Southwest becomes first airline to offer gate-to-gate Wi-Fi service

Since the FAA started allowing usage of personal electronic devices during all phases of flight last month, most airlines have now embraced the new rule, letting people play Words With Friends from takeoff to landing. Often one step ahead of competitions in terms of services, Southwest Airlines takes this a bit further and now allows passengers to stay connected to Wi-Fi from gate to gate.

Personal assistant Donna gets smarter meeting scheduling, Lock screen calling and more

Remember Donna, a third-party personal assistant for the iPhone by San Francisco-based Incredible Labs? Cody explained in June how the program takes advantage of such features as Smart Notifications, Anticipatory Calendar and GPS directions to manage your day efficiently to make sure you’re never late again.

Incredible Labs today pushed version 2.0, Donna's second major update since launch. As you could image, it brings a host of visual changes in line with the iOS 7 design principles.

But more importantly, version 2.0 takes Donna's prediction engine to the next level by prompting you when you need to leave for your appointment based on your location and ensuring that meeting participants are notified in a timely manner in case you’re running late after all...

China Mobile expected to launch iPhone December 18

After years of negotiations and several months of rumors, it looks like China Mobile is finally going to land the iPhone next month. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the carrier is expected to announce the "new brand" for mobile services on December 18.

Apple and China Mobile have long been reported to be in partnership discussions, and Tim Cook has been seen at the company's headquarters in Beijing multiple times. But for whatever reason, the two sides have been unable to reach an agreement. Until now...

ESPN rebrands ScoreCenter app, adds League ‘Clubhouses’ and other features

ESPN’s rather excellent and successful (43 million downloads thus far) ScoreCenter app for the iPhone and iPad has just gotten a tad better as today's update brings more video content, a new League Clubhouses feature, enhanced game pages and a brand new name. Yup, ESPN decided to rebrand ScoreCenter as SportsCenter, which better reflects its emphasis on all things sports.

SportsCenter now provides one-tap access to GameCast live scoring information while the Clubhouses feature collects content from various sports leagues into a single hub. As part of the update, the app's appearance has been refreshed slightly to better match the iOS 7 look and feel...

Rumor: Apple now testing 4.9-inch iPhone 6 and iPhone 5c successor

A Chinese blog that leaked a few credible Apple parts earlier in the year is out with a new report that's making the rounds this morning. Apparently, Apple has begun testing upcoming iPhone models with larger screens that go beyond the current four-inch form factor the company inaugurated with the iPhone 5 release a year ago. A large-screen iPhone 6 was mulled before, but this is the first time anyone mentioned an iPhone 5c successor adopting a bigger screen as well.

On the flip side, it's impossible to take these reports at face value. These things are often misinterpreted and even Tim Cook bothered to urge people not to read too much into such a complex beast as Apple's supply chain. Moreover, it goes without saying that Apple is constantly experimenting with various form factors, which could explain these rumors...

Clumsy Ninja finally available in US App Store

It's been a long 12 months for NaturalMotion studios and its Clumsy Ninja game. After drawing oohs and aahs from the crowd at Apple's iPhone 5 event last fall, the title essentially disappeared, with no word on when or if it would be released.

That changed, though, a month or two ago, when Clumsy Ninja started showing up in international App Stores. And we're happy to say that this week, the game's finally landed in the United States App Store, and is now available for download...

Retina iPad mini shortages deepen as shipping estimates slip at U.S. carriers

Supply of Apple's iPad mini with Retina display remains tight as the holiday season approaches fast, a new report has it. The Wi-Fi + Cellular models appear to be in short supply as the device is basically a no-show at three major United States wireless carriers - AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile. The three telcos all back-ordered on the cellular version, with shipping estimates slipping to December.

In one instance, T-Mobile is now showing the device back-ordered 6-8 weeks. As for T-Mobile and AT&T, their web stores show 6-8 week and 21-28 day delivery estimates, respectively...

EPOCH.2 review: shoot and cover in a robot apocalypse

Games with extraordinary graphics, mechanics, and overall design don’t come around all that often in the App Store. The time and effort that goes into making an epic game is worth more than $0.99, which is what most consumers want to pay for an iOS game.

EPOCH.2 is a cover system game that features rich 3-D graphics, a deeply involved storyline, and lots and lots of shooting…

Sky Knight brings old timey shoot ‘em up action to iOS

As a kid, my favorite arcade games involved shooting things non-stop until the screen was cleared. The best ones would give you random weapon pickups so you could splatter huge groups of enemies in one shot. Theses action shooter games are still just as fun for me as they ever were.

Sky Knight is a shoot ‘em up game where you are flying an old timey World War I style fighter plane in a pixelated environment. Not only are the graphics decades old, the theme is practically centuries old…

Tim Cook issues Business Conduct Policy video message to employees

In an unusual move yesterday, Apple CEO Tim Cook reached out to company employees via a video message urging them to familiarize themselves with Apple's Business Conduct Policy. The message, posted to Apple's internal system, quotes Dr. Martin Luther King Jr saying “The time is always right to do what is right” in order to encourage employees to speak up about conduct that may violate Apple's policy.

Along with the video message, employees also received an email from Apple's top lawyer who goes on to reiterate Apple’s core values of honesty, respect, confidentiality, and the "critical obligation of every Apple employee to adhere to legal principles", such as antitrust and anti-corruption laws.

Apple has even put together a new code of conduct iBook for employees with multimedia content including galleries, video, audio and multitouch widgets. The full message is right after the break...

Moshi introduces new ultrathin ‘VersaKeyboard’ iPad Air case

If you're in the market for a non-conventional keyboard case for your new iPad Air, you may want to check out this new offering from Moshi. The California-based accessory-maker introduced the origami-styled VersaKeyboard yesterday.

The case is interesting because it can be manipulated to work as a stand and comes equipped with an ultrathin detachable Bluetooth keyboard. It works in both landscape and portrait mode, and the keyboard has a battery life of 130 hours...

Pinterest app updated with new ‘Place Pins’ for planning trips

Pinterest announced last night that it's moving into new territory: travel. The popular photo-sharing service announced Place Pins, a new feature that will allow its users to share photos of the amazing places they’re visiting.

That new feature is now available in the iOS app. And with it, users can essentially plan vacations by easily adding maps to their pin boards, as well as other useful travel information like hotel addresses and phone numbers...