Everybody loves free, and today we've got not one, but two newly-free products up for grabs. Everpix Free promises to trump Photo Stream by storing a year's worth of photos absolutely free, while Boinx has made its previously paid photo collage app free thanks to iAds. Not enough free for you? Go download new updates to iBooks and Google Maps. There, you're welcome...
Apple announced the debut of its iBookstore in Japan on Tuesday, made possible by a version 3.1 update to the free iBooks app. The Japanese iBookstore features titles from major and independent publishers alike, including a wide selection of books from Japanese authors Kodansha, KADOKAWA, Bungeishunju, Gakken and Gentosha. The launch in Japan marks 51 countries where iBookstore is now available, while free books are available in 155 countries around the world. Apple also announced that the iBooks app has now been downloaded 130 million times worldwide.
Over the last two years, the folks at Everpix have been trying to build a better cloud-based photo platform, and this week they've decided to expand on their progress so far by launching Everpix Free. Unlike the paid monthly or annual unlimited subscriptions, Everpix Free hosts all of your photos from the past 12 months -- absolutely free. There's no limit of 1,000 photos like Apple's Photo Stream or even a storage cap. Once you've gotten a taste of Everpix Free and are ready to go unlimited, simply start paying $4.99 per month ($49 per year) and upload all of your photos. The service also introduced a new feature called Explore, which helps users view their collection based on its actual content -- food, people, cities, nature or animals. To use it, download the updated Everpix for iOS 1.5 update, or wait for the web update to hit soon.
Google pushed out its first update to Google Maps for iPhone on Tuesday, adding search icons that make it easier to find local places as well as integration with your Google Contacts, a welcome addition to the free app. While Google Maps is still not native on the iPad, the English version of the app is now available in more places around the world, including Bahrain, Egypt, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates, and users can now choose between miles or kilometers via Preferences. Google Maps 1.1 is now available as a free download from the App Store.
It doesn't really matter how reliable someone's track record or sources are, there's no sure thing when it comes to Apple and new products. With this in mind, iMore is reporting that Cupertino may be preparing both the iPad 5 as well as the iPad mini 2 for release as early as next month, while the rumored "iPhone 5S" with "a more advanced processor" and "improved camera" appears on deck for an August debt. We're skeptical about new iPads being released again so soon -- honestly, how much can they really change the full-sized iPad at this point? -- but time will tell.
Boinx Software announced the release of You Gotta See This! 3.0 on Tuesday, an update to their universal panoramic photo collage app. The big news with this release is the app is now free, thanks to the inclusion of Apple's iAds. The iPhone 5 also gets some love with this update, which adds an enhanced algorithm for creating better collages as well as better image layout with specific Field of View values for various devices. If the earlier price was keeping you from trying You Gotta See This!, that barrier is now gone, so head to the App Store and give version 3.0 a spin today.
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