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Amazon releases Kindle Textbook Creator for Mac

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 3, 2017

The online retail giant Amazon on Thursday announced a brand new application for the Mac which allows anyone to create and publish textbooks on Kindle. Currently in beta and available in English only, the applications can be downloaded to Mac or Windows PCs through Amazon's website.

Similar to Apple's iBooks Author app for the Mac, which debuted in 2012, Kindle Textbook Creator makes it easy to create textbooks and other educational material with by augmenting text with graphs, charts and equations and other graphically rich content.

In addition, the app can convert existing PDFs into a digital book, ready for distribution on the Kindle Store.

BlackBerry calls upon US government to force Apple to port iMessage to its smartphones

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 22, 2015

Disregarding for a moment the fact that Apple has never actually made any promises regarding bringing iMessage to other platforms (unlike FaceTime, but that's a topic for another story), the embattled smartphone maker BlackBerry wants Apple's messaging platform on its smartphones so badly that it's calling on the United States government to intervene and do something about it.

It's not a joke: BlackBerry CEO John Chen penned a post over at the company blog proposing just that.

In a nutshell, rather than let the market dictate what any company should do, he's demanding that the Cupertino firm make iMessage cross-platform.

Apple Watch gets its first game, a cute word puzzler from NimbleBit

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 23, 2015

In case you had any doubts — yes, some developers are busy writing their first games for the Apple Watch.

But first, let's get something straight: because Watch apps will initially run as extensions on your iPhone that stream image assets and UI back to your wrist, don't expect to see graphics-rich shooters playable on your wrist anytime soon.

With that off our back, puzzlers seem like a really good fit for a wrist-worn device like the Watch.

And sure enough, as reported by TouchArcade, a developer that goes by the name of NimbleBit is planning to release Letterpad, an upcoming word puzzler for the iPhone and iPad, with support for the Apple Watch.

Wanna see how it's going to look and feel like? Read on for the full reveal.

Facebook Groups adds member search and three new admin features

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

Facebook's dedicated Groups app received a major refresh Thursday, bumping the groups-management mobile software to version 5.0 while enabling several new features for members and administrators.

Both group members and administrators can now search for other members in groups. Additionally, members can now manage notifications more easily.

Admins can now take advantage of a trio of new features for better management of their own groups, including the ability to block users requesting to join.

Twitter’s ‘while you were away’ feature rolls out to all mobile users, due soon on the web

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 22, 2015

First revealed as part of Twitter's November 2014 platform update and formally announced on January 1, a new 'while you were away' feature is now officially available to all users of Twitter's mobile app for iOS and Android, appearing at the top of users’ timelines.

The micro-blogging startup explained in a blog post Wednesday that the feature surfaces a few of the best tweets “you probably wouldn’t have seen otherwise,” as determined by engagement and “other factors.”

Spotify introduces Touch Preview for songs, albums, artists and playlists

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

The leading music-streaming startup Spotify on Thursday announced a better way to preview music using new gestures in its iOS app. Dubbed Touch Preview, the feature allows music lovers to get a sneak peek of any playlist, song, album or artist by holding down their finger to start the music playing instantly.

“It means less time looking for the perfect music, and more time actually listening to it,” wrote the company.

Rdio app updated with New Music Weekly station, smarter sharing and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 5, 2018

Popular streaming music service Rdio posted an update for its iOS client today, bringing the app to version 3.1. The update brings about a new station for hot, just-released music, enhanced sharing capabilities and various other new features and improvements.

The New Music Weekly Station is a handpicked selection of the week’s hottest tracks from Rdio's New Releases section. And as for the enhanced sharing, users can now quickly share music with a press-and-hold while listening to any track, album, playlist or station.

Apple posts major Logic Pro X update with new sounds, AirDrop support and more

Cody Lee ∙ January 21, 2015

Apple released a significant update for Logic Pro X Wednesday afternoon, bringing the popular pro audio software to version 10.1. The update includes an expanded sound library, support for Mail Drop and Air Drop in OS X Yosemite, and a number of other new features and improvements.

The expanded sound library contains over 200 new synth patches and 10 classic Mellotron instruments. There are also 10 new Drummers capable of producing beats in a variety of hiphop and electronic styles including Techno, House and Dubstep. We've posted the full 10.1 change log below.

Microsoft unveils 84-inch touch display and augmented reality headset

Cody Lee ∙ January 21, 2015

In addition to officially unveiling Windows 10 at its, Microsoft made a number of other interesting announcements at its Redmond, Washington event this morning. Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for the first year, will play a lot nicer with Xbox One, and has a new web browser on the way.

But two of the most interesting announcements involved products that most people had no idea Microsoft was working on: the Surface Hub and the HoloLens. The former is an 84-inch 4K touchscreen display, and the latter is a futuristic visor that overlays holographic imagery onto your view.

Google reportedly plans to become wireless carrier, will offer phone plans to customers

Jake Smith ∙ January 21, 2015

Google has plans to be a wireless carrier, selling mobile phone plans directly to customers, reports The Information. The company is looking at ways to change itself from its core businesses.

The new service is said to run on Sprint and T-Mobile’s networks. Google is expected to reach deals to buy wholesale access to those carriers’ mobile voice and data networks, making it a mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO, according to the publication's sources.

Shadowmatic review: turn abstract shapes into familiar objects

Lory Gil ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

When it comes to puzzle games, spatial reasoning 3-D titles will always grab my attention, especially if they have great graphics and plenty of puzzles to challenge my brainpower.

Shadowmatic is a puzzle game that asks players to think about the world in 360 degrees in order to turn shapes into objects. We’ve got a full game review of Shadowmatic for you today.

Apple seeds sixth OS X 10.10.2 beta to developers

Cody Lee ∙ January 21, 2015

Apple has seeded a new beta of its upcoming OS X Yosemite 10.10.2 this afternoon. The update, labeled build 14C106a, is available through the Update tab in the Mac App Store, as well as the online Dev Center, for all Mac developers.

Today’s release comes exactly one week after the previous OS X 10.10.2 beta, and Apple has once again asked developers to focus their testing efforts on the long-standing issue of Wi-Fi connectivity, as well as Mail and VoiceOver.