Year: 2014

Activation Lock helps curb iPhone theft in New York, London and San Francisco

Joe Rossignol ∙ June 19, 2014

You may remember stories from a few years ago that described how iPhone theft was becoming a serious problem. New York mayor Michael Bloomberg even claimed that iPhone thefts had contributed to an overall rise in crime in New York City in 2012. The problem prompted Apple to team up with Google, HTC and others to help put anti-theft measures in place on smartphones.

Apple's own anti-theft measures appear to be working, as The New York Times reports that police in New York, San Francisco and London are finally seeing a decline in theft of the iPhone. The introduction of Activation Lock on iOS 7 has seen iPhone robberies drop 38 percent in San Francisco, 24 percent in London and 19 percent in New York, based on the six months before and after Apple released the feature…

Video: hidden iOS 8 Maps feature – Flyover City Tours

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 19, 2014

There's a nicely done new Apple Maps feature hidden in iOS 8 Beta 2. Called City Tours, it's basically a set of manually programmed and scripted virtual tours of select major cities, rendered and animated in Maps' three-dimensional Flyover mode.

Apple hasn't talked about City Tours during its WWDC keynote (aside from a brief mention on one slide) and the feature couldn't be found on the official iOS 8 webpage, in WWDC session videos or inside Apple's official developer documentation...

Yo app takes quick messaging to the extreme

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 30, 2014

There's a new messaging app in town and it's unlike anything you've ever tried. It's lightweight and efficient, doesn't require you to provide a screen name, won't ask for your cell phone number nor will it pester you with ads - and boy is its Home screen icon unique.

It's called Yo. (with the full-stop) and could easily be the simplest and most efficient communication tool in the world, with an insane twist on the mobile messaging concept...

T-Mobile announces new ‘Music Freedom’ and ‘Unradio’ initiatives

Cody Lee ∙ June 18, 2014

During T-Mobile's event in Seattle tonight, the carrier announced a handful of new 'uncarrier' initiatives. There's Test Drive, which we've already talked about here, and two new programs for music lovers: 'Unradio' and 'Music Freedom.'

Unradio is an interesting new streaming music service from T-Mobile and Rhapsody that addresses "major pain points" of other services, and Music Freedom allows users to stream music without it hitting their monthly data allowance.

Keep reading for a full breakdown of both programs...

T-Mobile announces new ‘Test Drive’ program at latest Uncarrier event

Cody Lee ∙ June 18, 2014

T-Mobile has kicked off a press event in Seattle, Washington tonight that it is calling 'Uncarrier 5.0.' The provider has used similar uncarrier events in the past to announce industry-changing initiatives like 'Jump' and 'No ETF fees,' so that should tell you what we could see tonight.

John Legere has been on stage for a few minutes now, and has already made a number of announcements. Perhaps the biggest one we've heard thus far is a new program called 'Test Drive,' which will allow customers to borrow an iPhone 5s free for a week to test out T-Mobile's network...

This is Fire Phone, Amazon’s first smartphone

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Amazon today unveiled the Fire Phone, its first smartphone. The device features a 4.7-inch screen, 2.2 GHz quad-core processor, 2 GB of RAM, 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, Adreno 330 graphics and more. It runs a custom version of Android called Fire OS 3.5. The smartphone also has several other interesting features, including a 3D adaptive perspective mode, Firefly, ASAP predictive caching, MayDay support, screen mirroring and more.

In terms of design, the Fire Phone has a Gorilla Glass 3 screen, rubber frame and glass back. Meanwhile, the handset has aluminum buttons and injection-molded steel connectors to ensure a tight and precise fit and beautiful trim rings. Amazon says it cares deeply about the chamfered edges on its USB connectors. That's just the tip of the iceberg…

Wikipad introduces new ‘Gamevice’ controller for iPad mini

Cody Lee ∙ June 18, 2014

Wikipad, the company behind last year's interesting-but-not-very-successful Android gaming tablet, has announced a new accessory for iOS devices today. It's called the Gamevice, and it's a decked out MFi game controller made specifically for the iPad mini.

The Gamevice was actually announced earlier this year for Android and Windows 8 tablets, but it appears to now be an iOS exclusive. As you can see it features a 2-piece cradle design, with the iPad mini in the middle, and slightly resembles a Wii U gamepad...

App Recap: 10 apps to check out today

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Yesterday was an eventful day on the App Store, with a massive Halfbrick Studios game sale and several important updates. Wednesday appears to be almost just as action packed, headlined by the release of a new Powerpuff Girls game and a couple of great discounts. We've covered the most important developments in App Recap, a daily column that promotes the best new, updated and discounted apps for iPhone and iPad. We've got a selection of 10 apps to help get you through the week…

Perfect Paths review: finding the right path is harder than you’d think

Lory Gil ∙ Updated February 21, 2018

I am a big fan of minimalist puzzle games, as you may have noticed by the number of reviews I’ve done for iDB. As much as I love them, I’m also not particularly good at them. It always takes me a while to get the hang of the rules and I will oftentimes get stumped on a level with no idea what to do next.

Perfect Paths is one of those games that stumped me pretty fast. The first dozen or so levels are fairly easy, but once the controls get more complex, so do the solutions. I like getting stuck, though. It always makes me feel more triumphant when I solve a puzzle. Check out my game review of Perfect Paths…

Sony’s World Cup sponsorship bars players from wearing Beats in stadiums

Cody Lee ∙ June 18, 2014

Watching this epic Beats ad featuring several high-profile football stars, you would've thought that Apple's newly-acquired headphone line was going to be a staple at this year's World Cup, but that hasn't been the case at all. The iconic accessory has been noticeably absent from players' necks since the tournament began last week.

And apparently Sony is behind the anomaly. The company's licensing agreement with FIFA, the governing body behind the World Cup, says that players can't 'advertise' rival hardware at games or media events...

iON Bond review: bringing particles together at last in this great puzzle game

Lory Gil ∙ Updated January 27, 2018

Science. What a fun subject. You learn about the elements, sound waves, viruses, and all kinds of amazing stuff that exists in our universe. However, when I was in school, I don’t think anyone would have claimed that the subject was fun, exactly. Too bad there weren’t more cool video games to play that would help me identify with what I was learning.

iON Bond isn’t particularly educational, but it does take the basic concept of particle collision and turns it into a fun puzzle game. Check out our game review of iON Bond and see if it is something you’d like to play…

Netflix brings revamped design to iOS and Apple TV

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 18, 2014

An all-new Netflix experience awaits you in the App Store as the on-demand streaming media giant bumps its iPhone and iPad app to version 6.0.

Featuring a departure from the original user interface you've come to love, the free Netflix 6.0 edition offers little in terms of new features beyond freshening up its appearance and a few minor under-the-hood improvements.

And to go with the revamped iPhone and iPad experience, Netflix started pushing a redesigned channel icon to Apple TV owners' Home screens. Both Apple TV and iOS versions include the same set of feature enhancements...