Apple is once again taking part in the holiday festivities with their 12 Days of Christmas promotion. Each day from December 26th to January 6th, Apple will be giving away a “fantastic selection of songs, music videos, apps, books, TV episodes and a film for free”. As with years previous, the promotion will only be available for select European customers due to music licensing restrictions.
A “12 Days of Christmas” application will soon be available in iTunes to follow the promotion.
[iTunes]
Epic Games has sold over 274,000 copies of Infinity Blade in just five days. At $6 per download, that comes out to be over $1.6 million in sales, making it the fastest grossing iOS application. The previous record was held by Cut the Rope, which managed to rake in $1 million in sales in 10 days. Though, Cut The Rope is just $.99, so more individual copies were sold.
Incredible.
Google has released Google Latitude in the App Store. The iPhone app was initially due to be released in February 2009, but was blocked by Apple to avoid
confusion with its native mapping app. The app allows friends to share their locations via Google maps. The maps are Retina Display quality and there is a pull-to-refresh option. Friends opt-in and can be added through email addresses. The video suggests using the app to meet up with friends or track travelling family members. Privacy settings include to the ability to hide your location and turn background updating off. Users on iTunes have reported some battery drain, but nothing substantial.
The app is compatible with the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod Touch 3G and 4G, and iPad running iOS 4.0 or later. iPhone 3G users cannot use this app. Loopt, foursquare and the check-in option of the Facebook app offer alternative locating services.
[cnet]
What would Angry Birds look like if it was released 20 years ago, during the golden age of side-scrolling platformers like Mario? Well, probably a lot like this.
Fake screenshots spoofing the highly addictive mobile game ‘Angry Birds’ by Rovio Mobile Ltd. As a physics-based game, Angry Birds is similar to those well worn ’90s games Worms and Lemmings, and lends itself well to a retro reimaging with blocky pixels.
Personally, I find the retro pixelated style very appealing, and would absolutely love to see an Angry Birds mod that could make this concept a reality. Check out the source for the full set, it’s beautiful.
Loading up a 3rd party browser like Skyfire just to watch the occasional Flash video isn’t an ideal solution, and Frash seems to have hit a dead end. HTML5 is starting to replace Flash on many major video sites, but it’s far from ubiquitous.
iOSFlashVideo is a simple bookmarklet that allows users to view Flash videos from Vimeo, MegaVideo, Flickr, DailyMotion, Break, and Blip.tv (with support for additional sites coming soon) from within Mobile Safari. It’s unclear how exactly this bookmarklet works, but there doesn’t seem to be any server-side rendering or conversion taking place. My guess is that it’s forcing the video site to load the corresponding HTML5-ready video, instead of the embedded Flash version. (See, many sites support both Flash and HTML5 videos, but sometimes it can’t auto-detect the browser being used, so it loads the incompatible Flash version by default.)
It seems to be a hit-or-miss for most users, so don’t expect too much. Nevertheless, it’s completely free, so try it out and let us know how it works! Installation instructions can be found on the homepage.
Taking the iPad to a coffee shop, sitting down with a latte, and reading an e-book is one of my favorite leisure 
time activities. The inevitable dilemma occurs when I need to step away from my table to pick up my order, get a refill, or browse the shelves. Do I surrender my primo table and pack up all my belongings, or do I leave it behind and hope no one snatches my iPad?
A new security device solves the quandry. The iPad Lock, offered by Maclocks, is an integrated clear case with built-in stand and cable lock which secures your iPad. Once installed, merely loop the cable around a table leg or chair back and your iPad is protected against theft.
The case and lock retails for $64.95 and includes a screen protector. It’s pricey, but will provide some peace of mind when out and about.
At one point in history, photography was an art. Now, it seems that anyone with a smartphone can take beautiful pictures with minimal effort. But, of the biggest annoyances that plagues smartphones is the dreaded blurrycam shot that always seems to crop up at the most inopportune moments.
A recent patent filing by Apple aims to rid the world of these awful shots, and make every picture flawless. In addition to the HDR setting that produces stunning photos, an “anti-blur” feature may soon be making its way into iOS. When a picture is taken, the simple act of tapping the “take photo” button can inadvertently shake the camera, causing the picture to be blurry. Apple’s patent depicts a system that would buffer a series of pictures (anywhere from 10-20) before and after the user takes a photo. Software would then analyze the photos, along with data collected via motion sensing hardware, to determine at which point the camera was steadiest, and use the resulting picture as the ideal shot. Multiple pictures could also be previewed for user selection.
Trying to make Ping actually useful is a daunting task, but it is one that Apple seems likely to pursue forever. Today, the folks in Cupertino are adding a social playlist element to the ‘social network all about music.’
It does pretty much exactly what you would think it would, given the name: you can create a playlist from iTunes music, and then share that playlist with anyone and everyone who is following you on Ping.
Click here to start making and sharing the playlists.
The iPad is now available for purchase online at BestBuy.com. Previously, customers could only reserve a unit for in-store pickup from their online store. Buying direct from Apple is still the way to go, but many customers prefer BestBuy’s additional warranty options and rewards program. For some odd reason, Best Buy has tacked on an extra $.99 to the price, but they do offer free shipping in time for the holidays. (Note: the base model 3G iPad is currently on backorder.)
[Best Buy]
iTunes Connect will be closing for the Holidays this year as well, which means no new apps or app updates between December 23 through December 28. Hey, even scrupulous app review board needs a break for the Holidays!
While iTunes Connect (the developer portal for the App Store) will be closing, the App Store itself won’t. The only party this temporary lull on the part of Apple will affect are developer’s trying to submit new apps, or submit updates to pre-existing applications.
In other words, the App Store will remain open from December 23 to December 28, just like it has since July of 2008. You can still purchase apps and games, just like normal.
The second bullet states that price changes that are scheduled to happen will actually cause the app to become ‘unavailable for purchase until Wednesday, December 29.’ After that, the app will become available for purchase with the new price.
So, for those developers out there who are planning a little something and are hoping to get it out the doors in time for the Holidays, you might want to hurry!
Thanks to PlyrR1Play for sending in the tip!