Yesterday it was revealed that the popular social networking app Path was uploading entire iPhone address books to the company’s server. The data uploaded included full names, phone numbers and email addresses, and the app uploaded all this data without ever asking for permission. Dave Morin, Path’s co-founder and CEO, admitted fault on Wednesday through the company’s website and announced an update to allow users to either opt in or out of the contact collection feature. “We believe you should have control when it comes to sharing your personal information. We also believe that actions speak louder than words,” Morin said. “So, as a clear signal of our commitment to your privacy, we’ve deleted the entire collection of user uploaded contact information from our servers. Your trust matters to us and we want you to feel completely in control of your information on Path.” The company maintains that when data is transmitted to its servers, it is always sent securely through an encrypted connection and protected by industry-standard firewalls.

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Apple’s iMovie mobile application has new competition when it comes to mobile video editing. Long-time digital video editing software vendor Avid has released its Avid Studio mobile video editing app for the iPad. The app is currently available in the App Store for an introductory price of $4.99 and will increase to $8 after 30 days. Avid Studio for the iPad is the company’s first video editing program for Apple’s mobile platforms. Avid Studio looks to provide most of the features offered through the desktop version, going above and beyond what iMovie is capable of in many cases. The app comes only two days after Apple released a big update for Final Cut Pro X for OS X.

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Valve on Thursday released mobile versions of Steam, the company’s digital game distribution platform. The mobile app is available for both iOS and Android devices. Games cannot be played through the app for obvious reasons, however users will be able to access to the store and connect with friends. ”With the free Steam app, you can participate in the Steam community wherever you go,” read the app’s description. “Chat with your Steam friends, browse community groups and user profiles, read the latest gaming news and stay up to date on unbeatable Steam sales.” Steam is a digital distribution, digital rights management, multiplayer and communications platform developed by Valve. The software was first released in 2003 and as of January 2012 and it now features 1504 games and 40 million active user accounts. It is estimated that Steam has roughly a 70% share of the digital distribution market for video games.

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Last summer, Cablevision was one of the first cable providers to release an app for watching live TV on mobile devices. The Optimum App for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch allows Optimum subscribers to watch live television when connected to their home networks. Cablevision is now testing the Optimum App for Laptops, which transforms a user’s laptop into an additional TV when connected to a home network. A beta version of the application is currently available to select customers for a limited time and we managed to put it through the paces on Thursday. Check out our hand-on photo gallery below and hit the break for some quick impressions.

After installing Microsoft Silverlight, we were able to jump right into the application. The program features a clean and simple UI, giving users the ability to quickly access the TV guide and jump between various channels. Available channels are dependent on a user’s plan, thus ensuring that users only have access to the channels included in their standard cable subscriptions. The program also allows users to enable closed captioning and various parental controls.

The app is still a beta, and unfortunately there are definitely some issues to be worked out. Changing channels was sluggish, buffering was very slow and on numerous occasions the application completely froze. By no means was it unwatchable, however the user experience clearly has plenty of room for improvement. Picture quality was decent though, and all in all, the app is a welcomed addition to Cablevision’s Optimum portfolio and we can’t wait to get our hands on the finished product.

Imangi Studios, the makers of the hit iOS game Temple Run, announced via the company’s Facebook page that the game will be coming to Android. Temple Run is a Indiana Jones-esque ”runner” game that has users sprint through obstacles and escape the dangers of the jungle. To control the character, users perform gestures to make him jump, duck and move from side to side. The title is currently the top free app in the App Store, with over 20 million downloads and 7 million daily active users. The game also features in-app purchases that allow users to buy different characters and power-ups for higher scores, however payment is not required. Imangi Studios said that the game will be available some time in February.

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The most popular and successful multi-device communication platform is without question WhatsApp. More of a text messaging replacement than straight BlackBerry Messenger competitor, WhatsApp has been the number one service people rely on to communicate across iOS, Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone devices. We were sent a preview copy of the new version of WhatsApp for BlackBerry smartphones, our exclusive first look is after the break.To start, the entire app’s user interface has been refreshed, and it really looks strong. It’s clean, it’s sophisticated, and it’s one of the better interfaces on a BlackBerry product that we’ve seen. The app contains the same basic 5 tabs that you’re used to — chats, favorites, contacts, status, and settings — but it’s done in a way that feels natural and light. There’s a really intuitive context button on the right of the top tab bar, and it changes based on what tab you’re on. If you’re in the chats tab, the button changes to allow you to start a new chat, if you’re on the favorites tab, it changes to refresh favorites button, a search option on the contacts tab, add a status on the status tab, and add a friend on the settings tab.

I have noticed a couple little issues using this pre-release version on my BlackBerry 9900, though. The touch area for the tab buttons at the top of the interface are a tad small and I have tapped a contact’s name and started a chat instead of changing to the tab I aimed to switch to. Additionally, the rows that list your favorites or contacts are very narrow, and while that works fine for navigation with the trackpad, not the best possible spacing for touch selection.

All in all, the app gets a very welcome refresh, and the best multi-platform communication service gets even better. It should be available tomorrow directly from WhatsApp’s beta site, and in BlackBerry App World soon after.

 ”Our current UI for BlackBerry is something only an engineer could love. With this update, we’ve had a designer who has no knowledge of BlackBerry UI difficulties mock up new screens for every part of the app.  It has then been our engineering challenge to make those mockups reality across the wide range of BlackBerry devices available.  When we started, it looked very challenging to make these screens happen, said Michael Donohue, Senior BlackBerry Engineer of WhatsApp, This is truly a great UI for BlackBerry.”

“WhatsApp wants consumers to have the ability to message easily, intuitively to that degree we have overhauled the UI, making it simple, clean and easy to use. Our overall commitment to product quality and continued improvement to the BlackBerry is important to us, it is a great messaging device and we are fully committed to supporting the consumers who use it, said Jan Koum, CEO, WhatsApp.”

Apple on Monday released the 2012 edition of its “12 Days of Christmas” application for iOS devices. From December 26th through January 6th, Apple is giving away free iTunes content including songs, music videos, apps and books to iOS device owners. New content is accessible through the app each day and free downloads will expire after 24 hours. Monday kicks things off with several Coldplay songs and videos, which can be downloaded for free until new downloads are made available on Tuesday. Apple’s 12 Days of Christmas app is compatible with the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 2 and iPad as well as the third and fourth-generation iPod touch devices, so users of older iOS device models are out of luck this holiday season. The app is currently available in the U.K. with U.S. availability expected at a later point in time.

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Microsoft recently unveiled an official Xbox LIVE application for iOS devices, including the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The application allows users to view and change Xbox avatars, send Xbox LIVE friends messages or compare achievements, learn about new games and more. Prior to Wednesday, Microsoft had only offered an official Xbox LIVE application to its Windows Phone users, so we’re a bit surprised (and pleased) to see the company spread the love to iOS. There’s no word if an Android application is in the works. Xbox LIVE for iPhone is available now in the iTunes App Store for free.

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Want to share your iPhone’s 3G connection with your laptop for a one-time $15 fee? iTether recently launched for iOS devices and it allows you do just that, without any carrier involvement. We would use the software with caution, however. Several wireless providers such as AT&T can detect when subscribers are tethering an unauthorized device and they usually send a warning asking users to stop. iTether is available now for anyone looking for a quick tethering solution to get through the day but, since carriers will likely react negatively to its existence, we don’t expect it to be around in its current form for much longer.

UPDATE: It now looks like Apple has pulled iTether, as most presumed it would. As of approximately 11:40 a.m. Eastern, the app still shows up in the store but attempts to download it are met with Apple’s “This item is temporarily unavailable” error.

[Via Engadget]

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Apple’s Siri represents the birth of a new breed of voice-controlled smartphone assistant services, and it is only a matter of time before other companies begin to expand their offerings as a result. While Microsoft and Google undoubtedly work to refine their own voice command services, a new third-party app hits the Android Market on Tuesday that could represent Siri’s first real competition. Cluzee, billed as your intelligent personal assistant, offers Android users a Siri-like service that includes capabilities even more impressive than Siri in some cases. As showcased in a video provided by Tronton, the company behind the app, asking Cluzee a simple question like “what does my schedule look like today?” will yield a spoken rundown of the user’s schedule. Beyond just listing events, however, the app also includes smart tidbits from a range of data it pulls from the web. In one example, Cluzee adds “to reach the doctor’s office on time, you should avoid Main Street because of construction” following the mention of a doctor’s appointment, using traffic data to ensure the user reaches his appointment on time. Read on for more.

Cluzee can also search deals in line with the user’s buying habits, read emails and text messages aloud, research hotels and flights, find restaurants a user might enjoy based on his or her tastes, convert voice to text to send emails or SMS, and more. ”People are drowning in information overload,” Tronton CEO Ashish Patwa said in a statement. “We don’t need all of the information available, all of the time. We just need the right information at the right time, which Cluzee intelligently provides, making us more productive. Technology created the problem, but we’re using smarter technology to solve it.”

Cluzee becomes available on Tuesday for Android phones, and Tronton has plans to launch a cloud-based version in the future that will be accessible from any phone, tablet, computer or internet-connected device. We’ve spent the past day testing the app and it has worked quite well for us so far. The scope of available commands is far more narrow that Siri’s, but there is plenty of functionality in this first public build of the app and we have high hopes for future versions.

A video follows below along with another pair of screenshots and Tronton’s full press release. Android users can click this link from their devices to download the app.

Tronton Launches Talking Mobile App “Cluzee,” Your Intelligent Personal Assistant New Type of Virtual PDA Employs Conversational Interface and Machine Learning To Help Save Time/Money and Manage Information Overload

Chicago, IL – (November 29, 2011) In the Digital Age, we are inundated with so much information, many people wish they had a personal assistant tohelp them keep up with it all. Today, Tronton LLC hopes to make that dream a reality for the average person with the launch of Cluzee, a “talking” intelligent virtual personal digital assistant, available now on Android mobile devices, and coming to iPhones soon.

Billed as “Your Intelligent Personal Assistant” Cluzee utilizes cutting edge technologies like voice recognition, voice synthesis, personal analytics, smart filters and machine learning to help users manage all aspects of their personal and digital lives. Designed to save people time and money, Cluzee’s customized interface talks and responds to voice commands, providing the user with services like day planning, a health planner, personalized restaurant and retail recommendations, a trip planner, social media monitoring, and a daily briefing of personalized digital information.

Cluzee is thefirst offering from Tronton, an emerging start-up poised to become the premier vendor of Virtual Personal Digital Assistants. Founded by seasoned technology professional Ashish Patwa, Tronton designs intelligent products that help people make better decisions in real-time, and improve personal productivity.

“People are drowning in information overload,” said Patwa, CEO of Tronton. “We don’t need all of the information available, all of the time. We just need the right information at the right time, which Cluzee intelligently provides, making us more productive. Technology created the problem, but we’re using smarter technology to solve it.”

CLUZEE INTELLIGENT PERSONAL ASSISTANT CAN HELP YOU:

BE MORE PRODUCTIVE: Many of Cluzee’s features can be accessed hands-free, via voice recognition and voice interface. So you can perform tasks while you’re driving. Cluzee reads you your e-mails, replies to text messages, and gives you a daily digital briefing of whatever you care about, from local news and events, toSocially-Filtered Facebook Feeds and Tweets, plus horoscopes, calendar reminders, health and even package tracking.

SPEAK AND BE SPOKEN TO: Cluzee utilizes Conversational Interface, meaning it talks to you and responds to your commands, delegates tasks, and allows user to create and manage text memos and reminders.

MANAGE YOUR DAILY & DIGITAL LIVES: Services include a Day Planner (PDP) with calendar syncing, a Health Planner with calorie tracker, Trip Planning, Daily Brief,Friends Locator, Local Search Recommendations, and Social Filtering.

PREVENT INFORMATION OVERLOAD: Cluzee lets users set filters for social updates. Instruct Cluzee to immediately inform you if tweets/FB updates come from a group of users, and even customize what news, weather and traffic are included in your brief.

SAVE MONEY WITH CUSTOM DEALS & TRIP PLANNING: Personalized recommendations and daily deal filtering based on your personal digital profile save you money on things you love, while weeding out offers that you’re not interested in. A trip planner helps you map out your vacation and find local attractions.

Cluzee utilizes Machine Learning technology to save time, making busy people’s live more enjoyable.

Cluzee is available today as a mobile app for Android devices, for free download at www.cluzee.com.

Future generations of Cluzee will run in the Cloud and be accessible from all of a person’s devices, including mobile phones, tablets, desktops, laptops, TVs and the Web.

For more information about Cluzee, please visit www.cluzee.com.

Apple on Tuesday released a highly anticipated update to its Apple Store app for iOS, adding functionality that may represent the future of the company’s retail operations. The new app was released five days later than initially planned and while the cause of the delay is unclear, Apple’s new Store app includes all of the great functionality BGR exclusively detailed last week. Apple’s change log for version 2.0 includes “Personal Pickup,” giving users the ability to make purchases in the app and then pick them up at a local Apple Store of their choosing, and “EasyPasy,” a self-checkout feature that allows iPhone 4 and 4S users to scan and pay for accessories without any required interaction with Apple retail staff. Apple’s updated Apple Store app is available immediately in the App Store.

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While information about Apple’s new iOS app and retail plans have leaked out in various forms over the past few weeks, we now have the whole story thanks to a trusted source. On Thursday, Apple’s new retail store app for iOS will launch, and it will bring two major features with it. First, it will enable online ordering with retail store pick up. This has already started happening in a few stores in California and New York City Apple stores as well, and more stores will go live on Thursday. Hit the jump for details on what happens when you place an order through the app to pick up in a retail store nearby.

• If a customer orders an in-stock product, pick up will be available approximately 12 minutes after completing the order. Why 12 minutes? Well, the order goes through the system to the designated Apple Store in about 3 minutes. Apple’s back-of-house employees have 2 minutes to set all of the products aside on a shelf from the minute it was ordered. There is then a 7-minute grace period for employees to get everything else in order. Around 12 minutes after purchasing, customers will be able to walk into the Apple Store, skip lines, skip registers, get their products, sign for them and leave. We’re told Apple is really excited about this, and it’s something customers have been seeking for a while.
• If a customer orders something that a retail store does not have in-stock, like a custom-configured machine, an accessory the store does not carry, or something like an engraved or gift-wrapped device, the customer will be a given a pick-up date right after the purchase is completed. Everything will have free shipping when sent to an Apple retail store. Once the order arrives at the Apple Store and is available for pickup, a push notification will be sent to the customer through the Apple Store app, letting him or her know the order is ready. We’re told the same 12-minute timeframe applies here as well: 12 minutes from the time the push notification is received, the customer’s order should be waiting to be signed for.
• We have been told customers who opt to purchase online or through the app will be given priority when they walk into the store over a customer waiting for a retail specialist, and that Apple expects the majority of customers over the next few years to use the in-store pick up option as their default method of buying products. This will help with foot traffic in retail stores while also reducing the cost of shipping for Apple, and possibly even reducing the number of stores Apple needs to open to accommodate sales.
• Apple will offer customers the ability to return items purchased online to retail stores.
• Lastly, we’re told that Apple will be attributing revenue from items purchased in this manner to the retail store where the items are delivered and retrieved. This should help create new job opportunities since hiring at Apple Stores is based on sales. Apple is reportedly expecting a 30% increase in sales at retail stores from this program, and it will only be available in the U.S. for now.

The other major feature coming in Apple’s new app? Customer self check-out at retail stores. This is a huge deal and Apple is the first to be able to put it together. Here is how this will work: after you find the item you want to buy, like an accessory, you launch the Apple Store app on your iOS device and there will be an option to buy a product in the store. You scan the product with the camera on your device in the app, click purchase, and it will charge whatever credit card is associated to your Apple ID. You then just walk out of the store. Yes, we have been told that Apple will not be checking purchases which seems hard to believe, but this self check-out option will launch Thursday worldwide at all Apple retail stores.

When Facebook announced a revamped mobile page in April, its lead mobile exec Eric Tseng said the social network would focus on using the HTML5 standard for future updates instead of updating individual applications for each mobile operating system. “Project Spartan” is the fruit of those labors, reports claim, and it will be the social network’s attempt to the spill its games and applications into the mobile space. Images and information on Project Spartan were recently posted on a Facebook developer page before being pulled. Thankfully TechCrunch grabbed several of the images and information from the site before it was taken down. The leaked photos clearly display a panel loaded with Facebook Pages, mobile apps and events being accessed from an iPhone’s Safari browser. There also appears to be a notifications component. Facebook will officially announce the platform sometime next week, TechCrunch said. Read on a few additional photos of Project Spartan.

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Former renegade peer-to-peer file sharing service Kazaa is back from the dead. After numerous legal battles and settlements that reportedly reached into the hundreds of millions, Kazaa will attempt one last time to use what little heat surrounding its name is left in an effort to sell music. The firm now offers a like-named iPhone and iPad app that works just like Spotify, Rhapsody, Zune and the plethora of other music subscription services on the market today: pay $10 per month, stream as much music as you want, and store files locally if you choose. The apps touts a catalog of “millions and millions of songs,” and offers a free 7-day trial before the monthly fee is required. While seeing the Kazaa brand revived is amusing, we’re not sure what compelling argument Kazaa makes to draw users away from competitors, and we’ll likely stick with Spotify as a result.

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Flipboard, the company behind the popular like-named social magazine application for the iPad, plans to add TV shows, books and movie content, Reuters reported on Thursday. The company’s app has been downloaded more than 3 million times, and it offers articles from several popular magazines including Rolling Stone and National Geographic. Users can view articles alongside customized news and social network feeds, too. Flipboard CEO Mike McCue told Reuters that he hopes to add TV shows and movies by the end of the year but has not discussed who his company is teaming up with to deliver the content just yet. It is also still unclear when McCue will add books to the app. A version of the software for the iPhone and iPod touch will be launching in the coming weeks and we’re excited to see how it performs on the iPhone’s smaller screen.

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