Killian Bell - page 240

Apple’s iOS operating system is great, and I love it. But five years on, there’s certainly some room for improvement all over the place. Take the app switcher, for example: sure, it does its job, but it’s very basic — Apple could a lot more with it. And one developer has proven that with Auxo, the best app switcher ever designed for jailbroken iOS devices.

Auxo doesn’t just look great, displaying live previews of all the apps you have open, but it’s also intuitive and offers lots of innovative new features. It started off as a concept, but after receiving lots of positive feedback, its creator brought it to life. Apple, take note.

The second-generation Nest thermostat has begun reaching Apple retail stores across the United States and Canada just in time for Christmas. Designed by Tony Fadell, a former Apple employee who’s often referred to as the father of the iPod, the Nest thermostat is an intelligent device that learns exactly how warm or how cool you like your home to be at different times during the day. It can also be controlled remotely via your computer or iOS device.

Going to the store at this time of year is an excruciatingly painful affair. We begin our Christmas shopping months early, and anything we need to get in December is bought online. Unfortunately for some, however, not everything they order online actually shows up.

As courier companies struggle to keep up with the surge in packages, it’s not uncommon for items to go missing, or for them to be delivered to the wrong address. But in some cases, shameless delivery drivers think it’s okay to reward themselves with items you’ve paid for during gift giving season. In the video below, a UPS driver is caught stealing an iPad that was left by FedEx just hours earlier.

While Apple has managed to keep the App Store free from malware, it seems the Cupertino company has a hard time filtering out scams. Every so often, a shameless developer tries their luck at selling a title that promises to be something it isn’t. The latest claims to be a Halo 4 clone that is “iPhone/iPad exclusive.” They’ve gone through the trouble of writing a lengthy App Store description in an effort to fool you into thinking it’s the real thing. But in reality, it’s just a $4.99 game of chess.

Apple’s guidelines for its new Lightning connector have forced a popular Kickstarter project that sourced almost $140,000 in funding — more than twice the amount it required — to close and refund all of its backers. Electronics firm Edison Jr designed a charging station compatible with a multitude of Android and iOS devices called the POP. But after exceeding its funding goal, it quickly realized that Apple wouldn’t approve it.

The yacht Steve Jobs was building before he passed away on October 2011 has been impounded over a €3 million (approx. $3.96 million) fee owed to designed Philippe Starck. Called Venus, the yacht cost Jobs more than €100 million to build, but he never got to use it. Now it will remain in Amsterdam port pending payment by lawyers representing Jobs’s estate.

Readdle has issued a new update to its Calendars app for iOS today, introducing a number of new features and some nice improvements. And if that wasn’t enough, the company has also slashed 80% off its price tag for Christmas, so if you haven’t already go it, now’s a great time to pick it up.

Apple released its iOS 6.0.2 update over-the-air to select devices earlier this week, promising a fix for a frustrating bug that could impact Wi-Fi performance. However, the update comes with a nasty problem of its own. There are reports that it has greatly reduced battery life on the iPhone 5 and the iPad mini — even when the devices go unused for long periods of time.

As Apple slowly but surely turns its back on Google, Siri, its intelligent digital assistant, is doing the same. If you’d have asked Siri a question back in June, there’s a 60% chance the data it came back with would have been from Google. Ask it a question today, however, and that chance is reduced to just 30%. Not only has Apple given YouTube and Google Maps the boot, then, it’s shunning Google’s search data, too.

If you pop into your local Microsoft store and ask for a demonstration of Windows 8, there’s a chance the store assistant will disappear and send over an 11-year-old child to help you. That’s what the company is doing in Portugal in an effort to prove its new operating system is so intuitive, even a child can use it. Either that or it’s taking advantage of cheap child labor.

ZeptoLab, the creators of the hugely popular Cut the Rope, just released their latest iOS game. It’s called Pudding Monsters, and it promises to be a deliciously addictive puzzle adventure filled with whacky characters and “innovative stick-’em-together game-play.” Check out the launch trailer below.

One of the better Yuletide traditions is the venerable holiday Advent Calendar, in which each day of December leading up to Christmas is marked off on a special calendar by opening its corresponding door to find a small gift, toy or chocolate squirreled away inside.

This year, we here at Cult of Mac decided we wanted to give our readers their very own Apple-themed advent calendar, filled with the year’s best apps, gadgets, stories and other curios. So each day in December, we’re going to lovingly peel back the door on the Cult of Mac 2012 Advent Calendar to reveal another delicious morsel, something really special that came out this year that we think every one of you should enjoy.

Day 19 is here, and along with it, one of our favorite iPhone cases: the Speck PixelSkin HD.

It seems Apple’s problematic new Maps app was discouraging a lot of people from upgrading to iOS 6, the Cupertino company’s latest software. But now that Google Maps is official available as a native iOS app, there’s nothing to stop users from finally performing the upgrade. In fact, its arrival boosted iOS 6 adoption by 29%.

Realmac Software, the developers behind Clear and RapidWeaver, have slashed the price of their Mac apps by up to 65% for the holidays. All of their titles are included in the sale, which lasts until January 6, and Clear for iPhone has also been reduced to just $0.99. We’ve got a complete list of the apps on sale below.

Apple’s much-anticipated television set has entered its initial testing phase at Hon Hai Precision Industry, a company source has revealed. It’s expected to feature a display between 46 inches and 55 inches in size, and shipments are likely to be “huge.” Don’t expect to have one in your living room anytime soon, however; it doesn’t look like it’s going to get its grand unveiling during 2013.

Japanese toy manufacturer Legend Toys has unveiled a remarkably detailed Steve Jobs figure to commemorate the first anniversary of his death. Sculpted by Takao Kato, it’s called the ‘Steve mini’, and it comes bundled with a number of props, such as a chair and a tiny iPad. It’ll begin shipping at the end of December — but there’s a good chance Apple will stop it soon.

Music streaming service Rhapsody has finally made itself available on your iPad with a brand new app that promises to deliver “a visually stunning and immersive experience for the music lover!” It brings more than 16 million songs to your tablet, with support for offline playlists, AirPlay, and unlimited downloads. What’s more, it offers a 30-day free trial for those who aren’t already signed up.

Looking to pick up some last-minute Christmas gifts this week? If you’re buying from the Apple online store, you can get them delivered the very next day and it won’t cost you a penny extra. The Cupertino company is now offering free next-day shipping on everything — if you live in the United States, that is.

A free SpongeBob Squarepants game from Nickelodeon has had to be pulled from the App Store following complaints that it violates children’s online privacy rights. SpongeBob Diner Dash asked children for their names and email addresses without parental permission — so that it could fill their inboxes with spam, no doubt — causing an advocacy group to report the app to the Federal Trade Commission.

Apple’s 4G-equipped iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad have taken a step closer towards a launch in China today after receiving their network licenses from Chinese telecommunications certification center TENAA. Like the iPhone 5, the tablets are expected to be available on the China Unicom and China Telecom networks.

Camera+ for iPad just got a brand new update that introduces a high quality setting for snapping — you guessed it — high quality photographs. It comes in addition to the two quality settings already offered by Camera+, and its creators warn that using it will cause your storage to get eaten up a whole lot quicker.

After months of steady growth, Apple stock hit an all-time high of $705.07 in late September, and it seemed there was no sign of stopping it from breaking through the $1,000 barrier and making Apple the world’s first trillion dollar company. Take a look at the market today, however, and it paints a very different picture.

Apple stock fell a whopping 25% in November, and on Friday, it hit a ten-month low. Today, shares dipped below the $400 mark. This is despite the recent launch of the iPhone 5 and the iPad mini, both of which appear to be selling incredible well. Can the Cupertino company put an end to this nasty slide? Analysts don’t think so.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was rarely seen with anything other than sneakers on his feet — except in the early 1970s when he went everywhere barefoot — and so it’s hardly surprising that at some point the Cupertino company was producing sneakers of its own. They weren’t on sale, though I’m sure they’d have been a hit, but they were issued to employees in the early 1990s.

There are more pictures below.

Australian iOS developer Halfbrick has made all of its iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch games free for just 24 hours. That means you can now pick up popular titles like Fruit Ninja, Age of Zombies, and Monster Dash without paying a penny. Check out the full list of titles below.

So, it’s finally here — Google released an official Google Maps app for the iPhone, and we love it. Not only is it back with a brand new look, it also has new features, and of course, the accurate data we’ve all been missing since Apple released iOS 6. Also in our roundup is a brand new 1Password app from AgileBits, a new Flickr app from Yahoo!, and more.