fastcompany:

10 Little Known Apps That Entrepreneurs Can’t Live Without

Writer Leo Widrich offers a sneak peek at the next wave of productivity apps that top entrepreneurs like Tim Ferriss, Seth Godin, and Guy Kawasaki are working with daily.

thisistheverge:

Amazon launches virtual currency Coins

Amazon has just debuted its own virtual currency, Amazon Coins, allowing customers to pay for apps on its Amazon Appstore for Android, as well as some in-app items. Kindle Fire customers in the US are the first to get their hands on Amazon Coins, as the company is giving all of them $5-worth of the currency, or 500 coins. But anyone can head to the Amazon Coins page and purchase Coins for themselves. 

fastcompany:

Why Messaging Could Be Mobile’s Killer App

Could the next big platform fit inside a messaging app? 

Facebook’s new Android integration, Home, groups Instagram, maps, email, and other apps in one drawer. Its main screen has just three navigation options: “Apps,” “Last App,” and—the exceptional stand-alone app in the mix—“Messenger.”

Why has Facebook given such special treatment to a once tangential feature of its service?

Here’s a theory: “I think everyone is realizing that messaging is the killer app in mobile,” says Ted Livingston, the creator of a messenger app called Kik.

“Now it’s just who can wrap a platform around it the fastest.”

Read the full story here.

smarterplanet:

The real breakthrough of Google Glass: controlling the internet of things — GigaOM

Many of the first apps for Google Glass will be about consuming and sharing content on the go. But what if Google Glass could unlock control over the world of the Internet of Things both inside and outside the home?

analyticisms:

Another word of warning for app designers/developers. You don’t have many chances to get it right.

smarterplanet:

Startups Bet Audio Is the Next Frontier for Social Media

There’s no shortage of apps and websites to help us share our lives through videos, pictures and text messages, but we’ve moved farther and farther away from what was once the central means of communicating: the sound of our own voice. Now, a couple startups are trying to change that. Dubbler, an app that quietly launched in beta on iPhone and Android in December, offers a simple way to record up to 60 seconds of audio and share them to Facebook, Twitter and the Dubbler community. You can add playful sound filters (similar to photo filters on Instagram) and a cover photo from your phone’s camera if you want, or you can let the soundbite speak for itself.