Luke Dormehl - page 319

Originally released exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS in 2013, Capcom has dropped the fifth instalment of its superb Ace Attorney series into the Japanese App Store, seemingly without any warning.

The game (which was heavily praised upon its release) follows the story of attorney Phoenix Wright who returns to action after his premature retirement in the game’s previous instalment, set one year earlier. Going up against former death-row-convict-cum-prosecutor Simon Blackquill, Wright is able to draw on the help of fellow legal eagles Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes.

The game features five cases, with a sixth one downloadable via in-app-purchase. Other IAPs allow users to add extra costumes or access a special mini-quiz.

I use OS X’s Dictation feature all the time while I’m working, but a new patent application published Thursday suggests that Apple’s looking to go much further when it comes to having users talk to their Macs.

The Intelligent Digital Assistant In A Virtual Environment application was filed February 4 this year, and describes a Mac-based Siri every bit as smart as its mobile iOS counterpart.

The patent application depicts a future OS X dock featuring an icon for Siri, which could be available to use for dictation or commands from inside various different programs.

When it comes to expanding into new markets, or being enjoyed by customers all over the world, Apple is the definition of a multinational company.

It also makes a whole lot of money for people around the globe, as it highlights in a new post concerning the company’s commitment to job creation in Europe.

The post runs down some pretty impressive figures, such as the fact that Apple employs 16,000 people in Europe; that a further 116,000 European jobs have been created at other companies thanks to Apple’s growth; that 132,000 jobs are currently directly or indirectly supported by Apple; and that 497,000 jobs are directly attributable to the App Store.

It may dominate 80 percent of China’s high-end smartphone market, but one place Apple’s not racking up supporters or sales is in the Chinese government.

In fact, according to a new list drawn up by the country’s National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Finance, Apple products are persona non grata when it comes to high tech devices that public money is allowed to be spent on.

The reason is security concerns, in the wake of increased fears about hacking and cyberspying. “When the government stops the procurement of products, it sends a signal to corporates and semi-government bodies,” says Mark Po, an analyst with UOB Kay Hian Ltd. in Hong Kong. “The Chinese government wants to make sure that overseas companies shouldn’t have too much influence in China.”

While everyone’s focused on which virtual assistant can provide the best automated response, the company behind storage solution iDrive has come up with a different idea: Why not hand the job over to humans?

Asking if users are “tired of trying to explain to a computer program what [they’re] searching for,” or are “sick of getting answers that have nothing to do with what [they] need” OOLOO is a free-to-download iOS app, which connects you to real people 24/7, able to give you the kind of personalized answer that you’re unlikely to get from a tool like Siri.

It’s unheard of that you get to watch an Apple product being developed before your very eyes, but that’s exactly what’s happening with Apple’s new mothership headquarters — which we once referred to as the biggest Apple product ever built.

Despite not touching down officially until 2016, we’ve seen a steady stream of new images of Apple’s new campus during construction, many courtesy of the aerial photography of Bay Area traffic reporter Ron Cervi.

In new images posted to his Twitter account, Cervi shows how the HQ is slowly taking shape, with concrete and rebar work continuing, alongside the digging of tunnels, ready for the foundation and retaining walls of the new structure.

Battery life is one of the perceived iPhone weaknesses that rival manufacturers have often used to beat Apple over the head with — with both Samsung and BlackBerry dismissing iPhone owners as “wall huggers” because of the so-called short battery life of their iOS devices.

That may be about to change, however, with ESM-China analyst Sung Chang Xu (the same person who suggested that the iPhone 6 would come with a range of new sensors) claiming that the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 will sport a battery with a 2,100 mAh capacity, instead of the meagre 1,810 mAh unit previously reported.

It’s not easy being Samsung!

After missing sales targets, and being knocked off the top smartphone spot in China by low-end rival Xiaomi, the South Korean Lex Luthor to Apple’s Superman is also apparently being hit hard by Apple’s embrace of other component makers for its devices.

In a recent press conference, Samsung executives admitted how its role as third party chip manufacturer (something which makes up half of Samsung’s microprocessor business) is being negatively affected by Apple’s decision to work with other partners like TSMC.

Apple is set to open its new Dutch brick-and-mortar retail store this Saturday, according to ifoAppleStore.

This will be the third Apple Store to open in the Netherlands, with previous retail outfits opening in Amsterdam and Haarlem. The store will be located in Den Haag (The Hague), which is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam, but an important city since it is the seat of the Dutch government and parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Council of State.

While the world is eagerly awaiting Apple’s next generation iPhone 6, a new report from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that both the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch models Apple is expected to release may be pushed back due to production issues.

According to Kuo, Apple’s manufacturers are suffering delays related to the devices’ in-cell touch panel production, and also low-yield casing and chassis problems.

There are various smart light bulbs on the market, with the most famous probably being the Philips Hue connected bulb. But new Kickstarter project Emberlight has come up with a unique (and certainly more wallet-friendly) spin on the concept of how best to light your smart home.

Emberlight has produced a device with the ability to turn any dimmable bulb into a smart light, which users can then operate using their smartphone. The project’s developers boast of multiple uses for the Emberlight: ranging from having the lights in your bedroom mimic a sunrise by slowly lighting up in the morning, to creating custom presets for different lighting effects, to having your lights intelligently turn on and off as you move through your home.

Ever since it arrived on our computers all the way back in 2000, the makers of The Sims have always been great at providing plenty of expansion packs designs to grow your Sim universe out in a variety of different directions.

That same spirit had carried over to the iOS game The Sims FreePlay, which has just added a “Let’s Eat” update, letting your Sim become a master of the culinary arts.

Apple is set to open its second brick-and-mortar retail store in Turkey, according to Turkish website ElmaDergisi.

The store is allegedly planned to open this fall, around the same time as Apple’s long-awaited iPhone 6 is set to hit shelves. It will be located in Istanbul’s upmarket Akasya Shopping Center, a shopping mall known for its major brand stores.

San Diego Comic-Con 2014 may be over, but with all of the announcements out of the way, now we get to reap the rewards. Among the event’s iOS-related announcements was Marvel’s proclamation that its great Marvel Pinball app is getting a new table, to celebrate the company’s new Guardians of the Galaxy movie. To mark the occasion, the app is going free for the first time ever.

There are some pretty great Wikipedia apps out there already (my favorite is Das Referenz, an iPad app which turns Wikipedia pages into what looks like 17th century book entries), but Wikipedia has just made a gambit to be best of the bunch with a major redesign of its own iOS app.

Version 4.0 of Wikipedia Mobile sports a total overhaul of the app’s design, with a complete native rewrite that makes searching for information a faster and more enjoyable experience.

The original Typo keyboard for the iPhone racked up quite a few column inches (or whatever the blogosphere equivalent might be) after it was revealed that none other than Ryan Seacrest had invested $1 million in it, shortly followed by BlackBerry filing a lawsuit against it, claiming that it was stealing the company’s trademark keyboard.

Well, the Typo is back — and apparently better than ever — thanks to the new Typo 2 keyboard, which is currently available for pre-order. Costing $99, the iPhone case essentially adds the functionality of a BlackBerry keyboard to your existing iPhone, although hopefully without looking so much like a BlackBerry that it provokes further legal action.

Apple did sticker and decal makers a massive favour with its recent “Stickers” ad for MacBook Air, showing the myriad ways users choose to customize their ultra-thin Apple notebooks.

That is backed up by figures, unearthed by website Macstories, which discovered that sticker-makers did, in fact, receive a huge influx of new visitors following the ad — with sales in some cases quadrupling since Apple’s ad aired earlier this month. Geeky Decals, for instance, says that it was selling around 8-10 stickers per day prior to the ad, but is now selling between 40 and 50 per day.

According to findings by researchers Karsten Nohl and Jakob Lell, USB security may be profoundly broken, with no way around it.

Nohl and Lell have highlighted a flaw in USB devices which potentially offer hackers the ability to sidestep all currently known security measures used by a computer. Called the BadUSB exploit, the vulnerability allows hackers to meddle with the firmware which controls the functions of various USB plug-ins, such as mice, keyboards and thumb drives.

Where there’s a popular idea, you can be sure the clones will follow. Earlier this year the popular app in question was Flappy Bird, and here in July it’s simplified message app Yo, which has to date received $1.5m in funding.

A few weeks back we wrote about Yo spoof Hodor, but it seems that there’s another more pressing clone out there, called Yolo, which Yo founder Or Arbel describes as “a complete fake copy of our Yo app.”

In response to Yolo, Arbel has filed a complaint with Apple, asking it to remove Yolo from the App Store since it allegedly infringes on Arbel’s copyright and trademark.

Apple is set to open a new Apple Store in Toledo, OH’s Franklin Park Mall sometime during the fourth quarter of 2014. This will be Ohio’s eighth Apple Store, with its seventh opening last month in Dayton.

The company has already posted 15 job openings via its website, while it recently advertised a full-time retail general manager post via the website CareerBuilder.com.

Song recognition service Shazam has launched a cool new Mac app. Called, originally, Shazam for Mac, the always-on app lives in your Mac’s menu bar, and offers some neat features.

Constantly listening for songs to identify, Shazam for Mac springs to life whenever it finds a song you want to know about, creating a playlist as it goes along, and alerting users via a standard Notification Center popup. Once a song has been ID’d, the app gives you the option of one-click access to lyrics, music videos, or the option to buy the track on iTunes.

As has been seen time and time again, all Apple needs to do is hint at an area it’s interested in exploring (see: smart watches) and much of the tech world will trip over itself trying to beat it to market (see: Samsung’s Galaxy Gear smart watch.)

The latest company to jump on this bandwagon is, apparently, VIVO, the Chinese manufacturer which previously released the world’s first QHD/2K smartphone. According to sources cited by the Chinese media, VIVO is taking a big swing at Apple (and, yes, the iPhone 6 was specifically mentioned) by rushing to release its new 5-inch flagship handset, with an all-metal frame and sapphire glass display.

Does the iOS-centric IBM-Apple deal equal the end of the road for desktops? Absolutely it does, if you believe Bob Tinker, CEO of the newly-public company MobileIron.

Discussing the recent alliance between the two tech giants during his company’s first earnings call, Tinker pointed to the IBM-Apple deal as something of a signal moment for mobile. “I think of it as a positive that IBM’s committed to building mobile apps for enterprises, switching away from Windows to mobile platforms,” he noted.

“This signals the end of the desktop era. IBM once made a deal with Microsoft in the late 1980s that ushered in the era of the desktop, and now they’re ending it with Apple.”