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3 fun time-watching apps: Qlocktwo, Uniqlo Wake Up, Doubletwist Alarm Clock

Om Malik — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:52:40 +0000

Time is the most naked manifestation of our irrelevance and perhaps that is why I am fascinated by all means of time-telling. Sundials, hour glasses, watches, clocks and now in the age of iPhone, time-watching apps. In the past I have written about the Nooka app for the iPhone. Today, I got a handful of new apps that are worth checking out:

1. Time in words — Qlocktwo

It is a very minimal clock for iPhone and iPad. It costs 99 cents but I like the idea of the simple black screen telling me what time it is. Built by creative design agency Biegert & Funk, who have also created similar watches and clocks. Download from the iTunes store. (via Ultralink)

2. Uniqlo Wake Up

It is so wonderful and delightful and meets my very simple requirement from an app: high emotional quotient. It is bright, cheery and it comes with alarm tones that mimic the weather, time and day of the week. It is intelligent and fun. It works both on Android and iOS and is free, thanks to Uniqlo, a Japanese clothing brand, whose clothes I will never fit into. As an aside, this is a perfect brand extension vehicle and what brand-advertising should be in the future.

The alarm music, which is automatically created based on the weather, time, and day of the week, was co-written by 51st annual Grammy nominee Cornelius (Keigo Oyamada) and Yoko Kanno, who is active in songwriting across a wide range of genres including video games and anime (COWBOY BEBOP, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Macross). The app allows users to share a record of their awakening – specifically, the time, weather, and temperature at the moment they stopped the alarm – via social media (Facebook, Twitter, RenRen, Weibo). In addition, the “wake up records” shared by users around the world are displayed in a part of the app entitled WORLD WAKE UP.

3. Doubletwist Alarm Clock

Doubletwist Alarm Clock has to be by far the most stunning of all time-watching apps on the market. In fact it is so good that I would consider switching to Android just for this app, for it is not available on iOS. The details on this app are meticulous and the design is what Steve Jobs himself would have approved. Not a surprise, considering its creator Sebastiaan de With once worked for Apple. The app which displays time in two modes – flip and analog comes with features such as recurring alarms, multiple alarms and using library to set songs for wake-up sounds. The app costs $0.99 but is worth every penny! (Also, check out this interview with him to better understand his design philosophy.)

And as a bonus, check out this Habitco Day Maker project on Kickstarter.

With Day Maker, a bedside morning station/iPhone charger, you can add a little extra ‘Pop’ to your day when it’s time to rise and shine. And if you’re not quite ready to face the day, snooze on effortlessly by pushing your iPhone back into its slot. With Day Maker, waking on a schedule has never been easier or more fun. Or relaxing. Using Day Maker is a pleasure because it works exactly as you would imagine, just like a toaster. Once you set your iPhone’s timer, simply load it into an open slot, press down gently, and you’re ready to go. And for a little added fun, we’ve even added a pull tab on the back, so you can set and pop multiple iPhones all at once.

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Will cars help iPad zoom away for good?

Om Malik — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:30:44 +0000

A few days back, I came across a press kit from Jaguar. The iconic British brand recently showed off the 2013 Jaguar XJ Ultimate, a $155,000 ultra-luxury sedan, that goes on sale later this year.

I am not really a car guy — I don’t own one and don’t plan to own one. What caught my eye was that the backseat of the car had two iPads, one for each rear passenger. They come with a wireless keyboard and are housed in what Jaguar calls, “specially designed leather-trimmed docks in the rear of the front seats and hidden behind roller doors, also finished in tailored leather. ” The iPads are charged when the car is running. The keyboards are slipped into the “cabinets.”

This isn’t the first time an automaker has made special consideration for the iPad, but this seems to be pretty well thought out one. Back in 2010, Mercedes showed off how iPad could be integrated into its cars. Other brands have made similar attempts as well. Anyway, the Jaguar offering made me wonder if the iPad is going to become as dominating a force in the auto industry as the iPod. Theoretically, iPad could easily become the entertainment hub inside a car.

Back in the day, when automakers first started to build iPod connectivity into their vehicles, it was quite clear that it was game over for iPod’s rivals. The easier it became for drivers to use their iPods in the cars, the more Apple distanced itself from its rivals. The iPod’s march started with luxury car brands, but eventually even budget brands were bundling iPod connectivity into their cars. And now the cycle is starting all over again with iPad integration making its way into luxury car brands. (Also, my colleague Katie wrote an awesome post about iPad’s impact on greener transit and connected cars.)

Thoughts?

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Will Apple dump the iPhone’s aging 30-pin connector?

Tom Krazit — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 21:32:30 +0000

For a company as forward-thinking as Apple has been in the mobile world, it still depends on a relic of its pre-iOS days as the primary connection for charging iPhones and iPads. But now that Apple can update its iOS devices over wireless networks, the 30-pin connector may have run its course.

iMore.com reported Friday that Apple will likely get rid of the 30-pin connector in the next version of the iPhone in favor of something smaller that could help it accommodate 4G LTE radios, and it’s about time. Unfortunately, the site doesn’t think Apple will follow the lead of the rest of the smartphone market and embrace the micro USB standard for phone chargers, but it’s still a notable development.

The 30-pin dock connector has been the primary doorway into the iPod for years. It was the only way to install software updates on an iPhone or iPad until iOS 5 introduced over-the-air updates, and an easy target for those who believed Apple wasn’t living up to its “post-PC” words by requiring a physical connection to a computer for such an important task.

Eliminating the (relatively) bulky connector could make it easier for Apple to include 4G wireless connections in the next iPhone without having to make an iPhone as big as some of the Android models (like the Galaxy Nexus) that connect to 4G networks. It also means a legion of accessory makers will have to get on board with a new standard on which Apple will probably continue to charge royalties to use in their products. The success of an iPhone accessory maker like Square that bypassed the 30-pin connector altogether with its credit-card reader may have also prompted Apple to come up with a new connector that offers unique advantages.

But to take things a step further, is Apple also willing to embrace wireless charging with the next iPhone, along the lines of what Palm introduced for certain models of the Pre? That might force the company to make some tough decisions about the materials it uses in the iPhone, a notoriously sensitive subject. But wireless charging is a great idea for users, and it would also allow Apple to sell some sleek wireless charging stations at a tidy profit.

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NPD: Apple dominated consumer electronics sales in 2011

Erica Ogg — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:59:43 +0000

The NPD Group has a report out Monday that says consumer electronics sales in 2011 saw basically zero growth over the previous year. Yes, Amazon sold a lot of Kindles, Samsung shipped a lot of phones and Apple sold as many iPhones and iPads as it could, but still, in the U.S. sales of all consumer gadgets hit just $144 billion last year. That’s actually a half percent dip in sales when compared to 2010. But last year’s results weren’t terrible news for all CE companies. There is one that’s doing pretty well in the U.S.

Apple was the only brand in the top five in the U.S. to see an increase in sales, which was 36 percent more than the company’s U.S. sales in 2010. And in the fourth quarter — which you may remember was Apple’s biggest quarter in the history of the company — Apple “accounted for 19 percent of all sales dollars” of consumer gadgets sold, according to the NPD report. Or, for comparison, twice as many in that quarter as the world’s largest PC maker, Hewlett-Packard.

The report goes on to say that there are fewer and fewer categories of devices that U.S. consumers are spending their money on. And part of what’s working in Apple’s favor is that Apple makes products in most of those select categories:

NPD says 60 percent of consumer electronics sales last year were PCs, TVs, tablets or e-readers, phones or video game hardware. Apple is a leading brand name in three of those categories, and you could say they operate in another (video game hardware) if you wanted to be a bit liberal with how you categorize the iPod touch or iPhone, which are used to play a lot of games.
Specifically, the tablet/e-reader category saw the best growth during 2011, with sales doubling to $15 billion. As we know from previous reports, Apple is a main reason those sales doubled — the iPad, which sold 40 million units in 2011, accounted for nearly 60 percent of all tablet sales last year.

So are consumers being more narrow about the types of gadgets they’re interested in purchasing? Or are the smartphones with 8 megapixel cameras and video games, tablets with productivity apps and video streaming reducing our need for additional devices? Perhaps both. Either way, Apple — with its obsessive tendency to focus on only a few products — is reaping the benefits.

Image source: Flickr user edvvc

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IPhone accounts for more than 80 percent of AT&T smartphone sales

Darrell Etherington — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:59:39 +0000

AT&T posted its fourth quarter results for 2011 on Thursday and highlighted smartphone sales in particular, which reached a record high of 9.4 million devices, beating the standing company record by 50 percent. Apple should be very happy with those results, too, since 7.6 million, or 80.9 percent, of those smartphones were iPhones.

Both Android and iPhone devices had best-ever quarters, according to AT&T, but the launch of the 4S clearly helped Apple’s push ahead. In fact, AT&T’s iPhone sales alone during the quarter represent a higher number than AT&T’s previous quarterly record of 6.1 million for total combined smartphone sales across all types of devices.

AT&T attributes the success of the iPhone on its network to its faster data network, since it is the only U.S. carrier that offers HSPA+ speeds for the iPhone 4S. It definitely did post more sales than Verizon, which reported earlier that it sold 4.2 million iPhones during its fourth quarter. Whatever the reason, the success of the device on AT&T’s network definitely contributed significantly to Apple’s total of 37 million iPhones during its most recent quarter.

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LunaTik Antik review: An accessory for your iPod nano accessory

Darrell Etherington — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:44:41 +0000

iPod nano watch bands are pretty common now, with multiple companies introducing more and more models for Apple’s tiny touchscreen media player. But Scott Wilson’s Minimal design studio is trying something a little different. It’s taking the iPod nano out of the equation completely with its new line of Antik watch modules.

The Antik is a nano-shaped quartz time-keeper that comes in one of five distinct flavors. The idea is that you can use your nano-compatible watch bands without the iPod, should you like the design of the wrist-mounts but not the downsides of limited battery life and screens that require a button-press to read. The Antik is cheaper than a nano, too, at $69.95.

I was initially hoping the Antik would work in all my iPod nano watch band accessories, especially the Deckster, but alas. the protective glass covering the watch face protrudes a bit farther on the Antik than it does on the iPod. Likely that won’t be a problem for a lot of accessories, but the only bands it’s guaranteed to work with are the TikTok, LunaTik and LYNK models made by Minimal. Since those are some of the best nano watch bands available, that’s really only a small flaw.

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Antik-wrist

The Antik has no date; features a simple, two-hand design, with a nice cut-out effect for the numbering; and is water-resistant to 30 meters, which is definitely not true of your nano. The designs for the shipping product were chosen by Minimal shoppers, and come in both black and silver finishes to match your band of choice. The black is real black, too, unlike the finish on Apple’s graphite nano, so it’ll better match black wristbands.

All the face designs are better looking than the virtual ones provided by Apple on the nano, in my opinion. And while the idea of wearing an iPod as a watch is still likely to be the primary factor driving nano watch band accessory sales, the idea of a relatively cheap, modular watch face and case system definitely means Minimal’s LunaTik brand has legs to outlast Apple’s notoriously mercurial design tastes when it comes to its iPods.

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Hands on with Apple’s iTunes U: An education

Darrell Etherington — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:08:39 +0000

In university, I used a single clipboard/portfolio to store my notes from every class, then mostly piled the day’s work on the floor according to subject matter. Now Apple has launched a new iTunes U dedicated app, which makes keeping track of course material ridiculously easy compared to my days of academic foraging.

Most students and educators who’ve been in school in the past 10 years have probably run across Blackboard, or some similar system for managing courses online in an interactive digital environment. Generally speaking, those systems are lacking in a lot of ways: navigating them can be difficult for new users; the same content can easily be filed in multiple places, leading to confusion; they usually aren’t engaging or attractive in terms of visual design.

Apple’s iTunes U addresses all those problems. It uses a UI that mimics the real world, which some people say is the wrong approach, but should help students and education professionals who grew up using traditional tools transition to digital methods. iTunes U also organizes things organically and according to common-sense logic, which should provide a greater uniformity of experience regardless of who’s putting together the course package. Finally, like all Apple products, it invites touch and interaction. There’s actually something satisfying about tapping off tasks and assignments listed in each course package.

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You can also see all the additional course materials, including notes, slide shows and video, and download them individually. Course materials are also available once you subscribe from the course pack itself.

The courses in iTunes U work on a subscription model, so you’re automatically kept up-to-date as a course proceeds. The course catalog makes it easy to find what you’re looking for, with specific sections for post-secondary education, programs from outside universities and colleges, and K-12-targeted material. Like Apple’s other digital marketplaces, it also provides highlighted courses chosen by Apple’s team, as well top charts and categories.

From the perspective of someone who’s designed a course syllabus and planned a class of study, this definitely seems like a great tool for educators. You can lay out exactly the course of action students need to take, complete with videos, slides and assignments listed as items in a list, where you can access them directly. It not only makes it easier for students to follow an instructor’s thinking, but should also help instructors better plan, organize and imrpove their courses.

If there’s one major downside to the iTunes U app, it’s that it’s most definitely exclusionary; students need an iPad, iPod touch or iPhone to take full advantage. Obviously, that’s Apple’s goal: to attract more users by providing appealing software experiences, and I definitely think it’ll succeed based on what I’ve seen so far.

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Apple envisions a future where clothes inform and mold your workouts

Darrell Etherington — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:50:25 +0000

A newly granted Apple patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on Tuesday and uncovered by Patently Apple describes a system through which your clothing could talk to your iPhone to help it create tailored workouts that know you better than you know yourself.

The system in the patent seems to build off the existing tech in the Nike+ workout tracking system that is currently built into some iPods and iOS devices. It goes further than the existing tech, however, thanks to additional sensors, which gather a lot more information than the basic Nike+ sensor, including details about how your foot falls during a running stride, and relay that info back to a central database that tracks lifetime garment usage.

Apple also talks about how the system could be used in more than just sneakers, such as in garments like shirts and shorts, in order to make it usable for additional activities like skiing, skating or swimming. Sophisticated sensors would provide enough feedback to help a receiver device, like an iPhone, provide the best possible training regimen or workout routine to users in order to help them reach the next level or meet current fitness goals.

Apple is rumored to be working on wearable devices, according to a recent New York Times report, and devices that track a user’s fitness, activity and other personal data are becoming a hot commodity, as we saw with the popular though ultimately flawed Jawbone UP and as Kevin saw at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. Providing a system where the very clothes you wear are also the data-gathering components of a whole-body monitoring system would definitely help Apple stay on top of this trend.

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When 3D printing meets iPod nano

Om Malik — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:27:42 +0000

Let’s just face it: From Darrell to me, we are just watch nerds here. We love to dress up our wrists with cool watches, smart watches and of course, the best of them all, iPod nano watches. And that is why we are constantly writing about iPod nano straps — you know, Tik Tok and iWatchz Q. Anyway here is another one from Ireland-based Curve Creative. It is called Nanolet.

So what’s cool about this? For starters, it is minimalist, and if you know me, I am all about minimalism. (Don’t believe me? Check out my personal blog.) It is a 3D printed product, and we are all big fans of 3D printing around here. As a result, the $22 strap wraps around the wrist. They warn that is good for medium wrists — well, that rules it out for me. For now.

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6 ways to give your Mac a thorough New Year’s cleaning

Dave Greenbaum — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:19:10 +0000

Although it’s still winter, now is the time to do some spring cleaning on your Mac to help it run more efficient and reliably. Here are six simple steps to take that will get your Mac sparkly clean and running like new.

1. Clean that screen

You’ve got a gorgeous screen on that iMac, but it’s covered by dust, debris and who knows what else. You may be tempted to use a bottle of glass cleaner — but don’t. That can harm the screen. My recommendation is to use Klear Screen kits, along with their microfiber cloth. They remove the debris while protecting the finish. If you don’t use Klear Screen, make sure whatever you do use is designed for glossy screens. For laptops, I highly recommend Radtech’s Screensavrz to prevent transfer of oils from the laptop keyboard onto the screen.

Let’s not even talk about that keyboard and how dirty it is. If you can shake it out, go ahead and do it. Then give it a good wipe with a safe, keyboard-specific cleaner.

2. Check the hard drive and keep it running right

Your hard drive stores your digital life and is a common point of failure in Macs. When’s the last time you checked the status of yours? Lion’s recovery partition makes this extremely easy. Hold down command-R at startup, and choose the recovery partition so that you can run Disk Utility on your main drive. For more information, check Apple’s detailed site about Lion Recovery.

Computers running operating systems older than Lion will need to boot from a CD or external hard disk to fully check the computer’s hard drive and perform minor repairs. If you want, you can also use third-party programs to expand your recovery and repair options.

Both Tech Tool Pro 6 and Drive Genius 3 have background monitoring of your hard drive to give you early warnings of problems, but if you want a free simple SMART warning program, check out the free SMARTReporter. Advance warning of a hard drive failure can be crucial to saving your data.

3. Replace that surge protector and test the battery backup

Do you know how old your surge protector is? Are you using one? If you don’t know when you bought it and you don’t know the amount of joules it protects against, it’s time to get a new one. Remember that a power strip isn’t necessarily a surge protector. One well-placed electrical “event” can turn that wonderful Mac into a glorified paperweight. As a general rule, when you get a new Mac, it’s also time for a new surge protector. I prefer name brand protectors from providers I trust such as Belkin, APC, and Tripp-Lite.

Similar to a surge protector, battery backups (UPS) tend to be set it and forget it. But batteries have limited life spans, and you don’t want to find out your battery is bad the hard way. It’s time to test the battery. Save your work and unplug your UPS from the wall. Did your Mac stay up? If it didn’t then your battery may be at end of life. Some vendors have software that will check the battery’s health and provide for graceful shutdowns during a power outage.

4. Clean up your cables

While you’re behind your Mac or on the floor checking your UPS and surge protector, do you know what each of those cables back there do, or if you still even need them? Organizing cables isn’t just about aesthetics. Disorganized cables tangled together creates the potential for chain reaction disasters: Pull too much on that iPod, and the entire string of computers and hard drives comes tumbling down. I’ve seen it, and it isn’t pleasant.

It’s time to trace those back, get rid of the ones you aren’t using and organize the rest. Lifehacker had a great article about how to get these under control. Oh, and you might as well dust that area, too, while you’re at it.

5. Check those logs

Your Mac has a little black box that records all sorts of problems and errata. Open up your Console app and it’s all there. It might be an application crash, a slowdown, or just general weirdness. For those of us who have trouble reading the logs and what they mean, Log Leech is well worth the $10. It makes your logs more Mac-like, and easy to find.

6. Lighten your load

Like many of you, I’m embarrassed with the collection of old manuals, disks and obsolete tech in my basement. It’s time to get rid of it. Old disks and manuals can usually be donated to libraries for their inventory or their big tent sale. While Apple has a recycling program, it’s limited to certain items, but your local Goodwill will usually take most items via the Reconnect partnership with Dell as will most Best Buy locations.

These six tips will ensure that your Mac has a happy and healthy 2012. Anything you would add?

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