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- Steph Tirion, creator of Eliss, annouces Faraway
Filed under: Gaming, Software, Developer, iPhone, App Store, SDK
Steph Tirion is an excellent game designer who I've had the good fortune to meet a few times. He first released a great game called Eliss on the App Store and he's now announced the second game he's been working on, called Faraway. Eliss was a terrific little arcade game that made great use of the iPhone's touchscreen, and Tirion says that while his first game dealt with "planets and space management in sectors, Faraway will be about constellations and infinite space travel." Sounds exciting. The game will be playable at GDC this week, so I'll definitely make time to run by and check it out.
Tirion has also announced a new company to represent and sell his iPhone games, and he's calling it LITTLE--EYES. It's really great to see a very smart, independent developer come into his own like on a platform like the iPhone -- there's really no other mainstream gaming platform out there that lets developers really jump in headfirst and release experimental games like these to a a mainstream market. We'll keep an eye out at GDC this week for all kinds of indie developers making it big. While it's cool that Valve and other larger companies are finally coming around, we have to be sure not to forget developers like this either.TUAWSteph Tirion, creator of Eliss, annouces Faraway originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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iPhone - App Store - Eliss - Apple - Game Developers Conference
Переслать - Remote webcam activation now disabled in software that led to controversy at Pennsylvania school
Filed under: Education, Odds and ends, MacBook
The suburban Philadelphia school being investigated for spying on students using MacBook laptops will lose the ability to turn on the built-in cameras remotely when they update their security software.
Absolute Software, new owners of the LANrev remote administration suite (formerly owned and developed by Pole Position GmbH), say they are going to remove the webcam remote activation feature from the software this week.
In a note to customers today, the company said:
"We know that webcam pictures are an ineffective tool in tracking down the location of a stolen computer. Taking pictures of lawful computer users without their permission, and without law enforcement involvement, is contrary to Absolute's policies and is inconsistent with our existing, more effective product offering."
"Based on recent events, we have received many inquiries about TheftTrack from customers who are concerned and who want to ensure their organizations are not involved in a similar incident."
As a result, the webcam feature is being removed in all updated versions of the software as of tomorrow. Current customers still have the feature, but they are being advised by the company to get the latest update.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that two I.T. employees of the Lower Merion School District have been placed on leave while an investigation continues.
The incident received national attention when the parents of a Harriton High School sophomore filed a federal lawsuit on February 16, alleging that school officials were activating the iSight cameras built into MacBook computers while students were using the computers at home.
The school has said the cameras were only turned on to locate stolen laptops, but several students said they saw the green camera light come on several times on computers that had not been reported stolen.
Federal Agents are also investigating, and have asked the school for all records relating to the incident.
The school says it has stopped using the software for accessing the webcams remotely. Over the last two years, the district has provided MacBooks to all 2,300 high school students.TUAWRemote webcam activation now disabled in software that led to controversy at Pennsylvania school originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - iPhone devsugar: The need for multiple ipa delivery
Filed under: Apple
App Store clutter remains an ongoing issue. In addition to "business card" applications that offer little or no functionality beyond a simple web page[1], there are lite editions, demo editions, full editions, and even in the case of Tweetie 2, completely new applications providing upgraded functionality.
Each of those applications must be registered with a unique app identifier, each one takes up a separate slot when installed on your iPhone's home screen, each application occupies a separate App Store listing, complete with its own screen shots, marketing material, reviews, and so forth. Each one must be managed by you in iTunes, where you must decide which to sync, which to keep, and so forth.
Add to the mix, the possibility that we're likely to see iPad- and iPhone-specific application releases in the near future in addition to the Universal Application solution that Apple has been heavily promoting. That's because iPad applications offer developers the opportunity to re-imagine their interfaces, adding features without the constraints of the iPhone's small screen and modal interaction limitations. An iPad app that adds significant new functionality may branch off and become yet another related app in a single application family.
Together, this means that an application family might include four or more applications: free versions, paid version, device-specific versions, and various upgrade options, all of which offer a single branding and some core overlap of features, despite differences in price and platform.
In my recent write-up, I proposed that Apple might be able to consolidate many versions of an application into a single product using multiple iPhone application files, aka a "multi-ipa" solution. Each component of this family would install to the same application slot and would use the same application identifier, that code that every developer must register with Apple. An application's identifier uniquely identifies each iPhone OS product to the device it lives on and to the App Store ecosystem.
The way I picture this working is this. Each member of a multi-ipa family would have a built in priority, specified in the bundle's Info.plist. That's the file that tells iPhone OS how the application bundle fits into the operating system. It works the same way that Info.plist files work on Mac OS X. In this case, the ipa with the highest priority gets installed. It's iTunes that makes the final call.
So imagine if a person downloads a free, iPhone-only demo version of a game and then later upgrades to a full-featured paid version. The paid version's higher priority wins out against the free versions, so iTunes knows to install the paid ipa into the same slot that the free version currently occupies. Right now, that doesn't happen. You end up using two slots and two application identifiers. Should a person then buy an iPad upgrade to this app (assuming here that it's not a universal application), then iTunes will sync the iPad-specific ipa to their iPad device rather than the iPhone version, eliminating any need to use pixel doubling to play the game.
As I previously wrote, Apple could offer a "Complete my App" feature to allow customers to buy the iPad-specific enhancements only when and if they eventually buy an iPad device. This approach depends on iTunes storing more than one version of the application, i.e. multiple ipa archive files, so that it can sync the best match to each device.
In each of these cases, it's iTunes that decides which ipa to install. The multiple ipa delivery system allows separate versions of the same application to coexist in the iTunes Mobile Applications folder. The latest, best-featured and most device-specific version always wins.
For Apple, for developers, and for consumers, there's pressure to both consolidate these families of apps and, at the same time, there's reasons to keep them separate. Both Apple and consumers win when just one listing and one device slot are dedicated to what is, essentially, a single application with multiple expressions of itself. App Store instantly declutters to a great degree; a single listing now takes care of both free and paid versions.
Developers may resist this. In the case of lite/demo and paid apps, split-personality multiple-listing can be a blessing for developers. Negative reviews for free applications can be mitigated by providing a completely separate product, whose reviews are culled only from paid customers.
That's been a big part of many developers' decisions not to migrate to in-app purchases, where the same app can exist in both demo and paid mode. With in-app purchase, users try out the application and, if they like what they use, can unlock the full version from within the demo app itself. Unless Apple offers some kind of free-version review block, developers will rationally keep picking the latter choice and design separate products for free and full versions. Apple, of course, can change its policy on this practice any time it chooses.
Paid upgrades are, on the other hand, a consolidation win for developers. One thing we do know for sure, Apple is likely to introduce paid upgrades in the near future. Existing customers can upgrade for a small fee; new customers must buy in at the full price. Admittedly, consumers who bought earlier app versions, believing they had bought in "for life" to all future innovations are going to be displeased to realize that a buy once, upgrade forever business model is unsustainable. It's a tempest that App Store is simply going to have to weather. Just don't expect customers to be happy about it.
So what's your take on this? Do you think Apple should go full-out in consolidating apps together? Or should they continue to allow separate trial and paid versions? Do you think the notion of a separate iPhone and iPad purchase has a future? Or will Apple push ahead with a priority on Universal application delivery? What do you think is the direction that App Store will be taking on these issues? Let us know in the comments.
[1] Apple is, even now, in the process of house-cleaning those applications to trim down App Store bloatTUAWiPhone devsugar: The need for multiple ipa delivery originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Apple patent: use your iPhone as an electronic "iKey"
Filed under: Rumors, Odds and ends, iPhone
The Daily Telegraph reports that a new Apple patent has surfaced which could potentially allow the iPhone, or another Apple portable, to act as a sort of electronic key. The potential applications are as limitless as the number of things locked by old-school metal keys. It could be used for cars, offices, homes, or lockers. Basically, anything that could have an electronic receiver mounted to it in place of a metal tumbler-style lock could then use an iPhone as a key.
While Ars Technica notes that "the patent application itself merely describes a unique way of using motion detection to generate an input, such as turning a virtual combination lock-style dial," the patent itself, as reported by the Telegraph, says that the device could be "any suitable electronic device such as a portable media player, personal data assistant or electronic lock" that could open up any number of physical lock types just by communicating wirelessly.
Electronic key fobs already exist for certain models of cars, most notably the Toyota Prius, which not only allow keyless entry but also allow you to start the car without a traditional metal key. If Apple actually implements this patent and allows iPhones and iPods to act as an "iKey," carrying a ring of metal keys and fobs around in your pocket could eventually seem as passé as a pocketwatch or pager seems today.
While the patent notes that the device would have to be paired with the locks in order to work, and that all communications would be encrypted, people are naturally going to be skeptical about the security of an iKey compared to a traditional metal key. I can see some other potential pitfalls: losing your iPhone, or having it stolen suddenly, means not having access to your car, your house, or anything else accessed with your iKey. Plus, if you're dumb enough to store your access code on your iPhone in a place where a thief can find it easily, it also means that, immediately after finding your home address in Contacts, the thief could gain entry to your house with next to no effort. Or how about this: you come home after a night of carousing at the bar, power up your iPhone to gain access to your front door, but then find a blank screen staring back at you from your iPhone because your battery died.
While the idea sounds great on paper and certainly stokes my science-fiction geek fires, the practical application of the iKey sounds like a giant headache.TUAWApple patent: use your iPhone as an electronic "iKey" originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Will iPad be missing some iPhone apps?
Wired noticed that there are some notable exceptions among the announced iPad apps, including Stocks, Calculator, Clock, Weather and Voice Memos.
These apps could be available for download through the App Store. However, blogger Kevin Fox suggested last month that could hint toward a possible Dashboard implementation on the iPad. He argues that these apps, with the exception of Voice Memos, were originally Dashboard widgets to begin with.
Fox theorizes that a five-finger pinch would bring forth a Dashboard with these apps and a second would send them back to the background. This is not the first Dashboard theory that's been floated for the iPad.
It's an intriguing idea, and I can see that being part of a future version of the iPhone/iPad OS. For now, I hope that these apps are available as a free download, or are already pre-loaded but on a second screen. The worst case scenario is that Apple will charge a premium for these basic apps, similar to the way they're charging iPod touch users for upgrades. I hope it doesn't come to that, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did either.TUAWWill iPad be missing some iPhone apps? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Valve: Steam, games coming to Mac in April
Valve announced on Monday that several of its popular titles, and both Steam and Storm, will be coming to the Mac in April. We anticipated this, based on the upcoming Gameinformer issue report, but now it's official!
Game titles we can expect to see include Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal, and the Half Life series. Even better news is that Valve intends to make simultaneous platform releases the norm from here on out. Expect Portal 2 to be the first game to be released on both Mac and PC at the same time.
Steam is Valve's digital delivery system for games (think iTunes for fragging); Storm is the game engine from the company. The system's been ramped up to even greater heights of awesomeness with a new feature called Steam Play. What that does is let you purchase the game on one platform (PC or Mac) and play on the other free of charge.
It gets better. Valve's Jason Holtman explained how Steam Play and Steam Cloud work. "For example, Steam Play, in combination with the Steam Cloud, allows a gamer playing on their work PC to go home and pick up playing the same game at the same point on their home Mac. We expect most developers and publishers to take advantage of Steam Play."
Really? Are you kidding me?
Rumors of Steam coming to the Mac surfaced in February when users found OS X icons hidden within a beta version of the new UI for their system, and were all but confirmed when Valve themselves released these teasers. All that's left now is the hardest part: The waiting.TUAWValve: Steam, games coming to Mac in April originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - iPad ad reveals book pricing and NYT button
Filed under: Apple Corporate, iPad
The iPad television ad that appeared during Sunday night's Oscars ceremony showed off more than the iPad's functionality. It revealed some book pricing, too.
Several of the books had prices clearly displayed (you'll get a better look here), ranging from US$8 to $15. For example, Sen. Edward Kennedy's "True Compass: A Memoir" is listed for $14.99, while "Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Journey to Change the World... One Child at a Time" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin is priced at $7.99.
By contrast, Appleinsider reports, those titles sell for $19.25 and $7.19 on the Kindle, respectively.
We reported on a leaked list of likely initial iBookstore titles and prices in late February, but this is the first official indication of pricing from Apple -- for the record, all the prices above match up with the file we saw. It's notable that the list appears to include New York Times bestsellers as a separate category, which aligns with the sharp-eyed observations of reader Alejandro; he noticed the distinctive Times logo in the iBooks app at the bottom of the screen (see image below) at the end of the ad.
Based on the leaked list, other titles we might expect to see at launch are "The Last Song" by Nicholas Sparks for $9.99, "U is for Undertow" by Sue Grafton for $12.99 and "The Wrecker" by Clive Cussler for $12.99.
The iBooks application represents Apple's first foray into the ebook market, currently dominated by the Kindle and Nook. The competition is heating up before the iPad even hits stores, as HarperCollins and Macmillan have forced Amazon to re-visit their pricing policies. In January of this year, before the iPad's introduction, Amazon adopted the 70/30 revenue split that the App Store uses. An epic battle is about to erupt which can only mean one thing: Better choices and products for us, the customers!
TUAWiPad ad reveals book pricing and NYT button originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Enter to win Trip Journal 4.0 for the iPhone
Filed under: Software, Developer, iPhone
iQapps has updated their app Trip Journal to version 4.0, and the new update adds a fair bit of functionality to the already pretty impressive set of trip recording and tagging features. As with previous versions, you can track pictures, notes, and maps of your trips, and communicate via a number of social networks and features with friends and family. The newest version allows for either manual or automatic waypointing as you travel around the world, multiple trip management, and hooks into social networks like Google Earth, Picasa, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, straight from the iPhone 3GS' GPS and video camera.
The app is on sale for 99 cents right now, but it'll be back to the standard $2.99 price soon. We've got an even better deal, however -- iQapps has offered five download codes for us to give five lucky commenters on this post. Just leave a comment telling us where you'd like to travel to, and we'll choose five random winners after 48 hours to win the app for free. Here are the rules:
- 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 telling us where you'd like to travel with Trip Journal
- The comment must be left before March 11th, 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time.
- You may enter only once.
- Five winners will be selected in a random drawing.
- Prizes: Promo Code for one copy of Trip Journal (Value: US$2.99)
- Click Here for complete Official Rules.
TUAWEnter to win Trip Journal 4.0 for the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Apple prepping Wi-Fi iPhone for China
Filed under: Apple Corporate, Apple Financial, iPhone
At long last, Apple and China Unicom Ltd. are working to introduce Wi-Fi-enabled iPhones to China.
The iPhone has failed to thrive in China, due in part to an active black market and the Golden Shield Project (GSP), which censors certain Internet content. To comply with the GSP, devices that include wireless Internet have been required to use China's own WAPI standard. Meeting that requirement forced Apple to re-design the iPhone for China.
In the meantime, a change in policy permitted devices to have both WAPI and Wi-Fi, but by then it was too late, and the 1st round of re-designed iPhones were released in China without Wi-Fi.
Now, Unicom Chief Executive Chang Xiaobing says that iPhones with Wi-Fi will be made available to his company's customers. He didn't announce when that will happen, but did suggest that existing customers (without Wi-Fi) will be compensated, perhaps with expanded use of Unicom's high-speed 3G network.
Unfortunately, this probably won't send iPhone sales soaring. There's still a powerful black market to contend with and less expensive iPhones in Hong Kong.
[Via Silicon Alley Insider]TUAWApple prepping Wi-Fi iPhone for China originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Final Cut dominant among Oscar documentary nominees
Filed under: Apple Corporate, Multimedia, Software, Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs and the iPad both appeared on TV during last night's Academy Awards, but they weren't the extent of Apple's presence.
Cnet reports this morning that the majority of the "Documentary Feature" and "Documentary Short" nominees -- 9 out of 10 in fact -- were made using Final Cut Studio, Apple's professional video editing package. Cnet spoke with some of the filmmakers, including Dan Wilken, online editor of "Food, Inc," who sung the suite's praises. "...[switching to Final Cut Studio] made the most sense economically and allowed us to do everything we needed."
Final Cut isn't the only professional editing software available but it is the most popular; market research firm SCRI International claim is has a near 50% market share among nonlinear editors.
With this in mind we get an even clearer picture of Steve's motivation for showing up. Certainly to have fun and experience the show, cheer on Up and other Disney offerings and keep his company and products in the minds of a very lucrative market.TUAWFinal Cut dominant among Oscar documentary nominees originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Mac 101: Use the tab key in more dialog boxes
Filed under: Mac 101
TUAW reader Cody Rogers wrote in to say: "I'm fairly new to my iMac and Macbook Pro running Snow Leopard. One of my biggest annoyances from switching over from PC to Mac is when a dialogue box comes up and says 'cancel' or 'okay' I can't find the keyboard shortcut to go from cancel to okay. In Windows, I could just hit 'tab' to go to the other option. Is this possible on a Mac? I've been doing some searching on it and can't find anything!"
I happened to have found the same thing when doing a clean reinstall of Snow Leopard over the weekend. The good news is that there is a way to do it, but it is not turned on by default and it does require a bit of hunting around. I didn't remember where it was either.
- Launch System Preferences, either by choosing it from the "Apple" menu or by going to your /Applications/ folder.
- In System Preferences, select the "Keyboard" preference pane (middle of the 2nd row)
- Then click "Keyboard Shortcuts" at the top of that window (see image above)
- At the bottom of that panel there is an option to use Tab to move between either "Text boxes and lists only" (default) or "All controls".
Also note that for most dialog boxes, the Enter/Return key will select "OK" and command+period (or the Escape key) will cancel.
If you'd like to learn more about using keyboard shortcuts with Mac OS X, Apple has a really useful page which will come in handy, especially for those switching from Windows.TUAWMac 101: Use the tab key in more dialog boxes originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - How to: Get your 1984 Mac running Snow Leopard
Filed under: OS, Cult of Mac, Mods
It couldn't happen, they said. It wouldn't work, they warned. But gmjhowe over at Instructables did it anyway: he converted his old 1984 Macintosh into a machine that could run Snow Leopard. And he laid out some pretty good instructions on how to do so yourself. His two rules are as thus: don't hurt the old Mac in any way -- besides its value as a collector's item, the thing still looks great. And don't skimp on costs -- you could probably do it a little cheaper than he did, but why would you? This is a one-of-a-kind project, and he went all out.
Because of that, his instructions get a little technical (he actually replaced the innards rather than just trying to fit a Mac mini in there or something similarly easy). So this isn't a very good project for a first-timer for sure. But if you've got a little DIY experience, or just want to see what it looks like to take apart an old Mac and refill it with modern PC parts (he went Hackintosh on the OS), you should definitely check out his writeup. I wouldn't use the computer as a workstation any more -- because, come on now, who can really do any serious computing on a 9-inch screen? -- but as a music server or just a conversation piece, it's great.TUAWHow to: Get your 1984 Mac running Snow Leopard originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Zen Bound 2 for iPad out by April 3rd, looks great
Filed under: Gaming, Software, iPad
We've heard from Secret Exit (creators of Zen Bound) a few times about the new version of their game coming soon, but Touch Arcade has some brand new pics and insight about the game itself. Kotaku also has a few preview pics, and the game looks terrific -- not only is it due out in the App Store soon, but we know for sure that it'll be before April 3rd, because they're aiming to have a day one iPad version ready to go as well. As you can tell from the pics, it's going to be just gorgeous -- high resolution, a crisp UI with lots of room to breathe, and the same physics-based rope-twisting gameplay as the first game.
Of course, there will probably be at least a few kinks -- unless Secret Exit is super lucky, they probably haven't run the code on an actual iPad just yet, so even if the app is in the store on day one, it might still need a few adjustments once they actually get a production device to run everything on. But these pics only make us even more excited at the possibility for gaming on the iPad -- just like we'd never had a mass-market touchscreen device before the iPhone came along, we've never had a widespread touchscreen device of this size before, and the bigger screen is going to make a big difference in games like this one for sure.TUAWZen Bound 2 for iPad out by April 3rd, looks great originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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