Mobile software

Wickr turns iOS message self-destruct up to 11

Wickr (download) gained new secure sending and subsequent self-destructing powers in a big update to the encryption and security app today, perhaps not coincidentally Data Privacy Day.

There are four new features in the app. You can now send and subsequently self-destruct images and PDFs from Google Drive, Dropbox, and Box to other Wickr users, which expands the limits of the original send-and-self-destruct feature. You can also send up to three 30-second videos, up to 5 MB, per message. Audio messages, which function like voice mails, have been extended to 30 seconds long, as well.

Wickr can now connect to … Read more

T-Mobile now supports StarStar Me, calls out Google Voice

It must be tough for carriers to make an extra dime these days with upstart apps offering customers for free what network operators want to charge for. With today's announcement that T-Mobile now supports the StarStar Me app, it's clear that TMO feels the heat. … Read more

Nokia to launch flagship smartphone on Verizon this year -- report

Nokia is readying a flagship smartphone for Verizon Wireless, a new report claims.

Verizon is planning to carry the Lumia handset later this year, The Verge is reporting today, citing people who claim to have knowledge of the company's plans. That device, codenamed Laser, will "be a variant" of Nokia's Lumia 920, but it's not clear what sort of features the handset will have.

According to The Verge, Nokia's device will be put on the same playing field as Verizon's other flagship devices, including the iPhone.

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop hinted at a … Read more

Mix up your workout with Obstacles XRT for iOS

Top reasons you skipped your workout today:

It was too dark or cold outside to run. Your hotel didn't have a fitness center. You're sick to death of the treadmill. You let that pricey gym membership expire.

Here's an easy fix for these and other excuses: Obstacles XRT, which bills itself as "extreme reality training" -- a fancy way of saying it's a fitness app. It normally sells for $4.99, but from now through January 31, you can grab it for $1.99.

Two bucks very well spent, in my humble opinion. Obstacles … Read more

Lookout locks down your cam, lock screen

If somebody tries and fails to access your phone three times, Android phones running today's update to Lookout Mobile Security (download) will be able to take a photo of the culprit.

Two new features today bolster the app's already robust security options. The Lock Cam feature -- which Lookout said in a blog post announcing the changes will be rolled out over the next week to free users -- takes a photo using your phone's front-facing camera, records the location data based on your phone's GPS, and then sends the package to your e-mail account.

If … Read more

GeeksPhone reveals Firefox OS phones for developers

A small Spanish startup called GeeksPhone has started selling phones that let developers get a taste of Mozilla's new Firefox OS.

GeeksPhone announced two 3G phones for the browser-based operating system, the lower-end Keon and higher-end Peak. The phones, while geared for programmers rather than mainstream customers, make Mozilla's open-source mobile OS a lot more real, since programmers will be able to develop apps as well as to debug and advance the underlying operating system.

Firefox OS is Mozilla's ambitious attempt to build an operating system that brings more openness to the walled gardens of Apple's … Read more

Opera to sing WebKit's tune on mobile -- report

The Opera Browser will be rebuilding its mobile browsers using WebKit and a new interface that nearly entirely ditches the traditional browser buttons called Opera Ice, according to a leaked video acquired by Pocket-Lint.com.

Ice is not Opera's first dalliance with WebKit, as its current iOS offerings are also built with the WebKit engine. However, the current iOS Opera runs its server-side compression with Opera's Presto engine. It's not clear that that will continue with Ice, which apparently will debut at Mobile World Congress in February.

The video shows off Opera Ice, a browser that looks … Read more

RIM launches final BlackBerry 10 'Portathon' event

Research In Motion will hold its apparently final BlackBerry 10 "Portathon" this weekend.

Running from 9 a.m. PT today to 8:59 p.m. PT tomorrow, the event will allow developers to port their applications available on other mobile platforms to BlackBerry 10. Each approved app will net the developers $100, up to a maximum of 20 applications. To sweeten the pot even more, RIM will enter all developers who submit five or more apps into a drawing for a free BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device.

RIM has been running Portathon events for the last several weeks … Read more

Shaq Versus Evil Mutant Zombies

Are you tired of the whole zombie craze yet? What if those zombies happen to be mutants in a post-apocalyptic wasteland? What if the hero protagonist in all this mess was, oh, I don't know, 7'1'', 325-lb former NBA Superstar Shaquille O'Neal?

Yes, someone on this earth not only conceived of this, but managed to produce it, even going so far as getting the man of steel himself to lend his voice.

ShaqDown (Android, iOS) is One Spear Entertainment's first outing. Their business model apparently consists of building mobile games around celebrities, and we'll see … Read more