Nintendo denies report of plans to release ‘mini games’ for mobile devices

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Japanese business newspaper Nikkei published a report yesterday suggesting that Nintendo is working on a smartphone app as part of an effort to market its games to users outside of its ecosystem. The report also claimed that the company is working on 'mini games' in the same light.

But according to Nintendo, that's not true—at least the last half of it. In an official statement today, the game-maker debunked the Nikkei article, stating that it doesn't have any plans to offer 'mini' or 'demo' games on smartphone and tablet platforms, at any point in the immediate future...

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Rovio denies wrongdoing in NSA’s snooping of Angry Birds players, but…

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

A report yesterday by The New York Times and other news organizations has provided yet another unsettling glimpse into the NSA's wide-ranging surveillance practices.

The speculation, based on information from documents provided by the NSA leaker Edward Snowden, suggests that the NSA and its British counterpart GCHQ have been collecting private user data from mobile apps, in real time, as it travels across the Internet.

Profile data being collected from popular games such as Rovio’s Angry Birds typically includes age, location and gender, the allegations go. And with games that show ads, the agencies are also able to intercept users' surprisingly detailed advertising profiles, mining it for new information...

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Rap Genius releases new iPhone app for understanding song lyrics

Cody Lee ∙ January 28, 2014

Rap Genius, the website dedicated to the annotation and interpretation of lyrics, poetry and other forms of text, has released a new mobile app for the iPhone. As you'd expect, it's essentially the major features of the site packaged in a native application.

On the surface, the app looks good. It's nice to see an app go against the grain with a darker theme, and the text and graphics seem sharp. And functionality-wise, it hits on all the big features such as the Shazam-like Genius Recognition Technology...

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Rumor: next-gen Apple TV has gaming functionality, TV tuner, built-in AirPort router

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 28, 2014

Piggy-backing on a report last week by iLounge which heard from sources that the next Apple TV set-top box will support wireless game controllers and possibly an app store for games, another reliable blogger has chimed in with additional tidbits.

Long story short, a much improved Apple TV hardware refresh is thought to include an 802.11ac wireless router functionality by way of AirPort Express integration. It should also come with a built-in TV tuner to control your existing cable boxes and TV stations and include gaming functionality.

Some hobby, eh?

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iPad photography is now officially a thing…

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

You're already familiar with iPhone photography, aren't you? And I take it those among you who attend trade shows have by now caught wind of the rise of iPad photography, no? As if using an iPad to snap photos in public wasn't embarrassing enough, Sony has now produced a dedicated camera attachment aimed at tablet owners which allows its portable QX-10 or QX-100 lens to be snapped on.

The SPA-TA1 attachment is designed for tablets between 85mm and 190mm in width so it'll work with your iPad Air (169.5mm) just fine. Available in various sizes from April 4 in Japan and coming elsewhere soon after, it's bound to give iPad photography a whole new meaning, for better or worse...

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Google launches Chrome apps for iOS

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Just when you thought web apps were officially dead on mobile, the Internet giant Google has expanded the reach of its ecosystem by announcing Tuesday that it's bringing Chrome web applications to iOS and Android smartphones and tablets. Previously, Chrome apps were accessible via desktop computers only.

Conventional wisdom has it that the main advantage of web apps is that they're written using standard web technologies - HTML5, CSS and Javascript.

In turn, web apps run without major issues on any computing platform with a standards-compliant web browser. I know what you must be thinking, 'Apple offered web app development for the iPhone and it didn't work out for them', right?

Google thought of that, too: an early developer preview of its tool allows developers to actually compile their Chrome web apps as native applications which can be easily distributed through Apple's App Store and Google's own Play store...

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Virgin knocks another 20% off its iPhone selection

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 15, 2017

Yesterday, Cody informed you of Virgin Mobile's iPhone deal: the Sprint-owned MVNO has shaved another ten percet off its iPhone selection, bringing the cost of the 16GB iPhone 5s down to $495. The 32GB iPhone 5s was slashed to $585 and the 64GB variant dropped to $675, the latter just a little bit more than what you’d normally pay for an off-contract 16GB iPhone 5s.

I'm not sure whether Apple's earnings report had anything to do with it, but Virgin on Tuesday knocked another 20 percent off these devices. The discount extends to the iPhone 5c and iPhone 4 as well...

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Ember update brings new Annotation tools, Screenshot Auto-Import

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 28, 2018

Realmac Software's image organization and syncing software, Ember, has received a nice little update on the iOS side, bringing several new annotation tools and the ability to automatically import screenshots. Both these features are available now in the free iPhone and iPad app as in-app purchases.

On the Mac side, Ember has been updated with 50+ tweaks, enhancements and bug fixes. The update is available now and is free in the Mac App Store for existing users. Jump past the fold for the full reveal...

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Moshi launches flip cover iPhone case with embedded sensors

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

Accessory maker Moshi on Tuesday announced a new flip cover case for the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. The TouchSense, as the name implies, allows you to answer incoming phone calls and silence alarms without having to open the cover.

This nice feat has been accomplished by putting Moshi's proprietary touch-sensitive SensArray plates on the front cover, right where iOS 7's slide-to-unlock (or answer) thingie appears.

And what happens should Apple change the Lock screen UI in the future? I guess Moshi's engineers haven't bothered themselves with such mundane concerns...

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Red Bull TV sports channel added to Apple TV

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 28, 2014

Apple has added a new channel to its $99 media-streaming box, the Apple TV. The Red Bull TV action sports channel should be now available on everyone's Home screen (if not, manually check for updates by going to Settings > General > Software Updates and choosing Update Software).

Red Bull TV is an action-packed sports channel by the famous Austrian energy drinks company, Red Bull GmbH. The new Apple TV channel offers free action sports content, coverage of live events and more...

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Donald Trump dumps shares over Apple’s ‘dumb refusal’ to give us bigger iPhones

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 28, 2014

Following Apple's record-setting holiday quarter, its stock still dropped eight percent in after-hours trading because the 51 million iPhones sold missed Wall Street consensus by a few million units. American businessman Donald Trump took to Twitter to express his dissatisfaction with Apple losing its vision and momentum, going on a rant over Apple's "dumb refusal" to give iPhones bigger screens.

Samsung's sizes are "much better", Trump said and stressed he sold his Apple stock because iPhones are still four inches. I'm sure Tim Cook immediately called for an emergency meeting with his lieutenants, fearing the wrath of Mr. Trump...

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