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- Ask TUAW: iPad VGA out, changing keyboard shortcuts, Time Capsule worries, and more
Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW
Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we've got questions about changing keyboard shortcuts in Keynote, the iPad's dock to VGA adapter, Time Capsule failures, Mac-compatible scanners, iPhone voice control, and more.
As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Leave your questions for next week in the comments section at the end of this post. When asking a question, please include which machine you're using and what version of Mac OS X is installed on it (we'll assume you're running Snow Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify), or if it's an iPhone-related question, which iPhone version and OS version you have.Josh asks
Here's a simple one. I'm using iWork '08, making a presentation in Keynote (as I do frequently). I enjoy listening to music in iTunes while working. When I go to leave my desk, I hit the play key (F8) to pause the music. And the slideshow starts. I'd rather not need to switch applications just to pause the music. Is it possible to change Keynote to not play the slideshow with that key?
You can easily change the keyboard shortcut for Keynote by going the Keyboard Shortcuts tab of the Keyboard Preference Pane. In the left column choose Application Shortcuts. If an entry for Keynote already exists, then just change the key. If not, click on the plus button and add a new shortcut for Keynote with the menu title "Play Slideshow." You can set the key for whatever you'd like (here I've chosen F3).
emil asksCan anyone recommend a decent but affordable piece of Mac-friendly hardware to handle scanning statements and other physical documents quickly and easily to PDF?
Probably the best document scanners for the Mac are in the Fujitsu ScanSnap series. While they are not cheap, both their document handling and Mac software support seems to be the best available. If you're serious about scanning you should get a ScanSnap. I recently picked up a used S300M on eBay for $150 and have been very pleased with it.
AnonymousJoseph asksI'm considering purchasing a Time Capsule, (odds are the 1TB if it makes a difference) and I want to know if people are still having problems with them dying at the 18 month mark or not. If not, what should I watch for to keep, for instance, a retailer from unloading their back stock of bad Time Capsules onto me?
From what I can tell online, it seems that the Time Capsule suffers overheating issues which then lead to failures with the power supply (specifically some of the capacitors). Since the Time Capsule does not seem to have been substantially redesigned in the last update (October 2009), it seems possible, if not likely, that the new models may still suffer similar overheating problems. Of course, Apple may have made some changes that we don't know about that will help with the issue, but I don't think we will really know the long term results until next year (i.e. 18 months after October 2009). If you want to be safe, you should probably go with an Airport Extreme (plus external USB hard drive), which don't seem to be suffering from the problems to the same degree (presumably because the AEBS has a lower heat profile without the hard drive)
devildog67 asksWhere is the best place to get a aftermarket battery for 15" Mac Pro?
Apple still sells batteries of at the Apple Store for older MacBook models, so that's where I'd go. However, there are aftermarket batteries available that promise better performance. Probably the most recognizable vendor is FastMac, though I have not used their products personally.
Pat asksI've got an iPhone (OS 3.1.3) voice-control question. Is it not possible to use voice control to select a single song? I've had luck with the "Play songs by (artist name)", or "Play playlist _" or whatever. But it would often be nice to choose a particular song such as "Play Red Rain by Peter Gabriel" or something like that. Does anyone know if that's possible?
It's not possible to select a single song using the iPhone's Voice Control. If you check out this list of the available voice commands you'll see that the most specific you can get is a particular album. (You can can also see the complete list of commands on pp. 37-38 of the iPhone User Guide (PDF link).)
Knight42 asksWe know that you can get a VGA connector to output to a TV/Monitor. Can anyone tell me if you can actually mirror everything or is it just the videos? Am actually thinking of buying an ipad for my parents (they want to get into Ebay etc, and Im not buying them a Windows machine) so as they know zero about tech, this seems perfect. Im just hoping they can output to their TV so they can see bits larger when they need to. Thanks!
Since the iPad hasn't been released we can't really say for sure. However, check out this post over at the AppleInsider forums. The author claims information from an Apple Engineer that the VGA output is application specific and will not simply mirror the main display. We do know that iPad version of Keynote will offer VGA output, but it seems likely that other applications will only output VGA if specifically designed to do so. As I noted above, however, we simply won't know for sure until it's released.
TUAWAsk TUAW: iPad VGA out, changing keyboard shortcuts, Time Capsule worries, and more originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple - iPhone - Mac OS X - IWork - Keyboard shortcut
Переслать - Apple rolling out $1 TV shows for iPad launch?
According to a story posted by the Financial Times on Wednesday, Apple may be in talks with studios to bring $1 TV shows to iTunes, as part of the official iPad launch. Apparently this will be a test to model for the company to see whether cheaply-priced content will spur sales. Given yesterday's news about declining iTunes music growth due to higher prices, I'm betting it will.
The story goes on to claim that Apple has been engaged in secret talks with major networks for the past few months, to cut prices on standard definition TV shows in half -- currently priced at $1.99. The reason behind this move is the iPad's 4:3 aspect ratio, ideally suited for standard def content which Apple hopes consumers will eagerly download at a buck a pop.
True or not, I just hope we see this long-rumored $30 subscription model we've been hearing about, so I can finally tell the nice folks at Comcast where they can put their cable. Hint: not in my home.TUAWApple rolling out $1 TV shows for iPad launch? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Feb 2010 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Your first Apple, or how it all began...
Filed under: Apple
This week, while a good part of the TUAW team is at Macworld, it's worth considering for a moment how we all came to start using Apple products. The "Switcher" campaign morphed into the "I'm a Mac" campaign, but really the idea is the same: rarely do you see people switching *back* to Windows after using a Mac. Then there's the halo effect from the iPod/iTunes ecosystem, the iPhone, and before all of that there was Apple's dominance in the educational markets and later in the design, publishing and other creative fields. But we all came to Apple in a different way. On the following pages we've published some stories from our Seed contributors on how they came to start using Apple products.
For me it began in the late 70's when my dad bought an Apple II in a bike store. There were no computer stores at the time, so this bike shop had a computer hobbyist corner, complete with Altairs and other blinking-light computer systems. He was intrigued by the keyboard, the cassette system and the color TV output. I wrote a review of the Apple II "red" manual last year. In fact, I still have that Apple in my office, complete with paddles, tape deck and a bunch of cassettes. One gem: AppleSoft BASIC by a little company called Microsoft! What's amazing is that the thing still boots up, although I had to dig up an ancient analog TV to hook up to the thing. Now I'm hoping the Disk II drive will still read my copy of In Search of the Most Amazing Thing.
We'd love to hear your first Apple story, so leave it in the comments. Over the next few weeks we'll also bring you the stories of TUAW bloggers and how they began as lifelong Apple customers.
- My First Apple, and Why It Rocks
- The story of a happy Apple Macintosh convert
- My First Apple Computer: The Start of A Love Affair
TUAWYour first Apple, or how it all began... originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Macworld 2010: A peek behind the show floor curtain
Filed under: Macworld
If you've never seen how a big show like Macworld is put together, you might not realize the massive effort that goes into building and setting up all those booths. There's power, networking, furniture, carpeting, a ton of boxes and paraphernalia and in some cases specialized construction that can take a couple of days to put together. I snapped a few pictures of the show floor today, including a few shots of the TUAW booth as we starting putting things together and put them in the gallery below. Until tomorrow, enjoy this sneak peek!
Don't forget: if you're at the show, stop by booth #654 and say hello. We've got some stickers available (first come, first served) and some surprises in store...
TUAWMacworld 2010: A peek behind the show floor curtain originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - An ode to iPhone tethering
Filed under: Portables, Odds and ends, iPhone
Sometimes I feel sorry for you poor iPhone users in the US. Sure, the telecommunications landscape in New Zealand isn't exactly perfect, but our small nation has the US beat on at least one very significant point: unlike AT&T, our wireless providers let us tether our iPhones as much as we want (within our monthly broadband limits, anyway). Sure, there are workarounds that let you do iPhone tethering in the States, but nothing beats the pure simplicity of officially supported tethering: flip a couple switches in your iPhone's settings, then either pair over Bluetooth or dock your iPhone, and boom, your Mac runs off your iPhone's data connection.
I've been using iPhone tethering since it became available in iPhone OS 3.0, and it's saved my geek bacon many times. On a recent monthlong vacation where my wife, my mother-in-law, and I hopped all over both the North and South Islands of New Zealand, using my iPhone's data connection on my MacBook Pro was often the only feasible way of connecting to the world beyond our campsite.
Many of the places we stayed had Wi-Fi available, but the prices were pretty astonishing; some places wanted $10 for 20 minutes of internet access. In towns where we had a decent 3G connection, we were able to watch videos in Safari (No Flash? No problem), look up tourist information, get access to Google Maps, download music and apps from the iTunes Store, and keep an eye on the notoriously fickle weather. All these things are possible to an extent using the iPhone by itself, but things went much faster and more smoothly on my MacBook Pro, where multitasking, multiple downloads, and a 17" screen are all big improvements over the browsing experience on the iPhone.
Read on to find out what else iPhone tethering can do for you, and why AT&T's excuses for not letting you have it are totally disingenuous.
In more remote areas of New Zealand without 3G coverage, iPhone tethering is still technically possible, but not really a good idea. Without 3G, the iPhone falls back on an older, slower data connection type known as GPRS -- and if you think EDGE is bad in the States, GPRS is an order of magnitude worse, with speeds that are basically equivalent to wireless dialup. I attempted GPRS tethering only a couple of times, but the browsing experience on my Mac was excruciating enough that I abandoned it swiftly.
Vacations aren't the only time iPhone tethering has come in handy, either. My university's Draconian port-blocking is so strict that I can't even upload pictures to my MobileMe galleries when I'm hooked up to the uni's wireless network; I can download several gigabytes of TV shows from the iTunes Store, but uploading a few megabytes of photos or a couple files to my iDisk is apparently out of the question. So far I haven't run into any sites that run fine over traditional broadband but are restricted over the 3G network -- even Bittorrent clients like Transmission still run through iPhone tethering, though with the limited data available on plans down here, it's not a good idea to leave it running for more than a couple minutes at most.
While many cafés and libraries in the States offer free Wi-Fi to customers, I can count on one hand the number of free Wi-Fi access points I've come across in New Zealand. Once again, iPhone tethering comes to the rescue. If I need to get some work done on the go and don't feel like paying through the nose for Wi-Fi (and trust me, I don't), my iPhone's data connection, something I'm already paying for, is always at hand.
Data plans down here were traditionally far more restrictive than in the US; when I first got my iPhone 3G last February, I had 250 MB of data per month. That doesn't sound like a lot, but I never even came close to bumping into that limit until iPhone OS 3.0 came out and enabled tethering. Fortunately, around that same time Vodafone NZ upped iPhone and smartphone users' data caps by 3 GB across the board, and while it was only supposed to be a three-month promotion, they've pushed back the expiration a number of times. Hopefully they eventually make the promotion permanent, because it's doubtful many people are taking full advantage of the extra data. I can say that with confidence -- based on my own heavy usage of iPhone tethering over the past few months, it's unlikely more than a handful of people are using in excess of 2 GB on their monthly plans, much less the full 3 GB.
This brings me to the final advantage iPhone tethering has provided, but this is one people in the States are fortunate enough not to have to worry about. My home broadband is limited to 20 GB of data per month, and that's total data, spread between downloads and uploads. I regularly bump into that broadband cap about a week before my rollover date, which means I can either pay another $30 for an additional 20 GB of data or suffer with dialup speeds on my home network until rollover. Once again iPhone tethering saves the day -- my home office has great 3G coverage, so rather than feed Vodafone more money than I already do for broadband access, I've been supplementing my home broadband cap with the additional data from my iPhone.
This is the point where I have to bring up AT&T's reticence toward enabling tethering in the States, and why their excuses for holding back on enabling it are full of FAIL. Last week, while I waited for my rollover date and the restoration of full speed to my home broadband, I spent a full seven days getting all of my internet access via iPhone tethering. Other than holding off on downloading any TV shows through Transmission, I didn't change my browsing habits at all; I still watched YouTube videos, I still browsed all of my normal sites, I still got work done for TUAW, and I still spent waaaay too much time on the internet.
With my nominal browsing habits still intact, how much data do you think I used over the course of one full week of iPhone tethering? A couple of gigabytes at least, right? No. According to my iPhone, I sent 95.1 MB and received 523 MB, for a total of 618.1 MB of data. That's one week of tethering for around eight hours a day. Averaged out over the whole month, I'd have come pretty close to using up the full 3 GB on my plan. This is the data usage AT&T claims it can't handle?
Granted, many more people will utilize iPhone tethering in the US than would use it down here in NZ, but people in the States aren't likely to use it for several hours a day every day. Even with all the advantages iPhone tethering offers, few people are going to use it at all, much less for extended periods of time or with exorbitant amounts of data usage. With all the advantages tethering offers, and with the limited amount of data it actually consumes, if I was stuck with AT&T's recalcitrant claims of not being able to handle all the extra data usage tethering would cause, I'd put the pressure on them any way I could until they finally relented and gave their customers access to a feature that almost everyone else in the rest of the world enjoys.TUAWAn ode to iPhone tethering originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Apple TV update available, but for what reason?
Filed under: Software Update, Apple TV
Yes, Apple TV has an available firmware update, bringing the Apple 'hobby' device to version 3.02. No reason for the update is given, and no new features are listed.
It's likely an update to allow Aperture 3 to work with it, but really, we don't know and Apple ain't talking. If you have an Apple TV you can force the update by going to the settings menu, or wait until the auto updater gets around to reminding you. Either way you'll get an update that ... uh... well, really, we don't know what it does.
TUAWApple TV update available, but for what reason? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - ASUS wants to be "another Apple"
Filed under: Portables, Odds and ends, iPad
ASUS chairman Jonney Shih has successfully guided his company through the spinoff of their manufacturing arm Pegatron (whom Apple is already ready to do business with), and in the process stated that he wants the computer maker to become "another Apple," but one based on open-source platforms like Google's Chrome OS and Android platform and chips sourced from ARM. However, ASUS is also carefully leaving the option of Windows/Intel products on the table to "suit consumer demand" -- or in other words, "keep ASUS solvent." He also hinted at a "killer product" launch in June, which Electronista sees as a thinly-veiled hint of ASUS's forthcoming Eee Tablet, the company's answer to Apple's iPad.
As for their ambitions to become an "open Apple," good luck to them. So far Chrome OS and Android have both seen adoption rates best described as "niche," and Linux has been a widely-espoused "open" alternative to Windows and OS X for over a decade (in which time, they've gained little traction in the marketplace). Chrome OS and the Android platform certainly have the potential to become successful, but it seems odd to pin ASUS's future success on the hopes of "open" platforms that have yet to catch on with the average consumer. I won't go so far as to say that ASUS's ambitions are doomed to fail before they've begun, but if they really want to become "another Apple," they have a hard road ahead of them.
[Via Electronista]TUAWASUS wants to be "another Apple" originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Macworld 2010: Pre-show dealsIf you are joining us at Macworld this week, you know that deals abound on the show floor -- every company usually has some sort of show discount or sale going on. And sometimes, even if you're not here at the show, you can still take advantage of the sales back at home. Here's a few we've seen even before the show officially starts tomorrow.
- Tropical Software is offering $10 off its normally $39.95 purchase of notekeeping app TopXNotes.
- Unmarked Software has a Macworld 2010 promotion going on, with a 20% discount on TextSoap 6, an application that will "scrub up your text" and clean out unwanted garbage and characters.
- This isn't specifically Macworld-related, but SmileOnMyMac is here, and they just added their iPhone app TextExpander touch functionality to a number of other apps, so it's on sale for $1.99 right now.
TUAWMacworld 2010: Pre-show deals originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Macworld 2010: Hands-on with the Parrot AR.Drone
Filed under: Macworld, Gaming, iPad
We first heard about the Parrot AR.Drone, an iPhone-controlled RC quadrocopter, back when it made such a big splash at CES, but unfortunately, since we weren't there, we didn't get to see it in person. Fortunately Parrot did come by Macworld, and the day before the show, we finally got to see their iPhone-controlled, dual camera-equipped, high tech toy in action.
So what's the verdict? It's not super easy to fly (we crashed it into the walls, the ground, and even their marketing guy), but it's the real thing -- the extremely light (3/4 of a pound, as our own Steve Sande estimated with remarkable accuracy) quadricopter is packed with all kinds of fun gadgets, including variable speed rotors, the ability to lift off, hover, and land on its own, and super-sensitive touch controls along with two 640x480 VGA camera feeds running back to the iPhone via 802.11G Wi-Fi. We're not sure how ready it actually is for market (or what it'll cost yet), but the AR.Drone does what it says on the not-yet-designed box: Allows you to control a real quadricopter with and through your iPhone.
Read our impressions of the hands-on below, and don't forget to stay tuned -- we'll have video of our demonstration later on.
The copter itself is actually very durable for what it is. There are two circuit boards inside of a foamlike superstructire that easily handled the bumps and bruises we gave it during our hotel hallway tests. The center section reaches four light arms out to four propellers, each with their own variable speed engines and tiny LEDs that glow red and green depending on whatever speed they're spinning to control the copter's roll and pitch. When it's actually up in the air, the copter hums about as loud as your old PC -- noticeable, but not enough to interrupt a conversation, and easily talked over. There is a breeze coming from the rotors, as you might expect, but once you get about two or three feet below the rotors, it dissipates.
Controlling the thing, however, is easier said than done. The current interface (we were told that the drone and the app prototypes we saw were about 80% complete) is plain, with just a few green indicators over surprisingly clear video send directly from the two onboard cameras, one facing forward and one facing straight down. The iPhone can switch views between the cameras, or even set up a picture-in-picture view.
The copter is controlled with both the touchscreen and the iPhone's accelerometer -- you can make the drone propel forwards or backwards by manipulating a virtual joystick with your left thumb, send it lower or higher by pushing your right thumb up and down a green meter, and then turn or tilt it left or right by shifting the iPhone's accelerometer. If that sounds complicated, you've probably got it right -- basically, you've got to keep the iPhone tilted in the right direction, while simultaneously moving your left thumb forward or back to control speed, and moving your right thumb up or down to change the copter's height.
Flying it around an empty room is a piece of cake (until you turn the copter around and have to control it backwards), but manipulating it carefully requires practice and dexterity. Probably not as much as a full RC plane, but even by the end of our short time with it (about 30 minutes or so -- battery life on the copter is currently around 15 minutes), we were only starting to get it going in the right direction.
Fortunately, the copter can take care of itself, too. There's also a button on the screen marked "Take Off," and if you hit that, the copter will lift itself off the ground, and hover calmly a few feet above the air all on its own. When in the air, the button changes, and it'll land automatically as well. If you ever let the accelerometer go (return it to level), the copter's bottom camera will search the ground for a familiar pattern, and as soon as it finds something (the carpet we were flying it over had some clear patterns and shapes that it easily spotted), it will level itself off and hover in the air, waiting for you. One of the company's reps even waved his hand underneath the camera, and the copter momentarily fluttered until it was able to ID the ground below and level itself back out.
Parrot made a big deal of how open they wanted the functionality to be, but unfortunately most of the specifics are still stuck behind a veil of plans. They say they want the app to be free, and that they have opened it up to developers to create their own applications and uses. The copter can currently carry 100 grams without too much trouble, and the Parrot reps told us that a cargo hook is a no-brainer, but that they'd probably wait for someone else to develop it. They weren't able to demo the camera's AR abilities for us at the show, but they say that they have two companies currently working on AR games for the Drone. Which ones? "We're waiting until testing is done to say names."
Price hasn't yet been decided yet either -- while a few prices have leaked out online, the Parrot folks confirmed that no official price has been said or set. Nevertheless, they're adamant that it'll be for sale before the end of 2010, so if you're already sold no matter the price, keep your credit card at the ready.
Who the drone will sell to is probably the most interesting question still to be answered -- the company told us plainly that they consider it to be a toy, and that they plan to sell it to the same type of people who would be interested in video game consoles and high tech gadgets like that (and who would presumably already own an iPhone). But it's not really a pick-up-and-play device at all -- while you can definitely fly the thing around within a few minutes, actually guiding it to the degree that you'd need to operate a game will take quite a while.
Still, it's a cool device, and even if the company just posts this prototype for sale on its website, there are people out there who will buy them. We also asked about the iPad, and if they'd tested it with Apple's yet-to-be-released touchscreen, but they said that they hadn't even cracked open the SDK. Presumably, the app will work, since all iPhone apps will work with Apple's tablet, but they haven't tested it at all.
So as with many of the questions around the AR.Drone, we'll see. Still, it's a wonder. There are lots and lots of people who would like to fly a real-life camera-equipped quadricopter using software on their iPhone, and that's exactly with the AR.Drone does.TUAWMacworld 2010: Hands-on with the Parrot AR.Drone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - TUAW TV Live at Macworld Expo 2010 -- setting up the booth
We're live at Macworld Expo 2010, with your co-hosts Steve Sande and Mike Rose talking about the show, some of the vendors we've had the pleasure to visit so far, and the fun and games to come.
If you're at Macworld Expo 2010 this week, be sure to drop by our booth, #654, to watch TUAW bloggers in action and say "Hi!" We'll be taking your chat question using the regular chat tool, located below the streaming video screen.
TUAWTUAW TV Live at Macworld Expo 2010 -- setting up the booth originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Hulu coming to the iPad?
Filed under: Video, iPhone, iPad
Popular (US-only, grumble) television site Hulu is a name that comes up in just about every conversation about the iPad's lack of Flash support. Second only to YouTube's popularity, Hulu streams TV shows from several US networks, allowing for free (albeit ad-supported) access to shows that Apple's iTunes Store charges $1.99 and up to download. When people bash the iPad and claim "No Flash, no sale," a lot of them are probably really saying, "No Hulu, no sale."
All that could be about to change. According to TechCrunch, an "industry insider" has revealed that Hulu is already working on an iPad version of its site which should be ready to launch by the time the iPad is released in March. Whether this will take the form of a dedicated app or a "mobile version" of the site coded in HTML5 rather than Flash remains to be seen. TechCrunch notes that "putting Hulu on the iPad boils down to a business decision, not a technical one." Unlike YouTube, which had to re-encode a large portion of its videos for iPhone compatibility back in 2007, Hulu's videos are already encoded in the iPhone/iPad-friendly H.264 video format. The only Flash-encoded portions of Hulu that would have to change for iPad compatibility are the player itself (the "wrapper" for the video with its controls) and the ads.
Nothing official has been announced yet, of course, but Hulu's CEO has said that "Mobile is a monster - we are very bullish. We will embrace any device," and "We are very big believers in mobile and we don't think about (just) one device only." Considering that YouTube has been available on the iPhone from day one, it seems less a question of if Hulu will be available on the iPhone/iPad, but when. When that happens, a lot of that "no Flash, no sale" bias against the iPad is sure to die off very quickly.
[Via MacRumors]TUAWHulu coming to the iPad? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - TUAW Review and Giveaway: Here, File File!
Filed under: Software
Back in December we got an early look at an app that allowed you to view and share your Mac's files while on the go. Put simply, Here, File File! [iTunes link] aimed to be the cure to what ailed the file-forgetters among us. Yesterday, the crew behind the very promising preview video announced that HFF was officially available from the App Store.
Read on for our full review of Here, File File!, and be sure to read all the way down to the bottom of the post for news of a Valentine's Day special (because we just love files that much) as well as your chance to win one of five copies of the app for your very own.
The Here, File File app works in conjunction with a small server application that runs on your Mac to grant access to your files from your iPhone. The server has a pretty small footprint in terms of CPU load and takes care of setting up your Mac for remote access for you -- just run the app and access your Mac with your mobile device. Communication between your iPhone or iPod touch and the HFF server on your Mac is password-protected and SSL-encrypted, providing peace of mind for those that are concerned about privacy.The HFF server is also responsible for configuring the network to allow remote access to your Mac. It uses existing technology (Bonjour and UPnP) to ensure making the connection is as simple and fast as possible. Most recent routers already support automatic UPnP configuration, including Apple's Airport Express and Extreme base stations. The HFF server has a status window that clearly depicts your ability to access your files. If your network does not support UPnP, the HFF support page explains it is necessary to manually forward specific ports. For most cases, it'll work just fine, but if not, you might need to do a little bit of (guided) network tweaking.
Once your Mac and network are both configured with the HFF server, adding your Mac to the app on your iPhone is very simple. When you run the app for the first time, it will attempt to automatically find and connect to your Mac via Bonjour. In my testing, this worked flawlessly. My MacBook Pro was found almost instantly and my iPhone connected to the HFF server on my Mac without any problem.
By default, the app does not save your password for the remote Mac but since I keep my iPhone locked down with a PIN I opted to have HFF remember the Mac's password so I wouldn't have to type it every time I wanted to log in. If the app is not able to locate your Mac on the local network it is a pretty simple affair to manually add the Mac to your list of servers.
Once you've set up and connected to your Mac, the main screen that appears when you launch will be a beautifully depicted tabletop with an image of your particular Mac and its current wallpaper. Towards the top of the screen is the name of your Mac as it appears in OS X, and below that is the timestamp for the last time you connected. You can swipe to the right to view other Macs on your "desk" or to add a new one using the wizard or via manual entry.
The real magic happens, though, when you tap on your desired Mac: a heavenly spotlight shines down upon your Mac as the connection is established. The speed of the connection is may vary depending on your network speed at home and whether your iPhone is on 3G or Wi-Fi. Once connected, there are three main views to select from.
The first view, "Files," is very reminiscent of the sidebar in Finder. It lists several common "Places" on your Mac, including the Home folder, your Desktop, and your Documents folder. Additionally there is a category for "Volumes" which lists the currently-mounted hard drives on your remote Mac. My only complaint here is that the Downloads folder is not listed as one of the default Places in view, but the developer says this was a simple oversight and plans to add it in a future release.
It is the Files view where you likely spend a lot of your time as this is where you will navigate in and around the file system of your remote Mac. It is clear that a lot of thought was put into this app as it is a very intuitive experience. It seamlessly integrates the left-right navigation of iPhone OS with the thumbnail icon file navigation of Finder. Files have their own displays -- a Pages document will be displayed with its icon as the first page of the document, and the same goes for PDFs and Microsoft Office documents as well.
As expected, tapping on a folder causes the whole interface to move to the left, as the view is then populated with the list of folder contents. Tap on a file and it slides seamlessly into view. Slower connections and/or larger files will result in a short wait, with a Loading File indicator. When the file finishes loading, it appears in fullscreen, where you can swipe to navigate to different parts of a document, pinch to zoom in on a single face in a photo, or play/pause any Quicktime-compatible song or video.
While all of this is useful above-and-beyond what Dropbox and MobileMe provide -- after all, they require you to know which files you want to access before leaving the house -- Here, File File goes one step further by allowing you to actually send any file via email. Once the file has been loaded, you can bring up an option of attaching or linking the file. Attached files work as expected: the file is copied directly into the email and the recipient can open the attachment upon receipt. Linked files are a little different, though: HFF creates a randomly-generated link that lasts for 48 hours. Every time a linked file is sent, a new link is generated. As you might have guessed, the purpose of the randomization is to keep unwanted intruders from forcing their way into your filesystem by decoding the links.
If the file is large (more than a couple MB), then a linked file email is more appropriate, as large files can take some time to send via EDGE or 3G. While the file is loading in HFF, it's still possible to share the file over email, but you will only have the option of sending a linked file rather than an attached file. Still, it's a useful feature, especially if you have a 10MB PowerPoint presentation that you need to send to someone, but don't have the time to wait for it to finish downloading to your iPhone.
Even though Downloads is not listed as one of the default Places, there is still an easy way around this slight UI mistake. The "Favorites" view shows a listing of directories and files that you have starred in the course of your use. Any directory or file can be configured as a Favorite for ease of access at a later time. So just by starring the Downloads folder, you can access it under Favorites whenever you want.
The third view, "Search," allows you to (you guessed it) search for files or folders on your Mac. The search is run on your Mac and the results are sent back to HFF on your iPhone (which not only speeds things up a bit, but helps to improve battery life as well). The search window is also filterable, so you can sort your searches into Folders, Images, Movies, Music, PDF, and Presentations. I found the search and filtering to work quickly and without any issue. The biggest shortcoming here is that the search results are currently limited to just sixteen folders/files in the results. The developer says this is for performance reasons and that as HFF gets faster they will increase this limitation. Unfortunately there are no filter options for Word/Pages documents or Excel/Numbers spreadsheets. In my opinion, this is not a deal-breaker by any means especially since a simple update will likely fix this in the future.
Here, File File! is quite simply the most useful utility for accessing your files while on the go. It has a clear leg up on both Dropbox and MobileMe because your storage is not limited to a few gigabytes and you don't have to take an extra step to make sure a certain file is in your Dropbox or iDisk. Since you only pay for the app once, there's no yearly fee to contend with, either. Installation can be a little tricky (especially if your network isn't average), but once it's running, you basically have access to your Mac straight from your iPhone.
Here, File File is available now on the App Store. Regularly priced at $9.99, the functionality it provides is worth every penny. Through Valentine's Day, Here, File File! is being offered with a 30% discount bringing the price to just $6.99.
And even if you don't want to take the plunge, we'll hook you up anyway: We're giving away five free copies to five lucky readers. Simply leave a comment describing how you would best use Here, File File! and we'll randomly select five commenters to get the app for free.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 describing how you would best use Here, File File!
- The comment must be left before Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time.
- You may enter only once.
- Five winners will be selected in a random drawing.
- Prize: One promo code for a copy of Here, File File! (Value: US$6.99)
- Click Here for complete Official Rules.
TUAWTUAW Review and Giveaway: Here, File File! originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Navigon determined to link with every app it can
Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone, iPod touch
Navigon continues to be very aggressive at making its navigation platform a continued top seller for the iPhone. Today, the company announced an open app interface called AppInteract, which is a simple script that embeds a link into any app to launch Navigon's MobileNavigator. At the same time, it transfers any selected address into turn-by-turn directions.
"For example, if you find a restaurant in an app that has implemented our AppInteract interface, you can get turn-by-turn directions to a chosen place instantly," said Gerhard Mayr, vice-president worldwide mobile phones and new markets for Navigon. "Our aim is to provide elegant and easy to use navigation solutions, for our customers, as well as to the developer community."
The technology has already been embedded in the Where To? app that I've reviewed previously. Now every developer who wants the technology can get easy access to it.
It's clear Navigon wants to become a hub for all the apps that look up addresses, and for good reason -- there are many of those in the App Store.
Looking back, it's amazing how far the iPhone has come in the last couple of years. I suspect there is a lot more around the corner, especially with iPhone 4.0 being released later this year.TUAWNavigon determined to link with every app it can originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Make your iPhone hands-free for less than the price of a ticket
Filed under: Accessories, iTunes, iPhone
In most states it's illegal to drive while holding an iPhone to your ear, with the average price of a ticket coming in at at least $100. Personally, I'm lucky since my Lexus 400h, like many cars, allows me to make and take calls through my car stereo. My interaction is limited to receiving calls by pressing a green button, and then pressing with a red hang up button on the steering wheel to end the call. Now Parrot has provided that same functionality to any car for less than the price of a ticket, namely US$99.99.
The Parrot Minikit Slim is an ingenious device that clips onto your sun visor. After Bluetooth pairing to your iPhone, installation is complete. It automatically downloads your iPhone contact list and then voice-enables that list. Push the green button and tell it who to call, and it dials the number for you. If there are two numbers associated to your contact, you'll be prompted for either 'home' or 'mobile', similar to the Voice Command function on the iPhone.
The Minikit Slim is self-contained including a microphone and speaker. When your call is done, you simply push the red button and disconnect the call. The idea is simple, but the functionality is incredibly useful since you can move the Minikit Slim to any car. Outside of its obvious use as a hands-free kit, I can see it being quite valuable at the intersection of road warriors and rental cars. If your iPhone is synced with a Windows machine, it will download the address book, so it's fully cross-platform. The Minikit Slim won't weigh you down, either -- it weighs only about three ounces.
Parrot also has a line of more intricate Bluetooth devices that either integrate with your car stereo or replace it altogether.- The Parrot MKi9000 US $299.00 (installation required) puts the same functions as the Minikit Slim on your dashboard or console and comes with two microphones; one for the driver and one for the passenger. It also connects to any iPhone, iPod touch, USB flash drive or just about any MP3 player, and plays your music through the car stereo.
- The Parrot MKi9200 US $299, adds a screen that gives you full utility of your iTunes library, including playlists.
- The Parrot RKi8400 US $399 replaces your car stereo entirely. It's a small panel that you snap your iPhone or other device into and then hide it in the capacious enclosure that previously housed your radio. The RKi8400 is a thin panel that snaps onto the front of the enclosure, and contains a screen mimicking all the controls of iTunes or other musical sources. If you're worried about theft, just take the panel with you.
Take a look at these videos to see the Parrot MIi9200 going through its paces:
TUAWMake your iPhone hands-free for less than the price of a ticket originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - TUAW TV Live special Macworld Expo 2010 edition at 6 PM ET todayWe're live at Macworld Expo, which will be opening to the public tomorrow. The TUAW team has already seen some pretty astounding things, but those are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
Join your regular TUAW TV Live host Steve Sande and special TUAW guest Mike Rose for a quick half-hour of discussion, stories, and fun live from the TUAW booth (#654) at Macworld Expo. It all starts today at a special time, 6 PM ET / 3 PM PT, here at TUAW.TUAWTUAW TV Live special Macworld Expo 2010 edition at 6 PM ET today originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Opera mini coming to the iPhone
Filed under: Software, Internet, Internet Tools, App Store
Opera Software announced on Wednesday that they're going to offer a sneak peek of their Opera Mini web browser for the iPhone during Mobile World Congress 2010 (MWC). Several features of the Mac-based Opera will be included, like tabs, Speed Dial and the password manager, says Opera co-founder Jon von Tetzchner. He also mentioned his app's compression technology that will make browsing fast and reduce data surcharges. For more details than that, we'll have to wait until the cat has been let out of the bag.
Two years ago, Opera claimed that they submitted an iPhone browser to the App Store only to have it rejected, a claim that was later refuted. In a comment posted to the Opera blog earlier today, Espen André Øverdahl, the Community Manager at Opera Software, said "We have not submitted it yet to the Apple App Store. However, we hope that Apple will not deny their users a choice in Web browsing experience."
Before you assume that Apple will deny an iPhone browser because of Mobile Safari, note that there are several other web browsers in the App Store already, including Perfect Browser 3, Full Browser and Mercury Web Browser. As John Gruber notes, however, the browsers that are in the store use the system version of WebKit.
[Via Daring Fireball]TUAWOpera mini coming to the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - iPhone hacksugar: Creating a MyWi WiFi hotspot with your jailbroken phone
Filed under: Apple
Here's the thing. You know, and I know, that AT&T has not yet enabled tethering in the US for the iPhone, while carriers all across the globe have already given their iPhone customers the ability to use their phones as wireless modems for their laptops. You and I also know that strictly speaking tethering falls outside the normal terms of use for your iPhone data contract -- and that there are jailbreak solutions to get around this (hopefully temporary) constraint.
That having been said, you know, and I know, that there are times when your cable modem goes down and you have a bandwidth emergency. You're not planning to abuse your data contract, but you do need a backup plan for those rare instances so you can get some work done.
Enter MyWi, for jailbroken iPhones.
Selling for ten bucks via the Rock Store and Cydia, MyWi enables tethering on your 3.1+ iPhone (2G, 3G, 3GS) and creates a personal Wi-Fi hotspot. It's as if AT&T had actually enabled the feature on-board. What's more, it works just like a real hotspot does.
Unlike other solutions that require you to create ad-hoc Wi-Fi networks on a Mac and then connect to them from your iPhone, MyWi works like the Sprint/Verizon MiFi. You can connect to your iPhone data from an iPod, a laptop, or even an iPad. They'll see your iPhone as just another Wi-Fi hotspot. If security is an issue, MyWi offers optional WEP with a customizable key.
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.
This week, I had the chance to install and test MyWi on an actual iPhone. I found the purchase and installation process to be quite a bit more complicated than an App Store purchase, but then again, I knew it probably would be as this involves a secure transaction through third party software. I had to authenticate with my Google credentials as part of the process.
Once installed, I ran into a few little quirks. Getting the tethering service to turn off ended up involving rebooting my phone. This is a known bug with MyWi and once I moved past that first glitch, I had no problem starting and stopping service from then on.
I tested the software with both an iPod touch, while driving in my car and while waiting at a doctor's appointment, and with a Mac mini, that I disconnected from my normal wired net. The Wi-Fi hotspot worked very well in each instance, providing smooth data reception.
I could even quit the application and leave the tethering running in the background. (See screen shot.) For me, this was the single best feature of MyWi. I could continue checking my mail and surfing the web while my daughter, a few feet away, was able to watch her YouTube videos.
There is one really, really big elephant in the room though -- beyond the obvious AT&T Terms of Service one I mentioned earlier -- and that is battery life.
This application is a battery vampire. It's beyond a battery vampire. It's a battery Dracula. A battery bloodsucking monster. I mean it seriously, seriously, seriously consumes power. It will drain your iPhone battery even when fully connected to a power source. I had to test while docked to my Monoprice 2200 mAh external battery supply, and even then, I could see the battery level slowly creeping downwards.
This app really, really, really uses a lot of juice.
Mario Ciabarra of Intelliborn, the company behind the software, recommends that you keep your unit plugged in via USB or a power cord. Your unit will stay mostly charged with, what he calls, "reasonable surfing." He writes, "If you surf the web and say download [many-megabyte] files -- the 3G connection uses a lot of battery (no way around that :)). The Wi-Fi isn't too bad on the battery I believe."
I found that when I stopped surfing but kept the tethering option enabled, the battery did start recharging back up to where it needed to be. However, due to this issue, you'll want to use this technology sparingly, and not just because of your obligations to AT&T.
I personally rarely tether, but I'm really happy that I'll have access to this software when I need it. Especially during the winter months, when Comcast lines and connections tend to fail during the biggest snow storms, it's nice to know that I have an emergency backup that will allow me to use a full size computer if needed rather than falling back to just the iPhone.TUAWiPhone hacksugar: Creating a MyWi WiFi hotspot with your jailbroken phone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.5.7 update available
Filed under: Software
On Tuesday, Microsoft released Office 2004 11.5.7 update for the Mac. This update applies to Office 2004 Standard Edition, Office 2004 Student and Teacher Edition, Office 2004 Professional Edition, Word 2004, Excel 2004, PowerPoint 2004, Entourage 2004. If you're still using this aging version of Office,* you'll want to grab this update.
According to Microsoft, the update fixes a vulnerability that could allow someone to overwrite the contents of a computer's memory with their own code. For complete information on the vulnerability and the fix in this update, look here and here.
The first issue, described in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-003, notes that an Office file containing code that exploits the vulnerability could gain full user rights to a machine when opened by a user, while the issue described in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-004 is specific to PowerPoint.
Note that this update requires Mac OS X 10.2.8 (Jaguar) or a later and the above Office products.
*I'm still using Office X, which was released way back in 2001, so don't feel badly.TUAWMicrosoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.5.7 update available originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Macworld 2010: What is it? Apple Campus edition
Filed under: Macworld, Humor, Cult of Mac, TUAW Business
While we were walking around the Apple Campus yesterday, we spotted this strange device planted in the ground. The picture above is the only one we took, but we'll give you a few hints: the two holes in the metal box are upside down trapezoids, and inside of them, you can see a metal grating just bigger than the holes themselves. The device stood right next to the Apple visitor parking lot (and in fact, that shadow on the right side is of a parked car just outside the frame -- the box itself is planted in grass, with no other wires or connections on it). Our query to you: What is this thing?
We have our own ideas -- we joked it was some kind of electric car charger, or perhaps an iPod nano dispensary. It almost seems like the leftover parts of a parking meter, but it was the only such box in the lot, and it was facing away from the cars parked there. Give us your guesses below: what is this strange box on the Apple Campus parking lot? We'll update this post with your best answers, and maybe even the right one, if you can figure it out.
Update: Well that makes sense. Commenters guessed right away that it was a cigarette bin. Interesting, considering that, as you can see in the gallery in the link above, there's no smoking on Apple's campus. Drop your butts before entering, please!TUAWMacworld 2010: What is it? Apple Campus edition originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - 7 million iPhone and iPod touch users tried to download Flash, and left sad
Filed under: iPhone
Despite the widespread disdain for Adobe Flash, it remains a ubiquitous platform delivering streaming media to millions of browser windows -- except for mobile Safari. Adobe claims that its site received more than 7 million download requests for Flash in the month of December, originating from iPhone and iPod touch users, which the company is using as evidence that users of those products want Flash on their devices. A shocking figure, if true. And if traffic from these devices is so high now, demand will only be exacerbated by the arrival of the iPad, once thousands of angry users discover they can't watch funny cat videos anywhere but YouTube.
It's important to note, however, this traffic is originating from Adobe's Flash download page, where visitors are likely arriving after having clicked on a link which told them that their browser did not have Flash installed and where to download the plugin. So the question remains as to whether demand lured them to the page, or a simple call-to-action link. You decide.
I'm impressed that Adobe went to the effort of logging download requests, given their supposed "laziness."TUAW7 million iPhone and iPod touch users tried to download Flash, and left sad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Google Buzz now available on iPhone web app
Filed under: Software, Internet, Internet Tools, iPhone
Google revealed its new social communications feature Buzz yesterday while we were all traveling to Macworld, and the new service is now up and running in the Mobile Safari web app, as well as in your Gmail account everywhere else. The mobile app has all the features of the main service (it's kind of like a mix between Twitter and Google Wave, where you can post status updates and media in an ongoing conversation) with some interesting mobile features, including the option to see "buzz" nearby while out and about, as well as comment on or 'like' other people's "buzz."
The whole thing is still pretty new, and as you've probably seen around the rest of the 'net, there's lots and lots of people discussing how this might work alongside (or in spite of) Twitter and all of the other growing social networks out there. Time will tell whether or not the system will be a hit (or fizzle like Wave apparently did), but Google definitely made sure that the iPhone has full capability up and running right away, even if the Apple/Google relationship isn't what it used to be.TUAWGoogle Buzz now available on iPhone web app originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Riven coming to iPhone
Filed under: Gaming, Software, iPhone
Here's great news for Myst fans with iPhones -- a port of Riven will be available this year.
According to a post on the Myst Online Forums, the game is in development and will be released "...by early summer at the latest." Just in time for gaming at the beach!
Riven is the sequel to Myst, the adventure game that revolutionized the industry when it was first released for the Mac in 1993. The goal of Myst is to solve a series of complicated puzzles and ultimately answer the question, "What's going on here?" Riven is the sequel to Myst and describing its plot would reveal spoilers for both, so we'll let you play it for yourself.
Myst for iPhone was released last July to the praise of the game's dedicated fans. I've played both the Mac and iPhone versions, and am happy to say that the iPhone port is faithful to the original while the touch interface adds a whole new level of fun (don't click on that lever, go ahead and touch it!). With that in mind, I expect an equally pleasant experience with Riven for iPhone.
Of course, they'd both be gorgeous on the iPad (and huge -- the iPhone build of Myst is 533MB!), but we're getting ahead of ourselves.
[Via Touch Arcade]TUAWRiven coming to iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - The amazing shoe box theater powered by an iPhone
Filed under: How-tos, Cult of Mac
I love home theater. I love it so much that I have a real one in my house with a nine foot 2:35:1 screen and enough clean sound to be IMAX's little brother. Now Gary Katz has taken the opposite approach and built an absolutely gorgeous Liliputian theater out of a shoebox, some rubber cement, laser printed graphics and a very sharp knife. Take a look at the hand in the picture above and you'll be able to see the scale. Open the doors and you'll see a quite realistic-looking theater. And what powers the magic? An iPhone of course, which is cleverly slipped into a slot at the back of the shoebox. This little jewel box of a theater is a work of art in itself and the attention to detail is remarkable.
I can easily see an audience of green army soldier toys happily watching Toy Story. I think they'd like it much more than Ratatouille.
Read on to see the theater in action and then check out the inevitable 'making of' documentary.
[via iPhone Savior]
And now the making of the Shoebox Theater.
TUAWThe amazing shoe box theater powered by an iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Targus announces screen protector for iPad with Clear View technology
It's not surprising that many of the big names in Apple device protection accessories are getting into the iPad market, even with the release of the device still about six weeks away. Targus, a longtime provider of cases and mice for Apple's laptops, announced this morning that they'll soon be selling the Targus Screen Protector for iPad.
Targus has been selling fingerprint-resistant screen protectors for the iPhone and iPod touch devices for about a month, and will use the same trademarked Clear View technology for the iPad Screen Protector. The material used for the Screen Protector is covered with microscopic textures that dissipate fingerprint oils and reduce smudging on the screen, as well as reduce glare and provide a scratch-proof surface. The adhesive makes the film easy to apply without leaving bubbles, and reduces peeling that plagues other screen treatments.
The Targus Screen Protector for the Apple iPad will be available in April. No price has been announced for the product at this time.TUAWTargus announces screen protector for iPad with Clear View technology originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Act surprised: Higher iTunes prices mean slower salesWarner Music revealed on Tuesday something we've all long suspected: music sales have witnessed a growth slump on iTunes since the record labels pushed Apple to implement a variable or tiered pricing model. As a result, consumers have slowed their spending habits of media on iTunes, making fewer purchases and fewer Miley Cyrus downloads -- I'm ok with that part in fact.
The cause of decelerating sales can be attributed the associated price hike in new or premium content, which received an unpopular 30% cost of living increase from $.99 to a more salty $1.29 price point. It turns out that people are reluctant to pay thirty cents more today for something that cost a buck yesterday. What is it with you crazy people and your fickle spending habits?
This decline in spending is beginning to eat into Warner's bottom line, where iTunes makes up the majority of its digital revenues. The company saw a 50% decline in revenue in their December quarter, at just 5% growth -- down from 10% in the previous quarter. Ouch! Note to businesses everywhere: This is what happens when you issue a price increase in the middle of a recession. We'll have to see if the record companies take a hint and reconsider their pricing at all.TUAWAct surprised: Higher iTunes prices mean slower sales originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Disney CEO calls iPad "a game changer"
Filed under: Multimedia, Software, iPad
While discussing the iPad with the Associated Press on Tuesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger hinted at his company's plans for the iPad, and called it "a game changer."
He gave brief examples of ideas they're throwing around for the iPad, including ESPN ScoreCenter and an interactive app for the ABC drama "Lost." ESPN ScoreCenter is currently an iPhone and iPod touch app that provides real-time scores and updates from the world of sports. Iger says that the iPad gives them an opportunity to "...really make the scores come to life." I think of the demo of Major League Baseball's At Bat for the iPad and see how the ESPN app could do the same -- provide gorgeous, full-screen video and stats plus chat and trash talk with other fans during the game of your choice. Multiple camera angles, locker room interviews, fantasy leagues, and so on, could all enhance the fun of watching the big game.
Likewise, a Lost app could provide a similar experience. "When you think about ABC," Iger said, "you think about a program like Lost and not just being able to watch the program, but all the other things that viewers like to do with that program." As a leisure content device, the iPad could be a killer with the right apps in place.
Iger went on to say, "We think [the iPad] could be a game changer in terms of enabling us to create essentially new forms of content." No, it's not the same as watching your favorite show on that big, shiny HD TV, but the iPad might further synthesize the TV and computer into a single device.
[Via MacDailyNews]TUAWDisney CEO calls iPad "a game changer" originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Macworld 2010: TUAW goes to the mothership
Filed under: Macworld, TUAW Business
No Macworld is complete without at least one pilgrimage to the mothership in Cupertino, and so yesterday, before the meetings and interviews we're planning today, David Winograd, Dave Caolo, and myself made the trip to the Apple Campus. In the gallery below, you can see what we saw, from the boxed versions of Mac software -- Popcap games boxed! Pixelmator boxed! -- to the endless souvenirs and trinkets for sale in the company store ("There are quite a few of us who know your site," winked the unnamed cashier to us as we checked out), to the original iPod box sitting in the office window, and the office desks full of multiple 30" Cinemas. It was glorious, all of it.
Yes, even the woman who shooed us away with a "No pictures!" warning when we tried to take shots of the multiple basketball courts and volleyball court on campus. Check out all of the sights of our walk all the way around the Infinite Loop in the gallery below.
TUAWMacworld 2010: TUAW goes to the mothership originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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