| Don’t have any plans this weekend? Luckily there are plenty of excellent free apps to make your weekend more enjoyable. Grab the awesome new jumper,Cordy Sky. With its gorgeous visuals and super fun gameplay,you’ll have a blast playing it. Are you a true Apple fan? Test your iKnowledge in iTrivia. Join a fun,yet simple tennis match in Flick Tennis:College Wars. Gravimaze is an excellent puzzle game we haven’t seen for a long time. There are more! Don’t miss them in today’s Best Free Apps of the Day! CORDY SKY

Cordy Sky Universal (Optimized for both the iPad and iPhone) (4.5 stars with 187 Ratings) Free  Cordy is on a path to Planet 2,but takes a detour and crashes on an odd and mysterious planet. He’s quickly met by Volt,a robot who is also stranded on the planet. This unlikely duo decides to fix of the ship and take to the skies together,looking for more adventure. With that little backstory in place,here’s what you have to do to help Cordy and Volt. The gameplay is fast and furious. Your job is to guide Cordy through a gorgeous and elaborate setting of springs,bumpers,hover beams,and so much more. We cannot emphasize enough how beautiful this game looks on the new iPad. This vertical jumper also has the gameplay that can easily rival Doodle Jump and other hit games in the same genre. ITRIVIA:ALL ABOUT APPLE


iTrivia:All about Apple Universal (Optimized for both the iPad and iPhone) (4.5 stars with 82 Ratings) $0.99 ? Free  If you consider yourself to be quite the Apple fan (and by all accounts,if you’re reading this blog,you probably are),then we have an app that will test your knowledge of the company. It’s called iTrivia:All About Apple,and it’s free. iTrivia boasts more than 500 questions about Apple’s history and products,including founder Steve Jobs. Every ten questions,you’re given an evaluation of your knowledge of the company’s most intricate of working,whereupon you’ll be dubbed from Caveman to Genius Bar Genius. The quizzes are presented in classic Steve Jobs Keynote style slides,which is a nice touch. I’m not ashamed to say that I did quite well on the questions I answered,but I haven’t answered every one of them yet,so we shall see. FLICK TENNIS:COLLEGE WARS

Flick Tennis:College Wars iPhone OS (4.5 stars with 82 Ratings) $0.99 ?Free  Flick Tennis brings the worldwide popular sport of tennis right to your iOS device,with simple and intuitive touch controls. What you have to do is basically what the title tells you:you flick your finger across the screen in various directions to instruct your tennis playing avatar where to volley or serve the ball. But there’s more to the game than just the controls and gameplay. You see,Flick Tennis actually has a story that you’re involved in,as yo play a young tennis prodigy who’s trying to work his way up the game’s food chain. WIth well drawn comic episodes that draw you further into the story,you’ll actually begin to care more about how well you do. GRAVIMAZE – GRAVITY PUZZLE SOLVING

GraviMaze – Gravity Puzzle Solving iPhone OS (4.5stars with 15 Ratings) $0.99 ?Free  Gravimaze is all about collecting the coins in an intricate and oftentimes confusing stone maze set in ancient Mayan times. Swipe the screen to rotate the environment. The giant block falls downward as you rotate the maze,collecting coins along the way. Lead the block through the maze fast enough and collect all of the coins,and you have yourself a pretty high score to boast about. Leave any coin uncollected before you hit the final spot,and your score takes a hit. And while you might get a little confused constantly rotating each level to find the exit,Gravimaze remains a highly entertaining puzzle game any puzzle fan should check out. FINGER SHOT RPG

Finger Shot RPG Universal (Optimized for both the iPad and iPhone) (4.5 stars with 120 Ratings) $0.99 ? Free  Finger Shot RPG is all about you controlling the motions of the members of your unity on the field of battle. Simply touch and drag the characters to move them and cause them to shoot their weapons. With 100 different campaigns to embark on,27 varying and unique combat units that can be upgraded,and 10 battlefield maps,there’s plenty of action to get engrossed in here. The graphics pop with cute animations and illustrations,and the gameplay,as stated before,it pretty dead simple. CAVE BOWLING

Cave Bowling Universal (Optimized for both iPhone and iPad) (4.5 stars with 16549 Ratings) $0.99 ? Free  Donut games is known for their ability to create super fun and addicting casual games. With Cave Bowling for the iPhone and iPad,that is no exception. Your goal in each round is to completely knock out all of the pins. The levels are well designed and varied. You will need to use your puzzle skills as well as some luck to knock all of the pins to advance to the next level. But that is not all there is to Cave Bowling. To score more than 1 star,you will also need to knock out the bones in each level as your bowling ball starts to roll. Getting every pin down and collecting the bones make this caveman bowling game super fun!  Go to Source

1. Make the First App that Pops Into Your HeadWhen it comes to mobile,always go with your gut. There are so many possibilities for what you can do that you’ll just get overwhelmed or,worse,second guess yourself. Grab a juice and relax;like any software project,there’s no way to miss the target. 2. More Features Are Always BetterDollar for dollar,there’s no better way to boost productivity than to pack every imaginable feature into a single application. Need to track a shipment or request a new forklift battery? Consult the ‘Manufacturing and HR’ tab,cleverly nestled between a flashlight and a crowd-sourced list of neighboring sandwich shops. 3. Design for Your CEODon’t let passing trends like consumerization or worker satisfaction derail your IT goals. It doesn’t matter what platforms your employees are embracing;if your CEO still uses a BlackBerry,you’d better make sure he’s happy. 4. Involve as Many Stakeholders as PossibleSteer clear of naming a dedicated product owner. From start to finish,every detail of your application should be debated and argued over by as many executives,vice presidents,and directors as your boardroom can handle. 5. Keep Engineers Out of the Planning PhaseSoftware engineers like to talk about what “isn’t possible” or “defies basic logic.” Their childlike dependence on reality will smother great ideas,so keep them distracted until somebody absolutely has to start building the application. 6. Focus Your Strategy Around QR CodesNothing beats the simple pleasure of opening a QR reader,capturing an artfully arranged jumble of squares,and tapping through a series of pop-up notifications to land on a corporate homepage. Absolutely nothing. 7. Don’t Let Designers Ruin a Good AppThose user-focused hippies throw around jargony phrases like “behavior,” “expectations,” and “is there a way to get there in under 70 touches?” Leave the application up to the engineers,and let your designers focus on their real strengths:tweaking color schemes and napping. 8. Mimic the Best App You FindMobile may be new,but all the good ideas have already been snatched up. So if you don’t have an app,just latch onto your biggest competitor and ride them to the top. 9. Always Augment RealityReality just doesn’t cut it anymore. If your employees can’t reach out and hug a pie chart then they’ll never be able to understand how many TPS reports they’ve processed in a quarter. 10. Leave Testing to Your UsersQA is expensive and,let’s be honest,a bit of a chore. Leave that step for your users;they’re sure to find all the bugs eventually. That’s all there is to it. Once you’ve put your app on the market,you can sit back and reap the rewards. The app will take care of itself. 
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The MotoACTV is set to receive yet another update tomorrow. First up is an upgrade to the MotoACTV’s Android companion app that gives it support for all devices running Android 2.1 or greater to send email,text,call log,and calendar notifications to the watch over Bluetooth. The app previously only worked with Motorola’s smartphones,stripping away one of the ACTV’s most intriguing features unless you opted to use one of the company’s smartphones as well. The update also adds functionality that lets you plan workouts from within the app,track fitness goals,and “use your Android smartphone to set up Wi-Fi networks”for the MotoACTV. There aren’t any more details on what exactl… Continue Reading Here MotoACTV golf beta update available April 2nd alongside new Android companion app Dante D’Orazio –theverge.com 
Go to Source Welcome to April,Android fans. And before you ask,no,we’re not doing any April Fool’s stories here on Android Community for news outlets,there’s just too many nice but somewhat unguarded people who might believe us. But if you want the rundown on some of the funniest April Fool’s pranks pulled by tech industry folks,head on over to our sister site SlashGear. Now,let’s take a look at the big happenings in the world of Android this week. The Ice Cream Sandwich updates continue this week,with releases and/or leaks from several major manufacturers. Google gets the spotlight with the brand new 4.0.4 release of Android,finally hitting the G… Continue Reading Here Android Community Weekly:April 1st,2012 Michael Crider –androidcommunity.com 
Go to Source Conan O’Brien has learned that,due to an unfortunate misunderstanding,he did not buy Mashable and oust CEO Pete Cashmore. Instead,he purchased a Mash TV fan site. He regrets the error and is returning Mashable to Pete Cashmore’s control. More About:conan o’brien For more Social Media coverage: 

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1. Introducing Siri on iPhone 4SSiri’s debut on TV. Some folks didn’t take to kindly to the ads though,even prompting some lawsuits. Click here to view this gallery. Apple —a small company based in Cupertino,CA that makes technological devices —is often featured on YouTube,a website that features many different videos uploaded by a lot of different people. If you’ve been wondering which advertisements from Apple have been viewed on YouTube over the last month,then you’re in luck. We have assembled them into an easy-to-peruse gallery just for you! It’s interesting to see that two of Apple’s oldest ads crack the top five and that people seem willing to watch the longer debut ads of new products and features. Do you prefer the classics or the new ads featuring Siri? Let us know in the comments. 1. Introducing Siri on iPhone 4SSiri’s debut on TV. Some folks didn’t take to kindly to the ads though,even prompting some lawsuits. Click here to view this gallery. More About:apple,YouTube 

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Best Buy says it’s coming next week and Motorola wants some lucky testers to try it out,but if you just can’t wait,you can get the official Ice Cream Sandwich update on your Motorola DROID RAZR right now. Friendly XDA modder yalkowni has posted a guide on fooling Motorola’s servers into including you in the soak test,with the help of a non-Market app called “cheesecake”. According to the XDA thread it’s pulling the update directly from Motorola’s servers,though some replies indicate that you need to have an active Motorola forum account. To be blunt,this method does not inspire confidence. Though other leaks of the Android 4.0 b… Continue Reading Here Motorola DROID RAZR Ice Cream Sandwich update leaked Michael Crider –androidcommunity.com 
Go to Source The long,torturous wait for Android 4.0 updates might nearly be over for subscribers on Canada’s Bell Mobility,according to a leaked internal memo posted by MobileSyrup. Assuming the schedule is the real deal,Samsung’s devices will be the first to be upgraded,with the flagship Galaxy S II and 5.1-inch Galaxy Note getting their updates this month,followed by HTC’s Sensation and Raider devices in June,then lastly the LG Optimus LTE in July. Turning to tablets,Bell’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 8.9 LTE updates both look to be on track for May and June,respectively. Unfortunately,news isn’t so good for owners of non-Superphone Android devices like the Galaxy W 4G and LG Eclypse 4G –… Continue Reading Here Bell Mobility’s Android 4.0 update schedule:ICS on all Superphones and tablets by July Jeff Blagdon –theverge.com 
Go to Source This article, Go to Source There’s been a lot of classic games getting remade for Android lately,and the latest in the long line is sleeper first-person shooter hit Painkiller. The original game came out in 2004 for the PC,but noted Android developer Machineworks is bringing it back for a go-round on your phone or tablet under the name Painkiller:Purgatory HD. You can pick it up in the Google Play Store for the odd price of $1.11,and any device running Eclair or later can join in the fun. That said,you’ll probably want something with at least a 1ghz processor to get the best experience. The original Painkiller followed Daniel Garner,an admirable everyman who’s killed along wi… Continue Reading Here Painkiller comes to Android via Duke Nukem developer Michael Crider –androidcommunity.com 
Go to Source Alright,if you haven’t heard,it’s April Fool’s day. I’m sure by now,there’s already a fair share of “hilarious”April fools pranks being posted around the internet. That’s the main reason I always unplug from the internet on all-hallows-fools-day and of course —trust no one. But just because I wont compromise my journalistic integrity and prank our trusting Phandroid readers doesn’t mean my family,outside of the internet,is safe. Growing up as the middle child,I’ve always been known in my family as the mischievous one and April 1st is my time to shine. So,what kind of hijinks did I get myse… Continue Reading Here Hands-On Video:Shake to Charge and Solar Charger Apps Fix Your Battery Life Problem Chris Chavez –phandroid.com 
Go to Source There’s an unfortunate tendency among hardware manufacturers of all kinds to jealously guard their new products from prying eyes. Such is the case with the HTC One S,which was included in HTC-Hub’s unboxing of the HTC One X. Both devices are due to go on sale in Europe in just a few hours,but that didn’t stop the Taiwanese company from taking some major offense at the French site’s actions. They’ve initiated a civil suit against HTC-Hub,even though both the X and the S were leaked weeks before their Mobile World Congress unveiling. HTC France has appointed a bailiff to recover the One S phone that the site had planned to review. <br… Continue Reading Here HTC sues French site over early One S unboxing Michael Crider –androidcommunity.com 
Go to Source Twitter is slow and it doesn’t work on paper. What if you could change all that? Mashable’s new CEO Conan O’Brien has developed a solution:Manual Tweets. They work …on paper. Watch the video to see this astounding social media innovation for yourself. SEE ALSO:Conan O’Brien Buys Mashable,Ousts Pete Cashmore as CEO More About:conan o’brien,trending,Twitter For more Social Media coverage: 

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We know quite a bit about Sprint’s upcoming Galaxy Nexus LTE except the most interesting part –when it’ll be available and how much it’ll cost. Eager Sprint fans may not have much longer to wait,however,as an anonymous Walmart employee has sent us an internal document stating that the device will launch on April 22nd at Sam’s Club –a Walmart-run discount club store. The device is to be identical to Verizon’s LTE variant of the device,except it has Google Wallet support and it’s still rumored to run at 1.5GHz –a 300MHz bump over its GSM and Verizon LTE cousins. Other than the Galaxy Nexus,the document reveals a yet-to-be-announced Intensity III for Verizon,sure to … Continue Reading Here Sprint Galaxy Nexus LTE available on April 22nd? Dante D’Orazio –theverge.com 
Go to Source In our new series,The World at Work,Mashable interviews the faces behind the companies that are working to make a global impact. Using the power of digital,these five companies have empowered citizens in need,rewarded innovation and created uniquely shareable tools that are key in affecting real change. Although they range in issues from education to sustainability,the one thing that all of these companies have in common is the drive and passion of those at the helm. Here’s a roundup of featured programs from the last week,including exclusive video interviews. To read more and watch the videos,click through to the full story,and follow the series to learn about more breakthrough companies.
1. Kaggle
Big Idea:Kaggle hosts contests for data scientists.
Why It’s Working:Using competition to perfect predictive models. Kaggle hosts contests for data scientists. Companies that want problems solved post them,along with relevant data sets,on the site. Anyone can submit a solution,and each competitor ranks on a leaderboard throughout the competition. So far about 30,000 people have submitted at least one model to a contest. Read the full story here.
2. Recyclebank
Big Idea:Recyclebank gives the planet a rewards system using gamification techniques.
Why It’s Working:Recyclebank rewards environmentally friendly actions with points,which are a monetary incentive to recycle. You can also compare your behavior with others on leaderboards in the Recyclebank Ecosystem. When Recyclebank was founded six years ago,no one had heard of gamification,the concept of rewarding non-game actions with points,scores or other rewards. Thanks to Foursquare,the popular geo-social network that has gamified exploration,many more of us are familiar with the term. Read the full story and see the video here.
3. Pencils of Promise
Big Idea:By adopting the pencil,both symbolically and literally,the Pencils of Promise (POP) builds schools and educates children in developing countries.
Why It’s Working:PoP’s newest campaign,Made With Pencils,engages participants via online art auctions,killer website design and a social media strategy that dates back to the roots of Facebook. PoP is a global project that aims to build schools and establish learning initiatives for millions of children around the globe who lack access to education. The non-profit organization —or as its 28-year-old founder Adam Braun would call it,the “for-purpose organization”—has already helped lower the number of uneducated children from 75 million in 2006 to 67 million today. Read the full story here.
4. Wefunder
Big Idea:Wefunder provides a platform that allows startups to hold fundraising with a crowd of investors.
Why It’s Working:WeFunder drives innovation by giving startups the ability to go through a formal funding series,and it also takes crowdsourcing to a new level by giving equity to funders. In the hard and fast world of startups,it’s not easy to get your name heard and money in your pocket. Boston-based company Wefunder aims to change that through another buzzword:crowdfunding. Read the full story and see the video here.
5. Reward Volunteers
Big Idea:Reward Volunteers is an app for volunteers to log time,share what they’re doing and earn rewards for themselves and the organizations they serve.
Why It’s Working:Users clock in volunteer time so they can focus on doing more good and less on keeping track of hours. The more hours logged and activity shared,the greater chance both volunteers and organizations have to win cash and prizes. Volunteers deserve a bit of credit for their do-good attitude,and that’s exactly what Reward Volunteers aims to do —it is in the name,after all. Read the full story here.
What do you think of the efforts of these companies? Let us know in the comments. More About:features,mashable,World at Work For more Business coverage: 

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1. Introducing Siri –iPhone 4SShares:47,802 There are several well-known Siri parodies out there,but nothing quite compares to this melodramatic,film trailer-esque video. The protagonist argues with his friends out of love for the indomitable Siri,the main factor that makes the iPhone 4S and it’s predecessor “not the same.”The Droid makes a surprise cameo. Click here to view this gallery. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,then Apple’s definitely the most popular girl at school. Fans and haters alike have created spoofs,mocking the widespread Apple advertisements that promote every new product. Whether the iPad,iPhone,MacBook or Siri,you’ll be able to find a thoughtfully executed parody. Here are the 10 most-shared Apple ad parodies of all time. They range from the artsy to the downright ridiculous. But one thing’s for certain:They’re all darn entertaining. Thanks to our friends at Unruly for compiling the list. Image courtesy of iStockphoto,Picture Lake More About:ads,Advertising,apple,features,humor,ipad,ipod,macbook 

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DAGr8 has released an update to SAUROM. The latest version is now RC7. This release is supported on the following Device(s): - Samsung Galaxy Note I717:AT&T Changelogs RC7 Full wipe only (sorry ) Multi DPI Hacked Camera ( allows usage with low battery ) dots are back in thelauncher NEW SystemUi Mods Done via Custom menu in Settings (this menu also controls JKAY TWEAKS): carrier text:color + removable / customizable / revert-able to stock one date clock:color + removable + add time to it clock:ability… Continue Reading Here ROM @DAGr8 SAUROM for Samsung Galaxy Note I717/ AT&T Community Release –androidspin.com 
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NVIDIA’s Tegra platform is no doubt a great one for showcasing Android gaming. We know there are plenty of Tegra-exclusive games out there,but there’s one game that’s standing out head and shoulders above the rest of the Tegra-based games. You may have heard about a certain Action-RPG called Soulcraft THD,which is pretty much a dark fantasy game on steroids. The beta has currently been in beta for a few months now and while the developer Mobilebits claims there are still some bugs to be worked out,the game runs incredibly fluid while the graphics are smooth like butter. The game is more or less in the freemium category,but there are still an abundant amount abilities you can achieve and master in the game. This comes in the form of spells,powers and weapons like different swords you can obtain. Moreover,the spells and hits you dish out are easy to perform thanks to responsive controls. As the game comes out of beta and is officially launched,you can expect there will be even more combinations of spells and weapons especially as more and more gamers create their various characters and fight with or against each other. Now that I’ve played the beta for a solid month,I can solidly recommend it to any and all owners of a Tegra-based device,despite it only being a beta now. If you’re ready to destroy some demon tail,be sure to give Soulcraft THD a shot. Just be prepared to distance yourself from reality for a while. Play Store 


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When Fahim Saleh bought the domain name “prankdial.com,”he fit the demographic one might expect:a high school boy in a small town,an occasional prankster and an Internet geek. The site ran a simple prank call service. Users entered a message,and the computer would call a number of their choice before reading it in a slow,robotic voice. Saleh put the site up,used it a few times,and then pretty much forgot about it while he was at college. That is,until someone copied it. When the nearly identical site “prankdialer.com”launched,it inspired Saleh to revive the dinky high school prank site he built on a whim in high school. By that point a serial Internet entrepreneur,he reinvented PrankDial,turning it into a profitable business. Since its revival,PrankDial’s iPhone app has been downloaded 500,000 times,and its Android app (before it was taken down at Android’s request) was downloaded 4 million times. The site has been behind nearly 100 million prank calls to date. Saleh —now 25 —has used the prank site’s revenue to found new businesses,relating to everything from Facebook cover photos to iPhone games for kids. “We’re probably the number-one prank anything on the web,”he says. “If you search ‘prank’or ‘prank calls,’you get PrankDial or one of our properties.” Here’s how the high school gag site grew up.
Building

PrankDial isn’t the only URL that Saleh purchased in high school. Launching websites was something of a habit —and a profitable one. The first site he sold,a resource for instant messenger icons called AIMDude.com,went for $1,200 on eBay. As he built more sites,he and his business partner (who he met on AIM) outsourced the actual programming involved to agencies abroad. “We were basically sitting at home in bedrooms,talking to people three times our age,and they have no idea they’re talking to a teenager on the other side,”says Saleh. “We’re in our pajamas,writing up specs and telling them how we want the design changed.” By the time he was 20,the pair had founded a conglomerate of websites called WizTeen,which allowed users to customize their avatars on services such as MySpace,MSN Messenger and AIM (remember them?). At the company’s peak,Saleh says the sites were pulling in $30,000 to $60,000 every month from Google Ads. In 2007,a reporter from the Poughkeepsie Journal wrote an article about WizTeen,in which she interviewed its 20-year-old co-founder. She asked him where he saw himself in five years. “I see myself behind one project that I’m very passionate about,funded by venture capitalists,in California,working full time in an office with like-minded people,working on a project that we’re all passionate about,”Saleh told her. “Everything I’m doing now is leading up to that.”
Rebuilding

Five years later,Saleh is in New York,leading a team of 10 who work on PrankDial,as well as a handful of other services under the umbrella company Tapfury. He says he hasn’t sought venture capital because the site has been profitable. WizTeen fizzled while Saleh was in college as services like AIM made their way out. Seeing imitator Prankdialer.com launch (he eventually bought the site) was what turned his attention to his own prank site,which at that point was getting 300 or 400 unique visitors per day. It needed a makeover. Sending robot messages over the phone wasn’t as funny as it was in high school,and Saleh replaced the robot with pre-recorded character messages. The recordings pause periodically to give the illusion of a conversation. You can send your friend the voice of an indignant pregnant woman who is pretty sure her baby is his. Or a desperate man who needs bail money. Or a threat from Batman. “At first,it was just me,”says Saleh. “Basically I just got my really terrible microphone and started blurting out things.” Now,the site hires voice talent to record the calls. PrankDial charges users who make more than three calls a day,but the service free up until that point. About 2 million people visit the site each month. Saleh swears his users aren’t just high school boys. “They don’t have that much discretionary income to spend on prank calling,”he reasons. “I think it’s about having a laugh with friends.”
Prank Call-Funded
At the end of the day,PrankDial sells prank calls —which,while not without their merits,are unlikely to change the world. “I really think if you market something properly,it can be anything on the Internet nowadays,”says Saleh. “It’s hard to believe this makes money,but if you’re the largest prank call website in the world,that generates revenue.” Just as he funded his college education by customizing AIM icons,he’s funding new business ventures through prank calls. Though Tapfury runs a handful of businesses,PrankDial —which requires very little maintenance —accounts for about 80% of revenue. Saleh is still searching for that one project he told the Poughkeepsie Journal at age 20 —something to be passionate about. “I really want to work on one project that has an influence on people’s lives,”he tells me,echoing the response he gave that reporter five years ago. Sure,most people fund such ideas through venture capital or loans. But prank calls seem as good a method as any. Image courtesy of iStockphoto,IGphotography More About:entrepreneurship,features,humor,pranks,Startups For more Business coverage: 

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Since tablets have burst into the ecommerce space in the last few years,they’ve drastically altered the online shopping experience. That’s a good thing for retailers. Tablet users prefer to use tablets at home,an environment where they’re more likely to buy. This Milo infographic breaks down the trends in tablet use and retail. According to an eMarketer report,tablets will be adopted even more quickly in the U.S. than smartphones. By 2014,more than one-third of U.S. Internet users will have tablets,meaning now’s the time for retailers to be looking toward the mobile shopping experience. SEE ALSO:Tablet Owners Define New Category of Shoppers Milo makes one key recommendation for retailers:31% of tablet users compare prices on their device before purchasing in a brick-and-mortar store. This trend means even retailers not specializing in e-commerce should be sure to optimize their stock for tablet shoppers. What’s your preferred device for online shopping? Are you a desktop loyalist or tablet adopter? More About:infographic,retail,Tablet For more Business coverage: 

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