As the days count down towards Apple's big iPad event on Tuesday, October 22nd, all the preparations are underway at the venue that will play host to be big unveiling to iPad 5 and iPad mini 2.
Back last week, Microsoft announced that a Remote Desktop app for iOS and Android would be forthcoming, and staying true to that promise, and in line with today’s Windows 8.1 release, the said app for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Android has just arrived.
The likes of Instagram and Vine, as well as the dramatic improvements to smartphone cameras over the past couple of years, have meant that millions more have tried their hand at amateur photography. But while the number of apps related to snapping images and capturing video is now perhaps in the tens of thousands, third-party accessories have also found a fairly good platform from which to thrive. The Olloclip for iPhone, a clip-on peripheral that allows iPhone users to manipulate the lens in all kinds of weird and wonderful ways, has been a stand-out in this field, and now, the team behind it has returned to Kickstarter in order to gain the backing of the new version of Õlloclip.
The mobile industry is currently a battle between two main platforms -- iOS and Android -- and although the fringe parties are struggling to keep up with Apple and Google's respective ecosystems, this hasn't deterred Canonical from taking its famed Ubuntu flavor of Linux and bringing it to the small(er) screen. Today, the company has released the first "true" version of Ubuntu Touch for mobile with the Ubuntu 13.10 update, and it has been optimized for a couple of Google's most significant smartphone releases including the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and LG Nexus 4.
Windows 8 users have been waiting patiently for the arrival of the official Facebook app for quite some time. Back in June of this year, Microsoft did their best to raise excitement levels by pre-announcing that the world's largest social network would be releasing a native app for the platform along with other respected offerings like Flipboard. The privately held session during the company's BUILD event even went as far as showing off the wondrous new apps on a touchscreen tablet device. The teasing and waiting is eventually over for Windows users as Facebook has released their official app just in time for the launch of Windows 8.1.
It's amazing what you can find when you go digging through various sections of Apple's iOS operating system. Those who have the knowledge and patience to delve into the inner workings of the software can often encounter some extremely interesting things that Apple may or may not want the average user to immediately know about. Before iOS 7 and the iPhone 5s was officially announced it was revealed that the OS contained references to biometric frameworks; a discovery that pretty much confirmed the existence of Touch ID. Now it seems like it's the turn of a couple of Apple's own iOS app offerings to come under the spotlight after new icons were discovered for the iOS versions of GarageBand and iPhoto.
Call it what you like – iOS 7 Control Center is very handy for accessing a number of important apps and toggles. An SBSettings like rip-off derived directly from the Cydia tweaks or merely a clever introduction on the part of Apple Inc. Wouldn't it be great if we had something similar for machines running OS X that let us quickly access iTunes, display and time based functions directly from the Menu Bar? Well, it seems like the guys over at It's About Time Products LLC were reading our thoughts and have introduced Controls+ for OS X, available now on the Mac App Store.
The recent speculation surrounding South Korean based Samsung and the potential for a Galaxy S5 release date for January 2014 may prove to be nothing more than chit-chat, but one thing is for sure - the current Galaxy S4 model isn't selling as well as Samsung would have hoped.
It seems that no hugely hyped up video game comes without an attached set of problems these days. The sheer size and complexity of newly released games like SimCity and Grand Theft Auto V means that there is always going to be some unwanted little bugs hiding away somewhere. When you introduce variants of the game that are played purely online then you can be asking for real trouble if you don't get it just right. Rockstar initially had teething troubles with GTA Online but it also seems like a bug in invite-only online games is allowing players to financially benefit to the tune of billions.
Does anyone else fondly look back on the golden days when the majority of companies announced a new product or service and then furnished us with a solid release date? No? Must just be me then. I do concede that the often cryptic clues that companies release surrounding potential releases can sometimes be fun to try and decipher and they certainly manage to keep us on our toes. The official Nestle KitKat Twitter account has been getting in on the action today by posting a number of tweets that could point to an October 28th release date for the next iteration of the Android mobile operating system.
