Just over a month after acquiring Summly for $30 million, Yahoo! has gobbled up another smartphone app. This time it’s Astrid, a pretty task management client for Android and iOS, which has a strong focus on sharing. Astrid announced the news on its blog today.
Australian airline Qantas has always been quick to embrace new technology. Back in October 2010, it became one of the first airlines to offer iPads as in-flight entertainment systems, and one of the first to embrace Passbook last November.
Today the company launched a new iPhone app that allows users to search and book flights, find accommodation and store digital boarding passes in Passbook.
Angry Birds Friends, the latest bird slinger from Rovio, has today landed on iOS. It’s a little different from the other titles in the series, because this one’s all about social gaming, rather than playing alone. The game connects to Facebook, than allows you to challenge your buddies to weekly tournaments, and brag about your highest scores.
The International Data Corporation (IDC), an firm that analyzes tech trends around the globe, released its quarterly Worldwide Tablet Market Study today, showing that tablet sales show no signs of slowing down any time soon.
The study shows that tablet shipments have increased 142 percent year over year for Q1 2013. Tablet shipments totaled 49.w million units in this first quarter, surging past the entire first two quarters of 2012 combined.
All tablet makers saw huge gains in the tablet space, though Apple’s overall share of the market is decreasing. The iPad is still the world’s largest tablet being sold, with 19.5 million shipping in the last quarter, up from 11.8 in last year’s Q1, an increase of 64 percent.
Amazon’s Kindle app for iOS hasn’t always been as accessible as Apple’s own iBooks, but that changed today with a new update that adds VoiceOver support, among other new accessibility features. Kindle will now read aloud over 1.8 million books, allowing those who are visually impaired to kick back and listen to their favorite titles.
Google updated its Google Search app earlier this week to introduce Google Now to iOS. The feature brings Android’s awesome digital assistant to your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, allowing you to get information like the weather, sports scores, and travel assistance all in one place.
But many users have found that it also has a significantly negative affect on battery life. Because many of Google Now’s “cards” rely on location data, the service constantly gets updates on its whereabouts from nearby cell towers and Wi-Fi hotspots, and this means it’s eating away at your battery all the time.
Although I’m still stuck on the old version, Instacast by developer Vemedio is my go-to podcast manager on the iPhone and iPad… but on the Mac, I’m still using iTunes like a sucker. But hey, what’s this pretty shiny thing? Instacast Beta for Mac? GIMME.
Six months after taking responsibility of software design, Jony Ive is hard at work overhauling Apple’s upcoming iOS 7 operating system. And according to sources for Bloomberg, the changes he is making are so significant that they run the risk of delaying the update’s release.
The Google Search app for iOS was updated earlier this week to bring Google Now to your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. but it seems that the service isn’t yet supported in all territories. As is often the case, however, the jailbreaking community has a solution.
GoogleNowEnabler is a new tweak that promises to activate Google Now on your iOS device no matter where you live.
One of the limitations of the iPhone and iPod touch version of Safari has always been a lack of tabbed browsing. Granted, there’s only so much space on the smaller mobile screen, but all the same – tabbed browsing is great.
So is being able to open tabs in the background, so that you can continue reading Cult oF Mac posts, but still save an interesting link in another tab, just like you can on the Mac with a Command-click.
When you tap and hold on any link on a web page, Safari’s default behavior on the iPhone is to ask if you want to open the link, open it in a new page, Add to Reading List, or Copy it. Choosing Open in New Page will do just that, but in the foreground, taking you away from your current web page.
Luckily, with a simple Settings tweak, you can change this default behavior.
It’s a bit of a challenge to describe Spreecast in a nutshell — hence the clumsy headline.
Watching the service is sort of like eavesdropping on a videochat between a small group of people; only you can also interact with other viewers, and the videochatters (I hereby coin this word) themselves, through live (text) comments. Spreecast has been used by a bunch of big organizations and famous people — a few standout examples include Reese Witherspoon, The Wall Street Journal, VH1 — to broadcast conversations and interviews. Of course, peons like me (or you) can also use Spreecast to broadcast our own chatter.
Spreecast is old news, since it’s been around since late 2011; but now it’s available as an iPhone app.
We’ve always thought that Apple’s rumored iWatch probably won’t have the ability to enter text, but maybe we’re wrong. Maybe Apple will use software similar to this ZoomBoard concept that lets you zoom in on a keyboard, tap the letter you want, zoom back out, and then find new characters.
Users who have tested the prototype were able to type about 10 words per minute with it, which is pretty slow compared to average speeds on a real keyboard, but maybe it could be used on a limited basis. We don’t think anyone will ever want to type an email on their iWatch, but what if you want to send a quick reply to a friend without pulling out your iPhone to type it up? This could be the answer.
Here’s a video of ZoomBoard in action:
Google promised us it was coming, and after a lengthy Google Now today makes its debut on iOS. It’s available as part of an update to the Google Search app, and it’s exactly what users on Android have been enjoying for the past year.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has issued a note to investors in which he says the second-generation iPad mini with Retina display won’t enter mass production until October due to yield issues with the new high-resolution display. If true, the problem could make a fall launch for the device very unlikely.
If you haven’t played Ticket to Ride yet, all you need to know is that the iPad version is the most addictive board game I’ve played on the device. On the iPhone? Nothing even comes close (O.K., except maybe chess and Words with Friends).
This weekend the newest version of the game to hit the iPhone, Ticket to Ride Europe Pocket, goes from $2 to free. Don’t miss out on this one — and make sure you tell a buddy so you can play ’em.
Advertising and mobile analytics company, Flurry, has released some new stats on the reach that mobile apps seem to be enjoying. The take-away here is that the number of people using mobile apps in any given day, at least the apps that Flurry tracks, seems to be growing into a sizable group of people, albeit a bit fragmented across platforms and devices.
Flurry estimates that there were 224 million active mobile users in apps tracked this past February across iOS and Android, which is a bit more than the number of active users (221 million) during the same month on laptop or desktop computers, as measured by comScore, a similar company that tracks computer user data.
Apple has reversed its decision to change the way iOS devices handle connections with Virtual Private Networks (VPN), now that its patent lawsuit with VirnetX has concluded. Earlier this month, Apple said it plans to kill the “Always” feature for iOS devices with VPN On Demand configured, by rolling out a software update that would kill the feature on shipped devices.
Apple proposed that users would just have to use the “Establish if needed” option until an alternative solution was provided via software update, but it looks like Apple may have reached an agreement with VirnetX to keep the “Always” feature on shipped iPhones and iPads for now.
Apple posted the following update to an article on its support site to announce the reverse in decisions:
Didn’t get a ticket to WWDC this year? Don’t worry, you’re certainly not the only one. But if you were looking forward to a week out of the office, then there is another event you can attend instead.
It’s called AltWWDC, and it’s a free, open alternative to Apple’s prestigious conference that encourages Mac and iOS developers to meet up and mingle and discuss the latest software from Cupertino. You won’t get your hands on OS X 10.9 or iOS 7, but you will get free lunch for a week.
Android may have the edge over iOS at the moment, but by 2015, there’s a chance Apple’s platform will have stolen the crown. And it’s all thanks to customer loyalty.
According to new research from Yankee Group, iPhone owners are more loyal to their devices and therefore less likely to stray to competing platforms. There’s a large percentage of Android users, however, who have plans to switch when it’s time to upgrade their smartphone.
After spending several years in beta testing, the popular Swype keyboard made its official debut on Android earlier this week, and at the moment it’s only available on a small number of platforms. But there’s a chance that we could see Swype’s typing technology on iOS in the future.
Swype vice president Aaron Sheedy has confirmed that his company has held talks with Apple, sparking speculation that suggests the pair are working together to develop a “revolutionary” new keyboard — possibly for Apple’s upcoming iOS 7 update.
The official IMDb app for iOS had been given a number of new features today, including a new light theme on the iPad, and the ability to look up worldwide movie release dates, actor heights, “crazy credits,” and more. The update also makes some visual tweaks, and offers bug fixes that should improve stability.
Alongside its weekly App Store refresh this week, Apple introduced a new page that helps App Store users “learn more about in-app purchases.” The guide explains what in-app purchases are, how they work, and most importantly, how to prevent your kids from spending a small fortune on them without your permission.
American McGee’s Spicy Horse Games (Akaneiro, Alice: Madness Returns) revealed its new real time strategy (RTS) digital collectible card game today, tentatively titled Hell Invaders.
Public Wi-Fi is becoming more commonplace these days, with smaller cities (like the one I live in) even adding it for the convenience of commuters and the like. But when you’re on public Wi-Fi — like at coffee shops, airports, hotels, or conferences — anybody can see what you’re doing online. If you visit sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Amazon.com, and thousands of others, your privacy may be at risk.
In short…your privacy is gone on public Wi-Fi.
This Cult of Mac Deals offer aims to help you combat those who might try to compromise your devices while surfing public Wi-Fi with Cloak. Cloak is the antidote to hackers and hacker tools like Firesheep. With just one click…you’re safe. And thanks to this deal, you can have that safety for only $59.99.
It’s almost been five weeks since OMGPOP CEO Dan Porter teased the release of Draw Something 2, and had Ryan Seacrest advertise the title on Twitter. But it’s finally time to dust off your sketching fingers, because the sequel to one of 2012’s most popular social games is now available to download on iPhone.