Apple has named Rovio's popular Angry Birds Star Wars II game its App of the Week for this week. This means that between now and next Thursday, you’ll be able to pick up the application for both your iPhone and iPad, for free.
For those unfamiliar with the game, it's Rovio's second entry in the Star Wars-themed series. And like the first one, it combines the addictive gameplay of Angry Birds with characters and settings from the successful sci-fi franchise...
In a bit of a surprise move today, Sony has released a new game for the iPhone and iPad called 'Ratchet & Clank: BTN.' It's an Infinite runner, much like Temple Run, with familiar elements from Sony's popular franchise.
The game's full name is 'Ratchet and Clank: Before the Nexus' and it features characters from the all new Ratchet and Clank: Nexus PS3 game. And bonus, you can actually sync earned Raritanium (points) between the two...
One of the first premium news apps for the iPhone worth checking out came from CNN, "the biggest name in news". The 24/7 news organization released the CNN for iPhone app on the App Store in September 2009.
I immediately fell in love with its sleekness, responsiveness and overall branding. In fact, it was Godsent because CNN's mobile website was very pedestrian at the time (and still is!)
But that was before Flipboard and a host of other fine apps came along vastly improving on the rather clunky news-reading iOS experience.
The iPad edition followed in October 2010. Soon after, both versions went permanently free as CNN had realized that folks were reluctant to shell 99 cents for the privilege of following the Time Warner-owned network's software on their iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices.
And how does CNN's latest iPhone and iPad update feel like on iOS 7? How about giving the screenies below a quick look?
The increasingly popular music discovery and fingerprinting service Shazam has just refreshed its free iPhone and iPad application with a new Auto Shazam feature that basically listens for songs and television shows in the background and tags them automatically, even if the device is locked, courtesy of new iOS 7 technologies. You can now share your Shazam Tags with people on WhatsApp, pin them to your Pinterest boards and send them to others via the iOS Messages platform.
Jump past the fold for more on Auto Shazam...
Google's standalone Search application has been updated with barely visible iOS 7 styling and a pair of under-the-hood improvements allowing for the native fluid Image Search experience on the iPad as well as smarter integration with the Google Maps app.
Other than that, release notes mention no new features for Google Search version 3.2, which is now available as a free download from the App Store. I've included additional tidbits right below, if you're interested...
Fragment is a new photo app that lets you create original photos by applying unique prismatic overlays. If the concept of the app looks familiar, it is because it has been created by Pixite, the developers of Tangent and LoryStripes, two applications we've nominated as some of the 10 best photo apps of 2013.
I've been trying this app for a few days, and despite the fact that overlays aren't really my cup of tea, I have found Fragment to be almost addictive to play with because there are so many possibilities. Maybe more importantly, I feel like Fragment is challenging my creativity by pushing me to take my photos further than just a quick edit in Snapseed or a simple filter in Instagram...
Chair Entertainment's Infinity Blade franchise has received a massive content update this morning. Hot on the heels of releasing the first major Soul Hunter content pack, Infinity Blade III Ausar Rising is now available as a free download for those who've purchased the game.
Featuring a new Arena mode that will test your skills and give you a chance to earn new skills by challenging you to fight a series of progressively harder tests against a horde of Titans, a second dragon named Pisci, three new quests, nine new enemies, over 60 new items and holiday helmets for both Isa and Siris, eight new skills and a host of new goals, potions and gems, it's the most comprehensive Infinity Blade update yet...
Thanks to the iPhone’s mobility, people don’t listen to music the way they used to. There was a time, even before me, when the only way you could listen to prerecorded music was at home, on a huge piece of furniture that housed a phonograph player. You’d sit on the floor and just listen to an album. Nowadays, people do just about everything except sit while listening to music.
Listen: The Gesture Music Player makes it easy for you to control your music-listening experience without having to even look at the screen. Thanks to big buttons and simple gesture-based interactions, you can play tunes while doing almost about anything…
Great news gamers, ZeptoLab's Cut the Rope 2 is now available in the App Store. The original game, which involved solving a series of puzzles to feed a cuddly little monster named Om Nom, made its debut on the iPhone back in 2010 and has been very popular.
And after some 3 years and half a billion downloads, Om Nom is back for this highly-anticipated sequel. This time he's more interactive, and is joined by 5 new characters—the Nommies—which will help him get through the more than 120 challenging new levels...
Whenever I see a game in the App Store with the word “run” in the title, I assume it is an endless runner game that is trying to capitalize on the popularity of Temple Run. I love Temple Run and there are other games like it that are very good, too. However, there are a lot of titles in the endless runner genre and these days, it is hard to find one that offers something new.
Galaxy Run has a deceiving name. It isn’t an endless runner at all. It is a physics-based game that combines fast paced runner action and arcade style mechanics…
Six months after releasing its native Zagat for iPhone app, Google on Wednesday finally updated the restaurant guide application with a nicely done native interface on iPad devices.
Zagat's 1.0 release brought restaurant recommendations for nine major U.S. cities - Austin, Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington DC - with subsequent updates expanding Zagat to more than a two dozen new cities.
In today's free Zagat update, Google has added Charleston, South Carolina and Nashville, Tennessee, bringing the total markets covered to 42. Another major new feature: ratings and reviews for hotels and shopping establishments in each city...
iMDB, the Internet's vast database of information related to films, television programs and video games, has a nice free app for the iPhone and iPad which has been updated today with the iOS 7-friendly look, a new section providing the Oscars coverage, reworked navigation and homepages on the iPhone and iPod touch, the voting feature, the ability to name lists, new sorting and filtering options and more. Go past the fold for the full reveal...