Tim Cook apologizes to customers over Apple’s Maps controversy, recommends Bing and other alternatives - by aby benedict

Apple just published an open letter from Apple CEO Tim Cook explaining to customers that it “fell short” in delivering the best experience possible with the new Maps app. Within the letter, Cook noted the company is doing everything to improve the app. However, it recommended a number of alternative apps and web apps for users to try in the meantime. Among his recommendations: Bing, MapQuest, Waze, or the Google or Nokia web apps. Links in the letter point customers to the featured section for mapping apps on the App Store and another to the graphic above showing how to install the Google and Nokia web apps. The letter is currently posted through a link displayed prominently on the Apple.com homepage.

To our customers,

At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.

We launched Maps initially with the first version of iOS. As time progressed, we wanted to provide our customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps. In order to do this, we had to create a new version of Maps from the ground up.

There are already more than 100 million iOS devices using the new Apple Maps, with more and more joining us every day. In just over a week, iOS users with the new Maps have already searched for nearly half a billion locations. The more our customers use our Maps the better it will get and we greatly appreciate all of the feedback we have received from you.

While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.

Everything we do at Apple is aimed at making our products the best in the world. We know that you expect that from us, and we will keep working non-stop until Maps lives up to the same incredibly high standard.

Tim Cook
Apple’s CEO

A Detailed Overview Of The Smartphone Market After iPhone 5 Launch [INFOGRAPHIC] - by aby benedict

The infographic, which you can see below, has plenty of other interesting facts and figures that you should definitely check out for yourself:

First iPhone 5 Benchmark Test Reveals Dual Core 1.02GHz A6 CPU, Faster Than Galaxy S III, iPad 3, Nexus 7 - by aby benedict

After AnandTech’s analysis of Apple’s A6 chip, Geekbench has now posted first benchmark test of iPhones 5. The total score result, which shows iPhone 5,2 model sporting a Dual Core 1.02GHz processor, comes in at an impressive 1601, which is faster than a number of high-end devices of today including Apple’s own 3rd-generation iPad, Samsung Galaxy S III, Nexus 7, HTC One X, to name a few.

Last week at the special media event held at the Yerba Buena center in SF, Apple didn’t give any specifics on their A6 chip. It was only yesterday when after deep analysis, a third-party site made known of the 1GB RAM and 1GHz custom Apple-designed ARMv7 processor in iPhone 5. The technical specifications page on the official apple site doesn’t even mention CPU details. This is probably because Apple believes more in overall performance and UX for the end-users.

Geekbench’s benchmark test for iPhone5,2:



In comparison, last year’s iPhone 4S A5 has a score of 630 while this year’s A5X in iPad (3rd generation) has a score of 790. These scores validate Apple’s claim of A6’s performance and graphics being twice as fast as all of the previous iOS devices.



What is more impressive is that according to this report, iPhone 5’s 1.02GHz processor is also faster than all of the top Android devices of today, including Galaxy S III’s Samsung Exynos 4412 1400 MHz (4 cores) which scores 1560, HTC One X’s NVIDIA Tegra 3 T30 1500 MHz (4 cores) which scores 1085, Nexus 7’s NVIDIA Tegra 3 T30L 1300 MHz (4 cores) which scores at 1591 etc. Benchmark scores of other Android devices can be seen in the table below:



Of course once the iPhone 5 ships this coming Friday, we will see many more thoroughly benchmarked and examined tests of iPhone 5 against the competing devices. But until then, it seems like the A6 packs quite a punch. Thoughts?

7 Belly Fat Burning Foods to Lose Tummy Fat and Get Flat Abs - by aby benedict

Did you ever dreamed of having a great looking flat stomach? Well.. here are the 7 belly fat burning foods that you should include in your diet!

Food is the main source of energy for the body and what you eat may either burn fat or add to your fat reserves. There are certain types of foods which can actually assist the body in the fat burning process.

1. Eggs – This superfood is a top source of protein and a host of other goodies. Protein helps to build muscle tissue and boost metabolism and can also help to make you feel full for longer and so is a good appetites suppressant. Whole eggs are fine as the yolk has many nutrients you can use.

2. Oatmeal – Rich in fiber this often underrated food helps to keep you full, improve your digestive process, provides a source of good energy and helps you to maintain the necessary calorie deficit to lose weight.

3. Broccoli – This is a nutrient packed vegatable and actually helps to burn off belly fat because it contains phytonutrients. These are elements that help to fight xenoestrogens, chemicals which are common in our food supply that induce more abdominal fat storage. By eating broccoli, you reduce the effect of xenoestrogens on your body.

4. Almonds and nuts – These are sources of protein and lots of healthy fats. You need healthy fats to function properly and to lose belly fat, so these foods are an essential and excellent addition to your regular meals.

5. Low fat dairy – While these foods do not actually induce more fat burning (although they are rich in protein), research shows that a greater consumption of dairy helps your body to get rid of fat through its secretions. This can amount to a few pounds a year so it’s worth noting.

6. Garlic – While this food may not be the best food to eat before a big date, it is considered very healthy. Garlic contains allicin, an element with multiple health benefits which is also said to fight off fats in your body.

7. Tuna – Another rich source of protein and healthy fats for greater metabolism and more rapid fat burning.

Eat these belly fat burning foods regularly and you will see faster results. Of course this will not be effective as it is if you will just eat and sleep… For a greater result, you must also do regular exercise!

How Steve Jobs helped Barack Obama’s re-election campaign get more social and go viral - by aby benedict

Barack Obama’s current Campaign Manager Jim Messina revealed recently that Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs encouraged him to capitalize on technology in ways that are boosting the president’s re-election efforts.

According to Businessweek, Messina quit his gig as the White House deputy chief of staff in January to become Obama’s 2012 campaign manager. He immediately met with executives at Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, DreamWorks, and more to commence a forward thinking stand for office.
“I went around the country for literally a month of my life interviewing these companies and just talking about organizational growth, emerging technologies, marketing,” said Messina to Businessweek.

He further described two conversations that he had with Jobs while still acting as deputy chief. The Apple co-founder told Messina last year that mobile technology—coupled with social—had to be the primary focus in the re-election effort.

“Last time you were programming to only a couple of channels,” said Jobs, while referring to the Web and email. “This time, you have to program content to a much wider variety of channels—Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, YouTube, Google—because people are segmented in a very different way than they were four years ago.”


“He knew exactly where everything was going,” Messina explained from Obama’s campaign headquarters in Chicago. “He explained viral content and how our stuff could break out, how it had to be interesting and clean.”

It is interesting that Jobs would give Messina advice on how to go social and viral, especially because Apple’s own fledging social network Ping is getting the axe in the company’s next software release.

iOS 6 Unveiling Confirmed For Next Monday [IMAGES] - by aby benedict

If ever confirmation was needed that iOS 6 will be showcased at this year’s WWDC event – set to kick off on Monday – then one Instagram member has removed any lingering doubt. Brought to our attention by Zac Altman, member of the popular social image-sharing app recently acquired by Facebook, has upped a photo showing a new banner being readied over at the Moscone West convention center, confirming beyond dispute that the sixth iteration of Apple’s mobile operating system will be a huge significant talking point from Monday.

The tech world does a pretty stellar job of casting assumptions, and as such, has already forecast that Tim Cook’s company would unveil iOS 6, but the banner outside the event’s venue as good as sets it in stone. Hitherto, the predictably tight-lipped company hasn’t gone much farther than to state it would discuss "the future of iOS", but with just three days to go, the worst kept secret in Silicon Valley is well and truly out.
When it comes to Apple rumors, we really have to take whatever we can get, and as such, we suspect the silver theme of the banner is indicative of the hotly-rumored theme set to replace the blueness of many stock iOS apps. There is, of course, the possibility Apple is simply playing into the tech community’s hands, but that would seem a little elaborate given how little the colors scheme matters in the grand scale of features predicted.

Apple’s very own Maps effort is expected to debut as the talisman to a plethora of other new implementations including deep Facebook integration, Baidu Search to replace Google’s offering in China, and a Siri API, which will allow developers to finally intertwine their apps with Apple’s new-ish voice-recognition feature.
Speaking of Siri, the iPad is also set to see Siri implementation, and although many have dispelled Siri for iPad as an unnecessary, novelty feature, it’s nevertheless good to see Apple sharing the love beyond the exclusivity of the iPhone 4S.

Facebook’s iOS App Center going live tonight? - by aby benedict

Update: Facebook confirmed to TechCrunch it has been “testing it with a small percentage of users” since it launched last month, but the social network has “no further details to announce at this time.”

The image above is a screenshot just posted by TechCrunch. A reader who claims to be seeing the Facebook App Center already live in the iOS app sent it. As noted in the report, Facebook has an “app-themed” event in San Francisco tonight where we could see more of the App Center. The company announced the new HTML5-based App Center last month and said the iOS and Android Facebook apps would have access to the app marketplace in the coming weeks.