Featured

Vote now for the casual gaming app of the year [TiPb Awards]

By Rene Ritchie, Friday, Dec 16, 2011 a 7:00 pm

Many of the most popular casual iOS games in 2011 were, in some ways sadly, the same games that were popular in 2010 -- the same Angry Birds and Cut the Rope and Smurf's Village and various [Farm/Village/City] franchises. But there were a few new gems and tweaked up favorites to be found this year too.

Tiny Wings showed that greats looks, simple gameplay, and killer concept still make for the best iOS games. Tiny Tower showed that new time-management games could still grab attention if done with attention to detail.

SPY Mouse brought some Firemint flare to the platform puzzler. DragonVale took the farming genre back to the days of legend.

Cut the Rope: Experiments showed last year's great new games could be this years great new sequels. Minecraft meanwhile finally showed up on iOS, and while limited, it's still Minecraft on iOS.

That's a half-dozen choices across almost as many genres, but you can only pick one. Vote up top and tell us why you voted they way you did in the comments! These are your awards, so get to it!

Forums: Freeing up iCloud space, iPhone 4S restores

By Chris Parsons, Friday, Dec 16, 2011 a 6:17 pm

As we roll on into the weekend, it's always a good chance to get caught up on the things you may have missed out on from the week. You can skip on back a few pages, and see if you missed out on anything and while you're at it -- make sure you check out the TiPb forums as well. You can register now to get started today:

Win the iOS device of your dreams in the TiPb holiday giveaway! [Week 3]

By Rene Ritchie, Friday, Dec 16, 2011 a 1:40 pm

In case you hadn't heard -- and really, ask somebody next time! -- TiPb wants to give you the iOS device -- or devices! -- of your dreams. That's right, a brand new iPhone 4S, iPad 2, iPod touch, or Apple TV, or even iPad 3 in 2012, could be yours!

And this is week 3 so you now have a third chance to win!

Revised iOS 5.0.1 update may make Siri port legally possible

By chrisoldroyd, Friday, Dec 16, 2011 a 1:15 pm

Apple's revised iOS 5.0.1 update seems to have come with decrypted ramdisks, something which could make the port of Siri to other iOS devices legally possible. Before today’s firmware update, important files to get Siri working on other devices were encrypted in Apple’s file system. Decrypting them would be illegal and infringe on copyright and that is the main reason for it not being made available.

Daily Apps: Battleground Defense, XnView Mobile Fx, Hero's Way, Prime Location Property Search, Grolly at the North Pole

By Leanna Lofte, Friday, Dec 16, 2011 a 1:13 pm

Battleground Defense: Experience the classic tower defense game play along with the intense action of modern warfare. Defend your territory using Missile Launchers, Heavy Canons, Flame throwers in different landscapes around the world.

$0.99 for iPhone and iPad - App Store link

XnView Mobile Fx: Easily turn your photos into vintage images, but apply enhanced processing too.

Dilbert shares awkward Siri moments

By Rene Ritchie, Friday, Dec 16, 2011 a 9:36 am

Indeed.

Rumor: Apple prepping 7.85-inch iPad for second-half of 2012 to compete with Kindle Fire

By Andrew Wray, Friday, Dec 16, 2011 a 3:24 am

Randomly accurate rumor site Digitimes thinks Apple will be releasing a 7.85-inch iPad sometime around Q4 2012 to help compete with the Amazon Kindle Fire.

Daily Tip: How to set up custom vibration patterns in iOS 5 [Video]

By Andrew Wray, Friday, Dec 16, 2011 a 3:15 am

Curious how to set up the new accessibility feature in iOS 5, namely the custom vibration patterns? Custom vibrations patterns let you set up uniquely identifiable series for contacts in your address book -- a handy feature to say the least!

Smule releases Magic Guitar for iPhone

By Leanna Lofte, Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 a 8:31 pm

Magic Guitar is Smule's newest music app, similar to Magic Piano. To play the guitar, hold your iPhone like it's the neck of a guitar, and tap or slide the beams of light that pass across the screen. Just as with Magic Piano, you can listen live to others around the world while they play their music. The song selection includes many legendary artists including The Rolling Stones, Nirvana, Tom Petty, and Lynard Skynyrd.

Free - App Store link

Check out Smule's cofounder playing Scarborough Fair with Magic Guitar in the video below!

iTunes Match online music locker launches internationally

By Chris Parsons, Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 a 7:17 pm

iTunes Match seems to be going live internationally right now -- and for real this time, not like yesterday. International iTunes users are now once again getting the sign up page for the iTunes Match. Folks in Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Australia, France, New Zealand and various other regions are reporting successful signs ups for the service.

Not everyone has been successful though. If you're having trouble: