Apple

Twitter planning native video service to rival YouTube

In an effort to drum up more engagement from users, Twitter plans a native video player as an extension of its Vine service, and as a rival to Google's YouTube. Instead of just tweeting a URL to a video elsewhere, Twitter wants users to actually upload videos to its site to keep engagement and sell you products through advertisements.

The Twitter Video website, with limited access, appeared for a short time on Friday evening, clueing us in on some of the features Twitter Video may feature when it launches in the first half of 2015. While Twitter provided a few small details about its video service on a conference call in November, this is the first time we've gotten some real details.

Apple’s ‘Start Something New’ campaign extends to Apple Store walls

Apple has extended its "Start Something New" campaign, to highlight art and photography created on the iPhone and iPad, past the web and into its retail stores.

Twitter user Storeteller noted on Friday that the Regent Street Apple Store in London began displaying the art Apple began showing on the "Start Something New" webpage earlier this week.

Poll: will you buy Apple Watch?

The Apple Watch, the iPhone maker's foray into wearables, is arriving this Spring starting at $349.

And while we know quite a bit about the anticipated wrist-worn computer, Apple's left a few important questions hanging in the air.

Among them are important details concerning the Watch's specific launch date, battery life, a possible killer feature and price points for higher-end models.

Assuming the vast majority of folks who are in the market for an Apple smartwatch opt for the entry-level device, we're curious to learn whether you'll be buying one when it comes out. Or maybe you've decided to wait for a second-generation model, or pass on the Watch altogether?

Official mobile game of the FIA World Rally Championship hits iOS

Fans of racing games, listen up! The official mobile game of the FIA World Rally Championship has been released in the App Store.

Developed by Firebrand Games and published by Bigben Interactive, WRC The Official Game for the iPhone and iPad includes official content of the 2014 FIA World Rally Championship, including eighteen licensed cars, and lets you play as any of the seventeen official drivers to win a total of thirteen official events of the 2014 WRC calendar.

While previous official titles have been something of a disappointment, WRC The Official Game looks promising, at least graphics-wise, so here's hoping it doesn't ruin the fun with inaccurate and unresponsive controls.

New Apple ID attack tool surfaces as Apple pulls Photos web app from iCloud.com

Friday, a new attack tool was posted to GitHub that uses brute-force dictionary attacks on iCloud and Apple ID accounts with weak passwords. Using a dictionary list containing more than 500 words, the 'iDict' tool pretends to be a legitimate iPhone device trying to log in to iCloud.com. Somehow, it manages to avoid Apple ID lockout restrictions.

People with complex passwords shouldn't be concerned but those with simple ones based on commonly used words such as pet names are at risk. If you fall in that category, you're wholeheartedly recommended to change your password and optionally enable two-step verification for your Apple ID.

Seemingly unrelated to 'iDict', the Photos web app mysteriously disappeared from the iCloud website this morning.

Waterlogue color paint app offered at no cost inside Apple Store app

If Apple's latest Free App of the Week, the hilarious platformer Icycle: On Thin Ice, isn't your cup of tea, how about a nicely done water color paint app that was recently featured in Apple’s new “Start Something New” webpage which highlights the iPad as a way of creating art through drawings and photographs?

Waterlogue by Tinrocket normally sells for three bucks a pop in the App Store but is now available at no cost through the official Apple Store application (not to be confused with the App Store).

Here's how you can redeem your free copy of Waterlogue.

Here’s a look at Apple Japan’s 2015 ‘Lucky Bags’

Apple kicked off its 2015 annual "Lucky Bag" promotion in Japan on Thursday, giving customers big discounts on Apple products and accessories. A "Lucky Bag" is a Japanese New Year tradition, also known as a Fukubukuro, that offers a bag for a set price filled with unknown random items, sold for a discount.