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Angry Birds get 30 stormy and pig-themed levels

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

"The Bad Piggies don’t just have a new game", Finnish developer Rovio writes in release notes for the freshly updated Angry Birds. "Now they’ve taken over Angry Birds with 15 of the piggest levels ever". Angry Birds, the game that started the whole birds vs. piggies craze, was updated on the iPhone and iPod touch with 30 new levels, 15 of which are pig-themed in an obvious mash up with Bad Piggies, Rovio's most recent game release that has turned the familiar flinging formula upside down...

iPad Democracy: California voters using iPads to register

Ed Sutherland ∙ October 10, 2012

While online voting is not likely to happen in the US nationwide anytime soon, there are some encouraging signs the political process partially has entered the 21st Century. The iPad is replacing the paper and pen when it comes to voter registration in California.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and Facebook investor Ron Conway spent Tuesday registering city voters with the help of the Apple tablet, TechCrunch reports. Conway, who heads sf.citi, a group promoting technology, released a video of Silicon Alley bigwigs extolling the virtues of ways tech could improve government. This comes as California adopts online voter registration, according to the San Francisco Chronicle...

Google keeps promise, updates Snapseed with iOS 6 and iPhone 5 support

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 20, 2017

When Google announced last month it was acquiring Nik Software, the brains behind Snapseed, a popular Photoshop alternative on the iOS platform, Senior Vice President of Engineering Vic Gundotra made a promise on Google+ that "we’re going to continue offering and improving Nik’s high-end tools and plug-ins". The search giant has kept its word as it pushed an update to Snapseed for the iPhone and iPad on the App Store, bringing long-awaited iOS 6 and iPhone 5 compatibility...

Groupon rolls out nationwide POS system for restaurants based on Apple’s iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

A better headline for this story would be "Apple's iPad puts the cash register to shame" or something along those lines. Groupon, a popular deals web site, today announced an interesting initiative to put iPad-based point-of-sale (POS) terminal system called Breadcrumb in restaurants across the United States.

Basically a sales, order management and reporting system for restaurants, bars and cafes, Breadcrumb is based entirely around the iPad and it puts last-century cash register to shame. The system was designed by a start-up founded by Seth Harris, which Groupon acquired back in May...

Apple, Samsung, Google and others meet with UN for patent licensing pow-wow

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Apple, Google, Samsung and others meet today - not in a courtroom but in neutral Switzerland. The discussion, moderated by the UN's International Telecommunications Union, focuses on whether the key principal of patent licensing is preventing products from coming to market.

The talks follow Apple and Samsung high-profile patent dispute and the EU investigating whether a number of companies are abusing the patent guidelines...

Motorola pulls all Android phones and tablets from Germany following patent rulings

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Handset maker Motorola Mobility, a Google subsidiary, has pulled all of its phones and tablets from the German market, following unfavorable rulings over patents. This has got to be a huge blow as the search Goliath has been struggling to return Motorola to profitability after it had acquired the ailing cell phone company for $12.5 billion, gaining a treasure trove of 17,000 mobile technology patents. Motorola reported an operating loss of $233 million during the second quarter so you could imagine that any disruption in sales is not going to look good in its next earnings report...

Microsoft (again) mentions Office for iOS and Android

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 10, 2012

We've been receiving vague hints that Microsoft, which is currently busy for the big Windows 8 launch scheduled for October 26, is also working on bringing the Office suite to the iPad. Today, a new report quotes a Microsoft executive as confirming that the software giant is in fact hard at work developing a native Microsoft Office suite for both iOS and Android. The software should hit the two mobile platforms "sometime after March 2013"...

First Windows 8 ads leak ahead of October 26 release

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

As Microsoft gears up to launch Windows 8 later this month, arguably the most important software release in Redmond's history, first television commercials have surfaced, revealing how the company will communicate the benefits of its first touch-focused operating system to the general public.

Windows 8 has a new tile-based interface consistent with the Metro design language, can run both legacy apps and those optimized for the touch interface, includes a digital store akin to the Mac App Store, features a unified kernel and scales up from the tiniest to the biggest screens and much more.

True to its form, Microsoft plans to offer Windows 8 in a bunch of flavors, including ARM and x86-based tablet versions, Windows Phone 8 for smartphones and standard desktop and server versions. Three more ads are right below the fold...

MLB says it’s seen impressive Passbook adoption thus far

Cody Lee ∙ October 10, 2012

When Apple unveiled its new Passbook app this summer, the tech world, for the most part, wasn't sure what to make of it. It seemed like a good idea on paper, but would companies, and more importantly users, take advantage of it?

Fast forward to today, three weeks after the public release of iOS 6, and we haven't quite seen the adoption we were hoping for. However, it does appear that the companies that have added Passbook support are seeing positive results...

Developers say Apple knew about Maps issues months ahead of launch

Cody Lee ∙ October 10, 2012

With all of the criticism and complaints Apple has received over its new Maps application in iOS 6, you have to wonder, how did it not know that it had all of these issues? Isn't that what the three month beta testing period was for?

Well apparently, Apple was aware of the problems. A number of developers have come forward this week saying they submitted several bug reports to the company regarding Maps issues in the months leading up to its launch...

SuperRope climbs its way up my list of top games

Jim Gresham ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

The best part of all everlasting iOS games is quick, addicting fun. In addition, easy controls and a lovable list of protagonists are always part of the equation. The Doodle Jumps and Cut the Ropes of the world all have a quick learning curve and endless fun with a little bit of complication.

The newest edition to the clan was launched around a year ago, but was updated earlier this month and has yet to hit primetime. Perhaps, let me be the first to introduce you to SuperRope, the hot new game, that isn't quite new, or hot. Yet...

T-Mobile tells employees to stop using the iPhone name to drive sales

Cody Lee ∙ October 10, 2012

After being snubbed by Apple as an iPhone partner for several years, T-Mobile finally decided to take matters into its own hands. It started updating its network to be more compatible with the handset, and launched a nationwide "bring your own device" campaign to attract unlocked iPhone users.

The marketing has caused quite the buzz in the media, but only time will tell if it resonates with consumers. Unfortunately, T-Mobile may not get to find out. According to a new report, the carrier has sent out an internal memo indicating that it can no longer use the iPhone to drive sales...