Friday, June 24, 2011

TheAppleBlog — Apple and iOS News, Tips and Reviews (11 сообщений)

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  • Skype is coming to the iPad

    After a leaked video accidentally spoiled the surprise, Skype has confirmed that it is preparing an iPad app for release. No firm date is yet known for when it will arrive, but according to TUAW, which spoke to Skype VP of consumer and product design Rick Osterloh, it is expected to be approved soon by Apple for the App Store.

    The video of Skype that leaked (embedded below) shows what looks to be a fairly impressive finished product. It takes full advantage of the iPad’s larger screen size, allowing users to make audio and video calls, and use text-based chat, as well as allowing users to chat via text while on a video call. The iPad 2′s camera is the primary driving force behind the company’s decision to release an iPad-specific version of its iOS app, Osterloh said.

    Skype for iPad can make use of both of the iPad 2′s cameras, and also appears to support calling out to landlines and mobile phones, just like other mobile and desktop clients. File sharing isn’t included in the iPad version, but that’s because of the iPad’s lack of a user-accessible file system, and it’s not yet clear whether group video chat will be included in this iPad release.

    The Skype app’s contact browser appears to work similar to the iPad’s music player app, with big square contact photos appearing in a grid configuration. Judging by the video, I’m tempted to say it actually looks like it could be a joy to use, unlike the most recent Skype release for Mac.

    Having a native iPad client will be great for both video and voice communications on the iPad. FaceTime is nice, but it obviously has a much more limited reach because it only works with Apple hardware. Skype has the advantage of being multi-platform, and its VoIP capabilities are nothing to sneeze at, either. Look for it in the App Store in the near future.

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  • Pocket Gems focuses on quality engagement as Zynga and others attack

    The top grossing charts for the Apple App Store are starting to see names familiar to Facebook gamers, with Zynga, Playdom, and Crowdstar among them. But the only iOS publisher with two titles in the top five is Pocket Gems, which believes it can hold its own by being a purely mobile-focused player with an eye on long-term quality and user retention.

    The San Francisco start-up, which has raised $5 million from Sequoia, believes the mobile gaming market remains wide open, and actually favors upstarts like itself with smartphone gaming in their core DNA. The company was founded in the fall of 2009, and immediately found success with its first title, Tap Farm, which pushed the company into profitability after one week. Pocket Gems has put out six games overall, which have racked up nearly 40 million downloads.

    It’s a far cry from the 100 million milestone trumpeted by some competitors. But it speaks to the deeper philosophy at Pocket Gems, which focuses on enduring user engagement, the secret to the company’s monetization success. Tap Pet Hotel debuted in April, and sat at the top of the highest grossing charts until it was pushed into second place recently by Crowdstar’s Top Girl. It also has a sleeper hit in Tap Zoo, which launched back in September, and still sits in the No. 5 position.

    It’s unclear how much the free-to-play games are pulling, in and Pocket Gems isn’t sharing its financial data. But we’ve seen that freemium apps with in-app purchase are huge money makers, equal to paid download revenue at the end of last year, and likely higher now, six months later. And with Apple’s banning of incentivized pay-per-install marketing campaigns, the focus is increasingly turning away from download numbers to apps with deeper engagement.

    CEO Daniel Terry, who founded the company with fellow Stanford grad Harlan Crystal, said Pocket Gems has found success building deep and detailed games that continue to evolve as players progress. That requires a lot of ongoing support and updates, which is why Pocket Gems hasn’t put out more games. The company has also homed in on how mobile users play, breaking down sessions into smaller units so people can get in and out quickly, more so than in traditional social games on Facebook. It’s that combination that has helped Pocket Gems onboard new users while keeping dedicated players involved.

    “People are still playing games we put out nine months ago it. It’s about having an ongoing,  long-term relationship with our customers,” said Terry. “A lot of games are very casual; you play it three times and you don't come back to it. It’s very hard to significantly monetize the relationship if that's the case.”

    Terry claims the young mobile market is also maturing, and as that happens, gamers are looking for increasing complexity and sophistication in their games. He said Pocket Gems is well positioned to fulfill that desire while still maintaining a low barrier to entry for new users.

    The growing mobile market is attracting established players like Playdom, which recently launched City of Wonder and Crowdstar, which recently got $23 million from Intel . And there’s IPO darling Zynga, which has had slow success in mobile but is ramping up with acquisitions and homegrown titles. Zynga now has three top 20 grossing titles in Zynga Poker, Words with Friends and Hanging with Friends, the last two of which came out of its purchase of Newtoy.

    Terry, however, isn’t concerned, saying that entrenched players don’t necessarily clean up on new platforms.  Just like Facebook gave rise to Zynga, smartphones can have their own powerhouses. He thinks Pocket Gems, which should double its 40 employees by the end of the year, can eventually build a $1 billion business.

    It’s likely suitors like Zynga, EA and Asian powerhouses like GREE or DeNA may come calling if Pocket Gems keeps up its string of success. With Ngmoco selling for $400 million last year, and OpenFeint being bought for $100 million in April, the market is certainly open to the next big player in mobile gaming. Pocket Gems may be that force, though Terry said he’s more concerned about taking it slow and getting it right. So far, so good.

    “We have our eye on a long horizon, now just putting out games. It’s a very long-term focus but it’s already paying dividends,” he said.

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  • It's official: What stays and what goes from MobileMe to iCloud

    In case you were an existing MobileMe subscriber wondering what services will and won’t make it through the transition to iCloud (or you’re just curious), Apple has posted an official FAQ detailing exactly what will make the cut, and addressing what will happen to iWeb and other services that don’t.

    As you can see from this checklist, iWeb publishing, Gallery and iDisk are all getting the axe. Apple has said that it will continue to support iWeb publishing, posting and viewing photos in MobileMe Gallery, and reading and writing to iDisk cloud storage through June 30, 2012 if you’re an existing customer, even if you choose to transition to iCloud before that cut-off date. If you’re looking around for a hosting alternative for your site, check out Geoffrey’s rundown of some of the options available.

    Services you can’t take with you if you transition early include syncing of dashboard widgets, keychains, Dock items and System Preferences. You’ll have to remain a MobileMe user if you want to continue using these features, but they’ll also be shut off for everyone on June 30, 2012. Apple points out that while the services listed above are ending, iCloud brings new features not available in MobileMe, like iTunes in the Cloud, Photo Stream, Documents in the Cloud, automatic downloads for purchased content, and cloud backup and restore.

    Services that you can take with you — including Mail, Contacts, Calendar and Find My iPhone — will still be accessible via web apps after the transition to iCloud, Apple says, which is a nice plus for users who want to be able to access their info, email and contacts on devices they don’t own.

    As someone who’s been using MobileMe since the service was first introduced, I can honestly say that I’ve only ever used a couple of the services being discontinued (Gallery and iDisk), including the sync options. Even the ones I did use, I used only sparingly, and not recently. I think Apple’s making the smart move here, by cutting the fat as it shifts the focus to the much more generally useful services coming with iCloud.

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  • This is what iMessage for OS X could look like (if we're lucky)

    Toronto-based interactive user experience design firm teehan+lax have created an awesome look at what iMessage could become, if Apple truly wants to bring iOS and OS X together. In a blog post today, the company posted mock-ups of what iMessage might look like running in OS X, as well as concept designs for a smart Push Notification system that would feed all your phone’s activity to your desktop.

    The visuals related to how information might be streamed from your iPhone to your Mac is like something out of my dreams made real. Connected devices would be represented by an icon in your OS X menu bar, and everything from calls, to text message, to FaceTime requests would appear as they arrived in a Growl-notification type window in the corner of your Mac screen. Icons let you know at a glance what type of call or message you’re receiving, and you can take and make calls, plus read and respond to messages right from OS X, over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and USB, according to the teehan+lax concept design.

    iMessage is presented by the design firm basically as built-in feature of OS X mail, and it appears pretty much as it does in iOS 5 on the iPad. Putting it right in the OS X Mail.app is a stroke of genius, but I’d also love an option to break it out and use it more like a separate IM client, while we’re all imagining things.

    The post at teehan+lax goes into more detail about each feature, so be sure to check it out in full when you get a chance. Any additional features you’d recommend for greater iPhone/OS X integration?

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  • Final Cut Pro X: Troubling or just transitional?

    Reviewers and video professionals apparently aren’t as enthusiastic about Final Cut Pro X as I was on the day of its release. Of course, I’m not a video pro, but that doesn’t mean the venom aimed at FCP X is necessarily justified.

    The New York Times‘ David Pogue, using info supplied by Apple itself, posted a Q&A Thursday addressing many complaints emailed him regarding his mostly positive review of FCP X. Pogue contends that many of the shortcomings editors are finding in the new pro video editing software from Apple are either issues that the company plans to address with updates or are features that were introduced via third-party plugins and drivers, which will probably be addressed in the same way again, once people have spent some time with the software.

    Pogue’s column doesn’t address every complaint, and as you can see in the video below, the issue has grown big enough that Conan O’Brien skewered it on his show Thursday night. But Apple clearly seems dedicated to making FCP X a more full-featured product, with lots of planned additions in later updates, including multi-camera support, one of the most noteworthy omissions from the latest version.

    Here’s the thing: In a time when minor aesthetic updates to Facebook’s home page are greeted with petitions that attract thousands of users, is it any surprise that a radically different Final Cut Pro would be met with resistance? Final Cut Pro is an essential tool for many, and one they use every day. Not many liked Office 2007 when it came out either, and many complaints were the same, with users citing an inability to do things or find features.

    Apple seems committed to listening to user feedback, and it has always iterated its software products with one eye to addressing outstanding issues, including through iOS and OS X updates. Also, Final Cut Pro 7 isn’t being banished from use. I still know many professional video editors working for large media companies that are now two versions behind, in fact, and so aren’t terribly concerned about what the newest version has or doesn’t have to offer. But I’d love to hear from other video professionals what they think about FCP X. Is this just a case of users requiring an adjustment period for a new product that doesn’t look all that familiar, or is it an example of Apple dropping the ball in a much more serious way?

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  • IPhone and iPad cleaning up in every category of UK mobile data use

    Only recently, it seemed like Apple was on the ropes in the ongoing fight for mobile dominance with Android. But more recently, the tale of the tape seems to indicate that the battle is far from over. This is true especially in certain geographical areas like the U.K, where iOS accounts for an outsized portion of mobile data use, as it pertains both to apps and to the mobile web.

    Earlier this week, the GSMA reported that 65 percent of devices that offer Internet-connected apps use iOS as their operating system, compared with only 30 percent for Android. This is only a measurement of connected apps that need to hook into a cellular network or active Wi-Fi Internet connection to transfer data, so offline apps and general phone use don’t factor in. But that’s a huge margin, and one that network operators eager to sign users up for lucrative, high-limit bandwidth plans are no doubt paying attention to. Developers, too, will likely see this as an indication that if you want to land connected customers, iOS is the way to go.

    Mobile web developers might glean the same takeaway when considering the latest data from comScore. The iPad is running away with mobile web browsing among iPads in the U.K., with 21.3 percent of total mobile traffic. Android tablets hold only 0.3 percent of web access in the market, by contrast. The iPhone is still king, however, with 29.9 percent of the overall picture. Android smartphones only represent 15 percent of U.K. web traffic, which is even less than the iPad taken alone.

    Admittedly, Android still dominates mobile web access in the U.S., accounting for 35.6 percent of traffic on smartphones, according to comScore, beating out the iPhone’s 23.5 percent by a decent margin. But the U.S. is the exception, not the rule. The iPad and iPhone are the top contenders for mobile web access in most other countries, including Canada, France, Germany, Brazil and Japan. Nor is iOS just barely edging out the Google competition: In some cases, Android lags behind the iPhone by 10 to 20 percentage points. Add to that a new report by Yankee Group (via BGR) that says 40 percent of European smartphone shoppers intend to buy an iPhone next, versus only 19 percent intending to go with Android, and the global picture for iOS is very rosy.

    Despite Android’s gains in the mobile device market in recent years, Apple still seems to have a hold on mobile data use and web access in many key international markets. It’s a reality that developers have to take into account, especially when preparing apps and websites that appeal to a broad international user base. If your Flash intro automatically cuts out the 50 percent of Australians who browse the mobile web using an iPhone, for instance, that’s a lot of potential customers you aren’t reaching.

    Apple may not be the only game in town, but it does have a growing stake in the burgeoning smartphone user community, which is turning more and more to mobile devices to access the web.

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  • iPhones, iPads thrive on Wi-Fi, Androids on 3G and 4G

    Nearly half of the page views from Apple iPhones come through a Wi-Fi network as does 91.9 percent of iPad web browsing. Android device owners lean more heavily on mobile broadband networks, which explains the trend of Android smartphones using more monthly bandwidth than their iOS counterparts. Last month, Nielsen research indicated that the average Android phone consumes 582 MB of data while the average iPhone eats up 492 MB.

    The web browsing data comes by way of comScore, which today reported its findings that reinforce Nielsen’s information. Neither report suggests an explanation for the data use discrepancy between iOS and Android devices, but there are a number of clues that could be contributing factors:

    • Android updates arrive over the air. Although Android devices don’t see firmware updates as often as iOS phones or tablets, Android software generally can’t be updated via a USB cable and computer. Some consumers could be downloading these updates over a 3G or 4G wireless connection as opposed to Wi-Fi networks.
    • iOS restrictions. Certain file types in iOS can’t be downloaded over a mobile broadband network. Software applications or podcasts over 20 MB in size, for example, are only available over Wi-Fi, while Android has no such restriction. Video calling in FaceTime on iOS is also limited to Wi-Fi networks. In contrast, third-party video calling services on Android are able to be used on a 3G or 4G connection.
    • Widgets are hungry! Android smartphones support widgets, which are small applets that provide updated information at a glance. These widgets can reach out to the web for information on a near-constant basis, regardless of whether the user is on Wi-Fi or an operator network. With 400,000 Android smartphones activated daily, and presumably on the move in people’s pockets, mobile broadband data consumption for those widgets can add up quickly.
    • Different carriers, different plans. When the iPhone launched on AT&T, it enjoyed unlimited smartphone plans. That changed last year when AT&T opted for tiered plans. Sprint (s), Verizon, and T-Mobile still have unlimited data plans (although that’s going to change soon for Verizon) and these networks have more Android devices in use. Verizon only just launched the iPhone this year, while Sprint and T-Mobile have no iPhone of their own. With unlimited plans, the Android device owners on these three networks may be less concerned about Wi-Fi offload.

    The tablet data from comScore is the first I’ve seen in terms of network use. With more than 9 out of 10 iPad browser page views done on Wi-Fi, the information tells me a few things. First, while 3G iPads are surely selling to customers, it could be argued that many are buying the 3G capability as a secondary use case: Data caps could be a factor here. This also suggests that iPad owners may be using the devices more at home or in businesses that offer Wi-Fi networks.

    And lastly, although this may be stretch, the higher Wi-Fi use on tablets could back up my premise that Mi-Fis and smartphones with wireless hotspots are becoming more accepted by consumers. While there will always be a market for MiFi-like devices, I expect people won’t want multiple data plans and will instead simply add the hotspot feature to a smartphone for an additional $20 per month. In either case, these 3G / 4G connections would likely appear as Wi-Fi usage because the tablets that connect through them are actually using Wi-Fi to get the shared connection.

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  • Get ready for Lion with OS X 10.6.8

    SoftwareUpdateApple just released the latest update for Snow Leopard, OS X 10.6.8. Included in the update are countermeasures for the latest variants of the malicious Mac Defender software, improved support for the recently launched Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), and enhancements for the Mac App Store made in preparation for the upgrade to Mac OS X Lion.

    No word on what specific changes have been made to the Mac App Store, but they’re probably designed to optimize the delivery of OS X Lion, which will be available exclusively through Apple’s official Mac software distribution channel as a 4 GB download. The fact that Apple mentions upgrade preparation specifically in the update notes for 10.6.8, combined with Lion’s announced July arrival time frame, indicates that this will likely be the last minor point update for Snow Leopard prior to 10.7′s release.

    Other things the update offers include resolving a Preview problem that was causing unexpected applications quits, and a fix for importing some types of media into Final Cut Pro. Also, frustrated Lisbon-Portugal iCal users should no longer have a problem with timezones. Check out the full list of fixes and changes at Apple’s official support site.

    Happy downloading, and as always, let us know if you encounter any problems with the update.

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  • Infographic: A look at picture-perfect App Store success

    The folks at tap tap tap have just crossed the 3 million download milestone with their popular Camera+ app, which has brought in revenues of $2.7 million. In keeping with their habit of sharing a glimpse into what goes into that success, the developers have released an infographic visualizing stats such as daily revenue, photos taken by Camera+ users based on location, and the peak times for sharing photos using the app. Check out the breakdown of what people are sharing most. The popularity of cats as photo subjects definitely does not surprise me.

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  • Live learning and conferences get a boost from Ustream AirPlay update

    Ustream has become a popular choice for live video streaming: People use it to broadcast live podcasts, talk shows, deluded rants, educational seminars and lectures, and even conferences. Thursday, all of that content became much more accessible thanks to an update to Ustream’s iOS application, which introduces AirPlay output support.

    Now any content available to be viewed in the Ustream iPhone application can also be viewed on the big screen or a connected projector, so long as you have an Apple TV to beam content to. That means the whole office can gather around the boardroom table to view a conference taking place halfway round the world, without the need for a more complicated computer setup. Users following online learning tutorials can also watch more comfortably from any display connected to their Apple TV, which could include a hotel room television, since the Apple media streaming box is only about the size of a deck of cards.

    Ustream has also become a popular site for people to use for delivering entertainment content, like the bizarre Sheen’s Korner, from actor Charlie Sheen, or smaller productions from enterprising amateurs like Nat&Marie. AirPlay support adds another way for users who are looking for alternatives to traditional cable programming to get content to their living room, without the need for expensive HTPC equipment.

    The app also boasts a lot of bug fixes, according to Ustream, so hopefully that will address some of the other issues people have been reporting about an inability to load many live streams. I’m looking forward to being able to tune in to conferences without having to either be glued to the computer or hunched over my iPhone or iPad. Do you think this will have any effect on your viewing habits, educational or otherwise?

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  • Viacom goes after Cablevision over iPad streaming

    Just a day after Viacom called a cease-fire in its legal fight with Time Warner Cable over its channels being available for live streaming on the iPad, the programmer has decide to take another cable provider to court over the same issue. Now Viacom’s taking the fight up against Cablevision, which introduced its own streaming iPad app nearly three months ago.

    In U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Viacom filed a lawsuit that claims the Cablevision iPad app, which allows subscribers to stream live video feeds in the home, violates the terms of its distribution agreements. It’s therefore seeking injunctive relief and damages for Cablevision streaming 19 of its cable networks to the device.

    But based on its accompanying statement, the lawsuit appears to be a negotiating tactic more than anything else:

    "We have taken this action to protect our valuable content. Over the last few months, we have had limited and unproductive discussions with Cablevision about licensing iPad rights. We remain open to productive discussions, but we cannot wait indefinitely while our networks are being distributed without permission."

    In other words, Viacom says it’s suing because Cablevision isn’t playing ball in the programmer’s efforts to extract more revenues for iPad rights. If that’s the case, Viacom could be in for a protracted legal fight, as Cablevision historically has shown that it’s not afraid to stand up to programmers in these types of disputes.

    Last year, for instance, Cablevision was involved in two high-profile retransmission fights that ended in blackouts of major broadcast content. The first saw ABC disappear from its cable system for a short period during the Academy Awards, and the latter led to a blackout of Fox stations for two weeks during the Major League Baseball playoffs.

    Cablevision has also shown a willingness to fight for new technology it thinks provides value to its subscribers. Take the case of the network DVR: Cablevision was taken to court by Cartoon Network after announcing it was coming to market with a product that would record and store shows in the cloud rather than on a set-top box. Cablevision prevailed in that case, with the Supreme Court eventually signing off on the technology.

    We expect Cablevision will probably rely on the same type of argument it used in the network DVR case. Just as a DVR service is not substantially different to a consumer whether it be delivered from the hard drive within a set-top box or streaming from the cloud, Cablevision will argue that delivery to an iPad is no different from delivering to a TV. In a statement responding to the lawsuit, it even said as much:

    “Cablevision’s very popular Optimum App for iPad, which has been available to our customers for nearly three months, falls within our existing cable television licensing agreements with programmers – including Viacom. It is cable television service on the iPad, which functions as a television, and is delivered securely to our customers in the home on Cablevision’s own proprietary network.”

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