The Effectiveness of iPad Textbooks

post from Daring Fireball on 20 January 2012 08:03:37 PM. © Daring Fireball

Speaking of AppleInsider, this is promising:

On the heels of Apple’s e-textbook announcement in New York Citythis week, publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced theresults of its “HMC Fuse: Algebra I” pilot program at AmeilaEarhart Middle School in California’s Riverside Unified SchoolDistrict. The Algebra I digital textbook is touted as the world’sfirst full-curriculum algebra application developed exclusivelyfor Apple’s iPad.
In its test run, the “HMH Fuse” application helped more than 78percent of students score “Proficient” or “Advanced” on the spring2011 California Standards Test. That was significantly higher thanthe 59 percent of peers who used traditional textbooks.

It would be pretty cool if digital textbooks aren’t just cheaper and more portable, but are actually more effective.

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Read The Full Article:
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/01/20/students_math_scores_jumped_20_with
_ipad_textbooks_publisher_says_.html

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Push Pop Press vs. Apple

post from Daring Fireball on 20 January 2012 08:03:37 PM. © Daring Fireball

Daniel Dilger, writing at AppleInsider:

According to an unverified report from a source who worked withPush Pop Press co-founder Mike Matas, Jobs met with the fledglingcompany and warned Matas that if he pursued building dynamicbooks targeted at the App Store he would risk intellectualproperty claims.
Matas, a former designer at Apple, reportedly used a variety ofpatented technologies developed at Apple to deliver his plans forPush Pop Press. His company intended to give publishers a way todevelop smoothly interactive titles that blurred the line betweenbook and app.

The story I’ve heard is a little different, and a lot less dramatic. What a well-informed little birdie told me is that it wasn’t a legal threat over patents or technology, but rather something more like Panic’s classic story about iTunes and Audion (or maybe you more like Jobs’s hint regarding the then-upcoming iPhoto at the end of that tale). I.e. that Jobs more or less warned Push Pop Press that Apple was going in the same direction, in a big way. A competitive warning, not a legal threat.

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Read The Full Article:
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/01/19/steve_jobs_rumored_to_have_shot_dow
n_push_pop_press_for_ibooks_author_.html

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Cameras on Japanese Phones Cannot Be Silenced

post from Daring Fireball on 20 January 2012 08:03:37 PM. © Daring Fireball

Leander Kahney, back in 2008:

In Japan, upskirt and downblouse shots have become increasinglypopular with the advent of high-resolution camera phones.
As a result, all cell phones sold in Japan make a conspicuousshutter sound, or say the word ?cheese? when a snap is taken,according to Nobuyuki Hayashi, a tech reporter based in Tokyo.

In other strange-iPhone-camera-restrictions-in-Asia news, Singapore now has camera-less iPhone 4’s and 4S’s, because members of their military are not allowed to carry cameras.

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Read The Full Article:
http://www.cultofmac.com/2356/to-prevent-upskirts-japanese-iphone-3g-always-alert
s-when-taking-photos/

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xScope 3.0

post from Daring Fireball on 20 January 2012 06:03:12 PM. © Daring Fireball

Excellent update from The Iconfactory to this essential tool for designers and nitpickers. Lots of great new features, like mirroring a window on your Mac to an iPhone or iPad display, and simulating vision defects (e.g. colorblindness).

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

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Little Riddles Brings Hundreds of Bite-Sized
Rhyming Word Riddles to iOS

post from prMac on 20 January 2012 05:40:00 PM. © prMac

Adrenaline Punch has just released their new rhyming word riddle game Little Riddles for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Little Riddles offers rhyming fanatics and word puzzle lovers hundreds of bite-sized rhyming word riddles with many more on the way. To answer each riddle, simply find a pair of one syllable words that rhyme. While the task may sound easy at first, the riddles quickly increase not only in their level of difficulty, but also in their number of syllables.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-37269.htm

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Video of Yesterdays Apple Event in New York

post from Daring Fireball on 20 January 2012 05:04:36 PM. © Daring Fireball

In case you haven’t seen it.

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Read The Full Article:
http://www.apple.com/apple-events/education-january-2012/

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Games for the weekend: Run Roo Run

post from Apple on 20 January 2012 04:05:07 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.

Run Roo Run ($0.99 iPhone, $1.99 iPad) is a simple to learn, yet hard to master side-scrolling game that rewards split second accuracy. If you were one of those gamers that toiled over Mario to get the timing of jumping from pipe to pipe just right, then this is the game for you. Run Roo Run forgoes complex touch-based controls and yet still delivers that a satisfying rush when you make the right moves.

Run Roo Run

Gameplay is very basic. The main character Roo begins running at an even pace across the screen. As Roo approaches an obstacle, you jump by tapping the screen. Jump too soon, and you land on the obstacle. Jump too late, and you run into the obstacle. Each level is timed, how long it takes to beat a level determines your reward, since the timer keeps going every time you run into an obstacle. Between jumping, double jumping, pausing and restarting, you end up driving yourself nuts trying to make it through a given level in record time. The game ends up being about mastering split-second timing and pattern recall.

Run Roo Run

Each level occupies just a single screen, which combined add up to Roo’s journey across Australia. With over four hundred individual screen challenges to overcome, the game seems almost endless. Roo learns new skills along the way to conquer new types of obstacles in order to keep things fresh. The game also keeps its edge by resetting quickly after each failed attempt: Roo is back up and ready to try again almost instantly, with no tedious intermediary screens getting in the way.

Run Roo Run

You can buy power-ups to slow time down or skip a leven entirely via in-app purchase, but it definitely takes some satisfaction out of the game. However, with developer 5th Cell (who also created the celebrated Scribblenauts) committed to adding ten new levels per week, you may need to take advantage of the occasional cheat just to keep up.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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Read The Full Article:
http://gigaom.com/apple/games-for-the-weekend-run-roo-run/

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Jewels of the Nile special price cut January 21
and 22

California-based developer Selectsoft is offering the fun and exciting game Jewels of the Nile for the Mac App Store(SM) on sale this weekend only. Use your incredible scarab shooter to move left, right, and even up and down for fantastic never-before-seen shooting angles. Blaze through over 1000 levels filled with amazing power-ups, winding rivers, sphere teleports and more. Enjoy incredible puzzle fun on an action-packed quest for the Jewels of the Nile.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-37166.htm

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Amazing Tours: USA special price cut January 21
and 22

California-based developer Selectsoft is offering the educational iOS app Amazing Tours: USA on sale this weekend only. Explore the historic city of Boston, visit New York, take a plane ride over the Grand Canyon, see the famous Old Faithful Geyser, and more. Read along with the text as you watch the videos, then take a fun quiz to find out what you've learned. The app uses an intuitive videobook format that lets you quickly navigate with the swipe of a finger.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-37165.htm

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Learn Wedding Photography Now special price cut
January 21 and 22

California-based developer Selectsoft is offering the educational iOS app Learn Wedding Photography on sale this weekend only. Follow along with the instructional video as an experienced pro photographer guides you through a real shoot. Learn different kinds of poses, how to give instructions, composition, choosing locations, equipment, lighting effects and more! Whether you're already a pro looking to polish your style, or an amateur hoping to expand your skills, it offers a wealth of tips.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-37163.htm

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