iOS Envy in App Form

Are you an Android user suffering from buyers remorse or iOS envy? Don't worry, you're not alone, in fact, there are plenty of people like you. So, you should check out this Android App, which makes a fake iOS springboard. The app isn't a theme, and it just launches the default Android apps. Still, the app has been downloaded between 1 and 5 million times, and has a rating of 4 stars (so it hopefully isn't malware, I take no responsibility if it is, blame Google). All those downloads, just for making an app launcher that looks like iOS? It's a bit sad that Android users are that desperate for a better operating system that they're willing to use an app launcher that emulates another OS. One commenter stated how much he loved it on his Galaxy Note, and many others requested that it be made into a theme, so they never have to use the Android UI. The app isn't perfect, but like iTunes on Windows, it's like giving ice water to people in hell.

Looks like there are plenty of people looking to switch to iOS. It's okay, join us, we have more apps, better games, easier jail breaking, better hardware, and we don't suffer from buyers remorse.

Via CultOfMac

 

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Nintendo Reports Huge Losses

For the first time, Nintendo has reported huge losses. $458 million in losses, to be exact. How could Nintendo improve their profits? Apps, how else? Nintendo has always stated that their games would only be available on their own hardware. But that strategy hasn't been working well for them in the past few years. Demand for Nintendo portables like the 3DS isn't as high as it used to be, thanks to smartphones. The sort of games you could usually find on these handhelds are available on smartphones. In fact, they also have games thawee old not be be available on Nintendo handhelds, like a wide variety of third party apps, games, and even more mature games, such as shooters. People aren't willing to shell out the cash for Nintendo hardware just to get a game or two that they'd enjoy. So, if you can't beat them, join them.

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More Proof Android is a Stolen Product

I've posted before about how Google wasn't working on a touchscreen smartphone until Eric Schmidt laid eyes on the iPhone. Google took the idea of an app centric touchscreen smartphone from Apple, and ran with it. Needless to say, the people at Apple who worked hard over a few years on the design for iOS and the iPhone weren't too happy.

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Minecraft for iOS Update... Crafting!

Minecraft Pocket Edition was a very simplistic version of Minecraft when it was first released. There were few blocks, and crafting wasn't an option (which makes the name a bit of a misnomer). But, yesterday, the game finally got an update that brought crafting into the mix. It's still not perfect, for example, moving around is still awkward, and you can't craft everything you can in the full version of the game, but it's a big step in the right direction.

Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to play a bit more. The mobs are coming and I have a home to build. But before I go, I'll leave you with a link. You can download Minecraft for iOS here. There's also a lite version of the game you can find here. Go try it out.

Via AppAdvice

 

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ShadowGun Updated for new iPad

ShadowGun Is an impressive third person shooter available on iOS for both iPhone and iPad. It's an over-the-shoulder style shooter reminiscent of Gears of War. Before the update, I impressed others by showing this game off on both my iPad and iPhone. But now, the graphics have been updated specifically for the new iPad. This means full retina graphics, and 4x antialiasing. The game is also available on Android, but looks unimaginably better on iOS. Don't believe it? Compare the screenshots, you can find ShadowGun on Google Play here. Even the screenshots on the App Store looks better! Let alone the actual, full sized screen shots from a retina display iPhone, iPod, or iPad. I couldn't even use the full resolution photo for this post.

Not only does ShadowGun look fantastic, it's also a great game. If you've got an iOS device, and you like shooters, I highly recommend shocking this game out. You can download ShadowGun on the iOS App Store here.

 

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Pebble Becomes Most Funded Kickstarter Project

The Pebble watch, a smart watch that connects to iPhones and Android phones through Bluetooth, has become the most funded Kickstarter project ever. Currently the project has raised over $3,439,000, and continue to rises. Previously, the most funded project on Kickstarter was Double Fine Adventure, a video game that raised $3,336,371. The Pebble had already raised over $100,000 more than that. obviously many people have been excited for this watch, which has only gotten better since first being announced. The small company has promised to make it waterproof, and release the SDK earlier to people can get started making apps for the watch. These this came at the request of Kickstarter users, and thanks to the funds that they raised, it was also made possible by the kKickstarter users.

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Apple Could be Working on iOS App Developer Tool

Have you ever had a great idea for an app, but lacked the programming skill to make your vision a reality? Apple's looking to help people like you. For a computer programmer, developing an iOS app isn't extremely difficult. Objective C is a relatively easy language to learn, especially if you already know C++, and Cocoa Touch is a powerful and easy to implement framework. But, if you don't know what I'm talking about, then you probably would have some difficulty programming an app. But, in the same way that Apple made textbooks easy to create with the iBooks Author app, they're looking to make iOS app development easy for anyone.

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Pebble: The Watch that will Connect to your Smartphone

I don't wear my watch all the time, usually just for work. The Pebble could change all that. It's a watch that uses Bluetooth to connect to an iPhone or Android device. From there, it can display a whole lot of information on its e-ink display. It can also control your music and more from the controls on the side. Plus, you can download apps, watch faces, and more to expand upon the functionality of the watch. The developers created apps for running, biking, and plenty of new watch faces. They're also making the sdk available for free so other developers can create apps for the watch. These apps can take advantage of the watch, smart phone it's connected to, or the accelerometer within the watch. The apps are sent to the Pebble using an app on the smartphone. Plus, thanks to the e-ink display, the watch has a battery life of 7+ days, and charges over USB.

It's a smart watch in a smartphone world, and it's about time. Pebble Technology put the Pebble up on Kickstarter today with the goal of raising $100,000. They met that goal in no time, and they've already raised over $380,000. In fact, they raised over $25,000 while I was writing this article. The watch will ship in September, and you can preorder it now for just $115. Check out the Kickstarter page here.

via MacStories

 

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iPhone 4S vs Galaxy Nexus Instagram

You thought I was joking about Instagram photos getting blurrier? John Gruber Tweeted these two photos, one taken with an iPhone 4S, and the other taken with a Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Aka, the flagship Android device from Samsung and Google.

Same subject, same time, same filter. The photo on the left was taken with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. On the right, the iPhone 4S. Now you know why it took Instagram so long to arrive on Android devices.

 

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Instagram for Android Reveals more Fragmentation Issues

Android users have been waiting on a port of Instagram, the photo editing and sharing social networking app, for some time. Today, it finally arrived, and not without the same issues that the Android version of Temple Run faced. Due to fragmentation, the app cannot do live previews of filters when taking photos. This works fine on iOS, but because the developers have so many platforms to develop for, some more demanding or less powerful than others, they couldn't add the feature. Not only that, apparently users are experiencing bugs. One issue is that the app will save three copies of the photo. Not only that, but it doesn't allow users to select where the photos will be stored. This is important on Android, because devices will often have very little on board storage, instead relying on user purchased sd cards.

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Apple has Worked on a Game Controller for iOS

When Apple revealed the new iPad, they said the retina display, ram upgrade, and A5X processor would put iPad gaming on par with game consoles. Though there are games out that take advantage of the increase in power and graphics capabilities of the new iPad, none have really pushed it to the limit yet, so these claims have not been verified... yet.

Still, Apple could be preparing for iOS to take over serious gaming, as well as mobile gaming. One thing that may sweeten the deal would be a controller. According to a source at Anandtech claims that they know Apple has been working on an official controller for iOS. A patent application from 2008 certainly proves that Apple has at least thought about such a device. Whether or not the report is true, or if Apple would actually release a device is uncertain. Apple often works on projects that end up going unreleased, so even if they are working on a controller, there's no guarantee it would be released.

There have been 3rd party controllers for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch in the past. However, while they work well, none have gotten enough developer support to become really popular. Developers have a hard time committing to a 3rd party controller, as they don't know if people will buy them, or if the support for the controller will worth their time to add. But, if Apple were to release a controller, it would get more support from developers, and be a more attractive option for consumers. Then there are some that say the touch screen is all any iOS device needs for games, and this seems to be the kind of stance Apple would take as well.

Via MacRumors

 

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New iPad Satisfaction at Record High

The new iPad has been immensely popular, with launch weekend sales over 3 million units. And, as it turns out, a record 98% of new iPad users are satisfied with the new iPad. A study by ChangeWave surveyed 200 new iPad users. Of those surveyed, 82% said they were "very satisfied" with the new iPad, while 16% said they were "somewhat satisfied". Only 2% of users said they were "somewhat unsatisfied" and no one said they were completely unsatisfied with the Apple's latest tablet. Not a single person has been completely unsatisfied with the device. Personally, my response would have been thrown into the "very satisfied" category, but only after they translated my response of "I f*%#^!% love this thing".

All those "issues" with heat or wifi? Looks like they weren't really issues at all. What a surprise.

via MacObserver

 

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Google Makes More Money from iOS than Android

Google doesn't make money directly from sales of iOS devices, however they do make money from ad revenue and the use of Google maps in the iOS map app. As it turns out, the revenue they get from ads displayed on iOS devices, their iOS apps and Apples use of Google maps for the map app greatly exceeds the amount of money they make from Android. In fact, for every dollar Android makes them, iOS generates four dollars for Google. In other words, from a financial perspective Google would be smart to stop Android development and instead focus their efforts on improving their iOS applications. If they could increase use of their iOS apps, they'd be able to cover all the money they made off Android..

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Why the iPad Continues Charging After it Reaches 100%

There was a bit of a commotion recently after a researcher discovered that the new iPad continues to draw power as though it's charging, even after reporting a full battery. Immediately, the assumption was made that the iPad was still charging, and lying about being at full capacity. Apple has responded to this, to clear things up for people. Apparently, the iPad, like all iOS devices goes though a phase of charging after reaching 100%. Basically, after reaching 100%, it will go though a conditioning cycle. The battery will discharge slightly, and then recharge. This is similar to the charging advice given for laptop batteries, and is good for a long lasting battery. This amount is so small that the iOS device still reports 100%. Once the conditioning cycle has finished, it goes back to the normal trickle charge cycle, which keeps the device at 100% using minimal power.

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Why Android Tablet Apps Suck

As if it wasn't bad enough for Android tablets. They already have far fewer apps than are available on iOS, but add on the fact that, according to PC Magazine, the apps suck. Sascha Segan, writer for PC Magazine, explained why the iPad is a clear winner in the app wars, and why they gave the iPad the honor of top tablet.

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iOS Security Bug Spoofs Address Bar

iOS is generally the most advanced and secure mobile operating system. However, every once in a while, a bug is uncovered, and this one is exploitable. Apparently, someone could use a clever script to cause the URL bar in Safari to display whatever they want it to. So, someone could make a website that looks like the Apple store, and the URL would match, leading to an increased chance of the user believing the site is real and trying to buy something. Of course, there would be other signs, like slow loading times, missing images, or a URL that's different from the link.

Apple's working on a fix, and it should be out soon. Until then, don't hand out your credit card information just anywhere. This is a very easy security flaw to avoid, just don't click suspicious links and hand over your credit card info, especially if they end up leading to a website that doesn't match the text in the link. Apple will have an update soon, just follow normal security protocol, and don't click suspicious links sent to you from someone you don't know. That's the Internet equivalent of "don't take candy from strangers".

via MacTrast

 

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Angry Birds Space Released

Today, Rovio released the latest Angry Birds game, Space. Unlike past updates and new versions, Angry Birds Space really changes things up, and it's a good thing. Scratch that, it's a great thing. If you were to only buy two Angry Birds apps, make it the original, and this one.

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3rd Generation iPad Review

Despite the festivities this weekend, I still managed to have some time with the new iPad. I didn't want this review to be as simplistic as "I love this thing" so I decided to use it in a variety of ways, and make sure I got plenty of use with it before writing a review. Also, seeing as this was the first time I could really spend a decent amount of time with an iPad, I thought I'd touch on the features that makes the iPad so amazing, and why it's so much more than just a large iPhone. This may sound dramatic, but it could certainly be the future of computing.
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Really Delete Photo Stream Photos

Well, I can admit when I'm wrong. Contrary to what I said before, you can delete photos from your entire Photo Stream from just one device. Delete a photo from your Mac or iOS device, and it's gone, just as you'd expect. However, if you were using Photo Stream before, you're going to have to make one simple change first. Unfortunately, you'll lose all the photos currently on your Photo Stream, so if you want to save any, be sure to download them first.

1. In iOS, go into Settings
2. Select Photos
3. At the top, turn Photo Stream off, then on

It's that simple. For some reason, people who were using Photo Stream before will have to do this in order to delete photos stored in the cloud on all their devices. This probably has to do with a change in the way Photo Stream photos are stored on Apple's servers. By turning the service off and on again, you'll reset it, and Photo Stream will work as promised. 

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Just Another Reason Developers are Frustrated with Android

The above chart could require some explanation. What you have on the Y axis is the percentage of users who are using that version of their operating system. In general, adoption of a new operating system grows, then shrinks after the next OS is released. You can see a perfect (and nearly parabolic) example of that with iOS 4. It rose to nearly 100%, and then started dropping after the release of iOS 5, which has been growing even more rapidly than iOS 4. Their study only caught the drop of iOS 3, as it doesn't go that far back.

The other operating systems on there? Those don't look too clean, and there's a reason for that. Android devices don't see the same update process as iOS. On iOS, when it's updated, all iOS devices that can run the latest OS get it on release day. But for Android, users have to wait for their manufactures to create their own version of the OS. Worse yet, they're motivated to do just the opposite, forcing users to buy the next phone if they want an upgrade.

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