Apple

Microsoft Research demos mechanical keyboard that can interpret motion gestures

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 30, 2014

Microsoft's research and development arm has shown off a novel mechanical keyboard prototype which incorporates elements of natural user interaction such as touch and low-effort motion gestures. The goal is to enhance user interfaces on desktop by allowing for smooth transitions between text entry and gestures.

The system uses an array of proximity sensors embedded in the keyboard itself and is coupled to a software that uses the motion signature technique which utilizes pairs of motion history images and a random forest classifier to robustly recognize a large set of motion gestures.

It works like magic and we have an impressive video right after the break to prove it...

Hulu to launch redesigned iPhone app with free mobile viewing this summer

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 27, 2017

It's easy to forget about Hulu amid the heated battle between Amazon and Netflix for the digital distribution of premium entertainment and original content.

As you know, for quite some time this service has been offering on-demand streaming video of TV shows and Hollywood movies, free of charge with some ads. However, on desktops only.

This is about to change as Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins announced at a press event in New York this morning that beginning this summer non-subscribers will be able to stream ad-supported content on mobile devices, marking a major shift in strategy for this over-the-top video service.

They'll also issue a redesigned iPhone app around the same time this summer...

Tony Hawk’s Shred Session hitting iOS this summer, here’s hands-on video

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 30, 2014

In an interview with Larry King two months ago, skateboarding legend Tony Hawk announced he was working on a brand new skateboarding game for mobile devices that would utilize a swipe control system, but he refused to detail what it'd be about.

That mystery is now solved as TouchArcade got an exclusive hands-on preview of Tony Hawk's Shred Session, a lane-based vertical runner coming to the iPhone and iPad this summer. We have a video, screenshots and a couple new pieces of information right after the break...

New photos of alleged iPhone 6 dummy unit show larger, slimmer device

Cody Lee ∙ April 29, 2014

New photos of an alleged 'iPhone 6' dummy unit surfaced this afternoon. The images depict a device that is noticeably larger and thinner than the current iPhone 5s, with rounded corners, and an overall design that matches up with previous information.

There's no word on where the physical mockups came from, and there's obviously no way to determine their validity. But our friends over at Nowhereelse.fr say that the snapshots were published by a long-time member of a well-known Chinese forum...

Apple seeds OS X 10.9.3 build 13D55 to developers

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Apple has seeded another beta for OS X 10.9.3 to registered Mac developers this afternoon. The update comes just one week after the seventh beta was released, which brought about few notable changes.

The new build is available to developers via an update in the Mac App Store or as a download on Apple’s online developer center. It does not, however, appear to be out in Apple's new Beta Seed program yet…

iWatch said to be entering production ahead of fall launch

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

According to a new report from the China Times, Apple's manufacturing partners have begun producing the iWatch. Citing supply chain sources, the outlet says that the company's highly anticipated smartwatch has entered production in small quantities ahead of an expected fall launch.

The report echoes previous chatter, which has mostly pointed to a fall iWatch release up to this point. It also lines up with predictions from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo earlier this month, claiming that the wearable will be built using system-in-package modules, instead of PCBs...

Office for iPad updated: AirPrint, SmartGuides in PowerPoint, AutoFit in Excel

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 29, 2014

A glaring omission from the initial release of the free Word, Excel and PowerPoint for Apple's iPad, printing has now been added to these apps via Microsoft’s first major update to the Office for iPad suite. The software update has arrived on Tuesday, a little more than a month into the suite's iPad launch last month.

Besides printing support across all Office for iPad apps, SmartGuides are now available in PowerPoint making it easy to align the elements of your presentation.

Moreover, Excel users will be happy to learn that a new AutoFit feature has been added to both Excel for iPad and its desktop counterpart. This feature allows you to adjust the width and height of multiple rows and columns at once...

Sprint news: 6 free months of Spotify Premium, LTE covering 225M people, Harman Kardon partnership

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 18, 2017

Sprint held a 'Hear It For Yourself' media event earlier today that saw the announcement of a Harmon Kardon version of the HTC One M8 handset.

As part of the presentation for select members of the press, executives with the nation's third-largest wireless carrier have said that all new and existing postpaid customers on Sprint's 'Framily' plan will get six free months of Spotify Premium, iPhone owners included.

Android and Windows 8/8.1 smartphone owners are eligible for this offer, too.

Premium Spotify subscriptions start at ten bucks per month, which buys you higher-quality unlimited streaming with no advertising...

Yahoo Mail gets news/search, plus snapshots of weather, sports scores, stocks and News Digest

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 18, 2017

If you're a fan of Yahoo's gorgeously designed iOS apps and spend a lot of time using their Mail service on your iPhone and iPad, you're going to love the newly released Yahoo Mail 3.0, available free in the App Store.

And why's that, you ask? Because the refreshed software now makes it easy to keep tabs on your news and search the web while sorting through your email, without ever leaving the app.

But that's not all, this release of Yahoo Mail includes other goodies, too, listed right after the break...

Sega puts Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2 on sale

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 29, 2014

Games maker Sega last week switched its iPhone and iPad kart racing game, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, from paid to freemium and now the company has put a pair of other Sonic titles on sale.

Both Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 are now available on sale for 99 cents each, but for a limited time only. These games were previously available for $2.99 each so the combined downloads could save you four bucks right off the bat.

If you ask me, this is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to pick up these remastered for mobile classic titles at really low prices...

Refurbished MacBook Airs now start at just $599

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 29, 2014

Apple this morning quietly updated its ultra-portable MacBook Air family around Intel's latest Haswell chips, switching from the i5-4250U to the i5-4260U CPU on the base model. Apart from this minor change - the new chips are slightly faster and more power efficient versus the previous generation - the biggest new "feature", however, is a change in Apple's pricing scheme - the new Airs now start at just $899, a hundred bucks less than before.

But if the though of burning $900 on a notebook is still unsettling, Apple's online refurbished store is now offering little-used 2012 Airs for as low as $599, or just a $100 more than the entry-level $499 iPad Air...