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 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.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V25cOgGMgZM
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.
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.
We’re all well aware that Apple is a company like no other. Whether you’re an employee or a customer, the treatment you get from Apple is almost unrivaled by any other company. This inspirational note given to every Apple staffer on their first day, encouraging them to “swim in the deep end” and do something big, is evidence of that.
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqpXDFq1btw
The brand-new version of AirServer is being billed as “The Game Console For Mac.” Like previous versions of the software, AirServer runs on you Mac and turns it into an AirPlay receiver, allowing you to stream music, video, photos and even games to the Mac’s big screen, just as if it was an Apple TV. What’s new, though, is the ability to stream games from two players simultaneously for big-screen head-to-head action.
One of my biggest gripes when dealing with files in OS X is working with zipped directories. OS X’s built in Archive Utility does a poor job of managing compressed files. With some tweaks though, you can make dealing with zipped files less of a pain. In this video, I’ll show you how to do it.
Many have been wondering what Apple will call the next-generation iPhone. iPhone 5? iPhone 6? iPhone 4G Epic Touch? Or what about “the new iPhone?” After the third-gen iPad, it looks like Apple may be starting to abandon its traditional naming conventions for iOS devices altogether.
Interestingly, Apple has filed a claim with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to gain control of the iPhone5.com domain name.
Lego Harry Potter is finally back on iOS to play out his final years at Hogwarts, and he’s at the top of this week’s pick of must-have iOS games. Toothless from DreamWork’s How To Train Your Dragon also makes his App Store debut in a terrific physics-based puzzle game, and we’ve chosen one of the cutest adventure games you’ll ever play.
Is Apple secretly plotting to become your next wireless carrier? It could happen sooner than you think. And will the iPhone 5 sport a widescreen 4-inch retina display? It’s a rumor rundown on our brand new CultCast!
And you asked for it, you got it — we’ve gathered a list of our most-loved apps of the week, and we’re ready to pick the best of the bunch.
Catch all that and more on this week’s CultCast.
An innovate idea for iOS often gets introduced to high praises from the Apple community, and one of three things usually happens: 1.) Apple implements the idea, 2.) Jailbreakers implement it first and Apple eventually does the same, 3.) Apple ignores the idea entirely and jailbreakers enjoy it exclusively. We’re hoping that number 2.) will happen in this case.
Remember when we showed you the amazing concept video for easily editing text on the iPad? Put together by Daniel Chase Hooper, the concept showed how you could edit text with finger drags and gestures instead of the tedious ‘tap and drag’ method Apple currently implements. Many of us said we wanted to see Hooper’s concept in iOS 6.
As it is known to do, the jailbreak community has already heard our collective cry and answered with a new jailbreak tweak that just went live in Cydia today. Dubbed SwipeSelection, a new way of editing text is now available for jailbroken iPad and iPhone users.
Speculating about future Apple products is really hard to do well. That doesn’t keep everyone from trying. Even grizzled Apple-watching veterans often fail catastrophically with each new Apple announcement.
The reason it’s difficult is that “evidence,” which would normally be the best tool for predicting things, doesn’t work in Apple’s case.
The best criteria are strategic and cultural analyses. But even these are not perfectly reliable.
If you’ve struggled to accurately guess in the past what Apple will announce, don’t feel bad. Even Apple executives themselves don’t know until often very late in the game.
Here’s why predicting Apple products is so hard.
Facebook has updated its Facebook Messenger app in the App Store with several new features. You can now see when someone is replying to a message with a live typing indicator, much like iMessage in iOS. Read receipts will also reveal when a message has been read and by whom in a group message. Location information has also been added for showing where someone was when they sent a message from their Apple or Android smartphone.
After months and months of waiting, Spotify finally released its iPad app this week, and it does not disappoint. It features a terrific interface optimized for the iPad’s larger screen, plus plenty of other great features. There’s no wonder why it’s at the top of this week’s must-have iOS apps roundup.
Other picks include a great little app for controlling Bluetooth from your home screen, an impressive photography app from Polaroid, an innovative new web browser, and more.
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson made some interesting comments relating to Apple and the iPhone at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference earlier this week. In particular, Stephenson remarked that he wished his company would have never offered unlimited data for iPhone customers, citing the capital AT&T had to invest up front to strengthen its network.
Stephenson also said that he loses sleep over iMessage, because Apple’s messaging service cuts directly into AT&T’s SMS/MMS revenue.
Following a limited theatrical release back in November of last year, Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview will be returning to Landmark theaters next week, starting on May 11th. Magnolia Pictures will be distributing the 70-minute “lost” interview with Jobs for a limited run in 19 cities. Footage from the interview with Jobs in 1995 was recently discovered and remastered for public distribution.
The uber-popular social drawing app Draw Something, appears to be drawing less attention ever since Zynga bought out the game’s creators OMGPOP for $200 million. According to Atlantic Wire magazine, the month after Zynga’s purchase, the app saw a 5 million user drop in daily usage. That’s a pretty significant drop, whether directly related remains unknown, but it’s either that, or people have simply lost interest in the game.
It’s always tempting to avoid the high prices of a Genius Bar screen repair and find a third-party repair center that can fix your iPhone for fraction of the price. I’ve done it. You might want to think twice before you take your iPhone repair off the grid, though.
Late last year news broke of an iPhone that ignited into flame on board an Australian flight. No one was hurt, and at the time no one knew what caused the iPhone to spontaneously erupt. After further investigation though, it looks like a careless third-party repair agent might be the one to blame.
Jailbreakers will rejoice to hear that third-party warranty provider SquareTrade has expanded its coverage to include jailbroken Apple iPhones. Unlike Apple’s own AppleCare+ program and standard warranty, SquareTrade will give you customer support and even replace your iPhone whether it’s jailbroken or not. This is the first time a warranty has been offered that specifically covers jailbroken iOS devices, although it’s currently unclear if jailbroken iPads and iPod touches are included.
Kids – iPads should not be used as chew toys. They’re made of metal, and glass. Both of which don’t like to play friendly games inside your mouth. Apparently this whole thing needs to be stated for children and parents alike, because some people like putting their iPad in their mouth to hold it.
A little girl from Taiwan obliterated her front teeth while she was laying on her bed playing with her iPad. She got tired of holding it and slipped down to her mouth and found out the iPad treats teeth like sledgehammer would.
There is one huge problem with iPad styluses: the rubber tips tend to drag or even stick on the screen, especially when the screen gets greasy (which is always). Some styluses are better than others: The Wacom Bamboo manages to glide right up until Peak Filth, and the latest Alupen Pro comes with instructions to never touch the tip with your fingers (as you’d expect, I touched it immediately and often after reading that).
But the TruGlide Stylus takes a different take altogether: it ditches the rubber and replaces it with something that looks like a tiny metal scouring pad. Only it doesn’t scour — it glides.
Inpaint4 is an image editor for OS X, available for $10 from the Mac App Store. It’s designed for a specific task – removing unwanted visual elements from photos. That tourist who walked through the background of your snapshot, that hanging camera strap that spoiled an otherwise good image, or that weird bit of junk you just want to take out of shot. Unfortunately it is let down too often by unreliable results.
BYOD programs have a tendency to worry IT departments. After decades of being charged with keeping computers, supporting devices, and data safe and in working order, losing control of hardware is a massive culture shift. Even absent a BYOD program, the growing number of mobile devices that are used outside of the office and take corporate data outside the security of an enterprise network can be disorienting for long term IT professionals.
That leads to a tendency to clamp down with every ounce of security muscle available – mobile device management (MDM) can’t entirely secure an iPhone or iPad, but they can do a pretty good job of locking it down, monitoring it in the office or on the road, and make it easy to wipe everything off of it at a moment’s notice.