New Apps & Games

Fantastical heading to the iPhone as Clear hits the Mac: it’s about iCloud, stupid

Two more great apps are making a jump from the Mac to the iOS platform and vice versa. Clear, a simplified and lively personal to-do list which debuted on the iPhone, is now available for the Mac, bringing with it gestures-based interface and classy animations the iOS version is known for.

Fantastical, an awesome calendar and to-do list Mac app, is hitting iOS soon. Neither program feels like a dumbified port, which is a good thing, but what both of these apps are truly about is tight iCloud integration which makes possible smooth, worry-free experience that just works...

Angry Birds Star Wars now available for download

What do you get when you combine two of the most successful and recognizable franchises in the world? Angry Birds Star Wars. That's right, just as expected, Rovio has released the highly anticipated Star Wars version of its popular Angry Birds game this evening. And it's now available in the App Store...

Sony launches free e-book app to contend with iBooks

The e-book market on iOS is pretty crowded. There's Apple's iBooks, of course, and then there's Amazon's Kindle app and Nook by Barnes and Noble. And all of these services have extremely large e-book offerings and millions of users.

But apparently that isn't enough to stop Sony from throwing its hat into the ring. The electronics giant released its own free e-book app in the App Store today, entitled Reader — eBooks from Sony, for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch...

MyPermissions lets you nuke Facebook apps that invade your privacy

So you're on Facebook and pride yourself with making sure only a select few apps are allowed to access your personal information. But you could be in for a surprise learning just how many apps actually are granted access to the data Facebook has collected on you.

Enter MyPermissions, a new iPhone app which - as the name suggests - scans your Facebook permissions and alerts you when new apps and online services gain access to your personal information on the web. It's a free download and I urge you to check it out right now and take control of your privacy.

You can also revoke Yahoo and Facebook apps right from within the app itself and do more with a handy Chrome extension. More info and a nice video right below...

AT&T launches Locker app with 5GB of free cloud storage

Carrier AT&T today launched an interesting cloud-storage app for iOS and Android devices, similar to the likes of SugarSync, Dropbox and Google Drive. It's called Locker and you can use it to safely store, sync and share your photos, videos and documents to the AT&T cloud, the promo page says. The program can also automatically back up every photo or video, if that's how you roll. AT&T Locker comes with 5GB of free storage, with upgrades to 30GB for $3.99 per month or 100GB for $9.99 per month...

Amazon releases its first (and free) mobile game

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6Dxy-gOQUE

This above is a trailer for Air Patriots from the recently launched Amazon Game Studios, the online retailer's first foray into the mobile gaming space. The game is available on Kindle, iOS and Android devices via Google's Play Store, Amazon's own Appstore and Apple's App Store (aren't you getting tired of so many unimaginative monikers already?).

The iOS version is provided free of charge as a 83MB universal binary download with native support for all iOS form factors and Retina graphics. Though the Play Store page originally suggested that Air Patriots couldn't run on the Nexus 7 tablet, Google said it was a "minor hiccup" and has updated the entry...

Path releases native iPad app

Path, a social network where people engage in limited sharing of their daily habits and photos with only a select few closest friends, later today will launch its iPad app. Focused on full-screen experience in landscape, Path puts more of your network at your fingertips with fewer taps. Images of the iPad interface are promising and new features sound interesting enough to give it a a try. My favorite: the improved home screen displaying more activities from your network than is possible on the iPhone version.

UPDATE: a new version of the original iPhone app just went live with support for native iPad experience. Simply update your existing installation to get iPad goodies...

2K Games unleashes Borderlands Legends on iOS

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

2K Games has released its first iOS game from the Borderlands Legends franchise. The game puts you in control of four characters named Control Mordecai, Lilith, Brick and Roland. Developed by Gearbox, this title is being released on tablets and borrows heavily from its console counterpart, though it's not quite the same. Nonetheless, it should appeal to fans of the series.

Expect the usual assortment of enemies and eye-candy high-definition graphics. Each character has their own set of unique skills and abilities and you can collect in-game cash by destroying enemies to purchase new weapons and upgrade your character with new unlockable skills and abilities...

Need for Speed: Most Wanted is here, get downloading

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpGS1K9mLPQ

Electronic Arts today in North America released Need for Speed: Most Wanted on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita and Xbox 360 consoles, as well as on Windows PCs and Apple's iOS and Google's Android mobile platforms. The game is available now for seven bucks both over at the App Store and Play Store. Need for Speed: Most Wanted rolls out in Australia on November 1 and in Europe the following day.

A version for Nintendo's new Wii U console is slated to hit North American shores, Europe and Australia some time next year. The game invites you to drive "the world's hottest cars ripping through the open world, screwing with the cops and get away in style". In addition to the above launch trailer, I've also included several nice videos below the fold...

New app promises to remove purple haze from iPhone 5 pics

Shortly after the iPhone 5 launched, a number of users started complaining about a "purple haze" in their photos. It's essentially a purple flare effect that comes from a bright, out-of-scene light source while capturing an image.

Apple has already addressed the issue, and a number of other smartphones and portable cameras have been proven to have similar hazes. But if it's still really bothering you, there's a new app that claims it can help...

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City due on iOS and Android later this fall

Rockstar Games is celebrating tenth year of its Grand Theft Auto series and said it will be releasing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on iOS and Android platforms later this fall. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City debuted on October 29, 2002 on the PlayStation 2 and I've had lots of fun playing the various installments in the series throughout the years.

The new game should arrive approximately a year following the release of Grand Theft Auto III for iOS (still not updated for the iPhone 5 and Retina graphics). An Anniversary Edition of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City for iOS and Android devices "will bring the full experience to mobile devices", Rockstar said. They are mentioning native high-resolution graphics and several enhancements that will be unique to the iOS and Android platforms...

Tweetie creator releases a free iOS word game

Tweetie, a beloved Twitter client for the iOS and OS X, was first in many respects. It was first to introduce the pull to refresh feature, now a norm in iOS app design (even Apple borrowed it for iOS 6 Mail). The program set the tone for what a decent Twitter client should be long until TapBots' Tweetbot came into full view.

Tweetie was refined and refined until Twitter came along purchasing both iOS and Mac versions on April 9, 2010. And now its developer Atebits is back to iOS development with a game, another first for them. Called Letterpress and provided free of charge, it's basically a word game with a simple, charming design and addictive concept that's hard to put down...