Year: 2014

BlackBerry wants you to trade up from your iPhone to BlackBerry Passport

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

BlackBerry, whose market value is less than one hundredth of Apple's (AAPL passed $700 billion this morning), is enticing Apple users to switch to its Passport phablet in a new Blackberry Trade-Up Program. The promotion is offering Apple customers up to $550 to trade in their iPhone 4s or higher towards the purchase of a BlackBerry Passport.

“Trade in your iPhone 6 to a Passport and BlackBerry will give you up to $400 in trade-in value, plus an extra $150 'top up' for U.S. residents,” noted the firm in a blog post announcing the attractive bait.

Unread for iPad relaunches as a freemium app

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

After the Castro podcast player maker Supertop bought the popular RSS news reader Unread from original developer Jared Sinclair earlier this year, the company on Tuesday announced relaunching the iPad edition on the App Store.

Previously costing five bucks a pop, Unread for iPad is now a free download with In-App Purchases to unlock advanced features. The app sports full-screen reading, has multiple themes for day, night and some such, features rich content sharing via OvershareKit and much more.

Dropbox rolling out ability to edit Microsoft Office documents

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Following Microsoft-issued updates to itsWord, Excel and PowerPoint mobile apps for iOS with native Dropbox integration, the popular cloud storage startup on Tuesday announced it is adding the ability to edit Microsoft Office documents to its free iOS client.

That's right, both iOS and Android users can take advantage of the newly refreshed Dropbox mobile client with Microsoft Office integration to work on the Office files stored in your Dropbox even when you’re on the go.

In addition to editing your Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents from the Dropbox app, you can also access them directly from Microsoft's mobile Office apps.

Report: Yahoo and Microsoft fighting to supplant Google search on iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 25, 2014

According to a report Tuesday by The Information, a technology website started by The Wall Street Journal writer Jessica Lessin, both Microsoft and Google are “fighting” to boot Google search from the iPhone and other Apple devices.

If true, the move wouldn't be unheard of: Apple teams up with alternate search providers in markets like China.

Apple earns a small commission from search ad revenue each time a user performs a Google search from Safari's address bar on the Mac, iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.

With that deal expiring sometime in 2015, Microsoft and Yahoo are now hoping the Cupertino firm won't renew it and will instead make their respective service the default search choice on iOS.

Viber rolls out Public Chats with the ability to ‘like’ messages, photos, videos, links and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 20, 2017

After receiving an iOS 8 focused update earlier this month bringing a nice Share menu extension, Interactive Notifications and other improvements, Viber on Tuesday pushed a small update adding the Public Chats feature.

With Public Chats, Viber users can finally follow group conversations for specific topics that they’re into. Once you start following a group chat, you can then like any piece of content in the group chat, including messages, photos, videos, links and more.

AAPL passes 700 billion in market value

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 25, 2014

Apple's market capitalization has hit a new milestone, going up 0.8 percent shortly after the market opened Tuesday morning and reaching a market value of nearly $702 billion, higher than any U.S. company in history. By comparison, its previous record market capitalization hit $658 billion in September 2012.

The stock has been rising steadily over the past few months and has picked up speed after the company posted record opening weekend sales for the new iPhones in September and investors reacted positively to the Apple Watch and other new products Tim Cook & Co. unloaded as part of the massive Fall product refresh.

The Longest Journey Remastered for iOS launches globally

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

After soft-launching in Australia and New Zealand last month, The Longest Journey Remastered by German developer Funcom is now available in App Stores around the world. The game is based on the 1999 point-and-click classic for Windows PCs.

One of the highest rated adventures of all time, this version of The Longest Journey has been specifically remastered for tablet devices.

The premium release includes a new intro and outro by Funcom’s famed game designer Ragnar Tørnquist, a new font, touch-optimized controls and a dynamic help system.

Scanbot gains new gesture, B&W filter, OCR enhancements and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 25, 2014

Scanbot, the popular PDF and QR code scanner, has received an update bringing the app to version 3.1.1 and introducing a few new features for basic and Pro users alike.

When scanning a document, a brand new black and white filter can be used to achieve more accurate scans that preserve more structure from images. When reading a PDF file, you can now swipe to go back.

Finally, the app now bundles a 'Get Started' document to help get users up to speed and a few nice-to-haves for Pro users listed after the break.

Crimson Keyboard offers predictive typing without that annoying suggestion bar

Lory Gil ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

When I first switched over to iOS 8, I found that the predictive typing function, while helpful, was a bit distracting, almost to the point of being annoying. I eventually turned it off.

Crimson Keyboard offers a personalized predictive typing function, but instead of the suggestion bar, words are displayed just above keys. Plus, instead of autocorrecting your misspelled words (and sometimes leading to hilarious miss-typed text messages), you will see suggested corrections in red.

Kik Messenger app updated with new design, mute options and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Popular cross-platform messaging service Kik updated its iOS client last night, bringing the app to version 7.8. Headlining the update is a refreshed design, which features lighter, more modern UI elements and other changes.

The changes are't necessarily significant, but they are noticeable. Most of the darker colors have been replaced by empty white spaces, and there are other tweaks to the app's design that make for a more streamlined experience.

Universal picks up Steve Jobs biopic, Michael Fassbender attached to star

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

It's official, Universal Studios has adopted Sony's Steve Jobs biopic. In a late night scoop, The Hollywood Reporter says it has confirmed with a studio spokesman that a deal has been reached, less than a week after Sony put the film in turnaround.

Sony had been shopping the project around for more than $30 million, although it's still unclear why it decided to back out. Several high profile names are attached to the film, and it has been widely talked about by both tech and Hollywood press.