Apple has issued an update to its iAd producer tool — adding support for creating full-screen banner ads for iPhone, along with the ability to upload Producer project to iAd workbench.
iAD Producer version 4.2 additionally includes folder reorganisation in the tool’s Assets sidebar, alongside the expected unspecified bug fixes and performance tweaks.
Apple’s been big on education under Tim Cook’s leadership — whether that be pushing for iPads in schools around the world, or teaching people to code in Apple Stores.
Apple’s latest Editors’ Choice in the App Store continues this educational theme, with a brain-training app called Elevate designed to help improve articulation, reading and listening focus, writing abilities, and information-processing speed.
Anyone who has ever tried jumping from iOS to Android, while keeping the same cell number, will know about the horror of trying to get hold of their messages.
The so-called “iMessage purgatory” means that unless you first deactivate your iMessages before ditching your iPhone, Apple’s servers will think that you’re using its proprietary messaging platform. The upshot? Say goodbye to your messages.
While the problem has been gaining more awareness recently as a result of class-action lawsuits filed against Apple, it’s just gotten worse, courtesy of a recent server glitch. The glitched rendered moot one of Apple’s key methods for sorting out the issue.
With some truly great titles out there, and apps like Comixology making them easier to read then ever, there’s never been a better time to be a comic fan.
But with so many choices, what exactly should you be reading? Particularly for comic newbies it can be a little daunting searching through mounds of comics, whether that’s in your local brick-and-mortar, or on the virtual comic rack. Luckily, reading comics is part of my job, so I was all too happy to scour the four-color archives for the cream of the current crop.
There are superheroes, flesh-eating zombies, and, err, time-stopping intercourse — all of them read just as well on paper or your iPad screen. Personally, I’m a stickler for physical books, although digital ones are looking better all the time, and they’re continuing to explode in popularity.
But ultimately how you choose to consume your comics is a personal choice. Just so long as you read ’em.
So get reading!
Phrases like “it’s a comic book brought to life” are usually hyperbole, but that’s not the case for SXPD, a new iOS game which blends gorgeous black and white comic art with compelling gameplay.
Described by developer Little Chicken as “essentially the world’s first true game-comic book hybrid,” SXPD is a racing game interspersed with kinetic Comixology-like comic book interludes — upping the story-driven quota far beyond what we’re used to seeing in video games. In all there’s a 42-page digital comic book included, which is broken down into 6 chapters for you to play through.
Hearing an Apple executive talk about their work in a relaxed setting is pretty unusual stuff, but that’s what happened earlier this week when Lisa Jackson, Apple’s VP of Environmental Initiatives, spoke as part of Fortune’s Brainstorm Green conference.
The 16-minute conversation, with Fortune Senior Editor (and former Apple author) Adam Lashinsky, touches on various topics related to Apple’s desire to go green — including some potentially revolutionary plans for its 400+ chain of retail stores.
If you’re an iPad-owning fan of turn-based tactical games, you’ll be happy to know that popular Nintendo DS game Panzer Tactics DS has received an iPad remake.
Called Panzer Tactics HD, the game puts players in 1939 Europe and allows them to engage in three mission-extensive campaigns — creating tactics as part of the German Wehrmacht, the Soviet Red Army and the Western Allies.
We’ve heard casting announcements in the form of Batfleck and Jesse “Lex Luthor” Eisenberg (to name a few), had our first sniff of the Batsuit and the Batmobile — and now we finally have a name for the forthcoming Batman-starring Man of Steel sequel.
It’s a slippery slope when it comes to fan trailers (seriously, type the word “trailer” next to any possible future sequel on YouTube and see how many hits come up!) but this is pretty awesome.
If you were a fan of the recent Godzilla reboot, along with last summer’s superb Pacific Rim — which featured giant mechs battling monsters from below — then you’ll likely love Paczilla: a fun mash-up by YouTube user MOVIECLIPS Trailers. The well-edited trailer gives an idea of what it would look like if Gipsy Danger and the other Jaegers came to the rescue when the monsters of the Godzilla universe began stomping on cities.
Mac sales have been growing impressively for the past few years, but according to a new press release they’ve run into a Lenovo-shaped obstacle in their climb.
That’s according to new figures released by (surprise, surprise) Lenovo, which claims that it has overtaken Apple in personal computer sales in the U.S. market for the first time ever. If these figures are accurate, it means that Lenovo has kicked Apple aside to take third place in the U.S., taking its position behind PC giants Dell and HP.
Notifyr is a great new iPhone app which lets you route iOS notifications over to your Mac.
Optimized for Bluetooth low energy (LE)-compatible iPhones and Macs, it allows you to receive notifications regarding phone calls, text messages, and iOS apps (such as WhatsApp messages, or Instagram follows) in the right-hand corner of your Mac’s display.
Given the extra security you find at airports these days, we’re grateful for anything that makes the experience of checking in and boarding your flight that bit quicker and easier.
With that in mind, Southwest Airlines has just posted an update for its official iOS app, adding several notable improvements, including faster access to tools like the Checkin and Mobile Boarding Pass options, right from your home screen. There’s also info about your upcoming trip card on your homepage, which means that you can view information related to Flight Status, Boarding Position, and Gate Information more easily than ever.
Better yet, the app update coincides with support for mobile boarding passes being added at 28 airports around the United States — rather than just Austin, where the technology was previously trialed.
Controversial cannabis-growing game Weed Firm has been booted out of the App Store.
Essentially Farmville for stoners, the app put you in the role of a marijuana dealer, as you try to grow your business (literally) and stay one step ahead of “thugs and cops.” Somehow making it past Apple’s usually stringent guidelines for adult content, the app had made it to the top of the App Store’s Top Free iPhone games prior to its expulsion.
Google has overtaken Apple as the world’s most valuable brand, according to a new survey.
As per Millward Brown’s BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands, Apple’s brand value fell by 20% in the past year to just under $148 billion, while Google’s value increased by 40% to $159 billion.
“Google has been extremely innovative this year with Google Glass, investments in artificial intelligence and a range of partnerships,” says Benoit Tranzer, regional managing director of Millward Brown Europe. “All these activities send a very strong signal to consumers about the essence of Google.”
Like Scarlett Johansson’s phone number, wine is something I’d like to know a bit more about. It’s good to hear, then, that popular wine assistant app Hello Vino (great name!) has just been given a sparkling update in time for spring.
The update adds support for a massive 140,000 store and restaurant locations to help you pick out the perfect wine. It also adds improvements to the app’s search engine, which is powered by wine-searcher.com and features more than 6 million wines.
Super Monkey Ball was one of the real gems of the GameCube era, and now a version of it is set to bounce its way onto iOS this summer.
But this isn’t your grandpappy’s Super Monkey Ball. According to SEGA, the game takes inspiration from the classic arcade game, pachinko, and features AiAi and the rest of his monkey pals as they attempt to thwart the evil machinations of the dastardly Prof. Boscis.
Gulf Air, the Kingdom of Bahrain’s flagship air carrier, has become the latest airline to participate in an iPad-based electronic flight bag program. The program will see Gulf Air purchase 355 iPads, to be distributed throughout the airline’s fleet.
“We are proud of our existing strategic relationship with VIVA Bahrain and pleased to extend this partnership to include the provision of iPad devices as part of Gulf Air’s Electronic Flight Bag project,” says Gulf Air Acting CEO Maher Salman Al Musallam. “This is an essential component of our ongoing commitment to all new technology that provides integrated solutions for managing information in the air and on the ground.”
A video has surfaced online showing a jailbreak solution for iOS 7.1.1, compatible with the 64-bit iPhone 5s.
This is the third iOS 7.1.1 jailbreak we’ve seen in a matter of days, although it’s possibly the most impressive yet being that it is for Apple’s premier iOS device.
If you’re looking for a new home awesome enough to house all of your Apple products in style, you’re not going to find one better than this.
A 10,000 square feet palace — newly on the market for a cool $35 million — it will be instantly recognizable to cinema buffs as the home of none other than Tony Montana in the 1983 movie Scarface.
Apple’s iconic Fifth Avenue retail store might be turning eight today, but the company is looking to boost its New York presence with a new store on the city’s Upper East Side.
City building permits, dated May 15, detail soil testing at the new site, along with the demolition of the building’s current interior — costing a total of $80,000. The new Apple Store is set to be located at no. 940 Madison Avenue, a limestone and marble building currency occupied by luxury retailer VBH.
It takes a lot to be both New York City’s most photographed landmark and Apple’s most beautiful retail store. It’s rare that a shop can genuinely be said to take your breath away, but in the case of the Fifth Avenue Apple Store, it lives up to its reputation — and then some.
A big glass box with a glass elevator in the middle, as well as a see-through staircase, complete with wrap-around glass banister, it’s a little bit like Apple’s long-forgotten (but spectacular) Power Mac G4 Cube — only so big that you can shop in it.
It grosses more than any other store in New York City. And it makes more money per square foot than any other store in the world. exactly eight years after it opened its doors, Apple’s flagship retail store has become an iconic part of the New York landscape.
And like a lot of the best Apple products, it owes its success to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
Unfortunately iOS 7.1 brought an end to the versatile Evasi0n jailbreak,which let anyone using iOS 7 to iOS 7.0.6 run unsigned code on their iOS device.
But no-one thought that would be it forever when it came to jailbreaks, and this weekend two prominent hackers posted evidence of iOS 7.1.1 jailbreaks online.
Mailbox, the popular gesture-based email app owned by Dropbox, has received a small but significant update.
First up are bug fixes, which (among other things) sort out the frustrating problems that have plagued the “reply” and “forward” features of the app’s iPad edition.
More importantly, however, is the app’s integration with App Links, the free and open-source initiative introduced by Facebook last month, that allows quick and straightforward linking between apps.
AT&T has confirmed that it is going to acquire satellite television operator DirecTV for $48.5 billion.
With a customer base of more than 35 million subscribers (as of December 2012), DirecTV is the second-largest pay TV provider in the United States. AT&T notes that the move will create “a unique new competitor with unprecedented capabilities in mobility, video, and broadband services.”
Facebook vs. Snapchat: round 2… fight!
After turning down a $3 billion acquisition offer late last year, Facebook is reportedly working on out-Snapchatting Snapchat with a new video messaging app, referred to internally as “Slingshot.”
The service — which lets user send short messages to one another with just a few taps — could be launched as early as this month, although as of yet Facebook has not signed off on it.