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

With an unfortunate sense of timing, Microsoft has released pricing and availability information for its new 'Surface' tablet that was originally announced back in June. The release occurred just hours before Apple sent out invitations to its iPad Mini launch event next week.The Surface will begin shipping in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, France, Germany and Hong Kong on Friday, October 26th. ...

NimbleBit has updated its game Pocket Planes [App Store] with iPhone 5 support, as well as launching a brand new Mac app [App Store] for the game that will fully sync with the iPhone and iPad apps.Pocket Planes -- which has seen 2.5 million downloads to date from the App Store -- is a free-to-play tycoon-style game with premium currency, but it is easy to play and to advance without purchasing...

ThinkGeek, the creators of the iCade iPad gaming cabinet have released the iCade 8-Bitty Bluetooth enabled controller, announced earlier this year. The controller is roughly the size and layout of a classic NES controller, with an extra pair of A/B buttons on the right side and two shoulder buttons. The controller is now available from ThinkGeek's website for...

Sling Media, maker of the Slingbox set-top media streaming boxes, today announced its first new hardware products in four years, introducing the new Slingbox 350 and 500 boxes. The company has long been one of the leading vendors offering software and hardware solutions to allow users to stream live and recorded television programming from a user's television to their computers and smartphones. ...

LifeProof has sent a note to customers notifying them that the company's iPhone 5 waterproof case is taking a little longer to finish than had been planned. LifeProof CEO Gary Rayner said in an email that the company has an "army of engineers working 24/7 on three continents" to get the case into customers hands.You may be asking, "Why is LifeProof not yet on the market when other protective...

According to gadget review site The Wirecutter, the best iPhone 5 case at the moment is the Switcheasy Tones.After he left Gizmodo, longtime tech blogger Brian Lam decided to make a website to help people buy gadgets. It wouldn't focus on reviewing every possible product in a category, but would instead answer the question "Which one of these should I buy?". Now, The Wirecutter has named its...

Following word today that the iPhone 5 will launch in India on October 26, MacRumors has learned that the iPhone 5 has been approved for sale in Brazil by Anatel, the country's telecommunications regulatory authority. The approval was posted yesterday with Foxconn's factories in Brazil and China listed as assembly locations, but there is not yet any word on when Apple plans to launch the device...

SEGA announced today that classic video game Crazy Taxi is coming to the iPhone and iPad and posted a very short teaser trailer to promote it. The game is expected to be released sometime in October.Our sister-site Touch Arcade wonders about how the controls will work on iOS:It'll be interesting to see how Sega is going to tackle the controls for this version. Crazy Taxi is a game about...

In what is perhaps the inevitable next step for the marketing juggernaut that is Angry Birds, Rovio has teamed up with George Lucas for the next installment in the Birds-Kill-Pigs franchise.Angry Birds Star Wars, the company announced today, will be released on November 8th for iOS and Mac, as well as a host of other platforms. Rovio is going all out with the marketing tie-in, launching a...

Apple today updated its Apple Store app for iOS [App Store], adding support for the larger screen of the iPhone 5. Compatibility with the larger 4-inch screen of the iPhone 5 also means that the app will be optimized for the fifth-generation iPod touch when it becomes available. Apple is preparing to ship the first orders of the device, with the actual availability date being rumored for...

Though Apple allowed some select hardware partners to work on Lightning connector-compatible hardware accessories, most of those are not yet for sale. However, that's not to stop some enterprising users from making do with what they have. The Next Web has instructions on how to modify the Elevation Dock -- a popular Kickstarter project -- to fit the iPhone 5. The site says the modification,...

Lockitron has announced a new hardware product that attaches to most deadbolt locks and allows the door to be locked and unlocked via an app. It also takes advantage of Bluetooth 4.0 to unlock the door when a registered iPhone 4S or 5 approaches the door.Lockitron previously had a lock that was a full replacement for the entire lock and handle making it nearly impossible to use for customers...

Photography site dpreview.com has published a lengthy review of the iPhone 5's camera. Last year, famed photographer Annie Leibovitz called the iPhone "the snapshot camera of today", and the iPhone has been the most popular camera on Flickr for years.The full review is worth a read, but this excerpt looks at interesting questions about the future of casual photography and how the simple...

iOS gaming site (and sister site) TouchArcade has posted a roundup of their Best iOS Games for September 2012. The list of games consists of the highest rated iOS games from just the month of September, and offers a variety of genres. Topping the list are a physics puzzler, matching puzzler, and a side-scrolling hack-and-slash game. The remainder of the list offers a similarly diverse list ...

A pair of fun videos have shown what not to do to an iPhone 5. The first, from Android Authority (via Cult of Mac), shows the iPhone 5 going through several torture tests, including spilled coffee and being fully submerged in water. It fared well in the first, but less so in the second.The second test, from Wicked Lasers (via TechCrunch), shows 6 watts of lasers aimed at the iPhone 5's screen; ...

Google has updated the official Gmail for iOS app with support for the iPhone 5's larger screen. The app allows users to read and organize their Gmail messages, as well as push notifications for new messages.Google also announced a new way to sync with Google Contacts on iOS. The service now supports CardDav, an open protocol for contact syncing. Gmail for iPhone and iPad is a free download...

Camera+, the top-selling non-game app for the iPhone, has made its way to the iPad. The app, which has sold more than 9 million copies, is a full-featured replacement for the standard Camera app that comes with the iPhone. It includes a plethora of options for editing and sharing pictures, as well as a variety of different shooting modes.The new version of Camera+ adds support for iCloud, as...

Our sister site TouchArcade got an early peek at Bad Piggies, the contraption-focused addition to the Angry Birds-universe. The game has the Pigs building grand contraptions to steal eggs away from the birds.The game will arrive sometime tomorrow for the iPhone, iPad and Mac. Historically, Rovio has released games at midnight Pacific time.We start things out with the first level, which shows...