Apps: Features

Enterprise mobile apps are shifting from small, narrowly task-oriented programs to larger, more complex ones. To design them well, enterprise developers can learn a lot from a surprising source: mobile games.

Twitter is all about keeping things brief. It is, after all, a microblogging service, one that limits you to 140 characters per post. But while Twitter promotes a less-is-more approach, the same can't be said of the market for Twitter apps and services.

What the Web offers consumers and technophiles evolves quickly, so keeping up with the latest and greatest sites can be a full-time job. Eye candy, slick utility, and superb shopping are a few themes designers and developers are getting better at serving up.

Is 2012 the year app stores will break out in the enterprise?

Whether you consume it or create it, entertainment is likely a huge part of the reason you love tech. You probably already have a subscription to big names such as Amazon Instant Video, Hulu Plus, or Netflix, and those are all good services, but they're not free.

Many of us spend hours getting from one place to another every day. Your smartphone can help you cut down on your travel time, or at least make the most of it.

You're on a budget, but you need reliable programs that will make your 9-to-5 run more smoothly.

Not all Android apps are created equal, and most are far from perfect.

EdSouth is a bank holding company active in the student-loan arena, and Arrow Container Corp. manufactures cartons and containers. Their ideas about letting employees use their own mobile devices at work for business — what's often called "Bring Your Own Device" (BYOD) — couldn't be more different.

With more employees using smartphones and tablets for business, enterprises are setting up their own app stores for application distribution, leveraging a consumer model for mobile application access that is tuned to the workplace. Instead of saddling already overburdened IT personnel with getting applications to individual devices, these app stores provide a central distribution mechanism for employees to download applications themselves.

The Retina display on the new iPad is one of the tablet's defining features, and it makes the device ideally suited for multimedia work, including image editing. Apple’s new iPhoto app and Adobe’s Photoshop Touch are taking advantage of that opportunity by bringing powerful photo editing and sharing tools to the iPad.

Think the mobile revolution is all about word games and social networking apps? Think again. Heavy-duty apps for IT pros have arrived on mobile platforms and they're quickly changing the face of IT systems management.

Windows 8 Consumer Preview is one of the biggest changes that Microsoft has made to Windows, moving it from an operating system aimed at a single class of hardware (PCs and laptops) to one that spans a wide range of devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones.

Tablets and smartphones are making music more fun for musicians and nonmusicians alike. These devices--mainly iPhones and iPads at the moment--have brought about a wave of innovation in tuneful apps. Here are some of the coolest ones out there.

The iPad is just a bit smaller than a traditional sheet of looseleaf paper. Sometimes, however, the tablet doesn’t seem quite as useful as pen and paper—especially when you want to jot down some quick notes. Sure, Apple’s stock Notes app works fine, but only if you have the time to tap out your notes on the iPad’s virtual keyboard. When you need to scribble some notes down in a hurry, or when you crave the ability to scrawl down more than just typewritten text, it’s time to take a trip to the App Store.

As Ubuntu Linux continues to grow in popularity, most discussions of it tend to focus on the basics of the operating system itself, including especially details about its desktop environment and user interface.

Among the many options for storing information digitally, the biggest players in the note-taking software market are OneNote and Evernote. These applications come in handy for taking notes, making lists, managing projects, storing and organizing information, and sharing it with others.

An insurance company decided to roll out an application for its sales reps. The new app would give them a wider selection of products to offer customers when out in the field. Information on those products was stored in a legacy mainframe system, so the company created a Web interface that let reps query the database to get details on offerings.

Never before has an announcement about textbooks been the subject of so much conversation. But that’s what happens when Apple holds a media event: People talk, even if the subject might otherwise seem obscure or uninteresting.

For many of us, the Cloud has changed the way we work and play. Thanks to well-known services like Gmail, Dropbox, Facebook and Instapaper, practically our whole lives - photos, documents, contacts and more - are online. So isn't it time to take control?