Why Are Apple Laptops Becoming Harder to Take
Apart

post from Daring Fireball on 17 June 2012 09:03:09 PM. © Daring Fireball

Rafe Colburn:

There are a lot of tradeoffs that go into product design. When itcomes to laptops, there are capabilities (display resolution,processor speed, storage space, battery life, and so on), size andweight, cost, and upgradeability. Apple seems to have gotten theimpression that upgradeability is the factor that people careabout the least, and I suspect that they?re right.

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Garage Sale Finder iOS App brings technology to
the weekend treasures

post from prMac on 17 June 2012 07:28:00 PM. © prMac

Garage Sale Finder LLC has announced Garage Sale Finder - Free 2.0 for iOS. Old fashioned values and ideas are being revisited more and more. The methods used by our grandparents and their attitudes to reusing items would not be that different from the average, thrifty, environmentally-conscious American today. The app gives both professional pickers or beginning garage sale shoppers the inside track to garage sale listings locally & further afield by implementing the iPhone's GPS technology.

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http://prmac.com/release-id-44248.htm

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An Endless Drive Toward Progress

post from Daring Fireball on 17 June 2012 04:03:30 PM. © Daring Fireball

Nick Chaves:

I’d argue that Apple’s push toward devices that are more about the human interface and less about the components is a form of a categorical imperative, a rule for acting that has no conditions or qualifications ? that there is no line, there is only an endless drive towards progress: more portable devices that get the job done with less thinking about the hardware.

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Hands on: New turn-by-turn navigation in iOS 6

post from Apple on 17 June 2012 03:03:49 PM. © Apple

As always with unreleased software, it’s important to note that it’s unreleased for a reason. However, while iOS 6 is still in the early stages of beta, it’s not too early to answer the question: So, how does turn-by-turn navigation in the new Maps app for iOS 6 work?

I tested out the new Maps app Apple officially announced last week on my iPhone during my commute, and here are some notes on my experience.

But Siriously

One advantage I’ve found with Maps over a dedicated mapping app is Apple’s incorporation of Siri. There are a couple of places I go to where I know 98 percent of the route, but always forget where the last turn is. Until now, I’ve kept Navigon running in the background on my phone the entire trip so I don’t have to fumble with getting it ready in the middle of traffic in Boston. Now with Apple’s new Maps, I can just listen to music until I get off the highway and ask Siri, “How do I get to Dave’s house?” This also works for trying to get to sports arenas and the like. Asking Siri, “How do I get to the Worcester Centrum?” prompted me with two choices. All I had to do was tap the one I wanted to go to.

The downside to Siri, and Maps in general, is you need cellular connectivity for it all to work properly. While you’re likely to be able to cache a lot of the route directions with Maps, if you deviate from the route you’ll have a problem. The one advantage I expect a dedicated GPS app to always have over Maps is the ability to have the map files stored locally.

Home Sweet Home

I gave Maps an easy task: take me home from work. I have a 50-minute commute on both highways and backroads. One of the chief complaints I have with dedicated GPS apps, like Navigon, is the somewhat creative ways it takes me to my destination. I was expecting that with Maps. But instead of taking me on a tour of every neighborhood between Providence and Boston, it showed me a turn I could take to save me five minutes and avoid a traffic light.

Backseat Driver

Maps overlays a small panel on either the active app or your home screen, that shows you how far it is until your next turn and whether it’s a right or left. This is a gigantic improvement over keeping your dedicated app in the foreground. I usually like keeping Music as my active app so I can skip or replay songs. Now, I’ll also know when I need to worry about the next turn. Also, it’s smart enough to tell you if you need to make an immediate right after that left-hand turn.

What I do hope will be improved is how it calculates the difference between those turns. Often as I rolled up to the light I needed to turn at, Maps told me I was 400 feet away. Then it would quickly bring me to 40 feet away. The problem is, I was actually about five feet from the turn. Looking at the map was the best indication to me that, yes, this is where I needed to turn.

Putting it in Park

Like I said at the beginning, when looking at unreleased software, it’s difficult to be overly critical. Software usually improves with age, and rage-inducing bugs are slowly eliminated. However, even in its early state, Maps made replacing my broken car mount for my iPhone a priority. It’s also moved Navigon to the back of the pack of my installed apps.

There are also a lot of things in Maps that I’ve intentionally left out due the nature of the beta. You will notice I’ve not talked about satellite imagery and 3D maps. That’s because Apple has posted that Maps’ satellite images and 3D maps are still in the process of being loaded. We’ll be doing and in-depth article on Maps when iOS 6 launches this fall.

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Real Time Data Services' Drake Tax Software
Hosting Offers Efficiency

post from prMac on 17 June 2012 12:36:00 PM. © prMac

Real Time Data Services' Drake Tax Software hosting solution offers speed and confidence to tax preparation firms or tax professionals. Drake Software hosting allows easy data collection, tax preparation, and filing. The cloud computing technology deployed by Real Time Data Services minimizes the information technology costs borne by its customers. Users get rolling data backup and 24/7 support services. Fully advanced biometrics security technology.

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http://prmac.com/release-id-44244.htm

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Find the Best Bar, Club or Cab With Bar Time for
iOS

post from prMac on 17 June 2012 12:30:00 PM. © prMac

evoLove Design today announces Bar Time 2.0.1 for iOS. Designed with great attention to details, Bar Time helps users find the best bars, clubs and cabs based on their location. All information is instantly available as Bar Time is completely integrated with Google Maps, giving step-by-step directions to the desired destination and guides all along the way to the nearest bar or club. Users will be able to instantly switch between Map, List, Directions and even call the desired service if needed.

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http://prmac.com/release-id-44309.htm

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The best way to have an interesting start to your
day - Game On!

post from prMac on 17 June 2012 06:24:00 AM. © prMac

Appyze is proud to introduce Wakey Wakey 1.0, a FUN app that ensures that you wake up on time every day with an exciting game. Be energised every day! With Wakey Wakey, you will be able to have a good night's sleep as you will never get worried about waking up late. Always be on time for school, work, appointments, etc. because the game that you must play to turn the alarm off is guaranteed to make yourself climb out of bed.

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http://prmac.com/release-id-44283.htm

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Hidden Brains multimedia team generates breath
taking web designs

Incorporating Multimedia design is the best way to create spectacularly dynamic websites. Hidden Brain's multimedia website design team is famed for creating superlative graphic web designs. The company champions the mobile application development arena and for interactive mobile apps it devises unseen and impressive graphics. Be it games, entertainment apps, music, educational apps, tourism or advertising, Hidden Brains is the single stop destination for multimedia services.

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http://prmac.com/release-id-44242.htm

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smile count free play - the excellent smile count
game for free

Independent developer, Craig Smart is proud to introduce smile count free play for iOS. smile count is a great new app, there's nothing like it in the Apple App Store. With 6 play modes and a amazing sound board that will have you smiling all the way to the top of smile count. Keep an eye on your child's behaviour, or see how your employees are doing all with smile count. Play smile count count on a night out with your friends and keep count of who pulls the most.

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http://prmac.com/release-id-44218.htm

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iPhone App and Website Makes it Easy to Challenge
Anyone, Anywhere

Do you want to achieve big things but need some extra motivation? ChallengeLoop, LLC has introduced ChallengeLoop 1.0 for iOS, and its new website that transforms competitions into epic moments. ChallengeLoop was created out of the belief that every activity is more fun when it's a competition. The platform allows you to tell the story of any type of challenge, whether it be a huge comeback win against a friend, crossing something off your bucket list, or accomplishing a lifelong goal.

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http://prmac.com/release-id-44189.htm

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