Apple plans to improve AppleCare+ and iOS device support in near future

According to the well-connected blogger Mark Gurman, citing Apple employees that wish to remain anonymous, Apple Vice President of AppleCare and technical support Tara Bunch held a Town Hall meeting this week for AppleCare employees. At the meeting, several upcoming improvements to AppleCare+ and other support platforms were outlined.

Bunch hinted that AppleCare+ may be expanded to additional countries, although it is a challenging process because of the insurance and government-related legal processes that vary between countries worldwide. Bunch also told employees that Apple is testing a pilot program to expand the eligibility window for purchasing AppleCare+ to 60 days. Several other changes are incoming… 

Hunting for a new gig? LinkedIn’s new Job Search app is a one-stop shop for your job-seeking needs

If you're in the market for a new job, there's no better place to start than LinkedIn, the world's most popular business-oriented service for professional networking. And when tapping the power of your professional network to seek out new opportunities, your quick responses to inquiries from potential employers become paramount.

LinkedIn has a decent iPhone and iPad client in the App Store, but it's a little clunky and can be overwhelming and daunting to use. Enter Job Search, a new iPhone app from LinkedIn that makes it easy to find that dream job while sipping your latte...

iWatch to launch in October with wireless charging, pulse sensor and more

Reuters is out with a new report this afternoon regarding the iWatch. Citing sources familiar with the project, the outlet says that Apple's long-rumored smartwatch is set to go into mass production next month at Taiwan's Quanta Computer Inc, ahead of a likely October launch.

The report also offers up some details about the so-called iWatch—most of which we've heard rumored before—including that the device will feature a 2.5-inch display and wireless charging capabilities, and will have a built-in sensor that'll be capable of monitoring a user's pulse...

Photography apps can now tap the full range of manual camera controls in iOS 8

Don't you hate it when your favorite camera app from the App Store is unable to provide the full range of manual controls supported by your iOS device's camera hardware?

Responding to developer feedback, Apple has now addressed that particular customer pain point by opening up manual camera controls in iOS 8.

That's right, developers of photography apps such as Instagram, ProCamera and Camera+, to name a few, can finally implement the full assortment of camera controls in their apps using the official iOS 8 SDK APIs...

Reverser app makes some pretty creepy yet funny video effects

So, there may not normally be any reason why a person would want to reverse a video (audio included) other than to goof off. However, goofing off is my favorite pastime, so turning something so simple as a cat video into a hilariously bizarre short art piece is something I can’t resist.

Reverser: Backwards Slo-Mo is a video-editing app that turns your clips inside out and upside down. Well, at least it reverses the video and audio for some fairly interesting effects…

Skype 5.1 for iPhone delivers enhancements to People, Favorites and Conversations

Precisely a week after releasing the remastered Skype 5.0 for iPhone featuring a Windows Phone-like interface, the Microsoft-owned company has released the first update containing a few messaging enhancements customers have been asking for.

In a bid to close the gap between desktop and mobile, the free Skype 5.1 for iPhone update brings out new options to manage your favorites.

The app now allows you to filter the People list with new "Skype" and "Online" filters, with filter settings saved across mobile and desktop Skype apps. Other improvements to conversations and favorites are also included in this nice little update...

Gameloft unleashes Dungeon Gems onto the App Store

With an influx of role-playing games in the App Store, it's probably never been a better time to be a fan of the genre. Now available free in the App Store for the iPhone and iPad, Dungeon Gems by the prolific French publisher Gameloft offers a combination of strategic RPG-style party management and fast-paced puzzle gameplay as you develop and advance your heroes to take on the mighty dragons. Jump past the fold to watch the trailer and learn more about this premium monster slasher...

How to add shortcuts to the volume HUD with Volume+

Volume+ is a new jailbreak tweak that infuses the volume heads up display that appears when adjusting your device's volume with new features and shortcuts. It's used to better equip you with handy controls while listening to music from the stock Music app or other music playing applications.

If you've been keeping a keen eye on Cydia over the last few years, you'll know that it's not the first volume HUD altering jailbreak tweak, and it probably won't be the last. Unfortunately, it falls into the lower tier of similar tweaks, because its buggy and suffers from some poor design choices. Have a look at our video walkthrough to see what I mean.

Disney’s new iPad app lets you recreate and customize iconic Star Wars scenes

Following Disney's unexpected purchase of Lucasfilm from George Lucas for $4.05 billion, the Mickey Mouse house is poised to release a seventh Star Wars film later this year. As part of the pre-release hype, the animation powerhouse has released a new Star Wars-themed app in the App Store.

Called Star Wars Scene Maker, it lets you create your own three-dimensional scenes and recreate iconic sets from the movies by dragging pre-made 3D objects representing characters, environments, weapons, props and ships across the screen and applying perfect camera angles (fixed mode, fixed tracking camera and chase camera) to them.

It's available in the App Store now and I have additional tidbits in store for you right after the break...

Activation Lock helps curb iPhone theft in New York, London and San Francisco

You may remember stories from a few years ago that described how iPhone theft was becoming a serious problem. New York mayor Michael Bloomberg even claimed that iPhone thefts had contributed to an overall rise in crime in New York City in 2012. The problem prompted Apple to team up with Google, HTC and others to help put anti-theft measures in place on smartphones.

Apple's own anti-theft measures appear to be working, as The New York Times reports that police in New York, San Francisco and London are finally seeing a decline in theft of the iPhone. The introduction of Activation Lock on iOS 7 has seen iPhone robberies drop 38 percent in San Francisco, 24 percent in London and 19 percent in New York, based on the six months before and after Apple released the feature… 

Video: hidden iOS 8 Maps feature – Flyover City Tours

There's a nicely done new Apple Maps feature hidden in iOS 8 Beta 2. Called City Tours, it's basically a set of manually programmed and scripted virtual tours of select major cities, rendered and animated in Maps' three-dimensional Flyover mode.

Apple hasn't talked about City Tours during its WWDC keynote (aside from a brief mention on one slide) and the feature couldn't be found on the official iOS 8 webpage, in WWDC session videos or inside Apple's official developer documentation...

Yo app takes quick messaging to the extreme

There's a new messaging app in town and it's unlike anything you've ever tried. It's lightweight and efficient, doesn't require you to provide a screen name, won't ask for your cell phone number nor will it pester you with ads - and boy is its Home screen icon unique.

It's called Yo. (with the full-stop) and could easily be the simplest and most efficient communication tool in the world, with an insane twist on the mobile messaging concept...