jueves, 6 de diciembre de 2012

iPad By Davis: “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City now available on the App Store” plus 15 more

iPad By Davis: “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City now available on the App Store” plus 15 more

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City now available on the App Store

Posted: 06 Dec 2012 01:04 AM PST

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City now available on the App StoreThe wait is finally over, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is now available to download from the App Store. The 10th anniversary edition of the game has been revamped for mobile devices and includes high resolution graphics, updated controls and a host of new features.

From the decade of big hair, excess and pastel suits comes a story of one man's rise to the top of the criminal pile. Vice City, a huge urban sprawl ranging from the beach to the swamps and the glitz to the ghetto, was one of the most varied, complete and alive digital cities ever created. Combining open-world gameplay with a character driven narrative, you arrive in a town brimming with delights and degradation and given the opportunity to take it over as you choose.

The game has some nice features for iOS users such as tailored firing and targeting options, customization of user controls, iCloud save game support, huge gaming campaign, support for Retina devices and you can even listen to your own iTunes Playlists while driving around Vice City.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is available from the App Store now and supports the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.

$4.99 Download Now

Iterate 35: Maheux and Lanham of Twitterrific 5

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 10:55 PM PST

Iterate 35: Maheux and Lanham of Twitterrific 5

Marc, Seth, and Rene talk to Gedeon Maheux and David Lanham of the Iconfactory about Twitterrific 5, their completely re-designed Twitter app, and about iTunes 11, Apple's completely re-designed… everything app. This is Iterate.

Guest

of the Iconfactory

Hosts

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Yell at us on Twitter via the above accounts. Loudly.



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Twitterrific 5 brings breathtaking new design, vicious new speed to Twitter for iPhone and iPad

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 08:04 PM PST

Twitterrific 5 brings gorgeous new design, vicious new speed to iPhone and iPad

Twitterrific is the Star Trek of iOS. Not only is it the original, but more than any other app, it has proven its ability to re-invent and re-invigorate itself, over and over again, from one generation to the next. From the Jailbreak days before the App Store to now, post Twitter API crackdowns, post-iPhone 5 and iPad mini, the Iconfactory, and with the team of Sean Heber, David Lanham, Craig Hockenberry, Gedeon Maheux, Tyler Anderson, and Cheryl Culling have continually moved Twitterrific forward while never losing what made it great to begin with. Old and yet new, simple and yet deep, Twitterrific 5 is startlingly beautiful and viciously fast, and represents nothing more or less than a re-imagining of the app and the genre.

(We'll have a full interview with Gedeon Maheux and David Lanham as part of this week's episode of the Iterate podcast, look for it shortly!)

The new look is incredibly clean. The themes are white as day and black as night, the text incredibly crisp, and the interface filled with space and color. There are no gradients, no parallax, and almost no chrome to speak of. It'a authentically, proudly digital. A lot of that has to do with designer David Lanham, who began work on the look even before Iconfactory decided to go ahead with the new version of the app. In a very real way, Lanham painted it into existence, and it shows.

When you launch Twitterrific 5 you're prompted to grant permission for it to use your Twitter accounts, and then for you to add an account or accounts to Twitterrific 5. It's done simply and elegantly. And then you're in the app.

Twitterrific has always been about reading Twitter, and Twitterrific 5 is all about reading. Period. Everything else gets out of your way, and content is treated as the star.

Well, almost. Twitterrific's iconic Ollie, the bright blue bird responsible for even Twitter's own avian branding, has become the most delightful pull-to-refresh animation to date. Pull down and an egg breaks open, Ollie appears, flaps his wings to bring in fresh content, and then spins and pops out. It's outstanding. And addicting.

Here's the Ollie-to-refresh.

If and when you can bring yourself to stop playing with Ollie, you'll be in the timeline. As tradition demands, it's a unified timeline, which means the tweets of the people you follow, all your @mentions, and all your direct messages (DMs) are all sorted together in chronological order. Some people love this. Others don't. The Iconfactory recognizes that and, for the first time you can disable the unified timeline in settings (see below). Other timeline tabs here include @mentions and DMs, separate and distinct, just as you'd expect.

In the timeline, avatars are shown in roundrects, with usernames beside them and @names smaller and just beneath the usernames. Beneath that is the content of the tweet, brighter, and the time beneath that. Tap a tweet and the time is instantly replaced with reply, retweet, favorite, and more actions. Tap the more icon and you get a set of options including show discussion, translate tweet, email tweet, and retweet with comment.

Tap an avatar and you're taken to the person's profile page. All the stats are there, but if you dig deeper into followers or following, instead of the usual table view with avatars on the left and details on the right, you get a collection view of of avatars in a grid, with details below them.

If you're more into gestures than buttons, you can nudge the tweet from left to right to immediately switch to reply mode. Awesomely, the complete tweet you're replying to is show in tiny, low contrast type beneath the reply space, so you can immediately refer back to it You can also nudge from right to left to immediately switch to conversation view. In conversation view, you can choose between two tabs at the top, the default thread view, or an alternate replies view.

Instead of a hamburger button and basement, you get your own mugshot top left and tapping it takes you to an options screen where, aside from seeing your lists, you can switch from the tweets view to your favorites or to search. Search gives you the option of searching for keywords in either tweets, or in usernames.

At the bottom you can access accounts, change formatting, and adjust you preferences. Accounts lets you add other @usernames you might own. Formatting is something you usually find in ereaders, not Twitter apps, and certainly not in a Twitter app from a company with the generational taste of the Iconfactory. But here's the thing, Gedeon Maheux says they were inspired by iBooks and by the reading experiences that have flourished on iOS since Twitterrific first launched, and they've embraced the idea of options, if carefully selected, eminently tasteful ones. Formatting choices include several fonts, from the default Helvitica to Proxima Nova, Signika, Museo Slab, and Calluna. You can also select avatar size, between small and large, and increase or decrease the font size and line spacing. Lastly, you can choose between the dark (black) and light (white) theme, and adjust its brightness right there, right then. (I keep it on the dark theme. Black on a black-on-black iPhone or iPad mini is just fantastic looking.)

Preferences let you choose between sync services, including iCloud and Manton Reese's Tweet Marker, and sync behavior, including none, show marker, and scroll to marker. You can also turn sounds off and on, and turn the unified timeline on or off (off means no @mentions from people you don't follow, and no DMs, in your main timeline). You can set the dark theme to automatically turn on at night (based on time, Apple doesn't allow developers to tap into the ambient light sensor yet). And you can clear bookmarking logins.

There's also a help button which tells you all about Twitterrific's new gesture support. In addition to the Ollie-to-refresh, and the swipe-to-reply, swipe-to-view-conversation gestures, you can hide the status bar by pushing up with two fingers, and show it again by pulling down with two fingers. (And by some Hockenberry-ian magic, scroll-to-top still works even when the status bar is hidden. Brilliant.)

To attach the latest photo from Camera Roll, tap and hold the camera icon. To clear all text, tap and hold the counter. To switch accounts, tap and hold your mugshot at the top left. To get more options, tap and hold tweets, links, and avatars.

That's the brilliance of Twitterrific 5, and why it strikes the best balance of any version to date. It presents all the basic features clearly and obviously, with buttons and spatial mapping and all the bells and whistles new users not only expect, but really need. Yet for advanced users, tons of shortcuts and edge features are tucked neatly away in gestures and pref sheets.

Twitterrific 5 doesn't have all the features of some other Twitter clients. There are no mute filters. There are no push notification support... yet. Gedeon Maheux says the Iconfactory has architected for it, and is certainly open to it, and they'll listen to feedback from Twitterrific 5 users and use that to help determine their priorities for Twitterrific 5 going forward. It's a true tabula rasa approach, and just like when Apple re-inevents their software, they're starting with the core and will build from that going forward.

For some people that'll be a deal breaker. For others, it'll just means another app will handle Twitter push, and perhaps Twitter triage, and Twitterrific will be the go-to reader for when tweets over time are more important than tweets right now.

Speaking of right now, however.. Twitterrific 5 is fast. It's Star Wars blast door crashing closed an inch behind your head fast. It's action at the speed of smash cut fast. I don't know how much that has to do with a lot of the interface being produced programmatically -- according to David Latham, aside from the avatars and button icons, almost all of it is done in code -- and how much is fiendishly clever coding, but it's one of the fastest apps I've had the joy of using. It's so fast, I enjoy using it just to experience the speed.

I enjoy using it period.

It's Twitterrific, the Next Generation. Again. It has everything that made the original great, torn down to its essence, and built back up for today's iOS devices and iOS device users. It remains the best reading experience on Twitter, and in that regard, Twitterrific 5 is better even than its predecessors.

Note: Twitterrific 5 has been redesigned and recoded from pixel to bit, and as such -- and because Apple doesn't allow upgrade pricing -- it's being offered as a completely new app (not an update). However, the Icon Factory is offering Twitterrific 5 at 50% off at launch, so in effect, everyone who acts fast gets heavily discounted upgrade pricing. Also, just like every other third-party Twitter app, Twitterrific faces user token limits as well, which means they can only ever sell a limited amount of copies. That creates scarcity, and eventually scarcity increases prices. In other words, third-party Twitter apps will only get more expensive over time, as tokens run out. If you enjoy using Twitterrific, want to support the developers so they can afford to keep working on it and making it even better, and secure your tokens for posterity, grab it now.

China Mobile president: technology and 'business model' hurdles to carrying iPhone

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 07:28 PM PST

China Mobile president: technology and 'business model' hurdles to carrying iPahone

With more than seven hundred million subscribers, China Mobile as a carrier is practically a nation unto itself. In fact, China Mobile has enough subscribers that it'd be the third most populous nation on the planet, with approximately half of China's residents as subscribers and more than twice as many people than reside within the borders of the United States. As such, it's a tempting target for anybody considering worldwide smartphone domination. There's just one problem: China Mobile's network is built on TD-SCDMA technologies, and TD-SCDMA is only used by China Mobile (China Telecom uses regular CDMA and China Unicom is on UMTS).

Standards and protocols are problems that can be overcome with technology. As it stands right now, Apple's iPhone has yet to gain support for TD-SCDMA, though the iPhone 5 supports just about every other widespread form of wireless network, including the global mess of LTE networks (so long as they deem it worthy), though not yet China Mobile's unqiue TD-LTE. Considering the multitude of wireless networks supported in a single device, it seems perfectly reasonable to expect that Apple could produce an iPhone with support for TD-SCDMA, but first they need reason to do so (though the millions of iPhone users on China Mobile anyway might have something to say about that).

The relationship between China Mobile and Apple has been a strange one to watch unfold over the years. According to c114, China Mobile president Li Yue recently spoke about his company's ongoing talks with Apple, which he said have been going on since 2009, and have become "more intimate" in the last year (the same talks were confirmed back in May of this year). While the technology stumbling block would be acknowledged by anybody involved, Li says that it's not just technology that's holding things up - there's the whole issue of money too.

"Technology is a problem, but it isn't the entire problem; there's also mainly the issue of business model and mutual benefits."

What exactly Mr. Li meant by business model and mutual benefits isn't entirely clear, though it's safe to assume it's probably some mixture of revenue sharing and carrier subsidies. And therein lies the problem - Apple is used to demanding and receiving high subsidies from carriers to carry the iPhone - China Mobile is not. And while China Mobile is used to demanding and receiving a revenue sharing agreement for transactions completed on devices using their network, Apple is most decidedly not in favor of such an agreement.

This is what an impasse looks like. With 700 million subscribers, China Mobile is very much used to getting their way. Apple, too, is used to getting their way - just look at a Verizon iPhone for any hints of the carrier's checkmark logo that bedecks other smartphones in Big Red's stable. Immovable object, meet unstoppable force.

Source: c114 (translated); via Engadget

Party Monster brings good looking, great working DJ features to iPhone and iPad

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 02:41 PM PST

Imagine you're at a party. A totally epic all-night event with hot girls walking around the pool, wearing bikinis and sipping champagne. With ping pong tables covered in red SOLO cups, surrounded by guys with popped collars wearing ironic retro sunglasses and saying "bro". There's a guy in cargo shorts doing a keg stand, and you're pretty sure not everyone here is old enough to drink. You hear cheers from behind you and turn around just in time to see a young man run by, wearing nothing but aviators and carrying a beer in each hand.

It's okay, I wasn't invited to that party either. But I was invited to Party Monster.

Created by Canadian app makers Steamclock, Party Monster is available as a universal app for the iPhone and iPad, and despite an identical feature set, they each—to my mind—offer a different utility. But I'll get to that in a moment.

You can't have a party without music. The creation of a party mix used to be the exclusive job of the host, but in recent years we've seen dramatic advances in party music technology with the invention of iTunes, the iPhone, and the Apple TV. Now we live in a world where anyone can grab the Apple TV remote and find something they like. Or, if you're a jerk about it, criticize your host's taste in music. (That last part wasn't a joke—I once had a date sift through my music in iTunes and genuinely criticize me for not listening to John Mayer. I mean, really.)

I didn't have time to throw an awesome party to test Party Monster, so I sat down with my a martini and my dog Pixel to see how well it worked in a me-and-my-dog party environment. I tested both iPhone and iPad versions, streaming music over AirPlay to my Apple TV and imagining a few scenarios where I might be doing this while my attention was divided.

With both the iPhone and iPad versions, you create a playlist on the fly, either based on an existing playlist or by pulling songs from your library ad-hoc. The primary difference is that, with the iPad, you can keep an eye on the playlist view while looking for the perfect track to add. On either device, adding songs is as easy as finding them. Once tapped, they appear in the playlist, next in queue. If you want it to play later in the list, you simply tap and drag it to where you want it.

The gestures don't stop there. To play a song, swipe to the right. Swipe right again to pause. To delete a track from the list, swipe left. If it seems like the creators are borrowing from Clear (the gesture-based todo list app), that's no coincidence. Steamclock tells me they were inspired by the simplicity of swipe-based actions, which seemed like a perfect fit for a party music app.

Back to my martini party with the dog. It wasn't all rock and roll; because Party Monster uses the iOS music library, you're limited to on-device DRM-free music. That means that older songs from iTunes won't play, but more notably it means that you'll be hearing a lot of silence if you rely heavily on iTunes Match. Party Monster is kind enough to show a little circle-and-line icon next to unplayable tracks, but as my iPad will attest, using iTunes Match means either a lot of downloading or a lot of repeated songs.

Assuming you do have plenty of music on your device, I found the iPhone app to be exactly the sort of thing I would want to use to discretely add songs to a party playlist as the night goes on. Because maybe it's a Halloween party and everyone has kazoos and right now is the perfect moment for Don't Stop Believin' to come on for everyone to kazoo along with. For a more social experience, I'd probably leave my iPad out with the app open and encourage my friends to poke around and help create the perfect mix.

And that brings us to the two areas where I think Party Monster really shines. First, as a social experience. With digital everything, gone are the days when you could casually recognize an album cover on a shelf, then poke through a friend's record collection and get a sense of their taste, chatting about your shared favorites and "oh my god you have Harvey Danger's first album dude you should check out their later stuff it's SO much better". Party Monster for iPad gives us a chance to get a little bit of that back. While looking for the next track, your friends will get to learn a little bit about the music you like, for better or worse. That's sure to lead to plenty of laughs and at least a few recommendations. It isn't the first app to do this, but it's the first I've seen that does it well and makes it fun.

But then Party Monster offers something completely unexpected: the perfect musical road trip experience. Man, what I wouldn't have given for this app when I rode shotgun with my friend from Denver to Vegas years ago. Or any other time I've ever been a passenger in a car, really. The old method of queueing up each song individually means constantly staring at your device, and while the Music app has offered ad-hoc playlists forever, you have to create the list before listening. Less than optimal. Party Monster not only simplifies the process in a way that any passenger could both use and enjoy, but it democratizes music for the whole car. Pass the phone around and give everyone a chance to contribute.

Aside from utility, it's worth mentioning that this is a good-looking app. The interface is light, but where it shows it shines. The purple highlighting is just enough to give you a sense of familiarity and context without feeling heavy-handed like branding. Some of the shadows are a little strong, but if that's how far I have to go to find something to complain about, we're in pretty good shape. Steamclock clearly cares about sweating the small stuff. If I had to request a feature, it would be the ability to save playlists. I know they can't save them to the music library proper, but even in-app saving would be plenty.

My dog and I both enjoyed the app. But in case you're still not sold, Party Monster offers the single best settings option ever:

It's on by default. Canada, we forgive you.

Notable New iPad Apps: New YouTube App and Gmail 2.0 Update

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 01:45 PM PST

Gmail for iPad

Google's dished out a healthy portion of iPad and iOS love yesterday. They updated the Gmail app for iPad and iPhone to Version 2.0 and added some very useful sounding new features, and also brought YouTube back to the iPad (for those who have been missing it under iOS 6).

I've been so busy the last couple days that I've only had chance to install the new YouTube app and glance it very briefly and reinstall the Gmail app and do the same. I really like the sound of the new features in the Gmail app though, especially the Google Calendar and Google+ integration.

As far as the YouTube app goes, I honestly never used it that much before it was taken away in iOS 6. I much prefer to use my favorite YouTube alternative video apps for iPad, but I'll still give the new app a look.

I'm sure many of you have already spent some time with the new YouTube and updated Gmail apps on the iPad. What do you think of them so far?

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How to fix auto-brightness issues with iOS 6

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 01:29 PM PST

Ambient light sensor readings got quite a bit of an overhaul in iOS 6, and now include Lock screen auto-brightness and better memory management. This has lead to many people experiencing issues with auto-brightness settings. iPhone 5 users in particular seem to be having trouble. If your auto-brightness isn't working under iOS 6, here's how to reset it and get it back in gear.

  1. Go into a dimly lit or dark room.
  2. Launch the Settings app from the Home screen of your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
  3. Tap on Brightness & Wallpaper.
  4. Turn the auto-brightness setting to Off.
  5. Adjust the brightness slider to the level you would like your screen brightness to be at in the given environment. For instance, if you're in a completely dark room, you'll probably want to put the slider all the way to low or pretty close to all the way down.
  6. Turn the auto-brightness setting to On again.
  7. Now flip on a light switch.
  8. Watch the brightness slider move upwards to adjust to the new light entering the sensor.

As long as the brightness slider is moving on its own, you have successfully re-calibrated the sensor and it should work properly from here on out.

Contest: 5 Tshirts, 2 iPad Cases To Be Won

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 01:05 PM PST

Sync in Progress

5 Sync in Progress and Two iPad Cases To Be Won

Contest Deadline: Friday December 7, 2:00PM US Central

Since we're well into the holiday season now, I'll be trying my best to run quite a few giveaway contests over the next few weeks.

Today I've got a fun one thanks to the kind folks at CafePress.com. We've got 5 of these cool 'Sync in Progress' tshirts to win, and two iPad cases – of the winners' choice as well. So we'll choose 7 random winners in total.

(...)
Read the rest of Contest: 5 Tshirts, 2 iPad Cases To Be Won (114 words)

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In what world should Amazon enjoy more future confidence than Apple?

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 10:17 AM PST

In what world should Amazon enjoy more future confidence than Apple?

There is no question that Apple has done some amazing things. It has become the largest company in the world, by market value, because it has redefined industries. It redefined the music business, it redefined smartphones and it redefined tablet computing. Apple did not invent these businesses. Most observers would argue that the likes of Handspring/Palm and RIM invented smartphones and stylus-oriented computing devices, including Apple's Newton and Microsoft's Tablet PC certainly pre-dated the iPad. But Apple massively and permanently redefined consumers' expectations in these markets. While doing so, they built up an incredibly profitable hardware business.

Amazon is a different beast. It, too, has redefined a something -- e-commerce. Amazon makes everyone else look irrelevant, including giants like Walmart. Amazon also re-invented books with the Kindle, and you could argue they re-invented the Internet by introducing all sorts of cloud computing and cloud storage services.

While both companies have been incredibly successful at disrupting past industries, Apple is the one with a track record of doing this profitably. Amazon, on the other hand, doesn't really make much money at all yet.

Let's look at some actual numbers, shall we? Here's how the last 12 months shakes out for both companies according to data from S&P Capital IQ. Amazon brought in $57 billion in sales with operating income of $531 million. That's slightly less than a 1% operating profit margin. Apple brought in $157 billion in revenue, with an operating income of 55.2 billion. Apple's operating profit margin is 35%. The difference is nothing short of night and day.

So why is it that Apple's stock hasn't actually outperformed Amazon by that much? Year to date, the two stocks are both up about 40%.

Despite the impressive difference in profitability between Apple and Amazon, the web shopping giant enjoys more confidence from Wall Street on future earnings potential. We can look at both companies' enterprise value to sales ratio to see this.

Enterprise value (EV) is a company's market value excluding cash and debt, so it represents the value of just the business. A higher ratio of EV to sales means the market values a dollar of sales higher than, say, a company trading at a lower ratio.

Apple's EV/S multiple is 3.5x, whereas Amazon's is 1.85x. Amazon should trade at a lower multiple considering its operating margin is just shy of 1% while Apple's is 35%. But Amazon's EV/S ratio trails Apple's by half.

Let's put this in perspective. If Apple holds its profitability ratio constant, Amazon would need to improve its profitability ratio by about 18x for Wall Street to be paying an equivalent value for a dollar of sales by either company.

I don't actually think Amazon is overvalued here. That's just my opinion, but I see a lot of value in what they are doing to build a long-term profitable platform on which to conduct e-commerce.

The market has more future confidence in Amazon because it seems easier to justify. Amazon's profit margin is next to zero, and seemingly has way more upside (as they scale) compared to Apple. After all, Apple could face pressure from the onslaught of Android devices and from Amazon's own Kindle Fire platform.

If you think about how Apple implemented the App Store, it changed the way we all think about what we are willing to pay for software. Apple makes money from hardware, so what they've done is in their own best interests. Apple makes incredibly good software, but it's packaged with hardware and justifies the fat margins they make. But they have no interest in helping developers keep software prices high. It does them no good.

In much the same way, Amazon doesn't care about making money on hardware. They're in the e-commerce, e-book, streaming media and cloud computing business. They could care less about selling hardware for a profit. It is in their best interests to quietly destroy the profitability of mobile computing hardware, harming their competitors (such as Apple) while building up their profits where others have a hard time competing.

I'm always a fan of balanced analysis. Yes, I'm a huge Apple product fan and I own the stock. I think it's got a lot of room to go higher. I think it's crazy that Wall Street is acting as if Apple "needs" to invent a whole new multi-billion dollar market in able to continue growing. But I do see value in having the debate. After all, most of Apple's profit is now tied to the iPhone and iPad. If Amazon or anyone else is successful in crushing profit margins on hardware, Apple will suffer.

If anything, I think this illustrates just how important it is to control a platform, not just sell hardware running some else's operating system and apps.

So, iMore readers - what's your take? Do you think Amazon can destroy pricing on hardware as Apple has on software? Or has Apple's power become too significant for any low-cost maker to overcome at this point?

(Sponsor) MOBiLE CLOTH, the perfect Stocking Stuffer!

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 10:08 AM PST

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What’s on Your iPad: with Twelve South’s Andrew Green

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 09:49 AM PST

Andrew Green first iPad home screen

What's on Your iPad? A simple question but one that leads to some fascinating answers. This is another installment of our now-regular series of What's on Your iPad posts. I enjoy these a lot because I love seeing how people put their iPads to use – and I find them a great resource for discovering new apps.

Today's answers are from Andrew Green, one of the co-founders of Twelve South – makers of excellent, beautifully designed products for Mac and iOS devices. I've been a huge fan of Twelve South's products for years now – several of them are within three foot of me as I write this, including the great HoverBar.  Here's a little more bio info on Andrew:

Andrew Green is Creative Director, Co-founder, and self-proclaimed "Head Mac Geek" at Twelve South, a company that makes products for Mac only.

Here are Andrew's answers – questions are in regular text, Andrew's answers are in block quotes:

Which iPad model do you use? (original or iPad 2, WiFi or WiFi + 3G, storage size) Any particular reasons for choosing this model?

My new favorite is the iPad Mini — seems to be just the right size! I'm currently using it in a really cool BookBook for iPad Mini that's coming soon.

Do you use any sort of case with the iPad? If so, which one/s and why?

My case of choice is BookBook. We make them first and foremost because we want them ourselves. I have played with the Apple Smart Cover to see for myself what the value equation is for someone looking at our BookBook vs. an Apple Smart Cover. I like how ours comes out.

 

(...)
Read the rest of What's on Your iPad: with Twelve South's Andrew Green (541 words)

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Price Drops: The Excellent Analytics Tiles App on Sale at 99 Cents

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 08:33 AM PST

Analytics Tiles App

Analytics Tiles App, the excellent website stats tracking and analysis app, is currently on sale at just 99 cents – down from its standard $2.99 price.

The app presents your Google Analytics stats in a unique and gorgeous tile-based interface. Each report has its own individual tile, and you can arrange tiles, move them around, add and remove reports to suit exactly how you want to see your information presented. You can also choose your tile colors for each of your sites if you run multiple sites.

I did a review of Analytics Tiles App a couple weeks ago, and I'm very impressed with it. It has quickly gained a spot on my first home screen.

Here's an App Store link for Analytics Tiles App.

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Instagram cuts off support for Twitter cards, wants you to go to the website instead.

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 07:47 AM PST

Instagram, the popular and now Facebook-owned image filtering and sharing app, has cut off support for Twitter's embedded card view. Twitter cards are one of the ways in which Twitter is trying to offer "rich experiences" within timelines for "value added partners", and likely one of the reasons Twitter is trying to choke the life out of third party Twitter clients like Twitterrific and Tweetbot. (Because users of those fine apps don't get pelted with Twitter cards.) Here's how Twitter is describing the change:

Users are experiencing issues with viewing Instagram photos on Twitter. Issues include cropped images. This is due to Instagram disabling its Twitter cards integration, and as a result, photos are being displayed using a pre-cards experience. So, when users click on Tweets with an Instagram link, photos appear cropped.

Absent Twitter card support, Instagram photos show up like other third-party images in Twitter -- as linked attachments of varying quality. The varying quality part seems especially egregious right now, with some photos showing up cropped and otherwise butchered. Hopefully that gets fixed.

The Verge's Nathan Ingram, watching Instragram's CEO, Kevin Systrom on stage at Le Web, reports:

Instagram's CEO wants people to use the new web client on Instagram.com because he thinks it is a better user experience, and noted that "not many people know what Twitter card are."

That new web client being the Instagram web profile pages that began rolling out only a month ago. Which is an interesting strategy. Making people come to you for content gives you greater control of the experience, but costs the user convenience. In other words,Twitter doesn't want our eyeballs on third-party clients, Instagram doesn't want our eyeballs on Twitter, and none of them seem to care what our eyeballs want.

Apple right now is pushing iTunes content into Flipboard and other places precisely because it's easier for users already in those places to discover and ultimate purchase that content. But Apple makes money on content, so putting that content in front of people increases the odds of making money. Instagram doesn't make money on content.

In fact, I don't believe Instagram makes money at all at this point. However, encouraging users to go to their website could be a clue as to how they intend to make money in the future.

Source: Twitter, The Verge

Leanna's gift picks: 2012 holiday guide

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 06:41 AM PST

Leanna's gift picks: 2012 holiday guide

This season we're asking everyone here at iMore to share some of their favorite gift ideas. Sure, there'll be iPhone, iPad, and Mac apps and accessories included on everyones' lists, just as you'd expect, but there'll also be other stuff, great, geeky, gorgeous other stuff that's as multi-facted and fun as the people themselves. It's my turn and I've found a couple must-haves for the gadget fanatics you'll be shopping for this year.

1Password

First look: 1Password 4 for iOS

We live in a world where, for many of us, our lives are tied to internet. Literally. Not just social networks and reading news, but our bank account, car insurance, college transcripts, email, and more. And even though no one would deny the importance of keeping these account secure, most people use non-secure passwords, often times the same one for many accounts. This is a terrible practice, which is why 1Password is the perfect gift.

1Password makes it extremely easy to have unique, randomly generated, secure passwords for all of your logins. All you need to remember is one password to recall your login information. On your desktop, 1Password will automatically fill in the login fields on websites for you. It's actually faster to use 1Password than to fill out a memorized password on your own.

1Password is available for Mac, Windows, iPhone, and iPad and can be synced together, making it easy to have your passwords with you wherever you go. The development company AgileBits is getting close to releasing 1Password 4 for iOS as a new app, so I recommend on holding off on purchasing the iOS version. However, the current version of 1Password for Mac includes a free upgrade to iPassword 4 when it releases. Since the desktop version is the foundation to the mobile versions, it really is the perfect gift for just about everyone.

AnoStyle for iPhone 5

Although Apple's iPod lineup comes in a multitude a beautiful colors, the iPhone is only available in black and white... until now. The AnoStyle color modification system by The Pod Drop is now available and boy are they gorgeous! The process is very simple and just requires you to send your iPhone to The Pod Drop where they will apply the sophisticated anodizing process they discovered. The process features enhanced durability that even meets military grade requirements. The Pod Drop's methods are actually better than Apple's and minimizes the scratching and scuffing issues present on most iPhone 5's. Once the process is complete the iPhone will be shipped back and the turn around time is only about a week.

Starbucks Gift Card

Almost everyone loves Starbucks and will jump with joy with even a $5 gift card to the popular coffee chain. If you're an iPhone user, sending out Starbucks gift cards are easier than ever with the official Starbucks app for iPhone. Simply browse to the eGifts tab, select if you want to deliver via email or Facebook, select a contact, write a short message, and choose a value between $5 and $100 (in $5 increments). There are 10 different Holiday card styles to choose from as well.

iPad mini

I almost didn't include the iPad mini on my list because it's so cliche and expected, but for good reason! The iPad mini is an incredible device and I find myself using it more than my Retina iPad. The weight and size of the iPad mini is just perfect for casual use and usually worth the compromise of the superior screen featured on the Retina iPad. My iPad mini is Wi-Fi only, but I really wish I had the LTE version so it could take the place of my Retina iPad in my purse.

Jawbone JAMBOX

The Jawbone JAMBOX is by no means "new", but it's still awesome in my eyes. This little box works as a wireless speaker that let's you seamlessly stream and share music, movies, games, phone, and conference calls anywhere. The Jawbone JAMBOX has an output capacity of 85 decibels which enough to fill a fairly large room and the battery will last for up to 10 hours.

If the person you're shopping for would appreciate a more powerful speaker, check out the Jawbone BIG JAMBOX. It's the same thing, just in a slightly bigger package with much more impressive insides.

Olloclip 3-in-one lens system

One of the great features of the iPhone is its camera. And it's a feature that just about every iPhone owner users regularly. The Olloclip 3-in-one lens system will make that already awesome camera even more versatile. It includes external macro, wide-angle, and fish-eye lenses that slide over the iPhone's lens. Not only does it work great, but it's also small enough to fit in a pocket, purse, or bag. The quality combined with portability makes the Olloclip a very useful accessory that nearly every iPhone user will enjoy.

The Olloclip is available for the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and iPhone 5 in red, black, and white.

MacBreak Weekly 328: The Thinnest iTunes Ever

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 05:55 AM PST

Leo Laporte, Alex Lindsay, Andy Ihnatko, and yours truly talk iTunes 11 and all the week's Apple news.

Subscribe or download: TWiT.tv

Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour teased ahead of December 6 release

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 04:18 AM PST

Gameloft has posted a brief teaser trailer launch video just ahead of the release of its latest big name game Mordern Combat 4: Zero Hour. The trailer shows just over a minute of in game footage and it looks like Gameloft has done an excellent job bringing the latest installment to the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

The #1 mobile FPS is back with a new chapter to push the boundaries of mobile gaming even further. Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour will be live on December 6th 2012 on iOS and shortly after on Android!

Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour looks to take first person shooter gaming to a new level on the iPhone and iPad. Not only will you be able to undertake single player missions but multi-player gaming will be a massive part of this title too. Gameloft has even taken measures to prevent hackers cheating and gaining an unfair advantage on multi-player levels.

Gameloft has some serious competition on its hands right from the launch day tomorrow. Rockstar Games has also chosen December 6 as the release day for its 10th anniversary release of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Both games will be vying for the Christmas top spot in the iTunes gaming chart; who knows which one will be the most successful. The problem for me is which one to play first when they're released tomorrow. What do you think?

Source: YouTube
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