iPod Touch

Japan is happy to finally get iBookstore in 2013

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Apple will open an iBookstore in Japan during 2013 with a handful of local publishers supplying their electronic books. Unlike Apple, rival tech giants began selling e-books in the Asian nation last year. However, multiple reports disagree on the timing. One local report suggests as early as January, while another tech news site calls that "far too optimistic". Although the iBookstore has been in Japan since 2010, it has offered only public-domain titles due to reluctance by Japanese publishers, who feared e-books would cut into sales of traditionally printed books...

Upcoming tweak puts customizable app shortcuts to your iOS lock screen

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 31, 2017

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9MuVquYUUA

The iPhone's lock screen has got to be the source of endless inspiration for jailbreak developers and conceptual artists who are constantly coming up with new ways to broaden functionality of your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. UI designer @Sentry_NC of the Auxo fame thought long and hard about juicing up the iPhone's lock screen and came up with this concept showing how the iOS lock screen pulley grabber could be for more than just the camera app.

What's best, we heard that jailbreak developer Rudolf Lichtner is already working on turning his idea into a reality. As always, our own Jeff Benjamin will be monitoring the progress of this tweak and sharing his hands-on impressions as soon as the finished code hits Cydia...

Auxo for iOS 5.1.x now available on Cydia

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Auxo — the popular jailbreak tweak we covered in depth last week — is now available on Cydia with iOS 5.1 support in tow. As you may recall, the initial version only supported iOS 6 out of the gate, and many users, pined for iOS 5.1 support, since a great majority of jailbreakers have chosen to remain on 5.1 firmware for obvious reasons.

Thanks to developer, Kyle Howells, who assisted with porting the tweak, the team behind Auxo was able to meet its turnaround time for adding support for the older iOS firmware. Did the team have to make any sacrifices in order to bring such an awesome tweak to iOS 5.1? It sure doesn't look like it to me. Check inside as we go hands on with Auxo for iOS 5.1 on video...

FlashArmyKnife has a hidden tethering feature [update: it’s gone]

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

You'll wanna act on this one right now coz Apple's gonna pull it sooner than later. The innocently titled FlashArmyKnife combines seven little utilities into one iPhone app: flashlight with adjustable brightness, built-in web browser with bookmarks, fully functional trigonometry calculator, satellite view map, currency converter, compass and battery indicator. As useful as these are, you'll want FlashArmyKnife for its hidden tethering feature.

We're not really sure how it managed to escape the attention of Apple's eagle-eyed censors, but you can bet Apple's gonna nuke the program out of orbit the instant they find out about tethering. So, if you've been looking to share your brand spanking new iPhone 5's Internet connection with other devices without purchasing a tethering plan from your carrier, this app gets the job done and without requiring a jailbreak, too...

Milo, an elegant aluminum stand for iPhone [review & giveaway]

Jim Gresham ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Per my previous article, you are well aware of my iPhone stand obsession and on this Christmas week, we are excited to review the Milo iPhone stand by Bluelounge. An award winning international design studio, Bluelounge's goal is to combine forward designed accessories that are as functional as visually stimulating. The company recently revamped its iPhone stand with an aluminum base, which matches the Apple aluminum color and gives it a sleek, polished look. Check out our review below and enter for your chance to win one of your own...

Fuzel Pro brings snail mail back in style

Jim Gresham ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

It is the holiday season and, inevitably, you will be snapping lots of photos at the dinner table, the bar, and your favorite aunt Suzi's house. Truly, the best of times and the worst of times are captured digitally and you need to share that giant family portrait everyone loved by the Christmas tree. Aside from the usual, Facebook, Twitter, and everyone's favorite social app to hate, Instagram, you can try sharing photos the old school way, with snail mail. Blending tech and print, Fuzel Pro, App Store Best of 2012, creates picture collages and mails them straight from your iPhone...

Google Play grows, App Store still cash king

Ed Sutherland ∙ December 20, 2012

What's better: to be taller or wealthier? Carry that debate to Apple versus Google and you have the latest on the battle between Apple's App Store and Google Play. While Google's revenue is growing, Apple's application store for iOS devices simply overwhelms the Mountain View, California firm in terms of cash, even if there's another, much darker side to app economy.

During the last four months, Google Play's combined daily revenue grew at 43 percent compared to the App Store's 21 percent, according to research firm Distimo. However, over the entire year, App Store revenue rose by 51 percent.

But wait, there's more. In November, the App Store rang up $15 million in average daily revenue. That compares to $3.5 million for Google Play during the same time...

Instagram responds: ‘your photos are your photos’

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 24, 2016

There has been a whole lot of hoopla surrounding Instagram's newly updated terms of services, with commenters warning the new rules might give the popular Facebook-owned photography service the right to share your data with third-parties and - worse - sell your Instagram photos without compensating you. Does Facebook really intend to turn Instagram into a stock photo service that doesn’t pay a dime to photographers?

Cowed by privacy outrage, hours after releasing the new terms the company's co-founder responded by shedding more light on the matter. In a blog post, he makes it clear that Instagram does not intend to sell its users photos while sharing interesting tidbits concerning Instagram's advertising strategy...

You can now download App Store apps without leaving Facebook

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 18, 2012

Remember the App Center, a cross-platform application store Facebook launched ahead of its rebuilt iOS app? Hosted and curated by Facebook, the App Center is available as a link in the main menu of their iOS client, listing Facebook-enhanced apps and games that can be found on the App Store. Previously, tapping an entry yanked you out of the Facebook app and into the App Store.

That's no longer the case as it is now possible to install App Store software from a pop-up inside the Facebook app, which is an iOS 6 SDK feature available to all third-party developers who wish to implement it...

Rovio launches Christmas song, adds 24 levels and new power-ups to Angry Birds Rio

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 29, 2016

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwd99PfFwpw

Curl up with some hot cocoa and a holiday song from Finnish mobile games developer Rovio. The team has just updated Angry Birds Rio, its marketing tie-in with the 20th Century Fox animated film Rio. The fresh content pack brings 24 new levels and power ups, including a "special delivery" TNT Drop, Samba Burst, Sling Scope laser targeting and Super Seeds to supersize your birds.

There are twenty free power ups in total to boot from, with an additional power up added each day. Plus, you can collect stars to unlock eighteen special Star levels and earn feathers to unlock six Mighty Eagle levels. Rovio also created an Angry Birds-themed holiday song titled “Fly Me Home Tonight” in honor of the festive season...

The Rokstand: a quality stand with attitude [giveaway and review]

Jim Gresham ∙ Updated December 7, 2016

iPhone stands are a dime a dozen. Like iPhone cases, there are millions of iPhone stands, small and large, powered and passive, plastic and metal, cheap and expensive. However, when pulling the Rokform Rokstand out of the package, I knew this stand was unlike any other stand I had ever seen or felt, for that matter. Quite simply, it is a machine, and a very elegant one at that. It owns your desktop. Just looking at it, I feel it glaring back at me. To get the full scoop, Rokform sent over a stand for review and offered to give one away to a reader in our contest below...