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Eric Schmidt: Apple and Google relationship improving

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Last year, the war between Apple and Google reached epic proportions. Not only were the two squaring off in the mobile platform space, and in the courtroom, but Apple actually booted Google's YouTube and Maps apps off the pre-installed list in iOS.

But things are calming down between the two tech titans, according to Google's Eric Schmidt. The executive chairman had nothing but nice things to say about the iPad-maker, telling reporters at the Sun Valley retreat that he "has a lot of respect for Apple..."

Despite anti-iPad campaign, Microsoft forced to lower Surface price

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 11, 2018

In an effort to spur struggling slate sales, Microsoft launched a TV ad campaign aimed squarely at the iPad. The strategy, which has spawned four commercials since May, focuses on highlighting the flaws in Apple's popular tablet in comparison with the Surface.

But despite the agressive campaign, Microsoft still seems to be having trouble selling tablets. According to a new report, the Redmond company is planning to drop the price of all Surface RT models by $150 later this month—a move in response to lackluster sales...

Infinity Blade Dungeons game officially canceled

Cody Lee ∙ July 12, 2013

Last March, Epic Games president Mike Capps took the stage at Apple's iPad 3 event to show off Infinity Blade Dungeons, the studio's third iteration in the popular series. And true to its predecessors, the game looked stunning—especially on the iPad's new Retina display.

At first sight, Dungeons had the makings of a hit. But then came the disappointment. After several months of silence, Epic announced last fall that the game would be delayed until 2013. Then it was put on hold. And now it sounds like the whole thing's been scrubbed...

Apple investigating claims of illegal tin mining

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

Apple updated its supplier page late last night, saying that it has decided to head up a "fact-finding visit" to Bangka Island, Indonesia to address concerns on whether or not its suppliers are sourcing tin from unregulated and illegal mines.

Bangka Island is one of the world’s premier tin-producing regions. But the area has also been linked to illegal tin mines that are, among other things, responsible for the destruction of tropical forests, coral reefs and fishermen’s livelihoods...

Sprint introduces new unlimited plans with lifetime guarantee

Cody Lee ∙ July 12, 2013

It's been a busy week for the folks over at Sprint. Not only did the carrier rebrand itself as the Sprint Corporation, and complete its buyout deal with SoftBank, but today it announced two new rate plans that include unlimited talk, text and data.

While the unlimited data itself is notable—few carriers still offer this—the real highlight of the plans is the lifetime guarantee. That's right, in a world where the rules seem to change every other year, Sprint is promising unlimited everything, forever...

iOS exclusive Worms 3 due this Fall

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Ah, the Worms games. Thoughts of a small platoon of earthworms always bring to mind fond memories of the Amiga days, which I tend to think had introduced home computing and video gaming to the masses.

The Worms series single-handedly launched UK-based development studio Team 17 into stardom (their other smash hit: the Alien Breed series).

Originally named Team 17 because it was mostly comprised of teenage talent, they now develop for Windows PCs and video game consoles.

But that doesn't mean the Worms franchise is dead, quite the contrary - the third installment to the Worms games is hitting the iOS platform exclusively in the third quarter of this year. They made it official yesterday to mark the fourth anniversary of their first venture onto the App Store with Worms...

Pebble announces it’s surpassed 275,000 watch pre-orders

Cody Lee ∙ July 11, 2013

Folks still skeptical on whether or not there's a real market for smartwatches should checkout Pebble's latest blog post. The company says they've received over 190,000 smartwatch pre-orders since their Kickstarter project ended last year, giving them 275,000 total.

Even if you do that math at $99 a pop—which was just a limited time early bird special price—that amounts to over $27 million. Not bad for a year's work...

This Friday, Best Buy is kicking off two-day iPad trade-in promo

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 11, 2013

With the next-generation full-size iPad 5 and iPad mini 2 reportedly entering manufacture - in time for an assumed Fall release - prudent folks may be looking to ditch their existing device ahead of launch, while it's not yet obsoleted. Figuring as much, Best Buy will be kicking off a newsworthy two-day promotion tomorrow, June 12, where you receive a $200 Gift Card in exchange for your iPad 2 or iPad 3.

These credits are redeemable against any in-store or online purchase so now may be a good time to get rid of your outdated iPad and treat yourself to some fancy brand spanking new electronics from the retailer without breaking the bank. Full details are right after the jump...

Sony’s Music Unlimited iOS client enables offline mode and 320kbps streaming

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 24, 2018

Sony back in May promised to update the iOS client supporting its Music Unlimited service with the much-needed offline playback and support for high-quality 320kbps AAC streaming. The refreshed software was originally meant to surface in the App Store shortly, but it got lost in the approval limbo. Sony finally today put out a press release announcing availability of Music Unlimited version 1.3.1 with offline playback, high-quality streaming and more...

‘StatusHUD’ creatively merges the status bar and Volume HUD

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 12, 2018

StatusHUD is a new jailbreak tweak that we previewed a few days ago, and it lends the ability to view the volume indicator in the status bar when adjusting your device's volume. The tweak, which eschews the stock volume HUD completely in favor of the status bar variety, comes with the ability to change the volume indicator style, along with a method for displaying the volume indicators while within a full screen app. Take a look at our full video walkthrough inside for all of the details.

Beautiful calendar app Cal by Any.do lands on iOS

Cody Lee ∙ July 11, 2013

Tired of the stock Calendar app in iOS 6? Can't wait for iOS 7 to launch this fall to change things up? Well lucky for you, there are a number of Calendar alternatives available in the App Store: Tempo, Donna, Calendars+ and Fantastical, to name a few.

And today, we're adding a new one to the stack that has been causing quite a commotion in the tech world today. It's developed by Any.do—the same team behind the award-winning task list—and it's called Cal, a simple, beautiful calendar for iPhone...

Deus Ex: The Fall doesn’t let jailbreakers fire guns, but there’s a tweak for that

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

Publisher Square Enix yesterday released its hotly anticipated Deus Ex: The Fall onto the App Store. Soon after, it was discovered the premium game unfortunately employs a little unusual Easter egg of sorts: if you're jailbroken, The Fall won't let you fire guns.

Developer Eidos Montreal is obviously a little concerned about piracy because last time I checked jailbreaking was still legal, even if it voids your warranty.

The Fall isn't the first app to hobble gameplay on jailbroken devices. Just two quick examples: DirectTV and Game Dev Tycoon. If you're jailbroken and bought the game, don't despair as there's a jailbreak tweak to remove the pesky limitation...