There's been a lot of talk lately regarding Apple and its efforts to broaden the use of iOS in government agencies. The latest report says the US Department of Defense is close to granting both the iPhone and iPad approval for secure use.
Today comes word that the DoD might have just received the green-light it needed to move forward. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (or NIST) just announced that iOS 6 has achieved FIPS 140-2 certification (Level 1)...
Not to be outdone by the popular Swedish streaming music startup Spotify, which a month ago updated its mobile client with support for Ford's SYNC AppLink platform, the online retail giant Amazon today issued a similar update to its Cloud Player mobile app.
The app integrates with AppLink vehicles so you can control music playback using your voice and the steering wheel buttons.
Other changes new accessibility features via improved support for the iOS VoiceOver features and an "improved experience" when adding songs to a playlist...
You wouldn't think that an update to an app that maps out Wi-Fi hotspots would be newsworthy, but this new release from Boingo Wireless could have a significant impact on how travelers access the internet.
The hotspot provider updated its Wi-Finder app today with the ability to sign up for access to its wireless internet in-app. So signing up for a Bingo subscription is now as easy as typing in your iTunes password...
Sebastien and Jeff discuss the debate over the prices of apps and tweaks in Cydia. They also chit-chat in depth about Velox, one of the year's most highly anticipated jailbreak tweaks. Also, don't miss our coverage of this week's tweaks, which include Luna, FullScroll, and more. Oh, and have you ever wanted to know what could happen when you play your Piano Passcode out in public? We've got the answer.
NPD DisplaySearch is on a roll. After reporting yesterday that Apple could release two Retina-enabled iPad mini models - one in the second half of this year and another in the first quarter of 2014 with an updated processor, the display market researcher tell CNET today they think those high-resolution Retina panels for the second-generation iPad mini could go into mass-production soon, as early as June or July of this year.
If true, and assuming satisfactory yield rates, Apple should be able to ready its first Retina iPad mini for a Fall introduction, a time frame KGI Securities' well-informed analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently outlined based on his own sources...
While Apple has been praised for its security efforts in iOS, it does not get the same applause for its privacy policies. The company is currently involved in a US-based lawsuit over its information-sharing practices, and today, a German court ruled against it.
This morning, the Berlin Regional Court in Germany ruled that Apple's sharing of customer data violates its privacy laws. It said that Apple cannot request "global consent" for use of a customer’s data without telling them where and how the data will be used...
RunKeeper, the popular mobile fitness and GPS tracking app, received an update Tuesday which allows for some interesting Pebble smartwatch features. Thanks to deep integration with the Bluetooth Smart-enabled E-paper wrist device, RunKeeper users can keep track of their workout stats on their Pebble.
This includes the stuff like displaying elapsed time, distance and pace or using the wrist device to pause and resume RunKeeper. The application also supports an additional seven languages and includes the obligatory bug fixes.
RunKeeper also said future updates will enable even deeper Pebble integration. I've included a nice promotional video and more details for you, right past the fold...
Many of us have shared a pair of earbuds with a friend. The problem crops up when you enjoy rocking out at max volume while your friend enjoys a more modest audio level. Enter Apple with what's essentially an intelligent audio splitter.
Instead of enduring the default sound level of the iPhone or iPod, an adapter envisioned by Apple would allow you to customize your individual audio, according to a patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Tuesday.
Additionally, the headphone splitter would permit two people to use built-in mics to speak over the soundtrack, opening up some wild possibilities with gaming...
Hon Hai Precision Industry - better known in the Western world as Foxconn - is the world's top manufacturer of consumer electronics. And with Apple products - the iPhone in particular - accounting for at least 40 percent of its revenue, the contract manufacturer's fortunes are tied to Apple's.
Needles to say, the company's leadership never complained about relying on Apple so much as long as sales were growing substantially. But with Apple's growth cooling off amid a broader sales lull affecting pricey high-end smartphones like the iPhone, Foxconn is now looking to lessen its exposure on the Apple smartphone and is apparently gearing up for a mass-scale production of an Apple-branded television set, the rumored iTV...
Viber, the popular instant messaging service and WhatsApp's chief rival, has fallen behind a bit in the past year or so. Not only did WhatsApp take the lead - the service claims to handle an astounding eighteen billion messages every day - but the search monster Google is getting ready to unify its many chat services under a new Bable IM brand.
Small wonder then that Viber in a major move on Tuesday announced a brand new desktop application for Mac and Windows PCs. Available as a free download from the Viber's web site, Viber for Mac lets you send free messages as well as make free calls to other Viber users.
The much-welcomed software release now enables one to keep their communication in sync across mobile and desktop devices because in addition to desktop, Viber is now available on iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, Nokia and Bada platforms.
Moreover, Viber - which was founded by American-Israeli entrepreneur Talmon Marco - has revamped its mobile iOS/Android client with video messages, an improved voice engine said to help improve call quality and lots more. Go past the fold for an introductory video and more tidbits...
You know what has been ticking me off for ages? That we're living in the 21st century and yet the vast majority of mobile games won't save progress in the cloud. Think about it: gamers spend hours playing a title only to lose all their progress after removing the game from their device. There has got to be a better way to keep those game saves in sync.
Showing signs of progress, several major developers have already implemented - or are implementing - their own solution to the problem. For example, Japanese games developer DeNA (formerly ngmoco) has just re-released classic iOS block-stacking game Topple with the newly implemented support for Mobage social game network that stores your progress and keeps it synchronized across devices.
Angry Birds maker Rovio is also among the devs who dare to think different. On Tuesday, the Finnish games maker rolled out its own cloud-based Rovio Account which lets you store your game progress and continue playing on another device...
As a self-proclaimed board game fanatic, I feel compelled to seek out every digital version of my favorite games, as well as ones that I’ve never played. Sometimes, a low-priced digital board game will prompt me to spend the big bucks on the real deal.
Reiner Knizia’s Tigris & Euphrates is an empire building board game that uses tile placement as a means to take over a kingdom. This is one of those games I’ve seen on the shelf at my favorite board game store, but never had a chance to play. If the physical version is anything like the digital, I’m in…