Apple

In time for Season 4 debut, HBO releases the official Game of Thrones Ascent game for iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2019

If you, too, take part in HBO's international Game of Thrones phenomenon, the official iPad game's a no brainer.

Available now free of charge in the App Store, Game of Thrones Ascent for iPad comes ahead of Season 4 debut, courtesy of developer Disruptor Beam who teamed with Kongregate to bring the game to Apple's iPad and Android.

Based on the award-winning HBO show and literary works of George R.R. Martin, the iPad edition improves upon the Facebook and web editions of Game of Thrones Ascent (which already has 2.5 million players) with crisp Retina graphics, Game Center leaderboards, full iOS 7 support and thousands of story-driven quests, regularly updated each Monday with content seen on TV the night before...

Total War: Shogun 2 hitting Mac this Spring

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 26, 2014

Strengthen your citadel, gather your samurai and prepare to lead your clan through the legendary warfare of the Sengoku period because Total War: Shogun 2 is coming to a Mac near you this Spring, developer Feral Interactive announced this week.

The sequel to the popular 2000 turn-based strategy and real-time tactics video game, Shogun: Total War, the game is set in Japan's Sengoku, or Warring States period of the 16th century.

You, the leader of one of nine competing clans, are challenged with using diplomacy, espionage and military brilliance to dominate the feudal Japan and unify the country under one undisputed ruler, the shogun...

The New York Times launching NYT Now app next week with cheaper subscriptions

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 26, 2014

The New York Times newspaper is scheduled to launch new digital offerings on the iPhone come next Wednesday, April 2. I cancelled my digital subscription to both the Times and The Wall Street Journal a year ago due to their overpriced subscriptions and sluggish apps.

Realizing as much - and taking note of sleek looking apps such as Flipboard and Facebook's Paper - the paper sent its digital team back to the drawing board with the goal of rethinking the company's digital offerings and how its content should be reformatted for mobile devices.

The result of their work is a brand new iPhone application that offers staff-curated content wrapped inside a nicely done interface, called NYT Now...

Twitter for iOS updated with enhanced photo sharing and uploading experience

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2018

Twitter has just updated its free iPhone and iPad client with unspecified "enhancements to sharing and uploading photos". Behind the cryptically worded iTunes description is a slightly reworked interface for attaching a photo to a tweet, akin to Facebook's Paper app. The update is now live in the App Store and I've included a detailed description along with a few screenshots depicting the feature in action...

Chomp co-founder leaving Apple after two years

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Apple bought the popular app discovery engine, Chomp, in 2012 for the reported $50 million. Soon thereafter, Cook & Co. shut down Chomp's web service and native apps, including Chomp for Android.

And now, about two years into the acquisition, Chomp's co-founder and CTO Cathy Edwards will be reportedly leaving the company on April 11, a new report has it.

Apple has bought Chomp for both its talent and the startup's advanced analytics and recommendation engine and is thought to have used Chomp technology's to improve app discovery with a few refinements, including the latest feature that enables related search suggestions in the App Store...

Rumor: Retina MacBook Air and iPad Pro due in second half of 2014

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 26, 2014

Following a forum post by a reputable user on the Chinese website WeiPhone claiming Apple could soon release a new 12-inch MacBook model without a fan and featuring the Retina display and a redesigned trackpad, Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes is now reporting that a new version of the company's ultra-thin notebook, the MacBook Air, is getting a Retina display treatment later this year, around the same time when a rumored 12.9-inch iPad Pro is reportedly dropping as well...

Ubisoft’s upcoming social racing title, Trials Frontier, arriving April 10

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 14, 2018

Ubisoft yesterday announced that it will be releasing a brand new iOS game, Trials Frontier, on April 10.

Trials Frontier is being billed as a social racing title with physics-based gameplay, featuring a compelling storyline, friendly competition and "a massive content stream."

The game will release for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad and you can trust us to keep you in the loop.

In the meantime, jump past the fold and check out a nice gameplay video and learn more about this promising looking title...

BlackBerry sues SVP of software to stay after being hired away by Apple

Cody Lee ∙ March 26, 2014

You don't hear this everyday: BlackBerry has filed a lawsuit against its own SVP of software following his letter of resignation in December of last year. The company claims that Sebastien Marineau-Mes's attempt to leave for a new 'VP of Core OS' position at Apple was a violation of his employment contract.

According to a ruling from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Marineau-Mes is being sued over the breach of contract terms that stipulated he must provide at least six months notice before leaving BlackBerry. So since he submitted his resignation in December, the court says he must stay through June...

Apple engineer offers detailed look at development of original iPhone software

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

The Wall Street Journal published an interesting interview with Apple senior software engineer Greg Christie yesterday, in which Christie offers a detailed look at some of the events that led up to the original iPhone. Apparently the Cupertino company gave him permission to discuss the development process of the handset.

Admittedly, a lot of the things mentioned we've heard before—from book excerpts, court testimonies, etc.—but Christie does provide a few new details. For instance, he says at one point Jobs gave him and his team two weeks to come up with something or he would be reassigning the 'iPhone software' project to another group...

Apple looking to add more diversity to emoji character set

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 26, 2018

According to Apple’s VP of worldwide communications Katie Cotton, the company is looking to expand its emoji character set to include emojis that are non-caucasian. The spokeswoman recently provided a statement to MTV Act about the lack of diversity in the 400+ set.

In the statement, Cotton points out that there's a universal lack of diversity in emojis, as the characters are based on the Unicode standard. But apparently Apple is working with the Unicode Consortium to update the standard by adding new, multicultural emoji characters...

Facebook is buying Rift headset maker Oculus VR for $2 billion

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Facebook on Tuesday issued a press release announcing it is buying Kickstarter-funded startup Oculus VR for approximately $2 billion in cash and stock.

For those who have been sleeping under the rock lately, Oculus VR is the maker of the Rift virtual-reality headset. This major move reveals Facebook's intent to make use of virtual-reality technologies, not long ago the stuff of science fiction.

The announcement comes just days after the Japanese consumer electronics giant Sony announced Project Morpheus, its own head-mounted five-inch full HD display with a 90-degree field of view that could mainstream virtual reality gaming by connecting to the PlayStation console...

Apple updates iTunes Movie Trailers with notifications, AirDrop support and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 9, 2018

Apple has posted an update for its iTunes Movie Trailers iOS client this afternoon, bringing the app to version 1.4. The app is universal, supporting both the iPhone and iPad, and provides mobile access to trailers reviews and more for new and upcoming films.

Today's update brings about a handful of useful features including the option to be notified when a movie you have marked as a favorite debuts in theaters or pops up in the iTunes Store. You can also now read critic reviews in-app, and share links via AirDrop...