miércoles, 19 de diciembre de 2012

iPad By Davis: “MacBreak Weekly 330: Sugaring Off” plus 16 more

iPad By Davis: “MacBreak Weekly 330: Sugaring Off” plus 16 more


MacBreak Weekly 330: Sugaring Off

Posted: 18 Dec 2012 09:41 PM PST

Leo Laporte, Andy Ihnatko, Don McAlister and yours truly talk Apple TV, the startup chime, best apps of 2012, and more.

Subscribe or download: TWiT.tv



Flickr: the best alternative to Instagram

Posted: 18 Dec 2012 05:48 PM PST

Flickr, the best alternative to Instagram

Following the news of Instagram's new terms of service, many users are deleting their accounts, even after hearing Instagram's side of the story, so the natural question to follow all this drama is "what is the best alternative to Instagram?" My answer: Flickr.

Now, before I jump into all the great features and services that Flickr has to offer, I want to clarify what I consider necessities to truly work as a replacement for Instagram. First of all, the alternative must have an iPhone app that allows you to quickly add filters to your photos, as this is one of the main features of Instagram. But notice how I sad "one of" of the main features; that's because Instagram's role as a social network is arguably an even bigger feature. Without the ability to like and comment on photos, Instagram would've never become what it is today, and that's why an Instagram replacement must also have a solid social network built into it.

Flickr meets both these requirements.

Flickr recently released a huge update to their iPhone app that included the ability to add filters to your photos. I was actually planning to write an article that compared the quality of these filters with Instagram's, but I'll instead just give you the punchline now: Flickr wins.

When it comes to photo manipulation, Flickr has so much more to offer than Instagram. Instead of restricting you to the ability of only adding a filter, Flickr for iPhone also includes a slew of editing tools ranging from basic adjustments to brightness and contrast, to removing redeye and whitening teeth. Flickr also doesn't force you to crop your photos as a square. However, Flickr does not have a tilt-shift option. Not yet, anyway.

Now that it's settled that Flickr is a fantastic choice in the photo editing and filtering department, what about social? Guess what, Flickr wins this one, too.

Instagram only allows users to "like" photos and comment on them. That's it. No other social integration is, and probably ever will be, included in Instagram. And that's actually ok as that's all the majority of users will have interest in doing, anyway. But what about users who might be interested in joining groups and discussions about specific areas of photography or likeminded people? Flickr's got them covered.

With Flickr, you can create and join groups and each group gets their own discussion space. These discussion boards are just like forums and work as an excellent way to communicate with other Flickr users about photography. These groups also make a great way to look through specific types of photos. For example, as an iPhone photographer, you can join an iPhoneography group that only displays photos taken by other iPhone photographers and communicate with its members about different techniques, apps, and accessories related to iPhone photography. And if you choose, you can also create private, invite-only groups if you want to restrict who is able to join.

In addition to great photo manipulation and social integration, Flickr also allows you to create sets and galleries to help you keep your photos organized. With Instagram, keeping your cat photos separate from your food photos is not an option, you have only one "folder".

Convinced that Flickr is a much superior service in terms of features over Instagram? Then what about Flickr's terms of service. What rights do they have to your photos? Do they sell your photos to advertisers?

To find the answer, we must actually take a look at Yahoo!'s terms of service. The following was taken from section 9, titled "Content submitted or made available for inclusion on the Yahoo! services":

Yahoo! does not claim ownership of Content you submit or make available for inclusion on the Yahoo! Services. However, with respect to Content you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of the Yahoo! Services, you grant Yahoo! the following worldwide, royalty-free and non-exclusive license(s), as applicable:

  • With respect to photos, graphics, audio or video you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of the Yahoo! Services other than Yahoo! Groups, the license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publicly perform and publicly display such Content on the Yahoo! Services solely for the purpose for which such Content was submitted or made available. This license exists only for as long as you elect to continue to include such Content on the Yahoo! Services and will terminate at the time you remove or Yahoo! removes such Content from the Yahoo! Services.

"Publicly accessible" areas of the Yahoo! Services are those areas of the Yahoo! network of properties that are intended by Yahoo! to be available to the general public. By way of example, publicly accessible areas of the Yahoo! Services would include Yahoo! Message Boards and portions of Yahoo! Groups and Flickr that are open to both members and visitors. However, publicly accessible areas of the Yahoo! Services would not include portions of Yahoo! Groups that are limited to members, Yahoo! services intended for private communication such as Yahoo! Mail or Yahoo! Messenger, or areas off of the Yahoo! network of properties such as portions of World Wide Web sites that are accessible via hypertext or other links but are not hosted or served by Yahoo!.

To summarize, Flickr does not own your photos, but by agreeing to their terms, you do grant them the privilege of using them, even manipulating them, for use on Flickr's website. What Flickr does not do, however, is use your photos for monetary gain.

Then how does Flickr make money? By having both free and "Pro" accounts.

Flickr's free account allows you to upload 2 videos and 300MB worth of photos per month. Flickr will also limit the number of photos displayed on your account and photostream to the most recent 200. Older photos will not be deleted and their links will still work, they just will not appear on your Flickr page. A free account also limits you to posting your photos to 10 group pools and only smaller-sized photos are accessible (though the originals are saved in cased you choose to upgrade later).

A Pro account allows unlimited uploads, storage, and bandwidth, and the ability to posts your photos in up to 60 group pools. You can also view count and referrer statistics, and have access to your full-resolution images while still limiting the image size available to others if you desire. This means a Pro account can work as an excellent method of backing-up your photos.

A Flickr Pro subscription is $6.95 every 3 months, $24.95 every year, or $44.95 every 2 years.

Every company needs revenue to survive, and this business model has served Flickr well for a very long time. Instead of seeking monetary gain from its users' personal photos, it goes directly for their wallet. This means that Flickr's customers are its users, not advertisers. I support this model.

I've only touched on a few of the features and benefits of Flickr, so I encourage you to take a look and start poking around. You may just find that Flickr meets your needs perfectly and makes stepping away from Instagram an even easier decision. Although I'm not one who is outraged at Instagram, I will start using Flickr more often as I do support their business model more than Instagram's.

If you decide to join Flickr, feel free to follow me and let us know your username in the comments below!



Instagram comments on changes in Terms of Service, they're not selling your photos

Posted: 18 Dec 2012 04:04 PM PST

Instagram comments on changes in Terms of Service, they're not selling your photos

Instagram users were in a uproar this morning after the company made changes to their terms of service. Namely, what they can do with your content that you upload to the service. Instagram has now commented on their on blog to clarify what those changes mean and how they really affect end users.

The concern Instagram users had was with a portion of their terms of service that Instagram is claiming was not worded well and could easily be misinterpreted. Namely, who owns your photos and what Instagram can and can't do with them without your permission.

Where ownership rights are concerned, Instagram's co-founder Kevin Systrom, had this to say:

Instagram users own their content and Instagram does not claim any ownership rights over your photos. Nothing about this has changed. We respect that there are creative artists and hobbyists alike that pour their heart into creating beautiful photos, and we respect that your photos are your photos. Period.

I always want you to feel comfortable sharing your photos on Instagram and we will always work hard to foster and respect our community and go out of our way to support its rights.

When it comes to advertising, Instagram does claim to be a business, which they are. And as such, they need to have ways to sustain that business in the form of advertising. They've made it clear in their latest comments that they don't intend on spamming users with banner ads but allowing business owners and individuals to promote their content in order to gain a more meaningful following.

To provide context, we envision a future where both users and brands alike may promote their photos & accounts to increase engagement and to build a more meaningful following. Let's say a business wanted to promote their account to gain more followers and Instagram was able to feature them in some way. In order to help make a more relevant and useful promotion, it would be helpful to see which of the people you follow also follow this business. In this way, some of the data you produce — like the actions you take (eg, following the account) and your profile photo — might show up if you are following this business.

As far as privacy is concerned, Instagram has publicly stated that if your photos are private, they will remain that way. In other words, you don't have to worry about your boss seeing an advertisement for sun screen where you are in a 2-piece bathing suit with your friends on the beach.

Either way, if you're still concerned over Instagram's new terms of service, you can always back up your photos and delete your account. Otherwise, for end users, it may not be much of a change at all. We aren't sure at this point if things are getting reworded due to public outcry or if it really was just a misinterpretation.

You can hit the source link to read the rest of Kevin Systrom's blog posting on Instagram. Then come back and let us know whether or not you'll be keeping your Instagram account or if you're debating deleting it.

Source: Instagram



How to download your photos from Instagram and delete your account

Posted: 18 Dec 2012 02:41 PM PST

How to download your photos from Instagram and delete your account

In the recent wake of Instagram's policy changes, many iPhone and iPad users are left with the decision of keeping their accounts or deleting them and migrating to something else. As long as you do so before January 16th, Instagram can't use or sell any of your information.

If you decide you want to delete your Instagram profile, you'll probably want all of your photos in a safe place before doing so. Not sure how to do that? Follow along and we'll walk you through saving all your Instagram photos and finally, deleting your account.

How to download and save all your photos from your Instagram account

For this, we are using a service called Instaport. You may, of course, utilize one of the other services available that do the same kind of thing. We've just had good experiences with Instaport in the past.

  1. Open a browser from your computer and go to instaport.me.
  2. Under the Connect your account section, click on the button that says Sign in with Instagram.
  3. Enter your Instagram credentials and then click on the Log In button.
  4. Next you'll be asked to authorize Instaport to access your Instagram data. Click on the Authorize button.
  5. You'll be redirected back to the Instaport site. Here you can see your username and what kind of export service you'd like. For now, you can only choose a .zip file.
  6. Under the Advanced Options menu you can specify more detailed options if you'd like.
  7. Now click on the Start Export button.
  8. It may take a while but Instaport will start exporting your images.
  9. Once it's done you'll see the message above with a link to download your photos.
  10. Click on the Download your photos link at the top and a zip file will be downloaded to your computer.
  11. Once it's complete, find it on your computer and double click it to unzip it or use a zip program of your choice.
  12. Double click on the folder and all your Instagram images should be safe and sound!

Instaport has plans to allow you to automatically upload to services such as Facebook, Flickr, and RSS but that service isn't available just yet. At least for now, you've got all your Instagram images ready to go for upload or just for safe-keeping.

How to delete your Instagram account

Instagram allows you to quickly delete your account but be advised that your photos and all your content will be gone and will not be accessible anymore. So make sure you've backed up anything you need to before continuing on. You also won't be able to use the same username if you ever decide you'd like to sign up for Instagram again in the future.

  1. Open a browser window on your computer and go to instagram.com.
  2. Towards the bottom of the page, click on the Your Account link.
  3. Enter your Instagram username and password and then click Log In.
  4. If Instagram doesn't automatically take you to the edit profile screen, click on your name in the upper right hand corner and choose the Edit Profile option.
  5. In the bottom right hand corner, there is an option to delete your account. Click on I'd like to delete my account.
  6. Instagram will now ask you why you'd like to delete your account. Fill out the information you'd like to.
  7. Once you're done, click on Permanently deactivate my account.
  8. You'll see a confirmation that your account has been deleted. That's all there is to it.


Reminder: Cast Your Votes in the 2012 iMore Community Awards!

Posted: 18 Dec 2012 02:42 PM PST

Quick reminder for everyone today, in case you missed the forums announcement opening up the 2012 iMore Community Awards for voting!

We're running the awards right now through December 21st at noon EST. If you're a regular in our forums, you'll want to head over there right now and cast your votes.

There are 8 categories to submit your input on. All you need to do is enter the username of the member you think is most deserving, and tell us a little story on WHY the person should win. If you don't have a submission for a question, no worries, you can just skip that question. Easy stuff folks.

Take a minute and cast your votes!

Full details here...



Doodle Jump gets in the Holiday spirit with 5 new Christmas outfits

Posted: 18 Dec 2012 01:23 PM PST

Doodle Jump gets in the Holiday spirit with 5 new Christmas outfits

The extremely popular iPhone and iPad game Doodle Jump as been updated with 5 new Christmas outfits, each of which comes with its own special ability. These outfits can be purchased in the Doodle Jump store for varying amounts of coins. Coins can collected in presents during gameplay or bought as in-app purchases.

The five new Christmas outfits include Super Santa, Elf, Frost, Scrooge, and Reindeer.

Super Santa gets twice as many coins in every present and costs 19,000 coins. All of Elf's presents are big and costs 15,000 coins. Frost is immune to being frozen by chill-breath and costs 3,000 coins. Scrooge can't be hurt by monsters and costs 7,000 coins. Lastly, Reindeer double jumps and costs 7,000 coins.

If you want to buy coins as an in-app purchase, you can get 120,000 coins for $19.99, 50,000 coins for $9.99, 20,000 coins for $4.99, or 1,000 coins for $0.99.

The basic Santa outfit that throws snowballs is still available for free.

Has anyone picked up this update, yet? Have you bought any of the new outfits?



Rivr for App.net updated with new features and a refreshed UI

Posted: 18 Dec 2012 11:36 AM PST

Rivr for App.net updated with new features and a refreshed UI

If you're still using App.net and are in the market for a new client, you may want to take another look at Rivr which just got updated with lots of new features and enhancements to existing ones. New features include Camera+ integration, night time mode, markdown support, and more. The interface has also gotten a bit of a facelift as well as some refinements for existing features.

We recently took a look at some of the more popular App.net clients available in the App Store and put them head to head. At that time, we chose Felix as our ADN client of choice. While the interface of Rivr wasn't terrible and notifications worked as promised, we just didn't find anything in Rivr that blew us away the way we did Felix.

For some users, the new features in Rivr may be taking a second look at. The first notable feature is night time mode which makes reading at night a much more pleasant experience since the default UI is so light. The overall interface itself has also received minor tweaks such as a re-worked profile layout and smoother gestures. The gradients and color scheme seem to be more refined causing a better overall experience.

Most notably the new version of Rivr adds integration for Camera+, media hosting via bli.ms, markdown support, the ability to change your font, and the ability to edit your profile within the app. You can also change hashtags to topics now by holding down and toggling between them.

If you were holding out on trying Rivr due to having to pay $1.99 as an in-app purchase to obtain push, you'll be glad to know that push is now free. Overall, Rivr seems to run a lot smoother. It was a great app to begin with and now it has just gotten better. If you're still on the fence about choosing a client for App.net, you can check out our Netbot, Felix, and Rivr comparison via the link below. As far as trying out Rivr, now that push is free there's no reason not to give it a spin.

Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments!

Additional resources:



How to replace the headphone jack and volume cable in a GSM/AT&T iPhone 4

Posted: 18 Dec 2012 10:47 AM PST

How to replace the headphone jack and volume cable in a GSM/AT&T iPhone 4

If you've got an AT&T or some other GSM variant of an iPhone 4 and you are experiencing issues with either the headphone jack, mute switch, or volume buttons, a DIY repair can quickly get your iPhone back into working condition. Symptoms can range from no sound from the headphone jack to something being stuck inside. If your volume buttons aren't working or you have to push down extremely hard, this replacement cable should also fix that issue.

So if you're out of warranty and don't fancy buying a new iPhone just yet, follow along to see if you're up for the challenge.

Disclaimer: As with any repair, neither iMore nor The Pod Drop can be held responsible for any damage you may do to your device. It's also worth considering that opening up your device to perform any repair or modification can and will void your Apple warranty. If you don't feel comfortable opening your device, don't. Use extreme care and caution when performing a repair on any device.

Not comfortable with DIY repair? Leave it to the pros

If you aren't comfortable performing a DIY repair on your own, don't. It is possible to cause more damage or run into issues you aren't ready for. In this case, it's probably better to either pay the money for a replacement device from Apple or use a local or mail-in service that will handle the repair and any issues that may arise for you.

The Pod Drop has many locations in the midwest and is a rapidly growing company. You can check for a Pod Drop location near you, mail it in, or use another third party repair service. For more information on mail-in repairs or possible Pod Drop locations near you, you can visit their website.

If you are comfortable with repairing your own device, put your ninja pants on and keep reading!

What you need to fix the volume control and headphone jack cable

The Pod Drop recommends using only quality and genuine parts from a reputable supplier like eTech Parts. They have quality parts, tools, and much more for all your repair needs. You will find links to the specific parts you'll need for this repair in the list below.

Power off your iPhone 4

iPhone slide to power off

Before performing any repair, always power off your device before removing any screws or parts.

Remove the back

    Remove the dock connector screws on your CDMA iPhone 4
  1. First remove the bottom 2 dock connector screws in your iPhone 4. Use either your #00 screwdriver or the five point depending on whether or not your iPhone 4 has security screws in the dock connector. Almost all newer devices will have security screws.
  2. Remove the back of your CDMA iPhone 4
  3. To remove the back simply slide the back upwards and lift it off gently.
  4. Set the back and 2 dock connector screws aside.

Remove your SIM card

Use a SIM removal tool or a paperclip to remove your SIM card and tray. Set them aside.

Remove the battery

    Remove battery screw iPhone 4 CDMA
  1. To remove the battery you'll need to remove the #00 screw holding the battery clip in place. Remove this screw located to the bottom left of the battery.
  2. Remove battery clip iPhone 4 CDMA
  3. The metal clip on the battery is what clips the battery to the logic board. You'll need to pop this clip up with your plastic pry tool. Simply stick the end of your pry tool underneath the clip and gently pull upwards until it unfastens from the logic board.
  4. Remove battery iPhone 4 CDMA
  5. To remove the battery, I do not recommend using the plastic pull tab. There is quite a bit of adhesive underneath the battery and the tab will normally just rip off or you can bend the battery. Instead, run your pry tool along the right side of the battery and break the adhesive that way. Once the battery is free from the adhesive, you can pull the battery out of the phone. There are no other connectors holding it in.
  6. Fold over battery tab on iPhone 4
  7. You will notice a tiny grounding clip sitting underneath where you unscrewed the battery. Set this aside for replacement during reassembly. This is a grounding clip for your antenna. Make sure you put it back in place before reconnecting your battery.

Remove the dock connector shield and disconnect the cable

    Remove dock connector shield iPhone 4 CDMA
  1. There is a shield held on with two screws covering the dock connector cable. Remove the two screws holding it in place and set the shield and screws aside, remembering where they came from.
  2. Remove dock connector cable iPhone 4 CDMA
  3. Next, use your pry tool to pry up the actual dock connector cable. Be careful as there is adhesive holding the cable in place as well. Peel back the adhesive gently to free the cable.

Remove the top logic board shield

  1. There are 5 screws holding the logic board shield in place. Remove the 5 screws holding it in place. Just be sure to remember which holes they came out of as the screws are different sizes. I always keep them in order of how they came out.
  2. Next you'll need to remove the shield. There is a tiny clip built into the shield holding it in place. (Refer to the photo above.) Pop it up with your pry tool and you should be able to slide the shield up fairly easily. Just take care not to bend it or break off a clip.

Disconnect the 6 cables from the top of the logic board

  1. There is only one connector holding the camera to the logic board. Remove this cable in the picture above using your pry tool. Gently lift upwards and it will pop right off.
  2. Next gently lift the camera out of the device. You'll notice there is a tiny tab that is seated underneath the LCD and digitizer cables to the right.
  3. Next pop up the LCD and digitizer cables to the right of where the camera cable was connected. You pop them up in the same direction.
  4. The 3 cables further to the right will need to be disconnected as well. They pop up in the opposite direction.

Disconnect the cellular antenna

iPhone-4-GSM-cellular-antenna-removal

To disconnect the cellular antenna, just pop the round cable up from the logic board holding it in place. It is connected to the speaker housing so just leave it where it is for now.

Remove the logic board

    iPhone-4-remove-logic-board-screws
  1. Start with the 2 screws holding the logic board down in the middle and at the bottom left. Both use your #00 Phillips screwdriver. They are the same size. The one on the right of the logic board in the middle of the device has a water sensor over it you'll need to remove.
  2. The second screw is located where the logic board meets the speaker assembly towards the bottom left of the device.
  3. The third and final screw holding the logic board in is located at the top of the logic board off to the right. It is the only cross-head screw in your device. Use a small flathead screwdriver to carefully remove it.
  4. iPhone-4-GSM-logic-board-removal
  5. You should now be able to remove your logic board. Holding it at the bottom, gently pull it upwards. I use my other hand to lift up at the top where the rear facing camera used to be.
  6. Take note that there is a small rubber piece that sits at the top of the logic board. You will need this for re-assembly so make sure it doesn't fall off. If you lose this, you could possibly experience grounding issues.

Remove the metal retainer & front facing camera

How-to-remove-iPhone-4-camera-retainer

There is a metal retainer covering the front facing camera. To remove it use your pry tool to gently pull it off. Make sure you don't lose it as you'll need it for reassembly. Now that the metal retainer has been removed you can gently lift the front facing camera out of the iPhone 4.

Remove the vibrator assembly

  1. Remove the two screws holding the vibrator assembly in place using your #00 Phillips screwdriver.
  2. Carefully lift the vibrator assembly out of the iPhone 4 and set it aside.

Remove the headphone jack and volume flex cable

  1. Start by removing the piece of black tape covering the volume buttons with your pry tool. Make sure you aren't grabbing the actual cable.
  2. Now use your #00 Phillips screwdriver to remove the five screws labeled in the picture below. The top corner screw can be somewhat hard to get at from an angle. Just take care not to strip it.
  3. Remove the metal retainer clip with your tweezers that covers the cable for the mute switch.
  4. Use your tweezers or spudger tool again to slightly separate the volume buttons from the casing as well as the mute switch. Do not completely remove them yet as they are still attached to the headphone jack and some adhesive to the frame.
  5. Gently peel the cables back from the frame of the device. They are only held down with a bit of adhesive. Don't pull it completely out as we still need to remove the headphone jack, which is attached.
  6. Use your tweezers to gently pull up the headphone jack assembly itself. Once it is free the entire cable and assembly should come up easily.

Replace the headphone jack and volume flex cable

  1. The replace the headphone jack and volume button assembly you'll need to remove any adhesive backing on the new assembly.
  2. Start by placing the headphone jack assembly and making sure it's firmly in place.
  3. Next line up the mute switch area of the cable.
  4. Now line up the volume buttons making certain that you're folding or creasing the cable in the correct areas.
  5. Next replace the metal retainer that sits over the mute switch portion of the assembly.
  6. Replace the five screws that you removed earlier making sure the buttons are lined up correctly behind them.
  7. Use your finger to make sure the adhesive on the back of the cables is firmly pushed down along the frame.
  8. Lastly, test the mute switch and volume up and down buttons to make sure they are lined up correctly.

Reassemble your iPhone 4

Now that you've finished replacing the headphone jack and volume flex cable, all we've got left to do is reassemble. You can either follow these directions in exact reverse order or watch the reassembly video above. The video is a replacement for a cracked screen and involved an almost complete teardown so you won't need to follow the entire think. You can start off from around the 3 minute and 18 second mark to complete assembly.

And... done!

Once you've got your iPhone 4 put completely back together you can go ahead and power it on. If all went well you should see the typical Apple logo come up. After the phone completely finished rebooting, plug in a pair of headphones to make sure the headphone jack is in working order. Then test the volume buttons and mute switch to make sure those are all functioning properly again.

If you run into issues or have problems, our DIY and mod forums are a great place to ask questions as well as find already existing answers. If all else fails, feel free to email us with questions!

Additional resources:



1Password 4 for iPad: New, Improved & Better than Ever

Posted: 18 Dec 2012 10:23 AM PST

1Password has been a popular and leading password manager app for iOS and Mac for as long as I can remember.  It now supports Windows PCs too and for my money it is easily the best solution in its category. I picked it as one of our selections in the Best iPad Apps of 2011 [...]

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Apple releases iOS 6.0.2 software update, bug fixes

Posted: 18 Dec 2012 10:33 AM PST

Apple has just pushed out iOS 6.0.2 for iPhone 5 and iPad mini, a minor bug-fix update to last fall's iOS 6 release. According to Apple it:

Fixes a bug that could impact Wi-Fi.

Sadly, we keep getting errors when trying to connect to Apple's over-the-air (OTA) software update service, so I can't see exactly what, if anything, is in yet it beyond that.

Go to Settings > General > Software Update on your iPhone 5 or iPad mini, and try your luck, and let us know what you get. You can also try tethering via USB to iTunes, though that's showing me iOS 6.0.1 still...

Hopefully everything will clear up over the next few minutes/hours.



Price Drops – Walking Dead: The Game for iPad Free Today

Posted: 18 Dec 2012 09:10 AM PST

Walking Dead: The Game for iPad and iPhone is available for free today – down from its standard $4.99 price. This app is actually the game itself and Episode 1 of the 5 current episodes available for it – the remaining 4 episodes are available via In-App purchase. This game was one of Apple's selections [...]

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Hatch seeks to re-invent the digital pet for the iPhone age

Posted: 18 Dec 2012 09:12 AM PST

Digital pets are nothing new. Tamagotchi were a craze in the 2-bit, low-res days. Yet, back then, they were hindered by technology that was insufficient to fully realize the visions of their creators or the imagination of their users. Flash forward to 2012 and Impending, in collaboration with RealMac, aim to make the genre what it was always meant to be -- with Hatch.

If those names sound familiar, it's because they're the folks behind Clear, the delightfully simple, gesture-based task management app for the iPhone and Mac. Impending's Phill Ryu has long spoken about the potential for apps like this on modern platforms like iOS, and it's fantastic to see he's really going for it. With RealMac, and the talent of people like David Lanham from the Iconfactory behind him, it's got all the pieces in place to make just exactly what the tag line promises:

An app that loves you back.

Hatch won't ship until next year, but the video teaser above shows wonderful animation, engaging interactions (including tying into the built-in background music system), and a smart focus on building the app-to-user connection.

Digital devices have become emotional possessions. Pet apps have been tried before, and have worked before, but the connection has deepened with the capabilities of our devices. They know time, they know location, they know us.

It'll be interesting to see how much of that Hatch captures at launch, and how much of us the little creatures capture over time.

Head on over to the website below for an extra sneak-peak, and a way to started with the fun.

Source: Hatch



Apple vs. Samsung: No injunctions, no jury new trial, no more Euro-FRAND shenanigans

Posted: 18 Dec 2012 08:54 AM PST

Apple vs. Samsung: No injunctions, no jury new trial, no more Euro-FRAND shenanigans

Apple's been denied an injunction against Samsung, Samsung's been denied a new trial against Apple, and Europe is being denied more FRAND-based patent nonsense. Want to know more? Seriously?

Apple has been denied an injunction on Samsung products that were found to infringe on Apple's patents. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh determined that Apple failed to demonstrate that the demand for Samsung's products came from technology that Samsung copied. As only three of the devices found to infringe on Apple's patents are currently on the market, all part of the Galaxy S II line, so this doesn't come as a surprise. Newer phones like the Galaxy S III were not part of Apple's injunction efforts, and have already been added to an upcoming lawsuit set to go to trial in 2014.

Judge Koh also ruled yesterday that there would be no new trial despite Samsung's allegations of juror misconduct. Samsung had accused Velvin Hogan of hiding his involvement in a lawsuit with Seagate. Koh said that because Hogan disclosed his employment with Seagate at the time of jury selection, Samsung's legal team had plenty of time to raise objections to his selection. Samsung had also claimed that Hogan's post-trial interviews had demonstrated that he had swayed the jury, but Samsung had never claimed nor demonstrated that Hogan had introduced "outside knowledge specific to the facts of this case" to the jury in their motions, and Koh denied their motion.

Finally, Samsung has announced that they will be dropping their efforts to seek injunctions in Europe against Apple devices using technology covered by Samsung's FRAND (free, reasonable, and non-descriminatory) patents. While Samsung will still seek damages in lawsuits going forward, they have withdrawn requests for import bans on Apple products. While Samsung claims that this is about "protecting consumer choice", it probably has more to do with the fact that they are being investigated by the European Commission over possible abuses of FRAND patents.

Source: Bloomberg, Bloomberg, The Verge



Apple is an iPhone stock and growth in China is just beginning

Posted: 18 Dec 2012 07:43 AM PST

Apple is an iPhone stock and growth in China is just beginning

As much as it pains Apple shareholders to watch the stock drop to $500 from a high of over $700, we all need to learn to stomach the volatility and focus on the business performance.

Right now, Apple's stock is driven by the market's perception of iPhone supply and demand. It's an iPhone stock more than anything else. This won't always be the case, but it is for now.

China is an enormous growth market for Apple. This year China will make up about 15% of Apple's total revenue. Back in April when Apple reported its Q2 results, Tim Cook revealed that sales in China had tripled year over year. He said "There's a lot of headroom here in our view".

That was 8 months ago. And we're starting to see what Cook means. Apple just sold over 2 million iPhone 5 devices in a single weekend, inspiring the first-ever China-specific press release.

Apple hasn't even cut a deal with China Mobile yet. For those unfamiliar with the telecom competitive landscape in the gigantic Asian country, China Mobile is the largest operator by a long shot. They've got over 700 million cellular subscribers, and pretty much all of the growth is coming from 3G (TD-SCDMA). Eventually this growth will shift to 3G (TD-LTE).

If Apple can strike a deal with the world's largest carrier and capture 5% of its subscribers (presumably the wealthier among the total) then it amounts to 35 million iPhone sales. Let's round the average selling price of the iPhone 5 down to $600 - we're talking about $21 billion in new revenue. If these users are on a 2 year replacement cycle, we're looking at $10 billion per year in new sales from one carrier deal.

Right now, Android is king in China. Apple's share of the Chinese smartphone market is less than 10%. But in a country with over a billion mobile users, smartphones still represent the minority. In fact, only about one fifth of all cellular subscribers are even on the countries 3G networks as of now. Smartphone volume will continue to rise. As this happens, if Apple can recapture some share, as it seems to be doing with the iPhone 5 launch (and if they can get into China Mobile), the volume growth will continue to be impressive.

And then the halo effect kicks in. People who can afford iPhones in China can certainly afford iPads, and mostly likely Macs too.

What I'm really interested to know is if Apple has a strategy to compete with the mid tier smartphone makers in China. In the rest of the world, Apple keeps previous generation devices, currently the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4, on the market at lower price points. That's because there is a limit to how many people can afford a $600+ phone. We don't want to see Apple competing the the guys making $100 Android phones, but there has to be a happy middle ground where Apple can grow its ecosystem while still enabling the wealthier customers to sport a more expensive and luxurious iPhone.

Apple is an iPhone stock, and China represents a pretty big opportunity that has yet to be fully tapped.



Instagram realizes it needs to start making money, decides to do it with your photos and identity

Posted: 18 Dec 2012 06:53 AM PST

Instagram realizes it needs to start making money, decides to do it with your photos and identity

Instagram, the popular online photo filtering, blurring, and sharing community, has changed its terms of service to allow them to share your data with their new owner, Facebook, its affiliates and advertisers, and use your photographs and identity in advertising without your consent, and without any revenue sharing.

Some or all of the Service may be supported by advertising revenue. To help us deliver interesting paid or sponsored content or promotions, you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you. If you are under the age of eighteen (18), or under any other applicable age of majority, you represent that at least one of your parents or legal guardians has also agreed to this provision (and the use of your name, likeness, username, and/or photos (along with any associated metadata)) on your behalf.

Depending on whose take you read, this is either a profound bait-and-switch and betrayal or an obvious reality of online business that anyone with a brain should have seen coming. And, as usual, it's both. It's the proverbial scorpion given a ride across the river, that stings us and leaves us both to drown, because that is its nature and we knew what it was when we picked it up.

We're human. No matter how much our rational brain hears and understands that we never get something for nothing, our cheapskate brains just can't resist jumping into bed with any online service that promise us some form of like-minded community with a twist. Free-as-in-Google has become a convenient way for us to "pay" with things far less tangible than money, though also sometimes far more valuable -- our time, our attention, our personal information, our location, our privacy, our identity.

Some of us don't care about any of those things, so "free" services are an incredible bargain. Our money stays in our pocket and our data becomes needles and in ever-growing haystack. Others of us care about those things a great deal, so "free" services are prohibitively expensive. We'd rather pay money and stay out of the haystack.

Instagram isn't innocent. They knew they'd have to make money at some point, and whether or not this was always their plan, some form of this had to have always been their plan, just like Twitter, Facebook, Google, and others before them, and no doubt others after them. Reckless growth needs to be paid for eventually, and users are the easiest and most valuable product hawk.

We're not innocent either. We knew Instagram would have to make money at some point as well. It's happened to us before with Twitter, Facebook, Google, and others, and we'll no doubt let it happen again. Getting sold just seems like so much better a deal than having to buy.

If the changes in Instagram's terms of service are deal-breakers for you, you can close your account and look into alternatives, though hopefully with eyes open more widely.

If the changes don't bother you, then you can just keep on keeping on, and I look forward to seeing the grainy, color-filtered, tilt-shifted, picture of you, your pet, and your waffles, with your name on it, as part of a Facebook singles ad in my sidebar sometime soon.

(I kid. Not really.)

Source: Instagram



The Transit App for iPhone updates with step-by-step directions, itineraries, and more

Posted: 18 Dec 2012 06:15 AM PST

The Transit App for iPhone updates with step-by-step directions, itineraries, and more

The Transit App has updated to version 1.5 and now features a revamped search interface, step-by-step directions, itineraries list to enable quick comparisons between routes, improved directions, and more.

Originally intended as a bus, train, and metro/subway route finder, when iOS 6 Maps launched without transit directions but with a handoff to transit apps in the App Store, the Transit App quickly came under pressure to better fill Apple's void by including features like trip planning. Developers Sam Vermette and Guillaume Campagna have done a great job keeping the app simple, elegant, and easy to use while increasing its feature set and functionality.

The interface is likewise still gorgeous. One of the first to adopt a little of the flat color, typography-centric Metro aesthetic on iOS, they've kept the balance of easy to find and tap buttons and quick-to-access gesture shortcuts. (for more on the design of The Transit App, check out Sam Vermette on the Iterate podcast).

The Transit App now supports 80 agencies across 28 cities, including Montreal, Toronto, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Vancouver, Washington DC, and Philadelphia.

It's free to use, but if you subscribe to the service you get unlimited nearby routes, offline data caching, and multiple trip-planning options. Subscription options include $0.99 for a month, $2.99 for 6 months, and $4.99 for a year.



Which maps app are you using on your iPhone? [Poll]

Posted: 18 Dec 2012 03:25 AM PST

Google Maps downloaded over 10 million times in the first 48 hours of release

We all know the timeline by now. Apple replaced Google as the location data provider in iOS 6 Maps. It didn't work out as well as Apple intended. Apple was forced to apologize and recommend alternative maps apps. Nokia released HERE maps for iOS. And now Google has released Google Maps for iOS.

According to Google's VP of Geo and Commerce Jeff Huber, the app had been downloaded an astounding 10 million times in the first 48 hours since its release. Now, raw download numbers indicate a high level of interest, but they don't tell us how many people tried them an liked them enough to keep using them.

That's where you come in.

Which maps app are you currently using on iOS 6? Are you sticking with Apple Maps? Have you switched to Nokia HERE or Google Maps? Have you resisted upgrading to keep iOS 5 apps? Or are you using something else entirely? Vote in our poll up top and elaborate in the comments below!



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