Fresh Apple: TheAppleBlog (5 сообщений)

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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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App Store Boasts a Fresh New Look

Frequent visitors to the App Store in iTunes will notice a new look for individual apps. Bringing more of the app “above the fold,” the new look gives more real estate to screenshots, allowing all of them to be seen at a glance or just a quick scroll away.

A nice feature is the streamlined description area, which has been “tamed” for the developers who tend to abuse the area, filling it with excessive information and keywords in an attempt to gain favor in the App Store search results. The new system truncates the description past a certain point, allowing the rest to be disclosed upon clicking a “more” link.

New App Store Look

Also highlighted along the left side is a more organized view of the specifics of the app (version, developer and rating) as well as a quick way to see the most popular apps also by the same developer.

Recommendations based on other user’s purchases are now along the bottom, augmented by the inclusion of the app’s icon, which is a nice addition.

New Visual Recommendations

At the moment, featured apps that have custom designed pages (like Twitterrific) still use the original look, but it’s likely that Apple will migrate them over to the new style soon.

For comparison, check out the screenshots below of the same app. What do you think of the new look? Does it highlight the app better? Do you find it more useful or usable?

iTunes 8 & Earlier App Store Interface

iTunes 8 & Earlier App Store Interface

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Supposed Apple Tablet Video Surfaces

Late Friday, French website Nowhereelse.fr posted a YouTube video it claims is footage of the mythical Apple tablet that has long been the source of many a rumor. The video is quite convincing, as you can see for yourself in the embedded clip below:

The tablet isn’t doing any of the amazing things we’ve heard about, like acting as an e-reader for a new magazine format. Instead, its user appears to be shopping for IKEA furniture or something similar. Regardless, the UI and hardware design does look like something that Apple could’ve made. Note also the tantalizing images of past Apple products in the background, including the Apple Newton.

It could be an elaborate fake, of course, and the video quality isn’t terrific, but it isn’t bad either. So far, this is the best example I’ve seen of a tablet rumor that could turn out to be solid evidence of what’s to come from the Mac maker. Thoughts?

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There's (Not) An App for That: 10 Apps Only Available for Jailbroken iPhones

Where does a wayward app go after being rejected by the Apple? Sometimes it valiantly tries to meet Apple’s approval, constantly guessing Apple’s whim and fancy. Other times, a developer doesn’t even try. They know their app won’t get approved and ignore the App Store entirely.

Where do these rogue apps go? On jailbroken phones everywhere! Of course, jailbreaking is not without some serious risks and security holes. While there may be some bad apples on jailbroken phones, here are the plums I’ve picked out of Cydia. Apple should take note of some of these features and incorporate them in the next version of the iPhone software. Of course I’ve only heard about these apps from friends. I’d never dream of jailbreaking my iPhone…

GV Mobile (Free)
GV Mobile lets you easily make outgoing phone calls from Google Voice, listen to Google Voice voicemails, and send and receive SMS messages. While most Google Voice functionality is available from the website in Safari, having a native app makes using Google Voice much easier. This is the app that’s so much in demand, it inspired an FCC inquiry.

SBSettings (Free)
SBSettings places many common iPhone settings, such as toggling Wi-Fi, Airplane mode, and 3G a single tap away, no matter what you are doing on the phone. Why should it take six taps to turn off Bluetooth? It also makes it easy to hide the icons for built-in apps that you never use, freeing up space on your iPhone screen (does anyone really use the Stocks app?)

Rotation Inhibitor (Free)
With all respect to Dead or Alive, sometimes you don’t spin me right round baby right round. Anyone who has tried to use Safari on his iPhone while laying down in bed knows the frustration of having the iPhone’s screen rotation go crazy, switching back and forth repeatedly. Rotation Inhibitor does one thing: it locks the screen into your preferred orientation and prevents the screen from rotating when using Apple’s built-in apps, like Safari and Mail. Finally, you can surf in peace when you are lounging on the couch!

QuickReply for SMS ($2.99, Cydia store)
The way the iPhone currently works, when you receive an SMS message, you can view the message but not reply without quitting what you are doing and opening the SMS app. QuickReply for SMS allows you to reply to incoming SMS messages from anywhere on the iPhone without switching apps. A small “Reply” button is added to the normal SMS message window; tap it, type your reply, and send! This is an elegant and amazing time-saver for anyone who frequently uses text messaging.

3g Unrestrictor ($2.99, Cydia store)
The iPhone OS restricts you from doing many tasks when you are on the 3G network, including download apps or podcasts larger than 10MB, as well as using many IP telephony or streaming video apps. 3G Unrestrictor essentially “fools” the iPhone into thinking it is on a Wi-Fi network, even when it is not, allowing Wi-Fi restricted functionality to operate normally. Of course, 3G is slower than Wi-Fi, so you can’t expect identical performance, but the key is that this app gives you the choice.

ToneFX ($4.99, Cydia store)
The iPhone lets you pick your own ringtone, but you are not permitted to customize the sounds for things like SMS message received, new mail message, and new voicemail message. This has always struck me as an odd omission since even the cheapest throwaway cell phone lets users customize these sounds! Riding to the rescue is ToneFX, which has a great GUI allowing you to customize every sound the iPhone makes. Finally, you won’t be the one reaching into your pocket when you hear the iPhone SMS sound because yours will be different.

Winterboard (Free)
Winterboard is the premier iPhone skinning application, allowing you to customize the look and feel of the iPhone. Winterboard can be used to change iPhone icons for installed apps, as well as changing the look of the lock screen, app screens, dock, and more. You can choose from hundreds of tasteful and not-so-tasteful themes contributed by designers around the world, or if you are technically inclined and artistic, try your own hand at making themes.

AutoSilent ($2.99, Cydia store)
AutoSilent is like an intelligent secretary for your iPhone who will automatically place your phone into silent mode when you want it to. AutoSilent integrates with your calendar and knows to place the phone into silent mode during meetings. You can also set repeating “do not disturb” periods, for example, from 10PM to 8AM, guaranteeing you won’t get woken up by a wrong number in the middle of the night. AutoSilent also has selective silencing, for example it can turn off SMS sounds, but allow phone calls to ring through. This is my vote for the next feature to be blessed by Apple.

Intelliscreen ($9.99, Intelliborn)
Intelliscreen makes your iPhone lock screen useful, by displaying various pieces of information that you choose, such as forthcoming appointments, weather forecasts, and incoming email messages. It can also display a complete missed call list. These are great enhancements over Apple’s use of the lock screen, which is limited to showing a single missed phone call or incoming message. Intelliscreen gives you the ability to quickly glance at all your important information with a single tap and without unlocking your phone. Rumor has it this will be in the next iPhone OS.

Inspell ($3.99, Cydia store)
Inspell provides the same type of “inline” spell checking that you are familiar with from the Mac OS. As you type, misspelled words are highlighted with a red underline; tapping on the misspelled word brings up a menu with suggested corrections. It works seamlessly and feels like something that is built in to the phone’s OS, and is a great enhancement to the normal suggestive typing. As a bonus, you can edit the dictionary, making is easy to add custom terms — a feature Apple’s built-in suggestive typing doesn’t offer.

I hear from friends that these rogue apps make an iPhone a lot more useful and fun to use then it was without them. Jailbreaking the iPhone isn’t something every iPhone user will want to do, but for those who take the jump, there are some really cool apps out there. Have you jailbroken your iPhone? If so, what are your favorite unofficial apps?

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DEFCON 1: Apple Countersues Nokia

In response to a lawsuit filed by Nokia alleging infringement on 10 patents related to wireless standards and technologies, Apple has countersued based on 13 patents of its own.

In a short, acerbic press release, Apple General Counsel Bruce Sewell smacked Nokia down, stating that “other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours.” That sounds strikingly similar to Nokia VP of Legal & Intellectual Property Ilkka Rahnasto, who said back in October that Apple was “attempting to get a free ride on the back of Nokia's innovation.”

Nokia’s lawsuit related to GSM, UMTS, and wireless LAN standards for “wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption.” Apple’s countersuit (PDF) covers 13 patents on a variety of technical and eye-glazing minutia, from “real-time signal processing system for serially transmitted data” to “boot framework architecture for dynamic staged initial program load.” More obviously related to the iPhone, there are patents relating to the graphical user interface and touch-screen display, not that it matters which patents are named.

Normally, companies like Apple and Nokia protect themselves from patent lawsuits in the same way nuclear powers stockpile atomic bombs, the principle being mutually assured destruction through litigation. That principle may no longer apply. While Nokia and its Symbian OS still control the largest share of the mobile phone market, that share is declining. As a result, the company intends to halve its smartphone portfolio, and has recently begun closing retail outlets. Perhaps that’s why the company sounded a little like North Korea in making demands for licensing its intellectual property.

That appears to have been a mistake, at least if one takes Apple’s counter claims at face value. John Paczkowski at Digital Daily found the juicy bits first. After praising its own iPhone as a “revolutionary change” in mobile phones, Apple launched a counterstrike against Nokia’s lack of innovation.

In contrast, Nokia made a different business decision and remained focused on traditional mobile wireless handsets with conventional user interfaces. As a result, Nokia has rapidly lost share in the market for high-end mobile phones. Nokia has admitted that, as a result of the iPhone launch, "the market changed suddenly and [Nokia was] not fast enough changing with it.

Duck and cover, baby. Even better, Apple quoted Nokia VP Anssi Vanjoki in a conversation about the iPhone.

If there is something good in the world, we copy with pride." True to this quote, Nokia has demonstrated its willingness to copy Apple's iPhone ideas as well as Apple's basic computing technologies, all while demanding Apple pay for access to Nokia's purported standards essential patent. Apple seeks redress for this behavior.

It looks like DEFCON 1 is on.

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Why the Cloud Won't Seduce Me From My Mac, At Least Not Yet

The rhetorical question du jour on the Mac Web seems to be whether the traditional Mac advantage is eroding due to increased reliance on “the Cloud,” or not. Are online applications and utilities, such as the impressive suite of free functionality marshaled by Google, making the rationale for owning a Mac instead of some bore bare-bones Web access device obsolete?

After all, that’s at least the theoretical argument (aside from low-ball pricing) for the PC mini-note or netbook phenomenon, and it’s certainly resonating with some. Recently, blogger and Mac veteran Mike Doyle announced that he is “dumping Apple” after 15 years as a Mac-user, saying he’s finally lost patience with what he calls Steve Jobs’ “you’ll use your computer the way we tell you to use your computer method of customer relations.”

A Thorough Purge

Mike is doing a thorough purge, switching to Gmail and Google Calendar in place of Apple’s Mail and iCal applications, allowing that Google’s Web apps are not only more robust than Apple’s desktop counterparts, but happily free.

Formerly an avowed staunch Apple evangelist, he’s now become an incisive critic of Apple under the regime of Mr. Jobs, particularly what he perceives as an overall marketing strategy concentrating primarily on attracting PC converts — ie. dumbed-down to accommodate a lower common denominator class of user, with a bundled suite of closely interlinked but relatively mediocre “iLife” programs that meet the basic needs and tastes of average, non power users, but not much more.

Mike is fed up with Apple routinely and superciliously releasing software and system updates that break popular third-party applications and add-ons, expecting Mac-users to just suck it up.

“As good as Mac OS X?”

Doyle’s frustration led him to do an audit of Apple software he actually uses anymore, and didn’t come up with much, noting that Google and other open source, third-party applications’ ease of use has drawn him more and more into the cloud. He’s dumped Safari for Firefox and NetNewsWire, replaced Apple Pages and MS Word with Google Docs for word processing, disabled the Dock in favor of DragThing, and migrated his library of 15,000 photos out of iPhoto and into Picasa.

He still uses iTunes, but that’s about it, so he no longer perceives a compelling argument for continuing to use a Mac, especially with the release of Windows 7, observing that when perennial Wall Street Journal Mac fanboy Walt Mossberg called Win7 “as good as Mac OS X” that pretty much sealed the deal for him. He’s commencing a gradual switch to Windows 7, first running it in a virtual machine on his MacBook, and says his next computer will be a PC.

Now, this all makes considerable rational sense, and a lot of it resonates with my own ruminations these days. One difference however, is that having been a consummate Mac (although not necessarily Apple) fanboy for 17 years now, I’ve never been really smitten by Apple-branded software, other than the sublime Mac OS itself, since very early on. The last non-system Apple application I was really a cheerleader for was HyperCard, and Mr. Jobs pulled the plug on that about a dozen years ago.

From the early days I used Word, then other third-party apps, for word processing and text-crunching. I bought, and tried to like MacWrite 2, but soon gave up on it, and I always found ClarisWorks/AppleWorks a disappointing jack of all trades and master of none. I’m not a fan of Pages either, and soon gave up on it after giving it a fair shake.

Ditto for iPhoto. I’m a fan of Adobe’s Photoshop Elements, which since version 6 has come bundled with Adobe’s Bridge CS3 or 4 photo browsing, organization, and management application, which is a much more satisfactory solution than iPhoto (albeit more costly).

Chrome Already My Favorite Browser

I use Safari some, but it’s probably my fifth or sixth favorite OS X Web Browser. Google’s Chrome has already vaulted to the top of my browser hit parade.

I don’t use iCal or the Apple Address Book either. I’ve been more and more drawn to Gmail for most of my email — both web-based and using Thunderbird/Eudora 8 as POP 3 client software. I’ve tried using OS X Mail over the years, but it never clicked with me.

Obviously, what I find compelling about the Mac is not Apple’s iLife software suite, so what is it?

Short answer: the Mac OS and the hardware, plus addiction to certain Mac-only software applications.

Windows 7 a Game-Changer?

Windows 7 is consensually acclaimed as a major improvement over the benighted Vista, but with due respect to the esteemed Mr. Mossberg, I still prefer many aspects of the Mac OS — for example AppleScript, which makes my life easier and saves me a ton of time.

There are some enticing Windows PC boxes, but I haven’t encountered anything on the WinPC side hardware-wise that measures up to the sublime elegance of my aluminum unibody MacBook.

The combination of Mac-only Tex Edit Plus ($15) and its close integration with AppleScripting has allowed me to create a tool that is perfectly suited to my work needs, and I can’t imagine trying to get along without it — just one example of several I could cite.

Elegance Counts for a Lot

The key element for me is, I think, elegance, which the Mac has in many nuances, and the Windows PC orbit simply doesn’t. Steve Jobs once observed, “The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste. They have absolutely no taste. And what that means is — I don’t mean it in a small way I mean it in a big way. In a sense that they, they don’t think of original ideas and they don’t bring much culture into their products.” Jobs can be insufferable, but he’s often right, and on that point I think he nailed it.

The cloud? I’m partly in it, and maybe someday I’ll be fully in it, but I don’t perceive it as having what it takes to displace my Macs anytime soon. Elegance still counts.

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