Apple launches ’12 Days Of Gifts’ app for the 2013 Holiday season

11 December 2013 1:16 AM
Hello!

Apple has launched its annual 12 Days of Gifts app, offering a new free song, app, book or movie every day from Dec. 26 to Jan. 6.

European fans have grown accustomed to Apple’s holiday promotion called 12 Days Of Gifts (previously 12 Days of Christmas) because they can count on a free download every day in a period following Christmas and until early-January. It’s not just apps, Apple usually gives away songs, books and music videos as well.

A dedicated app is crucial to the promotion and today the company has updated the iOS App for the iPhone, iPod and iPad with gifts for the 2013 Christmas holiday season. Download it now to get your free gift starting with December 26, the day after Christmas. Only available in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia and other territories (requires iOS7)

Also new this year, the US has finally been invited to Apple’s Christmas party. Rather oddly, Apple had previously excluded its own home country in favour of the UK, Europe, Japan and Canada.

App’s Description pulled from the Apple App Store:
“From December 26 to January 6, you can download a gift each day—songs, apps, books, movies, and more—with the 12 Days of Gifts app. Each day’s gift will only be available for 24 hours, so download the free app to make sure you don’t miss out. Note: Not all content is available in all countries.”

12 Days of Gifts can be downloaded now for free from the App Store on iPhone and iPad, though it won’t offer its first gift for another 15 days. If you’re worried that you’ll forget all about the app’s existence in this period, don’t worry – you can set it to notify you when new deals become available.

Apple notes that not all content will be available in all countries, but you can bet there’ll be a fine selection wherever the app is available.

You can download the app from the UK App Store right here for free Direct Link]. (CA / US)

The app requests permission to send push notifications so it’d be wise to hit the OK button because otherwise you won’t be alerted of daily freebies.

Justin Bieber funds “Shots of Me” app that only lets you take selfies

18 November 2013 4:37 AM
The new selfies-only photo app promises to combat cyber-bullying and create a new and positive experience for its users.

The new selfies-only photo app promises to combat cyber-bullying. Find me: Jordan Couzens / JordanBTH

Partially funded by Justin Bieber and created by RockLive, Shots of Me is a new app for iPhone users that allows you to take and share photos of yourself.

Shots of Me’s profile on iTunes says that it’s “time for something new” – implying that it’s offering something different in comparison to its well-established competitors such as Instagram, SnapChat, and even Twitter.

At first glance, it doesn’t appear to be that different. The features listed by Shots of Me boast being able to “double-tap [a] selfie that you like” and “share a selfie” and “browse the real-time feed” which doesn’t appear to differentiate itself from Instagram in the slightest.

However, Shots of Me is different as it does exactly what it says on the tin: it’s meant be exclusively for selfies. The app only allows you to use your front-facing camera, discouraging shots of people’s food and pets. Plus, there aren’t any filters to magic away bad lighting or to make your face appear more “arty”.
Shots of Me allows users to tag their friends in photos, add hashtags, a caption, and even your location. You can choose to tweet your photo, and there’s currently an Instagram icon with a “coming soon” badge over it, so it appears that you’ll soon be able to push your Shots of Me selfies to your Instagram feed.

Another feature of Shots of Me that sets it apart is that its founders insist the app is meant to be a positive experience for all its users:

“Shots of Me is designed to be a positive experience for everyone. Unlike other social networks, Shots of Me does not have features that create negativity and bullying. Users also have the option of making their accounts private.”

It appears the main way Shots of Me plans to tackle cyber-bullying is to restrict comments, as you can’t leave a public comment on another person’s selfie. You can only “comment” on a photo by sending someone you follow a private message.

Justin Bieber has brought a $1.1 million investment to the app and brings the additional influence of his millions of followers on Twitter – however, at the time of writing, Bieber has still yet to post a selfie.

Find me: Jordan Couzens / JordanBTH

Snapchats of App (iOS 6)

Find me: Jordan Couzens / JordanBTH

Source: buzzfeed

Call Of Duty: Ghosts Tops $1bn (£621m) On First Day

6 November 2013 7:15 PM
Call Of Duty: Ghosts - Poster

Call Of Duty: Ghosts – Poster

The latest Call of Duty video game made more than $1bn (£621m) from its first day on sale, its publisher has confirmed.

Call of Duty: Ghosts went on sale worldwide on Tuesday and its debut eclipsed that of Grand Theft Auto V, which raked in $800m (£496m) on its first day in September. Call of Duty: Ghosts has already been branded ‘lazy’ for reusing Modern Warfare 2 cut-scene.

At the time, the game beat the record for single-day games sales held by the last Call of Duty game, Black Ops II, which made $500m (£310m) in November 2012.

Fans queued overnight at hundreds of stores across the UK, which were open at midnight for the release of the 10th Call of Duty instalment.

The $1bn figure represented sales to retail store, which may not reflect consumer purchases, according to publisher Activision.

Eric Hirshberg, chief executive of Activision, said the game “has delivered yet another epic thrill ride in the campaign, and what I think is our best multiplayer game yet“.

The company claimed the series was “the largest console franchise of this generation“.

The latest military shooter series is set in a desolate US, devastated by a satellite-guided “kinetic” weapon strike on San Diego.

Ghosts can be played on PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo’s Wii U and Windows computers, and will also be available on other consoles in future.

The game is also compatible with smartphones and tablet computers.

Many reviewers agreed that the game did not take the franchise in a new direction or break from the old format.

The Computer and Video Games website said: “There is an overwhelming sense of familiarity one gets from playing Call of Duty: Ghosts and that’s probably because an iteration of this series drops every year without truly reinventing the wheel.”

Ghosts will also be the first Call of Duty game available on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, as launch titles for both consoles on November 15, 2013 (November 29, 2013 in Europe) and November 22, 2013 respectively.

Source: news.sky.com

New Fancy Subscription Box from Kelly Rowland!

18 October 2013 2:16 AM

Kelly Rowland Fancy Box Subscription

Fancy has just released their latest celebrity subscription box featuring Kelly Rowland! Of course I immediately signed up.

The Deal Get A Collection Of The Coolest Products Hand-Picked By Kelly Rowland Every Month. Each box includes $80.00+ of products. You will receive a new box with top Fancy goodies each month.

How much does it cost a month? The deal will set you back $39 USD (Approximately £24 GBP) a month. *

Orders placed before the 16th of the calendar month will ship on the 30th of the same month. Orders placed after the 26th of the calendar month will ship on the 30th of the following calendar month. All charges are billed on the day of original purchase and every 30 days thereafter. Subscription may be cancelled by updating your subscription preferences under your Fancy Box subscriptions.

You can cancel your Fancy Box within 10 days of your last payment. If you cancel after 10 days, you will still receive your Fancy Box for that month, and your subscription will cease in the following month. Thank you for ordering the Fancy Box.

Rather a Ashton Kutcher Fancy Box Subscription? Go on! Treat yourself we promise not to tell Kelly Rowland.

Ashton Kutcher Fancy Box Subscription

* Don’t forget: You should allow 10 days from date of shipment for delivery.

Evernote: Two-Step Verification Now Available to Everyone

5 October 2013 1:22 PM
Evernote / Two-Step Verification

Evernote / Two-Step Verification

Two-factor authentication isn’t an extra or optional layer of protection, it’s a necessary one. Today, all Evernote users—whether paid users or those with free accounts—can turn on this important security feature.

Back in March, after a security breach, Evernote announced it would roll out two-factor authentication. The problem is, when they did, it was only for Premium or Business users.

The company is rolling out optional two-factor authentication today for all user accounts. To turn it on, head to the Security section of your account profile. You’ll also be able to generate one-time codes in case you don’t have access to your phone. (Two-factor authentication often, as in this case, sends a unique code to your mobile device for additional security if you try to log in from an unknown device.)

Two-step verification, also known as two-factor authentication, adds an additional layer of security to the login process, requiring you to enter a special code from your phone, in addition to your regular username and password. The goal of this extra step is to combine something you know (your password) with something only you would have access (your phone).

Setting up two-step verification is straightforward. Just follow the steps in the Security section of Evernote Web. Free users will be required to install an authenticator app on their phones. We recommend Google Authenticator. Premium users can choose to have the code delivered as a text message.

One very important thing to note. As part of the set up process, you will be given a set of one-time codes to use in the event that you are unable to access your phone. Don’t keep these codes in Evernote since you’ll need them when you don’t have access to your Evernote account.

Full Guide: Set up Two-Step Verification »