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In this edition of Weekend Reading, we’ve got stories on potentially world-changing quantum computing research, the release of the Lumia 530 and a look ahead – and back – at the Imagine Cup. At Station Q, headquarters of potentially world-changing quantum computing research, big brains inside and outside of Microsoft explore the exciting, mysterious, difficult and downright strange space where computer science meets quantum physics. Check out the full story to see how quantum computing could tackle problems that would take today’s computers eons to solve in the time it takes to grab a cup of coffee. On Wednesday, we saw an announcement for the August rollout of th…

We got an early look in our Modern Combat 5 review yesterday, and now y'all can get in on the best first-person-shooter to hit iOS in some time. This game rocks top-notch graphics, challenging multiplayer, and action gameplay honed over several generations of the franchise. What's most impressive here is the absolute lack of in-app purchases. The core gameplay is largely the same: run, gun, chew through single-player challenges and campaign missions, level up and expand one of four classes... There's a new Squad system so you can team up with buddies for limited-time multiplayer events. It's great to get a game that goes back to traditional pricing, and if you think …

The team from Rolecule is back with a brand new game for your Apple TV, Dance Party TV. From the developers that brought you Motion Tennis in 2013, Dance Party TV is another iPhone game that uses AirPlay – and wizardry – to display a completely different game interface on your Apple TV. And as before, your iPhone and your motion is the controller. I've spent a little time throwing down some moves with it – albeit, very poorly – and you know what? It's really good. Before you're able to get your groove on you'll need to set up AirPlay mirroring on your iPhone. The game walks you through the process if you've never done it before, or you can read more about it here.…

News broke out yesterday that Swatch is working with Apple on the iWatch.Today, in a statement passed on to Bloomberg, the famous brand of watches shot down reports by stating that "Swatch is not working with Apple on Smartwatches". This statement closes the VentureBeat report, which cited unknown sources. Swatch also notes that the company is not hastily looking to expand into the smartwatch race any time soon. CEO Nick Hayek had previously said that he sees large amounts of resistance from consumers as the hardware available today is unable to contain enough charge for operation for more than a few days, as well as screens being on the small side to read through no…

Razer has confirmed that its up and coming Nabu wearable will integrate with the WeChat messaging service. The wearable is attempting to bind together both the smartwatch and fitness band, offering consumers a single product to carry out multiple tasks. The band itself is set to debut in China, before heading to the US and other targeted markets. As previously touched on, the retail price is expected to be less than $100. It remains to be seen just how good the Nabu will be, but it's an interesting concept, nonetheless. The added WeChat integration is just another feature which makes the product further stand out prior to its launch. The company is also exploring uni…

Starting Thursday, Apple will be sending out invitations for the OS X Yosemite public beta. If you're hoping to be one of the folks who gets it, this is a good time to make sure that your Mac is ready for the big event. OS X Yosemite: Explained First of all, bear in mind that OS X Yosemite is already on its fourth developer preview release. They've been coming out every few weeks since WWDC in early June, and they've been getting progressively better. But OS X Yosemite is still very much a beta. Because it's still in development and because it's the bedrock operating system of your Mac, you shouldn't install it as your primary operating system. If you have a s…

Photo submission by HankAZ This week's theme is Black & White! Interpret it as you will, and have some fun with it! It's a pretty broad theme, and lots of room for different perspectives, so take your best shot and maybe you'll be the winner next week! The contest begins now and ends Tuesday, July 29th at 6 p.m. Eastern time. Good luck! It's also time to announce the winner of our last photo contest! And the winner is... "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes." This photograph is taken by my iphone 4 and edited on instagram. I took this shot of the Bunker Hill Monument while visiting family in Boston, Massachusetts. Congrats to fo…

New rumors of the iWatch suggest that Apple's once rumored smartwatch may not be built by Apple itself, but through established watch brands like Swatch and Timex. While earlier rumors posited that the iWatch would be an actual Apple-made product, much in the same manner that the iPhone is Apple's smartphone, the latest round of rumors may indicate that Apple may be creating a smartwatch platform, and if true this mean that Apple could give Android Wear some serious competition. "Apple has been working with at least one partner, Swatch, to release a line of smartwatches in variety of branded styles and price points," Venture Beat reported citing a source "with knowle…

Extensibility, one of the new features coming to iOS 8 this fall, is one of the most significant advancements since the launch of the App Store in 2008. With Extensibility, apps can project widgets into Notification Center's today view, provide custom upload and update functionality, and custom actions in Share Sheets, hook filters into the Photos app, provide custom keyboards system-wide, and access your files anywhere via iCloud Drive or third-party document providers like Dropbox or Google Drive. And they can do all this while maintaining the high level of security built into iOS. So, what are they and how do they all work? Custom extensions Like system-wid…

Apple's new MacBook Air ad shows off a ton of stickers that can be used to give your, in some cases well-loved, Mac some custom, cartoon, cultural, or just plain crazy flare. So, if you see one that catches your attention, that you think would look simply smashing on the back of your MacBook Air, where can you get it? TUAW has put together a list. Not every sticker Apple shown is actually available for purchase... anywhere. Others are clearly inspired by decals you can buy, but they're not exactly the same. Apple definitely fabricated some of these specifically for the ad itself, but others are available for you to buy right this minute. I've listed all of them, …

Apple is rumored to be in talks of launching a mobile wallet initiative, and it could happen as early as this fall alongside the much anticipated iPhone 6. Apple's efforts would allow iPhone owners to pay for goods in physical retail stores by using just their phones, an effort that could lead to people carrying just their iPhone rather than having to carry an iPhone and a wallet. "Conversations between Apple and payments-industry companies have heated up in recent months, with several people briefed on the talks saying that Apple executives have discussed launching a mobile "wallet" as soon as this fall for people to use their iPhones to pay for goods in physical st…

Station Q, headquarters of potentially world-changing quantum computing research, is located just past where the Pacific Ocean meets the sand, up through a grove of palm trees and across a bike path. (Do mind the shirtless college student zipping past on a skateboard wearing only a backpack and swim trunks.) In some ways, Station Q is not at all what you’d expect from a hub for next-level computing research – there’s a strong California vibe, with world-renowned experts turning up for work in Hawaiian shirts and shorts, and even a nearby room with a shower, a clothes rack full of faded wetsuits and battered, loaner surf boards leaning in the corner for those who do the…

Vector is a news and analysis show focusing on the biggest stories, hottest trends, and most important issues in technology, past, present, and future. On this week's show, Rene and Georgia Dow of ZEN&TECH talk about the CEOs of the major tech companies, including Apple, Microsoft, Google, BlackBerry, and more. Their differences in styles, approaches, and the companies they run. Subscribe in iTunes Subscribe in RSS Download directly Follow on Twitter Guests Georgia Dow of ZEN&TECH Hosts Rene Ritchie of Mobile Nations Feedback Question, comment, recommendation, or something you want us to follow up on for the next show? Email vector…

Fantastical has been updated for both iPhone and iPad, adding the ability to snooze notifications, icon badge options, and more. There are also a number of smaller improvements as well. Fantastical 2.1 adds a number of helpful features, especially with notifications. You can now snooze notifications by tapping on an event or reminder notification to see snooze options. Fantastical 2.1 lets you use the app icon badge to display invitations for new events. You can change what the badge displays by tapping the gear icon in the top left corner and selecing App Icon Badge. There are other useful improvments as well. You can now add contacts and locations when creating …

Marvel Comics has announced that it is letting people access the over 13,000 digital comic book issues in its Marvel Unlimited online service for Android for just $0.99 in a special promotion deal. For those of you who might be unfamiliar with Marvel Unlimited, it's basically offers a way to read lots of comics like Spider-Man, X-Men and Avengers for one monthly fee, with new issues added every week to its library of titles. Normally, the cost of the service is $9.99 a month but for this week only you can sign up for the service and have the first month cost just $0.99. There's also an option to pay $69 for an annual subscription. There are a couple of catches wit…

Last night Apple published its financial results for Q3 fiscal 2014. iMore has already posted a very detailed set of notes from the quarterly conference call, so I'll just recap a few key numbers and then dive into what I think the quarter means to Apple longer term. As per usual, keep in mind I do own shares in the company and I have no plans to sell them anytime soon. My comments represent my thinking and you should not interpret any of this as investing advice. Overall the quarter was very healthy. Apple generates the majority of its revenue from the iPhone, so the Mac line and even the iPad line are less meaningful right now. Apple's financial performance lives and…

Starting today, Comic Con is coming to Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff. In the latest update to the popular iPhone and iPad game, Quahog is hosting its very own Comic Con event and with it comes a whole host of new celebrity, and 'superhero' characters. Oh, and Stewie gets turned into an evil octopus, can't forget that! Starting July 24, Comic-Con International will be hosting a new comic convention in Quahog. Stewie gets transformed into an evil octopus monster so Quahog needs a new set of heroes to help fight back! Celebrity guest stars (including Patrick Stewart, Bryan Cranston, Stan Lee, Ron Perlman, George Takei, Felicia Day, and Nathan Fillion) arrive in time …

The Microsoft Devices Group announced Wednesday the August rollout of the Lumia 530, an entry-level device for Windows Phone that delivers the latest Microsoft and Lumia innovations. The Lumia 530 will expand the reach of Windows Phone as the first Lumia introduced below 100 euros (at 85 euros, or about $114) and makes it easy to switch between two SIM cards. It also includes the latest version of Windows Phone 8.1, with Action Center and the Word Flow keyboard. Powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, the Lumia 530 shows that it doesn’t skimp on features despite its price tag. It comes with a 4-inch LCD display, Skype and Microsoft Office and 4GB of on…

FiftyThree now has a software development kit available for devs that want to make use of their snazzy Bluetooth-enabled Pencil accessory. This enables new interactions whereby the app can recognize a fingertip, a palm (which can generally be rejected as input), the tip of the Pencil, or the rectangular eraser head. There's also some super-simple pairing functions available for those that bounce between devices, plus once iOS 8 drops, Pencil will support pressure sensitivity. Three top-notch developers are already making use of the tools, including Procreate ($5.99), Noteshelf ($5.99), and Squiggle ($0.99). Interested developers can hit up the Pencil SDK page to s…

For today only, buy the Incipio Lightning Charge/Sync Cable 3.3ft and save 25% off the list price! Compliment your lightning-compatible Apple device with one of these high quality, vibrant colored charge and sync cables from Incipio! These thin, lightweight lightning cables reach 3.3ft in length and are great for using with USB wall chargers, car chargers or just to hook up to your PC or laptop. Continue reading...

Earlier this week Apple reaffirmed to iMore that it had never worked with any government agency to create a backdoor in any product or service. That was in answer to questions raised by Jonathan Zdziarski concerning iOS privacy and security. Apple has now published a new support page titled iOS: About diagnostic capabilities which elaborates on the services Zdziarski called out as data leaks. It does not, however, address vulnerabilities in passcode, pairing keys, or trusted device, though Apple typically does not address those types of things until they've pushed out patches. Here's Apple's full support article on the services: iOS offers the following diagnostic capa…

Sometimes when taking a photo, the Camera app can continue to re-focus itself which can add some lag between captures. Luckily, if your focal point isn't constantly moving or changing, you can lock the focus to minimize lag and ensure that the focus is locked on what you want it to be. How the lock the focus in the iPhone and iPad Camera app Launch the Camera app like you normally would to take a photo. Press and hold on your focal point until you see an AE/AF Lock banner appear at the top of the screen. Remove your finger from the screen and tap the shutter button when you're ready to take your photo. Unlock the focus and exposure again at any time by tapping a…

The TV Show is like app or game reviews for television episodes. Whether you're watching on the Apple TV or streaming to your iPhone or iPad, follow along for the week of TV that was. On this episode Dave and Rene are joined by Dave's ex-girlfriend, Ashley Williams to talk 24 finale, Fascape season 1, and — sorry, really, so sorry! — Doctor Who season 3, including the brilliantly terrifying Blink. Support the TV Show: Go to harrys.com and use offer code thetvshow to save $5 off your order. Subscribe via RSS Subscribe via iTunes Download Directly Follow on Twitter Shows we spoil 0:00:00 - 24: Day 9: 11:00 p.m. – 11:00 a.m - iTunes | Amazon | Google Play 0…

Samsung is continuing to use their expensive commercial time to promote Apple products, this time focusing on the difference in screen size between the 5.1-inch display of the Galaxy S5 versus the 4-inch display of the iPhone 5s and, what's more, the 4.7- and 5.5-inch displays rumored to be coming with the iPhone 6 this fall. In its 30-second ad, Samsung shows two friends in a bar, one of whom is eagerly awaiting the next, rumored to be larger sized, iPhone 6. The other points out to him that he doesn't have to wait, large size phones are already here, thanks to Samsung. In addition to teasing Apple's next big thing, and encouraging everyone watching to wait and see …