New Apps & Games

2K announces Sid Meier’s Starships, hitting Mac and iPad early this year

Publisher 2K Games and developer Firaxis Games are gearing up to launch a new interstellar strategy game for Mac and Windows PCs and the iPad, Polygon said Monday.

Coming in early 2015, legendary game designer Sid Meier had a direct hand in designing Sid Meier's Starships, a turn-based, adventure-driven interstellar strategy game in which you'll take the role of a fleet commander after the age of the Seeding.

Bowling Central teams up with your Apple TV for Wii-like bowling action

Rolocule, the veteran developers behind games like Motion Tennis and Dance Party, is back with perhaps its most ambitious title ever called Bowling Central. At its core, the game offers a stellar mobile bowling experience, with state-of-the-art physics, stunning 3D graphics and over 30 unique challenges. But things get really interesting when you turn on your Apple TV.

Utilizing Apple's AirPlay Mirroring technology, Bowling Central can stream gameplay footage from your iOS device to your television set by way of Apple TV. This not only gives you a much better view of the game, but it also frees up your iPhone or iPod touch to be used as a controller for what is best described as a Wii-like gaming experience. Here, check out the demo:

One-stop shop for your entertainment needs: Time Inc. releases new iOS video streaming app

Publishing company Time Inc. has released a new application that acts as a one-stop shop for video content from its many properties.

The Daily Cut, now available free in the App Store, lets you stream videos produced by Time, Sports Illustrated, People, Instyle, Entertainment Weekly, Real Simple, Golf, Cooking Light, Southern Living, Fortune, Food & Wine, Travel & Leisure, Essence and a plethora of other brands and channels.

Though basically an iOS version of Time Inc.'s newly launched website of the same name, available at dailycut.com, the app is pretty nicely done and has some compelling features you should know about.

Google Classroom app lands on iPhone and iPad

Google today launched mobile apps on iOS and Android for its Classroom initiative. The service, which has seen 30+ million assignments submitted since its debut last summer, aims to help teachers save time, paper, and improve communication with students.

The app adds even more efficiency, allowing teachers to issue and track assignments from their phone or tablet. Students will enjoy it as well, as it lets them view and work on homework, with the ability to import from other apps, and live chat with classmates.

Apple TV-compatible AllCast media streaming app now available on iOS

Following a beta on Android that first launched more than a year ago, courtesy of CyanogenMod developer Koushik Dutta, the AllCast content streaming app is now available for the iPhone and iPad.

The software allows you to stream online or locally-stored content such as photos, music and videos to your Apple TV, Roku and a number of other set-top boxes and DLNA-compatible devices, including Amazon's Fire TV, Sony's PlayStation console, Microsoft's Xbox and more.

Moreover, the app supports popular online content sources such as Instagram for photos, as well as Dropbox, Google+ and Google Drive, and is compatible with smart TV brands from Samsung, Sony and Panasonic.

Google releases Chrome Remote Desktop app for iOS

Google released its long-rumored remote desktop app for iOS today. Dubbed Chrome Remote Desktop, it's available now in the App Store for both the iPhone and iPad, allowing you to securely access your computers from either device.

Setup falls in line with other remote desktop applications. You'll obviously need Chrome installed on your computer (PC, Mac and Linux), the desktop client, and the aforementioned iOS app, and then you simply follow the instructions.

Check out Spirefall, an endless arcade platformer for iOS with a twist

The instant I saw Spirefall I fondly remembered Nebulus, a 1987 platform game for the Commodore Amiga and other home computers of the time in which your character must walk all around a cylinder-shaped tower that has ledges on the outside.

Created by Pixel Hunter Games and released by Gameblyr, Spirefall has your character, a cute cat, moving left or right in such a way that it always stays in the centre of the visible screen because the spire turns clockwise or counterclockwise with a convincing sense of depth — again, much like in Nebulus.

The Princess Bride gets official iOS game

The official mobile game of The Princess Bride, the 1987 classic fantasy adventure movie adapted from William Goldman's 1973 namesake novel, is now available in the App Store.

Featuring four different games, The Princess Bride lets you experience all the favorite scenes from the film. You'll be wrestling giants, engaging in sword fighting and more, earning awards along the way and unlocking images and sound clips from the movie.

Microsoft’s Office Sway for iPhone now available in US App Store and other countries

After soft-launching in the New Zealand App Store in November, Microsoft's Office Sway for iPhone is now available more broadly in a number of markets around the world, including in the U.S. App Store.

Office Sway is a free application that makes it easy to create attractive interactive presentation with images, captions, headers and styled text that can be viewed in a web browser on any desktop computer or mobile device.

In addition to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and India, Sway is now available more broadly in a whole bunch of other English-speaking countries.

Breed, raise and train your dragons in Gameloft’s Dragon Mania Legends

If you're crazy about dragons, are blood-thirsty and mildly interested in pet simulation games, Gameloft's Dragon Mania Legends should be at the top of your list.

Released today as a free-to-play download for the iPhone and iPad, the game challenges you to breed, feed, raise and train your dragons before testing their skills in three-on-three battles to fight the invading Vikings.

Developed by Gameloft's Budapest, Hungary based studio, Dragon Mania Legends features really, really nicely done cartoonish 3D graphics and a batch of compelling features that should keep dragon lovers glued to their screens.

Evernote launches ‘Scannable’ iOS app for automatic document scanning

Evernote today released a new app for scanning various types of documents called Evernote Scannable. The app, which has been in beta for several months, is capable of scanning and managing contracts, receipts, business cards, and virtually any other kind of paper item you can think of.

Scanning happens quickly and automatically. Simply load up the app and point your device's camera at the document you want to scan in, and it will capture the image and make adjustments on the fly—such as rotating, cropping, sharpening, etc.—so your scans are clear and easy to read.

BlueSkyMe for iPad debuts: manage your time, relationships and projects

The App Store has some tremendously useful apps to get the most out of your busy schedule, but wouldn't it be nice if there was a single app to manage your contacts, mails, reminders and calendars and activities instead of a fiddling with a multitude of different applications from multiple devs?

Now there is: BlueSkyMe by Dynamic Elements. The iPad productivity app gives you a comprehensive outlook of your time, relationships and projects in one place.