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Drawnimal goes free as Apple’s latest Free App of the Week

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 27, 2014

It's Thursday, and this can only mean one thing: the awesome Darklings game goes back up to its regular price as Apple gets to bring another iOS application down to $0, as part of the App Store's ongoing Free App of the Week promotion.

Today's free app: Lucas Zanotto's Drawnimal. If you have children or a very young brother/sister, Drawnimal is the perfect way to teach them the alphabet and at the same time get them excited about art.

Designed to help kids learn to think out of the box, the app ingeniously puts up a fun image of an animal on the screen, requiring your kid to follow the prompts and actually draw around the device that's sitting on a piece of paper.

Drawnimal will be free until next Thursday so grab it now in the App Store before it slips your mind...

WSJ: Amazon working on free video streaming service

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Much of the tech world seems to be infatuated with Office for iPad today, but I think what's going on over at Amazon is more interesting. Not only is the company expected to unveil a new TV device next week, and working on Internet radio, but a new report claims it's also building a Hulu-like service.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting this afternoon that Amazon is planning a free, ad-supported streaming service that will offer video content to all customers—not just Prime members. The outlet says the service could be used to stream original Amazon shows as well as other licensed programming...

Apple getting its standard 30 percent cut on Office for iPad subscriptions

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 27, 2014

Following today's long expected release of the Office for iPad applications, Apple's boss Tim Cook issued a nice tweet welcoming Word, Excel and PowerPoint into the App Store. Returning the favor, Microsoft's newly installed chief executive Satya Nadella took to Twitter to thank Cook, saying he was "excited to bring the magic of Office to iPad customers".

Redmond couldn't have wished for a better endorsement than this!

So, why are these powerful Silicon Valley executives droning politely on to each other, do you think? And how come Cook is promoting Office for iPad even though the software competes squarely with Apple's own iWork suite, free with iDevice purchases?

Could it be because folks at Cupertino are getting their standard 30 percent cut on Office 365 subscriptions sold within the app...

Theme Thursday: Aromy, RipMe HD, Patience and more

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

The ninth edition of Theme Thursday, a weekly column that promotes some of the best Winterboard themes, features four releases with noticeably different designs. Aromy has a playful color scheme with drop shadows, RipMe HD has a nature-based design, px.theme is a pixel theme and Patience is just beautiful. Take a look at each ahead and keep your recommendations coming in the comments for next week…

Popular PC game ‘Faster Than Light’ landing on iPad next week

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Good news for gamers this afternoon, as it's been announced that the popular PC/Mac title Faster Than Light will be making its way to the iPad next week. The developers announced the release date via the official FTL Twitter account, and said it will be accompanied by a free desktop content expansion pack.

For those who are unfamiliar with FTL, it's a top-down, real-time strategy game that has players managing a crew and its faster-than-light spacecraft as it flies through multiple galaxy systems. In it, you'll face off against rebel and other hostile forces, recruit new crew members and ensure your ship's safety...

Yahoo updates Weather app with new animations, pull-to-refresh for photos and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 27, 2014

The reinvigorated Yahoo has updated its gorgeous Weather application for the iPhone and iPad, available free of charge in the App Store, with some noteworthy visual enhancements and feature improvements.

I've always absolutely loved how the app presents full-bleed photographs of chosen location(s), sourced from the Flickr community.

But, there was no way to browse through different photos of the same location. Starting today, you can now simply pull down on the image to load a new one, when possible. Another enhancements, straight from the design department: new animations for moon phases available as you scroll through details...

Office for iPhone is now free for home use

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2018

Shortly after Microsoft brought the mobile edition of Office to the iPhone last summer, fans of the Windows giant's productivity software cried foul as the app came across to them as more of an Office companion for mobile than a full-blown productivity application.

Although available free of charge and with editing functionality for your Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, the app initially required an Office 365 subscription - much like the newly released Office for iPad. But not anymore.

Started today, Microsoft is making both the iPhone edition of Office and the version for Android smartphones free for everyone, like on Windows Phone. And to reflect the updated business model, the app has been rechristened and is now simply called Office Mobile for iPhone - much shorter and easier to remember than 'Office Mobile for Office 365 subscribers', which used to be its full name before...

Amazon said to be launching its set-top box next week

Cody Lee ∙ March 27, 2014

Following reports from last week that Amazon is planning to launch its long-awaited Apple TV competitor in next month, Amazon has sent out invites for a media event scheduled for April 2nd. The invitations ask that reporters join the company for an 'update' on its video business.

And according to a new report from Recode, the e-commerce giant is going to use the event to unveil a new set-top box device. Citing sources familiar with Amazon's plans, the outlet says the device will be capable of streaming media to TV sets, competing directly with Apple and Roku...

Nikkei: Apple to launch 4.7 and 5.5-inch iPhone as early as September

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

Japanese news outlet Nikkei threw its weight behind a popular rumor today, reporting that Apple's next-gen iPhone will come in both 4.7- and 5.5-inch models. The theory that the company is working on two new larger-sized handsets has been reiterated several times over the past 6 months.

Citing sources within Apple's supply chain, Nikkei says that manufacturers have already begun making components for the new smartphones, like fingerprint sensors and chips for liquid-crystal drivers, and Sharp, Japan Display and LG will begin mass-producing their panels as early as April...

How to add a rain effect to the iPhone’s Lock screen

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 27, 2014

Rain Lock is a jailbreak tweak that lets you add custom "rain" effects to the iPhone's Lock screen. The rain is really just text, which can be custom text or one of the two built-in text effects.

As you may have already figured out, Rain Lock isn't the type of tweak that adds enhanced functionality to your iPhone, neither does it help you work smarter—it's a tweak that's unapologetically centered on visual flair. And that's okay, because that's what Rain Lock does well, and it gets it right for the most part. Mosey on inside for a look into how Rain Lock works via our hands-on video walkthrough...

Microsoft launches Office for iPad, including Word, Excel and Powerpoint

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2018

The rumors were true! Microsoft's new chief executive office Satya Nadella is hosting a press briefing in San Francisco this morning. After the CEO discussed Microsoft’s 'mobile first, cloud first' strategy, Julia White, Microsoft’s chief of Office Division Product Management, took the stage to formally reveal Office for iPad.

"This is definitely not the Windows app ported to the iPad," said White, adding that Word, Excel and PowerPoint for iPad are all native iOS apps. Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint apps are now available for download in the App Store, joining Microsoft's existing OneNote for iPhone and iPad and the recently released OneNote for Mac.

Akin to Office 365 for iPhone which debuted last June, Office for iPad requires Microsoft's Office 365 subscription for editing features. The entry-level subscription tier will set you back $9.99-per-month (or $99.99 per year) for a Home Premium package, which buys you access to the Office applications for Windows, Mac and mobile on up to five devices.

A more affordable Office 365 Personal has been announced recently ($6.99 per month, $69.99 per year, limited to just one PC or Mac, plus one tablet), but it’s not available just yet. You can sign up for a free 30-day Office 365 trial and for those who don't want a subscription, Office for iPad will let you view and present Office documents, spreadsheets and presentations, but not edit the files...

High-quality photographs show construction at Apple’s gigantic iSpaceship site

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Two days ago, a nice little video popped up on YouTube depicting the initial demolition of Hewlett-Packard's former buildings at the site where Apple's gigantic ring-shaped Campus 2 structure should crop up by 2016. Apple's spectacular building has been appropriately dubbed by the press the iSpaceship due to its resemblance to a flying saucer.

High production values of the footage coupled with unprecedented access to the site prompted suspicion that the leaked footage was legit.

It was apparently circulated internally by Apple, a notion fueled further by the fact that the clip soon got taken down due to a copyright claim by Apple Inc. Thursday, a source familiar with Apple's plans sent in a series of high-quality photographs giving us another good look at the initial demolition and the sheer size of the site...