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Need an extra iPhone or iPad sync and charge cable for 50% off? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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iPad magazine sales seem to be in a bit of a slump. Many magazine publishers have made their content available on iPad as it’s an easy way to read content without having to have paper copies littering your home or office. If it’s more convenient, why are magazine sales on the iPad not doing so great?

In August, 10,500 users bought issues of Vanity Fair on their iPads. In August, only 8,700 copies were purchased via the iPad. Glamour magazine was in even worse shape with only 2,775 iPad issues sold in October. We all know that paper copies of magazines are on their way out, but shouldn’t that mean that virtual copies should literally be flying off digital shelves?

Part of the issue may be the fact that Apple and publishers still haven’t agreed on a universal, built-in subscription service (Apple wants to handle the transactions, publishers want to know who you are so they can do marketing based on demographic data). So for now, in order to purchase these magazines, you have to buy each issue individually. That can be a hassle. Since there are often steep discounts on the paper copies but none on the digital version, it can also be much more expensive.

As far as from a magazine stand point, maybe they need to switch gears on their own. There are several sport apps available that you have to purchase yearly. What about that type of model? What if a magazine had a few different apps with different price points? For a year subscription, price the app at the cost of a year’s subscription. Then issue updates for each issue. Not an ideal situation but maybe a temporary solution to keep subscribers reading.

Do you guys read magazines on your iPad? Does no subscription model keep you from buying additional issues on a weekly/monthly basis?

Gizmodo

iPad based magazine subscriptions in a slump is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Curious how to change the tab icons at the bottom of the iPod app (or Music app on iPod touch) to show Podcasts or other things such as genre or composers? It’s easy to do and we’ll show you how, after the break!

Here are the steps that you can use to change you iPod or Music app tab icons.

1. Launch the iPod (or Music) app
2. Tap More on the bottom right
3. Tap Edit on the top left
4. Tap and hold an icon you want and drag it to your desired spot on the bottom row of tabs
5. Select Done in the top right

Now you have easy access to your most-used features of the iPod/Music app without having to go into the More menu each time you want to get to those features. If you have any questions or any other tips for the iPad app, drop them in the comments below!

Tips of the day will 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…)

Daily Tip: How to change iPod tab icons is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Problem with iBooks disappearing from your iBookshelf, or getting a configuration error telling you have to restore your iPhone or iPad and reinstall iBooks? You’re not alone. We’ll go over the bug and try to troubleshoot after the break!

Disappearing iBooks

iBooks seems to be… well, a little quirkier when it comes to errors than its older iTunes and App Store cousins. Sometimes when it launches you can watch your iBookshelf populate with titles only to see one or more disappear right before your eyes. (We’ve had readers report a dozen or more disappearing). Luckily, you can redownload your previously purchased iBooks:

1. Tap Store, top right
2. Tap Purchases, bottom left
3. Tap redownload for any iBooks that have disappeared

It’s a pain but it’s better than music, movies, or TV Shows where there are no re-downloads.

If you’re near your Mac or Windows PC, you can also just re-sync and that might fix it, though I’ve had to redownload some even after sync.

iBooks configuration error

This one is even more galling. You tap to open a book and start reading but instead get an error messages saying “There is a problem with the configuration of your iPhone [or iPad]. Please restore with iTunes and reinstall iBooks.”

Restoring in iTunes is a nuclear option and Apple shouldn’t be so quick to recommend it. In my experience, the following work in most cases:

1. Exit iBooks
2. Double click the Home Button
3. Tap and hold iBooks in the Fast App Switcher dock to put it into Jiggly Mode
4. Tap the X in the corner to Force Quit iBooks
5. Click the Home to exit back to the Home Screen
6. Relaunch iBooks

Others have recommended restarting your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, or syncing to iTunes on your Mac or Windows PC. Restoring your device should be a last resort.

We’ve gotten some comments that this only affects devices with multiple iTunes accounts on them, or Jailbroken devices, but there’s no clear pattern we can determine so I think it’s most likely just a bug. Hopefully Apple fixes it soon. They invented iTunes, dagnabit. Managing digital downloads should be a cakewalk for them by now.

If you’ve had this problem, let us know what you’ve experienced and if these tips help fix it. If you’ve got more or better fixed, leave them in the comments!

Bugs: Disappearing iBooks and configuration problems is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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6pm PT, 9pm ET, 2am GMT — iPhone Live! and iPad Live! join forces tonight with Rene, Chad, Georgia and that angry ball of hate, Keith Newman, to bring you our 2010 Year in Review spectacular! There will be triumphs, tragedies, prizes, and maybe the imbibing of appropriate New Year’s beverages. What could be better than that?

YOU! Joining us live! Telling us what you loved, hated, and loved to hate in 2010!

http://live.tipb.com/live/

If you have any questions for the show tweet them to @TiPb, email them to podcast@tipb.com, or leave them in the comments below!

Bring it!

iPhone + iPad Live! mega podcast tonight! Year in Review! Join us! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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TiPb list the best, most must-have Jailbreak features we’d love Apple to add to iOS 5

Next Spring Steve Jobs will walk out on the stage and preview the latest and greatest enhancements to iOS 5, and there’s a lot we want to see that’s already available via Jailbreak. As most of you know, I am a full supporter of jailbreak. Every iOS device I’ve ever owned has been jailbroken and tweaked to perfection. iOS may be a very viable platform- but like any, it’s still severely lacking in certain areas.

Part of the reason I’m such a huge supporter of jailbreak is due to the fact that some great innovations and ideas tend to come from the jailbreak arena. They later trickle on down into later iterations of iOS. (Installer and Cydia were around before the official App Store). So in some ways, a jailbreaker is essentially a beta tester for Apple, without paying a $99 fee for a developer’s license. Not to mention you’ll get new tweaks and features a lot sooner than Apple releases a major beta version of iOS.

When the snow finally melts and Spring greets us, I’m hoping Steve walks on stage and includes some of these successful jailbreak tweaks and features in the next iteration of iOS. Jump on through to see what I’m wishing for (and of course, let us know your hopes for iOS 5 in the comments as well).

1. New Notifications System

This is first on my list for a reason. A lot of you are probably tired of hearing me whine about it by now. But the truth is, it’s one feature iOS has a terrible management system for. The fact that notifications just pop up over other notifications and when you dismiss them, the badge disappears, leaving no trace of that notification is pretty inexcusable.

A lot of us are networking fiends. I want a better way to manage my notifications. Jailbreak applications such as LockInfo have done wonderful things to supplement Apple’s lack of a decent way to manage notifications. I’m a huge supporter of LockInfo and its developer, David Ashman. Things like viewing notifications and events on your lockscreen is a breath of fresh air.

Infoshade is also a feature of LockInfo that I’ve fallen in love with. These are features Apple needs to take a hard look at, learn from them, and refine them in a way only Apple can do. In the mean time, here’s a video of LockInfo in action. You can also view our guide to LockInfo and setting it up as well.

2. Folder Enhancements

The jailbreak community has had the ability to create folders since long before iOS 4.0. Apple’s implementation of folders is hands down much better. The down side of Apple’s version of folders is that they crippled the feature from being as useful as it could be. I don’t know about you, but I have way more than 12 games. I’d like to be able to put them all in one generic games folder, in sub-folders, labeled by type of game.

Jailbreak applications such as Infinifolders and Folder Enhancer allow me to do this. I can also skin my folders however I want with different wallpapers (not a necessity but a nice little tweak). These two apps also remove the 12 apps per folder cap. Put as many in a folder as you like. You can have pages of apps and nested folders inside of nested folders if you choose. It allows me to be more organized and have only 1-2 pages on my springboard.

3. Texting Enhancements

While Apple’s text app is extremely easy to use, it lacks certain functionality that most users really want (and need). If I want to reply to a text message, I have to exit whatever I’m doing, jump into the texting app, send my reply, and then go back to whatever I was doing. If you choose to close the message, the badge disappears. If you’re anything like me, you’ll probably forget you had a text to reply to within about 5 minutes.

BiteSMS is a wonderful app that has been available to the jailbreak community for quite some time. It’s constantly being updated with new features and enhancements. It has replaced the default message app on my iPhone until Apple can learn how to implement text management in a more efficient way. I can create gestures in order to bring up a quick compose screen. It simply pops up, I fire out my text, and it disappears, never interrupting what I was doing beforehand.

Quick reply is also a much needed feature Apple needs to implement. Bite simply brings up a keyboard, you type in your reply, click send, and away your text goes in the background. Leaving you to continue doing what you were doing before, uninterrupted. Bite also has ways you can manage what dismissing a text does. If you’d like the badge to stay so you remember you have an unread message still lurking around, you can choose to use that feature. Setup on applications like Bite can be a bit daunting so this is one I’d really enjoy seeing Apple refine into an easy to use, beautiful enhancement.

4. Landscape Rotation

I know the iPhone is smaller than the iPad, but why can’t we landscape rotate? If I’m in a landscape application such as a game and want to bring the multitasking tray up, it’s sideways! I’d be happy with simply landscape multitasking here.

Jailbreak applications like SBRotator allow you to do this and further tweak how you want rotation to behave on your springboard. This isn’t a ground breaking feature, but definitely something I’d like to see Apple throw into iOS 5.0.

5. Theme Store

I know this is a long shot, and probably something we won’t see, but wouldn’t it be nice? We have an App Store, a music store, and a book store available to us. Why not a theme store? Most of the reason I say we won’t see this is because a lot of the file changes that have to happen in order to theme are file changes Apple doesn’t want you making. Alright, how about a compromise? Can I at least change the size of my icons? Shrink is a jailbroken application that allows me to simply change my icon scale. That’s it. I’ve got my page icons sized down so I can see more of my background. I’ve got my dock icons spaced out and a 5th icon dropped in. Stock icons are HUGE. I want a way to make them smaller by default.

6. Quick Toggles

SBSettings has been a god-send since it came out. Being able to turn off Wifi, 3G, or Bluetooth in just 2 gestures is extremely convenient. There’s also several add-ons for airplane mode and anything else you could think of. Digging through the settings panel is annoying.

I live in an area where 3G isn’t readily available. I can go 20 minutes in any direction and have full coverage though. So turning it off in my home area saves battery. Then when I’m out and about, I turn it back on when I need data. Digging through the settings panel becomes annoying, where SBSettings allows me to access these commonly used toggles quickly and easily.

A common settings toggle would be a nice addition to iOS 5.0. Here’s a quick video of SBSettings in action. We’ve also got a guide to SBSettings up as well.

7. New Quick Gestures

We all know double-tapping your home button brings up your multitasking tray. If you hold your home button, voice control settings pop up. Tapping your home button once brings up Spotlight search. That’s all great and fun, but Apple has no more buttons to work with. Tactile gestures are so 2005. Apple has a beautiful touchscreen device and the ability to add gesture shortcuts is endless.

Certain jailbreak apps make use of a gesture method called Activator. You can find your activator settings in your settings panel. You can choose any possible gesture you can think of and customize it to perform a certain task. On my iPhone 4, if I hold down on the status bar, my LockInfo information will drop down from anywhere. Whether I’m in an app or just on the springboard, I can see all my e-mails, notifications, and calendar events without ever it interrupting what I’m doing. If I slide my finger up from the bottom of the screen, quick compose for BiteSMS pops up. I can fire away a text and then continue doing what I was doing. Jailbreak developers have been taking advantage of Activator for years, why can’t Apple release an API that will let stock apps do the same?

Some people may argue this will take away from Apple’s stance on ease of use. Well, make it a setting. If users choose not to implement it, they don’t have to. More advanced users will choose to and they’ll be grateful.

8. Changing Fonts

I know this isn’t a life changing feature, but it’s a fun one! Apple has beautiful fonts available under Mac OS X, why not iOS? Most other devices allow you to change your system fonts, it’s time iOS allows us to do the same. I could see font downloads in the App Store becoming a huge success. If Apple doesn’t want to allow developers to create fonts and sell them in the App Store, at least give us a few new fonts to choose from in Settings.

Your picks?

I’m hoping to at least see a few of these Jailbreak features officially implemented in iOS 5. What are your guys’ hopes for iOS 5? Let us know!

Top 8 jailbreak concepts Apple should implement in iOS 5 is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Angry Birds creator, Peter Vesterbacka, in a recent interview had some fairly positive things to say about Apple and the opportunities they have created for developers with the iPhone and iOS platform. He also gives a short explanation for the price tag for the iOS version versus the free Android version.

Apple will be the number one platform for a long time from a developer perspective, they have gotten so many things right. And they know what they are doing and they call the shots. Android is growing, but it's also growing complexity at the same time. Device fragmentation not the issue, but rather the fragmentation of the ecosystem. So many different shops, so many different models. The carriers messing with the experience again. Open but not really open, a very Google centric ecosystem. And paid content just doesn't work on Android.

Vesterbacka was also asked about the ever so famous fragmentation issue that Apple CEO Steve Jobs mentioned during Apples Q3 2010 earnings conference call.

Fragmentation on the device side is not a huge problem, but Steve is absolutely right when he says that there are more challenges for developers when working with Android. But that's fine, developers will figure out how to work any given ecosystem and as long as it doesn't cause physical pain, it's ok;-) Nobody else will be able to build what Apple has built, there just isn't that kind of market power out there.

That doesn't mean that model is superior, it's just important to understand that Apple is Apple and Google is Google. Different. And developers need to understand that. Different business models for different ecosystems. And wouldn't forget about Nokia and MeeGo either, new leadership always tends to shake things up and create opportunity. And HP-Palm. And RIM. And even Microsoft. It's a fragmented world.

Do you have a preference for ad-supported vs. paid apps? Do you think Vesterbacka is right and certain platforms demand certain business models, or should you be able to choose free-with-ads or paid on all platforms?

[ Tech N' Marketing ]

Angry Birds creator praises iPhone as a platform, talks Android fragmentation is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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What do you get if you take an iPhone, a mini fridge, some compressed air and a clever guy to mash it all together? A beer firing, iPhone controlled mini fridge, that's what. Personalbeerrobot has posted a YouTube video showing this crazily brilliant invention in action. The fridge is controlled via a web app on the iPhone and it allows you to control the temperature that you are storing the beer at as well as select between four different brands.

Once the beer has been selected, you then switch to the canon cam, this is a video camera which shows you where the fridge will shoot the beer can to. You can aim using the iPhone screen, hit fire and then hopefully catch the flying beer. So there you go, instant beer delivery to your favorite armchair without you moving a muscle, perfect. The system even has the facility to submit a video of your beer can flying hopefully into your hands directly to twitter.

Personalbeerrobot is already working on some updates, like crosshairs to show more clearly where the beer will land along with a timer function. You can follow his progress @MyBeerRobot.

So if and when these go into production, whose first in line for one?

[Personalbeerrobot]

iPhone and a mini-fridge, lazy beer drinkers delight [video] is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Want to know how to add an additional phone number to an existing contact? Ever run across a situation where someone texts or calls you from a new or second number and you want to save it? Why bother trying to remember the number, or manually trying to add it to the existing contact, when there’s a much easier way to do it. We’ll show it to you after the break!

Add a number from Recent Calls

1. Tap the Phone app
2. Tap Recent Calls
3. Tap the blue arrow next to the number you want to save
4. You’ll see a call info screen, at the bottom you see an option to Add to an existing contact, choose that option.
5. Your address book will pop up, scroll through and tap the contact you want the number to save to.
6. Change the type of phone or number if you like, and tap done!

Add a number from a text message.

1. Tap Messages
2. Scroll to the top of the conversation.
3. Tap add to contacts
4. An option will pop-up, select Add to existing contact
5. Scroll through your address book when it pops up and select the contact you’d like to add the number to
6. Make any changes you’d like and tap done!

These are 2 ways you can easily save additional contact numbers for one person without having to manually enter them. If you have any questions, or know any better ways, leave them in comments!

Tips of the day will 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 news@tipb.com. (If it’s especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we’ll even give ya a reward…)

Daily Tip: How to add a phone number to an existing contact [Beginner] is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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