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First Look: Handshake for iPhone
Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

How many times have you been away from your computer and wanted to give someone your contact information? With a new app called Handshake [iTunes Link], you can send another iPhone (or iPod touch) user any contact information stored on your iPhone. The application works by using Core Location coupled with other technologies to send address book cards over the air.

When you first launch Handshake, it will attempt to find your address book card; if it can't, it will ask you to specify a card. Handshake will then connect to its servers, and you will be able to send either your card, a contact's card, or a picture -- just by tapping on one of the main three buttons. You can also change your default card by tapping the wrench in the top-right corner of the application and choosing the blue arrow under "My Card."

This is a very simple application, with a very simple idea, that just works. The application will send data over WiFi, 3G, and EDGE connections. Since the application uses Apple's Core Location framework, it relies on GPS, cell triangulation, or WiFi positioning. The lack of GPS on the iPod touch makes the app less reliable than the iPhone, but a new feature in version 1.1 hopes to fix this by allowing users to search for others who are sharing cards. Version 1.1 will also give users the ability to send industry-standard vCards through email to other people, regardless of whether they're using an iPhone or not.

Handshake is currently at version 1.0.1, and can be downloaded from the iTunes Store in two flavors: free or paid. The paid version removes the ads. Version 1.1 should be out sometime this week. You can look at our gallery of screenshots to see the additions to version 1.1.

Gallery: First Look: Handshake

Thanks to Kyle Richter and Ian Baird for the information, and their help!
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Opt-in to get Netflix Watch Instantly Now
Filed under: Multimedia, Internet Tools
We noted a little while back that Netflix is finally bringing its Watch Instantly streaming TV and Movie service to the Mac. They began by rolling out the service slowly and it wasn't initially available to all Netflix subscribers. Now, however, it appears that there's a way for all Mac-using Netflix subscribers to get in on the action.

The Netflix blog has instructions that will allow you to activate Watch Instantly on your Mac via Microsoft's Silverlight browser plugin. It is worth noting that if you switch over to the Silverlight player you must use that on any Windows machines you might have as well, which means that you'll have access to less streaming content (at least at the moment) than the old Windows Media option. Also, as VentureBeat notes, you're limited to a total of six devices for streaming content, which includes both computers and stand-alone set top boxes. Nonetheless, if all you want is to get Netflix's Watch Instantly on your Mac, there's pretty much no reason to wait.

[via Engadget]
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Talkcast reminder, tonight at 10 PM ET
Filed under: TUAW Business, Podcasts

Last week on the talkcast, we had a visitor -- Engadget columnist and market analyst Ross Rubin helped us assess Apple's quarterly results and the impact of the iPhone on the cellphone sector. We had so much fun, the show ran over the hour mark. You can listen in via the Talkshoe page, or download the show in iTunes / via RSS.
Be so kind as to join us tonight 11/2 at 10 pm ET (did you set your clocks back?) for this week's live show, hosted by me and featuring guest Geof Bowie, president of ThinkFixed. Geof will fill us in on the Mac's increasing role in the enterprise and how companies are taking advantage of specialized Mac support to enable OS X users to reach their full potential.

You can join the conversation on TalkShoe by using the shiny browser-only client; you can also use the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client that we all know and love. For the web UI, just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 pm Sunday. You can also listen in on the Talkshoe page or call in on regular phone or VOIP lines: dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *-8. Talk with you then!

Recording support for the TUAW Talkcast provided by Ecamm Network's CallRecorder for Skype.
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Microsoft Mac BU gets a new GM
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Enterprise, Software, Developer
The Macintosh Business Unit of Microsoft, that company we love to hate, has announced that a new General Manager has taken over the group. Craig Eisler, the former Mac BU big cheese, has moved onwards and upwards into the bowels of the Redmond-based software giant in a position with the Entertainment & Devices division.

His new replacement is Eric Wilfrid, a 14-year veteran of the company who has been with the Mac BU since it was organized in 1997. Wilfred started with Microsoft in 1994, working on the Mac version of PowerPoint. He was also involved in all five releases of Office for Mac, the Mac versions of Internet Explorer and MSN, and Virtual PC.

Wilfred announced the change in a post to the Mac BU blog today. I don't know about you, but I'm hoping that Wilfred takes the Macintosh development team in a new direction -- preferably away from Steve Ballmer's recent comments about Mac users not getting "the full version" of Office.

If you had one thing to tell Mr. Wilfred as he takes over the helm of the Mac BU, what would it be? Leave us a comment!
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Opera: Apple won't let us in the App Store
Filed under: Internet Tools, App Store, SDK
Opera Software CEO Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner said in a New York Times interview yesterday that its engineers have developed a version of the Opera web browser that works on the iPhone, but Apple has rejected it for the App Store because it competes with Safari.

This isn't unprecedented: Apple rejected an app called Podcaster possibly because it duplicates functionality in an upcoming version of the iPhone software. Podcaster was (for a time) available via ad-hoc distribution before that, too, was shut down.

Daring Fireball's John Gruber suggests that Apple rejected Opera because the browser included its own JavaScript interpreter, something forbidden by the iPhone SDK developer agreement.

Opera makes two flavors of its mobile web browser: Opera Mini for most mobile phones, BlackBerry, Palm, or Windows Mobile; and Opera Mobile, a more featured version for Symbian and Windows Mobile. A beta version of Opera Mini for Android is also in development.

Update: Gruber used his massive Rolodex over the weekend to determine through an unnamed source that the app may not have even been submitted to the App Store. Huh.
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Macs, iPods and crazy Apple fans on Halloween
Filed under: Odds and ends, Holidays
Yes, it's the day of goblins, ghosts, and gorging on candy -- and we're here to help. Public service announcement: if you're out this Halloween and snap pics of Apple-themed costumes or Mac-o-lanterns, and if you upload those images to Flickr, please tag them "tuaw." Those will appear in our Flickr stream on the right, further down the page. Thanks to hifimac for this cool iMac-O-Lantern!

Take a look at all our previous Halloween posts, or last year's costume gallery:

Gallery: TUAW Halloween Gallery
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My Dad, the Switcher: Day 7
Filed under: Switchers, Features
Last week, my previously-very-anti-Mac dad started using a Mac mini, and I wrote about his experience -- positive, to say the least. If you haven't read the story of his first day with the Mac, you might want to read that first. Yesterday, one week in, I checked in to see how he's doing.
So far, Dad has nothing but positive things to say about the Mac. Even when I asked him specifically for things he dislikes, he had to think for a second. "It's such a breath of fresh air from what I'm used to, I can't come up with anything specific that I dislike." High praise indeed from the man who doesn't like The Daily Show because of its intro music.

He also just discovered that, in Leopard, there's a little light underneath each application that tells you it's running. That was his huge discovery yesterday, and something he was proud of finding on his own.

Asked about what he does like, he mentioned the ease of application installations. He loves Dashboard widgets, and installed the MySQL Health widget that comes with the MySQL GUI tools. He did this without my help, too, which is great progress.
Continue reading My Dad, the Switcher: Day 7
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First Look: Tap Tap Revenge Nine Inch Nails Edition
Filed under: Gaming, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
If you enjoy Tap Tap Revenge and you're a fan of Nine Inch Nails, you're in luck. Tapulous has released Tap Tap Revenge Nine Inch Nails Edition (iTunes link). Featuring 13 tracks picked by NIN frontman Trent Reznor, it's the first game on the iPhone that had my wife playing through toothbrushing time with the kids. After getting the device back I discovered there's a giveaway that you enter when you post scores of 150,000 or higher online. The prize? A signed Les Paul guitar and tickets to the NIN show of your choice.

On top of all this, the game feels more responsive and flows better than the original Tap Tap Revenge. Tracks from Ghost seem made for Tap Tap, adding to the gameplay instead of distracting from it. The app costs $4.99, and is worth it if you're a fan of the later works of Nine Inch Nails or you love punching the screen with your index finger for hours.

Gallery: Tap Tap NIN
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A handful of Halloween for your iPhone or iPod touch
Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Ready for Halloween on your iPhone? The App Store provides a quick fix for trick-or-treaters, and the offerings provide a little of each category. I happened to grab a random assortment of freebies (several were temporarily free) themed around Halloween. Here's a quick review of each. Hit the gallery for sample screens. All app names are iTunes links.

Bust-a-spook
A simple tap-and-score game using some gradient-heavy backgrounds and simplistic artwork to keep you entertained. The audio, like most of the Halloween-themed apps, is appropriately annoying. I found this one to be too hard and pointless to play with it long. When ghosts, pumpkins or bats are "busted" they grow larger and fade away. That's really about it, except for choosing levels of difficulty. Price: $.99

Carve3D
Clever way to carve a 3D pumpkin on the iPhone. You swap between "rotate" and "carve" modes and carve into the pumpkin by tapping corners. A final tap near the first point closes the loop and carves a hole in the geometry. As an interesting touch, the light actually shines through the geometry, so you can project the face you carve, though getting the camera in a good spot is tough. Price: $.99

Crazy Pumpkin
eZone has a slew of nifty, gimmicky apps (they remind me of the Johnson Smith Co. products). Around Halloween several went free, including Crazy Pumpkin. It's a very simple app: swap the eyes, nose and mouth of a virtual jack-o-lantern. I like the pulsing colors and the audio is well-done. Kids love this one. Price: Free.

Crazy Metal Head
Essentially a ventriloquist's dummy in the form of a chrome skull with fire in its mouth. You can toggle metal music on or off. The head bounces around, like a bobblehead. That's about all it does, but it still is fun if you do crazy voices and have no shame. Price: $.99

Crazy Skeleton
Another freebie from eZone, this time a skeleton with eyes that bounce around. You can control the mouth (like Metal Head), but shaking the device makes a random video play, animating the skeleton. There are maybe a dozen cute performances here, and my kids found this one the most entertaining. $1.99

More apps, keep reading...

Gallery: Halloween iPhone Apps
Continue reading A handful of Halloween for your iPhone or iPod touch
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