Zoombies is a fascinating little game. It's made by a company called High Voltage that is probably best known for the Conduit shooter series, though they've been making licensed games for years (I remember visiting the studio for a tour back when I lived in Chicago -- they were based out in the Hoffman Estates suburb back then). Zoombies is a title that's been in development there for a while -- it was first considered for the Wii, then possibly for Xbox Live Arcade, and finally has seen release on Apple's iOS. It's easy to see why High Voltage was trying to make this game as a motion control title -- the idea is that you're a kid trying to fight an army of invading undead zoo animals ("Zoo-mbies," get it?), and you are armed with a weapon that you can toss according to a line you've drawn on the screen. Control on the Wii or Xbox would probably have been more direct, but on the iOS touchscreen it means you swipe your finger around, and then the weapon will follow your path. This creates some interesting timing issues -- you want to throw where an animal will be, not where they are. And once you've thrown your weapon, you can't throw it again until it finishes the path, which requires you to keep things as compact as possible. Zoombies' real charm, however, is in the tone and the art style. The whole game, as you can tell by the subtitle, is done in a joyous sort of Mexican mariachi style, and it just oozes fun. The animals are menacingly cute, the kids are great, and every level has plenty of "skull goals," which are super satisfying to complete. Even if you don't like that core line drawing mechanic, this game is totally charming anyway. Clearly, this was a labor of love for High Voltage, and you can tell they had a lot of fun making the game. Zoombies is available for US$2.99 on the App Store now, though there are a lot of in-app purchases included, so I wouldn't be surprised to see that price come down sooner if not later. Still, $3 is cheap, so if Zoombies interests you, you might as well grab it right away.Daily iPhone App -- Zoombies: Animales de la Muerte is cute, arcade fun originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 May 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSSDaily Update for May 17, 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 May 2013 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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It's clearly not the best time to be looking for a MacBook Air. 13-inch versions are in especially short supply. The reason for the shortage will be obvious to those who follow Apple closely -- it's almost time for the Apple World Wide Developer Conference starting June 10, and Apple is likely going to refresh the popular laptops with the next-generation Intel Haswell Processor. Apple Insider reports that the only reseller with any significant inventory of the best selling model -- outfitted with a 1.8 GHz processor and 256 GB solid state drive -- is Best Buy. Typically, a constrained supply means new products are in the pipeline. 11-inch MacBook Airs are showing up as available at resellers. Supply chain rumors have stated a new MacBook Air is on the way with the new Intel processors, with availability predicted for next month. The new chips from Intel promise to generate less heat, consume less power and allow longer battery life. The chips also have a new integrated graphics processor, claiming a 50% hike in performance. Steve Jobs introduced the first MacBook Air in 2008, and promoted at the time as the world's thinnest notebook. Since then Apple has added new models, increased performance and battery life, and added new features such as USB 3 and Thunderbolt support. MacBook Air supply dwindling as WWDC approaches originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 May 2013 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Earlier this month TUAW reported that iOS 6 had obtained FIPS 140-2 certification, "opening the door to more government use." It didn't take long for that door to swing wide open, as the Pentagon has now officially approved iPhones and iPads running a version of iOS 6 for use on secure government networks. Two weeks ago, Samsung devices running the Knox security layer and BlackBerry devices including the BlackBerry 10 smartphones and PlayBook tablets were given the nod by the US military. Adding Apple's iOS devices to the mix was part of the platform agnostic plans of the Pentagon revealed in February. Those plans detailed adding wireless voice, video and data capabilities for classified and unclassified communications by October of 2013. The approved devices will begin to be used more widely in the military and intelligence communities late in 2013 or in early 2014. iPhones and iPads already have a home in some parts of the government that don't require such strict security, but the new Pentagon certification should make for more widespread adoption of iOS. [via AppleInsider]US Pentagon grants security clearance to iPad, iPhone originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 May 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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A TUAW staffer recently asked if there were a way to snapshot the exact same region of the screen over and over at timed intervals without buying third party software. There is, but it depends on your comfort with the command line. If you're experienced in Unix scripting, read on. If not, you may want to investigate standalone screen capture apps instead. I pointed him to /usr/sbin/screencapture. This built-in OS X utility allows you to specify a screen region to capture. For example, to capture a 50x200 rectangle starting at the point 200, 200, you'd say: % /usr/sbin/screencapture -R"200,200,50,200" ~/Desktop/foo.png You can easily apply a Unix shell script to create numbered output files. Unix commands will also enable you to sleep and repeat the capture requests over time. The utility is Retina-ready. Since it captures in points (and not pixels), the results are twice as big in each dimension when run on Retina systems.Timed command-line screenshots originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 May 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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The next time you wish to hack into a Mac, it may help to grab your wand and book of spells. At the NoSuchCon security conference this week, security architect Alex Ionescu presented a talk where he revealed that special undocumented code on a Mac's SMC (system management controller) can be invoked by entering a secret spell used in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. That spell is "SpecialisRevelio," the words used by a wizard to "reveal charms and hexes that have been cast onto a target" or "reveal the ingredients of a potion." In an Ars Technica post about the secret spell, blogger Dan Goodin notes that "While most details are far too technical for this article, the gist of the research is that the SMC is a chip that very few people can read but just about anyone with rudimentary technical skills can 'flash' update." One of the possible attacks that Ionescu pointed out is infecting the SMC with code to pull out the FileVault key used to encrypt a Mac drive, although to implement this an attacker would have to know details of the Mac like the model, year and screen size in advance. Much more likely attacks provided by the spell backdoor include marking targets. The SMC could be programmed to emit audible or visual alerts through the fans or LED displays, which could point out a specific Mac to an attacker. A Mac could even be programmed to turn off at a certain time and refuse to boot again. There's good news in all of this scary talk: to reflash the firmware an attacker has to have physical access to the Mac. Ionescu also reported that many of the SMC security holes were plugged in OS X Mountain Lion. A full copy of the presentation can be downloaded here (PDF file).Your Mac's connection to Harry Potter originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 May 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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21-year-old Brandon Ashmore of Mentor, Ohio has a lot to smile about as the winner of a $10,000 gift card from Apple for being the person who downloaded the 50 billionth app from the App Store. Ashmore told NewsChannel5 in Cleveland that he had saved up five apps to download onto his iPhone 5 to try to win the contest, and thought he was being pranked when an Apple rep called him to relay the good news. Ashmore finally believed the caller, saying that the Apple employee had "too much information" about him. The winning app was Say the Same Thing by SpaceInch, LLC, a free word game that has been floating around the Top Free Apps list since it was released in April of 2013. So what's Ashmore going to do with his $10,000 gift card? He refers to the credit as "free music, movies and books for life."Apple's 50 billionth app contest winner saved up five app purchases originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 May 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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The U.S. Air Force has opened up about how the iPad will help it realize over US$50 million in savings over the next ten years, as 18,000 iPads replace flight manuals. In an interview with The Street, U.S. Air Force Major Brian Moritz described the huge drop in costs. "We're saving about 90 pounds of paper per aircraft and limiting the need for each crew member to carry a 30 to 40 pound paper pile [of flight manuals]. It adds up to quite a lot of weight in paper." The Street notes that specific weight savings varies across aircraft. For instance, the iPads eliminate 250 pounds from a four-person C-17, and up to 490 pounds in a C-5 with a crew of 10. In a related story from the civilian world, American Airlines recently described how its adoption of iPads has reduced the number of pilots reporting back injuries. American's VP of Airline Operations, Patrick O'Keeffe recently noted at the Tablet Strategy Conference in New York City, "We've reduced the single biggest source of pilot injuries, carrying those packs. And we are now able to save $1 million in fuel costs and stop printing all the page revisions."US Air Force is saving huge money with iPads originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 May 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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It's time to save some of that hard-earned cash with our Daily Deals, featuring a handy list from Dealnews and our own hand-picked selections that include some sweet deals on iOS and OS X software (all prices are USD). Deals from Dealnews StackSocial: [Mac Software] MacX Video Converter Pro for Mac for free MacMall: [Apple Computers] MacMall Mac Blowout Sale: Up to $1,099 off Macs, iPads, and more Other World Computing: [Computer Accessories] OWC 2012 Featured Move 'em Out Sale: RAM, accessories, HDDs, more Monoprice.com: [24-Inch LCDs Or Larger] Monoprice 27" IPS-G LED LCD Display for $474 + $17 s&h eBay: [Home Security] Refurbished Philips WiFi Home Monitor for iPhone / iPad for $60 + free shipping MacUpdate Promo: [Mac Software] Simon Platinum 3 for Mac downloads for $150 eBay: [Media Receivers] Denon 5.1-Channel 3D Network Receiver with AirPlay for $340 + free shipping Adorama: [Camera Accessories] Flashpoint Version II Carbon Fiber 65" Tripod for $100 + free shipping Cameta Camera: [Camera Accessories] Tenba Vector Digital Camera Bags from $35 + free shipping StackSocial: [Storage] The MacMate Pro 2-Year Plan for Mac and Windows downloads for $59 StackSocial: [iPhone / iPod Apps] Building iOS Apps From Scratch Without Programming Course for $79 MegaMacs: [MacBook] Refurbished Apple MacBook Core 2 Duo 2.1GHz 13" Laptop for $360 + $15 s&h iOS Software Paper Titans [iOS Universal; Category: Games; On sale for $0.99, down from $2.99] Paper Titans is a charming and gentle papercraft-inspired puzzle adventure set across 45 lovingly crafted and beautifully realized levels. Table Top Racing [iOS Universal; Category: Games; Now free, down from $2.99] Table Top Racing' pits all manner of crazy cars and automobiles against each other in a world of table top race tracks and oversized obstacles. Image Blender [iOS Universal; Category: Photography & Video; On sale for $0.99, down from $2.99] This is a simple and clean iPhone and iPad app with a single purpose, blending together images. Avernum 6 HD [iPad; Category: Games; On sale for $2.99, down from $6.99] Travel into the strange subterranean land of Avernum, full of dungeons, labyrinths, and constant warfare. N.O.V.A. 3 - Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance [iOS Universal; Category: Games; Now free, down from $6.99] The most immersive and impressive sci-fi FPS franchise on smartphones is back. VLC iRemote Free [iOS Universal; Category: Entertainment; Now free, down from $1.99] VLC iRemote lets you remotely control your VLC Media Player in style. Lapse It Pro o. Time Lapse Professional [iPhone; Category: Photography & Video; Now free, down from $1.99] Lapse It is an award-winning full featured app for capturing amazing time lapse and stop motion videos. Laminar Pro - Image Editor [iOS Universal; Category: Photography & Video; On sale for $0.99, down from $4.99] Laminar provides iPhoneography enthusiasts with a complete set of tools to quickly add life and emotions into their images. Gangstar Rio: City of Saints [iOS Universal; Category: Games; Now free, down from $4.99] The acclaimed Gangstar series is back on iPhone and iPad to offer you a whole new place to have criminally good fun. Shatoetry [iPhone; Category: Entertainment; Now free, down from $0.99] Shatoetry combines the addictive nature of magnet poetry with the convenience of a smart phone app. Pudding Monsters [iPhone; Category: Games; Now free, down from $1.99] Pudding Monsters is a deliciously addicting puzzle adventure with wacky characters and innovative stick-'em-together game-play. Apple's App of the week. Pudding Monsters HD [iPad; Category: Games; Now free, down from $1.99] Pudding Monsters is a deliciously addicting puzzle adventure with wacky characters and innovative stick-'em-together game-play. Aces of the Luftwaffe [iOS Universal; Category: Games; Now free, down from $0.99] Fight waves of Axis planes and panzers until you hit the boss enemies. ScreenDIY [iPhone; Category: Utilities; Now free, down from $0.99] ScreenDIY is right here to help you customize the look of your iPhone/iPod Touch ever cooler. Tiny Token Empires HD [iPad; Category: Games; On sale for $0.99, down from $8.99] Tiny Token Empires is an amazing mix -- it's a puzzle game. Sporos [iOS Universal; Category: Games; Now free, down from $0.99] Sporos demands a mix of skill, luck and logic; in order to succeed, players will conduct clever experiments like scientists in a lab. Rail Maze Pro HD [iPad; Category: Games; Now free, down from $0.99] Rail Maze Pro HD is the iPad version of all-new Rail Maze Pro game. DMD Panorama [iOS Universal; Category: Photography & Video; Now free, down from $1.99] Here is why you should get this panoramic app -- complete the circle: up to 360 degrees -- don't wait: we hate progress bars, the result is extremely fast -- get quality pixels. Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders [iOS Universal; Category: Games; On sale for $0.99, down from $4.99] You'll participate in visceral dogfights, protect cities and fleets, bomb enemy structures and even fly through tunnels. OS X Software Quickipedia - Minimalistic Wikipedia Reader [OS X; Category: Reference; Now free, down from $1.99] Quickipedia is Wikipedia at its minimal best.Read Wikipedia in a beautiful, unobtrusive client only on your Mac. Appy Fridays [OS X; Category: Various; On sale] App Friday is discounting three OS X apps including Font Kit Mix, Bluenote and MultiMon. Skala Preview [OS X; Category: Graphics & Design; Now free, down from $4.99] Skala Preview is the fastest way to send pixel-perfect, color-perfect design previews from your Mac to your iPhone or iPad. Breezy [OS X; Category: Developer Tools; Now free, down from $1.99] This tiny app keeps track of your recent encoding sessions and you can get to base64 code of up to 7 recent images with a single click. Identical [OS X; Category: Utilities; Now free, down from $0.99] There are times, perhaps only a few times per year, when you want to quickly find out whether two or more particular files (not folders) are exactly the same. In these cases, download and use Identical. Daily Deals for May 17, 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 May 2013 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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In a new post at his Steamclock Software blog, Nigel Brooke writes how Apple has added new Objective-C to Javascript bridging to WebKit: "This new API supports straightforward embedding of the JavaScriptCore interpreter into native Objective-C projects, including reading and writing variables and object members with appropriate type coercion, calling methods on JavaScript objects, and directly binding Objective-C objects into JavaScript." The API performs its bridging using Objective-C protocols, enabling you to bind JavaScript calls to Objective-C implementations. If you'd like to give the tech a test, Brooke has posted a working sample project at github. Hat tip iOS Dev WeeklyDevJuice: Apple's ObjC-JavaScript Bridge originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 May 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Macworld Senior Contributor Kirk McElhearn has several excellent tips for iOS owners looking to sync their large iTunes library with their iPad, iPhone or iPod. Their libraries are so big that they exceed the capacity of their devices, which forces them to pick and choose what items they want to sync. McElhearn walks users through two methods for syncing an oversized library. Each method lets you control which tracks are synced and which ones are not. The most efficient method allows users to sync playlists, individual artists, specific genres and even selected albums with their iOS device. You can read about the two methods in the article on Macworld's website.When your iOS device runs out of storage space originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 May 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that Apple was bringing production of an existing Mac line to the US. Cook shared some additional details on the project in an interview with Politco that was published yesterday. Besides being assembled in the US, many of the components will be produced in the US. Cook confirmed to Politico that this manufacturing and assembly will be spread across many states in the US. Anna Palmer of Politico writes, "We're going very deep in this project," Cook said, noting that not only will the final product be manufactured in the U.S., but so will many of its components. Arizona, Texas, Illinois, Florida and Kentucky are among the states he mentioned as having parts and assembly located. Apple will invest US$100 million in this domestic manufacturing project. You can read the entire interview on Politico's website. [Via MacRumors]Tim Cook talks about US-made Mac with Politico originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 May 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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NASA has a series of excellent educational iOS apps that appeal to adults and kids alike. Most have a strong scientific bent, but if you lean more towards art than science, NASA has an iPad app for you, too. Mixing a little bit of earth and planetary science with a keen eye for art, NASA has created its Earth As Art app, an iPad title that shows off the unseen beauty of our planet. NASA's Earth As Art app picks the best images of Earth from the Terra, Landsat 5, Landsat 7, EO-1, and Aqua satellites. It also adds in some choice photos from the USGS Landsat image gallery. The satellites used to take these photos can measure light outside the visible range. The resulting images show you the earth as you have never seen it before. The images are presented in gallery format, allowing you to see a thumbnail of each stunning photograph. You can also switch to list format, which is sorted by geographical location. When viewing an image, you can pinch and zoom to look closely at a specific section. Each image has a brief and only slightly scientific description that you can access by tapping on the "i" in the corner. You may not understand the scientific reasons why each photo looks the way it does, but this is an art-centric app. You are expected to sit back and enjoy the images, not necessarily dissect them. Besides stunning images, the app also has a several time-lapse photos that show changes in a specific location. I particularly enjoyed the Dubai series that shows the creation of its artificial palm islands and the rapid development of the area. The changes in just a short 11 years is unbelievable. The NASA Earth As Art app is available for free. It's an iPad app and requires iOS 4.3 or later.Daily iPad App: NASA's Earth As Art shows us our beautiful planet originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 May 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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In a culture where high profile employees at tech firms often jump ship for new, exciting, and different opportunities, Paul Otellini is something of an exception. Yesterday, Otellini officially stepped down from his role as Intel CEO, a company he exclusively and faithfully worked at for nearly 40 years. With Otellini stepping down to make room for newly minted CEO Brian Krzahnich, The Atlantic yesterday published an extremely interesting and in-depth feature on Otellini's history at Intel. In a particularly candid moment, Otellini during an interview expresses regret for not having the foresight to get Intel's chips into the original iPhone. In an industry filled with such stories, Otellini's "what could have been?!" tale is especially interesting. "We ended up not winning it or passing on it, depending on how you want to view it. And the world would have been a lot different if we'd done it," Otellini told me in a two-hour conversation during his last month at Intel. "The thing you have to remember is that this was before the iPhone was introduced and no one knew what the iPhone would do... At the end of the day, there was a chip that they were interested in that they wanted to pay a certain price for and not a nickel more and that price was below our forecasted cost. I couldn't see it. It wasn't one of these things you can make up on volume. And in hindsight, the forecasted cost was wrong and the volume was 100x what anyone thought." The hard lesson learned, Otellini explained, was that he should have followed his gut instinct and not relied so strictly on cold hard data. As for Apple's volume being 100x what anyone thought, that's an interesting point to consider. It's easy to take the iPhone's success for granted and not really appreciate that Apple's foray into the smartphone market proved to be far more successful than anyone could have initially imagined. Remember that when Steve Jobs first unveiled the iPhone at Macworld in 2007, he said that Apple's goal was to simply grab a 1% share of the then 1 billion-strong mobile phone market. In other words, Jobs said that Apple was hoping to sell 10 million iPhones in the 2008 calendar year. About 5 and a half years later, Apple managed to sell 47.8 million iPhones in a single quarter. Indeed, Apple at this point has cumulatively sold well over 300 million iPhones worldwide, an impressive figure that becomes all the more impressive when one considers the net number of iOS devices sold overall. All that said, let's keep in mind that even if Otellini did all he could to secure a deal with Apple with respect to the iPhone, Apple may have still chosen to go with ARM-based chips which, while less powerful, remain much more energy efficient. Moreover, Steve Jobs in his biography briefly explained why Apple didn't tap Intel to manufacture chips for the iPad and the iPhone. Every quarter we schedule a meeting with me and our top three guys and Paul Otellini. At the beginning, we were doing wonderful things together. They wanted this big joint project to do chips for future iPhones. There were two reason we didn't go with them. one was that they are just really slow. They're like a steamship, not very flexible. We're used to going pretty fast. Second is that we just didn't want to teach them everything , which they could go and sell to our competitors. Otellini, who was interviewed for the Jobs biography, had a different take on things. He told Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson that the real reason the two companies didn't sign on the dotted line was because they couldn't agree on a price and who would control the design of the chips. Outgoing Intel CEO regrets not getting Intel CPU in iPhone originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 May 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Deadline is reporting that the CW network is bringing its content to Apple's favorite little hobby - the Apple TV. During CW's upfront presentation today, CW President Mark Pedowitz explained that the CW network is now reaching "more viewers on more platforms" while stressing that 20% of the network's viewership now stems from digital sources. MacRumors reached out to CW and was told that its upcoming app will be featured on the Apple TV homescreen and will operate similarly to its current Xbox app. It's a dedicated CW app that will work like our Xbox and mobile and tablet apps - no cable authentication required, full episodes of our shows available next day after air, ad-supported. MacRumors points out that Apple's deal with CW marks the first time Apple has struck a deal with a single television network. While television shows are available via Apple TV, they must be accessed via conduits such as Netflix or iTunes. CW says that its app will appear on the Apple TV in the next few weeks, though a precise launch window wasn't given. It remains to be seen if other networks will eventually follow suit and make their way onto the Apple TV as well. One network that many viewers want to hit the Apple TV is HBO. During an All Things D talk this past February, HBO President Eric Kessler said that he anticipates HBO will eventually land on Apple TV though now specific time frame was given. In the meantime, the company this year added AirPlay support to its HBO Go app for iOS. Meanwhile, Apple still likes to tout the Apple TV as nothing more than a hobby. While sales of the device have grown considerably over the past few years, it still doesn't rake in the kind of cash that Apple's other products do. Like clockwork, whenever Apple CEO Tim Cook is asked a question about Apple's ambitions with the Apple TV, he routinely answers that the company will "continue to pull the string and see where it leads us."Dedicated CW app coming to Apple TV in coming weeks originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 May 2013 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Earlier this week we reported that Apple CEO Tim Cook is slated to testify at an upcoming Senate hearing focusing on the offshore tax practices of American corporations. As it stands now, Apple currently has over $100 billion holed up overseas that it's hesitant to repatriate due to less than ideal U.S. income tax rates. What's more, Apple employs a number of accounting mechanisms to both delay and lessen its tax liability. With his congressional debut just a few days away, Tim Cook sat down for a rare interview with the Washington Post where he explained his plan to suggest a number of proposals which, if enacted, would encourage companies like Apple to bring back billions of dollars to the States. Cook explained: If you look at it today, to repatriate cash to the U.S., you need to pay 35 percent of that cash. And that is a very high number. We are not proposing that it be zero. I know many of our peers believe that. But I don't view that. But I think it has to be reasonable Remember that while Apple's tax practices often make headlines, many companies employ the same tax avoidance strategies that Apple itself uses. To wit, the Post points out that over 1,000 US companies together have approximately $1.7 trillion in overseas accounts. During the interview, Cook also emphasized Apple's commitment to creating jobs in the United States while highlighting how much in taxes Apple already forks over to the government. Specifically, Cook explained that Apple is currently on pace to pay $7 billion in federal taxes in 2013. When one adds together Apple's state and federal tax liabilities, Cook said that "Apple is paying approximately $1 million an hour in just domestic income taxes." Cook also issued a few soundbites regarding Apple's tax situation to Politico, making a point of noting that Apple does not shift any of its profits earned domestically to overseas accounts. I can tell you unequivocally Apple does not funnel its domestic profits overseas. We don't do that. We pay taxes on all the products we sell in the U.S, and we pay every dollar that we owe. And so I'd like to be really clear on that. As a final point of interest, Cook told the Washington Post that Apple may very well be the largest corporate taxpayer in the U.S. Tim Cook talks Apple's tax situation ahead of next week's Senate hearing originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 May 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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According to a new report from IDC, the smartphone market continues to be dominated by Android and Apple's iOS. Together, the two mobile operating systems accounted for a whopping 92.3% of all smartphone shipments during the first quarter of 2013. Impressively, Apple during the quarter gone by shipped 37.4 million iPhones, a 6% increase from the same quarter a year ago. Shipments of Android-based smartphones, however, increased by 79.5%. Consequently, Apple's share of smartphone shipments last quarter slipped from 23% down to 17.3%. IDC's report notes: Apple iOS marked its largest ever first quarter volume on the strength of its iPhone shipment volumes, yet the operating system posted a year-over-year decline in market share and lower year-over-year shipment growth than the overall market. Although demand remains strong worldwide, the iOS experience has remained largely the same since the first iPhone debuted in 2007. That appears ready to change as online rumors and speculation predict a massive overhaul of the user interface when iOS 7 debuts. Underscoring how fast the smartphone market continues to grow, IDC's data reveals that worldwide smartphone shipments shot up 59.1% year over year, increasing from 125.4 million units shipped during Q1 2012 to 199.5 million units in Q1 2013. Some other notes of interest from IDC's report include the fact that Samsung by itself accounted for 41.1% of Q1 2013 smartphone shipments, representing 54.6% of all Android-based smartphones shipped during the quarter. The largest year over year gain was recorded by Windows Phone as shipment volume increased 133%, hitting a total of 7 million units for the quarter. During Q1 2013, Windows Phone devices accounted for 7% of all smartphones shipped while BlackBerry's share of smartphone shipments fell to 6.3%.iOS and Android comprised 92.3% of Q1 2013 smartphone shipments originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 May 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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RIM announced earlier this week that BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) is coming to both iOS and Android as a free download later this Summer. While RIM's marketshare continues to plummet, the number of folks who still use BBM is rather impressive. In a post on BlackBerry's official blog earlier this week, RIM boasted that BBM services more than 60 million active users per month and that BBM users send and receive more than 10 billion messages each and every day. For iOS users excited to explore, or perhaps get reacquainted with BBM, I should point out that BBM for iOS will only work on iPhones running iOS 6. In other words, iPad owners need not apply. The news comes courtesy of Trusted Reviews which was able to get a direct statement on the matter from BlackBerry Software Portfolio head Vivek Bhardwaj. "Smartphone is our real focus and and again it comes back to what BBM is," Bhardwaj explained. "If you look BBM and the engagement and the activity, it's because it is mobile, because people are on the go." That's not to say that BBM for the iPad won't eventually see the light of day, but for the time being, BBM on smartphones appears to be the only thing on RIM's radar. Explaining the company's decision to avoid iPad and other tablets in order to focus the BBM app launch on smartphone devices, he stated: "When you start looking at tablets, computers and other screens, the usage model changes and behaviour changes. For us right now the absolute focus is getting BBM onto smartphones. As previously indicated, BBM for iOS will include the following features: The immediacy of BBM chats Multi-person chats Voice note sharing BlackBerry Groups, where BBM users are able to set up groups of up to 30 people and share calendar, photos, files and more Sorry iPad owners, BBM for iOS will be iPhone only originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 May 2013 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Mosiaque is a very original puzzle game that I haven't quite figured out yet. It appeared on the App Store a little while ago from a company called Winning Blimp, and the core idea of the app is that you need to clear the screen of colored squares by firing them in from the sides. The issue, however, is that if the square you shoot in hits a square of another color, it will switch out instead. Squares of the same color get cleared off, so your goal is to try and fire squares of the same color together, lining them up and clearing them off the board, refilling your meter for more shots. Mosiaque is the kind of game that's simple to play, but fairly tough to master -- even with the playtime I've put in, I'm not completely sure how deep the game's strategy gets. But there is a solid amount of fun to learning the game's mechanics, and as you play through the levels, there are some new tricks, too. Eventually, black blocks show up which will block your shots, and "void" blocks will appear that keep your shot meter from filling back up if not cleared right away. Mosaique is a lot of fun, and it's very original, both in look and in gameplay. It's worth noting that there are no in-app purchases in this one either. Buy the game for 99 cents, and you'll have access to the game's unlimited parade of levels. That should be more than enough to get you figuring out exactly how it all works.Daily iPhone App: Mosaique is an original and inventive puzzle game originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 May 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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App analytics firm App Annie has released a new report about portable gaming, and announced that iOS gamers are now spending more money on Apple's platform than on traditional handheld titles. The light blue above is last year's fourth quarter, the dark blue is this year's first quarter, and as you can see, both iOS and Google Play spending is up, and has actually topped spending on traditional handheld devices like the Nintendo 3DS and the PS Vita. This is mostly due, says App Annie, to a seasonal drop in traditional handheld game spending -- game sales always tend to go up over the holidays, and then drop in the new year. But it's also clear that iOS is growing a lot -- and in fact, in the chart above, it's actually higher than even traditional gaming was last quarter. We'll have to see how this plays out going forwards. Both the PS Vita (made by Sony) and the 3DS (made by Nintendo) have packed schedules for software releases this year, and the Sony handheld is set to be supported by the release of the new PS4 console. So this battle isn't over at all yet. But smartphones are clearly a dominant force in the world of portable gaming, and consumers are happy more and more to spend their money on iOS games rather than another traditional handheld title.iOS games spending overtakes dedicated games originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 May 2013 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Macworld blogger Steven Aquino wrote a fascinating piece today on how Apple's Retina display technology has helped him -- a legally blind individual with extremely low vision -- to be able to enjoy Apple's products as if he had no vision limitations at all. Aquino says that he had used the original iPhone and iPad successfully with their displays set to full brightness, but "seeing my iPhone 4's Retina screen was a total game-changer." The high pixel density -- 326 pixels per inch -- and turning the screen brightness all the way up made it so "even the smallest text was readable, and I was able to spot details in images that were previously indistinguishable." How much of a difference does a Retina display make to Aquino? "Simply put, I will no longer use an iPhone or iPad that doesn't feature a Retina display. Having used a Retina display, I can't go back to something that makes using my devices that much more difficult." Of course, he admits that having the screen brightness turned all the way up does eat up his battery charge quickly, so much so that a Mophie Powerstation Duo is in his favorite device bag at all times. Apple's Retina display aids accessibility originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 May 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Back in April, Apple gave shareholders yearning for a bigger cut of Apple's profits something to be happy about. Specifically, Apple a few weeks ago announced that it was upping its quarterly dividend by 15%, raising it from $2.65 a share to $3.05 a share. Apple's first dividend payment under the increased amount is scheduled to go down tomorrow. Shareholders with shares that were purchased on or before May 9, 2013 will be eligible for the increased quarterly dividend. Since Apple first announced its increased quarterly dividend, along with a massive increase to its stock repurchasing plan, shares of the company have gone up by 7%. Apple noted in a press release at the time that it is now one of the largest dividend payers in the world, "with annual payments of about $11 billion."Apple's first $3.05 quarterly dividend payout scheduled for tomorrow originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 May 2013 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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The company behind the Pebble smartwatch, which not only looks awesome but connects up to your iPhone, has picked up $15 million in funding from venture capitalists, and has released yet another version of its SDK. The funding is obviously a solid chunk of change, and should help Pebble not only fulfill its current orders (the company is still aiming to get watches out to all of its supporters from a successful Kickstarter bid), but push the company on into the future as well. This latest SDK release, called the PebbleKit, allows for two-way communication back and forth between the watch and your smartphone, which means there are lots of new options for apps to work with the watch as a display or even a remote control. The company has also released a Sports API, which should allow for GPS-enabled apps (like running apps) to send and receive information from the watch. Pebble's initial set of features was quite limited, but this API update should make a lot of new apps possible, and of course we'll likely see more in the future. You can pre-order a Pebble watch on the main website right now for $150.00. Or you may want to wait just a bit longer, if you happen to believe those crazy rumors about an Apple iWatch.Pebble receives $15 mil in funding, releases SDK and Sports API originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 May 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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It's time to save some of that hard-earned cash with our Daily Deals, featuring a handy list from Dealnews and our own hand-picked selections that include some sweet deals on iOS and OS X software (all prices are USD). Deals from Dealnews StackSocial: [Mac Software] MacX Video Converter Pro for Mac for free MacMall: [Apple Computers] MacMall Mac Blowout Sale: Up to $1,099 off Macs, iPads, and more Other World Computing: [Computer Accessories] OWC 2012 Featured Move 'em Out Sale: RAM, accessories, HDDs, more Monoprice.com: [24-Inch LCDs Or Larger] Monoprice 27" IPS-G LED LCD Display for $474 + $17 s&h eBay: [Home Security] Refurbished Philips WiFi Home Monitor for iPhone / iPad for $60 + free shipping MegaMacs: [MacBook] Refurbished Apple MacBook Core 2 Duo 2.1GHz 13" Laptop for $360 + $15 s&h Other World Computing: [Media Receivers] NewerTech NuStand Alloy Display Stands from $16 + $4 s&h eBay: [Media Receivers] Denon 5.1-Channel 3D Network Receiver with AirPlay for $340 + free shipping MacUpdate Promo: [Mac Software] YourtTrip for Mac downloads for $9 Adorama: [Camera Accessories] Flashpoint Version II Carbon Fiber 65" Tripod for $100 + free shipping Cameta Camera: [Camera Accessories] Tenba Vector Digital Camera Bags from $35 + free shipping StackSocial: [Storage] The MacMate Pro 2-Year Plan for Mac and Windows downloads for $59 iOS Software Asphalt 7: Heat [iOS Universal; Category: Games; Now free, down from $0.99] Burn up the street with the fastest and most visually stunning edition of the Asphalt series. Apple's App of the week. Pudding Monsters [iPhone; Category: Games; Now free, down from $1.99] Pudding Monsters is a deliciously addicting puzzle adventure with wacky characters and innovative stick-'em-together game-play. Pudding Monsters HD [iPad; Category: Games; Now free, down from $1.99] Pudding Monsters is a deliciously addicting puzzle adventure with wacky characters and innovative stick-'em-together game-play. Aces of the Luftwaffe [iOS Universal; Category: Games; Now free, down from $0.99] Fight waves of Axis planes and panzers until you hit the boss enemies. ScreenDIY [iPhone; Category: Utilities; Now free, down from $0.99] ScreenDIY is right here to help you customize the look of your iPhone/iPod Touch ever cooler. Tiny Token Empires HD [iPad; Category: Games; On sale for $0.99, down from $8.99] Tiny Token Empires is an amazing mix-it's a puzzle game. Sporos [iOS Universal; Category: Games; Now free, down from $0.99] Sporos demands a mix of skill, luck, and logic; in order to succeed, players will conduct clever experiments like scientists in a lab. Rail Maze Pro HD [iPad; Category: Games; Now free, down from $0.99] Rail Maze Pro HD is the iPad version of all-new Rail Maze Pro game. Pocket Cycle - Period & Fertility tracker [iOS Universal; Category: Health & Fitness; Now free, down from $0.99] Pocket Cycle keeps track of your period and fertility without all the inputting and upkeep of similar apps. Just tap the visual calendar to enter in your last period and choose your cycle length. That's it. iFileExplorer Pro - View and manager all files via WiFi or USB [iOS Universal; Category: Productivity; On sale for $0.99, down from $4.99] iFileExplorer Pro not only integrates all the features of various iFileExplorer versions, but also has unique features like Web Download, and it supports both iPhone/iPad. DMD Panorama [iOS Universal; Category: Photography & Video; Now free, down from $1.99] Here is why you should get this panoramic app -- complete the circle: up to 360 degrees -- don't wait: we hate progress bars, the result is extremely fast -- get quality pixels. Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders [iOS Universal; Category: Games; On sale for $0.99, down from $4.99] You'll participate in visceral dogfights, protect cities and fleets, bomb enemy structures and even fly through tunnels. TextCrafter 2.0 ~ Craft & Share Text [iOS Universal; Category: Productivity; Now free, down from $2.99] TextCrafter is a notes app for iPhone and iPad. Packed with features designed to allow you to quickly write messages, manage and search you notes and share your writings across your social networks. ProCollage [iPhone; Category: Photography & Video; Now free, down from $1.99] ProCollage is a powerful and professional photo collage app with almost all features you can imagine. OS X Software Skala Preview [OS X; Category: Graphics & Design; Now free, down from $4.99] Skala Preview is the fastest way to send pixel perfect, colour perfect design previews from your Mac to your iPhone or iPad. Breezy [OS X; Category: Developer Tools; Now free, down from $1.99] This tiny app keeps track of your recent encoding sessions and you can get to base64 code of up to 7 recent images with a single click. Identical [OS X; Category: Utilities; Now free, down from $0.99] There are times, perhaps only a few times per year, when you want to quickly find out whether two or more particular files (not folders) are exactly the same. In these cases, download and use Identical. Daily Deals for May 16, 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 May 2013 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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I've been using the Google Hangouts app on the iPhone since it was announced on Wednesday, and I've really liked it so far. I haven't messed around with it much on my iPad, except to install it, but it was enough for my Android-using husband to be jealous that we got it first. Like Apple's Messages, it's pushing conversations to my iPhone when I'm not at my computer, a feature which I've grown to love in iOS and OS X. The Hangouts app has a great feature to snooze notifications, which is great if you're going to be at the computer for awhile and don't want the iOS app constantly alerting you to new messages. However, there's no way to change your status and alert people you're having discussions with that you might be out of pocket for a bit, but it's something that's not in Apple's Messages either. The biggest missing feature in Hangouts is SMS integration, and Google vows it's on the way. Google community manager Dori Storbeck said the feature was the most-requested one and is coming soon. However, as TechCrunch points out, the SMS integration most likely will be Android-only because of permissions limitation on iOS. It's a shame, because I wouldn't mind having some Hangout messages default to texts if a reliable data connection isn't available.Google Hangouts app to integrate SMS "soon" originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 May 2013 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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