iPad By Davis: “Samsung releases new Galaxy S4 commercial, targets the iPhone. Well.” plus 13 more |
- Samsung releases new Galaxy S4 commercial, targets the iPhone. Well.
- Trying Out that Big, Honking Telephoto Lens for the iPad mini
- T-Mobile US launches TV streaming app for iPhone
- Rumors of OS X 10.9's "delay" are unfounded
- First Apple store in Berlin, Germany opens to enormous crowds
- Airports by TravelNerd review: Find extensive flight and airport info all in one place
- Price Drops: Geography Drive USA 75% Off for End of School Sale
- How to organize books into collections with iBooks for iPhone and iPad
- ASUS Cube Google TV box comes with some limited AirPlay functionality
- U.S. Cellular will begin selling Apple products later this year
- Notable New iPad Apps: Evomail
- How to take amazing fashion photos with your iPhone
- Deal of the Day: 38% off the Krusell Donso Tablet Folio for iPad mini
- More than tagging, what I'd love from Instagram is in-network sharing
| Samsung releases new Galaxy S4 commercial, targets the iPhone. Well. Posted: 03 May 2013 06:59 PM PDT Samsung has just released a new commercial for their new flagship phone, the Galaxy S4... and it's pretty good. I'm not a huge fan of this huge phone in general. I find it too big, too plastic, and too incoherent as a product compared to other offerings on the market. But I do appreciate the sheer amount of technology, hardware and software, Samsung is putting behind the GS4, and the all-in way they do it will probably help get the really good ideas to market faster than they might otherwise. And that's exactly what Samsung is showing off here. The sheer size of the Galaxy S4 is evident in the ad, as are features like Drama Mode, which lets you capture a series of images -- think multi-exposure sports pics, and the gestures that let you navigate without touching the screen with sticky -- in this case tasty rib covered -- fingers. Some of the other features, like Hover, which feels like a terrible violation of Fitts' law, and S Beam, which is like Bump over NFC, are a tad more gimmicky, and more demo-ware than software, but they come off okay in commercials for just that reason. Samsung's also packing a one-two punch here: not only are they showing off what they consider to be feature differentiation, they're doing their best to make Apple and the iPhone look lame by comparison. It's something they've done effectively before, and it's one of the few weaknesses Apple has in the consumer market. And unlike the nowhere nearly as good Nokia Windows Phone commercial they're doing it without promoting Apple's brand. So how does Apple counter-program assaults on its brand image? Does it make a similar commercial showing the Galaxy S4 not fitting in skinny hipster jean pockets, not working well one handed, harming eyes with vintage Soviet-era interface utilitarianism, and piquing frustration through seemingly random and unfathomable feature sets? It'd be fun to see that, but Apple's probably not there yet. Despite their global sales, Samsung is still trailing Apple in the US market. That's why Samsung has to say Apple isn't as cool. Apple just has to work incredibly hard to be cool; to show not tell. When and if the rolls switch, however, the "I'm an iPhone... and I'm an Android phone...." commercials might make for an amazing call-back. Check out the ad above and let me know what you think of it in the comments below. With Samsung targeting Apple's image, should Apple fight back and how? 
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| Trying Out that Big, Honking Telephoto Lens for the iPad mini Posted: 03 May 2013 01:46 PM PDT As some of you may recall, I posted a couple weeks back about a rather huge iPad Telephoto Lens from Photojojo. They were kind enough to send me a sample unit for the iPad mini and today I had my first opportunity to give it a quick try. To use the telephoto lens you place a companion back cover on the iPad mini and then screw the lens into a connector port placed around the back camera. I only spent a short while with the telephoto lens, but so far my impression is decidedly 'meh'. I cleaned the lens of the iPad mini camera and the telephoto lens several times, but everything still looks extremely grainy when I have the big lens on. I took a few shots around the house and the only two that are even vaguely worth sharing are the ones of our cat and dog, each taken from about 15 feet away from the subject. I love the McKayla Maroney Is Not Impressed look on the cat's face. Very...         Related Stories
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| T-Mobile US launches TV streaming app for iPhone Posted: 03 May 2013 01:45 PM PDT T-Mobile U.S. has released a streaming TV app called T-Mobile TV, which streams a selection of television programs to your phone. You don't have to be on T-Mobile to use it, but you do have to be in the US to get it. T-Mobile TV includes both live TV from select content providers as well as previous episodes. You can mark certain programs and episodes as favorites for quick access. For the first thirty days, users can stream a small selection of content from the app. There are several content packages that you can purchase, the cheapest starting at $5.99 per month for smaller, specialized packages, and going to $12.99 per month for the largest one. You can, of course, purchase multiple months at a time. This app is not unlike those from different cable providers like Time Warner Cable and Comcast, though you pay to access the content through the app, rather than getting free with a cable subscription. The app itself is free, iPhone-only, and available on the App Store right now. If you try it out, let me know what you think. How's the selection and performance for you?
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| Rumors of OS X 10.9's "delay" are unfounded Posted: 03 May 2013 12:40 PM PDT Recently the blogosphere has begun to coalesce around a common idea: OS X 10.9 is going to be delayed. Balderdash, I say. OS X 10.9 isn't delayed, because Apple hasn't announced a ship date for it. In fact, Apple hasn't said much publicly about iOS 7 or OS X 10.9, except a passing comment from Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller, who mentioned that Apple would "get new versions of iOS and OS X" into the hands of developers at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco in June. A month ago John Gruber told readers of his Daring Fireball blog that Apple had pulled engineers off OS X projects and reallocated them to iOS 7, instead. More recently some industry analysts, pundits and mainstream media journalists covering the Apple beat have spun Gruber's earlier comments, which explains the popular momentum towards a "delay" with OS X 10.9. Accepting on face value for the moment that Apple has reallocated engineering resources from OS X to iOS, it makes perfect sense: iOS is the company's main source of revenue right now, and it should be the primary focus of the company's software engineers. It's also not a very big deal: Apple engineering is task-focused. Apple management can easily and quickly redeploy a team to a higher-priority project without sacrificing efficiency. I've seen some editorials concerned about the reallocation, assuming that this will be a repeat of Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard's" release, when Leopard was legitimately delayed for months: Apple had already announced plans in 2007 to release 10.5 at WWDC, then in April abruptly changed its mind, citing development of the then-nascent iPhone as the reason for the delay. Leopard did ship in 2007, but it went from June to late October. After Leopard was released, Apple released two updates to the Mac operating system every other summer: Snow Leopard appeared in 2009 and Lion appeared in 2011. Then in February 2012, Schiller told Gruber during a clandestine meeting in New York that Apple was switching to an annual release schedule for OS X. Mountain Lion followed that summer, and the expectation remains that Apple will release another big cat in 2013. Understand that Apple was in a profoundly different place in 2007. At that point, the Mac was Apple's revenue generator. iPhone was brand new. It was a major engineering initiative for the company. Apple has had six years to improve its internal processes. If that's the case, why would Apple pull engineers off of OS X to work on iOS? Last autumn Tim Cook made significant changes to Apple's senior management with the ouster of Scott Forstall and the appointment of Jony Ive as head of Human Interface. iOS 7 wasn't created out of whole cloth under Ive's watch - software development at Apple exists in a continuum - and sources say there's a lot that Ive wants to adjust and retool before putting in the hands of developers in June. What's more, Mountain Lion has been a fairly stable release, and Mac users (and people in the financial sector who track Apple's efforts) aren't clamoring for a lot of changes. Customers are clearly expecting changes on the hardware side - anticipation is running high for more Macs with Retina displays, for example, based on our recent poll. But it seems that at least part of Apple's focus with 10.9 will be to shore up "power user" features, as opposed to the significant UI changes Ive is allegedly spearheading for iOS. So whether OS X 10.9 will ship this summer or this fall, it shouldn't matter to the Macintosh's bottom line. And fall seems likely, based on Tim Cook's own comments during Apple's quarterly earnings call last month. "Our teams are hard at work on some amazing new hardware, software and services we can't wait to introduce this fall and throughout 2014," Cook said. Until then, enjoy your Mac the way it is. 
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| First Apple store in Berlin, Germany opens to enormous crowds Posted: 03 May 2013 10:44 AM PDT Whenever Apple does something, hoards of excited people usually follow. Today's opening of the very first Apple Store in the German capital, Berlin, was absolutely no exception. As is tradition, huge crowds of eager Apple fans queued up for as long as 10 hours prior, according to the Berlin Morgenpost. The first 4500 people through the doors were presented with the traditional special edition t-shirts. The actual store itself is pretty sizeable, checking in at 5000 square meters and housing briefing and event rooms. The 2-year project to bring the Apple Store Kurfürstendamm to life has resulted in a truly stunning store. Housed in one of Berlin's renovated historic buildings, Germany's eleventh Apple Store opened at 5pm local time to the usual cheering, clapping and all round wall of noise. The good people over at Appdated.de were on hand for the grand opening, so for a host more pictures of the new store be sure to head on over there and take a look. Inside, it's traditional Apple fare. Minimalist, stylish, all wrapped up in a stunning-looking building. If you made the trip today, be sure to shout out and share your experiences with us, and give us some thoughts on Berlin's first Apple Retail Store. Source: Berlin Morgenpost(Translated), Appdated.de 
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| Airports by TravelNerd review: Find extensive flight and airport info all in one place Posted: 03 May 2013 09:54 AM PDT If you travel frequently, particularly making your way through many airports that you aren't familiar with, Airports by TravelNerd is a must have. Not only can you view up to date flight information but you can view terminal maps, amenities, and more for tons of airports across the world. While not every airport is supported, lots of them are. Airports by TravelNerd has only two main functions: finding flight information fast and finding information on the airport you search for. You simply toggle between these two functions in the bottom navigation menu. To search for flight status, you can search two ways, either by flight number and airline or by route. For example, if you don't know or have a flight number handy, you can simply type in the airport codes or names and you'll be filtered results. From there you can select your airline and check for flight times. You'll be able to do this 2 days out so basically for today and tomorrow, unless you have more specific flight information such as the actual flight number. Under the airports section, you can search for specific airports and view information such as WiFi offerings, parking, taxi services, restrooms, and most important, terminal maps. Airports are huge and if you are unfamiliar with a specific one, finding a terminal or navigating through it can be a pain. Viewing terminal maps ahead of time or even while at the airport could potentially save you some time. During a short layover, checking out terminal maps may be the difference between taking a wrong turn and making or missing a flight. When it comes to data, Airports by TravelNerd has lots of airports covered including pretty much all major ones in the United States and Europe. The good
The bad
The bottom lineWhile you can always download specific airline apps to check on flight statuses, Airports by TravelNerd does most of what they do in one single app along with providing information on specific airports. If you travel frequently and find yourself in many different airports, pick up Airports by TravelNerd, you'll be glad you did.
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| Price Drops: Geography Drive USA 75% Off for End of School Sale Posted: 03 May 2013 08:45 AM PDT The excellent Geography Drive USA iPad app is on sale at 75% off as part of an End-of-School 'mega' sale.Geography Drive USA is currently available for just 99 cents, down from its standard price of $3.99. I've been meaning to review this app for some time now, as it is a favorite for my 4th grade daughter and I. This is one of those great educational apps that is way too much fun for kids to ever think of it as just a learning tool – even though it absolutely is. It's a popular and award-winning iPad app – a winner of a 2013 Gold Parents' Choice Award as well as a number of other similar accolades. Here's a little bit of its App Store intro:
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| How to organize books into collections with iBooks for iPhone and iPad Posted: 03 May 2013 09:14 AM PDT If you download books with iBooks or use it to save and view PDF files from Safari, you may find yourself scrolling through a lot of titles to find exactly what you're looking for. Instead of searching and weeding through a jumble of books and PDFs, you can easily create collections so you can find what you're looking for faster and more efficiently. Here's how:
How to create a new collection in iBooks for iPhone and iPad
The collection will automatically be created and now you can move on to adding books and PDFs to it. How to add books or PDFs to a collection in iBooks for iPhone and iPad
That's all there is to it. Those titles will automatically filter into the selected collection making it easier to find what you're looking for. 
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| ASUS Cube Google TV box comes with some limited AirPlay functionality Posted: 03 May 2013 09:09 AM PDT The ASUS Cube is the latest Android powered set-top box to be released to market. Our sister site Android Central recently reviewed the Cube, and determined that it's the one to buy if you ever thought about getting into Google TV. In some areas Google TV out-features Apple TV, but all in, the experience isn't quite as polished. So, why are we interested? Turns out the Cube has a little party trick -- AirPlay. Sort of. The functionality has been discovered by the folks at GTVSource during their own playtime with the Cube. As it turns out, you're able to mirror video content from an iOS device to the Cube. It doesn't seem to work with images or music, but it's still pretty impressive nonetheless. Nothing had been added to the Cube, just a factory fresh, ordinary box. The reason behind it seems to be that the software on the Cube is based on something called ViMu Player. This software provides a limited AirPlay experience, and as it's been built on for the Cube, the same features are still there. This isn't going to replace anyone's Apple TV anytime soon, but it's still pretty cool to see. If anyone out there actually did pick up an ASUS Cube, give it a try, and be sure to tell us how it went. Source: GTVSource 
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| U.S. Cellular will begin selling Apple products later this year Posted: 03 May 2013 08:28 AM PDT U.S. Cellular, the fifth-largest carrier in the United States, will start selling Apple products later this year. Announcing their Q1 financial results, the carrier said that they hope that adding Apple products to their lineup will help convice people to switch.
These products surely include at least one model of iPhone, and possibly the iPad. U.S. Cellular currently sells several different Android tablets, so adding the iPad to their lineup wouldn't be a stretch. Specific availability of Apple's devices on the carrier wasn't announced. U.S. Cellular will be the latest carrier in the United States without national coverage to get Apple devices, a group that has been expanding rapidly over the last couple of years. While most of their customers come from the four major carriers, Apple wants the iPhone in as many hands as possible, and the small and mid-sized carriers like U.S. Cellular allow them to do just that, offering better prices on plans while still selling a device as great as the iPhone. Source: PRNewswire 
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| Notable New iPad Apps: Evomail Posted: 03 May 2013 07:18 AM PDT Evomail is an interesting new email app (Gmail only for now) for the iPad.Here's a little bit of its App Store intro:
I saw this described somewhere this morning as being a bit like the Sparrow email app that Gmail bought up. Like many others, I was a big fan of Sparrow before Google gobbled it up and made clear they had no plans to continue its development – so I was immediately keen to take a look at Evomail when I saw that comparison. I've only had the app installed for a few hours, and though it doesn't remind me that much of Sparrow it does have a fairly light and clean UI. And it's comfortable to use. For me, it's already...  Related Stories
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| How to take amazing fashion photos with your iPhone Posted: 03 May 2013 07:14 AM PDT The iPhone is the best camera you have with you all the time, and that's why fashion photographers and models alike often use it to take and share fun photos while on shoots. Nothing beats a DSLR for final photos, but increasingly the iPhone is the new polaroid for everything else on set. Add in the power and community of Instagram and it really is a whole new world for fashion photography. To get some industry insider tips on how to take the best possible fashion photography with your iPhone, we enlisted Mobile Nations' own design lead, David Lundblad, the frequent subject of his photo shoots, Amanda Delduca of Capture Fashion, and asked videographer Martin Reisch to document it all. The video up top has David explaining what he shot, how he shot it, and why he made the choices he did. Watch that first. The rest of the article are my notes from following along during the shoot. LocationThe first thing we did was find the perfect location. You can shoot anywhere that's visually interesting, but when you're using an iPhone you don't have the same ability to force depth of field and isolate your model from the background no matter how busy the environment. So, you want to pick a place that's beautiful, but not over crowded. Since we were in New York City near Times Square, we opted for Bryant Park. We chose a relatively secluded area just before the path was closed, so few if any people had cause to walk there. LightingIt was afternoon and the park was brightly lit. One of the best things about Bryant Park is how the sun reflects off the high rise building creating one of the best, brightest natural bounces possible. That means the park is flooded in great lighting, and if there's one thing a photographer can't get enough of, it's lighting. As much as possible, David shot with Amanda in areas where she could be in the shade but the bounce would provide a nice halo effect around her shoulders and hair. He had her stand right at the edge of the shadow, and asked her to move slightly forward or backward to adjust as needed. PosingAmanda is a professional model and fashion blogger, so the moment she picked her outfit and shoes, she started practicing the poses she wanted to use in front of a mirror. That let her prepare the best angles possible to show them off. That meant, as soon as David was ready to shoot, she could go from pose to pose with practiced ease, but still maintain liveliness, dynamism, and fun. ShootingDavid shot Amanda standing and walking, from full height, crouching, and lying on the ground all in an effort to get the best, most interesting angles. He used Camera+ to shoot with since it provides far more information, and better control, than the built-in iOS app. ProcessingOnce David and Amanda were finished shooting, David still had to process and ultimately post the images. We didn't turn off the video, so we'll have another article focused on editing and sharing fashion photographs soon. In the meantime, if you shoot fashion photography with your iPhone, let us know your workflow. And if you haven't tried yet, watch the video again, give it a shot, and let us know your results. Better yet, share them in this forum thread: Thanks again to David Lundblad, Amanda Delduca and Martin Reisch for this tutorial. 
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| Deal of the Day: 38% off the Krusell Donso Tablet Folio for iPad mini Posted: 03 May 2013 06:41 AM PDT | ||||||
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More than tagging, what I'd love from Instagram is in-network sharing
Posted: 03 May 2013 04:57 AM PDT
Yesterday Instagram added tagging to their service, so you can identify friends who are in your photos. Facebook and even Google+ have had this for a while, and it's fine. What I really want, however, is in-network sharing. The ability to share great Instagrams on Instagram.
On Twitter, if a friend tweets something amazing, I can re-tweet on Twitter, and the people who follow me can discover it. On Google+, if a friend posts something amazing, I can share it on G+, and the people who follow me can likewise discover it. Many other social services have similar features. Friends retweeting or sharing within the network is how we all find new and interesting people to add within those networks. It's the easiest, simplest way to grow.
On Instagram, I can Like amazing photos, but I can't share them with my friends on Instagram. If @safesolvent hits "The Stance" on top of the most spectacular cliff imaginable, or @davidlundbladphotography captures the perfect fashion candid, I have no ability to let anyone else on Instagram experience it with me -- I have to use the built-in feature to share to Facebook or Twitter, or manually share to G+ or other services.
In-network sharing is such a common social feature that Instagram certainly must have considered it, and must have gotten the request for it multiple times. Their vision for the service may not align with sharing, or they may not yet be ready to introduce it the way they want to.
Still, it's something I'd love to see, and sooner rather than later. There's so much amazing work on Instagram, it's a shame it can't be shared on Instagram. Let me know what you think, either in the comments below or on Instagram
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