News

Sometimes a promotion comes around that sounds too good to be true. If you're one of the millions of Americans who still has some last-minute holiday shopping to get done, there's a gift card deal ending today, Saturday December 22. Best Buy is selling iTunes gift cards at 20 percent off face value.

The discount applies to Apple iTunes gift cards purchased in Best Buy stores at denominations of anywhere from $15 to $100. The recipient can redeem the iTunes gift card for apps, books, movies, music and television shows and even spend the money on the Mac App Store.

Apple has released another update to its mobile operating system, making the current iPhone 5 firmware version iOS 6.0.2. Aside from the usual improvements and bug fixes, this release addresses a bug that "could impact Wi-Fi" according to the company. iPhone 5 and iPad mini users who have been experiencing problems with Wi-Fi should find the update helpful.

Reports have surfaced of slow Wi-Fi download speeds and other issues on some iPhone 5 units. Others have experienced a problem where cellular data was charged to their devices even when Wi-Fi was connected. It's not clear how widespread these problems are, but iOS users are encouraged to install the 6.0.2 update either over-the-air (OTA) or using iTunes on a computer.

I've recently noticed that my iPhone is starting to look like a Google billboard, and I'm starting to wonder if other iPhone owners are feeling the same way.

YouTube beat out Instagram as the most downloaded free app of the year, and Google Maps shot to the top of the charts after being downloaded over 10 million times in less than two days. Granted, YouTube and Google Maps were already popular apps people were used to using, and iPhone owners just wanted them back after Apple removed them with iOS 6. But if you're like me, and have traded in Siri for Google Search, and Safari for Google Chrome, you might feel like you're betraying Apple a little.

Then there are Gmail users and the social networking addicts who use Google+ along with Facebook and Twitter, and now Google is taking over our iPhone cameras with YouTube Capture. At this rate iPhone users are going to find themselves with more Google apps on their devices than stock Apple apps, or any other third party apps.

Google has launched a new app for the iPhone that aims to make sharing videos on YouTube easier and faster. Once installed, users can set preferences for automatic color correction, video stabilization and location services. You can then use the app to record videos and automatically upload them to YouTube, Google+, Facebook and Twitter . The app also allows you to set privacy settings, edit your video and add free background music.

Two of my favorite features are the ability to upload videos while the app is minimized, and that the app forces users to hold their phone in a horizontal position, in an effort to eliminate the annoying Vertical Video Syndrome.

I don't enjoy games that require I wait 15-minutes to an hour to watch a plant grow, or to build a building. Thankfully there are no long periods of twiddling your thumbs in Double Fine Productions' Middle Manager of Justice building/strategy game. Actions only take a few seconds or minutes, and there is plenty to do to keep you busy.

Middle Manager puts you in charge of Justice Corp., a kind of superhero temp agency that has seen better days. You must recruit and train employees while rebuilding your headquarters and saving various cities. The goal of the game is to make well-rounded (Tip: Don't ignore training intelligence, it does come in handy) superheroes while supplying them with the best tools and work space to get the job done. The fun story lines, goofy characters and the ability to complete many actions quickly helps Middle Manager avoid being another snoozefest simulation-type game.