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Hand Circus Announces Seabeard, Coming Soon To iOS

Today, Hand Circus announced their new iOS game, Seabeard. Those who have been playing on iOS for a few years may remember Hand Circus for Rolando, one of the first big hits in iOS gaming (heavily inspired by LocoRoco). Seabeard will be published by Backflip Studios – another popular name in the scene (Ninjump, Paper Toss).

There aren’t many details on Seabeard yet, but it looks intriguing from a visual standpoint and it’s nice to see Hand Circus back with new material for iOS after ngmoco (the old publisher of Rolando) switched to a freemium model, which led to the cancelation of Rolando 3.

Seabeard’s first trailer (embedded above) shows a mix of Animal Crossing-style elements (build villages, manage population, go fishing) but also gives off a Wind Waker vibe with a focus on ocean exploration and boat mini games (not the first time Wind Waker has inspired an iOS game). In terms of character style, Seabeard is a continuation of Hand Circus’ PS3 game, Okabu.

From Hand Circus’ description:

Revive your trading empire - Set sail to discover lucrative trading routes and source rare and valuable items. Rebuild the legendary trading capital, Accordia and hire the finest market traders.

Conquer the seas - Set sail to encounter the challenges of the ocean, from feeding whales and rescuing shipwrecked passengers to battling with menacing sea monsters.

Further details on Seabeard’s gameplay aren’t available at this point, but Hand Circus is going to demo Seabeard at the GDC in San Francisco next week. From the trailer, it appears that the game will be Universal with iPhone and iPad support; it’s also not clear whether the game will be a paid download or if there will be freemium mechanics with In-App Purchases. According to Hand Circus, Seabeard is “coming soon” to the App Store.

Due Reminder and Timer App Refreshed for iOS 7

Due is a super fast reminder and timer app for iOS that I’ve been using on my devices for a long time. I’ve been following the development of the app through the years – Due is made by Lin Junjie, the same developer of the excellent Dispatch mail client for iPhone.

Due is highly customizable if you’re a power user, it syncs with Dropbox, and it’s also got a Mac app. Due provides more features for timers and time-based reminders than Apple’s Clock and Reminders apps, and it can be integrated with other apps in lots of cool ways.

Development of Due 2.0 is well underway, but in the meantime version 1.10 has been released with a refreshed interface for iOS 7. The UI update doesn’t change much about the app’s structure – everything still works the same – but it makes the app more pleasant to the eye on the new OS. Thankfully, the developer has kept a dark design so the app doesn’t have a plain white background like several other iOS 7 apps.

In terms of feature set, Due still has a lot to offer, especially for timers and snooze settings, but I’m looking forward to seeing how Due 2.0 will bring new functionalities to the almost four-year-old app. Due 1.10 fixes a few bugs, but there are no new features except for the updated interface.

Due is $4.99 on the App Store.

Next Angry Birds Game To Be Turn-Based RPG→

According to Kotaku, the next Angry Birds game is going to be a turn-based RPG called Angry Birds Epic. The game will soft-launch in Australia and Canada (so that Rovio will have time to gather feedback from a smaller audience and tweak the game before a general release) and it will have a crafting system.

Considering what Rovio did with another genre spin-off, Angry Birds Go, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of In-App Purchases for casting spells, summons, or getting more powerful equipment and items for crafting. IAPs were overused in Go, so I’m a bit skeptical about Epic.

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1Password 4.2 for Mac Features Improvements To 1Password mini, Editing, and More

AgileBits, makers of 1Password, have today announced version 4.2 of the Mac app, which brings several improvements to 1Password mini, AutoSave, and item editing. Alongside the update, AgileBits has also released a spiffy new video realized by Sandwich Video, embedded above.

When 1Password 4 for Mac was released last year, I praised the addition of 1Password mini, a menu bar utility that allowed you to easily access your 1Password vault for logins, favorites, password generator, and other categories, making it extremely convenient to find logins and passwords without launching the full 1Password app. In 1Password 4.2, 1Password mini is getting a few extra capabilities, such as editing support, possibility to view secure notes, and fuzzy search. While the main 1Password app remains the place where all features are available, 1Password mini becoming more versatile is good news for those who like the ease of access of the menu bar app.

The editing experience in the app has been enhanced, allowing users to switch between vaults while editing and to resume editing an item if 1Password is closed. Alongside various tweaks and minor improvements (which include the ability to sort by Category in Security Audit and better URL matching for sub-domains), 1Password 4.2 brings a smarter AutoSave window that, by default, will offer to save new logins in the primary vault.

1Password 4.2 has been released on AgileBits’ website, and it will be available on the Mac App Store as a free update soon after Apple’s approval.

Directional: Platforms, Not Consoles→

This week Federico and Myke discuss some of the cool links and stories they’ve enjoyed over the last two weeks, before discussing why Myke thinks that ‘online’ is making games less fun and what’s happening to the Ouya.

This week on Directional, we also consider this month’s game release schedule and set up a discussion about multiplayer and online features that will certainly continue in the future. Get the episode here.

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How To Open iCloud Tabs In Editorial for iPad

Editorial iCloud Tabs

Editorial iCloud Tabs

I’ve always wanted to be able to access my iCloud Tabs directly from Editorial, but, unfortunately, due to the lack of an iCloud Tabs API, that’s currently not possible. Last week, however, when I linked to the iCloudTabs for Alfred project by Kevin Marchand and saw that the workflow was based on a bit of Python code, I realized that I could modify his script to find a way to make Editorial read constantly-updated iCloud Tabs from a text file.

What follows is a combination of a server-side script and an Editorial workflow to read and open iCloud Tabs within the app. The system works and I’ve been using it every day for the past week with good results.

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Fantastical 2.0.5→

Last night, Flexibits released version 2.0.5 of their Calendar and Reminders client Fantastical 2, and there are a lot of improvements worth noting. Search is much faster for me (I use the feature several times a day) and URLs in the title of events can now be tapped; you can send birthday or invitee text messages via WhatsApp, open links in the 1Password browser, and there are new sounds for events and reminders if you use Fantastical’s notifications. I like the addition of 1Password support because if you use Fantastical to remind yourself to pay bills, you can log into websites securely and easily with the 1Browser, launched from Fantastical.

Fantastical 2 remains my go-to app to manage my schedule and todos, and it’s only $3.99 on the App Store.

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Verbs 3.0 is Updated for iOS 7, Integrates with Dropbox

Previous owners of Verbs, an instant messaging app for iOS, will find a free update on the App Store that readies the app for iOS 7, while introducing a slew of new notification options, support for Jabber, and integration with Dropbox for sharing files and photos in chat. Verbs has also added a couple of read later options for sending links to Pocket and Safari’s Reading List.

As conversations take place outside of the conversation view, the status bar will flicker when new texts appear, much like status updates in Tweetbot or Mailbox. Inside the conversation view, Verbs has added some small contextual changes to message bubbles, changing their color when they’re delivered, and adding the option to use shapes to indicate your buddy’s availability status.

Dropbox integration with the app works out of the gate without a lot of setup. If you have Dropbox installed on your iOS device and are already logged in, you can pick a file and share the link with a friend. If you setup your Dropbox account, you can add files as well.

While I still don’t like how you switch between conversations views throw a Safari-like carousel, the remainder of Verbs feels fresh, and the app has always maintained a decided simplicity for simply sending and receiving messages from common services. If you don’t have Verbs yet, you can give it a try for $2.99 from the App Store.

Day One Launches “Publish” Sharing Service for Journal Entries

Day One, an award-winning and MacStories-favorite journaling app for iOS and OS X, has traditionally focused on private, personal journaling: through the years, the app has received support for external integrations such as weather and location info, inline photo previews, and, more recently, motion activity data captured from the iPhone 5s, but under all that, the app has always been private with limited options for sharing.

With Publish, launching today on Day One for iPhone, Bloom Built wants to allow Day One users to easily share individual journal entries publicly while retaining control of sharing options, stats, and privacy settings. I’ve been testing Day One Publish for the past few weeks, and while I don’t think it’ll revolutionize the way people journal on iOS devices – the act of journaling is, ultimately, private – it provides a convenient and good-looking way to turn private entries into public webpages anyone can read.

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