sábado, 18 de mayo de 2013

iPad By Davis: “Best apps for iPhone photographers” plus 14 more

iPad By Davis: “Best apps for iPhone photographers” plus 14 more

Best apps for iPhone photographers

Posted: 17 May 2013 05:53 PM PDT

Best apps for iPhone photographers

It's been said time and time again that the camera on the iPhone is an excellent camera. In fact, it's become such a popular camera that there's a whole genre of photography known as 'iPhoneography'. iPhone photographers not only use the camera and lens built into their iPhone, but also an assortment of apps to edit, enhance, and show off their work. There are so many great apps out there, so we've narrowed it down to a few of our favorites.

KitCam

The first app we're going to take a look at is a fantastic tool for taking your photos. With it, you can adjust exposure, white balance, lenses, and film before you even take the photo. It also features convenient shooting modes like a timer, multi-exposure, time-lapse, and more. You can also view each photo's histogram and make adjustments to levels, brightness, contrast, and saturation. If you're looking to take more control over your iPhone's camera, definitely grab KitCam.

See also:

Photoforge2

KitCam does offer some nice editing options, but if you want even more, Photoforge2 is an excellent choice that's bursting with advanced controls. The most notable is the ability to use multiple layers and masks and make advanced adjustments including curves, levels, color balance, channel mixer, white balance, noise reduction, and more. You can also add over 25 different filters and FX and combine different films lenses, filters, and textures.

See also:

VSCO CAM

Complex and advanced controls are great, but sometimes you want something quick and easy, yet awesome -- like VSCO CAM. This gem features a sleek design with minimal processing options, but the options are good. There's a nice variety and all the basics are covered. VSCO CAM is a great app to have in your grab bag of editing tools.

Facetune

If you're shooting portraits with your iPhone camera, then Facetune should be your go-to app for touching up blemishes, smoothing out skin, enhancing eyes, and even reshaping. Seriously, Facetune is amazing. Check out the review for a full rundown.

Fuzel Pro

Collages (or "storyboards") are an excellent way to show off multiple photos at once. They are a great way to tell a story. The App Store is also flooded with apps that help you build collages, but the one I keep coming back to is Fuzel Pro. It has an artistic design, makes it quick and easy to add photos, and gives you control over the layouts of your collages.

See also:

Photolettering

After editing your photo to perfection, you may realize that it would make a great poster, sign, or inspirational message. With Photolettering, you can do just that using fonts from world-renowned type foundry House Industries. It's free with a few fonts and additional fonts are available via in-app purchase. If you're looking to mix photography with typography, Photolettering is the way to go.

See also:

Instagram

You didn't think I'd get through an article about photography apps without mentioning Instagram, did you? Although there are a lot of things I would love to see changed about Instagram (especially forced square crops), there's no denying it's usefulness as a way to share photos. Yes, there's a lot of snapshots of pets and kids (my own included) and plates of food, but there is also a lot of amazing photography being shared on Instagram, as well.

See also:

Your favorite apps for iPhone photography?

So there you have it! iMore's best apps for iPhone photographers. Did we miss any of your favorites? What apps do you use to shoot, edit, enhance, and show off your photos taking with your iPhone?

    

Battle of the 13-inch MacBooks: Which one wins?

Posted: 17 May 2013 02:20 PM PDT

If you're shopping for a new 13-inch laptop, you may have noticed that Apple's product line in that category is a bit more crowded than in other spots. The company has three distinct 13-inch models - the MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro and the MacBook Pro with Retina Display. Which model should you get? Let's compare, but let me warn you at the outset: I think you should wait.

On the weekends I work at a local Apple Specialist. Anecdotally, I see more 13-inch MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs go out the door than any other model. They're all compact, lightweight and powerful machines, so it's little wonder that they hit the sweet spot between features and price.

Once you scratch below the surface, though, there's a lot of diversity there. At $1,199, The MacBook Air occupies the low end of the 13-inch price range, but it's a well-rounded performer: a dual-core 1.8 Ghz Core i5 processor doesn't tell the full story of the machine's performance, thanks to the use of Solid State Disk (SSD) storage. With 128 GB storage standard, the MacBook Air may not be big enough for digital pack rats. Apple will double the storage for an additional $200. Four GB RAM comes standard, with 8 GB also available.

The MacBook Air is terrific for portable convenience. It weighs less than three pounds and measures a bit more than half an inch thick with the screen closed. Thunderbolt and two USB 3.0 ports make peripheral connection easy, and Thunderbolt's flexible enough to work with high speed storage, Gigabit Ethernet and external displays, using the right attachment.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro is yeoman model of the bunch, priced the same as the thinner, lighter MacBook Air. Its more conventional technology appeal to people looking to maximize storage (500GB hard drive comes standard; SSD is a pricey additional option) or who might still need a DVD burner. The machine also sports a faster processor - 2.5 GHz. Options like a faster processor and more RAM are available -- a well-appointed model runs $1,499.

The downsides of the standard 13-inch MacBook Pro include a heavier weight - 4.5 pounds - and a thicker frame. But that thicker frame also permits this workhorse to have dedicated Ethernet and FireWire 800 connections, along with Thunderbolt and two USB 3.0 connections.

Positioned next to a conventional 13-inch MacBook Pro, the MacBook Pro with Retina Display shines. The stunning display with its 2560 x 1600 pixel resolution, rich color and fantastic detail make it easy to differentiate, and its sleek chassis retains many of the benefits of the MacBook Air like SSD storage and a thinner and lighter design (almost a full pound lighter, and less than an inch thick). It's also priced at $1,499, though storage options can drive the price higher (upgrading SSD storage isn't for faint-hearted or those planning on keeping their warranty intact.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display wins for performance and usability - an elegantly designed machine that's flexible enough to handle everything that's thrown at it. And with SSD options stretching to 768 GB, plenty of space for big files.

If there's a downside to all three models, it's that the integrated graphics processor - the Intel HD Graphics 4000 - can get overtaxed especially when the Retina Display is driving scaled, higher resolution modes. Also, these machines are all based around Intel's Ivy Bridge architecture, which is about to be supplanted by something else that could be a really big deal for Apple's mobile Macs - something that's as applicable to the 15-inch models as it is to the 13-inch ones.

Intel's Haswell microprocessor should start shipping in quantity by the same time Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference happens next month. Haswell sports much greater power efficiency and a significant improvement in graphics performance. Even if Apple doesn't change the form factor or feature list of the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro significantly, the smart money is to put off any purchase until we see how Apple's roadmap with Haswell plays out.

Are you pining for new 13-inch hardware from Apple? Besides Haswell processors, what else do you think the new models are likely to have? Tell us in the comments.

    

Who has the most satisfying customer experience in the UK? That'll be Apple Retail

Posted: 17 May 2013 12:43 PM PDT

Leading UK consumer campaigner, Which?, has conducted a survey into customer satisfaction across UK high-street retail stores. While the likes of WHSmith and carrier, EE, scored near the bottom, is there any surprise who topped the table? Apple Retail Stores.

Over 11,000 UK consumers responded to the survey, with Apple coming out on top with an 85% satisfaction score. Apple Retail Stores were praised specifically for their "unique look and feel" and "great customer service."

Apple Retail Stores do stand out among their competitors. The look and feel is indeed unique, but such customer services as EasyPay allowing payment via your iTunes account through your iPhone sets Apple apart from the rest. It's no doubt a great result for Apple, but 11,000 people doesn't come close to the numbers that pass through Apple Retail Stores each and every day.

Personally, I can't recall a visit to an Apple Store that I'd consider unsatisfactory, and though they're often extremely busy, there's never much of a wait to be dealt with by a member of the store team. Not counting the Genius Bar, of course. But how about you, have you ever had a bad experience in an Apple Retail Store?

Source: The Independent

    

Apple neglects to secure streaming album previews

Posted: 17 May 2013 11:52 AM PDT

Periodically, albums become available for live streaming on iTunes prior to their official release date. The hope is that not only do consumers get a chance to hear the album before buying it, but also that by offering a free and legal way to listen to the album before it's available, there will be less motivation for eager fans to pirate leaked albums. With unreleased albums from Daft Punk and The National currently streaming on iTunes, 9to5Mac has discovered that the streams are being left completely unprotected, offering an easy way for pirates to get high-quality cuts of the albums before they're officially released.

With traffic sniffing tools (such as Charles Proxy or HTTP Scoop) anybody can monitor their traffic while streaming the album which will show the URL of the M4P media file being streamed. Using this URL, users can easily save the album to their computer for future listening. While it's true somebody could also just record the stream from their computer as they listen to it, it would lose some of the quality. Downloading the stream directly offers a crisp 256kbps AAC recording. It's also true that rather than ending up with individual tracks that a listener can easily navigate through, you're stuck with a single file that contains the whole album. You could split the album up into separate tracks yourself (though first you'd have to get around the DRM), but at that point it would be less effort for most people to just go pirate the album elsewhere. In fact, an illegal download of Daft Punk's Random Access Memory currently available on a popular torrent site appears to have come from the iTunes M4P stream.

Admittedly, even if the streams were protected, piracy would still be happening. There are some people who just don't want to pay for music. However, Apple's handing these albums to pirates on a silver platter by offering up an unprotected, high-quality streams like this ahead of their release dates. Ironically, Apple has documentation available for developers that covers how to encrypt HTTP audio and video streams to protect from this sort of thing.

Source: 9to5Mac

    

iOS 6 reports for U.S. defense duty with new approval

Posted: 17 May 2013 11:50 AM PDT

iOS 6 reports for U.S. defense duty with new approval

The U.S. Department of Defense has approved the use of iOS 6 devices, which may help Apple to build some strength in a market still dominated by BlackBerry devices. The US D.O.D. currently has about 470,000 BlackBerrys in use across its networks, with 41,000 Apple mobile devices and 8,700 Android devices.

The Department of Defense is building a multivendor environment, it said in a press release, with BlackBerry and Samsung Knox devices also receiving similar approval.

The D.O.D. has cracked the door open to Apple and Android users, but it's not a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) environment: The organization doesn't support personal phones to connect to the network.

BlackBerry's security proofing of their systems is legendary, but is that enough, paired with recent products like the Q10, to keep them on the government payroll? Or is Apple (or Samsung) likely to take over, as they have elsewhere? Let us know in the comments.

[Via US Department of Defense]

    

Notable New iPad Apps: Beethoven’s 9th Symphony

Posted: 17 May 2013 10:27 AM PDT

Beethover's 9th Symphony iPad app

Beethoven's 9th Symphony is a wonderful new iPad app celebrating this famous and loved piece of music. I've never been a big fan of classical music but something about the look of this app grabbed me and I decided to give it a look.

Wow, I am so glad I did. This is just a fantastic app, even for someone like me who's not knowledgeable about the music. Here's a bit of the App Store intro for it:

Beethoven's 9th Symphony for iPad presents four of Deutsche Grammophon's legendary recordings of this iconic work, with the amazing ability to switch instantly between each performance at any point in the piece. As you listen, you can watch the synchronized musical score, be guided by expert commentary, follow Beethoven's 1825 manuscript or immerse yourself in the hypnotic graphical BeatMap of the orchestra, precisely highlighting every note. The app also includes a treasure-trove...

Read the whole entry... »

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

BBM or Google+ Hangouts; are you excited by either? [Poll]

Posted: 17 May 2013 10:56 AM PDT

The big talk of the week has definitely been cross-platform messaging. First up at BlackBerry Live, BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins dropped the huge news that their signature messaging platform, BBM, would be going cross-platform this summer and coming to iOS as well as Android. Then, literally 24 hours later Google stepped up and introduced their cross-platform offering, Google+ Hangouts, released the same day on iOS. What we want to know is; are you excited by either of these products?

For many, BBM needs little introduction. Before the iPhone, many of you, like me, used a BlackBerry and BBM with it. Some like it for its security, others for the little 'D' and 'R' notifications that let you know for sure what happened with your message. There's a lot to like about BBM, and as it has evolved with the latest version on BlackBerry 10 it now incorporates voice chat, as well as screen sharing and an excellent, and free, video calling experience. While iOS will not see these video calling features at launch, BlackBerry has said they will be bringing it in future updates.

Google+ Hangouts seems to be an amalgamation of the existing Hangouts experience, merged together with Google Talk. Indeed, on Android, Hangouts has now replaced the stock Google Talk application, and on iOS we're treated to very much the same experience as our Android counterparts. Unlike BBM, Hangouts is already with us, and incorporates free, group video calling at launch.

Both are arriving on iOS after the likes of other third-party clients such as Kik or WhatsApp, not to mention that iOS has its own messaging service, iMessage. OK, so iMessage is somewhat more limited than the others in that it requires an iOS device or a Mac to operate, but iMessage is seamlessly integrated into the stock messaging app. So, when sending a message on your iPhone to one of your contacts, you don't have to worry if they have access to iMessage or not; they just get an SMS message if they don't.

So, are you excited by either of these two newly announced products, or is it too little, too late? Are you and your friends and family already invested in a third-party messaging client? Or is iMessage all you need, or even SMS? Cast your vote in the poll above, and be sure to drop into the comments and share your thoughts with us.

    

App Store Hits 50 Billion Downloads: All Time Best Sellers for iPad

Posted: 17 May 2013 09:01 AM PDT

50 Billion App Store Downloads

Apple announced yesterday that the App Store hit the much-anticipated 50 billion app downloads milestone:

Apple® today announced that customers have downloaded over 50 billion apps* from the revolutionary App Store℠. Customers are downloading more than 800 apps per second at a rate of over two billion apps per month on the App Store.

In iTunes on the desktop you can see a listing of the Top 25 All-Time Paid Apps and Free Apps, with separate listings for iPad apps and iPhone apps. There are no huge surprises in the iPad Top 25 list, but here's a few things I find interesting:

– Skype for iPad is the Number 1 All-Time Free App. I think Skype's iPad app is great, better than its desktop version – but I'm still a little surprised to see it right at the all-time chart.

– 10 of the Top 25 paid are not games, and 6 out of those 10 are Apple apps – Pages, Keynote,...

Read the whole entry... »

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

Multiple Vulnerabilities Found in File Lite and File Pro iOS Apps

Posted: 17 May 2013 08:45 AM PDT

Multiple Vulnerabilities Found in File Lite and File Pro iOS Apps

Bad news this week for any users of the iOS file management apps File Lite and File Pro. Researchers over at Vulnerability Laboratory have published details for three vulnerabilities that they discovered in the latest versions of both apps.

Ranging from low to high risk, two of the vulnerabilities allow for code injection in the user's browser when they view a file listing, while the most severe vulnerability allows an attacker to upload arbitrary files to a user's account without any user interaction. While the impact of these vulnerabilities could be quite severe, exploitation requires a victim to be running the app's Wi-Fi Sharing option.

The Wi-Fi Sharing method for sharing files runs a web server locally on your iPhone. It appears that all of the published vulnerabilities rely on the web server running to be exploited. If you already have the app on your phone and don't want to lose the documents you have in it, you should be fine leaving the app on your phone, just avoid using the Wi-Fi Sharing option. Although based on the insecurities found by Vulnerability Laboratory, it's probably not unwise to start using a different app to manage your files.

    

iTunes 11.0.3 brings a number of important security fixes

Posted: 17 May 2013 08:15 AM PDT

Apple recently released iTunes 11.0.3 with a number of cosmetic improvements including an updated MiniPlayer and songs view. However, this release is more than just a pretty face, bringing a number of security patches which address a wide range of vulnerabilities. Even users not interested in the visual treatments will want to grab this update.

Out of all 40 of the vulnerabilities listed in Apple's article detailing the security content of the update, only one of them affected Mac users. The remaining 39 vulnerabilities addressed in this iTunes release only affected Windows users. Though this doesn't mean that it's not important to update if you're a Mac user. The bug fixed for OS X users addresses an issue with certificate validation, where iTunes could accept an untrusted SSL certificate without alerting the user, potentially leading to intercepted or maliciously altered traffic.

Windows users were also affected by the certificate validation bug, as well as a significant number of memory corruption bugs in WebKit. These bugs could allow for a man-in-the-middle attack and potentially lead to arbitrary code execution on a user's computer. While specific details aren't available for all of the fixed bugs, a number of them seem to have been previously patched in iOS and Safari and are not particularly new. In fact, details of the oldest bug on the list were first discovered over a year ago, and fixed in iOS and Safari earlier this year.

If you haven't already updated iTunes, you can update to 11.0.3 with iTunes' "Check for Updates..." option or grab it straight from the iTunes download page.

    

Deal of the Day: 43% off the Incipio Smart Feather Ultralight Hard Case for iPad 4th gen and The New iPad

Posted: 17 May 2013 07:36 AM PDT

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Measuring less than 1mm thin, Incipio's Ultra Light Feather Case is ideal for the iPad user seeking inconspicuous, first-class protection. Feather is made of an ultra light, ultra strong polymer for light as a feather, form-fitting durable protection without the added bulk. Available in a variety of colors to choose from!

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Intel's outgoing CEO explains how they turned down the original iPhone

Posted: 17 May 2013 06:16 AM PDT

Intel CEO Paul Otellini has stepped down from his post, but not before divulging some interesting revelations in the process. As it turns out, Otellini and Intel turned down the chance to work on the original iPhone, now with some element of regret. As Otellini told The Atlantic:

"We ended up not winning it or passing on it, depending on how you want to view it. And the world would have been a lot different if we'd done it. The thing you have to remember is that this was before the iPhone was introduced and no one knew what the iPhone would do... At the end of the day, there was a chip that they were interested in that they wanted to pay a certain price for and not a nickel more and that price was below our forecasted cost. I couldn't see it. It wasn't one of these things you can make up on volume. And in hindsight, the forecasted cost was wrong and the volume was 100x what anyone thought."

On the one hand, at the time no-one probably did know just how much of a success the iPhone would become, and how many units would be shipped. Since then, Intel has finally begun to make moves into the mobile market, but they're very much late to the party and going their own way.

The full article at The Atlantic is a lengthy profile of Paul Otellini's time at Intel, and is definitely worth a read. If they had supplied chips to the original iPhone, though, how different their presence in mobile could be today.

Source: The Atlantic

    

Looking for a tough Lightning cable? Moshi has just the thing for you

Posted: 17 May 2013 06:01 AM PDT

Moshi makes some great accessories for the iPhone and the iPad, and their latest is no exception. Lightning cables are always a handy commodity to have around, but Moshi has done something a little different with theirs. They've encased them in aluminum.

Moshi claims that their new USB to Lightning cables are "almost indestructible," so definitely worth a look if you're the sort of person who keeps breaking plastic things. Better yet, Moshi's cables cost only $20, just $1 more than the Apple Lightning cables, making them extremely good value for money. The cables are available in black as well as a white and silver option, and are available to order from Moshi now.

Are you one of those people who would love a rough and tough Lightning cable? Will you be picking one of these up?

Source: Moshi

    

mSecure for iOS and Mac 50% off for a limited time, and now comes with iCloud sync!

Posted: 17 May 2013 05:17 AM PDT

Password managers are a mightily useful thing to have around, but at the same time they're not the most affordable apps for your iOS devices or your Mac. It's tough to put a price on security, but if you've been holding off for a sale then mSecure might be just what you're looking for. For a limited time, both iOS and Mac versions are 50% off their regular price, and with the latest updates iCloud sync is now also included!

Until now, cloud syncing of your mSecure information has required a Dropbox account, so the added option of being able to use your iCloud account to sync between your Mac and your iOS device is a welcome one. While 1Password is no doubts the popular choice when it comes to managing passwords and sensitive information across your devices, mSecure is a more than competent alternative.

If you'd like to see a comparison of mSecure to some of the other leading alternatives, then be sure to check out our shootout with 1Password and Lastpass. To get a copy of mSecure for yourselves at the special promotional price, head over the the iOS and Mac App Stores.

Which is your preferred password management solution, and why? Does this price cut to mSecure make it a much more compelling choice for you? Let us know in the comments!

    

Gameloft is giving you some free premium games to play this weekend!

Posted: 17 May 2013 04:57 AM PDT

If you're looking for some new games to play this weekend on your iOS device, Gameloft wants to help you out. Starting today for a limited time only -- this weekend to be precise -- premium titles N.O.V.A. 3 and Gangstar Rio can be had completely free of charge. That's a combined saving of just under $12 if you're counting.

Gangstar Rio sits in the same vein as Grand Theft Auto, where you're exploring a 3D environment set in Rio de Janeiro. Missions, weapons, vehicles, all combine to create a game where you do well, by doing wrong.

N.O.V.A. 3 is an extremely impressive First Person Shooter with a storyline that spans 10 levels across the galaxy. It comes with 7 different multiplayer modes with support for up to 12 players, as well as in-game voice chat so you can communicate with your friends while playing.

Both are available in the App Store to download now, so go get them!

    
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