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Another freebie: Rovio’s Amazing Alex is now available for $0 with some ads

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 28, 2018

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk7vezL36IU

Finnish developer Rovio made headlines earlier today announcing that the popular Angry Birds Rio and Angry Birds Rio HD have been made Apple's Free App of the Week, meaning both titles are now free downloads for a limited time. As the iPhone version normally costs 99 cents and the high-definition iPad version is an additional $3, that's a $4 saving for you right off the bat. But if you've grown tired of Angry Birds and think the series has long run its course, Rovio has another deal for you.

Today, the company released a free, ad-supported version of Amazing Alex for the iPhone and iPod touch and Amazing Alex HD for iPads. The game, one of the finest physics-based puzzlers available for iOS devices, is based on Casey’s Contraptions which Rovio licensed and challenges you with building contraptions by combining various objects to solve a bunch of levels...

Minecraft sold more on mobile than any other platform in 2012

Mike Schnier ∙ January 17, 2013

You might be tempted to think of Minecraft: Pocket Edition as the lesser version of Minecraft, a fun diversion but not the real game. When Pocket Edition was first launched in 2011, it lacked many of the desktop version's features, including crafting and survival mode. Now that Pocket Edition is catching up in terms of features, it seems the tide is turning.

In fact, Pocket Edition was the most purchased version of Minecraft in 2012, according to numbers released by Mojang last week. Minecraft: Pocket Edition sold over 39.1% of units, or 5,899,727 copies total. This was ahead of Minecraft for Mac/PC, at 27.7%, and the Xbox 360 edition, at 33.2%...

How to use your iPad as a shortcut keyboard for Mac OS X

Mike Schnier ∙ Updated January 24, 2018

Do you hate digging around in menus but have trouble memorizing all the key combinations for your most frequently used programs? Hotkeys is an app that allows you to use your iPad as a programmable shortcut keyboard, which comes with shortcut packs for Mac OS X and Photoshop preloaded.

While the preloaded packs are decent, you can also edit the packs to your liking or create your own packs from scratch. If you're a gamer, you might also find the labelled shortcuts handy...

Dolphin gets browser sync, easier sharing, Evernote integration

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

Dolphin, the popular third-party browser for iOS and Android, received a major update today. In addition to the obligatory stability and performance improvements, developers added a few new features you'll be excited about. For starters, Dolphin now has browser sync that keeps your environment and settings flawlessly consistent across desktop and your mobile devices powered by iOS or Android.

You can also send tabs, images, phone numbers and directions from a mobile device to your computer, share to social networks and email articles. And if you live in Evernote, Dolphin now lets you grab any web content and save it directly to your Evernote (or Box) account, useful for saving a particular article or document for later, especially if you are not a huge fan of Instapaper or a similar read-later service...

Angry Birds Rio and Rio HD free for a limited time

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

Good news! For the few dozen of you who haven't, for one reason or another, played one of Rovio's massively popular Angry Birds titles, it's just been announced that the Angry Birds Rio game has gone free for a limited time. Both iPhone and iPad versions have been discounted to $0. More details and download links after the break...

Apple working on removable device clip with tactile controls

Cody Lee ∙ January 17, 2013

It's kind of funny that Apple gets a bad wrap for not being innovative enough, because its IP filings tell a different story. The company was awarded more than 1,200 patents last year — which was enough to beat Google, who dabbles in self-driven cars and computer glasses.

The latest testament to Apple's innovation is a new patent application, which was just published by the US Patent and Trademark Office. It describes a removable clip for a mobile device, such as an iPod, with an integrated trackpad, that could double as a remote control...

There will be two billion smartphones by year’s end

Ed Sutherland ∙ January 17, 2013

Let's file this prediction by uber accounting firm Deloitte under 'been there, done that': world smartphone shipments will top one billion during 2013, and near two billion by year's end.

Back in October 2012, we reported that industry analyst firm Strategy Analytics announced the mark was passed during the third quarter of last year.

However, Deloitte adds a wrinkle to the smartphone race, forecasting we should top the 2 billion mark by the end of 2013. This means that an astounding billion shipments are expected throughout the calendar year 2013. That appears to suggest demand for smartphones is increasing across the globe. Remember, it wasn't that long ago that Strategy Analytics projected it would take until 2015 before we hit two billion smartphones...

Rolling Stone finally lands on the iPad

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

After a long two-year holdout, the popular magazine Rolling Stone has finally decided to embrace Apple's tablet. The publication's first iPad edition hit the Newsstand app last night in subscription flavors of $1.99 per month and $19.99 per year. It's optimized for the slate, and interactive, with iTunes links embedded in all media-related articles...

Samsung to take on Apple with mini Galaxy Note

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 24, 2013

Samsung of South Korea will later this month take another crack at dethroning the tablet leader Apple by going after the Cupertino firm's iPad mini, a 7.9-inch mini tablet computer released on November 2, 2012 and starting at $320 for the Wi-Fi only version with sixteen gigabytes of storage.

The new Note reportedly has a 720p (1,280-by-800) Super Clear LCD screen measuring eight inches diagonally and comes with Samsung's trademark S-Pen. Hardware specifications allegedly aren't that special as Samsung is possibly using cheaper components in order to undercut the iPad mini on price...

Pirates download wrong Installous from the App Store, then complain about it

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated February 5, 2018

Installous, the pirate app store that allowed those so inclined to download iOS apps for free may already be long gone, but that hasn't stopped plenty of people downloading it from the App Store. Or at least, they thought they had.

See, there's a new Installous in town, and it's by a developer called Larisa Flora. It's not the Installous you're thinking of though – this one's a game which involves gears and colors, apparently.

What it's not, is a way of ripping off developers. And people are not happy at all...

Amazon optimizes MP3 Store for iPhone

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

Amazon's been really stepping up its game in the digital music business over the last 6 months. Last fall it overhauled its Cloud Player service to make it more competitive with iTunes Match, and earlier this month it introduced AutoRip.

It's work continues today, with a new announcement that it has just optimized its MP3 Store for the iPhone and iPod touch. That's right, you can now purchase music from Amazon from your Apple device, with tracks starting at just $0.69...

Apple job ad promises wittier Siri responses

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 17, 2013

Apple's digital secretary (still in beta, by the way) made waves when it arrived as an iPhone 4S exclusive on October 5, 2011. It caught rival gadget makers on the wrong foot, but Google quickly responded to the threat with Google Now, a voice-activated search product which taps Google's Knowledge Graph to deliver personalized results without users even asking. Siri's reliance on Google for data was dramatically reduced since iOS 6 and a recent job ad suggested Siri will soon speak a bunch of new languages.

Another job ad has been spotted today, indicating that Apple wants Siri to provide even wittier responses than it currently does. The ideal candidate for the job would be someone willing to “develop and write original dialog to support new Siri capabilities" and help the Siri team evolve Siri as a "distinct, recognizable character"...