First Official iOS Controller MOGA is Met With Poor Reviews

iOS 7 Included a neat little feature: API support for game controllers. This means that developers can create standardized controllers that aren't tied down to one game manufacturer.
The MOGA ACE controller is the first of its kind to make use of Apple's new API to enable more engaging and precise gaming on 5th generation non-iPad iOS devices.
Unfortunately, the MOGA has been critically reviewed as a great device concept with lots of potential, but poorly executed. Some problems arise not from the hardware itself, but from games not being fully optimized to work with the controller API. Dead Trigger 2 is an example, where the default sensitivity settings are set astronomically high.
Hit the link for the full review by TouchArcade.

[Link]

Apple vs. Samsung - Apple gets $290m in damages

Another jury found that Samsung violated various patents that belong to Apple, according to reporters on scene.
Since most of the evidence presented was exactly the same as last year, where the jury again sided with Apple, the verdict isn't particularly surprising. However this time the jury only demanded $290 million, less than Apple advised but far more than Samsung said they owed.
With this recent development in the ongoing Apple vs. Samsung the jury has ruled in favor of Apple once again thus bringing the total damages owed by Samsung up to $890 million. But considering the nature of the legal process things may change.

[iFans]

It's been a while

Hey guys, as you've noticed it's been quite an awfully long time since I last updated this blog. School, finals, events, and other such nonsense have been keeping me away from here. For the most part this blog has been a sort of second-hand news site, I'm not in a place where I can attend any tech event or something of the like so I've just been relaying what I've read and heard from elsewhere. I'll probably keep doing this, relaying news and dropping my opinions and thoughts along with them, but I'm really interested in hearing what you all would like to see more out of in this blog. Let me know in the comments or in an email, thanks!

Silver look in iOS6?

Read the full story at iDownloadBlog

LG Tops Apple's Retina Display with a 440ppi Screen

Apple revolutionize the smartphone industry almost two years ago with their ultra sharp Retina display on the iPhone 4. Boasting a 960x640 resolution and a pixel density of 326 pixels per inch, the Retina display has been the top display on the market since its inception.

But LG will soon top that beloved display with a new 5" 1920x1080 full HD screen that boasts an impressive 440ppi. LG has long been Apple's supplier for the retina display, ironically, and this new display could easily be the Retina's successor.

So far, most iPhone competitors have managed to carry "higher resolution" displays simply because of a larger screen. Therefore the pixel density was nowhere near on par with the Retina display. But LG's upcoming 5" display has nearly the same resolution as the recent 24" iMac models, setting the record for the highest resolution screen to ever be created.

[iDB]

Popular Cydia hack AdBlocker free until May 2nd

Cydia hack developer Yllier announced on Twitter that his popular hack AdBlocker would be free until May 2nd 12pm (GMT).

AdBlocker is a popular tweak that, as its name implies, blocks most ads in Safari and other iOS applications. Head on over to Cydia and get your free copy!

[Twitter]

iPad 3 to be Announced on March 7th

Apple has just sent out an invites to journalists for a “media event” that will take place March 7th at 10:00 AM at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, which is the usual place that Apple holds their events. As you probably already know, Apple typically announces a new generation of their tablet, the iPad, about this time of the year. It was reported byiMore that Apple would announce the next-generation iPad 3 on March 7th and that the device would include a quad-core processor, LTE capability, a Retina display, and more.

Additionally, Bloomberg reported that production of the tablet had begun back in January of this year and that it would be releasing in March. The business blog also reported that the device would include a “high definition” display with LTE capability and a quad-core processor, which agrees with the rest of the reports that have been flowing in. Other reports have claimed that the tablet will include a larger battery, an 8-megapixel camera capable of capturing 1080p video, and a slightly different form factor.

[iFans]

15 Awesome Free Icon Sets

We all love free things, especially if they're really nice or worth something. Here's a list of our 15 favorite free icon sets that you designers and developers will love.

Please pay attention to the licenses for eat set!

Extreme Grunge Icons

A set of unique, grunge-style icons.

 

Sidebar Replacements

A Mac-esqe set of icons that resemble those found in the OS X operating systems.

Feedicons 2

A set of 69 tasteful, gloss-free RSS based icons.

Wheat Icons

A group of simple, white icons that resemble those found in the OS X menu bar.

Milky

A professional set of icons with a rounded style.

GLYPHISH

This is an incredibly popular resource that is designed and optimized for use on toolbars and tab bars in iPhone/Android apps, websites, and more.

Token Icon Set

128 unique and minimal icons available in both light and dark variants.

OpenPhone

A fun and elegant set of icons that mimic iPhone applications.

Social Network Icon Pack

Potentially the nicest set of social media icons. Includes icons to 40 social applications.

Android Icons

Vector-built icons built according to the Android UI guidelines.

Ruby on Rails

A small set of icons that are perfect for any Rails project.

Sushi

A wonderful set of hand-drawn icons.

Developper's Icons

A set of icons that are free to use for personal and commercial purposes.

Sketchy Icons

Another set of hand-drawn icons with a unique style.

Social Media Icons

A fun, colorful set of 20 icons for popular (and not so popular) websites.

The End.

The Ultimate Free Web Designer's Icon Set

The folks over at Smashing Magazine have composed a set of 750 free icons with their .psd sources. The original post is a bit old but this is still a great resource for web designers and developers in the need of thumbnails. LINK

The set consists of web application icons, user interface icons, e-commerce icons, general use icons, desktop icons, blog icons, smiley icons, button icons, keyboard icons, national flags icons, popular online services icons and many others.

[Smashing Magazine]

RAGE comes to the Mac

On Thursday, Aspyr Media announced the release of RAGE: Campaign Edition, the Mac version of the popular RAGE videogame. This game costs $39.99 and can be bought through the Mac App Store as well as other 3rd parties, including Aspyr's GameAgent.

RAGE®: Campaign Edition™ features the full, unaltered RAGE single-player campaign, bonus equipment formerly exclusive to the Anarchy Edition, including Double Barrel Shotgun, Rat Rod Buggy, Fists of RAGE, and Crimson Elite Armor, and access to the bonus Wasteland Sewers Missions which feature additional mutant blasting gameplay and looting opportunities. 

 [Aspyr]

The Loop: No Feb. Apple Event

Earlier in the week we heard a rumor that Apple would be hosting an iPad 3 event in February (And mentioned it here) and another unknown event in March. However, Jim Dalrymple from The Loop has completely debunked this rumor. He says:

“This is not going to happen, according to my sources,” claims Dalrymple. “Apple will not hold an event in February, unusual or otherwise. That’s it.”

 [The Loop]

iPad 3 to Have Quad-Core CPU But No Retina

Boy Genius Report has received photographs from an undisclosed source that supposedly include details of Apple's newest up-and-coming tablet, the iPad 3. According to the report, the iPad 3 will have a quad-core CPU as well as LTE capability for both Verizon and AT&T's networks.

The quad-core CPU will work perfectly alongside LTE because it will enable the iPad 3 to render webpages and internet content much faster than before. It's safe to assume that the iPad 3 will also have more RAM to work alongside the new processor and graphics chip.

BGR doesn't specifically say that there won't be a Retina Display, but they haven't proved any past reports of the iPad 3 having a Retina Display to be correct.

According to several sources, Apple is allegedly going to announce the iPad 3 at the end of February.

[Update] This has turned out to be false, Apple will not be hosting any event in February whatsoever.

Steam Mobile Opens Public Access

As you may have heard, last week Valve released their Steam Mobile app for both iOS and Android on a closed beta. Many users were upset because they couldn't do anything through the app without beta access. That all changes now though, Valve has opened the Steam Mobile service to all users.

Head on over to the App Store/Market and download your free copy today.

Apple Will use 802.11ac WiFi Standard This Year

According to Apple Insider, Apple is planning on adopting the new 802.11ac wifi standard across their product line this year. 802.11ac has a max speed of over 1 gigabit per second, more than three times faster than the current wireless N. Broadcom will be releasing 802.11ac chips soon that feature better range and power efficiency than existing chips. Don't forget that you'll need an 802.11ac capable router to harness the full 802.11ac speed.

T-Mobile to Officially Support Unlocked iPhones

T-Mobile marketing chief Cole Brodman claimed that as of September 2011 there were over one million unlocked iPhone users on their network, and that T-Mobile offers a "no-compromise" iPhone experience. And even though T-Mobile has shown great interest in carrying the iPhone, they are still waiting on Apple to make that a reality.

In the meantime, however, T-Mobile will start providing official support for the iPhone starting January 30th, 2012. The carrier will provide technical support, information about the iPhone's features and specifications, and answer basic questions about the device. So even though T-Mobile is the largest carrier in the US that doesn't have the iPhone yet, it'll be more than ready to facilitate it when Apple decides to launch it on their network.

Siri on iPad & iPod Touch?

After updating to the newly released iOS 5.1 beta 3, iOS hacker Sonny Dickson uncovered an interesting reference to Siri Dictation within the Settings app on his iPad 2. As reported by 9to5Mac, a new section under the keyboard tab in the iPad’s settings, labeled as “About Privacy and Dictation,” has a legal blurb that mentions Siri dictation a number of times. The actual dictation feature is still absent in iOS 5.1 beta 3, but it could be implemented by Apple in the final release of iOS 5.1.

Alternatively, the Cupertino-based company might choose to release Siri as an exclusive feature for the iPad 3. The report also claims that the same legal statement can be found on the latest iPod touch, so it could be a case of iPhone 4S software code not being properly removed from the iPad or iPod touch versions of iOS. Regardless, let’s hope that Siri for iPad—and perhaps iPod touch, too—is inching closer to reality. That would be a real treat.

[via iFans]

Android Phone Roundup

So since I last posted, quite a few new android phones have made their way out to the market. The most notable of these are:

• HTC Rezound
• Samsung Galaxy S II
• Google Galaxy Nexus
• Motorola RAZR

HTC Rezound

     The Rezound is an impressive phone from HTC that resembles the HTC Thunderbolt. It packs a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor from Qualcomm, an Adreno 220 GPU, 1GB of RAM, an 8MP rear camera capable of taking 1080p video, a 2MP front-facing camera, 16GB of internal storage, a 720p HD 4.3" HD screen and integrated Beats audio. Of all its impressive specs, the screen is the most noteworthy. With a pixel density of 342ppi, it outshines even the iPhone 4S's screen with its sharpness, not to mention the fact that the screen is significantly larger. 

Samsung Galaxy S II

     The Galaxy S II is the successor to the widely popular Galaxy S, and at the time of its release it was one of the slimmest smartphones, weighing in at 8.49 mm thick. The Galaxy S II features a 1.2 GHz dual-core "Exynos" System on a Chip (SoC) CPU, 1GB of RAM, an 8MP camera capable of 1080p video in addition to a front facing cam, and a 4.3" Super AMOLED+ screen. The Galaxy S II is one of the first devices to offer a Mobile High-def Link, this allows up to 1080p uncompressed video output with HDMI while charging at the same time. 

Google Galaxy Nexus

     The Google Galaxy Nexus is one of the most anticipated android phones of the year. It boasts a 4.65" 720p Super AMOLED HD screen, a 1.2 GHz dual-core TI OMAP processor, 1GB of ram, 16GB of internal storage, an 8MP camera that can take 1080p video & front facing cam, and is the very first phone to run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Motorola Droid RAZR

     The RAZR is an Android-based follow up to Motorola's iconic RAZR flip-phone that dominated the market years ago. The RAZR is the thinnest android smartphone on the market right now, being 11.1 mm thick. The RAZR is powered by a 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 CPU, has 1GB of RAM, has an 8MP rear facing camera that can take 1080p videos, a 1.3MP front facing cam, 16GB of internal storage, and a Super AMOLED Advanced 4.3" qHD screen.

Update

So it's been a while since I last posted here, mainly because of school. But my exams are almost over so I should be posting here regularly again. Thanks for being so patient with me guys!

HckrSvn

An Apology

Hey guys, I'm really sorry I haven't posted in so long now, my schedule's been really crazy and I've had several exams too. I should be back to posting here in a few days though, and I'll cover all the stuff I missed since I last posted.
Thanks for bearing with me,

HckrSvn

Samsung DoubleTime

AT&T has announced the DoubleTime, a new entry-level smartphone from Samsung that should appeal to messaging fanatics. The DoubleTime has two touchscreen displays and a flip out QWERTY keyboard.

The DoubleTime has 3.2-inch, HVGA (320 x 480 pixel) touchscreen displays on both the inside and outside. The inside of the flip contains a four-row QWERTY keyboard and shortcut keys for menu, home, back, and search. The DoubleTime is powered by a 600MHz single-core processor, and has 260MB of internal storage. It supports microSD cards of up to 32GB in capacity, and comes with a 2GB card pre-installed. The back of the phone features a 3.2 megapixel camera with camcorder functions.

The DoubleTime runs Android 2.2 Froyo with Samsung's TouchWiz interface. It will be available later this year in a white and pink color scheme. Pricing has yet to be announced.

[MobileBurn]