News

Sharing photos with the people who are in them is about to get easier. Apple has applied for a patent titled Systems and methods for sending digital images, which uses facial recognition to identify individuals in a photo. The iOS camera already uses facial recognition to improve its focus on subjects. By taking the next step and figuring out who's pictured, iOS can tap associated contact information already stored on the iPhone.

Microsoft continues to update and improve the Outlook email app for Apple Watch. Recently owners of the watch have been able to enjoy replying to emails without ever looking at the iPhone. In addition to using Siri to reply to email, Outlook 1.3.7 users can quickly check their Inbox or calendar from a glance. The app also pushes interactive, custom notifications to the Apple Watch.

Activision today announced a new free-to-play card battle game called Skylanders BattleCast for mobile devices. The new mobile title will not launch until 2016, but fans will be able to get a "sneak peek with the launch of a preview app on September 20," according to the official Activision Games Blog.

The popular iPad skecthing app Paper is getting iPhone support, according to a teaser page that popped up today on developer FiftyThree's website.

Paper is a drawing app that offers a suite of sketching tools, and Mix, a social network for sharing and viewing sketches with other artists. The app has grown so popular since its release that FiftyThree started offering its original tools to users for free back in February. FiftyThree also recently updated the app with Think Kit, which has been described as an "auto­correct for drawing," a free automatic backup otpion, and other new features.

Proximity sensors on future iPhones may be more sophisticated than current components. According to the patent titled Proximity sensors with smudge detection capabilities, malfunctions due to dirt on the display can be prevented. Sometimes a smudge on the glass will prevent the proximity sensor from switching the display on. The problem is the sensor believes the iPhone is against the user's head.