iOS software

You're sitting around dreaming up new ways to control Android and iOS devices. Hey, you think, why not a kazoo? Most people would think it silly and just move on. Ogaco Gadgets, however, is trying hard to make the iKazoo a real thing with an Indiegogo project.

The biggest obstacle to the iKazoo's success is probably just trying to communicate what it does. It has Bluetooth. It works with iOS and Android. It's a digital flute, an optical game controller, a microphone, a touchpad, and a chromatic keyboard all wrapped into a wavy-looking device. It's also a bit of a head-scratcher.… Read more

Another iOS update, another round of complaints.

Released last week, Apple's iOS 6.1.3 was designed to fix a security hole that let someone access the iPhone by sneaking past the lock screen. But the update also seems to have plagued some users with other problems, according to blog site Gotta Be Mobile.

The persistent battery drain rears its ugly head again with iOS 6.1.3. Several people posting on Apple's Support Communities forum say the battery drains faster after installing the new update. Some have tried the usual fixes, such as turning off notifications and … Read more

The launch of Google Now last year pointed a new way forward for search, as Google could begin predicting the information its users sought before they even thought to type a query. Traffic, weather, sports scores and more began materializing on phones running Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) and above, with the company promising that many more kinds of information are on the way.

To date, there has been no iOS equivalent -- which prompted a war of words between Google and Apple last week, after Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt suggested that Apple was holding up the app in … Read more

Last I checked, licking one's finger and holding it up to the wind can be a fair indicator of what's blowing.

But if you're into activities like sailing, windsurfing, or flying your army of robot drones, you might want to check out Vaavud, a wireless wind meter that works with your smartphone.

The subject of a 20,000-pound ($30,456) Kickstarter campaign, Vaavud was developed by a Danish trio keen on windsurfing and kitesurfing.

You can plug the little wind meter into your phone's audio jack, or simply hold it near your handset. It works wirelessly and doesn't even have electronics. … Read more

A new update to Apple's standalone app for podcasts adds a handful of new features and fixes some bugs.

Key among the new stuff is a way to create custom stations that get new episodes of podcasts when they're published. You can also set whether you want these stations to start with the oldest or newest episodes. These stations are stored on Apple's iCloud, so if you're switching between two different iOS devices, they'll stay synced up.

Apple's also tweaked the Now Playing view that looks a bit more like Apple's standalone Music … Read more

Google Now has not been submitted yet to Apple's App Store, the iPhone maker told CNET. And Google itself has now confirmed this.

Earlier today, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt spoke at the Big Tent Summit in India and was asked when Google Now would be made available to iOS devices. In a coded response, Schmidt stopped short of calling out Apple but did seem to hint that the iPhone maker was playing a role in the app's availability on its platform.

"You'll need to discuss that with Apple," Schmidt said. "Apple has a … Read more

Note: Since this story was published, first Apple, then Google, told CNET that Google Now was never submitted to the App Store. See this article for more.

Google Now, the app that pulls in relevant information based on a user's location, might be being held up by Apple for inclusion in its App Store.Speaking today at the Big Tent Summit in India, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt was asked when Google Now would be made available to iOS devices. The coded response didn't necessarily call out Apple, but did seem to hint that the iPhone maker is … Read more

A new update to Apple's Garageband software on iOS adds compatibility with popular third-party audio app Audiobus.

As part of the change, users can play and record from Audiobus-supported apps back into Garageband. That includes iOS apps from Korg, along with Animoog, DM1 - The Drum Machine, Loopy, ThumbJam, and others.

Other changes include a fix for a feedback issue from the headphone jack, along with the option to turn off grid snapping.

Audiobus came onto the scene late last year as a way for music apps to share data and continuity between one another. It's since been … Read more

When in use, a virtual keyboard shouldn't take up half of your smartphone or tablet screen, but it does, and it sure is ugly. If you're tired of keys hogging up precious screen space, check out Minuum -- a simple, yet intelligent single-row reinvention of the QWERTY layout.

Simply put, the Minuum keyboard, which is gaining traction on crowdfunding Web site Indiegogo, seems attractive as it doesn't require much space to use. It intelligently predicts what word you're going for through auto-correction algorithms, similar to a full-size virtual keyboard. … Read more