Year: 2014

LG launches AirPlay-like SDK to stream media to multiple TVs, Apple TV support incoming

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

LG is hoping to make it easier for users to beam media to their televisions, with a new SDK it's making available to developers to integrate into apps on iOS and Android.

Smart TVs have historically been one of the most closed platforms out there, with manufacturers developing features for only their own TVs and set-top boxes, and not the broader market - example being Apple's AirPlay. LG is changing this with its new Integrate Connect SDK, a standard to place into mobile apps to beam media across multiple platforms onto the big screen.

Dropbox acquires cloud-based photo management service Loom

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Following the debut of its new Carousel photo and video management app last week, Dropbox announced today that it has acquired Loom, a cloud-based service for storing your photos. The move should surprise no one, as both companies have very similar goals, but it will affect end users.

Starting today, Loom is no longer accepting new users, and the service will officially shut down on May 16. Current users have until then to act if they wish to save any of their photos/videos by either exporting them to Dropbox, with no interruption in service, or downloading them via a zip file...

JailbreakCon 2014 mini talks now live on YouTube

Sébastien Page ∙ April 17, 2014

This year's edition of JailbreakCon saw the introduction of mini talks, short presentations by various actors of the jailbreak community on different topics. Talks were between 5 and 20 minutes and were the occasion for speakers to share some of their knowledge with the audience, without necessarily taking up a whole lot of time.

I was actually one of the mini talk speakers. I actually believe that I went way over the 15 minutes I was allotted. Check inside for all videos of all the mini talks...

GoogolPlex will ‘unleash the power of Siri’ with Nest, Philips Hue, Spotify commands

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Siri within iOS 7 can be limited sometimes, thanks to Apple's "walled garden", but a new tool called GoogolPlex wants to change that by opening the voice assistant to new commands.

Self described as the "App Store for Siri", GoogolPlex opens Siri to work with Spotify, Philips Hue, the Nest Thermostat and more, just by an iOS user changing a few proxy settings...

Retina iPad mini refurbs now available

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 17, 2014

Apple's iPad mini with Retina display is great until the reality hits you in your face with a lofty price tag of four hundred bucks for the entry-level model with just sixteen gigabytes of storage and no cellular connectivity. From time to time, Apple makes good-as-new gear such as iPads and MacBooks available for purchase at reduced prices via the refurbished section of its Online Apple Store.

And now, for the first time the company's iPad mini with Retina display is available refurbished, too, starting at $419 for for the Wi-Fi model with 32 gigabytes of storage. That's sixteen percent off for a cool $80 savings over the list price. The 64GB Wi-Fi refurb costs $509, or $90 less versus standard pricing for brand new models...

Facebook launches its own Find My Friends feature

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 17, 2014

Social networking giant Facebook is bound to stir controversy all over again as it's just introduced a new friend-tracking feature. Similar to Apple's free Find My Friends iOS app, Facebook's Nearby Friends basically notifies you when your friends are nearby.

It's a rather radical idea, one Facebook said Thursday was designed to encourage people to "meet up and spend time together" in real life. Go figure. Learn more about Facebook's Find My Friends right below the fold...

RunKeeper launches Breeze, fitness/activity tracking iPhone 5s app with eye-candy UI

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2018

RunKeeper has released a new iOS application that counts steps taken and tracks your activity. I know there are now dozens of apps in the App Store.

That being said, RunKeeper is a huge player in fitness and Breeze is brilliantly designed, gamified and available totally free of charge, no in-app purchases required whatsoever.

The software takes advantage of Apple's M7 motion coprocessor inside the iPhone 5s to track up to seven days worth of activity, even when the app isn't running and without taking any noticeable hit on your battery life.

Breeze is a free download from the App Store. I've included nearly a dozen pretty screenshots and more information right after the break so give the app a whirl and let us know what you think in the comments...

Hitman Go arrives in the App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 17, 2014

As promised, Square Enix Montréal has brought its console-only Hitman franchise to iOS with today's release of Hitman Go. Like past Hitman titles, this game puts you in the shoes of the franchise's main hitman character, Agent 47.

But unlike previous releases, Hitman Go is turn-based and involves stealth elements coupled with puzzle solving and requires a strong focus on strategy planning.

The game features diorama-style set pieces and its turn-based approach dictates game mechanics where you navigate fixed spaces on a grid in order to avoid enemies and infiltrate well guarded locations. Your ultimate goal: taking out your target.

The iPhone and iPad game is now available for five bucks a pop. Jump past the fold for more info...

QuickWeather: Easily access current weather info from anywhere

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 17, 2014

QuickWeather is a recently released tweak that allows users to access current weather information from anywhere on the iPhone. By means of a handy Activator gesture, users can invoke QuickWeather from the Home screen, or while within an app.

QuickWeather a simple tweak with no settings to configure outside of its Activator gesture. Have a look at our video review after the break.

Flickr 3.0 for iOS: revamped UI, HD video capture, auto-tagging, detailed metadata and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 17, 2014

Yahoo-owned Flickr is a great photography service - I've been using it for years as my default companion photo storage solution.

It's not just the fact that everyone gets a whopping one terabyte of free cloud storage for their photos, Flickr features a bunch of advanced options and keeps your photos backed up in the cloud in their full resolution.

Flickr's iOS app has been nice, albeit a bit rudimentary in terms of features. This changes with today's release of an all-new Flickr version 3.0.

Some of the many new features iPhone photography fans will surely fall in love with include the ability to record, edit and upload high-definition video, photo auto-tagging, comb through your photos using complex search criteria, access detailed photo data, share easily and quickly to Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook and lots more...

Bug-fix iOS 7.1.1 update now appearing in web logs

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 17, 2014

It’s been nearly a month since Apple released iOS 7.1 and now the firm is seemingly prepping the first bug fix update, iOS 7.1.1. As you know, iOS 7.1, the first major update to Apple’s revamped mobile operating system, debuted last September.

It's brought out built-in CarPlay support, Siri and Touch ID improvements, UI tweaks, major bug fixes, improved performance (especially on older devices like the iPhone 4) and a bunch of nice-to-haves.

According to online reports, iOS 7.1.1 is now appearing in web analytics tools, indicating Apple has now started testing the software with a wider group of employees ahead of the official release...

Pixelmator 3.2 ‘Sandstone’ coming with Repair tool, app goes half price for entire week

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2018

As Peter Cohen put it, Pixelmator is to Photoshop as Sketch 3 is to Adobe Illustrator and I couldn't agree more.

I don't use the most advanced Photoshop features and Pixelmator ($29.99 in the Mac App Store) has served me well as more than a very capable alternative to Adobe's image editing application. I use Pixelmator on a daily basis to edit press photographs, optimize images for web distribution, touch up snaps taken on my iPhone, create various compositions, convert between different formats and what not.

After issuing a major 3.1 update back in January with Mac Pro GPU acceleration and other goodies, the team is now teasing another forthcoming update, this one code-named Sandstone...