Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Learn Spanish, English, or Mandarin with Lingual for iPad — A Kickstarter Project







San Diego-based Tiny Factory turned to Kickstarter to help launch a new educational game called Lingual: The Multi-Language Learning Application. According to project founder Andrew Little, “Lingual, is a multi-language learning app that has been gamified and designed to serve as an introduction to English, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese.”





Lingual’s gameplay sounds like fun, and it might actually work. A player will learn not only the language of his choice but also the host country’s culture and geography during gameplay. A player’s must learn the language to best Lingual, but as gameplay proceeds the player must travel through the country during the game, passing different landmarks and experiencing its culture. Remember making a replica of the Arc de Triomphe out of sugar cubes in French class? Well, Lingual is kin of like that, only way cooler.



Lingual is a digital anti-hero with a Napoleon complex and a Twitter feed. Here’s his back story:



Once, a long time ago, all the world spoke the same, ate the same foods, wore the same clothes and lived in peace and harmony. I grew very bored of that peace and harmony though, so I spent hundreds and thousands of years separating speech and creating changes in architecture and clothes and food until people divided into groups that could no longer understand one another. Since I know language is the key to understanding, I have kept anyone and everyone from learning another tongue (and reveled in my glory).



If the project is funded the developer hopes Lingual, which will be free to download with a range of in-app purchase options, will be available from the App Store by mid-December 2012.



Even though the app might be free, project backers qualify for a range of sweet-looking gifts like a deck of language flash cards that share the app’s colorful design aesthetic. There are even still a few early bird spots available. Early birds who pledge $20 will receive a large educational poster and 40 words and icons in their choice of language. Pledge $25 and receive a pack of flash cards as a thank you gift.



Lingual is nearing its modest $5,000 project goal, but it’s not there yet. Interested backers have until Friday November 9, 2012 to help bring Lingual to market.







Weekly Photo Contest: Fall Colors!


Weekly Photo Contest: Fall Colors!




It's time to announce this week's photo contest -- fall colors! We're in the heart of the autumn season which means colors, leaves, and more colors. This time of year is responsible for some of the most beautiful photos ever taken, so we want to see what beautiful photos you all are taking with your iPhones.



I, personally, live in an area of the the world (central coast of California) that doesn't really have a fall season, so I'm dying to see all the photos that show me what I'm missing. Help me out iMore iPhoneographers and make me jealous!



Congrats to jwgriffin for winning last week's lens flare photo contest!


The prize: $30 iTunes gift certificate


In addition to a thumbs up from the iMore crew and all of us yelling about how great of a photo star you are, the winner of this week's photography contest will receive a $30 iTunes gift card allowing you to stock up on some of those photography apps you've been dying to buy!


The rules


The rules of entry are very simple. The photo must have been taken with an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch (we'll check the EXIF data of the original file to verify) and any edits must have been done with an iPhone or iPad app. No Photoshop CS6! If you have external lens accessories you are more than welcome to use them. You can submit as many photos as you'd like, but remember, this is a contest, so make sure you submit your best work!


Resources


Now, before you run off to take your photo, remember that it's not technical skill alone that will claim this prize. Even if you're not the best photographer (yet!), a great eye and a great subject can still get you the win.



However, a little help can never hurt, so make sure you check out our iPhone photography series for some tips.


How to submit


Submitting your photos is easy. just head over to the iMore Photography Forum and post your photos to the official contest thread. Don't forget to state which apps, if any, you used to edit your photo!



That's it! Now go out and shoot!



ENTER NOW


Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Apple iMessage down on iOS and OS X for the second time in a week (update)

messages icon transfer 1020



Apple's having some issues with iMessage, again — for the second time in the last week, users are experiencing difficulties sending and receiving messages on both iOS devices and Macs running OS X. Symptoms appear very similar to the last outage, with messages hanging and failing (or being pushed through as text messages, on iOS). A number of staff members in Boston, New York City, San Francisco, and other locations have all experienced this problem, and a quick Twitter search shows that many other users are having similar problems. Furthermore, Apple's own iCloud status site indicates that iMessage is not functioning for "some" users. We're reaching out to Apple to see if it has any information on the issue — in the meantime, let us...



CEO Tim Cook puts his stamp on Apple with management shakeup



A couple top executives at Apple were shown the door yesterday, in a major shakeup by CEO Tim Cook. Scott Forstall, a longtime protege of Steve Jobs who accompanied Jobs when he moved to Apple from Next back in 1996, was relieved of his duties as head of the mobile software products group, which is responsible for iOS and Apple apps development. He will be retained into next year as a special advisor to Cook. In addition, John Browett, who Apple hired to head up their retail stores seven months ago, was let go.



Apple's own press release, however, focused not on the departure of these top executives, but on the reassignment of their duties to key people within Apple. Legendary product designer Jony Ive will now oversee software design, essentially replacing Forstall, in addition to his continued role as head of hardware design. This new role elevates Ive's influence in the company and is being viewed quite positively by market analysts. In the Walter Isaacson of Steve Jobs, he writes that Jobs had extraordinary confidence in Ive and felt that Ive's vision was closest to his own.



Eddy Cue, a longtime executive who runs online products such as the Apple Store, will now add Siri and Apple Maps to his portfolio. Two other executives also have expanded roles. Craig Federighi, who has been in charge of developing the software that powers the Macintosh computers, will also now take charge of the iOS side. In addition a new group, called Technologies, has been created under the leadership of Bob Mansfield. It combines Apple's wireless teams, including the semiconductor teams.



An executive search has begun to replace Browett.



Apple emphasized that the move was intended to create greater integration in the company. The new organization "will encourage even more collaboration between the Company's world-class hardware, software and services teams," Apple said.



The scuttle on the street was that many at Apple were happy to see Forstall go. He apparently had the same sort of abrasive temperment as Steve Jobs. According to MacTrast, Forstall was even rumored at one point to be inline for the top spot at Apple. Some say that he was grasping for more influence, which caused problems. Also, it's rumored that he refused to have his name associated with Apple's apology that was released after all the criticism of the new Maps app, such that Cook himself ended up signing it. Some even suggest that this was the final straw.



Browett was criticized for his management of Apple's retail stores. He had cut back the hours of employees, and ordered them to spend more time selling products and less time on customer service -- despite the fact that Apple's stores make more money per square foot than any other retail store in the world. The result was some very unhappy employees at Apple Stores, employees who tend to be young, idealistic, and motivated. On Browett's departure, Cook took great pains to praise the dedication of the Apple Store employees, making it clear that he intended to treat them better in the future than Browett had.


Those in need welcome robot helpers, just not in the bathroom


Georgia Institute of Technology



An elderly couple sits at a table with their robot assistant.



Advertise | AdChoices



Advertise | AdChoices



Personal robotics companies are making a bet that real-world C-3P0-like machines will be of great help to the world's aging population who need assistance with routine household tasks. The question is: will they embrace the technology?



Yes, as long as the robots do chores such as wash dishes, do laundry, and take out the trash, according to a new study from the Georgia Institute of Technology. But when it comes to more personal tasks such as bathing, getting dressed and eating, there's a strong preference for human help.



Human assistance is also preferred for social activities such as calling family and friends and entertaining guests.



The survey included 29 adults aged 65 to 93 who were showed a video of a robot's capabilities and then interviewed about their willingness for assistance with 48 household chores. All participants were healthy and independent at the time and nearly 75 percent said they used gadgets such as cell phones.



"There are many misconceptions about older adults having negative attitudes toward robots," Cory Ann-Marr, who will present the results at the Human Factors Ergonomics Society this week, said in a news release.



That perception was exploited earlier this year in a political attack ad against Jeffrey Brandes, who is in a battle for state Senate seat in Florida and sponsored a bill while in the Florida House of Representatives that would allow the "operation of autonomous motor vehicles on public roads" in Florida.



The ad featured an elderly woman's voice questioning whether driverless car technology is "really a priority for our state" and includes a sound clip from Brandes saying that he had to "convince the senate it wasn't witchcraft."







Georgia Tech's survey suggests there's nuance to when a robot's help is wanted. It appears to center of the level of physical or intellectual intimacy. For example, the study participants would accept a robot reminder to take their medicine, but want a human to help them decide which pill to take.



In other words, they are happy for the robot to be a sophisticated calendar, but there's a lack of trust that the artificial intelligence is capable of choosing the correct medication.



Likewise, these adults are wary of trusting a robot with physically intimate tasks such as taking a bath and getting dressed.



"The people we interviewed were very enthusiastic and optimistic about robots in their daily lives," Marr said. "They were also very particular in their preferences, something that can assist researchers as they determine what to design and introduce in the home."



Presumably, they won't be in the market for robots that offer "mind-blowing sex."



John Roach is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.



Video: Robots march home from war









Tags:





  • Tech news
    ,



  • innovation
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  • robot
    ,


  • adult
    ,


  • assistance



Michael Bay’s Inspiration for the Teenage Alien Ninja Turtles [pic]


If the podcasts I listen to are any indication, getting geeks to agree on anything is like herding cats. Well, when Michael Bay announced that the next Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie throws the mutant idea out the window in favor of alien ninja turtles, geeks have unanimously agreed that Bay needs to keep his hands off the TMNT franchise. However, the one question I have had ever since I heard of this dumbass idea is where did he even dream up this concept? It seems we now know.



An anonymous source tells me that Michael Bay saw this picture of a turtle (named Frankie) that was dressed up as a UFO by his owner Greg Christenson and had the crazy idea to make to turn the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles into aliens.



This is why dressing your pets up is always a bad idea. It leads to the ruining of great franchises! Seriously though, this is a cool costume idea for anybody with a pet turtle.



Pass this along to any Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans and turtle lovers you know! Like us on Facebook too!


Michael Bay's Teenage Alien Ninja Turtles



Michael Bay’s Teenage Alien Ninja Turtles



[Via: Neatorama]





Monday, October 29, 2012

NYC regulators announce proposed rules for taxi apps


The New York Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) is releasing a list of proposed rule changes that would permit the use of smartphone apps to hail and pay for taxicabs, provided they work with the city’s own computerized payment and trip data system. The proposal comes two weeks after regulatory disputes forced the upstart Uber to end its own taxi service in the city.



Every app would need to be licensed



The proposals would require any e-hail app to obtain a one-year, renewable license from the TLC, but would permit both payment within the app and with cash or credit card inside the car. Previously, Uber ran afoul of regulators by settling fares outside of the city’s own T-PEP system, which processes payments and transmits trip...



Pivot Power Mini





Here is a gadget you will appreciate. Does anyone ever have enough power outlets and USB charging ports? Most of us do not and could always use a couple more. Pivot Power Mini is the solution.



Pivot Power Mini  plugs into a single outlet and then with wing-like extensions that fold out provide two additional power outlets plus two USB charging ports.



It is an ideal travel appurtenance you would want to throw in your travel bag or case.



It costs $24.99 and may be obtained from www.quirky.com.



This is another Quirky development. In case you are not familiar with Quirky, let me tell you a little about it. Quirky exists to help people with ideas bring them to market. All you do is write up your idea proposal and submit it to Quirky. Quirky posts your idea on their website for visitor to vote on. The idea with the most votes gets developed and posted in the Quirky site store, usually within three months.



Two new products are brought to market each week. From then on, the developer earns a residual income forever. Not bad.



Pivot Power Mini was invented by Jake Zien. I took about a month to develop. It has been in the Quirky store of 83 days and 53,191 units have been sold for an income of $17,574.82 to Jake.



Maybe you have a great idea to submit to Quirky.com. Ideas can be in the categories of Gifts, Power, Kitchen, Housewares, Bed & Bath, Cleaning, Organization, Gadgets, and Back to School.


Sunday, October 28, 2012

LG 84 Inch Ultra HD 4K TV Now Available For $20,000


If you are considering upgrading your TV to something with a little bit more definition, and you have extremely deep pockets. You might be able to consider the new LG 84 inch Ultra HD 4K TV, which is now available to purchase for $20,000.



The LG 84LM9600 84 Inch Ultra HD 4K TV, has officially arrived in store today ready for installation in time for the holiday season, sporting a resolution of 3840 x 2160.



LG 84LM9600




Samsung AA-BA2NP3B – notebook sleeve (AA-BA2NP3B/US) – Reviews

Samsung AA-BA2NP3B – notebook sleeve (AA-BA2NP3B/US) -



  • New
  • Samsung IT AA-BA2NP3B/US
  • Samsung IT AA-BA2NP3B/US Series 9 13 Leather Sleeve

General InformationManufacturer: Samsung
Manufacturer Part Number: AA-BA2NP3B/US
Manufacturer Website Address: www.samsungusa.com
Brand Name: Samsung
Product Name: Notebook Case
Marketing Information: Give your Samsung Series 9 13″ Notebook PC a touch of added luxury and protection with a stunning Series 9 13″ Sleeve. Luxurious black leather construction gives it a premium look, ideal for making great professional or personal impressions. It also allows you to prevent your p



iPad Mini Smart Covers Priced at $39




Apple has got Smart Covers available for the iPad mini. Just like the smart covers for the iPad 2 and iPad 4, these will align perfectly with the left side of the iPad and will automatically wake and sleep the iPad mini when they're opened and closed.



Right now Apple have only got the polyurethane smart covers available for the iPad mini - not the leather models that are an option for larger iPads. The iPad mini smart covers are priced at $39, the same as those for the bigger iPads.



iPad mini smart covers come in 5 colors: dark gray, pink, light gray, blue, and (PRODUCT) RED. They're currently shipping in 1-3 days and I imagine they'll be available in Apple stores on launch day.



You can see full details and place an order for an iPad mini smart cover at the Apple product page for them.



I think this will likely be my first iPad mini accessory. How about you all? For those of you planning on getting the iPad mini, will you be looking at getting a smart cover for it?


Saturday, October 27, 2012

FloJack Kickstarter project to bring NFC to iOS








It’s not always easy to explain why NFC is such a big deal, or why it has the potential to completely change how you use your mobile device. NFC gets the most attention when it is seen as a means for mobile transactions, but the sheer volume of simple automation tasks completely change how users do things like checking in to locations or sharing information between devices. There was wide speculation that NFC was coming to the iPhone 5, but sadly that didn’t happen. Fortunately, the team at Flomio has assembled a plan to bring NFC to iDevices with the Flojack dongle.



Similar to how a credit card reader would connect to an iDevice for card payments, the FloJack pops into the headphone jack on the iPad or iPhone. Once connected, the NFC Actions app being developed by Flomio will be able to receive content from any NFC enabled utility. As demonstrated in the video above, you can receive content from tags, and even send content back and forth with other platforms. Services like Android Beam for photos aren’t likely to work since they require more than just NFC to function, but all of the basic features found in NFC phones will be available.



FloJack




Flomio is also making their SDK available to iOS developers who want to include NFC support in their apps. Foursquare check-ins, for example, can be triggered by a simple scan of an NFC tag so long as the app supports the content. NFC for iOS would dramatically expand the userbase of the technology all at once, and give iOS developers a whole new kind of technology to play with. The FloJack kickstarter starts at $39 to get one of the dongles, and $99 for the developer kit that unlocks access to the developer program and the Flomio dev team.



Obviously a dongle you have to carry around in your pocket when you wanted to use NFC is far less elegant than having the technology built into the device, or having a sleeve that goes over the phone to provide the service. Flomio makes it worthwhile though, by the apparent lack of restrictions. This is a tool that can be given to users and developers to allow them to find their own purpose, which is how NFC has grown into what we know it to be today.



Read more on Kickstarter




HTC One X Android 4.1 rollout begins in Asia and Europe

ATT One X Stock White 1200



HTC announced that Android 4.1 would roll out for its One X and One S handsets in October, and it looks like the company has hit one of its targets: Android Central reports that the Jelly Bean update has already started rolling out for customers with the HTC One X in Asia and Europe. As we learned earlier this month, the Android update will also include HTC's Sense 4+ skin, two new Gallery app views, a refreshed HTC Watch app, and Google Now. There's no word on when the update will hit in the US, but we've asked HTC to confirm its rollout schedule and will update you as we receive more information.



Friday, October 26, 2012

Apple Adds Link to Samsung Website and Acknowledges Company Didn’t Copy iPad Design








Despite their best efforts to prove otherwise (including patents that have been filed), the UK didn’t agree that Apple invented the concept of a tablet that has a “rectangular shape and rounded corners.” As a result, Apple lost their recent appeal against Samsung asserting that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 did not infringe Apple's iPad designs. Part of the judgement is the judge’s decision that Apple must run advertisements in local newspapers as well as on the company's website (which has now been done).





The apology itself is exactly what you would expect from Apple: minimalistic, professional and delivered without an ounce of emotion or warm-fuzzy feelings. In fact, in many ways it barely reads like an apology at all with content that reads moreso like an advertisement with Apple describing their own iPad:



“The extreme simplicity of the Apple design is striking. Overall it has undecorated flat surfaces with a plate of glass on the front all the way out to a very thin rim and a blank back. There is a crisp edge around the rim and a combination of curves, both at the corners and the sides. The design looks like an object the informed user would want to pick up and hold. It
is an understated, smooth and simple product. It is a cool design.”



Of course, they do give an ounce of credit to Samsung where it is (legally) due by saying that “the Samsung products are very thin, almost insubstantial members of that family with unusual details on the back,” and finishing with the note stating that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 does not have “the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design.” In case you missed the part where that is a compliment, Apple is acknowledging that they really couldn’t have copied the iPad design (or at least they didn’t do so well enough to make a truly competitive product).



On second thought, there really isn’t an apology at all in the text of this… apology. There is a distinct admission of their loss in this particular legal battle though, which may be all Samsung could have (should have) hoped to get from this exercise.



If you ask Apple, the Samsung tablets are “not as cool.” Do you agree?





Full Letter posted on Apple’s website:




Samsung / Apple UK judgment


On 9th July 2012 the High Court of Justice of England and Wales ruled that Samsung Electronic(UK) Limited's Galaxy Tablet Computer, namely the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do notinfringe Apple's registered design No. 0000181607-0001. A copy of the full judgment of the Highcourt is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Patents/2012/1882.html.



In the ruling, the judge made several important points comparing the designs of the Apple and Samsung products:



“The extreme simplicity of the Apple design is striking. Overall it has undecorated flat surfaces with a plate of glass on the front all the way out to a very thin rim and a blank back. There is a crisp edge around the rim and a combination of curves, both at the corners and the sides. The design looks like an object the informed user would want to pick up and hold. It is an understated, smooth and simple product. It is a cool design.”



“The informed user’s overall impression of each of the Samsung Galaxy Tablets is the following. From the front they belong to the family which includes the Apple design; but the Samsung products are very thin, almost insubstantial members of that family with unusual details on the back. They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool.”



That Judgment has effect throughout the European Union and was upheld by the Court of Appeal on 18 October 2012. A copy of the Court of Appeal's judgment is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/1339.html. There is no injunction in respect of the registered design in force anywhere in Europe.



However, in a case tried in Germany regarding the same patent, the court found that Samsung engaged in unfair competition by copying the iPad design. A U.S. jury also found Samsung guilty of infringing on Apple’s design and utility patents, awarding over one billion U.S. dollars in damages to Apple Inc. So while the U.K. court did not find Samsung guilty of infringement, other courts have recognized that in the course of creating its Galaxy tablet, Samsung willfully copied Apple’s far more popular iPad.



The new Mac mini is not only upgradeable, but easily repairable too


The new Mac mini is not not only upgradeable, but easily repairable too




The new Mac mini is the latest in Apple's staggering list of new releases to get the teardown treatment. Though the outward appearance hasn't changed much from last year's model, teardowns are all about finding out what's new on the inside. And that's just what iFixit has done:



Inside, we found an empty extra SATA connection on the logic board perfect for adding a secondary hard drive, replaceable RAM and hard drive, and modular components -- just like in last year's model. Kudos to the Mini for receiving an excellent 8 out of 10 repairability score, and to Apple keeping it so fix-friendly.



The Mac mini looks to be the most repairable and upgradeable device Apple has released in quite a while. Adding another drive or upgrading the RAM is an easy task earning the the Mac mini an 8 out of 10 repairability score. For Apple, that's stratospheric.



Also, unlike many Apple devices, the Mac mini actually doesn't require even a single pry tool in order to access the internals. The bottom simply twists off.



Considering the Mac mini is aimed at being a simple and more customizable solution than a retina MacBook Pro, it only makes sense that Apple would allow certain components to be easily upgradeable. Many users seem to steer towards a Mac mini not only because they're much more affordable but because they are upgradeable which makes the Mac mini more future proof, and more functional.



Any of you plan on picking up a new Mac mini? What kind of upgrades do you plan to do either right away or over time?



Source: iFixit


Thursday, October 25, 2012

‘Which?’ Tests Phil Schiller’s iPad Mini Weight Comparison Claims [iOS Blog]

'Which?', a UK-based consumer advocacy organization, has performed some research and determined that Apple's claims about the lightness of the iPad Mini appear to be accurate. The device is roughly the same weight as some heavier notepads, and is lighter than a can of Coke or a loaf of bread:

NewImage


So there it is; the iPad mini isn't quite as light as a pad of paper - at least our non-spiraled softback pad. There are certainly pads of paper that are heavier so Phil Schiller's claim that it's as light as a pad of paper is about right.

It'll certainly feel lighter than a can of coke in your hands, making it easier to hold in a single hand while you browse the web for long periods or read ebooks on the move.

While lighter than the Kindle Fire (395g) and the Google Nexus (334g), the difference is probably too insubstantial to influence your buying choice.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

LUNATIK Touch Pen Makes Transitioning Between Paper and iPad Smooth – Hands-On Accessory Review








A good businessperson will know how important it is to always be prepared with pen and paper. If you use the iPad for freehand note taking, sketching, or even digital painting, you probably own a multitude of styluses to suit your needs. The LUNATIK Touch Pen serves two purposes by being a hybrid of a stylus and an ink pen.





This ingenious idea for combining a stylus and a pen is not a new one. However, it is rare to see a hybrid whose writing points are on the same side. Most stylus/ink pen combinations have the soft rubber tip on one side and the ink pen on the other. The Touch Pen makes transitioning from paper to tablet that much easier.






The brushed aluminum design of the Alloy Touch Pen is sleek and classy. It comes in silver, black or red. The circumference of the pen is about the same as a Sharpie, which I prefer. The thickness of the pen may be a turnoff for some, but it makes more sense to me to have a thick stylus on the iPad.



The pen is weighted well. It is slightly heavier at the top, making it feel like a classy executive pen. The retractable top mechanism is also made from sturdy aluminum. The clip will not break easily. I don't suggest you try chewing on this thing.






The ink itself is 0.7 mm medium point gel ink and the pen tip writes fairly smooth. I'd say it is better than your typical bulk office pen, but not as nice as an executive ballpoint pen. I like using it, but I don't love using it.



The lower half of the barrel is covered with a soft silicone rubber grip. The extra rubber helps warm the tip and also acts as a cushion for your handwriting needs.






The stylus works fantastically for drawing, sketching, freehand writing and coloring. I tested it out with Sketchbook Pro, GoodReader's annotation feature, My Coloring Book, and Penultimate, and it performed perfectly in every way.



It didn't work quite as well for basic tap and swipe purposes. For example, when I first started using the stylus on my iPad, it wouldn't swipe between screens unless I had it held at a 45-degree angle from the tablet. Interestingly, the more I used the stylus, the better it worked. I think its performance is directly connected to how warm the rubber gets. Be sure to keep the pen in your hand for a few minutes before trying to use it for tapping and swiping.



Overall, this pen works great and feels high quality. It looks classy and reminds me of an executive pen. The ink is better than bulk pens, but not as good as fancy pens. The stylus performs outstanding for writing, sketching, and coloring, but is less responsive as just a tap and swipe tool until you've warmed the barrel.





What I liked: I love the way it looks. I feel like a boss when I hold this sturdy, yet sophisticated, pen in my hand.



What I didn't like: I didn't like that the stylus wasn't very responsive to tap and swipe gestures until I had been using it for a while. It makes me think it won't work very well in the winter.



The Verdict: As a pen and a stylus, it works great. You can transition from paper to tablet with just one click. At $39.99, it is a bit pricey, but the Touch Pen is designed and constructed with great attention to detail, making it worth the cost. This would make a great gift for your boss.


  • Name: LUNATIK Alloy Touch Pen
  • Manufacturer: LUNATIK
  • Price: $39.99
  • Score:

Friday, October 19, 2012

Forums: iOS 6 high data usage, Alternative mail clients that allow more functions?


From the iMore Forums


http://admin.imore.com/node/add/article



Found an interesting article you want to share with iMore? Have a burning question about that feature you just can't figure out? There is ALWAYS more happening just a click away in the forums. You can always head over and join in the conversation, search for answers, or lend your expertise to other members of our community. You check out some of the threads below:


  • How much data does turn-by-turn use?
  • Show us your iPhone lock screen!
  • Alternative mail clients that allow more functions?
  • iOS 6 high data usage
  • Weekly Photo Contest: Instagram!

If you're not already a member of the iMore Forums, register now!


Thursday, October 18, 2012

(Sponsor) Germs & Fingerprints all over your iPad?


Dirtyipad




A report came out last year stating "touchscreens are riddled with germs", another stated "mobile touch devices can have as many germs as a public toilet handle". MOBiLE CLOTH removes up to 98% of germs without chemicals!* . MC is the easiest, fastest, safest way to care for your iPad. A few swipes with this unique cloth and your screen will look like it just came out of the box! Patrick J. of iPadinsight.com included MC in a top ten accessory list after doing a review in 2010. Canada's largest iPhone/iPad blog exclaimed "it's the best cleaning cloth I’ve ever used" and Beatweek Magazine gave MC "5 out of 5" stars. MOBiLE CLOTH prices start at $7.99 for a 2 pack and we offer free shipping with a minimum purchase. www.mobilecloth.com

Ipadinsight.com readers enter "IPADINSIGHT" at check out and receive 20% Off and Free Shipping on all order over $25 (valid until 10/31/2012 cannot be used for custom product)



*see our website for study details


Thursday, October 11, 2012

The Microsoft Tax: Malicious worm on Skype lets hackers hold Windows PCs for ransom; Macintosh unaffected


“Skype is being used by hackers to spread a ‘malicious worm’ that infects Windows PCs and could result in computers being held to ransom,” The Week reports. “The video chat service, owned by Microsoft, said yesterday it was ‘aware of this malicious activity”‘ and warned users not to click on any ‘strange’ or ‘unexpected’ links.”



“A number of users received instant messages saying ‘lol is this your new profile pic?’ By clicking on the link, they unwittingly downloaded a file containing Trojan horse malware,” The Week reports. “The malware allows hackers to hijack infected PCs and recruit them into a ‘botnet army,’ reports the BBC”



The Week reports, “Users can also be locked out of their machines and held to ransom. A message will threaten to delete all the user’s files unless they pay $200 within 48 hours.”



Read more in the full article here.



MacDailyNews Take: Enjoy your Microsoft Tax, Windows sufferers!



[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Scott Kopp" for the heads up.]



Related articles:
The Microsoft Tax: Critical Windows flaw affects millions of high-value PCs with self-replicating attacks – March 13, 2012
The Microsoft Tax: Virus infects Windows PC control systems of US Predator and Reaper drones – October 8, 2011
The Microsoft Tax: 'Indestructible' botnet attacks millions of Windows PCs; Macintosh unaffected – July 1, 2011
The Microsoft tax: Stuxnet computer worm infects Microsoft's porous Windows OS; Mac unaffected – September 27, 2010
The Microsoft Tax: New undetectable Windows trojan empties bank accounts worldwide; Mac unaffected – August 11, 2010
The Microsoft Tax: Windows zero-day flaw exposes users to code execution attack; Mac unaffected – August 09, 2010
The Microsoft Tax: Critical flaw lets hackers take remote control of Windows PCs; Mac unaffected – August 07, 2010
The Microsoft Tax: New attack bypasses every Windows XP security product tested; Mac unaffected – May 11, 2010
The Microsoft Tax: McAfee correctly identifies Windows as malware; Macintosh unaffected – April 21, 2010
The Microsoft Tax: DNS Windows PC Trojan poses as iPhone unlock utility; Mac and iPhone unaffected – April 15, 2010
The Microsoft Tax: 1-in-10 Windows PCs still vulnerable to Conficker worm; Macintosh unaffected – April 08, 2010
The Microsoft Tax: 74,000 Windows PCs in 2,500 companies attacked globally; Mac users unaffected – February 18, 2010
The Microsoft Tax: Widespread attacks exploit Internet Explorer flaw; Macintosh unaffected – January 22, 2010
The Microsoft Tax: Windows 7 zero-day flaw enables attackers to cripple PCs; Macintosh unaffected – November 16, 2009
The Microsoft Tax: Windows 7 flaw allows attackers to remotely crash PCs; Macintosh unaffected – November 12, 2009
The Microsoft Tax: Windows virus delivers child porn to PCs, users go to jail; Mac users unaffected – November 09, 2009
The Microsoft Tax: Worms infest Windows PCs worldwide; Mac users unaffected – November 02, 2009
The Microsoft Tax: Banking Trojan horse steals money from Windows sufferers; Mac users unaffected – September 30, 2009
The Microsoft Tax: Serious Windows security flaw lets hackers to take over PCs; Macintosh unaffected – July 07, 2009
The Microsoft Tax: Windows Conficker worm hits hospital devices; Macintosh unaffected – April 29, 2009
The Microsoft Tax: Conficker virus begins to attack Windows PCs; Macintosh unaffected – April 27, 2009
The Microsoft Tax: Conficker's estimated economic cost: $9.1 billion – April 24, 2009


Woz: Apple has become ‘so arrogant’ over iPhone 5


TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod sat down with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak for a wide-ranging discussion about recent developments in the technology industry.



The Business Insider‘s Steve Kovach has a snippet of Woz’s statement from the interview:



Part of me wishes Apple had not been so arrogant and feeling like “We’re the only one with the right clue.” I wish they had made a wider version [of the iPhone 5]…



…I think Apple tricked itself by saying “Oh, you can reach everything with one thumb.” I don’t see anybody having trouble using the larger screen. But Apple said that as a defensive move because everyone else had larger screens…



…Not all people want the same thing. A lot of people really like big screens. – Steve Wozniak.



Full article here.



MacDailyNews Take: How do they like the fragmentation that myriad screen sizes cause? Fragmentation brings such “benefits” to end users as apps that come to Android, if they come at all, months or years after iOS. It brings lower profits, if they make profits at all, for developers who struggle, if they even bother, to make multiple versions of their Android apps to fit myriad handsets. It brings lower quality apps, since developers often have to dumb them down to make sure they run on a decent array of devices with widely varied screens and capabilities.



Those clownishly large screens breed fragmentation which relegates Android to second-class status. Android settlers have a mere subset of the apps available to iPhone users precisely because Apple has the discipline to provide screen size for phones that are usable and pocketable while also providing iPads for those who prefer even larger screens than iPhone 5′s gorgeous, unparalleled, wonderfully-sized display.


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The New Ten Inch Kupa Tablet With A Lot To Offer





There is a problem with some tablet devices and that would be you get what you see, there are hardly any options or upgrades for the buyer to pick and choose from. This means that almost every tablet available from these manufacturers are almost identical and this is where the manufacturer Kupa is looking to make things different, with their ten inch Windows powered tablet.






Kupa may not be an established brand, but this is a company with a track record in making good tablet devices. The ten inch UltraNote Windows 8 tablet, is something special because if you made a list of everything that you would like to see in a tablet, the this model probably has it either as standard or as an optional extra.



There is even a dock available, as an optional extra that provides the user with a physical keyboard, USB ports and a built in battery pack that should last for up to twelve hours on a single charge. There are even additional side panels available that provide the user with additional features, such as a scanner and handy card reader.






These are the features and specs available on this most interesting Kupa UltraNote Windows 8 tablet;



Processor – Intel Ivy Bridge Mobile ULV Processor i7, i5, i3



Display – 10.1 inches with 1920 x 1200 IPS, 10 points MultiTouch



Input – Digitizer with 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity & 10 Points MultiTouch



Memory – DDR3, 4GB, Expandable up to 8GB



Storage – Solid state drive (SSD) 64 GB to 128 GB



Camera – Front 2.0 mega pixel & Back 5.0 mega pixel



Weight – 760 grams,



Battery – 7 hr Continuous Operation with Tablet Only, 12 hr Continuous Operation with Docking, 30 days Standby Time and 45 Whr Swappable Battery



Ports – USB 3.0 x 2, HDMI & Sim Card



Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 3G / 4G LTE, Bluetooth 3.0/4.0 RFID & NFC



Docking System – Keyboard, Battery, USB, Ethernet and Video ports, SD Reader



The worst thing when a manufacturer announces a new and exciting product such as this UltraNote Windows 8 tablet is that Kupa have not even teased us with a price or even a date when we can expect to see one of these nice looking tablets in store, but November is looking good, so stay tuned!



Source [Kupa World]





Eric Blair writes about information technology and computer hardware from vendors like Flux Light that is used to increase the performance of a network.



 


Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Why Apple’s Steve Jobs turned Apple into a patent warrior


“Almost every major technology company is involved in ongoing patent battles, but the most significant player is Apple, industry executives say, because of its influence and the size of its claims: in August in California, the company won a $1 billion patent infringement judgment against Samsung,” Charles Duhigg and Steve Lohr report for The New York Times. “Former Apple employees say senior executives made a deliberate decision over the last decade, after Apple was a victim of patent attacks, to use patents as leverage against competitors to the iPhone, the company's biggest source of profits.”



“Apple has filed multiple suits against three companies - HTC, Samsung and Motorola Mobility, now part of Google - that today are responsible for more than half of all smartphone sales in the United States,” Duhigg and Lohr report. “If Apple's claims - which include ownership of minor elements like rounded square icons and of more fundamental smartphone technologies - prevail, it will most likely force competitors to overhaul how they design phones, industry experts say.”



MacDailyNews Take: Read “force competitors to overhaul how they design phones” as “force competitors to stop stealing Apple’s trade dress and patented intellectual property.”



Duhigg and Lohr report, “‘Apple has always stood for innovation,’ the company wrote in a statement in response to questions from The New York Times. ‘To protect our inventions, we have patented many of the new technologies in these groundbreaking and category-defining products. In the rare cases when we take legal action over a patent dispute, it's only as a last resort. We think companies should dream up their own products rather than willfully copying ours, and in August a jury in California reached the same conclusion.’”



“The evolution of Apple into one of the industry's patent warriors gained momentum, like many things within the company, with a terse order from its chief executive, Steven P. Jobs,” Duhigg and Lohr report. “It was 2006, and Apple was preparing to unveil the first iPhone... Mr. Jobs gathered his senior managers. While Apple had long been adept at filing patents, when it came to the new iPhone, ‘we're going to patent it all,’ he declared, according to a former executive who, like other former employees, requested anonymity because of confidentiality agreements.”



Tons more in the full article here.



MacDailyNews Take: The article goes deeply into how the patent system is “broken.” Yadda, yadda, yadda. Yes, some changes are needed, but protection is also required. Obviously (see below). Steve sounds like he was past tired of getting ripped off – and rightfully so.



If you can’t see why Apple needs legal protection from theft, you really need to see an eye doctor.



Apple’s products came first, then Samsung’s:



Samsung Galaxy and Galaxy Tab Trade Dress Infringement




Here’s what Google's Android looked like before and after Apple’s iPhone:



Google Android before and after Apple iPhone



Apple Podcasts app review





Shortly after Apple unveiled iOS 6 at WWDC 2012, they released the standalone Podcasts app into the App Store. They've now updated it to support both iOS 6 features and the iPhone 5's taller screen. I originally intended to include all of this in my iOS 6 review but due to size and time constraints, I'm posting it separately, and belatedly.



Before the release of the dedicated Podcasts app, podcasts were downloaded via the iTunes app and could be played back in either the Music or Video app, depending on whether they were audio or video podcasts. That split, along with with the lack of any ability to subscribe to podcasts, made it a less than ideal experience, which numerous third party apps tried to solve.



Apple's attempt to solve it themselves is similar in structure to iBooks or Newsstand. It has a place to find your existing content and a place to get more content, in this case the Library and Catalog views. (Since podcasts are all free, it's not called a "Store" as it is in other, similar Apple apps, but it's functionally similar.)



The Library view organizes your shows in either a grid view, featuring album art, or a list view. To see the episodes of a particular podcast, tap it. There's pull-to-refresh support so you can check for new episodes at any point. From the episode view, you can tap an episode title to start streaming it immediately, the white downward arrow button to start downloading it (the 50MB limit applies if you're on cellular, or the the blue arrow button to get more information, including episode descriptions (which should include show notes, but since links don't function, they're essentially useless). You can also hit the share button to access the Share Sheet so you can Mail, Message, Twitter, Facebook, or Copy the podcast link.



Tap the podcast artwork or the arrow to the right of it to see options for that podcast. Options include the ability to toggle the podcast subscription on or off, auto-download on or off, the sort order oldest or newest first), the play order (oldest or newest first). You can also mark all episodes as played or unplayed.






When an audio podcast episode is playing, you get full screen album art that, unlike the Music app, is properly centered. Tapping the list view button at the top right gives you a list of additional episodes, so you can easily switch between them. Tapping the album art, which replaces the list view button at the the top right, takes you back to the main player screen. This is pretty much the same behavior as the Music app, and the consistency is appreciated.



Basic controls are also consistent in behavior if not in look. In Podcasts the buttons are big, gray, industrial, and almost old-school looking. You have play/pause and skip back/forward, and if you hold down on skip back/forward, you get rewind and fast forward. There are also two new controls, a 15 second skip back and skip forward. They're useful if you missed something and want to quickly re-listen or re-watch it, or if you want to hurry through a segment you don't enjoy. De-emphasized beneath them are the volume scrubber and the AirPlay button (if an AirPlay device is detected).



Unlike the Music app, if you tap the album art you aren't taken to list view. Instead, the album art lifts up to reveal a heavily skeuomorphic options panel that fills much of the screen with an old-style reel-to-reel tape player. It also provides controls for sharing (with the same sheet as above), for listening speed (1/2x, 1x, 1 1/2x, 2x, and 3x), and a sleep timer (off, 5, 10, 15, 30, or 45 minutes, 1 hour, or when the current episode ends.) There's also a positional scrubber with a tiny red line indicating your current time index in the podcast. While the touch-point appears tiny, it works just like the positional scrubber in the Music app. You can also reveal the options screen by using the small "gripper" control at the bottom of the album art to pull it up. To return to the player screen, grab the gripper -- now at the top -- and pull it back down. Strangely, you can't tap the tape deck to pull it down the way you can tap the album art to pull it up. No consistency points there. (or fit and finish points.)






Also, even though Podcasts is an App Store app, it does seem to enjoy certain privileges not afforded other App Store podcast apps. Namely, Podcasts gets to use its special controls on the Lock screen and in the fast app switcher. Instead of the standard skip forward/back buttons, which annoying skip entire episodes for other players, the 15 second forward and backward buttons are presented instead. If other players do have access to the same controls, hopefully they'll implement them. If they don't, Apple should make them available so everything in the App Store stays as fair and functional as possible.






The video player interface is different than the audio player interface. Unlike the audio player, the video player isn't given the same character or style, and there's no skeuomorphism in sight. Instead, it's almost identical to how podcasts used to be played in the Videos app. It does add a playback speed button, however, but without the 3x option. There's a fullscreen/widescreen toggle, which is more important on previous 3:2 iPhones and iPods than it is on the 16:9 iPhone 5 or iPod touch 5. Also missing are the new 15 second back/forward buttons, and in their place the single, old 30 second back button. It's also the only part of the Podcast app that supports landscape orientation (though you can watch in portrait as well if you really want to).






Unlike iBooks or Newsstand, Podcasts also has a strange hybrid area that's in the Library section but provides Catalog content. It's called Top Stations and it's another way for Apple to display featured or recommended content, but using a radio dialer metaphor rather than the usual iTunes Store list display. It's accessed through a huge tap at the bottom of the screen, and given equal waiting to the podcast library itself, which is interesting.



At the top, you can toggle between audio and video podcasts. On the "tuner" band you have the basic iTunes podcast categories on top and under them, the sub categories. Under that you have large-sized album art for 5 shows, one on top of the other. Swiping horizontally moves you through sub-categories and then categories. Swiping vertically takes you through the recommended podcasts. Horizontal and vertical scrolling is independent, so if you swipe down to the fifth podcast in one category, you'll still be shown the first one if you swipe over to a different category. Tap the artwork and the latest episode will start to play. Otherwise, if you linger for a momentarily, an info icon will appear to the bottom right of it. Tap it and you'll get a list of episodes and a Subscribe button.



It's a visually dynamic way to suggest new shows, and a novel way to bring "Store/Catalog" content into the "Library" part of the app. It'll be interesting to see if we get analogs to this in iBooks and Newsstand (racks?), and the other player apps like Music and Videos.






The Catalog section is what used to be the Podcasts section in the old iTunes app, but all done up in the new iTunes app style. Tap the Catalog button and you get the iBook's style revolving door animation. Inside, there are tabs for Features, Audio, Video, Charts, and Search. If you tap Charts, you start off with an audio and a video chart combined on one page with horizontal scrolling, along with a Categories button at the top left to get more specific charts. If you you tap "See All >" you get a proper vertical list view of either audio or video podcasts. The Categories button, however, gets awkwardly re-prositioned next to the the back button for Charts, which squishes the screen title between it and Library (which sometimes appears and sometimes doesn't), and truncates it beyond the point of usefulness.



There's also a lack of consistency for audio icons, with the toggle using the fairly common speaker icon, and the tab bar using a chunkier, rounder speaker glyph, which is odd.





Search bifurcates between episodes and podcasts. The episode results page is the more chaotic of the two, presenting stacked vertical lists of 4 episodes each that you can scroll through horizontally, as well as a large set of album art for related podcasts that isn't vertically stacked but can also be horizontally scrolled. For the episodes, tapping on the downward arrow beside a specific episode starts it downloading that episode. Tapping on the album art or the episode title, or anything else for that matter, takes you to the podcast page. In the podcast results tab, you're simply given a list view of shows that match the search results. Tap on any one of the podcasts and you're taken to its information page.



On the individual podcast pages you get general information about the show, including the artist, rating, category, and can hit the Subscribe button to add it to your library. You also have tabs for the show's Details, which includes the description and episode lists, Reviews, which lets you Like a show via Facebook, along with the regular iTunes reviews, and Related, which shows you more podcasts from the same artist, and more podcasts in the same sub-category.



Of course, you can't subscribe to podcasts via RSS, or to any podcast outside of iTunes. This is still an Apple app, and still tied to the Apple ecosystem.






If you have more than one iOS device, iCloud support will sync your subscriptions between them, as well as maintain your last position.



Overall, the Podcasts app adds a lot of features that were sorely missing from Apple's original iTunes app podcast implementation. It isn't perfect, and indeed a lot users are finding it buggy and frustrating at times. Episodes mark themselves as unplayed. Interaction with iTunes on the desktop is unfinished to say the least. The Podcasts app is also plagued by a general bug in Apple's audio API that causes audio playback to re-start after using Siri or placing a call.



Hopefully Apple continues to polish and improve it, though given what's happened with the App Store app recently that's a double edged sword at best.



The feature Podcasts needs most now is background downloads. If Newsstand can fetch your periodicals every morning, Podcasts should be able to fetch your podcasts when you're plugged in and connected to Wi-Fi. However, Apple doesn't allow other App Store apps to do that, so either it would be an unfair competitive advantage, or Apple would finally have to make a background downloading API available to everyone. I've heard rumors of the latter, so lets hope it's coming, and sooner rather than iOS 7...



Power users may want to stick to a power client, of which the App Store has several, but for those who simply want to enjoy the occasional podcast, as well as iCloud sync and Apple-style integration, Podcasts is a great choice.


Free - Download now