FreezePaint is a very neat iPhone app that lets you “remix” the world around you. Or rather, it allows you to make a scrapbook of anything you see, just by pointing your iPhone camera at it and painting in the parts you want to keep. And don’t be put off by the photos on the site — they’re a little cheesy, but when you actually start playing with the app, you’ll be surprised by its potential.
There are a ton of terrific iPhone apps that turn your device into a pocket-sized scanner, allowing you to capture documents and photos for copying, emailing, editing, and more. But the problem with these apps is that they only work well if you capture your subject at the right angle with a steady hand.
Scanbox aims to make this process a whole lot easier by turning your iPhone into a sturdy portable scanner for just $15.
One of the features that I love most about iOS 5 is Automatic Downloads, which allows me to purchase an app, book, or song on my iPhone and have it installed on my iPad at almost exactly the same time. It’s great for users with multiple iOS devices, and it’s also coming to the Mac.
One developer has discovered the ability to turn on Automatic Downloads for Mac App Store purchases under the latest OS X Mountain Lion release.
Leading this week’s must-have apps roundup is a terrific photography app called StillShot, which allows you to extract full-resolution still images from your videos. It breaks your clips down into frames and allows you to save the best ones — all for less than a dollar.
We’ve also got a great note-taking app that claims to be the “word-processor for visual thinking,” an app that will ensure you never forget your grocery shopping list again, plus terrific updates to Flipboard and The Weather Channel.
All the major mobile platform companies, including Apple, are working on solutions for “contactless payments” and digital wallets — the use of a phone as a credit card. Google’s Android supports NFC, or near-field communication. Google Wallet enables payments from phones.
Everyone has been waiting for Apple to catch up. The company has a pile of patents that reference a mobile digital wallet service called “iWallet.”
An analyst this week predicted something shocking: Instead of (or in addition to) adding NFC to future iPhones, Apple will use Bluetooth 4.0 for iWallet, a story first reported on Cult of Mac by John Brownlee.
One stunning fact about this prediction is that the wireless hardware has already been deployed at scale. Every major product Apple has shipped in the past year, including the iPhone and iPad, supports Bluetooth 4.0.
All Apple needs to do to make iWallet a reality is ship an app.
Another stunning fact is that Bluetooth 4.0 has a range of over 160 feet. That means participating retail stores can function like Apple Stores — without cash registers. The point of sale can be anywhere in the store. Restaurant diners can pay from the table — without the waiter being involved.
I think Apple wants to kill the cash register. Here’s why they might succeed.
It’s been nearly two years since Sonic The Hedgehog: Episode I made its debut on consoles, and Sony has finally managed to deliver a sequel. Thankfully, it was worth the wait — and it leads this week’s roundup of must-have iOS games.
We’ve also got Bejeweled for the iPad, a Doodle Jump knockoff that’s even better than the original, a monkey that flies an airplane, and more.
May is Mobile Management Month at Cult of Mac,
Symantec has long and solid track record in delivering enterprise systems. The company’s full lineup of enterprise solutions are practically a one-stop shopping list for IT departments offering everything from virus and malware tools right through every IT task (deployment, Mac/Windows workstation management, help desk operations, even inventory). As you’d expect, Symantec Mobile Management integrates quite nicely with other Symantec enterprise tools creating a streamlined single source IT infrastructure.
Even as a standalone product, however, Symantec Mobile Management is an attractive offering. It has a powerful focus security and includes secure file management features. It’s also extremely scalable and makes almost every IT/mobile management processes as hand-off and automatic as possible. Even device enrollment is simple and designed to be accomplished by end users with little or no input from IT. That makes it particularly attractive to larger enterprise organizations.
There’s no shortage to information out there about Apple’s HDTV plans, but most of it focuses on specs, designs, and user interface (including coverage from our source who has seen one). With the device being a near certainly, other questions are being raised. Will it be an instant hit? How different will the experience be compared to the existing Apple TV set-top box? How much revenue could it net for Apple?
According to calculations by Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty, an Apple HDTV would be a huge windfall for Apple. She sees it as likely to double the money that U.S. households spend annually on Apple products within three years.
Forget nano-coatings that render the individual components oin your iPhone waterproof. And forget bulky underwater cases that make your svelte phone look like something Nokia put out ten years ago. What you need for total iPhone protection is this amazing Japanese condom.
Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference is swiftly approaching (June 11th!), and we know they have some big announcements up their sleeves. Will we see new “Air like” Macbook Pros with SSDs and no DVD drives? Are updated iMacs with Retina displays on the horizon? And what about iOS 6? We tell you what we know on our brand new CultCast.
And then a segment we love: listener questions! You’ve tweeted at us and we’re ready to answer all your queries.
Our all-new CultCast is on iTunes now — subscribe to listen and read on for our show notes!
Reiterating previous claims that Apple is set to unveil a larger 4-inch iPhone later this year, Bloomberg now reports that late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs “closely” oversaw the new design of the sixth-generation iPhone.
The device will supposedly be a departure from the design Apple introduced with the iPhone 4 in 2010, and the current 3.5-inch screen will be replaced with a larger display.
May is Mobile Management Month at Cult of Mac,
Sybase, and SAP company provides a range of enterprise IT solutions. Afaria, Syabase’s mobile management platform, is a comprehensive solution that ties in with other Sybase and SAP enterprise products (most notably its desktop PC management offerings). Overall, the platform is a great resource for existing SAP and Sybase customers.
Today London-based Amsys announced a new one day course for IT professionals charged with managing and securing iOS devices in their organizations. The course, iPhone / iPad: Security in the Enterprise, was designed by Amsys itself and not by Apple.
Amsys is an Apple Authorized Training Center, meaning that it’s staffed by Apple certified trainers who use Apple’s official training curriculum to teach the company’s range of classes for IT professionals.
With all the training resources that Apple provides to its certified trainers and training centers, you might be wondering why Amsys created this class on its own. The answer is simple – Apple hasn’t provided substantive training options for managing and securing iOS devices. The dearth of official options is leading Amsys and other Apple training facilities scrambling to create their own content to fill the gap.
Cult of Mac’s own Charlie Sorrel explained the magic behind this slick feature built into iPhoto for iOS, but he didn’t spend much time on how to actually make it happen. I figured it might be high time to do just that, in today’s tip.
There’s probably only one thing you should be doing while you are using your iPhone, and that’s sitting down, or standing politely off to one side of the sidewalk. Anything else is likely a danger to both you and to passersby. The folks behind the Tuidle iPhone case though, think otherwise.
The Tuidle (pronounced “twiddle”) is billed as a case that will let you “multitask with one hand.” The schoolboy in me thinks that that sounds pretty dirty, but in fact it looks very handy indeed.
Just as we expected, Apple has successfully claimed ownership of the iPhone5.com domain name after filing a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) earlier this month to have the domain transferred from its existing owner.
According to WIPO’s website, the case has now been terminated.
Time Warner Cable and Viacom have agreed to resolve a battle over Time Warner’s iOS app that allows users to stream Viacom content within their homes over a wireless network. Both companies released a joint statement this week confirming that Viacom content would be returning to the free TWC TV app.
May is Mobile Management Month at Cult of Mac,
PushManager provides a solid device management solution that also provides basic app deployment and management capabilities. PushManager puts a focus on being easy to set up and administer while also providing core security features. The company offers cloud service that is extremely easy to implement and can support a range of business types and sizes. For organizations with significant infrastructure, an on-premise package is available that can integrate with Active Directory.
Sprint took a huge hit when it brought on the iPhone. While Apple’s smartphone has undoubtedly been a godsend for the smaller carrier, Sprint signed on to pay over $15 billion in iPhone subsidies over the next four years. Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse even took a $3.25 million pay cut to appease shareholders after his company agreed to the pricey iPhone deal with Apple. You’d think that Hesse would be a little peeved.
He’s not. On the contrary, Hesse reiterated today that he believes Sprint’s iPhone customers will become its most profitable subscribers. The only catch is that Sprint won’t make money on the iPhone until at least 2015.
Bad news for grandfathered unlimited data subscriber on Verizon: the nation’s largest carrier will kill unlimited data once and for all when subscribers switch over to 4G LTE data plans.
Starting in mid-summer, when you buy a LTE handset and switch over to 4G data, Verizon will make you buy one of its new data share plans. Switching plans will end your grandfathered unlimited plan.
You might like to think that Cult of Mac deputy editor John Brownlee is a beacon of intelligence in the world of Apple news, but sometimes he can be as dumb as the rest of us. Example: When staying with the Lady and I recently, John came to meet me in a local bar.
I pulled out my brand-new, just-bought Wacom Bamboo stylus to show him, and mentioned that it had a super clean, easy-glide tip. I handed it over and watched as John absent-mindedly stabbed the virgin rubber repeatedly onto the filthy, sticky bar table. Thanks a lot, John.
If I had had the Hand Stylus, though, I needn’t have suffered. The biggest feature of the Hand is its retractable tip, but there’s more to it than that.
So I don’t know if you have kids or not. Or a wife, or husband. Or a boyfriend or girlfriend. If you do, you might share your iPhone, or at least your iPad. I know I pass my iPad to my kids often. They’re usually more interested in the games I have downloaded on it, but my son has been known to occasionally drop into Safari to look for Minecraft videos.
Anyone using your iOS device has the same access to the browsing you’ve done on the web via mobile Safari as you do. You may not want to share all your browsing history with your children or significant other, am I right?
Here’s a private web browsing app for today’s tip, then.
The iPhone’s app switcher is where you go to quickly navigate between apps in iOS. Apple has added more features to the little switcher tray over time, like handy music controls. Double tapping the Home button on your iPhone reveals one row of recently opened apps to choose from, and you can swipe from right to left to see more icons. Without getting into the debate about whether the app switcher is a true multitasking environment or not, it’s safe to say that it does its job. But could the experience be improved?
When Brent Caswell detailed his rethinking of the iPhone’s app switcher a few days ago, he had no clue the concept would come to life. Thanks to the ingenuity of the jailbreak community, a new Cydia tweak implements Caswell’s ideas to extend the functionality of the app switcher.
It’s one thing to listen to the number of iPhones sold during an Apple financials call and be impressed by the sheer volume and popularity of the iPhone. It’s also easy to miss the overall impact of those incredibly high numbers without some context.
Gartner’s latest mobile device data, however, offers an excellent point of context – just under 8% of all mobile phones sold worldwide last quarter were iPhones.
Flipboard for iOS has received another major update this morning, introducing a number of new features like SoundCloud and Readability integration, a new category dedicated to audio feeds, Accessibility options for the visually impaired, and lots more.