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

While most USB-charged Apple products like the iPhone and iPad come with a USB charging cable in the box, there is a thriving third-party market for these easily lost accessories. Dexim's $20 Visible Green USB-Dock Connector cables have a distinctive twist: they use electroluminescence to "visibly show the electrical current flowing through the cable". Completing the illusion is the fact that...

Launched in beta last week, Valve has opened up its Steam iPhone companion app to all users. The app allows Steam users to view their Steam friends list, see what games their friends are playing, and chat with players in-game. Gamers can also browse and purchase from the Steam library of titles from the iPhone, to play later on a PC or Mac. However, there is no purchasing of iOS games...

Sir Benfro's Brilliant Balloon is a one-button side-scroller in the vein of the Helicopter Game or Jetpack Joyride, but with its own unique twist. Players take control of Sir Benfro and his balloon as they explore strange and fantastic worlds filled with weird creatures, complete with wonderful sound effects and soundtrack. Travel with inquisitive explorer Sir Benfro as he flies through...

NASA, the U.S. space agency has released a new iOS game called Sector 33. The educational title aims to teach youngsters math and reasoning skills as they act the role of an air traffic controller in charge of ATC Sector 33 as they guide planes to San Francisco International Airport from the East over California and Nevada. Players adjust multiple planes' path and speed to safely reach a...

The iPhone's glass screen may be made of Corning's advanced Gorilla Glass, but, contrary to Steve Jobs' assertion, that doesn't mean it is scratch proof. Many products exist to solve this problem, including ZAGG's InvisiShield or rugged cases like Otterbox's Defender. Both solutions work well, but the feel of screen protector films bother some users, and though the Otterbox solidly protects the...

In the early 90's, a small software company called Callisto Corporation released a number of games for the Macintosh, along with a few other productivity applications. One of those games was Spin Doctor, which some long-ago Mac Performa owners may remember because Apple licensed a 10-level Spin Doctor Challenger edition for bundling with "about a million" Performas, according to developer Seth...

One of the biggest issues with the iPhone, especially amongst those who live in colder climes, is the tricky question of how best to answer the phone while wearing gloves. Hip-Hop producer Will.I.Am noted on the car show Top Gear that he wears fingerless gloves in order to use all his touchscreen devices, and claimed that capacitive touch gloves weren't fashionable. Fashionable or not, a...

Three months after the iPhone arrived on Sprint, the carrier has launched an app allowing customers easy access to their account and to iPhone and Sprint customer support information. In the US, AT&T and Verizon, the other two iPhone carriers, both have existing account management apps. They all work similarly, allowing customers to pay their bill, track usage, and get contact information for ...

U.S. carrier T-Mobile has decided to offer "additional support" to customers using the iPhone on its network, reports TmoNews. While T-Mobile doesn't sell the iPhone, it reports that more than 1 million unlocked iPhones are used on its network and the additional support will be useful to T-Mobile's less tech-savvy iPhone users. T-Mobile will support users who have questions about "common...

Valve, the company behind the popular gaming platform Steam, has released a new companion app for iPhone called Steam Mobile as a closed beta. The app allows Steam users to view their Steam friends list, see what games their friends are playing, and chat with players in-game. Gamers can also browse -- and apparently purchase, though the app descriptions are a little fuzzy on that point -- the...

In what seems like a logical result of economic pricing strategies, iPhone app developers who put their apps on sale see an average increase in revenue of 41% on the first day, and total increases of 22% after 15 days. App store analytics provider Distimo shared the findings in a new research report. TechCrunch writes: When a developer decides to put an application on sale, there’s a...

Motorola Mobility has filed a new lawsuit in the Southern District of Florida against Apple, asserting six patents against the iPhone 4S and iCloud. As noted by FOSS Patents, the merger agreement between Google and Motorola Mobility requires the company to get Google's permission before asserting "any Intellectual Property Right in any new Action". As a result, this lawsuit is the closest Apple...

British actor and Apple enthusiast Stephen Fry has narrated this in-depth and iPad-only virtual encyclopedia called Inside the World of Dinosaurs. In the works for more than a year, 30 dinosaur specialists collaborated on the $13.99 app, with 60 dinosaurs detailed, 200 pages of original text, 84 videos, and, perhaps most enjoyably for many, 5 hours of narration by Stephen Fry. The art team...

Following a major expansion of iPhone 4S availability to China and 21 other countries two weeks ago, Apple appears to be preparing to make a few more additions to the device's market reach this Friday, January 27. Apple's current iPhone partners in Indonesia, Telkomsel and XL have both announced that they will begin carrying the iPhone 4S on Friday. Telkomsel is the country's number one...

Apple's new iBooks Author application enables users to make interactive iBooks on their Mac. Apple says the software allows authors to make "stunning iBooks textbooks, cookbooks, history books, picture books, and more for iPad." Richard Stevens, author of the Diesel Sweeties webcomic, has expanded that list of possibilities to include comic strips. Diesel Sweeties author Robert Stevens writes...

TechCrunch reports on Evi, a new Siri-like offering from True Knowledge that has launched for iOS devices [App Store] and as a beta for Android devices. While Siri provides a fair amount of integration with Apple apps and services such as reminders and calendaring, it is currently limited to the iPhone 4S, while Evi is compatible with all iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices running iOS 4.0 or...

Mapping company UpNext has released a new iPad app with its 3D mapping technology. The app shows uses points of interest and friends Foursquare check-ins to help users navigate on a 3D representation of close to 50 cities. TechCrunch, writing about the app, says: I am seriously impressed. The resolution is great and the onscreen update speed is amazing. It offers the best of services like...

Ten One Design, makers of the Pogo Stylus, have released a magnetic stand for the iPad 2 that is nearly invisible when in use, by repurposing the magnets designed for use with Apple's Smart Cover. Magnus is first machine-crafted from pure aluminum and then hand-finished using the latest manufacturing techniques. After that, customized magnets are installed into the base, and rubberized feet ...