Category: I-phone

Un nouveau magasin d’Apple est prête à ouvrir dans la ville française de Lyon la semaine prochaine. Errr, excuse me — I mean, a new Apple Store is set to open next week in the French city of Lyon.

ifoAppleStore is reporting that the new La Confluence store will open on Wednesday, April 4 at 7 PM local time. That date and time are a bit different from the usual Friday or weekend morning openings; the store opening is scheduled to coincide with the opening of a retail building that is part of a 350-acre redevelopment at the confluence of the Rhône and Saône rivers.

There’s another Apple Store just three miles away; no word on whether the existing Part Dieu store will remain open after the new facility opens.

New Apple Store in France set to open originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s a cool Apple TV feature that you probably didn’t know about, particularly if you’re like me and the third-generation Apple TV is your first foray into Apple’s “hobby” device. In addition to the pre-packaged and somewhat spartan remote and Apple’s more full-featured Remote app for iOS devices, it turns out you can control your Apple TV with virtually any third-party remote control. We first wrote about this feature about a year and a half ago, but we’re guessing there are a lot of Apple TV newbies out there since the recent update, so it’s worth a refresher.

On your Apple TV, head into Settings > General > Remotes. There, you’ll find an option called “Learn Remote.” From there, it’s a simple matter of following onscreen instructions; press and hold the button on your remote that you want to have control the corresponding function you see on your TV.

In addition to the basic navigation functions, you also have the option to program more advanced playback functions. This will allow you to set up fast-forward, rewind, next chapter, and a handful of other functions on your third-party remote.

The whole procedure is pretty drop-dead simple, but results will vary depending on your remote. I didn’t have any issues setting up the basic navigation functions on the remote that came with my surround sound system, but no matter what I tried I couldn’t get the playback controls to pair up with my Apple TV. At the very least, having the basic nav functions let me toss the standard Apple TV remote in a drawer, so that’s something.

This is one feature that Apple doesn’t go out of its way to advertise, but like many other things Apple’s done, I now find myself wishing everything worked this way. If my TV had a programming function like this, I could finally get down to one remote control without having to shell out extra money for a universal remote.

How to control Apple TV with a third-party remote originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Government officials Down Under can start doing their happy dance; the Australian Defence Signals Directorate (DSD) has given the thumbs-up for the use of iOS devices for handling data classified at the “Protected” level.

The security evaluation by the DSD is apparently the first of its kind to have been performed on iOS 5, and it opens the door to use of iOS devices by Australian government agencies that have implemented the DSD’s advice. A PDF document titled “iOS Hardening Configuration Guide” was developed by the DSD and is available for download here.

Last June, security firm Symantec released their report comparing the relative security of iOS and Google’s Android mobile operating system, and found that iOS provided better protection than Android against abuse and service attacks, data loss, and data integrity attacks. According to Symantec, Apple’s mobile OS also implements access control, application provenance, and encryption better than Android.

Between the work being done by companies like Symantec and government agencies like the DSD, iOS is definitely finding its place in governments around the world.

[via AppleInsider]

Australian government approves iOS for managing classified data originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple is under fire for its iPad 4G marketing in Australia and facing legal action from a consumer watchdog group which claims the company’s advertising is misleading. After a meeting with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Apple has agreed to modify its advertising in the country, says a report in The Next Web.

Apple will add a statement to its marketing materials that’ll clarify that the iPad is not compatible with Australia’s LTE and WiMAX networks. Its website and in-store signage will now say,

This product supports very fast cellular networks. It is not compatible with current Australian LTE networks and WiMAX networks.

For service from a wireless carrier, sign up for a simple, month-by-month plan on your iPad and cancel anytime without penalty.

Apple will also contact current iPad WiFi+4G owners and offer them a refund. Apple’s not delaying on this and has already changed the wording on its website. It will change its in-store materials and contact iPad 4G customers by April 5th.

Apple clarifies iPad 4G in Australia originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple employees were happy when Steve Jobs was at the helm and now his predecessor is receiving the same adoration. According to Glassdoor’s March 2012 list of the top 25 highest rated CEOs, Tim Cook takes the top spot with a 97 percent approval rating. This matches Steve Jobs’s rating when he resigned from the CEO position last August. It also beat Job’s 2011 rating (March 2010 to March 2011) which was 95 percent.

[Via AllThingsD]

Apple workers quite fond of CEO Tim Cook originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After months of deliberation, I finally brought home a new addition to our family — a digital SLR camera. With the DSLR comes a plethora of options I didn’t have before, with the ability to shoot RAW images being at the top of the list.

My husband and I passed the camera back and forth to take a few test images, which were uploaded to iPhoto on my MacBook Air. Instant crawl. Anything involving the RAW images was a drag on the machine, though it has far more to do with the MacBook Air (11-inch October 2010) than iPhoto. But, it did remind me to ask the TUAW brain trust: Is it time to upgrade to Aperture? What about Adobe Lightroom? What’s the best photo manager overall to use?

With the RAW support and the potential increase in picture-taking overall, my needs are poised to outgrow iPhoto’s capabilities, and it’s the same question that other people will face as digital SLRs grow more powerful and affordable. Here’s a quick look at three of the major players out there.

What is a photo manager?

A photo manager is a digital version of a traditional album, where you store images from your digital camera and can organize them into albums. They range from free (if you purchase a new Mac or plan to be an Adobe Creative Cloud subscriber) to US$149. All of them can edit photos, but not manipulate them — for that, you would need a program such as Adobe Photoshop or Pixelmator. All of them have the ability to create photo books and web galleries, as well as social media integration.

iPhoto 11

Who’s it for? Those who are just getting comfortable with handling digital photography and those who want a basic photo manager and editing tools.

Evidence for: It’s the lowest-cost out of the three and it’s easy to use, especially for photo novices. The learning curve is very low, especially if you’re using the iOS version of iPhoto.

Evidence against: Bigger libraries tend to cause the program to hang up. It doesn’t handle multiple libraries well, so if they’re split up among different machines, you’ll want to consider investing in iPhoto Library Manager for $19.95 or the free iPhoto Buddy. You can only access one library at a time. Some users report having issues with photo libraries with more than 10,000 photos.

Cost: $14.99, Mac App Store only. There’s no trial version. It’s free if you purchase a new Mac.

Aperture

Who’s it for? Professional photographers and serious hobbyists.

Evidence for: For those used to iPhoto, it’s a logical next step, and you can import your files from iPhoto. Handles large and multiple libraries much easier. Has some of the same features of iPhoto including the ability to bring in Photo Stream and Faces and Places tagging. Some users prefer Aperture’s RAW conversion to Adobe’s. You can batch-edit photos, and the full-screen edit mode has a number of fans. You can edit photos more precisely than iPhoto.

Evidence against: It’s not the solution to consider if you have a low-powered machine. As Macworld notes, Faces can be a severe deterrent to Aperture’s performance.

Cost: $79.99, Mac App Store only. Apple used to offer a 30-day trial, but did away with it.

Adobe Lightroom

Who’s it for? Professional photographers and serious hobbyists.

Evidence for: If you can navigate Photoshop blindfolded, then the tools in Lightroom will be second nature to you. Like Aperture, you can batch-edit photos and create workflows. Some users prefer Lightroom’s interface, which is more workflow-oriented. You can actually try Lightroom before you drop a lot of money on it. It’s a bit more powerful than Aperture.

Evidence against: The price is nearly double Aperture’s, but that’ll be a non-issue for those who plan to become Adobe Creative Cloud subscribers. It’s not tightly integrated with iOS devices like Aperture and iPhoto are. Some find that switching between modules is a bit frustrating.

Cost: $149.99 on its own or $99 when purchased with Adobe Creative Suite. It’ll be included in an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription. A 30-day trial version is available.

There are other alternatives, such as Google’s free Picasa. Most cameras will come bundled with some sort of photo-managing software. One of the drawbacks to all of them is that unless you’re going from iPhoto to Aperture, any editing of metadata will be lost.

From parents taking photos of their kids with marching bands to professionals with studios or out in the field, the type of photo manager you wind up with reflects your interest in photography. If you want an easy place to dump photos and share them with the grandparents, you most likely will not want anything beyond iPhoto. If your interest lies in truly crafting your art, then give Aperture or Adobe Lightroom a try.

Find the best photo manager to fit your needs originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OMG. Let’s hope that this isn’t a clever April Fools joke, but MAD Magazine is coming to the iPad this Sunday, April 1, 2012. Just think — Alfred E. Neuman‘s idiotic grin beaming at you from the Retina display of your new iPad!

For several generations, MAD has been the go-to source for completely childish humor, excellent movie spoofs, and an on-point satirical look at our world. Now the magazine will appear on your iPad as a free app, with current issues of the magazine available through in-app purchase for $4.99 and past issues for $1.99. You can also subscribe for a rate of $1.99 per issue or $9.99 per year.

As you’d expect, the app features all of the fun things you’ve known and loved for years about the “real” magazine, including the fold-ins and the Sergio Aragonés “MAD Marginals.” The marginals, those little drawings that appear around the periphery of other MAD content, will be zoomable so aging boomers don’t need a magnifying glass to read them. Of course you can’t fold your iPad, so the fold-in will be animated — and for the first iPad issue, it was drawn by none other than Al Jaffee, who’s been making people laugh out loud since the 1950s.

Keep your eyes on the App Store Sunday for the appearance of MAD for the ‘pad.

[via CNET]

What, me worry? MAD Magazine to hit the iPad on April 1st originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple set up a banner in the Parkland Mall in Dalian, China that advertised its upcoming flagship store in the nearby Century City shopping district. According to a M.I.C Gadget report, a security team from the Dalian Department Store took down the sign because it was upset that Apple chose a rival mall for its retail store.

As MacRumors points out, a report in We54 suggests it wasn’t a mall rivalry that resulted in the banner being removed, but a public safety violation by Apple. We54 claims the large display encroached on public space and had to be removed.

Apple supposedly has its own security team on site and is working to diffuse the situation. You can watch the security guards remove Apple’s banner in the M.I.C. Gadget video below.

[Via Fortune 2.0]

Chinese security guards remove Apple retail sign originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There are designers and then there’s the rest of the world. As much as I appreciate esthetics, I can’t conceptualize design because I’m convinced designers see things through a different frame of reference. Those like me who aren’t designers are thankful when people like Craig Mod take the time to explain their creative process and insights.

Mod, who worked on Flipboard for the iPhone, has crafted a lengthy essay about the design of the app. His discussion doesn’t focus on the bits and bytes but the existential journey that led to the finished product. It will take you a while to digest all that Mod has to say, but it’s well worth your time.

On building Flipboard originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Simpl. is a brand new website creation and publishing tool for the iPad. Version 1.0 has just hit the iOS App Store and I was invited to take a look

So how does Simpl. work? By directing your website to simpl.com. To start, create a Simpl. account. Your username will become a part of your Simpl. web address (for example: yourname.simple.com). Once you’ve created and confirmed your Simpl. account, download the Simpl. app from the iOS App Store — it’s free!

Using preset themes, the Simpl. app lets you create a website using several preset pages (home, about, news, photos, text, quotes and contact). Each page can be edited and renamed, but the functionality of those pages is specific to their category. The result is the layout of a basic blog.

It’s extremely easy to edit these pages on the iPad, and this is where Simpl. lives up to its name. You can add or edit text, create links to other websites, and easily add photos from your camera roll or photo stream to your photos page. There’s basic linking to Facebook and Twitter, too.

Previewing your work in progress is as easy as a tap on the preview button. And if you decide you don’t like the theme your using, it’s a matter of simply switching to another one. Once you’ve got all your content as you’d like it, hit publish and within a minute your new site is up and live. It’s… simple!

Simpl.’s strength is in just how easy it is to use. And you can imagine the less technically inclined so easily jumping to Simpl. to create their first website or blog. I put a basic site about my cat (the first thing I saw!) together within a few minutes. However, at version 1.0, for the ever so slightly more ambitious, Simpl. will leave you wanting a bit more.

The team at Simpl. have told me there’s lots to expect from future updates, and as an incentive to get involved early, they’re offering two months free hosting and a lifetime 20% discount on the monthly subscription, which is US$3.99 including the discount after the two month trial.

Thought it’s got some room to grow (adding some more advanced features while maintaining its simplicity), Simpl. provides a super easy and intuitive way to create and publish websites on the iPad. It’s definitely worth checking out.

Simpl. is a free app from the iOS App Store. You can view a promo video of the app here.

Simpl. for iPad creates and publishes websites simply originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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“Is that the new one?” one of my workmates asked of the iPad sitting on my desk in its upright dock.

“Yep,” I said, and showed him the screen.

He played around with it for a few seconds and said, “Huh. It doesn’t look all that different, does it?”

“Are you kidding?” I said, and grabbed my old iPad 2, now destined to be my wife’s new/used device. I opened iBooks on both devices, queued them up to the same page of The Hound of the Baskervilles, and invited him to check out the (to me) obvious differences in text, side-by-side.

He liked the iPad 2’s rendering better. I was pretty much dumbfounded. I suggested he visit the optometrist as soon as possible, because to me the difference is stunningly obvious.

Somehow, in spite of selling three million units in a weekend, we’re meant to believe the newest iPad is a disappointment. It’s supposedly a merely iterative upgrade to the iPad 2; the bigger battery, more powerful GPU, and doubled system RAM all simply offset the increased power and processing demands of that new Retina Display. A display which, if various pundits and casual (possibly half-blind) passersby are to be believed, isn’t that much better anyway.

Frankly, those people are on crack. The new iPad’s Retina Display is the best display I’ve seen on any device, ever. And for a device that’s essentially all display, the effect that has on the experience can’t be overstated.

Macworld’s Dan Frakes agrees and says the new iPad’s screen isn’t getting its just due. “The new display is simply phenomenal. I expected it to be good, but it’s really good. Really, really good. Text on a screen has never seemed clearer or more…right.”

He’s right. I used my old iPad 2 briefly, and it was like the screen had been smeared in a thick coat of Vaseline. The iPad 2’s screen quality was always something of a letdown after months using an iPhone 4 and then an iPhone 4S, but it wasn’t until I used the newest iPad that the 1024 x 768 screen on the old one became absolutely unacceptable to my eyes. There literally is no going back.

Between the iPhone 4S, iPad (3), and the still-impressive 1920 x 1200 screen on my MacBook Pro, I now have the privilege of owning three devices whose individual pixels are completely indistinguishable at the distance I normally use them. Sure, I can lean into my Mac’s display and see the pixels, or I can push my nose against the iPad, or I can squint real hard and concentrate on my iPhone 4S screen and see a stray pixel here or there. But I have to make the effort to do that.

Is all this pixel density overkill? Hardly. As recently as five years ago, I still regularly printed out documents rather than reading them onscreen. For one thing, a sheet of paper was more portable than my Mac; for another, printed text simply looked better. Five years later, the tables have turned. I can carry an entire library worth of books on a device not much bigger than a book itself, and the text renders every bit as well on its screen as it does on a sheet of paper. Meanwhile, I can’t remember the last time I printed out a document — any document, for any reason.

This new 9.7-inch screen has more pixels on it than my 17-inch MacBook Pro and iPhone 4S have — combined. The iPad’s Retina Display has spoiled me; if I see a pixel, you blew it.

Macworld says the new iPad’s screen is underrated originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Paul Haddad of Tapbots confirmed that Apple is rejecting apps which send out UDIDs. The developer posted a rejection notice for version 2.2 of its popular twitter client Tweetbot. The notice says that Tweetbot was rejected because the “app does not obtain user consent before collecting their personal data” and points to the UDID as the culprit.

Tapbots says it was using the UDID for its push notification service and has disabled the code in the most recent version of Tweetbot that it submitted to the iOS App Store. Haddad advised other developers who rely on the UDID, “If you are an app developer and depend on UDID for any functionality it’s time to migrate away from it, sooner or later Apple will catch you.”

Confirmation of Apple rejecting an app for accessing UDID originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Fair Labor Association released its first report about the conditions it found in Foxconn factories during a recent investigation. The report details over 50 violations that center on excessive overtime and low pay. To improve the working environment, Foxconn has vowed to slash overtime without decreasing workers compensation. This change, however, has Foxconn workers concerned says a Reuters report.

Some employees are afraid less hours will translate into less money, a situation they don’t want. “We are worried we will have less money to spend. Of course, if we work less overtime, it would mean less money,” one 23-year-old employee told Reuters.

Another worker said, “We have just been told that we can only work a maximum of 36 hours a month of overtime. I tell you, a lot of us are unhappy with this. We think that 60 hours of overtime a month would be reasonable and that 36 hours would be too little.”

Foxconn reduces working hours, workers ask why originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIM sent a scathing letter to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) accusing Apple of unfairly trying to sway the upcoming standards vote so its nano-SIM proposal gets approved. The letter, obtained by CNET, claims Apple is having its representatives change their affiliation so they appear to work for Bell Mobility, KT Corporation and SK Telekom. RIM is asking that these representatives not be allowed to cast a vote on behalf of another company.

The ETSI was expected to vote on the nano-SIM standard sometime this week, but that vote has been delayed says as report by French financial daily Les Echos.

[Via FOSS Patents and Engadget]

Nano-SIM standard vote postponed, RIM accuses Apple of cheating originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 08:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The baseline of iOS document sync and editing rests with Apple’s iCloud, which allows the company’s three productivity apps (Keynote, Numbers and Pages) to automatically back up, synchronize versions across devices and accept uploaded files via the web browser — or, if you’re sneaky, you can use a Mac folder that ties into the cloud storage service. That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t deliver the syncing magic of services like Dropbox, Box.com, Egnyte or SugarSync for easy and rapid file access on the iPad.

Of course, getting your files onto the iPad is only half the trip — specifically, half of the round trip. “Round tripping” files means that your iPad productivity apps need to be able to save modified documents back to the cloud, creating new versions automatically rather than having to be manually emailed, uploaded or copied over. Cracking that challenge is a key advantage for apps that aim to address the enterprise/mobile professional market.

This week, two major players announced new round tripping features for their productivity platforms; one’s from an application vendor moving into the cloud, and the other’s from the cloud storage side opening up new opportunities for app developers.

First, we have Connect by QuickOffice. QuickOffice was founded in 2002 and grew up in the smartphone space, but CEO & co-founder Alan Masarek told TUAW that “things have really gotten off the hook for us with tablets.” In fact, the flagship QuickOffice HD product is the #2 highest-grossing iPad app in the store, sometimes trading spots for #1 with Apple’s Pages app.

QuickOffice HD already allows solid document, spreadsheet and presentation editing (including the XML/Office 2010 and 2011 formats for Excel and Word), with good round-trip cloud storage hooks for most popular services. The recently-released Pro Select HD product allows administrators to set data security policies and turn off specific file access methods. With Connect by QuickOffice, the company is moving towards providing a proprietary, highly tuned cloud storage system of its own with the viewing and editing prowess of QuickOffice HD on the front end.

The new app will allow users to sync immediately, save round-trip and access files stored on remote computers (either in designated folders, or via remote access to the full volume) while still providing sync with other cloud services besides the core Connect service. Collaboration options include file sharing and commenting; you can manage your shared files online via the Connect web portal.

Connect will be offered on a free/subscription basis — the free version lets you view files and sync up to two devices. Premium and Pro subscriptions (at $19.99 or $69.99/year, with Premium going up to $44.99 after an introductory period) add editing features while bumping up the device limits and file sync capacity. Connect by QuickOffice should be available as a free download in the App Store within the next few days.

The second new wrinkle is from cloud storage vendor Box.com (formerly Box.net). The company’s free iPad app has been revamped as Box OneCloud, providing quick links to over 30 Box-friendly iOS applications for viewing and editing files. Four of those apps get pride of place as “premier apps,” offering — wait for it — round-trip file saves directly back to Box.com for the simplest possible integration and file management. Rockin’ demo video below.

The four premier apps available at launch with Box OneCloud are portable document reader/annotation tool PDF Expert, speech-savvy notetaking app PaperPort Notes, remote signature & authorization app Adobe EchoSign and, surprise surprise, QuickOffice HD. All four should gracefully save back to Box, and there will be more premier apps coming in the future. Box accounts are available free for personal use (5 GB storage, with paid upgrades available), and business accounts start at $15 per user per month.

The iPad may not be the ideal tool for office applications, but if these two vendors have anything to say about it the story is going to get better.

Connect by QuickOffice and Box OneCloud attack iPad file round-trip challenge originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 08:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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