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Boxee demonstrated on iPad at CES 2011
As soon as we heard that Boxee was demoing their iPad version at this year's CES conference, we had to hunt them down and see it. We found them over at Iomega's booth (stay tuned for a writeup of an Iomega product designed to help iPhone backups as well), and asked to see the app. It's about what you'd expect from a Boxee interface -- slick and clean, with four different options across the top. Friends videos are first, allowing you to tune in to any videos your friends have flagged on various social networks. Featured videos is the second option, where you can watch any videos that Boxee wants to show off. Watch Later allows you to watch any videos you've marked on the Boxee service. And Files is the last option, letting you pull up any videos (in almost any format) stored via a Boxee media server on a Mac or PC on the same network.

As you watch any of the videos, you can click a button in the iPad's interface that will also send that video right off to your own Boxee installation to watch. It's pretty awesome -- browse around for a video on your iPad, set it to start playing, and then either watch it there, or send it AirPlay-style right out to your Mac, PC, or a media player equipped with Boxee. Boxee says the app will be released for free later on this year, with another version for iPhone and iPod touch eventually as well.
Boxee demonstrated on iPad at CES 2011 originally appeared on TUAW on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Hands-on with Sphero at the CES 2011
Sphero is this year's AR.Drone here in Las Vegas. Last year, the Parrot AR.Drone turned heads with an iPhone-controlled quadricopter, and this year, Sphero is creating a little buzz as an iPhone-controlled, well, ball. That's right -- the Sphero is a ball that both glows colors and rolls around at your iPhone or iPad's command. A company named Orbotix is working on releasing the ball sometime this year for no more than $100, and earlier this week at CES' ShowStoppers event, we got a chance to roll and control the ball ourselves.

What's the verdict? It's a little tough to control, but then again the AR.Drone was as well, and that sold all right when it was released late last year. Setting up the free, not-yet-released iPhone (or iPad, or Android) app for Sphero is simple, and once it's up and running, you just need to face the ball in the right direction by dragging a little icon around a round area on screen. When the ball's aligned in the direction you want it facing, you just press the screen, and the ball moves the way you drag it -- forward, backwards, left or right. You can also adjust the ball's speed and the screen's sensitivity, and you can dive into another menu that allows you to change the (completely cosmetic) color of the LED inside with a few RGB sliders.

It's fun, though, since it's still a prototype, it's tough to make the ball do exactly what you want, and most of the time, you just have to settle for what it does anyway. The dev told us that they're opening the platform up to anyone to make games or create applications, and the team has been working with ideas like turning the ball into a car with augmented reality. Our suggestion: let a cat play with this thing. They'd love it.
Hands-on with Sphero at the CES 2011 originally appeared on TUAW on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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iRecord Pro transfers grandma's VHS tapes directly to your iOS device or Mac

The iRecord Pro Personal Media Recorder has been around for a couple of years, but I couldn't help but notice this year it was connected to an iPad. Apparently the onboard analog-to-digital converter will also upload your MP4 converted video directly to your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. It works on a Mac too, but it also works on a PC, PSP and a raft of other devices.

One thing that seems a bit odd: you have to pay for a firmware upgrade to allow transfer to the iPad, according to the iRecord site. Why the extra charge for the iPad? We'll have a hands-on at Macworld if they are there again this year and ask.

It's a pretty simple thing, and maybe our need to transfer analog video is soon to become pointless, but if you're looking for a relatively simple and fast solution to dumping video to your iOS devices, this might do the trick. Then again, for around $230 on the street and a firmware cost if you want to dump to iPad, something with such limited use might not be flying off the shelves any time soon.
iRecord Pro transfers grandma's VHS tapes directly to your iOS device or Mac originally appeared on TUAW on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 17:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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CoverSutra kerfuffle highlights Mac App Store teething troubles

The Mac App Store is off to a great start, but it's not all sweetness and light. Users have been confused by how some third party apps bought elsewhere show as "installed" in the store UI whilst others don't -- and in fairness, it is confusingly inconsistent. Meanwhile, developers are struggling to deal with the lack of upgrade pricing, and what that means for their existing customers.

As with the iOS App Store, everyone buying an app pays the same price, whether they are a new customer or someone who bought a previous version. There is also no ability to "grandfather in" licenses from elsewhere. For example, I purchased Pixelmator v1.6 from its website for $60 back in September, but the team has now announced that v2 will be exclusive to the Mac App Store.

If they had maintained the $60 price point, I would have had to pay the full amount again in order to move my license from their own system and onto the Mac App Store. Generously, they have dealt with this by offering Pixelmator v1.6 for $30 on the store for a limited time -- with a free upgrade to v2 when it is released. This isn't perfect; some people like me feel annoyed that they paid twice the current rate just a few months ago for a product that won't get an upgrade to v2, and Pixelmator's developers are also effectively giving new customers an upgrade discount they perhaps shouldn't be entitled to. Overall, though, it's the best of a bad set of choices they can make.

Not all devs are having such a smooth ride, however.
Continue reading CoverSutra kerfuffle highlights Mac App Store teething troubles
CoverSutra kerfuffle highlights Mac App Store teething troubles originally appeared on TUAW on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Microvision runs TV out apps, including Rage HD, on the SHOWWX+ pico projector

Last year at Macworld 2010, I got to see the SHOWWX pico projector in action. Back then it was just a prototype, and the company was still shopping around the technology to try and get a unit into production. MicroVision has released the SHOWWX projector at a unit price of US$299. This year's model, however is the SHOWWX+, and while it's still a little unwieldy (and $100 more, at a $399 price point), it's brighter and clearer than ever, and a few tweaks to the iPhone have made it much more useful.

First up, TV out was simply a lament last year, but since Apple made it official with iOS 4.0, lots of developers are including a TV out function in their apps, and the SHOWWX+ can project all of them. There's the standard ideas of kicking out regular videos or Netflix (which looks terrific, even on a solid 3G connection), but MicroVision pulled up what we really wanted to see: Rage HD. id added TV out to its app recently, so the projector can put the video on a wall, but id also added support for the in-phone gyroscope. Since the projector is portable, the MicroVision rep can move it around while playing the game, so as the projection on the wall moved, so did the in-game angle. The effect was somewhat fleeting (the gyroscope feature isn't quite perfect, and the image was distorted as it moved around the square walls of the room), but there was a definite virtual reality feel, as if the projector was showing a dynamic window into the world of Rage.

So what's the drawback? While the projector is a quality product, and there probably at least a few people out there who could pick one up and use it, even MicroVision agrees the technology has a little way to go before it gets to prime time.
Continue reading Microvision runs TV out apps, including Rage HD, on the SHOWWX+ pico projector
Microvision runs TV out apps, including Rage HD, on the SHOWWX+ pico projector originally appeared on TUAW on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Video: iPhone 3G running Android 2.3
The iPhone 3G now does something not even all Android phones can claim: it runs Android's current version, 2.3 "Gingerbread." iDroid developer Nick Pack posted a video of a jailbroken iPhone 3G successfully running Android 2.3. Naturally the older iPhone was huffing and puffing a bit as it tried to run the latest Android interface, but to my eyes it looked like the iPhone 3G was at least running better than it initially was under iOS 4.2.

Much like running a Linux distro on a Mac, running Android on an iPhone is something I can appreciate conceptually, but I still can't imagine why anyone would actually want to do it. After all, it's not like you're starved for hardware choice if you really have to have Android running on your smartphone. Still, the effort involved in getting Android to run on the iPhone is intriguing, and watching the boot process in the video below just proves what many of us have been saying for years: these aren't just phones, they're handheld computers.

[via Redmond Pie]
Continue reading Video: iPhone 3G running Android 2.3
Video: iPhone 3G running Android 2.3 originally appeared on TUAW on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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VLC app removed from App Store
Not long after a version of multi-format video player VLC hit the App Store, speculation swirled surrounding its possible removal because of licensing issues. A few months later, it appears that everyone's fears were true: VLC has been removed from the App Store.

Before anyone grabs a pitchfork and/or torch and starts marching toward Cupertino, it's worth noting that VLC's removal from the App Store has nothing to do with Apple's preferences. Rather, it's a direct result of one man's misguided crusade... a man who, (perhaps) coincidentally, is an employee of Nokia, one of Apple's competitors in the mobile space.

Rémi Denis-Courmont [who is a lead contributor to the VLC project, and therefore had the grounds to pursue a licensing claim based on his included and GPL'ed code within the VLC iOS app -Ed.] waged a one-man campaign against Applidium's iOS port of VLC, claiming the app violated the GNU public license (GPL) because App Store purchases have Digital Rights Management (DRM) applied to them. The end result seems somewhat counterproductive, because now unless you downloaded VLC before it was pulled from the App Store, you can't install it on your iOS device at all. So much for ensuring that VLC can be freely distributed.

It's also important to note that VideoLAN, the group that's responsible for the desktop version of VLC, had nothing to do with getting Applidium's VLC port removed from the App Store; as an organization, VideoLAN itself did not pursue removal of the VLC app from the App Store. As berserk as it sounds, it really has been all about one guy's beef with the App Store's rules. One guy with a vested interest in seeing Apple lose to his employer, Nokia. [Note that for many open source projects, the distinction between a single developer and 'the project' is not always clear and the hierarchy (or lack thereof) may be somewhat ad-hoc; we don't know the internal politics or leadership structure of the VideoLAN project nor Denis-Courmont's administrative role. -Ed.]

If that wasn't enough, Courmont's response to Apple pulling the VLC app from the App Store comes off as incredibly spiteful:

"At last, Apple has removed VLC media player from its application store. Thus the incompatibility between the GNU General Public License and the AppStore terms of use is resolved - the hard way. This end should not have come to a surprise to anyone, given the precedents."

That's awesome, Rémi. I'm sure your high-minded principles are far more important than the benefit that millions of people could have had from using the FREE VLC app on their iOS devices. I'm glad I managed to download the app before your antics resulted in it getting pulled from the App Store, but thanks for ruining it for everyone else.

[Several commenters have pointed to contact information for Courmont or posted it directly. Please do not do this. Such comments will be deleted and repeat offenders will be banned from TUAW. -Ed.]
VLC app removed from App Store originally appeared on TUAW on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 06:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Blingiest bling booths make your Apple gear gaudy to the max

The companies making these rhinestone or Swarovski-encrusted iPad and iPhone cases are numerous. But if you're in the mood to wrap your Apple gear in shiny, sharp little crystals or plastic "gems" then there is no shortage of gaudy garbage vendors at CES -- or on the internet. Here's a little gallery of just a couple of outfits we spotted while walking around. Am I crazy for thinking this stuff is suitable for Snooki and her fans only? I mean, one of the packages states "Bling My Thing." You have to be kidding.

Gallery: Gaudy bling at CES
Blingiest bling booths make your Apple gear gaudy to the max originally appeared on TUAW on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Control a car's interior via a dashboard-mounted iPad from Visteon
Visteon doesn't have the first idea for integrating an iPad into an automobile in some way, but it has arguably the most ambitious one so far.

At this year's CES, Visteon brought forth their iPad dash product which not only integrates into an auto's audio controls, but it has the ability to handle all interior electronic controls. The iPad communicates via Bluetooth with the box pictured to the right of the iPad, above. That device is installed in the car, in place of controls for climate, seat positioning, and engine information, among other things. There's also weather information displayed within the interface, access to a GPS, and more.

There is a dock connector for the iPad, at the bottom of the iPad holder, but it's to provide power only. Obviously you're going to need a 3G-enabled device and a data plan to go along with it, in order to take advantage of the weather and GPS.

It's not clear what cars this device is planned to be compatible with, but from the placement and size of the iPad holder, I have a feeling compatibility will be limited.

Engadget also has a nifty hands-on video of some of the iPad app's functionality.
Control a car's interior via a dashboard-mounted iPad from Visteon originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 23:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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