Apps, Gadgets | featured news

New research shows that tablets have made big inroads against traditional gaming platforms among U.S. adults who play video games. For marketers, the research brings good news in the form of an acceptance to seeing advertising within video games—as long as the games themselves are free—and a willingness to see familiar brand names and products within games.

Smartphones are powerful tools, and with the right apps and accessories, they can become even more so. A California-based tech company has launched a tool that turns a regular iPhone 4 or 4S into a powerful biometrics scanning tool. AOptix has unveiled its app and a wrap-around device for turning the smartphone into a portable iris, face, fingerprint and voice scanner.

Hours after releasing its latest teaser video for the Galaxy S4 come rumors that the next big thing, as Samsung likes to bill it, will have eye-tracking software for scrolling through content.

At least one former Apple exec wasn't surprised or sad to hear the news that iOS chief Scott Forstall is leaving the company... Several reports since then have suggested that Forstall didn't get along well with some other key players on the team and angered CEO Tim Cook by refusing to apologize for Apple's maps application.

In the myriad of things to be thankful for on this fine American holiday: family, friends, home, the ongoing generosity of volunteers continuing to push through to provide mutual aid in the ongoing devastation of Hurricane Sandy.

When Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) unveiled the Surface tablet in June, it pulled back the curtain on nearly three years of secret development. This Friday, buyers will finally be able to get their hands on the $499 tablet.

Hate the new Maps app that Apple ships with iOS 6? You're not alone. Fortunately it's easy to add Google Maps back onto your iPhone and iPad. However, so far there's been one feature lacking in the browser implementation of Google Maps that was present in the app -- Street View.

Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company is "extremely sorry" for the frustration its Maps application has caused and it's doing everything it can to make it better. In the meantime, he recommended that people use competing map applications to get around... "While we're improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app," Cook wrote.

...Apple released an update to its iPhone and iPad operating system on Wednesday that replaces Google Maps with Apple's own application. Early upgraders are reporting that the new maps are less detailed, look weird and misplace landmarks... One Twitter user quipped that the lines of people queuing up to buy the iPhone 5 on Friday will be shorter, because the buyers will be misled by the new Maps.

In Steve Jobs fashion, Apple CEO Tim Cook kicked off the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco with a handful of key stats about its app ecosystem, which Cook called “an economy in itself.”