MacRumors

Apple is now carrying the Nest Thermostat in its retail stores through the United States and Canada. The development comes as Apple has been carrying it online for several months.

Nest
The Nest thermostat is priced at $249.95 in the U.S. online store and is just one of a number of products featured in Apple's App-Enabled Accessories section. The thermostat can be controlled via a free universal iOS app [App Store], with access to controls also available through web browsers.

The Nest Learning Thermostat helps you stop wasting energy, while providing control using your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac. Consider that your thermostat controls about half your energy bill—more than TV, appliances, and lighting combined. But it's wasting energy every time it turns on the heating or cooling system in an empty house. The Nest Learning Thermostat solves this problem by programming itself, turning itself down when you're away, and keeping track of your energy use.

Apple features a number of such app-enabled products in its stores, including the iGrill cooking thermometer and Withings blood pressure monitor and body scale.

Last month, research firm Kantar Worldpanel reported that Apple had retaken the lead in U.S. smartphone sales from Android over the August-October timeframe, topping Android by a 48.1%-46.7% margin on the strength of the iPhone 5 launch.

At the time, the firm suggested that Apple's share would continue to rise as the 12-week window of sales data shifted to include the iPhone 5 for its entirety, predicting that Apple would set a record high for market share within the following two periods.

kantar us smartphones nov12
Kantar Worldpanel has now released its data for the September-November period, and Apple has indeed set a record high with 53.3% of the market. Apple's share is up dramatically from 35.8% in the same period last year, although the iPhone 4S did not launch until later in the corresponding timeframe.

Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, comments: “Apple has reached a major milestone in the US by passing the 50% share mark for the first time, with further gains expected to be made during December.”

Apple continues to fare less well in Europe, where even with growth of 2.5 percentage points year-over-year to reach 25.3% of the market, Android has surged farther ahead with a 9.2 percentage point gain and now holds 61% of the market.

Among the markets tracked by Kantar Worldpanel, Apple's best performance was in the United States, while its worst performances were in Brazil, Australia, Spain, and Italy, all countries where it lost share over 2011.

Related Forum: iPhone

The IMDb app is one of the most popular apps on iOS, with the Internet Movie Database yesterday noting in a press release that its iOS app has been downloaded 25 million times. Along with the milestone comes a redesigned Version 3.0 of the IMDb iPad app, with the goal being to focus on discovery features and allow users to see more content. The iPhone version has also received a few more features and enhancements.

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What's New in Version 3.0

One of Macworld's 20 Best Apps for 2012!

The IMDb iPad app has been completely updated with a new look & feel that showcases more movies, TV shows & celebs than ever before.

New iPad features include:
- Tap the plus sign (+) on any movie or TV show poster to add it to your Watchlist
- Sign in to get personalized movie and TV recommendations
- New full-page Watchlist and custom lists with updated sort and edit features
- Top 250 rank added to movie pages
- Tap the history or Watchlist icons to open previews from any page in the app
- Browse featured photo galleries & lists, most popular by genre, and charts
- Tap the IMDb logo to browse from any page in the app

Also new for both the iPad and iPhone:
- iOS 6 users can take advantage of native Facebook sharing
- Filmographies now include TV episode details
- Navigate to the entire image gallery from any photo or poster

The universal IMDb app is a free update on the App Store. [Direct Link]

DutchNews.nl reports on articles from the Dutch media noting that Steve Jobs' yacht Venus, which launched nearly two months ago, has been impounded by authorities due to a dispute with famed French designer Philippe Starck over design fees for the ship.

Baliffs boarded the brand new yacht Venus last Wednesday with an Amsterdam court order and it is now literally chained to the dock, the FD said. Port service companies have been instructed not to help it to leave.

The dispute centres on a €3m unpaid bill from Starck, known for his minimalist interiors, who worked with Jobs on designing the yacht for years. His fee had been established at 6% of the cost price, Rotterdam lawyer Roeland Klaassen told the paper.

The dispute seems to be related specifically to the cost of building the boat, with Starck claiming that the yacht was slated to cost €150 million while the Jobs family says that it only cost €105 million. The €45 million difference in prices means that Starck believes he is missing out on €2.7 million ($3.57 million) in design fees.

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The original report from Dutch financial newspaper Financieele Dagblad claims that there was no formal contract between Jobs and Starck, and that an out-of-court settlement of the dispute is likely.

joypadgameconsoleZell Interactive's Joypad Game Controller was originally released in mid–2011. As a standalone app, it turned the iPhone into a wireless virtual controller for several Mac and iPad games.

Unfortunately, finding games that worked with the iPhone app was a pain, requiring gamers to visit the Joypad website for a list or to stumble across a compatible app on the App Store.

That changed this week, with the release of the Joypad Game Console. The Game Console turns the iPad into a dashboard that lists all of the Joypad enabled apps. It's like an iOS version of Xbox Live, containing a list of featured games, a list of games that are already installed on the iPad, and a full list of all games that Joypad supports.

Users can tap on one of the apps listed in the Game Console to get more information on it, including an app description, YouTube trailer, and a link to purchase said app on the App Store.

After purchase, the Console can be linked via Wi-Fi to the Joypad Game Controller, which was recently updated with Game Console compatibility and all new skins. The Game Console app can also be connected to the Apple TV so that gamers can play their favorite titles on the big screen.


The Joypad Game Console is a handy addition to the Joypad Game Controller because it's a one stop shop for games. The only downside to both products is the limited game selection, which features just 17 titles.

Joypad Game Console is a free download from the App Store for the iPad. [Direct Link]

Joypad Game Controller is free for the iPhone. [Direct Link]

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Last year, Signal Snowboards made a board with an embedded iPad to honor Steve Jobs. This year, the guys have made a custom snowboard that can charge an iPhone on the slopes, thanks to a top sheet made of thin solar panels from PowerFilm Solar.

The board isn't for sale, but Signal's Marc Wierenga told MacRumors that the panels are extremely durable and the company has some ideas to incorporate them into their extensive lineup of made in the USA snowboards. He says the panels are more than powerful enough to charge something like a GoPro camera, making it easy for boarders to film an entire day of shredding without worrying about battery life.

Apple has long supported VESA mounting brackets for its larger displays, including the 27" iMac, the 27" Thunderbolt and 24" and 30" Cinema Displays. With Apple's adapter bracket, the desk stand can be removed and the display can be attached to any VESA-compatible mount.

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However, the new, thinner 27" iMac, does not support VESA mounting according to an email from Apple obtained by MacTrast. This is also noted in a compatibility note for the Apple VESA Mount Adapter Kit on the Apple Online Store.

Hi Glenn,

Thank you for your inquiry. The new iMac is not VESA mount compatible at this time.

We appreciate your feedback on this feature and will take it into consideration.

Thanks,
Laura

iMac owners frequently mount their machines to wall brackets for use as kiosks or other commercial displays, or to attach them to an articulating wall mount for flexible placement.

(Photo courtesy Flickr/Jaysin Trevino)

Kickstarter project POP, a portable power station, has been shut down by Apple, after the Cupertino-based company refused to license its Lightning charger to Edison Junior, the design lab behind the product.

POP, which was tagged by the creators as "The Intersection of Charging and Design" aimed to combine a variety of charging cables into one product, including the Lightning connector, Apple's 30-pin connector, and a micro-USB connector for charging non-Apple devices.

pop

Edison Junior CEO Jamie Siminoff spoke to VentureBeat and had this to say about Apple's decision:

We are pissed. I think they are being a bunch of [jerks], and I think they're hurting their customers.

The issue, it seems, was the use of a Lightning connector alongside a 30-pin connector, as Edison Junior explained in a note to Kickstarter backers.

When Apple officially announced the move to Lightning we determined the best course of action was to incorporate two Lightning chargers, and two 30-pins (along with the four micro-USB's). After applying to Apple (which is now required for Lightning), we learned that they are no longer willing to approve a product that uses the Lightning charger alongside any other charger (including their own 30-pin – seriously). Just like that, POP could no longer fulfill its true promise.

Edison Junior is planning to provide full refunds to all of its 1,000 backers, who pledged a total of $139,170, even though it will cost the company more than $11,000 in Kickstarter and credit card fees. The company is hoping to recover some of the cost from Kickstarter, which does not have a mechanism for refunds, forcing Edison Junior to seek help from their own crowdfunding site, Christie Street.

According to Siminoff, Edison Junior plans to continue developing a similar product that will indirectly support Apple iDevices with a Lightning-to-USB connector or a 30-pin connector.

Ad network and analytics firm Chitika claims it has seen no significant increase in iOS 6 adoption in the U.S. and Canada. A company analyst believes the MoPub data (which was international, rather than domestic) we wrote about earlier today was affected by the recent launch of the iPhone 5 in China, rather than the release of Google Maps.

This past weekend, Apple issued a press release bragging that it had sold more than two million iPhone 5 units in China over the first three days of availability.

IOS Adoption Breakdown
In the chart above -- which only looks at data from the U.S. and Canada, rather than the international data that MoPub examined -- the iOS 6 adoption slope following the release of Google Maps for iOS remains practically unchanged from before the release, suggesting a sea change in iOS 6 adoption rates resulting from Google Maps release is inaccurate.

Chitika Data Solutions Engineer Gabe Donnini:

Thursday, December 20th marks the first full week of Google Maps' availability in the Apple App Store. To determine the impact of Google Maps on iOS 6 adoption, Chitika Insights conducted a research study analyzing the trend in adoption rates since the applications' release, along with mapping the OS' adoption rates since its debut on September 19th, 2012 for added context. Following Google Maps' release, Chitika Insights observed iOS 6 usage remain fairly flat from midnight on December 13th to midnight on December 17th 2012.

On Monday, Google reported that Google Maps for iOS had been downloaded more than 10 million times.

myscriptcalculatorMyScript Calculator from Vision Objects has been available on Android devices for several months now, but as of today, the math app that lets users handwrite mathematical expressions is available for iPhone and iPad as well (via Mac4Ever).

Instead of typing equations into the app, MyScript Calculator accepts written input. Write out an equation with a finger or stylus and the app reads the handwriting. It will translate written work into numbers and digital text, and then solve the problem.

The whole process is quick, intuitive, and easy. It’s perfect for small calculations or more complex mathematical equations, supporting the following operations:

-Basic operations: +, -, x, ÷, +/‒, 1/x
-Misc. Operations: %, √, x!, |x|
-Powers/Exponentials: ℯx, xy , x2
-Brackets: ( )
-Trigonometry: cos, sin, tan
-Inverse trigonometry: acos, asin, atan
-Logarithms: ln , log
-Constants: π, ℯ.


MyScript Calculator works with both the iPhone and the iPad, and it is a free download from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Apple, Microsoft and Google are all potential buyers for home automation firm R2 Studios, part of the id8 Group founded by Blake Krikorian, according to the Wall Street Journal. He was the founder of Sling Media, makers of the SlingBox that was later sold to EchoStar/Dish Network.

R2 Studios sole public product is an Android client for Crestron whole-home control systems. Crestron released its own clients for the iPhone and iPad several years ago.

Crestron

R2 Studios, which is developing home-media and automation technology, has remained largely mum about its plans but last year released an app that turns Android phones into touch panels for controlling heating and lighting systems wirelessly. R2 Studios also holds some patents related to controlling electronic devices and interfaces.

The status of the discussion and terms under consideration remain unclear. A deal may not happen and some talks may be preliminary.

The WSJ reports that R2 also owns some patents related to "controlling electronic devices and interfaces", in addition to its existing app work. R2 could fit in nicely with Apple's rumored expansion plans, including its efforts to remake television viewing.


The market for home automation has been seeing a lot of activity recently, with former Apple executive Tony Fadell's company releasing the Nest thermostat last year. AT&T has announced plans to get into the home automation market as well.

35998Apple has sent reminders to App Store developers that the annual shutdown of iTunes Connect is scheduled to take place from Friday, December 21, 2012 to Friday, December 28th, 2012.

iTunes Connect is the portal for developers to submit app updates and changes. As a result, no new apps, app updates or price changes will be reflected in the App Store during that time.

We strongly recommend that you do not schedule any pricing changes in iTunes Connect that would take effect between Friday, December 21, 2012 and Friday, December 28, 2012. Pricing changes scheduled to take effect during this date range will not be reflected on the App Store and your app or In-App Purchase will become unavailable for purchase until after the shutdown.

We also recommend that you do not schedule any apps to go live during the shutdown. Releases scheduled with a start date between Friday, December 21, 2012 and Friday, December 28, 2012 will not go live on the App Store until after the shutdown.

As a result of the shutdown deadline, a large number of App developers have been cutting prices today as they compete for top ranking on the App Store Top Charts during the lucrative Christmas sales period.

Rockmelt first launched its iPad app in October, providing an endless stream of personalized content from an array of sources in a tiled, Pinterest-style layout. The company today brought the same experience to the iPhone, with its newly updated universal app.

Like the iPad version, the app on the iPhone features a tiled design, but adds new gestures that have been implemented to make reading with a single thumb feasible. Swiping to the left closes a tile and swiping to the right saves a tile to be read later. The save functionality syncs with the iPad app as well.

Rockmeltiphone
Six "emote" buttons allow readers to react to content with icons such as "lol", "want", "wtf", "aww", "hmm", and of course, "like". Rockmelt functions much like Flipboard, but incorporates social feedback, turning it into a web browser with social news integration.

Rockmelt can be downloaded free on the iPhone or the iPad from the App Store. [Direct Link]

NewImageFormer Apple employee Don Melton has shared a unique look behind the scenes of the Safari development team. Melton was the team leader on both the Safari and WebKit products that are now used by millions of users on both iOS, the Mac, and Windows.

The name Safari, however, wasn't decided on until less than a month before the browser was originally launched. A number of different names were suggested, including 'Freedom', but none of them seemed right.

The name 'iBrowse' was used sarcastically within the team, though it was never used within the code. The development code name for Safari was 'Alexander'.

From that point on, we had a brief discussion about the product name at random HI design sessions every month. Again, I don’t remember any particular name we talked about. They all sounded so awful to me that I’ve purged from my mind the trauma of imagining the browser being labeled with any of them. And the candidate names seemed to get worse the closer we got to shipping.

I’m not sure if any of the names I heard came from Steve after that initial session. I think he doomed some group in Marketing to iterate on them for awhile. And the few names I proposed were stinkers too. No one was without sin here.

Finally I stopped thinking about it because of more important things to worry about — like actually getting the engineering done.

In the end, the name 'Safari' was chosen and the rest is history.

T-Mobile USA today announced that it has made significant enhancements to its 4G network in 14 areas, signaling continued efforts to support the iPhone on its fastest 4G networks. T-Mobile has announced that it will officially begin offering the iPhone sometime next year.

Today, we’re announcing technology advancements in 14 new metro areas to close out 2012, underscoring our rapid enhancements to the already powerful 4G experience we offer. This has been a busy year for T-Mobile’s network — we announced a $4 billion plan to advance the network, secured vendors and quickly got to work installing new equipment across the country. Only 10 months after announcing our plans, we’ve already enhanced coverage for more than 100 million people!

solavei
Alongside T-Mobile's announcement, mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Solavei, which operates using T-Mobile USA's network, has officially launched a major push to attract iPhone customers.

Launched on September 21, 2012, Solavei has already attracted more than 100,000 members nationwide to take advantage of the only mobile phone service offering a $49 per month unlimited voice, text and data plan, along with the unique opportunity to earn recurring monthly income by sharing with friends and family.

“The network enhancements give our current and future members the ability to use their unlocked iPhones and other AT&T/4G smartphones at the highest possible speeds in even more cities,” said Ryan Wuerch, founder and CEO of Solavei. “The time is right for the more than 4 million AT&T iPhone customers who initially signed contracts in 2010 to cut their phone bills in half and gain the opportunity to earn income by sharing Solavei with their friends and family.”

Solavei notes that T-Mobile's network enhancements now allow it to support the iPhone in 37 new markets.

The network enhancements allow Solavei members to use iPhones and other AT&T/4G smartphones to access its $49 per month unlimited voice, text and data in areas including New York City, Newark, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Tampa, Baltimore, Houston, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Washington DC, Atlanta, Seattle, Minneapolis, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Diego, Central and Southern Arizona, San Francisco Bay Area, Central Valley California and South Florida.

T-Mobile is the last of the four major U.S. carriers to officially offer the iPhone, and while T-Mobile itself will not begin offering the iPhone until next year, Solavei's announcement suggests that T-Mobile's 1900 MHz 4G buildout is far enough along to support a major rollout of iPhone service.

Related Forum: iPhone

Passbook was one of the major features to debut in iOS 6, allowing companies to deliver items like tickets, loyalty cards, coupons, and gift cards to a centralized digital wallet for the iPhone and iPod touch. While the feature is a welcome addition that incorporates handy time and location awareness to help users gain access to their Passbook passes when needed, it falls short of a true digital wallet such as could be accomplished with hardware advances like near field communications (NFC).

Despite the limits on Passbook's utility so far, Wired reports that it is proving very popular with developers and retailers, many of whom are seeing significantly increased activity from their users due to the feature.

“We were amazed at the high uptake,” Phil Easter, American Airlines’ director of mobile apps said. “Apple has allowed an app developer like us is to put features right in front of the user where before, that space was off limits.”

The report notes that American Airlines is now seeing 1.5 million active users of Passbook, with 20,000 passes being delivered to flyers every day.

passbook folder starbucks
Cosmetics chain Sephora is also seeing strong Passbook adoption among its customers, with 375,000 users having added their rewards cards to the digital wallet app and others taking advantage of digital gift cards through Passbook.

“From a gift card standpoint it’s very seamless,” Julie Bornstein, senior vice president of Sephora Digital, told Wired. “You can send a gift card to a friend, they accept it, hit a link to add to their Passbook, and then they have their gift card right there.” Customers also can scan a code on their conventional gift cards so they can add them to Passbook.

Some users are still experiencing difficulty getting familiar with Passbook, as in many cases they have to download a separate app to access their account with a given company and then push their rewards card, passes, or coupons over to Passbook, a process that isn't always intuitive.

Apple has long been rumored to be interested in integrating NFC technology into the iPhone, with patents and mainstream news sources providing strong evidence for the company's interest in it. But Apple has been taking a "go-slow approach" for the time being, opting to push Passbook as a middle ground while it watches to see how mobile payments evolve over time.

ravenswordshadowlandsCrescent Moon Games' much anticipated RPG, Ravensword: Shadowlands was released tonight, after years of development. Shadowlands is the followup to the original 2009 Ravensword game and it features the same open-world gameplay of the first title.

Ravensword: Shadowlands is an exciting iOS release because of the enormity of the game world, the impressive scenery, and the immersive gameplay. Our sister site TouchArcade has posted a review of the app:

Just as the original Ravensword made its mark for bringing a sought-after genre to iOS, Shadowlands demonstrates just how far the genre has come on the platform, making it one of the most ambitious and enjoyable RPGs of the year.

It sounds cliched, but it's hard to believe I'm playing a game of this caliber on iOS. All too often we see games that sacrifice gameplay depth for visuals or vice versa. Other than a few minor glitches, Ravensword: Shadowlands is the real deal, and is an excellent open-world RPG with a decent story, ample content, deep character customization and beautiful visuals.

ravensword
The game comes with an extensive list of highlights, including ragdoll physics, Game Center integration, iCloud support, original soundtrack, and reflex-based combat.

Ravensword: Shadowlands is a universal app and it can be downloaded from Apple’s App Store for $6.99. [Direct Link]

Although ESPN's popular ScoreCenter app for iPad recently received a refresh including a visual makeover, the iPhone version had remained the same and continued to lack support for the taller iPhone 5 display for nearly three months after the device's debut. That changed today as ESPN released a completely redesigned app that takes cues from the iPad version. ESPN released the following statement about the new app:

Today, ESPN launched new versions of its highly popular ScoreCenter app for iOS and Android devices. Completely redesigned and optimized for iPhone 5, iPad and new Android smartphones, ScoreCenter serves sports fans with personalized scoreboards, alerts, breaking news and video highlights of their favorite teams and leagues from around the world. With simplified navigation, as well as live, integrated Gamecasts and links to WatchESPN, ScoreCenter makes it easier than ever for fans to follow up-to-the-minute sports news and information wherever, whenever. Other key features:

- Expanded game views providing in-depth game coverage
- Live scoring alerts for favorite teams and personalized match-ups sent directly to your device
- Calendar navigation, enabling access to previous scores and upcoming games
- Ability to share favorite games, videos and news with friends

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The updated version of the free ScoreCenter app is now available for download in the App Store [Direct Link]

Tag: ESPN