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TheAppleBlog
TheAppleBlog, published by and for the day-to-day Apple user, is a prominent source for news, reviews, walkthroughs, and real life application of all Apple products.
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Today's Game Parade

Now that the iPod touch is a tried and true gaming platform, not an Apple event goes by that we don’t see a smattering of developers paraded up on stage to show off their shiny baubles. Today was no exception, with reps from Ubisoft, Tapulous, Gameloft and EA all making a brief appearance.

Each studio showed off one of its new titles. While not particularly enthralling when you’re watching mostly for the thrilling possibility of revolutionary software/hardware announcements by Apple itself, considered after the fact, there were some impressive showings from third party guests at today’s presentation.

Madden NFL 10

EA presented last, but announced a title that’s nearest and dearest to my heart. Just in time for the start of the NFL’s regular season, EA released Madden NFL 10 ($7.99, iTunes link) today, after demoing it onstage at the event. It’s on sale until the real kick-off this Thursday, too.

The game features all 32 NFL teams, real players, and real stadiums. The playbook isn’t too shabby either, with almost 300 plays available to choose from. You can also draw your own passing routes on the screen using your finger and the iPhone or iPod touch’s screen. Season play is included, and roster updates will be part of an upcoming feature update. The game also auto-saves the state on exit, so you never have to worry about losing your game when you take a call.

Nova

Gameloft also got some facetime at today’s event, and it took advantage of the opportunity to show off its new first person shooter. Called Nova, it features a space marine hero (original!) blasting aliens, presumably in space somewhere.

Nova makes use of Gameloft’s powerful 3D graphics engine that’s found in titles like Modern Combat: Sandstorm, and has a similar control scheme, with movement on the left and firing controls on the right. Multiplayer via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi is supported, as is iPod library access. Is it Halo called something else? Is Gangstar actually GTA? Either way, Gameloft is very adept at what it does, even if it’s actually only what other people have already done, except smaller.

Nova will be available later in the year. No word on pricing yet, but expect it to be somewhere around the $10 mark.

Riddim Ribbon

Presumably pronounced “Ride’em Ribbon,” this game puts you in the DJ/driver’s seat. It’s by Tapulous, makers of Tap Tap Revenge, and it follows in the popular rhythm game’s footsteps. You race down a ribbon track, and you have to follow the groove and create a dynamic track in the role of DJ in order to further your progress.

You control your racer via tilt, and use the accelerometer to jump at certain points. The Black Eyed Peas will provide featured music for the game. Completing a track essentially remixes it, and you can then share that remix with others online. Pricing and availability have not yet been announced.

Assassin’s Creed 2

French Studio Ubisoft showed off the sequel to its flagship title, Assassin’s Creed today. Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery puts new emphasis on the fighting aspect of the game, featuring more realistic combat.

There are also some interesting iPhone-exclusive features, like the ability to take a photo of yourself and use it in wanted posters in the game. The iPhone and iPod touch version will be a puzzle and platform-based side-scroller, unlike its open world console counterpart. The game’s setting does match the console’s Renaissance-era backdrop, though. Expect it sometime later this year.

A lot of these games look like they will be pushing the envelope of iPod gaming, which is probably why Apple chose to highlight them today. The only one I’m picking up for sure is Madden, but that’s because I’m a degenerate Madden addict, no matter the platform. Any of these catch your eye today?

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Welcome Back: Steve Jobs Returns to the Stage

The punditry were divided on whether Jobs would even show for today’s press event. Those opining he wouldn’t show claimed it was a nothing announcement — just a product refresh; no iTablet, why bother? He was done being the public face of Apple and was turning the keynotes over to Phil Schiller, VP of Marketing. He was still too weak to manage an event.

Jobs proved them wrong and surprised everyone by not only making an appearance at the “It’s Only Rock and Roll” event, he resumed his role as Master of Ceremonies.

Looking thin and a tad gaunt in his first appearance after a six-month medial leave, Jobs said to a standing ovation, “I now have the liver of a mid-20s person who died in a car crash and was generous enough to donate their organs, and I wouldn't be here without such generosity.” Seeing how thin he is now — and assuming he’s put on some weight since his transplant — I hate to think about how thin he got.

While much has been said and joked about Jobs being the Leader of the Faithful, it was important for me to see him on stage again. It was important for me to see him take the reins and show he’s back at what, for all intents and purposes, was a meaningless event.

While Jobs makes products I enjoy using — and am able to pocket some coin writing about — I’m just happy to see him alive and well. It was nice to see him acknowledge the adoration of the Faithful and admit that he is human, and that had he not received the transplant, he would be dead. That’s a far cry from a “hormone imbalance.”

So, welcome back, Steve. We’ve missed you. It’s good to see you again.

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iPhone OS 3.1 Brings More Ways to Give Apple Your Money

Sometimes I think to myself, “How can I get more of my money into Apple’s coffers?” Apparently Apple knows this is a concern of mine, so it introduced direct ringtone purchasing in iPhone OS 3.1. That’s not all that’s there, but it is one of the major changes in this incremental update.

Also new in 3.1 is a relaxation of the API limitations! Just kidding. But there are some nice user-side improvements that make it easier to forget about all the fuss surrounding the App Store lately.

Genius

Apple’s dubiously named Genius recommendation engine comes to the App Store in 3.1. The service will check what you’ve already installed on your device and return results based on those selections. Thus far, I’m none too impressed with the mental acuity of Genius for Apps, which seems to be largely keyword-based.

iPhone OS 3.1 also supports the new Genius Mixes feature available in iTunes 9. iTunes will automatically create up to 12 playlists based on what’s in your library, without you even having to select a track as a starting point.

Home Screen

Finally, there’s a way to organize your various iPhone and iPod touch Home screens that isn’t painfully slow and liable to drive you completely nuts. With iPhone 3.1 and iTunes 9, you’ll be able to rearrange app icons visually on your computer, and then sync that arrangement to your portable device.

You can even select and drag multiple apps at once, and change the order of entire Home screens at a time, just like you should’ve been able to do from the start.

Syncing and iTunes

With iTunes 9 and OS 3.1, you should see improved syncing for all media, including new sync options like the ability to sync Faces from iPhoto ‘09. Students can organize their iTunes U content, and you can now redeem gift cards and promo codes in the App Store application. You can also see how much credit is available in your account right on your device.

As mentioned above, you can now download ringtones wirelessly from the iTunes store on your device. That means it’s far easier to spend $1.29 on something that will give you at best a week’s worth of pleasure and those around you months of agony and annoyance.

Video

As seen in early builds of iPhone OS 3.1, video editing is now non-destructive thanks to a new “Save as new clip” option that preserves the original. You can also save received videos from email and MMS into your Camera Roll, making them easier to review and share with others.

Many Little Things

iPhone OS 3.1 also brings a whole host of small changes and adjustments, including a fix for that nasty icon display issue, anti-phishing measures in Safari, Voice Control access via Bluetooth headsets, phone number pasting in the Phone app, and maybe most impressive, the ability to remotely lock your iPhone with a passcode for MobileMe users.

My early hands-on experience with 3.1 also seems to indicate that general performance is much improved, resulting in much snappier, tighter OS performance overall. Bugs will no doubt raise their ugly heads, but for now, it’s all roses. Just plug your iPhone or iPod touch in and click the “Check for Updates” button in iTunes to get rolling.

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Apple Refreshes Prices On Entire iPod Line

At the Apple Event today, Steve Jobs and company unveiled the fall lineup of iPods. The biggest change was the iPod nano, but every iPod got a little bit of love, be it increased capacity or decreased price.

iPod touch: The new “magic price point” of $199 has 8GB, with two upsell models at 32GB and 64GB for $299 and $399, respectively. The 16GB model disappears and the rumored camera never appeared, but according to Apple this is still the “funnest” iPod ever.

iPod nano: Two models, 8GB at $149 and 16GB at $179. Both models have new features, including: camera, FM radio, and pedometer. All are available in seven shiny, metallic colors: silver, black, purple, blue, green, orange, and pink. There are also the Apple Store exclusives, Product RED, and a yellow/gold.

iPod shuffle: Two primary models, a new 2GB at $59, and a 4GB at $79. There are five colors: silver, black, blue, green, and pink. There is also a 4GB stainless steel model for $99. The tiny music player with the creepy voice—in my opinion—now works with more headphones, too.

iPod Classic: 160GB, $249, two colors, a grayish white and black. The classic got a capacity increase and kept its price. Apparently the rumored demise of the media player with the mechanical hard drive appears to have been greatly exaggerated, unless we’re talking about the Zune.

Clearly, the iPod nano will be the gift to give and/or receive this Christmas, but once again Apple has managed to successfully refresh the media player lineup. Expect the company to sell between 20 and 25 million iPods for the holiday quarter, same as the previous three years.

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iTunes 9: LPs, Home Sharing, Redesign and More

Today Steve Jobs made a surprise appearance at the media event and announced iTunes 9. It’s packed full of new features including a major overhaul of the iTunes Store. Read on for details on all the updates.

iTunes LP

One of the downsides of digital music has been the lack of interactivity that you once got from handling album packaging. Apple has brought their own version of this back and its calling it iTunes LP.

iTunes LP is a way to interactive with new content including videos, photos, lyrics, discography, liner notes and more. Many of the LPs were created by the artists themselves.

Home Sharing

Home Sharing makes home networking work for you in that you can now share music, shows, and movies with up to five other authorized computers on you network. Secretly digging that new Britney Spears album your sister bought? Just grab it from her iTunes library and move it to yours. And then promptly punch yourself in the face for every digging Britney Spears.

iTunes Store Redesign

The iTunes store has been needing a facelift for quite a while. And a facelift it most certainly received!

Everything from the home page to artist pages, album pages, TV shows, and movie pages all received a major redesign.

In addition to the redesign is a new feature (one that I’ve wanted since the store debuted) called Wish List…and it’s exactly what you think it is. You can now add albums, songs, movies, shows to your Wish List to check out later and possibly purchase.

Genius Mixes

The iTunes Genius got a bit of an upgrade with a new featured called “Genius Mixes.” Genius Mixes automatically creates up to a dozen mixes of songs that it thinks would go great together.

App Organization

A much requested feature has been the ability to organize apps right in iTunes instead of fumbling through a half dozen screens trying to move tiny icons around with your finger. Now you can do just that.

Overall this is a much needed, and much welcomed update to iTunes and the iTunes Store. What are your favorite updates so far?

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iPod Nano Gains Camera, Microphone and Speaker, Larger Screen

So it seems like case manufacturers were only half right when it came to their designs for new iPods. The iPod touch didn’t get a camera at today’s special “Rock and Roll” Apple event, but the iPod nano did.

Not only that, but it also got a built-in mic and speaker, which makes sense when you consider that people will be using it to record video. Yes, the camera it received is not just for stills, and is intended to position Apple’s svelte media player as a direct competitor with the Flip portable video recorder.

Video Camera

New nano owners will be able to record up to eight or 16 hours of video, depending on whether they opt for the 8 or 16GB version. You won’t have to squint quite as much to review your footage, either, thanks to the new 2.2-inch 240×376 pixel TFT display. Video will record at 640×480 pixels, at up to 30 FPS. It’ll be H.264 VGA formatted with AAC audio.

It’s not HD, but it’s also much smaller and cheaper than Flip’s HD offerings. Flip’s SD cameras offer similar quality to the new iPod nano, at the same price as the 4GB model, but without the media player functions, and with far, far less onboard storage.

Video can also be recorded with a variety of iSight-style special effects and filters, including Sepia, Motion Blur, Mirror, etc. Once synced with your Mac via iPhoto, it’s easy to share and publish your recordings to Facebook, MobileMe, and YouTube automatically, without any third-party conversion required.

Voice Recording and VoiceOver

Video isn’t the only new trick in the nano’s bag, either. It gains the VoiceOver functionality first introduced by necessity in the button-less and display-less iPod shuffle, and gets a Voice Recorder app like the iPhone and iPod touch.

FM Tuner and Tagging

There’s also a built-in FM tuner that not only allows you to listen to FM radio, but actually displays track and artist information for what you’re hearing. Plus, you can Live Pause, which if you have a PVR is like pausing, rewinding, and fast-forwarding live television, except with FM broadcasts. The iPod nano automatically stores up to 15 minutes of what you’re listening to for rewind purposes.

You can also tag tracks using the nano’s click wheel so that you can preview or buy them the next time you sync your device. Beware, though, the tagging feature is only available in the U.S. as of now, and only on stations that support it.

Pedometer

Finally, there’s a new built-in pedometer so you can track your daily steps. You can set a daily goal through the pedometer app, or just set it to “Always On.” No word on how this will affect battery life, but I can’t imagine it will help it.

The new iPod nano is available today in a variety of colors and in 8GB and 16GB formats, priced at $149 and $179 respectively. As of this writing, all models are showing a 24-hour shipping window. I’m definitely intrigued, but I think I’ll wait until reports of camera performance start to roll in.

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Tune In to TheAppleBlog for Live Updates of Today's Apple Event

TheAppleBlog will be at Apple’s invite-only press event this morning providing you with live updates and photos. The event starts at 10AM PDT, though we will start providing updates approximately 90 minutes before.

As a reminder, you can get your live coverage fix form us via the following two methods:

TheAppleBlog Live — This is the fastest way to get updates, and the most interactive. In addition to our own updates (with text and photos), you can send in a comment/thought/observation and if we feel it’s relevant, we’ll post it for the thousands of others reading the updates.

TheAppleBlog Twitter — We’ll be tweeting updates here, so be sure to follow @theappleblog.

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Songbird Gets a New Set of Wings

Pioneers of the Inevitable, makers of Songbird, the open-source alternative to iTunes, has just secured a new round of financing, saving it from death and placing its platform more aggressively as a competitor to Apple's venerable media player.

According to TechCrunch, Pioneers of the Inevitable's $8 million in venture funding from Sequoia Capital and Atlas Ventures ran out earlier this year. Shortly thereafter, so too did its Founding CEO, Rob Lord. According to Michael Arrington, Lord's departure left the company "…without a game plan."

Now the company has a new CEO, Jerrell Jimerson, a big bag of cash (again from Atlas but not Sequoia, who backed-out of this round of funding) and, most importantly, a deal in the works with Phillips to include Songbird (or software based on Songbird) in no fewer than five million of its music players. (No, I didn't know they still made music players, either. Seriously, do you know anyone with a Phillips music player?)

Sounds like, just maybe, they have a new game plan.

Songbird is, on the Mac at least, possibly the best free alternative media player to iTunes. And not just because it looks like iTunes, either. It's fast, customisable and integrates well with online services such as 7digital Music Store, Flickr, YouTube, SHOUTcast Radio and Last.fm.

Mind you, it doesn't yet manage CD ripping, and if you're looking to play video files in a consistent and enjoyable manner, I recommend you look elsewhere (you can't go wrong with VLC). And while not every single model of iPod in history is fully supported by the software (which is to say, it will work but it's not guaranteed to work perfectly) the developers are "working on it" and offer links to various plugins that offer expanded compatibility.

At one time Songbird was important because it did what Apple's iTunes could not; it offered freedom from digital rights managed nonsense. But now that iTunes Plus offers high(er) quality digital downloads free from DRM silliness, Songbird again must offer something more in order to be a viable — and attractive — alternative. And it does. You see, at its core Songbird is a web browser, based on none other than Mozilla code. It provides hooks into social networking services and popular online media sites. It offers easy expandability and added functionality from a huge open-source community of developers and enthusiasts. So it not only offers (almost) everything iTunes can offer, but it brings much more to the table.

All this added functionality isn't new; but a distribution deal with a major consumer electronics manufacturer is new, and may be enough to give Songbird new wings. (You know I'd use that pun sooner or later, right?)

Even if the rumours are true and iTunes does get social (with Facebook and/or Twitter integration of some kind or another) it won't be beating Songbird, it will only be taking one tentative step in the direction Songbird has already flown.

I won't make any bold claims about Songbird being an iTunes killer — that's just crazy-talk. The vast majority of iPod owners don't care too much (if at all) if their media acquisition and management choices are artificially limited by Apple. They're probably not even aware of it. I am aware of it, though still don't care enough to want to migrate away from iTunes.

But with this new lease of life, and the promise of major mainstream distribution, Songbird is suddenly on my radar as an interesting, viable option.

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iPod Price Drop Ahead of Apple Event

Hours before the “Only Rock and Roll” event takes place in San Francisco, the Apple Store has slashed prices on some the current iPod models.

The new numbers are still in the process of being posted, with parts of the Apple Store referencing old prices, but the savings are real and substantial.

The 8GB iPod touch now costs $189, a $40 discount, while the 16GB model is now $249, a $50 reduction. However, big savings are to be had for the 32GB model, now $279, a whopping $120 price cut. Other iPods saw cuts, too. The 8GB iPod nano has dropped to $129, down from $149, and the 16GB model is now $149, previously $199. The iPod Classic, rumored to be phased out today, is now $229, down from $249. The price of the iPod shuffle remains unchanged.

While it’s debatable whether the new pricing will extend to the iPods expected to be unveiled today, the new prices on old models of the iPod touch may impact consumers considering Microsoft’s Zune HD. The 16GB Zune HD, to be released on Sept. 15, will retail for $219.99, while the 32GB model will cost $289.99. This means Apple has effectively undercut the Zune HD, at least on the high-end. It will be interesting to see whether Microsoft will lower prices again, or give up the pricing talking point, which wouldn’t really leave much to talk about regarding the Zune HD.

However, there will be a lot to talk about today, starting at 10 a.m. PDT, and TheAppleBlog will be covering it live.

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Oh No! Ono Lets Slip: Beatles Music to Be on iTunes…Maybe

For a very brief time yesterday, Sky News reported that, finally, The Beatles would make their musical debut on iTunes. The source for the report? None other than Yoko Ono herself. But don't go fire up iTunes too soon; both the Sky News report and Google's own cache have quickly, and quietly, been pulled from the web. Quite an achievement, really.

According to TechCrunch, the headline made the unequivocal claim, "The whole of the Beatles back catalogue will be made available to buy on iTunes, Ono has told Sky News."

The URL for Sky's report is still to be found on Google, but now the web page awaiting hopeful Fab Four fans sports a rather glum "Error" message from Sky. So what happened?

9 to 5Mac reports a Sky employee told them that the order to remove the news story "came from the very top." Meanwhile, EMI Global Catalogue President Ernesto Schmitt yesterday told The Financial Times, "Conversations between Apple and EMI are ongoing, and we look forward to the day when we can make the music available digitally. But it's not tomorrow."

So where does this leave us? If Ono is wrong and the story was indeed in error, a responsible (not to mention more normal) response from Sky News would be to retract the original report and explain its reasons for doing so. But talk of directives "from the top" fuels speculation that this is frantic damage control ahead of the special music-themed event Apple is holding later today. If Apple wants to announce the Beatles' iTunes premiere with appropriate fanfare, the last thing it needs is Ono shooting her mouth off to the world's press ahead of time.

Consider this: If Ono's premature announcement proves true, and the Mop Tops are about to appear on the iTunes Store, should we be impressed — or deeply concerned — that Apple can exercise such influence (control?) over a major news organization? Last time I checked, Sky News and Apple are not the same company, don't share the same board of directors, and don't have any business dealings with one another. Getting the jump on one of Apple's best-kept-secrets is any news publisher's dream, particularly when it's such big news, of interest not only to the industry but also to the general public. There's no danger of litigation here; Sky has a source, a fairly reputable source, at that. So why not run with the story?

At this point, all we do know for sure is that 09/09/09 is a red letter day. Apple is holding a special event. The Beatles are launching their digitally remastered back catalogue in (at least) CD format. Harmonix is today launching the much-anticipated "The Beatles Rock Band" on all major console platforms.

For music fans, it's a big day for announcements and releases. Just not if you're Sky News — or Yoko Ono.

Stay tuned to TheAppleBlog's live coverage of Apple's special music event later today.

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