The Chumkee app is a social network built around sharing your videos and photos with others. What I really liked about the app before was the flashy user interface which relied heavily on gestures and motions. Luckily, that’s still here in the 2.0 version and the new features make it an even more impressive app.

The Chumkee 2.0 version will do real-time translation of more than 30 languages for the videos that people post and the comments they write. This is really useful because this app seems to have a strong user base in Korea and Brazil – two languages which I’m not familiar with. The translation feature could be very powerful because it enables global connections through this app, even if it’s based around silly pictures.

Like many apps out there, the Chumkee 2.0 version is filled with really good ideas and technology but it won’t become great until it has a larger user base. I suggest checking it out at the link below.

You can download the Chumkee iOS app here (iTunes link).

Like Skype, users who have the Vongage Mobile app installed can make free calls or texts to each other around the globe (data rates apply). You can also get free calls to Vonage home users around the world and you get low rates to handsets and landlines around the world. There’s also a limited-time promotion where you can get up to 3,000 free minutes to call any mobile or landline in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Vonage is also promising that this includes a high-definition Codec to ensure a good voice quality. I’m very happy to hear this because many of us have had the experience or poor voice quality over VoIP (particularly over 3G/4G), so it’s nice to see Vonage Mobile addressing this problem head on. The iPhone and Android calling app also appears to be well-thought out, as you can use your existing mobile number as your caller ID and even view your credits and international rates before you make the call.

Vonage specifically highlights why its apps are better than its Microsoft-owned rival by saying that its per-minute rates are roughly 30 percent lower than Skype’s rates. Additionally, you don’t have to create a new address book, as the Vonage Mobile app will scan your address book and let you make calls to your existing contacts. This is neat because it will also let you assign your number to your app if you use an iPad or a tablet. You can also look forward to in-app purchases, background notifications and a rather pleasant design.

We’re going to have a full review of the free calling app for you soon and we’ll let you know how this new app stacks up to the competition, which also includes upstarts like Tango. You can download the new Vonage Mobile app for iOS here and the Android version can be found here.

[Via Vonage]

– This post is sponsored by Vonage, and you can download the apps here. For more information about Vonage Mobile, please visit Vonage’s site and you can see it in action on YouTube. Please note that sponsorship will not impact the review.

The game is launching with four tables, including Tales of the Arabian Nights, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Theatre of Magic, and Black Hole. And that’s just a start, with two new pinball tables set to be added to the lineup every month. These upcoming tables will be available through in-app purchases either individually or as “themed” packs.

You can play for your own enjoyment or participate in online tournaments where you’ll be competing with other players.

It’s also important to add that not all tables are equally easy/hard to master. As a matter of fact, there’s an in-depth tutorial for each table which teaches players the most important rules and skills needed to beat all the goals and become a Pinball Wizard.

Finally, aside from smartphones, FarSight Studios wowed to bring the game to the Xbox 360, PlayStation3, Macintosh and PlayStation Vita in March of 2012 and will launch on PC and other platforms later in the year.

Pinball Arcade ($0.99) [iTunes link] [Android Market - couldn't find the link]

These super-hot deals for 3-star and 4-star hotel rooms are available in cities around the country, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Ft. Lauderdale, Honolulu, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Phoenix, Portland, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Fe and Washington DC. The inventory is updated at 11:00 a.m. local time, while room reservations can be instantly booked up until 11:00 p.m.

In order to be able to access them, all you need to do is update your existing priceline Hotel Negotiator app and then find hotels in the same-night stay listings. And if you still don’t have Priceline.com’s app installed on your smartphone, simply hit the appropriate link below and take it from there.

priceline Hotel Negotiator (FREE) [iTunes link] [Android Market]

Carriers pay Apple the subsidy that is able to keep the iPhone down to its $199 price point even after cramming in loads of new features in every release. For Apple, this is good. For consumers, this is good. For carriers, this is very bad.

During 2009 and 2010 before Verizon Wireless was selling the iPhone, its EBITDA margin was at an average of 46.4 percent. Right after the Verizon iPhone became a reality, the profit margin dropped to 43.7 percent. Last quarter, which was the first quarter to include iPhone 4S sales, Verizon’s margin was at 42.2 percent.

Fortunately for Verizon, its margins are comparably high to those of AT&T and Sprint. AT&T’s EBITDA service margin last quarter was 28.7 percent, an 8.9 percent decline year-over-year. Sprint’s margin last quarter was even worse at a sad 9.5 percent. The year before that when Sprint wasn’t selling the iPhone, its margin was 16 percent.

The good news is since Apple sells so many iPhones, carriers are still making plenty of money off of them. Don’t ever lose sleep about them not making money — if something doesn’t add to their bottom line, you can bet carriers will not go through with it.

[via CNN Money]

Now jump ahead to the present: You and your friend still own those same phones, but which one out of the two feels like a worthless piece of crap? The Motorola Droid. This is the case with many Android and BlackBerry devices — they lose their value after a short period of time — and a new study from Priceonomics supports this.

Priceonomics studied cell phone resale values after usage for 18 months. It found that after that period of time, iPhones retain 53 percent of their original value. Android phones have only 42 percent of their initial worth and BlackBerrys have 41 percent. This means an 18-month-old iPhone would sell for $312.

Additionally, the total cost of ownership for BlackBerry and Android devices are far higher than that of an iPhone. Apple’s handset only costs an average of $13.20 per month, while BlackBerry is around $17 per month and Android phones are around $18 per month — the latter being 40 percent more than the iPhone.

Priceonomics had this to say about the study:

At Priceonomics, we firmly believe that resale value is the best objective indicator of product quality. If you wanted to figure out the best cell phone, you could look at all the reviews, test out all the phones, talk to all the experts, but still your assessment will be subjective. Or you could let the market tell you which phones are the highest quality by seeing which ones best retain their value over time.

Taking that belief into consideration, it’s clear the iPhone reigns in terms of overall quality, even in the long run.

[via Priceonomics]

What makes this news even more impressive is the fact Jetpack Joyride has achieved this goal without even setting foot on the Android marketplace. To think, millions upon millions of Android gamers around the planet have yet to experience the joy and addictiveness of Jetpack Joyride on their smartphone or tablet of choice.

Not only did Halfbrick have that bit of news to share, but they also have announced they plan to release “the biggest content update for Jetpack Joyride to date.” I don’t know about you, but I’m hoping the lovable Fruit Ninja sensei decides to make an appearance in Jetpack Joyride. I’m sure he can teach Barry Steakfries a thing or two about barreling through the air on a variety of jetpacks.

Jetpack Joyride (FREE) – [iTunes Link]

You see many pieces of Apple tech which can bring up nostalgia or even some rage. I still hate the one-button mouse and the Newton was a joke – or if you want to be kind, it was too ahead of its time for its own good. What really stands out to me in the rapid procession of products is that the iPhone gets a few seconds to stand out. It should.

It seems silly now but the iPhone was never a guaranteed hit and Steve Jobs said he would be happy to sell 10 million in the first year. It sold 37 million iPhones last quarter. The iPhone business alone is generated more revenue last quarter than all of Microsoft. Today’s stock results have also pushed Apple to being worth more than Google and Microsoft combined.

Remember, Apple was on the brink of destruction when Jobs came back, so this video is kind of a timeline to its meteoric rise to the top.

[image credit]

The numbers may not mean anything because movements always start small but this seemed like a layup for this city, as it involves workers’ rights, moral outrage and iPhones. It’s easy to pick on Apple too because it has nearly $100 billion in the bank and it could likely take a hit on its profit margin and still be fabulously wealthy, but the dirty secret about pretty much the entire consumer electronics industry is that all these awesome gadgets are generally made in working conditions that we wouldn’t accept. We’re talking about conditions where child labor is accepted and people work so hard that they commit suicide.

A great New York Times piece sheds some light on what these workers have to go through in order for us to have our fancy iDevices and some of it is heart wrenching. The part that I thought would make this protest larger is when a former Apple executive told the paper that if Apple demanded that the conditions had to improve, it would. Instead, it seems like Apple has chosen higher profit margins over the well-being of people in China.

Apple, Dell, HP and every other companies are legally obligated to maximize shareholder value and producing devices in China and other countries with abysmal labor laws can greatly add to the bottom line. Even Nokia is moving its production to China in order to save on costs but also because these factories enable companies to be more nimble with production. Nokia wants to get high-quality phones out at a quicker pace and right now, that’s only possible using Asian factories.

The moral outrage argument feels right but it may not be totally. Paul Krugman is known for leaning toward the left and even he believes that these “sweat shops” are needed and provide value because “bad jobs at bad wages are better than no jobs at all.” He also argues that these conditions may be appalling but they are better than the cruel existence of subsistence farming or or having no work at all. He writes:

In short, my correspondents are not entitled to their self-righteousness. They have not thought the matter through. And when the hopes of hundreds of millions are at stake, thinking things through is not just good intellectual practice. It is a moral duty.

Krugman has forgotten more economics than I’ll ever know but it’s tough to shake some form of moral outrage. Yes, every country may have to go through an industrial revolution of sorts which includes some nastiness but in this interconnected world, we can demand better conditions if we really want them. The only way to do this is with your dollars.

The timing of the announcement fits in nicely with Apple’s previous launch schedule for the iPad. Steve Jobs unveiled the original iPad in January 2010 and the iPad 2 in March 2011. It would only make sense the iPad 3 would make its debut one year later in March 2012.

Though the report did not have any new information on the hardware. AllThingsD’s source supposedly confirmed earlier rumors that suggest the iPad 3 will have a faster processor, retina-like display, and improved graphics. The form factor will stay about the same. As expected, an Apple spokesperson would not comment on the report.

[Via AllThingsD]

Through the app, users will encounter women from every corner of the globe and witness their fighting spirit in the face of human, political, and religious events.

Among the images you will be able to see are a bride at her wedding in Singapore, a woman whose daughter had just been saved from malaria, women minesweeping the fields of Cambodia, nuns in the convents in France, girl-soldiers in Mozambique and many others. Professional photographer Olivier Martel took all of them during his journeys to more than 75 countries.

In addition to the default set of images, Fotopedia wowed to further update the app with weekly Visual Stories that provide insight into the lives of women from cultures spanning the globe.

Women of the World (FREE) [iTunes link]