BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins:
“In five years I don’t think there’ll be a reason to have a tablet anymore,” Heins said in an interview yesterday at the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles. “Maybe a big screen in your workspace, but not a tablet as such. Tablets themselves are not a good business model.”
The PlayBook may not be a good model, but the iPad is doing just fine.
| Read more »via guardian.co.uk
Your Vine stream will probably start to include a lot more faces, for better or worse, as the Twitter-owned video-sharing app received an update today to include support for the iPhone’s FaceTime camera as well at mentions:
Today we’re introducing an update to Vine that we think you’ll love. Over the last few months, we’ve asked for your feedback on a lot of things, from reporting bugs to suggesting new features. We’ve been...
| Read more »Andy Forssell, Hulu’s acting CEO, shared details on how the company is doing, including growth metrics, new product innovation and upcoming content.
| Read more »The CEO of the seemingly reinvigorated BlackBerry doesn't have much faith in the long-term potential of the tablet sector, saying in an interview that in five years there might be no reason to have a tablet at all. ...
| Read more »Just launched on the App Store in time for Mother’s Day, the Felt iPad app lets you create and send real handwritten cards directly from your iPad for a flat rate of $3.99 including shipping. It has competitors with...
| Read more »(Updated with order book rumors, value of bonds) Apple's planned bond sale involves a six-part offering, according to a filing discovered by Bloomberg. Some floating-rate notes are set to mature in 2016 and 2018, while fixed-rate securities are due in 2016, 2018, 2023, and 2043. The filing confirms Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank as the institutions managing Apple's sale.... ...
| Read more »Mac power users will rejoice -- or be relieved -- that Belkin has announced it is officially shipping the Thunderbolt Express Dock. The dock allows users to expand to a wide range of ports via a single Thunderbolt connection on their Mac. The dock offers 2 Thunderbolt ports (one for input, the second for passthrough to as many as five downstream devices), 1 gigabit Ethernet port, 1 Firewire 800 port, stereo headphone and microphone jacks, and 3 USB 3.0 ports.
Belkin officially announced the Thunderbolt Express Dock back in January of 2012; since then it has seen numerous delays and design changes.
In the meantime, another Mac accessory vendor, Matrox...
| Read more »Apple and Samsung are scheduled for a due-over in their ongoing patent infringement fight now that Federal Judge Lucy Koh has set a date for a new damages trial for November 12. The trial will determine damages owed to Apple as part of a court victory from August 2012.
The Mac Observer Spin:
Don't expect this to be the end of Apple's patent fight with Samsung over last August's ruling. Samsung is appealing the overall ruling, and will likely appeal whatever ruling comes from the damages retrial. That's a lot of R&D dollars going to lawyers instead of cool product designs.
Apple and Samsung are scheduled for a due-over in their ongoing patent infringement fight now that Federal Judge Lucy Koh has set a date for a new damages trial for November 12. The trial will determine damages owed to Apple as part of a court victory from August 2012.
The Mac Observer Spin:
Don't expect this to be the end of Apple's patent fight with Samsung over last August's ruling. Samsung is appealing the overall ruling, and will likely appeal whatever ruling comes from the damages retrial. That's a lot of R&D dollars going to lawyers instead of cool product designs.
After months of delays Belkin has finally made its Thunderbolt Express Dock available for purchase through its online store. First announced at CES 2011, the Express Dock was originally expected to be launched in September 2012. However, various setbacks and revisions continually pushed this date back until Belkin finally began accepting pre-orders this past February. The final revision is being sold for $300 and features eight ports, one FireWire 800, one Gigabit Ethernet, three USB 3.0, one 3.5mm audio-in, one 3.5mm audio out, and one Thunderbolt port, that can simultaneously be connected to... ...
| Read more »Following a recent report about iOS 7’s interface, 9to5Mac has more information on Apple’s plans for the new operating system, reporting that “Apple plans to move aggressively into the in-car integration space later this year.” Multiple sources noted Apple is “working with car makers to deeply embed iOS’s…
| Read more »Product showcases in Berlin / (Source: Leslie Pumm via apfelpage.de)
As we have previously noted, Apple is set to open a gorgeous new Apple Store on May 3rd in Berlin, Germany, and now these beautiful showcases featuring Apple’s creative product displays have appeared in front of the entrance.
Each Apple Store features an attractive display at the store’s front presenting the latest product, and Apple’s new iPhone kite display is making its way to Apple Stores around the world.
We find these island showcases to be particularly noteworthy as...
| Read more »Internal documents claim the original iPhone will soon be considered vintage only in the U.S. and will be obsolete elsewhere.
| Read more »With iOS 7, Apple wants to deepen in-car integration options for iOS devices, sources claim. Currently such integration is limited mostly to things like iPod input or Siri Eyes Free, which makes it possible to issue Siri commands with a quick-access button. Sources tell 9to5Mac, however, that Apple is working with car companies on new center consoles that could dock an iPhone and output an optimized, car-oriented version of Maps to a dashboard display.... ...
| Read more »It took over a year following its announcement to get here, but it’s finally on the market.
Per AppleInsider, the Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock, first announced in January of 2012, is now available for purchase for US$299, more than a year after the Mac accessory was unveiled.
The docking station allows users to have instant access to 8 ports by connecting just one high-speed Lightning cable to their Mac. The Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock includes:
- One Gigabit Ethernet port
- One Firewire 800 port
- One Thunderbolt port for daisy-chaining up to five additional Thunderbolt devices
- One 3.5 millimeter...
| Read more »An recently published Apple patent demonstrates that Apple has continued to contemplate the use of a physical controller accessory with iOS devices. However, the patent filing appears to be mainly concerned about how users with disabilities can interact with touchscreen devices. …
| Read more »Apple will sell $17 billion in debt in its first bond offering since 1996, as the company borrows funds to fuel its $100 billion capital rewards program. ...
| Read more »Having a baby requires constant vigilance -- morning and night you are watching over your little one to keep them safe and happy. One indispensable tool for parents is a baby monitor that lets you watch over your child from afar. If you have an old iOS device lying around, then you might want to skip the traditional audio or camera-based monitors and take a look at Baby Monitor 3G and its new OS X version to see if this software package fits your baby-watching needs.
Baby Monitor 3G from TappyTaps works like a standard baby monitor system with an iOS device serving as a monitor in the baby's room and a second device as the parent's listening station. You can use two iOS devices as the baby-parent station pair or add in a Mac now that the latest version of the Baby Monitor 3G software includes an OS X app. The system works best over WiFi, but you can configure it to work over 3G as...
| Read more »BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins believes that the future of tablets are on borrowed time, giving the hardware platform five years to live. The comments, made in an interview yesterday, suggest that the company may not make a successor to the BlackBerry PlayBook, a tablet released in 2011 that failed to take off at retail.... ...
| Read more »Make no mistake about it: Apple wants Siri and its mapping program in your car.
Per 9to5Mac, Apple plans to move aggressively into the in-car integration space later this year, according to multiple people familiar with the initiative. The company is working with car makers to deeply embed iOS’s Maps and Siri services into cars, according to these people. While companies sell accessories to place iPhone and other iOS devices on car dashboards for easy access to...
| Read more »A service to be alerted when Apple’s Tech Talks are announced.
| Read more »Great idea and I don’t mind paying for a service, but to be honest, having Reeder support is vital for me. Federico Viticci has a more in-depth look at the service.
| Read more »Another alternative to Google's soon-to-die Reader RSS service rolled out on Tuesday called Feed Wrangler. Right now the service includes a Web interface and an iOS app, but a native Mac client is promised to be coming soon. It can import your RSS feeds from Google Reader, supports filters and searches, supports Instapaper and Pocket, and includes a clean interface both on the Web and on the iPhone and iPad. There's also an API for other developers that want to add support to their apps. Feed Wrangler costs US$18.99 a year, which we're hoping means it has a better chance of sticking around than Google Reader.
...
| Read more »Another alternative to Google's soon-to-die Reader RSS service rolled out on Tuesday called Feed Wrangler. Right now the service includes a Web interface and an iOS app, but a native Mac client is promised to be coming soon. It can import your RSS feeds from Google Reader, supports filters and searches, supports Instapaper and Pocket, and includes a clean interface both on the Web and on the iPhone and iPad. There's also an API for other developers that want to add support to their apps. Feed Wrangler costs US$18.99 a year, which we're hoping means it has a better chance of sticking around than Google Reader.
Just launched on Kickstarter today, RHP Multimedia is hoping to bring an iPad version of its MirrorCase originally launched for iPhone that allows users to shoot hands free photos and video while continuing to use the iPad. Normally iPad users would be forced to hold up the tablet in a vertical position in order to capture photos and video using the device’s main, rear camera. MirrorCase offers a hands-free solution by integrating “a high-quality first surface mirror to reflect back any image that is in front of the device”, allowing you to keep the iPad in a horizontal position ideal for taking notes or multitasking while shooting video.
The key is the MirrorCase companion app that the company is attempting to fund through its Kickstarter campaign. The app will include, for instance, the ability to take notes or make annotations while viewing a live, resizable preview of the video you’re...
| Read more »Consumer Reports has announced that Apple has come out on top again -- and bested its previous score -- in providing consumer tech support to its users.
The company scored far higher than the other big companies for the elements that make for successful online and phone support: ease of contacting staff, clarity of advice, technical knowledge, patience, and time for follow-up.
The annual survey found that 88% of of customer problems were solved at an in-store Genius Bar, compared to only 70% at Best Buy's in-store Geek Squad bars. Consumer Reports also notes that Apple was able to resolve 82% of computer problems across all its support lines (in-store, phone, etc).
Overall, Apple scored 86 our of 100 in the survey -- the highest of any computer manufacturer. The next best was Lenovo, which scored a 63 out of 100.
...
| Read more »This week's roundup of accessories for the iPhone and iPad includes lots of help for musicians making music, as well as an updated stylus, new AirPlay gear, and more.
| Read more »Filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office revealed on Tuesday that the transfer of a number of patents from Kodak to Apple has begun, with the iPhone maker taking ownership of several patents covering aspects of digital photography. ...
| Read more »US District Court Judge Lucy Koh has set a November 12th date for a trial to recalculate damages vacated from last year's initial, $1.05 billion Apple v. Samsung ruling, reports say. On March 1st, Koh issued an order vacating $450.5 million from the original judgment, owing to a questionable jury outcome which set only one damage figure per device despite multiple patents being involved in each instance. The $450.5 million figure did come down on Monday though, since Koh reversed a ruling on the AT&T edition of the Galaxy S II, returning $40.5 million back to Apple.... ...
| Read more »Feed Wrangler is also available as an iOS app.
With two months left to go, the post-Google Reader landscape of RSS services is still sorting itself out. The newest player? Feed Wrangler, a paid subscription service from the iOS developer of Check The Weather and Audiobooks.
Feed Wrangler launched Tuesday on the web and as an iOS app, sporting a membership fee of $19 a year. (Users can purchase access through the site or the app.) Developer David Smith said the paid model may be the best way for small services like his—and in the wake of Google’s demise, well, all of the services...
| Read more »Teacher’s Pet is an elegant contextual to-do list and reminder app, designed specially to help you do your job more effectively.
Nice looking app.
| Read more »A Russian billionaire recently bought about $100 million in Apple stock, and has publicly declared his faith in the future of the company. ...
| Read more »Apple plans to move aggressively into the in-car integration space later this year, according to multiple people familiar with the initiative. Apple is working with car makers to deeply embed iOS’s Maps and Siri services into cars, according to these people. While companies sell accessories to place iPhone and other iOS devices on car dashboards for easy access to Apple Maps’ turn-by-turn navigation, Apple wants to break into the space with its own solutions…
//
According to people familiar with the plans, Apple is working with car makers on updated versions of car center consoles that could attach to iOS devices like the iPhone. Specifically, an iPhone could be plugged into a car and an optimized, redesigned version of Apple Maps will appear on the car’s built-in display instead of a proprietary GPS system found in many cars.
Sources have described...
| Read more »Feed Wrangler for iOS
Google Reader is dead. We know this for certain as Google announced earlier in March that it plans to pull the plug on its RSS service on July 1, 2013.
Google’s announcement caught the good people of the Internet by surprise and left us wondering, “What next?”
David Smith, developer of Check the Weather and...
| Read more »If you're looking for the best after-purchase support for your computer, smartphone, or tablet, Apple is the way to go, according to Consumer Reports latest tech support study. Apple has come out as the top customer support company for the past ten years, and this year managed to beat its previous high score by four points.
The Mac Observer Spin:
When you buy tech gear, you're also buying technical support. Based on the Consumer Reports survey results, shoppers consistently get more for their support dollars when they buy Apple.
If you're looking for the best after-purchase support for your computer, smartphone, or tablet, Apple is the way to go, according to Consumer Reports latest tech support study. Apple has come out as the top customer support company for the past ten years, and this year managed to beat its previous high score by four points.
The Mac Observer Spin:
When you buy tech gear, you're also buying technical support. Based on the Consumer Reports survey results, shoppers consistently get more for their support dollars when they buy Apple.
Jawbone, the company behind the Jawbone Up fitness tracking wristband and companion app, today is announcing some big news including a new API to allow other apps to access its fitness tracking data and the acquisition of competitor BodyMedia. The new API dubbed the “Up Platform” will see the company create its own app ecosystem of sorts, allowing other developers to access Jawbone UP data and integrate their apps to “complement your UP experience.”
To go along with the new API, Jawbone has already updated its UP iOS app with a new side menu that allows users to share their data with integrated apps and the ability to “to...
| Read more »Oh original iPhone, we'll miss you.
Roughly six years after its public launch, the original iPhone is about to become obsolete—at least in Apple's eyes. Apple reportedly sent out internal documentation to its support partners, which was then passed on to 9to5Mac, detailing which of its products would no longer be considered current or recent devices as of June 11, 2013. The list doesn't just include the original iPhone, though: it also includes a number of older iMacs, MacBook Pros, Xserves, and PowerBooks.
According to the document, products that are considered obsolete—or perhaps for a more tasteful term, "vintage"—cannot be repaired or receive replacement parts unless they're in the state of California, "as required by statute." Californians can continue...
| Read more »The original iPhone will soon reach "obsolete" status at Apple retail stores. Obsolete status means that a product is not eligible for repairs or parts replacement even if the customer pays for it. The date the original iPhone reaches obsolete status is June 11, 2013, according to 9to5Mac, which obtained a leaked memo revealing the date.
Products typically become obsolete at Apple five to seven years after they make their debut. Other products that will become obsolete on June 11 will be the late 2006 Xserve, mid-2007 iMacs, and the original Mac Pro.
Original iPhone to be obsolete at Apple stores originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 30 Apr 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our...
| Read more »“Cookiewaits” mashes up Cookie Monster videos with Tom Waits songs, and the results are amazing.
| Read more »German auction house Team Breker is auctioning one of the last remaining Apple I computers in working order, expecting it to sell for between $260k and $400k. Also available is a complete LISA system for an estimated $20-40k.
//
| Read more »The Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock, first announced in January of 2012, is now available for purchase for $299, more than a year after the Mac accessory was unveiled. ...
| Read more »Whoops! You accidentally typed something into Safari's Smart Search field, and then you realized that you don't want to navigate away from the original page. You could, of course, copy and paste your search into a new tab or window, but Melissa Holt's got a better way to do things. And we understand that if we're really nice to her, she might even tell us what she knows. Maybe.
Back in February, Belkin finally started accepting preorders for its much anticipated Thunderbolt Express Dock that was originally supposed to ship last September. Reports earlier this month noted that further delays meant the device would miss its new Q1 2013 launch date, but today Belkin has finally made things official announcing availability of the Thunderbolt Express Dock and posting the video above to its YouTube channel.
Belkin does have some competition now that it has waited to launch, including the ...
| Read more »Siri investor Shawn Carolan has launched a new email and task management app, Handle, at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference. The web-based service with iOS companion app is based on the same CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) approach as the highly popular Mailbox iOS app …
//
Here’s how Handle works: Your inbox flows into a JavaScript web app, and you can respond to emails inline. The basic idea is to triage your emails quickly and efficiently also being able to create a task management list. In each email you can decide whether to flag, delete, create into a project, or archive. If...
| Read more »It’s been a bit of a wait, but Belkin’s Thunderbolt Express Dock has finally arrived. The $299 docking station—first announced way back in January 2012—went on sale at Belkin's online store Tuesday.
The Thunderbolt Express Dock offers two Thunderbolt ports for daisy-chaining additional Thunderbolt peripherals—the only product of its kind to do so, according to Belkin.
Docking stations like the Thunderbolt Express Dock are popular with Mac portable owners who have limited peripheral connections and don't want to have to connect and disconnect printers, hard drives, speakers, scanners, and so forth from their laptops each time they come or leave the office.
Ports on the back of the Belkin's Thunderbolt Express Dock
To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here...
| Read more »
Recording phone calls has always been a gray area of the law. That's because there are both state and federal wiretapping laws that govern the practice. Federal law allows a conversation to be recorded if one party consents to it. Some states use that rule, too, but others require the consent of everyone on the call. Nevertheless, those uncertainties haven't deterred people from recording phone calls or kept Radio Shack from making analog devices to enable those recordings.
In yet another challenge to Apple on the mobile front, Google has made its Google Now intelligent personal assistant available for iOS devices. Google Now is part of the Google Search application. It recognizes repeated actions that a consumer performs on a device to learn about usage patterns. The app displays more relevant information as cards that can be swiped on and off the screen. The feature's debut on iOS could pose a threat to Apple's Siri digital assistant.
About a year ago, Tor Books, highly-regarded publisher of science fiction and fantasy, announced that they were dropping digital-rights-management protection on all of their ebooks. Now, Julie Crisp of Tor UK has revealed what that decision has meant in terms of ebook piracy: “As it is, we’ve seen no discernible increase in piracy on any of our titles, despite them being DRM-free for nearly a year.” (This, of course, is no surprise to us at Take Control: we have been publishing DRM-free for ten years, with much the same results.) Equally heartening to Tor is how much support their authors have for the no-DRM policy.
Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email...
| Read more »Just you wait, BlackBerry is going to sell a ton of its new QWERTY-keyboard-equipped Q10 smartphone.
This according to Thorsten Heins, the struggling smartphone maker’s CEO, and early sales of the device seem to so far support that assertion. Speaking at the Milken Institute conference on Monday, Heins said the company has high hopes for the Q10. “We have very, very good first signs already after the launch in the U.K.,” Heins said. “This is going into the installed base of more than 70 million BlackBerry users so we have quite some expectations. We expect several tens of million of units.”
Is that a reasonable expectation, or an unreasonable one?
Though it only...
| Read more »Microsoft – which bought Skype back in 2011 – is starting to rollout the ability to make Skype audio and video calls from within an email thread on outlook.com …
//
With the preview version of Skype for Outlook.com you can enjoy Skype video and audio calls right from your inbox — less typing, more talking! … Just click on the Skype audio or video call buttons in your IM conversation. To start a call while reading an email from a friend on Outlook.com, move your mouse over the friend’s picture and click on the Skype audio or video call buttons that appear above his or her contact details.
The Skype blog refers to the service as a ‘preview version’, suggesting that it may be the first step towards more extensive integration. The feature is...
| Read more »Wacom has revised its Cintiq 22HD display-based input device to include touch controls. The Cintiq 22HD touch, much like the larger Cintiq 24HD touch, introduces multitouch to the stylus-based drawing surface, allowing artists and designers to use gestures for rotating canvases, zooming and panning their work.... ...
| Read more »The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday granted Apple a patent for a dynamic communications system that automatically selects the best method of contacting another person, be it through voice, text or email, based on a given situation. ...
| Read more »A patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday reveals Apple is working to make iOS devices more accessible for users with disabilities through an accessory framework that allows for non-touch input devices to interact with touchscreen user interfaces. ...
| Read more »Apple v. Samsung presiding Judge Lucy Koh on Monday entered a case management order calling for a new trial to recalculate the $450.5 million she found may have been incorrectly awarded by a jury last August. ...
| Read more »Research company Informa says that app-based messaging -- such as Apple's own Messages app or the popular What'sApp for mobile devices -- has surpassed traditional SMS-based text messaging for the first time. While SMS usage will continue to thrive, particular as long as "feature phones" remain viable in less-affluent markets, non-SMS messaging should reach 50 billion per day by 2014 -- more than double the projected level of 21 million SMS messages by the same year.... ...
| Read more »While after-sale support is not always a priority factor in most consumers' tech buying decisions, tales of Apple's superior customer support are legendary. On Monday, Consumer Reports reinforced Apple's stellar service reputation with yet another top ranking as America's best computer tech support vendor. Apple has been the top-ranked support provider overall for at least the last 10 years, and even managed to improve its 2012 score in this year's survey.... ...
| Read more »In a post to Twitter late Monday, user @evleaks, who has been reliable in leaking pictures and specifications of various cellular products in the past, said Boost Mobile will start carrying Apple's iPhone in the third quarter of 2013. ...
| Read more »German auction house Team Breker has rounded up an interesting collection of significant "firsts" from the computing world for an upcoming auction in Koln, Germany on May 25. Among the items of interest will be a mechanical calculator created by philosopher and physicist Blaise Pascal from the year 1652; the first Intel microprocessor (the 4004) from 1971; a 1975 Altair 8800 said to have started the personal computer revolution, and one of only six known original Apple I computers still in working condition.... ...
| Read more »Consumer Reports on Monday released the results of its annual reader survey that asked respondents to rate the nation's best PC tech support, and Apple topped the chart yet again, this time managing to beat its own score from last year. ...
| Read more »Boost Mobile, a prepaid US carrier powered by Sprint’s network, will be the latest carrier to add the iPhone to their lineup, according to Twitter user @evleaks. The phone is claimed to launch in Q3, and will make Boost the fourth prepaid carrier in the United States to carry Apple’s smartphone.
Sprint’s other prepaid holding, Virgin Mobile, has carried the iPhone since June of 2012 and recently launched a bizarrely awesome ad campaign to lure customers away from other networks. A competing prepaid carrier, Cricket...
| Read more »Aurich Lawson / Thinkstock
At 8:05am on the morning of December 1, 2010, an FBI search warrant team swarmed up to a Silicon Valley home on an unusual misson: find the "sextortionist" who had been blackmailing pro poker players over the Internet. One agent pounded on the door and shouted out, "FBI!" Movement was heard inside, but no one opened the door. The agent knocked again, but the door stayed shut, so out came the battering ram. Wham—the door gave and FBI agents flooded inside, guns drawn in the dim light.
At the top of the staircase before them stood their target, Keith Hudson. "Show your hands!" demanded one agent. "FBI!" Hudson did not immediately comply; instead, he stepped back from the stairs and said he had to get his daughter. The agents commanded him to stop. Hudson did so, backing down the steps. He was handcuffed when he reached the bottom.
Outside and down the street, the force behind the search warrant was sitting in her car, waiting for...
| Read more »11 Bit Studios has announced that Anomaly 2 now has an official release date. The game will be available for the Mac (along with Windows and Linux) on May 15. Anomaly is, of course, a popular iOS game these days, though the series started on the PC and it's returning there for the sequel. Previously, the game was available through a "secret pre-order", but there's a new bonus for a regular pre-order right now: If you get the game before it comes out for $14.99, you can get a second copy to give to a friend for free.
The new version of the "tower offense" series has more levels, more units, and more power-ups to play with, as you guide your troops in and around alien towers on a multitude of levels. The game also adds multiplayer into the mix, where one player can control units, and a second player can lay...
| Read more »According to internal Apple documentation, the original iPhone, which first debuted in 2007, will soon enter “obsolete” status, with a few exceptions. The official switch will happen on June 11, 2013, when the iPhone, along with several other Macs and Xserve models will officially be classified as vintage and obsolete products by Apple. Thanks, G!
//
Apple’s support site defines vintage products as:
…those that were discontinued more than five and less than seven years ago. Apple has discontinued hardware service for vintage products with the following exception:
-Products purchased in the state of California, United States, as required by statute.
-Owners of vintage Macintosh products may obtain service and parts from Apple service...
| Read more »Adult Swim has built up a nice stable of games on the App Store, and the biggest workhorse in it is Robot Unicorn Attack, a Flash game that's an endless runner where you play as the titular creature dashing and jumping to '80s music playing in the background. That game's been very successful, but due to the music licensing, Adult Swim's never been able to turn it freemium, which is a business model that potentially offers a bigger audience (and more profits).
Robot Unicorn Attack 2, however, is built freemium from the ground up. It's free to download, and the game earns you a currency which you can spend on powering up your unicorn, customizing it with various extra items, buying boosts to help your score and so on. The music has...
| Read more »This will be a rather quick review, not just because silicone iPhone 5 cases are quite commonplace, but because there are mainly just good things to say about these new cases from Ballistic Case. They're all members of the Ballistic Case Aspira series for the iPhone 5 (US$34.99), and three readers will have a chance to win one.
Design
The Aspira cases are lightweight, skinny, and colorful. Ballistic has come up with seven cases in the series that will attract the attention of just about everyone.
There's a white case with imperial blue accents, a white case with a pink flower pattern, an eye-jarring mint green case with strawberry pink accents, a much more soothing raspberry case with gray accents, a black case with a charcoal gray hexagon pattern and accents, a black case with lime green accents and a black case with gray accents.
All of the cases are...
| Read more »Adobe on Monday announced special Mother's Day pricing for Lightroom 4, Photoshop Elements 11, Premiere Elements 11, and a Photoshop and Premiere Elements 11 bundle, each getting a $30 discount off regular pricing. ...
| Read more »For the second consecutive study, Apple ranks highest among manufacturers of tablets in overall owner satisfaction. Apple achieves a score of 836 and performs well in four factors: performance; ease of operation; styling and design; and features.
Apple’s rating was a 5, which is the highest JD Power gives. Amazon, Samsung and Asus all received a 3, which JD Power classifies as “About average.” Acer got a 2 — that’s classified as “The rest.”
| Read more »The success of Snapchat has shown that users like ephemeral messaging, the ability to send a single use picture message to a friend which deletes itself seconds after being seen. But Snapchat only lets you send pictures. Enter Blink.
Blink is the latest app to tackle the "this message will explode in five seconds" world of ephemeral messaging, bringing with it the addition of short lived texts and group chats. Like it's rival Snapchat Blink allows you to choose how long a message will last before expiring.
Images last one to ten seconds, while texts can range from 10 seconds to 5 minutes. Users also have the option of making their texts permanent, meaning Blink could also serve as a useful replacement for users who have abandoned Facebook as their social media home.
Future updates will bring video, audio notes, options for drawing, and stickers. At the...
| Read more »Apple will take its developer show worldwide, the iPad still satisfies, and Tim Cook puts up his Dukes. The remainders for Monday, April 29, 2013 are going coast to coast.
Thank you for your unprecedented interest in WWDC. (Apple)
Didn’t snag a ticket to the hottest Worldwide Developer Conference in town? Don’t worry too much: Apple’s also planning to take its show on the road with Tech Talks this fall. Unfortunately, you will have to supply your own beer bash and special musical guests.
2013 U.S. Tablet Satisfaction Study—Volume 1 (J.D. Power and Associates)
...
| Read more »If you find a folder called Damaged Files at the root of your hard drive in OS X, it may mean nothing -- or it could be a sign that your drive is failing.
| Read more »Consumer Reports talking about Apple:
The company scored far higher than the other big companies for the elements that make for successful online and phone support: ease of contacting staff, clarity of advice, technical knowledge, patience, and time for follow-up.
And here is what they said about Windows-based companies:
Clearly, there’s room for improvement in tech support: 24 to 40 percent of respondents who sought phone or online help from makers of Windows-based computers said the staff’s patience, knowledge, or clarity was fair at best.
| Read more »Microsoft was late to the mobile phone game and has struggled to snatch market share away from their competitors at Apple and Android. They face a big problem: every smartphone has their own selling points, but they've mostly got the same basic features. So how do you set yourself apart?
Apparently the answer is pointing out how obnoxious your competitors' fans are.
In their new spot Microsoft shows a brawl breaking out at a wedding reception as the wedding party, segregated into sides by their choice of iPhone or Samsung Galaxy, fights over who gets to obnoxiously take cell phone video of the service. The captain of Team iPhone snidely asks a Galaxy user if he'd "mind moving his enormous phone," sparking a sea of shouts and put downs. Finally someone acts reasonable, and throws the first punch.
As the carnage unfolds the only two people who keep their cool are a...
| Read more »In a new TV ad that vaguely recalls the Tareyton cigarette slogan "I'd rather fight than switch" from the 1960s, a new commercial for the Nokia Lumia 920 and its Windows Phone 8 OS pokes fun at the war between Apple and Samsung (and their respective users) in an amusing manner, portraying Nokia's offering as being outside the fray and a fresh alternative. The ad features a brawl breaking out at a wedding between iPhone and Galaxy users and features a number of witty moments, including the Siri signature sound and man with an Apple tattoo.... ...
| Read more »Popular RSS aggregation and reading app Reeder received an update on Monday, offering users the ability use it as a standalone reader, while building in support for third-party syncing service Feedbin. ...
| Read more »Personally, I'm still in denial about losing my beloved Google Reader in the near future. The web-based RSS reader has been a standby ever since I started using RSS, and even when I used other services, like the great Reeder app on iOS, they ran through Google Reader to get their content.
But the times they are a'changin', and as of July 1, Google Reader will be gone for good. Reeder has gotten out ahead on this one, and just recently pushed out an update for its iPhone version that liberates the app from Google Reader's clutches. You can now use Reeder with an alternate service called Feedbin, or you can use it as a standalone RSS reader, just by punching in your feeds manually.
Unfortunately, Feedbin is a pay service (that costs $2 a month to use),...
| Read more »Apple was one of the first -- if not the first -- major computer manufacturers to provide then-fledgling USB support at the expense of legacy ports on its iMac line some 15 ago. Since then, the Mac maker hasn't always been the fastest at adding new USB protocols to machines, generally lagging six months or more behind, depending on the product line. The Mac Pro is languishing these days, awaiting a revamp -- but still has no USB 3.0 ports, despite an incremental update last summer boosting the speed of the computer somewhat. Highpoint Technologies has had strong support for the Macintosh and O... ...
| Read more »Earlier today Google officially pushed out an update to its existing Google Search app for iPhone enabling the Google Now service with weather and traffic conditions, updates on breaking news and sports, and more. Some users logging into Google Search through a Google Apps account might have noticed that using the features would prompt an error that “your administrator hasn’t enabled Google Now for your domain.” Hanselman.com shares instructions on enabling the feature which aren’t exactly obvious since the setting is buried in “Android settings”.
Google Apps for Business, Education, and...
| Read more »Osito is a free iPhone app that tries to do what Google Now has done for Android phones (and now the iPhone), which is provide a time- and location-aware app that supports your daily schedule with weather, traffic, travel news and more. [The previously launched Tempo calendar is another approach to solving the same problem. -Ed.]
Osito finds information about your location, and what is on your calendar, in your emails and your daily routine. For example, if it finds a meeting in your calendar, Osito will check traffic and give you relevant advice on when to leave. Of course, the address of your meeting needs to be in the calendar for Osito to figure that out. Weather...
| Read more »Apple was one of the first -- if not the first -- major computer manufacturers to provide then-fledgling USB support at the expense of legacy ports on its iMac line some 15 ago. Since then, the Mac maker hasn't always been the fastest at adding new USB protocols to machines, generally lagging six months or more behind, depending on the product line. The Mac Pro is languishing these days, awaiting ...... ...
| Read more »Microsoft has released a new ad for the Nokia Lumia 920 Windows Phone smartphone, an ad that mocks fans of both Apple and Samsung devices. The commercial poses each party as guests at a wedding and draws upon memes that will be familiar to the echo chamber, causing Bryan Chaffin to wonder who the target is.
Dear Uncle TUAW:
Over the next two years my husband and I plan to hike El Camino de Santiago in Spain. I'd love to keep family and friends up to date on our trek by blogging on the trip, but since we want to keep our backpacks at less than 14 lbs. total weight, I'm not sure I want to carry an iPad and I know for sure that a laptop is going to be too heavy. Since weight and space are issues, what would you blog from if you were in my hiking boots?
Your loving niece,
Susan
Dear Susan,
I'm glad to hear that you're going to be out walking. Too many of you young whippersnappers spend all of your time on your keisters in front of those fancy HDTVs instead of getting good, clean exercise in the great outdoors. Your Aunt and I used to do a lot of hiking. Remind me to tell you about our experiences in Bhutan in 1958...
Anyway, my first choice for...
| Read more »If views in the OS X Finder shift around, you may be able to control this by a quick settings change.
| Read more »Following a strong UK launch of BlackBerry's latest Q10 smartphone, CEO Thorsten Heins said he expects the trend to continue as the company prepares to tap into an installed user base for wider release. ...
| Read more »Ben Thompson imagines an alternate 2013 in which Android did not exist:
Google today announced via their blog that they are filing a
complaint with the Justice Department and EU regarding Apple’s
recent rejection of Google Now for iOS. […]
The iPhone, which was launched in 2007, is on 70% of the world’s
smartphones, and 35% of all phones worldwide. Microsoft is in a
distant second place, with less than 10% of the smartphone market.
I’ve been greatly enjoying Thompson’s writing at Stratechery; it’s easily one of my favorite new sites of the year, and you could do worse than devote the next hour or two to reading the whole thing back to last month, when he began. Among several standouts, I recommend “Two Bears” (dissecting the two bear arguments against Apple’s...
| Read more »iOS 7 is codenamed "Innsbruck," and will use a "very, very flat" design, sources for 9to5Mac claim. The OS is reportedly jettisoning any signs of gloss or skeuomorphism, making it flat on a level nearing the look of the Metro interface used in Windows Phone and Windows 8. Apple has sometimes been criticized for using unnecessary real-world analogies in the look of iOS and OS X, for instance by making its Calendar apps resemble leather daybooks.... ...
| Read more »Shares of Apple Inc. rose more than 3 percent on Monday, goosed in part on rumors that the company could begin selling the next iPhone in July. $AAPL closed at US$430.12, a gain of $12.915 (+3.10 percent), on heavy volume of 22.8 million shares.
Doug van Spronsen writing about Ron Johnson and JCPenney:
I am not suggesting that great design isn’t effective, quite the contrary. But if the root cause of the issue is deeper, it might be better to start the strategy process a few layers back.
Great article and I agree. Selling iPhones, iPods and iPads is fairly easy because they are great products — the business side of things was working. Couple that with well-designed retail stores and you’ve got a winner.
| Read more »Sources claim the look of Apple’s upcoming iOS 7 will be simpler than past incarnations, according to a new report from 9to5Mac. “Multiple people who have either seen or have been briefed on the upcoming iOS 7” claim the new operating system will be attractive to new users, but…
| Read more »For most of us, calendars are the cornerstone of our work and personal schedules. Though we own "smart" phones, the apps we use to track our days are still relatively dumb, argues Jason Snell of Macworld.
In a lengthy article, Snell asks why calendars aren't more like a personal assistant -- smart enough to manage your schedule, not just pencil in dates and times. He brings up his own schedule which is filled with meetings and seemingly no breaks. An assistant would notice his meeting overload and pencil in free time accordingly.
Snell doesn't offer any solutions to the problems facing calendars. He just brings up those areas that are weaknesses and asks people for suggestions on how developers can make our calendars become an intelligent management tool. You can join in the...
| Read more »If you’re looking to keep that computer running smoothly, Apple is the one to turn to, says Consumer Reports. On Monday, the consumer advocacy publication announced that the company from Cupertino had once again topped a reader survey of the best computer tech support, even going so far as to beat its own scores from the previous year.
To the surprise of nobody who’s actually paid attention to the PC market in the last several years, Apple beat out competitors Lenovo, Asus, Dell, Toshiba, Hewlett Packard/Compaq, and Acer/Gateway/eMachines by a healthy margin, scoring an 86 out of 100, which the publication describes as “very satisfied.” The next closest brand was Lenovo, which scored only a 63, or “fairly well satisfied.”
According to Consumer Reports’s data, Apple also solved a best-in-category 82 percent of readers’ problems; the nearest...
| Read more »Happy Hour by 9to5Mac artwork by Michael Steeber
Introducing Happy Hour, a weekly 9to5Mac podcast that brings you an in-depth look at the top Apple scoops of the week. We’ll give you the insight behind the stories and our (potentially NSFW?) view of the wider Apple reporting world.
Host Scott Buscemi joins Seth Weintraub, Mark Gurman, and the rest of the 9to5Mac team. We’ll answer reader questions posted in comments to posts in the Happy Hour section. We’re even planning some special guests....
| Read more »Comparing the Samsung Galaxy S4 to the S3 and Apple’s iPhone®5, the iPhone 5 was the clear winner.
Quality usually wins.
| Read more »Macworld's parent company, IDG, is once again conducting its annual Global Mobile Survey, which quizzes you on your mobile-device habits and media consumption so we can learn more about how people are using their smartphones and tablets today. Readers who participate will be entered in a drawing for a chance to win an iPad mini.
This year we want to explore whether you use your smartphone for online purchases, and if not, what's holding you back? Your feedback will help us to more closely align our mobile services with your needs, so give us a hand by taking the survey!
The survey is around 10-15 minutes in length. And there's a reward! Five lucky respondents who complete the survey will have a chance to win an Apple iPad...
| Read more »The TEC Foundation for Excellence in Audio has formally entered into an agreement to become part of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), strengthening the important work of both non-profits and the NAMM Show. All TEC activities, including the Technical Excellence & Creativity Awards, will join other marquee activities, events and efforts within the NAMM Foundation portfolio including the Museum of Making Music, research projects, the SupportMusic Coalition and global public service campaigns.
This is great news for NAMM, but more importantly the pro audio community.
| Read more »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 April 29, 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 29 Apr 2013 15:45:00 EST. Please see our...
| Read more »Rovio has announced today that a new game called Angry Birds Friends will be out on the App Store this week, offering up yet another iteration on the extremely popular series about frustrated avians. As you can tell from the name of the game, Angry Birds Friends will be a social take on bird-throwing, combining elements of the popular Facebook version and the iOS version's touchscreen gameplay.
I think Rovio might be a little behind on this one, as asychronous Words With Friends-style multiplayer has fallen out of favor a bit on the App Store lately. But Angry Birds is one of the strongest brands out there, so if anyone can get people playing with their friends, it could be Rovio. We'll have a full look at Angry Birds Friends after it releases later on this week.
[via AppAdvice]...
| Read more »
