News

Oz: Broken Kingdom, an RPG game demoed at iPhone 7 keynote, just hit the App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 15, 2016

At each iPhone introduction, Apple would usually invite one or more game developers on stage to demonstrate titles which show off the power of its latest chips. This month's iPhone 7 introduction was no exception. To showcase what's possible with the new A10 Fusion chip, Apple invited This Game Studio co-founder Heather Price on stage to show off a mobile game called Oz: Broken Kingdom, which just launched in the App Store as a freemium download.

A new take on Oz, Broken Kingdom sports crisp and detailed Metal-driven graphics that take full advantage of the A10 Fusion chip, although it supports older devices as well.

Here’s a new “Meet the new Home Button” step in iOS 10 installer on iPhone 7

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 15, 2016

With less than 24 hours left until first iPhone 7 shipments start hitting customers' doorsteps, YouTuber Marques Brownlee has put together a nice unboxing video featuring both new black options for the device, a supper glossy variant called Jet Black and its matte counterpart, referred to by Apple as simply Black.

The video offers interesting observations regarding the RAM, CPU performance, non-moving Home button and a new “Choose Your Click” Home button option.

Apple hires former Time Warner Cable executive to work on cloud services

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

Apple has hired former Time Warner Cable executive Peter Stern as a vice president working on cloud services, reports The Wall Street Journal. Stern left TWC earlier this year after it was bought out by rival Charter Communications.

The new VP will report to Eddy Cue, who oversees businesses like the iTunes Store and Apple Music. Mr. Stern has deep knowledge of the cable industry's economics, and relationships with a number of major media companies.

YouTube for iPhone picks up 3D Touch shortcuts

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 14, 2016

To say that YouTube, one of my favorite mobile apps from Google, has poor 3D touch support would be an understatement: it's been now a full year since the iPhone 6s introduced the world to 3D Touch and yet support for the technology is literally non-existent in YouTube for iOS.

Conveniently ahead of the iPhone 7's arrival, Google yesterday moved to assuage some of the concerns of users who have been craving for 3D Touch in the app, releasing a small update which enables some interesting shortcuts on the Home screen.

WhatsApp rolls out its iOS 10 update with Phone/Siri support & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 14, 2016

WhatsApp is one of the showcase apps for CallKit, Apple's new framework allowing VoIP calls to integrate with iOS 10's Phone app and behave like cellular calls. Today, WhatsApp has rolled out its anticipated update which enables integration with Phone and Siri on iOS 10 while bringing out half a dozen other features and improvements like forwarding multiple chats at once, a new iOS 10 widget that lets you go to a recent WhatsApp chat or see which chats have unread messages, and more.

Twelve South launches updated HiRise 2 stand for iPhone and iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 14, 2016

Twelve South designs some of the finest premium accessories built exclusively for Apple devices. The HiRise, its versatile charging stand for the iPhone and iPad, was updated today with refreshed design and some engineering changes to allow for new features.

The HiRise 2, a new version of the original charging stand, sports refined design, comes in two new colors, has reduced footprint and boasts increased stability with larger iOS devices.

In time for NFL Thursday Night Football, Twitter launches live-streaming Apple TV app

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 14, 2016

Twitter's new live-streaming Apple TV app arrives just in time for NFL Thursday Night Football. Available at no charge in the tvOS App Store, it lets owners of the fourth-generation Apple TV stream both top Twitter/Vine videos and the 10 NFL games that the micro-blogging services recently acquired the rights to broadcast, plus content from Bloomberg News, Campus Insiders, Cheddar, MLB Advanced Media, NBA, Pac 12 Networks and other premium sources.

Samsung considering its own proprietary port to replace headphone jack on Galaxy S8

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 14, 2016

Although Samsung's latest Galaxy S7 flagship smartphone series proudly boasts the 3.5mm headphone jack, the South Korean conglomerate may also remove the industry-standard jack from its next-gen Galaxy S8, reports Digital Music News. Internally code-named “Dream” (Galaxy S8) and “Dream2” (Galaxy S8 Edge), these devices may replace the 3.5mm jack with a proprietary port.

The company is said to be “actively” and “aggressively” exploring the possibility of releasing a proprietary headphone jack to see how viable it would be.

Spotify hits 40 million paid subscribers

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 14, 2016

Spotify co-founder and CEO Daniel Ek said on Twitter this morning that the world's leading music-streaming service now has forty million paid subscriptions. “40 is the new 30. Million,” reads the tweet. The Swedish service has been ramping up its streaming business for quite some time as it prepares for an initial public offering (IPO) so this should be music to the ears of Spotify's investors.

Apple fixes issue affecting small number of users following iOS 10 update

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated June 7, 2024

Apple released iOS 10 to the public Tuesday afternoon, and as you can imagine, many people raced to download the update as soon as it came out.

Unfortunately, it didn't go as smoothly for some people and left many people with error messages preventing them from using their devices.

iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus both sport larger batteries

Anthony Bouchard ∙ September 13, 2016

Apple's iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are said to sport higher-capacity internal Lithium-Ion batteries than their predecessors.

No official battery capacity specs are listed on Apple's website, but they do say that the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are supposed to get 2 and 1 additional hour(s) of battery life respectively, in what are supposed to be after effects of the new power-sipping A10 Fusion chip combined with the efficient iOS 10 firmware.

On the other hand, a higher-capacity internal battery may also have something to do with it.

tvOS 10 update for Apple TV now available

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

Hot on the heels of iOS 10 and watchOS 3, Apple on Tuesday released tvOS 10. The software update is available free and compatible with all fourth-gen Apple TVs—the latest generation of Apple's popular set-top box.

tvOS 10 should install automatically on your Apple TV, but depending on your settings you may have to push it manually. You can do this by navigating to System > Software Updates > Update Software on your device.