Category: I-phone

The voice of cartoon character Homer Simpson, as performed by actor Dan Castellaneta, is now available as an in-app purchase in Tom Tom’s US-based GPS apps for the iPhone right now. For $5.99, you too can have Homer say “[Annoyed Grunt]” when you make a wrong turn, or “Woo hoo!” when you reach your destination. Pricey? Maybe so, but considering the apps already cost about $50 (not to mention a subscription charge for other services), you’re all-in anyway, right?

This isn’t that big a deal — celebrities (and impersonators) have been doing GPS voices for a while now. But Tom Tom says that this is the first time a celebrity’s voice has been released for a GPS system via an in-app purchase. And considering that even Tom Tom admits that smartphones are a huge part of the navigation market, this could make for a big change in the way people download and use add-ons like this. Previously, you had to update the GPS unit’s firmware, maybe take it out of your car and sync it up with a computer to get a voice like this working.

But now, you only have to click a button on an iPhone app, and use your Apple account to pick up the voice for a few bucks. That’s much easier, and depending on how Homer here does, navigation companies may have a whole new market for these add-ons.

Homer Simpson comes to the Tom Tom app originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Down but not out, TapJoy confirmed to AllThingsD that it is modifying its incentivized purchases to work within Apple’s new ranking system and to ensure its apps will make their way into the App Store.

Last week, Apple made changes in its app store ranking system that downplayed the ranking of apps, and reviewers even rejected some apps that include cross-application marketing programs. The largest company affected by these changes was TapJoy, a social and mobile game distribution network that offers these “incentivized purchases.”

In this system, an app developer pays money to be promoted by another application within TapJoy’s network. When a user wants to purchase an in-app item like a new level, the user can download one of these sponsored apps in lieu of paying for the upgrade using virtual currency. This system increases the potential audience for these smaller developers and helps them increase their download numbers. TapJoy’s system was so successful it artificially propelled some apps to the top of the App Store because they were downloaded so often.

TapJoy modified its cross-marketing system and these changes appear to be working. CEO Mihir Shah confirmed “[Apple has] rejected certain apps for a certain mechanism. When we have tweaked that mechanism we have seen apps approved.” These changes supposedly include a self-imposed cap that limits the usage of these pay-per-install promotions.

Shah also re-iterated that TapJoy is just going through some growing pains and Apple has not “shut them down.” While TapJoy struggles, this circumstance may pave the way for other app networks like Appia and GetJar to make inroads into this lucrative mobile marketing approach.

TapJoy alters marketing strategy to comply with App Store changes originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The iPhone 5 hasn’t even made it into the hands of the Apple faithful, and already we’re hearing hints of what the display of the iPhone 6 could be like.

Apple has chosen Sharp to supply low-temperature poly-silicon (p-Si) LCDs for the displays, and the Japanese manufacturer will reportedly begin production of the screens in the Spring of 2012. The displays are to be built in the Sharp Kameyama Plant No. 1, which is currently used to build LCD TVs.

The technology that will be used on the iPhone 6 provides thinner and lighter displays that consume less power — a key component of good smartphone design. The poly-silicon LCD allows the display drivers to be mounted directly onto a glass substrate, creating a “system on glass” on which signal processing circuits, optical sensors, and additional components are located. Since those components can be removed from other circuitry, the next-next-generation iPhone can be much thinner and have improved battery life through better efficiency.

The p-Si displays also create more vivid images and feature fewer connecting pins, which leads to better durability. The fact that Apple is selecting this technology for a phone that won’t see the light of day for another year seems to indicate that they’re not sold on organic LED (OLED) displays, which are used in competing devices such as Samsung’s Galaxy S.

[via Apple Insider. Images from Toshiba Mobile Display]

Apple reportedly selects Sharp for next-gen LCDs originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CNET has heard from “music industry insiders” that Apple’s long-rumored cloud service is indeed coming, but with a subscription fee. When it first launches, the service, which supposedly will act as a “music locker,” allowing you to store and access a music collection in the cloud, may be available free of charge. But the plan is to eventually charge for it, and most estimations (also known as guesses) are falling in the $20 a year range.

We’ll have to see how this all plays out — Google also reportedly is working on a service like this, but of course the details are still up in the air. And it remains to be seen what deal Apple is working out with the record companies as well. Will only your iTunes-purchased music be able to stay in the cloud, or will we be able to upload any music that we have installed in iTunes? Or will, as Billboard suggests, Apple try running a Netflix-style music service, where a standard fee gets you access to a certain library of music?

Either way, it’ll be good to see whatever Apple’s been working on finally revealed, hopefully later on this year.

Rumor: Apple’s cloud service comes with subscription fee originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Along with the Snow Leopard Font Upgrade, iPhoto 9.1.2 has just shown up in Software Update. Outside of the usual bug squashing, it brings a few new features and tweaks including new card themes and some enhancements to making photo books. Here’s what you’ll find in this sizable update:

o. Addresses an issue that prevented the Zoom slider from being accessible in Magnify (1-Up) view
o. Fixes an issue where Toolbars were not auto-hiding in Full Screen view
o. Search field now correctly performs an “includes” search when searching by text string
o. Fixes minor formatting issues with book, card and calendar themes
o. Message Size of emails now correctly updates when changes are made using the Photo Size menu
o. Addresses an issue that prevented some iPhoto 5 libraries from upgrading correctly
o. Multiple book pages can now be drag-selected when in All Pages view
o. Design tools in print project panels are now accessible via separate Layout and Options buttons
o. Photo backgrounds applied to a book are now preserved when book type is changed
o. Tab key can now be used to navigate through all text fields in a book project

The update is recommended for all all users of iPhoto ’11, whether you bought it with iLife ’11, or got it with a new Mac. It can be downloaded either here or through Software Update.

iPhoto 9.1.2 released originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple just released the Snow Leopard Font Update. This fix addresses bugs encountered with OpenType fonts when displaying and printing documents. According to Apple, the bug fix will

• Address an issue in which some OpenType fonts don’t display correctly in certain applications
• Resolve issues printing from Preview
• Address an issue with PDF files not opening in third-party PDF viewing applications
• Resolve invalid font errors when printing to PostScript printers

The update is being distributed through the standard OS X Software Update mechanism, so check Apple > Software Update… on your Mac.

We reported on the font troubles and on a temporary/unsupported fix.

Apple releases Snow Leopard font update for OpenType/PDF issues originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dear Aunt TUAW,

I saw that you posted (in your secret other identity) that you’ve ordered a Region 4 DVD of “The Almighty Johnsons” from Mighty Ape in New Zealand and will be watching it on your Mac.

Last time I checked, I read that Macintoshes locked themselves to whatever DVD region you first inserted. How are you planning to watch Region 4? Do you use a region-free DVD player? Or is another way to override Apple’s region restrictions?

Oh, and how is the show in general? Do you recommend it? I’m always looking for something good to watch.

Love and hugs,

François X. L.

Continue reading Dear Aunt TUAW: What is this “Region 4” you speak of?

Dear Aunt TUAW: What is this “Region 4” you speak of? originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It was another quiet afternoon at the Apple retail store at The Grove in Los Angeles, CA — or as quiet as an Apple store can be on a busy day — when all of a sudden, a flash mob began singing and dancing the song “Determinate” from the Disney Channel production “Lemonade Mouth” over Easter weekend.

Chris Brochu and Hayley Kiyoko, two of the film’s stars, organized the surprise appearance with about 15 of their friends and captured their entire performance on video. The choreographed song and dance number drew a mix of befuddled and delighted looks from shoppers and ended when three unfortunate Apple employees were inclined to politely escort the mob out of the store.

Continue reading Cast of Disney’s “Lemonade Mouth” starts flash mob at Apple store

Cast of Disney’s “Lemonade Mouth” starts flash mob at Apple store originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When we annointed ZombieSmash as one of our Daily Apps last month, we mentioned that the game was about to receive a major upgrade — which it just did. Adding a second campaign of carnage and smiting, the newly updated software offers an additional 30 levels (or “days”) of gameplay, basically doubling the original game.

On sale now for just $0.99 (iPhone) and $1.99 (iPad) at the iTunes app store, you can crush, explode, squish, and otherwise wreak havoc among the rampaging zombie hordes. In my play-through, I was a little disappointed there weren’t more basic tower defense strategy elements built into the gameplay, but I found it a delightful diversion. (For rather bloody limb-by-limb dismembering values of “delightful”, that is.)

The update provides 25 new Game Center achievements, improved “zombie spawning”, bunny zombies (for an Easter easter egg), an enhanced soundtrack, and more.

Popular smitage game ZombieSmash receives major update originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you like to see the innards of your handset, then you have to check out this latest offering from iFixit. The repair company known for its detailed teardown analyses has released a transparent rear panel for the GSM/AT&T iPhone 4. Unfortunately, the Verizon iPhone 4 has a slightly different shape and these panels will not fit the Verizon model.

The clear panel lets you peer into the logic board and gawk at the large battery that dominates the back of the handset. Functional as well as eye-catching, the see-through backing adds some durability to your handset. It is made of plastic and is less prone to breaking than the original glass panel.

Thanks to iFixit’s step-by-step guide, swapping out the back panel is drop dead easy. You just loosen some screws, slide the old cover off and slide the new one on. The transparent panels are available now for ordering and will set you back $30 plus taxes, shipping and handling. Anyone going to drop three sawbucks and scoop one up?

iFixIt releases transparent iPhone 4 rear panel originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading TweetDeck 2.0 for iPhone: An announcement in a tweet

TweetDeck 2.0 for iPhone: An announcement in a tweet originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nielsen released its early 2011 survey numbers and the results suggest Android popularity is on the rise and iOS is declining in the US. In this latest consumer survey, Android edges out the iPhone as the most desired smartphone platform.

When asking respondents about the next handset they intend to buy, 31.1% said they would purchase an Android device, while 30% said they wanted an iPhone. This is a 5.6 percentage point increase for Android which climbed from 25.5% and a 2.7 percentage point decline for iOS which was previously at 32.7%. This earlier survey was taken between July 2010 to September 2010.

Interestingly enough, this decline in iOS occurred even though Apple expanded its presence in the US by launching the Verizon iPhone. This early result suggests the expansion of the iPhone to another carrier did little to combat the popularity of Android and stem its tidal wave of devices, many of which are 4G and powered by dual-core processors.

So what do you think, are consumers really giving up the polished operating system and robust app store of iOS just for some horsepower? Will there be some buyer’s remorse when the iPhone 5 arrives later this year?

[Via GigaOM]

Nielsen says Android is “most desired” smartphone platform originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Recently, Mike Rose asked me to check out an ongoing discussion over at the Telestream forums to see if I could assist one of the posters. Mike knew that Steve Sande and I were working on testing out a variety of iPad-to-computer screen capture solutions. He thought I might be able to help out Dr. J, host of the “Lighting the Lamp” podcast.

Continue reading How to: Capturing iPad video with audio narration

How to: Capturing iPad video with audio narration originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Users of the popular Evernote app for Mac are going to love the new 2.1 update released today. To start with, the new app has greatly sped up searching your documents. As Evernote mentioned, it’s not uncommon for a user to now have several thousand notes, and the search times with Evernote for Mac were quite slow. Search speeds have been dramatically improved, so you can keep taking notes without worrying about waiting forever for search results.

Next, Evernote now has the ability to share individual notes through Facebook, Twitter, email and any other way you can think of. There’s now a Share button in the menu bar of the Mac app. You just need to select the note you want to share, click the Share button, then select the way you want to share the information.

There’s also a new way to record a meeting and write notes about it at the same time, all archived for posterity in Evernote. To record an audio note, you just click on the microphone icon and start recording by clicking the Record button. When you’re done recording the audio, you can add text or files, then share it with others. The length of recordings depends on whether you’re a free or premium user — free users can do a single audio note with a maximum size of 25 MB, while premium users get 50 MB (about 4 hours) per note.

The update is available from Evernote, or you can select the “Check for Updates” link in the Mac app to receive your update. If you’ve installed the app through the Mac App Store, Evernote assures us that the update will be available “very soon.”

Evernote for Mac 2.1 update boasts social sharing, audio, speed originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Concert shots from a mobile device are enjoyable to take and so much fun to look at when the event is over. Those grainy pictures seem to capture the excitement of the moment and you can’t help but look cool when thrusting your mobile device in the air to snag an impromptu shot. That is unless your mobile device is an iPad2.

Check out the following video spotted by Gizmodo and watch in shocked bemusement at the single person holding up an iPad 2 to take a picture of Kanye West in concert (at 00:24). Looking more like a luncheon tray whose reflective properties could blind the performer on stage, the brave soul holds his or her iPad 2 into the air subjecting it to all sorts of peril. One simple bump and the iPad could go crashing to the floor where it would be trampled by the dancing throng.

Not to mention that waving an iPad 2 in the air is just asking for someone to steal this highly desirable and hard to find device. It also makes you wonder where the person is storing the iPad 2 when they are not taking pictures? In a front pack, back pack or an iPad-sized fanny pack?

Read on for the video and feel free to comment on this highly unusual usage of an iPad 2.

Continue reading iPad as concert camera is kind of crazy

iPad as concert camera is kind of crazy originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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