Today you have a chance to read his work in a very unusual but wonderful experiment. Every year, the New York Times publishes in its last December Magazine section a recap of those who have died over the past year. Most are people that you remember from the announcement contemporaneously, some you have missed (no matter how carefully you read the obits or pay attention to the news) and surprise or shock you. This year's installment combines the usual journalism of the famous deaths with Glass's special section, where he has picked the deaths of ordinary folks. His are the extraordinary stories of the year and deserve mention. For those of us who write for a living, he continues to inspire us.

There is the story of the couple, both diagnosed with HIV, that are both in hospice care. He buys a motorcycle and surprises her with a last ride, while she is carrying her bag of Morphine and riding with her paper gown fluttering in the slipstream. Of the soldiers that died on one random day this summer, one of whom has to call in an air strike for the first time and realizes that his fourth grade teacher's instruction of lattitude and longitude was what saved his men that day, and gets to tell her class in person when he returns home.

Another is the last speech a brilliant math teacher gave that is peppered with prime numbers, and contains the love he has for both his students and learning. A woman who fought for the rights of her kids to have proper shelter and won a long-standing lawsuit that has helped thousands of other at-risk kids as a result.How the founder of the cryonics movement was embalmed at his own death.

These quick summaries are not doing the stories justice. But you get the idea.

There is some tie-in to tech. The Times has collected, via Storify, a selection of inadvertent last Tweets from some prominent people here as part of its interactive collection. And the way the newspaper has arranged its coverage is also well thought out and something noteworthy for those of us that try to present lots of information online. (It even does a nice job with Helvetica type too.) But it is really the stories that make up this issue that are worthwhile. Go take a look.

So I realize that writing about Hedy Lamarr and Wi-Fi, or how a group of security researchers uncovered a piece of malware, or how two bloggers fighting a troll isn't going to be close to the level of the Times/Glass stories: not even in the same league. But they still are great stories for our time, and I hope to write many more for you. Here is to another wonderful year.

You can buy the newspaper on Sunday, or read it today online. If you are looking at ways to tell better stories, it is a must read. Thanks for the collection. You can also listen to Glass' radio show online here too if you want more inspiration.

As cool as Siri seemed to many at launch, like so many things, it's true potential wasn't really unlocked until a crafty developer got his hands on it and started tinkering. Pete Lamonica managed to create a hack called SiriProxy that allowed him to control his thermostat using only his voice (more on that below). He set up a proxy server and posted his code on GitHub so that more developers could take advantage of it and push the limits of what Siri can do. And indeed they have.

1. Turn Up (or Down) The Thermostat

The first Siri hack to gain considerable attention was Lamonica's voice-controlled thermostat. He set up a proxy server to trick Siri into thinking it's communicating with Apple's servers and wrote some custom handlers for actions related to controlling his WiFi-enabled thermostat. In a video posted online, Lamonica successfully gets Siri to tell him the current temperature and even bump it up a few degrees.

2. Start, Stop and Lock Your Car

After Lamonica's thermostat hack made the rounds, another developer used a similar approach to tap into his car's computerized control system, which allowed him to start and stop the car, as well as lock the doors and set the car alarm. Like the thermostat example, this hack will only work with a car that has such a system to tapped into. In this case, he's using the Viper SmartStart app for iPhone, which requires an in-car installation to work.

3. Watch Seinfeld (Or Anything Else on Your TV

In a possible foreshadowing of Apple products to come, another developer was able to commandeer Siri to find and play video content on Plex media center software. The result is a scenario right out of Back to the Future 2. Simply ask Siri to play the most recent episode of The Simpsons, and almost instantaneously the opening credits will begin.

4. Have Siri Read You the Latest Headlines

For news junkies who aren't in a position to stare at their phone (for example, while driving), one hack will read back headlines from a given RSS feed. All you have to do is ask. A developer known as @JailbreakMatrix, who also wrote a hack that lets Siri control iTunes playback, posted a video online showing Siri read back Endgadget headlines.

5. Dim the Lights and Close the Curtains

Pretty much any household item that can be connected to the Internet can theoretically be controlled by Siri. Thankfully, that list is growing. In one recent hack, a developer was able to get Siri to close his curtains, dim two different lights and turn on his ceiling fan. This tweak utilized an iPhone app written by the developer that could control various household items. He just simply built a bridge between the app and Siri, enabling futuristic voice-control of the room around him.

Fortunately, there have been a number of third party browsers that have made their way into the App Store. Atomic Browser and Opera Mini are both very popular, streamlined browsers that support tabbed browsing. Skyfire offers rich social integration and can even play Flash videos. The newest entrant into this space is Dolphin HD, a tablet-optimized version of the popular Android browser, which just launched for iPhone a few weeks ago.

While none of these third options universally blows Safari out of the water (for most users anyway), there are a number of things that each one does very well and that Apple would be wise to make note of.

1. The Web is Social Now. Make Sharing Easy.

By far the most shocking limitation of Safari for iPad is its lack of native social sharing options. Tapping the "share" icon next to the URL bar reveals four options: bookmark it, add it to the home screen, email a link or print it. That's right, Apple has made it easier to share Web content on paper than via Twitter or Facebook.

This may well improve with iOS 5, but for the time being the process of sharing a link on Twitter from the iPad looks something like this:

1. Double-tap the URL.
2. Tap "Select All" (or, more likely, be forced to drag the text selection tool manually).
3. Hit "Copy".
4. Minimize Safari.
5. Open Twitter or your Twitter iPad app of choice.
6. Write a clever tweet.
7. Paste the URL.
8. Shorten the URL.
9. Post the tweet.

On the desktop, sharing any page via Twitter is a much simpler process, especially with tools like the Bit.ly sidebar bookmarklet or Hootsuite's hootlet.

The Web itself is a very social place now, with sharing tools for Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and all the rest woven throughout many pages, especially on content-heavy sites. But users also need simple, browser-level tools for easily sharing pages on social networks. The "social magazine" apps like Flipboard and Pulse do a wonderful job of this.

For an example of how a tablet browser can nail social features, look no further than Skyfire. The browser gives prominent placement to social sharing buttons across the bottom of the app, and even includes a universal "Like" button for Facebook. It can also send content straight to InstaPaper without the need for workarounds. Dolphin HD for iPad is another browser that makes sharing easy, although it's limited to Facebook and Twitter.

The next version of iOS is going to have deep integration with Twitter, so we can probably expect to see improvements in this area as far as Twitter is concerned. Hopefully other social networks will get baked into Safari in due time.

2. Tabbed Browsing is the Norm (To Be Fair: Coming Soon!)

Yes, we know this one is a little unfair, but we had to get it out of the way. When iOS 5 is publicly released this Fall, Safari will finally have tabbed browsing. This is something that many users have been clamoring for since the iPad first launched, and we understand why. Desktop browser have had tabs for years now.

Granted, the processing power on a tablet is not quite the same as a desktop computer, and stability is important. Those of us who keep dozens of browser tabs open all day would probably be more frustrated with a crashing browser than with its lack of tabs. But a few third party iPad browsers have successfully implemented tabbed browsing, even if their performance isn't always quite as good as Safari's. Dolphin and Terra are two of the more popular third party browsers that include tabs.

3. RSS Feeds Were Meant to Be Subscribed To

RSS may not have reached mainstream status, but lots of people use it and it's very important to how content is consumed online. Thus, you'd think that Safari for iPad would know what to do when it encounters an RSS feed on a Web page. In some cases, it does. For example, if the feed is hosted on Feedburner, that service's usual feed landing page displays and you can subscribe in your feedreader of choice. But if it's a plain RSS feed, Safari will simply display a page containing its title and recent items. Yes, you can bookmark that page and check it later and there may well be other workarounds to enable RSS subscriptions, but they are exactly that: workarounds.

Dolphin includes an "RSS Subscribe" button on any page that offers a feed. This is a feature that should be built directly into any modern Web browser, regardless of the device it's running on.

4. Take Better Advantage of Multitouch

One of the most celebrated features of iOS is its use of multitouch for user interactivity, which has been used to create some truly neat user experiences in various apps. Surprisingly, the Safari browser doesn't take as much advantage of this as it could. In addition to the pinching and zooming necessary to scale Web pages up and down, the browser could easily utilize multi-finger swipes to the left and right to advance pages, for example. Just as the browser window scrolls up and down, similar gestures could be used to navigate between pages.

Terra uses sideways swipe gestures to jump from tab to tab. Perhaps in a future version of Safari, a two-finger swipe to the left would skip to the previous page, while a three-finger swipe would jump to the next tab.

Taking things a step further is the Dolphin browser, which uses custom gestures to navigate the Web. Users can define their own gestures to call up certain bookmarked pages.

5. Better Download Management

Another feature that's standard on the desktop but hasn't quite made its way into the mobile versions of Safari is download management. The browser renders standards-compliant Web pages beautifully and even handles PDFs and certain other filetypes well. When you encounter files that don't naturally render in a Web browser, Safari gives you the option to try opening the file in another application, but there's no central repository from which to manage those downloads.

Dolphin handles this quite nicely. It keeps a "Downloads" list of every file you've downloaded from the Web and gives you the option to open in Dropbox (if you have it installed) or whatever app would be most suitable.

A Few Other Things We'd Like to See

Some other features we've seen in third party iPad browsers that we wish Safari had are fullscreen page viewing, the ability to clear data from within the browser (in Safari, you have to go to the device's settings to wipe history, cookies and cache), a "speed dial" feature similar to the one seen in Dolphin in Opera. This is just a tiled home screen that lets you jump straight to your favorite sites without having to dig through bookmarks.

Of course, a few lessons can be drawn from desktop browsers as well. The ability to install browser add-ons and plugins to extend its functionality would be a dream come true. Most modern desktop browsers support this and its a great way to customize the browsing experience. In addition to full-blown extensions, an easy way to add simple bookmarklets to the browser would help users take better advantage of the Web's capabilities when using their tablets.

See Also: ReadWriteWeb's roundup of the best third party browsers for Android.

Are there any features you'd like to see in future versions of Safari for iPad? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

As always, share your thoughts on those we missed in the comments below.

iPhone & Android / Cross-Platform

Spott: This app uses your phone's GPS to point to map out nearby film and TV locations. Great for entertainment buffs. ($0.99, iTunes and $1.13, Android Market)

Nosh: This food-spotting and reviews app lets you photograph, share and track great places to eat and the meals you've had there. (Free, iTunes and Android Market)

Facebook for Every Phone: This new app brings Facebook to over 2,500 phones worldwide. To download, go to m.facebook.com or enter d.facebook.com/install in your mobile browser.

MyMoby lets families privately share their location with each other and send alerts when needing assistance. (Free, iTunes, Android and BlackBerry)

iPhone

Batphone: This experimental app uses the phone's microphone to record the sounds in a room to develop an acoustic "fingerprint" for that space. The idea is that this type of location-detection could be used in future apps when GPS is not available. There's nothing much you can really do with this app right now, but what a cool concept! (Free, iTunes)

Capture: Instead of wasting time hitting "record" or adjusting settings, the Capture app starts recording video as soon as the app launches. Finally, you can record the kids before the moment has passed!($0.99, iTunes)

Trover: Newly launched app Trover was an undiscovered gem until the big press push this month surrounding the app's update. With Trover, you can connect with others to discover places and things nearby using photo-sharing combined with geolocation. (Free, iTunes)

Summify: This new iPhone app delves into the social news space to deliver periodic summaries of the news from your friends on Twitter, Facebook and Google Reader. (Free, iTunes)

Trimit: This app summarizes webpages into either 1,000, 5,000 or 140 character summaries for easy reading and social sharing. (Free, iTunes)

Katango: Like the idea of Google Circles but happy on Facebook? Katagno automatically organizes your Facebook friends into groups, then allows you to share just with them. It's automagical! (Free, iTunes)

Evoz: This app turns your iPhone, iPod or iPad into a baby monitor by working with another iOS device connected over Wi-Fi. Put one device in the baby's room, listen on the other. (Free, iTunes)

Dragon Go: This voice control app understands the intent of your questions and opens the appropriate website to provide an answer (e.g., Reviews of sushi restaurants might open Yelp, music by Lady Gaga, starts playing a song on your iPod, etc.) (Free, iTunes)

Photovine: This new photo-sharing app comes from Google-acquired Slide (yes, we know, weird!) Fun, but invite only for now. (Free, iTunes)

ON Voicefeed: A great new app for iPhone, ON Voicefeed lets you set up custom voicemail greetings for different callers or groups of callers. A premium version ($9.99/year) adds unlimited greetings and voicemail storage. (Free, iTunes)

Foreca.st: From the makers of Hurricane Party, Foreca.st lets you share where you're going with friends, then lets you check in using Foursquare when you arrive. (Free, iTunes)

Flixlab: This app lets you easily make movies and slideshows on your iPhone which you can then share with friends on Facebook. (Free, iTunes)

OfficeDrop: You can scan, search, organize and archive your paper files, PDFs and other documents using this new iPhone/iPad app and view them either on your device or the Web. (Free, iTunes - additional storage available for a fee)

im360: With this iOS application you can check out an amazing collection of 360-degree videos from your iPhone (Free for Lite version or $1.99, iTunes)

Android

ABC News: The official ABC News app arrived on Android bringing top stories, video briefs, pictures, breaking news and more. Select cities also have access to local news. (Free, Android Market)

Do it (Tomorrow): A great new productivity (or procrastination) app for Android, Do it Tomorrow lets you keep track of your to-do's in an attractive, simple interface. Cloud syncing is available, too. (Free, Android Market)

AwayFind for Android: This app brings email management tool AwayFind to mobile users, letting you route urgent emails to your Android phone or tablet, read the whole message and reply. Push notifications are supported too. (Free, Android Market)

Vellamo Mobile Web Benchmark: This new app from Qualcomm lets you evaluate Web performance in detail so you can see which Android devices offer the best experience in terms of browser performance. (Free, Android Market)

Localicious: This new Android app from WhitePages helps you find popular nearby businesses, plus real-time tips and trends. Foursquare users can also use the app to do "pre check-ins." (Free, Android Market)

Scrabble Free: This month EA launched its first free Android game, Scrabble Free, which includes all the features you love and expect. (Free, Android Market)

Tablets

SwiftKey X: One of the best alternative keyboard interfaces for Android added a ton of new features, including better predictive intelligence and "cloud learning," which lets you optionally connect to Twitter, Gmail, Facebook and SMS to improve its predictions. Android Honeycomb is also supported. ($3.99 for Android phones, $4.99 for Tablets, Android Market or Amazon Appstore)

Crayola ColorStudio HD for iPad: Not just an app, but an app and pen combo, this new experience for iPad actually lets your kids color on the tablet with a big pen. No more crayon on the walls! Can't wait for my daughter to be old enough for this! (App is free in iTunes, iMarker pen is $29.99.)

Star Trek PADD: The app you nerds (ahem, self included) have secretly been waiting for: the PADD turns your iPad into an authentic-looking PADD from Star Trek. For practical purposes, you can read Star Trek news, but really, who needs practical? ($4.99, iTunes)

iUsers: This iPad app sets up your iPad for use with multiple users, each with their own mailbox, settings and apps. (Jailbreak only - add http://cydia.iblogeek.com as a source then search for iUsers)

Birds-Eye: An iPad app that shows you who's tweeting around you. Simple, but fun. (Free, iTunes)

NASA Visualization Explorer: An awesome app for space geeks, this new iPad app provides a direct connection to NASA's research news in an engaging format using photos and videos. (Free, iTunes)

iSheetMusic: Although it works on iPhone too, we like iSheetMusic on the iPad instead - it's easier to see. As you may have guessed by its title, this app lets you search for, buy and organize sheet music collections on your device. An audible and visible Metronome are included, too. (Free, iTunes)

Notable Updates

You may have missed the following app updates this past month. Here are a few worth mentioning.

Social

• Foursquare launched notifications on Android (first!) and added directions to the iPhone versions.
• FriendCaster (Facebook app for Android, formerly called Flow for Facebook) came to Android tablets (in alpha, via invite)
• StumbleUpon! came to the iPad
• Hashable's social CRM app was updated with a new focus on privacy instead of broadcasting connections.
• Twitter for Android added push notifications and support for multiple accounts

News/Info

• Bloomberg arrived for Android tablets
• NASA's official app arrived on Android

Entertainment

• Amazon's Cloud Player arrived on iPad via a Web interface, and added unlimited storage for $20/year
• Hulu Plus for Android added support for more devices
• Zinio's magazine reader app expanded Android support to all Froyo and Gingerbread devices
• SoundHound for iPhone added LiveLyrics, which lets you search for lyrics for the music you're listening to
• IMDb added support for Android tablets and several new features
• TV guide app i.TV partnered with check-in service GetGlue on iOS

Google / Other

• Google Maps for Android added stop-by-stop information for transit and offline maps
• Google Docs for mobile browsers added the ability to sort, narrow and share multiple docs from your list
• Google Shopper was updated with support for Google Offers (local deals)
• Evernote for Android updated with new interface, rich text notes and more.
• Pinger brought free text messaging to European users
• Mint for iPhone was updated with more money management features, including the ability to add transactions while on the go
• M-commerce app Zaarly arrived on Android
• Cross-platform smart note-taking app SpringPad was updated with reminders, push notifications and badges (iOS)
• Thrutu, which lets you share information and media while on the phone, arrived on iOS

With so many digital distractions, it's a wonder we can get anything done. For those of us for whom being productive means stringing words together, whether we're bloggers, marketing copy writers or aspiring novelists, the Internet can be a mixed blessing. Fortunately, there are a number of writing applications that attempt to block out the distractions so we can finally focus.

iA Writer

iA Writer is a popular writing application with a design that's about as minimalist as they come. The interface contains very few options and preferences to tinker with. You can put it into full screen mode or FocusMode, which highlights only the sentence you're writing and greys out everything. Other than that, the only option is to write.

It's only available for Mac OS and iPad, and while it isn't cheap, it comes highly recommended by the likes of Tim O'Reilly and Web designer extraordinaire Jason Santa Maria.

It comes with solid support for Markdown syntax so you can format your test without fussing around with the mouse.

OmmWriter

The experience of using OmmWriter isn't just about the distractions it blocks out, but also what it adds. Minimalist background images and subtle, ambient music aim to promote a state of mental relaxation and focus.

As the desktop client recommends when you start it up, OmmWriter is best experienced with headphones. You can choose from three ambient audio tracks or turn the sound off if you're not in the mood to go all-out Zen.

After a few years of offering a desktop client, OmmWriter more recently put out an iPad version, as have a few other providers. This seems especially appropriate, as the iPad (and tablets more generally) tend to be much more conducive to focusing than desktop computers with their browser tabs, desktop notifications

Clean Writer

CleanWriter, as you may be able to guess from its name, is another writing app with a very minimal design. Like iA Writer and OmmWriter, it's available for both Mac OS and the iPad, but with a smaller price tag.

Some of its noted perks include the option to write on a black background and the ability to sync files with Dropbox.

Ulysses

Rather than a blank page with few to no buttons, Uylsses offers something closer to a full-fledged word processing app for Mac owners with some project management features built in.

It may have more buttons and features than many of these other writing apps, but Uylsses is still relatively stripped-down and maintains a focus on distraction-free, semantic text editing. It's geared more toward professionals, as the price tag would suggest.

Ulysses supports exporting documents in a variety of standard formats, including DOC, RTF and PDF.

QuietWrite

For those who would prefer a free, platform agnostic approach to focused writing, QuietWrite is a Web app that lets you get started right this minute, from your Web browser. It has a few buttons and controls across the top, but they only appear when the mouse or trackpad is in use. If you're only typing, the buttons disappear. Nice touch.

As a free product, it's pretty light on features, but for users who just need to get some simple writing done without bells and whistles, it more than does the trick. Once you start writing, QuietWrite will begin periodically auto-saving your drafts. When you're done, you have the option to export the draft directly to Wordpress.

You don't need to sign up for an account to get started, but if you want to manage and publish your drafts, you'll have to take a few seconds and set up an account, which, as we may have mentioned, is free.

Byword

Platform: Mac
Cost: $9.99
Try It: http://bywordapp.com

ByWord is a writing app that's reminiscent of iA Writer, but is available for a few bucks less and is only available on Mac OS. It supports standard text editing features and Markdown syntax, as well as the more its more complex superset called MultiMarkdown.

A Few Other Options

These are far from the only distraction-free writing apps available, but this represents some of the best. Some other options worth checking out would be WriteMonkey (free, for Windows), Q10 (free, for Windows) and PenZen (a free Web app).

See also: Is More Zen, Less Plus The Way to Go?

Pencil photo courtesy of Flickr user orangeacid

This time around, we're again focusing on new (and notably updated) iPhone and Android applications, as well as a few iPad, tablet and cross-platform apps that caught our eye. As always, share which apps are your new favorites in the comments below.

iPhone Apps

Discovr Apps: An interactive map of all the iOS applications on iTunes. Search for a favorite app, and Discovr shows you related apps in a beautiful visualization. ($0.99, iTunes)

Frenzapp Music: A social music player for sharing songs with friends. (Free, iTunes)

Roger Ebert's Great Movies: Offers all of the reviews in Roger Ebert's series of Great Movies books, from 1915 to the present. ($0.99, iTunes)

Doxo: A file cabinet in your pocket. Snap photos of bills and receipts, view digital files, backups supports, and receive paperless statements from select providers. (Free, iTunes)

BiteHunter: Like Kayak.com for restaurants, this iPhone app helps you seek out dining deals via real-time search. (Free, iTunes)

SayClip: Free & private video messaging. Coming soon to Android. (Free, iTunes)

Agenda: A beautiful calendar app with a clean, minimal design. Great replacement for the stock calendar. ($1.99, iTunes)

WeatherTrends 360: Discover your future weather...up to a year ahead! Uses the company's high level statistical forecasting model to project temperature, precipitation and snowfall trends for 6.4 million locations in 195 countries. ($0.99, iTunes)

SmartFuel: Lets you find cheap gas, but also rate station cleanliness and safety. Uses the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) database which tracks credit card swipes at the pump for determining fuel rates. (Free, iTunes)

Photosynth: Microsoft's 360-degree photos app was recently updated to offer cropping, expanded sharing (now Bing, Facebook and email) and includes "Best of Bing Maps" contest, where the prize is free Xbox 360 and Kinect. (Free, iTunes)

Flixwagon Live Video Share: Broadcast live video from your iPhone and share on Facebook, Twitter, via SMS or email. Sketch and draw over the live, video too. (Free, iTunes)

Universal (iPhone/iPad) and iPad-only

exfm: Social music discovery app goes mobile, letting you follow favorite tastemakers, note songs to favorite or share, listen to friends' shares and buy from iTunes. (Free, iTunes)

NBC: Clips and previews, not full-length episodes. Worth noting, we suppose, but kind of lame. (Free, iTunes)

Fring: Recently updated to include video conferencing on iPad 2. Supports groups of up to 4 people. (Free, iTunes)

Flixlab: Lets a group of friends share video clips and pictures to make movies together. (Free, iTunes)

Hipmunk: Popular flight search app is now available for iPad, letting you sort flights by "agony." (Free, iTunes)

Roadshow: Lets you save online videos for later viewing, even if you go offline. Supports Vimeo, CollegeHumor, Funny or Die, The Onion, but not YouTube. (Free, iTunes)

Book Crawler: Book database and reviews app was recently updated to integrate Skyhook's Local Faves. Now lets you talk to others nearby about the books you're reading. ($1.99, iTunes)

Android Apps

Google+: Google's new social network comes with its own Android app offering access to your streams, circles and photos. An "instant upload" feature is also supported, to immediately post camera photos online to a private album only you can see. Widget included with app. (Free, Android Market)

Hulu Plus: Now on Android, Hulu Plus brings you TV shows and movies for $7.99/month. (Free, Android Market)

Path: The private photo-sharing app for connecting with family and friends is now available on Android, in addition to iOS. (Free, Android Market)

Skype: The Android app has been updated, bringing video calling to the Google Nexus S, HTC Desire S, Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo and Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro, with more on the way. Our coverage. (Free, Android Market)

Third Eye: A reality-based game using Viewdle's facial recognition technology. You play as a vampire or a slayer. (Free, Android Market)

Crackle: Now on Android, Sony Pictures Entertainment's video network brings ad-supported, full-length Hollywood movies and TV shows to Android. (Free, Android Market)

Music Unlimited: Sony's Qtriocity service goes mobile with access to 7 million+ songs. Free for 30 days then $3.99 or $9.99 per month afterwards, depending on plan. (Free, Android Market)

QikCam: This Android widget lets you snap photos or videos quickly just by tapping the homescreen widget. (Not new, but we just discovered!) (Free, Android Market)

UberMusic: From LauncherPro's creator, UberMusic is a new music app offering artist/album downloads, album art, last.fm scrobbling, headphone controls and a homescreen widget. (Free, UberMusic.com APK)

Zimbra: VMWare released an app for Android as a "fling," allowing access to email, contacts, calendar, tasks and files from any Android device. Not guaranteed to be a part of any future product offering, says VMWare, nor is support offered. Our coverage. (Free, VMWare.com)

Wikitude World Browser: Now available for Honeycomb tablets, this AR browser lets you explore the world around you via informational overlays on your camera's display. (Free, Android Market)

Cross-Platform Apps

Snipper: Lets you share short videos with family and friends using private broadcast channels that send clips directly to specific people or groups of people. Public channels are also supported. (Free, iTunes, Android Market, BlackBerry App World, Ovi soon)

Nearparent: GPS-enabled app lets you alert a network of family and friends when your child needs assistance or is in danger. Kids can use the app to check-in, too, or alert the network if they need help. (Free, iTunes, Android Market)

PInger Textfree Web: This free mobile Web application lets you text message with any phone in the U.S. and 18 other countries for free. Unlimited picture messages are included, too. (Free, but you have to sign up on a PC that supports Flash)

Opera Mini and Mobile: Both Opera Mini (uses data compression) and Opera Mobile (full Internet browser) were updated to include search suggestions from Google and Yandex and a top-level domain learning feature where the appropriate domain (for example, .uk, .ru, .id) is picked by the browser. (Free, Mini - Java J2ME, BlackBerry, S60, Android, iOS; Mobile - Android, S60, Win 7, MeeGo)

New Apps for iPhone

LeafSnap: Possibly the most ground-breaking app released in recent days, LeafSnap lets you identify trees by taking a picture of their leaves. Created by researchers at Columbia University, University of Maryland and the Smithsonian Institute, the app is like something you would see on TV, roll your eyes at and scoff, "as if that exists!" Well, technology moves fast - it exists! And, according to the app's description, this is only the first in a series of field guides the researchers are developing. (Free, iTunes)

Seamless: This app lets you start playing a song on your Mac then "seamlessly" transition to listening to it on your iPhone/iPod Touch, or vice versa. Both devices have to be on the same Wi-Fi network. ($1.99, iTunes)

FavFriends: A new way to keep up with your favorite Facebook friends, using a combination of a customized friend list and push notifications. Our coverage. ($0.99, iTunes)

Hype Machine Radio: A new app from MP3 blog aggregator Hype Machine lets you find new music from undiscovered, indie artists and stream to your mobile device. Our coverage. ($2.99, iTunes)

Voice Brief - Lite: Get briefed on your schedule, news, Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader, stocks and more, with this virtual assistant app that reads aloud to you. (Free, iTunes)

Yahoo Messenger: This new IM app for iPhone and iPad can do video and voice calls, text chat, presence, SMS and photo-sharing. Our coverage. (Free, iTunes)

Trover: A great local discovery app that offers photo-sharing, social networking and more. (Free, iTunes)

DOL - Timesheet: From the Dept. of Labor, this app lets employees track the hours they work and calculate the amount owed by the employer to verify they're being paid what they're due. (Free, iTunes)

i3D: This concept application tracks a user's head movement using the iPhone or iPad and updates a 3D scene on the device accordingly. A cool technology demo. (Free, iTunes; image credit AppAdvice)

do@ (doat) mobile search: It's hard to Google the name of this app, which aims to revolutionize mobile search. The idea here is one of a universal search app that finds movies, music, TV, shopping, news, people, sports, cooking and other information from one interface. (Free, iTunes)

Sonar: This new app helps you find the most relevant people in a room based on your Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter social networks. (Free, iTunes)

Meporter: A location-based news app for citizen journalism, this app lets you write, take photos or video and then share that info with anyone who has a mobile phone. (Free, iTunes)

Tracks: A new mobile photo-sharing app for private sharing between family and friends. (Free, iTunes)

Mixcloud: Now on iPhone, this on-demand radio platform provides streaming podcasts, DJ mixes and radio shows. (Free, iTunes)

ooVoo Mobile: This video calling platform is now available on iOS, in addition to Android and the desktop. Supports up to 6 parties at once. (Free, iTunes)

Songkick: This new app for iPhone lets you track 100,000 concerts and your favorite bands. (Free, iTunes)

iWork: Apple's own Keynote, Numbers and Pages have now come to the iPhone. ($9.99 each, iTunes)

New Apps for Android

Netflix: At last, on Android! Need we say more? Select phones only, but more are coming soon. (Free, Android Market)

Google Music: One of the biggest new launches on Android is Google's own Google Music app. This player app lets you access your MP3's stored in the "cloud" right on your Android phone. (Free, Android Market)

Goodreads: The social book discovery and sharing site Goodreads is now available as an Android application with access to almost all core features available on the desktop version. (Free, Android Market)

SPB Shell 3D: A new homescreen replacement/launcher app which is "gorgeous," "smooth" and "incredible," according to gadget review blogs. Works better on high-end handsets. Pricey, but cool. ($14.95, Android Market)

Regina 3D Launcher: Another new homescreen replacement/launcher app which works well on modern, powerful devices, offering 3D graphics, effects and new widgets. (Free, Android Market)

White House: The official White House application is now available for Android, in addition to iPhone. (Free, Android Market)

Hacker's Keyboard: For advanced users, this new keyboard is designed for use with SSH and features keys like Tab, Ctrl, Alt, Esc and Arrow Keys. (Free, Android Market)

ShakeCall: This fun Android app lets you answer incoming phone calls by shaking your phone. (Free, Android Market)

Spiceworks: I.T. management SaaS and community app is now available on Android. Our coverage. (Free, Android Market)

Bonus: Awesome Updates!

Wordpress: The popular blogging platform gets a major upgrade with tons of bug fixes and new features like "quick photo" posting, localization, mobile stats and more. Our coverage. (Free, iTunes)

Cardcloud: The app that promises to do away with business cards now integrates with LinkedIn, allowing you to turn your LinkedIn profile into your business card. Our coverage. (Free, iTunes)

Firefox for Android: The latest update brings the "Do Not Track" feature to the Android version of the popular Web browser. (Free, Android Market)

Seesmic: The popular third-party Facebook, Twitter and social networking app added support for Instagram and Salesforce in its most recent update. Our coverage. (Free, iTunes)

SkyGrid: This powerful news app was just updated to version 2.0, allowing you to follow topics you're interested in. (Free, iTunes)

Newsy: With the recent update, this news aggregator helps you keep up with daily news and video from multiple sources. (Free, iTunes)

Bonus: New Tablet Apps!

Photoshop Companion Apps: Adobe launched its trio of Photoshop companion apps for the iPad including Color Lava (a color mixer, swatch & theme creator), Nav (a touch control pad for Photoshop) and Eazel (for paintings). ($2.99, $1.99, $4.99, respectively, iTunes)

Plizy: Like April's ShowYou app, Plizy brings video recommendations from your friends to the iPad, but it also pulls in recommendations from other sources, like Twitter and your own viewing history. (Free, iTunes)

Fanhattan: This new app helps you find movies and TV shows from Netflix, iTunes and Hulu Plus, sort of like a TV Guide for the iPad. (Free, iTunes)

Watchlater: This iPad app lets you save videos via browser bookmarklets for later viewing. ($2.99, iTunes)

Games for Cats: Cat lovers, you have to try this! (and tell me if it works - I'm a dog person). A new trio of apps designed for cats comes to you courtesy of Friskies, the cat food company. (All free, Web - designed for tablets)

Remember the Milk: The popular to-do list application is now available on iPad, offering gesture support, syncing, notes, and other smart features. (Free, iTunes)

Google Earth: An update to the Google Earth for Android app brings satellite imagery and 3D building to Honeycomb tablets. (Free, Android Market)

Decks: A trio of apps for iPad, Decks for Apps, Decks for Movies and Decks for Flickr, these apps let  you discover new content matching your interests. Our coverage. (All free, iTunes)

SnagFilms: Watch free, award-winning documentaries on your iPad. (Free, iTunes)

iSwifter: This iPad app lets you play Flash-based games on the Flash-free iPad. Our coverage. (free 7-day trial, then $4.99/month)

That's all we have so far, let us know which ones we missed!

As always, feel free to share your favorite apps in the comments!

Both (iPhone and Android)

Fring: Not new, but a new release for both iPhone, Android and Nokia lets users make free group video calls with up to four friends. (Free, multiple app stores)

Trapcall: Available for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry, this call screening/call recording/call blocking app lets you see who's calling, even when the number is blocked, plus blacklist callers, record calls and more. Ethical questions aside (how is it unblocking numbers if not by violating user privacy somehow?), it's an app we know many will want. (Free app, service plans at $4.95/month+, multiple app stores)

Eventjot: This group photo-sharing app is almost exactly like Color, except that it doesn't use GPS to connect strangers. Instead, it's meant to be used with friends attending the same event. Hey, it's big in Japan. (Free, multiple app stores)

iPhone

MealSnap: An ingenious app that lets you take a picture of your food to determine how many calories are in it. The app doesn't always get things right of course, despite the human assistance on the backend - it thought my "Healthy Request" soup had over 1,000 calories! But it does well when it can see a picture with a brand logo on it, we've found. ($2.99, iTunes)

Tweetbot: A beautiful new Twitter iPhone app with all the standard features, but with an improved and efficient design. Our coverage. ($1.99, iTunes)

TweetDeck: Not a new app per se, but a complete "re-imagining" makes this 2.0 redesign feel brand-new. The app still offers columns, but adds support for Twitlonger competitor Deck.ly and more. Our coverage. (Free, iTunes)

Photosynth: This iOS app lets you stitch together multiple images to create a 360 degree panoramic photo. You can then share the photo back to Facebook or post it to Bing Maps. Our coverage. (Free, iTunes)

Fahrenheit: This new weather app for iPhone actually puts the current temperature on your home screen. About time! (Also, thanks.) ($0.99, iTunes)

RockMelt: The social Web browser becomes the social mobile browser with this app, which provides instant notifications from Twitter, Facebook and other favorite sites, social sharing features, a "read later" option for saving content and more. (Free, iTunes)

Zwapp: This new app lets you find and share the best new mobile apps with your friends, and like and comment on apps others shared with you. (Free, iTunes)

Cardcloud: This business card replacement app lets you share your Web-based social cards with anyone directly through the phone itself or via email. Our coverage. (Free, iTunes)

Silent Film Director: This app lets you turn your iPhone videos into old-timey black-and-white silent films from the 20's or even home videos from the 60's or 70's. Our coverage. ($1.99, iTunes)

Photo Lapse: This app lets you take time-lapsed photos by allowing you to snap a new photo every few minutes. Set it on on the window sill and watch your flowers grow or watch a construction project complete. ($1.99, iTunes)

Photofeed by Pixable: This new app aggregates your friends' photos from several popular online services, including Facebook, Flickr, Instagram and others. (Free, iTunes)

Cartoonatic: This iPhone app lets you record videos with cartoon effects. (Free, iTunes)

Atari's Greatest Hits: Flashback time! Atari delivers retro gaming with over 100 Classic titles including 92 Atari 2600 Games and 18 Classic Atari Arcade Games. (Free, iTunes)

MessageParty: This older app recently changed from group chat to geo-blogging. Posts are tied to locations, making it sort of like a standalone version of Foursquare's tips mixed with Twitter or a location-based Tumblr. We're not sure, actually, but cool concept. (Free, iTunes)

Huddl: A free group messaging app that lets you share photos and send messages to private groups. (Free, iTunes)

8tracks: Music discovery service which lets friends share mixes with each other is now available on iPhone. As you listen, you can favorite individual tracks or playlists and then go purchase the songs on iTunes. TechCrunch has the review. (Free, iTunes)

MapOmatic: This map app not only gives you directions, it gives you ideas. The app shows you which spots your friends checked into in the past via Foursquare and Facebook. Robert Scoble has the review. (Free, iTunes)

iAd Gallery: If you're not in the industry, this may be of no interest, but for those who are, Apple's own iAd Gallery offers a unique way to browse through the latest iAd campaigns, while also learning about the ads and the agencies behind them. (Free, iTunes)

Fotopedia Paris: Tour the City of Lights virtually, from your iPhone (or iPad) thanks to a collection of over 4,000 photos of art, architecture, cafes, castles, fashion, history, shops and street life. Or plan your upcoming trip to Paris with the app's "Trip Builder" function instead. (Free, iTunes)

Guardly: A new iPhone app designed to keep you safe, Guardly lets you quickly contact your own personal safety network (any number of people you specify) via voice, SMS or email, and/or 911. Our coverage. (Free, iTunes)

Squrl: This app is an Airplay-enabled video curation tool that lets you organize videos from multiple sources, including Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Vimeo, TED and more. Robert Scoble has the review. (Free, iTunes)

Trimensional: Seriously cool, this iPhone app lets you scan and then print a 3D model of your face. Yes, your face! Unfortunately, app requires a 3D printer. Oh well. If you don't have one, at least you can enjoy the 3D modeling the app provides. Our coverage. ($0.99, iTunes).

PIM (Parking in Motion): This real-time parking information app lets you find, reserve and even pay for parking spots from your phone. The app includes parking info from the top 300+ cities in the U.S, top 50+ cities in Canada and the top 200+ cities in Europe. (Free, iTunes)

Remember It: This new iPhone app lets you create geo-fences of either 50, 200 or 500 feet from a given location so that when you leave the area, your phone will alert you with a signal or song. Never forget to pay your bar tab again! Our coverage. ($0.99, iTunes)

Social Questions: An unofficial, but officially sanctioned app for Q&A site Quora, this app lets you browse the website, plus view your profile, your inbox and your notifications.

ZoomReader: This iPhone app lets you magnify printed text by taking a picture of it. It then converts the text using OCR technology. Text can be read back to you with a natural-sounding voice. Really pricey, though, but works. ($19.99, iTunes).

Android

Viewdle SocialCamera: This app (still in beta) lets you tag your friends in your mobile photo and then share directly with Facebook, Flickr, MMS or email. The built-in facial recognition will learn your friends' faces in order to automatically tag them in future photos. (Free, Android Market)

Google Docs: An official app for Google Dcos lets you create, view, share and upload documents. You can also take a photo of printed text and convert it to a Google Doc. Our coverage. (Free, Android Market)

CNN App for Android Phones: This app brings the latest news, live video and iReport to your Android phone. (Free, Android Market)

Dock4Droid: This is a Mac-like task manager for Android. App icons are placed in a scrollable launcher at the bottom of the screen, which is completely customizable. ($1.02 for the premium version, Android Market)

SPB Shell 3D for Android: Expensive, but awesome, the SPB Shell app gives your phone an incredible new interface. In addition to serving as a homescreen replacement, there are new widgets, over 60 skins, folders, and more. Performance will vary on different devices. Engadget ran tests and reviewed the app here. ($14.95, Android Market)

Typo Clock Widget: Making your Android pretty? This new widget lets you add a clock and calendar widget to your homescreen. Via: AndroidGuys. (Free, off-Market APK)

SwipePad: This new launcher is revealed by swiping, no matter what application you're in at the time of the swipe. (Free, Android Market)

Ninua News Reader: From the same folks behind the Facebook app NetworkedBlogs, comes Ninua, a social news reader for Android. The app lets you follow friends, share reading lists and more. Louis Gray has the review. (Free, Android Market)

LinkedIn: At last, business networking site LinkedIn came to Android this past month, giving users the ability to search, message, view updates and more. Our coverage. (Free, Android Market)

Contapps: This app re-imagines the deafault Contacts app with a new look and feel, plus social connections to Facebook, Twitter and more. (Free, Android Market)

RadioMe: An Android app radio that "plays" your social media from Twitter, Facebook, Gmail and more, using text-to-speech synthesis. (Free, Off market APK)

FlexT9: A powerful keyboard replacement app that's much like SwiftKey and Swype combined as it supports speaking, tracing, writing and tapping, while offering word predictions at the top. ($4.99, Android Market)

Succotash: This location-predicting application uses your Google Latitude history to predict your current location, which can then be shared with friends. You sign into Succotash with your same Google Latitude account in order to use. Great for when your location goes stale. (Free, Android Market)

AutoCAD WS: This free app is a mobile CAD application that lets you use simple viewing, editing and markup tools to work on your designs while on the go. Sync files from the Web or upload directly from AutoCAD itself. (Free, Android Market)

PSX4Droid: Despite getting booted from the Android Market, this PlayStation emulator app popped up online soon after delisting. (Free, Off-Market)

Webroot Mobile Security: A new way to safe safe on Android, Webroot's premium app blocks and removes malicious apps, protects your contacts and passwords, blocks phishing attempts, locates missing devices, stops unwanted calls and text spam, runs scans, analyzes the permissions given to apps and more. ($14.99, Android Market)

Bonus Section! iPad Apps

Optimum for iPad: Cablevision subscribers can get on-demand TV listings, set DVR recordings and watch videos on demand with this new app, which also includes around 300 live TV channels. (Free, iTunes)

Zoho Docs for iPad: The Google Apps competitor delivers mobile access to files created in Zoho Writer, Sheet, Show and Docs. You can also view shared files with the app. Our coverage. (Free, iTunes)

StackPad: This iPad app lets you make photo collages with images from your photo gallery. Just drag, drop and resize. TNW has the review. ($1.99, iTunes)

Bloomberg Businessweek+: This new Bloomberg iPad app is a subscription-based publication featuring the same content as the print edition, plus additional, interactive content designed for the iPad. (Free app, $2.99+ for a subscription, iTunes)

Showyou: An iPad (and iPhone) app for viewing the videos your friends are sharing on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Our coverage. (Free, Tunes).

Blogsy: This blogging tool for iPad takes advantage of touch with drag-and-drop photo and video insertions from Flickr, Picase, Google, YouTube or elsewhere on the Web. ($2.99, iTunes)

Photosmith: This app for professional photographers lets you organize your photos on the iPad before importing them to Adobe Lightroom. It's meant to be used with Apple's Camera Connection Kit, which supports most digitals and many DSLRs. ($17.99, iTunes)

Push.me HD: This iPad app lets you exchange messages and photos for free with other iPhone and iPad users or anyone using the company's online portal. ($2.99, iTunes)

Realtor.com Real Estate Search: This new iPad (and iPhone) app lets you search for houses, view property details, prices and photos, save notes and ratings, share listings with friends or your agent and more. Our coverage. (Free, iTunes)

Timbuktu: The first iPad mag for kids offers interactive features to display news and photos, all with an educational bent. The first issue offered articles on popsicles, beaches, toys and animals. (Free, iTunes

Bing for iPad: Microsoft's search engine becomes its own iPad app, complete with access to news, movies, local listings and, of course, the Bing homepage image. Our coverage. (Free, iTunes)

Bonus Section! Honeycomb Apps

Kid Mode for Honeycomb: The popular kid-distracting mobile app Kid Mode comes to Android tablets with educational games, books and the drawing app. (Free, Android Market)

FlightBoard: Now optimized for tablets, Mobiata's FlightBoard app for Android lets you check the arrivals and departures for any airport worldwide. It also includes two live wallpapers. ($3.99, Android Market)

Beautiful Widgets 3.5: One of the most popular widget makers for Android added Honeycomb support in the new version released this month. A 4x3 "Super Clock" for tablets is just one of the many new features added. ($2.95, Android Market)

What links did we miss? Let us know in the comments.

How exactly do we Firefox the news? http://bit.ly/f8yEbV via @NewsFuturist

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What links did we miss? Let us know in the comments.

]]> http://readwrite.com/2011/03/10/10_smart_links_you_missed_on_twitter_on_today031011 http://readwrite.com/2011/03/10/10_smart_links_you_missed_on_twitter_on_today031011 Facebook Thu, 10 Mar 2011 06:30:00 -0800 Abraham Hyatt

• Touchscreen finger signatures: Valid? Legally-binding? http://bit.ly/ghCWFa @betanews
• Q&A with Al Jazeera English's online producer Bilal Randeree: http://bit.ly/dNIcQ7 via @kdmc
• Truth in advertising: When was the last time you stopped to question some of the fundamental truths in digital media? http://bit.ly/gAf1Fp via @jasondpg
• "Last week we had a cyberlaw-fiesta in the Silicon Valley, the likes of which have been rarely (if ever) seen before." http://bit.ly/eKq6ti via @ericgoldman
• Augmented reality for the totally blind: http://bit.ly/dWgIKd via @seeingwithsound

- More after the jump

• "Meta Cookie combines augmented reality technology and olfactory display technology to create a revolutionary interactive gustatory display: http://bit.ly/g9PdEB via @augmentedreal
• The cloud is going to "reduce the energy use and carbon footprint of computing by up to 90 percent"? Yeah right: http://bit.ly/epRvHP via @infotechrg
• Using Google Search to answer the question: When will we be ready to reach out to the stars? http://bit.ly/fobaZo via @longnow
• Does Moore's Law Suddenly Matter Less? http://bit.ly/foGdyV via @x_startups
• Approaches to user research when designing for children http://bit.ly/fTJWyb via @uxmatters

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What links did we miss? Let us know in the comments.

]]> http://readwrite.com/2011/03/08/10_smart_links_you_missed_on_twitter_today_030811 http://readwrite.com/2011/03/08/10_smart_links_you_missed_on_twitter_today_030811 Augmented Reality Tue, 08 Mar 2011 07:00:00 -0800 Abraham Hyatt

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• Taking down websites you don't agree with http://bit.ly/fqkTLR via @thomasbeagle
• Rosetta Stone says Google is a 'gateway for criminals'; Urges congress to make Google liable for infringement via COICA http://bit.ly/gUGFd6 via @audreywatters
• The future of mobile notifications http://bit.ly/fPyvR5 (by @kveton) via @urbanairship
• Watson plays 5 members of the U.S. Congress in technology exhibition match #ibmwatson http://fb.me/U0yssnOR via @smarterplanet
• Google's clever choice of words during the Gmail incident (why 0.02% matters) http://t.co/2p5TDyq via @pingdom

• How I launched a profitable minimum viable product in 3 hours http://goo.gl/fb/8J5P5 via @clankozrut
• Fulgoni: A third of viewers now access TV content via other platforms http://bit.ly/eviAJc #OMMAGlobal via @MediaPost
• An extended cold snap in the M&A market http://bit.ly/hds6B2 via @451TechDeals
• 10 Things I would like Steve Ballmer to do in 2011 - Beta News http://bit.ly/ihZPaT via @Eddienightx
• How to find a business co-founder http://bit.ly/dSOegw via @hnfirehose

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Scribd this morning posted a series of year-end Top 10 lists, offering a good view of some of the most interesting and widely-read primary documents on the web this year. As dry stuff goes, this is really interesting. We've embedded those lists below. Keep in mind the company's recent partnership with rich-media lookup service Apture and these docs become not just popular, but also full of multimedia on demand. How many of these hot docs have you read this year?

Here are my favorites, in no particular order...

iPad

Without a doubt my favorite new device of the year was the iPad. It changed how I consume content, particularly media content and long-form writing. This year I read a large novel on the Kindle for iPad app (Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen - an excellent book!), I subscribed to magazines using the Zinio app on my iPad (Juxtapoz, Rolling Stone and others) and I found new ways to sort through and read online articles (Flipboard, Instapaper, DropBox and more). I also enjoyed the range of apps released by media businesses - Wired, New York Times, Washington Post, TIME, and more.

Facebook

We at ReadWriteWeb have given Facebook a fair amount of criticism this year - for privacy failures, bad design, de-valuing third party content, and more. Despite all that, I've come to love using Facebook! This year I used Facebook for everything from updating my thoughts while out and about, to posting my check-ins via Foursquare, to uploading photos I'd just taken of my local beach.

The best part of Facebook this year, for me, was all of my family joining it. My Mum and Dad, along with my 2 brothers and 1 sister. All of them joined (or in one case resumed use of) Facebook this year. Much to my delight, because now I can follow my brother's power lifting videos, my other brother's iPod Touch finger paintings, my sister's new-found interest in photography, my mother's motherly comments and likes, my father's witty updates. These are obviously all personal things to me, but I'm sure that you all have had similar experiences with your family or friends on Facebook this year.

Instapaper

I mentioned Instapaper above and it's certainly one of my most used apps on the iPad. More importantly, Instapaper changed the way I consume blog and other media content. Due to a number of factors, over 2010 I didn't have enough time or attention to regularly read content from Google Reader (my RSS Reader of choice). I ended up evolving to a different style of tracking and reading the news of the day. I generally now visit my favorite blogs and news aggregators, open articles of interest to me and then save them to Instapaper for later reading - usually on my iPad or iPhone. I also find stories via Twitter and Facebook, which I save the same way.

Shazam

I continue to marvel at the technology behind Shazam's iPhone app. For anyone who isn't familiar with it: if you hear a song playing on the radio or in the background at a store, open up Shazam and it will identify the title and artist. I use it often to find out what song is playing on my car radio, or at a bar or office. It's the only app I use that makes me consistently mutter to myself: how do they do that?

Evernote

I still use my red Moleskine Cahier notebooks for freeform scribbling and note-taking. However, Evernote has increasingly become my home for other kinds of notes and for personal lists.

I admire Evernote's grand goal to become your "online brain" - to store everything from your lists, to notes about foods you discover, to photos of business cards. I'm nowhere near using it to that extent, but perhaps next year I'll extend my use cases for this product. It's nice that Evernote has that flexibility, in any case.

TweetDeck

I still find Twitter to be a user experience mess at times. For example, little bugs with Twitter lists that seem to occur every time I use them. TweetDeck has some of those frustrations too - in particular the syncing between devices is troublesome and imperfect. Nevertheless, I use TweetDeck each and every day to manage and write to @RWW (the company account, since August 2010) and @ricmacnz (my personal account now - follow me there if you can put up with my art and music ramblings).

Woopra

Without a doubt the most addictive business tool I use. Tracking statistics for ReadWriteWeb is a crucial part of my work and Woopra provides a real-time view of what's happening on ReadWriteWeb at any time of the day. I check it constantly. I get warm fuzzies when I see the WikiLeaks website driving lots of traffic to RWW. I smile inwardly when I see one of my own posts doing well. I frown when a post that I wrote isn't setting the online world on fire. My curiosity is piqued when I see an old post getting action all of a sudden. So many emotions to sustain me through my working day as an online publisher!

Foursquare

At the beginning of the year, everybody was wondering which of the location-based social networks would take off: Brightkite, Gowalla, Foursquare, or a new entrant? The answer in 2010 has been Foursquare, which most of the people in my social graph use. I began to use it too, although frankly there isn't a lot of practical benefit to Foursquare where I live

Chrome

In 2009 I switched from Firefox to Chrome, as my default browser. I felt bad for Mozilla, the organization that builds Firefox and whose ideals I admire. However, Chrome was simply faster and less prone to crashes. Chrome has continued to serve me well over 2010 and the addition of the Chrome App Store makes me curious about what it will offer in 2011.

The browser market is fiercely competitive currently and I did check out a new entrant, RockMelt, recently. However I stuck with Chrome, as it hasn't let me down.

Flipboard

Like many people, I'm enamored of the iPad app Flipboard and the way it's changed how web content is consumed. I must admit that I'm not a daily user though. I sometimes feel like I'm flipping through too much content I just don't want to consume. I'd like more serendipity. Perhaps I haven't populated it yet with the right Twitter lists.

Still, I hold out a lot of hope for Flipboard's magazine paradigm of consuming blog and similar content. In 2011, I plan to use Flipboard a lot more.

Honorable mentions

Products that didn't quite make my top 10, but which I use a lot and enjoy: Soup.io (my light blogging service of choice), Diamedic (an awesome iPhone app for diabetics), Lazyweb (my favorite topic tracker of the year, but this is a field which I think still needs a lot of work), DropBox (great way to sync files across devices), Mediagazer (probably my favorite news aggregator currently), Newsy (a video news app for iPad that I enjoyed throughout 2010) and Brushes (a finger painting app for iPad and iPhone).

There you have it, my favorite Web products of 2010. Let me know your own picks in the comments!

There are no iPads or iPhones in this collection. Their groundbreaking contributions to GUI have been noted on our site often. Instead, our choices for the best YouTube videos in GUI include a Perceptive Pixel demo, 10 finger multi-touch, Microsoft Surface, a popular Linux interface and 3D touch display. Also of note is Hyposurface, which is a screen made out of physically movable pixels.

If you have any favorite videos about GUI that we didn't choose, please let us know about them in the comments below.

1. Microsoft Surface Demo @ CES 2008


1,448,802 views





2. Perceptive pixel


294,342 views





3. GNU/LINUX UBUNTU 7.04 Feisty Fawn


286,200 views





4. CES 2009: Intel 3D Touch-screen Display


90,822 views





5. The world of Graphical User Interface.. me inside computer


78,956 views





6. BLUI: Blowable user interface


71,272 views





7. New technology of Korean touchpad


43,989 views





8. 10/GUI - 10 Finger Multitouch User Interface


36,057 views





9. Office of the Future


29,094 views





10. Hyposurface on WBZ Radio


13,435 views

What is included are several parodies of how BP is handling the situation, as well as a newly released video of whales and dolphins dying in the slick. Many of these videos will soon be out of date as hurricanes and other unexpected events dramatically change the overall story of what BP has done to all the life that calls the Gulf of Mexico home. If you know of any important YouTube oil spill videos that were left out of our collection please posts a link to it in the comments below. If you'd like to learn more about the latest in Web technology as it relates to the oil spill please view our coverage here.

1. BP Spills Coffee

8,781,914 views




2. The BP Oil Spill Re-Enacted By Cats


542,390 views





3. BP Oilpocalypse Creates Underwater Nightmare


479,164 views





4. BP Slick Covers Dolphins and Whales


471,736 views





5. The REAL REASON Behind the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico


335,409 views





6. Hair soaks up oil spills


251,688 views





7. BP's Crazy OIL SPILL Commercial!


214,053 views





8. Gulf Oil Spill Solution


204,799 views





9. THE SHORT FILM BP DOESN'T WANT YOU TO SEE


201,846 views





10. BP Oil Spill Commercial: Pelican Scrubbing!


134,036 views

In these videos you'll see a young Steve Wozniak give a tour of the Apple history museum, as well as fund a rock concert for a half a million people. Wozniak is also portrayed in a made-for-TV movie about a 1960s underground society of phone hackers, which included Steve Jobs. In more recent years Woz performed on Dancing With The Stars. He's even been filmed doing magic tricks while waiting in line to buy an iPad. There are way too many videos about Woz to pick just 10. So many of our choices were made to try and paint a complete picture of the man. If you know of other videos we've left out that deserve to be mentioned, please post in the comments below.

1. Steve Wozniak - Dancing with the Stars




2. Woz Presents the Apple Historical Museum




3. Woz Finds His Old Desk




4. Steve Wozniak Bio Channel - Part 1 of 6




5. Pirates of silicon valley - Part 1 of 10




6. Steve Wozniak at 1983 US Festival




7. Steve Wozniak Talks About HP




8. History of Hacking - Part 1 of 5




9. Woz's Ring







10. Steve Wozniak On The iPad

1. She's Geeky




2. Sisters Are Doing 'IT' For Themselves




3. Bay Area Girl Geek Dinner Panel




4. Geek girls and their birthday




5. Geek Girl at Her Data Center




6. Women in Electrical and Computer Engineering (WECE)




7. 2008 Google Workshop for Women Engineers




8. Kelly Carnes on What Needs to be Done to Increase the Role of Women and Minorities in Technology




9. Caterina Fake, co-founder of Hunch & Flickr: In conversation with Women2.0




10. Dianne Marsh: Under-representation of Women in Computer Science: Why I care and why you should too

Of these, far and away the most popular was a T-Mobile publicity stunt that auditioned 10,000 dancers and then filled up a Liverpool England street train station with 400 of them. The advert entitled "Dance" was part of T-Mobile's Life for Sharing campaign. Do you have a favorite video that makes mention of mobile? Let us know in the comments below.

Don't miss the ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit on May 7th in Mountain View, California!

1. The T-Mobile Dance


19,659,489 views





2. iPhone Magic


7,736,528 views





3. Boost Mobile Commercial Ft. Travis Barker


1,541,910 views





4. Making of T-Mobile Dance


1,501,859 views






5. 1989 - Centel - first cell phone ad!


507,735 views





6. No Signal (and other cellular drama)


295,732 views





7. In Focus: Congo's Bloody Coltan


130,855 views





8. Stanford's Mobile Phone Orchestra and iPhone Ocarina


115,865 views





9. Retro Commercial - Radio Shack Cell Phones - 1990


101,505 views





10. The Evolution of Cell Phone


62,557 views

We're at a key point in the history of mobile computing right now - we hope you'll join us, and a group of the most innovative leaders in the mobile industry, to discuss it. Don't miss the ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit on May 7th in Mountain View, California!