10 worthy apps for the MySpace user

10 worthy apps for the MySpace user
Family Guy Picture Hunt: The Family Guy Picture Hunt might not be as useful as some of the other apps in this roundup, but it's extremely fun. Simply look at a picture from one of your favorite scenes from the television show Family Guy, and try to find the different areas on the picture that match the blocks to the right of the image. At first glance, it seems like a simple game, but you'll quickly realize that it's difficult and fun. The game is timed, so you can play with friends and see who is the superior searcher.Find the right photo chunks with Stewie's help.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETFamily Tree: Like its Facebook counterpart, Family Tree is a really great app. When you access it, the app lists all your MySpace friends and asks you to find family members. It then sends confirmation requests to make sure that they're really family members.Once complete, you can input your relationship to those people, and the app will create a family tree. The app's best feature is the option to see which people might be in your family. It does that by analyzing your friends list to see if there are any matches you might have missed. The app even has a family news feed, so you can be kept abreast of what's going on in each other's lives.Family Tree lets you connect with your loved ones.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETFlixster: If you're a film fan and you already love Flixster, the Flixster app for MySpace is for you. Just like the site (and its Facebook counterpart), the app allows you to rate movies, see what your Flixster friends are up to, and determine what movies you'd like based on your ratings. The app even lets you play games, take quizzes, and share your results with friends.Flixster lets you rate movies and take quizzes.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETGoMix:GoMix is a really neat app. It lets you pick from a few dozen tracks and listen to a song. You've probably never heard of most of the tracks, but they all have a nice beat.Once you pick the song you want to check out, GoMix lets you mix it any way you see fit. So if you want to ditch the vocals in one section of the song, go for it. If you don't like the way the guitar sounds and you want to get rid of it, you can.After you're done mixing the song, you can listen to your newly created track to see how you did at improving it. You can then share your mix with other MySpace users. GoMix lets you mix songs to fit your musical taste.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETiTwitter: iTwitter displays your Twitter updates on your MySpace profile. It's extremely customizable. You can pick how many tweets to display at a time, choose your username, font, and background colors, and you can even decide if you want to display your avatar. Once you figure out what you want, you'll find your fully customized iTwitter widget displayed in your profile.iTwitter gives you a variety of customization options.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETNews Merger: News Merger is a must-have for any news junkie on MySpace. When you access the app, you have the option of adding prominent news feeds to your profile, so you can always be kept abreast about what's going on in the world.Those feeds range from Reuters news to CNET News to the top 25 downloads on iTunes. You can even access major sports news from the leagues' respective Web sites. Once you pick the feeds you want to track, you can modify the design of your widget and place it on your MySpace profile.News Merger gives you your quick news fix.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETPicnik:Once you sign up for a Picnik account and add it to your profile, you can edit photos, create a collage, or make greeting cards. The Picnik app, like its Facebook counterpart, lets you open photos from a variety of sites, including Flickr, Facebook, MySpace, and Photobucket. You can also upload images from your desktop. The app's editing tools aren't as advanced as those in Photoshop, but they will do the trick when you need to quickly modify an image. The MySpace Picnik app is responsive, well-designed, and a fine alternative to most other image-editing tools.Picnik lets you edit photos quickly and easily.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETPlaylist: Playlist.com's MySpace app is worth trying out. You can search for practically any artist or song, and have access to videos of the tracks you pick.When you search for an artist (I searched for Bruce Springsteen), the site displays results matching your query.Those results might be Bruce Springsteen videos, but many are videos from folks on YouTube covering his songs. If you find a song you like, you can add it to your Playlist for viewing later. You can also share that playlist with friends.Playlist has some videos to choose from.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETYouTubePost: YouTubePost is a simple, lightweight app that makes it easy for you to access YouTube videos in MySpace. When you first access the app, you're brought to a list of the Recently Featured, Top Rated, and Most Viewed videos on YouTube.You can either click on one of those videos to view it or use the app's search field to query the site. In either case, accessing videos takes no time.When you click on a video, you'll view the clip in the app. YouTubePost is a must-have for any video lover on MySpace.YouTube Favorites helps you find your favorite YouTube videos.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETMy top 31. Causes: There's something nice about helping others--and Causes delivers.2. Picnik: You can edit photos while you network with friends. It's a great app.3. News Merger: It's simple, it's convenient, it's a must-have.

How to get started with Google Music

How to get started with Google Music
Finally out of beta, you no longer need an invite to use the free Google Music service. For now, it's available to anyone in the U.S. with a Google account.Two new features that weren't available in the beta are Google+ sharing and a music store in the Android Market. If you want to try the music service du jour, here's how to get started with Google Music:Using Google Music on your computerUploading music: To upload your own music to Google Music, you need to install the Music Manager (Windows XP/Vista/7, Mac OS X 10.5+, and Linux).Go to Google Music and log in using your Google account.Click the Music Manager download link and install it.Start Music Manager and log in with your Google account, then select the location ofyour music collection to begin uploading your music.To stop uploading, sign out of Music Manager.Screenshot by Ed RheeYou can store up to 20,000 songs from your own collection to Google Music.MP3, AAC, WMA, OGG, and FLAC file formats are supported.Keep in mind, however, that AAC, OGG, and FLAC files will be transcoded to 320kbps MP3 files.Playing music: You can listen to Google Music from Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari and IE7+.Just log in to Google Music and navigate your library on the left and click on the songs or albums you want on the right.Player controls are located on a strip at the bottom of the page.Screenshot by Ed RheePurchased music will be stored in Google Music, but won't count towards the 20,000-song limit.You can also use Music Manager to download your purchased music, which will be in 320kbps MP3 format.Sharing music: You can share music you've purchased to your Google+ circles. Just click on the triangular menu button from the song title and select "share song."The people you share with will get one free full play of the song or album.Screenshot by Ed RheeUsing Google Music on your mobile devicePlaying music: To listen to Google Music on your Android device (2.2+), download the Google Music app from the Android Market.To make songs available offline, click on the triangular menu button in the corner of the album or track title and check the "available offline" box.Screenshot by Ed RheeTo select multiple artists or albums for offline listening, tap the menu button of your Android device, then select "Make available offline."A column of boxes will appear to the right of the artist or album.Select which ones you want to listen to offline, then tap the check mark in the lower left-hand corner.Screenshot by Ed RheeYou can also change your library view in landscape mode by touching the name of the current view.It defaults to "recent," which displays album covers in a carousel view.Screenshot by Ed RheeiOS 4.0+ devices can access Google Music by pointing the browser to music.google.com. Sharon Vaknin has more on how to use Google Music with iOS devices.Buying music: Once your Android device gets the update to Android Market, you'll be able to purchase music by clicking on the "buy" or "free" button next to a song or album. Again, you'll need a Google Wallet account with a payment method entered.Sharing music: The option to share music from your Android device will also be available with the update to Android Market and presumably, the Google Music app. You'll see a new playlist called "free and purchased" that you'll be able to share from.That's it. What do you think? Are you going to use Google Music over iTunes or Amazon Cloud Player?Or do you prefer subscription-based services like Spotify and Rdio?

Alan Moore sparks Electricomics create-your-own digital comics app

Alan Moore sparks Electricomics create-your-own digital comics app
As Amazon gives away a free digital comic every day, legendary writer Alan Moore has flipped the switch on Electricomics, a new open source app for showcasing and creating new strips.The scribe behind "Watchmen" and "From Hell" has now thrown the might of his not-inconsiderable beard behind Electricomics, which will feature new work from established writers and artists and offer an open source toolkit for aspiring digital comic creators."With Electricomics," says Moore, "we are hoping to address the possibilities of comic strips in this exciting new medium, in a way that they have never been addressed before."A still from the movie-accompanying Watchmen comic.Warner Bros."Rather than simply transferring comic narrative from the page to the screen," Moore explains, "we intend to craft stories expressly devised to test the storytelling limits of this unprecedented technology. To this end we are assembling teams of the most cutting-edge creators in the industry and then allowing them input into the technical processes in order to create a new capacity for telling comic book stories."Built by developers Ocasta Studios and bankrolled by the Digital Research & Development fund for the Arts, Electricomics will feature new work by four-colour figureheads such as Garth Ennis, Nicola Scott, Jose Villarrubia, Colleen Doran, and Moore himself, revisiting the legendary strip "Little Nemo" in the new 1930s-set "Big Nemo."Free comicsTo get an idea of what digital comics are like, comic app Comixology -- recently bought by Amazon for an undisclosed sum -- is giving away 20 free digital comics on a daily basis. Comixology is also giving away a free funny book every day until 14 June.Comic reliefDC digital comics and ComiXology iPad appDC Comics New 52 for iPad reviewAmazon snaps up digital comics retailer Comixologyâ€&lsqauo;Comixology cuts Apple, Google out of digital-comics kickbackComiXology launches indie self-publishing platformCrave meets Watchmen creator Dave GibbonsComixology became the most popular app for downloading comics to your iPhone, iPad, or Android device by paying for them through iTunes or Google Play. That meant paying Apple and Google a cut for being the middleman between you and your comics. Comixology's new owner Amazon is having none of that: before you could say "Holy ruining things for readers, Batman!" Amazon yanked the in-app purchase option. Readers must now buy comics separately and sync them to devices from the cloud.The free comic giveaways are presumably designed to sweeten the pill of the extra faffing about required to read Comixology. Things started well, the first available title being part one of Batman tale "The Black Mirror" in "Detective Comics" issue 871. But -- of course there's a but -- you can only download the day's comic, so you have to go back every day or you've missed out.Today's title is "My Little Pony: Pony Tales Vol. 1", so it could be a good day to introduce the young'uns in your life to digital comics.Comixology also contains a number of free comics available every day, typically first issues and samples to give you a taste. The free comics feature characters from Superman and Captain America via Planetary and Scott Pilgrim to the Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Report- Apple readies iPhone, iPad for mobile payments

Report: Apple readies iPhone, iPad for mobile payments
Apple is reportedly working to outfit the next generation of its smartphone and tablet with near-field communications (NFC) technology, which would let consumers use the devices to make mobile payments as an alternative to cash and credit cards, according to a story today by the Bloomberg news service.Richard Doherty, director of the technology consulting firm Envisioneering Group, told Bloomberg that both the iPhone 5 from AT&T and the iPad 2 would likely include NFC chips, citing engineers working on the project.NFC technology lets devices exchange information over a short distance--no more than four inches. As such, a mobile device equipped with NFC could send payment information from a bank account to a register or terminal, allowing people to use them to pay for items and services at stores, restaurants, and other types of retail outlets.Apple has apparently been eyeing NFC for for some time. Last summer, the company hired an expert in NFC to join its mobile commerce team at the same time it reportedly was already testing the inclusion of the technology in its next iPhone.Beyond the benefits to consumers, companies like Apple stand to gain from NFC, notes Bloomberg. Like any business that accepts credit cards, Apple currently pays processing fees on every iTunes purchase made through a credit card. By letting people pay for iTunes content on their iPhones via NFC, Apple could cut out the Visa or MasterCard middleman and trim its own expenses.For tech users, the new technology could also help them more easily transfer and share files and settings between their NFC-equipped smartphones and other devices, such as PCs.Other players have also gotten into the act. Last November, AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile announced the creation of a new mobile payments network that would use NFC. Google soon followed up that up with the launch of its Nexus S Android phone packing an embedded NFC chip and with support for the technology in Android 2.3, aka Gingerbread.On its end, Apple is currently looking into launching a mobile payment service as early as the middle of this year, Doherty told Bloomberg.

GrokMusic offers visual approach to music discovery

GrokMusic offers visual approach to music discovery
GrokMusic is a music discovery site that will appeal to any music fan who's ever tried to describe a new band by naming other artists. As in, "St. Vincent? She's kind of like a guitar-playing Laurie Anderson crossed with early Genesis, with a little Steve Reich thrown in." The site launched in 2008 with artist information and editorial content about music, then introduced a pair of free music-discovery tools in 2009. With MusicMap, you can enter any artist's name, and it will show you that artist's place on a visual map near related artists. Or, you can enter three artists' names into a Suggest Artists box and the site will return a list of up to 12 artists and ask you whether you like, dislike, or don't know them--GrokMusic also uses your entries in the Suggest Artists box to improve the correlations between artists. I found its suggestions to be surprisingly useful, particularly for obscure artists--the similarity engine seems to take popularity into account, so if you're already off into the weeds, GrokMusic will be happy to take you further. There were also a handful of what seemed to be mismatches, like Billy Joel appearing on my AC/DC map. Once you've got your results, you can play several 30-second samples within the media player on the site, then follow links to purchase the songs from iTunes or Amazon MP3. You can also register to save your favorites.Of course, many other music services have been doing this for a long time: Pandora is based on detecting musical similarities, and Apple built a similar Genius function into iTunes more than a year ago. Still, it's a fun diversion, and might come up with suggestions that these other services miss.

Report- Motorola iPhone 4 killer in the works

Report: Motorola iPhone 4 killer in the works
Conceivably Tech, a technology blog, cited general comments about the future phone from Sanjay Jha, the CEO of Motorola's Mobile Devices Division, who was speaking at the Executives Club of Chicago Wednesday.The report went on to say that another Motorola executive, "who asked to remain anonymous," said that the phone would include "everything that is technologically possible in a smartphone today" and will be based on Android, like the current Motorola Droid.Unlike the Droid, it will pack an Nvidia processor and integrate a gyroscope--like the iPhone 4.The Nvidia chip will support full Flash 10.1 hardware acceleration, a feature the iPhone notoriously lacks.In January, Nvidia announced its Tegra 250 processor which is a cutting-edge dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor running at speeds of up to 1.0 GHz--and one of the first dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processors. It is not clear if the future Motorola phone would use this chip or a future Nvidia Tegra processor. What is clear is that future smartphones packing dual-core processors will be powerful devices.Along these lines, Jha talked about his vision for mobile devices, predicting that within two years many companies will give their employees smartphones instead of laptops, as smartphones take on many of the attributes of mobile computers, according to the report, which was also later blogged about by CNET's Bonnie Cha.

Report- iTunes costs Apple $1.3 billion a year to run

Report: iTunes costs Apple $1.3 billion a year to run
Apple spends approximately $1.3 billion per year, or $113 million each month, to run iTunes and its App Store, according to data compiled by Horace Dediu of market research firm Asymco.Analyzing numbers provided at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference last week, Dediu factored in the average price of songs and apps, the split between the company and its developers, and word from Apple that it runs the store at or slightly above the breakeven point.Much of the money that Apple spends on the store goes toward serving content and payment processing as well as support. But Dediu said he believes the company still has a lot left over to invest in increasing capacity, including the new data center that recently popped up in North Carolina.Other analysts have pointed out that the App Store has never been a huge profit source for Apple. In a report issued about a year ago, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster confirmed that Apple just more than slightly breaks even on the App Store. At the time, Munster calculated that the store has added only around $189 million to Apple's total gross profit since its launch.

Angry Birds Seasons celebrates summer with pig update

Angry Birds Seasons celebrates summer with pig update
If you haven't updated your apps lately, there's a nice surprise awaiting you in the App Store: Angry Birds Seasons 1.5.1. (Note: That link is for iTunes. Android users can find the game in Android Market.)Instead of a holiday-themed update, this one actually involves a season: Rovio has added 30 new levels (twice as many as in most previous updates) under the banner "Summer Pignic."If you're even the least bit familiar with the game (and who on the planet isn't?), you know that these seasonal updates have been arriving steadily.In fact, here's a little Angry history for you: after Angry Birds Halloween scared up mammoth business last year, Rovio filled players' stockings with free Christmas-themed levels--and changed the app's name to Seasons. (Seems like "Holidays" would have made more sense, but whatever.)In February, things turned romantic with new Angry Birds levels for Valentine's Day. In March, the Birds celebrated St. Patrick's Day with more new levels. And a month later, April brought not only showers, but also Easter pigs wearing bunny ears.As with all previous updates, this one's free. If you're the last remaining person who's new to Angry Birds, the 99-cent app comes with all the previous levels as well--for a grand total of nearly 150. That's a fairly decent amount of bird-flinging bang for the buck.The question is, what will happen to Seasons after this? Summer Picnic would seem to indicate no new levels until autumn, and the next big holiday around then is Halloween again. (Unless Rovio has a Labor Day update in the works, which seems iffy. And I'm not holding out much hope for Angry Birds Rosh Hashanah.) Could this be the end for Seasons?Angry Birds Seasons 1.5.1 is available for Android, iPhone/iPod, and iPad. Editors' note: This post originally had the wrong name for the update. It is Angry Birds Seasons: Summer Pignic!

Angel's Choice- Be a venture capitalist for apps

Angel's Choice: Be a venture capitalist for apps
South Korean gaming software developer YDOnline is playing a rather interesting hand with Angel's Choice, a free game for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad that turns you into a virtual angel investor for titles in Apple's App Store. After a quick registration, you're given several thousand Angel Dollars (A$), a daily salary, and a set of missions to increase your level through XP (experience). Your goal in Angel's Choice is to discover up-and-coming apps and invest your virtual money into those you think have the best growth potential.The missions (or quests) are fairly basic, such as investing in five different apps in the "Photography" section, which "is expected to grow fast in the future." Rewards for each mission include experience and more Angel Dollars to invest; you get further bonuses if others invest in your selection.Angel's Choice tracks the App Store ranking of each app, and if you invest in a title with a low rank that grows in popularity, you reap the rewards. Those who have the most experience, profitability, or gain are featured on a "top" list for bragging rights. Swagger!The app--which one iTunes rather calls "part app finder and part RPG"--is certainly functional, though not polished. I encountered several errors, slowdowns, and freezes during gameplay on the iPhone 4. Also, since the app is free and has no ads, I couldn't help but wonder how the game will generate revenue for YD Online. There's also the potential flaw of developers and/or power users gaming the leaderboard so their app will be at the top of the charts.Despite these flaws, there was something unique about the experience, and the game did reveal apps I might not have noticed otherwise. I'm just not sure if Angel's Choice has earned its wings yet.

App Store hacker says the 'game is over'

App Store hacker says the 'game is over'
The creator of an exploit that let users purchase digital goods inside of iOS apps without actually paying for them said today thatApple's fix puts the hack out of business."Currently we have no way to bypass [the] updated APIs," creator Alexei Borodin wrote in a post on his development blog. "It's a good news for everyone, we have updated security in iOS, developers have their air-money."Borodin says that the exploit, which requires the use of third-party servers and specially-installed security certificates, will continue to be up and running until Apple releases iOS 6. Last week, Apple said that software -- which is due in the next few months -- will patch the exploit. In the interim, the company provided updated APIs that validate each digital purchase."By examining last Apple's statement about in-app purchases in iOS 6, I can say, that currently (the) game is over," Borodin added.According to an interview with the enterprising programmer last week, the exploit allowed more than 8.4 million purchases of in-app content to be made. With a minimum price of 99 cents per in-app purchase item, that represents a total of $5.82 million developers might have received, with another $2.49 million Apple would have earned based on the App Store's 70/30 revenue split. However that tally could be considerably higher given that purchases within iOS applications can go well beyond the 99 cent minimum.Despite the temporary security win for Apple on the iOS front, Borodin says a modified version of the hack targeted at Apple's Mac App Store is still up and running. "We [are] still waiting for Apple's reaction," he said in the same post. "We have some cards in the hand."The exploit remains one of the few high-profile efforts to target Apple's digital storefronts from inside of apps. Separate efforts have targeted individual user accounts, and the copy protection on applications.

App helps Apple locate customers

App helps Apple locate customers
In Apple's continuing effort to streamline the shopping process at its retail stores, the company has reportedly launched software that informs its employees when shopper has arrived to pick up a purchase.The free Apple Store app allows shoppers to buy Apple products before entering a retail outlet and then alerts store employees that the customer has arrived to retrieve their purchases, according to a New York Times report. A store employee told the newspaper that 16 customers used the location feature to pickup purchases at the company's Palo Alto, Calif., store on Friday.Employees already have a system in places that allows them to locate customers in the store who have questions about merchandise. An iPad next to products displays information about the item and features a button that allows customers to summon further assistance. The request is then transmitted to an employee's iPod Touch, which shows the customer's location in the store."It's more toward customer experience," employee Diego Aguirre told the newspaper. "We don't want to feel like we're hassling our customers to shop. We want them to feel at home."Thanks to smartphones' GPS capabilities, mobile location tracking of customers is becoming more common. Beginning on Black Friday, shopping malls in Southern California and Virginia began monitoring signals from shoppers' cell phones to see traffic patterns in the various stores. No personal data will be collected and the information will remain anonymous, and shoppers are given notice by small signs around the malls.

App developers ignoring NDAs, leaking iOS 6 screenshots

App developers ignoring NDAs, leaking iOS 6 screenshots
When Apple CEO Tim Cook said last month that the company is going to "double down on secrecy," he must have had a good idea how developers who leak information will be punished.If so, those plans should be kicking in today, after what appear to be clear leaks by developers of screenshots from the forthcoming iOS 6 to news outlets like The Verge and BGR. Apple unveiled iOS 6 during its Worldwide Developers Conference keynote today in San Francisco.All Apple app developers -- including CNET -- must agree to an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) before being given an iOS software development kit. So while Apple released its own screenshots today from its new mobile operating system, the images that were published by The Verge, BGR, and others, were most likely not approved by Apple under the terms of the NDA. As a result, the developers who leaked them would likely be subject to some kind of penalty.However, there is probably no way the company would be able to tell who leaked the images, and the news sites would almost certainly be considered to be within their rights to publish them as legitimate news.We've contacted Apple for comment and will update this post when we hear back.RelatedComplete WWDC 2012 coverageBut there's got to be some teeth-gnashing in Cupertino, Calif., Apple's home, in the wake of Cook's comments at last month's D10 conference, when he told interviewers Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg that, "We're going to double down on secrecy on products."

Another Apple launch, another line for Woz to stand in

Another Apple launch, another line for Woz to stand in
It wouldn't be an Apple product launch without a Steve Wozniak sighting, would it?The Apple co-founder was sighted--and subsequently interviewed by Shira Lazar at What's Trending--at the Westfield Mall in Century City, Calif. today waiting in line for his new iPad. And as one might expect, Woz had some nice things to say about his upcoming purchase."I have had an iPad with a low amount of memory and I will finally be able to put a lot more movies on my iPad because I'm getting one with the higher amount of memory," Wozniak told Lazar. "Also, I have a number of phones that have the Verizon 4G and the LTE system and it's fast. For downloading stuff on your iPad when you're not on Wi-Fi, it's going to be a wonderful thing."Related storiesAll new iPad coverage from CNETApple iPad with Retina Display makes its debutApple TV announced, with 1080pNew iPad launch: Live from the streetsWozniak has become a staple at just about every major Apple product launch, waiting in line with consumers who are looking to get their hands on the company's latest and greatest devices. In most cases, Wozniak stands in line at an Apple Store in San Francisco, but he's holding a keynote address later today in Los Angeles, which prompted him to head to the Westfield Mall location.During his interview with Lazar, Wozniak also took the opportunity to mention his good friend and fellow Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, saying that the company must carry on the legacy he left."Steve was really responsible for setting up a company, a culture, a method of developing products that continue to create great products," Wozniak said. "If I ever see them not great, then I'll be screaming. That will be a sad day."When that store's doors open at 8 a.m., Wozniak will actually be the second person to walk through. His wife, Suzanne, he says, is actually first in line.

Another Siri co-founder leaves Apple

Another Siri co-founder leaves Apple
One of Siri's founding members from long before it was acquired by Apple and turned into the feature found in the iPhone 4S, has left the company.Adam Cheyer, who co-founded Siri, Inc. in March 2008, has left his job at Apple, Bloomberg reports. CNET has learned that his departure took place months ago, and that the decision was fueled by a desire to spend more time with his family and eventually work on other projects. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Apple purchased Siri in early 2010. At the time, the company had a voice assistant app that could turn voice commands into software actions. The project was developed out of an artificial intelligence project at SRI International. After purchasing the company, Apple spun it into an exclusive feature for the iPhone 4S. The technology is also headed to the company's latest iPad model as part of iOS 6, which is expected to be released later this month.According to his LinkedIn profile, Cheyer was the engineering director in Apple's iOS group.Cheyer is the second Siri co-founder to leave Apple after joining the company post-acquisition. Last October, shortly after the debut of Siri on the iPhone 4S, Siri co-founder and CEO Dag Kittlaus left the company as well.Despite lawsuits over the efficacy of the feature aimed in Apple's direction, the company has stated publicly that it has high hopes for Siri. In a talk earlier this year, Apple's Chief Executive Tim Cook noted that the product was still in beta, but that he already felt like he couldn't live without it. He then compared it with the kind of user interface changes the company underwent when going from including multitouch on its trackpads to the iPhone, then iPad.

Box Office Report: 'Godzilla' Opened So Big, a Sequel Is Already in Development

Here areyour three-day box office returns (new releases bolded): 1. Godzilla - $93.2 million ($93.2 million total) 2. Neighbors - $25.9 million ($91.5 million total) 3. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - $16.8 million ($172.1 million total) 4. Million Dollar Arm - $10.5 million ($10.5 million total) 5. The Other Woman - $6.3 million ($71.6 million total) 6. Heaven Is for Real - $4.4 million ($82.2 million total) 7. Rio 2 - $3.8 million ($118.0 million total) 8. Captain America: The Winter Soldier - $3.7 million ($250.6 million total) 9. Legends of Oz: Dorothy;s Return - $1.95 million ($6.5 million total) 10. Mom;s Night Out - $1.90 million ($7.3 million total) The Big Stories A 60-year-old franchise grossed nearly as much as sequels to a pair of major Marvel franchises this year. The impressive nature of this should not be overlooked. Evidently whatever sting that still existed from Roland Emmerichand Dean Devlin;s 1998 summer travesty subsided the minute the trailers to Gareth Edwards; new Godzilla take teased something extraordinary. Just how extraordinary is what audiences can decide for themselves in weeks to come, but this is a major win not just for the summer and for Warner Bros. but Hollywood marketing in general. Godzilla;s opening was such a success that Deadline reports a sequel is officially in the works. Gareth Edwards is expected to return as director. God-DANG-Zilla! Godzilla is the third biggest opening of 2014 behind Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. The former is days away from becoming the top grosser in the U.S. this year and the latter is going to limp across the $200 million mark after another expected big drop this weekend and a similar one to come when X-Men: Days of Future Past invades Memorial Day. I had doubts this incarnation would reach $200 million this summer, but this kickoff just about insures it. The lowest final gross on a film to open with over $88 million is Fast Five;s $209 million, a number that ASM2 may challenge, and perhaps Godzilla could too. Godzilla registered 73% positivity with critics and a B+ from those random Cinemascorers (compared to 72% and an A- for last summer;s Pacific Rim.) How many of them were hard-core vs. casual giant-lizard fans though? The advertising had to have been a great contributor to the film;s start. After all, if it wasn;t going to give away the money shots or even the full story (which surprised many film critics) let alone fleeting shots of its enormous star, moviegoers just had to show up and see for themselves. Will they be bothered that Godzilla doesn;t truly show up until nearly halfway through the film or that Aaron Taylor-Johnson is so transparent a leading man that he might be mistaken for an extra? It may not matter either way. X-Men is certainly going to dominate over the upcoming holiday weekend and take a chunk of Godzilla;s audience with it, but with the U.S. getting the film at least halfway to turning a profit, overseas is truly going to bring it home for Warner Bros. Even Emmerich;s boo-worthy treatment grabbed over $242 million of its $379 million outside the U.S. and those were 1998 dollars. (It would be equal to about $551.2 million today.) Pacific Rim grossed over $309 million overseas last year (and that still wasn;t enough to get it into the black.) Godzilla should grab at least that and its going to need every penny to help erase the disappointment that was Transcendence, which is currently the biggest bomb of 2014. Tales of the Top 10 Counterprogramming this week was offered in the form of Disney;s Million Dollar Arm, a modestly budgeted underdog tale that isn;t going to hurt the studio;s bottom line much this year. It will only need about $50 million overseas to break even, which is possible given its international appeal. Neighbors, meanwhile, becomes the biggest hit for Universal this year (budget-to-gross.) With a very respectable drop in its second weekend, the film is likely headed somewhere north of $150 million, which would surpass Knocked Up, Seth Rogen;s biggest live-action grosser to date. The successes of both The Other Woman (over $137 million worldwide) and Rio 2 (now at over $427 million worldwide - compared to the $484 million of the original) have helped Fox get back on track afterits association with Mr. Peabody & Sherman. X-Men: Days of Future Past is up next forFoxwith the second largest budget in studio history. Over at Sony, Heaven Is for Real remainsthe studio;ssolo hit on the year after posting major losses in allits divisions since last March. Some are saying that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is going to need over $755 million to turn a profit, when that is more the magic number on outgrossing the original. Unless there are some truly hidden numbers busting out the advertising budget the film should already be showing a profit for Sony with $633 million worldwide. Though Captain America looks to remain the top grosser on the year for a bit longer, ASM2 is creeping up as thenumber onegrosser... just nowhere nearnumber onein profit. - Erik Childress can be seen each Thursday morning on WCIU-TV;s First Business breaking down the box office on the Movies & Money segment.