BY Lenny Liang on Tue January 31st, 2012 football Giants Patriots Super Bowl

In 2008, the New England Patriots, who were undefeated at the time, entered Super Bowl XLII as heavy favorites over the New York Giants, who were merely a wild card team. In a drama-filled game, which went down to the wire, the Giants pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history. On Feb. 5, 2012, these two teams will meet again in Super Bowl XLVI. Here are some apps to get you ready for the big game and to maximize your enjoyment for when you get there.

BY Joe White on Mon January 30th, 2012 china iPhone 4S iPhone 4S reservation system

Apple has launched a new iPhone 4S reservation system in its Chinese Apple Online Store, in an attempt to stop “scalpers” queuing for handsets and setting them on at an inflated price.

The system allows fans to reserve a handset between nine a.m. and 12 p.m. daily, and involves filling out an online form that requires the customer’s full details (to pick up the iPhone, customers will also need a government-issued photo ID). Apple then contacts successful customers before nine p.m. the same day, providing them with information regarding their reservation.

BY Joe White on Mon January 30th, 2012

Thought it’s been hinted at for some time, it looks like Verizon is finally moving towards launching shared data plans.

In a screenshot of the carrier’s internal account management app (above), it would appear that – at some point – it will be possible to share one single “pool” of data between an iPhone and iPad for a $ 9.99 fee. There’s no mention of a launch date, though I wouldn’t be surprised if Verizon announces shared data plans before the iPad 3 launches, presumably in March or April. AT&T is also reportedly planning on launching shared data plans, though we have no time-frame from Ralph de la Vega, either.

BY Joe White on Tue January 31st, 2012 app update app updates food food network Food Network In the Kitchen

Food Network In the Kitchen ($ 1.99) has recently received a major update, adding a brand-new user interface, improved stability, users reviews and more to the popular universal application.

As outlined in the app’s release notes, changes made in version 2.0 of Food Network’s application include:

• Incredible new User Interface and Design
• Rebuilt from the ground up for much better performance and stability
• User Ratings and reviews for all recipes

BY Joe White on Tue January 31st, 2012 CDMA iPhone 4S china china telecom iPhone 4S

It has recently been announced that China Telecom will carry a CDMA version of the iPhone 4S from either the end of February, or the beginning of March.

A couple of weeks ago, we told you Apple had reportedly built a new iPhone that was capable of running on China Telecom’s network. Now, it would appear that this mystery handset was a CDMA iPhone 4S. The news was announced in a press release which recently hit the Web. China is a huge market, and the availability of the iPhone 4S with an alternative carrier is only going to boost sales (China Telecom itself has 36.3 million 3G subscribers).

BY Joe White on Mon January 30th, 2012 absinthe iOS 5.0.1 iWIpe Cache Jailbreak News

If you’ve recently jailbroken your iOS device under iOS 5.0.1, there’s a chance jailbreak icons have been turning white or even disappearing. This happened to me a couple of days back – the Cydia icon transformed into a ghostly white, and nothing I did could coax its color back. Fortunately, if this has happened to you – or if other icons have been behaving in an odd manner – there is a free solution available in the Cydia Store.

BY Tyler Tschida on Mon January 30th, 2012 a+ signature Annotation

AppAdvice has teamed up with Robert & Tsibucas Inc. in order to offer you a chance to win one of six  promo codes for A+ Signature ($ 1.99) for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.

Whether you want to annotate photos, create your own custom e-cards, or just create the perfect digital signature to be used in other documents, A+ Signature should be your go-to app. A+ Signature is a multi-usage photo annotation tool that allows you to mark up any photo in a variety of ways.

Platform gaming has not had much new to offer since the heyday of the Mario Brothers. While 2-D games are fun and challenging, they all do about the same thing. Players run, jump, smash and collect things. The design may change, but the basic attributes stay the same.

Paper Monsters fits into, and breaks away from, the 2-D mold by making use of the background. Players go through one tunnel and wind up in the background of the game. There are things to collect and baddies to avoid, just like in the foreground. Head through another tunnel and the hero will reappear out front again.

Swipe your finger horizontally across the scrolling symbols. Matching three or more of the symbols will destroy part of the computer. But they don’t always have to match. Four or more different symbols will also do the trick (though you may waste time actually looking for such an instance).

Matching three clock symbols or making a match in general will add more time to the timer.

Getting a match is a little tricky. Even though you may see three of a kind lined up, it’s almost as if you need to swipe the moment the symbols align and not a second later. Though this isn’t always true because sometimes you can get in a match just before they move away.

BY Christine Chan on Mon January 30th, 2012 sprint Sprint Mobile Zone Utilities

Since the iPhone 4 and 4S became available on Sprint back in October of last year, there has been no official app for Sprint users to monitor their usage, while AT&T and Verizon users have apps for this purpose. That is, until now.

Sprint Mobile Zone will allow users to manage their online accounts, access special promotions and other Sprint news, and more. However, the account access seems to be just a web portal; still, it’s better than nothing.