iPad By Davis: “Good Weather for iPhone review” plus 14 more |
- Good Weather for iPhone review
- Reminder+ for iPhone review
- iMore show 343: Mobile Nations at GDC 2013
- Review: iSlider iPad Stand
- Chinese propaganda campaign could sap $13 billion in sales from Apple
- Feedly updated with new sharing options and sections, announces three million new users
- Best Passbook compatible apps for iPhone
- Notable New iPad Apps: Race to the Pennant
- Tim Cook announces changes to Apple's Chinese warranty policy
- New York Magazine for iPad Relaunched with New Newsstand App
- How to price your apps, sell them, and earn a living
- Civil War: 1863 iPad Game Updated – New Missions & Campaigns
- Deal of the Day: 25% off Seidio OBEX Waterproof Case for iPhone 5
- Monday Brief: BlackBerry Q4 earnings, a Google Watch, and the last Monday Brief ever!
- The case for Apple slowing down, rather than speeding up
| Good Weather for iPhone review Posted: 01 Apr 2013 08:25 PM PDT
Good Weather is a super cute weather app for the iPhone that not only informs you about the weather, but also includes fun games that coincide with the current weather conditions. Is it sunny outside? Then see how high you can bounce the sun off the clouds. Is it lightly snowing? The blast away the clouds with by shooting them from your super cloud. The weather has never been so fun!
The main screen of Good Weather is a solid color that represents the current weather condition, and in the center, is a cute little graphic and information about the weather. In the upper lefthand corner, the location and temperature is displayed, and when tapped, converts to a 5-day forecast. Multiple locations can be saved and Good Weather even includes neverland, oz, and winterfell as locations for fun.
What really sets Good Weather apart from other weather apps is that it's also a game! Actually, more than 30 games. At the bottom of the screen is a pulsating "tap to play" button that's just begging to be tapped. These games are directly related to the current weather conditions and are little arcade games. For example, one game is a Doodle Jump like game where you must bounce the sun off clouds as high as possible. In another game, you must tap the snowflakes to keep them from falling off the screen. There are over 30 different games that are fun and addicting. Good Weather saves your scores on a Game Board so you can see which games you've played and what your high score on each one is. The good
The bad
The bottom lineGood weather is both a great looking weather app and a fun little game. It's basically like having two apps in one -- and free!
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| Posted: 01 Apr 2013 06:36 PM PDT
While the default Reminders app can get the job done, some people's tasks are more granular than what the iPhone supports natively. Reminder+ is one of those third party apps that steps in to solve a lot of the issues with the default Reminders app.
In this case, if you've got a lot of location based reminders, Reminder+ allows you to easily set them up with as many locations as you'd like. It also has support for timers and alarms built right in. The main feature of Reminder+ is the ability to create location based reminders at virtually any play you'd like. The problem with the native iOS reminders app is that you can't necessarily save locations for later so while you can set any location, it doesn't save that location for later use. Reminder+ will do just that which means if you frequent places like Starbucks, the gym, or other places that you may need to remember something at, you'll be able to select them in just one tap after you've initially added them in.
To create a reminder, you'll just tap the plus sign from the places section. Here you'll search for a location or choose an existing one. After that just enter the details and choose the time at which Reminder+ should notify you. You can also select to set reminders as recurring. You can do this with alarms as well. Reminder+ allows you to choose if you'd like to be notified when you arrive or leave a location. From there you can also choose time intervals such as 5 minutes after or before you arrive. For example, if you want to be reminded to send an email to someone when you get to work, you may want some time to get settled in first. In this case, just set a reminder for a few minutes after you get to work. This is a functionality that the default reminders app doesn't have when it comes to location based reminders.
The good
The bad
The bottom lineReminder+ not only has a great interface, but it functions beautifully. The only down side is that you don't have any option to set reminders that aren't location based. I don't necessarily need all of my reminders to be location based, such as sending emails or remembering to call someone later on. This seems like excess battery drain so to avoid that, I'd have to use two apps to accomplish what I want. If Reminder+ would add the ability to add both location based and time based reminders, it could really give the default Reminders app a run for its money as it's a lot simpler to use but just as powerful as a lot of the other options out there.
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| iMore show 343: Mobile Nations at GDC 2013 Posted: 01 Apr 2013 05:36 PM PDT Simon Sage, gaming editor for Mobile Nations, joins Rene to talk about PAX East and GDC 2013, the state of mobile gaming in general, iOS, Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone in specific, and the explosion of free-to-play titles. Also, Facebook's mobile event.
Show notes
Show notes
GuestsHostsCreditsYou 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, Debug, Ad hoc, and more, see MobileNations.com/shows 
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| Posted: 01 Apr 2013 02:25 PM PDT
I'm a big (big!) fan of iPad stands – and when I first saw the iSlider iPad Stand I thought it looked quite promising. Rain Design, the makers of the stand, were kind enough to provide me with a review unit, and I've been using it for several weeks now. Notes Here's the brief initial description of the iSlider:
The stand is quite light, weighing in at just 0.5 pounds. It's compatible with the iPad (all generations) and the iPad mini, and supports both portrait and landscape orientations. It's priced at $49.90.
Highlights – The iSlider really is very compact and portable. It...         Related Stories
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| Chinese propaganda campaign could sap $13 billion in sales from Apple Posted: 01 Apr 2013 02:12 PM PDT
Since the middle of last month, the government of China has been engaged in a propaganda campaign against Apple, starting with an attack on Apple's warranty practices. Reports from state-run media outlets, including China Central Television and newspaper People's Daily, alleged that Apple's warranty and repair policies in China were unfair in comparison to other country's. Apple CEO Tim Cook issued an apology to Chinese customers and pledged that Apple's staff in China would be better trained on warranty issues. The long-term results of what has so far been three weeks of consistent state-driven propaganda assaults haven't yet surfaced. If we let history serve as a guide, there are plenty of examples of Chinese state campaigns against foreign companies severely impacting their bottom lines in the People's Republic. Citigroup analyst Glen Yeung points out that similar allegations against Toshiba in 1999 pulled down the company's notebook sales in China down far enough that they lost their top spot in the sales charts. In December of last year, Yum Brands - the company that owns KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell - was the target of the Chinese government. Yum operates around five thousand KFC outlets in China. Government reports alleged that chemical residues were detected in limited quantities in a small portion of KFC's chicken supply. While the government never formally fined or punished Yum, the company's sales in the first two months of this year were down 25% over the year prior. The most damning example cited by Yeung, however, is that of HP in 2010. Following issues with faulty Nvidia GPUs, state-controlled media in China engaged in a coordinated campaign against HP, accusing the US-based tech giant of not offering the same extended warranty in China on Nvidia-toting laptops as they did for US customers. The same line of faulty chips was dispersed across many manufacturers, including Apple's MacBook Pro line. In a single quarter, HP's marketshare in China collapsed by fifty percent, knocking the company from the number two position in China to third place behind Dell. Unsurprisingly, local manufacturer Lenovo claims the top of the sales totem pole with nearly a third of PC sales in the Chinese market. Late last year, Lenovo overtook HP for the number one sales position globally. So, why the state-coordinated assault on Apple? While the government will never comment on such matters, the nationalist attitude of the Chinese government is all the reasoning we need. Like any nation, the Chinese government would prefer to see homegrown companies flourish locally, if not globally. Unlike most developed nations, however, the Chinese government isn't afraid to be overt in steering public goodwill away from foreign companies like Toshiba, KFC, HP, and Apple. While Apple's manufacturing contracts with Foxconn have brought billions upon billions of dollars into China, the recent emergence of Apple as a consumer electronics force with which to be reckoned in the Chinese market has clearly proven worrisome to the government. Chinese consumers have long clamored for Apple products, coveting the brand cachet that comes with owning a MacBook or iPhone or iPad. So voracious has the demand for Apple products in China been that Cook as recently as a few months ago believed that China might in the next few years become Apple's largest market. Apple has experienced incredible growth in China, with nearly a quarter of their revenue growth over the past two years coming from there. Apple's growing strength in China is a threat to Chinese companies like Lenovo and ZTE, hence the overblown warranty controversy that has consumed headlines in China. Yeung points to HP's collapsed marketshare in China as a worst-case scenario for Apple. Sixteen percent of Apple's sales currently come from China. Yeung estimates that if similar damage were dealt to Apple's marketshare it could conceivably sap more than $13 billion from Apple's revenue over the next year. In the last quarter of 2012, Apple brought in a record $54 billion of revenue. It's hard to judge just how successful the Chinese propaganda campaign against Apple will be in the end. Before their falls from grace, neither Toshiba nor HP enjoyed the same level of extreme consumer demand as Apple does today. While a public apology from a high profile CEO like Tim Cook is evidence that Apple too fears the backlash that might come from this campaign, Apple's brand power is likely strong enough to persist through the resolution of this campaign, especially with Apple taking steps to address the legitimate concerns raised. If Apple does come through relatively unscathed as we expect, it'll only be a matter of time before the next state media trains its sights again on Cupertino. Source: CNN Money 
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| Feedly updated with new sharing options and sections, announces three million new users Posted: 01 Apr 2013 02:07 PM PDT
Feedly has been update with a number of additions and enhancements, including better search and more sharing options, along with announcing three million new users. Users can now set their favorite sharing services, choosing from Google+, Buffer, Facebook, Twitter, email, or your browser. The same can also be done with article saving options, which let you designate your favorite of those between Feedly itself, Instapaper, or Pocket. Additionally, the sharing panel has been redesigned to make sharing and saving items faster. The new search features smart topic completion, using what other Feedly users have found in order to provide quick discovery of the most popular feeds. Feedly has also added a section called "Must Read", where you can mark your favorite news sources as important, giving their stories priority over those from other feeds in your "Today" section. Finally, there is now pull to refresh in the feed list. Feedly has also announced that they have added three million new users since Google announced the shutdown of Reader. While Feedly currently uses Google Reader, they have previously announced that they will be transitioning to a new system between now and July 1, when Reader shuts down. If you're a Feedly user, this is a solid update with great new features. If you're not sure about Feedly, check out Allyson Kazmucha's review and see if it sounds like something you'll enjoy.
Source: Feedly blog 
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| Best Passbook compatible apps for iPhone Posted: 01 Apr 2013 01:40 PM PDT
Passbook can be an incredibly useful tool for storing all kinds of things from boarding passes to loyalty cards to gift cards and more. Unfortunately, the App Store doesn't make it so easy to find apps that are Passbook compatible. While there is a list, it isn't updated very frequently and misses a lot of hidden gems that ourselves and many of our readers have found over the past few months. So if you're itching to add more items to your Passbook and find an actual use for it, here are our favorites: Starbucks
If you are a frequent Starbucks customer, the Starbucks for iPhone app is a great way to keep track of your rewards and pay through your iPhone and Passbook. The app is free and you can link any gift cards or loyalty cards directly through it. From there you can reload your balance, merge cards, and most importantly, add your pass to Passbook for easy access. The Starbucks app includes location services support as well which means your pass will simply pop up whenever you're within the vicinity of a Starbucks location.
BillGuard
BillGuard is a service that helps you monitor and track transactions on your credit cards. You'll receive notifications of suspicious transactions as well as updates on balances if you have notifications turned on. BillGuard does all this natively but also has excellent Passbook support. The cards that you'd like to monitor or quickly view balances for can easily and quickly be added to Passbook. Once added, you can flip over the pass inside your Passbook and see a summary of recent transactions. BillGuard will let you monitor and have passes for three credit cards for free. If you'd like to become a premium BillGuard member, you'll have the ability to add up to 10 cards to your BillGuard account for $9.99/month.
Klout
If you're heavily involved in social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, and more - you've undoubtedly heard of Klout. If you haven't, Klout basically measures your social influence online and rates you by giving you a score after you link up all your social networks. Your score will fall between 1 and 100, with 100 being the highest. Your score will fluctuate based on your online activity and you'll receive notifications from the Klout app when your score rises or falls. If you'd like quick access to your Klout score, the official Klout app for iPhone has Passbook support built right in. Once you've signed in and got the app all configured, you can add a pass to your Passbook. It'll show you your current Klout score at a quick glance as well as give you a QR code that your friends can scan to access your Klout profile directly from their devices.
AMC Stubs
A lot of theaters (at least state-side) are run by just a few large companies, one of them being AMC. If you visit AMC theaters quite often and you're an AMC Stubs member, the AMC Stubs app is a great way to not only track all the movies you've went to and view your rewards history, but to quickly access your AMC Stubs membership card through Passbook. After you've added your AMC Stubs member card to your Passbook, you'll notice it will give you a large bar code for employees to scan when you go to the movies. If you have any rewards balances that are currently unused, you'll also see that in the upper right hand corner. If your'e a stubs member and you own an iPhone with Passbook support, this download is a no-brainer.
Square Wallet
Square is becoming one of the easiest ways to pay with large chains like Starbucks now accepting it. It's also a very convenient option for small businesses. One feature that a lot of users may overlook with Square Wallet is that you can send other Square Wallet users gift cards instantly. Just find the place you want to send someone a gift card for, choose the gift card option, enter an amount and message, and off it goes. The receiver will then have the option to store that gift card in their Passbook until they're ready to use it. The same holds true if you've received gift cards to merchants through Square Wallet. You can add them to your Passbook eliminating the need to launch an app in order to use them.
Your picks?There are lots of Passbook compatible apps out there and while these are our favorites, we know that you, our readers, are App Store ninjas as well. Let us know what your favorite Passbook compatible apps are in the comments below! 
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| Notable New iPad Apps: Race to the Pennant Posted: 01 Apr 2013 12:34 PM PDT
Race to the Pennant is a nice looking new app for baseball fans on Opening Day that I spotted via a mention at Daring Fireball. Here's a little of its App Store description:
I installed the app a little while ago and it looks good. It's got a very colorful, simple UI – so it's easy to swipe around and check out how your team or any of the others are doing. Here's one more screencap, on about the...  Related Stories
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| Tim Cook announces changes to Apple's Chinese warranty policy Posted: 01 Apr 2013 11:44 AM PDT
Apple CEO Tim Cook has announced changes to Apple's warranty policy in China, along with apologizing to Chinese customers for any confusion with the original policy. In a letter on Apple's Chinese website, Cook announced that going forward, Apple would provide more warranty information and train staff members based in China better. Cook also promised changes to the repair policy for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, with those customers under a one-year warranty able to receive a replacement device rather than their old device with new parts, if their device meets the criteria:
Apple has faced significant criticism in the Chinese press lately for its previous policy. It had been reported that Chinese customers were given phones with replacement parts where in other countries, customers brand new devices. While Cook says in his letter that Apple saw a 90% satisfaction rate with their repair services in China, they have decided to go in this direction because many felt that a good number of repairs effectively turned older devices into new ones, without the benefit of a completely new device. Apple is also working with authorized service providers to ensure that they follow these new policies as well. Source: Apple.com.cn, via 9to5Mac 
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| New York Magazine for iPad Relaunched with New Newsstand App Posted: 01 Apr 2013 08:22 AM PDT
New York Magazine has relaunched / reinvented its iPad edition today. The App Store description for the new app is far from shy about singing its praises:
The app now lets you switch between free 'Today's News' content and full weekly issues of New York...  Related Stories
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| How to price your apps, sell them, and earn a living Posted: 01 Apr 2013 08:02 AM PDT
Former developer tools evangelist at Apple, Michael Jurewitz has been going flat out on the writing circuit this past week, topped off by a an insane final lap consisting of a 5-part series on understanding App Store pricing.
Here's the breakdown, and the links to each part: Part 1 looks at the phenomena of falling prices, or "racing to the bottom", and graphs the differences between top and median selling and grossing apps. Part2 looks at the difference between top selling and top grossing apps, and which types of apps actually make money. Part 3 looks at elasticities, demand curves, revenue maximizations, and the realizations that App Store business really is a business. Part 4 looks at how all of the above should be factored into determining what price can be charged for any given app. Part 5 is where Jury puts his own apps where his mouth is, showing how all this thinking was applied to Black Pixel's Kaleidoscope 2, and what the results have been to date. Read 'em all, and thanks to Jury for sharing his insights, and driving all this across the line. Very nearly at Mach 1. Source: Jury 
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| Civil War: 1863 iPad Game Updated – New Missions & Campaigns Posted: 01 Apr 2013 07:23 AM PDT
The Civil War:1863 iPad game has recently been updated, to Version 1.3. And in a game that's all about Civil War battles, this is exactly the sort of update you want to see – one that's full of new missions and campaigns. There are 4 new campaigns and more than 2 new missions. Here's the full change list for the update:
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| Deal of the Day: 25% off Seidio OBEX Waterproof Case for iPhone 5 Posted: 01 Apr 2013 07:18 AM PDT | ||||||
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Monday Brief: BlackBerry Q4 earnings, a Google Watch, and the last Monday Brief ever!
Posted: 01 Apr 2013 06:01 AM PDT
The case for Apple slowing down, rather than speeding up
Posted: 01 Apr 2013 05:59 AM PDT
Instead of media and markets continuously hounding Apple about "what's next?!", there's a case to be made that Apple has already announced several services that could do with a little -- or a lot -- of their attention. It might not be as magical or revolutionary as a fresh name on a big slide, but making what's already here work better could also increase the value of Apple's platform as a whole. At least that's what Joe Cieplinski thinks:
If the pattern used to be "release, then iterate, iterate, iterate," it seems like Apple is not giving itself enough time for the "iterate" part of that process. It's being pressured to move on to the next thing. And that leaves us with a lot of half-baked products and a ton of unrealized potential.
Cieplinski calls out FaceTime, Passbook, iBooks Author, and, of course, iCloud. And you know what? He makes a compelling case. Read it over.
Source: Joe Cieplinski
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