New Apps & Games

EA jumps on the RPG bandwagon: Heroes Of Dragon Age coming this Fall

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 20, 2013

Role-playing games are seemingly becoming all the rage on mobile. Following last December's release of BioWare's Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition and Guild Software’s MMORPG Vendetta Online launch earlier in the year, some of the biggest names in gaming have taken notice of the trend.

For example, Wizards of the Coast just announced the impending release of Arena Of War for the iPhone, iPad and Android devices, their first D&D mobile game set in the fabled Forgotten Realms universe.

Not content with sitting on the sidelines and watching others monetize RPG fans, publisher Electronic Arts has tapped developer BioWare to deliver Heroes of Dragon Age, basically a combat-focused spinoff of the famous Dragon Age series...

Barnes & Nobles releases Nook Video iOS app

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

Barnes & Noble, the largest book retailer in the United States, today announced a brand new app for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices called Nook Video.

The software was designed to serve as a gateway drug to Barnes & Noble's Nook Video service which lets you purchase or rent thousands of movies and television shows in high definition, much like Amazon's, Apple's and Google's content stores.

The buying experience on the Nook Video Store is pretty frictionless and the app remembers your play point and sends it via the cloud to all your other devices, so you can pick up on another device right where you left off on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad...

Facebook testing new VIP app to boost celebrity engagement

Cody Lee ∙ August 13, 2013

Facebook is working on a new mobile app, but you probably won't be able to use it. That is, unless you happen to be a Hollywood A-lister or a high-profile professional athlete. That's because the app is for VIPs only, or very important people.

The project is Facebook's latest attempt to entice famous people to share more stuff on their site—a move which is part of an even larger plan to compete more directly with Twitter for the attention of celebrities and their legions of followers...

Blizzard posts StarCraft II World Championship Series streaming app

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 9, 2013

Blizzard, the maker of the award-winning Starcraft and Diablo series, has released a new iPhone and iPad app, called Blizzard WCS. As the name suggests, it's basically a client designed to allow for live streaming of the StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS). If you can't make it to the WCS, the app will "keep you updated, informed, and entertained all the way through the Global Finals of the World Championship Series and beyond," Blizzard promises...

New KeyMe app allows you to store, share and duplicate physical keys

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

We've all been there, right? You get home from a long day of work or school, walk up to your front door, reach in your pockets and—you can't find your keys. After some quick backtracking, you realize that they're inside, on the kitchen counter, and you're locked out. What do you do?

Well unless you have a spare hidden in a fake rock or under the doormat, the first step is calling anyone who has or might have a house key. But if that doesn't work, and breaking a window isn't an option, the next step is a $200 call to your local locksmith. That is, unless you have KeyMe...

New iOS video editing app MixBit by YouTube creators now available for download

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen on Thursday launched a brand new video editing app for the iPhone and iPod touch called MixBit. The software builds on the popularity of Twitter's Vine and Instagram Video by giving you the power to easily combine short video snippets called "bits" into a longer video that plays seamlessly even though the individual "bits" are store as independent elements. It's a lot of fun and already catching on with early adopters so jump past the fold for the full reveal...

Comcast testing new cloud DVR app for iOS devices

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Back in June, Comcast announced its new X2 set-top box—a DVR that uses cloud storage instead of a traditional hard drive. It isn't expected to launch until later this year, but the cable provider has just been caught testing a new iOS application that allows subscribers to access their saved programming from the cloud-based recorder.

The folks over at FierceCable spotted the app in iTunes this morning. It's called Comcast Labs DVR, and it's published by Comcast Interactive Media. The software promises a revolutionary new DVR that streams live TV and shares your recordings to tablets, phones, and all of your television sets—as long as you're behind a Comcast modem...

Apple rejects Send Me To Heaven game over smartphone recklessness

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

In today's app rejection news, Apple has shown the door to a free game called Send Me To Heaven by Carrot Pop as it promotes smartphone recklessness. The game taps the iPhone's accelerometer sensor to track how high it flies when thrown up in the air.

Apple's App Store review team rejected the software on the basis of “encouraging behavior that could result in damage to the user’s device,” in spite of an appropriate disclaimer showing up prominently upon launching the app. Indeed, what was Carrot Pop thinking?

Upcoming ‘Neon Shadow’ game features same-device co-op multiplayer

Cody Lee ∙ Updated December 4, 2013

Looking through some of the more popular games in the App Store, most of them appear to feature rather simple gameplay. There's Bad Piggies, Cut the Rope and Candy Crush, all of which can be played with swipes and taps.

On the other hand, there's also a number of iOS developers pushing the envelope. And a good example of that is the upcoming Neon Shadow game—a first person shooter that offers same-device co-op multiplayer mode on the iPad...

Following ‘Dungeons’ cancelation, new evidence suggests Infinity Blade 3 in the works

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Following months of silence, Chair co-founder and Creative Director Donald Mustard announced last month that 'Infinity Blades: Dungeons' had been canceled. Rumors about the game had been bouncing around since it debuted onstage at Apple's iPad 3 event.

But it doesn't look like fans are going to have to mourn the title's demise for very long. According to a Senior QA Tester’s LinkedIn profile, Infinity Blade-creator Chair looks to be in the middle of either development or beta testing a sequel to the popular game...

Stargazers, Night Sky 2 has arrived

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

I've spent the better part of my teen years taking astronomy classes, tracking a bunch of celestial objects and exploring the planets of our Solar system using my amateur telescope. Later on, I decided I liked computers better. But as old passions die hard, I've never gotten around to quitting astronomy altogether.

Nowadays, my iPhone is the closest approximation to the telescope I once owned and you can imagine I keep a folder full of dedicated apps for stargazers.

For those wondering, SkyView, Star Walk, Sky Guide and Night Sky are my go-to astronomy guides for the iPhone and iPad. The Night Sky app by iCandi Apps has received a substantial update and is now available on the App Store, re-released as Night Sky 2.

There's no comparing Night Sky and its successor, really: Night Sky 2 features rich and lush visuals, super smooth sky tracking, weather information, push notifications, detailed database and advanced community features available via optional in-app upgrades.

I've include more tidbits and a nice promotional video after the jump...