Podies

There’ve been several instances where my iMessages are delayed by a few minutes and then sent out as a regular text message. Sometimes this happens regardless of whether or not I’ve got full bars and my iPhone is connected to Wi-Fi. What gives?

Turning off Send As SMS will ensure you aren’t charged if iMessage can’t make a connection.

By default, your iPhone is set to automatically send the iMessage through SMS if the servers are down or you can’t find a Wi-Fi connection. You can change this setting under Settings > Messages. Make sure that Send As SMS is turned off so that you aren’t charged if iMessage can’t make the connection. Instead, it just simply won’t send.

GOT A TECH QUESTION OR A HELPFUL TIP TO SHARE?

Email ask@maclife.com or write to Mac|Life, 
4000 Shoreline Ct, Suite 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080

Whether you’re sharing it with a significant other or not, Happy Valentine’s Day to MacLife.com readers everywhere! Don’t forget, we love you unconditionally, 365 days a year. So don’t be cynical about this love-drenched holiday, because we’ve dug up some tasty nuggets of tech news and app updates for your reading pleasure on this fine Tuesday, February 14, 2012.

Readability for iOS Still Coming, Android App Created During Review

Way back in mid-November of last year we reported about the Readability service going free, with an iOS app on the way. Flash-forward three months later and the iOS app is still MIA, much to the chagrin of “read it later” fans everywhere. So what gives? According to The Verge, the app is very much alive, although there’s no word on what the holdup might be. In the interim, the Readability service has been incorporated into Twitterific, Tweetbot, Longform and Pulse in addition to Reeder, where it has been featured in both the iOS and Mac apps. As it turns out, Readability hasn’t exactly been sitting around waiting for Apple to approve the iOS app -- they’ve also created an Android version which is likely to debut alongside the App Store version. Developer Teehan+Lax claims "we're hoping to have both the apps, which we're incredibly excited about, in the hands of customers soon." Come on, Apple… let’s go!

DisplayMate Weighs in On Rumored iPad 3 Retina Display

We defer to Dr. Raymond Soneira, president of DisplayMate Technologies Corporation, quite a bit here at MacLife.com. Dr. Ray’s knowledge of display technology is second to none, and his input is particularly welcome in this era of tablets where the screen is everything. So what does Dr. Soneira think about the rumors of an incoming iPad 3 with a so-called Retina Display? “I would be shocked if the iPad 3 doesn't have a 2048x1536 display,” Dr. Ray commented. “Doubling the resolution is overkill, but does make it easier to scale up legacy applications.” On the subject of whether the iPad 3 qualifies as a “Retina Display” the way Apple CEO Steve Jobs explained it at the launch of the iPhone 4, Dr. Ray notes that the iPad is held 15 to 18 inches away from the user, rather than the 12 to 15 inches customary with a smaller device like the iPhone 4/4S. “As a result, to meet the 300 ppi Retina Display specification made by Steve Jobs at WWDC for the iPhone 4, an iPad Retina Display would need only 240 ppi,” Dr. Ray explains. “2048x1536 is 264 ppi so it qualifies as a Retina Display,” which is technically referred to as a “20/20 Display.” Last but not least, on the subject of brightness and power issues when going to a higher resolution, Dr. Ray offers a Tablet Shoot-Out on the subject on the DisplayMate website.

return7 Celebrates Valentine’s Day with BillMinder, DebtMinder Sale

Valentine’s Day is coming to an end, but if you’re still stuck for the perfect app-related gift for that special someone, developer return7 is having a 50 percent off sale on their popular BillMinder and DebtMinder software. BillMinder for iPhone is now only 99 cents and keeps tabs on your upcoming bills, including a snapshot of what’s past due, what’s due in the next week and even what’s coming up in the next month (the iPad version is also on sale for only $1.99, a 60 percent price cut). Likewise, the universal DebtMinder app is only 99 cents and works in conjunction with BillMinder to develop a plan to pay down existing debt, with payments made in BillMinder reflected immediately in DebtMinder. Best of all, the sale is good for two days, so you can gift it to a loved one today and buy it for yourself on Wednesday, February 15 as well.

Proview Wants China Customs to Stop iPad Imports, Exports

Yesterday morning we reported that Chinese authorities in one city had started to confiscate iPads from store shelves in the wake of a trademark dispute, and now the story is taking a turn for the uglier. Bloomberg Businessweek is reporting that Proview International Holdings Ltd., who owns the trademark to the iPad name in mainland China, has asked customs officials there to block not only the importation of Apple’s tablet but also exports from the country as well. Apple previously purchased worldwide rights to the iPad trademark from Proview in 10 countries, which supposedly includes China. “Proview refuses to honor their agreement with Apple in China,” explained Carolyn Wu, an Apple spokeswoman based in Beijing. “Our case is still pending in mainland China.” Needless to say, halting iPad exports from China would be “catastrophic” in the words of intellectual property attorney Stan Abrams, given the tablet is manufactured there in the first place. Proview apparently seeks a settlement of 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion US), although the report cautions that amount is strictly “preliminary.” Quite a step up from the $55,000 Apple paid through a third party to acquire the trademark rights back in 2006...

PushMail Developer Calls It a Day, For Now

One of the few things remaining on our iPhone wish list is IMAP-IDLE support for push on email accounts other than iCloud and Yahoo. While Apple happily supports it with the Mac OS X Mail app, the dream goes unfulfilled with iOS. That’s where the PushMail app has come in, gleefully letting us know when we have new mail -- complete with the classic AOL “You’ve got mail!” voice -- on our iPhone and iPad. Unfortunately, developer Simon Patarin announced via Twitter this week that he’s removing PushMail from the App Store -- but don’t despair, it may not be forever: “I have decided to remove PushMail from sale for now, mostly because I do not have enough resources to keep supporting my users as much as I would like,” Patarin explains on the app’s website. “Latest iOS 5 update has created its share of issues which I haven't been able to address in any satisfactory way. I do hope that I'll get some more time to work on PushMail in the near future.” The good news is that the servers pushing emails will continue running “until further notice” -- which means if you already own the app, PushMail will continue to work just fine. The developer promises a six month lead before he kills the app completely, at which time he would open source the client and server code for another enterprising developer to work on. Here’s hoping we’ll see PushMail back in the App Store again sooner than later!

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

(Image courtesy of The Verge)

They're out there, lurking online in places you go and places you don't. We're talking deals, people. Sure, you can hunt them down on your own, you can set up alerts, you can even put your favorite deal busting sites into your RSS feed, but since you come to Maclife.com every day for the lowdown, we thought we'd round up the best deals we've found this week and save you the trouble.

Mac

13" MacBook Air for $849

This is a "while supplies last kinda deal" and you're getting $400 off a new MacBook Air because it's a previous generation model. Move now or forever hold your peace.

MockupScreens

Need to make screen prototypes quick and easy? Here's a software deal for you, cut from $99.95 to $29.95, but Hurry!

Mac SuperBundle

Speaking of software deals, here's a bundle of savings of over $400, including Parallels Desktop 7, for only $49.00.

iOS Device

OtterBox Defender Series Hybrid Case for iPad 

The king of protective cases is cutting deals on their first generation iPad case down from $89.95 to a super low $29.95.

elago S4 Slim Fit Case for iPhone 4

This ultra slim beauty is a polycarbonate shell and comes with a protection film for the face and is going for 53% off, dropping from 20 bucks down to $9.79.

Retractable Stylus Pen

Dropping from $14.95 to just $3.95, a good stylus can make using apps like Brushes a breeze. 

Smart Gloves for iPhone/iPad

Whoa, $30 gloves that let you work on your iOS device in the cold outdoors, now just $4. 

Really Darn Cheap

NERF Multimedia Speaker for iPhone/iPod

This is a sellout.woot deal so you know the drill. They're there until they're gone. $3.99 nets you this bad boy. Go ahead, make all the other kids jealous.

Hey, so forget what we said this morning about a news recap earlier in the day -- we’re happy to announce that, starting Thursday, we’ll be back to pushing out three full news items each weekday morning, plus the very news recap you’re reading each evening to catch up with the rest of the day’s events. All because you, the loyal MacLife.com reader, deserve it! So without further ado, let’s blast off into the rest of today’s news for Wednesday, February 8, 2012.

Amazon Beefs Up Prime Instant Video with Viacom TV Catalog

As rumored in the last few days, Amazon today announced a new deal with Viacom which will add 2,000 more titles to its Prime Instant Video service, encompassing the output from television networks MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, TV Land and VH1. Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos announced on the company’s home page that the new deal brings Amazon’s offerings to 15,000 titles, including kiddie favorites like Dora the Explorer, comedy like Hot In Cleveland and reality TV, including past seasons of The Real World and yes, even Jersey Shore. (Face it: There’s no escaping it.) As usual, Prime Instant Videos require a $79 per year subscription which also nets customers with free two-day shipping. Sadly, there’s still no sign of an iOS app for watching all this content, but you can find it on the Kindle Fire, Mac and PC computers, Roku boxes and internet-connected HDTVs or Blu-ray players.

Vonage Mobile App Gunning for Skype

Can you feel that red dot on your forehead, Skype? That’s the sharpshooters at Vonage Mobile marking you for death -- or at least stepped-up competition. According to The Verge, the Vonage Mobile apps for iOS and Android are now offering VoIP calls “typically 30 percent cheaper than Skype’s rates, based on per-minute rates to the top 50 countries called.” Best of all, anyone can use the app -- even without a traditional Vonage subscription, thanks to in-app billing in increments of $4.99 or $9.99, billed straight to iTunes or Android Market. What could be better than that? How about free calls to any number in the U.S. or Canada for a limited time, and the ability to use your mobile number for Caller ID on outgoing calls? That clicking you hear is other users rushing to download the free iOS app, we’re guessing...

A Guide to Those Crazy iPad 3 Rumors

Having trouble keeping up with all these iPad 3 rumors flying fast and furious? Apparently, so was the staff at Computerworld, who has just cooked up a “Crazy Apple Rumors Guide to iPad 3.” After a bit of background on how the iPad has grown over the last two generations, writer Jonny Evans lays out what we know so far: Better screen? Check. A6 processor? Check. Improved graphics processor? Check. Better camera? Check. LTE wireless support? Check. Will it be thicker or thinner? Check and check. (Say wha--?) Thunderbolt I/O? Maybe. Siri? Done and done. And on it goes, right down to NFC, 3D and Apple-supplied mapping. So when will we finally see all of this tablet goodness? How about later this month… or maybe next month. You know, those rumor mills just can’t be for certain...

Path Co-Founder: “We Are Sorry”

As we reported yesterday, the Path iOS app was caught with its hands in the proverbial cookie jar -- in this case, uploading users’ address book data without being given express permission to do so. Today, co-founder and CEO Dave Morin has announced the company is moving quickly to right this wrong. While noting that no user data has ever been used for malicious purposes, Morin explains: “We believe you should have control when it comes to sharing your personal information. We also believe that actions speak louder than words. So, as a clear signal of our commitment to your privacy, we’ve deleted the entire collection of user uploaded contact information from our servers. Your trust matters to us and we want you to feel completely in control of your information on Path.” Furthermore, the promised Path 2.0.6 update is now available in the App Store, which now prompts users to opt in or out of sharing phone contacts, which is used to discover others you may know on the service. Hats off to the Path gang -- and fear not, we still love you.

Apple Eyes Standardized Royalties for 3G Wireless Patents

Ars Technica is reporting that Apple wants to lead the charge for “standardized royalty rates” where 3G wireless networking is concerned. The problem stems from smartphone players such as Samsung and Motorola “leveraging patents essential to 3G wireless networking standards in lawsuits largely aimed at Apple” -- patents which were offered to standards body ETSI to “help create 3G standards on the condition that they be licensed on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms.” Unfortunately, Apple’s chief IP attorney Bruce Watrous finds that the opposite is true, claiming “our industry suffers from a lack of consistence adherence to FRAND principles in the cellular standards arena.” The problem apparently stems from Samsung’s request for “a 2.4 percent royalty on the full retail price of every iPhone or iPad sold to cover its 3G-related patents, while Motorola has asked for 2.25 percent” -- amounts that Apple rightfully calls “unfair and unreasonable,” which is why the smartphone makers are suing Apple for patent infringement in the first place. “What Apple is arguing here is that the royalties should not apply to an entire iPhone or iPad, but rather to the basic hardware for 3G wireless radios,” the report explains, although there’s presumably no end in sight for the problem anytime soon.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

(In our best Robin Williams from Good Morning, Vietnam:) Good morning, MacLife.com! That’s right… thanks to your traffic to our weekday evening news recaps, we’re now happy to offer you twice the fun each day, starting right now. You’ll now get 10 bite-sized news stories each weekday -- five in the morning and five in the evening -- so you don’t miss a single interesting bit of tech news! Let’s kick things off with a recap of a few stories that made news since our Tuesday night edition went live, shall we…?

Firmware Update Brings Lion Internet Recovery to 2010 Macs

Hands up if you’re still rocking a pre-Thunderbolt Mac from 2010! (Hey, that’s us!) Apple blessed such owners with a little treat on Tuesday night in the form of a trio of EFI firmware updates, all of which bring Lion Internet Recovery onto these older systems. Additionally, the MacBook Air EFI Firmware Update 2.3 “addresses an issue where the system could restart if the power button is pressed immediately after waking from deep sleep” as part of its modest 2.98MB download. If you want the ultimate in internet-based recovery security, head to Apple’s support website and download the 3.02MB iMac EFI Update 1.8 or 3.18MB MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 2.6, or simply run the Software Update to call up the magic -- assuming your system is eligible in the first place. As always, an EFI firmware update requires a restart or two, so be prepared for that.

iTunes Live Presents Free Paul McCartney Show on Thursday

Nobody loves The Beatles as much as Apple and its fans do, so it makes total sense that the iTunes maker would celebrate the release of Paul McCartney’s new album with a free live performance streamed right to your software. The best news is that couch potatoes can also view this iTunes Live presentation from the comfort of their living rooms via the Apple TV, where iTunes Live will appear as an option from the Internet menu. “To celebrate the release of Paul McCartney’s latest album, watch a free stream of his exclusive performance at Capitol Studios on February 9 at 7pm (PST) right here,” the former Beatle’s iTunes page announced this week. “Or stream it on your TV using your Apple TV -- just choose iTunes Live from the Internet menu.” Certainly a nice treat from Sir Paul and Apple whether you buy the new album or not -- but as luck would have it, a link to buy Kisses on the Bottom is directly below the iTunes Live information, just a mere $9.99 plus taxes away.

Sprint Q4: 1.8 Million iPhones, 40 Percent to New Customers

Hey, AT&T and Verizon: You’re not the only U.S. carriers who had a boffo final three months of 2011 where the iPhone was concerned. According to AppleInsider, third-place Sprint sold 1.8 million of Apple’s coveted handsets after finally landing the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 in October, breaking the company’s one-day sales records. The iPhone also helped Sprint catapult into the company’s best quarterly results in six years, with 720,000 iPhones sold to brand new customers alone. Of course, those numbers pale in comparison to AT&T’s 7.6 million and Verizon’s 4.2 million activations during the same period, but it’s an otherwise bright spot in Sprint’s overall quarterly results, with a net loss of $1.3 billion. (Ouch!)

Washington Post Social Reader Comes to App Store

Traditional newspapers continue to find interesting ways to bring their content to mobile devices. Take, for instance, The Washington Post, who recently released a new app for the iPhone which brings their Facebook-connected Washington Post Social Reader into the palm of your hand. “See what your friends are reading and share the articles you're reading -- instantly,” the app description reads. “The Washington Post Social Reader you love on Facebook is now at your fingertips. Read news from sources like The Washington Post, Slate, The Daily Beast, SB Nation, Mashable, Wetpaint and more -- with your friends. Articles you and your friends read are shared on Washington Post Social Reader and on Facebook.” The 0.9MB app is absolutely free, but does require a Facebook login to function; it’s compatible with the iPhone 3GS and up, iPod touch third generation and up as well as any iPad (though it’s not a universal app) running iOS 4.0 or later.

Could Apple Bring Aperture (or iPhoto) to the iPad 3?

The folks over at MacStories.net did some interesting prognostication on Tuesday, looking ahead to what Apple might do with at least one software offering for the forthcoming iPad 3. Given that the original iPad was released alongside iWork and the iPad 2 introduced iMovie and GarageBand to the tablet, Gabe Glick theorizes that photography will be a primary focus for the rumored higher-resolution display of the next iPad -- which could see Aperture making the leap from the Mac to iOS. It’s an interesting argument and we tend to agree with most of the points made by the author, but it’s more likely that Apple will introduce iPhoto to the iPad, given its consumer-based roots. After all, Apple didn’t bring its high-end Final Cut Pro or Logic Pro offerings down to iOS -- at least not yet -- so as exciting as the prospect of Aperture on the iPad might be, we’ll cast our vote for iPhoto instead. But either way, we’re looking forward to it...

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

When I look at my iPhone in iTunes, there is 1.6GB of space taken by “Other.” What exactly is this stuff and how can I get rid of it?

The Other space is reserved for application data and settings.

With an iOS device, the “Other” space in iTunes is used to store things like documents, settings, caches, and a few other important items. If you sync lots of documents to apps like GoodReader, DropCopy, or anything else that reads external files, your storage use can skyrocket. With iOS 5, you can see exactly which applications are taking up the most space. Just head to Settings > General > Usage, and tap the button labeled Show All Apps. The storage section will show you the app and how much storage space it is taking up. Tap on the app name to get a description of the additional storage space being used by the app’s documents and data. You can remove the storage-hogging application and all of its data directly from this screen, or manually remove the data by opening the app. Some applications, especially those designed by Apple, will allow you to remove stored data by swiping from left to right on the item to reveal a Delete button.

Applications that store large files will use more of the Other storage space.

GOT A TECH QUESTION OR A HELPFUL TIP TO SHARE?

Email ask@maclife.com or write to Mac|Life, 
4000 Shoreline Ct, Suite 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080

How can I remove old, unwanted email addresses that are cached on my iPhone 4? My sister changed her email address, so I deleted her old one in Address Book and replaced it with the new one. It now shows both emails associated with her name when I compose a message to her. Is there a way to remove the old address?

Frequently used addresses will float to the top of the list.

Unfortunately, the answer is “not really.” Cached email addresses can be a nuisance when composing new emails, and this feature cannot be reset, not even in iOS 5. Luckily, the most-used email address is listed first, so as you send more messages to the new address, it will move to the top. You could do a factory reset on your phone and start from scratch, but that’s a lot of work just to get rid of some old email addresses.

GOT A TECH QUESTION OR A HELPFUL TIP TO SHARE?

Email ask@maclife.com or write to Mac|Life, 
4000 Shoreline Ct, Suite 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080

My husband and I each have an iPhone 3GS, and neither of them has a camera icon in the Messages app—the only way to send a picture is through email. Is there any way we can send photos in a text message? I think it’s silly that even the simplest cell phones have this option while an iPhone doesn’t!

At first, the iPhone couldn’t send photos (known as MMS) with text messages, but Apple enabled the feature starting with iOS 3.1. If there’s no camera icon in the Messages app, then the MMS feature is turned off on your device. This is easily remedied by going to Settings > Messages, and flipping the MMS switch to ON.

If the MMS feature is turned off, then you will be unable to send pictures as attachments with your messages.

If the camera button is still missing in Messages, then you’ll need to update your phone to a more recent version of iOS by connecting your device to a computer running iTunes and clicking Check For Update in the Summary tab.

GOT A TECH QUESTION OR A HELPFUL TIP TO SHARE?

Email ask@maclife.com or write to Mac|Life, 
4000 Shoreline Ct, Suite 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080

Sometimes, it seems like history just repeats itself in the courtroom. Though we've passed the threshold of the new year, we're facing another awful legal battle between Samsung and Apple regarding patent infringement. This is going to be fun--again!

Grab some apple strudel and cue the "dun dun!"

Apple vs. Samsung

Apple is back in German court this week squaring off against archnemesis Samsung with two new lawsuits. According to Bloomberg, the lawsuits filed in the Düsseldorf Regional Court claim that 15 Samsung devices -- 10 smartphones and five tablets -- infringe on Apple product designs. Claims against product design are trickier to settle than technical patents, which can be clearly licensed between two companies. In this case, Apple is asking the court to step in and clarify exactly what design aspects Cupertino can lay claim to, and how far those claims can go.

We meet again, at last.

Unlike previous lawsuits, Apple isn't going after Samsung for the copycat products it currently has on the market. According to FOSS Patents, several of the Samsung products mentioned in the lawsuit have been on the market too long to claim an urgent injunction anyway, and so Apple is just trying to simply establish the ground rules rather than disrupting the sales of Samsung products.

Is this the end of the product blocking, injunction-slinging lawsuits by Apple? Perhaps a shift to seeking guidance from the court instead of gridlock? Time will tell.

Adrian writes the weekly Law & Apple column for MacLife.com. Follow him on Twitter, subscribe to him on Facebook.

I am thinking about upgrading to the new iPhone 4S and giving my iPhone 3GS to my wife to use as something similar to the iPod touch. Can I simply remove the SIM card and give it to her to use?

Using an old iPhone as an iPod touch is a great way to get continued use out of an old device. Leaving an inactive SIM in your device will not harm anything, and it’s probably the easiest route to take in the long run. Because the SIM is not active, you will not be able to make or receive calls. If you do decide to remove the SIM, every time you restart the device you’ll get a warning that the SIM is missing. And without a SIM card, you’ll be unable to restore the device, so you might as well just leave it in place.

An inactive SIM can’t make calls...and it will prevent this warning from popping up.

GOT A TECH QUESTION OR A HELPFUL TIP TO SHARE?

Email ask@maclife.com or write to Mac|Life, 
4000 Shoreline Ct, Suite 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080