Nokia’s PureView camera expert joins Apple

Ari Partinen, Nokia's expert who worked on the Lumia PureView imaging technology has joined Apple, presumably to work on the iPhone's camera. According to a pair of tweets issued by Partinen himself, today marks his last day on the job.

A graduate of Helsinki University of Technology, Partinen was Lumia Photography Lead at the Finnish company and was instrumental in the development of the Nokia 808 PureView 41-megapixel sensor with unmatched low-light sensitivity...

Nintendo’s first mobile app to be for ‘Mario Kart TV’ web service

Nintendo continues to stand against the idea of porting its popular games to iOS or Android, but it's not writing off mobile completely. Earlier this year, the company confirmed it was working on 'service apps,' which would serve as a bridge to bring more customers over to its console platform.

And this week, we get a good idea of what at least one of those apps could look like. During its financial results briefing yesterday, Nintendo announced that it's planning to release an app for Mario Kart TV—a web service that allows players to access and share videos captured from Mario Kart 8...

New report claims Apple could launch 4.7-inch iPhone 6 as early as August

Those excited for Apple's next smartphone may not have to wait as long as originally thought to get their hands on one. Reuters passes along a new report from Taiwan's Economic Daily News this morning which claims that the iPhone 6 could be just three months away.

Citing anonymous sources in Apple's supply chain, the Daily News says that the 4.7-inch model of the new iPhone will reach stores as soon as August. The 5.5-inch model, the report says, will land a month later in September—same as the iPhone 5s and the 5 before it...

How to view the current volume percentage in the volume HUD

Want to alter the iPhone's volume heads up display to showcase the current volume setting as a percentage? If so, then Voltage—a jailbreak tweak that was released earlier this spring—might be the tool that you've been looking for.

Voltage includes a preference panel that allows you to use variables to format the way that the HUD overlay. Check out our video walkthrough inside to see how voltage might benefit you.

Daily Dash: find out what’s trending on your Lock screen

Twitter trends on your iPhone's Lock screen? That's the premise behind Daily Dash—a Cydget widget for jailbroken devices that lists the top three Twitter trending topics right on the Lock screen.

Daily Dash actually came out a few days ago, but it didn't work properly. An update was pushed to fix the issue, and now it works exactly as described. Check out our video walkthrough after the break to see Daily Dash in action.

Beats’ Jimmy Iovine in talks to join Apple as ‘special adviser’ to Tim Cook

Following up news this afternoon that Apple is in serious talks to acquire Beats, the New York Post is reporting that co-founder Jimmy Iovine may soon be joining the company. The Post says Iovine would serve as a 'special adviser,' and would report to Tim Cook on 'creative matters.'

Jimmy Iovine is a record and movie producer, as well as a very successful entrepreneur. He co-founded Interscope Records in the early 90's, which later became part of the Universal Music Group, and then Beats in 2006, which again is being rumored to soon be bought out by Apple...

Belkin’s new QODE Thin Type keyboard case for iPad Air now available

Good news for iPad Air owners this afternoon. Belkin's QODE Thin Type keyboard, which was first announced last October, is now available for Apple's newest full-sized tablet. The QODE joins the Logitech Ultrathin and just a handful of others in the ultra-slim iPad keyboard space.

The Thin Type weighs in at just over 12 ounces, lighter than the iPad Air itself, and it's less than 4mm thick. It attaches to the tablet via secure-hold magnets, features Belkin’s exclusive TruType technology with well-spaced, responsive keys and lasts around 79 hours on a single charge...

FT: Apple to buy Beats Music for $3.2 billion

Apple is said to be on the verge of finalizing what would class as its biggest acquisition ever, a deal to buy Beats Music in a transaction valued at $3.2 billion. According to a Financial Times report on Thursday, citing people familiar with the negotiations, the deal could be announced as early as next week. Nothing is certain though as the parties have yet to agree on certain specifics so talks could still fall apart. Apple and Beats both declined to comment on the rumor...

Gameloft talks Modern Combat 5: Blackout classes and unified progression system

As my colleague Cody informed you, French games maker Gameloft recently shed more light on its highly anticipated Modern Combat sequel, titled Modern Combat 5: Blackout.

Coming to mobile later this year, Modern Combat 5: Blackout takes place in such locations as Venice, Italy and Tokyo and involves the main character Phoenix securing a transport of weapons of mass destruction from a particularly well-armed terrorist group.

This is a nice excuse for action-packed combat sequences and a bunch of nicely rendered orange explosions. Before you jump straight for comments, there's much more to this game than meets the eye. A new Gameloft blog post published Thursday offers new details on the game's unified progression system and its four soldier classes...

iPhone 5s/5c is half price at Best Buy until Sunday

Best Buy, the nation's popular consumer electronics retailer, is offering latest iPhones with a notable 50 percent discount until this coming Sunday, May 11. The entry-level iPhone 5s model with sixteen gigabytes of storage is now available for $99 after a two-year wireless contract with Verizon or Sprint.

The 16GB iPhone 5c - which normally costs $99 after a two-year contract over at the Online Apple Store (and through many other carriers/retailers) - will now set you back $49.95 in upfront payment. Higher-capacity iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c models are half price, too...

Apple litigation won’t cripple Android, Samsung lawyer insists

The Great Apple-Samsung Legal War has been raging on for years now, and on a scale almost unprecedented in business history. The latest in the saga involves a California court awarding Apple $119.6 million in damages over Samsung patent infringement, a far cry from the $2 billion the iPhone maker was shooting for.

The ruling has prompted many watchers to question the wisdom of Apple's thermonuclear war on Android. Adding the latest damages award on top of the $900+ million awarded to Apple from the first patent megatrial barely results in $1 billion. I'm certain this is the price Samsung is happy to pay for profiting from willfully lifting Apple's patented iPhone technology.

But no amount of litigation will ever stop Android dead in its tracks, argues an attorney for Samsung who represents the South Korean conglomerate in the courtroom...

San Francisco museum to honor Jony Ive with lifetime achievement award

According to a new report by MediaBistro, Jony Ive will be presented with this year's Bay Area Treasure Award on October 30. The award is granted annually by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in recognition of artists and creative leaders who have redefined visual art.

Ive will be the 15th recipient of the award, joining the likes of Star Wars filmmaker George Lucas and famed landscape architect Lawrence Halprin. And he's being honored for his long history of designing innovative products for Apple, which include the iMac, iPhone and iPad...