People around the world are being invited to learn how to hunt for planets, using two new online apps devised by scientists at the University of Texas at Austin and UC Santa Cruz. The apps use data from…
Working out what are the healthiest options in the supermarket can be a difficult job, especially when food labels are often designed to trick you into thinking they’re healthier than they are. We asked…
Does walking and texting need a new app or do we need to do one thing at a time?
Flickr/sidkid
With mobile phones, it’s understandable we walk directly into inanimate objects. But now Apple has declared the problem solved, having secured the patent for Transparent Texting, a function that enables…
Pinpoint that sex offender or maybe your own past problems.
heiwa4126
The average citizen may not feel that they have anything to fear from the rise of apps that promise to identify sex offenders in their area but they are part of a worrying trend that should act as a warning…
Here’s an eye opener: you can now read a novel on your lunch break. But how much will you really take in?
ganessas/Flickr
Most adults read about 200-250 words per minute (wpm), but Spritz, a new reading application that is attracting considerable social media attention, claims that most people can easily double or triple…
Once you get a taste, it’s hard to stop playing Candy Crush … but why?
emi iemei/Flickr
It’s been said that in a city, you’re never more than two metres away from a rat. But it seems more likely that you’re never more than two metres from someone playing the puzzle game Candy Crush Saga…
À la Recherche du Temps Perdu. Done. NEXT!
radarxlove
A new app is about to come on the market with promises to dramatically increase the speed at which you read. Spritz is a text streaming technology that allows you to read a sentence, one word at a time…
Yahoo has launched a new app aimed at making reading the news easier. News Digest is the latest invention from Nick D’Aloisio, Yahoo’s 18-year-old recruit who found fame with Summly, another app that takes…
Hi I’m Mark and I’m new here, but I want to shake things up.
Ludovic Toinel
With Facebook eyeing mobile internet, it is no accident that Mark Zuckerberg is making a much-publicised appearance at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week. In attendance are executives from…
Mark Zuckerberg certainly thinks so.
Patrick Denker
Facebook has made a play for the mobile market by buying WhatsApp in what should be seen as a significant sign of the times. Desktop computing is the past and mobile access is the future. Facebook knows…
How much‽ Children can quickly run up huge bills on online games without their parents’ knowledge.
Shutterstock
For many parents who caved into the pressure and splashed out on a new tablet computer for their children this Christmas, the not inconsiderable initial purchase bill may almost be a distant memory. Yet…
The bird that just won’t die. But can you live without it?
Flappy Bird, a deceptively simple gaming app, has been withdrawn by its creator Dong Nguyen because it is too “addictive”. His decision appears to have sparked a frenzy among fans who are reportedly so…
Major app developers make enormous sums from basic and derivative games, so why can’t independent game makers?
Flappy Bird
This week the game app Flappy Bird was removed from the Apple App Store. And while the gaming press can usually be relied on to come to the defence of independent developers facing pressure from major…
Would you trust this guy with your personal data?
tomazstolfa
It was reported this week that the NSA and British intelligence agency GCHQ have been gathering information from popular apps including David Cameron’s favourite game, Angry Birds. According to the Guardian…
Incoming message: Nice glass of rioja and a baked camembert.
Even though we are communicating in more ways than ever using online technology, we remain largely confined to the audiovisual when we do it. An app that has been on sale in Japan for some time aims to…
Reports this week reveal the number of text messages sent between mobile phones has fallen into decline for the first time since the service was introduced. According to figures from Deloitte, the number…
Just hold still while I check your back story.
NameTag
An app on offer in the US says it can determine whether the person you are dating has anything to hide, using facial recognition to see if they are on the sex offenders register. This should make us question…
Advergaming is a relatively recent approach to advertising that overcomes many of the limitations of traditional advertising. But advergames are increasingly being used by fast food companies to target…