Something wrong with the AppleStore

“All of the top-ten-grossing apps in 2013 were over a year old,” says free-to-play design consultant Nicholas Lovell. “There is no other entertainment industry where month on month it’s the same things at the top of the charts – not for books, not for DVDs, not for movies.”

New “Designing Great Apps” Micro Site For iOS 7 Developers

Apple has just released a microsite (https://developer.apple.com/design/) that house a number of resources about designing for iOS7. 
Even There’s no new material on the site, it does pull together a key collection of resources in one spot

Ocuppy Flash

Thanks to Steve Jobs all the Flash nightmare is disappearing of Internet. But unfortunately there is already present, especially with these horribly noisy ads you get in some pages.

Fortunately Chrome has added an option to block Flash adds. This is buried in the configuration. Go to

Customize Google Chrome >Settings  > Content :

In the Plugins, change the radio button from Run automatically to Click to Play:

That's all. Now all these noisy ads are blocked automatically but if for some reason you want to activate (for example if you want to see a YouTube video) just click on it. Enjoy!

Apple's R&D expenditures from 1995-2013

Here is a chart mapping about Apple R&D expenditures from 1995 to 2013:

And here is another chart about Apple expenditure as a % of net sales:

I don't know you but my first thought about the figures is:

• The R&D expenditure rocket following the return of Steve Jobs.
• The second chart  is more a reflection of Apple's astronomical revenue growth during that same time period.

Note: You can see the Apple SEC filling forms here: 

http://investor.apple.com

Apple's iPhone now represents 42% of smartphones owned in the US

Right now, Apple is leading market share (42 %), but Samsung is taking increasingly a larger share of the US market.
 Smartphone penetration continues to grow in America, reaching six in ten cell phone users in the fourth quarter of 2013. That was up from 52 percent of the mobile market in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Phil Schiller Tweets Link to Another Security Report Criticizing Android

Here is the tweet:

AppleMaps: How to share your location

In order to obtain your location coordinates in an easy way:

1. Open up Apple Maps on your iOS device
2. Select the blue icon in the bottom-left corner. This will pinpoint your current location within Maps.
3. Tap on the red pushpin to bring up additional details on your location.
4. Tap on "Share" in the upper-right-hand corner.
5. Select your preferred method of sharing. You can choose from Messages, Mail, Twitter and Facebook.

Basic Siri questions

Basic Siri questions and tasks:

• Call [name]. Example: "Call Tom."
• Send text to [name] [text]. Example: "Send text to Tom: What did you say the name of that band was?"
• Launch [app]. Example: "Launch Evernote."
• Search the web for [whatever]. Example: "Search the web for best iPad strategy games."
• Listen to [band name, song name]. Example: "List to The Beatles."
• Get me directions to [shop/restaurant name/address]. Example: "Get me directions to Six Flags over Texas" or "Where is Gilmer, Texas?"
• Will it rain [date]?. Example: "Will it rain tomorrow?" or "What is the weather like?"

Siri as a personal assistant:

• Remind me to [do something] at [date/time]. Example: "Remind me to walk the dog tomorrow at 10 AM."
• Schedule a meeting for [meeting] at [date/time]. Example: "Schedule a meeting for work at 3 PM on Thursday."
• Change my meeting from [date/time] to [date/time]. Example: "Change my meeting from 3 PM on Thursday to 4 PM on Friday."
• Tweet [what you want to say]. Example: "Tweet: I am having a cup of coffee."
• Update my Facebook status to [what you want to say]. Example: "Update my Facebook status to: Just watched Doctor Who and loved it."

Siri will help feed and entertain you:

• Show me nearby [type of food] restaurants. Example: "Show me nearby Mexican food restaurants."
• Find me [type of food] in [city]. Example: "Find me pizza in Dallas."
• Book a table at [date/time] for [restaurant]. Example: "Book a table at 6 PM for Via Real."
• What movies are playing? This will list out movies playing at nearby theaters. You can also add "in [city]" to check movies that aren't near your current location.
• Show me a trailer for [movie]. Example: "Show me a trailer for The Avengers."
• What movies has [actor] starred in? Example: "What movies has Tom Hanks starred in?"
• What movies has [director] directed? Example: "What movies has Penny Marshall directed?"
• What is the cast of [tv series]? Example: "What is the cast of How I Met Your Mother?"
• Who wrote [book, movie, tv series]? Example: "Who wrote Harry Potter?"

Siri knows sports:

• Who are the [sports team] playing tonight? Example: "Who are the Rangers playing tonight?"
• What is the score of the [sports team] game? Example: "What is the score of the Giants game?"
• How are the [sports team] doing? Example: "How are the Yankees doing?"
• Who is leading the league in [stat]? Example: "Who is leading the league in rushing yards?"
• How many [stat] does [player] have? Example: "How many rushing yards does Maurice Jones Drew have?"

Siri is gushing with information:

Siri is pretty intelligent, so feel free to experiment with different questions. Siri is connected to a number of different websites and databases, which means you can ask her a variety of questions. Here are some examples of Siri performing calculations and finding information for you:

• What is 18 "percent" of 32 "dollars" 57 "cents"? Siri is great for figuring out how much you should tip or performing simple math. She can even plot out equations.
• What is the price of AAPL? If you love to keep an eye on your favorite stock, Siri has your info for you.
• Where is area code 212? A good way to check where that unknown call originated.
• How much is 20 British pounds in dollars? Siri can do a lot of different monetary conversions, making her pretty good for vacations.
• How old is Mitt Romney? Your query will need to be about someone famous enough for her to recognize, but you can ask a variety of questions about well-known people.
• What time is it in London? Not only can Siri give you the time in locations across the world, she'll also be able to give you facts like when the sun will rise in that location.
• What is the definition of mouse? She may not be able to define Keynesian economics, but she can get most terms right.
• When is mother's day in 2013? This one can be really handy for everyone that wants to keep on their mom's good side.