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Notable new and updated apps for November 16, 2012
It was a busy day in the App Store with a bunch of updates for popular apps such as Google's Blogger App. There were also several new apps for iOS and OS X that are worth a mention. You can check out our comprehensive list of new apps and notable updates below. iOS and OS X Updates Letterpress [iOS Universal, Category: Games, Free] Find words, steal tiles, color the board! Letterpress is a fresh new word game for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Play against your friends using Game Center. Rematch! (requires iOS 6 or newer) Option to silence sounds. FYI I worked really hard on those sounds. No, no, go ahead, turn off the sounds if you want. Added words to the dictionary (and removed a few goofs). Fixed "Tell a Friend" via Facebook. People use Facebook? Clearer instructions. Yes, days of the week are proper nouns. No, they are not allowed. Handle servers errors a bit better. CROSS YOUR FINGERS THAT'S SOME GNARLY CODE. Less bugs! Not that I'm saying there were any bugs before. But there are definitely fewer now. Fixed syncing deleted games across devices. Tiles are now tappier when you tap tiles fast. Tap tappity tap tap. I like cookies. Send Game Center friend requests right from the app! Holy moly! So cool! Friend your friends with the friendlier friender! In-app purchases are less forgetful. Does anybody read these? Helloooooo? Sky Gamblers: Air Supremacy [iOS Universal, Category: Games, $2.99] Air combat game with single player campaigns and multiplayer modes. Added new campaign Added Party mode The Magazine [iOS Universal, Category: News, Free] A magazine for people who love technology, especially the internet, mobile, truly great personal computers, and related fields influenced by technology such as photography, publishing, music, and even coffee. Improved legibility on iPad mini Better in-app-purchase flow Many small bugfixes and improvements Share links within articles or send them to Instapaper Share selected text from articles Post to App.net with Netbot if you have Netbot installed New Settings screen: manage your subscription, choose from installed web browsers for opening links (supports Safari, Chrome, Opera Mini, iCab Mobile, Grazing, Mercury, Dolphin, and Terra) WhatsApp [iPhone, Category: Social Networking, $0.99] WhatsApp Messenger is a cross-platform smartphone messenger currently available for iPhone and all other smartphones. iPhone 5 and iOS 6 improvements Weber's On the Grill [iPhone, Category: Food & Drink, $4.99] Weber's On the Grill features 280 classic Weber recipes plus 40 recipes for rubs, marinades, and sauces. Updated for iOS 5.1 support 25 new recipes International support Weather for iPad [iPad, Category: Weather, $0.99] Visual weather and temperature information wherever you find yourself in the world. Sunrise / Sunset times now showing on iOS6. Open Table [iPhone, Category: Food & Drink, Free] With OpenTable for iPhone you can make free restaurant reservations at more than 20,000 OpenTable-enabled restaurants in the United States and Canada. Now you can log in with your Facebook account for an even easier way to book a table! Improved default locations when you're searching for a specific restaurant Bigger photos on search results And other bug fixes and performance enhancements Added links to our privacy policy, and fixed some bugs for you along the way I Learn With Boing: Ocean Adventures! [iOS Universal, Category: Education, Free] Your child will learn and practice key language skills such as vocabulary, listening comprehension and sentence formation while playing with lovely underwater animals! Some modifications to better help your children in the games Coach's Eye [iOS Universal, Category: Sports, $2.99] Coach's Eye provides the most effective way for anyone to coach or learn form and technique. Improve your pitcher's fastball, straighten your golf swing, easily break down a volleyball serve, improve soccer skills, or even demonstrate weightlifting form. Record, Import and Analyze HD video. Zoom video up to 5x during analysis. Drawing line size is proportional to zoom level. Double tap to zoom in / out. Pinch to zoom for maximum zoom level control. Single finger pan while zoomed in. Export crystal clear zoomed videos (pixel for pixel). New 360p, 16:9 export aspect ratio. Video loops while scrubbing with the flywheel. New upload progress bar for video shares. iOS 6 Facebook support. Share to individuals, groups or your wall. Facebook sharing reliability is greatly improved. Misc. optimizations and bug fixes. Amplitube [iPhone, Category: Music, $19.99] Turn your iPhone and iPod touch into a mobile guitar and bass multi-effect processor and mobile recording studio. Enhanced user interface for iPhone 5 Fantastical [OS X, Category: Productivity, $19.99] Presenting the calendar app you'll actually enjoy using on your Mac. Fixed crash when using Outlook Fixed crash when editing tasks Fixed "Last selected calendar" preference not sticking Improved handling of quoted text when entering sentences Darker calendar colors are now more visible in the event list Various fixes and improvements Call of Duty: Black Ops [OS X, Category: Games, $49.99] Call of Duty: Black Ops for the Mac takes players to conflicts across the globe as elite Black Ops forces fight in the deniable operations and secret wars that occurred under the veil of the Cold War. **IMPORTANT: Starting 11/15/2012, in order to play multiplayer, users MUST upgrade to version 1.16. Users will NOT lose their multiplayer stats when upgrading.** Access to the new Annihilation & Escalation DLC Bundle via in-app purchase. New iOS and OS X apps Blux Camera for iPad [iPad, Category: Photo & Video, $0.99] Blux Camera for iPad allows you to unlock the iPad's powerful photographic capability. Cooking with Paula Deen [iOS Universal, Category: Lifestyle, Free (Magazine subscription required)] Cooking with Paula Deen magazine gives readers more of what they love from the queen of southern cooking, Paula Deen. PicsPlay Pro [iOS Universal, Category: Photo & Video, $0.99] PicsPlay Pro is a universal photo editor with optimized user interfaces for both iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch devices.
New OS X 10.9 appears in server logs
You should take this with the requisite grain of salt, because it's not all that groundbreaking. AppleInsider notes that several references to Apple computers running OS X 10.9 have appeared on its server logs, suggesting that someone visited the site while using an unreleased version of Apple's operating system. True, this type of data can be faked, and it's not much of a surprise to hear that Apple's working on a new version of OS X anyway. Of course Apple will update OS X at some point. But at the same time, server log references like this are often our first indication that something new is on the way, so you can at least store in the back of your mind that a reference to OS X 10.9 may have been spotted in the wild. Feel free to use that thought to fuel excitement through the long winter months. What should we do while waiting for more official information? Why, figure out what Apple should name the new version, of course.
Big updates for Fairway Solitaire and Junk Jack
Two of my favorite iOS games from the last few years have gotten big updates today. Fairway Solitaire is a really brilliant puzzle/card game that combines golf and solitaire in a fun way, and it's gotten a big update that adds a whole bunch of ongoing content. The game now has a "Daily Mode" where you can play a brand new challenge every single day, and earn new Challenge Cups to unlock even more courses. There's also a new card back and push notifications -- Fairway Solitaire is completely free, and that makes it one of the best cost-to-fun ratio games I've ever seen on any platform. Definitely give it a look if you haven't yet. Junk Jack has also gotten another big update, although the team behind that game has warned players not to install it just yet (there's apparently a game-breaking bug involved). Whenever the expedited update does drop, there will be a whole mess of new items in the 2D Minecraft-like sandbox title, including bows, animals to tame, new hidden treasures, lots of inventory and UI updates, and lots of revamped graphics in the world. The update sounds awesome, and Junk Jack is a great game. It's too bad the team got caught by a bug, but hopefully the next update will be out as soon as possible and everything will work fine again.
Safari 6 for Windows not yet available
Safari 6, as you might have noticed in Software Update this morning, is now out for OS X. But Windows users have noticed something a little strange: There are no download links for a Windows version, and the latest version is still Safari 5.1.7 on Apple's official website. I don't think this means Safari for Windows is entirely dead, but Apple apparently believed it had other things to do with the release of Mountain Lion and those iWork updates -- the Webkit nightly builds, after all, are still coming out for a Windows version. The most likely cause for delay is just that Apple was working hard on the OS X update and let the Windows one fall behind. Whatever the reason, Windows users wanting the new Safari will have a bit longer to wait. [via 9to5Mac]
Another title from Tiny Wings creator coming this month
We haven't heard much (anything, really) from Tiny Wings creator Andreas Illiger since he released his amazing little iOS game Tiny Wings, featuring a cute bird flying through a series of random hills. Illiger was a little intimidated (not surprisingly) after his game got so big so fast, and he disappeared from the public eye, even as his title sold millions and millions of copies on the App Store. But he didn't stop working, apparently. He intends to release another game very soon. In this (very rare) interview, he says that he was shocked by all the attention Tiny Wings received. Despite making plenty of money, the only extravagance he's gone for was a new computer. He's still working alone, not with a big studio, and while he says the new game will be for iOS, everything else about the game is "a big secret." It should be out in just a few weeks. It's good to see Illiger is managing to keep his head through all of this. It'll be very interesting to see what he's working on next. [via Joystiq]
Dungeons & Dragons Online invites players to build a guild
If you're going to take on the Drow in Dungeons & Dragons Online, you're going to need help. You'll need allies, people you can count on no matter what. In other words, you need a guild. That means recruiting some good players -- and the new Build Your Guild event is aimed at giving players incentives for just that. Running until late June, the event offers players two different ways to gain fantastic advantages just by being in a guild. All players can gain extra experience and loot by grouping with fellow guild members, whether you're a new player or an old hand. You can also gain special bounties for reaching leveling milestones, which grants bonus guild renown and astral diamonds. Last but not least, guilds will randomly be rewarded a variety of prizes during the length of the event, culminating with a level 85 airship in late June. The event should provide plenty of incentive for players to work together in a guild, and if you happen to get some prizes along the way, so much the better.
Major iOS releases today: Macguffin's Curse, Sketch Nation Studio, more
As is customary Thursdays, a bevy of great iOS releases debuted on the App Store today, including several we've been waiting for. Here's a sampling of what you'll find out there (all prices are USD): If you just pick up one of these, MacGuffin's Curse should be it. It's a very well done puzzle/adventure title that's been in the works for quite a while. It's also destined for the Mac App Store, but at $1.99 on the App Store, you probably shouldn't pass it up now. Sketch Nation Studio is another big release we've been waiting on. I saw it in action at GDC earlier this year, and was impressed that it lets you build a game that can potentially be released to the App Store and earn real money. Sketch Nation Studio is basically a platform inside Apple's platform, and it'll be interesting to see how it plays out going forward. It's a free download. Downhill Xtreme is also free. It's a longboard racing game from veteran devs Distinctive Developments. I can't say I was super impressed with the controls on this one when I played it at GDC, but there is some excellent music in here, and it's free, so it's worth a download for sure. Monster Words is a freemium title that combines two of my favorite things: Monsters and word games. Illusia 2 is also free. It's a sequel to Gamevil's popular RPG platform, with lots of customization options and some really nice 2D graphics. Finally, Sega has released Total War Battles on iOS. This might be the one exception to only picking up MacGuffin's Curse this week. If you're a real-time strategy fan, this is definitely the one to buy. Total War is the acclaimed PC strategy series from developers Creative Assembly, and in bringing the game to iOS, they've made several smart moves that preserve the core of RTS, while simplifying the interface for the touchscreen. Definitely check this one out. It's $6.99 right now and worth that price if you love Total War or real-time strategy, but Sega price drops its games often, too. This is just the cream of the crop out today, too. Stay tuned, as we'll be featuring more big releases every day going forward in our Daily App series.
Plants vs. Zombies updated with new mode
We haven't heard very much from PopCap on iOS lately. There was the Zuma's Revenge launch a little while ago, and before that was just the Bejeweled shakeup last year. So it's good to see the company is still working on the platform. The latest evidence of this is a surprise update for Plants vs. Zombies, out now, which brings a few shiny new features. The biggest new feature is an endless version of the Vasebreaker minigame, where you attack vases around the lawn, hoping that there are plants in them rather than the walking undead. There are nine levels of the new mode, and the highest levels must be unlocked with coins, either by earning them or in-app purchase. There are also new achievements, and the iPad version has finally gotten the Zen Garden update, as well as four new PopCap-themed minigames: Slot Machine, Zombiquarium, Portal Combat, and Beghouled Twist. I believe these originally debuted on the Steam version of the game, but they're now on iPad as well. These updates, for the iPhone and the HD version, are free to download, and available right away. PopCap's an excellent developer, and it's good to see it's still behind their past iOS releases.
Read it Later becomes Pocket, drops its price to free
Skimming the news later is no match for consuming it fresh, but we still live in a world with connectivity dead zones -- riding the subway, cruising the Pacific at 35,000 feet -- making an offline reading app a necessity for oft-disconnected consumers. Pocket, formerly known as "Read it Later," lets you save online content to read when you're not within web's reach, or even when you are. Pocket could also be a good resource for folks that stumble upon some interesting content, but simply don't have time to read it at that very moment. You can also grab videos and images to watch later -- everything is presented in a clean, easy to view format, searchable by publication, keyword or custom tags. And while the former version -- Read it Later -- ran you a cool 99 cents, Pocket is free, and available now for Android, iOS and the Kindle Fire.
Protestors planning to be at Apple Stores again this Friday
TUAW has gotten word that protestors are planning at assemble at some Apple Stores in Washington, DC's Georgetown, New York City, and San Francisco this Friday, presumably in anticipation of the new iPad's release. These campaigns are being run from Change.org by Mark Shields, who sounds reasonable in this video from CNN. Shields says he's an Apple fan who wants assurance that Apple isn't using underpaid and overworked Chinese laborers to make its products. There's a petition for the movement online, and it's been signed over 250,000 times so far. Obviously, that's a drop in the bucket for Apple's global audience (and online petitions are worth about as much as the paper they're not actually printed on), but we've seen a growing base of support for this movement, no matter how small it may be. Apple has already taken steps to ensure that its workers aren't treated poorly. Shields admitted,via press release, that auditing supplier factories and raising worker pay are good moves. But it's still unclear exactly what Shields wants. "250,000 consumers have signed their names to the petition asking Apple to release a strategy for protecting their workers during new product launches," Shields says. "We want them to use their trademark creativity to help make life better for their factory workers." So I guess he's asking for Apple to "protect" workers? It's unclear from what. I have no doubt that Apple, on a person-to-person level, actually agrees with Shields that Chinese workers (or workers anywhere, for that matter), shouldn't be taken advantage of. But without a clearly-defined definition of what Apple should do for those workers, it's hard to see these protests as anything more than noise around the iPad's already big launch.
Addon and UI tips for new WoW players
Each week, WoW Insider's Mathew McCurley brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience: the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your addons folder will never be the same. Can you believe there are people out there who have yet to play World of Warcraft? It's totally true. In an attempt to be investigative and thought-provoking, I've begun writing a few pieces on bringing brand new MMO players into World of Warcraft more than seven years after the game's initial release. For the purposes of experimentation and all that jazz, I turned off every single addon while my ... subjects ... toiled away. It was uncomfortable at first watching an addon-less screen, but bearings were gotten and life went on. However, there were a few points of the user interface that were not necessarily troubling to my brand new player, but moreso gave a feeling of being "lost" on the screen during moments of tense combat or heavy movement. I wrote down the observations that I believe new players can benefit the most from. With little to no customization needed, these addons and tips can greatly enhance a new player's starting experience while removing some of the tedium of certain tasks mixed with hard-to-explain concepts. Maybe we can even get some of these features in game as part of Blizzard's new player initiative.
Houston Apple Store launch pushed back, maybe for new iPad
The Houston Chronicle reports that Apple's latest retail store in that city is now set to open on March 16, and that date has led to some speculation about Apple's timing on the iPad release. Originally, the Houston store was set to open up in January of this year, but that launch got delayed. Then, the launch was moved to March 17, but just a few weeks ago it was changed again, to the day of March 16. The Chronicle suggests that this means the next iPad will be available on stores on the 16 -- it's going to be announced at the event next week on March 7, and given the timing on iPad releases in the past, we could see it out in stores around the 16th or so. Then again, there are a number of reasons the launch has been moved around, from local concerns, construction issues, or employee training problems, all the way up to the fact that the 17th is of course St. Patrick's Day. It also seems strange that Apple would want to both launch the store and a new product on the exact same day (given that just one of those events would be enough to keep the store busy), but then again, maybe what's happening in Houston has nothing to do with a new iPad. At any rate, Houston, you're getting a new Apple Store this month, and we're all probably getting a new iPad around the same time. Win/win for everybody. [via AppleInsider]
Vimeo 2.0 adds native iPad UI, Vimeo music store integration
Vimeo has updated its video-viewing app to version 2.0, providing new user interfaces for both the iPhone and the iPad. The iPad version is a now native app, and the iPhone version has been tweaked to be easier to use, which is always nice. The app also now lets you shoot and create projects, and browse Vimeo's content channels all without actually having to log in to the service, which is pretty nice. The new version also includes full integration with the new Vimeo Music Store, which is a marketplace for musicians to upload music, which can then be purchased and used in user videos. This allows for Vimeo uploaders to have access to music they can commercially license in their content, and lets musicians make a little bit of money when having their music used. There are also quite a few free tracks available for use as well, so you can set up music to be used with your own videos, completely legally and without paying anything. Pretty groovy. I've used Vimeo to upoad video in the past, and while it's not quite as easy (or ubiquitous) as a bigger site such as YouTube, it's definitely an excellent option, and this new update makes things even better. The Vimeo app is available for free on the App Store now.
Jump into Black Prophecy's past with gamigo's Nexus Conflict
The world of Black Prophecy hasn't always been like it is today. In the past, the Second Species Wars raged between the cybernetically augmented Tyi and the genetically modified Genides who fought for control of an area known as the Nexus, where universes collide. In a press release today, gamigo AG announced that its new title, Nexus Conflict, will allow players to take a trip back in time to participate in these wars not behind the controls of a fighter ship but on the command bridge of a colossal battle cruiser. Nexus Conflict is being billed as a "tactical real-time strategy game," and players will be able to run it right in their browsers thanks to the Unity engine. The title will offer both PvE and PvP missions, meaning that there will be something for the co-operative and competitive crowds alike. And of course, players will be able to customize their ships with a variety of upgrades in order to turn them into the biggest, baddest, planet-blowing-up-est starships in the Nexus. If this sounds like your idea of a good time, then just head on over to the Nexus Conflict official site (linked below) to sign up for the game's beta test, which is scheduled to begin in March. [Source: gamigo AG press release]
Switched On: Mountain Lion brings iOS apps, malware traps
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. According to Wikipedia, the mountain lion, also known as the cougar, is distinguished by having the greatest range of any large wild terrestrial animal in the Western Hemisphere. Indeed, from what we've seen so far of Apple's forthcoming Mac operating system, its new features will likely find favor with a broader range of Apple users than Lion.
Free games and big updates this weekend on the App Store
Another day of the holiday season brings a whole lot of great downloads from the App Store. What we saw yesterday was mostly new releases, but here's a list of free games (and free updates) you might want to check out. A whole bunch of great games have gone free for the weekend, including Baby Monkey, Redlynx's 1000 Heroz, Battle Slugs, Burn the Rope Worlds, Crystal Soul, Gem King, and Ragdoll Blaster 2. Every single one of those is worth a download if you don't have them yet. More free apps: Legends of Alekham, Sarge, Rise of Atlantis, Doomsday 2: Legions of Hell, and AtlantiSub. There are also some really great new freemium titles to play; Cosmonauts is one, and I've really been enjoying Battle Nations (you can friend me in that one -- I'm "toucansamurai"). Freemium title Tiny Tower has gotten a big update that adds missions, the ability to share stock with friends, and new floors and costumes to play with. Bungie's Crimson Steam Pirates is free on the iPad right now to celebrate the new 99 cent iPhone version, and there's a new Chapter 3 update with more content to play with. Zombie Gunship has added a new unlockable scenario, as well as full AirPlay support. Freemium title Rocket Chimp recently got an update for iCloud and iOS 5. Once again, there's more there to play than you'll need all weekend. Things are picking up as this holiday season gets into swing. Stay tuned, because I'm sure we'll see lots more of this over the next few weeks.
EVE Evolved: The new player experience
Ever since a graph showing a downward trend in daily peak concurrent logins started to make the rounds on blogs, players have insisted that EVE Online's recent Incarna expansion has been a complete failure. I mentioned in an earlier article that we should really have expected this as the captain's quarters were primarily designed with new players in mind. Starting the game as an avatar, even one who's been grounded in his space-room by his space-dad, helps people identify with their characters in a way that bridges the gap between EVE and traditional avatar-based MMOs. By introducing a player to his character as a person rather than a ship, the new player experience may also help make the loss of a ship not such a big deal. It's all fine and well to theorise about Incarna's success or failure, but ultimately it's only new players who can make that determination. If the captain's quarters do their job of flattening that initially jarring part of EVE's learning curve, the expansion's effect on subscriptions would be to convert more free trials into paid accounts -- an effect that wouldn't be immediately noticeable until another exciting and heavily advertised gameplay expansion brings in large numbers of new players. To help figure out if the captain's quarters have been successful in that regard, we have to turn to people who have never played EVE before. In this week's EVE Evolved, I finally convince my friend Kajatta to try EVE for the first time. I delve into his first experiences with the game to find out what EVE does right and wrong in the new player experience.
Gran Turismo 5 officially getting update, DLC, and a price drop
The Official PlayStation Blog has official details on the official Gran Turismo 5 update, officially coming in the next few weeks. The new patch offers new official interior views for all of the cars in the game, reduced load times, adjustable weather conditions, the ability to save during an extended race, and updated photo and shuffle modes. The game will also now officially support the Logitech G25 and G27 racing wheels, and the patch even adds official (of course) versions of the 2011 Nascar racing cars. And perhaps most exciting, Polyphony Digital will be officially dropping a "full batch of downloadable content" for Gran Turismo 5 in the next few weeks, including new vehicles, new tracks, and "some additional surprises." Sony says you can watch the official website for more details. And what's more, the official price on the game is officially dropping, down to $39.99. Unofficially? With Forza Motorsport 4 due out next week, it sounds like Sony's aiming to do a little crowdpleasing among the Gran Turismo faithful.
Apple begins shipping Thunderbolt displays
The Thunderbolt-compatible displays Apple announced back in July have reportedly started shipping out to stores and retailers. MacRumors reported that the displays shipped this week, and should hit shelves very soon. Electronista has heard that shipping to customers will start up on September 15, which is a little later than the original "60 days" we were promised. But late is better than never, right? Honestly, these things are bee-youtiful, offering a 27-inch LED display, complete with an edge-to-edge design (hot!), a Facetime camera built in, a 2.1 speaker system, USB and Ethernet ports and of course a Thunderbolt port. If you'd like to get one, it'll set you back a cool $999 -- not cheap, but far from expensive for what you're getting. The MacBook Air above is, of course, not included.
New Apple Store planned in El Paso
ifoAppleStore says that Apple's retail team is bringing a new location to El Paso, Texas, right on the border to Mexico down there. The store will sit on the ground floor of the local Cielo Vista Mall, just three miles from the border, where Mexican customers make up 16 percent of retail sales in the city itself. This is an interesting choice -- there's another mall that's marketing itself as a more upscale destination nearby, but apparently Apple wants to open this store before waiting for that place to open in 2012. While the local area is interesting, where this store fits in the greater picture is even more fascinating -- the closest store to this location is apparently way over in New Mexico, which means this new retail outlet will fill in what ifoAppleStore says is a seven-state hole in coverage. Additionally, El Paso is one of the most Apple-loyal regions in the country according to a recent study, and it was actually the fourth-most loyal area that didn't yet have an Apple Store to call home. So this store is actually well-placed, it seems. There's no official date set yet, but if everything goes as planned, the store could open as soon as early next year.
