News - page 1562

Since the dawn of the App Store, and by extension, gaming on smartphones and tablets, one iconic brand has remained absent from the revolution: Nintendo. Perhaps the most beloved and historically innovative game maker in the world will have nothing to do with the idea of Super Mario Bros. for iOS.

The daring decision to not ride the success of the App Store is starting to come at a cost. Nintendo is bleeding money as sales of living room consoles like the Wii U plummet. And now the Japanese company is wanting mobile game developers to port their titles to the Wii U. Nintendo understands that mobile-centric games could help sell its traditional consoles, and yet we still aren’t getting any of Nintendo’s own games in the App Store. It’s a frustrating conundrum.

After giving Gmail some link support for Chrome, YouTube and Google Maps yesterday, Google is now ready to help developers integrate Chrome for iOS into their apps.

Google just published a new blog post reminding developers of some new Chrome integration tools for iOS developers that will let users open a webpage in Chrome and then come back to the app with just a tap. Despite iOS’s closed system that doesn’t let users set a default browser, the new Chrome tools will let users have the choice to open a link in Safari or Chrome.

Apple has been facing a number of privacy issues and lawsuits in the U.S. for the last year or so, but things aren’t going any better abroad either. A German court ruled that Apple will have to change some of its practices for how it handles consumer data.

The Berlin court recently struck down 8 of 15 provisions Apple’s listed in its general data-use terms. The court found that the 8 terms deviate too much from German laws because Apple is asking for “global consent” to use consumer data without telling them how the data will be used.

Finding pizza late at night can be difficult. You go to one restaurant and it’s closed. By the time you make it to your next option you realize it sucks and there’s something better down the way. There’s a new app that’s going to change all that, and it’s called Pizza Compass.

Pizza Compass isn’t just an app, it’s a tool for slice success. The app basically helps you find the nearest pizza joint in a hurry. You can spin the pizza slice to discover pizza joints nearby and the slice will steam when you’re close to a good place.

You can share you favorite pizza spots with friends, find restaurant hours and see reviews so you know you’re not going to eat something that tastes like cardboard. It sounds like a silly app, but it’s probably the greatest tool ever invented for those that like to do some late night drinking on the town.

Check out the Pizza Compass promo video and just try and tell me you’re not excited to give into your next pizza craving:

For the last couple months the Internet has been chalk full of rumors that Apple is losing its edge, and that the iPhone isn’t as cool as it once was. Maybe some of those rumors are right, maybe not, but Apple’s ex-Ad Guru, Ken Segall, predicts that the iPhone’s biggest years are still ahead of it.

In a recent blog post, Segall speculates that the iPhone will follow a similar development cycle as the iPod. For the first few years Apple has worked on evolving and perfecting the device, but 2013 will be the year that Segall thinks we’ll finally get an iPhone Mini, iPhones in color, and maybe even a big iPhone.

https://youtu.be/WPkByAkAdZs

This great new Audi commercial featuring two generations of Spocks — Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto — smack talking, swearing, racing and singing “The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins” is awesome for a lot of ways, but for iPad enthusiasts, the cream on top is at the very beginning, when Old Spock and New Spock play 3D Chess against each other on their iPads.

Sadly, the app itself doesn’t actually seem to exist. How have you overlooked doing a proper 3D Chess app, devs?

The Boingo app for iOS now allows users to buy Wi-Fi using in-app purchases that are charged to your iTunes account. It makes it quicker and easier to get connected on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, and means you no longer have to navigate Boingo’s website.

It might just be the dozen-odd years I was spent chained to the wall in my grandmother’s basement, a stain on the orange shag carpet my only friend, but I have a natural affinity for slapping wood panneling on any gadget I have. Especially Apple products.

One of the companies that has helped me in this quest of mine is RAW BKNY, a Brooklyn-based woodworking and laser-etching shop which has put out some really bitching wood veneers for the iPhone and Macbook.

Now they’ve got a new Kickstarter, and I’m super psyched about it: how’d you like wooden keys for your Mac?

Foxconn has been forced to make preparations for life after Apple following reduced demand for the iPhone and other iOS devices which has caused the company’s revenue to nosedive, The New York Times reports.

The manufacturer has been doing well off the back of Apple’s hugely successful devices in recent years, which have been contributing at least 40% of its revenue, according to analyst estimates. But after suffering a 19.2% drop in revenue during the first quarter of the year, thanks to declining iPhone and iPad orders, Foxconn is now looking at ways in which it can be less reliant on Apple.

I want to call Kenny Jahng right now, didn’t you?

Source: Tim Cox’s Instagram

Remember when people were wandering around idiotically saying the iPhone was a total failure in Japan?

Yup, pretty stupid, but it’s true that, at first, the iPhone didn’t catch on in Japan, and that was a problem for Apple, because Japan is the country where gadgets rule.

So what changed Apple’s fortunes in Japan? Women!

To anyone who has been paying attention to the dismal plunge in PC sales, this should serve as further proof that we are firmly in the post-PC age: tablet shipments will outnumber laptop shipments for the first time ever in 2013. Not bad for a category that was launched by a gadget that PC makers not only scoffed at when it debuted, but is less than four years old.

$7 is getting close to the lower limit on prices for iPad cases – unless you choose to make your own out of recycled materials that is. Actually, the Apple Pie iPad case is made from recycled materials. It’s a cardboard folio that’ll protect your iPad from adults and kids alike.

Update: And it looks like Ran Avni, the guy taking credit for this video, might have stolen it from Isaac Royo over at Device Station. We’ve replaced the video.

This lovely burble of a concept video isn’t just as soothing as a new-age noise machine, it shows off a new concept for a new multitasking system in iOS 7.

It looks pretty, and no doubt many of you would like to see this on your iPhone, but just to tamp expectations down into a low-burning dottle, Apple’s never going to release something like this.

Do you wish you could get in on this whole one-keyboard-switching-between-multiple-devices game, only you’re wedded to some crazy old clackety keyboard that only connects via cable? Then I have good news! IOGear has a new widget that’ll hook everything up.

Sometimes all you want to do is flip through a folder full of photos, maybe cropping a few of them and deleting the worst ones. That’s exactly what Arcsoft’s new Photo+ for OS X is for. You just drag a single photo onto the app and you’re off – able to use the arrow keys to navigate every other image in the folder, cropping and deleting as you go.

Denon’s new range of audio receivers, called InCommand, has support for Apple’s AirPlay built right in alongside the great sound and embarrassment of cable hookups usually found in this kind of gadget. And that’s in addition to being able to control the unit itself from a dedicated Denon app.

Cobook, the non-sucky contacts app for iOS and Mac, has today added Livecards. Livecards are a way to share your contact info with other people. Instead of relying on those lazy idiots to update your details, you take care of it. The resulting changes are pushed to everyone who has your Livecard in their Cobook.

Yes, this is exactly how address books should have worked ever since the internet was invented.

Today is a beautiful but limited weather app. Dark Skies is that clever wether app which tells you exactly where and when it’s going to rain, so you can decide whether to grab your umbrella as you dash tot he store. The problem? U.S-only.

Now Today has incorporated Dark Skies alerts to bring this kind of accuracy to the rest of the world.

In yet another projection, DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim told CNET today that the second version of the amazing iPad Mini will indeed have a retina display, and that LG will be the main supplier of the pixel-packed screen, instead of Samsung.

“Samsung is currently not in the iPad Mini and they won’t be in the next generation. LGD is becoming a much bigger supplier than before,” said Shim, continuing that other manufacturers are slated to make the new screens, but they won’t have as prominent role.

While the production timeline Shim is predicting flies directly in the face of earlier predictions, Shim could be accurate, as a summer 2013 production run would make better sense for getting supplies ready for a holiday demand.

What if magic truly did exist? What if there were beings that could travel the infinite worlds via portals of magic, and you were to apprentice to one of them, in the form of the Marquis de Hoto, a rabbit magician. An evil spell is cast across the portal worlds, of course, as you begin to learn your new trade. It will be up to you, and you alone, to stop the progress of evil.

Developed and published by Hamburg-based Daedalic Entertainment, The Night Of The Rabbit promises to be an adventurous, beautifully hand-drawn game for Mac and PC, coming May 29, 2013.

Velox is a highly anticipated jailbreak tweak that arrived in Cydia over the weekend. It has been a long time coming, and it’s finally here. This is one of the most original and well done jailbreak tweaks I’ve seen in quite awhile. Your iOS app icons will never be the same, and it has the potential to change the way you use your jailbroken iPhone.

Facebook has updated its Messenger iOS app with the ability to send and receive stickers, which are basically large emojis that are proprietary to the Facebook platform. Stickers were added to the main Facebook app last month.

Another feature has been added back to Facebook Messenger by popular request: swiping back to remove a conversation.

Source: App Store

App Store apps that recommend other apps are getting pulled left and right. Following the removal of popular titles like AppShopper and AppGratis, it was reported last month that Apple was beginning a widespread crackdown on apps that work similarly to the App Store itself.

Now another instance of Apple targeting app sharing services has been reported. 

Adobe made a slew of announcements at its MAX conference today, most notably the plans to make its Creative Suite (now Creative Cloud) entirely subscription based. Alongside all of the restructuring and price changes, Adobe also unveiled a new Bluetooth stylus designed to work with its iPad apps.

It’s sill in the development stage, but “Project Mighty” looks pretty cool for designers. The pressure-sensitive pen tightly integrates with Adobe software, and it stores user preferences in the Creative Cloud.