Apple has just kicked Bang With Friends, an app that launched earlier this month, from its home on the App Store. Apple has yet to release why it has removed the app, but judging by its title and purpose, we’re pretty sure you can deduce where Apple’s opinion is on this one.

The folks at Bang With Friends have responded to the removal by saying that the company is working with Apple for a reentry into the store. However, if you still feel the need to use the Facebook-based sex app, you can do so via its web client. In the meantime, you can always try a real relationship.

Bang With Friends is an iPhone and web app that lets you choose which Facebook friends you would like to “bang with” or “hang with.” If the friend you’ve selected would like to bang or hang with you as well, you’ll both get notifications. If not, they’ll never know…

The post Apple Boots ‘Bang With Friends’ From The App Store appeared first on Macgasm.

While Tim Cook had revealed earlier in the year that a “Made In U.S.A” Mac was on its way that would be manufactured in the U.S. rather than overseas, he has now revealed that a number of smaller parts for the Mac will be built within America as well.

Tim Cook sat down yesterday for an interview with Politco, where he said that the Mac will include parts manufactured in various states, in addition to the manufacturing of the entire computer which will also take place in the U.S. Cook states that it is all part of a $100 million investment Apple is putting into domestic manufacturing.

“We’re going very deep in this project,” Cook said, noting that not only will the final product be manufactured in the U.S., but so will many of its components. Arizona, Texas, Illinois, Florida and Kentucky are among the states he mentioned as having parts and assembly located.

Production of the Made in U.S.A Mac is set to begin sometime in 2013. Apple has still yet to announce which model Mac will be receiving the treatment, however, the most popular predictions are either the Mac Pro or the Mac mini.

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The Simpsons: Tapped Out for iOS recently received a new update, bringing a new character, new buildings, more quests, and other less important things with it. In today’s new update, EA is bringing the level cap up to 29, which means you can expand your town just a little bit more. The new update also introduces Agnes Skinner.

With Agnes, you can taunt the elderly and win at Bingo. The update also brings a new quest involving the relationship between Agnes and her son Seymour.

With the new buildings, you can watch performances at the Open Air Stage, shop at the Sprawl-Mart and enjoy Silhouette Night at the Skinner House.

If you haven’t yet played The Simpsons: Tapped Out, it’s basically a city simulation game where you build a new Springfield after the first one was blown up. Throughout the game, you’ll meet familiar Simpsons characters and build places you’ll find familiar to those who watch the show on television.

The Simpsons: Tapped Out’s new update is now available for free in the App Store.

The post The Simpsons: Tapped Out Update Brings New Character, New Buildings, New Level Cap appeared first on Macgasm.

Canadian telecommunications giant Telus is trying to purchase the smaller and relatively new telecomm company Mobilicity for $380 million.

Mobilicity’s chief restructuring officer, William Aziz, states that the company has been losing a “significant amount of money every month” and that he thinks an acquisition by Telus is “the best alternative.”

The deal, however, must first be approved by the CRTC, Canada’s board that ensures the telecommunications market within the country remains fair and competitive. The CRTC has recently been pushing for a more competitive market, so this purchase attempt by Telus is controversial. If the deal goes through, Mobilicity’s 250,000 customers will be transitioned over and Telus will gain the wireless spectrums owned by Mobilicty.

Mobilicity came in to Canada in 2009 and helped disrupt the mobile phone market with its alternative plans and cheaper prices.

The caveat is that since Mobilicity is rapidly losing money, refusing Telus the ability to buy the company could result in Mobilicity going bankrupt. This is why Telus and Mobilicity are arguing that the deal should go through.

While it’s uncertain right now if the CRTC will approve the purchase, it certainly wouldn’t be a good outcome for Canadian customers. With already some of the highest cell phone and internet prices in the world, the country certainly can’t take a decrease in competition.

The post Telus To Buy Mobilicity For $380 Million, Bad News For Canadians appeared first on Macgasm.

It seems as though Apple is prepping to unveil a new version of the Macbook Air at next month’s WWDC. This conclusions comes after almost every major store is reporting that they no longer have any stock of the 13-inch default high-end Air that comes with a 1.8GHz processor and 256GB of flash storage.

One of the most telling signs of an upcoming new Apple product revision is when the current stock for that product starts drying up at stores. Apple always chooses to stop shipping and producing its old computers to ramp up production of their new model and to free up space at retail stores for the new device in the weeks leading up to its release.

AppleInsider reports that the Air is currently sold out at Amazon, B&H, MacConnection, MacMall, and J&R. The only Apple reseller they found that was actually still selling the device was Best Buy.

Rumors have been circling for some time that a new Macbook Air would be unveiled at WWDC and that it would include Intel’s new Haswell processor. The Haswell processors are set to launch in a couple of weeks, so the timing works out perfectly.

Long story short, if you’re thinking about getting a Macbook Air, you should probably wait a month.

The post Low Macbook Air Stock Suggests Updated Model To Come At WWDC appeared first on Macgasm.

While the word has been that Apple was planning to unveil its “iRadio” music streaming service at WWDC, it seems as though the company may not hit this June date due to licensing agreement problems with music publishers.

While previous reports have said that Apple has already signed a deal with Universal Music Group, The Verge is now reporting that the largest music publisher, Sony/ATV, has recently rejected signing to Apple’s current terms. The report also states that the fourth largest publisher, WMG, is still holding out on closing the deal as well.

If the deals cannot be made soon, we may either not see iRadio at WWDC at all, or we may see it launch with a limited selection as the companies continue to negotiate.

Apple is likely more keen than ever now to get its streaming service out into the world, with Google’s recent launch of its own music streaming service.

WWDC is just less than a month away, stay tuned.

The post Apple’s ‘iRadio’ Announcement May Miss WWDC Due To Licensing Woes appeared first on Macgasm.

Earlier this month, Samsung and BlackBerry devices received Pentagon approval for military use and today the U.S. Department of Defense announced that Apple’s devices running iOS 6 or later have also been approved for use on government networks. It looks like Apple’s rivalry with Samsung and BlackBerry will continue in a whole new space.

This market has long been dominated by BlackBerry, but with Samsung and now Apple’s approval, there might be a shift. The Department of Defense has over 600,000 mobile devices, which includes 470,000 BlackBerrys, 41,000 Apple products and 8,700 devices running Google’s Android operating system. A lot of the Apple and Android devices in use aren’t connected to military networks except for testing.

The military has said that it wants its employees to have more flexibility and choice to use commercial products on its networks. According to Bloomberg, it’s planning to create a military mobile applications store and hire a contractor to build a system that could handle as many as 8 million devices.

Image Credit: TweakTown

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You’ve probably all been on crowd funding website Kickstarter at one point in your life to take a look at either a weird or wonderful project requiring a little bit of money in return for some kind of reward. Every so often, a really genius idea crops up that achieves its funding goal quickly — and deservedly so — but the rest are sometimes lacking in the sanity department.

With so wannabe entrepreneurs making use of app integration to improve their projects, it’s easy to see the same inspiring or ridiculous iOS-based concepts. So, here’s a list of particularly outstanding app-based ideas from Kickstarter.

Ubooly

Here’s a project that will be a big hit with the kids, but probably scare adults. Essentially, you place your iPhone into a cuddly toy body, and an iPhone app make the smartphone an interactive face. Ubooly will read or play games with children designed to make them think, which is a noble idea. Of course, the obvious issue here is the trust you place in your kids handling your precious iPhone

This project reached its funding goal and is now available to buy on its own website.

Melon

Ever wondered how much you waste at work being distracted instead of knuckling down? The Melon headband and mobile app could help answer that. You put the headband on, fire up the iOS app and get to work. Once you’re done, the Melon app will show you how focused you were, and can compare the activity to previous sessions to see if you focused better. This could be useful if you need to know when you work best, but wearing the headband in public might be tricky if you’re easily embarrassed.

Pixel Press

This app idea will probably appeal to everyone. How does an iPhone and iPad app that lets you draw your own video game — no code required — sound to you? Start by doodling five “floors” of your game on provided graph paper, and then take a photo with the Pixel Press app. The app digitizes the design into a playable game, so all you have to do next is color it in and pick the music. If you don’t want to build your own, you can play other users’ games too. Hopefully this one will reach its $100,000 goal.

Friend Your Pet

Looks like the meme Text From Dog (language NSFW) had a lasting effect on some people. If you ever wanted to talk to your cat, hamster, bird and so on as though they could hold human conversations, Friend Your Pet is for you. You basically fill in information about your pet, and it then sends you texts throughout the day as though it’s your housebound animal companion.  You can reply to them too! Of course, telling your co-workers that last text conversation was between you and a gerbil will make you the crazy one to avoid, so it’s doubtful this project will hit its funding target.

Pebble Watch

How could we forget the Pebble Watch? This project made Kickstarter history for not only achieving its goal of $100,000 quickly, but also surpassing it by over ten million dollars. This proves the simplest ideas tend to win out: it’s just a app-customizable smartwatch that connects to your iPhone and can alert you to the likes of incoming calls, emails and messages.

Of course there are plenty of rumors about Apple and other companies building their own iterations of smartwatches, but until those come true, this is the alternative.

Focus Microscope Camera

If you like looking at microbes and such up close wand wish to demonstrate your findings, the Focus Microscope camera puts your iPad to great use. The camera plugs into your microscope and streams to the iPad Focus app, so you can save images or make annotations or measurements. Seeing as this could be useful in not only labs and bedrooms but educational institutions, creator Exo Labs will donate a number of these apps and cameras to schools too. Best of luck to them gaining the backing needed.

The post Six Wacky and Wonderful Kickstarter Projects Using iOS Apps appeared first on Macgasm.

Though I’m usually not a huge fan of iPad sleeves, there are a few that really stick out from the crowd. One of these sleeves is the Bowden by the folks at FineGrain, a relatively new startup that focuses on iPad sleeves. The Bowden is a sleeve that is handcrafted from a mix of leather, aircraft grade aluminum and wood, giving a hip and minimalistic look.

The Bowden’s design is quite unique. To insert your iPad into the case, you’ll have to flip open the leather front flap and slide your tablet to the felt coated interior. This material ensures that the Bowden will stay free of any rough materials that could damage your iPad. The edges of the case are crafted from aluminum frames and hold together a real wooden slab that looks classy and provides protection from damage due to drops. This wooden slab also makes up the back of the case.

If you’d like to purchase a Bowden case for your iPad, expect to spend $190 via FineGrain’s website. While I do agree that this sleeve is out-of-this-world expensive, you’re getting premium materials in a very nice package. The case is also available in four different color options, each of which uses a different combination of wood type and leather color. As of now, the case is only available to iPad 2, 3 and 4 users. FineGrain has not yet started to produce this case for the iPad mini.

The post Keep Your iPad Hip And Protected With The Bowden appeared first on Macgasm.

We have a diverse array of apps for you this week. Fans of classic Mac OS will be entertained by our iPhone app. On the iPad we have an app to assist with that early summer star gazing. For the Mac we have a clipboard utility, and on the web we have a robot editor for your writing. Our game of the week is a look back to the classics.

iPhone/iPod Touch: Classic Note

Considering how many note taking apps that are out there, I am surprised it took this long for someone to think this up. Classic Note is a simple note taking app that recreates the look and feel of the Classic Mac OS.

If you’re looking for a serious app to manage your meeting notes, this likely isn’t for you. This app is pretty solidly in the novelty category, but it also boasts a simple calculator. The app also features a fortune generator and a game to wrangle the class Mac mascot the Dogcow.

Classic Note is $0.99 on the App Store

iPad: Sky Guide

Summer is coming in the Northern Hemisphere, which means some nice clear nights to hang out in the backyard and do some star gazing. Sky Guide is a handy app the maps the various constellations, planets, and other celestial objects.

If you live in the city, this app’s great graphics are far better than anything you’ll see in the sky. You can at least rotate around and let the app show you what you’re missing. The informational portion of the app is really in-depth. There are a lot of apps in this category, but this is among the best looking. The only drawback is that it has a soundtrack of New Age music, disable it right away.

Sky Guide is $0.99 in the App Store.

Mac: TextScrub

This might be one of those tech writer first world problems, but sometimes you just want the text you’re copying, not the array of formatting and other data that comes along for the ride. TextScrub removes that cruft with a quick keyboard shortcut, allowing you to past the plain text.

You create the custom keyboard shortcut, but if you’re more the mousing type, you can simply use the menu bar icon for TextScrub. For more common tasks you can also set it to automatically replace words in your copied text. This is a specialized but useful app.

You can grab TextScrub for $2.99 from the App Store.

Web: Slick Write

Writing is a solitary task, and often you don’t notice the small problems that can creep into your writing. Slick Write is an online editor that can help you dig into your writing. It will give you concrete statistics on your grammar, style, and complexity.

You simply go to the site, enter your text into an editor and you get back the text highlighted with your problem areas. You can than dig right into your problems, or click over and look at the raw statistics of your writing.

Slick Web is free, check it our here.

Game: B&W Dungeon

If you played games back when your only UI was a blinking cursor, B&W Dungeon should transport you instantly to the past. You name your character and venture into the dungeon with a wood stick. Repeat until you level up.

That’s really the extent of it, like that D&D campaign when the DM forgot his Ritalin, all combat. You can buy new weapons as you play through the dungeon, and you can rest at the inn. This might be the world’s most “minimal” game. For nostalgia’s sake this is a lot of fun.

B&W Dungeon is free on the App Store

The post Apps of the Week 5-17-2013 appeared first on Macgasm.

Apple’s iPad can be used in place of a lot of things, like physical books, magazines, and maps. It sounds like it can also save you a ton of cash. The U.S. Air Force is using the popular tablet to save $50 million by replacing flight manuals. Last year the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command awarded a $9.36 million contract for up to 18,000 iPads for the project. As a result, Apple’s iPad is expected to save the U.S. Air Force over $50 million in cost saving over the next ten years.

The Air Mobility Command provides Air Force cargo, passenger transport, refuelling and aeromedical evacuation services. In a phone interview with The Street, the Air Force’s Mobility Command said that using iPads instead of paper flight manuals with amount to $750,000 savings annually on fuel alone thanks to decreased weight. On top of that, not having to print flight manuals anymore will save $5 million a year.

Major Brian Moritz, manager of the AMC’s electronic flight bag program, said it will save “about 90 pounds of paper per aircraft and [limits] the need for each crew member to carry a 30 to 40 pound paper file.”

About 16,000 third-generation iPads with Retina displays are now being used by the AMC crew. The other 2,000 units have been deployed across other Air Force units.

Image Credit: TheStreet

The post Apple’s iPad Could Save The U.S. Air Force $50 Million appeared first on Macgasm.

If you’re iTunes is a constant mess, full of duplicate songs and a ton of unnamed tracks, then check out this deal. For only $30 $5, you can pick up Leawo Tunes Cleaner for Mac and in no time your iTunes will be organized and non-headache-inducing. It’ll delete those duplicate songs, add missing album covers and artwork, and update track info. You can grab Tunes Cleaner here.

The post Deal: Clean Up Your iTunes For Only $5 appeared first on Macgasm.

Sighting the elusive “Taiwan-based supply chain sources,” DigiTimes is reporting that AU Optronics is seeing decreased shipment orders of iPad mini panels, going from four million units in the first quarter of 2013 to 2.5-2.8 million units in the second quarter. The supplier is also rumored to be getting dropped by Apple as a major panel supplier for the next-generation iPad mini.

The iPad mini is also expected to see a drop in overall shipments of around 20-30% as we enter a period that is traditionally “a slow purchasing period for consumers.”

AU Optronics has reportedly faced issues in producing iPad mini display panels, which is why LG and Sharp might step in to replace the supplier. According to DigiTimes, AU Optrinics is “not expected” to remain an iPad mini panel supplier though.

Despite the issues that the supplier has faced, AU Optronics has still reportedly submitted panels for use in the next-iPad mini for Apple certification. So far though, sources say that LG and Sharp are the only ones that have been chosen as panel suppliers for the next-generation iPad mini.

Image Credit: Mobile Orchard

The post AU Optronics Sees Next iPad Mini Display Order Cuts, LG And Sharp To Pick Up The Slack appeared first on Macgasm.

For a limited time only, Gameloft is making two of its iOS games free. Starting today, and only for this weekend, you can download Gangster Rio: City of Saints and N.O.V.A. 3 for free if you don’t already have them downloaded.  Downloading these games this weekend will save you about $12.00. Gangster Rio normally sells for $4.00 and N.O.V.A. 3 is a “steep” $6.99. Both are universal games so they can be played on any iOS device.

Gangster Rio: City of Saints is similar to Grand Theft Auto. Set in 3D environment in Rio de Janeiro, you’ll encounter corrupt politicians that you’ll have to kill people, save witnesses, steal cars and stay alive in 60 different missions using different weapons.

N.O.V.A. 3 is a first person shooter game with 10 different levels. You can play up to 12 players in 7 different multiplayer modes. The game features in-game voice chats so you can keep in contact with friends while playing.

Both Gangster Rio: City of Saints and N.O.V.A. 3 are now available on the App Store for free this weekend only, so get ‘em while they’re hot!

Image Credit: Mob

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It’s no secret that iOS games, and phone-based gaming in general, are the future. According to the second edition of the ongoing quarterly AppAnnie & IDC Portable Gaming Report, there is a clear shift in consumer spending from gaming-optimized handhelds to phone-based devices.

The app analysis firm looked at consumer spending on games in the fourth quarter of 2012 and compared it to the first quarter of 2013. The results showed an obvious increase in iOS game spending with a significant decrease in on traditional handheld games.

According to the report:

• iOS and Google Play both saw growth in game downloads and consumer spending
• iOS is now the leader in consumer spending on games, with Google Play likely to surpass gaming-optimized handhelds in 2Q13
• Gaming-optimized handhelds experienced significant decreases in consumer spending and packaged game shipments due to seasonality

iOS and Android gaming isn’t really affected by “seasonality” since developers put new games out throughout the whole year.

Image Credit: Mashable

The post Report: Gamers Spend More Money On iOS Games Than Handheld Games appeared first on Macgasm.

If there’s one thing that leaves me scratching my head with OS X’s Finder, it’s the lack of a display for the size of folders and subsequent files within them. It drives me crazy.

Yesterday, on LifeHacker, there was a snazzy little tip that turns on the size readings and I thought I’d pass it along.

1. Open a Finder window
2. Switch to List View
3. Click on the Gear icon
4. Click on Show View Options in the menu
5. Check the box titled, ‘Calculate All Sizes’

Why this isn’t on by default absolutely boggles the mind.

The post Show Folder Sizes In Finder Once And For All appeared first on Macgasm.

Though Apple was already tangling with the DOJ over alleged pricing fixing in the iBooks store, Tim Cook is set to testify in front of the Senate next week regarding tax reform. At issue is Apple’s vast overseas cash stores, something many senators feel is a tax avoidance scheme.

Tim Cook was quoted in a Politico article, ““I can tell you unequivocally Apple does not funnel its domestic profits overseas. We don’t do that. We pay taxes on all the products we sell in the U.S., and we pay every dollar that we owe. And so I’d like to be really clear on that.”

This is a bit of a change for Apple, a company that hasn’t traditionally played a big role in Washington. In the last year the company has spent nearly a million dollars launching its lobbying efforts, and it appears that Cook is prepared to make a charm offensive. He is quick to point out that Apple is not only one of the largest US taxpayers, but it was also investing $100 million in US manufacturing.

It appears that Apple is suffering from being the big kid on the block. The senators feel that the tech industry as a whole uses offshore holdings to avoid taxes. Cook is joining in the chorus of voices in tech that are asking for clearer tax rules, and help bring their tax burdens in line with overseas competitors.

The post Tim Cook speaks out about taxes appeared first on Macgasm.

As if things couldn’t get worse for Nintendo, Kotaku has just confirmed, straight from EA, that the company does not have any games in development for the Nintendo Wii U.

From to Kotaku:

We have no games in development for the Wii U currently,” company spokesperson Jeff Brown told Kotaku yesterday. He did not rule out the chances of EA developing for the Wii U again. EA publishes many of gaming’s biggest franchises, including Madden, The Sims, andBattlefield.

Nintendo recently lowered its sales forecast for its hardware,  and has only managed to sell 3.45 million consoles worldwide from November 2012 until March 31, 2013.

Though EA made a few games for the Wii U early on, this move parallels a similar situation that played out years ago with the Sega Dreamcast in 1999.

EA decided to stop supporting the console entirely, figuring it wouldn’t be worth its efforts, and recouping costs would be unlikely. The Dreamcast ended up being Sega’s last console, despite a bevy of quality, albeit niche, titles.

This is not a telltale sign that Nintendo’s fate will be the same as the one that plagued its competitor; Sega’s problems were building for years. Ultimately, the first time around the move led to Sega leaving the console behind them, and eventually developing games for iOS.

I’m not going to lie, Nintendo games for iOS would be amazing.

The post Confirmed: EA Not Currently Developing Games For The Wii U appeared first on Macgasm.

If you’re a music enthusiast, chances are you like to listen to music when you’re on the go. And while you probably use headphones to fulfill this need, they can’t be used when hanging out with music-loving friends and family when at the park or beach. In these types of situations, you’ll probably want to use a Bluetooth speaker to play music. Unfortunately, most Bluetooth speaker options on the market are pretty expensive with some retailing for over $200. However, the folks at Divoom are aiming to fix this issue with the $80 Onbeat-200.

The Onbeat-200 is a Bluetooth and AUX compatible portable speaker. It’s designed similar to the ever so popular Jawbone Jambox, though it has rounded edges. The device’s audio controls are on the top and allow you to control volume and perform other functions. The Onbeat-200 is available in a variety of color options including blue, red, black and silver.

As far as audio quality goes, the Onbeat-200 looks to pack a punch for its price tag. The speaker can output 8W of audio and features 50mm drivers with a passive bass radiator. The speaker is powered by a rechargeable battery that can last through roughly 6-hours of music playtime or 8-hours of speakerphone usage.

Not only can you use the Onbeat-200 for listening to music, but you can use it as a speakerphone as well. When connected to a smartphone, users can use the speaker’s built-in microphone to talk to friends, family and colleagues.

The post Play Your Tunes Wirelessly With The Onbeat-200 appeared first on Macgasm.

The Angry Birds phenomena is everywhere. From shirts, to toys, to blankets, to TV shows and commercial, and of course any system that plays games, those infuriated birds are easy to find. Now the birds have been confirmed to be coming to the big screen, with Sony Pictures Entertainment announcing that they have signed on to distribute the film.

Not much is currently known about the movie, besides that its anticipated release date is set for July 1, 2016 and that it will be in 3D. Gamespot also reports that Iron Man producer David Maisel will be working on the project as executive producer and that Despicable Me producer John Cohen will also be helping produce the film. The film itself will be self-produced by the game’s developer Rovio, who has its own large video animation team.

Sony Pictures reportedly won the rights to the film through a bidding war with several other movie studios. Sony Pictures’ CEO and co-chairman Amy Pascal released a statement sharing their excitement over the acquisition.

“”Every studio in town would love to add Angry Birds to their slate. There are few titles out there that bring this kind of excitement, brand awareness and built-in audience to the table. We’re thrilled to be distributing this film and we hope this is just the beginning of what will be a long relationship with Rovio as we look for ways to work on future projects together.”

Banking on Angry Birds and 3D to still be hugely popular in 2016 sounds like a slight gamble to me, but people sure damn love those birds.

The post The Angry Birds Movie Is Happening, Coming To Theatres in 2016 appeared first on Macgasm.

Apple has released another minor update for iTunes, this time with a couple visual enhancements.

The biggest update of iTunes 11.0.3 comes to MiniPlayer, the tiny sized iTunes player that lets you play songs without having the fullscreen iTunes open. Besides general aesthetic improvements, MiniPlayer now comes with a new, slightly larger view that also incorporates album artwork. You can also now see a song’s progress bar within iTunes.

Other improvements include the ability to see album artwork when browsing through the Songs list, better support for multi-disc albums, and some typical bug fixes.

This version of iTunes comes with several new features and improvements, including:

• New MiniPlayer. MiniPlayer now includes a beautiful new view that showcases your album artwork. In addition, a progress bar is now built right into MiniPlayer.
• Improved Songs View. You can now enjoy your album artwork while in Songs view.
• Multi-Disc Albums. Albums with multiple discs now appear as a single album.

This update also provides performance improvements when searching and sorting large iTunes libraries.”

There you have it. Get your update on…

The post iTunes 11.0.3 Released, Brings Better MiniPlayer And Songs View appeared first on Macgasm.

Google has announced a number of new apps for Google Glass, joining the currently incredibly short list of Path and The New York Times. Google says that apps for Facebook, Twitter, CNN, Tumblr, Evernote and Elle will all be available for Glass users starting today.

With the Facebook app, Glass users will now be able to upload photos they take directly to Facebook, rather than the current default Google+.

The Twitter app will allow users to select certain people that they want to receive tweets pop-up from, as well as letting users transcribe their own tweets with voice.

With Evernote, users will be able to create notes from their desktops using Evernote and then save them to be viewed on Google Glass later. An example would be creating your shopping list online, then having it in front of your eyes at the grocery store thanks to Glass.

The CNN app will let you pick what type of news updates you want to see, such as technology or politics, and it will then send them to you at a specified time of day. Users will then be able to read or hear a summary of the story, as well as watch an associated video clip.

The Tumblr app simply allows you to view a person’s Tumblr feed.

The Elle app will give you extensive options for reading the magazine, such as letting you choose your preferred section of the magazine, letting you swipe through photos from a story, reading stories to you aloud, letting you save a story for later or share it with a friend etc… There will also be a dedicated team at Elle making edited down Glass versions of posts for quick consumption.

Another app talked about is called “Ice Breaker” which encourages you to go up to other Glass wearers in real life and take pictures with them to earn points. You then also rate the conversation you had with the person. It’s an interesting and entirely creepy sounding idea.

It’s good to finally hear about some new apps, since they will surely end up deciding whether Glass succeeds or not.

The post Facebook, Twitter, CNN, Tumblr And Other Apps Unveiled For Google Glass At Google I/O appeared first on Macgasm.

I’ve had a long relationship with Realmac Software, and their applications. The first time I came across one of their products with Little Snapper, which I’m pretty sure showed up in my email because of a MacHeist bundle I had purchased early on in my Mac life.

Since then, I’ve come to rely on Courier for moving files around to multiple web services, and Analog for our header images on Macgasm. Let’s not forget about Clear either, that’s a fine, fine application.

This week, Dan Counsell and his team at Realmac Software released a teaser about a soon to be released iOS application called Analog Camera.

I thought it would be a good time to send him some questions about his new app, his company, and where he sees this industry going in the future.

Q: There’s probably a bazillion filter apps, and camera apps on the App Store for iOS and the iPhone in particular, why release a competitor now?

A: For a while now the trend in camera apps has been to add as many features as possible, it’s like they are in an arms race. We’ve taken exactly the opposite approach, and removed all but the essential features and focused on making an app that’s quick and fun to use.

Q: None seem to be as simple and straight forward as Analog Camera. What lessons have you learned from Clear that you were able to apply to this particular project?

A: Don’t be afraid to throw out features and strip things back to the essentials.

Q: Everyone’s relying pretty heavily on Apps and web services these days for their photos. Having a 17 month old daughter, close to 99.9% of all of the photos I’ve taken of her are on my phone or in the cloud. Am I setting myself up for misery for trusting them there? How do you save your precious photos and videos?

A: Probably, especially if it’s a free service. I store all my Photos in Aperture, and use TimeMachine and CrashPlanPro to backup everything – You can never have too many backups!

Q: Analog camera seems to have (feel free to correct me) the typical sharing features –– Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, etc –– can we expect an iPad app too, more in line with the desktop version of Analog, that will let us send photos there for editing on a bigger screen?

A: I couldn’t possibly comment on that at this time, but I will say that I’m a strong believer in the iPad being a great replacement for the Mac.

Q: I’m a huge fan of most of your apps. It all started with Little Snapper, then followed up with Courier, Analog and now Clear. There seems to be a focus change underway from focusing on Mac apps to iOS apps for a lot of developers lately, including you guys. With the new Analog for iOS release, can we expect that trend to continue at Realmac Software?

A: Not at all, it just so happens that a few of our iOS projects are finishing up right now, so they’ll be first out the door. Later this year we’ll have plenty to talk about on the Mac.

Q: Is it less profitable, and a bigger risk these days to develop for the Mac?

A: I don’t think so, on the Mac it’s the same as it’s ever was. I think it’s far more risky to develop for iOS, competition is fierce and it’s much harder to stand out from the crowd.

Q: Have any exciting new projects on the horizon for the Mac?

A: Yup.

Q: Do you think we’re on a collision course with the PC? Can people really live their lives with nothing but a phone and tablet?

A: Without a doubt. Right now it’s harder for content creators, such as designers and coders but it’s getting easier everyday. Tablets area still very much in their infancy, and while Macs are not going away anytime soon, I can easily see a future without them.

Q: How does that influence your decision to build new apps?

A: It doesn’t really, as a company we’re committed to fully supporting both Mac and iOS.

Q: If you were starting-up Realmac Software today, would you start with building Mac apps or iOS apps?

A: I love both platforms and I’ve always been a diehard Apple fan and still am. But if I’m honest I think it’d be iOS first.

Q: Or, what about web apps? There was a post on your blog from Ben that explained why Native apps were winning these days. Is there any hope for web apps at all, or is it a lot of wishful thinking?

A: For the foreseeable future it’s just wishful thinking in my opinion. Users want great experiences and only native apps can truly offer that. I mean, when was the last time you used a web app that offered a better experience than a native app?

Q: What are you rocking on your home screen?

A: Evernote, 1Password, Fantastical, Pocket, Flipboard, Instagram, Analog, and Clear.

Q: What’s your most used app (excluding Realmac Software applications) these days?

A: Don’t know, possibly Mail.app, Safari, or Photoshop, or maybe iTunes… they are all open pretty much 24/7.

Realmac Software will be taking on some monstrous competitors with Analog Camera in the coming days. We’re big fans of their apps around here, and we certainly wish them the best of luck with anything they plan on releasing in the near future.

The post Interview With Realmac Software’s Dan Counsell appeared first on Macgasm.

Apple has reportedly submitted plans to open a new store in San Francisco’s Union Square, replacing the current flagship location it has on Stockton and Ellis just a few blocks away.

The new location will be both bigger and will feature a much more unique design, with glass making up the entirety of the building’s front facing wall. The store will be roughly 45% bigger than its old location, and will go from 350 employees to 400.

The old store has been in operation for nine years, and is one of the three total Apple stores located within the city.

City officials are reportedly excited about the move, hoping that it will bring significant amounts of business to Union Square thanks to all the additional foot traffic.

Apple is likely making the move to deal with its problem of being “too popular” and having too much of a crowded location, something that Tim Cook stated has been a problem with a number of Apple’s stores.

The post Apple Relocating Flagship Store In San Francisco, Giving It A Glass Makeover appeared first on Macgasm.

Pudding Monsters, the deliciously addictive puzzle game for iOS, has been updated. In this release, you’ll see brand new levels with the Sky High update as the Pudding Monsters are venturing outside for a whole new adventure.

The app, made by Zeptolab, the same creators of Cut the Rope, was first released last December and got its first update in February, which brought the Monsters to the city.

In this update, you’ll see the Pudding Monsters hitting the great outdoors as you help them climb mountains and reach for the sky in 25 new Sky View levels. The new levels introduce a brand new monster, Mr. Powerlifter Monster, and challenging new gameplay elements.

Pudding Monsters for the iPhone and iPad are usually priced at $1.99 each, but until May 22 you can get both versions of the game for free with Apple’s App of the Week promotion.

The post Pudding Monsters Gets 25 New Levels, Free For The First Time appeared first on Macgasm.

Amazon has announced that it will be bringing more NBC shows to its Prime Instant Video thanks to an expanded content licensing agreement with NBCUniversal & New Media Distribution.

All previous seasons are exclusive to Amazon and Prime subscribers will have access to the following:

• NBC’s dark fantasy drama Grimm, based on the collection of Grimm Fairy Tales, available today
• USA Network’s legal drama Suits and serialized spy thriller Covert Affairs, available today
• NBC’s new psychological thriller Hannibal, based on the novels by Thomas Harris and produced byGaumont International Television, available later this year
• Syfy’s new futuristic sci-fi and drama series Defiance, available early next year

“Our expanded agreement with NBCUniversal gives Prime members access to even more exclusive content that they can stream instantly, at no additional cost. Compelling shows like Covert Affairs, Defiance, Grimm, Hannibal and Suits are big wins for our customers and we look forward to adding more titles soon,” explained Brad Beale, Director of Digital Video Content Acquisition for Amazon.

Amazon’s Prime Instant Video offers more than 40,000 movies and TV shows. An annual subscription costs $79 a year.

Image Credit: Caprica TV

The post Amazon Adds More NBC Shows To Prime Instant Video Streaming Cataloge appeared first on Macgasm.

Moving to the cloud makes everything easier. Having all of your files accessible on every device you use throughout your week just makes sense. MacMate offers easy-to-use cloud storage, but they don’t stop there, because MacMate also covers your web hosting, email, graphic galleries and more. Normally cloud services like this don’t come cheap, but for a limited time, you can get 2 years of cloud service with MacMate for only $59. That’s 85% off the regular price of $398. You can get your MacMate Pro Plan here.

The post Deal: Get 2 Years Of Cloud Service With MacMate At A Huge Discount appeared first on Macgasm.

Apple has released an official statement announcing the winner of the $10,000 iTunes gift card for downloading the 50 billionth app from the App Store.

The winner is Brandon Ashmore of Mentor, Ohio. The landmark app download that he downloaded was Say the Same by Space Inch, LLC.

Apple revealed that customers were downloading more than 800 apps per second at a rate of over two billion apps per month on the App Store.

“Apple would like to thank our incredible customers and developers for topping 50 billion apps downloaded,” Eddy Cue, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services, said. “The App Store completely transformed how people use their mobile devices and created a thriving app ecosystem that has paid out over nine billion dollars to developers. We’re absolutely floored to cross this milestone in less than five years.”

The following 50 customers to download apps will also receive $500 gift certificates. Apple officially reached this milestone yesterday, having started the promo on May 2.

The post Apple Announces The Winner Of $10,000 iTunes Gift Card appeared first on Macgasm.

Rovio has finally released the much teased update for the Angry Birds Seasons app. The update brings 36 new “magical” levels where the bad piggies are making eggs disappear.

An exciting new feature in these levels is the new magic portals, which sucks the birds in one end and shoots them out the other. There are 36 new levels, plus six more unlockable stages.

The levels are carnival themed and the magic portals bring a whole new twist to the Angry Birds Seasons. There’s also a new power-up called AllakaBAM, which is a magic box that explodes when you hit it.

The addition of the portals was first teased by Rovio a few weeks ago with an interesting video that was posted on Twitter.

Rovio’s new carnival-themed season is now available in the App Store. It’s free for those who already bought the game or it can be downloaded for $0.99 for the iPhone or $2.99 on the iPad.

The post New Abra-Ca-Bacon Levels Added To Angry Birds Seasons appeared first on Macgasm.

I love a good fight. I’ve been in a few myself on Twitter. Yesterday was a different kind of fight altogether as Google’s IO conference was streaming across the globe. Nerds everywhere were singing praises, or hurdling damning tweets in Google’s direction, but they were doing it in parallel.

I fall somewhere in the middle of the pack when it comes to my opinions about IO yesterday, and found the bickering to be somewhat amusing. I took to Twitter to joke about it, and Victor Agreda Jr., Editor-In-Chief over at The Unofficial Apple Weblog, shared the video above with me.

He couldn’t be more right.

The post Funny: This Is Exactly What It Was Like On Twitter During Google IO Yesterday appeared first on Macgasm.

Anomaly 2 has just been released for Mac, Linux and PC users via Steam. Sequel to the iOS hit Anomaly Warzone Earth, the game is currently retailing for $13.49, though the price will rise to $15.00 next week. This deal is available on both Steam and directly from the developer’s store.

Anomaly 2 is a tower defense/offense game in which you defend the human race from extinction from a horde of aliens. While the game may look like a traditional tower defense game, it sure doesn’t feel like one due to its fast-paced nature and action packed world of vehicles, power-ups, and morphing war mechs. Anomaly 2 includes both a single-player campaign and a multiplayer battle mode. When playing multiplayer, you can choose to be either the human race or an evil pack of aliens.

Since its days on iOS, Anomaly 2 now runs on a new and improved graphics engine, making the entire world more beautiful. However, even with the new graphics engine, most Mac users will be able to run the game due to the fact that Anomaly 2 only requires 2GB of RAM, a 2.4GHz Intel dual-core CPU and a 512MB of graphics memory.

Via: Cult of Mac

The post Anomaly 2 Out For Mac, Linux and PC appeared first on Macgasm.

Not everyone has a smartphone, but Verizon is helping push people in that direction. Gotta Be Mobile has received confirmation that Verizon will be offering a 50% discount on the 16 GB iPhone 5 to select customers. Who qualifies as a select customer? Well, according to Verizon the company is only targeting people who are looking to upgrade from their dumbphones. People rocking retro phones from the 90s and early 2000s will be offered the iPhone 5 for $99.99.

Most of the money spent on a cell phone is for the service plan, but people still balk at the upfront cost of buying the device. This temporary deal will help ease people into their first smartphone purchase, and usher in a contract long remorse once they see their first bill.

The deal is presumably not being done to clear inventory; it’s only a temporary deal and Apple will likely continue to sell the iPhone 5 when the next iPhone launches later this year.

The next iPhone is rumored to be announced at WWDC, but will probably instead be announced some time in the fall, as Apple has wisely moved their key product announcements to the fall in order to sync up with the Christmas buying season.

The post A Sweet iPhone 5 Deal for Select Verizon Customers appeared first on Macgasm.

If you’re an avid cyclist, chances are you carry a U-lock to keep your bicycle secure when running into the grocery store or your favorite coffee shop. While U-locks do a nice job of protecting your bicycle, they can be pretty heavy and can be awkward to carry on a U-lock holder that attaches to your bike frame. However, the folks at Incase have developed a new messenger bag that can not only hold your gadgets, but your U-lock as well.

The Range Messenger by Incase is a weatherproof messenger bag designed for cycling. It’s made with a twill material and is coated with a tarp liner that ensures your MacBook and iPad will stay free from water when you have to make your commute home in the rain. The bag’s strap is padded and has a stabilizer to keep your bag centered on your back.

As far as pockets go, the Range Messenger has an external pocket that’s used for storing and carrying U-locks. This gives you easy access to your lock and lets you carry it without having to strap it to your belt. Internally, the bag has a padded, zipper pocket that can store up to a 15-inch MacBook Pro. The bag also has a large center compartment and two smaller pockets that allow you to store your iPad and other essentials.

Beyond the U-lock holder, the Range Messenger has a few other perks for cyclists as well. The bag is highly reflective, allowing motorists on the road to easily see you in the dark. The bag also has a clip that can be used to hold bike lights.

If you’d like to purchase a Range Messenger for yourself, you’ll have to drop roughly $120 for one via Amazon.com. Incase also makes a Range Messenger for the 13-inch MacBook Pro that retails for $90. The bag is available in both green and black.

The post The Range Messenger Gives You Easy Access To Your Gadgets And Bike Lock appeared first on Macgasm.

Here is a smartphone with an interesting, but old-tech kind of feature: NEC has just announced the Medias X 06E, an Android device that is the world’s first smartphone with a water-cooled CPU. Oh, and its also targeted towards women.

The goal of a water-cooled CPU is to keep heat away from the CPU so it can run at higher speeds without overheating. Running at an optimal temperature is important for any device, though your typical gadget today does not need nearly as much cooling as a PC from the early 2000s.

What makes this a phone for women? It has 2 different light-up pendants, which include a Tokyo Skytree and an earring. The phone also comes in both pink and white colors.

I know that you are probably wondering if water-cooling is even necessary in this phone, and frankly we have no idea. But, other smartphones with the same quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor haven’t needed to include any type of water cooling system to keep temperatures down.

It kind of makes the addition of water-cooling more of a spec boasting, chest-thumping claim to fame than anything included out of necessity.   For anyone interested, NEC’s newest creation is only available in Japan and will launch on NTT Docomo in June.

Also, Dafuq?

The post Introducing The World’s First Water-Cooled Smartphone appeared first on Macgasm.

Apple has just announced that the App Store has hit 50 billion application downloads, ending the $10,000 iTunes gift card giveaway promo. This promotion was announced on May 2nd and was set to end whenever the App Store hit the 50 billion download mark. The person who downloaded the 50 billionth app will receive a $10,000 gift card, while 50 others will receive $500 gift certificates.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Apple run promotions for its milestone download numbers. The company celebrated in a similar way for its 25 billionth app download, which took place just 14 months ago. We’ve also seen the company celebrate iTunes music store milestones with giveaways.

Apple released the following statement on the 50 billion app download page:

It’s official—the 50 billionth app has been downloaded. Check back soon when we announce the winner of the $10,000 App Store Card. Plus, check out the most popular paid and free apps—each one having played a big role in achieving this historic benchmark.

Apple has yet to announce the winner of the 50 billion application download promotion, but we’ll let you know when the name is announced.

The post App Store Hits 50 Billion Downloads, Promo Winner Not Yet Announced appeared first on Macgasm.

If you’re looking to add blank spaces to your iOS home screen, instead of having all the applications line up one after another, a newly found bug in iOS has made it possible.

1. Put your apps in this order in the bottom row of an iOS page: App, Group with two apps in it, app, app.
2. Move an app out of the folder, and onto the last app in the row to create a new folder.
3. While maintaining your touch on the screen, drag the application back to its original position.
4. Go back to the newly created folder, tap and hold the application inside it, and move it to the location where you want the space to appear on your home screen.

Boom.

Frankly, it’s completely asinine that we even have to do this sort of thing to get a spacer onto our home screens.  This is a great find by Dom Esposito over at App Advice.

Via App Advice

The post How To Add Blank Spaces To Your Home Screen Without Jailbreaking appeared first on Macgasm.

If you’re a big fan of Google, today is basically your Superbowl. Google held its annual Google I/O event today, and with it came a number of big announcements from the tech giant.

Starting off with a hardware announcement, Google unveiled its next Nexus phone, which turns out to actually just be a rebranded Samsung Galaxy S4. The device will feature the same hardware as the recently released Galaxy S4; however, in typical Nexus fashion, the OS will run a stock Android experience. The device will come completely unlocked and will be able to run on both T-Mobile and AT&T’s LTE networks. The device, which is yet to have an official name, is set to go on sale June 26th for $649.

Google’s Music Streaming Service

Image Credit: http://www.androidcentral.com/google-play-music-all-access-unveiled

Another big announcement out of the conference was Google’s new music streaming service Google Play Music All Access. The service is designed to rival sites like Spotify and Rdio, and will cost users a monthly subscription fee of $9.99. The service acts as an extension of the existing Google Play music store, with members getting access to unlimited music on their desktops and Android devices. The service will also put emphasis on guiding users to recommended music that they haven’t heard before. Another cool feature is that when using the app on Android, it will seamlessly merge the user’s song library on his phone with the service’s online streaming library. Google also took a slight jab at Apple’s rumored ad-driven music service, touting how the app can let users create their own radio stations with their favorite artists, without any ads or restrictions. Those interested can sign up for a free 30 day trial right here. (U.S. users only for now, sorry)

Google Plus Design Overhaul And New Photo Features

Google’s social network Google+ is also receiving a major update, complete with an overhauled layout and significant improvements to photos. The new design features a 3 card layout, that has 3 horizontal columns giving users more information to see on screen and getting rid of the old vertical list of posts. It also puts more of an emphasis on photos and video. Google has also added some flashy animations to the desktop version, such as having cards literally flip over to reveal the comments section.

Photos have also gotten significant updates in the Google+ update. Whenever users upload new pictures, they’ll have the option to automatically use a new feature called Auto Enhance, which essentially just adjusts sliders like brightness, contrast, saturation etc… to make for a better looking picture. Google also showed off how the feature will remove things like zits from an image. Another cool feature is “Auto Awesome”, which automatically does a number of cool things depending on the photos you upload. It will automatically make a GIF for you if you upload a sequence of pictures taken in a short time and if you upload a number of similar group pictures, it will provide you with one perfect group picture that ensures every one is smiling. The feature “Auto Highlight” will make sure that if you upload an album with a ton of pictures, the best quality ones will be prominently shown off while blurry ones will not.

Massive Google Maps Redesign

Next is Google Maps, which will be receiving a massive update to the desktop version. Maps is getting a complete redesign that will incorporate the entire page of your web browser, and a major focus on having Maps get more intelligent the more you use it is being put into effect. It will do things like make a nearby bowling alley more visible on the map if you search for a bar that is close to it. It will also make locations you frequent like your house and work more prominent on the map so that you can use them as landmarks when going somewhere. Google says that it’s adding a ton of new features like this with the intention that the average user doesn’t even notice them, rather that they just subconsciously use them. The new version of Maps is currently in a preview build that people can sign up for to help get it ready for public release. Here’s a video that shows you what the new Maps is all about.

Hangouts Messaging Service For iOS And Android

Google also announced the release of the new Hangouts app, available today on iOS and Android. The app is essentially a unified messenging app made to replace Google Talk, Google+ Messenger and the old Google+ hangout video chat feature. Download it today and watch the video here to see what it’s all about.

While those are what we thought were the biggest announcements out of Google’s I/O, other announcements included “Google Play services,” which is pretty much Google’s version of Game Center for Android and newly announced functionality for Google’s Siri competitor Google Now, bringing things like Public Transit Support and the ability to make reminders.

If you have some spare time, you can watch the full event right here.

The post Google I/O: Everything You Need To Know From A New Nexus Phone To A Massive Google Maps Redesign appeared first on Macgasm.

If you’re like us, and just finished watching the epic-length fireside at Google IO where Larry Page waxed philosophical about interoperability and not always being about the money, this next bit of news may have you scratching your head.

According to The Verge, Google has demanded that Microsoft remove its YouTube application from Windows Phone because it doesn’t show advertisements:

Google’s complaint centers on the lack of ads in Microsoft’s YouTube app, something it claims is a direct violation of the terms and conditions of the company’s YouTube API. The Verge has learned that Microsoft created the app without Google’s consent with features that specifically prevent ads from playing. The lack of ads clearly hits Google’s own revenues, but also those of its third-party content creators that are paid through the company’s AdSense program.

Well now I’m conflicted. Which is it? Should we live on Google’s fantasy island without rules and regulations, or should we live in a world where companies have their hands held behind their backs because of lawyers and laws? It sounds to me like Larry Page, despite his excellent fireside comments about the state of technology, may be a little bit confused himself these days.

The post Google Demands Microsoft Remove Its YouTube Windows Phone App appeared first on Macgasm.

Microsoft Points, Microsoft’s controversial virtual currency system for the Xbox, seems like it’s on the way out. The Verge is reporting that Microsoft plans to switch over to a gift card system like Apple’s iTunes gift cards that uses real currency as opposed to Microsoft’s magical fairy money.

Microsoft Points have been criticized for trying to trick people into spending more money than they think they are. Instead of spending $1 on the Xbox Marketplace, Microsoft has its users spend 80 Microsoft Points. This makes it harder to realize how much money you’re actually spending, and makes it harder to tell how much things in the store actually cost. If the average user sees a game in the store that costs 2400 Microsoft Points, they’re going to have no idea how much that actually is in real dollars.

Microsoft is reportedly planning to get rid of this system, however, as they plan to adopt a gift card method that uses real currency. Customers would go to the store and buy a $20 Microsoft Card, that would not only allow them to buy things on the Xbox Marketplace, but also the Windows Store and Windows Phone Store.

The switch in currency would likely be set to happen in time for the release of Microsoft’s next Xbox console, which is expected to be released sometime this fall.

The post Microsoft To Get Rid Of Microsoft Points System, Switching To Real Currency appeared first on Macgasm.

If there was ever a case for a walled garden, and tighter control from Google for the Android platform, this may just be it. According to Strategy Analytics, Samsung has captured 95% share of global Android smartphone profits during the first fiscal quarter of 2013.

Stop and think about the implications for a moment. If Samsung decided to fork Android like Amazon did, 95% of Google’s Android marketshare would evaporate in an instant.

At this point, it has to be an inevitable that Samsung will fork Android. Right?

The post It Should Probably Be Called Samdroid At This Point appeared first on Macgasm.

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Just two weeks ago Yahoo! Mail for iOS  was drastically updated, and today the app has has been given some more attention, although this time much less than the last time. This update adds support for Apple’s AirPrint service, so you can print wirelessly from your favorite iDevice. Who prints emails these days though?

The only catch is that you’ll need a printer that is compatible with AirPrint or a desktop application that will turn your printer into an AirPrint-enabled printer, otherwise this update won’t do much for you. Who has an AirPrint printer?

To use Yahoo! Mail’s new AirPrint service, tap the reply button at the bottom of the screen and select “Print.” If you want to print an attachment, first open it and then select the “Print” option found in the share button. You can even choose which printer you want to send your documents to, in case you have more than one, and specify how many copies you want.

If you want to learn more about AirPrint, visit Apple’s AirPrint support page.

As usual, the update also comes with some performance improvements and bug fixes. The updated Yahoo! Mail is now available on the App Store for free.

The post Yahoo! Mail For iOS Adds AirPrint Support, Performance Improvements appeared first on Macgasm.

Google’s I/O event will be taking place a little later on today, but a newly designed Google Maps with new features has already leaked ahead of the event. The page has since been taken down, but not before a few screenshots were taken for everyone to see.

The screenshots reveal that a completely redesigned Google Maps is on the way. But what exactly does this mean? The sign-up page mentioned a “tailored map for every search,” so from the sounds of it a map will show you what’s important based on your search. It sounds like a whole new generation of mapping is on the horizon with custom “smart maps.”

There’s also a new “smarter search box,” which was revealed during a previous leak. You’ll be able to find the search box on top of the full-screen maps, which will make information, like destinations, ratings, reviews, and indoor maps, available during your search.

Other leaked images show Google Maps images using Google Earth. The new Google Maps will also incorporate Google’s flight search, a comparison of various modes of transportation, and will adjust according to previous searches and ratings.

The images didn’t reveal if these changes would also be for mobile devices, but they’ll probably end up there at some point.

Image Credit: Droid Life

The post New Google Maps Design Leaked Ahead Of I/O Event appeared first on Macgasm.

Back in the days where not everyone had a mobile device in their pocket, dots used to be a pretty fun game to play when all you had was a piece of paper and a pen. Since being released for iOS only two weeks ago, Dots by Betaworks One has already been played 100 million times.

The game play is a little different than the version I remember playing as a kid, but still fun and addictive, as well as an excellent waste of time. You start with a screen of 36 colored dots and you have 60 seconds to get rid of as many dots as you can by connecting straight lines of the same colored dots.

Betaworks designed Dots as part of an experiment to release new beta products every week for six weeks to see what works. Betaworks announced a week ago that the game hit 25 million game plays about a week ago and has since reached the 100 million mark in a total of two weeks since it’s release.

Dots is a free download from the App Store with some in-app purchase options for extra features.

Image Credit: Laughing Squid

The post Dots For iOS Has Been Played 100 Million Times In Two Weeks appeared first on Macgasm.

In a move that result in more competition in an already highly competitive market, sources close to the company say that Google is planning to launch a streaming music service at its developer-focused I/O event this week. Rumor has it that the company has the top 3 music labels onboard, including Warner Music Group, Universal Music, and Sony.

Google would already face competition from established music streaming services like Rdio, Spotify, Deezer, MOG, and Pandora. It is currently unclear if Google would be an all-you-can-eat service such as Rdio, or a streaming radio service such as Pandora. There is no word yet on pricing, which countries will get the service, or even which mobile platforms could be initially supported.

Google sells digital music already in the Google Play store, but its offering is not as popular with consumers as iTunes and Amazon. YouTube has been Google’s most successful way for people to access music.  Google does not charge for the music shown on YouTube, instead showing ads and giving some of the profits to the record labels.

The streaming music service has been a tough market to crack, with services such as Spotify having huge net losses, while getting large investments from companies like Goldman Sachs.

The post Google Reportedly Entering The Music Streaming Business appeared first on Macgasm.

Google CEO Larry Page took to Google+ today, where he publicly revealed for the first time that he has been suffering from vocal cord paralysis for the past 14 years.

Page has written an extensive post on his Google+ page discussing the history of his condition as well as reassuring people (and shareholders) that it is nothing to be overly concerned about. Page also shows that he takes his condition with some lighthearted humor, saying things like, “Sergey says I’m probably a better CEO because I choose my words more carefully.”

Page goes on to say that he will be personally funding an extensive research project that could potentially help treat those suffering with his condition.

Here’s Page’s complete blog post, which is definitely worth a read:

About 14 years ago, I got a bad cold, and my voice became hoarse. At the time I didn’t think much about it. But my voice never fully recovered. So I went to a doctor and was diagnosed with left vocal cord paralysis. This is a nerve problem that causes your left vocal cord to not move properly. Despite extensive examination, the doctors never identified a cause — though there was speculation of virus-based damage from my cold. It is quite common in cases like these that a definitive cause is not found.

While this condition never really affected me — other than having a slightly weaker voice than normal which some people think sounded a little funny — it naturally raised questions in my mind about my second vocal cord. But I was told that sequential paralysis of one vocal cord following another is extremely rare.

Fast forward to last summer, when the same pattern repeated itself — a cold followed by a hoarse voice. Once again things didn’t fully improve, so I went in for a check-up and was told that my second vocal cord now had limited movement as well. Again, after a thorough examination, the doctors weren’t able to identify a cause.

Thankfully, after some initial recovery I’m fully able to do all I need to at home and at work, though my voice is softer than before. And giving long monologues is more tedious for me and probably the audience. But overall over the last year there has been some improvement with people telling me they think I sound better. Vocal cord nerve issues can also affect your breathing, so my ability to exercise at peak aerobic capacity is somewhat reduced. That said, my friends still think I have way more stamina than them when we go kitesurfing! And Sergey says I’m probably a better CEO because I choose my words more carefully. So surprisingly, overall I am feeling very lucky.

Interestingly, while the nerves for your vocal cords take quite different routes through your body, they both pass your thyroid. So in searching for a cause for both nerves that was an obvious place to look. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis in 2003. This is a fairly common benign inflammatory condition of the thyroid which causes me no problems. It is unclear if this is a factor in the vocal cord condition, or whether both conditions were triggered by a virus.

In this journey I have learned a lot more about voice issues. Though my condition seems to be very rare, there are a significant number of people who develop issues with one vocal nerve. In seeing different specialists, I met one doctor — Dr. Steven Zeitels from the Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital Voice Center — who is really excited about the potential to improve vocal cord nerve function. So I’ve arranged to fund a significant research program through the Voice Health Institute, which he will lead. Thanks a bunch to my amazing wife Lucy, for her companionship through this journey and for helping oversee this project and get it off the ground. Also, thanks to the many people who have helped with advice and information many of whom I have not had a chance to thank yet.

Finally, we’ve put together a patient survey to gather information about other people with similar conditions. As it’s fairly rare, there’s little data available today — and the team hopes that with more information they can make faster progress. If you have similar symptoms you can fill it out here: voicehealth.org/ip

Page’s voice has always sounded somewhat soft and strained, but until now no one really knew the cause of it. It’s definitely good to hear that Page’s health is, for the most part, doing fine and that he’s able to view his condition with such a positive and optimistic attitude.

The post Google CEO Larry Page Goes Public About His Vocal Cord Paralysis appeared first on Macgasm.

Netflix has announced a change to its API that will likely make a number of developers less than happy. The company has chosen to stop sharing its content expiry dates within the Netflix API, removing the ability for site and app developers to easily see what date TV shows and movies will be removed from the site.

Websites like instantwatcher.com used to use this information provided by Netflix’s API to easily sort movies and shows by what date they were expiring. This way, people could look at what movies were expiring soon so they could watch ones they were interested in before they lost the chance.

Netflix has now removed that feature, stating that the dates the company sets can occasionally be inaccurate and can often change at the last minute. “We are making this change because the expiration date can be inaccurate as a result of frequent, often last minute, changes in content flow.”

Unfortunately for sites like instantwatcher, this means one of their site’s key features has now been completely killed off.

Netflix will, however, put a fake date in the API code for all titles as January 1st, 2100, rather than removing the code altogether to try and avoid breaking any sites or apps that have been using the code.

Users will still be able to see when content is expiring soon by going on the title’s Netflix page, although, your drunken days of finding crappy B-horror movies to watch right before they expire are likely over.

The post Netflix Updates API, Makes It Harder To See When Movies Will Expire appeared first on Macgasm.

One of BlackBerry’s biggest selling points is headed to iOS and Android this summer. BlackBerry announced today that its popular BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service will finally be opening up to non-BlackBerry devices, a move that has been rumored for some time.

BBM is a messaging service with over 60 million active users, with 51 million of these being daily users that use the service for an average of 90 minutes a day. “BBM set the standard for mobile instant messaging with fast and reliable service and an added layer of engagement with delivered and read statuses,” states BlackBerry in its blog post announcing the new upcoming versions.

Here are the features you can expect from the BBM app when it first hits your iOS device sometime this summer:

• The immediacy of BBM chats
• Multi-person chats
• Voice note sharing
• BlackBerry Groups, where BBM users are able to set up groups of up to 30 people and share calendar, photos, files and more

BlackBerry executive Andrew Bocking had this to say regarding the announcement,

For BlackBerry, messaging and collaboration are inseparable from the mobile experience, and the time is definitely right for BBM to become a multi-platform mobile service. BBM has always been one of the most engaging services for BlackBerry customers, enabling them to easily connect while maintaining a valued level of personal privacy. We’re excited to offer iOS and Android users the possibility to join the BBM community.

BlackBerry also says that it plans to bring voice and video chat to the iOS and Android apps at a later point within the year.

If you’ve always been curious about the phenomena behind BBM but never dared buy a BlackBerry, your curioisity will soon be quenched.

The post BlackBerry’s BBM Coming To iOS And Android This Summer appeared first on Macgasm.

Microsoft is pulling out all the stops to bring more people over to its new Outlook.com webmail service. It started by getting rid of Hotmail and bringing millions of users over to the service and now it has integrated Google Talk contacts into Outlook.com’s messenger service to entice Gmail users to switch.

Starting today, you can now chat with any of your Google Talk contacts from the web portal, right from your Outlook.com inbox, SkyDrive app or calendar. All of your Google contacts will move to your messenger list, which already includes your Facebook friends and Skype contacts.

“The notion here is it’s very much about choice,” Dharmesh Mehta, the Senior Director of Outlook.com, explained. “You may want to chat with your Facebook friends, Google friends, or Skype friends – you can decide. It’s just built in.”

Outlook.com allows users to chat across multiple platforms and create contact lists from a number of social platforms, like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, which is something that Gmail doesn’t do currently.

Previously, Microsoft had announced how easy it is to import contacts from Gmail as well. The company didn’t give a specific number as to how many people have actually moved from Gmail to Outlook.com, but it did say that one-third of its initial 60 million preview users came from Gmail. Mehta said at that time that the top request from former Gmail users was the ability to chat with their Google contacts.

Microsoft’s new webmail service already has 400 million users, and with the added integration of Google Talk, Oulook.com might boost that number even higher.

Image Credit: Wired

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At today’s BlackBerry Live 2013 event, CEO Thorsten Heins made a couple of announcements regarding updated software and a brand new BlackBerry device.

Heins revealed that BlackBerry 10.1, an updated version to the operating system that shipped with the Q10, will start rolling out to Z10 users starting today. It’s a free update that will be rolling out with carrier partners over the next few weeks.

Some of the new BlackBerry 10.1 features include PIN to PIN messaging in the BlackBerry Hub, more customization options for notifications, fine cursor control, HDR photography, and a lot more that makes the BlackBerry 10 OS easy and “more improved.”

Heins said that most international carriers will be distributing the new update by the end of this week, while US carriers are expected to receive the updated software by the end of May. To download the new software, just wait for the alert in the notifications section of the BlackBerry Hub, or you can manually check for the software update in the settings menu.

During the event, Heins gave an update on the BlackBerry 10′s growing app catalog, which now includes more than 120,000 apps for the new OS that are available for download. Some of these include iHeartRadio, SoundHound, Bloomberg Hub, and Skype.

Heins also announced a new smartphone that is expected to launch this summer: the BlackBerry Q5, which also runs BlackBerry 10. The Q5 features a QWERTY keyboard and is designed for emerging markets. It has a 3.1-inch touchscreen on top of a physical keyboard and comes in red, white, black and pink. Starting in July, it’s expected to launch in parts of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. No price has yet been set for the new device.

The BlackBerry Q5 “is for youthful fans that are passionate, confident and bold, and it makes it easy for them to have fun, create, share and stay connected,” Heins explained.

The post BlackBerry Announces The Q5, Starts Rolling Out 10.1 Today appeared first on Macgasm.

Siri quickly went from Johnny 5 to Marvin the Paranoid Android for most iPhone users, as the launch was plagued with network and service outages. Once everyone went through all the easter eggs, there were a lot of questions as to how to integrate Siri into everyday use patterns. One of the more overlooked features for Siri is the ability to work nearly hands free for dialing and texting, a useful feature if stuck in traffic.

Siri still can be easily tripped up by nonstandard phonetics, such as when your cousin moves from Mypos and is always texting you about his wacky adventures. When you try to tell Siri to text “Balki Bartokomous,” it has trouble understanding you. Using the contacts app you can tip Siri off with a phonetic spelling.

1. Open the Contacts app on your phone and go to Balky’s entry
2. Press edit at the bottom of the card,
3. Then scroll down until you see “Add Field.” in the popover menu that comes up
4. Tap phonetic first name, enter the correct pronunciation.
5. Repeat for the last name, and you’ll be ready to respond to your cousin’s hijinks using nothing more than your voice.

Siri is a long way from perfect, but tricks like this make it surprisingly useful. The largest continuing problem with Siri is the lack of clear documentation for new users, leading most people to assume that it’s useless. Hopefully we can find more tips like these to make using Siri easier.

If you know any awesome Siri tips, hit us up: tips@macgasm.net

The post Tip: Improve Siri Voice Dialing With Phonetic Names appeared first on Macgasm.

Raspberry Pi owners in the UK who have been waiting for the new Raspberry Pi Camera Board will be happy to know that it has launched today.

With only limited quantities available, CPC is limiting initial order quantities to one per customer. Those who are signed up for notifications from CPC probably already know this and have been invited to order their Raspberry Pi Camera Board today.

If you’re interested, here are a few specs. The Raspberry Pi Camera Board measures 25 x 20 x 9mm. It has been designed as an add-on to use with the Raspberry Pi, which lets you capture 2,592 x 1,944-pixel images and capture video at 1,080p (30fps), 720p (60fps) and VGA (60 or 90 fps) once it’s installed.

The Raspberry Pi Camera Board is priced at £19.87 inc VAT. You can order your Raspberry Pi Camera Module now over at the CPC website.  For a first look at what it will look like, make sure to check out the brief video above.

Image Credit: Open Compute Project

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Realmac Software just announced with a little teaser that Analog Camera will be coming to the iPhone soon. A specific date has not been set, but you can sign up on the website to be the first to know when it does.

Until now, Analog has only been available for the Mac. If you don’t already know, it’s a great application that makes it easy to edit and improve photos with a variety of filters and borders.

As you can see from the video above, the iPhone version will make it easy to snap new photos, edit them how you want, and then share them on your favorite social media website, like Facebook.

The video doesn’t reveal anything more than that and ends with the phrase “Analog Camera for iPhone – Coming Soon.” If you’re looking forward to using this app on your iPhone, make sure to sign up.

Image Credit: Vimeo

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According to new rumors that stem from supply chain sources in Taiwan, Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5S could feature a sapphire crystal home button that comes complete with a new fingerprint sensor.

Apple is reportedly getting rid of the traditional physical home button and turning instead to a touch-sensitive button covered by scratch-resistant sapphire crystal glass. By using the sapphire crystal, Apple hopes to prevent the button from getting scratched and ruining the fingerprint sensor.

The iPhone 5 already features sapphire crystal materials with a sapphire crystal camera lens on the back, which Apple used to prevent scratches from ruining photos. Apple is now expected to use the same material for the iPhone 5S home button.

According to Taiwanese website TechNews, the iPhone 5S won’t be a physical button that you push and instead will be a touch home button. It would get rid of one of the more unreliable aspects of the iPhone as the home button occasionally fails after being used for a long time as it collects dirt and other grime from daily usage.

Since Apple acquired AuthenTec last year, it’s been rumored that Apple would employ touch sensors in the next iPhone, and the use of sapphire crystals makes this rumor even more plausible. Add in Apple’s penchant for removing unnecessary buttons and ports, and you’ve got a perfect recipe for an Apple rumor.

TechNews says the next-generation iPhone will launch in August or September, along with the rumored plastic lower-cost iPhone.

The post iPhone 5S To Feature Sapphire Crystal Home Button With Fingerprint Sensor? appeared first on Macgasm.

In what’s probably a giant tell about the value of a web app versus a native application, Amazon will soon be releasing its cloud media player for OS X. That being said, the company hasn’t directly announced when it will be releasing its native desktop client that will compete directly with Apple’s iTunes.

The application will do everything you would expect it to: focus on your music, access your purchased music content, and take advantage of its instant search to find all of your buried songs from your childhood.

That’s not the best part though. Cloud Player will scour your Mac and track down all of your iTunes purchases and songs and then transfer them to Cloud Player so you can access both Amazon and Apple content from within the player.

It’s nice to have a competitor, even if the color scheme looks like the application came right out of the 90s Winamp era. The Jury is still out on whether or not this application whips the llama’s ass like Winamp though.

Via iMore

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Apple has posted a new job listings to its job board related to a position with the iWork team.  Apple has been beefing up its iWork development team since February, and today the company has added a Software QA Engineer position to the board.

Other open positions include a Product Specialist, a Verification Engineer, a Technical Production Ninja, a Visual Motion Designer, a HiDPI Image Specialist and the three QA Software Engineers mentioned previously.

iWork is Apple’s productivity suite that competes with Microsoft Office. The suite consists of Pages, Numbers and Keynote. These apps are available for both Mac and iOS via the App Store and can be purchased separately for $19.99 per app on the Mac and $9.99 per app on the iPad and iPhone.

iWork for Mac is long overdue for an upgrade as the last major iteration was released at Macworld Expo 2009. Since then, we’ve seen small updates pushed to the Mac app as well as the introduction of the iPad and iPhone app. These applications sync with each other via iCloud, so you can start a document on your Mac and finish it on your iPad.

Image Credit: renatomitra

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Apparently there’s no need for Google to be worried that Facebook will take over all Android phones in the near future. A new report published online by BGR has hinted that AT&T may no longer sell the HTC First to its customers.

The news is not shocking, as only 15,000 phones ended up being sold to customers since its April 12^th release. The price of the phone was recently dropped from $99 to $0.99, although in response to the speculation, AT&T emailed BGR saying, “As mentioned previously, we do pricing promotions all the time and have made no decisions on future plans.”

Facebook Home also can be downloaded to compatible phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy Note II and HTC One X. It has received tons of one-star reviews from the Google Play Store and it has been downloaded over a million times. Some of the negative comments include that it “ruins the interface” and “you can’t log out or stop this app.”

Clearly there’s some confusion about what Facebook Home does to a handset. Maybe Facebook didn’t realize how important the regular interface is for Android users, many of whom are accustomed to widgets, folders, and docks.

This news does not spell the demise of Facebook Home. While there is a chance for it to succeed in the future, right now its prospects look pretty grim.

The post HTC First “Facebook Phone” May Be Dropped By AT&T appeared first on Macgasm.

Google has unified account storage from Google Drive, Gmail and Google+ into one data pool, giving free users 15GB of usable web storage. This 15GB of storage can be used across all Google services without any form of allocation. The same applies for people who have purchased additional storage for their Gmail or Google Drive account.

Google unifying its storage accounts will be a huge win for most Google users that don’t use the full potential of a Google service. For instance, I’m not a huge Gmail or Google+ user, but I use Google Drive on a daily basis. It will be nice for me to be able to use my unused Gmail storage on Google Drive and not let the storage go to waste.

This change will also make Google Drive a more worthy competitor to Dropbox and Microsoft’s SkyDrive. These services only offer 2GB and 5GB to free users respectively, making them hard to use for photo backups. Google Drive has a wide range of well-designed mobile apps as well as desktop clients and was launched in April of 2012.

The post Google Combines Drive, Gmail and Google+ Storage appeared first on Macgasm.

Andrew Aurenheimer, better known as “Weev” in the hacking world, has been placed in solitary confinement. The man was placed in the segregated part of the prison for “investigative purposes” due the to fact that he was tweeting from prison. His tweets were sent via a prison email account and later relayed to his Twitter account by a third party. The account has not been updated since the 8th of April.

Aurenheimer sent snail mail to the Daily Bot explaining the situation.

I am disgusted to have to write an actual paper letter but they took away all my electronic comms methods and put me in the special housing unit where I am under 24/7 lockdown. All this for the high crime of blogging, despite nation B.O.P. [Federal Bureau of Prisons] officials having made public statements that what I was doing wasn’t against the rules[…]

It has been a week of this and I feel completely alone and abandoned. I don’t even have my loved ones or attorney’s address (they took most of my papers and I happened to have your address on a property slip they didn’t toss). and am unsure when or if anyone will find out about my situation.

Weev was sentenced to prison for 41 months due to taking user information from a public AT&T website and sharing it with Gawker. A lot of the tech world (including myself) has questioned the sentence length, and whether or not it was warranted. On top of his prison time, Aurenheimer will have to pay AT&T $73,000 in restitution charges.

Image Source: Daily Tech

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Let’s pretend the Internet is a nice place and people are inherently good to one another (please stop laughing). Would it be wrong to assume, then, that when someone puts some effort into making something, that thing won’t be ripped apart and disgraced by people with significant audiences and even more significant egos?

Unfortunately, the world isn’t perfect and nobody can create anything without having to endure the inflated opinions of others (this also includes my inflated opinion for those reading this who are ready to pounce).

The most recent “how dare you” moment came in the form of a new iOS concept video from digital marketing firm Simply Zesty.

The designers, Philip Joyce and Denes Farkas, took a decidedly more flat and “Windows Phone-esque” approach to their idea of what the next iOS could/should look like, which prompted the following responses from across the blogoscape and Twitterdome:

Mediocre designers love “flat design” because it takes minimal effort to execute. Rounded square + pick a color + use free icon = done.

— Mike Rundle (@flyosity) May 10, 2013

How nuanced.

David Chartier also got in on the snark:

Here is an iOS concept video link

It’s shiny and that indie music really makes it pop.

Don’t worry about the massive usability challenges we didn’t realize exist, or the ones we simply decided to ignore.

Damn this video looks awesome.

John Gruber actually had a positive note to add at the end of his “why does this video exist?” article:

His animations and transitions do show how going “flatter” doesn’t necessarily mean eliminating playfulness, though.

But this statement from the previous paragraph illustrates Gruber’s (and many others’) lack of awareness to the real crux of the situation:

And certain of Joyce’s details are oddly tone-deaf branding-wise. The shape of app icons is not going to change from round-cornered squares to sharp-cornered ones (or any other shape for that matter). Apple owns this shape; this shape says “iOS app” in everyone’s mind.

So what? Why does it matter if a 3rd party concept takes liberties that won’t end up in the final product? Last I checked, none of the people who make these videos work at Apple. These aren’t final renders, they’re “what-ifs”, and while many elements may not be well thought-out (slide-to-unlock at the top?), there’s always something to glean from a new design.

…Unless you use social media, or you have a blog, or you’re a designer. Then the world is black-and-white and every decision must follow the rule of Highlanderism: There can be only one.

Every criticism I’ve read has mistaken the critic’s personal preference for what constitutes “good” design as it relates to Apple. Worse yet, each person who’s shat upon Joyce’s and Farkas’s work has missed the big picture: It was never about Apple.

I’m sorry to be the one to burst all the artisanal ego bubbles out there, but these concept videos aren’t targeted at critics on social media – they’re targeted at potential clients and employers:

Jan-Micheal Cart has made quite a name for himself designing impressive new concepts for the iOS operating system, such as the dynamic icons concept you see above, and an awesome system for implementing widgets which we covered back in May.

However, it seems it’s not just iOS users who have been impressed with Cart’s work. The Apple camp in Cupertino has also picked up on it, and they’ve hired him as an intern.

These designs, regardless of how realistic they may be when compared with Apple’s design guidelines, are less about expectations and more about building résumés. To waste pixels and time deconstructing how un-Apple like they are misses the point entirely.

Simply Zesty is a digital marketing firm and among the services it offers are:

• User interface consulting
• Video and motion graphics
• Design, photography, imagery, animation

How many new apps get released that feature fun demo videos with computer recreations of their interfaces set to vibrant music? How many of those developers could benefit from the services offered by Simply Zesty? And how many potential clients might not have heard of Simply Zesty before its video went viral?

Also, don’t forget about film and television studios that need futuristic interfaces built for the latest sci-fi epic or Avengers sequel. The possibilities may not be endless in the realm of contemporary software design, but they are in La La Land. And as we’ve learned from Star Trek, science fiction has a tendency to turn into science fact over time.

Whether you think a concept design fits the device or not, there is always something to be learned from it. No designer is perfect and no design is perfect. Everything is subjective and what one person finds unintuitive, someone else may find more user friendly than anything else out there. There is no “one size fits all”.

For example, the widgets Joyce and Farkas built into Notification Center clutter the interface and feature tap targets that are too small (so, no different than the tap targets we currently have), but if Apple was going to incorporate more functionality into Notification Center in iOS 7, I’d like to think it would be something similar. A small calendar view, shortcuts for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and more music playback controls would work really well in Notification Center and perhaps give me more of a reason to use it.

Of course, what do I know? I’m not a designer. I’m just an average user who thinks in shades of gray.

We won’t know what iOS 7 will look like until June. Until then, enjoy these mock-ups and concept videos for what they are: job applications.

The post This Week in “Nerds Ruin Everything”: iOS Concepts appeared first on Macgasm.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman wants phone theft rates to drop. To do this, he’s pointing his finger at the phone and OS manufacturers themselves, saying that they aren’t doing enough to deter their devices from being targets for theft.

Schneiderman has sent letters to the offices of Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Samsung, extending an invitation for the companies to work together with his office in order to develop new antitheft measures.

“Surely we can work together to find solutions that lead to a reduction in violent street crime targeting consumers,” says Schneiderman. In the letters, Schneiderman references a number of specific incidents that have occured in the city which involved violent or fatal altercations over people trying to steal iPhones.

One of the major reasons New York wants to address this issue is because it causes bad press for the city and the police department. For example, overall crime rates would have decreased in the city in 2012 if it weren’t for a massive increase in Apple product thefts. If the thefts hadn’t occured, the city would have been able to tell its citizens that crime had decreased by 4%.

Schneiderman doesn’t cut the companies any slack with his letters, going as far as to imply that they might be purposefully enabling theft as it earns them more money in replacement device sales. “I would be especially concerned if device theft accrues to your financial benefit through increased sales of replacement devices.”

While companies like Apple offer features such as Find My iPhone, which offer a number of security measures to users, Schneiderman doesn’t think it’s enough. Schneiderman thinks these companies should find a way to render a phone completely useless if stolen, as a means of deterring theft.

It will be interesting to see if any of the companies respond to Schneiderman’s letter and if they do end up agreeing to sit down with him.

When people are able to steal iPhones like this, you know you have a problem.

The post New York Wants Apple, Google, Microsoft And Samsung To Make Their Phones Harder To Steal appeared first on Macgasm.

CBS News has released some previously unaired footage taken from its 60 Minutes interview with Bill Gates earlier in the week. The new footage shows Gates getting teary-eyed when discussing his final meeting with the then very ill Steve Jobs.

Gates says that in his last meeting with Jobs, the two talked about retrospective things like “what we’d learned”, as well as conversations about things like family. Jobs was also excitedly showing Gates the plans for his yacht that he was having built, although the former Apple CEO never got to see it finished.

Gates states that Jobs didn’t seem at all angry or bitter about his sickness, and rather that he felt disappointed by their failures such as having never made as much of an impact on education as he wanted to up until that point.

When asked by interviewer Charlie Rose what Jobs had that Gates wishes he had, Gates without hesitation said, “His sense of design.”

Watch the full video to get a closer look at the interesting and unique relationship that existed between the tech leaders.

The post Bill Gates Emotionally Recounts Last Words With Steve Jobs appeared first on Macgasm.

If you were to think of all the things you could write a Steve Jobs/Steve Wozniak graphic novel about, you’d likely never come up with the concept for Steve and Steve.

The comic follows Apple co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, who have become trapped within a large dome in the middle of the forest for no explicable reason. The two get high and have deep talks that are loosely related to technology and that sometimes last for pages on end. They talk about anything from braiding hair to lesbian witches, all providing for a trippy yet entertaining experience.

The graphic novel is surprisingly funny and does a great job at mocking the well known personality traits of Jobs and Wozniak. Currently just the prologue is available, however, the prologue still manages to give a ton of content and a good setup for the future story, which is expected to be continued sometime this month. Plus, ya know, it’s free.

The whole comic, created by acclaimed comic writer Patrick Sean Farley, is available to read online with a nice easy to read interface.

If you have some time, definitely check out the graphic novel here. It’s fair to say you’ll never read anything like it.

Via Cult of Mac

The post Steve and Steve: A Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak Comic You Have To See To Believe appeared first on Macgasm.

By the year 2020, 4G LTE speeds will be so yesterday. Samsung announced today that it has successfully developed 5G technology for the first time and expects to give the speed-bump to users by 2020.

According to Samsung, with 5G speeds, users will be able to access a stream of data much faster than with the current 4G speeds and movies will be downloaded in less than a second.

With the new 5G platform, users will be able to download data at speeds of up to tens of gigabits per second (Gbps). Compare this to the current 75 megabits per second (Mbps) with the 4G LTE service.

Samsung has reportedly done successful testing of the platform using 28 Gigahertz (Ghz) waveband to transmit data at a speed of 1 Gbps. Before now, this was considered a “conundrum by global industry players.”

Samsung apparently used 64 antenna elements to solve the problem. This let the device exchange real-time signals under the platform.

So if 4G LTE data speeds aren’t fast enough for you, you’ll only have to wait another seven years to get your hands on 5G speeds. Brace yourselves, iPhone 5G rumors are coming…

Image Credit: Gizmodo

The post Need For Speed: Samsung Readying 5G For 2020 Release appeared first on Macgasm.

A new report from Reuters is suggesting that Pegatron has begun eating into Foxconn’s orders.

“Fellow Taiwanese manufacturer Pegatron wants to grab more orders to assemble the fast-selling iPhone and iPad from the California-based tech giant. Analysts say Pegatron offers more competitive pricing – at the expense of lower margins – and appears to be succeeding in pulling in more orders from Apple.”

The article also suggests that it may have something to do with increasing costs from Foxconn, and then in the next breath mentions wage increases and improved working conditions as a reason why Foxconn could be losing business:

“The company, which has come under fire for labor conditions in its factories supplying Apple, has raised wages and improved amenities. But rising labor costs erode margins, and it has been moving manufacturing to China’s cheaper inland provinces.”

Pretty sure Reuters wants you to infer that Apple’s moving to Pegatron because labor cost increases at Foxconn have made it too expensive to do business with the company, despite providing no evidence to the claims, and publishing it as an aside. Nothing like padding your post with garbage to meet quotas.

The post Pegatron To Eat More Of Foxconn’s Apples appeared first on Macgasm.

Today Groupon has launched a new app for mobile payments called “Groupon POS.” The app will allow merchants and businesses to accept and manage payments directly from an iPad.

The Groupon POS app will rival other similar services, like Square’s Register app. It’s a “beautiful and simple way to manage your business and accept payments at the lowest rates available today.” Merchants and business owners can quickly set up offerings, check out customers, and view real time analytics.

The app also works with an optional cash drawer and printer to automate and make points of sale easier. Groupon POS will work for a variety of businesses, including cafés, delies, salons, spas, florists, and more.

While the company hasn’t actually announced the app yet, it went live on the App Store today. Last year, Groupon launched a similar app for the iPhone called Groupon Merchants with its Groupon Payments service. With it, business owners are able to accept payments through a credit card reader, which is available for iOS devices.

In other news, Groupon is still around.

The post Groupon POS Launches On The App Store For Mobile Payments appeared first on Macgasm.

These earbuds from Apple Depot deliver high quality sound while blocking out all the other stuff that you don’t want to hear. They’re molded to give you a perfect fit and the built-in mic brings added convenience. Normally these earbuds would cost you $35, but for a limited time you can get them for only $15. You can get your Apple Depot earbuds here.

The post Deal: Get These Apple Depot Earbuds For Less Than Half-Price appeared first on Macgasm.

With this Bluetooth speaker from Urge Basics, you can get high quality sound wherever you go. It works with most Bluetooth enabled devices, effortlessly playing your music collection up to 10 metres away. It has a built-in mic so you can also use it to take your calls. Normally this speaker would cost you $80, but for a limited time you can get it for only $39. You can get your Bluetooth speaker here in white, red, or blue.

The post Deal: This Bluetooth Speaker Is Half-Price appeared first on Macgasm.

ABC is gearing up to revolutionize the way people watch TV by live-streaming content on iPhones and iPads with a “live” button. But don’t get too excited just yet — there’s a catch. Only people living in New York and Philadelphia will be able to live stream content from ABC’s local stations there. This is pretty major as ABC is the first major broadcaster to enable such a feature, even if it’s only for a limited number of users.

The other catch is that the live stream will only be available to paying subscribers of cable and satellite providers, despite the stations’ signals being available for free over the public airwaves.

ABC, which is part of the Walt Disney Company, said that the feature would be available in the other six cities where it owns stations sometime this summer.

ABC’s mobile app could prompt other broadcasters to make similar moves, just like seven years ago when the network started to stream full episodes of shows the morning after they aired on TV. ABC was planning to introduce the new “live” feature for its app in 2014, but decided to introduce it much sooner.

Anne Sweeney, the president of the Disney-ABC Television Group, explains: “We keep a very close eye on consumer demand. We watch how people are behaving with their devices, and we really felt that we needed to move faster.”

Apple devices are the first to be supported with this feature, but other phones and tablets will be supported in the coming months, according to Albert Cheng, Vice President for Digitial Media. Securing the necessary rights from program providers was the hard part, but ABC will be able to stream all of its local newscasts, syndicated talk shows like “Katie,” and national series like “Grey’s Anatomy.”

ABC is set to feature the new service on Tuesday at its upfront presentation for advertisers.

The post ABC To Start Live Streaming TV Shows Through Its iOS App This Week appeared first on Macgasm.

Face it, we all have that one pair of jeans that has been sitting around our closet for years. Sure, you could throw these jeans in the garbage, but what if you could do something actually useful with your old “Mom jeans”? Well, Instructables user =SMART= has an idea for you: a denim iPhone sleeve.

Making the sleeve is quite simple. According to the tutorial, you only have to make a few cuts on your old pair of jeans, fit your device, and then sew away. Once you’re finished, you should have a pretty wicked (and protective) sleeve for your iPhone or other mobile device. If you followed the instructions properly, the leather label on the back of your jeans should be on the front of the sleeve, giving it a vintage look.

If you’re someone who wears their iPhone on their belt, you’ll be happy to know that you can modify your denim sleeve to act as a holster. Just make sure that you cut out a belt loop with the rest of the material. If you plan on using your denim sleeve as a holster, we’d recommend adding a button to the sleeve’s opening for added protection.

Image Credit: =SMART= (Instructables)

The post Turn Your Old Jeans Into An iPhone Sleeve With This Simple Hack appeared first on Macgasm.

Just last March, Flipboard for iOS received a major update bringing the popular social magazine app to version 2.0. Now, another notable Flipboard update brings a number of new features that makes flipping through your favorite articles even better.

The new update introduces a number of features, including the ability to keep tabs on your readership and curation with the new profile pages. Your profile page highlights how many magazines, articles, and readers the corresponding user has so far.

Flipboard now has even better discovery options, with a new Friends category in the Content Guide that lets you discover magazines by friends quickly and easily.

There’s now even more sharing support within the app. You can select a social network and access options from the improved share menu. Through SMS text messaging, you can share magazines and stories easily with friends and family.

By tapping the item’s share icon, you can save images directly to your device’s Camera Roll. There’s also improved navigation for Google Reader RSS folders, despite the service getting killed off this summer.

The updated Flipboard is now available in the App Store. The app is a free download if you haven’t yet had the chance to try it out.

The post Flipboard Update Brings Profile Pages, Friends Category, More appeared first on Macgasm.

WWDC is coming closer and we’re already beginning to see early evidence of iOS 7 via web traffic. That bit of news was tied to some early concept ideas about iOS 7, one about the overall design and the other about possible App Store trials.

Hardware rumors kicked up as there were stories that said the Retina iPad Mini was due to enter production in a few months. The cheaper iPhone rumors resurfaced as a supplier reported a 40% increase in it’s workforce.

Our Features, Tips, and Funny Posts

• Caught Watching Porn On Google Glass, SNL Sketch
• New YouTube Trends Map Feature Wants To Steal Your Free Time
• Apple’s Aged iOS Apps Tell The Whole Story
• I Hated Jailbreaking Then I Figured Out What Tweaks To Install
• Repair Just About Anything With Sugru

Stories from around the web

• The myth of Inbox Zero and the path to peace of mind, Why you fail at Inbox Zero and how to reframe the process.
• Apps are too cheap, an argument that the community and Apple needs to do more to help ensure developers make a living.
• Incestuous, Kickstarter-driven, hatred of casual: why one developer dropped out of the “indie scene”, one developer explains that the “community” might not always be a good thing.
• Privacy Breach on Bloomberg’s Data Terminals , Bloomberg News is accused of using the company’s terminals to harvest data to break stories.
• Coralbots will restore and rebuild damaged coral reefs, Robots lulling us into thinking they’re here to help.

Our Weekly Deals

• The NYOP Adventure Gamer Bundle
• Apple Depot Earbuds With Mic & Remote
• Build iOS Apps From Scratch Without Programming
• A Retro Phone For Your Smart Device
• Easily Create 3D Animations For The Web

The post Here’s 15 Posts That You Should Catch Up On This Weekend appeared first on Macgasm.

Apple’s killing off its SuperDrives slowly but surely. If you have a new MacBook Air, or a Retina MacBook Pro, there’s probably been a couple of times you’ve found yourself wishing you had access to a CD Burner at one point or another. Sure, it’s probably only a couple of times, but for some, it’s still a necessity.

Apple has placed its USB SuperDrive on sale over at Amazon. Normally weighing in at $79.00, you can now pick one up for $69.00.

I grabbed one. It may be a dying technology, but sadly my car only plays CDs at this point. It’s a lot cheaper to buy an external CD burner than it is a new car. For now.

The post Apple USB SuperDrive On Sale At Amazon appeared first on Macgasm.

We’ve seen a lot of iOS 7 concepts roll across our desks the last couple of weeks, but for the most part a lot of them are pipe dreams. Rarely has their been a concept that makes a lot little bit of sense when we place it against realistic practices at Apple. There’s no way we’re getting widgets. No one uses them.

Taking a flyer from other popular application updates that have flattened UI elements, Tim Green, of Divide by Enterproid, has built a pretty interesting alternative to the iOS Messages icon.

Green, in a post over on Medium:

I tried to apply the stylings and approaches that I discussed before and also made a simple change to pull the Label text down in boldness to Helvectica Neue Medium and up the font size to 26px to give it clearer counters and a smoother, more legible readability.

The Messages icon is the end result of Green’s study, but the information he presents along the way is worth reading and spending a moment or two thinking about, especially if you’re into iOS 7 conjecture.

Via Cult of Mac

The post What Happens When You Flatten The Messages Icon? This Happens appeared first on Macgasm.

Booq has released a new backpack that is catered to fit Apple products. Marketed towards the creative professional, the Boa Squeeze has special compartments for a MacBook, an iPad as well as an iPhone. The bag also features a wide-open compartment for books or whatever else you may find yourself carrying when walking or riding your bicycle to your favorite coffee shop. The bag’s side compartments and cell phone pocket make it easy to grab your essentials at all times.

According to the press release, Booq has designed the bag with ergonomics in mind. The shoulder straps have been designed to be wider, allowing the bag to better distribute weight. The back of the backpack is coated with air mesh padding, ensuring that your back will stay sweat-free and comfortable. The outside of the bag is graphite colored while the interior is crafted from a herringbone fabric.

Booq’s lead designer, S. Kema Subsomboon, said the following on the Boa Squeeze:

The Boa squeeze is designed to be lighter than most. We’ve cut down the amount of unnecessary pockets, but tailored the interior compartment to fit everything creative professionals need to carry. We also customized the shoulder strap to be a little wider than what’s normal, so that our customers can carry heavier loads without causing strain to their back

If you’d like to purchase a Boa Squeeze for yourself, expect to drop $129.95 for one on Booq’s online store. It definitely looks like a nice bag for those who prefer backpacks to messenger bags and are constantly on-the-go.

The post Keep Your Gadgets Organized And Protected With The Boa Squeeze By Booq appeared first on Macgasm.

With our newest bundle, we’re bringing you 6 addictive games that will keep you glued to your computer for hours. And the best part is, you get to decide how much you want to pay. Here’s how it works. Pay whatever you want for two of the games — Gardenscapes and Storm in a Teacup. To get the other 4 games, all you have to do is pay more than the average price. As an added bonus, we’ll donate 10% of your purchase price to a charity of your choosing. Here’s a rundown of the 6 games:

• The Great Jitters: Pudding Panic – Explore 48 levels, defeat scary monsters, and reach the exit before your courage is crushed
• 4 Elements – Help restore and save the ancient kingdom
• Royal Envoy – Save the wonderful land of countless islands from the merciless forces of nature
• The Tiny Bang Story – Help restore the lost beauty and population of an entire planet
• Storm in a Teacup – Take Storm on a wonderful adventure in a magical teacup
• Gardenscapes – Create the perfect garden

You can grab the Name Your Own Price Adventure Gamer Bundle here.

The post Deal: Get 6 Top Adventure Games At A Price Of Your Choosing appeared first on Macgasm.

It turns out that Apple’s innovative Smart Cover might be more dangerous than its colorful appearance would tell.

14 year old Gianna Chien has done a study proving that the smart cover’s built in magnets have a high risk of turning off implanted defibrillators for those with serious heart problems. If someone with one of these devices inside of them falls asleep with their iPad on their chest, it could potentially turn off their defibrillator, putting them at serious risk.

Read the full story at Bloomberg.

The post Turns Out The iPad’s Smart Cover Can Kill, Turns Off Implanted Defibrillators appeared first on Macgasm.

The security software Apple uses to protect its iPhones is good. Perhaps too good.

The devices are allegedly so hard to crack that police need to go to Apple themselves to retrieve information from them. Sometimes Apple can put these police on waiting lists that last for over a month until they can finally get the information they want.

Read the full story over at CNET.

The post Even Police Can’t Decrypt An iPhone Without Apple’s Help appeared first on Macgasm.

One of the best innovations that has happened with the advancement of smartphones is camera quality. Thank goodness the days of watching flip phone quality footage on YouTube are pretty much all behind us.

The folks behind the Camera+ app wanted to show just how far camera quality has come along just since the introduction of the original iPhone. It’s incredible how much better what we have now in our iPhone 5s is than what we had back in 2007 with the first iPhone camera.

To really show off the evolution, they have taken a variety of pictures, all from the same angle, with an iPhone, an iPhone 3G, an iPhone 3Gs, an iPhone 4, an iPhone 4s and an iPhone 5.

Check out one example below, but be sure to visit the original blog post to get a look at all the different pictures.

iPhone

iPhone 3G

iPhone 3Gs

iPhone 4

iPhone 4s

iPhone 5

The post See The Evolution Of The iPhone Camera, From Original To iPhone 5 appeared first on Macgasm.

I love my gadgets, but carrying around three different cables to charge and sync my Lightning, 30-pin, and Micro USB devices can get annoying. However, the folks at iPhone 5 Mod have recently developed a USB cable that has attachments to work with both Lightning and 30-pin devices as well as standard Micro USB devices.

This cable is essentially a standard Micro USB cable with a Micro USB to Lightning adapter and a Micro USB to 30-pin adapter. These adapters are removable but can attach to the side of the cable using a set of nubs. To attach one of the Lightning or 30-pin adapters to the cable, just slide the Micro USB cable into the bottom of the adapter and you’re good to go.

The adapter itself will run you $13.90 via iPhone 5 Mod’s website and is available in two colors: black and white. Since all of the company’s products ship from China, the shipping times to the United States can take up to 20 days. EMS shipping is available, though you’ll have to pay extra for this expedited service.

Image Source: iPhone 5 Mod

The post This USB Cable Works With Lightning, 30-Pin, and Micro USB devices appeared first on Macgasm.

Sharp, a company that has found itself on hard times lately, caught a break a month back when Samsung invested over $100 million into the company. This clearly wasn’t enough to advert all disaster, however, as Sharp will reportedly announce plans Tuesday to let go of 5,000 employees over the next three years.

The Asahi Shinbum reports that Sharp’s corporate head office in Osaka, Japan will have half of its executive staff cut. Besides its head office, most of the job cuts will reportedly take place outside of Japan. The job cuts are being made in an attempt to bring the company back to a profitable state, somewhere it has not been in sometime.

The company will also allegedly begin to focus more on creating high-end TVs for U.S. customers by producing more 4K TVs and TVs that are over 70-inches. Sharp will also be putting more focus on small-panel smartphone displays.

Even for a company like Sharp that has nearly 60,000 employees, getting rid of 5,000 people is a significant number.

The post Sharp To Let Go 5,000 Employees, Change Company Focus appeared first on Macgasm.

If you spend a lot of time on the App Store, or you’re like Rene Ritchie and you spend $1800.00 on the App Store in a calendar year, there’s probably a decent chance that the idea of a try-before-you-buy system has crossed your mind at one point or another.

Amy Worrall has come up with a solution that would easily solve the problem.

Long story short, a new trial flag, a try it button, and an app banner. All of it seems pretty simple to implement, and I can’t really say that I disagree with anything she says.

It’s time that the App Store gets legitimate trial functionality.

Read App store trials over at AmyWorrall.com.

The post An Excellent Take On How To Implement App Store Trial Versions appeared first on Macgasm.

With WWDC quickly approaching, more and more iOS 7 concepts are popping up. The latest comes from Simply Zesty’s Art Director, Philip Joyce, who rounded up the latest iOS 7 rumors and put together a stunning visual concept of the best iOS 7 features.

There’s been a lot of debate about what direction Jony Ive will take with iOS 7, with many arguing he will do away with the traditional design elements of iOS and turn to a more modern and flat look. So what exactly does Ive have in mind? There’s no way to know until it officially launches, but Joyce’s concept definitely takes an interesting approach in trying to answer that question.

Joyce has given the app icons a complete makeover, getting rid of the gloss and sheen and turning to a flatter, cleaner and completely square look. He also included a widget-capable home-screen and completely redesigned core apps, including Calendar, Music, Siri, Facebook, and more.

The post Concept: Is This Close To What We Can Expect For iOS 7? appeared first on Macgasm.

Do you have a great idea for an iPhone app, but you don’t know a lick of code? If so, you’ll want to check out this video course, because it will teach you how to build and release iOS apps without having to know anything about programming. It includes over 160 video tutorials and 5 hours of content that will guide you through the entire process, from idea creation to production to release. Normally this course would cost you $499, but for a limited time you can get it for only $79. You can grab the video course here.

The post Deal: Learn To Build iOS Apps Without Programming With This Course appeared first on Macgasm.

While iTunes can still be used in “desktop” mode on Windows 8, Microsoft would really like Apple to come out with an official iTunes app for Windows 8. In an interview with CNN Money, Tami Reller, CFO of Microsoft’s Windows division, said that Microsoft has been trying to convince Apple to build an iTunes Windows 8 app, but it doesn’t look like it’ll happen “any time soon.”

“You shouldn’t expect an iTunes app on Windows 8 any time soon,” Reller explained. “iTunes is in high demand. The welcome mat has been laid out. It’s not for lack of trying.”

iTunes is one of the most searched for applications in the Windows Store, so it’s not surprising that Microsoft would like Apple to make one. So far, Apple has been willing to write some software for Windows, like iTunes, Safari, and Quicktime, but Apple’s footing in the tablet market is different than in the PC market. The iPad is the best-selling tablet out there right now, so there isn’t much incentive for Apple to release something that will make the Surface a better product.

Despite this one hole, the Windows app store is securing more and more apps with over 60,000 apps available to date. Users have downloaded about 250 million so far. The company hopes to have most of the popular apps for iOS available for Windows 8 in time for the next holiday season.

The post Microsoft: iTunes App For Windows 8 Probably Isn’t Happening appeared first on Macgasm.

The good news is that messaging app Line recently announced that it has passed 150 million users and Q1 2013 revenue of $58 million. The bad news is that today Apple has put an end to the feature that lets iPhone users purchase stickers to gift to friends. This feature alone earned Line $17 million during the first quarter.

According to Line’s blog, the company received a direct request from Apple asking for the sticker gifting function to be removed from the app.

Users will no longer be able to send stickers to others through iOS devices. The stickers were selling for $1.49-$1.99 per pack. This also puts an end to being able to buy Line Coins which were needed to use the gifting function. Gifting is still available on the Android version, and other versions of Line, and iOS users can still receive gifts from friends that use other platforms not part of iOS.

A huge portion of Line’s revenue came from these types of purchases. 30% of its revenue, or $17 million, came from sticker purchases during the past three months.

Line also let users know, while you can’t purchase stickers to send as gifts, you can still send free stickers as gifts to friends and even purchase stickers for yourself. Also, if you have more than 100 Coins left, you can still send stickers as gifts until all your Coins have been used up. If you only have 50 Coins, Line says to contact them and they’ll boost you to the necessary 100 Coins to purchase stickers.

Image Credit: PRNewswire

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It seems like Amazon may be looking to expand its hardware offerings beyond its Kindle tablets and eReaders. The company is reportedly working on an array of different products, including a smartphone with a 3-D display and a device that functions as some sort of “audio-only streaming device.”

The Wall Street Journal reports that it has been tipped off by reliable sources about Amazon’s “Alphabet Projects.” The Alphabet Projects are a collective of four different hardware projects Amazon is working on, Project A, Project B, Project C, and Project D.

One of the four projects is reportedly a high-end 3-D smartphone that doesn’t require 3-D glasses to use. What’s interesting about this reported phone, is that unlike other glasses-free 3-D displays that give the appearance of depth going into the screen, images on this phone will reportedly seem to float above the display like a hologram and will be visible at all angles. The device will reportedly use retina-tracking technology to help with the technology, and will also let users scroll through content using only their eyes.

The second project seems to be another smartphone, however, it is not detailed in the report. Perhaps this will be a more traditional smartphone offering from the company.

The third project is described by The Wall Street Journal as an “audio-only streaming device.” This sounds as though it could try and offer a cheap device that is dedicated just to streaming audio files. Whether this means it can connect to sites like Rdio or whether this just means it uses Amazon’s cloud to play songs purchased off Amazon is unclear.

The fourth project is a set-top box, similar to an Apple TV, that is designed for streaming movies and TV shows.

The sources claim that Amazon’s goal is to release some of these products within the next few months, although they also apparently say that any or all of the devices have the potential to be shelved due to things such as financial or performance concerns.

While an Amazon smartphone sounds like it could be a really interesting proposition, this report seems too unclear to take anything as a certainty. Hopefully we hear more information confirming the devices in the coming months.

The post Amazon Working On A 3-D Smartphone, Other Hardware appeared first on Macgasm.

China is a highly valuable country for any company, especially when it comes to the smartphone market. China’s smartphone market has recently grown to three times the size of the U.S.’s, with Apple being one of the top 5 smartphone vendors in the country.

Apple has retaken its spot as the fifth largest smartphone vendor in the country, with the company now possessing 8% of the country’s smartphone market. Apple trails Samsung, the top vendor in the country, that has a 20% share. Between Samsung and Apple, there also sits Yulong Computer Telecommunication Scientific, Huawei, and Lenovo. Samsung and Apple are the only two non-Chinese companies to feature in the country’s top 10 smartphone vendors.

Apple had previously fallen to 6th spot in the country, but analyst Nicole Peng states that, “iPhone 5 sales, along with price cuts to older iPhone models, propelled the company’s smartphone shipments in China’s intensely competitive market.”

There seems to be a massive smartphone boom happening right now in China. In Q1 2012, U.S. vendors shipped roughly the same number of smartphones to China as it produced for America. Now, however, 82 million smartphones were shipped to China by U.S. vendors in Q1 of this year versus just 27 million that were shipped to the U.S.

If Apple wants to catch up to Samsung in this exploding market, the company will likely have to release a lower-cost iPhone to appease the region’s poorer residents. While people often think of how a lower-cost iPhone would succeed in the U.S., it’s really countries like China that Apple is after with such a product.

The post Apple’s Popularity Rising In China, Now 5th In Country’s Smartphone Market appeared first on Macgasm.

The lazy man’s version of Netflix just got lazier with version 4.1 of the iOS app. The update brings with it the ability to auto-play episodes of TV, movie recommendations, and enhanced second screen options.

I refer to the iOS version as the “lazy man’s Netflix,” as the only time I ever use it is when I’m too lazy to get out of bed to go to my full-sized TV, so instead I stay and watch it on my iPhone or iPad. With this new update, Netflix takes the “post-play” feature from its other apps and brings it to the iOS version. This update makes it so that when an episode of a TV show finishes, Netflix automatically begins to load up the next one in the season. Now I don’t even have to worry about tapping around the screen to watch the next episode, I can simply lay in my bed and wait for it to happen.

The update also brings with it movie recommendations, where after you watch a movie, the three top recommended movies for you pop-up so that you can easily begin watching one of them. While binge viewing is certainly a lot more popular for watching TV shows than movies, it’s still a nice way to find out what movie you should choose to eventually watch next.

Also included in the update are “enhanced second screen options.” Second screen is the ability to use your iPhone or iPad as a sort of remote for Netflix that lets you select a movie from your iOS device and have it then play from Netflix on your PS3. It’s unclear what exactly the added options are that are included with the update.

Download the app for free on iTunes.

The post Netflix For iOS Updates, Adds Auto-Play Episodes And More appeared first on Macgasm.

If you’re a frequent traveler, you’ve probably found yourself in a hotel with free wired Internet access. While this is nice if you have a MacBook Pro sans Retina Display, you’re SOL if you have a MacBook Air or a Retina-equipped MacBook Pro. Sure, you could buy a Thunderbolt or USB to Ethernet adapter, but then you’re tethered to the wall. However, Kanex aims to fix this issue with the mySpot: a tiny wireless router that reroutes any ethernet connection wirelessly.

The mySpot is powered via USB and is ideally paired with an AC USB plug. The mySpot’s USB power cable is built-in to the device, so the only cable you have to bring is an ethernet cable. The device itself is quite small, and looks to be about the size of a USB flash drive or data card.

Connectivity wise, the mySpot provides a wireless-G connection and works with any wi-fi enabled device. While the company hasn’t provided specifics on the device in terms of connection strength, it has said that the mySpot will let you connect to all of your devices within a hotel room. The device does include WEP security, so you can be sure that your data is at least partially secure when using the mySpot.

The mySpot is available for around $30 on the Amazon Marketplace. We’d highly recommend this device to anyone who travels frequently and uses multiple wireless devices due to the mySpot’s small form and plug-and-play capabilities.

The post Stay Wireless With The mySpot appeared first on Macgasm.

Apple is continually improving Apple Maps since its launch last year, and today has added 3D Flyover support to Paris, France. Until now, Lyon was the only French city that had Flyover support, but now Paris is joining the club.

According to igen.fr, Apple has done a great job of the Flyover view of Paris and includes coverage of not only streets in Paris, but also covers areas like Versailles, Aulnay-sous-Bois, Disneyland Paris and L’Hay-les-Roses.

Apple’s 3D Flyover feature first arrived with the introduction of iOS 6 last September. Initially it launched support for just a few cities, but Apple has been adding more and more cities and countries for the past eight months.

Apple has added support for over 16 cities since January, including Portland, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Buffalo, Indianapolis, Tulsa and Stockton, and continues to roll out updates to improve Apple Maps as a whole.

The post Apple Adds 3D Flyover Coverage In Maps For France appeared first on Macgasm.

Back when the first jailbreak was announced I was pumped, but then immediately disappointed as my phone become less than stable, and crashed at the most inopportune times. I didn’t last a month without reverting back to a clean install of iOS. A lot has changed over the years. Jailbreaking is a lot more stable these days than in the past, despite Apple’s continued cat and mouse game to close loopholes in iOS to prevent jailbreaking.

I’ve found, surprisingly, that pulling off a successful Jailbreak experience requires quite a fair bit of restraint. Sure, there’s a billion Scarlett Johansson themes that you can install, but the more you avoid in the Cydia store, the better your experience will be with a jailbroken iPhone. Selectivity is key.

A measured, selective, and minimal approach to installing tweaks is something you should be doing. Not the “ohmygod, install all the things” approach that your trigger finger is certainly pushing for every time you open up a new cydia tweak.

Here’s what I’ve installed, and I’ve been bug free most of the time.

Atom

I’m tired of the old-busted lock screen in iOS, so I went looking for something new. Right around the time I began installing packages on my iPhone, Atom went live in the Cydia store.

Atom is a lock screen replacement that lets you quick launch six of your favorite applications from a circular grid (can a grid be circular?) directly from the lock screen. It was working out great until I put the Google app into Atom. Now I rarely even unlock my phone.

Kidding aside, Atom has been a great time saver. I’ve had zero problems with bugs, crashing, and unstable usage while using this tweak. It’s worth installing

Auxo

The iOS multitasking bar could also use some love from Apple in iOS 7. Auxo’s take on what the multitasking bar should look and feel like is a bit of a revelation. It’s an updated, and needed, approach.

App icons are replaced with screenshots so you can see what’s happening in an app. A screen brightness slider is put back into the multitasking bar, just like the one on your iPad. There’s also toggle buttons for a host of iPhone features like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Cellular, and other things you may want quick access to while you’re out doing what you do on a daily basis.

Again, this one’s been bug free and works like a charm.

Parallax

Parallax is completely cosmetic. The tweak lets you have a wallpaper that scrolls while you scroll between pages in iOS. You can set the rate that the image moves in the background. You can set it to move a lot, or just slightly.

Parallax gives your iOS device some depth, and it’s a nice change up from static wallpapers. You’ve probably seen these feature on a couple of android phones over the last couple of years.

SLightEnhancerSearch

This tweak is something I wish Apple would build right into iOS. Spotlight search in iOS, and OS X too actually, could use some deeper integration with other web services. SLightEnhancerSearch lets you search App Stores, iTunes, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and a whole host of other stores and web applications from directly within Spotlight. The tweak lets you pick and choose which are activated and which you’d rather not use, thereby cutting out a lot of unneeded clutter. I only have the App Store and Google turned on and they work flawlessly.

I know that I said that these have provided a bug free experience, and for the most part that has been true. SlightEnhancerSearch did give me some problems early on, but an update seems to have killed off any bugs I was facing. This is the only tweak that I’m reluctant to include on this list. Your success may vary.

The Catch

Like all applications in iOS, you get what you pay for when picking up tweaks in Cydia. In my experience, and there are a few exceptions to the rule, I rarely have problems with tweaks that I pay for and research before buying. Don’t assume things will work out of the box. There are a lot of glitchy and buggy tweaks on the Cydia store.

Cydia isn’t a free-for-all. Sometimes you do have to pay for tweaks. All of the tweaks mentioned above I paid money to download. The cool thing about Cydia is that you can pay with PayPal, so you never have to give them a credit card number. Honestly though, I have no problem paying for applications. It’s worth every dollar.

If you’re bored with iOS, and you want to change things up a little while we wait for iOS 7, I’d recommend jailbreaking your phone. It’s easy to go back to a clean iOS install if you hate it. Chances are you may find something worth sticking around for though, so don’t write it off before trying it out.

The post I Hated Jailbreaking Then I Figured Out What Tweaks To Install appeared first on Macgasm.

Since rumors of Apple acquiring Waze quickly fizzled out, Facebook is now reportedly in talks to acquire the navigation start-up for somewhere between $800 million and $1 billion. According to business daily Calcalist, Facebook and Waze started discussing the possibility about six months ago and a term sheet has already been signed.

Waze uses satellite signals from users’ smartphones, which generates maps and traffic data. This information is then shared with other users, providing real time traffic information. Waze also offers voice-guided turn-by-turn navigations, notifications for police traps, accidents, road hazards, and traffic jams.

Waze and Facebook first partnered in October of 2012 when Waze released a new updated version that lets users share their drive information with Facebook friends.

In the last year, Waze tripled the number of users it has to 45 million with 1.5 million signing up in March alone.

If this deal goes through, it’ll be Facebook’s third acquisition in Israel. In 2011, it bought Snaptu for $70 million and Face.com for $60 million in 2012.

Image Credit: BGR

The post Facebook To Acquire Waze For $1 Billion? appeared first on Macgasm.

Facebook Pages Manager for iOS has been updated to version 2.2, bringing performance improvements and a number of new features. The app has been rebuilt so it’s faster and easier to use and makes managing your Facebook pages easier than ever. You can post updated and photos and respond to comments, as well as view and respond to private messages and receive push notifications.

With the new update, scrolling through your Page timeline will be faster than before, with photos opening faster and closing with just one downward swipe.

On top of that, users will also be able to post photos using filters and auto-enhancement options to make your picture quality even better. Stickers and emojis can now also be sent in messages.

Facebook Pages Manager is the third Facebook app to support stickers, after the Facebook Messenger and regular Facebook app. The latest version of the Facebook Pages Manager is now available in the App Store.

Image Credit: Cult of Mac

The post Facebook Pages Manager Faster Than Ever, Brings Photo Enhancement Options, Emoji And Stickers appeared first on Macgasm.

For the last little while, the Pixelmator team has been teasing a new update on their blog for the popular photo editing application for the Mac. Now the update, known as 2.2 Blueberry, has arrived for Pixelmator, bringing over a hundred new features and improvements.

With over a hundred new features, Blueberry makes image editing easier and better than ever before. The new Smart Shape tools brings easy-to-use controls for adjusting outlines and a Smart Move tool that smartly knows when you’re working with an image or shape and gives you whichever options you’ll need for each. There’s also a new Light Leak effect feature that helps you create “stunning, retro-artistically illuminated images.”

This is just the tip of the iceberg. According to the Pixelmator blog, the update also brings new Color Popovers for faster access to color swatches, new gradient presets, improved drawing tools, an improved Type Tool, the ability to copy and past shape styles, and major performance improvements.

“We’re excited to deliver even more, easy-to-use, advanced features to our Pixelmator fans and continue to create the best and most enjoyable image editing experience,” Saulius Dailide of the Pixelmator Team said on their blog, “With new state-of-the-art Smart Shape Tools, people can fully enhance their images, create logos, Web layouts, posters, and much more, all easier than ever before.”

Pixelmator 2.2 is now available in the Map App Store for free for anyone who has already purchased the App. If you’re interested in it for the first time, you can get Pixelmator for $14.99

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The MagSafe adapter is a great laptop charger, but unfortunately the cable can get frayed and damaged over time. While you could purchase a new one when your charger starts to kick the can, that can be expensive and unnecessary when the mechanics inside of the adapter are still functioning perfectly. This got me thinking that there has to be some way to fix the MagSafe adapter by myself. Luckily, there is with Sugru, an innovative new rubber material that molds and hardens to objects yet still remains flexible.

Once you purchase a packet of Sugru, you can simply mold the material around the frayed part of your MagSafe adapter. Once applied, let the rubber sit overnight so it can bond with your cable. In the morning, you should notice that the applied Sugru has hardened but is still flexible. This allows you to reinforce your MagSafe without losing out on any flexibility.

Not only can Sugru be used for fixing cables, but it can be used for fixing and even improving on other gadgets, gizmos and other odds-and-ends around your apartment or house. For instance, some people have used Sugru to replace the volume buttons on their iPhone 3GS while others have used the putty to silence their bicycle’s mudguard. With a whole website dedicated to Sugru uses, the possibilities are endless with the putty.

Sugru can be purchased in many different quantities on Amazon.com. According to Sugru’s website, the most popular choice is the eight-pack that includes eight 5g packets of Sugru putty. The material is available in multiple different colors including black, blue and red amongst others.

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Pegatron, one of Apple’s major iPhone and iPad assemblers, has said it will be increasing the number of its workers in China by up to 40% in the second half of this year. This really adds fuel to the already blazing fire that says Apple is working on a cheaper iPhone model.

Pegatron currently employs 100,000 workers, so adding another 40,000 workers is no small task. Apple suppliers have reportedly told Reuters that Apple is, in fact, developing a cheaper model iPhone to reach lower-income buyers in growth markets like China and India. One source even revealed that a small-scale production of the display panel for the model would start in May, with production really picking up in June.

The cheaper iPhone model is expected to launch in the third quarter and Pegatron’s Chief Financial Officer, Charles Lin, told Reuters that 60% of the company’s 2013 revenue would come from the second half of the year.

Lin didn’t comment any further and didn’t say if the cheaper iPhone will be one of the products that Pegatron will make in the second half.

It’s still unclear what exactly a cheaper iPhone model will include, but rumors have suggested a range of colorful plastic casings. The device is expected to go for somewhere between $200-$500 for an unlocked device.

Image Credit: Mashable

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Apple wants Google to hand over documents relating to Android that will help it in its case against Samsung. Apple, which is in a patent-infringement lawsuit with Samsung, claims that Android “provides much of the accused functionality” of Samsung’s infringing products and that doing a thorough search of these documents is essential to proving Samsung is intentionally infringing on its patents.

Lawyers for Samsung argue that Apple intentionally left Google out of its lawsuit and only targeted Samsung as Google doesn’t have as many rights when its a third party to the trial, and thus there’s more of a chance that the company will be forced to hand over the documents that Apple is after.

“It’s a question of transparency,” Mark Lyon, a lawyer for Apple, told Grewal yesterday, referring to the documents. “We have concerns that they’re not doing a full search,” Bloomberg reports.

Samsung and Google are concerned that Apple will find information that can hint at future Android products or updates that will give them an unfair competitive edge. Apple claims that it is simply trying to protect its patents from Samsung.

This is the second major patent case between the two companies. Apple won the first one and Samsung was forced to pay Apple $639 million in damages.

Don’t think it’s the last one, however, as It is fair to expect back and forth patent wars between these two companies until the end of time.

Image Credit: Extreme Tech

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In line with reports from yesterday that said Sharp would begin mass production of the iPhone 5S display in June, Apple is reportedly on track to start production of multiple iPhone models in the June-July period, according to Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty.

Huberty believes Apple’s new iPhone models will launch in September, which she has determined from her meetings in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Her report definitely lines up with rumors that Sharp would begin mass production of the iPhone 5S LCD displays in June.

Along with the next-generation iPhone, Apple is also rumored to be developing a new lower-cost iPhone that would target consumers who prefer not to go the way of carrier contract subsidies. Huberty also said that Apple could see strong sales of the lower-cost iPhone in China.

As for the iPhone 5, Huberty learned that iPhone 5 shipments are in line with expectations, which is different from a few months ago when it was rumored that Apple was cutting orders of the iPhone 5. This prompted CEO Tim Cook to publicly shoot these rumors down.

“After a slow start, iPhone 5, is now on track to meet carrier volume expectations and iPhone 4 price cuts could stimulate incremental demand near-term. Carriers see the opportunity for Apple to expand market coverage with 5-inch and lower priced iPhones over time. TD-LTE licenses, and related phone launches, are expected by year-end,” Huberty explained in her note.

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I don’t know about you, but my desk is always filled with cables. Whether it be a MagSafe adapter for my MacBook Pro, a Lightning adapter for my iPhone and iPad, or a 30-pin adapter for my iPod, my desk is cluttered. In an attempt to hide my cable mess, I’ve tried running cables behind my desk, though I’ve always found that they either fall behind my monitor or, even worse, tumble to the floor.

The folks at Sewell seem to have had the same issue and have created the MOS, or the Magnetic Organization System. This device is essentially a well-designed magnet that sits atop your desk. This magnet holds your cables in place, keeping them from moving and falling when not in use.

The bottom of the MOS features a grippy bottom that uses micro-suction to stick to desks; because of this, your MOS won’t go tumbling down the rear of your desk alongside your slew of cables. Since the MOS uses suction, the device isn’t permanently affixed to your desk, allowing for adjustments.

What if your cable isn’t magnetized? No problem. The device includes a set of cable ties that wrap around said cable. Each cable tie has a small magnet on the inside, allowing your non-magnetized cable to work seamlessly with the MOS.

The MOS is available in two different versions: aluminum and plastic. Both of the devices function the same, though the aluminum model looks classier and will match your Apple products. Unfortunately, the aluminum model retails for $39.95 while the plastic model retails for a cheaper $23.95. The plastic model is available in two colors: black and white.

Via: Cult of Mac

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