Rovio

32 'Rovio' stories December 2010 - November 2012

Reader eBooks by Sony, Angry Birds Star Wars, BBC iPlayer, Facebook, Instagram rolls out Web profiles, app sales, and more

Élyse Betters Nov 5 2012 - 10:46 am PT

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXzMN9pbxCE&feature=youtu.be]

9to5Mac compiled another list of the top app news, updates, and launches in our usual roundup below. The highlights from today includes statistics on how the newly Web-geared Instagram helped capture Hurricane Sandy in real-time, a new eBook app by Sony, and a shiny teaser trailer for Rovio’s Angry Birds Star Wars (above). Oh, and a few app sales—check it out:

News

1. Angry Birds Star Wars
After releasing a string of teasers for its title landing on iOS Nov. 8, Rovio posted the first official full-length gameplay trailer today for its new Star Wars edition of Angry Birds.

Angry Birds Star Wars will be out on November 8, but until then, watch this gameplay trailer and scream “OH MY GOODNESS!!!!” to yourself in the mirror

2. Instagram | Free
Hurricane Sandy barreled through the East Coast last week, and those in its stormy path made sure to document all of the havoc in real-time with the help of Instagram. Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom revealed to GigaOM today that folks uploaded over 800,000 photos tagged with the #Sandy hashtag. Systrom specifically noted Sandy was “probably the biggest event to be captured on Instagram.” The news from Systrom this morning came as the Facebook-acquired company also announced the rollout of new Web profiles with a very Facebook-esque look (via official Instagram blog):

You’ve asked for Instagram on the web and we’ve listened. Over the next few days, we’ll be rolling out Instagram profiles on the web!

Your web profile features a selection of your recently shared photographs just above your profile photo and bio, giving others a snapshot of the photos you share on Instagram. In addition, you can follow users, comment & like photos and edit your profile easily and directly from the web. It’s a beautiful new way to share your Instagram photos!

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Angry Birds Star Wars, Netbot for App.net, Find My Friends, Pandora Radio, more

Jordan Kahn Oct 29 2012 - 10:43 am PT

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0Yq9idnT1OM#!]

Angry Birds Star Wars: Rovio has been teasing the Star Wars edition of Angry Birds for a few weeks now, but today we get our first look at gameplay from the new title. The game appears to be just a Star Wars themed version of the traditional Angry Birds gameplay. Rovio has more on its Tumblr. Angry Birds Star Wars will hit the App Store on November 8th.

Netbot for App.net: The App.net client made by Tweetbot creators Tabots is receiving a nice update today that brings push notifications, as well as an “experimental post search” feature. In addition, the update includes a number of fixes and improvements and is also available to the iPad version.

-Push Notifications
-Experimental Post Search
-Various other fixes and improvements

Discovery Channel HD: Discovery Channel updated its iPad app today to include “an interactive second screen experience synchronized to the premiere of two MythBusters episodes.” The episodes are airing this Sunday, November 4th at 8pm. The update also includes optimizations for iOS 6.

GAME mobile app: One of UK’s biggest game retailers is launching a new iOS app today that offers access to its Game Reward and Gamestation Elite programs.

Find My Friends version 2.0.1:

• Temporary friends are listed under Followers in the Me tab
• Friends’ notifications regarding your location appear in Me > Followers

Pandora Radio version 4.0: One of the biggest updates today goes to Pandora Radio’s iOS app. On top of new sharing options and redesigned user experience, the update also introduces a ton of new features. Full list below:

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Angry Birds Seasons, Opera Mini, Square in Canada, Music Unlimited, more

Jordan Kahn Oct 24 2012 - 10:02 am PT

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa_QVIprn8Y&feature=youtu.be]

Angry Birds Seasons version 2.3.0: Rovio updated its Seasons edition of Angry Birds with 30 new levels for Halloween and much more. The HD iPad version gets the same update.

BOO! The pigs are hiding in their spookiest location yet: a haunted house! The Angry Birds will have to brave ghosts and ghouls to get their eggs back — if they can survive the house first! Are your eyes playing tricks on you or did that painting just move?!

-Explore the scary secrets of the brand new haunted house!
-Try to survive 30 all new spooky levels!
-Shiver and shake to the ghostly new Halloween music!
-Use the brand new ghost bricks for fun trick shots!
-Say hello to Frankenswine and the other pigs, all dressed up for Halloween!

Square Register version 2.4: Square is officially rolling out its payment service internationally today with the Canadian launch and an updated Square Register iOS app. Full details in the company’s press release here.

– Square Register is now available in Canada!

Opera Mini version 7.0.5:

– Integration with iOS Facebook framework (iOS 6+)
– Improved performance when saving large images
– Fixed freeze after sharing via email
– Fixed video playback on youtube.com (iPhone and iPod)
– Performance and stability fixes
– Added support for iOS 4.2.1
– Various iOS 6 related fixes

Music Unlimited version 1.2: The iOS app for Sony’s subscription music service gets a decent update today with the ability to “Create channels inspired by your favorite artists” and more:

· My Channels – Create channels inspired by your favorite artists.
· Playlist management – Create and edit playlists on your mobile device.
· Some features have been improved.

Lumify version 2.0: One of our favorite new social video apps gets a big update:
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Rovio’s next big title ‘Bad Piggies’ now available on App Store for 99 cents

Jake Smith Sep 27 2012 - 4:30 am PT

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Banking (quite literally) on the success of its popular Angry Birds game, the folks at Rovio have released yet another game on the App Store. This morning, the crew has released Bad Piggies for 99 cents. The game reminds us of Angry Birds; it is described as “the ultimate flying/crawling/rolling/spinning/crashing device and pilot the pigs safely to the eggs” by the app development firm. Rovio listed the features:

60 levels crammed with flying/driving/crashing fun!
30 additional puzzles unlocked by three-starring levels!
Free updates!
4 sandbox levels to stretch your creativity!
Ultra-special, ultra-secret, ultra-difficult sandbox level to unlock by collecting all the skulls!
33 objects to create the ultimate machine: motors, wings, fans, bottle rockets, umbrellas, balloons, and much more!

[iPhone, iPad, Mac] Screenshots:

[tweet https://twitter.com/brettbabin/status/251309620021301249]

Update: Already #1
[tweet https://twitter.com/skiman121/status/251316363556179971]

Apps & updates: Netflix, Shazam, Bad Piggies, OmniFocus, more

Jordan Kahn Sep 17 2012 - 12:31 pm PT

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Bad Piggies: Rovio’s Bad Piggies doesn’t arrive on iOS and Mac until September 27th, but today we get our first look at the game in the first gameplay trailer above (via TechCrunch). The game takes place in the Angry Birds world, but appears to be quite a different experience. Check out the full trailer above.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LwZH0lg0XUM]

Netflix version 2.3: The Netflix iOS app for iPhone and iPad was updated today with a slightly updated UI and “Varied improvements on playback, AV sync, subtitle handling.” Netflix explained the new UI in a blog post and posted a video of the new experience (above):

At the top of the new browse screen on iPhone and iPod touch is a row that lets you continue watching shows or movies that you previously started watching right where you left off, a very handy feature. Lower down in the new experience are several personalized rows filled with movie and TV show recommendations…Tapping the browse menu gives you access to an extensive list of genre galleries that show even more titles organized into categories. Parents–like me–will really appreciate the children and family gallery with many titles organized by age… A simple tap on any title presents all of the information for that title and a double-tap on any title starts instant playback.

Shazam: Shazam announced on its website today that it is updating its iOS apps to allow users in the U.S. to use it as a “TV companion app” to tag TV shows and get access to cast information, sports scores, featured music and more.

Starting today, when people in the U.S. use the Shazam App while watching television, they have a fast and easy way to access:

Featured music – Shazam has leveraged its rich music history and its 20+ million track database to identify the music featured in whatever people are watching
Cast information – the app will list the cast featured in the program, guest stars, as well as other shows they’ve been in
Trivia – fans can learn more about their favorite program and even read about the occasional goofs with the trivia feature in the app
Celebrity buzz – gives fans all the latest gossip about the show and the stars in it
Social sharing – live Twitter feeds as well as commenting in the app makes it fun to talk with your friends about what you’re watching
More information – convenient links to show-related information at IMDB, Wikipedia, and the official site for the show.

Additionally, different types of programming will feature different results. For instance, sports events will include stats, scores and schedules instead of cast information.

OmniFocus version 1.6: Both the iPhone and iPad editions of the OmniFocus task management app received a huge update today that includes support for TextExpander touch, Reminders Capture for devices running Siri, and full support for iOS 6.

Apps & updates: Angry Birds Seasons, Amazon Instant Video, Dunkin’ Donuts, Shazam, more

Jordan Kahn Aug 16 2012 - 8:09 am PT

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As always, we will update our list of new apps and updates hitting the App Store and Mac App Store throughout the day:

Angry Birds Seasons version 2.5.0: New content for Rovio’s “Seasons” edition of Angry Birds rolled out today (including the HD version). The update includes 20 new schoolyard levels, bonus levels, a new pink bird, and new theme music for the playground levels.

Amazon Instant Video version 1.1: Amazon’s iPad app provides access to over 120,000 videos from the Amazon Instant Video store and thousands more Prime Instant Video titles, and it was updated today with a couple notable features. First—a new search function has been added to find specific titles from Prime. Also included in the update are an improved navigation bar and a number of bug fixes.

Shazam version 5.0.6: All of the versions of the song recognition app Shazam were updated today with an improved recognition rate and faster application startup time. The update also went to the $5.99 RED edition.

Dunkin’ Donuts version 1.0: Dunkin’ Donuts officially announced the release of its first mobile app today that allows customers to pay from the app using a virtual barcode-based DD card scanned by the cashier. Other features include a store locator, nutritional information for items on the menu, the ability to send virtual DD cards, and Facebook and Twitter integration.

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Apps & updates: Amazing Alex, Hulu Plus, Weather Channel, Tweetbot, and more

Jordan Kahn Jul 10 2012 - 8:50 am PT

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk7vezL36IU]

Amazing Alex: (iPhone $.99/iPad $2.99)We recently got a little teaser for Rovio’s new game, but today we get the official launch trailer for Amazing Alex that now has a solid July 12 release date for iOS devices. Also included in today’s list of apps and updates is a refreshed Weather Channel iPad app, and updates to CloudOn and the VLC Remote app.

Weather Channel for iPad v3.3.0: The popular Weather Channel app for iPad was updated today with a number of notable new features and enhancements. Included in the update are improved radar maps, HD backgrounds for the iPad’s Retina display, and improvements to crashes experienced by first-gen iPad users. You can now also refresh data by tapping the Weather Channel logo within the app.

CloudOn v2.0.55: CloudOn allows you to access Microsoft Office on the iPad with DropBox and Google Drive integration, and today’s update brings even more functionality, including: the ability to open password protected Office files, an improved experience for Retina iPad users, and more.

Hulu Plus: Hulu Plus is now offering a free two-month trial opposed to its usual 1-month offering. The Hulu Plus iOS app is available here.

VLC Remote v6.02: The app that controls the VLC Media Player on Macs and PCs received a minor updated today that fixes issues with YouTube browsing and translations in several languages.

Tweetbot v2.4.1: A small updated to the Tweetbot iPhone and iPad client today brings the ability to “toggle smart quotes in the compose view (tap in the text input area)” and various fixes including one related to crashes for Droplr uploads.

'Apple will be number one for a long time', says Angry Birds

9to5 Staff Dec 29 2010 - 2:40 am PT

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMltvlqEM54&w=670&h=400]

Apple’s iOS has won a big thumbs-up from the Angry Birds themselves, who say that when it comes to mobile devices, Apple’s going to excel against the rest.

“Apple will be the number one platform for a long time from a developer perspective, they have gotten so many things right,” said Peter Vesterbacka, Angry Birds development lead.
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