It's fair to say, with Google Glass on the horizon and the likes of the Pebble and Galaxy Gear already on the market, that we're currently in the middle of a wearable tech boom. From the Nike FuelBand to the so-called iWatch, many companies are getting in on the act, and with something a little different to bring to the table comes Smarty Ring, a digital device that wraps around your finger. With notifications, access to two different clocks, social updates, smartphone tracking capabilities and Bluetooth, as well as a 24-hour battery life, it does a great deal more than your average band, and for a fraction of the price.
China may be the location in which most Apple products are manufactured, but the iPhone has yet to make a huge mark on the country. With the iPhone 5c outlined as the first step towards making an impact on this developing market, the The Wall Street Journal suggests that China Mobile, the nation's foremost carrier by some distance, will begin taking iPhone pre-orders from 12th December. Although China's 4G network doesn't officially launch until next week on the 18th of December, it looks as though China Mobile wishes to get interested parties to commit early, and if all runs smoothly, this could be the first significant step for Apple in its quest to expand its mobile reach.
Tim Cook and Apple's executive team are always keen to wax lyrical about how many apps have passed through the App Store over the last five years. The majority of the company's media events heavily feature slides featuring the number of available third-party applications available and the amount of revenue that has been paid out to the developers who create and publish those apps. In the relatively short lifespan of the App Store, Apple has managed to hit, and go beyond some pretty impressive milestones. Recent data from AppsFire suggests that Apple have hit yet another notable goal by now having over one million apps live in the U.S. App Store alone.
Security and general privacy tends to be of paramount importance to most mobile device users, and with very good reason. But while the battle to steer clear of the unscrupulously-intended, non-niceties of the mobile world are well documented, one company obscures its potentially dangerous spying app under a veil of legitimacy.
The iPhone has improved in a variety of ways over the last few years, and like most other smartphones on offer, the rear-facing camera has been treated to regular enhancement. A camera is a complex being, with many elements combining to offer the very best snap-shooting experience, and one of the areas OEMs have sought to crack is the camera's ability to shoot in low lighting conditions. The iPhone 5 and subsequent 5s are far superior to any of their predecessors when there's not much light around, but the Lightstrap Kickstarter project, which, to offer an analogy, is almost the lovechild of an iPhone case and a torch.
A number of companies are currently working on MFi (Made for iPhone) controllers for a better all-round gaming experience on the fruit company's flagship smartphone, and it looks like renowned peripheral maker Razer is getting on the act courtesy of an image leaked via the Twitter handle Evleaks. Check out the press images after the leap!
Foursquare is undoubtedly thought of as the App Store's premier location-based social network. In a genre that is extremely crowded with the likes of Twitter, Path, Facebook and even Instagram to a certain extent, Foursquare continues to shine bright due to their offering being all about location services. As with any premier App Store app that's worth its weight, Foursquare has been going through a regular period of change to fall in line with the aesthetics of iOS 7, resulting in version 7.0 of the Foursquare iOS app going live today featuring a completely new interface.
Although there are plenty of action-adventure titles available for gamers to enjoy, Assassin's Creed is arguably the most popular franchise, and having made a name for itself on console and PC, Ubisoft has just pushed Assassin’s Creed: Pirates for iOS over at the App Store, and Android on Play Store. The publisher made it known a few months back that the mobile version was on its way, and now, the simultaneous release for both of the two major ecosystems is upon us.
Square Enix has previously been guilty of teasing mobile gamers by announcing that the much anticipated Final Fantasy VI would be coming to mobile sometime "this winter". Developers and publishers are often understandably reluctant to commit to concrete launch dates for fear of having a spanner thrown in the works and subsequently having to renege on that promise. The winter is now well and truly upon us, and although we haven't yet been blessed with an actual release date, Square Enix has used the annual Jump Festa expo to release two official screenshots of the visuals that gamers can expect on iOS and Android when the title launches.
The olloclip started off as a great idea on Kickstarter, but unlike some crowd-funded products that revel in the initial buzz before seeming to disappear, the team behind olloclip has continued to update and improve photography for iPhone users. Having just released a special edition Gold and Space Gray color configurations of its second-gen 4-in-1 lens, the company has immediately followed it up with a 3-in-1 macro lens for both the iPhone 5 and the all-new iPhone 5s. Details can be found after the break.
