Today Facebook unveiled “Home,” its new, immersive Android experience. HTC has partnered with Facebook to launch the HTC First, a smartphone designed from the ground up for Home. Other Android handset makers are in the pipeline to release Home-based devices down the road.
Home is a great idea for Facebook and Facebook lovers, and it will probably be very popular on Android after it becomes available next week. But don’t expect to get Facebook Home on your iPhone. Not in this lifetime.
Rovio has today announced that it will be bringing the hugely popular Facebook game Angry Birds Friends to Android and iOS. The game is very similar to the rest of the titles in the Angry Birds series, only it has a strong focus on social gaming rather than playing alone.
Apple has made a small change to the way in which App Store age ratings are displayed to make them a little easier to find. They’re now displayed alongside app icons on iOS devices — just under the name of the developer — so they’re not so easy to miss when you’re downloading new apps.
Madfinger Games announced a massive update to its flagship First Person Shooter (FPS) game on iOS and Android today. There are new maps, weapons, and game content, each of which was created directly from player feedback, including the new “friends” feature.
Rookie players now have a new Special Tutorial mode, while veterans will be glad to see new booster packs for speed, armor, damage, accuracy, and invisibility, along with several game optimizations, bug fixes, and new gamepad support.
Duke Nukem II, the side-scrolling shoot ’em up first developed for PC, is back to celebrate its 20th anniversary on iOS. This is original Duke Nukem at its finest — only it’s been optimized and improved for touchscreen devices.
Android may have a larger share of the smartphone market than iOS, but Apple’s Safari browser is still king of the mobile web. According to the latest market share data from Net Applications, Safari accounted for 61.79% of the mobile web traffic throughout March.
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is one of my favorite Sega games on iOS, and it’s making its way to the Mac thanks to Feral Interactive. The game will be available to download from the Mac App Store tomorrow, April 4, with support for Game Center and iCloud game syncing.
Brian White, an analyst with Topeka Capital Markets, brings us a crazy new rumor about the much-anticipated Apple television today following recent meetings with supply chain sources in China and Taiwan.
White claims that the “iTV” will finally launch during the second half of 2013, and that it’ll come with a miniature device called the “iRing”, which the user will wear on their finger to act as a pointer. The device will enhance the motion detection experience and take over some of the functions of the traditional remote control, apparently.
App Store links mysteriously disappeared from Google search this week, making it more difficult to find iOS apps with a simple web search. Some suspected Google may have killed them intentionally, but it turns out that a technical issue is to blame for the glitch.
Google says it’s now working with “the team” to get it fixed.
There’s a great discussion unfolding over on Branch between some Apple reporters about the future release date of iOS 7.
According to the sources of those involved in the discussion, Jony Ive’s fingerprints will be all over iOS 7, the only problem is it’s taking longer to develop than originally planned. In fact, Apple might have even pulled engineers away from OS X 10.9 to work on it.
Music streaming services like Spotify and Rdio are great because you get to listen to as much music as you want, without having to pay for it. They’re especially great on roadtrips, and if you have a car with Ford’s SYNC AppLink platform you can now keep the tunes cranking on your drive without touching a thing.
Spotify just updated its app to include Ford SYNC AppLink support. To get Spotify in your Ford all you have to do now is log into your premium account on your iOS device and connect to SYNC AppLink. You can manage all your music and playlists with SYNC’s voice-controls so you won’t get distracted while thumbing through albums in search of that new JT album.
In case you hadn’t already heard, BlackBerry launched its new BlackBerry Z10 back in February, finally making its new BlackBerry 10 platform available to the public. The device has gotten off to a surprisingly good start for the Canadian company, with more than one million units sold during its first month of availability.
If you’re wondering what BB10 is like, and more importantly whether it’s a worthy contender to Android or iOS, then why not give it a try. You can now do so simply by visiting a URL in your browser — you don’t even have to leave the house.
In case you hadn’t already heard, BlackBerry launched its new BlackBerry Z10 back in February, finally making its new BlackBerry 10 platform available to the public. The device has gotten off to a surprisingly good start for the Canadian company, with more than one million units sold during its first three months of availability.
If you’re wondering what BB10 is like, and more importantly whether it’s a worthy contender to Android or iOS, then why not give it a try. You can now do so simply by visiting a URL in your browser — you don’t even have to leave the house.
I love my Wacom Bamboo Stylus; it’s by far the best stylus I’ve owned for the iPad. And although I wouldn’t exactly call it big, I wouldn’t want to carry it around in my pocket all day. Fortunately, Wacom has a new, smaller and super cute version of the Bamboo for that.
Called the Bamboo Stylus mini and measuring just 1.85 inches, it’s the perfect portable stylus for those on the go.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) will reportedly land a deal for Apple’s future “A7” processors when the Cupertino company’s current contract with Samsung expires in 2014.
Samsung has been responsible for Apple’s mobile chips since the introduction of the A4 back in 2010, but Apple has seemingly been looking to take its business elsewhere since the pair became embroiled in a series of lengthy legal battles.
With Google Reader set to close up shop on June 3oth there have been a number of apps competing to replace the dying RSS service. Digg and Reeder have emerged as popular replacements, but Feedly has seen tremendous growth thanks to Google Reader’s death.
Since Google’s announcement that it’s killing Google Reader, Feedly has seen more than 3 million new users joined the service. To make things even better, Feedly just released a big app update for iOS that includes a new discovery engine, better sharing, and a must read section. With the new update and the development of a Google Reader API clone called Normandy, Feedly is looking like it will be one of the best replacements for Google Reader.
Here are the release notes on what’s new in Feedly version 14:
Using map apps on the iPhone can be a pain when you’re trying to zoom in to check out some specific detail of where you’re going.
Usually you have to use one hand to hold your iPhone and the other to pinch and zoom, but Google just made an awesome new zooming gesture that only requires one hand and one finger.
Hold the phone! Or, rather — don’t. Martian Watch models see much of its promised potential unlocked With the launch today of iOS and Android apps, just ahead of their estimated ship date(s).
The app finally adds two major features to the watches — remote camera control and social media updates — along with a few smaller ones.
Glympse is a clever — and potentially lifesaving — feature that we’d love to see in more smartphone-connected cars.
It started out as a free app that can broadcast the user’s location to selected contacts, Facebook friends or Twitter followers. But it’s become a valuable tool for drivers of smartphone-connected Fords and Merecedes-Benzes, allowing them to broadcast their location without taking their hands off the steering wheel.
Now BMW and Mini have partnered with Glympse, raising the marque total to four.
Last week Apple launched its new ‘Why You’ll Love iPhone’ webpage that many viewed as a defensive effort to combat the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S 4. Today, Apple unleashed a similar website, only for the iPad.
The “Why You’ll Love iPad” webpage on Apple.com gives potential customers a number of reasons why the iPad and iPad mini are the best tablets on the market, including it’s apps, precision design, brilliant display, and battery.
Gameloft has secured itself yet another movie tie-in, this time for the upcoming Iron Man 3 movie. The official game is coming to Android and iOS on April 25, and Gameloft has provided us with its first trailer to get us all excited. Check it out below.
Do you use an Eye-Fi or other wireless card to send pictures from your camera to your iPhone or iPad? Or maybe you have one of those fancy cameras with built-in wifi? Well, be careful: If the card’s network isn’t locked down, then it’s as vulnerable to hacking as an unsecured home network. And depending on your setup, attackers could gain access to your camera and its photos, and even seize control of the camera’s functions.
While Google’s Android platform may be the biggest rival to iOS, the search giant is happy to support users who choose Apple’s device. In fact, thanks to apps like YouTube and Google Maps, Google is the App Store’s top publisher, beating Apple on its own turf.
EA’s on the loose with a machete, and it’s been slashing App Store prices like you wouldn’t believe. The company has reduced 55 of its best iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch games by as much as 90% for a limited time. Check out the massive list of titles below and grab yourself a bargain.
Gmail is already one of the best email apps on iOS and it’s getting just a little bit better today. Google just released an update for the native Gmail app for iOS.
The new Gmail for iOS app comes with a couple of new features, including the ability to swipe left and right to move between messages, and better editing options for a batch of multiple emails.
Here are the full release notes:
