Foursquare Says Goodbye to Google Maps; Whos Next

post from Daring Fireball on 02 March 2012 03:04:14 PM. © Daring Fireball

Who’s next to ditch Google Maps? Drawing a total blank here; can’t think of any Google Maps-using platform from a company with a tempestuous relationship with Google.

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Read The Full Article:
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/foursquare-says-goodbye-to-google-maps-whos-n
ext/

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Quickstart American Sign Language special price
cut March 3 and 4

post from prMac on 02 March 2012 02:52:00 PM. © prMac

Selectsoft, a California-based developer of family-friendly games, is offering Quickstart American Sign Language for the Mac App Store(SM) on sale March 3 and 4. A top 50 paid educational app, Quickstart ASL is a simple and fun way to learn signing, covering such useful topics as Greetings, Emergency Situations and more. In 9 easy-to-follow video lessons, professional sign language interpreter Renee Moore teaches the basic skills needed to communicate with deaf friends, family and others.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-39021.htm

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Yay Codes

post from Daring Fireball on 02 March 2012 02:04:06 PM. © Daring Fireball

“A free service that makes it painless for developers to distribute promo codes to their customers.” I often hear from developers that managing App Store promo codes is a pain in the ass.

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Read The Full Article:
http://yaycodes.com/

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Could tablets outsell PCs by next year (Hint:
yes)

post from Apple on 02 March 2012 12:04:30 PM. © Apple

At their current and expected growth rates, tablet computers are on pace to start outselling traditional form-factor PCs by the third quarter of 2013. The bold prediction comes from Horace Dediu, author of the always informative Asymco blog. Apple?s iPad will lead the way, with Android tablets following and Windows 8 slates picking up steam.

As with any forward-looking predictions, certain assumptions have to be made and Dediu outlines his as such:

Mac sales growth will continue at 25 percent per year.
Windows 8 will bring only a small sales boost in 2012 as enterprises don?t rush upgrades.
Windows 8 tablets will account for 7 percent of all Windows PCs in the final quarter of 2012, jumping to 20 percent by 2013.
Yearly iPad sales growth will double this year and next.
Sales growth of Android tablets, including the Kindle Fire, will still lag behind the iPad, but sees 80 percent growth a year.

Overall, I think these assumptions are generally reasonable, given the time frame of a two-year look and based on historical data. Even two years is pushing the crystal ball a bit in the mobile space as technology advances are cycling faster than 24 months, but again, Dediu?s approach makes sense.

Naysayers will be quick to point out that some activities will always require a traditional PC. I see their point when you look at CAD software, movie production or custom enterprise applications that require some computing feature not yet feasible for tablets. For these, and similar, computing needs, I agree ? for now. But times are a-changing. I noted this in my GigaOM Pro report (subscription required) just last month by explaining why the PC you buy in 3 years may not be a traditional PC.

Tablet hardware is improving quickly, which brings software innovation as app developers take advantage of more processing power and graphics capabilities. Input on tablets can be a challenge, but one look at the Asus Transformer Prime and its keyboard dock offers a glimpse of current and future solutions. Remote desktop solutions abound, and some, such as OnLive, don?t even require you to have your own PC; you simply connect to one in the cloud.

Simply put: Mobile devices are enabling new economies, opportunities and functions we couldn?t envision just a handful of years ago. Ignore this trend and you?re sure to think there?s no way tablets could ever outsell PCs, let alone do so within the next two years. Look at the next generation embracing tablets, however, and you start to see that the idea isn?t so far-fetched after all.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

Read The Full Article:
http://gigaom.com/mobile/could-tablets-could-outsell-pcs-by-next-year/

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Welcome to the Mutually Incompatible, Silo-Based,
Platform-Dependent and User-Unfriendly Future of Books.

post from Daring Fireball on 02 March 2012 12:04:28 PM. © Daring Fireball

Mathew Ingram on the e-book landscape:

As we?ve described before, Apple and Amazon come at the e-bookmarket from different perspectives: Apple sees books as justanother form of content that it can use to sell iPads and otherdevices, whereas Amazon sees devices like the Kindle and theKindle Fire as ways it can lock people into its content ecosystemand sell them more books, movies and so on. But both are dependenton having users locked into their products, and so they make it asdifficult as possible to move from one to the other.

This is pretty much why I was so down on DRM e-books all along, and why I like Nick Carr’s idea to bundle e-books as downloads that accompany good old-fashioned printed books.

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Read The Full Article:
http://gigaom.com/2012/02/29/how-the-e-book-landscape-is-becoming-a-walled-garden
/

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Lego Robot Solves Rubiks Cube in 5 Seconds

post from Daring Fireball on 02 March 2012 12:04:28 PM. © Daring Fireball

Not bad.

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Read The Full Article:
http://www.wimp.com/robotsolves/

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How Sandboxing and Gatekeeper Will Affect
AppleScript

post from Daring Fireball on 02 March 2012 12:04:28 PM. © Daring Fireball

Lex Friedman:

To the average user, the two new security technologies coming toOS X this year — sandboxing and Gatekeeper — should be virtuallyinvisible. But they could be all too visible to more advancedusers, particularly those who use AppleScript and Automator.

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Read The Full Article:
http://www.macworld.com/article/165641/2012/03/how_increased_mac_security_measure
s_will_impact_applescript.html

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Ninja Bugs: Plus! For iPhone Drops Price To Free
Today

OneHaze is pleased to announce the price drop to Free on their new edition game Ninja Bugs: Plus! For iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Ninja Bugs: Plus! is an action packed game that lets you hack and slash your way through wave after wave of bugs. Angela Hayes, founder of OneHaze, decided to make this Plus edition and add a ton of great extra features in addition to the regular Ninja Bugs. Players will unlock and can use different backgrounds and weapons, each with a distinctive colour and sound.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-39152.htm

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Shockingly Addictive Monster Puzzler Game Hits
AppStore

ScottiStudios has released a new game, receiving a great response: Entitled "Save the Monster", the app has just been released on the iPhone AppStore and has users glued to their handsets, after its release this week. The game employs quite a few features which have no doubt added to its success, including its unique game play, addictive levels and loveable main character. An update is expected in the coming weeks with more levels, Game Centre integration, and more fun.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-39151.htm

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New Dynamic Arcade Game Flychaser Now Available
on the App Store

OOFSOURCE OU today has released their latest iOS title, an exciting arcade game called Flychaser. In the game users will have to find their path around obstacles, avoid evil swamp creatures and pick up power ups while chasing various species of delicious flies in an attempt to become the Best Fly Chaser in the world. Each of the 5 game worlds has it's own boss level where Froggie will need to find his way through a labyrinth and challenge another contender for the title of the Best Fly Chaser.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-39150.htm

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