Apps Lists, iPad, News/Rumors

Vatican launched new app for catholics

Pope Francis and Vatican launched a new mobile app for catholics. The smatphone app Missio designed by the Pontifical Mission Societies, offers its users to stay up-to-date on the latest Catholic news from the Vatican and around the world. According to the Catholic News Agency, the new software debuted during a ceremony hosted by Pope Francis in the Vatican’s Clementine Hall.

When Father Andrew Small, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States held the iPad for the pope, the pope asked: “I push here?” Then he placed his finger on the button, but Father Andrew Small had to take the iPad, as it was time to take it away.

“As soon as the Holy Father hit the button, a little notice came across the top …and it said, ‘Pope Francis has unlocked the MISSIO App. He sort of looked a little bit surprised.”

There are already 1,140 people from 27 countries who have already tried Missio. The app is free and available for both Apple and Android devices. According to the Catholic News Service, Missio can be used in eight languages: English, Spanish, Italian, German, French, Portuguese, Chinese and Arabic. With the app its owners can view homilies from Pope Francis, news from missions all over the globe, and watch videos from news.va & Catholic New Service.

“The app is a way for the church and our Holy Father to reach the growing number of the world’s people who have access to handheld mobile devices, a way to connect as the body of Christ,” said Father Andrew Small. So, this new app will help you “to think ahead.”

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Apps Lists, News/Rumors

iTunes 11.0.3 with new MiniPlayer, an improved Songs View

On Thursday, Apple released a new iTunes 11.0.3 version offering a new MiniPlayer featuring artwork and a progress bar and an improved Songs View, and multi-disc albums.

That means, that iTunes users’re now allowed to see their album artwork while in Songs View with iTunes 11.0.3. The new view for MiniPlayer can also be capable to show an entire playlist.

Other new features to iTunes in version 11.0.3 are “performance improvements when searching and sorting large iTunes libraries.”

The latest update to iTunes as a version 11.0.2 was offered to its users in February, bringing a new “Composers” view for music and adding speed and reliability upgrades. But this update was minor. As for the last major one, we were provided new iTunes 11 update in November. It came with almost new application’s design, accompanied by a better integration with iCloud.

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iTunes 11.0.3 can be downloaded directly from Apple or through an OS X software update. It is also available for Windows users.

Apps Lists, News/Rumors

Spotdox makes all your files accessible via Dropbox

Today let us introduce Spotdox, a combo Mac app and iOS-accessible web-service, offering you access to any file on your computer through Dropbox. It means that you can even receive remote access to files which are, for example, in your movies folder while your device is running. Do you think it’s impossible?

The matter is that it uses remote logins. All you need is to connect Spotdox to your Dropbox account and leave it running on your Mac. Thus, when you find out that you need an information that isn’t in your Dropbox, just browse to your Spotdox account in Mobile Safari and find it. Thanks to Spotlight on your Mac, Spotdox manages to find the file, and then send it into your Dropbox. As a result you can use it from any Dropbox app on your iDevice. If you have multiple Macs, you can install the Spotdox app on each of them to allow you to access each computer’s files.

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To ensure you always have access to each Mac’s files, you’ll want to enable Open Spotdox At Login, from the app’s menu, so Spotdox is always running. If you want to move a file out of your Dropbox folder, you can do that, too.  Don’t you think that idea is perfect? While Dropbox only gives you access to your files within your Dropbox folder. Spotdox allows you to browse, copy, and send, any file or folder on you computer to anyone or anywhere. If you rely on Dropbox to keep your files and folders accessible from all your devices, I feel confident in saying that Spotdox will be an essential thing.

Apps Lists, News/Rumors

10 years with iTunes!

Representing iTunes to the public on the 28th of April , 2003, Steve Jobs turned his slide and glancing around a full house, said that when about one and a half years ago, they had started to create a music service, they had had to negotiate with the five major record labels. And then he remembered a quote from Hunter Thompson (American writer and journalist, author of the novel “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” – ) about the music industry: “The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.” Jobs said that he hadn’t known then what he had expected. However, Apple CEO worries were vain. Apple online music store has become a phenomenon unprecedented in the music industry for the past ten years, turning it upside down. During that time, no one generation of Apple gadgets  was replaced, old devices were removed. Jobs has died, his place was taken by Cook — but iTunes remains the same as it was 10 years ago. Some impressive figures link to iTunes. Over the past decade service has sold over 25 billion songs, there are 35 million tracks in its catalog, iTunes is available in 119 countries, and in addition, more than 200 million people using the service iTunes Match, which allows them to store their music library on Apple servers.APPLE JOBS IPOD

According to the analyst Benedict Evans, iTunes is a kind of area, through which it’s very difficult for the user to leave the ecosystem created by Apple.The idea to integrate their own projects in the foundation of the corporate ecosystem and thereby strengthen it, guaranteeing the safety of future returns themselves, in business is not new. iTunes legitimized digital music in the era when the MP3 format has been synonymous with piracy. Ten years ago, Apple had known what exactly consumers wanted even before they realized it. But it is worth thinking that the era when consumers will dictate their rules, has already come.10_itunes_2414501b_2546389b

Apps Lists, News/Rumors

Tweetbot update gets new media timeline and image viewer

Developer Tapbots on Tuesday released a version update for its popular Twitter client Tweetbot, providing with new feature called “media timeline”. The new timeline displays images, videos and Vines right in-line, with the tweet acting as a caption. Tweetbot version 2.8 hit the App Store with a host of minor user interface tweaks and bug fixes.

Tapbots’ Paul Haddad says that the media timeline exists simply because they “thought it’d be a good feature to add, as it lets people view their stream in a different way.”

The principle is simple, which is to aggregate all tweets with photos from Instagram, videos from Vine, or media from other supported services, and place them in a single feed separate from the traditional timeline.
The app’s new media viewer is much like the implementation used by Facebook in its iOS app. To access the new media timeline, scroll to the top of your main view and tap on the new toggle to the right of the search field. If you can’t see it now, scroll your timeline down a bit further, as the search bar tucks away when you scroll down. Tapping on the icon you’ll be sent to a view that shows you images and video inline with a header containing the tweet and avatar.

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What’s New in Version 2.8

- New media timeline. Scroll to the top of a timeline and switch to the new media view (next to the search box). This view displays only supported image and video tweets.
- Completely redesigned image viewer
- Tweet/status detail view now displays the number of Favs and Retweets
- Fixed Instagram Previews
- Various other bug fixes

Apps Lists

AppShopper Social is available as a free download in the App Store

AppShopper iOS app, launched in September 2010, offers users easy access to app-tracking features such as updates and price changes. But Apple removed AppShopper in 2012, citing a rule against apps that could be confused with Apple’s own App Store app. Thus, over the past several months, the AppShopper team has been reworking the app to add a more social component, and that effort is now showing up with today’s launch of a brand-new app, AppShopper Social.

The problem is Apps that display Apps other than your own for purchase or promotion in a manner similar to or confusing with the App Store will be rejected.Since that time, several other developers such as AppGratis have seen their apps removed from the App Store, reportedly as part of a broader crackdown on app discovery apps.

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The 1.0 version of AppShopper Social brings back much of the core functionality of the original AppShopper app but that a number of features such as native iPad support and Top 200 lists are not included. Those features will be brought back in future updates.
In the 1.0 version, we’re aware that there are several obvious features that are absent. Top on our priority list is the ability to browse friends’ lists individually by tapping on their name. Also, an easier method for friend discovery and friend recommendation are also something that is clearly necessary. Even without these features, AppShopper Social is an incredibly useful tool for App Discovery, but there’s a lot of potential to be even better.

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Apps Lists, News/Rumors

Facebook wants to bring ‘Home’ to Apple’s iPhone

After the successful announcement of Facebook Home for Android, the Menlo Park-based social networking giant is apparently in talks with Apple and Microsoft to bring the software to iOS and Windows Phone. But it should be noted that Home could be a very different experience on iOS compared to Android, if Apple does end up collaborating on the software.

On Monday Adam Mosseri,Facebook director of product, announced that talks were underway with both Apple and Microsoft, saying the social network titan is looking to expand the reach of its newest initiative to other smartphone platforms.

“We’ve shown them what we’ve built and we’re just in an ongoing conversation,” Mosseri said. “It may or may not be Home,” he said, referring to the Android-only software. “We could also just bring some of the design values to the iOS app. That might be how it ends up. Or we could build just the lock screen. Maybe then it’s not called Home, it’s called something else.”

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Facebook Home hit store shelves on April 12 as implemented in the HTC First handset, with the launcher going live in the Google Play app store that same day.

Apps Lists

Updated YouTube App For iOS with Live Streams

From time to time we all have been disappointed with the YouTube for iOS app’s inability to tune into Live streams. But now there’s nothing to worry about-

Google just released version 1.3 of YouTube for iOS, and along with some stability and performance improvements, the app now gives users the ability to view Live streams inside the app. There’s also a new Queue feature that will let you add a bunch of videos to a list to watch later, along with some UI improvements to give users quicker access to their My Subscriptions feed. The free update is available in the App Store now.

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Apps Lists, News/Rumors

Prosthetic Hand is controllable via a mobile app

A huge number of unusual accessories has been released since the launch of the first model of iPhone. However, the most futuristic of them can be considered to be connected with prosthetic hands, which can be controlled by means of a special application for the iPhone.

Touch Bionics introduced a new smart prosthetic hand based on its i-limb technology that allows individual fingers to be moved independently. It features a biosim mobile app that is usable through iOS devices. The application, which is compatible with the latest Apple products, is designed to give i-limb wearers quick access to up to 24 different grip patterns.

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Chief executive Ian Stevens said: “We believe that the i-limb ultra revolution, with powered thumb rotation and the ability to quickly access multiple grip patterns, offers unparalleled dexterity and control, enabling wearers to more easily perform activities of daily living and thus increase their quality of life.”

The i-limb ultra revolution is the first upper limb body part that is controllable via a mobile application. The Quick Grips offers different useful options, including grips that allow the user to type, hold papers, take cups, or use a mouse. The limb also contains a new set of electrodes that provides its users with greater sensitivity to some commands and better dexterity.

It must be noted that in future, the developers of Touch Bionics are going to equip their prosthetics with implants for support of special control through thoughts of an owner.

 

Apps Lists

No More Saga #12

The popular comic book Saga, debuted in March 2012, has illustrated the following: robot sex, a giant with five-story-tall sagging testicles, a child prostitution ring on a brothel planet called Sextillion, blow jobs, fisting, interspecies erotica and enough bloody viscera to make a butcher squirm. This isn’t the first time the App Store has removed comics for sexual themes. As Comics Alliance noted, the App Store banned an adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest in 2010, only to reverse the position later, calling it a “mistake.” Just last month, Apple also banned an issue of a new series, Sex, for violating its standards.

But none of these are why Apple banned the most recent issue of the comic book from its App Store this week. No, Saga #12 won’t be available for purchase because of “two postage stamp-sized images of gay sex,” according to writer Brian K. Vaughn. In a statement he released Tuesday, Vaughn explains:

As has hopefully been clear from the first page of our first issue, SAGA is a series for the proverbial “mature reader.” Unfortunately, because of two postage stamp-sized images of gay sex, Apple is banning tomorrow’s SAGA #12 from being sold through any iOS apps. This is a drag, especially because our book has featured what I would consider much more graphic imagery in the past, but there you go. Fiona and I could always edit the images in question, but everything we put into the book is there to advance our story, not (just) to shock or titillate, so we’re not changing shit.

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The readers can still download Saga #12 and sync it to an iOS device, meaning that it will be relatively easy to subvert Apple’s ban. (There’s always the ink-and-paper version, too.) And yes, as The Verge suggests, these bans generally reflect a tension between creators and distributors on digital marketplaces. It’s awfully difficult to separate “censorship” from “curation” when Apple owns and controls the space where art is sold. Distributors have a right to choose what to sell. It shouldn’t make a difference if that distribution occurs in a brick-and-mortar bookstore or the App Store.