Apps

Yahoo News Digest in its first major update adds Weather and Statistics atoms

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 24, 2018

Following its January introduction, Yahoo's free News Digest app for the iPhone has quickly become part of my daily news routine. There's just too many news-reading apps out there with lots of longform content and too little time to be able to consume it all on a daily basis. That's where summarization comes into play. A hot new buzzword, summarization technology in News Digest basically uses improved algorithms from Nick D'Aloisio's Summly app that Yahoo bought for the reported $30 million.

In its first major update, News Digest version 1.1 brings two new "atoms" (digests of news stories) that cover Yahoo's popular daily habits, Weather and Statistics. There are a few other features and improvements, listed below the fold...

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Facebook testing new ‘Highlights’ summary feature on iOS

Cody Lee ∙ February 23, 2014

Over the weekend, Facebook posted a tiny 7.0 update for its iOS app with a change log that simply read 'bug fixes.' But as it turns out, the update was more significant than that as it activated a feature the company is testing on iOS right now called Highlights.

The feature is currently available to a subset of iOS users, in a new 'People' tab that is also in testing (replaces the Requests tab), and it offers a roundup of recent life events from your friends and family. Annoying UpWorthy posts and meme pics not included...

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Apps of the Week: Dungeon Highway, Tengami, Astro Golf, and more…

Lory Gil ∙ Updated March 26, 2018

It is hard to believe that March is just around the corner. On my side of the U.S., we still haven’t had a decent amount of rainfall. The sun shines every day while the days start to get just a little bit longer. Where did my winter go?

If you are longing for cozy winter nights, or are sick of the snowfall in your neck of the woods, and want some apps and games to distract you, we’ve got a list for you to check out this weekend…

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Upcoming NES-inspired game ‘Venture Kid’ looks like a blast

Cody Lee ∙ February 22, 2014

Most gamers these days are drawn to titles that push the limits of the hardware found in their mobile devices with 3D graphics and complex gaming engines, but there are still a lot of folks out there that prefer the 8-bit platformers of the 80's and 90's.

Well if you happen to fall in the latter category, you have to check out this trailer for an upcoming game called Venture Kid. Its 8-bit graphics and synthesized soundtrack make this title seem like it would have felt right at home on the original Nintendo...

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musx app makes for a truly social music experience

Lory Gil ∙ Updated February 14, 2018

When Beats launched its Music service, the company executives called their streaming music different because it added a human touch to the playlist element. Nothing is more human than having your friends tell you about new music. Even if your friends aren’t around, music recommendations shouldn’t be based on algorithms. They should be from real people.

musx is a streaming music app that is completely social. Find curated playlists from people just like you. Connect with your social networks to find out what your friends are listening to. Be the deejay and recommend music to others…

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Superburst Camera is the fastest burst camera in the App Store

Lory Gil ∙ February 20, 2014

Before the iPhone 5s came out, there weren’t many ways to take bursts of pictures. Third-party camera apps like SnappyCam began popping up so you could take up to 14 frames per second with 8MPs. Since Apple included a burst feature in its native Camera app, the bar has been raised and app makers have to work harder to impress.

Superburst Camera is being touted as the fastest burst camera in the App Store, with more than twice the speed of the iPhone 5s’ Camera app. Take an average of 25 shots per second at 8MP, or go even further with 120 photos per second in Slow-Mo Shutter mode…

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‘Mini Ninjas’ goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Apple has named Square Enix's 'Mini Ninjas' game its App of the Week for this week. This means that through next Thursday, you'll be able to pick up the application for both your iPhone and iPad, for free—a nice little savings of $1.

For those unfamiliar with the game, it's an endless runner based on the console game of the same name. In it you'll play as Hiro, as you run jump and slash your way through various levels to retrieve a stolen artifact from the drag...

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Google reportedly tried to buy WhatsApp for $10 billion

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

The entire Internet is abuzz right now with this whole Facebook and WhatsApp deal. For the few that haven't heard yet, the social network announced yesterday afternoon that it has agreed to acquire the cross-platform messaging giant for a staggering $16 billion.

Since the announcement, details of the buyout negotiations between the two companies have begun to slowly trickle in, and as you might expect, some of them are rather interesting. Fortune, for example, is reporting that Google actually offered to buy WhatsApp first...

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Camera+ 5.1 lands with new Boost feature, 16×9 shooting mode, Lab refinements and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

iPhone photography fans, pay notice: following a major iOS 7 revamp, developer Taptaptap has delivered the first major update for its popular Camera+ app, a $1.99 download in the App Store.

Camera+ 5.1 brings out several refinements to The Lab feature, as well as some nice improvements and a pair of new features: a new 16x9 shooting mode for taking widescreen photos and a new Boost option for more intense filters.

As you'd expect, the team has also fixed a number of bugs such as a nasty API issue which caused apps like Day One to not work properly with Camera+...

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Waze gains Calendar support and event navigation

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 20, 2014

An update to Waze's free mapping, traffic and navigation app for the iPhone and iPad is about to land on the App Store later today, bringing integration with your iOS Calendar, the company wrote Thursday in a blog post.

More importantly, this Waze refresh allows you to navigate to Calendar events with just one tap, making it easy to access location-based events stored in the iOS Calendar, right within the app.

Waze for iPhone is available free of charge in the App Store. This particular update is expected to launch in the App Store later today...

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Google Wi-Fi app being tested, takes the pain out of accessing public hotspots

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 20, 2014

Google is testing a new iPhone application which aims to make it easier to access public Wi-Fi hotspots on your handset, Engadget reported Thursday.

The software will make it simple to automatically authenticate and connect users to Google's free hotspots inside Starbucks stores "or wherever they are available".

The publication has learned that the Google Wi-Fi app could even tap users' Google Account to “install a dedicated security certificate on their device to automatically authenticate devices when a connection is available,” bypassing the need to go through the clunky login process when joining public Wi-Fi hotspots...

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