The Street reports that Consumer Reports Mike Gikas claims “key technical differences” will separate the Verizon iPhone from the AT&T iPhone. In the short video, Gikas does have concerns about Verizon throttling when data usage picks up, but that shouldn’t be a problem for AT&T users satisfied with only using a few hundred megabytes a month. Overall, we expect Consumer Reports to give the Verizon iPhone a thumbs up, but really, their initial iPhone 4 diss didn’t stop the bullet train of sales Apple incurred in 2010. Watch the video after the break.
Consumer Reports To Probably Give The Verizon iPhone A Thumbs Up
Apple Dominating Download-To-Own Video Market
When it comes to purchasing movies, iTunes (not Amazon) is still everyone’s de facto service according to iSuppli. With two thirds of the market under it’s control, Apple accounted for 64.5 percent for Internet video on-demand for 2010, competing with Amazon’s growing user base and Microsoft’s Xbox market.
“The iTunes online store showed remarkable competitive resilience last year in the U.S. EST/iVOD movie business, staving off a growing field of tough challengers while keeping pace with an dramatic expansion for the overall market,” said Arash Amel, research director, digital media, for IHS.
While Apple hasn’t maintained their lead of 74.4 percent market-share since 2009, the iPad and the Apple TV have played a large role in keeping Apple at the top of their game. We imagine that with the next iPad and future updates for the Apple TV (it can’t be much of a hobby driving that 64.5 percent market share can it?), Apple will continue to deliver a seamless market experience by staying competitive in both affordability and how content is delivered. Too, what if Apple ever launches that unicorn status Apple television?
This iPhone App Takes Pictures With The Microphone
Back in December we saw Apple approved an app called Quick Snap that allowed users to take pictures with the iPhone using the volume buttons instead of the regular camera icon on screen. As you know, Apple doesn’t really like applications that re-purpose hardware elements of the iPhone to perform specific tasks inside an app – just like, again, volume buttons used to snap pictures.
But it looks like they did it again, although we’re not sure whether or not Camera Mic violates Apple’s iOS guidelines. Basically, this app can take photos using the iPhone’s internal microphone; the app’s camera shutter can be triggered by a spike in volume caused by a quick tap on the mic or (this is the option I like the most) a quick whistle or a word like “click” or “go”. The app doesn’t offer much besides this functionality which, after a few tests, I have to say really works as advertised. You say something or tap on the mic, and the app snaps a photo. Of course, the downside is that if people are talking around you the results might not be so effective. But, and here’s another neat feature, it also supports the iPhone’s headphone cord, which can become a remote trigger cable so you don’t have to touch the iPhone’s screen when, say, the device is on a tripod.
There’s the possibility Apple will pull this app soon. So go download it here if you’re into this kind of things, while it’s still available at $0.99.
Update: As noted by our friend Jonatan Castro, Camera Genius offers a similar functionality inside the Settings. I have tested the feature in Camera Genius and it works similarly to Camera Mic, although I got better results with “tap on microphone” with Gamblus’ app. A few readers suggested using the mic’s audio to trigger the camera isn’t breaking any rules, as I wrote above. Still, this is an interesting (and curious) way to take pictures with an iPhone.
iControlpad Game Controller for iPhone Finally Shipping Next Week
Over the past years we’ve been keeping an eye on the iControlpad, a Bluetooth controller for a variety of phones which, among other things, will support the iPhone 3G, 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPod touch. With a few adjustments and padding when needed, the iControlpad will provide an alternative (we can’t judge on comfortable from pictures) way to control iOS games, or any other device that supports Bluetooth.
As noted by Engadget, the iControlpad has left the vaporware stage and is now accepting orders with shipments starting next week. The design has been finalized and it looks pretty good although, admittedly, it will add bulkiness to your iOS device. That’s the price to pay for classic game controls on a 3.5-inch screen, I guess.
The question remains whether or not in the multitouch era buttons are needed at all. Most iOS games are perfectly playable and meant for multitouch controls. Some of them, however, could take serious advantage of the configuration offered by the iControlpad, like first-person shooters and arcade games based on virtual buttons on screen. We also wonder if it will be possible for developers to officially support the iControlpad in their apps by offering a way to entirely get rid of interface elements on screen, although maybe we’re just dreaming too much.
In the meantime, go check out the iControlpad here and take a look at your iOS game collection to see if the gadget would come in handy for you.
Stream Media Back to Your Mac with Banana TV
In the past we have covered some great Mac/Airplay apps from Erica Sadun, one of our favorite fangirls over at TUAW. We’ve shown you AirFlick, which lets you drop files and URLs to play the content on your Apple TV. We’ve also covered AirPlayer, which we think is incredible, that allows you to play AirPlay content on your Mac. She is previewing a new app that may be coming to the Mac very soon: Banana TV. Read more
Another Apple Patent, Further Details on Touch Bezels
A few weeks ago, I published an article about the idea of “smart bezels” in iOS devices to avoid conflicts with third-party applications using multitouch gestures. With Apple playing around with the concept of “multitasking gestures” in the latest iOS 4.3 betas, it has become an issue for developers to find a way to enable 3,4 or 5 finger gestures without interfering with Apple’s own implementation:
The problem with the new gestures is that Apple decided to make them system-wide, activated with a preference panel in the Settings app. Once gestures are enabled, they override any other four or five finger gesture developers may have implemented in applications. Personally, in fact, I have experienced issues trying to use multi-touch gestures in Edovia’s Screens or other piano apps — software that makes extensive use of gestures above two and three fingers. Apple’s implementation overrides options set by developers, and there is no way to let the iPad know whether a user wants to perform an app-specific gesture or a system one, like “open the multitasking tray”.
Desktop Curtain Removes Clutter, Gets You Better Screenshots
Desktop Curtain, a $1.99 app available in the Mac App Store, has become one of my most used utilities these past few days. The concept is simple, and fits with one my most performed tasks on the Mac: screenshots. Desktop Curtain hides the clutter on your desktop, isolates the app you’re currently using and lets you focus on that app with no files, folders or other distractions around it. For me, this is incredibly handy as I can pick the app I need to capture in a screenshot for MacStories and avoid additional modifications in Acorn or Preview. Read more
iPod Classic Stock Running Low, Refresh Imminent?
As noted by AppleBitch, it appears that iPod Classic stock is running low and several retailers (including Amazon and Apple Reseller J&R) have the device backordered or out of stock. Amazon’s page for the iPod Classic says the unit will ship in 2-4 weeks, and Target shows similar shipping times. The Apple online Store went through some changes last week as well:
The Apple Store shows that the silver iPod Classic now ships in 1-3 days, down from 24 hours last week. In addition, Best Buy has updated their website to say that the device is backordered for 1-2 weeks (last week it was shipped in 1 day) and Target also has it backordered for 2-4 weeks. Currently the shortage only seems to be affecting the silver colored model, the dark colored version appears relatively unaffected.
It is worth noting that the iPod Classic line was last updated in September 2009; several tech pundits predicted Apple would discontinue the product due to the lack of any announcement at last September’s music event (where Apple refreshed the entire iPod family except for the Classic). Recent reports also suggested Toshiba’s new 1.8” drives may bump the capacity of the Classic to 220 GB up from 160 GB, although it is unclear whether Apple may still be planning on using hard drives for its mobile devices instead of widely-used flash memory.
NewsRack RSS Reader Now Available In The Mac App Store
NewsRack is a RSS feed reader for iPhone and iPad that’s very popular among iOS users and used to be many people’s favorite choice in the App Store before Reeder came out. Especially in the early iPad days, I remember using NewsRack to stay up to date with Google Reader; the app is fast, stable and provides an elegant approach to RSS feeds. Silvio Rizzi eventually released Reeder for iPad, but I’m pretty sure NewsRack still has a loyal user base out there.
Last night, omz:software released a new version of NewsRack in the Mac App Store. The app is new to the Mac platform, and exclusively available in the Store at $6.99. NewsRack for OS X is very similar to its iOS counterpart: native interface with a sidebar for feed and folder management; unread articles in a middle panel and feed preview in the right column. The app has got a tabbed interface à la NetNewsWire to navigate between websites easily with tabs that sit on the top of the main window. NewsRack syncs with Google Reader but you can also import your feeds manually, although I wonder if there’s anyone who’s still doing that - especially considering cross-platform RSS syncing between OS X and iOS.
The app supports drag & drop for feed management, keyboard shortcuts for tabs and refresh, thumbnail previews for feeds – which should come in handy if you’re subscribed to several photo blogs and you want to quickly skim through their latest entries. Overall, the design looks really polished and based on usual OS X interface guidelines.
Personally, I don’t think I will move away from using Reeder just yet. Silvio Rizzi’s app is still in beta, but we’re pretty confident it will find its way to the Mac App Store soon. If you’re looking for a good alternative though, NewsRack in the Mac App Store is a great choice for now.