9 minutes ago | Posted in: gaming, software
Physics games are fun, and we'd be willing to be that most gamers are keen to agree. There's something almost addicting about games that employ smart physics engines, and fun rag-doll effects, that just seem to keep us coming back for more. Newcomer Besiege, by Spiderling Games, is a title that takes everything we love about the physics genre, drops it into a Medieval setting, and creates one of the most fun not-quite-sandbox games we've played with in a long time.
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Star Drift by Squarehead Studios is a side-scrolling spaceship shooter. The player taps the screen to maneuver up and down while picking up temporary buffs, blowing up baddies, and avoiding obstacles. The color choices and soundtrack evoke a late 80's aesthetic, with its bright glowing colors against a black background and cool synth riffs.
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Tinder has launched a paid subscription option for its localized dating app called Tinder Plus, adding two more features to the service as well as providing unlimited "likes." Passport allows paid users to select other locations to search for people in those areas, while Rewind allows for the correction of the last swipe action performed, potentially allowing for the user to reverse an accidental left swipe in the iOS and Android app. Recode notes that the cost of Tinder Plus varies with age, costing US users under the age of 30 $10 per month, while older users must pay $20, with a representative claiming that the service is appeasing the "budget constrained" younger user.
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We recently had the opportunity to attend an Apple Australia "iPad Air 2 in Small Business" showcase. The session focused on several apps being used by small businesses on the iPad Air 2 to enable them to undertake tasks themselves, where they might otherwise outsource at considerable expense. It also looked at real-world case studies, where the same apps had been used to excellent effect. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the session was the way that Apple demonstrated how a series of different apps could be used together to powerful effect. As we discussed with Apple, what we were really exploring could best be called app workflows, or "appflows," if one is looking for a catch phrase.
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After our recent story two weeks ago about litigation being brought against Apple for poaching battery engineers and scientists from A123 Systems (an automotive and vertical-market energy research firm), Apple has informed the judge in the case that it is seeking a settlement and is in talks with the company. Apple had recruited former A123 Chief Technical Office Mujeeb Ijaz, who then helped Apple poach several of his former colleagues from A123.
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The security built into Apple Pay is so resistant to tampering, reports the UK newpaper The Guardian, that criminals are focusing more than ever on traditional bank weaknesses surrounding common fraud and identity theft techniques, exploiting the lax identity requirements some banks employ for users who are adding credit cards to Passbook, which stores the data so that Apple Pay can later utilize it. So far, the fraud has racked up millions of dollars from stolen credit cards added to Apple Pay.
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13 hours ago | Posted in: software, audio
It used to be so much fun, tuning in to radio stations from around the world. Shortwave radios -- who has those any more? Sitting in central Paris, just about able to pick up BBC Radio 4 from the UK -- it's just no thrill now that you can listen to any station, anywhere in the world, on a whim. Snowflake, a new app born from the ashes of radio recorder Snowtape, makes it even less of a thrill: it is an extremely easy-to-use radio app that streams music from around the world right to your Mac.
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Apple's forthcoming Apple Watch -- expected to be formally unveiled at a press conference on March 9 -- is already an "award-winning" product that the jury called "a delightful product offering a holistic user experience" and deemed it "already an icon." Picked from among over 3,200 products vying for world-class recognition from International Forum Design, the Apple Watch took home one of only 47 Gold awards, and one of only two given to telecommunication products.
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It's getting so that calculators are becoming the new weather app: we have one already on our iPhones, but still people keep bringing out more of them. Also, there's not really a giant range of things you can do in a weather app, and it's even less with calculators. So apps like Digits really have to work hard to stand out.
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Researchers have discovered a critical flaw in the backbone of HTTPS-protected traffic, and it is an exploit that has potentially existed for decades. The flaw exists in approximately 36 percent of websites that use HTTPS, and miscreants are able to intercept and modify data passing between a vulnerable browser and a susceptible site. At the moment, OS X and iOS Safari and Chrome are vulnerable to the attack, as are virtually all Android devices ever produced, plus all browsers on Linux.
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Unity Technologies has finally brought the fifth version of the company's game engine out of beta as a general release, the company announced at the Game Developer Conference. Originally debuted in March last year and existing in beta for a number of months, Unity 5 offers a number of upgrades over earlier versions, including the ability to render better-looking and more complex scenes with an improved lighting system.
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The official SXSW music fest app for iOS and Android, SXSW Go, will tie into a network of 1,000 iBeacons placed around the festival's various venues to help users connect to friends, ensure they are at the right location, and let them know what events are scheduled at the venue they are in now, among other helpful information. Non-attendees can also use the app to view video feeds from various events.
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Professional creation apps often feature built-in support for drawing tablets, though many users never get the chance to take advantage of this, due to the high cost of these input accessories. Astro-HQ, a new company formed by two former Apple engineers, is looking to solve this issue with the release of Astropad, a new tool that turns nearly any iPad into a sketch board for any OS X app. Consisting of a free iOS app and a $50 desktop companion, Astropad looks to be a great option for a graphics artist on a tight budget.
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Coriolis Systems has unveiled its latest version of utility tool iDefrag. Now on version 5, the new software has a revamped user interface to accommodate Yosemite, boasts easier-to-understand statistics about fragmented drives, better handling of bad drive blocks, new documentation, and enhanced support for Retina displays. The new version is priced at $40, with an upgrade from previous versions available for $20 through the company's web store.
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While significantly disagreeing on the shipment or sales numbers of its rivals, analysis firms IDC and Gartner have agreed that Apple surpassed all expectations in a number of areas with its record-shattering calendar Q4 performance, with Gartner awarding Apple the crown of top smartphone seller in the world. An earlier report by IDC had Apple barely missing the top spot, claiming that Samsung shipped 75.1 million units, despite a sharp drop in profits and revenue.
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Being the default search engine option in iOS is such an important position that losing it could cost Google around 10 percent of its gross annual revenue, according to a new analysis by investment bank UBS. The advertising giant is at risk to lose upwards of $8 billion if it should lose the default search engine position, a real possibility with the deal between Google and Apple coming up for renewal. Investors are worried that Apple will refuse to renew the arrangement.
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