iGreetingCard 1.1 - New Version - New Greeting
Card Making

post from prMac on 12 January 2012 10:32:00 PM. © prMac

Softease announces iGreetingCard has been updated to version 1.1, along with some great improvements and amazing features. It is much easier and most flexible to make greeting cards. Time to send your best wish for the one your love and card. Users made wonderful greeting cards with it and sent the sincere greeting to their relatives and friends on some special days. It becomes a useful tool to help people convey the strong feeling for family or friendship.

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http://prmac.com/release-id-36800.htm

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Jiminy Cricket, He Flew the Coop

post from Daring Fireball on 12 January 2012 08:04:53 PM. © Daring Fireball

Trailer for Wes Anderson’s new movie, Moonrise Kingdom.

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http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/focus_features/moonrisekingdom/

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Nokia N96 vs. Samsung Innov8

post from Daring Fireball on 12 January 2012 08:04:53 PM. © Daring Fireball

I’ll bet even Samsung’s photocopiers are rip-offs some other company’s photocopiers.

(Via Baran Ersan.)

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http://dailymobile.se/2009/01/04/pictures-nokia-n96-vs-samsung-innov8-2/

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This Weeks Edition of Stupid Stuff Analysts Say
About Apple

post from Daring Fireball on 12 January 2012 07:03:26 PM. © Daring Fireball

Guggenheim Securities analyst Shing Yin:

We believe Apple may have decided not to release an LTE iPhonelast year in part because it did not want to cede any leverage toVerizon, which had the clear lead in LTE deployment. We thinkApple preferred to see AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint all offeressentially the same iPhone, so that it maximizes the role of thedevice (rather than the network) in consumers? purchasingdecisions.

This is not how Apple works. Apple will release an LTE iPhone when they can make one that meets Apple’s own standards for performance, battery life, price, and manufacturing scalability. It’s that simple. Tim Cook explained this a year ago, when the Verizon iPhone 4 was introduced.

The other thing that Yin’s analysis seemingly ignores is the rest of the world. Apple sells the same iPhone 4S everywhere. Verizon and AT&T do dominate the U.S. carrier market, but from a global perspective, they’re just two big carriers among dozens.

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Read The Full Article:
http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2012/01/11/apple-may-have-avoided-lte-to
-box-in-verizon-says-guggenheim/

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Samsung Blade

post from Daring Fireball on 12 January 2012 07:03:26 PM. © Daring Fireball

An even better example of Samsung ripping off the design and aping the product name of a best-selling competitor. It’s like coming out with a new diet cola named Kiet Doke.

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http://mail2web.com/blog/2006/01/samsung-blade-versus-motorola-razr-v3/

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Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory

post from Daring Fireball on 12 January 2012 07:03:26 PM. © Daring Fireball

Speaking of Foxconn, Ira Glass’s This American Life included an excerpt of Mike Daisey performing his one-man show “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs”, about his own research and findings into Apple’s factory conditions in China.

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http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/454/mr-daisey-and-the-appl
e-factory

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Microsofts Smoked by a Windows Phone $100
Challenge

post from Daring Fireball on 12 January 2012 07:03:26 PM. © Daring Fireball

Even in the one where Microsoft’s Ben Randolph loses, Windows Phone comes off looking good. It really excels at these sort of sharing tasks.

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http://www.loopinsight.com/2012/01/12/microsofts-smoked-by-a-windows-phone-100-ch
allenge/

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Microsoft Says PCs May Have Missed Fourth-Quarter
Estimates

post from Daring Fireball on 12 January 2012 07:03:26 PM. © Daring Fireball

Dina Bass, reporting for Bloomberg:

Microsoft Corp. said industrywide sales of personal computers willprobably be lower than analysts had projected in the fourthquarter because supply was hurt by flooding in Thailand.
Analysts have estimated that total PC shipments fell about 1percent in the quarter, Tami Reller, chief financial officer ofMicrosoft?s Windows unit, said an investment conference. Theactual number is probably lower, she said. Bill Koefoed,Microsoft?s general manager of investor relations, echoed thoseremarks at a separate event.

This spin is a little too cute for my tastes. It seems like what Microsoft is trying to argue is that “PC sales” are down, and therefore Windows licensing sales are down, too. But sales of the Mac and iPad are up, not down, for the same quarter. It’s not “PC sales” that are down in the abstract, but Windows PC sales specifically.

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http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-11/microsoft-says-pcs-may-have-missed-fo
urth-quarter-estimates.html

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Hundreds Threaten Suicide at Foxconn Factory

William McGuinness, reporting for CBS Seattle:

Some 300 Chinese Foxconn employees who manufacture X-box 360machines said they would throw themselves from their Wuhan, China,plant if demands for lost wages were not met.

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http://seattle.cbslocal.com/2012/01/10/hundreds-threaten-suicide-at-microsoft-sup
plier-plant-in-china/

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Kickstarter finds: Pressure-sensitive iPad
stylus, a case that pops, and super simple sound

Kickstarter isn’t slowing down in 2012, but it has a high bar to reach in terms of matching its amazing 2011. Luckily, there are already some amazing new products that prove innovation isn’t in short supply at the crowd-funding site as we head into the new year.

A real pressure-sensitive iPad stylus

The Jaja is like the grail of iPad styluses. Ever since selling my beloved Wacom 12WX because it was, admittedly, too much machine for someone who only occasionally doodles for fun, I’ve been wanting to draw on my iPad with real pressure sensitivity. Pressure sensitivity is what allows digital drawing devices to accurately mimic real-life drawing and painting implements; it allows styluses and drawing tablets to know how hard you’re pressing and alters pen and brush strokes accordingly.

The iPad in its current form doesn’t have any real fine pressure sensitivity to speak of. Sure, it can tell how hard you’re hitting the keys in Garage Band, but that’s a different kind of tech, and nowhere near subtle enough for sophisticated painting applications. The Jaja has 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity built-in to its body design (that’s a good number), as well as a speaker, two contextual buttons and a rechargeable battery.

Like the iPen we’ve covered before, it’ll do more than any other stylus out there, but unlike the iPen, it doesn’t require any additional parts. It actually uses high-frequency sound to communicate with the iPad and convey info about contextual clicks or pressure info. That feature will require that apps make use of a special Jaja SDK, but talks with potential partners to do just that are already underway.

The Jaja isn’t yet funded: it’s at just over $9,000 and has a goal of $25,000 with 25 days remaining. Were it possible for me to wish things into existence, however, this stylus would already be in my hands.

The popping and locking iPhone case

The PopSockets looks a bit ridiculous, but its two extendable protrusions aren’t just an aesthetic oddity. They help prop up your iPhone, stick it to surfaces make it easier to hold and provide a simple cable wrap solution.

Whether you think the design is garish or stylish, the PopSockets is highly customizable, will eventually come in a variety of colors and designs, and the popping elements themselves hide away almost completely when not in use. The PopSockets project is nearing its funding goal of $12,000 with 30 days remaining, so it will almost certainly become a reality. You can secure a pre-order for $25, but do yourself a favor and don’t watch creator David Barnett’s Kickstarter promo video.

Small add-on addresses major iPad flaw

I like watching movies on my iPad, but I hate having to cup my hand just right or prop it against a hard surface to try to get sound coming out of the speaker to bounce back at me. Without taking these steps, though, I often find that even at full volume it’s hard to pick out clear dialogue against background noise.

The SoundBender is a small, simple magnetic attachment that clips onto your iPad 2 and provides a backstop against which soundwaves redirect back towards you, the listener. It’s pocketable, one-piece, and even works with plenty of case designs. This project has just started, so it’s still far from its modest $4,500 goal, but a simple $15 pledge secures a pre-order.