iPhone

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SoftBank CEO tells how he landed the iPhone in 2008

Cody Lee ∙ March 13, 2014

During a television interview with Charlie Rose that aired this week, SoftBank's CEO Masayoshi Son told an interesting story of how he landed the iPhone in 2008. Apparently Son met with Steve Jobs two years before Apple launched the infamous handset to discuss...smartphones.

Son told Rose that he arranged a meeting with Jobs solely to show him a crude sketch of an iPod with mobile capabilities. Obviously, since the iPhone project was already well underway, Jobs didn't need the drawing, but the meeting still spawned a relationship between the two...

Microsoft launches new iOS app for Windows Azure Active Directory users

Cody Lee ∙ March 13, 2014

Microsoft has launched a new iOS app for Windows Azure Active Directory users this week. The app is compatible with both the iPhone and the iPad, and it provides instant sign-in to dozens of cloud applications using a single Windows Azure account.

For those unfamiliar with Microsoft's Azure Active Directory service, it's described as a 'comprehensive identity and access management cloud solution.' But the feature that the iOS app focuses on is single sign-on access to various web apps and services...

United Airlines to launch free inflight movie service for iOS devices next month

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

United Airlines is looking to introduce a new inflight movie service for iOS users next month, according to a new report. The service will allow iPhone and iPad owners to watch over 150 movies and 200 TV shows on their devices for free.

Users will have full control of the content, meaning they can stop, pause, rewind and switch between videos. And it sounds like all you'll need to access the service is the United Airlines app—no purchase of an in-flight Wi-Fi plan required...

MLB Advanced Media teases upcoming RBI Baseball reboot

Cody Lee ∙ March 12, 2014

Earlier this year, the MLB and its in-house development studio MLB Advanced Media announced that they would be teaming up to revive the classic RBI Baseball franchise. The game series, which first debuted on the NES in 1986, hasn't seen a new addition in nearly 20 years.

But that's set to change soon with RBI Baseball 14 for mobile devices and consoles. And judging by the comments made by MLBAM's VP of games Jamie Leece today, it's going to feature the same fast-paced gameplay and simple controls that users loved about the original title...

Rovio says upcoming ‘Angry Birds Epic’ game is a turn-based RPG

Cody Lee ∙ March 12, 2014

Over the weekend, Rovio posted a teaser trailer for an unknown, upcoming Angry Birds title. The clip was short, and offered up few details about the game outside of showing a bird wearing knight's armor and announcing countries that would participate in the soft launch.

Well today, the studio revealed that the game is going to be called Angry Birds Epic and it's not going to be the typical bird-flinger. In fact, far from it. The new title will actually fall into the 'adventure role-playing' genre, with a turn-based combat system and extensive crafting...

iPhone return policy drops from 30 to 14 days

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 12, 2014

Apple's just made an important change to its iPhone return policy. According to the firm's newly-updated Retail Store Purchase Policies, customers who bought an iPhone directly from the Apple Online Store and in Apple Retail Stores now have 14 days to return it for a refund.

"For iPhone returns, you may return your undamaged iPhone with its included accessories within 14 days of purchase for a full refund," Apple acknowledges.

Previously, people had 30 days to return their iPhone for a refund. The company has apparently shortened the return window in order to match carriers' 14-day policy...

Starbucks bringing shake-to-pay, digital tipping and iOS 7-friendly look to iPhone app

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 12, 2014

Starbucks, the global coffee company and coffeehouse chain, announced Wednesday that new features are coming to its free iPhone application next Wednesday, March 19.

For starters, coffee aficionados in the United States and Canada will be able to use the firm's free iPhone app to tip their baristas in $0.50, $1 and $2 denominations at more than 7,000 company-operated locations in the U.S. This has apparently been a much-requested feature.

And to make mobile payments even easier, the app will include a brand new (and pretty handy) 'Shake to Pay' feature which does exactly that - you can just shake your iPhone to quickly bring the barcode of your Starbucks Card to the front, saving you diving into Apple's Passbook app...

Speedtest.net app, now with iPad UI and landscape mode

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 27, 2017

Speedtest.net, a free broadband connection analysis service founded by Ookla in 2006, has a nice mobile app for various platforms.

This nifty little piece of software lets anyone easily measure the speed of their Internet connection, be it cellular or Wi-Fi. Released back in January 2009, the app used to run natively on the iPhone and iPod touch only, but not anymore.

Thanks to the latest version 3.2 update, Speedtest.net now runs natively on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad and has support for landscape mode on the Apple tablet. This version of Speedtest.net, available free of charge in the App Store, also comes with a few minor tweaks, listed below the fold...

Sprint’s Ting adds support for the iPhone 5

Cody Lee ∙ March 12, 2014

Sprint's MVNO Ting has announced that it now supports the iPhone 5. The carrier previously only supported the iPhone 4 and 4s, and a handful of Android devices, so the additional choice should make its customers happy.

For those unfamiliar with Ting, it's essentially the T-Mobile of the prepaid/MVNO world. It's mission is to disrupt the way users are billed for their cell phone usage, by only charging for minutes, messages and data they use...

Marvel announces ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ coming to iOS in April

Cody Lee ∙ March 12, 2014

Marvel and Gameloft have announced this week that they are teaming up to bring The Amazing Spider-Man 2 to smartphones and tablets this spring as the official game for the film of the same name. Both are slated to land in mid-April.

For those that didn't play the original Amazing Spider-Man, it was actually quite successful—it has a rating of 4.5 stars on the App Store. And version 2 appears to offer similar gameplay with better controls and graphics. Here's the trailer...

Fantastical gains WhatsApp and 1Password integration, new alert sound and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 24, 2018

Fantastical by Flexibits is arguably the most advanced calendar and to-do application on the iPhone - my daily productivity is now dependent on it running on my iOS devices and Macs.

If you're not familiar with the app, it features natural language processing so you can just type in something like 'lunch with Dad in two weeks at Mom's place at 1pm' and it'll automatically create a reminder or an event for you. And yes, it integrates with your iOS Calendar and Reminders database.

Fantastical is even better on the Mac and developers should be praised for keeping their user base loyal by expanding on the feature set with regular refinements and new capabilities. In today's update, now live in the App Store, Fantastical brings out a whole bunch of tweaks and improvements along with a few new features.

Notable highlights include an option to send text messages in WhatsApp, support for opening links in 1Password and the Mercury web browser, a new custom sound they've made for event and reminder notifications and lots more.

The full changelog is right below the fold...

Day One journaling app becomes a publishing platform: you can now post diary entries online

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 27, 2018

Two days ago, Day One journaling app for iOS and OS X by Bloom Built has celebrated its third anniversary.

Having been a user since Day One's inception, I couldn't be happier with its clean and elegant design, rich Markdwon support and carefully balanced set of features letting me keep my personal memories, photos and life's best moments neatly organized in one place.

To this date, virtually not a day has gone by without me firing up Day One on my iPhone to capture my thoughts and feelings or simply snap up a memorable moment in time and spice it up with a punchy caption.

I also love Day One's inline photos, how it integrates location data from Foursquare, pulls weather information for entries and keeps my diary synchronized between iOS and Mac devices through iCloud. These are just some of the factors that prompted Apple to name Day One its 2012 Mac App of the Year and 2011 #1 Best App in the Mac App Store.

And now, Bloom Built has updated the iOS edition with Publish, a major new capability that turns your private entries into attractive web pages, available to anyone or just the people with whom you've shared the URL of the entry - the choice is yours.

Jump past the fold for the full breakdown...