Best Buy has today begun a new nine-day deal that gives you $150 when you trade-in any working iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S. That’s enough to cover the cost of a brand new 16GB iPhone 5 on a two-year contract with a $50 instant rebate, which means there couldn’t be a better time to upgrade.
Google has today updated its official YouTube app for iOS to introduce annoying suggestion overlays that offer recommendations on what to watch next over the top of the video you’re currently watching. The update also adds closed captions for live streams, and more.
We were surprised that a new MacBook Pro wasn’t part of Apple’s Mac refreshes at WWDC earlier this month, but if new benchmark tests are anything to go by, it shouldn’t be too long before they’re made available. A new 13-inch model with the latest Intel “Haswell” processor has appeared in Geekbench tests showing slight performance gains over the current generation.
The new Mac Pro has been benchmarked ahead of its release, too.
Sonic fan? Well now’s a great time to load up your iOS device with new Sonic games, because Sega has made each and every one just 99¢ for a limited time. That includes Sonic CD, Sonic The Hedgehog 4 episodes one and two, Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing, and the original Sonic The Hedgehog.
Basically, if it has Sonic in it, you won’t pay more than 99¢ for it.
If you haven’t already watched Apple’s WWDC keynote, it’s probably because you just haven’t found the time. At just under two hours long, it’s not something you can just slip into your day. But you can now watch it at your leisure on any of your electronics devices because Apple just uploaded the entire thing to YouTube.
Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference is just a week away and although it’s highly unlikely we’ll see any new iOS devices, we will get our first glimpse at iOS 7.
iOS 7 could be one of the biggest iOS updates to date, with many rumors claiming it will be completely overhauled with a new look and new features as Jony Ive makes his mark as the head of software design. A report that was published earlier this month claims that Apple has had to pull engineers away from OS X 10.9 to help complete it.
Personally, I couldn’t be more excited about iOS 7. I made the switch to Android just before Christmas because I found Jelly Bean on the Nexus 4 to be better than iOS 6 on the iPhone 5 at a lot of things, which I wrote about back in February.
Having used Android for four months, I’ve compiled a list of things iOS 7 should learn from its biggest rival. If Apple adds these things to its own platform — or variations of them that provide the same experience — then I think iOS 7 could be fantastic.
Check out the list below and see if you agree.
Fed up of changing your iPhone case every time you want to use an external battery pack or add a kickstand? Well, Boostcase for iPhone 5 hopes to make that a thing of the past. It’s just one case, but it’s compatible with a ton of attachments that slide into little grooves on its back and add all kinds of extra functionality to your phone.
I’ve been using Boostcase for the past two weeks, thanks to MyBanana, with a kickstand and a hand strap. But you can also get an external battery pack, a card holder, a wallet case, a clutch case, a studded jacket (which isn’t as saucy as it sounds), and more — all of which can be applied in seconds without ever having to remove the Boostcase from your iPhone.
The Boostcase itself costs $35 in a range of different colors and patterns, and for that you also get the hand strap and the kickstand. The other attachments range from $20 to $100.
So, let’s find out whether Boostcase is the only case you’ll ever need for your iPhone.
Readdle’s awesome Calendars+ app, which is normally priced at $6.99, is now free for 48 hours. It’s one of the best Google Calendar apps for iOS, packed with useful features and a great user interface, and it won’t cost you a penny if you download it now. But hurry!
XCOM: Enemy Unknown, the highly-acclaimed tactical role-playing game from 2K Games, is coming to iOS this week, and it’s just begun its App Store rollout. It’s an exact port of the title that first hit the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 late last year, so you can expect a true console-quality experience and amazing visuals.
Those things don’t come cheap, however, with XCOM priced at $19.99 in the U.S.
Apple just rolled out a new software update for the Apple TV that adds new channels for HBO GO and WatchESPN, as well as Sky News, Crunchyroll, and Qello. The iOS 5.3 release is compatible with both the second- and third-generation Apple TVs, and is available to download now.
When you set up a personal hotspot on your iOS device, the first thing you should do is delete the password Apple generates for your and enter your own. Researchers at the University of Erlangen in Germany have discovered a way to crack Apple’s hotspot passwords in under a minute, leaving your iOS device vulnerable to attack.
An exciting new update that brings new maps, weapons, and guns to Gameloft’s Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour is now available to download on iOS. Called Meltdown, the update is free to existing owners of the popular first-person shooter, and it’s one of the biggest the game has received since it hit the App Store back in December.
Paper for iPad creator FiftyThree has today announced that it has secured $15 million in funding to build a suite of “mobile tools for creativity.” It’s quite an achievement for an app startup, particularly one that isn’t a smash-hit game, but if FiftyThree’s upcoming apps are anywhere near as successful as Paper, the investment will surely pay off.
Adobe has today made its complete Creative Cloud suite available to all as it migrates to a compulsory subscription-only model. It’s been a controversial move that a lot of Adobe users aren’t happy with, but as of today, the only way to use Adobe’s apps is to bite the bullet and sign up to the $50 per month plan.
Eddy Cue is at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse in lower Manhattan testifying in the Department of Justice’s e-books antitrust case, and he’s been sharing more information on the work that went into developing iBooks prior to its launch in 2010.
Cue reveled that Steve Jobs, then Apple’s CEO, chose to give away a free copy of Winnie-the-Pooh not just because he liked the book, but because its colorful illustrations showcased the capabilities of digital e-books in the iBooks app.
iTunes Radio won’t just be available on your iOS devices, but also on your Apple TV, according to a new beta release now available to registered developers. The update also adds some other minor features, and makes improvements to Home Sharing to make it more reliable.
Poster, a wonderful WordPress client for iOS, which we’ve written about many times here on Cult of Mac, has been acquired by WordPress creator Automattic.
The app has since been pulled from the App Store and will no longer be available in its current form, but developer Tom Witkin, who announced the acquisition on his blog, insists he will continue to provide support for existing users.
Simon & Schuster has confirmed it will be launching a paperback edition of Walter Isaacson’s best-selling biography on Steve Jobs this fall, featuring a younger Jobs on its cover. The book, which will also be updated with a new afterword, will be available on September 10.
This somewhat blurry image of a game controller built by Logitech is believed to be one of the first Apple-approved controllers for iOS 7 that will join the “Made for iPhone” program. It’s built for the iPhone 5, and it’s been designed to meet Apple’s new guidelines for Mac and iOS game controllers.
Apple has issued a statement which explains its commitment to customer privacy and how it handles government requests for data following the PRISM scandal. The Cupertino company has reiterated that it did not know about the PRISM program until June 6 when it was first contacted by the media, and that it does not provide government agencies with direct access to its servers.
Microsoft just loves to poke fun at the iPad, doesn’t it?
It has already aired a number of commercials for the Asus VivoTab that mock its size, weight, lack of Office support, its inability to run two apps simultaneously, and most of all its price. And now the software giant is doing the same on behalf of Dell.
iBooks has been a big successful venture for Apple — despite the ongoing price fixing case from the Department of Justice — but it’s a service that may never have been if Eddy Cue hadn’t convinced Steve Jobs it would be awesome on the iPad.
Before Apple was gearing up to launch its popular tablet in late 2009, Steve Jobs wasn’t interested in the iBooks idea, and he felt e-books had no place on desktops and small smartphone displays.
TweetDeck for Mac just got a pretty nice update via the Mac App Store that introduces a new user interface and a number of new features. Users will find it’s now easier to navigate their way around the app thanks to a new sidebar, while the built-in translation makes it easier to communicate with foreign friends.
Microsoft has launched Office Mobile for iPhone today, allowing Office 365 subscribers to access and edit their Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents stored in SkyDrive, SkyDrive Pro, or SharePoint from virtually anywhere. The app boasts support for charts, animations, SmartArt graphics and shapes, and more.
In iTunes 11, Apple gave us the ability to redeem iTunes and App Store gift cards using the FaceTime camera built into our Macs, and it is bringing the same functionality to our iOS devices with iOS 7. Instead of typing in lengthy codes, just point your camera at the gift card to redeem it.