SHAPE Services

The nominations are in, and the poll is ready to go! The TUAW Best of 2011 awards are all about you -- the readers -- and what you think is the cream of the crop of Apple or third-party products and software. To vote, select one entry from the top nominations made by readers. We'll be announcing the winner in just a few days. Vote early and often! TUAW is asking for your votes for the best iPhone social networking app of 2011. The iPhone is with you almost all of the time, which makes it the perfect device with which to let your friends and family know where you are and what you're doing. Social networking apps for the iPhone make this possible with a few taps. From the reader nominations come the following candidates for the TUAW Best Social Networking App of 2011: the newly rebooted Path (free), Facebook (free), IM+ Pro (US$1.99), Tweetbot ($2.99), and Voxer Walkie-Talkie PTT (free). As with the Mac video and photo apps, I've broken out the voting into two polls. Please feel free to vote for one video app and one photo app, and we'll announce the winners in a few days. And now, let the voting begin! What is the best iPhone social networking app of 2011? Read More

IM+ is one of the top-rated Instant messaging clients in the iOS app store. It has universal device support, and a list of features that'll suit any messaging fan. Shape Services, the company behind IM +, is constantly improving its iOS app. The latest update landed today and includes Beep, a new IM+-specific messaging service. Beep will let you send instant messages to other friends and family who are running IM +. You can compare it to RIM's BlackBerry Messenger service, which lets Blackberry users message each other. The IM+ version is better than BBM because it has more features and is available on Android, iOS, BlackBerry and Windows Phone. I was able to evaluate the latest version of the IM+ app and check out Beep on both an iPhone 4S and a Galaxy Nexus. The Beep service exists side-by-side with your usual messaging services like Aim and Google Talk. While your chatting on AIM, it's easy to switch to Beep and use IM+ to send your buddy a quick note. Beep is easy to setup within IM+, all you need is a phone number. Once you confirm your number, you're ready to start adding contacts to your Beep network. IM+ has millions of users, so you probably don't have to look to hard to find friends for your Beep contact list. The fun begins when you've added a few friends and start messaging. The interface makes it seem like your using an IM service to communicate, but you're not. There's no login or any connection to a third-party server. All messages are sent through IM+, so you don't have to worry about racking up text messaging fees. Messages are delivered promptly, and the app notifies you when a new message is received. You do have to leave the app running in the background to receive these SMS-like messages. Each back and forth is saved in a threaded conversation which is available in your history. If you want to share a conversation, you can find it in your history and send the details via email. Besides messaging, the new Beep feature for iOS lets you send a photo, a video, or a voice note to a Beep contact. The app records the audio or video file, uploads it to an external server and sends a link to the recipient who can download the file. You can also share your location with Read More

Lately I’ve been asked which Android software I’m using so I directed a friend to “my 30 essential Android apps,” the post I wrote about two months ago. However, not everyone likes my list – they want something more structured. Then I prepared the “must-have Android apps” list which goes through different kinds of Android software, helping people decided what they need for what purpose. I went into details in that article and that’s also not that cool for everyone – so here’s something in between, a structured list of apps divided by categories. Browser(s) Social networking apps Mobile office client RSS & News IM & VoIP Utilities There you have it. Hopefully you’ll find something useful here. Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis. Read More

Popular multi-network instant messaging app IM+ for Android got another update to make it fully compatible with Android-based tablets. But that’s just one thing, this release also packs other changes, including: In addition, there are other under-the-hood updates that make IM+ slightly more battery friendly app. Finally, you should know that IM+ will be available for $4.99 during the next couple of days, after which the price goes back to $9.99. In other words, if you wanted to grab it – act now! IM+ Pro ($4.99 – soon $9.99) [Android Market link] Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis. Read More

If you're still maintaining multiple IM clients on your device, then you'll know how frustrating it can be at times having to keep them all in check. Luckily, there are some apps out there that combine all those platforms and one such app is IM+. Coming in either a limited free version as well as a paid version, IM+ makes it easy to stay connected. IM+ and IM+ Pro have been updated most recently to address some bugs found in previous build but with the update -- also came quite a few additions as well: For a limited time, SHAPE Services has placed the app on sale in the Android Market. Normall $10, you can now pick up IM+ Pro for only $5 or if you're wishing to give it a go first, you can grab the free version and then decide. The free version download link can be found past the break for you all. Read More

Posted 10/14/2011 at 5:00pm | by Susie Ochs It's my last Friday before maternity leave. So with visions of onesies dancing in my head, I present to you these awesome apps that are at newly lowered prices -- many in honor of the just-born iPhone 4S. Now you'll spend less money in the App Store, and have more money for diapers. (Yes, I realize I'm the one buying the diapers, not you. But bear with me here. I'm in no condition to argue...) Happy shopping! Telltale has finished its latest puzzle game series, the dark comedy Hector: Badge of Carnage, and to help you catch up, all three episodes are just $2.99 on either iPhone or iPad through October 24. Hector is a foul-mouthed British police detective who doesn't like wearing pants. And the series' sharp writing, clever puzzles, and edgy art style are classic Telltale. So check out Episode 1: We Negotiate with Terrorists (iPhone and iPad), Episode 2: Senseless Acts of Justice (iPhone and iPad), and Episode 3: Beyond Reasonable Doom (iPhone and iPad). Gameloft is having a pretty big 99-cent sale. You can see all 158 of their Phone apps here and all 64 iPad apps here. Not everything is on sale (no 9mm? Awwwwww), but a lot of them are. If you're looking for one to start out with, try Asphalt 6: Adrenaline (99 cents on iPhone or iPad) or Dungeon Hunter 2 (99 cents for iPhone or iPad). iOS 5's iMessage is a godsend -- if you just want to communicate with people who have iOS 5 devices. To loop in ALL your friends, whether they use Facebook chat, Skype, Google Talk, Yahoo, AIM, Twitter, Jabber, or almost anything else, IM+ Pro has all the bases covered. And the universal app is now on sale, down from $9.99 to just $5.99. So keep in touch, OK? Tags: Read More

Having lots of friends that use a variation of IM protocols sometimes makes it rather difficult to keep track of everyone. Often times it means installing numerous apps and switching between them which not exactly the best solution for everyone. For this problem, IM+ exists and helps gather all your instant messaging clients into one robust application. Most recently, they've update IM+ to v4.1.5 and as such have included a lot of bug fixes and new features: IM+ comes in two versions, a free ad-supported version and a pro version ($9.99). Both are available now in the Android Market. If you're in need of an app likes this, you'll find the download link after the break. Read More

For all of you new Android users we have compiled a comprehensive list of the top 50 apps for new Android users. Kindle Books & Reference IM+ Communication Skype Communication NetFlix Entertainment redbox Entertainment Angry Birds Games: Arcade & Action Doodle Jump Games: Arcade & Action Robo Defense Games: Arcade & Action Jewellust Games: Brain & Puzzle X Construction Games: Brain & Puzzle DropBox Productivity To discover more new, quality Android Apps check back for our reviews and check out AndroidAppSource.com. Popularity: 18% [?] Read More

Thanks app developers for getting in touch about your new and updated apps this week: Please help out the app developers and give them feedback on their apps – like, rate, add to library, and review them! Read More

Postagram: It's a service that prints and ships your Facebook photos or pictures from your photo library as postcards. It only costs $1 to print and ship picture anywhere to the world. A pretty clever way to deliver that print touch in a digital world. Free Prox: A genuinely clever app, Prox can control your Android phone without ever touching the touchscreen. The way it works is that the accelerometer determines how you hold the phone (left, right, toward, away) and can associate an action for the grip. You trigger that action by waving your hand over the proximity sensor. So you can load apps, change ringer mode, open notifications, turn off the screen, etc with a simple wave of the hand. It could prove useful in cold weather situations or if you want to pretend you have wizard powers. Faces: A silly app that combs through your address book's contacts and lets you play basic memory games with your contact's faces. The idea is that by playing a game that matches up faces to names, you won't be stumped about who they are in real life. Strangely though, it doesn't support Facebook. BBC News: It's like the UK version that released a little bit ago, but for the rest of the world. Which is great because you can still catch up on the latest breaking news, personalize the homescreen to your interests, share a story via email, SMS or social networks has been included also, and watch the news too. Free. IM+: IM+, one of the better IM apps on Android, just got a sizable update: you can search your contact list, send photos and sound files, and add multiple accounts for Facebook. The UI is much improved and rocks a three tab interface that's very attractive and makes it a helluva lot easier to juggle conversations and buddy lists. Free Zinio: Zinio, the digital newsstand, can now be found on Android 3.0 Honeycomb Tablets. If you're familiar with Zinio, you'll know that they offer up a gazillion (20,000 by their count) magazines for you to buy in their one app. If you download Zinio before June 15th though, you'll get 24 of the latest issues of top magazines for free. That's Cosmo, ESPN, Men's Fitness, US Weekly and more. The Daily Habit: It's an Android 3.0 Honeycomb Tablet app for the show 'The Daily Habit' on FuseTV. You can Read More