News Items

While a software update to Android 4.3 (still Jelly Bean from what we hear) is just around the corner, many of the annoucements from Google and I/O 2013 amount to real feature upgrades to all recent versions of Android... without changing the OS itself. Andrew Cunningham explains why new maps, Gmail and Google Play may change the face of Android updates.

When you're designing a new app, traditionally we've either hand-drawn the prototype or simply dug in and started writing code. Meng To demonstrates how the new Storyboards feature in Apple's Xcode lets you create high-fidelity prototypes without writing a lot of code... and then build the rest of your app from that Storyboard prototype.

One of the big Google I/O announcements for Android developers was a new, dedicated IDE: Android Studio. Based on JetBrains' IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition, it greatly simplifies configuration and provides new levels of extensibility. Does this mean the waning of Eclipse? Xavier Ducrohet shares the details.

Flat design is a popular design paradigm these days, thanks to the Swiss design-influenced "Metro" UI of Windows Phone and Windows 8. With a rumored major redesign in the works for iOS at the hands of Jonny Ive, will iOS 7 embrace the flat design trend as well? Tim Green looks at recent trends in mobile UI design and how third-party apps are already bringing flat design to iOS.

Setting the startup page for your Windows Phone app is not difficult, but the default configuration complicates the otherwise clean project hierarchy of the MVVM design pattern. To keep your project clean and organized, Michael Crump shows you a simple trick for moving and re-configuring your MainPage.xaml.

If you're running Android 2.3 or newer and want to use the new Google Hangouts app, you'll need to manually install the latest Google Hangouts APK and Google Play Services APK. Kapil at The Android Soul has the downloads for you, along with instructions for getting everything set up.

Hard as you may try, app crashes happen. The hard part is understanding what causes the crashes out in the field on real users' devices. In this two-part series, Cesare Rocchi explains how crash reporting works on iOS and examines several third-party tools and services that help you retrive and understand crash data.

UP, UP, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT... Reboot!

The latest piece in a long-running Ars series on the history of the Amiga.

How did fast action games exist at all on 8-bit systems?

Devices and services are the future: where do your products fit?

The first step is admitting you have a problem.

I played it backward and only heard "Khaaaaaan!"

“Six degrees of Kevin Bacon” for data.

Solving the pair-programming problem with the world's most obtuse editor.

Yet another consequence of the divide between the math and engineering sides of computer science.

Well it seemed like a good idea at the time, but look what's happened.

If it's too complex to keep in your head, it's not lightweight any more!

Check the comments for neckbeard-compatible alternative tools.

What do you wish OS developers would break new ground on?

The thing's hollow — it goes on forever — and — oh my God — it's full of data!

There's nothing sadder than a puppet without a ghost...

That's no mean feat for the average coder.

Even if you keep using jQuery, it's always good to know how it works under the hood.