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Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote for iPad hit 12M downloads

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

Seven days into the Office for iPad release on Apple's platform, the native Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote applications for the iPad have been downloaded twelve million times, the Windows giant confirmed on Twitter this morning.

Microsoft released Word, Excel and PowerPoint as individual downloads for the iPad on March 27, 2014. The software giant's note-taking app, OneNote, hit the App Store ten days earlier, on March 17, 2014.

OneNote got refreshed the same day native Word, Excel and PowerPoint debuted on the App Store to bring it in line with the rest of the Office for iPad suite. You can download Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote individually in the App Store, for free...

Twitter’s Vine app updated with direct messaging, custom profile colors and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 9, 2018

Twitter's Vine app today received its largest update since it debuted last year, bringing the iOS client to version 2.0. The update includes a number of improvements, but easily the biggest change is the addition of a new private video messaging feature called Vine Messages (or VMs).

The concept behind a VM is simple. All you do is select the new 'Messages' option in the navigation menu, record a video and send it out to your friends. You can send VMs out to anyone, but users have the ability to choose who they want to receive messages from—friends followers, etc...

Apple purchased speech recognition firm Novauris last year to bolster Siri team

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Just a day after Microsoft unveiled its digital assistant 'Cortana' to rave reviews, news has surfaced that Apple has been making moves to bring its own assistant up to speed. TechCrunch is reporting this morning that the Cupertino company has purchased speech recognition firm Novauris, and the group is now working on the Siri team.

Novauris is highly-regarded in the world of speech recognition. Founded in March 2002 by well-known speech researchers and ex Dragon Systems engineers, the firm's technology is used in a variety of products by companies like Verizon Wireless, Panasonic, Alpine and BMW, and can be operated in both the embedded and server space...

Facebook rolling out free VoiP calling in Messenger to everyone

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 3, 2014

Ever since launching its totally redesigned Messenger app last November, the social networking giant Facebook's been dragging its feet in terms of enabling VoIP calling for everyone.

For users in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, this useful feature has been part of the old Messenger app for quite some time now.

Today, Facebook issued a minor update to Messenger for iOS that seemingly enables free voice calling over Wi-Fi and low-cost calls over cellular for everyone.

The update is available in the App Store so grab it now and check out free calling in Facebook Messenger...

Happy birthday, iPad! Here’s how you changed my Mom’s life.

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 3, 2014

The iPad launched to the public on April 3, 2010 so we though it'd be cool to celebrate the occasion by recapping the incredible four years of the post-PC revolution Apple's device ushered in 4 years ago today.

The iPad is many things to many people. It transforms itself to whatever one wants it to be, thanks to the power of software and the more than 500,000 beautifully designed apps, created specifically for it.

Do you remember seeing Steve Jobs demo web browsing on the iPad for the first time? I know I was completely sold on this idea of holding the Internet in my hand. Since getting my first iPad, I've spent countless hours before bedtime with it just catching up on news, hanging on Twitter and what not.

You should know I'd never done that on any of my notebooks, they were just too clunky to hold comfortably in one hand. And, I've long given up squinting at small type on tiny smartphone screens.

If you'd told me back then that soon most of my research, entertainment and online activities would happen on a tablet, I'd have called you nuts for sure. And here we are four years later with the iPad as my primary computer.

Want to take a trip down memory lane? Read on...

Unique physics-based platformer Monument Valley just hit iOS and it’s insanely great

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2016

Right upon seeing a trailer for Monument Valley, I was drawn to this surreal physics-based iOS game of platforms and perspectives with a twist, to such a great degree that I immediately bought it without thinking.

Created by Ustwo, the same minds who brought us Blip Blup and Whale Trail, the game is an insta-purchase and easily one of the most visual striking titles to grace Apple's mobile platform since its inception.

Now available for the iPhone and iPad in exchange for four bucks, Monument Valley challenges you to manipulate impossible architecture and guide the silent princess Ida through a stunningly beautiful world.

I've included gorgeous screenshots, videos and additional tidbits below the fold...

Pebble iOS app is back on the App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 3, 2017

Smartwatch maker Pebble recently issued an update to its companion iOS app, but was quickly forced to pull the software over a fatal flaw that broke the Bluetooth connection between the smartwatch and the iPhone, rendering your Pebble non-functional.

As developers fixed the issue, the Pebble app has just been re-released on the App Store.

Available now free of charge, Pebble version 2.1.1 fixes issue with the previous version while introducing new watchfaces and a couple new features.

Jump past the fold to learn more...

CamText: add a live camera to the Messages app background

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 3, 2014

CamText is a new jailbreak tweak that lets users text using the stock Messages app with a live camera background. The most obvious use for a tweak like this is to provide its users with a safe way to text while walking down a busy street.

Since the camera provides a live view of a user's surroundings using the Messages app background, it's possible to keep one eye on an impending obstacle, and another eye on the ongoing conversation. While I believe it's pretty sad that it's come to this—we can't even look up while crossing the street like a normal person—it's hard to deny the idea's usefulness in the face of the circumstances.

How to add now-playing details to the iPhone’s status bar

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 3, 2014

PlayMe is a super simple jailbreak tweak with one goal in mind—it allows you to add now-playing information to the iPhone's status bar, such as album artist, and song title. PlayMe works well with the stock Music app, but it also plays nice with third-party applications like Spotify.

As you play music, PlayMe will rotate between the album artist name and the name of the song repeatedly. There are no options to configure to change the way the tweak displays the now-playing text, it's totally an install and go affair. Have a look at our video walkthrough after the break for a closer look into how PlayMe works.

Fleeting: an awesome jailbreak tool for speed reading

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 3, 2014

Fleeting is an Action Menu add-on that allows you to select a block of text for speed reading. It contains its own interface that displays one word from the block of text at a time in quick succession. It's done in a way that makes the text entirely legible, even when moving at hundreds of words per minute.

If you've ever been intrigued by the idea of speed reading, then you should check out Fleeting. Have a glance inside at our full video walkthrough for more details.

Apple confirms WWDC 2014 kicking off June 2

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Apple on Thursday confirmed via a press release that its annual summer pilgrimage for developers, Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), will be kicking off on Monday, June 2, at San Francisco’s Moscone West.

The five-day conference will focus on "the future of iOS and OS X,", indicating that Apple will give us a preview of iOS 8 and the next iteration of its desktop operating system for Macs, OS X.

There will be more than a hundred technical sessions and over a thousand Apple engineers will be available to registered developers to help them integrate new technologies and fine tune their apps.

Apple will also hold its traditional Apple Design Awards to showcase the best apps from the past year and of course hold the keynote on the first day to update us on latest business metrics and hopefully announce "exciting new products" CEO Tim Cook has been teasing for months now...

‘Warhammer 40,000: Storm of Vengeance’ hits the App Store

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 28, 2018

Wow, it has been an absolute monster day for iOS game releases. First there was 'Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft,’ which hit App Stores in select countries, then FTL for iPad came out, and now we have 'Warhammer 40,000: Storm of Vengeance.'

Games Workshop's Storm of Vengeance is a lane strategy game for PC and mobile devices set in the dark, gothic universe of Warhammer 40K. Players can play as both Dark Angels and Orks, tasked with either defending their planet, or destroying it...