With the rumored iWatch apparently on the horizon, health and fitness appears to be on the mind of many developers, including WebMD, who launched a new health improvement program this week as part of their free iPhone app. Much like the upcoming iOS 8 Health app, WebMD can now work with biometric devices such as Fitbit or UP by Jawbone to gather data, create goals, and stay healthy. As it turns out, we’ve got a bit more on that very subject in our Thursday recap as well…
Cheap Third-Party iPhone Chargers Blamed for Power Issues
We’re always advised to steer clear of cheap Apple accessory knockoffs, and now there’s evidence to support such claims: iMore reported Thursday“cheap chargers and cables” are being blamed for damaging a U2 IC chip on the logic board of iPhone 5 units, which controls the actual battery-charging process. According to U.K. repair specialist mendmyi, the result is an iPhone that won’t recharge and worse yet, fails to boot up once the battery is depleted. Apparently, replacing the battery will get things back to normal again, but only until that pack has run out. The permanent fix is to replace the faulty U2 IC chip — and, of course, to avoid knockoff chargers and cables in the future.
Fototwics Launches New App-Based Microblogging Service
There are plenty of ways for iPhone users to capture and share life’s beautiful moments, but a new app called Fototwics released yesterday promises to “create a visual conversation” of those events. The free microblogging app also includes private text and picture messages in what appears to be a clean, easy-to-use interface, with the ability to post photos or share those from others (known as a “retwic”) to social networks in just a few taps. Fototwics is now available from the App Store as a free download.
Picturelife Introduces Lightroom Support
Picturelife has always been a great way to post some or all of your iPhoto and Aperture library into the cloud, but now the photo service is expanding its horizons with a free plugin for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 or 5. Available for Mac or Windows, the plugin allows exporting and publishing edited and RAW photos directly into Picturelife albums complete with tags and ratings, and makes it one-click easy to share memories with loved ones.
Scanbot 2.0 Adds QR Reader, Native iPad Support
The folks at doo have released Scanbot 2.0 for iOS, a big update to the mobile scanner app which now works natively on the iPad as well as iPhone and iPod touch. The update also introduces QR code integration, allowing Scanbot users to detect and parse from a wide variety of possible data types. For example, map data will be displayed right inside the app, with the option to be guided to that location, while a Twitter handle displays that user’s latest tweets and even offers to follow the person. The developer is also teasing optical character recognition (OCR), which is promised for an upcoming version of Scanbot.
Want to Quit Smoking? Yes, There Are Even Apps for That
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that smokers looking to drop their filthy habit are finding new relief from an unlikely place: Mobile apps such as Quitbut, which will soon connect via Bluetooth to a $150 gadget coming later this year. Built by ex-smokers, the app helps keep track of smoking habits, visualize trends, and offer the empowerment necessary to finally kick the habit. Others such as Paris-based Smokio are offering $100 e-cigarette kits that connect to a mobile app to allow smokers to gradually wean themselves off nicotine. And more devices are on the way, including FDA-approved products from healthcare giants such as GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare.
Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter
More: continued here