iTouch

Mar 8 2012

New Apple Configurator Gives Small Businesses Control Over iOS Devices

Apple very quietly released a tool yesterday that gives IT managers control over 30 iOS devices at a time using a single Mac.  The tool, Apple Configurator allows control over a host of items on a variety of iOS Devices, including:

  • iOS updates
  • Lock screen and wallpaper
  • Device name
  • Installed apps
  • Installed documents
  • Configuration profiles (including passcode policy, restrictions, Wi-Fi, VPN, and more settings)
  • You can also create a backup of one device’s settings, data, wallpaper, and Home screen layout and restore it to other devices.

While the tool is a bit too small for the large enterprise user, it is a good start for those small companies or the schools that are looking to control their iOS devices and maintain some sort of  consistency among the devices.  Being able to maintain such control is also great for classrooms that use the iPad as a primary reading and activity tool.  If Apple raises the number of devices one can control with the tool to say, 50, then the usefulness becomes even greater for schools that have more than 30 students in them.

For large enterprises, the number of required devices is in the thousands or even tens of thousands, making such control out of reach.  Many enterprises still forbid iOS devices on their networks and in order for them to change this, there is going to have to be some type of tool for them as well.  While Apple is a bit gun shy at the thought of the large enterprises due to the lack of success with the XServe and other enterprise level items they have had over the years, this is a great first step on the part in gaining a foothold in the large enterprise environments and hopefully we will see more of this type of utility.

You can get more information about the Apple Configurator and its usage on the Apple enterprise page at:

http://www.apple.com/support/ipad/enterprise/

You can download the latest version of the Apple Configurator from the iTunes App Store at:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/apple-configurator/id434433123?mt=12

By admin • Apple Computing, Apple Inc., iPad, iPhone, iTouch, New Product • 0 • Tags: , , , ,

Mar 5 2012

Apple Announces Winner of $10,000 USD Prize for 25 Billionth Download

Apple has finally announced that a user in China was the winner of the Apple Inc. sponsored prize for downloading the 25 billionth iTunes App.  The user, one Chunli Fu of Qungdao, China downloaded the free Disney app, “Where’s My Water” to push the download mark over the 25 billion mark.  He will receive $10,000 USD in the iTunes App Store int he form of a gift card.

Currently, there are more than 550,000 apps in the iTunes App Store and now more than 170,000 of those apps are iPad native apps.  According to Apple, they have paid out more than $4 Billion USD to the developers of those apps.

Source: Apple

By admin • App Store, Apple Computing, Apple Inc., China, Global Markets, iPad, iPhone, iTouch, iTunes • 0 • Tags: , , ,

Feb 16 2012

A Public Sneak Peek At Messages from Mac OS X Mountain Lion

While the preparations for Apple’s next major OS upgrade have gone on quietly for some time now, the way Apple is treating its latest addition to the Apps of Mac OS X is anything but quiet.   Messages is Apple’s new app which allows users to “send messages to any Macintosh, iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch.” The app almost looks like something of a twitter clone, with some distinct differences.  Messages replaces your iVhat client and it allows you to make FaceTime calls from within the app.

The beta is the first public item Apple has released from its upcoming Mac OS X Mountain Lion release and it is available today at:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/mountain-lion/messages-beta/

By admin • Apple Computing, Apple Inc., Apps, Communications, iPad, iPhone, iTouch, Macintosh, New Product, Software • 0 • Tags: , , , ,

Jan 10 2012

New Coating Waterproofs iPhone and other Smartphones

A new coating produced by Liquipel, a company in Santa Ana, California, totally waterproofs the iphone.  The process, being displayed at CES 2012, cost $59.95 to have done, and the user must ship the iPhone to the company to have it waterproofed.  This process can be applied to any smartphone and apparently will protect the phone even if it is totally submerged in water.

For more information about Liquipel, check out their website at:

http://www.liquipel.com

By admin • Hardware, iPhone, iPod, iTouch • 0 • Tags: ,

Jan 8 2012

An A.P.P.L.E. Review: Pigeon Palooza for the iPhone

This week, Pigeon Palooza came to the iPhone and iPad.   While much has been made of this program being the next Angry Birds, we found that the game was anything but that exciting.  And after plunking down out $0.99 cents for the game, we were left with a game that really isnt all that much real fun.

The concept of Pigeon Palooza is that you are a Pauley the Pigeon, flying through town pooping on cars.   While the game may have a hilarity to the juvenile or sophmoric crowd, this game quite frankly was too slow and actually not all that much fun.  The game requires no puzzle solving capability really and the only real goal is to avoid objects like street lights, poop on as many people, objects, and cars as you can, and get 1000 points in 2 minutes in order to clear the level.

As you maneuver through the levels, you must load up on the piles of birdseed / food scattered Hodge-podgy along the way in order to keep pooping.  Since you start out with only 5 poops, this is quite important to completing the levels.

The graphics of the game are acceptable but clearly could have been a bit better as could the game play itself.  If you still want to try out the game, you can pay you $.99 cents and download it from the iTunes App Store at:

http://itunes.apple.com/app/pigeon-palooza/id492151739?mt=8

Rating: 2 out of 5 Apples

By admin • Apps, Games, iPad, iPhone, iTouch, Software • 0 • Tags: , , , , , ,

Dec 21 2011

Version 1.0.1 of Google Currents Released But has Issues

Google has released an update to their Google Currents application just a week after the introduction of the package.  Version 1.0.1 is intended to resolve some of the stability issues with the Application as well as to fix scrolling issues on older versions of iOS 4.   There are also some library issues that have been resolved.

While this upgrade will work for some folks, several users are complaining about their feeds disappearing from their library.  Also errors in the interface are causing some users not to be able to have problems going back.  This bug is leaving the only option to return to the home page in the App.   While there have only been 9 reviews on the Google App page for the program

By admin • Google, iPad, iPhone, iTouch • 0 • Tags: , , , ,

Dec 12 2011

Donut Games’ Ruberth’s Kick n’ Fly Now Free for a Limited Time

Donut Games has just released their free iPhone game of the week and this week’s game is the a very “just in time for Christmas” type game, Ruberth’s Kick n’ Fly.  The game puts the player as Santa in the position of being kicked into the air by a reindeer.  Using various platforms to bounce higher or bounce mushrooms to really get a kick, Santa much collect as many of the ornaments on the particular stage as possible.  Each stage of the challenge gets progressively harder and with 40 stages, the game will keep you busy for a long while.

More forthcoming games of the week from Donut games include:

  • MON 19 Dec – Icy Escort
  • MON 26 Dec – Frogbert

You can download Ruberth’s Kick n’ Fly for free from the Apple App store at:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=343637120&mt=8

By admin • Apps, Games, iPad, iPhone, iTouch, Software • 0 • Tags: , , , ,

Oct 12 2011

The Editor Bytes Back – Reasons to update to a iPhone 4S


Well, we finally broke down and upgraded our iPhone 3gS and there are many impressive things about iOS 5 on the iPhone 3gS.  Yet, there is something missing.  We couldn’t quite place our hand on it but we figured we would break it down piece by piece.

While the introduction to iCloud was nice and simple, allowing us at the end to simply not use it if we so desired, it was sort of, shall we say, commanding in the way the introduction took over the iPhone and would not let us do much else until we worked through the iCloud signup.  This was a bit of a downer since we really weren’t wanting to share our personal data with the iCloud since we already have it backed up to our Mac and other external hard drives.  But we worked through the introduction anyways and still were feeling impressed in spite of the authoritarian methods.

Once we got our phone back to a useable page, we found half our applications were not loaded.  However, this was all being rectified in the back ground by iTunes as we worked.  Apps continually appeared on our phone.  This though was problematic in itself as we have spent the last year cleaning up our App order on the iPhone and nothing was in the order we put it in.  Big time minus for iOS 5.

Then we looked for Siri.  Bad news for those folks using the iPhone 3gS and the iPhone 4.  There will be no Siri for you.  Even the old Siri application now just starts and stops.   Apple has made sure that you have to upgrade to the iPhone 4S in order to get the Siri Application.  Apple obviously has made this the real reason to upgrade to the iPhone 4S.  Alas, this is not the only reason though but it is a nice one.

The real reasons to upgrade is a three-fold whack to the noggin that really puts the iPhone 4S in a class by itself.  One is the 8 mega-pixel camera.  I hate carrying multiple cameras but this is a great upgrade which eliminates this issue.  It is the one thing my poor measly 3gS does not have.  One the 3gS, it barely has 1.3 mega-pixel camera capability and the photographs are horrific when compared to those of the iPhone 4S.

The second reason to upgrade is the high definition camera that comes built into the iPhone 4S.  The iPhone 3gS barely hopes to take video, the iPhone 4 had bad-tv type video and finally, the iPhone 4S has the video that we all long for in all of our pockets.

The last and probably the greatest reason for me to get the iPhone 4S is the 64gb memory.  My poor 32gb iPhone 3gS is always fairly full and after a person loads 20gb of music (only 100 cd’s or so), then there isn’t much room for anything else that one would want to put on there.  Especially with the good apps taking up 250mb per app these days. (Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 is 241mb).

All in all, the upgrade went well and I really have no major complaints about the iPhone 3gS with iOS 5 but then when one desires the latest and greatest, it is hard to beat good old fashioned desire.  And that, folks, is the best reason of all.  Steve Jobs over the years made us desire these things and now that he is gone, the desire still seems to be there.  Thus come Friday Morning, I will be in line at the local Softbank Shop here in Tokyo to get my new iPhone 4S. (hopefully they get more than 3 this time around.)

By billm • IOS, iPad, iPhone, iTouch • 0 • Tags: , , , , , ,

Oct 12 2011

iOS 5 Update Released — Ton’s of Updates!

The iOS 5 Update for the iPhone and iPad has finally been released and the only thing we could say here was WOW!  It is massive and the difference between iOS 4 and 5 is like comparing Apples and oranges.  The update ran and re-booted nicely and we were back and running with our 3gS as we await the 4S.  Included in the update is the following items:

•    Notifications
◦    Swipe from the top of any screen to view notifications in one place with Notification Center
◦    New notifications appear briefly at the top of the screen
◦    View notifications from lock screen
◦    Slide the notification app icon to the right on the lock screen to go directly to the app
•    iMessage
◦    Send and receive unlimited text, photo, and video messages with other iOS 5 users
◦    Track messages with delivery and read receipts
◦    Group messaging and secure encryption
◦    Works over cellular network and Wi-Fi*
•    Newsstand
◦    Automatically organizes magazine and newspaper subscriptions on Home Screen
◦    Displays the cover of the latest issue
◦    Background downloads of new issues
•    Reminders for managing to do lists
◦    Syncs with iCloud, iCal and Outlook
◦    Location-based reminders when you leave or arrive at a location for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4
•    Built-in support for Twitter
◦    Sign-in once in Settings and tweet directly from Camera, Photos, Maps, Safari and YouTube
◦    Add location to any tweet
◦    View twitter profile pictures and usernames in Contacts
•    Camera improvements for devices with cameras
◦    Double click the home button when device is asleep to bring up a camera shortcut on iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch (4th generation)
◦    Volume Up button to take a picture
◦    Optional grid lines to line up shots
◦    Pinch to zoom in the preview screen
◦    Swipe to camera roll from preview screen
◦    Tap and hold to lock focus and exposure, iPad 2 and iPod touch (4th generation) only support exposure lock
•    Photo improvements for devices with cameras
◦    Crop and rotate
◦    Red eye removal
◦    One tap enhance
◦    Organize photos into albums
•    Mail improvements
◦    Format text using bold, italic, or underlined fonts
◦    Indentation control
◦    Drag to rearrange names in address fields
◦    Flag messages
◦    Mass mark messages as flagged, read or unread
◦    Customize mail alert sounds
◦    S/MIME
•    Calendar improvements
◦    Year view on iPad and new Week view for iPhone and iPod touch
◦    Tap to create an event
◦    View and add event attachments
•    Game Center improvements
◦    Use personal photos for your Game Center account
◦    Compare your overall achievement scores with your friends
◦    Find new Game Center friends with friend recommendations and friends of friends
◦    Discover new games with custom game recommendations
•    AirPlay Mirroring for iPad 2 and iPhone 4S
•    Multitasking Gestures for iPad
◦    Use four or five fingers to pinch to the Home Screen
◦    Swipe up to reveal the multitasking bar
◦    Swipe left or right to switch between apps
•    On-device setup, activation and configuration with Setup Assistant
•    Software updates available over the air without tethering
•    iCloud support
◦    iTunes in the Cloud
◦    Photo Stream
◦    Documents in the Cloud
◦    Apps and Books automatic download and purchase history
◦    Backup
◦    Contacts, Calendar, and Mail
◦    Find My iPhone
•    Redesigned Music app for iPad
•    Hourly weather forecast
•    Real-time stock quotes
•    Wireless sync to iTunes
•    Keyboard improvements
◦    Split keyboard for iPad
◦    Improved autocorrection accuracy
◦    Improved Chinese and Japanese input
◦    New Emoji keyboard
◦    Personal dictionary for autocorrection
◦    Optionally create keyboard short cuts for frequently used words
•    Accessibility improvements
◦    Option to light LED flash on incoming calls and alerts for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4
◦    Custom vibration patterns for incoming calls on iPhone
◦    New interface for using iOS with mobility-impairment input devices
◦    Option to speak a selection of text
◦    Custom element labeling for VoiceOver
•    Exchange ActiveSync improvements
◦    Wirelessly sync tasks
◦    Mark messages as flagged, read or unread
◦    Improved offline support
◦    Save a new contact from a GAL service
•    More than 1,500 new developer APIs
•    Bug fixes

The update included a number of platforms but anyone with a phone prior to the 3GS will not be able to upgrade to iOS 5 but those with the later models and any iPad will be able to.  The compatibility list includes the following models:

•    iPhone 4S
•    iPhone 4
•    iPhone 3GS
•    iPad 2
•    iPad
•    iPod touch (4th generation)
•    iPod touch (3rd generatio

 

By billm • Apple Inc., IOS, iPad, iPhone, iTouch, New Product, Siri • 0 • Tags: , , , , ,

Oct 9 2011

A Slew of Updates this week for Apple

This week is scheduled to be one of the biggest update weeks in the history of Apple, Inc. with a slew of program and product updates coming.   On the agenda are:

  • Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2
  • iTunes 10.5
  • iOS 5
  • iCloud
  • iPhone 4S (HD Video, 8MP Camera, 64GB)
  • iPod Touch (Pricing Change, new white edition)
  • iPod Nano (Pricing change,  new built in sensors)

With all of the updates happening at once, it is easy for some of the items to get lost in the fray.  There has been a lot of talk about the iPhone 4S and iOS 5 along with iCloud but not much on the other releases.

Mac OS X 10.7 has needed an update for a while now.  Many people have been complaining rather loudly about the bugs in 10.7 and 10.7.1, hoping that Apple would hear their pleas for help.  While 10.7.2 is scheduled for a 12 October release, there are rumors on the web now that it will actually happen a bit earlier than that, along with the update for iTunes.

iOS 5 and iCloud are both expected to be released on the 12th of October as well, and will surely slow down Apple’s servers to a crawl for a few days.  All these software updates all coming simultaneously has disaster written all over it but hopefully Apple has taken into account that there will be a massive overload and increased their server capacity for such eventuality.

The new products coming just two days later on the 14th of October are just as impressive and include the iPhone 4S, a new White edition of the iPod Touch, new pricing on both the iPod Touch and the updated iPod Nano, which now includes the sensors needed to work with Athletic tracking programs, right out of the box.  These are the products that Apple is hoping will carry it into 2012 with record profits for the company.  The iPhone 4S was put up for pre-ordering and sold completely out within about 20 hours in the United States.   This does not even gauge the interest in the other countries where the product will go on sale on the 14th of October, simultaneously with the opening of sales in the US.

The coolest gadget may not even be the iPhone 4S but instead may be the fact that there is a watch band conversion for the latest version of the iPod Nano which Phil Schiller so capably used as a prop for his presentation at the October 4th event.  This makes the iPod Nano a wonderful replacement for all those Casio databases as well as the long suffering Seiko Instruments Ruputer (Known as Matsucom OnHand PC in the US) which has not been updated since early 1998.

This update by Apple is definitely one for the ages and will certainly show Apple which direction they will go after losing their leader, Steve Jobs this past week.

By billm • Apple Inc., IOS, iPhone, iPod, iPod Nano, iTouch, iTunes, New Product • 1 • Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

1 2