News

The east coast of the US is about to get clobbered by hurricane Sandy. For those iPhone owners who still have power, several apps can track the action and help you prepare to keep your family safe. In fact, these iOS applications can help during any emergency, natural disaster or dangerous weather event.

From locating shelters to learning first aid, most of the apps are free. Several have configurable alerts that will keep you informed without even having to open the app. Here's a list of the top 5 iPhone apps for storms and hurricanes. Keep that iOS device battery charged in case the power goes out!

That's right, Grand Theft Auto fans. Rockstar is working on an iOS version of Vice City to be released for the touch screen platform later this fall. The game joins other mobile entries by Rockstar including Grand Theft Auto III, GTA Chinatown Wars and Max Payne Mobile currently available on iTunes.

Rockstar Games is celebrating Vice City's 10th anniversary, and the company plans to release several enhancements to the title in the mobile version. These include native high-resolution graphics and new artwork to commemorate the anniversary. GTA Vice City will also come to Android devices and Rockstar will release a new trailer featuring key scenes from the game.

The multitasking app switcher in iOS is great for quickly flipping between running apps. Over time, there are so many icons that pile up in the multitasking bar it can be tedious to manually delete them all. Several solutions exist to streamline and customize the process, including MultiCleaner which we've looked at before.

Now thanks to the ModMyi repo on Cydia, jailbreakers have a new option that provides simplicity. SwipeAway provides two settings for a gesture that clears all of the apps in the multitasking bar. The options are Swipe up or Swipe down, that's it. Once installed, you can open the app switcher then swipe in the direction that's picked in the settings to clear all of the apps.

Apple has executed the fastest new device rollout in its history with the iPhone 5. Countries continue to be added to the list, with the latest round slated to get the new iPhone on Friday, November 2. India was originally planned to get the iPhone 5 this week, however the schedule was pushed back due to shipping delays.

The complete list of countries in the next phase of Apple's global iPhone launch includes Bulgaria, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Greece, India, Malta, Mexico, Romania and Thailand. Analysts are watching to see how India reacts, as Apple has reportedly had difficulty gaining market share due to the higher price of its mobile devices.

Internet radio will have a new competitor early next year if Apple successfully negotiates a deal with record labels. Talks are in progress according to Bloomberg and could be concluded by the middle of November. Apple is seeking to take on Pandora, the current online radio leader.

Apple's radio service would differ somewhat from Pandora's model, with a customized app making it possible to purchase songs as streaming files and re-listen to music in automatically generated playlists on iOS devices. Access to both services will be free, with iAds providing revenue for Apple's service.