Posts tagged with "apple"

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City For iOS Release Date Set For December 6th

Rockstar has announced that the 10th Anniversary Edition of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City will arrive on iOS and Android on December 6th. Previously announced in late October, the Anniversary Edition will cost $4.99 and feature “native high-resolution graphics” with support for Retina display devices.

The game will also include “updated character models and lighting effects, new and more precise firing and targeting options and a fully customizable control layout”. It’ll be able to run on all iPads, iPhone 4 and newer, and the 4th and 5th generations of the iPod touch.

[Rockstar via Eurogamer]

Apple Airs New iPhone 5 Commercials: “Turkey” and “Orchestra”

Just in time for Thanksgiving, Apple aired two new iPhone 5 commercials today. Both commercials feature voiceover by Jeff Daniels as in the first run of iPhone 5 commercials aired after the device’s launch.

The first ad, aptly named “Turkey” focuses on Photo Stream. Using Thanksgiving as a background theme for taking family photos with an iPhone, the ad explains how Photo Stream lets you share the photos you want, with just the people you want. Jeff Daniels also shows his appreciation for pie at the end of the ad.

Orchestra is a little more peculiar. Apple wants to explain the iPhone’s background noise cancellation, which is made possible by an improved microphone design and audio system. The voice asks the director of an orchestra to lower the volume, which is similar to what happens to background noise when you make a phone call with the iPhone 5. It’s a clever and funny comparison.

Excuse me maestro? Bring it down please. Better. That’s what happens to background noise when you’re making a call on this. This microphone here picks up the sounds around you and helps turn them down. So when the world gets noisy, calls sound better.

Both ads are now available on Apple’s YouTube channel, and we’ve embedded them below. Read more

Apple Tweaks Design Of App Store Category Pages

In its weekly App Store refresh, it appears Apple has today tweaked the design of App Store categories to include the same design of the App Store’s home page. By heading to a category like Productivity or Utilities, both from an iOS device or Mac, you can see how Apple is featuring more apps with large banners across the top of a category page, smaller banners in the middle, and the usual “New and Noteworthy” and “Essential” collections that are updated on a weekly basis. Read more

Angry Birds Star Wars Now Available

Angry Birds Star Wars is now available for download on iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Mac & Windows 8. The game is the fifth installment in the Angry Birds series from Rovio (following Seasons, Rio and Space) and is a collaboration with Star Wars creator Lucasfilm.

“It’s a banner day for us,” said Peter Vesterbacka, CMO of Rovio Entertainment. “This is our best Angry Birds game yet, and we’re excited for our fans to finally meet Luke, Leia, and the rest of the gang! But it’s more than just a game launch: we think fans are going to just love the new animated trailer and the Angry Birds Star Wars products, sure to be a big hit this holiday season.”

The game features more than 80 levels at launch including bonus levels that let you play as R2D2 and C-3PO birds. According to Polygon, which has a great review of the game, Angry Birds Star Wars currently “track the events of A New Hope, while a soon-to-be-released free Hoth level pack will dig into the beginning of Empire Strikes Back”. There’s also an in-app purchase for an additional level pack that is set in Dagobah that is available at launch for $1.99.

The makers of Angry Birds Star Wars have imagined how the the original Star Wars trilogy might have looked if performed by their coterie of birds and pigs — truly, a bizarre undertaking. Angry Birds Star Wars succeeds, though, because it is more than just a Star Wars tie-in. Polygon

Rovio and Lucasfilm also held a Google+ Hangout a few hours ago where they counted down to the launch whilst discussing the game and chatting with fans - that video is available to watch now.

Angry Birds Star Wars is available on:

“We can’t wait for fans around the world to experience the fun of launching the Angry Birds characters into the Star Wars universe,” said Colum Slevin, Vice President, Head of Studio Operations for Lucasfilm Ltd. “This is the kind of creative partnership that has helped Star Wars remain vibrant and beloved for over 35 years.”

October 2012 In Review

We’re back again with another month in review, and what a month October has been. On the news front there was, of course, the October 23rd Apple event which saw the launch of the iPad mini, fourth generation iPad,  13” MacBook with Retina Display, new Mac mini and iMac. Apple also had their fourth quarter earnings call and remembered the first year anniversary since the passing of Steve Jobs.

October was also chock full of new apps and big app updates. Tapbots in particular had a big month with the launch of Netbot and Tweetbot for Mac, Marco Arment launched The Magazine, Loren Brichter made his comeback with Letterpress, Pocket released a Mac app, and iPad drawing app Paper got a big update.

On the stories front, Federico has had a lot of fun putting together a number of guides and tutorials this month and we’ve collected them all together below. Federico also interviewed Loren Brichter for the launch of his new Letterpress app, talked about the leadership changes at Apple and I mapped out the entertainment ecosystems of Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon.

Be sure to check out our previous Month in Review posts here. 

Read more

Brief Thoughts and Questions On Apple’s Changes

It’s unclear whether today’s news of a major shake-up at Apple will reveal its actual effects a few months from now, many months from now, or at next year’s new product announcements in the Fall. I’d say WWDC would be a good stage to introduce “the new Apple”.

Rumors of internal struggles between the “political” Scott Forstall have been floating around for quite some time, and we just don’t know whether today’s press release was just that – a press release – or the result of more internal fights. We don’t know for how long this move has been in the works. But I’ll point out the precise timing of the announcement: it comes after the release of iOS 6, the iPhone 5, new iPod products, new Macs, the iPad mini, and an earnings call. It allows Apple to formally mention the efforts of a new executive line-up at a record-setting (per the company’s own guidance) holiday quarter. Coincidentally, as the US market is closing tomorrow due to Sandy, it gives Apple (and analysts and investors) an extra day to properly digest the news. I also guess this explains why Forstall didn’t give a demo at the iPad mini event. He’s being pushed out; I’m curious about timing.

That said, I have some questions. Think of the following list as a collection of thoughts following Apple PR’s announcement; I believe this is, for many reasons, one of the biggest changes to happen at Apple since the release of the original iPhone. It’s a major milestone for where the company is going from here. Read more

Major Changes at Apple: Scott Forstall Leaving, Jony Ive To Lead Human Interface Across Company

With a press release published a few minutes ago, Apple announced major changes in the structure of the company. The big news is that SVP of iOS Software Scott Forstall will be leaving Apple in 2013, with SVP of Industrial Design Jony Ive taking over to “provide leadership and direction for Human Interface (HI) across the company”. Forstall will stay on as an “advisor” to CEO Tim Cook in the meantime; Forstall joined Apple in 1997 coming from NeXT, and he was later promoted to Senior Vice President in 2003.

Jony Ive will provide leadership and direction for Human Interface (HI) across the company in addition to his role as the leader of Industrial Design. His incredible design aesthetic has been the driving force behind the look and feel of Apple’s products for more than a decade.

But there’s a lot more in Apple’s official statement: essentially, in the coming months Apple will undergo major changes in several aspects of its internal structure, both in terms of executive leadership and teams. Bob Mansfield, who announced his retirement earlier this year but then decided to stay at Apple, will lead a new Technologies group:

Bob Mansfield will lead a new group, Technologies, which combines all of Apple’s wireless teams across the company in one organization, fostering innovation in this area at an even higher level. This organization will also include the semiconductor teams, who have ambitious plans for the future.

Craig Federighi, recently promoted to SVP of Mac Software Engineering, will go on to lead both the iOS and OS X groups:

Craig Federighi will lead both iOS and OS X. Apple has the most advanced mobile and desktop operating systems, and this move brings together the OS teams to make it even easier to deliver the best technology and user experience innovations to both platforms.

Additionally, head of Services Eddy Cue will take over responsibilities for Maps and Siri, and John Browett, Apple’s head of Retail, will be leaving the company as well. Notably, Browett was hired only ten months ago, but he’s been criticized for many of his recent decisions in Apple’s retail operations.

CEO Tim Cook was quotes in the press release:

The amazing products that we’ve introduced in September and October, iPhone 5, iOS 6, iPad mini, iPad, iMac, MacBook Pro, iPod touch, iPod nano and many of our applications, could only have been created at Apple and are the direct result of our relentless focus on tightly integrating world-class hardware, software and services

The focus of the statement is, in fact, a tighter integration of hardware, software, and services. Read more