Apple has announced this year’s iOS Tech Talks schedule for App Store developers. Talks will take place in 6 cities around the world throughout the end of the year. The sessions are intended to give devs “in-depth guidance about developing for iOS 7” from Apple engineers, and each city has two separate sessions for app and game devs.
Time to come clean: I play guitar and sing in a disco band. I know, I know, the backlash against that kind of music has been going on since 1977. Trust me, I know.
But the way people respond to this still-valid, we-use-real-instruments form of music is so much better than the way they used to when I played guitar in modern or classic rock bands. In those days, the most reaction I’d see in an audience was a foot tap, or maybe–if I was lucky–a head bob or two. Happy, gorgeous people dancing their butts off? So much more fun.
Now, playing in a cover band requires knowing a lot of music, like the chords for the 50 plus songs that we play. As I also take on half the lead singing duties, so I’m required to know the lyrics as well. I don’t do this for a living; I do it for fun and some beer and gear money. I don’t have tons of time to memorize all those songs, let alone the new ones we learn every few months. So I use lyric sheets. I used to use them on paper, but boy is that annoyingly old school and easily lost.
Now I use my iPad (and an amazing app called GigBook) to organize and keep track of my lyric sheets. And I also use the incomparable iKlip 2 iPad holder to attach that iPad to the microphone stand right in front of me.
Instagram for iOS 7 is finally here. Today the app received its first big update for Apple’s new OS, and the interface has been given a fresh coat of paint to match the iOS 7 aesthetic.
Looks like Apple’s Maps app is in the spotlight again, as it is directing folks directly across a taxiway where airplanes take off in Fairbanks, Alaska. The Alaska Dispatch reports that at least two out-of-town drivers relying on Apple’s navigation system for turn-by-turn directions to the Fairbanks International Airport (FAI) were directed across the runway to the airport ramp side of the passenger terminal.
That could be pretty dangerous if a plane was taking off or landing.
A fake iOS 7 advert that promises iPhones will become waterproof after being updated to Apple’s latest software has reportedly fooled owners into destroying their beloved smartphones.
The poster, which went viral on social media sites after iOS 7 was made available to the public last week, claims the update “prevents any damage to your iPhone’s delicate circuitry” when it is exposed to water. Surprisingly, some believed it.
I remember playing Call of Duty a few years back, killing soldiers (and time) every other day. I was never all that good at it – especially playing against others – but I did have a lot of fun. Thanks to Cult of Mac Deals, I can get back to having that kind of fun again with The Call of Duty Bundle!
The bundle includes 3 Call of Duty games and 2 expansion packs for Call of Duty: Black Ops. And they’re downloadable through Steam, so if you want to use a Windows machine to game on then that’s no problem either. And the bundle only costs $39.99 – a savings of 69%!
I got married earlier this month, but my new wife has already threatened to divorce me due to my newfound obsession with GTA V. I’ve only had it since Saturday, but I literally can’t put it down. I’m not the only one, of course; the game has been a massive success so far, with $800 million made on launch day alone.
If you’ve been playing it, you may have noticed their are a number of references to Apple and its devices within the game, one of which is iFruit, and iPhone clone used by Michael De Santa, one of the game’s main characters. And now you, too, can have your own iFruit with this awesome iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s conversion kit for just $13.
AppleCare+ subscribers can now get repairs and replacements for their iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches while they’re abroad following recent changes to the service. Subscribers were previously required to contact Apple in their home country, but now they can pop into any Apple retail store in territories where AppleCare+ is sold.
I’ve just picked up one of those fancy USB 3 drives to use with my Macbook Air as a sort of secondary backup when I travel, as it was so inexpensive for a 120 Gb drive. I wanted to know how much faster it might be, even on my non-USB 3 Air, than the run of the mill USB drive that you can pick up for a few bucks at the local electronics store, or get as a giveaway at a tech conference, for example. I also wanted to see how fast the new SSD drive that I installed in my Macbook Air was, just for kicks.
I wasn’t sure how to measure the relative speed of these drives, though, until I found out about Disk Speed Test from the fine folks over at OS X Daily. I was able to check the speed of my fast USB drive, my internal SSD drive, and an external USB-powered drive, and compare them all, which is pretty peachy.
Here’s how it works.
Samsung has traditionally offered its smartphones in a whole variety of colors, but one we rarely see is gold — until Apple announces a gold smartphone. Just two weeks after the Cupertino company unveiled the gold iPhone 5s, Samsung has begun showcasing its gold Galaxy S4 in the United Arab Emirates.
Does this company have any shame?
Apple silently snuck up on us all yesterday with new 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMacs, but short of upgrading them with Haswell processors, what has really changed? As is their custom, everyone’s favorite gadget dissectors over at iFixIt have torn apart their new iMacs to find out.
Back in May, we reported upon a seemingly ridiculous rumor that Apple would release a 12.9-inch ‘iPad Maxi’ in early 2014. We dismissed the report pretty much outright, saying that not only did we think that Apple would avoid naming a tablet that had already been ridiculed at launch for sounding too much like a feminine hygiene product after a Maxipad, but pointing out that the iPad mini was outselling the iPad since debut. People want a smaller tablet, not a bigger one.
We assumed that was the last we would hear of the rumor, but we were wrong. The 12+ inch iPad rumor is back with a vengeance… and now it has a manufacturing partner.
PopCap Games free-to-play Plants vs. Zombies 2 is a contentious game to many. If you’re our own good friend Buster Heine, you probably think it’s a masterpiece of a sequel, proof-positive that free-to-play can be done well in the right hands. If you’re me or my girlfriend, though, you likely think it is inferior to the first game in pretty much every way, and a perfect example of how free-to-play mechanisms can ruin an otherwise great game.
Whatever your feelings on the matter, you have to admit that getting Plants vs. Zombies 2 exclusively to iOS is quite the coup. According to EA, it’s a coup that Cupertino (get it?) was willing to pay buckets of money to get. But is that the truth?
Do you want an iPhone 5s, but can’t have one, whether because of Apple’s extreme devices shortages, an unsympathetic carrier who won’t let you upgrade early, or a lack of the dosh? Never fear: the iPhone 5s conversion kit is here!
If Apple made a notebook (a paper notebook, with paper pages) then it would probably look something like the Baron Fig notebook: The design is understated, obvious even, but it’s chock-full of tiny details that should make it a pleasure to use.
Nothing makes Microsoft happier than seeing an iPhone user ditch their device for a Windows Phone smartphone. In fact, the company will even buy your iPhone off you if you promise to make the switch.
Starting this Friday, you’ll be able to take your old iPhone 4s or iPhone 5 into select Microsoft stores across the U.S. and Canada and receive a minimum of $200 in-store credit for a new Windows Phone device. The move comes weeks after Microsoft kicked off an iPad trade-in program to encourage consumers to switch to its Surface tablet.
Oh, man, this is an invention likely to make it impossible for me to ever leave the house. It’s called the Brewbot, and it’s an iPhone controlled machine which brews “high quality craft beers” without leaving your armchair.
Is nothing sacred? I had thought that paper airplanes might be the last holdout for fully-analog toys. After all, all you need is a sheet of paper, a pair of functioning hands and a place to throw stuff. Even in jail these things can be found, and while your first attempts might not fly so well, the joy of the game is in the tuning and improving of your designs.
But now even that simple pleasure has been ruined by technology: the PowerUp 3.0 iPhone-Controlled Paper Airplane is a thing which will soon be available.
Up until today, my page scanner of choice has been Scanner Pro from Readdle, a universal app which uses the iPhone/iPad camera to snap pictures of your documents and send them off to any and every cloud service.
But after today, my new favorite might just be the new PDFPen Scan+, a universal app from Smile Software that not only scans but turns your images into searchable PDFs using OCR.
Amazon has today unveiled its new third-generation tablet called the Kindle Fire HDX. Like its predecessors, the device is available in 7-inch and 8.9-inch variants, and both feature speedy quad-core Snapdragon 800 processors, high-resolution displays, 2GB of RAM, and stereo speakers.
The larger model also offers an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, which is a first for the Kindle Fire lineup.
In addition to the new models, Amazon has refreshed the Kindle Fire HD to add improved displays, faster processors, and Amazon’s latest software. The retail giant has also reduced the price of the 7-inch device to $139, while the 8.9-inch model is now just $269.
While we’re all looking over here at the big, bulky, ruggedized mounts that let us carry our iPhones on our bike handlebars, over there in Austria they’re making a minimal mount that you can leave on the bike or carry in your pocket. It’s called the Finn, and according to at least two of my German friends, it’s excellent.
Cult of Mac reader Rishi Kaneria e-mailed to tell us about his amazing slow-motion video, shot on – you guessed it – the iPhone 5S, at 120fps. Not bad, huh?
Wunderlist, the hugely popular cross-platform productivity app that now boasts over 5.3 million users worldwide, got a new feature called Comments this week, which brings the conversation to your to-do list. If you use Wunderlist in a professional environment, you can now discuss tasks and projects with your team within individual to-dos.
What’s more, you can now try Comments — as well as Files and Assigning — for free for a limited time, without signing up to Wunderlist Pro.
Apple is expected to unveil the fifth-gen iPad and second-gen iPad mini at an October event, and we’ve been seeing part leaks for the devices since the beginning of this year. Now that the iPhone 5s has come out with different color variations, it looks like Apple will be bringing a new look to the iPad as well.
Fresh parts from prolific leaker Sonny Dickson have hit the web, and they show what is believed to be the next iPad in “Space Grey.”
There’re tons of battery cases out there for the iPhone, and a good selection of waterproof cases. But a battery case that’s waterproof? Just one: the new Mojo Refuel Aqua from iBattz.
The Refuel Aqua isn’t just mildly, get-caught-in-a-little-rain waterproof — it’s go-snorkeling-with-your-iPhone-for-hours waterproof; It’s rated at a mighty IPX8, the highest waterproof rating, and iBattz says it’ll seal out water at a depths of up to three meters.