Year: 2014

Threes mixes matching and math for a minimalistic strategy game

Sudoku intimidates me. It’s not that I don’t like math. It’s just that puzzle games based on numbers reminds me of middle school. I feel like some unseen teacher is hovering over me, judging my abilities.

Threes is a minimalistic matching game that doesn’t require you to solve any kind of puzzle, so you can get your math fix without feeling like you have to show your work…

Olympic athletes may use Apple devices during opening ceremony after all

Cody ran an interesting story yesterday about Samsung allegedly requiring Olympians to cover the Apple logos on their iPhones and iPads during the opening ceremony, as part of giving free devices to athletes. It had all the elements you'd expect from a typical viral story: a pair of tech titans who hate each other's guts out, a major sports event, greed, ad money and corporate jealousy.

Too bad it wasn't true. It's been confirmed by both Samsung and the International Olympic Committee today that athletes are absolutely allowed to use any device they wish during the Opening Ceremonies. This means iPhones and yes - the Apple logos are allowed, too!

Forecast brings the Weather app to the Lock screen

I awoke this morning to blizzard conditions and cancelled classes, giving me the fitting opportunity to take a look at an exciting recently updated jailbreak tweak called Forecast for iPhone and iPod touch. I recommend you take a look too, as this is definitely one of the better packages available on Cydia.

Forecast replaces Slide to Unlock on the Lock screen with a widget on the bottom left that displays the current temperature and conditions, in addition to anticipated highs and lows for the day. For example, in the screenshot above, the current temperature is 34 ºF with mostly clear skies on a crisp February night. And that's just the beginning of what this tweak has to offer…

Classic iPhone game Eliss gets remade for 2014

Avid gamers among you who owned the original iPhone surely remember Eliss. Created by Steph Thirion and released in March 2009, Eliss was one of the first iPhone puzzlers that wouldn't implement multitouch controls as an afterthought. It went on to win numerous awards and was called by many a multitouch masterpiece. Eliss challenged you to move around a bunch of planets and split/combine them with other planets of the same size/color.

On paper, the concept doesn't sound terribly revolutionary or exciting. But once you picked it up, however, there was no putting Eliss down - it was that addictive. Unfortunately, the creator stopped updating the game just three months following its release: the last refresh was in June 2009.

Turns out other projects have kept Steph occupied - among them a brand new and polished remake of the original Eliss game...

Walmart shaves $100 off iPad 2, now $299

The unreasonably priced iPad 2 with sixteen gigabytes of storage and no cellular sells for $399. You'd be hard-pressed to justify buying a 2011 tablet at that price when $399 can buy you the latest iPad mini with Retina display instead. On the other hand, some customers such as schools and businesses clearly see the value or Apple otherwise wouldn't be keeping the device on the market at that price.

If for any reason you're in the market for a second-generation iPad, Walmart has a sweet deal for you in the form of an electronic $100 Walmart gift card...

Apple renews contract with its mobile GPU provider, Imagination Technologies

The fabless semiconductor maker, Imagination Technologies, has been providing Apple's iPad and iPhone with its graphics and video hardware since 2007. On Thursday, the UK-based company announced extending its licensing agreement with Apple, giving the iPhone maker multi-year access to Imagination's current and future PowerVR-branded graphics and video GPU blueprints.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Both Apple and Intel are investors in Imagination, with the former holding a ten percent ownership stake in the company...

Job ad confirms Apple testing health/fitness wearables

A new job ad discovered on Apple's website Thursday has pretty much confirmed that the firm is working on and testing some kind of a health and fitness related wearable device. It's the first semi-official confirmation of the rumored iWatch project if I ever saw one. I'm not sure if this is an unintentional slip up and why Apple would want to make this particular call for job applicants public.

Regardless, it's now clear that Tim Cook & Co. have been staffing up with a lot of wearable experts from medical, fitness and biosensing fields. The job description mentions expertise in such health activities as cardiovascular fitness and energy expenditure, including “calories burned, metabolic rate, aerobic fitness level measurement/tracking” and more...

Apple pulls Bitcoin wallet app Blockchain from App Store

Apple on Thursday pulled from its App Store the last remaining Bitcoin wallet app that allowed transactions. Blockchain, the only Bitcoin trading and storage iOS app, has been downloaded 120,000 times. It can no longer be found on the App Store following the removal over an "unresolved issue".

Nicolas Cary, the CEO of London-based Blockchain.info which developed the app, told Bloomberg he didn't understand Apple's reasoning as his app's been on the App Store for two years.

Apple previously pulled Bitcoin-compatible apps from the App Store or asked their developers to remove the transfer feature because it's illegal in some countries...

Track your progress as you learn something new with Better Every Time app

I am big on crafting and do-it-yourself projects. If there is one think I’ve learned from my many attempts to create handmade stuff, it is that practice is the key to getting better. I fail nearly every time I try something new. However, by the third or fourth attempt, I’ve improved greatly.

Better Every Time is a journaling app that makes it easy for you to track your progress when attempting to get better at something. As you work at it, record what happens so that you will know what not to do the next time around…

Final Fantasy VI now available in the App Store

Great news this morning for all of you Final Fantasy fans. Square Enix's mobile version of the series' classic sixth episode is now available in the App Store and can be downloaded for both the iPhone and the iPad.

Final Fantasy VI first debuted in 1994, and is highly regarded as one of the best titles in the franchise. And for its iOS debut, the game has been completely rebuilt with easy touch controls and enhanced graphics...

Amazon app now lets you search for things by taking photos of them

Amazon has pushed an update to its iOS app, enabling a new feature called Flow. The feature allows users to search for items on the website by simply scanning them in the app using their iPhone's camera. Need a stapler? Just point your iPhone at one.

Flow recognizes via shape, size, color, box text, and general appearance, and can analyze multiple items at a time. Hold your iPhone up to a row of products and every recognizable item is placed in a queue that can then be added to your Amazon cart...

Apple posts new ‘On the runway with iPhone 5s’ video

Apple has added a new video to both its YouTube channel and iPhone marketing page called 'On the runway with iPhone 5s.' The clip contains footage from the Burberry Womenswear Spring/Summer 2014 fashion show from last September.

For those who missed our original post on the fashion show, Apple handed out then-pre-release iPhone 5s units to Burberry employees to cover the event. Their footage highlighted the handset's image quality and new slow-motion feature...