Year: 2014

Yelp app updated with new video review feature

Yelp posted an update for its mobile app yesterday that's been garnering quite a bit of buzz in the tech community. The update, which brings the client to version 8.1, adds a new feature that enables users to post and view video reviews.

Using your iPhone, you can now take 3-12 second videos of your experiences at your favorite bar or business and post them to Yelp via the mobile app. You can also view videos in-app, giving you a better idea of a place's atmosphere...

Apple drops permanent injunction quest in Samsung lawsuit

Apple filed a motion with the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in California yesterday, dropping its cross-appeal of Judge Lucy Koh's final judgement in its lawsuit against Samsung. The motion officially ends the company's pursuit of a product ban.

Now, this is just for the 2012 trial, not the one that ended in May. Apple had been looking to win a permanent injunction against all of Samsung's infringing devices in that case, and filed multiple appeals, but it appears to have given up on this particular battle...

Activator receives major update with new icons, developer APIs and more

Popular jailbreak tweak Activator has been updated today, bringing the package to version 1.9. Developer Ryan Petrich says that this is the "largest release" for the tweak in over a year, as it brings about many new features and enhancements.

We've posted the lengthy change log down below, but just to give you an idea of what to expect, Activator 1.9 includes several new icons, new developer APIs and custom actions. It also offers a number of bug fixes and various other improvements...

Let’s Talk iOS 039: Internet problems

Episode 39: Sebastien laments about his ongoing Wi-Fi troubles, Jeff gushes over the greatness that is his new 4K Dell monitor, and Cody talks about his latest deals. The trio talk about three apps that they'd recommend to new iOS users, plus they discuss all of the latest iOS news.

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NPR launches new curated news radio app ‘NPR One’

NPR launched a new mobile application today which aims to make news radio more tailored and accessible. It's called NPR One, and it curates a mix of NPR radio segments and news articles based on your location and interests.

Now, this won't replace NPR's existing mobile apps, which allow you to listen to nationally syndicated programs and local programming.  But what it does do is provide a simple way to listen to relevant, public news radio streams...

Facebook disabling messaging in main mobile app, forcing users into Messenger

It appears that folks using Facebook's Messenger service will soon have to download the standalone app, or look at other messaging options. Over the next few days, the social network is going to disable messaging from its main iPhone and Android apps.

The move is an attempt to push users over to Facebook Messenger, which the company says will have several benefits. For one it will enable it to streamline the mobile chat experience, and two, Facebook says users respond faster when using Messenger...

Hellraid: The Escape review – a room escape game with a fantasy fiction edge

When it comes to puzzle games, I think of titles like The Room. When I think of room escape games, I think of titles like Stormglass Protocol. When I think of fantasy fiction, I think of games like Warhammer Quest. What I don’t do is think of them as all in the same category.

Hellraid: The Escape is a mix between puzzle games, room escape, and fantasy adventure. Players must figure out how to destroy enemies by using smarts instead of swords. We’ve got a game review of Hellraid: The Escape for you below…

Beats Music gains Tune Your Taste, Sentence History, Verified Badges and more

Beats Music, a music-streaming service that uses a combination of algorithms and good ol' human curation to make it easy to enjoy music based on your location, activities and other criteria, has just been updated with several new features.

The free iPhone and iPad app, now sitting at version 2.2, has brought out the ability to further tailor music to your tastes by changing your favorite genres and artists.

And, folks can now view their most recently played songs from The Sentence. Also, avoiding fake profiles is easier than ever because the app now has verified profiles - just look for a new red checkmark indicating a profile has been "certified as legit by Beats"...

Hilton rolling out iPhone door locks in all hotels globally beginning next year

Picture this: after a long and exhaustive flight, you finally arrive at a hotel. But instead of waiting on the lines clogging the front desk to pick up a key, simply bypass the receptionist and head straight to your room safely knowing that an iPhone in your pocket doubles as the room key.

It's precisely the kind of fantasy that Hilton has dreamed up and now working to make a reality across the vast majority of their hotels by 2016.

This is according to a Wall Street Journal report Monday. That's right, beginning 2015 some Hilton hotels will allow for door unlocking with a smartphone, with the global roll-out expected to complete by the end of 2016...

iPhone could automatically silence alerts when you exercise, Apple patent hints

Notifications on mobile devices are both a curse and a blessing. I don't think anyone in their right mind would diminish the value in receiving a timely notification about an important event while on the go.

On the other hand, virtually every app wants to send notifications these days. Even though iOS does offer some granularity as to the times of day when these alerts are allowed to buzz your device, by no measure is this sufficient.

An Apple patent publicized by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) last Thursday gives an insight into Apple's research efforts that would automatically enable a Do Not Disturb mode (added in iOS 6) when the device has determined that a user is working out, saving you a few taps...

‘Mikoto’ is like Springtomize for apps

Mikoto is a jailbreak tweak that allows you to customize various aspects of App Store apps and default iOS apps on the iPhone. It's similar to Springtomize in that you can alter loads of various features for a variety of different areas within supported apps.

You won't find Mikoto on the BigBoss repo or the ModMyi repo; it's only available by means of a third-party non-default repository. Have a look inside as we take Mikoto for a spin on video, and we'll show you how to score this free jailbreak tweak for yourself.

This is what new ‘EU Internet’ switch in iOS 8 Beta 4 does for you

The most recent beta of iOS 8 has introduced an easily overlooked new option under the Cellular section of the iOS Settings app. It's called 'EU Internet,' applies only to those traveling in the European Union and is a bit puzzling.

As a quick recap, exorbitant roaming charges for data downloads in the European Union have already been reduced in an effort to make prices more realistic for those using mobile devices outside their home country.

That's just the beginning as the European parliament recently passed a new regulation, currently needing an approval by the Council of the European Union, that promises to render all roaming charges in the EU illegal by December 2015.

As a result, European customers will always pay the same price for all phone calls, text messages and mobile data usage everywhere in the EU...