Category: Tutorials

I’ve always used Google Maps for navigation in the car, but now that I’ve moved to Los Angeles, I am using it for a different purpose: bus maps.

Because I wasn’t much of a bus rider before, I never paid much attention to the Bus mode on Google Maps.

Now that I’m car-less in L.A., the Bus feature on Google Maps for iPhone is a crucial tool that I rely heavily on to get around.

By simply touching the Bus icon at the top of the map when you look up directions, you bring up the suggested transit route, with information on the bus number and scheduled arrival time.

What’s more, touching the clock in the upper right hand corner will bring up a list of the upcoming bus arrivals, so that you may choose to plan a later trip.

Once you arrive, Maps will give you walking directions (if applicable) to arrive at your destination.

Highly recommended for transit-riding iPhone owners.

Would be nice to have maps for the metro rail line, though…

Google Maps: Awesome App for Bus Transit Routes is a post from Apple iPhone Review.

Well before the iPad was even a gleam in the most ardent Apple-lover’s eye, the marriage of tablet computing and a personalized newspaper was already a foregone conclusion/killer app in waiting. Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick even captured the possibility of the ‘Newspad’ in the 1968 classic 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Now we’ve got scores of apps aiming to deliver the same focused dose of information to iPad users: from social-focused tools like Flipboard, Zite and Taptu to reimagined versions of the daily newspaper like The Daily (not to mention the apps from actual ink-and-paper outfits like USA Today, the New York Times and more). Add to the list a stylish and somewhat innovative offering from our corporate parents at AOL: Editions, launched today and free on the App Store.

Editions bills itself as a “new daily magazine that reads you,” and while that may sound a little bit creepy the concept is quite nice. Editions lets you define sections that mirror what you might see in a daily paper: Top News, Business, Tech, and so on. There’s even a Local News section that will deliver stories from your neighborhood (partly driven by AOL’s hyperlocal Patch.com sites). You choose the sections you want, along with your font size and banner cover, and your magazine starts composing itself — complete with snazzy cover and weather info where the subscriber label would be. The banner looks like it might be a tribute to Time Inc.’s Western regional magazine Sunset.

Of course, you can get quite a bit more granular than just the high-level section choices. If you hook Editions up with your AOL, Twitter and Facebook identities, the app will take a look at the news sources you mention and the topics you’re interested in to sketch a rough profile of the news you can use. You can dive into your complete sources/interests profile and delete the automatic assumptions, or add new ones. A note of community interest: Adding sources is by the name of the site, not the URL, so if you want to find TUAW you need to start typing our full name, ‘The Unofficial Apple Weblog.’

As you browse through Editions, you can give instant feedback on the tags/keywords associated with a story: ‘show me less about The Bachelorette‘ or more, if that floats your boat. Similarly, if there’s a particular news source you appreciate or one you’d rather not include, just mark them with a check or an X in a story to let Editions know how you feel. Your feedback gets rolled into your personal profile so that the next day’s issue has more of what you like to read, and less of what you don’t.

Editions is built to download new stories once a day — actually giving you a limited bite of news, and letting you have the satisfaction of ‘reaching the end of the Internet’ rather than continuously providing a stream of new content round the clock. True news junkies may furrow their brows at this parsimony, but the experience is a lot like The Daily’s reasonable level of content: not too much, not too little, and certainly enough to get you through a morning.

One thing to keep in mind about using Editions is that for most stories, you’ll only see an opening excerpt in the magazine interface; when you tap to see more, the in-app browser takes you directly to the news provider’s site, thereby delivering pageviews to the original publisher. This is possibly a more ethical (and less litigation-prone) approach than some other newspad apps have used, but the drawback is that you can’t do as much reading when you’re offline (for that, I’m a big Instapaper fan). The exception is content drawn from AOL-owned sources like the Huffington Post, Patch, WalletPop, Engadget (and, well, us); those stories load in full and are available offline.

If you’re looking for an attractive daily news app that’s easy to configure and should learn more about you as you read, take a look at Editions and see what you think.

AOL is the parent company of TUAW.

AOL launches Editions into the personal-newspaper iPad app fray originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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From Etsy seller SceeneShoes comes the custom brassiere pictured above, which Technabob has dubbed “Angry Boobs.” Featuring the red bird and a pig from Angry Birds, giving this US$35 creation as a gift will probably inspire either laughter or thrown objects, depending on how good a sport your significant other is.

The bra is available in sizes from 34A to 38DD; if you ask me, SceeneShoes missed an opportunity by not using different birds for different cup sizes. And now the next time I see my wife I’m going to be hearing a high-pitched “Wheeeeee!” in my head, so thanks for that, SceeneShoes.

Wow. I mean, really: no comment.

No Comment: Angry Birds in convenient bra form originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 02 Aug 2011 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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China is the most populous nation on Earth, so anyone who can find a way to market successfully in that country stands to see huge economic gains. Indeed, we’ve already seen huge contributions to Apple’s bottom line from its sales in China, with massive demand for the iPhone and greater retail expansion to come. Demand for Apple’s products is now so high in China that fake Apple Stores are springing up in areas not yet serviced by official retail outlets.

Writing for Foreign Policy, Christina Larson points out that Apple hasn’t always been a sales powerhouse in China. It’s only relatively recently that Apple has had any brand identity in China at all; as early as three years ago, Chinese IT workers might regard a MacBook Pro as if it was a particularly small UFO. Today, Apple’s devices are permeating the “high end” of Chinese society due largely to Apple’s products being marketed as a luxury good in the country.

Larson points out that Apple still markets itself as an underdog in the US and other markets (still echoing the “computer for the rest of us” sentiment from the 1980s), but in China the company is instead positioned alongside the likes of Armani, BMW, and Versace. This “luxury” branding goes right alongside a new prosperity among China’s elite, and even more than in other parts of the world, Apple products are seen as status symbols in China.

There’s a darker side to all of this, of course; the bulk of Larson’s article describes the often deplorable conditions in Chinese factories. But like many articles on the subject, it conflates and confuses Foxconn with Apple and tries to place the blame for working conditions squarely on Apple despite Foxconn’s lengthy list of big-name tech clients. We’ve critiqued this approach to the subject before, and there’s no need to rehash it again. Suffice it to say that Apple is well aware of these issues and is trying to hold its suppliers accountable — a task that’s nowhere near as simple as some commentators would have the public believe.

Apple’s growth in China is still only in its infancy; the first brick-and-mortar stores opened in 2008, and Apple’s online Chinese store has been operating for less than a year. With China’s economic future looking far more robust than many other markets, the country is likely to contribute a great deal to Apple’s fiscal success from now on.

Examining Apple’s incredible growth in China originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 02 Aug 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s “look and feel” patent infringement suit against Samsung has gained the attention of the International Trade Commission (ITC), which has the power to block imports of products if it determines they infringe on patents. According to Bloomberg, the ITC usually takes 15 to 18 months to complete reviews and decide whether or not to block imports.

Although the ITC has the power to block imports of products if it determines they violate patents, things rarely reach that point. Instead, the threat of an outright importation embargo usually forces companies to the negotiating table, where millions of dollars in patent licensing fees subsequently change hands. Notably, Samsung is not launching the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia, though according to AllThingsD the company claims it has nothing to do with Apple issuing a complaint with the Federal Court in that country.

Apple has accused Samsung of willfully copying both the iPhone and the iPad in the hardware design of the Galaxy line, and a casual glance at the products does indeed show many design similarities. On closer inspection the differences between the companies’ products become much clearer, however, so it may take the courts a long time to determine whether Samsung’s products violate Apple’s patents or not.

Apple’s complaint over Samsung Galaxy Tab earns ITC review originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 02 Aug 2011 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MacTech Conference 2011 has announced its list of speakers, and it’s a great list. We already knew Guy Kawasaki would be giving the keynote, but add to that more focused talks by Daniel Jalkut, Aaron Hillegass, Andy Ihnatko, Justin McWilliams, TUAW alum Justin Esgar. Many more will be there imparting their wisdom in an extensive lineup of sessions.

This year’s MacTech Conference begins November 2 in Los Angeles, and we’ll be there on the ground to give you daily coverage, plus interviews and app demos after the event. MacTech Conference last year was quite impressive, and each year there are two tracks: one for IT and one for developers. The list for this year looks great for both tracks. Check out the full press release below.

Oh, and early bird pricing ends August 8, so if you’re thinking about attending you may want to register soon.

MacTech Conference 2011 lists speakers originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 02 Aug 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’re looking for an app to combine checkins for Foursquare and Facebook Places try Checkin+ from the makers of IM+, a multi-protocol IM tool. Checkin+ will do just that, and adds the ability to see locations in a 2D map or 3D augmented reality view.

Checkin+ will also allow you to see friends nearby, which is fun for when you were supposed to meet somewhere, but you can’t quite remember where. While I’d like to see a few more services supported (like Gowalla, especially), Checkin+ looks like a simple app that does something rather well. Check it out in action below.

Video App Demo: Checkin+ originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 02 Aug 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I didn’t like the first Garmin StreetPilot app for iOS because maps had to be downloaded on the fly. Not good if you are out of cellular range, and even worse if you you are downloading lots of maps on a metered data plan.

Garmin has finally come around and is offering maps that are contained on your iPhone. There are two US versions, one with the 49 states (Alaska is excluded) and and some Caribbean islands for US $39.99 and a North America version for $49.99. There is also a UK and Ireland version for £44.99.

Of course these new apps are a larger download. The US version is 1.37 GB while the original StreetPilot app weighed in at 10 MB. This latest version makes for a far more competitive offering on the iPhone. I’m hoping to get a copy for review.

Last Week Garmin announced it had acquired Navigon and I’m hoping the two companies will provide even more innovative and aggressively priced solutions for iPhone owners.

Garmin reverses course and offers on-board maps for iPhone originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 02 Aug 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Crescent Moon Games made the excellent Aralon for iOS in the past, and that was a full-fledged RPG, featuring a whole world to explore and lots of gear to collect and quests to complete. Now, the company’s gone back to the fantasy well to deliver another hack-and-slash style RPG game, though this one is a little simpler (and a little more focused on just the dungeons). Pocket RPG is exactly what it sounds like: A colorful dungeon-crawler with three classes, a fun and slick style and some great dual-stick gameplay.

If there’s an issue with this one, it’s probably that things are a little too simple. Each level is its own contained world, which means you’re leveling up what’s basically a separate character in each. Gameplay itself is pretty mindless, too — there are a few special encounters to break things up, but you’re pretty much just using a few different abilities over and over against the enemy hordes.

Still, Pocket RPG is plenty of fun, and the game’s being updated steadily with new features (not to mention that it comes with full Game Center integration, and it looks particularly great on the iPad). Right now, the title’s on sale for just US $4.99, and if you enjoy plumbing through dungeons of all kinds (and come on, who doesn’t?), it’s an excellent experience.

TUAW’s Daily iPad App: Pocket RPG originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 02 Aug 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Push Pop Press, the digital publisher that has the backing of former U.S. vice president Al Gore, announced through its website that it was acquired by Facebook.

The company received a lot of press earlier this year with the release of Gore’s Our Choice, which subsequently won an Apple Design Award.

Push Pop Press states that while Facebook isn’t moving into the digital publishing realm, its technology will be integrated with Facebook services. Our Choice will remain available on the App Store with further proceeds being donated to The Climate Reality Project.

While deal isn’t a surprise, it creates a huge missed opportunity for Apple. Our Choice was one of those innovative apps that showed off the absolute best of the iPad, and while MacStories theorizes that Push Pop Press’ systems might be a good fit for Facebook apps, Push Pop Press was just brushing the surface of what it could accomplish on its own. It’s quite a difference from dealing with climate change to handling the teeming Farmville masses.

If anything, I would have loved to see Apple acquire Push Pop Press and use it as basis for its own in-house publisher (akin to Amazon’s publishing programs such as Kindle Singles) — to help authors create and publish interactive books for both the App Store and iBooks.

Facebook acquires iOS publishing platform Push Pop Press originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 02 Aug 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple is king of the skies, Gogo tells AllThingsD, with iPhones dominating mobile devices using the company’s Inflight Internet service. iPhones and iPod touches make up the bulk of mobile devices accessing the Internet from 10,000 feet, while Android trails at 12 percent and Blackberry is even further behind at 6 percent.

On the flip side, though, 41 percent of computers accessing Gogo’s Internet are Windows-operated while just 20 percent are Macs running OS X. iPads, which are counted among laptops, make up more than a third of the computers accessing Gogo.

What Gogo doesn’t tell AllThingsD is if more mobile devices access its network than laptops. Mobile devices only are charged US$7.95 for Gogo connectivity during a flight more than 90 minutes long, while laptops and iPads must fork over $12.95 for a flight longer than three hours (a full price list can be found on Gogo’s site).

If you want to try using your iPhone on a Gogo-equipped flight, check out our review of the Gogo Inflight app. Just remember to keep the phone in Airplane Mode to kill the cell signal, then turn just the Wi-Fi back on.

iPhone dominating GoGo’s in-flight Web traffic originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 02 Aug 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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