Director John Woo delves into iOS gaming, teases Bloodstroke

If you're a fan of movies such as Face/Off, definitely keep tabs on UK-based red hot publisher Chillingo's upcoming Bloodstroke, an iPhone and iPad "on-rails" game boasting the story and script written by John Woo. Yes, John Woo, the action movie director!

Currently in development by the Moon Shark studio, Bloodstroke takes place all over Asia.

The game puts you in the shoes of Phalanx’s elite private security agent code-named Lotus (real name: Mai Lee) who gets involved "in an exciting story."

The game's premise determines most missions, which revolve around protect your employer on the streets of Hong Kong and Beijing. Bloodstroke strives to set itself apart with a nice black and white graphic style, with colors being used only sparingly and consciously for emphasis (hint: blood)...

New hack brings Plex back to the Apple TV

We have some good news following our yesterday's report that PlexConnect, the hack that allows you to run Plex on a non jailbroken Apple TV had been disabled in the device's recent update. As it turns out, you can still run PlexConnect on your Apple TV, although it might not be as straightforward as it once was.

Developer Paul Kehrer has written a fairly detailed tutorial explaining how to run PlexConnect on your Apple TV. The hack still poses as Apple TV's Trailers app in order to accomplish the install...

New Parallels Access app lets you remotely run Mac or PC apps on your iPad

Virtualization software maker Parallels on Tuesday launched Parallels Access, an iPad app and a subscription-based cloud service that usher in a new era of mobile productivity. Parallels' novel solution basically applifies your desktop applications on Windows and Mac machines, letting you access them remotely on your iPad or iPad mini as if they were made for the iPad, down to the native iOS gestures and multi-touch interface.

Not only can you stream your desktop productivity applications to your tablet, but also all your video from Mac or PC onto your iPad. Check it out in action right after the break...

Apple acquires Swedish mobile imaging and compression firm AlgoTrim

Apple has once more dipped into Sweden for its latest startup acquisition. AlgoTrim's claim to fame is software which compresses images for quicker display on mobile displays and technology for efficient and battery-friendly image processing and editing - again, optimized for mobile devices. While neither Apple nor AlgoTrim will talk about the purchase, their reticence hasn't prevented speculation that the tiny firm was acquired to boost iOS imaging.

What does Apple want with a company which reportedly earned in 2012 just $3 million - pocket change for the Silicon Valley tech giant? First, consider who also wants AlgoTrim's software. Yep, Google's Android...

BitTorrent Sync iOS app launches on App Store

Back in April, BitTorrent introduced an Alpha version of BitTorrent Sync, a free cross-platform file syncing service that automatically moves data between devices via distributed technology, appealing to privacy advocates by totally bypassing the cloud.

The service entered Beta last month, which also saw the release of an Android client, a free download from Google's Play store. No, BitTorrent hasn't forgotten about iOS users: today saw the release of BitTorrent Sync for iOS.

Just like its Android counterpart, the iPhone and iPad app lets mobile users sync up work folders to their tablet or smartphone, back up their precious photos, share files directly to friends and collaborators and more...

Detailed shots picture alleged iPad 5 front panel

Australian blogger Sonny Dickson is quickly becoming the Interweb's favorite component leaker, especially in terms of  unreleased Apple gadgets.

He's back at it again, claiming to have gotten his hands on the front panel for Apple’s upcoming fifth-generation iPad.

Of course, he's bringing with him a bunch of high-quality photographs depicting the alleged part from various angles. The images match up to leaked schematics and show off that purported iPad mini style design with the narrower side bezels.

I've included a few best shots for the sake of discussions, have a look at them right after the break...

Bloomberg: Apple may announce new iPads come September 10

Several credulous publications have confirmed with their deeply entrenched sources that Apple will be indeed revealing the iPhone 5S and 5C at a media event on September 10, possibly even launching iOS 7 for public consumption the same day. As for the upcoming iPads, conventional wisdom suggests the company might launch a fifth-generation iPad and possibly a Retina iPad mini at a separate media event in order not to take the wind out of the iPhone's sails.

People have suggested an October launch for new iPads and that just about makes sense to us, but now Bloomberg is casually mentioning that both new iPhones and iPads are on Apple's agenda for September 10...

E-books: judge says Apple needs outside monitoring

Apple seems to have succeeded in keeping government watchdogs from roaming the corridors of its Cupertino, California headquarters. A proposal by the Department of Justice (DoJ) to install an external antitrust monitor to oversee Apple activities was greatly curtailed Tuesday. Instead, New York federal judge Denis Cote ruled that any monitor would be limited to overseeing Apple's antitrust policies and employee training.

A proposal by the DoJ to watch over all of Apple's distribution efforts for potential antitrust action was also trimmed, the judge saying she doesn't want government investigators interfering in the iPhone maker's "flexibility to innovate"...

HiRise: iPhone’s new throne pedestal by Twelve South

A couple weeks ago, we highlighted the launch of Twelve South's newest accessory, the HiRise for iPhone 5 and iPad mini. I was able to finally get my hands on one and can report the excitement is worth the hype. For those new to the Twelve South scene, the company is a premium and Apple exclusive accessory maker, made famous for simple and elegant products like the iPhone SurfacePad, BookBook case, and BookArc.

Humbly setting a company goal to launch 12 Mac accessories each year, each new item is focused on design and function. Often, the elegance and intricacies of Twelve South products are found in the smallest of details, which often make the user experience even more enjoyable.

The HiRise for iPhone is no exception to the quality build and functional design of the product line. The HiRise for iMac or for MacBook Pro are popular items and the ported design easily conforms to iPhone 5 and iPad mini. With a small footprint, the newest HiRise is an excellent desktop companion...

Radium review: a beautiful internet radio player

I’ve always wondered why Apple doesn’t include a radio feature with its iOS devices. You can download millions of songs, listen to hundreds of thousands of podcasts, and even fill your iTunes library with as many audio books as your device will fit. But if you want to listen to the radio, you’ll have to download a third-party app.

Radium is an Internet radio app that features more than 8,000 stations across the globe. Additionally, you can save your favorite stations and sync them through iCloud to your Mac Radium app...

Gmail iOS update brings Google apps integration, full screen image attachments

Wow, you have to give it to Google for trying to take over the experience by creating a nice little ecosystem right inside Apple's iOS.

See, the Internet giant has been quite diligent about integrating its popular iPhone and iPad apps to work seamlessly together.

Take Gmail, for example.

Not only has today's update enabled a prettier attachment experience, but it's also brought out tight integration with Google apps. This is quite handy as links in email messages to Google Drive and Google+ content can now go directly to Google's native iOS apps, if installed...

Bad news: this morning’s Apple TV update broke PlexConnect hack

Apple this morning has issued an update making its popular $99 Apple TV gadget a whole lot more useful by enabling an additional five content channels: 24/7 music video streaming via Vevo TV, in addition to on-demand and live video feeds from Weather Channel, Disney Channel, Disney XD and Smithsonian Channel.

While not a software update per se - new icons automatically appear on your Home screen upon firing up the set-top box without requiring any intervention on the user's part - something has changed because it's broken PlexConnect, a popular hack that fools Apple's Trailers app into streaming media files stored on your computer, no jailbreak required...