Craving for Xbox Live gaming on your precious iDevices? How about, you Android users? Well long no more. Microsoft has officially decided to bring the gaming platform to Apple’s much loved iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. And surprisingly to Google’s Android devices as well.

Now gamers have the option of editing their own 3D avatar, play with friends and keep scores – overall get a better and more integrated gaming experience. The most important thing the Xbox is bringing to users is the sporting of breath-taking graphics and incredibly clear sound quality. You can also keep track of all your games that you and your friends have been playing. Like a gaming history.

The Xbox app won’t forget its social component. Users will be able to send messages to friends and interact with them very easily. They will also be able to manage their friend list and invite and meet new friends. You get to edit your very own LIVE profile as well, adding you name, biography and motto. Users can also access Xbox Spotlight feeds and gamer spotlight. It can’t get any better than this.

And the good news keep rolling. You don’t have to pay anything in order to enjoy the Xbox experience, the iPhone and iPad apps are free of charge. But there’s however there’s a little tweak. Users of iDevices might be surprised to find after downloading the new Xbox Live, that the interface screen will be very similar to a Windows phone. Maybe that’s another way Microsoft hopes to get some new costumers?

Source: Forbes.com

Do you find yourself wishing you could read more, but you just don’t find the time? Would you like to fructify the time you spend driving you car to work or taking the train into town? Well, here’s the solution to your problems. Meet the new Audiobooks.com service which promises book enthusiasts unlimited access to audio books on demand, using cloud-based streaming of course.

Right now interested parties, have the opportunity of choosing between 10,000 titles – most of them best seller and classical all time favorites. We have the feeling the numbers will keep growing in the near future. The feature also allows for quick switching between devices, so when you go for a run in the morning and want to pause your iPhone, you can easily resume from where you left off, using your laptop when you jump into bed at night. Another plus audiobooks.com offers - users will never have to worry about storage issues, because the service is cloud bound.

Even if audiobooks.com does not have an app available for download in the App Store, the website is built in such a manner that it will work wonderfully for your mobile. To subscribe to the service you will have to pay $24.95 per month. If you are having second thoughts about whether or not to subscribe, the site provides a „browse the catalog” option, so you can be convinced you are doing the right thing when you sign up. Users of the iPhones, iPad and Android devices and PCs alike can benefit from the service, so nobody is left out from the world of futuristic culturalization.


Source: iMore.com

Team17 announced today that its much-loved latest iOS, Mac and PC game Worms Crazy Golf has had an update today, as well as a temporary price cut. Worms Crazy Golf is an unashamedly bonkers mix of classic 2D Worms gameplay and 18-hole golf high jinks. The gameplay takes place across a variety of weird and wonderful courses, and includes many fan-favourite features from the Worms universe, including the sheep, old woman, mole, magnets, mines and crazy chain reactions. The iPhone version of the game has three 18-hole golf courses, and the iPad version has four. Each course features an array of obstacles, including castles that teleport your ball, cannons that shoot it across the course, and obstructive comedy bats! Only skilful shot execution and clever use of special powers such as the parachute ball, or the ability to slow time down will see you managing to hit par and progress to the next hole. The game includes several different skill-based challenge modes.

The main focus of the game’s new update is to greatly reduce the file size of both the iPad and iPhone versions of the game. The update also adds five new golfing hats to the already extensive worm golfer customization options.

Click here to download the iPhone game for £0.69/$0.99/€0.79: App Store - Worms Crazy Golf

or

Click here to download the iPad HD game for £1.49/$1.99/€1.59: Worms Crazy Golf HD for iPad on the iTunes App Store


Source: Team17

AppleInsider reports today that digital rights advocacy group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is asking members of the public to help them protect the legal status of jailbreaking in the US. This is because the exemption from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that has made jailbreaking legal is due to expire this year. The EFF’s Senior Staff Attorney Marcia Hofmann is asking “concerned Americans who want to run software of their choice on the gadgets of their choice” to rally round and get in touch with the US Copyright Office and let them know how they feel about jailbreaking. AppleInsider notes that it was the EFF that worked to ensure that jailbreaking received exemption from the DMCA in 2010, and this year it wants to expand the criteria for the exemption to include tablets and videogame systems specifically via its campaign, Jailbreakingisnotacrime.org, which asks supporters to sign a letter from hacker Andrew “bunnie” Huang, the MIT graduate and author, asking for jailbreaking exemptions to be expanded to include security researchers and “other tinkerers and innovators.”


Source: EFF working to keep iPhone, iPad 'jailbreaking' legal in US

Boy Genius Report has a story today about a patent application filed by Apple and found by Patently Apple, which shows that Apple is looking into the potential of using magnetic MagSafe connectors with iOS devices. Apple already uses MagSafe connectors on MacBooks, and the patent indicates that it is thinking about expanding the use of MagSafe connectors to other devices. MagSafe connectors basically do away with the traditional “male” and “female” cable and port connectors, and aside from looking neater, also eliminate the danger of pulling a device off a desk when you snag a cable; if you snag a MagSafe cable, then you will only pull the cable off the desk, not the device it's attached to. BGR explains that the patent puts forward the idea that the magnets in this new type of connector would be coded with information that would be transmitted when the magnets were put together, with the benefit being that different accessories would be able to use a single connector port across the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or MacBook range.

The patent also talks about a stylus for the iPad, which would also contain coded magnets either at the stylus’s tip, or close to the tip. The stylus could then be put in a dock connected to an iPad or other device, and used to exchange data. Also included in the patent is the concept of the magnets in the stylus being an added security feature, with unique coding for each stylus that would mean that it would only work with a paired iPad or other device.

Source: Future iPhone and iPad may feature MagSafe ports, wireless charging

AppleInsider reports that according to new estimates just published by Strategy Analytics looking at the global smartphone market for the fourth quarter of 2011, Apple has just edged its way back past Samsung to retake the top spot as the world’s largest smartphone vendor. Strategy Analytics figures have Apple selling 37.0 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011, while it has Samsung as selling 36.5 million units for the same quarter. However, as far as unit sales for the entire year go, Samsung actually comes out the winner on that one for the first time ever, with unit shipments of an estimated 97.4 million for 2011, compared to 93 million for Apple. Nokia seems to be the only other smartphone vendor with any hope of catching up with Apple and Samsung at the moment, coming in third with an annual unit shipment total of 77.3, still a long way off the other two.

Source: Apple reclaims title of world's largest smartphone maker after blowout quarter

MacRumors reports that Valve has finally released the long-awaited Steam for iOS app. Steam Mobile is currently only at the closed beta stage, however, so although you can download it from the App Store, unless you’re already participating in the beta you won’t be able to use it fully as yet. However, this doesn’t mean we can’t have a good old look at the app and find out what its all about! Basically Steam Mobile is designed to be a companion app to Valve’s computer gaming platform, enabling Steam users to view their Steam friends, check out what games they’re playing, and also chat to other players during their Steam games, all on their iPhone or iPad. According to MacRumors, once it is up and running, the app will also enable Steam members to browse Steam’s game library, and also to buy Steam games via the app (to play on your computer, not on your mobile device). Looks like it works in a similar way to Bungie's iOS app.


Click here to download the free app: Steam Mobile for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad on the iTunes App Store

Source: Valve Releases Steam Companion App for iPhone - Mac Rumors

The results of Apple last 2011 quarter are in, and all we can say it’s wow. Major wow. The company reportedly had its best quarter in history and is now able to brag about it. Yes, ever financial metric was an absolute record. You name it: cash flow per share, total revenues, operating income, earnings per share, net income, operating margin, net margin, return on assets, gross profit margin – everyone of this turned out better than expected.

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple was delighted to bring the news: “We’re thrilled with our outstanding results and record-breaking sales of iPhones, iPads and Macs. Apple’s momentum is incredibly strong, and we have some amazing new products in the pipeline.”

So for the curious, here are the official numbers. For the fourth quarter of 2011 Apple reported total revenues of $46.33 billion, net income of $17.34 billion and earnings per share of $13.87. Looking back at the previous quarter, we can safely say that total revenues increased with 63, 89%, net income with 97, 25% and earning per share 96, 74%. And if we go back even further in time and we compare to Q4 of 2010, the increase has been massive: 73, 27%, 117, 59% and 115, 71%.

So after such a mind blowing Q4 apple is all set to send its market cap to $420 billion and take over at the top of the pyramid, by dethroning Exxon Mobile the most valuable company in the world. Even thought last year, there were three contestants to the throne: Exxon, Apple and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. This year somehow, Berkshire is less than half the market cap of Apple. The Cupertino company should really think its strategy.

Source: TheStreet.com