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- Pixelmator GPU Powered Image Editor for OS X
Last month, reinstalling Leopard on my G4 PowerBook broke Photoshop Elements 6, and one reason I’ve been able to procrastinate about the necessary application reinstall (there oughta be a better way, Adobe — nothing else broke) is that Pixelmator is getting so darned good that I haven’t really needed Elements for anything yet.
PSE 6 still offers several high-end features that aren’t supported in Pixelmator — automated panorama merges, group shot merge, cutouts, red-eye correction, advanced black & white conversions, the new Quick Selection Tool, and camera lens distortion correction. However, for most image editing tasks, Pixelmator, a Mac-only Elements challenger by UK-based developers Saulius and Aidas Dailide, is coming on strong. Updates are released every couple of months, with the latest version 1.4 “Sprinkle” being the program’s fourth major update. With this update, a new painting engine, Adobe Photoshop brushes support, a clouds filter, and document presets were added.
“The World’s First GPU-Powered Image Editor”
Pixelmator, claimed to be “The World’s First GPU-Powered Image Editor,” is engineered to tap into powerful OS X native graphics technologies like Core Image, which use your Mac's hardware video muscle for image processing, as well as Open GL and ColorSync. The relative power and sophistication of your Mac’s graphics support will determine, to an extent, Pixelmator’s performance. If you have a high-performance graphics accelerator with lots of video RAM, you will find real-time responsiveness across a wide variety of Pixelmator operations very lively, but I’ve found the program quite usable even on a 1.33 GHz PowerBook.
What grabs you when you start up Pixelmator the first time is its user interface: windows bordered in translucent black, black tool palette backgrounds, and colorfully-styled tool icons that magnify and show tool tips OS X Dock-style on mouseover. I found the spectacular appearance a bit distracting initially, but have gotten used to it.
Layers and Smart Palettes
Like Photoshop, Pixelmator is a layers-based image editor that supports linking and blending layers, changing opacity, and creating clipping masks or layer masks to hide some layer portions. You can quickly create layers from photos, other pictures, selections or even iSight input.
Pixelmator’s Smart Palette Hide feature eliminates palette clutter when using adjustment tools or filters, making all unnecessary palettes temporarily dissolve when any of adjustment tools or filters are in play, allowing you to focus on just one image and your chosen tool.
I especially like Pixelmator’s color correction tools, which allow you to fine-tune color values like hue, saturation,color balance, luminance, color levels, channel mixing brightness and contrast.
Pixelmator’s Curves adjustment is notably nicer and more intuitive to use than PSE’s. There is also an Auto Enhance command if you want to let the program make the value-judgments with one-click convenience.
Pixelmator has more than 130 filters and special effects, and supports over 100 different file formats including PSD, TIFF, JPEG, PNG, PDF, EPS, and you can open and save Photoshop files with layers data preserved.
Organizing Principles
Pixelmator doesn’t have anything in photo organization support to rival Photoshop Element’s Adobe Bridge CS3 organizer application (previously only available with Adobe Creative Suite applications) that lets you browse through your hard drive to locate photos you want to open and edit, but you can use Pixelmator’s Photo Browser palette to access images in your iPhoto Library, events, albums, Smart Albums, and your Pictures folder.
Pixelmator 1.4 requires Mac OS 10.5.5 or higher, is available as a free 30-day demo and can be registered for $59. Version 1.4 is a free update to current registered users.
Green your IT. Save Money. Save the Planet » Register at $295 / $495 regular »
Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM’s Green:Net.Переслать - FollowUp iPhone Conversation Tracking
A recently released application for the iPhone exploits an interesting new market — tracking conversations and following up calls. FollowUp aims to provide a location for noting down the action you need to take after receiving or making a call, along with a due date.
Functionality
As you’d expect, FollowUp integrates well with the Contacts application for noting down who you’ve called. The process involves opening FollowUp and noting down that you’ve had a conversation. You can enter the details of the person, date, call subject, associated notes and also set a follow-up date for when you should call them back.
If you’re lagging behind, the app will flag up those conversations which are most urgent and warn you if the follow-up date has expired. You can also set your own priorities if preferred.
After returning the call, you mark the conversation as completed and the previously stored details are retained for future reference. You may also choose to follow-up immediately, storing the old conversation while simultaneously creating a new one.
Problems
If you are someone who deals with regular phone calls and ongoing conversations, the application could be quite useful. However, I’m slightly skeptical about its functionality and price for a couple of reasons:
- If dealing with a large number of clients and phone calls, inputting notes and conversations into your iPhone would be far more time consuming that using some form of desktop solution. It’s great when traveling, but probably not the ideal solution when in the office.
- Most people would find the notes app to be perfectly suited to their needs. While lacking Contacts integration, it’s a quick (and free) way to jot down the required response to a call. Alternatively, sending an email to yourself or using some form of To-Do list manager would also work well.
If it’s an app which you’d find useful, FollowUp is available now from the iPhone App Store for an introductory price of $6.99. I’m interested to hear your thoughts on how you remind yourself of the need to call someone back — do you rely on a razor sharp memory or, like me, do you have some form of to-do list app?
Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM’s Green:Net.Переслать - Introducing: TheAppleBlog App Review
The App Review Summary Card
I’m exceedingly happy to tell you all about a brand-new series of articles we’re launching here at TheAppleBlog, entitled: The App Review.
Every other weekday, I’ll be sticking my big hands deep into the gaping jaws of the App Store and pulling out a fresh app for a top-down examination.
In each review, I’ll take the app for a serious spin and tell you if it’s worth your time or your money. I’ll even include a handy summary card that explains the essentials at a glance.
The App Review is part of an overall expansion to our coverage of the latest iPhone and touch apps. It’s a fast-growing area and we know many of our readers are eager to find out about the latest additions to the App Store.
I’ll be giving each app either a Bronze, Silver or Gold Apple rating. The Bronze Apples will be for run-of-the-mill apps, the kind that don’t stand out but manage to do the job and hold it together.
Silver Apples will be for the apps that go above and beyond what is expected, to do something special — it could be a time-saving tool, an entertaining time-waster or cost nothing when it’s really worth a few bucks.
Finally, the Golden Apple rating will be a rarity, reserved for those apps I feel are utterly essential, be they games or additions to your digital tool belt.
And if an app is particularly awful, I’ve also got a Rotten Apple rating. If an app gets awarded one of these nasty things, you should avoid it, tell your friends to avoid it and urge your mother to cross the road if she sees it coming.
The series will launch soon, but in the meantime, drop by the comments with any thoughts/requests/suggestions.
Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM’s Green:Net.Переслать - Android Open vs. iPhone Closed: Is It Really That Simple?
Mark Sigal at GigaOM wrote a nice article that questions if, essentially, “open” is all it’s cracked up to be.
I’ve written about this before, and agree with Sigal’s take. He sums up one aspect of it especially well when he says:
The reality is that openness is just an attribute -– it's not an outcome, and customers buy outcomes. They want the entire solution and they want it to work predictability. Only a tiny minority actually cares about how or why it works.
That really helps to explain how things are viewed from the end user perspective. Only the geeks among us tend to consider or wonder how something works, or came to be. The majority of the population just wants something that works, is reliable, is easy to use, and solves a problem.
However, Sigal does not get into it much from a vendor perspective, where the “obstacles” are not usually discussed, especially by iPhone competitors. Rather, most of these vendors simply plug the word “open,” as if just by saying it everything changes for the better. It’s just talk, but action is another thing altogether.
Consider the issues with trying to innovate in the “open” Android space:
- If you develop a great new feature to distinguish your offerings, guess what? Everybody else gets that code, too. Your distinguishing feature, in fact, cannot be distinguishing after all.
- Because of the above, I don’t see any radical innovation in the OS. Sure, incremental improvements, but nothing like what the “open” advocates are envisioning. For most vendors, there’s little incentive to develop something for your competitors.
- That leaves hardware. But here, too, there’s a problem. Develop hardware with a nice feature Android can take advantage of, and then you have to wait for an app to support it. Who knows how long that will be? And your competitors will get it as well.
- Once the above app is available, consumers will begin to find out that an “Android app” is not quite what it claims to be (i.e., it runs on an “Android phone”). The disparate hardware will mean there will be plenty of apps that won’t run properly on their particular “Android phone.”
- If Android becomes popular, developers will tend to go with the lowest common denominator hardware so as to reach the widest audience possible.
Compare those last two points to the iPhone universe, where there is little of this from a hardware standpoint. Sure, the two generations of iPhones and iPod touches are not exactly hardware equivalent, but for the most part an “iPhone app” will run on them all. My point is that while some differences in platform generations are unavoidable, Apple can keep those differences fairly minimal — Google cannot.
And for all the criticism of Apple over its blocking of some apps, it strikes me as silly to think Google won’t have to play traffic cop on the Android platform. A more sober assessment of the “open” utopia must still conclude that, for example, wholesale copyright violation is not going to be allowed there, either. Such apps, if they appear, are going to be a problem for Android in general, and Google in particular, since that’s where the OS complaints will be leveled.
What I think we’ll to continue to see are Apple’s competitors screaming the word “open” as if it’s the panacea, and decrying “proprietary” as if it’s the Eighth Deadly Sin. Yet for all that talk we’ll see the “open” platform get little in the way of real innovation — because the dozens of “partners” can’t even agree on where to have lunch, let alone take the platform — and the “closed” platform continue to stay well ahead of the game.
Frankly, “closed” is where all the innovation in the mobile space has taken place (hence everybody trying to copy it at the Mobile World Congress), and I don’t see how 50 vendors looking out for what’s best for them (not their customers) will change that.
Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM’s Green:Net.Переслать - 12 Subversion Apps for OS X
Subversion (also known as SVN) is a popular version control system. Accessing SVN repositories with OS X is easy - and there are numerous options to do so. In this article we’ll cover 12 different applications that let you access and use Subversion in OS X.
Version 1.4 of the command-line SVN client ships with OS X Leopard and is the quickest way to get started (for OS X Tiger, or if you need SVN 1.5 an easy installer can be found here). All you need to do is fire up the Terminal application and type
svnwith the required parameters. A great resource to learning how to use the command-line client (and all the functionality of Subversion) can be found at Version Control with Subversion – a free online book. From the command line you can do everything required. In fact, some people will swear against doing anything SVN-related without dealing directly with the command line.However there are reasons most of us love OS X, and a large number of those reasons relate to the great user interface experience. So what tools are there that can expose SVN functionality via a user interface?
Mac-Only SVN Clients
If you have a need to access a subversion repository with OS X, you are likely to already be familiar with XCode, Apple’s development IDE. Like most good IDEs, XCode has built-in support for version control, including SVN (as well as CVS and Perforce). This works well for basic functionality and if the scope of your needs falls within OS X and/or iPhone development, this will do the job.
svnX is an open source SVN client that uses the SVN command-line client to do the actual work and for a long time it was the best fully-featured native OS X client. The UI, however, is not what we have all come to expect from a great OS X application and it hurts the user experience. Nonetheless, for a free UI solution, one can’t complain.
Versions is a relatively recent commercial subversion client, made specifically for OS X, and looks like it belongs. It costs €39 ($50), but that’s a reasonable price to pay for such functionality with polish. A 21-day trial can be downloaded for free. Along with Cornerstone described below, it is the cream of the OS X Subversion clients.
Like Versions, Cornerstone is a commercial subversion client made specially for OS X that leverages its UI. At $69 (a free 14-day trial can be downloaded) it has feature parity with Versions and can also be considered a premium solution for accessing Subversion on OS X.
SCPlugin is an open-source client that integrates with Finder and enables you to work with your source without loading a separate application. Using icon overlays, it enables you to see at a glance the state of your files, letting you perform SVN actions via the standard Finder popup menu. This was inspired by TortoiseSVN, a popular Windows SVN tool that integrates with Explorer.
SCPlugin is still in development and while it’s mostly functional, there are still issues with reliably badging the icons (you also need to turn off Finder’s Icon Preview feature). Nonetheless, the crucial SVN functionality (checkout, update, commit) work well. When its issues get ironed out this will be a killer solution.
Of note, this can be installed and used along with another option (ie. Versions or Cornerstone) and will simply reflect the SVN status of a local working directory by reading SVN’s hidden control files.
iSVN is currently still in development and available for free (license for the final release is still to be determined by the author), however it is quite functional in its pre-release form and requires the command-line SVN client.
These are a collection of Apple Scripts that enable you to work with SVN directly from within Finder via Finder Scripts. Unlike SCPlugin, these are less intrusive and do not modify the look of Finder in any way. They offer a good middle ground for power users who are used to using SVN on the command line and want a quicker way to perform actions. They also allow for productive use with QuickSilver. It requires the standard SVN command-line client.
Cross Platform SVN Clients
In addition to the above native OS X applications, there are numerous cross-platform clients that will run on OS X. While the big disadvantage to these is the lack of an OS X-friendly user interface, if you need to access Subversion across different platforms, and would like to use the same client everywhere, these will give you a standard and consistence interface. The following clients ran without issue on my OS X 10.5.6 system.
RapidSVN is an open-source client for Windows, Linux, OS X and other *nixes. It’s simple and functional but requires third-party tools for functionality such as visual Diffs. Its written in C++ and executes native code, so it’s the fastest cross-platform client.
SmartSVN is a powerful Java-based client that is offered in a basic open-source variety and an advanced commercial variety ($79). While it is Java-based, there are specific versions for Windows, OS X and Linux, each supporting their native environments (the OS X version will add custom popup menus into Finder as an example).
SyncroSVN is another fully featured, commercial Java-based client available for windows, OS X and Linux, tailored to each platform. It retails for $99 and a free 30-day trial is available. This suffers more than the other cross-platform clients with regards to the user interface (I have never seen MDI child windows with OS X style window management buttons in any other application before).
JSVN is a very no-frills, open-source option and is quite functional. It is by far the fastest Java-based client.
Subclipse is an add-on to the cross-platform Eclipse IDE (which is Java-based, but language independent) . This requires you to upgrade the command-line SVN client that comes with Leopard from 1.4 to 1.5, however, and is best suited to those who already use Eclipse regularly.
What do you think?
What’s your favorite Subversion client for OS X? Are there any other clients I don’t know about? Let us know with a comment.
Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM’s Green:Net.Переслать - Kyte Opens the Floodgates for Underwhelming Music Apps
If you’re an App Store watcher, like me, who enjoys nothing more than the occasional sift through the recent arrivals, you’ll likely have noticed the conspicuously timed arrival of a number of different band/musician applications over the past couple of days. Lady Gaga, All American Rejects, and The Pussycat Dolls are the ones I came across, but apparently Keri Hilson and Soulja Boy Tell’Em are also to be counted among the flock. Just today, I found the answer to why so many similar music industry apps were arriving at the same time.
App Store development company Kyte is shopping around a turn-key iPhone app platform that allows anyone and everyone who wants to and is willing to pay up to release their own custom-branded, interactive applications. Features available include live chat, video, and news feeds via RSS and Twitter. Not to mention iTunes Store links, making it the perfect out-of-the-box solution for record labels looking to save a buck on development costs.
While I suppose this is good news for Lady Gaga fans, I’m not that enthusiastic about it. I suppose it was bound to happen, but plug-and-play app platforms like this just discourage creativity and encourage formulaic, cookie-cutter offerings from artists. Not too mention the additional clutter that will be clogging up the Music section from now on.
I’m hoping that at the very least, this will force innovative artists to explore more creative and unique uses of the iPhone platform to differentiate themselves, rather than just regurgitating existing content in a convenient, specially tailored format. Partnerships like those between Weezer/Nine Inch Nails and Tapulous have begun to show what is possible when using features unique to the iPhone to show off your wares, but let’s not stop there. I’d rather pay for a quality experience that get pre-packaged crap for free, and hopefully, I’m not alone.
Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM’s Green:Net.Переслать - Weekly App Store Picks: Feb. 21, 2009
The weekend seems to have rolled up super-fast, so welcome one and all to the Weekly App Store Picks.
Before we jump in to this week’s apps, let’s take a gander at recent happenings in the world of Apple.
First up, as a frequent tweeter, I was pleased to learn about desktop tweeting without a client app earlier this week. Check out the article for a helpful how-to guide.
Mid-week it all kicked off iPhone-style! Countering Apple’s recent anti-jailbreak actions, the Electronic Frontier Foundation submitted a 15-page exemption request to the U.S. Copyright Office. Hit up our post for the low down.
With timing that implied that their next-action was some kind of nonsensical retort, Apple clenched their fists, stomped their feet and promptly rejected the latest South Park game from the App Store.
Moving on to the apps, this week I’ve been looking at FrostyPlace, geoDefense, GooSync, Bowman, technoBox and Shooter.
FrostyPlace (free)
By installing this app, Apple’s ultra-cool Japanese emoticon set — Emoji — are activated on your iPhone. Simply download the app, open it once, close it and then go to Settings, General, International, Keyboards, Japanese and switch Emoji on. Now try sending an SMS, click the globe icon, you’ll have access to a cavalcade of Emoji. Absolutely awesome, essential, legal and free!geoDefense (99 cents)
There is an overwhelming array of tower defense games available at the App Store. Some are downright awful and a minority are good fun. This app, geoDefense, is a clever twist on a confusingly saturated genre. The game plays out like a puzzle: as the vectorised baddies follow a set path through each stage, you have to work out the optimal tower configuration to defeat each enemy wave. It’s cheaper than many of the other apps, wonderfully stylised and a serious challenge too.GooSync+ ($14.99)
GooSync+ syncs your Google Calendars, contacts and ToDo lists and is a seriously pricey app, especially for what it is, given the other options available. The problem is that Google’s iPhone and touch web-app support is pretty good — Gmail works perfectly (and is apparently going to feature offline mail in a future update), tasks is now available for iPhone too and users wishing to sync their actual iPhone Calendar with their Google Calendar can do so for free already.Bowman (99 cents)
My current online game of the moment is Globulos — my user-name is Olly for any readers looking to challenge me — unfortunately, it’s not on iPhone as yet. However Bowman, an online time-waster that I have consistently returned to over the years, has just hit iPhone and touch. Seriously low on graphical flair (you’re a stick man with a bow and arrow), where it really shines is the gameplay — drag the arrows back before launching them at unwitting silhouetted ducks. So simple and so very satisfying as your arrows thunks in to a bird which then plummets to the ground in a shower of blood.technoBox ($9.99)
I adore electronic music and, as such, there’s a special place in my heart for Roland’s TR-808 and 909 drum machines. If you’re not too familiar with what I’m talking about, go watch this video of the TR-808 in action, bask in its glorious rhythmic awesomeness. Developed by AudioRealism, creators of various pro-level audio plugins, technoBox recreates the 808, 909 and also 303 bass machine. The even has a sequencer and a raft of variables for creating awesome blippy techno tracks whilst on the go.Shooter (99 cents)
Finally! It’s the official Shooter game, a perfect companion to the movie. You know the movie, right? The one that came out two years ago, featuring nobody we’ve actually heard of except that moderately-talented actor from the Funky Bunch? Yeah, that’s the one. Frankly, I have no clue why this game is tied in with the movie, its not like there’s a marketing bandwagon it could jump on to. It doesn’t even seem to feature Marky Mark’s likeness. The game itself is quite good fun though — it’s like sniper mode from Counter Strike — and, for the price, it’s definitely worth downloading.That’s all for this week, I’ll be back next Saturday, in the meantime, drop by the comments and let me know what you’ve been downloading (and enable those Emojis!).
Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM’s Green:Net.Переслать - Thanks to TheAppleBlog Sponsors!
We’d like to say thanks to this month’s sponsor of TheAppleBlog:
- WunderRadio: WunderRadio Plays thousands of streaming internet radio stations and other audio streams
Переслать - Super Simple Invoicing With Involer
There’s no shortage of invoicing applications for OS X, with a notable few including Billable, iBiz, Billings, and On The Job. They all offer different functionality, and may fit your requirements perfectly. However, another contender has recently emerged on the scene in the form of Involer.
Rather than attempting to be a complete solution for project management, tracking time, and storing client details, it sticks to the basics — sending and managing invoices. Involer aims to keep this process as simple as possible with an intuitive user interface and basic invoice designs.
This review will take a look at the main features of Involer, explaining what the app does well and where the areas for improvement lie.
The Interface
The Involer interface takes one of the most simplistic approaches I’ve ever seen. Consisting of four areas: Company, Client, Invoices, and Invoice Preview. While dauntingly sparse at first, you do come to realize that it covers most of the basic functionality you need.
One gripe I had immediately was the lack of any visual hints on how to get started after opening the application. It isn’t possible to actually add an invoice until you’ve entered a company and a client — something which would be easy to explain in any of the empty space when opening the app.
The preferences pane is equally sparse, with only a few options to handle updates and excluding certain items from an invoice.
Adding Information and Creating Invoices
Adding a client and company is as simple as hitting the + icon in the left hand sidebar. This creates a new blank record, which then needs to be double clicked to edit the name. If you don’t add a name straight away, there’s no way of knowing that an empty client actually exists — some form of dialog box to request a client’s name when being added would be beneficial. However, it is possible to import client data from Address Book (limited to their name and email address).
Creating an invoice occurs in an attractive interface, with a simple two column layout for item and amount. You can edit the title and thank you note, and optionally add a tax value. Tax rates are specified for every company on an individual basis and calculated automatically for each invoice sent to them.
Previewing an invoice looks good, and the layout and style retains the simplicity inherent within the app itself.
Sending and Exporting
There are two ways to distribute an invoice — via PDF or Print. Both generate a decent looking simplistic invoice, but I’d appreciate a way to have greater control over customizing the font and appearance to match my branding. In addition, it would be great to generate an email with the PDF attached, automatically addressed to the invoice recipient.
Searching and Organizing
Two of the main aims of Involer are to have “all of your invoices stored in the application, allowing you to refer back to them at any point” along with the ability to “find a specific invoice with just a few keystrokes.” This is achieved through both a timeline-style browser and a search function.
The timeline browser is a great addition, especially if you send out a large quantity of invoices. Unfortunately, the search feature didn’t work at all for me, likely a glitch with the latest release and something which will be high on their list of priorities to fix.
Simplicity Gone Too Far?
Generally, I’m a huge fan of applications which cut back on unnecessary features and execute the bare minimum excellently (WriteRoom for instance). However, I feel that Involer may have taken this concept a little too far in cutting back on features that people do actually need.
One major oversight would seem to be the lack of any Invoice ID. This is almost always a requirement, and while it could be added manually to the title, it makes sense for a piece of software to automatically generate this for you. Design wise, I generally find that companies often use invoices and receipts as a good way to project the professionalism and style of their brand. Stripping all this away may not suit everyone’s taste.
Conclusion
Ironically, many applications which are perfectly production ready are labeled as a beta. Involer is one advertised as a full release, when I think actually it could have done with a few months of limited beta testing. There were a number of issues which made the app feel slightly difficult to use, not least of which was the search function not working correctly.
If you’re searching for an app to create and manage invoices in a basic way, Involer could well be for you. I’m confident that updates and enhancements are being made to fix problems with the early release of the app. An updated version (1.1) was released this past weekend with a whole host of fixes and updates from the original release, with more coming soon.
The concept of the app is great, but the execution needs a little more polish before I’ll be considering using it for myself. Involer is priced at $19.99 and a fully functioning 10 day trial available to download. It requires Mac OS X 10.5 and higher (Mac OS X 10.5.2 or higher recommended). Involer runs natively on bother PowerPC and Intel-based Macintosh computers.
Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM’s Green:Net.Переслать - AirPhones: The True Potential of AirTunes on Your iPhone
I like my Airport Express with AirTunes. I use it to connect my home theater set-up to my iTunes library, and more frequently, for listening to Internet radio via iTunes. But it’s always bothered me that I couldn’t use it to listen to audio from any other source beyond iTunes. I don’t know about you, but the majority of my video collection is in non-iTunes-compliant format, and so when I’m watching movies, I have to run a super long mini-stereo capable from my Mac to my stereo to get the sound working.
Overnight, a solution appeared via my iPhone (and iPod touch) in the App Store. It’s called AirPhones ($6.99, App Store), and it’s an app that lets you stream any audio directly from your Mac to your iPhone or iPod touch. Or, at least it claims that you’ll be able to hear any audio. I found out that wasn’t exactly the case, but more on that later. Let’s just say that it definitely lets you hear more audio than your iTunes-connected Airport Express.
The iPhone app that makes up half of the AirPhones setup is not much in and of itself. Basically, all you see is a volume slider on a blue background with the AirPhones icon above it. It will display warning messages if you’re not connected, instructing you how to connect, but if it is working, it won’t tell you anything. On the computer side (which currently has to be an Intel Mac), you’ll need to download and run AirPhones Server, from which you will activate the audio streaming.
Setting up AirPhones was not at all difficult, and I actually like the server app, which takes up very few system resources, and hides itself well as a menu bar item (dock icon can be turned on, but there’s really no need). From the preferences window, you just turn on the server and it will automatically detect and connect with any devices on your local wireless network running the AirPhones app.
Once they’re connected, your Mac’s volume is muted, and instead any sound is played via your iPhone’s speaker or connected headphones/speakers. At least that’s the case with audio from most sources. iTunes, Quicktime, and Firefox all played nice, but popular media player VLC did not, with sound playing from the Macbook’s speakers despite the connection being up and running between AirPhones Server and the app on my iPhone.
If you try using this in conjunction with AirTunes, you’ll notice there is a slight delay when it comes to the sound delivered to your iPhone or iPod touch, which means it’ll have to be an either/or solution when it comes to playing music. Likewise, the video is ever so slightly out of sync with the audio with AirPhones. I still found it very tolerable, because the lag is minimal, but some perfectionists might take issue. Hopefully future updates will correct this minor latency.
Overall, it’s a handy solution, especially if you’ve got mulitiple iPhones and iPod touches lying around the house. They could easily become the basis for a wireless set-up that Sonos would charge you an arm and a leg for, and you’ll definitely hear it when you have a call coming in, to boot. And while $7 is a little steep for an iPhone app, once you have it, you can put it on as many devices as you want, so you can go ahead and recruit the whole family’s devices for the cause.
Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM’s Green:Net.Переслать - Band Gives Away Everything (Sort of) for $3 Via App Store
The headline in this case is slightly misleading. The Presidents of The United States of America (remember Lump, anyone?) are giving you access to four Presidents’ albums (all the ones the band owns the rights too), plus rarities and b-sides. The key word there is “access,” because while you can listen to the songs as much as you’d like, they’re streamed via an iPhone/iPod touch app, not physical MP3 files that you could actually add to your iTunes library.
The app is the brainchild of Dave Dederer, onetime singer and guitarist for the Presidents, who now acts as VP of Business Development for Melodeo, a company that deals specifically in software designed to stream iTunes content to other sources. In an industry that needs to look more and more at alternative content delivery methods, Dederer may be on to something. A $3 investment is probably going to attract a lot more attention than a 99-cent single track, since it gives interested customers the chance to sample a wide selection of a band’s work before making the decision to buy a full album or a number of tracks for more flexible use via their iTunes library.
For most other bands, this sort of thing is a problem, because they don’t usually own their own distribution and copyrights. That’s why Dederer is currently in talks with indie labels to release similar apps that cover entire stables of artists, thereby lessening the number of steps required in order to get legal permission to reproduce the tracks.
I am very much in favor of this new model. I prefer the idea of getting similarly grouped artists (by label, by genre, etc.) to go in together on an app like this, because then it becomes a sort of digital jukebox or focused Internet radio channel that you can have with you wherever you have cellular reception. At the same time, from an artist/label’s perspective, they’re getting great exposure with a growing market of people who tend to have disposable income and spend some on music. The Presidents’ app even has “Buy” links that redirect users to the iTunes purchase page so they can directly add tracks to their library.
It’s such a good idea, in fact, that I hope it catches on with other media. Imagine how great an NBC app would be that works along the same lines, providing the same full episodes they have on their site for streaming via iPhone on a dedicated app. They could include their commercials, and again, provide buy links that lead to their iTunes store.
What do you think, is this kind of delivery something you’d be interested in? For music, video, or both? Do you think it’s a realistic possiblity that the big networks will ever come on board?
Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM’s Green:Net.Переслать - Beginning Mac: iChat
A wide range of different applications and protocols exist for communicating via voice and instant messaging, with some being far more popular than others. OS X comes bundled with iChat, a client offering a number of great features. While not perfect for everyone, it does a good job of providing a ready-to-go instant messaging app, complete with powerful support for audio, video and screen/application sharing.
This overview will walk you through setting up various accounts through iChat, using the basic features, and even dabbling with some high quality video conferencing!
Getting Started & Adding Accounts
When opening iChat for the first time, you’ll be asked to set up your profile. If you already have an account with MobileMe, Mac.com, AIM, Jabber, or Google Talk, you can integrate it with iChat. It’s possible to use other protocols through iChat, but the solution is a little more complicated. For more information, this tutorial is useful.
Certain advanced features are only available when using an AIM or MobileMe/.Mac account, so if possible using either of these is preferable. After adding your account, you’ll be given the option to encrypt your messaging which is advisable if possible. When done, you’ll be presented with a concluding screen which encourages to get started using the app.
Basic Messaging
The basic screen for iChat is very simple, just showing a list of your “buddies” along with their audio/video capabilities. Double clicking a contact will initiate a text conversation with them. If you haven’t yet added any contacts, doing so is a simple process — all you need is their MobileMe or AIM email address. Click Buddies > Add Buddy from the menu bar and follow the simple instructions that follow.
Conducting an IM conversation is simple and effective, with each response taking the form of a speech bubble:
Multiple people can easily be added to a conversation through clicking Buddies > Invite to Chat, and each individual has their own colour scheme and icon to easily differentiate between participants. If you’d like to keep copies of all your conversations, a preference setting can automatically save chat transcripts to a designated folder on your hard drive — worth doing if you plan on holding an important conversation or meeting through the app.
If you’re holding multiple chat sessions, these can be organized into tabs to save having several windows open at a time. Transferring files is also simple, supporting drag and drop from anywhere in OS X.
Audio & Video Conferencing
Obviously instant messaging is great for certain scenarios, but in the age of ubiquitous broadband and in-built iSights it seems a little dated! iChat has evolved rapidly in recent releases to offer a comprehensive set of audio and video conferencing features. Initiating a video call is as simple as clicking the video icon next to a buddies name (providing you both have a working microphone and webcam). If a webcam isn’t installed, the system will fall back to audio only.
Just as with instant messaging, multiple chat participants are supported through clicking Buddies > Invite to Video Chat. In typical Mac style, the display changes to create a dynamic video ‘room’ complete with reflections and visual effects.
The fun doesn’t end there, however. The latest version of iChat has a feature called ‘video backdrops,’ making it easy (supposedly…) to convince people you’re chatting from the Eiffel Tower, under the sea, or from the moon. You can also create your own custom backdrops with your own photographs. It can lead to some really fun effects — I don’t think this guy was actually sitting in front of a waterfall:
As with chat transcript logging, it’s also simple to save a copy of an audio or video chat. iChat will automatically notify buddies that you’ll be recording the session and ask for their permission. Chats are saved in an iTunes compatible format for later viewing on your Mac or iPod.
Sharing Content
The ability to transmit video and high quality images also leads to other uses. iChat in OS X Leopard introduced functionality for conducting presentations remotely via Keynote, sharing a photo slideshow with a buddy, or even a full screen movie. Any file which can be viewed through Quick Look on OS X is able to be broadcast and shared via iChat.
Sharing your screen is also possible, enabling remote desktop control through iChat while simultaneously chatting to each other through an audio link. Great for helping out your technically-challenged uncle without needing to be physically present — perfect!
Alternative Applications
As with most OS X features, there are a number of other applications capable of performing similar functions. While none have quite the same level of integration with Leopard itself, they excel in other areas. A few others to consider are:
- Skype - Great for video, audio and IM with other Skype users, and also allows you to make low cost international calls. No integration with other protocols, however, and multiple video chatting isn’t supported.
- Adium - A great tool for basic instant messaging, supporting every different protocol under the sun. The interface is highly customizable and a number of useful plugins extend its functionality.
- AOL Instant Messenger / MSN Messenger for Mac - Both of these are the official releases from the relevant protocol. Great for supporting more features of that particular system, but fairly incompatible with other users.
- There are far too many more to mention. A full list can be found here with other notable apps including Proteus, Fire and Colloquy for IRC.
Conclusion
Instant messaging has come a long, long way since the early days of IRC. iChat does a great job of offering powerful and innovative functionality, but may not fully support the network which many of your colleagues or friends use. However, for a free application bundled with OS X, the sharing and collaboration features are impressive.
If you have any further questions (or use a different app I haven’t mentioned) do let me know. Also, if you somehow manage to convince a family member that you’re chatting to them from the Eiffel Tower I’d be fascinated to hear about it!
Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM’s Green:Net.Переслать - Analyst Talks Apple Netbook, iPhones; Has Actual Source for Once
Normally, industry analysts are a talkative, confident bunch, but generally speaking, they are like old fisherman, spinning yarns and telling tales that have become exaggerated through constant retelling.
Recent comments by leading Apple analyst Toni Sacconaghi, however, actually came out of discussions with a very good source: Tim Cook, Apple COO and acting head honcho at Cupertino during Steve Jobs’ medical leave. Not only that, but CFO Pete Oppenheimer and head of marketing Phil Schiller were there, too.
Which is why this time, when he says Apple is likely still working toward producing a netbook, I didn’t just roll my eyes and go about turning my Eee PC into a hackintosh. Not that Sacconaghi provided any firm details, just the tantalizing info that Cook “hinted” that Apple was still turning over “ideas” surrounding a netbook. Not a lot to build hope on, but better than the usual “predictions” based on “market trends.”
Other developments Sacconaghi foresees coming out of his all-star confab include pricing changes to the iPhone line-up, and new devices in the smartphone category. This, again, is speculation based on Cook’s own words, which are quoted by Sacconaghi as follows:Tim Cook stated that since Steve Jobs announced his leave of absence, he was spending more time on new products, how Apple could take the iPhone into new markets and examining iPhone’s business model.
Cook has been hinting at new products for quite some time, so we’re bound to see some before Jobs’ scheduled return in June. Sacconaghi predicts those will be new iMacs, which might come as early as next month. It’s true the iMac is overdue for an update, and that predictions of possible new quad-core models have been surfacing lately. That said, this appears to be more Sacconaghi’s analysis and less anything said by Cook, so don’t go throwing your old iMac out the window just yet.
The unusual move on the part of Apple’s top brass to meet with an industry analyst (albeit the top rated analyst, according to Institutional Investor Magazine) is perhaps more newsworthy than the predictions themselves. They suggest a Cupertino that is willing to openly court some media speculation, even if they are still playing their hand very close to the chest. Maybe rumors of a growth slowdown are true, in which case Apple might be looking to fuel the speculative fire that represents so much of their publicity machine.
The good news for us as Apple users is that if Apple is inviting this kind of attention, they’re probably planning to deliver something soon that will benefit from it. In other words, they’re turning down the house lights and getting ready to raise the curtains. Let’s hope the show starts soon.
Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM’s Green:Net.Переслать
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