EA Sports has brought the controversial free-to-play game model to the world’s biggest soccer franchise in FIFA 14 for iOS, which is now available to download from the App Store — three days before the big console release.
The title boasts a whole heap of improvements, including a new and intuitive control system, online multiplayer, a game of the week feature, and the hugely popular FIFA Ultimate Team mode.
Here at Cult of Mac, we love Mailbox, the third-party Gmail client for iOS. But since it was optimized for iOS 7, it has been plagued by a hugely frustrating bug that causes email accounts to be deleted at random. Fortunately, the app’s latest update — which is available from the App Store now — finally fixes the problem.
But at what cost?
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and while Apple has tested this assumption in court against Samsung and other mobile device manufacturers, Android users and developers might have a different opinion.
Because, as you can see from the screenshot above, a whole bunch of apps have appeared in the Google Play store with the express purpose of making your Android handset look just like…well, an iPhone running iOS 7.
Of course, the argument could be made that only Android is open enough to actually allow its users to change the look and feel of their devices to a competing system’s visual system, but the result is still clear: Android developers, at least, think that you should be able to have a mobile phone that looks like the latest iOS devices on the screen as well as in the design of the handset itself.
There are lock screen apps for Android that mimic the parallax of the new iOS 7, apps that call themselves iOS 7 wallpaper, when they really aren’t, and apps that are just plain honest, titled iOS 7 Fake iPhone.
Hit some of those links above to try these out on your own, because we all know it’d be cool to have an Android phone that looks like an iPhone running iOS 7.
Right?
Discuss.
With iOS 7, you are no longer a slave to the constant need to update your apps. John McCain should be totally happy.
With this new automatic update feature, though, it might be nice to see what’s been updated lately. To do that, it’s just a quick trip into the guts of iOS 7. Here’s how.
When the iPhone was originally launched in 2007, experts across the globe claimed it would never be able to compete against the #1 smartphone maker at the time – BlackBerry. Fast-forward six years and the iPhone 5s and 5c just had the best smartphone launch weekend ever, while BlackBerry just entered a letter of intent to sell itself for $4.7 billion.
The iPhone 5s might be the closest any smartphone’s ever come to perfection, but none of its shiny glass, metal and chamfered surfaces really matter if they can stand up to some daily wear and tear. To see which new smartphone is the most durable, the gadget insurance company SquareTrade pitted the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c against the Moto X and Samsung Galaxy S4, in a series of damage tests, including getting dunked in water.
In the end, Moto X came out on top, with the iPhone 5s coming in a close second. The Galaxy S4 on the other hand didn’t fair too well, and was dominated by everyone, including the cheaper the iPhone 5c.
Watch the full results below:
The iPhone 5s is undoubtedly the biggest iPhone ‘S’ upgrade Apple has released to date. Not only does it come with the usual improvements you’d expect from an “incremental” upgrade — a faster processor, better graphics, and an improved camera — but it also boasts Touch ID, a fingerprint scanner built into its home button; the M7 coprocessor, and a new dual-LED flash
Touch ID will change the way we manage security on our iPhones. No longer must we remember 4-digit pass codes that have to be entered dozens of times a day; we can simply scan our fingerprint to quickly gain access to our device. It takes the hassle out of securing our data, and there’s no good reason why you wouldn’t use it.
The iPhone 5s is the biggest iPhone ‘S’ upgrade to date.
As for the M7 coprocessor, that’s “like a sidekick to the A7 chip,” Apple says. It’s specifically designed to measure motion data recorded by your iPhone’s built-in accelerometer, gyroscope, and compass — a task which was previously handled by the processor itself. Why? Well, the M7 chip is more efficient and handling this task, and with little input needed from the main processor, there’s less drain on your iPhone’s battery.
While the iPhone 5s make look identical to its predecessor on the outside, then, there are lots of improvements under the hood. But are those improvements worth your hard-earned cash?
There’s no question that the iPhone 5S and iOS 7 together make for the best phone ever made.
The din of offhand, dismissive criticism from the Android fan base that Apple never innovates should be silenced, at least for awhile, given that Apple now sells the only dual-tone LED flash; the only 64-bit mobile CPU; the only 64-bit OS; the fastest touch-screen performance phones by far; the only wide-scale deployment of Multipath TCP; and the only useful, usable and widely used fingerprint scanner ever placed on any consumer electronics device.
Yes, there’s plenty of petty grousing. And who knows what competitors will ship tomorrow?
But today, it’s clear that Apple rules the smartphone market.
The Android fan critics now also have to contend with a razor sharp, concise rebuttal to the cacophony of general criticism of Apple by Apple VP Craig Federighi: “New is easy. Right is hard.” He said that after referring to Samsung by saying that Apple “didn’t start opportunistically with 10 bits of technology that we could try to find a use for to add to our features list.” Ouch!
Unfortunately, iOS 7 is going to cause some huge problems that nobody is talking about yet, but will do when the unwanted bricking epidemic starts.
This week: iOS 7, available on an iDevice near you! And on our all-new CultCast, joined by special guest Mac OS Ken, we offer our thoughts on the controversial new OS plus a few of our favorite tips. Then, the NDAs are up and the reviews are in, we’ll tell you what critics think of the 5S and why we all agree—the 5C feels great in the pants.
Have a few laughs whilst getting caught up on each week’s finest 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 unadulterated audio enjoyment begin. Show notes up next.
Every time a new iOS device is released, there’s going to be new adopters. With new adopters come new opportunities to create apps that appeal to them. iOS 7 is an all new look for the devices, and there’s a lot of new things to learn about it. This offer from Cult of Mac Deals and iOS Centric is going to help you learn everything you need to know about iOS 7 so that you can make the best use of your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch.
This deal gives you a lifetime video subscription to iOS Centric – and for the low price of just $19.99. That’s a savings of 80%!
You’ll be blown away by the new Touch ID fingerprint sensor in the iPhone 5s the first time you use it. You’ll be prompted to set it up when you first start up your iPhone, and you’ll have to scan your fingerprint numerous times at different angles before your iPhone is happy with it. Once it’s recorded, you can use the tip of your finger to unlock your device and authorize purchases from iTunes and the App Store.
Apple never seems to be able to make enough iPhones to meet launch day demand, but it seems the Cupertino company has found that task particularly difficult this year. The iPhone 5s has proven incredibly difficult to get hold of all over the globe, while that fancy new gold model is near impossible to get hold of.
At Apple’s flagship store in San Francisco, there were just 20 gold iPhone 5s units waiting to go on sale this morning, and they were all claimed before the store even opened its doors.
I never make actual phone calls – they’re for people who don’t know how to use the internet. But I used to, and I remember one thing: real telephone handsets are way more comfortable to use than cellphones, especially for long calls.
Which is to say, the POP Desk handset will look great next to your fax machine.
Update:
After ripping it apart and posting in real time, iFixit finished the teardown of the gold iPhone 5s last night. The team there pulled it to pieces (carefully, gently) to find out just what makes it tick. They were able to see inside the A7 chip, can’t find the M7 chip, and were able to identify the maker of the iSight camera (Sony). All in all, some great stuff from the folks down under.
What they found isn’t too surprising, but it’s a ton of fun to read through the details, below.
Original Post:
The team over at venerable rip-into-gadgets site, iFixit, have gotten their hot little hands on a brand new iPhone 5s, and they’re tearing it down to let us all know what’s inside. If you’re into seeing the guts of Apple’s latest iPhone 5s, check out all the gory goodness below.
Update: It looks like Jimmy is the one who got the first two iPhone 5s, one for himself and one for his mother in Indonesia. What a nice guy! The Herald Sun has a nice article on Jimmy and his bit of fame.
In case you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that the iPhone 5s goes on sale tomorrow around the globe. We’ve been watching the lines start to form via the magic of the internet, keeping an eye on Twitter and Instagram, for starters.
As you get in line tonight, and tomorrow morning, feel free to send us your photos of the queues you’re sitting and standing in to us via email or Twitter.
Here’s several form-ups we’ve seen:
Good news, Google Wallet users — you can now access your account on your iOS device with an official Google Wallet app. You can use it to make payments to friends, track your loyalty cards, and access nearby offers. One feature you won’t find, however, is tap-to-pay, which relies on NFC connectivity.
Boom! No, I mean it literally. This is a boom mic for the iPhone, although here is is pictured not on a boom but on the iPhone itself. Yes, for just $40, you too can make amateurish-looking movies where the mic dips into frame at just the wrong moment[1].
BlackBerry has finally provided us with launch dates for its new BBM apps for Android and iOS. Just as we expected, the popular messaging service will reach Google Play first on Saturday, September 21 — before popping up in the App Store just a day later on Sunday, September 22.
Redditor corvettevan has been collecting parallax wallpapers for use with iOS 7’s new visual feature for a little while now, and he decided to put up a Tumblr blog to archive them all and make them available to you for download.
While we showed you how to make your own parallax-flavored wallpapers for your iPhone or iPad, this is a much faster way to get some cool stuff on your iPhone that didn’t already come with the iOS 7 download.
The images are pretty cool: there’s nature, space, music, science fiction, and–of course–the obligatory girls in bikinis. Here are a few we liked.
Evernote has updated its essential mobile app for iOS 7, adding a completely redesigned home screen that puts everything in front of you, right away, including all your notes, notebooks, tags, shortcuts and announcements. Of course, that’s not all, as the developer says on its blog:
The new iOS 7 is exactly the sort of thing that makes being an app developer so thrilling. We’ve spent months getting to know every minute detail, design and interaction of the new operating system. The experience has been eye-opening, inspiring and freeing. IOS 7 is so new that it allowed us to let go, restart and build in a way that we haven’t been able to do in years. The result: a completely, unbelievably, unexpectedly new Evernote.
The first thing you’re going to notice about the iOS 7 redesign is how drastically different everything looks. Apple completely renovated the iPhone’s interface. The familiarity in terms of usability is still there at a fundamental level, but the OS has taken a 180 in terms of aesthetics.
White space is everywhere. Animations look funkier. Colors are trippier.
Vimeo announced Wednesday that its video sharing app for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad has now been updated for iOS 7. The new update lets you upload video directly from your iOS device camera, as well as offline instant playback of saved videos.
The app has been re-vamped to better match and work with iOS 7, as well, including a new video thumbnail feature, which shows live previews of video content in the smaller navigation thumbnails.
Better yet, you can now share any Vimeo videos on your device with other iOS 7 devices using AirDrop.
It’s been over three months since iOS 7 got its first unveiling at WWDC, and in just a couple of hours, it will be made available to the public. It’ll be completely free to download — no matter which iOS device you’re using — and Apple’s confident it will quickly become the world’s most popular mobile operating system.
iOS 7 is the biggest change to iOS since the original iPhone, introducing a colorful new design for the first time, and bringing lots of new features — including Control Center, improved multitasking and Notification Center, iTunes Radio, and AirDrop.
So should you be rushing to download and install it on your iOS devices as soon as it becomes available, or can you wait until all the fuss has died down? Well, we’ll be bringing your our review in stages over the course of the coming days, but to help make your decision super simple, we’ve trawled through the biggest and best iOS 7 reviews out this week and put together a helpful roundup.
iOS has seen an enormous amount of change over the last few years. When the first iPhone was released, the most entertaining thing to do was to watch YouTube videos and try to find a few web-based games. This was a time before apps, multi-tasking, or folders. Looking back, it’s amazing to see how iOS has transformed from a simple touch operating system, lacking a lot of key features, to a true computing behemoth with more features and tools than one user could possibly need.
Today, the latest version of iOS, iOS 7, is set to arrive. Let’s take a look at how things have changed in Apple’s mobile operating system over the last few years.