Rovio today released the second major update to its Angry Birds spin-off game, Bad Piggies. The big new addition to the 1.2 update are the 30 new ‘Flight in the Night’ levels, with some of them requiring you to “sneak past the napping Angry Birds” – making too much noise will wake the birds up who will attack to try and sabotage you.
In this massive update to IGN’s 2012 game of the year, the Bad Piggies are on the move, and they’ve managed to hang on to the eggs so far! But watch out – you need to sneak past the napping Angry Birds, and they’re sleeping with one eye open! Navigate through 30 new Flight in the Night Levels but don’t make too much noise, or you’ll wake up some seriously furious birds! Also make sure to check out the new “Road Hogs” time trials: can you beat the clock (and your friends) with your crazy contraption?
Also included are 6 ‘Road Hogs’ levels which are time trial levels, another new sandbox and six new achievements. The teaser video of the update which highlights some of the new features is embedded below.
Download Bad Piggies: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android
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Things by Cultured Code, a developer company based in Stuttgart, Germany, has been around since the day the App Store and iOS 2.0 were unveiled. The app is famous for its minimalist, iconic interface and features which are a perfect mix of simplicity and serious business from the very first version on. It’s the perfect example for the ethos of “If 1.0 sucks, all other versions will suck as well”, it was done right the day it came out.
Yet, the first Things just didn’t work for me — I don’t know why, but it didn’t stick. I’ve never tried out other solutions, neither complex workhorse that is OmniFocus, nor have I tried a basic to-do app like Remember The Milk. The last three years, I was a Simplenote guy. I’m really into minimalism; in fact, that’s the reason why I initially desperately wanted to try out Things. But Simplenote worked better than Things for me. You could paste anything into it and the new content would be immediately available across all your devices, and on the web. My notes were always with me. And after I found Notational Velocity for Mac, a Simplenote desktop client, I completely stopped searching for other solutions.
But now, Things have changed. After over a year of beta testing, Things 2 with Cloud sync has finally arrived, and besides its big syncing feature, it’s got a bunch of other cool refinements and new possibilities along the way. (more…)
Rovio may have just released Amazing Alex a few weeks ago, but it’s committed to bringing more levels to its Angry Birds franchise that continues to be popular. In an update released today, the original Angry Birds game for iOS got 15 new tropical levels that sees the “piggies continue their beach vacation”, that is, until the birds show up.
Today’s update also sees the addition of four power-ups; King Sling, Birdquake, Super Seeds, and Sling Scope.
- King Sling upgrades your slingshot for “maximum power and velocity”
- Birdquake will bring the pigs’ defenses “crashing to the ground”
- Super Seeds will turn your bird into a “pig-popping giant”
- Sling Scope lets you use laser targetting for “pinpoint precision”
Upon launching the update you’ll get 20 free uses of a power-up and each day you get one additional use. But of course, if you can’t wait that long there’s a bunch of in-app purchase bundles to give you more uses of those power-ups, ranging from a 5-pack of any power-up for $1.99, 10 uses of a single power-up for $0.99 or you could go all in for 125 power-ups for $20.99.
A little side-note, Rovio has now (finally) brought full retina support for the iPad 3 so you can enjoy the game on the wonderful Retina display.
A few minutes ago Apple released an update to OS X Lion, which reaches version 10.7.3 and brings a number of bug fixes and improvements. This new version of Lion includes “general operating system fixes” and support for more languages; 10.7.3 also addresses compatibility issues with Windows file sharing and directory services.
The 10.7.3 update is recommended for all OS X Lion users and includes general operating system fixes that improve the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac including fixes that:
Add Catalan, Croatian, Greek, Hebrew, Romanian, Slovak, Thai, and Ukrainian language support
Address issues when using smart cards to log into OS X
Resolve issues authenticating with directory services
Address compatibility issues with Windows file sharing
Extended release notes from Apple’s website note that Safari 5.1.3 is included with the update and mention more fixes in detail:
- Add Catalan, Croatian, Greek, Hebrew, Romanian, Slovak, Thai, and Ukrainian language support
- Address issues when using smart cards to log into OS X
- Address compatibility issues with Microsoft Windows file sharing
- Address an issue printing Microsoft Word documents that use markup
- Address a graphics performance issue after sleep on some earlier iMacs that use ATI graphics
- Resolve a Wi-Fi connection issue when waking from sleep
- Address an issue that may prevent Safari from opening before joining a wireless network
- Fix a potential issue authenticating to an SMB DFS share
- Include RAW image compatibility for additional digital cameras
- Improve binding to read-only Active Directory Domain Controllers
- Improve binding and login speed for Active Directory users in a domain whose name ends in “.local”
- Improve reliability of Dynamic DNS (DDNS) updates by Active Directory clients
- Allow login with an Active Directory username that contains a space
- Improve compatibility with Active Directory schemas that have been extended with the “apple-user-homeDirectory” and “apple-user-homeurl” attributes
- Fix home directory Dock item for Active Directory users with mobile accounts
- Allow NIS users with MD5-hashed passwords to log in
Direct links to the 10.7.3 update below:
Other software updates released today:
PDF Expert for iPad was updated last night to version 3.2, adding some nice new features to further improve the capabilities of the excellent PDF manager, viewer and annotation iPad app. The big new addition is full text search, allowing you to search through all your PDFs, rather than just their file names. I gave this new feature a quick try and whilst the initial indexing took a few minutes, I did have 535 files saved in PDF Expert. Furthermore, once it was indexed, subsequent searches worked virtually instantly.
A new sorting panel is also present in PDF Expert 3.2, now allowing you to reorder your files by name, date or modified date. If you use a Bluetooth keyboard with your iPad you can now use those “Tab” and arrow keys for faster data entry, particularly for PDF forms.
Readdle has also improved the Handwriting and Wrist Protection features in PDF Expert so they work better with less accidental annotation because you have rested your wrist on the iPad’s screen. Included in this is a new eraser tool for your handwriting, so if you do make a mistake it is now easy to erase just what you want. Finally, yesterday’s update included the use of data protection APIs, so all your PDFs are now stored securely inside the app.
PDF Expert for iPad is available for $9.99 on the App Store.
To celebrate the second birthday of Angry Birds, which was first released on the iPhone on December 10th, 2009, Rovio has released version 2.0 of its popular game, adding new menus and graphics and a series of new birthday-themed levels. Since its release in 2009, Angry Birds has become a worldwide phenomenon, spurring the creation of spin-offs and sequels on a variety of gaming platforms and eventually finding its way to Apple’s iPad with properly scaled “HD” versions. Rovio recently announced the franchise has reached over half a billion downloads, with 300 million minutes played daily across all platforms and 400 billion birds “shot” by players.
Whilst today’s update isn’t exactly the highly anticipated “Angry Birds 2″, it is version 2.0 of the original game, and as usual with software updates Rovio has made sure to include bonuses and treats to dedicated players that have enjoyed the app over the past two years. For one, all episodes are now unlocked, meaning you can pick up Angry Birds from any world inside the game and start playing through all levels (which, obviously, aren’t unlocked). Alongside the slightly reworked interface and menu graphics, Rovio has designed 15 new “birthday cake” levels, and introduced a new orange bird that can be “expanded” to destroy level elements upon touch. Last, new achievements will allow Angry Birds fans to show their dedication to the series on Game Center thanks to this birthday update.
To celebrate the “birdday”, Rovio has also announced a series of initiatives across the globe, including a special presentation by Rovio’s Peter Vesterbacka at the Apple Store in Ginza, Japan. Angry Birds 2.0 for iPhone is available now on the App Store at $0.99, and you can find the just-updated HD version for iPad here. Check out more screenshots below. (more…)
A few hours ago Apple released an update to their iBooks app. Now at version 1.5, the update adds some significant features to improve the reading experience of the app. The release notes below detail those improvements:
- Nighttime reading theme makes reading books in the dark easier on the eyes.
- Full-screen layout lets you focus on the words without distraction.
- iBooks now features an improved selection of fonts, including Athelas, Charter, Iowan, and Seravek.
- Beautiful new classic covers for public domain books.
- A redesigned annotation palette makes it easier to choose a color for your highlighted text.
You can download iBooks for free from the App Store.
Earlier today Apple released an AirPort Base Station and Time Capsule Firmware update, reaching version 7.6. The update is compatible with all 802.11n AirPort Express, 802.11n AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule models and adds a number of fixes:
- An issue with performance on overlapping wireless networks
- An issue with AirPlay audio streaming
- An issue with configuring multiple entries for DNS servers
Apple recommends upgrading from AirPort Utility 5.5.3 or later. The new version can be downloaded by checking for updates directly in AirPort Utility.
Apple has just released iOS 5.0.1. The update is available now on Apple’s iTunes, although at the moment of writing this the new software version still has to show up on iOS 5′s built-in Software Update preference panel. iOS 5.0.1 is, however, appearing as an update on iTunes. iOS 5.0.1, as previously announced by Apple, brings battery life fixes for all devices running iOS 5, as well as security improvements and multitasking gestures on the original iPad. Battery life issues were especially reported in the past weeks by iPhone 4S users, and a number of unofficial “tutorials” have surfaced on how to improve battery life for the device. With iOS 5.0.1, Apple is saying battery life issues weren’t specific to the iPhone 4S, but to iOS 5.
Update: iOS 5.0.1 is now appearing as over-the-air update for several users.
Update #2: Apple has posted the security contents of this update, and among the fixes it appears to be one for the bug discovered by Charlie Miller, which allowed execution of unsigned code in App Store apps.
A screenshot of the official changelog below:
iOS 5.0.1 direct download links below (build number 9A405).
