7digital music store app headed to Windows Phone in January

Earlier of this year, 7digital brought its music store with about 13 million track-strong music to BlackBerry Playbook. And now, with the help from Microsoft, this company confirmed that it plans to release the music store app for Windows Phone 7.5 devices in January, 2012.

The app itself will seemingly be similar to those found on other platforms (Metro UI styling aside), including the ability to preview tracks before purchasing, and lower quality files that can be downloaded over 3G and later upgraded when a WiFi connection is available. In addition to that rather large music library, 7digital's store is also notable for offering many of its tracks in 24-bit FLAC format, with the standard offering being 320kbps MP3 files -- 7digital also claims to now have 3 million customers.

What's more, the company also announced today that it will begin expanding its North American operations in the next year, complete with some new offices and a new president of 7digital North America: Vickie Nauman, who came to 7digital from Sonos and has been serving as VP until now. The press release is after the break.

New Path 2.0 automatically chronicles, shares your life

Path has a new, attractive, and intuitive interface for sharing moments and viewing what your close friends are posting.


The year-old semi-social network app Path is getting a major update that adds scary but interesting automatic life-tracking features, as well the capability--finally--to share Path items with larger social networks.

A refresher: Path was designed as a mobile service that lets you share what's important in your life with only your closest friends. It's not a wide-open social network like Facebook, nor a broadcast platform like Twitter. It's designed to keep you in touch with your family and your close, intimate friends only.

Path now makes that even easier and, in my opinion, more enjoyable. The new user interface on Path is extremely engaging. Now every sharing activity hides under a single button. And Instead of being good at just sharing photos and videos, now Path is equally adept at sharing thoughts, places you're visiting, and when you're asleep or awake. (It also lets you share music, but it's less good at that, since it can only tell what you're playing in the phone's music player, not on Spotify or other services.)

The fascinating, scary, and fortunately optional new feature of Path is called "Automatic." The app knows where you are and can automatically update your Path stream with significant location changes, once it learns your routine. If you hang out in a new neighborhood, or you're driving and stop in a city you've never been to, Path will create a location update. When it spots you at a new airport, ditto.

You can also tell Path when you go to sleep and when you wake up, and it will create an update with that data, and additional clever story-telling. Sleep for two hours and it might say you, "need coffee." Snooze for ten and it could say, "Ready to attack the day!" Path has a novelist on staff, I'm told, to keep these little items fresh.

Path CEO Dave Morin told me that tweaking the algorithms that figure out when to update, and which update "story" to use, are under constant development. Siri, he says, is paving the way for mobile apps with personality and smarts. "AI is the new UI," he says.

Posting automatic updates about when you're stopping for grub or grabbing some shut-eye might seem like trivia or over-sharing, but Morin maintains that in Path's tight networks of real friends, it's not. This information is not irrelevant when it comes from your best buddy or your spouse.

But it certainly is TMI when it comes to sharing with friends of friends, or those long-lost Facebook contacts you last saw in grade school. So while Path will now let you share out the items you post intentionally to Facebook, Twitter, or Foursquare (Tumblr is coming; but Google+ still has no API), it won't share the Automatic updates.

Morin says that Path 2.0 will post "natively" to these other social platforms: It'll use link-shorteners for items it puts on Twitter, and will post natively to Facebook's photos, for example. So you could, theoretically, use Path for sharing everything, from your intimate updates to Path friends to your broadcasts out to the Twitterverse.

Path 2.0 is due out today on iOS and Android.

Source is
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19882_3-57333449-250/new-path-2.0-automatically-chronicles-shares-your-life/

Microsoft Lync coming to Android, BlackBerry, iOS and Windows Phone next month

Heads up, corporateers. Just like the company previously hinted, Microsoft Lync will soon make its smartphone debut. Currently, the enterprise instant messaging client (formerly known as Microsoft Office Communicator) has only been available to Mac and PC users, but all that is set to change next month when the software becomes available for Android, BlackBerry, iOS and Windows Phone. Curiously, Microsoft's New Zealand outfit had formerly stated that Symbian would be among the mix, although its mention is entirely absent from this announcement. Granted, the news seems rather informal at this point, and there's only so much you can cram into 140 characters.

Source is
http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/25/microsoft-lync-coming-to-android-blackberry-ios-and-windows-ph/

Mobile app content ratings system to debut next week

Next week brings the unveiling of a new rating system for mobile applications, akin to what the video game industry has used for the past 17 years.

The CTIA-The Wireless Association today said that it's taking the wraps off a new mobile application rating system early next week with with the help of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). That's the self-regulating body that reviews and assigns age appropriate ratings to video games.

The original initiative (PDF) behind a mobile apps rating system was launched by the CTIA near the end of March and calls for "voluntary self-certification of apps." The program seeks to have app-makers define the content within their creations based on a specific set of ratings and guidelines. The end result is a system the CTIA hopes will give consumers "more informed choices" when using applications on mobile devices.

On the docket to talk at the unveiling, which takes place on November 29, are U.S. Senators Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), and Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), alongside CTIA President and CEO Steve Largent and ESRB President Patricia Vance.

Mobile application stores already have numerous content controls in place, including ratings systems that can alert consumers to whatever content is contained within, however there is fragmentation:

•     For Apple that system includes four age, specific ratings as well as requiring that apps stick to its App Store Guidelines.
•     Google has a four-tier rating system as well, with developers assigning their own rating.
•     Research In Motion and Nokia have their own sets of content guidelines, but no specific age designation.
•     Microsoft combines both its own content guidelines, and carries over existing ESRB ratings if those titles have been ported from other platforms with those ratings in place.

Issues around these policy differences bubbled up earlier this year when several government officials asked Apple, Google, and RIM to remove applications that alerted users to police checkpoints. RIM complied, as did Apple eventually.

The CTIA is a Washington, D.C.-based trade group that represents carriers, manufacturers and other players in the wireless industry, including many of the companies with mobile application stores. Apple, Google, Research In Motion, Nokia, and Microsoft are listed as members, however there's no guarantee that those companies will comply with whatever plan the CTIA and ESRB lay out.

The ESRB was formed in the mid-1990s as a self-regulatory arm at a time when the video games industry faced regulation from the government. The group has publishers filling out a description of what types of content are in a game, as well as providing footage for a title's evaluation. In return the game gets a ratings classification. All of this comes with a fee, which varies depending on the cost of the game's development, and goes to support the ratings system's existence.

Source is
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57329195-94/mobile-app-content-ratings-system-to-debut-next-week/

Google Apps Gets Phone Support, Mobile Device Management

Google Apps for Business’s lack of phone support has been Microsoft’s sole completely verifiable edge over the suite, but that’s set to change: At the Google Atmosphere enterprise event Nov. 14, 2011, it was announced that all customers of the Google Apps for Business cloud productivity suite will now have access to 24/7 phone support, no matter the size of their deployment. It’s about time — literally.

Obviously, Google isn’t discontinuing its online service options, including the message boards and support portal. But from now on, paid Google Apps customers will have access to experts 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Intriguingly (and slightly unbelievably), Google is indicating in its blog entry that even before rolling out phone support, “80 (percent) of our business customers and 90 (percent) of our large business customers indicate that they’re more than satisfied with their support experience.” But with the new addition, Google is shooting for 95 percent.

There’s not much else to tell: Google said its support team gives feedback to the product and engineering teams, with past results including a better SLA and new feature additions. The phone support team will continue this trend, and Google expects this new communications channel will only boost those efforts.

Customer service has always been Google’s Achilles heel. But it seems like the search giant is getting its act together and trying to match Google Apps customer needs. My concern: Does Google’s enhancement to the core Google Apps support experience undercut partner offerings of the same?

Oh, and while I was writing this, another announcement came out of Google Atmosphere: Google announced that administrators now can manage groups of Google Android, Apple iOS and Windows Phone 7 devices right from within Google Apps.

As part of the new feature, users can set password requirements and roaming sync rules for mobile devices that sync with Google Apps right from the browser with no additional hardware or software needed, according to Google’s blog entry. And it comes with analytics, so administrators and Google Apps resellers can see how exactly users are taking advantage of the SaaS suite on the go.

Source is
http://www.talkincloud.com/google-apps-gets-phone-support-mobile-device-management/

10 Windows Phone 7.5 Apps That Showcase Mango’s Muscle

Apple iOS 5 and Google Android Gingerbread (as well as the company’s upcoming Ice Cream Sandwich) may grasp the lion’s share of the mobile operating system market share, but Microsoft is still a major player. Its Windows Phone 7 OS, the successor to the maligned Windows Mobile, uses Microsoft’s slick, tile-based “Metro” design (a vital component in Windows 8) as its core design element. Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.5 update, otherwise known as "Mango," builds on that very solid foundation by including an improved Web browser, Twitter and LinkedIn integration, a terrific interface for creating ad-hoc groups of friends, the option for Wi-Fi hotspot mode and much more.

More importantly for this piece, Mango brings increased app functionality in the form of improved Live Tiles (which now serve up even more app-specific data), App Connect (includes relevant apps that you already have on your phone in Bing results, plus recommends others), Intelligent Multitasking (you can, for example, pause a game to send a text), and Xbox Live multiplayer support. Mango, in short, is a big league update.

According to Microsoft, there are over 30,000 apps and games in the Windows Phone Marketplace that you can download to your handset. Many of these apps were written pre-Mango, so only a portion of them support the features that the update brings (Facebook, Spotify). Microsoft, however, is encouraging developers, both new and existing, to write their code with Windows Phone 7.5 in mind.

That said, the following slideshow highlights several apps the leverages Mango’s functionality. ASome of your favorite non-Windows Phone 7.5 Mango apps may not be included, because they haven’t been updated, and not all of the apps here are marquee apps, because there simply aren’t that many apps (yet) that specifically make use of the new Mango features. Still, if you’ve upgraded to Microsoft’s latest phone operating system, you’ll want to check out these apps as they showcase Mango’s muscle.

As always, feel free to chime in with your own favorite Mango apps in the comment section below.

Top 10 Useful Android Apps

The Android Market may not have as many apps as the iPhone App Store yet, but there are still more than enough to be overwhelmed, and it continues to grow at a breakneck pace. To help you sort through them all, here is our latest list of the 10 most useful Android apps.

Remember that this is a snapshot in time. The Android platform is developing so quickly that this list would look very different a month from now.

1. Advanced Task Killer
One of the realities of having a multitasking mobile OS is that you have to manage your apps so that they don't hurt performance or battery life. Advanced Task Killer (ATK) is our favourite on Android. It even comes with a widget that you can tap once to kill all open apps, and you can also set up ATK to kill all apps at periodic intervals. Some people will argue that task managers are irrelevant and unneeded in Android, but we still prefer to use ATK.

2. Dropbox
Dropbox is a great cloud service that automatically syncs a folder of files between multiple computers (Windows, Mac or Linux). This app extends Dropbox to Android, and interacts with other apps (such as Documents To Go) to open the files. It allows you to access PDFs, image files and business documents by simply dragging them to a folder on your computer, and then you immediately have access to them from your mobile phone, once you have this app installed.

3. Evernote
Once you get used to typing on a virtual keyboard (and it honestly took us over a year to do it), then these devices are great for note taking, and Evernote is a great note-taking app. It is similar to Dropbox in that it saves data locally, but syncs it across all of your machines and devices.

4. Taskos
There are plenty of to-do list apps to choose from on Android, but we prefer Taskos, because of the clean, easy, Android-friendly user experience. It also has a few extras that give it an advantage over apps. The biggest one is voice recognition, which lets you speak a task that the app turns into a to-do item (you might have to correct a word or two).

5. DroidAnalytics
For some reason, Google doesn't have an official app for Google Analytics (for either Android or iPhone). The best one we've found on Android is DroidAnalytics. Another good one is mAnalytics.

6. Documents To Go
The free version of Documents To Go offers a great little reader for Microsoft Word and Excel files. You can upgrade to the full version if you want to be able to create and edit files and add PowerPoint files to the mix. If you do want editing capability, we'd also recommend taking a look at QuickOffice.

7. Google Docs
If you mostly work with Google Docs (including uploading Microsoft Office files to your Google Docs repository), then the only app you'll really need is the Google Docs app. It's a nice mobile implementation of document management, although the one annoyance is that it always opens up files in a web browser, rather than within the app itself, which would be a little smoother.

8. TripIt
We dig TripIt. It is by far the best app we've found for keeping track of all of our travel itineraries. It runs on some great back-end systems. You simply forward your confirmation emails for your flights, hotels, rental cars and more to TripIt, and it automatically organises them into trips with all of your details and confirmation numbers. Or, if you use Gmail, you can even use a plug-in to automatically catch confirmation emails and turn them into TripIt trips.

9. Places
This is an awesome app for finding shops and services near your current location. From restaurants to medical facilities to taxis, this app is very accurate and takes advantage of the business information from Google Local. This app is better than the info you get from a GPS unit (or app), and better than any of the similar apps available on the iPhone. It's also integrated into Google Maps.

10. Astro File Manager
Another one of the great things about Android (if you're a geek or a tinkerer) is that you have lower-level access to the system itself. Astro is an app that lets you navigate the Android file system, which is mostly just interesting, but can also be handy once in a while.

Source is
http://www.zdnet.com.au/14-useful-android-apps-339322958.htm