SoundHound has updated the Android version of their popular music recognition app. The biggest change in this update is a new UI for Android tablet users. Although the previous UI was somewhat optimized for tablets, it still looked like the smartphone app was being stretched across the screen in landscape mode.

In the updated version, the app will now show you large thumbnail for the tracks on the side, instead of a simple, stretched out list in the previous version. Read more »

The Gmail app for iOS has received another update, which brings it to v2.1. One of the key new features in this update is that you can now move between mails simply by swiping horizontally on the screen. This functionality has existed in the Android version of the apps for a while now but only now has it made an appearance on iOS. The feature is only available on the iPhone, as on the iPad you can simply tap on the mail list on the side.

Another change in 2.1 is that you can now mark multiple mails in the inbox and then take a bulk action on them, including archive, delete or more from the action bar. This feature is available on the iPhone as well as the iPad. Read more »

Google Translate is a great tool for bridging the gap between languages – the Android app was pretty awesome but it let you down when you needed it most, in a foreign country with no data connection. That’s no longer an issue, as the latest version of Translate for Android (requires 2.3 and above) can download offline language packs for 50 languages.

All the popular languages are available and even less common languages are included, like Haitian Creole, Maltese and Esperanto. Read more »

Flipboard has updated the iOS version of their app, just when the service reached 50 million users. The new update brings with it some minor UI changes, but the major new feature is the ability to create and share custom magazines.

The new custom magazine feature lets you create a magazine of all your favorite articles on Flipboard. You can create a magazine of, say, a certain type of articles and then add all the related favorite articles of yours in it. Read more »

Nokia Transit is a great app for those relying on public transportation, but so far it was exclusive to Lumia phones. Well, not for long – a beta version of the app can be installed on the full touch Nokia Asha 3xx phones.

In case you’re unfamiliar with Transit, here’s what it does – it finds nearby stations (or you can search for stations by address), tells you about departure times and can plan a route to your destination, even across several lines and modes of transportation. There are detailed instructions for each route and favorite routes can be saved for offline usage. Read more »

Google has updated the mobile app for Android and iOS and introduced some new UI changes along with added features. One of the first major updates is the introduction of new image filters. Yes, Google+ now joins the ranks of countless social networking apps that let you add gaudy filters to your images before posting them.

The image filter option is thanks to the recent acquisition of photo editing application Snapseed. Although the editing options in the Google+ aren’t as comprehensive as in the Snapseed app there are a ton of filters for you to choose from. Interestingly, the photo filters are only available in the iOS version of the Google+ app. Read more »

Back in February, Facebook launched free calling through its Messenger for iOS app in the US and Canada.

Today, the company is expanding its VOIP service to the United Kingdom, as well. Read more »

Apple has acquired the indoor navigation company WifiSLAM. The Cupertino giant paid $20 million for the two-year old Silicon Valley startup.

WifiSLAM, as its name mildly suggests, has developed an indoor location method based on Wi-Fi signals coming from routers in the building. Read more »

With the launch of iOS 6, the podcast feature in the music player app was dropped in favor of a standalone app that had to be downloaded separately from the App Store. As is the trend with recent Apple apps, the Podcasts app made heavy use of skeuomorphism for the UI, with a very realistic looking tape deck UI that had moving elements that kept track with the playback of the podcast.

Unfortunately, all that is gone now with the latest update. The new v1.2 brings with it quite a few new features but gets rid of the tape deck UI for a more conventional playback screen that looks like any other music player. Read more »

So it’s not a pipe dream after all – Google Now for iOS may even be in the works. At the Big Tent summit in India Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt was asked point blank when could we see Google Now on the iPhone and had this to say – “You’ll need to discuss that with Apple”, “Apple has a policy of approving or disapproving apps that are submitted into its store, and some of them they approve and some of them they don’t,”.

Although skillfully avoiding giving a direct answer to the question Schmidt didn’t dismiss it entirely giving this blogger the idea that just like it did with Gmail, Maps, Drive and Chrome, Google intends to push its Now service over to iOS. Read more »

HTC One production has been troubled lately by component shortages lately and the Taiwanese were even forced to delay the smartphone launch in most of the markets. Yet, HTC is keen to make you so excited about its flagship that you wouldn’t mind waiting a bit longer to get it. Each week we get new videos through the HTC’s YouTube official channel and the newest one advertises the smartphone’s signature BlinkFeed feature.

HTC BlinkFeed is the leftmost pane of the homescreen. It aggregates posts from your social networks and news from over a thousand news sources. You can pick what topics you’re interested in and BlinkFeed will automatically pull up interesting news. You can also use the search function if you’re looking for something in particular. Read more »

The latest way to bypass the Galaxy S III/Note II/Note/S II lockscreen has been modified and now allows you to completely disable the devices’ locksceens. We already saw this exploit about three weeks ago, but back then it didn’t appear too dangerous as it only gave the intruder access to what’s on one of your homescreen panes.

Now, however, the author has found a way to use it to gain full control of the smartphone. You’ll need lots of time, patience and precision timing to accomplish this trick, but as you’ll see in a second it’s possible. Read more »

We have some good news about those planning to get a BlackBerry 10-running smartphone. Today BlackBerry announced the BB10 OS app catalog already offers more than 100,000 titles.

The announcement comes a day before the BlackBerry Z10 flagship launches in the USA and should help ease those concerns of severe app shortages. Read more »

A few days ago, Google prematurely released the Google Keep service, only to pull it back down on the same day. For those who missed that, Google Keep is a note taking application for Android that syncs with your Google Drive account.

Now, the service has been officially announced in the form of the Google Keep app on the Play Store. It is a very basic note taking app meant for quickly jotting down your thoughts without any unnecessary frills. Read more »

Right after its first birthday, it looks like the Google Play Store is has a major redesign coming our way. A revamped app has made an appearance, thus giving us a glimpse of the Play Store’s new look.

As you can notice in the trio of screenshots above, the interface of Google Play Store 4.0 has been given the Holo treatment. Read more »