Daily Tip: How to mark multiple emails as read in iOS 5

Have a ton of unreal messages and wondering how to just declare email bankruptcy and mark them all as read? iOS 5 still doesn’t give you that magical “mark all” button but it does let you mark multiple messages as read in the Mail app, which can help save a lot of time when you’re crunching through emails on-the-go.

Now, all of the emails you selected will be marked as read and, if you’re using iCloud, Exchange, or IMAP, will reflect as such across all email clients you have connected to your email service. It’s as simple as that!

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…)

Mobile Nations 9: Grand Theft Mobile

Kevin, Phil, Derek, Dan, and Rene talk Windows Phone from Mango to Tango (and Nokia!), BlackBerry DevCon and BBX superphones, Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich and Galaxy Nexus, webOS and the road ahead, and iPhone 4S and Siri. This is Mobile Nations!

Got something to say? Agree or disagree with something we said? Have something you want us to discuss on a future show? Don’t just sit there yelling at the screen, dammit, let us know!

Phil Nickinson (@philnickinson) of Android Central

Kevin Michaluk (@crackberrykevin) of CrackBerry.com

Derek Kessler (@dkdsgn) of PreCentral.net

Rene Ritchie (@reneritchie) of TiPb.com

Our music is pROgraM vs. Us3R by by morgantj. Introduction by Joseph Holder.

Thanks to the Smartphone Experts network of store for sponsoring this podcast, and to our fantastic live chat members for keeping us honest and making us smart!

Apple television, the next great unicorn chase

Now that we have the iPhone and iPad, the next great unicorn to chase seems to be an Apple television — not the Apple TV set top box, but a full on elegant glass and aluminium object de panel art from Jony Ive and co. to hang on our wall and banish cables and crummy cable boxes from our living rooms once and for all. When last we got analyst-fueled Apple television rumors, it turned out to be the 27-inch iMac. This time, however, we get a passage from the just-released Steve Jobs biography:

“He very much wanted to do for television sets what he had done for computers, music players, and phones: make them simple and elegant. I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use,’ he told me. ‘It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud.’ No longer would users have to fiddle with complex remotes for DVD players and cable channels. ‘It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.”

And now this, from Bloomberg:

Apple Inc. (AAPL) is turning to the software engineer who built iTunes to help lead its development of a television set, according to three people with knowledge of the project. Jeff Robbin, who helped create the iPod in addition to the iTunes media store, is now guiding Apple’s internal development of the new TV effort, said the people, who declined to be identified because his role isn’t public.

Interface is only one of the things Apple will have to crack, however. Content is called king for a reason. A gorgeously designed TV set only goes so far if you can’t get your sports, your special events, and everything else cable and satellite currently has an oligopoly on.

Don’t get me wrong — from 2007 to 2010 I went from a Treo 650 to an iPhone 4S yet my TV has pretty much the same crappy Scientific Atlanta PVR hung from it. If any dinosaur of an industry needs to get hit by the Apple meteorite and turned into the fossil fuel of the future, it’s television. The idea of an Apple designed, engineered, and programmed television is enticing — though my wallet threatens to punch me in the nose at the mere thought of lining up every year for that multi-thousand dollar product launch. It’s just trickier to see what an Apple television would be to a current Sony or Samsung the way an iPhone was to Treo or iPad to Tablet PC. It’s tricky to see what it would do that an Apple TV box couldn’t, aside from being neater and tidier.

Of course Apple probably has all sorts of products in the lab. Their success, however, has come from not shipping something until they knew how to go to market with it. iPhone took them years. iPad years more. Conceivably Apple could pull the trigger on a television as soon as 2012, but until Tim Cook and co. show it off on stage, just like chasing unicorns, it’s just flights of fun and fancy.

Source: Bloomberg

Sprint working to fix slow iPhone 4S data speeds?

Matthew Panzarino of The Next Web reports that Sprint knows about, and is working on, the slow data speeds frustrating many iPhone 4S

Now it seems that an internal email has been sent to Sprint representatives, informing them that Apple and Sprint are working together on a “confirmed nationwide issue” dealing with the slow data rates many users are experiencing. There was no information about what the cause of the issues are or what the expected resolution date might be.

Since the CDMA iPhone 4S is limited to EV-DO rev A speeds, they’re going to potentially be much slower than an HSPA 14.4 AT&T iPhone 4S, but they should be equal to the similarly networked Verizon iPhone 4S.

Check out the link below for the details and, if you’re on Sprint, let us know how your data is performing.

Source: The Next Web

Apple’s “Celebration of Steve’s Life” Event Video Posted

Apple held a commemorative event on October 19 celebrating the life of co-founder Steve Jobs. CEO Tim Cook led the proceedings on Apple’s campus in Cupertino, California.

Friends, family, and employees shared stories of Steve’s principles, leadership, and enthusiasm; reminiscing in their feelings about the visionary. Coldplay, one of Steve’s favorite musical groups, performed several of their most popular songs in his honor.

Thousands of people were in attendance, while many more watched live. Apple Store employees joined in on the celebration as stores worldwide were closed.

Steve passed away on October 5, 2011 at age 56. He was a true visionary, leading Apple through the rise of the Mac, iPod, and iPhone. Few can say that they have had as much of an impact as he has had on the world.

Tim Cook’s closing words:/>

“Steve made our world a better place. He left his fingerprints all over society, all over the world. He also leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirt that will be the foundation of this company forever. There are no words in Webster that will express the sadness or our gratitude for the opportunity to have worked with the world’s best genius. Steve, we will miss you forever and we will honor you in your memory by dedicating ourselves to doing the work that you love so much.”

Watch the Apple special event “A celebration of Steve’s life” onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/10oiuhfvojb23/event/index.html#');" target="_blank" href="http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/10oiuhfvojb23/event/index.html#">here.

Steve Jobs iRemembrance: iPhone Alley is celebrating and remembering the life of Apple co-founder/former CEO Steve Jobs during our first annual Steve Jobs iRemembrance Week (extended to iRemembrance Month). Following the passing away of the greatest visionary and world-changing pioneer of the past century, we will honor Steve Job’s irreplaceable spirit knowing in our hearts that it will carry on for generations to come.

Mage Gauntlet App Review – A Retro RPG in Its Most Nostalgic Form

Rather than the usual hook swinging games that are released by developer, Rocketcat Games, is onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/itunes.apple.com/us/app/mage-gauntlet/id460697573?mt=8');" target="_blank" href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mage-gauntlet/id460697573?mt=8">Mage Gauntlet, a retro RPG that breached the App Store’s gates this past Thursday. Topnotch Nostalgia and alluring retro artwork go hand in hand in this game to create an attractive masterpiece that showcases what developers can accomplish.

onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/itunes.apple.com/us/app/mage-gauntlet/id460697573?mt=8');" target="_blank" href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mage-gauntlet/id460697573?mt=8">Mage Gauntlet has been receiving some pretty good press attention, and it’s rightly deserved considering what the game offers for the developer’s followers, hardcore gamers and noobs alike – you’ll play as a young lady who possesses an odd trait; everything magical that she comes into contact with with be destroyed instantaneously, which is a big deal since everything in the game’s world is pretty much magical.href="http://www.iphonealley.com/application_reviews/mage-gauntlet-app-review-a-retro-rpg-in-its-most-nostalgic-form/attachment/mage-gauntlet2" rel="attachment wp-att-22687">src="http://www.iphonealley.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/mage-gauntlet2-300x200.jpg" alt="" title="mage gauntlet2" width="300" height="200" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-22687" /> She persistently pesters Whitebeard, a wizard, who finally, after listening to her situation, outfits her arm with a gauntlet that gets rid of the problem. There’s some other things thrown into the story, which I definitely do appreciate, but I’m not going to go too deep into that.

Much different than the usual free-roam environments that you’d see in most other RPGs, Mage Gauntlet’s gameplay takes place through a total of 42 levels. Once you unlock Master Mode by completing the regular campaign, these 42 levels will become replayable but instead with more motivation to be beat once again by hardcore gamers as you’ll see an increase in difficulty as well as in the number of monsters. So you’re basically on rails other than the occasional diversions from the path.

As you run around battling with the various monsters, rummaging through the occasional treasure chest and destroying infrastructure with the help of your sword, you’ll pick up a whole plethora of various items which can be used additionally with a total of 19 pets to improve your character’s multiple traits – these equitable items as well as the leveling system will allow you to steadily increase many traits that your character possesses. Departing from the normal button-smashing gameplay, you’ll be surprised to see that the battles that occur in Mage Gauntlet will often require strategic use of the regular attack button as well as the secondary dash – thanks to this whole system, along with the frequent additional of new enemy faces, the gameplay is kept alive.

Accompanying the catchy chiptunes, is the pixel artwork that many gamers, whether they be older or of the current generation, will enjoy. I’ve taken a shot at pixel artwork, and I’ve got to say that it’s definitely not easy, so it’s evident that whoever on the Rocketcat team that designed the sprites for Mage Gauntlet undoubtedly had a hand to do so. It’s great to see this kind of artwork in a game like such, especially with the desired nostalgia that the developers wanted the game to bring back. Even if the gameplay wasn’t so flawless, I’d recommend purchasing the game solely for the sake of the artwork – but that’s only because pixel artwork is all the way down my alley.

Being inspired by old-school Nintendo titles, Mage Gauntlet does an excellent job of effectively maintaining a retro feel as well as a modern feel. The fact remains: whether you’re looking to spend an hour or not on the game, you’re inevitably going to get sucked in every time you open the application. The combination of professional pixel artwork, cleverly placed items and battles that differ greatly from the norm, amounts to a flawless game that any gamer is sure to enjoy, especially for only $2.99.

href="http://www.iphonealley.com/application_reviews/mage-gauntlet-app-review-a-retro-rpg-in-its-most-nostalgic-form/attachment/prosandcons-mage-gauntlet-2" rel="attachment wp-att-22655">src="http://www.iphonealley.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/prosandcons-mage-gauntlet1.png" alt="" title="prosandcons mage gauntlet" width="640" height="107" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22655" />

target="_blank" href="http://www.iphonealley.com/application_reviews/mage-gauntlet-app-review-a-retro-rpg-in-its-most-nostalgic-form/attachment/stars" rel="attachment wp-att-22652">src="http://www.iphonealley.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/stars.png" alt="" title="stars" width="278" height="53" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-22652" />onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/itunes.apple.com/us/app/mage-gauntlet/id460697573?mt=8');" href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mage-gauntlet/id460697573?mt=8">src="http://www.iphonealley.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/view-in-itunes.png" alt="" title="view in itunes" width="106" height="23" class="alignright size-full wp-image-22679" />

iPhoneAlley rates Mage Gauntlet 5/5 - It’s down our alley!

width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mneJ5ZD2Yzc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

Is Apple Working on Sprint’s Data Speed Problem?

Complaints about slow data speeds via the Sprint network have been piling up ever since the iPhone 4S launched on October 14. Sprint publicly denied the problem a few days later, but a recently leaked internal email revealed that Sprint and Apple are now acknowledging the issue.

According to onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/thenextweb.com/apple/2011/10/24/sprint-and-apple-are-working-on-a-nationwide-issue-with-data-speeds/');" target="_blank" href="http://thenextweb.com/apple/2011/10/24/sprint-and-apple-are-working-on-a-nationwide-issue-with-data-speeds/">Next Web, an e-mail sent to Sprint representatives confirmed there is a “nationwide issue” with data speeds, and that Sprint and Apple are working on it together. The memo didn’t offer a cause for the problem or a timeframe for fixing it.

One Sprint customer claims a Sprint representative read him the e-mail and offered him a free onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/mobile.engadget.com/2010/08/19/sprints-3g-capable-airave-from-airvana-starts-shipping/');" target="_blank" href="http://mobile.engadget.com/2010/08/19/sprints-3g-capable-airave-from-airvana-starts-shipping/">AirRave 3G Airvana hotspot as a solution.

Originally Sprint said there were only a “small number of reports of slow data speeds when using the iPhone 4S,” but postings on Sprint and Apple forums suggest otherwise. If the problem is widespread, it could be a problem with the iPhone 4S baseband firmware or the device itself according to The Next Web.

Here’s Sprint’s original response to the complaints:

“As always, Sprint is carefully monitoring the performance of the 3G network. We are looking into a small number of reports of slow data speeds when using the iPhone 4S, however there are also reports showing that Sprint’s network is the fastest, such as the Gizmodo report that came out earlier today. Speed tests represent a moment in time and are subject to many variables including weather, time of day, device, and proximity to a tower. Sprint will continue to monitor the feedback we are getting from our customers and will investigate and resolve any issues that may arise.”