TaskRabbit gets fruitful, mulitplies with new open API

Local-labor locating service TaskRabbit is opening up its tools and network to developers with a new API (application programming interface), the company announced on its blog Friday. This will allow third-party developers to integrate TaskRabbit features directly into their own apps and web sites.

With TaskRabbit, you can hire someone local (called a “Rabbit”) to run errands or do small bits of random work for you, including grocery shopping, data entry, and transporting all kinds … Continue Reading

Vonage’s iOS and Android apps undercut Skype’s international rates by 30%

VoIP startup Vonage has launched new applications for iOS and Android phones that feature free app-to-app calling and international calling rates that run 30 percent less than rival Skype, the company announced today.

Vonage has made itself known as the company you subscribe to for cheap unlimited calling for your home phone, but it makes good sense for the company to branch out with strong mobile apps as well. The company offered a few apps … Continue Reading

Urge app helps you keep impulse spending in check (exclusive)

While personal financial services like Mint.com offer a pretty dashboard with detailed information about how your money is spent, they does little to prevent the powerful emotional responses associated with impulse purchases. For instance, the knowledge that you’ve already spent $50 at Starbucks this week won’t prevent you from buying yet another cup of coffee under the right circumstances — (especially if you’re a drowsy journalists working on deadline).

New startup Urge plans to address … Continue Reading

The free ride is over: Facebook likely adding mobile ads “within weeks”

With Facebook’s financial situation firmly in the spotlight after its IPO filing, the company will finally address the problem of generating revenues from mobile users by introducing mobile ads in the next few weeks.

One of Facebook’s biggest risks Facebook listed in last week’s IPO filing was “mobile,” and the company said it generates no “meaningful revenue from the use of Facebook mobile products.” One solution would be to launch a Facebook-branded phone that would … Continue Reading

Facebook’s monster mobile numbers: Over 425M users across Android, iOS, other platforms

With Facebook’s just-released S-1 filing, we’re getting a better picture of how the company is competing in the mobile sphere. We already knew the company had more than 800 million registered members, and now we know it had more than 425 million monthly active mobile users in December 2011, a stunning accomplishment.

“Mobile is really coming into its own right now, and Facebook is going to play heavily in this space,” Altimeter Group analyst Rebecca … Continue Reading

Vimeo begins rolling out silky smooth redesign with huge videos

Prominent video sharing site Vimeo has begun rolling out a striking redesign that emphasizes clean aesthetics and larger videos that promote immersion, the company revealed today.

With the goal of providing a better video viewing experience no matter where you are, the redesign goes hand in hand with the recent launch of Android and Windows Phone apps and soon-to-launch iOS apps. No matter where you go, the service aims to “put video first,” a phrase … Continue Reading

App-store-for-all Appitalism adds 300K free Android apps (exclusive)

Appitalism, an app store tailored for all phone platforms, has made more than 300,000 free Android Market apps available for download through its service, the company revealed today.

The main purpose to use Appitalism versus traditional app stores, argues creator and CEO Simon Buckingham, is that people have all kinds of devices. By using Appitalism, you can search for every possible app, not matter if you own an iPhone, Android phone, iPad tablet, Android tablet, … Continue Reading

Heyzap unveils 12 partners for its social discovery network for mobile games

Heyzap, operator of a social mobile gaming network, has unveiled a list of 12 mobile gaming leaders that are partnering with it to promote mobile games.

The partners include Spacetime Studios, Nubee, PocketGems, Bionic Panda Games, Magma Mobile, GameDuell, Digital Chocolate, Animoca, Fluik, Get Set Games, the BBC, and Vostu. All of the companies have integrated Heyzap’s free software development kit (SDK) into their games so that users can share their own gaming activity and … Continue Reading

Grubwithus debuts iPhone app to book meals on-the-go

Grubwithus, the social-dining startup that helps people meet over meals in real-life, has launched an official iPhone app. The free mobile app is a promising step toward a future service that allows people to spontaneously book meals amongst themselves anytime, anywhere.

The service is already known for its “in-real-life” approach to social networking, bringing strangers together for prix fixe meals that are negotiated with partner restaurants beforehand. The social goals are very open-ended: people use … Continue Reading

Web consumption wanes as mobile app usage skyrockets

The notion of the post-PC era may have legs to stand on, and Facebook could be playing a key role in the shift. This according to new data that highlights increasing mobile application usage at the expense of web consumption.

Mobile apps continues to rise in popularity, with people now spending 94 minutes per day, on average, using mobile applications, according to analytics firm Flurry. Meanwhile, web consumption, on both desktop and mobile devices, has … Continue Reading

Look out Apple: Google’s Android Market surpasses 400K apps

Google’s Android Market has topped the 400,000 active application mark worldwide, reports app analytics firm Distimo.

The Android Market has grown at a rapid pace, even with fragmentation issues that continue to plague the OS. The Market surpassed the 200,000 and 300,000 app milestones in April and August last year. Distimo said new free and “freemium” applications are the key to the surging numbers in the Market, and now two-thirds of Android apps are free.… Continue Reading

Android owners love Facebook, ignore Google+

Facebook is the most popular Android application — excluding the Android Market app — among Android owners 18 and up. Roughly 80 percent of device owners ages 18-to-34 have used the Facebook app within the past 30 days, according to new research released by analytics firm Nielsen.

The company looked at data usage on the smartphones of thousands of consumers who opted in to an ongoing study.

It’s not all bad news for Google. The … Continue Reading

Flipboard launches sleek iPhone app with new ‘Cover Stories’ section

Popular iPad news reading application Flipboard has made the move to the iPhone and while it retains its smart and simple design, it also has added a new Cover Stories section to boot.

Flipboard’s application first gained traction on the iPad because it was a fantastically designed news reader that incorporated social media sites and most importantly, it was free. Over time, it has evolved to include magazine-quality advertising and the ability to include multiple … Continue Reading

Windows Phone Marketplace surpasses 40,000 apps

Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 platform now features more than 40,000 apps and games in its Marketplace, according to All About Windows Phone.

While Microsoft’s fledgling smartphone operating system is way behind in adoption compared to iOS and Android, there are signs that Windows Phone is poised to pick up a lot of steam in 2012, and its phones will feature less-expensive hardware options, 4G LTE and NFC capabilities. Several research firms, including Gartner and IDC, … Continue Reading

Apps for occupiers make organizing, communicating and sharing easier

The smartphone has been at the center of the Occupy Wall Street movement, just as it has played a pivotal role in the Arab Spring. And while the cameras in phones have recorded some of the movement’s most searing images, a growing number of apps are helping protest participants communicate and coordinate with one another.

Occupy Wall Street encampments across the U.S. have been dismantled by police actions, and as cold weather sets in, the … Continue Reading

Ditch those coupons: Square updates iOS and Android apps with loyalty features

Mobile payments startup Square has updated its popular iOS and Android apps to include loyalty tracking and discounts for regular customers and further hardware support for brick-and-mortar stores, the company revealed today.

“We’re enabling merchants to recognize regulars that use the Card Case application,” Megan Quinn, Square’s director of products, told VentureBeat. “With this update, there’s no need for coupons, punch cards or third-party apps.”

Square’s mobile payments service has seen incredible growth since its … Continue Reading

The mobile app is going the way of the CD-ROM: To the dustbin of history

“Forget being in love with the open web and all that touchy-feely stuff.”

Jay Sullivan is Mozilla’s vice president of products, and for a spokesperson of one of the open web’s dearest darlings, he’s on a tear.

“If you want to have a variety of mobile apps, it gets expensive… that’s a lot of apps to build,” he told VentureBeat in a recent interview.

Sullivan is making a strong case against building native apps and … Continue Reading

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Kindle Fire will launch with apps for Netflix, Facebook, Angry Birds and more

Amazon’s ridiculously hyped Kindle Fire tablet will launch next week with apps from Netflix, Facebook, Rovio, Electronic Arts, PopCap and more, with several thousand apps available in total, the company announced.

The Kindle Fire, like the Nook Color and some other Android-based tablets, doesn’t have access to the Android Marketplace, so it must provide a separate channel for apps. Thankfully, Amazon already has its own Amazon Appstore for Android, which has been accumulating apps since … Continue Reading

Spotify brings the jams to Windows Phone 7

Music streaming startup Spotify has launched an application for Windows Phone 7, a move that will help it maintain momentum across the web and mobile platforms.

Spotify joins fellow on-demand streaming services Rdio and Rhapsody, which also offer Windows Phone 7 apps. While Spotify has captured the most headlines, it has lagged in the mobile space by not fully fleshing out its iOS and Android apps. It also recently launched an app for a limited … Continue Reading

Hands on with Amazon’s Flow augmented reality shopping app for iPhone

Amazon has launched a new mobile app for the iPhone called Flow that smoothly combines augmented reality with e-commerce.

Flow uses the camera on the back of the iPhone to scan UPC barcodes and tell you pricing on Amazon. On top of that, the app will show you customer reviews, a full description and media related to the scanned product such as trailers and interviews. Once you look at the product page, you’re then given … Continue Reading