About the only news making headlines this fine Monday are leaks and assumed preorder dates for the next iPhone. Frankly, we've kind of gotten bored with all that banter and maybe you are, too, so we're focusing on apps for today's news recap. Give it a whirl and see how you like it for this manic Monday, August 13, 2012!
Own a MacBook Pro with Retina Display and having trouble keeping up with which of your favorite Mac applications have gone Retina? Three enterprising folks are attempting to solve this very dilemma by creating RetinaMacApps.com, a website dedicated to keeping tabs on which Mac apps have gotten the high-resolution bump, and they're all displayed as a colorful icon with the Mac App Store link just a click away. If you don't have a Retina Mac yet, the big, beautiful icons alone are worth a visit, if for no other reason than to see them in all their detailed glory.
The Verge is reporting that BBC's iPlayer for iOS has received a bump to version 1.3.2 and in addition to some video performance enhancements, the whole app has received "beautiful Retina graphics for the new iPad," making the app shiny and more glossy than ever before. Of course, as before the app isn't available to those of us across the pond in the United States and there's still no downloading for offline playback, but for those Brits with a new iPad, you're likely to be happy regardless.
Nancy Drew is a staple when it comes to mystery stories aimed at gals and guys alike, and developer Her Interactive has been exclusively creating new tales for the eternally young femme detective for over 15 years, having racked up more than nine million copies sold. Now, the publisher is charting a slightly different course by steering Miss Drew into the crowd funding waters of Kickstarter in an effort to take her mysteries mobile. “Reaching a larger audience means that we can invest more in each Nancy Drew game," explains chief creative officer Megan Gaiser. "So everyone benefits from this move, whether you play our games on your PC, your Mac or a mobile device." The Kickstarter campaign launched on August 7 and runs until September 11, by which time it hopes to raise $250,000. With less than a month to go, the company is just shy of $6,500, so if you're a Nancy Drew fan, head over to Kickstarter and pitch in.
There are plenty of ways to talk for free on your iOS device, but if you're still looking for an ideal one, imo.im has announced yet another method that might be worth a look. The company today released a new, free VoIP calling feature for its iPhone app, which already connects users with 11 of the top instant messaging services as it is. “At imo, our mission has always been to provide one place for family and friends to stay connected and maintain their close relationships no matter where they are located,” said Ralph Harik, CEO of imo. “The availability of free voice calling for iPhone users is a critical development for users looking to keep those valuable lines of communication open while saving on their mobile costs.” iPhone users running iOS 3.1 or later can now make free voice calls in addition to IM via Facebook, AIM, Skype and others with the free app available from the App Store.
Rounding out today's "app-tacular" news roundup is word that our favorite Wikipedia app for iOS, Sophiestication Software's Articles, is now available as a universal app for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad users alike. You'll want to grab the $4.99 formerly iPad-only edition in order to get the universal update, but the $2.99 iPhone/iPod touch version is also still available and received an update today as well. Both versions add a new "read later" feature for adding your favorite Wikipedia entries to a queue for later reading, and articles can now be shared on Twitter as well. The developer has also added a URL handler, which means Articles can now be launched from apps like LaunchCenter Pro. As always, there are plenty of bug fixes also on deck. Articles 2.3 is now available from the App Store and requires iOS 5.1 or later.
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