Leander Kahney's Blog, page 1477

Apple Brings Subscription Model To Games In The App Store

[image error]

"Hidden Expedition: Amazon" by Big Fish Games

Apple is allowing Big Fish Games to incorporate a subscription model for its iPad games in the App Store. According to Bloomberg, Big Fish will be the first game maker in the App Store to allow customers access to all of its titles for $4.99 per month initially.

Games from Big Fish will be streamed to users over Wi-Fi and a customer's subscription is managed in a dedicated app for the iPad.

"Big Fish Games, a Seattle-based game publisher, won approval from Apple to become the first to offer users access to dozens of titles for $6.99 a month. Until now, games have only been available one at a time, requiring users to download individual applications.

When Apple introduced its subscription feature earlier this year, Paul Thelen, the founder of Big Fish, saw it as an opportunity to offer an "all-you-can-eat" service. That lets players jump in and out of different games without having to make a bunch of downloads. While game-subscription services have a mixed record of success, the popularity of the iPad, along with the easy payment method provided by Apple's App Store, will make the offering attractive."

As usual, Apple will collect a 30% cut of the revenue. The subscription from Big Fish will cost $4.99 initially before it is raised to $6.99 next year when more titles are available to play. As of right now, Big Fish offers dozens of titles on the iOS platform.

The new game model from Big Fish will also include a free version that limits gameplay to 30 minutes per day and includes ads.

When Apple first introduced in-app subscriptions, the model was seen as a new way for developers to generate revenue, and publications have heavily implemented subscriptions in Newsstand on iOS 5.

When asked about Apple bringing its subscriprion model to games, the founder of Big Fish said, "They needed to be convinced there's a reason to charge customers every month."

View more on Leander Kahney's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on November 22, 2011 18:31

Steve Jobs In Rare Video From 1998: "TV Turns Your Brain Off, PCs Turn Your Brain On"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXS5VHw7rwA

We stumbled across this rare video of Steve Jobs at the CAUSE 1998 Conference in Seattle. In the short clip, Steve Jobs gives a particularly comedic and lighthearted talk about the PC and TV.

The video quality is pretty awful, but what's said in the talk is very interesting. In the video, Jobs says, "TV turns your brain off, PCs turn your brain on." What most don't know is that Jobs was quoting a failed campaign for the original iMac.

Ken Segall, a former creative director who coined the name "iMac" and helped dream up Apple's famous "Think Different" campaign, explains the history behind the tagline Jobs used in the above video:

Right after we signed Jeff Goldblum, we shot a number of iMac commercials in which Jeff repeatedly drove home the point that iMac was for turning your brain on, while TV was for turning your brain off. In one spot, Jeff walked a path littered with old TVs as he spoke. In another, he sat with a bunch of children on the floor, all gathered around an iMac. The theme of the campaign was "iMac. It's not TV."

Why did the ads never run? In the end, they just weren't good enough. Fortunately, on our last shooting day, when we were beginning to feel like we might need a Plan B, we wrote a quick script and shot a test spot featuring Jeff speaking directly to the camera. It worked great. With Steve's enthusiastic approval, we grabbed a new director and shot the Jeff Goldblum spots that ultimately did run.

I was unaware that Steve had ever used the "brain on, brain off" argument publicly until I saw this video. I'm glad he was able to find a good use for it — especially since it cost him a pretty good chunk of cash.

You can read our exclusive interview from 2009 with Ken Segall to learn more about Apple's advertising strategy during the early days.

View more on Leander Kahney's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on November 22, 2011 15:51

Simplier Offers A Simple Way To Play Music Without iTunes [Review]

[image error]

Simplier is a very simple $3 music player for people who just want to hear some tunes without having to trudge through the hassle of opening and browsing inside iTunes.

When I say very simple, I mean it. The app is clearly modelled on apps like Twitter and Sparrow, which use a series of icons in a vertical panel on the left to divide up your options.

Here, those options are to browse your albums, artists, songs and playlists. Scroll through to find something you want, click and play. That's it. There's support for shuffle mode, basic music control buttons, and support in the preferences for the Apple Multimedia Keys on your keyboard.

You can also link the app to Twitter, if you want your followers to know what you're listening to.

There's not a lot to it, but that's deliberate. It's supposed to make things simpler. Hence the name. Sometimes the scrolling can be a little jaggedy, but maybe that's just me needing more RAM. If iTunes' bloat bugs you, and all you really want is quick access to some sounds, Simplier is a decent alternative, for about the price of a coffee.

(Via One Thing Well of course.)

Rating: ★★★½☆

View more on Leander Kahney's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on November 22, 2011 15:30

Apple Snatches A Bunch Of iPhone-Related Porn Domains

[image error]

Apple has snatched up several iPhone-related porn URLs from a domain squatter. The sites in question were handed over to Apple after the company filed a complaint a few weeks ago.

The high profile domains, including iPhone4S.com, have been given over to Apple from the previous owner.

View more on Leander Kahney's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on November 22, 2011 15:28

Use iPhone Backup Extractor To Recover Lost Data [iOS Tips]

[image error] [image error]

Here's an amazing utility that every iPhone, iPad or iPod touch owner should be aware of. It will recover data from your iOS backups in iTunes, but only if the backup isn't encrypted. I have a work-around in this tip for the encryption problem, but you'll need to be using Mac OS X Lion.

You can get a copy of the application from the developers' website. It is free, but a donation is highly recommended, since using it even once to recover images is well worth any kind of donation. Plus it just works and it is easy to use.

Once you download the app, copy it to the applications folder (/Applications) on your startup drive and launch it from there. You'll be presented with a window and a button, Read Backups, which you should click. After clicking you'll see something like this:

[image error]

Select the backup you want to extract from the list, click Choose and you'll see something like this:

[image error]

The backups for each individual app can be restored. More importantly, however, check out that last item, labeled iOS Files, since it has a lot of important information. It has the photos and videos on your camera roll and a plethora of other goodies.

I recommend you download the app and do some exploring to see what you can get out of it. If you happen to accidentally try to recover data from an encrypted backup, iPhone Backup Extractor will go through the motions and actually recover the data, but you won't be able to use any of it.

Now about that work-around for the iTunes encryption. If you are using Mac OS X Lion, you should consider using FileVault 2 to encrypt the drive containing your User Accounts Library folder, which is usually on your startup drive. By encrypting this drive, you don't have a reason to use the separate encryption provided by iTunes since it would be redundant. Of course it also adds an extra layer of protection, so you'll have to decide about whether you want to use this tool to recover your data or not. It won't work with iTunes encryption enabled on your backups.

View more on Leander Kahney's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on November 22, 2011 14:54

Mark Zuckerberg's Dog Blogs From A MacBook Pro At Facebook HQ [Pic]

[image error]

Mark Zuckerberg's faithful hund Beast has apparently gotten himself a job as an engineer at Facebook, and like all the best dogs, he's an Apple fan, through and through.

[via Obama Pacman]

View more on Leander Kahney's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on November 22, 2011 14:32

Apple's New Store In Grand Central Station Won't Be Open For Black Friday [Rumor]

[image error]

It was recently reported that Apple was putting the finishing touches on its new flagship store in New York City's Grand Central Station. The store was supposed to be unveiled to the public by Black Friday on November 25th or during this upcoming weekend.

Eager shoppers will apparently have to wait to drop their hard earned cash on Apple products in Grand Central Station, as the store's opening "won't be any time too soon."

Mashable is reporting that on-site construction workers have said that there is still "a lot to do," and that the new Apple Store won't be ready until December.

In the meantime, it [the store] remains boarded up in the train station's main terminal, with the sounds of drills and construction serving as a backdrop for commuters.

When the new store is finally unveiled, it will be Apple's largest retail location in the world. It will also be Apple's fifth retail store in New York City.

View more on Leander Kahney's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on November 22, 2011 13:59

Professional Photographer Says With The iPhone 4S, Steve Jobs Has Reinvented Photography

[image error]

The iPhone 4S has an amazing camera for a smartphone. Heck, it's already the second most popular smartphone camera on Flickr. But how does it hold up for the professional photographer?

As this beautiful testimony by pro photographer and gallery owner Ryan Bolger makes clear, it doesn't just hold up well… it reinvents photography.

Bolger writes after his first month with the iPhone 4S:

So I've been holding out for years. I've had an upgrade ever since the original iphone came out & I decided that I was going to wait until the camera was where I wanted it & knew it could be. The iPhone 4S has changed my creative life in a very big way. The App Store has also opened up my eyes to a whole new creative & visual world. The ability to capture, ratify, & share my creative life with a few simple taps has helped me in my quest of trying to make the world a better place through my art.

Within the first week of my new marriage to this phone I took over 2,000 photographs. I'm amazed at the detail & the versatility of the iPhone 4S's camera. I've even used it on some paid client assignments. That's how much I trust it as a professional photographer.

I just read an article last night that photography was one of the things Steve Jobs aimed to re-invent. As a guy whose life revolves around photography and has since childhood, you've already done this Sir. So thank you Steve Jobs and thank you Apple.

That's lovely, but don't just take Bolger's word for it. Check out his Tumblr blog, where the first 250 photos were taken and edited on an iPhone 4S.

You know, it's true what they say. The best camera is the one you have with you… at least if you have an iPhone 4S.

View more on Leander Kahney's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on November 22, 2011 13:43

Microsoft Follows In Apple's Footsteps By Deciding To Sell Windows 8 Digitally

[image error]

When Apple announced that it was going to sell OS X Lion exclusively as a digital download, many were skeptical. By not selling physical copies of the operating system, wouldn't Apple be crippling Lion's consumer reach?

As it turns out, Lion has already sold more than 6 millions copies in the Mac App Store, making it 80% more popular than Apple's previous desktop OS, Snow Leopard. The folks in Redmond have taken notice, and Microsoft has announced that its upcoming operating system, Windows 8, will also be offered as a digital download.

On the company's official blog, Christa St. Pierre of the Microsoft Setup and Deployment team has detailed plans for "improving the setup experience" for Windows users. To better serve all of Microsoft's customers, Windows 8 will be available both digitally and in the traditional physical box packages that Apple has largely done away with in its own stores.

In the past, if you wanted to buy an upgrade for Windows, it involved purchasing a boxed product from a retail outlet, taking it home, (sometimes being infuriated while trying to open the box,) and inserting a DVD. However, buying boxed software is quickly becoming the exception rather than the rule, with more and more software being purchased online as broadband penetration increases and large-size media downloads become more common. While we will continue to offer boxed DVDs, we are also making it easier than ever to purchase and install online. This includes starting the setup experience online as well, and having one continuous integrated experience from beginning to end. There is also one big advantage that is a favorite of mine. With our web setup experience, we actually "pre-key" the setup image that is downloaded to a unique user, which means that you don't have to type in the 25-digit product key when you install!

You can already download Windows 7 in the Microsoft online store, but the process is nowhere near as simple as downloading and installing Lion from the Mac Store. Microsoft says that downloading and installing Windows 7 requires four different web and client experiences and roughly 60 screens to complete.

In case you were wondering, the typical Windows 7 setup looks something like this:

[image error]

In Windows 8, customers do not have to install a separate download manager, mount the ISO to begin the installation, check the hash of the file for verification post-download, manually clean up unneeded files, or restart a download from the beginning should connectivity be interrupted. Setup takes care of all of these steps automatically, providing a fast, resilient, and easy setup experience. And again, this is true whether you just want to run a quick upgrade on an existing installation, or to create boot media for an advanced setup experience – either with GUI or unattended.

Whether a streamlined download and setup process will actually help sell copies of Windows 8 remains to be seen.

View more on Leander Kahney's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on November 22, 2011 13:40

Check Your Lipstick Or Eyeshadow With This Cute MacBook Air-Inspired Hand Mirror

This is a cute little stocking stuffer for the narcissistic Mac fangirl in your life: the MirrorBook Air, a $12 hand mirror that looks just like a tiny, palm-sized MacBook Air. Get it now before Apple C&Ds it, which they will, but hopefully not before Christmas.

View more on Leander Kahney's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on November 22, 2011 12:09