MacRumors iPhone and iPad Blog: Apps, News, and Rumors

The Los Angeles Board of Education announced on Tuesday that it will continue on with its plan to equip all students, teachers, and administrators in the district with a computer, distributing iPads to 38 additional campuses ahead of state tests in the spring, reports The Los Angeles Times. The school district will also purchase laptops for seven high schools. The newly approved $115-million...

Google today announced an update to its Chrome web browser for iOS, bringing data compression functionality that can reduce data usage by up to 50%.To start saving data and turn on an even more secure browsing experience, visit “Settings” > “Bandwidth management” > “Reduce data usage.” Then simply turn the toggle to “On.” From this menu, you’ll also be able to track how much...

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote today denied Apple's attempts to thwart its antitrust monitorship, reports Reuters. Apple had asked the court for both a stay on the original order requiring an external compliance monitor (due to a pending appeal) and the removal of Michael Bromwich, the attorney appointed to serve as the company's monitor. Both requests were denied.Apple Inc lost a bid on Monday...

ClamCase, the company behind a range of keyboard cases designed for the iPad, today announced its the availability of its newest product, the ClamCase Pro iPad mini Keyboard Case. Designed for the iPad mini and the iPad mini with Retina Display, the Bluetooth keyboard case aims to turn the iPad into a portable computer that resembles a MacBook Air or a MacBook Pro, with an aluminum shell that...

Following the release of an iPad point-of-sale (POS) stand last year, accessory manufacturer Griffin and ShopKeep POS have once again partnered up to announce the ShopKeep Mobile, a specialized POS case designed for the iPod touch. Using Griffin's Olli technology and the ShopKeep POS app, the case features an encrypted credit card reader and laser barcode scanner to accept payments....

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit today issued a decision (PDF) upholding a previous ruling by the International Trade Commission (ITC) that Apple did not infringe upon a patent held by Google's Motorola unit. The ITC had ruled in Apple's favor last May, but Google/Motorola appealed that decision to the federal courts. The item in question, Claim 12 of Patent Number 6.272,333,...

U.K. based company NueVue introduced its line of cases for the iPhone, iPad, and iPad mini at CES 2014, which contain screen-cleaning properties and eliminate up to 99% of bacteria on a device's surface. The cases themselves come in cotton twill, leather, and canvas variants lined with antimicrobial microfibers licensed from medical company BioCote, and are also anti-static and shock resistant. ...

Namco Bandai’s classic PAC-MAN app has been named Apple's App of the Week, and as a result, it is available for free for the first time since its initial 2011 release. PAC-MAN is based on the classic arcade game and the gameplay focuses on navigating Pac-Man to eat pellets and fruit while avoiding ghosts. Along with the original maze, the game offers eight other mazes that all feature...

With the image-based Snapchat reaching huge levels of popularity with its ephemeral image and video messaging, new app Confide looks to offer the same type of secure, self-destructing messaging for text.The app allows users to send messages to anyone with an email address -- prompting those users to download the app -- and conceals the contents of messages until they swipe to select it. It also ...

Noodlecake's popular game Super Stickman Golf 2 is currently available for free for the first time since its March 2013 release. Super Stickman Golf 2, which is normally priced at $2.99, is a golf-based physics puzzler where players navigate through wacky mini golf courses aiming to land their ball in the hole in as few swings as possible. The game includes 30 different golf courses, a...

Apple today updated its Apple Store app in the U.S., replacing the previously available Holiday Playlist with a new free app, the 7 Minute Workout Challenge. Seven minute workouts gained popularity in 2013 as a quick way to complete a rigorous workout, and 7 Minute Workout Challenge is one of the more popular fitness apps in the category, with a 4.5 star rating and a $1.99 price tag. The app ...

Smart calendar app Sunrise Calendar has received an update today, bringing full support for the iPad, a new week view for the iPhone that allows users to view three days at once, and automatic background refreshes for events and notifications. iPad We've worked hard to bring the best Sunrise experience to your iPad. It's the most beautiful calendar everywhere now. We are introducing two...

Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung Electronics CEO Oh-Hyun Kwon have agreed to attend a mediation session on or before February 19, in advance of a March court battle over smartphone patents, reports Reuters. Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung CEO Oh-Hyun Kwon will attend the session with in-house lawyers only, according to a Wednesday court filing. Their legal teams had met on January 6 to...

Earlier today, Chinese site C Technology posted a pair of photos of what was claimed to be an internal frame for Apple's next-generation iPhone, a device said to be carrying a display measuring at least 4.7 inches, significantly larger than the current 4-inch standard for Apple's most recent iPhones. The photos were picked up by GizChina.com and have since made their way to increasingly prominent ...

Wearables are a major category at CES this year and while most of the available products have focused on humans, one company, i4C Innovations, is aiming its newest tracking device at a different consumer group -- dogs. Voyce is a health and activity tracking collar designed to be worn by dogs. Voyce uses a 3-axis accelerometer to track a dog's active and resting periods and a built-in radio...

Spotify's new free listening tier for smartphone customers, originally announced last month, is finally live for iPhone users. Previously, Spotify limited its free listening to desktop users, requiring a $9.99 monthly subscription for music access on mobile devices beyond Spotify's free radio streaming. On the iPhone, Spotify's service is built around shuffling, much like similar services from...

IK Multimedia today introduced its "iRing," a finger-worn device serving as a motion-tracking controller. Primarily designed for iOS music apps, the iRing allows users to control sound effects and other music parameters within apps using hand gestures. The iRing has three linear markers on the palm-facing side and three triangle-shaped markers on the top that are read by the iPhone's...

FLIR Systems showed off its FLIR ONE thermal imaging camera case for the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5 at CES 2014, allowing users to display heat signatures from live humans, animals, and environmental sources up to 100 feet away. In addition to its infrared capabilities, the FLIR ONE houses a rechargeable battery that can power the case for up to two hours, and also increases the battery of an iPhone...