sábado, 1 de diciembre de 2012

iPad By Davis: “Gift Plan vs. Gifts HD 2 vs. mGifts: Gift planning apps for iPhone shootout!” plus 13 more

iPad By Davis: “Gift Plan vs. Gifts HD 2 vs. mGifts: Gift planning apps for iPhone shootout!” plus 13 more


Gift Plan vs. Gifts HD 2 vs. mGifts: Gift planning apps for iPhone shootout!

Posted: 30 Nov 2012 07:02 PM PST

Gift Plan vs. Gifts HD 2 vs. mGifts: Gift planning apps for iPhone shootout!

T'is the season to give gifts.. to scramble and fret and hope not to forget sizes and colors and tastes and flavors and entire people on your nice (or naughty) list. Sure gift giving is a year-round chore blessing, but especially in December, especially in our hyper-commercialized culture, keeping track of who you need to give to and what seems especially important. Luckily the App Store has a bunch of gift planning apps to help you out. Gift Plan, Gifts HD, and mGifts can keep you organized and cut down on stress through the holidays, and any time really, but which is the best for you?

Gift Plan vs. Gifts HD 2 vs. mGifts: User interface & design

Upon first launching Gift Plan you'll be asked if you want to import contacts from Facebook and/or your iPhone contacts. It'll aggregate a list for you and then you can choose which to import and which to skip. Some events will already be standard and set up for you such as Christmas, Valentine's Day, and birthdays.

Gift Plan has 5 main sections inside the app that consist of calendar, ideas, occasions, shopping, and more. The calendar section will let you tab through months and will highlight any upcoming events you need to buy gifts for. Tapping on a day that contains an event will allow you to view all the people you need to buy for. Tapping on their name will take them to their contact page where you can see any upcoming events they're involved in and what gifts you still have left to purchase for them.

The ideas tab in Gift Plan allows you to add ideas as you think of them. If you decide later that you'd like to add something from your ideas list to your shopping list you can tap on the shopping basket. If you've already purchased it you can tap on the gift box to save it as purchased already.

The occasions tab is probably where most users will spend their time as it gives you easy access to anything inside Gift Plan. All of your events will be listed in one place with a number counting down to it next to it. Tapping on it expands the list to show you members of that event that you are buying for. Tapping into any one of them brings you to their contact card. The shopping tab functions much like the ideas tab but only pulls in items that you'd decided to purchase. The last tab, which is the more tab contains app settings for notifications and the ability to enable or disable a passcode in case you have any prying eyes in your household.

Gifts HD 2 utilizes a side menu that can be swiped away or pulled out. While in any section, swiping to the right will pull out the main menu. From there you can go in any of the events that you have created. The one thing I instantly noticed is that the events section is at the very bottom of the main navigation. This is rather odd to me as this is where you will spend most of your time while using Gift HD 2.

While inside an event you can view a quick view of all your contacts with a quick summary of your budget, how much you have spent on any one person, how many items you've purchased, and how many you still have left to buy. Along the bottom menu you can access some general event settings, view the calendar which shows how many days you have remaining along with your budget for that list, and pull up a calculator within Gifts HD 2. Above events in the main menu you can search for gifts, track contacts, jump into settings, view reports based on store and finances, submit feedback, and unlock premium features.

To add a contact to an event you can tap the plus sign in the upper right hand corner of any event and you'll be asked to fill out some basic details about that contact. Gifts HD 2 also allows you to import contacts from your iPhone contacts at any time too so you don't have to fill out everything manually if you don't want to.

mGifts doesn't have as pretty of an interface as Gift Plan and Gifts HD 2 but what it lacks in aesthetic appeal it makes up for in ease of use. While it took me a little to get used to how Gift Plan and Gifts HD 2 actually worked, I was able to easily pick up mGifts and start adding things right away with little to no learning curve.

Your main menu will consist of all the events you've got programmed within mGifts. From here you can delete events, edit them, and add or remove users. Tapping into any event will allow you to view the people within those events and add gifts for them. Along the bottom you'll be able to toggle between a few different views - people, gifts, stores, and groups. I particularly like the stores view in mGifts since it allows you another way to shop while you're out and about. If you see you're near a specific store and you've got some things to pick up, it makes it easy to know what you have left at that specific place.

Once you've gotten items listed for a person inside of mGifts you can tap on their name to view the status of your gifts. You can classify them as need, purchased, wrapped, shipped, ideas, and archived. The archive feature is nice as it lets you know what you've purchased for people in the past so you don't end up getting something similar later on down the road. From here you can also share your gifts with anyone as well as edit the contact or add notes.

While Gift Plan and Gifts HD 2 have more attractive interfaces than mGifts, it doesn't mean it doesn't still have a very useable interface. Gifts HD 2's interface is extremely laggy at times and I experienced quite a few crashes once my lists started getting large. Gift Plan and mGifts continued to chug along just fine.

If I had to choose between the two, Gift Plan has the most attractive interface without sacrificing usability.

Gift Plan vs. Gifts HD 2 vs. mGifts: Adding & organizing people to buy for

Gift Plan integrates with both your native iPhone contacts and Facebook. The best part is you don't have to import every single contact. Gift Plan will first scan for contacts and then add only the ones you choose. You can jump into settings at any time in order to add more contacts or delete people from your current list.

Gift Plan also allows you to add people to events via the manage contacts setting at any time. Once you've added them to an event, they'll always show up there, even through recurring years, unless you remove them. One step further, Gift Plan shows custom contact cards with pictures that allow you to enter all kinds of info about that person including what they like, what sizes they wear, what you've already bought.

Gifts HD 2 will allow you to quick add any contact you like on the go but also has an individual setting for managing contacts as well. From the main menu you can choose tracked contacts and view all the contact you are currently tracking within the app.

Gifts HD 2 supports importing contacts from your iPhone but that's it at the current time. Once you select import you'll have to go through your contact list in order to choose them one by one. There is no search or letter bar on the side to skip through either. If you've got a lot of contacts, this can make initial setup rather daunting.

mGifts unfortunately doesn't import any contact from your Address Book or any other service which means you'll have to manually add contacts. You can do this under any event or from settings. To add a contact the only information that is required is their name. You can add their birthday if you'd like along with any notes and a photo if you'd like but it isn't required.

When it comes to managing contacts and best organizing them, Gift Plan integrates with the most services and allows you to make changes more efficiently than both Gifts HD 2 and mGifts. Its killer feature is being able to add ideas, sizes, and more to individual contact cards which makes it a feature no other gift app has yet to offer.

Gift Plan vs. Gifts HD 2 vs. mGifts: Managing events & budgets

Gift Plan makes it super easy to manage events via the occasions tab. Here is where you'll live when inside the app. You can quickly scroll through all your events and expand and collapse them in just a tap. Inside of each you'll see a list of each person you're buying for. To add or edit events inside Gift Plan, you can hop into settings. You can drag the events in the order you'd like them to show up as well as choose a color and change date settings. You can also choose to make the event recurring on a yearly basis or you can turn the recurring feature off.

While Gift Plan doesn't have a specific budget feature, it still makes it easy to track what you're spending on any given event via the shopping tab. Each event will be itemized and a grand total of everything you plan on buying is given next to the event's title. If you want to know how much you're spending on a specific person, you can view their contact contact card and see what you're buying for that person individually under the shopping section.

Gifts HD 2 allows you to create events directly from the main menu. It's actually the first thing you have to do before you can go any further. The one thing I do really like about Gifts HD 2 is the ability to create lists based on groups. For instance, I have two Christmas lists, one for family and one for friends. From here you can create users and a specific budget for each. If you'd like to set a budget for the entire event you can do so by tapping on the calendar icon within an event and putting in a budget amount.

One thing that Gifts HD 2 really focuses on is budget and finances. From the main menu you can click on reports and see a breakdown of what you've already spent, what you have remaining to spend, and more. Gifts HD 2 will also allow you to break down budgets and charts between events. If you've got a separate event for both family and friends for a holiday, you can easily set separate budgets on an individual and event level.

mGifts allows you to add events from the main event screen. After adding them you can edit some attributes about the specific event including the date, people that are included, and any notes or photos you'd like to attach. Unfortunately there isn't currently a way to set an overall budget for an event. It'll be based off of what you input per user.

From the main event screen you can see what your budget is for that event based off the budget you set for each person. Tapping into the event will show the different groups and the people in them. From here you can add items, check them off as you buy them, and change the status on them. Any changes you make will instantly be reflected in the overall events page summary.

If your biggest concern is staying under budget this holiday season, Gifts HD 2 is the best option. If event handling and being able to store information such as ideas and clothing sizes is more important, Gift Plan is where it's at.

Gift Plan vs. Gifts HD 2 vs. mGifts: Cross-platform support and syncing

Gift Plan does not currently offer an iPad counterpart. It also doesn't have any kind of cloud syncing that allows you to sign in and out from one device. This was a big let down for me because Gift Plan is absolutely gorgeous and I can only image how beautiful it would look on iPad. It's something I'm hoping they will work on in the future.

Gifts HD 2 allows you to use either your Facebook, Twitter, or email credentials to create an account. From here your events, people, and gifts will be synced. They also offer an iPad counterpart which I think is actually a better implementation than the iPhone version. The only thing I've noticed is that sync can be rather laggy. A few times I even had to log out and log back in since it didn't load my events. Syncing definitely needs some refinements in the future but it does work.

mGifts supports iCloud syncing which means once in enabled in settings your gifts will be available from any supported device. mGifts also has an iPad counterpart which looks and feels exactly the same as the iPhone version. Once downloaded, just pop into settings and turn on iCloud sync and your items will populate on your iPad as well.

When it comes to sync, Gifts HD 2 and mGifts both have workable solutions but mGifts syncing functions much better than Gifts HD 2's.

Gift Plan vs. Gifts HD 2 vs. mGifts: Pricing

Gift Plan is currently priced at $2.99 and that'll only get you the iPhone version since that's the only one Glasshouse offers. For most users, it's a small price to pay for what the app offers. It's the only one that offers data input such as sizes.

Gifts HD 2 is completely free and is a universal download for both iPhone and iPad. There is a little catch though that isn't really explained very well by MacSpots. You can only store so many lists and gifts unless you decide to go premium via an in-app purchase for $2.99. I got the message to purchase the premium version after adding about 5 or 6 gifts. If you are aiming towards Gifts HD 2, I'd plan on spending the $2.99 to have the ability to add unlimited amounts of events, people, and gifts.

mGifts is priced at $2.99 and is also a universal download for both iPhone and iPad. There aren't any additional in-app purchases to worry about and that'll get you all the features mGifts has to offer.

Considering Gift Plan, Gifts HD 2, and mGifts are all moderately priced, I wouldn't take price to be a determining factor. Decide what app you'd like to use based on the feature set and what is more important to you when shopping for friends and family.

Tie between all three.

Gift Plan vs. Gifts HD 2 vs. mGifts: The bottom line

Gifts HD 2 has both an iPhone and iPad interface, and a much better interface than mGifts, but it's slower and less stable, and in the end that makes mGifts the better (if not as pretty) choice for those who want to sync their gift lists to all their iOS devices.

Gift Plan is the best looking, and offers the most detailed, most customizable information. If you don't need an iPad version or syncing, and plan to track all your shopping straight from your iPad, go with Gift Plan.

Gift Plan - $2.99 - Download Now

Gifts HD 2 - Free - Download Now

mGifts - $0.99 - Download Now




Otterbox Defender for iPhone 5 review

Posted: 30 Nov 2012 06:08 PM PST

OtterBox is one of the leading brands when it comes to reliable protection for iPhone and iPads, so it comes at no surprise that the OtterBox Defender for the iPhone 5 offers phenomenal, high-quality protection to your precious device. If you live a rugged lifestyle that frequently puts your iPhone 5 in danger, you're definitely going to want to give the OtterBox Defender a look.

OtterBox offers many different cases for the iPhone 5 (and other devices), but the Defender Series is the most robust of them all. OtterBox claims that the Defender protects your iPhone against drops, shocks, dust, and scratches with its three layers of protection and built-in screen protector.

Because of the complexity of this case, putting on the OtterBox Defender is a bit of a chore. I struggle most with opening the case since it has at least six different clasps to lock the case in place. But once you get through that, putting on the case is pretty easy.

Since the screen protector is built into the case, you'll want to make sure that the inside of it is dust and lint free. If it is, the fit is so perfect that you won't even notice that there's a screen protector. This is a lot coming from someone who's very anti-screen-protectors. I hate them and they way they feel, but the built-in protector in OtterBox Defender is completely invisible and feels like glass. I'm seriously impressed.

Although the OtterBox Defender for iPhone 5 is very protective, it does not protect against everything, namely water. It will definitely keep your phone protected from splashes or quick phone calls in the rain, but don't expect to be able to retrieve an undamaged iPhone that's been dropped in the lake... or toilet.

The areas of the iPhone 5 that are not protected by the OtterBox defender are the speaker, mic, and camera. The volume switch, lightning connector, and headphone jack all feature flaps of rubber that provide protection when not in use, yet give easy access when it's time to use them. It will appear that the Apple symbol on the back of the iPhone 5 also isn't protected, but it is; there is a cutout in the case, but it is covered with the same invisible material used for the screen protector.

One of the downsides of super protective cases is that they add a considerable amount of bulk and the OtterBox Defender is no exception. But if your iPhone 5 is at risk of experiencing long falls and drops, the extra bulk is a necessary trade-off. I'd much rather have a bulky phone that worked, than a thin one with a shattered screen. I can say from experience that the OtterBox will protect your phone against all sort of gadget-enemies including toddlers, toy boxes, and baby drool.

The good

  • 3 layers of protection
  • Flaps to cover all the ports
  • Only leaves mic, speaker, and camera unprotected (for good reason)
  • Lots of colors to choose from

The bad

  • Apple symbol cutout isn't perfectly centered
  • Extremely difficult to take off (tip: start at the bottom of the iPhone)
  • Adds a lot of bulk

The conclusion

If you're in the market for a super durable case for your new iPhone 5, the OtterBox Defender is an excellent choice. It may be a little more bulky than your average case, but for people with dirty, dangerous, or labor intensive jobs... or small children, the extra protection is priceless. The OtterBox Defender comes in eight different colors as well, so there's sure to be one that fits your style and personality.




Facebook introduces automatic photo sync

Posted: 30 Nov 2012 03:34 PM PST

Facebook has started rolling out a new photo sync featuring with the Facebook for iPhone app that allow users to choose to have all the photos they take with their iPhone automatically upload to their Facebook account, similar to what Google Plus already has in place. For those not interested in sharing every photo you take, don't fret, all you photos will automatically be set to private until you manually select which ones you want to share.

Today we're excited to roll out photo sync, which makes it easier to share photos. With this feature, photos from your phone sync automatically to a private album on the web. When you want to share these photos, just pick and post your favorites.

When the feature becomes available to you, you'll see a banner at the top of the Facebook app that you can tap to set it up. Or you can deny the feature if you don't trust Facebook with your photos.

Speaking of trusting Facebook, I'm not too keen on the idea of automatically sharing all my photos even if they are set to private. In theory, it's a great secondary backup of your photos, but as an iPhone user, I have Photo Stream to serve that same purpose, so I will not be enabling this new photo sync feature from Facebook.

How about you?

Source: Facebook




Feed has moved

Posted: 30 Nov 2012 03:17 PM PST

This feed has moved to http://ipadinsight.com/feed/.

Foldify teases awesome 3D paper art created right from your iPad

Posted: 30 Nov 2012 02:31 PM PST

Foldify is an upcoming iPad app that will let you create amazing 3D paper art right from your iPhone. Pick a form, paint it to your liking, AirPrint to suitable paper/card, fold it, and then the real fun begins.

But why am I telling you all this? Just watch the teaser video, smile, and wait for the launch.

(Or if you're really geeky, and want something to read in the meantime, check out this blog post on merowing by developer Krzysztof Zabłocki on how the line drawings were smoothed with cocos2d.)

Source: Foldify

Foldify teases awesome 3D paper art created right from your iPad




Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey's Wildlife Count Along for iPhone and iPad review

Posted: 30 Nov 2012 11:46 AM PST

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey's Wildlife Count Along is a fun app for kids based off the popular Disney Junior show Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. In this app, your child will join Mickey and his friends on a road trip around the globe to get to Mickey Beach. As you travel through different places, you'll learn about wildlife habits while counting groups of animals and taking their pictures. Early math concepts including sequencing, size, and numeral matching are constantly reinforced in the various activities and play-along games.

To begin the journey, you must first help Mickey and his friends pack up their stuff and get in the car. Once they're all loaded up, it's time to head to the beach, but Mickey doesn't follow the signs and ends up in the Desert instead. He makes this mistake over and over again which takes the crew to a lot of different locations. Mickey and his friends stay positive, though, and take advantage of enjoying the wildlife that are native to each habitat, finding groups of animals with a specific number of animals, and taking their pictures.

At each habitat, there are a few different types of animals that the Clubhouse members get to count and take photos of.

Once you've taken photos of groups of animals, you can help Mickey put together a scrapbook by arranging the photos by the number of animals in each picture. For example, on one page you'll be asked to put a photo with 7 animals and on another page you'll need to place a photo with 3 animals.

The good

  • Activities aimed at counting and sequencing numbers 1-10
  • Hands-on practice with key early math concepts of more than and less than, and group to numeral matching
  • Match over 20 different animals to one of five fascinating habitats!
  • Character voices from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and exciting sound effects!
  • Original artwork and animation as well as fun effects such as Tap, Shake, and Tilt!
  • Story extension activities for parents and caregivers
  • Great graphics
  • Universal for iPhone and iPad

The bad

  • No iPad 1 support

The conclusion

If you have a little one who's a fan of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, they are bound to love Mickey's Wildlife Count Along. They get to interact with all their favorite Clubhouse members and learn about counting on the way. My daughter is just a little over 2 years old and thus a little too young to fully understand the goals of the game, but she still has loads of fun identifying animals, repeating numbers, and saying "cheese" when it's time to take a photo. In fact, writing this review became rather difficult when she discovered that I was "playing" with one of her favorite apps.

$1.99 - Download Now




Timer 2.0 removes in-app ad, apologizes to customers

Posted: 30 Nov 2012 09:40 AM PST

Timer 2.0 removes in-app ad

App Cubby, the company behind Timer 2.0, will be removing the in-app ad -- an icon advertising another app -- and has issued an apology to their users for inserting it in the first place. It's a classy and extremely customer-centric move. App Cubby's David Barnard said:

Given all the mistakes and bad assumptions, it's clear that the best choice here is to immediately change course. For now I'm going to replace the ads with an apology, and later today I'll be submitting an update to Timer that removes the ad completely.

Please accept my sincere apologies for making a mess of a great app.

Barnard considers the mistakes to be a) underestimating how many Timer users had bought the app in the couple of months before it went free, b) forcing the update on those past users, c) making the ad too clever (so much so that users don't realize it's an ad).

I understand the ambiguity argument when it comes to the ad. An app icon on a grid amid many other icons could easily be mistaken for an action item instead. Personally, however, I have no problem with the core idea of ads being added to apps. I'd much prefer that than the app being discontinued because the developer can no longer afford to keep it going. Business realities change. The App Store economy changes. Developers have to respond to those changes or go out of business.

Some people think users don't care about developers having sustainable businesses, but if users start not getting the apps they want, they'll start to care. Developers, just like all of us, are trying to figure out how to make enough money to feed their families. They'll try things, they'll stumble, they'll get up, they'll adjust, and hopefully they'll hit it big.

Kudos to David for recognizing a faulty tactic in what looks to still be a sound strategy, and hopefully he hits it big with the next revision, or the next app. In the meantime, go download Timer 2.0, still for free, on the App Store. Ad or no add, it's a terrific app.

Source: App Cubby




Apple testing LTE network quality

Posted: 30 Nov 2012 08:31 AM PST

Apple testing LTE network quality

Apple is apparently quite strict when it comes to allowing carriers to offer the iPhone 5 as an LTE device, requiring carriers to allow Apple to independently test the quality of their LTE network. If the network is up to Apple's standards, then they will enable LTE functionality on the iPhone 5. This test can mean that, as carriers across the world start rolling out their LTE networks, the iPhone 5 won't be immediately useable as an LTE device. At least that's what Swiss carrier Swisscom has discovered, according to a report by Telecoms.com:

Swisscom launched its LTE network this week although the iPhone 5 was not available as an LTE device at launch. "Apple will provide a software update in due course," the firm said in a press release.

Carriers have always tested devices to make sure that they ran properly on their networks, but handset manufacturers don't normally run tests on the network. Apple's policy gives them control over carriers, and pressures those who want the iPhone 5 to run on their network to make sure that it is reliable as soon as possible.

This test could also be a primary reason that an unlocked iPhone 5 will not work on an LTE network that is not affiliated with Apple. If Apple hasn't vetted the network, then the iPhone doesn't have the software update that allows it to work on LTE.

Most handset makers don't have the power to demand the ability to test networks. Apple can do this because people want the iPhone, and they don't want the phone they buy to have any functionality disabled because their carrier didn't meet Apple's standards. This affords Apple the opportunity to hold their carrier partners to Apple's standards of quality, at least with network performance. While it might seem like an inconvenience, this policy may help encourage carriers to get their LTE networks right, and not rushing them just to say they have LTE.

Source: Telecoms.com




Squrl Video Search iPad App Updated: Adds Live Streaming Channels and More

Posted: 30 Nov 2012 08:13 AM PST

Squrl for iPad

Squrl, the excellent videos and video search app for the iPad and iOS, has been updated this week – to Version 2.7.

The huge new feature added in this update is live streaming of TV channels. It can be accessed right from the app's main screen under the 'Live' heading. And it's great stuff. I'm watching Leo Laporte and his Windows Weekly show live as I write this post.

Here's the full change list for this latest update of Squrl:

● Live streaming TV channels have been added to the main menu under "Live"
● Redesigned profile page with subscription management for services, YouTube, Netflix, Facebook and Twitter.
● New channels "Liked" and "Recently Watched"
● Share videos directly from search results
● Enable/disable automatic playlisting of videos
● Easier channel and playlist navigation

 

(...)
Read the rest of Squrl Video Search iPad App Updated: Adds Live Streaming Channels and More (123 words)


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Win a brand new iPhone or iPad mini case from Pad & Quill Enter now!

Posted: 30 Nov 2012 08:19 AM PST

Win a brand new iPhone or iPad mini case from Pad & Quill Enter now!

Pad & Quill make some of our favorite iPhone and iPad cases, and they've recently released brand new versions for both the iPhone 5 and the iPad mini. As always, they're hand made in Minnesota, and their baltic birch and leather stand in gorgeous contrast to Apple's glass and aluminum devices. Best of all, they're giving three (3) of each away to our awesome iMore readers.

Here's how to enter:

  1. Go to P&Q's Little Pocket Book for iPhone 5 page or Little Pocket Book for iPhone 4/4S page and choose the model you want; or
  2. Go to P&Q's iPad mini page and choose the model you want
  3. Paste the exact model name (and color!) in the comments below
  4. That's it!

We'll pick 3 iPhone case winners and 3 iPad mini case winners, and P&Q will send you your prize!

Ready? Who are we kidding, you were born ready! Enter now!

Win a brand new iPhone or iPad mini case from Pad & Quill Enter now!




iPad at Work: For Barclays Bank in the UK

Posted: 30 Nov 2012 07:28 AM PST

Barclays

Barclays Bank – one of the UK's leading banks – has purchased 8,500 iPads. As The Channel reports, this is thought to be one of the largest rollouts of any tablet device in the UK financial sector.

According to a Barclays PR person one of the reasons for selecting the iPad was staff demand. The iPads will be put to use in Barclays branches to "interact with customers, improving the customer experience".  The bank is starting to use them throughout their UK branches and will be running a custom designed app for the iPad called Mortgage Brain.

So iPad momentum keeps on growing in the financial sector, healthcare, education, in local, state, and national governments, with commercial airlines, professional sports teams, and businesses of all shapes and sizes. Not bad for a device that Microsoft says is just for playing game and watching movies on.


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iPhone gaining ground in enterprise... at BlackBerry's expense

Posted: 30 Nov 2012 07:36 AM PST

iPhone gaining ground in enterprise... at BlackBerry's expense

By the end of the year it's expected that iPhone shipment to enterprise will outstrip those of traditional leader, BlackBerry. While BlackBerry still has the largest install base in the enterprise, more often than not, companies are now ordering iPhones for their employees. As this happens, iPhone marketshare in enterprise will continue to grow. A primary driver of this change is that businesses are increasingly embracing the practice of BYOD, or "Bring Your Own Device". Because of this, employees are bringing the devices that they buy on their own, and that's an iPhone (or Android). John Paczkowski reports for All Things D:

"While corporate customers will continue to offer Blackberry as a corporate-liable device, they are also now much more open to offering iOS as well, and giving end users a choice of devices," IDC Mobile Enterprise Program Manager Stacy Crook told AllThingsD. "From a BYOD standpoint, the BlackBerrys will also continue to easily make the approved device list, but again, most companies with a BYOD strategy will allow for iOS and, increasingly, Android is starting to make more of those lists, as well. In either of these scenarios, it boils down to end-user choice, so the end users have to want to choose the BlackBerry device over the others."

That's good new for Apple, who keeps touting not only growing Fortune and Global 500 adoption for the iPhone, but unprecedented adoption rates for the iPad as well. BYOD is definitely a part of this. Employees are regular users for the most part, and iPhones and Android devices are going to appeal to them just as much as they do to the rest of the phone-buying public.

However, we've also seen entire companies swing towards iOS (and Android), most recently Yahoo!, so iOS could well see gains from the top down as well as bottom up.

BlackBerry 10 looks like it will finally be more modern OS, and could help slow the bleeding, or even lead to a resurgence for BlackBerry, but with iOS and Android already well-established with users, they'll have a hard road in front of them if they want to regain the ground they've lost.

In the meantime, it continues to be onwards and upwards for iOS in the enterprise.

Source: All Things D




How to create, view, update, and cancel calendar events using Siri

Posted: 30 Nov 2012 06:37 AM PST

Complete guide to Siri commands for Calendars

Since Siri is meant to be your personal assistant, it only makes sense to have it schedule and manage your meetings and events on your iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPod touch 5, iPad 4, iPad 3, or iPad mini. Asking Siri to create a Calendar event only takes a few seconds and is much faster than creating them manually and entering all the data yourself. Whether you need Siri to schedule a meeting, tell you what's on the agenda for the day, or move an existing meeting to another time to make room for a conference call or a power nap, Siri will help make sure your schedule is set.

How to create a calendar event with Siri

If you're on the go or just want an easier way to add events to your Calendar app, Siri will happily get the job done for you. Creating an event is super simple and only takes a few seconds.

  1. Press and hold the Home button to activate Siri.
  2. Tell Siri what you'd like her to schedule. For example: "Schedule a conference call with Phil tomorrow at 9AM."
  3. Confirm the event or appointment by saying "Confirm" or tapping the button.

If there's any ambiguity about what you said, or Siri is uncertain, it will ask you to clarify. For example, if you ask to set up an appointment "tomorrow", and it's near midnight, Siri will ask you to specify the date to make sure the appointment is set up properly.

If you made a mistake or simply want to revise something immediately, instead of confirming, you can also tell Siri to "change the time", "change the title (of the appointment/event)", or simply "cancel" it entirely.

How to update a calendar event with Siri

There may be times where you'll need to make changes to existing meetings, events, or appointments. Siri can do that for you too.

  1. Press and hold the Home button to activate Siri.
  2. Tell Siri which appointment to move or cancel. For example: "Move my 4PM meeting."
  3. Siri will ask you for a new time and date.
  4. Confirm the change by saying "Confirm" or tapping the button.

How to cancel a calendar event with Siri

You can also use Siri to completely cancel a meeting or appointment.

  1. Press and hold the Home button to activate Siri.
  2. Tell Siri to cancel the appointment or meeting. For example: "Cancel my meeting with Leanna on Monday."
  3. Confirm the change by saying "Confirm" or tapping the button.

If you've got multiple meetings with someone and don't specify a specific one, Siri will ask you to confirm which meeting you'd like to cancel.

How to view and check your Calendar with Siri

  1. Press and hold the Home button to activate Siri.
  2. Ask Siri to show you your schedule. For example: "What's on my calendar for today?", "What meetings do I have scheduled this Tuesday?"

Tap the calendar widget to go directly to the appointment in the Calendar app.

How to get more help with Siri

If you still need help with setting up or using Siri with your iPhone Calendar, or any other Siri feature, head on over to our Siri Forum and ask away!




iPhone 5 launching in China on December 14, iPad 4 and iPad mini Wi-Fi on December 7

Posted: 30 Nov 2012 05:54 AM PST

The iPhone 5, along with the Wi-Fi only versions of the iPad 4 and iPad mini would go on sale in China within the next few weeks. According to Apple, the iPhone 5 will debut on Friday, December 14, and the iPads will debut on Friday, December 7.

No word on when, of if, Wi-Fi + cellular versions of the iPad 4 and iPad mini will become available.

Source: Apple