Category: I-phone

They’re not just rumors any more, or Apple’s setting us up for a big April Fools Day.

The developer release of iOS 4.3 Beta 2 has a home page icons image that’s used in the wallpaper settings, showing the standard icons on your choice of wallpaper to show you how your choice will look.

This new overlay file, aptly named Home Screen Overlay Facetime ~ iPad, has three more icons: FaceTime, Camera, and PhotoBooth.

FaceTime will let iPad 2 owners video chat with their iPod Touch, iPhone, or Mac toting friends. PhotoBooth will make a lot of social photo sharers happy, as the beta already includes photo filters such as Thermal Camera, Mirror, X-Ray, Kaleidoscope, Light Tunnel, Squeeze, Twirl, and Stretch.

Camera could mean a front or back facing camera, and will presumably work much like the iPhone or iPod Touch app, but the big rumor here is a “photo streaming” service called PhotoStream that will upload your last 30 days of photos to MobileMe and sync them across all your MobileMe devices, or shared with other people.

Taking pictures with your iPhone 4’s great camera but sharing them around the table on your iPad or MacBook is a common wish. This rumor gives all of us something to look forward to, not just the iPad 2 dreamers.

[Via MacRumors]

iOS 4.3 rumored to have PhotoStream service, iPad FaceTime, PhotoBooth apps originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 20 Jan 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

John Cassidy of The New Yorker took a deep dive into the balance sheets of both Apple and Goldman Sachs to see which company offers the best return on the capital it employs. Using the latest earnings reports from the two American companies, Cassidy calculates that the two firms share similar profit margins but vastly different economic returns. Cassidy looked at each company’s return on assets (ROA) and calculated that Apple is twenty times more profitable than Goldman Sachs.

According to Cassidy, Apple is more profitable than Goldman Sachs because it makes a line of extremely desirable products that people want to buy. The demand for its products allows Apple to charge an amount that is well over the cost of manufacturing. For each iPod touch, iPhone or iMac sold, Apple is making a lot of money.

Apple also reportedly pays its employees significantly less. Apple does not publish its labor costs but Simply Hired, a job search website, calculated that Apple pays its employees an average of $46,000 per year. This figure includes employees both in the Cupertino headquarters and in Apple’s retail stores.

Goldman Sachs, on the other hand, pays its 35,700 employees an average salary of $430,700. Though Apple has a similar profit margin and generates a much higher return than Goldman Sachs, the Cupertino company pays it employees significantly less than its fellow American company. Before you start finger-pointing at Apple, keep in mind that the high executive pay at Goldman contributes to that average salary. Apple also employs a lot of mid to low-wage employees like janitors, sales associates and others.

Average Apple salary is only $46k originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 20 Jan 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Back in October of 2010, we told you about iDOS, a 99¢ software emulation of good old DOS. The universal app was able to even run an ancient version of Microsoft Windows (3.0), and came with a handful of “freeware / abandonware” applications like Ms. PacMan PC and DigDug. Unfortunately, the app was yanked from the App Store very quickly.

It’s back in the App Store again, this time for free and with a vastly simplified setup. iDOS now comes with Wolfenstein 3D, the original Duke Nukem I and II, Major Striker, SuperNova, and Kingdom of Kroz II. You can apparently move other DOS applications (if you can grab the code from those old floppies) into the /Apps/iDos/documents folder to run them in iDOS.

The app features a PC compatible soft keyboard, a virtual mouse, gamepad, and joystick, and it’s possible to force a 4:3 screen aspect ratio (640 x 480).

We don’t know if Apple will yank iDOS from the App Store again; the fact that it was allowed back into the store is amazing in itself, so the developers must have changed something just enough to keep the powers-that-be at Apple happy. In the meantime, if you’ve got a hankering for some hot DOS action, download this app fast.

[Via Engadget]

iDOS 2: The return of the emulator originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 20 Jan 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

It could be partly because of Apple’s 71% year over year revenue growth reported in yesterday’s first fiscal quarter 2011 earnings report, or it could be the result of the 17 million iPads shipped in 2010. But either way, Boy Genius Report just let us know that RBC Capital Markets has revised their Apple stock price estimate, raising it from last week’s $395 to $425 today following the earnings report. They are expecting Apple’s revenue for 2011 to come in at just a shade under $100 billion, and 2012 looks to come in at $108 billion.

With the first quarter showing Apple selling 16.24 million iPhones, 7.33 million iPads, 4.13 million Macs and 19.45 million iPods while revenue rose to $26.7 billion, 2011 looks to be off to a solid start — and yet another year that I think back to 2005, when I could have bought Apple stock at around $65.

RBC ups its target price for AAPL to $425 originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Guardian has released a brand new version of its iPhone app on the App Store, this time featuring a subscription model for UK customers. Lots of publications have been trying to get Apple to approve a subscription model for apps, but The Guardian went ahead and did it themselves, offering up a six-month subscription to the content for £3, or a full year subscription for £4. The full app will still have content even without the subscription, but the subscription offers features like offline browsing and search, as well as some extra audio and video content.

Americans can still download and use the app for free, and while it has all of the subscription features unlocked, the app is populated with ads. Interesting model for The Guardian, but theirs is a big organization, and the app is probably just a line item somewhere in a gigantic budget. If the subscription model works well for them, it could influence both Apple and other publications in terms of how they appear on the App Store.

Guardian iPhone app debuts, subscription available to UK customers originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Showing us that there is, in fact, a much more useful application for an old Mac Plus than a DJ using it as a helmet, Macenstein reader Dean Gray has turned his 1986 Mac Plus 1 MB into a Time Machine Server. By using an Intel Atom motherboard and replacing the screen with a 10″ digital picture frame, Gray has taken an important piece of Apple’s history and made it into what could be the coolest 2.3 TB-capacity Time Machine server we’ve seen yet. Sure beats using a run-of-the-mill Mac mini as a server on style points alone!

While I do both online backups with Backblaze and local backups using Time Machine, Gray’s Mac Plus server would look a lot better in my office than my boring Western Digital drive looks now. But even if you don’t have a Mac Plus to call your own, if you aren’t yet incorporating backups into your daily life, you may want to read Erica Sadun’s piece about why Time Machine holds a special place in her heart, or Steve Sande’s Mac 101 on backup basics. The most important thing is that you start backing up your computer today, no matter the method.

Mac Plus reused as a Time Machine server originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

TUAW music blogger Matt Tinsley covered the details of Griffin Technology’s StompBox product earlier today, but here’s a video we shot at CES to show you how it works when playing guitar. Griffin made the cable especially for the StompBox, designed by a guitarist and called the GuitarConnectCable. It comes with the StompBox. Also, the iShred Live app is thus far the only one set up to work with the StompBox. While that may limit some early adopters, there should be nothing preventing other developers from supporting the StompBox in the future. Also seen in the video holding the iPad is the Mic Stand Mount, which Matt also wrote about earlier.

Video demo of the Griffin StompBox originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Apple posts beta.
Beta by Apple.

Do you like green eggs and beta?

Will you download over here?
Or will you download over there?

You will not download over here.
You cannot download over there.
The servers are all crazy there.
You cannot download betas there.

I will download with my mouse.
I will download from my house.

You cannot download with your mouse.
You cannot download from your house.
The servers are quite overwhelmed.

Will your service vary then?
Yes, your service varies then.
You may not have a download stall.
You may not have any woes at all.

But if your downloads are long and slow[1] …
You at least won’t be alone.

[1] If they don’t start at all, try quitting your browser first, re-launching it, and then re-submitting your download requests. (Thanks, @vanish)

iOS 4.3 Beta 2 ready for download originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

This is fascinating to me — musician Matthew Irvine Brown has compiled a set of 18 musical tracks, about an hour of music total, designed to be played in random order on the iPod shuffle. There was a lot of care and thought put into this as he designed the music to be atmospheric pieces. Even when shuffled, they’ll work together no matter which order they’re played. He also designed the sound of the music to fit with the iPod shuffle, hiding the glitch heard as the iPod switches tracks. As a final bonus, Matthew designed separate cover art for each track, so as a tune plays in iTunes, the cover art shows a very rough “animation.”

You can see a two-minute sample of the work after the break, and download all of the music for free in a zip file if you want to give it a shot. Brown also says that the work is an example of “skip button as instrument,” too. You can hit the skip button whenever you want to jump to the next track and change tempo or tone as you see fit. It’s a cool composition meant specifically for Apple’s smallest iPod.

Continue reading Music for Shuffle features music designed for the iPod shuffle

Music for Shuffle features music designed for the iPod shuffle originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Perhaps, like me, you find most financial news and statistics boring. Perhaps, like me, when the AAPL liveblog came up yesterday, you decided it was probably time to go get some lunch instead. Fortunately, we have access to Business Insider, where they’ve compiled a quick and easy list of truly interesting items from the call yesterday, in plain English, with nary a mention of terms like “general allocation accounting” or “high-interest stock targets” (yawn).

The long and short of it: There was no mention of Steve Jobs’ illness, but Tim Cook and Peter Oppenheimer impressed, as did the company’s standing in general (not surprising — that’s been the case for a while now). Apple’s revenue grew 70% year over year, an astounding feat in an otherwise down economy. iTunes is now a $4 billion dollar industry in itself, and in just the first year of its life, the iPad has replaced 7% of all PC business. That’s incredible, as are most of the other things on BI’s list.

Oh, and that $40 billion in cash that Apple’s had to throw around for the past few years? Make that $60 billion. Yowza! Now that’s worth paying attention.

The most interesting things from Apple’s Q1 earnings call originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

This morning, my Apps runneth-ed over. This afternoon, after a brutal once-over, not so much. I just deleted over a hundred applications from my iTunes library, and storage-wise, my iOS devices are breathing a little easier for it. To delete an app in iTunes, you can select one in Apps, press the Delete key and click Remove when a dialog appears asking if you are sure you want to remove the app from your iTunes library (you can also right-click an app and choose Delete). Then you should get a dialog asking if you’d like to keep the file or move it to the trash. I keep these files so that they no longer appear in iTunes, because apps tend to be tiny and I’ve got plenty of storage. You can always trash them, however, and get them back via Time Machine — provided that you back up your machine regularly. Another neat trick is going into your iTunes account and checking your purchase history, although this can take a while to load and isn’t searchable or sortable.

As a blogger for TUAW, I collect a lot more paid apps than most people. But contrary to what you might think, it wasn’t the review apps that were clogging up my app collection. I’m actually pretty good about testing, writing-up (or giving feedback about why I’m not writing-up) and then tossing promo-code apps. The apps that were clogging up iTunes were the “Lite” ones. All those demo items that I decided to give a try just to see if I wanted to go for the whole shebang or not.

I truly wish iTunes had a “Delete all lite apps” option, because it took a while to sort through those guys, figure out what I had (and had not) tested, and what I had (and had not) upgraded. I had more cruft than I remember downloading (I think I’m going to blame my kids for that) and quite a few that we had already bought in their “pro” or “full” versions. You can, of course, search your apps for “free” and “lite” words, but you will have to remember which ones you bought as full versions.

Continue reading iOS devices filling up? Try deleting some apps

iOS devices filling up? Try deleting some apps originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Welcome back to TUAW TV Live, my weekly live streaming video show where I talk about all things Apple. On today’s show, I’ll be discussing the intense flow of news from Cupertino early this week, and then move on to the near future — Macworld Expo 2011.

From your Mac or PC, go to the next page by clicking the Read More link at the bottom of this post, and you’ll find a livestream viewer and a chat tool. The chat tool allows you to participate by asking questions or making comments.

If you’re driving somewhere and would like to watch TUAW TV Live while you’re stuck in traffic, please don’t — keep your eyes on the road! However, if someone else is doing the driving, you can watch the show on your iPhone and join the chat by downloading the free Ustream Viewing Application. If you’re on an iPad, you should be able to use the Skyfire Browser to watch the stream, although you will not be able to participate in the chat.

We’ll start at about 5 PM ET, so if you’re seeing a prerecorded show, be sure to refresh your browser until you get the live stream.

Continue reading TUAW TV Live: This week’s look at the world of Apple

TUAW TV Live: This week’s look at the world of Apple originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

AT&T may enjoy inviting Verizon iPhone owners to life in the slow lane, but the latest rumor out of GearLive suggests that AT&T may be modifying some of its pricing plans to entice customers to stick with the GSM iPhone. The leaked Best Buy screen grab suggests AT&T will drop several existing messaging plans and offer two plans that fit in with its K.I.S.S. (keep it simple silly) philosophy.

The lower priced plan will provide customers with 1000 text messages for $10 per month, while the upper tier plan will offer unlimited messaging for $20 per month ($30 on a family plan). The soon-to-be defunct plans include the Messaging 200, which included 200 messages for $5/monthly, and the Messaging 1500, which offered 1500 messages for $15 per month. These changes will reportedly take place starting January 23. Customers with these older plans will be grandfathered.

It is worthy to note that these changes may not be tied to the Verizon iPhone. Though these new messaging plans trump Verizon’s current messaging plans, AT&T may be enacting them before announcing some new messaging phones or even in anticipation of the arrival of its three new Android handsets, which include the Motorola ATRIX 4G, HTC Inspire 4G and the Samsung Infuse 4G.

Plus, a small change amounting to $5 is not going to help a company retain many customers. AT&T may need to up the ante with the return of its unlimited data plan or free personal hotspot to keep unhappy iPhone customers from jumping ship.

[Via Gizmodo]

AT&T rumored to rework texting plan to counter Verizon iPhone originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

I love passing on tips about free stuff. Today I’ll give you a quick alert on Photo Factory. The app is free today only, and it has a lot of good features for the photo hobbyist.

There’s a large collection of preset filters that you can modify to taste and see the results instantly. You also get the ability to create a variety of frames. Effects are additive, so you could create a frame, vary the color and add a soft matte with color control of the frame and the matte effect.

I was most impressed with some of the black and white filters. For example, Photo Factory can find the sky in the photo and turn it into black and white, even if some parts of the image extend into the sky. Normally this would take some time consuming masking, but Photo Factory figures it out. It will also leave the sky in color and make the rest of the image black and white.

Continue reading Photo Factory for iOS devices is powerful (and, for today, free)

Photo Factory for iOS devices is powerful (and, for today, free) originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

The tablet market exploded in 2010 with vendors shipping over 17 million tablets, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC), Worldwide Quarterly Media Tablet and eReader Tracker. The Apple iPad led the way with 87.4% market share. The remaining 12.6% is comprised of Android and other tablets. Among the Android devices, the Samsung Galaxy Tab takes top position with over one million Galaxy Tab units shipped in 2010.

This explosion in the tablet market is expected to continue for the next two years. In 2011, vendors are expected to ship 44.6 million units with the US accounting for 40% of these tablet devices. This trend will continue in 2012 as worldwide tablet shipments are projected to climb to a staggering 70.8 million units, a four-fold increase from 2010.

Apple led the tablet market in 2010 and is projected to retain its #1 position in the upcoming years. While Apple is forecasted to post impressive numbers, global tablet shipments will also be bolstered by the release of a variety of Android tablets as well as slate devices powered by alternative operating systems, including MeeGo and QNX. Growth will also be driven by competition and overall strong demand for tablets in consumer, mobile and corporate sectors.

The upcoming year will be the first year in which competition will drive the tablet market. Apple is expected to launch the iPad 2, a second generation tablet device that may include dual cameras and (possibly) a high resolution display. Android will be on the rise with the launch of an LTE-enabled version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab, the Tegra 2-powered Motorola XOOM and the T-Mobile G-Slate. Outside of Android, we have the debut of the BlackBerry PlayBook and possibly more than one webOS tablet from HP/Palm. I know that I have an iPad 2 on my must-have list for the upcoming year. Anyone else plan to contribute to this 44.6 million units by snagging one or more of these tablet devices in 2011?

Continue reading iPad tops 17 million tablets shipped in 2010

iPad tops 17 million tablets shipped in 2010 originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments