Global 2012: Apple iPhone Maps app

Image via CrunchBase

Announced in June, the latest major release of Apple's iOS software for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch finally became available for download this week, in advance of Friday's launch of the iPhone 5. As the sixth version of the operating system, it ushers in several noteworthy changes, the most noticeable being an entirely rebuilt Maps application, Facebook integration, and a new digital wallet called Passbook.

Reaction on online forums and in social media so far has been mixed. Some are praising Apple for adding new features and streamlining others, while others are up in arms about omitted functionality and reportedly poor battery life since updating.

One of the most prominent changes in Apple's new iPhone and iPad software is seen in a revamped Maps app that uses data from satellite navigation company TomTom (among others), instead of information from rival Google. As part of the change, the app now features fully 3D maps with terrain features and detailed buildings. These are only available to those with iPhone 4S and iPad 2 or newer, but the reaction to them has been largely positive from owners of compatible devices living in the U.S. We've seen a number of complaints this far from people in other countries, however, where Apple's satellite imagery is lower-resolution and the other new feature, turn-by-turn direction, is proving to be less accurate.

The overwhelming majority of complaints regarding iOS 6 are coming from those who are upset by the fact that the new Maps doesn't deliver directions and schedules for public transit, something that the older, Google-powered Maps app did. The new app also lacks Street View, a prominent feature of Google Maps.

Apple is reportedly working to further enhance Maps in subsequent updates to iOS 6. For now, though, those seeking public transit information must turn to other solutions. So far, the best we've seen is actually using the web version of Google Maps from within mobile Safari. Doing so restores access to public transit direction and Street View, although it isn't as snappy as using the native Maps app. Still, it can be added to the iPhone and iPad home screen, which at least makes accessing it easy.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/users-react-to-apple%E2%80%99s-latest-software-update-for-iphone-and-ipad--and-it%E2%80%99s-not-all-roses.html

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• 10 new iOS 6 features iPad users should know (gigaom.com)
• Google Maps for Android update reportedly timed for iOS 6 coincide (slashgear.com)
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• Critics Rave About iPhone 5 But Many Roast Apple's Maps (searchengineland.com)
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Global 2012: Apple co-founder Wozniak sees trouble in the cloud

FRANKFURT AM MAIN, GERMANY - OCTOBER 06: A picture in remembrance of Steve Jobs, founder and former CEO of Apple Inc is pictured at an Apple Store, on October 6, 2011 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Steve Jobs, 56, passed away after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Jobs co-founded Apple in 1976 and is credited, along with Steve Wozniak, with marketing the world's first personal computer in addition to the popular iPod, iPhone and iPad. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)Steve Wozniak, who co-founded Apple with the late Steve Jobs, predicted "horrible problems" in the coming years as cloud-based computing takes hold.

Wozniak, 61, was the star turn at the penultimate performance in Washington of "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs," monologist Mike Daisey's controversial two-hour expose of Apple's labor conditions in China.

In a post-performance dialogue with Daisey and audience members, Wozniak held forth on topics as varied as public education (he once did a stint as a school teacher) and reality TV (having appeared on "Dancing with the Stars").

But the engineering wizard behind the progenitor of today's personal computer, the Apple II, was most outspoken on the shift away from hard disks towards uploading data into remote servers, known as cloud computing.

"I really worry about everything going to the cloud," he said. "I think it's going to be horrendous. I think there are going to be a lot of horrible problems in the next five years."

He added: "With the cloud, you don't own anything. You already signed it away" through the legalistic terms of service with a cloud provider that computer users must agree to.

"I want to feel that I own things," Wozniak said. "A lot of people feel, 'Oh, everything is really on my computer,' but I say the more we transfer everything onto the web, onto the cloud, the less we're going to have control over it."

Prior to Saturday at the Woolly Mammoth theater in Washington, Daisey and Wozniak had met once before, in California after a performance of "The Agony and the Ecstasy" in its original version in February 2011.

Wozniak was moved to tears, but a year later Daisey came under fire when it emerged that sections of his one-man show dealing with the Foxconn plant in China where iPhones and iPads are assembled had been fabricated.

Public radio show "This American Life," which had broadcast portions of "The Agony and the Ecstasy," went so far as to issue a retraction. Daisey meanwhile reworked his script, albeit without toning down his powerful delivery.

On the minimalist stage Saturday, seated on plain wooden chairs, Daisey and Wozniak came across as a geek version of Tweedledum and Tweedledee in their baggy black clothes and matching beer bellies.

The bearded, fast-talking Wozniak sported running shoes and a massive wrist watch. In the theater lobby, for Saturday only, one of the very first Apple I computers ever built -- assembled in Jobs' garage -- was on display.

"Everything I designed was purely out of my head, never out of a book," recalled Wozniak, who quit Apple in 1987 after 12 years, taught fifth-graders, hit the lecture circuit and gave away some of his fortune to good causes.

Many in the audience echoed Daisey's concern about Foxconn's work force, but Wozniak said he expected labor conditions in China to evolve as the nation grows richer. He also commended Apple for its oversight of its factories.

"We know we (citizens and consumers) have a voice. We can speak (about labor conditions), but we can't act like, oh, Foxconn is bad or Apple is bad," he said.

Daisey begged to differ: "I hear what you're saying about that fact that everyone goes through an evolution, but it's not as if the evolution was natural in the sense that we are the ones who brought the jobs there."

While Apple designs its products in the United States, all its manufacturing takes place in China -- a sore point in an election year in which unemployment and a long-term exodus of manufacturing jobs overseas have been campaign issues.

http://ph.she.yahoo.com/apple-co-founder-wozniak-sees-trouble-cloud-133427633.html

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• Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has doubts about cloud computing (cbsnews.com)
• Apple founder warns of 'horrendous' cloud computing risks (telegraph.co.uk)

Global 2012: Supermodel Kate Upton To Be In 2012 Topps Baseball Card Set

1964's first swimsuit issue cover featuring Babette March. Sales jumped to unprecedented levels with the issue Tom Pendergast, Sara Pendergast, St. James encyclopedia of popular culture, page 488, St. James Press, 2000, ISBN 155862404X (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Once upon a time, collecting baseball cards was a staple of American culture, but the era of technology has forced the industry to find creative ways to keep itself afloat.

About one month ago, Topps introduced an iPhone app, which allows users to virtually collect and trade cards. If that was tough for card-collecting conservatives to digest, they may have an even more difficult time hearing about Topps' next move:

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover model Kate Upton is about to get her own baseball card.

That's right. According to USA Today, when the 2012 Topps Allen & Ginter World Champions Set hits drug store counters, batting cage shops and well, iPhone apps, on July 11, collectors will find Upton's name on the same checklists as Albert Pujols, Justin Verlander and the rest of baseball's stars.

The set is modeled after the original cards provided by the Allen & Ginter tobacco manufacturing firm in the late 1800s. The cards featured paintings of the players and were placed in cigarette packs. The set is known for featuring non-athletes, along with baseball players.

Upton's portrait displays her in a red dress she wore at the SI Swimsuit Issue launch party. According to ESPN, a limited number of cards signed by the model will be packaged in the set.

http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/style-points/201205/supermodel-kate-upton-be-2012-topps-baseball-card-set

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• The 10 Most Valuable Baseball Cards (celebritynetworth.com)
• Yu Darvish Signs Autograph Deal with Topps (sportscollectorsdaily.com)
• Kate Upton Gets Her Own Topps Baseball Card (inquisitr.com)
• Kate Upton To Get Her Own Topps Baseball Card (tracking.si.com)
• Kate Upton To Get Her Own Baseball Card (webpronews.com)
• Bryce Harper Rookie Cards: How Topps Will Handle Phenom's Debut (sportscollectorsdaily.com)

Global 2012: iPhone tips and tricks

iPhone vs. iPhone 3G (Photo credit: Ricky Romero)Whether you're a seasoned user or brand new to the iPhone world, chances are you're probably not using your smartphone to its fullest.

Don't worry, you're not alone, as these pocket-sized computers boast many hundreds of features buried in the operating system.

And so here we share a number of our favorite iPhone tips and tricks, some of which you may know already. Hopefully there's a good number of ones you aren't aware of yet. Most of these following 25 suggestions will work with all versions of the iPhone, but be sure to have the latest software installed (iOS 5.1).

• Take a photo with your headphone cord
• Dry out a wet iPhone
• Dismiss suggested words
• Take photos faster
• Use location-based reminders
• Get word definitions
• Revive a frozen iPhone
• Get more done in less time
• See a 6-day weather forecast
• Select URL domains faster
• Make your own ringtone
• Feel and see when people call
• Find your lost iPhone
• Save photos in Safari
• Take an iPhone screen grab
• Get new sounds
• Zip to the top of the page
• Prolong your battery
• Spread out the keyboard for easier typing
• Learn some gestures
• Create an "app" out of a website you visit often
• Create a music playlist on the fly
• Don't waste your day deleting messages individually
• Keep track of your texting limits
• Mirror your iPhone with your TV

http://shopping.yahoo.com/blogs/digital-crave/25-awesome-iphone-tips-tricks-175636187.html

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Global 2011: 11 Things We’d Rather Have Than Sex

Image via Wikipedia
A recent study by Women at NBCUniversal raised eyebrows when it reported that the women surveyed placed the Internet, sleep, and showers higher than sex on a list of things they couldn’t live without for a month. (Men, unsurprisingly, chose sex behind the Internet and sleep. At least the sexes can agree on the first two.)

It turns out what we’re passionate about is not always passion. And when push comes to shove, we’d rather go celibate than without some creature comforts. I canvassed my friends to see what they’d rather have than carnal knowledge. From a glass of cold milk to The Real Housewives of New Jersey, some of their answers made me laugh and others made me reconsider my own priorities. (I don’t want, I need Chapstick.)

As a single gal who prefers “relations” within the context of a “relation”-ship, I’ve gone without sex for months and even years. But before you light a candle for me, remember that during those dry spells, I still had access to all of the following human necessities:

• Junk food.
• TV.
• Air-conditioning.
• Coffee.
• A good book.
• Wine.
• Friends.
• Blackberry or iPhone.
• Shopping.
• Family.
• Pets.

Facebook? Magazines? Yoga? If you had to go without for a month, what would you choose over sex?

http://www.divinecaroline.com/22079/117197-eleven-things-we-d-rather-sex?ordersrc=yash0829outleti

Global 2011: Missing iPhone prototype

Image via CrunchBase
San Francisco police have assisted Apple in the search for a prototype of the latest iPhone that went astray in a bar in a repeat of an embarrassing loss that took place last year.

An Apple employee lost a yet-to-be-released iPhone 5 in a tequila bar in San Francisco's Mission District in July, technology news site CNET reported this week.

After the device was electronically tracked using GPS technology to a San Francisco house, four police officers and two Apple employees visited the home, the San Francisco police said in a statement distributed to news outlets.

"Apple employees called Mission police station directly, wanting assistance in tracking down a lost item," the press release said.

"The two Apple employees met with the resident and then went into the house to look for the lost item," it said. "The Apple employees did not find the lost item and left the house."

The statement did not identify the item being searched for but the title of the document carried a tantalizing hint: iPhone5.doc.

A resident of the home, Sergio Calderon, 22, told SF Weekly that he has visited the bar where the phone was reportedly lost but he did not have the device. He said the search of his house took place in July.

http://news.yahoo.com/police-help-apple-hunt-missing-iphone-prototype-013611061.html

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Global 2011: Apple has more cash than the federal government

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As the BBC has reported, the software company Apple has more cash on hand than the United States federal government, according to the company's financial records.

Apple's quarterly financial report shows that the company responsible for the iPad, iPod and the iPhone now has $76.4 billion in reserve cash, while the Treasury Department is sitting on just $73.7 billion.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/apple-more-money-federal-government-163023405.html

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Global 2011: 3 Reasons to Hit the Snooze Button

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In an ideal world, SNOOZE buttons and even alarm clocks wouldn't exist: We'd all sleep seven to eight hours a night—the amount experts recommend getting to prevent serious health concerns such as diabetes, hypertension and more—and wake up feeling naturally refreshed and alert. The reality: Many of us fall short on sack time (nearly 60 percent of SELF readers reported logging less than seven to eight hours a night in a recent survey, and 15 percent said they got by on a measly six hours or less), so chances are, we feel groggy and confused and we crave more shut-eye when the alarm starts blaring.

On the flip side, bingeing on sleep to catch up on missed zzz's can throw off your circadian rhythm, your body's 24-hour clock that plays a role in sleep and wakefulness, says Amy Wolfson, Ph.D., author of The Woman's Book of Sleep. Sleeping in—and hitting the hay that night later than usual as a result—also makes it hard to readjust to your usual routine, so you start the next morning in a fog.

So is it ever a good idea to ignore your alarm clock? Experts say yes! (And I say, Phew!) Here are three times you have the green light to hit SNOOZE:

1. You've racked up serious sleep debt
2. Your schedule looks brutal
3. You're run down and choosing between sleep and exercise

http://health.yahoo.net/experts/healthieryou/3-reasons-hit-snooze-button

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Global 2011: Five iPhone physics puzzlers to topple Angry Birds from its perch

Image by haikugirlOz via Flickr
Everyone with an iPhone or an Android phone has heard of Angry Birds by now. According to the sales charts, more than a few have actually played it. Part of the game’s appeal is its simple controls and physics-minded puzzle scheme that has players firing various kinds of birds at structures to squash pigs hiding within them. But Angry Birds isn’t the only game that does physics well, nor is it the only iPhone title that uses slingshots, living projectiles and smashed enemies to score you points. Below we’ve compiled five iPhone titles that will push your physics knowledge and puzzle-solving skills to the test, both with and without flying characters.

• Topple (Free)
• Finger Physics: Thumb Wars ($0.99)
• Crayon Physics Deluxe ($4.99)
• Fragger ($0.99)
• Fun With Death ($0.99)

http://www.appolicious.com/games/articles/6732-five-iphone-physics-puzzlers-to-topple-angry-birds-from-its-perch?nc

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Global 2011: WSJ’s iPad 2 story deflates some “lofty” expectations

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Yep, it's another iPad 2 rumor story, this time from the Wall Street Journal—except this one seems as focused on lowering expectations for Apple's next-generation tablet as it is on hyping its new and improved features.

The reportedly in-production iPad 2 will indeed add "at least one" camera for video chat, the anonymously sourced Journal story claims—raising the possibility that it won't get a rear-facing camera for recording HD video, like on such Android-powered competitors as the Dell Streak 7, the Motorola Xoom, and the LG G-Slate.

The new iPad will also be "thinner and lighter," but the display may "disappoint customers" hoping for a "significant improvement" in resolution, the Journal reports.

While the current iPad's display resolution of 1024 by 768 is nothing to sneeze at, earlier rumors had it that the new iPad might get an ultra-dense, double-resolution screen, similar to the "retina" display on the iPhone 4.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_technews/20110209/tc_yblog_technews/wsjs-ipad-2-story-deflates-some-lofty-expectations

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Global 2011: Sony announces 'Next Generation Portable' handheld

Image by @kevinv033 via Flickr
In a move that shocked precisely no one, Sony confirmed months of speculation by officially unveiling their next handheld video game system at a press event in Tokyo on Thursday.

Codenamed "NGP" for Next Generation Portable, the system packs a load of impressive technology, including two analog sticks, a 5-inch OLED touchscreen (for reference, an iPhone's screen is 3.5 inches), a second touch pad on the back of the device, and a new flash-card media format.

Sony announced that the system will be released before the end of 2011, though no word on whether that's a worldwide date or just for Japan. No pricing details were released.

To better compete with longtime rival Nintendo's soon-to-be-released 3DS system and Apple's formidable iOS devices, the NGP will also feature 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, front and rear cameras, an electronic compass, and six-axis motion-sensing capability. Yikes. Five to one it will also cut through this tin can!

Sony revealed a few other NGP functions, such as a location-based application that lets users find nearby players and a user-interface that ties social-networking features to every game.  The system has a new rounded form factor as well (Sony calls it the 'Super Oval Design') and is physically a bit larger than the current PSP-3000 model.

http://blog.games.yahoo.com/blog/346-sony-announces-next-generation-portable-handheld/

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Global 2010: New iPhone for Christmas?

Image by Getty Images via @daylife
Yeah, your brand-new iPhone does a lot of great things to help you stay productive. It’s great for checking emails and staying up on Facebook, and even translating words and taking photos with its camera. Oh, and you can make calls with it.

But one of the most interesting and deepest functions of the iPhone is its gaming ability. There are tons of gaming apps in the iTunes App Store, and while many of them are a little mindless and not too impressive, many more are phenomenal -- making innovative use of the iPhone’s touch screen, internal gyroscope and other hardware.

But how to wade through all the sub-par games to figure out what’s essential for your new game machine/cell phone? We’ve done the hard work for you: below are 15 games you should check out right away to get the most out of your iOS device.


Action

Infinity Blade ($6.99)

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light ($6.99)

Eliminate Pro (Free)

N.O.V.A. 2 ($6.99)


Casual

Plants vs. Zombies ($2.99)

Osmos ($2.99)

Flight Control ($0.99)


Platforming

Trundle (Free, with in-app purchases of additional levels)

Pix n’ Love Rush ($0.99)

Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor ($2.99)


Puzzle

Cut the Rope ($0.99)

Angry Birds ($0.99)

Sudoku 2 (Free)


Rhythm

Tap Tap Revenge 4 (Free, with in-app purchases of additional tracks)


Racing

Real Racing 2 ($9.99)

http://www.appolicious.com/games/articles/4485-new-iphone-for-christmas-download-these-games-first

Global 2010: 10 Obsessions of 2010

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1. iPhone
2. Lindsay Lohan
3. iPad
4. “Glee”
5. “Jersey Shore”
6. Facebook
7. Bedbugs
8. Tea Party
9. Silly Bandz
10. Stieg Larsson’s “The Girl”

http://yearinreview.yahoo.com/2010/us_10_obsessions

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