Apple's iPhone is often cloned and bootlegged in nations such as China, but rarely does Japan get in on the act. One company, recognizing just how popular the latest and greatest iPhone 5c has been so far in Japan, has taken advantage of the situation by delivering a smartphone that, despite appearing fairly similar to its Cupertino-designed adversary, does the colorful handset a gross disservice with a bunch of crummy specs.
Apple’s massive redesign of the look and feel for iOS with the 7th iteration of the operating system inspired a lot of users to adopt Apple’s design schema, akin to what we saw with Android’s Holo user interface. While it makes sense for app developers to do that in order to provide a consistent experience to users, competitors are usually slow on the uptake. Still, Google has finally decided to update its Search app for the iPhone and iPad, giving a synchronous look with iOS 7 design elements and making the experience full-screen natively. Let’s take a look at what the redesigned app has to offer.
Screen protectors make a whole lot of sense. You buy a shiny new smartphone, unbox it, and already, the value is slowly creeping down. You buy a decent case to protect it from the daily wear-and-tear that digital hardware seems so attracted to, and the screen protector, you hope and pray, will stop the display from getting scratched or worn. But putting a screen protector on throws up all sorts of caveats. Dust seems to begin appearing just as soon as you slide away the cellophane, hitting both your device's just-polished display and the screen protector itself. If you've found yourself frustrated by the incessant bobbles of a failed screen protector application session, help is, thankfully, at hand.
Electronic Arts has always been one for getting into the Christmas spirit by offering some pretty impressive discounts on its iOS games, and this year is no different. Perhaps it could be said that this year's sale isn't quite as special as it has been in the past, but the list of games that have been brought down to just $0.99 is still one that will have you reaching for your iPhone or iPad.
It's always nice, on special occasions, to send messages, photos, videos and greetings to those we care about, and although there are plenty of ways you can go about doing this - particularly in the Digital Age - a new iOS app by the name of TimeAppsule aims to put its own spin on proceedings. You sign up for your account, which takes a couple of seconds, and from there, you can plan your digital gifts to your friends and relatives up to a year in advance and keep them safely locked in the TimeAppsule (Geddit?) before sending.
A new start-up project out of Taiwan is reliant upon your backing in its quest to bring its concept of a dual-SIM-capable cover for the iPhone 5. Known as the SIM+, it will allow you to run two SIMs at any one time, with effortless switching between them, and with a slot to carry a third, it's the ideal accessory for the frequent traveller.
We're fast getting used to having our smartphones control all facets of our lives, and our health is just one example of where a smartphone app can help not only keep us exercising but also to monitor its short and long-term affects on our bodies. There are plenty of apps that will monitor our calorific intakes as well as the amount of exercise we're getting, and there are even apps that can take your blood pressure just by using a phone's built-in camera. It's magic, and super awesome.
It's a title that almost invites allegations of casual sexism, but stay with us a little while and hopefully all will make a little more sense. See, you know how Facebook tracks usage of its service to the nth degree and then shares that with its advertisers in order to help target ads? Well, that same information can be used to try and extrapolate usage data for specific devices across specific demographics, which is where we get the information that leads to that title. Intrigued?
If you were a fan or player of the original PlayStation, otherwise known as the PSX and later the PSOne, there's a high probability that you're familiar with the classic title that was Tomb Raider. Lara Croft's inaugural adventure has spanned many releases over a number of platforms - as well as the box office - since first hitting our screens back in 1996, and now, Square-Enix has released a touch-optimized edition for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
Apple has signaled the approaching end of the year by publishing its "Best of 2013" page on the iTunes Store. The dedicated page on iTunes concentrates on digital products which the company offers for users to purchase and download, including iOS apps, music, podcasts, books and movies. As well as listing the most successful consumer downloads of the year, Apple also outlined their own choices in each category by having an Editors’ Pick for things like app and album of the year.
