Year: 2014

Business Card Reader Pro gains vCard and Salesforce exporting [bonus: giveaway]

Business Card Reader Pro by German developer Shape allows you to quickly add contacts to iOS by scanning their business card with your iPhone's or iPad's back camera.

Featuring an accurate text recognition engine supporting fifteen languages, background image processing, LinkedIn search and integration with CRM systems, Business Card Reader Pro gets the job done whether you're scanning a few business cards or adding hundreds of new contacts to your shared company address book.

Released Wednesday, the new Business Card Reader Pro version 3.3 allows you to export your entries in the industry-standard vCard format for hassle-free importing to a myriad of online and desktop address book apps and PIM tools.

The new version also fixes crashes on iOS 8 and enables exporting to Salesforce. Best of all, Shape has kindly provided us with a few promo codes that we're giving away to you guys at the bottom of this article.

Business Card Reader Pro is $6.99 in the App Store.

Beats launches $300 Solo2 Wireless Headphones

A re-engineered version of Beats by Dr. Dre Solo2 headphones, revealed last week in FCC documents, officially went on sale Wednesday morning. Like its predecessor, the new Solo2 Wireless offers much the same features while ditching the cord in favor of Bluetooth-enabled connection which lets you listen to your music wirelessly from up to 30 feet away from the device that you're streaming from, The Verge reported.

Compared to its wired counterpart, the Solo2 Wireless has the same on-ear design and is available in the same red, black, white and blue variants, with the exception of the red version that remains a Verizon Wireless exclusive through the end of 2014.

Monument Valley ‘Forgotten Shores’ expansion arrives with 8 new levels

As promised, a ‘Forgotten Shores’ expansion for the acclaimed puzzler Monument Valley, an Apple Design Award winner, is now available in the App Store, delivering eight brand new levels on top of the original ten levels.

The new levels have been added between the penultimate and final levels of the game. Unfortunately, this isn't a free update as developer Ustwo Games is providing Forgotten Shores as a $1.99 In-App Purchase.

Download Monument Valley for $3.99.

Dispatch iOS email client gains Touch ID and 1Password support, WhatsApp actions and more

Dispatch, a third-party email client for the iPhone and iPad by Clean Shaven Apps, has received an update Wednesday morning adding support for Touch ID authentication and the new Drafts 4 app, in addition to 1Password integration in the in-app browser, new actions allowing you to send content to WhatsApp and more.

The action-based application permits you to triage your emails and get rid of unwanted ones by swiping, respond faster with snippets and process your mails with other apps.

Dispatch is a $4.99 download.

A Mechanical Story review: get the gears spinning to solve these puzzles

I don’t have a lot of experience with wrenches, gears, cogs, and other mechanical doohickeys. I’ve never been one to simply take apart my electronic devices to see how they work. I do, however, have a lot of experience with puzzle solving games.

A Mechanical Story is nothing more than a puzzle game, but it is set in the world of engineering workings. I was intimidated at first, seeing all of those spinning gears. But in the end, it is simply a fun puzzle game and nothing to be afraid of. We’ve got a game review of A Mechanical Story for you today.

Walmart discounting iPads, iPhones and more in Black Friday sale

Following Target and Best Buy, Walmart today released its Black Friday circular, showing what deals it will be offering during the holiday shopping weekend at the end of the month. As usual, it plans to discount a number of items, including several Apple products.

Among the promotions is an original 16GB Wi-Fi iPad mini for $199 with a free $30 gift card, essentially knocking the tablet's price tag down $80. The retailer is also offering original 16GB Wi-Fi iPad Airs for $397 with a $100 gift card, pushing the price under $300.

Box updated with Touch ID support and Notification Center widget

Dropbox competitor Box updated its iOS client this morning, bringing the app to version 3.5. The update is a big one, bringing about a number of improvements and new features, including some that are specific to users with devices running iOS 8.

The Box app now features a widget in the Notification Center that allows you to quickly and easily create Box notes and view recent documents. The update also adds support for Touch ID, so you can use your fingerprint to lock and unlock the app.

Apple says iOS 8 adoption nearing 60%

The adoption rate for iOS 8 is slowly starting to pick up, according to Apple. As noted by MacRumors, the company tonight updated its developer portal with a new graph showing that the latest major revision of its mobile software is now on 56% of compatible devices.

This is good news for Apple, as the initial adoption rate for iOS 8 was embarrassingly low for a company that likes to tout the figure. In October, iOS 8 was believed to be installed on just 47% of compatible devices, compared to 70% for iOS 7 in the same time a year ago.

All Foo Fighters albums are currently on sale on iTunes

To celebrate the release of their new album called Sonic Highways, all the Foo Fighters albums are currently on sale on iTunes, with most of them starting at just $6.99. If you want to complete your Foo Fighters collection, now is the right time to do so.

An old man like me tends to believe that the earlier Foo Fighters albums are the best, but the younger crowd might disagree. At any rates, these are some albums you should definitely consider.

Overcast podcast app updated with iPad and CarPlay support

Overcast, the popular iOS podcast client by Instapaper creator Marco Arment, has been updated this evening, bringing the app to version 1.1. The update includes a handful of great features such as native iPad and rotation support.

The app looks just as good on the iPad as it does the iPhone, regardless of whether your device is in portrait or landscape mode. Speaking of, the iPhone version also now supports landscape mode, which looks great on the 6 and 6 Plus.

Say ‘hello’ to Overglide, a tiny game playable from the Lock screen and Notification Center

I should have suffixed the headline with “no jailbreak required” for added punch. Yes, Overglide for the iPhone and iPad indeed is a tiny game that you play within iOS 8's Notification Center and right on the Lock screen, even while your iOS device is locked.

This cave flyer has you piloting a paper plane as far as possible while dodging the obstacles, and it even comes with Game Center leaderboards and achievements.

How's that possible? Read on or grab Overglide for 99 cents in the App Store and see for yourself.

Ubisoft releases official companion app for Assassin’s Creed Unity

Ubisoft has today posted the official companion app for its new hit console and PC video game, Assassin's Creed Unity. Set within Paris, during the French Revolution, this is the seventh major installment in the popular Assassin's Creed series.

Those who have purchased the game, or plan to, will definitely want to check out the app, which includes a 3D, interactive map and glyph puzzles that unlock new Brotherhood missions. It also offers useful content like tutorials and training tips.