iPad By Davis: “DeskPets Carbot iPhone controlled race car review” plus 19 more

DeskPets Carbot iPhone controlled race car review
Omnifocus vs Todo vs... Things 2: iPhone task management app update!
Apple Retail reportedly price-matching discounted iPhones
iPhone 5 preview: New, smaller Dock connector
Remains of the Day: Open up
Review: Canon PowerShot G1 X shoots amazing photos
If you're waiting on an Apple TV 3 (1080p) jailbreak, keep waiting...
iMore show 305: New new iPad and polka dubstep
Collage app Mixel will shut down in September
Task-management app Things updated with cloud sync, new features
Posts: Very Impressive New Blogging App for iPad
Apple retail stores offer price match for iPhone 4/4S
Making dollars and sense of Apple’s enormous share of mobile computing profits
Four high-level Facebook officials resign in the past week
Encrypt any disk in Mountain Lion
Awww, Cat Loves iPad
Pinterest social network now available to all comers
Google to pay $22.5 million fine over Safari privacy violations
Valve expands Steam delivery platform beyond games
Pixelmator adds Retina, Mountain Lion support

DeskPets Carbot iPhone controlled race car review

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 09:08 PM PDT

CarBots are billed as "micro-robotic" race cars, and while that's pretty cool in and of itself, the really cool part is this -- they're "micro-robotic" race cars you can control with you iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, or even Android!

The box contains two parts. The first part is the CarBot itself. It comes in different colors and each color has its own frequency -- you'll see why that's important later -- and you can customize it further if you so wish. The CarBot makes sounds, but you can mute it with the switch on the top. You can also power it on and off.

There's a flip down, bare-bones USB connector on the back that charges it up, and it lasts for about 20 minutes on a charge. That's not great but it's about par for the course on USB powered toys like this these days. Unfortunately, because of the odd shape of the bare-bones USB connector, it doesn't fit into all USB plugs, and because of the size of the CarBot, it can't fit into USB ports are in between other UBS ports already in use.

There's also a mode button so you can pick just exactly the type of game you want to play with the Carbot. But we'll get to that in a minute.

In addition to the CarBot you get the CarBot remote control. It plugs into the 3.5mm headset jack and puts your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad at your beck and call. Unlike the CarBot, the remote control doesn't charge over USB, and it doesn't draw power from the 3.5mm jack. It takes batteries.

It also requires the DeskPets app from the App Store. And... it's not a great one. It starts things off in the worst possible way, with a giant Terms & Conditions intercept you have to agree for before the app will even run. Lawyers aren't programmers or designers for a reason. Once you're in, you're offered a chance to go through a Quick Guide, which is long and not very well done. (The second screen tells me how to re-enter a product code, which is never told me why or how to enter in the first place?)

The DeskPets app also has the website name on the bottom of the control page, where it can be accidentally tapped, and will then rip you out of the app and send you to Safari. Again, a really bad experience. They're thinking about themselves and not the user, which is exactly the wrong thing to do.

Once you're all set up and powered up, however, we get to those cool, important, games I teases earlier. You can race, you can drift, You can let CarBot's try to solve the mazes you set up for it, and you can go head-to-head, and CarBots-to-Carbots, in full on battle mode. Just hit the mode button on the top and pick your pleasure.

The good

CarBots are easy to control
Racing is fun
Battle mode is neato

The bad

Infrared control needs batteries
CarBots USB is poorly shaped and charge only lasts 25 min.
App is poorly designed

The bottom line

The Desk Pets app needs a lot of work from someone who cares about how it should work, but the toy itself is solid. CarBots is a lot of fun, even by yourself, and tremendously fun for a family or group of friends.

Omnifocus vs Todo vs... Things 2: iPhone task management app update!

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 06:53 PM PDT

Things 2.0 vs Omnifocus and Todo (updated)

Things, the popular task app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, was updated to Things 2 today. We recently took a look at how the previous version of Things stacked up to both Omnifocus and Todo. But how does Things 2 compare?

I've gone back and updated our shootout to include all the latest, greatest Things features. That includes native sync and the new daily review feature that allows you to see all your tasks due for the day and quickly move them to another day when needed so you can prioritize better.

Is it enough to win our recommendation over both Omnifocus and Todo? Hit the link below to find out!

Omnifocus vs. Todo vs. Things: task apps for iPhone shootout!

Apple Retail reportedly price-matching discounted iPhones

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 06:53 PM PDT

Apple is reportedly matching the close to $50 discount carriers and retailers have begun offering on the iPhone 4S. While carriers and retailers typically start discounting the current iPhone as it approaches the 1 year mark, and a next generation iPhone looms on the horizon, Apple matching them is somewhat surprising. Eric Slivka reports for MacRumors

A source has now revealed to MacRumors that Apple's retail stores have been given authorization to match these discounted prices from approved major retailers and carriers. In all cases, Apple will discount iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 models by $49.01 upon request.

Retail only, of course, not online. And bring the proof of the price you want them to match. Given Apple's stellar customer service, the extra hassle in getting the price match is worth it. All other things being equal, especially price, if you can't wait a month for an iPhone 5 and need a new phone now, now, now, go to Apple and save your $50 bucks there.

Anyone pulling the trigger?

Source: MacRumors

iPhone 5 preview: New, smaller Dock connector

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 05:39 PM PDT

iPhone 5 preview: New, smaller Dock connector

Way back in February, iMore learned Apple was planning to ditch the traditional Dock connector to go with something smaller. With the next iPhone, new technologies like LTE 4G networking will need every millimeter and milliamp of battery they can get, while AirPlay and Wi-Fi sync are reducing the need for physical cables.

The moment rumors of a new Dock port emerged, many expressed hope it would feature a MagSafe-style connector, like Apple's MacBook line of laptops. Symmetrical, it could be plugged in without worrying about up or down, and magnetically coupled for better ease of use. Others dream of ThunderBolt (sadly, that requires PCI architecture, which iOS currently does not have). Others simply wanted to make sure all their old Dock accessories would still be compatible and still work.

Compatibility is an easier topic to look into, if only slightly...

Apple could be getting ready to ditch the traditional dock connector

The current 30-pin Dock connector is a monstrosity of legacy standards and abandoned interconnects. Up until a few years ago, the 30-pin Dock connector had 6 FireWire pins, 4 of which have now been re-tasked to HDMI. It still has 2 serial pins (sending and receiving), and 4 video pins (including the aging composite and component), it has an accessory detector and an audio connection detector, it has grounds on both ends, and it has 2 pins that are unassigned.

The Dock probably doesn't need the unassigned pins anymore. It probably doesn't need all those grounds. Given Apple's fearless aggression when it comes to dropping aging technology, it probably doesn't need the composite and component video pins, or the serial pins.

If Apple really wanted to, they could probably cut all the way down to 4 pins of pure USB (2 data, power, ground). If they did that, however, they could just go with a micro-USB connector, put a smile on the EU's face, and be done with it.

But they're not, they're going with a Dock connector, only newer and smaller. It's tempting to assume the worst, that Apple wouldn't go to micro-USB simply to maintain proprietary control over their Dock connector licensing program. We could also assume the best, however, Apple might be doing what they did with the original Dock -- making a single connector that can do multiple things in the most compact packaging possible. Likely there's elements of both at play.

Multiple things, however, means more pins. TechCrunch claims they've heard 19 pins. iLounge heard 8. 9to5Mac found strings in iOS 6 for 9 pins.

So lets build back up again.

Apple cut-the-cord to iTunes with iOS 5. Cutting the 30-pin dock connector down to size is a logical next step.

4 UBS pins, plus 4 HDMI (2 data, 2 clock) pins would come out to 8 pins total. Add a proprietary detector pin, and you have 9. (There'd still be a 3.5mm jack for legacy audio.)

Take those 9, however, and add back the 4 audio Line pins (left and right, in and out) for and you have 13. If USB 3.3v and 5v are kept separately as they are now, that's 14. 2 serial pins, 3 composite and component pins (video out + Pb, Y, and Pr), and that could be a way to reach 19.

Obviously, for accessory makers and current and past accessory owners alike, a 19 pin Dock would offer a far more options. With the adapter iMore learned about in July, it would allow backwards compatibility for the widest range of existing accessories, including the aging video standards.

Unless Apple makes a very elaborate, and very expensive adapter or set of adapters -- which based on past history is highly unlikely -- an 8 or 9 pin Dock would greatly reduce compatibility with current and past accessories. Old cables could charge and transfer USB and HDMI data, but not much else.

Bottom line, space will be at a premium in the iPhone 5, and given the way Apple shoves old connectors aside, even their own FireWire, to make room for the future, it wouldn't be surprising if the newer, smaller Dock connector goes with the fewest pins possible.

Remains of the Day: Open up

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 04:30 PM PDT

A hotly-anticipated text editor is now open for business, we bid adieu to the second-generation iPhone, and turns out streaming digital music isn't bad for business.

Review: Canon PowerShot G1 X shoots amazing photos

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 03:30 PM PDT

The $800 Canon PowerShot G1 X has a very large sensor for a fixed-lens camera, and its image quality is absolutely stunning. On macro photos, autofocus speeds, and fast-action shots, however, it may let you down.

If you're waiting on an Apple TV 3 (1080p) jailbreak, keep waiting...

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 01:54 PM PDT

Apple TV 3 jailbreak is far from being complete; in fact no one seems to be even working on it If you have been patiently waiting for a jailbreak to be released for the third generation Apple TV (1080p) then you are going to be in for a huge disappointment. According to iOS jailbreaker pod2g, he is not working on a jailbreak for the Apple TV 3 and he is not aware of anyone else who is either.

ATV3 jailbreak: I have no news sadly, I'm not currently working on it nor anyone that I'm aware of. Sorry...

The third generation Apple TV was released way back in March of this year and has yet to see any development on the jailbreak front. The second generation Apple TV has been jailbroken now on all iOS software versions, and is a hugely capable media center once Apple's restrictions have been bypassed. You can then run XBMC and other media management apps which will let you access media stored on file servers and play media types not supported by Apple.

The lack of any progress with a jailbreak for the Apple TV 3 will make the used market for Apple TV 2's go into overdrive; due to the huge interest in jailbreaking the device. I sold my second generation Apple TV a few months back and it sold for nearly double the amount that I paid for it. If you aren't interested in jailbreaking your second gen Apple TV, now may be the time to cash in on it and get the third generation model and have money left over. If you do decide to upgrade in this way, you can look forward to some 1080p content and some spare cash too.

Have you been waiting patiently for an Apple TV 3 jailbreak? If you have, are you going to look at different alternatives now that it looks like you may have to wait a whole lot longer?

Source: @pod2g

iMore show 305: New new iPad and polka dubstep

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 02:19 PM PDT

Rene and Georgia are joined by Marc Edwards of Bjango to talk September 12 event rumors, a new new iPad, 16:9 repercussions, Apple ditching YouTube, and console quality graphics. This is the iMore show!

Subscribe via iTunes: Audio | Video
Subscribe via RSS: Audio | Video
Download directly: Audio | Video

September 12 and iPhone 5

iOS 6

Misc

Hosts

Georgia (GeorgiaTiPb
Rene Ritchie (@reneritchie)

Guests

Marc Edwards (@marcedwards) of Bjango

Credits

You can reach all of us on Twitter @iMore, or you can email us at podcast@imore.com

For all our podcasts -- audio and video -- including the iMore show, ZEN and TECH, Iterate, and more, see MobileNations.com/shows

Smartphone and tablet market share numbers

So what are the real numbers? The most recent quarter to have ended is Q2 of calendar 2012. Let's have a look at some of what the industry analysts have published, shall we?

First up is the smartphone segment. Data from Canalys shows that 158 million smartphones were shipped in Q2. Over 100 million of these were Android phones, and Apple shipped about 26 million phones, for a market share of 16.4%

Oh, and just in case you don't trust the Canalys report, IDC issued a press release that says Apple's smartphone market share stands at 16.9% for the same period. Pretty close to Canalys' estimate.

It is really interesting to see that Android controls about 2/3 of the smartphone market, and I'll come back to this in a moment.

But next up, let's look at the tablet market. Again, we turn to IDC for a nice summary of Q2 tablet sales. In the tablet market, Apple still dominates with a whopping 68.2% global market share. But that's on a base of only 25 million units (versus 158 million smartphones). Still, it pushes up Apple's aggregate tablet + smartphone market share to about 23%, which is significantly higher than 6%.

Why Apple earns 77% of the profit

Now let's get back to the key question:

How does Apple earn more than 3-fold the percentage of industry profits than it has in market share?

According to the Raymond James report, Apple has 77% EBIT share, which is accounting speak for "operating profits". It stands for "earnings before interest and taxes", if you care.

77% of profits with only 23% of shipments? Is this crazy talk? No. I don't think it's crazy at all.

That said, I will say that the Raymond James analyst had to make his best guess on many pieces of non-public information. Specifically, a lot of Android volume comes from domestic Chinese vendors. Canalys estimates that 27% of smartphone shipments go to Chinese buyers. In China, the top 4 smartphone vendors are Samsung, ZTE, Lenovo and Huawei. Keep in mind that none of these companies break down their profitability in smartphones. Hence the (educated) guesswork by any analyst trying to report on this.

Notice another trend among smartphone vendors in China? It's called Android. Apple is growing in China. It's just that Android is growing faster. And this massive growth of Android in China is a perfect example of why Apple's profits are disproportionately higher than its global market share.

It's all about pricing power.

Apple's average selling price for the iPhone is above $600. The off-contract price starts at $649. Compare that to the newer, and certainly more expensive-to-manufacture Samsung Galaxy S3 varies by carrier by AT&T starts at $549 and Verizon at $599.

Apple dominates at the high end of the market. And even without the highest-end phone around, they make more money per phone than Samsung.

But the big Android volumes are not coming from high end devices. Much of it comes from low cost phones made by Samsung and other leading OEMs (original equipment manufacturers).

Apple controls its entire platform. And for those who enjoy Apple's walled-garden ways, it makes for a simple and beautiful user experience. Apple excels at selling more expensive products by making them useful, simple, and gorgeous. Android vendors tweak the UI, but largely compete on hardware. It's more of a commodity fight.

Some studies show that Android market share has peaked in the US market. Yet it continues to explode in low cost markets such as China and India. This suggests Apple's disproportionate share of profits will continue.

But there's another interesting point to consider. Let's look back to China. Right now Apple is the #5 smartphone vendor in the country. But what about for tablets? Digitimes recently reported on research firm Analysys International's study showing the iPad holds 72.7% market share for tablets in China.

Tablets are a much newer product than smartphones. They tend to be secondary devices as well. I'm guessing most folks who do not own a smartphone would rather buy one before considering a tablet. This makes tablets more suitable to richer people. Again, this plays to Apple's advantage.

In time, as smartphone adoption peaks, and as tablet prices continue to drop, I'm convinced Apple won't dominate quite so much on shipments. And they may not control nearly as high of a perctantage of the industry's total profits. But until Apple shifts away from selling into the high end of the market (if it ever happens), Apple will likely hang onto its disproportionate share of profits, relative to shipments.

For vendors who sell lower cost hardware, perhaps we'll see a lot of inivation around alternative revenue strategies. We've started to see this with the Kindle Fire. My guess is there is a lot more to happen here. But that's a topic for a future column.

Four high-level Facebook officials resign in the past week

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 10:45 AM PDT

Facebook has confirmed that four high-ranking managers are moving on from the company, news that will fuel speculation that the social networking giant may suffer a talent drain in the wake of its IPO.

Encrypt any disk in Mountain Lion

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 10:10 AM PDT

One of the more interesting—and less visible—new features in Mountain Lion is the ability to encrypt almost any disk, even simple USB flash drives. Here's how to access this hidden option.

Awww, Cat Loves iPad

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 09:57 AM PDT

OK, laugh at me if you like – but this image of a cat cuddled up with an iPad instantly made the email it came in my favorite PR approach of the day. That's just too cute – and I'm not even a 'cat guy', much more of a Labrador / dog guy.

The photo was included in an email promoting an iOS game called SubCat. There's an iPad version called SubCat HD, and the game's elevator pitch goes like so:

At it's core, SubCat's gameplay is very simple: Wipe away the fog on your screen to reveal the depths of the ocean, as well as different fish and items that dwell there. Then, try to catch and click on the items you've been asked to catch before your time runs out.

I'm not sure if I'll end up trying the game out, but I can safely say that the cute cat pic kept the approach email out of the Gmail trash folder this morning.

Now if I could just train our cat to treat iPads this way. His current favorite way to interact with the iPad is to walk all over it at every opportunity.

Pinterest social network now available to all comers

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 09:30 AM PDT

You no longer need an invitation to join social networking site Pinterest.

Google to pay $22.5 million fine over Safari privacy violations

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 09:10 AM PDT

Google will pay a historic fine to settle U.S. government charges that it violated privacy laws when it tracked via cookies users of Apple's Safari browser.

Valve expands Steam delivery platform beyond games

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 09:00 AM PDT

Hoping to break out from the confines of the gaming community, computer game distributor Valve will start hosting non-gaming programs on its Steam network.