Author: Alan

Huffington Post’s iPad Magazine Now Offering Free Subscriptions Via Newstand

Weekly iPad magazine Huffington (link) is shedding its paid subscription model and is now offering free subscriptions inside Newstand. You can download all issues one-by-one or subscribe to receive automatic downloads once a week. Each issue is around 200 MB per issue.

Huffington has original content as well as some of HuffingtonPost.com’s better content from the previous week. Previously, Huffington cost $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year, but reading through a few issues, I can say the magazine seems a bit too small to justify charging that much. But hey, now it’s free.

A warning: if a partisan political viewpoint bothers you, Huffington is somewhat of the liberal persuasion. It’s even a little more heavyhanded then the conservative views of The Daily. It’s a partisan world, my friends.

Huffington iPad Magazine

New Rugged Version of Klipsch Image S4i Earphones Now Shipping

If you read this site, then you’ll know I’m a huge fan of the Klipsch Image S4i earphones. I consider them to be the best value in iPhone earphones out there. The only major downside of the S4i’s is lack of durability. Klipsch is looking to address that issue that with the new Klipsch Image S4i Rugged.

This new rugged version adds water and weather resistance, and “tough rubber moldings” to increase durability. I have to say though, looking at the photos, the flimsy, thin-spaghetti cords of the previous version look exactly the same. The major difference seems to come with the rugged-looking rubber material covering the three-button dongle and the earbuds (which used to be a slick glossy white).

The best news about the S4i Rugged is that they keep the same award-winning 8.5-mm dual-magnet micro speakers inside, so even if this “Rugged” thing is just a marketing gimmick, you’re still getting an awesome-sounding pair of earphones at a good price. The Klipsch Image S4i are $99 and come with a nice carrying case and 4 different sized pairs of ear tips.

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The Next iPhone Will be Announced Wednesday, September 12, Say Several Major News Outlets

There’s a stage at which iPhone rumors pass from unconfirmed to very likely true, and in the past few days, the date for the announcement of the next iPhone has reached that stage. The rumored date for an Apple media event to announce the next iPhone, as “verified” by several news outlets, is Wednesday, September 12, 2012.

The September 12 date was first reported by Apple blog iMore, then news heavyweights Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, All Things Digital, and NYTimes, all independently confirmed the date, as well as well-connected Apple blogger Jim Dalrymple, who confirmed it with a Steve Jobs-esque “yep.”

Of those news outlets, only iMore is supplying a ship date for the hardware: Friday, September 21, which is 9 days after the announcement. Last year, the iPhone 4S shipped on Friday, October 14, 2011, 10 days after its own media-event announcement on October 4.

10 Useful Tweaks You Can Make to the iPad’s Settings

When you first unwrap your iPad, it’s a pretty sweet device as is. But once you become familiar with it, there are a few tweaks to its settings you can make to improve your user experience even more. Below are 10 tweaks you can make to the iPad’s settings to improve the iPad.

1. Turn on 4-finger swipe gestures for improved multitasking. Want to quickly switch between apps by swiping the screen with four fingers? First, go into the iPad’s Settings–>General and slide the Multitasking Gestures tab to On. Now, launch a app, then to swipe to the left with four or five fingers touching the screen at the same time. See how quick that is? Now swipe to the right to switch back.

Having trouble getting your fingertips to touch the screen at the same time? Here’s a tip: form a claw with your hand and paw the screen (trust me, it’s more accurate). Full instructions here.

2. Add a bookmark bar to the iPad’s browser. Tired of navigating the maze of folders and subfolders in the iPad’s bookmark menu to launch your favorite sites? Turn on the bookmarks bar for always-visible, one-tap access to your favorite sites! Here’s how:

Go into the iPad’s Settings–>Safari and swipe the Always Show Bookmarks Bar tab to On.

Now go back into the Safari browser and you’ll see a bar has been added. Now fill that bar up with your favorite sites. To add bookmarks to this bar, tap the + symbol at the top of Safari, tap Add Bookmark, then tap Add to Bookmarks Bar. Visual instructions here.

3. Open new web links in the background in Safari. One annoying feature of mobile Safari is that opening links in a new tab means you automatically switch to that new tab. You can change this behavior so that the new tab opens in the background instead (without switching). To enable this, go to Settings > Safari and slide the Open New Tabs in Background to On.

Please note that, for this to work, you have to hold your finger on a link until a pop-up menu appears (see photo above) and then tap Open in New Tab. Simply tapping a link (without holding your finger on it) will always take you to that link in the current window.

4. Find a lost iPad by making it beep. Some people think that the Find My iPhone/iPad service is only for when your device is stolen. But it also comes in handy for an iPad lost under a stack of newspapers or between the couch cushions at your home. You can make the iPad emit a beeping noise to help you find it. It will even beep if you have the sound muted! But first, you’ll need to activate Find My iPad. Here’s how. Go to Settings on your iPad, tap iCloud, and enable Find My iPad. Note your iPad must be connected to Wi-Fi.

Now, to make your iPad beep, go to iCloud.com, sign in, and go to Find My iPhone (yes, iPhone). Select the iPad and click Play sound or message.

iPad Side Switch Settings

5. Change the iPad’s side switch to serve as an orientation lock. The switch on the side of the iPad by default functions as a mute switch. But you can change it so that it functions to lock the iPad’s screen into its current view (portrait or landscape). To change the switch’s function, go into Settings > General, and under Use Slide Switch to: tap either Lock Rotation or Mute.

6. Prevent email, contacts, songs, etc, from showing up in Spotlight search. Spotlight search is a powerful feature for the iPad that lets you quickly locate and launch apps, contacts, etc. But the search results can easily become clogged with items you may not want, like emails, notes, etc. You can filter out these items by going to Settings > General > Spotlight Search and selecting or deselecting items in the list.

7. Have the Camera app display a grid while taking photos. Part of good photo taking is making sure subjects are centered and aligned. To aid you in this, the iPad’s Camera app has a grid to help you align objects in your photos. To turn on the grid, open the Camera app, tap Options in the bottom left corner, and slide the Grid tab to On.

8. Change or delete the “Sent from my iPad” email signature. If you’re annoyed that the iPad adds “Sent from my iPad” to the end of every email you send, you can personalize it with your own message or delete it all together. Simply go into Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and tap Signature. Delete the text shown or change it to whatever you want.

9. Cover your web browsing tracks by turning on Private Browsing Mode. We all occasionally go to websites we don’t want others to know we’ve visited. The iPad offers a Private Browsing Mode that won’t remember sites visited or your Google searches. To cover your tracks and enable Private Browsing, go into Settings > Safari and slide the Private Browsing tab to On.

10. Turn on Auto-Fill to Automatically Fill Out Web Forms. Tired of repetitively typing in your address, email, etc, into web forms? You can turn on the iPad’s Auto-Fill feature to instantly fill out those fields in web forms. To turn on AutoFill, go to Settings > Safari and tap AutoFill, then slide the Use Contact Info tab to On. Please note that it pulls info from your contact info in the Contacts app, so go fill out that information if you haven’t yet.

Amazon’s Netflix Competitor Hits App Store, But Without AirPlay Streaming

Amazon Instant Video iPad App Icon

The Amazon Instant Video for iPad app is now available in the App Store as a free download. Amazon’s relatively unknown Instant Video service is essentially a Netflix clone with around 18,000 titles available for streaming compared with Netflix’s estimated 30,00-45,000. You can also download and watch movies in the app you bought from Amazon’s digital catalog, which is much larger at around 120,000 titles.

Amazon Instant Video is included with a $79/year Amazon Prime membership. A Prime membership includes free 2-day shipping on eligible items and unlimited ebook borrowing (again, only on eligible books).

Amazon’s Instant Video is actually a bit cheaper than Netflix, as it works out to about $6.67 a month compared to Netflix’s $8 a month. It also has some content not on Netflix, like Mission: Impossible III and Mean Girls.

Alas, the app has no support for AirPlay, despite the fact that an AirPlay button appears when playing video. So there’s no watching on your big-screen TV via AppleTV. But with Hulu Plus recently showing up on the AppleTV, could Instant Video be right around the corner, too? Here’s hoping.

A screenshot of Instant Video’s most-popular movies is below. The list is usually a good source of movies not available on Netflix.

Amazon Instant Video popular movies

The 11 Most Useful iPhone & iPad Links of the Week

1. Mountain Lion and the iPhone/iPad

The Mountain Lion update is for the Mac, but there are some features that affect the iPhone & iPad as well. App Advice’s lovable pixie Robin Rhys put together a nice video overview of the iPhone & iPad-related features, including:

  • A iCloud button in Safari that can show your recent websites you visited on the iPhone/iPad.
  • A new Messages app for Mac that syncs wirelessly with your iPhone/iPad Messages app.
  • The Notes app for the Mac that syncs wirelessly with iPhone/iPad’s Notes (and vice versa).
  • Reminders app for Mac does the same.
  • Game Center for Mac has a few games that sync between the two platforms as well.
  • A new iCloud Documents folder where you can store iWork, TextEdit, and Preview documents that sync wirelessly to the iPhone/iPad for editing and viewing.

See Robin go over the features below:

2. Pages, Numbers, Keynote for iOS Updated, Now With iCloud

The iWork apps for iPhone & iPad (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote) now work with iCloud, which means you can create and edit documents on a Mac, iPhone, or iPad, and the documents will be kept updated and in sync across all those devices, wirelessly and automatically.

3. iCrime: the Growing Plague of iPhone/iPad Theft

Ralph Winkler of the Wall Street Journal writes a powerful article about the iPhone-theft crime wave that’s sweeping the country. Winkler was personally caught up in it to the tune of a broken jaw. A subway thief snatched his girlfriend’s iPad, and when Winkler gave chase, an accomplice waiting on the platform broke his jaw. Winkler examines why thieves are stealing iPhones (because they can be resold for hundreds of dollars for sale to third-world markets) and some of the measures the FCC is taking to combat the crime (a blacklist of device IDs that will prevent stolen devices from working on other networks).

4. Video Tip: How to Print From Your iPhone or iPad Without an AirPrint Printer

Lex Friedman from MacWorld has a video tip about a Mac app called Printopia that basically lets your iPad/iPhone print to any printer connected to your Mac. But more important to Friedman was Printopia’s Print-to-PDF functionality, which is not so much about printing but instead about being able to turn any document quickly into a PDF, then email it, send it to DropBox, etc. Printopia has a free demo, then it’s $19.95 to own.

5. Siri: The Ultimate Guide

Whenever the iPhone 5 arrives, a lot more people are going get acquainted with Siri, currently only available with the iPhone 4S. Rene Ritchie over at iMore has created the most-thorough guide I’ve seen on how to do just about everything you can with Siri, from creating a 5-minute timer to sending an email to multiple recipients. Now, if Apple can only get Siri to work most of the time instead of only some of the time, they could really have something there.

6. The iPad Makes a Good Workout Partner

I can personally attest that the iPhone is a powerful tool for workouts—I use it to measure runs and my heart rate, track weight-lifting progress, and count calories. But the iPad? A forum user named Silellak over at The Verge says he uses it during his treadmill workouts. He noticed how he would lose hours of the day to browsing on his iPad, so he decided to harness that phenomenon at the gym instead. He uses his favorite news-reading apps, listens to audio via Motorola bluetooth headphones, and makes sure his heart rate stays between 150-165 BPM via a Wahoo Fitness Heart Rate Monitor. Now if they only could make an armstrap big enough to hold the iPad.

7. Taxi Magic App Gets Both Big and Subtle Changes

Taxi Magic (free) is an app that lets you book a taxi, track its arrival, and even pay for it, all on the iPhone. The app’s interface and backend where completely rebuilt, and a few nice subtle changes include an opening prompt that asks if you need the cab now or want to schedule it for later, and saved favorite locations in case you consistently call for cabs in different places.

8. iTunes U App Gets Note-Taking, Search, and Sharing Features

If you haven’t checked out the iTunes U app for iPhone/iPad (free), you should, even if you’re not interested in learning anything new (but shame on you if you aren’t). Unlike Apple’s embarrassingly buggy and awkward Podcasts app, iTunes U is beautifully designed, slick, and useful. And you gotta love that you can watch lectures from colleges like Yale without having to spend 100k+ to go there. I found the app useful to revisit some of my old English Lit topics and enjoyed the Yale Financial lectures.

9. iCloud Tip: How to Watch Your iTunes-Bought TV Shows On All Your Devices

Allyson Kazmucha of iMore put together a nice How To article that covers where to look on your iOS device to stream or download those TV shows you bought on iTunes.

10. Review: iCade Core for the iPad

MacMost put together a nice video review (embedded below) of the iCade Core ($89.99), a bluetooth game controller that recreates ultra-comfortable, button-mashing arcade controls for the iPad. Note that the iCade Core is different from the similar iCade Cabinet controller from last year that was like a mini arcade cabinet. The reviewer seems to like the iCade Core, concluding at the end of the video that it’s “must-have if you’re in to this kind of stuff.” Just a warning though, the iCade currently supports only a 100 or so games, and while that may seem like a lot, it’s not considering the few hundred thousand games out there. Chances are it doesn’t support your favorite iPad game.

11. Ars Technica Reviews the iCade Mobile

The iCade Mobile, not to be confused with the just-mentioned iCade Core, is supposed to turn your iPhone into a PSP via bluetooth and hardware buttons. Kyle Orland at Ars Technica says the iCade Mobile is a bit too bulky for his tastes and dislikes that it only works with a hundred or so iPhone games. His sentiments seem to match Andrew Podolsky’s of Slide to Play, who also reviewed the iCade Mobile two weeks ago. I have to say, on one hand I want a tactile button experience for the iPhone to play games from the past (like Street Fighter), but on the other hand, developers need to leave that old interface behind and create for the touchscreen experience instead.

The 8 Most Useful iPhone/iPad Links of the Week

1. A Good Pair of Earbuds for $7? Yup, the Monoprice 8320s

Tired of breaking $100 pairs of earphones? Whitson Gordon over at LifeHacker says to check out the Monoprice 8320 earphones, which currently cost just $7.11. Whitson not only points to reviews at The Wirecutter and Hi-Fi.org, but tested them himself and says they have some “great, thumping bass” along with decent mids and highs. Of course, being $7 earphones, they’re not perfect. The rubber earbud tips come in only one size, and they don’t have the iPhone 3-button dongle, but hey, $7. Enough said. I just bought a pair myself. And, man, if there’s one online store you should know about after Amazon, it’s MonoPrice.com. Incredibly cheap online version of Radioshack.

Monoprice 8320 earphones

2. Best Apps of 2012 So Far, According to Appolicious

Brad Spirrison of Appolicious puts together his picks for the best apps of 2012 so far. He makes some interesting picks here, his opinion is not of the run-of-the-mill variety. But the list is also a little short, only 10 Apps. Check’em out, I won’t spoil t.

3. Review: RetailMeNot for iPhone Can Save You Money

If you’re a frugal shopper or just buy stuff online a lot in general, you should know about RetailMeNot.com. The website has been blowing up in popularity the past few years. Well, now there is a RetailMeNot app (free), and, wow, it’s a good-looking app. Jake Rocheleau over at AppStorm took a detailed look at the app and says it’s the “most consistent app for producing real working coupons at so many different establishments.” I agree.

4. Review: Julia Child’s Master the Art of French Cooking, Selected Recipes for iPad

Perhaps no chef changed the way Americans cook more than Julia Child did. The Mastering the Art of French Cooking: Selected Recipes ($2.99) for iPad gathers 32 of her “most often prepared and best-loved dishes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1.” The app doesn’t just supply recipes but more importantly explains the technique required to cook them correctly—something that distinguishes the app from other “recipe books.” Leanna Lofte over at iMore reviewed the app and says it’s “beautiful and very well made” with her only complaints being non-support for Retina Display and poor scrolling on the Videos page.

5. 50 Fantastic Free iPad Apps

You always gotta love a big ol’ app roundup, and Joel Bankhead over at AppStorm has published 50 great free iPad apps. A good mix of classic selections with some new ones I hadn’t heard of.

6. AT&T and Verizon’s Shared Data Plans, Compared

AT&T just announced their shared data family plans, and Leanna Lofte compares them with Verizon’s. Pricing is pretty comparable between the two, although if you have 3 to four phones, AT&T can save your between $50-$240 a year.

7. Review: Checkmark for iPhone

Checkmark ($0.99) is a powerful new reminders app that uses the iPhone’s geofencing feature to remind you to do stuff whenever you arrive/leave at a location. Dan Moren over at MacWorld calls the app a “step up from Apple’s Reminders” app, liking not only the efficiency of the app’s interface but also that you can add a timer element on top of the location-based reminders (for example, remind me 15 minutes after leaving home to call Dad). An app for the forgetful.

8. Fieldrunners 2 Gets a 5-Star Review

Touch Arcade’s Cassandra Khaw gives Fieldrunners 2 ($2.99) a 5-star rating, saying its graphics are “stunning, an audiovisual treat” and “It’s the little things that make Fieldrunners 2 shine so bright.” Me, I’m a little tired of tower defense games (heck, I was already tired of iPhone tower defense games two years ago), but you gotta love Fieldrunners. Maybe it’s time to come back to the genre, like reigniting the flame with an forgotten ex-girlfriend. OK, that sounds like a bad idea.

Smarter Stand Turns Your Smart Cover Into a More Versatile iPad Stand

Most people don’t use their iPad Smart Cover as a stand because, well, frankly it sucks as a stand. It offers only two angles to view the iPad at, and neither of them are particularly useful. The Smarter Stand seeks to remedy that situation. Smarter Stand is actually two plastic clips you attach to the Smart Cover to add 3 more viewing angles. It’s simple, cheap, and ingenious.

The Smarter Stand works like this: you slide the two plastic clips over the joints of the Smart Cover where it folds. The clips prevent the joints from folding, and thus through the simple laws of geometry and physics, the iPad can be propped upright at 3 additional angles. See the chart below for the positions

Smarter Stand is a successfully funded Kickstarter project that is going to ship (they sent over some samples that work as advertised). The clips can remain on the cover during normal use. Currently, $12 will get you a Smarter Stand in white. $14 will get you a color to match your Smart Cover’s color.

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4 iPhone Apps That Use Geofencing (And, Geofencing, Explained)

Exactly what is Geofencing? Geofencing is like creating an invisible fence around a location on a map, and if the iPhone enters or leaves that area, the iPhone performs an action like sending an alert or text message. It’s a pretty powerful feature that was introduced in iOS 5, but currently, there are few apps that take advantage of it. Below are 4 awesome apps that do. Also, check out our forum post for a complete list of geofencing apps.

1. Twist

Twist (free) is a cool new app that uses geofencing to automatically inform friends when you leave a location and sends updates estimating when you’ll arrive. It’s different from past GPS tracking apps in that after the initial setup, everything is pretty much automatic.

After setting up an event, like leaving your home to meet someone at a restaurant, the app won’t do anything until you actually leave your location, then it leaps into action, informing your friends about your departure and estimated arrival. Updates are sent via SMS, push notification, or email. This could help prevent angry girlfriend syndrome.

2. Checkmark

Checkmark ($0.99) is similar to Apple’s Reminders app in that it supplies location-based (geofenced) reminders. For example, you create a reminder to buy diapers, and as you drive by the grocery store, the iPhone reminds you to buy diapers. But Checkmark takes things to the next level by letting you set timers on top of your geofences. For example, remind me 15 minutes after I leave work to stop at the pharmacy. Checkmark also lets you establish how big your geofence is around a location. The app’s interface is also built around making it easier to create geofencing reminders based on repetitive tasks you do, such as grocery shopping or your daily feeding of a parking meter.

3. Instapaper

Instapaper ($2.99) is one of my favorite iPhone/iPad apps. Its main function is to allow you to save articles you find on the web for reading offline later. The app’s geofencing feature is buried in the settings, so you have to dig to find it, but it’s worth it. With Instapaper’s geofencing capabilities you can have the app automatically download your saved articles to the iPhone whenever you enter or leave a location(s). So if you’re heading home from work, by the time you arrive the articles you saved throughout the day will be waiting on your iPhone.

4. Reminders

Reminders is Apple’s official “to-do” app introduced in iOS 5. With Reminders, you can create location-based reminders for your various to-do items. For example: you create a reminder to buy milk, then the iPhone reminds you as you drive near the grocery store. The downside to Reminders is that you can only use locations in your iPhone’s Address Book, and that’s one of the big reasons why more people don’t use the geofencing feature of the app. Another official Apple app, Find My Friends, will be getting geofencing capabilities when iOS 6 arrives this fall.

The 5 Best iPad Newstand Magazines With Free Subscriptions

Most of the magazines available in Apple’s Newstand app cost money (in some cases, a lot of money) for subscriptions. However, there are a handful of Newstand magazines that offer everything for free. Below is a list of what I consider to be the top 5 6 free Newstand magazine apps for iPad. For a complete list, check out our forum post.

1. Sporting News

One of my biggest complaints about the App Store is that there aren’t many great sports news apps. That’s why I love the Sporting News iPad magazine (free). It doesn’t offer automatic downloads, but it is available for a daily manual download that’s entirely free. Once downloaded, the issue can be read offline. Sporting News features big full-spread photos and pulls in the articles from AOL’s Sporting News website reformatted in a professional magazine manner (think Flipboard except with more color). If you do read it offline, some of ads and video are missing, so it’s best experienced with an Internet connection, but it’s not required.

Each issue of Sporting News is usually around 100mb, but you can’t store back issues, so there’s no worry about it taking up too much memory. Hey, it’s completely free!

iPad only.

2. Engadget Distro

Distro iPad Magazine App

Engadget Distro (free) is a weekly magazine that features the best writing from Engadget from the past week reformatted into a slick magazine format. It reads just as well as any print tech magazine, so it goes to show the quality of writing being done online these days. The magazine has Retina-friendly graphics for the new iPad. Every issue is completely free, but unfortunately there is no subscription/automatic download, so you manually have to open the app and download each issue one by one. Memory usage is about 100MB for each issue.

iPad Only.

3. Dash Recipes

Dash Recipes (free) is filled with beautiful food photography and accompanying recipes, and it offers free subscriptions delivered once a month. The magazine’s content reminds me of those coffee-table recipe books you used to see in Borders for like $6.99, meaning it’s heavy on the beautiful photos and light on content (mostly photos and recipes with some videos thrown in). But the photography is second to none and looks great on Retina screen.

Dash Recipes is great for collecting recipe ideas and making my mouth water with top-notch food photography.

iPad only.

4. TRVL

TRVL (free) is a travel magazine that is also one of the most popular Newstand apps. Each issue focuses on a destination, so older issues are just as relevant as new. Currently there are 63 issues available for download for free (the Afghanistan issue is the only one that costs money, at $1.99). TRVL is filled with beautiful photos from travel locations around the world (try viewing in landscape to get the stunning full-screen view). The magazine also features travel stories and advice, but the strengths are the photography. I found TRVL is very useful for collecting ideas for vacations.

With TRVL, you have to download each issue one-by-one. There is an option to subscribe for $0.99 a month, which presumably supplies automatic downloads for each issue. The size of each issue is around 150MB. The developers recently updated the last 20 issues to be Retina-screen compatible.

iPad only.

5. GameQ

GameQ (free) is probably the best looking of all the magazines listed here. It’s a gaming magazine from Gamefly, the Netflix-like game subscription service. There is currently only one issue available, but it’s pretty sweet graphics wise. The content is a bit like most print gaming magazines in that it’s very advertorial in style, meaning it’s more about hyping the game than it is about reviewing games. Still, I enjoyed flipping through, seeing the latest games and what they look like. All gaming consoles/platforms are covered, even iOS. And it looks great on a Retina screen. File sizes are huge, however. The new issue is 485MB in size.

iPad only.

6. Huffington Post

Huffington (link) started out as a paid-subscription magazine but has recently gone free. The magazine is essentially a collection of the best longer-form content from the Huffington Post website from the past week reworked into a slick magazine format. You can subscribe and receive automatic downloads every week in Newstand. Each issues weighs in around 200 MB. If a political bias bothers you, Huffington is somewhat of the liberal persuasion, like a counterpoint to the conservative The Daily iPad magazine.