iPad By Davis: “The original Angry Birds and Angry Birds HD are now free for the first time in the App Store” plus 17 more

The original Angry Birds and Angry Birds HD are now free for the first time in the App Store
Edit your portraits to perfection with Facetune for iPhone
iWatch dreams: What iMore would like to see in a wearable iOS device from Apple
MapQuest Travel Blogs for iPhone and iPad review
Launch Center Pro updated with in-app messaging actions, new tweet action, and more
Facebook announces major redesign for web and mobile
Price Drops: Football Manager Handheld 2013 for iPad Now 50% Off
Composition Book for iPad mini: Kids’ Favorite Sneaky iPad Case?
How to comment on a post using the iMore 2.0 for iPhone app
Introducing the new iMore for iPhone 2.0 app, with comments, landscape, favorites, video podcasts, and more!
Apple devices dominate in-flight Wi-Fi usage
iPad mini Predicted to Outsell iPad this Year: Sounds Right
Skype for iPad Updated: New ‘Calling Experience’ & More
Forums: Apple Maps vs. Google Maps, iPhone 5S, Jailbreaking, iOS vs. Android
Marvel Unlimited brings 70 years, 13,000 issues of back catalog comics to iPhone and iPad
Deal of the Day: 51% off Belkin Grip Max Case for iPhone 5
iPad at Work: in 12 Cylinder Ferraris
Apple Maps surprisingly wins three way shootout against Waze and Google Maps

The original Angry Birds and Angry Birds HD are now free for the first time in the App Store

Posted: 08 Mar 2013 11:43 PM PST

The original Angry Birds and Angry Birds HD are now free for the first time in the App Store The original Angry Birds game is now free in the App Store. The game that was first released over three years ago has seen some phenomenal success on every platform that it has been available on. Now for the first time ever, Rovio has decided to make it free.

The good news doesn't stop there either, Angry Birds HD is also now available for free too so if you would rather grab it for your iPad and play it on the big screen then it won't cost you a penny. Angry Birds has already hit the top of the App Store charts for the most downloaded free game

The Angry Birds franchise has to be one of the biggest success stories in mobile gaming history, Angry Birds is one of the first apps anyone downloads when they buy a new iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. What all started over three years ago as an unknown new game has now become a household name with spin off movies, plush toys and everything else in between. The original Angry Birds was followed by other games based on the same theme like Angry Birds Seasons, Angry Birds Space, Bad Piggies, and most recently, Angry Birds Star Wars.

If you haven't played the original Angry Birds yet, you are in for a real treat. Make sure you grab it while it is free, as we don't know if this is a permanent move by Rovio.

Free - iPhone – Download Now
Free - iPad – Download now

Edit your portraits to perfection with Facetune for iPhone

Posted: 08 Mar 2013 07:59 PM PST

Facetune is a powerful photo editing app designed to help you edit your portrait photographs into perfection. Not only can you remove blemishes, smooth out skin, and enhance eyes, but you can also fix gray hair, fill in bald spots, defocus the background, and even reshape your subjects face.

In addition to being able to edit any photo stored on your iPhone, you can also choose from one of the three included head shots so that you can get some practice using the various tools. There's a blonde woman with a lot of freckles, a dark-haired man with a piercing and a few blemishes, and a dark-haired woman with a moderate amount of blemishes, parts of her hair look gray, and her teeth are a little yellow.

The tools included with Facetune include crop, whiten, smooth, details, reshape, patch, tones, red eye, defocus, and filters. Most of them work very similarly -- zoom and pan, then use your finger to paint on the effect.

The smoothing effect is designed to make skin look soft and is typically something that can be overdone. I'm happy to report that Facetune does a fabulous job of preserving detail when using Smooth. Skin looks noticeably better, yet natural, because you can still see pores and texture. There is also a tool called Smoother that I actually recommend you avoid unless you're going for a plastic look.

Pro tip: Avoid using the smooth tool on edges and creases on the face for the most natural results.

The Detail tool is essentially a sharpening too, and I recommend using it on eyes and perhaps lips and teeth.

One of the things that makes Facetune such a great editing app is that it has a patch tool instead of simply a spot-healing tool (both would be nice). When using the patch tool, you will be given two circles, and you can adjust their size by pinching and zooming. The circle that the arrow is pointing to needs to be placed over the area of the photo you want to change, perhaps a blemish. Then move the other circle to an area of the photo that would make a good replacement, like a clear area of skin. You can also use two finger to rotate the circle in case you need to match up a crease line or hair direction.

The patch tool is usually used for removing blemishes, but it can also be used to add hair, remove wrinkles, and more.

Pro tip: Use the patch tool before smoothing skin.

Sometimes patching up blemishes isn't enough, especially if your subject has a very bad case of acne and has red skin in those areas. That's where the Tones tool comes in handy. With this you can choose a color from your photo with the Picker or by holding down your finger, and paint that chosen color onto the photo. It will paint with a low opacity that you can be sure to layer it on in a way that looks natural. The Tones tool is also great for "removing" gray hair.

Another really awesome feature of Facetune is the Reshape tool. This is similar to Liquify in Photoshop, and when used with care, can help make someone look more flattering. For example, moving hairlines, creating smiles, raising cheekbones, and reshaping noses and chins are all things you can do with Reshape. If you choose to use it to make your subject skinnier, be aware of the background and how the Reshape tool may be making it look distorted. Use this tool with caution!

Pro-tip: Bringing in someones face just below their cheekbones will make the cheekbones appear higher. Lowering someone shoulders will make the neck longer and the person appear skinnier.

Facetune also includes a Defocus tool that is meant to be used to bring your background out of focus so that your subject pops better and it looks like you've used a higher quality lens to take the photo. Use this tool with caution, though, as it will not look natural on all photos.

Facetune also includes filters, but I'm quite honestly not really a fan of any of them besides the black-and-white ones. Though, if your white-balance was off, there a good chance you'll find a filter that'll improve the colors in your portrait. You'll also find filters to help with your lighting or add a little distortion, and frames.

Above is the before and after of one of the sample photos that I edited. I used the patch tool to remove all her blemishes, softened her skin, lightened up the dark spots under her eyes and nose, sharpened her eyes, whitened her teeth, reshaped her hairline, and darkened some of the highlights in her hair that looked gray. Noticed that I did everything in moderation to keep it looking natural. This is key when doing these types of edits.

Also, here's a before-and-after of a photo I edited of my daughter from when she had a serious case of baby acne.

Impressive! My biggest complaint is that there isn't an iPad version. Facetune on a Retina iPad would be incredible.

The good

Crop, whiten, smooth, details, reshape, patch, tones, red eye, and defocus tools
Skin detail is preserved when smoothing skin
Patch tool instead of spot-healing tool
Video tutorials for each tool
Easily compare with original photo
Export up to 8 megapixel images
Share to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Flickr, Tumbler, and Email

The bad

Can't choose to see where you've masked in an effect
Whiten, Smooth, Details, Tones, and Defocus don't have an undo button, only an eraser
No redo button
No iPad version

The bottom line

I am extremely impressed with Facetune. As a photographer, I go through similar techniques with Photoshop CS6 to edit newborn and family portraits, and Facetune has done a fantastic job at mimicking those tools. It's like a tiny Photoshop in your hands. And at just $1.99, it's way underpriced. Get it now.

$1.99 - Download now

iWatch dreams: What iMore would like to see in a wearable iOS device from Apple

Posted: 08 Mar 2013 04:41 PM PST

iWatch dreams: What iMore would like to see in a wearable iOS device from Apple

2007 wasn't the introduction of the iPhone. It was the introduction of iOS. Apple didn't so much re-invent the phone as they did the idea of computing That's why the iPod touch was "just" an iPhone without a phone, and the iPad was "just" a big iPhone, and the Apple TV "just" iPad guts in a box. The instances can and will change and multiply, but for the foreseeable future, it will be iOS that drives them.

Enter the "iWatch". While iMore and others have heard Apple is going ahead with their wearable iOS device project, the crux here is that they're also continuing to push the future of mobile. Of what's next. Trying to predict what or how exactly that will manifest is difficult, just like trying to predict the iPhone before January 2007. You get iPods with click-wheel dialers. The iWatch could be to existing watches what the iPhone was to existing phones, and the iPad was to existing tablets. Just like Steve Jobs took the stage and made the case as to why the iPhone was better, and where the iPad fit, Tim Cook or Phil Schiller will prove the iWatch deserves a place in our lives.

Or, instead of a product, the iWatch could be an extension. Instead of an iPhone or iPad, it could be an Apple TV. It could be a hobby meant to expand the overall value of the Apple ecosystem, rather than a new business meant to further expand Apple's mainstream market.

Given Apple's recent work on Siri, Notification Center, Passbook, and other secondary interfaces to Springboard, and telephony like iMessage and FaceTime, it's easy to see why projecting those things from iPhone or iPad to iWatch is so tempting, as is the idea of Apple continuing the fitness-related partnership they began with Nike.

Mostly, however, an iWatch might just be a glimpse at what's next for iOS. There are very few phones in sci-fi, after all, and Apple's just exactly the kind of company that likes the will the future into the present.

To round out the discussion and get some idea of what the current expectations are, to delve into more diverse flights of fancy, I asked the iMore and Mobile Nations community just what exactly they want in an iWatch.

Here are their answers...

Georgia, senior editor, iMore

I want an iWatch with Siri built in. I want Notification Center on it. I want to be able to answer my phone with it, like it was a Bluetooth speaker. I want to be able to read/hear messages and dictate/reply back. I want videos and music to stream and play on it. That would be awesome. I want GPS and maps, and Reminders with location. I want it to be insanely great.

James Falconer, community manager, Mobile Nations

When I think of an iWatch, a few things come to mind. The ability to make and take phone calls would be a must. Seems super-convenient to me to tap on my watch to answer or initiate calls. Built-in GPS as well. Having a GPS strapped to your wrist would be the ultimate in portable navigation solutions. I like to explore on bike and foot a lot, so this would be handy.

An exercise-friendly iWatch would be great too. I do a lot of running, and having the ability to run the Nike Running app, or other fitness tracking apps while out on a long run would be amazing.

Killer battery life. Needs to have… best… battery… life… evar. I don't want to add another device to my charging 'pile'.

As for style… I'm honestly not too sure how I'd like to see the thing look… I would like to see multiple styles available for purchase. I'm not talking colors here. Perhaps a men's collection, a lady's collection and a smaller collection for kids.

Anthony, videographer, iMore

Since Tim Cook took the helm at Apple, people have questioned their ability to innovate. If Apple goes ahead with an iWatch, they'll need to show they can dent even a post Steve Jobs universe. It would have to be more than a simple Bluetooth interface to your existing devices. As much as the original iPhone made even the original Star Trek communicators seem sated, an iWatch would have to make the Next Generation ones look last gen.

Given the current size of radio chips and the current capacities of batteries, I'll understand if the first iWatch is severely limited. More of a companion device. But it'll have to be evident that one day, and one day soon, it could become a self-contained iPhone replacement.

I'd like to see complete Siri messaging/email interaction. Reading, listening to,and creating messages via your watch. Complete phone interaction as well, answering, calling, and talking to people through the iWatch has to be an option. This means a decent speaker as well. Also, it will need easy to switch from the iWatch to the iPhone and back, as needed. Native apps are the end goal, but a good beginning would be second-screen functionality. Apps on the iPhone or iPad should just be able to use it to show extra information or as an extra, extended interface. All that would require some hefty batter life as well, and in a small package, that won't be easy. But, we already need to charge our phones almost daily, adding another device would be annoying. The dream would be 1 month per charge, but the reality is they'd probably need to overcome low battery capacity with high convenience. A wireless charging solution for all Apple devices would be ideal. And, of course, an SDK so third-party apps could run on, and use the iWatch and enhance the feature set.

If the iWatch can aspire towards these goals, I think it will be a slam dunk.

Ally Kazmucha, how-to editor, iMore

I've always got a phone or another device in my vicinity that shows the time. In order for an iWatch to sway me, it'd need to be able to add some kind of value I don't already have in the devices I currently use. I wear a Nike+ FuelBand on a regular basis to track steps and calories. It also doubles as a watch. The iWatch would have to do at least those things.

I'd probably have to see more than step counting and calories, however. If it pairs with my devices and provides me information in a more meaningful way than what I already use on a regular basis, I'd consider it. If it's just a watch with some additional features with an Apple logo, I'd probably pass.

Chris Oldroyd, news editor, iMore

I never wear a normal watch. My iPhone is always with me wherever I go so it would be surplus to requirements. Added to that, my wrists seem to be allergic to every imaginable watch strap material ever used so the prospect of an iWatch is not something that excites me at all to be honest.

I have toyed with the idea of getting one of those fitness bands that can record your movements and sleep patterns; so if the iWatch included some of this technology it may make it slightly more appealing to me. Having said that, I just can't see how looking at your watch to read a text message or email is much easier than looking at your phone. It would just be another thing that needed charging and another expensive item that you need to look after.

As it stands today with the rumors that we have heard, the iWatch wouldn't be something that I would want or need for that matter. Of course Apple has a great knack of releasing a product and soon enough you realize you just have to have it and can't find a reason not too. If Apple wants to produce that level of want again, it will need to offer something a bit different than a wrist mounted notification system and audio controls for your iPhone.

Kevin Michaluk, founder, CrackBerry

I love watches. Always have. Always will. It actually kind of annoys me how smartphones have for many people replaced wearing a wristwatch. Watches have always meant so much more to me than just telling the time. For men especially, we don't have a lot of jewellery we can wear, so a nice watch is a must! I have several watches - I like to change them up based on my mood or the occasion. Like most watch aficionados, these days I'm a fan of Swiss-made mechanical timepieces. I love that the brands I wear are in some cases from companies that have been around since before the automobile was invented. That said, I'm not a watch snob - I embrace all watches - cheap or expensive, mechanical or digital. A cool watch is a cool watch.

I do love the fact that the watches I typically wear don't have a battery -- there's something I don't like about the notion of wearing acid on my wrist. And when it comes to the automatic self-winding mechanical watches I wear, I like that they are powered by my movements. I don't need to worry about changing batteries or charging them once I'm wearing one on a regular basis.

And this is what I want to see Apple address in an iWatch. I'm sure whatever Apple comes up with will be cool on the software and functionality front and will have a trendy design as we'd expect from Jony Ive. Where I really want to see innovation though is on the hardware / power supply front. Can they build a smart watch that I don't have to plug in and charge up every day or week? If I need to charge it up on a regular basis, it's still less of a watch and more of a gadget in my eyes. Either way, I'll definitely buy one and give it a solid go!

Derek Kessler, editor-in-chief, webOS Nation

I've worn an analog wristwatch every day for the past fifteen years. It's both a way to tell time and something of a fashion statement. I like to think of the analog nature of my watch as keeping my tech side grounded. Plus, analog watches by their very nature just look better than digital. Any iWatch will have to not just be useful, but it will need to be visually clean, simple, and unobtrusive. In short, if I'm wearing an iWatch I don't want it to be obvious that I am.

Apart from that, an iWatch has to be useful. It needs to show me all of my notifications, it has to let me read texts and emails and tweets, control music playback, and -- most importantly -- show me the time at a glance without constantly glowing in my face. Throw in a slim profile, conservative design, a classy watch band or the option to swap out my own, multi-day battery life, and easy, rapid recharging and Apple just might end up on my wrist. Until then, that spot is occupied by Skagen and Nike.

Ashley Esqueda, host, Monday Brief and Techfoolery

Unlike Derek, I've actually never owned a watch I've wanted on my wrist for longer than a couple of hours -- I have small wrists and get annoyed by a watch's tendency to loosely flop around my carpal bones as the day drags on. At the present moment, it's definitely more of a hassle than a boon to wear a watch. So what would Apple need to do to get me to buy an iWatch? Well, it would probably have to be E-Paper, for one. I know that's sacrilege in some areas of techdom, but after seeing how Pebble looks in bright daylight, it feels like Apple will either need to adopt similar screen technology, or create something similar to provide a matte, easily viewable screen.

Notifications are key with an iWatch, but I think I'd want ones designed specifically for the device as opposed to just "here are your phone's notifications, go read them." Heart rate notifications, a pedometer, reminders, and VIP texts (all set by an iOS app with a full docket of choices) would be the kind of things I'd want to know on my iWatch. Basically, I want the iWatch to tell me the things my phone can't (or can, but with more granular control over it). The at-a-glance nature of a watch is what Apple should keep in mind while designing it, and if Apple can do that with the iWatch, it might have a place on my wrist.

Joe Keller, writer, iMore

I'm still skeptical about an iWatch because I don't really understand its purpose. I don't find taking my iPhone out of my pocket to be a hassle. But if I were to use it, it would have to provide more than just notifications and music playback controls. What I'd like to see is something that would replace my iPhone for things that need to be done quickly: a text message, a short email, sending a tweet, that sort of thing. Navigation would be nice. Siri is a must. Again, I don't know if I would actually use this device, but with these features, I'll definitely consider it.

Leanna Lofte, app editor, iMore

In today's world, where we carry a smartphone with us at all times, I've always viewed wristwatches as a fashion accessory, not an necessary one. Because of this, if Apple were to make a watch, it would need to be more than a simple fashion statement to be desirable.

To appeal to me, an iWatch would need to be a companion to an iPhone and look amazing at the same time. The biggest thing I want is for it to send me color-coded notifications and even snippets of text from Messages and Email. As a mom who carries around a huge purse with her everywhere, it would be nice to be able to leave my iPhone in my purse as I go about my day without the fear of missing an important call or text message. With an iWatch, it would simply vibrate to let me know that there is activity on my phone. And if I have a bluetooth headset, I want to be able to answer the phone with my watch so that my phone can continue to remain in my purse.

Sure, other features like being a pedometer would also be nice, but to be a compelling buy for me, an Apple iWatch needs to improve the experience of my already existent iPhone that I would grow to be unable to live without.

You

We've had our say, now it's your turn. What do you want to see in an iWatch-type device? What would make it compelling enough for you to add it to your digital life?

MapQuest Travel Blogs for iPhone and iPad review

Posted: 08 Mar 2013 01:59 PM PST

MapQuest Travel Blogs for iPhone and iPad review

MapQuest Travel Blogs for iPhone and iPad is a great way to plot out your trip and then share it with your friends and family.

While Photo Stream and apps like Albumatic are easy ways to share photos with friends and family, they still leave something to be desired. If you go on a trip or vacation, you probably have things to say about your photos. Unless you leave a comment on your own photo, there's not much else you can do. That isn't the case with MapQuest Travel Blogs for iPhone and iPad.

Upon first launching MapQuest Travel Blogs, you'll be asked to create a login. You can either choose to use an email and register a new login or you can simply sign in with your Facebook or Twitter account. From here you'll be taken to your main Travel Blogs screen. This is where all your different blogs will be located. You can easily create new ones, edit or add to old ones, and more. Along the bottom you can also toggle between your blogs and viewing featured blogs from other Travel Blogs users.

To create a new blog, just tap on the New option. Once you've created it and specified times and locations, you can start adding content, in this case, what MapQuest refers to as chapters. Chapters can be almost any kind of content you'd like to add including a photo, story, activity, food, hotel, other, or transportation. Choosing an option like activity or food will bring up lists of places that you can actually tag. Or you can choose not to add an exact location.

After you're done creating your blog, you can sync it and share it with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, or via email if you prefer to only give the friends you'd like access directly. Any blog you sync will immediately update across any device you've got MapQuest Travel Blogs installed on. That means any changes you make on your iPad will also show up on your iPhone.

The good

Much better customization options than services such as Photo Stream and Albumatic
The iPad version has a great interface that makes browsing blogs super enjoyable
Syncing works pretty seamlessly across all devices

The bad

You have to tag a location to start a blog. This may be a deal breaker for users that don't want to post their location
Sometimes setting a location is a little laggy
Received errors on saving photos or updating captions occasionally, which was a little annoying

The bottom line

The iPhone is a wonderful tool for capturing memories and the iPad is just as good for viewing and sharing them. Sadly, Apple's own native services like Photo Stream are somewhat lacking. If you're looking for an Apple solution, you can always pick up [iPhoto for iPhone and iPad]( which also allows you to create journals and events. If you either aren't impressed with Apple's offering or don't fancy the price tag, MapQuest Travel Blogs makes a nice alternative that gives you a little more control over your content as well.

If you're planning on taking a trip soon and you're okay with having to provide your location information when creating blogs, give Travel Blogs my MapQuest a try. If sharing your location is a deal breaker for you, options like Albumatic or iPhoto are probably still a better bet.

Free - Download Now

Launch Center Pro updated with in-app messaging actions, new tweet action, and more

Posted: 08 Mar 2013 11:17 AM PST

Launch Center Pro updated with in-app messaging actions, new tweet action, and more

Launch Center Pro is an amazing little app that allows you quicker access to commonly used apps and functions. It's just received an update that adds quite a few new features and tweaks that make it even better including in-app messaging and email actions, new tweet actions, a reorganized action composer, and more.

If you have a lot of apps or want quicker access to commonly used functions and actions, Launch Center Pro has been able to cleverly give users these abilities for a while now without the need of a jailbreak. The updated version of Launch Center Pro adds all of the following enhancements -

In-app messaging actions — group messaging and preset text
In-app email actions — attach last photo taken or attach photo from the clipboard
Clipboard actions — place text on clipboard, place last photo on clipboard, convert text on clipboard, and x-callback-url support
Expanded Text Expander support — snippets can now be expanded automatically while launching an action
New Tweet action — tweet last photo taken
Reorganized Action Composer
Bug fixes and other enhancements

If you already own Launch Center Pro, it's a free update. If you don't, you can grab it via the link below.

$2.99 - Download Now

Facebook announces major redesign for web and mobile

Posted: 08 Mar 2013 11:08 AM PST

Facebook announce major redesign for web and mobile

Facebook has announced a major redesign of their News Feed yesterday, aiming to make it less cluttered. The new design is aimed at reducing clutter and focusing on content from your friends. To that end, Facebook has tweaked features like the sidebar, and added different news feeds in order to make specific content easier to access. These new sections are All Feeds, Photos, Music, and Following. Following, for instance, contains all of the posts from Pages that you follow, rather than posts from friends. Facebook is also going for a unified design on both web and mobile:

With the new design, now Facebook has the same look and feel on mobile, tablet and web. For example, the left-hand menu is accessible anywhere you go on Facebook. You also have a way to jump right to the top of News Feed whenever new stories come in.

The mobile version of the redesign will rollout sometime after the web. Facebook indicated that it plans to update iOS first, followed by Android. The full launch of the design is taking place over the coming weeks, so it's not clear when everyone will have access to the new design.

Do you like the look of this redesign? Do you prefer the current layout? Let us know below in the comments.

Source: Facebook, Image credit: Facebook

Price Drops: Football Manager Handheld 2013 for iPad Now 50% Off

Posted: 08 Mar 2013 10:15 AM PST

Football Manager Handheld 2013 for iPad and iPhone has had its price lowered to $4.99. That's down from its standard $9.99.

This is the 2013 version of this popular football management game for the iPad. Here's a little background on it, via the game's App Store page:

Football Manager Handheld™ 2013 puts you in the hot-seat and allows you to put your managerial skills to the test wherever, whenever and however you want.
Take the hot-seat at any club from a choice of leagues in 14 countries, and assume full control of transfers, training, tactics and managing your team live during match days as you strive for glory and silverware.
Whether it be in commute-sized bursts, or on-the-sofa marathons, there's an experience for everyone as you can choose between a full career or face up to the popular 'Challenge Mode', which offers a series of particular short-term...

Read the whole entry... »

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Composition Book for iPad mini: Kids’ Favorite Sneaky iPad Case?

Posted: 08 Mar 2013 09:44 AM PST

I did Career Day presentations at my daughter's school this morning – where I talked about my job as a blogger / site owner to groups of 3rd to 5th graders. It was a blast – the students had lots of great questions and comments.

The guidelines for being a presenter stressed that props and anything else to get the kids engaged were encouraged. So I took along a handful of favorite iPad mini cases, did a very brief rundown on each one, and passed them around the room. The cases I took in were a Zoogue Case Prodigy, a Portenzo Alano, a Portenzo Composition Book, the Oberon Design Celtic Hounds, and a Moshi VersaCover in use on my iPad mini.

Each case had some supporters – with the Celtic Hounds and Alano getting compliments on their great looks, the Case Prodigy getting praise for its versatility and the VersaCover appealing for its lightness and looking cool.

But the runaway...

Read the whole entry... »

Comments

Is it really $70? Seems like quite a bit for a miniPad cover. ... by Jonathan

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Introducing the new iMore for iPhone 2.0 app, with comments, landscape, favorites, video podcasts, and more!

Posted: 08 Mar 2013 09:35 AM PST

Introducing the new iMore for iPhone 2.0 app, with comments, landscape, favorites, video podcasts, and more!

The official iMore for iPhone app has just gone 2.0! That's right, we've taken everything you loved about the original, listened to all your super-smart feedback, carefully selected the new features we knew we could hit out of the park for you, and made them all so!

Free - Download now

Commenting

You can now log into iMore and leave comments right from the app. It's been the number-one most requested feature, and now it's here. And it's awesome. You can see comment counts right next to the articles in the main list, and you can view the comments from the bottom of any article. The + button lets you add a new comment, or you can hit "reply" beneath any existing comment to join the thread. Love it.

iMore app commenting

Landscape mode

We get it, some of you like wide-screen. Well, now you've got it. Pretty much everything you can do in the iMore app in portrait mode now works in landscape mode as well. Enjoy!

iMore app landscape

Font resizing

Some of our eyes aren't getting any younger, and they certainly aren't getting any stronger. That why we've added big, bold font resizing buttons at the bottom of every article. Just tap and change the font size to whatever best suits you and your eyes. (We're working on a system-wide font size setting for a future update, stay tuned!)

iMore app commenting

Favorites

You can now Favorite any article in the iMore app simply by tapping the star button at the bottom. When you Favorite an article, not only does it save it for off-line reading, but it adds it to the all-new, all-special Favorites tab in the app so you can easily find it again later. To un-Favorite, simply tap the star button again. (A golden star means it's Favorited.)

In-article navigation

Gone are the days when you had to tap and article, tap back, and tap the next article just to keep reading. Now handy, dandy arrow buttons can be found at the bottom of every article. Tap them and you can move back and forth through all the articles in a given category.

And if that's not fancy or fast enough, we've added a new gesture shortcut as well. Simply swipe horizontally and you can page right through, same as hitting the arrow buttons. Time saver!

Sharing and read-later

We've added an all-new iOS 6 share sheet to the iMore app, and it includes options like sharing via Mail, Twitter, Messages, and Facebook, copy to the clipboard, save to Instapaper, Pocket, and Readability, and open in Safari.

An accounts tab lets you login or logout of Instapaper, Pocket, and Readability right inside the app. It makes it easy to share and save your favorite stories any time, and anywhere, you like!

Video podcasts

Not only have we updated the podcast player to make it even better, and better looking, we've added support for video podcasts. Any of our shows that have video versions will now show up with video as an option. Just choose it and hit the play or download button at the bottom. (Sadly, we haven't been able to get cellular streaming approved, but we want it too so we'll keep trying!)

And, of course, we have all the new podcasts, and podcast art. Snazzy!

Rebuilt for speed

The entire iMore app has been rebuilt. As in new project in Xcode, start fresh rebuilt. That was done for speed. We wanted it to be fast. Screaming fast. We also went all-in on iOS 6. Even the custom pull-to-refresh we had has been replaced with the standard world-of-goo-to-refresh Apple provides.

The article view has also been updated to be edge-to-edge awesome.

That's all thanks to Tammy Caron's coding ninjary, Seth Clifford's pixel-perfect project management, and Nickelfish's overall outstanding-ness.

And to top it all off, the amazingly talented Marc Edwards of Bjango made us a brand new app icon that's beyond even Apple-level gorgeous.

Your turn!

So now it's your turn. We've built it and Apple's put it in the store. We'd love for you to download it and give it a whirl. Make sure you leave a rating and review on iTunes. Anything over 11 stars is fine! Joking! Not really!

Free - Download now

And If you find bugs or have additional feature requests (or are wondering why certain things we wanted to do, we couldn't do) head on over to the iMore Forums and let us know!

iMore app 2.0 feedback and bug reports

Apple devices dominate in-flight Wi-Fi usage

Posted: 08 Mar 2013 09:27 AM PST

Apple devices dominate in-flight Wi-Fi usage

Gogo, a provider of in-flight Wi-Fi service, has released some information on device usage during flights, revealing that Apple devices remain the most popular with passengers. Tablets and smartphones now make up 67% of all devices connecting to Gogo. Tablets are the single most popular device at 35%, and Apple devices are by far the most popular brand. Gogo says:

Apple devices are still reigning above the clouds, following the tablet trend with the iPad being the device of choice. Among all mobile devices being used to connect through Gogo, 84 percent carry Apple's iOS operating system while 16 percent carry the Android operating system. If you look only at the smartphones our customers are using, the iPhone makes up 73 percent and all Android devices make up 26 percent, with Blackberry and Windows based devices each making up less than 1 percent of devices being used in air.

The number one activity among passengers using in-flight Wi-Fi was general web browsing, followed by email and social networking. Given that Apple devices, and iOS devices in particular, are the most popular, it's no surprise that Safari is the most popular browser. It's worth noting that while Apple still clearly leads in in-flight Wi-Fi usage, Android has made significant gains since 2011, when it was at a low of 3.2% usage.

This is just the latest in many, many metrics reports that show iOS devices get used more than competing devices. Whether that's because they're easier or more enjoyable to use, or because the types of people most likely to really use mobile devices gravitate towards iOS devices isn't clear.

Any theories on why Apple devices seem to get used so much more than the competition?

Source: Gogo; Image featuring: AirplaneMo.de

iPad mini Predicted to Outsell iPad this Year: Sounds Right

Posted: 08 Mar 2013 08:45 AM PST

A post at the NPD DisplaySearch blog predicts that smaller tablets are set to take over in 2013, and that the iPad mini will far outsell the iPad.

The January panel shipment data may be an indicator for 2013, starting with Apple's product mix shift. As we noted in December, Apple had planned to sell 40M iPad minis (7.9") and 60M iPads (9.7") in 2013. However, the reality seems to be the reverse, as the iPad mini has been more popular than the iPad. We now understand that Apple may be planning to sell 55M iPad minis (7.9") and 33M iPads (9.7") in 2013.

I don't find this sort of prediction very surprising. Like many others, I was initially a bit skeptical about how compelling a device the iPad mini would be, especially once we learned it would not have a retina display. But within just a couple days of using one I was already wondering how much use my 'big' iPad would get....

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