iPad By Davis: “Which app do you use to listen to podcasts? [Poll]” plus 17 more |
- Which app do you use to listen to podcasts? [Poll]
- Barriers to entry
- iPhone 5, photography, purple fringing, and what you need to know
- New York Times explores patents of mass destruction, once again focuses on Apple and misses the broader story
- Forums: eBook reader app suggestions, Sharing your iPhone 5 photos and using a case to keep your device safe
- SGP Ultra Crystal and Ultra Oleophobic screen protectors for the iPhone 5
- Crazy Taxi by SEGA coming to iPhone and iPad later this month
- Facebook testing "Want" button, as in they want to better monetize their platform
- How to send photos using iMessage
- Apple Podcasts app review
- BBC iPlayer Radio app lets you wake up to your favorite BBC radio stations
- Video Review — Bastion for iPad
- You Can’t Buy an iPad Mini Yet, but You Can Buy an invisibleSHIELD Screen Protector for It
- iMore show 318: One year later
- Deal of the Day: 51% off Case-Mate Horizontal Hipster for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4
- Angry Birds Star Wars coming November 8
- Contest Winners: Element SECTOR 4, Nexia home automation system, and September Follow and Win prizes!
- Monday Brief: WP8 Event, Galaxy Note 2 Review, PlayBook OS 2.1, and more!
| Which app do you use to listen to podcasts? [Poll] Posted: 08 Oct 2012 10:46 PM PDT We love podcasts here at iMore -- you can tell by how many we make! -- and we're curious how you're listening to them on your iPhone, iPod, and iPad these days? Since Apple has released their own Podcasts app has that become your default? Do you prefer to use a third party app like Pocket Casts, Downcast, Instacast, or iCatcher? Do you use something else entirely? Or do you not listen to podcasts at all? As always, give me your vote in the poll up top and tell me what makes your go-to podcast app your go to podcast app in the comments below! 
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| Posted: 08 Oct 2012 10:19 PM PDT
App.net (ADN), an alternative to Twitter that seeks to better balance the needs of the platform owners with developers and users, saw substantial growth in the last couple of weeks. This is partly due to the arrival of popular clients -- for end users the interface is the app, after all, and familiarity is a huge feature. In addition to attracting attention, these clients reduced the learning curve and the stress level often associated with platform change. APN also lowered the cost of their service. Initially APN cost $50 a year for a non-developer account, which was a substantial barrier to entry for anyone but the geekiest of geek users (#227, at your service). While $50 is less than some people spend on fancy caffeinated beverages each month, it still feels like a big up-front expense for something that may or may not provide a significant return. APN dropped the yearly price to $36, but what's more, they introduced a new $5 monthly option. $5 a month is actually $60 a year, which is more expensive than it was previously, but far more people will be willing to give APN a chance at $5 than $50, as any substantial period of time beyond a few days blurs towards the amorphous. It's a lower up-front cost, and hence, lower up-front risk. It's objection handling at the product level, and it's smart business. It's something Apple has been doing going on a decade, and something they're doing especially well with iOS devices right now. With the iPhone 3G in 2008, Apple dropped the price of the iPhone to $199 on contract. Sure, when you included the typical U.S. 2-year contract, the actual price difference wasn't extreme, but the up-front cost is what mattered. That's why, when the iPhone 3GS was introduced, Apple kept the iPhone 3G around and dropped it to $99, and it's why when the iPhone 4S was introduced, Apple kept the iPhone 3GS around and eventually dropped it to $0 on contract. At "free", the barrier of entry was essentially nothing, and the potential for up-selling to a non-free alternative was tremendous.
Barriers of entry aren't always cost-based either. Windows Phone faces entirely different barriers to entry. First, carriers have to sell iPhone because it's what people want to buy. Carriers want to sell Android because it's what they can do anything they want with. Windows Phone lacks both consumer demand and carrier friendliness. It also has terrible branding. Microsoft's obsession with the "Windows-everywhere" concept has prevented them from presenting their next-generation mobile offerings with anything but old generation trappings. Microsoft is attempting to change the former, the demand, by marketing themselves as a middle ground to consumers, a better experience than Android that doesn't come from Apple. They're also making exclusivity deals with carriers, and offering themselves as a way to hedge against the dominance of either Apple or Google. When it comes to the latter, the branding, they remain oblivious, so partners like Nokia are trying to promote their own brands, like Lumia, above Windows Phone (which likely doesn't make Microsoft happy). Unfortunately, neither Microsoft nor their partners have been able to lower either barrier enough to gain momentum and establish themselves as a serious player in the space. At least not yet.
Microsoft faced somewhat similar barriers to entry when they tried, for a decade, to popularize the idea of Tablet PCs. They didn't face competition from better positioned rivals, but they faced the same obsession with Windows everywhere that created a horrible user experience, and they lacked any clear consumer story or go-to-market strategy, crippling them from the start. When Apple introduced the iPad, they removed the PC software barrier by using mobile software, namely iOS, and they made an attempt to position it for consumers between the smartphone and the laptop, targeting very specific use cases. That led to Apple achieving huge success and establishing a profitable market. However, the iPad still presented two significant barriers of entry all its own. Firstly, at 9.7-inches it's just too big and two heavy for some users, and second, starting at $500 is still too expensive for others. Amazon tried to take advantage of this apparent opening with the Kindle Fire, which they initially made smaller at 7-inch and sold cheaply, at $200, hoping content would generate revenue lost to lower (read: almost no) hardware margins. Amazon has since followed the original Kindle Fire up with two new, HD versions, one at the same 7-inch size and the other at a larger, almost 9-inch size. Both are still cheap, and both are still meant to be subsidized by content sales. But by removing one barrier, Amazon has created another. Their business model won't allow them to sell the Kindle Fire in markets that don't also support content sales. While Apple's iTunes has a large international footprint, Amazon's store absolutely does not. In addition, Apple's hardware-centric model allows them to seed markets with product where no iTunes Store yet exists. Amazon literally can't afford to do that, severely limiting their addressable market and hamstringing them from the get go.
Google tried something similar with the Nexus 7, although seemingly without the desire to recoup the costs of cheap hardware with content sales. That allowed them to sell into countries Amazon couldn't. However, Google's lack of international content offerings still hurt them in terms of the overall value proposition of their platform. Likewise, their lack of real tablet-class software, and the continued uneven usability of the Android operating system hurt them in terms of the overall experience of their platform. Even people who want an Apple alternative aren't always willing to put up with those two compromises in order to have it.
Apple faces a much easier path to lowering the barriers to entry for the iPad. They just have to make it smaller and lighter, and sell it for less. They've demonstrated time and again that they have both the design and engineering skills to accomplish this, and they've shown with the iPod mini (vs. the original iPod) and the iPad itself (vs. the Mac) that they're willing to cannibalize their own higher end sales if it means they push mass-market adoption of their platforms and prevent competitors from beating them too it. A smaller, lighter, cheaper iPad mini, sold in almost 100 countries, backed by the content of the iTunes Store, and enveloped by the user experience of iOS solves the barrier to entry problems of the 9.7-inch iPad in a way no competitor can currently match.
Just like the iPod touch removed the "I don't want a phone or contract" barriers, and succeeding generations of iOS have removed the "I need apps and multitasking" barriers, and the iPhone 5 removed the "I need a bigger screen and LTE phone" barriers, Apple has so far resisted the temptation to mistake their product for their business, and, in highly strategic ways, has kept chipping away at the barriers to entry for their products. If there's a story to the last 5, if not 10 years of Apple, that's it -- removing barriers to entry by making products better and more accessible so they're ultimately more appealing to more people. And the next 5, if not 10, probably won't be much different. 
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| iPhone 5, photography, purple fringing, and what you need to know Posted: 08 Oct 2012 08:34 PM PDT
Not long after the iPhone 5 was released, reports of a purple flare produced by the camera started sprouting up all over the internet. Matthew Panzarino from The Next Web quickly responded to these outcries of "purplegate" by explaining that this flaw wasn't unique to the iPhone 5, but is present on the iPhone 4S and can even occur when using high-end DSLR cameras and lens. This weekend, Apple issued a support article claiming that this symptom is normal for small digital cameras and explained how to reduce the likelihood of it occurring.
If this purple haze is so normal, then what exactly is it? As Panzarino pointed out, it's a chromatic aberration called "purple fringing". The above photo is his example of both the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 producing purple flare.
The photography experts over at Digital Photography Review reached a similar conclusion as demonstrated in the image above.
When I first heard about purple fringing with the iPhone 5, I was a little bothered because I had never experienced it with my iPhone 4S. Except it turns out that I did experience it, I just never noticed because I wasn't looking for it. I found these two photos I took on my iPhone 4S, last year.
I also decided to see if I my Nikon D800 and Sigma 50mm f/1.4 lens were susceptible to purple fringing. With very little effort, I got this photo.
So once again, all this hype over "purplegate" has been blown way out of proportion. As it turns out, Apple was actually being modest when they said that "most small cameras" may exhibit this flare as even very expensive digital cameras are susceptible to the flaw. So how do you avoid it? First and foremost, avoid pointing the camera towards a bright light source to eliminate flare altogether. You can also use your hand to shield the source from directly hitting your lens. Professional cameras actually come with lens hoods that work similar to using your hand, because, again, all cameras will produce flare. Some iPhone cases may also work as a small lens hood since they create a ridge all the way around the lens. If you want lens flare, just not purple flare, try altering the angle at which the light hits the lens. Or, if you're like me, embrace the purple flare and create photos that make it look like there's an alien invasion.
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| Posted: 08 Oct 2012 06:48 PM PDT
Patents, the weaponizing of patents in particular, and the weaponizing of patents by Apple in particular is the latest in the the New York Times' curious iEconomy series. This, the 7th installment, is penned by Charles Duhigg and Steve Lohr, and once again, rather than explore the real problems with patent litigation, the Times instead chooses focus on Apple and its lawsuits against Android partners. They once again focus on Apple to the detriment of the real, pervasive problem. Here's the whiplash inducing pivot, where the Times transitions from a story about a smaller developer sued by a larger company into Apple's various lawsuits:
Billion-dollar companies sue each other all of the time, and Apple's lawsuits don't really showcase the larger problems of patent litigation. Apple will survive. Samsung will survive. They'll continue to make computers and phones, refrigerators and televisions, and life will go on. Google will continue making money from ads, no matter the platform. No, the real issues with patent litigation are highlighted by the story of Vlingo. Vlingo was a company specializing in speech recognition software. In 2008, they were threatened with lawsuits unless they sold to Nuance, a much larger company in the same field. When a small company is sued by a much larger one, even when the smaller company is in the right, it can be devastating.
Vlingo won the case, but because of the legal expense, they had to sell to Nuance anyway. This is the danger, that the cost of defending yourself is so high that it isn't worth it, regardless of whether or not you are in the right. The experience was so disheartening that Michael Phillips, co-founder and former CTO of Vlingo, left the voice recognition field altogether after selling his company to Nuance. So why does this matter? Why should we care about the smaller companies, like Vlingo? Why not go for the big sexy Apple headline and leave it at that? Because nothing starts big. Apple didn't. Google didn't. The real innovations start small. It's here that the Times missed an opportunity. While this story does cap the Times article, it's used mainly as a springboard to talk about Apple's legal issues with other large companies. Instead of spending page after page talking about the big players, they could have shone a light on the real threats to innovation within our patent system, the larger players picking off the smaller ones. The patent trolls like Lodsys targeting indie app developers. That is what will stifle the next iPhone, that next great innovation that changes how we think about and interact with technology, and keep it from the light of day for a long, long time. Make Apple the headline. They get a lot of attention and they generate a lot of views. But don't make them the whole story. If you're going to write about patents of mass destruction, the big, predictable, super-power players that trade fractions of their billions all the time are, for lack of a better term, boring. It's the rogue entities, the ones that kill small companies, that are interesting and that will ultimately shape the future of technology. And the Times' obsession with Apple is once again preventing them from telling it. Source: The New York Times 
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| Posted: 08 Oct 2012 06:33 PM PDT
Found an interesting article you want to share with iMore? Have a burning question about that feature you just can't figure out? There is ALWAYS more happening just a click away in the forums. You can always head over and join in the conversation, search for answers, or lend your expertise to other members of our community. You check out some of the threads below: If you're not already a member of the iMore Forums, register now! 
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| SGP Ultra Crystal and Ultra Oleophobic screen protectors for the iPhone 5 Posted: 08 Oct 2012 06:13 PM PDT For some, the big, beautiful iPhone 5 screen just begs to be stared at. For others, it's a scratch-field waiting to happen. If you experience scratch paranoia, one of the first things you'll want for is an iPhone 5 screen protector. The Ultra Crytal and Ultra Oleophobic are the latest from SPIGEN SGP's new iPhone 5 Screen Protector Steinheil Series. Steinheil is billed as an enhanced, ultra-hard optical coating and SPG claims these screen protectors are 25% thicker than previous models, with no rainbow effect, and no interference with either the capacitive multitouch sensors or the clarity of the new, spectacular in-cell display. The Ultra Crystal hits especially hard on the clarity claim, and uses a high-grade, clear coated film. The Ultra Oleophobic offers the same kind of oil-resistent coating as the iPhone screen itself, better repelling fingerprints and smudges.
Both come with a hard squeegee to aid in application, and a micro-fiber fabric to clean your iPhone surface. SPG even goes so far as to provide dust-removing stickers to help make sure not a single particle gets coat between the Ultra Crystal or Ultra Oleophobic and your iPhone 5.
Applying the Ultra Crystal or Ultra Oleophobic is easy but takes patience and a steady hand if you want to get everything lined up perfectly, and make sure no dust or debris gets stuck under the film. It's a dry application, meaning you don't need any water or liquid, but you do need to work your way from one end to the other, squeegeeing firmly. Line up twice, apply once remains my advice.
Even though these are hard-style films, once applied the difference is minimal, and it's hard to see any loss of screen brightness or feel any loss of sensitivity, though styluses may have slightly more trouble than fingers.
If neither the Ultra Crystal or Ultra Oleophobic do it for you, SPG's iPhone 5 Screen Protector Steinheil Series also includes the Ultra Fine which is slightly textured for 30% more light transmittance, and the Ultra Optics which offers a microlens array surface layer to give you the best of all possible worlds. If you're looking for an iPhone 5 screen protector, and you want something different, give SGP's Steinheil Series a glance.
$13.99 an up - Buy now
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| Crazy Taxi by SEGA coming to iPhone and iPad later this month Posted: 08 Oct 2012 05:00 PM PDT
SEGA has announced that they're bringing their classic video game Crazy Taxi to the iPhone and iPad later this month. If you're unfamiliar with the game, Crazy Taxi is racing game where you must barrel through traffic packed streets, hurdle off parking garages, and perform other crazy stunts score up the most fares.
To see the shortest promo video in the history of promo videos, check out the video below. Any Crazy Taxi fans excited about this one? Source: SEGA 
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| Facebook testing "Want" button, as in they want to better monetize their platform Posted: 08 Oct 2012 03:59 PM PDT
Facebook already has a "like" feature that lets its billion members express their endorsement for everything from a status update to a photo to web article to an App Store app, but now Facebook is testing turning "like" into "want". Called "Collections", it sounds like it would function as a wish-list, perhaps in the Amazon or GDGT fashion, but with partner retailers in a way that could eventually see Facebook entering the massive e-commerce market. Alexei Oreskovic of Reuters quotes a statement from Facebook:
Seven pilot retailers, including Pottery Barn, Victoria's Secret, Neiman Marcus, Michael Kors, Smith Optics, Wayfair and Fab.com are in testing now. Wanting an item in a collection would put it in your timeline, allowing your friends to see it. Although Facebook said they won't be making affiliate or referral revenue off "wants" it's hard to see them providing the service without any form of recompense. They're a for-profit business, after all. This is how Facebook says the tests will roll out:
No word yet on when or how Collections will hit Facebook's iPhone and iPad apps. In the meantime, anyone here eager to turn their "likes" into "wants"? Source: Reuters 
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| How to send photos using iMessage Posted: 08 Oct 2012 03:32 PM PDT
If you've got an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad running iOS 5 or higher you've got iMessage, Apple's free MMS-like service that works with any other iOS device, and Mac running OS X Mountain Lion, to let you easily send photos without paying your carrier for a special messaging plan (data rates will still apply if you aren't on Wi-Fi). iMessage is built right into the same Messages app and Share Sheet that sends SMS and MMS to your non-iPhone using friends, so you don't have to do anything extra to use it. Just pick your photos and send them! How to send an iMessage photo using the iOS Messages app
     If you're using an iPhone but the person you're sending to doesn't have an Apple device or isn't using iMessage, your video will be sent as a regular MMS message. If that happens, it will appear in a green bubble instead of a blue one. This also means you'll be charged any applicable text message or multimedia message fees. If you're sending a photo from your iPad or iPod touch, you won't be able to send an iMessage to anyone not using the service. How to send a single iMessage photo using the iOS Photos app
   How to send multiple iMessage photos using the iOS Photos app
    How to send an iMessage photo from your Mac with OS X Mountain LionIf you're on a Mac running OS X Mountain Lion, you can send photos just as easily as you can with iOS using iMessage. When sending from a Mac, you'll only be able to send photos to other users of iMessage so keep that in mind when you're choosing what contacts to send photos from your Mac to.
  That's all there is to it. All of these methods will work when it comes to sharing photos from any iMessage enabled iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Mac. So what are you waiting for? Start sharing those pictures! 
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| Posted: 08 Oct 2012 01:59 PM PDT
Shortly after Apple unveiled iOS 6 at WWDC 2012, they released the standalone Podcasts app into the App Store. They've now updated it to support both iOS 6 features and the iPhone 5's taller screen. I originally intended to include all of this in my iOS 6 review but due to size and time constraints, I'm posting it separately, and belatedly. Before the release of the dedicated Podcasts app, podcasts were downloaded via the iTunes app and could be played back in either the Music or Video app, depending on whether they were audio or video podcasts. That split, along with with the lack of any ability to subscribe to podcasts, made it a less than ideal experience, which numerous third party apps tried to solve). Apple's attempt to solve it themselves is similar in structure to iBooks or Newsstand. It has a place to find your existing content and a place to get more content, in this case the Library and Catalog views. (Since podcasts are all free, it's not called a "Store" as it is in other, similar Apple apps, but it's functionally similar.) The Library view organizes your shows in either a grid view, featuring album art, or a list view. To see the episodes of a particular podcast, tap it. There's pull-to-refresh support so you can check for new episodes at any point. From the episode view, you can tap an episode title to start streaming it immediately, the white downward arrow button to start downloading it (the 50MB limit applies if you're on cellular), or the the blue arrow button to get more information, including episode descriptions (which should include show notes, but since links don't function, they're essentially useless). You can also hit the share button to access the Share Sheet so you can Mail, Message, Twitter, Facebook, or Copy the podcast link. Tap the podcast artwork or the arrow to the right of it to see options for that podcast. Options include the ability to toggle the podcast subscription on or off, auto-download on or off, the sort order (oldest or newest first), the play order (oldest or newest first). You can also mark all episodes as played or unplayed.
When an audio podcast episode is playing, you get full screen album art that, unlike the Music app, is properly centered. Tapping the list view button at the top right gives you a list of additional episodes, so you can easily switch between them. Tapping the album art, which replaces the list view button at the the top right, takes you back to the main player screen. This is pretty much the same behavior as the Music app, and the consistency is appreciated. Basic controls are also consistent in behavior if not in look. In Podcasts the buttons are big, gray, industrial, and almost old-school looking. You have play/pause and skip back/forward, and if you hold down on skip back/forward, you get rewind and fast forward. There are also two new controls, a 15 second skip back and skip forward. They're useful if you missed something and want to quickly re-listen or re-watch it, or if you want to hurry through a segment you don't enjoy. De-emphasized beneath them are the volume scrubber and the AirPlay button (if an AirPlay device is detected). Unlike the Music app, if you tap the album art you aren't taken to list view. Instead, the album art lifts up to reveal a heavily skeuomorphic options panel that fills much of the screen with an old-style reel-to-reel tape player. It also provides controls for sharing (with the same sheet as above), for listening speed (1/2x, 1x, 1 1/2x, 2x, and 3x), and a sleep timer (off, 5, 10, 15, 30, or 45 minutes, 1 hour, or when the current episode ends.) There's also a positional scrubber with a tiny red line indicating your current time index in the podcast. While the touch-point appears tiny, it works just like the positional scrubber in the Music app. You can also reveal the options screen by using the small "gripper" control at the bottom of the album art to pull it up. To return to the player screen, grab the gripper -- now at the top -- and pull it back down. Strangely, you can't tap the tape deck to pull it down the way you can tap the album art to pull it up. No consistency points there. (or fit and finish points.)
Also, even though Podcasts is an App Store app, it does seem to enjoy certain privileges not afforded other App Store podcast apps. Namely, Podcasts gets to use its special controls on the Lock screen and in the fast app switcher. Instead of the standard skip forward/back buttons, which annoying skip entire episodes for other players, the 15 second forward and backward buttons are presented instead. If other players do have access to the same controls, hopefully they'll implement them. If they don't, Apple should make them available so everything in the App Store stays as fair and functional as possible.
The video player interface is different than the audio player interface. Unlike the audio player, the video player isn't given the same character or style, and there's no skeuomorphism in sight. Instead, it's almost identical to how podcasts used to be played in the Videos app. It does add a playback speed button, however, but without the 3x option. There's a fullscreen/widescreen toggle, which is more important on previous 3:2 iPhones and iPods than it is on the 16:9 iPhone 5 or iPod touch 5. Also missing are the new 15 second back/forward buttons, and in their place the single, old 30 second back button. It's also the only part of the Podcast app that supports landscape orientation (though you can watch in portrait as well if you really want to).
Unlike iBooks or Newsstand, Podcasts also has a strange hybrid area that's in the Library section but provides Catalog content. It's called Top Stations and it's another way for Apple to display featured or recommended content, but using a radio dialer metaphor rather than the usual iTunes Store list display. It's accessed through a huge tap at the bottom of the screen, and given equal waiting to the podcast library itself, which is interesting. At the top, you can toggle between audio and video podcasts. On the "tuner" band you have the basic iTunes podcast categories on top and under them, the sub categories. Under that you have large-sized album art for 5 shows, one on top of the other. Swiping horizontally moves you through sub-categories and then categories. Swiping vertically takes you through the recommended podcasts. Horizontal and vertical scrolling is independent, so if you swipe down to the fifth podcast in one category, you'll still be shown the first one if you swipe over to a different category. Tap the artwork and the latest episode will start to play. Otherwise, if you linger for a momentarily, an info icon will appear to the bottom right of it. Tap it and you'll get a list of episodes and a Subscribe button. It's a visually dynamic way to suggest new shows, and a novel way to bring "Store/Catalog" content into the "Library" part of the app. It'll be interesting to see if we get analogs to this in iBooks and Newsstand (racks?), and the other player apps like Music and Videos.
The Catalog section is what used to be the Podcasts section in the old iTunes app, but all done up in the new iTunes app style. Tap the Catalog button and you get the iBook's style revolving door animation. Inside, there are tabs for Features, Audio, Video, Charts, and Search. If you tap Charts, you start off with an audio and a video chart combined on one page with horizontal scrolling, along with a Categories button at the top left to get more specific charts. If you you tap "See All >" you get a proper vertical list view of either audio or video podcasts. The Categories button, however, gets awkwardly re-prositioned next to the the back button for Charts, which squishes the screen title between it and Library (which sometimes appears and sometimes doesn't), and truncates it beyond the point of usefulness. There's also a lack of consistency for audio icons, with the toggle using the fairly common speaker icon, and the tab bar using a chunkier, rounder speaker glyph, which is odd.
Search bifurcates between episodes and podcasts. The episode results page is the more chaotic of the two, presenting stacked vertical lists of 4 episodes each that you can scroll through horizontally, as well as a large set of album art for related podcasts that isn't vertically stacked but can also be horizontally scrolled. For the episodes, tapping on the downward arrow beside a specific episode starts it downloading that episode. Tapping on the album art or the episode title, or anything else for that matter, takes you to the podcast page. In the podcast results tab, you're simply given a list view of shows that match the search results. Tap on any one of the podcasts and you're taken to its information page. On the individual podcast pages you get general information about the show, including the artist, rating, category, and can hit the Subscribe button to add it to your library. You also have tabs for the show's Details, which includes the description and episode lists, Reviews, which lets you Like a show via Facebook, along with the regular iTunes reviews, and Related, which shows you more podcasts from the same artist, and more podcasts in the same sub-category. Of course, you can't subscribe to podcasts via RSS, or to any podcast outside of iTunes. This is still an Apple app, and still tied to the Apple ecosystem.
If you have more than one iOS device, iCloud support will sync your subscriptions between them, as well as maintain your last position. Overall, the Podcasts app adds a lot of features that were sorely missing from Apple's original iTunes app podcast implementation. It isn't perfect, and indeed a lot users are finding it buggy and frustrating at times. Episodes mark themselves as unplayed. Interaction with iTunes on the desktop is unfinished to say the least. The Podcasts app is also plagued by a general bug in Apple's audio API that causes audio playback to re-start after using Siri or placing a call. Hopefully Apple continues to polish and improve it, though given what's happened with the App Store app recently that's a double edged sword at best. The feature Podcasts needs most now is background downloads. If Newsstand can fetch your periodicals every morning, Podcasts should be able to fetch your podcasts when you're plugged in and connected to Wi-Fi. However, Apple doesn't allow other App Store apps to do that, so either it would be an unfair competitive advantage, or Apple would finally have to make a background downloading API available to everyone. I've heard rumors of the latter, so lets hope it's coming, and sooner rather than iOS 7... Power users may want to stick to a power client, of which the App Store has several, but for those who simply want to enjoy the occasional podcast, as well as iCloud sync and Apple-style integration, Podcasts is a great choice. Free - Download now
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| BBC iPlayer Radio app lets you wake up to your favorite BBC radio stations Posted: 08 Oct 2012 11:33 AM PDT
BBC iPlayer Radio is the latest app in the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)'s iPlayer portfolio and it offers live BBC radio stations. It's a free download for UK television license payers and offers some nice features like the ability to set an alarm which will automatically start playing your chosen radio station.
BBC iPlayer Radio has been designed around a dial system that lets you spin through every available BBC radio channel which even includes local radio stations too. You can swipe to reveal on-demand catch up content and videos on each available stations page as well as set reminders to ensure you don't miss your favourite radio show. It's compatible with the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation) and iPad; they must be running iOS 5 or higher. Unfortunately the app has not been enhanced to work with the larger iPhone 5 screen as of yet. We assume that it will come in an update sooner rather than later. I had a quick try of the app and really liked the way the station dial worked. If you try this one out, make sure to let us know what you think! There is a short video below by the BBC, showing how the app works. Unfortunately the BBC decided to do it in Flash, not our fault, blame the BBC! Free Download
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| Video Review — Bastion for iPad Posted: 08 Oct 2012 09:38 AM PDT 
Here's an App Store link for Bastion for iPad; it's currently priced at $4.99. Disclosure: This game was independently purchased by the post's author. For further information regarding our site's review policies, please see the "About" page. © Beth Elderkin for iPad Insight, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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| You Can’t Buy an iPad Mini Yet, but You Can Buy an invisibleSHIELD Screen Protector for It Posted: 08 Oct 2012 09:15 AM PDT
You gotta love the way big Apple product releases work these days. We've got parts leaks, a rumor mill that seems to get more and more on target all the time, and of course accessories for as yet unannounced products. Today's example is ZAGG's latest new product is an invisibleSHIELD for the iPad Mini. I guess they've grown tired of waiting on an official announcement of a new smaller iPad from Apple, and presumably they know a few final iPad Mini spec details that the rest of us are still waiting on.
As 9to5Mac points out, this product is especially interesting to see because ZAGG is a leading name in the iOS and Apple accessories market. Anybody planning to order one of these for the iPad Mini, even before Apple announces there is such a device? © patrickj for iPad Insight, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
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| iMore show 318: One year later Posted: 08 Oct 2012 07:13 AM PDT Rene and Ryan Block of GDGT discuss the evolution of blogging, Apple under Tim Cook, the realties of an iPad mini, and the double-edged sword that is media attention. This is the iMore show Sunday edition!
Show notesGuestsHosts
CreditsYou can reach all of us on Twitter @iMore, or you can email us at podcast@imore.com or just leave us a comment below. For all our podcasts -- audio and video -- including the iMore show, ZEN and TECH, Iterate, and more, see MobileNations.com/shows Thanks to the iMore Accessory Store for sponsoring this week's show. Your one-stop-shop for everything iPhone and iPad, including cables, cases, chargers, Bluetooth and much more, check out store.imore.com.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now | ||||||||
| Deal of the Day: 51% off Case-Mate Horizontal Hipster for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 Posted: 08 Oct 2012 06:54 AM PDT |
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Angry Birds Star Wars coming November 8
Posted: 08 Oct 2012 06:44 AM PDT
A long time ago -- in mobile years -- in a country far, far away -- unless you live in Finland -- a small company called Rovio created a game called Angry Birds which went on to become a franchise, and is now trading slingshots for light-slings with the mother of all modern franchises -- Star Wars.
On November 8, the Angry Birds and Star Wars universes will collide, in our best game to date. http://angrybirds.com/starwars
It doesn't stop there though, we'll have a whole host of toys, animations and other Angry Birds Star Wars goodness to enjoy! So, watch the video a few times, follow our http://angrybirds.tumblr.com page and check back every day - this is just the beginning.
May the birds be with you
Not much else is know at this point, but I'm guessing we'll see Pig Vader at the very least, along with a Lark Birdwalker and maybe a Hawk Solo? Either way, it'll be interesting to see how long it takes to X-Wing a Rebel bird bomb down the chute to blow the wooden Death Star into 3-star earning oblivion.
We'll find out in a month.
More: Angry Birds Star Wars
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Posted: 08 Oct 2012 05:50 AM PDT
If there's one thing iMore loves even more than iPhones and iPads, it's giving cool iPhone and iPad accessories and apps to our awesome readers. This week we have...
Make home automation simple with Nexia Home and your iPhone!
cms365
Element Case SECTOR 4
Majik
September Follow iMore and Win prizes!
- On Youtube - QuisiteAL won a Seidio SURFACE Plus Case!
- On Twitter - @spaladino77 won a mophie Juice Pack Plus!
- On Google+ - stefan gemmecke won a mophie Juice Pack Air!
- On Facebook - Melissa Narcavage won a Seidio Charging Vault Kit!
Congratulations to all the winners! You will be contacted during the week with information on claiming your prizes.
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Monday Brief: WP8 Event, Galaxy Note 2 Review, PlayBook OS 2.1, and more!
Posted: 08 Oct 2012 05:45 AM PDT
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