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Facebook Expands Preferred Developer Program

Four months ago, Facebook launched something called the Preferred Developer Consultant Program in an effort to point companies and celebrities towards the best developers.  Now, the program’s taking an important leap forward as Facebook’s more than tripled the number of recommended developers. Facebook started things off with just 14 developers, which seemed like an interesting choice. ...

Google Shopper Android App Launches

Android phone owners should now be able to become smarter consumers.  A free app called Google Shopper has been released, and with it, users are supposed to find it easier than ever to look up product specs, check out reviews, and compare prices. Google Shopper doesn’t quite represent some breakthrough.  Instead, it combines the image recognition abilities offered by Google Goggles...

Google Voice Makes Way to iPhone, Palm WebOS

Google is launching the Google Voice app for both the iPhone and Palm WebOS. It is an HTML5 app, which the company says provides users with a "fast and versatile" mobile experience, because of its use of the latest advancements in web technologies. "For example, AppCache lets you interact with web apps without a network connection and local databases allow you to store data locally...

Microsoft Pulls Bing Maps Site Out of Beta

Microsoft has removed the beta tag from the Bing Maps Silverlight site. This means, at least according to Microsoft, that users can expect greater reliability, supportability, and further innovation. "First off, if you go to the Bing Maps AJAX site and have Silverlight installed chances are you will be redirected to the Bing Maps Silverlight site (note this change only affects users in the US),"...

Consumers Expected to Spend $6.2 Billion on Mobile Apps in 2010

Gartner has released some research findings that indicate consumers will spend $6.2 billion in 2010 in mobile application stores. Meanwhile, advertising revenue is expected to generate $0.6 billion worldwide. According to Gartner, mobile app stores will exceed 4.5 billion downloads in 2010, eight out of ten of which will be free. Gartner also forecasts worldwide downloads in mobile application stores...

Will Google Phone Bring Spotify to the US?

Even if you haven’t used Spotify, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of it. The service’s description goes: "A world of music. Millions of songs on your computer, on your mobile and available offline. Brought to you ad free." People in the US have been unable to use the service so far. There has been talk that this may soon change upon the launch of Google’s...

LinkedIn For iPhone 3.0 Launches

Professionals who both own iPhones and are members of LinkedIn are in for a treat.  LinkedIn for iPhone 3.0 has been released, and the new app (which remains free) represents an improvement over the old one in almost every way. The most obvious change comes in the form of a fresh user interface.  Adam Nash, Vice President of Search and Platform Products at LinkedIn, explained in a blog post,...

Facebook Directs Companies, Celebs To Preferred Developers

As you read this, the inboxes of 14 Facebook developers may be reaching the breaking point.  You see, Facebook’s decided to launch something it calls the Preferred Developer Consultant Program, and these lucky developers are the first to receive the social network’s official endorsements. Kristin Thayer explained on the Facebook Developers blog, "We often hear from brands, celebrities,...

PayPal Launches Send Money App for BlackBerry Devices

PayPal has launched a new "Send Money" app for BlackBerry. It is now available for free via the BlackBerry App World. "Have you ever gone to lunch with friends and forgotten your wallet, but remembered your BlackBerry? Well you longer have to be the friend who is constantly borrowing cash," says Eric Duprat from the PayPal Mobile team. The app lets users quickly send money to...

Bing Launches New Maps with Apps

Microsoft has announced the launch of a new Bing Maps beta, which incorporates Streetside and Photosynth imagery. "The new Bing Maps experience also features innovative new mapping applications such as Twitter Maps for real-time updates by area and Local Lens featuring hyperlocal, neighborhood content," a representative for Bing tells WebProNews. There are a number of interesting apps available,...

Google Ignoring Its Own Policy on Desktop AdSense?

It has been discovered that Google is now showing AdSense ads inside Google Earth. While it is not that surprising to see Google putting ads on another one of its properties, it has raised a few eyebrows, given that Google Earth is a desktop application. Google actually states in its policy that it doesn’t allow developers to use AdSense ads in their desktop apps, but it appears that Google...

Twitter Gives Apps Access to People Search

Twitter is making it easier for third-party apps to allow users to find other people to follow. On the Twitter API Announcements Google Group, the company announced that they are adding the functionality of Twitter’s "find people" feature to a new API. "For a while now Twitter.com has had a ‘Find People’ button that allows  users to search for other people to follow....

Google Launches Analytics for Mobile Apps

Google has launched Google Analytics for Mobile Apps. The reports that are available as a result of last week’s expansion of mobile reporting features are now available for mobile apps as well. There are 2 categories of user interaction that you can track, which are pageviews and events. Developers can determine when their apps should trigger pageview requests, since they don’t contain...

Apple App Store Hits 100,000

Apple said today developers have created over 100,000 apps for its App Store, making it the largest application store in the world. iPhone and iPod touch users in 77 countries can choose from a range of apps in 20 categories, including games, business, news, sports, health, reference and travel. App Store users have downloaded over two billion apps since the launch of the store 16 months ago. Apple...

PayPal to Take Over Mobile and Social Apps

PayPal has opened its global payments platform called PayPal X, providing new APIs, a new developer portal, and some introductory services pricing to help developers take advantage of PayPal X to build businesses. "The whole world is going digital, and the future of how we communicate, how we get information, and even how we transact, is in the hands of developers," said PayPal President...