A couple of months ago, Apple made a big fuss about the greatly improved camera in the new iPad. Five megapixels, 1080p video, advanced optics, and so on. My reaction: meh. I need a camera in a tablet like I need a radio in a toaster. It’s just not a feature I have much use …

There are any number of apps that can help you pinpoint a friend’s location, but they all have one thing in common: they require that friend to have the same app installed and running, and usually to sign up with YAS (Yet Another Service). And don’t forget, it’s a two-way street: you have to run the app yourself, and leave …

“Me, doctor?””No, you patient. Me doctor.” Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET The handful of Monty Python apps released to date have been of mixed value. The Angry Birds ripoff Cow Tossing was amusing but not fulfilling, while the “Holy Grail” companion The Holy Book of Days offered a fantastic behind-the-scenes look at everyone’s favorite Python movie. Now comes Python Bytes, a …

My vision for the best iOS game ever created: a platform-jumper in the spirit of Doodle Jump, but with a flying pig who bounces ever-skyward on a series of pickle slices. Genius, right? Unfortunately, I don’t know the first thing about programming, so it’s not likely my vision will ever become reality. Or so I thought, until I got my …

As a parent, there’s nothing quite so satisfying as watching your kids express their creativity. Doesn’t matter if it’s with a set of blocks, a box of crayons, or an app that turns long sequences of still photos into superhero-themed movies — it’s just thrilling. On Saturday, I gave my 9-year-old son a five-minute tutorial on using Lego Super Hero …

It’s easy enough to childproof a computer, to keep kids away from the Web’s unsavory spots. But what about their Android smartphones and tablets? Google’s browser offers no parental controls to speak of, no filtering or monitoring or search guards. Here’s an easy fix: Mobicip Safe Browser for Android ($4.99), which offers a familiar Web interface, but with a raft …

As every parent knows, kids say the funniest things. Like my daughter, who used to call hamburgers “hangabers.” And loves to say, “You’re very sweeticle, dad.” Take it from someone who knows: it’s all too easy to forget these little bon mots. That’s why I’m delighted by Posterity: The Family Quote Book for iOS, a simple but clever app that …

Maybe you heard the news last week (as if you could escape it): Facebook bought Instagram. Insta-what? Although this app/service launched back in October 2010, and has snowballed in popularity ever since, not everybody knows an Instagram from a telegram. (Wait, what the heck is a telegram? Yeah, obviously I’m skewing toward an older audience here.) If you’ve been sitting …

When it comes to consuming newspapers on an iPad, I’ve long preferred PressReader to individual newspaper apps (like, say, USA Today and my local Detroit Free Press). With the latter, I’m just sifting through headlines. But PressReader makes me feel like I’m actually “reading the paper,” mostly because it provides a picture-perfect digital reproduction of the real thing. Now it’s …

Earlier this year I wrote about the Kungl, a nifty plastic iPhone case with an embedded 1/4-inch tripod mount. At $19.99, it’s one of the more affordable tripod accessory options out there. But what if you want to shoot video with, say, an iPod Touch? Or an Android phone? And what if you don’t happen to have a tripod handy? …