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

Korean site ETNews.com claims that Apple is planning to use new "liquid metal" alloys in the iPhone 5 to yield a thinner and lighter device that is resistant to impact damage. Apple acquired the rights to Liquidmetal Technologies' "amorphous metal alloys" in August 2010 and soon after was spotted hiring engineers to work on the materials, but little concrete news on Liquidmetal's contributions...

A frequent complaint amongst some iPhone power users is the number of steps it takes to toggle Bluetooth on and off. It takes the user four steps -- Settings/General/Bluetooth/Toggle -- to turn it on or off. However, a just-launched app aims to make the task much simpler. Bluetooth OnOff launched last night and enables the toggling of Bluetooth with just a tap -- or even, via a blank toggle,...

We first previewed Propellerhead Software's second iOS app, Figure, last month. It's since been released and has been featured as Apple's iPhone App of the Week in the United States. The software, powered by Reason -- the company's flagship music production software -- aims to let amateur musicians create their own beats through powerful but easy-to-use multitouch controls. Playing bass,...

Last October, along with the iPhone 4S, Apple launched a new app called Cards that allowed iPhone owners to send real-world, customized, greeting cards to friends and relatives straight from the iPhone -- postage included. The app was just updated with a number of new card designs, including more than two-dozen for Mother's Day, coming up on Sunday, May 13, 2012 in the U.S. There are 28 new...

App developers Geoff Teehan and his team created this high resolution Photoshop file to help them when mocking up ideas for app designs. The file includes full-resolution elements of buttons, keyboards, and all the other user interface elements that are available to iOS developers. Instead of keeping the file for themselves -- which would be understandable -- Teehan decided to share it with...

As previously announced, Rockstar Games' hit Max Payne has launched on iPhone and iPad for $2.99. [Direct Link] The game, originally published in 2001, is a third-person shooter focused on fugitive DEA agent Max Payne. Payne becomes a one-man vigilante, going after the mob, drug dealers and many others after his wife and daughter are murdered. The game uses graphic novels with voiceovers as...

Ahead of the debut of The Avengers next month, Marvel has linked up with Loud Crow Interactive -- makers of the well-received A Charlie Brown Christmas iPad app -- to make a new interactive comic book app. The app follows Tony Stark's design logs from the Mark I Iron Man suit through the new Mark VII suit that he will use in the new movie. ii">Marvel's The Avengers: Iron Man - Mark VII...

Verizon today announced that as of April 22 it will initiate a $30 upgrade fee for current customers moving to new devices.On April 22, Verizon Wireless is implementing a $30 upgrade fee for existing customers purchasing new mobile equipment at a discounted price with a two-year contract. This fee will help us continue to provide customers with the level of service and support they have come to ...

Following the successful iOS release of Grand Theft Auto III, Rockstar Games has announced Max Payne will be coming to iOS on April 12. The full classic Max Payne PC experience, Max Payne Mobile has been optimized for both iOS and Android devices and features HD graphics, high-resolution textures, Social Club connectivity and user-customizable controls. The game, originally published in 2001,...

Last month, popular OS X alternative mail client Sparrow arrived on the iPhone -- but without "push email", something considered essential for a modern email client. The reason Sparrow lacks push is related to which notification API's Apple allows app developers to use, but the developer promises a fix in a blog post today about the new Sparrow version 1.1 update: What’s up on Push? Thanks ...

This year, Tax Day in the United States falls on April 17, 2012. Intuit's TurboTax has long been a favorite of many self-preparing taxpayers and has consistently worked well for Mac users as well (unlike Quicken). For the 2012 tax-filing season, Intuit released two versions of TurboTax for iOS users as well. One is a stripped down version for the iPhone called TurboTax SnapTax. It's limited...

Apple's iBookstore is coming to Brazil within the next 30 days, according to a Brazilian magazine. The iTunes Store and iTunes Match launched in Brazil late last year. Brazil has been specifically mentioned by CEO Tim Cook as an extremely important growth market for Apple. The launch of the iBookstore in Brazil may position Apple ahead of Amazon in the country. As the journalist Jardim points ...

As rumored last week, Facebook has released an updated version of its iOS app with support for the new iPad's Retina display. The update also delivers a number of bug fixes to one of the most popular apps of all time. What's New in Version 4.1.1 In this release, we added some features and fixed some bugs so now: - You can go offline in chat - The right profile picture appears for everyone ...

MacRumors reader Mike Jobson sent us this screenshot from the UK App Store that appears to hint at a forthcoming update for Facebook for iPad that would presumably add support for the tablet's Retina display. The Facebook app was last updated in December. ...

There are a number of iPad sketching applications on the App Store, with Penultimate clocking as one of the top 15 most purchased iPad apps ever. Now there's a new competitor that looks to take the iPad sketching world by storm. Paper is the first app by upstart development firm FiftyThree. A number of the employees spent time at Microsoft, developing Courier -- a dual-screen digital notebook...

2012 is shaping up to be a great year for political and news junkies, with huge Supreme Court cases, the Presidential election and lots more. To cater to that demand for news, Comedy Central has released an "Indecision 2012" companion app to its popular nightly news/entertainment shows The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. The app won't include any video content, but will act more as a...

Japanese blog Mac Otakara today offers a brief report claiming that Apple is working on a new product for release in 2013 that will carry a 5-inch Retina-quality display.The product which has 5-inch Retina Display is expected to be released in 2013, and resolution of this LCD will be 1,600 x 960 pixel (800 x 480 by legacy majour) or 1,280 x 960 pixel (640 x 480).Apple has been rumored to be...

The Harry Potter books have been made available as e-books for the first time, nearly 5 years after the release of the final book in the series. The books are available directly from author J.K. Rowling's Pottermore website. The complete collection costs $57.54 in the US. The books are purchased once from the Pottermore site and can be read via Amazon's Kindle service or downloaded in ePub...