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- First Look: Cosmovox, an iPhone instrument
Filed under: Multimedia, Software, Reviews, iPhone
Cosmovox by Leisuresonic is an intriguing iPhone app; the kind of app which immediately looks appealing to me. Essentially, it's a theremin hopped up on music-theory steroids. While it does a decent job of emulating first-gen Star Trek sounds -- using the iPhone's accelerometer to translate vertical rotation into pitch with a continuous tone -- it ups the ante with a very complete set of scales: Major, Minor, Harmonic Minor, Major Bitonal, Pentatonic ... even heading East a bit to Okinawa and Hirajoshi (in case you want to play a digital koto) scales. All total, there are over 30 scales available, as well as a set of controls for adjusting modulation, beating, vibrato and doing other fine-tuning.
Here's the thing, though. It's a lot of fun to play with by itself, and my head immediately filled with ideas for incorporating the sound into a composition. I was going to make a video demonstration with a breakbeat and B4 accompaniment, but try as I may, I found it too difficult to really make music with it. I attribute this in large part to a lack of practice and, quite possibly, skill; I can find my way around an array of instruments but this one is truly a challenge. For as simple as it seems once you set the scale (you can't play a wrong note, right?), attaining any kind of consistent melody or rhythm can be an uphill struggle. The best results I got were from layering Cosmovox tracks (recorded through a microphone, Cosmovox has no built-in recording abilities) with other Cosmovox tracks and chopping them up in post to cut out the mistakes. Thus, my efforts yielded no (bearable) movie. The demo video in the FAQ is far more impressive than my feeble attempts anyway.
My thoughts: Cosmovox is a fun app for musicians of any caliber, with a far-reaching landscape of space-age sounds to explore. If I can find the free time, I'm hoping that enough practice will allow me to do with it what -- at this point -- only my imagination is capable of.
Last I checked, Cosmovox was only $1.99USD at the App Store. A more-than-fair price for hours of wavering, warbling fun. Beyond its practical applications, it makes a great soundtrack for any occasion which kicks off with the words, "Captain's log: Stardate ... ," too.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - iPhone USB adapter recall announced
If you think that your iPhone's ultracompact USB power adapter is the coolest thing around, think again; Apple has announced an exchange program for the teensy wonders, as apparently they have a very infrequent habit of prong-snapping, leading to a risk of fire. Check to see if your adapter has a green dot like the one pictured here; if so it is already up-to-date and does not need replacement.
You can get details on the exchange program from Apple's site or in the 2nd half of this post. Exchanges begin on October 10, both online and in person at Apple retail stores. Be careful out there.
Thanks to everyone who sent this in.Continue reading iPhone USB adapter recall announced
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Buy Parallels, get a $25 iTunes card
Filed under: Software, iTunes, Deals
Parallels must be feeling a little pressure from the big Fusion release earlier this week -- they're throwing in some music when you pick up their app. By visiting this iTunes page on their website and buying the virtualization software, which lets you run Windows or Linux virtual machines within OS X, you can nab a $25 gift card to iTunes as well.
If you've been interested in trying some virtualization software (they're certainly a plucky group of devs) and haven't yet been enticed to do so, maybe some free iTunes money will do the trick. The offer expires in about a week and a half, so you've got a little time to think it over. $25 in iTunes goes a long way these days -- that's eight HD shows of The Office, or 25 Koi Ponds!
Thanks PhillRead | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - iPhone Safe Mode: Who knew?
Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone
What happens when you set your jailbroken iPhone to "fast respring" (that is, turn on one of the SpringBoard relaunching options) via BossTool, and SpringBoard crashes? Safe mode, apparently. Who knew that Safe Mode even existed on the iPhone? I certainly didn't until TUAW reader Max S. sent in the pictures below.
Safe Mode apparently disables certain system extensions. You can get out of safe mode by rebooting. So let's see, a blue screen of doom and safe mode. Hmmm. I thought this phone was manufactured by Apple. Where's Seinfeld?
Anyway, this isn't the first time the topic of iPhone's Safe Mode has come up. I googled up this Austrian page and a few other hits -- most of which seemed to appear in September of 2008, after the recent firmware upgrade.
Know anything about Safe Mode and the iPhone? Drop a comment and tell us more.
Update: Readers do know more! They point out that this is a Winterboard feature and not part of Apple's firmware.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Analysis: Microsoft offers "I'm a PC" retort that falls flat
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Cult of Mac
After canning Seinfeld, Microsoft is now starting stage two (planned all along, they say) of their campaign with a new series of I'm a PC ads by the Crispin, Porter + Bogusky ad agency. As is clear from the John Hodgman look-alike at the start of the ads, they're supposed to be a direct response to Apple's Get a Mac campaign that's been running since 2006.
It almost goes without saying that it's rather sad for one of the richest companies in the world to stoop to this level of reaction. But I think one of things that's interesting here is the difference between the central motifs of the respective ad campaigns. What Get a Mac suggests is that your Mac is your kinda cool, but laid-back and easy-going friend that'll help you get things done. In other words, your Mac is your friend, not who you yourself are.
On the other hand, the I'm a PC ads say exactly that: you (the user) are a PC. Who the heck would want to be that? What they're trying to maintain is that PC users are unfairly being stereotyped as besuited, boring, glasses-wearing losers. But with the repeated exclamation "I'm a PC," the ads actually suggest a kind of Borg-like insistence that I as a user have to be assimilated into my computer.
In short, Microsoft and its ad agency still don't get it. We Mac-heads don't see ourselves as all being Justin Long (or, heaven forbid, wanting to be Justin Long). I can proudly say I'm not a Mac, and I'm not really planning to become one either. Or to put it another way: I use a Mac in no small part because I don't want to be a computer (Mac or PC).
What's your take?
(The three ads can be seen on YouTube: Pride, Not Alone, and Stereotype.)Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - RIM source says Mac tools are on the way!
Filed under: Software, Wireless
CIO.com confirms rumors that I've been hearing for at least six months: RIM is preparing to release native BlackBerry utilities for Mac users. According to CIO.com's source, who requested anonymity, the software tools are being prepped for the first half of 2009.
This is great news for any BlackBerry user who also happens to be a Mac fanatic. It's hard enough to reconcile using a 'Berry when all your friends and colleagues are on iPhones -- but the desktop software situation can make even the most die-hard CrackBerry fan reconsider his or her mobile device choice.
Right now, there are two ways to connect the BlackBerry with OS X: PocketMac, which is free and just got an update, and The Missing Sync, which is $39.95. Neither option allows you to upgrade your BlackBerry's onboard OS, make backups of your programs or settings, or reliably install software directly onto the device. You can sync your contacts and calendar (but be careful, the wrong step might nuke them), access and transfer photos and music, and charge the BlackBerry, but that's pretty much where the Mac experience ends.
As of right now, the only way a Mac user can actually upgrade the OS on his or her BlackBerry is to use BootCamp or a virtualization program like VMWare Fusion or Parallels. It's the kind of PITA that prevents people like me from hacking around with their phones, unless I have a fully updated VM handy. If you don't have an Intel Mac or you don't have a Windows license -- you've basically got to find someone who does, and borrow their computer.
Thankfully, not only does it look like native Mac tools are FINALLY going to arrive, future OS updates will be done OTA (over the air), putting an end to this sort of nastiness once and for all. Frankly, I can't wait until I can actually manage my BlackBerry without having to run a virtual machine.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Use your iPhone and keep your hands warm
Filed under: Accessories, iPhone, iPod touch
With the first day of Autumn on Monday, cold weather is just around the corner for much of the northern hemisphere. But don't worry, you can still wear gloves and use your iPhone with Dots Gloves.
Dots Gloves include a little metal button at the fingertip that allows you to use the multitouch screen of your iPhone or iPod touch without direct finger contact. The metal dots are curved, and will not scratch the screen of your device. The dots are on the thumb, index, and middle fingers of the glove.
They also work great with Nintendo DS, notebook trackpads, ATMs, and kiosks with touch-screen displays.
A pair of knit gloves are $13, and wool gloves are available for $18.
And if gloves aren't your thing, you can always use a stylus. Or, as Erica pointed out to me, you can use your iPhone itself to keep your hands warm. Just start the Camera app, and lock the screen. Of course, this runs your battery dry in short order, but if your hands are that cold, it could be worth it.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Flickr Find: The Cocoon
Filed under: Rig of the Week, Flickr Find
Mitch Haile shared this set with our Flickr Pool to show us the ridiculously awesome setup he has in his office.
From what we can tell, he has:
- a 24-inch Intel iMac
- a 15-inch MacBook Pro
- a Mac Pro with six (!) monitors
- several PCs
- a couple of Kinesis Freestyle keyboards
The six monitors include four HPs, one ViewSonic, and a 30-inch Apple Cinema Display. The Mac Pro has three video cards. The whole shebang is served by two APC uninterruptible power supplies. Nice.
Me, I just want a reason to keep an ice bucket on my desk.
Thanks, Mitch!
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - TUAW wishes you a happy ITLAPD
Yarrrrrr. The TUAW crew wishes ye a happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day.
The goal o' this holiday be fer ye t' talk like a swashbuckler. Nay that 't has anythin' t' do wi' Apple products, but 'tis fun. We will nay take responsibility if ye decide t' pillage an' burn a port, nor if ye drink too much rum. If ye be still usin' a Palm, Windows Mobile, or Symbian smart phone wi' yer Mac, ye may want t' check ou' Astraware`s sale on games. Likewise, if ye be sportin' an iPhone, there be some booty for ye as well (but be warned, nae ferget the original).
Who be that buccanneer ta th' starboard? `Tis Captain Steve! He`s th' only one o' th' TUAW crew who dasn't mind makin' a fool o' hisself.
Update Ahoy!Arrr, Stevey. I won't be lettin' ye make a fool of yerself alone, matey. I'm commandeerin' this here post and addin' me own mug. It's Captain Brett off the port bow!Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Переслать - Q&A with the developers of Koi Pond
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, Developer, iPhone, App Store, SDK
Macworld has published a chat with the devs of one of the much-loved Koi Pond. Of course, the weird thing about Koi Pond is that it's more of a nice iPhone demo than anything else -- but just the same, it's cool to hear from designer Bill Trost and engineer Brandon Bogle.
They used to work on MMOs for Sony (and now work with a new company called Trion, also developing MMO games), and bought their first Macs specifically to try out the iPhone development program. The program was designed as a water simulator, and the koi were added later (as opposed to many of the devs we've heard from so far, these guys were actually concerned that their app was worth less than $1). And the little stories about feedback on the app are really interesting -- apparently a therapist has used it with Alzheimer's patients as a quick form of therapy.
Unfortunately, they won't mention new projects, but they do give some good advice to other iPhone developers: don't consider the unique, device-specific functions of the iPhone secondary. We'd have to agree -- there are several ways the accelerometer and touchscreen can tweak even the most traveled genres and forms of video games and software. Just recreating old Palm and PDA apps isn't good enough -- iPhone-specific apps like Koi Pond are what will really make a splash on the App Store.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - App Store Deals
Looking for some last second App Store deals? Here are some bargains that have been sent in by their developers.
SuperPong
Strictly speaking, SuperPong isn't a "deal" so much as a "get it while you can". The developer, Jazon Burnell has been C&D'd by Atari so if you want to buy SuperPong, you need to act quickly. SuperPong costs $2.99 until it is pulled from AppStore.Fairway
Fairway, which normally retails for $10, will be selling for $4.99 for this weekend only. Check the price before you add it to the cart because it's still showing up as $9.99 for me. Fairway is a golf management system. I suspect you'd have to know and love golf in order to appreciate this app. I am not a golfer.Laser Battle
Laser Battle is on sale for $0.99 until Monday. It offers a light-saber battle game for one or two players.Dictaphone and Note Pad
Dictaphone is a voice recording application from Polar Bear Farms. Note Pad provides a Notes replacement app. Both are on sale until September 26. Dictaphone will cost $0.99 (normally $1.99) and Note Pad $1.99 (normally $2.99) until that time.Earthscape
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Normally $4.99, Earthscape is free for a limited time. It provides a virtual globe application that allows you to "explore the Earth in 3D."Переслать - Speed Racer DVD Digital Copy not iTunes-friendly
Filed under: Odds and ends, iTunes
Sam, an avid TUAW reader, emailed us about a recent DVD purchase he made. You may ask, "what's so special about that?" Well, he bought a copy of Speed Racer that was supposed to contain an iTunes Digital Copy.
As you can see in the pictures he emailed us, the outside of the DVD box says it is PC/Mac compatible and works with iTunes. When he got home and opened it up, however, inside the box it says that it is "Not compatible with Apple Macintosh or iPod devices." He even tried it to see if it would work, but alas it didn't. Be sure to take a look at the pictures in the second half of the post, and you can get an eyeful of this strange decision that Warner Bros. made.
Do you think Sam should be able to get a refund for this mistake? We certainly do! Has this happened to you? Be sure to sound off in the comments!
Thanks for the tip and pictures, Sam!Continue reading Speed Racer DVD Digital Copy not iTunes-friendly
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Tag Games bringing Rock'n'Roll to the iPhone's accelerometer
Filed under: Gaming, Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
The folks over at Touch Arcade are doing a terrific job of keeping up with all the good-looking games on the App Store (and even some not-so-good-looking ones) but for my money, this one falls solidly into the first category.
Rock'n'Roll is an accelerometer-based puzzle/platforming game (ported from other mobile platforms). As you can see in the video above, it plays like a much more colorful version of the already-fun Spinner, as you rotate the iPhone to control the little circle and get him to fall down in the right place. There are power-ups and items to collect as you explore the little mazes, and though there's no sound in the video, we're told the game will have a "traditional Americana" rock soundtrack, which sounds like fun.
A few people have mentioned motion sickness, and while that's a possibility, my guess is that it's more from the video itself -- playing Spinner has kind of the same effect, but when it's you controlling the spinning and the image is confined to the iPhone's screen, it's not so bad. At any rate, we'll find out soon whether the game is as fun as it looks -- it's due for a release later this month.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Deleting apps from the iPhone
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhone, App Store
Macenstein posted a strange little tip earlier this week for getting Apple's official apps off of your iPhone (I personally never use the Stocks app, and really don't need it taking up space around the apps I do use). But his method isn't so much a tip as an exploit -- basically, Apple has a secret 10th "page" of Application icons, and Macenstein's method is to put so many apps onto your iPhone that the official ones get squeezed off screen.
It works, though installing 144 apps on your phone might be more trouble than it's worth. And the change isn't even permanent -- restarting or syncing the iPhone will bring the apps back on screen (provided you make room on them -- you could just leave 144 apps up if you wanted, and presumably they'd stay out of the picture).
It's too bad that Apple has never really provided a tool to organize the iPhone's app screen quickly -- stacks have long been suggested as a way to get more icons on there, but it'd be nice to even have an iTunes-based tool to get all those icons in the right places. Until then, you can always fill up all your screens and kick any icons you don't want off of there.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Mac 101: Keywords in iPhoto
It's easy to fill your iPhoto library with pictures. However, the task of finding the ones you're after isn't. The Events feature of iPhoto '08 is helpful, and you can improve it with Keywords.
Think of keywords as tags. You can assign any keyword(s) to any photo, like "Suzie," "Summer" or "Beach." Then, simply search "Suzie" to find relevant photos, sorted by event. Here's how to do it.
From the "View" menu, select "Keywords" (or hit Shift-Apple-K). Next, click beneath your photos to reveal the keyword text field. Enter as many comma-separated keywords as you like; previously used keywords will auto-complete.
Here's an added bonus. You can also search by keyword via the Image Browser in Pages (see above).Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - PDFpen 4 adds OCR and Word importing
Filed under: Software, Graphic Design
SmileOnMyMac has released a major update to PDFpen, their PDF editing software which we examined at a while back. PDFpen allows you to edit PDFs to fill out forms (e.g. scans of existing forms), mark-up documents, etc. The biggest new feature for version 4 is the inclusion of basic OCR functionality that will turn a scanned document into editable text. In addition there is support for new file formats including importing Microsoft Word documents.
PDFpen comes in two versions, a basic version for editing PDFs and a pro version that also allows you to create editable forms (i.e. forms that can be filled out by users with a PDF reader like Acrobat or Preview). PDFpen is $49.95 (or $99.95 for the pro version). Upgrades for to version 4 from previous version are $25. Demos for both standard and pro are available for download.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - First look: Earthscape
Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
This morning I took a stroll through the free bin in the App Store and found Earthscape [App Store link here] was, for a limited time, offered as a free download (it is now back to $4.99). I would pay a couple of bucks for Earthscape, although it isn't much more than a neat tech demo and didn't appear to serve any practical purpose. It is neat, but not essential.
The app is like a miniature version of Google Earth, minus street maps and not quite as "3D" or functional.
For a complete walkthrough of the app and its features, check the gallery.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - A quick shot of Espresso for web designers
Filed under: Software
Word is out ... there's a new contender for the do-it-all web design and development title belt. Espresso has been announced by the creators of CSSEdit, and it looks like major competition for a TUAW favorite, Coda.
Espresso looks like it's going to be a solid editing platform, with an advanced XHTML editor (with spell checking in non-code contexts), live preview (even for database driven applications), advanced search with regular expressions, tabbed interface and sidebar tools and, of course, the things we love about CSSEdit throughout the interface. Espresso will ship with support for HTML, XML, CSS and JavaScript, but here's the really impressive part: it -- not unlike TextMate -- is going to be very extensible. Using XML-based "Sugars," you can add new languages, CodeSense support and more. An SDK will be available for those who wish to earn the title "Sugar Daddy."
I'm looking forward to this release with great anticipation, and the chatter around TUAW indicates I'm not alone. You can sign up for updates on the Espresso page at MacRabbit.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - XBMC remote for iPhone
Filed under: Multimedia, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Following the newly updated Remote application from Apple, there's now a new remote application (iTunes Link) that allows you to control your XBMC Media Center with the iPhone. Obviously to use it you'll have to have a computer (or Xbox) running XBMC, which is available in versions for Xbox, Mac, Linux, and Windows. Features include:
- Play, queue and shuffle the media on XBMC
- View cover art for albums, TV Shows and movies
- View artist and album reviews and information
- 'Standard' remote mode. Control XBMC with standard remote buttons
XBMC is available from iTunes for $4.99.
[via Gizmodo]Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - iCupcakes take the cake
Filed under: Cult of Mac, Odds and ends, iPhone
Laughing Squid posted these yummy, adorable, and prize-winning iPhone cupcakes. The cupcakes, created by Nick and Danielle Bilton, swept the Cupcake Decorating Championship at Ignite NYC II.
I love the phone badge and the timer's tiny details but can't help but feel that the stocks cupcake somehow is missing a bit of white frosting. Also, the calendar date was wrong for the time of the championships, but I suspect that the judges wouldn't notice that.
Congrats to the Biltons!
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать
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