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Found Footage: The Macintosh Software Dating Game (1983)
Filed under: Humor, Odds and ends, Found Footage
In 1983, Apple was trying to get software developers excited about the new Mac platform and a new way of working with computers. The YouTube video below shows highlights of an Apple event in which Steve Jobs plays the part of The Dating Game host Jim Lange, asking questions about software development to three ~~bachelors~~ software magnates -- Fred Gibbons of Software Publishing Company, Mitch Kapor of Lotus Development, and some guy named Bill Gates from Microsoft.

Of those three software giants, only Microsoft has really survived into the 21st Century. Software Publishing Company left the PC scene in 1994 and Lotus was assimilated into the corporate body of IBM.

The video has edited out most of the bits with Gibbons and Kapor, so you get to hear Bill Gates gush about how wonderful the Mac platform is and how Microsoft in 1983 honestly expected Macintosh software to account for one-half of their revenue.

It's a weird little video, and very indicative of the type of PR stunts that were popular in the early days of the digital revolution. Enjoy!

Tipped by a tweet from Dennis

TUAW Found Footage: The Macintosh Software Dating Game (1983) originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Does Apple have a case against Palm?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Portables, Apple, iPhone
There's been some growling and teeth-baring between Apple and Palm lately, but Engadget wanted to know: does Apple really have a case against Palm for their patented technology? They put their (and our) legal correspondent, Nilay Patel, on the case, and in this long but very interesting analysis piece, he answers: probably.

But things, as usual, aren't that simple. Apple's patents don't just cover "multitouch" -- they cover very specific behaviors using the multitouch feature, and if Palm's Pre phone doesn't use those behaviors, there's no infringement. Of course, Patel is only going off of video of the Pre -- they don't have it in hand yet -- so things could change before the unit is released, but they do find significant evidence that Palm may have stepped on some lines it shouldn't have.

Then again, as Patel and patent attorney Mathew Gavronski discovered, Palm's got some tricks of their own -- they've got a whole slew of easily findable patents that the iPhone appears to infringe upon, including using an ambient light sensor to define brightness, looking up contacts just by using initials, and a number of other functions. Then again again, Apple's got pending patents in the fire that it can revise in case they think Palm is really trying to hone in on their business.

So bottom line, this could be really messy or it could be really simple, and Engadget concludes that the ball is in Apple's court -- if there's going to be a war, they say, the first shot will be from them. Personally, I think it's all corporate posturing -- as Patel points out, Palm has much less to lose, not having sold a single unit yet, and Apple is just making sure they know what's what. But there is a lot of money here, and if one side decides it'll cost less to go after the other, the fur could fly.
TUAW Does Apple have a case against Palm? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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iTunes Plus upgrade available on a per track basis
Filed under: iPod Family, iTS, iPhone
Apple has apparently bowed to pressure because the iTunes Store is now allowing upgrades to iTunes Plus on a per track basis. Back when Apple first dropped DRM on some of their music they started allowing customers to upgrade their previously purchased tracks to the higher bit-rate and DRM-free iTunes Plus versions. Unfortunately, until recently Apple required you to purchase the upgrades for all of your qualifying music all at once, whether your wanted them all or not.

Now it seems you can upgrade your previously purchased music to the iTunes Plus versions for 30 cents per track. The albums in my account seem to cost between $3 and $4 to upgrade. You can find all your qualifying music on the iTunes Store by following this link (iTunes link) or from the iTunes Store home page.

It's nice to see that Apple has seen the light on this. Note that Macworld is reporting some kind of glitch with using the shopping cart and are saying you need to turn on the buy with 1-click option in the iTunes Store preferences to get the correct upgrade price (and not be charged the full album price again).

[via Macworld]
Continue reading iTunes Plus upgrade available on a per track basis
TUAW iTunes Plus upgrade available on a per track basis originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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CubeCheater solves that Rubik's Cube for you
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor, Software, Cult of Mac, Odds and ends, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
As we know from the iPhone television commercials, if there's something you need to do, there's an app for that. And so apparently, if the thing you want to do is solve a Rubik's Cube, then yes, there is an app for that. CubeCheater will help you quickly solve a Rubik's Cube -- all you do is punch in the colors on your cube right now, and then you get directions, complete with rotating graphics, on what steps to take to solve the cube.

It's not built from scratch -- the app uses an algorithm already developed for solving the Cube -- but it does take advantage of a surprising amount of the iPhone's features. You can draw the colors on the virtual cube yourself, or even take a picture of your cube's sides and the app will recognize where the colors are. The latest update adds support for non-standard cubes, so if the colors aren't quite the same on your cube as on the screen, you can change things around.

Impressive, even if it is a little limited in practicality. It's in the App Store right now for 99 cents. Obviously, the point of a Rubik's Cube is solving it yourself. And if you really want to cheat, you don't need an iPhone. Just do what I do: take the little stickers off and replace them in the right places.

[via Cult of Mac]
Continue reading CubeCheater solves that Rubik's Cube for you
TUAW CubeCheater solves that Rubik's Cube for you originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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EverSave adds universal autosaving
Filed under: Software, Productivity, Freeware
Auto-save has saved my bacon several times with Word and I really miss it in apps that don't offer the feature (Apple's Pages, for example). Now a third-party solution has popped up that supposedly offers autosaving in any application. EverSave runs in your menubar and allows you to save either at a particular interval or when you switch applications (or both). You can have it run for all applications or pick particular ones.

In my testing with Pages '08 it worked just as advertised. I set the save interval for 45 seconds and as shortly after I opened a new Pages document it brought up the save dialog. I put in some text, waited a few seconds and then simulated a crash by force-quitting the application.

When I reopened the document, my text was there. Unfortunately, I've found that EverSave does not work quite as well with all applications. With TextMate, for instance, it insists on bringing up the save dialog box every time it saves, making it too annoying to be useful. Nonetheless, if you use iWork and miss auto-save, EverSave is a must-have.

EverSave is a free download (donations requested) from Tool Force Software.

[via Macworld]
Continue reading EverSave adds universal autosaving
TUAW EverSave adds universal autosaving originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Jan 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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iLife Tip: Enable Multi-Touch maps in iPhoto '09
Filed under: iLife, Terminal Tips
After using iPhoto '09 for a couple days, I have come to love the new features, in particular the Places feature. However, one thing that annoyed me is that you cannot use the Multi-Touch feature on newer MacBooks to manipulate the maps (zooming in/out, etc.).

However, thanks to a Tweet-tip from Steven Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith), there is a way to enable this functionality. To add Multi-Touch maps to places in iPhoto '09, just open Terminal.app (/Applications/Utilities) and type (or copy/paste) the following statement and press enter:

defaults write com.apple.iphoto MapScrollWheel -bool YES

When you restart iPhoto, you will notice that you are now able to scroll in/out of the Places maps with ease. If it turns out that you don't want the scrolling feature, just retype the statement, replacing "YES" with "NO."

Thanks for the tip, Steven!
Continue reading iLife Tip: Enable Multi-Touch maps in iPhoto '09
TUAW iLife Tip: Enable Multi-Touch maps in iPhoto '09 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Jan 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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AT&T loving the iPhone
Filed under: iPhone
AT&T has released fourth quarter and 2008 results and it's not all roses for the telecommunications giant. Wireline telephone subscribers were down significantly, and AT&T has spent a bundle (US $453 million) upgrading the 3G network to serve the iPhone and their other Smartphone offerings. The bright spot for AT&T is the iPhone itself, which contributed to very positive gains in subscribers and revenue. Even with the boost from our favorite phone, AT&T profits fell to 64 cents a share in the fourth quarter compared to 71 cents one year ago.

Here are the interesting iPhone stats:
- AT&T activated 4.3 million iPhone 3Gs since it came on the market including 1.9 million in the fourth quarter alone. Those activations are more than double the number from a year before with the 2G iPhone
- iPhone owners provide about 60% higher revenue than other AT&T customers
- About 40% of fourth quarter activations of iPhones were customers that were new to AT&T. Most came from other carriers like Sprint, Verizon, etc.
- Customers who drop AT&T aren't usually those with iPhones (although many iPhone users would like to because of bad coverage or service).
For just about anyone selling anything, the fourth quarter of last year was dreadful. The iPhone was not exempt from this trend. Activations were down 21% comparing the fourth quarter to the third quarter of 2008, but the iPhone still clobbered the Blackberry Storm.

TUAW AT&T loving the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Get paid for your time: On The Job 3.0
Filed under: Software, Productivity

On The Job 3.0 was released today, and it's poised to give my long-standing favorite time-tracking app, Billings 3, a good run for its money. On The Job 3 represents a complete rewrite of the application. It's such a new and different beast from its previous incarnations that -- in the words of the developer -- it "really feels much more like a version 1.0 than a 3.0."

On The Job is designed for individuals -- freelancers, contractors, etc. -- who need to track their time and expenses, send invoices for multiple jobs with multiple clients, and handle payments. It, like Billings, is especially geared toward those who want the extra features which can make them look utterly professional in their invoicing and billing.

Let's start with its looks: it's just plain gorgeous. From the main UI to the popup entry forms, and from the client editor to the template editor, the minute details of the interface have been treated with great care. I'll go ahead and say that the invoice template selector is eerily similar to Billings', but I'm not sure where the credit for the first such interface belongs. Let's just say it's a good one to pick up on. The default templates are definitely competition for Billings, whose selection is already above-par for time tracking and billing apps. Editing templates in either app is far more pleasurable than the first time I ever tried to edit a template in Quickbooks.

The first thing that struck me when I opened up the demo was the sheer simplicity of the interface. Everything you need is there, exactly where you want to look for it. The play/pause button for timing jobs is big but not overly obtrusive, and you can turn its default, obnoxious spinning to a pleasant throb in the preferences. That sounded dirtier than it is. There's a menubar control of the timer as well. The overall feature set is not as robust as Billings, but there's definitely something to be said for simplicity. If you don't need the additional features, such as Pro Forma invoices, full account tracking and statements, it's very possible that On The Job might be a great candidate to serve your time-tracking needs.

Other features in the new version include:
- Invoices for a specific date range
- New outstanding invoices panel
- Custom hourly rates for specific tasks
- Individual timing sessions are tracked, and can be "edited in post"
- Expense types now include quantity and mileage
- Per client currency settings
- Automatic and fully customizable invoice number generation
On The Job is selling for $39.95US. I have to mention that the "Main Street Sale" of Billings is still going, and it's at $39.99 right now. Both have free demos, so if you're a freelancer or contractor in the market for a slick way to track time and send invoices, make your own comparison. Personally, I'm torn. I'll decide in the next 20 days which, coincidentally, is the length of the On The Job demo period.
TUAW Get paid for your time: On The Job 3.0 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Mac 101: 7 tips for Data Privacy Day 2009
Filed under: Security, Mac 101
Today is Data Privacy Day, a global initiative to highlight information security rights and practices, especially among teens, professionals, corporations, and the government.

As part of the celebration, TUAW (along with our sister blog Download Squad) has seven good ideas for you about how to keep your data safe and away from prying eyes with Mac OS X Leopard. Also, be sure to browse TUAW articles filed under Security for other tips and alerts about keeping your data safe.

1: Turn on your firewall

Leopard, as we all know, comes with a built in firewall to prevent other computers from connecting to internet-facing ports on your computer. But: Did you know it's turned off by default?

To turn on your firewall, open System Preferences, and click the Security icon. Then, click the Firewall tab. Make sure either "Allow only essential services" is selected, or you can choose to "set access for specific services and applications" yourself.

You can also use "Stealth Mode": when enabled, computers that send data to blocked ports won't even get acknowledgement that the data was received. To enable Stealth Mode, click the Advanced button on the Firewall tab of the Security preference pane, and click the check box next to "Enable Stealth Mode."

2: Set a screen saver password

A feature popular with Windows users, Mac OS X can also lock your screen when your computer sleeps or when the screen saver comes on. Simply open System Preferences, select Security, and choose the General tab. Click the check box next to "require password to wake this computer from sleep or screen saver," and you're all set.

If you have automatic login enabled and click the "require password" check box, Mac OS X will recommend that you disable automatic login. This means you'll have to enter your password to turn your computer on, too; nefarious nogoodniks won't be able to restart your Mac while the screen saver is on to circumvent the need for a password. Good thinking.
Continue reading Mac 101: 7 tips for Data Privacy Day 2009
TUAW Mac 101: 7 tips for Data Privacy Day 2009 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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TUAW's HanDBase giveaway just got 5 times better
Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch
Thanks to our friends at DDH Software, your chances of winning in our HanDBase giveaway have just gone up. They were so thrilled with the responses in the comments section of yesterday's contest post that they have upped the ante by offering a total of five prize packages.

If you haven't yet entered the giveaway, click here to visit the post, read the rules, and put in your entry. And if you have already entered, your chances of winning are much better. You have until 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time on Saturday, January 30th to leave your comment with an idea of how you'd use your copy of HanDBase.

Good luck, and keep sending in those creative ideas.
TUAW TUAW's HanDBase giveaway just got 5 times better originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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MobileMe renewal: Yes or no?
Filed under: Internet, Internet Tools, MobileMe
Earlier this week, I noticed that the calendars on my Mac and my iPhone weren't in sync. "More MobileMe nonsense," I thought. However, I soon found the culprit, and it wasn't MobileMe acting wonky. My account had expired, and I was within the 15 day grace period.

I saw the "Renew" button and reached for my wallet like a well-trained Pavlov iDog. Then something stopped me. "Do I really want to do this?" There are so many alternatives that offer nearly the same services. Calling upon my days as a used car salesman (true story), I pulled out a piece of paper and drew a vertical line down the center, labeling one side "Pros" and the other "Cons." Then, I got to work.

Pros

First of all, I should outline what I use MobileMe for. An email account, address book, calendar sync between my Mac and iPhone and iDisk storage. I don't use the photo galleries, though my kids' grandparents wish I did, or the web apps. With that in mind, here are the pros.

Everything is built in. There's nothing to download, install or configure. iCal, Address Book, Mail (OK, I have to set up an account. Nit-pickers) and iDisk are ready to go from the start.

My iDisk is accessible from the Finder, and things like MobileMe Galleries just work. Sounds like an easy choice, eh? Keep reading.

Cons

Honestly, it doesn't always "just work." The synchronization has been flaky in the past, and push notifications have been pokey. Granted, it's light-years beyond where it was after launch, but I don't really trust it 100%.

It's a bit pricey. The standard fee is $99US/year. I've got one additional email address for my wife, so tack on another ten bucks. Before you fly into an iRage, know that I realize that one hundred bucks for push email, contacts and calendar, 10GB online storage, web hosting and so on is not a bad deal. It's just that there are less expensive alternatives.

With Gmail, I can have email, address book and calendar for free. With Spanning Sync, [TUAW Spanning Sync posts here] I can sync Google Calendar and iCal in both directions for $25 per year or $65 as a one-time fee. And I can easily set up my iPhone to send and receive Gmail.

Let's look at the available-anywhere online storage. Here at the TUAW offices, we're big fans of Dropbox [TUAW Dropbox posts here]. Once installed, it's super easy to use. A menu bar item and a Finder window item make access a snap. Additionally, sharing files and folders is just as simple.

The first 2GB of storage are free. After that, you'll pay $9.99US/month or $99US/year for 50GB of storage.

So why not just switch? It's not that easy. My MobileMe email address is in heavy use. Not only among my contacts, but across many places online. Switching would be a hassle. I'm also held back by the "What If Factor."

There's a part of me, deep inside my cynical, self-deprecating heart that's convinced that the very day I cancel my subscription, Apple will release the MobileMe update of my dreams. It's the same certainty that prevents me from buying a DVD player or a Blu-ray player as I watch my VHS tapes.

For now, I've got 14 days to decide. I'll let you know what I chose in a future post.
TUAW MobileMe renewal: Yes or no? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Flickr Find: Unusual Apple designs from the early 90s
Filed under: Hardware, Blast From the Past, Flickr Find, Apple History
TUAW reader Mike turned us on to a Flickr photo set and a related post on Aussie Mac site MacTalk.

MacTalk forum regular Donnie Darko was visiting a used book store in the Sydney suburb of Newtown when he came upon a rare find -- a 1991 copy of a Japanese design magazine called Axis featuring concepts that Apple was working on at the time.

In this jewel are a number of concept computers:
- The bike computer on the front cover (see photo at right)
- A wrist-mounted Mac called the TimeBand
- A device called the Exchanger that shows an American dollar being inserted and another currency coming out of a slot
- Several server concepts that look similar to Apple servers of the early 90s
- A very cool flat-panel TV that looks cutting-edge even in 2009
- Several tablet Macs
- A device that looks like a hybrid Mac / digitizer tablet
A sidebar in the article shows stills from Apple's classic Knowledge Navigator concept video. It's a fascinating look at what products might have come out of Cupertino in an alternate universe.
TUAW Flickr Find: Unusual Apple designs from the early 90s originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Jan 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Ask TUAW: Removing printer drivers, renaming partitions, running your Mac with the lid closed and more
Filed under: Software, Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW, MacBook, Leopard, MacBook Air
Once again, it's time for another edition of Ask TUAW, where we try to answer all your Mac and Apple-related questions. This week we're taking questions about keeping your Mac laptop running with the lid closed, removing unwanted printer drivers, renaming partitions and the best way to prepare for a clean install of Mac OSX.

As always, we welcome your suggestions and questions for next week; they should be left in the comments to this post. When asking a question please include which machine and which version of Mac OS X you're running. If you don't specify, we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac.

Okay, let's get to it.

Our first two questions today come from Quasimoto, who asks:

On my Macbook, is there a way I can keep my computer running without it having to automatically fall sleeping when I have my lid closed?

Absolutely. Just head on over to developer Semaja2's website and download the InsomniaX utility. This handy piece of software will keep your Mac running with the lid closed and prevent it from going to sleep. One thing to consider if you do decide to use this software, however: Even though Apple supports using a MacBook Pro, MacBook, MacBook Air and a Powerbook G4 with the lid closed, you may want to keep an eye on your laptop to help prevent any potential overheating issues. This is especially true if you plan on never letting the computer go to sleep using a tool like InsomniaX.

Quasimoto also asks:

I have a partition running Windows 7 perfectly, but when I'm on OSX, it shows that partition as 'Untitled' on my desktop. Is there a way to rename that partition to say 'Windows'?

Sure. It's as simple as using a tool you already have on your Mac: Disk Utility. Just go to Applications>Utilities>Disk Utility and double-click to run. Once open, select your Windows partition and then simply replace 'Untitled' with the name of your choice.
Continue reading Ask TUAW: Removing printer drivers, renaming partitions, running your Mac with the lid closed and more
TUAW Ask TUAW: Removing printer drivers, renaming partitions, running your Mac with the lid closed and more originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Jan 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Letter Opener: new life for winmail.dat files
Filed under: Software, Productivity

If you live in a world where you get email from Outlook users, and I think most of us do, you probably see the dreaded winmail.dat file on occasion. Outlook compresses all of its attachments together into one .dat file, leaving the rest of us scratching our heads as to what's inside. I've used TNEF'S Enough, a free utility for the Mac (mentioned last year by Mat) which will crack the files open for you. This week, however, I discovered Letter Opener.

Letter Opener is a Mail.app plugin which decodes the .dat files inline, so the process is transparent to you, the recipient. The attachments appear like any others, and life is that much easier. Letter Opener isn't cheap, and the utility vs. cost ratio is dependent on how many winmail.dat files you deal with on a daily basis. Prices range from $29.95US for a single license, to $179.95US for a 10-pack. More information and demo videos are available at the restoroot.com website.
TUAW Letter Opener: new life for winmail.dat files originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Jan 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Microsoft's Mactopia site offline this AM
Filed under: Odds and ends

Due to what we sincerely hope is a temporary technical glitch and not a policy decision, the Mactopia (microsoft.com/mac) site is inaccessible this morning; downloads pages are also offline, although the Office for Mac forums and blog are still coming up as expected and the Mac section of the main MS downloads area is available. Thanks to reader Matt for the tip, and thanks to commenters below reporting that the German version of the site is still up.

It's still the middle of the night at the MacBU offices, but if anyone can shed light on the problem we would appreciate it.

Update: The MacBU's Andy Ruff reports that he's looking into the issue.

Update II: It's back.
TUAW Microsoft's Mactopia site offline this AM originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Jan 2009 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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TUAW Review: iPhoto '09 is a pretty picture
Filed under: iLife, Multimedia, Software, Productivity, Reviews
As noted by Robert yesterday, the first boxed copies of iLife '09 reached users today. The two iLife '09 apps that have changed the most are garnering the lion's share of excitement this week. iMovie and iPhoto have some rather dramatic improvements, and I'll detail the iPhoto changes here.

Before you install, please note that the iLife '09 setup will nuke your older iLife apps. You'll need your original install disc to revert. I ran a Spotlight search and those old iLife apps are nowhere to be found. If you think you might want to roll back, be sure to back up your apps and your iPhoto library beforehand.

When you start up iPhoto for the first time it updates your libraries and starts an immediate search for faces in your photos. That search goes on in the background, so you can do other things with iPhoto at the same time.

Here's a rundown on the new features:

The most technically advanced feature is Faces. iPhoto now does some face recognition to help you automatically find people in your bushel of images. You start by identifying a face, and you enter the person's name. iPhoto will then suggest matches in your library, and you can confirm them with a click. iPhoto generates a cork board where you can see one example of each face you have identified. Double-click on that face and it displays all the other faces that match.

The technology is not perfect. It didn't get all the matches right, but when it was wrong I'd have to admit the person it found had a similar face. To try and trick it, I showed it a picture of a parrot. Although there were many similar shots of the same parrot, iPhoto utterly failed to match any of them. I think Faces wants human faces (although there are examples of penguins being recognized, and Mac|Life has tested it out successfully on feline faces).

Check out the gallery for some close ups of iPhoto features and controls, and read on for more notes on the updated features.

Gallery: iPhoto '09 Gallery

Continue reading TUAW Review: iPhoto '09 is a pretty picture
TUAW TUAW Review: iPhoto '09 is a pretty picture originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Mark Papermaster to serve as Apple's Senior Vice President of Devices Hardware Engineering
Filed under: Apple Corporate, Apple History
Earlier today, Apple announced that Mark Papermaster will become their Senior Vice President of Devices Hardware Engineering on April 24th. As such, he'll hold the reigns of the iPod and iPhone engineering departments.

As you may remember, Papermaster was recently involved in a lawsuit when IBM stated that his accepting the position would be a violation of their own noncompetitive agreement, citing fears that he'd divulge IBM trade secrets once inside 1 Infinite Loop. The case was finally settled, and while Apple has declined to comment on the details, IBM told CNET:
"IBM and Mr. Papermaster have now agreed on a resolution of the lawsuit under which Mr. Papermaster may not begin employment with Apple until April 24, 2009, six months after leaving IBM, and will remain subject thereafter to all of his contractual and other legal duties to IBM, including the obligation not to use or disclose IBM's confidential information."
Apple started courting Papermaster in 2008, and he finally made the jump to "...the opportunity of a lifetime." Good luck, Mark!

[Via Daring Fireball]
TUAW Mark Papermaster to serve as Apple's Senior Vice President of Devices Hardware Engineering originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple wins comprehensive patent for iPhone, bares teeth at Palm
Filed under: Apple Corporate, Odds and ends, iPhone
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded Apple patent number 7,479,949 covering key aspects of the iPhone's multi-touch user interface.

The filing, with 358 pages of drawings and Steve Jobs as its first author, comprehensively describes the iPhone operating system's interface, and how hardware on the phone interprets finger movements and taps as instructions for the software. The filing makes liberal use of the word "heuristics" -- a trial-and-error-based engineering technique that reduces the calculations necessary to arrive at a solution to a problem. Heuristics may not always be correct, but good heuristics result in something at least close to the right answer.

This patent, combined with Tim Cook's statement about protecting Apple's intellectual property during their first-quarter conference call, is a shot across the bow for Palm and their new Pre smartphone. Cook said that Apple would aggressively defend their IP, and a patent covering that IP is an important shield for Apple.

AppleInsider also notes that the patent covers features not seen on the iPhone, but interestingly are critical features of the Palm Pre. For example, Apple's patent mentions a touch-sensitive area that does not display visual output: a dead-ringer for the Pre's gesture area, separate from the touch screen.

The Pre uses multi-touch gestures as part of its webOS interface. If the technologies in Palm's devices are found to infringe on Apple's patents, Palm will either have to change the way the device works, or license the technology from Apple. The likelihood of Apple granting Palm a license is slim to none.

[Via AppleInsider.]
TUAW Apple wins comprehensive patent for iPhone, bares teeth at Palm originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Firefox 3 and MobileMe not working? It might be Ubiquity plugin
Filed under: Internet Tools, Troubleshooting, MobileMe
While this might not be news for everyone, reader Brad and I seemed to be having the same problem: Using Firefox 3, we would see the "unsupported browser" message pictured while trying to use me.com.

Obviously, Firefox 3 is a supported browser for MobileMe. A TUAW colleague gave it a try and found everything to work fine. Brad and I compared notes about what plugins we have in common, and found that Ubiquity was causing the problem.

It turned out to be related to the user-agent string: MobileMe uses the user-agent string to determine what browser you're using, and Ubiquity tacks on an extra bit at the end. For example, without Ubiquity installed, it shows Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10.5; en-US; rv:1.9.0.5) Gecko/2008120121 Firefox/3.0.5. With Ubiquity installed, it said Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10.5; en-US; rv:1.9.0.5) Gecko/2008120121 Firefox/3.0.5 Ubiquity/0.1.5. (Emphasis mine.)

Since MobileMe doesn't know what to do with the extra Ubiquity text at the end, it thinks you have an unsupported browser, and shows you that error.

The good news is that you can fix this, thanks to a simple technique from Tim Jarrett, and still use both Ubiquity and MobileMe. Read on to find out how.

Thanks, Brad!
Continue reading Firefox 3 and MobileMe not working? It might be Ubiquity plugin
TUAW Firefox 3 and MobileMe not working? It might be Ubiquity plugin originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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First Look: Fliq Tasks
Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Mark/Space has added another member to their rapidly growing family of iPhone file transfer applications. The new baby in the family is Fliq Tasks, which joins Fliq for Mac and Windows, Fliq Notes, and Fliq for iPhone.

As with Fliq for iPhone and Fliq Notes, Fliq Tasks is available in the App Store for free (click opens iTunes). Mark/Space is providing their iPhone applications for free, while charging for the Mac and Windows "host" software. Fliq for Mac and Fliq for Windows are available for US$19.95 (US$49.95 for a 3-pack) each.

If you want to transfer files between iPhones over a Wi-Fi network, all you need are the free iPhone apps. When you add the functionality of transferring information to and from your Mac or PC, you'll have to purchase the desktop applications.

Fliq Tasks is a full-featured task manager with big, clear, and easy-to-use interface similar to that found in Fliq Notes. Tasks can be listed by name, date due, category, and priority. You can add categories to better match them to your requirements, and there's a simple setting to hide completed tasks. Using the soon-to-be-released Fliq 1.1 for Mac or Windows, you'll be able to send or receive tasks from your iPhone to your big computer.

Current Fliq users should be sure to give Fliq Tasks a try, and the price is definitely right. Check out the mini-gallery below for more screenshots.

Gallery: FliqTasks
TUAW First Look: Fliq Tasks originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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iPhone/iPod touch 2.2.1 update available
Filed under: Software Update, iPhone, iPod touch

Apple has just updated the firmware for the iPhone and the iPod touch to 2.2.1. The list (at least for the iPod touch) looks like it is mostly bug fixes and stability improvements, but we're still searching for a full list of all the changes.

You can upgrade your phone or iPod's firmware by selecting, "check for updates" in iTunes.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
TUAW iPhone/iPod touch 2.2.1 update available originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Five iPhone games worth checking out
Filed under: Reviews, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

We had such a great response to our Six iPhone Games still worth playing that we decided to do a follow up. In this post, I'm going to tell you about 5 new iPhone games that are new, and look very promising.

Trivial ($4.99 each)
If you are a fan of trivia then you will love Trivial [iTunes link]. Trivial is interesting because it is not just one application -- it is actually a collection of six iPhone applications that together create a set of trivia games. There's an app for History, Movies, Pop Culture, Sciences, Sports, and Technology. Each Trivial app includes thousands of different questions that will tax your brain into thinking of the correct answer.

Trivial includes two great ways of playing the game: single player, or networked. In single player mode, you are able to choose between four different game types: Endless, Endurance, 100 Questions, and Timeless. Endless keeps throwing questions at you until you can't handle it any longer. Endurance will test your knowledge and reaction time by allowing you to answer questions until you get one wrong -- when you get one right, the scoring is based on how quickly you answered. 100 Questions allows you to answer a hundred questions in a row to see how many you get right. Timeless gives you the same great Trivial game without having to worry about the clock ticking. There is even an online score board that allows you to post your scores and compete against other Trivial players.

Playing a game of Trivial over the network is absolutely amazing. Handshake (an app by the same company) is the technology that powers Trivial's networked play feature. When you tap "Multiplayer" you have the ability to either host a new game or join a game that someone else set up. In addition, you can play against the computer. Joining a game is as simple as being in the same vicinity as the person you're playing against (the app uses Core Location to find your location using GPS/Cell Triangulation) or typing in someone's handle. You can easily choose any name you want under the "Settings."

In addition to all this, the application also includes several Pixel-licious themes to choose from (my favorite is Corkboard and Electronic Glow). The music in the game is also just too cool ... the pace of the music will change based on the difficulty of the question. If Trivia is your thing, this is a must-have. You can check out Trivial on the iTunes App Store -- each version is available for $4.99US each. My personal favorite versions is Trivial Science and Trivial Technology.

Gallery: Trivial

I Love Virus ($1.99)
I Love Virus: no really, I do. No, not those new Mac trojans, but the new iPhone game. The premise of the game is to follow a "young virus-in-training" as it makes its way through mazes and obstacles. The game is basically a cooler mixture of Dig Dug and Pac-Man.

As you move throughout the course you will receive different power-ups and abilities, some of which include the ability to eat enemies or speed up. There are over 30 different levels, each with their own styling. There are also three game modes (selectable in the settings): Regular, Clones Everywhere!, and Enemies Can Use Speed Power-ups -- each of these different types of game play can drastically change the the game.

You move the virus around by sliding your finger up/down/left/right to move throughout the maze. Since reviewing, an update has been issued to the App Store to allow the virus to move faster, it can also expand and contract when the virus accepts input. There is also better artwork. You can check out I Love Virus in the iTunes App Store for just $1.99US -- and that price will buy you several hours of gameplay.

Gallery: I Love Virus

Continue reading for more iPhone games worth checking out.
Continue reading Five iPhone games worth checking out
TUAW Five iPhone games worth checking out originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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How old is your oldest working Mac?
Filed under: Cult of Mac, Odds and ends, Apple, Apple History
A few months ago I brought my family's old Macintosh SE/30 to my home office. While it booted fine a few years ago, it looks like mine has developed SimasiMac, which means a trip inside the machine to replace a few capacitors (I hope). Along with the SE/30 I brought a Powerbook 540c, one of the more capable (and last) of the smaller, 68LC040-based laptops from Apple. The 500 series had numerous firsts, like a trackpad and sleep mode when you shut the lid, plus you could upgrade the CPU to a PowerPC chip.

Currently our 540c doesn't have much software on it, as we used Zip disks to store many of the educational programs my little brothers used in the 90's. It does, however, have a copy of SoftPC, and Windows 95 installed on it. Not two months ago my son sat here in the office and had a ball playing with Paint (why isn't there something like this pre-installed on Macs, hm?) and Minesweeper. He's playing with the calculator in the picture. I find it a little sad that we had to resort to Windows for casual fun, but I guess that's why Macs were never considered "toy computers" (that's sarcasm for those who missed the reference).

When the kids do play classic Mac OS games, I let them use my 500 MHz G3 iBook (the first of the "icebooks"), which not only runs Mac OS X and Mac OS 9, but has a version of TuxPaint for OS X, which I highly recommend. It should be noted that quite a few older Mac educational games won't run on the iBook. Often it's an issue with older versions of QuickTime expected by the program, or some funky extension or Director call that just won't work after OS 8.5 (remember Sherlock?).

You can see some really old Macs pulling serious duty over on Cult of Mac as well. But I want to know what you readers are running in the way of older Macs. What's the oldest Mac currently still living in your house, and what do you use it for? Oh, and if anyone has a copy of NetTrek they'd like to share...
TUAW How old is your oldest working Mac? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sketches updated to 1.5
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, iPhone, iPod touch
One of the first applications I used and enjoyed on my iPhone, Sketches, has updated to version 1.5. New in this version is the ability to change the alpha settings for colors (so you can change the opacity of the drawings you make on photos you take), and an edit mode for the corkboard view, to rearrange your drawings with. Additionally, they've moved uploaded photos off of a third-party server and onto their own page, so (for right now, anyway) no ads to get in the way. Not new in this app: a quality, fun, and surprisingly robust photo and image editor designed for the iPhone.

We've heard from the devs that there is a version 2 on the way as well, and both this version and that one are free to anyone who's purchased the app. But if you haven't picked it up yet, it is available for $4.99 over on the App Store, well worth it if you often take and share pictures with your iPhone.
TUAW Sketches updated to 1.5 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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First Look: Hurricane iPhone is heading your way
Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Many intense hurricanes in the last five years have caused tremendous damage to the the Gulf Coast and eastern US, so interest in keeping a constant eye on tropical storms has definitely increased. Last August, TUAW covered AccuWeather's tropical storm tracker for iPhone. While this information is part of the overall weather coverage available from AccuWeather, there's a recently updated iPhone app that is focused solely at hurricane watchers.

The aptly-titled Hurricane (click opens iTunes) from Kitty Code, LLC is chock-full of hurricane data. Not only do you get up-to-the minute info on tropical storms gone bad, but you can also look at historical information and storm tracks for just about every storm that has been recorded since 1851.

Hurricane first appeared in the App Store in October of 2008, and a recent update has added many more features that will be useful when the 2009 National Weather Service Hurricane Season officially kicks off on June 1st. Click the Read More link to see the details.
Continue reading First Look: Hurricane iPhone is heading your way
TUAW First Look: Hurricane iPhone is heading your way originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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iPhone is dominating independent gaming
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, Developer, iPhone, App Store, SDK, iPod touch
Our friends at Joystiq make a very insightful and very telling discovery: the iPhone more or less owns the finalist list for the 2009 Independent Games Festival Mobile category. 11 of the 14 contestants aren't on the Nintendo DS or PSP -- they're built and played on the iPhone and the iPod touch. The popular Fieldrunners and Igloo Games' Dizzy Bee are standouts, but even innovative games like Galcon and the pseudogame experience Ruben and Lullaby are being honored with nods.

Very, very telling -- the relatively low cost of entry into the App Store and the versatility of Apple's SDK makes the iPhone/iPod touch a dream platform for independent game developers, and clearly, even with less than a year of development time, Apple's handheld is making a big splash in the industry. Sure, there's still a few pricing hiccups that need to be worked out to get bigger developers on board in a big way, but for smaller and single person independent game developers, there's never been a better platform on which to make and market your games.
TUAW iPhone is dominating independent gaming originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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HanDBase for iPhone Giveaway
Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch
Back in November, we treated TUAW readers to a full review of HanDBase from DDH Software. HanDBase is a full relational database for the iPhone and iPod touch platforms, and it's easy to set it up to keep track of just about everything in your life.

DDH Software and TUAW have joined forces to let a lucky TUAW reader win a copy of HanDBase for iPhone plus their choice of either the PC Desktop and Desktop Conduit, or the Mac Desktop and the upcoming Desktop Conduit for Mac. You can read about the different versions of HanDBase here.

What do you need to do to enter? Just leave a comment with your idea for a database that you'd create with HanDBase on your iPhone or iPod touch. Good luck, and we look forward to seeing your creative answers!
- Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
- To enter leave a comment telling us what kind of database you'd create with HanDBase on your iPhone or iPod touch.
- The comment must be left before January 30, 11:59PM Eastern Time.
- You may enter only once.
- One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
- Prize: Promo code for free copy of HanDBase for iPhone ($9.99), and winner's choice of either the PC Desktop ($9.99) and Conduit ($14.99), or the Mac Desktop ($9.99) and upcoming Mac conduit ($14.99).
- Click Here for complete Official Rules.
TUAW HanDBase for iPhone Giveaway originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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iLife and iDVD 7.0.3 updates available
Filed under: iLife, Software Update
Apple just released two new updates for both iLife and iDVD. The iLife Media Browser Update will "improve overall stability and address a number of other minor issues," according to the update page.

In addition to the iLife update, Apple also updated the iDVD authoring software. iDVD 7.0.3 "improves overall stability and addresses a number of other minor issues."

Both of these updates are available to iLife '08 users. You can update using Software Update (Apple menu > Software Update) or by downloading the two installer packages from Apple's Support Downloads site. Note that these updates do not affect the newly released iLife '09.

Thanks to Tarun for the tip!
TUAW iLife and iDVD 7.0.3 updates available originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Walking with the stars
Filed under: Software, Education, Reviews, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
The popular astronomy application Star Walk [App Store link] $4.99 US, has been updated with some new features. You can now see meteor showers on screen, as well as connect to Wikipedia for more information on objects you have selected on the detailed star map.

Star Walk is probably the prettiest of the astronomy guides available for the iPhone and iPod touch. It nicely renders the dense clouds of the Milky Way, and has good visual details of the planets. It also has photos of the Messier objects, which are galaxies, star clusters and nebula.

Star Walk is location aware, so it can match what you see in the sky to what is on screen using the GPS, or you can select from 10,000 cities. You can change your location to anywhere on earth, and manipulate time to look forward and backwards. You could see what the skies were like on your birthday, or even what they looked like centuries ago or centuries ahead.

Things that could be improved would be on screen buttons that take you to the N, S, E, and W skies. The way things work now, you have to drag the map around. When you look up a Wikipedia item, it throws you out of the program. It would be better to build in a web-kit browser so you don't have to launch Star Walk again.

The app has no built in documentation. The company web site has a short PDF with more information. Although the skies in Star Walk are beautiful, most of the skies we see in real life are not. It would be nice to be able to dim the faint stars down to more accurately mimic what we see in the real world.

Nature lovers and amateur astronomers will like this program. Some of the other options at the app store include Distant Suns, [link] at $5.99 US which I have reviewed previously, and Starmap [link] $11.99 US..

Here are some screen shots:

Gallery: Star Walk
TUAW Walking with the stars originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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MotionX: Poker Quest
Filed under: Gaming, iPhone, iPod touch
One of the first apps I downloaded when I inherited my brother's old iPhone was MotionX Dice. It was brilliant in its execution: 3D dice rendered with loving detail, lots of custom dice and perfect use of the accelerometer. MotionX games are variations on a theme, however, and they've taken their MotionX Poker system, wrapped it in an Egyptian theme, and cranked up the fun. The game is simple: roll the dice to get a hand, choose which you keep and which you put back, and repeat until the hand is over.

What's the big deal about a dice-based poker app? Well, for one, it's one of those games you can pick up and play within seconds. Dice poker, for whatever reason, feels less like "real" poker, and my brain tends to relax more than it would playing a "real" poker game (such as Apple's Hold 'Em game). It's mostly a casual game, but there are enough stats and surprises to keep you playing after the initial gee whiz factor wears off.

To keep games fresh, designers often add unlockable content and statistics. With Poker Quest, the unlockables come in the form of additional themed dice, levels and "my treasures." The treasures are triggered when you achieve a notable event, like "Win ten career hands." The stats are plentiful including how much you've played, how much you've won, and a detailed breakdown on what hands you've had when you play. I didn't unlock any levels, but the gameplay shouldn't change, just your surroundings.

Dice poker games are relatively easy to craft and they are very easy to play. It's nice to see MotionX bringing some style to the genre, however. Their trademark animated 3D dice and gorgeous textured backdrops add just enough flair to the poker dice game to make things really fun for repeat play. If you're still not sold, try the free version of MotionX Poker Quest [App Store link]. The full version costs $2.99 [App Store link], which is a fair price if you like dice, poker or quick, casual games.

Gallery: MotionX Poker Quest
TUAW MotionX: Poker Quest originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Emoji on your iPhone :-)
Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone
Emoji, Japanese for "picture" + "letter," is a set of picture characters used in Japan much in the same way as emoticons here in the US. The Emoji pictographs, however, offer a wider variety of images than emoticons which are typically limited to just expressing an emotion or facial expression such as winking.

Emoji pictographs include the usual suspects from the emoticon gang as well as many others. Such gems as the top hat, a diamond ring for "txting" your wedding proposal, and also some holiday goodies like Santa, and a ghost are all part of the fun! For the majority of cell phones, Emoji is a Japanese-focused feature that is not implemented much in the US. Some, however, have already enabled the use of Emoji through a process that requires jailbreaking the iPhone.

There is a simpler way, however. We touched on the enabling of Emoji in a recent iPhone 101 article. This post over at MacTalk provides a very detailed step-by-step walkthrough for enabling Emoji on iPhones with firmware 2.2. Justine also covered this procedure for enabling Emoji over at her site.

The process involves purchasing and briefly using an application called FrostySpace ($0.99, iTunes link). The result is that a new international keyboard, "Emoji," is available for your use. Please note: FrostySpace is a ~~Japanese-language~~Taiwanese RSS feed reader that may be of limited utility for some users.

If you get this working (or don't) we'd love to hear about your experiences in the comments.

Thanks to Chris Pirillo and others for sending this in!
TUAW Emoji on your iPhone :-) originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Intego: Adobe CS4 crack app has variant of iServices trojan
Filed under: Security
The folks over at Intego let the world know about a new trojan making the rounds along with copies of an application designed to crack Adobe Creative Suite 4. They consider the risk "serious."

If you don't download software using peer-to-peer tools like BitTorrent, then you're perfectly safe. You can stop reading this story, if you like. If you're one of the 5,000 people who recently downloaded and installed the serial crack, then you have a bad day ahead of you.

The malware, after asking for your administrator password, installs an executable with a random name in /var/tmp, a folder that isn't deleted when the computer restarts.

The randomly-named program will install itself in /usr/bin/DivX, create a startup item in /System/Library/StartupItems/DivX, and if it has root privileges, save a hash of your password in the file /var/root/.DivX.

The software then listens on a random TCP port and awaits instructions from its evil overlords. With an infected computer's root password, those in control of the software will be able to execute commands on the infected computer, including deleting files and performing malicious network tasks.

Late last week, pirated copies of iWork '09 were infected with similar malware.

Intego VirusBarrier X4 and X5, as you might imagine, protect you against the Trojan. Either looking for (and removing) the files mentioned above or using a virus removal utility is recommended.

Also recommended: Not downloading pirated software (and their associated tools) on peer-to-peer networks. If you do choose to get your software that way, you have nobody to blame but yourself if your system gets infected.
TUAW Intego: Adobe CS4 crack app has variant of iServices trojan originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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What's wrong with buying apps for 99 cents?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, Odds and ends, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Dan Moren over at Macworld has picked up the App Store pricing gauntlet yet again. He somehow equates the iPhone's price dropping to $199 as a symbol that cheap people are shopping the App Store -- as if anyone who's interested in spending $199 on a phone can be called cheap. But he's starting from the right place: from AppCubby's donationware scheme (they sell apps for 99 cents and ask people to donate more on their site) to the Sound Grenade developer (he made a self-described "terrible" app in 20 minutes and threw it up on the App Store -- only to get hundreds of thousands of downloads), something is very weird in the world of apps for the iPhone and iPod touch.

Moren's final point seems to be that an excess of 99 cent apps is pushing the really talented developers out of business (because they can't make back what they put into the software by selling it for 99 cents), but there's still something wrong there. If someone can sell 100,000 copies of an app for a buck apiece (walking away with $70,000 after Apple's cut), why are the talented developers leaving? Surely you can make a quality app for less than $70,000, right?

We're obviously still closer to the beginning of how the App Store will eventually shape up rather than the end. It sure seems like developers who create worthwhile apps would find a way to pay for them, but if they can't, then yes, it might be worth another look at the pricing setup from Apple end.
TUAW What's wrong with buying apps for 99 cents? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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iLife '09 ships tomorrow
Filed under: Software

Apple issued a press release first thing this morning, noting that iLife '09, announced at Macworld, is shipping tomorrow for $79.

We covered iLife '09's major features, including face detection and geotagging for iPhoto, guitar and piano lessons for GarageBand, and another re-imagining of iMovie.

If you purchased a new Mac on or after January 6, you can upgrade to iLife '09 for $10. iLife is also available in a family pack: five licenses for $99. A box set that includes iLife, iWork, and Mac OS X is $169, and individual music lessons are available separately for $5 each.

iLife '09 requires Mac OS X 10.5.6 or later. It's available for purchase (among many locations) in the Apple Store online, at Apple retail stores, and Amazon.com.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
TUAW iLife '09 ships tomorrow originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Mac Automation: Looping Workflows
Filed under: Features, How-tos
Sometimes when working with Automator, you might want a workflow to loop (or go back to the first step and continue to run through the workflow). Automator includes an easy-to-use "Loop" action, and in this Mac Automation post, I'm going to show you how to use it.

Let's take a previous workflow that I wrote about: iCal to-dos. In this how-to, we got iCal to-dos sent to your mobile device via a simple workflow and e-mail. The method that I wrote about required you to send an email (and rely on mail rules) in order to retrieve your to-dos. However, with the looping action in Automator, you can easily automate this process.

Let's first build out the workflow by placing the following actions together (in the same order):
- Find Calendars In iCal
- New Mail Message
- Send Outgoing Messages
- Pause
Continue reading to learn more about the loop action.
Continue reading Mac Automation: Looping Workflows
TUAW Mac Automation: Looping Workflows originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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THQ Wireless releases Chop Sushi to the App Store
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, Developer, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Chop Sushi is a brand new game from our friends at THQ in the App Store that combines a love of the Japanese raw fish dish with an interesting twist on the kind of gem-matching battle gameplay that Puzzle Quest made famous (and addictive) a few years ago. It's still a matching game, except you're matching wasabi and rolls instead of gems and skulls, and instead of choosing one gem to switch another, you choose a piece and then swipe it to the end of a row or column, making a match anywhere on the board (as the rest of the pieces fill in for the one you moved). It's hard to explain, but easy to pick up, and tough to master -- the different movements make this one worth a look even if you've played Puzzle Quest or any of its spiritual successors 'till exhaustion.

Like other match-3 RPGs out there, there's both an adventure and a quick battle mode, as well as a challenge mode where you've got to match everything on the board together until it's all gone, so there's plenty of gameplay to go around. And the "slide" instead of "switch" mechanic keeps things fresh enough that you'll be looking for lots of new ways to make matches while playing. Chop Sushi is definitely worth a look -- it's in the App Store right now for $2.99.
TUAW THQ Wireless releases Chop Sushi to the App Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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iPhone Dev 101: Downloading and Installing the iPhone SDK
Filed under: Features, How-tos, Developer, iPhone, iPod touch

We're continuing our series of iPhone Dev 101 posts -- a TUAW feature devoted to beginning iPhone developers. I'm going to spend a little time talking about where to download and how to install the SDK. Let's first talk about what exactly an SDK is.

A software development kit is a set of tools and APIs (application programming interface) that allows a programmer the ability to develop for a specific system. Therefore, the iPhone SDK gives you the ability to program for the iPhone.

The SDK is just a waste of space on your hard drive unless you know the programming language associated with the iPhone. To program on the iPhone, you will need some Cocoa (Objective-C) knowledge. There are a ton of resources available online and in book form -- I'll cover these and more in the next post in the series. If you already know a programming language like C/C++/Java, then you should just need a refresher course on the classes, methods, and basic expressions.

To download Apple's iPhone SDK, you'll need an Apple ID -- this is a free account that you can use to access multiple Apple services including iTunes, Apple Discussions, the online store, and the developer site. If you don't have an account, you can easily get one on the iPhone Dev Center.

Continue reading to learn how to download and install the iPhone SDK.
Continue reading iPhone Dev 101: Downloading and Installing the iPhone SDK
TUAW iPhone Dev 101: Downloading and Installing the iPhone SDK originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 25 Jan 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Talkcast tonight, 10 pm ET: the Mac's 25th birthday show
Filed under: TUAW Business, Podcasts
Last week, the Mikes played a selection of your phone calls and best wishes for Steve Jobs. You can, of course, download the show from Talkshoe or subscribe in iTunes.

This week, Christina Warren, Steve Sande and I will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Mac platform, reminiscing about our first Mac experiences, and sharing our predictions for the next 25 years of Mac. We'll also discuss the news of the week, including Apple's first-quarter conference call, the White House's IT woes, and problems with bootleg copies of iWork '09. All this, and your input too! What could be better?

To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, or you can also use the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 pm Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VOIP lines (take advantange of your free cellphone weekend minutes if you like): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *-8. Talk with you then!

TUAW Talkcast tonight, 10 pm ET: the Mac's 25th birthday show originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 25 Jan 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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