Use Google services? Your iPhone may work better than an Android device

Google services on the iPhone 5s

Google continues to roll out their services to iOS, including Google Play Music launching late last week. The iOS apps miss some features seen in Android, but in other cases the applications look and perform better on the iPhone.

I use quite a few Google services and lack of support for most of them in Windows Phone keep me from using that platform as my daily driver. Lately, I have been using and enjoying Android smartphones and thought that might be the best way to access Google services.

With continued improvements in iOS Google apps, I have been able to enjoy Google services on my Apple iPhone 5s with few limitations.

Google services provided on iOS include:

• Google Search: The new Google Now functionality lets you state "OK Google" and then launch a search via Google Now. As you can see in my short video below, the iPhone 5s beat the Moto X every time I ran a search. I also tested my HTC One and while it was faster than the Moto X it was still slower than the iPhone 5s. The Nexus 5 may approach the iPhone 5s response since I believe the difference may be due to the phone's processor.

• Chrome: Google Chrome is my preferred web browser and I love that bookmarks, search history, and everything else I use on the desktop is consistent across my devices.

• Google Play Music: The experience is similar to Android, except you cannot purchase music directly in the app and there doesn't look to be I'm Feeling Lucky functionality.

• Gmail: I prefer to use the Gmail app on the iPhone 5s instead of the iOS email app. The current version is similar to the older Android app without colored letters and such, but is still a very capable client.

• Google+: This is one service that I think actually looks and functions better on the iPhone than it does on Android.

• Google Maps: Google Maps functionality looks to be the same between iOS and Android.

• Google Drive: Apple doesn't let you access the file structure of the iPhone, but the Google Drive app gives you access to all your documents and files in the cloud.

• YouTube: While I don't watch a ton of YouTube videos, my MoTR podcast cohost Kevin Tofel told me you can stream purchased Google Play movies via the YouTube app on iOS and it works just fine.

• Google Hangouts: Hangouts is a great way to stay in touch with friends using Google's ecosystem and it works just fine on iOS.

• Quickoffice: Google purchased Quickoffice and the application is available for iOS and Android with some excellent functionality for viewing and editing Office documents.

• Google Wallet: Google recently rolled out this service for iPhone users and just like most Android devices, other than the Nexus 5, Wallet is good for loyalty cards and sending payments via email. There is no NFC in the iPhone so now payments can be made with a tap. This is the same issue with nearly all Android devices since carriers block access due to secure elements.

Stay Healthy With These 3 Free iPhone and iPad Apps

Your business can't afford to lose you, so here are three free apps from Apple that can help you take control of your healthcare so it doesn't take control of you. 

As an entrepreneur, you're probably so busy taking care of your business that you skip taking care of yourself. Not such a good idea, especially if you're being treated for a medical condition.

1. Mango Health
If you're on medication, Mango Health for the iPhone or iPad can not only help you remember to take your daily dose, but it can even reward you for taking it safely and on time. Simply list all of your medications and when you need to take them. When it's time, the app will send a push notification and an alert tone to your phone. If you're busy, there's a snooze button that will continue to remind you at 10-minute intervals. Every time you take your medicine, the app rewards you with points that can be redeemed for gift cards and charity donations.

When you enter a new medication, the app also checks for potential interactions with your other meds or certain foods or drinks. Can't remember if you took your last pill? A quick look at the large dashboard will let you know if you're on schedule.

Mango Health recently updated the app to include a "how are you feeling" button on the medication reminder. Pick from a set of emoticons that range from awesome to sick and the app saves your choice in the history. You can also jot down notes about symptoms or side-effects so you'll have a clear record of your response to a given medication.

Related: De-Stress and Unwind With These 3 Free Relaxation Apps

2. Symple - Symptom Tracker & Health Diary
If you're dealing with an ongoing medical condition, tracking your symptoms is vitally important and Symple can help you do that. Symple for the iPhone or iPad is made up of two components: symptoms and factors.

Every day you rate up to 20 potential symptoms on a five-point scale that ranges from none to severe. Then you check off any outside factors that may have influenced your symptoms, such as a 30-minute walk, alcohol consumption, travel or a stressful day at work.

The app produces a set of graphs so you can compare the effect a factor had on your symptoms over time or compare the severity of two symptoms. You can also download the data to a spreadsheet to share with your doctor.

To complete the picture, there's a journaling section where you can write notes for your doctor or store photos related to your condition.

Related: Apps to Help You Start Selling on Facebook -- Now

3. Hello Doctor
If you're seeing multiple doctors, Hello Doctor for the iPad can help you manage all of your medical records. The app uses Smartlists to categorize your reports into areas such as blood tests, prescriptions, and specialists. You can write notes on any part of any document so you won't forget what you wanted to ask when you have your next doctor visit.

Add new records by photographing them with your iPad or pull in scans from Dropbox. Or, you can email your records to the Hello Doctor team and they'll tag and load them for you.

Google Play Music app arrives on iPhone, but won't let you buy songs

Six months after its subscription music service came to Android and the web, Google is bringing its take on unlimited streaming to the iPhone. Google Play Music arrives in the App Store this morning with most of the features that its Android counterpart does, done up in a style that feels native to iOS while remaining familiar to anyone who has used the service on another platform. And while much of what the app offers on iOS has been available on Spotify and Rdio for years, Google has invested enough in helping users discover new music to make their version worth a look.

The free version of Google Play Music allows you to listen to any of the songs you have backed up to Google's cloud — the company lets you store up to 20,000 tracks at no charge. For free users, the app's radio feature creates mixes of the songs in your collection using the same algorithms that power the paid version.

GOOGLE'S CATALOG NOW INCLUDES MORE THAN 20 MILLION SONGS

But to access the real power of Google Play Music, you'll need to pay $9.99 a month for its All Access plan. That gives you the ability to stream or download to your mobile device anything in Google's catalog, which now includes more than 20 million songs. You can create a custom ad-free radio station from any artist, song, or album, and skip as many songs as you like. Google will also recommend tracks based on your listening history, using its own algorithms.

The most distinctive part of Google Play Music lies in its Explore tab, which includes both algorithmic recommendations and playlists created by human editors. "At the end of the day, I think you need both," says Brandon Bilinski, product manager for Google Play Music. Bilinski says his team is designing the service to encourage users to explore unfamiliar categories of music, building starter playlists for 200 genres and subgenres.



GOOGLE PLAY MUSIC FOR IOS SCREENSHOTS
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The app also offers some unusual options for its radio feature, letting you add and delete upcoming songs from the radio queue. In that sense, radio on Google Play can work more like a playlist than a traditional radio station. "We build the playlist for you and let you make minor tweaks," Bilinski says. "But you don't have to do a ton of the work yourself."

Given its similarities to the Android version, why did the music app take so long to come to iOS? Speculation around the Android launch centered around Apple's App Store policies, which take a 30 percent cut of in-app sales. But Google says that the company didn't even try to negotiate with Apple over its commission — and as a result, you can't buy music through the app as you can on Android, nor can you subscribe to All Access through your smartphone.

"IT JUST TOOK US A LITTLE LONGER THAN WE THOUGHT."

The actual reason for the delay: "It just took us a little longer than we thought to bring it up to the level of polish expected from Play Music and iOS apps," Bilinski says. That meant fixing problems with streaming and integrating the app with Chromecast, among other things. The result is an app that can stream music at up to 320 kbps, and can connect to speakers and other devices over AirPlay and Bluetooth. It's also available in 20 countries at launch.

That's not to say the iOS version is at parity with its Android counterpart. For starters, it does not include the "I'm Feeling Lucky" radio station, which builds an instant playlist based on your preferences. And the requirement to buy songs and subscriptions on the web instead of in the app feels anachronistic given the focus that Google and every other major tech company has placed on mobile devices. More than other streaming services, Google Play emphasizes buying tracks, with a prominent "shop" tab on Android and the web. That shopping is absent from the iOS app has to sting Google, at least a little.

But the music team is working to bring "I'm Feeling Lucky" and a handful of other missing features to the iOS version soon, Bilinski says. They're also working on a version optimized for the iPad. And in time, they hope to make their recommendations better aware of your context — suggesting fast-paced music during a morning workout, say, or a more mellow record at night. If they're successful, they'll help to differentiate an app that mostly replicates services that predated it. But for those who have entrusted their music libraries to Google already, or who are interested in a more editorial take on discovering new songs, Google Play Music for iOS will be a welcome arrival.

iOS 7.0.4 Update for iPhone & iPad Rolls Out

Apple has rolled out its latest iOS 7 update in the form of iOS 7.0.4, a bug fix update that will replace iOS 7.0.3 as the most current operating system for users of the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

For weeks, we’ve seen the iOS 7.0.4 update appear in server logs, however, we hadn’t seen anything confirmed for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users. Apple is notoriously secretive about its incremental updates and typically does not offer any official information. With iOS 7.1 also appearing in logs, we didn’t know which update would roll out to replace iOS 7.0.3. Today, we have our answer.

After several weeks on iOS 7.0.3, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch owners on iOS 7 can now upgrade their device to iOS 7.0.4, a small bug fix update that checks in around 17MB in size and should only take a few minutes to download and install. The update features bug fixes and improvements and Apple calls out an issue with FaceTime calls specifically.

The update is now available Over-the-Air through iOS 7′s Settings and those who can’t or simply wish to bypass the OTA method can install the software through iTunes.

For weeks, users have been complaining about issues inside of iOS 7.0.3. Those issues have ranged from minor issues like text disappearing to major issues like random reboots. It’s unclear if this update is going to tackle all of the issues that we’ve heard about in recent weeks, there is a laundry list of them, but we imagine that it will help more than it will hurt.

An iOS 7.1 update could be next.

iOS updates also have the chance to introduce new bugs to iPhone, iPad and iPod touch owners and users will be hopeful that iOS 7.0.4 is relatively bug free. Those who are skeptical will want to hold off on the upgrade for the time being.

With iOS 7.0.4 now out, we imagine that the next update could be iOS 7.1, an update that figures to deliver bug fixes in addition to new features. Apple typically packs in a new feature or two to its iOS x.1 upgrades, though, we haven’t heard anything specific just yet.

BBM app update for Android, iPhone new features detailed

While it may have taken a few months to be released BlackBerry has been pretty good in improving its Messenger service, and now the latest BBM app update for Android and iPhone has had the new features detailed by the company.

BlackBerry has just announced the new features it is adding to the BBM app and confirmed what we told you earlier today that owners of the iPad and iPod Touch with Wi-Fi only models will finally get access to the service.

There are a variety of new features being added to both versions of the app along with a number of bug fixes, and for Android there is now support for contact categories which is a feature we talked about yesterday that would be nice to be introduced.

Also there have been more options for sharing your BBM PIN Barcode as well as being able to find friends that use the service on other social networks. The problems of high battery drain have also been addressed.

The iOS version now supports iPod Touch and iPad devices that are running iOS 6 and iOS 7, and the extra options for sharing the BBM Pin barcode have also been added. The same option for finding friends on other social networks has also come to the iOS version, and the problem with some BBM contact names going missing has been addressed.

BlackBerry has begun rolling out the update to the BBM app but at the time of writing the Android version in the UK has been updated but the iOS version hasn’t.

Controversial iPhone App Lets Users Control a Cockroach's Brain -- Will Apple Allow It?

A US company is generating controversy for making a device that allows users to control a cockroach's brain using an iPhone. Will this make more children interested in neuroscience, or turn them into heartless psychopaths? Apple ( AAPL ) might be the one to decide the project's fate. 

Backyard Brains of Ann Arbor, Michigan, has developed a robotic "backpack" called RoboRoach, sold for $99, that can be attached to a cockroach (assuming there's one handy). After a little "surgery," the backpack allows users to control the roach's movement via the Bluetooth in your phone. It works by stimulating the nerves in the roach's antennae to make it think that it hit a wall, prompting it to run to the left or right. The developers say that it works on the same principles that allow doctors to treat Parkinson's disease and deafness. They hope the app will inspire a new generation of youngsters, prompting them to become curious about the wonders of neuroscience, and hopefully lead them to someday cure neurological ailments. They say that a fifth of the world will soon have such a brain disease for which there is no cure. 

 

The group raised over $12,000 on Kickstarter for this project, and you can already pre-order your roach cyborg kit on their website . For now, the RoboRoach comes with a toy controller, but they will all eventually work with any Bluetooth-enabled smartphone. 

Naturally, this sort of project ran into ethical questions. It does sound a bit like the sort of thing that would produce the next Josef Mengele. The developers say that the process is not harmful at all, and the cockroach can continue to mate and function as a normal member of roach society after users have their way with them. 

The surgery bit (in the video above) is what gives some pause. It requires first putting the roach in ice-cold water, using sandpaper to rub off the waxy coating on its head, using superglue to attach the electrodes to its head, and poking a hole in its thorax with a needle to insert a wire. The next step is to cut off most of the antennae and insert the electrodes into what's left of them. 

And voila ! You can now command a cockroach to turn left or right with just a tap of your finger. For up to 10 turns, that is. After that, the roach learns to ignore the signal. If you still want to have your fun messing with it, you can hang on for 20 minutes, and it will work again. 

You would think that a cockroach, something most New Yorkers see as a less desirable visitor in their apartments than an alien, would test the limits of empathy. But People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has already come out against the project, saying that it is painful for the roach and could potentially warp young minds rather than inspire them. 

"Not only is RoboRoach harmful to roaches, it's potentially harmful to the cyborgs' handlers. It could desensitize them to the feelings of those who are weaker than they are. One might just as well call it a 'bully starter kit,'" PETA said, according to The Blaze . 

PETA has asked the Michigan Attorney General to stop this, saying that the process constitutes practicing veterinary medicine without a license, which is a felony. 

We can only guess what state regulators will do to save the cockroaches from being tortured, but I would add that there is another hurdle in the way: Apple. There is nothing forcing it to carry the app, and keeping it might prompt the PETA activists to target Cupertino. Apple has booted less controversial apps from its App Store. Even Bang With Friends, a program that lets you see which of your Facebook ( FB ) friends are into you, was removed for a while. Without a presence in the official store, only jailbroken iPhones can use the app. Then again, the type of person willing to perform surgery on a cockroach to hack its brain can probably do that. 

Apple II DOS code that launched an empire

The Computer History Museum has published the source code for the Apple II DOS. Last spring, CNET was first to report the existence of documents that led to the creation of the code.

If ever source code can be said to have helped launch an empire, the code behind the Apple II DOS would qualify. And now it's available to everyone.

Last spring, CNET was first to report on the surfacing of documents that led to Apple's commissioning the creation of a disk operating system (DOS) for the young company's new computer, the Apple II.

Without that DOS, the computer would probably never have made a mark, since the only storage option otherwise available was a tape drive. Over the Christmas holidays of 1977, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak designed a disk controller, but he needed a DOS.

The original Apple OS documents

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Inearly 1978, Apple signed a $13,000 contract with Shepardson Microsystems to create the DOS. The contract was addressed to Steve Jobs. Once it was written, programs like VisiCalc, which led to the Apple II's tremendous success, were possible.

Now, thanks to the help of the DigiBarn, a vintage computer museum in Santa Cruz County, Calif., the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif., has officially published the DOS source code for all to see.

According to Bruce Damer, the founder and curator of the DigiBarn, Apple, which still owns the code, gave its blessing for the documents to be made public. What anyone will do with them is unclear, but this is one of Silicon Valley's most important treasures -- a disk operating system that helped a young company become a behemoth. Without it, we might never have seen Apple become the company it is today.