Posts tagged March

In our continuing series here on ReadWriteWeb, we round up some of our favorite new apps for smartphones (well, iPhone and Android) each month. With March having just wrapped up, we’ve listed some of the new apps that caught our eye over the past few weeks below. This month, we also have dedicated a special section to the apps of SXSW.

Did we forget any of your favorites? Let us know in the comments!

Sponsor

Both iPhone & Android

SocialCam: This app offers you an easy way to share videos with your friends. With the app, you can record, tag and share your videos in addition to browsing, liking and commenting on those belonging to friends.

Kazaa: Instead of launching in the official app stores, Kazaa made its music subscription service available on mobile via www.kazaa.com. The decision was made primarily to thumb its nose at Apple, because of the company’s “recent announcement that it will now keep 30% of revenue generated by new subscriptions and media purchases,” says Zazaa.

Color: At launch, this location-based photo sharing app was widely denounced by reviewers who weren’t pleased with the user experience (but who were likely just expecting more given the outrageous $41 million in funding its creators received). Curious what all the fuss was about? Color is free for iPhone and Android. (Our coverage)

iPhone

QuickCam: A seriously fast iPhone camera app is perfect for taking photos quicker and allows for fast switching between photo and video mode. You can even hold the button for rapid-fire photos or take stills while shooting video. (Note to parents with small, wiggly children: it’s a must!)

Qik Video Connect: Post-Skype acquisition, Qik launched a new iPhone app that offers video calling, video messaging and video sharing. A Plus version for $2.99 offers more features including real-time effects, video editing and HD support.

Vimeo: The popular video-sharing website now has its own iPhone app – and it doesn’t just let you watch videos, it lets you edit and share them too. Take that, YouTube! (Our coverage)

Last Night Never Happened: This awesome app lets you automatically delete the (drunken, embarrassing) social networking posts you made during your lapse in judgement. Supports Facebook and Twitter, and allows you to remove posts, photos, comments, tweets and direct messages. Genius.

Addieu: This app lets you connect with new friends on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare in addition to adding them to your Contacts app list. Maybe this should have been in the SXSW section below, but it’s actually handy long after the SXSW party week ended.

Follows: Obsessed with your stats? Follows tracks data related to your social networking profiles on services like Twitter, Facebook, Feedburner, MySpace, Vimeo, YouTube, Flickr and LinkedIn. With this app, you can easily see your follower count, reader count, friend count and more.

TechDygest: An intelligent aggregator providing relevant news, summarized for quick reading. There are four different apps to choose from Dygest.com. TechDygest for tech news, iDygest for Apple news, gameDygest for gaming news and celebDygest for Hollywood gossip. (Our coverage)

Mozy: The new iOS app works with the online backup and storage service allowing you to locate files, photos and other media using your phone. You can then open those files, share them via email or post to Facebook.

Pimp Your Screen: A useful tool for iPhone customization without jailbreaking, this app provides backgrounds, icon skins, app shelves, neon combos and more. And it lets you preview your customizations before applying them.

Ditto: From Jaiku founder Jyri Engeström, this location-based app lets you post what you’re doing and where, under categories like “at home,” “eat out,” “work,” “see movie,” and more. (Our coverage)

Zapd: This app lets you create an attractive website from your iPhone in minutes using templates.  And it’s free! Isn’t technology amazing?

MyStreamApp: Instead of sharing headphones, this app lets you share your music over a Wi-Fi connection.

Android

Flow: A Facebook app for Android that brings push notifications, comment liking, tagging friends in statuses and other missing features from Facebook’s official app. (Actually, Facebook allows for push notifications, but not to the same extent as provided in Flow).

Thrutu: This app enhances phone calls by allowing you to share your location, photos, contacts and other files with callers without disrupting the conversation.

ReadItLater Pro: This 99 cents app lets you read your saved reading list items from the online service via your Android phone.

Feedly: This RSS app’s popular online magazine-style reader comes to Android. It integrates with Google Reader, Twitter, Read it Later, bit.ly and Instapaper.

Dynamic Paint Live Wallpaper: From KittehFace Software (oh, the name), this fun live wallpaper lets you spray and splatter paint onto your home screen with a touch of your finger.

Wave Launcher: Not a full launcher, but more of a pop-up bar for launching favorite apps through a simple gesture.

Launcher 7: Lusting after Windows Phone 7? This app lets you modify your start screen with the Metro UI look and feel.

Firefox 4: The newest version of the Firefox for Android Web browser brings Firefox sync, tabbed browsing, HTML5 support, and speed to Android. But it’s 14 MB in size, be warned. (Our coverage)

Comcast Xfinity: The Xfinity app, now available on Android, brings remote DVR management, TV listings and OnDemand searches to Android. No remote TV viewing, though. Bummer.

Slate: Popular online mag Slate arrives in Android format.

imo instant messenger: This multi-protocol IM app launched into beta for Android in late March. Supports Facebook Chat, Google Talk, Skype, MSN, ICQ/AIM, Yahoo, Jabber, and Myspace.

Scannify: Discover, manage and connect to devices on your Wi-Fi network using this new app.

The Apps of SXSW

Beluga: Acquired by Facebook just prior to SXSW, Beluga was the app of choice for team RWW at SXSW. This group messaging app lets you create “pods” where you can chat with friends in private chat rooms, share photos and share your location. iPhone/Android supported. (Our coverage, and again here)

GroupMe: Similar to Beluga, this group chat app also made waves at SXSW. In addition to text-based group chat, another feature gives each group a unique phone number for conference calls. GroupMe also just added support for brands, allowing users to engage in conversations about favorite TV shows, bands and events. (Our coverage)

Yobongo: A location-based mobile chat app lets you communicate with those around you, a feature which the company calls “ambient real-time communication.” The app is currently available in NY, SF and Austin only. (Our coverage)

Fast Society: Launched last fall, this group texting app debuted new iPhone and Android versions for SXSW. Groups can chat, conference call, share location, photos and more. It also supports audio-based “shout outs” that are sent right into the group’s stream.

Hurricane Party: This app helped SXSW’ers find the happening parties. We’re not entirely convinced the app has shelf life beyond the Austin festival, though. But maybe that’s just because we live somewhere really boring. (Our coverage)

Ask Around: Yes, that Ask.com This iPhone app is a lot like Yobongo in that it connects you to nearby conversations, but it also lets you find out what people are saying across town, too.

Retrollect: Before there was Color, this mobile photos app let you mashup pics, tweets and status updates to give you a play-by-play of your night, outing or other experience or event you wanted to remember.

Kik: This older group messaging app introduced a “Concierge” service at SXSW, letting users ask questions and get answers in real-time.

Here are some stats on how other apps fared, plus a couple infographics.

Notable Updates

Posterous added private groups to its iPhone and Android apps, allowing users to create private sharing groups on the go, each with their own dedicated website.

Camera+: Everyone’s favorite alternative camera app for iPhone was updated to version 2.2, introducing a new feature called Clarity that lets you tap once to automatically adjust a photo to perfection.

LauncherPro: The update to this popular Android launcher brings new animations and a Gmail widget.

Adobe Connect Mobile for Android: This is the second major version of the Web conferencing app. It now supports two-way video, tablets and more.

IMDb: The IMDb iOS app was updated this month to feature a watchlist and enhanced showtimes. It also lets you buy movie tickets within the app.

Discuss

View full post on ReadWriteWeb