News

This is the last week for developers to submit their apps and app updates before the App Store is closed down for the winter holidays through December 22-29. It is kind of shocking that more apps weren't released this week, and makes one wonder if we will see an influx of apps released next Thursday. This also means there will be no App Store Recap on Saturday, December 27th.

The biggest App Store news of the week revolved around the newly released iPad version of Papers, Please and nudity. The hit PC game was initially rejected by Apple for containing "pornographic content" due to it offering a "nudity option". In the game players take on the role of a border patrol agent for the fictional state of Arstozka and can choose to submit people to invasive procedures such as full body scans. Developer Lucas Pope told Ars Technica that his "main concern with creating an iOS version of Papers, Please was that Apple would decide the game was strongly political and reject it outright," not that it would be rejected for its pixelated nudity. Apple "censoring" the political game sent the internet into a tizzy which made Pope rethink his own position and contact the company. Yesterday Pope announced that Apple said its "initial rejection for porn was a misunderstanding on their part," and suggested he resubmit the app with the nudity option.

Apple's iTunes Connect will be shut down starting December 22-29 for the winter holidays. Developers will not be able to submit any new apps or app updates during the blackout. This means there will be no new games released to the App Store in 2014 after next week, and that it is the perfect time to announce our favorite iOS games of the year.

This is just five our favorite games based on a very small sampling of the thousands of titles released to the App Store in 2014.

What if your iPhone protected itself from damage automatically when dropped? A patent awarded to Apple seeks to build this functionality directly into future mobile devices, analyzing sensor data to detect free fall. The concept continues from there, imagining a system that would react physically to reposition the iPhone in space to minimize damage on impact.

Physics could save the day, along with movement within the iPhone to change the orientation of the falling device. Existing technology could be used, such as the vibration mechanism inside the phone. Alternatively, a headphone jack that is in use could lock around the plug, giving the owner time to catch the headphone cable and cut the fall short. AppleInsider explained the patent titled “Protective mechanism for an electronic device” was awarded this month after being filed early last year.

Apple and IBM first joined forces in July, when they announced their partnership in an effort to "transform enterprise mobility" by building and expanding industry specific iOS applications and supporting cloud services.

Described by Bridget van Kralingen, SVP of IBM World Business Services, the collaboration "aims directly at the new quest of business—smart technologies that unlock new value at the intersection of big data and individual engagement, [and] combines IBM’s industry expertise and unmatched position in enterprise computing, with Apple’s legendary user experience and excellence in product design to lift the performance of a new generation of business professionals.”

It has been confirmed that iOS 8.1.2 does not patch the kernel exploit used in the TaiG jailbreak and it is safe for iOS users with jailbroken devices to upgrade. However, most jailbreakers will probably want to stay at iOS 8.1 or 8.1.1 since there are really no reasons to upgrade unless you purchase ringtones.

iOS 8.1.1 was released mainly to increase stability and performance on older Apple hardware, such as the iPhone 4s and iPad 2, and iOS 8.1.2 fixes a bug that was affecting ringtone purchases. You will only want to upgrade if you're experiencing performance problems since installing iOS 8, you purchase ringtones or if you just like being up to date.