HeyWire Launches BNDWGN, A Private Social Messaging App Built Around Your Interests

BNDWGN, a new app from the makers of free texting service HeyWire, is launching what’s being called a “content messenger” service. The app is a combination of private friend-to-friend(s) chat and social media aggregation. Using BNDWGN, you can combine various streams from sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram into an interest-focused group which can be as narrowly defined as “Lady Gaga” or as broadly defined as “Tech.” And because you’re the creator of these content channels called “BNDWGNs” (say: “bandwagons”), the streams you include can extend beyond the official social media presences for the topic at hand. You can include any other things you want in these streams, like Facebook fan pages, Twitter users who share your interests, Instagram hashtags, and more.
According to HeyWire CEO Meredith Flynn-Ripley, the idea for BNDWGN sprung from watching how people were using HeyWire, the company’s social communication utility. For those unfamiliar, HeyWire’s free SMS service launched back in September 2010, and allows users to text, tweet, and Facebook chat from within one app. It now has over 3 million active users monthly who spend 10 hours in the app per month, and recently hit its 2 billionth message sent.
“It really was created out of the activity that we saw in HeyWire from the group messaging,” says Flynn-Ripley of BNDWGN’s creation. “We saw that groups would form around a particular topic or event, they’d talk and then the group would go away. It wouldn’t be this ongoing stream.” Another inspiration for the service was what she described as a feeling of being in “social network overload mode.” She was looking for a way to get the info she wanted by organizing it around topics. Some topics may be temporary – for example, news from a conference you want to track (like TechCrunch Disrupt, e.g.) – while others may represent longer-term interests.
While its ability to aggregate from social media isn’t necessarily a new invention, BNDWGN has added an additional element to its service: private conversations. In each BNDWGN created, users can add friends who can then all message each other about the content contained within. Users can only message Facebook friends running the app, however, but content stays private unless explicitly shared to Facebook.
You can also join other, public BNDWGNs submitted by the community if you’re just looking for topics to follow. The ability to publish your own BNDWGNs in this way won’t arrive until a future update, though.
As new content arrives in the BNDWGNs you’re in, you’re notified via push messaging. But, as Flynn-Ripley points out, how often you receive these messages is up to you. “You can basically say ‘notify me when new content comes into the streams:  never, every hour, or once a day,” she explains, “but more importantly, you can also just set it on ‘notify me when friends are chatting,’ that is, sending messages in the BNDWGN. That’s going alert me to ‘oh, something interesting is happening because a friend of mine is commenting on it,’” she says. A future release will allow you to configure the notification settings on per-BNDWGN basis.
The company is now reaching out to major media brands, music, celebrities, and other companies with a large number of social media fan followers in order to create partnerships that would allow the brands to create their own official BNDWGN streams. HeyWire would then share aggregate, anonymized data with their partners detailing the trends around the content in BNDWGN – e.g., what was shared, how did people react, etc. “We see this as a new level of sentiment analysis,” says Flynn-Ripley. “When brands are in social media they know how many people like them, how many people are following them, they see what people are posting publicly on their walls…but they understand that people are consuming their media and sharing it with friends privately, and they have no insight into that.”
Although HeyWire is backed by investor Lauder Partners, its founding is a little atypical in terms of tech startups. The company was founded by a merger and is now run by MediaFriends, which has $10 million in funding. But HeyWire is planning to raise funding for BNDWGN separately, and is now in the process of having conversations about a Series A.
The new app is initially available for Android only. The iOS app will arrive in July.

How to install the new Swype beta on Android

(Credit: Screenshot by Ed Rhee/CNET)

Swype, which was bought by Nuance recently, has released a new public beta for Android. It has some interesting new features, including the capability to learn as you go and built-in Dragon voice recognition. If you're interested in trying it out, here's how to install and enable the new Swype beta for Android:
Install Swype beta
Step 1: Register for the Swype beta at http://beta.swype.com/android/create.
Step 2: On your Android device, go to Settings > Application settings and tap on the box next to Unknown sources. This will allow you to install apps that weren't downloaded from Google Play.

(Credit: Screenshot by Ed Rhee/CNET)

Step 3: From your Android device, open the Swype beta e-mail and tap on the Swype Installer download link. Once Swype-Installer.apk completes downloading, tap on it to begin installation.
Step 4: After the Swype beta installer finishes installing, open it and log in.
Step 5: Select the version of Swype you want to install, then tap the Download Swype button. You may only have one option, depending on your version of Android.

(Credit: Screenshot by Ed Rhee/CNET)

Enable Swype beta
Step 1: At the Swype beta setup screen, tap on the Enable Swype button, then select Swype Beta from keyboard settings.

(Credit: Screenshot by Ed Rhee/CNET)

Step 2: Go back to the Swype beta setup screen, then tap the Select Swype button to select Swype as your input method.
Step 3: When you get to the congratulations screen, tap Finish.

(Credit: Screenshot by Ed Rhee/CNET)

That's it. Keep in mind that this is beta software, so there's no official tech support should something go awry. If Swype's not your thing, you might want to take a look at the new SwiftKey3.

Stay secure, time-lapse your face

Not all is doom and gloom in the security world. Facial recognition security program KeyLemon now offers a simple way to create a time-lapse video of your face in the latest update to its free eponymous program.
The new optional plug-in, called LemonDay and available today exclusively from CNET Download.com, takes a photo of your face when you log in to your computer and stitches these photos together into a slightly self-indulgent video.
No separate download is required to install LemonDay. Simply upgrade the free version of KeyLemon for Windows (download) or KeyLemon for Mac (download) to the new 2.6.
The new log-in screen includes a box in the upper left corner that reads, "Enable LemonDay plug-in." Check that box, and KeyLemon will record each of your log-in expressions. There are also a decent number of settings you can manipulate, including image preview speed, exporting the video, and face alignment.
True self-indulgence in the digital age is impossible without a Facebook sharing option. Enter in your credentials to upload the video directly to Facebook, so you can share a fun but no doubt narcissistic benefit of cutting-edge security.

Moosejaw X-ray app is a catalog peep show

This is what Superman sees when he looks at catalogs.

(Credit: Moosejaw)

There's no need to mentally undress people when you have an app that can do it for you. Moosejaw decided to take outdoor clothing in a Victoria's Secret direction with the Moosejaw X-Ray App for iPhone, iPad, and Android.
The free app harnesses the power of augmented reality to strip the puffy jackets and pants off of its models. Fire up the app, hold it up to a model in the catalog, and get a view of the unmentionables beneath.

Why does this guy have an octopus strapped to his body? (Click to enlarge.)

(Credit: Screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET)

You can use the online version of the Moosejaw catalog if you don't happen to have the paper one handy.
The app is equal opportunity. Both male and female models show off their skivvies.
The ladies sport an array of typically frilly and pretty undergarments. One empowered woman wears what looks like a pink tiger-stripe collar and leash.
The guys' pictures take a decidedly surreal turn. Scanning them reveals one impressively hairy chest, a sea creature plastic-wrapped under a down coat, and a clown wearing red pajamas.
The X-ray app makes for a distracting shopping experience. I don't recall thinking, "Wow, I'd sure like to buy that jacket that the model isn't wearing."
When it comes to sheer marketing, though, the app is pretty brilliant. Massive winter jackets, clunky boots, and wool sweaters never looked so seductive.

Moosejaw X-Ray App from Gary Wohlfeill on Vimeo.

How to control your Android via PC

AirDroid is an Android app that allows you to control your device remotely from your computer. If your device is charging in another room or otherwise out of reach, or you're really busy and can't be bothered to constantly pick up your device to respond to alerts, this is a great way to stay connected while not hurting your productivity (as much). Follow these three easy steps to set it up:
Begin by installing the AirDroid app from the Android Market.

(Credit: Screenshot by Nicole Cozma)

Step 1: Open AirDroid and hit the Start button to launch the server.

(Credit: Screenshot by Nicole Cozma)

Step 2: Open a browser and enter the URL listed in the top field. In the log-in field on the page that loads, enter the password as it appears on your Android device.

(Credit: Screenshot by Nicole Cozma)

Step 3: Hit enter to log in and control your Android device remotely.
From here, you can control almost anything you'd be able to control while holding your phone. You can adjust/delete your notifications and ringtones, read and send SMS messages, backup and uninstall apps, and monitor your system's storage information.

One App Developer’s Humorous Take On How To Build A Successful App For iOS

These days, it seems that everyone wants to be an app developer. Thankfully, technology has lowered the barriers to entry, and young and somewhat old are teaching themselves the basics of coding and app development. Thousands upon thousands of new developers are entering the game, seemingly on a daily basis. Our fertile new app economy gives us inspiring stories like this one, though, of course, it also gives us frustrations like this, and plagiarism problems like this.
Over the last three years, app development has come a long way, for better and for worse. Some developers have been there for the whole ride, and have some interesting thoughts to share as a result. For example, three years ago, a French astronomer and engineer named Frédéric Descamps created an iPhone app called Starmap, which is, simply put, a mobile guide to the constellations, allowing users to point their phones at the night sky and discover constellations, tap on planets, stars, and more for easy identification. And mapping.
According to Descamps, he created his app over the course of four months “on a lark”. At the time, Apple’s App Store was just launching, and so he wanted to test the viability of a night sky-focused app to see if the new app-adopting public would get excited about science apps that have utility both for professional astronomers and everyday stargazers. It worked, and Starmap stayed at the top of the charts in the early weeks following the App Store’s launch.
Descamps was surprised to find early success, but managed to capitalize on it nonetheless, and has since expanded operations to a team of 12 and launched various iterations and upgrades on the major theme, all of which have racked up more than 4 million downloads.
The French app developer was lucky to take advantage of the early interest surrounding the App Store, but he says the road has been full of trials and tribulations, and has required an active sense of humor along the way. So, below Descamps has created a flow chart that provides a humorous and somewhat insightful look at the process of building a “successful” iOS app, informed by the “pain” and “joy” of dealing with the bumps along the way.
Take a look and let us know what you think.

Facebook peeved about profile-modifier PageRage

Useful app? Or "bad for users and the Web as a whole"?

(Credit: Screenshot of pagerage.com by Edward Moyer/CNET)

It would certainly be an interesting development if an app that lets people dress up their Facebook profiles to make them look more like My Space pages somehow led to Facebook's downfall.
That's probably unlikely. But The Wall Street Journal's Emily Steel is reporting that profile-modification app PageRage is causing Facebook some angst.
That's because the free version of PageRage includes ads--ads that Facebook makes no money from, and that, in some cases, apparently obscure the ads from which Facebook does profit.
The PageRage advertisements are reportedly big and splashy and push products from major companies such as The Gap and AT&T. But that's not the only pushing they do; they purportedly also knock ads sold by Facebook further down the page. And that's caused the world-famous social network to label PageRage as "adware"--despite the app's apparent usefulness to anyone who simply has to individualize his or her Facebook profile by making it resemble, say, a Hawaiian shirt.

(The Gap and other advertisers, by the way, say they have no direct dealings with PageRage or its creator Sambreel, Steel reports. That's because Sambreel, which makes the money from the ads, works with third-party companies that broker the actual ad space.)
Facebook and PageRage aren't the only actors in this drama, Steel says. Google, Yahoo, and Bing-purveyor Microsoft are involved as well, owing to an app called BuzzDock, also from Sambreel, that lets users search multiple search engines at once and that can similarly interfere with money-making advertisements. Other Sambreel apps are part of the dustup as well, such as Drop Down Deals, which automatically displays coupons on shopping sites.
Citing an anonymous source, Steel says Facebook has sent Sambreel cease and desist letters and that Sambreel, for its part, says it has "no contractual relationship with Facebook and is therefore not bound by their policies."
Sambreel says as well that users freely download its apps, that ads powered by its apps are clearly labeled to differentiate them from ads on the underlying Web page, that it sells ad-free versions of its apps for about two dollars apiece, and that users can delete its software if they decide to. Also, with PageRage other people can't see your profile modifications unless they've decided to install the app too.
"It is a nasty term to call us adware," Steel quotes Sambreel CFO Kai Hankinson as saying. "The term we prefer is ad-supported software."
It's not clear whether Facebook, Google, or the others can do much about the situation. Steel reports that the legal issues are by no means clear cut. "The strength of a legal case would depend on whether consumers are confused about the tradeoffs for downloading the software and also how the technology actually works to alter the Web sites people see," she writes, citing information from a lawyer specializing in intellectual-property, media, and technology law. She also notes that blocking software like PageRage "can turn into a game of cat and mouse software updates."
The litany of company statements that Steel quotes in response to her queries are as follows:
Facebook: "[We are] reviewing all possible legal, technical, and policy options to address this situation and ensure the best possible experience for our users."
Google: "Applications that are installed without clear disclosure, that are hard to remove, and that modify users' experiences in unexpected ways are bad for users and the Web as a whole."
Microsoft: "We do not support adware that irresponsibly displays advertisements in ways that fail to respect the rights of users, advertisers, and Web service providers, and we will take action where appropriate to protect our customers and platforms."
Sambreel: "If anything, we are probably increasing user engagement or increasing the enjoyment users have on their sites."
Yahoo: No comment.

Google Currents: First Impressions Of Google’s Flipboard Competitor

Google has just launched its much-rumored Flipboard competitor, Google Currents. The service is available for both iOS and Android — including support for phones and tablets — and you can download it right here. But only if you’re in the US (sorry international readers).
The gist of Currents is simple: it’s a clean, touch-friendly way to consume your favorite blogs and news sites on your phone and/or tablet. And it looks good — much better, in fact, than most of Google’s other applications.
After installing the app, you’ll see icons for a handful of pre-selected publications like 500px and The Daily Beast. Currents will immediately begin downloading the most recent articles from these sources, and you’ll also be prompted to add additional publications to your Library (including TechCrunch, should that suit your fancy — we’re an initial launch partner).
If you’re using a large enough display (in other words, a tablet), Currents will display large photo banners that help lend a magazine vibe to the app. Aside from these, the app is broken into two main sections of content: Library and Trending. The former is where content from the publications you’ve opted to follow will show up , and the app will proactively download that content so you can read it offline.
The Trending tab displays the hottest stories across the web, broken down by category and drawn from a variety of sources. The default section is called simply ‘Top Stories’, and you can add additional topic-specific lists including Technology, Business, and World News.
But while Currents has been discussed as a Flipboard competitor — and it is, in the sense that it gives you an attractive way to browse your favorite sites — this initial release has relatively little integration with social networks like Twitter and Facebook, which are Flipboard’s bread and butter. At this point Currents will let you share with any social apps you have installed (as you can with most Android apps). But you can’t connect with Twitter or Facebook to view posts shared by your friends within Currents itself. Another way to put it: at this point, it doesn’t feel terribly social.
That said, Google says it plans to roll out more social features down the line, so this may come eventually. Of course, the fact that Google omitted them from this release may indicate that it’s more interested in driving people to Google+.
Here are some of my other early impressions (I’ll be adding more as I spend more time with Currents):

• I’ve toyed with the app on three devices so far: A Nexus One, Galaxy Nexus, and a Galaxy Tab 10.1. The app looks great on the tablet, and works well on the Galaxy Nexus, too. It’s pretty clunky on the Nexus One, particularly when I try to browse content while the app is downloading other articles in the background.
• Reading content housed in the Library section is a pleasant experience. You can flick left and right to progress through a story (or, if you’re reading the last bit of a story, to jump to the next one), and you can hit a Menu icon to see headlines and brief excerpts of recent stories from the same publication. I could definitely see myself using this on a regular basis, particularly on Android devices where Flipboard isn’t yet available. The fact that there are no ads helps.
• Reading content in the Trending section isn’t nearly as nice. After tapping on one of the trending topics, you’ll be presented with several relevant articles from different publications. Tap one of these, and you’ll see the story’s excerpt — but not the full article.  You see, many of these publishers aren’t content partners on Currents yet, and Google can’t simply scrape all of their content. So, instead of being able to read these articles within the app’s native UI, you need to tap a button that says ‘See Original Article’. This will open the article in a browser pane, which includes the full text (and ads) from the article, as if you’d browsed to it from the web. Google doesn’t really have any other choice here, but it’s a buzzkill, especially because, unlike the content in your Library section, Currents doesn’t pre-fetch these articles so it needs to pause for a moment to download them.
• Google will be allowing publishers to sell premium content through the app, though I can’t find any yet.
• Currents doesn’t have as many visual flourishes (like page-turn animations) as Flipboard does. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though. I’m actually finding Currents easier to get the hang of, particularly comparing phone-sized version of Currents with the new iPhone Flipboard app that just came out.
• Update: After playing with the app more on the Galaxy Nexus, I’ve found that Currents definitely has some performance issues. It seems to hesitate a bit at times when I flick to the next page of an article, and twice now I’ve had it get slow as I left the app (the Android homescreen took a few seconds to pop in). That said, the issues aren’t deal-breakers, they’re just a little annoying.

Sunday Night Is Most Popular Time to Download Android Apps

Android posted a series of infographics on Thursday with impressive app stats to celebrate its 10 billionth download from the Android Market.
Android users from 190 countries download apps every day, according to one of the infographics. The U.S. is not the most app crazed country either — it ranked fourth behind South Korea (no. 1), Hong Kong (no. 2) and Taiwan (no. 3). Rounding out the top ten includes Singapore (no. 5), Sweden (no. 6), Israel (no. 7), Denmark (no. 8), the Netherlands (no. 9) and Norway (no. 10).
Meanwhile, the top categories for Android app downloads include games (25.6%), entertainment (12.2%), tools (11.7%), music (4.28%) and social (4.08%).
But the most interesting tidbits were associated with how Android owners use their apps. About 12 billion miles are navigated on Google Maps each year — which is equivalent to more than 37,000 trips to the moon — and 100 million words are translated every week in 200 different countries on Google Translate.
As for when most people download apps, searching through the Android Market the night before the work week starts is evidently a common activity. The most popular time to download an Android app is 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, while the least popular time to do so is just seven hours later at 4:00 a.m. Monday morning.
Other interesting Android app stats include the following:

• About 1.87 million hours were spent on the popular movie database app IMDb in the past four months.
• The equivalent of 5,054 years are spent playing with popular gaming app Talking Tom, during which Tom has been knocked down 10.6 billion times.
• Users of the car racing app Asphalt would owe $3.2 billion in speeding ticket fines if they took their driving habits to the streets.
• 10 billion cans have been knocked down playing Can Knockdown. That’s a whole lot of cans.

Teach Yourself to Program

Do you want to build a game for Android, a theme for your blog or a twitter desktop client? Have a great idea but lack the development chops to take it from the pages of your legal pad to the App Store? Want to make sure your kid learns to program, even though your local school system may not offer the best options? This post should give you a good starting point for learning to program.
We have many developers who read ReadWriteWeb, so this post is meant to both be a help for aspiring programmers and a place for those of you with much more knowledge than I, to drop in suggestions. Please let me know what we've inevitably left out.

A word from our sponsor:

Books

There are a variety of great books and resources that will teach you to code in the language of your choice. Interested in the look and feel of a website? Consider learning a front end language, like Javascript, or learn to create stylesheets using CSS.

If the underlying technology of a site or application is more interesting, consider learning a back end language. Scripting languages like PHP, Ruby, Perl, and Python are popular for a variety of applications, not least of which are Web applications. If you want to develop desktop applications, you might want to look at C++ and APIs like Cocoa.
Some great books for any of these options can be found on Amazon, O'Reilly or at your local library. Note, if you work for a technology company, you should check your benefits because many technology employers offer Safari Books Online, from O'Reilly, as an added benefit for their staff.

Meetups

Some people would rather get together with like-minded folks and learn by doing. There are meetups available to you, for most any language, even segmented by gender and age, or by what you might be creating. It does warrant mentioning that you will have a much easier time finding programming meetups on Meetup.com or on a meetup's homepage if you live in a big city. If you live in a small town, like I do, you can check in at your local schools to see if there are any meetups going on that are off the grid.

Structured Coursework

Some colleges, including Stanford, UC Berkeley and MIT, offer much, if not all, of their programming classwork online. In some cases, you can have them delivered directly to you as a podcast. Mozilla and Google also offer dedicated resources to educating yourself. Other options include the prolific Lynda.com, which will teach you to do almost anything for a small fee. Most languages also offer online documentation, including some of the best tutorials and sample code to get started. Do a quick web search on your language of choice to find where the best learning options for that language exist.

Pick It Apart

I'm a kinesthetic learner, so if I want to know how something is built, whether it's an old CB radio (that I was sure, as a kid, I could turn into a way to get cable television signals through) or a drop-down menu script, the first place I'll turn is to Github. There are so many kind developers on there that will give away their code, just to teach others and help them do their jobs easier. I never cease to be amazed at the kindness of developers. Another option is CodeAcademy, which is just about as kinesthetic as you can get. My daughter is going through this option now.

Ask for Help

After about 15 minutes of dipping your toes into the proverbial water, you're going to get stuck. You'll hit a roadblock and you'll either quit, or struggle through it. In these cases, it's helpful to know where to go to debug. StackOverflow is likely your best option, though most of the homepages/repositories for your language of choice will also offer a forum with super helpful folks that haven't forgotten the early days of learning a programming language. The CarlHProgramming sub-Reddit is another place to get help with where you went wrong, via 10,000 Words.

App Building Tools

Some folks are skipping the deep dives into programming traditional languages and opting to learn just enough to build the app they want to build. In these cases, Conduit, a product we reviewed just yesterday, or RunRev's LiveCode are worth looking into. RunRev is putting on a free LiveCode Game Academy, today through January 31st, if you're looking to both learn how to build an app and work with others in a more structured environment. Both Conduit and LiveCode offer tutorials and videos that will help you learn to use their products.
Here's an example of a RunRev engineer's start to finish app, using LiveCode.

How to build your own app for free

Conduit offers a simple tool to build your own app.

(Credit: Conduit)

Ever want to build an app for yourself?
It's actually not hard. There are a number of companies that offer the ability to create your own app for a minimal fee, which is great for small businesses looking to stay relevant in this increasingly mobile world. Or if you just have a lot of time on your hands.
Take Conduit. The company made its money creating branded toolbars found on your browser. But over the past few months, it has been expanding into the mobile world with a free service that allows you to build an app and mobile Web site in minutes. It's part of a planned shift by the company to build its consumer awareness after spending years serving other businesses in a white label capacity.
"We're trying to give companies a tool to really go mobile," said Ori Lavie, vice president of product strategy at Conduit Mobile. "It's sometimes a difficult struggle."

You can select how many categories, or tabs, you want on your app.

(Credit: Conduit)

I've tried the service, and it's pretty simple to use. The best part: it's completely free. Conduit has a team set up that will take you through the submission process and it will even pay your fee to get the app up in the various mobile app stores. As with everything in life, there are some catches, and Conduit's offer is a limited-time promotion.
For the purposes of testing, I decided to build a mobile application out of my personal Tumblr blog, Annoying PR. Conduit's browser-based tool allowed me to select from a set template for how the app would look--including different appearances for each platform.
To add content to the app, I typed in the address for my blog, which drew in the feed. I also added my Twitter and Facebook accounts.
In terms of the look, I was able to change up the color scheme. I also chose a background, splash page, screenshots, and a logo for the app. You can pick images from a provided library of upload your own images.
There's also an option to run mobile ads on the app, in which Conduit and the customer would split any potential revenue. I opted not to run ads on my app.

Potentially get your app on multiple devices.

(Credit: Conduit)

The tool worked very much like Wordpress, Tumblr, or any other Web site or blog creation service, and is fairly intuitive.
Within minutes I had an HTML5 mobile Web site built. The site worked a lot like an app, especially after I chose to put it on my iPhone's home screen. The address, which uses a Conduit-hosted URL, isn't exactly the catchiest.
(Point your mobile browser here to check out the HTML5 site.)
Of course, I care more about getting it into app form, which is where there are complications. Yes, Conduit will offer to take your app through the submission process--all while covering your fees--but only after its compliance team deems the app ready. It can kick back the app if it lacks content or uses copyrighted or offensive material.
Once the app is ready, an option comes up that allows you to take advantage of this promotion.
In my case, the app wasn't ready for primetime. I got a message from a Conduit team member saying my app had insufficient content and suggested I add more categories and images. I added more content from CNET's YouTube page and a contact tab and resubmitted it. I'm hoping for more luck the next time around.
Lavie said the review process by Conduit may take a few days and getting approval from iTunes and Samsung's Bada may take a few weeks. Beyond iOS, Android, and Bada, a separate Nokia app is created as well. It also creates a Web app for Microsoft's Windows Phone and BlackBerry, although the site says native apps were coming soon.
Its simple format means this is a better option for businesses without a lot of technical resources to pursue their own app. Large companies and major brands with money behind them are better off building an app from scratch, since it'll likely be able to take more advantage of the device. There's a reason why major companies are pouring money into building apps--they want to be a permanent fixture on a device you stare at dozens of times a day.
It's not just businesses; ambitious individuals are also getting into the app game. Lavie said opera singer Andrea Bocelli will have a personal app up through Conduit, as well as two NFL players who haven't launched their programs yet. He added he expects bands and DJs to be interested in the capability.
It doesn't have to be small business or celebrities. Conduit's offer removes any barriers and complications, meaning anyone with something meaningful to share could conceivably build an app. So this is my challenge to readers: use Conduit to build your own app. If I get enough responses, I'll highlight them in an upcoming Inside Apps column.

How to send and receive SMS texts from your computer browser

For Android users, there's a nifty download now in the Android Market called BrowserTexting (download).
The free app lets you sync your phone to your browser, so you can send and receive SMS messages right from your computer. It's perfect for when you're at work, at home, or when you just don't feel like tapping away texts on your Android phone's touch screen.
To start, BrowserTexting gives you unlimited incoming texts and up to 50 outgoing texts from your browser. It also lets you send group texts to up to five recipients at a time. For the seasoned SMS pros out there, BrowserTexting offers Premium accounts starting at $9.99 per year, which give you unlimited browser texting and unlimited group message recipients. You can try out a Premium account free for 30 days.
Here's how BrowserTexting works.
Step 1: Download and install the free BrowserTexting app from the Android Market.
Step 2: Using your computer browser, navigate to BrowserTexting.com, and click Start Texting From This Computer to generate a unique QR code.

(Credit: BrowserTexting)

Step 3: Fire up the BrowserTexting app on your Android phone and hit Connect to scan the QR code on your computer screen. If you don't have a QR code scanner installed on your device, the app will prompt you to download one.

(Credit: BrowserTexting)

Step 4: Once you've scanned the QR code, your phone will automatically sync with your browser, and your phone's contacts will immediately pop up on your computer screen. Just tap a contact name or type in a phone number to begin texting.

(Credit: BrowserTexting)

Since BrowserTexting stays synced between devices, all you have to do is navigate to BrowserTexting.com on your computer at any time and tap Start Texting From This Computer to use it.
BrowserTexting is available for free download in the Android Market, and is compatible with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Opera.

Cellphones, Science Get diagnosed by spitting on an iPhone, social graces terminal

Korean scientists reckon that the capacitive touchscreens on our phones and tablets could help diagnose diseases from what's floating around in your mouth. It works through the screen's ability to detect minute capacitive differences in disease-carrying liquids placed on its surface. Experiments by Hyun Gyu Park and Byoung Yeon Won at the Korea Advanced Institute for Science and Technology in Daejeon managed to detect chlamydia microbes in three different concentrations. Once again, the iPhone acted as medical chief, although the setup isn't yet able to distinguish between different bugs. There are also teething troubles with the touchscreen, as capacitive read-outs can be affected by moisture and sweat that are on the screen alongside your 'sample.' One solution to this would be to create a disposable film that attaches to the iPhone surface. There's a second reason for this, as Park diplomatically puts it: "Nobody wants direct application of bio-samples onto their phone." Let's hope Siri doesn't take it personally.

[Sneezing photo via Shutterstock]