The Download Blog

KitKat, the most recent version of Android, brings features as sweet as its namesake to the new Google Nexus 5. Among these, you'll find a new phone dialer, Caller ID, true full screen, a new Hangouts app, and printing abilities.

To use all of these new features, KitKat also has an updated Google Keyboard. This keyboard is very similar to the version released on the Google Play Store, except the swiping line color has changed, you can glide over space to insert it between words, and some upgraded emoji are included.

If you have Android 4.… Read more

Path, the private, mobile social network for friends and family members, has its eye on BlackBerry, but apparently no decisions have been made just yet.

Speaking to a news outlet in Indonesia this week, Path CEO Dave Morin seems to have said that his company would be bringing its application to BlackBerry in 2014, according to Crackberry. He didn't specify whether the application would be available on BlackBerry 10, said the report, but considering there are no known plans for an update to BlackBerry's operating system anytime soon, it appeared likely BlackBerry 10 would get the nod from … Read more

When I first heard about Steve Aoki in the mid- to late 1990s, from friends of mine (colleagues of his) at UC Santa Barbara, the future mixologist to the stars was simply described as the son of Benihana founder Rocky Aoki and the brother of supermodel Devon Aoki, who threw great parties at his Isla Vista apartment, popularly known as the Pickle Patch. The festivities have expanded, taking Aoki around the world and bringing him incredible opportunities such as collaborations with DJs Armand Van Helden, Tiesto, and Diplo, and remixing for Kanye West, Drake, and Robin Thicke.

Caught between his … Read more

The recent update of Google+ to version 4.2 came with a handful of new features. The primary focus of the update was on photos -- both editing and sharing them -- but the update also added a location widget.

This Google+ Location widget gives you quick access to the whereabouts of friends or family from your Android Home screen. It's also a lot faster than navigating through the Google+ app, which involves: opening the app, going to Locations, opening the list of friends sharing their locations, and then finding the person whose location you want to see.

Here'… Read more

BlackBerry's messaging platform had a strong first week on Android and iOS.

The company announced on Tuesday that 20 million new users have signed up for BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), bringing its total monthly active users to more than 80 million. According to BlackBerry, it defines monthly active users by those who "send or receive any data through the BBM service within a given 30-day period."

It's important to note that while BlackBerry's announcement was tied to last week's launch of BBM on Android and iOS, the company didn't say that those 20 million … Read more

The time has come once again for the ghosts and goblins to roam the streets for sweets. But if trick-or-treating is no longer your thing and you'd rather stay in, Download.com has got you covered with some freebie games for creating your own scarefest -- without leaving the house. In 2012, our editors scoured our extensive catalog and collected the most unusual games they could find to scare you. This time around, we dug even deeper, saw things that nightmares are made of, and brought them back to share with you. These creepy finds are listed in no … Read more

Last year when Mountain Lion and Windows 8 were released, I wrote a piece comparing the Mac and Windows operating systems, and concluded that Apple took the better path by keeping its tablet and desktop operating systems separate. With Windows 8 Microsoft gave its operating system a complete makeover, asking that people change the way they use their computers. Now that the two operating systems have updated with Mac OS X Mavericks and Windows 8.1, I thought I should take another look at both to see if the update did anything to change my mind.

For full disclosure, I … Read more

The most coveted phone today (at least for iOS users) is undoubtedly the iPhone 5S gold (I just ordered mine, and it's on three weeks' back order!). The most coveted award in Hollywood today remains that gold-plated Oscar. While actor and Thirty Seconds to Mars front man Jared Leto doesn't have either, that'll certainly change in a few months. I predict a Best Supporting Actor win in his future for his credible, Gotham Independent Film Award-winning portrayal of HIV-positive transgender woman Rayon in "Dallas Buyers Club."

Out November 1 in limited release and November … Read more

Now that Microsoft is back in the browser business, it devotes a lot of time showing off how well assorted games work in Internet Explorer. On Friday, though, the company tried to tout its browser's new abilities for word processing and other productivity chores.

With Internet Explorer 11, "Users can create rich content with automatic image paste, improved copy-and-paste of formatted lists, and natural undo," said IE program managers Jianfeng Lin and Ben Peters in a blog post.

Specifically, IE11 can recognize word-processors formatting for numbered or bulleted lists and convert that into the appropriate HTML coding; … Read more