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It looks like T-Mobile’s recent Uncarrier campaign is starting to catch the attention of the other major US carriers, because hot on the heels of it announcing its new ‘Jump’ upgrade program, comes word that Verizon may be following suit.
The news comes this afternoon in the form of a [purported] leaked Big Red training slide. The slide details ‘VZ Edge,’ a new upgrade plan that allows Verizon subscribers to pay a monthly fee for the ability to upgrade their devices more frequently…
Mobile apps have in no time become a true addiction in our smartphone-obssesed society. We use them day in and day out – to the point where we can’t imagine our lives without those lickable Home screen icons. As Apple gave each user five premium apps and games for free as part of the App Store’s fifth anniversary, eBay too celebrated the occasion by conducting an informal survey that challenged 200 iPhone owners with surviving four days without their favorite apps…
Seemingly taking a page from Apple’s playbook, Microsoft announced a major reorganization this morning. It’s calling the move ‘One Microsoft,’ as it looks to rally behind a single strategy as one company, instead of a collection of separate divisional strategies.
The company says that moving forward, it will continue to release new devices and services. And this new approach will allow it to innovate with greater speed, efficiency and capability in a “fast-changing world,” while helping them execute better than ever…
“Our brand must reflect this plan and its employees — personal, valued, inspired and forward-looking. We will take our products and our customers to new places. We will be on a new path centered around delivering high-value activities on a family of devices with integrated services. We will all be working in new ways together to meet new challenges. But our spirit and values are the same enduring ones that launched this company. Our North Star may be new, but our mission of helping people to realize their full potential through technology remains the same.”
Microsoft hopes the move will enhance collaboration between its divisions, which have seen various levels of success over the years. While the Xbox 360 has been wildly popular, the Surface tablet and Windows Phone have continued to struggle to gain traction.
But the company’s restructuring plan wasn’t the only big news on the Microsoft front today. Nokia also unveiled the Lumia 1020, its new flagship Windows phone, this morning. The handset has a staggering 41-megapixel camera and a 4.5-inch AMOLED display.
The phone comes with a ‘Pro’ camera app, which offers a slew of advanced controls for shutterbugs. Initial reaction to the phone, specifically its photo-taking abilities, has been positive. It’ll be interesting to see what Apple has done, camera-wise, with the iPhone 5S.
Additionally, it’ll be interesting to see what, if any, kind of impact Microsoft’s restructuring has on its future products. Apple executed a similar shakeup last fall, and although we have yet to see any new products since the move, iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks look promising.
What do you think about Microsoft’s reorganization? Nokia’s new 41MP phone?
Tired of the stock Calendar app in iOS 6? Can’t wait for iOS 7 to launch this fall to change things up? Well lucky for you, there are a number of Calendar alternatives available in the App Store: Tempo, Donna, Calendars+ and Fantastical, to name a few.
And today, we’re adding a new one to the stack that has been causing quite a commotion in the tech world today. It’s developed by Any.do—the same team behind the award-winning task list—and it’s called Cal, a simple, beautiful calendar for iPhone…
From the App Store description:
“A uniquely designed interface gives you clear perspective on what’s on the horizon of your day and what’s already been accomplished. As your day goes along, Cal is right there with you, up to speed on your progress with a host of newly designed features that add to your momentum.
With Cal, important life moments like birthdays and anniversaries aren’t just remembered, they’re celebrated. Contact, location, and social integration allows you to send messages and plan festivities right in the app itself. It’s like having a magic wand at your fingertips.”
Additionally, Cal was designed with deep Any.DO app integration. It can automatically take care of your evolving to-do list without having to plan for the same thing twice. So if you enter in a meeting or task to Any.DO, it will auto-populate in the Cal app.
And here’s your full list of features:
- Each day is celebrated with a fresh & gorgeous photo. - Your events will come to life beautifully with maps, photos of your contacts, notes & reminders. - It’s always someone’s birthday. Write on your friends wall, call, or send them a message. - Planning is simple. By connecting with Any.DO you can check out your Any.do tasks for each day. - Create smarter events – Cal recognize who you want to invite & where to right from the title. - Finding the best spot – Easily find restaurants & bars nearby for your events. - Easy to navigate – Simply jump to a specific date from the month view.
I have to say that Cal looks gorgeous. I like that it uses the so-called ‘flat design,’ but it also fills the empty space with large graphics. I wish Apple was taking this approach in iOS 7. As far as its functionality though, I can’t speak to that, as I’ve just installed it.
For folks that are already in the Any.do ecosystem, Cal seems like a no-brainer. But it’s a well-designed app that’s worth checking out regardless—especially considering its price tag. If you’re interested, you can find Cal in the App Store, for the iPhone, for free.
So, both AT&T and Verizon are now making you wait longer to upgrade to a new smartphone, going from 20 to 24 months?
That’s exactly where T-Mobile is hoping to leapfrog the nation’s leading telcos with its new upgrade initiative called Jump.
As reported earlier today, Jump basically lets you upgrade when you want, not when you’re told (“two years is too tong to wait” to upgrade your phone”).
More precisely, you can upgrade up to twice a year as soon as six months from enrollment. So welcome to the Jump upgrade club my friend and don’t forget to jump past the fold (pun intended) for the full breakdown…
AT&T sent out invitations today for a press event later this month teasing a look at “what’s next in wireless.” Whether that’s a new handset or a new wireless technology has yet to be revealed, but we’ll have all the details as soon as they come.
Maybe it’s the appearance of Seiki’s ultra-cheap Ultra HD displays. Maybe it’s the fact that both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will support 4K video output (for movies; not for games). Whatever the reason, 4K is certainly making more of a splash with the average consumer than I would have predicted a year ago. And to cash in on that market awareness, cable manufacturers are already introducing special, spiffy new 4K HDMI cables, targeted at the consumer who wants to be as future-ready as possible.
The problem with that? Chances are very good that if you’re pumping 1080p video through your current HDMI cable, it’s already perfectly capable of handling 4K, Ultra HD, whatever you want to call it. Look past the fold for more info....
Some flights have started giving out iPads during flights loaded with games, movies, TV Shows, books, magazines and more. Now Norwegian and Panasonic have partnered to give us Android-powered entertainment while in-flight.
There aren’t a lot of details yet, but the picture looks intriguing. The system will be built into the seat back, and according to the press release, it will give users access to movies, music and games.
Of course, you’ll also be able to buy snacks and drinks in addition to accessing entertainment content.
There were no specifics of costs to user, if any, although from this quote, I’m assuming it won’t be free:
“… enabling Norwegian to engage passengers in an even more amazing entertainment experience while creating new revenue streams.”
Of course, the biggest question of all. Can we use it during take-off and landing?
PlayOn is about to make Aereo much more accessible by adding it as a channel within its service. Aereo will become an official option on July 11, 2013. PlayOn specializes in streaming videos from a variety of online sources run by television networks and independent providers. With the addition of Aereo, PlayOn users now have a way to watch live local television on devices where Aereo isn’t currently offered such as game consoles and Android devices.
Let’s back up for a moment and go over what PlayOn is. Basically, PlayOn turns your computer into a media server. When you run the software, you can choose to watch videos from a variety of online sources. The catch is you can only access content that has been made available on that source’s website. For example, if I wanted to watch an episode of Hell’s Kitchen from Fox.com, it would have to be already available on the website in order for PlayOn to retrieve it. The video is really silently running on your computer in the background. PlayOn just pushes it to your selected device using a shared Wi-Fi connection. The Aereo channel will work the same way.
None of this is free though. PlayOn costs $25 a year or $50 for a lifetime membership. Aereo is only available in Boston, New York and Atlanta and costs $8 a month.
With iOS 7, Jony Ive designed an icon grid that was meant to give developers some guidance on how to proportion their icons so they would look “harmonious” on the new iOS 7 homescreen. As you can see above, though, Jony Ive has been using a similar mental grid to design Apple’s physical products for a long time. As Reddit user Kepano notes, however, Ive has probably not used this grid as a precise guide to design in the past.
“In my opinion as an industrial designer this image suggests that there are some intuitive similarities between all of Ive’s designs but that the iOS 7 icon grid is probably the first time he’s defined those proportions so strictly. The fact that certain shapes match so closely (e.g. the width of the donut shape on the iPod) is probably not a coincidence but a matter of taste. What the image doesn’t show is that these products have radically different dimensions which is why the corner radii are very different from one another.”
We all know that companies like Google and Apple can track our locations 24-7 using our cell phones, but what if they could predict where we'd be in 24 hours? A group of people have created an algorithm that allows your phone to predict where you'll be in 24 hours from current time. Look just past the fold for more details...
T-Mobile is holding a media event later today at 2:30PM Eastern / 11:30AM Pacific to announce “our boldest moves yet.” A leaked memo suggests the Deutsche Telekom-owned telco is readying a new unlimited upgrade plan for smartphones. “We've upgraded upgrades,” the memo reads. Called Jump, the idea is to allow customers to upgrade when they actually want to instead of waiting the usual two-years until their contract expires. I've included more tidbits after the break…
“Don’t pay more than new customers. Seriously ” reads one bullet point.
“No annual service contracts. No overages. No brainer,” another one has it.
I’ll be looking forward to hearing T-Mobile’s CEO John Legere curse during today’s press conference.
The memo, obtained by The Verge, can be seen top of post.
TmoNews yesterday speculated Jump would require a “very small” membership fee and that T-Mobile would ask customers to trade-in their existing handset in order to qualify.
In exchange for this fee, customers would receive insurance on their device as well as the two annual upgrades. The idea of this club is just one of many opportunities T-Mobile’s CEO is considering with their new UNcarrier model.
Jump could fly in the face of AT&T and Verizon as both carriers recently killed early device upgrades, pushing the waiting period back to 24 months.
What’s your take?
Is Jump going to make a difference in the greater scheme of things?
We don’t know much about the next-generation iPhone, which is Apple is expected to introduce later this year. It’s believed to be an ‘S’ model, with a faster processor and other upgraded internals. Outside of that, however, we literally know nothing about the handset.
But if past ‘S’ iPhone releases are any indication, the iPhone 5S will surely offer at least one ‘stand-out’ feature. The 3GS had video recording, for example, and the 4S added Siri. So what will the 5S’ killer feature be? A new report says it could be slow-motion video…
With just two days until Wednesday’s fifth anniversary of Apple’s App Store, the company conveniently delivered a celebratory poster highlighting key moments in the application’s store five-year history. And just a few hours ago, Apple slashed a number of premium apps and games to zero bucks. In in another tease, a new section dedicated to the anniversary has just gone live on the App Store. The ’5 Years of the App Store’ is accessible both in desktop iTunes and the stock App Store app on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices by following this link…
As predicted last month on our Facebook page, Apple today released iOS 7 Beta 3. I'll have a video on it later this week (and since I missed beta 2 I'll show changes for both). Look past the fold for a full change log as we discover them...
New in Beta 3
Faster and more reliable than previous releases (of course)
Minor UI changes in Notification Center
Minor UI changes in Music app
Minor UI changes in Weather app
Larger status bar on Lock screen
Calendar app now shows scheduled events on monthly view
New search bar, animations in Mail app
Folders now appear more transparent
New icon animations when downloading an app
New font in Settings app
New font and font color in Messages app
Minor UI tweaks in Safari (new keyboard for unibar search)
You can now use apps while they’re updating
Lock screen now shows clock while playing a song
Tweaked UI for wallpaper chooser.
New silent control in iPad Control Center
New app icon loading UI for download apps
New animation when compressing video to be shared
.com key in Safari’s unibar keyboard is finally gone
New Top Charts icon in the App Store
Boot up no longer shows spinning wheel
Now Playing track now displayed fully in Music app
You can now pinch-to-zoom in Music app while in landscape mode
Now remembers app placement on the springboard, so now if you delete and reinstall an app it will be placed in the same folder or location on the springboard that it was in prior to deleting the app
Per app settings for background refresh now honored
Dictionary is functional (laggy however)
Rating of a song in Music.App now changeable
Cool new animation when going to spotlight search
Parallax, Translucency, Transparency, and Dynamic wallpapers have been disabled for iPhone 4 in Beta 3.
New font on 'slide to power off'.
On iPad, now non- optimized apps (only iPhone/iPod) are rendered to be displayed almost full screen (less grainy), only one view, no 1x and 2x zoom on lower right hand corner.
Swipe down on notifications to open Notification Center.
Tapping on items in Today View (NC) opens their corresponding apps.
New playlists icon in Music.app
If you find anything let us know via email, or post to our Facebook wall!
Apple's App Store is coming up on it's fifth birthday. On Wednesday, July 10. As spotted by The Verge, several premium apps and games that have never been free before, are free. No explanation was offered from Apple or in the description of the apps. We have a full list of discovered apps and games just past the fold...
Welcome the latest Galaxy device to the family, this time another camera! As expected, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy NX. Look just past the fold for more details...
Today Samsung has announced several new tablets, such as the ATIV Q, which can switch between Android and Windows 8. Look just past the break for more details...
Today Samsung announced several new devices, including three new Samsung Galaxy S4 devices. These devices are the S4 Mini, the S4 Zoom, and the S4 Active. Look just past the fold for the rest of the information...
After a week of rumors on what Facebook would announce today at their event, we now know. In this case the rumors were spot on. Facebook owned Instagram, will now take on Twitter owned Vine with video. An update has just been released to the mobile app, which brings a new camera icon and the video feature. There are a bunch of new filters made specially for the videos. Once done recording, share them just like photos and hope it goes viral. Look just past the break for more information...
Maybe Microsoft DOES listen to their customers, and maybe miracles do happen. As many of you know, Microsoft's upcoming Xbox One has been the center of controversy since Microsoft announced their DRM policies on it. The news first came from several unofficial sources stating that Xbox would do a U-turn on it's DRM policies, and make an announcement later today. And now, news.xbox.com has been updated to confirm the rumors. Look just past the fold for more information...
As folks continue to dig through the first beta of iOS 7 that Apple seeded to developers last week, more details regarding the all-new OS continue to surface. Today, hidden settings have been discovered in the software with new gesture, multitasking and folder options.
The existence of these settings seems to suggest that Apple is testing a couple of unannounced features in the beta, including system-wide gestures like edge swipes and corner swipes, and the ability to both hide pre-installed apps and create folders within folders…
Since Apple unveiled its next generation mobile operating system, iOS 7, it seems like that’s all anyone can talk about. Some folks love it, and think it’s a step in the right direction. And others dislike it so much that they’re considering switching to Android.
For those of you who haven’t tried it yet, and are feeling left out of the conversation, we’ve come across something that may help. The folks over at Recumbo have put together an interactive demo of iOS 7 that lets you play with the software update without a dev account…
Although I got iOS 7 Beta 1 I'm not a registered developer, nor do I have an Apple TV. Below is iDownloadBlog reporting on the story.
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To go along with the recently released iOS 7 Beta 1, Apple has also made a companion Apple TV beta software available for download to its registered developers. The pre-release code enables such new capabilities as iTunes Radio free music streaming, a new Conference Room Display setting and fully customizable subtitles.
The first beta of what would later become the Apple TV 5.4 software update was posted toApple’s portal for developers after last Monday’s keynote. The pre-release version is meant to be used for testing AirPlay with third-party iOS apps. As we haven’t had a chance to cover it extensively, here’s what to expect in terms of features…
How cool would it be if some big consumer electronics company that is really great at hardware design sold a smartwatch you could buy for under $100 that was open to any developer’s firmware?
That would be amazing, because as an open platform genius software developers could compete with each other to create the ultimate smartwatch experience, and they wouldn’t need to fuss with designing and manufacturing a physical hardware smartwatch.
Well, it’s happened. Sony this week announced an Open SmartWatch project that invites developers to create and flash their own firmware for the Sony SmartWatch.
This is bigger news than it sounds.
Sony is actually joining the open-source hardware movement. Sony! They’ve even published a SmartWatch hacker guide.
Sony has long offered an SDK for developers to write apps for the existing platform. But this is different — and surprising.
Sony’s Open SmartWatch project is massively good news for the following three reasons, just past the fold...
Apple surprised a lot of folks last week when it announced that the first beta of iOS 7, it’s next generation mobile software, would only be available to registered developers on the iPhone and iPod touch. Last year, Apple released a beta for all 3 of its mobile devices.
The reason behind Apple’s decision to forego releasing the first beta on the iPad isn’t clear. But for those of you wondering how the redesigned operating system looks on the popular tablet, we’ve come across several screenshots of just that—iOS 7 running on an iPad straight from the Xcode simulator…
Even though the official preview version of Windows 8.1 will be released in less than a couple of weeks, it appears that a new build of the next OS has been submitted to select partners.
We've heard that some devs have received what seems to be Windows 8.1 build 9428, obviously for testing purposes, as Microsoft is still trying to improve the public beta of the upcoming product.
No details have been provided on this new build, but it most likely packs all features supposed to be made available to everyone on June 26, including the highly anticipated start button.
As you probably know by now, Windows 8.1 will be unveiled later this month during the BUILD developer conference, while the stable version of the operating system is expected to be released either in August or in September.
Google’s ‘X’ division has gained a reputation for making the seemingly impossible, possible. The not-so-secret lab is responsible for churning out a number of innovative projects, including self-driving cars and more recently, Google Glass.
Yesterday, the search giant unveiled X’s next ‘moonshot’ venture called Project Loon. The idea behind Loon is to let loose a ring of balloons, outfitted with cellphone tower-like tech, in the sky in an effort to provide internet to the masses…
Instagram is in desperate need of an iOS 7 redesign. The current interface looks very outdated and overly textured compared to the rest of Apple’s newest OS.
To be fair, iOS 7 won’t ship to the public for months, and I’m sure Instagram’s talented designers are working on an update right now. But in the meantime, the above concept looks great. The navigation buttons and typography meshes perfectly with iOS 7, and I would totally use it on my iPhone.
The design is by Michal Vasko on Dribbble. What do you think?
It’s just June now, and the Facebook team has already had a big year. It’s launched majornew search tool, rolled out a completely revamped version of its Timeline feature, and oh yeah, it developed its own Android launcher.
But apparently it’s not finished yet. The social networking giant just sent out invitations to a media event scheduled for June 20th. Facebook’s invite doesn’t offer many details, but it does say that it’s been working on big ideas…
This is kind of interesting. New versions of some of the stock app icons in iOS 7 have been spotted on Apple’s website. The reason for the changes is not yet known, but the app icons have received the blunt of the criticism thus far regarding Apple’s new mobile OS.
Some of the new icons are starkly different than the ones seen in the first developer beta of iOS 7, while others appear to only feature subtle differences. And it’s not clear if this was a mistake on Apple’s part, or these will be the new app icons in iOS going forward…
I've been using iOS 7 a lot over the last few days. I finally made the first batch of hands on videos. I'll be uploading some more through out the day, and a new one for every new beta release featuring what's changed. Look just past the fold for the videos...
Last night Gameloft posted a video of their upcoming game Asphalt 8: Airborne. The new game promises to be much more high action, involving smashing cars into each other and driving race cars at 200+ MPH. The action packed preview is just past the break...
Yesterday Apple added a new lengthy video to the iOS section of their website. The video titled "Making a difference. One app a time.", shows how people around the world are using apps on Apple devices. Look just past the break for the video...
Raise your hand if you’ve been thinking to yourself “you know, I think there really needs to beanother Angry Birds game.” No one? Ok. Well apparently that’s what the folks at Rovio have been thinking, because one is coming. Read past the fold for details...
With rumors running wild of a TV with the shiny Apple logo on it, and Tim Cook constantly hinting at it, Comcast isn't going to sit around and watch. Comcast unveiled the next generation of the X1 platform from Xfinity, and it's called the X2. Read just the break for more details...
Ubi is a computer with no screen, keyboard, or mouse. You plug the device into any outlet found in your home. Once plugged in you connect it to your home wifi network. Ubi is voice activated, and much like iPhone’s Siri — or, more accurately, HouseLogix’s VoicePod — it can respond to your voice in kind. So, if you want to know what the weather is going to be like before you leave the house, you simply say “Ubi, what will the weather be like today?” And it does a quick internet search and gives a clear and audible answer. Read past the break for more info and a short video...
Tunr it On (TiO for short) is an android-based home automation system.
"Instead of dealing in Scenes, TiO will allow users to adjust all of the variables of a room, from lighting level and temperature to music source, volume, and so forth, and capture all of those settings as a Mood, which can be called up at the touch of a button, or modified by the user without a bit of assistance from the custom installer. You’ll also be able to create TiO Experiences — collections of Moods 'that work together to create a complete home scene.'”
Amazingly today there's a piece of news that doesn't involve PS4, Xbox One, or iOS 7. It does, however, still relate to video games. LG and Ubitus have announced that the GameNow cloud gaming service will be available on the 2013 lineup of LG Smart TVs. LG promised a slew of games like Batman: Arkham City, and Street Fighter X right on your TV with no slow downloads or large files. Read past the break for more...
Cellular Data Tracking by App - In Settings / Cellular, users can track cellular data usage on a per-app basis. Apps can have their cellular data access disabled individually as well.
Update Apps Manually - The App Store now updates apps automatically, but for users who prefer to handle things themselves, automatic updates can be disabled via a slider in Settings / iTunes & App Stores.
How to Get to Spotlight - Spotlight is now accessible from the home screen by swiping down from the middle of the screen. Additionally, in Settings / General / Spotlight Search, users can manually turn search result categories on and off, as well as change the order results are presented in.
Live Clock Icon - The clock icon provides the correct time, including a live second hand. The weather app does not update -- it is always partly cloudy.
Newsstand Has Permanent Icon - Newsstand's icon remains the same regardless of what publications are inside it. The app itself works similarly, though the design is substantially different. Newsstand can now be put inside a folder as well.
App Permission for Microphone Access - Apps are now required to ask permission to access the microphone, similar to how apps currently ask to access location data or the camera.
Skips in iTunes Radio - iTunes Radio listeners get 6 skips per station, regardless of if they are on the ad-supported or ad-free versions of the service. It is believed that the skips reset each hour.
Parallax Everywhere - As part of the new 'layers' user interface that Jony Ive has built, nearly everything in the interface subtly shifts to give the UI depth when the phone is moved -- wallpaper, pop-up alerts, notification bubbles and more.
Dynamic Wallpaper - Apple includes two 'dynamic' wallpaper images by default. These images have subtle animated bubble shapes floating around the background. We'll likely hear more about these going forward.
Panoramic Wallpaper - In addition to the dynamic wallpaper, users can also setpanoramic images as wallpaper -- instead of the subtle parallax image shift shown in the keynote, tilting the phone pans around the image. iPhone 4 is Responsive - One forum member who installed iOS 7 on the iPhone 4 said the device was as responsive as under iOS 6, though many of the UI graphics trickery is disabled.
Share Passes - Passbook passes can be shared via iMessage or email.
Navigation has Automatic Day/Night Mode - When viewing turn-by-turn directions, Maps automatically switches from day to night mode using both the current time and ambient light sensor to judge which is more appropriate.
Dynamic Font Size - Users can select a system-wide font size for apps that support 'Dynamic Type' in Settings / General / Text Size.
FaceTime Gets Own App - FaceTime has been spun out into its own app on the iPhone. Previously, it was built into the Phone app.
Reminder Alerts Have More Options - Pop-up alerts from the Reminders app now offer options to 'Remind me in 15 minutes', 'Mark as Completed', 'View Reminder', or to simply close the notification.
Weather App Shows Sunrise-
The weather app now displays what time the sun will rise in the hour by hour forecast.
There are many more changes that will likely be discovered over the next few months as the iOS 7 beta continues, and there is a growing thread on the MacRumors Forums detailing them.
Love it or hate it, iOS' major redesign has gotten Apple a lot of attention in the past day. With Jony Ive in charge of redesigning iOS, all the icons look different. Look just past the fold for a comparison of iOS 6's icons to iOS 7's...
Well, I guess the PS4 actually does exist! I was starting to think Sony didn't actual male it! Finally, tonight at E3, we got a look at the actual hardware. Look just past the break for a picture...
It looks a lot like the PS2 with a blue line on it. On the left we see the console, middle controller, and right the eye. The PS4 will start at $399, $100 cheaper than the Xbox One.
Today at E3 Microsoft gave some more details regarding it's upcoming gaming console, the Xbox One. The console allows you to watch TV through you Xbox, turn it into a sleep mode, and more. Today Microsoft stated that their newest console will launch in November and will be set at the high price point of $500. Also, Microsoft announced that starting today you can order an Xbox One Day One edition console. Ordering this console will guarantee you a system on day one (including black packaging), a limited edition Xbox One Day One wireless controller, Day One achievement, and several digital games such as Ryse: Son of Rome, Forza Motorsport 5, Kinect Sports Rivals, and Dead Rising 3.
Sony is set to take the stage at 6:00 PM (PDT) tonight.
With WWDC less than an hour away, the doors were opened and the media let in. Several banners with black cloth over them have been spotted. Don't get your hopes up, though. They could just be for iOS 7 features that have yet to be announced. Look past the fold for pictures...
As many of you already know, Apple's WWDC starts on Monday, and E3 starts on Tuesday!
Apple has promised that on Monday it will get iOS 7 and the new version of OSX into hands of their developers. iOS is said to be receiving a major make over, with the removal of most skeumorphism. iOS 7 will have flat icons, and once in the app, the app will be white with a different button color for each app. Banners have gone up unveiling the iOS 7 logo and new OSX logo, as well as some that hint at the flat icons. Look past the fold to see some pictures, and snag some iOS 7 wallpapers for any of your iDevices...
Australia's largest air line will start handing out iPads to guests on flight loaded with more than two hundred hours of music, movies, tv shows, and games! The tablets will be connected to the plane's wifi. Read past the fold for more info...
On Thursday Facebook announced a new look for the News Feed, and now YouTube is redesigning your channel. YouTube is calling the new channel design YouTube One. You can now try and convince people who aren't already subscribed to you to subscribe with a little ad for yourself. There will be a different look for people who are not subscribed to you as there is for those who are. Take a look just past the fold...
Today Facebook has unveiled a new look for your News Feed that will start rolling out over the next few weeks. It was largely based on mobile use. Some new features include larger pictures and videos, new subfeeds, and a much more simple and organized look. More info and pictures just past the break...
The game that started it all for Rovio, the original Angry Birds, has gone free on iOS for a limited time. The most likely reason: they're no longer in the top grossing apps!
"Gulp, now it’s the first day since May 2010 when no Rovio games have been in Top 80 of highest grossing iPhone apps."
— Tero Kuittinen (@teroterotero) March 5, 2013
If you haven't already, download Angry Birds in the App Store!
Gameloft makes some of the best apps out there. The only problem is, they're not free. They're not even just 99¢, most are $5 or more! For a limited time, they've slashed the prices on six if their top apps! Here's a list:
• 9mm [$0.99, was $6.99]
• Assassin’s Creed – Altaïr’s Chronicles [$0.99, was $4.99]
• Iron Man 2 [$0.99, was $4.99]
• Spider-Man: Total Mayhem [$0.99, was $6.99]
• The Dark Knight Rises [$0.99, was $6.99]
• Wild Blood [$0.99, was $6.99]
If you were to buy all six ($5.94) you'd be saving 85%! Regular total would be $37.94, now only $5.94!! Take advantage of this great deal before prices go back to full price!
One of the largest, and my favorite, theme parks in the world, Walt Disney World, has begun rolling out the My Magic + system. Eventually this will completely replace the use of tickets with RFID wristbands, but until then they're using iPod Touches as a quick ticketing system. They scan your card with their iPod and in you are. Disney says that this is in a trial stage, so it's unknown whether it will be rolled out on a larger scale.
"The new ticketing system means that a full family with two strollers and two adults can now go through at the same time — something that was impossible before.
Disney has plans to continue to roll out its iPod touch-driven ticketing system at other Central Florida parks, and potentially at its other destinations around the world."
Disney World is the most visited entertainment resort, and it's in Orlando, Florida.
Temple Run: Oz hit the App Store and Play Store for 99¢ yesterday. I have spent the last day playing it so I can give a good review. It is quite a fun game, but in the end, it's basically the same as all the other Temple Run games. The main thing setting it apart is the yellow brick road, the bat type things chasing you, and the hit air balloon. You will have to occasionally jump into you hot air balloon and and navigate through the clouds. If you haven't tried the other Temple Run games yet, try them for free. If you like them, get Temple Run: Oz!
The New York Times has written an article saying that it knows some of the features of Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S IV. Most interesting of all, is a new system to scroll through your pages, but with no actual physical touching of the screen.
Take a look:
“Samsung’s next big smartphone, to be introduced this month, will have a strong focus on software. A person who has tried the phone, called the Galaxy S IV, described one feature as particularly new and exciting: Eye scrolling.
The phone will track a user’s eyes to determine where to scroll, said a Samsung employee who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media. For example, when users read articles and their eyes reach the bottom of the page, the software will automatically scroll down to reveal the next paragraphs of text.”
"To back up the claim, Times’ reporter Brian Chen dug up some interesting trademarks filed by Samsung recently. The first, named “Eye Scroll,” is described exactly as the above feature is. And the second, “Eye Pause,” was filed without a description."
The media event for the Galaxy S IV is only 10 days away, on March 14! What do you think? Is this feature for the better or the worse?
Developers are handling pirating apps their own way. If you illegally download TweetBot, they put in a message into your tweets that you can't edit. If you illegally download Conditions (weather app) they render the app useless, but with a little joke.
This is what the app looks like payed for:
And this is what it looks like if you illegally downloaded it:
What do you think of these creative ways of handling pirating of apps?
FaceBook has an invite only event coming up on Thursday at 10 AM. They are set to unveil a new look for your news feed. Just a couple months after the graph search conference, this should be interesting. My predictions are as follows: A) People will hate it at first. Anything FaceBook does, people hate at first. They could be offering a million dollars to everyone who logged on today, and people would hate it. B) The purpose of the new news feed is to put more ads on it.
Rovio is coming out with a show. The name is Angry Birds Toons. The premiere date is currently set for March 16. Take a look:
I love the Angry Birds games, but I think they're trying to get to much out of it. Really? A TV show and a movie, based on a fun little game? What do you think? Will you watch Angry Birds Toons?
Instagram announced that it has passed it's one hundred millionth download. In comparison, Twitter hit two hundred million as of end of last year (2012). I, personally, am not an Instagram user. I don't see the need for annoying filters that ruin perfectly good pictures, but that's just me.
Once this app hits the App Store and Play Store, this will offer a second screen experience to the PS4. Yeah, you read right, the PS4. First let's look at the PS4, then the official app!
Sony last night finally unveiled it's PlayStation 4. The PS4 runs a 8-core X86 processor, enhanced PC GPU, and 8GB of high speed memory.
Next, there's the controller. The PS4 will use Sony's new Dual Shock 4 controller with a touch pad, share button, light bar, and headphone jack. The light bar allows a camera on the PS4 to measure how far away a player is.
As for features, Sony listed a TON in their Power Point, so here's a few fan favorites from iDownloadblog.
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The new DualShock 4 controller connects to an included light bar, which can identify players and their movements via a 3D camera. No one is calling it Kinect-like yet, but it sounds like it serves a similar purpose.
The PS4 has a low-power state that auto-saves games. If you have to step away from your console, just tap the power button. Then when you return, you’ll find your game right where you left it. Sony says “long console boot times are a thing of the past.”
And the system can download games and other content in the background too, even with the power off. So no more annoying game-stopping system updates. Likewise, this also means that downloadable titles can be played as you’re downloading them.
Social is a huge aspect of the PS4. You can upload videos of your gameplay, while playing, watch other games being played, and even invite a friend to remotely play on your system.
And it can learn your likes and dislikes. “Long-term vision is to reduce download times to zero… if we know enough about you we know what game you’ll purchase next and can download it in the background.”
Gaikai technology lets you see what games your friends are playing, share screenshots and videos in-game, and take over their controller. It also allows owners of the PS Vita to remotely play the PS4 from their handheld devices."
After all of that was announced Sony brought some game developers on stage. They showed some demos of their games. They all said they used live action video, but it doesn't look that way. Take a look at some of the videos:
The new device never actually made an appearance. So the question everyone is asking is, what does it look like?? Sony's event was two hours long, and it never made a live appearance, or even a picture! I think the reason is because the PS4 is still in the very early stages of development, and Sony wanted to announce their device before Microsoft does. This also explains why Sony didn’t announce any pricing details, or availability, outside of ‘Coming Holiday 2013.’
Now, on to the PlayStation App.
Here’s Sony’s press release on the app (via Engadget):
“A new application from SCE called “PlayStation®App” will enable iPhone, iPad, and Android based smartphones and tablets to become second screens. Once installed on these devices, users can, for example, see maps on their second screens when playing an adventure game, purchase PS4 games while away from home and download it directly to the console at home, or remotely watch other gamers playing on their devices.”
Here's iDownload Blog on the story:
"The concept sounds pretty cool. Not only would it be handy for in-game maps and dashboards—which you normally have to pause gameplay to see—but it’d be nice to be able to purchase and download games from your phone while out and about.
Unfortunately, there’s no mention of being able to actually play games on your smartphone or tablet yet. But I’d assume that they’d like to keep that feature exclusive to their PS Vita handheld console, which they talked about quite a bit yesterday.
It’s not known at this time when PlayStation App will become available, or whether it will cost anything, but we should hear more closer to the PS4 release. Sony says that its next-gen gaming system will be ready in time for the holidays this year."
So, what do you think? Will you be updating from PS3 or PS2 to a new PS4?
