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Gameloft is offering up two of its most popular games for free this weekend. Both N.O.V.A. 3 - Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance and Gangstar Rio: City of Saints can be downloaded at no cost for the first time ever.


Originally released last year, N.O.V.A. 3 is a first person shooter with impressive graphics and a science fiction theme. Like many of Gameloft’s games, it includes a multiplayer mode that supports 12-player battles and voice chat to communicate with friends in real time. Our sister site TouchArcade has a review of both the single player portion of the game and the multiplayer component.


Gangstar Rio: City of Saints was released in late 2011 and is Gameloft’s version of Grand Theft Auto. The game, which takes place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, provides players with more than 60 missions to complete across five different neighborhoods. TouchArcade reviewed the game when it was released and found that Gangstar Rio offered a robust open-world crime game experience, despite a weak storyline.


Both games are universal and free through the weekend.

- N.O.V.A. 3 - Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance [Direct Link]

- Gangstar Rio: City of Saints [Direct Link]

Haunting Melissa, from Hooked Media Digital and "The Ring" producer Neil Edelstein, is an app that aims to deliver movies on mobile devices in an entirely new way.

Much like a TV show on iTunes, the film is broken up into segments that can be unlocked by sharing a user's viewing experience on Facebook, purchasing each episode within the app for $1.99 or paying $6.99 to $14.99 for the entire film. In an interview with Bloomberg, Edelstein declined to comment on how many episodes would be available.

Edelstein also said that Hooked Media Digital wanted to find a way to present movies and TV on mobile devices as studios have struggled to account for the rise of mobile video.

"The way stories are consumed has changed, so we set out to alter how stories are told," said Neal Edelstein, founder of Hooked Digital Media, in an interview. "It's terrifying to studios the drain that these devices have placed on the industry, so we have to find a new way to harness them."

Although the film could have been released in Apple's iTunes Store, providing it through an app gives Hooked Digital Media greater control over the way the content is delivered. It also gives the studio the ability to add additional story elements at any time, providing users with a unique film viewing experience. In 2011, "The Godfather" director Francis Ford Coppola experimented with similar technology in theaters.


Haunting Melissa is a universal app that is available for free in the App Store. [Direct Link]

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has begun sending educational letters to app developers to make them aware of upcoming changes to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) that was updated back in December.

The two letters [PDF, PDF] inform developers that the restricted collection of personal information of kids 13-and-under has been expanded to include photographs and video and audio with a child's image, among other things. Previously, only identifying information such as the child's name, address, and telephone number was restricted.

Please note that we have not yet evaluated your apps or your company’s practices to determine if they comply with COPPA as it is now – or as it will be starting July 1, 2013. We are sending you this letter to both alert you to the upcoming COPPA Rule changes and to encourage you to review your apps, your policies, and your procedures for compliance.

The revised COPPA Rule requires all developers of apps that are directed to children under 13 – or that knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 – to post accurate privacy policies, provide notice, and obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting, using, or disclosing any “personal information” from children.

App 'platforms' like Apple's App Store and Google Play are explicitly exempted from the law and stores are not required to verify that apps are in compliance with the law; instead, it's up to individual developers to verify compliance.

Thanks Jules!

eBay today released updates to its iPhone and iPad apps, offering a redesigned user interface that includes multiple search views, an improved bidding process for ending auctions, and new shopping cart functionality.

With the new shopping cart, users can add multiple items to the cart and purchase them at the same time with a single payment. The app also features larger photos and better search results, with the iPad version of the app sporting new photo editing tools.


The iPhone app has also gained an interesting new function, allowing users to scan in their drivers licenses with the iPhone's camera to quickly create new accounts.

- New and improved look and feel
- Checkout multiple items at a time with the new eBay Shopping Cart (US and UK only)
- Tap the grid icon at the top of search results to see larger photos (iOS 6 required)*
- Scan your drivers license for fast and easy eBay registration (available in select US states)
- Improved last minute bidding
- Selling support for Spain
- Many bug fixes and enhancements

Both the iPhone and iPad eBay apps can be downloaded from the App Store for free.

- eBay for iPhone [Direct Link]
- eBay for iPad [Direct Link]

Google has updated its Google Play Books iOS app following its keynote address at Google I/O this morning, adding support for user uploaded PDF and ePub files. Google Play, the world's largest eBook collection, just got bigger. Now, you can upload yo...

DirecTV today updated its iPhone app with the ability to search channels and discover new entertainment with voice commands. The app allows users to view search results on the TV (via a supported DirecTV DVR) or on the iPhone.

Similar to how one would interact with Apple's Siri, the app allows DirecTV customers to ask questions like "what action movies are on tonight?" or to make requests like "record True Blood" or "show me comedy movies." The app also allows searches for programs by title, channel, actor, time frame, genre and more.

What's New in Version 2.5.0

NEW IN THIS VERSION

Search and discover entertainment with the power of your voice.

- Just talk as you would to a person and the app finds what you’re looking for.
- Search for programs by mentioning title, channel, keyword, actor, time frame, genre and more.
- Switch to TV mode to see your dialogue and search results on your TV screen. HD DVR (HR24+) required. Your phone and HD DVR must be connected to same Wi-Fi network.
- See personalized recommendations as soon as you switch to TV mode.

DirecTV for iPhone is a free download on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Verizon is offering a $100 discount on iPhone 5 upgrades to certain current Verizon customers, reports Gotta Be Mobile.

The change makes the iPhone 5 available for $100 with a two-year contract, one of the lowest prices we've seen for the device. However, Verizon said the discount is only being offered to certain "basic phone customers [who] are interested in moving to a smartphone".

The carrier did not elaborate on what qualifies customers for the deal and it also stressed that not every basic phone customer will be getting the offer, only those that it has identified as those who are interested in potentially upgrading to the iPhone 5.

The promotion will last until the end of next month which means that it will last through Apple’s WWDC developer conference which is set to kick off in the middle of the month.

Apple is expected to release a new model of the iPhone at some point this summer or fall.

Mophie today announced the Juice Pack Plus, a new 2100mAh battery case for the iPhone 5. The case is the third that the company has released for the iPhone 5, though this new $120 case has the largest battery of the three.

The $80 Juice Pack Helium has a 1500mAh battery, and the $100 Juice Pack Air has a 1700mAh battery.

The mophie juice pack plus is made for the user who puts their iPhone 5 through the paces morning to night, maxing out features, apps, video, email and web browsing while on-the-go. The case features a 2100mAh battery, translating to an added 120 percent of extra battery life and offers the most power of mophie’s battery case solutions for the iPhone 5 to date. For protection, the juice pack plus’ dual-injected sleeve is engineered with a shockproof band and anti scratch guides to help buffer the impact of falls.

Like the other cases, the Juice Pack Plus uses a microUSB cable to charge.

The Mophie Juice Pack Plus is available for $120 in black, white and PRODUCT (RED) from Mophie's website and elsewhere.

Limelight, from 9:42am, is a new iPhone app that is designed to allow users to create a comprehensive movie database filled with films that they have watched and films they want to watch in the future.

Unlike similar movie library apps like TodoMovies, Limelight focuses on social interactions, allowing users to follow one another to share movie recommendations among friends. It is similar to Goodreads, the social cataloging site that lets its users share book recommendations and reviews.


While Limelight does not support in-depth reviews, it does provide users with a 5-star rating for movies along with Rotten Tomatoes scores. It also offers movie trailers and pulls cast information from TheMovieDB.

In addition to showing movie choices from followed users, the app displays movies in categories like popular, upcoming (to be released), in the theater, and top rated. There is a curated Editor’s Choice list filled with top movie picks to further facilitate content discovery.

With Limelight, you can:
- Organize your entire movie library
- Keep track of movies you want to watch, and when they’re released to theaters
- Follow your friends libraries, so you can always find something good to watch tonight
- Rate movies you’ve already seen. Let your friends know if you liked it or not!
- Browse thousands of movies. Find new movies to watch, and rekindle memories of ones you have already seen. You can get lost for days!
- Watch beautiful trailers in our custom video player designed specifically for movie trailers. Did we mention that you can use AirPlay, too?

Limelight is an iPhone-only app that can be downloaded from the App Store for $0.99. [Direct Link]

American television network ABC has updated its iOS app with new live streaming television from local stations in Philadelphia and New York City. The change is an attempt to encourage viewers to keep their cable subscriptions as more and more users are...