Gmail for iOS Updated with Ability to Swipe Between Messages

Google has updated its Gmail app to version 2.1, adding swipe controls that allow users to navigate backwards and forwards through emails without returning to the inbox. 

Edit mode is now initiated when a message in the inbox is selected, allowing users to quickly organize emails into folders and add labels from the action bar at the top of the screen.

-Swipe left or right to move between messages without returning to the inbox. 

-Take action on multiple messages more quickly: Selecting a message in the inbox now enables edit mode. Once in edit mode, tap on messages to select them and then choose to archive, delete, or more, from the new actions bar. You may select Cancel at any time to leave edit mode. 

-And of course: performance improvements and bug fixes.

[Source: MacRumors]

BBC Two HD launches today, Freeview HD reaches 3.5 million

BBC Two HD launched today, bringing high-definition versions of Auntie's second-best programmes to millions of high-def homes.

BBC 2 shows to be broadcast in extra-crisp detail include The Great British Bake Off, Later... with Jools Holland, and, of course, Top Gear.

Previously, BBC HD showed highlights of BBC shows from across the Beeb board. But BBC Two HD is just the same as BBC Two only with more pixels stuffed into Jeremy Clarkson's increasingly gravity stretched face.

By my reckoning, that means only BBC One and BBC Two shows will be broadcast in high def, which means no more HD for programmes that live on BBC Three or other BBC channels.

From today, BBC Two HD is on channel 102 of your Freeview box, directly replacing the previous BBC HD channel. It's also in the same place on other TV services, except Sky, where it's been shunted to channel 142 to sit next to BBC One HD.

The BBC is also experimenting with its HD channels. For example, the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who will be broadcast in 3D on the HD channel on Saturday 23 November.

Freeview reckons the appetite for high definition is large and growing: Freeview HD is now in the main television in 3.5m living rooms, the second biggest HD service after Sky+ HD. Freeview hopes to see another ten high definition channels in the coming year.

[Source: CNET]

Is iOS 6.1.3 Making Battery Life Worse?

Things can go a little hinky whenever a new software update comes out. And so maybe it shouldn’t surprise anyone that iOS 6.1.3, which released earlier this month to fix a lockscreen bug, might kick up some glitches itself.

Some users on Apple Support forums are complaining that, after downloading and installing the latest update, the battery drain on their iOS devices has accelerated. Commenters have tried the usual route of shutting down notifications, tweaking location settings and restoring tofactory settings, but nothing seems to help. A few people on the boards blame a Microsoft Exchange bug for zapping the battery, though this doesn’t appear to be a universal problem.

In addition, some (though not all ) users also say they’re experiencing Wi-Fi issues, with wireless connections being grayed out or otherwise not functioning. This isn’t entirely new, though. It first reared its ugly head in iOS 6.0, then vanished with subsequent updates, only to return with 6.1.3.

And to add insult to injury, even though the incremental update was pushed out to address security vulnerabilities, lockscreen issues still persist.

If you haven’t updated yet, I’d advise against doing so unless you absolutely have to. If you’ve already done it and have spotted these problems in your own devices, hang tight. Hopefully a solution will be forthcoming. Have you noticed any of these behaviors in your own iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch? Report in and let us if you experienced these problems too, what you saw and what device you’re using.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Havok introduces free 3D game development engine

Havok has announced that their 3D gaming Vision engine, Physics and Animation suites, and their award winning AI tools will now be free for "leading" mobile platforms under their new Project Anarchy initiative. If you play games, you already know about Havok. They're the folks who make the tools behind games like the Assassin's Creed, Halo, and Skyrim franchises, and are used by some of the biggest names in gaming, like EA, Bethesda, and Bungie.

The download also includes game samples and tutorials for mobile developers, and there will be a complete online community to "encourage free sharing and collaborative development of extensions and customizations by the community." Ross O’Dwyer, head of developer relations at Havok, says:

We’re really delighted to be able to offer these professional grade tools to mobile developers for free and we look forward to supporting the mobile game development community to make some stunning games with the technology over the next few years.

[Source: AndroidCentral]

Microsoft lands design patents for the Surface tablet's Touch Cover keyboard

Microsoft would certainly argue that its Surface tablet design is iconic. The company is doing more than simply extolling the virtues of kickstands and VaporMg casings, however. It just obtained a trio of design patents that cover both the Touch Cover keyboard and the magnetic coupling on the tablet that so often gives Microsoft something to dance about. You won't find any deep insights into the technological workings here -- still, this might give some would-be SurfaceKIRF creators a reason to hesitate.

[Source: Engadget]

Nintendo 3DS update moves your saves from retail games to downloads

Let's say you bought a pair of cartridge-based games to go with your Nintendo 3DS, but you're embracing our all-digital future and want to replace them with downloadable copies. You won't have to toss all your game progress at the same time: a newly available 3DS firmware update includes a tool to move save files from a retail copy to its downloadable version. The transfer is strictly one-way, though, so there's no falling back for gaming Luddites. Nintendo offers a bonus if you're fully in step with the online world, though -- background downloads can now start just by closing the lid while the eShop is running. Both elements of the update are simple on the surface, but they could go a long way in helping us ditch a legacy of plastic game libraries.

[Source: Engadget]

'If I had Glass' winners selected by Google, invites due out in coming days

Even though they're still priced at a cool $1500 plus tax, it seems there's a whole lot of people who really want to get hold of Google Glass. The 'If I had Glass' competition offered 8,000 eager early adopters a chance to get in on the ground floor, and now those lucky thousands have been chosen. 

The Explorer Program is only for individuals, so companies such as JetBlue that came up with pretty awesome looking suggestions will have to wait it out for now. But, in the coming days the lucky individuals that have been chosen to hand over their money for Glass will be notified of their success. Google says that the response has been 'enthusiastic.' 

So, if you entered, and you win, be sure to let us know. We just hope that LeVar Burton was one of them.

[Source: AndroidCentral]

Samsung Galaxy S4 eight-core chip production delay reported

Only a handful of new Samsung Galaxy S4 smart phones could boast eight-core power when it goes on sale this month. And the UK's phones will be among a reported 70 per cent of the first S4s to be quad-core instead.

It was revealed this week that the S4 will be quad-core in the UK and not eight-core as anticipated. Korean source ETNews reports Samsung simply hasn't been able to make enough Exynos chips to fill the millions of S4 phones it's expecting to sell.

According to ETNews' unconfirmed sources, Samsung has enough of its new Exynos 5 Octa chips for just 30 per cent of phones in the first batch to go on sale, thanks to purported hitches in the production process.

The other 70 per cent are set to be powered by Qualcomm-built quad-core chips. The quad-core version contains a Snapdragon 600 CPU, still a muscular processor... but four ain't eight by anybody's maths, and it certainly isn't the promised next generation smart phone Samsung promised.

The eight-core Exynos processor contains a Cortex-A7 with four cores clocked at 1.2GHz, drawing less power for everyday tasks. Then when things get hectic with intensive tasks such as fast-paced 3D gaming or videos, the S4 rolls up its sleeves and seamlessly switches to a second Cortex-A15 chip with four cores clocked at a faster speed.

The S4 goes on sale on 26 April. What isn't clear is how Samsung will highlight whether each S4 is quad-core or octo-core, or indeed whether there'll be any demarcation at all. But for the moment it appears to be academic, as Samsung hasn't revealed when -- or, whisper it, if -- the UK will get all eight cores. If these reports are correct, it could be a while before we see an eight-core S4, if at all.

[Source: CNET]

Apple.com world's 8th most popular website in new ComScore ranking

For 2012, Apple's website was ranked as the world's 11th most popular. However, that ranking did not take mobile access into account -- just desktop access. Now web analytics firm ComScore has added mobile visitors and viewers to their count, pushing Apple up to the number 8 spot on the MMX Multi-Platform Top 50 Properties list.

The first five sites on the list are not surprising, with Google sites taking the lead followed by Yahoo!, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon. Sites run by TUAW parent company AOL are in the 6th spot, followed by Glam Media and finally Apple. Rounding out the top 10 are Wikimedia sites and CBS Interactive.

Apple's total "digital population" on the ComScore list is counted as 115,920,000 unique visitors/viewers, about half that of list leader Google's count. Not surprisingly, Apple's mobile audience viewed as an incremental percentage to the desktop numbers was 54 percent, indicating a strong mobile presence on the web.

[Source: TUAW]

Google+ for iOS gets photo editing, filters in update

The new version of Google+ for iOS brings the sort of "retro" filters popularized by competing social networking apps like Instagram. Users can also rotate and crop their photos before sharing them to their Google+ accounts. 

The improved photo editing options are likely an outgrowth of Google's acquisition of Snapseed, an image editing application with iterations across both PC and mobile platforms.

The update also brings a new profile design, notifications tray, and the ability to control the volume of posts displayed in a user's stream from individual circles and communities. Users can also filter search results by the most relevant or most recent and send friends invitations to communities. 

Version 4.3.0 of Google+ for iOS is available as a free download in the App Store. The 28.6MB download is compatible with iPhones, iPads, and iPods running iOS 5.1 or later.

[Source: AppleInsider]

CyanogenMod Founder Leaves Gig at Samsung

CyanogenMod founder Steve Kondik recently decided to leave Samsung after just a few years at the South Korean company. The modding community was generally happy when Kondik left to work for the firm since it seemed like his input would add a lot of value to the phone maker’s software. Kondik didn’t say exactly why he decided to leave the company.

“Samsung was great,” he told AndroidPolice. “Just decided to do something new.”

Kondik also added that he’s a huge fan of Samsung’s Galaxy S III and that he’s “quite pleased with the S4.” As a man with software expertise, we were compelled to hear his thoughts on Samsung’s TouchWiz UI.

“TouchWiz has become a bit more consistent with the latest upgrade,” he noted on his Google+ page. “There are no more jarring mismatches in different parts of the OS, and it’s been lightened up a bit and has a clean “flat” feel. Unfortunately, it feels like it has been sent a few years back in time to the Froyo days. Say goodbye to all of the nice touch-friendly ViewPagers and say hello again to a fully tabbed UI. You’ll also enjoy the seemingly endless onslaught of popup windows and modal “Loading…” dialogs.”

We’re excited to hear where Kondik’s next gig lands him.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Evernote 5 hits Android with revamped camera, shortcuts and tweaked UI

Evernote has finally brought its Android client up to par with its iOS counterpart, pushing it to version five. The update, which just hit the Play store, includes a mild face lift that offers more contrast between notes and other UI elements, as well as a few new icons with a bit more depth and detail. The visual tweaks aren't particularly exciting, though. What has us rushing for the update button are all the new features, like the completely revamped camera interface. You can now take several images and add them all to a note in one shot. While a dedicated "page" camera helps you get the best results when snapping photos of hand-written missives by boosting contrast and removing shadows. Of course, the company thinks that feature works particularly well when paired with its branded Moleskin notebooks, but those are purely optional. The results from the couple of quick snapshots we took were bright clear and as legible as could be expected. Unfortunately there are continued issues with Evernote's text recognition, which tends to be slow for non-premium users.

[Source: Engadget]