Apple

Adobe retires Photoshop touch apps & previews Rigel, its new retouching solution for iPad

Photoshop maker Adobe said today it will be pulling Photoshop Touch apps for the iPhone and iPad from the App Store and other mobile platforms next Thursday, May 28. At the same time the company gave a sneak peek of its forthcoming new retouching solution for mobile, Rigel, which should be available later this year.

Adobe said it will sharpen focus on Creative Cloud mobile apps like Photoshop Mix, Photoshop Sketch, Adobe Comp CC, Adobe Shape CC, Adobe Brush CC and Adobe Color CC.

App Store highlights apps for Global Accessibility Awareness Day

In honor of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Apple has begun highlighting apps with specialized accessibility features. The curated section features apps such as Instapaper, which offers text-to-speech, and Workflow, which can automate complex tasks, and is featured on the front page of the App Store.

Apple has long been praised for the accessibility features in iOS. Grammy Award-winning artist, who has been blind for most of his life, famously took time out of a concert to thank Steve Jobs and company for their work, saying "there’s nothing on the iPhone or the iPad that you can do, that I can’t do."

New report details 12″ iPad with dual-app viewing mode and iOS 9 multi-user support

Apple is developing not one, but two new twelve-inch iPad models, codenamed “J98” and “J99”. Also, the firm's doubled down on advancing productivity aspects of iOS with a much-needed dual-app multitasking mode and support for multiple users in iOS 9, a report Thursday by 9to5Mac alleged.

The same publication originally claimed side-by-side multitasking would debut in iOS 8 with the iPad Air back in 2014 so take today's story with a grain of salt.

“Sources now say that Apple plans to show off the side-by-side feature for iOS 9 using currently available iPad models,” the article states.

Split-screen multitasking should be formally announced at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference next month, with multi-user support reportedly slated to arrive later this year alongside new iPads.

Asphalt 8 picks up new cars, exclusive decals, Tenerife track, widget support and more

Asphalt 8: Airborne, Gameloft's free-to-play arcade racing title for the iPhone and iPad, today received a major content update in the App Store. The game has gained a number of new cars, tracks and loads of other improvements, amongst them support for the Apple Watch and a widget for the iOS Notification Center.

Asphalt 8 was first to support Metal, Apple's new graphics framework in iOS 8 that makes graphics intensive games run smoother with more effects. Now Gameloft provides the latest Asphalt update as a 64-bit application that should run even faster on iPhones and iPads powered by Apple's A7 chip or newer.

In time for Memorial Day, Google Maps adds new traffic alerts and alternate routes

Memorial Day is one of the busiest driving days in the U.S. so little wonder that Google is now boosting traffic alerts on Google Maps to warn drivers of congestion on the route ahead, helping them avoid traffic jam.

“Now when you input your destination, you’ll get an explanation of upcoming traffic conditions that helps you identify the quickest route,” according to the Internet giant.

Standalone Apple Watch bands begin hitting select Apple retail stores

Standalone bands for the Apple Watch are now available across select brick-and-mortar Apple Stores in the United States, the United Kingdom and possibly elsewhere, according to latest reports.

As reported by Twitter user AppleRadar, an Apple Store in Miami is now carrying the Classic Buckle and the Sport Band in multiple colors, with additional bands likely arriving soon.

Apple reportedly set to launch Transit service, trip-planning feature and indoor maps with iOS 9

One important piece of the Apple Maps puzzle is about to fall in place at next month's WWDC as Apple readies to announce the Transit feature within Apple Maps in iOS 9, 9to5Mac reported this morning.

The same publication ran a scoop last year reporting that the Transit feature would launch as part of the iOS 8 software update, but the rumor didn't pan out.

“Having originally planned to add a new transit directions feature to Maps last year, only to pull the feature before WWDC 2014, Apple now hopes to launch its Transit service with iOS 9,” the report, based on “sources,” reads.

Here’s what’s inside Apple Watch display retail units and how they work

If you visited your nearest Apple retail store since the Apple Watch's April 10 debut, you were probably delighted by the special display retail units that combine the Apple Watch and a bigger screen to provide a cool interactive experience.

Tapping any app or option on the Apple Watch instantly puts up an animated description of the feature on the second screen. It's instantaneous, fun and seamless.

Thankfully, a set of documents and images published recently by a Brazilian regulatory agency, and shared by BlogdoiPhone, gives us an in-depth look at how Apple engineered these display retail units and how they work.

KGI claims Apple will unveil new iPhones in August before making them available for sale in September

Apple usually launches new iPhones in September (and iPads in October), but this time around the company could bring the 'iPhone 6s' and 'iPhone 6s Plus' to market a bit earlier, if a new analysis by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is an indication.

In a note to clients, a copy of which was obtained by The China Post, Kuo writes that Apple will announce the new handsets in August before making them available for sale in September, the time frame that suggests the possibility of pre-orders in late August.

More than a dozen iCloud services were unavailable or responding slowly for 7 hours

According to Apple's status page, multiple iCloud services have been experiencing various issues for six hours straight. “Users may experience slower than normal response when using most iCloud services,” reads a notice on the webpage.

More than a dozen iCloud services were affected at post time, with many services going completely offline.

UPDATE: Apple said that all services were restored as of 6:30am PT, adding that the outages affected a whopping 40 percent of iCloud users.

Sunrise Calendar and Wunderlist integrate, letting you create and manage Wunderlist tasks in Sunrise

6Wunderkinder GmbH, the German developer behind the popular task/to-do app Wunderlist, and the team behind the cross-platform calendar application Sunrise Calendar, on Thursday announced feature-rich integration between the two apps.

The move allows fans of both services to create Wunderlist tasks directly in Sunrise, write a Wunderlist task as done and change its due date in Sunrise and more.