Skitch for Android gets new, finger-friendly toolbars to make mobile annotation easier
Are you a digital doodler? Odds are, then, that you’re familiar with Skitch, an annotation app from the folks at Evernote that lets users mark up PDFs, screenshots and pictures on phones and tablets. Today, the Android version of Skitch got a bit better with a revamped set of toolbars that make it easier to indulge your doodling ways. The new layout provides access to two menus at the bottom of your screen: an icon in the bottom left corner lets you choose the color and size of your scribbles, while the icon in the lower right is tapped for access to cropping, text and other tools. Tapping either expands the options along the edges of the screen, and they disappear once you’ve made a selection. It’s a pretty slick implementation, if we do say so ourselves, but you don’t have to take our word for it, first hand knowledge is just a download away.
Source: Evernote blog
MLB at Bat for Windows Phone adds push notifications and pitch tracking
Opening day is here! …sort of. This year’s quest for a World Series ring kicks off Down Under today, with the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks squaring off at the Sydney Cricket Ground (yes, they’re still playing baseball). Of course, everyone else is still playing Spring Training games until the weekend of March 31st. But Major League Baseball is making sure all of its mobile app ducks are in a row ahead of time. In particular its Windows Phone MLB at Bat app is getting a long overdue update for the 2014 season. Now you can get live pitch-by-pitch tracking for games and set up push notifications for scores and news. Those features have been available on iOS and Android for quite sometime now, so this is less a major step forward and more about feature parity. But still, we’re sure those that fall in the middle of the baseball and windows phone fan venn diagram are extremely happy.
Filed under: Software, Mobile, Microsoft
Via: Technet
Source: MLB at Bat
City Monkey goes bananas on Android
Like most of us, you have probably yearned for an pixel-art styled multiplayer game that lets you shoot banana rockets and pineapple grenades at your friends. City Monkey provides that in a Worms-like atmosphere where you can go bananas on your friends.
The violently fun shooter game lets you blow up your friends and random online players through an online ranking system where players meet. The concept is simple, you cannot move, but you must use precision shots and use the force of the wind to knock your enemy out. There are only a few weapons in the game in an effort to keep the game’s simplistic style fun.
The goal of the game is to rank higher and unlock your weapons by climbing the ranks. As your reach different grades in the game your monkey will experience a color change. The more points you score and monkeys you defeat the further up the rankings you will climb.
Can you climb to the top of the leaderboards? You can find City Monkey Multiplayer Shooter on the Google Play store.
The post City Monkey goes bananas on Android appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Wendy’s now lets you pay for a meal with its mobile app
Wendy’s, home to a bunch of square burgers and Frosty, is following in Burger King’s footsteps and embracing mobile payments. Now, you can use the Ohio company’s app to pay for your purchase in most (but not all) of its locations in the US. Just like its Burger King counterpart, the app acts as sort of a digital wallet that generates six-digit codes you’ll have to give to cashiers for payment. Wendy’s, however, has regrettably left out one of the BK app’s best features — discounts and coupons.
The fast food chain apparently decided to offer mobile payments in an effort to attract the younger, smartphone-obsessed set. Unfortunately, the app’s limited features (you can’t use it to call in a delivery, if you’re wondering!) and lack of discounts as a perk make it a less convincing download than its competitors. But, hey, at least it can show nutritional values, so you don’t scarf down a Baconator without knowing it has 940 calories.
Filed under: Misc
Twitter may indulge our vanity by showing view counts for tweets
Twitter isn’t supposed to be a popularity contest, but let’s be honest — many of us get a little thrill from new favorites and followers. It may be a good thing, then, that Twitter is experimenting with view counts on tweets. While Twitter’s ad partners have had access to this data for a while, the test lets regular social networkers (albeit just a handful) see how much interest there is in what they say. The company isn’t commenting on the dry run, but we wouldn’t assume that a full-scale launch is coming. While view counts might encourage participation after well-received posts, they could also crush the self-esteem of newcomers. Not everyone can attract as many eyeballs as a celebrity or a politician, after all.
[Image credit: Lydia J, Twitter]
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile
Source: The Verge, Lydia J (Twitter)
Apple reportedly considering iTunes Store for Android phones
Apple’s iTunes store may still be one of the most popular sources for downloading cheap music, but you need an iOS device to take advantage, and that leaves a heck of a lot of smartphone owners out in the cold. Rather than have those users hand over heaps of cash to competitors, it makes sense for Apple to bring its iTunes store to Android. And according to Billboard, that’s exactly what Cupertino may be considering. The magazine’s own sources claim that Apple has begun discussions with several record label execs, with topics ranging from a streaming service to compete with Spotify to an iTunes app for Android devices. Launching such an application isn’t as simple as dropping it in Google Play, however. Complex negotiations with record labels are reportedly in the very early stages at this point, so it’ll likely be some time before we see this latest concept materialize, if it’s due to debut at all.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Apple
Via: 9to5Mac
Source: Billboard
Smash through a beautiful futuristic dimension with Smash Hit [App of the Day]
Imagine a world and another dimension where you must smash your way through everything in harmonisation with music; that’s exactly what you have to do in Smash Hit for Android.
Breakable objects are placed in your path as you progress as a marble through various levels and you have to smash through them to clear your path. There’s over 50 different levels with 11 different graphic styles for the obstacles, all coupled with mechanics for breaking the glass obstacles which looks fantastic. A simple concept which is executed to perfection.
If you’re feeling like getting a bit of anger out by smashing obstacles, or want a challenge trying to progress through the levels, then Smash Hit is definitely for you. You will find yourself constantly coming back to Smash Hit as you get addicted to the fantastic graphics and mechanics the developers have included in this game. Smash Hit is available for free in the Google Play Store.
The post Smash through a beautiful futuristic dimension with Smash Hit [App of the Day] appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Medium’s new iPhone app helps you read (but not write) long articles
We can’t say we know all that many people who routinely digest articles posted through Medium’s social publishing platform. However, the readership is bound to go up now that the service has released an iPhone app. The mobile client is more of a story curation tool than anything else. It automatically fetches stories from both your Twitter friends and any collections you follow, optimizing the reading interface beyond what you’d normally get in your web browser. You won’t want to plan on writing any diatribes, though, since the iOS app has no editing tools — you’ll have to retreat to a PC when inspiration strikes. If you don’t mind that limitation, Medium’s client is ready and waiting in the App Store.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile
Via: Medium
Source: App Store
Twitter now shows you video previews inside its mobile apps
Checking out a linked video from within Twitter’s official mobile apps is frequently a clumsy process, but it’s about to get a lot smoother. The social network has started rolling out simple in-line video previews on both its Android and iOS apps. If you’ve received the upgrade, you’ll see thumbnails of clips in your timeline; all you have to do is tap them to watch the footage from within the Twitter app. The move is no doubt meant to drive up views of promoted videos, but we won’t mind if it helps us catch up on cat videos during our daily commutes.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Internet
Source: New York Times
This app creates a custom radio show based on articles from your favorite news sites
Podcasts and talk shows are perfect for your daily commute, but it’s rare to find one that only covers what you want to hear about. Newsbeat, an iOS and Android app released today by the Tribune Company, hopes to change how you listen to news. The app has access to over 7,000 different sources ranging from big-time papers to smaller blogs. Before you start listening, you can tell it what types of stories and publications (cough cough, Engadget) you’re interested in hearing from, and the app uses Pandora-like artificial intelligence to create the perfect newscast for you.
Each personalized program is designed to last the length of your typical commute, and kicks off with weather and traffic information based on your current location. Stories are read aloud using text-to-speech, with some important stories — think world news like the Malaysian Airlines disappearance — read by voice actors. Each one only lasts between 60 and 90 seconds, and news you’re not interested in can be skipped. When you do skip a story, the app learns from its mistake and makes articles like that one less of a priority in the future. If you’re into that whole reading thing, you can see the text version within the app or tap on a particular post to see it at its original source (or even see other publications’ takes on the same news).
We had a chance to demo Newsbeat earlier this week. In general, we thought the experience sounded a lot like NPR — that is until the text-to-speech announcer kicks in. Tribune is using an “advanced text-to-speech technology” that sounds a little more realistic than Siri, but still has a pretty solid computer-generated feel. There’s no denying it’s not a real person reading your news. That said, it’s a slightly awkward experience we might be willing to get used to if it manages to distract us from the boredom of another 30 minutes on the gym treadmill.
Source: Newsbeat
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