Dropbox is getting more serious about its efforts to bring its cloud storage solution to mobile devices. On Tuesday the company is announcing a mobile API for developers to build ties to Dropbox's servers into their own apps, as well as formally launching first-party applications for the iPad and Android and BlackBerry devices.

The new mobile API is something Dropbox is calling "Dropbox Anywhere." The company has worked with a number of developers to integrate their apps into the new data pipeline. These include Fuze's FuzeMeeting app, Dictamus, Air Sharing, GoodReader, QuickOffice and Sprite Mobile's backup tool. All of these apps are able to tap into a user's Dropbox storage to fetch data, and save it back without needing to use any of that device's local data. Now any developer will be able to do the same with their own mobile software.

Competitor Box.net rolled out something very similar back in September 2009 with its OpenBox API. The real promise of efforts like these is that you can access your files no matter what device you're on or what kind of limitations its creators have put into place in regards to things like local storage access. This has become a problem with Apple's iPhone, iPod Touch, and now iPad, which have plenty of on-board storage for files, but no way for third-party apps to make adjustments to the file structure. Using this system, along with how much room you have on your device, no longer becomes an issue--that is, as long as you have an active connection to the Web.

As far as the new apps go, Dropbox for the iPad (which is actually a universal application--meaning it runs on iPhones and iPods too), rolled out to users Monday evening. Dropbox for Android, which CNET has been told will remain at feature parity with the iPhone and iPad version of the app, was released to the Android marketplace Tuesday morning. BlackBerry users are due to get their version of the app later this month.

Dropbox continues to offer both a free and a paid version of the service, with some 4 million users having signed up. The company would not disclose how many of those users are paying subscribers of the service's two premium tiers.

Originally posted at Web Crawler

I check the iPad apps lists every day in the hope to uncover new gems. Though the frequency of apps coming into the app store is probably better described as a trickle rather than a flood, there's already been a few keepers that I've spent a lot of time with. One new addition to my iPad is a strategy game like no other I've seen so far and I think it has just the right elements to keep strategy gaming fans coming back for more.

Space Station: Frontier HD ($4.99) takes elements from tower defense type games and traditional RTS games to make an enjoyable and challenging experience with tons of replayability. The object is to defend your space station from attack by building out a defense structure of laser turrets, rail guns, missile launchers, and other weaponry. But to build all of these items, you'll need materials which you'll mine from nearby asteroids, all as a part of your multi-node structure you build around your station. To build your structure, touch and drag an item from the bottom of the screen to a place where you can connect it to your space station's network of nodes.

There are a few different game types including a campaign to play through, offering several levels with specific challenges. But you won't be able to complete the campaign without weapons and upgrades you buy at the Shipyard with money you earn by playing the other game types. Game types include Survival, Protect, and Miner. Survival mode is the first game type unlocked where it's your mission to efficiently mine resources and defend your space station from wave after wave of attacking ships. This will be where you spend most of your time early on, trying to last as long as possible to make money so you can unlock more weapons and upgrades.

Even with all the weapons unlocked, you still won't beat Space Station: Frontier HD without developing a sound strategy of defense. To build your defensive structure, you'll need to build out nodes for your weapons and mining equipment to connect to. Your weapons and mining equipment run on power from the space station or power generators you connect to your nodes. If you don't efficiently use your power, you'll run out in larger battles, which renders your weapons useless. The nodes you build are vulnerable to attack too, so if an enemy ship takes out a connecting node (disconnecting it from the space station and connected generators), all the weapons connected to that node will power down.

Space Station: Frontier HD effectively uses both RTS and tower defense gameplay to make for an incredibly addicting and challenging game. With three game types, tons of weapons and upgrades to unlock, and a Campaign mode that requires you to play through the other game types to succeed, Space Station: Frontier is a well-rounded and well-designed game that's perfect for any strategy gaming fan. One word of warning: once you get sucked in, this game is very hard to put down.

Originally posted at iPad Atlas

Google's latest update to the beta version of the Chrome browser brings it to parity with the more experimental developer's version. Google Chrome beta version 5.0.375.29 for Windows, Mac, and Linux contains multiple feature enhancements as well as the semi-regular security and bug-fixes that are common updates for its less-stable cousin.

One of the most notable new features in the beta is the inclusion of default support for Adobe Flash. This means that users will no longer need to install a separate add-on to see Web sites that require Flash to render properly. It also should improve the Chrome beta's security somewhat, as security and bug fixes for Flash will be automatically updated by Google.

The new Chrome beta includes significant improvements to the V8 JavaScript rendering engine, according to Google. The company says users should see 30 percent faster performance on the V8 benchmarking tool, and 35 percent faster performance on the SunSpider benchmark. Geolocation has been activated in the new beta, even though it was just recently activated by default in the developer's build. Other HTML5-based additions include file drag-and-drop, Web socket support for better site-to-server communication, and app cache.

To talk up the speed improvements and give browser speed a bit of a real-world reference point, Google put together this video of Rube Goldberg-style physical triggers to show how fast its browser is. In it, you can see a Web page resolve in Chrome at the speed of a potato propelled by an air gun into a potato cutter, droplets of paint splashing into the air, and a bolt of electricity destroying a model Clipper ship courtesy of a Tesla coil.

Google's baked-in features have been enhanced as well. In addition to bookmarks, beta users can now synchronize most of the browser's settings including themes, home pages, Web content settings, and language. Extensions will now work in Chrome's Incognito mode, which allows you to use the browser without leaving traces in your cache or history.

The full change log can be read here.

Chrome watchers should note that the stable build of Google Chrome for Windows was recently updated with security fixes, but remains on the 4.x codebase. Google has yet to announce a timeline for stable versions of the browser for Mac and Linux.

Google Maps may tell you where to go, but it won't give you cupcakes. Waze, on the other hand, tempts you to use its map app by dangling digital treats and other social gaming incentives.

Starting Tuesday, BlackBerry owners can try out Waze in beta form. We jumped into a car with Waze and tooled around San Francisco testing out the new BlackBerry beta while hunting for e-cupcakes.

While you use Waze's turn-by-turn voice navigation, real-time traffic, and other location-specific alerts, the app simultaneously sends anonymous information, like your speed and location, back to its database to improve the service as a whole. This is crowdsourcing put to practical purpose, especially when the Waze community pitches in by reporting navigation and mapping errors and traffic accidents from their phones.

As for those cupcakes we mentioned, Waze uses them and other gaming conventions to further engage the user base. Collecting digital representations of cupcakes or other road goodies when you drive by a certain location earns you bragging rights and points, though not real-world morsels. (The cupcakes have turned into "blackberries" for this special release--har dee har har.) For Waze, making a game of its map app gets users involved, and that means more valuable road information for its database where those details are otherwise slim or lacking.

Unfortunately, Waze misbehaved more often than it should have on our BlackBerry Bold 9700 during our driving demo. We witnessed confused navigation and an error message. Even without the bugs, Waze offers far fewer features than the iPhone version that had also come along for the ride. We got the hang of navigating the map on BlackBerry, though it could be more intuitive. As far as hardware goes, Waze will use the Menu button and the "i" and "o" keys for zooming in and out. There's also some functionality in pressing the track pad.

If you've got a BlackBerry 8900, 9000, 9630, or 9700--but not the Storm--you can download Waze's beta. As an extra incentive, Waze is offering an iPad to the user who drives through the most blackberries from May 4 to May 14, 2010. Waze is also available for iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile, and Symbian phones.

Microsoft isn't known for giving away software, but right now you can download the Top 100s by Year by Bing app free of charge. (Catchy name, huh?)

The app streams the top 100 songs of every year from 1947 to 2009. That's 62 years, for a grand total of 6,200 songs.

Whose top 100? Not Billboard's, as you might expect. Nor is the list based on sales. Instead, according to developer Nutsie, these are "lists of songs that have stood the test of time based on their initial and lasting popularity, and on their impact on the overall scope of musical history."

Um, OK. Sounds a little strange, but I can't say I find fault with any of the lists. Look back to, say, 1976, and you'll find every gem from Tom Petty's "American Girl" to The Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the UK." It's worth noting that the lists include some live performances, an unexpected treat.

Now for the bad news. Each top-100 list can be played only in random order. Although you can scroll through the selected list and tap any song to preview it, buy it from iTunes, or even see a YouTube video, you can't choose individual songs to play. As the app notes, "we are required to play all the songs in shuffle like a premium radio channel."

At least you can skip past songs you don't want to hear, but don't be surprised to see intrusive Bing ads from time to time. In fact, this app is really a Bing-branded promotional version of an eponymous app from Nutsie, which sells for $1.99. In exchange for saving two bucks, you have to put up with occasional come-ons to download Microsoft's Bing search app. And after listening to a few songs, you have no choice but to download it.

That's annoying, to be sure, but ultimately a small price to pay for so much great music. And even though I was born in 1968, I'm having a blast perusing and playing the songs that were popular in the '50s and even '40s. It's like an on-demand lesson in music history.

So gripe all you want about the app's ads and limitations--I think Microsoft deserves a thank-you for this seriously entertaining freebie.

Originally posted at iPhone Atlas

Whenever two or more people work on the same Microsoft Word document, there are bound to be formatting conflicts. This is especially true in organizations attempting to apply singular style conventions. Most of us rely on a mouse to make format changes in Word, but we can reformat Word docs just as easily using some of the program's more obscure keyboard shortcuts.

Back in 2008, I described how to copy and paste only a paragraph's formatting, not its text. Allen Wyatt's WordTips site provides a great list of keyboard shortcuts for altering a paragraph's spacing (Ctrl+1 for single space, Ctrl+2 for double space), alignment (Ctrl+L aligns left, Ctrl+R right, Ctrl+E centered, Ctrl+J justified), and indents (Ctrl+M one tab space, Shift+Ctrl+M minus one tab space). You can even apply a hanging indent by pressing Ctrl+T or remove it by pressing Shift+Ctrl+T.

Keep your keystroke-combo list handy
Just what you need, a dozen more keystroke combinations to try to remember. About two years ago, I explained how to create an easy-to-open text file listing all the keyboard shortcuts you're ever likely to need. The most recent addition to my shortcuts.txt file is Microsoft's extensive list of keystroke commands for Word 2002, 2003, and 2007.

Popular Word formatting shortcuts include Shift+Enter to add a line break, Ctrl+Enter to add a page break, and Shift+Ctrl+Spacebar to add a non-breaking space. Here are a few more-obscure keystroke combinations for formatting Word docs:

Subscript — Ctrl+=
Superscript — Ctrl+Shift+=
Toggle revision marks — Ctrl+Shift+E
Split the document window — Alt+Ctrl+S
Remove the split window — Alt+Shift+C
Add a date field — Alt+Shift+D
Apply Normal style — Ctrl+Shift+N
Apply a bullet list — Ctrl+Shift+L
Apply Heading 1 — Alt+Ctrl+1
Apply Heading 2 — Alt+Ctrl+2
Apply small caps — Ctrl+Shift+K

Even more MS Word shortcut tricks
Microsoft lays out the keyboard route to toolbars, task panes, menus, and dialog boxes on the Word 2003 Help & How-to Site. You can also create a keyboard shortcut that runs a Word command, as described on the Productivity Portfolio site. And for what may be the ultimate list of keyboard shortcuts for all programs and operating systems, check out Wikipedia's Table of keyboard shortcuts.

Originally posted at Workers' Edge