Asia messaging service Line has boosted its visibility in Japan after it inked an agreement with KDDI which will see the app added to the operator’s "au Smart Pass" app promotion service, as analyst Serkan Toto notes.
The Line service is hugely popular in Japan and across Asia — which is said to account for the lion’s share of its 55 million userbase — and its addition to au Smart Pass, which is a KDDI-curated selection of 500 Android apps that users enjoy unlimited access to for a monthly subscription of $4.70 (390 yen), is likely to gain it new sign-ups and increased activity in the country.
Au Smart Pass has 2 million subscribers each of whom will be able download an entirely customised version of Line to their Android device. Furthermore, one of the key additions is a set of unique paid-for emoticons, which users can also gift to a friend.
The concept of exclusive smilies and emoticons may have little appeal in Western markets but, in Japan and other parts of Asia, these kind of virtual goods are hugely popular and lucrative for companies.
Line also offers stickers, which users can add to instant messaging conversations much like emoticons. Proof of the revenue potential can be found in its recently introduced premium sticker collection, which generated $4.4 million within the two months of launch.
The KDDI agreement is another move that sees Line heighten its appeal and monetisation opportunities. Earlier this month it launched a modified version of its service for BlackBerry smartphones, with the Southeast Asian market in mind, while it also made its virtual currency and coupon service available worldwide.
For those seeking to learn more, Japan-based Toto has a detailed explanation of the au Smart Pass service, which was launched March 1.
Even large companies expect to have a bit of competition from counterfeit and copies, but when a device hits the net way before your new product is released, that must be a bit annoying! In this case the device is the iPhone 5, which Apple will be launching this September or October! However, the GooPhone Y5 claims many of the features rumoured to be coming with the iPhone 5, Apple will not be pleased.
These are some of the specs available according to the GooPhone website;
Original 960 x 640 retina screen, 8 million true pixels 3264 x 2448 Blue camera, MTK6575′s top chip, equipped with 1G frequency, 4G large ROM, dual-processor, powerful 3D graphics accelerator, Android 2.3.6 smart system, the reaction rate is four times that of the old section of the game software compatibility is higher than 250% of the old section of the graphics processing power of the old section of 2.5 times, using 40 nanometer low-power technology, more than 30% energy saving than the old models.
Even though this may be rip of the forthcoming iPhone 5 expect to pay around $200 in the US or 127 in the UK, for this non Apple or iOS version!
The idea of a space elevator is nothing new, but the chance to be involved in with such a project is new and its LiftPorts chance to make this dream a reality. Currently they are looking to get just $8,000 ( 5,000), but that is only the first stage the real aim is to build the project slowly until they reach the ultimate goal where the project is raising hundreds of millions of dollar, only then will the project reach for the stars.
This the background on the LiftPort space elevator according to their pitch on Kickstarter;
Have you heard of a project called the "Space Elevator"? I hope so. If not, please look it up. If you're aware of it, at all, in any capacity other than old Science Fiction, then it is a safe bet that my talented team at LiftPort was somewhere in the background. You see, we've been catalyzing and coordinating the commercial development of the Space Elevator for over nine years. I was personally involved with NASA's 2001-2003 definitive research study. My company, LiftPort, grew out of the results of that study.
There are plenty of goodies available to anyone who backs the LiftPort project on Kickstarter starting from $1 ( 0.69).
Veister, a company specializing in USB cables, has posted a photo to their Twitter account of what could be the sync cable for the next generation of iOS devices and revised versions of current products that will work in conjunction with the much expected micro dock connector.
The cable in question could be what we'll see ship with the next generation iPhone. How many pins the dock will have is still up for debate but most sources claim 8 or 9 pins even though this would greatly reduce backwards compatibility with current accessories.
Regardless, we should find out in a little under a month from now when Apple is expected to make an official announcement.
VOTE NOW for your favorite smartphone at www.phonedog.com There’s lots to talk about in this week’s episode of The Dog Pound. First up, we have a couple of release dates for the Windows Phone 8 update, one of them straight from the mouth of Nokia CEO Stephen Elop. We’re also hearing a more solid launch date for the Microsoft Surface, Microsoft’s answer to the iPad. There’s been a lot of anticipation and excitement surrounding these two announcements but will they be enough to keep Microsoft in the mobile game? We’ll have to wait and find out. In other news, we have a rumored launch date for the next iPhone as well as a pieced-together model of what it could look like. Some people seem to be disappointed by the design. What do you think? Do you like the new(ish) design? Leave your comments below about this and everything discussed in this week’s episode of The Dog Pound. ______________________________________________ Windows Phone 8 rumored to RTM in September followed by November release www.phonedog.com Samsung Odyssey and Marco Windows Phone 8 handsets detailed in court documents www.phonedog.com Microsoft Surface to hit alongside Windows 8 on October 26 www.phonedog.com ______________________________________________ New iPhone and smaller iPad rumored for September 12 debut, iPhone launch tipped for September 21 www.phonedog.com Purported new iPhone parts pieced together to show assembled body www.phonedog.com ______________________________________________ Email app …
Last week, ifoAppleStore‘s Gary Allen reported on “a series of recent administrative moves to reduce the number of Apple retail store employees [that was] attributed to Sr. VP Retail John Browett.”
Citing “numerous tipsters,” Allen reported that recently Browett had “ordered store management personnel to reduce the number of employees. The first reports of cut-backs came from the UK, but the reports later spread to the United States and other countries.”
Browett’s actions included: Cease all recruiting and hiring events Make no promotions Immediately lay off newly-hired employees who are still on probation Reduce available hours for part-time employees Reduce or eliminate available overtime Lay off or fire employees who can only work more than 32 hours a week and not part-time
Within 24 hours of Allen’s report, Dow Jones Newswires‘ Ian Sherr, citing “two people familiar with the matter,” reported, “John Browett, who took the reins of Apple’s retail stores in April, said that the company had been trying a new staffing formula for its retail stores, leading some employees to see their hourly shifts cut and retail locations to be understaffed. This happened for a few weeks before the company decided to revert to its older system, hoping to rectify the problem.”
“He instructed leadership teams to tell employees, ‘We messed up’” according to two people who were aware of the communication, which also stressed that while shift schedules were affected, no one was laid off. He also wanted employees to know that it was hiring new staff, these people said,” Sherr reported. “Apple acknowledged the retail staffing changes. ‘Making these changes was a mistake and the changes are being reversed,’ said Kristin Huguet, an Apple spokeswoman. ‘Our employees are our most important asset and the ones who provide the world-class service our customers deserve.’”
Today, we get some numbers:
“Apple opened its 374 and 375 retail store worldwide this weekend in Canada,” Jim Dalrymple reports for The Loop.
“According to Apple, the company has seen almost 300 million worldwide visitors so far in its fiscal 2012, which started in October 2011,” Dalrymple reports. “To give you some type of comparison, by July 2011, the population of the United States was estimated to be 311 million people.”
Dalrymple reports, “50,000 people get serviced at a Genius Bar around the world, every single day.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take:
Browettize Brow ett ize [brau-eh-tize] verb (used with object), Brow ett ized, Brow ett iz ing
to monkey with success, usually in a cheap and ignorant way; to reinvent the wheel; to fix what isn’t broken; to screw the pooch; to attempt to empire-build with disastrous results, then face widespread public humiliation
brow ett i za tion, noun brow ett ized, un brow ett ized, adjective
“Apple spent four years pouring resources into developing the iconic iPhone, while Samsung couldn’t keep up and eventually decided to copy its major competitor, an Apple attorney said in court,” Dan Levine reports for Reuters.
“Closing arguments kicked off on Tuesday as the high stakes trial between Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd drew towards a climax in a federal court in San Jose, California. The jury will likely begin deliberating on Wednesda,” Levine reports. “Apple attorney Harold McElhinny urged jurors to consider the testimony of a Korean designer who said she worked day and night on Samsung’s phones for three months. ‘In those critical three months, Samsung was able to copy and incorporate the result of Apple’s four-year investment in hard work and ingenuity — without taking any of the risks,’ McElhinny said.”
MacDailyNews Take: Samsung’s attorney jammed his hands into his pants pockets, toed the floor, and stared at the ceiling while whistling tunelessly.
Levine reports, “A Samsung attorney is expected to begin his closing argument later on Tuesday.”
iMore Forums for iPhone and iPad is FREE in the App Store! Download now!
The official iMore Forums app is here! That's right -- the second part in our epic iMore app-ification has landed. It uses the awesome Tapatalk engine to give you access to the iMore forums, from reading to posting, from iPhone and iPod touch to iPad. That's right, it's a universal app!
We originally wanted to include this in the main iMore app but figured out early on that the forums deserved their own, dedicated app. We didn't want to compromise the experience of either app by shoe-horning them into one, least-of-both-worlds container. And with the iMore Forums app, I think it shows we made the right decision.
The amount of stuff you can do with the iMore Forums app is just stupendous. Powered by our incredible community, you can get help on any problem, with any device, in just a few taps. You can share your knowledge and help other members as well. You can trade wallpapers and ringtones, talk about how you use your iPhone or iPad for music or photography, for fitness or gaming. You can discuss all the latest rumors and share your visions for the future of iOS and the next generation iPhone. And you can enter all of the amazing contests we run (including iPad and iPhone giveaways!)
The iMore Forums app joins the Android Central Forums app and CrackBerry Forums app so no matter which device, no matter what platform, you can get your Mobile Nations community fix wherever you are and whenever you want!
So go grab the iMore Forums app now and get posting!
I love the Brick Joysticks by GrayHaus. I had been concerned about them in the beginning. I did not think the small, small suction cups could stay with my apple iphone, ipod device touch, or iPad. However they do. Mostly. And they've an alternative known as the curvature-type too that utilizes an elasticized band in addition to a suction cup and offers an amazing range of movement for iOS gaming.
They're constructed of the items GrayHaus describes as German liquid silicone rubber (LSR) technology, which hey say provides superior performance without itching your precious apple iphone or iPad screen, and it is transparent to help keep screen shading low. They've also attempted to make them as ergonomic as you possibly can so that they stay comfortable even through really lengthy gaming periods.
Th stick-type Brick Joystick stuck towards the glass screen of the apple iphone or iPad utilizing a suction cup and offers a capacitive connection which means you have more of the traditional, thumbstick feel rather than the simulated multitouch d-pad all of us know and detest on iOS. Attach the stick-type Brick Joystick and also you get all of the up and lower, left and right, action you'll need for classic gaming. I'm speaking fighting games, adventure games, RPGs, and so on.
The curvature-type Brick Joystick quite a bit of fun. Since the suction cup stays in the back, and also the rubber band systems around your apple iphone, the joystick is free to maneuver a lot more compared to conventional joystick. It may be modified to suit everything from the apple iphone to some 5.5 " device, though sadly not the iPad. Still, around the apple iphone is works really, very well for sports games plus some combat games.
You should use two stick-type Brick Joysticks simultaneously for double d-pad games, or mix a stick-type along with a bend-type if that is what the overall game requires.
Both types are actually small, and that i love they don't stop anymore screen than is completely necessary. Despite the fact that likely to elastic round the bend-type Brick Joystick, also it does cover the screen, will still be fabulous.
The suction cups do slip once along with a while. The Brick Joysticks include extra, non-slip disks to stay in your screen, however the extra adherence isn't worth placing a sticker on my small apple iphone or iPad screen. A minimum of to not me. I additionally worry the elastic round the bend-type Brick Joystick might put on lower and break eventually, but to date it has been remarkably reliable.
The great
Minimal screen obstruction
Suction cup stays well
Good capacitive connection
Unhealthy
Suction cup can slip a little
The conclusion
if you value gaming in your apple iphone, ipod device touch, or iPad, and also the virtual d-pads have never tried it for you personally, the Brick Joysticks are a good choice to consider. I'm really impressed with both the standard and utility from the Brick Joysticks, and that i especially love the curvature-type option. I only wish these were suitable for much more games!
The GrayHaus Brick Joystick can be obtained now in 2 packages -- dual stick-type and something stick-type and something bend-type.
If you have seen Futurama, then you would have seen the Hypnotoad, or maybe not, because it is the Hypnotoad and he can make you do anything that he wants! Therefore, you must only look at this if you have a strong mind, otherwise lock your credit card away now!
These are the details for the almighty and wonderful Hypnotoad;
Meet Hypnotoad, beloved hypnotizing amphibian from Matt Groening’s celebrated television series, Futurama, now stylized in 4.5 inches of vinyl. Now, you too can win a pet contest. Don’t have sheep? Herd your cats, because his eyes really pulsate with changing colours. How? Toy magic. So it’s like having the real Hypnotoad? Nope, it’s a toy!
“Apple Inc. would owe as much as $421.8 million in royalties if found to infringe five Samsung Electronics Co. patents for mobile devices, two witnesses for the South Korean company testified,” Joel Rosenblatt reports for Bloomberg,
“One damages expert, Vincent O'Brien of OSKR LLC, told the jury today in the intellectual property trial between Apple and Samsung in federal court in San Jose, California, that he calculated royalties of $22.8 million based on claims that the iPhone maker infringed three of Samsung's feature patents,” Rosenblatt reports. “A second expert, University of California, Berkeley business school professor David Teece, testified that damages for Apple's infringement of two other Samsung patents should be in the range of $290 million to $399 million, based on royalty rates of 2 percent to 2.75 percent.”
The Adonit Jot Touch is one of the first of a new generation of stylus pens for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad that uses Bluetooth technology in addition to traditional capacitance to allow for pressure sensitivity and a wider artistic range.
So, while the Adonit Jot Touch looks like the Adonit Jot Pro, including the removable cap, the smooth, elgantly machined body, and the thin, hard writing tip capped by a plastic, capacitive disk, a lot has changed on the inside.
Firstly, it needs to be charged. Yes, the Adonit Jot Pro has a battery! It also comes with a USB charging dongle that's a lot more interesting than most -- it's magnetic. Just plug it into your MacBook or any other USB port, or into an AC adapter, and drop the base of the Jot Touch down no top of it, and the magnets will snap it into place, and it'll start charging.
There are two obvious buttons on the side of the Jot Touch, similar to the kind you'd find on a Wacom stylus. Between them is the stealthy power and pairing button. Hold down on it for a few seconds to turn the Jot Touch on or off, and hold down on it for a good long while to put the Jot Touch into pairing mode. (You can tell when you've succeeded because the LED indicator on the side will flash between green and red.)
On you iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, go to Settings > Bluetooth, tap on the Jot Touch, enter 0000 as you PIN, 90s-style, and you're good to go. (It would be even better and faster if the Jot Touch didn't require the PIN...)
I'm not going to review the actual capacitive quality of the Jot Touch here, because in my non-Bluetooth tests it was every bit as good as the Jot Pro, if not even smoother. So if you're interested in how it works as a regular old stylus, check out our Jot Pro review. Now on with the Bluetooth!
Since iOS doesn't official support pressure sensitive stylus pens, Adonit incorporated everything app makers need into their own SDK. That means that, while the Jot Touch will work just like any other stylus with the iOS interface and regular apps, if developers incorporate the SDK, it'll work with pressure sensitive magic. (Adonit assures us it's science, not magic, but it'll seem like magic the first time you use it.)
Over Bluetooth, the Jot Touch relays pressure information to the app, including apps like Procreate, Sketchbook, Clibe, PDF Pen, and more. They translate it into different sizes and opacities of "ink" or "paint" dispersal. So the harder you press, the more you get, from a thin, feint line to a thick, full brush stroke.
I tried it out for both drawing and calligraphy and it worked delightfully well, if not exactly. A light stroke produced a nice, small, light line. A hard stroke produced a big, bold blotch. Where I had some trouble was in between. I couldn't get a smooth, steady gradation from light to heavy. Instead, the Jot Touch seemed to start slow, then burst big. It might take more getting used to, but as someone who spent most of his life with pencils, pens, and paintbrushes in hand, I can't help but hope for finer grain pressure sensitivity in the future.
A future that, thanks to products like the Jot Touch, looks closer at hand than ever before.
The good
Excellent stylus in general
Provides pressure sensitivity to compatible apps
The bad
Pressure sensitivity isn't perfectly smooth yet
The bottom line
If you grew up with writing and drawing tools clutched in your hand like I did, and if you spent years working with a Wacom or similar pressure-sensitive stylus like I did, you've always wanted that type of functionality on your iPhone or iPad.
Now we have our first taste of it. It's bleeding edge, to be sure, and needs more apps to include support for it, but I'm buying one now because, dammit, because I want to be part of the future.
If you don't, hey, check out any of the other stylus pens we've reviewed
Have you ever thought about scoring freebies on your huge friend list? Freebies which include wonderful clothes in your wardrobe, fashion accessories, mobile phones, books and holiday packages. Such fancy and wonderful items are just a click away and there are loads of it. Sher Singh, a new startup offers people free stuff by just referring friends! Like, if you refer 5 friends, you get a free tshirt! If you refer 10 friends you get RS 3000 free and if you refer 20 friends, you get 1 free product every month for a year! You simply need to hit the join button on a website and grab amazing stuff which you always desired.
Freebies & Discounts
First of all Sher Singh is free to join so you don't have to spend anything from your pocket. Once you are a member of Sher Singh, you have an access to ample of stores online where you can avail great discounts. Loads of coupons and discounted materials can be yours and that too on your favorite items. The stuff which is offered is branded and is made up of high quality material. There are certain rules and regulations which need to be followed depending on joining Sher Singh. Once you start introducing your friends the amount of discount will increase and may be you don't have to pay at all. There are many clubs like Sher Singh, which offer freebies and various items at a discounted price. To join Sher Singh you simply require an internet access and register with them. Sher Singh seeks new members. The day you join a Sher Singh, you can expect some free stuff like T shirts, books etc or a heavy discount. Complementary lunch or dinner at a special restaurant with exceptional service can make an evening special.
Today internet has created marvelous opportunities for people who have a great friend circle online. Social networking websites have allowed millions of people to come together and share a unique bond of friendship. If you have a huge friend circle then you and your friends can gain a lot. Once you join Sher Singh, refer all your friends to Sher Singh and every person who joins Sher Singh gets something for free or a heavy discount. You will also receive free items. Once you start introducing more friends to Sher Singh the prize will also increase. If you are lucky enough to get a huge amount of people who joins Sher Singh through you then a great holiday package can be yours. The gifts will become more special and discounts will increase immensely with every joining member of your social circle. Ask your friends to make use of their social circle and everyone can win and enjoy together. In short, there is nothing to lose and you connect with people around the world in the most fun loving manner.
Occasions & celebrations
There are various occasions and festivals on which you can avail huge discount on necessary stuff. You can gift great items to your friends and family members at a good price. The best part is there is stuff available for everyone. So, if you have a niece who is just 3 or 4 years old then you can gift them few exciting toys which they would treasure. Buy a watch for your dad at a discounted price or beautiful sarees for your mother. Sher Singh has a lot to offer if you join and introduce your vicious circle of friends. If people visit shops and stores physically and bargain on the stuffs then also such discounts and items are never received at a good price. Joining Sher Singh is much more fruitful than those buy 1 and get1 free boards which we see in various malls or shops. So do grab your stuff but don't forget to enjoy!
The author of the Survival Guide series presents: iPad 2 Survival Guide Video Series. In this video, I show you how to get started with your new iPad when you just take it out of the box. Topics covered include: – Locations of the buttons and jacks – Tips on navigating the screens – Setting up Wi-Fi – Setting up an email account – Setting up an Apple ID – Purchasing applications from the App Store Toly K is the creator of the best-selling Survival Guide series. The iPad Survival Guide was downloaded by over 200000 readers. His user-friendly Survival Guides for iPhone, Android phones, and tablet computers have received high praise from many reviewers. Please leave all questions and comments below. Purchase the iPad 2 Survival Guide in iBooks by searching “iPad 2″. Click one of the following links to purchase a Survival Guide on Amazon: iPad 2 Survival Guide www.amazon.com All other Survival Guides on Amazon: www.amazon.com All Survival Guides on Barnes and Noble: www.barnesandnoble.com
Gorki House was created by Atrium and it is integrated inside a beautiful natural atmosphere atop of the hill west of Moscow. The designers were commissioned to create a modern day residence for any youthful couple as well as their kid, while keeping a great relationship using the surrounding pine forest landscape. Your building features generous home windows and a lot of balconies which will make it connect well using the outdoors. Its shape is highly original, composed of the clever and appealing bet on volumes which appear to progressively unfold. Based on Arch Daily, the interior planning follows the "patterns" from the exterior, as "public zones flow into private areas and vice-versa". The rooms are airy and spacious, featuring contemporary furniture plans and provoking decorative particulars. Take a look in the architecture plans in the finish from the publish for any general view and tell us that which you think about this project. [Photography @ Yuri Palmin, Anton Nadtochiy]
EA plans to release the next version of SimCity -- the classic city-building game -- on the Mac simultaneously with the PC release this February. EA will also be delivering Origin, its digital download service, at the same time. The game will be available for purchase and download via the service.
Mac users will be able to connect to the new multiplayer component in SimCity and appears to be feature-complete with the PC-version. EA has yet to announce pricing or system requirements.
The Mac version of the new SimCity is slated to arrive alongside its PC counterpart in February of 2013. Apple users will be able to take advantage of Glassbox-driven gameplay, along with SimCity World and CityLog connectivity features, by purchasing and downloading the game through Origin.
“Sprint today dropped the price of the iPhone 4S yet again,” Jake Smith reports for 9to5Mac.
“The nation's third-largest carrier now offers a free $100 American Express Reward Card (ships in 8-10 weeks) along with the purchase of the 16GB iPhone 4S for $149.99 with a two-year plan (including free activation and shipping),” Smith reports. “This makes for the best deal on the iPhone 4S we have seen (at only $50!), beating out Sprint's offering last week, which did not include the gift card.”
Smith reports, “Today Business Insider has learned that as a part of [Apple's] price matching program, [Apple Retail Stores] will give a $100 Apple Store gift card to honor Sprint's new deal.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Make way for the new iPhone!
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Dan K." for the heads up.]
They say that gaming mice are dime a dozen, and the saying is definitely true. So many gaming companies have already come up with their own iteration of the gaming mouse in the past, and there has been some hits and misses, definitely. Some folks might prefer to remain loyal to a certain brand such as Logitech or Razer, while others prefer to give a go with different kinds of brands when their current gaming mouse goes belly up due to the amount of abuse – or rather, number of clicks that was subjected to it.
Well, this time around we have a name that is not exactly at the forefront of gaming technology, although Speedlink does seem to hold everything pretty well together with their latest release, the KUDOS RS Gaming Mouse. Speedlink claims that this is the mouse that has “everything pro gamers are looking for”, although I am not quite sure whether the number of pro gamers out there agree this such a haughty assessment. Why not check out just what the KUDOS RS Gaming Mouse has after the jump, shall we?
For starters, the KUDOS RS Gaming Mouse will come with half a dozen insertable weights for you to optimize its balance, where all seven buttons including the 4D scroll wheel can be programmed in any way you like it, helping you unleash powerful command sequences thanks to the macro function. The ultra-precise laser sensor will come equipped and suitable for any situation courtesy of its 90 to 5700dpi resolution, and apart from that, you are able to toggle rapidly between five button configs thanks to the profile switch. Not only that, you will also be able to know just about immediately which setting you're using courtesy of the multi-coloured LED indicator bar even in the heat of battle.
It does not matter whether you are a low or high-sense gamer, FPS or MOBA, the KUDOS RS Gaming Mouse will come equipped for all types of gamers, in addition to any tactic and every genre. You will be able to pick up the KUDOS RS Gaming Mouse in metallic red with anthracite-colored rubberized grips, where it will retail for 49.99 a pop. That is not too shabby when you think about it, no?
“Apple, the US technology giant behind the iPad and the iPhone, is understood to be looking at backing the prestigious award, which recognises novels written by women,” Katherine Rushton reports for The Telegraph.
“The prize, which was founded in 1996, has been supported by Orange, the mobile phone operator, since it was launched,” Rushton reports. “However, the firm, which has since merged with T-Mobile to become Everything Everywhere, controversially withdrew its sponsorship in May.”
Rushton reports, “At the time, literary circles joked that Apple or BlackBerry could step into the breach to preserve the fruity theme, and quipped that they wanted to be able to ‘compare Apples with Oranges.’ Now, in evidence that life is, if not stranger, then at least as strange as fiction, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that Apple has had talks with the award organisers. Sources said a number of companies, including Kobo, the ebook producer, had also indicated their interest but that discussions with Apple were the most advanced... It is not clear whether Apple would give its own name to the women’s fiction prize, or would name the award after one of its products, such as its iPad device or iBookstore.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Sam" for the heads up.]
Games developer Crytek, has released a new trailer that shows just how cool the CryENGINE 3 is and what it will be doing for the Crysis 3 game play with its cool real-time rendering feature, this a game that looks like it might be worth the wait until February 2013!
According to Crytek this what the CryENGINE 3 will do for the game play;
With CryENGINE 3, what you see is what you play as the new tools for the engine allow for tessellation in real-time, improved ocean and water rendering, enhanced character technology, and dynamic volumetric light beams and light shaft effects. These new tools can be appreciated in the beautiful visuals of Crysis 3, from the lush environments and lighting effects, to the detailed characters.
Andy Hertzfeld, computer scientist and member of the original Apple Macintosh development team during the 1980s, has posted a video of snippets from interviews with members of the original Macintosh team, recorded in October 1983 for projected TV commercials that were never created or aired.
“It never aired because Apple deemed it too self-congratulatory, although it was used in some promotional materials sent to dealers,” Hertzfeld wrote on his Google+ page.
The Chiat Day video features Burrell Smith, Andy Hertzfeld, George Crow, Bill Atkinson and Mike Murray.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews readers too numerous to mention individually for the heads up.]
iCloud automagically backs up all of the data on your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. So, if you ever lose, replace, update, or simply restore your device, you can easily get back to right where you left off. Unfortunately, iCloud backup is so automagical that it can quickly fill up the 5GB Apple gives you for free, preventing future backups or forcing you to buy additional -- non free - storage.
Sure, you can go through and delete iCloud emails with hefty attachments, or be frugal about just how many -- and how large --documents you keep in the cloud, but you can also control just exactly what gets backed up, removing anything that's not urgent or important to you, and you can also manually delete old backups from devices you no longer have, or you simply don't need anymore. And that can instantly free up considerable, valuable space for the stuff you do care about.
How to delete an iCloud backup
Old backups, especially if they're for devices you've since lost, given away, sold, upgraded, or otherwise don't have anymore, can be a huge waste of your iCloud space. Likewise, even backups of the devices you do use, if they're several months old, might not be worth keeping around any more. Since all the iPhones, iPods, and iPads you've ever connected to your iCloud account share the same 5GB storage pool, cleaning out what you no longer need can give you back a lot of breathing room. It's easy to do, if tricky to find.
Check out your current backups stored on iCloud. (Here you can see two iPhones, including one replaced at the Apple Store last week and so no longer needed).
That's it, that backup has now been removed and your iCloud account should show a nicer, healthier balance.
How to manually manage what gets backed up to iCloud
Once you've deleted all the old backups you don't need any more, the next thing to check is what's being backed up now, and whether or not all of it needs to be backed up. For example, backing up the Camera Roll can use up a large amount of your iCloud storage. Since Photo Stream captures all the photo data anyway, and isn't counted against your total storage usage, turning off Camera Roll backup can save you considerable space. You will LOSE backups of videos, but those same videos can chew through your free iCloud data allotment anyway. Again, it's easy to see and control what gets backed up to iCloud, once you know where to look.
Launch the Settings app
Tap iCloud near the bottom
Tap Storage and Backup near the bottom
Tap Manage Storage
If you have multiple devices on the same iCloud account, tap on the name of your device
You'll see a list of apps currently being backed up to iCloud. Not all apps will be shown immediately. Too see them all, tap Show All
For any apps you don't really want or need to be backed up, switch the toggle button to Off
The Camera Roll above is 35GB. That could cost you quite a bit in iCloud storage fees. Turning it off, you save a ton of space. Just remember, while Photo Stream will keep your still photos safe, your videos won't get backed up so you'll have to take care of those yourself.
How to downgrade your iCloud storage
If you previously bought more iCloud storage space, and now, after having cleaned out your iClouds, you decide you don't any more, you can make sure you don't get billed again next time your payment comes due. iCloud billing is on a yearly cycle, so chance are you'll still get the extra storage you paid for for a while, but you won't get charged again.
Launch the Settings app
Tap iCloud near the bottom
Tap Storage and Backup near the bottom
Tap Buy More Storage
Tap Downgrade Options near the bottom
Login with your Apple ID password
Choose your new plan from the available options
The downgrade will take effect at your next billing cycle (one year after you bought the additional storage).
How to get more help with iCloud
If you still need help with any other iCloud feature, head on over to our iCloud Forum and ask away! And if you have any of your own tips on saving space in iCloud, leave it in the comments below!
How to set up and use iCloud mail, contacts, and calendars
How to set up and use iTunes in the Cloud
How to set up and use iTunes Match
How to set up and use Photo Stream
How to set up and use Documents in the Cloud
How to set up and use Find my iPhone
How to set up and use Find my Friends
Ally Kazmucha and Chris Oldroyd contributed sections to this articles.
