Weekly Mobile News Roundup – 16 August 2013

  Once again the week is coming to an end and that means it’s time for a roundup of the past weeks news!

Mac Pro CPU benchmarks bring early assurance of top-tier performance – Benchmarks for the 2013 model Mac Pro surfaced back in June. At the time there was some mixed opinions in terms of those results. The Geekbench test had returned a score of 23,901 and while that was roughly 2,000 points above the previous Mac Pro flagship — some were expecting much higher numbers based on claims by Apple.

What iOS 7 means for enterprise developers – Apple’s latest mobile operating system, iOS 7, is nearing release, and over at VentureBeat, Solstice Mobile CEO J Schwan offered up a guest post positing that iOS 7 is “the most noteworthy iOS upgrade since the iPhone first hit the market in 2007.

Apple looks to patent NFC-based ‘gifting’ for iTunes, currently owned media – The lengthy patent filing, titled “Media gifting devices and methods,” is a fairly straightforward invention that could may have greater implications as to how iOS device users purchase and consume digital content.

Apple shares soar after billionaire investor Carl Icahn calls company ‘extremely undervalued’ – Larry Ellison didn’t think much of Apple’s prospects without Steve Jobs, but billionaire investor Carl Icahn disagrees. On Tuesday, one day after foreshadowing a major move, he revealed on Twitter that he had invested heavily in Apple. “We believe the company to be extremely undervalued,” he tweeted. According to various reports, Icahn has amassed over $1 billion worth of Apple shares.

Apple’s iCloud Beta Site Gets The iOS 7 Design Makeover – One of the major talking points of iOS 7 ever since its unveiling at this year’s WWDC has pertained to the design. Hardware design lead Jony Ive has been tasked with the job of updating an interface long overdue some change, and although the expulsion of skeuomorphism hasn’t gone down well with everybody, the crowds do seem to be warming to the new look as the betas roll on.

Apple Buys Defunct Israeli TV Guide App Matcha.TV – Apple Inc., the world’s largest technology company, has recently acquired defunct Israeli app Matcha. TV for between 1 and $1.5 million, VentureBeat reported, though other market sources have the number as high as $10 million.

Plants vs. Zombies 2 arrives on iOS following delay – On June 2, we reported that Plants vs. Zombies 2 was set to arrive on iOS on July 18, something much-anticipated and, sadly, delayed. July 18 came and went with no game sequel, instead having a less-than-global rollout in a few select locations. Today PopCap announced on Facebook that the wait is finally over, with it now being available in the U.S. App Store.

WatchESPN Adds Split-Screen View, Live Toolbar, And Free ESPN3 For College Students –

Before college football season gets underway, ESPN is pushing out an update for its WatchESPN app that lets users stay plugged in to more games than ever before. The update adds a new split-screen view so you can watch two games at once, while keeping tabs on game day with the new live tool bar that displays scores and video highlights.

Final iOS 7 beta rumored to arrive next week, GM build to select partners Sept. 5 – While developers are expected to receive the golden master of iOS 7 at Apple’s media event on Sept. 10, one last beta build for testing is rumored to arrive next week.

Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Alleging App Store Monopoly – A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Apple that alleged the company had an illegal monopoly because the iPhone does not allow users to use alternative app stores.

Apple’s new App review guidelines strengthen protection for children & clamp down on gambling – Apple has strengthened its App Review Guidelines to require greater protection of children under 13 years and to clamp down on gambling apps that involve real money.