The next time your Samsung Galaxy-toting friends try to annoy you, here's a piece of information you can throw back at them. According to a study published yesterday by investment bank Piper Jaffray, iPhones depreciate at less than half the rate of similar Android devices from Samsung.

Analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray referred to the new index as "a pulse on what consumers are willing to pay for unsubsidized phones in the US." The index compares US eBay auction ending prices for the iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II over a rolling 8 weeks to create a trend on resale prices.

"The key takeaway from 8 weeks of data is that the iPhone is holding slightly more of its value compared to the top two Galaxy phones," according to Munster. The iPhone 5's eBay auction ending value dropped about 11.2 percent in the last 8...

From 9to5Google:

Google just announced its much rumored new music service called Google Play Music “All Access” live on stage at its Google I/O event keynote presentation.

Google execs focused on showing off curated playlists but also made a note of pointing out a “radio” feature that will automatically create an endless radio station based on the song you’re currently...

You can create a standalone OS X installation drive without having purchased OS X from the App Store.

From 9to5Google:

We knew from leaks in the weeks leading up to I/O that Google was planning some gaming related announcements and today the company has officially announced the service in a press release ahead of its Google I/O keynote taking place now. Not only will the service allow Android developers to build in real-time multiplayer, social features, achievements, and leaderboards while storing game saves and settings in the cloud, the SDK for Google Play game services will also be available to iOS and web developers.

Google noted a few titles for Android have already been updated with the feature including World of Goo, Super Stickman Golf 2, Beach Buggy Blitz, Kingdom Rush, Eternity Warriors 2, and Osmos.

Not surprisingly, the cross-platform gaming service will also build in Google+...

Keep it short and sweet, folks.

Per The Unofficial Apple Weblog, Apple’s voice interaction system Siri has been updated, this time specifically to ask users to keep it short. Siri’s system doesn’t deal well with longer user queries, so if you happen to ask something that’s just too long for Siri to deal with, she’ll interrupt you, giving you a quote from a famous person, and then asking you to rephrase the question, shorter or in fewer words. Siri herself doesn’t have the authority to change your speech patterns, apparently, so she’s recruited figures such as William Strunk and Thomas Jefferson to make her point more clearly.

So,...

You can’t say ABC’s not investing in the iOS side of things…

Per AppleInsider, Tuesday saw the launch of of version 3.0.0 broadcaster ABC’s iOS app, one that for the first time will allow users in select markets to watch live television from a U.S. broadcaster.

The new version saw ABC’s app’s name change from ABC Player to Watch...

Mac Geek Gab cohost Dave Hamilton joined the Mac Roundtable crew to talk about the the lull in Apple news, and what type of leadership the company needs.

Handy updates are handy updates.

Late Tuesday, Adobe released version 11.0.03 of its Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat Pro applications. The updates, which can also be snagged through the Adobe Update Utility, add the following fixes and changes:

Japanese support:
- Automatic signature detection is supported.

- Added support for the Japanese Postal Code barcode.

EchoSign integration:
- Acrobat and Reader now intelligently detect if a document may need to be...

Mac Geek Gab listener Stephen is trying to update an app on his Mac, but the app's installer won't work because the app, or its processes, are still running. We show him how to quit those pesky apps and kill their hidden processes so that he can safely update or remove the app from his system.

Last year’s party at WWDC went so well, I decided to have another one this year. This is an invite-only event and I do ask that you RSVP. Invitations will be emailed out today.

An app called Buycott is giving iPhone owners the chance to make a political statement each and every time they shop. The concept behind the app is simple: when you're in a store, scan an item's UPC code to see what parent company owns the product.

"What company owns the product?" you might ask. "Wouldn't that be the name of the company on the package?"

Not necessarily. Popular brand names are often subsidiaries of bigger corporations. And those corporations might have their fingers in things you politically disagree with. This means that even though there is no way you would support the corporation's political activities (say they donate to political campaigns you don't like) you may be inadvertently supporting that corporation by buying one of its subsidiary's products.

Gallery: Buycott

...

Apple has denied U.S. Justice Department claims that it colluded with publishers to artificially raise ebook prices and is saying the companies had independently decided they wanted to break Amazon's stronghold on the market ahead of iBookstore negotiations. The company said it ultimately negotiated individually with publishers to strike content deals through what it called hardline talks.

The Mac Observer Spin:
Apple is the only company that hasn't agreed to a settlement in the DOJ's ebook price fixing case, and it's lookinging like the company is ready to see this through to the end. Since the accused publishers all agreed to deals Amazon was able to start setting its own ebook prices again, so regardless of the case's final outcome, it looks like Amazon is already the winner.

...

Fixes issues recognizing connected video cameras and improves compatibility with iMovie for iOS($14.99 new, free update, 1.08 GB)

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 delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

Daniel Eran Dilger:

Malware targeting mobile devices is rapidly growing in both the number of variants found in the wild and in their complexity and sophistication, but the only platform being actively targeted is Google’s Android, which researchers now say is resembling Windows on the desktop PC.

Perfect.

∞ Read this on The Loop

Beleaguered smartphone maker BlackBerry has announced that its Messenger service will come to iOS and Android this summer. The chat service, one of BlackBerry’s most loved features, is still used by 60 million people a month, generating 10 billion messages per day (that’s five times as many iMessages were sent per day as of January 2013). But with BlackBerry’s woes of the past few years, the release still feels like a rearguard action.

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 delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

Facebook Home has come under attack both for not doing enough and for taking over too much of an Android phone.

But the folks behind Facebook’s mobile project say that, like many engineering efforts at the company, the goal was to get out a product that did a set of features, and then tweak things from there.

Speaking at the recent Dive Into Mobile conference, Facebook’s Mike Schroepfer and Cory Ondrejka talked about how Home came to be, and also hinted that the software could soon span areas beyond the home screen and messaging, with photos and dialing among the areas of interest.

Facebook also used the appearance to announce the arrival of the Chat Heads feature for the...

Nvidia is making its Shield game console a reality – expect to see it in June, for $349.

As the debate over use of portable electronics during takeoff and landing of commercial flights rages on, details of a 2011 incident suggest that an iPhone may have caused interference with the flight equipment on a regional airliner.  ...

Jeff Gamet, The Mac Observer's Managing Editor, joined the team at The Mac Show to talk about more about Adobe's licensing changes and Creative Cloud, as well as what may be in store for Apple's World Wide Developer Conference this year.

Yahoo! Mail for iOS received an update that brings support for printing attachments via AirPrint on compatible printers. The update also includes improvements to the performance of the app as well as bug fixes.

The update is available now in the App Store.

//

What’s New in Version 1.5.3

● AirPrint: Easily print messages on your AirPrint-enabled printer, by selecting “Print” in the reply menu of a message, or via...

In the ongoing e-book price fixing case with the Department of Justice, in which Apple is accused of conspiring with publishers to fix eBook pricing and cut out Amazon, Apple has again responded to the DOJ’s claims detailing the “tough negotiations” it went through with publishers. To further prove its point that it was not colluding with publishers to fix e-book pricing, Apple said it “one-on-one” and “contentious negotiations” at a time when publishers were already considering methods of getting Amazon to increase pricing:

//

But Apple said the publishers had decided, independent of Apple, to eliminate discounts on wholesale book prices of e-books, to sell lucrative hardcover books first to bookstores in a practice called windowing and to take other measures to push Amazon to raise prices.

Each...

Apple is attempting to add Samsung's Galaxy S4 smartphone to its list of infringing products in its ongoing California patent lawsuit. The hope is to strike down its rival's latest smartphone before it can penetrate the market. Apple's claims against Samsung are nothing new. However, since the patent process can be slow -- especially compared to an industry that is advancing so fast -- many infringement claims are on outdated devices with few sales.

Yes, Google plans to launch a subscription music service this week, via its Google Play store.

And yes, Google still  plans to launch a separate subscription music service, later this year, via its YouTube site.

Make sense? Of course not.

It makes lots of sense for both YouTube and Play, which was built for Google’s Android devices, to sell music subscriptions.

YouTube is the world’s biggest free music service, which could make it a fantastic funnel for a Spotify-like paid offering,...

One of the problems with giving people advice is that certain topics are so... personal. Our previous experiences, current technology and outside pressures inevitably corral us into a particular line of thinking or acting. So it is with the debate over paper vs. software solutions. Personally, I've found a mix of both to be handy. A quick poll of the TUAW crew indicates a similar divide: Some of us use paper almost to the exclusion of software, whereas some of us went digital once we found enough apps to deliver us from dead trees. Most of us use a blend of both, however. In this week's productivity tip, I want to discuss when you might want to use paper or an app, and some specific apps and resources for both.

Paper (and whiteboards, etc.)

The thing about paper is that you have to write on it. That seems simplistic, but for some that's actually a big deal. I happen to learn by doing something, and I...

Hedge-fund billionaire Daniel Loeb’s campaign to pressure Sony Corp. into spinning off its entertainment arm is the latest tremor to ripple through Japan’s electronics industry, already reeling from unprecedented losses stemming from its lost standing in the technology world.

After a miserable past few years, marked by the rise of Samsung Electronics Co. and the dominance of Apple Inc., Japan’s once-powerful electronics manufacturers are grappling with outside investors and fed-up creditors looking to break the cozy and insular bonds that were once a hallmark of the country’s corporate sector.

Read the rest of this post on the original site »

There’s a popular myth that Apple’s iPad and other tablets are simply media-consumption devices, unsuitable for productivity applications. That’s just not so, and this week I tested a variety of office suites for the iPad for mini-reviews of their capabilities. In fact, I wrote and edited this entire column on an iPad using the most popular paid iPad app, the $10 Pages word processor by Apple.

[ See post to watch video ]

Not every productivity task is optimally done on tablet software, of course. Writing a plain text document like this one isn’t the same as creating a large, nuanced spreadsheet. For complex documents, I still recommend using a PC or Mac.

And then there’s the problem with typing on a tablet’s virtual keyboard. If you’re going to use your iPad for longer documents, I suggest using a Bluetooth keyboard. I used a physical keyboard to write this, though I usually am fine with the on-screen one.

Despite these caveats, iPads and other tablets...

My birthday was last week on May 6, and Firaxis must have heard about that because in recent weeks they've released not one but two great turn-based strategy games. First, Haunted Hollow was released as a great, original free-to-play title, and now the legendary Sid Meier (of Civilization and Pirates) has released a game called Ace Patrol, available as a free download on iOS.

Ace Patrol is excellent -- it's a turn-based dogfighting game, where you manuver pilots in WWII around a battlefield, climbing, diving, and swooping around into position all while trying to accomplish certain goals or take out the other side. Progression in the game is marked by "maneuvers," so pilots who have leveled up have access to more and advanced moves. Weapons fire for free, but you've got to line up closely to...

Investment bank Piper Jaffray on Tuesday announced the results in its new iPhone resale value index, finding that Apple's iPhone depreciates at a rate less than half that of corresponding Android devices from Samsung.  ...

Games publisher EA is planning to bring the Frostbite engine to iOS and Android, according to the company's website. "One of our most exciting current projects is called Frostbite Go, a mobile division empowering EA game developers with Frostbite's proven excellent workflows and features to bring true Frostbite experiences to all major mobile platforms," the site's History page reads. Switching over to the This is Frostbite page, EA mentions "diverse targets from XBOX360 and PlayStation 4 to iOS and Android."...  ...

Finger Tied is an iPad app that arrived late last year. It's put together by developer Owen Goss, and he says that a lot of users have asked him to create an iPhone version of the app, but given that it's a game that uses the iPad's big screen for lots of finger-swiping space, he didn't want to make it until he was sure he could do it justice.

Apparently he found a way, because he's delivering the iPhone version next week, with a game called Finger Tied, Jr. There's a short post up on his blog talking about the game, and as you can see from the picture above, it's more compact than the full iPad title. But that could be fun anyway.

Finger Tied, Jr. is due out next week, May 23. Stay tuned for a full look at the app sometime after that.

...

Apple released iMovie 9.0.9 for Mac on Tuesday. The update improves support for importing projects from iMovie for iOS. It also includes a bug fix and unspecified stability improvements.

Nektar announced on Tuesday that it is shipping the Panorama P1,  a compact USB control surface for Cubase, Nuendo, and Reason. This pretty little thing has 66 real-time controls, a TFT color display, and it was designed specifically for the three music creation applications above. If you're using ReWire, you can switch back and forth between the apps and the P1 will switch between Mixer, Instrument, and Transporter mode as needed. Pretty cool! It's priced at US$349.99/€289.99/£244.99, and it's available now.

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.

Subscribe via RSS

Daily Update for May 14, 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 14 May 2013 17:45:00 EST. Please see our...

Adding items to the Finder sidebar and Dock in OS X is one more thing that shortcuts can make a bit easier.

Absolute Software has introduced Computrace Mobile Theft Management (MTM) an iOS loss management and theft recovery solution. Currently, the service is limited to iPad and iPad mini in K-12 education. Computrace MTM goes beyond the built-in iOS features to initiate rapid response service and start the investigation process to obtain evidence for police, all leading to physical recovery.

A Florida woman, Debra Hilton, has filed a class action lawsuit against Apple on behalf of iPhone 4 owners, says GigaOM. The case alleges that Apple knew about a flex cable defect that was causing problems with the phone's power button, but stayed quiet to sell phones without fixing the issue. A lawyer for Hilton points to threads on Apple's support forums, as well as a repair video on YouTube claiming that the issue is prevalent with the 4....  ...

D-Link today announced its new line of AC routers -- the Wireless AC1750 Router (DIR-868L), Wireless AC1200 Router (DIR-860L), Wireless AC1000 Router (DIR-820L) and Wireless AC750 Router (DIR-810L) -- are now available. D-Link's family of AC routers are equipped with Dual Band technology enabling users to perform simple networking activities on the 2.4GHz band, and offload more demanding activities to the cleaner, more robust 5GHZ band. The routers are also backward compatible with 802.11a/b/g/n devices for enhanced connectivity. Prices range from $80 to $170, depending on model.... ...

According to version numbers, Firefox can now legally purchase an alcoholic beverage…

On Friday, Mozilla.org released version 21.0.1 of its Firefox web browser. The new version, a 40.2 megabyte download via MacUpdate, adds the following fixes and changes:
- The Social API now supports multiple providers.

- Enhanced three-state UI for Do Not Track (DNT).

- Firefox will suggest how to improve your application startup time if needed.

- Preliminary implementation of Firefox Health Report.

- Ability to restore removed thumbnails on New Tab Page.

- CSS -moz-user-select:none selection changed to improve compatibility with -webkit-user-select:none (bug 816298).

-...

Sure, kids can play with an iPad to learn how to program, but what about robots? Play-i is a start up company seeking to develop affordable (under US$100), programmable robots as an educational tool for children. Normally this would sound like the plot of a bad 90s sci-fi movie of the week, but the development team behind the Play-i have impressive resumés.

CEO Vikas Gupta, a former head of consumer payments at Google, is joined by Saurabh Gupta, a former head of the iPod software team, and Mikal Greaves of Frog Design. The team also features Imran Kahn, a former head of marketing at Eloan Symantec.

The group is still a bit shy about providing specifics about the robots they're designing, but...

ABC has relaunched its ABC Player app as Watch ABC, which now streams live programming in limited markets. Currently, live streaming of ABC programming is only available in the New York City and Philadelphia areas. The app is currently available…

The 40-year-old co-founder of the world’s No. 1 Internet search engine said that doctors have been unable to identify a cause for the “very rare” nerve problems affecting his vocal cords, but that he has been making progress in his recovery and is “fully able to do all I need to at home and at work,” he wrote on his Google+ page on Tuesday.

I hope he gets better soon.

∞ Read this on The Loop

That auction for coffee with Tim Cook we showed you last month wrapped up today, and it looks like the Apple CEO severely underestimated his value.

Tim Cook and Charitybuzz hoped to raise $50,000 for the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, but the final price for an hour long cup of coffee with Mr. Cook ultimately reached $610,000 just before bids closed today.

//

The winning bidder currently remains anonymous, and the auction permits two people to attend the meeting with the CEO, but we imagine we may soon learn the identity of the mysterious “a********s” with all the publicity around the auction.

The offer expires one year from today, and the meeting...

Boutique sound system manufacturer Geneva has announced the new Model S Wireless Bluetooth streaming speaker set. The new Model S Wireless offers completely re-engineered components than the original Model S, higher-grade electronics, better speaker, drivers and the convenience of wireless connectivity....  ...

In a court filing on Monday, Apple extended its ongoing litigation struggle with Samsung, adding the company’s recently released Galaxy S4 to the list of devices Apple says infringe on its patented designs.

∞ Read this on The Loop

Limelight is a new way to browse and organize your movie library. Become a movie critic and share your library with friends for only 99¢.

This is a cool looking app.

∞ Read this on The Loop

Sometimes it's cool to live in the future. Take Philips Hue, an energy saving lightbulb that can be controlled by your iPhone or iPad. If you're coming home at night with an arm full of groceries and didn't leave the lights on, you can turn them on before you get into the house. They allow you too control the color, power, and brightness of your lighting, from anywhere in the world. Now with the latest update to their iOS app Philips has brought geofencing support to their already brainy smart bulb.

The geofencing feature allows you to activate a scene in your room automatically when you arrive at a location, without having to do it manually each time. Come in from a long day at work and have your house know you've come home by greeting you an illuminated living room. The alarm settings have also been improved, so whether you're using the alarm to make it look like someone's home when you're away or simply to wake up, you're in...

Currently Apple's online store has a vast selection of refurbished iMac models. The 21.5-inch iMac, with a 2.5GHz Intel quad-core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive, has seen a price cut of $220, bringing the cost down to $979. A $310 discount is offered on the 21.5-inch iMac with a 2.7GHz Intel quad-core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive, now $1,189....   ...

The video of International Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield performing a tailored version of David Bowie's "Space Oddity" as a farewell to the ISS which has recently gone viral was created using an iPad. Hadfield, who has become a sensation in his native Canada and worldwide for his social media presence and earlier musical efforts, will be recording an entire album of songs based on the mission, and was the first person to record an earlier song while in orbit. Hadfield employed Garageband and other apps to help make the video.... ...