RunKeeper for iOS gets new social feed and leaderboard

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The fitness app RunKeeper already lets you check stats on your smartwatch, but what is activity tracking without a public shaming social component? Starting today, the iOS version of the app includes a new feed for viewing your friends’ logged workouts along with your own, complete with the ability to comment on and “like” activities à la Facebook. Version 3.5 also adds a leaderboard, which ranks how you stack up against your pals. Hardly earth-shattering features, but the competitive bent might motivate you to push through an extra mile or two. Grab the update via the source link below.

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Via: SlashGear

Source: RunKeeper (iTunes)

Let’s take a closer look at the PlayStation 4, DualShock 4 and PS4 Eye (video)

After getting a deeper hands-on with the PlayStation 4 and its very thorough tech demo today, The Playroom, we wanted to show you all the bells and whistles of the new console, its new controller and the new PlayStation 4 Eye. So we shot a video with Sony Japan’s Nicolas Doucet and walked through the game’s various demos. If you’re looking for a thorough walkthrough of the various new PlayStation hardware, look no further. It’s just below the break.

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Apple details OS X Mavericks’ energy-saving skills, friendlier network sharing

OS X Mavericks skips Apple network file sharing by default, plays nicely with others

While we learned many things about OS X Mavericks’ feature set at WWDC, there were a few important details hiding in the woodwork. Apple has just revealed a few of them through a new overview of the platform. Among them is a potentially huge step forward in the Mac’s willingness to play with others: Apple has switched its default network file sharing system from the ages-old Apple File Protocol to the more universal SMB2. The move gives OS X the same approach to sharing as more recent versions of Windows, helping it slot into the corporate world and mixed-platform households. AFP and the original SMB are sticking around, but they’ll now kick in only when needed.

The crew in Cupertino has also filled in many of the blanks surrounding Mavericks’ vaunted performance and power optimizations. Battery-saving tricks like App Nap and timer coalescing mostly involve heavy task rescheduling and throttling. Memory compression, meanwhile, relies on an old yet largely untapped algorithm to avoid hard drive access. A deeper dive into the new OS X release is available at the source, although it’s not for the faint-hearted — the overview’s developer focus doesn’t exactly make for casual reading.

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Via: Ars Technica (1), (2)

Source: Apple

Mario Kart 8 launching on Wii U in spring 2014 (video)

Mario Kart 8 launching on Wii U in spring 2014 (video)

At Nintendo’s E3 presentation that’s not actually happening at E3, we’ve heard the next installment of the Mario Kart series is coming to the Wii U sometime in spring 2014. Mario Kart 8 doesn’t stray too far from what fans expect of the casual racer, but there is one new twist. Courses now have 3D aspects to them, allowing you to “defy gravity, racing up vertical walls and upside down.” Features like air gliding, underwater racing and the option to ride motorcycles have been included from previous games, but apart from that, it’s standard red-shelling carnage. We didn’t hear much about online multiplayer, but we’re told it “will have deep integration with Miiverse.” Head past the break for the E3 trailer.

Follow all of our E3 2013 coverage at our event hub.

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Source: Nintendo, Nintendo UK (Twitter)

Paranoid Android’s HALO does Chat Heads-inspired multitasking, goes open source

Paranoid Android's HALO does Chat Headsinspired mutitasking, goes open source

It’s been a couple months since we first saw the fruits of team Paranoid Android’s labor around in-app pop-up window multitasking, and it looks like Paul Henschel and co. are finally sharing the finished product. HALO, as it’s called, loosely combines the ideas behind Samsung’s Multi Window and FaceBook’s Chat Heads into a slick multitasking interface. The feature is activated from the notification tray. It places an icon — or halo — on the display, which can be moved around very much like Chat Heads, or dismissed by double-tapping and dragging it towards the red X at the top. Swiping sideways from the halo shows a series of white lines and text bubbles that match and highlight the notifications in the status bar. Releasing your finger is like tapping on the selected notification, but instead of launching full-screen, the app opens in a pop-up window on top of whatever’s already running, just like Multi Window. The background app continues to run while you interact with the foreground app — to dismiss the pop-up window, simply tap outside of it. Other cool functionality includes swiping up to dismiss the last notification and the ability to pin apps permanently to the halo. But what’s really most exciting is that team Paranoid Android‘s decided to make HALO open source so anyone can be involved. Check out the awesome demo video after the break.

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Via: xda-developers

Source: Paranoid Android (Google+)

Rhapsody Concerts lets iOS users keep track of music tours, find shows nearby

Rhapsody Concerts lets iOS users keep track of music tours, find shows nearby

Back when SongMatch for Android was introduced to the public, Rhapsody said that its Shazam-esque offering was only the first of many “companion” apps to come. Today, as part of its plans to expand the suite of Rhapsody applications, the streaming service is introducing Concerts. The moniker says it all, really: the new application is designed to be a hub where you can easily keep up with — you guessed it — concerts from music artists you’re into or even ones you’ve never heard of. Using a device’s location services, Concerts can quickly find gigs around your area and display useful info related to them, including things like an entire show lineup and the ability to buy tickets.

While Concerts isn’t limited to Rhapsody subscribers, those who pay the monthly fee do get a couple extra tidbits, such as music playback and track downloads from within the app. Currently, it’s only available for iOS, but Rhapsody did tell us that Android and Windows Phone versions are “coming in the next few weeks.” For folks who can download right now, however, we have the App Store link below.

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Source: App Store

WWDC 2013 software wrap-up: iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks lead the way

This year’s WWDC keynote revealed both the next generation in Apple’s mobile operating system and their change of name re-track of their desktop-based OS X. With iOS 7, Jony Ive’s look and feel are rather apparent with a top-to-bottom adjustment to the operating system along with some pointed connections to the desktop side of things.

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Sony E3 2013 PlayStation liveblog!

Sony E3 2013 PlayStation liveblog!

Since Sony’s big PlayStation 4 announcement event in rainy New York City February, the Japanese electronics giant has been relatively quiet on the gaming front. With a teaser video in late May and an even teasier email sent to PlayStation Network users this past week, Sony’s begun emerging from the dark. Tonight, the proverbial curtain will be whisked away for the largest unveiling of PlayStation 4 to date. And knowing Sony, we’ll get an earful about the PlayStation 3 and Vita in the process. Follow belong after the break as we report live from the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena — fingers crossed for massive damage jokes!

June 10, 2013 8:45:00 PM EDT

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Ubisoft E3 2013 liveblog!

Ubisoft E3 2013 liveblog!

In a normal E3 year, we might not liveblog Ubisoft’s annual press briefing, but this year’s different. This year’s special. And Ubisoft is known for being an especially supporting partner when it comes to new game hardware launches, so we’re here in downtown Los Angeles at the … Los Angeles Theater to bring you breaking coverage of the French game publisher’s next-gen plans. With Assassin’s Creed 4 and Watch Dogs out of the way, what else does Ubi have up its sleeves? Let’s find out below!

June 10, 2013 5:45:00 PM EDT

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WWDC 2013 keynote roundup: OS X Mavericks, iOS 7, new Mac Pro, refreshed Airs and iTunes Radio

We know, oh boy do we know. With E3 and WWDC happening at the same time, it’s easy to get lost in all the news — we’ve got you covered for all the delicious Apple bites right here, though. Today the team from Cupertino delighted its keynote crowd with the official announcements of iOS 7, refreshed MacBook Airs and iTunes Radio. Even more exciting, however, was the sneak peak at the much-anticipated — and cylindrical — next-gen Mac Pro and the introduction of OS X Sea Lion Mavericks. Whether you’re just trying to recap all the announcements or find what you missed, our full roundup is up after the break.

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