Apple Watch Pop-Up Shop Also Planned for London's Selfridges Department Store

Apple is planning to open a dedicated pop-up shop for the Apple Watch at high-end department store Selfridges in London, according to sources. The shop will likely be located near the entrance of the iconic Wonder Room, a 19,000-square-foot shopping hall that houses a wide selection of luxury jewelry and watch brands alongside a concept store and mezzanine wine bar.

Wonder Room at Selfridges in London houses fine jewelry and watches

A section of Selfridges located near the Wonder Room was boarded up earlier this month to allow for construction of the expected Apple Watch pop-up shop, sources say. The store-within-a-store concept will display various Apple Watch models and provide customers with a personalized shopping experience, potentially including One to One service for those interested in learning more about the wrist-worn device.

Apple is recruiting retail employees from nearby Apple Stores in London to fill Specialist vacancies at an upcoming Central London location, which is likely to be this Selfridges boutique. The pop-up shop is expected to be readied in time for the Apple Watch launch in April and will likely join Galeries Lafayette as one of multiple standalone Apple Watch stores that Apple plans to open throughout Europe.

Selfridges has the second-largest retail space in the United Kingdom behind competing high-end department store Harrods. The store offers a myriad of designer jewelry and accessories, such as watches, bracelets, earrings, necklaces, pendants and rings. With the Apple Watch positioned at least partially as a fashion item, the department store offers an ideal setting for the wrist-worn device to be displayed.

Related roundup: Apple Watch

Apple Likely Building Apple Watch Demo Area at Yerba Buena Center

A new image has surfaced that shows construction of an outdoor extension at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, as reported by 9to5Mac . The tented space will likely serve as an Apple Watch demo area at the upcoming "Spring Forward" media event on March 9th, where Apple is widely expected to provide further details about the Apple Watch's features, pricing and release date.

According to the tipster that submitted the photos, there are security guards wearing "Apple Security" shirts monitoring the construction site, all but confirming that the external addition belongs to Apple. The company previously built a similar structure outside of the Flint Center as a demo area for the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch, so an exterior demo area would not be unprecedented.

Apple sent out invites for its "Spring Forward" media event earlier this week, and will also be providing a live stream of the event on its website for Mac, iPhone and iPad. The media event will take place at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco on March 9th at 10:00 AM Pacific and should be focused on the Apple Watch ahead of the wrist-worn device's launch in April.

Related roundup: Apple Watch

Touch Arcade

The 32nd Annual Eli Hodapp iOS Games Birthday Sale is Underway Posted: 28 Feb 2015 11:30 AM PST Back in 2012, the App Store was a very different and arguably crazier place. Free to play, and all the tricks that go into promoting a free to play game didn't exist yet and really the easiest way to get additional interest in your game after launch was to drop the price. This resulted in the pretty hilarious trend of game sales for reasons that didn't even make sense. Universally recognized 100% useless Hallmark-invented holidays like Sweetest Day even had their associated deluge of iOS game sales. So, I figured if developers were looking for a reason for a say in the dead zone between George Washington's birthday and St. Patrick's Day, why not observe my own birthday with a iOS game sale? And that's exactly what happened. Well, it's 2015, and there's already a bunch of games on sale this week for my birthday early, but people who are tighter with their promotions put their games on sale just for today only in observance of National Hodapp Day which falls on February 28th of each year. Personal favorites Ow My Balls! [Free] and Ow My Balls XL! [Free (HD)] are free. If reproductive destruction isn't your cup of tea and you like to slow things down a bit with minesweeper, Planet Minesweeper [$0.99] is also available for zero dollars. The Retro Dreamer guys are observing the Hodapp Birthday Extravaganza with their vertical shooter Velocispider [Free] going free. The guys from Fun Fetched regrettably can't price lower than 99¢ for their game Top Tank [Free], so they just had to make it free too. But what if you like space and potatoes, well, you know what, you're in luck. SpaceSpuds [$0.99] is free too (or should be free soon, iTunes is weird). We loved Sentinel 4 [$2.99] in our review, and while the game is normal price the awesome Juggernaut Commander IAP is on sale for 99¢. DotEmu is having a huge birthday sale (celebrating their birthday, but I'll take credit too) on their PC side, so if you've had your eye on any of their iOS games and want to have the PC counterpart, there you go. Squishy Cats [$0.99] and DUNGEONy [$0.99] are both a buck too. Last, but not least by any stretch of the imagination is Benediction [$9.99] by notorious internet curmudgeon, podcast host, and improv mastermind Mike Schramm. It's usually free, but in observance of my birthday it's on sale for $9.99. I deserve this kind of thing.

The TouchArcade Show - 195 - GDC Pre-Show Posted: 27 Feb 2015 07:24 PM PST Aaaaaaaahhhh I'm running around with my hair on fire trying to get everything done before we all leave to go to GDC that I don't even have time to write good show notes. We start the show off with some reader emails, a love letter to Mike, and... I don't know, we talk about a lot of other stuff including the crazy featuring this week of a Flappy-like and even crazier IAP buying flows in other games. Definitely check it out, it'll set the scene for next week. Don't forget to shoot us emails with any questions, feedback, or anything else relevant or irrelevant to podcast@toucharcade.com. We read 'em all, even if they don't make it into the podcast. As always, you can listen to us with the links below... And if you like what you hear, please subscribe and/or drop us a review in iTunes. Much appreciated! iTunes Link: The TouchArcade Show RSS Feed: The TouchArcade Show Direct Link: TouchArcadeShow-195.mp3, 70.7MB Oh, and if you didn't last week, be sure to listen to the inaugural episode of The RPG Reload Podcast! Additionally, if you're interested in sponsoring either of our podcasts, we've got ad packages that can fit any budget. Shoot an email to ads@toucharcade.com for more information. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

TouchArcade Game of the Week: 'iNetHack2' Posted: 27 Feb 2015 06:51 PM PST The idea behind the TouchArcade Game of the Week is that every Friday afternoon we post the one game that came out this week that we think is worth giving a special nod to. Now, before anyone goes over-thinking this, it doesn't necessarily mean our Game of the Week pick is the highest scoring game in a review, the game with the best graphics, or really any other quantifiable "best" thing. Instead, it's more just us picking out the single game out of the week's releases that we think is the most noteworthy, surprising, interesting, or really any other hard to describe quality that makes it worth having if you were just going to pick up one. These picks might be controversial, and that's OK. If you disagree with what we've chosen, let's try to use the comments of these articles to have conversations about what game is your game of the week and why. Without further ado… iNetHack2 The term "roguelike" gets thrown around a lot nowadays (i.e. Hodappy Bird [Free] is a roguelike), but once upon a time roguelike was only used to describe a fairly specific type of game. It all started with the grandaddy of them all, 1980's Rogue. That groundbreaking game led to many, ahem, Rogue-like games that kept most of the core concepts of Rogue intact but put their own spin on the formula. One of the most revered of these spinoffs is 1987's NetHack. Once upon a time, around August of 2009, an excellent iOS port of NetHack was released, called iNetHack. It was developed by Dirk Zimmermann and was based on 2003's NetHack 3.4.3, the most recent official version of NetHack to be released. Despite a few quirks and bugs, iNetHack was an awesome mobile port of the classic roguelike, and a cult favorite amongst many iPhone gamers. That is until September 2013 when iOS 7 was released and basically broke the game. Eventually, iNetHack was removed from the App Store, leaving its fans without a portable version of an all-time favorite. One of those rabid iNetHack fans was Jeff King, and he decided to do something about the broken iNetHack. So he fixed it. After contacting Zimmermann and receiving his blessing, King took the busted iNetHack and fixed it to work on iOS 8 and all the latest iOS device screens, as well as made it Universal to work on the iPad. The result is the just-released iNetHack 2 [Free]. As King notes in our forums, "Really Dirk Zimmermann is the real developer of 99.9% of this and I put in 0.1% to fix it up and add a few things, and get it available again." That means that if you were familiar with iNetHack previously, don't expect a whole lot to have changed. However, there are some nice features in iNetHack 2, like multiple tile sets to choose from, touchscreen gesture controls, customizeable keyboard shortcuts, and file sharing capability through Hearse. (Pro tip: a full options menu resides in the Settings app, not in the game itself.) Though he's being modest, I'm sure there are plenty of NetHack fans who really appreciate King getting in there and bringing iNetHack back to life. Amusingly, King was actually the last person to post in the original iNetHack thread in our forums, noting the issues the game had on iOS 7. Funny he turned out to be the one to fix those very problems he was complaining about. Besides making people who are already NetHack fans happy, the arrival of iNetHack2 creates an opportunity for a whole new audience to experience this classic. Be warned, though: This game is not easy, and it's not especially noob-friendly. However, there are countless resources out there that can teach you the ins and outs of the game, including links to some directly in the game itself. If you're patient and put in the time you'll be rewarded with a game that you can literally play for years and years to come, and still might never see everything it has to offer. It's so incredibly deep, which is why many people consider it "The Greatest Game You Will Ever Play." So if you were an iNetHack fan who has been missing having a working version, a regular NetHack fan who's in the market for a mobile version, or a total newbie who likes incredibly challenging dungeon crawlers and RPGs, then you all have a reason to download the new iNetHack2 for free.

Best iPhone and iPad Games of the Week: 2/27/15 - 'Pinball Arcade: The Addams Family', 'AG Drive' and 'Planet Quest' Posted: 27 Feb 2015 05:37 PM PST Another week of awesome games, including one kinda-sorta weird review where we focus on a specific IAP item inside of a game. But, to be fair, figuring out what to do with content-centric IAP is still a little weird for us... Bur, whatever, you need Pinball Arcade any way you slice it. Again, these are the highest scored reviews we published this week: Pinball Arcade , $0.99 [Review] - The developers behind The Pinball Arcade [Free / $0.99], FarSight Studios, are nothing if not extremely passionate about pinball. They've been in the games industry a pretty long time, over 20 years now, but they didn't truly find their niche until the 2004 release of Pinball Hall Of Fame: The Gottlieb Collection on the PlayStation 2. Its initial release was perhaps a little too early to catch the renaissance of video pinball, but it at least did well enough that they followed that up a few years later with The Williams Collection. With Williams tables being a lot more well-known among Americans, that release ended up doing pretty well, earning high praise for its faithfulness to the real machines. While this was all happening, digital storefronts started to become more popular. Soon, retail retro collections were becoming retro themselves, with a la carte offerings proving more popular with fans. It was a natural fit for the type of work FarSight was doing, and so The Pinball Arcade was born. AG Drive , $3.99 [Review] - You just don't see a whole lot of ugly futuristic racers. Even if a game has ugly visuals, it can be excused away as a lo-fi stylistic choice to represent the vagueness of the future, or some artsy gobbledygook like that. But often, because the games can be big, bold, and colorful because they're playing with exaggerated fantasy, futuristic racing games can be gorgeous. Wipeout has always been a great-looking franchise. AG Drive [$3.99] follows that Wipeout formula - deliver fast-paced futuristic racing that's absolutely stunning to look at. This is a solid futuristic racing game that's quite easy on the eyes. Planet Quest , Free [Review] - Like Parappa The Rapper, Planet Quest [Free] has a pretty odd theme to its visuals. Also like that game, it only offers up a handful of songs, but with a great deal of variety between them in terms of speed and complexity. Its closest cousin is probably Nintendo's fantastic Rhythm Heaven series. You don't have to worry about following complex chains of different buttons. As long as you can tap to the beat, you're nine-tenths of the way there. Additionally, we reviewed a few other games this week. As always, you can dig into all of our reviews by clicking here. Alternatively, you can hit up specific scores by using these links: 4 Stars 3.5 Stars 3 Stars 2.5 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

First 'BlazBlue: Battle Cards' Gameplay Trailer Hits Posted: 27 Feb 2015 04:01 PM PST Last month Metaversal Studios announced BlazBlue: Battle Cards, a competitive card battling game based on the popular BlazBlue fighting game series. In that announcement Metaversal released a teaser trailer, that was pretty darn teaser-y. It didn't really show anything from the game itself, so we've been kind of wondering what the actual game will look like in motion. Well, the cat is now out of the bag as today Metaversal has released the first gameplay trailer for BlazBlue: Battle Cards. Check it out. BlazBlue: Battle Cards will feature 9 different characters from the 2012 arcade and console fighting game BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma, with plans for adding additional characters to the game post-launch. One of the coolest features of BlazBlue: Battle Cards is that it'll have real-time multiplayer, which is usually left out of competitive card games in favor of the more mobile-friendly asynchronous multiplayer. BlazBlue: Battle Cards is looking really cool, and while no specific release date has been given yet it sounds like it's pretty darn close. So be sure to follow along in the forums and we'll bring you any further news on the upcoming game as it hits.

'Badland' Update #23 Brings New Co-Op Levels, Achievements, and Missions Posted: 27 Feb 2015 02:32 PM PST The Badland [$3.99] update train keeps rolling along! Update #23 for the hit platformer is out now, and it brings the levels added to the Daydream level pack earlier to the game's co-op mode, so up to four players can go through those levels together. While those levels were free at one point in time, they can now be had for $0.99, along with the Doomsday level pack. Even if you've already played the levels, you can now collect 4 new achievements and play 30 new missions in the game. Badland has been regularly updated since its initial release, and there's nothing to suggest that more content isn't on the way. The game is also making the leap to other platforms, where it will be interesting to see how people take to the one-touch gameplay of Badland on systems where physical controls are the norm. Future Badland games are in the works, and while they have a lot to live up to with the critical and financial success of Badland, I'm curious to see what Frogmind has up next.

Original 'Final Fantasy' Receives Minor Bug Fix Update that Hit the Japanese Version Earlier this Month Posted: 27 Feb 2015 01:41 PM PST A few weeks back, our crack Japan-based reporter Shaun Musgrave wrote about a new update for the iOS version of the original Final Fantasy [$8.99]. It was the first update to the game in more than two years. While the game didn't receive true widescreen support, it did get some lovely border art to fill in the dreaded "black bars" when playing the game on any of the widescreen iPhone devices. Similarly, the previous iPhone-only version of the game became Universal, though its scaling was a bit weird on iPad devices. Strangely, some of the long-standing bugs in the game didn't get fixed with that update at all, but at least it was nice to see Square Enix paying some kind of attention to one of their oldest iOS games. Anyway, the bummer at the time was that the update for Final Fantasy was only available through the Japan-exclusive Final Fantasy Portal app, which is basically a one-stop shop that houses all the various iOS Final Fantasy ports. We don't have that here in the US, but today Square Enix finally did roll out the update to the standalone Final Fantasy app for folks outside of Japan. Again, this update does leave a lot to be desired, but at least Square Enix is actively updating the game and perhaps there's a chance they'll continue to update it fixing bugs and working on new features. Or, maybe this is it, who knows. It's definitely better than nothing, and now I'm hoping that we'll see a similar type of update for Final Fantasy 2 [$8.99] someday.

Daily iPhone Blog

Today’s iPad / iPad mini Retina wallpapers 28/02/2015 Posted: 28 Feb 2015 08:30 AM PST You can download today's iPad/iPad mini Retina Wallpapers from our new iPad / iPad mini Retina gallery. Enjoy! Note: Did you know that we update our iPhone 3GS , iPhone 4S / iPhone4 , iPad/ iPad2 and New iPad / iPad mini Retina wallpaper galleries once / day? You can find the latest wallpapers in the sidebar, so make sure to check that out every time you visit us!

Today’s iPad 2 / iPad wallpapers 28/02/2015 Posted: 28 Feb 2015 06:30 AM PST You can download today's iPad and iPad2 Wallpapers from our iPad / iPad2 Wallpaper gallery. Enjoy! Note: Did you know that we update our iPhone 3GS , iPhone 4S / iPhone4 , iPad / iPad2 and iPad / iPad mini Retina wallpaper galleries once / day? You can find the latest wallpapers in the sidebar, so make sure to check that out every time you visit us!

Today’s iPhone 5 / 5C / 5S wallpapers 28/02/2015 Posted: 28 Feb 2015 04:30 AM PST You can download today's iPhone 5 / 5C / 5S Wallpapers from our iPhone 5 / 5C / 5S Wallpaper gallery. Enjoy! Note: Did you know that we update our iPhone 3GS , iPhone 4S / iPhone 4 , iPhone 5 / 5C / 5S, iPad / iPad2 and iPad / iPad mini Retina wallpaper galleries once / day? You can find the latest wallpapers in the sidebar, so make sure to check that out every time you visit us!

Today’s iPhone 4S / iPhone 4 wallpapers 28/02/2015 Posted: 28 Feb 2015 02:30 AM PST You can download todays iPhone 4S / iPhone 4 Wallpapers from our iPhone 4 Wallpaper gallery. Enjoy! Note: Did you know that we update our iPhone 3GS , iPhone 4S / iPhone4 , iPad/ iPad2 and iPad / iPad mini Retina wallpaper galleries once / day? You can find the latest wallpapers in the sidebar, so make sure to check that out every time you visit us!

Today’s iPhone wallpapers 28/02/2015 Posted: 28 Feb 2015 12:30 AM PST You can download todays iPhone 3G / 3GS Wallpapers from our iPhone 3GS Wallpaper gallery. Enjoy! Note: Did you know that we update our iPhone 3GS , iPhone 4S / iPhone4 , iPad/ iPad2 and iPad / iPad mini Retina wallpaper galleries once / day? You can find the latest wallpapers in the sidebar, so make sure to check that out every time you visit us!

The iPhone and iPad Blog by Simon

The IFTTT web service, which is short for "If This Then That", has released a new camera app by the name Do Camera . Trying to figure out where to upload or store images from your iPhone can be time consuming. However, this simple little app is easy to use and gives you full control over what happens to the pictures you take from your iOS device.

Through Do Camera, you can quickly personalize what happens to the photos you take from your iPhone or other iOS devices. The concept of this app revolves around the idea of creating ‘Recipes’. You can think of it as a feature that enables your camera to connect with numerous external sources such as Facebook, Dropbox, Gmail, and more, depending on your preference. You can connect with any external service that has an open API.

How to use Do Camera for iOS

Just launch the app and sign in if you already have an IFTTT account. If you don’t have one then sign up for free. The app allows you to add 3 Recipes at a time to your camera and you can swipe between them once you take a photo.

You can also edit or delete recipes. Simply tap the edit button next to the recipe to make changes or for deleting it. For adding a new recipe, you simply need to tap the cauldron button and then the large plus sign button.

The recipes you add into the app will tell it how to work. For example, through a recipe of your choice, you can command the app to automatically email images to your friends and family. Another recipe will tell the app to upload an image to an album of your choice on Facebook.

While the third recipe can upload images on your Twitter account or even a group chat you are having, the ability to only add 3 recipes at a time might be seen as a limitation to some but you can create numerous recipes and swipe between them quickly.

You don’t require apps for Google Drive or Dropbox, etc. to be installed on your iPhone if you have Do Camera. This saves much-needed space and unlike the Dropbox-s Carousel app, the Do Camera app will not upload every single photo you take. You can use this app only when you want to create a back-up of an image.

Final thoughts

This is a useful app that makes backing up images very easy. The app has been optimized to work on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

You can download Do Camera free of cost from the App Store. Let us know if you give it a try by sharing your thoughts in comments below.

This article, IFTTT Do Camera: Back Up and Upload Photos Automatically, was originally published at simonblog.com.

The post IFTTT Do Camera: Back Up and Upload Photos Automatically appeared first on The iPhone and iPad Blog.

Secret iMessage shortcuts: Ten gestures to speed up your iPhone chat!

Messages is the most popular app on the iPhone.

There are tons of features you can activate with just a tap. It's got even more, however, that you can access with long presses, swipes, and other gesture shortcuts. If you have enough time, you can figure them all out. Or you can just read the list below and instantly master your messages!

1. Pull to search

Just like on the Home screen where you can touch and pull down to access Spotlight search, you can touch and pull down from any mailbox to bring up search for mail. Start typing and Mail will show you any messages that match.

2. Swipe to go back

Another system-wide gesture, any time you're in a message or mailbox, you can swipe to go back to the mailbox the message is in, or the account the mailbox in in. It's especially handy for those with bigger phones.

3. Swipe to see time-stamps

Time stamps — exactly when a message arrived — aren't shown inline. If you want to see them, you can swipe from the right edge of the screen to the left and you'll see them listed.

4. Hold to copy

You can't select text in a message the way you can in other parts of iOS. If you want to copy any part of a message, you have to copy the whole message. To do that, touch and hold down on it and then choose Copy from the popup menu.

5. Multi-trash or forward

There's no Edit button in Messages but there's still a multi-select mode. Touch and hold down on a message and then choose More from the popup menu. Choose the messages you want, then choose Trash or Forward to delete or share.

6. Save images and videos

Whether it's a priceless family photo, a magic moment, or an infuriating animated GIF, it's easy to keep pictures and videos you get to you camera roll. Just touch and hold the thumbnail and then choose Save from the popup menu.

7. Swipe through attachments

Messages shows you thumbails for every photo or video you receive. Tap on a thumbnail and it goes fullscreen. Swipe, and you can browse through all the photos and videos in the conversation, just like albums in the Photos app.

8. Insta-selfies

To quickly send a selfie or video message, touch and hold the Camera icon. Then swipe up to take a photo or right to take a video.

9. Sound bites

To quickly send an audio message, touch and hold the Microphone icon. When you're done talking, swipe up to send or left to trash.

10. Delete conversations

If you want to trash an entire conversation, swipe from right to left on the list item and then tap Delete to get rid of it. You can still send and receive new messages, but the old ones will be gone.

11. Hide keyboard

Sometimes, where you're responding to a message, you want to see more of it. Maybe you forgot the exact question you're trying to answer, or you want to refer to something specific. No matter the reason, all you have to do is touch the message above the keyboard and swipe down to hide it.

12. More secrets

If you just can't get enough of this stuff, and want to learn more of the secrets to iPhone mastery, check out our ultimate guides and how-to pages. And if we missed any of your favorite Mail tips, add them to the comments below!

• Secret Siri commands


• Secret Safari shortcuts


• Secret Mail shortcuts


• Secret keyboard shortcuts


• Secret power-saving shortcuts