Software : Amazon brings Instant Video to iPhone and iPod touch

Amazon brings Instant Video to iPhone and iPod touch
Apple lets you give apps as gifts this Christmas
Google Maps races into No.1 free iPhone app spot
Apple rolls out red carpet for top App Store apps and games of 2012
Updated: Facebook launches 'faster than ever' native app for Android
Samsung exec wants to emulate Apple's strengths, uses rival's products
Google Play Magazines officially launches in the UK

Amazon brings Instant Video to iPhone and iPod touch

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Amazon has brought its Instant Video streaming app to the iPhone and iPod touch, joining the iPad.

The update means owners of the iPhone and iPod touch can now stream and download movies and TV shows to their device.

Videos you've bought through Instant Video using other devices will automatically show up on your iPhone or iPod touch once you log in. And if you're a member of Amazon Prime, you can stream anything from the Prime Instant Video library, which consists of over 30,000 videos, all free.

The app launched for iPad at the end of November.

Watchlist

The Watchlist feature is like a wishlist, keeping track of everything you've tagged to watch later. You can add to it as you go, straight from your Apple device, then open it up whenever you want and dive straight in.

Everything you've bought or rented from Amazon will be stored in a section called Your Video Library, which again, you can open up any time and delve into.

The app is a free download, and will work with the third generation iPod touch and later, iPhone 3GS and later, or any iPad. It's also optimised for the iPhone 5's 4-inch screen.

Via SlashGear

Apple lets you give apps as gifts this Christmas

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What do you get the person who has everything this Christmas? How about an app? Well good news, as Apple has just brought back the ability to gives apps as gifts.

Because if you are shopping for someone who has everything, surely there must be an app for that.

The feature was present in iOS 5, but Apple dropped it for iOS 6. But now it's reinstated, you can get started on your Christmas shopping over at the iTunes Store.

Appy Christmas

All you have to do is open the App Store on your iOS device and choose the paid app you'd like to give. Click the Share button in the top right, and a Gift icon will appear.

Tap it, and enter your Apple ID password. You may also have to confirm your payment method.

Enter your recipient's email address, and add a personal message, if you like. Select the date for them to receive the app, and a colour theme (like a digital version of wrapping paper), tap Buy Gift, and you're done.

Of course, if you don't know much about your recipient's taste in apps, you can always give them an iTunes voucher through Facebook Gifts.

Via 9to5Mac

Google Maps races into No.1 free iPhone app spot

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Google Maps is driving donuts around other free iPhone apps, skyrocketing to become the No. 1 most downloaded installation. It pushed aside Fun Run, YouTube and Interlocked to take the crown.

Maps' meteoric rise isn't likely to slow any time soon as users (including the iOS-owning among us here in the TechRadar office) can't contain their excitement over the app's new found availability.

Consumer reviews - of which there are over 8,000 - are generally effusive.

"Better than apple maps," one reviewer wrote. "I almost died in Australia, thank god this is out."

Find me now

Customer ratings (13,212 and growing) have generated a 4.5-star overall score for the app so far.

While some are commenting that Apple's Maps wasn't so bad, the general consensus is that Google's take is much better and much preferred.

TechRadar's early take comparing the two found that Google rules the cartographic roost. Turn-by-turn navigation is a top feature of both apps, but when it comes to accuracy, Google wins out.

Apple Maps isn't horrible - in tracking down a specific address, iOS 6's version stacks up. But when it comes to looking up business names, well, you're better off not using it at all.

Not out of the woods

Though most are heralding the arrival of Google Maps to devices like the iPhone 5, people in Australia aren't having luck with either it or Apple Maps.

A report earlier this week had police in Victoria urging people to steer clear of iOS' navigation tool following multiple instances of motorists becoming stranded in a national park. The park, it turns out, wasn't the intended destination - a town of 30,000 was.

Now, police in another part of Aussieland are saying that issues with Google Maps can lead users down a potentially dangerous one-way road, one that's especially perilous for trucks, buses and tourists as it's not intended for heavy traffic.

It's unclear if the issue exists with an older version of Google Maps or the recent release for iOS, but the warning serves as a reminder that residents on every continent might want to bust out a paper map once in awhile.

Apple rolls out red carpet for top App Store apps and games of 2012

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Apple revealed its lists of the top-selling apps and games of 2012 Thursday, dividing the installations into top free and paid iPhone and iPad apps.

On the iPhone side, Google's YouTube was the most popular free app of 2012.

Given YouTube's popularity, maybe Apple shouldn't have dropped it from iOS 6?

Instagram and Zynga's Draw Something came in second and third place in free iPhone apps, respectively, while Angry Birds Space, WhatsApp Messenger and Draw Something (the ad-free version) were the top three paid iPhone apps of the year.

Top iPad apps

Skype took top honors in the category of free iPad apps, with Imangi's Temple Run and the Facebook app earning second and third place.

On the paid iPad side of things, Rovio scored again, with Angry Birds Space HD taking the top spot.

Disney's Where's My Water? and Apple's own Pages app followed up as the second and third most popular paid iPad apps of the year.

That's not all, folks

In addition to revealing the most downloaded apps of the year, Apple revealed its selections for the best App Store apps and games of the year on iPhone and iPad.

Apple's iPhone app of the year was J.J. Abrams' Action Movie FX, which lets users add explosions and other "Hollywood FX" to videos.

Apple's favorite iPhone game was Rayman Jungle Run, a spin-off of Ubisoft's popular Rayman Origins.

The mystery game The Room was Apple's favorite 2012 iPad game, while creativity app Paper won for non-game iPad apps.

Clicking on the link below will take you directly to iTunes, where you can check out the rest of Apple's "best of" categories, including "Fun Runners," "Photo and Video Magic," "Casual Games" and more.

Though 2013 hasn't started yet, we have a feeling there's already a strong contender for next year's list.

Updated: Facebook launches 'faster than ever' native app for Android

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Facebook users with an Android phone can now download a new app for their mobile platform from Google Play.

The social network rolled out Android 2.0, a native app that, according to Facebook, improves on speed and performance.

Facebook is ditching its hybrid native and HTML5 webview experiment in favor of self-made code,to help with faster loading times, new user interfaces, disk cache and more.

The native code refresh isn't all encompassing: an FB post on 2.0 noted that "several" of Facebook for Android's core features were rebuilt, so the functions most everyone uses should see vast improvements.

Hallelujah

In addition to zippier uploads, quicker comments and lighting-fast liking, Facebook's coders built out an automatically updated story banner to "bubble up" the newest stories without refreshing.

The other most specific improvement is the ability to tap to open a photo "so you can quickly like and comment."

Android 2.0 follows August's upgraded iOS app.

The Facebook world got faster with version 5.0 for iOS, quelling many of the complaints that plagued the app's buggy past. Android users should experience the same form of relief.

What's really exciting about the new app is what it means moving forward. Facebook claimed that now that the groundwork of a native code is in place, the app stands to become even better moving forward.

Samsung exec wants to emulate Apple's strengths, uses rival's products

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Samsung and Apple may not be the best of friends, but that doesn't mean employees from either company don't see the merit in their rival's tech.

Despite being the top phone manufacturer during the third quarter of 2012, at least one of Samsung's executives believes there's more to be learned from Apple's practices.

In an interview with MIT Technology Review, Samsung's Chief Strategy Officer Young Sohn talked about how envious he was of Apple's iCloud, even going so far as to admit he uses Apple devices outside the office.

What's more, Sohn believes a critical point in Samsung's future relies on creating an open ecosystem like iCloud if the company hopes to have continued success.

It's better on the cloud

Samsung has just built two new research and development facilities in Silicon Valley, and Sohn revealed what he hoped those new branches would accomplish.

"We make really great devices," Sohn said. "But actually if you think of our future, it's in answering the question of how we put it all together and how we manage the data that's coming out of these devices and encourage the innovation ecosystem for our platforms."

Sohn added that Samsung would be looking into critical growth areas like cloud and mobile ecosystem technologies.

All of this would be to better emulate the strengths of Apple, which Sohn believes lie in the unified ecosystem iCloud provides.

"If you look at the strengths of Apple, in a way it's not the product per se. It's that consumers like their ecosystem such as iCloud," Sohn stated.

"[The Samsung Galaxy Nexus] is a better phone, in my view. It's a better display. It's faster. But eventually the connected ecosystem is really critical."

Unlike Apple, Samsung's devices are very single-minded according to Sohn, and that's an area he hopes to address soon.

"[If] you think about our experiences, it's device-centric," Sohn related. "It's experienced by itself. It's not experienced in a connected way. So we think we can provide a lot more things than what we are doing today with an open ecosystem with our partners."

Samsung is rumored to introduce a radical brand makeover at CES 2013, and indicated that consumers should expect "something new" at the convention.

Whether that includes some of the ideas Sohn presented in his interview remains to be seen, but at least there are only a few more weeks until we find out just what Samsung has in store for the future.

Google Play Magazines officially launches in the UK

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Android users in the UK can now buy magazines from the Google Play Store.

Google Play Magazines can be downloaded from the Play Store as a standalone app and is Android's answer to Apple's industry-changing Newsstand store.

The app, which was announced and launched in the States this summer, offers 30-day trials to titles like Total Film, Wired, GQ, Classic Rock, Future Music, Vogue and Esquire.

At the end of the 30-day subscription, the Google Play store will begin charging unless users cancel prior to the end of the trial. Single issues, back issues and yearly subscriptions are available for download.

Christmas bonus

Google will be hoping that all of those lucky Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 recipients this Christmas will launch themselves into digital magazine subscriptions from the app.

The selection of titles at launch is certainly adequate, but this should also inspire publishers who've enjoyed success on the iPad to offer their titles through Google's portal also.

Yahuui Blog

Friday, December 14, 2012