Let me explain. Part of the trouble with having hundreds of thousands of apps available to you is that you’re bound to come across a lot of garbage apps. Even if we cast those “low quality” apps aside, you’re also bound to come across some that might contain malware or some that may violate the terms of service. Both Google and Apple are supposed to stay on top of that sort of thing, but some “bad” apps will always slip through the cracks.

In this way, it’s quite possible that the app count dropping by 60,000 has something to do with a culling of bad apps. More specifically, many of the “missing” apps are coming from the MP3/ringtone category and they might have to do with some copyright infringement issues. Google removes them, the app count goes down, but we’re left with a “cleaner” list of apps. Of course, this is still speculation.

Don’t get me wrong. We still want lots of apps to choose from and that’s going to be one of the biggest hurdles facing second-tier platforms like Windows Phone and BlackBerry 10. When they’re able to get numbers closer to iOS and Android, we might finally see a race with more than two ponies again.

[Source]

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Research in Motion has announced a virtual event called Android Port-A-Thon. The idea here is to get developers to port their Android apps over to BlackBerry 10 and RIM is willing to pay you to do it. For every paid app that is successfully ported and approved, RIM will pay you a cool sum of $100. That’s per app, up to a maximum of 20 apps per vendor.

Furthermore, if you port at least five apps, you’ll be entered into a drawing to win a BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha Device. They have 100 of those to give away. Every eligible app that you submit over that minimum of five will net you one extra entry in this draw. So, if you hit that maximum of 20 apps above, you’ll earn yourself $2,000 and 16 entries into the Dev Alpha Device draw.

The BlackBerry Developer Blog has more details, including how you can go about with the app porting process from Android. There are links to guides and tools and such. Android Port-A-Thon starts on January 11, 2013 at 12pm EST and runs for 36 hours. You must log in and port during that time to net the rewards.

[Source]

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Hulu Plus just received a new update for Android today, integrating the “Hulu Kids” section into the app, providing ad-free content with kids in mind. This new feature also adds parental controls into the mix.

With more families ditching traditional desktops and laptops in favor of Android tablets, this is a really isn’t too surprising. Keep in mind this kid section has existed elsewhere for quite a well now, such as on game consoles like the Nintendo Wii.

Other changes to the app include an enhanced content discovery tray, improved video playback on select devices, and a bunch of bug fixes. Hit the link below to update Hulu to the latest version now.

[ source ]

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Amazon has officially released an In-App Purchasing API for Amazon Appstore. This means, for example, that you can sell subscriptions to an online magazine, additional levels for a mobile game, or virtual currency to spend in a virtual environment. This is in addition to other monetization methods, like the sale price of the app itself, plus in-app advertising.

Naturally, the API is compatible with apps that’ll run on the Kindle Fire, as well as other Android devices. The revenue split on the in-app purchases is 70/30 in favor of the developer, which sounds pretty fair to me. The API can be found through the Amazon Appstore Developer Portal, along with the rest of the supporting documentation.

[Source]

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The change in name really doesn’t affect the user experience all that much, because the Android app still looks and works in exactly the same way. The idea is that the content services from Google, like Google Books and Google Music, will be more unified across the various platforms. You can get your entertainment and share it through the cloud.

“Today we’re eliminating all [the] hassle with Google Play, a digital entertainment destination where you can find, enjoy and share your favorite music, movies, books and apps on the web and on your Android phone or tablet,” said the official statement from Google. “Google Play is entirely cloud-based so all your music, movies, books and apps are stored online, always available to you, and you never have to worry about losing them or moving them again.”

To celebrate the switch, Google has discounted 23 apps and games in the new Google Play to just 49 cents. These include World of Goo, Osmos HD, TuneIn Radio Pro, Asphalt 6: Adrenaline, NOVA 2, Endomondo Sports Tracker Pro, SwitftKey X Keyboard, and Pocket League Story, among others.

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A recent update to newer TiVo boxes adds functionality for a new Android app. The standard remote scheduling and guide views that we’ve seen from DirecTV and others are available, as well as a virtual remote for hardware that supports it. Social features integrate Twitter and Facebook into your couch potatoing too.

However, it takes the latest TiVo devices to use it. Setup isn’t as straightforward as it could be either; you’ll need an Internet-connected TiVo to start (via Ethernet or WiFi) then you have to dig through the TiVo settings to access your Media Key. Enter the key into the app on your phone or tablet, and you’re ready to go. Once connected you can view your local schedule, set up recording and season passes, and manage the media that’s already on your TiVo. A  built-in remote will send controls through the Internet to your TiVo, circumventing the usual path via stock remote that might get lost.

Usual TiVo features look like all included, but some features are only available to TiVo Premiere DVR customers:

• Browse the channel guide without interrupting the show you’re watching
• View shows up to 14 days in advance
• Schedule TV show/movie recordings and ongoing (Season Pass®) recordings
• Browse your recorded shows list and play a show from the App
• Find exactly what you want to watch
• Search across TV, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video & Blockbuster  content, and see integrated results on Demand to find what you are looking for
• Explore cast and crew while watching a show
• Comment about what you’re watching on Facebook or Twitter
• Use a TiVo remote control replica or our intuitive, gesture-based remote control
• Manage your ongoing (Season Pass®) recordings and your To-Do List
• Delete and re-prioritize recordings for your favorite shows
• Instantly schedule, search and browse for shows while you’re away from home

One of the more interesting features is the addition of social commenting. Whenever you’re watching a show you can pop into the TiVo app to automatically post relevant updates on Facebook and Twitter about that very show you are watching. This is especially handy for tablets, and 7″ Android tablets are even mentioned as a good example for deploying this TiVo app.

As with every new multi-functional app, there might be lots of bugs and malfunctions. Simple and obvious troubleshooting actions aer advised at Android Market:

* Restart your network router by by unplugging it, waiting 30 seconds, and plugging it back in

* Restart your TiVo DVR by following the instructions in the TiVo menus under Settings & Messages > Help > Restart or Reset System > Restart the TiVo Box

You can also go to http://support.tivo.com/android for more troubleshooting tips. If nothing helps, or you live outside US, you also may want to try alternatives like this TiVo Commander. You can download the Tivo app in Android Market free.

The post Android App For TiVo Released, Offers “Social Commenting” appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

That’s important for folks like Shaw and Comcast. They can implement Myriad Alien Vue as part of their overall package, offering an integrated and unified user experience. The solution allows for support of a range of HTML5-based Android applications, plus the Google TV standard. In the brief demo video below, we are shown such apps as Twitter, YouTube, Netflix, Dropbox, and Pulse. All of these can be offered through a branded app store.

Yeah, it’s not Android Market, but the point of having that white label app store is so that the TV cable and satellite providers can capitalize on the additional income stream through apps and premium content. There’s also an accompanying app for smartphones and tablets to control the TV.

“Since launching at Mobile World Congress early this year, we have had an incredible response to our Myriad Alien Dalvik software,” said Myriad Group CEO Simon Wilkinson in a company press release. “We have shown how Android apps can work seamlessly across non-Android devices, including mobile phones, tablets and iPads, and now, with Myriad Alien Vue, we have delivered Android to another key screen in people’s lives, the TV.”

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I’m not entirely sure how this works, but I’m being told that Alien Dalvik 2.0 fully supports regular old APK Android package file formats for the apps, letting you run those APK apps on TVs, e-readers, and non-Android tablet devices. Google Goggles on an iPad? For real?

At least, that’s the idea in theory. In theory, it also means that developers might be able to code an application just once, package it up as an APK, and ship it out to devices that aren’t running Android at all. Somehow, I get the feeling that Apple won’t like this very much, as well as other OS folks like Microsoft’s Mango, but RIM might like it as they’ve been promising Android app support on the PlayBook. We’re expecting a demo at CTIA 2011 next week to learn more.

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StumbleUpon

1. Explore Box- now available on iPad, iPhone and Android apps which allow you to browse through thousands of interests by simply typing a word or phrase.
2. Swipe to Stumble- you can now simply swipe your phone’s or tablet’s screen from right to left while stumbling!
3. Faster and more visual- with its newly revamped interface, you can see richer visuals and faster page loading. The interface also looks cleaner and visually appealing, making your stumbling experience quicker and more fun.

These improvements have been extended into Android app compatible with tablets, and Android tablets using Honeycomb can also share the new content in stumbling.

[StumbleUpon via Download]

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