iPhone Applications

iPhone users of Skype can now grab version 4.8 of the popular calling app for devices running iOS 5 or later. The improved Skype adds detailed notifications to the iOS Notification Center, helping to keep you in touch with all of your Skype contacts. Not only this, but the latest update fixes the order of one-on-one chats, keeping them in the right order all the time.

Voice calling is also improved, with Skype making it easier to switch between audio devices without dropping the call. This means users can choose to utilize Bluetooth, headphones or the speaker during a call and the audio will be routed appropriately. Novices to Skype will be glad to know the update also adds introduction screens, to help guide first-time users through using the app.

The uChek urine analyzer app for iOS devices has come under fire from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has sent a letter to BioSense Technologies asking why their app hasn't been cleared with the agency. The uCheck app allows users to check their glucose and other analyte properties by using the iPhone's camera to read urine strips.

This is the first time a medical app has drawn the attention of the FDA, according to Bloomberg. The FDA says uCheck requires additional approval because it reads test strips made by Siemens AG (SIE) and Bayer AG (BAYN). The agency also believes there needs to be stricter rules for apps that replace existing medical devices, or that directly diagnose medical conditions.

“We intend to finalize the guidance this year,” Synim Rivers, an agency spokeswoman, said yesterday in an e-mail. “The FDA has proposed a regulatory approach that limits its immediate oversight to a specific, small subset of mobile medical applications that are medical devices and present the greatest risk to patient safety if they don’t work as intended.”

I've been single for two years and every sloppy attempt I've made to change this sad fact has been just that: sloppy. Maybe what's been missing all along is these biorhythms lubbaa is telling me about, and if I started every conversation I had with appealing men at bars with, "What's your birth date? Give me a second," instead of "Hey papi, want a taste?" I'd be getting somewhere.

The intriguing logo of lubbaa, a chubby, curvy lowercase "a" punctuated by a speckled heart, is quickly belied by the app's look once it is opened. Some sort of natural fall theme in browns and yellows composed of stock photos of nature decorate lubbaa's innards. It could be made to look alright if not for the goofy font, possibly chosen to mimic a relaxed handwriting. Maybe it's supposed to be like the journal of a 14 year-old girl going through a Wiccan phase; she's calculating the biorhythms of all the cute boys in her high school to see if they might be fit to be brought home to daddy. "But, Daddy!" she'll cry, as he stares disdainfully at Trent's arm sleeve of tattoos and lip piercing. "Our sensitivity and emotional biorhythms sync perfectly!"

Not only did jailbreak tweak developer Filippo Bigarella release an app on the official App Store, but his work is quickly catapulting to the top of the Finance category. Balances is ranked number 6 in the top chart of finance apps only three days after release. So what's making Balances so popular?

For one, the app has a slick, minimalist design that functions efficiently for the task at hand. Tracking debts owed to others and debts owed to you is intuitive and easy with Balances. Tap the plus or minus button to add an entry, then enter the name, amount and a note. Once the debt has been paid, just swipe and the entry goes into a completed list.

Hot on the heels of CBS launching their streaming video app, ABC has followed suit with the Watch ABC app for iOS. Not only does the app provide streaming episodes of popular shows that have aired on ABC, but live video is available for TV fans in selected markets. Initially, the live video service is only available in New York and Philadelphia.

Down the line, more markets will receive the live video service, which basically duplicates the broadcast anyone can receive with an HD antenna in the local area. Chicago, Fresno, Houston, Los Angeles, Raleigh-Duram, and San Francisco are next on the list to receive live video service with Watch ABC, with the feature slated to arrive before the end of this summer.