Hi_Rob, I created this on the iPhone with the app Swakker Skywrite.
Regards,
Talmon M
=================
Transcript for Episode 270
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Help Save Podcasting! | Electronic Frontier Foundation
Do you like Podcasts - Do you like to listen or watch podcast? Seriously - Because the EFF - The Electronic Frontier Foundation wants to help save podcasting - this is again a very serious segment - A patent troll out there has been going after podcaster sending them extortion letters and in some cased even filing lawsuits. And the EFF is Mad as Heck and they are not going to take it any more - but they need everyone that listens to podcasts to help out. The just need to raise $30,000 - which is not much at all - if everyone that listens to this show donated a buck - they would hit their goal. Ok granted the min amount listed is $25 - but you can donate just $5. There is a link in the show notes titled - Help Save Podcast - Electronic Frontier Foundation - Click on it and help out if you like podcasts and want them to continue - or if you just really hate patent trolls - either way your help is needed. And Yes I made my donation of $100 which at that time put them at over $20,000 towards their goal of $30,000. So yes I put my money where my mouth is. Again please help out - go to the link in the show notes about saving podcasting - it is the first link for ep 270 at today in iOS dot com. Actually now EFF is up to $25,000 - still please go there and lend you support.
Tim Cook this week was at the All Things D conference talking with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher on stage. During they conversation Tim Cook said quote On the general topic of opening up APIs, I think you’ll see us open up more in the future, but not to the degree that we put the customer at risk of having a bad experience unquote.
Hmmm - So what exactly does that mean? I can't imagine their definition of opening up more would meet the same definition as say someone developing as jailbreak app - but it sure would be nice to get some of the jailbreak apps and features no banned by Cupertino - officially sanctioned by Cupertino. This does sound a little like Apple realizing because of the amazing amount of interest in Jailbreaking that they do need to loosen up on the reigns a bit - but then again don't expect to see PDAnet in the App store anytime soon. Hopefully Tim's comments will be better expanded upon come June 10th.
Tim Cook was also pushed / nagged by Kara about using a larger screen on the iPhone. Tim Cook responded by saying there were tradeoffs with today's screens, including color, white balance and battery life. and saying Apples customers want Apple to weigh those and come out with a decision. Which to mean is interesting in that is the second time he made a similar comment about tradeoffs on screen size - last time I thought he was doing that to open the way for a bigger screen - by being able to say - we did the larger screen with out the tradeoffs - and now I am even more convinced that is the case. But then some people see German dictators in Kitchen ware - so I guess it just matters how hard you are trying to see something where nothing may actually exists.
Another very interesting quote from TimCook was quote After years of selling a few hundred thousand Apple TVs, sales have reached 13 million -- with half of those coming in the last year unquote.
Apple TV's market share - Apple 2.0 -Fortune Tech
So what does 13 Million Apple TV's relate to as far as market share goes in the set top box slash Digital Media receiver category? Well I am glad you asked and so is Philp Elmer Dewitt - well actually he is more glad than me as he took the time to write a post about this very topic - who would have thunk. Seems Apple TV's 13 million units sold - is more than double Roku's 5 Million units sold. And a bazillion times more than Boxee's Box which sold just 200,000 units before it was taken around back and put out of its misery. So Apple TV accounts for 71% of the market share for Digital Media receivers. This does not obviously count XBox's and play stations which have this capability - but well people are actually using for you know playing games not watching Mad Men or lost. In any case 13 Million units sales on a hobby is not to bad. It would make you think Apple is really taking Apple TV seriously - that is right up until you go to the newly redesigned Apple.com website - and try to find an apple tv for sale with out typing apple tv in the search box - I dare you - try it. At the top if you click on Store - your options are Shop Mac , Shop iPad, Shop iPhone, Shop iPod - and that is it. Oh wait I found it - you have to click on iPod on the top bar over all - and then you see Apple TV. Still for someone looking for Apple TV it was tough to find it.
Apple's Tim Cook is on target about Google Glass... for now | ZDNet
One other thing Tim Cook talked about at All Things D - was wearable computing. And he basically said he thinks Google Glass best case is a niche product with out massive mainstream appeal. I have read where others that have them and know others that do - say Only those that are forced to wear them keep wearing them after the novelty wears off. Tim Cook did praise Nike Fuelband as an example of a product that already works well. He did say that most good wearable computing approaches today focus on doing one thing. That said - I still see an iWatch as something that is a morph of the Pebble and the Nike Fuelband. While Tim has dogged multipurpose devices before - we should not forget the iPhone is the ultimate multipurpose device - Phone / Camera / Email / iPod / GPS all in one device. So to think that the iWatch would combine the Fuelband and the Pebble is far fetched is not realizing Apple really does like multipurpose devices.
Apple unveils new 16GB iPod touch model without iSight, priced at $229
On Thursday May 30th Apple announced or told the Loop that they have sold 100 Million iPod Touches since they launched that device back in 2007. So how did Apple mark this significant milestone you ask? Well by giving the Low end iPod touch an up/downgrade today. Previously the low end was a $199 4th gen 16 GB iPod touch - now it is a $229 5th gen 16 GB iPod touch. From an upgrade perspective it received the larger 4" screen and faster A5 processor - on the downgrade side it lost the rear camera - now where did I put that camera - I just set it down for a second. It is available just in black on silver and it lost the holding button for the wrist strap - which does mean it is slightly lighter at 86 grams vs the hefty 88 grams of the 32 GB and 64 GB 5th gen iPod touches good thing they have that wrist strap. It is interesting Apple picked now to phase out the old iPod touch and intro the new one. My guess is that will have something to do with what iOS devices will work with iOS 7 - Which might mean only iOS devices with A5 and newer processors - that would then mean no iPhone 4 for iOS 7. Which when I put it like that kind of makes it sound like I am rambling like an idiot. Ok - maybe best to just wait until WWDC before starting rumors that the iPhone 4 will not support iOS 7. But still interesting timing.
16:31.437
PLAY VOICE MAIL - Richard Answer camera focus
Hi Rob,
Per the Listener with iPad 1 app loading issue.
Your caller might want to try logging out of his user ID on his iPad and logging back in. Seems to me I had an issue like this and it helped.
Regards,
Dan in Parrish, FL
Hi Rob,
Per the guy with iPad problem. he probably has a corrupt version on iTunes on his XP. Updates to iTunes do not fix iTunes issues as the original problems remain.
He should uninstall iTunes from his XP. His Backups will remain and stored in a different area. Reinstall iTunes after reboot. This should fix his issue. Of course cleaning out spy's and fixing registry might help as well.
Regards,
Chris in london
Hi Rob,
Does FaceTime work if u are calling internationally. I imagine it should if you using the receiver's email address?
Pls let me know if u do.
Regards, Tosin O
Yes - Facetime works fine internationally - think of it like skype. Just as long as both parties have a good data connection to the internet. Now if one of you happen to be on a carrier that blocks Facetime that would be an issue. Having a good wifi connection to the internet on both ends and you should be able to facetime from any two points on the globe. Well except in North korea or other countries that severely limit internet access.
Rob W
Hello Rob.
Wondering if you or your listeners can help me.
I'm wanting to print a booklet from my pages app on iPad.
It needs to be A4 folded in half eg x2 A5 landscape pages.
I have a epson xp405 AirPrint enable printer if this helps.
Ryu
Sheffield, England
Hey Ryu thanks for asking - to change that it is so easy click on the wrench in the upper right - then select document set up - then select the curved up corner of the document in the lower right - then just tap on A4 - then print - I mean wasn't that just obvious? Ok - in all honesty - I searched for that option for about 25 minutes or more. They did a good job hiding it down there. Luckily I did find it as I likely would not have recorded the show if I did not find it because I would still be looking. Some times I get like that.
19:40:383
Did Apple Cheat On Its Taxes? - Forbes
I had a few people ask why I did not comment more about Tim Cooks US senate testimony and some asking about Apple and cheating on Taxes or not paying their fair share to the US government. Except - here is the problem with those questions - Apple did not cheat on their taxes and did pay their fair share of US taxes. The entity they set up in Ireland that was for their international business - and was connected to sales not in the US and hence did not effect what they paid for US taxes. Which as Apple put it they paid about 1/40th of all corporate taxes paid in the US last year. Tim Cook said to Congress Apple followed both the letter of the law and the Spirit of the law when paying their US taxes. What Apple has not done is bring Profits made over seas back into the US. Which really would make no sense for them to bring back to the US - as they would be taxed again on that money. Plus Apple can better use that money overseas to secure components and manufacturing capacity - and there is just no reason for Apple to bring that money to the US. Again Apple did not cheat on their taxes and did not move money to the Cayman islands or other tax cheating scams.
Apple Might Have Flashed an iWatch in Latest Ad [VIDEO]
No Apple did no flash an iWatch in their latest iPhone ad - the one about people listening to music on their iPhone. Seems there is a scene in the commercial that a guy is drumming on a table and you see a biggish squarish looking device on his right wrist - making some speculate that is the new iWatch. Yes because Apple is so apt at giving unreleased product to Actors in commercials so they can be seen unclose by all those working on the Ad - and well everyone the ad goes out to. Yeah - just not going to happen.
Other rumors we can kill quickly - an iPad 13" version - nope.
and A sub $250 iPad Mini 2 - nope
Japanese Rumor Says Apple Prepping Multicolor iPhone & iPhone 5S - The Mac Observer
Other rumors with regards to the next iPhone coming from the Japanese site Macotakora - which has had hit and miss results in the past - as the next gen iPhone coming in many different colors - think the iPod touch - And also coming with a dual flash. Finally it is rumored there might be a lower cost variant of this phone too. So rather then selling the iPhone 5 / 4S / 4 - there would I guess the 5S expensive and 5S not expensive - yeah the rumor was not to clear there.
Thanks to John M for pointing out Microsoft did update their Ad I mentioned on the last show - the one where they said the Asus screen was larger - when it was not. Seems someone in Redmond borrowed their 6th graders geometry book and a calculator and figured out they were wrong and changed the ad. Doohhh.
26:06.417
Hi Rob
I am writing in response to your caller who had the problem with Siri not working when he got the pebble. Thankfully Siri still works for me, but there has been a delay sometimes when I try to activate her up. I have seen that delay periodically since I got my pebble. The only Bluetooth devices I use are a Motorola speaker, a Jawbone earpiece and a JBL charge. The JBL charge is great by the way, I highly recommend it as a small portable speaker. It puts out great sound and also serves as a backup battery for your iPhone. It works great while camping.
Mitch from Winston Salem
Hi Rob,
Just wanted to contact you with a quick app review that I think other listeners would find useful.
I was looking for a way for my father to view photos from photo stream on his iPhone or iPad on their TV screen rather than having to play 'pass the iPad' around the table when they have friends over. Purchasing an Apple TV was an option but was an expensive way of going about it, plus it would mean a gadget hanging from the wall mounted TV which wouldn't go down well!
They have a DLNA enabled TV and Blu-ray player connected to wifi, so I searched the app store and came across SKIFTA. SKIFTA enables you to access music, photos and video from your wifi connected iOS device, and even better it is free.
The early releases were a bit slow and buggy but version .092 is pretty good and I was able to watch a film stored on my iPad and the quality was remarkable.
Some DLNA players are not visible on the network however, for these you can select 'Play on unlisted player' within the app. Then search within the viewing device for media sources labeled 'Skifta' under photos, video etc using your TV remote control.
Hope this review is useful, it saved me £99 which can't be bad.
Thanks for the excellent show, great job.
Cheers,
Julian.
Suffolk, UK.
Hi Rob,
We could use some help (backers) with the funded project - TapCaps. All we have gotten are updates. Alice Ning (TapCaps) had been updating us about every four weeks after the close of funding, the last update was on Jan 17th, 2013 and her last post under the comment section was on May 7th, 2012. Any help would be great.
We don't know if she has taken the money and ran with it, run out of money and hiding from all of us or has she been run over by a car?
Please see what you can do, other projects I have funded have shipped their items or they have been keeping us informed with updates on the status.
The funders of this project are worried that is like the iGode project but this one none of us have gotten a single product.
Regards,
Thomas in Tuscaloosa AL.
Hi Thomas - I reached out to Alice for comment yesterday via a couple of emails I found for her - and she did reply back - here is her reply.
Quote
Hello Rob,
Thanks for your email.
At this point, the only way that TapCaps can be brought to market is if it can be sold to a company that has a complimentary line of products. There's just no way I can bring it to market myself given the amount of initial capital necessary for a manufacturing run and what I've learned about the retail business.
There have also been a number of infringers on my patent which, unfortunately, I have the sole responsibility of enforcing so the legal fees have been a huge expense that used up my personal reserve. US patent law very heavily favors large companies and those with alot of resources.
Honestly, there isn't good news to share. I feel like a tremendous failure and have been working alot since I spent pretty much my entire life savings on this project. The unforeseen costs were just ridiculous.
I know I need to send an update via Kickstarter but I've just been waiting desperately for some positive news to share. I've been trying to sell the product and there have been many companies that seemed to be interested, but each keeps ending in disappointment. I'm now waiting on the final company to decide but the problem is that there has been too much competition in the market to make this a desirable product.
I caveated in the rewards that delivery of TapCaps was dependent on the successful completion of a manufacturing campaign so I've been trying to work out the numbers and see how there might be any way I can provide that number of rewards. I may send out the prototypes which may not meet expectations as to how they perform.
I am incredibly sorry for the disappointment this project has caused. How to resolve it is something I'm still trying to work out.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to provide feedback to your viewers.
Alice
unquote
So for any funders of Tapcaps - there is your update - it does not sound like the news you wanted to hear. Please note - all kickstarter and indiegogo projects are risks - We hope each one we fund comes to be - but sometimes - startups - never get started. And it sounds like this is the case with this one.
That all said over at Kickstarter there is a new project that just launched - hmmm new and just launched - guess that was redundant - anyway I thought this one was interesting. It is called the Arriba - a r r i b a - and it is for any iOS device with a lightning port. What it is an adapter that allows you to charge your iOS device with a 30 pin connector or a micro-usb connector. This way when you are out an about you are almost certain to find a charging solution for your device. It is designed to be placed on your keychain. They have a very modest goal of $8,500 (Way to go guys - You had me at goal - So far they have about $1,000 pledged - but they have 33 days to go - That is until July 3rd at 2:48 PM ET to be precise. The pricing for the early bird special is $25 - and they have about 400 of the 450 remaining. Even if you don't have an iPhone YET with firewire you might want to consider this as the deliver date is September which should also be when the next gen iPhone will be out. Note you can not sync your device via the adapter - it is just for charging. Search for Arriba - a r r i b a at kickstarter dot com or in the show notes for ep 270 at today in ios dot com. Good luck guys and way to keep the goal low.
Thanks to Tash for this next one. Which is about a major update to the Shazam app - including it going universal - meaning just one app for both the iPhone and iPad - no longer two different apps. It also added mapping features - which lets you see what songs are being tagged where. And there is also an auto tag feature where it listens to music playing around you automatically and tags songs without you hitting a button and this includes running and tagging in the background. I guess I am confused on the purpose of that feature I mean other than to drain your battery life that is. Anyway If you are a shazam user - go check out the update - and as always the app is Free - as in Zilch - zip - nadda.
Turning Off IPhone Critical to Pilots Reporting Interference (1) - Businessweek
Still not sure what to make of the report about an iPhone interfering with a regional jets compasses. The story reported in Businessweek and re-reported everywhere in the past two weeks - seems greatly over done. The supposed story is a regional jet taking off - noticed some issues with its compass around 9,000 feet up and the issue did not go away until the flight attendant had one of the passengers turn off his iPhone. Could an issue like this happen on a major jet - like a 737 or larger - probably not. After all most people don't turn their phones off anyway - most just turn off the screen and don't put them into Airplane mode until after you can turn the devices back on - so this is not a widespread issue - I kept waiting for a good rebuttal or confirmation of this story. All I could find in searching on this one - was a couple of other stories from 2012 time frame of pilots talking about smaller regional jets also having their older compasses effected by cellphones - and they know there is one active by the clickety clack interference that is the tell tale sign of a cell phone getting data. You know the sound the ones Blackberry make when checking for emails. Any way - I think the long of the short - if you are on a regional jet - turn off your cell phones - and make sure they are in Airplane mode before taking off and turning them off.
http://lousbrain.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/top-100-ios-apps/
35:27.608
Hey, Rob!
I have an issue I hope you or your listeners can help me solve.
I have the iPhone 5 with the latest version of iOS, but since I installed said version , my keyboard shortcuts don't work, even though they're still listed in the Settings menu.
I've tried deleting and re-creating them, to no avail.
Is anyone else experiencing this problem and is there a fix for my NON-jail-broken iPhone?
Regards,
- Tammy (near St. Louis) 0:-)
And that one I will send out to the listeners - if anyone has a solution for Tammy and her lost keyboard shortcuts in iOS after updating to iOS 6.1.4 - please let us know. 206-666-6364 - that's 206-moon-dog - or send an email to today in iOS at gmail dot com.
http://lousbrain.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/top-100-ios-apps/
Hi Rob,
Just wanted to drop you a line about some content I created that iOS fans may enjoy. First, I created 2 Pebble Watchfaces on MyPebbleFaces.com. Apple Classy (http://www.mypebblefaces.com/?query=apple+classy&generated=1) and Mustang: An American Legend (http://www.mypebblefaces.com/?query=mustang&generated=1).
Also, the latest post on my blog is a rundown of my favorite 100 apps. They are broken down by category and separated into 3 tables by device (iPhone, iPad, Universal). I created it to answer the age-old question of new iPhone owners "What are some good apps I should get?" I figured there are some listeners out there that would find it helpful. You can find it at http://lousbrain.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/top-100-ios-apps/.
In episode 269, a caller was having a problem with installing apps where they just said "Waiting…" I've seen this occasionally. What seems to work for me is update all your apps in iTunes on your computer, then connect your iPad and sync. I've also seen the issue with Siri not working right with Pebble synced. I'm usually in the car with the stereo connected through the headphone jack. It seems like microphone isn't picking up my voice. I haven't found a fix or workaround yet, but I'll chaco back if I do.
Thanks Rob. Looking forward to the next episode.
Lou Valencia
Hi Rob,
I bought an iPad 4th gen about two weeks ago. This is my first iPad. I
have had an iPhone 5 since the launch and I use Siri quite a bit.
When I first used Siri on my iPad her voice sounded muffled and more
"computer-ish" than on my iPhone. Comparing the two there was a
significant difference.
After a day or so Siri's voice changed and became just like the iPhone.
I had to exchange the iPad because of a small problem with the home
button, and Siri's voice was weird on the brand new iPad as well. I
compared Siri's voice on the iPads side by side in the Apple store
with a sales rep and he could easily hear the difference.
It took longer, about a week, but finally Siri sounds normal on my iPad again.
I have talked to several people at the Apple store and at AppleCare,
but no one has ever heard of this before. I am surprised, because
Apple is all about the customer experience, and having a voice I had
come to be familiar with change suddenly was an uncomfortable
experience.
Have you heard of this? Do you know what is going on with Siri?
Thanks,
Michael from Seattle
Hi Rob,
Here is a review of a jailbreak app.
I really like the MiniPlayer App by MPow and Surenix. The $1.99 App is a sweet Mini Player Widget that hovers over all your Apps to allow easy access to your music. Even from the Lockscreen in the Cydia Store
Similar in design to the iTunes 11 Miniplayer. Plays and controls your music playing from your Music Library and or Music Services like Spotify. Which through Settings can be set as a default. With variable Activator Actions and Gesture preferences.
New to the Latest version, is a Search Facility added to the Player. You can move the MiniPlayer by just tapping and moving anywhere you like. Tap on the edges and it closes to a small edge Tab. On the left or Right. Tap on the Tab and it springs to the Middle Screen for the iPhone and or iPad. Tap and hold Album Art and opens Volume Control. Tab on the centre with Scrolling album Artist name and Song info, brings up the Pause, Skip features. Tap on the Left to Close to Tab and as App Switcher Opens the Music App and Or Spotify or other Music Apps you Select in Settings. Swipe to Hide and other features. You can also change the Colour Theme to a Dark one or keep the Silver one.
Check out the Video. In Cydia. I really like this one.
Regards, Chris
PLAY VOICEMAIL - Gary_Mac_Database
46:01.156
Don't forget about the App give aways over at todayinios dot com - a new one is going up every day - and they stay active for 5 days - so check out the site now and check it out often to see if there are any apps you are interested in - again I will be launching a new app each day at 12:00 AM ET until at least WWDC - based on your feedback and participation.
And Before we go today I want to remind you to send in your feedback to the show - 206-666-6364 - that 206-moon-dog - or record your feedback and email it to the show at today in iOS at gmail dot com - The feedback can be a question or comment per something someone said on this episode or it can be a question or rant you have about something else. An App or product review - good or bad - as long as it is iOS related - it is welcomed. I am always looking for new Artwork to feature that you created on an iOS device - just put some Tii branding on it and send it in. And of course we are always looking for more music created on an iOS device to play on the show. This is your show and your feedback is greatly desired. If you want to know when new episodes go up - look at the Tii app - not just the best way to consume the show - but also a great way to get a push message when a new episode goes live or there is other iOS breaking news. Just $2.99 in the app store - it helps you get the most out of the show and it helps support the show at the same time - plus it makes it really easy to email or call the show with your feedback. Again just search for Tii in the iTunes app store.
And that folks is going to do it for us today.