NBC App for iOS Updated With Selective Live Streaming and Classic Catalog [iOS Blog]

NBC today announced an update for its Android and iOS television-viewing apps that brings live streaming to select areas of the country along with a small but robust catalog of the network’s classic series offerings (via Engadget).

Following in the footsteps of the Watch ABC app that introduced to users the ability to live stream the channel on their mobile device, NBC’s new update brings a similar function to their app, with a few hindrances.

Like ABC’s app, the live streaming functionality is available only in areas where the network owns the local station, meaning some areas may not be able to fully take advantage of the new live streaming feature at all. This is in addition to the usual cable or satellite provider subscription account needed to access normal streaming functionality, as well.

What’s New in Version 3.0

* Live video stream of NBC programming available for cable/satellite subscribers in select markets.
* Expanded full-episode library of classic NBC shows available, including The A-Team, Miami Vice, Kojak, Battlestar Galactica, The Incredible Hulk, Knight Rider and more!

On the other side of the update, NBC is bringing back a handful of classic series – from Airwolf to Miami Vice and The Incredible Hulk – with full episodes and seasons available right next to their modern line-up. Unlike the current shows, these throwback episodes don’t require a satellite or cable subscription log-in to watch, so arguably anyone could download the free app and check them out.

NBC [Direct Link] can be downloaded from the App Store for free.

BlackBerry Sues Typo Again Over Second-Generation iPhone Keyboard Case

BlackBerry today filed a second lawsuit against Typo Products, the startup backed by Ryan Seacrest, alleging that the second-generation Typo keyboard continues to infringe upon its intellectual property, reports The Hollywood Reporter. In a complaint lodged in a California federal court on Monday, BlackBerry claimed Typo “slavishly copied” its keyboards down to the “smallest detail.”

Just as they did with the Typo Keyboard, Defendants have again copied numerous proprietary BlackBerry designs and patents in the Typo2 Keyboard. The Typo2 Keyboard still blatantly copies BlackBerry’s iconic keyboard trade dress designs that have been embodied in numerous BlackBerry smartphones from the 2007 BlackBerry 8800 to the current Q10 and Classic models. The Typo2 Keyboard also infringes numerous BlackBerry utility patents related to BlackBerry’s proprietary keyboard design, backlighting and typing automation technologies.

Typo Products first clashed with BlackBerry shortly after the former debuted its first-generation Typo iPhone keyboard case in late 2013. Backed by media personality Ryan Seacrest, the product was the result of a desire to create a physical keyboard for the iPhone after he and his partner Lauren Hallier saw many of their friends carrying two phones — one for typing and correspondence, presumably a BlackBerry, and an iPhone for everything else.

The Typo2 for the iPhone 6
The snap-on iPhone keyboard that Seacrest and Hallier developed looked very similar to a BlackBerry keyboard, which BlackBerry took offense to. BlackBerry sued and won an injunction against Typo Products, leading Typo to produce the Typo2, a second-generation keyboard that it claimed did not violate any BlackBerry patents.

The $99 Typo2 features a sleeker design with a built-in keyboard that unfortunately blocks the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the iPhone 6. Though Typo Products claims that its second-generation offering does not infringe on BlackBerry patents, it continues to bear a visual resemblance to the keyboards BlackBerry has used in its products for years.

According to BlackBerry, with the Typo2, Typo Products produced a “minimally modified derivative version” of the original Typo keyboard that continues to abuse BlackBerry’s trade dress. The lawsuit cites a range of media reviews that compare the Typo2 to the BlackBerry, pointing out the marked similarities between the two, including a comment from one of our own forum members. BlackBerry’s lawsuit also accuses the Typo2 of infringing on five BlackBerry patents.

BlackBerry now has two lawsuits pending against Typo, for the original Typo keyboard and the Typo2. BlackBerry has also won an award of $860,000 after Typo continued selling its original keyboard in violation of the previously mentioned injunction. In the newest lawsuit, BlackBerry asks for “enhanced and exemplary” damages for Typo’s continued infringement.

Totallee Scarf Review: A Look at One of the Thinnest iPhone 6/6 Plus Cases You Can Get [iOS Blog]

The iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus are Apple’s thinnest iPhones yet at 6.9 and 7.1mm, respectively, and these ultra thin devices have spawned a range of super thin cases that aim to offer scratch protection without adding bulk. Of the dozens of featherweight cases on the market, the Scarf case from California case maker Totallee is one of the thinnest you can buy, measuring in at 0.35mm, and it’s affordable, at $14.99.

We went hands-on with Totallee’s Scarf case for the iPhone 6 Plus and you can see what we thought of it in both the quick video review below and our longer full-length review.

Design

At approximately the thickness of a fingernail, the Scarf is designed not to be noticed — its primary goal is to blend in with your phone and offer unobtrusive protection. It comes in colors that are designed to match the iPhone casing — black, gold, white, and light gray. Light gray is a brand new addition to the Scarf lineup, and was conceived to be a better match for the Space Gray iPhone than the previously available black color.

The Scarf is made of polypropylene, a lightweight thermoplastic polymer. It is flexible and bendable, so if you crease it forcefully, it can be damaged. The case’s flexibility lets it slip easily onto an iPhone. Like most iPhone 6 and 6 Plus cases, the Scarf has cutouts for the rear camera, the power button, the volume button, and the mute switch. It covers the top of the phone, but leaves the bottom open for access to the Lightning port, speaker holes, and headphone port.

Read more

EA’s ‘The Sims 4’ Now Available for Mac [Mac Blog]

As promised in January, the newest game in the EA-owned Sims franchise, The Sims 4, is now available for purchase on the Mac. The Sims 4 initially launched for PC back in September of 2014, but it’s taken several months for the company to ready a Mac version of the game.

Like other games in the franchise, The Sims 4 tasks players with the creation and control of the lives of virtual characters. The goal of the game is to guide sims through life, establishing relationships, building homes, advancing through careers, and conquering goals.

The Sims 4 begins with creating a sim with deep customization options. It’s possible to randomly create a sim to start the game off in just a few minutes, but for those who would like select each aspect of their sim, the options are available. You can customize facial features, hair, accessories, makeup, and select outfits for every occasion from day to day wear to party wear.

Beyond the physical, creating a sim also involves choosing a name, personality traits that affect how sims interact with other sims, and a lifetime aspiration like reaching the top of a career ladder, having a big family, or hosting amazing parties.

Once a sim is created and ready to move into the world, the idea is to choose a house and direct your sim through life. With The Sims, the possibilities are endless. Sims can lounge around all day watching TV and being slobs, or pick up a job and pursue a career in several different fields, including crime, business, food, and more.

Sims have a never-ending list of minor achievements that are based on their relationships, personality, and lifetime goal, so gameplay largely involves fulfilling these minor achievements (a goal might be talking to a friend, cooking a meal, or buying a household item), earning money, building families, and progressing through the sim’s life. Amidst all of this, it’s also necessary to meet a sims’ basic needs like hygiene, food, and sleep.

Building houses and community lots is the other major aspect of gameplay in The Sims, and in The Sims 4, a lot of the building tools are easier to use and more intuitive than in past games, making it easy to create detailed structures that range from the simple starter house to sprawling castles.

The Sims 4 has a thriving online community where it’s possible to download sims, houses, and rooms created by other users or upload your own. This content is accessible from the “Gallery” option marked by a portrait icon at the top of the screen. The gallery is home to a huge collection of content that can be added to your game with just a few clicks — one of the most impressive aspects of The Sims 4.

The Sims 4 has received some criticism for notable gameplay changes and features that were stripped from the previous game, but EA has pledged updates that will return some of the missing functionality to the game over the course of time. EA has already re-added pools and ghosts, two major features that did not ship with the game, and two additional free content updates have added genealogy to track sim family lines, holiday items, and two new careers.

EA’s also released a major content pack for The Sims 4, Outdoor Retreat, which introduces a new vacations feature, new areas to explore, new traits, new skills, and more. Along with the full game, the new expansion is available on the Mac.

We tested The Sims 4 for Mac over the weekend ahead of its launch and we didn’t encounter any significant bugs, performance issues, or lag when playing the game. Performance was equivalent to the PC version of the game. Of course, some users could still see issues, but on a 2013 iMac and a 2012 Retina MacBook Pro, the game ran well. System requirements can be found here.

The Sims 4 is missing some of the content from The Sims 3 and has some major differences in gameplay, namely that it’s no longer possible to travel around the world without loading screens, but it should be noted that the game’s performance has been much improved by some of these tweaks to the gameplay — The Sims 4 runs quickly and has minimal lag.

If you’ve been playing The Sims 4 for PC and want to transfer your saved game to Mac, that’s possible with a USB drive. Simply copy the “saves” folder from the PC and transfer it to The Sims 4 folder on the Mac, and the save files will be available and ready to play once you log into The Sims 4 on a Mac.

The Sims 4 for Mac be purchased through EA’s Origin platform for $59.99. There’s also a deluxe version available for $69.99, which includes exclusive bonus content. Outdoor Retreat can be purchased for an additional $19.99. If you already own the PC version of the game, you can download the Mac version at no additional cost.

Google Pulls ‘Sparrow’ Mail Apps From App Store to Focus on New ‘Inbox’ App [iOS Blog]

Google has quietly removed both the iOS and Mac versions of its Sparrow email apps from Apple’s App Stores, amid reports the company is shifting to focus more intently on its revamped Inbox by Gmail app (via TechCrunch).

The company bought alternative email client app Sparrow back in 2012 and launched Inbox by Gmail to select users last fall, with a wider release earlier this year.

At the time of its launch, Sparrow offered a unique and accessible email client that made it popular with a wide audience. Google’s acquisition saw the Sparrow team focusing on non-Sparrow related projects, and the app’s lack of continued developer support saw it nosedive in the App Store rankings in the years since.

Sparrow flying away for good shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, but it has been a long time coming. At the time of Google’s acquisition in 2012, reportedly for under $25 million, Sparrow/Google more or less stopped big developments but kept the apps operational and pledged support for existing users.

The Sparrow iOS app never received iOS 8 support and the Mac App was never updated after the acquisition at all, so Google’s removal of the apps from the storefront isn’t too shocking. Some of that same Sparrow team, including product designer Jean-Marc Denis, have gone on to help Google out with the new Inbox app.

Inbox by Gmail is available to download for free from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Upcoming ‘Modern Family’ Episode Shot Entirely on iPhone and iPad Cameras

The upcoming February 25 episode of ABC’s multiple Emmy-winning sitcom “Modern Family” will take place solely on a MacBook screen (via The Verge). The episode, being shot by director and series co-creator Steve Levitan, used an iPhone 6 and iPad Air 2 to shoot every scene.

The episode’s story focuses on Claire Dunphy’s (Julie Bowen) attempt to reach her daughter Haley (Sarah Hyland) by contacting various other members of the Dunphy/Pritchett clan via multiple forms of MacBook apps, all while stuck in an airport.

The show will not only use various chat apps like Apple’s own FaceTime and Messages, but include references to everything from Reminders to the now-obsolete iPhoto. Levitan mentioned that the idea for the episode came from his own experience communicating with his kids in college through the vast array of chat software available today.

“I have two daughters at college, and we do a lot of FaceTiming,” he said at a recent press event in Los Angeles. He was working one day with a number of emails and websites open on his machine, when a video chat from his daughter popped up. On the screen he saw his work, his daughter, himself, and his wife doing something behind him all at the same time. “And I realized on that screen you could tell so much about my life. So the original idea was from there.”

The show has been a proponent of Apple-related gadgets in the past, with an early-series episode mostly dedicated to Claire’s attempt to get Phil the original iPad. Apple was even reported to lend the show a slew of iPhones, iPads, and MacBook Pros for shooting the video chats and for allowing the show’s editors to conduct post-production work once the shoot was done.

The episode has been so long in production – with motion graphics artist John Brown at the head – the team had been working on it since OS X Yosemite itself was in beta. “It was frustrating to be like, ‘Act one, totally locked,’ and then come in Monday and hear the FaceTime notification has changed,” Brown said.

Besides a few slight liberties to the Apple OS X platform, including giving FaceTime the ability to handle multiple calls at once and a few aesthetic alterations to Yosemite’s transparency options, The Verge reports the environment created by the episode “felt all too familiar.”

The episode, entitled “Connection Lost” airs Wednesday, February 25 on ABC.

Sketchy Rumor Claims MacBooks, Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad to Gain Touch ID

Touch ID could be headed to the next-generation MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad, according to a sketchy rumor from Taiwanese website Apple.club.tw [Google Translate]. The report, citing sources, claims that the fingerprint scanner will be positioned above the trackpad on MacBooks and integrated directly into the Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad for desktop Mac users.

The addition of a built-in fingerprint scanner on the latest MacBooks, Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad would enable Apple to make an aggressive push into the mobile payments industry with Apple Pay. The NFC-based mobile payments platform is currently limited to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and will be compatible with the iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c and iPhone 5 when paired with an Apple Watch.

There are a few reasonable obstacles, however, that suggest this rumor may not be true. First, there is limited space above the trackpad on MacBooks for Apple to implement Touch ID, especially on the upcoming 12-inch MacBook Air. Meanwhile, integrating Touch ID on the Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad would be complex due to the need for secure wireless transmitting authentication.

Apple.club.tw has shared reliable information in the past about Apple’s upcoming product plans, leaking photos of components for next-generation products such as the iPhone 6 and iPad Air 2. Nevertheless, this rumor should be treated with a proverbial grain of salt until further information is known.

Non-Retina MacBook Airs could be updated as soon as late February, while the 12-inch Retina MacBook Air is expected to launch closer to mid-year. Keep an eye on MacRumors‘ Buyer’s Guides for the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro for the latest advice and information about product refreshes.