iPhone

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Swarm by Foursquare brings back mayorships

Foursquare unveiled Swarm in March of last year to give the location check-in ability of the main iOS app a brand new place of its own. Not all of the features of Foursquare for iOS have made it into the dedicated app, namely mayorships.

Arguably the most popular feature—especially if you're into the check-in game—mayorships are now back in the latest Swarm 2.5 for iPhone update.

You can earn them by checking in more than anyone else, which will unlock a shiny new mayor crown.

Video: life, death and black-market reincarnation of an iPhone, seen from its point of view

Most smartphones are built to last until a user's two-year contract expires, and that's just a fact of life. True, iPhones tend to last markedly longer than the industry average but even their life expectancy isn't particularly long either.

To capture the essence of what being an iPhone is like, filmmaker Paul Trillo set out to create a smart and funny movie depicting what the world's most popular handset typically goes through in just twelve months before it's replaced with a newer, sexier model.

Apple to eliminate Home button by integrating Touch ID fingerprint scanning into iPhone screen

In addition to getting rid of the unsightly bands on their back, future iPhones could create more room for the screen without enlarging the whole device by putting a virtual Home button along with Touch ID sensors right into its screen.

Not only would such a solution eliminate a “chin” at the iPhone's bottom but the Cupertino firm has already developed necessary technologies in-house, claimed a report Monday by Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes.

Future iPhones could get rid of unsightly antenna bands as Apple invents a new metallic material

In addition to a protruding camera, those antenna bands represent the most controversial design feature of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Blame the unsightly bands on the law of physics.

Though iPhones and cellular iPads and iPods would have decidedly looked sleeker without the bands, the radio waves cannot penetrate metal so an all-metal iPhone would be quite useless despite a stunningly seamless appearance.

But if a patent application Apple filed with the United States Patent & Trademark Office is an indication, future iPhones could easily get rid of the antenna bands on the back as Apple has apparently invented a metallic looking material that doesn't interfere with the functioning of RF antennas.

Initial developer interest in Apple Watch higher than in early iPhones and iPads, Cook says

During his China tour last month that took him to the eastern city of Hangzhou, home to the largest Apple Store worldwide, CEO Tim Cook said the Apple Watch has attracted greater adoption by developers than the earliest iPhones and iPads had, according to an interview published Monday by the Chinese language edition of Bloomberg Businessweek.

He said developers have been working on more than 3,500 apps for the watch, a data point Cook reiterated during the WWDC keynote earlier this month. By comparison, the App Store launched with 500 iPhone apps back in the summer of 2008 and there were about a thousand apps available for the first iPad in 2010.

Samsung allegedly taking on iPhone 6 Plus with giant-sized Galaxy S6 Edge Plus

It is no secret that Samsung has taken quite a beating on the high-end since last fall's release of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. According to the latest in the rumor-mill, which comes from the blog Sam Mobile and serial tech leaker @OnLeaks, an unreleased jumbo-sized Galaxy phone is about to increase pressure on Apple's 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus.

According to a purported render that leaked earlier this morning, the tentatively named 'Galaxy S6 Edge Plus' will keep the industrial design largely unchanged but have a screen measuring between 5.5 and 5.7 inches diagonally.

It's hard to tell from the renders as anyone can scale up the official press shots, but the device appears to be both taller and wider than the original S6 Edge, measuring approximately 155mm wide, 76mm tall and 6.85mm deep.

Oceanhorn, Badland and more discounted in ‘Amazing Fantasy Games’ sale

Gamers will be interested to know that a number of high profile iOS titles are currently on sale in the App Store. Apple is highlighting 16 games in a temporary 'Amazing Fantasy Games' section, which have all been discounted by at least 50% for a limited time.

The games include titles from the popular Final Fantasy franchise, the hit action-adventurer Oceanhorn, and the winner of multiple Apple design awards, BADLAND. There are also some lesser known titles, such as The Bard's Tale, Hero Emblems and more.

Catapult puzzler ‘Warhammer: Snotling Fling’ goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Apple has just named “Warhammer: Snotling Fling” its App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to download the game for both iPhone and iPad for free—a significant savings of $4.

Snotling Fling is essentially an over-the-shoulder take on Angry Birds, set in the Warhammer universe. Players are tasked with slingshotting hapless goblins at enemy soldiers in an attempt to stop Gorbad Ironclaw and save the Realm.

Lead the Rebel Alliance to victory in Star Wars – Heroes Path, now available in App Store

Based on Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, the original Star Wars film, Disney's just-released Star Wars - Heroes Path for the iPhone and iPad challenges players to lead the Rebel Alliance to victory in a series of movie-based puzzles.

The game revisits the original storyline of the Rebel Alliance's quest to blow the Death Star to pieces and beat the Galactic Empire. In Star Wars - Heroes Path, you'll enjoy cartoonish renditions of the movie's iconic characters such as Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, RS-D2 and many more.

Line launches new Emoji Keyboard app for iOS

LINE launched a new app for iOS today called 'Emoji Keyboard.' As the name suggests, it's a free keyboard app with over 3,000 new and unique Stickers & Emoji that will help you "experience a more exciting and lively chat with friends and loved ones."

For those who aren't familiar with LINE, it's an insanely popular Japanese messaging app. It has more than 500 million users, which are mostly in Asia, but it's hoping its Emoji Keyboard will help make inroads into the United States and other countries.

Unicode 8 includes new hot dog, unicorn and burrito emoji

On Wednesday, the Unicode Consortium released Unicode 8, the next major update to the Unicode Standard. The Standard defines things like special characters and emoji, which many manufacturers, including Apple, use in their software.

Unicode 8 introduces nearly 8,000 new characters, including letters to support new languages and six new scripts. Perhaps more interesting, to us anyway, is that it also includes 37 new emoji and 5 emoji modifiers for various skin colors.