Features

• Guide: The new rules for enterprise apps

  By Minda Zetlin | 24 January, 2012 03:26

  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.

• Great apps for Android

  By Armando Rodriguez and Ginny Mies | 29 November, 2011 01:49

  Navigating an app store can be tricky, with vague descriptions, dubious user reviews, and sometimes buggy apps. We searched for the best apps available.

• Nine Kindle Fire apps for getting work done

  By Angela West | 17 November, 2011 13:00

  The consensus of most reviewers of the Kindle Fire is that it's useful as a media consumption device, but not as an erstwhile laptop replacement like the iPad. While that may be the case, the Kindle Fire is cheaper than its Apple counterpart, and it still supports a wide range of productivity apps--especially when you take into account that you can sideload any Android application that you want.

• 11 Android apps to boost speed, battery life

  By Eric Geier | 20 September, 2011 06:11

  The mobile operating system Android for phones and tablets offers a wide variety of apps and can be quite useful in your professional and personal life. But after you've added a bunch of apps and used it for a while, Android can also get bogged down or unstable, run slowly and/or eat battery juice too quickly.

• 11 essential tablet productivity apps

  By Robert Strohmeyer | 10 August, 2011 23:43

  Whether you're an executive, a traveling sales rep, a student, or a soccer parent, a slate full of smart apps can help you manage the ever-changing demands of your daily life. It doesn't really matter whether you use an iPad or one of the new Android tablets; both platforms offer a wealth of options for staying on top of things. And in any case, it's not about having the most apps--it's about having the right apps for you.

• Find the best personalised news app for iPhone, iPad

  By Joel Mathis | 05 August, 2011 06:47

  When Flipboard hit the App Store last year, the personalised news app for the iPad turned out to be a revelation. There were already plenty of Twitter clients, Facebook apps, and RSS readers available for download—there were even apps that combined those streams of information into one. But none did it quite so elegantly, creating the sensation of effortlessly flipping through the magazine. Overnight, Flipboard reinvented the category.

• Essential apps for Windows Phone 7

  By Megan Geuss and Armando Rodriguez | 29 June, 2011 23:44

  For any smartphone user, adding some simple-to-use and practical apps is a great way to get the most out of a handset. Our package of essentials should be more than enough to get you started.

• Essential apps for Android

  By Megan Geuss and Armando Rodriguez | 29 June, 2011 23:44

  If you're in the market for a brand-new smartphone--or if you feel that you haven’t fully taken advantage of your current one--finding great apps is the last piece of the puzzle. The sheer number of apps available on the market can be daunting, but our package of essentials should be more than enough to get you started.

• Essential apps for BlackBerry

  By Megan Geuss and Armando Rodriguez | 29 June, 2011 23:44

  About to invest in a new smartphone, or wondering how to take full advantage of your current one? With practical and easy-to-use apps, you can get the most out of your phone. Our package of essentials should be more than enough to get you started.

• Stupid mobile tricks: 7 stories of smartphone horror

  By JR Raphael | 06 August, 2010 07:52

  For a device with "smart" in its name, a smartphone sure can help you do a lot of stupid things. Whether it's racking up thousands of dollars in international roaming fees or encouraging dozens of eye rolls with your misrouted voice dialing -- I'm looking at you, guy who calls Ben O'Lynn in accounting every time he means to call Bennigan's for lunch -- our modern-day mobile devices provide plenty of opportunities for tech-tinged embarrassment.

• Augmented reality: pure hype or next big thing in mobile?

  By Howard Wen | 27 January, 2010 06:40

  Augmented reality technology is getting a lot of attention these days -- particularly the use of AR with smartphones. The idea is that by using certain software, you can turn your iPhone, Droid or other smartphone into a virtual heads-up display. Aim your phone's camera at a shop, restaurant or landmark, and information about the place, such as hours of operation, reviews or directions, appears on the device's screen as graphics floating over the image of the place.

• Is Apple's iPhone App Store growing unwieldy?

  By Matt Peckham | 04 December, 2009 04:33

  Research firm IDC says Apple's App Store could stock in excess of a quarter million iPhone and iPod Touch applications, tripling current levels by the end of 2010. That's some number. Contrast with an estimated 10,000 Windows 7-compatible apps, over 700 (released as well as announced) Xbox 360 games, nearly 600 PS3 games, over 1,000 Wii games, over 600 DS games (from September 2008), and over 700 PSP games.

• Android, iPhone, BlackBerry: Which OS is best for app development?

  By Brad Reed | 04 December, 2009 06:00

  Let's say that you're a software developer who has created a hot new application for smartphones that you're certain is about to take the world by storm. Your work isn't quite done and here's the problem: not only will your brilliant and innovative application have to compete with several other applications that have similar ambitions, but it will have to compete with them over multiple platforms.