Mac|Life - iPhone

How to Best Keep Your iOS Device Secure

Laurence Cable — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:02:24 +0000

Keep your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch safe

If you’re working with sensitive files such as confidential work documents on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, it’s important to protect your data should you misplace your device. The first thing to do is make sure you’ve got a passcode lock set. Do this in Settings > General > Passcode Lock. This will prevent immediate access to your device. Next, you want to make sure you’ve enabled Find My iPhone in iCloud (Settings > iCloud). This will give you a range of options if you lose your device, including pinpointing it on a map and remotely wiping your data.

Wednesday PM Recap: iPad 3 Rumors, Amazon Adds Viacom, Path Makes Amends

J.R. Bookwalter — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:31:24 +0000

Hey, so forget what we said this morning about a news recap earlier in the day -- we’re happy to announce that, starting Thursday, we’ll be back to pushing out three full news items each weekday morning, plus the very news recap you’re reading each evening to catch up with the rest of the day’s events. All because you, the loyal MacLife.com reader, deserve it! So without further ado, let’s blast off into the rest of today’s news for Wednesday, February 8, 2012.

Amazon Beefs Up Prime Instant Video with Viacom TV Catalog

As rumored in the last few days, Amazon today announced a new deal with Viacom which will add 2,000 more titles to its Prime Instant Video service, encompassing the output from television networks MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, TV Land and VH1. Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos announced on the company’s home page that the new deal brings Amazon’s offerings to 15,000 titles, including kiddie favorites like Dora the Explorer, comedy like Hot In Cleveland and reality TV, including past seasons of The Real World and yes, even Jersey Shore. (Face it: There’s no escaping it.) As usual, Prime Instant Videos require a $79 per year subscription which also nets customers with free two-day shipping. Sadly, there’s still no sign of an iOS app for watching all this content, but you can find it on the Kindle Fire, Mac and PC computers, Roku boxes and internet-connected HDTVs or Blu-ray players.

Vonage Mobile App Gunning for Skype

Can you feel that red dot on your forehead, Skype? That’s the sharpshooters at Vonage Mobile marking you for death -- or at least stepped-up competition. According to The Verge, the Vonage Mobile apps for iOS and Android are now offering VoIP calls “typically 30 percent cheaper than Skype’s rates, based on per-minute rates to the top 50 countries called.” Best of all, anyone can use the app -- even without a traditional Vonage subscription, thanks to in-app billing in increments of $4.99 or $9.99, billed straight to iTunes or Android Market. What could be better than that? How about free calls to any number in the U.S. or Canada for a limited time, and the ability to use your mobile number for Caller ID on outgoing calls? That clicking you hear is other users rushing to download the free iOS app, we’re guessing...

A Guide to Those Crazy iPad 3 Rumors

Having trouble keeping up with all these iPad 3 rumors flying fast and furious? Apparently, so was the staff at Computerworld, who has just cooked up a “Crazy Apple Rumors Guide to iPad 3.” After a bit of background on how the iPad has grown over the last two generations, writer Jonny Evans lays out what we know so far: Better screen? Check. A6 processor? Check. Improved graphics processor? Check. Better camera? Check. LTE wireless support? Check. Will it be thicker or thinner? Check and check. (Say wha--?) Thunderbolt I/O? Maybe. Siri? Done and done. And on it goes, right down to NFC, 3D and Apple-supplied mapping. So when will we finally see all of this tablet goodness? How about later this month… or maybe next month. You know, those rumor mills just can’t be for certain...

Path Co-Founder: “We Are Sorry”

As we reported yesterday, the Path iOS app was caught with its hands in the proverbial cookie jar -- in this case, uploading users’ address book data without being given express permission to do so. Today, co-founder and CEO Dave Morin has announced the company is moving quickly to right this wrong. While noting that no user data has ever been used for malicious purposes, Morin explains: “We believe you should have control when it comes to sharing your personal information. We also believe that actions speak louder than words. So, as a clear signal of our commitment to your privacy, we’ve deleted the entire collection of user uploaded contact information from our servers. Your trust matters to us and we want you to feel completely in control of your information on Path.” Furthermore, the promised Path 2.0.6 update is now available in the App Store, which now prompts users to opt in or out of sharing phone contacts, which is used to discover others you may know on the service. Hats off to the Path gang -- and fear not, we still love you.

Apple Eyes Standardized Royalties for 3G Wireless Patents

Ars Technica is reporting that Apple wants to lead the charge for “standardized royalty rates” where 3G wireless networking is concerned. The problem stems from smartphone players such as Samsung and Motorola “leveraging patents essential to 3G wireless networking standards in lawsuits largely aimed at Apple” -- patents which were offered to standards body ETSI to “help create 3G standards on the condition that they be licensed on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms.” Unfortunately, Apple’s chief IP attorney Bruce Watrous finds that the opposite is true, claiming “our industry suffers from a lack of consistence adherence to FRAND principles in the cellular standards arena.” The problem apparently stems from Samsung’s request for “a 2.4 percent royalty on the full retail price of every iPhone or iPad sold to cover its 3G-related patents, while Motorola has asked for 2.25 percent” -- amounts that Apple rightfully calls “unfair and unreasonable,” which is why the smartphone makers are suing Apple for patent infringement in the first place. “What Apple is arguing here is that the royalties should not apply to an entire iPhone or iPad, but rather to the basic hardware for 3G wireless radios,” the report explains, although there’s presumably no end in sight for the problem anytime soon.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

How to Create Advanced Settings Shortcuts on your iOS Device

Christopher Brennan — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:56:36 +0000

Create icons on your Home screen that give quick access to deep iOS settings

The Settings app is probably one that you use all the time without even thinking about it. A lot of the tools that help you to make iOS more in tune with your personal preferences are managed through Settings. But even with the best-designed interface in the world, the complexity of iOS means that some things get a bit buried.

If you travel a lot, turning on the Airplane mode might not seem like a hardship, but if you want to get to your usage information quickly, it’s a slightly more circuitous route. Thankfully, there is a quick and simple method that allows you to access such deeper system settings much more easily.

This straightforward method requires you to do nothing more than browsing to a website in Safari, clicking on a link there and installing a profile. Once you’ve got this up and running, accessing the system preference you need is as easy as launching an app. Tap on an icon to take you directly to, let’s say, the brightness controls or Bluetooth settings.

This whole process is fairly simple and – best of all – free. It will really speed up those times when you need to navigate to a system option quickly, and the icon looks and acts just like any normal app. The only caveat is that you’ll need an active internet connection to download the links. But once you’ve created them, the shortcuts will work offline, so you won’t need a connection to use them later.

To remove the links, you delete them much like you get rid of any other app – by tapping and holding until they shake and then tapping on the x. Then you’ll also need to remove the profile from Settings > General > Profiles too.

Wednesday AM Recap: 2012 Mac Firmware Updates, Sprint Q4, Free McCartney

J.R. Bookwalter — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:29:15 +0000

(In our best Robin Williams from Good Morning, Vietnam:) Good morning, MacLife.com! That’s right… thanks to your traffic to our weekday evening news recaps, we’re now happy to offer you twice the fun each day, starting right now. You’ll now get 10 bite-sized news stories each weekday -- five in the morning and five in the evening -- so you don’t miss a single interesting bit of tech news! Let’s kick things off with a recap of a few stories that made news since our Tuesday night edition went live, shall we…?

Firmware Update Brings Lion Internet Recovery to 2010 Macs

Hands up if you’re still rocking a pre-Thunderbolt Mac from 2010! (Hey, that’s us!) Apple blessed such owners with a little treat on Tuesday night in the form of a trio of EFI firmware updates, all of which bring Lion Internet Recovery onto these older systems. Additionally, the MacBook Air EFI Firmware Update 2.3 “addresses an issue where the system could restart if the power button is pressed immediately after waking from deep sleep” as part of its modest 2.98MB download. If you want the ultimate in internet-based recovery security, head to Apple’s support website and download the 3.02MB iMac EFI Update 1.8 or 3.18MB MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 2.6, or simply run the Software Update to call up the magic -- assuming your system is eligible in the first place. As always, an EFI firmware update requires a restart or two, so be prepared for that.

iTunes Live Presents Free Paul McCartney Show on Thursday

Nobody loves The Beatles as much as Apple and its fans do, so it makes total sense that the iTunes maker would celebrate the release of Paul McCartney’s new album with a free live performance streamed right to your software. The best news is that couch potatoes can also view this iTunes Live presentation from the comfort of their living rooms via the Apple TV, where iTunes Live will appear as an option from the Internet menu. “To celebrate the release of Paul McCartney’s latest album, watch a free stream of his exclusive performance at Capitol Studios on February 9 at 7pm (PST) right here,” the former Beatle’s iTunes page announced this week. “Or stream it on your TV using your Apple TV -- just choose iTunes Live from the Internet menu.” Certainly a nice treat from Sir Paul and Apple whether you buy the new album or not -- but as luck would have it, a link to buy Kisses on the Bottom is directly below the iTunes Live information, just a mere $9.99 plus taxes away.

Sprint Q4: 1.8 Million iPhones, 40 Percent to New Customers

Hey, AT&T and Verizon: You’re not the only U.S. carriers who had a boffo final three months of 2011 where the iPhone was concerned. According to AppleInsider, third-place Sprint sold 1.8 million of Apple’s coveted handsets after finally landing the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 in October, breaking the company’s one-day sales records. The iPhone also helped Sprint catapult into the company’s best quarterly results in six years, with 720,000 iPhones sold to brand new customers alone. Of course, those numbers pale in comparison to AT&T’s 7.6 million and Verizon’s 4.2 million activations during the same period, but it’s an otherwise bright spot in Sprint’s overall quarterly results, with a net loss of $1.3 billion. (Ouch!)

Washington Post Social Reader Comes to App Store

Traditional newspapers continue to find interesting ways to bring their content to mobile devices. Take, for instance, The Washington Post, who recently released a new app for the iPhone which brings their Facebook-connected Washington Post Social Reader into the palm of your hand. “See what your friends are reading and share the articles you're reading -- instantly,” the app description reads. “The Washington Post Social Reader you love on Facebook is now at your fingertips. Read news from sources like The Washington Post, Slate, The Daily Beast, SB Nation, Mashable, Wetpaint and more -- with your friends. Articles you and your friends read are shared on Washington Post Social Reader and on Facebook.” The 0.9MB app is absolutely free, but does require a Facebook login to function; it’s compatible with the iPhone 3GS and up, iPod touch third generation and up as well as any iPad (though it’s not a universal app) running iOS 4.0 or later.

Could Apple Bring Aperture (or iPhoto) to the iPad 3?

The folks over at MacStories.net did some interesting prognostication on Tuesday, looking ahead to what Apple might do with at least one software offering for the forthcoming iPad 3. Given that the original iPad was released alongside iWork and the iPad 2 introduced iMovie and GarageBand to the tablet, Gabe Glick theorizes that photography will be a primary focus for the rumored higher-resolution display of the next iPad -- which could see Aperture making the leap from the Mac to iOS. It’s an interesting argument and we tend to agree with most of the points made by the author, but it’s more likely that Apple will introduce iPhoto to the iPad, given its consumer-based roots. After all, Apple didn’t bring its high-end Final Cut Pro or Logic Pro offerings down to iOS -- at least not yet -- so as exciting as the prospect of Aperture on the iPad might be, we’ll cast our vote for iPhoto instead. But either way, we’re looking forward to it...

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

Grand Theft Auto 3 Review

Andrew Hayward — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:37:09 +0000

Rockstar Games' seminal open-world crime game arrives on the iPhone and iPad in this touch-enabled 10th anniversary re-release, which serves up the original go-anywhere, do-anything action experience for a cool five bucks.

And you'll get your money's worth here, as the lengthy solo adventure takes your anti-hero through all manner of illicit activities, plus loads of side missions, and the sheer thrill of high-speed cop chases still shines through today. Whether on-foot or behind the wheel, there's plenty to do throughout Liberty City, and quite a bit of it amuses and entertains in equal does. Plus, all of the amazing radio stations from the original console release remain intact!

While not as glossy as some newer iOS releases, Grand Theft Auto 3's open sandbox of mischief is welcoming on both devices, though the mass array of virtual buttons can be a bit overwhelming, and it's not as precise as the controller schemes of past versions. Luckily, the buttons can be moved around the screen, letting you design the most comfortable control option for your device and preferences. And regardless of any nagging control issues, it's pretty amazing to experience such a huge and entertaining adventure like this on a much smaller screen.

The bottom line. Despite some bugs and signs of age, Grand Theft Auto 3 is still a blast a decade after its debut.

Review Synopsis

Product:

Grand Theft Auto 3 1.0

Company:

Rockstar Games

Contact:

http://rockstargames.com

Price:

Requirements:

iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 4.3 or later

Positives:

Stellar and complete port of a true open-world action classic. Works well on both iPhone and iPad. Extremely well-priced for what you're getting.

Negatives:

Controls aren't perfect, though they are customizable. Looks a little dated, plus you'll encounter occasional glitches.

Score:

4 Great

Tuesday Recap: Path Privacy Flaw, Chrome for Android, Corel Hearts Roxio

J.R. Bookwalter — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:48:44 +0000

Another day, another iOS developer in hot water for playing fast and loose with user data. This time it’s Path, a favorite of the MacLife.com team -- but fear not, the sky isn’t falling, as you’ll discover from reading onward. It’s otherwise been a moderately quiet day on the Apple home front, so we’ve collected a few related tidbits from competitors like Google Android and Research in Motion to keep you entertained for this Tuesday, February 7, 2012.

Privacy Gaffe Exposed in Path for iOS App

We’re big fans of Path here at MacLife.com, which is why it’s disheartening to find out that the iOS app quietly uploads your address book to its servers -- including names, emails and phone numbers. The privacy gaffe was first discovered by Arun Thampi and detailed on his Mclov.in blog, which explains how the Path app pushes your address book data as a plist file, without your express permission to do so. “I don’t remember having given permission to Path to access my address book and send its contents to its servers, so I created a completely new ‘Path’ and repeated the experiment and I got the same result -- my address book was in Path’s hands,” Thampi explains. Now, before you rush to delete the otherwise excellent Path app from your iOS device, the developer isn’t using this information for anything nefarious -- in fact, Path co-founder and CEO Dave Morin rushed to explain the company’s decision “in order to help the user find and connect to their friends and family on Path quickly and efficiently as well as to notify them when friends and family join Path. Nothing more.” That said, Path is changing the behavior with a forthcoming 2.0.6 update pending App Store approval, which allows users to opt-in (the Android client has already been updated for this).

Google Introduces Chrome for Android

Rocking an Android device with Ice Cream Sandwich (otherwise known as 4.0)? If so, the Google mothership has a bonus treat for you today: Chrome for Android, the search giant’s latest effort to beef up the web browser on its mobile platform. According to the Google Chrome Blog, a beta of Chrome for Android brings a number of desktop browser features to the palm of your hand, with lightning fast speed, a slick new user interface for tabs and the ability to easily sign into your Google account for syncing open tabs, autocomplete suggestions and bookmarks from the desktop version. The only bad news -- aside from the absence of Adobe Flash Player -- is that you’ll need an Android 4.0 device in order to grab it from the Android Market, which narrows it down to maybe one percent of the folks running the mobile OS (such as owners of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus). But hey, that will change in time… right?

iTunes Connect Now Requires Retina Display Images from Developers

MacRumors is reporting that Apple has notified iOS developers of a new requirement for submitting iPhone and iPod touch apps. Effective immediately, developers will be required to submit screenshots in Retina Display resolution, which are 960x640. The change also affects existing apps, whose screenshots must be upgraded before updates will be approved. “The requirements for high-resolution images are 960 x 640, 960 x 600, 640 x 960, or 640 x 920 pixels,” Apple’s email to developers notes. “Images must be at least 72 dpi, in the RGB color space, and the file must be .jpeg, .jpg, .tif, .tiff, or .png. You can update your screenshot files at any time in iTunes Connect.” Considering that Retina Display was introduced a year and a half ago with the iPhone 4, the new requirement should come as a surprise to no one -- especially considering that the iPad 3 is widely expected to arrive with its own form of Retina Display which effectively doubles the current display resolution.

Roxio Weds Corel, Makes Easy VHS to DVD 3 Plus Baby

Ottawa, Canada-based Corel today announced the completion of its acquisition of Mac and PC software maker Roxio, which includes the popular Toast disc-burning solution. Roxio has been acquired from former owner Rovi Corporation, and the deal includes its entire portfolio of Mac and PC software. Best of all, the newlyweds already have an offspring to call their very own in the form of Roxio VHS to DVD 3 Plus, a new hardware and software product that makes it easy to transfer existing VHS, Hi8 and Video 8 tapes to digital formats, save them to DVD or share via YouTube, Facebook and mobile devices like the iPhone. The new product carries a $69.99 price tag and upgrades are available for owners of previous versions.

BlackBerry App World Claims 60k Apps, More Profitable Than Android

Research in Motion is having a tough time of it these days, but the BlackBerry maker is fighting back with some facts and figures intended to make their platform more appealing to developers -- especially those who currently hone their craft on the Android platform. According to PaidContent.org, RIM is kicking off their developer’s conference in Amsterdam with the bold exclamation that its BlackBerry App World is now home to 60,000 apps -- up from only 17,000 this time last year -- with six million downloads per day and two billion last month alone. While those numbers pale in comparison to Apple’s own App Store -- let alone Google’s Android Market -- RIM is also claiming that App World is more profitable than Android, with more paid downloads than Android Market. According to RIM VP of developer relations Alec Saunders, 13 percent of their developers have pocketed $100,000 or more, with carrier billing now active in 34 countries. Wake us when RIM releases that new BlackBerry 10 operating system, won’t you?

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

23 Must-Have RPGs for your iOS Device

Andrew Dyer — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:28:49 +0000

There's a mind-boggling number of role-playing games available for your iPhone and iPad, but a good portion of them aren't worth the money or investing the time playing them. So we put together a spread of worthwhile iOS titles that cover all the major RPG styles, and some that may seem unusual but are totally worth the price.

Monday Recap: Best Buy TV Survey, Siri Hardware, AT&T Throttling Unlimited Data

J.R. Bookwalter — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:45:53 +0000

Hey, how about that Super Bowl, am I right? Okay, you got us -- we didn’t watch the darned thing because we were working hard all weekend while the rest of you planted your backsides on the couch to indulge in cheap beer, stale nachos and the high blood pressure that surely comes from such testosterone-driven forms of entertainment. Most of you are probably having a hard time adjusting to a bad case of the post-Bowl Mondays, but we’re here to help with a heaping helping of tech news for this manic Monday, February 6, 2012.

There May Be a Valid Reason Why Siri Isn’t on Older iPhones

No one likes to be left behind when cool features like Siri are introduced and touted as only available on newer hardware. Despite the valiant efforts of hackers to port the intelligent assistant technology to older iOS handsets, Ars Technica is reporting that Apple may have had a valid reason for limiting it to the iPhone 4S. “According to recent SEC filings from technology start-up Audience, Apple incorporated an improved version of its background noise filtering technology directly into the A5 processor used in the iPhone 4S -- technology that improves Siri's speech recognition capabilities.” Of course, the basic functionality of Siri has already been available in software-only form as a free app, since discontinued after Apple’s release of the iPhone 4S in October -- but coupling it with Audience’s “earSmart” IP would certainly make a more convincing case for keeping Siri tied to newer hardware.

Best Buy Dreaming of an Apple Television, Too

Yeah, yeah, we know: You want an Apple television, and so do the analysts. But what about major electronics retailers? According to The Verge, apparently Best Buy also wants one, and wants one badly enough to query its customers with a survey exclusively dedicated to a theoretical 42-inch “AppleHDTV” which may retail for $1499. Now, before you get all excited and start clearing space on your credit cards, this is in no way an indication that said HDTV will ever arrive in stores -- Best Buy or otherwise. It sounds more like the retailer is getting a feel for what customers might like to see from such an offering, especially when features like a “built in iSight camera and microphone for Skype,” neither of which sound too Apple-like in this day and age. (FaceTime HD, anyone?)

Samsung Galaxy Note: The Stylus Makes a Comeback?

With an audience of millions watching the Super Bowl on Sunday night, Samsung introduced the latest of their attack ads against Apple in the form of a whopping 90 seconds of pure delusion. The spot opens with the usual bored-looking hipsters, presumably in line for the next iPhone, in what can only be described as sheer make-believe -- hey, we stood in line for the first two iPhones and nobody looked as bored and tortured as these folks. Of course, the dark cloud parts when one of them spots a dude with his new Android-packing Samsung Galaxy Note, which reintroduces the stylus to a world that has pretty much forgotten about it. The hipsters get so excited they take to dancing in the streets for the majority of the commercial time before the spot ends with Samsung’s slogan “The next big thing is already here”… followed a moment later by a “Coming Soon” notice. Confused? Yeah, us too…

Report: AT&T Begins Throttling Unlimited Users at 2GB

Still rocking one of those awesome unlimited data packages from the original iPhone back in 2007? If so, AT&T apparently hates you and wants you to die -- okay, so they don’t want you to die, but they do want you to surrender your unlimited data and get with the times. According to iLounge, customers are starting to receive text messages warning that they’re in the top five percent of data users -- a penalty that comes with reduced data speeds for the remainder of the billing cycle. So what is the top five percent, you may ask? If you guessed five or even 10GB, guess again: This particular user got whacked at only 2.1GB, which is ironically under the new 3GB for $30 data plan the carrier recently began offering. What gives? “Data consumption by all smartphone customers, including the top 5 percent of smartphone data customers, varies by month and by market,” explains Emily Edmonds, Director, AT&T Corporate Communications. “As of August 2011, the average data use across the country by the top 5 percent of AT&T smartphone customers was 2 GB per month.” Sounds more like a way to strong arm users grandfathered with undesirable unlimited plans into getting with data caps, if you ask us.

Redbox Partners with Verizon for Streaming, Consumes Blockbuster Express

Hey, Redbox… slow down! You’re making our heads spin here! If you weren’t paying attention earlier today, you might have missed the big news that the DVD rental kiosk giant is indeed preparing to take on Netflix with a new subscription-based streaming service in an unlikely partnership with Verizon. Concerned that the company might be abandoning those giant red kiosks? Don’t be, because Fast Company is reporting that Redbox had yet another huge announcement this afternoon, dropping $100 million for competitor NCR -- the folks behind their sole competition, Blockbuster Express. The deal will now bless Redbox parent Coinstar with “more locations than McDonald’s and Starbucks combined” -- and they predict those DVDs will keep slinging for upwards of another decade, to boot.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

How to Create iBooks without using iBooks Author

Cory Bohon — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:45:32 +0000

When iBooks Author was announced a few weeks ago, users hoped it would make it easier to publish your work to the iBook Store. However, once those users delved into the EULA, it became clear that to get any exposure outside of Apple's own store, one would have to use a different method of publishing. Fortunately, there are other options. Read on to find out how you can publish an e-book without licensing restrictions.

What You'll Need:

>> Pages '09 or higher
>> Sigil

Creating Content

In either Pages '09 or Sigil, you will be able to use a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor to create your book content. Mark up the pages exactly as you want them to appear when you export the ePubs. We'll fill in the ePub metadata information when we begin the export process.

Exporting ePubs in Sigil

Before we export a book in Sigil, we need to set the Metadata for the ePub file. This include the book name, author name, and a few other basic items. To edit this information, click Edit > Meta (or press Fn + F8). You can click the "More" button to add even more basic metadata including ISBN, etc.

Once you have inserted the appropriate metadata, click File > Save As to begin the export process. Type in the name of your book, and ensure that the .ePub file type is selected in the drop-down menu.

Exporting ePubs in Pages

To export ePubs in Pages, click File > Export. From the Export dialog, select the ePub tab and fill in all of the necessary metadata. You can select the option to have the first page of your document become the cover of the ePub book. When you're done, click the Next button, select a save location, and click the Export button.

Adding a Custom Cover to Your ePub

If you decide later that you want to have custom artwork for the cover of your ePub book, you can add it in iTunes. Simply import your book into your iTunes library, then right-click on it and select "Get Info."

In the Get Info dialog, click the Artwork tab, and paste in any image that you wish; or click the Add button to navigate through your hard drive. When you click OK, iTunes will add the artwork to your ePub book.

Follow this article's author, Cory Bohon on Twitter.

Path Review

Garrett Martin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:30:31 +0000

Path launched in 2010 as a single-app combo of Foursquare, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, with a focus on exclusivity. It limited you to 50 friends, the thought being that Path would prioritize the relationships that actually matter, and not just spotlight every kid you ever sat at a lunch table with in elementary school. Recently, Path increased that maximum to 150 friends along with a bevy of improvements, but even that still-limited tally doesn't explain why my Path friends list is so slim. The problem with Path is hardly anybody is using it.

That's a little surprising, as Path is less cluttered and easier to navigate than Facebook. Creating posts is incredibly simple: click on an icon at the bottom of your screen and six buttons fan out in a quarter-circle. From here you can write whatever's on your mind, take and upload photos, pop up a location tag, and share what songs you've recently listened to (along with links to buy them). These all appear on a single screen along with your friends' updates.

All the information you and your pals share pops up in one long, single scroll. Like Facebook, that could mean having to sort through multiple inane posts of sheer unrelenting vanity to find anything of substance about a friend or family member. That probably won't happen, though, because it's tough to find enough pals on the service to make regular use essential for most.

It's tough to be an off-brand social network. Apps like Path are only as useful as the size of their user base, and Path has roughly 799 million less users than Facebook. I fraternize within various social circles, all of which are heavy with tech-savvy Internet addicts, and yet I struggled to find many people I knew using Path.

The bottom line. This Path is best walked with friends, but it can be a quiet journey. It might be too fundamentally similar to Facebook to steal away users en masse, though it can syndicate its posts out to other networks; but Path's more elegant interface makes Facebook's web-based approach feel old.

Review Synopsis

Product:

Path 2.0.4

Company:

Path, Inc.

Contact:

path.com

Price:

Requirements:

iPhone or iPod touch running iOS 4.3 or later

Positives:

Clean, simple layout that handily tops Facebook for aesthetics. Easy to post a photo or message.

Negatives:

Small user base at present. Folks deeply entrenched in other social networks might not bother switching (as seems to be the case thus far).

Score:

3.5 Good