iPad By Davis: “Element releases the Black Ops Elite Case for iPhone 5 - We have two to give away!” plus 18 more |
- Element releases the Black Ops Elite Case for iPhone 5 - We have two to give away!
- Police, media claim carrier, manufacturers aren't doing enough to prevent phone thefts, take all the wrong angles
- Native Instruments brings Traktor DJ to iPhone
- iOS app flagged for malware, and why you shouldn't worry
- Apple approaches 50 billion downloads, once again offers up 10K prize
- Instagram update allows you to tag people in photos
- Apple expands SSD options for configure-to-order iMacs
- Shocker: iPad Falls Behind Andoid in Make-Believe Market Share
- Apple releases iOS 6.1.4 for iPhone 5, updates audio profile for speakerphone
- How to view and navigate through a book's table of contents in iBooks for iPhone and iPad
- Ellen DeGeneres releases new game, Heads Up: Guess the word that's on your head from your friends' clues
- Scapple makes it easy to layout ideas visually on your Mac
- How to find the best third party iPhone, iPad, and iPod repair company
- The Easiest Print to Any Printer Solution for iPad: handyPrint (Mac only)
- In the Mood for Destroying a Ferrari? There’s an iPad App for That
- Acorn image editor gets UI overhaul, non-destructive filters
- Deal of the Day: 75% off Amzer Skin Case for iPhone 5
- Adobe Lightroom product manager demonstrates RAW processing on iPad
- What's your next dream Mac? [Poll]
| Element releases the Black Ops Elite Case for iPhone 5 - We have two to give away! Posted: 03 May 2013 12:53 AM PDT
Element Case, the premier manufacturer of high-end smart phone and tablet accessories, has just launched a special edition iPhone 5 case tailor-made for the military or firearms aficionado. Dubbed the Sector 5 Black Ops Elite, this unique case combines a CNC-machined, aircraft-grade aluminum frame with back plates crafted by Hogue, Inc. – the leading manufacturer of firearm grips in the US. These backings utilize a highly specialized material called "G 10" – a high-pressure, thermoset plastic laminate comprising multiple layers of woven fiberglass mesh bound with impregnated epoxy resin. The end result is a case that provides tactical aesthetics and grip in a package built for only the most discerning iPhone 5 owner. Available color schemes include all-black, green camouflage, beige camouflage and more. Available now for $219.95, the Sector 5 Black Ops can be purchased via the Element Case website.
The Black Ops Elite is clearly a fantastic case sure to appeal to many of you out there. If you'd like to enter to win one of these for your iPhone 5 (sorry, only the iPhone 5 is compatible with this case), head over to the Element Case website at the link below and take a look at the color choices. Come back here and leave a comment letting us know which color is your favorite, and you could win it! We will choose two lucky winners and announce them on the blog next week. Good luck! 
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| Posted: 02 May 2013 08:18 PM PDT
Today the New York Times published a piece on the explosion of cellphone thefts, the rise of the black market systems that wipe the phones and resell them, and the efforts - or alleged lack thereof - of carriers and manufacturers in not doing enough to prevent the thefts in the first place. The piece approaches the problem from all the wrong angles, and here's why... Things go south almost immediately with a quote from District of Columbia Chief of Police Cathy L. Lanier, who says "The carriers are not innocent in this whole game. They are making a profit off this." Technically, yes, if a customer has to walk into a carrier store and buy a new phone because their previous one was stolen, then the carrier can take a profit on it. But the same rule applies if somebody steals my laptop or my car or my coffee when I'm not looking. I'm going to have to go buy a new one, and the seller is going to take a profit. That's how business works. Of course, with all of those excepting my unattended cup of coffee I can purchase insurance to cover their replacement cost on the occasion of all sorts of events, event thefts. That includes that smartphone. I don't want to go down the "blame the victim" route, but let's be honest here: protecting something you hold in your hand and making it less desirable to purloin is not the job of manufacturers or carriers. In fact, they're in the business of making devices more desirable, because they want you to buy them. That a product being more attractive to legitimate buyers also makes it more attractive to thieves is just the way things are. Once you walk out of the store with that shiny new iPhone or Lumia or Galaxy or BlackBerry, it's no longer the carrier's or manufacturer's responsibility to maintain physical security of the device. It's yours. Chief Lanier's jurisdiction saw a record of 1829 cellphone thefts in 2012, an average of nearly seven per day. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg singled out the theft of Apple iPhones and iPads accounted for 14% of crimes, supposedly making them single-handedly responsible for an uptick in the overall crime level for the city. While there's little doubt that many New Yorkers were robbed specifically for their Apple-branded devices, that 14% involves all crimes where iPhones and iPads were stolen, not just people who were targeted for daring to brandish an iPhone in public. Continuing to harp on the "iPhone thefts driving rising crime rates" theme, we have to consider that the iPhone and iPad are highly popular devices. They sell incredibly well and report after report have shown that owners use them more heavily than those who have purchased other devices. There are more people who are using iPhones and other smartphones on the streets, and thus more targets of opportunity. As The New York Times points out, carriers and manufacturers are working to make stealing smartphones they sell more of a pain. The major US carriers have partnered with law enforcement across the country to launch a stolen phone database. It is essentially a list of the unique IMEI numbers (International Mobile station Equipment Identity) from phones that have been reported stolen. Once a phone's on the list, in theory an attempt to activate it on the network should throw up red flags. Unfortunately for these efforts, if you know what you're doing it's relatively easy to modify a phone's IMEI and circumvent the database. There's no law against it, but that's something that New York Representative Eliot Engel (D) wants to change with the introduction of the Cell Phone Theft Protection Act to the United States Congress. The legislation is intended to discourage the theft of cell phones by "requiring wireless commercial services to cut off service to a stolen phone" by creating a national stole phone database (done - independently by carriers and law enforcement without prompting of the federal government), requiring all phones in the US to have unique ID numbers (done - the IMEI was created by the industry for exactly this reason), mandating that carriers make it possible for customers to remotely wipe their devices (manufacturers are on this), and making it illegal to alter a phone's IMEI. The last point is really the only "new" item to US law in Engel's legislation. It's already against the law in countries like the UK and Latvia to alter a phone's IMEI, expressly with the goal of suppressing phone theft and resale. There's just one rub, though: the act of stealing is already illegal. Altering an IMEI is trivial compared to actually stealing the phone, making doing so illegal isn't going to cause any crook to second guess what they're doing.
Manufacturers too have been on the track of working to make their phones less desirable to be stolen, or at the very least protect the data of the owner once they are. Apple, BlackBerry, Microsoft, and others offer built-in services for their devices that enable you to remotely track, ring, lock, and wipe devices on your account (BlackBerry and Microsoft also allow you to display a message on the device). These sort of features aren't built into Android by Google, however, unless you're on a Google Apps account. Numerous third-party apps are available to add remote security features to Android devices. The issue with those services is one of consumer awareness. Most simply aren't aware that they have the option to remotely wipe a device if it's been stolen. Many would probably be pleased by the ability to remotely command their phone make a sound so they can figure out where they left it last night. Of course, all of these services do no good if the phone's radios are turned off - once it's off the internet, no amount of back-end services are going to enable you to remotely wipe the phone. Criminals have grown saavy enough to know that the first thing you do after stealing somebody's phone is turn it off, if not immediately wipe it yourself. To imply, as Chief Lanier, Mayor Bloomberg, Representative Engel, and others have, that iPhones and Galaxies and Lumias are driving crime rates and that it's the responsibility of carriers and manufacturers to do something about it is absurd. Carriers and manufacturers have been for some time working to minimize the incentive to steal smartphones. They're operating on market forces; consumers don't like it when the smartphone they've come to rely upon is stolen, so the industry has an incentive of their own to make it less desirable to steal them in the first place. The manufacturers and carriers that build the best systems to protect the data on a smartphone (and that's usually the most distressing part to anybody who has lost possession of their device) and do the best job of marketing that to customers will reap the benefits from customers who opt to buy their product. The same game played out nearly a century ago as the automobile. As automobiles began to grow in popularity, so did theft of the new horseless carriages. Manufacturers eventually began to include alarms and immobilizers to deter against vehicle theft. Today, cars can be equipped with two-way alarm systems that alert you of exactly what's happening to your in distress automobile. But that hasn't stopped grand theft auto in the slightest sense. There are more cars on the road today than at any time in history, and everything from expensive and security-laden new Cadillac Escalade SUVs to old Honda Accord and Toyota Camry sedans continue to be stolen every day. If something is desirable, thieves will find a way to get their hands on it. As technology advances, so will the techniques of criminals. No amount of technology is going to make it any less desirable to steal the smartphone I hold in my hand. It's an expensive piece of technology, and while we can do much to safeguard the data it holds, that data isn't what thieves are usually after - it's the hardware itself. Protecting my phone once I've walked away from the sales desk in the carrier store is my responsibility and my responsibility only. I don't hold Starbucks as responsible for the physical security of my coffee nor would I consider Honda complicit if somebody stole by car. Just because it's a popular target for thieves doesn't mean make my smartphone any different. Source: The New York Times 
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| Native Instruments brings Traktor DJ to iPhone Posted: 02 May 2013 08:13 PM PDT Native Instruments on Thursday released an iPhone version of its pro DJ software, Traktor DJ. The new version of NI's DJ software follows the iPad release from earlier this year, at a much lower price point. If you're accustomed to the skeumorphic turntable-style interface found in a lot of DJ software, Traktor DJ will seem very different - NI has opted instead for a waveform interface that works better on a small screen. Features include direct access to your iTunes music library; song recommendations based on tempo and key; eight DJ effects like Reverb, Delay and glitch effects; crossfader, three-band EQ and filter on each channel; and, if you're a Dropbox user, the ability to sync metadata with Traktor Pro software on your computer. Amazingly, the software costs a scant $4.99; that's one-fourth the price of its iPad cousin and a mere fraction of the $89 NI charges for Traktor Pro 2.
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| iOS app flagged for malware, and why you shouldn't worry Posted: 02 May 2013 05:18 PM PDT
An iOS game called Simply Find It, when run through BitDefender's virus scanner, reportedly returns a positive result for Trojan.JS.iframe.BKD. This has drawn into question the effectiveness of Apple's App Store approval process. Is this something that Apple should have caught, and is it something App Store customers should be worried about? Macworld's Lex Friedman explains what BitDefender encountered: Simply Find It's IPA -- iPhone application archive -- file contains an mp3 audio file which contains an HTML iframe tag in it which points to x.asom.cn. Normally an iframe might be used on a website to embed a frame that loads another page. These iframe tags can also be abused to try and load malicious code in a webpage without being noticed by users. Currently if you try to access x.asom.cn, the page is not available. Using the archive.org Wayback Machine, you can see the last time that the site hosted any content was back in July of 2010. At that time, the Chinese page just had a message telling users that its free URL forwarding service had been discontinued. Going back further in the site's history, we can see that it used to redirect to a handful of different URLs, primarily http://218.90.221.222/jc/img/love/new.htm, which if you go to now, is a 404. It's anybody's guess what this site ever actually hosted. Microsoft's Malware Protection Center page provides some additional details about the virus that BitDefender detected. The symptoms section of the page explains that antivirus alerts can be triggered by iframes in webpages, which are only a symptom of the virus, not an actual detection that the virus itself is present. This helps explain why BitDefender detected this virus in the IPA, as well as why other virus scanners didn't detect it; it's not actually the virus. So we have an app, that has an mp3, that has an iframe, that loads a webpage that does not exist. I think it's safe to say that this app poses no actual threat to anybody currently. But why did this slip through Apple's review process? Shouldn't they have detected this? No. Any app can load a webpage. A webpage can't (usually) download and run code. Exploits have been found in iOS before that allowed remote code execution from a webpage and these have been used in the past for jailbreaking. This type of exploit is fairly rare though, and no public exploits of this nature are currently known. Additionally, each iOS app runs in its own sandbox, confined to its own sort of play area. If a new exploit was discovered which allowed code execution from a webpage, it would likely require a second exploit that allowed it to break out of its sandbox in order to gain access to other data on the device. There's no reason to believe that the Simply Find It game does or will do this. While it's certainly strange to see an app from that App Store return a positive result in a virus scanner, looking a little closer at things here, there's no cause for alarm and no real reason to think Apple missed something that they should have caught. If anything, this app might suggest that this mp3 was once on a computer that had a virus that modified it. Apple's App Store review process has always been a mystery. Apps with the ability to run unsigned code have made it into the App Store before and I'm sure they will again. For today, however, there's no threat and no cause for additional alarm. For today, the App Store is as safe as it was yesterday. Source: Macworld 
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| Apple approaches 50 billion downloads, once again offers up 10K prize Posted: 02 May 2013 04:36 PM PDT
Apple is approaching yet another App Store milestone -- this time 50 billion downloads. To celebrate, they're once again offering a big chunk of iTunes bucks, and a few bonus prizes as well. Apple says:
It's great that Apple has fun with these milestones, and gets some welcome good press from them. It's be really great to see them really blow the doors off sometime. They're one of the world's richest companies. Imagine $50K for the winner? And 1K for each of the next 50 downloads? Imagine more. That would be outrageous in the best sense of the word, and certainly more fun than returning money to shareholders... Creeping decimalism aside, there's still 800,000,000 or so downloads to go at the time of this writing, so if you want more iTunes money than you could likely ever spend, get your prediction algorithms going and keep your finger on the download button. Anyone here just know they're going to win? Source: Apple 
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| Instagram update allows you to tag people in photos Posted: 02 May 2013 12:18 PM PDT
Instagram has been updated to version 3.5, adding the ability to tag people in photos, along with a couple of changes to bug reporting and privacy settings. Tagging people in photos is quite simple. After editing an picture, users will now find a new section called Add People, where they will be able to tap people in their photos to bring up a search bar, where they can search either by username or real name. To see photos that you are tagged in, go to your profile and tap the new Photos of You section, and they can be added either automatically or manually. You can remove your name from someone else's photo by tapping the photo, then your name, selecting More Options, then Remove Me from Photo. This update also has a couple of smaller improvements. A new Report a Problem feature allows users to give Instagram feedback about issues and bugs. Privacy settings have been moved, and can now be found at the bottom of the Edit Profile section. The update is available right now on the App Store so go grab it and tell us what you think.
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| Apple expands SSD options for configure-to-order iMacs Posted: 02 May 2013 11:45 AM PDT
If you're in the market for a new iMac and you value raw speed over storage capacity, you may be interested in a recent change at Apple's online store. Apple is offering new storage options for iMac buyers interested in configuring their systems with Solid State Drives (SSDs), according to Eric Slivka at MacRumors. Now Apple will configure 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMacs with 256GB and 512GB SSDs. You'll add $300 or $600 to the cost of your machine, respectively. This is particularly good news for 21.5-inch iMac customers, who up until now have been limited to two choices: either a 1TB SATA hard disk drive, or a 1TB "Fusion" drive that mixes 128GB of SSD storage and a conventional hard disk together to improve performance. Going pure SSD should speed things up even further. Apple continues to offer a 768GB SSD as a $900 option on the 27-inch iMac, but the other two SSD sizes allow users with tighter purse strings to jump on the SSD bandwagon without paying such a heavy premium. 
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| Shocker: iPad Falls Behind Andoid in Make-Believe Market Share Posted: 02 May 2013 10:38 AM PDT
According to preliminary data from IDC's latest report on worldwide tablet market share, their Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker, Apple is easily the biggest single vendor but iPad has fallen behind Android in market share. But that's make-believe market share of course. Like Easter Bunny market share but with less colorful charts. The iPad market share of 39.6% is based on actual officially reported sales numbers of 19.5 million iPads last quarter. The market share numbers for Android are based on numbers of 'shipments' reported by various vendors. The thing is, those shipment numbers include shipments to distribution channels, not actual sales. Here's another way of looking at the numbers in the chart above: Apple: actual sales numbers Samsung: shipments – just like the million shipments they reported for their first Galaxy Tab tablet, that turned out to be around...         Related Stories
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| Apple releases iOS 6.1.4 for iPhone 5, updates audio profile for speakerphone Posted: 02 May 2013 10:33 AM PDT
If you own an iPhone 5, you'll soon be seeing the iOS 6.1.4 update show up if you haven't already. The update appears to only be for iPhone 5 users and contains an update to the audio profile for speakerphone. If and when we find out more about the update, we'll update accordingly. Have you installed iOS 6.1.4 already? Notice any differences? Be sure to let us know in the comments! 
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| How to view and navigate through a book's table of contents in iBooks for iPhone and iPad Posted: 02 May 2013 10:26 AM PDT
If you use iBooks to purchase and download books to your iPhone or iPad, you have a very easy way to find exactly what you're looking for using the table of contents. It allows you to jump through chapters, read summaries in some cases, and more. If you're new to iBooks, follow along to find out how to quickly navigate a book using the table of contents on your iPhone and iPad.
That's all there is to it. You'll be taken directly to that section immediately. You can always return to the table of contents again at any time by tapping on the same icon. 
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| Posted: 02 May 2013 10:05 AM PDT Ellen DeGeneres has released an iPhone version of a game she likes to play on her show called Heads Up. It's simply a word guessing game where your friends try to get you to say the word on the screen by giving you hints. Only with Heads Up, you hold the phone above your head and it records video of your friend giving hints. You have sixty seconds to guess as many words as you can. Since you'll be holding your iPhone above your head and you're not allowed to look at the screen, Heads Up includes some great controls for new cards: tilt your iPhone face down when you get a word correct and tilt it up to pass. At the end of the 60 seconds, Heads Up will show you a list of the words you got correct and passed. You can also choose to "Send to Ellen" to upload to Ellen's Heads Up Facebook page. Heads Up includes 18 themed decks ranging from celebrities, movies, animals, accents, characters, and more. Check out the video above of Ellen playing with Alison Sweeney on her show and let us know what you think!
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| Scapple makes it easy to layout ideas visually on your Mac Posted: 02 May 2013 10:01 AM PDT
Scapple is lets you jot down ideas on an ever-expanding virtual paper, then examine the ideas' relationships to one another and organize them. Mind mapping software does this, but Scapple's developers are quick to distance their app from that bunch. Scapple, they say, is more of a "freeform text editor" that works in a very non-linear fashion. Getting started with Scapple is easy - just double-click and start typing. A two-page QuickStart Guide PDF is available from the Help menu to give you an overview of Scapple's functions - I heartily recommend checking it out first. An inspector window gives you control over text attributes including alignment, typeface, size and style, fill colors and borders. Once you have some ideas down and you'd like to relate them to one another, you simply drag and drop them onto one another to establish a link. Scapple will, by default, use a dashed line, but if you want to specify arrows instead, you can. You can "stack" notes neatly on top of one another, and create background images to group collections of thoughts or ideas. As your document gets more complex, Scapple zooms out, so you never run off the edge of the "paper." Text isn't all that Scapple does, however. You can drag in images, mathematical formulae, even entire documents, which Scapple will attempt to import. Exporting is simple, too - you can export your document including PDF, PNG, OPML and a variety of text formats. Literature and Latte's previous effort, Scrivener is a favorite of tool of many writers I know. It's especially well suited to the development of long-form content: research papers, novels and short stories, or feature article for blogs or magazines. The developers really understand the creative process of writing - collecting research, developing ideas, and assembling a structure that works. Scapple is a natural extension of the philosophy behind Scrivener, and it complements Scrivener excellently. But it's really useful and handy on its own, as well. If you're looking for something that can act as a virtual whiteboard for all your ideas, make sure to check out Scapple. A trial version is available from the developer's web site, and if you buy the version available from the Mac App Store, you'll be able to synchronize documents in iCloud.
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| How to find the best third party iPhone, iPad, and iPod repair company Posted: 02 May 2013 09:49 AM PDT
Whether your AppleCare is expired or you opted not to extend it, out of warranty replacements through Apple can be expensive. If you aren't comfortable performing a DIY repair on your own, that may leave you looking for a repair company that's either local to you or accepts mail-ins that can perform the repair for you. In the past few years, many repair companies have cropped up all over the world that specialize in iPhone, iPad, and iPod repair. Unfortunately, not all of them use quality parts and/or know exactly what they're doing. Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing a third party iPhone, iPad, and iPod repair company. Research them online
This is somewhat common sense but it's absolutely the first thing you should do. If they aren't listed on Yelp! or Google Businesses, it may not be a good sign. Check for an official website, Facebook, or Twitter page and see what other people are saying about them. If you can't find an online presence, we'd recommend looking for another option. Any credible repair company should be more than forthcoming with their customers and gladly accept their feedback in a public forum where potential customers can find it. Finding quality information about a company online is extremely important when you're looking at mailing in a device. Walk-ins allow you to gauge your level of comfort on a face to face basis but mail-ins take that factor away. If you're thinking about mailing your device off to a company, you should communicate with them on the phone or at the very least, via email, before doing so. If you can't find a contact phone number and/or physical address, find another service. There are many reputable companies out there that will talk to you. Inquire about pricing
Pricing is a deciding factor for many when they're debating whether they should get a device fixed or use an upgrade, if available. A reputable repair shop should be open about their pricing. A good sign is if they actually list it online on their website or Facebook page. When it comes to paying for a repair, prices will vary given where you live and your local market but the going rates should be pretty consistent across the board. For instance, iPhone 4/4S repairs typically range between $80 to $115 for a screen replacement depending on your location. This should include labor and parts. Cheaper isn't always better! We're talking about your iPhone, iPad, or iPod here. While it's always nice to snag a good deal on something, a repair isn't something we recommend compromising on. If someone is offering to perform a screen replacement or other repair that sounds too good to be true, it probably is. We have seen repair shops crop up that offer screen replacements for the iPhone 4/4S for as low as $40 to $50. This is a huge red flag that they're probably not using authentic or high quality parts. Knock-off and counterfeit parts on eBay and Amazon are cheaper for a reason, they have an extremely high defect rate. It's also less likely that the repair company is going to warranty or stand behind their work. That leads us to our next topic... Part quality
Don't ever be afraid to ask a repair company what kind of parts they use or where they come from. While you can find high quality parts from eBay and Amazon for a higher price tag, it's not normally a route that a reputable repair company would take. Suppliers like eTech Parts offer repair companies great deals depending on how much they order in a given month. The more they order, the higher of a discount they'll get on their wholesaler account. Amazon and eBay sellers typically won't do this nor is either site set up for this. Any reputable repair company should be more concerned with providing a quality service over saving a few bucks per screen or component cable. I am very open with customers that ask about where we acquire our parts and even give them links to some of our supplier sites if they ask. Not all repair companies will do this but some may and that may help set your mind at ease. If they won't tell you where they get their parts, at least make sure they warranty them for a reasonable amount of time. Warranty
A very obvious question that you should always be asking is whether or not a repair company warranties their work. Any good one should absolutely be warrantying not only parts but defects in workmanship. I've found that 90 days is pretty typical across the board with some companies warrantying work a little longer. They should also be able to answer specifics on what exactly is covered under the warranty. This typically comes into alignment with how a supplier will warranty parts for that company. For example, eTech Parts will warranty all the parts I buy for 90 days, so I pass that 90 days on to the customer. If they have a problem, we correct the issue and then deal with the part supplier on our own time. For example, we typically warranty the repair they have performed and that particular part but if they come in with another issue, we'll always check and make sure another issue didn't arise from an error on our part. This requires a great level of trust between you and your customer. Around here, we have a we break it, we bought it policy. If we break a device during the course of repair, we replace it with a brand new one. No, not a refurbished or repaired device we have laying around, a brand new in box device directly from Apple or another big box retailer, with an Apple warranty. If that device isn't sold anymore, they get an upgrade to the closest model. In three years, we have only had to use that policy once, but it shows that we stand behind our work and are honest with our customers. It sucks to tell a customer you made a mistake, but everyone does, and it's how we learn. And let's face it, accidents happen. It just can't be at the expense of a customer and a repair company has to be willing to own up to their end of the deal. So don't be afraid to ask what happens if they break your device during a repair. It can happen and a reputable repair company should have an answer that you're willing to accept. Repair time frame
This is probably the biggest concern of any person that walks through our door and the question we hear most often:
Any reputable repair company should be forthcoming about how long they'll have your device and give you a receipt for it when you drop it off. While repair times may vary from company to company, most knowledgeable companies can do almost any iPhone repair while you wait unless it involves heavy diagnostics. For example, a smashed iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S screen should take no longer than an hour from start to finish, meaning you can most likely wait for it. Just keep in mind that if there are people ahead of you, it can increase the wait time. For common repairs on iPhones, don't expect to leave your iPhone for more than a few hours. If they're telling you days, walk way. Other repairs that require more diagnostics such as liquid damage could take longer and are harder to estimate exact time frames. This will typically depend on the repair company and how many technicians they have at their disposal. We typically know within 1-3 days whether or not we can fix a device but that number may vary given the extent of the damage. If a hold up is caused by special ordering parts, that should be something the repair company communicates with you. We always try and keep in contact with our customers to let them know the status of their device as often as we can. Smashed screens on other devices such as an iPad or iPod touch can vary greatly. Newer iPads can be more challenging but common repairs should still be able to be done same day or with a 24 hour turnaround time. Same thing for iPods. If you think a turnaround time estimate doesn't sound right, don't be afraid to ask why or call around to other places, even if they aren't in your area, and ask them what they estimate. The bottom line
There are lots of repair companies out there who do exceptional work and treat iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch repairs as an art form. They love what they do and are genuinely good at it. Many of them may even service other kinds of devices such as Android and BlackBerry. Unfortunately, this is an industry that for every one reputable company that stands behind their work, you'll find three guys on the corner using sketchy parts off eBay to make a quick buck. It's something quality repair companies have been fighting since the beginning and still continue to fight today. If you do your homework and voice your concerns to a prospective repair company, you'll know within seconds whether or not you trust them. If you don't, walk away and look for another option. Recommendations
Depending on where you're located geographically, here are some suggestions based on personal experiences and/or customer feedback we have heard over the years.
Have you had any experience with any of the above companies or do you have another you'd like to recommend? Drop it in the comments below! 
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| The Easiest Print to Any Printer Solution for iPad: handyPrint (Mac only) Posted: 02 May 2013 09:44 AM PDT
handyPrint is a Mac app that lets you print wirelessly from the iPad (or iPhone) to just about any printer, even legacy printers that don't support AirPrint.If you're tired of looking for which printers will work with Apple's AirPrint and allow you to print wirelessly from the iPad, there's a nifty little app that will let you print to just about any printer, even if they don't support AirPrint: handyPrint by Netputing. I've written before about this superb app, but it has recently been renamed, so I thought it's worth a new post. This app used to be known as AirPrint Activator. It still does all the same things and is just as incredibly simple to use as ever under its new handyPrint name. It's literally a one click solution. Here are the details on the capabilities and requirements of handyPrint:
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| In the Mood for Destroying a Ferrari? There’s an iPad App for That Posted: 02 May 2013 07:53 AM PDT
Feeling a little blue today? Too much pressure at work, Spring weather going crazy – just need to do some serious damage to a beautiful and hugely expensive vehicle? Or at least to a hugely expensive pretend vehicle on an iPad screen? Well never fear – there's an app for that and the app title isn't pulling any punches: Destroy May Car: Ferrari Enzo. No extra bells and whistles here either, just some good old fashioned pretend car destroying:
I guess maybe I'm a little stressed this morning – because I installed the app and gave it a try....  Related Stories
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| Acorn image editor gets UI overhaul, non-destructive filters Posted: 02 May 2013 06:58 AM PDT
Acorn 4 is aimed at Mac users who need to edit images but don't necessarily need the extensive (and expensive) capabilities of Adobe Photoshop. It sports support for Macs with Retina displays, features masking, text tools, "Instant Alpha" for removing backgrounds and other content, multistop gradients, lots of nifty vector tools, PSD import and export and more. To incorporate non-destructive filters, Mueller has merged layer styles and filters together. You can create chains of filters just like before, but you can remove them later if you change your mind, without altering the base image. And if you like to manipulate image tone and colors using curves, that's a new feature of Acorn 4 as well. New shape tools have been added, and a new filter HUD lets you manipulate radius and center points for filters. Acorn 4 is normally $49.99, but Flying Meat is offering the app for $29.99 through May to give people an excuse to upgrade. The software's available both in the Mac App Store and direct from Flying Meat's web site. If you've given it a try, let me know how you think it compares to the previous version, and to other photo editors you've used.
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| Deal of the Day: 75% off Amzer Skin Case for iPhone 5 Posted: 02 May 2013 06:55 AM PDT | ||||||
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Adobe Lightroom product manager demonstrates RAW processing on iPad
Posted: 02 May 2013 06:01 AM PDT
If editing DSLR photos on an iPad in their original, RAW format is the holy grail for many professional photographers and hobbyist alike, editing DSLR photos on an iPad, in RAW, using Adobe's workflow is likely the holiest of holies. It just might also be a reality, if not today, then at some point in a future that's near-ish. In fact, it's already been previewed on popular photography podcast, The Grid. Here's the description:
Tom Hogarty, Adobe's group product manager for Lightroom, brings a sneak peek to the future of processing raw photos on a tablet. Although Tom wouldn't reveal a launch date for the new prototype he did demonstrate some of the features on an iPad, and also offered several details about its features.
My RAW workflow today consists of yanking the SD card from my camera, slapping it into my rMPB, loading images into Lightroom (or more often, Aperture), right-clicking, and choosing Edit in Photoshop. When it comes to photography, I'm still a truck driver. Of course, that workflow comes with a camera bag that often feels as heavy as a truck.
The idea of being on the road, with only a DSLR strapped across my shoulder and an iPad mini in my jacket pocket, and being able to pull in photos, in DNG Smart Preview, and triage and pre-process them... That idea holds a lot of appeal. And it feels like the future.
No word yet on when, where, and how Lightroom for iPad will appear, or how well a full on RAW workflow will really perform, but I want it now. If you shoot RAW, let me know what you think -- is Lightroom for iPad in your future?
Source: The Grid via The Verge
(Demo starts 18 min. in.)
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What's your next dream Mac? [Poll]
Posted: 02 May 2013 05:02 AM PDT
Rumors, as always, are swirling over what next-generation Macs Apple might announce in 2013 in general, and at next month's WWDC show in specific. But which one are you most interested in?
The Retina MacBook Air is probably high on many people's wish lists. Like the Retina iPad mini, getting a 2x display into a device that's just as thin and gets just as good battery life is a daunting task, but if and when Apple can do it, would that be the Mac of your dreams? Or would an updated MacBook Pro, something running Intel's Haswell architecture, be enough, or perhaps even better for you?
What about a Retina iMac? If Apple could ship a 5120x2880 display in that new, razor-edged design, would that be every photographer, videographer, or just plain desktop lover's fantasy made manifest?
The Mac Pro has been languishing in update purgatory for the last few years, so how about -- finally -- an update to Apple's powerhouse? The latest Xeon processors, Thunderbolt support, maybe even a new casing design? Or what about the long-sought after Mac Mini Pro, a tiny tower that's still expandable to some degree but caters to a slightly more mid-range market.
Whether we see it at WWDC, later this fall, or even next year, what's your next dream Mac? Vote in the poll up top and let me know why in the comments below!
Photo: @adelduca
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