Year: 2014

Staples discounting iPads, Apple TV and Beats headphones in Black Friday sale

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Staples' Black Friday circular has been released, showing what deals it will be offering during the infamous holiday shopping weekend at the end of the month. Like other retailers, it plans to discount a number of Apple and Beats products in hopes to reel in customers.

Among the promotions is a 16GB Wi-Fi original iPad Air for $319, which is a savings of $40 from where it's currently priced. There will also be a $239 16GB Wi-Fi iPad mini 2, which is $30 cheaper than its current sale price. We've listed all of the Apple-related deals below.

Type Nine keyboard lets you type like it was 1998

Lory Gil ∙ November 14, 2014

With all of these new iOS 8 keyboards now available, there is just too much fun to be had. You can translate text with Slated, code with UniChar Picker, and use ScribbleBoard because drawing is more fun than typing. It just keeps getting better. Now, the trend is for keyboards for fat fingers.

Type Nine is a big keys keyboard for those extra thick digits. Only unlike apps like Thick Buttons, this one harkens back to before there were such a thing as keypads for smartphones. So, all you old school flip phone typers will enjoy some retro texting.

DOJ reportedly using fake aircraft-mounted cell towers to spy on mobile phones

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

The US Department of Justice is installing equipment on airplanes that masquerades as a cell phone tower in order to gather mobile phone data, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal. The program's goal is to identify criminals, but each plane is capable of collecting data from thousands of phones in a single flight.

The Journal says these spy devices are called "dirtboxes," and have a surface area of two feet by two feet. They're being installed on fixed-wing aircraft by the US Marshals Service's Technical Operations group, and purport to be strong-signaled cell towers. This tricks cellphones into giving them their IMSI info, making them totally trackable.

Penultimate 6 is out with new UI design, improved search and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Evernote updated its popular note-taking/sketch app Penultimate this morning, bringing it to version 6.0. As the build number implies, the update is significant, ushering in a complete UI redesign, new full screen and highlighting tools, and various improvements.

The new UI design is easily the most noticeable change in 6.0, and it makes for smoother writing and better organization. The new full screen mode is also a great addition, as it allows you to write continuously in full screen without stopping—eliminating distractions.

Apple issues statement on Masque Attack, says it’s not aware of any affected users

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple tonight broke its silence regarding Masque Attack, a recently discovered vulnerability in iOS. In a statement to iMore, the company says it encourages customers to only download apps from trusted sources and that it's not currently aware of any users affected by the exploit.

Research security FireEye announced its discovery of Masque Attack on Monday. The malware installs itself through a phishing link disguised as a new app or game, and then masquerades as a legitimate app. Once installed, it can access login credentials, credit card info and more.

Apple being questioned by the FTC regarding health data protection

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

The US Federal Trade Commission is seeking assurances from Apple that it will prevent sensitive health data from being used without the users' consent, reports Reuters. The outlet says Apple representatives have met with FTC officials multiple times in recent months to discuss the matter.

More specifically, the FTC wants to be sure that Apple will not sell health data collected by its upcoming smartwatch and other devices to third party marketers, or allow app developers to do so. It also wants to be sure proper measures are being taken to protect the data against malicious attacks.

GoodReader introduces advanced text-to-speech for PDF and TXT documents

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 13, 2014

I rely on GoodReader to manage files and documents on my iOS devices in one central location. Being a heavy reader, I mostly keep various documents and e-books stored in GoodReader.

Today's update to GoodReader's iOS app contains a whole bunch of new features, improvements and fixes, chiefly a cool text-to-speech capability that speaks passages of text in text files and PDF documents.

It's customizable with different speeds, supports dozens of languages, has playback controls, highlights spoken words in real-time, lets you multitask while listening to spoken word and more. This update is being provided free of charge to existing GoodReader users.

Download GoodReader for the iPhone and iPad for $4.99.

Halfbrick’s ‘Monster Dash’ goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Apple has named Halfbrick's 'Monster Dash' its app of the week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to pick up the title for free in the App Store, saving yourself a healthy buck.

For those who haven't played the game, Monster Dash is a survival platformer/runner that follows the familiar Barry Steakfries (of Jetpack Joyride fame) as he races through levels while avoiding and/or killing monsters.

CallBar updated for jailbroken devices running iOS 8

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Hot on the heels of a major iOS 7 revision, CallBar has been updated to play nice with iOS 8 and the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. CallBar is a tweak that makes it possible to make and take calls from anywhere on your device, even while engaged in using another app.

CallBar is a great jailbreak tweak for those of you who feel that iOS' stock calling features are intrusive. Have a look inside at our video walkthrough for more information on what makes this tweak a must-have.

US government warns iOS users about new ‘Masque Attack’ threat

Cody Lee ∙ November 13, 2014

The United States government issued a warning for iPhone and iPad users today regarding the recently-discovered 'Masque Attack' vulnerability, reports Reuters. The security flaw, which began circulating the web earlier this week, allows malicious third-party apps to be installed to a device using enterprise provision profiles.

Today's bulletin was issued by the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, and it warns users of how Masque Attack can spread and what it's capable of doing. The malware installs itself through a phishing link disguised as a new app or game, and then it can masquerade as a well-known app like Gmail.

Sprint launching ‘iPad for Life’ lease plan tomorrow

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 13, 2014

After unveiling its 'iPhone for Life' annual upgrade plan last month, Sprint, the nation's fourth-largest carrier on Thursday announced a similar 'iPad for Life' plan for the latest iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3.

With this plan, customers can get the latest iPads for $0 down and 24 monthly payments that will vary depending on your chosen storage capacity.

And like the iPhone for Life plan, the new offering helps customers upgrade to the latest iPad model provided they bring in their existing device in good condition and their lease period has expired.

Random Heroes 3 guns its way through the App Store

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated March 17, 2019

From the maker of League of Evil and Devious Dungeon comes their newest title: Random Heroes 3. If you've played any of these games before then this new title will feel very familiar to you as the mechanics are always pretty much the same. Just like in the previous editions of Random Heroes, your goal is to rid the Earth of those bad aliens, with tons of weapons available to you as you collect coins at each level.