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- Macworld Expo: Jim Rea talks about the early days of Mac development
Filed under: Macworld, Software, Cult of Mac
When Apple first introduced the Macintosh, there weren't many authorized third-party developers around... even fewer unauthorized ones, when you think about it. One guy did manage to sneak in the back door and ship his app for the original Mac on an accelerated schedule: Jim Rea, the founder of ProVUE Development. The company's original database for the Mac, OverVUE, was the 2nd commercial app to ship for the platform (Microsoft's Multiplan was #1). The DB application later evolved into Panorama, which continues to run on the Macs of today.
Jim was kind enough to share some of his memories from the early years, and update us on the soon-to-ship Panorama version 6. Both videos are in the continuation of this post.Part 1:
Part 2:
TUAWMacworld Expo: Jim Rea talks about the early days of Mac development originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple - Macintosh - Microsoft - Macworld Conference & Expo - TUAW
Переслать - TUAW Exclusive: Aaron Patzer on the future of mobile finance, Mint.com, and Quicken on the Mac
Filed under: Software, Internet Tools, TUAW Interview
At the age of twenty-six, Aaron Patzer founded the financial website Mint.com. In many ways Mint was much like an Apple product: it had a simple interface, it was easy to understand and use, and many of Mint's early adopters became very loyal evangelists. Word of mouth spread, and just 18 months after its launch (Mint officially went public in 2007), Mint had added its one millionth user.
To the dismay of many, Mint sold to Intuit in September 2009 for $170 million. I say dismay because many users of Quicken products had been less than thrilled with Intuit's offerings for some time, and some people were concerned what a twenty-year-old company that seemed stuck in its ways would do with a popular user-friendly Web 2.0 startup.
Out of all the negative press, perhaps Mac users could be forgiven for having the most anxiety over the acquisition. Many had abandoned Quicken Mac 2007 in favor of Mint.com. Mac users wanted to move on from the stale Quicken ecosystem and go with something simple and easy. Now, that simple and easy solution had moved to where the users had escaped from.
Luckily, Intuit wasn't like other companies who buy smaller start-ups just to eliminate a competitor. Intuit recognized that Patzer and his team possessed the much-needed original financial software ideas and UI design mojo to put a spark in their aging products. In November 2009, Intuit made Aaron Patzer VP/GM of Intuit's Personal Finance Group -- which left him in charge of Intuit's personal finance offerings, including Quicken for Mac.
It was January 2008. At Macworld Expo, Steve Jobs had just unveiled the MacBook Air. Over at Intuit's booth, the company was previewing an anticipated update to Quicken Mac 2007 - one that didn't require Rosetta to run and didn't have an un-Mac-like UI. Unfortunately, the UI that Quicken ended up with consisted of a Cover Flow-esque interface. It was 2008 after all, and Cover Flow was the hot new UI element, but this was a finance app. We didn't need glitz when we just wanted to see how much cash we had in the bank. That aside, the single-window interface was a welcome change. Intuit announced that Quicken Mac 2007's sequel, Quicken Financial Life for Mac, would ship in the Fall of 2008.
Fall 2008 came and went. At Macworld Expo 2009, Intuit previewed a new beta of Quicken Financial Life for Mac and delayed its release again until Fall 2009. I was an early tester of the new beta, and it was buggy; the user interface looked friendlier than it actually was - in other words, the beta was everything you had come to expect from an Intuit product for the Mac. July 2009 came around and, no surprise, Intuit announced it was delaying Quicken Financial Life again, this time until 2010. 2010 - four years after the last version of Quicken for Mac came out (2007 was released in 2006). This time Intuit released a statement all but admitting that the company had failed at providing the Mac with usable financial software:
At the same time, Intuit announced Quicken Financial Life for Mac would be available for pre-order from Intuit's site on October 12, 2009. Guess what happened? That's right. But at least this delay was only two months. By the time the product actually did go live with pre-orders many, including myself, thought it was too little, too late.Feedback from Mac customers led us to rethink our approach to developing Quicken for Mac. We went back to the drawing board and are making changes to everything from what the program does to how it looks. We spent extra time building a reconcile mode for the new register, a robust Windows-to-Mac transfer function for new Mac users (and existing customers running Quicken on a Windows virtual machine), and redesigned the experience to make it look and feel like a native Mac application should.
Luckily though, something happened at Intuit between the pre-order delay in October and the December pre-order release: Aaron Patzer was put in charge of Quicken Essentials for Mac (they scrapped the Quicken Financial Life name for a reason I'll get to in a moment).
I interviewed Aaron by phone yesterday and he had a lot of things to say about the frustration Mac users have with Intuit. Perhaps that's because he experienced the same frustration with Quicken - and that frustration led him to found Mint.com. Speaking with Aaron, I could hear the passion in his voice for simple products that allow users to easily access their data in a straightforward way.
Those original ideas and UI design mojo I mentioned earlier? Aaron put them to work right away. "When I first saw Quicken Financial Life, it had Cover Flow for no reason," he laughed. Cover Flow? No reason? Gone. "Quicken for Mac 2006 and 2007 were C/C++ programs that looked like bastardized versions of the Windows product. Little things matter," he told me. "In the old apps you would think you were supposed to press Command-A to select all of the entries in your registry, because that's what Command-A does on a Mac - it selects all. But in Quicken Mac 2007 it would actually bring up your accounts list. It's little things like that, that you could tell the people [writing the program] weren't real Mac aficionados."
Aaron himself uses a 15" MacBook Pro. The team that he spearheads for Quicken Essentials is a group of "Mac guys who live and breathe this stuff." The team consists of "five or six developers and three guys on QA with product managers coming on and off and the graphics guys switching between the Windows and Mac versions."
Speaking of Quicken on Windows, Aaron himself wrote the spec for the next version of Quicken for Windows (2011, due out later this year). Why is that important? Because Aaron has a clearly defined vision of what the future of financial software will look like. "You'll start to see the mess of all the [Intuit] products merged together. Longer term it shouldn't matter where you use your financial application, whether it's on the Mac, Windows, or Linux. I want to get everything to parity [on] the features and actually do the back-end so it's all a consistent single data model - probably based on Mint - and then just skin the front ends (applications) to look like a Mac product, to look like a Windows product, to look like an iPhone or an Android app - to take advantage of the unique advantages of those platforms. But the back-end would be the same so you can just migrate any time you want to from Mint.com to Quicken Essentials for Mac to your Android phone or iPhone."
Well, that sounds awesome, but what about people that have years worth of old Quicken data? "Eventually we will make it so you can just one-flip click your 20 years of data into the cloud and pull it down on any of these devices - that's the holy grail and it'll take over a year to do that,' he says. "But you can see that already in using the new QEM - it's using a lot of the same user experience paradigm (the way you budget on the Mac, the way you click through the pie charts) and that makes the back-end easier."
That's the larger picture, and after listening to Aaron's enthusiasm, if anyone can make it happen, it'll be him. Let's get back to Quicken Essentials for Mac, though.
"It's called Quicken Essentials for Mac because it's what we consider to be essential for most users - about 80% of users." It's not just what Aaron and his team think is essential; it's what people tell them they want. "We do a lot of usability studies, that's why Mint turned out the way it did. We applied the same to QEM. We went to people's homes and watched them use it. The majority of them just want to know: How much do I have? How much do I owe? How much do I spend on gas and food? How many times do I go to this restaurant? How many times do I go to Starbucks? What investments do I have? Let me set a budget to control my spending." Yeah, but what about the thing many arm-chair reviewers talk about? "Only 6% of users across all platforms use bill pay," Aaron says. "Most people still go to their bank's website to pay a bill."
What about other requested features, like deeper investment tools? That's where the future of Quicken on the Mac comes in. Intuit isn't abandoning the Mac platform anytime soon; in fact, they're embracing it: "For the next version of Quicken for the Mac we are planning two SKUs: Quicken Essentials and a Deluxe version which adds the deeper investment tools - history of investments, stock lots (buying shares of one stock at different times), etc."
You may rightly point out that Quicken for Windows and even the old Quicken for Mac supported these investment tools and that Quicken for Windows supports bill pay (for the paltry 6% who actually use it), but give it time. Aaron has only been on QEM for four months now, but has already helped completely reinvent Quicken on the Mac in that short timespan (yes, it's finally a Cocoa app). Though many may complain of the lack of investing/bill pay features, I can only liken Quicken Essentials for Mac to QuickTime X. Both apps have been rewritten from the ground up to replace clunky legacy code that would have slowed their scalability in the future. Just as QuickTime X is missing some of the features of QuickTime 7, Quicken Essentials for Mac is missing some of the features of Quicken Mac 2007 - for now. But because of the clean-sweep rewrites, these new applications are just the launching point for the programs into a better, more feature-rich future.
I've been playing with Quicken Essentials for Mac for a few days now (I'll have a full review of it on February 25) and I can already tell you, I'm a convert. I abandoned Quicken for Mint, but QEM has brought me back into the fold. It's worth it for the Cocoa rewrite alone.
What else does Intuit have in store for the Apple community? Aaron told me that after Mint releases its Android app, the team will be adding features to the next iPhone version. Some of those features include adding manual transactions - the ability to enter checks that haven't cleared yet, and an easier way to enter cash. "Doing that on the iPhone is probably the most useful way to do it because you are usually paying cash in a cab or buying a quick coffee with it." Another thing under consideration is an ATM locator. "We know which bank accounts you have so we can tell you which ATMs in your area are not gonna charge you a fee."
Also expect to see an iPad app. "Yes, it's something we've been looking into. Ideal implementation would be Mint's pie chart that you can click through and dive into to see Food-Dining-McDonald's, etc. Where you could use pinch to expand and contract." But the iPad app won't be available at launch and probably not before late summer at the earliest.
What about Aaron's brainchild? I use Mint for all my US accounts, but what about my UK bank accounts? Will the rest of the globe soon be able to utilize Mint.com? "Mint is working with the Global Division at Intuit, planning how to internationalize our code base." As Aaron points out, that's one of the advantages of such a large company taking over a Web 2.0 startup - the startup can use the company's resources to go further than it could have on its own. As for that large company? Well, something tells me that acquiring Mint and Aaron Patzer is the best thing that could ever have happened to Intuit - and you can take that to the bank.TUAWTUAW Exclusive: Aaron Patzer on the future of mobile finance, Mint.com, and Quicken on the Mac originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Steve Jobs featured in Icons art exhibit, wins award at MWC
Filed under: Steve Jobs
His Steveness was honored twice recently. First, he showed up in a piece of art featured in a New York exhibit. "Icons" is a set of portraits that shows off Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, and of course our own iCEO. The art itself isn't that original (a takeoff on the old Warhol pieces), but the idea, I guess, is to enshrine the modern icons of the Internet in the same way we did back in the 60s with movie stars and musicians.
Jobs also won an actual award at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week. He wasn't actually at the conference (don't you know Apple only does their own thing these days?), but he was still dubbed "Mobile Personality of the Year." Show host Stephen Fry didn't have anyone from Apple handy to give the award to, but he'd promise to get it to the right place. Two more achievements for Jobsy to place on his already crowded mantle.TUAWSteve Jobs featured in Icons art exhibit, wins award at MWC originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Apple to use Fairplay for iBooks DRM?
Filed under: Rumors, Apple, iPad
FairPlay, you'll remember, is the oft-maligned (yet still much-used) DRM that locks down content on the iTunes Store, and rumor has it that Apple's bringing that code to a whole new media. The LA Times tech blog says that sources in the publishing industry are hearing that Apple will lock down the sales of their content in the iBooks store with FairPlay as well. Of course, it probably would have been wishful thinking for Apple to sell content under an open license, but opponents of FairPlay might be unhappy to hear that it's coming back for iBooks.
Of course, we still don't know what kind of implementation they'll use on the iBooks store, but remember that FairPlay limits iTunes content to five different accounts, so if you happen to have more than six people in your house, they may not all be able to have their own books on your iPad. FairPlay also limits content to strictly Apple devices, so (again, depending on implementation) it's a fair guess to say that any books you purchase on the iPad won't be usable on any other device.
Which might be just fine for you anyway -- while FairPlay has its share of opponents, it's worked just fine for most users in iTunes. Apple is likely selling their platform to publishers right now, and in order to do that, they've got to guarantee that they can lock down content if necessary.
[via Engadget]TUAWApple to use Fairplay for iBooks DRM? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Rumor: AT&T will carry 3G iPad in stores
Filed under: Retail, Rumors, Apple, iPad
Here's an interesting rumor I hadn't considered yet: sources inside AT&T are telling Boy Genius Report that AT&T's retail stores are planning to carry the 3G versions of the iPad. It's not unexplainable, given that AT&T is the partner for the 3G service, and so I guess they have a vested interest in selling the devices. Still, when you think of "tablet computer designed for consumption of media and minor household tasks," you don't really think of AT&T. In fact, without a phone on it at all, it's just strange to think that the iPad would have a place in AT&T stores anywhere.
But if the 3G versions will make money for the phone company (and we'll bet they will), they might as well sell them. If the rumor is true, and the AT&T store is closer to you than the Apple store, you might as well check there on release day (remembering that 3G iPads will be released after their WiFi-only cousins). In the meantime, let's all hope their 3G network holds up under the increased strain.
[via MacRumors]TUAWRumor: AT&T will carry 3G iPad in stores originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - CoPilot Live adding free in-app search
Filed under: iPhone, App Review
The makers of CoPilot Live North America are including free search from within its iPhone app. Previously the search function was a premium add-on.
CoPilot Live is $34.99 with most of the features users expect, like turn by turn voice directions, 2D and 3D driving views and U.S. plus Canada Maps.
According to the company, CoPilot Live v8's integrated access to local search enables users to quickly and easily find whatever they are looking for, whether it's the nearest service, product, brand or shop. Search results are displayed in the on-screen map or as a list.
The integrated search will be a free update for current customers, but the company has not given us a certain date for availability pending approval from Apple.
We've looked at the app before, and found it pretty useful. Users at the App Store give it mixed ratings. It should be more competitive now with integrated search, and it's nice to see GPS prices in general dropping.
TUAWCoPilot Live adding free in-app search originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Google calls Apple "valuable partner"
Filed under: Steve Jobs, Apple, Developer, Apple History
Steve Jobs is trashing Google internally according to rumors, but Google is having none of it. Company reps told the press at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week that Google considers Apple "a very close and valuable partner," and that they believe that the relationship between the two companies "is stable."
Of course, they were responding to rumors that Microsoft's Bing search engine would replace Google on the iPhone, and common sense will tell you that it'll be a cold day somewhere very warm before Apple chooses to partner with Microsoft over Google. If push came to shove, Steve would probably create his own search engine before partnering up with anyone in Redmond.
But maybe the Google folks are also playing politics a little here -- Steve is not an unreasonable man, and he is known for being direct, especially in personal communication. Jobs can complain all he want in an internal meeting, but in public, it's probably best that Google takes the high road. Apple and Google may eventually have to show down over cell phones, but until they absolutely have to, it's probably better if they both play as nice as possible.
[via Ars]TUAWGoogle calls Apple "valuable partner" originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - TUAW TV Live: Macworld 2010 post-Expo show, OWLE bubo, and more
Filed under: Macworld, Video, Podcasting
Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends!
Today on TUAW TV Live we'll be talking about Macworld Expo 2010, the OWLE bubo, camera apps for the iPhone, and any other topics that happen to hit host Steve Sande's fancy.
Some of the camera apps that we'll be discussing include Lo-Mob, ColorSplash, CinemaFX, FocalLab, and Project365. All of these apps are in your friendly neighborhood App Store and should only make a slight dent in your wallet.
The video and chat tools are on the next page -- just click the Read More link below to get in on the fun.
TUAWTUAW TV Live: Macworld 2010 post-Expo show, OWLE bubo, and more originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - iPhone devsugar: Simulating device events with iSimulate
Filed under: Apple
Anyone struggling with the challenge of developing for the iPad, a platform whose hardware has not yet been released, should welcome iSimulate. For just ten bucks, you can test your applications using event inputs from a real device. Yes, you'll be working with the limited geometry of an iPhone -- fewer pixels, not the same device shape -- but you'll gain access to a much wider range of gesture and accelerometer events to help you debug and develop your apps.
Using iSimulate involves little more than compiling in a framework and running an iPhone-based application that you download from the App Store. You'll need to add -ObjC to your linker flags and include the Core Location framework. This latter is needed in order to provide simulated compass and GPS events to your app. Once run in the simulator, iSimulate will automatically find that running app and offer to link to it as shown in this video.
It took me only a few minutes to bring my Xcode project into iSimulate compliance and get it working with the iPhone. In use, I found the entire process of interacting with my phone to generate events on the Simulator far easier and more intuitive than I expected. I suspect I'll keep using iSimulate over the next few weeks until the iPad debuts and can comfortably recommend it to other devs.
TUAW is commonly provided with not-for-resale licenses or promo codes to permit product evaluations and reviews. For more details, see our policy page. Promo code requests are not guarantees of reviews.TUAWiPhone devsugar: Simulating device events with iSimulate originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Apple offering free hard drive replacements for certain MacBooks
Filed under: Apple Corporate, Hardware, Apple, MacBook
Apple has begun replacing failed hard drives in MacBooks purchased between 2006 and 2007. The program will run until August 15th, 2010. Here are the details: - The following models are covered: The 13-inch MacBook, 13-inch, Late 2006 model and the 13-inch, Mid 2007 MacBook (black and white).
- You must be able to prove that you've got a dead hard drive.
- Customers who paid for a HDD replacement on one of the above models may qualify to be reimbursed the repair costs.
- You can bring affected machines to an Apple Store or an Authorized Service Provider.
If your MacBook's hard drive is working, you can't request a new one. It must be dead to qualify.
[VIa Gizmodo]TUAWApple offering free hard drive replacements for certain MacBooks originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - TUAW review and giveaway: KeyGrinder for iPhone. It's PwdHash in an app
Filed under: Software, Internet Tools, Reviews, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, App Review
Have you ever heard of PwdHash? It's a Stanford University security project that has been implemented in a website, browser extensions, and now an iPhone app -- KeyGrinder for iPhone. This US$0.99 application is from the same people at Massively Overrated who brought you the popular Typewar game.
Many of us are guilty of the same crime against computer security -- using one password across many websites. If someone manages to lift your password from one low-security website, they have a good chance of using that same password at many other sites. PwdHash uses a user-generated password, the URL of the website you're visiting, and a pseudo random function to transparently transform the user's password into a domain-specific hash of the password. If someone steals a password file from a website, they're only getting a hash for that domain -- not the user's actual password. The fact that the hash is generated for a particular domain also acts as an effective defense against phishing scams.
The same function is used across platforms, so regardless of what type of operating system you're using with PwdHash, the same user password will generate the same hash. You can use the Firefox browser extension on your Mac or PC, the PwdHash.com website on any computer, or KeyGrinder on iPhone, and your generated hash will open the proverbial gates.KeyGrinder isn't the most visually attractive app you'll ever see, but it doesn't need to be pretty. To generate your hash, you enter the address of the site you wish to visit and your user-generated password. Press the create button, and the hash code appears, ready for you to enter as a new password for a website. With KeyGrinder, you can enter a number of web addresses and create each of the hashes, then call them up later by using a standard picker to select a site and generate the hash with a single tap.
You can choose to have the app open a website as soon as the hash has been generated. The hash is automatically copied to the iPhone clipboard for pasting into the password field for your favorite site.
Be sure to check out the video at the end of this post to get an idea of how KeyGrinder works. Once you're done checking out the app, enter our giveaway for a chance to win one of ten copies of KeyGrinder. All you need to do is leave us a comment telling us how many keys you have on your keychain (real keychain, not your Mac OS X keychain).
The details of the giveaway are as follows:
- Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.
- To enter, leave a comment tell us how many keys are on your keychain.
- The comment must be left before Friday, February 19, 2010, 11:59PM Eastern Standard Time.
- You may enter only once.
- Ten winners will be selected in a random drawing.
- Prize: One promo code for a copy of KeyGrinder (Value: US$0.99)
- Click Here for complete Official Rules.
TUAWTUAW review and giveaway: KeyGrinder for iPhone. It's PwdHash in an app originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Macworld 2010: TUAW talks to OpenFeint
Filed under: Gaming, Software, Internet, Interviews, iPhone, App Store
On the day before Macworld last week, I got a chance to sit down with Eros Remini, VP of Marketing for OpenFeint, to talk about his social gaming network for iPhone apps. He shared with me that the network has claimed a gigantic 12 million users total, with about a million of them active in iPhone games from day to day. Additionally, the average user plays three or four games regularly -- unlike most other consoles, the iPhone is really a device that can split attention rather than have players dive deep in on one game.
He also told us about the OpenFeint app that was released last month, as well as their popular free game of the day giveaway -- once per day, they give away an OpenFeint game for free right there inside the app. And we also talked about both how OpenFeint is serving as connection between developer and customer, as well as why Apple hasn't really shown an interest in an official iTunes gaming network like this.
You can check out the whole interview on video right after clicking through the link below. Enjoy!
TUAWMacworld 2010: TUAW talks to OpenFeint originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - TUAW TV Live: more on the aftermath of Macworld Expo at 5 PM ET
Filed under: Video, Podcasting
It's Wednesday, which means that we'll have an episode of TUAW TV Live streaming your way later today. This is our first live video since Macworld Expo, where TUAW bloggers of all shapes, sizes, and abilities took to the airwaves to give you the scoop on every topic imaginable.
We'll be back at 5 PM ET (2 PM PT) with an hour full of fun discussion. We'll have a demo of the OWLE Bubo that was mocked by TUAW commenters, yet praised and photographed repeatedly by showgoers at Macworld Expo. I'll also demonstrate and discuss a growing toolbox of iPhone photography apps that I've been using over the last few months for my 2010 Project 365. There's always time for questions and discussion in the chat room, and we look forward to hearing what you have to say about this year's Macworld event.
See you at 5 PM ET, here at TUAW.com!TUAWTUAW TV Live: more on the aftermath of Macworld Expo at 5 PM ET originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - 1Password on your iPad
1Password, the oft-mentioned password manager and form filler, has just posted mockups of their in-the-works iPad version. Previously available on the desktop and for the iPhone, 1Password has undergone some visual overhauls already. The iPad version appears to take the current interface a little further with a few nice visual tweaks, and take full advantage of the large touch area of the iPad.The design looks great to me, and I especially like the main toolbar with its recessed icons. The developers (and their graphic designer) appear to be taking the new form factor into consideration and generating a very usable interface. I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on the iPad version, pending the purchase of an iPad, of course. Check out the post at the developer's blog for a better look!
TUAW1Password on your iPad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - iPhone battery dead? In a squeeze you can charge it with Jaffa oranges
Filed under: Video, How-tos, Cult of Mac, iPhone
This may be strange -- in fact very strange -- but Imperial Leisure, a marketing and social media firm, has created an advertisement using an iPhone, to promote the sale of Jaffa oranges. They found that with a lot of rods and cable you can use orange power, or rather the power of 2380 Jaffa oranges, to power an iPhone. Talk about thinking outside of the box, or in this case, the crate.
[via Engadget and Macenstein]
Click on the Read More link to view the ad.
TUAWiPhone battery dead? In a squeeze you can charge it with Jaffa oranges originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Acrobat, Adobe Reader & Flash updated for critical security fixes
Filed under: Software, Security
In response to two critical vulnerabilities in Acrobat and Adobe Reader 9.3, yesterday Adobe released the 9.3.1 update for both applications; users of the older 8.x versions can update to 8.2.1 to resolve the security issues. One of the two vulnerabilities addressed would allow a malicious PDF to make unauthorized cross-domain requests; the other could crash the PDF application and possibly allow an attacker to gain access to other parts of the system.
The first flaw is related to a Flash Player issue that was revealed last week; if you have not updated Flash to the latest version (10.0.45.2 as of this moment, see your version & current versions here) & you aren't blocking Flash, you should go get the latest build right away. Although you can configure auto-update notifications in Flash Player, it's not clear if Mac OS X clients are consistently getting these reminders to update.
Even though Mac users are far less likely to be targeted by malware than our Windows-using friends and family, vigilance is still critical. Security analysis firm ScanSafe reported that it saw the percentage of exploits delivered via PDF files rise from 56% at the beginning of 2009 all the way up to 80% in the 4th quarter, so keeping those Adobe apps current -- or, better yet, using Apple's Preview app as the default PDF reader on Mac OS X -- is only prudent.
TUAWAcrobat, Adobe Reader & Flash updated for critical security fixes originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Fix iPhone EXIF rotation from the command line
Filed under: UNIX / BSD, iPhone
My iPhone is the camera that i use more than any other, but there's one thing that has consistently annoyed me about it. Apple uses an EXIF tag to rotate images. This can be a problem when you share images with others. Safari will rotate the image correctly, but no other browser will.
Adding to the trouble is that Mail.app and the Finder will also "auto-correct" the rotation, so it can be hard to tell which images need to be "fixed" and which don't.
You could use the '/usr/bin/sips' program (sips --rotate 90 picture.jpg) if you knew which pictures need to be corrected, and which direction they need to be rotated (clockwise or counter-clockwise). But I wanted something that would, as they say, "just work."
(I also wanted something I could use on my webserver, which runs Linux, but that's really a side issue.)
My attempts to find a solution on Google were fruitless, so I asked on Twitter. Michael Baltaks pointed me to jhead, which describes itself as a "Exif Jpeg header manipulation tool" which includes the source code as well as pre-built binaries for OS X, Linux, FreeBSD, and even Windows.
To fix a picture named "image.jpg" just type "jhead -autorot image.jpg" and you will see "Modified: image.jpg". You can fix all JPGs in the current folder using "jhead -autorot *.jpg" and it will only change the images which have the EXIF tag.
Note: You might be tempted to use the "-norot" argument, which will "zero out" the rotation tag, but it will not have the desired effect, and (even worse) once you have used the "-norot" you can't use "-autorot" -- trust me, I learned that one the hard way.TUAWFix iPhone EXIF rotation from the command line originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Plants vs. Zombies hits the iPhone
Filed under: Gaming, iPod Family, iPhone
Last week we noted the impending arrival PopCap's ridiculously addictive Plants vs. Zombies onto the iPhone / iPod touch, and now this marvelous time-waster has landed. A variant of the the tower defense genre, Plants vs. Zombies requires you to defend your house from mobs of raging zombies by placing various sorts of projectile-emitting, exploding, and zombie-eating plants between them and your front door.
Much like previous hits Peggle and Bejeweled, the PopCap team has produced a first-class iPhone port. On my 3GS it runs smoothly and the core gameplay is substantially unchanged from the desktop version, despite the smaller screen (you can get a free gameplay taste with the online version). Minor tweaks include placing your plant "catalog" along the left side of the screen and adding handy highlights which show you exactly into which row and column you're placing your plants.
Plants vs. Zombies is available now for iPhone and iPod touch for a bargain price of $2.99. Go get it; you won't be disappointed.TUAWPlants vs. Zombies hits the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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