Bloomberg is out with a new report this afternoon, claiming that Apple is in talks with Disney to bring its WatchESPN app to the Apple TV. The app, which is currently available on the iPhone and iPad, allows existing ESPN subscribers to watch sporting events on the go. Apple TV already contains apps from the NBA, MLB, and NHL — all of which provide live broadcasts of league games to subscribers. But ESPN’s offering would feature much more rounded coverage, including basketball, baseball, golf, soccer, tennis and more… “ESPN subscribers with AppleTV would gain access to the network’s Internet service on their sets. The sports network, which today announced programming for the TV season starting in September, said a deal isn’t imminent.” It’s unclear how users would qualify for an Apple TV-based WatchESPN app. As it sits right now, you have to be a current cable subscriber (with ESPN in your lineup) to access it, which seems like it would kind of defeat the purpose. What is clear, however, is that Apple is continuing to pursue subscription-based content deals. Meaning there may actually be some truth to the rumors that the company is looking to disrupt the cable industry with an in-house service. Read More
A new racing game has just launched in iTunes, developed by Nightfall Interactive, Deadmans Run is action-heavy combat/racing fusion fun starring upgradable steampunk inspired hover cars. If it sounds to you like this game has a lot going on, you certainly won’t be disappointed. Non-stop action and content that shines in both quality and quantity make Deadmans Run the hottest new launch to hit the App Store in some time… In Deadmans Run, combat racing is a cross between street drag racing and a demolition derby with some artillery added into the mix for additional flavor. And no one has ever seen cars this sleek in a drag race, let alone a demolition derby. A sleek, seductive selection inspired by classic luxury vehicles like the Rolls Royce Wraith that float above the tarmac, these are cars that pack serious power in their looks alone. But looks alone won’t dominate the alleys and streets in this showdown, and building the most badass battle car to ever see combat is priority one in Deadmans Run. Okay, maybe it’s actually priority two, because racing games always require a bit of adjustment to master their unique control sensitivity and set up. A major plus in Deadmans Run, though, is that there’s little to no learning curve to the control system because it offers plenty of customization and a calibration mode as soon as you enter the game for the first time. Camera angle and height, control sensitivity, auto vs. manual gas controls are all included in this self-customizable interface. It’s the cars that stand out most in Deadmans Run, and virtually driving them is icing on the cake. The cars are even more customizable than your controls, and with 6 cars to choose from and five tiers of upgrades to exploit, there’s a lot of Read More
Apple tends to yank apps over duplicate functionality, use of private APIs and those that look and feel very much like stock iOS programs. So it goes without saying I was surprised to learn that the company approved Track 8, a $1.99 music player program by Ender Labs. That Apple greenlighted an app resembling a rival platform’s UI rather than flaltly reject it is news in and of itself, you’ll admit. Maybe the company just doesn’t care because Windows Phone is failing? Be that as it may, people will wonder if a Metro-style interface makes sense on iOS… Talk about the elephant in the room. Akin to the awesome Groove music player whose custom interface doesn’t follow Apple’s UI guidelines strictly, the Track 8 app features a pretty-fied interface that certainly takes more than a few cues from Windows Phone’s Metro theme. For example, it forgoes the usual iOS buttons and toolbars in favor of the Windows Phone metaphor that turns words, pictures, videos and other content into actionable user interface elements. Here, have a look at the screenies below. And here’s your promo clip. To learn more about this nifty little app, I suggest Federico Viticci’s nice review over at MacStories. Now, given past app rejections, I wonder whether Apple should yank apps that replicate rival platforms’ user interfaces? And, more importantly, does a Metro-style interface make sense on iOS at all? Read More
Giving credit where credit is due, Apple now properly acknowledgeds use of crowd-sourced map tiles from OpenStreetMap for its $4.99 iPhoto photo management program for the iPhone and iPad. The proper attribution has been discovered in yesterday’s iPhoto 1.0.1 maintenance update, tucked away in legal text found under the Apps section in device Settings. With that off our backs, we wonder when will Apple make an iOS-wide switch from the Google Maps backend to its own mapping solution… As first discovered by The Next Web‘s Matt Brian, Apple now directly credits OpenStreetMap contributors and even provides a link back to their site. It’s been discovered back in March that Apple began using its own map tiles in iPhoto for iOS, made from OpenStreetMap data (outside the United States). iPhoto taps map tiles to superimpose your images over the world map, letting you see where you snapped them. OpenStreetMap welcomed Apple with a March blog post, updating it yesterday with this note: Apple appear to have added OpenStreetMap attribution in their iPhoto v 1.0.1. We’re delighted to see another prominent map user make the switch to OpenStreetMap, and look forward to many more. And here’s your screenshot. Most users didn’t even notice the change, though bloggers were quick to note that map tiles in Photo for iOS are now less detailed than they used to be in prior versions that had used Google’s backend. The change came following informal contacts the OSM Foundation made with staff at Apple regarding proper attribution. OpenStreetMap on its part says Apple is using rather old database from April 2010, “so don’t expect to see your latest and greatest updates on there”. It’s interesting that both Forusquare and Wikipedia made a switch from Google Maps to OpenStreetMaps in their mobile apps. OpenStreetMap, as the name suggests, is the open-source mapping Read More
Music-streaming service Spotify has finally released their native app for Apple’s iPad so get it while it’s hot. It packs in Retina graphics and high-definition album art to really take advantage of the new iPad’s gorgeous display. It also does AirPlay, features the brand new full-screen view and lets you search for playlists, users and music, all from the same view. The interface looks great in both portrait and landscape, especially high-res cover artwork in full screen. Put simply, it’s been worth the long wait: Spotify for iPad is a must-have and a prime example of an iPad music app done right… Billed as “the lean, green, music machine”, Spotify for iPad requires a paid Spotiy Premium subscription, just like its iPhone counterpart. There are over three million Spotify Premium subscribers out there. A Spotify Premium account gets you ad-free, 320Kbps unlimited streaming and a couple advanced features, such as playing streams through your music system, offline mode on mobile, exclusive content and more. If you’re not a subscriber, you can sign up for a 30-day Spotify Premium free trial here. The Spotify team boasted the app’s AirPlay integration in a blog post: With the brand new full-screen view and AirPlay integration, Spotify and your iPad are perfect for each other, both as your pumped-up living room stereo and your lean, green music machine when you’re on the move. Check out the promo clip. Hands-on and video reviews posted by CNET, The Verge, Engadget, AllThingsD, TechCrunch and other outlets seem to agree that Spotify nailed it. Some, however, made a point of warning about the missing features. For example, the app is lacking Collection view, there’s no artist radio or live feed of what friends are listening to and Spotify apps are not supported. Hopefully these popular features will get added to Spotify for iOS in Read More
Although the Apple TV’s remote control looks sleek, it leaves a lot to be desired. The tiny buttons on the awkward-shaped directional pad can make it difficult to browse through iTune’s library of thousands of movies and TV shows. As you know, you can easily replace the remote with your iPhone using Apple’s Remote app. But did you know there’s another option? You can control your Apple TV with a third-party remote. And it’s actually fairly easy to setup… If you have a universal remote, like one that came with your TV or cable/satellite box, you can perform these easy steps to program it to run your Apple TV. That way if you ever misplace your Apple remote, you’ll have a backup ready to go. Step 1. Turn on your Apple TV, and navigate to Settings > Remotes > Learn Remote Step 2. Select an unused device setting on your universal remote (for example, I used Aux on my Comcast cable remote). Step 3. Click Start on your Apple TV to start the remote learning process. And that’s it, that’s all there is to it. The software on your ATV will guide you through a few simple button presses that will have your universal remote programmed in no time. Remember, the Apple TV’s sensor is infrared, so you’ll need to point your remote directly at it for it to work. Any questions? Read More
Groove 2 by Zikera is a perfect blend of beautiful design and enhanced music playback functionality. The developers describe it as “a music player that studies your listening habits and creates a wide variety of instant mixes like your own personal DJ.” I have found this claim to be highly accurate and I haven’t had to manually create an iTunes playlist since. This universal app brings both a gorgeous visual design and an impressive set of features for listening to synced music on your device. If streaming radio isn’t your thing, then you will be very satisfied by the Groove 2 experience. It’s definitely worth downloading. Read on to discover why… Groove 2 is a most welcome improvement of Groove 1 (a freemium iPhone app). In essence, the app serves as a controller for the stock iPod or Music apps with an enhanced smart playlist generator and the power of Last.fm. To say Groove makes great playlists is an understatement. Playlists can be generated at random or from individual artists, albums, songs, and genres referred to as “Tags”. The power of Groove comes from a clever two-part syncing functionality. The first sync checks your on-device music library and creates a database of every synced song, excluding album artwork. The second sync queries Last.fm for metadata for every track and creates a database of spelling corrections, proper formatting, album art, and tags. This process is lengthy on first launch, but creates an experience for music lovers that no other app matches. Essentially, developers took the iPad app, added more features and made it universal. If you had Groove for iPhone you will need to buy the new one. iPad users will be happy to know that there is no additional cost to upgrade. Groove 2 is the first app I’ve seen to get Read More
In case you’re still not convinced that the iPad is just as capable of creating content as it is consuming it, check this out. A new puzzle-based iPad game just hit the App Store and is being advertised as the first app created entirely on Apple’s tablet. Using Codea, an iPad app described as the “GarageBand of coding software,” development firm Two Lives Left created Cargo-Bot. The feature-rich puzzle game includes over 36 puzzles, YouTube solution recording, and stunning Retina graphics… Even though the app itself is great, the real story here is the fact that the title was created completely – brainstormed, prototyped, programmed and polished – on the iPad. It was originally created by Codea user Rui Viana, and then polished and published by Codea creators Two lives Left. It’s worth noting that unlike previous iOS-based app-creation software we’ve covered, Codea requires extensive programming knowledge. So you might want to consider that before you drop the $9.99. But as the iPad becomes more powerful, and the software becomes more intuitive, we expect to see more and more iOS apps created on iOS devices. And hopefully it’ll eventually reach those of us who don’t have the usually-required programming skills. Anyways, if you’re interested in trying out Cargo-Bot, you can download it from the App Store for free. Have you tried Cargo-Bot yet? What do you think? Read More
I’ve really gotten into iPhoneography within the last couple months and my most used app for processing images is without a doubt Snapseed. Available as a universal download in the App Store, Snapseed hadn’t been updated for the iPad Retina display until today. But Retina display support isn’t the only new addition in this updated version… The other star feature in this update is Instagram sharing. From now on, no more need to close Snapseed to launch and upload your image to Instagram as it is available right from the sharing menu. By the way, you may want to folow me on Instagram. I’m @SebastienPage. What else is new in Snapseed? You can download Snapseed in the App Store for $4.99. If you’re into iPhone photography and don’t app this app yet, then you’re missing out. Read More
Yunasoft’s new productivity/utility entry in the iTunes App Store, Awesome Calendar, boasts big about its capabilities. As well it should. After all, one of the first things smartphones were supposed to do, and do well, was help us balance busy schedules. Time management apps have to go the extra mile to impress us, and the all-in-one tool Awesome Calendar looks like it might just outpace the competition. Feature set meets interface is the name of the game when multifunctional is the main requirement, and Awesome Calendar does a beautiful job of marrying the two. Its calendar, notepad, and to-do list modules work in concert to bring users lives into productive harmony. Each of these aspects feature some extra functionality to make them shine, with Awesome Calendar’s superior design balancing form and function along the way… While the individual functions that the iPhone is capable of carrying out to help us balance busy schedules are impressive, UI can make or break the user experience, no matter how many of those fantastic features are combined in one app. Awesome Calendar’s user interface does a great job paving the way for users to actually utilize each and every one of its functions quickly and conveniently. Not to mention, it looks good while it gets the job done. Awesome Calendar is sleek and spare, without once giving the impression of being minimalistic, because its UI aims for unobtrusive. Intuitive swipes and taps make navigation a breeze, while additional gestures can fine tune the user’s efficiency. And, be still my heart, this app actually includes a user manual. No doubt many functionally impressive apps get dismissed because they don’t. It’s simple common sense, but something that seems to get left out more often than not. Awesome Calendar is multi functional in the best sense of the Read More
