Gather the Gems: A Surprisingly Fun iOS Game [Sponsored]

I've come across a couple of really solid iOS games in the past few weeks. First, there was Where's My Water. When Apple started giving the game away I had to check it out. Then there was Heads Up. The RockLive title is about as addicting as they come.

So, needless to say, I was a bit skeptical when I was asked to review Gather the Gems. It falls in the same quick-play category as the aforementioned titles, and there's limited space on my device. Can Gather the Gems earn a spot on my home screen? Read on...

Gmail App Updated With Signatures, Scribbles, and More

Google's native Gmail application for iOS has had a rocky go of it over the past month. The initial app was yanked out of the App Store just hours after releases due to software bugs, and the app as a whole has received tons of criticism.

But that doesn't mean that Google is going to give up on it. In fact, the app just received a major update that not only brings tons of bug fixes, but also adds some new features like Scribbles, which lets you add your own art to emails...

Netflix Releases a Redesigned iPad App

We teased you with the updated version of Netflix's iPad app several weeks ago, and the redesign has officially gone live in the App Store. Netflix 2.0 for iOS brings with it a revamped iPad interface and several cosmetic changes.

Requiring iOS 5, Netflix's updated app is available for free in the App Store.

Microsoft Releases SkyDrive App For the iPhone

Users of Microsoft's popular cloud storage service SkyDrive will be happy to hear that the company has finally brought an official client to the iOS platform.

Microsoft has been on a bit of a roll over the past week, releasing multiple iOS applications, including an official Xbox Live app and the lovable Kinectimals game. Now onto the SkyDrive app...

Google Working On Siri Clone Codenamed “Majel”

Google is reportedly working on its own version of Siri for upcoming Android devices. The project has been given the internal codename of "Majel" (a reference to Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, the Federation Computer from Star Trek) and is meant to be an evolution of the current voice recognition technology in Android, Voice Actions.

Siri is by far the iPhone 4S's hottest feature, and Apple has used marketing to put itself in the lead once again with the rest of the industry now forced to play catch-up. Will Google's upcoming assistant be the competition that Siri needs?

A Visual History of iOS

Dieter Bohn of The Verge has an amazing walkthrough of how iOS has evolved since its release in 2007. The post takes a detailed look at the key iOS features and releases that Apple introduced throughout the years.

During the original iPhone announcement, Apple touted that it ran on the same Unix core as Mac OS X and that it used many of the same tools. However, it was clear even then that while there may be some shared elements between OS X and this new phone OS, it was a different-enough beast to warrant its own branding. When the original iPhone launched, the OS was called "iPhone OS" and it kept that name for four years, only changing to iOS with the release of iOS 4 in June of 2010. For the sake of simplicity (and because it's a much-less awkward phrase), I'm going to indulge in a little revisionist history here and refer to all versions of the operating system as "iOS" in this piece.

Head on over to The Verge to read about the history of iOS. It's amazing to see how far the platform has come.

Stay Away from This Fake MineCraft App, It’s a Scam

Although Apple has done a great job keeping malicious software out of the App Store, it hasn't quite figured out how to keep the scammers at bay. It seems like we've seen several misleading apps surface in the App Store over the past few months.

What happens is, Apple will approve an application that doesn't appear to be harmful. But for some reason, they fail to notice that the app's description doesn't have anything to do with what it actually does. And we've just come across another one...

American Airlines Pilots Given the Go-Ahead to Use iPads In the Cockpit

As of this friday, your favorite American Airlines pilot might be playing with a shiny iPad 2 while navigating through the air at 30,000 feet. That is because the airline is the first to receive the go-ahead from the FAA to use Apple's tablet as a replacement for paper-based flight documents, beginning Friday 16th of December.

The move will help American Airlines lose weight thanks to the removal of massive books and other flight documents from each flight, and if you've ever been over your allowed luggage weight on a flight, you will be acutely aware that weight equals money when in the air.

iOS 5.0.1 Untethered Jailbreak Done For All A4 Devices

The entire jailbreak community has its eyes on pod2g right now. The Chronic Dev Team-affiliated iOS hacker has shown a lot of progress over the last few weeks in his efforts to create an untethered iOS 5 jailbreak.

Pod2g has demonstrated a working untethered jailbreak on a third-generation iPod touch running the latest iOS software, and recently confirmed it to work on the iPhone 4. Now he's added several more devices to the list.

Halo Waypoint iOS App Released for Master Chief Fans

Someone at Microsoft just can't stop pushing out new iOS apps and games, with yet another release coming from Redmond showing up in the App Store.

Just hours after Microsoft's Kinectimals found its way onto iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches, another game-related app has landed, and this time it had help from Master Chief. Halo Waypoint ties right into all your Halo stats, letting players keep up to date with the competition as well as their own progress while away from their beloved Xbox 360.

Trak, a Mobile Credit Card Reader for iOS [Sponsored]

I don't know if you've noticed, but we're big fans of Kickstarter here at iDB. And it seems that Kickstarter project creators like us, too. Apparently, thanks to iDB, a few thousand dollars have been raised for various Kickstarter projects, and we're pretty proud of that.

Today, we sit down with Keith White and talk to him about Trak, a mobile credit card reader for iPhone and iPad he intends to launch with a little help from Kickstarter.

O2 Launches New iPhone 4S Rental Program

Not everyone needs everything for an extended amount of time. That's why you can rent pretty much anything these days. Cars, houses, washing machines, furniture and the like can all be leased for short amounts of time and then returned.

Now the European-based operator O2 is looking to bring this business model to the smartphone market as it has just announced its new rental program: O2 Lease. With the service, customers will now be able to rent the iPhone 4S instead of purchasing it...