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

The Boombot REX Ultraportable speaker from Boombotix is an intriguing new Kickstarter project that promises to deliver quality sound in a durable, pocket-sized package. This hexagon-shaped Bluetooth speaker is designed to be worn externally, and as such, it sports a built-in clip and a rugged, water resistant exterior that can even withstand grime and mud. It has high powered dual drivers...

Chinese carriers China Unicom and China Telecom may be receiving the iPhone 5 on December 14, but the nation's largest carrier, China Mobile, has been left out the launch. Though speculation has targeted China Mobile's network exclusive TD-SCDMA technology as the problem, the company's president says that's not the case. As reported by Unwired View, China Mobile President Li Yue today said...

According to Nielsen’s newly released Q2 2012 Cross-Platform Report, second screen television viewing is becoming a widespread trend, with smartphones in more than 50 percent of U.S. homes and tablets in almost 20 percent. The data shows that 85 percent of mobile owners use their tablet or smartphone while watching television at least once a month, while 40 percent do so on a daily basis. 41...

Adding to the selection of Lightning accessories for the iPhone 5 and the latest iPod touch, Philips has announced four new speaker docks with built-in Lightning connectors.There are two docking speakers, a bedroom dock with clock, as well as a music system. They should be available for purchase in time for Christmas.Philips Lifestyle Music System (DCM2067) – an elegant and slim design...

The United Nations has released an app, created by three volunteers, to keep track of the United Nations observances such as World AIDS Day on December 1, or the International Day of Happiness on March 20th.UN Calendar of Observances: Making a Difference allows users to import observances into the iPhone calendar and includes sharing options for email and social media.The app is the...

Amazon today updated its Kindle for iOS app to version 3.5, adding X-Ray for books. With X-Ray, users can see detailed information on plot ideas, characters, and locations within novels.From the app description:X-Ray for Books - see the "bones of the book." X-Ray helps you learn more about notable characters, places, and phrases with descriptions from Shelfari.com and Wikipedia.X-Ray, which is ...

Loren Brichter, the creator of Letterpress and Tweetie, sat down with GigaOm to talk about developing iOS apps, the App Store, and more.Brichter was a member of Scott Forstall's iPhone team early on, and though he didn't have much to say about Forstall's ouster from Apple, Brichter did have positive things to say about Ive's promotion:"I’m excited about Ive" taking over the Human Interface...

ZeptoLab -- the development house behind Cut the Rope and its offspring -- has showed off its next project, another game called Pudding Monsters. We haven't seen any gameplay but TechCrunch got some hands-on time and has a brief preview:Pudding Monsters is all about getting pieces of pudding to stick together. Unlike the physics-based puzzler Cut the Rope that made players focus on getting...

Google has updated the Gmail for iOS app to version 2, bringing much requested features like multiple account support, autocomplete predictions for searching, an infinite scrolling inbox, and the ability to RSVP to Google Calendar invites from within the app.Six months ago, our team set out to completely rebuild the Gmail app for iPhone and iPad to give you you a faster, sleeker, and easier...

Chitika Insights has released a new six-month study that has found that iOS devices' mobile web share has grown 2% over the past two months while Android devices' mobile web share has decreased 2%. The data spans the six-month timeframe of May 27th, 2012 to November 27th, 2012 and includes devices like the Samsung Galaxy S III, the Kindle Fire HD, the Nexus 7, iPad mini, iPad fourth generation...

Just a couple days after the iPhone 5 received final regulatory certification in China, Sina Tech is reporting that China Unicom has started reservations for iPhone 5. China Unicom received 100,000 reservations in the first day, by 4pm local time, and required an ID card and other personal information to reserve an iPhone 5 for the first day. China Unicom rival China Telecom has reportedly...

When software piracy is mentioned, it is usually in reference to PC games and movies downloaded off of illegal sites. Very little attention is given to the piracy of iOS games, which has become a huge problem for some developers. Hunted Cow, the team behind the title Battle Dungeon, was forced to shut down its game this afternoon because the servers could not handle the load created by...

Just last week, iPhone shipping estimates in Apple's online stores dropped to a week, and in some markets, shipping times have now dropped even further. Online stores in the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Thailand are now showing shipping times of 2 to 4 business days, which suggests that Apple's supplies are beginning to match demand as the holidays...

Facebook is rolling out its new Photo Sync feature to its iOS users that automatically uploads all photos taken on the iPhone to a private photo album on Facebook. The idea is to make it easier and faster for users to share photos with their friends. When you turn on photo syncing, your mobile photos will be saved to a private section of your Facebook Photos. You can easily share your synced...

Apple will soon allow customers to custom load their iTunes Gift Cards for any amount between $15 and $500, according to a report by 9to5Mac.Apple has long offered flexible loading onto its Apple Store gift cards, but has resisted offering that on its iTunes cards. It's possible the company didn't feel the need to set up the infrastructure necessary for stores to report custom load amounts on...

Propellerhead Software's Figure, released earlier this year for iPhone, has been updated with a new iPad version and iPhone 5 support. The app aims to let amateur musicians create their own beats through powerful but easy-to-use multitouch controls.Truly designed for mobile user on the go, Figure gives you drums, bass and lead synth, controlled by an incredibly easy to use touch interface that...

Apple has updated the Apple TV's software as well as the Remote app for iOS, presumably adding support for iTunes 11 and the new iCloud features introduced within it. The Apple TV release has a build number of 10A831.The Apple TV can be updated directly on the unit by going to the Settings menu, then General, then selecting Update Software. The last Apple TV update was released back in...

Fantastical, the excellent calendar app for the Mac, has finally been ported to the iPhone. The app has been totally redesigned for the smaller screen, rolling out a new feature called the 'DayTicker' The Verge and The Next Web both have extensive reviews of the new app. TNW's Matt Panzarino had this to say:I’m not what you’d call a productivity guru. I don’t use any interesting methods ...