Billed as "the first mobile mixer for iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, for DJ-ing anytime, everywhere" the iRig MIX is fixing to make music mixing more mobile than ever.

If you're a pro DJ, the iRig MIX claims to have everything you need. That includes a full on EQ adjuster, a crossfader, a headphone cue and a mic input. It works with either one or two iOS devices, and with popular DJ apps so you can record your performances, share them with friends and family, or distribute them to the world.

It's also got an X-Sync feature that lets you mix any form of audio, everything from traditional audio gear to MP3, CD, and more. All with auto tempo matching and beat syncing.

Powerful enough for the pro, accessible enough the for enthusiast, if you're into iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, and you want to get your mixing on, check out the iRig MIX. Complete press release and video below.

Source: iRigMix.com

IK Multimedia iRig MIX Now Shipping

The first mobile mixer for iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, for DJ-ing anytime, everywhere

May 2012 – IK Multimedia is proud to announce that iRig™ MIX, the first ultra-compact DJ and audio mixer for the iPad, iPhone, and the iPod touch is now shipping. When used with an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch, IK's included* DJ Rig FREE app and other DJ apps, it is a complete, highly portable DJ system for practicing, rehearsing, performing and recording.

With its unique miniaturized form factor and exclusive features, designed to be used with the entire range of portable iOS devices, iRig MIX brings a new meaning to the concept of mobile DJ-ing.

A DJ Mixer

iRig MIX has everything a pro DJ needs, including full EQ adjustment, crossfader, headphone cue and a mic input. Using DJ Rig or other popular DJ apps, users can record their performance and share with friends, publish or distribute at the event. DJs can choose either a traditional setup with two devices (one plugged into each of the independent channels) OR a single iOS device.

This flexibility, combined with iRig MIX's portability gives aspiring and pro DJs a compact system that can be used everywhere… anytime. House parties or in the yard, after-parties, and impromptu dances are perfect environments for the iRig MIX. Planes, trains and automobiles used to mean that your DJ gear was inaccessible and unusable. Now, no matter where you are or where you are going, you can mix and rehearse sets.

Plus - for the first time on any mixer - iRig MIX can be used for mixing any type of audio source (coming from mp3 players, CD players, etc.) with an iOS device using automatic tempo matching and beat syncing. This is accomplished with X-Sync, a feature that works in combination with the DJ Rig FREE app from IK Multimedia that is included* with iRig MIX.

Maximum Portability

With its slim, lightweight form factor iRig MIX is considerably smaller than traditional DJ mixers and can be carried anywhere you take your iPhone or iPad, is easy to stow and perfect for performers on the go. The iRig MIX also has minimal power requirements allowing it to be powered not only by the included power supply but also by a suitable USB battery pack or a laptop USB port for maximum mobility to mix anywhere.

Not just for DJs

iRig MIX is also versatile enough to provide the perfect mixing solution for solo musicians or small ensembles that use one or more iOS devices to play live. It features an extra guitar/microphone input that can be processed with other IK popular apps like AmpliTube® and VocaLive™ or any other app that offers real-time audio processing. Its standard RCA output connectors provide easy, direct connection to PA systems or powered speakers.

4 included apps

iRig MIX includes* 4 free apps: DJ Rig™, the new professional DJ mixing app from IK, AmpliTube, the most popular iOS guitar amp and effects app, VocaLive the processing app for singers and vocalists, and GrooveMaker®, the loop-based beat and groove making app.

iRig MIX features

• 2 stereo inputs with gain, bass, treble and volume controls, independent cue on each channel with LED indication and channel crossfader
• Instrument/microphone extra input, with volume control, can be processed by iOS real-time effects apps (such as AmpliTube, VocaLive)
• Stereo output with RCA connectors, master level and LED meters
• High quality, pristine sound
• Quality headphone output for master or cue monitoring with independent volume control
• Input switch splits Input 1 into dual-mono for use with DJ mixing apps on a single iOS device
• "X-Sync" mode allows auto-sync with any audio source using the included DJ Rig free app
• Can be powered with the included AC adapter, battery pack and laptop USB ports
• Includes 4 free apps: DJ Rig, AmpliTube, VocaLive, GrooveMaker

Pricing and availability

iRig MIX costs $99.99/€74.99 (excluding taxes) and is available from electronic and music retailers around the world.

Delaware courts have have called for delegates from HTC and Apple to meet on August 28 to talk about settling the patent dispute that has blocked the U.S. import of some HTC handsets. This is all fallout from a pending case Apple against HTC through the International Trade Commission over a "data tapping" patent, whatever that is. Not too long ago, Apple was ordered into similar settlement talks with Samsung, though neither side has managed to secure a U.S. import ban on the other's products just yet. There's no saying how these mediated talks will pan out, if they do at all, but simply showing up and negotiating in good faith in something of a requirement for both parties if when the case continues in court.

Despite the fact that HTC isn't a particularly huge threat among all of the Android manufacturers Apple has faced off against, they've hit up HTC in patent disputes in Germany, the UK, and Florida too. It's likely enough that how this case in Delaware concludes would set a precedent for ongoing and future patent lawsuits between HTC and Apple, and potentially other manufacturers depending on the patents involved.

It would be pretty crazy if Apple managed to at least slow down (if not altogether stop) the import of any of the other major Android manufacturers in the U.S. on top of HTC, but it's hard to imagine a stoppage on anyone as big as, say, Samsung. How would you guys like to see these negotiations pan out -- everyone gets on with it, settles out of court, and continues competing happily in the open market, or everything drags out into a protracted legal battle that potentially reveals some interesting tidbits of info about the manufacturers?

Source: FOSS Patents

Facebook has officially announced their initial public offering on the stock market with ticker symbol FB on the NASDAQ. The starting price will be $38 each of the 421,233,615 common shares, which makes their initial valuation $104 billion -- an awful lot considering they had $3.7 billion in revenue last year. This is the largest internet IPO ever, and the seventh biggest in the world, but what does it mean for Apple?

The first thing that that struck me when I heard about the Facebook IPO was, "Damn, I would really hate to miss the boat on that one and be like one of those guys kicking themselves later for not buying into Apple way back in the early days." Of course, there's plenty of conflict of interest in our spheres when it comes to stuff like that, so I steer clear, but it's something of a moot point considering major investment banks will have first crack at the stock and likely inflate the price well beyond $38 before individuals have a chance to snag some stock. There's also bound to be an inordinate amount of hype that is likely to level off in the first couple of weeks, but you never know -- it could just keep climbing and climbing.

The late Steve Jobs said he admired Mark Zuckerberg for not selling out, and that he thought Facebook was really the only social network worth talking about. Besides that, it's easy to see a lot of similarities between the two -- both experienced a huge amount of success in the technology industry at an early age, both practiced peculiar eating habits, and both dropped out of college (though retained a love of the arts). Zuckerberg's net worth blew past Steve Jobs' long ago; as of March last year, Jobs was worth $8.3 billion, while Zuckerberg was worth $13.5 billion.

Despite the similarities of their CEOs, Apple and Facebook aren't likely to be butting heads any time soon; despite persistent rumors to the contrary the closest thing Facebook has ever been to making a phone was having a branded hardware button on the HTC ChaCha. iTunes has Ping, which is a social network for sharing what music you're listening to, but that hasn't been particularly active in the year and a half since its inception. Interestingly enough, Facebook and Apple had a falling out over Ping integration awhile back, but that seems to be the most volatility we've seen between the companies to date.

That said, while it's unlikely that Facebook's IPO will directly be affecting Apple, the revenue Facebook generates could make the social networking giant even harder to ignore. The last version of iOS included fairly deep Twitter integration, and it would be hard to imagine iOS 6 being announced at WWDC without some significant and similar integration with Facebook. (Something that was rumored to have been attempted, then scrapped as far back as iOS 4.)

How do you guys see the trajectories of these tech giants crossing? Will they keep existing relatively peaceably in their own respective spheres? For a long time, Google and Apple got along well enough in their separate industries, but it didn't take long for them to start bumping into one another; how long until Facebook and Apple start doing the same?

Source: Facebook

So how do you access your Gmail on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad? Do you use the built-in iOS Mail app? Using Apple's Mail app has several advantages. It's the (unchangeable) default mail client on iOS, and it has full background multitasking permissions, so unless you've turned everything to manual, your messages are usually ready and waiting for you the moment you launch the app. No App Store app is allowed any of that. However, it doesn't support Gmail's Stars or Labels, and Flags and Folders aren't the same.

If you use Apple's Mail app, do you set up Gmail as Gmail, which is the obvious way to do it, given the giant logo label? It uses IMAP so it isn't push, but does that really matter to you? Or do you set up Gmail as Exchange ActiveSync (Google Sync) in Apple Mail instead? Does the combination of push as well as Contacts sync win you over?

What about those of you for whom Apple Mail just isn't the right solution? Do you use the Gmail.com website? It has the advantage of fast access to your mail and local storage, but because it's locked in Safari you don't get to do attachments or access your iOS Contacts, and you don't get push notifications. Do you use the Gmail app, so you can add attachments and access your Contacts? Or is the lack of background email processing just too annoying for you?

If neither Apple nor Google's apps are good enough for you, is Sparrow your go to Gmail app? It has a great interface, but like any App Store app it can't keep an internet connection open in the background, so you can't download email as it comes in -- you have to wait until you launch the app. It doesn't have push notifications yet either, and when they come, they'll require a subscription. Is it worth it?

Or do you not use Gmail at all? And if not, why not?

Give me your vote in the poll up top and your reasons why in the comments below. Here's the question again: How do you use Gmail on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad?

Industry research firm Gartner just released its latest data on mobile phone sales for the first quarter of 2012. There are some interesting points to be pulled out of this report that I wanted to address.

Samsung dominates Android. Gartner's data says that Korea-based Samsung shipped over 40% of all Android handsets last quarter. So that still leaves 60% of the market to other vendors, right? Yes, but according to Gartner none of these other vendors make up more than 10% of Android volume. None.

In terms of handset brands, Samsung is also now the #1 phone maker in the world, ahead of Nokia.

Nokia may have the #2 position in the market, but we need to remember that most of Nokia's volume is based on the dying Symbian OS. Very little is based on its Windows-powered future at this point. So, considering that we're looking at the death of the dumphone over the next few years, let's look at smartphone vendors and volumes.

Samsung is the #1 player, having shipped 38 million smartphones. Most of these are Android powered, with a smaller number of Bada OS phones.

Here's how smartphone market share looks, by vendor, based on the Gartner data:

1. Samsung with 26% market share
2. Apple with 23%
3. RIM with 7%

These are essentially the top 3 smartphone players right now. I realize that ZTE, LG and Huawei have a larger portion of the mobile market than RIM, but RIM is a pure play on smartphones whereas these three are not. Remember that other Android vendors have less than one quarter of Samsung's volume.

What does this data mean to Apple?

Android is clearly taking a huge chunk of the market here, and that's fine. The movement from the PC market to the mobile computing market has been a beautiful thing for Apple. They've gone from being a 6% market share player to something very significantly higher, depending on how you measure it. They don't need to completely dominate the mobile phone market. Android will succeed, and so will Apple.

First and foremost, Apple just needs to keep delivering a beautiful user experience that makes people love their products. At the high end, it's Samsung and Apple fighting it out, with Nokia and RIM trying to re-enter the race.

I'm more interested in what happens towards the middle and low end of the markets, in the fullness of time. This is not necessarily a 2012 or even 2013 strategy, but I'd like to see how Apple can profit from the continuing demise of Nokia.

Nokia still has almost 20% share of the mobile market. Granted, a LOT of that is at the uber-low end, and Apple isn't going there anytime soon. But Nokia still has a very meaningful chunk of the mid and high end feature phone market. This is a dying market, and Symbian is a dying OS. Apple should be able to swoop in here and soak up a lot of the customers who move away form Nokia. After all, a Nokia customer may love the Nokia brand (maybe) but doesn't necessarily feel the same way about Microsoft and Windows Phone.

With respect to pricing, if Apple can do something closer to what it did in the iPod space versus what it's done in the Mac space, it can own a larger chunk of the lower end market. But I expect this to take a while. Tim Cook has made it abundantly clear that he won't go to a lower price point if the product stinks as a result.

Either way, I love Apple's positioning. They own a real platfrom, they're already the #3 manufacturer of mobile phones in the world, and the #2 player is bleeding out.

Source: Gartner

Mobile game developer and publisher MocoSpace recently polled 10,000 players to find out "Y U Play?", and the most striking data showed that a whooping 31% if respondents were playing games in the middle of class.  Just about as many respondents were playing mobile games because they were bored as those who played because they actually enjoy the games. Those two categories combined made up two thirds of the top reasons. 10% were looking for competition, 9% were trying to meet new people, 6% were just trying something new 3% were looking for somewhere to flirt(!), 3% played because they were always on the go, 2% played to connect with friends, and 1% to connect with family.

I could only imagine that it's an uphill battle for educators to keep the attention of younger generations that were pretty much born with these gadgets in their hands. Higher learning institutes are certainly doing their best to engage through mobile tech, but games are always going to be a temptation, especially with so many great free ones available. I know I would have had a hard time staying focused in class if smartphones were a big thing when I was in school.

It was also a little disconcerting to see that many people weren't actually that engaged with the games and were just looking to kill time. It's not surprising considering the rise of casual games, but it does mean that developers face an uphill battle against fickle end-users. It's more funny than anything that flirtation is a significant enough reason to play games to even show up on the chart, nevermind that it's a bigger pull than being a way to connect with friends.

I play smartphone games because they're fun, plain and simple. Meeting new people and competing aren't particularly high on my list, but what about you guys? What impulse drives you to bust out Angry Birds?

Source: CultofMac

After placing a claim placed with the World Intellectual Property Organization, Apple has won the web domain iPhone5.com from a small independent online forum. The forum is now gone, and the WHOIS domain information points to some new holding company, likely hired by Apple. Of course, this is no guarantee that the next iOS smartphone will actually be called the iPhone 5, but rather a simple issue of trademark protection.

Apple has had a rough time locking down domains in the past, most notably iPad.com and (to a lesser extent) iPhone.com. If the "new iPad" naming scheme has taught us anything it's that all bets are off when it comes to what the next iPhone will be named. Until things get official, iPhone 5 will have to be the placeholder, but what do you think the odds are that Apple will continue the trend set by the iPad and simply call their iOS 6 handset "the new iPhone"? For everyday consumers that aren't embroiled in the tech world, I could see how things would get confusing when talking about the 3G, 3GS, 4, and 4S; dialing things back to "the one from 2012" could make life simpler for them.

WWDC is coming up soon, where we're expecting iOS 6 to be announced, if not a new iPhone to be launched for the back-to-school season. Of course, there's nothing solid confirming features of the new iPhone, though rumors swirl about a 4-inch display, liquid metal frame, flexible display, LTE connectivity, and a new micro-dock connector. All of the above sound great but until then, it's all wishful thinking.

Anyone want to take a stab at what Apple will eventually name the next iPhone? Will it be the iPhone 5, will they adopt the more generic naming scheme of the iPad, or is there some other angle they could market the next iPhone from?

Source: TNW

For today only the iMore iPhone Accessory Store has the Seidio Desktop Charging Cradle for iPhone 4S and iPhone on sale for only $19.95! That's 33% off! Get yours before they're gone!

This convenient desktop cradle keeps your iPhone 4S, AT&T iPhone 4, or Verizon iPhone 4 charged and ready to go. Sync and charge your iPhone 4S, AT&T iPhone 4, or Verizon iPhone 4 without the hassle of removing your SURFACE, ACTIVE, or ACTIVE X with the included cable or dock your phone vertically and conveniently use it as an alarm clock with your own wall outlet charger.

Features:

• Convenient desktop charging cradle
• Syncs and charges your iPhone 4S, AT&T iPhone 4, or Verizon iPhone 4 vertically for easy viewing
• Features Seidio's signature soft touch coating
• Discreet power LED on the back of the cradle
• Removable plates enable compatibility with a bare device, SURFACE, ACTIVE, or ACTIVE X
• Charge using the included micro-USB cable

Shop Seidio Desktop Charging Cradle for iPhone 4S and iPhone now!

If Apple changes to a 4-inch screen in the next iPhone (iPhone 5,1), how could they do it while minimizing impact on users and developers? Assuming everyone wants a bigger screen, how does Apple implement it without breaking existing applications, causing backwards compatibility problems, and otherwise fragmenting the platform and frustrating stakeholders? Let's try to figure that out.

For a while now we've been hearing that Apple hadn't yet decided on the next iPhone design, and that while they were then working off the same 3.5-inch size are previous generations, they were still considering increasing the screen size up to 4-inches (but no more than that).

Earlier today both The Wall Street Journal and Reuters published stories saying Apple was going ahead with a 4-inch iPhone screen, but didn't provide any details as to how a 4 inch screen would be implemented. And those details are arguably even more important than the screen size itself.

That's because change has ramifications. Every choice has a cost. When you're dealing with millimeters and milliamps and megabits-per-second, everything is a compromise.

If Apple has indeed chosen to go with a 4 inch screen, there are only so many choices they can make, compromises they can reach, and ramifications that can be handled, developers, and Apple itself.

Scaling the current iPhone screen up to 4-inches

Apple can simply take the current 960x640, 326ppi, 2:3, 3.5-inch display and physically scale it up to 4 inches. The pixel density would drop to 288ppi, which would be substantially less, but would still be more than the new iPad's 264ppi display. (And would still be higher than the new iPad display -- so hold that as close as you hold your iPhone and see how it holds up.)

The result of this type of screen would be bigger text, bigger controls and buttons, bigger touch targets -- in other words, bigger apps. There would be no extra pixels gained, so the amount of information that could be displayed wouldn't change, but the same amount of information would be displayed at a larger, presumably easier to consumer, easier to interact with size. Only at a lower density.

Does that matter?

Apple has invested heavily in the "Retina display" marketing concept. Retina, however, is a function of density over distance -- the further away you hold the screen, the lower the density needed for pixels to effectively disappear. Apple could, even tenuously, argue a bigger screen would be held slightly further away, resulting in little net loss of "Retina-ness". (They did that at the new iPad event, after all).

Put it all together and users get the advantages of a bigger screen, developers get the advantage of keeping a consistent screen resolution target, and Apple gets the advantage of not substantially disturbing or disrupting either of those groups. For these reasons, if Apple does go with the a 4-inch screen, this seems to me to be the most likely path they'll take to get there.

Scaling the current iPhone screen to 4-inches, pixel doubling it (again)

Apple could take the current 960x640, 326ppi, 2:3, 3.5-inch display and scale it up to 4 inches, and once again double the pixel count to 1920x1280. That pixel density would explode to 579ppi, which... is frankly insane.

Never mind how expensive that kind of panel would be, or how hard it would be to achieve usable yield rates, it's overkill. It would enjoy the same benefits as a physically larger display, but maintain Retina display -- even for a falcon.

But as Georgia pointed out on the podcast earlier, that panel would also cost battery power to light it up and graphics power to push that many pixels around.

Unless Apple wants to increase screen size substantially beyond 4-inches, and screen, battery, and mobile GPU technology advances while prices fall and yield rates shoot through the roof, this seems extremely unlikely.

Scaling the current iPhone screen to 4-inches, changing the aspect ratio

Apple could take the current 960x640, 326ppi, 2:3, 3.5-inch display but change the aspect ratio to something closer to 9:5 and increase the height to 4 inches by adding pixels. The resolution would increase to 1152x640, and the pixel density would remain the same. (It's just adding extra pixels to the top and bottom.)

Timothy Collins brought this up on The Verge and John Gruber of Daring Fireball pointed a giant spotlight on it. iLounge later added to this particular rumor pile.

Since pixel size remains the same, text size would remain the same, control/button size would remain the same, and touch target size would remain the same. Apps that use the built-in interface elements would simply add an extra row of information -- an extra row of icons, an extra row to the table or item to the list. The display would be vertically larger, and more information could be displayed on it. But what about apps that don't use built-in UI elements?

Safari would show more of a page's length, Mail would show an extra message, but games and anything with a highly customized, non-table based interface would have to be pillar-boxed. If developers made new versions that fill the extra space, those versions would be cut off on older iPhones. And if developers made 2 versions of the apps, it would mean more work for them and "fatter" binaries for users to download. (A universal app would go from having iPhone and iPad interface elements, to having old iPhone and new iPhone and iPad interfaces.)

While many things are possible, this doesn't seem like a very Apple-esque solution. It would fragment the iPhone platform for developers in a way Apple has resisted so far, and offer incomplete user benefits (increasing pixel count in only one direction).

More importantly, it would mean either significantly redesigning (or eliminating) the Home button, or lengthening the iPhone casing, or a bit of both. iMore has heard the Home button isn't going anywhere, and parts leaks have suggested it looks pretty much the same, so that leaves a longer iPhone and that... would be awkward. (Even if you remove part of the bezel to make room for it.)

Scaling the current iPhone to 4-inches, increasing the number of pixels

Apple could take the current 960x640, 326ppi, 2:3, 3.5-inch display and increase both the width and height to 4 inches by adding pixels. The resolution would increase to 1092x728 (or thereabouts), and the pixel density would remain the same. (It's just adding extra pixels all sides.)

As above, text, control/button, and touch target size would all remain the same, because the pixel density would remain the same. Apps that use the built-in interfaces could also add an extra vertical row of icons or list or row information, and could add extra "white" space in many cases, or vertical columns in some cases, to fill in those extra pixels.

While the user gets more information, unlike the vertical-only extension, splitting the extra pixels both ways means neither have enough room for an extra row or column of icons at the same pixel size. Safari would show a more of a page in both length and width, but Mail might not squeeze in an entire extra message, or that much more message contents. And now games and anything with a highly customized, non-table based interface would have to be completely boxed, the way iPhone apps are on the higher pixel count iPad display, or stretched to fit, which would look horrible.

If developers make new versions that fill the extra space, those versions would be cut off on older iPhones, or scaled down to fit that would likewise look horrible. (As I've discussed previously.)

So even more work for developers, maybe an @1.14x physical size, and still "fatter" binaries for users to download.

Automagic scaling, like some platforms promise with sliding components, is as mythical in design as "write-once-deploy-everywhere" is in programming. Lazy developers or incredibly programmatic app implementations might default to it, but pixel perfect designers are going to want pixel level control over every screen size and density.

That makes this solution just as unlikely as the last. Even if Apple takes the (now) unusual step of canceling previous generation iPhones when the new one launches, and abandoning their current lower price point strategy, there would still be hundreds of millions of 480x320/960x640 iPhones and iPod touches on the market, and developers would want their apps to run on that massive install base.

increase both the width and height to 4 inches by adding pixels. The resolution would increase to 1092x728 (or thereabouts), and the pixel density would remain the same. (It's just adding extra pixels all sides.)

Switching to 720p resolution

Apple could take the current 960x640, 326ppi, 2:3, 3.5-inch display and simply swap it out for a standard resolution screen like 1280x720, at 16:9.

There are Android Devices that use this screen, but so far they can't be made any smaller/denser than 4.3 inches (see the HTC Rezound). Does Apple might have the tech muscle to drive that resolution down to 4 inches any time soon?

The pixel count would be able to show more information horizontally and vertically, and it would be a Retina display and then some at 367 ppi. If icons and text stay the same pixel count, then the presentation would be smaller. If the physical size stays the same, pixel count has to increase.

That's what happens when you changing so many parameters at once -- physical size, pixel count, aspect ratio -- it has both the benefits and the problems of everything else already listed above.

Apple would need a third new interface size, existing apps would be boxed, and new apps would need to be cropped or scaled on older devices, resulting in a horrible experience and appearance. That makes this option seem the least likely of the bunch.

Switching to original iPad screen

Apple could take the current 960x640, 326ppi, 2:3, 3.5-inch display and simply swap it out for a much smaller version of the 1024x768, 4:3 iPad display. This would peg the density at 320 ppi.

Other than it being the same resolution as the original iPad and iPad 2, there's not much different about this option than the 2:3 1092x728 or the 16:9 1280x720. It has the same benefits and drawbacks as both the previous options.

The argument that it would let iPad apps run on the iPhone is problematic, however, as iPad apps have controls/buttons and touch targets designed for a much larger physical size and if you think shaving fingers down for a 7-inch version of the iPad is a challenge, reducing them to the needlepoints necessary for what would essentially be a 4-inch version of the iPad is even more so.

Under the "let iPhones be iPhones" motto, this doesn't seem likely either.

Something else

Apple could have some other way to handle a 4-inch screen, or combination of ways. Point of fact, Apple already knows what they're planning to do (if they're planning to do it), or at least which methods they're testing. That doesn't diminish the mental exercise of trying to divine it before Apple announces it, but it does put it in context.

If Apple goes with a 4-inch screen -- and until Tim Cook or Phil Schiller holds it up on stage, or it somehow leaks conclusively, a 4-inch screen remains an if -- these are just some possibilities.

And all of them have ramifications, opportunity costs, and compromises. Some simply more than others.

If you have some ideas -- or better yet, mockups! -- of your own to share, create a thread in our Mobile Design Forum. Show us what you think a 4-inch iPhone would look like.

It's Wednesday, which means it's time to announce this week's photo contest -- and the winner of last week's black and white photography contest. Before I do, I want to congratulate everyone on their awesome entries. We've got some talented iPhoneographer readers here at iMore and it wasn't an easy decision!

And the winning entry is...

...this intriguing photo by carlos2384! This photo immediately jumped out at me because of the originality, high contrast, and sharp angles. Black and white photos are tricky because not all photos look good in black and white, but carlos2384 nailed it with this photograph! I don't even have a desire to see it in color -- the black and white is perfect.

carlos2384 took the photo with an iPhone 4S and edited it with both Camera+ and Snapseed. Great work carlos2384!

• Camera+, $0.99 - Download Now
• Snapseed, $4.99 - Download Now

This week's contest: Water!

With the end of one photo contest, comes the beginning of new one, and this week's focus in on water! Whether it's a photo of a body of water like above, reflections in a rain puddle, water droplets on a window or flower, or even just an artistic twist to a simple glass of water, we want to see it! Remember, though, creativity and originality is something we're always looking for.

The prize: Life Proof waterproof iPhone case!

In addition to a thumbs up from the iMore crew and all of us yelling about how great of a photo star you are, the winner of this week's photography contest will have their photo converted into an official iMore wallpaper and we'll showcase it on the front page of iMore! But that's not all! The winner will also receive a Life Proof iPhone case! This awesome case offers protection against water (including submersion), dirt, snow, and shock.

The rules

The rules of entry are very simple. The photo must have been taken with an iPhone or iPad (we'll check the EXIF data of the original file to verify) and any edits must have been done with an iPhone or iPad app. No Photoshop CS6! If you have external lens accessories you are more than welcome to use them. You can submit as many photos as you'd like, but remember, this is a contest, so make sure you submit your best work!

Resources

Now, before you run off to take your photos, remember that it's not technical skill alone that will claim this prize. Even if you're not the best photographer (yet!), a great eye and a great subject can still get you the win. However, a little help can never hurt, so make sure you check out these articles from our iPhone photography series for some tips.

• How to make your iPhone photographs more powerful with negative space
• How to make your iPhone photography more striking with the "rule of thirds"

How to submit

Submitting your photos is easy. Just head over to the iMore Photography Forum and post your photos to the official contest thread. Don't forget to state which apps, if any, you used to edit your photo!

That's it! Now go out and shoot!

ENTER NOW

Photo Credit: The top image was taken by iDUSCRAFT. This photo was the winning image of a previous iMore photo contest.

Time Warner Cable and Viacom have finally come to an agreement and ended the dispute that has been ongoing for over a year. It started back in April last year when TWCable TV started to receive cease and desist orders from various TV networks over its TWCable TV app. Viacom was the most vocal and it led to TW Cable having to remove lots of channels from the app. Time Warner Cable filed a request for declaratory judgement and a year later appear to have resolved the dispute. We have heard very little since then but subscribers have still missed out on the channels that were removed.

Viacom and Time Warner Cable have agreed to resolve their pending litigations.  All of Viacom's programming will now be available to Time Warner Cable subscribers for in-home viewing via internet protocol-enabled devices such as iPads and Time Warner Cable will continue to carry Viacom's Country Music Television (CMT) programming.  In reaching the settlement agreement, Time Warner Cable and Viacom were also able to resolve other unrelated business matters to their mutual satisfaction.  Neither side is conceding its original legal position or will have further comment.

This will come as a welcome relief to all TW Cable subscribers as the removed programmes will start to appear on TWC TV over the next several weeks. Soon you will again be able to enjoy the much loved Jersey Shore or Comedy Central's The Daily Show. As an added bonus, TW Cable subscribers will also see some additional content from Viacom like MTV Hits, MTV Jams and Centric. If you live in the New York or other major markets, you will also get access to TV Land HD and Bet HD too.

Source: Viacom Blog

 

Verizon's CFO Fran Shammo mentioned at the J.P. Morgan Technology, Media, and Telecom conference recently that anyone migrating from 3G to 4G devices won't be able to grandfather in their old unlimited plan and will have to instead take a data share plan scheduled to launch this summer. That way, not only are you burning through data faster, but you're also splitting it among friends or co-workers. Everybody wants that, right? 

Those of you that scrambled to get unlimited data plans on Verizon before they dropped the axe on it will have to carefully consider your next upgrade.

To be fair, this will make it easier to split data between devices, which is a common eventuality for those of us using both an iPad and an iPhone. Still, this sentiment is in direct opposition to Sprint, who has pledged that they'll keep unlimited around even if an LTE iPhone is eventually released. The question is, how long are you going to be willing to hold onto your iPhone 4S with an unlimited plan before being tugged into a limited (but faster) world of LTE? Will Verizon still rip you from the warm embrace of unlimited data even if you stick with a 3G device?

Source: FierceWireless

Now you can manage your Facebook business and fan Pages with a dedicated app that lets you view insights

Facebook for iPhone and iPad has a slew of problems, but now poor Pages management can be crossed off that list with the introduction of Facebook Pages Manager for iPhone. It's very similar to the normal Facebook app with the addition of being able to view Insights about your Page and manage admins.

Before Facebook Pages Manager, users would have to use the original Facebook app to view their Pages, but didn't have any access to admin controls. Now when you visit your Page with the Facebook for iPhone, you'll see an announcement at the top announcing the new app with a link to App Store.

As previously mentioned, Facebook Pages Manager is very similar to its older brother with the side-panel design and profile page view. Just like the main Facebook for iPhone app, Facebook Pages Manager also doesn't show the cover photo to your Page.

There is one thing you'll notice missing from Facebook Pages Manger, though -- messages. At the top of the screen you'll find the buttons to see who has recently liked your Page and notifications, but the messages button is absent. This is a shame, especially since Facebook's dedicated Messages app also doesn't support messages for Pages.

When viewing your Page's timeline, you can sort by everyone's posts, posts made by your Page, or hidden posts.

From the side-panel, you can select between the Pages you manage and look at the Insights for the selected Page and manage its Admins.

The Insights screen tells you how many likes you have, the number of people talking about your Page, weekly total reach, and a graph of your trends.

The good

• A dedicated app for Page management is great
• Facebook for iPhone users are already family with it
• View Insights, including graph of trends
• Manage admins

The bad

• No cover photos
• No access to page messages
• Can look up photo albums
• Can't upload photos to a specific photo album
• No iPad support

The conclusion

I'll admit that when I first heard that Facebook released a new app, I let out a little groan. But once I realized it was an app for managing Pages, I actually got a little excited since managing Pages on the main Facebook app is terrible. So far, I'm impressed with Facebook Pages Manager -- just rather surprised that they left out messages. But I guess I'd rather them leave it out then to introduce it with a bunch of bugs. Hopefully Facebook updates it soon.

Facebook Pages Manager is not yet available in the US App Store, but it should be soon.

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