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iOS 18 Tips, Tricks, How-Tos, News

News: Apple Maps Parodies Get the Big-Screen Treatment; Batman, Katniss, and Jack Get Lost

What if the Dark Knight used Apple's state-of-the-art Maps application for turn-by-turn driving directions? Well, let's just say you wouldn't want to be in a shopping mall when Batman is in a hurry. Movieclips posted some hilarious parodies of film characters using Apple's new Maps app for directions. Just see what happens when Batman tries to use his iPhone 5 to navigate Gotham on his way to save Rachel in The Dark Knight.

News: iOS 6, Coming This Fall

The next mobile operating system for the iPhone, iOS 6, will be available in fall 2012. The major details and features were released 2 weeks ago a Apple's World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC). While the goal of these yearly OS updates is to move forward with technology, there are a couple of this to watch for. Keep reading to see the good and the not so good. Do Not Disturb

News: The "411" Film Production Bible Finally Hits Android Devices (For Free)

If you work in the film industry, are currently in film school, or have aspirations of being involved in the movie making process in some way, shape or form, you're probably very familiar with a certain set of books published by 411 Publishing that are commonly referred to as the "production bibles". If you live in the Los Angeles area, LA 411 is a valuable source of information when it comes to fulfilling your production needs. And if you're in New York, the NY 411 book is just as crucial fo...

News: Handheld Gene-Z System Detects Cancer with the Help of iPhones and Android Devices

Mobile devices can do just about anything these days, thanks to third-party developers. iPhones and Android devices have been known to do some pretty wild things. Need a dupe key made? Scan and order one with your iPhone. Want to know if you're hotter than Justin Bieber? Compare your facial features. Are you a policeman who needs to ID a suspect? Scan their fingerprints and irides. Want to control your Canon DSLR remotely? Use your Android phone.

News: Sing Along to Your Favorite Songs with the musiXmatch Mobile Lyrics App

You may not do it in public, and you might not admit to it among your friends, but you do it. We all do it... sing. We sing when we're alone in our cars, at home when no one's listening, and when we've had a little too much to drink and don't care anymore, all inhibitions aside. We love to croon and belt out lyrics to our favorite songs because it makes us feel good, no matter how good or how awful we are, or how well we know the words. Well... now you can at least be proud of one of those th...

News: You Don't Need to Be a Hacker to Hack with This Android App

Security awareness seems to be a hot topic these days on the web, with developers making apps and devices that can hack networks and machines with just a few clicks. But these applications aren't only exploiting security flaws in systems and networks, they're being used by amateur and wannabe hackers who want to have a little fun, but don't want to learn how to actually "hack" anything.

News: Making Art on Your iOS Device, Part 6: Museum, Gallery & Street Art Guides

This week's 6-part series on Making Art on Your iOS Device comes to a close today with our last segment: a collection of useful apps for touring museums, galleries and street art. The apps below cover some of the world's greatest art meccas, so read on if you're planning an upcoming trip, if you live in one of the destinations listed below, or if you simply want to see what a faraway museum has to offer—from the comfort of your couch.

News: The Perfect Hack for Enabling NFC Credit Card Payments on Your iPhone 4

Remember the good ol' days when you actually had to swipe your credit or debit card to make a payment at the store? Now all it takes is a flick of the wrist to purchase goods with your card, thanks to RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology from Chase (blink), Visa (payWave) and MasterCard (PayPass). But soon "contactless" payments will be made by an entirely different beast—NFC, which stands for near field communication.

News: New Android Market Update Lets You Rent Movies and Buy eBooks

Google has been slowly rolling out a new update for the Android Market in the United States, which gives mobile users a new interface and some additional content for their Android-powered smartphones and tablets. The update started a couple weeks ago, taking the Android Market to version 3.0.27 on devices running Android 2.2 or higher. The new Android Market has a Honeycomb feel to it with a more visually pleasing layout and new colorful promotional page which showcases top apps and games, as...

News: Mapping Your Music Collection with Mufin Player for Android

These days, there seems to be an endless amount of music player apps accessible on the web, from Pandora to Cantio, and the amount available in the mobile market is constantly growing. If you have an Android device, you're probably well aware of Jukefox, which lets you listen to your music collection on the go and provides you with a new way to interact with your songs, with 2D and 3D mapping of your albums. But as good as Jukefox is, it has problems (mostly technical).

News: Police Use iPhones to ID Suspects via Face, Iris and Fingerprint Scans

Some cops already have the ability to extract data from your cell phone using handheld forensic devices, but soon police officers will have a new mobile data collection toy to play with—an Apple iPhone. Actually, it's an iPhone-based device that connects directly to the back of an iPhone, which is designed to give law enforcement an accurate and immediate identification of a suspect based on their facial features, fingerprints and even their eyes.

News: Alfred Knows Where You Want to Eat (iPhone App for Instant Restaurant Recommendations)

Exploring a new city is tough if you're all by your lonesome. But if you have your iPhone on you, you're not alone at all... there's tons of great apps available for discovering the city around you. We've previously featured an app that helps you decide on what bar or club to attend, as well as one that shows you the hidden world unbeknown to most tourists (sometimes even the local population). When it comes to dining out, Yelp helps considerably, but it doesn't provide you with personalized ...

News: Augmented Reality Cinema App Takes You to the Movies—in Real World Locations

The yet-to-be released Augmented Reality Cinema app is sure to make avid movie fans across the world drool. The concept is genius and appears to be quite seamless as well: Simply install the app on your iPhone, take a stroll through your city (supported cities have not yet been released, but the video below shows London), and aim your phone at various locations to view movie scenes that have been previously shot there.

News: ScanMe Makes Social Networking Easy with QR Code T-Shirts

It's called a Quick Response code, but most know it simply as QR code, a matrix barcode dedicated to the world of smartphones. The information contained within the square black modules could be text, a URL, vCard, or some other kind of data. And even though mobile tagging has been around for eight years, it's just now spreading like wildfire across the globe, being incorporated into artistic portraits and wall art. And most recently... "social clothing".

News: Cure Insomnia with the Pzizz Sleep Aid App for Android and iPhone

Dealing with insomnia? Just can't fall asleep at night? Well, there's a few things you can do to escape those restless nights. You can take a hot bath (unless you're a shower person), do some yoga (granted you can do the downward-facing dog), or try a little tapping (if you don't mind smacking yourself in the face). But let's face it—most people who have trouble sleeping use prescription medication or natural remedies like melatonin. If you don't want to be dependent on sleeping pills, then m...

Splitscreen: A Love Story Shot Entirely on the Nokia N8 Mobile Phone

Splitscreen: A Love Story is an elegant short shot entirely on the Nokia N8 mobile phone, created by director JW Griffiths and director of photography Christopher Moon. The cleverly constructed splitscreen film was selected as the official winner of Vimeo's Nokia Shorts 2011 contest, raking in a grand prize of $10K. So how did they do it? Splitscreen: A Love Story was shot using the Steadicam Smoothee, a hand-held dolly designed for the iPhone 3GS, which the team adapted for use with the Noki...

HTC EVO 3D: The First Glasses-Free 3D Smartphone in the U.S.

Some speculated that LG's Thrill 4G would be the first 3D smartphone to hit the U.S. marketplace, but HTC's EVO 3D hit shelves first, going on sale last Friday for all Sprint customers. It boasts a slew of high-end features, including a 4.3-inch touchscreen display with 540 x 960 qHD resolution, 1.2Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core processor, 3G and 4G connectivity, and Android 2.3 Gingerbread with HTC Sense. But obviously, the best part about this new device is its three-dimensional capabili...

News: Wake Up! Anti Sleep Pilot for iPhone Helps Curb Tiredness Behind the Wheel

Always falling asleep behind the wheel? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that there are over 56,000 sleep-related accidents each year, resulting in 40,000 injuries and 1,550 deaths annually in the United States. Don't want to be a statistic? Then you may want to try out ASP Technology's mobile application which aims to keep you awake when you're fatigued on the road.

News: Discover the Hidden World Around You with the Trover iPhone App

You're in a new city and you want to explore—what mobile app is best? If you want to know what club is hopping that night, use SceneTap. If you want to know if any friends are at a nearby get-together, use Foursquare. If you want to know what restaurant is best, try Yelp. But if you're looking to get a real feel for the city, skip the more touristy destinations and take to the streets—discover where some great graffiti is located or where the best view of the city is with the Trover iPhone ap...

News: Temporarily Disable Android Lockscreens with DelayedLock App

For those who need security on their Android devices, the standard swipe lock screen just isn't enough, so it's necessary to install applications like GOTO and WidgetLocker to enable either pattern, password or PIN protection. This protection is great overall, but when you're frequently using your smartphone, having to keep unlocking the lock screen becomes quite an annoyance. You could be in a heated text conversation, following directions on a map or compulsively checking the news feed on F...

News: FaceNiff App Allows Android Users to Hack Facebook

Firesheep caused quite a stir when it was released last October, giving both hackers and non-hackers instant access to people's account information when on a public Wi-Fi connection. When logged into an insecure website on the same network as someone with Firesheep, you're giving them access to the cookies that keep you logged in. This is called session hijacking, and grants them easy access to your accounts, like Facebook, Flickr and Twitter. Now, there's an even easier way to do this—a mobi...