Year: 2014

Apps of the week: NPR One, Blood Bowl, 80 Days, and more

This week, we saw some major updates to popular apps and games, great new releases that some have been waiting for, and helpful launches that make our lives easier. The App Store was a-buzz with activity and that always gives me something to look forward to.

Whether you are looking to invest in a new product, want to relive your youth, or want to immerse yourself in a steampunk adventure, we’ve got a list of apps and games to entertain you this weekend.

Apple posts new ‘Dreams’ iPhone 5s ad

Apple tonight posted a new iPhone 5s commercial to its YouTube channel. The ad is entitled 'Dreams,' and it depicts the popular handset being used to aid professionals and hobbyists in a variety of different fields.

Set to the tune of “When I Grow Up," by Jennifer O’Connor, the spot aims to show that the iPhone can be used for a lot more than just texting and playing games. It features firefighters, healthcare workers, and more...

Flappy Bird returns as an Amazon Fire TV-exclusive with new features

It's been nearly 6 months since Dong Nguyen pulled his smash hit Flappy Bird from the App Store. The game was reportedly earning over $50,000 per day in revenue at that time, but Nguyen didn't like the added attention it brought him, so he pulled the plug.

As he promised, though, Flappy Bird has made its triumphant return as 'Flappy Birds Family,' bringing along with it a new multiplayer mode and other additional features. Unfortunately, it looks like the title is exclusive to Amazon's Fire TV platform for now...

IGN names ‘The Walking Dead: Season 2’ its Free Game of the Month

IGN has named Telltale Game’s 'The Walking Dead: Season 2' it's Free Game of the Month for August. We named the game one of our ‘Apps of the Week' for the iPhone and iPad back in March, and it normally retails for $4.99.

For those unfamiliar with the title, this is season 2 of Telltale's smash hit The Walking Dead, which is based on the dark comic book series. And it follows the story of Clementine, a young girl orphaned by the undead apocalypse...

Siri joins Beats Pill mascots in new ‘Apple and Beats’ spot

Beats Electronics posted a new video to its Twitter account this evening called 'Apple and Beats.' The ad appears to be a continuation of today's celebration festivities, but oddly enough, no one in the spot actually gets to celebrate.

The clip features Beats Pill mascots Mikey and Tina, and Apple's sassy digital assistant Siri. Apparently Dr. Dre is throwing a party to mark the Beats deal being completed, but Siri won't give up directions because it's by "invitation-only."

Hit game ‘A Dark Room’ goes free for a limited time

This is a heads up for all of you gamers looking to try out something new this weekend. Developer Amirali Rajan has discounted his chart-topping RPG title 'A Dark Room' down to $0 for a limited time, as he prepares to launch its upcoming prequel.

For those who haven't played the game before, it's a little tough to explain. There's just a single screenshot of it in the App Store, and almost no backstory. It's text-based, with some RPG elements—it's one of those things you have to see for yourself...

The perfect portable car mount gets bigger

In our recent Kenu Airframe review, we unanimously called the portable car mount the perfect dashboard companion for your iPhone. Small, convenient, practical, and fairly inexpensive, this lightweight accessory makes mounting your phone on a car dashboard a quick and easy thing, as it will secure virtually any device with a screen size of up to 5 inches.

But what happens if you have a bigger device?

With rumors of a larger 5.5" screen iPhone 6 looming above us, and with the proliferation of larger smartphones all around, the folks at Kenu have decided to address the demand, and recently released the Airframe+, a device exactly similar in form and function to its smaller version, but with more size to accommodate bigger screens.

Beats Music CEO Ian Rogers to head iTunes Radio at Apple

Following the completion of Apple's Beats acquisition today, the Wall Street Journal reports on a major position appointment for the two companies. Apparently, Beats Music CEO Ian Rogers (left) has been assigned to lead Apple's iTunes Radio team.

Citing sources familiar with the situation, the outlet says that Rogers will head up both streaming services at the company. He's been tasked with creating cohesion between the two offerings, to better compete with services like Pandora and Spotify...

President Obama signs bill making it legal to unlock your phone again

The White House announced this morning that President Obama will be signing the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act today. The bill restores the copyright exemption that allows customers to unlock their phones, regardless of carrier restrictions.

The bill was first unanimously passed by the Senate a couple of weeks ago, and then agreed upon by the House of Representatives earlier this week. And with the President signing it into law today, it has become once again legal for users (and vendors) to unlock their phones...

Delta Airlines app updated with support for free in-flight entertainment service

Folks looking to fly Delta Airlines in the near future should checkout the company's newly-updated iOS app. Fly Delta for both iPhone and iPad were updated today with support for Delta Studio, a free in-flight entertainment service for passengers on select Delta flights.

The Delta Studio service is available on all domestic and two-cabin aircrafts, and gives passengers access to a number of TV shows and movies, as well as other content. And since the media is stored onboard the plane, there's no need to pay for a Wi-Fi Internet session...

ConvoProtect: lock or hide individual conversations in Messages, Whatsapp and Kik

All of us have that one nosy friend who sneaks into the Messages app the moment they get your device and reads all your conversations. If you hate this, you might want to check out a new jailbreak tweak known as 'ConvoProtect' that adds an extra layer of security to your conversations.

ConvoProtect allows you to lock as well as hide select conversations from the stock Messages app, including Whatsapp and Kik as well. Along with individual conversations, the tweak also provides an option to secure group messages as well as hide the message preview for a particular conversation in the conversations list.

Photos of alleged Home button parts for both iPhone 6 models surface

A new set of photos depicting alleged Home button components for the iPhone 6 surfaced this morning, courtesy of our friends over at Nowhereelse.fr. While we have seen parts like these before, these are particularly interesting for a couple of reasons.

The first is that they supposedly belong to both the 4.7 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 models, which is significant because we've seen far less supply chain evidence of the latter, as it's been rumored to be delayed. And the second is that they feature all-new designs...