iPod Touch

Google keeps promise, updates Snapseed with iOS 6 and iPhone 5 support

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 20, 2017

When Google announced last month it was acquiring Nik Software, the brains behind Snapseed, a popular Photoshop alternative on the iOS platform, Senior Vice President of Engineering Vic Gundotra made a promise on Google+ that "we’re going to continue offering and improving Nik’s high-end tools and plug-ins". The search giant has kept its word as it pushed an update to Snapseed for the iPhone and iPad on the App Store, bringing long-awaited iOS 6 and iPhone 5 compatibility...

Microsoft (again) mentions Office for iOS and Android

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 10, 2012

We've been receiving vague hints that Microsoft, which is currently busy for the big Windows 8 launch scheduled for October 26, is also working on bringing the Office suite to the iPad. Today, a new report quotes a Microsoft executive as confirming that the software giant is in fact hard at work developing a native Microsoft Office suite for both iOS and Android. The software should hit the two mobile platforms "sometime after March 2013"...

BBC launches iPlayer Radio streaming app

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 29, 2017

BBC has previously made available its fine (I'd dare say, the finest) television programming, documentaries and news channels on the iPhone and today the London, United Kingdom-headquartered public service broadcasting corporation revealed a new radio streaming app.

The BBC iPlayer Radio app allows you to stream live shows and download already-broadcast shows. It sports a nice dial interface akin to Apple's Podcast app, letting one quickly scan available shows and enjoy BBC's radio programmes on the go, even if it's limited only to UK residents (there's a way to bypass that)...

Apple awarded second patent for a two-step screen unlock

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 9, 2012

An interesting patent grant surfaced in the United States Patent & Trademark Office's (USPTO) database this morning related to a two-step screen unlock feature. This is Apple's second patent grant for the feature, with first patent issued in June 2012. One of the inventors listed on the second grant for a dual slider locking approach is Apple's iOS chief and Senior Vice President Scott Forstall...

Apple is now shipping orders of the new iPod touch and iPod nano

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 9, 2012

Some buyers reported today that Apple has begun shipping orders of the fifth-generation iPod touch and seventh-generation iPod nano. The company yesterday started shipping the new Lightning to 30-pin adapter which allows people to use most of legacy accessories with the iPhone 5, as well as the new iPod touch and iPod nano, all featuring the Lightning connector. In addition, Apple this morning published the iPod touch user guide as a free iBookstore download...

New iPod touch benchmarks surface as Apple posts user guide

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 28, 2017

Folks who pre-ordered, or are thinking about ordering, the new iPod touch might be interested to hear that some screenshots containing purported benchmarks for the device have surfaced.

If the images are legitimate, then they offer up a few new details about the fifth-gen iPod touch. For example, it appears it has an A5 chip with CPU speeds on par with last year's iPhone 4S...

Sega announces it’s bringing Crazy Taxi to iOS

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 10, 2018

In a blog post yesterday, Sega announced that it was going to be bringing its popular Crazy Taxi game to iOS this month. The title, which was the first in the Crazy Taxi series, started out as an arcade game, and has since been ported to several different consoles.

In addition to the announcement, Sega also posted an [extremely] brief trailer that shows gameplay footage from the upcoming iOS version, along with the message "Relive the madness on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. October 2012." Video teaser after the break...

iOS 6 no longer lets you gift apps on iOS devices

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 8, 2012

It's been widely reported that Apple dropped stock YouTube and Google Maps app in iOS 6. I'm not really sure how nobody noticed this before, but it's been reported that Apple did kill another handy feature: the ability to gift apps.

The removal of the gifting capability affects mobile App Store storefronts running on iPhones, iPads and iPod touches as users can still gift apps using desktop iTunes on a Mac or PC. Apple itself confirmed the change and it's unknown when (or if, for that matter) the feature will return to iOS 6...

NYT looks at Apple and patent wars from both sides

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 4, 2018

As part of its ongoing iEconomy series, The New York Times on Sunday evening published a fascinating piece covering patent wars in excruciating detail, touching upon Apple's decision to go thermonuclear on Android, how the company changed its strategy after it had been forced to pay $100 million for the iPod user interface, why Apple is allowed to own patents covering basic software concepts and more...

Rovio to release Angry Birds Star Wars on November 8

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Forgive Rovio for milking the Angry Birds franchise for all its worth, but if it hadn't been for the original Angry Birds game no one would have heard of a small Finnish game developer that was struggling to make a living making games you never heard about. Hot on the heels of releasing Bad Piggies and Angry Birds Space, Rovio has just announced a broad partnership with Hasbro, a toy and board game company.

The mash-up will see Rovio release a range of Star Wars and Angry Birds figurines, costumes, plush toys and a brand new Angry Birds game set in the Star Wars universe. More information and a teaser trailer follow right after the break...

Camera Awesome hits iPad, Camera+ gains iPhone 5 low-light boost mode

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 13, 2018

Taptaptap's Camera+ and SmugMug's Camera Awesome are like the two most important photography and image editing apps in my arsenal. Both have been refreshed this morning, but don't let a minor version update fool you as each app enables major enhancements that add help add flair to iPhone photography.

Following in the footsteps of Taptaptap, SmugMug's Camera Awesome has been updated with native iPad support. At the same time, Taptaptap (which recently released CAmera+ for iPad and gave the iPhone version iCloud sync and other new features) has updated Camera+ for iPhone with the cool low-light boost mode Apple debuted on the iPhone 5...

Apple seeking silicon wizards as it preps to fully customize A7 chip for 2013 iOS devices

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Speedier, smaller and even more power-efficient mobile chip designs are already in the works for future iOS devices so it comes as little surprise that Apple remains on a hiring spree, seeking talented semiconductor experts left and right.

As you know, Apple's current system-on-a-chip (SoC) modules found inside iPhones, iPods and iPads typically pack in several processing and graphic cores, in addition to the memory controller, RAM and the essential control logic - all onto a single piece of silicon die.

A new job posting reveals Apple is looking for an "SoC Modelling Architect / Lead" who will be tasked with managing its in-house team which designs next-generation processors for iOS devices...