The App Stores 10th Birthday!

Did you know that the Apple App Store is now 10 years old? For this weeks Appy Friday, we thought we’d give you some of its highlights from the past decade to celebrate its birthday!

The App Store was introduced on July 10th 2008, and it launched with just 500 apps. The Apps Store’s release was revolutionary for Apple and helped to join together the process of finding an app you want, to buying it and then downloading it. Ten years on from its launch, it's hard to imagine phones without Apps and an App Store. Without it, we’d still all be using our smartphones for just phone calls, and maybe emails and internet browsing. So, here’s our list of some memorable milestones that the App Store has achieved in its first decade.

1.

On December 11th 2008 Apple introduced the charts in the App Store. This meant people could find the top apps of that week or month.

2.

On June 17, 2009, Apple released the iPhone OS 3.0 and along with this came the App Stores next feature which was in-app purchases. To start with Apple limited in-app purchases just to paid apps and games only. Initially they didn’t want consumers to download an app, and then find out they had to pay for upgrades, however, later on, this changed. And as we’ve seen, there are lots of free Apps out there, that now include upgrades paid for by in-app purchases.

3.

In 2010 with the release of the first iPad the App Store got another update, in that the App Store now featured iPad specific apps and universal apps. This included the first iBooks and Netflix apps.

4.

After the success of the iPhone and iPad App Store. On January 6th 2011 the Mac App Store was launched and in the first day alone there were around one million app downloads.

5.

In June 2015 Apple released iOS 7 and with this came a whole new look for the App Store along with automatic app updates.

6.

In October 2015 the App Store also came to watches and TV’s with the release of the Apple Watch and Apple TV.

7.

Now, in 2018 the original iOS App Store has over 2.2 million apps and over 130 billion downloads.

So, that was this weeks Appy Friday. The App Store has made such huge differences in the way we use our mobile phone and revolutionised smartphones for the better. So, happy 10th birthday App Store!

Top 5 Tablets of 2017

There is such a range of tablets on the market in 2017, we decided to break down the best out there so that you know what will suit you best.


1. iPad Pro 12.9inch, from £549

The iPad Pro 12.9 inch is one of the best tablets on the market and one of the best iPads Apple has ever made. The iPad Pro 12.9 inch comes in 3 different colours, silver, space grey and gold, it also has an A10X fusion chip with 64-bit architecture.
As well as this, the iPad features a 12 mp camera with f/1.8 aperture along with many other great features to the camera making the iPad Pro a very useful gadget to have.



2. Amazon Fire HD 8, from £90

The Amazon Fire HD 8 is the cheapest on this list, however, it is still one of the best for the price. This tablet doesn't have as many high-tech specifications as the others on this list, but it is still a great tablet for the price you pay. It's great if you're just wanting to try out a tablet before you invest in one of the more expensive ones.


3. Microsoft Surface Pro 4, from £729

This tablet is the most expensive on our list but it has the specifications to match from the 6th Generation Intel® Core™ m3, i5 or i7 processor and Windows Hello face sign-in camera (front-facing), 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video, and 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p HD video, along with many other clever features and rightfully earns its place on this list.


4. Google Pixel C, from £399

The Google Pixel C is another tablet that you should check out. If you're not a massive Apple or Microsoft fan then this is probably for you. The Google Pixel also has a NVIDIA Tegra X1 256 core Maxwell GPU processor and a 2MP front camera, 8MP rear camera. The tech specs on this tablet really make it one of the best with its reasonable price tag.


5. Samsung Galaxy Tab S3, from £499

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 is one of the most popular tablets on the market for a very good reason. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 has a Quad Core processor and a 13MP rear camera making it a very high-quality camera for a tablet. This tablet comes in two different colours black and silver and a Li-Ion 6000mAh battery. This is also one of the best tablets on the market simply for the high-quality camera it comes with.


So that's our top 5 tablets ranging from £90 to £729. There’s something on here for everyone, even if you just wanted to try one out and not break the bank. Let us know what you think to our top 5 and what’s your favourite tablet?

iPhone6 - Apple Thinks Bigger Is Better

All eyes have been on Apple this week as they unveil the new iPhones as well as welcoming the new Apple Watch to their ranks.

The Apple Watch is Apple’s first new product line since the introduction of the first iPad, and the passing of its co-founder Steve Jobs.

The Apple Watch will run apps, act as a health and fitness tracker and will be able to communicate with the iPhone. Although a number of rival smartwatches are already available on the market, experts have highlighted a number of sectors that Apple have entered late and have subsequently helped to change their direction.

So, even though Apple might be joining the smartwatch battle a bit later than expected, they are no means out of the race. The device, which is expected to launch in early 2015, is simple in its design which has opened up a big debate among tech experts, and 11 different watch faces will be on offer with the ability to change the straps.

That’s not all though as Apple also gave spectators a glimpse of their two new handsets. The Apple Watch may have been the most anticipated product of the day, but their new larger iPhones are likely to be their bigger earners.

The iPhone 6 has a screen that measures 4.7in and the iPhone 6 Plus will be fitted with a 5.5in screen. The main reason for the move towards a ‘bigger is better’ notion is to stop the likes of Samsung prizing away its customers. Since the market for ‘phablets’ has opened up, more companies are moving towards a larger screen.

Steve Jobs was very much behind the smaller screen and was known to say “no-one is going to buy a phone that they could not get a single hand around” but these days seem to be long-gone for Apple.

Another feature, new to the iPhone 6 models, is Apple Pay. This is Apple’s take on contactless paying and depends on an NFC (near field communication) chip and a NFC reader at the shop till. Although Apple has ensured users that this will be ‘secure’ because it worked without having to store credit card details or needing to share any details with the cashier.

The new iPhone 6 models will be available to buy on 19th September, so we won’t have to wait as long to get our hands on these.

Could It Be The End For Tablets?

Just as we get an influx of tablets from all of the biggest names in technology including Google, Samsung and Apple, there is news surrounding a possible demise of the tablet.

The reason this news has surfaced is because Apple, the company that has dominated the tablet market for a while now, is now selling much fewer iPads, which could mean they may be making a six-inch phablet. This has therefore led to exaggerations that tablets are dead – far from the truth.

There have been rumours for months about Apple adding a bigger phone to its collection and these rumours won’t be going away any time soon. The phablet market is huge in Asia and Samsung have already begun preparations for releasing a seven-inch phablet there.

News of living in a post-iPad era are not quite accurate, but this could happen sooner than we thought. Although the iPad no longer dominates the market, it is still a high quality piece of technology, that is beautifully created and ahead of its time.

Apple has a knack at being adaptive and one example of this is the iPhone 5 turning into the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C in order to cater for consumer behaviour. So, don’t rule the iPad out, especially when there has been an increase of 25% in the number consumers that are 65 years old or older, which is a relatively new market.

It is not only the over 65’s that are into tablets, once people have a tablet, they are much less likely to trade it in unlike they would with their smartphone, which means people hold onto them much longer before replacing them.

But, the future could very well belong to the phablet – a smartphone with a big screen of between 5.6.9 inches. According to statistics, 25 million phablets were sold in China and South Korea alone, with sales doubling each quarter. In 2014, it is predicted that phablets will make up 25% of all smartphones sold, equating to 300 million, so claims that the future could belong to the phablet could be true.

Apple & Microsoft collide - And it's Brilliant!!!

We’re often found blogging about all sorts here at Appware, from the latest in technology through to the continual battles involving the big names in the gadget world, and this news covers both bases.

Microsoft have taken a step that many gadget-lovers have been waiting for, arguably since the first release of Apple’s iPad in 2010 – the introduction of their Office suite onto the iPad. This is pretty big news and a move that could benefit both parties.

This means that all of those hard-working professionals that tend to opt for a tablet that is a bit better for work productivity, can now enjoy an Apple product for work and play. But, why has the move taken this long to happen we wonder?

Well, after the release of the iPad, the iPad 2 followed with what felt like indecent haste and soon after that the generation of tablets just exploded. This also bought along with it the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) revolution within businesses.

So, Microsoft being Microsoft tried to compete with Apple every stretch of the way to challenge their iOS software and they came up with the Surface.  Although the Surface has been fairly successful and is extremely good at being a work-savvy tablet, it hasn’t been anywhere near as popular as Microsoft had expected it to be – hence this new move.

Another reason behind the move is PC sales are nose diving, especially with such high performing tablets available on the market today. Microsoft even created Windows 8 in order to help revive PC’s, but unfortunately that hasn’t helped the situation either.

With these things in mind, the move by Microsoft may not have come at a bad time at all, in fact, it could be perfect timing. Microsoft showed that it didn’t really have the skill to create the tablets to compete with Apple, but like the old saying goes, “If you can’t beat them, join them!” and that is exactly what they have done.

Office for iPad seems like a clever move and a move that will ensure Microsoft still have a leg in the race for the best tablet on the market. But, what do you think? Good move for Microsoft or not?

Did You 'Ear' Apple's Plans

First, Apple bought us the iPod, then the iPad, and more recently plans have been shared about the iWatch, but Apple have also outlined plans for an EarPod.

Just when you think you’ve seen or heard it all, the bigwigs at Apple dropped another technological bomb. The EarPod is a clever little fitness tracker system fitted inside a pair of sports earphones so you can track a number of statistics during a workout.

Apple confirmed the patent application was granted last week and has discussed how skin-sensing technology will be able to monitor heart rate, perspiration levels and even body temperature. This isn’t all though, the device could feature a volume control that is controlled by a tilt of the head. We’re also led to believe there will be accelerometers that will assist with the activity tracking, which will send data to an iOS device – cool huh?

The filing for this idea was actually submitted in 2008, so it has taken some time to get to this point, but we are still unsure of when we will actually be seeing the product available to buy. In fact, we can’t even be sure Apple has started producing it yet.

The iWatch is expected to be released sometime this year and there is a lot of speculation surrounding this product and whether it will feature some kind of fitness-focussed tracking. It could well be that this is not the case anymore given the news about the EarPod and the focus on that being a sole-fitness device but with the iWatch likely to be released first, this is not off the cards.

Either way, 2014 could be a brilliant year for Apple to jump on board the wellness trackers bandwagon, given the popularity of them and how useful they are already proving to be for people who own them already.

This could be a very busy year for Apple, and a year that could bring a great deal of excitement to budding technology enthusiasts … and gym fanatics too.

Apple Are Producing Air

No, we don’t mean those clever guys at Apple are actually producing oxygen, instead we are talking about their newly released tablet; the iPad Air.

The Apple iPad Air is due to make an appearance on the shelves today in fact, and has been eagerly awaited by many lovers of all things techy. Apple introduced the iPad Air at a special event in San Francisco on October 22 and it is now available for you and me to buy, right now!

The Air is aiming to be the new champion of the large tablet market and it could quite well be the game changer. With its 9.7-inch retina display and lightweight design, it’s definitely one to give people food for thought when it comes to buying the next hottest tablet.

Although this new tablet looks very similar to the iPad mini, its shed much more weight and size in comparison and is even easier to carry around (if that was even possible). This new tablet is much more comfortable to hold than its chunkier siblings and the retina display is real winner. All of these features and the battery life isn’t sacrificed which is always a bonus. Ten hours of continuous usage and it still keeps on top of its tasks too.

The Air might be lightweight but it is definitely heavyweight in performance. Its camera gets an update, it has an improved sound quality, it’s faster, and it’s more responsive, it’s just so much better than anything before it.

The iPad Air has shown it’s a forward thinking device and is more than likely going to fly off the shelves in its first week or so. With a lot of stiff opposition including many from the Samsung range and the recently launched Microsoft Surface 2 (which we reviewed a couple of weeks back) to name a few, the iPad Air will have to prove its worth.

The new iPad Air will just have to sit tight and see how successful it is over the coming weeks in order to see if it will be the new champion of the tablets, all we know is it stands a pretty good chance.

The Winners and Losers of Technology

We are often talking about new technology that is due to be released or a review of technology that has already hit the streets, but very rarely do we talk about what good or bad has come from it.

So, that is exactly what we are going to do. We will mention some winning technology and some, well, losers.

Let’s start with the winners:

•    Apple iPad – I’m sure many people already had this in their head’s when thinking about innovative technology that is a winner, but the Apple iPad has completely reshaped the use of computer technology. The ability to move with a computer more freely than a laptop, having your apps at your fingertips wherever you go and a great design means that the iPad is featured as one of the technology wins of our past time.

•    Nokia and the Windows Phone – Maybe not as influential as the iPad, but … and it’s a big but, without the gamble on its Windows Phone Nokia could quite have well been dead and buried, so for that, it’s a win in our eyes. This gamble has paid off, especially with the decline of Blackberry.

Talking of Blackberry, let’s turn to a couple of losers within the technology world:

•    Blackberry Playbook – Blackberry in general is on the decline like we mentioned, but the Playbook didn’t help matters. The Playbook was extremely rushed to get it onto the market and it didn’t turn out to be all we expected. In fact, it didn’t even have any email or calendar apps … not very convenient for a tablet. It didn’t help that it was outshone by the iPad.

•    3G – European operators have spent billions on their 3G licenses (£22.5 billion in the UK) and the idea at first was gold dust, but in reality, many of us still don’t get 3G today. So for that reason, it is a loser.
So, here we have a couple of examples for the winners and losers of technology in recent years. There is a whole bunch more but we might save that for another time when some new technology hits the street, like the Apple iWatch we mentioned last week.

The NHS now has an App Store

The NHS has recently released their own App store of apps that are safe and trusted which aim to help people with any problems they have.

http://apps.nhs.uk/

The purpose of this App store is to make it more convenient for the general public to find health and care apps that will answer any questions they may have. The apps in this store aims to cover certain criteria in order to cater for the public and their problems.

This criteria of apps includes:

Informational – This is an app that will provide any general information about a particular topic. This will not be a personalised description though.

Monitoring – This type of app collects any information that is related to the health and care of the individual. These include things like weight, exercise and any data collected by near-patient devices.

Decision Support – This app provides personal information and guidance that has been accumulated by any data entered by the individual. This app will then create an automatic calculation or decision on what data has been entered to inform you of any problems.

Transactional – This type of app includes things like booking an appointment or requesting a prescription.

Appware are also proud to announce that the NHS has included an app created by ourselves in this store. This app is one of the first apps within the store and has been created to make the mundane task of cleaning teeth a lot more entertaining.

www.brushdj.com

The main feature of this app, named Brush DJ, has an inbuilt timer that will play two minutes of music, randomly selected from the user’s device, throughout the duration of you brushing your teeth. Not only does this make brushing teeth much more fun but it also makes sure that you brush your teeth for the correct amount of time.

Other features include a reminder that can be set to make sure that the user brushes their teeth at least two times a day, how often to change their toothbrush and when to visit the dentist.

If you think that you could do with an app similar to this then you can go and check the NHS App store and download any app that you feel can benefit you and your health.

Spotify And Ford Join Forces

Spotify and Ford has put their heads together to create an app which means its users can listen to all of their favourite tracks whilst they drive.

The two branded big-wigs made the announcement official at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Ford originally launched its Ford Developer Program at CES 2013 in January which meant that its users could add commands to their smartphone so they could effectively have hands-free voice control whilst driving. This has attracted over 2,500 registered users since its release.

The Ford Sync AppLink has been created to let smartphone owners integrate their apps into the software which is something that Spotify is looking to do. The Ford Sync AppLink has already been used in over one million cars throughout the United States. With this success Ford are looking to focus their visions on the European market too.

Users will be able to control their smartphone, car systems and their music with this AppLink and Spotify which makes voice activation whilst driving much safe and more convenient.

Spotify is one of the largest music streaming services and provides a vast range of music from a number of major and independent record labels which includes other big names like Sony and Universal. This service has an estimated user base of around 20 million people.

This is the very first time Spotify has worked with an automotive manufacturer though, which makes this a great combination for Ford who is likely to benefit greatly from this venture. The Spotify service, online and on your smartphone, is a paid service which normally costs its users between £5 and £10 per month.

The introduction of Spotify into the AppLink is expected to hit the United States in the upcoming weeks and is likely to be a huge success. If this reaches it is predicted success in the US then it is likely to be released throughout Europe later on this year. If you are interested further in this Ford Sync AppLink , then keep your eyes and ears peeled for any emerging information on the release of the software in Europe.

Angry Birds For Free

One of the most profitable games in the world has become free for its users.

The original version, which was created four years ago, has just released 15 new levels, all of which are free for iOS devices. The game has been part of the top 80 highest grossing apps but has recently fallen out of this, which is the first time in three years.

The game originally cost downloaders $0.99 for the iPhone version and $2.99 for the iPad version. The previous free downloads of this game only included a few levels which you could complete before you were prompted to buy the full version. These free versions have since been removed from the app store all together.

Many people had spent hours playing this clever strategy game, but may have neglected it after completing it. Now is time to rekindle that flame and download the game again with 15 new adventures all at your fingertips.

Angry Birds was first released to iPhone and four years down the line has been downloaded around 500 million times. Being downloaded half a billion times most people will know this game well, for those that don’t the game involves using wingless birds and a slingshot in an attempt to destroy pigs and any structures to gain points per level.

The Angry Birds game was the leader of apps and began the revolution to all of the millions of apps available to us today. Although this game began life as an app it has now become a brand with merchandise being available to buy as well as a movie being released.

Rovio, the creators of this addictive app, have not officially come out and said that the app will be free for a certain amount of time, but my suggestion would be that if you haven’t already downloaded it, then get downloading it now whilst its free.

If the user base is boosted whilst the game is free then it is more than likely that the creators will put back up the paywall.

Have we all become App addicts?

A recent survey carried out on mobile App behaviour of members of the public showed that 82% of App users could not go without their Apps for a day.

You may be sitting there thinking, “wow, that’s a high percentage” but there are a such a large number of Apps that are available to us, that we rely on them. One of those Apps is an alarm clock. Every time we get woken up by our clever phone, we are using an App.

Emails and social networking are also common Apps that many of us use on a daily basis. Even one browse of your news feed and you have used your app for that day. Still not convinced that 82% of us use an app on a day-to-day basis? Well, here are some statistics that might change your mind:

• 53% of drivers that took part in the survey admitted to browsing an app whilst behind the wheel of their vehicle.
• 20% of people said they would not be able to find their way into work without the use of an app.
• 23% of those surveyed said they wouldn’t be able to feel happy unless they had used Apps for a day.
• 19% said that they would not even be able to maintain a relationship if it were not for their Apps.

The study also showed that Spain were the highest ranked country who were the most reliant on their Apps with a huge 93% of people saying they could not go a complete 24 hours without using one.

Convinced yet? These statistics show just how reliant we have become on our smartphone and more importantly our Apps. So, we have been woken up in the morning, set the route to work on our phone and have checked our Facebook timeline whilst driving all before 9 o’clock, which means we have already become a part of three of the previous statistics.

It is so easy to become a member of the 82% that used Apps every day without even realising. So my question to you is … Do you have an app addiction?

How Apps can help with customer support

With around 53% of the population owning a smartphone it is no wonder that people are turning to technology for quick and easy access through Apps.

There is more and more time being spent using smartphones which means Apps are becoming first choice over their normal mobile internet browser. There are a number of Apps for a number of different day-to-day tasks. Ever heard the saying, “there’s an App for that?” … well that’s because there probably is.

So, with this in mind it makes sense for companies and the public to turn to an App which will provide customer service needs. This sort of task would normally require a telephone call and perhaps, additional costs. With an App, accessibility and unlimited availability are right at your fingertips, which will mean the turn-around time is a lot quicker and cheaper.

On the outset, this seems like more of a convenience for the customer but in fact, this is just as beneficial for the business too. With decreased costs for deflected calls, a reduction in call resolution time and improved customer satisfaction the business can spend more time in other areas, which will of course improve efficiency.

The public shows no sign of giving up the use of Apps so delegating your App with a customer service feature will be an intelligent way to better the flow of business. Once the customer has downloaded the App, it is going to be present on their mobile device until they choose to delete it, but by keeping it they will always be reminded about your custom. This in itself is a great way to advertise. By implementing a customer service feature on your App as well will only increase the general usability of it.

There are always new and exciting ways to improve your business and right now an app is probably one of the best ways to do this. It is current, it is easy and for the most part it is accessible from pretty much anywhere.

Using Apps To Market Your Business

There are many ways to market your business but have you ever thought of promoting it through an app?

We live in a very technology-savvy society so marketing through an app seems like a no brainer. Here are some reasons why:

• They can make your job easier. By being conveniently located on your phone or the mobile device of a customer, you or they can access the app whenever and wherever they want.
• Word of mouth spreads. If you create an app that people enjoy, word will get out and more and more people will download your app. With the more people using the app, browsers will turn into buyers.
• Be creative. The app can be completely different to your website but still possess the same useful information, making it a better way of engaging customers. This can be a useful way of improving your audience or a way to target a new demographic completely.
• Credibility. When users or customers see that you have an app with positive reviews and a large number of people downloading it, you and your business gain credibility.
• Keep on top of statistics. When someone downloads an app, you know about it. When they give it a review, you know about it. This is a great way to know exactly how many people are interacting with your app and how well the marketing is doing.

Apps are everywhere. They are no longer restricted to just an iPhone and are easily accessible on Android, other mobile devices and tablets. There is such a large market to target, so promoting your business or product through an app is both innovative and beneficial.

There are more to apps than just flicking some birds into some pigs and with the right idea and some creativity, you’ll be onto a winner.

5 Top Tips for your App Website

A website for your App is pretty much essential these days so here are our 5 top tips on how to make it work best for you and your App.

1. First Impressions
If your website isn't up to scratch then what will that say about your App? If you've developed a fantastic App and then thought about your website at the last minute it will show. Don't quickly have something thrown together or even worse do a DIY job when you don't have the skills as this is often how people will find, and of course judge the App. Just as much care should go into the App website as the App itself. It goes without saying that all the branding and general look and feel should match the App too.

2. What does your App do?
It seems really obvious to state exactly what your App does but you'd be surprised at how many App websites fail to do this in a quick and easy manner. Your homepage should be able to sum up in a single sentence exactly what your App does and how it can help the user. Even though most Apps are feature packed and take more explanation for every single thing, you need to get across in a few seconds what the App actually does.

3. Use Video
An excellent way of letting people know what your App does and just how great it is in by using video. These often work well on your homepage and grab peoples attention straight away. Keep this short (less than a minute) and punchy rather than a full on 10 minute video demo going through every screen and function with a boring commentary.

4. Encourage people to spread the word
Once you've got someone interested in your App because they'll find it useful or maybe just because it has that "cool factor" then help them spread the word. As well as the links to the App in the Appstore then also include your social media channels too to encourage engagement. Consider using a sharing widget on your website as these are easy to implement. This means that with a single click a user can share your content on Twitter, Facebook, by email, and plenty of other platforms.

5. Is it mobile friendly?
More often than not people will come across your App website when using their mobile, especially if they are casually searching. Have you either got a mobile specific website for the App and if not how does the website look and is it usable? In the past I've seen App websites that were built in Flash so wouldn't even be visible on an iPhone never mind be usable! Do make sure you've considered this as some of our stats point to nearly 50% of total App website traffic being from a mobile.

Apps As A Travel Companion

If you have a smart phone or tablet then you now have someone new to take on holiday with you, a new travel companion to help you choose where to go, what to see and how to get there. Your new travel companion is called "Apps". You can get some really great Apps to help you book and plan your holiday, here we look into some of the Apps on offer;

Planning Your Holiday
When planning your holiday it is often hard to decide which country and city to go to and when that is decided you then have to think about the best hotel, hostel, B and B or campsite to stay out. This is where your Apps can help. You can pop onto Skyscanner, Tripadvisor or similar and look for real peoples reviews of countries, cities and accommodation and even book it in the same place too at value for money prices.

What To Do
Maybe you like to plan in advance what to do, or perhaps you would prefer to get there and see what is around. Either way it is highly recommended to download a city guide App, this will tell you the best places to go and you will be able to see what people thought of them and how far they are away from where you will be staying. City Guide Apps are a really good way of getting out and about on your holiday and seeing what the area has to offer.

How To Get Around
So now you’re on holiday and you know where you want to go but how are you going to get there? There are some fantastic apps on the market that offer maps and navigation so you can see which way to go to get to the attraction you want to see or you could even check tram routes, train routes or even see if it is better to get a taxi. Having a navigational app gives you the freedom to go wherever you want. See one of our previous blogs about an App called Waze.

However, it is very important to check with your internet supplier what your data roaming charges are and if the charges are high then you need to ensure you do not use your smartphone or tablet abroad as this could become expensive. It may be wise to see if you can purchase a data roaming package in advance as this can cost around £3 a day.

Taking your new travel companion "Apps" on holiday can make such a difference to your holiday and it will help you make sure you don’t miss out on a thing.

What does "Second Screen" mean?

Imagine your regular night in front of the TV, your wife wants to catch up on the soaps but you want to know what’s going on in the football as you placed a bet on the score, you’re not a big fan and you don’t need to watch every second of the match but it would be good to know, as the match takes place, just how much you are in with a chance of winning. Your wife has kindly allowed you to channel hop during the breaks of her soap, but this is not a guarantee you will see the goals as (oddly enough) the footballers don’t wait until soap advert breaks to score, so you may or may not see the up to date scores.

This is where a second screen could help – you can fire up your iPad, iPhone or any other tablet or smartphone (or even laptop). You can then use dedicated sites or apps that will show lists of football matches with up to date results and scores and chances for you to see re-runs of the goals that may have won you lots of money with your bet!

The real power of second screens is to allow you to be interactive with the TV Program you are watching, there are very few programs that do not have their Twitter name or hashtag showing during the opening credits. This means that you, as a viewer, can discuss what is going on in the show, if you agree with something, if you are shocked by something or if you have something to share with other viewers of this program.

You will also find with some programs that you can go to their website and learn more about the characters in the program or more about the topic they have touched on, this can all be done on your second screen without you having to miss out on the program itself.

Basically a second screen is any device you can use to complement rather than replace your viewing – so pretty much any smartphone, laptop or tablet. A second screen not only allows you to interact with the TV programs you love, but it allows you to engage with this TV program and personalise your entire experience.

iTunes 11: What’s New?

iTunes 11 arrived recently, but what makes it different from the previous iTunes? You don’t have to have an iPhone5 and can download iTunes 11 onto your Mac or Windows machine.

No longer does iTunes look clunky, it is now smooth, sleeker, smarter and more modern with the menu removed from the left side (you can re-enable it if you wish though) and the top bar now shrunk to make everything look so much better, slicker and a lot less fussy.

There is now an "expanded view" and this is said to be the most interesting of changes. You are able to click on a track or song and information will open up showing you the tracks that you can buy individually or as part of an album.

The store itself has grown and there are now lots more ways you can part with your hard earned cash, as more options open up with other songs you may like to purchase.

There is also an "Up Next" feature on iTunes 11, this makes it a lot easier to add tracks and click to see which song is coming up next. If you don’t like the next song then you can swap it around, add others in between or delete them off completely. The choice is yours.

iTunes 11 has also given the Mini Player a much required facelift, which is of much better styling then ever before. It gives you the search function to choose what songs you want to listen to and in which order.

You are also able to see your preview history; this means you can listen to a load of songs then you can backup and purchase them if you choose to. You can link back to them with ease. Preview history can work with films and TV as well as music.

iCloud has also been used with iTunes 11, allowing you to have any songs, film or TV you buy from the iTunes Store available on your Mac,PC, or iOS devices instantly!

How having an App can help your business

First of all, what is an App? An App (short for Application) is a program that runs on a smartphone in the same way as installed software runs on your computer. It allows the user to carry out tasks they want or need to do whilst on the move using their smartphone.

We’ve all heard the huge success stories of Apps like Angry Birds and used common Apps such as Ebay or Twitter but how can an App help your business, no matter what size it is? There are three main ways a smartphone App can be used to help:

1. Marketing
As part of your marketing effort Apps can be very powerful. As Apps are only just becoming mainstream then the first companies to have an App in their sector can generate a lot of PR around this. A client of ours (www.wetherbyortho.co.uk) has done exactly that by being the first orthodontist in the UK to have an App. Also, in the same way as your website gets found by Google, then with the right setup, people will find your App (and of course your business) through the various App stores.

2. Customer Service
We all want to serve our customers better in whichever field we work. Have you thought how you could help yours without them needing to be in the office sat in front of a computer? Mobile Apps allow you to do this! We practice what we preach at Appware so as well as using web based project management software in the office we also use the associated iPhone App for this. This means that if I’m sat with a client I can give an update of exactly where we are with their project in real time. I can also make notes or add new tasks as they are requested so my team can get to work on them before I’m even back in the office!

3. Direct Revenue Generation
The types of Apps above are usually given away for free. There is of course the option to actually generate direct revenue from an App. This can be done in a few ways; you could simply charge a flat fee for an App, give a limited version of an App for free but allow customers to pay to upgrade and unlock any limitations, or support the App through sponsorship or adverts. The cost of Apps to the end user is relatively small (starting at just 69 pence) but the worldwide market is huge. With a great idea and good marketing then the potential is massive. For example, the original version of Angry Birds has sold over 12 million copies!

I hope this gives you an insight into the world of Apps. Feel free to ask any questions by getting in touch at www.appware.co.uk

Why Is 4G for Me?

4G is out and we want to tell you why 4G may be the thing for you! Currently 4G is only available through Orange network (well, rebranded as EE) and isn't that cheap but it is said 4G will expand to other networks soon. Once that happens then expect prices to come down and the number of different deals to go up. You also need to have a phone capable of handling this speed and modern handsets like the iPhone5 and Samsung Galaxy S3 support it.

4G is five times quicker than 3G (the current fastest way to get data and browse the web across the mobile phone network) which makes it a superfast tool to have, it covers 11 cities so far with plans to have 16 cities 4G'd up by the end of the year.

4G allows you to check emails, download massive documents and complete video calling, all on the go, all unbelievably quickly. Along with downloading, with 4G you can also upload massive files to a website and complete video conferencing wherever you are.

If you are into multiplayer games and you can’t wait to get home in the evening to beat your friends then 4G can help you with brilliant live multiplayer games that you can play with anyone and everyone across the world.

To sum up, 4G can do everything that 3G does but it can do it a better quality and a lot faster! Anything 3G can do, 4G can do better!