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ZDNet App Wrap: 12 December 2011

There are always cool new apps coming out, so it's hard to keep up. ZDNet Australia brings you a taste of some of the apps that have surfaced or been updated recently.
By ZDNet Australia team , Contributor
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(Credit: Flipboard)

Flipboard

Price: Free
Platform: iOS (iPhone and iPad)

Flipboard is a news visualisation app that turns your feeds — including Google Reader, Twitter and Facebook — into a gorgeous, magazine-style experience. Recommended if you want to jazz up your daily download of news and views.

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(Credit: Sand Studio)

Twitter

Price: Free
Platform: Android, iOS (iPhone and iPad)

Twitter has just rolled out a major redesign including new apps for iOS and Android. Twitter is making it clear that it wants users' experiences to be the same, regardless of where they access "Home" (tweets from the sources you care about). This means that users should be able to see all the same information, via Home, on their computer or on their mobile device — iPhone or Android. There's also connect to see who followed, mentioned you, retweeted or favourited one of your tweets. Discover lets people tap into stories and trends.

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(Credit: Lonely Planet)

Wenzani

Price: Free
Platform: iOS (iPhone)

Wenzani gives travellers recommendations on where to eat, shop, play or explore in a new place. The first of the app's three linchpin features are allowing users to say which local experts (from Lonely Planet and competitors who are in on the app) they want to get recommendations from. The second is an algorithm that helps provide useful content by knowing where the user is, with filtering to soon also include time of day, weather and whether the user is a visitor or a local. The third feature is the ability to ask users in the community their opinion on sites.

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(Credit: Path)

Path

Price: Free
Platform: iOS (iPhone)

Path is yet another social network that you can post updates, current location, current music and photos to from your mobile device. The layout is reminiscent of the overhaul of the Facebook timeline, in that you can scroll through and follow what your friends are doing at any point in the day. Unlike the clunky Facebook app, Path is easy on the eyes. This will be one to watch.

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(Credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft Lync

Price: Free
Platform: Windows Phone 7

If your company runs a Lync server or if you've got an Office 365/Lync online account you can use the app to view whether your colleagues are available to communicate with, such as via an instant message, email or phone call. You can also connect to Lync conference calls without passcodes or conference numbers.

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(Credit: PhoneFactor)

PhoneFactor

Price: Free
Platform: iOS (iPhone)

PhoneFactor helps you stop fraudulent access to your accounts. When a transaction or log-in occurs on an account, for example, access to email or online banking, PhoneFactor pushes a notification to your phone. If it's a legitimate transaction, you can then authenticate it. If it's not, you can deny, which blocks the access, notifying the bank or your business that the account has been compromised. To get started, the company managing the log-in you want to protect needs to be using PhoneFactor and you'll need an activation code and URL from that company.

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(Credit: BBC)

BBC iPlayer

Price: Free
Platform: iOS (iPhone and iPad)

Want to watch BBC shows on your mobile device? You can if you use the BBC's iPlayer app. Shows available for free include Doctor Who, Top Gear and Gavin & Stacey. For a monthly subscription charge, you can have unlimited access to all shows.

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(Credit: Australian Government)

DisasterWatch

Price: Free
Platform: iOS (iPhone), Android

See the app that developers panned. The government-developed DisasterWatch provides information about disasters from a range of sources. The hope is that emergency services will receive fewer Triple Zero calls looking for information. So read the criticism and tell us what you think.

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