BatteryDoctorPro: power management, NC settings toggles, app switcher and more

By Cody Lee on Mar 19, 2013

Every once in a while, a good jailbreak app or tweak sneaks past our radar. We feel we do a pretty good job of covering most new notable Cydia packages, but every now and then, one slips through the cracks. And that’s exactly what’s happened with BatteryDoctorPro.

For those who aren’t familiar with it, BatteryDoctorPro is a jailbreak app that monitors your iPhone or iPod touch usage to essentially lengthen your battery life. But it also has Notification Center settings toggles, a multitasking bar and several other handy features… Read More

 

XBMC updated with iPhone 5 support and other improvements

By Cody Lee on Mar 19, 2013

Popular open-source media player XBMC has been updated today, bringing the app to version 12.1. The update improves the experience across all of Apple’s platforms, including the Mac, iOS and Apple TV.

For most users, the iOS update will be the most welcomed change, as it brings about support for the iPhone 5′s larger 4-inch display. And Apple TV2 users will be similarly pleased with further support for iOS 6… Read More

 

Evernote gives its Food app OpenTable reservations, Foursquare ratings, recipe sharing

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 19, 2013

Evernote’s Food app debuted in December 2011 as a must-have for both the epicures and everyday folk alike.

Though the initial download was painfully short on features, today’s 2.1 update addresses some of the initial omissions by adding three new capabilities which make Evernote Food a whole lot more useful, starting with a reservation system built on OpenTable.

That’s right: like Siri, Evernote Food now lets you book a table at an OpenTable-friendly restaurant right within the app. Coupling that feature are user ratings supplied by Foursquare. And, you can now share clipped recipes on Twitter, Facebook or via email. Go past the fold for more details, screenies and a video demonstration… Read More

 

Potentially disruptive live-streaming app from ABC in the works

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 19, 2013

After CBS last week unveiled its free iOS app that gives you access to the network’s popular shows 24 hours or more after they air, we learn now that ABC is working on its own app for tablets and smartphones, one potentially making ABC the first of the American broadcasters to provide a live Internet stream of national and local programming, potentially very disruptive given the incumbent’s existing business models. Of course, you won’t get to stream premium ABC programming free of charge as a paid cable or satellite subscription will be required to use the app.

Nevertheless, the ability to watch such ABC shows as ‘Good Morning America’ and ‘Nashville’ on your iPhone or iPad as they broadcast could finally blur the artificial line between mobile devices and the traditional venues through which content providers distribute their linear programming… Read More

 

Facebook for iOS updated with cover photo, group messaging improvements

By Cody Lee on Mar 18, 2013

Facebook has released another update for its iOS app this afternoon, bringing it to version 5.6. This is the app’s third update in as many months, as the social network continues to improve its mobile experience.

Today’s update brings about a handful of improvements, including an easier process for updating your cover photo from inside the app and multiple changes to group messaging. Full change log after the fold… Read More

 

New iOS 7 concepts: actionable Notification Center, better Safari

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 15, 2013

What better way to sign off as my weekend starts than a fresh batch of iOS concepts which imagine the capabilities Apple should have long implemented? Above is Shaik Imaduddin’s mockup of a more interactive iOS Notification Center with actionable alerts where you could, say, delete email messages, mark them as read and send new ones, all without ever leaving your iPhone’s Notification Center.

Very doable and frankly, even Android isn’t currently doing that. He’s also envisioning making phone calls, responding to text messages (existing tweaks address this) and setting alerts in Reminders to call back a person. The latter makes me wonder how on Earth Apple missed combining Reminders with the Phone app. I’ve also included a nice iOS 7 Safari mockup right past the fold… Read More

 

Duke Nukem II coming to iOS in April

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 15, 2013

Duke Nukem II side-scroller, which celebrates its 20th anniversary, is coming to Apple’s iPhone and iPad in April, Interceptor Entertainment and 3D Realms announced. The universal binary will be priced at $1.99 and include all of the 32 level from the original levels, enhanced with multitouch controls, a new soundtrack, refreshed graphics, online leaderboards and more. Above is the launch trailer above for a look at Duke Nukem 2 iOS in action and I’ve included a few more details right after the break… Read More

 

How to bring your Google Reader feeds over to Flipboard

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 14, 2013

Some of us are adamant that a bright future lies ahead of RSS. Though the majority of my news discovery happens on Twitter and Facebook these days, I still rely on RSS feeds every now and then. In fact, you could say I am a regular Google Reader user.

But with the impending shutdown of the service, loyal fans like myself have no other choice but find a new home for their feeds.

Cody has put together a useful list of the ten most popular Reader alternatives and there’s also that upcoming Digg Reader app. People who happen to manage their news sources in the excellent Flipboard app can bring their Google Reader feeds quite easily, here’s how… Read More

 

CBS releases free iOS streaming app

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 14, 2013

Eager to watch episodes of CSI or Survivor on your iPhone, iPod or iPad? Now you can, as CBC this morning released a major new streaming software which gives Apple’s iOS devices free access to the network’s popular shows like The Late Show with David Letterman, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Survivor, Catch NCIS, How I Met Your Mother, The Young and the Restless and Elementary. Some of the shows will stream via the app 24 hours after they air, but most of the shows are being offered eight days following their initial broadcast… Read More

 

Seagate dominates the mobile storage competition with 1TB Wireless Plus

By Jim Gresham on Mar 14, 2013

After meeting with Seagate at CES, I was excited to get my paws on their new Wireless Plus, which is big brother to the recently retired and previously reviewed GoFlex Satellite. We all need our digital content on the go and, often, our iOS devices do not have enough room. I know my 16GB are carefully utilized on both iPad mini and iPhone. Toting around a Wi-Fi enabled 1TB Seagate drive prevents the need for choosing which media to bring along. Just drag and drop your media file to the Wireless Plus and walk out the door… Read More

 

Rovio launches DreamWorks tie-in, The Croods

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 14, 2013

As promised, Angry Birds maker Rovio on Thursday launched its brand new game for iOS and Android devices, The Croods. Basically a movie tie-in based on The Croods, the upcoming CG animated feature film by DreamWorks Animation, the game follows the movie storyline and features nice looking landscapes, a bunch of creatures and puzzles that will put your gray matter to the test… Read More

 

RokDock is the new iPhone throne [review + giveaway]

By Jim Gresham on Mar 12, 2013

Rokform is quite a regular on the review stream around these parts and it should come as no surprise. Before you assume, no, this is not a sponsored post. Simply, Rokform makes extremely quality products and I am always impressed by them.

The most recent chunks of T-6061 aircraft grade aluminum that Rokform CNC machined into a usable hunk of metal is the RokDock. The heaviest accessory on my desk, the three pound dock is a hyper-masculine throne upon which my iPhone rests. The RokDock is just awesome, no need to complain about my open love affair with their products… Read More

 

HiddenApps lets you disable iAds and hide stock Apple apps, no jailbreak required

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 11, 2013

Occasionally, an app escapes the watchful eye of Apple’s review team and gets released on the App Store despite ignoring Apple’s stringent rules for third-party iOS development. HiddenApps by David Goelzhaeuser, a 15-year-old German iOS developer, is one such example.

The whole point of this free application is to let you hide Apple’s stock apps from your Home screen, like Passbook, Newsstand or Stocks – no jailbreak required.

It can also disable Apple’s iAds altogether and give you access to a Field Test mode which gives you precise readings of your cellular signal strength. You better download as it’s going down in 5, 4, 3, 2… Read More

 

Rovio to air Toons series through Angry Birds apps

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 11, 2013

As we told you, Finland-based Angry Birds maker Rovio continues to milk its franchise with the announcement of an animated series titled Angry Birds Toons. It’s premiering on the weekend of March 16 and 17 and today Rovio revealed that it will be airing the episodes directly via its Angry Birds apps, in addition to other more traditional distribution channels.

That’s a clever move considering more than 1.7 billion Angry Birds downloads across devices and operating systems. If they offered a standalone Toons app, I don’t think many people would download it. The first episode titled ‘Chuck Time’ will be airing in the Angry Birds Toons channel this Sunday, March 17, with a trailer for it included right after the break… Read More

 

Apple rules the skies: 84% of in-flight Internet use comes from iDevices

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 8, 2013

In-flight Wi-Fi provider GoGo yesterday released an interesting infographic based on its real-world data on what devices passengers are using to access its service and what they are doing online. Apple’s iPhones and iPads dominated 2012 with a commanding 84 percent share, which sounds about right even if the figure is a bit higher than Apple’s other web usage stats.

Android is gaining some ground in the air, so to speak, and in 2012 accounted for sixteen percent of in-flight Internet use, sharply up over just 3.2 percent in 2011. Apple’s share in 2011 was 96.8 percent so clearly the company lost some ground to Android.

Five Apples for every Android on Gogo’s networks is in stark contrast to other surveys highlighting Android’s unit sales lead. Nonetheless, this is a real-world data point, therefore suggesting that either other market share estimates are inherently flawed or that Android-totting passengers are just not as fond of using their devices on a plane as their Apple peers are… Read More

 

The fantastic Fantastical update hits the iPhone, we go hands-on

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 7, 2013

I’m a long time fan of Fantastical, a tremendously useful and well-designed calendar and to-do software for the Mac from Flexibits.

Therefore, it goes without saying that I was tingling with expectation after the team had teased an iPhone experience in early-November 2012.

And now, less than three months since its iPhone debut, developers Thursday pushed the first major update. It’s a must-have as it addresses a few omissions while expanding on core functionality with some nice enhancements that will admittedly boost your productivity.

These include time zone support, multiple event alerts, even faster natural language parsing, handy user interface tweaks and of course “staggering number of other improvements, parser enhancements, and bug fixes.” If you’re a fan of the app, we’ve got you covered with detailed observations of what’s new and how the changes affect your daily workflow… Read More

 

The original Angry Birds game goes free for the first time on iOS

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 7, 2013

It appears as if Angry Birds maker Rovio is changing strategy lately and switching away from paid downloads to free ones. Having briefly experimented with a massive 99-cent sale of its iPad titles last month and adding free, ad-supported downloads to its puzzler Amazing Alex, today the company has made the game that started it all – the original Angry Birds - free for the first time ever on Apple’s mobile platform. Unlike free Angry Birds downloads on Android, this one doesn’t come with in-app advertisements and Rovio also has added 15 new levels to keep you going… Read More

 

Six premium Gameloft games slashed to 99 cents each in a limited time sale

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 6, 2013

French publisher Gameloft has some of the finest games for the iPhone and iPad available on the App Store. The “problem” is, the company’s triple-As are not free to play like Electronic Arts’ Real Racing 3 is, for example. And more often than not, these best-sellers will set you back north of five bucks each.

That’s why I’m so excited about Gameloft’s new promotion which slashes five hit iOS games to just 99 cents, including Unreal Engine 3-based Wild Blood, Iron Man 2 and The Dark Knight Rises – which, as you may have guessed, is based on the epic conclusion to filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. If you’re a hard-core gamer like I am, it’s a no-brainer, really… Read More

 

Facebook Messenger improved with updates to group chats

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 6, 2013

Facebook has just updated its Messenger iOS app with a few new features and “other improvements and bug fixes.” The new Facebook Messenger version 2.3 is all about enhancements to group conversations, says the social networking behemoth. It contains one feature I’ve been yearning for ever since the program’s debut on the iPhone: you can finally name a group by tapping on the top of your active conversation.

And just like Facebook’s main iOS client (and a growing number of other third-party apps for the Apple platform, for that matter), you can now get to your active group conversations by swipe left, which reveals them in your sidebar. I’ve included a few screenies along with other nice tweaks right after the break… Read More

 

Twitter refines iOS app search, but also removes Vodpod, Posterous and Mobypicture

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 6, 2013

After discontinuing its mobile TweetDeck apps for iPhone and Android in favor of the web client, the micro-blogging service Twitter today refreshed its iOS client with better search, refined layouts, support for traditional Chinese and other perks.

Unfortunately, this update also kills off support for external video services like Mobypicture, Vodpod and Posterous as the company supposedly is building a rumored video uploading service of its own.

Note that Posterous, a micro-blogging platform Twitter bought a year ago, is shutting down for good on April 30. Twitter also recently acquired Vine and launched a corresponding brand new app for recording and sharing short 6-second clips that can be easily tweeted out and viewed in-line on Twitter. With this update, TwitVid and yFrog are now your only video uploading choices in Twitter’s iOS app… Read More

 
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