Mirror Universe: Apple and Microsoft United Against Google

PCWorld, ReadWrite Enterprise, and 9to5mac all have interesting “what-if” articles up that describes a mirror universe where Apple and Microsoft unite to fight off the advances of an all-powerful Google.

Admittedly a lot has happened over the last year or so: Google entering the smartphone space with Android and the desktop with Chrome OS, the strained relations over Google Voice, the shattered directorate as Google CEO Eric Schmidt left the Apple Board while Arthur Levinson stayed on Apple and left Google.

PC World thinks Apple’s device could make up for the long delays in Windows Mobile 7 while Microsoft could provide the equally long-missing enterprise credibility for the iPhone.

9to5mac, for their part, points out that Microsoft’s Bing could also supply many of the search and mapping related features the iPhone currently relies on Google for.

Could their enemy’s enemy be their friends, even when Apple and Microsoft have had such a longstanding, classic rivalry of their own? And in this mirror universe, is it Steve Jobs, Steve Ballmer, or Eric Schmidt who wears the goatee of evil?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Mirror Universe: Apple and Microsoft United Against Google

CBS, Disney, Considering Unannounced Apple iTunes Subscription TV Service

According to the Wall Street Journal, CBS (and CW) and Disney (ABC, Disney Channel, ABC Family) and considering Apple’s (unannounced yet previously rumored) subscription TV service. To throw nebulous fuel on the imaginary fire, the WSJ adds:

The proposed service by the maker of iPhones and iPod music players could, in at least some scenarios, offer access to some TV shows from a selection of major U.S. television networks for a monthly fee, according to people familiar with the discussions. Apple is pushing to complete licensing deals and hopes to introduce the service in 2010, some of those people said. It is unclear whether any networks have signed on yet.

No names, no networks, but is there a story? Maybe. The mere idea of Apple doing for digital television what they did for digital music — rip it from the hands of old, unresponsive media companies and give it to consumers in an easy, a la carte form — is compelling enough to account for some of the chatter.

Hey, even in Canada where I have $20 for 20 a la carte channels already from my local cable company, their horrible PVR boxes, lack of channels, and the idea that offering $5 for the first 3 episodes of the original 90210 is “on-demand TV”, the idea of Apple offering a real Apple TV makes me giddy.

And Disney always makes sense to mention as an early Apple partner, seeing as how Steve Jobs is their biggest shareholder and a member of their board of directors… But as much as I want to believe it, as much as it may even be true, there’s nothing to say it really is yet. Though that doesn’t mean a good dose of mythical iTablet wouldn’t help:

Apple is revamping iTunes as it finalizes its plans for a tablet device, which is meant to be a multimedia gadget, according to people briefed about the product. The multimedia tablet is expected to be larger than an iPhone but smaller than a laptop computer. People briefed by Apple say the company is aiming to launch it by the end of March.

Alrighty then. You want?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

CBS, Disney, Considering Unannounced Apple iTunes Subscription TV Service

Disney and CBS Signing on to Apple TV Subscription Service? Tablet to be a ‘Multimedia Gadget’

The Wall Street Journal reports that CBS and Walt Disney are considering participating in an upcoming plan by Apple to offer television subscription services over the internet.

The proposed service by the maker of iPhones and iPod m...

Get your current weather from Outside

Filed under: Software, Odds and ends, iPhone, App Review

Outside [iTunes link] is a new, personal weather app for the iPhone/iPod touch that provides a visual forecast with some paid options for push notifications. I like the idea of the app; it has some nice graphics and a fresh approach to weather information. The GUI is based on a metaphor of looking out a window: you can get the current conditions or a five-day forecast, if you want to glance into the future. For the relevant stats, like humidity, cloud cover and winds, you just flick up the screen, and it'll tell you everything you need to know.

The app also features an interesting pay model: when you buy the U.S $2.99 app, you get 30 days of push notifications for free. Then it's $0.99 per notification every three months, or if you take them all, it works out to $3.99 every three months. Notifications include letting you know if rain is in the forecast, the UV index when it goes above a set level, a warning if the temperature goes below your preference, and a notification that the weather is OK to wear a T-shirt.

There are a few things that would make this app better. First, it'd be nice to reduce the need to flick the screen so often. The five-day forecast could be placed on one page, not five. And the notifications are unique, but a bit strange. I'd much rather be notified of upcoming storm warnings rather than T-shirt weather, but there is no such option -- especially since the notifications are so pricey (getting them for a year costs more than the app itself), it'd be nice to have some more options. And if you want weather from a different location, you have to enter that location manually. There is no list of favorites.

I think weather junkies would be better off with the Weather Channel app [iTunes link], which is free, Weather Channel Max for $3.99 [iTunes link], or MyWeather [iTunes link] mobile which provides very detailed info for a one-time $4.99, and includes (free) push notifications for severe weather. There is some clever thinking behind Outside, and it's a fresh approach to a function that's seen its share of rainy days. But I wish it had more information on the individual screens, and it wasn't so expensive to get notifications.

Get your current weather from Outside originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Get your current weather from Outside originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Look: Little Metal Ball spins you right round

Filed under: Gaming, iPhone, App Review

Some wood, some knobs, and a ball bearing: the traditional labyrinth game has spawned several digital descendants (including some of the simian sort); considering the iPhone's accelerometer is very adept at simulating a tilting table or a swaying bridge, it's no surprise that this genre is quite popular on the App Store. The latest entry in the fun parade, from the developers of the Pano photo app (Debacle Software), is Little Metal Ball [$1.99, iTunes link], available tonight in the App Store. We've got an exclusive gameplay trailer above, so you can see that you'll be piloting your steel BB around and through a wide assortment of obstacles, landscapes and challenges as you try to collect prize stars and finish each level (40 in total) in the minimum amount of time.

While the original Super Monkey Ball was so challenging as to be frustrating for an average twitch gamer like myself (version 2 is a big improvement, according to TJ), I found that the difficulty level on LMB was just about right for me -- it takes a little while to get used to the ball jump controls, which are critical for navigating the early levels, but I got the hang of it quickly. The variety of environments keeps it interesting as you progress through the game, and the background music (which calls to mind the Harry Potter film theme) is soothing enough to keep you from throwing your iPhone through the window if you hit a frustrating spot on the course. If I could add one feature, it would be a calibration option so that players could adjust the zero point and not spend the entire game hunched over like a victim of mild food poisoning.

LMB may not have all the bells and whistles of the popular Labyrinth 2 [$4.99, iTunes link], but it's certainly a worthwhile addition to the tilt-to-play landscape.

First Look: Little Metal Ball spins you right round originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

First Look: Little Metal Ball spins you right round originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Elegant simplicity: the power of SimpleNote for iPhone

Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, App Review

The iPhone and iPod touch are, in many ways, the replacement for the little spiral-bound notepad that some of us used to carry around to capture reminders and ideas. The build-in Notes application works as a nice notepad, but it doesn't allow sorting of lists, and syncing to your Mac via MobileMe and Mail can be problematic.

I've tried a handful of other notepad apps, but none of them have provided the simplicity of Notes with the power of cloud syncing. SimpleNote [US$1.99, iTunes Link] is an inexpensive app that is a worthy replacement for Notes. Launching the app, you're greeted with a very simple user interface into which you can type your notes. There's nothing new and different there, of course. Opening the options for the app indicates that you can set up a free account for the online web app and turn on web syncing.

It's the ability to sync with the SimpleNote website that provides much of the power of the app. Through that site, you can either paste lists or notes from your Mac and have them appear on the iPhone moments later, or take the notes you've created while on the road and move them to your Mac.

Continue reading Elegant simplicity: the power of SimpleNote for iPhone

Elegant simplicity: the power of SimpleNote for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Elegant simplicity: the power of SimpleNote for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Magellan Car Kit for iPhone nav apps coming soon to a car near you

Filed under: Accessories, iPhone, iPod touch

After a dearth of car kits for iPhones and accompanying GPS navigation apps, manufacturers are starting to announce new kits on a regular basis.

The latest news comes from Magellan, who will soon be introducing a new vehicle mount for the iPhone 3GS, 3G, and the second generation iPod touch. As with the Navigon and TomTom car kits, the US$129.99 Magellan Premium Car Kit includes a built-in GPS receiver for better accuracy. Other features include:

• Secure vehicle mounting for iPhone or iPod touch
• Accommodates most silicon skins and hard shell cases
• Adjustable mount securely rotates iPhone to either portrait or landscape mode for optimal positioning and widescreen route display
• Recharges battery via the vehicle power outlet
• Amplified speaker with volume control for loud and clear phone calls and directions
• Noise canceling microphone for full duplex speakerphone operation
• Auxiliary audio output (for connection to your car stereo)
• Bluetooth enables hands-free calling

While designed for use with the Magellan RoadMate app [US$79.99 (sale price), iTunes Link], the Premium Car Kit works with any navigation app. I find the ability to accommodate hard shell cases to be one of the most compelling features, as many of the other car kits require a "naked" iPhone or iPod touch.

The car kit is currently available for pre-order from Amazon.com, Best Buy, and MagellanGPS.com.

Magellan Car Kit for iPhone nav apps coming soon to a car near you originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Magellan Car Kit for iPhone nav apps coming soon to a car near you originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Review: Run Stats for iPhone

Run Stats tracks your speed, distance, time, and elevation changes during a run, using the iPhone's built-in GPS. When done with a run, you can view your route on a map, and charts showing speed and elevation changes over time. It's also useful for tracking travels in a car.

Tapulous Making $1 Million a Month in App Store, Even Apple Didn’t Expect App Store Success

Making our collective jaws drop today is Tapulous, who are claiming sales approaching $1,000,000 (that’s on million) dollars a month, and news that even those inside and around Apple had no conception of just how successful the iPhone app ecosystem would be.

First, Reuters reports that Tap Tap Revenge maker Tapulous, a 20-person iPhone development team, has seen 20 million installs and 600 millions games played, adding up to sales approaching $1 million a month.

Tapulous’ chief executive said he expects it to ride a wave of exponential growth in mobile app commerce in the next two years, similar to that seen recently by social gaming companies like Zynga, Playfish and Playdom. Playfish was recently acquired by Electronic Arts for $275 million in cash.

Second, the Financial Times reports that even insiders weren’t expecting this level of success. Says Kleiner Perkins partner Matt Murphy, manager of the then $100m iFund announced alongside the original iPhone SDK:

“We had no idea there would be 2bn downloads by October. Most people within Apple, if you had told them it would be a fifth of that by now, they would have been pretty happy.”

Part of this is attributed to Steve Jobs, of course:

Even more important was Mr Jobs’ willingness to demand that AT&T and other network carriers give up control over what sorts of programmes could operate over their airwaves. He argued that the iPhone was a computer, not a phone, and that consumers expected to be able to do many things with computers. History had shown that this kind of freedom was what drove the more profitable “ecosystems” of computers – where sales of hardware were dependent on a wide variety of useable software.

So, remove the carriers, treat smartphones like real, mobile computing platforms, and everyone (mostly) benefits? Who could have imagined that?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Tapulous Making $1 Million a Month in App Store, Even Apple Didn’t Expect App Store Success

Simpsons Arcade (sort of) released on iPhone

Filed under: Gaming, Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, iPod classic

If you happened to be wandering around a St. Louis, Missouri arcade in the early nineties, you'd probably find a young me, playing the Simpsons Arcade game (either that or the Avengers game, I loved that one too). It was great: beat-em-up action, The Simpsons, and impressive animations and graphics for the era. Now, EA Mobile wants you to try and revisit those days on your iPhone -- kind of. They've released something that they're calling The Simpsons Arcade [iTunes Link] on the App Store, and while it is a nice sort of tribute to the old game, it's not exactly a direct port. Trust me -- I played the old game, which had the family chasing after Maggie, and this game, which has Homer chasing after a doughnut, isn't the same thing.

It's not a bad game -- it is a beat-em-up, with the standard movement stick, and an attack and jump button, which can be used in the ways you'd expect. And it does have real voices and sounds from the show, nice new, crisp graphics, and (c'mon, it's The Simpsons) guest stars aplenty. You can bring the family members in for special attacks later on in the game's 25 levels, and there are even some mini-games just like the old arcade version. But it's not the same, and for $4.99 in the App Store with no free trial currently available, it's slightly disingenuous to call this "The Simpsons Arcade" when you're not really getting to play the old game.

If I bought this expecting a port and opened it up to find the respectable 2D beat-em-up that it is, I'd probably be a little disappointed. It's a good, solid game, and probably worth the price if you like this type of thing, but don't come expecting to revisit those glory days of '91 in any way but the overall feel.

Simpsons Arcade (sort of) released on iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Simpsons Arcade (sort of) released on iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Christmas C@rds, Dr. Seuss Camera Grinch Edition, Crazy Snowboard – Holiday Special, Amateur Surgeon Christmas Edition, Elf, Christmas Camera – TiPb Picks of the Holiday Week

Every week a few of us from team TiPb, bloggers and forum crew alike, will bring you our current favorite, funnest, most useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone (or iPod touch) related, they’re fair game.

So who’s on deck this holiday-centric week and what are our picks? Find out after the break!

Chad’s Pick: Christmas C@rds

Christmas C@rds is a fun little app that can take a bit of hassle out of holiday cards and make it fun on your iPhone. This app comes with more than 30 templates you can customize with colors, text and your own picture! If I wasn’t married, I would go this route for my holiday cards, but the Mrs. put a stop to that. If you are in a pinch and need some great looking, fun eCards, you can’t go wrong with Christmas C@rds! [$1.99 - iTunes link]

Chris’ Pick: Dr. Seuss Camera Grinch Edition

I was trying out a few holiday themed apps this week, and my pick of the week is the Dr. Seuss Camera. With this app, you can take a photograph with your iPhone, and super-impose a “Grinch” scene on it to give it a holiday vibe – pretty similar to many of the other “insert your face in a scene” type of apps. From simply putting someone’s face on the Grinch’s body to creating more of a Christmas card type of image, there are 23 difference scenes to choose from. It’s a fun way to add a little holiday cheer to your images! [$1.99 - iTunes link]

Derrick’s Pick: Crazy Snowboard – Holiday Special

Crazy Snowboard is a very fun snowboard app that has many fun levels to play, What I love about Crazy Snowboard is that the developer has updated the app just for Christmas and all the levels are christmas themed![$2.99 - iTunes link]

Georgia’s Pick: Amateur Surgeon Christmas Edition

With all of the Holiday stress of finding gifts and busy shopping malls, my holiday pick is Amateur Surgeon Christmas Edition. Whether it is removing candy canes from a generic elf or taping back together a reindeer, this game is a stress reliever. [Free - iTunes link]

Jeremy’s Pick: Elf

Elf is a very simple, yet highly addictive game. The objective is to simply is to collect stars and candy canes to make your Elf fly, glide, and jump as high as he can. Toss in the Christmas touch and you have yourself a $.99 holiday time killer. [Free - iTunes link]

Leanna’s Pick: ?

“sniffle Bah, Humbug! sneeze Get off my snowless lawn!”

Matt’s Pick: Christmas Camera

Christmas Camera ™ is a pretty cool application that allows you to take photos of people and overlay different themes or a Santa hat on top of the image – creating one whole Christmas themed photo. The app has numerous different themes as well as a Santa hat and photo frames. Had a bit of fun updating several of my friends photos! [Free - iTunes link]

Rene’s Pick: Ramp Champ’s Holiday Giveaway

Ramp Champ is skeetball done beautiful and in-app purchase done right, and what’s righter than a free for the holidays? If you’ve already got Ramp Champ, just jump into the extras, download your free gift level, and flick the yule out of them elves and reindeer. And if you haven’t, get Ramp Champ first, then get the free level! [$1.99 - iTunes link]

Your Pick?

You’re part of team TiPb too, so what’s your pick? What app was your absolute fav last week? Let us — and everyone — know in the comments!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Christmas C@rds, Dr. Seuss Camera Grinch Edition, Crazy Snowboard – Holiday Special, Amateur Surgeon Christmas Edition, Elf, Christmas Camera – TiPb Picks of the Holiday Week

Apple Releases Firmware Update to Address Screen Flickering on 27-Inch iMacs

Apple today released 27-inch iMac Graphics Firmware Update 1.0, addressing recent complaints of screen flickering on the company's newest iMac models.

About 27-inch iMac Graphics Firmware Update 1.0
Updates the graphics firmwar...

Tapulous making a million a month off the App Store

Filed under: Gaming, iPhone, iPod touch

Well, even with rampant piracy, review craziness, and that funky approval process, it's good to hear that someone can still make a truckload of cash on the App Store. According to Reuters, that someone is Tapulous, who is apparently making almost a million dollars a month thanks to twenty million downloads of their Tap Tap Revenge game. We recently talked to Andrew Lacy on the release of said game back in October, and he told us that the game's in-app purchase features (you get the game for cheap, and then have a chance to buy lots of extra music to play in packs and bundles) would be the "first big test of in-app commerce at a much grander scale." Looks like the test was a success.

Of course, there's not too many details on how exactly that million dollars comes in -- I'm sure there was a flurry of sales right around the release of the app (as press was dropping), and you'd expect them to be a little higher during the holidays (sales of video games usually are, no matter what platform you're talking about). So it's not completely proven that this kind of income is necessarily sustainable. But still, it's good to hear from the folks at Tapulous that someone can release a game and roll in the cash from Apple's platform.

Tapulous making a million a month off the App Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Tapulous making a million a month off the App Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New app turns your iPhone into a snow globe for the holidays

SnoGlobe, from developer RogueSheep lets you create custom, photo-based snow globes.

Cell phone cancer warning proposed by Maine state legislator

A Maine state legislator wants cell phones in the state to carry labels warning of brain cancer risks due to electromagnetic radiation.

Resolve to keep better track of client billing in 2010 with Time Keeper!

Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store, App Review

For self-employed consultants and anyone else who charges clients by the hour for their services, keeping accurate track of the time worked on various projects is critical. Time Keeper! [$2.99, iTunes Link] from Netwalk is the newest in a genre of iPhone / iPod touch apps that serve as pocketable billing assistants.

Time Keeper! works on a hierarchy of three elements: Clients, Projects (which are assigned to clients), and Times / Costs (assigned to projects). Once the application is launched, you can begin by adding a client at a particular rate. Time Keeper! allows any currency to be entered for the rate, making it easy to charge clients in their local currency.

Once you've entered some of the necessary information about the main timekeeping elements, it's time to get to work! When you arrive at a client's office or being work on a project, you can launch the app, enter a title for the work you are performing, and then tap the Start button to begin an hour:minute timer. You don't need to stay in the app to continue tracking time; if your work requires you to use other iPhone apps, Time Keeper! continues to log the time in the background.

Continue reading Resolve to keep better track of client billing in 2010 with Time Keeper!

Resolve to keep better track of client billing in 2010 with Time Keeper! originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Resolve to keep better track of client billing in 2010 with Time Keeper! originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Steve Jobs Named World’s Best-Performing CEO by Harvard Business Review

As part of its January 2010 issue, the Harvard Business Review released its list of the top-performing CEOs in the world, placing Apple CEO Steve Jobs first among CEOs ranked by performance throughout their tenures.

The #1 CEO...

ProSwitcher: Multitasking iPhone App for Jailbroken iPhones is Now Available

Review: Arachnadoodle for iPhone

Arachnadoodle by Connect2Media takes an interesting and refreshing twist on the puzzle genre. While comparisons could be drawn to games like Peggle, Arachnadoodle manages to put a fresh spin on the gameplay.

Verizon forcing Microsoft Bing search on BlackBerry users

The only search engine option that’s currently available to some Verizon customers using the BlackBerry Browser is Microsoft's Bing, CIO reports.