Free

Future OS X, iLife and iWork updates will continue to be free

One of the easily overlooked aspects of last week's iPad keynote is how Apple revolutionized software pricing. "The days of spending hundreds of dollars to get most out of your computer are gone," charismatic software chief Craig Federighi enthusiastically remarked just before revealing that OS X Mavericks will be a free upgrade to everyone.

The move has ushered in “a new era of Mac,” he said. And of course on the iOS side, the iLife and iWork suite of apps for content creation and productivity has gone from paid to free for every new iOS device owner.

The best part: future updates to iWork/iLife apps and upcoming new versions of the Mac operating system are going to continue to be completely free. What sort of dark magic is that?

Microsoft on the defensive: Apple’s free iWork productivity suite is ‘no big deal’

There's nothing like a good dogfight between two tech titans to get your blood flowing. After a hiatus from its sniping at Apple, Microsoft is back, calling the decision to offer iWork and iLife software free "no big deal". Sure Microsoft, whatever you say.

But Redmond didn't stop there. In a Wednesday blog post, the software giant's communication vice president paints Apple's move as desperate, before launching into a rally-round-the-flag sort of promo for the new Surface tablet.

All of which reminds me of the Hamlet quote about protesting too much...

‘Asphalt 8: Airborne’ goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Great news gamers! Apple has just named Gameloft's recently-released ‘Asphalt 8: Airborne’ game the App of the Week. This means that for the next 7 days, you'll be able to grab the popular racer for your iPhone or iPad, for free.

Asphalt 8, which as the name suggests is the eighth installment in the popular racing series, made its debut in late August. The game features over 40 licensed cars, an extensive Career mode, and an impressive physics engine…

Apple crediting eligible users who bought iWork, iLife apps after Sept. 1

During its big iPhone event back in September, Apple announced that anyone who purchased a new iOS device after September 1 would be able to download iPhoto, iMovie, and the iWork suite of apps—Keynote, Pages, Numbers—for free.

Making good on its promise, Apple began sending out emails with iTunes credits earlier today to those who purchased both new iOS devices and one or more of the above-mentioned iOS apps prior to the announcement on September 10...

‘Asphalt 8: Airborne’ free for the weekend

Great news gamers! Gameloft has made its recently-released 'Asphalt 8: Airborne' game free for a limited time. The developer made the announcement yesterday via its Twitter account, saying that the title would be free through the weekend.

Asphalt 8, which as the name suggests is the eighth installment in the popular racing series, made its debut just a few weeks ago in late August. The game features over 40 licensed cars, an extensive Career mode, and an all-new physics engine...

Cut the Rope is Apple’s Free App of the Week

If you're a sucker for physics-based puzzlers as I've always been but really can't stand Angry Birds anymore, Cut the Rope is a much-needed refreshment from Rovio's bird-slinging franchise. On the surface, the concept seems dull: you're tasked with feeding candy to a little green monster named Om Nom while collecting stars.

But it's how developers executed the super-realistic physics gameplay and paired it with colorful cartoonish visuals that blows mind.

Tens of millions of players can't be wrong and I'm also guilty of falling in love and getting addicted to Cut the Rope. Already downloaded more than 300 million times around the world, the game's never been free on the App Store so it's kinda big deal  that Apple's just made Cut the Rope its Free App of the Week...

Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders is Apple’s new Free App of the Week

Boy, I've spent countless hours and had tons of fun playing the Sky Gamblers games by Atypical Games. It's one of those system sellers that every avid gamer should have on their device to show off to friends, it's that good.

In terms of graphics, these games literally have it all: lots of detail, interactive cockpits, special effects galore, specular masks, bump mapping, atmospheric scattering, volumetric clouds with realistic lighting and sun glare.

There are also beautiful day and night transitions, God rays, high definition textures, 4x anisotropic filtering, high dynamic range rendering, radial blur, heat haze, refractive raindrops and lots more. The care and thought that had gone into designing Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders, the most recent installment, has clearly caught Apple's attention.

Previously, the iPhone maker featured Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders as one of its 2013 Design Award winners and now the company has decided to feature the game as its Free App of the Week. Trust me, Storm Raiders is the ultimate World War II air combat game and you'd be foolish to pass on it..

Gorgeous Rise Alarm Clock goes free as App Store’s App of the Week

Folks unhappy with Apple's stock alarm clock feature may want to check out the beautiful Rise Alarm Clock app by Kellen Styler. Not only is it one of the best-looking third-party alarm clock apps out there, but it's also free for a limited time.

Apple has named Rise its App of the Week, something it does every week for paid apps it believes deserve to be featured in front of millions of eyeballs. And after downloading the app for myself, it's not surprising that they picked this one...

Rovio’s ‘Bad Piggies’ game goes free as App of the Week

Great news gamers! Rovio's popular Bad Piggies game has been named App of the Week by Apple, meaning you can download the iPhone and iPad versions of the title for free during the next 7 days.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, Bad Piggies is fairly different from Angry Birds and Rovio's other titles in that it revolves around building contraptions to get your pigs safely through levels...

More proof that Apple’s premium iWork/iLife iOS suite could go free

Apple for years offered iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand iOS apps as a $4.99 download each.

On the Mac, those apps which comprise the iLife suite come bundled with new Mac purchases and Apple's been very actively advertising them as one of the reasons people switch to the Mac.

As for the iWork productivity suite - comprised of the Pages word processor, Numbers spreadsheet maker and Keynote presentation creator - users are expected to pay $19.99 each on the Mac side and $9.99 each on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

Some watchers think the advent of the free iWork for iCloud web apps with full editing capabilities (currently in beta) may signal Apple's intention to make the entire iWork suite a free affair, giving people one less reason to consider rival platforms. Today, a German blog has discovered an interesting change in the first-run App Store screen in the latest iOS 7 Beta 3 that surprisingly adds individual iWork/iLife apps as free downloads...

Top iOS apps go free ahead of App Store’s 5th anniversary

As noted by several iDB readers, a handful of high profile iOS games and apps have gone free ahead of what could be a major celebration in honor of the App Store's fifth anniversary. Apple recently sent out timeline posters to major media outlets signaling the July 10 milestone.

Among the apps spotted thus far, believed to be a part of the promotion, are Chair's widely popular swipe-to-fight action title Infinity Blade II and Native Instruments' Traktor DJ for iPad—neither of which has ever been offered for free. You'll find a full list of the deals after the fold...

Reeder for iPhone goes free, support for Google Reader alternatives coming soon

Whenever I feel like skimming through my RSS feeds, I turn to Reeder, Silvio Rizzi's excellent RSS client for the iPhone and iPad. I've been using it for years now and with the impending July 1 Google Reader shutdown, Silvio figured he could kick his value proposition up a notch by making Reeder for iPhone free. In addition, he's busy working on the next update which will enable a number of Google Reader alternatives such as Feedly, Wrangler and others...