After the total overhaul that the Google Search app for iOS got a couple of months ago, it has become way nicer looking and easier to use. However the feedback that the company has been getting about its performance has obviously been less than flattering.

Well, Google engineers have obviously taken notes and today introduced a new version that addresses the issue. The app has been sped up by up to 20%, which should dramatically improve responsiveness and thus the overall user experience. To achieve this, the company has axed the "Just Talk" by default so if you were using it you would need to activate it manually from the settings.

The new version of the Search app for Android also brings improved look and feel for search results. The developers have increased the font size of the results and have increased the area where you need to press to hit a link, beyond the link itself. This should help usage on the smaller-screen iOS devices – iPod Touch and iPhone.

If you have ever used SPB Wallet on you iPhone, Symbian or Windows phone you know very well what it is. In case you have not, SPB Wallet is a safe app, which can tend to your private information, such as passwords, credit cards, codes, account logins and everything else you hold dear and wish have always with you, but stored safely in an encrypted form.

The SPB Wallet app even offers cloud syncing with your Gmail account in case you ever lose your phone or need the information on another platform. The app basically has you covered in any foreseeable occasion when you need your personal data with you.

Here are the main features to the SPB Wallet as pitched by SPB themselves:

• Strong security with 256-bit AES encryption
• Automatic wallet lockup (optional)
• Real card data representation
• Customizable cards and templates
• Online templates gallery with 25,000+ most popular cards, and option to order customized cards for FREE
• Smart card fields to call/SMS/email/etc
• Password generator for random passwords that are highly secure
• Quick card search
• Cloud sync with Gmail account

Do you run a tight ship when it comes to your mobile data plan? Perhaps you find yourself always going over and racking up a hefty excess on your bill? Maybe you are just worried about data charges whilst you’re roaming? Well, Onavo Mobile have a solution. Sort of.

What their app actually does is genuinely pretty cool, on paper. It redirects any data you may have downloading to your iPhone, compresses it down on their cloud-servers and then spits it back out to you at a fraction of the size. What this potentially gives you is a whole heap more browsing freedom for your money as each item takes up a fraction of your data allowance compared to what it used to. The app can even segment how your data is spent and shows it all on a nice little color chart, which is handy, along with how much data you have already spent, of course. Video is the one aspect that Onavo cannot handle at this point in time, so do not go watching YouTube on your travels, never say never though, even that might get included in time.

Tuning on the "savings" option means that the app is on track of your downloads. The app only compresses the downloads you do through your iPhone. But thats pretty much the main thing you are going to do anyway download. Its also got your email covered if you are using a Microsoft Exchange setup.

The UI of the app is quite simple and intuitive and you will feel at home in no time. At the bottom of the app interface you will find two tabs, labeled Data Saver, which is the primary screen from which you control the app and Reports, where you go to look at the detailed information about the data Onavo has saved so far.

The detailed month chart supposedly gives you the amount of saved megabytes out of the estimated total amount of downloaded data. Those are broken down into the particular apps and services that used them various services further down.

Credit card giant Visa plans to roll out the most extensive digital wallet system ever attempted by a credit card processor, bank or carrier that will focus on NFC in its implementation across Canada and the US. To kick the service off they need to see a greater adoption of NFC readers from merchants, those willing to pay transaction fees back to Visa or its partner banks whilst using the service.

Visa already uses NFC readers in conjunction with its PayWave service but this new scheme sees Visa make far greater use of its existing reach. There are currently over 1.8 billion Visa cards in use worldwide, usable at over 30 million stores, with more than 50% of credit card transactions in the US being handled by Visa followed by MasterCard, American Express and Discover as the next largest companies.

Visa’credit card network expands across 16,000 banks and they have selected a combination of 14 banks and other financial institutions to test-run the new initiative. Jim McCarthy, head of global products for Visa said, "We believe [payment] convergence is here, primarily driven by the mobile phone. Reliability, security and interoperability are critical to drive the electrification of payments. this will fundamentally change the way we interact with merchants."

Its apparent that Visa sees NFC as the means of convergence within payment technologies and they want to bring it more in line with existing payment methods such as desktop- PC e-commerce payments systems and person to person transactions through social networks. With more and more smartphones and tablets using an NFC chip, this does make their job easier, however the added transaction fees to merchants on top of the existing 1% 3% credit card transaction charges might be a sore point for some.

N.O.V.A was a popular FPS game for iOS, which then crossed over to Android as well. And now droid-land is getting a taste of the sequel Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance. Not only that but Gameloft was kind enough to make the game available on Facebook too. The game has been around of iPhones and iPads for some time now (December 2010) and offers truly immersive gameplay, worthy of a hefty portion of your day.

First-person shooters, for me personally, are not the most comfortable genre to play on a phone, be it an iPhone or even an XPERIA Play. Now tablets are a whole different story all together as they offer a much larger screen, which is a must-have for me. Still you can give it a go if you are up to paying $5 for it.

In-browser playing is not bad too.

Here is a demo video of the game. Its for the iPhone version, but things are practically unchanged, so enjoy.

DEMO Below!