Hasta La Gadget!

This morning Apple has revealed iOS 6.1 for their most modern mobile device lineup, this download and upgrade available over-the-air for all iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch models currently carrying iOS 6.0. This upgrade includes several updates to the system including, first of all, LTE support for a brand new set of carriers for the iPhone 5 (and perhaps the iPad lineup as well), a full list of which you can find on Apple’s iPhone 5 carrier page. Next you’ll find iTunes Match compatibility with individual song downloads from iCloud – you’ve never had that before, believe it or not!

The iOS 6.1 software upgrade includes a new button that will allow you to reset your Advertising Identifier and includes a set of bug fixes as well. This update will be coming straight to your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad today (or rather soon) and will be available at the touch of a button. Once you see your upgrade alert, you’ll have only to download the required software (107 MB in all) then hit install. A real simple process is what this is all about.

This software upgrade will be necessary for future apps, though as it has been in the past, it’ll likely be quite a while before any developer requires you use this ultra-newest upgrade to run them with ease. This upgrade is being pushed starting today, January 28th, 2013, and is wholly different from the iOS 6.0.1 update that came across back on the first of November, 2012.

Let us know if you’ve found anything wild and crazy happening when you’ve installed iOS 6.1 to your Apple mobile device once you’ve done it, and head to our massive Apple hub for more information on all your favorite Apple products through the future. Also note that this software update will not be working with device that were not able to work with iOS 6.0, and we’ve not heard any word on trouble with anyone using a device that already had iOS 6.0 onboard thus far. Load it up!

iOS 6.1 released: LTE and iTunes Match boosted is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s time to get real with Vine, Twitter’s newest and perhaps most bold introduction of a service since their inception as a mobile-friendly service. Here with Vine you’re invited to create 6-second videos that you construct instantly of one single shot or a series of shots by pressing the center of your smart device’s display. The results are posted to Twitter (and Facebook, if you like) as well as on Vine’s own server, these videos then able to be viewed near-instantly by your connected associates.

This app and the videos it makes are really, really simple. The service appears here at first to be working really swiftly right out of the box and has clearly been tested to work at Twitter-speed. That means right here and now that you’re not going to have to wait around to see the videos as they’re just 6 seconds long – ain’t nobody got time for anything longer than that, shall we say.

Click the image above to visit the Twitter post where the Vine video can be seen – be sure to take the audio off mute, too.

You can connect to your friends on Facebook as well as your friends on Twitter to create your own Vine feed when you open the app up, otherwise you’ll be seeing a feed consisting of videos from the most popular sources in the Vine library. This service is both a standalone environment and a connected environment with Twitter and Facebook – you can use it on its own, you can connect with Twitter and Vine, you can connect with Facebook and Vine, or almost any combination therein.

The only thing you cannot do is send your videos to Twitter or Facebook without them being posted to Vine. To keep everything running as swiftly as possible, Vine is taking the hosting duties from top to bottom. We’ll be discussing the privacy issues and worries that will inevitably come up with regards to this sooner than later, I’m sure – for now though, feel free to enjoy the quickness with which you’re able to work with this app.

Hot Tip: to find this app on the App Store, you’ll need to search for “Vine make a scene”, otherwise it’ll be buried under loads of other apps with the name “vine” in them that came before this beast.

Vine is at the time of this posts’s publishing an iOS-only app. It’s also restricted (sort of) to the iPhone and the iPod touch. You can open it up on your iPad if you wish, but it’s optimized for the smaller displays without a doubt. If you do end up downloading this app, be sure you’re connected with @t_chrisburns on Twitter as well as @SlashGear on twitter (more on the way) so you can keep up to date with us as we head to some of the biggest tech events through the immediate future.

We’ll be bringing Vine with us to Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona in just a few weeks – stick with us all the way!

Vine app Review: video Tweets unleashed! is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s now just about half a day since the follow-up to one of the most popular free games in the history of mobile devices has been released, and Temple Run 2 is already at the very top of the charts in the iTunes App Store. While it’s not quite there yet in the Top Grossing category, it’s right in at first place in the list of free apps on the market right this minute. That’s beating out Google Maps, Ruzzle, and Angry Birds RIO (newly free as of today).

This game takes on the greatest bits of the original Temple Run for mobile and increases its vitality with a whole new adventure with the same never-ending escape flavor. You’ve got the choice of several different characters with which you’ll be able to run, a variety of power-ups and bonuses you can earn or purchase with real cash, and of course a whole new set of levels to run through. The “monkey” that chases you here is more of an ape, crushing the little beasts from the original game with one foul swoop.

You’ll be utilizing left and right swipes across your screen to turn, up and down to jump or duck (and slide), and a bit of the ol’ tilting of your entire device to make sure you’re on the right side of the path (or lack thereof). The graphics on this game are noticeably more complex, everything is just a bit more beautiful, and it’s all ready for whatever iOS device you’ve got on hand, too, optimized for each screen and everything.

There’s an iPhone version (made for your iPod touch as well) and an iPad version, separate downloads, so make sure you get the right one when you hit the market. The only difference is the optimization for screen size – some ever-so-slight re-adjustments for user interface based on your display’s physical proportions. This app is free to play with a collection of in-game purchases you can choose to make or completely disregard – it’s up to you!

Make sure you hit the official Imangi Studios LLC link here to assure yourself you’re getting the right game in the end. The popularity of Temple Run (and now it’s second iteration) are plagued with their own popularity, with fakers coming in from all sides to send up false versions of their app to trick you and yours – stay safe!

ALSO NOTE: The Android version of this app will be released next week – Imangi studios has confirmed this with SlashGear and we must assume it to be true!

Temple Run 2 reaches #1 in less than 12 hours is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Earlier at CES, we got our hands on the Rode iXY 30-pin stereo microphone iPhone add-on that left our Lightning users a bit sad. Cheer up! The folks over at Zoom got us over to their booth to take a peek at the company’s new iQ5 professional stereo microphone. The iQ5 is a different beast than its aforementioned competition in that it works in conjunction with native iOS applications. What this means is that you can use it while recording video on your iOS device. The microphone itself rotates for this specific purpose, allowing for both horizontal and vertical audio recording in raw, 90- and 120-degree field positions. The recording resolution is capped at a respectable 16-bit/44.1kHz — though slightly less than we were hoping.

We didn’t get a chance to actually hear an audio sample from the iQ5, but we’re pretty confident it’ll sound better than the standard mic equipped on any of the supported devices. The Zoom iQ5 lacks a bit in customization department as well as build quality — we’re generally not fans of the cheap plastic construction, which is unlike most other Zoom products. The spec sheet certainly leaves us wanting, but it’s a start in the right direction for current-gen iOS devices. The iQ5 will set you back $100 and will start shipping Q2 of this year — until then check out the gallery to hold you over.

Filed under: Peripherals

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Apple has seen over 40 billion downloads from the App Store, with over 500m active accounts the Cupertino company claims, and nearly half of that 40bn figure being grabbed for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch in 2012. The huge milestone culminated in a record-breaking December, Apple says, where over two billion downloads took place.

In fact, there are now over 775,000 titles available, with more than 300,000 of those being iPad-native. The App Store is available in 155 countries, and Apple has paid out over seven billion dollars to developers during its operation. The 40bn download figure excludes re-downloads of Apps, as well as updates.

“It has been an incredible year for the iOS developer community,” Eddy Cue, senior vice president of Internet Software and Services at Apple said of the news today. “Developers have made over seven billion dollars on the App Store, and we continue to invest in providing them with the best ecosystem so they can create the most innovative apps in the world.”

Application availability has quickly become a key metric for smartphone and tablet platform performance, with any shortfall in title range often leaving an OS looking particularly unappealing in the marketplace. Microsoft, for instance, struggled to gain traction with Windows Phone developers, though has improved in more recent months, while Android – although increasingly popular – still suffers from a lack of tablet-specific titles.

Apple App Store blasts through 40 billion downloads is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.