Judge Not By What They Do, But Rather By How They
Spin

post from Daring Fireball on 03 February 2012 07:03:19 PM. © Daring Fireball

Avram Piltch of Laptop magazine, talking to Li Qiang, founder of China Labor Watch:

?Dell and Hewlett Packard are not doing as good as Apple isdoing right now,? Li Said. ?But when we talk about publicityand public relations, it?s another story.?

So who does CLW spend the most effort criticizing — the companies whose actual labor practices are worse, or the one whose “public relations” (read: willingness to take a meeting with CLW) are worse? Take a guess.

?

Read The Full Article:
http://blog.laptopmag.com/labor-activist-apple-best-at-auditing-factories-still-n
ot-doing-enough

Digg this

Jumble is Fantastic for Quick Gaming

post from prMac on 03 February 2012 06:42:00 PM. © prMac

Mark Liew Coaching introduces Jumble 1.0 for iOS devices. Jumble is a great puzzle game that is easy to play when you have five minutes to spare. One of the first few games purchased from eBay, it represents another channel developers can create and distribute ready-to-go apps to the marketplace. Download Jumble and see what the fun is all about! The game is based around accessible puzzles, so it won't get too frustrating or time-consuming. You just need to relax, play and have a great time.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-37827.htm

Digg this

Apple Updates iBooks Author With Clarified EULA

post from Daring Fireball on 03 February 2012 05:04:11 PM. © Daring Fireball

Matthew Panzarino:

Apple has updated its iBooks Author app in order to clarify the language of its End User License Agreement. The changes to the EULA clarify that Apple does indeed intend the packaged product to be sold on the iBookstore only, but also make it clear that it does not lay claim to the content that you use to create the book, nor does it try to limit what you can do with that content elsewhere.

?

Read The Full Article:
http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/02/03/apple-updates-ibooks-author-to-clarify-tro
ublesome-terms-in-its-eula/

Digg this

AppleSource Software Releases TimeNet Law 2.7.5

post from prMac on 03 February 2012 04:37:00 PM. © prMac

AppleSource Software has announced TimeNet Law 2.7.5, an update to their case management, time tracking, billing and accounting solution for attorneys using Mac OS X. TimeNet Law was developed specifically for law firms, private investigators, and others who need total control over clients, matters, slips, payments, trust/escrow/retainer funds with automatic payment application, statements, reports, accounting, and more. This update will be free for all licensed TimeNet Law users.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-37791.htm

Digg this

Super Speller 2.0

post from prMac on 03 February 2012 04:36:00 PM. © prMac

Quiet Spark has released Super Speller 2 for iPad. Super Speller was created to help kids and parents looking for a better way to study for those weekly spelling or vocabulary tests. With Super Speller a spelling test can quickly be created using the same words your child will be tested on at school. Kids can learn at their own pace and without mom or dad looking over their shoulder. The results of each test are stored allowing you to monitor progress.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-37825.htm

Digg this

Dynasty of Egypt special price cut February 4 and
5

post from prMac on 03 February 2012 04:10:00 PM. © prMac

Selectsoft, a California-based developer of family-friendly games, is offering Dynasty of Egypt, a fun match-3 game for the Mac App Store(SM), on sale this weekend only. Dynasty of Egypt offers hours of explosive sphere shooter action during the Age of the Pyramids. Switch between shooters and rotate your angle of attack, as you destroy the Spheres of Divination before they disappear deep within the earth. Blaze through over 1000 levels of exciting puzzle fun.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-37781.htm

Digg this

Games for the weekend: Mini Motor Racing

post from Apple on 03 February 2012 04:04:25 PM. © Apple

Games for the Weekend is a weekly feature aimed at helping you avoid doing something constructive with your downtime. Each Friday we?ll be recommending a game for Mac, iPhone or iPad that we think is awesome enough to keep you busy until Monday, at least.

Mini Motor Racing and Mini Motor Racing HD ($0.99 iPhone, $1.99 iPad) are excellent top-down racing games from The Binary Mill. A good racing game requires three main features to come together: vehicle control, a variety of challenging courses and a heart-thumping soundtrack. Mini Motor Racing excels at all three. But the real kicker is the game’s head-to-head multiplayer action.

Mini Motor Racing

Mini Motor Racing supports four styles of steering and an optional auto acceleration feature to accommodate your prefered style of gameplay. “Wheel” mode uses a virtual steering wheel on the left side of the screen very similar to the iconic d-pad. “Toggle” provides a left and right button on the left side of the screen, whereas “Tank” places the left and right on separately on either side. “Slider” allows the user to control the car by moving a slide bar to the left and right.

Mini Motor Racing

Each style of play will cater to different drivers. Some prefer the Wheel, but I found Tank mode to be the easiest to control. The final control in all modes is a button that gives the car a boost of nitro during the race. Thanks to the way that the car navigates the track, as well as careful camera placement, you will never find the controls getting in the way of the game regardless of your control scheme of choice.

Mini Motor Racing

The opening sequence and smooth 3-D transitions when navigating the game’s menu system attest to the development team’s attention to detail. There are over twenty different courses to choose from, and variations in weather and time of day keep replay value high. All fourteen cars on offer are customizable: You can select the color and style, as well as upgrade each as you collect money and customizations along the various tracks. If you want to upgrade in a hurry, you can use in-app purchases ranging in price from $0.99 up to $14.99.

Mini Motor Racing

Even without multiplayer support, the game is worth buying. Being able to play with up to four racers over Wi-Fi or two over Bluetooth, the multiplayer mode just adds to the bargain.

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

Read The Full Article:
http://gigaom.com/apple/games-for-the-weekend-mini-motor-racing/

Digg this

First

post from Daring Fireball on 03 February 2012 04:04:24 PM. © Daring Fireball

Horace Dediu:

Apple reached 75% of profit share, nearly 40% of revenue share and 9% of units share.
Apple and Samsung combined for about 91% of profits with RIM third at 3.7%, HTC fourth at 3.0% and Nokia last at 1.8% of a $15 billion total for the quarter.

Not bad.

?

Read The Full Article:
http://www.asymco.com/2012/02/03/first-apples-rank-in-mobile-phone-profitability-
and-revenues/

Digg this

World Travel Austria special price cut February 4
and 5

California-based developer Selectsoft is offering the educational iOS app World Travel Austria on sale this weekend only. Enjoy the beautiful alpine village of Innsbruck, take a trip to the birthplace of Mozart, cruise on the river Danube, explore Vienna and more. Read along with the text as you watch the videos, then take a fun quiz to find out what you've learned. This special price will be available February 4 and 5 on the App Store in the Education category.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-37780.htm

Digg this

How Apple conceived the iPhone

The original iPhone, 2007.

Here’s a good primer on how Apple’s initial product design and conception works.

Apple Insider has a great account of former iPhone marketing manager Bob Borchers talking to students at an unnamed California school recently. He explains how his former boss, Steve Jobs, originally approached the iPhone team with the challenge of building a device that to date has sold 183 million units in less than five years.

“His [charge] was simple. He wanted to create the first phone that people would fall in love with. That’s what he told us.”
“Now if you’re an engineer, like I am by training, you’re like ‘what the heck does that mean?’,” he said. “But he was right. The idea was, he wanted to create something that was so instrumental and integrated in peoples’ lives that you’d rather leave your wallet at home than your iPhone.” Borchers noted that Apple’s success largely stemmed from focusing on only a handful of fundamental concepts: break the rules but do so in an exceptionally well manner, pay attention to detail and make people “think differently” about the relationship they have with their device, especially given that smartphones already existed in the market.

Notice the lack of numbers or spec goals right from the start. Later in the talk, Borchers says the overall goals Jobs laid out for the nascent device were to “be a revolutionary mobile phone, the best iPod to date, and also let users carry ‘the internet in their pocket.’” He also didn’t mention downloadable apps, GPS, video or photos. Instead, when breaking into a market in which the company had no prior presence, Jobs started with the concept of an emotional connection with the product and an attitude not to imitate or mimic, but to think beyond, what any other company was presently making.

This is useful for thinking about how Apple will approach future markets too.

You can watch the videos, which have much more about Apple’s unconventional relationship with AT&T, obsession with product packaging and more, here.

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

Read The Full Article:
http://gigaom.com/apple/how-apple-conceived-the-iphone/

Digg this