The guys over at App Cubby have been riding on the back of quite a large amount of praise since they released the Launch Center Pro iOS app last year. Although it may not be to everyone's taste, the handy productivity based app takes what can be boring, tedious and repetitive tasks and manages to cut them down into manageable two-tap chunks. That alone probably makes the app worth the purchase for a lot of users, but things in the Launch Center Pro world have improved of late with the release of version 1.1 of the app.
Jonathan Blow is something of a hot property in gaming circles these days. The man behind the wildly popular and critically acclaimed Braid is also one of the more outspoken developers in the industry, and in a recent interview with gaming publication EDGE, the man that thought up one of Xbox Arcade's sleeper hits was typically frank.
The official WhatsApp messaging platform has been one of the runaway successes of the App Store. The app has consistently been seen riding high at the top of the paid apps charts, with a lot of the success stemming from the fact that it is simple, easy-to-use and genuinely offers a cross-platform messaging experience for those who have friends or family running on Android or BlackBerry devices.
So-called "social" smartphones have tried, and as yet failed spectacularly to create any legitimate niche within the market. With 1+ billion on Facebook and many millions more using the likes of Twitter, the social smartphone should, at least on paper, be an easy sell; but as HTC found out with the ChaCha and Salsa, not everybody likes to dance is so keen to buy into the idea of a device tailored to the social networks. Undeterred, the "quietly brilliant" Taiwanese company looks set for another stab with its 'Myst' handset, and if a specs leak via Unwired View's evleaks is to be believed, the mid-range handset sounds like a decent effort.
It makes for a great reading when Cydia is refreshed and the list of available packages is populated with new and interesting offerings. It's even better to see that a number of developers are now starting to take an interest in enhancing Apple's native iMessaging service. The new SelectiveReading tweak is one of the latest in a line of third-party enhancements for the fruit company's fabulous messaging platform.
The excitement and anticipation surrounding Google Glass seems to be growing by the day, and considering the seemingly endless array of possibilities the wearable tech could bring, it's hardly surprising. As we continue to laugh at the entertaining sketch of how a typical guy might utilize the new technologies at his disposal, the rather more serious folks at Duke University are developing an app for Glass which learns how your friends dress, helping you pick them out in a crowded place.
Everyone loves a good feature packed update to an already extremely functional application, which is why the latest version of the Showyou video discovery app is bound to invoke a wave of downloads as well as sounds of satisfaction from existing users. Investor funded Remixation has been keeping a close eye on the usage habits of users while inspecting the development of the social scene in parallel with that research, all of which has resulted in version 4.1 of the app going live with a wave of new social-based features.
The console vendors may note be accommodating when it comes to backwards-compatibility of those oldie-but-goodies, however that has not stopped various classic titles from being re-released on numerous other platforms. Whether it's a port to a modern device or an HD makeover, those old favorites we know and love are still played constantly by those who revere them. If you're a nostalgic gamer, particularly one with an interest in RTS titles, you'll be pleased to learn that Microsoft has found the time in its busy 2013 schedule to bring Age of Empires II back from relative obscurity by affording it an HD re-release.
German designer Philipp Tusch has come up with an interesting concept idea for iOS 7's weather app, which takes the look and feel of Android's offering and brings it straight to the iPhone. Not only does it look clean and crisp, but it is a vast improvement on the dull, monotonous, dated-looking native Weather app which currently graces every iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
The tablet and smartphone markets are certainly crowded, although all devices in these two categories perform the main task that is expected of them: allow users to browse the Internet on the go, even 36,000 feet above the ground. However, a new study by in-flight Internet provider Gogo suggests that a vast majority of its usage takes place on tablets, most of them Apple iPads.
