Google Maps for iOS is back, this time has new features

Look who's back. It's Google Maps, again for iPhone. Once removed from the iOS, it has made its entry back. This time with more power and let's say, more sexy. 

This a joyful news for everyone, even they use iPhone or not because Apple's decision was hated worldwide and the world was waiting for Google's next step. And Google too has not disappointed us. Google’s app includes voice guided turn-by-turn driving directions, as well as public transit directions, Street View, and a 3D-like Google Earth view.

Download here

Google Maps on iOS has trace similarities to its Android counterpart, but it's udesigned for Apple's platform. This time Google Maps has a new sleek interface, making similar to that of Google Now, and guided turn-by-turn directions and public transit maps. 

Daniel Graf, Director of Google Maps for Mobile, reported that the company took a step back from its earlier creations and approached it with a fresher, more streamlined outlook. That means a more elegant interface, totally from the base.

And it is the most amazing news that Google Maps for iOS is the most downloaded App in the App store, in just few hours.

Are you among the crowd to use New Google Maps? Share your views with us in comments.

Apple Store website gets updated for holiday season

Apple has updated its Apple Store webpage, for this holiday season. The special page designed for holiday season prices has a friendly guide which lets users select the products, with minimum page load, making people not move from the page. The products listed are not only Apple's products but also some other such as MS Office for Mac, Bowers & Wilkins A5 airplay speakers etc.

Every year Apple reduces its prices for one day i.e. Black Friday making a lot of revenue in result. And same is done this year. Apple's Black Friday went on live yesterday and prices were reduced upto 20%. 

The reduced prices let you save $41 on an iPad, $31 on iPad 2 and iPod touch, $101 on the new MacBook Pros and MacBook Air. What if you could save 20%, or also get a hundred dollar gift card to spend on something else?

This campaign will take place upto this holiday season, including Christmas' and New Year celebration. Undoubtedly,  Apple Stores are going to show "Out of Stock" boards.

Visit Apple Store's website here

Android is on top of the market share

Android is king again. This year's Gartner's report says this. Android‘s overall smartphone market share has jumped to 72.4% in Q3 2012, up from 52.5% in the same period last year.

Apple has got reduction. Its smartphone OS, iOS has fall down from 15% to 13.9%. Microsoft is again struggling at the bottom, its Windows Phone managed to grow from 1.5% to 2.4%. Another player, Samsung’s Bada managed to increase its market share, from 1.5% to 2.4%.

But when talk comes to sales of devices, there is the king: Samsung. Samsung sold 97,956 devices in 3Q 2012 and secured 22.9% market share, while last year it was 18.7% with sales of 82,612 devices. A few time ago, samsung announced that 30 million units of Galaxy SIII have been sold.

Nokia is on the second place holding 19.2% of the market share while Apple is on third with 5.5% of market share. Other figures are as follows.

Apple got the patent for virtual page turn

Apple now holds the patent ownership of the "page turn". This patent was approved by the United States Patent Office for “Display screen or portion thereof with animated graphical user interface.”

This patent was one of the 38 patents that were granted to Apple this week. This patent holding will changing the future as Apple may charge other devices and operating systems if they hold such feature. However, the devices released before this patent were remain unaffected.

The New York Times points out that this isn’t the first “seemingly obvious” patent that Apple has been awarded. The company was also granted a patent for the musical note icon it uses to represent iTunes and the glass staircase it uses it stores.

As you all know, the famous battle for patents between Apple and Samsung, which resulted in Apple walking away with $1 billion, from Samsung.

Apple and HTC have also set an agreement according to which Apple will license its patented technologies for 10 years. HTC will pay Apple $6-$8 per Android phone they have released. 

Apple iPad mini TV ads

Apple's iPad mini is providing a tough competition to Google Nexus and other 7" tablets. Mini version of iPad has the functionality, ease of access and power of the big bro iPad, but at a lesser price. So undoubtedly it got out of the stock, but its not new thing for Apple. Last week they announced that they have sold 3 million iPad (both mini and iPad) in a single weekend.

Here are some TV advertisements of iPad mini.

Apple may remove Intel support from macs

Apple may drop Intel chips from Mac computers, in favor of chips similar to the ones used in the iPad and iPhone, sources say.

According to a Bloomberg report, Apple’s engineers think its own chips will one day be powerful enough to run laptop and desktop computers, but this change likely won’t happen in the next few years.

Apple’s 2005 switch from PowerPC processors to Intel x86 processors was one of the most surprising moves that year, as the Cupertino, Calif. company has long maintained that PowerPC processors are better than Intel’s.

But it’s currently tablets and smartphones, which use tiny, low-power chips, that are dictating where the industry is heading. Apple is known for releasing very thin, light laptops — such as the MacBook Air and the latest Retina-equipped 13” MacBook Pro — which would benefit from such chips.

Courtesy: Mashable

Apple Sold 3 Million New iPads in a Weekend

Demand for the iPad mini have succeeded the initial supplies, but that's not a new figure for Apple. Its again, the same as that with iPhone and iPad, all gen.  

Apple announced Monday that it sold three million iPad minis and fourth-generation iPads in the first three days that the two new iPads were available.

The company says that this is double the previous record of 1.5 million Wi-Fi-only iPads that were sold in March when the the third-generation iPad initially went on sale. Unfortunately, Apple does not delineate how many iPad minis and fourth-generation iPads it sold, but lumps them all together in the three million figure.

The iPad mini was announced on October 23rd with pre-orders going live on the 26th. Pre-orders for the highly anticipated device quickly sold out, with wait times stretching out to two weeks or more. 

“Customers around the world love the new iPad mini and fourth generation iPad,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We set a new launch weekend record and practically sold out of iPad minis. We’re working hard to build more quickly to meet the incredible demand.”

Courtesy: The Verge, Mashable

Apple's tablet market falls to 50.4%

The old Silicon Valley joke, which claimed that “there is no tablet market, only an iPad market,” is obviously no longer true. 

Apple‘s tablet market share has dropped to 50.4% in Q3 2012, down from 59.7% in the same period last year, IDC’s latest report reveals.

Samsung, on the other hand, has experienced huge growth, jumping from 6.5% to 18.4% in that same period. Amazon holds the third place with 9%, followed by Asus with 8.6% and Lenovo with 1.4%.

According to IDC’s numbers, Samsung shipped 5.1 million tablets worldwide in 3Q12, up 115% from 2Q12 and 325% from 3Q11.

Amazon is in good position because rapidly expanding Kindle Fire lineup has helped it double its market share quarter-over-quarter.

Dropbox updates ios app for iPhone 5

Dropbox has released version 1.5.6 of its iOS app. It's now adapted for the iPhone 5's taller screen, and users are also finally able to download photos to their devices in full resolution. Previously the app downscaled photos when saving to the camera roll, so for example a 14-megapixel 4592 x 3056 image became just 960 x 638 when viewed on the iOS device. This was particularly aggravating when using the app on a Retina display, and made Dropbox less useful as a photo storage tool than it otherwise might have been — though it was possible to get around the limitation by saving images from Safari.

It's good to see the issue addressed, then, but the feature isn't without its problems. Downloads also take considerably longer than before even with this reduction in filesize, leaving us waiting a few minutes to save a single photo. All in all the update will please some people, but others might be frustrated if they prioritize speed over detail.

iPad mini event will be streamed live to Apple TVs

Apple will stream a live video feed from today's iPad mini keynote directly to Apple TVs. Users with an Apple TV should see a new "Apple events" icon on their homescreen.

Clicking on the icon will take you to a page inviting you to tune in at 10 AM Pacific time to watch the event live. First noticed by MacRumors, the decision marks a u-turn for Apple, which hasn't broadcast live video from an event since 2010.

There are a lot of sites which are offering Liveblogs for this event. Some of them are:

1. Engadget 
2. The Verge
3. Techno Buffalo
4. CNET

Apple loses UK Galaxy Tab design appeal

It seems that Samsung has got some relief in case of Suit for Galaxy Tab by Apple. 

Apple has lost its appeal in the UK regarding the High Court of Justice’s ruling that Samsung’s tablets did not infringe the iPad. The smartphone maker has now been ordered by Judge Kitchin to run a public apology stating that Samsung did not infringe its design. In an amusing twist, Reuters reports that the font size for the acknowledgement must be "no smaller than Arial 14."

Judge Colin Birss noted in July that Samsung’s tablets "were not as cool," stating that the designs didn't have "the same understated and extreme simplicity." The judge in the case also ruled that Apple would have to run advertisements on its website and in UK newspapers declaring that Samsung did not copy its designs. That motion was stayed, however, following today’s appeal.

Courtesy: The Verge

100th post: iPhone 5 v/s Galaxy SIII

And this is our 100th post. So we thought to post something that most of you are willing to see. 

Deathmatch: Apple iPhone 5 v/s Samsung Galaxy SIII

Galaxy SIII

iPhone 5

The article is taken straight away from Techno Buffalo as they compared this video test. Enjoy the comparison between best of both worlds: iOS and Android.

Courtesy: Techno Buffalo

Apple is solving the maps problem

A good news. Apple CEO Tim Cook admitted that rectifying Maps would be an ongoing process and that data will improve as more customers use it.

Apple has begun correcting the many inaccuracies and visual anomalies found in its new Maps app. Reports indicate that several of the most glaring mistakes — satellite images showing a distorted Brooklyn Bridge and missing Statue of Liberty among them — have quietly been fixed today. Just one week ago, Apple CEO Tim Cook issued a public apology to customers for delivering a Maps application he said "fell short" of the company's penchant for producing first-rate software. Cook said Apple would be working "non-stop" to improve the user experience; today's updates are the first discernible changes we've seen since the launch of iOS 6.

Plenty of outstanding issues remain, however, with international territories in particular affected by major flaws and less comprehensive mapping data compared to Google Maps.

Courtesy: The Verge

iPhone 5: More or less

The iPhone 5 is finally here, and it’s — in a word — different. The new iPhone is the most radical redesign of Apple‘s flagship product since its inception, sporting a larger screen, a different shape, more features and even new accessories in the box.

The new model offers a lot that’s different from the old model, no question. If it seems like everyone has an iPhone, you’re not crazy. Apple reports having sold 400 million iOS devices worldwide since the iPhone’s 2007 debut.

The iPhone 4S broke Apple’s sales records selling 4 million units in the first three days of launch. We expect more figures from iPhone 5. 

Features:

• iOS 6
• 4G LTE
• Larger Screen (4")
• Longer battery life (8hrs.)
• Sleek than iPhone 4S
• Dual Core 1GHz A6 chip
• 1GB RAM
• Faster graphics
• New sapphire iSight camera
• Lightning dock connector

Read reviews and posts from popular sites

1) The Verge
2) Engadget
3) CNET
4) TechnoBuffalo
5) Mashable

Gallery

Slideshow

Join Apple on unveiling new iPhone and iPad

The family portrait you see above is likely what Apple’s mobile lineup will look like on retail shelves around the world this holiday season. Apple is gearing up for one of the biggest ever periods in technology, and it’ll need all the ammo at its insanely wealthy disposal if it wants to keep up.

The company will have papa iPad, the much rumored mama iPad mini, and the all-important iPhone 5, which we’ll know about at today’s event. The landscape is moving toward the 7-inch tablet range right now; they’re ultra-portable, lighter, and a bit easier to wield than larger alternatives. The render above is designed to give scale and demonstrate how the devices will look alongside each other.

It’s a pretty handsome looking lineup, one that’ll come up against devices like the Samsung Galaxy Note II, Nexus 7 and Microsoft Surface during the next few months. It’ll be mighty interesting to see if this model family is still at the top of the heap when 2013 rolls around.

Watch iPhone 5 live event: 

• Engadget
• CNET
• T3 News
• TechnoBufflalo
• Mashable
• The Verge

YouTube kicked out from iOS 6

Slowly but surely, it seems as though Apple’s mobile OS is being stripped of search giant Google’s influence. Apple’s redesigned Maps application — due to make its debut in iOS 6 — no longer makes use of Google’s map data, and that trend continues with another recently spotted change.

The latest beta version of iOS 6 no longer includes the YouTube app, which has been a mainstay of iOS homescreens since the original iPhone.

Google is already working on a replacement app – which this time it will maintain and distribute itself – while Apple highlights that YouTube video playback already works within Safari and doesn’t demand the standalone software anyway. However, rather than just pushing Google’s services further to the periphery, there’s also the chance that Apple could move to fill the ensuing gap with a video offering of its own.

Apple's entire statement is below.

• Our license to include the YouTube app in iOS has ended, customers can use YouTube in the Safari browser and Google is working on a new YouTube app to be on the App Store.

Those sticking with older versions of iOS – either by choice or because their Apple gadget won’t support the new OS – won’t have to worry. Phones and tablets on iOS 5 and earlier will keep the existing YouTube app, as Apple’s license with Google apparently continues to cover it; the player won’t be deleted remotely or disabled.

For the end-user, it means YouTube won’t be at their fingertips from the get-go, though it also means Google can update and improve the app more frequently.

Mountain Lion Finally available

Apple developers, start your engines. Mac users, start dreaming of how much cooler your desktop or laptop experience could be this summer. And you don't need to wait much, because Mountain Lion is now available in the Mac App Store. Yes you read right, Apple has released it today, 25-Jun-12 at the price of $19.99.


Here's the link to App Store
http://bit.ly/Q1MFQ0


Well, here’s the next phase in the relationship, and iOS has practically moved in to Mac’s house. If Lion was a toothbrush in the bathroom, Mountain Lion is a chest of drawers in the bedroom. Reminders, iMessage, Game Center, Notifications, iCloud and Twitter integration — all iOS’s most intimate stuff is here, and it all pretty much looks the same as it does on the iPad. Most of it is designed to sync up so it is exactly the same.


Developers are going to have to make two separate versions of apps they want on Mac and iOS for some time to come, and that’s just fine with Apple. When it comes to its two operating systems, the company seems to believe living together is good enough.

Screenshots of Mountain Lion

We haven't got the chance to test the new Version of OS X, so we are taking help of some sites available on web. These will provide you the reviews, news and videos regarding this. Hope you will get the info you would like to see, and if there's a problem please feel free to share with us in comments. 

Links from other Sites: 

Apple: http://www.apple.com/osx/

Apple: http://www.apple.com/osx/whats-new/features.html

Mashable:  http://mashable.com/2012/07/24/apple-os-x-mountain-lion-on-sale/

Mashable: http://mashable.com/2012/02/16/apple-mountain-lion-mac-osx

The Verge: http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/25/3185644/mac-os-x-10-8-mountain-lion-review

CNET: http://reviews.cnet.com/macintosh-os/mac-os-x-10/4505-3673_7-35401483.html

Mac World: http://www.macworld.com/article/1165407/hands_on_with_apples_new_os_x_mountain_lion.html

Mac.Blorge: http://mac.blorge.com/2012/07/22/10-best-features-of-mac-os-x-mountain-lion/

Cult Of Mac: http://www.cultofmac.com/180100/get-your-mac-ready-for-mountain-lion-the-right-way-feature/

Life Hacker: http://lifehacker.com/5928780/how-to-burn-os-x-mountain-lion-to-a-dvd-or-usb-flash-drive

Apple: Introducing Mac OS X Mountain Lion

Thanks to: Apple, Mashable, Engadget, The Verge, Life Hacker, CNET, Cult of Mac, Mac World, Mac.Blorge and whole Web.