New Apps & Games

‘Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff’ landing on iOS April 10

It looks like the highly anticipated Family Guy project from Fox and TinyCo is set to be released next week. At a launch event in Los Angeles last night, the two firms announced that 'Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff' will be landing on iOS on April 10.

First revealed in December of last year, the game will be set in the infamous town of Quahog and feature elements of resource management, with multiple story lines. It looks similar to Fox's other hit TV series-turned-game: The Simpsons Tapped Out...

‘Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft’ for iPad launches in select countries

Back in March, Blizzard launched its digital card trading game 'Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft' on the Mac, and as promised, it has brought the game to iOS. The title soft-launched for iPad last night, and is now available in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand App Stores.

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, for those unfamiliar with it, is a strategy card game set in the 'Warcraft' universe. Players compete in 1-on-1 battles—either against the computer or other users via Battle.net—in an effort to grow the size and power of their card collections...

New Comedy Central app puts all shows in one place

Comedy Central has several free apps in the App Store, each dedicated to its own show, like The Daily Show Headlines, The Colbert Report and Tosh 2.0, to name a few.

In the commendable effort to reduce user confusion and increase engagement, the comedy channel owned by MTV Networks Entertainment Group has released a new iOS app simply named Comedy Central that consolidates all their shows into one place.

The dedicated streaming app is now available to download free of charge in the App Store. Wait, you haven't heard the coolest thing: you can stream episodes of select shows free of charge, no cable subscription required whatsoever, with some caveats...

Ultrakam lets you shoot film-like 2K video on iPhone 5s

As you know, the iPhone 5s's iSight camera can shoot full HD 1080p video (1,920-by-1,080 pixels) at 30 frames per second, as well as slow-motion clips at 120 frames per second at a reduced resolution of 1,280-by-720 pixels (720p). The back shooter can also take eight-megapixel stills at the image capture size of 3,264-by-2,448 pixels.

But what if the handset could take a series of stills in a rapid succession and stitch them together to form an ultra-resolution footage?

That's what Ultrakam, a novel iPhone application by Hassan Uriostegui, does for you. Available in the App Store for $6.99 for a limited time, the software brings 2K film resolution to your iPhone 5s at 30 and 20 frames per second.

It also includes a handy film-like 24 frames per second preset and can automatically smooth rack-focus during recording. Read on for the full reveal...

BeHere app uses iBeacons to identify which students are attending classroom sessions

iBeacons, Apple's cool indoor positioning technology in iOS 7 based on power-sipping Bluetooth 4.0 networking, is seeing some strong adoption across a variety of industries.

Grocery stores are embracing the technology and retailers like Macy's and Apple's own retail stores have deployed tiny iBeacon transmitters to put useful information on users' Lock screens as they move around the store.

Theme parks, music festivals and sports venues are increasingly using iBeacons and one use case even involves giving bar patrons free access to Newsstand magazines.

The latest iBeacon implementation has to do with the classroom: a new BeHere app by a Brazilian company called Beelieve (free download) automatically takes attendance as students enter the classroom, using iBeacon transmitters...

Rovio Stars releases cute wordsearch game in the App Store, Word Monsters

Rovio Stars, the Angry Birds maker's third-party publishing arm, has released a new iOS game in the App Store. Word Monsters for the iPhone and iPad, available now on a free-to-play basis, tests your language skills by pitting you against players from all around the world for the title of the ultimate Word Monster.

Developed by Raketspel, it's a fun take on wordsearch, with a twist: players get to choose their preferred theme of words they want to compete in, ranging from fruits names to  food to 80's pop songs and more. Then, it's race against the clock to find all the words in the right order to complete the level...

Gameloft’s ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ now available in the App Store

As promised last month, Gameloft has released its highly anticipated title 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' for iOS. The game is a tie-in to the upcoming Marvel movie of the same name, and is now available for download on your iPhone or iPad.

The good news is this doesn't look like your typical tie-in. The graphics sort of resemble those found in Borderlands and other comic book-style games, and we're hearing that Marvel actually co-wrote the story. Keep reading for a complete overview...

Popular PC game ‘Faster Than Light’ landing on iPad next week

Good news for gamers this afternoon, as it's been announced that the popular PC/Mac title Faster Than Light will be making its way to the iPad next week. The developers announced the release date via the official FTL Twitter account, and said it will be accompanied by a free desktop content expansion pack.

For those who are unfamiliar with FTL, it's a top-down, real-time strategy game that has players managing a crew and its faster-than-light spacecraft as it flies through multiple galaxy systems. In it, you'll face off against rebel and other hostile forces, recruit new crew members and ensure your ship's safety...

Microsoft launches Office for iPad, including Word, Excel and Powerpoint

The rumors were true! Microsoft's new chief executive office Satya Nadella is hosting a press briefing in San Francisco this morning. After the CEO discussed Microsoft’s 'mobile first, cloud first' strategy, Julia White, Microsoft’s chief of Office Division Product Management, took the stage to formally reveal Office for iPad.

"This is definitely not the Windows app ported to the iPad," said White, adding that Word, Excel and PowerPoint for iPad are all native iOS apps. Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint apps are now available for download in the App Store, joining Microsoft's existing OneNote for iPhone and iPad and the recently released OneNote for Mac.

Akin to Office 365 for iPhone which debuted last June, Office for iPad requires Microsoft's Office 365 subscription for editing features. The entry-level subscription tier will set you back $9.99-per-month (or $99.99 per year) for a Home Premium package, which buys you access to the Office applications for Windows, Mac and mobile on up to five devices.

A more affordable Office 365 Personal has been announced recently ($6.99 per month, $69.99 per year, limited to just one PC or Mac, plus one tablet), but it’s not available just yet. You can sign up for a free 30-day Office 365 trial and for those who don't want a subscription, Office for iPad will let you view and present Office documents, spreadsheets and presentations, but not edit the files...

FireChat for iPhone lets you chat off-the-grid, without cellular or Wi-Fi signal

FireChat, a new instant messaging application for the iPhone, is kinda of a big deal. You wouldn't be able to tell the difference between it and other messaging apps on the App Store if it weren't for its particularly unique feature.

FireChat supports off-the-grid communication, a codeword for the ability to exchange instant messages without a cellular or Wi-Fi connection.

What kind of dark magic is this?

FireChat, the brainchild of the crowdsourced firm Open Garden and available free in the App Store, uses the same principles as AirDrop, Apple's feature that takes advantage of a new iOS 7 technology called Multipeer Connectivity Framework (MCF).

Read on for the full reveal...

Classic action-adventure game ‘Little Big Adventure’ lands on iOS

Good news for 90's gamers this morning as the classic action-adventure game 'Little Big Adventure' is now available in the App Store. This means you can download the title, which first launched on the PC back in 1994, to your iPhone or iPad and let the nostalgia kick in.

For those of you who aren't familiar with it, Little Big Adventure is considered a real-time pseudo-3D isometric game. You play as Twinsen, a young hero living on Citadel Island on a world ruled by the evil dictator Dr. FunFrock, who is charged with protecting his planet...

In time for Season 4 debut, HBO releases the official Game of Thrones Ascent game for iPad

If you, too, take part in HBO's international Game of Thrones phenomenon, the official iPad game's a no brainer.

Available now free of charge in the App Store, Game of Thrones Ascent for iPad comes ahead of Season 4 debut, courtesy of developer Disruptor Beam who teamed with Kongregate to bring the game to Apple's iPad and Android.

Based on the award-winning HBO show and literary works of George R.R. Martin, the iPad edition improves upon the Facebook and web editions of Game of Thrones Ascent (which already has 2.5 million players) with crisp Retina graphics, Game Center leaderboards, full iOS 7 support and thousands of story-driven quests, regularly updated each Monday with content seen on TV the night before...