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

Reuters reports on a decision from a Tokyo court ruling that Samsung has infringed Apple's "bounce back" patent. The report notes that the decision comes months after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) ruled that the patent was invalid, but the agency reversed that decision just last week, reconfirming the validity of the key claim of Apple's patent.Apple claimed that Samsung had...

Last month, Angry Birds-maker Rovio announced that it would soon be releasing "the best new games" on its own publishing label called Rovio Stars. Its first game, Icebreaker: A Viking Voyage was released today. Our sister-site TouchArcade has posted a brief item about it, saying their "initial impressions couldn't be more positive". In brief, the game revolves around you saving frozen viking...

The Nomad Lightning Cable is an Apple certified 3-inch Lightning to USB cable that originated on Kickstarter last November. After accepting preorders in April, the team behind the Nomad has caught up on backorders and is now able to fill and ship orders on a daily basis. As the Nomad is just three inches in length and comes equipped with a keyring adapter, it is one of the most portable...

Algoriddim has made its realtime video mixing app Vjay free for both the iPhone and iPad, presumably for a limited time. The apps are normally $9.99 and $2.99 for the iPad and iPhone respectively.The app launched last June on the iPad and for the iPhone in November.Mix and scratch your favorite music videos from iTunes or combine songs from your music library with personal video footage into...

Back in June, Best Buy ran a single day promotion that allowed iPhone 4 and 4S owners to upgrade their phones to the iPhone 5. The company told USA Today that it was the most successful day ever for its trade-in program and as a result, Best Buy plans to launch the campaign again on Friday, June 21. Customers will be able to trade in a working iPhone 4 or 4S, earning a credit of up to $150,...

Firaxis and 2K Games’ XCOM: Enemy Unknown is already available in several App Stores around the world and will hit the U.S. App Store later tonight. The game, which was first released for the Mac in April, is a re-imagined version of the classic 1994 title X-Com: UFO Defense. The iOS version of XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a port of the full game that was originally designed for consoles and...

The Lytro Light Field Camera, which was released in late 2011, is designed to capture refocusable images, allowing the perspective of the picture to be changed at will. Today Lytro announced that it has turned on a hidden Wi-Fi feature in the camera to go alongside the release of a new Lytro app. Pssst. We're letting you in on a little secret. That Lytro camera you own has a little wireless...

Google Reader is set to shut down on July 1, and while several companies have stepped in to fill the void, Feedly has been one of the most successful replacements with more than 12 million users, up from four million before Google announced the end of Google Reader. Feedly has transitioned from a simple RSS application to an RSS platform with the launch of a new web interface and a cloud...

Apple appears to be building LinkedIn integration into iOS 7, though the feature is not active in the beta of iOS 7 that was released to developers last week. It is said to look similar to the social network integration that iOS currently sports for Facebook and Twitter.Apple supposedly included Facebook integration in an early build of iOS 5, but it didn't make it into the final build because...

Facebook has updated its iOS app to version 6.2, adding mobile support for status update icons. The icons, which were originally introduced to the desktop edition of Facebook in April, allow users to add details about their actions to status updates. The icons link to relevant Facebook pages and give details on what a user is feeling, watching, reading, listening to, drinking, eating, or playing. ...

Mountain Sheep's Bike Baron has been chosen as the Starbucks App of the Week, making it available for free for the first time ever for customers who have downloaded the Starbucks app. Bike Baron is a an extreme biking game where the objective is to navigate through dangerous terrain and deadly obstacles. Our sister site TouchArcade has a review of the gameplay:Bike Baron successfully merges...

FiftyThree, the company that created popular iPad sketching app Paper, today announced that it received $15 million in funding for future projects, which will focus on both collaboration and physical creation.We are especially focused on two areas: TRUE COLLABORATION—Social media has changed the way we communicate, but real collaboration has been left behind. Still nothing has surpassed the...

Just a couple of weeks after rebuilding its iPad app as a universal app, Shazam has released another update, this time adding a music discovery feature called Pulse, a new-look tab bar, and more. Pulse allows users on both iPad and iPhone to see and sample music that is being tagged the most by Shazam users in real time. Other improvements include the ability to easily delete Favorite tags...

In Apple's ongoing antitrust case with the Department of Justice, Apple's SVP of internet software and services Eddy Cue once again took the stand today, where he revealed several small tidbits about Steve Jobs and the launch of iBooks. According to AllThingsD, Cue told the court that Jobs was highly involved in the creation of Apple's iBookstore, coming up with several of the features found...

Firaxis Games' XCOM: Enemy Unknown will hit the App Store on Thursday, June 20. The title, which was released for the Mac in April, is a re-imagined version of the classic 1994 game X-Com: UFO Defense. In the game, players will command XCOM soldiers in turn-based battles, build up an elite squad with unique skills and abilities, and manage base resources.XCOM: Enemy Unknown for iOS takes the ...

Skype has rolled out its new video messaging service, originally introduced as a beta back in February, to all users. Previously, Skype users could only use 20 messages per month without subscribing to the more expensive Skype Premium plan. Now, all users can send unlimited free video messages.Video messaging is now available to all Skype users. You can send and receive as many video messages as ...

According to TechCrunch, Facebook will unveil a new video capture addition for Instagram at a June 20th press event. Instagram's video capabilities are said to be similar to Twitter's Vine, featuring quick, short videos that are between five and 10 seconds long.On June 20, a source says Facebook will unveil that Instagram, its popular photo-sharing app, will begin to let people also take and...

During Apple's WWDC keynote, the company revealed that it would begin supporting MFi (Made for iPhone) certified gaming controllers. Since then, new details have emerged, suggesting that Apple is planning to partner with both Logitech and MOGA to work on the controllers. Apple has thus far provided reference images displaying two different controller types; one that is a standalone handheld...