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Apps of the week: Dragon Quest II, Find the Line, Zombie Highway 2

Lory Gil ∙ Updated May 24, 2023

This was another big week for the tech world as Apple officially announced its next media event on Oct. 16. I’m a huge fan of the iPad and am looking forward to finding out what’s next for the tablet line. However, I’m also hoping against hope that the next generation of Apple TV will finally be ready. Mine is getting kind of old.

If you are hyper-focused on next week’s big announcement, you may need a bit of distraction this weekend. We’ve got a list of apps and games, which just launched recently that we think you will enjoy. Check them out and let us know what you think of them in the comments below.

ORBB planetary puzzle game takes you out of this world

Lory Gil ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Relaxing puzzle games can come in all forms. I’ve played games that are minimalistic, atmospheric, nature-based. It doesn’t matter what the theme is, as long as the mechanics don’t make you want to throw your iPhone at a wall. ORBB is a tranquil puzzle adventure that takes place in the vast reaches of outer space. If you can’t find peace in the never-ending vacuum of space, you’ll never find it.

Apple revamps iTunes Store in iTunes 12 ahead of OS X Yosemite launch

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple has rolled out a revamped version of its desktop iTunes Store to iTunes 12 today. Folks with access to the developer preview or public beta of OS X Yosemite should see the new storefront with various changes including cleaner, flatter design elements.

As you can see in the image above, Apple has axed the 3D rotating carousel of featured content in favor of a new card-style layout. There's also no longer a backdrop shadow behind the album art, or in the navigation buttons, and the fonts have been changed.

Chinese carriers take in 1 million iPhone 6 pre-orders in 6 hours

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Pre-orders for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus officially began in China today, and it sounds like sales for the two handsets are doing well thus far. Tencent reports that the country's three major wireless carriers recorded more than 1 million pre-orders during first 6 hours of availability.

There's been no word on what sales looked like throughout the rest of the day, and the 1M figure doesn't include orders taken directly by Apple, or its 6,000 authorized resellers. It also doesn't account for the 9+ million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus reservations that were made last week.

Bose and Beats settle noise-canceling patent infringement suit

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Premium audio company Bose Corp. and the now Apple-owned Beats Electronics have settled their patent infringement suit, reports Bloomberg. The two companies a U.S. court in Delaware they’ve settled their claims, and asked the International Trade Commission to cease its investigation.

Bose originally filed the complaint against Beats in July, claiming that Beats Studio and Studio Wireless headphones, which both feature "adaptive noise cancelation," infringe on five of its noise-canceling patents. Clearly a settlement was reached here, but terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The reports of retailers not supporting Apple Pay have been greatly exaggerated

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

With Apple Pay set to launch later this month with support from big retailers such as Macy's, Staples, Disney Store, and many more, there has been some drama building regarding the fact that Apple still has a lot of work to do to convince some big names to get on the Apple Pay bandwagon.

A post on the Daily Dot today exemplifies this, claiming that Pizza Hut, Chipotle, and H&M, Coach, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Sears, Kmart, BP, Starbucks, and more don't plan on offering support for Apple Pay.

This sure makes for great headlines, but this kind of post usually fails to omit that retailers aren't against Apple Pay, they're just not on board with updating their costly point of sale systems.

Boost Mobile to begin offering iPhone 6 and 6 Plus next week with $100 discount

Cody Lee ∙ October 10, 2014

Boost Mobile will begin selling the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus next week. CNET reports that the two handsets will become available at the carrier starting Friday, October 17, with a $100 discount on full retail pricing offered on all models.

For those unfamiliar with the provider, Boost Mobile is a prepaid division of Sprint that offers no-contract service for a low monthly fee. So users pay full price for their devices, and in return get cellular plans starting at $35 per month.

Apple to live stream October 16 iPad event

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

Apple has posted a notice on its website this morning to confirm that it will be providing a live video stream of next week's iPad event. There's no countdown timer this time, but the company published the above image showing the stream will begin at 10am on October 16.

We're expecting Apple to unveil new iPads—at least a new iPad Air—with Touch ID support, thinner profile and possibly higher resolution displays. It's also believed that we'll finally see new iMacs with Retina displays, and of course OS X Yosemite will get some stage time.

Activity by LogYourRun helps you visualize the intensity of your activity

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

I'm not a slug but I'm also far from being a health freak. You won't find me at the gym, and if you ever see me running, then call 911 because it means something went terribly wrong. Yet, with the introduction of the M7 coprocessor in the iPhone 5s which helps you keep track of how many steps you made in a given day, I became more aware of little things I could do to maintain my health. I quickly established a daily goal of 6,000 steps, which I usually track with Pedometer++, a beautifully simple step tracker.

Federico Viticci of Mac Stories recently introduced me to a similar application called Activity by LogYourRun. Just like Pedometer++, Activity tracks your steps but it also helps you visualize the intensity of your activity in a very original way.

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus launch drives record accessory sales

Sébastien Page ∙ October 10, 2014

Records keep piling for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which according to research firm NPD, were responsible for driving accessory sales in the US to new highs, reaching a quarter of a billion dollars in the two weeks that followed the launch of the devices:

U.S. mobile phone accessory sales reached record levels following the launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Accessory sales for the two weeks after the launch were 43 percent higher than the two weeks prior, reaching $249 million, according to The NPD Group Weekly Tracking Service.

For more details, read the full press release here.

Swarm now lets you check in from your Lock screen with iOS 8 Notification Center widget

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 10, 2014

Swarm, a dedicated check-in app by Foursquare, has received a tremendously useful update Friday which makes it dead simple to check in to your favorite locations right from your Lock screen without even opening the app, thanks to a brand new Notification Center widget available on iOS 8 devices.

The Swarm widget in the 1.3 update also gives you an at-a-glance view of a few of your friends who are especially close, helping you get a sense of who’s around.

Apple said to remove Bose products from store shelves next week

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 10, 2014

Apple is reportedly on the verge of removing audio products and accessories by the audio equipment specialist Bose from both its store shelves in addition to the demo units as early as next week, MacRumors learned Friday from a source privy to the matter.

Although the report comes short on specifics, the decision may have something to do with Bose's patent infringement lawsuit against Beats. As you know, Apple purchased Beats Electronics and Beats Music for $3 billion earlier this year.

The development seemingly coincides with a new agreement Bose signed with the National Football League banning its players from wearing Beats headphones while on television.