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- Dear Aunt TUAW: Can I use a USB keyboard or headset with my iPad?
Filed under: iPad
Dear Aunt TUAW,
I love my new iPad and I plan to use it for some heavy duty writing. But I'd rather not fork out all the money that Apple is asking for a Bluetooth external keyboard [or a keyboard dock]. Do you know of any workaround? Is there a way, maybe, to use a standard USB keyboard with the iPad? Thanks for letting me know.
Love & Kissies,
Your Nephew [Name Withheld]
My darling nephew,
Although you can pick up an inexpensive second-hand Bluetooth keyboard on eBay (I recently spent about $40 on my new-to-me Think Outside Stowaway unit), there is a glimmer of hope on the USB keyboard horizon.
TUAW just received a tip from reader Jonathan, who is playing with his new Camera Connection Kit. (Auntie's is still on the way, I'm afraid.) He tells us he was able to successfully connect a USB keyboard and type directly on his iPad. He also reports that the kit allows users to import photos directly from their iPhones, as was expected and specified.
It's also worth noting that Glenn Fleischman at TidBITS has just reported that a standard USB audio headset works for output and input to the iPad via the Camera Connection Kit; he was able to use the Skype app for a call via this setup, with excellent quality.
So far this is the first Auntie's heard about the keyboard and audio support via the Camera Connection Kit -- she suspects that these features may not be 'officially supported' -- but if these developments pan out you can likely carry along the USB connection cable from the kit and any folding keyboard or audio headset you already have around the house! Just be aware that there isn't a huge difference in price between USB and Bluetooth foldable these days, so if you have to buy, you might as well go straight for the Bluetooth solution.
Sending you keyboard hugs and USB snuggles,
Auntie T.TUAWDear Aunt TUAW: Can I use a USB keyboard or headset with my iPad? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Bluetooth - Unofficial Apple Weblog - IPad - Apple - Skype
Переслать - Determining civil and criminal liability for the lost iPhone
Filed under: iPhone
Editor's Note: One of the advantages of having an attorney on the TUAW team is the opportunity for this sort of deep-dive legal analysis. We asked Lauren to dig into the circumstances and statutes around the case of the mystery iPhone, and she obliged.
While Lauren is a real lawyer, she's not your lawyer, nor is she licensed in California, so please do not make decisions about what to do with found property in bars without consulting your own legal counsel.
Ever since Gizmodo put up those pictures and claimed to have Apple's next iPhone in hand, questions have been swirling about what the repercussions, if any, might be from a legal perspective. While the iPhone's peddler probably ought to be finding himself a lawyer, the more interesting question is this: is Gizmodo courthouse-bound? This question has gotten increasingly more interesting in light of the fact that as of today, CNET reports that Silicon Valley police are looking into the matter.
Let's break it down, with a lengthy look at just who might be wronged and how. Find the nearest leather chair, a bookcase of legal tomes, sew on your elbow patches, and get ready to look contemplative.
There are two entities to which Giz could be forced to answer: they are Apple, and the State of California, representing both civil and criminal liability respectively.TUAWDetermining civil and criminal liability for the lost iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Friday Flickr Find: Unboxing an iPad, LEGO style
Filed under: Odds and ends, iPad
For many of us Apple geeks, unboxing your new product is *almost* as much fun as actually using it. And while there are several ways to show off the event, having the box opened entirely by LEGO minifigures photography is probably one of the most creative and interesting ones I've seen.
Enter the world of "ntr23", a TUAW reader and Apple fan who has an apparent affinity for taking pictures of minifigures performing various tasks, the most recent of which was unboxing his new iPad. At 1.5 inches tall, the iPad reminds me more of an iFloor, but that doesn't stop the figures from putting on a good show. From receiving the package to syncing with iTunes, the minifigure team has you covered.
If you're thinking this looks familiar, you're probably right. This same team of LEGOs used ladders to scale the box of the original iPhone a couple of years ago, and one of the minifigures was recently spotted attempting to load OS 4 on the original iPhone. I'm thinking someone might want to let him know that's not how it's done :-)
If you like what you see, be sure to check out ntr23's Flickr page for more.TUAWFriday Flickr Find: Unboxing an iPad, LEGO style originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Beautiful retro handset base for the iPhone
Filed under: iPhone
It's the weekend, which seems like the perfect time for a groovy retro item like this one. The iRetrofone is a handset base for the iPhone that brings an old-school aesthetic to your new-school touchscreen cell phone. We've seen cool handsets before, but this one goes all the way. Any iPhone can sit firmly in that space where the rotary dial would be, you can pick up a dialer app from the App Store, and then there's room for the dock to get plugged in, and the handset itself plugs into the headphone jack.
"But Mike," you may say, "there's no actual value to that. All it does is make the slim and trim iPhone into a bulky mass of resin." And you'd be right. But the shape of that bulky mass of resin happens to bring back some excellent memories for me, of cradling a handset while chatting with friends and family, and hanging the phone back up when it had fallen off the hook, and carrying the base with me while pacing during an important call. While the item on Etsy is now sold out, if it was there,$15 would be a small price toI'd happily pay* to revisit those memories.
[via TDW]
Update: Whoops, $15 is the shipping -- the handset is $195, which seems much more reasonable for a custom-shaped piece of resin wired and ready to go. That's not such a small price, but the memories are still powerful.TUAWBeautiful retro handset base for the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - New from TwelveSouth: SurfacePad Colors for MacBook
Filed under: MacBook
The Apple fans at TwelveSouth have done it again, this time with a product for the oft-neglected MacBook.
SurfacePad Colors is a line of colorful leather pads that protect your glistening white MacBook from scratches and stains. The colors were well-researched by TwelveSouth. The Cyan Blue SurfacePad matches the current iPod nano blue, Perfect Pink is a perfect match to the Incase pink neoprene sleeve for the MacBook, Infinite Grey is identical to the grey on the base of the MacBook, and Orange Crush will make Clemson University, University of Tennessee, and Syracuse University fans and alums happy (hey, guys, you forgot that it also matches the orange in the Denver Broncos logo).
The SurfacePad Colors pads are available now from TwelveSouth for US$29.99, and they're celebrating the release of this new product with free shipping. Be sure to check out the gallery on the TwelveSouth site for lots of sexy shots of SurfacePad Colors on a bevy of MacBooks.TUAWNew from TwelveSouth: SurfacePad Colors for MacBook originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - iDevices making up more and more of Apple's revenue
Filed under: Apple Financial
Apple held their latest earnings call this past week, which means we're right in the middle of a flood of analysts' charts and graphs about how well they're doing. This one's extra interesting, though -- we've talked before on this site about Apple's interesting position between its past of PCs and OS X and its apparent future as the "largest mobile device company in the world," but here it is, in bright colorful stripes put together by Silicon Alley Insider: the iPhone, the iPod, and iTunes make up the majority of this company's business, and have for quite a while. This chart only goes back to June of 2007, but notice how the whole thing trends upwards -- at some point here that I'd imagine is sooner than you might think, we'll reach a spot where the iPhone and various Apple iProducts will have made more money than the Mac ever did.
Not that Apple is abandoning the Mac at all, and neither are we -- we're still an unofficial Apple weblog, and we're still committed to covering the whole company. But I even noticed this back at Macworld earlier this year -- there's definitely two factions in the Apple audience, one that hearkens back to the old school pre-OS X Mac identity, and another that can't get enough of the iPhone and the iPad (which, you'll notice, is still missing from the chart above) and apps and so on. As time goes on, that iFaction is growing bigger and bigger, both inside of Apple and out.TUAWiDevices making up more and more of Apple's revenue originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Police launch probe into lost iPhone sale
Filed under: iPhone
It sure seemed like this whole "lost iPhone" saga might be over, but maybe things are just getting interesting: CNET is reporting that Silicon Valley police have launched a probe into the sale of the prototype iPhone left at a bar in Redwood City to Gizmodo.com. Apple has reportedly spoken to police about the incident, and a computer crime task force is on the case, currently investigating whether there's enough evidence of wrongdoing to file charges. It's possible that there isn't, and this really is over, but if police find that laws were broken with the sale of the unreleased property, charges might be filed.
Jonathan Ballerano (via Daring Fireball) has a little more insight on Gizmodo's possible liability. If a case is brought against Gizmodo, says Ballerano, the question will be twofold: whether Apple took reasonable steps to protect their secret (as in, not leaving it in the hands of an engineer who might lose it at a bar), and whether Gizmodo had knowledge that the phone was a trade secret at the time. On the first point, Ballerano says that California law is relatively lenient, and given that Apple needs to field-test the phones, somehow, they could probably make a case for reasonable protection of their secret. On the second point, Ballerano believes that yes, Gizmodo willfully disclosed something they knew was a secret, and expects that if either a suit or a charge is brought, Gizmodo will pay.
But at this point, it's up to the police and Apple to decide how far they can pursue Gizmodo and on what grounds they might go after them. We'll have more legal analysis coming up about the case -- stay tuned.TUAWPolice launch probe into lost iPhone sale originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Over 800 Sketch Nation Shooter games created so far on the iPhone
Filed under: iPhone
Ever since I first played Sketch Nation Shooter back at GDC, this is what I've been waiting for -- a chance to see what the masses are doing with this wacky little game creation tool on the iPhone. In the app, players can make up their own graphics and assign their own rules to enemies and items within the top-down shooter genre, eventually creating their own full shooter game. And with over 800 games out there in the app, you can see that things are already getting creative in the video above. I love the bug spray one, and the magnet one is pretty brilliant, too. And there's even a "bullet hell" tribute in there -- that kind of game isn't my thing, but it's very interesting that these games are running the gamut from super casual to very hardcore.
Creator Nitzan Wilnai says he's been overwhelmed by the response. He says that an update to the game is coming which will allow these games to be shared on Facebook as well, so we'll probably see even more of these come out in the future. If you haven't bought the app yet (it's 99 cents on the App Store), all of these games are both created by and playable in the app, and you can even share them with friends and rate them yourself. Very cool idea -- it'll be interesting to see if Wilnai eventually comes up with some more "Sketch Nation" genres. It'd be wild to use this system to design a game around some dungeon crawler or racing game rules.TUAWOver 800 Sketch Nation Shooter games created so far on the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - How do you make teachers angry? Take an app out of the App Store
Filed under: App Store
iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad users are used to hearing about new apps showing up in the App Store. It's when they are taken out of the App Store by Apple that things get interesting.
Teachers across the country got a taste of "interesting" last week when Apple removed Scratch Viewer from the App Store. The app is used to display programs that have been written by children in the Scratch programming language, a popular language for teaching kids the basics of computer programming. Scratch was developed by a team at M.I.T Media Lab, and the app was written by John McIntosh of Canadian development firm Smalltalk Consulting, Ltd.
The Computing Education Blog broke the news and received a number of comments protesting Apple's decision. While Apple is remaining quiet on the subject, McIntosh notes that he's in negotiations with the company. Many bloggers are thinking that Apple's excuse for killing Scratch Viewer is that it violates Section 3.3.1 of the company's policy against apps that interpret or execute code. That's the reason Apple is quashing Adobe Flash-based apps.
Mitchel Resnick, who runs the Scratch team at M.I.T., says that he's "disappointed that Apple decided not to allow a Scratch player on the iPhone or iPad" and hopes that "Apple will reconsider its policies so that more kids can experience the joys of creating and sharing with Scratch." The team is planning on writing Scratch authoring tools for iPad, but whether those plans come to fruition is up to Apple.
[via NYT Gadgetwise Blog]TUAWHow do you make teachers angry? Take an app out of the App Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Apple offers Keynote for iPad advice
Filed under: iPad
Several weeks ago, we described how Keynote for the iPad suffers from formatting and other issues when sharing presentations with a Mac. No support for custom fonts, disappearing presenter notes, and trouble with screen ratios were some of the problems we encountered. As if they were listening, Apple has published a support document on Keynote for iPad best practices.
It's a nice overview. Apple suggests which theme to use (options include Black, Craft, Harmony and Parchment), the proper size (1024 x 768) and fonts available to both platforms. Fonts not available on the iPad will be replaced with Helvetica.
As for images, Apple recommends scaling them to their intended size before adding them to a slideshow (kind of a hassle), and sticking with the PNG format.
There are a few more tips listed, but we'll let you read for yourself. Hopefully these suggestions will improve the experience for those who wish to present from their iPads.TUAWApple offers Keynote for iPad advice originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - How the Mac survived the recession
Filed under: Apple Financial
As we approach 2010's halfway point, it's interesting to reflect on Apple's successful navigation of the American economy's recession. With some careful inspection, we realize that Apple's portfolio of non-Macs saw it through.
Philip Elmer-DeWitt at Apple 2.0 has published a chart demonstrating unit sales of Macs vs PCs over the last nine years. While the industry suffered as a whole, as did so many others, Apple sold more Macs in that span. You'll notice an off-the-chart dip in 2005-2006, which coincides with the Intel transition; a time when many users stopped buying as they waited for the new machines (The first Intel iMacs were released in January 2006).
During that waiting period, Apple relied on iPod sales. By the time iPod sales slowed, shoppers were buying Macs again. Likewise, as the current recession prevented many customers from buying Macs, the iPhone sustained Apple. It will be interesting to see what the iPad has done in another year.
The Mac Observer's Alexis W. Cabot has his own interpretation of this data. "Macs have been on a roll ever since I have comparable data, with an exception during the [2005-2006] Intel transition," he says. "This proves either that value is always in high demand, or that we will always have the rich among us."TUAWHow the Mac survived the recession originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Quicken Essentials adds features, drops price
Filed under: Software
Intuit has added new features to Quicken Essentials for the Mac, dropped its price by twenty dollars, and is offering the difference as a refund to those who bought it at the original price of US$69.99.
Two major new features will be added to the software by the end of April; users will be able to protect imported files and export data to the spreadsheet software of their choice. In addition, Intuit has listed several features it plans to add throughout 2010, including options to export tax-deductible items to software like TurboTax, to track budgets across several months, and accept investment holdings data from brokerages that do not provide downloadable data for Quicken.
The new, lower price is live on the site right now. Customers who purchased Quicken Essentials before April 19th, 2010 are eligible for a $20 refund for a limited time. You'll find full details here.
We took at good look at Quicken Essentials for the Mac and spoke with Aaron Patzer, the VP/GM of Intuit's Personal Finance Group, back in February.TUAWQuicken Essentials adds features, drops price originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - iPad production may be slowed by touchscreen production woes
Filed under: iPad
If you're an international customer who's waiting for an iPad, you're probably a bit anxious about the lack of a solid release date. The problem might not just be unprecedented demand for the iPad in the U.S., but also production issues with the 9.7" touchscreen displays.
Andrew Rassweiler, an analyst with research firm iSuppli, told Bloomberg News that yields on the displays have been low. That problem is in turn causing a production bottleneck. The displays are made in South Korea by LG Display and Samsung Electronics, and also in Japan by Seiko Epson. The displays are similar to those used on the iPhone, but of course are much larger on the iPad. Scaling up the displays complicates the process of production.
iPads won't be available internationally until sometime in May, and will then appear in the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, Italy, Japan, Spain, and Switzerland. Apple is expected to announce pricing in those countries on May 10, 2010.
[via Macworld UK]TUAWiPad production may be slowed by touchscreen production woes originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - HoloToy: An amazing 3D app for iPhone and iPad
Filed under: App Review
We've looked at a lot of 3D apps before, but I believe that HoloToy (US$0.99) is really something special. If you have an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, you should download it right now. I don't think you'll find a better 3D app in the whole store.
HoloToy uses anamorphosis perspective projection to do its magic. This means that you won't have to wear those cardboard anaglyph (usually red and cyan) glasses; aside from being annoying, they kill the brightness and reduce colors to a muddy shade of beige. All you need to do is look at it and twist and turn your device to see the effects. It's an interactive app, and by making wonderful use of the built-in accelerometer, you can do a do a variety of things, including moving around a HoloBot robot and even playing a few games.
The process used prevents images from appearing in front of the screen, so what you get is a five sided box, with the screen being a clear wall that you look into. Twisting, turning, and tapping on the screen lets you interact with all of the 3D images.
The intention of the app was to start with a few sample images and add others every week or so, based on reader feedback. In fact, just today an update was released adding a customizable aquarium option. You can see the progression of the app as the new images have been released; the app started as a bunch of planets suspended in space that you can spin around by swiping. The distance between the planets and the back wall is apparent, and there is a white box on the back wall whose corners you can see by twisting and turning the screen. The depth effects get better with the next two non-interactive modules, an impossible triangle and two differently sized boxes.TUAWHoloToy: An amazing 3D app for iPhone and iPad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Lufthansa offers engineer who lost 4G iPhone free ticket to Germany
Filed under: iPhone
Nicola Lange, Lufthansa's director of marketing and customer relations for the Americas, has posted a letter on his Twitter account to Gray Powell, the Apple engineer who lost the 4G iPhone prototype in a German beer hall in Redwood City, offering complimentary Business Class tickets to Munich.
"I recently read in the news that you lost a very special phone at a German beer bar in California," the letter begins. It goes on to say Lange thinks Powell could use a break and offers him the tickets to Munich where he could literally pick up where he last left off.
A trip to Europe is always a great way to abandon your sorrows, but what might really help Powell right about now isn't free tickets. We're wondering if Lufthansa has any engineering positions available...TUAWLufthansa offers engineer who lost 4G iPhone free ticket to Germany originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Apple controls 72% of Japanese smartphone market
Filed under: iPhone
Softbank Corp., Japan's sole iPhone carrier, has announced that the iPhone accounted for 72% of smartphones shipped in the country during the fiscal year that ended March 31. The fact that the iPhone has penetrated 72% of the market in Japan is even more impressive given that Softbank Corp. is just the country's third-largest wireless, behind HTC Corp. and Toshiba Corp.
Seventy-two percent of the market equates to 1.69 million iPhones shipped in Japan in the last fiscal year. That's 5.6% of the 30.1 million units Apple sold worldwide in the twelve months ending in March, according to BuisnessWeek.
Things aren't all rosy for the country's iPhone carrier however. "Last year was just the beginning of the smartphone competition, which is why Apple did so well," said Calvin Huang, analyst at the Daiwa Institute of Research "This year will be much more competitive." Indeed, Android smartphones are set to flood the Japanese market in 2010, with some believing that the Google OS will offer serious competition to the iPhone there. However, with iPhone sales skyrocketing and other Asian countries embracing the device, other smartphone manufacturers have their work cut out for them.TUAWApple controls 72% of Japanese smartphone market originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Apple releases Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 3.2
Filed under: Software Update
Apple has released Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 3.2. The update extends RAW image format compatibility to Aperture 3 and iPhoto '09 for the following cameras:
- Canon EOS Rebel T2i / 550D / Kiss X4
- Leica S2
- Olympus E-450
- Olympus E-600
- Olympus E-620
- Sony Alpha DSLR-A230
- Sony Alpha DSLR-A330
- Sony Alpha DSLR-A380
- Sony Alpha DSLR-A450
TUAWApple releases Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 3.2 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - 1Password for Windows beta available
Filed under: Software
For a lot of our readers, working with a Windows machine at the office is a way of life; in other words, you probably don't have a choice. Agile Web Solutions, developers of the popular 1Password and 1Password touch applications for Mac, iPhone, and iPad, have announced today that a Windows version of 1Password is available for beta testing.
This means that for the first time, it will be possible to use 1Password for password syncing and storage of private information on the Windows platform as well as the various Apple platforms without resorting to the 1Password Anywhere web-based access feature. For those of you who have changed a password on a corporate system at work, only to find out when you're working from home on your Mac that you can't remember it, this is going to be a real help.
No pricing or final release date has been announced, but you can join in on the fun of testing the Windows version by downloading a copy from the 1Password Windows forum.TUAW1Password for Windows beta available originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - David Letterman's "Top Ten Excuses of the Guy Who Lost the iPhone Prototype"
Filed under: iPhone
On Wednesday night, David Letterman's Top Ten list was dedicated to the guy who lost the 4G iPhone prototype. The phone was later found and sold to Gizmodo. Some of the excuses Letterman thought the Apple engineer who lost the iPhone should use:
"Couldn't call Apple for help because I lost my iPhone."
"Thought there was an app that would wisk [sic] it back to my house."
"At least I didn't lose my finger like that iPad guy."
"It didn't work anyway -- it uses AT&T."
What's more entertaining than his Top Ten list is watching Letterman's little rant about his utter disdain for the iPhone prototype story. "This comes under the category for me of 'who cares'," Letterman said. "Honestly, I just couldn't care less about this."TUAWDavid Letterman's "Top Ten Excuses of the Guy Who Lost the iPhone Prototype" originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Chaos Rings hits top grossing, going to the iPad
Filed under: iPad
Square Enix's new original iPhone title, Chaos Rings, is a qualified hit; it's currently sitting right on top of the United States' top grossing apps list and at number 18 on the top paid apps list. The reviews are terrific as well, which means that Square Enix has pulled off a hit iPhone game at the surprising price of US$12.99. The company hasn't missed the message, either. It's bringing Chaos Rings to the iPad soon, and is also hard at work on more original titles for Apple's handheld systems. We don't know how the iPad version, Chaos Rings HD, will be priced, or if it will be included for those who have already purchased the game on the iPhone (that'd be great, wouldn't it?). Clearly, though, there is still a market for well-done, top level games (even at high price points). We don't know if Square Enix actually made money on this one (the craft on display certainly didn't come cheap), but App Store customers are certainly buying.
At the same time, other big-name developers aren't so sure. Crytek (makers of Crysis for the PC) CEO Cevat Yerli claims that App Store pricing has been nothing but a burden for game developers, and he says that, even outside of Apple's ecosystem, game prices in general are being driven down by the App Store. "It's pushing out games at such a low price that it distorts the perception of what a game should be priced at," he said in a recent interview. "IPad and iPhone are both doing a real disservice to game prices by allowing games at such low price points - it is an issue the industry has to address."
That's an interesting take. There are certainly a number of factors involved in lower game prices lately (not the least of which is digital distribution, which has grown immensely in the past few years). However, a game like Chaos Rings seems to prove that it's still all about the gameplay. If game developers can make a great game that players want to play, they can more or less name their price.TUAWChaos Rings hits top grossing, going to the iPad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - TUAW's Daily App: Dizzypad
Filed under: iPad
I wrote about NimbleBit's Dizzypad when it first came out, and since then it's become one of my favorite pick-up-and-play iPhone games -- super polished, simple but addictive gameplay, and enough collectibles and score tracking to keep it interesting every time you hop in. And even better, it's going free today, so if you haven't taken the leap yet, jump on over and pick it up as today's Daily App.
NimbleBit also sent word that they're almost done with an iPad version, which will also be free, with some new frog skins, and of course shinier graphics. There are even some new game modes, each available for US$1.99, including a same-screen multiplayer game mode which has two frogs hopping after each other in a winner-eat-loser battle. Very awesome. Dizzypad is a great game, and since it's free, you have no reason not to pick it up from the App Store right now.TUAWTUAW's Daily App: Dizzypad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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