DIY retailer launches app

If you need help with all those annoying little jobs around the house (and believe me, my home improvements skills - or lack, thereof - are legendary) then a new app from DIY retailer B&Q could be the answer.

The app can help you take on DIY tasks such as plumbing, electrics, basic carpentry and more by:

- Creating a list of the tools you need for a job
- Using GPRS to find your nearest store (where you can buy what you need, of course)
- Updating you on all the latest promotions, to help you save money
- Providing a glossary of terms, so you can blag it with shop assistants/tradesmen
- Offering 'How to...' guides and grouping together the ones you use most
- Giving you hints and tips from experts
- Letting you pass on your knowledge to friends, through Facebook and Twitter

BBC News app gets go-ahead

I missed a significiant announcement while away on hols for the past two weeks: the launch of the free BBC News app for the iPhone and iPad.

The app was originally due in April, but the launch was delayed while the BBC Trust assessed the proposals and their impact on the rest of the industry.

According to Dominic Ponsford, editor of Press Gazette, "The concern the newspaper industry has is that the survival of our big independent news organisations largely depends on them being able to make money from new platforms other than print."

Of course, this is basically a reference to digital - both mobile, in the form of SmartPhones and apps, and the internet (in the form of ad-lead and subscription-based sites). It seems that iPhones and similar devices are the next big hope for the newspaper industry - although reports of the sector's death are 'greatly exaggerated' (as Mark Twain famously said in reference to his prematurely published obituary notice) since small business can still benefit from gaining coverage in the local media.