iPad By Davis: “Meetings for iPhone and Mac review” plus 13 more |
- Meetings for iPhone and Mac review
- Apple reportedly once again top US smartphone vendor, increases lead over Samsung
- Retailers Offering Big iPad Discounts, Maybe We Will See a New Model This Month
- Watchup for iPad Updated: Adds New Channels & More
- iOOTP Baseball 2013 for iPad in the App Store Now
- Flayvr for iPhone review
- Facebook announces Facebook Home for Android, HTC First for AT&T
- How to enlarge system text on iPhone and iPad
- Apple's iMessage encryption reportedly hinders federal wiretapping
- Apple facing challenges with new mothership headquarters
- Apple’s challenges in China, and what investors need to know
- Deal of the Day: 52% off BodyGuardz UltraTough Clear Full Body for iPhone 5
- Mobile Nations live at Facebook phone event, 10am PT/1pm ET. Join us!
- App Store makes age ratings easier to see, even if they're still awkward for apps with built-in browsers
| Meetings for iPhone and Mac review Posted: 04 Apr 2013 04:52 PM PDT
Meetings is an app for iPhone and Mac by Command Guru that helps you plan, organize, and keep track of your meetings. It features a gorgeous interface and sections for participants, preparation, agenda, discussions, decisions, and tasks.
The layout for Meetings is very simple and easy to use. There's a list of all your meetings, and for each meeting, there are lists for participants, preparation, agenda, discussions, decisions, and tasks. If your meetings do not require all these sections, you can selectively choose which ones are needed for each meeting.
The preparation and task lists are actual checklists that can be checked off and even added to Reminders, Fantastical, or OmniFocus. The other sections are simply numbered lists of text. Unfortunately, the participants list does not connect with Contacts.
The good
The bad
The bottom lineMeetings has the potential to be a really great app, but still needs a few more features to become a truly valuable app that you can't live without. The fact that you can only email details from the meeting with the iPhone version is completely baffling and needs to be added to the Mac version ASAP. The $5 and $20 pricing for the iPhone and Mac versions of Meetings are introductory prices, so if you see the great potential in what Meetings can become, you may want to grab it now before the prices go up. For me, personally, Meetings is already useful, but I can see how it's not quite enough for others. If you'd like to give Meetings a try before you buy, head to Command Guru's website for a free 30 day trial.
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| Apple reportedly once again top US smartphone vendor, increases lead over Samsung Posted: 04 Apr 2013 02:51 PM PDT
Apple was the top smartphone vender in the United States between December and February according to the latest comScore report. Apple captured 38.9% of a smartphone market of 133.7 million people, up 3.9% from the last measurement period. Samsung grew from 20.3% to 21.3%, with HTC, Motorola, and LG experiencing drop-offs. Overall operating system market share in the U.S. still shows that Google's Android is still dominant. However, Android's market share dropped from 53.7% to 51.7%. Blackberry also fell from 7.3% to 5.4%. Both of these drops fed Apple's growth. Microsoft had a very slight increase from 3% to 3.2%. This report, if accurate, demonstrates that despite what many on Wall Street might say, Apple continues to grow steadily. They exceeded the growth shown in last month's comScore report, while Samsung's growth actually slowed. Of course, the U.S. is just one market, but it's a very important market. Samsung might have an advantage in the rest of the world, selling cheap phones in countries where Apple doesn't do business, but depending on the veracity of certain rumors, that's not an advantage that Samsung will enjoy for too much longer. Source: comScore 
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| Retailers Offering Big iPad Discounts, Maybe We Will See a New Model This Month Posted: 04 Apr 2013 09:39 AM PDT
Best Buy are offering heavy discounts on various iPad 3 models this week. As 9to5Mac reports, current deals at Best Buy offer up to 30% off standard retail prices.
Fortune Tech also has a piece up today, noting that deep price cuts this week at several retailers are also including the iPad mini and speculates that this is an indication that new models are coming soon:
I would not be at all surprised to see a new iPad release as early as...         Related Stories
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| Watchup for iPad Updated: Adds New Channels & More Posted: 04 Apr 2013 08:21 AM PDT
The Watchup video news app has had another recent update, to Version 1.10. One of the biggest changes is the addition of more US and international channels, along with new features to make channel selection better. Here's the full change list for this update:
Watchup was already a great...  Related Stories
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| iOOTP Baseball 2013 for iPad in the App Store Now Posted: 04 Apr 2013 07:46 AM PDT
iOOTP Baseball 2013 has been released today and is available in the iPad App Store now. This is the best selling and critically acclaimed PC baseball management game brought to the iPad and iOS. The game is feature-rich and offers a real in-depth experience, and the 2013 version release is timed perfectly to coincide with the first week of the new MLB season. It offers three playing modes, as follows:
 This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now | ||||||
| Posted: 04 Apr 2013 12:17 PM PDT
Flayvr is a photography app for the iPhone that automatically sorts all your photos and videos into beautiful interactive albums. You can share these albums with your friends or keep them completely private. Flayvr works by taking all the photos in your Camera Roll and automatically creating albums based on time and location. They will be given titles like "yesterday evening", "last Friday", or simply just the date the photos were taken. If photos were taken at the same time as an event scheduled in your Calendar, then the album will be given the title of that event.
Your albums are displayed in a timeline format with four small preview photos. As you view your timeline, the small photos will change and cycle through all the photos in your album. Tapping on an album will display four photos from your album as a collage. This collage will also cycle through the photos in your album as well as shift into different arrangements. The movement is eye-catching.
Although the albums are automatically created, Flavr lets you edit them to remove or add photos and give them a custom name. Unfortunately, albums cannot be deleted -- if you remove all the photos from an album, you'll get an error message saying you need at least 3 photos.
One of the really great features of Flavr is that you can share your albums to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, SMS, or Email as a link to a web version of you album. You can see an example of what that looks like here. There does seem a bug, however, that doesn't let you scroll through all the photos. The good
The bad
The bottom lineFlayvr may not be perfect, but it's still pretty neat and I can't wait to see what it becomes in the future. One of the features I'd most love to see added to Flayvr is the ability to search for specific albums instead of scrolling through them all -- it may be less scrolling than in Camera Roll, but when you've got 2400 photos in your Camera Roll, there's still a lot of scrolling in Flayvr. Regardless, Flayvr is a great way to add some order to your Camera Roll, and since it's free, you should check it out!
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| Facebook announces Facebook Home for Android, HTC First for AT&T Posted: 04 Apr 2013 11:16 AM PDT Facebook has just finished their new Home on Android event -- see our live blog for the blow-by-blow) and... it pretty much went as expected. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg showed off their new home screen experience for Android, which he described as people-centric vs. app-centric. HTC's Peter Chou introduced the first phone that'll ship with it built-in, the AT&T-bound HTC First. Beyond that, Facebook Home will also be coming to existing Android devices.
And yeah, the HTC First hardware design outline is pretty iPhone-like, which is either conveniently consistent, or depressingly dull, depending on your point of view... Our Mobile Nations sibling site, Android Central will have continuing coverage throughout the day, so keep it locked there for more. Meantime, let me know, anything compelling enough about HTC First + Facebook Home to make you consider switching? It's way more than iOS 6's Facebook integration allows, but is that a good thing? Or does the mere idea of Facebook getting all up into your phone jammy make you run screaming from the internet? 
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| How to enlarge system text on iPhone and iPad Posted: 04 Apr 2013 10:57 AM PDT
The iPhone and iPad have lots of settings for accessibility that makes it easier for people with hearing and visual impairments to use them. If you or someone you know has visual impairments, features such as Voice Over and enlarging the system text size can completely change their experience and help alleviate frustration. Here's how to enlarge text size throughout iOS on iPhone and iPad:
That's it. You'll now notice that the text in apps such as Messages, Mail, and other default apps abides by the text size you set. While all apps can't abide by this, the ones that support it will. 
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| Apple's iMessage encryption reportedly hinders federal wiretapping Posted: 04 Apr 2013 08:55 AM PDT
The Drug Enforcement Administration has found it difficult to intercept text message conversations sent with Apple's iMessage platform due to the encryption that Apple employs for it. According to internal documents a criminal investigation was hindered by the DEA's inability to tap into iMessage conversations, despite the fact that they had a warrant. According to CNET, the DEA initially discovered that conversations that they had been collecting were incomplete.
The good news here is that it's difficult for just anyone to break into your iMessage conversations. iMessages are much harder to tap into than both phone calls and standard text messages. The FBI is currently in the process of amending a law requiring telecommunications companies to build in access points for surveillance, a law that does not currently apply to companies like Apple. For its part, Apple already states in the iTunes terms and conditions that they will share your data with the government if it became "reasonably necessary" to do so. Source: CNET 
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| Apple facing challenges with new mothership headquarters Posted: 04 Apr 2013 08:05 AM PDT
Apple has run into some problems building its new mothership headquarters building, with both costs and construction requirements causing delays. It had already been reported that the opening of the campus had been delayed until 2016, but now we have a better idea as to why. While the project was originally set to cost just under $3 billion, that price has risen to $5 billion. Apple is looking to reduce that by almost $1 billion. Steve Jobs' exacting requirements are contributing to the costs and delays, according to Bloomberg Businessweek:
Jobs' exacting vision extended to every facet of the new building, including the six kilometers of curved glass being produced in Germany and concrete ceilings that, instead of being molded in place on the ceiling, will be cast in molds on the floor and lifted into place, a much more expensive process. The buildings on the new campus would have very few visible seems, smaller gaps between surfaces than you find in any other building, and, famously, not a single piece of straight glass. Apple is expected to start clearing out the old buildings in the space in June. Source: Bloomberg Businessweek 
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| Apple’s challenges in China, and what investors need to know Posted: 04 Apr 2013 07:19 AM PDT
In the not-so-distant past, Tim Cook has been quoted as saying he expects China to emerge as the company's largest source of revenue. Back in January, we discussed this growth in China, along with Asymco.com's estimate that China would overtake US sales at Apple by 2016. Has anything changed? We can't really say "no". There seems to be credible evidence of a Chinese government anti-Apple campaign. And as Derek wrote earlier this week, Citigroup estimates this campaign could cost Apple a whopping $13 billion in revenue over the next year. I'm not an expert on China by any means. But when I look at the information being presented by Citigroup, it certainly looks like these campaigns, while damaging, don't tend to go on forever. HP was attacked by the Chinese government, causing a huge drop in PC market share. But the attack is over, and HP is back to fighting an honest fight as far as I can tell. Could this China setback be part of the reason Chinese firm Lenovo ultimately toppled HP as the #1 PC vendor worldwide? Maybe. But I think the PC game has long been one of selling a commodity. The smartphone game isn't there yet. At least not outside of the low cost Android handset market. Apple, Samsung, Microsoft and BlackBerry are all pushing hard to maintain high price points and strong margins. So an attack on Apple, by the Chinese government, while it might hurt sales this year, probably won't have a lasting effect. At least I don't think it will. That's because there isn't a competing Chinese brand to overtake Apple. Within China there is Lenovo, who held the #2 market position behind Samsung in 2012. Huawei isn't too far behind Lenovo. But that's China. Both Lenovo and Huawei are not significant smartphone vendors outside of China. I can see anti-Apple propaganda hurting iOS market share in China somewhat, but given how Android (and Android forks) already commands 86% of the Chinese market, I'm not convinced iOS will be hurt over the long term. Apple fans remain Apple fans. And if 12% of China wants to buy an iPhone versus an Android, there is only one company to buy it from. Anyway, Apple apologized for communication problems about its warranty policy in China, which was the apparent cause of the latest media attack on the company. And the apology seems to be working, as evidenced by this Reuters story. I think it was a smart move by Cook. You're never going to win a media battle with state-controlled media in China. Better to just stand up, apologize, and carry on with your growth plans. So will Citigroup's estimates pan out? A $13 billion revenue hit is sizable. Apple is expected to generate $181.5 billion in revenue this year, so it would be a 7% headwind they'd have to overcome in other markets. Not easy. If the problems in China continue it will make it tough for Apple's stock to begin a recovery. The stock is down to about $430 from a high of about $700 in September. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. 
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| Deal of the Day: 52% off BodyGuardz UltraTough Clear Full Body for iPhone 5 Posted: 04 Apr 2013 07:11 AM PDT | ||||||
The Mac version of Meetings has this really neat "Smart Entry" field that lets quickly type without choose a category first. CMD+E will also take you to the field immediately so you don't have to click it. When you press enter, a menu will pop up with a list of the categories you can add your text to. You can simply click the correct category, or for real speed, type the letter associated with the category. This is awesome for quick entry, but it'd be even more awesome if CMD+(letter) automatically added it to the correct category without ever popping up the list.
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Mobile Nations live at Facebook phone event, 10am PT/1pm ET. Join us!
Posted: 04 Apr 2013 06:26 AM PDT
Facebook is holding their "New home on Android" event in Menlo Park, California today and we're HALO dropping Phil Nickinson, Iron Man style, to bring you all the live coverage you can handle!
I've got my theories as to the Facebook face-hugger we'll see unveiled, but we won't know for sure until Mark Zuckerberg holds his new HTC First high on stage... and pokes someone.
10am PDT, 1pm EDT. Join us here:
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Posted: 04 Apr 2013 05:40 AM PDT
Apple has moved age ratings in the App Store to a higher, more prominent position, right at the top between the app and developer name, and the star rating. Like the previous change, which added a clear, highly visible label to apps offering in-app purchase, it seems designed to make important information easier to see, and hopefully better inform customers of what they're downloading before they download it...
...except, of course, for age ratings on the App Store are still confusing. For example, 1Password (pictured above) is rated 17+, which is now very easy to see. There's a legitimate case to be made that since 1Password -- and many, many other apps -- provides a built-in web browser, it could be used to browse for adult content like porn. However, rating it 17+ like a blood-and-skin-filled video game, can give people a completely wrong impression of the contents and purpose. "Does contain" and "may contain" are completely different things. (And here's where I stuff the clichéd "Apple's own Safari browser doesn't have a 17+ warning" bit.)
So yeah, moving the age rating up is great, but figuring out a way to make sure it properly reflects but the content and intent -- deliberate vs. potential -- would be even better. Perhaps a separate or extended rating for apps with web browsers would work. Even making the new, higher-placed rating tappable with a popup that explains the rationale behind the rating would be helpful.
Either way, it's nice to see Apple working on improving the App Store. Hopefully search gets a lot of love soon as well...
Meanwhile, share your thoughts on the change, and on how ratings could better reflect the types of apps being rated.
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