If you’re a Mac user who picked up a Microsoft Surface RT tablet out of curiosity when they went on sale last October, and you’re yet to find a use for it, then don’t despair. Earlier this week it was revealed that it’s possible to jailbreak the device and install desktop apps that are designed for ARM processors — something Microsoft doesn’t officially support.
One developer has taken advantage of the exploit to run an early version of Apple’s Mac OS operating system inside a emulator.
While iOS may not be as flexible or as customizable as Android, on the whole it looks a whole lot nicer. Android is steadily improving, that’s for sure, but it’s hard to deny that iOS developers appear to spend more time making their apps prettier, even if you’re a diehard Android fan.
And that was proven when Chris Hulbert, an iOS developer, went to work at Google for three months. In a post on his blog, Hulbert reveals the differences in attitude towards design for iOS and Android, which help explain why Android apps aren’t quite as pretty as they could be.
Hackulous has announced that it has shut down Installous, the one-stop shop for “cracked” or pirated apps and games on iOS. The team blames “stagnant” forums and the difficulty in moderating them as the reason behind its decision to kill the service, which will undoubtedly be a huge victory against iOS software piracy. At least for now.
SkyDrive’s official iOS app could disappear if Apple won’t negotiate.
The future of Microsoft’s SkyDrive service on iOS looks bleak today as the company appears to have entered into a fight with Apple over its 30% cut of App Store revenues. Microsoft recently gave iOS users the ability to upgrade their SkyDrive subscriptions from their iPhones and iPads, but until the company agrees to give Apple a 30% cut of the in-app purchases, it won’t get any future updates approved.
A critical bug fix that prevents the app from crashing has now had to be placed on hold. Should Apple’s rules be a little more flexible in certain cases?
Last night The Iconfactory released Twitterrific 5, a completely new iOS version of the grandaddy of Twitter apps. I reviewed the new app in detail when it came out, and the releases seems to have been met with a lot of positive feedback.
One of the developers behind Twitterrific, Craig Hockenberry, has lifted the curtain to give a behind the scenes look at the making of Twitterrific 5. A lot of work goes into making a great app.
Twitter may have given up on its official Mac client, which hasn’t seen an update in well over 18 months, but one third-party developer hasn’t. Deniz Mert Edincik, an iOS developer from Turkey, has taken it upon himself to patch the application to provide support for Apple’s new Retina MacBook Pros.
If there’s one thing I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving, it’s iOS developers. They price their apps at tremendously great prices, then make big reductions at almost every opportunity. This Thanksgiving, EA, Gameloft, Sega, and more are slashing the prices of their most popular iOS titles — most of which are now just $0.99.
So that you don’t miss a bargain, we’ve compiled a list of the best titles that are now going cheap. Check it out below.
Check this video out – it’s a developer who’s used a Siri development plugin to control his Phillips Hue IP-controllable light bulbs. While the video is short, the guy who did it, Brandon Evans, has posted the code and instructions needed to make it happen on your own iPad, assuming you know what he’s talking about.
Evan has this to say about the project:
The Philips Hue hardware was first intriguing to me because they explicitly mention that it’s a ZigBee certified product on the packaging and labels. ZigBee is a wireless technology that is different from WiFi in a few important ways: Low power, equivalent range and intended for light data mesh networks. It’s popular with DIY hardware makers (think Arduinos) for this reason, as well as that it’s much cheaper than WiFi modules. It seems like it may be the wireless standards of choice for consumer home automation systems that are coming to market. As an example, the Nest thermostat was also found to have ZigBee hardware inside, although it isn’t supported in software yet. Because of all this I wanted to see exactly what hardware Philips was using, and if it would be possible to replicate the Hue system.
Looks like a great first step to using off-the-shelf technology to control home systems. Bravo, Mr. Evans!
Apple’s App Store continues to grow at an impressive rate.
Apple’s App Store first made its debut on the iPhone 3G back in July 2008, much to the delight of iPhone owners whose only taste of third-party software prior to that was with web apps. Now, just over four years on, it has received more than 1 million app submissions.
The new developer seed for OS X Server v2.2, Seed 2, is out. In an email sent to developer accounts, Apple announced the new download, and included a link to the seed download source, a set of instructions on how to instal and/or upgrade from various previous versions of OS X Server, and a PDF with the new changes detailed.
![Hackulous Shuts Down Installous, The Pirate App Library For iOS [Jailbreak]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/install0us11-500x386.jpg "Installous")
![EA, Gameloft, Sega & More Are Slashing iOS Prices For Thanksgiving [Deals]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Screen-Shot-2012-11-22-at-16.53.53.jpg "Screen Shot 2012-11-22 at 16.53.53")
