(Photo: Caters News Agency)

The Gmail app for iPad and iPhone got an upgrade. [Gmail Blog]

Despite the cluttered app market, half of all revenue from the app store goes to just 25 developers. [The Register]

Techstars company Karma has launched its $79 4G mobile hotspot that rewards users for sharing their connection. [TechCrunch]

If the Curiosity Rover can last eight more years, it will get a friend. NASA plans to send another rover to Mars in 2020. [BBC]

Why walk or drive to work when you could trampoline? [The Guardian]

(Photo: iTunes)

We've all been there: stuck in the middle of a terrible first date with a boring or psychopathic or worse--luddite!--companion, with no way out. If you're a terrible liar or none of your friends is available to make that fake emergency call to your cell, eHarmony is here to help. The Globe and Mail reports that the online dating service now has a mobile app in the iTunes store called "Bad Date Rescue" that will help you make your getaway, stat.

The whole system is surprisingly detailed. You can choose an interval of time at which to schedule the fake phone call, which purports to actually have a real voice on the other end. You can also specify which emergency you want to fake: your mom calling to say your sister is in labor, your neighbor to tell you your apartment is flooded or your boss to say there's a work emergency.

But our favorite feature is perhaps this one, which will undoubtedly come in handy for the tongue-twisted among us:

Can’t think of what to say to your date in order to excuse yourself? Then choose the “Repeat After Me” script (also available in Spanish) and simply repeat after the speaker!

The whole thing is pretty genius, particularly from a marketing perspective. Of course, what happens if people start using the app because eHarmony continuously serves them terrible matches? The company must be pretty confident in their matching algorithm.

What do they have to do, Apple?! (Photo: flickr.com/mac_ivan

Earlier this week, Apple rolled iTunes out to 12 Asian nations, including Singapore (Eduardo Saverin, sans Snoop Dogg singles no more), Vietnam and Cambodia. However, several big countries did not receive invitations to the iTunes par-tay, including both China and India. Understandable, since adding a couple billion new users is probably something of a logistical challenge.

But of those that were left out, it's Apple-crazed Indonedia that's the most devastated by this insensitive act of neglect, reports the Wall Street Journal, resulting in widespread "disappointment and confusion."

What must Indonesia do to prove its love, Apple? Fans have:

proved their loyalty to the company by waiting months after product launches to get their hands on devices such as the iPhone 4S, which was first released last October but didn’t arrive in Indonesia until late January, since Apple typically releases its products later there.

If that's not enough:

Many Indonesians also pay a high premium for new Apple products like the iPhone 4S, which has sold for up to $1100 locally despite a retail price of $850 for an unlocked, contract-free version of the top model in the U.S.

That sure sounds like loyalty to us. We're not paying more than a grand for anything less than Google Glasses, and we're only shelling out then if they throw in some skydiving lessons.

Even worse:

Adding salt to their wounds, some Indonesians said, is that even smaller economies such as Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam made the list with new versions of iTunes, though two other giant markets – China and India – were left out along with Indonesia.

One Indonesian tech blogger told the Journal that, “It really makes sense for Apple to be here” and that, "All the fanboys are hugely disappointed.”

Ladybeat respects their right to feel their feelings, but isn't regular disappointment just built into the fanboy lifestyle?

That cord = digital crow's feet. (Photo: flickr.com/philomglol

Damn, we feel old: Did you guys realize that iTunes debuted in 2003, which is now almost a decade ago? That's practically a glacial age in technology, and in the era of Spotify, the software is starting to show its age.

Lest the program find itself suddenly in the dustbin of cultural history--Winamp-style--Apple reportedly plans to do a bit of sprucing up. Bloomberg says a major overhaul is scheduled to debut sometime before the end of the year. 

Sources tell Bloomberg that the revamp is designed to make music and other content more easily accessible across a variety of Apple devices, which is great news for those of us who haven't seen our iPod update cords in months. To that end, Apple is better integrating iTunes with iCloud.

Then there's a bit of here's-mud-in-yer-eye for Spotify:

One of the main ways Apple will attempt to improve discovery is by making it easier for people to share songs, a popular feature of Spotify Ltd.’s music-subscription service. Apple has been negotiating with major record labels for rights that would let a user listen to a song sent to them from a friend for free, one person said.

Remember myTunes, anyone? That made sharing super easy.

(Photo: Google)

At its I/O developer conference today, Google introduced a new hardware device that streams music and video to a variety of Wifi-connected devices. A black orb with a glowing blue stripe, the Nexus Q is not just pretty, it's Apple-quality pretty. In fact, as AllThingsD reports, its two main developers boast Apple design pedigrees.

But design isn't everything. Functionality and already-established technology habits could derail the Nexus Q's goal of catching up to the success of Apple's iTunes store.

The thorn in Nexus Q's side is the fact that its functionality, as a device running on the Android operating system, hinges entirely on Google Play. Play is an app store that recently pivoted from Android Market to encompass apps, music, games and books. Users can stream music and build collaborative social playlists on the Nexus Q using Google Play, but the problem is this: How many people actually pay to Play? Company stats don't reveal anything about Play's revenue breakdown.

Apple still has a death grip on the mobile music market; AllThingsD reports that iTunes accounted for "$1.9 billion in Apple’s overall revenue" last quarter. That's no pittance, and if Google seriously wants to compete with companies like Apple and Amazon in the streaming space, they're going to have to market the crap out of Google Play. Otherwise, we see the Nexus Q going the way of Google's other streaming device--the Google TV, which we owned for less than a year before it went totally kaput on us.

The Global Mail, a non-profit news site, had a big break this week: a feature about wormholes in iTunes that have let hackers abuse accounts as far back as 2010. In a typical scenario, an account is accessed without permission, any remaining gift card credit is used to buy apps and the user's personal information, such as a PayPal account, is abused or altered.

"Those holding iTunes gift cards appear to be the most vulnerable. Once the theft had occurred, forum users say the solutions provided by Apple aren't up to scratch," said the Global Mail, noting than more than 1,000 instances have been reported on Apple forums.

Although the theft tends to range from just a couple dollars up to $500, the more troubling aspect is Apple's lack of transparency about the problem. Apple appears to be taking the stance of issuing refunds, but (as is company protocol) not acknowledging the possibility of a systemic problem until they have a solution.

Ty Miller, chief technology officer at Pure Hacking, an IT security firm in Sydney, told the Global Mail that the hacking may be related to gift cards rather than iTunes accounts:

Still, gift card credit is what most forum users are reporting having lost, and Miller says the frequency of that complaint indicates that hackers may be using software that can generate valid gift card number for use in the iTunes store.

"There's free software out there that lets you generate iTunes gift card numbers and you can actually use them in the iTunes store and buy stuff, so it may not be that the actual accounts are being hacked, it can just be the gift card numbers being used," Miller says.

Why would hackers be using iTunes anyways? Can't they figure out an easier way to watch that Real Housewives Reunion special? Perhaps the story of Vietnamese developer Thuat Nguyen offers a clue. In 2010, he hacked about 400 iTunes accounts to boost sales of his own apps. As the site notes, "But those hacked believe there is a pattern. And it's true the similarities of their stories, the recurrence of purchases of the same apps, and identical amendments to some customers' account information all suggest a coordinated effort." Mr. Nguyen, is that you?

Ra Ra Riot

We've already seen artists like Diplo drop unheard singles on Turntable.fm, and run quickly for cover when the crowd decided to lame it. But Matthew Santos, of the New York-based chamber pop orchestra Ra Ra Riot went one step further today, and debuted an entire album using the viral music service.

It would easy to dismiss this a a cynical marketing ploy in which a band leverages the music app du jour in order to get the biggest response on their new album's first day. But Ra Ra Riot's Matthew Santos saw it differently.

"It’s an important thing, you know? To be open to discovering and enjoying new music as an activity with both friends and other people whose taste you appreciate and trust," Santos told Mashable's Brenna Ehrlich. "This is basically the same thing, except it’s not limited to you and your friends’ record collections, and you guys don’t have to be in the same physical room."

While Santos spun tracks from his new disk, four other DJs--sometimes fellow band members, sometimes fans--kicked in tracks from the likes of Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston. The room quickly become one of the most popular on Turntable.fm, and fans seemed thrilled to chat with a member of the band they were hearing for the first time. "Confession, I played this in high school jazz band," said Santos while spinning Birdland by Weather Report. The crowd responded with Awesomes.

The simplest analogy for this would be the listening party, but without the physical or geographic limitations of a real world venue. Plus, users who were enjoying the tracks actually purchased some by clicking through to the iTunes store, a transaction that drove revenue to Apple, the artist and Turntable.fm, a good sign for a start-up aiming to raise $5-10 million.