ios 6
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Apple will pay $18 million to settle broken FaceTime suit
Apple has agreed to pay $18 million to settle a case accusing the company of intentionally breaking FaceTime on iOS 6.
ROTO: Simply Addictive
Guiding a ball to a finish flag by timing jumps from one rotating circle to another is the core gameplay feature of ROTO. While navigating a maze of rotatory platforms filled with hazards, such as spiky saw blades, players have to collect stars which will unlock levels. ROTO is compatible with iOS devices running iOS 6.0. ROTO features simple mechanics set in a very minimalistic environment. Players tap to jump from platform to platform in an attempt to collect all of the stars in each level. The circular platforms have different speeds and this requires players to adjust their timing. Because of this, the difficulty level increases fairly rapidly, adding challenge to every level. In addition to different platform speeds, the platforms themselves have other attributes. This encourages players to plan out there moves more carefully. There are grey ghost balls that slowly disappear when players land on them, which players have to keep in mind or they will plummet to the ground. Orange balls that cause the player's ball to bounce off of are available after an in-app purchase. There is a demo level in the game for players to check out this challenge. Another challenge that is unlocked are portals, which test players' ability to choose the correct pathway of portals to get all of the stars in the level. The sound effects in the game add interest to the gameplay and make it easy to tell what type of ball a player is currently on its attributes are. For instance, when players land on a ghost ball, there is a sound effect that gives an urgent feeling referencing the impending disappearance of the platform. A downside to ROTO is that the pause button is too small, which leads to difficulty tapping the button. However, the fun addictive nature of the gameplay overshadows this minor setback. Players will be too interested in trying to collect all of the stars, and won't want to pause. ROTO is free on the App Store and recommended for players who enjoy puzzle-platformers with easy to use controls and addictive challenges.
Instant stardom is yours via Poster Boy
When most people take selfies, they end up in one or both of two places: Facebook and Instagram. Unless one is famous, their selfies will probably not be seen by too many other people, and they certainly won't get national circulation. Until now-kind of. Poster Boy combines the contemporary love for the selfie with most people's desire for fame and puts their faces on fake movie posters. This free app is universally available, optimized for iPhone 5, and requires iOS 6.0 or later. The app is very straightforward and simple: You take a picture of yourself and/or someone else, and the app will place it into a fake movie poster-all of them parodied versions of real movies like The Castaway, 28 Days Later, and The Godfather. This is simple enough, but the app does more. Different filters can be added to the photo to give a different feel, everything from simple black and white to a 1970's overly-bright wash to a number of different color filters, to make the whole picture monochromatic. Pictures can be rotated 360 degrees, shapes can be superimposed (like a fingerprint or spider, which can then be colored in) blocks of short text inserted. You have everything you need to make your very own sarcastic movie debut. The most interesting part of this app is that is does not just do movie posters. It also generates a Blu-Ray cover, a billboard, and a bus stop ad. Once they're saved in the desired format, they can be shared via a number of social media websites as well as through email. Have you ever wondered what your face would look like gracing the side of a building as you appear in an ad for a blockbuster movie? Now you can. As noted above, the app is free, but it does offer the ability to turn off ads and unlock other features for US$1.99. This did not appear absolutely necessary to actually use and enjoy the app, but I went with the option anyway because I hate having to deal with ads and other distractions. I wonder if that might be a bit pricey for the choice (especially since it isn't clear what other features are being unlocked), but I am content to let the developers determine that. A total of thirty different posters are offered, which is more than I had expected (until I realized I just wasn't scrolling hard enough through the list after I reached what I thought was the end!). They look almost identical to the actual movies they parody, complete with pun-laden taglines and equally corny misspelled stars' names. ("Brat Spit" stars in "Night Club," for example.) As clever as I thought the app was, and as much as I enjoyed taking reasonably humorous selfies for my movie debut (a rare thing for me), I have one rather glaring drawback to report. The humor is at times inappropriately crude. Probably I am in the minority on that, but I just feel sexual innuendos have no place in an app like this. They are cheap shots, pure and simple. They are what someone reaches for when they cannot think of something intelligent and witty, because sex, along with humor regarding bodily functions, always gets big laughs. I laughed out loud at some of the posters because they were quite witty. Then as I continued to flip through I was just disappointed. The innuendos were not on every poster, but the creators more than made up for that by hitting the user over the head with them on one or two. They were not the kinds of posters I anted to see, and certainly would not want to put my face to them and then share them on the internet. This was almost enough to ruin the whole experience for me. This is really the only negative thing I have to say about an otherwise engaging and creative app. Maybe in future versions the creators will return to putting more thought and less last-ditch, lazy, cheap humor into their work. Despite this criticism, I actually had a lot of fun with this app. I enjoyed trying to figure out what stupid facial expression would work best with the posters I chose. I did think a lot of the titles and such were clever and most were worthy of audible (and sometimes wheezing) laughter. Certainly the amount of control the app gives the user in creating the image is a plus. Most of us will never be movie stars or known beyond our little circles of influence. With Poster Boy, at least we can pretend for a while, and enjoy an extra touch of frivolous silliness that will brighten our days and our news feeds.
Nimble-fingered strategists will love Light 'em Up
It would seem there is a never-ending influx of strategy and puzzle-related games coming down the App Store pike, and for good reason. There is a burgeoning group of fans waiting to try them, critique them, and talk about them to their friends and on social media. With this kind of context, Light 'em Up should find a niche very quickly. The free app is available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch and is optimized for iPhone 5, running on iOS 6.0 or later. The game's basic premise is simple: Building on a puzzle-assembly motif, the player must connect various glass tubes and other pieces, such as light bulbs, in order to make an electronic connection and light up the bulb and tubes. The player must tap each tube and bulb to rotate them in order to make the proper connection. This sounds simple enough, and in the early stages it is. Players will find themselves racing against both an allotted time (which changes depending on the level) as well as an allotted number of taps (each tap counts as one move). Use up all your moves, or fail to light all the bulbs \by the end of the given time, and you have to start over. This game is genius, simply put. I'm a thinker and armchair strategist, so these kinds of puzzle-esque games appeal to me. I like having to think ahead, plan, and ponder. The interesting thing about this game is that you may have to tap the tube or bulb more than once to get it into the proper position, which is both a good and bad thing. It's good because it allows one a process of elimination in figuring out which connections will work and which won't. But it also uses up one's allotted moves, which can be frustrating and detrimental to advancing in the game. Granted, as one grows in their abilities and strategies this may become less of a problem, but it was nerve-wracking and annoying on higher levels, some of which have less time. Another interesting feature which I had not anticipated is that not every single tube has to be used. At first, I was concerned because I was making all of the necessary connections and even lighting up all of the bulbs but had several pieces unused. I am not entirely sure of the purpose for this. I do not know if the game designers have more than one possible solution for each level (which would be likely, though I typically stuck with the first one that worked) which necessitated the extra pieces, or if perhaps they are supposed to test the player's ability to know which pieces are necessary and which are extraneous (which will thus save both time and moves). I'm not sure. But it was nice to know I was lighting all of the bulbs without having to rely on all of the tubes given. The game offers a total of ninety levels and players typically cannot jump to different levels without playing the preceding ones. There is an option of unlocking some (not all) future levels without playing the previous ones, but this costs US$0.99 per unlock. Players can disable in-app purchases to bypass this option. My biggest two critiques of the game are as follows. The first is the presence of ads. This is a sticky issue for me, as I realize free apps have to make some kind of income. However, I feel the placement of the ads is meant to be deliberately annoying. The banners on the bottom of the screen are not really a problem; it is the banner across the middle of the screen after every successful completion of the level that is the worst. Additionally, there are regularly pop-up ads that fill the screen (these can be closed and only occur once every other level or so), along with video ads that come up randomly. The videos were the worst for me. The first time the screen went black in order to start playing one, I actually thought something was wrong with my iPhone; I wasn't accustomed to it going black for no reason. They are not very long, typically only fifteen seconds to a minute in length, but they do distract and annoy. The good thing is that players have the option of purchasing an in-app ad-free version, but this also costs US$0.99. I ended up purchasing this because during later levels, players must drag the screen different places to build extended parts of the puzzle, and the ads were getting in the way. So, I really don't like having to pay money (in a free app!) to avoid ads, but most players will need to pick this option. The other critique I am genuinely on the fence about: time limits. I have zero problem with limits in themselves, as having to complete tasks within a certain time frame heightens both the challenge and the strategy of gameplay. However, in at least one level, it appeared next to impossible to complete the entire puzzle in the fifteen seconds I was given. (In comparison, other, sometimes less difficult puzzles in later levels were given as much as a minute and fifteen seconds). This, coupled with the banner ad blocking my view, made me have to play this level over and over again. I lost count of how many times, actually. This felt odd because the time limits seemed uneven. I don't care if different levels have different times, but when a later, easier puzzle is given either a much longer time limit or a larger move limit, and this puzzle gets only fifteen seconds, there seems to be an issue. Despite these issues, Light 'em Up remains a fantastic, addictive, and brilliant game. If you're looking for a nifty brain-stretcher that will light up your screen (literally), thoughtful players needn't look any further than this.
Apple issues iOS 7.0.6 / 6.1.6 security updates
Today, Apple issued security updates for iOS 7 and iOS 6. The updates protect phones against potential attacks that might compromise data in secure sessions. Available for: iPhone 4 and later, iPod touch (5th generation), iPad 2 and later Impact: An attacker with a privileged network position may capture or modify data in sessions protected by SSL/TLS Description: Secure Transport failed to validate the authenticity of the connection. This issue was addressed by restoring missing validation steps. The iOS 7.0.6 update appears to be available for all iPhones, iPods, and iPads running iOS 7. In addition, Ars Technica writes that iOS 6.1.6 has also been patched to address the SSL vulnerability. TUAW highly recommends that you install the appropriate update on your iOS devices as soon as possible. Thanks, Sam Marshall
This week on gdgt: Surface Pro 2, Nintendo 2DS, and software updates
Each week, our friends at gdgt go through the latest gadgets and score them to help you decide which ones to buy. Here are some of their most recent picks. Want more? Visit gdgt anytime to catch up on the latest, and subscribe to gdgt's newsletter to get a weekly roundup in your inbox.
iOS 7 wins mobile OS user experience shootout
Pfeiffer Consulting recently put iOS 7 through its paces, comparing it to a number of other mobile OSes to gauge which OS has a step up on the competition when it comes to the user experience. The operating systems involved in the study included iOS 7, iOS 6, Android, Windows Phone 8 and BlackBerry 10. Now seeing as how there are innumerable versions of Android out there, the study focused on Samsung's implementation of Android since it's currently the most popular Android handset maker. The study focused on four variables: cognitive load, efficiency, customization and user experience friction. Each variable was afforded equal weight. Also note that the tests were measured from the viewpoint of an average, non-technical user. When the dust settled, iOS 7 reigned supreme with a 73.25 score followed closely by iOS 6 with a score of 70. Next came Android, Blackberry 10, with Windows Phone 8 pulling up the rear. The report reads in part: What separates the Android user experience from iOS 7 is not functionality, but feature-bloat and sloppy user interface design. In terms of user experience, less IS more. But there is another issue for Android, and that is market fragmentation: The loyalty of Apple's users is such that the company can be certain that millions of users will upgrade to a new release -- and Apple's marketing is working hard to increase the desire to do so. Android, by contrast is terrifyingly fragmented, with most users only upgrading when they change device. This is a problem that will be almost impossible to overcome -- and can only get worse over time. Overall, the entire study provides an interesting read and is worth checking out in its entirety. There is also an interesting discussion regarding the study's methodology over here.
Archiving iPhone app workflows
For app developers and bloggers, it's very instructive to have an idea of what has changed in the user interface of an app. App developers can look back and see how both the "look and feel" and steps required to perform a workflow have changed, while bloggers and other writers can use the information to update books or write posts about upgrades. Fortunately for both parties, there's a website called UX Archive run by two French developers (one of whom has moved to the Bay Area) and an American that plans to be an online museum of sorts, exhibiting the changes in app user interfaces and workflows over time. The site neatly divides the screenshots by app and task, so you can narrow down a search to just one particular task -- like creating, deleting, recording, sharing or uploading -- in one specific app. While there aren't a tremendous number of apps and versions currently archived (I counted 60 apps, with only a few showing the changes between iOS 6 and iOS 7 versions of those apps), it's a good start and UX Archive will be a helpful tool in the future provided the curators keep up with the updates. If you sign up for a free email list, UX Archive will ping you when a new workflow is added to the site.
iOS 7: Camera changes make it better, but it still loves to crash
A very strange thing happened during the three months I tested the revamped Camera app in iOS 7. I started out relying, as usual, on Camera+. It's been a mainstay on my iPhone for several years. But as the weeks went by, I found myself using that popular app less and less until it's now sitting a bit lost on the home page of my iPhone. While the built-in Camera app isn't that far removed from its iOS 6 counterpart, there are a number of changes that make it better than what it was. Option buttons that were once on the picture itself now rest on a semi-transparent panel that overlays the image. In Square mode, these bars are black. You're presented with four camera modes that you swipe among: Video, Camera, Square and Pano for panorama. Those who get the iPhone 5s will get a fifth option: Slo-mo. iPad and iPhone 4 users do not have the Panorama option. In Photo and Square mode, you can apply a live filter to an image before you take it, a feature that Instagram fans are used to. When in landscape mode, most of the options flip to accommodate the new view -- except for the mode toggles. Those remain in portrait orientation, which is a bit odd. The iPad gains HDR mode, but it doesn't have the live filters. If you take a photo with a filter and don't like it, you can remove or change it after the picture is taken. Those who have an iPhone 5 or newer will be able to zoom in and out while shooting video. You can use burst mode on older models of the iPhone, and it works pretty well, but you don't get the speed nor the auto-selection mode that burst mode on the iPhone 5s has. As in earlier versions of the Camera app, you can do some limited editing. For the most part, unless you're planning to push your photo to social media right that second, you're better off doing post-processing through Snapseed, Camera+ or iPhoto. The main thing that keeps me from completely singing the praises of the new Camera app is that, at least for me, it's still very crash-happy. Not in burst mode, as I expected, but when toggling among filters and using Panorama. But, part of me wonders if it's because I'm using an iPhone 4S for this review and not a 5. Regardless, it shouldn't be crashing this much for a phone that's still being offered by Apple. Still, I find that I'm not relying on third-party camera options as often as I used to. There's some things that they still excel at, but I no longer feel that the built-in Camera is a poor alternative to these apps. Still, if you want decent post-processing, you're better off doing so in another app.
iOS 7 adoption rate after one day is higher than for earlier versions of iOS
If it seemed like everyone on planet Earth was trying to install iOS 7 at the same you were, well, you're probably not wrong in that assumption. Information from Chitika Insights and others who have been following the action of the past 24 hours shows that anywhere from 18.2 percent (Chitika) to 36.10 percent (Mixpanel at 10:30 AM PT, see figure below) of all iOS devices are now running Apple's latest mobile OS. Why the difference in the numbers? Well, it probably has to do with the methodologies used by the two companies. A Mixpanel spokesperson responded to this question as follows: The data in the iOS 7 adoption report on Mixpanel Trends is based on an aggregated set of the more than 15 billion actions analyzed by Mixpanel each month. The report shows the share of total activity on devices running a version of iOS at a given time, not on unique devices. In Mixpanel, an action is defined by our customers and can be anything from logging in to an app to making a purchase or finishing a level in a game. I'm not familiar with their (Ed: Chitika's) methodology, so it's hard for me to speculate on why they are so different. But part of the answer could be the time at which the data was pulled. The data in our iOS 7 adoption report is updating in real time, so that 36 percent is as of 10 AM PT. Our chart shows we saw 18 percent adoption at around 5 PM PT last night. Also, here are some other points you might find interesting: In the first 24 hours activity on devices running iOS 7 skyrocketed, reaching 36 percent at 10 AM on Thursday. People updated during the work day: Just 10 hours after it was released, devices running iOS 7 accounted for 22 percent of total iOS activity. People stayed up late to update: Between 10 PM - 8 AM PT, iOS 7 claimed another 10 percent+ of activity. At 9 AM yesterday, iOS 6 accounted for 94 percent of iOS activity. At 9 AM today, it had dropped to account for only 61 percent of activity. If it continues at this rate, there will be more activity on iOS 7 than on iOS 6 in another 24 hours. Compare that to Android where, as of yesterday and 450 days after launch, all versions of Jelly Bean account for 57 percent of activity according to the Android OS Versions report on Mixpanel Trends here. Android's official stats (here) have Jelly Bean adoption at an even lower 45 percent. But the most recent version of Jelly Bean (4.2.X) only accounted for 12 percent of activity according to the Android OS Versions report on Mixpanel Trends here. Android's official stats (here) have Jelly Bean 4.2.X adoption at an even lower 8.5 percent. Compare that to iOS 7 which accounted for 11 percent of activity only two hours after release. Chitika's spokesperson provided the following clarification: While we can't speak to Mixpanel's methodology, here's how we tabulate our statistics for the iOS 7 study: We examine traffic across 300,000 different websites within our ad network ---these range from several sites in the Alexa Top 10 to smaller blogs. Additionally, our network of sites comprises a wide variety of verticals (e.g., automotive, photography, retail, etc.) For this particular study, we examined tens of millions of online ad impressions to tabulate our results. An important distinction is that we examine web browsing activity, rather than in-app activity. In comparison to the Android operating system, where only 45 percent of all devices are currently running Android 4.3 "Jelly Bean" -- an operating system that was released in July 2012 -- the adoption rate for iOS 7 is incredible, even when Chitika's lower numbers are used for comparison.
Before and after pics highlight iOS 7 design points
TapFame's before and after iOS 7 gallery provides a perfect showcase of iOS 7's new design touch points. Showcasing some of the most notable redesigned interfaces, it offers a one-stop link to compare and evaluate many of the most critical UI changes. Edge to Edge Design One of the biggest changes to iOS 7 is the introduction of edge-to-edge design. Standard interface elements like status bars (the bit with the time and the battery) and navigation bars (the large flat colored bars with the back buttons) no longer create a "frame". Instead they lie over the application, which stretches out to take advantage of every pixel. You see this in the KickStarter example, where the scrolling table extends up behind the Kickstarter label at the top. The blurred smudges you see in the screenshot are actually bits of the table that have flowed behind. As you scroll the table, these smudges update, offering subtle but important contextual hints. Your iPhone's workspace, although offering exactly the same number of pixels, has now grown to encompass the entire screen. Another great example of this trend is seen in the Cobooks Contacts app, where each table cell has grown to reach the edge of the device, without any retro paper-friendly indentation needed. It's a fresh and beautiful new presentation. It's like getting a 15-20% boost in screen size, all for free. More importantly, it shifts the focus of the app from the ornamentation that surrounds it to the app itself. This is a critical design element for iOS 7. User-Controlled Font Sizes Fonts represent another huge leap from iOS 6 to iOS 7. Developers now select fonts based on the roles they play within the app. From headlines to captions, iOS 7 delivers fonts to the application based on how text is used. Even better, users control those fonts from a single place in Settings. When you adjust what is called Dynamic Text size, all the fonts across every compliant app update on your behalf. If you have weak eyes (I do!) and need larger fonts, that single settings pane expands font size for every system defined role for you. Applications listen for a special notification which tells them to re-layout their entire interface to best match my personal viewing needs. It's an amazing and fabulous feature and the side effect is that the fonts you see in the iOS 7 screen shots are all consistent in terms of their face selection and the roles they play within the interfaces. Look at the iRun Perth app. It offers a perfect example of multiple font roles within a single app. As one font adjusts, the others do in lockstep. See-Through Controls On iOS, controls refer to interaction items like buttons, sliders, toggles, and radio button. When you look at the Photo Investigator screen shots, what you see is the radical change iOS 7's see-through controls offer. These color-coded controls integrate with whatever app lies beneath them, offering plenty of see-through areas so the controls augment the app rather than overwhelm them. Suddenly the controls become deferential to the app instead of visually taking them over. The change is profound, best seen in these side-by-side shots. Every app defines a primary tint color used throughout the window. In this example it is red, although it changes on an app-by-app basis. That uniform color, picked up by the outline in the radio button switch at the bottom of the screen and the text for the go back button at the top, provides a coherent design touchpoint throughout the entire control vocabulary. Borderless Interaction Although I'm not entirely a full fan of borderless buttons, the RecordOrders screenshot provides a perfect example of why these new elements can be so powerful. Actions and options now blend into the main application area instead of being segregated by traditional button design. Of all the iOS 7 changes this has been one of the most significant and most controversial. When it works, it's fantastic. When it doesn't, users ends up confused. Removing Familiar Patterns Many familiar textures have disappeared from iOS 7: the lined background behind tables (see Days to Go), the obverse linen that represented the "under page" background. They are replaced with simpler, cleaner interfaces that don't have to compete with skeuomorphism. Translucency With iOS 7 you don't lose context, even when moving to other tasks. The National Debt app shows this with its translucent overlay (done, by the way, I'm betting using a slightly illicit trick that all the developers have been talking about this summer) as does the Stamps for Direct Mail app. You see this as well with alerts, pop-ups, and modal dialogs that used to overlay and hide the interface behind it. With translucency, you retain the sense of previous work, and return to that presentation more smoothly. The faded visual hints mean you never really fully left, providing a more continuous UI experience. Final Thoughts I won't be surprised if iOS 7 gets a bit of a hammering as it debuts. The colors are strange, a lot of the interface looks different, but there are some amazingly strong design principles that are guiding this change. Although change is, and will always be traumatic, I applaud Apple for putting so much thought into powering those differences with an underlying philosophy of user deference and application strength.
Chitika's look at Apple OS adoption on the eve of a product launch
It's very likely that along with the announcement of some new products tomorrow, we'll get a better idea of when Apple's newest operating systems -- iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks -- will actually ship. iOS 7 is widely expected to ship with the new iPhone(s) that should be announced tomorrow, while OS X Mavericks may be slated for an October release. Online advertising firm Chitika looks at millions of ad impressions generated by their network to scout out trends, and its most recent numbers (from August 15 to August 21, 2013) show that a whopping 92 percent of all iPhone users and 82 percent of iPad users are currently running iOS 6. Why are fewer iPad users on the most recent version of iOS? Chitika noted analyst Chetan Sharma as pointing out that 90 percent of tablet users use WiFi only (even if they are WiFi + cellular devices). iOS 6 has some mobile-focused features like turn-by-turn GPS and FaceTime over mobile networks that made the upgrade to iOS 6 more attractive to iPhone users than those who own iPads. Chitika believes that "based on past adoption rates of new iOS versions, it's likely that users of both device categories will adopt iOS 7 at high rates." So what about Apple's desktop / laptop operating system, OS X? Chitika's numbers show that 34 percent of all Mac owners in North America currently use OS X Mountain Lion (10.8), while 23 percent are still using Lion (10.7). What's quite surprising is the number of users who are somewhat stuck in the past with OS X Snow Leopard (10.6) and Leopard (10.5), a surprising 32 and 10 percent, respectively. For those who are running newer hardware capable meeting the requirements for the upcoming release of OS X Mavericks (10.9), the upgrade to the new version should be a no-brainer. Older Macs, however, will most likely continue to run the older operating systems until such time as the hardware is beyond repair.
tadaa 3D creates the illusion of depth in your iPhone pix
tadaa 3D doesn't create real 3D images, but it can bring some depth to your photos and the result will likely delight friends and family. The US$3.99 app is disarmingly simple to use. (The app is listed as free as of August 30. That may change.) You can snap a photo from within the app, or create a depth image from your photo library. You select a picture and then use your finger to mask out a foreground object or a person or persons in the photo. The image can be enlarged for more masking accuracy, and the app does provide some intelligent processing to try and figure out what you are trying to mask out using edge detection. When you are finished, you'll see a pseudo-3D image. The background blurs, and as you move your iPhone up and done or side to side, the foreground image moves in relation to the background. It's a nice effect -- not real 3D, but still pleasing to the eye. The image is shared via the usual social services, or sent via email or text message. A person viewing the image on an iPhone with motion sensors will get the full depth effect. If you send a photo to a user on another kind of phone or a computer, they will see an animated image similar to an animated GIF where the image toggles back and forth to give a depth effect. When viewing on a computer, you can also use a mouse to change the faux perspective. I tried tadaa on a few photos with foreground objects and some with people in the image. The app works as expected, and masking the foreground objects is pretty easy. To make it all work you need a free account with tadaa since the images are hosted on the developer's servers. Images you take are private, only viewable by yourself and those you share them with, unless you decide to be part of the tadaa social community. In that regard, tadaa 3D is similar to the social photography community created by Instagram. tadaa 3D is a well-crafted app that performs a unique function. The app requires iOS 6 or greater and is optimized for the iPhone 5.
WSJ reaffirms rumor of two new iPhone models in September
As we steadily march into late August, the iPhone rumor mill is in full swing. Lending a bit of credence to a number of tenuous reports surrounding Apple's fall 2013 iPhone plans, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple has asked Foxconn to begin shipping both high-end and low-end iPhone models in early September. Recall that a number of sources, including the well-connected Jim Dalrymple, have indicated that Apple will be holding a special iPhone media event come September 10. Of course, it's always important to keep in mind that nothing is ever official until invites from Apple are sent out, but if Dalrymple is on board, it's always wise to mark your calendar. As for Apple's plans regarding two iPhone models, the Journal relays that mass production on the iPhone models began in June, with the higher-end model "featuring a metal casing" and the lower-end model purportedly being comprised of lower-cost plastic materials. In doing so, Apple will be able to offer a low-cost iPhone model while keeping its margins relatively healthy. Analysts say a low-cost iPhone could help to boost Apple's sales, particularly in emerging countries such as China and India. The company appears to be moving to capitalize on that theory, as people familiar with the matter said component orders for the low-cost iPhone are much higher in the third calendar quarter than for the high-end iPhone. But they added that component orders for the high-end metal casing iPhone will go up in the fourth quarter. Previously, the WSJ relayed that Apple will offer a lower-cost iPhone in a number of colors, mimicking a strategy Apple previously used to great success with the iPod. As for the iPhone 5S, which, if history is any indication, will be what Apple will name its next-gen smartphone, there are a number of unsubstantiated rumors floating around detailing what hardware enhancements the device will include. Reports detailing a fingerprint-authorization sensor and a 12 megapixel camera seem to be the most prevalent and interesting at this point. What we do know with absolute certainty, however, is that the software that will power Apple's next-gen iPhone -- iOS 7 -- marks the biggest change to Apple's mobile OS since the iPhone was first introduced over six years ago. It will be interesting to see if the masses embrace Apple's upcoming software upgrade or if they'll be left pining for iOS 6.
iBook Lessons: Beyond the Story ships interactive book app for Almighty Johnsons, the best show you're not watching
The Almighty Johnsons is probably the best show you're not watching -- unless you live in Canada. Although the show airs in New Zealand as well, the viewer numbers there are roughly enough to put together a basketball team. On a good day. Crude, vulgar, hilarious and touching, the show is surprisingly well made, with a shoestring budget and a very real desperate sense of on-the-bubble/will-it-be-canceled-soon because of those pesty Kiwis who are failing to watch it. To put it in Canadian terms, it's as smart as Orphan Black, a lot funnier and more risk-taking than The Lost Girl. The show plays in Canada, the UK, Australia and, of course, it "airs" (not that anyone watches) in New Zealand. Today, Syfy announced a deal to debut the show in the US in 2014 (hopefully without too many edits for American tastes). Sadly, that air date means that the renew/don't renew decision might happen long before the US gets its first glimpse of the Johnson family. (You can still write letters of support to TV 3 in New Zealand, South Pacific Pictures or tweet a note of support/drop off a Facebook like.) That all said, the show has just jumped from the screen to iOS devices. Expatriate Kiwi developers Beyond the Story, based in London, but with Aotearoa accents, have been working with South Pacific Pictures, just recently delivering a show-specific app to the New Zealand and Canadian iTunes app stores. Their custom, enhanced-book platform was built over several years, with a 2.5 million pound development investment. Able to transform any long form text into an interactive experience, Beyond the Story has previously produced the quite noteworthy Diary of Anne Frank and the somewhat less noteworthy After Earth: Kitai's Journal. They have worked with Penguin and Harper Collins on additional titles. When visiting New Zealand, this past February, a meeting with South Pacific Pictures gave rise to the Almighty Johnsons app project. Offering script novelizations, behind the scenes insights, interviews with the actors, character sheets and more, the app includes a great deal of fan-centric material. On the geeky technical end of things, the app provided some interesting implementation details. Apparently, this is the first-ever TV novelization that's delivered live as the series premieres. As each broadcast goes to air, the app enables each "chaptersode." This was a bit tricky when dealing with multiple geographies, and multiple screening times. The developers focused on not ruining the experience for anyone. You cannot access a chaptersode until that program has gone to air. (When the app goes live in the UK and Australia, it will coordinate to the local broadcasts there for the third series.) Is it a great app? It... feels a little like DVD extras. This includes the hokey background music and tap-to-jump menu structure. The novelization is, well, what it is. It's not horrible, but I'm a little confused as to why it was included. The writing is fairly stiff, bringing little extra insight or liveliness. The background text material, too, feels like it's been repurposed, although I'm not entirely sure of that as a fact. The app presentation itself and the underlying engine, on the other hand, did show great promise. I'd very much like to check out the Anne Frank app now after seeing this one. I'm told the Anne Frank book/app will release globally near October. The best bits, in my opinion, are the behind-the-scenes video snippets, even though some of them are extremely spoilery at this time, especially James Griffin's discourse on Yggdrasil (although I do adore his shirt-of-radio-art). So be warned. I did not encounter any of the instability that users have mentioned in iTunes reviews. I tested the app on a somewhat geriatric iPad 2 running iOS 6. Is it worth the Canadian $3.99? I can't see why not, although spoilerphobes will want to wait until the entire series has aired before picking up a copy. It's as cheap or cheaper than a TV show magazine might be, and probably will offer at least as much enjoyment.
vividHDR brings some new features and ideas for iOS photographers
I'm always on the lookout for innovative photography apps and vividHDR certainly qualifies. It's a universal app that sells for US $1.99. Unlike many apps that take 2 exposures for HDR (High Dynamic Range imaging), vividHDR takes 3. It shows you a split screen of the normally exposed image, alongside the HDR tone-mapped photo. Unlike some apps that can give you 'overcooked' results, you can get natural looking photos from this app, with better shadow detail and more realistic colors. The app offers settings for Natural, Lively and Dramatic photos. Saturation and contrast increase with each step away from Natural. You can also select 'custom', and process the images any of the 3 ways before you save them. The app provides good exposure control, ghost removal and image alignment, which is important if you are hand holding your iPhone or iPad. The GUI takes some getting used to. I expected each finished image to show up in my camera roll, but the app maintains its own gallery which you access with a swipe to the right. Camera settings are a swipe to the left. It is all explained in the introductory screen, but it was still counter-intuitive until I got used to it. I took several images and was quite pleased with the results. You can see some in the gallery. The app helped in dark areas, improved the look of the skies, and the processing was quite speedy. On the minus side, the app failed my 'bright window-dark room' test. When processed, the image completely lost any outside detail so the window was badly blown out. Yet when I watched the screen, I could see that one exposure perfectly exposed that bright window. Something is going wrong in the processing. My reference HDR program, ProHDR handled the test perfectly. Examples are in the gallery. vividHDR is still an excellent approach to getting good HDR photos. It is far better than the built-in Apple HDR software, but it falls short in the toughest lighting conditions. If the developer can fix that issue, vividHDR will be among the very best HDR apps available. vividHDR requires iOS 6 or greater, and it is optimized for the iPhone 5. It also worked just fine on iOS 7 beta 5. %Gallery-195750%
Polar polls show high user acceptance of iOS 7 UI and icons
iOS 7 is now in its fifth beta incarnation and going through intense scrutiny by developers as the release date for the new mobile OS nears. Several iOS 7 beta testers have apparently decided to break NDA and conduct polls to judge the public's opinion on both the user interface and specific app icons when compared to the iOS 6 versions. Polar user LukeW went through the various iOS interface elements such as switches, the date picker, status bar, navigation bar, etc. and asked the public to vote on whether they preferred the iOS 6 or iOS 7 version. In every case, the iOS 7 versions were the winner. While I won't go through every result, here are some vote results for important iOS 7 UI elements: Date Picker -- iOS 7: 1,365 votes, iOS 6: 404 votes Status Bar -- iOS 7: 1,199 votes, iOS 6: 543 votes Share Sheet -- iOS 7: 1,022 votes, iOS 6: 261 votes Lock Screen -- iOS 7: 1,054 votes, iOS 6: 254 votes Notification -- iOS 7: 1,087 votes, iOS 6: 200 votes Of course, there were certain commenters who hated all of the iOS 7 elements in this decidedly unscientific poll (we're looking at you, autumn...). Not to be outdone, Polar user Giantsquid looked at side-by-side comparisons of app icons. The results weren't as grossly tilted towards iOS 7 as they were in the UI elements poll: Contacts icon -- iOS 7: 19,702 votes, iOS 6: 8,979 votes Siri icon -- iOS 7: 6,914 votes, iOS 6: 8,243 votes Passbook icon -- iOS 7: 16,096 votes, iOS 6: 14,233 votes Maps icon -- iOS 7: 10,904 votes, iOS 6: 4,195 votes Safari icon -- iOS 7: 10,597 votes, iOS 6: 17,593 votes The results of both of these polls are subject to scrutiny; the votes represent only a tiny sample of the millions of iOS users around the world. But it's interesting to see how people are reacting to the look and feel of iOS 7 -- mostly in a positive light. [via 9to5Mac]
Google announces updated Maps app coming to iOS 'soon'
Google Maps is already the go-to navigation application for many iOS users, but not being one to rest on its own popularity, Google will be rolling out an enhanced update of its popular map app with several new features. The update -- which the company notes will be arriving "soon" for iOS devices -- adds a new location-browsing feature that highlights highly reviewed restaurants and retailers in your area, along with a new review guide courtesy of Zagat. While you're out and about, the new Google Maps will use its integrated Google Offers functionality to alert you of deals you may be driving by. Additionally, a new navigation system will alert you of poor traffic conditions and then take steps to reroute you in order to hasten your arrival. It will also update your route as you drive if a quicker path opens up. Google notes that the update will require your iPad or iPhone to be updated to at least iOS 6.
DevJuice: Supporting the iPad 1
iOS adoption outpaces every other mobile family out there. As iMore reports, 93 percent of customers have upgraded to iOS 6.x. Just 1 percent remain on older operating systems. So why do developers obsess over iOS 5? The iPad 1. It's the little iOS that can. And does. And keeps doing. Devs continue selling apps targeted to the original iPad and they don't want to cut away an important portion of their market. I'm told over and over again, "If I go to Auto Layout, I can no longer build for iOS 5." A loyal base of iPad 1 users means developers hesitate to move their code base into modern technologies and that's a shame. Sadly, Apple doesn't allow devs to fork apps. Imagine freezing (but still selling) an iOS 5 version of your app. Consider a state of "no longer supported, but available to purchase" for a not-insignificant user base. True, 1 percent doesn't sound like a lot of users until you do the math. There are 600 million devices out there. That's 6 million potential customers. Now imagine this forking for iOS 6 as well come this fall. You'd be able to keep selling to those customers who haven't updated, but you wouldn't be slavishly adhering to outdated firmware that represents just a small minority of users. Sadly, this is not an option that Apple offers. Each update has the potential for excluding customers, something that gives devs hives. Fortunately, there's a way to suggest it. Developers shouldn't have to turn away from newer, better APIs because the alternative is their bottom line.
Apple: iOS fragmentation? What iOS fragmentation?
One thing that Apple is very proud of -- and has good reason to be proud of -- is that the world of iOS isn't very fragmented. That means that most iOS users have upgraded to the latest version of the operating system and are taking advantage of the many integrated services built into it -- things like Maps, Passbook and more. Apple has published the chart seen at right in the official iOS Dev Center to tout the fact that 93 percent of iOS users are running on iOS 6, with only 1 percent running a version earlier than iOS 5. The numbers are based on App Store visits during the 14 days ending June 3, 2013, and really demonstrate vividly how cohesive the iOS environment is -- just about every iOS device on the planet is running iOS 6. That also demonstrates how easy Apple has made it for users to upgrade to the newest OS version. It's likely that Apple chose to create this graphic for one very snarky reason: every two weeks, a pie chart is published by Google so that Android developers can see what percentage of users are on any particular version of that highly fragmented OS (below).
