Year: 2014

Use a Mac running OS X 10.5.8 and below? You can no longer run Skype

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 8, 2014

If you own a legacy Mac with OS X Leopard 10.5.8 and earlier, you can no longer run Skype, the Microsoft-owned company has confirmed today.

Following a string of complaints from disgruntled users who took to the Skype forum last week reporting they were being locked out from accessing the VoIP service, a Skype team member penned a note confirming that the program was no longer supported on Macs running OS X Leopard 10.5.8 and older.

People running Skype on OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, 10.7 Lion and 10.8 Mountain Lion are unaffected so "there is no need to upgrade to Mavericks or Yosemite if you don't want to" reads the message...

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Fantastical 2 for iPad gains Dolphin browser integration, list/reminder improvements and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 29, 2018

Flexibits has issued an update to its Fantastical for iPad today, bringing our a few new useful features and enhancements.

In addition to half a dozen bug fixes and various other fixes and improvements, Fantastical 2.1.1 includes support for Dolphin Browser [free download] and comes with improvements to the app's handling of lists and reminders.

Specifically, your list will finally show reminders that have an alert time but not a due date.

And if you use iOS automation via URL schemes, you can tell other apps to open reminders directly in Fantastical by taking advantage of a new URL handler 'fantastical2://show?view=reminders'...

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Movie-inspired Run Forrest Run hits iOS

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 8, 2014

Forrest Gump is one of my favorite movies of all time, not just due to Tom Hanks' career-defining performance as one of the most likable film characters — I particularly fell in love with the epic romantic storyline involving an athletically prodigious native of Alabama.

Those who've watched the movie (and if you haven't, you're missing out — big time) surely haven't forgotten the scene of Gump running across the country.

Well, the scene has been conveniently turned into an endless-runner game for the iPhone and iPad. A free-to-play download contains optional bonuses and power-ups in the form of In-App Purchases, but despite the dreaded APIs and nagging Facebook prompts, I'd highly recommended Run Forrest Run to those who can't get enough of endless runners, as well as to anyone who enjoyed the 1994 Robert Zemeckis movie...

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The Sims 2: Super Collection is available now in the Mac App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2017

As Electronic Arts is gearing up to release the PC version of Sims 4 on September 2 , the latest installment in its iconic life simulation game, Aspyr Media has now released the ultimate Sims 2 collection pack on the App Store.

Featuring all of the content from the original game, in addition to six expansion packs and three 'Stuff Packs' never before packaged together, The Sims 2: Super Collection can be exclusively purchased through the Mac App Store as a $29.99 digital download.

The game has been rewritten from the ground up with modern hardware in mind, featuring a new renderer and support for native resolutions. As a cherry on top, you can import a neighborhood from SimCity 4 Deluxe, play around with custom content via the 'Body Shop' and much more...

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U.S. Patent Office rejects Apple patent Samsung was found to infringe

Cody Lee ∙ August 8, 2014

Apple and Samsung may have called a truce in patent litigation overseas, but here in the United States, they're still locked in a heated battle. The two firms are wrapping up post-trial hearings from their 2012 meeting, and they've just begun post-trial activities for this year's lawsuit.

This week a significant development has occurred, which could have a major impact in the ongoing fight. The US Patent Office has rejected several claims of one of the patents Apple asserted against Samsung in their most recent infringement trial, saying certain parts aren't valid...

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Rules! is a twitch game that challenges your memory skills

Lory Gil ∙ August 8, 2014

When you are racing against the clock in order to win the game, the stakes are high and success depends on how fast you can react to a current situation. That’s why “twitch” games are so fun.

Rules! is a twitch game that challenges your mind instead of your fingers. You must follow the rules to pass each level, but you must also remember what those rules are or you’ll be lost in time…

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Yelp app updated with new Bing Translator feature for foreign reviews

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Yelp announced a new feature for its mobile app this week called 'automated review translation.' The feature will allow users to translate foreign language reviews with the tap of a button, making it the perfect companion for folks traveling abroad.

Reviews are translated using Microsoft's 'Bing Translator' tech, and can be done one at a time, or as a group. Yelp says that the feature works for all 15 of its officially supported languages, which includes German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, and French...

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Several productivity apps on sale for a limited time

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 17, 2019

Apple is highlighting a number of popular productivity apps in its App Store right now, which have recently seen significant discounts. The promo can be found in the iTunes Store, under a special new section entitled "Amazing Productivity Apps Limited-Time Prices."

Here you'll find several top tier apps like Fantastical 2,which has made our Top Calendar Apps list multiple times, for bottom tier prices. There's also Clear To Do List, Notablity, 1Password and many more. We've put together a list of the apps and their discounts below...

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Apple releases iTunes 11.3.1 with podcast-related bug fixes

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple has this afternoon pushed out a new version of its iTunes app, bringing the music management software to version 11.3.1. The update is more of a maintenance  release, and doesn't include any major new features or changes.

It does however, offer up a fix for a persistent problem where subscribed podcasts may have stopped updating with new episodes, as well as an issue where iTunes would become unresponsive while browsing through podcast episodes...

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Apple researching Siri for Mac, patent filing hints

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 7, 2014

Rumors of Apple's supposed intent to port its iOS digital personal assistant, Siri, over to the Mac have persisted for years, and intensified lately. Back in November 2012, for example, 9to5Mac claimed that Siri would be baked into OS X Mavericks.

Mavericks is here without Siri and the feature is nowhere to be seen in Yosemite, which looms on the horizon. Of course, the Mac's Dictation feature, powered by Nuance, doesn't count as it's simply speech-to-text with no real intelligence.

That being said, it would seem that the Cupertino firm has been quietly researching ways of enabling Siri on the Mac. Case in point: a newly discovered patent application filed back in February of this year which details how Siri for Mac might function, what features it could include and how it should improve your desktop productivity...

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