Double Fine, the company behind such beloved games as Psychonauts and Brütal Legend, has decided to crowd source their funding of a brand new adventure game through Kickstarter. Of course, if any company can make a fantastic adventure game, it will be Double Fine. Tim Schafer, the founder of Double Fine, is known for heading up production of Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, and Grim Fandango at Lucas Arts. Working with Tim is Ron Gilbert. Gilbert, as many of you know, pretty much invented the genre of adventure games with Maniac Mansion as well as the Monkey Island series.

In their video, Schafer makes it clear that they need $300,000 USD for game development and $100,000 USD for filming of their documentary series. Within eight hours of going live on Kickstarter, they reached their goal. As of 12:30 PM Eastern today, they are over $700,000 USD with no sign of slowing down. Clearly, there is a substantial market for this type of game, and only Double Fine, headed up by the pioneers of the genre, have the balls to make it happen.

Now comes the most important question for us. Will there be an OS X and iOS version of this game? Well, luckily that is covered in their Q&A.

Being that they are in their first day of a total of thirty-three, and they are on track to double their goal by the end of the day, it is almost guaranteed that we’ll see OS X and iOS versions of this game. Want to make sure that happens? Well, don’t hesitate to chip in by backing their Kickstarter program. Your money will help make this happen.

Image Source: Wikipedia

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By snooping around a bit, the folks at Your Daily Mac have found some evidence that March 9th might be the planned launch for iOS 5.1.

While this is far from definitive, iOS 5.1 has been in development for quite some time, so a March 9th target isn’t exactly controversial or hard to believe. However, the proposed timing of this release coincides with the assumed iPad 3 launch in early March. It isn’t proof, but the facts fit the theory. Keep in mind, all of this is just conjecture. For all we know, the iPad 3 won’t come until later in the year, and iOS 5.1 will be delayed. This is worth keeping an eye on, but we won’t be placing any bets.

What do you think? Are we going to see iOS 5.1 right along side the next iPad? Are we going to see any surprises in the OS that isn’t in the beta similar to Siri in iOS 5? Sound off in the comment section with your thoughts and theories. Better yet, hit us up on twitter. Our username is @macgasm. We’re open to alternate timelines, so don’t hesitate to provide some new evidence.

Source: Your Daily Mac

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RepairLabs has published images of the inside rear shell of what is claimed to be the upcoming iPad 3. It looks like the logic board may be getting streamlined to free up some space. MacRumors is speculating that it could be room for some extra battery juice.

This brings us to new leaks today that actual show the backside of the alleged iPad 3. As you can see from the attached image below, the iPad 3 is pretty much going to look exactly like the iPad 2. Cult of Mac has a giant gallery of parts that are apparently from the upcoming iPad.

Looks a lot like the current iPad, doesn’t it. That being said, a Retina Display, more power under the hood, and extra battery life are all reason enough for me to sell my current iPad 2, and buy a new one. So, who’s in the market for an iPad 2?

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From All Things D:

A lot of people are really hoping that this version of the iPad would be a complete redesign based on Apple’s approach to iPhone releases. It sounds a lot like that won’t be happening this time around, and we don’t mind one bit. Recent case leaks have emerged today, and they look almost identical to the current iPad 2. We’re not sure how legitimate those case pictures are, but they look exactly how we expect them to moving forward.

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The fingerprints of iOS encroaching on OS X may be more tangible than realized. As I’ve watched Apple — in particular its video offerings — over the years, it occured to me sometime last year that if you want to know where Apple is taking OS X with regard to iOS, here’s a sure bet: Watch iLife.

2007

Two things happened in 2007. The first is well-known. In January of 2007, Steve Jobs revealed the iPhone to the world, and the world hasn’t been the same since.

The other event was a bit of a PR nightmare for Apple. In August, amidst the wake of the June release of the first iPhone, Apple rolled out iLife ’08, which included, among its standard offerings, an updated iMovie. iMovie ’08 had been completely redesigned by one Randy Ubillos — originator of Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro, and now Final Cut Pro X.

iMovie ’08

Upon its release, David Pogue said, “iMovie ‘08 is an utter bafflement… incapable of the more sophisticated editing that the old iMovie made so enjoyable…”

And look at all the changes — no processor-intensive effects, no plugins, one project at a time, and support for a limited amount of codecs, revolving primarily around MP4, which even Final Cut didn’t support at the time.

As I mentioned last year:

Because it was a 1.0 program, the “missing features” distracted everyone from the big UI overhaul. It’s on the list, but I think it is primarily the UI that drove Apple to resort to, as Pogue says, “throwing away a fully developed, mature, popular program and substituting a bare-bones, differently focused program under the same name.”

So coming at it from a positive angle, let’s look at what was gained with iMovie ’08 over its predecessor: one project at a time with one video viewer at a time, MP4-based editing, large regions and formed scrollable windows within a single application framework with lots of dragging versus precise clicking.

In short, it was made to be touched, not clicked.

D8

There’s been speculation about a touchscreen Mac for a long, long time. Back at D8, Steve Jobs famously spoke of how the tablet had been in the development stages for a long time, but advancements, primarily in touchscreen technology, caused Apple to opt for redirecting resources to the design of a mobile phone.

Today, the touchscreen Mac is really already among us — a quite capable personal computer running a version of OS X, albeit slightly different. We know it as the iPad. The touchscreen Mac of tomorrow may simply be an evolution of today’s robust iPad, handling tougher, more demanding processes and situations.

iMovie for iOS

Three years after the relase of that first iPhone, three years after the complete redesign of iMovie, we see iMovie for iOS — one of the first Apple-made, non-system, powerful apps for iOS that was built for the every day user. For you. For I.

And man, looking at iMovie for iOS during that keynote revealed one thing: the app looked a lot like that redesigned iMovie ’08 for the iLife suite. What started off as a surprising redesign that people like Pogue didn’t understand at the time began to make absolute sense. It was no surprise when we found out that the man behind iMovie for iOS was the same Randy Ubillos that redefined iMovie with the ’08 edition earlier.

If the iPhone is really five years ahead of the competition like Jobs suggested, that could very well mean that the concept of iMovie for iPhone and iPad could have been floating around as early as 2005, right about the time iMovie was not doubt being rewritten from the ground up. Think about that for a moment. Done? Can you see where this is all going? The picture is certainly starting to get a little bit clearer.

iOS X?

Near the end of his thoughts on the iOS-ification of OS X, Viticci asks, “Will Mac-only applications (and thus Mac-like from a UI standpoint) like Aperture, Final Cut and iBooks Author ever be ported to iOS, triggering an iOS-based rewrite and redesign? We don’t know yet. But soon, maybe?” He then proceeded to link the word maybe to potential specifications for the rumoured upcoming iPad 3.

My guess is that with new hardware on the way for both iOS devices, with iOS 6, and a new Mac OS already well into planning stages at Apple, porting the code for these programs will be a small, final roadblock, should the company decide it’s time to completely bring its professional applications to iOS. Heck, there’s even recent reports that a graduate student was working on testing OS X on ARM architectures while working on his thesis.

Video Apps

This brings us to the most iOS ready professional application in Apple’s portfolio — Final Cut. The UI changes in Final Cut Pro X really start to make sense now. I don’t recall anyone wanting FCP to look more like iMovie, do you? Few of the UI changes facilitate the other new conceptual designs of the FCP underbelly. My only thought is that — as I suspect with the iMovie ’08 changes — they must be preparing us for the inevitable touchscreen Mac.

With iMovie ’08, Apple found itself on the receiving end of  garrish backlash from dedicated users. Pogue’s critique of iMovie ’08 sounds eerily similar to today’s critiques of FCPX. Now, Apple has no doubt fumbled the release of FCPX, but even if everything from 10.0.3 had been present back in June, there still would have been a mass outcry regarding the UI redesign. Once again, just like with iMove ’08, the limitations of an app have distracted us from seeing the potential future.

Photography Apps

What about Aperture? Go look at it. It embodies the iLife-ification of Apple’s pro application lineup. It’s recent changes have mirrored iPhoto updated: face recognition, UI tweaks, bigger buttons, fullscreen modes, etc.

iBooks Author

There’s no way this app was developed inside Apple without someone thinking about making the software touch-friendly So, where does that leave us? Look again at Apple’s first power apps for iOS — iWork — and their desktop doppelgangers, and iBook’s path to iOS is pretty clear.

iCloud

Viticci contends that iCloud is the place to look if you want to know where iOS and OS X are headed. Obviously, I disagree. For the near future, sure. But I see iCloud as an extension of the operating system, a new part of it that doesn’t exist on your device. It’s huge technology that bridges the gaps between our existing day-to-day computing, and sometimes in small ways we now don’t even think about. Casual consumers aren’t taking notes about iCloud. iCloud is plumbing, only noticed when it breaks.

Conclusion

So, I still say, if you want to know Apple’s grand vision for the future, watch iLife.

We now have GarageBand on iPad and iPhone, the iOS Photos app has incorporated some of iPhoto’s editing capabilities, and no doubt a lot of learning from iOS can be seen in iLife ’11, as Viticci handily points out.

While maybe not what some might call the “core” of Apple’s business, it’s no doubt that the casual computer user (aka “consumer”) is the broad base that keeps Apple’s bottom line nice and cushy. Apple sneaks its newness into our every day lives in ways we don’t realize, bringing these new elements into our relationship with our devices; sometimes we don’t see it happening until we’re told that it’s actually occurring.

Tapping into the future

There are certainly many areas in which Apple is navigating the winds of an ever-changing technology industry and a demanding market. There are no doubt many occasions where us fanboys credit Apple with vision when in reality they are figuring it out as they go. I may be doing that here, but I firmly believe that a personally-interactive, wireless, smart, ultra-portable tablet was Jobs’ vision from the beginning decades.

Like a stereogram, the image before us today is beginning to come into focus. Jobs and Apple painted the picture a long, long time ago. It’s only now that it’s starting to make some actual sense.

Photo Credits: eoshd.com, TidBITS, WIRED, socialphy.com

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Good news, tweeps! Tweetbot, the incredibly popular Twitter client made by the folks at Tapbots, is now available for the iPad. Right next to the 2.0 release of their iPhone client, this brand new $2.99 USD Twitter app puts the competition to shame.

In portrait and landscape modes, this beautiful app feels truly native. This isn’t a copout à la Bejeweled Blitz with scaled up iPhone graphics. The UI takes advantage of the iPad’s screen without sacrificing negative space. Hands down, this is the best user interface for Twitter available on the iPad.

Instead of having a million drop-down lists, Tweetbot allows you to configure how you want the app to work. For example, you can have a triple-tap retweet of the selected 140 characters while a single tap slides down a display of common Twitter actions. Double tap, and you’re taken to the selected tweet’s page. Finally, a Twitter app that you don’t have to fight with.

Best of all, Tweetbot allows you to mute things from your timeline. Tired of Facebook spam? Just mute it. Is someone live-tweeting every damn event at SxSW? Just mute them for a week. This is a feature we’d like to see in more apps, and we’re incredibly pleased that Tapbots is working hard on innovation. Tweetbot is truly the spiritual successor to Tweetie.

If you haven’t already, go download it!

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The speaker lasts between 5 – 10 hours depending on how you’re using it. The speaker will set you back $55.00 and you can buy it on the Austrailian website ModLifeOnline.

To be honest, this probably won’t last too long on the market once Apple’s lawyers find it, so make sure you pick it up as fast as possible if you want it.

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A recent research by Dr. Michael Mandel of South Mountain Economics says that the smartphone industry has created nearly 500,000 new jobs for the economy. It’s hard to doubt such a claim. Since the release of the iPhone in 2007 and the announcement of the App Store one year later, a new market has been created. The app market. I remember when applications were just seen as tiny games that we played while waiting for the train or in the doctor’s office. What were some of their names? I believe Cube Runner was one of them. Great game, but you wouldn’t think that a company could rise from that, right? You’d be correct. The app was created by one guy, Andy Qua. Great guy, but I highly doubt he’s accepting resumes for positions. So that’s where we were one to three years ago. However, today is so different. This is now where the jobs are.

An app can now be a company. Don’t believe me? I’ll list some out right now. Ness, Zite (acquired by CNN), Evernote, Pulse, Path, and Instagram. Not only are those the names of both the apps and the companies, but the CEOs of four out of the six made BusinessInsider’s The Silicon Valley 100 list; right up there with people like Larry Page, Steve Jobs, Kevin Rose, Dave McClure, and the rest. How did they make it up there? Apps. But not just any apps. Apps with impact. That brings us to the study.

With the app economy generating nearly $20 billion in revenue in 2011 (this includes downloads, in-app sales, virtual goods, and  physical goods and services), it makes you wonder where this new phenomenon is heading. Will this soon generate Fortune 500 jobs? Will landing a high-ranking job at a startup that produces one or two apps become the definition of success?

When you break down the research report, it shows that when it comes to employment, just about each app represents job opportunities. Whether that be as a programmer, user interface/experience designer, marketer, or manager, they’re all jobs nonetheless. The new haven for such job opportunities are found in places like NYC, San Francisco and San Jose (Silicon Valley), though the last two substantially exceed that of New York with nearly one in four jobs being app oriented, naturally. However, states like Florida, Georgia, and Illinois are getting there too. In fact, more than two-thirds of this app economy employment is outside of California and New York. The research results also suggest that the app economy’s hotspots and job numbers are likely to shift greatly in a few years.

So what does this mean for the average consumer? You might think not much if you’re not a programmer. However, it’s the polar opposite. It’s beginning to look like apps are becoming the new foundations (or building blocks) for strong companies. Have a well made app? Build a team around it and form a company. Every company needs a support staff, engineer, designer, manager, etc. So if any of that fits your criteria, you’re in good standing. If you’re not, you’re still in good standing. My series of interviews with founders, creators, and leaders of major apps easily suggests that you don’t necessarily need to understand C++ or SDKs to build an app. Have a reasonable idea? Can it become scalable? Then you might be the one sifting through applications in a few years.

All in all, this research and this article both make reference to the fact that our economy is changing – rapidly. No longer are we subject to a degree to pay the rent. Creativity is the way of the future. When it’s harnessed into creating an app, that app can bring food to other people’s tables. With nearly 500,000 jobs created (and counting), an economy breakthrough might be on the horizon. It seems that Steve Jobs’ motto has finally come to fruition: “Stay hungry, stay foolish.” Five years ago, if you were to tell your mother you’d ditch college to make a game, she’d probably disown you. Today, Rovio, creator of Angry Birds (which is a game if you didin’t know), is worth more than $1 billion. How does that sound, Mom?

You can check out the full research sponsored by Technet titled “Where the Jobs Are” here.

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Today Apple sent out a notification to iPhone developers, informing them to begin submitting Retina resolution screenshots of 960×480 pixels with future app submissions and updates to current ones. This could only suggest one of two things. Either the company is tired of seeing blurry images in their “pixel-perfect” App Store, or this is just preparation for the end of the iPhone 3GS. With a lower resolution of 480×320, the 3GS is the longest surviving iPhone model with a sale lifespan of over two and a half years (this June would make three). Of course, this shouldn’t be a daunting task for developers as “Retina” has been in their vocabulary for over one year now.

Nevertheless, this could also hint at another iPhone model on the horizon. That would push the iPhone 4 into the $0 slot, the 4S into the $99 slot, and the iPhone 5 at regular price of $199+ with contracts. Then there’s also the possibility that Apple might soon send out another call to developers for doubling the resolution for the iPad. After all, word on the street is the rumored iPad 3 will come with a shiny Retina display.

Via: TheNextWeb

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Innovative iPad accessories just keep on coming. This time, Twelve South, the makers of such great products as the PlugBug, has made an iPad stand call the HoverBar that clamps onto your monitor or desk to allow you easy, adjustable access to your favorite tablet.

This incredibly awesome arm latches onto your iMac, Cinema Display, or desk with a silicone-lined clamp, and it allows your iPad 2 to float next to you as you work. If you want to make it into a second monitor, it’s easy to do with applications like DisplayPad or Air Display. Alternately, you can keep drawing apps like PenUltimate and Adobe Ideas open for quick note-taking and sketching as you work.

If you want a HoverBar of your very own, it is available for purchase on Twelve South’s website for $79.99. If you’re in the United States, you won’t even have to pay for shipping for a limited time. Get on this!

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Deutsche Bank’s Chris Whitmore has taken note of Apple’s increasing competitive advantage with the iPad. He’s done the simple math of combining tablet sales with notebook sales to see how Apple is eating everyone else’s lunch. Not only that, but he thinks the rumored iPad 3 will expand Apple’s lead.

The iPad is becoming more powerful with each hardware bump and major OS release. It is taking over tasks that notebooks used to do, and doing them better with less power and hassle. Meanwhile, the Kindle Fire, new as it is, is closer to a larger iPod touch than it is a reinvented notebook. Android and Windows tablets have a long way to go to get to where the iPad is now. Who knows how long it will be until they can start competing? They have their work cut out for them.

With so little noteworthy competition, Whitmore thinks Apple is primed to hit a stock price of $600. It’s in Apple’s reach, and 2012, just like the past two years, will be the year of the iPad.

Source: AppleInsider

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The results may not be what you would expect:

The study ran from December 1st through until December 15th, and shows that iOS isn’t as stable as its Android counterpart. There are some points of note, however, that should be discussed further in the future when talking about the stability of iOS and Android applications. First, iOS 5.01 was responsible for 28.64 percent of all crashes in the study. It’s not uncommon for applications on a new operating system to become unstable once a major new OS is released. That being said, iOS 4.2.1, and iOS 5.0 are both responsible for over 4 percent of all crashes, and iOS 4.1 weighed in at 8.24 percent of all crashes in the Critterrcism study.

Some thoughts

While the study provides some interesting insights into app crashes in both Android and iOS, it’s hard to put any weight in the results, and more importantly, it’s impossible to point a finger at which company, Apple or Google, should bear the brunt of the blame. There are just too many variables. First, of all the crashes, how many cases involved applications that weren’t updated to support new OS versions? Second, how many cases involved applications optimized for newer OS versions, but run on legacy hardware? We don’t have access to that information, and it’s that information that’s going to tell the whole story here.

The study does shed light on one thing very accurately, however. App Stores, while still in their infancy, need better mechanisms for weeding out applications that are no longer supported, and further, provide better information on what versions of an operating system an application supports. As a user, when I get a new phone, I’m heading directly to the App Store to download all of my favourite applications, and at no point am I considering whether the application has been optimized for my new handset yet. As a user, all I see is one of my favourite applications crashing a lot. That’s a huge problem for the majority of consumers.

Read Do iOS Apps Crash More Than Android Apps? A Data Dive on Forbes.

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In a bit of a twist, Datacolor is not calibrating the display on your iOS device like you would expect; instead, the Spyder calibrating tool determines the color profile of your iOS device, and then color corrects your photos using the SpyderGallery application. A Spyder device is required for the color correction, so if you don’t have one, you’ll have to purchase one.

It’s an interesting solution to the lack of display calibration granularity available in iOS. Given the possibilities of using the iPad as a portfolio viewing medium for photographers, designers, and artists, it’s a little disappointing that the iPad display can’t be color calibrated.

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It’s Friday, and that means it’s time to take a look at some awesome apps for each platform: iPhone, iPad, and Mac OS. Today, we’re focusing on video content and productivity.

Ready? Let’s begin.

iPhone/iPod touch:

Wunderkit: This past Wednesday, 6Wunderkinder announced the public beta of Wunderkit – a new way to organize your life. Think Wunderlist, but bigger and better. The web based app lets you organize tasks into lists, share them with your group, and get a real-time collaborative operation going. Not to mention, grouping these individual projects is as simple as creating a workspace. The iPhone app doesn’t strip any of the core functionalities away either. Rather, it simply makes them work for your 4:3 screen. Not to mention, the notifications keeps you up to date with what’s going on. However, I’d advise turing off the app’s notifications if you’d – you know – like to really get away from work.

Get the download link below

iPad:

Showyou: This groundbreaking video collection app has been featured before, but v3.0 of Showyou was released today and with it, a ton of new features: User grids, zoom in to social network grids, browsing by category, hashtag grids, new tray for navigation, and dozens of more improvements both “small and large.” Find videos suggested by your social contacts and share them with friends. It’s that simple.

Get the download link below

Mac:

Yes, Wunderkit again: If you’re not all about the GTD (get things done) initiative, then you might find this repetition a bit odd. However, if you’re anything like me and enjoy finding new ways of avoiding balding, stress or grey hairs, you’ll understand. The app goes fullscreen and makes the social platform built on top of Wunderkit all the more fun. However, don’t think of this productivity tool as just all work and no play. There are a few funny “workspaces” set up where you’re bound to get a good laugh. Search for yourself!

Well, that’s it for this week folks! Like the apps we mentioned? Share the post with your friends. Have any suggestions? Email me at jerondu@macgasm.net or ping me @jarederondu and I’ll check them out. Until next Friday, have a great weekend.

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This mimics Avid’s “big boy” competition in the world of fully-fledged professional post software on the desktop. Since the release of FCPX, many editors have gone back to their Avid roots with programs like Avid’s Media Composer.

The goal here is clear: show existing Apple customers how great Avid’s products are, and hope they’ll flock to their more expensive products. And I have to say, as someone who has kind of stood in defense of FCPX, Avid has made a pretty good case. The only drawback with this strategy is that Avid’s companion, Avid Studio for desktop, is for the PC. While this little app is amazing on the iPad (and blows iMovie away in a number of areas), it’s a far leap to Media Composer from here.

Avid Studio

The touch interface is super-simple to pick up and use — very understandable and explorable. An HTML-y, Avid-esque looking, sparse help document is included, but I found it easier to just explore — the mark of a well-designed app. It’s super pretty, too.

The interface

On the left is the media library, which Avid builds by scouring your device for photos, videos, and music. More than just the standard camera roll access, it also includes transitions, motion effects (with drag and drop asset placeholders à la Motion — kinda mindblowing on the iPad), cinema style sound effects, and text elements.

My only beef with the library is every time you add music, photos, or video to your device, Avid wants to rebuild the library, which takes a few minutes, even for small changes.On the right is a preview window showing either the media element you’re looking at or the edit from your timeline, depending on what’s currently selected.

Avid Studio features a timeline like iMovie for iOS, but with three audio tracks (not including the audio associated with any video clips). This means you can have four audio tracks playing simultaneously — great for music, sound effects, music transitions/editing, etc.

Also with the timeline is a Storyboard track that shows your clips in equal-sized squares. I guess that’s useful for when you’re zoomed in on the timeline; timeline zooms in and out with pinch, but Storyboard doesn’t. The Storyboard track also allows you to drop one clip on another, either replacing it or compositing it with a picture-in-picture effect.

Editing

While editing, in and outs felt a little clunky at first. The inclusion of a razor tool makes fine edits a lot easier. This is a huge plus over iMovie for iPad, where I’ve found it pretty much impossible to make even simple edits to music.

The preview window allows you to set defined in and out points in your library clips before dragging them to the timeline. A precision trimming window gives you a dual-up display, showing you the clips on either side of the cut you’re tweaking.

Each video clip has individual volume controls including fade in and fade out settings. Also each clip has setting for fitting non-widescreen media into Avid Studio’s default 16:9 aspect ratio — pillarbox, crop, or stretch.

Still images are basically treated as video clips. Settings allow you to do manual Ken-Burns-style effects. All video can be played back full screen. When my iPad was connected to my Airport Express, it played the audio in sync with my screen through my stereo speakers. I’d be interested to see if video would play to an external monitor as well as over an Apple TV. If so, kinda mind-blowing.

I thought it was really cool that I could bring in footage from my iPad, iPhone, and iPod version of a 4:3 SD clip from something I edited a few years ago, a still image, and imported 1080HD clips from a Canon 5D all in one timeline. It played pretty smoothly, only giving rendering notices on the montage motion graphic and the still image. (Rendering lets the iPad process complex graphics or motion images for real-time playback.)

Sharing

When you’re done, export to the camera roll (as 480p, 540p, or 720p), email, Facebook, YouTube, or to iTunes or iCloud as an Avid Studio (PC) project, though I’m curious how one would retrieve a file from iCloud on the PC.

Conclusion

This tasty little app at this tiny price-point may go a long way to convincing Apple users that Avid cares about editors. It should at least cause some of the most die-hard FCP users to look at Media Composer as an alternative to their FCPX frustrations.

Avid was long the reigning champ for film post-production, and still holds a huge stronghold on the post market. This awesome little app shows that Avid is up for the tussle, and they’re not going away any time soon.

Grab it today at the link below before the end of the month to take advantage of the introductory price.

Via: WSJ

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In order to get the entire benefit from the tweak, you’ll need to install another tweak that lets you put more applications in your dock than normal. We recommend checking out Chpwn’s Infinidock to get that done.

Pick it up on the Cydia Store

Via: Cult of Mac

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iBoot, a dev and debug tool, was used to output some details about the iPad 3. From what they got, BGR concluded the following:

• The model numbers are J1 and J2, Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + embedded GSM/CDMA/LTE support for all carriers.
• An A6 processor with model number S5L8945X.
• New processor will be a quad-core model, which we reported on last week.

So what do you think? Bogus? Or is this the real deal? I bet you can tell what we’re thinking.

Via: BGR

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Apple seems to always be on the lookout for a new industry to infiltrate. Its latest foray has been the education industry with the release of iBooks 2 and iBooks Author. Now, it seems that the Cupertino boys want to turn couch potatoes into 5K runners. According to AppleInsider:

Naturally, such a thought would come from a patent, right? A patent filing from only three months ago outlines the technology which seems to be built on the existing Nike+ iPod system. Except this time, there would be real-time sharing. Imagine for a second, a notification during Cut the Rope saying your wife just ran 5 miles. What would you do? Apple gives an instance in which two people, in competition with each other, are working out on treadmills. Their iOS devices are wirelessly synced together and they can view each other’s current pace, distance, calories burned, heart rate, blood pressure, and even blood oxygen levels:

Apple goes on to note that such a concept can also be applied to elliptical steppers, stationary bicycles, weight machines, or even actual bikes. Of course, there would be other benefits to such an update including hands-free workout data uploads. After all, the tedious process that turns some away from Nike + iPod is the step of having to manually input your workout after you’ve done it. Ironic, right? Working out… using your fingers.

Nevertheless, this shows that Apple is always thinking ahead. Just ponder over the idea of head-to-head competitions via your iOS device. Creative, right?

Via: AppleInsider

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Strange events … umm, WT actual F

Macotakara is saying that Apple’s going to hold a “strange” event in February that may be similar to the iBooks 2 and iBooks Author announcement that took place in January. There’s no mention of what will be announced, or even where or when the announcement will take place, just a mention of “strange” and February. Take that one for what it’s worth, because we’re still trying to figure out how “strange” plays into this whole rumor.

The iPad 3

In addition to the “strange” rumor, Macotakara (english) is also indicating that the iPad 3 will be announced in March. Which is great, because Bloomberg actually reported that on January 13, 2012. Traditionally, iPads have been released in the spring, and March foots the bill here. So the real question here is … Who wants to buy my iPad 2?

On the next-generation iPhone

This next rumor is a little hard to stomach. According to Digitimes, who has a track record worse than most other rumor blogs, the iPhone 5 is going to be released at WWDC in June, despite the iPhone 4S being on the market for just 8 months leading up to that point. Up until the 4S, Apple would release a new iPhone every single summer, but the 4S announcement slid into the fall. Digitimes is suggesting that we’re heading back to a summer release schedule, with two iOS devices being released within months of each other (March for the iPad, and June for the iPhone).

Wait, no iOS rumors?

If anything, Digitimes should be rumouring about WWDC and an iOS 6 preview. WWDC is where the next iOS often gets shown to developers. But nope, Chuck Testa iPhone 5 rumors.

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That’s three fairly large talent acquisitions from the gaming industry over the last year. Not too shabby for a company that didn’t seem to have an interest in getting into the video game market when the iPhone first launched, and instead fell backwards into it with the creation of iOS.

According to a report from Flurry back in November 2011, iOS and Android now account for 58 percent of portable gaming revenue in the U.S. That’s huge considering Apple and Google have only really been in the gaming market for a couple of years compared to the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP.

It gets worse for Nintendo:

Apple may have inadvertently stumbled into the gaming market, but you can be sure that the company is now doing its best to maintain dominance in the market.

Source: MCV

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Ticket to Ride Pocket, the iPhone version of Days of Wonder‘s award winning train board game, is getting a major update with the focus on multiplayer. Yes, finally, you can play against your friends across the world. The new Multi Mode uses GameCenter to find friends to play against, and each Multi Mode game can have up to four of your friends in it. What’s more, you can play multiple games simultaneously against multiple sets of friends. This mode also supports asynchronous gameplay, so you can switch from game to game, or even to another app without losing your progress.

“This is the update Ticket to Ride players have been clamoring for since we released Ticket to Ride Pocket,” said Eric Hautemont, Days of Wonder Founder and CEO in a press release. “We love online gameplay, but faced a challenge: how do you create a great online experience on a device like the phone that is constantly being used for other functions? We needed to build an experience where players could come and go as they please yet have something meaningful to do when they played; the thought of having multiple games going at once was what convinced us this could work. With Multi Mode, we’ve given players what they want without compromising on the gameplay that made Ticket to Ride so popular to begin with.”

In addition to Multi Mode, the local multiplayer mode has been improved as well, allowing players to play against each other when connected via bluetooth or Wi-Fi, using any combination of iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. This release also updates the iPad version of the game to include the improved local mode.

If you’d rather play on your own, the game still offers Solo mode with 4 AI personalities, 20 unique achievements and 3 leader boards just for solo players.

I have to say, I’m a big Ticket to Ride fan, and this update brings it to a whole other level. A multiplayer level. If you want to play, hit me up on GameCenter, I’m yougenius.

Whooo whooo!

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Version 0.4 of Absinthe, the popular untethered jailbreak method for iPad 2 and iPhone 4S, has been released. The update brings compatibility to Mac OS X Leopard and fixes up some bugs in the jailbreaking process. However, if you’ve already jailbroken your iOS device with Absinthe, there’s no need to do it again.

Here are some notes from the update:

• Mac: added support for OSX 10.5, PPC and Intel CPU
• Added consistency check on startup to make sure required files are in place
• Windows: fixed bug in payload generator that might cause a crash

Such an announcement goes to show that the iPhone Dev Team is making sure its utility remains as snafu free as possible. It’s nice to know that they’re still thinking of all 1 million of us iOS5 jailbreakers.

Via: iMore

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This is great news for our non-American readers. Frankly, it is surprising to us that more applications don’t take advantage of region-specific content. Localizations aren’t just slight spelling and grammatical differences. Flipboard’s move to customize content for different localities is very commendable. While I like reading things that are US-focused, I would never expect someone in Australia to want to read the same thing.

Is your Flipboard experience better now? Sound off in the comment section and let us know if you’re getting better recommendations. We’re particularly interested in hearing about this topic due to our international predilections.

Source: Flipboard Blog

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The game is going to cost $4.99, but if it’s anything like the first version, and we hear that it is, the $4.99 is going to be a price well spent. Reckless Racing 2 now has 24 routes to play through, and 17 drivers to play as, including the original cast from Reckless Racing. There is also a multiplayer mode, so stay tuned for some macgasmic multiplayer goodness.

Via: Pocket Gamer

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Coolermaster is a name familiar to anyone who has ever dabbled in building their own PC, providing products like cooling fans, power supplies, and PC enclosures for twenty years. More recently, they have expanded to peripherals, and are now producing products for the mobile space, including iPad 2 cases.

Recently I was looking for a new case for my wife’s iPad 2 to replace the Dodocase, which sustained a cracked corner from some unknown mishap (I blame the kids, and not my own butterfingers). I have to share that whenever a tech product needs to be purchased, I launch on an exhaustive research project. I scour the Internet in a quest for the ultimate solution, usually involving a combination of needed features and price point. In this case, we had a few criteria in mind when we chose, ultimately, the Coolermaster Wake Up Folio.

Selection Criteria

1. Not flashy, somewhat stealthy in appearance: My wife travels on the subway to work, and she doesn’t want a case that draws too much attention.

2. Protective of the front and back, while still allowing camera function: with two kids also using the iPad, protection is an imperative. Having had a case that blocked the back camera in the Dodocase, we wanted something that had a hole for the camera.

3. Hand comfort: let’s face it, holding a naked iPad 2 is somewhat akin to holding a very thin piece of paper. It gives my hand a cramp after a while, because it’s so thin. The case has to make it easier to hold.

4. Standing and angled positions: the iPad is used frequently to watch movies and TV shows, and for light email and other typing.

5. Magnet integration: this was my requirement. Since the iPad 2 has such a cool magnet system for wake/sleep functions, any case had to have this built in. One of the biggest disappointments with our Dodocase was that our version didn’t have magnets built in.

About the Wake Up Folio

Made by Coolermaster and marketed under the Choiix brand, the Wake Up Folio is a one piece case incorporating a protective polycarbonate back that the iPad 2 snaps into, and an attached cover with integrated magnets, just like Apple’s Smart Cover. The cover can be folded over into the same familiar triangle shape as the Smart Cover, to either prop up the iPad 2 in Landscape viewing mode, or to raise it off the table for typing.

Two materials are available depending on the colour of the case. Pink, orange, blue, green and grey models have a polyurethane cover, while the Black and White models come in a faux leather Coolermaster calls “Eco-leather”. The texture and colour of the cover wraps around to the hard back of the case, but stops short of the edge. On the black model, the back is black, but on the other colors the back is white polycarbonate.

The back and inner cover is lined with microfiber to prevent scratches, and the back has cutouts for easy access to all buttons and ports.

What’s Macgasmic?

There’s a lot to like about the Wake Up Folio. First off, it provides complete front and back protection from scratches and knocks. The cutaways for the ports and buttons are generous, but not so wide as to compromise protection. In black, it looks professional and businesslike, and the eco-leather gives the case a nice non-slip feel.

The iPad snaps into the back with very little pressure, and at first I was concerned that it would just as easily come out of the back, but that hasn’t been the case. The case feels solid and well put together.

The magnets of the cover wake and sleep the iPad 2, and also hold the cover in its triangle shape. Resting the iPad on a table gives a nice typing angle, and standing it up horizontally allows for a stable stand for watching videos. In addition, it is possible to stand the iPad vertically with the cover unfolded and slightly behind the iPad, although I would only recommend doing so on a hard surface as it’s not the most stable of positions.

Initially the cover would unfold itself when rolled up into the triangle position, but after a few days of use the material seems to have worked in a bit and now sits very nicely in stand mode.

The Wake Up Folio also gives the iPad a great feel to the hand. By making it subtly thicker and with a textured surface material, the iPad feels much more secure to hold and hang on to. However, as it adds only 236.5 grams or 0.83 ounces of weight, the case still retains a very slim feel to the iPad, while making it easier to hold on to.

What’s not?

There is little to fault the Wake Up Folio for. The colour choices perhaps could be broader, and with darker choices in the palette it would be more appealing to business types. The cover itself does slide a bit on the face of the iPad, but only marginally. And as is the case with any Smart Cover, the inner microfiber can get a little dusty and lint covered after a while. That’s an issue that affects all covers of this type, so I’m not faulting the Wake Up Folio for that, since it just comes with the territory.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking for a full body case for the iPad 2 but want to enjoy the benefits of a Smart Cover, the Wake Up Folio might just be for you. Providing protection for the front and back, as well as magnet integration for wake and sleep in a one piece case, Coolermaster has a great product on its hands.

Coming from a Dodocase previously, I do miss the whole stealth “iPad in a book” vibe, but the functionality of the Wake Up Folio more than makes up for it.

You can find the Coolermaster Wake Up Folio on Amazon.com, as well as from the CM Store online.

Disclosure: Coolermaster was gracious enough to send me a review unit. I liked it so much I bought it.

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Starting today you can subscribe to a curated feed, which includes commentators like Hendrik Hertzberg, Erick Erickson, Rachel Maddow, Jared Bernstein, and David Horsey, alongside traditional news outlets like the Atlantic, Fox News, Daily Kos, the New Yorker, Al Jazeera, and a host of other sources.

All you have to do is add the sources you want to your feed, and you’ll be up to snuff politically in no time at all. Applications like Pulse do a great job of providing a mixture of news that I often neglect on a daily basis. My news feeds are very tech heavy. Having access to these kinds of event specific tie-ins within news reading apps is pretty huge. It makes following a particular topic very easy. Make sure you check it out.

If you are going to try it out, make sure you add us to your reading list as well. We’ve got a featured page you can check out!

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The sleeve comes in manly black, bordeau, brown, and saddle colours, and costs $110.00. Sure, it may sound pricy, but considering it’s entirely made of leather, it’s actually quite cheap compared to some of the competition.

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The school board plans on purchasing 600 iPads for students this year, and another 800 iPads for next fall, all with cash from the settlement:

Something tells us that Microsoft hasn’t anticipated lawsuit winners using its cash to purchase products from its competitors. I wonder how many schools are going to be lining up with their own lawsuits now, hoping to pull off the same kind of coup.

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It’s Friday, and that means it’s time to take a look at some awesome apps for each platform: iPhone, iPad, and Mac OS. Today, we’re focusing on geo-location services, inspirational videos, and cleaning up the desktop.

Ready? Let’s begin.

iPhone/iPod touch:

Ness: This app had been getting some buzz as of late. I don’t blame it. Not only is this thing beautiful,but it also works. I’m proud to announce that I’ve had a splendid week in terms of dining due to this icon on my home screen. So what exactly is it? Ness wants to be your go-to method for discovering restaurants you’ll love. It “learns” your unique taste preferences over time and uses that information to make recommendations just for you. There’s also a social layer built in to show you where your Facebook and Foursquare friends have been, and makes sharing with them easy. Love food or just trying new things? Download Ness. Don’t care for food? (Huh?) Get the app anyway. The sexy effects will suffice.

Get the download link below

iPad:

TED: This company needs no explanation, but just in case you live under a rock, TED is the go to place for inspiration. “Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world,” it says. The letters stand for (T)ech, (E)ducation, and (D)esign and the videos featuring talks given by doctors, leaders, writers, children, etc. are on ideas worth spreading. Now the iPad app brings the more than 900 TEDTalk videos (and counting) right to your fingertips. Send videos to your TV with AirPlay; curate your personal playlist; sort by recency, popularity, tags, themes, or related talks; and share with your friends. In other words, this is an app worth having – now.

Get the download link below

Mac:

Camouflage: Ever wish you could clear all the clutter on your desktop? Well, you can! Just open up Finder, navigate to desktop, right-click and select all, then move everything to the trash. No? Not a good idea? I know, you want to keep all of those non-deletable files. Then download Camouflage. This app just works. After downloading it, the app sits in your menu bar as an icon. Click it, select “hide icons,” and everything on your desktop is hidden. Then when you need them, select “show icons.” This comes in handy when you want to give presentations, but don’t want to organize your screen. Think of this app as the tried-and-true hide under the bed trick for your Mac. Remember when mom knocked on your door and asked you to clean up?

Get the download link below

Well, that’s it for this week folks! Like the apps we mentioned? Share the post with your friends. Have any suggestions? Email me at jerondu@macgasm.net or ping me @jarederondu and I’ll check them out. Until next Friday, have a great weekend.

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From The Tim Cook letter, according to 9to5Mac:

Apple has been increasingly open about their program implementations in China to help alleviate some of these problems. The company has even partnered with the Fair Labor Association to ensure transparency with their reports on the situation. Sadly, it seems that until journalists are actually on the ground and in these factories themselves, this human rights question is going to keep popping up.

Surely, for some, Tim Cook’s letter to his employees will just be lip service. But, it’s important to realize that Apple is taking large steps towards changing and rectifying the problems at Foxconn for an entire industry, not just themselves. That’s not something that will be fixed overnight. Hopefully Apple’s commitment to eliminating the poor working conditions at Foxconn will rub off on some of its competitors who also use Foxconn for their products. I don’t know about you, but it’s mighty curious that Microsoft, Sony, and Amazon are all extremely quite about the situation, despite having products made in Foxconn factories.

It sure sounds like a plan is in place to rectify the problem. Hopefully we’ll hear more about the results in the days ahead. I’d be lying if I said that the This American Life episode didn’t affect me. It certainly had me questioning whether or not the toll some people pay to bring us flashy new phones is worth it in the end.

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For those of us who speak more than one language, writing in iOS can be somewhat annoying. To make use of features like the built-in autocorrect functionality, we need to switch between languages on the iOS keyboard (1).

On the Mac this “problem” has been solved — at least partly — for languages with Latin writing systems present in Germanic, Italic and most Balto-Slavic languages: The OS determines the language currently in use and automatically offers spell checking for this language. However, once the user switches to a non-alphabetic language (2), this functionality is gone, because the input system changes.

Even for alphabetic languages the keyboards differ strongly sometimes, accounting for the peculiarities of a specific language. Think of the three most prominent keyboard layouts — QWERTY in English speaking countries, QWERTZ in German speaking countries, and AZERTY in French speaking countries — each language has a specific set of diacritical marks or special letters that need to be accessed more or less frequently.

Venturing into languages with Cyrillic or Greek alphabets and then further into non-alphabetic languages not only reinforces the argument, but also showcases one of the major strengths of virtual keyboards: adaptability.

But this is also where problems arise. For example, the language-specific keyboards I have activated on my iOS devices are German, British English (QWERTZ layout), Chinese (Pinyin input) and the Emoji selector. The two languages I use most are German and English, but iOS forces me to cycle through all available keyboards to get back to the first one. This results in annoying load times, mostly because the Emoji keyboard takes longer to load than the others.

What are potential solutions for this convenience problem? I can think of three things:

1. Language auto detection for languages with the Latin writing system, while giving the user the ability to set a preferred keyboard layout (like you can already) and a preferred set of special characters (3).
2. Certain keyboards should be fast-switchable, and others only available upon manual selection; thus not forcing the user to cycle through x keyboards, some of which he or she might need only seldom (4).
3. Bonus: An easily editable user dictionary for each language used, as well as iCloud based synchronisation between iOS devices and maybe even OS X.

I’d be glad to hear your thoughts on the matter in the comments.

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Apple had an amazing Christmas in terms of sales. The company released some figures for their 2011 holiday season. On Christmas Day alone, the company made $120 million in iTunes sales. This can help to explain those staggering numbers we heard yesterday. In the entire fiscal quarter, the iTunes store brought in a massive $1.7 billion in revenue. In other words, Christmas was responsible for 7 percent of 3 months worth of sales. With such a high revenue report and iOS device sales, Apple CEO Tim Cook had a few words:

Apple also reported that they’ve made available over 20 million songs in the iTunes store. They’ve shipped over 37 million iPhones in the last three months of 2011, and the iBooks Author app has been downloaded over 600,000 times in under one week. Apple is on a roll.

Via: ITProPortal

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So it seems that the fight is no longer just Apple vs. Samsung. Rather, Motorola Mobility wants to snatch up a piece of legal leverage. Filed in a Florida court this Wednesday, Motorola claims that six Apple products, including the iPhone 4S, have infringed on patents related to wireless technology, data filtering, software, and messaging. However, Apple claims that Motorola has done the same to several of its design patents. This counter was denied by the U.S. International Trade Commission last week.

So what’s their reason? For that you’ll have to look past the immediate company and look towards its owner, Google. The tech giant agreed to buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion in August of 2011 in hopes of gaining control of the company’s deep collection of patents. In December, Motorola won a case against Apple in Germany on a GPRS (cellular radio) patent violation, which could hinder iPhone and iPad sales in that country.

Not to mention, as Jordan Golson of Macrumors explained, Google would have to sign-off on a lawsuit before it’s filed:

In other words, Google might be the driving force behind all of this. Why? It wants to protect its mobile market position. If Motorola were to win, that patent leverage will carry over to Google giving it more legal insulation against Apple. However, that’s a big if as Apple is well experienced in the court of law.

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The Magnus iPad stand relies on magnets to keep your iPad upright, and pretty effectively turns your iPad into a monitor. If Apple made iPad stands, there’s a high likelihood it would look something like the Magnus.

At $49.95, the Magnus iPad stand comes in right where we expected it to, and at a median price compared to other alternatives on the market.

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I’m far from a code ninja these days, so I’m gonna let you guys let us know in the comments just how amazing this thing is for iOS. Inquiring minds want to know, so don’t hold out on us!

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Yesterday, NimbleBit employees were reaching out to the public via social networks, like Twitter, to provide comical and facetious comments on the events as they were unfolding. It’s pretty pathetic that a company with Zynga’s resources would stoop this low to make a buck.

There’s been a lot of talk lately about developers outright copying and stealing games, and rebranding them a little to sell them as new titles on the App Store. Most recently, Atari put pressure on Apple to remove “copycat” games from the App Store. In that case Apple removed Vector Tanks, a game that was an obvious rip off of Atari’s Battlezone game.

The sad thing is that this is hardly a new problem, but it is a major problem. There are a number of companies who have successful game titles on the App Store that have an eerie familiarity about them. Zygna isn’t the first to do it, and they certainly won’t be the last. The question, however, is whether or not Apple will protect Indie developers’ interests as much as they have a major company like Atari.

As it stands currently, Dream Heights is still available on the App Store (in Canada), and there has been no official word on if, or when, Zygna will have its game removed from the store.

There’s obviously a question to be considered. Where does game evolution and mechanic adoption begin and end? As an example, in some cases control schemes are borrowed or implemented across a variety of titles. The most obvious example is the original Gears of War control scheme. It didn’t take long for other developers to embrace the amazing control mechanics in their own projects. Figuring out where that kind of behavior is acceptable may be Apple’s next frontier in the App Store. Before long, the iOS App Store is going to turn into the Crap Store, as second rate ripoff apps continue to find ways into Apple’s playground. Heck, it’s not just games. Last week a Camera+ ripoff was approved and found its way into the App Store.

Note: The header image is only a portion of a huge graphic illustrating the similarities between the two games. Check this link for the entire thing.

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IDG Connect came to the conclusion that for business professionals the iPad is more than a mere content consumption tool:

The numbers are especially striking in Africa. Not only do 75 percent of customers prefer the iPad to other tablet devices, based on what they’ve heard or read (compared to 51 percent in the rest of the world), African professionals are more than twice as likely to be supplied with an iPad by their employer than employees in the rest of the world (47 percent vs. 20.5 percent).

African IT and business professionals also use their iPad differently than those in other countries:

Due to the low propagation of wired internet connections in Africa, mobile internet connections are of great importance. Accordingly, the usage of the iPad 3G equipment is higher than anywhere else in the world, as the graph below nicely illustrates.

The study shows that the iPad’s strengths are definitely being noticed by African businesses and their employees, helping them to be more productive and successful. IDG Connect’s numbers and riots in front of the Beijing Apple Store show that even in developing and threshold countries there is demand for high quality IT equipment that is easy to use and works as advertised. It seems only logical that this demand will increase, potentially giving Apple further record-breaking quarters in the years to come.

I encourage you to read the entire study, which can be found here.

Hat tip to IT Web

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You win some, you lose some. Today, Apple lost another bid to ban Samsung tablets in the Netherlands. Their stance? Copyright infringement of the iPad. However, the Dutch dismissed Apple’s appeal to a ruling last year that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 wasn’t a copy of the iPad.

This might be a bit upsetting for Apple, but they have won some cases. After all, this isn’t the only country they’re fighting in. Rather, the tech giant has been battling it out with Samsung in nearly a dozen countries on tablets and smartphones. After all, each company is fighting for that number one position in the industry. However, it’s hard to tell what the end result of this footsie game will be. I think it’s time to start tallying up the wins and loses.

Via: IndiaTimes

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The mixer is built with a large cradle where your iPad is inserted, creating the face of the mixer. Of course, with an iPad’s horsepower at your disposal, there’s a lot more that you can do than just virtual faders, and the Mackie DL1608 takes full advantage of the power of the iPad, including the killer feature, wireless control over the mixer.

Mackie’s Master Fader iPad app provides the user with control over the DL1608, either in the cradled position, or wirelessly over Wi-Fi (wireless control requires an additional Wi-Fi router connected to the DL1608). Multiple screens give you fader control, EQ and compression and gate settings, as well as access to Reverb and Delay effects, and a 31-band master EQ. Presets can be saved, and you can recall mix snapshots with a touch.

The most awesome feature is the wireless mixing. Now you can take the iPad from the mix position and wander around the venue, tuning the system and mixing from any spot in the room. You can fine tune the monitor mix while standing on stage with the musicians. In fact, Mackie will allow up to ten iPads to control the same DL1608 mixer, giving those on stage the ability to fine tune their own monitor mixes, for example.

Other features include 16 Onyx mic preamps, 24 bit Cirrus Logic® AD/DA converters, channel images to identify mixer channels with a photo, and stereo recording of the main mix directly to the iPad.

Check out the video below for a lighthearted look at what the Mackie DL1608 can do.

Source: Mackie

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Speaking to Gamesutra, Imangi co-founder Natalia Luckyanova states, “the revenue immediately went up about 5x when we set the app free. Keeping it free was a no-brainer.” What’s not mentioned in the article is that Imangi has a number of in-app purchases available to gamers that range from $0.99 to $19.99. Essentially, gamers purchase coins that let them buy power-ups from the in-game store. While the barrier to entry is gone for most potential gamers, there’s still an avenue for making money in place.

Making the game free propelled the game to number two on the ‘top free app’ listing in Apple’s App Store. The move made by Imangi clearly illustrates the benefits of making your app free right from the beginning, and offering users the ability to purchase upgrades and premium features from directly within the application.

Interestingly, before reading this news, I had a conversation with some family members about games and apps they were loving on their iPhones currently. Every single one of them bemoaned paying for games, which surprised me a little. Personally, I have no problem paying a couple of dollars for an app, but it seems that on the whole paying for apps is not something most are willing to do these days. I’m starting to wonder if I’m in the minority. People want games and apps for free, but then seem to have no problem paying $19.99 for virtual in-game currencies. I’d rather pay $2.00 for the game up front, but that’s just me.

If you’re a developer, you may want to think about this news as a bit of a case study, and ask yourself if the psychological hurdle of charging $0.99 for your game is standing in the way of making some pretty serious coin. Temple Run has seen its download rate increase since going free, and more importantly its revenue has skyrocketed. You could be next.

You can read the rest of the interview over on Gamesutra.

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So it seems that Apple’s iBook 2 release may force the tech giant to double the processor of the iPad 3. With the new technology and advanced graphics in these digital textbooks, the iPad may begin to show its age. A 1GHz dual-core A5 chip just won’t cut it. So can we expect a quad-core A5 chip? Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry thinks so.

Referencing some developers, Chowdhry went on to say that iBooks 2 textbooks were very slow on the iPad but performed fine on the iPad 2. Therefore, as the interactive content and digital brilliance of the developers increase with iBooks Author, the performance of the current chip may decrease. In their first three days after launch, 350,000 iBook textbooks and 90,000 copies of iBook Author have been downloaded. Clearly these new educational tools are catching on.

Now the question is in what device can we expect this bump? After all, there’s an odd rumor going around that Apple might release two iPads this year.

Via: iBTimes

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Reckless Racing, the first edition, got huge props from the industry for its gameplay. If you haven’t played it yet, you may want to try it out first.

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From the article:

Think about that for a second. Would you or your neighbour wake up in the wee hours of the morning just to appease some foreign company’s last second whims? Heck, in some cases there may even be laws against that kind of request in the westernized world. We’re not trying to say it’s the right approach, not even close, but we are trying to say that there’s a lot more to the equation than we often think about when it comes to these sorts of things.

The article over at The New York Times is a long one, but we recommend reading it. It’s pretty interesting.

Read How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work over at The New York Times

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A number of vendors have outlet systems that bring this kind of functionality directly to your wall, but who has the time and electrical skills to actually upgrade electrical outlets around the house? The RCA WP2UWR USB Wall Plate just plugs directly into the wall. No need to electrocute yourself just to charge your iPhone.

This RCA plug is available on Amazon for $19.99

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It’s Friday, and that means it’s time to take a look at some awesome apps for each platform: iPhone, iPad, and Mac OS. Today, we’re focusing on geo-location services and Dribbble.

Ready? Let’s begin.

iPhone/iPod touch:

LocalScope: This app is by far the best location browser for iOS. It allows you to search for areas of interest using services like Foursquare, Wikimapia, Bing, Google, and much more. When you launch the app, it asks for whether you want to search or discover. By choosing search, you can look for something specific and filter your results by category (café, bank, gas, gym, hotel, etc.). However, the fun really kicks into gear when you choose Discover. This bad boy can go all augmented reality on you. Select a.r., hold your phone perpendicular to the ground, and see where things/places actually are. From Instagram shots, to tweets, Facebook status updates, YouTube videos, and the list goes on.

Not to forget, this app also serves as a navigator. After you’ve finished playing around with the augmented reality feature for an hour, select the place you want to go to and LocalScope will give you turn-by-turn directions on how to get there using services like TomTom, MotionX GPS, and the built-in map app. In other words, this app should have come pre-installed on your iPhone.

Get the download link below

iPad:

Pick ‘n’ Roll: This is an attractive and creative Dribbble client for the iPad. Finally, a great way to view those awesome shots from the comfort of your slim tablet. With all the main features of the site (minus uploading of course), this app doesn’t strip away one bit of the experience. Navigate through the shots by just pinching with two fingers to zoom in or out and see more or less shots simultaneously. Swipe right on the shot with one finger and it will appear in Favorites. Not to mention, the app, in comparison to its competitors, works well with big GIF shots. This app works for both drafted and un-drafted folks once they’ve made a Dribbble account. For a free app, this is definitely worth the download.

Get the download link below

Mac:

Play by Play: This app just works. Think of everything we just said for the Pick ‘n’ Roll iPad app, then translate that to the Mac, plus more. Play by Play is your Mac court-side announcer for Dribbble. In the words of its creator, David Keegan, “the app gives you a play-by-play of all the action with customizable notifications. Browse shots by players you follow, popular shots, shots from everyone, debuts, and your activity stream. Play by Play keeps track of which shots and activities you’ve already seen making it easy to stay on top of all the action.” So what are you waiting for? Love Dribbble? Then get Play by Play.

Get the download link below

Well, that’s it for this week folks! Like the apps we mentioned? Share the post with your friends. Have any suggestions? Email me at jerondu@macgasm.net or ping me @jarederondu and I’ll check them out. Until next Friday, have a great weekend.

Macgasm - Apple Tips, Apple News, Apple Everything.

You can get this jailbreak goodness on the Greenpois0n website. Gett’r done.

Update: The website is down currently, but you can get the download directly here.

Macgasm - Apple Tips, Apple News, Apple Everything.

The report suggests that Apple has been in talks with DIPP, the Indian department responsible for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy within India since 2006.

There was no confirmation from Apple, as usual when it comes to commenting on rumors, so as it stands this one should be taken with a grain of salt. That being said, Apple stands to gain quite a lot by entering the Indian market. India is the second largest mobile phone user base, weighing in at 881 million as of October 2011, and the world’s 4th largest Internet user base with 121 million citizens plugged into the web. India has also been regarded as the world’s most competitive and fastest-growing telecom market in the world.

That’s a lot of potential iPhone, iPad, and Mac sales in a country where Apple has been forced to partner with resellers.

Macgasm - Apple Tips, Apple News, Apple Everything.

The Regional Court in the city of Mannheim, Germany, just dismissed the first of Samsung’s seven copyright infringement claims in a lawsuit against Apple. The patent in question covers technology essential to the 3G wireless communication standard, according to Samsung.

Unfortunately the pronouncement didn’t state the reason for the rejection of this particular patent infringement claim. Florian Mueller speculates about the possible grounds for said ruling on his blog FOSS Patents:

A ruling of patent exhaustion could have far-reaching implications for Samsung, making it likely that two more lawsuits against Apple related to 3G technology could be thrown out of court, leaving Samsung with one suit against Apple over patents unrelated to 3G technology.

As usual Mr. Mueller has a detailed explanation of the ruling, the possible consequences for Apple and Samsung and background information on his blog. Just follow the link below.

Source: FOSS Patents

Macgasm - Apple Tips, Apple News, Apple Everything.

It’s that time of the year again. A new iteration to a current iOS device is on the horizon – the third-generation iPad – and case manufacturers have begun designing their cases. The main difference this time is that the cases are a bit thicker. One millimeter thicker to be exact. Odd, right? We’re so used to thinner devices each year, but Chinee, a Chinese case producer, claims that such design knowledge came from sources within Apple’s supply chain. Nevertheless, we know a new device is coming soon. So what else can we expect or hope to see? 

Well, for one thing, everyone’s talking about an HD FaceTime camera on the front. After all, it would just make perfect sense, a better lens on the camera we use more often. To match such hopes, Chinee’s case appears to have slightly larger camera holes for a bigger lens. The iPad 2S, as it’s being called, is also rumored to look identical to the iPad 2 in terms of layout, and to include a quad-core processor, Retina display, Siri dictation support, and LTE network capabilities.

Of course, we’ll really know what’s up when Tim Cook takes the stage in a few months to announce this device. For now, all we can do is speculate and confirm reports. What do you think of the case? Will it fit? Are the rumors on the iPad 2S/3′s design true?

Via: 9to5Mac

Macgasm - Apple Tips, Apple News, Apple Everything.

The application looks and feels like a mashup between iWork’s Pages and Keynote, taking full advantage of the drag and drop mentality available for the rest of us without programming degrees.

iBooks Author is available for Lion, and will be present in the Mac App Store for free, giving everyone the ability to create custom next generation e-books.

While the majority of iBooks Author is simple enough that anyone can pick it up and get cracking on their own e-books, the application also supports HTML 5 and Javascript so that more complicated models, diagrams, and charts can be created.

Textbooks will be available in a new iBookstore section titled, you guessed it, Textbooks.

iBooks Author is available today on the Mac App Store. Once it goes live we’ll update this post with links to the application.

Stay tuned!

Check out the rest of the news from the event here.

Macgasm - Apple Tips, Apple News, Apple Everything.