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

iOS developer David Barnard has written an interesting piece on App Store pricing, and whether freemium is the inevitable pricing model for iOS apps, or if there is another model that hasn't been considered yet. The full piece is worth a read for anyone involved in app development or marketing, but an excerpt is below. I’ve argued that Apple caused the race to the bottom in App Store pricing, ...

Continuing its trailblazing efforts to deliver a great baseball viewing experience to iOS device owners, MLB Advanced Media has added Ford SYNC integration and social sharing with Facebook, Twitter, and email to its MLB.com At Bat app. Ford SYNC is a Siri-esque integrated voice control system built into some Ford automobiles. The At Bat integration allows users to get scores, schedules, and...

Bloomberg reports that LG Display and AU Optronics will serve as suppliers for the 7.85-inch display destined for Apple's forthcoming "iPad mini". The publication specifically claims that the device will be released in October.The orders will mark the first time AUO, a maker of panels for Apple’s MacBooks and Sony Corp. TVs, is supplying screens for Apple handheld devices. Carolyn Wu, a...

Reuters reports that Sharp's production of screens for the new iPhone is behind schedule. Sharp Corporation is one of three suppliers of the new displays. Production of Sharp Corp's screens for Apple Inc's latest iPhone is behind schedule as the Japanese display maker struggles with low production yields, a source close to the matter told Reuters on Friday.Reuters offers no indication how...

A Chinese firm has already created a knockoff of what is supposedly the next iPhone. As reported by the French site NowhereElse.fr [Google Translate], an Android phone called the Goophone i5 was designed to look like the leaked images of the next iPhone. Though the new iPhone is expected to be taller vertically, the Goophone sports a 940x640 3.5" screen, a 5 megapixel rear camera and a 1.3...

In the wake of Apple's $1 billion victory over Samsung in its high-profile lawsuit over patent and trade dress issues, The Verge reports that the company has officially requested U.S. sales bans on eight Samsung smartphones found by the jury to infringe upon Apple's intellectual property.- Galaxy S 4G - Galaxy S2 (AT&T) - Galaxy S2 (Skyrocket) - Galaxy S2 (T-Mobile) - Galaxy S2 Epic 4G -...

The company behind the popular LifeProof iPhone case today announced a new waterproof iPad case called the Nüüd. The case is an alternative to other high-protection iPad cases like the OtterBox Defender, with the addition of waterproof protection (to 6.6 feet).The most interesting part of the Nüüd case -- and the origin of the odd name -- is that the case appears to have no protection over...

With Samsung having already issued a public statement following the $1 billion verdict against the company in its patent and trade dress dispute with Apple, the company has now published its internal memo to employees about the issue, noting that it will continue to fight on through all available means until it wins its case.Certainly, we are very disappointed by the verdict at the US District...

Facebook employee Jonathan Dann has written a blog post detailing how the company's iOS engineering team designed earlier Facebook for iPhone apps and the extensive coding that was required to rewrite the new Facebook 5.0 app.The post is a bit technical in parts, but is worth a read for developers and others interested in how one of the most popular iPhone apps gets made.An excerpt:One of...

The new Evernote Smart Notebook bridges the divide between digital and analog by giving Evernote users the option to take physical notes in a special Moleskine notebook and then easily importing those notes into the Evernote app.The notebook is $24.95 and allows a new Page Camera feature in Evernote to take photos of a page and have it immediately available and searchable in Evernote.The...

The developer of the iPhone game Ninja Fish has released a video showing what the game would look like on a next-generation iPhone with a taller screen. The developer doesn't have any special information about the next iPhone, but is sharing the video as an intellectual exercise to show how games could look on the larger screen. Ninja Fish for iPhone is available in both a free, ad-supported...

Angry Birds Space has received a new update adding a new episode with content tied to NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover. NASA and Rovio have partnered extensively on marketing for Angry Birds Space, using the game to promote NASA's educational and scientific discoveries. The new update sees the piggies hijacking the Curiosity Mars Rover and serving 20 new levels on Mars for the angry birds. NASA...

Repair firm SmartPhone Medic has just posted a new video comparing several parts from the next-generation iPhone to their counterparts from the iPhone 4S. The parts shown include the front panel and flex cables for the external controls and dock connector/headphone jack, and while all of these parts have been seen previously, the video offers another good look at what changes can be expected ...

Chair Entertainment, the division of Epic Games responsible for the first two games in the Infinity Blade series, has released a new game called Vote!!!. The game pits U.S. presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney against each other with the same gesture-based fighting mechanics from Infinity Blade.Though the game only launched today, it has already drawn a lot of media attention in...

EA/PopCap announced today that it would be releasing a sequel to Plants vs. Zombies in the Spring of 2013. The company hasn't released any information about pricing, systems, or availability -- but did issue a press release with "comments" from characters from the Plants vs. Zombies universe:“Spring is crullest curlie ungood time, and plantz grow dull roots,” noted an unidentified...

Austin Yang, an industrial designer current living in Edinburgh, Scotland, has created a working iPad typewriter keyboard that uses a hammer with a capacitive touch bumper to touch the iPad's on-screen keyboard.Oddly, the physical keyboard doesn't map properly to the QWERTY keyboard on the iPad, most likely because of the mechanics of the typewriter that Yang has created. This is the likely...

Earlier this week, it was revealed that Steve Jobs' home had been burglarized last month, with a thief entering the under-renovation house and taking over $60,000 worth of property including several iMacs and iPads, Tiffany jewelry, and Steve Jobs' wallet with $1 in it. Kenny the Clown (Source: Jeff Vendsel/Marin Independent Journal) The San Jose Mercury News now reports that one of those...

Instagram has updated its app to version 3.0, adding significant support for location -- both for browsing your own photos, and finding those taken by others.Among other things, the focus on location will allow users to find other pictures taken around them -- at a concert or sporting event, for example -- but will also allow them to navigate through old photos as well. Instagram founder...