MacRumors iPhone and iPad Blog: Apps, News, and Rumors

Rovio has released a number of Angry Birds titles since its original game took off in 2009, but today its first Angry Birds game received a significant update that adds Bad Piggies gameplay in the form of a new Egg Defender mode. In Egg Defender mode, players will use the Red Bird (who has been equipped with new powers) to fight off wave after wave of Bad Piggies. Egg Defender mode adds 15 new ...

According to mobile publishing company Onswipe (via TechCrunch) adoption of Apple's iOS 7 beta software is ramping up faster than for previous versions. For example, after the iOS 6 beta was released to developers on June 11, 2012, Onswipe noted two weeks later that 0.25% of mobile devices that visited the company's sites were running the iOS 6 beta. Devices running the iOS 7 beta, which was re...

Southwest Airlines and satellite television provider DISH yesterday announced a new deal to bring free live and on-demand TV to Southwest's 400 Wi-Fi-enabled planes. While the service is accessible from many Internet-connected devices, Southwest and DISH highlighted compatibility with Apple's iOS devices and gave away roughly 100 iPad 2 units to customers on a Southwest flight.Beginning today for ...

According to two employees (via 9to5Mac) some Best Buy stores in the United States will offer the Pebble smart watch beginning on Sunday. The product, which carries an in-stock date of July 7th in the store's inventory system, appears to be limited to Best Buy's brick and mortar locations. Additionally, the inventory system points to an in-stock date of July 7th, which is the upcoming...

Microsoft has released updates to its OneNote note taking software for iPhone and iPad, nearly a year after its last release. Version 2 adds more consistent cross-platform display of notes, full-page view on iPad, and additional formatting options, among other smaller changes. Microsoft does suggest that current OneNote users sync their data before upgrading.Today we are proud to announce the...

French newspaper Les Échos reports [Google translation, via SlashGear] that investigators with the country's Competition Authority raided the offices of Apple's French arm last week as part of an investigation into the company's treatment of its resellers. According to the report, the agency is investigating whether Apple offers preferential treatment for its own outlets while disadvantaging...

Netflix today announced the release of Max, a personal content assistant and guide that the company calls the "child of Siri and HAL 9000." Max is designed to help users choose movies and television shows to view, and he does so using personal tastes. Max asks a user questions about mood and movie viewing preferences in order to come up with a suggestion. He also uses Netflix's algorithms to...

Microsoft today released a new SkyDrive Pro app for iOS, aimed at SharePoint Online users in Office 365.You can use the SkyDrive Pro apps to view documents in your SkyDrive Pro folder, select specific content to take offline when you are traveling or have low bandwidth, organize your content by creating new folders, and upload new content and share with others.Microsoft has a detailed tutorial...

Foxconn has announced a new smart wristband that can measure vital signs like respiration and heartbeat, and also check phone calls and Facebook posts, according to a report from the Want China Times.Terry Gou, the head of Hon Hai Precision Industry -- the name of Foxconn's parent company -- said the company's research groups are looking to add fingerprint identification to the product as well. ...

As announced earlier this month, Sprint subsidiary Virgin Mobile is set to begin offering the iPhone 5 later this week. While the no-contract carrier will offer the phone via its own website, select retailers, such as Best Buy and RadioShack, will also be carrying the Virgin Mobile iPhone 5. According to a tipster, RadioShack will begin selling the contract-free Virgin Mobile iPhone 5...

Back in April, Twitter launched its new #music app, using Twitter trends to select songs from popular and emerging artists on the social networking service. Twitter #music has received its first major update that adds several new features, including genres. Previously, #music was organized into lists that included popular hits and emerging music, but now, #music users can select from several...

Rolocule, which debuted its Rolomotion concept back in April, has launched its first game that uses the technology. The Rolomotion software is designed to convert an iPhone or an iPod touch into a motion controller, similar to a Nintendo Wii Remote. The first game to use the technology, Motion Tennis, hit the App Store this morning. Motion Tennis is meant to be played on the Apple TV using...

EA has announced that Plants vs. Zombies 2 will be delayed until "later in the summer". The game was planned for a release on July 18th.From the @PlantsvsZombies Twitter account:Plants vs. Zombies 2, originally slated for a July 18th release, will now be released later in the summer. Stay tuned for more details.The account later said the release was delayed because EA wanted to "make sure the...

Poppy is an iPhone accessory that looks like a cross between a set of binoculars and the View-Master toys designed for children. Poppy morphs the iPhone into a 3D image viewer and camera, which can be used to capture 3D videos and photos. The device itself functions similarly to a View-Master, with two eyepieces to look through and a top slot where the iPhone is inserted. When the iPhone is...

Dropbox today updated its universal iOS app with the ability to use swipe gestures to perform tasks more quickly, as well as the ability to share multiple photos at a time.What's New in Version 2.3 - Easily share a link to a folder - Swipe on any file to quickly share, move, delete, or favorite - Select and share multiple photos with your family, friends, and other humans - Bug fixes and...

G4Games points to a photo posted to Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo that allegedly shows display assemblies from the iPhone 5S. While better photos of the part surfaced last week and we've received a number of other photos of the assemblies, the new photo is notable because the parts appear to have been photographed on a production line. The photo is relatively small, but the...

Shortly before today's iOS 7 Beta 2 was released, one of 9to5Mac's readers found that iOS 7's Siri has the ability to correct pronunciations for names. Image via 9to5MacPreviously, getting Siri to properly pronounce names required a user to edit the "phonetic name" for a contact and manually adjust the spelling until Siri pronounced the name the correct way. Now, as 9to5Mac notes, a user can...

On Saturday, Walmart will begin offering the iPhone 5 at a $60 discount (from $189 to $129) and the iPhone 4S at a $50 discount (from $89 to $39), reports Mashable. The prices are permanent, available only in-store and require signing a new 2-year contract with Verizon, Sprint, or AT&T.We asked Walmart if the new pricing is temporary and were told that no, this is in fact the permanent price of...