The countdown to iOS 5's release has begun, with Apple now bringing its most valued and prominent carrier partners into the testing phase for the first time.
Carriers have now begun testing the latest build of iOS 5 internally, with reports suggesting that this build is a newer one than the beta 7 version being currently tested by developers...
We've told you all about Tapsteroids before – the fast-paced action-shooter from the two-person team that is UNAgames. Tapsteroids was released just a few days ago on September 1st, and it's already being featured by Apple in their 'New & Noteworthy' section of the App Store.
To celebrate the achievement, UNAgames has made Tapsteroids FREE, but for today only, so if by any chance you haven't stumped up the $0.99 yet, now's the time to get it...
We've been hearing little tidbits here and there that point to a new way for Apple to diagnose issues with iPhones, iPads and iPod touches. First, we reported on internal messages being sent to Apple dealers that mention a tool for remote retrieval of logs and error files from devices, and then a patent popped up that ran along very similar lines.
Now, more details have emerged, with 9to5Mac confirming that Apple is indeed planning to roll out a new diagnostic system, and that it will be coming online slowly over the coming months...
So far, Apple has missed a huge opportunity for gaming on the Apple TV. Short of a jailbreak and third party firmware, it's nearly impossible to do anything but stream and play back media on the set-top box.
The App Store is home to thousands of awesome games, and a new iOS app lets you play games on your Apple TV by turning your iDevice into NES-like controller...
It's a rare occasion that we stumble across a good game in Cydia, so it caught our eye when iEnthusiast mentioned that developer "ntrfc0" is working on a Zelda-themed iOS game for jailbreakers.
He has good ideas for the game, but he needs help from the community...
It's Apple patent time again here at iDownloadbBlog, and the latest to be discovered by Patently Apple points to a fancy new iTunes based diagnostic tool for iOS devices.
The new tool will create and monitor in-depth change logs, as well as check things like the device's location and other physical conditions. The idea is that the logs show what a device was doing and where it was doing it at definable points in time. The patent mentions the logs could be generated at every restart, every day, or every time a particular action is performed...
Soon after the iTunes Match beta went live earlier this week, reports started flooding in that the service did indeed support the streaming of music, a feature that wasn't advertised by Apple during the iCloud announcement. Many were originally disappointed that streaming was not included in iTunes Match, so the news that it was actually there was met with glee and happiness all around.
What people had discovered was that if you tapped on a song stored in iCloud, it started playing. If you started a new one and then went back after turning on Airplane Mode, the original song hadn't cached, which led people to believe it was streaming. But after Apple denied that streaming was included in iCloud, more questions starting being asked...
Online music streaming service Spotify has launched a new API that will allow independent iOS developers to bring the service to their own apps. The API, called Libspotify, means we could see Spotify built into all kinds of iPad, iPhone and iPod touch applictions moving forward.
While there is currently no word on whether the new Libspotify API will find itself to Android, it's perhaps interesting to note that the API is offered on a none-commercial basis, meaning paid-for apps will not be allowed to use it...
Arguably the best web browser available for the Android platform, Dolphin, is now also strutting its stuff on iOS. Dolphin's claim to fame is its deep gesture integration, which reduces the need for quite so many on-screen buttons. Perfect for smartphones with smaller screens, just like the iPhone.
Offering its wares for free, Dolphin joins a long list of web browsers in the App Store which aim to take a piece of the browsing pie from the stock Safari software, but it may need to offer something unique if it's going to make people switch...
At iDB we regularly review new Cydia tweaks for jailbroken iDevices. Jeff does a great job of putting together video reviews of cool tweaks, and we love finding the latest packages in Cydia to show you guys.
That being said, we stumbled across a nice video walkthrough of 30 awesome Cydia tweaks. It's worth checking out. Who knows, maybe you'll find something new...
Good news for fans of Tux the penguin: soon you'll be able to run the Linux operating system on your iDevice. A team of jailbreak developers has managed to run the open source Linux OS on Apple's A4-powered devices.
Who needs Android when you have Linux, right?
Those of us old enough to remember the Sega CD, or Mega CD (depending on where you happen to live), will readily admit that it holds a special place in our hearts. The Sega CD was arguably ahead of its time, and eventually died off with the arrival of competing products from Nintendo and Sony, not to mention Sega's own Saturn.
Before it was killed, the Sega CD did survive long enough to give us one of the better Sonic games to come to any platform since the original release.
With that in mind, I can perhaps be forgiven for squealing like a schoolgirl when I say that Sega is bringing Sonic CD to iOS...