Facebook Application Development

HTC smartphone owners, take note. Your Ice Cream Sandwich update is coming this month says HTC on its Facebook page. The company previously released a laundry list detailing the ICS roll-out schedule but failed to meet many of its own target dates. But HTC is now stating all the devices on that list will get Android 4.0 by the end of this month.

If HTC follows through with this plan, Android 4.0 should hit devices like the Droid Incredible 2, Thunderbolt, Rhyme and Desire S. This is especially good news for the latter two, which HTC previously stated would have ICS by the end of July.

The fear and loathing of RIM has been well-documented by this point. At the end of June, the company released its Q1 2013 earnings, which were more than a little disappointing, with RIM reporting its first operating loss in eight years, that it would be cutting 5K+ employees and that the release of its new BlackBerry was again being delayed — this time until the beginning of 2013.

The acquisition rumors had already been swirling around the BlackBerry maker, and since then, they’ve intensified, with some big names kicking the company’s tires. This morning, Chris wrote about Samsung’s confirmation that (again) it was neither considering a buy-out nor a licensing agreement, even though it’s been reported numerous times that it, in fact, it’s been considering both. And, today, Bloomberg has reported that IBM has “made an informal approach” to acquire RIM’s enterprise services unit, which is really at the core of BlackBerry’s business.

You’re heading off to college. You have no idea that the next four years of fun will fly by, likely leaving you jobless and in debt. You’re unconcerned with nonsense like that — you’re ready to achieve your dreams! You’re ready to party! You’re ready to meet your mate in life!

But before you pack up the family van full of clothes, collapsible IKEA furniture and school supplies, there’s one thing you can’t forget to pack: your trusty smartphone. It’s the one thing that no college student — not a drama geek nor homecoming queen, not a stoner nor a virgin — can live without.

And as we all know, apps are the life blood of a smartphone (aside from electricity). All that said, these are the ones you’ll come to know, love, and use every day as your pursue your dreams of higher education.

Facebook is testing a “send to mobile” button in the hover card that appears when users mouse over app stories in News Feed. The feature, which initially launched as part of App Center, helps users discover mobile apps while browsing … Continue reading →

It’s still relatively early in mobile health, although there are glucose monitors that can be tacked onto iPhones, heart rate and sleep monitoring apps and of course, plenty of exercise and diet-tracking products.

Now that many basic product concepts have been laid out, it’s time for iteration. Enter Cardiio, a startup and graduate of the Rock Health incubator. Founded by a team of Ph.Ds out of MIT’s Media Lab, the company has built a $4.99 heart rate monitoring app that doesn’t require you to touch the iPhone’s camera. It actually doesn’t require any contact aside from holding the phone so that the front-facing camera captures your face. From that, Cardiio’s sensors can pick up minute changes in the color of your face that indicate heart rate.