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

Google has announced plans to roll out an update to the iOS version of Chrome that will enable voice searching. The feature will function similarly to Siri on the iPhone, requiring a tap on the microphone to bring up the interactive search interface. Touch the microphone, say your search query aloud and see your results (in some cases spoken back to you), all without typing a single letter....

FiftyThree, the developer behind the popular sketching app Paper, has posted a lengthy article examining the new Zoom feature that was added to Paper earlier this month.Zoom is one of those UI controls, like the color picker, that has grown so familiar as to become almost invisible. Designers drag and drop it out of a mental library of stock functionality, and the most pressing consideration is...

As noted by Gizmodo, iLoveHandles has launched a new Trunk Lightning charging cable for the iPhone 5, offering an innovative posable design that allows the short cable to also serve as a stand for the device.Unlike the short, flaccid charging cables on the market, you can bend Trunk vertical to charge on the wall, bend it the other way and use GPS in the car, or straighten it out and put it in a...

Logitech today announced the upcoming launch of its Wired Keyboard for iPad, a $60 accessory specifically targeted at schools. The keyboard is available in both Lightning and 30-pin varieties and aims to eliminate the complexity of pairing numerous Bluetooth keyboards with their respective iPads in a classroom setting.“Schools are increasingly purchasing iPads for use in the classroom,” said...

Bioware and LucasArts’ Star Wars role-playing game Knights of the Old Republic may be coming to the iPad in the near future, reports IGN, after obtaining a revealing email newsletter that Aspyr Media accidentally sent out to fans. A header in the email, which was meant to advertise a sale on Call of Duty games, leaked the news: "The critically-acclaimed Star Wars RPG is now available on...

VUDU, the third most popular internet video-on-demand provider behind Apple's iTunes and Amazon's Instant Video, today updated its app with a feature that allows users to download movies for offline viewing, a redesigned video player, and more. Previously, VUDU users using the VUDU Player app had to stream their content from within the app and could not view their movies and TV shows offline. ...

Following the opening of a new retail location in Melbourne last month, Apple is set to open another Australian Apple Store on May 25, this time in Adelaide. The Adelaide Apple Store will be Apple’s 20th retail location in Australia, and it is located at Rundle Place, a four-story shopping center that houses more than 70 stores. Adelaide is Australia's 5th largest city and the new Apple...

The Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai is perhaps the world's most luxurious hotel, and the latest addition continues that tradition. The seven-star hotel is now giving 24-carat gold-plated iPads from Gold & Co to guests for use during their stay.The iPads will act as a 'virtual concierge', offering information on restaurants in the hotel, as well as spa treatments and butler services. They carry the ...

Just as Yahoo has announced its acquisition of Tumblr, the Tumblr team has released an update for its iOS app bringing a redesigned user interface that offers up a brand new post type chooser, displaying post options that fan out vertically from the app's redesigned compose button to allow for speedier posting. The redesigned menu is similar to the radial posting options used by social...

Anatolia News Agency reports that Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Apple yesterday as part of a tour of Silicon Valley companies ahead of the country's move to purchase 10.6 million tablets for its schoolchildren. Erdoğan also visited Microsoft's Bay Area outpost and Google during his trip. Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (left) visits Apple The meeting at Apple ...

Gameloft is offering up two of its most popular games for free this weekend. Both N.O.V.A. 3 - Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance and Gangstar Rio: City of Saints can be downloaded at no cost for the first time ever. Originally released last year, N.O.V.A. 3 is a first person shooter with impressive graphics and a science fiction theme. Like many of Gameloft’s games, it includes a multiplayer...

Haunting Melissa, from Hooked Media Digital and "The Ring" producer Neil Edelstein, is an app that aims to deliver movies on mobile devices in an entirely new way. Much like a TV show on iTunes, the film is broken up into segments that can be unlocked by sharing a user's viewing experience on Facebook, purchasing each episode within the app for $1.99 or paying $6.99 to $14.99 for the entire...

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has begun sending educational letters to app developers to make them aware of upcoming changes to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) that was updated back in December.The two letters [PDF, PDF] inform developers that the restricted collection of personal information of kids 13-and-under has been expanded to include photographs and video and...

eBay today released updates to its iPhone and iPad apps, offering a redesigned user interface that includes multiple search views, an improved bidding process for ending auctions, and new shopping cart functionality. With the new shopping cart, users can add multiple items to the cart and purchase them at the same time with a single payment. The app also features larger photos and better...

Google has updated its Google Play Books iOS app following its keynote address at Google I/O this morning, adding support for user uploaded PDF and ePub files. Google Play, the world's largest eBook collection, just got bigger. Now, you can upload your own files to Google Play Books to access on Android, iOS, and the web. Whether you're a student with a backpack full of PDF printouts or an...

DirecTV today updated its iPhone app with the ability to search channels and discover new entertainment with voice commands. The app allows users to view search results on the TV (via a supported DirecTV DVR) or on the iPhone.Similar to how one would interact with Apple's Siri, the app allows DirecTV customers to ask questions like "what action movies are on tonight?" or to make requests like...

Verizon is offering a $100 discount on iPhone 5 upgrades to certain current Verizon customers, reports Gotta Be Mobile.The change makes the iPhone 5 available for $100 with a two-year contract, one of the lowest prices we've seen for the device. However, Verizon said the discount is only being offered to certain "basic phone customers [who] are interested in moving to a smartphone".The carrier ...

Mophie today announced the Juice Pack Plus, a new 2100mAh battery case for the iPhone 5. The case is the third that the company has released for the iPhone 5, though this new $120 case has the largest battery of the three.The $80 Juice Pack Helium has a 1500mAh battery, and the $100 Juice Pack Air has a 1700mAh battery.The mophie juice pack plus is made for the user who puts their iPhone 5...