apps

Like most Internet applications, Twitter connects you with people who seem to exist in a vast, abstract, cyberspace. Now, a new iPhone app from the French company Presselite uses augmented reality to show you exactly where your friends are tweeting from.

Mercedes-Benz and partner Hughes Telematics hope buyers will embrace a new in-car telematics system tied to smartphone apps. The system, branded "mbrace," will let drivers use their iPhones or BlackBerry devices to lock and unlock car doors, locate their vehicles on a map, and contact roadside assistance. Mercedes is the first carmaker to offer the service, which was developed by Atlanta-based Hughes.

Cell phones have increasingly become mobile labs and tech tools for researchers, and now NASA has gotten in on the act. A postage-stamp-sized chemical sensor allows iPhones to sniff out low airborne concentrations of chemicals such as ammonia, chlorine gas and methane.

A puff from a "sample jet" helps sense any airborne chemicals. That information gets processed by a silicon chip consisting of 16 nanosensors, and then passes on to another phone or computer through any Wi-Fi or telecom network.

iPhone only: Email n’ Walk overlays an email composition window on top of the view from your iPhone’s camera, so you can type out an email and watch where you’re going.

Six months ago we pointed out the best Android apps to boost your mobile productivity, but since then more free applications have appeared in the Market that offer useful features you don’t want to miss.

Let’s take a look at a few notable free apps that make getting things done with your Android handset easier and more fun. All of these are available in the Android Market on your phone; the apps that have dedicated web sites are linked below.

Gmote

It's been less than a year since Apple launched the iPhone App Store, but now virtually every mobile OS is showcasing its own take on the mobile application storefront. How do they all stack up?

The first thing you'll notice about these efforts—coming from such traditionally competitive companies as Palm, BlackBerry, Nokia and Microsoft—is just how similar they all sound. App World? App Catalog? App Market? Mobile Marketplace? This outward likeness actually runs pretty deep—these stores are advertising uncannily similar feature sets, for both users and developers:

HTC and Google are getting closer to perfection with the new Android G2, the HTC Magic. Nice finish, great form factor. Check out our video, including the obligatory comparison with Apple's iPhone, and hands-on impressions:

Story from Gizmodo Australia

Apologies in advance, Mr. T, for not reporting on your very first App store contribution sooner. That said, I pity the fool who doesn't download iPity today!

Stop rubbing your eyes. Yes, this is a real app. It went up yesterday and lists for $US0.99. What do you get for a dollar, you ask?

Well, if we ignore the fact that you're still here asking questions, and not downloading iPity already, then the app basically recites classic Mr. T lines on demand.

Talk about meta: Zoho Creator is a Web 2.0 application for creating Web 2.0 applications. Sound intimidating? It's not. There's no coding; everything is done through menus and buttons. And there are a number of premade apps—including an expense tracker, a dating-profile form and an app to sort your albums—that you can use as templates and then customize to fit your needs. You can share your final app with the world or keep it private. Check out the Expense Tracker I began futzing with here.  —Mike Haney