Whether you’re a chaotic good wild mage or a neutral evil Drow, there’s good news coming out of the Underdark this morning. Following its launch on Mac last month, Beamdog Entertainment’s updated version of Baldur’s Gate II and its expansion — only the finest CRPG ever made — are coming to iPad, possibly even in time for Christmas!
If you’re a Dane, a Swede, a Fin, or a Norse who likes having all his or her music in the clouds of Valhalla, or just wants to legitimize your pirated Lordi collection, good news: iTunes Match has come to Scandinavia.
‘Tis the season for speculative fiction, fa la la la la, la la la la.
In an interview with with Fox Business’ Stuart Varney, Money Map Press analyst Keith Fitz-Gerald predicted that not only might Apple and Microsoft want to work together in the near future, but that a merger in the next 5-10 years is entirely possible.
Apple has been doing its “12 Days of Christmas” promotion for a few years now — offering iOS users a bit of Yuletide cheer in the form of free videos, songs, games, books and apps.
Strangely, while this promotion has spread Cupertino Christmas wishes to those as far away as those in Europe, Canada and Japan, it has never before been available to U.S. customers.
All’s quiet on the Scott Forstall front — and pretty much has been since the former SVP of iOS was unceremoniously fired from Apple back in October 2012 for refusing to sign an apology for the Apple Maps fiasco.
Well, there’s an update on the horizon for Forstall watchers: and it involves the former Apple exec spending much of the last year traveling to Italy and South Africa, advising a handful of startups, and getting more involved in philanthropy work — mainly focused on education, poverty, and human rights.
With holiday shopping season well underway, Apple has chosen a good (and likely not coincidental) time to finally catch up with U.S. demand for the iPhone 5s.
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said on Monday that his bi-weekly checks of 60 U.S. Apple retail stores found that the iPhone 5S hit 100% in-stock as of last Wednesday.
It has become somewhat of an old joke, but Microsoft’s retail stores are essentially ghost towns. Every once in awhile you’ll see a side by side comparison of an Apple Store filled with busy shoppers sitting right next to a completely vacant Microsoft store.
Slate visited both stores yesterday in Arlington, Virginia. The above image shows Microsoft’s store, and here’s a shot from inside Apple’s:
Today Square unveiled its new card reader with a design that’s nearly half the size of the original. By ditching clunky stock components in the first Square Reader, the mobile payments pioneer has created a smoother card swiping experience and sleeker, tapered design the second time around.
How did Square achieve such drastically improved hardware in only one revision? Apple’s former head of accessories, who led the development of the Lightning connector, was in charge.
Pandora released an update for it’s iOS app today that brings its UI inline with iOS 7’s minimal aesthetic. The free update isn’t just a new coat of paint though as the company also included a neat new alarm feature that allows users to wake up to their favorite Pandora station.
Apple added the ability to change the alarm tone to a song in the new Alarm app for iOS 7, but rather than waking up to the same song everyday, Pandora’s feature allows users to pick their favorite station to wake up to, so you’ll be serenade into consciousness by a new crooner every morning.
The free app update also contains a number of small improvements and bug fixes and is available in the App Store now. Here are the full release notes:
China Mobile is finally set to begin taking pre-orders for the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c later this week, according to advertisements on its website. Apple’s latest smartphone will be one of a handful of devices that support the carrier’s new 4G network.
Hoping to recreate the success Instagram has had doing a similar thing to still images, new app Spotliter Video allows users to add a range of effects to videos shot using iOS devices.
Ever wanted to take a tour of Apple’s secret Industrial Design studio in Cupertino? Now you can — a virtual one, anyway — just for writing a review of my new book about Jony Ive. It doesn’t even have to be a good review!
Located on the ground floor of Infinite Loop II behind frosted glass windows, the industrial design studio is where Ive and his team of design elves cook up Apple’s awesome products.
Few have been inside — even some of Apple’s own executives haven’t seen it. Rumor has it that the former head of iOS, Scott Forstall, wasn’t allowed inside, even when he was developing the iPhone’s operating system. Only one published photograph has ever been taken inside the studio. And no, Blue Peter and the Objectified documentary weren’t filmed there, contrary to popular opinion.
Now you can take a tour. I had a 3-D model of the studio created, based on detailed descriptions and diagrams by former designers who worked inside. I used it to create a video tour of the studio, showing the layout and explaining how everything works. I think the video turned out great, and here’s how you get a sneak peek.
If you think back to the iPhone launch in 2007, one of the things Steve Jobs was most proud of was the fact that the phone didn’t feature any kind of fixed, built-in keyboard in the manner of the BlackBerry or the Palm Treo.
Well, leap forward six years and the Typo Keyboard (largely bankrolled by American Idol host Ryan Seacrest) has either set things back or forwards by introducing a BlackBerry-inspired physical iPhone 5 keyboard, designed for those who spend large amounts of time typing messages and emails on the device.
It was back in the good old days of 2012, that we reported that Apple’s App Store had received more than 1 million submissions.
Well, it took between then and now for that number to mean that there are 1 million apps currently live.
Steve Jobs once said in an interview that everyone in America should learn programming.
Well, if you’re interested in coding, but don’t know where to start, your local Apple Store may be the place for you.
Since revelations of NSA eavesdropping surfaced earlier this year with the Edward Snowden leaks, Apple has been at the forefront of a tech company push-back demanding reforms.
The company is joining a number of other industry giant — including Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Microsoft, LinkedIn and AOL — in setting aside business rivalries to demand a scaling back of government surveillance.
Once it was revealed that the new Mac Pro could power up to three 4K displays at once, speculation immediately followed about Apple releasing an updated Thunderbolt Display. Rumors have been scare on that front, and a recent slip up in Apple’s online store indicates that the company may be looking to other manufacturers to supply 4K displays.
Yesterday Apple briefly sold Sharp’s new 32-inch LED monitor in several of its European online stores. After the product was spotted, Apple pulled the listing.
Last night Apple replaced its normal website layout with a fullscreen tribute to Nelson Mandela, the beloved freedom fighter and South African president who passed away on December 5th at the age of 95. The design is reminiscent of the tribute Apple made for Steve Jobs when he passed away.
This time on the CultCast: pro television editor and motion graphics artist Mike Gaines tells us the pros and cons of Apple’s new Mac Pro. Plus, Darth Vader has an iPhone 4; Apple makes your face your password; new patents tell a tale wireless charging for your Mac and iDevices; and we pitch our favorite new apps on an all-new Faves ‘N Raves!
Have a few laughs and get caught up on each 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 adventure begin.
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The iPhone is a great travel tool, but making your smartphone travel actually smart isn’t about packing it up with dozens of apps you never use or that won’t get you out of the plane seat next to the loo on a crowded holiday flight.
Enter Cult of Mac Magazine. In time for your holiday travels (or maybe escaping from your loved ones for some beach or ski resort time?), we sounded out dozens of road warriors to learn what they really find necessary for the daily commute or continental flight. These black tees and easy-to-launder socks of the app world, if you will, include some surprising picks, many of them free.
If your travel is mostly of the four-wheel variety, you’ll want to read what happens when reporter Alex Heath took smart-driving app Automatic for a month-long spin. (Can it reform his gas guzzling, donut-making driving style?)
In our exclusive Ask an Apple Genius column, we answer your questions about how to get your Mac repaired on the road and how to handle assistance when you live in a town without an Apple store.
You’ll also find our picks for the best in apps this week and what’s really rocking the iTunes store when it comes to books, movies and music.
Mosey on over to Cult of Mac Magazine on iTunes and check it out!
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Apple touts its new iBeacon technology as a boon for retailers, but my first experience with the sensor system left me asking, “Is that it?”
The company activated its iBeacon tech, which uses Bluetooth low-energy, to track users’ iPhones as they roam an indoor space, at 254 U.S. Apple Stores this morning. I visited the Scottsdale Quarter store to see what Apple can do with the technology on its home turf. While you would think Apple would pull out all the stops for a truly spectacular iBeacon debut, I left unimpressed.
The best iPad case I ever had was the red leather Smart Cover for the iPad 2 (and iPads 3 and 4). It looked and felt great, and only ever got better with age. It’s sturdy (the Lady is still using it on her iPad 3), and while the metal hinge has worn a shiny pattern into the iPad’s edge, it grips way better than the plastic-hinged covers for the Air and Mini.
In short, I loved the leather. To get an Apple-made leather cover for the iPad mini, though, you need to buy the Smart Case, which is a case, and regular readers will know I’m not so hot on cases thanks to their usual bulk and weight.
So how does the crazily overpriced Smart Case shape up? Pretty damn well.
There are a bunch of apps out on iOS for kids, from educational apps to sports apps and more. Sure, you can get reviews of these games by adults, sometimes even from parents of kids who use them.
We thought it’d be fun, though, to ask the kids themselves.
Welcome to Kid APProved, a series of videos in which we ask our own children what they think of apps on the App Store that they’re using.
This week, it’s a game about an acrobatic hedgehog, Wide Sky from Marcus Eckert. Here’s what our Kid APProved reporter Nadine thinks.
Here’s an idea: take one subject like tech with a massive built-in fanbase, and another — like Broadway musicals — with a similarly rabid audience.
Put them together and what do you get? Well, the hope is obviously for a hit, but right now the specific answer is “Nerds” — a new musical from the Philadelphia Theatre Company, telling the oft-repeated story of Bill Gates vs. Steve Jobs.
Apple has filed a patent for a “smart dock” which greatly extends the range and capabilities of Siri to give it a far bigger role in your home life.
Entitled “Smart Dock for Activating a Voice Recognition Mode of a Portable Electronic Device” the patent was filed in May last year, but only published now.