Apple

Biggest yet Infinity Blade III ‘Ausar Rising’ update launching next Thursday

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2019

Chair Entertainment's Infinity Blade is an elegiac masterpiece, an iOS exclusive and a system seller that showcases what's possible on Apple's iOS platform better than any other game. Unbelievable console-quality graphics, great soundtrack and atmosphere, complex weapons and upgrade system with RPG elements to keep you coming back for more all contribute to it being one of the best iPhone and iPad games money can buy.

The original game recently went free, as did the second installment which normally costs $6.99 and was yesterday named IGN's Free Game of the Month. As for Infinity Blade III (a $6.99 download for the iPhone and iPad), the substantial Soul Hunter update from a month and a half ago brought us a bunch of new items and goals and an all-new quest that includes a new location and a new enemy, the Deathless Bloodmage.

But that was just warming up as Chair has announced that the upcoming Ausar Rising update will be even bigger. Due next week, the update will let you revisit the original Infinity Blade castle and explore the origins of the Infinity Blade protagonist.

More on that, plus a teaser video, right after the break...

Stephen Hawking’s Snapshots of the Universe released for iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 13, 2013

Ebook and mobile app publisher Random House Digital has released an interesting iPad education app in the App Store. Stephen Hawking’s Snapshots of the Universe, suitable for children aged 9+, uses the work and writings of Stephen Hawking, the famous English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge, to teach students the basic theories of the movement of the stars and planets.

The astrophysicist apparently had a say in the app's design as he envisioned an app that would help explain the fundamentals of space to both adults and children through fun mini-games. The interactive experience is optimized for iOS 7 with clean and streamlined graphic elements.

Available sections cover the basics of our solar system and let you spin planets in orbit, drop objects with Galileo to learn about gravity, search for black holes in the constellation of Leo, discover Einstein’s warped worldview and G-force in outer space and lots more...

Pebble firmware update brings Do Not Disturb mode, faster notifications and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

The Pebble Smartwatch has gotten smarter than ever as the company pushed a new version 1.4 firmware which enhances notifications while bringing a new Do Not Disturb mode along with other new features, improvements and fixes.

Like on your iPhone, Pebble's new Do Not Disturb mode lets you specify a time frame during which notifications won't be displayed. You can also specify what notifications are displayed, create a new Snooze Alarm, create multiple alarms, toggle alarms on and off, edit existing alarms and enjoy improved iOS performance...

Evernote gains business card scanning, Presentation mode and other goodies

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 13, 2013

Evernote for iPhone and iPad has been updated with a new Presentation mode and another feature allowing users to scan business cards using an iDevice camera and import contact data as Evernote notes, with the ability to connect contact data to LinkedIn, Facebook and your Address Book for richer results, among other enhancements. Both business card scanning and Presentation mode capabilities are however available only to paid Evernote Premium customers.

The Presentation mode supports AirPlay or HDMI video out to present your Evernote notes to an audience and comes with a 14-day complementary preview for Free users...

Cut the Rope 2 debuts next Thursday, here’s you gameplay vid and launch info

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

Developer ZeptoLab, based out in Russia, has seen wild success following the release of its charming puzzler, Cut the Rope, [$0.99 for iPhone, $3.99 for iPad] in the App Store three years ago.

Originally an iPhone exclusive, the game has been ported to virtually every computing platform under the Sun since its October 2010 debut.

Thus far, these games have managed to racket up nearly half a billion downloads, passing 60 million active monthly users in the first half of 2013.

After posting a teaser trailer a month ago - and having subsequently announced that a Cut the Rope sequel will be ready in time for the holidays - ZeptoLab has now made known the official release date for Cut the Rope 2: next Thursday, December 19.

And in a repeat of 2010, the game is slated to debut as an iOS exclusive, featuring 120 levels, new characters and tweaked gameplay.

Want to hear the best bit?

We have all the details, videos and screenshots to wet your appetite, just a click away...

Everything is a Remix: the iPhone edition

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 12, 2013

The Everything is a Remix video series by New York-based filmmaker Kirby Ferguson plays on the remix culture and its key mantra that everything around us is a remix of previously made stuff and that all original material builds off of and remixes previously existing material.

The four-part video series and the companion website covers songs that remain the same, explores the remix techniques involved in producing films, details how innovations truly happen and criticizes the laws that fail to recognize the derivative nature of creativity.

The fifth one (not part of the series, it's a standalone video) is about the iPhone. Go ahead and hit the More link to watch it now, you know you want to...

You can now control iTunes Radio via Remote app

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 12, 2013

After refreshing its free Remote app for the iPhone and iPad with some radical redesign to match the overall iOS 7 aesthetics, Apple has just put out a minor update adding a nicely done ability to control iTunes Radio from your iOS device.

But rather than stream iTunes Radio songs directly (and what would the point be in doing so knowing iTunes Radio is available within the stock iOS 7 Music app), the application simply controls the feature running in iTunes for Mac or Windows.

Previously, you could only control playback of music and other media kept locally in your iTunes library. If anything, this update will go down in history as a handy little enhancement that makes it ridiculously easy to control your iTunes Radio stations, skip songs and more, right across the room...

iPhone 5s is best-selling smartphone at US carriers, 5c is third best

Cody Lee ∙ December 12, 2013

According to research by Canaccord Genuity analyst T. Michael Walkley, the iPhone 5s has been the top-selling smartphone at the four major US carriers for the past 3 months. That's not too surprising, considering new iPhones usually fair well right after launch.

But what did surprise me was the fact that the iPhone 5c has also been in the top 3 selling smartphones at AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile since September. You know, the same handset that Apple has reportedly been cutting production for due to poor sales...

Google takes on spammers by caching all Gmail images on its servers

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 12, 2013

Doesn't it bother you that Gmail on the web and mobile puts up the Show Images link at the top of your email messages that contain images, like HTML newsletters? That message will be no more real soon as Google changes how Gmail handles images in emails.

According to the official Gmail blog, both Gmail on the web and Gmail for the iPhone and iPad (and Android) will now let you see all Gmail images automatically.

Moreover, the linked images will no longer load from their original external host servers and will instead be served through Google’s own secure proxy servers. And because the images will be checked for known viruses or malware, the change will make Gmail safer and more secure, the search monster argued...

FCC and carriers finally agree on cell phone unlocking

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Threatening regulatory action, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was able to drive U.S. wireless carriers into a corner concerning their stance on cell phone unlocking. As much as carriers would want to lock phones to their network to make switching service that much harder, the FCC and major U.S. wireless companies have reached an agreement which will make it easier for people to unlock their devices and switch from one carrier to another.

The wireless association called CTIA, which represents U.S. carriers like AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and U.S. Cellular, released a statement on Thursday confirming that all named carriers have agreed to the new cell phone unlocking principles put forth by the government...

IFTTT can now trigger actions based on your location

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 12, 2013

The increasingly popular iPhone automation app, IFTT, (stands for IF This Then That) has received a notable little update today which enables iOS Location Recipes, allowing you to build recipes that trigger various actions based on your device's GPS location.

The new iOS Location channel was created to allow apps and websites to use information from cellular, Wi-Fi and GPS networks, in addition to iBeacons, to determine your approximate location. This opens up some interesting and really useful possibilities.

For instance, you could program IFTTT to turn off lights when you get home, via the built-in support for the Philips Hue smart light bulb. Or, why not automate social announcements when you're at a not-to-be-missed party? And how about simply notifying your family about your whereabouts as you move about the day?

Apple refreshes the design of its online support portal

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

In recent months, Apple has been making various moves to make its users more aware of its self-help options. Last month, it updated its Genius Bar reservation page with a link to its online support portal to give customers the option to 'save a trip to the store.'

And today, Apple has updated its online support portal to make it more user-friendly with a new, simpler design. The UI now looks more in line with iOS 7, with large, sharp images on a white background, and makes the page much easier for customers to navigate...