passes

Report: EA to scrap Online Passes for games

Electronic Arts will be dropping Online Passes from all of its future games, citing lackluster player support, according to a report by Venture Beat.

EA Senior Director of Corporate Communications John Reseburg revealed the news. "Yes, we're discontinuing Online Pass," he said. "None of our new EA titles will include that feature."

EA is not the only game publisher that elects to bundle an Online Pass with new copies of its games. The one-time codes are designed to restrict access to key features, such as online multiplayer. Players who buy a second-hand version of the game are given the option to purchase an Online Pass for a fee, prior to being able to play with others. … Read more

Pass2U Passbook 1.1 Review

iOS 6's Passbook app made plenty of Android fans jealous when it debuted. The good news is that you actually have plenty of ways to control tickets and loyalty cards on your Android. Pass2U Passbook is made to work just like the Apple Passbook app so many iFans love. This app is a good clone and a great app for travelers or urban explorers.

Pass2U Passbook works with .pkpass files, which is great if you're converting from iOS, but it isn't as ubiquitous on Android. It does cleanly present all of your passes in a stylish, completely … Read more

Sign in to all your Web sites easily with LastPass for Safari for Mac

With awareness of Internet security at an all-time high, keeping track of the unique passwords needed for logins can be difficult. LastPass for Safari for Mac allows a user to sign in with one password and save those multiple logins for use when needed.

Available as a free plugin for Safari, the program's basic features do not require any payment to use. The program installs quickly into Safari without any user interaction needed. The only indication that the plugin is running is a small icon next to the URL bar in the Web browser. Users can access its settings … Read more

Countdown begins for Galaxy S4 reveal

Monday's CNET Update does it with stylus:

The mother of all mobile trade shows, Mobile World Congress, kicked off in Barcelona. Today's video roundup highlights the buzz over Samsung, WebOS and a new way to talk to your phone:

- Samsung will unveil the Galaxy S4 on March 14

- Visa's mobile payment program will be built into the Galaxy S4

- More on MasterCard's mobile payment plan, MasterPass

- First impressions of the Galaxy Note 8 tablet

- Samsung HomeSync to rival Apple TV

- WebOS lives in future LG smart TVs

- HP tries tablets again with the Slate 7Read more

The 404 1,190: Where we're knee-deep in Kudos (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- OK Cupid launches Crazy Blind Date.

- Delta's new iPad app shows off the world below your plane.

- MoviePass is the Netflix of movie theaters.

- Developer canned for outsourcing his job to China so he could surf Reddit.… Read more

Add coupons from big-box retailers to Passbook

iOS 6 has been out for just over a month and is already installed on more than 200 million iOS devices across the globe. With such a big user base in such a short amount of time, hopefully we will begin to see an increase in the amount of companies integrating Passbook into their product offerings.

We have already discussed Valpak passes, Starbucks integration, adding random gift cards and even how to create passes for Passbook. All of which were equally useful. And now we can add 20 more big-box retailers to the list, as Coupons.com has rolled out … Read more

Five Web sites for businesses to create Passbook passes

Whether you're a small business or an individual who wants to create a pass for Passbook, unless you have a lot of technical knowledge, it's not going to be an easy journey. There are a lot of moving parts that come together to create a pass for Passbook. Certificates, the actual coding of the pass, signing it, distributing and tracking it are just a few of those parts.

Instead of investing countless hours and money into developing a pass, it may be easier to use a service to streamline the process and prevent any headaches you would likely … Read more

How to add your Starbucks card to Passbook

Yesterday, Starbucks updated its iPhone app with iOS 6 compatibility, including the much anticipated Passbook integration. Adding your card to Passbook is easy, and takes just a few minutes. You're now just a few short steps away from adding a Starbucks card to your Passbook.

Assuming you already have the Starbucks app installed on your iPhone, make sure you've downloaded the update from the App Store.

The first time you launch the updated app on your iOS 6 device, you'll immediately be asked if you want to add your card to Passbook. Tap on OK.

If … Read more

Getting started with Passbook on iOS 6

Passbook is Apple's first foray into something that slightly resembles a mobile payment solution. Passbook is a new app included in iOS 6 that allows merchants to develop Passes to be stored in the user's Passbook.

With the release of iOS 6 only a few hours old, there aren't too many examples of apps that have incorporated Passbook into them, so I used this site to help me make some sample Passes just for this post.

When you launch Passbook for the first time, it will more than likely be empty. There will be a link that … Read more

Turn-based combat-strategy that's crazy-addictive

Hero Academy is a fun and addictive fantasy-themed combat-strategy game in which you play short, asynchronous turns against friends (through GameCenter or Facebook) or randomly matched opponents.

Each game is a face-off between two teams trying to advance and destroy the other team's fragile "crystals," with combatants moving horizontally or vertically across a small, chessboard-style grid. You have a "hand" of six tiles that you draw from a limited deck -- including new units, such as knights and wizards, and temporary and permanent power-ups, such as shields and healing potions. Each turn, you have to … Read more