iPhone News

Gone free: N.O.V.A. 3, Gangstar Rio, Pudding Monsters

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

If you're on the lookout for not-to-be-missed price drops on premium iOS games, iDB has you covered. French games maker Gameloft has just reduced its two triple-A games, sci-fi shooter N.O.V.A. 3 - Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance and Grand Theft Auto-like Gangstar Rio: City of Saints to zero bucks each. Considering these titles are respectively priced at $6.99 and $4.99, you're looking at a cool $11.98 saving right off the bat. Both are free this weekend only so go ahead and download N.O.V.A. 3 and Gangstar Rio: City of Saints now.

By the way, both are universal - meaning they run natively on your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices. Last, but not the least, fans of casual games should definitely check out Pudding Monsters from ZeptoLab, the creators of the popular Cut the Rope physics-based puzzler series...

iOS and Android gamers spend 3X as much as handheld console owners

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 9, 2016

I still remember vividly how industry heavy-weights Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft initially laughed off gaming on the iPhone. It was right after Apple slashed the iPod touch to the sweet $199 price point that it became clear to me that gaming on high-end smartphones and tablets would eventually outgrow that on dedicated handheld consoles such as Sony's PSP and Nintendo's DS family.

Enter a new report by research firm IDC and analytics service App Annie which reveals just how far along mobile gaming has come. According to the study, users of smartphones and tablets spend nearly three times as much purchasing games on Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store as handheld device owners.

If these numbers are anything to go by, smart mobile devices will soon relegate dedicated handheld consoles to a niche market, if not eventually kill the category altogether...

Virgin Mobile taking 15% off prepaid iPhone 4 and 4S

Cody Lee ∙ May 17, 2013

Apple is widely expected to unveil a new smartphone in the coming months, so it's no surprise that we're starting to see a flurry of specials on its older models. Verizon is knocking $100 off the iPhone 5, and T-Mobile will give you one for $0 with a trade-in.

In a similar fashion, prepaid carrier Virgin Mobile USA is hosting a promotion right now that will knock 15% off the price of the iPhone 4/4S. Now that may not seem like a very big discount, but it's big enough to land you a no-contract iPhone for under $300...

Departing Intel CEO says he regrets not landing iPhone deal

Cody Lee ∙ May 17, 2013

We have reached the end of an era. No, I'm not talking about David Beckham retiring. I'm talking about Paul Otellini stepping down as Intel's CEO. He was at the company for more than 40 years, and was its chief executive for the better half of the last decade.

As part of his departure proceedings, Otellini sat down for a candid exit interview with The Atlantic. And while the whole thing is worth a read, there's one part that is particularly interesting: when he talks about how he regrets not landing the iPhone deal...

New content deal to bring CW programming to Apple TV

Cody Lee ∙ May 16, 2013

Great news Supernatural fans. The CW television network has reportedly struck a deal with Apple to bring the popular TV show, among other programming, to the Apple TV. It currently has applications out for the Xbox 360 and Windows 8.

The news came during the company's annual Upfront Presentation in New York today, where CW president Mark Pedowitz announced that its TV Now application would be coming to Apple's beloved set top box sometime later this year...

Tim Cook defends Apple’s offshore tax practices ahead of senate hearing

Cody Lee ∙ May 16, 2013

Yesterday, word got out that Tim Cook would be testifying at a senate hearing next week over Apple's tax practices. The hearing was called after the iPad-maker took on billions in debt to fund its shareholder return plan, rather than paying taxes on its offshore cash.

The move reportedly saved the Cupertino company around $9 billion in various tax charges, bringing it to the forefront of an ongoing debate about the legality of offshore tax evasion. But in a recent interview, Tim Cook says that Apple isn't doing anything wrong...

How Apple and Google tabulate app downloads

Sébastien Page ∙ May 16, 2013

Two big numbers were coincidentally dropped yesterday. First, Google announced 48 billion applications had been downloaded from the Google Play Store. Shortly after, Apple announced that its App Store had seen 50 billion downloads so far. Big numbers indeed, but how exactly do Apple and Google count app downloads? The Next Web Managing Editor Matthew Panzarino asked both companies and this is what he found:

Both Apple and Google tabulate unique downloads of apps per user account. This means that they count only one download of an app no matter how many devices that you install that app on after you purchase it. Neither company counts updates in its app download numbers. These are purely single downloads from their stores.

Read the full article at The Next Web.

Give your iPhone a gorgeous makeover with iMIUI

Cody Lee ∙ May 16, 2013

A few days ago, we were contacted by one of the developers of a jailbreak theme I had never heard of before called iMIUI. In the email they told us that we just had to check out their theme, saying it could be the next ayecon.

Given that Surenix's ayecon theme is easily the most popular in the jailbreak community right now, that's a pretty bold statement. But after using iMIUI over the past few days, I'm starting to think they might just be right...

Another concept imagines iOS 7 running on next-gen iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 16, 2013

Following recent budget iPhone concept by Martin Hajek (itself based on nice iOS 7 mockups by 3D artist Dámaso Benítez), German blog Apfellike.de yesterday shared a similar rendition by Jürgen Ulbrich. Like many 3D artists before him, Dámaso is striving to envision what iOS 7 running on the next iPhone might look like. I'm liking his work a lot and have included a few images and a nice video mockup right after the break...

DoJ says Steve Jobs email proves Apple’s guilt in e-book scandal

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Things are really starting to heat up between Apple and the US Department of Justice over this e-book price fixing scandal. The DoJ filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple last year for allegedly conspiring with major book publishers to raise e-book prices.

And with the trial set to kick off in a few weeks, there's beginning to be a lot of activity between the two. Yesterday, a DoJ filing popped up that called Apple out for facilitating the price fixing. And today, a potentially damning email from Steve Jobs has surfaced...

iTunes 11.0.3 released with revamped MiniPlayer

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 16, 2013

Apple just dropped a 129 MB iTunes 11.0.3 update and it brings quite a few new features to the iconic app. The big ticket item, if you will, is a new MiniPlayer, which is a bit ironic given the release schedule of the jailbreak version of MiniPlayer for iOS.

iTunes' updated MiniPlayer now features a beautiful new view that shows off album artwork. The new MiniPlayer also includes a handy progress bar this time around to track the song's playhead location.

You'll also find an improved songs view, which allows you to enjoy album artwork in that view. Lastly, you'll notice support for proper multi-disc albums. Check inside for the full change log.

Upcoming app claims to allow for a fresh version of current iOS firmware

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

We've probably all been there at least once. You have a jailbroken device on a certain firmware, and it's the last firmware that's capable of being jailbroken. What happens if you need to restore it?

In most cases, unless you're using an older device capable of being downgraded, you would be forced up to the current firmware. The problem with doing this is that it causes you to lose your jailbreak.

That's where a new app called Semi-Restore claims to be able to help. It will, according to its website, allow jailbroken users to refresh their devices with the firmware that's currently on the device. For example, if you're running iOS 6.1.2, you can clean the device and semi-restore to 6.1.2. It's not a full restore, because doing so would force you to upgrade, but it might be the next best thing, especially if your device is having problems or is running slow.