Prss: Building magazines for Apple’s Newsstand

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I met with the guys from Prss this week to check out what they’re doing around Newsstand magazine apps. What they already have is impressive, but I got a little peek into what’s coming on the platform and it’s amazing. Watch these guys.

iOS 7’s lack of shadows

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Peter Alguacil:

One could argue that by making the user interface behave as if it is backlit, Apple is treating iOS 7 as a more integral part of the device itself. It’s not a mock front-lit interface with shadows and textures, it is a representation of the actual physical screen.

Some interesting thoughts in this article.

Apple’s confidence

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It’s been an interesting few years for Apple. Despite high sales numbers for its products, Wall Street has been beating on the company and analysts as a group have wondered if Apple has lost its mojo. Today’s keynote should put that nonsense to rest.

OS X Mavericks

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I don’t think there is any surprises with the new version of OS X. Some desktop improvements and deeper integration with iOS. That continues a move Apple began with the last version of OS X in bringing the two OSes together in a way that makes it easy for users to sync and share data. Maps, Notifications, iBooks and iCloud Keychain are all going to be great additions to OS X.

Mac Pro

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The idea of the Thermal Core on the Mac Pro reminds me a lot of the Cube. I wonder how much of that technology Apple looked to for the Mac Pro. Overall, this looks like an incredible system—lots of power and expandability is just what the pros were looking for.

iOS 7

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There is no doubt that iOS 7 is a great looking operating system. In fact, I liked everything that I saw, except the icons on the home screen. I don’t know what it is, but they seemed kind of odd to me.

Apple’s WWDC keynote live stream

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Apple will stream the WWDC keynote live today so everyone can watch. Clearly this is the best way to stay up-to-date on the event, so I won’t be doing a live update myself. I will post my thoughts on any announcements after the keynote.

MindNode mind mapping app for iOS and OS X

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MindNode is an easy to use and elegant mind mapping app for iOS and OS X. Whether you’re brainstorming for your next project, organizing your life, or taking notes during a meeting, MindNode lets you collect, structure, and expand your ideas. And integrated iCloud sharing means you always have your mind maps with you.

You can learn more about MindNode here.

Google’s PRISM denial

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First, we have not joined any program that would give the U.S. government—or any other government—direct access to our servers. Indeed, the U.S. government does not have direct access or a “back door” to the information stored in our data centers. We had not heard of a program called PRISM until yesterday.

Given the way Google lies, this could be seen as confirmation of PRISM.

Google lies? Say it ain’t so

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Apple lawyer Orin Snyder questioning Thomas Turvey, Google’s director of strategic partnerships in the e-book trial:

Things went downhill from there. Under Snyder’s questioning, Turvey acknowledged that he couldn’t remember a single name of any of the publishing executives who had told him Apple was the reason the publishers were switching their business model. He conceded that the publisher’s move to the agency system was important to Google’s own business, yet Turvey couldn’t remember any details about the conversations with publishers. By the end of the interview Turvey had gone from saying the publishers had told him directly, to saying they had merely told people on his team, to finally saying the publishers had “likely” told someone on his team.

Oh Google.

Usability mistakes in Web design

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It’s interesting when you use something that’s really well designed—it just becomes part of what you’re doing. However, use something that’s poorly designed and all you notice is the poorly designed tool. It takes away from the experience.

SimCity for Mac delayed again

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Hi, Mayors – today we are announcing that we are moving the release date of the Mac version of SimCity to August. We have made this tough decision because we do not believe it is ready for primetime yet. We want to ensure the Mac is a great experience for our players and that is why we are taking more time.

Google blames mobile users for Google Reader’s death

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“As a culture we have moved into a realm where the consumption of news is a near-constant process,” says Richard Gingras, Senior Director, News & Social Products at Google. “Users with smartphones and tablets are consuming news in bits and bites throughout the course of the day — replacing the old standard behaviors of news consumption over breakfast along with a leisurely read at the end of the day.”

So Google moved to the more creepy Google Now and Google Plus. No thanks.

Vesper

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Vesper is a simple and elegant tool for collecting notes, ideas, things to do — anything you want to remember. Use tags to group related items into playlist-like collections. Vesper imposes no system; organize and curate your notes whatever way comes naturally to you. Eschewing complications, Vesper’s focus is on how it feels to use it.

Great looking app from John Gruber, Brent Simmons and Dave Wiskus.

Amplified Podcast: The Troll is Real

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Dan and Jim discuss what could be announced at Apple’s 2013 Worldwide Developers Conference next week in San Francisco. Later they discuss the risk of malicious, hacking iPhone chargers, the importance of an external power source for your phone at events like WWDC, Apple and Samsung’s US market rivalry, The White House’s war on patent trolls, and more.

Sponsored by Hover (use code DANSENTME for 10% off), Shutterstock (use code DANSENTME6 for 30% off), and Squarespace (use code DANSENTME6 for 10% off).