Autodesk has a stunning — and I’m not using the word lightly here — catalog of free design-focused iOS apps that do everything from applying filters to photos, to drawing on your iPad — or even turning the subject of an iPhone photo into a 3D model. Now, they’re taking their deep knowledge of modeling, physics and mechanics and using it to make iPad apps that’ll teach your kids cool stuff. For free.
The fact that we’re mentioning this game really hinges on one fact: It’s being released by Firaxis and 2K Games, two names behind some of the greatest games ever made: Sid Meier’s Pirates, XCOM: Enemy Unknown and of course, the Civilization series (and for a little bit here, let’s just forget that 2K is also responsible for the somewhat poorly received Borderlands Legends).
Call Bliss is an app with its own, industrial-strength take on the iPhone’s newish Do Not Disturb feature. It takes Apple’s basic concept — blocking calls with the flick of a switch, or only letting through calls from selected contacts — and infuses it with management features and more powerful options. And now the app adds two more tricks.
Whether you love it or hate it, the world still runs most of its computer “work” through Microsoft’s Office suite of apps. It’s pricey, and Office 365 requires a monthly subscription, but you can get the latest version of Office, Microsoft Office for Mac 2011, for cheap right now.
Apple is taking its sweet time with OS X 10.8.3. We’ve already had more beta builds than we care to remember, but Apple’s still trying to get the software right.
Apple seeded another OS X 10.8.3 beta(12D78) to developers today, making it the 14th beta build of OS X 10.8.3. The first beta seed of 10.8.3 was released way back in November. There’s still no official word on when OS X 10.8.3 will be released to the public, but at this rate, we’re more likely to see OS X 10.9 Lion-O before it comes out.
We got it wrong last week, when we thought a cryptic Disney teaser was a clue to something we’ve been salivating over for a few months: the arrival of Android and iOS at Disney’s Infinity platform.
Instead, Disney has released a beautiful Toy Story 3D puzzler game for iOS and Android; and even though it’s not exactly what we’ve been waiting for, it still looks really freaking cool.
Maybe you’ve never played what is, inarguably, the best series of empire-building games ever created, and want to see what all the fuss is about. Or maybe you’ve been meaning to try that Vikings expansion pack. If any of the above fit, now is the time: Aspyr has cut the prices of all their Civilization titles by half to coincide with the release of the Civilization V: Gold Edition.
There’s this really cool, funny, slick video made by a bunch of Israelis called Sight, in which a guy walks around in a world where everything he sees is overlayed by augmented reality. Everything. All the time. Sounds far-fetched? Not so much anymore.
Today, Metaio announced that their new augmented-reality chip, called the Metaio AREngine, will make its debut in ST-Ericsson phones — in a handset(s) that may be available to the public as soon as the end of this year, or early 2014 if things move more slowly.
About a month ago, right after the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, Disney held a small, invitation-only press conference in Los Angeles where they revealed their ambitious, stunning new cross-platform Infinity game universe. They invited us, of course. Only problem was, Infinity had practically nothing to do with anything Apple.
After all the fanfare, when the event was almost over, I pulled aside one of the Disney folks and asked why the heck they’d invited me; turns out iOS is why I was there, and that they had a big mobile-related announcement coming — and this picture just might be its enigmatic messenger.
Everything has a downside. As Macs grab more market share, we’re beginning to see developers take the Mac more seriously (witness AutoCAD returning to the Mac after an 18-year absence, and the resurgence of Mac gaming). Unfortunately, Macs are also beginning to find themselves more often in the crosshairs of hackers and virus developers.
So it’s no surprise that there’s a flurry of activity on the antivirus front. In fact, one of the clearest signs that viruses have become a real danger for Macs is that Intego says they’ve revamped their line in order to make it less expensive and less technical, and more user-friendly for everyday Mac users.
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