‘Amazing Alex’ is Rovio’s ‘Angry Birds’ Followup [iOS Blog]
Finnish game studio Rovio has begun to drop hints about its next game — and its first outside the Angry Birdiverse. Amazing Alex will be based on the game Casey’s Contraptions, which Rovio recently acquired. Rovio CEO Mikael Hed told a Finnish TV channel that the game will focus on Alex, “a curious young boy who loves to build things.” The Next Web quotes Ville Jeijari, Rovio’s VP of franchise development: The “gameplay is a perfect fit in our arsenal with its approachable, fun and highly addictive take on the physics puzzler genre,” adding “We are currently reworking the title to enhance it, and getting ready to re-introduce it in a true ‘expect the unexpected’ Rovio style launch to an even larger audience.” Casey’s Contraptions, which has since been deleted from the App Store, was an educational physics-based title that launched a year ago. Amazing Alex should have somewhat similar gameplay, but polished to Rovio’s exacting standards
New iPhone Rumors Reiterate Claims of Smaller Dock Connector, No Change to Screen Aspect Ratio
Apple is planning on implementing a new, smaller dock connector, according to a report by iMore. The site has been reliable in the past and correctly predicted the release of an LTE equipped iPad. iMore also reported that Apple is still in the prototyping phase for the next iPhone and that the design is not yet set in stone. Despite some rumors to the contrary, according to our sources Apple still hasn’t finalized the design of the next generation iPhone 5 (or whatever Apple ends up calling iPhone 5,1).
Most Marketing Pros Say iPad Will Dominate Business In 2013
The iPad currently dominates the business tablet market so thoroughly that you can pretty much call it the entire market. A big point of debate in many business and IT circles is how long Apple will be able maintain such a position. One research firm reframed that debate by simplifying the question. Which operating system Related StoriesThese 9 Gorgeous App Icons Will Make You Wanna Eat Your iPhone [Gallery]JAMF Offers A Mac And iOS Management Solution In Casper Suite [Mobile Management Month]How To Use Spotlight To Quickly Search Apple’s Built-In Dictionary In iOS [Jailbreak]Apple Hasn’t Finalized Design Of Next iPhone, Smaller Dock Connector Expected [Rumor]Here’s What Steve Jobs Meant When He Said That Android Is Fragmented
Here’s What Steve Jobs Meant When He Said That Android Is Fragmented
You see that giant table of smartphones and tablets? Those are all of the Android devices app development firm Animoca uses to test its apps. You see, when you have dozens of manufacturers cranking out phones, tablets and phablets running different versions of Android, you run into a development issue. How do you make sure your Related StoriesDoes This Mysterious New Apple Icon Point To Future iCloud Developer Tools?These 9 Gorgeous App Icons Will Make You Wanna Eat Your iPhone [Gallery]JAMF Offers A Mac And iOS Management Solution In Casper Suite [Mobile Management Month]How To Use Spotlight To Quickly Search Apple’s Built-In Dictionary In iOS [Jailbreak]Apple Hasn’t Finalized Design Of Next iPhone, Smaller Dock Connector Expected [Rumor]
New Maps for iOS? It’s not exactly a surprise
The latest rumor to get everyone talking is that Apple will drop Google Maps for their own proprietary software. Sources told 9to5 Mac that a new Maps app will debut with iOS 6 with an Apple-created backend that will resemble the current Maps app, but with a more amenable solution. This really isn’t the big shocker that everyone is making it out to be. The writing has been on the wall for a couple of years. It was never a matter of if Apple would drop Google but when
Rovio rebranding Casey’s Contraptions as "Amazing Alex"
We’re hearing a little more every day about Rovio’s next big mobile title. Originally, we thought that the game would be a truly original release, but that’s not quite the case: The company has instead bought the rights to Casey’s Contraptions, a really excellent iOS title that came out last year, and now Rovio CEO Mikael Hed says it’s going to rebrand the property as “Amazing Alex.” Other than the name, however, it sounds like Rovio’s keeping the Rube Goldberg simulator mostly the same. Hopefully they will include the great multiplayer social system that was originally built for it. Casey’s Contraptions co-creator Noel Llopis has also put up a blog post explaining his side of the deal with Rovio, and he says he and Miguel Friginal won’t be involved in development of the game going forward at all. They never expected to sell the property, but when Rovio came along with “an offer we couldn’t refuse,” they gave it up
Apple Bringing Notes and Reminders to iCloud.com with iOS 6
As noted by Steven Stroughton-Smith (via 9to5Mac), Apple appears to be testing a revised iCloud.com portal at beta.icloud.com that shows two additional icons for Notes and Reminders in the background of the login screen. The standard iCloud.com portal displays only icons for Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Find My iPhone, and iWork. Attempts to log in through the beta portal are unsuccessful, and even access to the portal has become intermittent, with it occasionally showing broken images or simply redirecting to Apple’s standard iCloud information page. The development comes just days after Apple was observed testing notifications on the regular iCloud.com portal, suggesting that Apple may indeed be working on a significant enhancement to its iCloud services. More information may become available at next month’s Worldwide Developers Conference.
Spotify Updates Mac App With Pandora-esque Radio Stations [Mac Blog]
Spotify has updated its Mac app to version 0.8.3, bringing Pandora-like playlist-based radio stations to the music service. Users can start a new radio channel from any playlist or album in order to listen to similar songs. Among other new features, users can now get HTML embed codes to easily share Spotify songs on websites, as well as new sharing links to post songs directly to Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr. Current users can download the update from within the Spotify app, or directly from Spotify’s website.
Case Turns iPad Into Real, Working Etch-A-Sketch
The official Etch A Sketch iPad case might be the coolest thing, like, ever, but does it actually turn your iPad into a working Etch-A-Sketch? No, it doesn’t. But the Etcher does, which somehow makes it even cooler. The Etcher is — like anything good these days — a Kickstarter project. The case communicates with Related StoriesVMWare Makes BYOD Mandatory For EmployeesDiscover New App Deals Every Day With Appsfire Deals [iOS Tips]Spigen’s Zipack iPad Case Is Either Brilliant Or Stupid [Review]Droplr Goes Pro, Offers Ad-Free Experience, More Storage, Customization For $3 Per MonthDoes This Mysterious New Apple Icon Point To Future iCloud Developer Tools?
