ReadWriteMobile

One of the iPad's more intriguing business uses is making presentations before a live audience. The device is portable and fun to use, and the swipe and pinch gestures can make for some dramatic presentations. Sadly, iPad presentations haven't lived up to their potential - especially for users of Microsoft PowerPoint. But the lastest version of Brainshark's free SlideShark app could help change that. 

By 2013, there will be more than 1 billion HTML5-capable browsers in use throughout the world. Applications for those HTML5 browsers will be created by 2 million HTML Web developers, according to research from IDC. There is no question that HTML5 is going to be a major factor in mobile development during the next five to 10 years. The rise of HTML5 does not mean the death of native applications, but as the standard progresses, many developers will begin to incorporate more HTML5 into their apps than native code. 

The Supreme Court thought it settled the issue in January, but the debate over warrantless GPS searches won't go away.  Now, one U.S. senator is concerned that the Department of Justice hasn't fully scaled back its searches and may be subpoenaing ISPs for the GPS data it can no longer get directly. 

For most people, banks are little more than necessary evils - places to store your money until you need it, and maybe earn a little interest along the way. The goal is to get a decent return without too much hassle.

But a conversation with senior Wells Fargo execs reveals a bank trying to use the Internet, social media and mobile technology to worm its way deeper and deeper into their customers' lives.

Facebook will soon have an application store...well, not exactly. Facebook will soon have an application repository. A display showcase. Those are probably more apt descriptions of what the social giant will unveil with App Center. Essentially, Facebook will turn itself into an application hub - a traffic director for social apps and games across any device and any platform. This is not the rumored “end-run around Apple’s App Store” that many talk about; rather, App Center is a unique proposition, and one that is 100% Facebook.

Last September, during the f8 Developers’ Conference, Facebook CTO Bret Taylor said that the company had no plans for a “central app repository” – an app store. Today, Facebook is changing its tune. The social giant has announced App Center, a section of Facebook dedicated to discovering and deploying high-quality apps on the company’s platform. The App Center will push apps to iPhone, Android and the mobile Web, giving Facebook its first true store for mobile app discovery. 

Did you know that the majority of Android users in China are on a 2G network? That about 44% of Android users in China use HTC phones? That almost 14% of iPhone users in China have spent $10-$20 on paid apps, with 9% spending more than $50?

China has the largest mobile-phone installed base (by volume) in the world, and just as it is in the U.S., the Chinese market is an Android vs. iPhone war. So how do people in China use their smartphones, and how does that compare to those in the United States?

Some things just cannot stay hidden. One of the most popular iOS apps of all time is now unofficially available for Android: Flipboard, the personalized magazine app that had been exclusively available only on the iPhone and iPad, has made its way to Android smartphones through an enterprising hack by a developer at XDA Forums. The greatest part? It is incredibly easy to install.

Laptops are doomed. In the next five years, tablets will displace notebook-style computers to become the dominant personal computing platform. And the transition from laptop to tablet has already begun.

Is the world ready for mobile payments? Not quite, according to a global survey released by MasterCard yesterday. There are a variety of factors that lead will lead to mobile payments adoption across the planet, from infrastructure deployment to consumer willingness to make payments with a mobile device. The mobile payments revolution hasn't arrived just yet, but if MasterCard can be believed, we are not far away.