Month: March 2015

8bit Doves is Apple’s new Free App of the Week

Today is the day Apple's editorial team gets to cherry-pick a new iOS app to feature as the App Store's Free App of the Week. Are you ready for something completely different this time around? Good, because this week's gem of a game is 8bit Doves (regularly $2.99).

The charming retro title incorporates a Gameboy like color scheme and pixelated graphics which evokes pleasant memories of the golden age of 8-bit gaming.

Spread across three worlds (Sweet Dreams, Deep Sleep and Nightmare), 8bit Doves employs simple mechanics in the form of an intuitive two button gameplay. Your goal is simple: you must fly through each stage and reach the exit. Those who manage to get doves to follow them along the way will earn some extra bonus bragging rights on Game Center.

Command & Conquer: Generals Deluxe Edition hits Mac App Store with 5K Retina graphics support

One of the finest real-time strategy games ever, Command & Conquer: Generals, and its standalone expansion pack, Zero Hour, are now available in one single package on the Mac App Store.

Priced at just twenty bucks, Command & Conquer: Generals Deluxe Edition includes the aforementioned classic real-time strategy games which have been updated to run on modern Macs.

Both games include local and online multiplayer, native support for up to 5K Retina resolution on the latest 27-inch iMac, gesture support for Mac notebook users and other perks.

Apple opens iOS 8.3 beta to the public, no developer account required

As predicted, Apple has opened up its iOS beta program to the public and is no longer requiring a paid developer account to test new software. Apple debuted the new public program on Thursday along with the third iOS 8.3 beta.

You can sign-up to receive the new beta from the Apple Seed website. It's as easy as signing in with your Apple ID and then installing the beta software to start using it.

Fleksy Keyboard gains Tips and Color Pops extensions, three new themes and more

Fleksy, a popular 99-cent keyboard for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices running iOS 8 or later, has received another newsworthy update following its equally massive Valentine's Day release.

A dedicated Tips Extension shows you helpful tips throughout the app while a new Color Pops Extension lets you customize the colors of your key pops (disable them completely via a transparancy slider).

iFixit tears down, dissects new MacBook Pro and MacBook Air

iFixit has released a series of tear downs based on the new laptops Apple introduced at its "Spring Forward" media event on Monday. While we're still waiting for the new MacBook to be examined once it's released, the updated MacBook Pro and MacBook Air that are now available have been opened and dissected. 

TaiG organizes jailbreak convention in China, with prominent hackers set to attend

Chinese company/team of hackers TaiG is organizing Mobile Security Summit, a jailbreak convention scheduled for March 27, in Beijing, China, with several prominent figures of the jailbreak community already set to attend the event.

The announcement of this event hasn't been publicized quite yet on this side of the world, but it seems the TaiG team aims at bringing its own version of JailbreakCon to mainland China. The schedule seems quite tight since it's only two weeks away from now, but that hasn't stopped famous hackers such as comex, P0sixninja, Pimskeks, and Chronic from committing to present at the event.

Apple seeds iOS 8.3 beta 3 to developers

Following the public release of iOS 8.2 earlier this week with Apple Watch support, Apple is continuing development of iOS 8.3 by seeding the third beta on Thursday.

Developers registered with Apple can download the beta over-the-air on their iPhone or iPad or from the Developer Center. Apple says the update "contains bug fixes and improvements," but there's also new features. 

Apple Watch manufacturer experiencing extremely low defect-free rate

Taiwan-based Quanta Computer, the principal Apple Watch manufacturer, is experiencing what could only be described as extremely low defect-free rate of less than thirty percent as it continues to struggle with low yield issues.

And in order to help solve purported manufacturing issues, Quanta has enlisted help of three-thousand workers from Foxconn to improve the yield rate, according to G for Games Thursday citing Taiwanese media.

Gameloft releases Dungeon Hunter 5

Last night, French games maker Gameloft released Dungeon Hunter 5, a new installment in its Diablo-like mobile RPG series. Previewed back in January, the iPhone and iPad hack ‘n’ slash game features single-player campaign through five realms and numerous dungeons.

If you'd rather play with friends, you can enjoy action in co-operative gameplay mode, engage in daily and weekly events or challenge friends in asynchronous multiplayer.

Sid Meier’s Starships launches for iPad and Mac

Announced back in January, Sid Meier's Starships, an interstellar companion to Civilization: Beyond Earth, launched Thursday for the iPad and Mac.

Available in the App Store and Steam for fifteen bucks each, the premium strategy game published by Firaxis and 2K Games has you assuming command of a starship fleet.

You'll be discovering beautiful new worlds and completing various missions to preserve intergalactic peace while building a planetary federation and strengthening your fleet to secure your homeworld.