Daily Tip: How to use the compass in Google Maps to improve navigation

Using Google Maps to get directions but confused and frustrated because the map doesn’t turn when you do? The good news is, there’s a very easy way fix this and get north really pointing north when you need it.

Starting with iPhone 3GS, Apple began including compasses (technically magnometers) in their iOS devices. To activate the compass and get directions that actually have a sense of direction:

This enables the digital compass, and while active it will rotate the onscreen map to match the direction you’re facing. Again, this tip will only work with the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and all iPads, as these models have a built-in magnometer.

Have any other tips or tricks for getting better navigation? Let us know!

Daily Tips range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you’d like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@tipb.com. (If it’s especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we’ll even give ya a reward…)

Learn letters, words and food with ABC Food [Kids Corner]

ABC Food is an iPhone and iPad app designed to teach kids the alphabet and learn about food. It’s packed with photos, videos, and interactions.

The Little Explorers are at it again. Join them this time as they explore a world of letters, words and food! Where each new word leads to a new food discovery with beautiful photos, vibrant videos, and super fun new interactions.

ABC Food is available on the iPhone and iPad for $1.99.

[App Store link]

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

ZENandTECH 14: Passive relaxation

Put that iPad down. Back away from that iPhone. Just like your gadgets need to be recharged, so does your mind and body and one of the best ways to give them a break and let them focus, recover, and recharge is with passive relaxation.

iPad Live 72: Chock full of win

Georgia, Seth, and Rene talk Apple’s new Learn commercial, competitors still struggling, Amazon’s rumored Android Kindle tablet, iOS 5 beta 7, Eddy Cue, Netflix without Starz, Facebook for iPad, and more. This is iPad Live!

Thanks to the TiPb iPad Accessory Store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat!

Music Hear me Roar by iPad Live theme song contest winner, DieselJesus!

Have artistic time with Dominus plus for iPhone, iPad

Dominus plus is an artistic clock for the iPhone – time is displayed as colorful dots.

The simple, elegant design of this clock is very appealing to me. I could stare at it all day.

Dominus. Simple, enjoyable and timeless artwork clock.

Dominus plus is available on the iPhone and iPad for $0.99 each.

[iPhone - App Store link] [iPad - App Store link]

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

App for That: How to print multiple photos from your iPhone on a single page

There are hundreds of thousands of iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps for just about everything — so how come the one you need, the one you know just has to be there, is so hard to find? Enter TiPb’s new weekly feature where staff and readers alike sort through the App Store and help you find just the right App for That. This week, Starr asks:

I need an app that will work with the Envy Hp printer I use with my iPad 2 that I can make a photo a certain size and it will stay that size when printed…like having 3 4×6 photos on sheet. Every photo program I’ve try makes the picture the full size of the paper, which I don’t want! Can you help finding an app to keep the size when printing?

To see what we found for Starr, follow along after the break!

PhotoPrint LT – Made for Printing [Free - App Store link] is an iPhone app that lets you print multiple photos from your iPhone onto a specific paper size.

For Starr, she would choose to have four 4″x6″ photos printed onto a sheet sized US Letter. But since she only wants to print three photos, she’d make sure the background is set to white and leave one of the photo slots empty.

The paper sizes include:

The free version of PhotoPrint LT only allows you to print a single photo onto a sheet of paper, but all features are available as an in-app purchase for $1.99.

Anyone else have any App for That suggestions for Starr? Let her — and all of us — know.

Having trouble finding what you need in the app store? Head on over to our App and Game Feature Forum and let us know what you’re looking for. The TiPb community will do our best to find you just the right App for That!

New and updated iPhone and iPad apps for Monday, September 5

Every day, TiPb gets flooded with announcements for new and updated iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games. So every day we pick just a few of the most interesting, the most notable, and simply the most awesome to share with you!

Puffin Web Browser: A fast browser to view the full version of websites (including Flash) and enjoy millions of videos on your iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. [$0.99 for iPhone and iPad - App Store link]

Wacky Leaks HD: Inspired by the famous “WACKY” leaks saga, the character J-Lion has one and only one aim to make the sensitive war information available to the world. [$0.99 for iPhone and iPad - App Store link]

Landscape: Sick and tired of seeing videos recorded on Youtube that should have been recorded in Landscape? With Landscape, you’ll never accidentally record a video in portrait, because this app doesn’t record in portrait! [$0.99 for iPhone - App Store link]

Greedy Spiders: The Spiders have come to town and they are planning on dining their friendly neighbors. Use your intelligence in this exciting puzzle game and prevent the Spiders from pulling off their plan. [Free for iPhone - App
Store link]

IntelliVocab for SAT Deluxe Edition (Sale): Study for the SAT’s. This app identifies your weak and strong areas and completely controls your learning environment and is built by students of MIT based on the latest research in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Web Semantics. On sale until Sept 9th! [$1.99 for iPhone - App Store link]

Any other big app or game releases or updates today?

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

GameStop Offering Store Credit For Used iPhones, iPads and iPods

GameStop onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.gamestop.com/gs/landing/events/idevice/default.aspx?cid=eml_10000286');" target="_blank" href="http://www.gamestop.com/gs/landing/events/idevice/default.aspx?cid=eml_10000286">announced that they’re now accepting old iPod, iPhone and onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.ipadngravy.com');" target="_blank" title="iPad" href="http://www.ipadngravy.com">iPad devices in exchange for in-store credit. There is also a rumor that they will be carrying new Apple mobile devices and accessories in the future.

This is great news for gamers who would like to trade-in their old Apple devices for games, but I guess it depends on what they’re offering. How much store credit does an iPad nab you? And what good is trading your old device if they’re not offering new ones for you to upgrade? GameStop is obviously hoping to cash-in on the launch of the iPhone 5 by offering people credit for their old iPhones, but how many people will want to trade their iPhone 4 for Call of Duty? I would imagine if you’re going to ditch your used iPhone it would be for a new one, not to get a new video game.

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Apple Store Starts Training On iOS 5, iCloud

href="http://cdn.everythingicafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/two.png">class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-23476" title="two" src="http://cdn.everythingicafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/two.png" alt="" width="591" height="446" />

9to5 Mac’s most recent discovery is that Apple Stores have started training up their peons href="http://9to5mac.com/2011/09/04/apple-stores-begin-icloud-and-ios-5-training-may-hint-at-imminent-launch/">in using iOS 5 and iCloud, potentially pointing to both launching in the near future. In the internal newsletter “The Daily Download”, they mention that a series of presentations will be given on the upgrades “over the coming weeks”.

To me, “in the coming weeks” sounds a bit sooner than the mid-October iPhone 5 launch, so maybe we’ll see iOS 5 and iCloud launching before the new version of the iPhone — but it could mean more than a month of training also.

Here’s hoping the seemingly endless series of beta launches wraps up soon, and we can finally all get our hands on iOS 5!

The case for more frequent iPhone updates

Just a month ago, an interesting survey revealed the cult like power that Apple’s marketing division had managed to generate around iOS devices. It found that many people had already made up their minds to buy the iPhone 5 or trade-in their iPhone 4 for it, even before a decent description of the product was released. The faith consumers have in iOS products is amazing because most often Apple manages to release spectacular products, with superb range of accessories, applications and services to match. However, this may not be enough to overcome Android, its chief rival. According to recent studies, Android is still the favorite amongst early adopters (a small but crucial segment of consumers). Accordingly, 40% would opt for Android while only 32% would opt for an iPhone.


Apple has mastered the art of basic economics. By creating an almost complete veil of secrecy around its iOS products, it manages to generate an amazing amount of hype around its brand. Then, in a carefully orchestrated marketing campaign, it releases the products to the public. In the eyes of its adoring fans and much of the rest of the public, Apple seems to releases some sort of magical device every time. It is like Christmas, the atmosphere and the yearlong wait, really enhances the image of the gift regardless of its real worth.
 
However, amongst early adopters this strategy is not very effective because this group is most likely to cycle through devices frequently. Android has the advantage here because it can release products into the market more frequently. This would normally be not much of a threat to Apple but recently its rivals have begun releasing an amazing range of products that frankly outclass the iPhone 4 (and based on what we know, even the iPhone 5). HTC, Samsung and Motorola have begun releasing phones with very innovative features, even forcing Apple to fight dirty with patents. Given the competition, Apple might want to start releasing iPhones in a more frequent schedule, perhaps a bi-annual cycle.

Deutsche Telekom Starts Taking iPhone 5 Pre-orders

Customers of Deutsche Telekom can reserve the yet unannounced iPhone 5 starting today, said Alexander von Schmettow, a spokesperson for the carrier. They anticipate “supply bottlenecks for the device”, so today’s move will allow customers an early pre-order of sorts.

Customers can receive a coupon that simply states you are reserved the successor to the iPhone 4, without explicitly naming the iPhone 5.

Sounds more like a PR move by Deutsche Telekom, then anything else. Still, if that’s your carrier of choice, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to put your name on the reservation list.

Source: href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-05/deutsche-telekom-to-offer-iphone-5-reservation-as-of-today.html?cmpid=yhoo">Bloomberg

Best Buy Leaks Possible iPhone 5 Release Date

Two Best Buy leaks revealed that they are prepping for the iPhone 5 to arrive in October. An internal memo published by BGR states that iPhone 5 pre-sales are expected to start in the first week of the month, and that store managers should also prepare themselves for a Sprint iPhone to be released. In August, href="http://www.iphonealley.com/news/is-the-iphone-4-and-5-coming-to-sprint-in-october">The Wall Street Journal broke the news that Sprint would be the next carrier to offer Apple devices, like their own version of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 5. The leaked document did not mention the rumored href="http://www.iphonealley.com/news/is-sprint-and-t-mobile-both-joining-the-apple-family-in-october">T-Mobile iPhone, and added that “release dates are subject to change.”

The second Best Buy leak, published by onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/thisismynext.com/2011/09/04/iphone-5-launch-best-buy-fixture-installation/');" target="_blank" href="http://thisismynext.com/2011/09/04/iphone-5-launch-best-buy-fixture-installation/">Thisismynext, shows a delivery confirmation for an “Apple fixture” to be installed at a Best Buy location on October 21, 2011. The Thisismynext tipster says this “isn’t a run-of-the-mill installation for the big box,” and a similar event took place for the iPhone 4. He also added that Best Buy Mobile managers are meeting on October 10th to “discuss upcoming BIG release dates.”

Best Buy is probably just going along with the consensus that the iPhone 5 will be here sometime mid-October, and not on inside information. But unlike tech blogs who can speculate all they want about new iPhone launches, Best Buy probably has to be a little bit more selective with their hunches.

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[onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.bgr.com/2011/09/04/best-buy-anticipating-iphone-5-for-sprint-preorders-starting-next-month/');" target="_blank" href="http://www.bgr.com/2011/09/04/best-buy-anticipating-iphone-5-for-sprint-preorders-starting-next-month/">BGR]

Mobile Nations Monday Brief for September 5, 2011

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Deutsche Telekom to offer iPhone 5 reservation coupons from today

According to Bloomberg, Deutsche Telekom will offer its customers the opportunity to reserve the next generation iPhone 5 starting from today. Alexander von Schmettow, a spokesman for Deutsche Telekom told Bloomberg by telephone that it anticipates a supply bottleneck for the upcoming device, and so will hand out priority coupons to customers who expressly request the iPhone 4 successor from today. The coupons will only be issued to existing Deutsche Telekom customers and can be redeemed on a first come first served basis when the next generation iPhone is released.

I am not sure how you can offer reservations for an iPhone that has not even been announced, has no specifications or even a price. Until Apple actually announces it, you can’t be one hundred percent certain that it even exists. If your carrier offered reservations starting today, would you jump on it?

[Bloomberg]

 

New Logitech joystick for the iPad

The iPad is becoming increasingly popular amongst gaming fans and already features a variety of high-end gaming titles. It is also attracting the attention of established hardware makers. If you already own a PC then there is no doubt that you have encountered the Logitech brand. While Logitech is primarily focused on computer hardware, it is slowly beginning to recognize the huge potential in tablet computers especially the iPad. The company released a very interesting gaming accessory called the Logitech Joystick, which is innovative in the sense that it is not an external joystick but rather, it is designed to work with the on-screen joystick or d-pad.

 
The joystick attaches itself to the iPad with suction cups (thereby preventing any damage to the screen). Inside, a coiled spring keeps the stick centered. The joystick lets users move around depending on the game. According to Logitech, the joystick can be used with almost 32 different games including “Madden NFL 11,” “Call of Duty World at War: Zombies,” “FIFA ’11,” “Prince of Persia: Warrior Within” and “Resident Evil 4.” Naturally, the stick is more focused on racing and shooting games. However, critics have been quick to point out that the list does not include games like “Cut the Rope” and “Fruit Ninjas”. This goes to show that Logitech is still gearing its accessories towards the creation of traditional gaming titles and not ones that have come to take the iOS world by storm.
 
The Logitech joystick will be sold at $19.99, and is ready for pre-order. There is no doubt that this accessory will be quite popular with a variety of users but the overall market might remain slim for now. However, as the iPad improves in terms of hardware, games will becomes far more sophisticated and this will almost certainly increase the demand of gaming accessories including joysticks.

Apple Store employees starting iOS 5 and iCloud training

Apple’s retail store employees are starting to receive training on the features of iOS 5 and iCloud. The information comes in the form of a screenshot from Apple’s Daily Download. The Daily Download is an Apple internal iPad application in the form of a newspaper; which is used to communicate information to its employees on a daily basis.

iOS 5 and iCloud are just around the corner— it’s time to prepare for the next generation of mobile innovation. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be presenting a series covering everything you need to know to provide our customers with the best iOS experience. This week, learn some new features of iOS 5 and iCloud.

The fact that this training is only beginning now appears to support rumors that iOS 5 and the iPhone 5 will not make an appearance until sometime in October. Apple clearly states that the training will continue over the coming weeks so that could all fit together nicely.

[9to5Mac]