Macgasm

Angry Birds, the ridonkulously popular iOS game, is receiving yet more levels bestowed upon it by publisher Rovio. Airfield Chase brings you 15 new levels for Angry Birds Rio, and you toss your birds at stacks of luggage, suitcases and other airporty doo-dads. It also comes with four new Game Center achievements. To get the levels you have to grab Angry Birds Rio, however (just plain old Angry Birds doesn’t cut it anymore), and that’ll clock in at around $0.99 for iPhone and $2.99 for iPad.

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Virtual Programming, devoted publisher of Mac games, takes a little time out on their website to interview Shiny Development, the people behind Darkest of Days. The game drops the player in various points throughout history to fight both historic and futuristic battles, the outcome of one impacting the next. With VP having brought the game to the Mac, they certainly have an interest in what Shiny has to say, and the interview nicely covers what the game has to offer as well as a whole lot of the thinking that went into it. Here are a few words from Shiny’s Mark Doeden:

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Square has updated their iOS mobile payment app, trimming the fat off the payment process and making transactions easier. The biggest change appears to be how the app no longer requires signatures for payments under $25, thus shaving time off of getting the transaction done (Square claims some payments take no longer than four seconds with the new app). Users will also appreciate that they must navigate through fewer screens now to complete a transaction, and a “pay it with your name” feature is offered which allows users to opt-in to a directory listing which will allow merchants to put purchases on a “virtual tab”. The new app also gets a tipping feature, which will be of interest to merchants in the service industry.

Square is currently only offering service in the US, but is making plans to expand internationally.

Source: Techcrunch
Via: Electronista

Rumors have been circulating that Apple and Intel are on the outs. It’s previously been reported that Apple allegedly gave Intel an ultimatum: either Intel manages to cut power consumption to their mobile chip lineup, or Apple will be going somewhere else.

When a rumor pops up with that kind of threat, we take notice, and it seems like Intel may also be wondering if Apple is planning on rolling out their own A-series chips in MacBooks sometime in the future. In an interview with CNET, Greg Welch, director of Intel’s Ultrabook group said, “We hear the same rumors and it would be remiss of us to be dismissive. We endeavor to innovate so they’ll continue to look to us as a supplier.” Clearly the fine folks at Intel are wondering what we’re all wondering: where’s Apple going with their A-series chip?

Some A-series chips already find themselves in Apple’s lineup. Obviously, the iPhone 4 and iPad 1 have A4 chips, the iPad 2 has an A5 chip, and many expect the iPad 3 to have an A6 chip. Apple has argued in the past that the current A-series chips are more efficient and require less power consumption. Given their use in Apple’s mobile devices, it’s not surprising that the company may be looking to use the chips in their MacBooks of the future.

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Emergency notification systems have always been in place, but as people turn away from the radio and television, there’s been an ever increasing need for including these types of systems in cellphones.

The sleuths over at MacRumors had previously found references to Quake Alerts in iOS 5, but had very little idea why it was being included. According to 9to5Mac, based on info received from a tipster, the earthquake warning is aimed at Japanese iPhone users. The application connects to the Japanese earthquake system, and notifies users when a quake takes place, in an attempt to hopefully prevent injury.

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British Airways has decided that its cabin crew would be more effective if they had their hands on iPads. They’re probably right. If anything, Air transit companies could seriously use more technology to make our boardings a little bit easier.

A press release from British Airways points out that the cabin crew will now be able to have a wealth of knowledge on hand, like customer preferences, travel arrangements, club status, meal requests, and other things that help identify passengers. Instead of paper, it’s now digital.

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Show Notes

Hosts: 
Joshua Schnell,
Brennan Schnell

Filmed & Edited By: Luca Fiore

In this week’s episode we’re back on the roof, and holy hell, it’s hot, like someone opened the doors to hell hot. Anyway, we take yet another iPad case for a spin, as well as a nifty product by OWC that lets us continue using our SuperDrives after we’ve installed a data doubler.

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Best Buy stores around the country are going to be offering a free iPhone 3GS starting today, to customers agreeing to be bound to a new 2-year contract with AT&T. While advertised on the company’s website, the offer is not available for shipping and must take place in-store.

A free iPhone deal could be the beginning of a new pricing model by Apple that will allow them to corner an untapped market of consumers who only ever grab their carrier’s free phones. Then again, it could also just be a way to blow through stock in anticipation for the launch of iPhone 5.

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