News - page 1423

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGzY54bt1rE

In the words of Family Guy, are iPhone-controlled model planes “a thing” now?

It was only September when we reported on the PowerUp 3.0 iPhone-Controlled Paper Airplane — speculating that it may well be “the coolest toy ever“.

Well, what a difference a few months make, since our wannabe-pilot hearts have now gone out to another: in this case to the SmartPlane, a Bluetooth-controlled miniature plane which promises to stand out from the growing pack of iPhone-oriented RC copters and the like.

Although a graceful crystal ballet danced in the world of symbols, for those of us who aren’t particularly math minded, all those plus signs, minus signs, dividers and parentheses can get confusing when we’re trying to figure out a problem.

For us, iOS app Soulver is a godsend, allowing you to perform various mathematical captions and functions by just typing them out on real text. Today, the plain text math app has received a beefy update, not only updating its look for iOS 7 on iPad, but also making it universal.

Prepare to take a trip to a dimpled, plastic galaxy far, far away. Warner Bros. has just released LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga to the iOS App Store. And even better, they finally figured out something to do with the Phantom Menace!

Part of Steve Jobs’ genius was his ability to find just the right words to explain why whatever Apple product he was unveiling was so “insanely great” you had to rush out and buy it at that very moment.

Outgoing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer never had that gift, but his final interview before stepping down contains a few really telling quotes about why things turned out the way they did — with Apple being the innovative market leader, and Microsoft being… well, Microsoft.

Hey guys! Do you like videos automatically playing when you scroll by them! No one does! That’s why Facebook’s just introduced the feature to its official iOS app.

The first time I played Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was over ten years ago, and if you told me that one day, I would be able to play this massive 70+ hour open-ended carnage simulator, not on a bulky console, but a device thinner than a pack of cards I could fit into my pocket, I would have told you you were mad. Yet here we are, as Rockstar Games has released San Andreas to the iOS App Store.

How would you like that to be yours? No, not the MacBook. Or the iPhone. Or the sofa. Or… Okay, we’re talking about that chopping board-looking object with the holes drilled in it.

Everyone is so focused on the “will they, won’t they announce it?” Apple-China Mobile deal that it’s all too easy to forget about the success Apple is already enjoying in China.

According to technology market research firm, Counterpoint Research, Apple’s share in China’s burgeoning smartphone market leaped to 12 percent in October — with the iPhone now the country’s third biggest smartphone player.

Yesterday we reported on the tragic death of a 15-year-old worker at a Shanghai factory belonging to Pegatron — the Taiwanese manufacturing firm who produce the iPhone 5c and iPad mini.

At the time the story was written, Apple hadn’t responded to the reports — or to requests from the New York-based China Labor Watch asking the company to take a closer look at working conditions at its supplier.

Since then, Apple has given its answer: noting that it sent independent medical experts to conduct an investigation at the factory last month.

“While they found no evidence of any link to working conditions there, we realize that is of little comfort to the families who have lost their loved ones,” Apple said in a statement.

The FCC may or may not be ready to give in-flight cellphone calls the green light, but until you can phone home from 40,000 feet up Southwest is now going to let customers pay $2 for an all-day iMessage pass.

[contextly_auto_sidebar id=”i6mgyYWEWOLqbQUQKQW7yZQepn1Xfrfo”]

Unlike LifeProof‘s iPad Air case, Pelican’s new ProGear Vault iPad Air case isn’t waterproof. Also unlike LifeProof’s iPad Air case, the ProGear Vault iPad Air case actually exists, now (since LifeProof’s iPad Air case isn’t here yet, we’re obviously assuming it’ll be as fully waterproof as all the other LifeProof cases).

Today Google brought its Chrome apps to any Mac with the Chrome web browser. These apps are not the same as Chrome OS, and essentially act as web apps that can be launched from a launcher in the Mac’s dock.

Google started beta testing Chrome apps on OS X earlier this year, but now any Chrome user can use the apps from a new “For your desktop” section in the Chrome Web Store.

For a recent Sotheby’s auction to benefit Bono’s Product (RED) charity, Apple’s Jony Ive and Marc Newson designed a handful of unique products, including a red Mac Pro that sold for 977K and rose gold Earpods that sold for 461k.

The winners of the auctioned items haven’t been publicly disclosed, but it appears that Tony Fadell, the creator of the original iPod and Nest thermostat, may have been the highest bidder for both the Mac Pro and Earpods.

The Elder Scrolls Online, from Bethesda Software, is coming April 4, 2014, and not to the hot new consoles, oh no. The hotly-anticipated online sequel to one of the hottest role-playing games of the past few years is coming to Mac and PC before releasing to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 the following June.

Imagine that–a huge gaming title coming to your Mac before your console-loving friends can get their hands on it.

Throughout 2013 Apple has turned Apple TV into more than just a hobby by beefing up its lineup of channel offerings, but it looks like the company isn’t quite done yet with its new additions for the year.

Apple added four new channels to the the Apple TV this morning including Bloomberg TV which includes free access to a live stream of the company’s coverage as well as access to shows like Bloomberg West, Charlie Rose and many more.

Ever feel like the fact that using a tablet during takeoff and landing was banned for passengers — while allowable to pilots — was a bit of a safety double-standard?

Ages ago, my Cult of Mac brother in arms John Brownlee argued as much — and now it seems that European safety watchdogs are on his side, too.

Smartphones are deceptively affordable. If you buy an iPhone 5s unlocked, it will cost you $649 upfront for a 16GB model, yet if you bundle that same phone with an AT&T contract, it will cost you just $199 upfront. The rest of the balance is subsidized by your carrier upfront, and paid off over the next 24 months in monthly installments.

It’s a decent system that results in massive profits for carriers, but at the cost of an upfront payment to Apple. Go figure, though, AT&T would rather just rake in massive profits without that upfront payment… which is why CEO Randall Stephenson is now saying the are “unsustainable.”

Apple’s Stonestown Galleria retail store in San Francisco, will reopen at 8am PST Saturday, December 14 — following an expansion that has increased the size of the location to 7,690 square feet.

Keanu Reeves is coming to Infinity Blade III. Confused yet? So were we. But it’s all part of a special in-game event that will be used to promote Reeves’ new samurai film, 47 Ronin.

One of Apple’s product manufacturers is in the news again for possible workers’ rights violations — and this time it’s not Foxconn.

Instead, the company being investigated is Taiwanese manufacturing firm Pegatron, which earlier this year undercut Foxconn to “steal” a number of Apple assembly orders.

Apple is being called on to investigate the deaths of several workers at the Shanghai factory — one of whom was a 15-year-old who died of pneumonia after working on the iPhone 5c production line for just one month.

Nothing makes a better gift than an iPhone, but if money’s an issue this Christmas, consider going to T-Mobile. Just in time for the holidays, T-Mobile is dropping the upfront price of an iPhone 5s or iPhone 5c to just $0. You can afford that, right?

Between Downcast, Instacast and even the official Apple app, there’s no shortage of great podcasting apps on iOS. For one specifically tailored to iOS 7, though, give Castro a try. At the very least, it’s a beautiful piece of work.

As per Steve Jobs’ much referenced “reality distortion field”, Apple seemingly isn’t subject to many of the rules which govern other companies.

As a tablet-fueled holiday price war is breaking out among laptops, Deutsche Bank has noted that Apple is staying out of it entirely — and the strategy seems to be paying off.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded Apple a patent, describing a means of manufacturing curved touchscreens.

The patent, which was filed back in November 2010, may lend credibility to the rumors that Apple is working on an iWatch with curved glass display to fit users’ wrists, as reported earlier this year.

During the Apple vs. Samsung patent trial, Apple industrial designers revealed that the company had a “strong interest” in featuring a curved glass display for its iPhone as far back as the first generation model — although it abandoned the idea at the time for reasons of cost.

Two years after the rumors first started swirling, and months after the company began recruiting retail staff, Apple has confirmed on its official website that a new Apple Store is indeed opening in Düsseldorf, Germany.

The Apple Store — which will be Germany’s thirteenth — will open its doors for the first time this Satuday, December 14 at 10am local time.