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The Apple Core Blog RSS | ZDNet

2012-02-11T19:22:00.001-08:00

The Apple Core Blog RSS | ZDNet

Video: Every Apple design ever

Posted: 11 Feb 2012 04:21 PM PST

Remember that cool infographic that showed every Apple product ever made? Well, here’s the video version:

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

2012-02-11T15:22:00.001-08:00

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

Bookle: Hands-on with the new Mac EPUB reader app
How to avoid sounding dumb when you write about Apple
Valentine's Day app sales underway: Treasures of Montezuma, Hanging with Friends, Order and Chaos Online
Snapstream industrial-strength DVR gets Mac browser client
Diesel Sweeties turns iBooks Author experiment into successful Kickstarter
Apple now offering education model 13-inch MacBook Air for $999
Daily Update for February 10, 2012

Bookle: Hands-on with the new Mac EPUB reader app

Posted: 11 Feb 2012 03:00 PM PST

During Apple's January education event, one thing that many Apple bloggers were waiting for never appeared -- a version of iBooks for Mac. While that was a surprising omission, at least there's a new and well-implemented Mac book reader app that handles the EPUB format of most iBooks with ease and grace. Bookle (US$9.99) is a collaboration of Take Control Books publisher Adam Engst and Australian developer Peter Lewis of Stairways Software.

Bookle, which is available in the Mac App Store, reads non-DRM versions of EPUB books from the iBookstore. This is one of my few concerns about the app at this point, as many iBooks are copy-protected by digital rights management encryption. As Engst points out in the Introduction of the "Take Control of Bookle (1.0)" ebook that ships with the app, the main goal of this version of the app was to "get a program out quickly that can help you read our ebooks in the here and now." He admits that they may not be able to add support for reading DRM-encrypted ebooks, since "Neither Apple nor Amazon will license their DRM systems, and while Adobe will license Adobe Digital Editions, it's a six-figure cost...".

Getting that out of the way, let's take a look at the app. Bookle's icon is gloriously and beautifully designed (see image at top), which gives you an idea of the attention to detail given to the entire app. Bookle stores the EPUB files in the Application Support directory due to the Mac App Store sandboxing requirements, and books are easy to add to the Bookle library. You can use File > Open, drag the EPUB file onto the Bookle icon in the Dock or Finder, or just double-click the EPUB file.

Once the EPUBs are in the Library, they appear in a sidebar on the left side of the app's window. The sidebar of Bookle displays the list of ebooks and the table of contents of the ebook being read. At the top of the window are buttons to go back and forth in your reading history or up or down in chapters. There are also controls for changing the ebook's font and the font size, as well as setting the background color of the page.

Gallery: Bookle

As with many Lion apps, Bookle supports full-screen mode. I found this to be overkill on a 27" iMac, but it works very nicely on a smaller screen such as that on an 11" MacBook Air. If you close a window or quit the app, Bookle brings you right back to the last page you were reading when you open the book again. Bookle also has support for multi-touch gestures. Swiping two fingers left or right changes chapters when using a trackpad. There's also support for text-to-speech, so if you'd prefer to have an ebook read to you by your Mac, that's easy to do.

If you want to do side-by-side reading of two texts, all you need to do with Bookle is open each book in a separate window. I found this to be useful while making a comparison of two editions of one ebook, and I think it could also be very helpful if you're reading an ebook in one window and an explanatory text in the other window.

I mentioned earlier that I had a few concerns about Bookle -- one glaring omission is the inability to search a book for a specific word or phrase. I'd also like to see the ability to add bookmarks and make notations included in future versions of the app.

I'm sure that some TUAW readers will balk at Bookle's $10 price tag when Calibre is available for free. Frankly, I find Calibre to be a bloated (210.8 MB compared to Bookle's 4.1 MB) and poorly-implemented app that's horrible to use, and for reading ebooks it actually launches a separate ebook app called E-book Viewer. Bookle looks good, and is an excellent 1.0 implementation of a Mac ebook reader. I can't wait to see what the team of Lewis and Engst is able to add to Bookle in future versions.

Bookle: Hands-on with the new Mac EPUB reader app originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How to avoid sounding dumb when you write about Apple

Posted: 11 Feb 2012 11:30 AM PST

So, you want to write about Apple? Lots of people do these days. The company is a household name, its financial performance is virtually unparalleled, and it makes products that millions upon millions of users enjoy every single day. I can tell you from personal experience that getting paid to write about Apple, something I would do on my own anyway, is quite rewarding.

But first you have to decide what kind of Apple writer you'll be. Will you be the kind of writer who takes a step back from the linkbaiting Controversy of the Week, calmly and logically analyzes the situation, and then writes objectively about it? Will you keep your BS detector active and not believe every single rumor that blooms on your RSS feed? Will you have the patience and foresight to analyze past trends before predicting future performance, even if it means dragging yourself across a desert of spreadsheets and financial statements?

If you're saying to yourself, "Nah, that all sounds like work," and you're not worried about sounding dumb when you write about Apple, then by all means, write whatever comes into your head without putting it through a logic filter first. You'll have absolutely zero credibility among anyone who doesn't actively loathe Apple, but at least your page views will be through the roof.

On the other hand, if you'd rather not wind up the laughingstock of the Internet every time you write something about Apple, I have a few points of advice to offer.

Leave "fanboy" and the cult metaphors on the cutting room floor

I'm declaring a fatwa on the word "fanboy." I've said before that I stop reading any argument that uses the word "fanboy" as soon as I see it, and that remains true. But the word still gets tossed around like a hacky sack at Burning Man, and it's gone from overused and tired to straight out offensive and stupid. I look at people who use the word "fanboy" as an epithet with the same disdain I have for people who use racially-charged insults.

Seriously, it's 2012, and Apple has rocketed past Exxon Mobil as the most valuable corporation on the planet. You don't get to that level of success driven along by a handful of dedicated, froth-flecked fans, nor do you achieve what Apple's achieved by having a "cult" of people who will buy what Apple sells no matter what. Think logically for just half a second: Apple sold 37 million iPhones in 3 months. 37 million. If that's a cult, it's one damned huge cult.

How many posts do we see about Exxon Mobil "fanboys" or cultlike people mindlessly lining up their cars at Exxon stations and worshipping at the altar of the almighty unleaded octane 92? Exactly none. Because that would be stupid.

Whether you like the company and its products or not, Apple is now thoroughly mainstream. Maybe in 2002 you could've gotten away with painting Apple's users with the "cult" brush, but doing so today just makes you sound brainwashed yourself.

Don't predict Apple's doom

How many times has Apple actually been doomed in the past 15 years? None. How many times have people said Apple is doomed? I bet if you spent all day counting, not only would you not finish, you'd seriously start to question your life and the way you choose to spend your free time.

Look at Apple's ledgers, specifically the giant pile of cash it's sitting on, and tell me with a straight face that Apple as a company is going to disappear anytime in the near or even far future. At this point, for Apple to fail or be truly doomed would require close to a decade of deliberate, malicious mismanagement. I'm not saying Apple's "too big to fail" -- Microsoft is moribund proof of how far the mighty may fall when men of vision aren't holding the reins. But if you think that "Apple is doomed" will come true eventually if you just repeat that mantra often enough, I humbly suggest that you instead repeat to yourself, "I won $10 billion in the lottery and the Swedish Bikini Team moved into my guest bedroom." That has a far better chance of happening, and it'll likely be far more personally fulfilling if it does.

Now if we're talking about a more specific subset of Apple being doomed, the story's still the same. To this day I can still hear faint echoes of my laughter from 2006 when John Dvorak tried to convince us the Mac was doomed unless Apple switched to Windows. If you thought the iPhone was doomed in 2007 because the thing would just never catch on, then congratulations: you're capable of running Microsoft. If you thought the iPad was doomed in 2010 because it didn't ship with support for Flash Player, then man have they got a gig open for you at Adobe, you scamp. If you thought that either the iPhone or the iPad would be crushed and fade into obscurity because of Android's market share gains in 2010 and early 2011, then... well, maybe we can get you a job corralling the shopping carts at Target.

Take Apple's expectations for quarterly revenue and multiply by 1.15

If you intend to write about Apple with the least bit of credibility in forecasting its financial performance, you must follow the company's quarterly performance reports. As a publicly-traded company beholden to its shareholders, Apple quite carefully lays out its expectations for the quarter to come, including factors it expects to impact its performance for good or ill. Being the secretive company it is, Apple doesn't connect the dots for you, but the picture isn't all that hard to comprehend anyway. It can't be, because Apple has a responsibility to the people who've invested in it, and deliberately misleading those investors would get the company into seriously hot water.

Apple isn't run by idiots. These are very smart people who know what they're doing. Apple's success isn't a fluke; it's the result of an expertly steered company with some of the best business minds on the planet at the helm. If Apple saw something in the forthcoming quarter that it expected to have a significant impact on its earnings, and there was nothing it could do to avoid that financial iceberg, you can bet it would adjust its financial guidance accordingly. We saw that two quarters ago, in fact, when Apple said it didn't expect great Q4 results due to a "product transition" - i.e., the iPhone 4 hanging around for an extra 3 months. Apple still beat its own guidance but (heavy sarcasm quotes) "missed" Wall Street's expectations.

Every quarter, a gaggle of "financial analysts" pull Magic 8-Balls out of their Park Avenue closets, blow off the dust, and forecast financial doom for Apple. "Sell AAPL now," say these people who somehow still have jobs telling others how to invest actual money.

To avoid sounding like someone dropped an anvil on your head, here's what you do when it comes time to discuss Apple's financial future. It will require two minutes of research first, where you'll learn what Apple's own revenue guidance for the forthcoming quarter is. Once you have that number, multiply it by 1.15. Use a calculator if you must. That number is about what you can expect Apple to actually return for the next quarter. It sort of takes all the fun out of the earnings announcement, like mathematically determining on Labor Day exactly what you'll get for Christmas, but it sure does stop you from saying stupid stuff like "Apple can't possibly earn $30 billion in revenue in one quarter" when the company turns around and earns $46 billion instead.

Keep your product expectations moderate and realistic

One surefire way to make yourself sound ridiculous: take any article from Popular Mechanics circa 1950-1960, slightly update the retro-futurist themes to suit the modern era, and tell us Apple will usher in this new age all by itself. Use Siri to talk to your car! Multi-Touch screens on your refrigerator! A FaceTime watch (just like Dick Tracy!!!)!

In the leadup to every one of Apple's product announcements, the speculation gets so rampant and so out of control that the only surefire way to separate fiction from reality is to believe none of it. That's essentially what I decided to do two months before the iPhone 4S launched; after overdosing on fever dream rumors of the supposed iPhone 5, I asked myself what Apple was actually likely to do. "Apple's redesigned the exterior of the iPhone twice in four years," I said to myself when my wife wasn't home to stare at me for saying such things aloud. "How likely are they to do another major external redesign just over a year after the iPhone 4 launched?"

If you asked yourself this same question and answered, "Not likely in the slightest," then I bet you weren't one of those people beating their chests in early October and screaming, "But it looks just like the iPhone 4! Where is the iPhone 5?! So disappointing, Apple blew it, they're doooooomed!"

See also The Rumor That Will Not Die: the Apple-branded HDTV.

How to do it wrong: "Apple will introduce an HDTV with a 42-inch LCD screen, FaceTime camera, built-in App Store, and eleventy billion gigabytes of onboard storage. The entire interface will be voice-activated via Siri. The whole thing will cost $1500. It's going to be a total revolution in the way we interact with our TVs, man, you don't even know."

How to do it less wrong: "Apple might introduce an HDTV, but for a whole lot of (logical, well-thought out) reasons it sure doesn't seem likely."

Apple makes technology that occasionally seems like magic, but as far as I know Apple doesn't employ any actual magicians, sorcerers, or wizards among its design staff in Cupertino. Adjust your product expectations accordingly.

Don't try to tell us what Apple "must" do

Any time I come across a headline that reads like a gauntlet thrown at Apple's collective feet, I brace for The Stupid. These "Apple Must (x)" headlines usually follow like derp-derp jetsam after the rabble-rabble hurricane of whatever the "-gate" Controversy of the Week happens to be. The iPhone 4 drops signal when held a certain way, so Apple must issue a full recall. The iPhone contains buggy code that causes people's location info to be held for longer than necessary, so Apple must go before Congress and explain itself. Siri doesn't return results for Planned Parenthood when users ask it to find abortion clinics, so Apple must apologize to women everywhere for stealthily promoting a right-wing agenda on reproductive rights. Apple's EULA for iBooks Author says you can only publish iBooks-formatted books on the iBookstore, so Apple must be subjected to antitrust hearings before the week is out.

In the increasingly rare respites from storm-in-a-teacup controversy, there's the usual roundup of typically myopic suggestions from "analysts" and the blogosphere at large, all of which manage to sound hilarious in hindsight. Remember when Apple had to put a netbook on the market if it wanted to stay relevant? Or how it had to build an iPhone with a physical keyboard? Or how the iPad had to support Flash Player?

Occasionally people do come up with some decent advice for Apple, and I'll find myself nodding along in agreement. But those times are about as rare as sunny days in Cleveland, and just as fleeting before the usual gray, dummkopf skies return.

Think first, type later

I saved the most important advice for last. Some bloggers are so quick to rush to judgement on absolutely everything Apple does that I often find myself wondering if there's any actual thought behind what they write or if they're just spitting out pure rage like the father character in A Christmas Story. "Apple broke my lamp on purpose! NOTTAFINGA!"

We can't go a single week anymore without some "-gate" suffixed scandal surfacing that's supposedly proof everlasting of Apple's nefarious intentions, leading directly to the company's ultimate downfall. Just recently, a simple boneheaded mistake in Apple's writing in the EULA for iBooks Author had bloggers jumping over one another to launch ICBMs full of monkey poo toward Cupertino, with one guffaw-inducing example classifying it as "mind-bogglingly greedy and evil."

The only truly mind-boggling thing was the swift rush to judgement without even a breath's pause for logical evaluation of the facts at hand. It was clear to me from the beginning that Apple had no interest in owning anyone's content, only the iBooks format. A week went by, Apple updated the iBooks Author EULA, and people everywhere who don't spend their afternoons sticking pins in an iPhone-shaped voodoo doll looked at the rest of the blogosphere and said, "Duh."

So many bloggers (and an exponentially greater number of commenters) are used to seeing Apple as this grand dystopian force in their lives that literally everything the company does must have some mustache-twirling, villainous motivation behind it. That mindset is both sad and dumb.

If you're going to write about any topic, but particularly one as widely read about as Apple, for your own sake be sure to think first and type later. If you just take that one small step, everything else I've said here will follow naturally, and the chances of your writing being subjected to eternal ridicule will be much smaller.

How to avoid sounding dumb when you write about Apple originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 11 Feb 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Valentine's Day app sales underway: Treasures of Montezuma, Hanging with Friends, Order and Chaos Online

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 07:00 PM PST

Romance is almost in the air (even, if you're as single as I am, though you might not care), and that means what every holiday seems to mean around the App Store: More sales! With all these great deals on apps, you can either enjoy one with your sweetie, or use them to distract you from your lonely, solo existence.

Match-3-alike Ablazed is free right now, as the recently re-released Hand of Greed (which has been re-released a few times now right?).
Sega has quite a few of its titles on sale for just 99 cents, including most of the Sonic titles, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, Altered Beast and Gunstar Heroes.
EA (surprised? Us either) has lots of titles on sale too, including Scrabble, Risk, Spy Mouse, and The Sims.
Telltale has Back to the Future Episode 1 up for free, and the rest of them up for just $2.99.
Crescent Moon also has a solid sale on, including the beautiful Gears puzzle platformer, Pocket RPG for iPhone (no HD sale, unfortunately), and Evertales.
Match 3 title Treasures of Montezuma 3 is on sale for iPhone for 99 cents, and the iPad version is $2.99.
Vito Technology's "Walk" apps are all on sale for the holiday.
Fantasy Sky HD is free.
The ad-free version of Zynga's Hanging with Friends is just a buck. Careful with playing it on an airplane, though.
WoW-alike Order and Chaos Online is also just a buck. Comes with a free three month subscription, but you'll have to pay after that.
TanZen for iPhone is free -- but the iPad version is not.
Loud Crow Interactive is putting one of its apps on sale every day up and through Valentine's Day -- you have to follow them on Twitter to know which one, however.

We might see even more as the holiday gets closer, so stay tuned.

Valentine's Day app sales underway: Treasures of Montezuma, Hanging with Friends, Order and Chaos Online originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Snapstream industrial-strength DVR gets Mac browser client

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 06:00 PM PST

Snapstream is an enterprise-level TV monitoring service. It's used mostly by news organizations and companies to keep an eye on what's happening on television every night, looking for a certain piece of video or bit of text or speech (the Daily Show famously uses it to keep track of all of that news footage John Stewart makes fun of every night). And despite its popularity, it's only been available on Windows -- until now.

Unfortunately, there's still not a dedicated Mac client, but there is a new web interface that Macs can access and use through the browser. The browser client will do everything the full client can, which means even users on Macs can search through TV broadcasts and find what they need.

Users can grab that video and transcode it on the server off to a more web-friendly format. If your company uses Snapstream (or has been thinking about using it), but was waiting for a Mac client, now's your chance.

Snapstream industrial-strength DVR gets Mac browser client originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Diesel Sweeties turns iBooks Author experiment into successful Kickstarter

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 05:00 PM PST

A couple weeks ago, Richard Stevens decided to create a free ebook of with a month's worth of his webcomic series, Diesel Sweeties, using iBooks Author. We reported on the experiment then, but Stevens recently disclosed just how big of a success it was: More than 10,000 downloads in three days of the iPad book.

Stevens has propelled that success into a Kickstarter campaign, where he will distribute his entire series to date for free in two forms: a PDF ebook and an iBook that will be more than 3,000 pages long. Stevens said he would be making the two versions simultaneously in iBooks Author and Adobe InDesign.

Looking to raise $3,000 initially, Stevens already has raised nearly $17,000 with less than 27 days remaining in his campaign. I figured it wouldn't take long to see iBooks Author help drive a project such as this to a success, but I am surprised to see that it's happened within a month of the program's release. It'll be great to see final ebook, and I hope that iBooks Author can manage a project size that big!

Diesel Sweeties turns iBooks Author experiment into successful Kickstarter originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple now offering education model 13-inch MacBook Air for $999

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 04:00 PM PST

Almost immediately after discontinuing the white plastic MacBook once and for all, Apple has replaced it with a MacBook Air designed for educational sales. The 13-inch model costs the same US$999 as the MacBook it replaces.

This 13-inch MacBook Air, which will only be sold to educational institutions, is the same price as the entry-level 11-inch MacBook Air sold to consumers. With the exception of its larger, higher-resolution display, the education-model 13-inch MacBook Air also has precisely the same specs as its diminutive counterpart: 1.6 GHz Intel i5 processor, 2 GB of (non-upgradable) RAM, and 64 GB of onboard flash memory.

Apple will offer this model in a five-pack bundle for $4995. 10- or 20-pack bundles complete with an AirPort Extreme and a nifty laptop cart with a built-in charging station are also available, at $11,399 for the 10-pack and $21,599 for the 20-pack.

Given the somewhat lackluster specs of this MacBook Air, especially compared to the MacBook it replaces, and considering Apple's recent push to get iPads in the classroom, it will be interesting to see whether or not this new education-model MacBook Air catches on in schools. For just $1400 more than the 20-pack MacBook Air bundle, a school could purchase a PowerSync cart and a 30-pack bundle of 64 GB iPad 2 units, all of them capable of displaying digital textbooks created in iBooks Author.

Apple now offering education model 13-inch MacBook Air for $999 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daily Update for February 10, 2012

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 03:30 PM PST

It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.

You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.

No Flash? Click here to listen.

Daily Update for February 10, 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Touch Arcade

2012-02-11T13:38:00.001-08:00

Touch Arcade

The TouchArcade Show - 38 - "...As a Recovering KoRn Addict"

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 03:00 PM PST

This week on The TouchArcade Show, the crew powers through mini-discussions about KoRn and mysterious sodas with pumas emblazoned on the can to bring you the latest, hottest, and best in iOS news and commentary. At the top, we dig into Pizza vs. Skeletons for the final time, discuss Hero Academy's sign-up system, and crack into games like Ragdoll Blaster 3 and Dodonpachi Blissful Death.

Later, in our news section, we sound off on several juicy topics including the release and subsequent broken-ness of Battlefield 3: Aftershock and Double Fine's Kickstarter.

If you'd like to listen in, go ahead and do so via the links below. Additionally, you could subscribe to us on iTunes and Zune and get our episodes the second they hit the Internet for your consumption. All the cool kids do it.

iTunes Link: The TouchArcade Show
Zune Marketplace: TouchArcade.com Podcasts
RSS Feed: The TouchArcade Show
Direct Link: TouchArcadeShow-038.mp3, 39MB

Here's your show notes:

GAMES

Pizza vs. Skeletons
Ragdoll Blaster 3 [$.99 / HD]
Hero Academy [Free]
Dondonpachi Blissful Death [$4.99]
Dariusburst SP [$10.99]

JARED'S KITTY KORNER

Pussy Malone And the Cow Snatchers From Space [Free]

NEWS

Daily iPhone Blog

2012-02-11T13:27:00.000-08:00

Daily iPhone Blog

O2 Now Unlocking iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 8GB
Todays iPhone wallpapers
Todays iPad 2 / iPad wallpapers
Todays iPhone 4S / iPhone 4 wallpapers
Bulletin: Lockcreen Notification Center
Unresponsive Home Button? Try This!

O2 Now Unlocking iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 8GB

Posted: 11 Feb 2012 05:39 AM PST

News from DailyiPhoneBlog.com:

O2 are now offering unlocks for both the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 where as they were not previously offering unlocks for these devices. You can have your iPhone unlocked free of charge if you purchased the iPhone on a pay monthly contract or for a £15 charge through pay as you go.

To have your iPhone unlocked you can contact O2 Customer Services by dialing 202 from your O2 handset.

Todays iPhone wallpapers

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 09:15 PM PST

News from DailyiPhoneBlog.com:

You can download todays iPhone 3G / 3GS Wallpapers from our iPhone 3GS Wallpaper gallery. Enjoy!

Note: Did you know that we update our iPhone 3GS , iPhone 4 and iPad/ iPad2 wallpaper galleries once / day? You can find the latest wallpapers in the sidebar, so make sure to check that out every time you visit us!

Todays iPad 2 / iPad wallpapers

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 09:13 PM PST

News from DailyiPhoneBlog.com:

You can download today’s iPad and iPad2 Wallpapers from our iPad / iPad2 Wallpaper gallery. Enjoy!

Note: Did you know that we update our iPhone 3GS , iPhone 4 and iPad/ iPad2 wallpaper galleries once / day? You can find the latest wallpapers in the sidebar, so make sure to check that out every time you visit us!

Todays iPhone 4S / iPhone 4 wallpapers

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 09:11 PM PST

News from DailyiPhoneBlog.com:

You can download todays iPhone 4S / iPhone 4 Wallpapers from our iPhone 4 Wallpaper gallery. Enjoy!

Note: Did you know that we update our iPhone 3GS , iPhone 4S / iPhone4 and iPad/ iPad2 wallpaper galleries once / day? You can find the latest wallpapers in the sidebar, so make sure to check that out every time you visit us!

Bulletin: Lockcreen Notification Center

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 05:25 PM PST

News from DailyiPhoneBlog.com:

Bulletin is a small Cydia tweak available on the BigBoss repository for 99 cents. What does it do? It allows you to access your notification center directly from your lockscreen whereas before you would have the need to unlock your iPhone first. This is a brilliant tweak and will save you a lot of time, so please support the developer in their applications!

Name: Bulletin | Available From: Cydia | Price: $0.99

Unresponsive Home Button? Try This!

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 04:40 PM PST

News from DailyiPhoneBlog.com:

Has your iPhone’s home button become less responsive? Does it take time for it to return to the springboard when you press it? A little trick that’s common around iPhone blogs has been proven to help improve the responsiveness of the iPhone’s home button. Note that this won’t rectify any issues that you may have due to the phone being dropped, and will only fix software related issues, but it’s worth a try!

If you’re iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch home button has become less responsive, you can perform a software update on your iPhone. However, the quicker option it a “soft reset” type feature made purely for the home button. Simply press and hold your power button until your iPhone displays the “slide to power off” screen, then press and hold your home button until you are returned to your springboard. You may need to reboot your phone after this to see any improvement, but it will definitely improve the responsiveness of your iPhone’s home button!

The iPhone and iPad Blog by Simon

2012-02-11T13:25:00.001-08:00

The iPhone and iPad Blog by Simon

How To Track Packages on iPhone Using The Parcel App

Posted: 11 Feb 2012 08:05 AM PST

Being an avid online shopper, I receive a lot of shipments on a weekly basis. The trouble is that almost every online shopping site uses a different shipping service – thereby leaving me pulling my hair with the trouble of keeping track of my shipments. While I’ve used DHL and UPS iPhone apps, these are no good when I need to track multiple shipments coming in via different shipping services. Therefore, the Parcel iPhone app appeared a godsend for somebody like me and there was no way I could resist reviewing it.

First things first, Parcel boasts of an impressive portfolio of nearly 100 delivery services , including UPS, USPS, FedEx, TNT, LaserShip, Aramex, OnTrac, China Post, SingPost, vPost and many other postal services. Once installed, Parcel displays a Tutorial for beginners in order to help you understand how everything works.

The app interface is simple yet attractive. There are three main tabs – Deliveries, Add Delivery and Settings. The Deliveries tab shows a listing of all your deliveries along with their status. It will be empty till you’ve added a delivery.

You can create a new delivery through the Add Delivery tab. Enter a description and the shipment tracking number. The best part – as soon as you enter the number, the app identifies your shipping service. In my case, it correctly identified Australia Post as the shipping service.

Once the delivery is added, it shows up on the Deliveries tab as shown below.

IMO, the Parcel iPhone app is a great time saver as it gets you the information you need in a fraction of the time it takes to monitor tracking via email and websites.

You can turn specific shipping services – on/ off through the Settings tab as shown below.

The app settings also let you control notification settings, push notifications, update on launch and synchronization options.

Though the Parcel app is free, you need to upgrade to a paid subscription ($1.99) to receive notifications of delivery events or want to track more than three deliveries at the same time. Upgrade to paid version is available as an in-app purchase and can be done via the Extended version option under Settings. Given the convenience it offers, I strongly believe that the Parcel iPhone app is great value for money! What do you think?

This article, How To Track Packages on iPhone Using The Parcel App, was originally published at simonblog.com.

AppleInsider

2012-02-11T11:06:00.001-08:00

AppleInsider

Amazon gets creative with focus on original video content
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs did serve on White House council in '90s
Swiss company seeks iPhone, Apple TV ban over alleged patent infringement
Apple looks to end Motorola patent attack in Germany with U.S. suit
Apple now offers basic 13-in. $999 MacBook Air to education buyers
Apple lodges new suit against Samsung over autocorrect, screen unlock

Amazon gets creative with focus on original video content

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 08:30 PM PST

A set of job postings by Amazon for creative executives to oversee the production of original video series reflects the online retailer's interest in challenging the industry film and television studios with exclusive video content.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs did serve on White House council in '90s

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 05:40 PM PST

The U.S. Commerce Department has confirmed that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs did in fact serve on former President George H.W. Bush's Export Council during the 1990s.

Swiss company seeks iPhone, Apple TV ban over alleged patent infringement

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 03:44 PM PST

Small Switzerland-based technology company SmartData looks to ban sales of the iPhone and Apple TV, claiming that when the devices are used together via Apple's Remote app, the combination infringes on the firm's "modular computer" patent.

Apple looks to end Motorola patent attack in Germany with U.S. suit

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 02:03 PM PST

Apple stayed on the legal offensive Friday, filing a new lawsuit in a U.S. court that claims Motorola Mobility's recent patent barrage of patent claims in Germany is in breach of a licensing agreement between the RAZR maker and Qualcomm.

Apple now offers basic 13-in. $999 MacBook Air to education buyers

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 12:06 PM PST

Apple has begun selling a less powerful version of its 13.3-inch MacBook Air to educational institutions buying in bulk for $999, filling the void left by the recently discontinued white MacBook.

Apple lodges new suit against Samsung over autocorrect, screen unlock

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 11:18 AM PST

Apple this week filed a new lawsuit in the U.S. against rival Samsung, with the latest complaint related to autocorrection of spelling, as well as unlocking a device from its touchscreen.

MacRumors : Mac News and Rumors

2012-02-11T09:02:00.000-08:00

MacRumors : Mac News and Rumors

Apple Sues Motorola Over Licensing of Cellular Technology by Qualcomm
Apple Offering Stripped-Down $999 13" MacBook Air to Educational Institutions Buying in Bulk
More Claims of MacBook Pro Adopting MacBook Air Form Factor in 2012 Redesign

Apple Sues Motorola Over Licensing of Cellular Technology by Qualcomm

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 02:19 PM PST

Reuters reports that Apple has filed a lawsuit against Motorola Mobility alleging that Motorola has breached a licensing agreement with Qualcomm in its efforts to have a number of Apple's iOS devices banned from sale in Germany. Following a December victory by Motorola in a German court, Apple last week briefly pulled all 3G-enabled products with the exception of the iPhone 4S from its German online store. They were restored within a few hours after the injunction was suspended.

Today's lawsuit specifically addresses the iPhone 4S, which Motorola has also been seeking to block in Germany and other countries. The iPhone 4S utilizes Qualcomm's MDM6610 baseband chip, and Apple argues that Qualcomm's patent license with Motorola exhausts Motorola's rights to further royalties from Apple.

The suit, filed in a San Diego federal court, argues that Motorola's German lawsuit against Apple breaches terms of a patent licensing agreement between Motorola and Qualcomm. [...]

In the latest lawsuit, Apple says that as a Qualcomm customer, Apple is a third-party beneficiary of Motorola's agreement with Qualcomm. Under that agreement, Motorola's rights under certain patents are exhausted, Apple argues.

Apple has raised this issue before, perhaps most notably in defending itself against Samsung in Australia where it similarly claimed that Apple is protected from attacks based on these patents related to core cellular technologies by virtue of Qualcomm's licensing agreements. Motorola and Samsung have disagreed with Apple on that front, and Apple is now pressing the matter with a lawsuit of its own specifically addressing the issue as it relates to Motorola's efforts in Germany.

Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories
• iOS Surpasses OS X in Share of U.S. Web Traffic
• LifeProof iPhone Case Offers Protection Against Water and Shock Damage
• The iPad 3's A6 Processor to be Dual-Core?
• Apple Kills Off White MacBook as Educational Institution Distribution Halted
• Tweetbot for iPad Hits The App Store

Apple Offering Stripped-Down $999 13" MacBook Air to Educational Institutions Buying in Bulk

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 11:48 AM PST

Apple has begun offering a stripped-down 13" MacBook Air to educational institutions purchasing in bulk, replacing the two-year old white plastic MacBook offering the company recently discontinued. Apple had ceased sales of the MacBook to consumer customers back in July of 2011.

The new educational-exclusive MacBook Air is a 13" model with the same specs as the entry-level consumer 11" MacBook Air: 1.6GHz i5 processor, 2GB RAM, 64GB flash storage, and the Intel HD Graphics 3000 chipset. The machine is available in a 5-pack for $4,995 or $999 per machine. The standard 13" MacBook Air starts at $1,299.

Apple has long offered prepackaged sets of laptops to educational institutions looking to equip teachers or students with MacBooks (and iBooks before that). It has also made available a Learning Lab product that includes 10 or 20 MacBooks along with a preconfigured cart to hold and charge the machines. More recently, Apple has begun offered iPad and iPod Learning Lab carts, too.

After the discontinuation of the white MacBook, Apple reworked the bulk laptop packages it offers educational institutions. As first reported by 9to5Mac, Apple is now selling 5-packs of the 11" and 13" MacBook Airs along with an existing 13" MacBook Pro offering. The MacBook Air Learning Lab packages have been updated as well, with discounted 10- and 20-packs of the stripped-down 13" MacBook Air bundled with the aforementioned charging and storage cart.

The new packages are available on Apple's educational institution online store, though Apple has yet to update its educational web page with the new information.

Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories
• iOS Surpasses OS X in Share of U.S. Web Traffic
• LifeProof iPhone Case Offers Protection Against Water and Shock Damage
• The iPad 3's A6 Processor to be Dual-Core?
• Apple Kills Off White MacBook as Educational Institution Distribution Halted
• Tweetbot for iPad Hits The App Store

More Claims of MacBook Pro Adopting MacBook Air Form Factor in 2012 Redesign

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 11:14 AM PST

In two report back in April and July of last year, we reported that Apple was working on an ultra-thin 15-inch Mac notebook, with the suggestion being that the existing MacBook Pro line would evolve to take design cues and many of the features from the popular MacBook Air. But whether the larger notebooks would be branded as MacBook Pros or MacBook Airs has been unclear.

Many had hoped that the redesigned 15-inch notebook would debut by the end of 2011, but Apple apparently elected to squeeze in one final minor spec bump as it waited for Intel's Ivy Bridge platform to launch in 2012. Reports late last year continued to suggest that Apple was finishing up work on the redesigned 15-inch MacBook Pro ahead of a 2012 debut.

AppleInsider now weighs in with its own claims essentially mirroring much of what was previously reported, but emphasizing that the shift will likely see a unification of Apple's notebook lines under the MacBook Air design aesthetic, covering the full range of 11-inch to 17-inch sizes by the end of this year.

This will include new, ultra-thin unibody enclosures that jettison yesteryear technologies like optical disk drives and traditional hard drives in favor of models with lightweight chassis that employ flash-memory based solid-state drives, instant-on capabilities, extended battery life, and rely on digital distribution for software and media.

"They're all going to look like MacBook Airs," one person familiar with the new MacBook Pro designs told AppleInsider. Meanwhile, existing MacBook Pro designs are expected to be phased out over the course of the year.

The report suggests that Apple may not shift the entire MacBook Pro line at once, instead beginning with the 15-inch model and then following with the 17-inch model "shortly thereafter". Apple followed a similar pattern with its transition to the present unibody design back in late 2008 and early 2009.

Mockup of MacBook Air design spanning full range of Apple notebook sizes
The fate of the 13-inch MacBook Pro remains murky, and may depend on just how closely the new MacBook Pro designs mirror the smaller MacBook Air and whether Apple brings the whole notebook line under a single name. With the MacBook Pro redesign and a boost to the 13-inch MacBook Air, there may simply not be enough differentiating the two 13-inch machines and Apple may opt to consolidate its notebooks down to essentially a single line in four different sizes.

Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories
• iOS Surpasses OS X in Share of U.S. Web Traffic
• LifeProof iPhone Case Offers Protection Against Water and Shock Damage
• The iPad 3's A6 Processor to be Dual-Core?
• Apple Kills Off White MacBook as Educational Institution Distribution Halted
• Tweetbot for iPad Hits The App Store

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch blog

2012-02-11T03:35:00.001-08:00

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch blog

How to use a third-party remote to control your Apple TV
Mail Enhancer for jailbreak review
Cut the Buttons review
China syndrome redux: Why it really is about Apple
Best handwriting notes app for iPad: Noteshelf review
Forums: Music Artwork, Music Creation, iPhone Music
Say goodbye to real-world junk mail with PaperKarma for iPhone
AT&T’s upgrade fees doubling to $36 on February 12
Could AT&T LTE microSIM cards point to 4G iPhone 5 or iPad 3?
Hundred PushUps for iPhone will help you get your upper body strength on! [Giveaway]
Apple reportedly urging developers to get Retina display iPad 3 apps ready for announcement event
Make your iPhone photography more striking with the “rule of thirds”
iPhone and iPad manufacturer Foxconn hacked by Swagg Security, e-mail addresses and passwords leaked
OtterBox Defender Series Case for iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 only $28.95

How to use a third-party remote to control your Apple TV

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 10:15 PM PST

The Apple TV remote that comes with the latest Apple TV 2 is very small and can be very easily misplaced or lost completely. Luckily, Apple has included a very easy way for you to use a third-party remote control as an alternative. Sure you could use your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad and the Apple Remote app but if you don't want your kids, friends, or spouses, bugging you every time they need to change something on the Apple TV, you’ll want something dedicated.

Here’s how to set it up, and you should do it now before you lose your current remote.

Power on your Apple TV
Go to Settings in the main menu
Click on General and then Remote
Choose Learn Remote

Select Start
Apple TV will display icons that represent the six buttons on the Apple Remote with the “Up” or “+” button highlighted first.
Using your third-party remote, press and hold the button you would like to use to control the “up” function until the blue progress bar is full as shown below.
Apple TV will then select the next button function. Repeat the above step using a different button
After you have programmed all six button functions, you can now use your third-party remote to control Apple TV. You can optionally setup specific playback buttons for Fast-forward, Rewind, Next chapter, and more.

If you see the “Button Already Learned” error message, this means one of the following:

A different, previously learned remote, has a learned button with the same IR code as the current button that you are trying to program.
A previously learned button of the current remote has the same IR code as the current button that you are trying to program.

Either use a different button or delete the previously learned remote if it is not being used.

That is all there is to it, a very easy way to use a third-party remote as a backup for your Apple TV remote!

Daily Tips range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you'd like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@imore.com.

Source: Apple Support Article

Mail Enhancer for jailbreak review

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 10:09 PM PST

Get custom signatures, notifications, and highlights for iPhone Mail with Mail Enhancer for jailbreak

Mail Enhancer adds a great deal of extra functionality to your jailbroken iPhone, including the ability to set custom signatures for different accounts, tailored notifications, advanced mail sorting options, and account highlighting. If the stock version of iOS simply doesn’t meet your needs, and you’re looking for more and better functionality, give Mail Enhancer a try.

iOS lacks the inability to have more than one e-mail signature. (That’s why we all see “Sent from my iPhone so often.) If you have a different account for home and office, for example, you’re forced to include the contact information for both and delete the inappropriate one each time, or neither, and enter it in manually on a case by case basis. If you remember. Mail Enhancer allows you to add as many mail signatures as you’d like. Not only can you set them per account, but you can take it one step further and also have separate signatures for composing, replying, and forwarding.

Set quiet hours and account priority

Mail Enhancer also has advanced notification controls built-in. You can set mail accounts as high priority and low priority and adjust notifications accordingly. For example, you can set up high priority email to use popup notifications but have them turned off for low priority email.

Set different colors for mail accounts with message highlighting

If you’re the type of person that likes to view all of your e-mails in one thread, Mail Enhancer makes it easy to set highlight colors for each account. That way, even when you’re viewing the unified inbox, you can still easily identify which account each email was sent to, without having to tap into each one individually. You can also add a bar to the top of your Mail app that allows you to easily toggle between all your messages and just unread messages.

Mail Enhancer is already available in Cydia, the jailbreak app store.

$4.99 – Cydia Search Link

Additional jailbreak resources:

Cut the Buttons review

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 08:07 PM PST

“All the thrill of running with scissors without any of the danger or mess, Cut the Buttons for iPhone and iPad is unique, challenging, and most importantly, fun.”

Now here’s a game that takes advantage of the iPhone and iPad’s multitouch screens to create something truly unique. In Cut the Buttons, your goal is to control a pair of scissors with two fingers, like you would in real life, and cut the buttons off pieces of fabric that come flying by. I swear it’s not as easy as it sounds!

Removing the buttons is not your only goal in Cut the Buttons for iPhone or Cut the Buttons HD for iPad; you must also collect them in the the cup at the bottom of the screen by controlling it with your other hand while simultaneously cutting as many buttons as you can. Once you miss 3 buttons, the game is over.

But that’s not all! Some buttons are bolted down and must be avoided. You wouldn’t want to dull your scissors, would you? Accidentally attempting to cut the bolts results in loss of points.

I was instantly drawn to Cut the Buttons because of it’s beautiful graphics and bright, vivid colors. But the creators at Open Name put more than just looks into the design of this game. For example, I quickly discovered that the best approach wasn’t to cut each button individually by fully closing the scissors. Just as with real scissors, if you have motion behind your scissors, you only need to slightly close them to make a successful cut. This is a great technique for cutting many buttons at once.

Cut the Buttons also has a multiplayer mode where you pair up with a friend to grab a second pair of scissors and hopefully double your button-cutting experience. It’s all the thrill of running with scissors without any of the danger or the mess, Cut the Buttons for iPhone and iPad is unique, challenging, and most importantly, fun.

Cut the Buttons HD is well worth the $1.99 sticker price. I have not played the iPhone version, yet, and can’t imagine it being as fun with the smaller screen, but it’s currently on sale for the price of free, so it’s definitely worth trying it out as well!

Free for iPhone – Download Now

$1.99 for iPad – Download Now

China syndrome redux: Why it really is about Apple

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 07:28 PM PST

Rene recently wrote an editorial about the current controversy surrounding Apple and the working conditions in the Chinese factories where Apple — and almost every other consumer electronics company — has their products made. It was a nice editorial, but I disagree with it completely. Well, almost completely. I do agree that it’s an important issue and that the discussion is good. He took a position and argued it well, that China was the story, and Apple merely link-bait. And it’s that position I disagree with.

First of all, just because almost every other consumer electronics company uses the same factories in no way lets Apple off the hook. If anything, it just means those hooks are awfully crowded.

Each and every one of those companies, including Apple, are accountable for their own actions, or lack of action, concerning the working conditions in the factories where their products are made.

If Apple were to pull out of these factories, it’s true that a lot of other companies would remain, but so what? Apple will have done something, and even more pressure could be exerted on the ones that remained, and they’d look even worse because they remained.

Change often comes from a single, courageous act that disrupts the status quo and sets into motion a new course of action that others simply must follow.

If staying engaged proves to be a better strategy, however, Apple could still be a greater agent for change. They could see to it workers were paid more, for example, or insist upon more reasonable working schedules.

Of course, Apple can’t just give the factories more money. It would likely disappear long before it reached the workers, as money often seems to. But Apple could make worker wages a condition of their contracts. It would take time, and require enormous oversight to make sure the factories followed through, but it would be worth it.

Apple makes incredible profits. That’s their job as a company. Using those profits to elevate the wages of Chinese workers isn’t a net loss, however. It’s an investment. Just like Henry Ford insisted on paying his workers enough so that, one day, they could become his customers, Apple would one day benefit from the more rapid establishment of greater customer base in China.

Yes, we in the Western world went through our own industrial revolution, and the working conditions were deplorable, but now we have labor laws and minimum wage, access to health insurance or health care. Unemployment and homelessness remain a huge problem, of course, and there’s suffering and abuse of the system to be sure. But in general we as a society face a far, far higher standard of living than that facing Chinese factory workers.

And it’s not okay to exploit that difference.

When the media reports on Apple’s role in the Chinese factory system, when organizations plan protests, rather than say it’s link-bait or opportunism, I see it as a call to action.

Apple is one of the wealthiest and most influential companies in the world. With that money and power comes responsibility. While having razor-thin profit margins certainly doesn’t excuse the Dells or HPs, having hefty profit margins absolutely puts the burden on Apple to lead the way. They can afford to pay more. Customers like me might even be proud to know that Apple is paying more.

I buy fair trade coffee. I’d certainly buy an iPad proudly produced by fair labor.

Things won’t change over night. They never do. The people who run the factories in China won’t wake up tomorrow and suddenly start paying their workers better, or start making their working conditions more palatable.

But demanding change will make it come faster.

The more the media reports on working conditions in China, the more people are informed about it, the more the outcry that follows, the more companies like Apple fear the bad press and public perception, the more their brand or reputation suffers, the more they’re motivated to take action, to speed up the change.

Apple gets the spotlight because of their size and their impact. They dent the universe. Instead of just denting it with better phones or newer tablets, why don’t they really wind up and dent it by making lives better?

Tim Cook purportedly said, in response to these stories, that Apple “cares about about every worker in their worldwide supply chain.”

Great. It’s time for them to prove it.

Best handwriting notes app for iPad: Noteshelf review

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 05:56 PM PST

“Whether you’re a student or teacher, an intern or executive, if you have an iPad and you take notes, get Noteshelf.”

Noteshelf is currently the best way to take and share handwritten notes on the iPad. Why would you want to do that? Well, we live in a digital world and it’s become much, much easier to carry a single, multifunctional iPad around than a heavy stack of books, grocery lists, calendars, journals, notebooks, scrap papers, sketchbooks, and stickies. Sure, the iPad comes with a keyboard based Notes app built in, but there’s still something to said about writing by hand. Call it therapeutic. Call it efficient. Call it necessary. There are simply more things to take note of than are currently possible with a keyboard alone.

For example, asking a math instructor to quickly type out an equation on her iPad and mail it to a student is absurd. Asking an executive to rapidly brain storm a new workflow and share it with the team is cumbersome. But sketching them out with Noteshelf? Now that’s not only quick and easy, it’s enjoyable.

Noteshelf is a note-taking app for your iPad –- or shall I say: a beautiful note-taking app for your iPad — that’s based on freeform handwriting. You can write with your finger or, better still, a pen-like device called a stylus. It comes with 17 digital inks, 20 note templates, 15 covers, and much, much more.

If you’re new to the idea of a free-form notes app, it’s really simple to get started. Just treat your iPad like a blank piece of paper and start writing, drawing, and charting. Almost anything you can jot down with a piece of note paper, you can jot down with Noteshelf.

Simplicity does not necessarily imply feature-lacking, however; Noteshelf is jam-packed with an assortment of features that makes note taking not only easy, but exciting!

Noteshelf includes 17 pen colors and 21 different levels of thickness.

Color addicts rejoice! Noteshelf includes 17 different pen colors with 21 thickness choices, and 8 highlighter colors with 41 different sizes. The combinations are nearly limitless and allow you to really customize your notes to fit your purpose and style.

All Emoji symbols are accessible and can be added to your notes. You can also add pictures.

You can also annotate pictures. Noteshelf lets you import photos from your iPad’s library, or if you have an iPad 2, you can quickly snap a photo with its built-in camera to send directly into your notes.

If you love Emoji — the Japanese pictograms and emoticons — you’ll be happy to hear that Noteshelf is equipped with a button that lets you quickly add Emoji symbols to your notes. Unfortunately, the symbols are not sizable.

Noteshelf lets you get detailed with text, eight highlighters, and small writing.

One of the big challenges of handwriting apps is proper detection. While the iPad has a lot of multitouch sensors to handle finger input for regular apps, they were never designed for the precision needed for a really fine stylus line. To get around this, Noteshelf implements a zoom feature. This allows you to zoom into a specific area of your page and write on a new magnified section of the app. Since it’s magnified, you can write largely and comfortably, and it translates it to small writing on the on page. Because of the hardware limitations of the iPad, this is the only way to get down those fine details in your notes.

Now, the first time I saw this feature, I though it would be annoying to have to constantly move the rectangle to the area of page I wanted to write, but Noteshelf has implemented some smart, automatic actions into this feature. When you reach the far right side of the magnified area, the rectangle will automatically jump to the right so that you all you need to do is start from the beginning of the rectangle to continue your writing. When you reach the edge of the page, it will automatically skip to the next line for you.

I typically use Noteshelf to write solutions to math problems for my students and thus normally want to head down the page while zoomed in, not across. Instead of relying on Noteshelf to automatically move the rectangle, I just hit the tab/enter button that pushes it down for me. There are also arrow buttons for those who may want to manually move the magnified area, say, after finishing a sentence.

Noteshelf also offeres a “Wrist Protection” feature that allows you to rest your hand on the iPad without your wrist polluting your notes with a bunch of unwanted marks. You can specify which area of the screen needs to remain mark-free and Noteshelf will automatically adjust this location as you move down the screen.

Notes can be exported as images or PDFs directly to email, iTunes, Dropbox, Evernote, ot iPad albums, as well as shared to Facebook or Twitter. You have the option of exporting individual pages or entire notebooks.

Your notes are neatly placed on a wood noteshelf where you can edit titles, papers, and book covers.

Your notes are displayed as notebooks on a wooden shelf and can be arranged to your liking. You can also stack the notebooks on top of each other other to create folders — or more accurately, sub-bookshelves. You can also edit the title, paper type, and book cover for each notebook from this screen.

More covers and paper types are available as in-app purchases.

If you’re not happy with the paper and cover choices included in Noteshelf, more options are available as in-app purchases for $0.99 each. Personally, I have picked up the designer covers and plan to grab the striped ones next.

The good

Lots of colors and pen sizes
Zoom feature for smaller, more detailed notes
Ability to insert photos
Wrist protection works great

The bad

Extra paper and covers are in-app purchases and can add up quickly
Cannot import PDFs for annotation

The conclusion

Noteshelf is a phenomenal app for those looking to take handwritten notes with their iPad. Believe it or not, Noteshelf actually improves the look of your handwriting by smoothly interpretation of your annotations. Whether you’re a student or teacher, intern or executive, if you have an iPad and you take notes, get Noteshelf.

$4.99 – Download Now

Forums: Music Artwork, Music Creation, iPhone Music

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 05:15 PM PST

We’ve made our way through a lot of stuff this week. Plenty of reviews, rumors and tips & tricks. If you missed out on anything make sure you get yourself caught up either here on the blogs or in the iMore forums. You can register now to get started today and while you’re at it, check out some of the threads below:

If you’re not already a member of the iMore Forums, register now!

Say goodbye to real-world junk mail with PaperKarma for iPhone

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 03:58 PM PST

You come home, tired and frazzled, reach into your mailbox to get the letter you’re expecting or the bills you’re dreading, and all you come out with is a fist-full of… junk mail. Well, PaperKarma is here to put an end to it. And it’s as simple as taking a photo.

When a piece of unwanted junk mail shows up to your home or office, be it a magazine, coupon book, flyer, credit card book, or phone book, all you have to do is open PaperKarma, snap a photo with the offender’s name clearly visible, and hit send. That’s it. PaperKarma will take care of the rest and submit a request to unsubscribe on your behalf.

It’s like playing whack-a-mole with junk-mail. Click. Done.

Unfortunately, PaperKarma is U.S. only right now, but hopefully it, or similar services, spread internationally. Not only is junk mail annoying and intrusive, it also has a massive negative impact on the environment. Taking a few seconds out of your day for each piece of junk mail you receive will not only help de-clutter your life, but help save the Earth. And PaperKarma makes it fast, easy, and fun to do.

Free – Download Now

AT&T’s upgrade fees doubling to $36 on February 12

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 03:50 PM PST

If you’re looking to be picking up a new iPhone on AT&T any time soon, you’ll want to note that the upgrade fee will be doubling on February 12. As the folks over at Android Central noted based on the screenshot above, the new fee will be a sizable $36.

On the internal memo, AT&T noted the reason for the price hike was that “overall costs associated with upgrading to a new device have increased,” and that “devices today are more sophisticated than ever.” Their statement to Android Central covered the same talking points:

Wireless devices today are more sophisticated than ever before. And because of that, the costs associated with upgrading to a new device have increased and is reflected in our new upgrade fee. This fee isn't unique to AT&T and this is the first time we're changing it in nearly 10 years.

But what does that even mean? The cost of keeping us as customers, taking our money for a new device, and charging us for ongoing service for many more months to come has… gotten higher?

There’s no “upgrade fee” when we buy new televisions, new toasters, new Wi-Fi routers, new bicycles… should we go on? What beyond the price of the new phone and the monthly fees from the new contract should AT&T really need or be entitled to?

Now, a $0 iPhone 3GS is really $36. A $100 iPhone 4 is really $136.

For some, an $18 increase may not mean a whole lot but considering you’re essentially doing AT&T a favor by upgrading your device and staying with them, any added cost is sure ruffle a few feathers. Now that information is out there, we’ll have to wait and see if AT&T sticks to their guns or cancels their plans.

How do you feel about paying it the next time you upgrade to an iPhone 4S or iPhone 5?

Source – Android Central

Could AT&T LTE microSIM cards point to 4G iPhone 5 or iPad 3?

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 01:59 PM PST

While we’re still hearing conflicting rumors about super-fast LTE 4G networking for iPad 3 this spring or iPhone 5 this summer/fall, you’ll be happy to hear that AT&T is preparing to replace their current microSIM card stock with LTE compatible versions.

Now the Andorid-powered Pantech Burst and the Windows Phone Nokia Lumia 900 are the likely targets, but there has been an awful lot of solid-ish talk about the iPad 3 lately, and even if we don’t see an LTE iOS tablet soon, WWDC is looming along with the possibility of an iPhone 5. Whatever comes out next, it’s hard to imagine it not having at least one model with LTE connectivity, and even less likely that they’ll ditch the micro SIMformat.

Verizon switched to LTE microSIM cards in October for the Samsung Stratosphere, so they’d be all set to go with any new Apple hardware as well. Sprint is still getting its feet wet with LTE through the Galaxy Nexus, so they may be next in line to start offering LTE microSIM cards — we’ll be keeping an eye out.

If there’s no LTE in your area, we can understand if this doesn’t matter very much to you… yet. But when it does come, and you start pulling 20-50mbps of data, you’ll probably start to care a lot more.

Source: PhoneArena

Hundred PushUps for iPhone will help you get your upper body strength on! [Giveaway]

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 01:04 PM PST

We’re into the second week of Mobile Nations fitness month and it’s time to get more serious about your strength training. If upper body strength is on your want list, Hundred PushUps is the perfect app to help get you results. It’s a six week program whose ultimate goal is to get you to successfully complete 100 consecutive pushups in a row.

Now, as someone who struggles to complete only 10 pushups (where 5 of them are the girly kind!), I understand how you may instantly feel discouraged by this seemingly insurmountable task. But that’s where Hundred Pushups comes in!

With Hundred PushUps’ highly acclaimed plan, you will succeed. All you have to do is not give up, and invest a mere 30 minutes a week.

Giveaway

Since it’s Mobile Nations fitness month and we want you to be as successful as you possibly can be, so we’re gifting away 5 copies of Hundred PushUps to you, our awesome, motivated, and dedicated readers! For a chance to win, just tell us how many pushups you can do now, today. Everyone has to start somewhere! (Must have a US iTunes account to win. Apple’s rule, not ours!)

$1.99 – Download Now

Apple reportedly urging developers to get Retina display iPad 3 apps ready for announcement event

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 11:57 AM PST

Now that it seems Apple will be holding their iPad event in early March, rumors have turned to Apple working with developers in a frenzied rush to get Retina display iPad apps ready to show off on stage. TheNextWeb reports:

Apple has a long history of hand-picking apps that it thinks are exemplary or really show off the hardware of a device to demonstrate during iPad presentation. The iPad 2 saw demo segments with Apple's own Garage Band, iMovie and Photo Booth apps, while the recent 'Let's Talk' iPhone event saw game title Infinity Blade 2 demoed in order to show off the graphics capabilities of the new iPhone 4S. Apple's pre-event weeks are often spent soliciting demonstrations from many app developers and preparing demonstrations of those apps for the live event. Our sources tell us that this selection process is continuing at an increased rate as Apple looks to finalize the lineup for the iPad 3.

Retina display iPad apps would require 2x, high-definition elements. The iPad 3 — or iPad 2S according to some rumors — is widely expected to have a similar form factor to the currently available iPad 2. The main differences are thought to be on the inside with a faster, possible quad-core processor, improved graphics performance and of course a higher resolution display.

We’re taking a poll of what you expect to see, hardware wise, in the iPad 3 so if you haven’t already, hurry up and vote now.

Source: TheNextWeb

Make your iPhone photography more striking with the “rule of thirds”

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 09:16 AM PST

You’ve got yourself an iPhone equipped with arguably the best camera this side of a high-end point-and-shoot. It’s so good there’s a whole movement that’s sprung up around it called “iPhoneography”, or photography with the iPhone. It proves the old saying, “the best camera is the one you have with you”, and in this case, that camera is also pretty darn good. But it takes more than just a great camera or lens to produce great photography. That’s where iMore’s new iPhoneography segment comes in. We’re going to go over all the basics and work together to transform simple snapshots into photographic art.

And if you’re already a seasoned photographer or iPhoneographer, we welcome you to join us. Sit in on the articles and in our new Photography Forum, lend us your eye, and share with us your experiences.

Now on with our first project! One of the most important, yet most difficult, elements in creating beautiful photographs is composition – where your subject is placed and how it’s related to its surroundings. A great starting point for developing this skill is to understand the rule of thirds.

What is the rule of thirds?

Take a close look at the vertical lines in the image above. These two lines divide the image into thirds. Similarly, there are lines that divide the photo horizontally in thirds. Together, these lines form a grid over the photo and divide the image into 9 equal parts. The rule of thirds is simply a guideline that states that a photo is compositionally more interesting if the important elements of the image lie on one of the grid lines or their intersections. In the above photo, I have placed my daughter on the far right vertical line.

Luckily for you, the iPhone has the option to turn on this grid so that you don’t have to estimate where the lines fall while taking your photo. To do so, while taking a photo just tap options and switch the grid to on. Until you feel comfortable with your ability of using the rule of thirds, I recommend leaving the grid turned on.

Landscapes and horizons

When photographing landscapes, it’s important to make sure the horizon is not in the dead center of your photo because it is compositionally boring. Using the rule of thirds on the horizon will instantly improve your results. Make sure the more interesting piece, the sky or earth, is what makes up two thirds of your photo. In the example above, I chose to highlight the sky. Notice that I used the rule of thirds twice, both on the horizon and sun. I decided to change things up a little in this next photo.

After taking a few photos with the horizon on the bottom third of the frame and the sun on the left grid line, I wasn’t too thrilled with the results and felt my pictures were a little bland. The sky wasn’t particularly interesting on this day and there wasn’t anything that made my photos special. So instead of making the predictable decision with the horizon on one of my horizontal lines, I placed the sun on the bottom grid line. In fact, in the above image, the sun lies on the intersection of the bottom and left grid lines. By pure luck, a bird decided to fly into the frame and I waited until he was flying past my right grid line to snap the photo. These two changes suddenly made this photo a lot more interesting.

I made a simliar decision for the following photo.

When taking photos of sunsets, it’s alway more interesting to involve a silhouette, so that’s what I decided to do with this tree. Most of the time, you would want your silhouette to fall on one of the grid lines, but it wasn’t working with this tree — there was something awkward about it. So, instead, I decided to use the rule of thirds on the sun. Again, it’s lying on the intersection of the bottom and left grid lines and the photo came out great.

Portraits

The important element of just about every portrait is your subject’s eyes, so make sure the eyes fall on one or more of the grid lines. When shooting in portrait orientation, you may want to center the subject with the top grid line passing through your subject’s eyes. When shooting in landscape orientation, take advantage of both horizontal and vertical grid lines by placing one of your subjects eyes on the intersection of two grid lines.

Rules are meant to be broken

Keep in mind that this so-called rule is only a guideline and does not need to be followed to a tee. For example, if there is a lot of symmetry in your scene you may want to highlight the symmetry by centering your subject. Or perhaps moving your subject even further off center will have a greater impact and improve your photo. Be creative and don’t limit yourself.

Now go out and shoot!

Now that you know how to use the rule of thirds, here’s your first assignment: go out and practice. Turn on the iPhone camera’s grid and shoot, shoot, and shoot some more. Then head over to the Photography Forums, ask questions if you have them, and share the great shots you got demonstrating the rule of thirds. Go!

We can’t wait to see them!

iPhone and iPad manufacturer Foxconn hacked by Swagg Security, e-mail addresses and passwords leaked

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 08:30 AM PST

Foxconn, the Chinese company that manufactures iPhones, iPads, and Macs for Apple, and electronics for many others in the industry, has recently been hacked by a group called Swagg Security. They’re currently sharing the fruits of their labour on The Pirate Bay. In a statement accompanying the leaked files, Swagg Security laid out their intentions (or lack thereof).

“We switched on BBC Radio, the leading source of unbiased material. A short segment on the manufacturer giant Foxconn, came up reporting on the inhuman conditions the workers experience. A few days later an almost viral rumor about an Iphone 5 with a 4-inch screen being manufactured, as claimed by an employee from the infamous Foxconn. Now as a first impression Swagg Security would rather not deceive the public of our intentions. Although we are considerably disappointed of the conditions of Foxconn, we are not hacking a corporation for such a reason and although we are slightly interested in the existence of an Iphone 5, we are not hacking for this reason.”

So Swagg is doing it all “for the lulz”, or just for the fun of it, in typical anonymous hacker fashion. According to their anarchist philosophy, screwing things up for big companies and corporations is a reward in and of itself. After flipping through the files, I didn’t see anything much beyond a few hundred username/password combos which will likely be useless information once Foxconn resets everybody’s credentials. CEO Terry Gou’s e-mail address is in the files, which may have been used among other addresses to place fake orders through services.foxconn.com, but the site has for now been taken down. Beyond that, the only lasting effect I could imagine from the whole affair is improved attention to security on Foxconn’s part.

Despite bruised pride, I see hacking that points out security holes without doing permanent damage to the company as fairly productive, once the victim patches up its system. If those behind the hacking get a good laugh out of it too, all the better. What do you think? Is anarchist hacking good to keep tech companies on their toes, or do these attacks need to be political in nature to be justified? Or is disrupting the operations of companies in any way ethically wrong, no matter how much of a philosophical spin you put on it?

Source: Swagg Security statement via Electronista

OtterBox Defender Series Case for iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 only $28.95

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 07:18 AM PST

For today only, the iMore Store has the OtterBox Defender Series Case for iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 on sale for only $28.95! Get them before they’re gone!

Get the OtterBox Defender Series Case for iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 now!

The OtterBox Defender Series for the iPhone 4S, AT&T iPhone 4, or Verizon iPhone 4 offers rugged protection for your smartphone. The OtterBox Defender Series case will help keep your phone protected from drops, bumps, dust and shock.

All features, keys and ports are accessible through the case, providing you with a unique, interactive safeguard. Included with this case is a holster style swivel belt clip.

Features:

Layer 1: Thermal formed protective clear membrane. Protects keypad against scratching, as well as dust intrusion (layer optional depending on the level of protection desired)
Layer 2: Hi-impact polycarbonate shell for an added guard against drops and shocks
Layer 3: High quality silicone skin to absorb bump and shock Full access to all keys, ports and functions

TheAppleBlog

2012-02-10T21:08:00.001-08:00

TheAppleBlog

Apple brings its German battle with Moto home to CA
Games for the weekend: Bloons 2
Apple sues Samsung over autocorrect, other iOS patents
Motorola v. Apple 3G patent suit tossed by German court
Who knew: Mechanical engineers have their own iPad app

Apple brings its German battle with Moto home to CA

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 01:33 PM PST

It’s getting hard to keep up with the stacks of legal filings related to Apple today, but bear with us. On Friday, Apple filed another lawsuit against Motorola, this time in California district court, over technology in mobile devices that Apple says it has licenses to use.

Motorola sued Apple in April last year over use of technology covered by U.S. Patent No. 6,359,898 in Germany. Apple for its part says because Motorola has licensed Qualcomm to make chips that allow devices to connect to UMTS and GRPS networks, and Apple is a third-party licensee of Qualcomm, Apple can legally use the MDM6610 chip from Qualcomm and other components from the chipmaker in its devices.

The latest is that the iPhone maker is now suing Motorola in the U.S., asking the District Court for the Southern District of California to step in a prevent the company from suing Apple for using technologies it says it is already licensed to use.

From the complaint:

Motorola's German lawsuit is in direct breach of a Patent Licensing Agreement between Motorola and Qualcomm. As a Qualcomm customer, Apple is a third-party beneficiary of that contract. Moreover, under this same contract, Motorola's rights under the '336 and the '898 patents are exhausted.

Apple also claims breach of contract and is asking for an injunction.

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Games for the weekend: Bloons 2

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 12:10 PM PST

Games for the Weekend is a weekly feature aimed at helping you avoid doing something constructive with your downtime. Each Friday we'll be recommending a game for Mac, iPhone or iPad that we think is awesome enough to keep you busy until Monday, at least.

Bloons 2 ($0.99 Universal) is the latest in a series of highly addictive games by Digital Goldfish featuring a dart-throwing monkey with a thing about popping balloons. Originally implemented as a free browser-based Adobe Flash game by Ninja Kiwi, this iOS port is a much anticipated sequel of the original Bloons.

Gameplay for Bloons 2 is like a physics-based catapult game where you determine the direction and velocity to throw a dart toward groupings of ready-to-burst balloons. The objective is to pop a required number of balloons on each level before advancing to the next level. Where things start getting difficult is when obstacles are introduced. Then you realize that there are balloons within balloons that need to be struck multiple times in order to clear the level. And to make things almost impossible at times, the number of darts you have to throw on each level is limited, sometimes to just one dart.

An increasing numbers of balloons to pop, obstacles taking over the landscape and fewer darts, what is a monkey to do? Not to worry, there are other instruments of destruction available to throw. Boomerangs, multi-throw darts, anti-gravity, remote control bees, fighter planes and laser vision, yes laser vision. And if you find that you are not the throwing ace you thought you were, there is a hint system that will point you in the right direction, as well as a skip-level feature that can get you past the most frustrating of levels. Continuously taking advantage of the hints and skips will cost you extra via in-app purchases.

The graphics are fresh and sharp across eight different worlds where the monkey in you will be challenged by 96 levels. Busting through the early levels is rewarded by persistence and a straight power throwing strategy. But as you progress further in the game, learning how to lob a dart, planning out a sequence of throws, and even getting the timing just right, become skills you will need to master.

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Apple sues Samsung over autocorrect, other iOS patents

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 10:03 AM PST

You may be familiar with the humor blog that aggregates examples of iPhone spelling correction malfunctions that cause (amusing) communication chaos called DamnYouAutoCorrect.com. Samsung lawyers are probably thinking something along those lines right now. That’s because Apple is using that feature of its iOS devices to peg Samsung with a new patent infringement lawsuit in California.

Our friends at PaidContent this morning reported that Apple filed a complaint earlier this week in a federal court in San Jose citing two patents and asking for an injunction against the Korean electronics maker. The patents in question are 8,074,172 and 8,086,604. The first is related to spelling and autocorrect. The second is described as a “universal interface for retrieval of information in a computer system.”

What Apple is asking for in this case is unclear — as in whether they’re targeting the Galaxy Tab or Galaxy phones or any other product — since most of the court documents haven’t been made publicly available.

But it’s clear that Apple is not through trying to use the courts to punish Samsung for, as Apple put it, “slavishly copying” its iPhone and iPad products.

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Motorola v. Apple 3G patent suit tossed by German court

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 06:46 AM PST

Just a week after Motorola was awarded two significant victories in a German court over Apple, the companies’ luck have changed. On Friday, a judge ruled he would not grant an injunction against Apple products on the basis of a 3G/UMTS patent claimed by Motorola and dismissed the suit.

Patents blog FOSS Patents explains:

The judge explained that the court does not hold Apple to infringe claim 9 of EP1053613 on a ‘method and system for generating a complex pseudonoise sequence for processing a code division multiple access [CDMA] signal’. In the court’s opinion, MMI failed to present conclusive evidence for its infringement contention.

Motorola had argued that the patent named above was “essential,” meaning that someone — in this case, Apple — would have to use technology covered by the patent if they’re using an industry-standard practice. The problem is, the judge didn’t see it that way and says Motorola didn’t present a convincing case that the patent was essential.

Just a week ago, Motorola claimed victory on two separate rulings related to its ongoing intellectual property battle with Apple. In the first, an injunction was granted against older iPhone and iPad models that infringed on a GPRS-related patent. And in the second, Motorola won an injunction against Apple devices that receive push email notifications from its iCloud system in Germany. Apple said it would appeal both.

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Who knew: Mechanical engineers have their own iPad app

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 05:00 AM PST

You’d have to forgive me for not thinking of the iOS App Store as a place to find software specifically devoted to those who specialize in heat transfer or fluid dynamics. But I just recently became aware of an app called simply Mechanical Engineer, which, to me, is one of the most surprising utilizations of the iPad in the workplace yet.

Sure, we’ve seen doctors, restaurant servers, clergy, commercial pilots and salesmen of all stripes incorporating Apple’s tablet into their daily workflow. But it turns out the iPad is a cool and useful way to store and use hundreds upon hundreds of conversions and formulas that mechanical engineers (or those studying to be one) need to use on a day-to-day basis too, when they’re designing brakes or fans or bridges or elevators.

The app’s overall design is very similar to something Apple might make, in that it uses literal interpretations of what you might use in the real world. Like Apple’s own Notes app or Calendar app, the app’s “scientific calculator” is actually made to look just like a yellow notepad you might use to jot down a quick formula or scribble a quick calculation.

You can pick from dozens of formula categories, from actuator and bearing on down to spring and vehicle drive. Clicking on each topic — which look like textured leather book spines — gives way to hundreds of pre-stored forumlas, with an explanation of what it does.

Once you’ve done a calculation, you can save it to your favorites, email it or print it out if you’re connected to a networked printer.

Mechanical Engineer ($5.99) was developed by Marc Schulman, co-founder of Multieducator, Inc., which builds education-oriented software. The company started out making software for history students that was distributed by CD-ROM back in the mid-90s. But since the iPhone arrived, they’ve (wisely) moved into making mobile apps for a wider variety of educational specialties, now counting 35 apps for both the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad in the App Store.

Mechanical Engineer has been available for a year and has tallied about 20,000 downloads to date, according to Schulman. But it just recently received an upgrade that included a new series of formulas for hydraulic engineering, an upgraded graphic interface and the ability to print from the app.

I admit I would never need to use this in any capacity and there is a relatively small group of you readers that will find a need for this app, but it illustrates well how the iPad as a platform is changing the way that we work — toward touchscreen, always-on mobile devices — and inversely, how Apple has managed to work its way into highly scientific niches, decades after the very first time the Mac was deemed ” a toy.”

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The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

2012-02-10T15:21:00.001-08:00

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

WeatherBug for iPhone gets new GUI and adds features
Rumor: MacBook Pro line getting revamped with MacBook Air style designs
The Puzzlejuice emails document the nitty gritty of iOS development
Daily iPad App: Reckless Racing 2
Facebook nabs former Apple exec Rebecca Van Dyck as head of global marketing
German court has dismissed Motorola's patent lawsuit against Apple
Early Apple employee Jerry Manock remembers Steve Jobs
Bill Gates's original PC game now on iPhone
Daily Mac App: Text2Speech lets hear what you write in record time
Two new iPhone 4S ads highlight everyday Siri usage
Foxconn server hacked, CEO's password revealed
Daily iPhone App: Cupidtino
Spacetime Studios' games hit 100 million play sessions

WeatherBug for iPhone gets new GUI and adds features

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 03:00 PM PST

There are many weather apps for the iPhone, but I'm a frequent user of the free WeatherBug app. The free version was recently updated to version 2.0 with a completely new GUI and added features such as automatic updating of weather data at your current location, along with pollen and UV data for the sun. The app has moved its settings inside the app itself, which is a plus compared to the way it was done before using system preferences.

WeatherBug still has detailed and layered weather maps and a collection of local cameras so you can actually see the current weather, not just instrument readings. You can set multiple locations and check the weather at vacation destinations or just see if Mom is freezing in upstate New York. WeatherBug will alert you to severe weather at or near your location.

I found the app to be stable and easy to use. The screens are much improved and prettier, and the app is responsive to scrolling and zooming. WeatherBug is ad-supported, but the ads are kept to a strip on the lower part of the screen.

The developers also offer WeatherBug Elite for US $0.99, which is similar to the free version, but there are no ads.

WeatherBug 2.0 is a 6.4 MB download and requires iOS 4.2 or later. There is also a WeatherBug app for the iPad which is free, but also has an option for an ad-free upgrade. Some screenshots of WeatherBug 2.0 are below.

Gallery: WeatherBug

WeatherBug for iPhone gets new GUI and adds features originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumor: MacBook Pro line getting revamped with MacBook Air style designs

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 02:30 PM PST

There's rumors of a shakeup going around in Apple's laptop lines. AppleInsider claims, according to "people familiar with Apple's roadmap" (cute -- it's Friday, so we'll let that through), that Apple is aiming to completely revamp its notebook lines sometime this year, basically making the MacBook Air's style the standard. MacBook Pros would essentially be discontinued as we know them, and instead, the MacBook Pro would take on the Air format: Super thin, no optical drives, centered almost completely around digital distribution and portability. This is a story we've heard before.

There has been word from overseas of a MacBook Air style notebook with a 15 inch screen coming out of the manufacturers in China, and this murmuring would seem to support those rumors. It's not much of a stretch, either -- the MacBook Air has been extremely popular (I've seen them almost replace any other Mac notebook models already at the two electronics conventions I've been to this year), and clearly customers have shown that they're ready to go with a slimmer model designed around downloading software rather than installing it from a disc.

Of course, there will always be holdouts: It's hard to believe that Apple will release a 17" MacBook Air-style model, and certainly there are plenty of users who would rather have a huge laptop that's almost used more as a desktop computer than something more portable. But this is Apple we're talking about -- have they ever waited for users to be comfortable with the new before moving forward?

At any rate, don't get too excited yet, as these are just rumors for now. But it does seem likely that by the end of this year, we'll see thinner, lighter laptops in Apple's portable computer lines.

Rumor: MacBook Pro line getting revamped with MacBook Air style designs originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Puzzlejuice emails document the nitty gritty of iOS development

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 02:00 PM PST

Puzzlejuice is a really great puzzle game (really, a big mishmash of different puzzle games) that's available on the App Store right now. It was put together by developers Greg Wohlwend and Asher Vollmer, and Wohlwend has just published a post on his personal blog that's pretty spectacular: He calls it "The Puzzlejuice emails," and it's basically all of the email communication between the two developers as they work out the look and feel of this crazy game.

It's really long (he really did include everything, from first contact all the way up to release), but it's also a fascinating read, especially if you've been involved in iOS development, or game development of any kind. You can see the two devs hashing out everything as they go, from the look of the graphics to the meaning of the game's name, all the way up to the icon and setting up the website and price for release.

Wohlwend originally was just interested in the game as it was being made, but eventually the release turned into a partnership for the two, and there's all sorts of little trivia bits in there about things that did and didn't work during development. The emails are presented as-is, too: The devs had some concern about another word game that came out during development, Spelltower, but eventually decided the games were different enough that it was worth carrying on. I would agree.

If you have any interest in seeing behind the scenes on just what small scale iOS development is like, give this one a read. It won't teach you to make code or art, but it will teach you how these games are put together piece by piece.

The Puzzlejuice emails document the nitty gritty of iOS development originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daily iPad App: Reckless Racing 2

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 01:00 PM PST

Gaming company Polarbit is the grandfather of iPhone racers. Raging Thunder was among the first racers to hit the iPhone. Reckless Racing was released soon after and now it's back as Reckless Racing 2. This is a full update to the isometric driving title. The gameplay is similar to other top-down titles like Death Rally, though more realistic. Think of a fun game with a hardcore driving elements to set your expectations.

Career mode lets you climb the competitive ladder, upgrade parts and advance in the the Performance Index. The driving is more traditional than Reckless Racing. You'll still make powerslides and jumps, but you can also follow the driving lines closely and advance technically. Online and offline multiplayer modes are available, as are ghost runs and leaderboards.

Reckless Racing 2 is an excellent update from a developer who loves racing games. It's currently US$4.99 for a universal version, which might be more than you're willing to spend. Fortunately, Polarbit is generous with the sales, so keep an eye out for a price drop.

Daily iPad App: Reckless Racing 2 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Facebook nabs former Apple exec Rebecca Van Dyck as head of global marketing

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 12:00 PM PST

Facebook's Initial Public Offering (IPO) filing brought surprising information: the company has hired former Apple marketing executive Rebecca Van Dyck.

Van Dyck served in a similar role at Levi's after leaving Apple. She started working at Apple in January of 2007, and was involved in the marketing of the iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

AdAge talked with Van Dyck last year about what she learned at Apple, noting that with the iPhone, "It was first and foremost about the user experience. And that's how I approach marketing, that theme of focusing on the user experience and what's important to the customer."

No one is quite sure what Van Dyck will be doing at Facebook. The company, which has well over 800 million users (as of September 22, 2011), doesn't seem to need that much help to continue growing. Perhaps Van Dyck will help promote new features or woo advertisers. Whatever her new role will be, it's exciting to see former Apple employees spread the "Apple way" around the globe.

Facebook nabs former Apple exec Rebecca Van Dyck as head of global marketing originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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German court has dismissed Motorola's patent lawsuit against Apple

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 11:00 AM PST

In the slugfest between Apple and Motorola Mobility, the Cupertino company has won a round in the German courts. A judge in the Mannheim Regional Court dismissed the Motorola Mobility (MMI) lawsuit against Apple over a patent considered essential to the 3G/UMTS standard.

In a typically well-written and extremely detailed look at the case by FOSS Patents, intellectual property analyst and blogger Florian Mueller noted that MMI didn't present conclusive evidence for its contention that Apple was infringing on a key 3G/UMTS patent. MMI's argument has been that "any implementation of 3G/UMTS must inevitably infringe this patent claim," rather than demonstrating that Apple's infringing products actually use the invention.

MMI didn't show that Apple was using any actual implementation of the patent; instead, they argued on the basis of the specifications of the standard. MMI declared the patent to be essential, while the court found it to not be essential, meaning that the judge thinks that Apple could be able to implement the standard without infringing on the patent.

MMI isn't worrying too much about this specific patent lawsuit, though. They have other similar lawsuits that are still making their way through the court system, and have won other patent claims. Mueller notes that "it takes only one bullet to kill," and that winning a key patent infringement lawsuit could still force Apple and other manufacturers to pay the 2.25% of net selling price "ransom" that will fatten MMI owner Google's pockets over time.

To see more detail about today's win and the complex set of lawsuits that are churning through courtrooms around the world, check out the original FOSS Patents post here.

German court has dismissed Motorola's patent lawsuit against Apple originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Early Apple employee Jerry Manock remembers Steve Jobs

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 10:00 AM PST

When you think of notable, early Apple employees, you think of the big names like Steve Wozniak, Andy Hertzfeld, and John Sculley. Beyond these key names are a multitude of lesser-known people who played a crucial role in the early years of the company. One such employee is Jerry Manock, who worked on the Apple II, the Disk II, the III, and Lisa before joining the original Macintosh design team.

Manock worked closely with Steve Jobs during his tenure at Apple which stretched from 1977 to 1984. He worked with Steve Wozniak on the Apple II. While Wozniak developed the logic board and internal hardware, Manock was responsible for much of the design of the Apple II. Manock's also know for his choice of Pantone 453, the light beige color that characterized Apple's early computers.

Manock now lives in Burlington, Vermont with his wife and family. He has his own design firm and teaches product design courses at the University of Vermont. He recently talked about these early years with Seven Days,a local arts-oriented newspaper that's available in Vermont and online.

Manock only had kind things to say about Steve Jobs in his interview. He fondly recalled a time that Jobs recognized Manock for his early contributions to Apple during an annual meeting. Manock attended the meeting unannounced and Jobs spotted him in the audience. He also has some strong criticism of today's design methods that use computers and not hands-on time with the actual materials. You can read the rest of the interview at Seven Days's website.

Early Apple employee Jerry Manock remembers Steve Jobs originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bill Gates's original PC game now on iPhone

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 09:00 AM PST

Donkey, or more properly DONKEY.BAS, was computer game co-written by Bill Gates in 1981. It was included in early versions of the PC-DOS operating system and had players drive a car down a street while avoiding donkeys. Why there were so many donkeys on the road is a mystery.

Today, Donkey is available for the iPhone. It's a fun example of an 8-bit game with chunky graphics and super simple action. Tap to change lanes.

Take it from an old fogie: Donkey is fun and worth US$0.99. You wouldn't have your precious Zelda without it.

[Via Gizmodo]

Bill Gates's original PC game now on iPhone originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daily Mac App: Text2Speech lets hear what you write in record time

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 08:00 AM PST

OS X has a neat text-to-speech engine that'll read back what you write. You can start and stop TTS from the contextual menu or launch it using a keystroke that you set up in the Speech section of the System Preferences. Most of the settings for TTS are buried in the System Preferences which is inconvenient when you want to change a setting on the fly. If you need more flexibility than what OS X offers, you should take a look at Text2Speech. Text2Speech is a no-frills utility that uses OS X's underlying engine to read your text back to you.

The app gives you fine control over OS X's TTS engine in an easy-to-use UI. Once you paste your text into the app, you can change the voice that's speaking, change the speaking rate in small increments, and toggle the speech on and off with ease. It also tells you the character count of the passage, which is useful if you're writing a paragraph for a character-limited text box.

Text2Speech works well, with one caveat. When you start the TTS, it always starts at the beginning which is a minor annoyance. It would be useful if the app would let you choose the starting position. It would also be helpful if it remembered your position when you stop it in mid-passage. Despite these drawbacks, I still use Text2Speech every day. I find the convenience of being able to change settings on the fly outweighs these detractors.

If you want to try it yourself, Text2Speech is available for free in the Mac App Store. There's also a Pro version for US$3.99 that'll export your text to iTunes as an audio track or to your drive as an MP3 or AIFF file.

Daily Mac App: Text2Speech lets hear what you write in record time originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Two new iPhone 4S ads highlight everyday Siri usage

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 07:00 AM PST

Apple has released two new iPhone 4S ads on its YouTube channel, "Rock God" and "Road Trip." If they haven't already started airing, they should be popping up as TV commercials soon.

"Rock God" follows the adventures of a teenager who uses Siri to find a guitar, learn how to play chords (very cool -- I didn't know Siri could do that), and invite girls over to watch him play. At the end, he sheepishly asks Siri to call him "Rock God" -- ever obliging, Siri agrees to do so.

The second ad shows a couple taking a cross country trip from the US East Coast to the West Coast. Along the way, they use Siri to get directions, find restaurants, and look up info on points of interest. I found this ad a lot more effective because it reminded me of all the interstate trips my wife and I would take in the States, and thinking back to those trips I have to admit that Siri would have come in very handy.

Apple's ad campaign for Siri and the iPhone 4S is exactly the kind of advertising I always wished the company would switch to during the years its "Get a Mac" campaign dominated the company's message. Instead of spending time poking fun at the competition the way Apple's mid-2000s Mac ads did (and Samsung's current ads do), these Siri ads simply show normal people using Apple's products in normal situations and how the products can enhance people's lives.

Both videos are embedded below.

Two new iPhone 4S ads highlight everyday Siri usage originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Foxconn server hacked, CEO's password revealed

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 06:00 AM PST

Hacker group SwaggSec took a swipe at Foxconn when it broke into the company's servers. The group stole login information and documents, both of which were promptly leaked to the internet. SwaggSec claimed the information would let individuals place fake orders using accounts from Dell, Apple, IBM and Microsoft. As soon as the hack was publicized, Foxconn shut down its servers and pulled down its website.

Though SwaggSec does mention Foxconn's poor working conditions in a letter it posted on pastebin, this was not the reason for the attack against the manufacturer. The group says it hacked the company for the "hilarity that ensues when compromising and destroying an infrastructure." The news of this hack hit the internet at the same time protesters, upset with inhumane factory working conditions, were gathering outside Apple stores in London, New York, San Francisco and other stores worldwide.

[Via Electronista]

Foxconn server hacked, CEO's password revealed originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daily iPhone App: Cupidtino

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 05:00 AM PST

We covered Cupidtino a little while ago. It's a dating site for Mac users who are looking for love. Given its purview and the fact that no web service is complete without an iPhone app, Cupidtino has released an iPhone app for single Apple fans.

I kid but it's actually pretty nice. You can browse user profiles, your own, send messages and read the latest Cupidtino news. There are no standout feature but it's cleanly designed and runs well. What more do you need from a dating app?

There is one catch. You must pay Cupidtino's monthly subscription to read messages sent to you. But it's less than US$5 per month, which is nominal for those who absolutely must date an Apple fan. All other features are free. I can't guarantee that you'll find a date (my luck with dating apps is as bad as my luck at finding a date in real life), but as an app, Cupidtino works great.

Daily iPhone App: Cupidtino originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spacetime Studios' games hit 100 million play sessions

Posted: 09 Feb 2012 04:00 PM PST

Spacetime Studios has hit a pretty crazy milestone, even in the ever-more-massive world of iOS and mobile gaming. The company's MMOs on the iPhone, Android, and Chrome platforms have hit a total of 100 million play sessions, which means people have loaded up and logged into Spacetime's titles more than 100 million times. They're not just checking them out, either: Spacetime says their players are in the game for 25.2 hours a month, which is twice as much as the average gamer plays total. Pretty amazing.

I've said this before, too, but Spacetime really has done all of this way under the radar. The company was originally set to make full MMOs for PC, but after running out of funding, had to spin its scope back down to the mobile platforms. That hasn't stopped Spacetime from creating full massively multiplayer online games, though, first with Pocket Legends, then with Star Legends, and now the company is planning a vampire-themed take on the forumla with Dark Legends. Spacetime has seen some serious growth, and I'd guess it's far from over. We'll be talking to the company at next month's GDC conference, so stay tuned for more from them then.

Show full PR text

Spacetime's Legends Mobile MMO Franchise Surpasses 100 Million Play Sessions

AUSTIN, Texas - Feb. 9, 2012 - Spacetime Studios' mobile MMOs Pocket Legends and Star Legends: The Blackstar Chronicles have been played more than 100 million times. Spacetime players spend about twice the number of hours playing Legends titles than the average gamer spends across all mobile games each month.

Users with iPhones play games for 14.7 hours per month while Android users play around 9.3 hours per month according to Nielsen research. The average Spacetime player spends 25.2 hours per month playing Legends titles alone.

Since the inception of Spacetime Studios, the primary focus has been to bring the immersive MMO experience traditionally found on the PC to the mobile world in meaningful, bite-sized play sessions.

"MMO games by their nature are more engaging and involved than most genres, but making that work in the mobile world is very delicate balancing act," said Cinco Barnes, Chief Vision Officer and co-founder, Spacetime Studios. "With each launch of a Legends title we make it our mission to innovate and it has become the largest, most successful mobile MMO franchise in the world."

Spacetime Studios has continually expanded the Legends franchise since the advent of Pocket Legends and its rich fantasy world in 2010. The second title and sci-fi adventure, Star Legends: The Blackstar Chronicles was made commercially available in 2011. The third entry in the franchise, vampire-themed Dark Legends, will be released in the first quarter of 2012.

Spacetime Studios' games hit 100 million play sessions originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daily iPhone Blog

2012-02-10T13:37:00.001-08:00

Daily iPhone Blog

Preview: The Devium Dash
Siri stars in two new Apple commercials
How to Control your iPhone through PC
Todays iPhone wallpapers
Todays iPad 2 / iPad wallpapers
Todays iPhone 4S / iPhone 4 wallpapers
NFL Kicker – The #1 NFL Kicker Game
My O2 App Updated to V2.5

Preview: The Devium Dash

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 10:50 AM PST

News from DailyiPhoneBlog.com:

Kickstarter.com is rapidly becoming one of my favorite sites. Browsing through, I came across yet another marvel, this one is called Devium Dash (just Dash on Kickstarter) being developed by Paul Lizer.

This puppy take the place of your old, outdated car stereo system and gives it a face-lift on roids. But more than that, this devicehas several more functions. It allows you to connect your AM FM audio (of course) and to run your music from your iDevice. Its also allows Internet steaming such as TuneIn (probably my fav) iHearRadio Pandora, Spootify and several others.

Theres also the option to run your bluetooth through the car speakers, and an external Mic input, this is great for me, finally I can get rid of my tape adapter.

Compatible with the 3/3g and 4/4s iPhones, iPod Touch, Nano and the Shuffle. But for a pledge of $3,250, the Dash team will custom make a Dash faceplate for the phone of your choice and if you live in Colorado, they will hand deliver it.

The Devium Dash comes with an app called “Dash” for landscape mode, which will allow you to place your most frequently used apps at the ready.

There is a car input to allow the device to communicate with your cars computer “Some simple information will be displayed along side the launcher; temp, direction, and song title.” states Lizer.

This is a great, cheaper alternative to newer vehicles which most of this stuff comes optional. Only 41 more days to go, I hope it gets fully funded so I can join the 21st century.

[VIA]

Siri stars in two new Apple commercials

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 09:49 AM PST

News from DailyiPhoneBlog.com:

From cross-country road trips to starting a rock band, it seems Apple's personal assistant, Siri, has no bounds. Apple has posted two new commercials that show off the flagship feature of the iPhone 4S.

Released on Thursday, the commercials follow two different stories. One, a cross-country road trip between two sweethearts, and the other a story of quirky young guy in a rock band.

While Apple has always made great ads, it's good to see them showing off their sense of humor again with this series and the previous spot featuring Santa Clause. It makes for a nice change from a brand that can at times come off as a bit highly-strung.

See the two commercials below and let us know what you think.

[VIA]

How to Control your iPhone through PC

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 04:31 AM PST

News from DailyiPhoneBlog.com:

Have you ever wanted to control your iOS device through your PC? Many iPhone users who have, use software like MyMobiler (http://mymobiler.com/) to control the phone through windows PC. Here is one solution by veency (for jailbreak devices only!) that will do the same thing. The only difference is that veency requires a WiFi connection.

Step 1:

Install Veency server on your device (search cydia for veency – it is the free one from saurik).

After installing, in settings you can find veency. Enable it and set any password. You may leave the password blank but with 2 disadvantages. One is you leave yourself open to anonymous intruders and second is you have to touch the accept/reject every time you connect the device through a VNC viewer.

Step 2:

Now the rest of the work is done on your PC. Install a VNC viewer (TightVNC -http://www.tightvnc.com/) is my choice. You can install any VNC Viewer you want.

Run the TightVNC Viewer on your PC – it asks you for the WiFi IP address (you can get it from Settings > General > Network > WiFi > YourConnection > DHCP) Make a note of it and input it to the VNC Viewer.

Step 3:

If you set a password for the veency server on your device, it will ask you for the password – input the password and it will display the device view on your PC Monitor. If you set no password then a confirmation popup shown on your device which prompt you to accept or reject the connection, press accept and it will display the device view on your PC Monitor.

That’s it! Enjoy the comfort of remotely logging into your phone via veency. You can view the screen, touch controls and even push the lock and menu buttons all from the comfort of your desk or laptop.

The controls are :

Left Click – touch the screen

Middle Click – lock button

Right Click – Home Button

Keyboard – Yes!! You can use the PC Keyboard to input the data to your device.

As with any jailbreak related procedure, please use this at your own risk. We take no responsibility for any damage incurred to your devices.

Todays iPhone wallpapers

Posted: 09 Feb 2012 09:33 PM PST

News from DailyiPhoneBlog.com:

You can download todays iPhone 3G / 3GS Wallpapers from our iPhone 3GS Wallpaper gallery. Enjoy!

Note: Did you know that we update our iPhone 3GS , iPhone 4 and iPad/ iPad2 wallpaper galleries once / day? You can find the latest wallpapers in the sidebar, so make sure to check that out every time you visit us!

Todays iPad 2 / iPad wallpapers

Posted: 09 Feb 2012 09:32 PM PST

News from DailyiPhoneBlog.com:

You can download today’s iPad and iPad2 Wallpapers from our iPad / iPad2 Wallpaper gallery. Enjoy!

Note: Did you know that we update our iPhone 3GS , iPhone 4 and iPad/ iPad2 wallpaper galleries once / day? You can find the latest wallpapers in the sidebar, so make sure to check that out every time you visit us!

Todays iPhone 4S / iPhone 4 wallpapers

Posted: 09 Feb 2012 09:30 PM PST

News from DailyiPhoneBlog.com:

You can download todays iPhone 4S / iPhone 4 Wallpapers from our iPhone 4 Wallpaper gallery. Enjoy!

Note: Did you know that we update our iPhone 3GS , iPhone 4S / iPhone4 and iPad/ iPad2 wallpaper galleries once / day? You can find the latest wallpapers in the sidebar, so make sure to check that out every time you visit us!

NFL Kicker – The #1 NFL Kicker Game

Posted: 09 Feb 2012 04:03 PM PST

News from DailyiPhoneBlog.com:

NFL Kicker is the number 1 NFL iPhone game. With both the iPad HD and the more petite iPhone version available, this game caters for all. At just 99 cents, it’s a definite buy with intuitive controls across five game modes, it will keep you busy for hours!

Kick field goals like a pro NFL footballer
Punt coffin corner kicks with casual and pro game modes
Hit the uprights in a true test of Kicker skill
Pick your favorite team and customize your jersey, name and number
Interactive tutorial
Play in the Super Bowl XLVI Lucas Oil Stadium
XP Level up system based on your kicking skill
Live NFL news feed ticker
Dancing cheerleaders before the game
Game Center leaderboards and achievements
Superb high resolution graphics
Stunningly enhanced for iPhone 4S

Name: NFL Kicker! | Download From iTunes| Price $0.99

My O2 App Updated to V2.5

Posted: 09 Feb 2012 01:00 PM PST

News from DailyiPhoneBlog.com:

The My O2 application has been updated to allow customers to add date bolt ons through the application after you have reached 80% of your allowance. You will receive a text message alerting you that you have used 80% of your allowance, however, if you exceed your allowance you won’t be charged your data will be slowed down considerably. You can update the My O2 application via the application store or through iTunes!

The iPhone and iPad Blog by Simon

2012-02-10T13:35:00.001-08:00

The iPhone and iPad Blog by Simon

ContactPrivacy Tweak Prevents Apps From Accessing Your Contact List

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 08:16 AM PST

Some of you might know about the recent issue about a popular social app – Path. It’s under fire for copying your entire address book to the company without user’s consent. Though the company has rolled out a new version of the app to fix the issue, as a user, how can you prevent other apps from secretly copying your contact list?

Here you are. A new tweak has been created to warn users that which apps can do the same thing.

Ryan Petrich, the jailbreak app developer, has created the app called “ContactPrivacy”. The app installs itself on the iPhone/iPad’s system and listens for any app to make a request to access the contact list. A system will popup will be displayed each time an app is detected enabling you to approve or revoke access.

The app warns the the users that now allowing the app to request the contact list may not allow them to recover successfully.

Installing the Tweak

You can install the tweak if you have a jailbroken iDevice. However, you first need to add the following repository in Cydia:

rpetri.ch / repo.

No icon will be displayed. The app will only display a popup if an app is detected requesting the contacts.

One thing to be noted is the app has neglected to put any mandatory check in for access to Address Book info as Apple restricts application access to the one’s own contact card heavily.

The process of uploading contacts to app developer serves isn’t something new and Path mentioned it will make the feature “opt-in”. ContactPrivacy will allow you to revoke access for most apps, giving you guys a sense of security.

This article, ContactPrivacy Tweak Prevents Apps From Accessing Your Contact List, was originally published at simonblog.com.

iPad 3 Will Be Announced In The Beginning Of March (Rumor)

Posted: 09 Feb 2012 05:16 PM PST

John Paczkowski from All Things D has claimed this morning that Apple’s next iPad (likely to be iPad 3) will be announced in the first week of March at a media event in San Francisco. If this rumor comes true, it would be 12 months-interval between the iPad 2 and iPad 3. Details below!

Sources say the company has chosen the first week in March to debut the successor to the iPad 2 and will do so at one of its trademark special events. The event will be held in San Francisco, presumably at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Apple's preferred location for big announcements like these. No word yet on a street date for the iPad 3 (assuming that's what it's called), though my guess is retail availability will follow roughly the same schedule as that of the iPad 2: available for purchase a week or so after the event.

The source also reiterates previous rumors of the new iPad sharing the same features of iPad 2 apart from a “Retina” display with 2048 x 1536 pixels.

Bloomberg reported back in January that the iPad 3 would feature a Retina display, A6 quad-core processor and Global LTE Options. Parts floating around China suggests that the rumor surrounding a slightly thicker size to accomodate a bigger battery size and display are likely to be true. The parts in China suggest the increase in thickness would be around 1mm.

Let’s see whether this rumor is true or not. March is just a few weeks away. Are you guys excited? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

This article, iPad 3 Will Be Announced In The Beginning Of March (Rumor), was originally published at simonblog.com.

Touch Arcade

2012-02-10T13:13:00.001-08:00

Touch Arcade

'Temple Run' Hits 36 Million Downloads
'Pinball Arcade' Review – An Enthusiast’s Dream
'End Night HD' iPad Review - An Ambitious and Horrifying Shooter
A Collection of Sales to Start Your Weekend Right
'SoulCalibur' Now Runs at 60fps on A5 Devices
'Shoot Many Zombies!' Review - Making the Undead Dead-er

'Temple Run' Hits 36 Million Downloads

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 10:15 AM PST

We're fans of huge numbers, if you didn't know. Last week, actually, we shared news of Jetpack Joyride's latest downloads. Since going free, the title has wrangled in around 13 million consumers. That's a lot, right? Check this, though: Imangi's Temple Run [Free] just hit 36 million downloads. That's more downloads than there are people in Canada, or uh, roughly 35.9 million more blocks than my Church of Brad has in our Minecraft server.

Temple Run ended up going free late in its cycle, too, and has enjoyed the spotlight of being the App Store's number one game thanks to the constant support that it receives. It was also pseudo-cloned, but Apple fixed that issue fairly fast as we all expected it would.

Anyway, if you're not one of these 36 million people, you should probably give Temple Run a look. To quote our review:

Corners are something you see a lot of in Temple Run. The game eschews the more traditional one-button jumping control of most runners for a swiping method that still allows for one-handed play . You can swipe up to jump, down to slide, and left or right to turn.

This control setup is risky -- it's much easier to mess up a swipe than a tap -- but it works. Though the world is randomly generated, the addition of twists, turns and crossroads makes it feel more organic, like more of an adventure.

[Via @nattylux]

App Store Link: Temple Run, Free (Universal)

'Pinball Arcade' Review – An Enthusiast’s Dream

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 09:26 AM PST

We didn't have a lot of arcades in my hometown while I was growing up. Even worse, the few that did exist specialized in video games and air hockey, with nary a pinball machine in sight. Still, whenever I managed to get my hands on a one, it was always such a dazzling experience of light, sound and skill. Perhaps that's why I can't stop playing Pinball Arcade [$0.99 / Free], the inaugural iOS title from FarSight Studios. FarSight's ability to create near-perfect replications of actual pinball machines leads to a game that is not only full of incredibly deep pinball machines, but also captures that feeling of fun and excitement in an iOS game.

As its name implies, Pinball Arcade features classic arcade machines from various eras with the simple goal of mastering each one to get the highest scores possible. Each table also includes 'Goals' (read: achievements) that can be solved which lead to more complicated objectives. The entry price includes one machine ('Tales of the Arabian Nights') with three more available for purchase within the game via IAP. Tables range from somewhat simple layouts with interesting twists ('Black Hole') to lengthy epics chock full of interactive items and objectives ('Ripley's Believe It Or Not'). Unlike most games with IAP, you can actually try each table before you buy, providing an opportunity for actual research before you even consider purchasing another table.

I'm impressed with how much effort Pinball Arcade seems to puts into recreating each machine. The visuals, sounds, and effects all feel authentic and add to the presentation, although there is some minor blurriness while playing on an iPad 2. The physics, while occasionally unforgiving, seem to offer a good balance between realism and challenge. What I admire the most, however, is how much Pinball Arcade offers in terms of knowledge for each table.

When you select a table, you're given a brief history, the option to view an actual flyer (some are pretty low-res) and a comprehensive instruction manual detailing every single objective you can do in a table. The game really wants you to learn, live, and master each table –a concept that I can get behind. Of course, the game works well for the casual player that just wants to play a quick game, but I feel some of the charm is lost experiencing this game in that fashion.

Most importantly, Pinball Arcade simply hits the mark on gameplay and the feeling of actually playing a pinball machine. Whether you're balancing a multi-ball run, trying to execute a combo or objective, or finally unlocking the 'end game' big score objects, all the experiences just feel real, something that doesn't happen very often to me while playing an iOS game. Even better, since each table has its own personality and can take a long time to master, there's tons of depth for replayability. I was also impressed with the variety of table selection, although I wasn't the biggest fan of 'Black Hole' (too simple and gimmicky for my tastes).

While Pinball Arcade nails nearly every facet of a great pinball game, I did have some issues with its leaderboard integration. The game exclusively uses Facebook to track high scores, which seems rather cumbersome in my experience. This is further evidenced by the fact that even simple acts like checking the leaderboards seem clunky and slow to update (that and I haven't yet seen one of my scores upload). I understand that lots of folks use Facebook (and it appears that route was pursued for cross-platform leaderboard support), but simple Game Center support feels like a prerequisite in this day and age. IAP is another aspect that just seems confusing; why the game asks me for both my Facebook login and .mac account when trying to download purchases on another device is beyond me. The whole structure feels mismanaged, which is surprising consider the quality of the rest of the game.

There's also a potential minor problem in regards to approachability. The large amount of information and instructions for each table is certainly wondrous for enthusiasts, but it may be a bit intimidating for the casual pinball player. While I thought the IAP price points were fair, I imagine some would balk at having to pay ten dollars to fully unlock all four tables. There's also the fact that these tables are complicated and actually require some effort to learn and truly enjoy. I'm sure casual players could simply pick up the base game and play free versions of the other tables, but as mentioned before I feel like a lot of the magic would be lost on them.

However, I feel that some of the concerns above are nitpicky at best. In addition, folks on our forums have stated that the developers plan on integrating Game Center soon, alleviating my most pressing worry. Regardless, Pinball Arcade is simply one of the best pinball games I've ever played, and should be put at the top of the class with other iOS pinball elites. Each table is digital masterpiece onto itself and should make pinball enthusiasts very happy. Furthermore, with the promise of many more tables in the queue (most likely as IAP), this game should keep you entertained for many balls to come.

App Store Links:
Pinball Arcade, $0.99 (Universal)
Pinball Arcade Free, Free (Universal)

TouchArcade Rating:

'End Night HD' iPad Review - An Ambitious and Horrifying Shooter

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 07:00 AM PST

End Night [$2.99] puts you in control of one of two survivors of an undead apocalypse. Not zombies, quite, but something horrifying. It's a dark, claustrophobic game with a few roguelike elements. With limited ammo, health packs and sanity, you must head out into the abandoned town, breaking into houses, collecting samples of the infection and hoping to turn them into a serum that will let you rebuild the world of the living.

The view is top-down, with the camera pulled in just a little too close for comfort. The controls are slightly awkward - a left stick for walking, and buttons on the right for firing (not aiming—you can't miss), inventory and interaction. You can't interact while you're moving. The music is ambient, and can't be disabled, sounds are sparse. It's clunky, not ideal, except that it serves to create a sense of unease. You can't see or hear the creatures until they burst out of the dark toward you. You can't grab a health pack without stopping and fending off the horde.

You start out armed with your choice of a pistol, shotgun or axe. The axe doesn't rely on limited resources, but using it means standing toe to toe with the creatures. The shotgun is accurate and deadly, but its ammo is very hard to come by. The pistol has range and (sort of) plentiful ammo, but isn't accurate enough to kill most creatures until they're right up close. Still, I always take the pistol. You can't risk ending up unarmed, and you can always find the others around town.

Death is permanent. If you get yourself killed, your mission is over and you must start again from the beginning. You earn points for everything you find, every creature you kill, every step in your quest that you complete. You can use those points to improve your stats, making your next life just a little easier.

Resources are very limited, and some are placed randomly: there will not always be a health pack in this medicine cabinet, or food in that fridge. The randomness, you'll come to learn, is fairly limited - a disappointment, in my opinion. If you risk breaking into the police station, you'll always find ammo and armor. If you make it to the grocer, there will always be food. One neighbor is always deeply religious. Another, thankfully, is fond of coffee. Buildings, sample locations and certain resources are shown on the readily-available map.

You'll thank your deceased neighbors for hoarding, because every resource is precious. Ammo and health are obvious, but you also need to worry about your emotional state. Killing monsters that were once townspeople makes you remorseful (though try as I might, I never did die of remorse), something you can cure with bibles or booze. Those things make you tired, so you'll need to find coffee. And should you get too spattered with the gore of creatures you've killed, you'll need to wash. Every home has a bathtub, though you won't always like what you'll find in them.

End Night stands out for being truly chilling. As a shooter it's somewhat clunky, visually it's dark and repetitive. But there's a feeling of dread that accompanies the tight view, the sudden sounds. The things you find in some of the homes will haunt you. It's amazing how distant a house across the street feels when the undead are on your trail. While there's no real story to speak of, the creators channeled some of the creepier elements of I am Legend to great effect. You'll wonder whether you're in the right even as you mow down creature after creature. Play in the dark if you can—if nothing else, it will make it much easier to see what's going on.

Where End Night fails is in providing a reason to keep playing. The pretense toward randomness is promising, but once you've improved your stats and put together your final cure there's really not much call to replay the game. You do unlock a more difficult Nightmare mode when you finish, but there's nothing novel about the game by that point. Perhaps Game Center integration could improve this if it were added, but this is probably a one-and-done sort of game.

Still, for that one play through (and every failed attempt that leads up to it), the game is impressive. It does the wide genre of undead apocolypse games proud. And I'm all for compact experiences, especially emotionally evocative ones. Kicking through your neighbors' doors, scavenging while the forces of undeath run at you, this is tense fun for the one or two hours it lasts. If that's enough for you, then dive into the gore, ready to run. If you make it out alive, I'm sure our discussion thread would love to hear from you.

App Store Link: End Night HD, $2.99 (iPad Only)

TouchArcade Rating:

A Collection of Sales to Start Your Weekend Right

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 06:00 AM PST

The weekend is finally almost here, and before you settle in to listen to our podcast later today (you DO all listen to our podcast, right?) I thought it might be nice to roundup some of the significant sales that are currently going on so you can spend your couple of days of leisure time buried in some iOS games. Unless you work on the weekends, in which case it's even more important to load up on some games to survive your laborious obligations.

Crescent Moon

Aralon: Sword and Shadow - $6.99 → $2.99
Gears - $2.99 → 99¢
Pocket RPG iPhone Edition - $2.99 → 99¢
Evertales - $2.99 → 99¢
Siegecraft - $2.99 → 99¢
Ravensword: The Fallen King - $2.99 → 99¢

Godzilab

iBlast Moki - $2.99 → FREE
iBlast Moki HD - $4.99 → 99¢
iBlast Moki 2 - $2.99 → 99¢
iBlast Moki 2 HD - $4.99 → $2.99
Stardunk Gold - $1.99 → FREE

Telltale Games

Back to the Future Ep 1 HD - $6.99 → FREE
Back to the Future Ep 2 HD - $6.99 → $2.99
Back to the Future Ep 3 HD - $6.99 → $2.99
Back to the Future Ep 4 HD - $6.99 → $2.99
Back to the Future Ep 5 HD - $6.99 → $2.99
Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Ep 1 - $6.99 → $4.99

Konami

Ash II: Shadows (Silver Edition) - $2.99 → 99¢
Ash II: Shadows (Gold Edition) - $4.99 → $2.99

Sega

Sonic CD - $4.99 → $2.99
Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Episode I - $3.99 → $1.99
Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Episode I HD - $4.99 → $2.99
Super Monkey Ball - $2.99 → 99¢
Super Monkey Ball 2 - $2.99 → 99¢
Super Monkey Ball 2: Sakura Edition - $2.99 → 99¢

Miscellaneous

Mad Chef - 99¢ → FREE
Ticket to Ride Pocket - $1.99 → FREE
Anthill - $1.99 → FREE
Time of Heroes - $2.99 → 99¢
Rebuild - $2.99 → 99¢
Order & Chaos Online - $6.99 → 99¢
Dodonpachi Resurrection - $7.99 → $5.99
Containment: The Zombie Puzzler - $4.99 → $2.99
AWESOME Land - $1.99 → 99¢
Cut the Buttons - 99¢ → FREE
Cut the Buttons HD - $1.99 → 99¢

These are the ones that stuck out to me, but of course there's always more sales and freebies to check out at AppShopper.com or on the free AppShopper app. For instance, EA is having one of their frequent sales on a bunch of games in their library. As always, sales can end just as quickly as they begin, so it's usually best to move quickly and make sure the prices are still in effect if you choose to buy.

'SoulCalibur' Now Runs at 60fps on A5 Devices

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 05:00 AM PST

Last month Namco Bandai treated us to an excellent iOS port of the original SoulCalibur [$14.99]. It was based off of the superior Dreamcast version (or more accurately, the high resolution XBLA remake) rather than the arcade version, and came equipped with just about everything that made it a classic back then, barring a couple of significant things.

First was the baffling lack of any sort of multiplayer, as well as a few missing modes that had been in previous versions. The second big thing was the frame rate. See, one of the things that was so memorable about SoulCalibur on the Dreamcast was just how crazy smooth everything moved. The frame rate rocked a solid 60fps, and it elevated the visuals way beyond anything that was on current consoles, and rivaled much of what was popular in arcades at the time.

In our review of SoulCalibur, I definitely found the game quite attractive. The high resolution art assets popped on Retina and iPad displays, but the frame rate wasn't quite there. Don't get me wrong, it still ran really smooth, but it was probably only halfway to the coveted 60fps mark. But that changes today, as Namco has released an update that will lock the game at 60fps on iPhone 4S and iPad 2 devices. And let me tell you, the difference is dramatic.

When I saw this update, I played through the game a couple of times real quick before updating so it would be fresh in my mind for comparison. After quickly syncing the update I jumped right back into the game and was blown away by what a difference the increased frame rate makes. It was totally the thing that was missing from SoulCalibur on iOS that really completes the nostalgia trip for owners of the Dreamcast version like myself.

It may sound like a minor thing, but the 60fps was a key element of SoulCalibur and I'm happy Namco Bandai took the time to add it in to the iOS version. Now I can focus all my attention on bugging them for some sort of multiplayer mode, but if you have an iPhone 4S or iPad 2 make sure to check out the ultra smooth new update to SoulCalibur.

App Store Link: SOULCALIBUR, $14.99 (Universal)

'Shoot Many Zombies!' Review - Making the Undead Dead-er

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 04:00 AM PST

Bacon. Cat videos. Zombies. There are some things in popular culture that just don't get enough attention. Luckily for us, however, the undead are getting a second life thanks to Zxh Games' Shoot Many Zombies [Free].

Shoot Many Zombies is pretty much exactly like it sounds. In this side-scrolling shooter, you shoot zombies. A lot of zombies. It's mindless, attractive zombie-killing mayhem, at a perfect pace: not too fast a pace to be frustrating, not so slow that you'll try to strategize your way through it.

You have your choice of three characters to play as, which mainly depends on your playstyle. You can go damage-heavy but slow, damage-light but quick, or a balance between the two. Once you begin, you have your basic weapon which can be upgraded as you work your way through the game. You can also buy new weapons altogether, so you can customize your zombie-killin' experience.

For a pretty straightforward concept, some things are needlessly complicated. Upgrading weapons is a necessity, but the menu doesn't make it easy. For example, you don't know the price of a particular upgrade unless you tap "buy," so if you don't have enough cash to tap "buy" in the first place to receive the confirmation, you're not going to know approximately how much money to save up in order to get the upgrade later.

Things are repetitive and sometimes annoying. For example, there are various objects and safe rooms you tap in order to get items. It's pretty dull popping into safe rooms in order to grab stuff, whatever it is – on an iPhone or iPod touch, the screen is too small to easily read what you're picking up – and you have to do it a lot. There are other things that feel off too, like annoying sound effects (just wait for the shopkeep/gangster dude when you first start a new game and the "eeeeeee" noise upon reading a new diary entry) and sometimes piecemeal-feeling graphics.

Fighting specialty zombies feels a bit cheap in the sense that you need to have upgraded your weapons several times in order to have a chance. Of course, you can easily upgrade your weapons via in-app purchase (was there any doubt?), but you can also go back and replay levels to pick up more money and items.

Normally, the idea of repeating levels in order to progress would make me pretty miffed, but since every level is basically the same mindless zombie-shooting anyway, it pretty much just extends the gameplay. Additionally, I found that the in-app purchases were pretty much unnecessary because the random loot from killing zombies and exploring was often pretty good, and I never seemed to run out of cash too easily. If you feel like purchasing, however, the options aren't bad, ranging from unlimited ammo to special (though not necessary) weapons.

There are lots of little added touches that are a nice surprise. When you upgrade a weapon, it actually changes the appearance of the weapon in-game. There are diary entries to pick up (though if you're looking for Shakespeare, you're going to be disappointed) that add to the overall story of the game, and it's nice being able to choose which character best fits your style.

If you want to mindlessly mow down wave after wave of the undead, Shoot Many Zombies is a great option with enough good points to outweigh the bad. If future updates were to include Game Center, cat videos, and/or bacon, my friends, we might even have a bona-fide hit on our hands.

App Store Link: Shoot Many Zombies!, Free

TouchArcade Rating:

AppleInsider

2012-02-10T11:32:00.001-08:00

AppleInsider

Apple to disrupt notebook space with radically redesigned MacBook Pros
AT&T's 4G-compatible micro-SIM cards prompt speculation of LTE 'iPad 3'
2%-3% dividend suggested as best use of Apple's $100B in cash
German court dismisses Motorola's 3G-related suit against Apple
Motorola puts blame on Google for lag on Android updates
Apple again highlights Siri with new 'Road Trip,' 'Rock God' iPhone 4S ads
iTunes customers facing mysterious account hacks, disappearing gift card money
Apple said to be in 'crunch mode' to ready 'iPad 3' apps for on-stage demos, ads
Google reportedly working on wireless home entertainment system
Samsung Galaxy 10.1N cleared for sale in Germany
Inside Sandboxing: how Apple plans to make the Mac App Store as secure as iOS
AT&T throttling unlimited data users starting at 2 GB per month based on location
Apple employee says upcoming iPad 3 to have "truly amazing" screen
Workers' rights petitions delivered to Apple's Grand Central store
US NOAA ditches BlackBerry, chooses Apple's iPhone and iPad

Apple to disrupt notebook space with radically redesigned MacBook Pros

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 10:17 AM PST

While most of its rivals are struggling to match innovations Apple pioneered with its first MacBook Airs over three years ago, the Mac maker this year is hoping to further distance itself from the competition with a pair of radically redesigned professional offerings that will set the tone for the next wave of notebook computing.

AT&T's 4G-compatible micro-SIM cards prompt speculation of LTE 'iPad 3'

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 08:13 AM PST

AT&T stores have begun receiving new micro-SIM cards compatible with the carrier's LTE 4G network, prompting speculation that they could be compatible with a new third-generation iPad from Apple compatible with 4G LTE networks.

2%-3% dividend suggested as best use of Apple's $100B in cash

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 06:47 AM PST

The best use of Apple's nearly $100 billion in cash and investments would be to issue shareholders a dividend yield of between 2 percent and 3 percent, a new analysis argues.

German court dismisses Motorola's 3G-related suit against Apple

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 05:08 AM PST

A German court has ruled that Apple's wireless products do not infringe on inventions related to 3G/UMTS owned by rival Motorola Mobility.

Motorola puts blame on Google for lag on Android updates

Posted: 10 Feb 2012 12:00 AM PST

A Motorola Mobility executive has said Google's practice of creating a flagship model for each software update for its Android mobile operating system is the reason that vendors have a hard time keeping their devices up to date.

Apple again highlights Siri with new 'Road Trip,' 'Rock God' iPhone 4S ads

Posted: 09 Feb 2012 10:10 PM PST

Apple on Thursday posted two new video ads showcasing how the Siri virtual assistant on the iPhone 4S can help people achieve dreams like cross-country road trips and playing in a rock band.

iTunes customers facing mysterious account hacks, disappearing gift card money

Posted: 09 Feb 2012 08:50 PM PST

Scattered reports from customers suggest that Apple continues to have a difficult time combating hackers who are draining iTunes account balances and changing account information.

Apple said to be in 'crunch mode' to ready 'iPad 3' apps for on-stage demos, ads

Posted: 09 Feb 2012 05:40 PM PST

As evidence continues to point toward an early March launch for the next-generation iPad, a new report claims that Apple is now in "crunch mode" as it prepares for on-stage demonstrations and television commercials highlighting apps for the device.

Google reportedly working on wireless home entertainment system

Posted: 09 Feb 2012 04:57 PM PST

Google's Android unit is rumored to be developing a wireless home entertainment system that is capable of streaming music throughout the home, and if launched would be the first consumer electronics product designed and marketed under the Google brand.

Samsung Galaxy 10.1N cleared for sale in Germany

Posted: 09 Feb 2012 03:36 PM PST

One week after denying Apple an injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1N, a German court on Thursday officially cleared the reworked Samsung tablet for sale after the original was banned for copying the "look and feel" of the iPad.

Inside Sandboxing: how Apple plans to make the Mac App Store as secure as iOS

Posted: 09 Feb 2012 02:33 PM PST

Apple is approaching its deadline for requiring that all apps sold in the Mac App Store be sandboxed for security, a policy that is drawing complaints from certain developers.

AT&T throttling unlimited data users starting at 2 GB per month based on location

Posted: 09 Feb 2012 02:27 PM PST

The story of an AT&T customer having his bandwidth throttled after transferring only 2 GB of a so-called unlimited data plan has created a maelstrom of press, and has forced the company to detail exactly how it handles the increasingly overwhelming demand for data.

Apple employee says upcoming iPad 3 to have "truly amazing" screen

Posted: 09 Feb 2012 01:47 PM PST

According to a source described as "an Apple employee," the next iPad will be released at an event in early March, with a faster processor and an improved, "truly amazing" display.

Workers' rights petitions delivered to Apple's Grand Central store

Posted: 09 Feb 2012 01:18 PM PST

As promised, activists on Thursday hand-delivered signed petitions to Apple's store in Grand Central Terminal, which were politely accepted by retail employees.

US NOAA ditches BlackBerry, chooses Apple's iPhone and iPad

Posted: 09 Feb 2012 11:57 AM PST

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is the latest government organization to adopt Apple's iPhone and iPad after ditching Research in Motion's BlackBerry.