To date, all of Zynga’s “With Friends” mobile games have been social twists on word and puzzle classics like Scrabble and Hangman.

But on the heels of runaway hits like Temple Run 2 and Subway Surfers, the company is off to the races, hoping to give those single-player phenomena a multiplayer-focused run for their money.

(Pardon the barrage of running puns.)

The company’s latest game is Running With Friends, a smart twist on the popular endless-runner genre. As with other games, you swipe on the touchscreen to avoid obstacles, collect powerups and move your character around the screen: Left and right to change into one of three “lanes,” up to jump, and down to slide.

The twist comes in the form of some familiar multiplayer features that Zynga has built around this tried-and-true formula. This is asynchronous multiplayer, meaning you can challenge someone to a race without needing to play at the same time as your opponent to compete (as is the...

Adobe announced the end of its traditional licensing model for Photoshop, InDesign and the rest of the Creative Suite apps, and just like all of those app's users, Jeff and Bryan have plenty to say on the subject. That, and Bryan says Apple lost control over its message, but has an opportunity to recover.

Kwikset has made a new lock it's calling Kevo that makes use of your iPhone to lose your keys for good. The idea on this one seems great, and apparently the company picked up some money from a pitch on the Shark Tank TV show. The lock has both standard key-based and wireless mechanisms, so instead of using your key, you can simply put your smartphone or a branded fob up to the lock, and it'll open up for you.

You can also send a key to someone else's smartphone, so if they need to get in your house for some reason, you can send them a temporary key that only works for a given amount of time. That's great, and because the lock is still a standard mechanical lock, it'll work like a traditional lock as well if all else fails.

The Kevo lock runs on two AA batteries for about a year, at which point those need to be replaced. Still, I'd love to...

Wizard Ops arrived on the App Store a couple of years ago -- it was a wild and wooly take on magical combat that played more like a shooter than a fantasy RPG. Developers Phyken Media have now returned to the world of Wizard Ops, though not the genre, with a new title called Wizard Ops Tactics.

As you may have reckoned from the title, Wizard Ops Tactics is a turn-based strategy game, where you move various wizards and combatants around a 3D board, casting spells across various terrains to beat the other side. Just like the original Wizard Ops, the graphics on this one can get a little goofy, but also like the original game, the depth of gameplay is very impressive. Each turn consists of a planning phase and an action phase, and while you can use as much time as you like to plan your turns, lining up the right moves in...

Facebook has updated its Pages Manager application for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch by re-building the core of the app. By re-writing the app for speed, the application is now faster for scrolling through page timelines, loading photographs, and more. Facebook previously re-built its other iOS apps for speed, shunning web-based technologies and using more native Objective-C code.

Facebook Page Manager is an app that makes the management of Facebook Pages easy...

The 2013 CocoaConf Alt in June has been canceled due to conflicts with its venue, the Intercontinental San Francisco. The issue arose because of a pre-existing agreement between the hotel and Apple.

We had secured space in the hotel directly next door to the big show, and we were putting together a phenomenal list of speakers. Ticket sales were better than we had hoped. All was well until we got an email from the Intercontinental San Francisco, saying that they had determined that our event was in conflict with Apple and that due to their contract with Apple, we couldn't use the space.

A flurry of frantic emails followed, but to no avail. We tried finding another venue close enough to make it work, but that didn't pan out either. Since many of our speakers had tickets and were going to be at WWDC, we had to be close enough for them to pop over without missing much of the action. Nothing within our radius was...

This year's Apple Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) sold out in a matter of minutes, leading Apple to announce the convention would be streamed online for developers who couldn't get tickets. The demand has grown exponentially, while the size of the conference has not. With such intense demand, and tickets in short supply, some developers are taking to their blogs to suggest ways the conference can improve in the future.

Dan Wood of Karelia Software thinks that since video of the talks will be available online the only real pain is the loss of labs and social opportunities to meet with other developers. As time has passed the event as outgrown the format.

Maybe the problem is that when Apple Started WWDC, it made sense to have the entire world...

The extremely popular 2012 App of the Year ‘Paper by FiftyThree’ has been updated today with a few notable new features making it even easier to create beautiful sketches, illustrations, and more. Among the new features, developer FiftyThree has added a new “Made with Paper” feature that acts as a feed for inspiration displaying ideas and artwork “from creative minds around the world.”

Other new features in version 1.3.1 include pinch to zoom, and a new ink upgrade that introduces the Expressive Ink Engine built on OpenGL for faster rendering.

The free Paper by FiftyThree iPad app...

Jim and Dan talk about CocoaConf Alt, the status of Apple Displays and Macs at WWDC, spider bites, laptop bags, Spock vs. Spock, 100 million copies of Windows 8, and Megadeth.

Sponsored by Hover (use code DANSENTME for 10% off), Shutterstock (use code DANSENTME5 for 30% off), and Squarespace (use code DANSENTME5 for 10% off).

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Welcome back to another hour of fun, excitement, and chat on this week's TUAW TV Live. The show is now part of the AOL On Network, so we're using a different livestream tool and chat room. No more Ustream, no more IRC chatroom. It's all right here on this page, where you'll watch the show and also be able to join us in Chatroll. Just click the play button on the player around 5 PM ET, sign into Chatroll with your Twitter or Facebook account, and you're ready to roll.

Today Doc and I will be talking about the latest news in the Apple world, showing off some new apps and sifting through the latest pile of accessories. Note that at the present time, you can participate on iPad but that the video stream may show pixelation from time to time -- we're working on that. The iPad viewer will let you blast TUAW TV Live to your HDTV via the magic of AirPlay. If you're watching on your Mac, full-screen mode is just a click away.

Can't join us...

Hoping to counter a trend that's seen its portable devices struggling against competitors like Apple's iPhone, Sony on Wednesday announced that it would be removing barriers to publishing for independent developers by doing away with their licensing fees.  ...

Following yesterday's unexpected disappearance of Syria from the Internet, service to the war-torn country seems to be completely restored with no feared large-scale attack by the Syrian government against the rebels. Both the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency and Google's real-time reporting has demonstrated that traffic is increasing in the country....  ...

The free Pulse news-reading app for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch has been updated with support for sharing articles to social network LinkedIn. Of course, this update should come as little surprise as Linkedin acquired Pulse last month for $90 million. Additionally,...

The Apple Store on New York's Fifth Avenue is a veritable marvel of engineering, with its glass cube leading down into an underground space. But putting the store underground like that makes it more vulnerable to water leaks, and sure enough, that's what's happened earlier today in New York. The Post reports that heavy rain in the city caused water to erupt through the ceiling of the store, sending employees running and sliding tables around to protect the merchandise.

The issue doesn't sound so bad; the water was mopped up quickly, and the store never actually closed. But the Post also says that one worker on site claims there's an issue with the stone slabs in the store entryway, which sit above the underground retail space. Incoming customers walk across those...

Media streamer hardware maker Roku has deployed a new app set, adding PBS and PBS Kids content to most of its line of video streaming set-top boxes within the US. Now available for streaming are shows such as American Experience, Antiques Roadshow, Frontline, Nova, Masterpiece, and Nature. Children's programming now available due to the new additions include Curious George, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Dinosaur Train, The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!, and Super WHY.... ...

In February Amazon's Cloud Player was linked with Ford Sync AppLink-enabled vehicles ... at least for Android users. Now the service has been updated to allow users with iOS devices to sync their Amazon library with their 2013 Fords.

The current list of vehicles featuring Ford's Sync AppLink is limited, but includes the 2013 models of the Mustang, Focus, Fiesta, E=Series, C-Max Hybrid, Fusion, Expedition, Super Duty, and the F-150. Sync AppLink allows users to control entertainment apps on their phone via voice commands and manual controls built into the steering wheel. [Note: the trim levels featuring Ford's MyFord Touch touchscreen console cannot, as of the...

Just over a week following the previous build, Apple has seeded OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.4 build 12E47 to registered Mac developers. The update is available via the Mac App Store for developers and should be on the Mac Developer Center shortly. Apple, once again, tells developers to focus on WiFi performance, Safari, and Graphics Drivers…

//

We previously noted that 10.8.4 includes support for Mac computers with 802.11ac WiFi chips.

While 10.8.4 is a minor update to OS X Mountain Lion, Apple...

Despite the great success and momentum of the iPad, the iPhone is still probably Apple's product that continues to receive the most attention by the broadest number of consumers as well as by investors. The smartphone slips easily into a pocket, accesses cloud from virtually anywhere, has a slick and engaging user interface, and supports hundreds of thousands of apps. It has been updated every year since its introduction and makes billions for the company. Microsoft covets its success.

But Apple has another product that in many ways is the anti-iPhone. It usually never leaves the home, doesn't access any cloud services and has no apps or even local user interface. Its rare updates often consist of little more than a capacity increase. And if Microsoft, which keeps chasing the idea of a cohesive...

Clear for iOS is an elegant, simple, and extremely intuitive to-do list app which adds an element of fun to what might otherwise be rather static and boring lists. Suffice it to say, it's well worth checking out if you find yourself juggling a bunch of tasks on a consistent basis. Notably, the app was listed on Apple's top app picks for 2012.

While the app normally sells for $1.99, Realmac Software has teamed up with Starbucks to offer the app for free for one day only.

The deal expires today so check it out over here and start planning! The link will whisk you away to iTunes where a promo code will be uniquely generated for you, allowing you to start the download.

Realmac's Clear app is free to download today...

Ars has seen a pickup in traffic from devices out of Cupertino claiming to use iOS 7, but it's not a ton.

Apple's engineers are apparently ramping up their testing of iOS 7, as evidenced by Web traffic on Ars and various other sites. First noted by mobile content company Onswipe and followed up by MacRumors, devices that claim to be using iOS 7—coming from Apple's IP block in Cupertino—started showing up more and more around April 30. But while some describe it as a spike in traffic, our own analysis shows that traffic using iOS 7 is still relatively low.

Onswipe described the change as a "significant bump" in the number of visits from iPads and iPhones using iOS 7. In fact, Onswipe claims 75 percent of the visits to its...

Website visits from devices running the unannounced iOS 7 have seen a significant increase in recent weeks, as Apple gears up for the mobile operating system's official unveiling at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June.   ...

Apple recently announced plans to increase its dividend payment by 15 percent to "shareholders of record" next Monday, but to qualify, new investors have to buy the company's stock by the market's close today.   ...

The Verge has an interesting interview up with Peter Belanger, the man responsible for many of Apple's iconic product shots. Though you may not be familiar with the name, Belanger is a San Francisco-based photographer who helps make Apple's products look so darn appealing and aesthetically sharp. If you've ever seen an advertisement for an Apple product on the subway or even checked out Apple's website, you've seen his work.

When asked about the process behind an Apple product shoot, Belanger explains:

The team at Apple always has a really well developed shot list and sketches of what they need. I work with their talented art directors to translate those sketches into photos. We start by getting the position of the product and then move forward on lighting. Because Apple products have such carefully selected materials it is incredibly important to...

The New York Post reports that the flagship Fifth Avenue Apple Store in Manhattan was flooded following heavy rain in the city this morning due to a leak in the retail store’s roof. The flood apparently began shortly after opening at approximately 8 a.m while around 15 customers were shopping in the store. According to reports from NY Post, employees blamed construction completed on the location last year for the leak:

//

According to one worker, today’s deluge of water may have been due to problems with construction completed last year on the roof of the store.”It’s because of the construction they did last year on the roof,” the worker said. “They didn’t do it right. There are large flat stones up there [that you walk across as you go into the store]. And with the heavy rain...

Fans of the iTunes 11 mini-player will be excited for the newest version of the jailbreak tweak MiniPlayer. The 2.0 update brings a newly-redesigned interface that better matches the iTunes version, as well as the ability to dock it on either side of the screen. The docked player can be moved up or down the screen as needed to keep it out of the way of whatever app you’re using.

MiniPlayer has a few settings that allow you to hide it on the lockscreen, whenenver the music is paused, or by triggering an Activator action. Tapping the album artwork brings up whichever app is currently playing music (it works with any background audio app), and tapping the metadata of the song brings up playback controls.

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In what is a breakthrough move toward my dream of a fully automated home, UniKey has built a smart door lock like something delivered by someone from the future.

We have all found ourselves with our hands full fumbling for the right key to our front door, but now the Kwikset Kēvo lock powered by UniKey allows you to unlock the front door of your home with just the tap of your finger.

//

UniKey President Phil Dumas was featured on ABC’s Shark Tank, a reality show featuring aspiring entrepreneurs pitching their big idea to potential investors, where he demonstrated “UniKey’s Technology” which transformed into Kwikset Kēvo.

The company’s Kēvo replaces your standard door lock with a smart lock that allows you to assign digital keys to friends and family with compatible smartphones, or...

Many Apple customers throughout the years profitably utilized the rack mounted Xserve product in their businesses. It was a quality product that cost less than the competition's by a significant amount. Yet, it was doomed to failure.  John Martellaro tells how it happened.

Feed Wrangler (US$19/year) is David Smith's subscription-based RSS aggregation and syncing service for web and iOS devices.

If you're a Google Reader user, you're probably aware that the service will shut down on July 1st. This means you'll either go back to browsing your favorite news and blog websites the old fashioned way or you'll be looking for an alternative RSS reader. Though I'm not a heavy RSS user, I am curious to find a good alternative to Google Reader. And now that Feed Wrangler has launched, I thought it would be worth checking out.

Feed Wrangler takes a different approach to RSS reading. Of course, you get to add feeds, view all your favorite web content in one...

A deluge of rain in New York City made its way into the glass cube atop Apple's Fifth Avenue store on Wednesday, leaving employees scrambling to mop up the mess.   ...

During its patent infringement lawsuit against Samsung, Apple is attempting to force Google to turn over documents related to the Android operating system. In a court filing, Apple argued that Android is used in all of the allegedly infringing products from Samsung, and the operating system “provides much of the…

On Tuesday, Microsoft released its Microsoft Office 2008 12.3.6 update. The update, a 209.7 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and features:

- This update fixes critical issues and also helps to improve security. It includes fixes for vulnerabilities that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer’s memory with malicious code.

Microsoft Office 2008 12.3.6 requires Mac OS X 10.4.9 or later to install and run.

Readdle has updated its popular iPad document storing and annotating app, PDF Expert, with several new features for annotating. 

-Сopy and Paste Annotations

-Move, resize and change properties of multiple annotation

-New layout in annotations toolbar for rect/oval/line/arrow

-Improvement in Text Highlight tool

Additionally, the update includes various other enhancements:

-New Day/Time keyboard for form filling

-New layout in annotations toolbar for rect/oval/line/arrow

-Added save/discard changes prompt to Save as -> Flatten

-Sync folders...

Gene Steinberg:

Microsoft earns most of its keep selling software licenses to OEMs, who bundle Windows with a new PC, any PC. So, yes, I suppose it’s possible that Microsoft has booked 100 million sales into its ledgers. But that doesn’t mean that 100 million copies of Windows 8, or anything close to that number, are in the hands of end users. It may also be true that there are tens of millions of unsold PCs in the channel. But that doesn’t matter to Microsoft, since a sale is a sale even if nobody is actually using the product.

That puts a whole different spin on things.

∞ Read this on The Loop

It's time to save some of that hard-earned cash with our Daily Deals, featuring a handy list from Dealnews and our own hand-picked selections that include some sweet deals on iOS and OS X software (all prices are USD).

Deals from Dealnews

• StackSocial: [Mac Software] Ondesoft Audiobook Converter for Mac downloads for free
• Other World Computing: [Computer Accessories] OWC 2012 Featured Move 'em Out Sale: RAM, accessories, HDDs, more
• eBay: [Battery Chargers & Accessories] 12,000mAh USB External Battery Pack for $16 + free shipping
• ...

T-Mobile reported selling half a million iPhone 5s to new and existing customers in their most recent financial report – not bad for a month’s work.

∞ Read this on The Loop

We know that Disney Interactive is capable of producing quality apps that aren’t based on classic Disney characters: Where’s My Water—which features a cartoon alligator named Swampy who was created specifically for a mobile game—has had plenty of App Store success on its own, without a major movie or show.

But Disney Interactive announced a new iPhone app on Wednesday that’s neither game nor animated. In fact, it’s not pushing a Disney product or message at all. It’s called Story, and it’s designed to help you organize your digital media into a sharable storyline.

Scott Gerlach, Disney Interactive’s Director of Engineering, said he and his development team wanted to make an app to help people get content off of their phones and out to a place that’s more widely accessible, with an emphasis on parents.

...

Apple's Peter Oppenheimer was the highest-paid chief financial officer during 2012, according to Bloomberg. The executive received compensation worth a theoretical $68.6 million, roughly 16 times what Apple CEO Tim Cook received for the year. By comparison, Oppenheimer's closest competition -- Oracle CFO Safra Catz -- was given $51.7 million, while Google CFO Patrick Pichette was granted $38.7 million....  ...

The facts are trickling in slowly but steadily, even though we’re still in rumor territory…

Per CNET and The Mac Observer, Apple will start up production on the Retina Display version of the iPad mini in June or July, according to NPD DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim. He also said the displays for the new iPad mini will come from LG and not Samsung...

Bloomberg reports that Apple has requested Google turn over documents related to Android’s source code in an ongoing patent-infringement lawsuit with Samsung in California. According to the report, Apple took issue with Google’s process of turning over requested pretrial documents claiming Google is “improperly withholding information” and that Android “provides much of the accused functionality” in the infringement claims related to several of Samsung’s Galaxy products:

//

“It’s a question of transparency,” Mark Lyon, a lawyer for Apple, told Grewal yesterday, referring to the documents. “We have concerns that they’re not doing a full search.”

Matthew Warren, a lawyer for Google who also represents Samsung, told Grewal that Apple made a “strategic decision” in filing its case “to keep Google off the complaint.”

Warren argued that...

Samsung's profitable smartphone business has caused the South Korean company's cash to swell to nearly $40 billion, with a net cash position of $28.5 billion when debt is factored in.   ...

T-Mobile’s new iPhone 5 ad “Pipes” claims the carrier has 50% more bandwidth per customer compared to other networks.

While overcrowded networks can slow your data down, T-Mobile’s nationwide network has the room to let unlimited data flow freely. With 50% more bandwidth than other carriers, only T-Mobile lets your iPhone 5 be as great as an iPhone 5.

//

While that claim is interesting to think about in itself (possibly due to relative network vacancy), T-Mobile’s approach to advertising the iPhone 5 compared to the ads we see from Apple is most notable.

T-Mobile’s ad features pink liquid flushing out of a tube representing bandwidth speed, but the visualization reminds me more of mysterious pink slime rather than blazing fast data speeds.

Recognize that guitar anyone?

...

T-Mobile announced its earnings for the opening quarter of 2013 and confirmed it has sold 500,000 iPhone handsets since it started selling the phone on April 12. That's a half a million iPhones in a little over three weeks, which is very good for a phone that's been on sale for 8 months at competing US wireless carriers. We were expecting strong sales as T-Mobile T-Mobile Chief Marketing Officer Mike Sievert hinted that the launch was "gangbusters."

In Q1 2013, T-Mobile also kicked off its Simple Choice cellular plans that drop the contract requirement on the cellular service and offer...

Writer, counselor, and longtime TidBITS reader Gary Bloom has tapped out an elaborate comparison of writing apps for iOS, in which he cleverly compares each one to a house. He even kindly mentions our review of Nebulous Notes; though it’s not our “favorite” writing app, per se, we just liked it enough to give it a review! If you write on your iPad, this article is a must read — his favorite app may surprise you.

Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer was the highest paid among all CFOs in 2012, as the Cupertino company rewarded him immensely for its financial performance.   ...

Like the Fitbit, the Misfit Wearables line of devices lets you track your physical activity throughout the day. It transmits that data to your iPhone via a forthcoming app that provides an overview of your activity. The basic Shine tracker is $99; accessories to clip it to your body during the day range from $5 to $49.

T-Mobile's first fiscal quarter results are out and show the company's iPhone 5 sales hit 500,000 during the one month Apple's smartphone was available. The carrier began officially offering the iPhone on April 12, making it the last of the big cell service providers to get in on Apple's smartphone game.

The Mac Observer Spin:
T-Mobile is clearly still trailing AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint, but 500,000 new iPhones in just a month looks like a positive sign for the carrier.

It’s been well over two years since Nokia leapt from its burning platform into a Microsoft-designed lifeboat that CEO Stephen Elop said would carry it to shore. Yet today the company remains adrift with no sign of landfall in sight. And shareholder patience with its progress is wearing thin.

To wit, the fractious general meeting Nokia held Tuesday, which was reportedly peppered with calls for the company to reconsider its bet on Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system. Why, when Samsung has had such success with Google’s Android OS, does Nokia insist on sticking with Windows?

With Android, Samsung is capturing 43 percent of the handset industry’s...

Bose has revealed its new AE2w Bluetooth headphones featuring the company's well-regarded TriPort audio technology. Interestingly although compatible with a wide range of Bluetooth devices, the Bose website seems to be targeting the headphones at Apple users, and iPad users in particular. The design of the AE2w is also notable for a control module that protrudes from the left side ear cup that incorporates the remote control functions, as well as a microphone for making and receiving phone calls....  ...