As a tech writer, I know that pressing Option-Y on my keyboard will give me a ¥ symbol, and that Option-K will add a little degree circle˚ to my article. I even know how to add umlauts (handy for death mëtal band names – just press Option-U and then type a letter) and accents (good for clichés – like an umlaut but using Option-E).
But what about the Apple logo, the copyright symbol, or any of those other essential but seldom used characters? That’s what Characters is for.
Following the iPhone’s prepaid debut on Cricket Wireless just a week ago, Apple’s hugely popular smartphone is now available on Virgin Mobile. Like Cricket, Virgin is offering the handset on a prepaid basis, with prices starting at as little as $31 per month on the company’s Beyond Talk plan — which includes unlimited data, and unlimited texts.
Take advantage of the company’s offer and you could save yourself around $800 a year.
Sometime last week, it became apparent that Apple had tweaked its App Store search algorithm to display results in order of their user rankings and descriptions, rather than the names of the apps themselves. The change brought some confusion, not only to App Store customers, but also to developers, who found that their apps were no longer appearing under certain searches as they had been.
It now appears that Apple has backtracked on that change, however.
Google finally released its hugely popular Chrome web browser for iOS yesterday, and just as we had expected, it’s the best third-party browser so far. In fact, in many ways, it’s also better than Apple’s built-in mobile Safari browser. And you can now use Chrome as your default browser on your jailbroken iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches, thanks to the BrowserChooser tweak.
So, yeah, like clipping the white 30-pin docking cable to the bottom of my iPad and iPhone is SO difficult. You kids these days have it easy. Back when I got my first iPhone, the docking cable had little freakin’ buttons you had to press on the sides just to disconnect it. Man, those were the days.
Wait, where was I? Oh, yeah. Patents. One specific patent, in particular.
There’s a whole new class of app these days centered around lending out cars, bikes, and even homes via iPhone apps like AirBnB, Relay Rides, Getaround, and others. They allow people looking for a short term rental car or living space to connect with other people who have spare space or vehicles and pay a fair yet small fee for doing so. It seems like a good idea, on the surface.
A new app, called SideCar Passenger, takes it up a notch. The app not only connects you with a spare car, but with a spare driver as well. Think of it as peer-to-peer taxi cab and you’ll be close. Users download SideCar, register and account, and then either search for rides or offer their own services up.
Does this strike anyone else as potentially creepy?
Gizmodo reported today that their new MacBook Air was crashing something fierce. They turned to their own forums and the Apple Support forums and found that many other users of the MacBook Air also had the crashing issue. Both parties saw improvements when they stopped using Google’s star web browser, Chrome, but no one could be sure.
They even checked on the MacRumors forums, finding the same issue. Then, they heard from Google.
Ever wondered if aluminosilicate glass surface of your iPad would make a great dance floor? Now you can find out.
For those of you on the verge of being disowned/dumped/fired by parents/girlfriends/bosses who’re tired of your broomstick-toting shenanigans as you jump out from behind a door and yell “TANGO DOWN!” in a misguided attempt to recreate Call of Duty: Black Ops — just tell them you’ll put the broom down this fall.
Aspyr says they’re bringing the highly rated first-person title to the Mac App Store this fall. No word on pricing or exact date yet.
In the meantime, existing CoD Mac titles (like CoD 4: Modern Warfare) are half-off everywhere you can get ’em; not a bad deal, considering CoD 4 is one of the most expensive games at the App Store. If you do pop for it, the Aspyr team will let you take potshots at them during their Community Multiplayer Event on July 6. Show the love.
According to a press release, Bob Mansfield, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, will be retiring. From Apple:
In a four-month investigation of 10 of Apple’s Chinese suppliers, China Labor Watch has found what they call “deplorable” working conditions in many of the factories of Apple’s component manufacturers. These factories allegedly contain hazardous working conditions and excessive overtime.
Despite the fact that BYOD is often perceived as a way to reduce technology expenses, nearly three-quarters (73%) of IT managers expect that BYOD will have the opposite effect. The big fear is that BYOD will cause IT spending to spiral out of control.
That’s the news from enterprise technology vendor Damovo UK. The company recently surveyed100 IT directors from organizations with more than 1,000 users about their feelings on BYOD and how it is being implemented in their organization.
One major reason for potentially uncontrolled expenses boils down companies losing bargaining power with carriers as employees begin purchasing their own iPhones or Android handsets. While the cost of the device isn’t likely to be passed on to an employer, monthly costs for voice and data service may be a different story. With unlimited data plans slowly going the way of the dodo, many workers may not want to shoulder data bills associated with their jobs, which may lead to a shared expense model.
If you’ve spent any amount of time with a Mac in the last 15 years or so, you may have noticed the Sosumi sound, one of several system alert sound options. Even though you most likely just passed it over without a thought, there’s a huge backstory behind the formation of that sound, one that starts with the Beatles, surprisingly enough.
Apple firmly positioned the iPad as an education solution during its education even in New York five months ago. Even before that, many schools and districts had begun pilot programs of full on iPad deployments. The iPad provides many opportunities in education as well as some challenges.
One of those challenges is cost. That’s not a surprise, considering the number of iPads required in order to give one to each student in a district. The San Diego school district, for example, recently spending $15 million as part of its massive iPad plan that includes nearly 26,000 devices.
Given the cost of such deployments and the attention that BYOD programs have gotten in both the tech and mainstream media over the past year or so, it was only a matter of time before someone in the education technology sector began to talk up the idea of BYOD in education as a way to cut the costs associated with such deployments.
Google launched their shiny new version of Chrome for iOS today, complete with syncing and many other features Chrome users on the desktop have been longing for. We dug into Chrome for iOS to see what all the hype was about, and upon first glance, it’s definitely an interesting experience. You can check out our full hands on video after the break.
For better or worse, Verizon’s new Share Everything plans are now here. If you sign up for Verizon and wish to have multiple devices on one account, you’ll have to choose from the new Share Everything plans. Current customers do not have to worry about this unless they either want to, or decide to upgrade to a new device at a subsidized cost.
If you live overseas, you can now download Google Chrome for the iPhone and iPad at the link below. It’s on the Danish store only right now, but it’s obviously in the process of rolling out, so keep on refreshing, and watch for our early look and video tour of Chrome shortly after it hits the US App Store.
Update: It’s now available in the U.S. Store! Get downloading!
Source: iTunes
We last looked at ownCloud nearly three months ago. The company offers a unique private cloud solution that can scale from the needs of a small businesses with a handful of users all the way to the requirements of larger enterprise. What makes ownCloud unique is that it’s designed to easily integrate with existing infrastructure and IT processes.
Because ownCloud is based on open web standards, it can be easily implemented on virtually any web server. That means it can function as an on-premise solution that is configured and managed completely by company’s IT team, a hosted implementation where it can be installed onto server space provided by a commercial web hosting company, or it can offered in a more turn-key fashion through one of the ownCloud’s partners.
Gameloft promised a June 28th launch for their Amazing Spider-Man mobile game, and sure enough, it’s now available. If you’d like to get your web slinging on, it’ll cost you $6.99 — a price I was fully expecting from Gameloft. The game is available now on Android and iOS and features:
Less than an hour after it was announced as coming to iOS, Google Drive has already hit the App Store. The app weighs in at just 6.1MB, and is available for free. Here’s the description.
Another big announcement to come out of Day 2 of the Google I/O conference is the announcement that Google Drive — Google’s answer to Dropbox and Microsoft Office, allowing you to store files and edit documents across multiple computers in the cloud — is coming to iOS starting today. We’ll keep you posted.
Cubedge might sound like a mis-pronunciation of “cabbage,” but it is in fact a contraction of the words “cube” and “edge.” Probably. What I know for sure is that it’s a Bluetooth speaker in the familiar mold of the JamBox and the Braven, that it will cost $150 when it ships in September, and that it is guaranteed to get you laid. At least, that what the pictures on the website seem to be promising.
At the annual Google I/O developer conference, Google just announced that their famous Chrome browser is coming to the iPhone and iPad. It will work just like the Mac and PC version, syncing history, open tabs, passwords and more across all your computers using your official Google account.
According to Google, Chrome for iOS will be landing in the App Store later today, for free. And here’s where I finally stop using Mobile Safari, especially if some enterprising jailbreaker can hack in the ability to use it as my iPad’s default browser.
We’ll let you know when it’s live. Above, check out a video of Chrome for iPhone and iPad in action. Looks fantastic.
Remember the bad old days of the iPod? Apple would release a new model with a bunch of new features, and the old model – while capable of running the new software – would be left out in the cold. It was obviously a cynical scheme to make you upgrade your perfectly good music player early, but it worked.
So it is with cameras. Firmware upgrade are almost always limited to small bug fixes. The latest 7D update, though, is huge, and almost gives owners a brand new camera.
Apple’s 2007 launch of Leopard Server was the beginning of a new business strategy for the company. Leopard Server included a number of new features – shared calendaring with iCal Server, Apple’s wiki-based collaborative tools, and streamlined Podcast creation and hosting through Podcast Producer were some of the highlights. The biggest new feature, however, was the introduction of a simplified setup assistant and Server Preferences – a utility designed to look and feel similar to System Preferences that enabled easy management of key server features for smaller organizations with limited technical knowledge or resources.
Fast forward nearly five years to today and you can see the focus that Apple introduced in Leopard Server has become the core of Mountain Lion Server. You can also see that many features that used to be OS X Server staples are gone (or at least are being handed their hats and coats). What remains is a very inexpensive but still relatively powerful server OS with a focus on easy setup and management as well as collaboration.