Summary Thred works on iPhones and iPads. There's no Android version yet.
NEW YORK (AP) - The iconic designer behind the simulation video games "Sim City" and "The Sims" wants people to tell stories visually on their mobile phones.
Will Wright has created a mobile app called Thred. The idea is to "explore and share visual ideas with friends" through "threds" of images and links. For some, this can mean a collection of Internet jokes; for others, travel photos and articles. If you give Thred permission, it will access your phone s photos and track your location so that you can post a thread of the day s meals, or the snapshots of flowers you shot on a Sunday trip to the botanical gardens.
It s a bit like Instagram-deluxe. Instead of just one photo, Thred lets you share a bunch. Instead of just filters, you can add text, links and stickers to your pictures.
"I m fascinated by how much this has become a part of my life," said Wright, 55, holding his iPhone as he showed off the app recently in a Manhattan coffee shop.
Thred joins Storehouse and other, more complex visual storytelling apps that hope to appeal to your creative side and seek to go deeper than one-off snapshots. Whether Thred will soar in popularity like "The Sims" did or fade away like "Spore," remains to be seen.
Thred works on iPhones and iPads. There s no Android version yet.
Elsewhere in the world of technology:
MAKING UP
After a high-profile breakup, T-Mobile is offering BlackBerry phones again. The BlackBerry Classic will be available in U.S. stores and online next week for $440, payable in installments.
This comes a year after BlackBerry decided not to renew its U.S. licensing deal with T-Mobile, saying the companies no longer had complementary strategies. BlackBerry CEO John Chen complained then that T-Mobile had emailed BlackBerry users an offer to switch to a competitor s smartphone.
The companies didn t address their fallout in Thursday s joint announcement. Rather, they said they are "in the business of listening to their customers."
Just recently, T-Mobile began targeting business customers. BlackBerry is popular with some businesses for its security features.
Earlier in the week, T-Mobile launched a promotion aimed at luring customers from Verizon, the No. 1 U.S. wireless carrier.
ONLINE TV ON TVs
Some TVs from Sharp and Insignia will come with Roku s streaming TV offerings built-in. That means owners of these sets won t need a separate streaming TV device, such as Roku 3 or Apple TV, to watch Netflix, Hulu and other online services on their TVs. Separate subscriptions with those services are still required, though.
Initially a maker of streaming TV devices, Roku has been working with TV manufacturers to get its software included with the set. This allows manufacturers to offer smart, Internet-connected TVs without having to write their own software. Manufacturers are also able to make more online services available this way. Roku has more than 1,000 apps.
So far, Roku s software is on sets from TCL and Hisense. Roku is now adding 43- and 50-inch screens from Sharp and 32- and 55-inch models from Insignia, which is Best Buy s in-house brand. Roku sets from Haier are also planned.
