Google has teamed up with Lego in its latest Chrome experiment, which allows users to create their own buildings using virtual Lego bricks. Yes, it is quite a flagrant copycat of Minecraft et al, but Lego is something that most of us share in common to varying degrees, and this WebGL-based environment makes construction as fun as when we were five years old. Not only can you let your imagination run wild and build castles, mansions and so on, but you can also select the plot of land you wish to build upon using the Google Maps utility. Luckily, though, there's no planning permission involved, enabling you to get straight to work!
Just yesterday it was leaked that both the NSA and GCHQ were able to scrape information from smartphone apps, with demographics and more able to be pulled from the most mundane of apps thanks to their reliance on third-party advertising agencies. Rovio's hugely popular Angry Birds games were mentioned in particular by the report, which was based heavily on leaked information coming out of the now infamous Edward Snowden.
The Apple iPhone is renowned for its high-end build quality, and as such, many regard it among the benchmark products in the premium handset market. With all that anodized aluminum loveliness, it stands to reason that owners want to protect it as much as possible, and the new Moshi SenseCover, which is built for the iPhone 5 and the all-new iPhone 5s, does exactly that. Not only does it operate much like a smart cover in that it protects your display when not in use, but it the precision-carved letterbox slot lets you see who's calling and answer their call without actually opening the case.
In its continued efforts to update and improve the Apple TV set-top, the company behind the little black box has been upping its game in recent months by securing various content partnerships with well-known providers. Today, an app from Red Bull has been added to that fast-growing list, and the new offering will serve as an extension of the Red Bull TV website; delivering various content relating to music, culture and, as many will be familiar - extreme sports.
A week ago, app developer Steven Troughton-Smith revealed some interesting screenshots regarding the forthcoming iOS in the Car feature from Apple. Although it is unknown when exactly the grand roll out will commence, Troughton-Smith's findings manifested through a beta build of iOS 7.1, and as such, we anticipate that the final version may well include the new automobile-friendly implementation. Since last week, the well-known dev has been digging into iOS 7.0.3 and discovered that certain features of iOS in the Car are already present (albeit hidden) deep within this release, and using the iOS Simulator, has posted a clip onto YouTube, offering - for the first time - a brief glimpse of the dash-tailored system in operation.
The LaCie Fuel storage device, which is as compact as it is stylish, allows you to store up to 1TB of data, which can in turn be wirelessly beamed to your Apple devices such as your Mac, iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Not only can you store a whole bunch of media, but with AirPlay support, you can actually stream your favorite movies and TV shows to your Apple TV, or hook up to your AirPlay-ready speakers for a music-listening session.
Although certain areas of the tech world seem drunk with excitement about Google's Glass project, there remain plenty of questions regarding the device's viability as a consumer product. Price, for example, is one area that could make-or-break this emerging technology once it enters the end-user later this year, but cost alone is not the only hurdle. Those accustomed to wearing normal, prescription lenses cannot comfortably utilize Glass due to its lack of support for those in need of visual aids, but today, those in ownership of the beta Explorer Edition (v2 only) can select from one of four different styles of prescription lens made available by Google for an additional $225.
Ever since the Evasi0n7 jailbreak recently came about courtesy of the Evad3rs team, we've seen swathes of great tweaks and apps emerge from the Cydia Store. Many of them have offered ways to truly manipulate the functionality of iOS in a number of ways, while others, like today's tweak, are a lot more aesthetically-focused. Eclipse, a new tweak by developer Guillermo Morán brings a "night mode" to the interface, so all of the bright, white color effects become a mixture of dark grays and blacks, nicely accented by an optional orange tint.
Jailbreaking iOS devices has many different benefits, but possibly the one that causes most to go through the process is the added ability to customize just about everything. In our experience we've found that people will customize just about every aspect of iOS, often in ways that we would never have imagined being useful. Useful or not, it seems people like to tweak things, especially when it comes to visual elements.
Apple's earnings call conferences tend to be of general interest to the wider on-looking tech community, particularly Q1, which covers the lucrative October-to-December holiday sales period. With the iPhone 5s having sold in unprecedented numbers for a new Apple smartphone (or any smartphone, for that matter), and the likes of the Retina iPad mini and iPad Air having debuted, this Q1 earnings call was always going to be impressive, and in actual fact, it was record-busting.
