Mac gamers, rejoice: one of the most acclaimed games for iPhone and iPad, Plants vs. Zombies, is now available on Mac OS X via Steam. It’s the game you know and love, available on your desktop computer of choice.
This “Game of the Year” edition also includes support for Steamcloud and a new feature called “Zombatar” which allows you to incorporate your own custom zombies into the game.
Check out the full press release below. [Thanks, Jack]
The official Pandora client for iPhone, Pandora Radio, has been updated to include support for the Retina Display. The new 3.1.3 version also includes bug fixes and performance improvements, improved detection of device audio failures and album art loading.
The app is available for free here.
[Thanks, Parth]
If you’ve been a member of Apple’s Developer Connection program, you’ve no doubt taken advantage of Apple’s compatibility labs. If you’ve ever wanted to test the next hit application on a variety of hardware, Apple launched on Monday a $99 Single Day Lab Day Pass for compatibility lab testing inside the Tokyo and Cupertino campuses.
500 different hardware configurations are available for testing from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and while Apple Lab Engineers will be on hand to assist you with configurations, items such as certification and engineering support aren’t available.
It’s suggest that you’d inquire for a Day Pass three days before you actually need to use the labs, and while the $99 Day Pass makes Apple’s labs accessible, you can’t forget about the travel and lodging fees you’ll incur along the way. Hopefully you’re a native on the American West Coast (or metropolitan Japan).
Apple has a spiffy compatibility lab site you can check out here.
[via Macworld]
Ever since I bought the iPad, I knew it was going to change the way I read news online. Be it the New York Times or MacStories, TechCrunch or The Huffington Post, the iPad and the developers who create new apps for this new device have changed the way we approach news. At least this is what we thought before Flipboard came out. Flipboard pushed the game to the next level, enabling users to create their own digital magazine starting from their Twitter and Facebook streams - something many had tried in the past but never quite nailed as much as McCue and his guys did.
Now we have choices: RSS readers, apps that start from RSS subscriptions to build something visually new, and Flipboard. In fact, we reviewed a lot of these “visual newsreaders” in the past.
Where does Times for iPad fit?
[Update]: What was implied as an update available to all users, the author must have just received his invite and got a bit excited over it. The MobileMe Beta is still invite only - you can learn more and request access to the beta here: Apple calendar preview.
With MacStories on pause between a bit of R&R, we hope you haven’t missed out on the new MobileMe Calendar Beta now available to you iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch savvy subscribers. Having just launched yesterday evening, your MobileMe calendar now includes redesigned views, along with improvements to calendar sharing and event invitations. We’ve shown it off before, but you actually get the chance to play with it. Enjoy!
[via The Loop]
Mac Magazine claims they’ve got the sources in Cupertino that points towards an August 16th or 17th media event to unveil Apple’s brand new line of iPods.
We have an idea of what the next generation iPod touch might look like, sporting a front facing camera and possibly a rear cam as well, though we’re not sure what the next iterations of the iPod nano or iPod shuffle might bring. It’s rumored that the shuffle might be getting a very tiny display, but then it wouldn’t be the absolute minimal shuffle we know and love (I might be the only one who actually liked the 3rd-gen shuffle).
I’d like to see a quick announcement of a new iLife at the event, and being a Verizon subscriber, you already know I’m on board for the next iPod touch. It only takes a couple of days for Apple to set up shop (likely at the Yerba Buena Center) for these events, so we’ll see if these rumors hold true or not.
Also, if Apple is provide a major update to the iPod shuffle, I would be excited to see something along the lines of Fitbit meets Nike+ in a portable package you’d wear all day. Wouldn’t that be cool?
[Mac Magazine via Cult of Mac]
For the 2% of that actually enjoy a Verizon iPhone rumor, or the 1% who believe Apple would reveal a 7” iPad-mini, Digitimes Research claims they have the scoop on when Apple is planning to release these fabled gadgets as 2010 starts coming to a close for Apple product releases.
We begin tonight with a bit of breaking news that we’re sure you’ve all heard about by now: Mark Papermaster, the controversially IBM figure that signed onto the Apple crew back in 2008, has left his position as the overseer of Apple’s mobile devices. The New York Times reports that Papermaster oversaw projects related to the iPhone 4 including the A4 chip and the Retina Display. Though it wasn’t specifically mentioned whether Papermaster was fired or encourage to step down from his position, John Gruber chimed in with a quick comment.
Inside Apple, he’s “the guy responsible for the antenna” - that’s a quote from a source back on July 23. (Another quote from the same source: “Apparently the antenna guys used to have a big chip on their shoulder. No more.”)
Gruber made it clear that Papermaster was axed, and I’m hopefull he’ll have some more to say in the near future. In the meantime, SVP of Macintosh Hardware Engineering Bob Mansfield will take over Papermaster’s role as the company moves forward.
[via New York Times & Daring Fireball]
Sometimes you lend those 5 bucks to that good friend of yours and you never get them back. But he’s a good friend, right? “I promise, I’ll give your money back as soon as I get paid!”.
Sure. I’ve been fooled many times. Too many. Now I have an app for that. And yes, I’m looking at you - you supposedly good friend of mine who still has to give me 37 Euros for the dinner I bought you three weeks ago.
Tabs by Patrick Mandia lets you keep track of where your money is and notify “your buddies”. You create a new tab for each contact who owes you money, you enter date and amount, then you’ll be able to either call him (mob-style), send him a message or an email. Too bad there’s no “here’s where he lives, go get him” option in the Settings. Perhaps in a future update.
Tabs is only $0.99 in the App Store. Go buy it, but don’t gift it to anyone.
This is an offer you can’t offer you can’t refuse.
