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Gameloft Brings Interactive World War II Archive To The iPad

With their latest release for the iPad, Gameloft has temporarily decided to put games on the shelves and focus on a more historic subject like World War II. And instead of re-creating the conflict through another first-person shooter videogame, Gameloft created a completely interactive and immersive 56-page book filled with photographs, maps and fac-simile documents.

The app, War in the Pacific, features a foreword by Senior Military Advisor Dale Dye and was curated by Richard Overy, Professor of History at the University of Exeter. As you can see in the promo video below, the app (which also happens to be a 463 MB download, not exactly “lightweight”) comes with original video footage from 1945 detailing the battles against the Japanese Empire and sports some neat multi-touch gestures to navigate between pages, move documents on screen and re-arrange content. There are also animated maps showing the most important events in the Pacific and, overall, the photo archive really looks impressive.

War in the Pacific is available exclusively for the iPad and will cost you $9.99. I wonder if in the future we’ll see, for example, schools adopt this kind of single-subject interactive publications as a way for kids to learn faster, in a new way. Read more

First Leaked Image of “The Daily” for iPad

The Daily by News Corp. is one of the hottest rumors in the Apple tech sphere these days. Initially rumored to launch in December 2010 alongside iOS 4.3 and now apparently scheduled for a late January official announcement (with iOS 4.3 now out in beta), The Daily has been making the rounds also thanks to speculation that Steve Jobs might be directly involved in the realization of the iPad-exclusive newspaper. The Daily is also expected to bring a new feature based on “app subscriptions” that would allow users to set up automatic, recurring payments within iTunes. Read more

Apple Launches Special One-Day Shopping Event In Asian Stores

To celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year (which in our calendar drops on February 3, 2011), not only are Chinese stores planning a series of events from January 26 to February 13 such as workshops and One to One trainings – Apple has also launched a special one-day shopping event in several Asian online stores. The event offers discounted prices on a variety of Apple devices and computers, accessories, games and software.

Shopping event prices are solely available on 14 January 2011, are subject to change, and are listed in Thai Baht. Promotional pricing cannot be combined with any other offers. Product specifications are subject to change. Sale prices are limited to stock on hand and while supplies last. Quantity of products purchasable by each customer may be limited, please see our store for more details.

The offer is now live in various Stores: Thailand, Taiwan and Malaysia have the deal page available. The offer is valid today only, and it’s organized in different sections like Apple Essentials, iPad Anywhere, Made for iPod and iPhone Essentials. Apple is also discounting peripherals like the Magic Trackpad, iPad Camera Connection Kit and Time Capsule together with the usual iPads, iPods and MacBooks. The offers seems, overall, to be similar to 2010’s Black Friday for the Apple Online Store.

App Is 2010’s Word Of The Year

The American Dialect Society has chosen “app” as 2010’s word of the year, which isn’t surprising considering the media’s focus on all things “apps.” Apple took the phrase and injected it straight into the heart of commercial marketing as they continually aired commercials for both the iPhone and iPad showcasing apps available on the App Store, while Verizon’s Droid Does commercials showcased the “limitless potential” of the Android Marketplace. 2011 will continue this trend as devices like the iPad introduce more powerful gestures, and as the iPhone penetrates Verizon for the first time. If 2010 wasn’t the year of apps, do you think it would have been the year of the iPad? I think so.

[MSNBC via TUAW] Read more

Listings For iPhone Is The Better Way To Browse Craigslist

Craigslist is a very weird and scary place depending on what you’re looking for. If it’s not the poor man’s eBay, then it’s definitely somewhere down the alley of sketch-city. The website looks terrible and it’s hard to navigate, listings include everything from broken computer parts to iPhone repair services, and you never know what creepy people you’ll end up meeting in person when its time to exchange goods. What Craigslist needs is a better way to organize and clearly display information.

Listings for the iPhone makes Craigslist easier to navigate while providing tools to help you keep track of items you want to continually check up on. Whether you’re searching for a used MacBook Pro, a new Motorcycle, or looking for a web designer, Listings is a much more intuitive way to search Craigslist.

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You Can Now Watch PBS Shows on Your iPhone

Back in October, we reported that PBS redesigned their website with an online player, and a new iPad app. They also said an iPhone and iPod Touch app were coming in Novem… well, January to be exact. PBS has finally announced the iPhone and iPod touch version of their iPad app. It looks great and it’s (you guessed it) free. Just like the iPad counterpart, you can watch full-length PBS productions wherever you are. It features over 300 videos: full length episodes, segments and previews with new content updated every day.

  • PBS primetime programs: Antiques Roadshow, Frontline, History Detectives, Masterpiece, Nature, Need to Know, Nova, Secrets of the Dead, and more.
  • PBS NewsHour segments.
  • Austin City Limits song performances.
  • Special clips and full-length episodes from the PBS special CIRCUS.
  • Original online series, including Nova ScienceNOW’s “Secret Life of Scientists” and “FutureStates” from INDEPENDENT LENS.

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A Freezing Cold Winter, An Exploded iPhone

Well, this is one of those stories worth to be told on the Internet. Imagine this: you live in Norway, and it’s cold outside. And by cold, we mean dozens of degrees below Zero. Scandinavian freezing cold works like that. A Norwegian woman is driving her car, with the iPhone plugged in the stereo playing some music.

Suddenly, her iPhone explodes.

The glass shattered, the iPhone broken on its magical Ive-designed back. She takes the iPhone to the nearest Apple Store, the Geniuses say they can’t repair it under Apple’s policies because an iPhone isn’t meant to be working under such temperatures. Fair enough, but Norwegian law for consumer protection allows the woman to claim her guarantee to be valid, as it overrides Apple’s standard iPhone policies if the device has been used under normal conditions. Freezing is normal in Norway.

It’s quite an interesting story, I told you. I hope my iPhone never finds itself in the freezing cold of Norway. [MobileCrunch via speechorgan]

Flickr For iPhone Now Supports Retina Display, Sharing To Twitter With Flic.kr

The latest Flickr update for the iPhone (Version 1.3) delivers some excellent new features for the Flickr community. EXIF data is now preserved across all of your photos (date, time, geo-data), you can batch upload up to five photos, there’s Retina Display support, and you can now share photos to Twitter via the Flic.kr short URL (which I must say, is a very cool looking URL). Your Flickr account just got much more mobile with their native iPhone app, and we recommend you download this update immediately – your eyes will thank you. Flickr’s official app is free on the iTunes App Store.