Jordan Golson

Black Pixel today released its first major in-house app, Kaleidoscope 2. The app that helps coders, writers and others to compare the differences in folders, images, text, and more. The app was released as a beta back in November.At the time, The Next Web spoke with former Apple employee Michael Jurewitz and the rest of the Black Pixel team about Kaleidoscope 2:Kaleidoscope 2 is a lovely...

Apple and Rovio have paired up to give away Angry Birds Rio for the iPhone and iPad for free this week, as part of Apple's 'Free App of the Week' promotion.The game is normally $0.99 for the iPhone and $2.99 on the iPad.Angry Birds Rio brought more of the same bird-flinging action that we all are quite familiar with by now, but also threw a couple of new very welcome twists into the formula....

Apple has rolled out a new feature for Newsstand, allowing select publishers to be featured in a new Read Them Here First section, reports TechCrunch. Hearst is the first publisher to be featured, and its entire catalog is available to subscribers several days before the print editions hit newsstands, and before its magazines hit other platforms like Amazon's Kindle Fire.The exclusive...

Earlier this month, Facebook updated its Messenger iOS app with beta support for making VoIP calls between Facebook accounts. That feature was initially limited to Canadian iOS accounts but is now being opened to all U.S. accounts, reports The Verge.To access voice calling, open the Facebook Messenger app, open a chat with someone, and click the 'i' button in the top right corner. If the...

AT&T has again expanded access to the FaceTime Over Cellular feature to customers on all tiered data plans with a compatible FaceTime device. Previously, only users with an LTE device -- the iPad 3 and 4, as well as the iPhone 5 and iPad mini -- could use FaceTime over cellular. The only users who still can't use the feature are users with a grandfathered unlimited data plan.When FaceTime over ...

Apple vice president of retail Jerry McDougal, a key player in Apple's retail development over the past 12 years, has departed the company to spend more time with his family, reports IFOAppleStore. McDougal was Ron Johnson's right hand man when he was still with the company and was considered a possible replacement for Johnson when he moved on to head JC Penney. A key player in the birth of...

The New York Post reports on Bob Tedeschi, a former columnist for the New York Times' Gadgetwise blog who was sent undercover in 2010 to develop an app. The story was eventually spiked, but Tedeschi kept the project going.The app he created, Bobo Explores Light, received an Apple Design Award and a number of other accolades and praise. Tedeschi used a pseudonym to avoid any favorable treatment...

Later this year, Other World Computing plans to release a 3.5" SSD drive meant for tower-style PCs like the Mac Pro. The drive, called the "Mercury Viper", will allow OWC to build an SSD with capacities as large as 2TB, as well as transfer rates over 600MB/s over a SATA 3 connection.Currently, OWC makes 2.5" SSD's that can be installed in a laptop or desktop via a bracket, but the extra space...

Former Apple employee Don Melton has been sharing a unique look behind the scenes of the Safari development team. Melton was the team leader on both the Safari and WebKit products that are now used by millions of users on iOS, the Mac, and Windows.Previously, Melton explained how the Safari name came about, and the tale of Safari's User Agent string and the strategies his team used to keep the...

Rovio has updated its Angry Birds Space game with a 'Pig Dipper' update that brings the game's first aquatic worlds with new physics, as well as new power ups as well. Angry Birds Space was originally released last March, was the bestselling paid app of 2012, and has remained among the top paid apps ever since.SPLASH! The Angry Birds have landed in the weirdest galaxy yet! All the planets are...

Twitter has updated its Tweetdeck client with a number of new features, including the ability to get Tweet embed code straight from the application, a new predictive typing feature, and "performance upgrades for displaying multiple high-velocity columns".Reports The Next Web:The update includes changes made to the Chrome version of the app before Christmas, and one of the most visual changes...

Walmart and Straight Talk Wireless are now carrying the iPhone 5, offering a $45 unlimited talk, text and data plan with no contract. It was previously reported by That's It Guys. Straight Talk is a subsidiary of TracFone, and its iPhone customers will use AT&T's network. There is no indication of whether the phones will support AT&T's LTE network or not.Like other prepaid plans such as Virgin...

Apple today seeded build 12D50 of OS X 10.8.3 Mountain Lion to developers, the fifth beta release reports 9to5Mac. The first 10.8.3 beta was seeded back in November, and the third and fourth releases were released in December.Though the update comes with no known issues or new features, as before Apple has asked developers to focus on AirPlay, AirPort, Game Center, Graphics Drivers, and Safari ...

A less expensive iPhone is in the works and could go on sale as soon as this year, reports the Wall Street Journal. Digitimes reported something similar earlier today. The translucent iPhone case for the iPhone 5, from iPhone5mod While Apple has explored such a device for years, the plan has been progressing and a less expensive version of the flagship device could launch as soon as later this...

Aiming to compete with waterproof but usable iPhone cases like the Lifeproof, Otterbox has announced its Armor Series of cases. The case is designed to protect the phone from submersion for up to 30 minutes as well as 10 foot drops. Innovative design elements make the OtterBox Armor Series best in class when it comes to protection. Watertight latches, an o-ring seal, port covers and mesh...

Intel demoed low power versions of its 4th Generation Intel Core Processor family (Haswell) that should make its way into Apple's next generation of MacBooks. The chips were first previewed in September 2011 and low power chips should be available in late 2013 or 2014, while desktop models are expected this spring. Image courtesy The Next Web Intel also announced its intention to promote new...

LaCie introduced a pair of high-capacity storage devices at CES today.The first, the LaCie 5big is a 10 or 20TB external RAID box connected via Thunderbolt. The box includes five drives with multiple RAID options for backup and speed, as well as a pair of Thunderbolt ports for daisy chaining. The box is $2,199 in 20TB configuration, and $1,199 for the 10TB version.LaCie also introduced the 5b...

Adding to existing rumors that Apple is planning to add high speed 802.11ac wireless networking to its lineup later in 2013, AppleBitch notes that Apple has posted a job listing for a System Test Engineer with expertise with 802.11ac network environments.System Test Engineer - Wi-Fi (802.11)System Test Engineering is looking for an experienced test engineer with excellent problem solving and...

Griffin and ShopKeep POS have partnered up on a new iPad stand with integrated credit card reader, designed to be a physical point of sale terminal for retail stores.The stand will be available only to ShopKeep POS customers beginning this quarter.Durability and secure credit card transactions are often the main concerns merchants have for their POS system. Griffin's Kiosk Retail addresses...

The trade organization behind the USB 3.0 specification has announced a new upgraded spec that promises higher data speeds over backwards compatible connections. The new spec enhanced SuperSpeed USB 3.0 spec should deliver a 10 Gbps data rate -- the same as current Thunderbolt connectors -- though don't expect it any time soon. The new protocol should be finalized sometime in 2013, with initial ...