Let’s hear that again. Apple is taking in 84 percent of all mobile gaming revenue in the US.
With all the fooferaw about how many more Android handsets are selling than iPhones, it’s easy to think that Apple may be on the way out. Not so, says a new report from NewZoo, a market research company in the gaming space.
Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough. Photo Charlie Sorrel (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
What better way to test a ruggedized iPad case than an excursion outdoors? And what better way to test a heavy and bulky ruggedized iPad case than on a bike trip, where the extra ounces and inches won’t really be felt?
That’s why, when we headed out this past weekend on a bike tour to the *Delta de L’Ebre* (Ebro Delta) in southern Catalonia, I saddled up, and I zipped the iPad 3 into an a G-Form Extreme Portfolio for the iPad 3. Short answer: It was invaluable, if a little unwieldy. Long answer — read on.
Continuing the company’s efforts to transition existing MobileMe users away from the now-defunct service to iCloud, Apple has extended the deadline for customers to take advantage of free iCloud storage amounting to 20GB. MobileMe users with 20GB or more of files have had access to 20GB of free iCloud storage for months, with the extra storage space set to expire in June of 2012. After the deadline, users transitioning away from MobileMe have the option to purchase the 20GB iCloud plan for $20 per year or default to the free 5GB plan.
In an update to its FAQ page, Apple has quietly extended the free storage deadline from June to September of 2012.
AAPL may be doing well, but it's no Coke, says Buffet.
Third wealthiest man in the world, Warren Buffett, known for his tremendous investment success as well as his high-end philanthropy, told a group of investors at the Berkshire annual meeting that he had no interest in investing in Apple (or Google), seeing them as risky investments.
[This post has been updated to reflect the fact that Scosche’s reVOLT charger only comes with two ports]
There seems to be some discrepancy in talent between the naming and the product departments at Scosche: the former can come up with a product name like “reVOLT pro h2,” and the latter with a product like, well, the product inside the package with “reVOLT pro h4” written on the outside. Revolting nomenclature aside, the pro h2 is a charger which can juice up to two iPads at the same time, via its duo of 10W (2.1A) USB ports.
Apple has released iOS 5.1.1 for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users in iTunes. The update is rolling out right now, so keep checking for updates if 5.1.1 doesn’t show up immediately.
While 5.1.1 is a relatively minor update, it does address multiple bugs, including a problem on the iPad while switching between 2G and 3G networks. Apple also addresses bugs concerning AirPlay, Safari, HDR in the Camera app, and more.
There's more to London than meets the eye... lots more
If you’re planning to visit London for the Olympic Games later this year – or for any other reason, come to that – you need to grab a copy of Black Plaques London before you go. It’s a fascinating, gruesome, wonderful app that gives you a rats-eye view of the darker side of the city’s history.
More mobility requires more security options that just a username and password
There’s plenty of news out there about the way mobile technology, BYOD programs, and other facets of the consumerization of IT trend are reshaping the workplace and the IT department. The traditional daily routine of typing a username and password into PC in the morning, using that computer all day long, and shutting it down before heading home is gone for many of us.
Today, we use a mix of devices in the office, during meetings, on the road, and often from home. That mix of devices, a range of different apps, cloud services, and remote access empowers us in ways that were unimaginable a few years ago. In this new workplace, however, do we need something more than the old username and password to make resources available and keep them business data secure?
Like any bling, LensBling looks fancy, but costs more than the DIY option
BlackRapid’s new LensBling is a product that could be emulated with 100% efficacy in just seconds, using nothing but a whiteout marker. However, thanks to the biases of customers who look down upon anything appearing even vaguely home made, pro photographers can instead spend $8.50 per lens.
Evernote, the clunky-but-popular note-taking app and service, has acquired Penultimate, the slick, smooth and generally fantastic drawing and handwriting app. So good is Penultimate, in fact, that it is Apple’s 4th best-selling iOS app ever.
So what does the acquisition mean for Penultimate and — more importantly — Penultimate’s customers?
Apparently, this "resolutionary" device was Apple's "Plan B."
Apple’s new iPad seems to have been a huge success since making its debut last month. Although it doesn’t feature a new form factor and actually measures in a little thicker than its predecessor, that high-resolution Retina display, the 5-megapixel iSight camera, and voice dictation have all made this iPad a crowd pleaser, helping Apple shift 3 million units in its first three days of availability.
However, Raymond Soneira, CEO of DisplayMate Technologies, claims that this isn’t the iPad Apple wanted to release. Soneira says that Tim Cook and co. wanted to make the tablet thinner and introduce a new display with IGZO technology from Sharp. Instead, the company had to resort to “Plan B.”
It hasn’t been a good year for Mac security so far, at least PR-wise, and it’s about to get a lot uglier: an Apple programmer forgot to turn off a debug switch in OS X 10.7.3’s security settings before the update was distributed to the public.
The result? If you’re running OS X 10.7.3, your login password might be stored in plain text on an unencrypted, easily accessed section of your hard drive.
Bypassing IT for app development could be a slippery slope
One of the surprising, and some might say disturbing, realities of today’s consumerized IT departments is that IT staff are being left out of the loop on technology projects. Nowhere is that more evident than when it comes to developing mobile app strategies, particularly customer-facing app strategies.
Instead many business and marketing managers are recruiting or contracting app developers directly, often bypassing CIOs and IT managers in the process. While this new trend is primarily focused on app development, it could easily be the start of a slippery slope that leads to more and more outsourcing of technology projects and management.
Verizon has announced its plans to lead the text-to-911 initiative here in the US. Starting early 2013, Verizon customers will be able to send 911 SMS texts to emergency call centers. This new way of communicating with 911 call centers is a great step forward in public safety and allows for those in need to relay information in cases when calling or talking are difficult.
Apple's biggest manufacturing partner making preparations to turn this thing into a reality.
We have a source who claims to have seen a prototype Apple high-definition television set in action, indicating that Apple is readying the long-awaited device for market.
According to our source, who has asked to remain strictly anonymous, the Apple HDTV looks like Apple’s current lineup of LED-backlit Cinema Displays but is “much bigger.” It has a built-in iSight camera for making free FaceTime video conference calls. And it has Siri, the iPhone 4S’s voice-activated virtual assistant.
An update to the GPS photo-tagging app PlaceTagger brings support for the iPad, and also shows us exactly what iCloud was meant for. The v2.0 version not only lets you import photos via camera connection kit and then tag them right there on the iPad — it also syncs the GPS data seamlessly to the Mac version so you can tag photos right there. No tedious exporting of GPX files (unless you want to), nor even having to fix time discrepancies with the iPad and the camera’s clocks.
Netbooks are still shipping, but the market has spoken
While we can debate how much the iPad cannibalizes Apple’s MacBook sales, there’s no doubt that the device is continuing to kill of the entire netbook industry. While iPad sales are literally selling as fast as Apple can make them, netbook sales continue to plummet – with the first quarter of this year representing a sixth consecutive quarter in which shipments of the small, inexpensive, and often low quality PC notebooks have declined sharply.
Creative Suite 6 is now available for your Mac, with prices starting at $1,299.
Adobe has announced the immediate availability of Creative Suite 6 for Mac and PC, including new releases of its famous creativity tools like Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Premier Pro, and more; with package prices starting at $1,299.
The company has also announced that its new Creative Cloud service, which provides access to all Creative Suite applications and a cloud-based storage and sharing solution for $49.99 per month, will be available from May 11.
Here’s an obvious fact: Steve Jobs loved computers. And since Steve also liked to make a fashion statement, it only makes sense that he would have ordered at least 50 of Cult of Mac’s new Lisa-inspired graphic tee.
Who’s Lisa? Why she was only one of Apple’s most iconic computing failures. Maybe her stratospheric 10k price tag was to blame. It obviously wasn’t her boxy good-looks that did her in.
But we loved her, and now you can too. We partnered with Seattle indie brand Might Tees to bring Lisa’s vintage appeal back to life on our new In Love With Lisa graphic tee.
Our new tee is finely crafted right here in the beautiful USA, ships worldwide, and is available right now over at MightTees.com.
Having trouble finding a stockiest for a gadget you want? Try contacting customer service
Here’s a win for customer service: Several readers have written in to ask about the excellent Skech Porter case for the iPad, which I reviewed a while back, but which is all but impossible to actually buy. Cult of Mac reader Chris decided to get in touch with Skech and ask just what was going on. The result will warm your cold little hearts.
Every so often, you might want to type an accented character on your Mac. There are many keyboard shortcuts, most involving the Option key, to achieve this. For example, to type an “enye,” the letter in the Spanish alphabet, you need to press Option-n, then release and type n again. In Mac OS Lion, however, there’s an even easier way to find these diacritical characters.
Sources claim you'll be able to pick up a MacBook Air for just $799 by Christmas.
Sources in Apple’s Taiwanese supply chain claim that the Cupertino company is gearing up to launch a cheaper $799 MacBook Air later this year that will decrease the price gap between the next-generation of Windows-powered ultrabooks. Although specifications are not mentioned in the report, sources say the notebook will make its debut during the third quarter.
If you’re a mobile gamer, then Gameloft is the development studio to keep your eye on over the coming months. In addition to the much-anticipated N.O.V.A. 3, the company has confirmed it is also working on the official Men in Black 3 mobile game, and Asphalt 7: Heat, the next release in its popular racing series.
New iPad orders are down to 7 days in Europe, but it's still quicker to visit a store.
Despite its focus on a speedy international rollout for the new iPad, which has seen the tablet hit 57 countries in just over one month, Apple is still keeping on top of demand and working to reduce shipping delays in its initial launch territories. After delays dropped to just 3-5 days in the United States last week, customers in Europe are now facing a wait of just 7 days.
Instacast, undoubtedly the best podcast manager for iOS, just got a whopping update that includes a long list of new features and improvements. In addition to a “revamped and improved” user interface, the update brings episode archiving, a sleep timer, a download manager, and lots, lots more.