martes, 4 de septiembre de 2012

iPad By Davis: “BBC iPlayer update coming today, will finally allow on device downloads” plus 19 more

iPad By Davis: “BBC iPlayer update coming today, will finally allow on device downloads” plus 19 more

BBC iPlayer update coming today, will finally allow on device downloads

Posted: 04 Sep 2012 12:31 AM PDT

BBC iPlayer update coming today, will finally allow on device downloadsThe BBC will finally release an update to its UK only BBC iPlayer app that will bring downloads to your iPhone and iPad. The current version of iPlayer will only allow you to stream content to your device which has always been very limiting, especially if you are travelling. The news comes from The Guardian and the update should go live sometime today.

From Tuesday, licence-fee payers will be able to download BBC programmes from the iPlayer video-on-demand service and watch them offline on Apple's iPhone and iPad at no extra cost, including while abroad. The development marks a significant shift for BBC iPlayer, which has previously only allowed viewers to stream programmes to tablets and mobile devices with broadband connections or download them to watch on a desktop computer.

Daniel Danker, the BBC's general manager of on-demand programmes, said: "This fundamentally changes one of the most annoying restrictions about viewing programmes. It means audiences are liberated from the constraints and it fundamentally changes what it means to go on holiday. "He added: "With mobile downloads, you can now load up your mobile phone or tablet with hours and hours of BBC programmes, then watch them on the road, on the tube, on a plane, without worrying about having an internet connection or running up a mobile data bill."

Once you have downloaded a TV episode, you will have a total of thirty days to enjoy it, after that it will become unwatchable on your device. If you start watching a program, you will then only have a further seven days to finish watching it. Strange restrictions I know but it must have something to do with media copyright etc.

The download service which is believed to launch later today, will start off as a Wi-Fi only service. The BBC will hopefully expand this to work over 3G too although with today's restrictive low quantity mobile data plans it may not be a much desired feature anyway. The BBC iPlayer service is free in the UK for all BBC Television licence payers and the download service will also be offered as a completely free service too.

I am extremely happy that the BBC has decided to introduce downloads to its iPhone and iPad apps. Being on a slow connection, streaming was never a great option for me, now I can download the programmes I want to see and watch them whenever I have time without the buffering and stuttering. If you are a BBC iPlayer user, are you happy about the new download functionality?

Source: The Guardian

iPhone 5 preview: Processor, graphics, RAM, and storage

Posted: 03 Sep 2012 08:38 PM PDT

iPhone 5 preview: Processor, graphics, and RAM

Apple is expected to announce their next generation iPhone on September 12, 2012, and while there have been a lot of leaks about what it may look like, there have only been a few about what will power it. That's not surprising. Apple seldom gives specifics about the processors inside the iPhone, or any of their iOS devices. They'll typically announce the name of the processor, maybe the number of cores, but they'll mostly just tell us how many times faster it is than the last generation, both in terms of computing and graphical power. And the amount of RAM is has? Forget about it. We'll likely not know the full details about the iPhone 5 processor until after it's launched and after it's been thoroughly torn down by third parties. That's the Apple way. In the meantime, all we can do is speculate based on past behavior and present technology.

Apple introduced their first in-house system-on-a-chip (SoC) in 2010. Called the Apple A4, Apple used it in the original iPad and carried a version of it over to the iPhone 4. The Apple A4 uses an ARM Cortex-A8 CPU and a PowerVR SGX 535 GPU. It's fabricated at 45nm, along with some performance enhancements supplied by Instrisity, a company Apple later bought. For the iPhone, it also supports 512MB of RAM.

Apple introduced the dual-core Apple A5 SoC in 2011 with the iPad 2, and again carried a version of it over to the iPhone 4S. The Apple A5 has an ARM Cortex-A9 and a PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU, along with 512MB of RAM. The original Apple A5 was 45nm, but a new version introduced with the Apple TV (2012) and updated iPad 2 (2012) was brought down to 32nm.

Instead of going to an Apple A6 SoC with the new iPad in 2012, Apple added a quad-core PowerVR SGX543MP4 GPU to the to the Apple A5, separated the 1GB of RAM from the package, and called it the Apple A5X.

Apple wouldn't use the Apple A5X in the iPhone 5 as well, however. At least not as is. The primary purpose of the Apple A5X chipset was to support the massive 2048x1536 Retina display that was brand new to the 3rd generation iPad platform. The iPhone went 960x640 Retina back in 2010 with the iPhone 4, so that load is already taken care of. Even if the rumors (addressed below) are accurate, and the iPhone 5 has a slightly bigger 1136x640 Retina display, that's still nothing that would require an A5X-style chipset.

It seems more likely Apple would go with the same type of general CPU and GPU performance improvements in the iPhone 5 that they delivered with the iPhone 4S. Whether or not they stay with the ARM Cortex A9 is a question. The newer, more efficient ARM Cortex A-15 is the next-generation CPU successor, much like the PowerVR 6 Rogue is the next-generation GPU. It would let the iPhone 5 do more, better, and it would be the bleeding edge option for Apple. But it may be bleeding edge enough to wait for next year's iPad 4 and iPhone 6(,1). The more conservative option is another Apple A5 processor at 32nm, tricked out with as much additional performance Apple can coax out of it. And 1GB of RAM.

More RAM is more. For everything from the amount of pages Safari can keep in memory, to the amount of apps -- especially big, greedy games -- that can be switched between without causing system lag, to the general, overall snappiness of the device itself. Apple has historically been stingy -- or efficient, depending on your point of view -- with RAM in the past. 1GB isn't excessive, but would let the iPhone 5 really let itself go.

When it comes to storage, Apple has doubled the maximum available capacity every two years. While the original iPhone shipped with an 8GB maximum, a 16GB version was introduced half a year later. The iPhone 3G also had a 16GB maximum. Both the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 have 32GB maximums. Last year, Apple doubled that again with the iPhone 4S, hitting 64GB. History, never mind pricing and NAND flash chip density, suggests we'll stay at 64GB this year as well.

There's been a sketchy parts leak that purports to show an Apple A6 branded processor on the iPhone 5 logic board. At the end of the day, what Apple calls the iPhone 5 chipset is a branding decision, but since Apple controls both the software and hardware, there's no need to simply throw silicone or cores at someone else's code.

So, whether or not it's called the Apple A6, something closer to the Apple A5 rather than Apple A5X in focus and architecture would deliver just exactly the performance vs. power balance Apple wants for their next generation phone.

Analysis: Time to give Java the boot?

Posted: 03 Sep 2012 03:00 PM PDT

Analysis: Time to give Java the boot? Analysis: The programming language has become one of the weakest links in a PC's and Mac's defenses against external threats, and is slowly -- and rightly -- being abandoned.

iOS 6 preview: Safari tab sync, uploads, banners, and full screen mode

Posted: 03 Sep 2012 03:32 PM PDT

iOS 6 preview: Safari tab sync, uploads, banners, and full screen mode

Safari has been on the iPhone since the first version launched in 2007, and has been steadily improved, year after year, version after version, ever since. iOS 6 follows the same, steady, evolutionary pattern, addressing long standing user pain-points like image uploads, and providing parity with features from other browsers, like Chrome's tab sync. It also makes Reading List more robust, and provides an interesting way for websites to alert users about, and move them into, apps.

Here's how Apple describes the new Safari features:

iOS 6 brings even better web browsing to your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. iCloud Tabs keeps track of which pages you have open on your devices, so you can start browsing on one device and pick up right where you left off on whatever device is handy. Safari now saves web pages — not just links — in your Reading List, so you can catch up on your reading even when you can't connect to the Internet.4 And when you're posting a photo or video to eBay, Craigslist, or another site, you can take photos and video — or choose from your Camera Roll — without leaving Safari. When you really want to see the whole picture, turn your iPhone or iPod touch to landscape and tap the full-screen icon to view web pages without distractions.

And here's how it works:

  • iCloud tabs let you see pages that are open on any other iOS or OS X device you have logged into the same account. So, if you start reading a page on your MacBook, you can instantly open it on your iPhone while you take the bus, and iPad while you sit at the coffee shop, and never lose your place.

  • Reading List has been extended with an offline mode. Now, when you save pages to Reading List, Safari will download a copy of the contents and keep it available to you, even if you don't have a connection when you want to read it (for example, if you're on the subway to or from work).

  • Photo uploads will intercept buttons on web sites that try to access your file system, and present you with the Camera app or Photos app image picker instead. So adding avatars and putting pictures on social networks can now be done directly in Safari.

  • If you go to a website that also has an App Store app, like Yelp! -- or iMore -- the website can tell you about the app with a Smart app banner, and give you a button to view it in the App Store. If you already have the app installed, the Smart app banner will give you a button to open the app, and take you to the same place in the app that you were looking at on the website. (Likely not automatically, but using some form of URL scheme.)

  • On the iPhone or iPod touch, if you rotate Safari to landscape mode, a new full-screen button appears. Tap it and almost all the browser interface elements disappear and you can view your content using every pixel of the display. (Semi-transparent buttons remain: one to exit full-screen mode, and one to browse back a page, if there's a previous page in the browser history.)

It's taken so long to get image uploads into Safari that almost every popular website has already created an app to provide that functionality. Still for sites that haven't, it's a welcome addition, long past due.

iCloud tabs can be handy for someone who has a lot of Apple devices. However, if you plan on using tab sync, and other people have access to your devices at home or at work, you might also want to look into iOS 5's Private Browsing mode...

The Instapaper inspired Reading List still won't be enough for power users, but it's finally beefy enough to be useful for most casual users.

Smart banners once again show Apple's prioritization of apps over web content, and given how much of a better user experience native apps remain, that's not a bad thing.

iOS 6 is scheduled for release this fall, perhaps as soon as September 19. For more on iOS 6 and Siri, check out:

Marche Grocery List for iPhone review

Posted: 03 Sep 2012 03:02 PM PDT

Marche Grocery List is, well, a grocery list app for the iPhone that features over 1700 common grocery items built right into it. Marche (which is French for "market") keeps track of what you've purchased, the price of each item, and the total price of your list.

Marche Grocery List focuses on grocery lists, but there's nothing keeping you from creating lists for other places you shop. If you want to add an item to your list that isn't included in Marche, you can add it to the database. In addition to different types of shopping lists, many users also use Marche as a way to make lists for competing locations (like two different grocery stores) as a way to compare prices.

The Shopping list view of Marche will show the title of all your lists, the date you last edited it, and the total cost of that list, including tax. If you tap the toolbar at the bottom of the screen, a new screen that displays a chart of the total costs of your lists over the last 7 months will slide up.

When adding an item to your list, March will automatically generate a list of items while you type. Not only does this speed up the process, but it shows choices you may not have thought of at first. For example, you may have been planning to add something basic like chicken to your list, but Marche will show specific choices like chicken breasts, cutlets, legs, livers, thighs, wings, and more. You can of course still choose to go with the more generic term "chicken" if you want. Also, Marche will display all your choices in categories instead of just one big alphabetical list making it easy to find what you're looking for.

After choosing the item you want, you can select from the following quantities: lb, gr, dr, oz, fl, fl oz, pt, qt, gal, item, can, doz, bag, btl, pack and select how many of the selected quantity you want to add to your list. Lastly, you can assign a price to the item either as a per unit price or a total price and select if sales tax should be applied to the item (sales tax value can be edited in settings).

To edit any of the above on a list item, simply hold your finger down on the entry. A quick tap on the entry will cross it out. Tapping the four leaf clover icon (similar to Command key on a Mac keyboard) in the upper right corner will generate a list of other actions you do to your list, the most notable being the ability to create a template.

A template is basically is a list of recipe ingredients. For example, you can create a template for "smoked salmon" that includes salmon, onion, sauce, etc. Then every time you add smoked salmon to you list, all of the required ingredient items will be added to your list instead.

This really is just a brief look at everything that Marche Grocery List has to offer. Some of the other features include a shopping timer, notes for each list, custom actions, customizable wallpapers, csv export, print via AirPrint, and more.

The good

  • Beautiful UI with multiple wallpaper options
  • Add quantity and price to each list item
  • Edit sales tax
  • Create templates
  • Shopping timer
  • Notes
  • Custom actions
  • Supports csv export
  • Print via AirPrint
  • Includes detailed user manual

The bad

  • Requires some time to get used to and learn

The conclusion

Marche Grocery List is a very feature-heavy grocery shopping iPhone app that is perfect for people who are very detailed and organized with their planning. If you prefer simple and fast lists, Marche is not for you, but for the detail-oriented folk, you probably wanna give Marche a look.

$2.99 - Download Now

HP releases two beta versions of open-source webOS

Posted: 03 Sep 2012 02:30 PM PDT

HP releases two beta versions of open-source webOS Hewlett-Packard has released two beta versions of its open source webOS -- one for developers that runs on the Ubuntu Linux desktop, and one intended to help developers port webOS to new devices

TechHive: Join Google+ Hangouts directly from Google Calendar

Posted: 03 Sep 2012 02:00 PM PDT

TechHive: Join Google+ Hangouts directly from Google Calendar When you want to schedule a hangout with someone, you no longer have to tediously type it into your Google Calendar. Instead, you can schedule and join with a single click.

Pad & Quill iPhone and iPad cases: Labor Day giveaway!

Posted: 03 Sep 2012 02:17 PM PDT

Pad & Quill make some of the finest hand-crafted cases ever to grace the iPhone and iPad and just to put the perfect topped on the Labor Day weekend, they want to give some away to our fantastic iMore readers.

If you love the moleskin look, if you like nothing better than to swathe your metal and glass in wood and leather, if you absolute love it when the most advanced computing platforms on the planet are beautifully balanced with the very best of out-world binding, then you'll love Pad & Quill

Here's how to enter:

  1. Go to Pad & Quill's iPhone page or Pad & Quill's iPad page.
  2. Look at the list of cases for your device.
  3. Copy the URL (link) for the specific case you like best.
  4. Paste the URL (link) in the comments below.
  5. Tell us what made you pick it!

And that's it! We'll pick four (4) winners and Pad & Quill will send the winners the case they picked!

Giveaway starts now. Winners will be announced Monday, September 10, 2012. Good luck and get entering!

Courtesy: Pad & Quill

Tweetbot for Mac returns in beta form

Posted: 03 Sep 2012 01:15 PM PDT

Tweetbot for Mac returns in beta form A few days after pulling the Tweetbot for Mac alpha due to new Twitter API restrictions, developer Tapbots released a beta version of its Twitter client. But the new release won't let you add or reauthorize any accounts.

Three painless ways to get photos off your iPhone

Posted: 03 Sep 2012 12:18 PM PDT

Three painless ways to get photos off your iPhone Stop emailing photos to yourself. Here are three ways to automate photo syncing with your computer.

A weekend, an editor, and getting Mozilla's Boot to Gecko running on a Nexus S

Posted: 03 Sep 2012 11:14 AM PDT

With the iPhone and Android, and the entire mobile market as hot as it is right now, it's no surprise that everyone from Amazon to Facebook to -- dunno, McDonald's? -- is rumored to be hard at work on their own smartphone. Even Mozilla, the folks whose Gecko rendering engine power Firefox, have their Boot to Gecko project. And this weekend, Android Central's own Phil Nickinson decided to give himself a project of his own and get B2G compiled and working on the Samsung Nexus S.

Not a bad little project, actually. It took a couple hours, a working Nexus S and some hard drive space, but it wasn't too taxing on the brain. Once you have it flashed onto the phone, you can back it up using custom Android recoveries, then come and go as you please.

I'd give this a 6 out of 10 on the difficulty scale, only because I really don't know what I'm doing when it comes to compiling code. But I follow directions pretty well, and Mozilla made things nice and easy. This is one you can attempt yourself.

You can watch the video above to see how the very-alpha alpha runs on the aging Nexus S hardware, but the most interesting part is the do-it-yourself angle. We're huge DIY fans here at iMore, and huge geeks, and we love seeing alternate takes on smartphone interfaces.

My only complaint? The interface looks a little conventional. I understand that familiarity is a feature, but we have iPhone and we have Android already, and if Mozilla is going to invest in yet-another-platform, it'd be nice to see a novel take. webOS, which tried a similar HTML5-centric approach, mixed the conventional with some forward-thinking ideas like pervasive cards, synergy, just type, and more. BlackBerry10 is going a lot with gestures and maintaining one-handed ease of use on large screen devices. Windows Phone 8 went with tiles and panoramas.

In future alphas and betas, it'd be nice to see Mozilla stretch the same kind of design muscles. Be a little daring. And show us paradigms better than what have come before. And maybe that's already on future roadmaps? We'll see.

In the meantime, if B2G looks like something you'd like to try and you have the time, tenacity, and materials you need, hit the link below and try it out yourself. Then let us know what you think.

Source: Android Central

Twitter rival App.net gets its own iOS client

Posted: 03 Sep 2012 10:45 AM PDT

Twitter rival App.net gets its own iOS client The Twitter-rival that pledges to do microblogging right expands its reach with its first iOS app.

Walmart experiments with iPhone-based checkout

Posted: 03 Sep 2012 10:00 AM PDT

Walmart experiments with iPhone-based checkout Walmart is testing a new system that not only would save the company money but reduce the amount of time customers have to interact with the world's largest retailer's self-checkout machines.

Add page animations and transitions to your iPhone or iPad with DisplayCandy [jailbreak]

Posted: 03 Sep 2012 09:25 AM PDT

Add page animations and transitions to your iPhone or iPad with DisplayCandy [jailbreak]

If you've got a jailbroken iPhone or iPad and you've grown bored with the stock page transitions (or lack thereof), DisplayCandy can make things a bit more interesting by adding animations for opening, closing, and switching between apps.

Once you've installed DisplayCandy to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch you'll notice that some default animations may already be selected. You can pop into your default Settings app to change them. DisplayCandy currently offers over 10 transitions to choose from. Among them are page curl, ripple, reveal, camera iris, cube, flip, and more.

DisplayCandy settings on iPad

From Settings you can control animations for each type of action separately which means you can choose different options for launching apps, closing apps, and switching between them. The only other option there is to configure is the length of time you want the transition to take. By default it will be set on the fastest option which creates the quickest transitions. You can move the slider to the right in order to slow down the transitions if you'd like. In most cases, you'll probably want the lowest setting so the animations don't inhibit your regular workflow.

DisplayCandy is available in Cydia now and will work on any iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 5 or higher.

$2.00 - Cydia Search Link

In Praise of iPad Voice Dictation on the New iPad

Posted: 03 Sep 2012 09:20 AM PDT

iPad Voice Dictation

Voice Dictation on the iPad has steadily grown on me and is now one of my favorite features on the new iPad. I've always felt that it was a more interesting and useful feature than Siri, but when it first came to the new iPad I just didn't remember to use it often enough to get great benefit from it.

Now I find that I'm using it more and more frequently, and that the more I use it the better it gets. And of course the better it gets the more tempted I am to use it even more frequently. I knew this feature was supposed to learn from you as you go along if you took the time to correct it, and I'm very impressed with how well it does at this.

As I've spent more time using it I've also started to remember to speak slowly and clearly to help it be closer to 100% accurate. It's not at 100% accuracy just yet, but I'm beginning to feel it may get close to that soon.

By now it works so well for me that lately I find myself using voice dictation more than normal typing on the iPad, except of course when I'm out and about. I use it more than anything for taking lengthy notes on apps or accessories that I'm reviewing, but also for things like sending a quick email or a quick tweet.

Needless to say this entire post has been done using voice dictation – and I've only made a small handful of modifications to the final text.

What do you all think of using Voice Dictation on the iPad? Are you using it often?

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Episode 2 of Walking Dead: The Game Now Available – Episode 3 Due this Week

Posted: 03 Sep 2012 08:44 AM PDT

Walking Dead The Game for iPad

Walking Dead: The Game for iPad and iOS was released a little over a month ago. The game is of course based on Robert Kirkman's excellent comic book series and the popular TV series The Walking Dead. Here's a little more background via its App Store page:

The Walking Dead is a five-part episodic game series set in the same universe as Robert Kirkman's award-winning comic books featuring Deputy Sheriff Rick Grimes.

This is not another shoot 'em up; it's a game that explores some very dark psychological places, revealing that the undead are not the only thing to be afraid of when society crumbles.

In this brand new story, you are Lee Everett, a man given a second chance at life in a world devastated by the undead. With corpses returning to life and survivors stopping at nothing to maintain their own safety, protecting an orphaned girl named Clementine may offer him redemption in a world gone to hell.

It's delivered in episodes. The first episode was included with the app itself on release, Episode 2 was released late last month, and Episode 3 is expected out this week. The game costs $4.99 and episodes 2-5 are / will be available for $4.99 each as In-App purchases. You can also buy a bundle pack of episodes 2-5 for $14.99.

I bought this game but just haven't had time to even get through Episode 1 yet. Are any of you playing Walking Dead: The Game on the iPad? If so, let us know what you think of it in the comments.

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Review: Chrome browser built more for speed as it turns 21

Posted: 03 Sep 2012 08:00 AM PDT

Review: Chrome browser built more for speed as it turns 21 What it lacks in surface refinements, it more than makes up for in raw power.

(Insider) The Macalope Daily: Pre-hated for your convenience

Posted: 03 Sep 2012 07:30 AM PDT

The Macalope Daily: Pre-hated for your convenience Why wait to hate? Pundits are lining up to get in their licks in on the iPhone 5 right now.

(This story is viewable exclusively by Macworld Insider members.)

Angry Birds maker Rovio teases Something PIG

Posted: 03 Sep 2012 07:24 AM PDT

Rovio, the developer behind the massively successful Angry Birds franchise, has provided a sneak peak at the next installment in the epic battle between fowl and pork, and it looks like they're getting ready to turn the tables because -- Something PIG is coming!

What does this mean? Did the birds steal some little piglets in retaliation? Do you simply get to play as the bad guys? This time, do the pigs get to fire back?

What would you like to see from the Angry Birds Bad Pigs next?

Source: badpiggies.com

iOS 6 preview: Passbook

Posted: 03 Sep 2012 07:26 AM PDT

iOS 6 preview: Passbook

Passbook is a brand new, built-in app for iOS 6 designed to serve as a one-stop repository for all the tickets, coupons, gift cards, and other vouchers provided by third-party App Store apps. That means all the stuff in your Apple Store app, Starbucks app, Delta app, Fandango app, and more is easily accessible via a single Home screen icon, and what's more -- Passbook knows what time it is and where you are, so it can put whatever card you need right on your Lock screen, right when you need it.

Here's what Apple has to say about Passbook:

Your boarding passes, movie tickets, retail coupons, loyalty cards, and more are now all in one place. With Passbook, you can scan your iPhone or iPod touch to check in for a flight, get into a movie, and redeem a coupon. You can also see when your coupons expire, where your concert seats are, and the balance left on that all-important coffee bar card. Wake your iPhone or iPod touch, and passes appear on your Lock screen at the appropriate time and place — like when you reach the airport or walk into the store to redeem your gift card or coupon. And if your gate changes after you've checked in for your flight, Passbook will even alert you to make sure you're not relaxing in the wrong terminal.

And here's what they've shown off of it so far:

  • With Passbook, any properly formatting "pass" that's given to you in an app, emailed to you, or created for you to tap on in a website, can be added to Passbook. That's in contrast to the current, iOS 5 situation where tickets, gift cards, confirmations, coupons, are scattered across a variety of App Store apps.

  • When you get to the airline gate, the Starbucks line, or the movie theater, however, instead of having to find the appropriate app, launch it, and then find the appropriate pass in the app, Passbook collects them all together for you in one place.

  • Simply tap the pass you want to access, and it comes up full screen.

  • If you have more than one pass for the same thing -- 2 tickets for Amtrack, 3 coupons for Target, etc. -- you can swipe between them in full-screen mode.

  • Apple, of course, has designed them all beautifully...

  • ...And has created templates to help developers make beautiful passes of their own.

  • If the pass is a gift card, it can show up-to-date balance information right on the front.

  • If the pass is a ticket, and something like the gate changes, that will also be displayed right on the front.

  • To see additional information about a pass, tap the info button at the bottom right and it'll flip over, just like the Weather or Stocks apps. On the back, you can toggle Lock screen notifications on or off, and see additional information like confirmation numbers, locations, and other details about the specific pass.

  • And if you don't want the pass anymore, you can tap the trashcan button, confirm the deletion, and Apple will shred it for you in digital form.

  • Conveniently, Passbook can also present Lock screen notifications based on time and location. So you when you arrive at the right time or the right place, your passes pop up.

  • If something changes, like the gate information, you'll get a notification as well. And multiple notifications stack up, just as you'd expect.

Passbook is interesting in that a) instead of making a repository for something traditional, like documents, Apple is doing it for something still on the horizon, digital vouchers; and b) unlike Google and Microsoft, it's not yet a real mobile wallet with built-in payments yet.

That makes Passbook stuck in both the past and the future. It has QR and bar codes, not NFC or other wireless transaction processing. It hooks into existing apps, not Apple's massive iTunes cash register. It feels like a first step, a testing of the waters. The only question is how long it takes mainstream users to decide those waters and fine, and want to dive in, and for Apple to get the partnerships in place to take that next step.

For now, however, if you have passes in apps, Passbook makes it easier than ever to swipe, scan, and go.

iOS 6 is scheduled for release this fall, perhaps as soon as September 19. For more on iOS 6 check out:
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