Apple

Apple officially endorses CarPlay aftermarket kits by Alpine and Pioneer

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 17, 2014

Apple on March 2 took the wraps off CarPlay, its in-car solution formerly known as iOS in the Car. The company said the feature would premier with only three premium brands - Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and Ferrari - while naming two dozen additional manufacturers who pledged their support for the software.

Outside these launch partners, only Hyundai has thus far gone on the record officially confirming that CarPlay functionality will be available on its new mid-size 2015 Sonata sedan that will be available to buy at dealerships. Toyota initially said it would add CarPlay to select 2015 vehicles, but quickly changed its mind.

Realizing there's money to be made from CarPlay, makers of in-car electronic systems Alpine and Pioneer both announced aftermarket CarPlay kits for older vehicles. We wondered whether these kits were Apple-sanctioned. Looks like we've gotten our answer as the iPhone maker has now added Alpine and Pioneer's upcoming kits to its CarPlay webpage...

LG launches AirPlay-like SDK to stream media to multiple TVs, Apple TV support incoming

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

LG is hoping to make it easier for users to beam media to their televisions, with a new SDK it's making available to developers to integrate into apps on iOS and Android.

Smart TVs have historically been one of the most closed platforms out there, with manufacturers developing features for only their own TVs and set-top boxes, and not the broader market - example being Apple's AirPlay. LG is changing this with its new Integrate Connect SDK, a standard to place into mobile apps to beam media across multiple platforms onto the big screen.

GoogolPlex will ‘unleash the power of Siri’ with Nest, Philips Hue, Spotify commands

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Siri within iOS 7 can be limited sometimes, thanks to Apple's "walled garden", but a new tool called GoogolPlex wants to change that by opening the voice assistant to new commands.

Self described as the "App Store for Siri", GoogolPlex opens Siri to work with Spotify, Philips Hue, the Nest Thermostat and more, just by an iOS user changing a few proxy settings...

Retina iPad mini refurbs now available

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 17, 2014

Apple's iPad mini with Retina display is great until the reality hits you in your face with a lofty price tag of four hundred bucks for the entry-level model with just sixteen gigabytes of storage and no cellular connectivity. From time to time, Apple makes good-as-new gear such as iPads and MacBooks available for purchase at reduced prices via the refurbished section of its Online Apple Store.

And now, for the first time the company's iPad mini with Retina display is available refurbished, too, starting at $419 for for the Wi-Fi model with 32 gigabytes of storage. That's sixteen percent off for a cool $80 savings over the list price. The 64GB Wi-Fi refurb costs $509, or $90 less versus standard pricing for brand new models...

Facebook launches its own Find My Friends feature

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 17, 2014

Social networking giant Facebook is bound to stir controversy all over again as it's just introduced a new friend-tracking feature. Similar to Apple's free Find My Friends iOS app, Facebook's Nearby Friends basically notifies you when your friends are nearby.

It's a rather radical idea, one Facebook said Thursday was designed to encourage people to "meet up and spend time together" in real life. Go figure. Learn more about Facebook's Find My Friends right below the fold...

Hitman Go arrives in the App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 17, 2014

As promised, Square Enix Montréal has brought its console-only Hitman franchise to iOS with today's release of Hitman Go. Like past Hitman titles, this game puts you in the shoes of the franchise's main hitman character, Agent 47.

But unlike previous releases, Hitman Go is turn-based and involves stealth elements coupled with puzzle solving and requires a strong focus on strategy planning.

The game features diorama-style set pieces and its turn-based approach dictates game mechanics where you navigate fixed spaces on a grid in order to avoid enemies and infiltrate well guarded locations. Your ultimate goal: taking out your target.

The iPhone and iPad game is now available for five bucks a pop. Jump past the fold for more info...

Bug-fix iOS 7.1.1 update now appearing in web logs

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 17, 2014

It’s been nearly a month since Apple released iOS 7.1 and now the firm is seemingly prepping the first bug fix update, iOS 7.1.1. As you know, iOS 7.1, the first major update to Apple’s revamped mobile operating system, debuted last September.

It's brought out built-in CarPlay support, Siri and Touch ID improvements, UI tweaks, major bug fixes, improved performance (especially on older devices like the iPhone 4) and a bunch of nice-to-haves.

According to online reports, iOS 7.1.1 is now appearing in web analytics tools, indicating Apple has now started testing the software with a wider group of employees ahead of the official release...

Pixelmator 3.2 ‘Sandstone’ coming with Repair tool, app goes half price for entire week

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2018

As Peter Cohen put it, Pixelmator is to Photoshop as Sketch 3 is to Adobe Illustrator and I couldn't agree more.

I don't use the most advanced Photoshop features and Pixelmator ($29.99 in the Mac App Store) has served me well as more than a very capable alternative to Adobe's image editing application. I use Pixelmator on a daily basis to edit press photographs, optimize images for web distribution, touch up snaps taken on my iPhone, create various compositions, convert between different formats and what not.

After issuing a major 3.1 update back in January with Mac Pro GPU acceleration and other goodies, the team is now teasing another forthcoming update, this one code-named Sandstone...

Direct mobile app installs coming to your Twitter timeline soon

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 17, 2014

Micro-blogging platform Twitter on Thursday announced a full suite of targeting, creative and measurement tools that enable Twitter advertisers to promote their mobile apps, both on and off-Twitter.

One particular native ad unit takes advantage of Twitter Cards and Promoted Tweets technologies to allow users to easily install and engage with apps, directly from their Twitter timeline.

Currently, tapping an App Store link in a tweet in Twitter's free iPhone and iPad application opens the link in an in-app browser which then redirects the request to the App Store app. Direct app installs from Twitter timelines is limited to this new ad unit and it's not clear if Twitter plans on enabling the feature for common app store links in people's tweets...

Apple Stores and corporate campus to celebrate 2014 Earth Day

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 17, 2014

Apple's brick-and-mortar stores in the United States and around the world will celebrate the upcoming Earth Day next Tuesday, April 22. According to a new report Thursday, Apple's Cupertino, California campus will also join the celebration with a major internal event on April 22 focused on 2014 Earth Day.

This year's Earth Day, prefixed with Green Cities, is focused on environment-friendly buildings, transportation and cities. Apple Stores will change their logo color to green to mark the occasion. More info right after the break...

Twitterrific for iOS now lets you edit tweets after they’ve been published

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 17, 2014

What if you could edit a tweet that's already been tweeted out? A new Twitterrific for iOS update by Iconfactory lets you do just that! Now available free in the App Store, Twitterrific for the iPhone and iPad now lets you edit previously published tweet in your timeline.

This is a rather interesting development as even Twitter's own iOS app won't let you edit a tweet after it's been posted. So, how did Iconfactory accomplish this? Read on for the full reveal...

Apple reportedly building song-identification feature for iOS, partnering with Shazam

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Apple is working on a song-identification feature within its iOS software, in an effort to continue building out its Music offering to combat streaming services and declining iTunes sales, according to Bloomberg.

Apple is said to be partnering with Shazam, a third-party service on the App Store that allows users to press a button and recognize music and media playing around them. On the iPhone and iPad in a future iOS update, users will be able to identify songs and artists without having to download an app, the report says.