If you live in Austria, Cayman Islands, China, Greece and others that means apps and books only, no Music, Music Videos, or TV shows. In fact, iTunes Apps and Books are the two items that are available worldwide. All other countries are missing some features from the iTunes Store.

Want to know what’s available from the iTunes Store in your country? iTunes Support now has a page that tells you what iTunes services are available.

There are apparently over 500,000 applications for the iPhone and iPad, more than 300,000 for Android, and thousands more on other platforms. The average smartphone user has 65 apps installed on their phone (source: Flurry). Many of us have more (yes you – I’m looking at you). The increasing problem has become finding the apps you already have installed on your smartphone when you want/need them.

How Many Apps?

How many apps do people actually use? According to Flurry, the average consumer uses only 15 apps per week. How ’bout you? How many do you use? Think about it, that means that the majority of the apps installed on your phone are only used occasionally. These are things like games, tip calculators, calorie counters, garage sale finders, and the like.

The App Problem.

Searching for an app on your device is severely lacking, at least on the two major platforms, iPhone and Android. For example, on an iPhone you can’t pull up Groupon or LivingSocial by typing in “deals” into the iPhone’s Spotlight Search box. It doesn’t work on Android, either – you have to type the app’s name.

However, if the app has optimized its name for search it can work. Type in “recipes” on iPhone and Epicurious appears. But not on Android. Type in “deals” on iPhone, and there comes BiteHunter. Type “Shopping” on iPhone, and there’s FastMall and Zoomingo, but not Target or Best Buy. And, in similar tests on Android, apps have to be searched for by name, not function.

Why is this happening?

Some app makers are better than others at maximizing the on-device search capabilities provided by iOS. That is, they’re stuffing their app’s name with keywords. (Epicurious is actually called “Epicurious Recipes Shopping List,” for example).

This is a problem because search is the quickest way to find apps on your phone. After all, (stock) Android is designed so that you’ll hide most of your apps, only pinning favorites to your homescreen. Meanwhile, iOS addresses the app overload situation with folders.

It would be so much better to have an efficient search mechanism. But even as useful as keyword-based searching is today, given that it ranks results alphabetically, it won’t continue to be as useful in the future. Imagine if that’s how Google ranked the web! Of course, the app store ecosystem is hardly as large as the web and app stores won’t grow to the web’s size. In time, our app addiction will likely also give us “app-ified” mobile experiences designed for the small screen, and built with HTML5. But the app ecosystem is insanely huge and still growing.

Only So Much

In the meantime, we will begin to hit a stopping point with apps – a psychological barrier – not only due to the limited storage space on their phones, but also because we simply can’t deal with a phone that has some 500 or 1,000 apps installed.

We Need A Search Engine

Why not give our devices a real search engine – one that’s as powerful as the app store’s engine, if not better. Apps can be keyword-optimized, ranked and rated by dozens of signals. The on-device app search engine should know what apps you have installed, how often you use them, how long you’ve had them, when you bought them, their ratings, your ratings, which of your friends use them, and everything the apps can and can’t do. We should be able to quickly access those apps we’ve deemed our favorites, whether or not they’re on the device we have now. iCloud is a good first step to this – your favorite apps could be stored in the cloud and surfaced through Spotlight Search. And Google, a company that built the world’s best web search engine, could surely do a better job of building an engine for searching the apps on our phones.

We’re getting to a point where, if this situation doesn’t change, no one will try a new app because they have enough apps already.

What about You?

How do you manage YOUR apps? Do you have some trick, some organization scheme? I try to cluster similar apps on similar pages on my Android Phone.

Image credits: top – Appstream via Appsfire; iPhone apps – Flickr user Karin Beil

Try it yourself:

• Lock a passcode enabled iPad 2
• Hold down power button until it reaches the shutoff slider screen
• Close Smart Cover
• Open Smart Cover
• Click cancel

You can now use whatever is open on the screen and delete applications.

The workaround?

Until an update arrives from Apple, the only way around this is to disable Smart Cover unlocking in the General settings menu.

Internet speed is probably something your really haven’t thought a lot about. You may have to now, as it is now going to be an important factor if you use cloud backup services such as iCloud. Specifically it is your upload speed that is now important.

 
Most home Internet connections have a much faster download speed than upload speed. This is the current standard for consumer-based (read “home”) connections. If you buy the standard package from Shaw, Telus, or Rogers, you will get from 10 to maybe 50Mbps (mega bits per second) download and only .5Mbps (500Kbps) upload.

You can check your download and upload speeds at speedtest.net.

So why does it take so long?

Based on a standard upload speed of .5Mbps, your 5Gb of documents/tunes/pictures/etc will take over 18 hours on a standard home Internet connection!

How to calculate how long it will take

Here’s a link to iCalc, where you can put in how much data you want to backup and it will tell you how long it will take. Under “2. File Size Bandwidth Calculator” enter your total file size and click whether it is in Kb, Mb, or Gb. iCalc will immediately tell you the time required. Look in the row marked “640K-DSL”, which is just over .5Mbps.

Yes, it’s going to take that long!

Of course, after the initial upload backups will become much faster, since only changes are backed up. It’s only the first backup that is a real pain.

Other Options?

If you have a significant amount of data you want to backup, say 25Gb or more then other backup providers such as CloudPockets will send you a USB hard drive for the initial backup, which they then load on their backup server. Now you only have to backup changes from then on.

In the future, Internet providers will have to focus more on upload speeds for home and office connections, something they haven’t had to do so far. As more and more people use cloud based services then both download and upload speeds become important factors.

Ok, we’re back – the Apple Time Capsule being used as the home-office router mysteriously died this morning. No warning, no connectivity. I can’t even get access to it to find out what is wrong. It’s dead, done.

Quickly swapped back to a Linksys running DD-WRT, re-routed a bunch of network cables and we’re good to go.

This is why, in a small business environment, you need some redundancy and backup scenarios. Nobody can afford to be without email and Internet

Enter, the Cloud

Is the Cloud a bad thing? Not necessarily, however it seems to me that power and control of what we do is moving back to corporations. The introduction of the personal computer in the late 70′s (although some may argue it was the “Simon” in 1949) was the beginning of individuals having the power to do what was before only available by expensive enterprise computers.

Look at the power and the things we can do now on a little silicon box in front of us!

Add to this the Internet and we have an ecosystem that allows us to find and collaborate with people all over the world! The Internet has brought us such power as to be able to topple governments!

And now it seems, corporations and governments have figured out how to fight back. This past week, Nicolas Sarkozy, at the G8 summit in Paris said; “As long as the internet is part and parcel of the daily lives of our citizens, it would be a contradiction to leave government out of this massive discussion,”. Jeff Jarvis has more to say on this. I fear that this very thing that gives us freedom and power as a collective is slowly being taken away from us.

It’s About Control

One feature of Apple’s iCloud is iTunes Match, which, for a monthly subscription will scan our computers for “music obtained from other sources” and replace it with iTunes music. The music industry has been looking for a way to get that control back for some time now.
Look at books. We no longer buy books, we “lease” electronic copies from Amazon. Even the operating system that runs our personal computers is not even ours. Even though we own the hardware we do not own the software.

In the industrial age, the big corporations dictated to us what to buy and mass marketing was the norm. Over the last decade the Internet has eroded mass marketing down to the point of small targeted vertical marketing by “long tail“.
I think the Cloud is a way for the big players to be back in control.

I think that as time goes on we will physically own less and less. Just as we lease cars now, we may lease just about everything in the future. We already lease music and software. Why not the computer, printer and everything else? Many business lease all the technology in the building. The desktop computer means less and less and even now is being given away. The power and control what we do and how we spend our lives (think Facebook) is moving to the Internet and back into the control of major corporations.

The physical box we work on is becoming less and less important. It is the software and services that run on it that have the value, the power – and most companies are moving to a SAAS (Software as a Service) model – in the Cloud.

Is the Cloud convenient? Sure! We can get to it using almost any device; phone, tablet, computer. Again, the device is becoming less important, the service is where it’s at. Who controls the services? The big players who have the financial resources to reach out to the world.

I’m beginning to fear that the next generation, even with tremendous technical abilities, may still be tied to big corporations, as they have previously been.

I for one would like to see it differently.

What do you think?

Within five seconds of surfing to the rigged site,VUPEN co-founder Chaouki Bekrar had successfully launched Apple’s calculator app and had written a file on the disk without crashing the browser.

 
Bekrar said the vulnerability exists in WebKit, the open-source browser rendering engine

VUPEN won a $15,000 cash prize and an Apple MacBook Air 13″ running Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

Interstingly, on the same day as the challenge Apple released two major security updates for Safari and iOS to fix more than 60 vulnerabilities that could be used to hijack Windows, Mac OS X or iPhone/iPod Touch devices. Apple (like Google and Mozilla) now releases browser updates ahead of Pwn2Own.

More details:

ZDNet, and here

Jump to a section:

• - First time Setup
• - How to setup the Hard Disk
• - How to setup Printing
• - Time Capsule Support Options

What is Apple’s Time Capsule?

Apple’s Time Capsule is a handy all-in-one Wireless Internet router, Networked Hard Drive, and Print Server. Primarily built to work with Apple computers, laptops, and peripherals it can work just as easily within your Windows environment. I’ll show you how.

• Time Capsule Specifications / Windows System Requirements [now 3Tb capacity]
• Firmware update
• Airport Utility for Windows

Why use a Time Capsule with Windows?

Time Capsule can replace your small office or home router and offer additional features. The built in hard drive can be used as a backup spot or centralized shared drive. It has wireless capabilities so your laptops and visitors can attach wirelessly. Attach your USB printer and it now becomes a centralized networked printer that can be used by everyone.

Backups?

If you are thinking to use Time Capsule as a backup location, you should consider an Online Backup Service which will let you backup to your Time Capsule – and put a disaster recovery copy in the Cloud at the same time.

How to set up Time Capsule on a Windows PC:

What follows is detailed step-by-step instructions for setting up Time Capsule in your Windows environment. This is a long document and will take some time to work your way through. The instructions are the same for Windows XP, Vista or 7. [Note: These instructions are written as if you've just taken the Time Capsule out of the box and set it up for the first time]

Free Quickstart Guide

Try our free one-page Quickstart Guide that provides an overview of the whole setup process. It’s the “quick and dirty” if you need to reinstall, or to get a quick overview of the whole install process. Click to view, or right-click to save.

(This guide is in Adobe PDF format for easy viewing. Your computer probably already has a reader for PDF files installed, but here’s the link to the free Adobe reader if you need it)

1. Plug in the appropriate HDMI or RGB cables and then the Time Capsule power cable. (there is no power switch as this device is meant to be always on)

a. If you check your Wireless devices they should now see a device called “Apple Network XXXXXX“, which is the last six digits of the MAC address of your Time Capsule. (You can find the MAC address printed on the bottom of the Time Capsule)

2. Insert the CD that came with the Time Capsule and you will see the Airport setup screen that says “Welcome to the Airport Installer“. Click next.

3. Accept the License Agreement

4. Click Next at the information window that comes up.

5. Select where you want the files to be installed at the Installation Options window. C:\\Program Files\\Airport is the default and unless you have a reason to change this, simply click Next

6. When you see the Congratulation window, click Finish

7. A pop-up will appear asking if you want to connect or ignore. For now, chose Ignore.

8. Now go to Start, Programs, Airport, Airport Utility. Click OK to pass the Airport Utility information screen

9. If you receive a message to update the Airport Utility software, you should do so.

a. At the Apple Software Update window, uncheck the boxes for Mobile Me and Safari 4. You just want the update. Click Install 1 Item and click OK to the license that pops up.

b. When you receive notification that the software has been successfully installed, press OK, then press Quit when you are taken back to the Update Manager.

10. Now go back to the Airport Utility and it will search for Networks and Airport devices like your Time Capsule. If all goes well it should find the Time Capsule device

11. Notice that the IP address is 10.0.1.1, an unlikely address to be seen on Windows networks that often start with 192.168.X.X.

a. You will need to temporarily change the IP address of the computer you are using in order to communicate with this device properly until you can assign it an address that is within your subnet.

b. Go to Start, Control Panel, Network Connections and right-click on your Local Area connection

c. Click on Internet Protocol and click Properties. Most computers will be set up to obtain IP address and DNS automatically. If yours is different, write down the current settings so you can change back to them afterwards.

d. Click on Use the Following IP Address and enter 10.0.1.10 and a Mask of 255.255.255.0. You don’t need to enter anything else. Click OK, then Close at the Network Properties window.

e. NOTE: You will not be able to see any other devices or the Internet during this phase!

12. Now go back to the Airport Utility and update the Time Capsule firmware by clicking Update Firmware. You should receive a popup about services being temporarily unavailable. Select “Do not show this warning again” if you’re comfortable with knowing the Time Capsule will go offline temporarily each time you update the settings.

13. If all goes well you should now see the Airport Utility screen with a large green arrow in the center, click Continue

14. TIP: At Foreverwarm we always assign a static IP to devices other than desktops. We assign a wireless device (802.11x) using .11 as the fourth octet (eg 192.168.1.11). If you want to let the network assign the IP address automatically you can skip this section, go to Step 15.

a. Click Manual Setup.

b. Click the Internet icon at the top, then under the Internet Connection tab change Configure IPv4 to “Manually”. Enter an IP address that is unused on your network and the appropriate mask (probably 255.255.255.0). If you are not using this as your router, then add your router address and DNS server (usually either your internal server or the router IP). Then click Update

c. Change the default password to your network standard or something you can remember.

d. Click the SNMP over WAN option, and uncheck Allow SNMP over WAN

e. Click Unsecured Wireless Network and click Change Security. This will take you to the Wireless Tab. Make the appropriate changes and click Update. I would at least change the default Wireless Network Name (usually referred to as the SSID) and select a wireless security option such as WPA2 Personal.

f. This takes you back to the problems page, with the last issue being the ability to Configure the device over the WAN or Internet. If this is for a home then I would uncheck the box, however for small business with external technical support such as Foreverwarm does (and this device being used as a router) this needs to be enabled. Just make sure the administrative password has been changed and the technician knows what it is.

g. If you choose to allow Configuration over WAN then you must also check the box to Ignore this problem.

h. Now you will need to change your IP address back to what it was before, under Network Properties, in order to communicate with the Time Capsule again.

15. You should now be able to connect to the wireless portion of the Time Capsule, and the light on the front of the Time Capsule should be green. If not you need to go back to the Utility and fix whatever problems exist.

Setting up the Time Capsule Hard disk

Time capsule will automatically create a Z: drive on the Windows computer(s) that the Airport Utility is installed. To map a drive on another Windows computer, follow these instructions:

1. From the Airport Utility, select the Airport Icon and the Time Capsule tab.

2. Change the Time Capsule name to something that makes sense, or follow your network standards.

3. Now move to the Disks Icon and the File Sharing tab. Change Secure Shared Disks to “With a device password” and enter the password.

4. Enter your Workgroup name, you can find this by right-clicking on My Computer, selecting properties and then the Computer Name tab. Your workgroup will show on this page.

5. Enter your WINS server name or IP address, if you have one, and click Update

6. If you are mapping a drive from the computer that is running the Airport Utility, select the Airport Base Station agent on your task bar and click the name of your Time Capsule. Under Action select Connect with Password, put in your password and click the Remember this password box. Click OK.

7. From any other computer, go to My Computer and in the address bar enter \\{time capsule name} (eg: \\timecapsule.local) Don’t forget to put the .local at the end or you may not be able to see the Time Capsule.

8. At the username/password prompt, enter the username “admin” and the password you used for Disks access.

9. You should now see the empty Data drive

10. If you want to map to this drive directly, right-click on it and select Map Network Drive. Be sure to select Connect using a different username and enter the username/password you used to get to the Time Capsule, in the format timecapsulename\username and your password.
If you’ve made it this far, CONGRATULATIONS!
If something didn’t go right and the Time Capsule is unavailable, go back and check the steps, or use the support options shown below.

Using Time Capsule for Windows Backups:

There is no Apple Time Machine Windows backup software, however you can use any Windows based backup software such as Microsoft SyncToy. Simply select the folders you wish to back up and select the Time Capsule drive letter (eg Z:) as the destination.

You should also consider an Online Backup Service which will let you backup to your Time Capsule – and put a disaster recovery copy in the Cloud at the same time, or consider on of these options:

Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Desktop Edition

ZoneAlarm DataLock Keeps your private data private

Get a local copy and a disaster recovery copy in the Cloud – at the same time

Time Capsule Support options:

Get Help: Want step-by-step screen instructions with screen shots?

Time Capsule Windows 7 Support

[Note: this seems to have been resolved with the newest firmware version]

It sounds like there may be an issue between Windows 7 and the Time Capsule. See the Mac Rumors Forum.

I have personally experienced these intermittent connectivity problems using the Time Capsule and Windows 7 Professional. It seems that authentication breaks down every once in a while and you get the prompt for the password. There is no way to get past this that I have found, except to use the Airport Utility and perform a Device Reset on the Time Capsule. Fixes it every time – just annoying.

If you need a previous Time Capsule firmware version:

1. Open AirPort Utility

2. From the AirPort Utility menu, hold Control key in Windows XP and Vista) and choose Check for Updates….

3. Select the specific firmware version you require.

4. Click Download.

5. Select your base station and choose Manual Setup from the Base Station menu, or double-click on the AWD icon.

6. Choose Base Station > Upload Firmware.

7. Select a firmware version and click OK.

Here’s Apple’s official support page for the Time Capsule (Note: these are, of course, based on the Mac OS):

• Setting up Time Capsule for the first time
• Backing up with Time Capsule for the first time
• Time Capsule: initial backup is interrupted
• Restoring files from a backup

Here’s some other places you can go if your run into problems.

• Start by downloading the newest firmware: Firmware update 7.5.2
• Try Apple’s Support Forum for the Time Capsule.
• Review the Time Capsule User Manual.
• Go to an Apple store (find one Here) and talk to a Genius, or have an Apple Expert call you. (Realize though that they will be Mac focused)

Centralized Windows Printing via the USB Port

Plug your printer USB cable into the USB port on the back of the Apple Time Capsule and you can now share that printer throughout your network. This means it is now available from all Windows computers.

Note: All-in-one or multifunction printer/scanner/fax will NOT work through the Time Capsule.

Instructions: (Step-by-Step instructions included with out eBook)

• Attach your printer to the USB port on the back of the Time Capsule
• Install Bonjour for Windows from the CD included with Time Capsule.
• Follow the onscreen instructions for connecting to your printer

Internet connection via the WAN Port

Time Capsule can become your router so that all attached computers can share the Internet connection.

Instructions:

• Connect your DSL or cable modem to the Ethernet WAN port on your Apple Time Capsule.
• Open AirPort Utility, select Time Capsule, and click Continue.
• On the Internet Tab, select DHCP
• Reboot the Time Capsule, then your Internet Modem if you have one.

Connect wired Windows PC’s

Connect any computers that do not have a wireless connection directly to the back of the Time Capsule, or attach a network switch to connect more than three. Your Apple Time Capsule has now become the central spoke of your Windows network.

Other articles in our Apple_Windows series:

• Easter to Hack Apple than Windows
• How to setup Activesync on your iPhone or iPod Touch
• How to use AppleTV with Windows

In order to set up your email on your iPhone you need to know the mail configuration details from your mail provider – which is sometimes also your Internet provider.

If you happen to live in Canada then you’re in luck, here’s the email settings for Telus, Shaw, Rogers, Gmail and Yahoo – and when you’ve done that, here’s some other cool things you can do with your iPhone.

iPhone Email Setup Overview

Just looking for the email settings? This table gives you the quick ‘n dirty. The complete step-by-step instructions can be found in the additional details shown below this table.

Setup eMail on your iPhone

Use these instructions to setup email from Gmail, Telus, Shaw, and Rogers on your iPhone. These instructions work for both the iPhone and the iPod Touch.

Note: These instructions are for personal email; POP3, or IMAP. If you want to connect to an Exchange Server try (Synchronizing email with your work or Microsoft Exchange Server)

Telus email settings for your iPhone (or iPod Touch)

1. - On your iPhone or iPod touch’s home screen, tap Settings
2. - Tap Mail
3. - Tap Add Account…
4. - Tap Other
5. - Tap Add Mail Account
6. - Enter your Telus email account information
7. - Tap Save
8. - Telus Incoming Mail Server: pop.telus.net or (IMAP) imap.telus.net
9. - Telus Outgoing Mail Server: smtp.telus.net
10. - Tap Save

Shaw email settings for your iPhone (or iPod Touch)

1. - On your iPhone or iPod touch’s home screen, tap Settings
2. - Tap Mail
3. - Tap Add Account…
4. - Tap Other
5. - Tap Add Mail Account
6. - Enter your shawmail account information
7. - Tap Save
8. - Shaw Incoming Mail Server:  (find your mail server here you must have the correct city code)
9. Shaw Outgoing Mail Server:  (same as above)
10. Tap Save

Rogers email settings for your iPhone (or iPod Touch)

1. - On your iPhone or iPod touch’s home screen, tap Settings
2. - Tap Mail
3. - Tap Add Account…
4. - Tap Other
5. - Tap Add Mail Account
6. - Enter your Rogers email account information
7. - Tap Save
8. - Rogers Incoming Mail Server: pop.broadband.rogers.com
9. - Rogers Outgoing Mail Server: smtp.broadband.rogers.com
10. - (as per comments below, could also try smtp.rogerswirelessdata.com)
11. - Tap Save

In fact, Rogers has a handy setup chart for incoming and outgoing servers based on who’s Internet network you are on, with setups for Sasktel, Uniserver, and others.

Gmail email settings for your iPhone (or iPod Touch)

1. - Make sure you’ve enable IMAP in your main Gmail settings
2. - On your iPhone or iPod touch’s home screen, tap Settings
3. - Tap Mail
4. - Tap Add Account…
5. - Tap Other (don’t use the “Gmail” option)
6. - Tap Add Mail Account
7. - Enter your account information, being sure to use your full Gmail address (or full Google Apps email address)

1. - Tap Save
2. - For Incoming Mail Server:
3. - Host Name is ‘imap.gmail.com’
4. - User Name is your full Gmail address, including ‘@gmail.com’ (or full Google Apps email address)
5. - For Outgoing Mail Server:
6. - Host Name is ‘smtp.gmail.com’
7. - User Name is your full Gmail address, including ‘@gmail.com’ (or full Google Apps email address)
8. - Tap Save

Other cool things you can do with your iPhone:

• Making Movies with your iPhone
• Helicopter your can control with your iPhone
• Monitor your blood pressure with your iPhone

Apple’s push about security may no longer the case, as is shown by this article from ZDNet in their interview with Charlie Miller, 2009′s winner of the Pwn2Own contest.

Here’s the quote:

” Safari on the Mac is easier to exploit. The things that Windows do to make it harder (for an exploit to work), Macs don’t do. Hacking into Macs is so much easier. You don’t have to jump through hoops and deal with all the anti-exploit mitigations you’d find in Windows.

It’s more about the operating system than the (target) program. Firefox on Mac is pretty easy too. The underlying OS doesn’t have anti-exploit stuff built into it.

With my Safari exploit, I put the code into a process and I know exactly where it’s going to be. There’s no randomization. I know when I jump there, the code is there and I can execute it there. On Windows, the code might show up but I don’t know where it is. Even if I get to the code, it’s not executable. Those are two hurdles that Macs don’t have.

It’s clear that all three browsers (Safari, IE and Firefox) have bugs. Code execution holes everywhere. But that’s only half the equation. The other half is exploiting it. There’s almost no hurdle to jump through on Mac OS X.”

For all you people out there that are looking to the Apple Mac systems as an alternative to Microsoft Windows, and use the “it’s safer” argument, you may want to reconsider.

I’m pretty neutral when it comes to Operating Systems and have used Windows, Mac, and Linux. If you are looking to move to a particular system, you want to evaluate it based on what you want it to do for you, not the coolness factor or perceived protection from threats.

As far as protection from hackers goes – more is better and multi-level security is recommended. You want would-be hackers to fight their way through the router, and also your desktop or laptop firewall. In your Windows environment don’t rely on what comes with Windows, get a separate program.

Other articles in our Apple_Windows series:

• How to use Time Capsule with a Windows PC
• Easter to Hack Apple than Windows
• How to setup Activesync on your iPhone or iPod Touch
• How to use AppleTV with Windows