iPad - page 121

This week on The CultCast: Jobs! We’ve seen it, and now the question is — is it any good? We’ll discuss the much-hyped movie (100 percent spoiler-free), Ashton Kutcher’s performance and love for the man, plus examine if the real Jobs fits the fictional portrayal.

Then, an all new Yay & Nay: September 10th edition. We’ll yes and no our way through the rumors and what we expect at the all-but-confirmed Apple iPhone event.

Have a few laughs whilst getting caught up on this week’s best Apple stories. Stream or download new and past episodes of The CultCast now on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing on iTunes, or hit play below and let the audio adventure begin. Show notes up next!

Syfy announced today that its iPhone and iPad apps have merged into one mega-nerd monster app called Syfy Now.

The new app now gives both iPhone and iPad users access to full episodes of favorite Syfy shows, with new episodes available the day after they air. You can add new shows to a watchlist to view episodes later or track a season, and Syfy Now syncs your watchlist across multiple devices via iCloud, so can pick up where you left off with any series on any device.

A cable subscription is required to view all the shows, but there are a select number of full episodes and clips you can still view without it.

The free app is available now in the App Store.

As a longtime iPhone user, I’ve gone through my share of cases. There are a ton of great ones out there (including the FLAK case, currently available at a discount through Cult of Mac Deals), some of which work better in certain situations than others. That’s why I’ve always had a variety of them around – and it’s something I’d suggest more iPhone users do.

There are several reasons to keep a few iPhone cases handy, but the main reason I keep a selection of them around is simple: versatility.

German retail chain Media Markt has added a 128GB iPhone 5 model to its inventory, sparking speculation that Apple could be planning to double the handset’s maximum internal storage at its iPhone event on September 10. The iPhone 5 is currently available in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB variants, but a 128GB model is sure to appeal to plenty of customers.

I showed the picture of this Victorinox knife block to The Lady and she asked the obvious question: “What could possibly go wrong?” Indeed, what mishaps could possibly befall the user of an iPad stand which also houses a clutch of heavy, sharp metal knives? Nothing, clearly.

This highly anticipated game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe is now available on Mac and PC via Steam. The digital game is based on the popular two-player board game of the same name from Games Workshop, originally published in 1989.

The current digital iteration will feature a single player campaign of 15 missions, each set on the giant derelict spaceship (the “hulk” of the title), “Sin of Damnation.” There will also be multiplayer head-to-head action, oh yes.

Ever go to add a website to your Home Screen in mobile Safari and notice it just looks like a jumbled, unidentifiable mess?

This doesn’t happen too often any more, as most sites have learned how to create a special icon for Home Screen bookmarks on iOS, but every so often, you’ll come across a site that won’t have a custom icon.

When that happens, here’s a quick and easy way to make that Home Screen icon look a bit better.

Before college football season gets underway, ESPN is pushing out an update for its WatchESPN app that lets users stay plugged in to more games than ever before. The update adds a new split-screen view so you can watch two games at once, while keeping tabs on game day with the new live tool bar that displays scores and video highlights.

ESPN is also beefing up the content on WatchESPN by adding “ESPN on ABC” events to the app, but you’ll be pulled over to the WatchABC app when you choose them. To top it all off, WatchESPN users who connect through a military or college network now get access to ESPN3 events automatically.

Here are the full release notes:

Almost half of the top 50 apps on iPad are unavailable or have not been optimized for competing devices that run Google’s Android operating system. That’s according to a new report from Canalys, which believes Google should be doing more to encourage top developers to build high-quality tablet apps for its platform.

Even without taking into account the unique, astonishing way it wirelessly connects with a smartphone, the Vaavud wind meter is pretty neat little gadget.

It will measure wind speeds up to 25 meters/second (the Vaavud is Danish, hence the metric measurements and strange name), can share recorded data with the world through its free app—and it’s been tested for accuracy in a wind tunnel.

But the real stunner about the Vaavud is that it doesn’t use Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or any other power-draining wireless radio to connect. Instead, it uses magnets.

Notifications in iOS 6 can be annoying, for sure. To dismiss them takes some funky gestures, which we tipped you on a while back.

In iOS 7, however, notifications look different, and — thankfully — are a little easier to dismiss. Here’s how it works.

Disney’s upcoming open world sandbox game for gaming consoles, Disney Infinity, will bring all our favorite characters together from a host of Disney franchises, including The Incredibles, The Pirates of the Caribbean, Wreck-It Ralph, and more. It’s an ambitious release, and will include Skylanders-style figures and collectibles into the mix.

Yesterday, then, Disney revealed that there will be two separate iPad apps to support the console release. The Disney Infinity: Toy Box app will connect to players’ Disney ID and allow them to download and play in shared Infinity worlds. The second app, Disney Infinity: Action!, will allow folks to use characters from the Infinity universe in their own videos, blending the real world with the stylized characters from the Infinity game.

In a clever Facebook status update, the App Store posted a picture of a zombie hand, thrusting upward through the dirt. The caption reads, “It’s about time. Guess what game is coming tomorrow?”

That game can only be PopCap’s Plants vs Zombies 2, the highly anticipated sequel to smash hit Plants vs Zombies, a lane-based castle defense game that’s since appeared on every gaming platform known. PvZ2 was supposed to release last month in July, but was delayed here in the U.S.

Tomorrow, then, is the big day, and we’re excited.

Pocket Casts is arguably the finest podcast client on Android, and it’s pretty terrific on iOS, too. But it’s about to get even better. With the upcoming Pocket Casts 4 update, we’ll see a brand new user interface based on iOS 7’s new design, iPad support, cross-platform syncing for subscriptions, playlists, and play states, and lots more.

Evernote–it’s totally awesome, right? Track everything you do in Evernote, and access it on your Mac, the web, your iPhone, your iPad, or any other platform Evernote lives on, all with one login. Need that shopping list you created on your Mac while at the store? Pull it up on your iPhone at Costco. Want to show off that great website you saw while browsing the web at the coffee shop? Clip it to Evernote, and then pull it up on your iPad at home.

When you use Evernote as often and as regularly as many of us do, you’ll find that your own set of organization starts to break down. You’ve got so much stuff in there, across a variety of categories, notebooks, tags, and the like, that it starts to make less sense, perhaps, to your visual mind.

That’s where Bubble Broswer for Evernote comes in. This slick app, available for Mac as well as for iOS, re-visualizes your Evernote data into bubbles, making it easier to see patterns in your own data.

With college football, the NFL and the MLB post-season all knocking on the door, CBS has pushed out an update for its iPad app which allows users to stream live video of sporting events.

CBS has been streaming video to the iPhone for a while now, but it’s finally bringing it to the iPad with a full tablet experience. Now you can stream on-demand clips or live events to your iPad and push it to your TV via AirPlay via the free update.

Here are the release notes:

Has your life been graced with a Twelve South product yet? The company’s Mac-only accessories line is imbued with such cleverness, it’s difficult to avoid complete ubiquity in the home or office. While I’m fond of many of their products — I use the PlugBug every day — it was their HoverBar that actually changed my life. All it required was a change in how to use the HoverBar.

The intention of the “Tony Stark-inspired” HoverBar is to provide increased screen real estate on the iMac with a cool opposable arm. The mounting brackets fit an iPad 2, 3 or 4, providing the user not just with more screen real estate, but with touchscreen real estate. (Win!) I use an iMac primarily for film editing, so having an iPad near allows me to check email while I have all 27 inches of the iMac devoted to a project. The problem for me is that access to an iPad during this time is just a distraction.

A rumored September 10 iPhone event has been given an all-important “yep” from The Loop’s Jim Dalrymple. It’s the closest we’ll get to an official confirmation before Apple sends out invites to the much-anticipated shindig, which will likely see the iPhone 5S and the plastic low-cost iPhone 5C get their official unveilings.

The Skype app for iPad has been updated today to introduce support for HD video calling — but there’s a catch. The feature is only available on the fourth-generation iPad with Retina display, and not any of its predecessors or the iPad mini.

The fifth-generation iPad will use the same touch-panel technology as the iPad mini to allow it to become thinner and lighter, according to “people with knowledge of the matter,” who have been speaking to The Wall Street Journal. The device is expected to look just like the iPad mini, with narrow bezels and a significantly thinner shell, but it will maintain a 9.7-inch Retina display.

Gone are the days when you absolutely needed a scanner to deal with document scanning. With the emergence of smartphones, we’ve seen a ton of new applications hit the market that allow you to do things that were unheard of before. Scanning documents is one of those things – and Prizmo 2 is just one of the apps that gives you that ability.

If you don’t have an app that handles scanning right from your phone, then now would be the time to take advantage of the pricing at Cult of Mac Deals. Because Prizmo 2 is only $24.99 during this limited time offer.

Apple names a new and noteworthy app each week as its App of the Week. This week, it’s Simplebot’s Rise Alarm Clock, a universal alarm clock that’s getting quite a bit of buzz in the tech sector.

Let’s face it, alarm clocks are a dime nickel a dozen, so it’s ironic to see one hit the top spot on the App Store. The app evokes another big buzz app, Clear: it’s well-designed, looks great, and works with simple swipes and taps; what’s not to love?

We’ve known for a long, long time that the fifth-generation iPad would borrow the iPad mini’s design cues and have thinner bezels on the side for a more streamlined form factor. Heck, iLounge’s Jeremy Horowitz said as much as early as January of this year, claiming that the iPad 5 would be “a lot smaller than one would guess is possible” with “virtually no left or right bezels.”

For months now, we’ve seen parts leak out of Asia confirming that report, including cases, rear shells, and more. Today, we have leaked images of the front panel and digitizer. And yup! Look, Ma! No bezels.

Just like the Disney theme parks, the new Disney Animation iPad app is saddled with a heavy price for admission—but reveals a vast trove of wonder once inside.

For $14, the app makes an immense amount of material available—almost two gigs worth—from Disney’s digitally and traditionally animated titles.

Microsoft’s recent barrage of anti–iPad ads have nearly all featured third-party tablets rather than boasting about Microsoft’s own iPad-killer, the Surface RT. Now that it’s desperately slashed prices on RT units, Microsoft is feeling inexplicably cocky in its latest ad, which pits the hardware and software specs of the iPad against that of the Surface RT.

Basically, Microsoft is praying the iPad’s lack of a keyboard (that you have to purchase separately), Microsoft Office, and a USB port will be enough to entice some unlucky nerds to buy a Surface RT instead of an iPad now that it’s cheaper than ever but still deprived of quality apps.

Here’s the ad: