Apps

Vine finally lets you upload clips from your Camera roll

Vine has announced a significant update for its iOS client today, which will add a number of new features to the popular video-sharing app. The release includes a wide range of new editing  tools, as well as the long-requested ability to upload clips from your device's Camera Roll.

A majority of today's changes fall within the app's new camera section, which aims to make it faster and easier to get your Vines just the way you want them. And with new Preview and Undo buttons, you can quickly screen your last clip, and decide whether you want to keep it or not...

‘NFL Now’ lands on Apple TV with news and highlights

As expected, the National Football League launched the Apple TV client for its new 'NFL Now' service this morning. The service went live earlier this month on mobile and various streaming devices, and today it comes to Apple's set top box.

While the NFL Now channel won't deliver streams of live games (see NFL Sunday Ticket for that), it will provide a plethora of content for football fans. That content includes classic and recent highlights, breaking news, press events and more...

Beautiful iOS calculator Tydlig goes temporarily free in official Apple Store app

Apple is celebrating the life of a college student so they're giving away one education-themed app each week via the official Apple Store client for the iPhone and iPad.

Although some other promo offers are available only to Apple Store visitors, anyone who has downloaded the free shopping app to their device and has a U.S.-based iTunes account can now download Tydlig for free.

Note that these promos are separate from Apple's ongoing Free App of the Week so iOS apps which go temporarily free in the Apple Store app still cost money when accessed regularly in the App Store via their iTunes links.

In the past two weeks, two high-quality apps have gone temporarily via the Apple Store app (not to be confused with the App Store): the gorgeous Rise Alarm Clock and Runtastic Pro, a premium version of the popular fitness tracking software.

If you love calculators, the advanced Tydlig for the iPhone and iPad will be free until next Wednesday, a $2.99 saving.

Here's how you can redeem your free copy of Tydlig...

SoundHound updated, now lets you add songs to Rdio playlists

Rdio users, rejoice!

The popular song-matching service, SoundHound, has updated its iOS application with the ability to connect with Rdio and add matched songs to an Rdio playlist.

You can then listen to them instantly in the Rdio app. The free SoundHound mobile client is available in the App Store. But SoundHound seems to be playing a catch-up game to rivals such as Shazam.

As a reminder, Shazam implemented Rdio integration last December. But unlike SoundHound's, Shazam's implementation not only lets you play recognized tracks through Rdio, but also play back full songs without switching apps...

Mailbox for iPhone and iPad gains Drafts

Less than 24 hours after releasing the first public beta of Mailbox for Mac bringing new snooze options and support for the Drafts folder, the Dropbox-owned startup has updated its Mailbox mobile client with the same capability.

Sitting at version 2.2, Mailbox now predictably allows you to access your work-in-progress messages stored in Drafts across desktop and mobile apps for Mac, iOS and Android...

Parallels Desktop 10 is out with OS X Yosemite support, better battery life, and more

Parallels this morning announced the launch of Parallels Desktop 10 for Mac, the highly anticipated update for its popular virtual environment software. The new version is available now as an upgrade for existing users, and will launch on August 26th for new customers.

For those unfamiliar with it, Parallels Desktop makes it extremely easy to install and run alternate operating systems on your Mac such as Windows or Linux. And today's update adds in [experimental] support for OS X Yosemite, better battery life, and other improvements...

This app tells you what apps are battery hogs

Some days, my iPhone 5 works all day with very little battery drain. Other days, it seems like I’ve run out of juice after minimal usage. I’ve always wondered which activities are the biggest culprits in my battery drainage.

Normal: Battery Analytics is a diagnostics app that uses general information about your device and compares it with that of thousands of other iPhone users to help you determine which apps should be killed and which should be deleted altogether in order to spare your battery life.

Hands-on with Mailbox for Mac: a fast, powerful, gestural mail client

We first heard rumors of a Mac version of the popular Mailbox app last year, and it was since confirmed as being in development, with a public beta sign up for those interested in early access. Although it's been a while, users who signed up for the beta are finally getting their invites.

I've had the privilege of getting a pre-public beta copy of Mailbox for Mac, and I've been putting it through its paces ever since. Here are some thoughts on the OS X edition of this incredible mail client.

New Google app: Photo Sphere Camera for iPhone

Google has released a brand new iPhone photography application in the App Store. Dubbed Photo Sphere Camera, it provides functionality similar to the iOS Panorama shooting mode, and then some more.

By continuously taking images as you pan your device around, Photo Sphere Camera then stitches the individual photos together to create a nice sphere-like 360-degree image which can be published directly to Google Maps or shared with anyone on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and via email.

The app is a free download. I've included additional tidbits right after the jump...

Facebook’s Slingshot picks up new features

It's been nearly two months now since Facebook rolled out its would-be Snapchat-killer, called Slingshot.

Thus far, the software looks like it could be going the way of Poke, the social networking giant's pathetic take on the popular ephemeral messaging software.

Surprisingly enough, Slingshot currently enjoys a three-star rating out of five stars in the App Store.

Besides, the app doesn't seem to be languishing as the team released its first major update three weeks ago bringing out much-needed new features, including a My People tab and brand new reactions.

Today, a second major update has landed on the App Store. Available to download for free, Slingshot 1.2 improves your experience by letting you jump straight to the list of shots by tapping a notification and more...

Xbox One SmartGlass now lets you install Xbox games remotely, live TV streaming due soon

Software giant Microsoft today pushed a nice little update to its Xbox One companion app for the iPhone and iPad, SmartGlass.

Version 2.8 is now available in the App Store, providing a handy new feature letting you buy and install Xbox games and other content remotely, from your iOS device.

Moreover, the application now supports in-app browsing of new and popular games, add-ons and bundles.

You can even rate your favorite Xbox game clips and activity feed entries, as well as view shared Activity Feed and Game Clips — all within the app. And in a future SmartGlass update due later this year, Microsoft will add ability to stream live TV locally to your iPhone or iPad...

Facebook testing the use of stickers in comments

Hope you like stickers, Facebook users, because it looks like you're going to start seeing a lot more of them on the social network. The company has been spotted testing the use of sticker graphics in post and page comments with select users.

Stickers have become a popular element for a number of social networks and messaging services, but until now (and still for most people) they have only been available to Facebook users via mobile Messenger apps and Facebook Chat on the web...