Apple and Google have chosen to opt out of a new industry-sponsored app ratings system developed by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) in favor of their own internal systems. CTIA-The Wireless Association and ESRB issued a press release announcing the new system today, but both companies were absent from the list of adoptees.
Gameloft is famous for producing terrific iOS games that are inspired by hit releases on consoles like the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Its upcoming release, Six Guns, will appeal to those who are fans of Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption.This trailer shows off the wild west gun slinger in all its glory, and it looks pretty darn awesome.
Insider sources are telling The Daily that Microsoft is planning to bring its Office suite to the App Store. Specifically, the Redmond company has an Office business app for the iPad in the pipeline.
Apple offers its own iWork productivity suite on iOS, including Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. Microsoft apparently wants a piece of the word processing action, and its sights are set on Office for the iPad.
We told you about iTether last night, a new app in the App Store that let anyone have unlimited tethering from their iPhone’s 3G connection for a one-time purchase of $15.
We were all amazed that iTether made it past Apple’s stringent App Store review process, and no one expected the app to remain available for very long. Apple has since pulled iTether from the App Store, and the developers behind the app have explained why.
The U.S. Government isn’t exactly known for smart spending, but at least that $10,000 hammer actually works. That’s more than the Department of Labor can say after they blew almost $200,000 on an utterly crappy app for the iPhone and Android.
Your average Apple Store is stuffed with a pulsing biomass of customers clamoring for attention, so how do Apple employees know that you’re the guy they are tasked to help?
Well, how does Apple solve any problem? They leverage cutting-edge technology at the problem, and their system is totally ingenious, if a little frightening to the privacy obsessed.
iOS game developers love nothing more than to celebrate with a sale, so it’s no surprise to use that a plethora of hugely popular titles are available for as little as $0.99 this week. However, we are surprised by the sheer number of games on sale this year, from big-name developers like Gameloft, Sega, Namco Bandai, and more.
So that you don’t need to spend hours searching for these bargains yourself, we’ve compiled a huge list of the best reductions for you, featuring some of the most successful iOS titles, such as Assassin’s Creed: Altair’s Chronicles, BackStab, Real Golf 2011, Sonic the Hedgehog, Super Monkey Ball, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, and lots, lots more.
NOTE: We’ve added new titles from EA, Kairosoft, Konami and more!
Apple has been embracing subscription-based iOS applications for some time, such as those that offer magazines and newspapers, but the same model did not appear for iOS games until earlier this week, when the Cupertino company approved a title from Big Fish Games that offered gamers the opportunity to pay a monthly fee of $4.99 to access the companies entire catalog through one app.
When the title hit the App Store, it was reported that Apple had begun accepting subscription-based games for iOS, and that the new release from Big Fish could be the first of many games to offer a similar service. However, Apple has quickly put a stop to those dreams after it pulled Big Fish’s title from the App Store.
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The highly anticipated sequel to Chair Entertainment’s Infinity Blade is launching on December 1st, and the official trailer has been made available with commentary from the game’s developers.
Infinity Blade II will feature 40 new locations, millions of new hit points, and stunning visuals for iOS devices that boast the A5 processor, like the iPhone 4S and iPad 2.
Apple famously keeps its Black Friday deals a closely guarded secret until the day of the event. But thanks to a leaked sales pamphlet from a “trusted tipster,” we already know where the Cupertino company will be slashing prices, with savings to be made on the iMac, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, iPod nano and iPod touch, iPad, and plenty of accessories.
Apple is allowing Big Fish Games to incorporate a subscription model for its iPad games in the App Store. According to Bloomberg, Big Fish will be the first game maker in the App Store to allow customers access to all of its titles for $4.99 per month initially.
Games from Big Fish will be streamed to users over Wi-Fi and a customer’s subscription is managed in a dedicated app for the iPad.
Google’s been redesigning many of its web services like Gmail and Reader lately to follow its new Google+ UI template, and now it appears its time for Google’s apps to get the same new coat of paint. The newest version of Google’s official Search app for iOS not only gets a new design for the iPad, but a fullscreen mode for iPhone and numerous other fixes and additions.
Sprint’s debut iPhone 4S commercial (unsurprisingly) boasts about the biggest reason for choosing Sprint over its rivals, and that’s “truly unlimited” data. It also praises Apple’s App Store, which is home to half a million apps, by floating popular app icons around New York City.
Hauling my back end out of bed each morning is a horrible task, especially during the winter months. Even with the recommended eight hours sleep, I never wake up feeling refreshed. However, I was hoping all that was about to change, thanks to a little app-enhanced headband.
The WakeMate ($60) is an accessory and app for your iOS device that has two main objectives: to help you track and analyze your sleep pattern; and to wake you up at the optimal time in your sleep cycle so that you feel better about waking up early — which is just what I needed.
It’s that time of the year. The busiest shopping day in existence is nearly upon us: Black Friday.
As Apple and iOS fanatics, we naturally look to the App Store for useful apps when life’s obstacles are thrown our way. The topic of Black Friday is no exception, so we’ve collected some of the best, free iPhone apps available to help you make the most out of your shopping experience this year.
Philips has released a new iOS app for the iPad 2 that allows you to measure both your heart rate and breaking rate using only your device’s camera. Unlike similar apps that require additional accessories, this one claims to get its results from “the color of your face” and “the motion of your chest.”
Apple has made a subtle change to its App Store app for the iPad today, but subtle though it may be, it makes navigating the store a much nicer, and much faster, experience.
Apple’s Texas Hold’em game was one of the first titles I purchased from the App Store when it opened for business in 2008, and the only game Apple has developed for iOS devices. And while it was a fantastic purchase at the time, the Cupertino company hasn’t exactly been committed to maintaining its popularity.
Its last update came in September 2008, and today, the game has been removed from the App Store completely.
We’ve been burned on Google’s official Gmail app for iOS before, but after having been pulled mere hours after its initial release for being completely broken, it is now back with fixed push support.
Don’t expect any other new features though: there’s no multi-account functionality or anything else, just a simple app wrapper around the HTML5 interface. Google swears more features are coming, but at this point, we’re taking any of Google’s promises with a grain of salt.
We’re unabashed fans of Mojang’s Minecraft, and we’ve been waiting forever for the popular block-based exploration game to hit the iPad. Now it’s just twelve or so hours away from being here, but for those of us hoping for the full Minecraft experience, think again.
Apple has sent an email out to developers with the reminder that the annual iTunes Connect shutdown is scheduled for December 22nd-29th. The iTunes Connect portal shuts down every year during the holidays while Apple’s corporate employees take a much-deserved break.
The shutdown means there will be no app updates, price changes, or submissions approved for the App Store during that timeframe. This year’s shutdown lasts two days longer than previous years.
You’re not going to exactly want to replace your tape measure, but as far as iPhone hacks go, this is about as cool as it gets: Acoustic Ruler allows you to measure distance up to 82 feet using a blast of pure sound.
As part of the streaming video on demand service’s push towards consolidating its user interface across all tablets, Netflix just unveiled the new GUI to their official iPad app. Sayonara, whitespace!
The man behind the popular iA Writer app, Oliver Reichenstein, has posted some interesting observations on the App Store ecosystem. In a Google+ post titled “Revenue = X,” the founder of Information Architects explains how his decision to drop the price of iA Writer on the Mac and iPad has resulted in a way to “increase exposure without affecting profit.”
Dropping iA Writer’s price has resulted in more purchases than expected, and Oliver’s profits have largely stayed the same since he made his app cheaper.
I fell in love with Super Mario Bros. when my parents bought me a Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) for Christmas as a young boy, and I’ve been obsessed with Super Mario games ever since. There’s nothing that would please me more than having the chunky plumber in my pocket on my iPhone. But since Nintendo refuses to bring its titles to iOS, we’re forced to play the alternatives.
But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The absence of Super Mario has spawned a number of terrific platforming alternatives that are just as enjoyable. I’ve been enjoying a number of them over the years, and thought it was about time I shared the best of the bunch.