Posts in Linked

Evernote and 3M Team Up For Co-Branded Post-It Notes

Alice Truong:

What makes the new stickies so special? Much like Evernote’s partnership with Moleskine last year, Evernote’s app has received slight enhancements to help users record hand-written notes. In Moleskine’s case, the notebook’s special dotted lines helped improve image capture by a phone or tablet. With Post-it Notes, color plays a major role. The lineup for the new Post-it Super Sticky Notes includes electric blue, electric yellow, neon pink, and limeade. The Evernote app has been designed to recognize these colors, automatically digitizing and organizing the notes into different categories.

I have multiple Evernote-branded Moleskine notebooks, and I love where Evernote is going with this. Not only is it an intriguing idea (digitalizing the analog world without giving up on physical notebooks or notes), but it also is cool from a technological standpoint. The Moleskine notebooks have special dotted lines and you can put stickers on the pages to have the Evernote camera automatically tag photos; doing the same for different post-it colors is ingenious.

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iOS 7 and Podcast Apps

Chris Gonzales on the state of podcast apps on iOS 7:

The point is, I don’t think I would necessarily call any of the current podcast apps the “best one” right now. They’re all going through a phase of change and experimentation, like a kind of adolescence — all the kids are going through it, and there’s no telling what the mature results will be like until the awkward phase is over. A painful analogy? Maybe, but I’m sticking with it.

I agree. Podcasts are more popular than ever, and iOS 7’s new technologies lower the barrier to entry considerably for developers. It’ll be interesting to see what Apple is planning for the Podcasts app.

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The Prompt: XOXO Gossip Myke

Reunited after a week without Myke, the boys are back to discuss XOXO, iPhone sales, App Store update woes and revisit digital photo management, with the the help of Bradley Chambers.

App Store pricing and ecosystem for “normal people” is a topic I want to revisit. I also want to start using Everpix soon after Bradley’s book and recommendation. And, by the way, I was wrong: Miley Cyrus doesn’t seem to be loving iOS 7. But she certainly likes iTunes Radio. Maybe she needs to spend more time with the new OS?

Get the episode here.

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Apple Announces iOS 7 Tech Talks

Following the release of iOS 7, Apple has announced new iOS Tech Talks. Taking place in 6 cities around the world, third-party developers will be able to get guidance from Apple engineers about creating software for iOS 7 in what are, essentially, “mini WWDCs” that last one day.

Get in-depth guidance about developing for iOS 7, learn practical coding tips and tricks, and obtain valuable one-on-one programming and design assistance in our lab. Choose which day is best for you — app developer day or game developer day. Apply now.

When WWDC 2013 sold out earlier this year in less than two minutes, Apple said that Tech Talks would be coming back. Notably, this year Apple is holding separate events for app and game developers (which is nicely in line with the company’s recent increased separation of apps and games on the App Store):

There will be two events per city, one devoted to app developers and the other focusing on game developers. You’ll choose to attend either the app developer day or the game developer day. You may only apply for one day at the iOS 7 Tech Talks.

The last time Apple “hit the road” was in late 2011 with the Tech Talk World Tour after the release of iOS 5. This time, Apple will hold Tech Talks in 6 cities instead of 9, and details are available here.

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Instagram For iOS 7

Instagram’s first major update after iOS 7 doesn’t reimagine the app but brings edge-to-edge photos:

In this update you will find that we’ve increased the size of photos and videos in your feed so that they expand to the edges of your screen. We’re also happy to say that increased size means increased resolution, so photos and videos will be clearer and more vibrant than ever.

Not surprising considering what Facebook did, and what other big players opted for. I would love to know if Instagram saw usage of filters in the app decrease after the release of iOS 7 because of Apple’s new Camera app.

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TED for iOS 7

I enjoy watching videos via the official TED app every once in a while. I’m especially a fan of the “Inspire Me” section, which lets you pick videos from categories such as “Persuasive” and “Informative”, further specifying how much time you can dedicate to a video.

For iOS 7, the TED app has been redesigned to have a cleaner look that focuses more on video thumbnails and descriptions. It’s not revolutionary in terms of design, but it’s still TED, and free on the App Store.

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iPhone 5s Camera For Photographers

I often get phone calls asking me what camera I use, and I first have to clarify “Do you mean for work or pleasure?”. The answers are very different. My workhorse cameras are no-compromise performance tools, with no concessions at all to being easy to carry or enjoyable to use. They are all business, and they’re the last thing that I would want to take with me on holiday. I see the iPhone 5S as an attempt to make the opposite, a no-compromise fun phone-camera that adds to life. Each does its job better for not trying to do what the other does so well.

An in-depth and enjoyable review by Dean Holland. Make sure to check out the 5/5s comparison shots and examples.

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Apple Updates iMac

This morning, Apple refreshed its iMac line with new CPUs, GPUs, faster WiFi, and faster PCIe flash storage options. From Apple’s press release:

Apple today updated iMac with fourth generation Intel quad-core processors, new graphics, next generation Wi-Fi and faster PCIe flash storage options. The updated iMac brings the latest technology to the stunningly thin design and gorgeous display of the world’s leading all-in-one desktop.

“iMac continues to be the example that proves how beautiful, fast and fun a desktop computer can be,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Inside its ultra-thin aluminum enclosure, the new iMac has the latest Intel processors, faster graphics, next generation 802.11ac Wi-Fi and faster PCIe flash storage.

Aside from Intel’s new processor and graphics, the new iMacs come with 802.11ac support, which was also added to the company’s AirPort Extreme station earlier this year. According to Apple, this will deliver up to three times faster performance than the previous generation.

The new iMacs are available today from the Apple online store.

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