At least once a day, I’ll be sitting in front of my PC, with its nice big monitor and fast broadband connection, but I’ll pull out my smartphone for a quick hit of information like movie times or a weather update. For some uses, a simple smartphone app is just more efficient than using your desktop’s software. If the folks behind Pokki have their way, though, I’ll soon be able to leave my Droid in my pocket because I’ll have smartphone-style apps on my desktop.

Pokki , which launches today, is a little bit of everything. Individual apps — there are eight at launch — are called Pokkies. But Pokki is also a platform for development of more apps and an app store to distribute those creations. The company behind Pokki, Sweet Labs, hopes to encourage developers to use smartphone app programming tools — HTML5 and JavaScript — to build simple, fast desktop apps.

The focus of Pokki’s unveiling is the release of a software development kit to help app creators on their way. But Sweet Labs is priming the pump with a clutch of free offerings for Windows 7 machines, including Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, eBay, RSS and Groupon apps.

I got a chance to try out the initial Pokkies and I’m impressed with the idea, if not always with the execution. To me, the name Pokki had an unfortunate connotation of slow, but the apps themselves are anything but poky. I downloaded all eight apps and each one (after the initial download of the Pokki platform) took fewer than five seconds to download and install. That’s remarkably fast.

By default, Pokkies show up in a special area of your toolbar.

Once they’re on your system, some Pokkies start virtually instantly. Others take a second or two as they log into a network like Facebook or Living Social. Pokkies share a number of characteristics with their smartphone cousins. Many of the Pokkies give you real-time updates of the number of new messages or feeds in an account in numbers superimposed near their icons.

And like smartphone apps, Pokkies are designed to do a few things efficiently, rather than trying to offer every possible service. In the Living Social app, for instance, you can see a paragraph describing a deal on a climbing camp for kids, but if you want more information, the Pokki opens up the appropriate page on Living Social’s site in your browser.

Here’s the Facebook Pokki in its original size. You can’t expand it. I encountered a few annoyances with the initial Pokkies, though. They all launch in relatively small windows — the average is probably about 4 inches by 6 inches — and you can’t expand those windows. And once you click off to any other window — if, for instance, you follow a link in your Twitter stream — the Pokki disappears. When I relaunched the apps, they generally picked up right where I had left off, but it still required an annoying extra click and frustrated my habit of switching between programs with Alt-Tab.

And there are clearly some uses for which Pokkies make lots of sense and some for which they don’t. The Pokkies for coupon sites Living Social and Groupon did a nice job of presenting a constrained set of what can be an overwhelming number of options. But I can’t see any reason that I would use the Gmail Pokki on my desktop. It’s well designed to mirror Gmail’s look, but it doesn’t have all of that service’s latest features, like Priority Inbox and the People Widget , which automatically provides information about the person who sent you an email or who are cc’d on it. And given how quickly and relentlessly Gmail evolves, it’s unreasonable to expect that any third-party app will be able to keep up. I like most of Gmail’s changes, so I’ll always prefer to access it in its full glory through a browser.

But that’s okay. The point of Pokki’s launch isn’t really these eight apps. It’s to encourage a new kind of software for the desktop. I’m not a developer, but I would think that making the development process on desktops closer to the one for smartphones — and presumably making it easier to port applications from one device to another — might capture the attention of some of the very smart coders who now write exclusively for mobile operating systems. And bringing some energy back into sofware development for PCs would be a very good thing indeed.

As mobile phones become more complex, cell phone accessories appear, and provides the user an opportunity to add additional phone features. The market is flooded with purchase of accessories and intelligence can easily achieve great variety. Mobile phone accessories are necessary, make the phone work in an efficient way and many people like their cell phone accessories, to facilitate the process of communication. The most common accessories: antennas, panels, hands-free, keyboard, case and charger. Are in great demand in the market, the Internet is the most reliable place to find a lower price of mobile phone accessories.

New mobile phone accessories, are very popular the younger generation is color-coded cell phone protection cases. These can be found in various colors, various patterns, and by the designer. The latest speculation and young people are not mobile, but annex. Mobile phone accessories on the market the new rich. Mobile phone users continue to seek cell phone charms , to strengthen their existing mobile phones and help meet their daily needs. Suitcase is a new mobile phone accessories of other types. Many human skin or leather, including the very popular magnetic unit. Other new mobile phone accessories, including car charger. Traditional car charger for sale, but the new charger has an advantage. New car charger, they have extra power supply network to facilitate separation. You can use a portable DV D player, cell phone chargers, etc. These additional GPS device or an outlet. This is especially useful if you have a long daily commute.

Many people like to add a personal touch to their phone. There are numerous panels and switch them style is quick and easy. cell phone covers cell phone accessories, to make an attractive color, some of which are made of thick fibers within the last year they can not erase the paint. Mobile phone accessories USB cable, user transfer from a PC to the phone’s data. For entrepreneurs, who are they need regular ideal for data transfer. In addition, it is the best battery to buy the best quality to ensure long lasting service. In some cases, the backup battery can be of great help.

Today’s society has developed rapidly in the world of technology. In fact, most families no longer have a fixed telephone. Instead, each family member has a cell phone. The demand for mobile phones has created new demand for mobile phone accessories. Research company needs and aspirations of the people greeting accessories, and took out a lot. Demand continues, and thus continue to release new mobile phone accessories.

Whether you’re a longtime iPhone user or the proud owner of a new iPhone 4, you know that great apps are the key to taking full advantage of your handset. Our package of essentials should be more than enough to get you started.

In this article we’ve assembled the top software for iPhones; if you have a different mobile OS, be sure to see our picks for Android , BlackBerry , or Windows Phone 7 .

You can easily find these apps by searching in the App Store. You’ll need to have an account there, and the apps may cost a dollar or two. Before you buy, read the minimum requirements for each app to confirm that it will run on your phone. Remember that downloading apps counts against your monthly data-usage limit. And for the latest reviews, be sure to visit the iPhone AppGuide .

Beluga The easy-to-use Beluga group text service allows friends to join conversations, coordinate activities, and update their locations on a map, making this app a perfect tool for organizing group gatherings in new places.

Imo Have tons of friends? Do they all use different instant messaging services? No problem: Imo eliminates the hassle by allowing you to sign in to the most popular instant messengers all at the same time.

Loopt Users check in at locations, and can post questions such as “How much are museum tickets?” Other users in the know then answer in real time. Currently Loopt covers only big cities.

Bump Pass information easily from one smartphone to another with Bump. When two devices both running the app are physically “bumped” together, the selected content transfers over, even if one is an iPhone and the other is an Android-based handset.

Dropbox If you use Dropbox on your desktop PC, you already know that it’s the easiest way to sync files across multiple systems. With Dropbox for your mobile device, you can quickly move files from your PC to your phone without having to plug your handset into the computer.

Find My iPhone Apple recently made this useful app free for all iPhone/iPod/iPad users. The easiest way to track down your lost or stolen handset, Find My iPhone shows the device’s approximate location on a map.

Springpad With Springpad you can create to-do lists, and set reminders for yourself to increase your productivity. In addition, you can “bookmark” books, movies, or other items that have yet to be released so that you can remember to buy them later.

Flud The people behind Flud say that their app reflects “the sexy news ecosystem.” Flipping through feeds is simple and aesthetically pleasing, and sharing favorite stories with pals on Facebook or Twitter is a breeze.

Pulse One of the best-looking RSS readers out there, Pulse even imports Google Reader feeds so you don’t have to build the mobile reader from scratch. You can separate feeds by category, and post interesting stories to Facebook or Twitter from the app.

Taptu Much like Flud, Taptu is an aggregated newsreader that looks great and is easy to use. You can pick and choose which news items to read, as well as mark interesting stories for later. The app works well even in areas with bad reception, so you can almost always get to your news.

AccuWeather Unlike the Weather Channel app, AccuWeather lets you manually refresh the screen to update weather data on demand. The app also boasts a GPS feature that permits you to check the forecast for a spot on the map that you don’t have a name for–very practical if you are out traveling or camping.

MyRadar Pro This gorgeous app for map nerds shows color-coded weather patterns in 10-minute intervals, so you can see how quickly systems are moving. It’s especially useful for outdoor types and budding meteorologists.

WeatherBug Elite Look to this app for local meteorological stats such as temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, and wind speed. It also provides radar maps, pollen conditions, and forecast videos.

Weather Channel The most trusted name in weather updates has an easy-to-use app. Weather news refreshes every time you move between screens, and weather tips and trivia can help you pass the time if you happen to be caught in a storm.

Hipmunk You can find plane tickets from your iPhone with this neat price-aggregation app, which helps you compare prices from dozens of airlines. Graphical flight timelines help you assess not only the prices but also inconvenient times and stops.

Poynt If you’re exploring a new town and you want to know what establishments are close to your location, Poynt is the perfect app for you. It can find nearby businesses, restaurants, gas stations, and even people and events. The app will provide basic weather info about your current location, as well.

Urbanspoon If you’re visiting an unfamiliar city and don’t know where to eat, give Urbanspoon’s slot machine a whirl: It’ll choose a place for you. And if you already know where you want to dine out, you can quickly reserve a table through the app and obtain directions to the restaurant.

Waze Hate sitting around in traffic? Turn to Waze for help. You can easily see where traffic is at a standstill, and the app can reroute you to bypass the mess if possible. Maps update in real time, so you’ll be able to see traffic jams right as they begin to form. The app does use your phone’s GPS, so keep an eye on the battery level to make sure it doesn’t run dry.

Instagram Half photo editor, half social network, Instagram allows you to add artsy filters–for instance, a hazy atmosphere or a green tint–to your pics. You can also check the Instagram feed and see what photos your friends have been snapping lately.

Thumba Edit photos using effects, filters, adjustments, and borders. This app has more options than you’ll likely ever use, so doctoring photos becomes as much of an art as taking them.

Viddy Our sister publication Macworld calls Viddy the “Instagram for video” because it lets you add your own filters and effects to video that you shoot on your iPhone. The ability to connect with other Viddy users and watch their creations makes this the best mobile video-editing app, period.

Hulu Plus Netflix may be the king of movies, but Hulu rules when it comes to current TV shows. With Hulu Plus, you can rewatch entire seasons of shows such as Arrested Development and The Simpsons (a decade’s worth, no less) wherever you roam.

Netflix Just grab some popcorn and settle in: Now you can watch David Bowie’s Labyrinth (or other guilty pleasures) on the bus, in the airport, or anywhere, over and over again!

Pandora When it comes to Internet radio, Pandora is the leader. The app helps you discover new music by creating radio stations based on your favorite artists or songs, and it homes in on your tastes by learning from the thumbs-ups and thumbs-downs that you assign to the songs it selects.

Shazam When you hear a song and you just have to know who the artist is, Shazam saves the day. It will “listen” to the song for a minute and then deliver surprisingly accurate results–it works even if your musical tastes are a little eccentric.

WatchESPN Devoted sports fans never want to miss a game, of course, but sometimes life simply gets in the way. No longer: Check with your TV provider to see if you can access ESPN’s live video-streaming app, and let the games begin.

Words With Friends Move over, Scrabble: Words With Friends is the new word-game champion. In the game, you build words for points, and challenge your friends to see who has the biggest vocabulary.

June 29, 2011

Forget talking or even texting on the phone while driving. New research shows that college students use mobile applications while driving, even though they are aware of how dangerous it can be.

According to UAB News , a University of Alabama at Birmingham survey showed that 10 percent of students admitted that they use mobile apps “often”, “almost always” or “always” while driving. Thirty five percent of college students “sometimes” use mobile phone applications while driving. The findings are based on a survey of 93 UAB students who own a smartphone and use it to access Internet-based applications at least four times a week. Though the participants are not a random sample, David Schwebel, Ph.D., director of the UAB Youth Safety Lab, said the results are concerning.

“Driving a car is an incredibly complex task for humans to complete safely… A driver using his or her smartphone is clearly distracted, both visually and cognitively, and really should not be driving,” said Schwebel.

Reuters reported that these students were fully aware of how dangerous mobile app use can be when behind the wheel; yet, the consequences did not deter their use.

“What really stood out was the number of participants who verbally reported understanding that using mobile Internet while driving was dangerous, but continued to do it,” said Lauren McCartney, a UAB student who worked on the study.

Interestingly, Schwebel noted that students usually do not use the apps for urgent business or necessity (for example, Google Maps for directions). Instead, it is purely for socializing and entertainment. McCartney added that some students want to stay up-to-date, so they check their mobile apps on an hourly basis.

However, even more astonishing was that even after experiencing a crash while using a mobile app behind the wheel, students still continued to do use them. Ten of the students surveyed reported that they had crashes directly related to distracted driving in the past five years. Three students had two accidents. And the problem is only expected to get worse. According to DailyFinance , research has shown that 74.6 million people in the U.S. owned a smartphone during the three months ending in April 2011, which is up 13 percent from the three-month period ending January 2011.

“…Something needs to be done because in psychological terms, Internet use involves substantial cognitive and visual distraction that exceeds talking or texting, making it much more dangerous,” said McCartney to UAB News.

Researchers pointed out that 33 states currently ban text messaging while driving, but no state specifically bans the use of Internet-based mobile phone applications.

Compiled by Heidi M. Agustin

“Chatting, texts, now apps distract young drivers,” reuters.com, June 28, 2011, Richard Chang

“Distracting Young Drivers? There Are Lots of Apps for That,” dailyfinance.com, June 28, 2011, Douglas McIntyre

“More than one-third of college students drive while using mobile apps,” uab.edu, June 24, 2011, Kevin Storr

A new Android application offers hope to two very separate demographics: political dissidents and party animals. Through a clever photoanonymizer, the open-source ObscuraCam automatically blurs the identities of subjects in group photos with a variety of different filters and strips all identifying metadata. Best of all, it is designed to fully integrate with all major Android photo-sending and social media apps.

ObscuraCam is a part of the SecureSmartCam joint project from the Guardian Project , a mobile phone privacy advocacy group, and human rights NGO WITNESS . The current phase of the application, according to a Guardian Project representative, was largely funded by Google.

Users of the application will be able to easily blur the individual faces of people in their group photographs. The software handles both regular pixel-based blurring and several “fun” filters, including giant Groucho Marx glasses. After altering a picture, the app automatically strips all EXIF metadata such as GPS location and camera model and removes the timestamp.

ObscuraCam takes advantage of Android’s built-in Face Detection library and algorithm to automatically find faces for obscuring.

According to the Guardian Project, although the app might be fun, the project is about raising awareness about privacy concerns :

While the application may be handy for protesters who want to make sure the contents of their signs and the numbers of their crowds reach Facebook and Twitter, it also appeals to social media’s natural consistency: Partygoers doing crazy things.

College students, among others, will be happy to see an application that lets them put their wild weekends on social media without unwanted blowback from friends and employees.

Future software releases will also include video-blurirng capabilities along with new functionality designed to focus on photo subjects’ “informed consent.” A video-blurring update is expected in several weeks.

Nathan Freitas of the Guardian Project also notes that although there are already several face blurring or masking apps on the market, none are focused on the specific concerns faced by human rights groups, activists, and journalists.

Although it is a fun application, concerns exist. Even with individual faces being blurred, members of a social circle will still be able to figure out who else is in a picture. Intelligence services trying to examine social media evidence will still be able to make informed guesses about who is in a picture through examining an individual’s social networks. As the Guardian Project has explicitly stated, the app is designed more to raise awareness of photo privacy concerns than anything else.

But, in the meantime, an app that can blur the faces of the folks doing kegstands and put Groucho Marx glasses on friends and family is still a rather good thing.

[ Top Image: The Guardian Project ]

For more stories like this, follow @fastcompany on Twitter. Email Neal Ungerleider, the author of this article, here .

[ Homepage Image: Flickr user Stinkie Pinkie ]

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Today, 2:57 PM by Eric M. Zeman

Microsoft today announced another new feature for its upcoming Windows Phone 7 Mango update. With Mango, Microsoft will include more on-board ringtones, but will also allow users to create their own. According to Microsoft, it will support sound files that are less than 39 seconds in length, smaller than 1MB, and are DRM-free MP3s/WMAs. Ringtones can be added via the desktop Zune client, noted Microsoft, and it said it expects a large number of ringtone creation apps to debut in the Marketplace later this fall when Mango launches. More details will become available closer to Mango’s availability.

more info at Windows Phone Blog »

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Looking for a new, entrepreneurial way to make money? ResellCells.com provides readers the knowledge and tools to do so through buying and selling cell phones.

(PRWEB) June 22, 2011

ResellCells.com, launched in June 2011, is not another website looking to buy used cell phones. Instead, ResellCells is looking to teach readers an entrepreneurial way to make money through buying and selling cell phones.

Small businesses, online and off, as well as many entrepreneurial and tech-savy individuals are advertising more than ever to buy old, seemingly obsolete, and even broken cell phones.

The following questions arise:

What do they know and how do they know it?

How are they benefitting and monetizing with the most common and frequently used consumer electronic, the cell phone?

Consider this. The iPhone 4 sells in stores for $199. Why does it sell on eBay new for over $500? The same device when broken, whether due to water damage or a cracked screen, still sells on eBay for prices in the $300 range. This means a smartphone can be bought in stores, thrown on the ground, dropped in a sink full of water, and still sell for more than the cost of the device.

By no means is the iPhone the only valuable cellular device either. In fact, cell phones released years ago which seem ancient today still reel in high dollar amounts. Consider the Droid. Not the Droid 2, X, Incredible, nor the X2 or the Incredible 2 — the original Droid. Years later, it’s still selling for over $100!

ResellCells even provides readers with a spreadsheet of the market values of over 200 of the newest smartphones! That is, approximately what the devices are able to be sold for through third-party means such as Craigslist and eBay. To reflect changing values and new devices being released, the spreadsheet is

Now consider this. Approximately how many people own a cell phone? Compare this to the number of people who buy and sell cell phones . These numbers undoubtedly prove to be vastly different. This means a huge market share is available. ResellCells teaches readers how to take advantage and maximize the potential of this knowledge.

What happens when a friend, family member, co-worker, or friend’s friend breaks their phone, upgrades, or simply gets bored of their device? It gets thrown in the trash, drawer, or is used as a paperweight. If even $50 of profit could be obtained every time someone within an individual’s network broke their phone or upgraded, the potential exists to make easy income . Throw social media in to the mix and all of a sudden profits continue to escalate.

Want to learn more? Visit ResellCells.com to watch a five minute, in-depth video with hands-on knowledge of how to start making money. Plus, ResellCells e-Book exceeding 15,000 words (50 pages!) provides readers with everything needed to start buying selling cell phones.

So, ready to begin making money? All that is needed to start is a willingness to learn.

Visit today.

For the original version on PRWeb visit:

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