Dude Perfect ($0.99 iPhone, $1.99 iPad) is a sports game of sorts. There is a basketball, there is a net, and the goal is to get the basketball through the net. The difference here is that rather than scoring points for getting the ball through the net, you score points for hitting everything else on the screen except the net.

The dynamics of throwing the ball are as simple as choosing a direction and deciding how hard to throw. Anywhere you tap on the screen will engage the throwing mechanics of the game. Drag your finger in the opposite direction you want to throw as if you are pulling back a slingshot. Lift your finger from the screen and the ball is off.  The important thing to remember is that you don’t have to start the shot by touching the ball on the screen.  Tapping anywhere on the screen will start the shot.  This is good to know as many times the player is situated near the edge of the screen.

Clouds, buildings, trucks, balloons, fences and even flying saucers. There are all sorts of obstacles you can use to rack up your score as you make one amazing shot after another. The game was inspired by the real world YouTube sensation of the same name. A series of videos depicting amazing shots that include outrageous bank shots and bouncing the ball off all sorts of objects.  Watching the videos you get a sense that the game is not too far removed from reality.  Except perhaps shots involving bouncing the ball off of alien spacecraft.

There are over 80 different levels to play in seven different themed settings. Basics, Backyard, Ranch, Camp, Amusement Park, City and Space. Each theme has different obstacles that you can use to make your shot earn higher scores. You can also choose which of five different players to use to make your shot with. Each player has their own style and abilities. The twins, as an example, can be used to pass the ball before making a shot.  Keeping things interesting, you can also choose between a basketball, bowling ball or beach ball to throw. As you can guess, neither the bowling ball nor the beach ball have the same aerodynamic characteristics as the basketball. While you may get lucky with a power throw using the basketball and hoping it will eventually bounce in, the bowling ball in particular is not as forgiving.

Multiplayer has two different modes. The first multiplayer mode is for challenges between you and a friend with only one device.  This requires you to pass the one device back and forth between you and your friend.  You each then take turns making shots to see who ends up with the highest score. The second multiplayer game mode is a wireless mode where you can challenge your online GameCenter friends.  You can even let the game set up a quick auto match for you.

Through in-app purchases you can acquire additional payers, unlock all of the levels, and even enable a feature that allows you to create your own custom levels. While skill can keep you advancing in the game, and the included characters have the skills necessary to play any of the levels, the one in-app purchase you have to buy is the level editor.  Like the actual Dude Perfect Team, this is where you can plan and set up your own crazy shots.  You create your own custom levels on any one of the themed settings. You simply go through a series of edit modes where you choose where to place the basket, how to position the player and ultimately the number of objects you want to place on the screen to bounce your shots off of.

The cartoon-styled graphics of this game are well drawn and colorful.  While some of the challenges seem impossible at first, it is the rush of actually completing a difficult shot that keeps you coming back for more.

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9to5Mac, which earlier reported that iOS 7 would get a new look with “very, very flat design” and see some default iOS apps get a refresh, has a report with far more detail about the coming changes. The sources are anonymous and obviously final decisions are still yet to be made. Still, the report is a good indication that we’re not going to get the same old iOS this year.

It’s a long piece filled with many details, but a few of the more interesting slated changes include:

• User interface functions, like the slide-to-unlock bar, the textured background of the drop-down Notifications menu, and the tappable app icons will all be subtly upgraded visually.
• Basic Apple apps, like Calendar, Notes, GameCenter, Mail will get a unified black and white look and be differentiated mostly by a third color.
• The Weather app is getting an upgrade with more features.
• Over-the-top real-world animations, like the shredder that animates when a Passbook ticket is deleted, will go away.

In all, it’s about what we’ve been expecting. Nothing too drastic, but a thorough refresh that will be the first major visual upgrade to the operating system in its six years of existence.

It’s also been reported that in order to do this, the iOS team has been scrambling to finish the project and has pulled members of the OS X software team over to help it meet its deadline. It’s not clear what effect that may have on the timely release of the desktop OS, which is expected to be released later this summer or fall.

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Last night I was reading a mobile app store report published by research firm Canalys on Thursday that suggests the “app gap” is still huge.

And when talking about overall available apps, it is. Microsoft has around 145,000 apps for its Windows Phone platform and BlackBerry offers 120,000. But when Canalys took a deeper dive, something didn’t sound right to me.

From the report:

“Of the top 50 free and top 50 paid apps featured in the Apple App Store and Google Play in the United States, based on their aggregated rankings over the first 20 days of May 2013, just 34% feature in either the Windows Phone store or BlackBerry World (as of 21 May 2013). The Windows Phone store contained 16 of the top 50 free Apple App Store applications, and 14 of the top 50 paid. It contained 22 of the top 50 free Google Play store’s applications, and 13 of the top 50 paid. In comparison, BlackBerry World contained BB10 versions of five of the top 50 free Apple App Store applications, and nine of the top 50 paid. It contained 11 of the top 50 free Google Play store applications, and 11 of the top 50 paid.

Dire numbers, no? Yet, we keep hearing from both Microsoft and BlackBerry that they now offer a majority of the top apps found in other app stores. Something doesn’t add up here.

I didn’t do extensive research but I figured I’d have a quick look for myself as to what top apps are missing from the Windows Phone and BlackBerry stores. I fired up the Google Play store to see the top paid apps and then looked for them online in these two stores. Note that I haven’t yet checked the iTunes App Store, mainly because I’m back to using Android for my primary phone and tablet; plus I’m using a Chromebook and can’t install the App Store.

Here’s what I found in my cursory look: Of the top 20 paid apps in Google Play that weren’t utility type applications, BlackBerry was missing two and Windows Phone lacked five; two of which were also missing on BlackBerry — Need for Speed, Most Wanted and Minecraft.

The latter strikes me as odd since Minecraft is one of the top indie game downloads on Microsoft’s Xbox 360. The four that were missing only from Windows Phone? World of Goo, Tapatalk, and TuneIn Radio Pro (TuneIn is available). That’s not too bad.

So why the low figures from Canalys? It has to do with those utilities I mentioned, which are fairly specific to Android’s more open take on apps: You can modify system settings, install third-party keyboards, etc. Several of the top paid Android apps missing on the other two platforms are titles like: Swiftkey Keyboard, Titanium Backup Pro, Nova Launcher Prime (a home screen customizer), Beautiful Widgets Pro, Root Explorer and ROM Manager, for example. Several of these are in the top 10, in fact. And guess what: None of these are available for iOS either.

One would get a completely different comparison if device-specific utilities were ignored and Canalys does admit it:

“The lists also include a small number of apps, such as ‘Find My iPhone’, that are specific to a particular ecosystem, as well as some utility apps, such as flashlight apps, for which similar offerings with equivalent functionality are available. Taking this into account, the picture can be made a little more optimistic, but the presence of clear gaps in their inventories cannot and should not be masked.”

Let’s face it: There are many ways to measure the “app gap” between platforms. It is real because each platform has its own requirements, APIs and corresponding app store. Unless we were all running cross-platform web apps — something that is poised to happen on desktops with Chrome — there will always be apps available for some mobile platforms and not others. And one could measure the top 20, 50 or whatever number they wanted across various stores to get different results.

If you’re researching a mobile platform, the app ecosystem is undoubtedly important. But the best person to determine if a platform’s ecosystem will work for you isn’t a third-party, a research firm or me. Figure out what apps you need to use on a regular basis and check the stores for yourself. You’ll likely find that the best opinion on this is your own.

This post was updated at 8:32am to correct the app count for Windows Phone as “Where’s My Water” was incorrectly shown to be unavailable.

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I can attest that the following are the best apps out there for a Disney trip after field testing on a recent visit to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.

Before you go: Trip planning with ebooks

You should first look to see if your local library has any up to date ebooks that you can borrow. I was able to check out a couple of titles before our trip to Disney World began. Additionally there are several titles available on Amazon and iTunes for your Kindle and iBooks app. One of my favorites is The Unofficial Guide Walt Disney World ($9.99 Kindle, $9.99 iTunes).  Being able to read and bookmark travel guides on my iPhone saved me from packing heavy books in my carry-on.

Guidebooks are better as apps

Beyond electronic books you will also find some great informational guides in the App Store. One provider in particular, TimeStream Software, has a couple of iPhone apps published under the title of Notescast that you will find have the same insightful information as the best-selling books.  The difference is that the apps are much easier for navigating and finding what you are looking for when you are in a hurry inside the various parks. In particular their Walt Disney World Secrets ($1.99 iPhone) is a great supplement to any ebook you may already have in your library.

Searchable maps of nearby attractions

Both Apple and Google have decent satellite and regular maps of the parks in their mapping apps.  However, you will find that specialized maps that include the ability to annotate the maps with interactive pins that highlight nearby attractions will help get you to where you want to be.  VersaEdge’s Disney World Magic Guide ($4.99 Universal) does exactly this by including the wait times alongside the location.  Seeing the wait times on the map may change where you are headed in the first place.  The app also comes with a database with details about the attraction as well schedule for your dinner reservations.  This is something that neither Google nor Apple has in their maps.

Avoid waiting in line

There are two things you will want to keep track of when visiting Disney’s attractions: wait times and FastPass times. While VersaEdge’s Disney World Magic Guide will show you the wait times on a map, what it does not do is show you are the times that the next FastPass is available.  FastPass is Disney’s way of controlling large crowds by allowing everyone a chance at getting to ride their favorite rides at least once.  But FastPasses do run out.  Knowing that the next FastPass for SpaceMountain is for 9 p.m. when it is just 11 a.m. is a good indication that you had better run over to Tomorrow Land and get one before they run out.  And the busier the park is, the more likely the FastPasses will run out.

Disney’s own My Disney Experience – Walt Disney World (Free, Universal) proved to have the most accurate and up-to-date FastPass information in each park.  Disney’s app also has the current wait times, maps and database of attractions.  While it did not have FastPass information, I did find that VersaEdge’s Disney World Magic Guide was more responsive while looking up nearby park information.

Have some fun too

Not every app is about managing your time and keeping track of where you need to be next. One of the fun apps will help you find the Hidden Mickeys ($7.99, Universal) all around the resort. You may have seen the book of the same title in various bookstores for about the same price, but the app is much better than the book.  Unlike the book, the app will show you how close you are to each hidden Mickey when you are in the park using the device’s GPS.

Another great app to have is actually not a native app.  When in the park, you will notice that Disney has a program called PhotoPass where you can be photographed in front of some of the main attractions in the park. There is a mobile web app on Disney’s site that you can create a home screen icon for.  This will allow you to view the photos Disney’s photographers take right after they take them.

And finally, there is another great Notescast app that focuses on one specific historical Disney feature. While shopping on the Magic Kingdom’s Main Street be sure to check out the Main Street Windows (Free, iPhone). All along Main Street each window has a business title, which is a tribute to various Disney employees and major contributors to various Disney productions over the years.  It is sort of like Disney’s own version of Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

While these apps are all specific to visiting Disney World in Orlando, there are versions for its other theme park locations.  Be sure you are specific when looking for other books and apps about Disney. You don’t want to get all excited about riding Gadget’s Go Coaster realizing later that it is only at the Anaheim and Tokyo Disneyland locations.  Just be sure to devote a little time to loading up your iPhone with apps that will help you enjoy your trip to Disney this year.

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The purpose of the hearing was to set schedules, review witness lists and go over last-minute evidence objections ahead of the trial. Cote proposed that each side should be given 22 hours over a four day period plus a final day for closing arguments; the federal government said it would need at least 30 hours to make its case, and Apple requested the same, meaning the total trial would last 12 days. Cote said she will decide in the near future.

The parties also reviewed the witness list, who include prominent publishing CEOs like Macmillan’s John Sargent and Apple executive Eddy Cue. Today’s hearing also raised the possibility that News Corp executive James Murdoch, who exchanged a series of emails with Apple’s Steve Jobs, could take the stand for cross-examination; the federal government will decide in coming days, on the basis of an evidence issue, whether this will be necessary.

Much of the trial, however, is unlikely to feature dramatic CEO testimony. Instead, the core of the trial is likely to slog through recondite economic arguments and civil evidence issues; part of today’s hearing focused on expert witness opinion about the competitive effects of agency pricing and whether it coincided with Apple’s economic self-interest.

Today’s hearing also focused on an ongoing dispute in which Apple is attempting to force its competitors, especially Amazon, to unseal evidence they have submitted as part of the proceedings.

At the outset of the hearing, in a courtroom that rises 15 stories above lower Manhattan with a view of the Brooklyn Bridge, Cote stressed that the case represented an enormous amount or work, and told the parties to call her “day or night” if they decided to settle.

Update: Reuters reports that Cote indicated that she was “leaning towards” the Justice Department’s view of the case, and cited the following comment by the judge:

“I believe that the government will be able to show at trial direct evidence that Apple knowingly participated in and facilitated a conspiracy to raise prices of e-books, and that the circumstantial evidence in this case, including the terms of the agreements, will confirm that”

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Smule also shared some other interesting stats with Evolver: Its apps, which have been downloaded over 100 million times, are now being used by 15 million people a month, which have recorded one one billion individual songs so far.

That’s a lot of auto-tuning, auto-rapping and Glee Karaoke renditions. But it also goes to prove that there is money in music gaming – at least on the smaller screen.

Console games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band were once seen as the saviours of the music industry, and Viacom and Activision snapped up the companies behind both titles to cash in on the craze in 2006. However, the genre couldn’t meet these high expectations. Viacom sold off Rock Band maker Harmonix in 2010, and Activision ended up shutting down Guitar Hero in 2011.

Ironically, Smule’s next move is targeting all those guitar heroes left in the cold: Its new iPhone game is all about playing guitar.

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While Box has been taking an industry-by-industry approach to enterprise adoption, the Crocodoc buy showed that Box is also serious about serving up a slick and intuitive consumer-grade user experience for the enterprise. The Folders deal is more proof of that, and offers important capabilities that keep Box competitive as enterprises let employees bring their own devices — many are iOS based — into the workplace.

Folders code viewer. Source: Folders

Users can also search files stored across Box, Dropbox or Google Drive. But perhaps this support for multiple clouds could fall away as Folders gets absorbed into Box — Google and Dropbox, after all, are key competitors against Box in the fight to be the Dropbox of the enterprise.

The Folders technology will be worked into “the next generation Box for iOS” that’s currently in the works, according to the Box blog post from Sam Schillace, Box’s vice president of engineering. (Schillace will talk with my colleague Derrick Harris at GigaOM’s Structure conference in San Francisco on June 20.)

The Folders app was designed by Martin Destagnol, the CEO of Reedian. It’s unclear how Reedian will be affected by the acquisition.

Even though getting enterprise adoption is important, in day-to-day reality, sometimes it’s the small things that matter to people. If enterprise employees see that they can open certain documents on their mobile phones, they might be less likely to get annoyed. And if employee discontent is minimal, companies could end up sticking with Box instead of flocking to other cloud-storage providers. The Folders deal looks like it will help Box move closer in that direction.

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Apple may spend almost $4 million on lobbying this year as in 2012, reports Reuters. That’s low of course, but for Apple it’s a pretty hefty increase:

The company spent about $2 million on lobbying last year, up from $180,000 in 1999, records show. This year it is on pace to nearly double last year’s figure.

As the report notes, what Apple is spending on policy efforts is tiny compared to its peers Google and Microsoft, which spent $16.5 million and $8.1 million, respectively, on lobbying efforts last year.

But having a larger presence in the nation’s capital and making friends with the policymakers that can wield great power over its reputation and fortunes may just be something Apple has to do. (One political reporter described Apple’s tax hearing as simply a “shakedown” by politicians angered by Apple’s proud D.C. outsider stance.)

CEO Tim Cook fared very well under questioning from senators on Tuesday, deflecting questions patiently about his company’s legal tax practices. He said he wanted people to hear Apple’s story directly from him, which is why he appeared before a Senate subcommittee this week. But it’s probably not something he wants to do on a regular basis. And making suggestions about corporate tax policy changes, as he did, may not be enough. What money Apple decides to spend on lobbying in the future will probably need to support his policy proposals if he wants to see any of them taken seriously — and keep Apple out of the spotlight.

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The claims are set out, in part, in a letter last week from Apple’s law firm that urges US District Judge Denise Cote to reveal information about its pricing as well as “internal discussions about the inferiority” of its Kindle e-reader compared to the iPad. Apple also says the redacted information will help expose the “fiction” that Amazon was “forced” to adopt a new pricing system as a result of a 2010 arrangement between Apple and five big publishers.

This arrangement — known as “agency pricing” — resulted in publishers requiring retailers to sell ebooks on a commission basis, in which publishers could set the price. This led the Department of Justice, state governments and class action lawyers to sue Apple and the publishers; the latter settled the cases and agreed to pay out millions but Apple is holding its ground.

Apple argues that the Department of Justice is wrong to portray Amazon as a victim, along with consumers, of a conspiracy to raise prices. Instead, the company claims that Amazon was contemplating agency pricing too and was pleasantly surprised when the publishers took it up on their own. Apple is also using colorful emails obtained from Amazon executives to make its point:

 ”I guess what we never figured in was the idea that five publishers would band together and insist on receiving worse terms,” the email said. “And then Amzn would be ‘cornered’ into accepting them.”

“Hysterical, isn’t it?” the Amazon executive replied. “Jedi Mind Tricks here in Seattle.”

The email exchange was reported by Reuters legal reporter, Alison Frankel, whose recent analysis portrayed Amazon as the “elephant in the (court)room.” Her report adds that Judge Cote stated that she doesn’t want the trial “distorted by a larger battle between two commercial giants.”

What do others think? Apple’s view is likely to find support in at least some quarters. The publishing community continues to fume about Amazon’s enormous clout in the book business. Meanwhile, some copyright lawyers have joked to me in the past that Amazon should send US Attorney General Eric Holder a holiday card for suing Apple and the publishers.

Amazon will get to offers it own views directly; its executives, along with publishing executives, will be among the witnesses testifying on behalf of the Department of Justice.

For now, Judge Cote has decided that the evidence Apple is seeking will remain redacted. But the issue will not doubt arise again if the trial, scheduled to begin on June 3, goes ahead as planned. There is a pre-trial conference planned for later this Thursday — we’ll let you know if any new twists emerge.

Here’s the letter from Apple’s law firm:

Amazon to Disclose (Request)

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Mailbox for iPad is the first new product from the company since its Dropbox acquisition, which Om’s sources put above $50 million and potentially closer to $100 million. No matter the exact price tag, it was a significiant deal for the small company, and CEO Gentry Underwood said the transition to working within Dropbox has been remarkably smooth.

The new iPad app will look pretty similar to the existing iPhone app, with a few minor changes to account for the larger screen. Underwood said designing for the iPad is actually a significant challenge, since if you look at it one way it’s an overzized mobile phone, and another way it’s a small computer. Figuring out how to accomodate for the size of the keyboard (or wireless external keyboards), as well as not overcrowding the screen, is tricky.

“We’re trying to create an experience that’s as consistent as possible, that doesn’t misuse all that extra space,” he said, noting that it would be easy to see the larger size of the tablet and cram it with features. “And sometimes it’s like a luxury-sized mobile device and sometimes it’s a desktop replacement.”

Seemingly as soon as Mailbox launched, users were clamoring to download the app, which limited signups and put most people on a reservation list. The full app finally launched to everyone and Mailbox removed the signup list last month. At that point, it was delivering more than 100 million messages a day, and while Underwood said they are reluctant to continue releasing numbers, he said the growth remains strong, and that 40 percent of users hit inbox zero every week.

Mailbox for iPhone and iPad are available in the Apple iTunes store, and a full review of the iPhone app can be found on the GigaOM Pro blog.

Underwood said the company is working on an Android app (the iPad app was in the works before the acquisition), but he wouldn’t say when Android would launch. The company decided to go with iPad first since it was an often-requested feature, and because much of the code was the same for iPad, even if it presented new design challenges, whereas Android would be something of the opposite.

“There’s always this constant tension between, ‘This is great,’ and ‘Oh, there’s so much more we want to do.’”

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