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.

Facebook for iOS has now batch upload

After Facebook’s acquisition of photo-sharing service Instagram, released Facebook Camera was released: a standalone iPhone app that replicated Instagram’s trademark photo filters. Reports say that the camera function in Facebook iOS app is adding the filters as well. 

Just like the standalone app, selecting photos using the checkbox then tapping to enlarge them lets you select from 13 filters, including Emerald, Golden, and Boost, and you can also crop and rotate your pictures before uploading them to Facebook. 

Version 5.1 adds multi-photo uploads as well, which makes for a nicely streamlined interface — select your photos, do your adjustments and tag your friends, then upload them with a single caption. Facebook chats are now easier to access, too, using a leftward swipe on the Facebook home screen.

Courtesy: The verge

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

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

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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

Faster Facebook for iOS

If you’re one of the millions of people using Facebook’s main iOS application, you already know it’s horrendously slow.
The app’s performance up to now has been embarrassing, considering Facebook is the most installed iOS application in the entire world. Slogging through the feed was sluggish. Photos took forever to load. Even the basic action of opening the app itself took longer than other apps.
Facebook has answered the pleas of millions of mobile users with the release of a new application for iOS. The social network has finally addressed the most glaring issue of the company’s iPhone and iPad applications: speed.

Facebook acknowledges as much. “People have different expectations when it comes to using Facebook for iOS,” Mick Johnson, Facebook iOS mobile product manager, told me in an interview this morning. “They expect a level of performance and speed that just wasn’t there.”

Part of the reason behind the slowness was the old app’s reliance on HTML5. While HTML5 is a great way to build cross-platform, mobile-friendly apps and web pages, it’s not as fast for certain types of applications.

In June, two Facebook developers told The New York Times that they were working on rebuilding the iOS app in Objective-C and that the resulting app could be 2.5 times faster.For iPad users, Timeline is finally supported on the device. We have to say, it looks great on the retina screen!

Download: Facebook for iOS

Screenshots

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.

Comparison between Google and Apple Maps

Google Maps has been available on the iPhone since the device’s launch, but on Monday Apple announced its own version of Maps for iOS 6 — one that will be replace the Google service on its smartphones.

Google recently announced an update to its mapping service as well. While both services certainly have a lot in common, there are also quite a few distinctive differences between the two.

A comparison between Apple maps and Google Maps

Traffic

Both Google Maps and Apple's Maps can give you traffic information as well as general directions.
Apple's Maps will also use crowd-sourced information on accidents, allowing you to better see potential slow downs before they slow you down.

Routing

Both maps will be able to give you driving and walking directions.

Apple Maps, however, will not offer public transportation maps at launch, unlike its Google counterpart.

Local Search

Apple's Maps offers a local search function that allows you to look up local restaurants and businesses.

While you can also look up restaurants using Google Maps, Apple's Maps will integrate in Yelp information, allowing you to check out restaurants by rating and read reviews.

Local search

Searches for local restaurants and businesses in Apple's Maps will show not only the business, but also its Yelp rating and reviews.

[Source: Mashable]

Mac OS X Mountain Lion 15 new features

Apple announced on Monday during its 23rd annual Worldwide Developers Conference that OS X Mountain Lion, the latest upgrade to its core Mac software, will be getting a series of enhancements.

Apple exec Craig Federrichi demoed various Mountain Lion features for attendees, highlighting Siri-like dictation, a Power Nap feature which updates your streams while the Mac sleeps and a tabview feature associated with the Safari browser, which allows you to zoom in and out. It will also get deeper integration with iCloud.

Mountain Lion will ship in July and cost $19.99. It will also serve as an upgrade to Snow Leopard.

Apple OS X Mountain Lion: 15 New Features

1. Deeper Integration With iCloud

Today, Apple's iCloud technology syncs media (music, photos) and some data among iPhones, iPads, iPod Touches and to a limited extent Macs. With OS X Mountain Lion, iCloud plays a greater role on the Mac side, syncing calendars, contacts and email across all your devices. iCloud syncing comes to a host more apps, including Messages, Notes and Reminders (more on those in a bit). As iCloud and the Mac evolve, Apple's vision of a unified experience across all devices is becoming clearer.

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2. Messages Replaces iChat

With iOS 5, Apple introduced iMessage for its mobile devices, which emulated BlackBerry Messenger's ability to send messages either as text messages or pure data. Now iMessage gets a desktop friend: Messages, which replaces iChat and acts as an instant-messaging app (for accounts on AIM, Google Chat and others) that's iMessage-friendly. You can easily send photos and videos via messages, and you can launch FaceTime from the app, too. It's as yet unclear how it'll handle text messages sent to specific phone numbers, but it's another step toward a unified chat experience.

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3. Notification Center

Notifications got a huge upgrade with iOS 5, so it only makes sense that similar technology makes an appearance on Mountain Lion. Notifications will have a unified look, popping up in the top right of the screen (no option to customize the location) and going away quickly. Sliding two fingers to the side on your trackpad will open up your notifications list on the right side of the screen, which looks almost exactly the same as its cousin on iOS.

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4. Share Fast, Share Often

Apple has added a Share button to its apps, which it calls Share Sheets. Now when you're in Safari, you can quickly send a link. Same with photos from iPhoto (and Photo Booth!). There's also an option to add location. Tellingly, Twitter is an ubiquitous option while Facebook sharing has only been added to QuickTime.

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5. Twitter, Twitter Everywhere

Twitter integration is now at the OS level with Mountain Lion, and logging in once from you System Preferences enables sharing across all apps. Share options for Twitter are built into almost all Apple apps, and any @replies and mentions you get will pop up as notifications.

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6. Game Center

The iOS Game Center comes to the Mac, bringing with it leaderboards, game discovery from friends and even multiplayer gameplay. That's right, with Mountain Lion you'll be able to play games on your Mac with your friends in iOS devices, in real time. That is, as long as there's a Mac version -- good thing Apple is releasing the Game Kit tool to make it easier for developers to creat Mac games that play nice with Game Center.

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7. AirPlay Mirroring

Apple AirPlay lets you wirelessly stream music and videos to any AirPlay-compatible device, which includes Apple TV. That means iPads and iPhones can stream video to a TV screen via Apple TV, and now Macs get added to that list with Mountain Lion. On the Mac, AirPlay mirroring can send whatever's on your screen to a TV set connected to an Apple TV (at 720p resolution), giving those videos and presentations room to stretch out.

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8. Reminders

The Reminders app that appeared with iOS 5 now has a Mac version, and it syncs across all your iOS devices via iCloud. The app lets you make a lists within tasks, and you can set alerts, too -- just like on iOS. One thing missing in the Mac version, though: the ability to set an a location-based alert, reminding you to do something when you arrive at or leave a place. You'll still need an iPhone or iPad to create those.

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9. Notes

Like Reminders, Notes now gets an Mac version, with some special abilities. The app is compatible with rich text, letting you add photos, movies and bulleted lists to your notes. Plus you can treat them like Post-It notes, sticking individual notes to your screen so they always appear "on top" of your apps. Like reminders, Notes get the iCloud-syncing treatment across all your iOS devices.

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10. Contacts

In Mountain Lion, Contacts replaces the Mac Address Book app, another sign of bringing the OS X experience with iOS.

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11. Safari Tweaks

Apple's web browser gets a makeover with Mountain Lion, with many of the changes clearly influenced by the rapidly rising Google Chrome. The biggest change: the address bar and search field get combined into an "omnibox." Also, the Reader button becomes much more prominent, and Safari is finally ditching the "http://" -- just the URL is visible in casual browsing. Finally, you can now sync Safari tabs across devices via iCloud.

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12. Gatekeeper

Apple has introduced a new way to protect your Mac from malware, called Gatekeeper. With Gatekeeper, you choose in your System Prefs the level of protection you want: whether to install and run apps from the Mac App Store only, from the store and trusted developers (vetted by Apple) or from anyone. Control-clicking will let you override your settings temporarily.

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13. Apple ♥ China

Apple's business is booming in China (iPad trademark legal battles notwithstanding), and it clearly wants to make its products as Sino-friendly as possible. Mail, Contacts and Calendar all work with some of the top Chinese online services, including Baidu. Share Sheets for Chinese users will include China-based video-sharing websites and blogging services, and there are some improvements to basic text input as well.

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14. Software Update Changes

Now clicking on Software Update will bring you right to the Mac App Store, and if there's new software available, you'll get a message in your Notification Center. Apple wants its App Store to be the primary way Mac users get software, and this is a sign that the company is eating its own dog food in that sense.

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15. Just Call It "OS X"

It's a semantic change, but it worth noting that Apple has ditched the "Mac" part of "Mac OS X" when it refers to the new OS. Could that be a sign of an even deeper marrying of its desktop software with iOS down the road? Stay tuned.

[Source:Mashable]

Facebook App center

A place to find great apps

For the over 900 million people that use Facebook, the App Center is the central place to find great social apps. Everything has an app detail page, which helps people see what makes an app unique and lets them install it before going to an app.

App detail pages help people understand what makes an app unique, see screenshots of the experience, and login to start using the app. After a user authenticates from an app detail page, they’ll be sent directly into the app.

Growth for high-quality apps

Success through the App Center is tied to the quality of an app. We use a variety of signals, such as user ratings and engagement, to determine if an app is listed in the App Center. To help you monitor user feedback, we provide an app ratings metric in Insightsto report how users rate your app over time.

Well-designed apps that people enjoy will be prominently displayed. Apps that receive poor user ratings or don’t meet the quality guidelines won't be listed.

Driving mobile installs

The App Center is designed to grow mobile apps that use Facebook – whether they’re on iOS, Android or the mobile web. From the mobile App Center, users can browse apps that are compatible with their device, and if a mobile app requires installation, they will be sent to download the app from the App Store or Google Play.

[Source: Facebook]