The little icon that pops up in iMessage to indicate that the other person is writing a reply can be something of a double-edged sword. Most of the time, we sit there and wait for the message to come through, in which cases it proves a useful implementation, but on other occasions, when the other person pauses their response or replies with something innocuous like (my biggest gripe) "LOL," we often curse the fact that iMessage has essentially given a false-positive. Now, if you want to irritate somebody by feigning an elongated response, you can do using the very simple trick of sending a copy of that very same icon.
The fierce competition in the mobile industry is a definite win for the consumer, however, it is particularly annoying that choice of product is almost always defined by the region in which one resides. Some nations seem to have all the luck at times (looks at the United States), but with the Asian OEMs continuing to command large chunks of the smartphone market, more and more devices are built with exclusivity for the likes of Japan, Korea and China. The Samsung Galaxy J, which has just made an appearance in Japan, is like the Galaxy S4, in that it has been given a spectacular spec upgrade on what was supposed to be, or at least what we all thought was the "new" flagship.
Seb Vettel may have already pretty much sewn up the Formula One driver's championship for this season, but for true F1 fans, the fun is only just beginning. F1 Challenge has just made its way to the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users, and with surprisingly few decent titles available to those who love the all-action, adrenaline-pumping nature of the world's most popular motor sport, it's something of a messiah. Catch the details, as well as the download link, after the break.
When it comes to RPGs, Final Fantasy may not be considered among the best like it once was, but the engrossing, almost iconic nature of the original Final Fantasy VII on the PlayStation continues to live on today. In what must go down as the most exciting news for FF fans in a good while now, Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy VI will be heading to iOS and Android later this year. Perhaps not surprising, especially given that Final Fantasy IV and V took their respective mobile bows not so long ago, but if you enjoy playing games on your iOS or Android smartphones and tablets, then you won't have to wait too long for Final Fantasy VI to arrive.
We're now just a matter of a month away from seeing Call of Duty: Ghosts' big release, and in the build-up to the very significant date in the gaming calendar, publisher Activision dropped Call of Duty: Strike Team last month for those on iOS. Today, the title has been given a healthy update, bringing support for the all-new iPhone 5s as well as unlocking Survival Mode maps for all players. You can check all of the details, as well as the download link, right after the break.
So at this point it's no secret that iOS 7 on the iPad isn't exactly as well baked as it could be. Apple started the beta process for the iPad version of iOS 7 later than it did on the iPhone and iPod touch, and many had expected it to launch later too. Instead, Apple brought iOS 7 into the public domain across all its mobile devices simultaneously, leaving those running the software on a tablet with plenty of bugs to work with.
As well as dropping a tidily updated Infuse version 1.5 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users, creators FireCore have also taken the wraps off Infuse 2, which will be a free update for current users later on this year. As detailed in an official blog post on the matter, the app is in the process of being reworked from the ground up, and with an already impressive app that has yielded Infuse a steady army of fans, we sure cannot wait to see if version 2 lives up to the hype.
Hot on the heels of the news that Microsoft would be bringing a touch-ready version of Office to iPad at some unspecified time in the near future, the Redmond company has just announced that Remote Desktop is also about to hit the iTunes App Store and the Google Play Store. Unlike Office for iPad, which didn't really get much of an ETA from Steve Ballmer, the software maker has issued an indirect press release on the state of RDP, noting that it will become available to those on iOS and Android by the end of the month.
The iPhone 5c and in particular, the flagship iPhone 5s seem to have gone down very well with consumers in those initial launch nations, but while the latter has been in very short supply in the likes of the United States, Hong Kong and Australia, many other countries have yet to see the device hit shelves and online retailers. This all looks set to change very soon, though, and in just over three weeks, dozens more will see both handsets, bringing the grand total of official launch nations to more than 50 by November 1st.
A number of new research studies into the effectiveness, responsiveness and overall quality of smartphone and tablet touchscreens has found that Apple Inc. is still leading the pack. Mobile ad company Agawi has been putting a number of popular iOS and Android devices through their paces in an attempt to measure the performance of the touchscreen technology on the device, with the results putting the fruit company way ahead of the competition.
