus Q was dropped from Google Play Music support. A Google liaison said that, indeed, “the latest version of Google Play Music isn’t compatible with the Nexus Q.” Whether this officially spells the end for the media streamer is still anyone’s guess, but it sure seems that way.

Of course, we can’t be too surprised by this, as the Nexus Q quickly became a dud shortly after it was released. In fact, the device was already halted before it was officially launched, with people who pre-ordered the device getting it for free, while ongoing sales were stopped indefinitely.

The Nexus Q was then eventually removed from Google’s Nexus landing page, where the company highlights its line of Nexus devices. The Q was sadly missing from the bunch, making us all scratch our heads as to what Google’s plans were with the media streaming device. However, back in January, the Nexus Q was discovered as no longer available in the Google Play store, pretty much all but confirming that the device has seen its death.

Then again, we knew the Nexus Q was going to be a disaster right from the beginning — it didn’t take a genius to figure out that the Nexus Q wasn’t going to be a hint. It was an interesting concept, and the device is beautifully designed, but the need for it wasn’t really there, and it simply offered an alternative to other already-established media streaming solutions.

SOURCE: Android Police and Phandroid

According to Heiner’s statements earlier this year, Google purposely passed down commands to YouTube to keep Windows Phone from having the same full-blown app iOS and Android users enjoy. “But just last month we [at Microsoft] learned from YouTube that senior executives at Google told them not to enable a first-class YouTube experience on Windows Phones.”

Fast-forward nearly six months, and Google has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Microsoft, demanding that the YouTube application be pulled and disabled on handsets by next Wednesday, May 22. This is due to two reasons: the lack of advertisements, and the ability to download videos that have been marked as unavailable for those accessing on smartphones and tablets. According to the letter, the lack of ads and download feature are harming the YouTube “content ecosystem” and decreasing ad revenue.

The claims aren’t bothering Microsoft, it would seem, with the Windows Phone YouTube app remaining available. Shortly after news of the cease-and-desist surfaced, Microsoft responded with a candid, if not somewhat biting, statement: “We’d be more than happy to include advertising but need Google to provide us access to the necessary APIs. In light of Larry Page’s comments today calling for more interoperability and less negativity, we look forward to solving this matter together for our mutual customers.”

In light of the accusations Heiner made earlier this year, such a response from Microsoft isn’t surprising. The question now is how Google will respond, which we’ll have to wait for until next week (assuming the app remains). Microsoft may elect to keep the app available and to allow it to remain functional on users’ devices, which is suggested by its response.

SOURCE: ars technica

Overall, we’re dealing with many of the same features that we’ve already seen with services like Spotify, Rdio, and Pandora, but Google has put its own spin and look into All Access. The Explore page is probably where most users will spend their time if they’re interested in discovering new artists. This section includes personal recommendations, featured artists and albums, as well as new releases.

As what may appear to be obvious, All Access is simply added on to the current Google Music app, so all the previous features of the app still remain. You even still have the ability to upload all of your own music the app and have it combined with the streaming music that you have picked out, creating one large library of music that includes a mix between the two. This is something that only Spotify has, and it’s a mighty-awesome feature to have.

All Access also has a Pandora-like feature where you can create radio stations of sorts based on a single artist or song. From there, you can give a song a thumbs up or thumbs down to make the app continuously learn about the music that you enjoy most. You also have the ability to rearrange future songs in the automated playlist in the radio station, as well as the ability to swipe away the songs you don’t want to listen to.

As for the user interface, nothing hasn’t changed too much. You get the typical Google look with an orange and white color theme. Frankly, I’m not a huge fan of the squared-off boxes and shapes that many Android apps have, but it certainly doesn’t hinder the music listening experience at all, and it’s something that I can easily get accustomed to.

One huge problem with All Access is cross-platform support. It is available on the web in any web browser, turning your laptop and desktop into its own DJ of sorts, but as far as mobile apps outside of Android, Google has yet to make that expansion. The great thing about Spotify is that it’s available on pretty much any platform, including iOS, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone. We’d be surprised if Google released their Music app for all of these platforms, so for users who yearn for cross-platform support, that seems to be where All Access’s weakness is.

As for price, All Access will cost $9.99 per month, but if you sign up before June 30, you’ll only play $7.99 per month. That price seems to be a permanent thing, so if you sign up before the end of June, you’ll only pay $7.99 for as long as you have an All Access subscription. Furthermore, All Access comes with a 30-day free trial, whether you sign up before June 30 or not.

Overall, Google Play Music All Access isn’t anything revolutionary, and we’re frankly a little disappointed that Google is simply getting their feet wet first before diving in. Of course, this is a smart move sometimes, but instead of boldly diving in and giving Spotify and Rdio a run for their money, Google is simply taking it easy to get a feel for the market, which could put them further behind in the music-streaming race.

Google talked a lot about Google+ Hangouts during the keynote, and they essentially took all of their different chat clients and combined them into one. The app will let you message other Google users, as well as video chat with them using Google’s Hangouts feature that we’ve all seen before in Google+.

The cool thing with this new app is that you can message a friend and have it delivered to them without them actually being signed in, making it a viable option for a text messaging replacement, rather than just another IM client of sorts. The app includes the ability to insert photos and videos, and there’s even cross-platform support with a web version as well.

Of course, before you get to chatting using the new app, you’ll need to sign up for Google+. This isn’t time-consuming, as Google+ uses your Google account anyway, but you’ll simply need to confirm a few things and get your profile initially set up. Once that’s done, you’ll be all set and ready to chat away with friends and family.

However, Hangouts doesn’t have an “Invisible” status available, which could be a turn-off for some users, but we can’t say that many users will miss that feature. Other than that, the app is ready to go. We’re not sure when the iOS version will be releasing, but we’re guessing it’s currently in the hands of Apple as they take it through their submission process.

UPDATE: Google+ Hangouts is now available on iOS.

Google says that Google Play for Education includes apps that have been recommended by teachers themselves, so other teachers will know right off the bat that every app in the Education section has some sort of value in the classroom, and having teachers approve and recommend the apps also cuts down on inappropriate apps from making their way in.

Educators and students can browse apps based on different categories that have been set in place, including searching for apps by type, age, etc. The new platform also integrates Google+ groups, so when a teacher downloads an app for his/her students to try, they can push the app to all of the students in the classroom at once.

Individual schools or even school systems can also create a central Google billing account, so when teachers go to buy apps, they’ll be automatically charged to that central account, which cuts down the need to have teachers buy the apps themselves and be reimbursed for them, which can be confusing, and it saves a lot of hassle in the long run.

It’s not just limited to apps and games, though. Teachers can also purchases books and movies that are of educational use. Currently, six schools in New Jersey are trying out Google Play for Education, and it seems to be working out quite well, as over 500 apps were downloaded and used in a single day. Google plans to release the new platform in the fall in time for the start of the school year.

The app is essentially a re-launch and re-branding of the network’s older ABC Player app, but Watch ABC can still playback TV shows on demand, as well as stream live television. This makes ABC the first major broadcast television network to offer their own live TV streaming option in the US. However, the app only works in New York City and Philadelphia, but more cities are expected be added throughout the year.

With Aereo, you don’t need a cable subscription to watch live television, but the Watch ABC will require one by July 1. The app is currently open to anyone for the next few weeks, but ABC will soon require a cable subscription in order to have the ability to watch live ABC shows. You’ll need either a Comcast, Cablevision, Cox, AT&T U-Verse, Charter, or Midcontinent subscription.

After July 1, ABC plans to expand the app’s availability to more big cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh-Durham, and Fresno. We’re guessing the app will exit its preview version and will be released in full on that date, but specifics are yet to be revealed on exactly what the plan is for Watch ABC.

As for the app being a viable competitor to Aereo, the effort is certainly there, but it’ll most likely be no cigar for ABC, and Aereo still includes some advantages over ABC’s live streaming options. Aereo doesn’t require a cable subscription to use, although you’ll have to pony up $8 per month in order to use Aereo, while ABC’s app is free. Watch ABC also doesn’t have DVR functionality, which may be an instant turn-off for some users. Overall, ABC is trying to offer something that’s cool and useful, but there’s simply too many restrictions still that is holding the network back.

SOURCE: iTunes App Store

The BBM app will support all iOS devices running iOS 6 and higher, as well as Android devices running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and higher. BlackBerry said that it would be bringing some of the same features of BBM over to iOS and Android, including groups functionality, as well as voice features and screen sharing in later releases.

BlackBerry also announced what they’re calling BBM Channels, which is a new social feature for BBM that will allow companies and celebrities to create a fan page of sorts that BBM users can follow. Whenever a BBM Channel gets updated with new content, users who follow these pages will see notifications for the updates in BlackBerry Hub. Users will also be able to comment and share posts with friends, as well as the ability to create their own channels. In the simplest of terms, Channels is essentially BlackBerry’s version of a social network.

Channels is still in beta, but the company is planning to update it several times until it will fully launch sometime this summer — most likely in conjunction with the BBM launch for iOS and Android. It’s still up in the air whether or not Channels will be the boost that BlackBerry needs to gain more users, but we’ll certainly find out come this summer. The company already has 60 million BBM users, with 10 billion messages being sent every day. With the release of an iOS and Android version, those numbers should jump significantly.

The app includes all of the same features that you’ll find on other platforms with Skype running on them, but on the BlackBerry Z10, the Skype app seamlessly integrates with the phone book and BlackBerry Hub, making it the process a bit easier to make a video call to a friend or family member.

The app is available now to download from BlackBerry World, but unless you have the new BlackBerry 10.1 update, you won’t be able to download the free app, which is a little puzzling at this point, but it seems Skype simply wants to get the app out there beforehand, so that it’s ready once the first batch of 10.1 updates starts rolling out to users. The 10.1 update will mostly come with tweaks and performance enhancements to the OS, but there will also be a few new features, such as an HDR mode for the camera, PIN-to-PIN messaging and email, as well as improvements to notifications.

Skype reiterates that this is simply a preview version of the app, so there may be bugs and there may be some features that will be taken away or added by the time the final version releases. The company said that they’ll be working closely with BlackBerry over the next few months on the app, to make sure it’s up to standards.

Along with the release of Skype for the BlackBerry Z10, BlackBerry also announced this morning that there now 120,000 apps in BlackBerry World. The company also announced the new BlackBerry Q5 QWERTY smartphone that will release later this year in emerging markets across the world. It’s essentially the cheaper brother of the Q10, but still comes with the 3.1-inch touchscreen and the full physical keyboard, along with BlackBerry 10 running the software show.

The audio and subtitle options can now be accessed from within the video player, meaning that you don’t have to return to the main menu in order to adjust these settings. Plus, accessing these options from within the video player while watching a show will bring up catered settings for that particular show, including available languages and surround sound options.

The video player has also been updated to look more like the web and mobile versions, although it keeps some of the same PS3 aesthetic. The video player will now be much more reminiscent of other platforms with Netflix, and PlayStation 3 users should be able to pick up another device without a huge learning curve getting in the way.

Today’s PS3 update also includes improvements for “trickplay” mode, which is that fancy series of screenshots you get when you want to skip ahead or backward in a show. This time around, the screenshots appear much quicker on the screen, allowing users to fast-forward or rewind a show at a much quicker pace than before, although we would still love the option to automatically skip opening credits for a TV show that happens after the cold open, but it seems we’ll still be dreaming about that.

Netflix streaming first hit the PlayStation 3 back in November 2009, and it recently became the number one streaming device for Netflix, where Sony’s gaming console had more Netflix users than any other platform that Netflix in on, including the Xbox 360, so it’s really no surprise that the streaming company is giving extra attention to the PS3.

SOURCE: Netflix Blog

The update also comes with “improved navigation for Google Reader RSS folder,” which hopes to make the process easier for those inevitably switching over from the soon-to-be deceased Google Reader RSS service, and it’ll hopefully ease the process for users switching over to find their content quicker this time around.

As for the refreshed profile pages, this gives users insights into their readership and curation activities, as well as the ability to discover “magazines” created by their friends thanks to the new “Friends” category. The update also comes with improved sharing options, which now allow you to send interesting articles and magazines to friends through SMS messaging.

Overall, not a major update by any means, but it does include some small new features that could prove useful for many Flipboardists. Just last week, The Android version of the app was updated to version 2.0, bringing the popular magazine curation feature to Google’s mobile platform and allowing users to create their own magazines that they could share with other users.

Flipboard 2.0 has been out for almost two months now, and by the second week since the app’s update, the company announced that a half a million magazines had already been created by users, proving that users are really enjoying creating their own digital product of sorts. Furthermore, the service claims to have over 50 million users who are flipping over six billion pages per month on average.

SOURCE: iTunes App Store

In an interview with CNN, Reller says that Microsoft has attempted to convince Apple to build a Windows 8 app for iTunes, but the Cupertino-based company doesn’t seem to want to budge, even though such an app “is in high demand” for Windows 8 users, according to Reller. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with having just a desktop version of iTunes, but Windows 8 tablet users are out of luck.

Since Surface tablets running Windows RT don’t have a desktop mode, iTunes users won’t be able to access the music player and media store on their tablet, and will have find a computer in order to manage their music, movies, and iOS apps. Surface Pro users have access to desktop mode, however, but the experience isn’t as good as on a full-size computer.

Apple has made much of their software available for Windows, but as the world is shifting more towards tablets, it seems the competitiveness has increased along with the rise in tablets, and Apple may be thinking twice about bringing their software over to Windows tablets, simply because the company wants to keep the exclusivity with iTunes.

Currently, the Windows app store has over 60,000 apps available for download, and there’s been around 250 million downloads total so far. Reller says that it’s a “realistic achievement” to have all the most popular apps in the iTunes App Store available in the Windows app store by the time the holiday season rolls around.

[Source: CNN]

This means HTML5 developers could potentially score a free handset. The device up for grabs is the Geeksphone Keon, which is the orange handset in the above image. This particular device features a 3.5-inch HVGA display, 1GHz Snapdragon A1 processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot and 3 megapixel rear-facing camera. The Keon normally sells for $119.

Handset specifics aside, Mozilla is looking to boost the availability of apps before the official launch. At present they have said Firefox OS phones will be available in “select” markets this summer. As part of this initiative they are looking for apps that deal with everything from tools and utilities to games as well as news, sports, travel, entertainment, social and more. Basically, just about everything.

This will be open to those who are already developing as well as those who have an idea in mind and are ready to begin the process. Regardless of the phase you are in, Mozilla has said you will need to apply for entry into the program. The application process involves sharing details about your app (or app idea) and letting them know that you have the experience to make it happen. Otherwise, Mozilla is urging developers to move fast as their ” launch dates are approaching fast.”

[via Mozilla]

Magazines that users create can include all sorts of content, including articles, images, audio, and video. Users can also keep curated magazines private if they simply want it for personal use, rather than to distribute content to friends and other Flipboard users, but it seems like a great way to know what other users are into as far as topics go.

To start adding content into your own magazines, you simply just use the share button that’s built into most Android apps, as well as use the “+” icon inside Flipboard to add Flipboard stories to your magazines. As for sharing your magazines, you can also use text messaging, email, and Pinterest, on top of the usual social media sites.

Along with today’s Android update, Flipboard is also rolling out a web-based editor tool to help manage magazines for users. From here, you’ll be able to re-order content, as well as delete it if you no longer want it. You can also check out analytics of your magazines by seeing how often other users have shared items that appeared in your magazine. Flipboard is a free app, and the updated version is available now in the Google Play store.

Both of these features could be a convenient addition to some users, as it encourages binge-watching while you’re away from home. Of course, watching anything more than an episode of a TV show on your iPhone is enough to make your eyes hurt, so we’re guessing that iPad users will most likely get more use of these new features.

The updated app also improves on its second screen options, as well as comes with the usual slew of bug fixes and performance enhancements. These updates were included in the Android app update that was released yesterday. It wasn’t a big update by any means, but iOS users are now getting the bug fixes from yesterday.

The Netflix app is available for free to download, and it’s compatible on pretty much any mobile device. However, you’ll need to pay $8 per month in order to take advantage of the unlimited streaming. The service’s movie options are bit limited, but you can get access to quite a bit of good TV shows and stream them while on the go.

Boingo has roughly 600,000 WiFi hotspots located around the world, and if you can’t get free WiFi on your laptop and you dare not choose to pay extra for tethering, you can use Boingo, which charges $7.99 per month. This really only seems reasonable if you travel a lot, but if you need WiFi and don’t just a free public network, Boingo is always an option.

Of course, if you don’t want to use the new method of paying for your monthly Boingo subscription, you can still stick with the old ways of doing things and manage your payments through the Boingo service itself. The iTunes payment method is just a few cents more than the traditional method, but that’s really not a huge deal.

For those wondering, yes, Boingo is most likely giving Apple a 30% cut because of this new feature, since it’s technically an in-app purchase, but it seems the company is willing to take the risk of losing money at the chance of getting more users to hop on board now that they have an easier payment method to take advantage of.

And you heard that correctly, Foursquare teamed up with Nokia, which means that the updated app will come pre-loaded on select Lumia models, with the app optimized for Lumia devices as an added bonus, where it will work seamlessly with the line’s augmented reality technology, giving Foursquare users the ability to check in with style.

The YouTube app also received an update on Windows Phone 8, being “completely redesigned” with a handful of new features, most notably pinning support, which lets you pin videos, channels, playlists and search results right to your phone’s Start Screen. The pinning also extends to YouTube’s Kids Corners, allowing parents to easily control what their kids can and cannot view.

These updates come just after Hulu released the Hulu Plus app on Windows Phone 8 yesterday. Netflix had been in the game for over a month, so the streaming service has a lot of catching up to do on Microsoft’s platform. Then again, a lot of companies have catching up to do, as many popular apps still aren’t on Windows Phone 8 yet.

Both the iOS app and Android app also have some new features coming their way. The Android app now includes easier methods to enter in non-GPS activities manually, such as running on a treadmill or cycling on the stationary bike. The Android version also received a new widget that you can add to your home screen, letting you start and stop activities.

As for the iPhone app of RunKeeper, more users in more countries now have access to the fitness app, thanks to additions of several new languages, including Spanish, French, German, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, and Japanese. The app’s developers note that they’re continuously adding new languages, so we can expect more to come in the future.

Other than that, the updated app comes with the usual big fixes and performance enhancements. As for the Pebble watch, we reviewed the wrist device back in February, and it’s been going out to Kickstarter backers these last few months. While the watch is somewhat cheaply made in a way, third-party support is growing, making it even more tempting to take advantage of the new device.

This is just one of the many apps that has been released for Windows Phone 8 over the past few months, with some of the bigger mobile apps still waiting for their turn for Windows Phone 8 support. Either way, Hulu subscribers who pay for the $8/month plan will be able to enjoy streaming on their WP8 devices now.

As for the layout of the app, Hulu went with the traditional Windows Phone 8 layout rather than their own concoction, and firing up the app will lead to the home screen where you can scroll through TV shows — very similar to other Windows Phone 8 apps, and the look should be reminiscent of the Hulu app on Windows 8.

Some of the more popular apps and games that have landed on Windows Phone 8 include Pandora, Spotify, Microsoft’s own Photosynth, Modern Combat 4, and Netflix, which arrived on Microsoft’s new platform last month. We can only assume this is Hulu’s answer to Netflix as a way to earn more subscribers by offering Windows Phone 8 support.

iOS isn’t too friendly on letting users choose what app that links open in — iOS simply defaults to Safari and other default apps, which a lot of users don’t like particularly. However, Google seems to be taking matters into their own hands by adding the ability to choose whether or not links in emails in the Gmail app open up using one of Google’s other iOS apps.

You can choose these settings in the app by individually choosing whether or not you want a certain app to be used when opening up links. Previously, you want have to find a jailbreak tweak that could let you choose what app you wanted the link to open up in, and you still have to do that for some apps, but at least Google users can now have deeper integration in iOS.

This update comes after Apple cut ties with Google by removing the default YouTube app and Maps app from iOS 5 and replaced it with their own solution. Google eventually released native apps, like YouTube, Google Apps, and Chrome, all of which can be integrated with Gmail in this new update.

According to The Japan Times, Nintendo has been offering game developers conversion software for use with mobile devices and consoles that allows smartphone apps to be played on the Wii U, and Nintendo is encouraging developers to create smartphone games that can be playable on the company’s gaming console.

This comes after Nintendo is continuously reporting poor sales for their new console, selling way less than they expected during the last quarter, and reporting a $366 million operating loss, which is the company’s second annual operating loss in a row. Nintendo is apparently hoping that the addition of smartphone apps will turn things around.

It’s certainly a bold move on Nintendo’s part, but it slightly makes sense. The smartphone games would be played on the Wii U GamePad’s 6.2-inch touchscreen display, which is obviously the ideal playing field for a smartphone and tablet game. However, we’re not sure how these games would be implemented, as far as being able to use the physical controls, or if you’ll be able to beam the game to your TV through the console. Hopefully there will be a field of options available if smartphone apps eventually do come to the console.

[via The Japan Times]

Launchy is a project “in the pipeline” by Mike DiGiovanni, who developed Bulletproof and Winky, two sideloaded apps that have garnered a fair bit of attention. The first, Bulletproof, gives the user’s Glass a lock screen not unlike the one you use on your smartphone. And the second, Winky, does what its name suggests – enables winking as a way to inconspicuously take a photograph.

On his Google+ account today, DiGiovanni announced a new sideloaded app he is working on, this one that aims to make all other sideloaded apps easier to use – Launchy, an app launcher. This would be Google Glass’s first app launcher, and will bring a much-needed ability to the device, simplifying the use of sideloaded apps and, perhaps, taking the non-supported software side of Glass to the next level.

Says DiGiovanni about his project: “The big problem for most Native app development with Glass, is that once you install an app, there is no way for you to launch that app easily. Launchy is going to fix that. I figured out a way to get Launchy running from GlassHome without affecting general usability too much.” He goes on to state that the launcher is Glassy-looking.

[via Self Screens]

In the meantime, Apple is displaying a list of the most downloaded apps of all time in the iTunes App Store. For iPhone apps, Angry Birds takes the number one spot for paid apps, while Facebook tops the list of the free apps on iPhone. As for iPad, Apple’s Pages takes the number one paid app, while Skype is the number one free iPad app, surprisingly.

Interestingly enough, the top five paid apps for iPhone are all games, with eight out of the top 10 being games as well. However, only two out of the top 10 free apps on iPhone are games. Pandora, Instagram, YouTube, and Skype round out the top five free apps on iPhone, with the top five paid apps consisting of Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, Doodle Jump, Cut the Rope, and Angry Birds Seasons.

The iPad showed some of the same trends as well, with seven out of the top ten paid iPad apps being games, and only three out of the top 10 free iPad apps being games as well. The top five paid iPad apps of all time consists of Pages, Angry Birds HD, Angry Birds Seasons HD, Where’s My Water?, and Fruit Ninja HD. As for free apps: Skype, The Weather Channel, Netflix, Angry Birds HD Free, and Kindle took the top honors.

When you upload a photo to Instagram, you’re now able to tag the people that are in the photo, and Instagram says its as easy as adding hashtags. Plus, only you can add people to your photos, which we’re guessing means that other people won’t even be able to request permission to add themselves in a photo like Facebook does.

However, you can only tag people that also have an Instagram account, so it’s definitely a bit limited on who you can tag, especially since you can’t tag Facebook friends, but the service gives you the ability to tag previously-uploaded images to give your collection a bit of uniformity at least.

As for the “Photos of You” section, this is where you can view all photos on Instagram that you’re tagged in, and it appears as a dedicated section on your Instagram profile. For privacy’s sake, Instagram allows you to approve each photo you’re tagged in so that you have control over what shows up in that section. The update is available now on both iOS and Android.

[via Android Community]

Frankly, the app is a bit overdue. Over the years, Blockbuster has been on the decline, due to the failure to adapt to a changing world, where streaming movies was becoming more popular than physically renting them. The company released mobile apps, but they didn’t include any streaming component, until now.

The iOS version of the app is similar to the Android version, and unlike Netflix, where you pay a monthly fee for unlimited streaming, Blockbuster On Demand has you paying on a per-movie basis. The benefit, though, is that you get access to a lot of movies that you don’t have access to on Netflix, which is a service that has been lacking a good movie selection for some time now.

Plus, the Blockbuster On Demand app streams movies in high definition with support for surround sound, which would seem a bit overkill if you were to watch films on your smartphone, but you could easily hook up your ipad to a stereo system to boost the sound level a bit, given that any speaker will provide better quality than the built-in speaker on the iPad or iPhone.

With the Chrome app, Google Keep opens in its own window, allowing you to experience the app in full web browser mode. It also supports offline mode, so if you’re not around a WiFi connection, you can still jot down notes, and the app will save them locally until your computer is back online, where it will then sync changes to your Android device.

Google was released as an Android-only app back in March, and it’s basically Google’s answer to Evernote and other note-taking apps out there on the market. Keep aims to be a central place to jot down notes and record things that you want to come back to later, including photos, websites, lists, etc. All your notes are stored in Google Drive and synced across all your devices.

You can read our review of Google Keep to learn more about it, but essentially, it’s not an Evernote competitor just yet. However, we really like the design of Google Keep and it’s quickness with navigating around the app. It definitely has potential, and we’re sure that we’ll see more features for it in the future.

Adobe’s group product manager for Lightroom, Tom Hogarty, demonstrated an early prototype of the app on The Grid, which is an online web show hosted by photography guru Scott Kelby. Hogarty goes through some of the features of the app, including adjusting the temperature of a photo, as well as edit RAW files right in the app.

Lightroom iOS demo starts at 18:09:

The app will be constantly synced through the cloud, so while you make edits on your iOS device, the changes will appear on the file on your computer in Lightroom. You can edit certain things like exposure, clarity, shadows, highlights, and white balance, as well as zoom in to 100% for fine detail work on an image.

Of course, the app isn’t a full-fledged version of Lightroom, so you won’t be able to do any of the more advanced stuff, but it still looks like a decent way for photographers to edit their images on the go using something more advanced than iPhoto. Adobe hasn’t named the app yet, but it could be an extension of Lightroom, such as Lightroom Mobile or something along those lines.

[via CNET]

Microsoft says this new beta program is targeted to those who like to mess around with experimental software, so folks that hate when apps crash or don’t perform smoothly most likely don’t need to apply. However, anyone can join in, as it’s not just limited to developers, and Microsoft is encouraging anyone to try it out.

The beta app for Facebook underwent major redesign, and it comes a lot of new features, including support for high-resolution photos, improved post sharing, and Facebook’s Timeline. If you spot a bug or just want to give your overall feedback about the app, you can head to Settings > About in the app to report information.

If you didn’t know Microsoft actually develops the Facebook app for Windows Phone, and it’s the same way with BlackBerry, so essentially, Facebook only actively develops mobile apps for iOS and Android. However, with the social network’s permission, Microsoft can develop their own Facebook app for Windows Phone users.

Each of these sections includes their own little features. The Explore Recipes section is a list of recipes that Evernote suggests trying out. The My Cookbook section stores recipes that you save either from Evernote Food or from the main Evernote app. The Restaurants section allows users to browse and bookmark different places to eat, as well as make reservations using OpenTable, and My Meals is a food journal that lets you record what all you eat throughout the week.

The iOS Evernote Food app has seen a lot of attention lately, so it’s nice that Android is getting its fair share this time around. Both apps feature their own strengths and weaknesses. The Android app has a convenient Recently Viewed window, while the iOS version allows users to share recipes with friends and family.

Overall, if you use Evernote and love to cook, the Evernote Food app may be something that you’ll want to try out. If you’re wanting to escape all of those recipe books that you have scattered around your kitchen in favor of something digital and on multiple devices, you can try out the updated app now, which is available for free in the Google Play store.

What you’ve got with the AirDroid 2 app up on the Google Play app store today is a series of features that allow you to control your smartphone from your desktop machine. You’ll be doing this from your notebook or desktop computer’s web browser window, so it’s operating system agnostic.

You’ll be able to work with desktop-bound SMS, sending and receiving from your computer. You’ll be able to easily move photos, video, and whatever other kinds of files you’ve got to and from your phone without Bluetooth or a USB cord. You’ve got a Find Phone and Remote Whipe set of features for your phone – like Apple’s devices do with iCloud. You can make phone calls from your desktop, share clipboard content, and install apps remotely.

ALSO NOTE: Samsung has a service coming up that’s extremely similar to AirDroid by the name of SideSync – though that will only work with Samsung hardware.

You can also use this app to take screenshots of your Android device’s screen – this being a feature you can do with a simple power button / down volume hold on your device, but having the ability to do it here makes it all tie in nice with remote camera viewing. This feature allows you to see through the lens of your Android device’s camera, both front and back-facing. Have a peek at this app right this minute, and let us know how it’s working for you!

The update also incudes a section in the sidebar meant for users who are new to the Kindle platform. This section is called Popular Samples, in which users can browse a number of free samples of books to read, to get them acquainted with the Kindle app, as well as find interesting books that they might like.

The new tablet interface has definitely changed according to our experience, and the home screen features the same Cover Flow-esque navigation that’s on the Kindle Fire, allowing you to swipe through different books, newspapers, and magazines. The sidebar also gives you quick access to other sections of the app, including the Kindle Store and the aforementioned Samples.

The app also comes with a slew of the usual bugfixes and general performance enhancements that we see in every app update, so if you’re not a big fan of the new design, you’ll at least have a more rounded-out app that’s a bit quicker and snappier than before. The update is available now in the Google Play store.

The user guide, called “Learn more about in-app purchases,” explains what in-app purchases are exactly, and how they work. Plus, it teaches users how to prevent their kids from gaining access to in-app purchases where they might spend a crazy amount of money on virtual goods otherwise.

While kids obviously don’t really know what in-app purchases are, a surprising number of parents are also ignorant on the subject, especially new owners of an iOS device. Of course, that’s not necessarily the parents’ fault, since Apple or other developers have never really explained what in-app purchases are in detail.

However, Apple’s new user guide aims to clear up any confusion on the subject, and it even teaches parents on how to add parental controls to various apps, including the ability to restrict kids from downloading additional content without the parents’ permission. We’re not sure how much of an effect this will have in the future, but at least the Cupertino-based company is doing their due diligence.

A similar tactic has been used for the recent release of the iOS-friendly Gmail app “Mailbox”. This app saw thousands of sign-ups in a very short period earlier this year as they kept a virtual line going to keep users waiting for their turn to activate the app they’d downloaded. They recently opened that door, presumably after interest had begun to simmer.

Vine on the other hand is an app that’s already generated a large amount of interest in both positive and negative PR events. When Vine launched, it was an app that only worked on the iPhone. Soon after launch, the developers behind Vine showed a web browser homepage for every single user onboard. Soon after that, Vine embedding began.

Here nearer the Summer of 2013 it would appear that the Android release of the Vine mobile app is close. Having spoken with The Verge earlier this week, news that they’ll be bringing their Android app to the market was joined by a “soon” timeframe and note that they’ll be adding features along the way.

Below you’ll find additional information on Vine as it expands beyond its original iPhone home, perhaps even to the iPad sooner than later! For now it’s time to start up your Android device with a camera, whatever that may be.

With Retina support, the updated Twitter app will be able to take advantage of the added pixels, and Twitter claims that the whole app will appear sharper and crisper on high-resolution displays. Twitter also made it easier to share photos. You can either drag-and-drop photos into the app, or click the new camera icon in the corner and browse for a photo to add.

Twitter says that “more improvements” will be coming in the future, which we would hope so, given the fact that Twitter’s client restriction are resulting in numerous third-party Twitter clients to shut their doors, most notably TweetDeck, which is set to close down on May 7 due to the restriction of the number of users that third-party clients can have.

TweetDeck is only one of the beloved Twitter clients seeing its end, which not seem like a huge deal since Twitter has their own apps to use, but the company has been surprisingly lacking in their offerings, with many third-party clients out-performing Twitter itself with unique features that you can’t get with official Twitter apps.

The updated app also includes the ability to save blog posts for later using read-it-later services like Instapaper and Pocket. Users can also email blog posts to friends and family using Tumblr’s all-new template. There’s also some new navigation tweaks, like swiping up or down to close photos, as well as added support for animated GIFs on the dashboard.

Overall, it’s not a huge update, but avid Tumblr users who take advantage of the app while on the go will appreciate some of the new features, especially if they’re all about sharing blog posts with friends. However, users will begin to be bombarded with mobile ads, so be prepared to see sponsored content show up in your feed.

The Tumblr apps for Android and Windows Phone 8 already allow for easy sharing of blog posts, but iOS users are now honored with the feature. Tumblr released a dedicated app for Windows Phone 8 yesterday, bringing lock screen and live tile support along with it, giving Tumblr users on Microsoft’s mobile platform a unique experience unlike iOS or Android.

The new app includes the ability to follow users and post in all formats that Tumblr allows, including GIFs. Users will also be able to share photos, videos, links, text, etc. The user interface looks like any other Windows Phone 8 app, and it also supports Windows Phone 8′s lock screen and live tiles, meaning that you can have the app display the latest images from your dashboard on your lock screen or Tumblr live tiles.

Tumblr has been taking its time rolling out mobile apps to various mobile operating system. Case in point: Android tablet support as well as iPad support arrived back in December, which is a bit late compared to most other popular services. However, it’s out in full force now on iOS, Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone 8.

Tumblr is also just starting to roll out ads to its mobile apps, giving the company another way to bring in the bacon. Tumblr announced just yesterday that they would start doing this. It’s not yet known how this will affect users, or whether or not users will make a big fuss over it, but it’s usually a common convention that people don’t like ads, so many users may not take this lightly.

Tumblr is partnering with several companies to bring these sponsored posts to mobile, which include ABC, GE, Pepsi, and Warner Bros. The social blogging company says that these ads will get around the same exposure as posts that have been re-blogged by friends, although some of the ads will be animated, which makes us believe that they’ll be more obtrusive than users would like.

These new mobile ads also come almost a full year after Tumblr posted its first sponsored post. Since that time, Tumblr’s partners “have created some truly delightful blogs and racked up tens of millions notes on their posts.” Based upon “how well these creations can fit into our Dashboards,” the company decided to roll out the same thing for mobile today.

This is an expanded effort from Tumblr to create revenue growth for its business, and it’s said that the company will unsurprisingly continue to think up different ways to bring sponsored content to users, including giving users the opportunity to promote posts, but it seems anything is possible for social blogging platform at this point.