new apps
Latest
Realmac introduces free Ember app for iOS
Back in August of 2013, TUAW Editor-in-Chief Victor Agreda, Jr. wrote a detailed review of Ember (US$49.99), an OS X web clipping and digital scrapbooking app from Realmac Software. Victor found Ember to be "nearly perfect for me" in his review, but he might be improving his outlook to "perfect" after today's release of a free Ember companion app for iOS. TUAW will have a full review of the app within a few days, but here's what you need to know about the universal application. It's designed to work best on an iPad or iPhone that is using iCloud syncing. The idea is to take photos or screenshots of things you wish to "collect." They're then added to collections and synced to all of your iCloud devices instantly. Ember for iOS lets you add tags to your images, then combine them in collections of related things for future reference. As with the desktop app, Ember for iOS provides a number of ways to share items in your collections immediately through AirDrop, Messages, Mail, Twitter and Facebook. Realmac says right up front that the app will be gaining additional features -- like annotation -- on an in-app purchase basis, but plans to keep the basic functionality available for free.
Play Angry Birds Go! today, ahead of December 11 release date
If you're hankering for some Angry Birds racing action and simply can't wait for the official December 11 release of Angry Birds Go!, you can do a bit of virtual relocation and play the game right now. We showed you a similar workaround with the release of Tiny Death Star, and since Go! has been released in New Zealand already, the same App Store trickery works here as well. Here's how to do it: Go to the App Store using your iPhone or iPad. Scroll to the bottom of the "Featured" page and click your Apple ID. On the menu that pops up, click "View Your Apple ID." A page will appear with all of your information on it. Click "Country/Region" and change it to "New Zealand." Agree to the terms and conditions. Now you'll see a page with all of your billing information on it. Delete your credit card info (the app is free so you won't need it, and since we'll be changing your address to somewhere down under, it won't work anyway). Next we need to give you a New Zealand location. Change your "Suburb" to Wellington and your "Post Code" to 6011, then click "Next." You should now be able to search for "Angry Birds Go" and download the app for free. After downloading, switch your information back to whatever it was previously, including your credit card information. After returning your information back to normal you'll be able to play the game just as you would if it were released in your region, including in-app purchases. A few things to remember when using this technique: When the game is released in your region, you'll want to download the localized version as well. Any progress you make on the New Zealand version of the game will likely be deleted when you change to the local version. If you choose not to download the local version, you'll likely need to change your account back to New Zealand to download updates for the game. This workaround also won't work if you have an iTunes Match account or any credit on your iTunes account, as those items need to be removed before changing regions. Essentially, this trick is simply a way for some of us to preview the game early, so don't go investing a hundred bucks on in-app purchases. Enjoy!
Skulls of the Shogun assaults iOS starting today
After spending much of its life on the Xbox 360, Windows Phone and Windows PCs, indie hit Skulls of the Shogun is finally making its way to Apple devices. The game made a surprise debut today in the form of Skulls of the Shogun: Bone-A-Fide Edition and is available as a universal app for both iPhone and iPad. The turn-based strategy title features a full single-player campaign as well as a whopping 36 multiplayer maps where up to four players can battle it out. The game is priced at US$4.99 and the developer is promising no in-app-purchases (hooray!), so you can be sure you're not going to be nickel-and-dimed as you play.
Sequel to App Store classic Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor coming in 2014
Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor was one of the first huge smash hits on the iOS App Store, and now it's getting a sequel. Developer Tiger Style revealed that a new title in the franchise is slated for a debut in spring of 2014. The game, which is titled Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon, currently has an official preview site up, though it's light on content. The original Spider title won a huge number of mobile gaming awards and spent a great deal of time on the top sellers chart. After publishing The Secret of Bryce Manor, Tiger Style published the exploration game Waking Mars on desktop and mobile, but it looks like the company has grown to miss its arachnid roots. [via Joystiq]
3D remake of Final Fantasy IV: The After Years hits iOS
Square Enix has released a 3D remake of Final Fantasy IV: The After Years for iOS devices, bringing the original 2008 game to the platforms for the first time. The iOS version features 10 playable tales from the original version, Square Enix's Active Time Battle system, Lunar phases that affect the power of attacks and potions, the ability to combine your party's strengths to launch attacks, Game Center support and widescreen (iPhone 5 and higher) support. With a full 3-D remake, FINAL FANTASY IV: THE AFTER YEARS can now be played as never before. Take part in the epic sequel that unfolds nearly two decades after the events of FINAL FANTASY IV. Classic characters make their return alongside several new heroes, such as Ceodore, son of Cecil and Rosa. At US$15.99, Final Fantasy IV: The After Years isn't cheap, but it's a game fans of the series won't want to pass up.
Review: Video Recorder with 30X zoom for iOS
As most iOS photo enthusiasts know, none of the Apple iOS devices have an optical zoom. Several apps provide a digital zoom, but zooming simply blows up the picture, making the pixels larger. The result, is a pretty crummy-looking larger version of what you'd see with no zoom. A new app, called Video Recorder with 30X zoom, attempts to beat that problem, but not very successfully. The app is universal, and sells for US$1.99. It works for video or stills, and claims to be the best zoom app around. That may be, but it still falls short of what most photographers will expect. The app has a clever slider bar across the bottom of the screen. You can slide from 1X to 30X easily, but the picture just does not hold up. Even with a 3X zoom, artifacts were pretty obvious. The app doesn't save directly to the camera roll; it has its own library, and that's where I ran into more trouble. On an iPhone 5s, when I touched the library icon, nothing happened. I tried tapping, scrolling, holding down my finger; I even tried a couple of ancient Aztec prayers, but nothing worked. I put my iPhone aside and tried the app on my iPad. There, tapping the library icon did show me my pictures taken, and then the app promptly crashed. Sometimes it worked properly. Most of the time, the app expired. Even if the app had worked, I didn't find the sample pictures I took of very good quality. The image began to fall part at 2X to 3X. 30X was just a blur of pixels. Maybe some day, Apple will add a zoom lens for the iPhone. The Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom does have an optical zoom lens and some third parties are making zoom lenses that will fit on the newest iPhones. If those options don't appeal to you, avoid the temptation to use any kind of digital zoom. Just start walking toward your subject. The Video Recorder app requires iOS 4 or later, and although it advertises it is optimized for the iPhone 5, I see a white bar at the bottom of the screen that makes me suspect it is not.
MacBeacon and Locate for iBeacon: An inexpensive way for developers to design and test iBeacons
iBeacons are a hot topic and getting hotter. It seems like we're hearing a lot about retailers and others who are chomping at the bit to use the short-range, highly focused location technology for things as varied as in-building directions or targeted advertising. But how are developers able to start creating iBeacon-enabled apps without having one of the Bluetooth devices on hand? That's where some tools from Washington, DC-based Radius Networks can help out. The company recently announced MacBeacon (US$9.99), which allows any Bluetooth 4.0 (Bluetooth Low Energy) equipped Mac to be set up as a test iBeacon. If a developer is just getting his or her feet wet in the iBeacon world, the company even has a free iOS app called Locate for iBeacon available. MacBeacon allows developers to create beacon profiles that provide full iBeacon functionality. For developers who want to test iBeacon-enabled apps, it's a great way to see how the apps react to proximity to iBeacons. Devs can give the iBeacon a name for labeling purposes (it's not broadcasted by the beacon), generate a UUID, set group identifiers and adjust the beacon's power level. A full help page provides both an introduction to iBeacons as well as assistance in using the app. The Locate for iBeacon app does exactly what the name implies -- it locates iBeacons. But it does more than that, providing distance measurements between the iOS device and the iBeacon, a way to calibrate the iBeacon and also a way to turn an iOS device into an iBeacon itself. A developer could theoretically just use the Locate for iBeacon app for testing purposes. Radius Networks also has iBeacon hardware development kits available (US$99.99 to $149.99). Based on the popular Raspberry Pi single-board PC, these kits feature one or two Bluetooth LE transmitters and come with iBeacon software that works with Apple's iBeacon SDK. The company has developer tools available, including the Message Radius platform (for pushing notifications to devices when they're within a certain range of an iBeacon) and a Proximity Kit API for setting up localized geofences. TUAW reported earlier this week on how retailer Macy's and shopping app Shopkick teamed up to use iBeacon technology in a few flagship stores. With tools like those from Radius Networks making it easier for developers to implement the technology, you can look forward to seeing iBeacons everywhere you go.
Daily iPhone App: Tilt to Live 2: Redonkulous is redonkulously challenging
One Man Left Studios scored big with its popular Tilt to Live game. After spending some time working on its Outwitters game, the two-man team is back with a follow-up to its first big hit. Announced earlier this year, Tilt to Live 2: Redonkulous is now available in the iOS App Store. Similar to the first version of the game, Tilt to Live 2: Redonkulous requires you to move a triangular-shaped vessel around your screen. While gliding along, you must avoid other hazardous shapes. To help you in your journey, you can use power-ups that'll give you weapons to destroy these hazards. It's all about precise control as you steer your vessel perfectly and rack up points. Tilt to Live 2: Redonkulous sounds bland, but it is not. The gameplay is fast and furious as you activate weapons, wipe out shapes and play mini-games at the end of a round. Tilt to Live 2 is also harder than it sounds as controlling that vessel takes a subtle touch. It's easy to tilt hard and careen right by a weapon. It's a lot more difficult to glide smoothly and then stop on a dime to hit each item just right. The gameplay is great for a quick pickup while you have a few spare minutes. Each round can last for a a few minutes if you have the right touch, or it can be over in less than 30 seconds if your delicate control resembles a bull in a china shop. Tilt to Live 2: Redonkulous is available for US$2.99 in the iOS App Store. It is a universal app that works on both the iPad and iPhone.
MediaFire launches MediaFire Desktop cloud file-sharing client for OS X
Cloud storage company MediaFire has launched an open beta of its MediaFire Desktop client for OS X. With it, the company hopes to take on more well-known cloud file-sharing solutions like Dropbox. In a statement announcing the beta, the company says: Designed to complement MediaFire's online storage service, MediaFire Desktop keeps your online and locally stored files safe and in sync. From backing up your important work, to sharing your vacation photos, MediaFire Desktop lets you store and access all of your media, everywhere you go. And with up to 50 GB of free storage, MediaFire lets users keep all of their content in one place without the worry of running out of space. MediaFire Desktop works much like Dropbox does on OS X. After you've signed up for a free account online, simply download and install the beta of MediaFire Desktop. Its virtual cloud drive lives as a dedicated MediaFire folder in the Finder. Once there, any file you move into it will be uploaded to the cloud and shared across all your devices with a MediaFire client installed. Another nice feature of the MediaFire Desktop client is a notification window accessible from OS X's menu bar that allows you to see recently uploaded or shared files. There's also an automatic screen capture uploading tool (much like Dropbox now has), but with MediaFire Desktop's screen capture tool, you can also annotate your screen captures with text, arrows and boxes. MediaFire Desktop also has deep social sharing integration, so you can seamlessly share a link to your files via Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Twitter, Bloggr and more. To start you out, MediaFire gives everyone a free 10 GB of storage (making Dropbox look cheap) and users can earn up to 50 GB of free storage. The company also sells storage plans of 100 GB for US$2.49 a month and also offers 1 TB-plus plans for business users.
Messaging client Viber 4.0 released for OS X
Viber, the multi-platform messaging app that grew to take on heavyweight champ What's App (and now Facebook Messenger and iMessages) has just released version 4.0 of its desktop client for OS X. The update comes almost two weeks after Viber released its updated iOS client. As with its iOS app, Viber 4.0 adds several new features for the Mac, including a sticker marketplace. Stickers are images, similar to emojis, that Viber users can send to one another to convey a message or emotion. They've proved so popular on Viber's mobile apps that the company is now using them to monetize across all platforms -- including desktop with this latest release for OS X. Other nice improvements include the ability to drag photos from the Finder right into a Viber chat, the ability to view message read receipts and the ability to receive pre-recorded video messages. You'll also notice performance enhancements, including much-improved live video calling. Viber 4.0 for Mac is a free download from Viber's website.
Infinit launches a new, fast file-transfer app for Mac OS
Infinit is a new application for Mac OS that allows free unlimited file transfers that the company claims are faster than any existing solution. For now, transfers are limited to Macs running the Infinit application. To get started, just create a username and password and enjoy the many nice features. One standout option handles sleeping machines quite well. If you are on a laptop that goes to sleep or has its lid closed, the transfer pauses until an internet connection is re-established. File transfers in general are simple. Drag a file of any kind to the menu bar, and type in an email address. The person on the other end clicks "accept" and the transfer starts, with the file delivered to their downloads folder. The app can send receipts for completed transfers, and you can see a history of what you've sent. Files are encrypted during the transfer. Transfers seemed quite fast in my testing, faster than Google Drive and Dropbox. A couple of caveats. You'll have to type in your recipient's email. The app doesn't see your address book and won't auto-complete. That feature is coming, but for now you have to do a little extra work. Also, the recipient has to sign up and be running the app. If you try to send a file to someone not registered, they will receive an invitation to join up instead. Direct transfers will also show up at some point so recipients won't need to sign up. At the current time, Infinit is totally free. No limits on types of files or file size, but at some point there will be subscription options, likely only for larger files. Infinit is very easy to use, and it is very fast. The application is Mac-only now, but versions are coming for Windows and Linux. This app seems well-suited for people like photographers and graphic designers who want to quickly and easily exchange files. You can get more details and sign up for Infinit at the company website. Infinit has great promise and if the subscription costs are low, I think it will be something many Mac users will want to use. Since it's all free for now, it's worth a sign up to see if it works for you.
New and notable apps for iOS and OS X, November 18, 2013 edition
It's always busy in the App Store with a never-ending flood of new apps landing on iOS and OS X. Take a few minutes and check out our list of stand-out titles from the past few weeks! If that's not enough, you can also follow our ongoing coverage of new apps as they are released. New iOS Apps Art Set - Pro Edition [iPad; Category: Entertainment; $7.99] This stunningly beautiful app is like having a virtual art set right inside your iPad. Paint and draw via the photo realistic interface with tools that look and feel incredibly like the real thing. Farming Simulator 14 [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $2.99] Start your agricultural career in Farming Simulator 14 on mobile and tablet! Take control of your farm and its fields to fulfil your harvesting dreams. Robotic Drums [iOS Universal; Category: Music; $4.99] Robotic Drums is an analog modeled drum synth coupled with a probability sequencer. This special combination, makes the app suitable for live sound manipulation, sequence experimentation and regular beats. Taasky - Beautiful, simple and easy to use task manager [iPhone; Category: Productivity; $0.99] Taasky is the most beautiful task manager app for iOS yet. It provides innovative features and unique and visually appealing design. Football Manager Handheld™ 2014 [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $9.99] Football Manager Handheld 2014 is the best-selling and most realistic football management game available for mobile and tablet devices. GT Racing 2: The Real Car Experience [iOS Universal; Category: Games; Free] GT Racing 2: The Real Car Experience is a true-to-life automotive journey featuring the most prestigious cars in the world. EPOCH.2 [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $2.99] EPOCH has trekked across a war-ravaged country to find the one person he was programmed to protect: the Princess, Amelia. Tilt to Live 2: Redonkulous [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $2.99] Return to a world of fast-paced, tilt-only arcade action! You'll flee a relentless onslaught of dastardly dots, desperately darting between single-use weapon orbs. MC Oscilloscope [iOS Universal; Category: Music; $4.99] MC Oscilloscope is a powerful digital multichannel oscilloscope for your iPad or iPhone. In combination with an external multichannel USB-audio-interface it is capable of displaying up to 8 channels (per source) simultaneously. It also includes a multichannel full scale level meter. ProCam XL [iPad; Category: Photography & Video; $0.99] ProCam XL has been redesigned from the ground up to perfectly compliment iOS 7 with a focus on function over form while still bringing a beautifully streamlined interface. BIAS - Amps! [iPad; Category: Music; $19.99] BIAS is an Amp Designer, Modeler and Processor for iPad. It's warm, accurate and more versatile than any other modeler, processor in hardware or software ever created. Voodo 2 - Easy Todo [iOS Universal; Category: Productivity; $2.99] Voodo is a simple yet powerful todo app. With Voodo, you just Get Things Done, never make things up. Filterstorm Neue [iOS Universal; Category: Photography & Video; $3.99] Filterstorm Neue provides you with all the photo editing tools you need; everything from powerful masking tools to simple pre-made filters. Monsters Rising [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $3.99] Be the Monster! In this 3D action-strategy game, collect, upgrade and control your monsters directly, as gesture-driven gameplay is taken to all-new heights. Sid Meiers Ace Patrol: Pacific Skies [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $4.99] Take flight over the treacherous Pacific waters where ace pilots redefine historic World War II battles! Skillfully pilot the most iconic American and Japanese fighter planes of the Pacific War while representing the Army or Navy. Runtime - Simple Run Tracking [iPhone; Category: Health & Fitness; $2.99] Runtime is a simple run tracking app designed from the ground up for iOS 7 and optimized to take advantage of the iPhone 5s. Use Runtime to track your route, time, speed, pace, and altitude everywhere you go for a run/walk/hike/jog/jaunt etc. New OS X Apps Rail Maze 2 [OS X; Category: Games; Free] Escape PIRATES and GHOSTS on rails, control semaphores and avoid steam and lava. Have a lot of fun! SkyDrive [OS X; Category: Productivity; Free] SkyDrive for Mac is the easiest way to access your SkyDrive from your Mac. Unbound [OS X; Category: Photography & Video; $9.99] Unbound was designed with speed as a priority. Everything from the initial app launch to scrolling through your thumbs is incredibly responsive. Access photos whenever you want without having to wait. Instacast [OS X; Category: News; $9.99] Managing a large collection of podcasts is easy with Instacast. Browse the online directory, import your subscriptions, customize settings for individual podcasts, sort episodes into different playlists and find exactly what you're looking for in just a few clicks. Blueprint [OS X; Category: Business; $59.99] Blueprint provides complete integration of project management, contact management, tasks, documents, notes, events and archiving, and automatically syncs with Apple native apps.
Ultravisual is an intriguing iOS app for sharing photos and videos
Ultravisual (free) joins a large collection of photo-sharing apps for iOS, but it has some unique features wrapped in an attractive, but at times frustrating, GUI. The app lets you load photos from your camera roll, and arrange and label them into an attractive presentation. You can also collaborate with others, and you can include videos in your collections. Getting the images in any order is easy with a drag-and-drop interface. You can take photos from within the app, and there are filters that work in real time for things like warming up the color balance, but oddly, those filters don't work after a photo is taken. Labeling of photos uses very attractive text, and the finished presentation looks very nice. Videos can be edited in-app, and strung together. These are nice capabilities in a free app. While the UI is beautiful, it is confusing. Even help is buried, and you have to scroll way down in your collections to see the help button. There are some on-screen prompts, but I'd like to see more. You also get some cursory videos, but some of them raised more questions than they answered. I can't imagine a user starting from scratch with this app and getting all the way through to publishing without stumbling quite a lot along the way. The app allows you to easily share your work, either with people you know, or you can publish to a public collection. When you send to a friend or family member, they get a URL and can click to see your photos or videos, which are server based. The sharing opportunities can be quite powerful, and if you see some things you like, you can follow the creator. When you first use the app, you sign up for a free account. You can share your material publicly or not share that way. Ultravisual is a clever, and attractive app. At a price of free, it is worth checking out, and happily there are no in-app purchases to make. I think for people to get more use out of the app, there will need to be more obvious help built in, and an easier-to-understand workflow. None of that is impossible, and I think the app will get a large following on the strength of its features, but easier immersion would be a big plus. Ultravisual requires iOS 7 or later. It's not a universal app, so it's going to look best on an iPhone or iPod touch.
Google Play Music now available for iPhone
Hold onto your hats, music lovers, 'cause things just got a little crazy out there. Google just released Google Play Music for iPhone (free), an app that lets you "discover, play and share the music you love, anywhere." It actually surprises me a bit that Apple allowed this app onto the App Store, since it's a direct competitor to the company's own iTunes Music Store and iTunes Radio. Google's All Access service (US$9.99 per month) for Google Play will allow music buffs to listen to unlimited songs; create custom radio stations based on songs, artists or albums; get recommendations on music based on your tastes; and use playlists created by Google music experts. The free standard service provides a way to add up to 20,000 songs from your personal music library from Mac, Windows or Linux computers; listen through the app or Google's web player; and save favorite tunes to your device for offline playback. All of this is ad-free, and available in a variety of countries. But wait, there's more! Google is also offering a free month of All Access in order to (hopefully) get you hooked on the service. And if you have a Chromecast device, you'll be able to beam your music wirelessly to it thanks to built-in compatibility in the Google Play Music app.
Sony launches PlayStation App companion for the PS4
The PlayStation 4, which ought to be one of the hottest gifts this holiday season, launches this Friday, November 15. To get users excited, Sony has launched the PlayStation App for iOS, which allows gamers to push games that offer second-screen experiences to their iOS device, chat with friends and comment on game videos they post. You can also make purchases through the PlayStation store and push them to your PS4 with the app. STAY IN THE GAME Take your PlayStation® experience with you on your mobile device with the new PlayStation®App! Always be ready to game with features that keep you connected to your gaming friends and the games you love to play. Push games from PlayStation®Store to your PS4™ system and be ready to game at home. With the PlayStation®App installed on your mobile device, you can: · See what your friends are playing, compare trophies, and view your profile or recent activity. · Chat with your friends; receive notifications, game alerts, and invitations, and then use your mobile device as an on-screen keyboard for your PS4™ system. · Browse PlayStation®Store, pick-up the latest hit games and add-ons, and then push them to your PS4™ system so they are ready when you get home. · Take advantage of the in-app second-screen features, when available, for greater challenges and control. · Quickly access PlayStation® system guides, manuals, and PlayStation.Blog. A Sony Entertainment Network account and PS4™ system are required to use all of this application's features. The PlayStation App is a free download. The PlayStation 4 costs US$399.99.
Blizzard's 'Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft' coming to iOS in 2014
On Friday, Blizzard announced at its annual Blizzcon conference that the iOS version of its freemium battle card game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft will be released during the second half of 2014, reports TouchArcade. The strategy card game is based on the World of Warcraft universe and will allow players to battle it out in turn-based card play. Designed to be deceptively simple and epically engaging for players of all backgrounds, Hearthstone features quick and lively duels that evoke the spirit of a friendly match played beside a crackling tavern fire. Each player's card deck centers around a hero representing one of nine iconic Warcraft classes, customized with a set of minions, spells, and/or weapons based on individual strategy and available cards. Players will be able to hone their skills in practice matches against the computer, and when they're ready for the challenge, they can take on their Battle.net friends and other players in friendly duels. To further develop their decks, players will be able to acquire cards by crafting them and by winning or purchasing new card packs. With hundreds of unique cards to choose from, the potential card combinations and possible strategies are endless! Fans of the World of Warcraft universe will know the game was originally set to be released in 2013 for Mac, PC and iPad, so they may be a bit disappointed that the iOS version has been pushed back until the second half of 2014. However, Blizzard has announced that now the game will also be hitting the iPhone at the same time, which is sure to placate any angry ogres wielding magical spells.
Hatch and its Fugu eggs are coming November 20
Remember Hatch? It was a virtual pet app from Impending and Realmac Software that was heavily promoted late last year. iPhone owners eager for "the first iPhone app that loves you back" reserved their Fugu eggs and waited patiently for the app to launch. Fast-forward almost a year, and the developers behind Hatch are ready to show what they've been working on all these months. According to a recent Facebook post, the Hatch virtual pet app has made its way through the App Store approval process and is slated to debut on November 20. If you already haven't done so, you can reserve your Fugu egg on the HatchPet website. Until the app hits the App Store, you can enjoy this promotional video below and see what you just signed yourself up for.
Lego: Lord of the Rings calls iOS its precious, starting today
There are many Lego-branded games on the App Store, but today, one of the most popular movie crossovers, Lego: Lord of the Rings, gets the iOS treatment as well. Following in the footsteps of the iOS ports of other hand-held Lego titles, Lego: Lord of the Rings features more than 90 playable characters, a host of weaponry and, of course, the cheesy humor that has become a trademark of the series. However, if you're planning on picking this little gem up today for the asking price of US$4.99, be warned: The download is a whopping 3 GB. Once installed, the game takes up around half that space, but you'll need to clear the 3 GB ahead of time if you're planning on downloading it over WiFi to install.
Star Wars: Tiny Death Star invades the US App Store
Star Wars: Tiny Death Star has hit the US App Store. The game is a humorous take on the Star Wars universe courtesy of Disney Mobile, LucasArts and NimbleBit (the guys who make Tiny Tower). The game asks players to help the Emperor build the Death Star level by level including installations such as the trash compactor and even commercial businesses. Players will also be able to build secret levels for the Rebellion to help them fight against the Dark Side. Amidst a civil war in a galaxy far, far away, the Emperor is building a Death Star level by level, and he needs your help. Intergalactic war is expensive, and space stations are, too. Do you have any idea how much it costs to build one the size of a moon? Live life on the dark side, and join Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader on a mission to attract Galactic bitizens, run intergalactic businesses, and build an all-new Death Star! With that hard-earned money, fund the Empire's evil schemes to defeat the Rebels and conquer the galaxy once and for all! Star Wars: Tiny Death Star is a universal app and a free download.
Nike+ Move app now available in the iOS App Store
Last month, Nike announced its new Fuelband SE fitness tracker and an M7-enabled app for the iPhone 5s. You'll have to wait a few days to get your hands on the Fuelband SE as it is slated to start shipping on November 6, but you can download the Nike+ Move app now. The Nike+ Move app is designed for the iPhone 5s and its M7 motion coprocessor. The app uses your daily motion and translates it into NikeFuel. The app takes a few minutes to setup -- just download, authorize access to the motion data and setup a Nike+ account. Once those three steps are done you are ready to start tracking your steps. As noted in the app's description, features in the app include: Win the day by beating your NikeFuel average and watch your goal ring change from Red to Green. See when you are most active throughout the day and how you're doing compared to yesterday. Move more often and win as many hours as you can throughout the day. See how you moved through the day with a breakdown of running, walking, and other movement. See where you're moving and where you move the most each day. Check out how you compare against your Game Center friends or other Nike+ Move users near you. The Nike+ Move app is available for free from the iOS App Store.
