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Apple
When. choosing MINDFIELD. DIGITAL and our DBMD™ Program’ for ‘your ~
development services; you can be sure you will receive an app that will save you
; mofieyand re resources lang thé most advanced design and interface concepts.
We follow’ arwhbplicage Development Cycle where every step is carried out to
maximum * perfection. ~Qur application developers are experienced and
Anduedgeable; and are Skilled at Beuyering top-high tech Apps.
~ Our team is constantly looking for promising ‘partners, in’Order to improve’ our *»
«quality, broaden our experience and ‘create a global range of Apps With the’!
- most impressive conceptual designs, 3D. Graphics ahd ‘Sound FX208
“~ tas
Learn something new everyday
maketecheasier.com
THE MOBILE THREAT,
ANDROID MALWARE A GROWING CONCERNFOR
FINANCE GETTING MORE FROM iOS
EMAIL PROGRAMS TO REPLACE MAIL BEGIN TO EMERGE
til
‘SAMSUNG EXTEND LEAD OVER BLACKBERRY 06
(COMING MORE VULNERABLE TO MALWARE? 08 TOP |
24
INSIDE s 28
iTUNES REVIEW 48
TOP 10 ALBUMS 84
HITIS‘ WOMAN SUES APPLE 94
_ BLES SIRI INTO FERRARI 96 TOP 10 MUSIC VIDEOS 85
ae — m
WI-FIIN THE SKY 10
KEEP CLOSE iWATCH ON APPLE PRODUCT 36
STINGY TO THE CORE [EXCLUSIVE] APPLE iRADIO PLAN REBUFFED BY LABELS OVER... 92
)
APPLE AND SAMSUNG EXTEND LEAD
OVER BLACKBERRY
BlackBerry is the third most popular smartphone
hardware brand in the UK behind Apple and
Samsung, according to the most recent comScore
MobilLens report. It had a 15.2 per cent share of
the smartphone handset market as of October
2012, down from 17.7 per cent in October 2011.
In the operating system arena, comScore puts
it behind Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS.
BlackBerry’s market share isdown,whileMicrosoft
is nipping at its heels.
Nokia began adopting Microsoft’s OS for its
handsets in early 2011 and announced it had
shipped its last device supporting its own
Symbian operating system last month.
Microsoft's latest version of OS Windows Phone
8 launched at the end of October with handsets
from Nokia and HTC.
Microsoft is positioning its phones as integrated
with its existing Windows software, highlighting
security and cost- effectiveness to chief
information officers and businesses, said
Microsoft consumer PR manager James Tutt:
‘Windows Phone 8 is a strong proposition and is
business-ready.
At October's launch, Tutt said while the majority
of comms were consumerfocused, business
journalists were also incorporated in activity
around handset reviews.
theletter \v marketing.com
ARE APPLE’S MACS BECOMING MORE
VULNERABLE TO MALWARE?
The biggest vulnerability to Macintosh
computers is the belief among their devoted
users that Apple’s (AAPL) superior operating
system makes them immune to malware,
experts say.
“Some Mac users have this perception that the
Mac is free from hacks and that is completely
wrong,” said Zheng Bu, senior director of
research for Milpitas-based FireEye, which
develops anti-malware products.
Mac users, said Kevin Haley, Symantec director
of product management for security response,
“have let their guard down.”
While the vast majority of malware is aimed at
Windows operating systems, the growing
market share of MacBooks and iMacs is making
Apple computers a bigger target. In recent years,
Macintosh computers have garnered about
20 percent of the U.S. consumer market, said
Stephen Baker, the hardware analyst at the NPD
Group. “They are gaining,” he said.
Macs going mainstream may be great for
Apple’s bottom line, but it also makes the
Macintosh operating system a bigger target for
hackers, experts say.
“We are seeing more and more Macs getting
infected,” Haley said.
The first computer viruses actually were aimed
at Apple computers, said Andrew Conway,
a researcher at Cloudmark, which works on
Internet security problems. “Back in the day, the
first virus appeared on Macs,” which
was more sophisticated than Microsoft Disk
Operating System, or MS-DOS, he said. “You
could write a virus on it and you couldn’t do that
on DOS.”
Many Mac users have long assumed Apple’s
operating system, which is tightly knitted
with the hardware the company also
designs, has stronger security than Windows.
Conway, though, said there is no way to
prove that is true.
While Apple is good about fixing its
vulnerabilities, “the Mac hasn’t come under the
kind of attack we've seen with the
Windows PC,” he said.
The Macintosh operating system is “not a super
system made by super people,” Conway added.
What is certain is the Macintosh operating
system is once again becoming attractive to
hackers.
Last year, the Flashback Trojan malware infected
an estimated 600,000 Macs by appearing to be
a browser plug-in but actually stole personal
information. In February, Apple said Macs
operated by Apple employees were infected
with Java-related malware when they visited a
software development website. The Cupertino
company did not disclose how many of its
employees’ computers were infected or when.
One of the biggest threats to Mac users is third-
party software, such as Java, a popular vehicle
for cyber thieves to infect Windows and Mac
machines by writing only one attack code. In
such cases, simply visiting an infected website
that exploits a Java vulnerability can enable
malware to get onto a Mac, which is what
happened with the Apple employees, Haley
observed. He called it a “drive-by download.”
“In this case, (infected) Java software was used
to download malware onto machines,” Haley
said. “You would have no idea.”
Adobe (ADBE) software is also another vehicle
used by hackers to infect computers, Bu said.
“Both Apple and Windows need to work closely
with third-party (software makers) to make safer
software,” he said. “Then they need to build a
rapid process to quickly address issues.”
Haley said Mac users can also take steps to
ensure they avoid malware traps. Perhaps
the most important move is to quickly accept
software updates from Apple and other
vendors, such as Adobe, which often close
security vulnerabilities.
“It’s a good idea not to ignore those,” he
said, adding, “People are always good about
computer security after they have been hit with
malware.”
Five ways To Make Macintosh Computers Safer
Accept software updates from Apple and third-
party vendors as soon as they become available.
These often include security patches. Do not
click on unexpected attachments, even from
email that appear to be from people you know.
Do not click on suspicious links. Be careful about
clicking on links on Facebook or Twitter from
someone who appears to be a friend “offering”
photos of you. Consider using anti-virus
protection software for Macintosh computers.
10 |
Airline officials everywhere, anxious to reduce
costs and increase revenue wherever possible,
are increasingly opting to infuse modern
aircraft with onboard wirelessfidelity (wi-fi)
technologies.
PORTABILITY PREFERENCE
Portable and handheld computing devices,
including tablet computers such as the Apple
iPad, are increasingly finding their way on civil
and military aircraft.
Airlines worldwide are rapidly
adopting avionics systems
that enable the
delivery of in-flight
entertainment
and
wireless
Internet to
Tablet computers
and iPads are
being employed
in the cockpits of
commercial airliners
as electronic flight bags
(EFBs), replacing heavy and
cumbersome printed maps
and manuals; wireless devices
are also popular among airline
crews, flight line maintenance
personnel, and other staffers - not to mention
passengers.
Today’s traveling public, whether flying for
business or pleasure, has come to expect and
even demand wi-fi connectivity at 30,000
feet and beyond. “Traditional ‘road warriors’
are jazzed by wireless hotspot possibilities on
aircraft,” affirms Wayne Plucker, Aerospace &
Defense Industry Manager at Frost & Sullivan,
a global market research, analysis,
and
consulting
firm with
headquarters
Mountain View, Calif.
In response to recent trends,
airlines all over the globe are
increasingly investigating the benefits
of onboard wi-fi technology.
NETWORK NEEDS
Airlines are moving away from suites of inflight
entertainment (IFE) avionics in favor of wireless
access points (WAPs), not only to meet
customer demand, but also to capitalize on
new revenue streams and reduced weight.
Gogo in-flight broadband Internet service
enables passengers on board commercial and
business aircraft to connect to the Internet
through a system of cell towers on the ground.
In the pages that follow, industry professionals
cast an investigative spotlight on the trend
toward wireless local area networks (WLANs)
on today’s airliners.
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14
There’s just something about the iOS
environment that attracts me. | enjoy it so
much that | prefer to do the majority of my
work on my iPad, rather than the Mac. |
only return to the Mac when | really have to,
when | have work that just can’t be done on
the iPad, which isn’t much.
I’ve downloaded apps for many tasks to aid in
this process, and that’s one of my reasons for
the enjoyment level. | can find apps to take
care of everything. The only holdup in this
process has been email. There just weren’t
any capable mail apps out there. Yet, the Mail
app has always been a thorn in my side. |
detest it. It just seems to be behind the times
to me. With all you can do with iOS, the Mail
app really should be much better.
| have a lot of hope every time they
update iOS and promise changes to the
Mail app. Yet, I’m always letdown. The
changes they make are never enough.
It’s aesthetically boring and just handles
email straightforward. It doesn’t offer great
graphics or organize anything really well.
Additionally, it doesn’t handle Gmail well,
forcing you to either archive mail you wish
to delete or do a long press on the Delete
button to move it into your Trash email.
To me, | look around iOS and find that that
there are so many things it could be doing,
or that | could be doing, to make it more
efficient. This applies to the ways | use both
my iPhone and my iPad. They could be doing
more for me, and | could be doing more
with them. It’s similar to the scientists that
say we only use ten percent of our brains. |
think we only use our mobile devices a small
percentage of the amount they’re capable of.
| was delighted last week to see that two
new email apps have hit the iOS scene.
They’re both so new that they aren’t
perfected yet, but between the two of them
v
L
they have improved my production greatly,
and that’s where it lies. It’s not just the
fact that | dislike the iOS Mail app; it’s not
productive for me. | had four email boxes,
one personal, and three work emails, and
all were filled up with emails | couldn’t get
through. My personal Gmail had emails
from back in 2009. Yes, 2009. Mostly these
are just joke emails | never had time to go
through, but they’re still there clogging up
the mail box.
TASKBOX
This is where the first email program comes
in. TaskBox handles all your email and
organizes it for you via tasks. Instead of
leaving all your email in your InBox thinking
you'll get to it later that day, which somehow
turns into four years, you can assign it as a
task and get it out of your Inbox. It makes it
so much easier to go through all of it.
Additionally, it’s all done with gestures. A
short swipe to the right adds the email as a
Task, a longer swipe marks it as completed.
A short swipe to the left archives the email,
and a longer swipe deletes it. By seeing a
preview of the message in the email box,
it makes it easy to flip through them all to
organize them. You can also organize them
with tags to put them into different folders in
your email system.
Ideally what TaskBox is meant for is for
assigning and accepting tasks within a
group. You can take an email and assign it
as a task to someone in your address book.
Ideally, a boss or editor could send work to
his employees, and assign different tasks
to others. It can be marked with a level of
priority as well as a date. You can then head
to your dashboard and see all the tasks
that are waiting for you, that have been
completed, that you have assigned, etc.
15
INBOX 6
Insurance Plan Question
For right now, | don’t even have it fully set
up. I’m only TaskBoxing with myself and
haven’t been assigning priorities or dates
to my tasks. | went through these four large
Inboxes of mine throughout a weekend
and deleted the ones that were no longer
applicable and took others and either
assigned them as a task if | wanted to look
through them at some point, or saved them
to an additional Email folder if they were just
something | wanted to hold onto for future
reference.
However, even though I’m not using this app
to the fullest of its capabilities, it has still
cleared up my mess. It used to take me up
to an hour to find an email | was looking for
for a certain link, task, etc. No longer. | have
found all my tasks that | return to right away.
For a person like me who is writing and/or
editing on three different websites and a
digital magazine, TaskBox is a lifesaver.
Another great aspect of TaskBox is their
security and privacy. They don’t store any
of your data in the cloud, leaving it all up to
Gmail and Google.This means there is less
to go wrong. You don’t have to worry about
your email client and Gmail going down, just
Gmail. It’s also a slight negative, as it means
it only works with Gmail and Google. What |
did, though, was take my one email account
that wasn’t in Gmail, yet that | wish was
Gmail, and filter it through another Gmail.
| started an additional Gmail account and
have my other email forward into it. This way
| have everything working via Gmail.
| use TaskBox both on my iPad and my
iPhone. However, there is no optimization for
iPad. The app will work on my iPad, but there
is no orientation change for it, so when I’m
reading, I’m either moving the orientation
of my iPad or reading sideways. The folks at
TaskBox have promised that a dedicated iPad
app is in the future plans. They also promise
by By Taskbox
Gtegory: Productivity
Updated: Mar 14, 2013
Price: $2.99
Kk kk
52 Ratings
View in
iTunes Preview
AL7/
18 |
that they have big plans that they cryptically
promise extend further than email. Keep
your eye on them!
INCREDIMAIL
Just after | found TaskBox, | lucked into
IncrediMail as well. | downloaded it to see
if it was an app | would like better than
TaskBox. Instead | found an app | like in
addition to TaskBox. IncrediMail is a visual
aid for your email and is everything an iPad
Mail app should be.
IncrediMail is very new and in its infancy, so
it requires a little bit of patience with a few
things. However, you can see great things
on the horizon, and it makes me stick with
it. You can view all of your email accounts
at once, or separately, and see your Inbox in
an iPad-styled magazine format. Again, this
is another app that is making the best of the
iOS experience and leaving the Mail app in
the dust.
In this magazine-style format, you can flip
through your emails via swiping. The only
things it is missing are the abilities to add
a signature and to move emails between
folders on the server. The signature
hasn’t been addressed yet, but they are
promising that folder-moving abilities will
be coming soon.
It’s great to be able to view your emails
visually like this, big and bold on the retina
display. It is so beautifully styled. It has a
browser built in for those times you are
clicking a link. Instead of transferring you to
Safari, it will open the link right there. One
area that it misses out on, as does TaskBox
for that matter, is the saving of images. It
allows you to copy it, but won’t save directly
to your Photos.
LF
by By Perion Network Ltd
Category: Productivity
Updated: Mar 08, 2013
Price: Free
kk I
138 Ratings
View in
iTunes Preview
19
20 |
Despite this, it handles photos well in other
aspects. It allows you to add photos easily to
your emails, and even connects to FaceBook
for two added benefits. As it connects, it
will pull in your friends’ profile images so
that you see who the emails are from right
away. It also pulls off the images shared
by your Facebook friends into another tab
so that you can go through and browse all
of your friends’ uploads. It’s only missing
the description to see who uploaded it and
when, as well as likes and comments.
I’m currently using a combination of
IncrediMail and TaskBox. There are a few
times when | have to go back to the Mail app,
such as when I’m saving a photo, but these
two apps have so enriched my iOS experience
in just a matter of a few days. Again, | know
I’m barely even scratching the surface
of all that iOS can offer. These apps have
encouraged me to look deeper and find other
ways | can improve my experience on iOS. @
by Laura Tucker
vOURBRANDuasies
sooULUMPANY
on MA on VEA fi)
APPLEMAGAZINE.COM
It’s all about Apple
The right magazine for the right audience
24.1
#01 —Icomania
By Games for Friends GmbH
Category: Games
Compatible with iPhone 36S, iPhone 4, iPhone 45, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd gen), iPod touch (4th
gen), iPod touch (Sth gen) and iPad. Requires i0S 5.0 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
#02 — 4 Pics 1 Word
By LOTUM GmbH
Category: Games
Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd gen), iPod touch (4th
gen), iPod touch (Sth gen) and iPad. Requires i0S 5.0 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
#03 — Angry Birds
By Rovio Entertainment Ltd
Category: Games
Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 45, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd gen), iPod touch (4th
gen), iPod touch (Sth gen) and iPad. Requires i0S 4.3 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
#04 — 94 Seconds
By Scimob
Category: Games
Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 45, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation),
iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (Sth generation) and iPad. Requires i0S 5.0 or later.
#05 — Candy Crush Saga °
By King.com Limited
Category: Games
Compatible with iPhone 36S, iPhone 4, iPhone 45, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd gen), iPod touch (4th
gen), iPod touch (Sth gen) and iPad. Requires i0S 4.3 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
#06 — CocoPPa - Japan Kawaii(cute)
By SPIRE, Inc.
Category: Lifestyle
Compatible with iPhone 36S, iPhone 4, iPhone 45, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd gen), iPod touch (4th
gen), iPod touch (Sth gen) and iPad. Requires i0S 4.3 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
#07 — Real Racing 3
By Electronic Arts
Category: Games
Compatible with iPhone 4, iPhone 45, iPhone 5, iPod touch (4th gen), iPod touch (Sth gen), iPad
2, iPad (3rd gen), iPad (4th gen) and iPad mini. Requires i0S 4.3 or later. This app is optimized for
iPhone 5.
#08 — YouTube
By Google, Inc.
Category: Photo & Video
Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 45, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod
touch (4th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later.
#09 — Google Maps
By Google, Inc.
Category: Navigation
Compatible with iPhone 36S, iPhone 4, iPhone 45, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd gen), iPod touch (4th
gen), iPod touch (Sth gen) and iPad. Requires i0S 5.1 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
#10 — Fix-it Felix Jr.
By Disney
Category: Games
Compatible with iPhone 36S, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd gen), iPod touch (4th
gen), iPod touch (Sth gen) and iPad. Requires i0S 4.3 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
#01 — Memory Clean
By FIPLAB Ltd
Category: Utilities
Requirements: 0S X 10.7 or later, 64-bit processor
#02 — Head Soccer
By D&D Dream Corp.
Category: Games
Requirements: 05 X 10.8 or later
#03 — Kindle
By AMZN Mobile LLC
Category: Reference
Requirements: 0S X 10.6 or later
#04 - Xcode
By Apple
Category: Developer Tools
Requirements: 0S X 10.7.4 or later
#05 — Full Deck Solitaire
By GRL Games
Category: Games
Requirements: 0S X 10.6.6 or later
#06 — Evernote
By Evernote
Category: Productivity
Requirements: 05 X 10.6.6 or later
#07 - The Unarchiver
By Dag Agren
Category: Utilities
Requirements: 05 X 10.6.0 or later
#08 - Twitter
By Twitter, Inc.
Category: Social Networking
Requirements: OS X 10.6 or later
#09 — VirtualDJ Home
By Atomix Productions
Category: Music
Requirements: 0S X 10.6.6 or later
#10 - CSR Racing
By NaturalMotion
Category: Games
Requirements: 0S X 10.8.2 or later
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TOP
FREE
APPS
Mac 0S X
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26 |
#01 — Temple Run: 0z
By Disney
Category: Games / Price: $0.99
Compatible with iPhone 36S, iPhone 4, iPhone 45, iPhone 5, iPod touch (4th gen), iPod touch
(Sth gen), iPad 2, iPad (3rd gen), iPad (4th gen) and iPad mini. Requires i0S 5.0 or later. This app is.
optimized foriPhone 5.
#02 — Sonic Dash
By SEGA
Category: Games / Price: $1.99
Compatible with iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (4th gen), iPod touch (Sth gen),
iPad 2, iPad (3rd gen), iPad (4th gen)and iPad mini. Requires i0S 5.0 or later. This app is
optimized for iPhone 5.
#03 — Block Fortress
By Foursaken Media
Category: Games / Price: $1.99
Compatible with iPhone 36S, iPhone 4, iPhone 45, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd gen), iPod touch (4th
gen), iPod touch (Sth gen) and iPad. Requires i0S 4.3 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
#04 — WhatsApp Messenger
By WhatsApp Inc.
Category: Social Networking / Price: $0.99
Compatible with iPhone.Requires i0S 3.1 or later.
#05 — Minecraft — Pocket Edition
By Mojang
Category: Games / Price: $6.99
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires i0S 4.3 or later. This app is
optimized for iPhone 5.
#06 — Wreck-it Ralph
By Disney
Category: Games / Price: $0.99
Compatible with iPhone 36S, iPhone 4, iPhone 45, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd gen), iPod touch (4th
gen), iPod touch (Sth gen) and iPad. Requires i0S 4.3 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
#07 — Angry Birds Star Wars
By Rovio Entertainment Ltd
Category: Games / Price: $0.99
Compatible with iPhone 36S, iPhone 4, iPhone 45, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd gen), iPod touch (4th
gen), iPod touch (Sth gen) and iPad. Requires i0S 4.3 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
#08- Plague Inc.
By Ndemic Creations
Category: Games / Price: $0.99
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires i0 4.3 or later. This app is
optimized for iPhone 5.
#09 — Toca Hair Salon 2
By Toca Boca AB
Category: Education / Price: $1.99
Compatible with iPhone 36S, iPhone 4, iPhone 45, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd gen), iPod touch (4th
gen), iPod touch (Sth gen) and iPad. Requires i0S 5.0 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
#10 — Vector for iPhone
By Nekki
Category: Games / Price: $0.99
Compatible with iPhone 4, iPhone 45, iPhone 5, iPod touch (4th gen), iPod touch (Sth gen),
iPad 2, iPad (3rd gen), iPad (4th gen) and iPad mini. Requires iOS 3.1 or later This app is
optimized for iPhone 5.
#01 — 0S X Mountain Lion
By Apple
Category: Productivity / Price: $19.99
Requirements: 0S X 10.6.8 or later
#02 — Pages
By Apple
Category: Productivity / Price: $19.99
Requirements: 0S X 10.6.6 or later
#03 — Keynote
By Apple
Category: Productivity / Price: $19.99
Requirements: 0S X 10.7.4 or later
» #04 — Numbers
= by Apple
Category: Productivity / Price: $19.99
Requirements: 0S X 10.6.6 or later
J
#05 —FaceTime
By Apple
Category: Social Networking / Price: $0.99
Requirements: 0S X 10.6.6 or later
#06 — iPhoto
By Apple
Category: Photography / Price: $14.99
Requirements: 0S X 10.7.4 or later
#07 — Disk Doctor =a
By SquidMelon a)
Category: Weather / Price: $0.99
Requirements: 0S X 10.6 or later
#08 — Live Wallpaper
By SquidMelon
Category: Weather / Price: $0.99
Requirements: OS X 10.6 or later |
#09 — iMovie
By Apple
Category: Video / Price: $14.99
Requirements: 0S X 10.7.4 or later
#10 - Home Inventory
By Binary Formations, LLC
Category: Productivity / Price: $19.99
Requirements: 05 X 10.7.4 or later, 64-bit processor
Keynote Remo
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been just as ai
ay field was pretty
mind-boggling to me
as a kid. Unfortunately,
| don’t make it to the
arcade as much as |
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INBALL
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used to, and it seems that arcades are
becoming ‘a as we progress more
into a future th
at breeds “athome” in
entertainment. If you’re like me, and ee i
looking for a pinball fix, then you might
want to check out “Zen Pinball.”
: My
INBALL
1301 Zen Stet AM righ esa.
GRAPHICS
Visuals are one of the most important
aspects to any pinball game, and the
developers here haven’t skimped on the
graphics. Every available table on Zen
Pinball is a work of art, and just because
this is a 3D adaptation of a classic pinball
setup doesn’t mean it lacks the same
arcade sett
Zen Pinbal
ights, spinning
pers are all
| 1e extremely well.
s for Zen Pinball are a
eally nostalgic and the fact
les closely resemble their
interparts makes this title that
much immersive.
What good would a pinball experience
be without the sound? It isn’t just the
visuals that make for classic pinball
gaming. The audibles hold just as much
merit here. Sometimes it’s the sound that
immediately grabs your attention and
points you towards a specific machine.
So you can imagine the task that Zen
Pinball’s developers faced. It would be a
huge letdown to have a beautiful pinball
title that sounded horrendous. Luckily
for us, developers spent just as much
time perfecting the sound as they did the
graphics. I’m not just taking about good
soundtracks or effects here, either; I’m
talking the ambience, the way the sound
rings through your device or headphones
as if you’re in an actual arcade, playing on
your favorite machine. It’s all incredibly
ea es “Es
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This is usually the part that
me. Pinball uses gravity and | jon in
order to function, two everyday things
that can be very hard to replicate
well-constru
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the game. In
s movies >
ables, and the
ing on releasing more
- SMP in the future. correctly ina virtual setting. It takes an or
2 impressive physics engine and the correct si
tis ~\ calculations to produce an experience in
game that rivals that of the real thing.
Zen Pinball managed to do just that,
though, with a very impressive gameplay
mechanic. The ball moves and interacts
just as it would in a real world situation.
It even bounces off bumpers and strikes
objects with an immense amount of
realism. It’s actually quite surprising how
spot on the physics are for this release.
The game itself is free, and you’ll get
aly 3 4s
access to one free table. However, if you
want more tables, you’ll have to purchase
them. Most tables are only around $0.99
USD each, with other, more intensive
releases costing at max $1.99 USD. This
OVERALL
allows you to purchase the kinds of There is a ton of content
levels you enjoy and put them into your by gorgeous graphics, entertaining |
own private collection. You'll be able to gameplay, and superb sound bytes. | would |
challenge your friends here, too, with highly reco this release to anyone, |
a leader board for each table. You can and it
even compete head-to-head with up to
four other players locally by passing your fora
best pinball experience |
‘ a/ See Sanwa? S
f gana
"EN f INBALL
© 201 ben Studios Lidl AM rights lasetwed, Tend |
32 |
f THE SILENT AGE
KKKKK
Compatible with iPhone, iPod
touch, and iPad.
Requires iOS 4.0 or later. This
app is optimized for iPhone 5.
_ Price: Free
Genre: Puzzle Adventure
Updated: Mar 11, 2013
Version: 1.2
Size: 57.2 MB
s Language: English
x Seller: House on Fire ApS
View in
iTunes Preview
Every so often, an
Indie game comes
along that is put
together so well that
it has the potential
to become a feature-
length, console or
PC-based video game.
“The Silent Age,” a
creation by House
on Fire, is one such
title. This imaginative,
story-based puzzle
adventure has some
very impressive facets
to it that culminate
into a very fun, and
cerebral-enhancing
experience. But what
exactly is The Silent
Age and what can you
expect from it?
GRAPHICS
Any art fan will really appreciate the
simplistic, yet superbly-detailed, visual
aspects to this release. Everything seems
to be painstakingly hand drawn, with an
immense amount of shadowing andline
definition. The art styling reminds me of |
a more realistic version of South Park,
with all the characters and environments
appearing to have been cut directly from
construction paper. There are a lot of
modern shapes and designs here, and
everything has a polygonal feel to it. |
really applaud all the time and effort from
the art team that went into the creation of
this game. Most “puzzle adventure” titles
like this tend to skimp on the graphics,
but House on Fire obviously spent a lot of
time and resources to create solid visuals.
The animations may seem a little stiff, but
they actually work quite well here. The
movement of the protagonist seems to be
=
34 |
a bit archaic, as his legs swing back and
forth in a rigid manner, and it does come
off as a little robotic, but it’s still well
done and adds even more visual depth
to the release. There are a lot of subtle
animations and particle effects here, too,
that really add some detail. The flickering
of lights, the steady stream of a rainstorm,
and even something as small as a blinking
light on a security door. All of this comes
together to help immerse you more into
the storyline.
SOUND K
The sound obviously received just as
much love as the art styling. In fact, so ,
much effort went into the production a
of the audibles, that the developers
recommend you wear headphones to get
the full experience. There are even some
puzzles that require a keen ear, so you'll
want to make sure you can clearly hear j
everything the game has to offer. It really é
is a playground for the ears, with some 4
interesting music scores and a plethora of
subtle sound effects. It even comes off as a
little creepy sometimes, with eerie, almost —
unrecognizable tones set out against a
silent, foreboding environment. The sound
is definitely a big gameplay enhancer, and
it’s going to help immerse you further
into the storyline, especia 5
headphones.
ee
| guess nobody's home.
GAMEPLAY
The Silent Age operates much like a i
person, Myst style puzzler. You move your
character around the environment by
tapping on objects, floors, and doorways.
You can pick things up to store in your
nifty inventory. These items can then
y be combined, studied, and used on the
environment to help you progress. This
game Will really test your thought process;
it’ portant to always look at things with
Nn analytical eye. Imagine this title as one
giant “room escape game.” Unlike most
of these types of titles, though, The Silent
Age has a well-planned and entertaining
storyline. In fact, that’s seventy percent of
why | liked this game so much. If you strip
iWay the story, it’s just another escape
@, But with the engrossing plot line,
much more in-depth and immersive
experience. This isn’t the type of game
bs that’s going to offer you much beyond a
single player experience. There aren’t any
multiplayer modes, and there won’t be
any leader boards to conquer. This game is
0 “on the rails” that you probably won’t %
even see any updates with extra content.
Hopefully though, we will see some more
awesome releases from House on Fire in
the future.
OVERALL
Overall, this is an epic puzzle journey and
easily one of the best indie single player
experiences | have had to date. The art
style is beautiful and interesting, and the
sound is AAA worthy. Sadly, this isn’t the
type of game you can play through more
than once, but the first play-though is so
entertaining that it deserves high marks
for its creativity and execution. | expect to
see big things from House on Fire in the
future, and | sincerely hope they deliver
more quality games like this one to the
market.
WALL ST. WILL KEEP CLOSE iWATCH
ON APPLE PRODUCT
. Sr:
Monday, September 21.
slide to unlock
36 |
Apple’s stock could get a needed boost
later this year, when the company is
expected to ride the wearable technology
wave with the debut of a wristwatch
aimed at tapping into the $6 billion smart
watch market.
The “iWatch” will be integrated with
the wearer’s iPhone and iPad, without
negating the need for either one, said Max
Wolff, senior analyst at Greencrest Capital.
It will likely allow the wearer to see who’s
calling and
receive alerts and
incoming emails and texts, Wolff added.
It may use voice commands, such as
“weather” or “traffic,” as the input
method, said Roger Kay, founder and
president of Endpoint Technologies
Associates in Wayland.
And, like fitness devices such as FitBit, it
may also have a pedometer or sensors
tracking data such as heart rate.
“This is an opportunity for Apple to disrupt
this category,” Kay said. “An iWatch could
re-establish Apple’s reputation as an
innovator.”
The design, though, is being closely
guarded by Apple.
“It has to work and have some value as a
fashion accessory,” Wolff said. “It needs
to be sleek and stylish. It should be a
little different from other watches on the
market. It needs to be noticeable without
being clunky or dorky.”
It also needs to make people think twice
before investing in Google’s Glass wearable
device, which also is due out this year.
Wearable computing devices will exceed
485 million annual shipments by 2018,
according to ABI Research.
If Apple is able to make inroads in the
business, it would boost the technology
giant’s stock, which is down by
more than a third since peaking in
September.
“It is clear that Apple needs to create
a new category and do it soon,” said N.
Venkat Venkatraman, a Boston University
management professor. “A watch is
easier to launch than a TV. It’s easier to
produce since it is a variation on the iPod
mini and the iPhone, and uses the same
app structure and Siri plus Bluetooth
integration. Moreover, it has global appeal
and can rekindle Apple’s cool factor.”
| 37
Say what you will about Apple Inc.’s tight
control over every nuance of it’s ecosystem,
but even its detractors would agree; the
Cupertino company’s operating systems are
renowned for their remarkable track record
when it comes to security—particularly when
compared to archrival Microsoft. For years
one of the primary selling points of Apple
products—aside from user-friendly interfaces,
compelling designs and attention to visual art
programs—was their seeming imperviousness
to the threat of malware and viruses that
have perpetually plagued the PC world. Now
that tablets and smart phones are rapidly
overtaking desktop computing, security
hazards once relegated to more traditional
computing such as clunky CPUs and laptops
are popping-up on mobile devices. However,
it appears that Apple’s iOS, often maligned for
its rigidly controlled environment, has been
quite successful in fending off the risks of
malware, Trojans and viruses. Unfortunately,
the same cannot be said for the tech-giant’s
mobile adversary, Android.
The explosion in smartphone usage over
the last few years has attracted the seamier
side of technology. With an estimated 1
billion mobile devices in use worldwide, it
comes at no surprise that security threats
are on the rise and becoming a top-level
concern for industry watchdogs. Still, a
majority of these attacks are afflicting users
of Google’s Android operating system, with
the number of reported intrusions jumping
over 100% in the final quarter of 2012 alone
and an estimated 500% year-over-year. Of
course, there are rational explanations for
the disproportionate statistics. Android’s
open-standard operating system is Linux-
based, allowing for the free development
of applications from anyone with basic
programming knowledge including hackers
and thieves. Although Apple offers a little
over 500,000 apps through its iTunes Store,
| 41
42 |
(Android boasts almost 700,000 applications)
the vetting process for any offerings from
programmers to Apple customers is rigid
and restrictive. To date, malicious attacks
on iOS based devices have been virtually
nonexistent—an app available for iPhones
last year called “Instaquotes-Quotes Cards
For Instagram” was removed because it
containing a worm that could potentially
infect Windows operating systems. For
Android, however, with a prime share of the
smartphone market, battling malware is a
growing apprehension within Google despite
its best efforts to deter security threats.
ANDROID HAZARDS
As the percentage of gadgets running Apple
iOS decreases due largely to the sheer
number of devices that employ Android, the
folks in Cupertino have taken to publicizing
the security flaws in Google’s mobile
operating system. Phil Schiller, a senior vice
president of marketing for Apple, took to
Twitter recently to harangue the competition
over a report released earlier this month that
detailed the exponential growth in security
vulnerabilities found in Android (incidentally,
there were none discovered in iOS in the
fourth quarter of last year). In 2012, perils
effecting smartphone operating systems
were chiefly of the Trojan variety, with 66%
of all security breaches represented by the
self-replicating virus, followed by Riskware at
11.2%, Monitoring tools at 7% and spyware
at 2.7%. Although most mobile systems
were tested—Blackberry, Windows Mobile,
Symbian, etc.—Android’s vulnerability to
theses attacks were dominant.
Far and away the most dangerous attacks
come from malware, which encompasses
Trojans and spyware, and can enable identity
theft, unauthorized use of a device and
| 43
access and gain control of an end-user’s
data. For example, a report identified a
Trojan found on Android devices known
as “Citmo.A”, a dangerous infection that
seeks incoming SMS messages in order to
appropriate online banking transaction
information. Another, the aptly named
“Infostealer.A”, accesses and steals a user’s
contact information and delivers it to a
remote server. There were even Trojans
identified that hijacked a user’s messaging
46 |
system for the express purpose of running
up expensive charges and spamming an
individual’s contacts list.
The acute threat posed to android users is
more serious when considering the nefarious
purposes behind the hacks. When the
mobile market was considerably smaller in
2006, most attacks on smartphone devices
were not motivated by profit. However, by
last year, the lion’s share of assaults were
carried out in order to yield a payoff—from
through spam-ish links to quasi-legitimate
online businesses to outright theft of
banking and credit card information. In
contrast, there were no known attacks on
Apple’s iOS that sought monetary gains.
Google has taken steps to address the virus
crisis in its system, introducing an app-scanner
early last year to help identify malicious
applications as well as a virus scanner.
Nevertheless, high-risk applications (mainly
spammers) are still being identified on Google
.
Co je: Gizmodo
Play, the company’s online market place
for apps, and thousands more are available
through third-party and hacked applications
found on torrent sites. With the popularity
of Android-run devices showing no signs of
abating, along with its proliferation on devices
that are sport “consumer friendly” prices,
Google may need to step up efforts to avoid
an outright epidemic. m
by Steve Hughes
47
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“Pea ie ss
pest) ‘ Ps
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iTunes
Review |
MOVIES
TVSHOWS
E WIZARD OF 0Z
There probably isn’t
amore beloved story
than The Wizard of Oz.
We've been watching
the movie as a yearly
television tradition, as
it eventually became
the most-watched
motion picture in
history according to the
Library of Congress.
And that’s just a mention of the 1939 film. There
are so many retellings, re-imaginings, sequels,
and prequels to the film, Broadway renderings,
books, podcasts, studio recordings, etc., that
L. Frank Baum’s original story has become an
entertainment showcase all on its own.
Every time we start to put the story away in our
minds, there’s another story being released that
connects to The Wizard of Oz in some manner.
Last weekend saw the release of yet another Oz-
inspired film, this one in the form of a prequel.
Oz the Great and Powerful takes a detailed look
at the Wizard’s arrival in Oz and sets it up as a
love story between him and the witches, both
good and bad.
dividually
iblic domain.
hered ina
ly to please children of
g a modernized fairy
ent and joy are re
ie heartaches and nightmares are left out.
Those flying monkeys provided a few
nightmares, so he may not have been
completely successful with this. Then again,
that’s the direction the 1939 feature film took,
bearir the original story. While
W earlier films, including
‘movie we all recognize is
m. It some years to get it off
das it went through several revisions
1 different writers, each of them having a
rent direction in mind.
= *~
oint the magi its of the story
en out in fear t intasy wouldn’t
at the box offi carecrow
e a stupid man, the loodman a
hardened criminal. This was dit
‘Other writers were brought in to
versions of the script. Eventually it beca
more-or-less a collaborative effort as either
some of the stars of the film contributed some
of their own lines.
The producers of the film believed theater-
goers were too sophisticated to go with a
straightforward fantasy, and this was when it
was decided that Dorothy's trip to Oz would
be an elaborate dream. While several people
in Dorothy’s Kansas world connect back to
characters in her dream, the farmhand who
was also the Scarecrow initially featured in
ditionally in the end as he leaves for college
J ise of writing to Dorothy. The
in is that they were destined for a
further romantic relationship. It was eventually
dropped from the final film, yet they left in the
part where she tells the Scarecrow in Oz, “I think
I'll miss you most of all.”
e >\
|
The Oz fantasy part of the film being in vibrant
color, while the Kansas scenes are seen in black
and white, or sometimes a sepia-colored black-
and-white, actually reflects back on the original
Kansas is depicted as being in “shades
steer This is brought out in the newer film
well. Magician/conman Oscar Diggs (James
Franco) escapes Kansas and thugs who are
after him by flying away in a hot air balloon.
He leaves the black-and-white world when he
is pulled into a tornado, just like Dorothy was.
51
He lands in the Land of Oz into a world of color.
Filmmakers made appropriate adjustments in
film and updating. The world he lands in is very
vibrant, clean, and beautiful, with filmgoers
being offered a choice of 2D or 3D. It provides a
brilliant visual
ge part of the original
re Over the Rainbow”
ward thanks to star Judy
Garland’s rendi Ding Dong the Witch Is
Dead,” “Follow the Yellow Brick Road,” and
“We're Off to See the Wizard” are all very
memorable songs as we
Music doesn’t feature pro
Great and Powerful at all, but does feature
into other renditions of this story. Wicked is a
Broadway musical that tells the story from the
witches’ viewpoint, focusing on the time from
before and during Dorothy's arrival in Oz. It’s
based on the novel Wicked: The Life and Timi
of the Wicked Witch of the West. It’s meani
be a commentary on the nature of good and
evil. And who better to provide that than t
es of Oz? Originally optioned for a featt
it was then turned into a vehicle for the
usical has Galinda, the
Good Witch of ete and Elphaba, the
Wicked Witch of the West, first meeting while
roommates at college. The green-skinned
Elphaba has been repulsing everyone since her
birth as the product of the Munchkin Governor’s
wife and a mysterious stranger. Her younger
sister, Nessarose, is much more beautiful, but
is confined to a wheelchair. Being her father’s
favorite, she’s gifted with a pair of silver shoes.
The shoes were always meant to be silver and
are in the original Baum story. They only became
ruby slippers in the movie to take advantage of
the beautiful Technicolor process.
While the newest movie, Oz the Great and
Powerful, focuses on Oz himself, there is also
quite a bit of the story that deals with the
witches, too. The names are changed slightly.
Glinda is still featured, but Elphaba’s name is
Theodora, and Nessarose’s name is Evanora.
Once Oscar lands in Oz, Theodora mistakes him
for the wizard they have been waiting for to
defeat the Wicked Witch. She has been told by
Evanora that Glinda is the evil one.
Because of that mixup over which witch is
which, part of the movie-watching process for
this one is trying to decipher how it will all go
down to match up with what we already know
of the story. We know what happens when
Dorothy gets to Oz, but this story explains how
Oz got there and how the witches took their
ightful spot in history as well. However, it
doesn't matter how many moles or how much
paint you slap on Mina Kunis. She’s still
Wicked helps sort:
isn’t the only time
Broadway in some form
by Victor Fleming
uM : Genre: Musicals
of d Released: 1939
Wiz followed the same st Mid
Oz, but urbanized it, attacl ae
American culture. Dorothy is still a yo eS x
woman from Kansas who faces a tort
then fights to get home again. The so View in
changed “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” to
on Down the Road.”
SSS ————
While The Wiz was extremely popular on
Broadway, winning seven Tony Awards, it
didn’t find the same fate on the big screen. The ©
movie adaptation starred Michael Jackson as
the Scarecrow and Diana Ross as Dorothy. But
this was 1978. Ross was already 34 years old.
She was already too old to play teenagers. The
never really caught on with audiences the
y the 1939 version did or as much as the
Broadway version of The Wiz did.
It’s what makes it difficult to tinker with a
classic. The Wizard of Oz isn’t just a classic, it’s
iconic and very well-revered. It’s a story that’s
been told many times and many different
ways. Disney was smart to approach the
newest movie, Oz the Great and the Powerful,
differently and to go back to the original story to
its base, rather than rely on updating the
939 film. It’s what turns it into a success.
54 | » * it
w
wn
THE HOBBIT: AN
UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
This film is the first
: ee parts that
serve equels
R. Tolkien’s novel The Ret
Gandalf convinces the hobbit Bilb
to go along with him and thirteen dwarves
on an adventure to claim the Lonely
Mountain from Smaug and dragon once
again. Elijah Wood and lan McKellen once
again appear as Frodo and Gandalf.
58 |
by Peter Jackson
Genre: Action & Adventure
Released: 2012
Price: $14.99
KK ok
616 Ratings
View in
iTunes Preview
| 59
THE LAST GLADIATORS ea
This sports
documentary
examines the
National Hockey
League’s most feared
players, including
a detailed look at
4 the career of Chri
ee GLADIATORS y “Knuckles” Nilan
cted
leaving his body shatt
personal relationships, and sentencing
him to a life of drug addiction. Yet all of it
paid off with his team winning the coveted
Stanley Cup. Academy.
Gibney directs.
by Alex Gibney
Genre: Sports
Released: 2013
Price: $9.99
KKKKK
107 Ratings
View in
iTunes Preview
SELLEBRITY
Kevin Mazur’s
documentary takes a
look at the business
of fame and the
media’s part in it. It
follows the history of
Hollywood, showing
how the paparazzi
has risen to affect
it all, redefining the
term celebrity, as
it has gone froma
structured system of studios to more of an
anything-goes type of approach. The stories
of several top stars are featured, including
Jennifer Anisto Elton John, row aa Lop
Sarah er, Sheryl Crow, ceil
Hayek.
~*
We
62 |
by Kevin Mazur
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2013
Price: $14.99
KkKkk
58 Ratings
View in
iTunes Preview
KILLING THEM SOFTLY
Markie, A poker ring
proprietor, hires
goons to pull off an
inside job and rob
one of his poker
games. A copycat
crime is then planned
by Squirrel who
ert figures the mafia
: will automatically
connect the job back
to Markie again, yet it
results in the downfall of the local criminal
economy. An enforcer, Jackie, is brought
into the picture to bring about a fix to the
economy, and while he knows Markie was
not involved, he believes killing him will
bring order again. Brad Pitt, Richard Jenkins,
James Gandolfini, and Ray Liotta star.
lL @
64 |
by Andrew Dominik
Genre: Drama
Released: 2012
Price: $14.99
kkk kk
110 Ratings
View in
iTunes Preview
65
DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’: ma
EVERYMAN’S JOURNEY Fay
DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’: Journey has been :
around since 1973 = \
and reached a N
pinnacle of success in N
The rock band SS ‘ ~
¥
1981 with the album
Escape. They broke
up in 1987, then got
back together a few
separate times for
albums and reunion
tours. Lead singer
Steve Perry injured his hip and couldn’t
tour, forcing the band to replace him.
They went through a series of different
singers before settling on Filipino singer
Arnel Pineda who they discovered on
YouTube performing Journey covers. This
documentary covers the tour for the album
Revelation, their first tour with Pineda, and
also showcases his homecoming to the
Phillipines.
66 |
by Ramona S. Diaz
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2012
Price: $6.99
kkk kok
60 Ratings
View in
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL:
WORLDS AWAY
James Cameron and
Andrew Adamson are
behind this musical
that incorporates
acts from the seven
Cirque du Soleil
shows that ran in
Las Vegas in 2011
—O, Mystére, Ka,
Love, Zumanity, Viva
Elvis, and Criss Angel
Believe. The story
revolves around a young woman who visits
a traveling carnival and is urged by a clown
to see the aerialist at the circus. He falls
during his act, and when she tries to help
him, they fall into a dream world of Cirque
du Soleil and are separated as they try to
find their ways back to each other.
68 |
by Andrew Adamson
Genre: Musicals
Released: 2012
Price: $9.99
kkk kok
24 Ratings
View in
iTunes Preview
| 69
THIS MUST BE
THE PLACE
Sean Penn stars as an
aging rock star who
still lives the rock
- star life and dresses
in goth, despite his
early retirement. He
becomes bored with
this life and decides
THIS MUST BE THE PLACE to search for a Nazi
i. war criminal seeking
refuge in the United States who was once
the father’s tormentor. Frances McDormand
costars. After Penn told screenwriter Paolo
Sorrentino he wanted to work with him,
Sorrentino wrote This Must Be the Place along
with Umberto Contarello with Penn in mind.
by Paolo Sorrentino ba J
Genre: Comedy
Released: 2012
Price: $14.99
kkk Ok
19 Ratings
View in
~~ iTunes Preview
72 |
NANOBOTS
HEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
Looking for a little
more alternative
satire in your life?
If so, They Might
Be Giants may
be right up your
alley. The group
is best known for
their innate ability to mix weirdness with
( harmonious instrumentals. Most of their
‘ music contains impressive, intricate guitar-
playing, with synthesizers and drums
galore. The kicker is that they often fill
these instrumental jams with some off-
the-wall, sometimes humorous, lyrics.
The end result is a cavalcade of comedic
genius, overtoned by some seriously
talented musicians.
«
It’s important to understand that this isn’t
the traditional curve of humor though,
and none of this is “shock value”-based
s The They Might Be Giants brand of
f y is often based on skewed versions
of everyday life, or witty, lyrical plays on
specific occupations or situations. Still,
even with their incredibly niche style of
humor, the group has managed to take the
world of Alternative music by storm and
has developed a big cult following over
the years. If you’re planning on jumping
on the “Giants” bandwagon, now may be
the perfect time. The group is poised to
attempt to capture the attention of the
masses once more with their new studio
release, “Nanobots.” The release starts
out with “You’re on Fire,” a fairly uptempo
song that features a rockin’ bass line and
some clever lyrics. This track speaks out
about certain individuals who have trouble
| 73
controlling spontaneous anger, using witty
physical observations to describe how
the outside world views a “hot-headed”
person. The intricate instrumentals keep
flowing with “Call You Mom.” This mix has
a nice mixture of horns, guitars, and drums
as they saunter along in a bluesy fashion to
some dysfunctional love-song type lyrics.
If you’re looking for something a little
more harmonious, check out “9 Secret
Steps.” This track really downplays the
instrumentals and instead focuses on
harmonic vocals and elongated speech. It’s
one of the best cuts to listen to if you’re
craving the Giants’ odd, but hypnotic, style
of singing. There is a lot of good variety
on this album, and although some of the
songs are incredibly short, you’re still
getting some decent length overall.
This is another solid release by They
Might Be Giants. However, from a personal
standpoint, | don’t feel like it’s their best,
and | was a little disappointed after going
through the entire release a few times.
Still, cult followers and avid fans will
embrace this album with open arms. If
you’re looking to get acquainted with They
Might Be Giants’ work, | would suggest
listening to some of their earlier works.
‘RARE SDSS S 2 2 Sf GC
t#eag ret
0 SUL eae
g it i term ier a1
175
SPRING BREAK...HERE TO
PARTY
LUKE BRYAN
Luke Bryan has been
steadily gaining
steam in the world
i of Country Music.
4 , The world was first
LUKE BRYAN introduced to his
Spreng © eT party musical talents
in 2007 when he
signed with Capitol Records, but Luke has
been on the country scene a lot longer
than that. Prior to his singing career,
the country music virtuoso was a well-
established songwriter. During the 2000’s
he managed to crank out a lot of material
for Travis Tritt and Billy Currington. After
his singing talent was discovered, Bryan
went on to create a slew of hot singles
and impressive albums, most of which he
co-wrote, with major country music stars.
The name Luke Bryan has become
synonymous with the words successful
and winner. He has managed to secure
fourteen total awards and accolades
from a variety of awards shows including
The Academy of Country Music Awards,
The CMT Awards, The American Music ‘
Awards, and the American Country
Awards. But can the young star keep
his growing success going? He poses to
answer that question with his brand new
studio release, “Spring Break ... Here
to Party.” The release starts out with
“Suntan City,” a mellow country-rock-
inspired tune that sounds like something
out of a Kenny Chesney album. A grungy
sounding electric guitar accompanies
some “good time” vocals. If you’re looking
for something a little more saloon-dance-
76 |
”
worthy, be sure to check out “Just A Sip.
This is the perfect track to get up and
boogie to and a great drinking song to
listen to with some friends.
As always, Luke brings in a couple love
songs, but they aren’t his traditional
fare. Take for example “Love In a College
Town,” which progresses at a pretty
fast pace and is a little less melancholy
than Bryan’s past works. In fact, most of
this album is “upbeat,” and it should be
considering it’s geared towards the Spring
Break-loving communities.
I think Luke Bryan did a great job crafting
a springtime album that would appeal to
younger and older crowds alike. There
are a lot of good songs here with some
solid variety throughout, although | can’t
help but feel like this is a weaker album
compared to Luke Bryan’s earlier attempts.
It’s missing that “magic,” or at least a
chart-topping single. | still appreciate this
album, though, and it’s a great release for
the impending spring holiday.
78 |
Genre: Country
Released: Mar 1, 2013
By: Capitol Records
14 Songs
Price: $9.99
KKK KH
1135 Ratings
View in
iTunes Preview
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PUSH
Samsung Electronics has doubled mobile-phone
sales in the United States since 2008. As the
company faces anti-dumping measures and a
protracted court battle with Apple, its U.S. lobbying
bill is growing even faster.
Samsung boosted spending on lobbyists to
$900,000 last year from $150,000 in 2011 as it
tries to influence the federal government on issues
ranging from intellectual-property infringement
to telecommunications infrastructure, regulatory
filings show. The company also hired Sony Corp.
veteran Joel Wiginton to run a new government-
relations office in Washington.
The higher spending comes as the South Korean
company is embroiled in patent disputes with
Apple on four continents as the two struggle for
dominance in an industry expected to double to
$847 billion in sales by 2016. In a U.S. lawsuit,
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Apple was initially awarded $1 billion in damages
after a jury decided Samsung copied the iPhone
maker’s designs for mobile devices.
“Samsung is being sued left and right,” said R. Polk
Wagner, a professor of intellectual-property law at
the University of Pennsylvania Law School. “A major
component of their business is smartphones, and
this is becoming a very litigious area.”
Last year’s lobbying expenditure was the biggest
for Samsung in a single year, according to a U.S.
government database of lobbying disclosure
filings dating to 1999. The previous high was
$370,000 in 2008.
In a statement, Samsung said the expanded effort
is “a prudent step as part of day-to-day business
operations, our growing presence outside of our
headquarters country, and our commitment to
transparency.” The company declined to comment
further on its lobbying expenditures.
Samsung’s increased spending is small compared
with some rivals, though it’s growing faster than
many. Apple spent $2 million on U.S. lobbying last
year, down 13 percent from 2011, and Sony spent
$3.3 million, a decrease of 10 percent, according
to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington
group that tracks lobbying.
Google boosted its spending 88 percent last year to
$18.2 million, while lobbying expenses at Facebook
jumped to $4 million from $1.4 million in 2011,
according to the center.
The greater focus on lobbying by technology
companies reflects the growing importance
of U.S. laws and regulations to the industry
as Congress considers issues from patents to
Internet privacy to copyright infringement, said
Mark Lemley, who teaches patent law at Stanford
Law School in California.
SAMSUNG C&T CORP
vow INTERVAL A000830:KSC
sds dedi decadent lnidiaeasbissiailaaacalebns ei :
89
“It’s just an increasingly important part of their
business,” Lemley said. “What happens in
Washington can significantly affect the lives of
technology companies, and they can’t ignore it.”
The bulk of Samsung’s U.S. lobbying money last year,
$760,000, went to the law firm Akin Gump Strauss
Hauer & Feld, according to the filings. The firm also
lobbied on behalf of AT&T and Lenovo Group, filings
show. Akin Gump declined to comment.
Samsung is involved in dozens of legal disputes
with Apple worldwide as the two biggest
smartphone makers seek to use patents to curb
each other’s growth or force changes in the
other’s products. Apple sold 27.4 million iPhone
5s in the quarter ended Dec. 31, and Samsung
sold 15.4 million Galaxy 3S models, according to
researcher Strategy Analytics.
“Apple is spending a lot of time, money and
resources on lobbying, so Samsung is doing the -
same,” said Mark C. Newman, a senior analyst at
Sanford C. Bernstein in Hong Kong. ‘
In August, Apple won the verdict against Samsung
from a federal court in San Jose, California. Apple
also sought to ban sales of infringing Samsung
devices, a request that the judge rejected. Samsung
has denied copying Apple devices, and both
companies have filed appeals.
Samsung and Ericsson also have lodged patent-
infringement complaints against each other, and
the Korean company is challenging U.S. anti-
dumping duties imposed on its washing machines
after a complaint by Whirlpool.
The company’s increased attention to U.S.
policy parallels the growth of its business there.
Though Samsung doesn’t break out revenues by
country, regional data show the Americas to be
its largest market, generating 29 percent of its
sales in 2011, the latest year available, up from
25 percent in 2009.
Samsung’s U.S. handset revenue increased to'$18.5
billion in 2012 from $8.9 billion in 2008, according
to data compiled by Bloomberg Industries.
Samsung says it will spend $4 billion to expand
its chip factory in Austin, Texas, bringing total
investment in the facility to $15 billion. The
company is also planning a 1.1 million-square-foot
sales and research-and-development headquarters
for its semiconductor business near San Jose.
Samsung has registered more U.S. patents annually
than any other company except International
Business Machines Corp. since 2006, data from
the U.S. Patent Office show. The Korean company
won 5,081 patents last year, versus 6,478 for IBM,
according to research firm IFI Claims Patent Services.
Samsung, based in Suwon, South Korea, isn’t the
first Asian manufacturer to get more involved in
U.S. politics as it expands in the world’s largest
economy. Responding to U.S. import barriers and
threats of increased tariffs in the 1980s and 1990s,
Toyota and Honda increased their U.S. lobbying
as they built factories in North America to make
vehicles for the local market, said Bill Visnic, a
senior editor at Edmunds.com, an automotive
research website.
Last year, Toyota spent about $3.4 million on
lobbying, according to the Center for Responsive
Politics. The world’s largest carmaker pursued
issues including energy, trade agreements, taxes
and safety, regulatory filings show.
Last year’s court ruling in San Jose may prove to have
the same effect on Samsung as tariff threats did for
Toyota, according to Amir Anvarzadeh, a manager for
Asia equity sales at BGC Partners Inc. in Singapore.
Samsung was “very close to being banned,”
Anvarzadeh said. “That was a wake-up call that,
‘Hey, we need to expand our presence, particularly
mm
in Washington, and get some lobbying power’
STINGY TO THE CORE [EXCLUSIVE]
APPLE iRADIO PLAN REBUFFED BY
LABELS OVERITS 6 SOLUTION
Apple has opened talks with record labels about
getting rights for a music-streaming service - but
has gotten plenty of push back because its offer is
seen as way too cheap, The Post has learned.
The tech titan, the most valuable company in the
world, made an initial offer to the label of about 6
cents per 100 songs streamed, sources said.
That’s about half of the 12 cents per 100 songs
paid by Pandora, the leading online radio service
that Apple is taking aim at, sources said.
“Apple wants a rate that is lower than Pandora's,”
said one high- level executive.
While the labels would admit Apple’s music
service could tap a whole new revenue stream
for them, they are loath to say yes to the offer
as the industry is fighting on Capitol Hill to
prevent Pandora from lowering its current rate,
sources added.
Music label insiders suggest Apple - which is
sitting on a cash hoard of roughly $137 billion
- ought to pay at least the rate set by the
Copyright Royalty Board, or about 21 cents per
100 songs streamed.
That rate applies to companies that don’t own
broadcast operations.
By comparison, terrestrial radio-backed online
services - such as iHeart - pay about 22 cents per
100 songs streamed.
Subscription service Spotify pays the highest
rate for its service, 35 cents per 100 songs
streamed, sources said.
Apple wants to get into the streaming radio
business, in part, because it is seeing 50 percent
of its iTunes revenue flow from mobile. Pandora
is one of the most popular apps.
Apple views radio as a way to make better use
of its (Ads advertising platform. An Apple iRadio
product would be ad supported.
The music labels, for their part, want an upfront
fee and a percentage of that ad revenue in
addition to the streaming fees, said sources.
Apple’s chief music negotiator, Eddy Cue,
created a lot of static last September when
he tried to get the industry’s biggest music
publisher, Sony/ATV, on board.
Apple, sources said, had hoped to rush iRadio into a
the iPhone 5 launch, but was forced to backpedal.
Sony/ATV’s resistance meant that Cue needed
to first deal with the recorded music giants:
Pa (
ANDORA
Universal, Sony and Warner. Reps for each
declined to comment.
“Everyone’s had their initial meetings and
everyone is preparing counters,” said a source.
Apple is considering a launch of iRadio as part
of a bundle along with iMatch, which allows
iTunes users to make their music available on
all iOS devices.
The Cupertino, Calif, company also wants to
make the iRadio service available abroad in the
UK, Germany and France as well as other places.
Rich Greenfield, media analyst with BTIG, told The
Post, “People spend two hours a day listening to
radio. Google, Apple and Amazon are fascinated
by the opportunity to get into music in a bigger
way. Pandora doesn’t make any real money.”
Greenfield added: “Everyone's trying to figure
out a better structure. | wouldn’t say any of them
are giving up.”
Apple didn’t immediately return a call for
comment.
OUT OF TUNE
Cash-rich Apple’s attempt to start a music-
streaming service, featuring artists like Justin
Bieber (pictured), has run into turbulence after
it offered record labels just one-half the price
Pandora is paying.
iHeart Radio 22 cents
Pandora 12 cents
Industry standard 21 cents
Apple 6 cents
Per hundred songs streamed
94 |
‘|GOT BRONCHITIS’ WOMAN
SUES APPLE
An Oklahoma woman whose TV news
interview after a fire went viral is suing Apple
after a mashup of her words was put to music
and sold on iTunes.
Sweet Brown, aka Kimberly Wilkens, was
captured by KFOR-TV, Oklahoma City, ranting
after her apartment caught fire. Her assertion
that the smoke gave her bronchitis and, “Ain’t
nobody got time for that!” caught on and
a Seattle radio station called to interview
Wilkens. They set the interview to music and
began selling it on iTunes.
Court records show the song, “I got bronchitis,”
was for sale on iTunes from April 16 to June
29, The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman said
Sunday. It doesn’t say how many times it was
downoaded. 2
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APPLEMAGAZINE.COM
It’s all about Apple
The right magazine for the right audience
96
HARMAN INTEGRATES APPLE’S SIRI
INTO FERRARI
The International Motor Show 2013-
HARMAN, the premium global audio and
infotainment group, is providing Ferrari in-car
speech control. At the Geneva Motor Show,
Ferrari showcased the integration of Apple’s
Siriin the latest Ferrari FF model. This marks
the first such:system integration by HARMAN.
Due tothe seamless combination of Apple’s “
technology with the existing head unit,
operation is just as simple ast is with any
Siri enabled iPhone. A long press of the
infotainment system’s menu button on the:
steering wheel activates Siri, While commands, ,
and audio feedback are picked up clearly and-
played through built-in microphones and the
car’s audio system. Additionally, the volume is
adjusted for better comprehensibility A— just
like the mobile phone, where Siri stops any
music being played once it is activated.
Michael Mauser, HARMAN’s Executive Vice
President and Co-President of Infotainment
& Lifestyle Divisions, commented: “This Siri
integration is an important milestone in the
cooperation between HARMAN and Ferrari.
By transferring the known modus operandi to
the car, Ferrari offers its customers the ease of
use of their mobile devices with an embedded
premium HARMAN infotainment system.”
HARMAN at the Geneva Motor Show 2013
Visit HARMAN at this year’s Geneva
Motor Show for more details and view the
company’s full portfolio of infotainment and
lifestyle audio systems. HARMAN is located
in Hall 6, Booth 6240.
WRITERS
REVISION
Steve Hughes
Laura Tucker
‘SPECIAL THANKS:
Rui da costa
Talita Ne 0
Authorized Publisher
INEWS Bloomberg {os Angeles Times UPlcon Siw PRNewswire Dailupress
APPLEMAGAZINE © Copyright 2013-2011. All Rights Reserved.
No part of the document may be circulated, quoted, or reproduced for distribution without prior written approval.
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and other countries. Please contact support for additional trademark ownership rights information.
The following is a list of Apple's trademarks and service marks http://www.apple.com/legal/ trademark/appletmlist htm.
All other trademarks are the properties of their owners,
‘AppleMagazine is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc.
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