Study: iOS apps crash more than Android apps do
Mobile OS crash analysis firm Crittercism (Really? Who's naming this stuff?) has posted the chart above, which shows that as a percentage of crashes overall, the latest version of iOS claims the highest total. In fact, many versions of iOS show a large percentage of crashes, and clearly iOS overall seems more prone to have an app crash rather than Android.
Of course, there are quite a few qualifiers here. This data has been normalized, so we can presume that this isn't just a quirk of the numbers: There are likely more crashes happening on iOS devices than Android devices, and not just because there's more iOS apps being used (Crittercism says it monitored about 215 million app launches across all platforms, and there were three times as many launched on iOS, but again, this chart shows a percentage of all app launches).
So why more crashing? Crittercism suggests it's because iOS 5.0.1 had just released, while the latest version of Android had not yet arrived, and the new OS was causing more issues than usual in Apple's system. I would also suggest that iPhone users (who have likely paid more for their phones) tend to overtax their devices -- keep in mind this is just an app crashing, not the full iOS, and we've all done that once or twice, right? And as you can see, there's a fair amount of crashes on older iOS phones, which means customers might be running newer apps on older hardware, almost always a recipe for disaster.
At any rate, interesting figures. With so much more usage on iOS devices (both from skilled and not-so-skilled developers, and users of both types as well), it's not that surprising that there are so many more crashes. Have crashes on iOS seriously affected your user experience?
Study: iOS apps crash more than Android apps do originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Study: iOS apps crash more than Android apps do originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on 5 February 2012 | 1:30 pm
Motorola wants 2.25 percent of Apple sales to license patents
The ongoing patent spat between Motorola and Apple has reached an interesting crossroads. Just recently a German court granted an injunction against sales of many of Apple's 3G-bearing products, including older model iPhones and the iPad. That injunction held for less than a day, however, pending further review of Motorola's claims against Apple.
Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents found new information that suggests Motorola has offered to end the patent dispute and license its wireless patents to Apple -- in exchange for 2.25 percent of Apple's sales. It's unclear whether this is a percentage of all Apple revenues or, more likely, a percentage of sales of devices which contain a 3G antenna and therefore potentially fall under the umbrella of Motorola's patent claims. In either case, Mueller finds the 2.25 percent shakedown "excessive," and it only takes a glance at Apple's latest quarterly earnings statement to see that Apple finds it pretty excessive, too.
Revenue from iPhone sales, in aggregate since 2007, amounts to just under US$93 billion. Motorola's cut of those revenues would have been nearly $2.1 billion over those years. Since the iPhone sales juggernaut shows no signs of slowing down, Motorola's cash pile would only grow bigger over time -- and those numbers don't include sales of the Wi-Fi + 3G iPad, which Motorola also claims falls afoul of its patents.
What makes this move seem even skeevier is that Google is in the process of trying to acquire Motorola, meaning that if Motorola succeeds in its claim against Apple, Google would eventually be collecting a patent tax on the iPhone and 3G iPad.
Apple has filed motions to obtain information from several other handset vendors, including Nokia, HTC, LG, and Sony Ericsson, presumably to find out how much they're paying in royalty fees to Motorola for the patents in question. If it turns out that Motorola is demanding more from Apple than it's demanded from those other companies, the judge in the patent case is going to want to know why.
Motorola wants 2.25 percent of Apple sales to license patents originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Motorola wants 2.25 percent of Apple sales to license patents originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on 4 February 2012 | 4:00 pm
Former Apple employee recounts how Jobs motivated iPhone team
Bob Borchers used to be an iPhone product marketing engineer for Apple. Part of the team that brought the first iPhone to market in 2007, he's now a venture capitalist with Opus Capital. Borchers recently gave a talk to students at a California school talking about the thought processes that were involved in the iPhone's development.
Borchers says that Steve Jobs didn't have a specific device in mind, but instead gave the team a mission: create a phone that people would love so much that they'd never leave the house without it. Borchers believes that Apple has been so wildly successful with the iPhone because the company focused on fundamentals -- breaking the rules, but in an exceptionally well manner; paying attention to details; and making people focus on the relationship they have with their device.
Jobs wanted the phone to be revolutionary, the best iPod the company had ever designed, and allow users to access the internet easily from a pocket-sized device. What the iPhone has become -- a device with downloadable apps, GPS capabilities, video and photography features, and voice integration -- wasn't part of the original concept.
Borchers noted that the original iPhone almost shipped with a plastic touchscreen, but Jobs was concerned that the plastic would scratch if users put the phone in a pocket with keys and other metallic items. The team improvised, convinced Corning to re-start production of the abandoned Gorilla Glass, and the iPhone has had a fairly scratch-resistant display since day one.
Apple's obsession with product packaging was mentioned by Borchers, who said that the company spends "way too much time" on presenting products, but he conceded that it is ultimately worthwhile to do so since it communicates the special nature of Apple products to consumers.
With future "insanely great" products in the pipeline, we can only hope that the Steve Jobs obsession with details remains part of Apple's DNA.
Former Apple employee recounts how Jobs motivated iPhone team originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Former Apple employee recounts how Jobs motivated iPhone team originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on 4 February 2012 | 3:00 pm
Daily iPhone App: NFL Flick Quarterback
If you want to pass like Tom Brady from the comfort of your living room chair, then you should grab a copy of NFL Flick Quarterback for the iPhone. The app is a flick-style passing game that lets you take on the role of an NFL quarterback. The game isn't a full-fledged football simulation like Madden 2012, but a passing game as its name suggests.
Even though it focuses on only one aspect of the gridiron game, NFL Flick Quarterback is a lot of fun. You star as a quarterback of your favorite team and get to choose your jersey number. Your goal is to complete passes to receivers down field. Sounds easy until you throw in a defender or two who'll try to deflect your pass.
You throw the pass by flicking the ball out of the quarterback's hand. The faster and straighter you flick the ball, the harder and straighter your pass will be. Once the pass is in the air, you can swipe left or right to nudge the ball in either direction. The game is easy and enjoyable which makes it perfect for the casual iPhone gamer.
NFL Flick Quarterback is available for $.99 from the iOS App Store.
Daily iPhone App: NFL Flick Quarterback originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Daily iPhone App: NFL Flick Quarterback originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on 3 February 2012 | 5:30 pm
Atari team rejoins to make mobile titles
Seamus Blackley is one of the co-creators of Microsoft's original Xbox console, and he put together a really interesting team of old-school Atari game developers recently to make mobile games. Blackley's new company is called Innovative Leisure, and while the website isn't anything more than a groovy logo, the devs he's got on board make for a pretty impressive list: Ed Rotberg (who made Battlezone), Owen Rubin (Space Duel), Rich Adam (who worked on Missile Command), Ed Logg (the creator of Astroids and Centipede), Dennis Koble (who programmed Shooting Gallery), Bruce Merrit (creator of Black Widow) and Tim Skelly (who is also an old school game dev, though not with Atari).
The company is completely separate from Atari (which already has a pretty significant presence on the App Store), but the team has some money already and is reportedly working on prototypes and ideas for a first game.
It should be interesting. The mobile gaming market is filling up fast, but there's no question that these guys know how to make solid and interesting arcade games. We'll have to see what they can do with iOS and other mobile platforms.
Atari team rejoins to make mobile titles originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Atari team rejoins to make mobile titles originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on 3 February 2012 | 5:00 pm
Five apps for Super Bowl Sunday
The Super Bowl is just around the corner which means it's time to get ready for the big game between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. Rather than our usual five apps, I couldn't contain myself and, instead, put together five categories of apps that'll set you up nicely for food, football and fun this coming Sunday.
Official NFL and Team Apps
if you want to learn more about the Patriots's offense and the Giants's defense, then you should download each team's iOS app. The Giants have a free app for the iPhone, while the Patriots have chosen to go iPad-only with a magazine-style app. The Patriots Football Daily app has a free 7-day trial followed by a paid subscription.
The NFL also has a suite of apps to commemorate the game. Each Super Bowl XLVI app is filled with statistics, images and more about current and past Super Bowl match ups.
Party Prep and Post-Game Pictures
The best part of the game (besides the commercials) is spending it with family and friends. You can use Red Stamp to prepare your guest list and send out party invitations. Once you know who is coming, you can use 170,000+recipes from BigOven to start cooking for your crowd. When the party is over, you can use Pic Collage to assemble your pictures and share them with your party attendees.
Social Apps That'll Let You Share The Game
Part of the fun of the game is sharing it with others. Now that social apps are a dime a dozen, you can share your thoughts and comments with the world, not just your friends in the room. Besides Facebook and Twitter, you can use Football Connect to play along with the game and talk trash with your friends. If you want to know what other NFL Pros are saying about the game, then check out NFL Pro Tweets which will give you a stream of tweets from players who are watching from the sidelines.
There's also IntoNow, a social app from Yahoo that gives you content exclusively for the game while tracking the TV broadcast. The app includes a StatTracker, a way to share the play-by-play action and a sports news feed from Yahoo. If you tag the Super Bowl using the IntoNow app and watch the Pepsi Max ad, you can enter the Pepsi MAX for Life sweepstakes.
Apps For Watching and Listening To The Game
For the first time, the NFL will stream the Super Bowl over the internet. If you're a cord cutter, you'll finally be able to watch the game on your MacBook Air. If you're going to be mobile, then you'll want to download Pro Football Radio Live. You won't be able to watch the game, but the app will let you listen to it live. If you are a Verizon Wireless customer, you can download the NFL Mobile app. It's free to download and requires a US$3 daily or $10 monthly subscription to watch the video streams. The Super Bowl will be broadcast live over Verizon's airwaves on Sunday, so make sure you have the app, an Internet connection and some cash to watch the game.
Football-Themed Games
While you wait for the big game, you can fill your time with football-themed games like Pocket Passer QB, a natural football throwing game with several fun mini-games. If you prefer to be a kicker instead of a quarterback, then NFL Kicker might fit the bill. It's a flick-style game that lets you hone your field goal kicking skills. Lastly, there's NFL Pro 2012 from Gameloft, a full-fledged football game that lets you become a gridiron champion.
Five apps for Super Bowl Sunday originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Five apps for Super Bowl Sunday originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on 3 February 2012 | 2:00 pm
Apple rollin' in the dough: 75% of cell phone profits
The news just keeps getting better for Apple in the mobile phone business. Just yesterday, IDC reported that the company is in third place in terms of worldwide mobile phone sales. Today, Asymco analyst Horace Dediu announced that with a relatively small piece of the pie (IDC said 6 percent of market, Dediu says 8.7 percent), Apple is pulling in a whopping 75 percent of profits in the industry.
Philip Elmer-DeWitt at Apple 2.0 notes in an analysis of Dediu's numbers that out of the top eight manufacturers, only five are showing meaningful profits. Samsung has about a 16 percent profit share, while "Nokia, Research in Motion, and HTC are just scraping by. Motorola, LG and Sony, which bought out Ericsson last month, are still in the red."
As Elmer-DeWitt points out, this is for all mobile phones, not just smartphones. And these numbers are for the worldwide market, not just the United States. He concludes that "This doesn't bode well for the manufacturers who have hitched their wagon to Google's Android or Microsoft's Windows Mobile 7."
Apple rollin' in the dough: 75% of cell phone profits originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Apple rollin' in the dough: 75% of cell phone profits originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on 3 February 2012 | 1:30 pm
Apple resumes sales of 3G iPhones and iPads in Germany
Earlier today, Apple was forced to remove the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 (not the iPhone 4S), and all 3G iPads from its online store in Germany. This injunction was short-lived as Apple appealed and the German court suspended the ban.
The company told Slashgear, "Apple appealed this ruling because Motorola repeatedly refuses to license this patent to Apple on reasonable terms, despite having declared it an industry standard patent seven years ago." It also confirmed that "All iPad and iPhone models will be back on sale through Apple's online store in Germany shortly."
According to FOSS Patents, the original removal was the result of a German court ruling in favor of Motorola that was handed down in early December. In this decision, the Mannheim Regional Court said Apple violated telecommunication patents owned by Motorola. Motorola had the option to enforce the ban by posting a 100 million euro bond and it appears that the company took this step earlier today.
[Via FOSS Patents]
Apple resumes sales of 3G iPhones and iPads in Germany originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Apple resumes sales of 3G iPhones and iPads in Germany originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on 3 February 2012 | 10:15 am
Ticket to Ride Pocket adds asynchronous multiplayer
The pocket version of Ticket to Ride by Days of Wonder is among the best board game adaptations for the iPhone, and it's just gotten better with asynchronous multiplayer support. Now you can start a game with friends through Game Center, and take turns back and forth across the Internet. The experience is similar to popular multiplayer games like Words with Friends and Hero Academy.
This free update also expands the game's local multiplayer mode, so that users on the same Bluetooth or Wi-Fi network can play across devices. Ticket to Ride for the iPhone and iPod touch is available for US$1.99 in the App Store, while the iPad version is priced at $6.99.
Days of Wonder notes that Ticket to Ride has been extremely popular. It has sold over 350,000 copies, and a new online game is begun every four seconds on average. The game is definitely excellent, and the success is well-deserved.
Ticket to Ride Pocket adds asynchronous multiplayer originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Ticket to Ride Pocket adds asynchronous multiplayer originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on 2 February 2012 | 5:00 pm
Daily iPhone App: Lingibli
Learning a new language can be challenging, especially when you're not in an environment where that langue is predominant. Lingibli is an iPhone app that'll bridge that gap by helping you learn vocabulary and basic phrases from native speakers. The app will teach you the top 100 words which comprise the bulk of conversational language.
Lingibli lets you select from a list of common words or phrases. The words are listed individually and include several related expressions. For example, the Spanish language pack includes the word for computer, ordenador, and phrases like "turn on the computer" (encienda el ordenador). The phrases are organized into categories which cover topics like time, numbers, eating and getting help. This phrase list would be extremely helpful for someone who is traveling.
When you select a word or phrase, you can listen to a native speaker pronounce it clearly and properly. They speak with the correct emphasis and talk slowly enough for new learners to understand. This audio component is the key to learning how to speak each word or phrase properly and Lingibli handles it very well.
To make the language learning process fun, you can also use Lingibli as a game. Customers can visit the company's website and print up a sheet with QR codes. The codes contain common words that you can paste around the house. Lingibli has a built-in QR code scanner that'll identify the word and speak it back to you. If you have kids, you can hand them your iPhone and send them on a language-scanning adventure.
Lingibli is available for free from the iOS App Store. The app supports 19 different languages including Arabic, Catalan, Czech, Danish, German, Greek, English, Spanish, Slovak, Finnish, French, Italian, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Turkish. Each language pack costs US$4.99 or you can buy all of them for $24.99.
Daily iPhone App: Lingibli originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Daily iPhone App: Lingibli originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on 2 February 2012 | 1:00 pm
Apple becomes world's third largest mobile phone manufacturer
In just five short years, Apple has become the third largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world. International Data Corporation (IDC), as part of the continuing Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker survey, noted that the overall mobile phone market is still growing despite a major decline in numbers for low-priced "feature phones."
Despite fierce competition from both Apple and Samsung, Nokia retained its spot as the leader in mobile phone shipments. The company is transitioning from the Symbian OS for smartphones, having recently launched the Lumia line of Windows Phone-powered smartphones. IDC notes that Nokia's worldwide distribution and manufacturing presence will make it difficult for other companies to knock the Finnish company from its perch on the mobile phone throne.
Not surprisingly, Samsung was the number two manufacturer, selling more than 300 million phones in 2011. The company's Android smartphone line and new Windows Phone smartphones, along with a growing line of feature phones, inched Samsung even closer to Nokia's coveted number one spot.
Apple jumped from third position after being in fifth place in the previous quarter. The third-place finish is the highest ever for Apple, and the strong launch of the iPhone 4S was listed as the primary reason that the company leapfrogged over competitors LG and ZTE in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Rounding out the top five were Korean manufacturer LG, which has seen a drop in sales for the last year. Chinese vendor ZTE almost took over the fourth place position, moving from low-cost feature phones to increasingly powerful smartphones. ZTE has recently entered the North American market with Android and Windows Phone-powered smartphones.
The most fascinating number, however, was the year-over-year change in shipments. While arch-rival Samsung saw a 17.6 percent change in sales volume over the previous year, Apple saw a whopping 96.2 percent increase. Apple now has 6 percent of the total mobile phone market based on 2011 unit shipments; recall that Steve Jobs noted during the 2007 introduction of the iPhone that he'd be happy with a 1 percent share.
Apple becomes world's third largest mobile phone manufacturer originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Apple becomes world's third largest mobile phone manufacturer originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on 2 February 2012 | 11:00 am
Localized Flipboard Content guides available for UK, Ireland, Australia and Canada
Flipboard added another feature to its popular social stream and news reading app that'll please international users. Announced earlier this week, the company will be sending out three new Content guides for readers in Australia, Canada and the UK and Ireland. Folks in those countries will soon receive news that's custom-selected for those regions. These areas will join China, France, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, which already have local recommendations.
If your iPad's or iPhone's region is set to one of the countries mentioned above, then you will automatically receive your local guide. To switch back to the original, un-filtered content, you'll have to set your device's country location to the United States. That's somewhat inconvenient, but Flipboard says it will soon let you choose your country from within the app.
Localized Flipboard Content guides available for UK, Ireland, Australia and Canada originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Localized Flipboard Content guides available for UK, Ireland, Australia and Canada originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on 2 February 2012 | 8:00 am
Daily iPhone App: TouchRetouch
If you're a Photoshop user, you're likely aware of the editor's new "content-aware" tools that let you magically replace or erase items in your photos. iPhone users who want a similar tool on their handset should take a look at TouchRetouch by Adva-Soft. TouchRetouch is a simple tool that lets you highlight an object in a photo and either erase it or clone it in a few easy steps.
The app lets you load an image or grab one with your camera. Once you have the photo opened, you can zoom in on the object you want to remove or clone. You can use the brush or lasso tool to select the object and the eraser to tidy up your selection. There's a zoom window in the corner of your image that helps you fine tune your selection. If you make a mistake, there's an undo and redo. Once your object is selected, you can click the "Start" button to remove it.
The app works best on objects that are small and not too close to other objects. A perfect example is the photograph of my yard, shown above, that I took after a day of light flurries. It's a nice winter shot that's marred by an unsightly tote in the yard. It took me less than five minutes to highlight the tote, remove it and save the image shown below. If you look closely at the image below, I also removed two snow statues built by my children. You can see some slight blurring where they were removed. For the record, those were not unsightly. I just wanted to see how well the app performed.
Overall, TouchRetouch is a nice companion app for digital photographers. It's not as robust as Photoshop's content-aware tools, but it's perfect for a mobile device. It's lightweight and does a decent job removing items from a photo, but it's not perfect.
At times, the app crashed and I had to restart. Other times, it slowed and I had to close the app and re-open it. When you re-open the app, it saves your progress, so you start right where you left off. These glitches usually occurred when I loaded up the full resolution image. When I worked with a lower resolution picture, the performance was improved.
If you've got 99-cents in your pocket and you take lots of photos, TouchRetouch is worth grabbing from the iOS App Store. It does a suitable job removing unwanted items in photos, especially those casual snapshots you want to send your friends or upload to Instagram.
Daily iPhone App: TouchRetouch originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Daily iPhone App: TouchRetouch originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on 1 February 2012 | 9:30 pm
Ghost Trick sneaks onto iOS tomorrow
I'm excited about this one -- Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective was one of the best mobile games on the year that didn't appear on iOS in 2011, but the wait is over: Though it's been on iOS in Japan for a little while, the game is finally coming to the App Store on this side of the world this evening. As of tomorrow, you'll be able to pick up Ghost Trick on your iPhone or iPad, no matter where you are. The game itself will be free, so you can play through the first two levels for no charge, and after that you can buy the rest of the content with an in-app purchase.
Ghost Trick is a fun one -- you play as a ghost detective who needs to solve crimes by inhabiting inanimate objects, like possessing phones to listen in on phone calls, or moving objects around to convince the living to move as well. It's a really great title that not a lot of people have picked up to play, so definitely give this one a look tomorrow when it's out.
Ghost Trick sneaks onto iOS tomorrow originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Ghost Trick sneaks onto iOS tomorrow originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on 1 February 2012 | 9:00 pm
iPhone bug opens up stranger's life to the world
Gizmodo has raised awareness a serious problem regarding an iMessage bug that, under the wrong circumstances, might result in your messages being seen by others, or you seeing someone else's messages. It's not a new issue; Ars Technica reported on it in December with stolen iPhones, and the problem is an ongoing one.
The behavior is most likely linked to Apple retaining the UDID of older phones in its database. The theory is that when a new UDID from a replacement device is linked to an Apple ID, the old identifier is not being removed. In the scenario Gizmodo discusses, the phone involved is owned by a minor who's now seeing iMessages that an Apple retail employee is sending to friends and loved ones -- all without the employee being aware. Gizmodo believes that when the minor's iPhone was taken to the Apple Store for repair, the employee swapped his SIM card -- not a standard practice -- with the phone being repaired, which is enough to cause the issue.
As underscored by the previous reports, this is a serious problem. But Gizmodo, apparently not having learned its lesson from a couple years ago, decided to make its point about this security flaw by plastering the Apple retail employee's iMessages on its site.
Gizmodo boasts that it's found a plethora of information on the employee, dubbed "Wiz," including his home address, Facebook, email, where he exercises and the Apple Store where he works. "We know enough about this guy to stalk him, blackmail him, and harass him, using nothing more than what we've picked up," writer Sam Biddle brags. The site has posted screenshots of Wiz's iMessages, which involve attempts at getting a date, discussing Apple's first quarter financial results, photos alone and with friends, and more.
While Gizmodo has made its point, it does so in a way that outs an employee who was just doing his job by repairing the kid's phone -- and he probably had no idea that this was happening until his photos and iMessages began to be plastered all over the Internet today. While the employee's name and face were blurred out, enough identifying details remain that it wouldn't be hard to figure out who he is. If Gizmodo can find him, so can anyone smart enough to do a bit of digging on Google.
What Gizmodo has done is sensationalistic and in extremely poor taste, even drawing criticism from content partner MSNBC, which chastised the site for posting the iMessage images. The sensationalism only serves to draw attention away from the bigger issue of people's information being compromised. Gizmodo could have gone about this in a different manner. Exposing the employee's private life to this degree was not necessary to make the point that something is seriously wrong with iMessage.
iPhone bug opens up stranger's life to the world originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
iPhone bug opens up stranger's life to the world originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on 1 February 2012 | 4:30 pm
Foxconn stock climbs on Apple projections
This just in from the "not surprising since a rising tide lifts all boats" department -- stock in Apple's primary manufacturing partner, Foxconn, climbed to a recent high on speculation that Apple might be using metal casings for the next-generation iPhone.
The speculation is in line with what Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty noted last month. Huberty believes that Apple is moving away from the glass casing used on the iPhone 4 and 4S and moving to a metal casing instead. Foxconn spokesman Cheng-Kuang Liu, of course, wisely declined to comment about the rumors.
The use of metal in the new iPhone benefits companies like Foxconn that not only assemble Apple's products, but produce the metal casings as well. The company's share price surged almost seven percent yesterday on what so far is baseless speculation.
Foxconn stock climbs on Apple projections originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Foxconn stock climbs on Apple projections originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on 1 February 2012 | 2:00 pm
Pokertini from Smappsoft on display at Macworld | iWorld 2012
Smappsoft sought me out a few times at Macworld | iWorld this year, so I was glad to see what they've been up to. Last I saw the company, they were working on a puzzle game called Look Again, and since then they've released a few other titles, including Chinese 13 Card Poker and a version of Look Again for children called Look Again, Jr. That app trades animals for the random patterns of the first title, and the devs are finding out that it's getting "a little traction in the special needs market" at schools, as teachers tell them that kids with communication issues can easily understand the game and how to win it.
Smappsoft's latest game, an as-yet-unreleased app is called Pokertini, is more for adults with the tagline, "video poker with a twist." Yes, it's a very colorful video poker game. The guys behind Smappsoft have also released an app called Hold 'Em Helper, so it's clear they're fans of card gambling.
Pokertini seems like fun. It is a video poker game (which means you get a hand of cards and then can hold or discard once, trying to make the best hand you can) with three hands, and the basic idea is that you place one bet that can be split across three hands. You can change up your bet after the first cards have arrived, so if you think you'll be luckier on the top hand than the bottom one, you can move coins up there (across the touchscreen) in the hopes that you'll score big. Scoring is pretty much the same as Vegas odds, so it's even money for Jacks or higher, and then more payouts on up the scale.
The twist is that you can buy "twists" with your money that will influence the cards that arrive. For example, you can buy a twist that blocks low or high cards, or one that shakes up all of the hands. Every few hands you'll get a bonus round, where you're given a matrix of 3 by 5 cards, and just asked to make the best hands with them that you can in the time allotted.
All of that was still under development, I was told. The team isn't quite sure how the bonus round will appear, and they're still considering how to make a compelling part of the game.
There are also badges and achievements to earn. The game uses a freemium model. There are in-app purchases for more coins and money. Smappsoft says you'll never completely run out of money, though. If you do, the game will always grant you a little more to play with.
If the team can balance out the twists and even out the bonus round, it should be a fun take on video poker, and if you already enjoy that pasttime, you'll probably love it. Smappsoft says Pokertini should be out later this year, so we'll keep an eye out for it.
Pokertini from Smappsoft on display at Macworld | iWorld 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Pokertini from Smappsoft on display at Macworld | iWorld 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on 1 February 2012 | 8:00 am
ARM revenue jumps thanks to Apple, Samsung
Everyone knows that Apple did exceptionally well in the 2011 calendar year. Its revenues are up, its cash reserves are about to break the US$100 billion mark and its stock price is hovering around $455. This boom is not only beneficial for Apple, but, as Electronista points out, it's also a stimulus for other third-party companies involved in the manufacturing of these devices. We often forget that when Apple sells a record number of iPhones and iPads, other companies like ARM are selling a record number of chipsets, radios and camera sensors needed to make these devices.
ARM is one the biggest beneficiaries of this rise in mobile technology. The company's revenue grew 21 percent to US$217 million, and its profit jumped 45 percent. Across the entire industry, the company collected royalty revenue on the 2.2 billion chips it sold in Q4 2011 alone. Almost 60 percent of this royalty revenue came from phones, tablets and other mobile devices.
The top two mobile device manufacturers selling all these ARM-powered devices are Apple and Samsung. Combined, these two companies sold about 95 million mobile devices in the last three months of 2011.
ARM revenue jumps thanks to Apple, Samsung originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
ARM revenue jumps thanks to Apple, Samsung originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on 1 February 2012 | 6:00 am
SRS takes the iWow universal at Macworld | iWorld 2012
SRS Labs hosted a booth at Macworld | iWorld 2012 last week for two main reasons. First, the company wanted to show off the iPad version of MyTunes, its music player app that incorporates the company's patented sound enhancement algorithm. Second, it wanted to introduce an update to the iWow hardware itself, called the iWowU, that allows listeners to plug in to any source at all, from anywhere, straight through the headphone port.
MyTunes has been out on iPhone for a while, but SRS showed me the iPad version, which is pretty slick as an "outside of iTunes" music player. Not only can you play all of the audio in your iTunes library, you can use SRS' iWow processing on it. MyTunes has a few different equalizers to play around with, including a 10-band, a 3-band, and a series of music genre settings. There are also a few transition options, an option to raise or lower a recording's speed without changing the pitch (handy for listening to lots of podcasts as quickly as you can), and a "TruVolume" setting which keeps all of the music in your library at the same volume.
The SRS rep said the company's biggest issue with the app is that because of Apple's API limits, they can't apply the iWow processing to anything but the music in your iTunes library. Unfortunately that means MyTunes won't improve the sound coming out of streaming services like Pandora or Slacker. But the app seems like a solid alternative to iTunes, with the added bonus of all of SRS' technology. It should be available in about two weeks for free, with all features unlocked as a US$4.99 purchase.
The new iWowU is a little unit that plugs into the headphone adapter on your iDevice -- or any headphone adapter anywhere, as it will also work on a PC, Mac, or any music player with a headphone plug. Your headphones plug into the other end (the iPhone's white mic cord will work), and the iWow processing is sent along through the cable. Older models had to use the iPhone and iPod touch's dock connector to power the iWow unit, but the iWowU actually charges up with a microUSB cable, so it'll process the music wherever you want for about 5-6 hours before needing charging again.
SRS didn't have a price for the unit yet, but they said it'll be "similar to the current iWow," which is available for $59.99. The smaller size is nice, and the adapter for just a common headphone jack should mean listeners will have the chance to hear the iWow processing in all kinds of new places. The iWowU is due out later this year.
SRS takes the iWow universal at Macworld | iWorld 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
SRS takes the iWow universal at Macworld | iWorld 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on 1 February 2012 | 3:00 am
Liv Games releases Monster Wars on iOS at Macworld | iWorld 2012
I first met Liv Games' Orian Livnat at last year's Macworld, where he showed me a wild game called Legendary Wars that mashed up a number of different genres and ideas in a mix created by Livnat and his family and friends. At the time I thought the game was a really interesting idea, but even I didn't expect the kind of success Liv Games has seen. A year later, the company had multiple booths in the mobile app showcase section at Macworld | iWorld 2012. Even while also running the show during the day, the team was hard at work on releasing the followup to Legendary Wars, Monster Wars.
That game is out now, and as you might imagine from the title, it follows the other side of the story, that of the monsters from the original game. Just like Legendary Wars, the graphics are colorful and the animations are very well done. Livnat and his crew have really blown what was already a very broad idea out even further, adding more unit types, more abilities, more game modes to play around with, and lots more upgrades and add-ons to earn throughout the longer campaign. Fans will really love spotting all of the updates here; there are lots more "pets" running around during batle, for one thing, which Livnat says players really enjoyed in the first game. The option to actually control creatures like trolls, liches, and undead knights is intriging as well. Fans of the first game should definitely pick up Monster Wars, and at the launch price of just 99 cents, this much content is hard for anyone to turn down.
While Monster Wars is only Liv Games' second title, Livnat himself has quite a few projects underway, both as partnerships with other companies and as projects he's working on with friends. It sounds like he and his team are pretty run off their feet (he happily showed me pictures of the crew working late during Macworld to submit Monster Wars to the App Store), but he also says he's not interested in giving up the company to an acquisition.
Legendary Wars did bring offers, says Livnat, but for now, it sounds like he's more interested in making games that people are really enjoying. Monster Wars has only been on the App Store for a little while, and already the reviews are filling up with lots of satisfied players. Liv Games seems to be doing quite well on all of its development so far, and it'll be interesting to see what Livnat and his burgeoning studio comes up with next.
Liv Games releases Monster Wars on iOS at Macworld | iWorld 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Liv Games releases Monster Wars on iOS at Macworld | iWorld 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on 1 February 2012 | 12:00 am