Tuesday, July 31, 2007

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) (20 сообщений)

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  • Daring Fireball feed goes free

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    John Gruber's Daring Fireball is probably my favorite Mac blog out there (save for the ol' TUAW, of course)-- it was one of the first I started reading, and he consistently provides not only great insight on Apple products and policies (and journalists' treatment of them), but a strong, often funny voice in the community. We're big fans here at TUAW, and that's why we were so happy to hear that even more people will have a chance to read Gruber's work. Because as of today, he's releasing his full RSS feed, free to anyone.

    Previously, he had a plan where you paid a membership fee (included when you bought a T-shirt from him) and then got access to the full RSS feed. A feed was available for free, but it was partial content only. Now, he says, confusion about which feed is which, and RSS readers without HTML authentication (most notably Google Reader, and the .Mac reader for iPhone that David loves so much-- what's up with these popular readers not providing a feature that supports the content producers that supply them?) have convinced him to try out a free full feed for a month. Additionally, the free feed will be supported from week to week by sponsors.

    If you haven't signed on to DF's feed yet, now's your chance. And if, like us, you find it interesting and informative, might as well put a couple bucks in the bucket and pay for it anyway-- Gruber's definitely earning it.
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  • Much love for Mike Bombich -- Bootpicker 1.3 makes Mac/XP choice easier

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    Let us count the ways that the Mac sysadmin community hearts Mike B: we relish his reliable and full-featured Carbon Copy Cloner, we depend absolutely upon his fast and simple NetRestore, we puzzle through his instructions for deploying dual-boot machines and for working with Active Directory. Most of all, we love that all this snazzy management goodness is free. Now, for everyone tired of telling dual-boot users "just hold down the option key," Mike has released a Boot Camp OS selector tool called (unsurprisingly) BootPicker. It's open source, free and delightfully slick.

    What differentiates BootPicker from a simple option-boot, or from more elaborate tools like rEFIt, is its manageability and simplicity. Installed as a preference pane, BootPicker actually boots to Mac OS X every time and lets the user click a button for the OS they want (or, if administratively desired, reboots automatically to Mac OS X or Windows without user input). This gets around a couple of tricky problems; normally, setting a permanent boot OS requires an admin password, and a machine set to always boot in Windows is immune to the management oversight of tools like ARD or Workgroup Manager (you can manage both sides of the fence with LANrev or similar tools, but that can be a pain). By booting into Mac OS X first, there's an opportunity to change the preferences for BootPicker itself and modify the behavior for the next boot cycle.

    There's a very solid Read Me for BootPicker that (unfortunately) is only included in the install distribution, so you'll have to download it to peruse the details. Mike includes a candid evaluation of the security risks involved with something like BootPicker, which runs as root before the normal login window is presented to the user; please use discretion and care if you decide to deploy it. Check it out, and take a moment to appreciate what Mr. Bombich has done to make our lives a little bit easier.
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  • iTunes Store sells three billion songs, keeps on truckin'

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    After just over four years, the addition of movies and TV shows, and a name change, Apple today announced that the iTunes Store has sold over three billion songs. With a catalog of over five million songs, 550 TV shows and 500 movies, these sales numbers have also propelled the iTunes Store past Amazon and even Target to become the third largest music retailer in the US.

    While this is great news and all, I'm getting a bit bothered by the fact that music is gaining more and more of the bragging rights from Apple lately. TV shows seem to be selling pretty well, but just seeing '500 movies' printed in this press release makes the iTunes Store's selection sound like it's about on par with that crappy rental department at that run-down grocery store up the street. Hollywood typically seems happy to hop on any and every bandwagon that rolls into town, and with the reportedly unprecedented profits that record labels and TV show networks make from digital downloads, it still baffles me as to why the iTunes Store isn't able to give Blockbuster and Netflix a run for their money.

    Still, three billion songs sold over the world's most popular (and still most DRM-flexible) digital music store is good news, so I tip my hat to Apple on the success of the little jukebox application that could.
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  • iLounge reviews Apple Bluetooth Headset

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    Those unstoppable cats over at iLounge (whom I am convinced are using genetically modified oompa loompas) have gone and reviewed themselves an Apple Bluetooth Headset. For $129, you get a pretty darn sleek headset that one-ups the competition by including only a single button for control (or perhaps that's 'one-downing' the competition...), a Dual Dock for charging both the iPhone and headset and a travel charger that can handle the same job. iLounge's verdict? Well, it's a mixed bag. The headset doesn't blaze any trails in the places it matters, such as audio quality or battery life, nor is it as functional as many would expect from a typical bluetooth headset (it doesn't even have on-board volume buttons; that's controlled from the iPhone). However, the headset's performance does rank in at around average, and the included accessories are certainly a leap beyond the rest. The headset also features some unique integration with the iPhone in that charging both via the dock or cable will display the headset's battery level right alongside the iPhone's. Also, to some people's surprise, the headset (just like most bluetooth headsets) can be paired with a Mac for audio chats with the likes of iChat and Skype.

    All that said, it seems like Apple's Bluetooth Headset will be a good buy for the general customer who can make use of the rich set of extras that come with it. Personally, I'm counting my pennies for one of those Jawbone headsets with the crazy noise cancellation technology. In my opinion, every bluetooth headset on the market sucks. Period. I've tested a very hefty portion of them from the bottom of the barrel to the premium $100+ models (return policies are a beautiful thing), and they're all terrible because both the caller and myself sound horrible to each other, especially when there's anything louder than a pin dropping in the background. Given Apple's tendency to try and solve some of the major problems plaguing a particular technology or industry (i.e. - Visual Voicemail), I'm surprised they didn't at least try for something like the Jawbone with the Bluetooth Headset.

    But I digress - if you're on the Apple Bluetooth Headset fence, iLounge's review might be able to help you out with the decision. Check it out.
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  • Pro Application Support 4.0.1

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    Nothing quickens the blood like a thrilling software update. Am I right, folks? Ok, perhaps that is a slight exaggeration, but it is a good feeling to have some bugs that have been bothering you squashed with a nice update. Apple has just released Pro Application Support 4.0.1 which, 'improves general user interface reliability for Apple's professional applications and is recommended for all users of Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Soundtrack Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Aperture, Final Cut Express HD, Soundtrack, Logic Pro and Logic Express.'

    Fire up Software Update, or download it directly from Apple's website.
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  • Bejeweled hits the iPhone

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    Bejewled has long been one of the most popular games on mobile devices. Now maker PopCap has announced a version "optimized for the iPhone's display and input controls." If you surf to PopCap Games official site with an iPhone you should be re-directed to http://static.popcap.com/iphone/ (or just click here) and you'll be able to play the free online version of the game.

    [via Macworld]
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  • 3rd Party iPhone Apps Roundup

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    The 3rd Party iPhone applications are starting to roll in. Here's TUAW's list of currently available packages. I'll update this list as more apps become available and we hear back from more developers.

    Hello World. Hello World Demo

    KBDemo. Proof of concept Keyboard demo. Part of the larger Mobile Terminal for iPhone project.

    Do Shell. Runs shell script embedded in App. Can be customized by end user.

    iDecor. App version of the javascriptlet we posted about here. Sets your iPhone wallpaper based off an image left up on Safari.

    TextViewDemo. Allen aka Pin's excellent UITextView sample.

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  • iFuntastic 2 for iPhone makes custom ringtones, reordering apps a breeze

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    When Mat Lu first blogged iFuntastic last week, it was a fledgling app that primarily allowed you to install custom ringtones. A drawback, however, to this 1.0 version is that it broke iTunes' ability to auto-launch when you connect your phone; while you could still launch iTunes yourself (or simply leave it running) to sync, I can understand how this would still disappoint some would-be users.

    Fortunately, a shiny new iFuntastic 2 fixes that drawback and adds a number of slick new features to boot. At the top of my list: users are now able to rearrange the order of apps on the iPhone's home screen. This is particularly useful when using the iPhone one-handed, as some of those icons get difficult to reach with merely a thumb (or maybe I just have small geek hands; who knows). Another new novelty is the changing of the carrier logo to any picture you chose, as long as it fits within some specific dimensions. While I never used iFuntastic v1, I hear v2 has also updated support for ringtone audio formats, including .M4P, the protected audio format of iTunes Store songs.

    After tinkering with iFuntastic 2, adding a ringtone (Livin' on the Edge opening guitar riff FTW!) and rearranging my iPhone apps for easier one-handedness, I can definitely say I'll be donating for all the good work the crew is cranking out with this app. While there are still no guarantees when screwing around with things Apple hasn't officially opened up yet, remember that one click of iTunes' Restore button in the Devices > iPhone > Summary tab should get you right back to square one, restoring all your contacts, calendars and email accounts, as well as the media you've been synching.

    Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
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  • The .Mac Reader RSS app for iPhone is awesome

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    Remember that iPhone-only .Mac RSS reader Apple quietly introduced barely a day before the phone's release? After trying out nearly every iPhone web app launcher that has an RSS reader bolted on and even Newsgator Mobile for iPhone (since I primarily use NetNewsWire on a Mac), I have to say that the .Mac Reader (reader.mac.com) is my hands-down favorite. It's fast and displays RSS headlines in a very Safari RSS-like fashion, and it seems to cache better than most web apps I've seen, as it offers lightning-fast response when moving from an individual article back to the main list of headlines and snippets.

    As a bonus, this .Mac Reader app doesn't appear to require you to be a .Mac member to use it, though since I am a member, I would like to hear from non-members on whether this assessment is correct.

    If you already have a bunch of RSS headlines in Safari, or you use a trick like the NetNewsWire drag and drop one I just mentioned, the iPhone's one-two punch of Safari bookmark/feed management and the .Mac Reader could be a great way to bring your favorite feeds on the go.
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  • iPhone in cake form

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    Call it the First rule of Confectionary Geekery, if you will-- no gadget is allowed to reach icon status until it is immortalized in cake form. This is another happening that didn't show up on our bingo card, but probably should have.

    Fortunately, someone's corrected the dire problem of not having an iPhone that is both beautiful, elegant, and edible. They've actually got lots of amazing cakes, including a few purses, a dragster, and even a pom pom. But can the pom pom browse Google maps? Didn't think so.

    [via FSJ]
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  • An easy way to import NetNewsWire feeds into Safari

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    Well color me surprised - after trying a few convoluted methods for exporting some of my NetNewsWire feeds in a format that Safari could import (as RSS, not HTML links to real sites), I finally realized that either Brent Simmons and/or Apple have already done some of the heavy lifting. If you toggle Safari's Show All Bookmarks view from the Bookmarks menu (or simply use ⌥⌘B), you can simply drag and drop one or multiple selected feeds from NetNewsWire into Safari's bookmark editing window. Unfortunately, you can't drop a Group of feeds from NetNewsWire, but this trick should satisfy most users who need to get some feeds into Apple's browser.

    When you import feeds into Safari like this, it won't recognize them as true RSS feeds (or begin downloading headlines and displaying unread counts) until you visit them at least once. After that you're all ready to roll with a few (or all?) of your favorite NetNewsWire feeds in Safari.

    If you use a desktop-based RSS reader other than NetNewsWire, be sure to let us know if this same trick works for your reader.
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  • Use your iPhone as an XBMC remote

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    I have to say, as much as everyone whined about the lack of an iPhone SDK, I am nothing but impressed at how far people are bending over backwards to provide functionality to the iPhone. Yes it makes you wonder how much we could do if there was an SDK, but on the other hand, developers are really showing us just how much can be done with just a browser.

    Take, for example, the Xbox Media Center iPhone Remote. If you're still using your old Xbox as a media center, Tom Robinson has devised a setup that will let you actually log in to your Xbox from your iPhone, essentially using the iPhone as a very expensive (but very functional) remote control. Basically, you FTP the code onto your Xbox (or just install it over the web), and then login to the Xbox's IP from MobileSafari, and you can use it to browse media, view information on playing media, and even use transport and audio controls. Wild.

    My only question is how secure this is-- without having used it, it seems like all you need to get full access to the Xbox is the IP address. There may be something in the code that confines access to a local network, but if you can install this script from the web, it seems like you could also log in to control an Xbox from afar after it's been installed. At any rate, it's a really interesting idea, and just another example of how creative people are getting in developing functionality on the iPhone.

    Thanks, Dave!
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  • PackRat 1.3 supports new Backpack, adds more exclusive features

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    Backpack, the fantastic online PIM from 37signals, was recently updated with some solid new features like drag-and-dropping items from one page to another and the ability to reorder items any way you chose on a page (i.e. - lists and notes no longer have to be lumped together in their own sections). As with any web app update, desktop apps that integrate must often release an update of their own to stay on top of the changes. Fortunately, Rod Schmidt has done exactly that with his excellent offline synching PackRat app that brings Backpack to your desktop. With v1.3, Rod has updated PackRat so it can work with the new Backpack, but he has also introduced yet more exclusive features that keep making PackRat even more useful than its web-based symbiote, such as:
    • The reminder sheet now has a calendar on it to make entering dates easier.
    • A New Reminder toolbar button
    • An 'In minutes from now' option for reminders.
    • Shared pages now have a shared icon in the pages list so you can easily see what pages are shared.
    • An Upload Changes command and toolbar button to quick upload your changes to Backpack without waiting for auto upload to kick in.
    Unfortunately, a few of the Backpack updates - such as reordering items anywhere on the page - haven't made it into PackRat simply because 37signals doesn't allow external applications to do this through their API. Rod urges users to contact 37signals and request this ability, and hopefully in time the company will listen and open up this functionality. Other new Backpack features like search are probably coming with a future PackRat update.

    As with the the recent change to PackRat's trial period, a 30-day demo is available, while a license costs a mere $24.95.
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  • iPhone firmware hints at new widgets, including MobileRadio

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    Tyler over at iPhoneology went diving into the iPhone's firmware, and found a preference file called "DefaultApplicationState.plist," apparently a list of widgets placed by Apple inside the iPhone.

    Except that there's a few that we can't actually use yet...

    com.apple.unitconverter
    com.apple.widget.phonebook
    com.apple.widget.translation
    com.apple.widget.worldclock
    com.apple.mobile.radio

    That mobile.radio one looks especially enticing-- while built-in FM radio would be nice, it's more likely that Apple is expecting the iPhone to support streaming radio, just like that already found in iTunes.

    Of course, this is all just speculation-- just because Apple laid out plans in the software for features like these doesn't mean that they're actually coming. And as a few folks have noted, they could just be holdovers from Apple's translation of OS X to the iPhone firmware. But because we know that more widgets and features are planned for the iPhone, these could be the groundwork of things we'll see implemented later.

    Thanks, Reggie!
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  • iASign 0.2 released

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    Master iPhone Hacker iZsh has just released a new version of iASign, the tool that allows you to use any AT&T/Cingular SIM to place and receive calls with your iPhone. This new release brings iASign up to version 0.2 and adds several new options in addition to an expanded framework that will bring "more interesting upcoming stuff" in future releases. I'm hoping to give the new version a try out later today. I've got some money that's freshly added to my pay-as-you-go GoPhone account and I want to test out a data feature pack with the iPhone.
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  • Open man pages from Xcode

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    Toxic Software's posted a useful little script if you spend any amount of time in Xcode-- because manopen is having trouble with Leopard, John punched up a shell/Applescript to open man pages directly from within Xcode's command line. It's tiny (and doesn't really do much-- just opens an Xcode Help menu item), but it seems useful-- straight from the command line, you can break out the man page within a GUI, and just keep right on coding.

    Because the script uses UI scripting, you've got to enable an option in Universal Access preferences, but then just toss the script in your PATH and you're good to go. I can't imagine it's hugely relevant for everyone out there (I haven't put anything together from the command line in Xcode in a while), but anyone building stuff there will probably appreciate it.

    And if viewing pretty man pages from the command line is your thing, Atomicbird Software came up with a script that breaks out man pages in PDF form. If you love working from the command line but love reading man pages in something a little easier to browse, today's your lucky day.
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  • In which, iPhone apps are built

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    It turns out that creating new GUI iPhone apps is both harder and easier than you expect. Saturday night when the first iPhone UI app proof-of-concept appeared, I was tied up with family. I frantically emailed Mike Rose begging him to get a post out, which, wonderful man that he is, he did. Sunday, I grabbed what time I could, intent on testing out the new developer toolchain produced by Nightwatch and company. In summary: if you can wait for an already-compiled binary toolchain to emerge, do so.

    The developers have done all they can to make building the tools as simple a process as possible. The folks on the irc.osx86.hu #iphone-uikit channel are helpful and supportive. But the bottom line is pre-alpha means pre-alpha. There many rough compiling patches along the way where I ended up hitting my head against the wall, convinced I could never get the tools built. I had to edit the source several times to get it to compile on my Intel Mac Mini.

    Continue reading In which, iPhone apps are built

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  • NetworkLocation 2.0 goes official

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    We first mentioned NetworkLocation back in November '06, and since then this automated location manager and setting switcher has been upgraded to v2.0 with some killer new features. In addition to automatically changing settings like system volume, opening a webpage, playing an iTunes playlist or switching Mail servers all based on the wired or wireless network you connect to, this new version adds a great new feature that users have been dying for: the ability to auto-detect which network you're connecting to and begin changing any settings you prefer with no effort on the user's part. Also on the new actions list are things like disabling bluetooth and locking the keychain, with another great enhancement making it easy to duplicate locations and stets of actions: the ability to drag and drop said actions between locations. NetworkLocation has also received plug-in support, with the first plug-in available for rooSwitch, another utility we love that allows you to switch between multiple profiles and sets of data for an application (i.e. - multiple Yojimbo libraries or different Firefox profiles with their own bookmarks and add-ons).

    I have to say, after the development crew was kind enough to allow me to test the beta, NetworkLocation 2.0 has become one of my can't-live-without Mac OS X utilities. I move between home networks, multiple coffee shops, wireless on campus and friends' houses, and allowing NetworkLocation to adjust all my settings automatically in the background is easily worth the $25 price tag (though upgrade licenses are free for 1.x owners). Heck, I'd go so far as to say NetworkLocation should be the next Cover Flow, deserving to get bought by Apple as a feature Mac OS X should have had a long time ago.
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  • Dailymotion releases iPhone site

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    Those wily mobileers at Engadget Mobile send a pointer to Dailymotion's new iPhone-specific site. No matter how you feel about iPhone-specific websites, watching videos on the iPhone is always fun, and since Dailymotion has taken the time to encode the content in Quicktime, it's actually possible here without a special player (unlike most other vid sites, which use Flash). Of course, if your iPhone is activated normally, you could just be watching YouTube, but for those of you running around without SIMs in your iPhones (ahem, Erica), this is an option for your video watching needs.

    Unfortunately, even though I wasn't able to browse around the site on an iPhone, I did browse it in my usual Safari browser, and while the content played fine, it looked as though it was sized incorrectly-- only part of the Quicktime video showed up. Some video is better than no video, I guess.
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  • KisMAC dev calls it quits

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    Reader Andrew dropped a note that Michael Rossberg, developer of KisMAC, the wireless network sniffer based on Kismet, has declared the project discontinued. I can't get the project's website to load (most likely because it's been Slashdotted), but apparently the reason Rossberg gave was that a change in Germany's laws would make it dangerous for him to continue working on it. The law apparently makes it illegal for anyone to sniff out a password that "allows access to data", and since that's a big part of KisMAC's function, Rossberg is calling it quits.

    But he is asking for interested parties to continue his work, in the EU or the US, so if the site ever returns, feel free to grab the source and check it out yourself.

    Of course, from what Slashdot commenters are saying, this isn't much of a loss anyway-- the program hasn't seen any real updates in a long time, and apparently it didn't even work with the new MacBooks. In terms of network finders, there's lots more to choose from (including iStumbler, which I didn't mention in the other article), but in terms of cracking WEP and WPA keys (legally, of course), are there any other OS X specific options out there?

    Update:     Clarification: the program will run on MacBooks, but it doesn't do anything but find networks, which is just a fraction of the intended functionality.
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