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- Daily Apple: Blow Phone, Pro Processors, & Video Talk
Blow-Controlled Mobile Phone Introduced - This might be an example of when avoiding infringement of Apple’s multi-touch patent might have gone too far. Korean mobile manufacturer Pantech is now selling blow-controlled “Sky Wind” phones. Why, with that tech, you could blow out virtual candles on a virtual birthday cake.
March 29 Could Bring New Mac Pro Processors - Not, I should note, the Mac Pros themselves, but the next generation Xeon processors that could eventually provide the brains of the operation. They have the same clock speeds, but are supposed to gain lots of performance power through the introduction of other new techs, including a replacement of the legacy “Front Side Bus.”
Music Industry Cowers Before iTunes’ Might - The New York Times has an interesting article about how tense relations are between Apple and the big players in the music industry, owing to Apple’s strongarm bargaining tactics and the industry’s fear of courting their disfavor.
Patent Points to Video Conferencing iPhone - Usually I don’t pay much attention to the myriad of patent applications Apple makes, because most of them seem to come to nothing. This one, though, is one I’m really pulling for. The iPhone needs video capabilities, and this shows Apple’s at least considering it.
Apple Market Share Up in January - To nearly 10 percent, according to data gathered by Net Applications and reported by Ars Technica. That’s a new record for Macs, and an increase for the iPhone as well. Windows slid over the same period.
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Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM’s Green:Net.Переслать - Crackulous Defeats App Protection
I debated covering this, because in no way do I or TheAppleBlog endorse the cracking and/or illegal distribution of software, but it definitely deserves attention because of the potential implications it has for the future of Apple’s App Store. A new app available for jailbroken iPhones called “Crackulous” now allows owners of phones running the hacked firmware to remove the copyright protection from any app available legitimately through the official App Store. Push-button simple cracking means that torrent sites will likely soon be flooded with .ipa files installable via iTunes on any iPhone or iPod Touch, jailbroken or not.
Until now, getting cracked versions of apps onto Apple handset devices has required jailbreaking, and there is probably a significant portion of their userbase who avoided trying for just that reason. The availability of easy-to-install, free versions of any and all apps currently in the App Store does not bode well for sales, at least not if piracy rates in comparable areas like PC games and software are any indication.
Likely this will spark a cat-and-mouse game between Apple and would-be pirates, with Apple introducing new, more difficult to crack copyright protections, and Crackulous developers updating their software to counter as necessary. The problem in this case is the issue of legacy software. Apps already approved and downloaded by users will lack any protection updates unless Apple conducts a total overhaul and upgrades the protection on the existing 15,000-plus applications. This would obviously be extremely time-consuming, and annoying for iPhone users, unless Apple can find a way to quietly push a fix to all devices without requiring action from individual developers and/or users.
Speaking as an iPhone user, the only reason to even worry about this app is because Apple still refuses to implement a trial or demo infrastructure into the App Store. That means it’s up to developers to release a “lite” or stripped-down version of their apps if they want to offer users a preview. Not being one to part with my hard-earned money very easily, I see the appeal of getting to try out an app before spending even $2 or $3 on it, and cracked apps, though unethical and illegal, offer that possibility.
Hopefully Apple waits to see how many iPhone users end up actually crossing over into using cracked apps before making any moves that might alienate and inconvenience those of us who continue to use the App Store legitimately. An overreaction on Apple’s part could do more damage than the inroad Crackulous creates for piracy.
Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM’s Green:Net.Переслать - Dear Technologizer: Apple Doesn't Own Your Contacts
This past weekend, Ed Oswald of Technologizer published a piece about how Apple seems to have stolen his contacts as if they owned them. The gist of the article is that he canceled his MobileMe account — without taking any actions to save his data beforehand — and thinks it’s Apple’s fault that the contacts left stranded on his iPhone cannot be somehow “saved,” even though he killed the very method he was using to maintain them.
I disagree this is Apple’s fault, and portions of his own piece seem to support my argument. For example, we get these statements — mentioned rather matter-of-factly — as if they should have no bearing on the issue:
This means that if you leave [MobileMe] for whatever reason, your synced information is as good as gone if you don't have it locally.
Well, of course you would need it locally. Why would you still have access to Apple’s servers after leaving their service?
It won't sync with iTunes (I wondered why new appointments and contacts suddenly weren't getting synced anymore),
Translation: I noticed there was a problem, but did nothing to analyze it or connect the dots.
and there's no way to go back to just syncing sans MobileMe.
He’s upset he can’t sync with MobileMe servers without MobileMe? Did he really just say that? In iTunes it’s trivial to go back to syncing local data, but we’ve already established he doesn’t have any. How is this Apple’s fault?
Here’s a scenario to consider…
FIRST: A user, let’s call him “Bob,” calls me up and says “Tom, will you please host my contacts on your server for me? I’ll just hit up your server for additions, deletions, etc.?” My reply to this is “Sure, let’s do it.” We agree, and it’s a done deal.At this point, who owns Bob’s contacts? Like Mr. Oswald, I believe that Bob does. I also believe just as strongly that having his data on an “outside” server modifies the relationship Bob has with it. In other words, adding a third party to the mix changes the rules in a manner Bob must realize, and is obligated to act accordingly. As just one example, Bob must not be surprised that he cannot modify his data if my server is down; he must wait until I get the server back up.
SECOND: Bob calls me up after a few months and says, “Thanks, Tom, but I’m not going to hit up your server anymore, I no longer want to use that method for my data.” My reply to this is “OK by me.”
At this point I’m done with Bob; what’s my obligation with the copy of his data I possess? Well, I shouldn’t use it, or sell it, or spam it, etc. But at the same time I sure as heck am under no obligation to hang onto it, either. Why should I waste my server’s disk space on a client no longer using my service?
THIRD: Let’s forget any speculation that there may be telltale signs Bob is ignoring that something is amiss with his data, and just skip to the part where he calls me a month after #2 and says “Tom, um, I need my data just one more time.” My reply to this is “Huh?”
I think you can see where we go from here.
I’m sorry that Mr. Oswald lost his contacts. Really, I am. But blaming Apple is pointless. In iTunes it’s pretty clear when you use MobileMe syncing that there’s no “local” sync. The fact that he had issues after killing the service confirmed this, yet he did nothing.
Finally, and to the heart of Mr. Oswald’s complaint, if I ever owned Bob’s data you could claim I did not take proper steps when the relationship was ended (at which time presumably I no longer owned it). In other words, when the responsibility of ownership passed back to Bob from me, I should have had to “hand off” the data back to him. But it’s the very fact that I never owned the data to begin with that makes this claim silly. Bob is (and always was) shepherding the data, it’s his even when it’s on my server.
I think Mr. Oswald should have published a mea culpa, and instructed others how to avoid the same fate. If I were going to kill my MobileMe account this is what I would do:
- Export my contacts and calendars using Export from the Address Book and iCal File menus.
- Go into MobileMe control panel and kill contact and calendar syncing. Do the same on my iPhone.
- Go into iTunes and set contacts and calendars to sync from my Mac (i.e., locally).
- Import the exported files from step 1.
I would absolutely do the above before killing the MobileMe account, so I could ensure it all works. When I was satisfied everything is OK, then I could safely kill my account.
Keep in mind the above only discusses contacts/calendars because that was Mr. Oswald’s complaint. In my case, however, I also sync primary data on my iDisk, bookmarks, email, and other data as well. I would follow a similar process to the above for all of it, doing it all before killing the MobileMe account.
We’re not talking about a lot of work here, folks. More importantly, it’s the prudent thing to do because, well, I own this data; who else should I expect to do it?
Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM’s Green:Net.Переслать - Find Any File: Classic Mac Filename Searches Return to OS X
I quickly became addicted to Spotlight when I upgraded to Tiger back in 2005, but why, I wondered, did Apple have to ruin easy filename searches in the Tiger Find dialog, after just finally getting them working right in Panther?
Of course you can run filename searches in Tiger (and Leopard), but it involves configuring tedious pull-down menus, and I find that often a name search is the quickest way to hone in on a file I’m looking for without the “too much information” returns that Spotlight indexed searches yield.
Perceiving a need, Thomas Tempelmann has authored an excellent little freeware replacement for the pre-Tiger OS X Find utility called Find Any File. Unlike Spotlight, Find Any File doesn’t use an indexed database; it taps into the file system driver’s own fast search operations, letting you search for file properties like name, dates, size, etc., but not for file content, for which you can, of course, still use Spotlight.
Find Any File is thus not a Spotlight substitute or replacement. Rather it compliments it by providing a function that OS X doesn’t perform very well. It works quite similarly to the Classic Mac OS's "Find File" (or Sherlock) utilities, which I frequently miss in OS X. It also consequently finds files that Spotlight doesn’t, such as those inside bundles and packages and inside folders that are usually excluded from Spotlight searches (eg: system files).
Some other things Find Any File can do:
- Hold down the Option key down while choosing Find, type in your administrator password, and Find Any File will restart with root permissions, and the ability to find any file on your Mac’s local volumes (something Spotlight won’t do)
- Display a new hierarchical view of found items which is toggled by pressing Command-2 or clicking on the icon at the top right of the results window.
I’ve found Find Any File even more useful than I thought I would, and I’ve been using it a lot since downloading it. The searches are reasonably swift, although perhaps not quite as fast as Spotlight, but I find the results tend to be more zeroed-in on what I’m actually looking for in many cases.
New enhancements in the latest Version 1.1 of Find Any File include the ability to search non-HFS volumes (although not as quickly), options to filter hidden items and package contents, more details of items displayed on mouseovers, and a new "Delete Immediately" menu command.
It seems almost churlish to complain about an excellent piece of freeware like this, but the range of search configuration options cold be a little broader. Templemann acknowledges this, but he says he had to stop adding features at some point.
The application’s user interface may look a bit old school to some, as it is inspired by the Classic Mac OS’ Find File application, but I remain a Classic OS fan so it’s perfectly all right by me.
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Click here to save cost on your IT demandsПереслать - App Store Organization: One Problem, Four Current Solutions
Apple doesn’t want you to find quality apps in the App Store. Yes, I said it. The way the App Store is currently designed, Apple would rather you spend your valuable time discovering apps either by going category by category or making “staff picks” for you.
Alternatively, you can just purchase 99-cent flatulence apps — these tend to provide the most value, especially in a business setting. Detect the sarcasm?
One way to discover new apps is via the featured picks (see screenshot below). Essentially, iTunes editorial staff pick applications to feature in those areas (they are not sponsored ad spots). This leaves developers largely at the mercy of iTunes staff to get their application seen past the “New Apps” block.
The large majority of apps are relegated to being found only but the iTunes search functionality. Unfortunately the results from searches return Albums, Applications, Podcasts, and more, requiring even more clicks to funnel down to what you really want to find.
Lucky for us, since the App Store’s launch, some creative third parties have gone ahead and built web sites that have more information than what the App Store provides. Let’s take a look at each one.
AppBeacon
The primary value proposition behind AppBeacon is app discovery. First, you need to create an account (free) and then begin to define which apps you own, which ones interest you (bookmark) and which apps you don’t like (sink). You can “sink all” apps in a specific category so that you can begin to filter out apps more quickly.
When you bookmark an item, you can then decide if you want to purchase or sink it. The problem with AppBeacon’s approach is that while it does make finding new apps a bit more intuitive, it still doesn’t really solve the discovery problem that it actually aims to fix. AppBeacon’s biggest plus is filtering but what would really take this to the next level would be to see recommendations a la Amazon’s discovery engine (people like you bought such-and-such app, and you might like it too).
App Shopper
App Shopper is designed to help you quickly filter the newest or updated apps in the App Store. What makes this service more useful is that you can also filter by an app’s price change. Seeing how it is difficult to find when a particular app decreases in price, this is a nice feature. App Shopper also has a nice leaderboard that shows the relative changes in popular apps (free and paid) on a daily basis.
Apptism
Similar to AppBeacon, Apptism lets you create a free account to track the apps you own and create a watchlist of potential new apps you want to purchase. Further, Apptism has a pretty deep filtering mechanism. For example, you can filter by recent or most activity metrics, including recent reviews, comments, articles and more. This is a pretty useful way to see which apps are gaining more interest in the app-o-sphere.
Another great feature of Apptism is its new Preview listings. Essentially, Apptism is encouraging developers to provide early information to users about upcoming apps. This preview information includes a description, screenshots, and when the app should be generally available.
iPhonexe
iPhonexe, unfortunately, is just embarrassing. The UI is ugly, the name of the site implies a Windows-esque nomenclature and the ability to discover new iPhone apps is no better than what iTunes provides. I would say that the only real value to this site is its listing of jailbroken apps. If you have a jailbroken iPhone, then this service might be interesting to you. Otherwise, I recommend avoiding it.
What to do?
None of these services are perfect, although at least you now have options outside of the App Store itself to find iPhone apps of interest. Of the services mentioned here, it appears that AppBeacon and Apptism have the most value, even if they do require that you create an account. For my personal use, it seems that AppBeacon offers the most utility of all the services.
Is the App Store’s current method of organizing/finding apps sufficient for you? Do these services mentioned have any added benefit for you? What could Apple do to organize the App Store and make it more efficient for finding apps?
Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM’s Green:Net.Переслать - Apple, Adobe Working Together On Flash for iPhone? Define "Together"
The weekend brought renewed hope for those waiting with bated breath for the marriage of iPhone and Flash. I have to admit that it really aggravates me when I see a site I want to check out, type the address into Mobile Safari, and am greeted with nothing but a background color and that aggravating little question mark cube. Which is why I was momentarily heartened when I heard found out that Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen said in a recent Bloomberg television interview that the company was “collaborating” with Apple on bringing Flash to the iPhone.
This is only the latest development in the long saga of the interactive web tech and Apple’s game-changing smartphone. So far, nothing seems to have come of efforts to get the tech working on the device because Apple has qualms with the high demands of the full version of Flash, and doesn’t feel the Lite version offers enough muscle to merit inclusion. Hence Narayen’s talk of “collaborating,” since his company basically has to meet Apple’s particular demands in order to get them to open the gates.
I suspect, along with Daring Fireball’s Jon Gruber, that Narayen’s use of the word “collaborating” might be a little misleading in this case. The rest of the CEO’s comments don’t really suggest that Apple has changed their position on the matter, but it does seem like Adobe realises the importance of getting their product on the platform, and have decided to put in the serious development time required to produce something that matches Apple’s specifications.At this point, its hard to say how much Flash capability will affect things on Apple’s side of the equation. Yes, it would be nice to avoid those question-cubes, but I still wouldn’t trade my iPhone for anything, nor did I even consider the absence of Flash as a factor when I made my original decision to purchase. Really, Adobe has everything to gain from a relationship with the device, in order to stay relevant, which is presumably why the ball is in their court.
Click here to save cost on your IT demandsПереслать - Weekly App Store Roundup: Jan. 31, 2009
Good Saturday and a Happy Weekend to one and all, it’s time to sit down, relax and wrap your big eyes round this week’s App Store Roundup.
This week on TheAppleBlog, we got in there super fast with an in-depth look at iMovie ‘09, iPhoto ‘09 and iWeb ‘09. Of particular note was our very own Liam Cassidy describing iWeb as an, “embarrassing, backward cousin,” to the breathtaking updates of iMovie and iPhoto.
And in other news, Darrell Etherington reported on rumblings from two separate sources about a potential new iPhone.
With some of the week’s most notable news out of the way, let’s roll on to our weekly App Store Roundup.
This week I’ve been looking at Distant Shores, Sax Man, Photo fx and LifeTicker.
Distant Shore (99 cents)
Frankly I’m not a fan of LOST. The same location again and again, the same characters every episode, the same premise… it’s infuriating. I’ll take my re-runs of Cheers any day, thank you. However, this app — a virtual desert island which you can wander at your pleasure, soaking up the tropical ambiance — is a wonderful concept. You’re even able to cast off a message in a bottle and read messages from other stranded players. Think of it as LOST, albeit without the uncannily beautiful people, the perpetual onslaught of pointless puzzles or the hairy hobbit rockstar.Sax Man (99 cents)
The folks over at Yudo are doing good things with their 1 Dollar Game series. The latest addition, while not strictly a game, is a fun little musical toy. Indeed, as a virtual saxophone Sax Man allows you to seriously get your jazz on. In a control-scheme reminiscent of the utterly breathtaking Ocarina for iPhone, to play the Sax you simply blow in to the iPhone’s microphone while holding the corresponding key combination for a given note. It’s not too tough for beginners and musicians, particularly those experienced with wind instruments will find playing Sax Man to be a breeze.Photo fx ($2.99)
Like Quantum Leap’s Sam, leaping from place to place and searching for a way home, my journey — from one disappointing photo app to another — searching for the perfect set of iPhone camera tools continues. The developers, The Tiffen Company, actually make real photographic filters, so it seems they know a thing or two about photography. The app itself is intended to simulate Tiffen’s glass filters, optical lab processes and photographic effects. On first look, this app is incredibly promising — feature-rich, easy to use and a wealth of interesting filters and effects.LifeTicker ($9.99)
Allowing you to keep track of important events in your life — meetings, birthdays, medical appointments — LifeTicker could be an essential tool for some. Or at least as essential as a calendar. I’m gonna skip the pleasantries on this one: the app looks ugly, is light on features and vastly overpriced (even at $9.99 which is, apparently, a limited time 50 percent off launch-price). Users looking for an alternative that integrates more effectively with your lifestyle should try checking out Google Calendar (with NuevaSync) or Apple’s iCal (with MobileMe), both of which sync with your iPhone and are robust enough to feature notes, reminders and contact invitations.Just One More Thing
Earlier this week, TheAppleBlog’s Darrell Etherington spoke about the recent rumors pertaining to a possible Premium Game Section in the App Store. Currently, in the game section of the store, the sub-categories relate to gaming genres such as puzzle, racing or casino.
If the rumors actually happen, it means that Premium Games will be an additional category in the App Store. Within this category would be products from the big game companies and the pricing would reflect this, with a download costing around $20 (regular players will know that games currently range from free to around 8 bucks).
EA's disappointing MySims Kingdom for Nintendo DS
When I say that the substantial price increase is a reflection of the fact that these are games from big companies, to be more specific, I mean that the big game companies desire to charge you more, much more, for games. This potential move by Apple absolutely does not mean that the games will be higher quality, better graphics or deeper gameplay.
So why is this happening? It’s all a matter of perception: as Pocketgamer.biz note, Apple sees the touch and iPhone as serious contenders in the handheld game wars, up against the DS and PSP where games are upwards of twenty bucks each. This new section in the App Store means that there will be a special shelf in the store for the games from the larger global publishers.
I’d argue that we’re seeing more innovation, more compelling gameplay, and more quality produce at appropriate price-points since launch in the App Store than on the DS and PSP combined. This is because the App Store allows independent developers to bring their wares directly to us on the same store shelves as the big boys, something which just does not happen (at least not enough) on Sony and Nintendo’s handhelds.
And while Apple’s potential move won’t directly stifle this innovation, it may draw the flow of cash towards premium products from risk-averse game publishers, towards games that some consumers will incorrectly perceive as higher-quality and better value for money and away from independently developed gaming pearls like Rolando and Trace.
That’s all for this week’s App Store Roundup, as ever, thank you for joining me for a rundown of the week’s most interesting releases. I’ll be back next Saturday with my picks from the week, in the meantime, drop by the comments and let me know which apps you’ve downloaded this week.
Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM’s Green:Net.Переслать - Daily Apple: Whiteboard, Pretty Pictures, & Dellular Phones
Monochrome Keyboard DIY Job - Apple may be using a two-color scheme on most of their hardware these days, but Steve Essell likes his keyboards white, and only white. Hence this all-white masterpiece. It’s so cool, it doesn’t need key labels, and neither should you if you’re a Mac user worth his salt. Done using only spray paint, and without disassembly.
Apple News Week in Charts and Lists - Since I once dabbled in the desktop publishing trade, no one knows better than me the value of a nice chart. Here are five nice charts from CNNMoney’s Fortune blog, all detailing some different way in which Apple is awesome. The cumulative effect is a reassuring one, for those of us who were worried about the state of the company following Steve’s leave.
More Talk About Dell Smartphones - As early as next month, but maybe as late as never, Dell is (still) considering taking on Apple by releasing at least a few models of smartphone. The phones will be WinMo and Android-based, and at least one will feature a touchscreen. I wonder what Dell thinks they have that HTC, RIM, Palm, etc, etc. don’t?
17″ MacBook Pro Now Shipping - MacRumors noticed the disheartening acceptance of pre-orders has changed to the refreshing “Ships in 7-10 business days” at the online Apple Store. If I was buying one, it would be here in a little over a week. I’m not, but oh boy, if I was, that’d be sweet.
Rowmote: Like Your Hardware Remote Except Better - This handy little app just arrived in the App Store today. It turns your iPhone or iPod touch into an Apple Remote, capable of controlling all the applications on your Mac that the hardware version can, but it doesn’t need line of sight. Costs a buck, so a good deal if you didn’t already fork out when you ordered your new Mac.
Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM’s Green:Net.Переслать - Apple Achieves 1.1 Percent Market Share, What Next?
Apple made good on a target set by Steve Jobs when he originally announced the release of the original iPhone in June of 2007. He wanted the iPhone to take 1 percent of global cellphone market share by the end of 2008, and according to at least two different market research firms, Apple has met, and surpassed that goal. That number puts it pretty much on par with HTC, who makes a large number of different handsets, and ahead of Sharp, who also offers many different models.
For the sake of reference, consider that Nokia still dominates the space, taking a whopping 38.6 percent. Research in Motion, makers of BlackBerry devices, also still outshine Apple, with 1.9 percent, which is up from 1.1 percent in 2007. So yes, technically, BlackBerry gained as much ground as the iPhone did in the same period, but Apple was also only really selling one device, while RIM has an entire line of products aimed at different categories of consumers. Also, the iPhone was only sold in 2007 from June forward, so Apple had less time to sell their product.
Now that they’ve reached their initial target, the next logical step would be to try to overtake RIM, their closest competitor. RIM has just released the Blackberry 8900, an updated version of their mid-level handset, targeted at users who don’t need the power of the Bold but do prefer the full QWERTY keyboard over the BlackBerry’s Pearl’s truncated keypad. To make big strides in the mobile handset market, Apple should aim for the Pearl and Curve market space, either by introducing a simplified, lower-cost iPhone Nano, or by releasing a brand new iPhone model, but keeping the 3G around at a discounted price.
Click here to save cost on your IT demandsПереслать - A Widescreen Skeptic's Lament — Portrait View Anyone?
I was pleased that Apple resisted going to the ultra-wide 16:9 (WXGA/HDTV) screen aspect ratio that’s becoming popular in PC laptops for the new unibody MacBook revisions, sticking with the 16:10 (WXGA+/WSXGA) proportions carried over from the aluminum PowerBooks and older MacBooks.
By my lights, 16:10 is plenty wide enough, and I would actually prefer more vertical headroom than that. In many ways, the old XGA 4:3 aspect ratio used in older Mac laptop displays suited me just fine, and as one who uses my Macs primarily as work tools rather than entertainment centers I’m dismayed by the motion picture format-driven trend toward ultra-wide screens.
So apparently is CNET’s Rafe Needleman, who posted a blog this week entitled “The Myth Of Width: When Wide Screens Don’t Work”.
Rafe observes that the trend to wider ratio displays is contra-progress for those of us who use laptops in real world work environments, constituting an ergonomic step backwards.
I share Needleman’s concession that for entertainment content, widescreens do work, making sense for plasma and LCD television displays and CinemaScope movie screens, noting that our eyes are side-by-side and having stories unfold in a way that more closely emulates how we see in real life provides a more satisfactory viewing experience.
Excessive Scrolling
However, for doing production work on a laptop display, the mode of seeing designed “to spot a herd of jackals approaching us over the plain becomes irrelevant,” as Rafe pithily puts it. So true. Most people’s computer work is conceptually oriented toward portrait mode, with wide-screen displays offering scant benefits and substantial drawbacks, a prima facie one being excessive scrolling.
As with books, magazines, newspapers, and correspondence, most web sites have a dominant vertical orientation, which is what works for text-based material, since lines of text longer than about 60 characters, become painfully cumbersome to read.
Side By Side
Aside from their suitability for watching video, the single mitigating aspect, so to speak, of wide-screen monitors is that they do facilitate juxtaposing two pages or applications side-by-side for more convenient comparison, but the fact is that I can display two Text-Edit Plus (the application in which I do most of my composing, drafting, editing, and markup) side by side on the 1024 x 768 4:3 ratio XGA monitor of the Pismo PowerBook I’m drafting this post on right now with just a sliver of overlap, and I wouldn’t even have that if I switched my OS X Dock to bottom rather than right-side orientation. Spreadsheets are one work environment where widescreens arguably offer some advantages, but I’m not a spreadsheet user, and for my purposes I’ve had a longtime yearn for a portrait orientation display. I hasten to concede that a portrait display just wouldn’t work with the standard laptop computer form factor. Keyboards are horizontal, laptop screens have to close over them. But for an external display, portrait would be a nice option.
Veteran Mac users may recall that Apple at one time marketed the Apple Macintosh Portrait Display, a grayscale 640 x 870 resolution 15″ CRT unit, which was big stuff back in 1989 (and expensive - a whopping $1,049). I coveted one of these in my Mac early days, but the price was just too steep. A flatscreen Apple Portrait Cinema Display would be pretty cool, but I expect the price in 2009 dollars would probably be in the same nominal territory.
How about you? Widescreen fan, or would portrait view be a welcome display option?
Click here to save cost on your IT demandsПереслать - The End of an Era
The iPhone has been on the market for more than a year now, and as a result technology manufacturers are beginning to see the touch screen as a viable solution for personal computing.
Before the iPhone hit the market in 2007 the general population's experience with a touch screen interface was limited to devices such as the Palm Treo, Tablet PC's, and GPS navigation systems. All of which have one thing in common, their touch screen interfaces can only recognize a single point of contact at a time. It wasn't until the iPhone that consumers really got a taste of a practical use for the touch screen, and we have started seeing multi-touch interfaces making their way into other products such as HP's Touch Smart PC.
There is one word that I find most appropriate to describe what Apple has accomplished with their multi-touch user interface for the iPhone: renaissance. As many of you recall from your days in literature classes, renaissance means rebirth, and I see it as the rebirth of the personal computer, meaning the end of the keyboard and mouse interface.The way I see it, a personal computer is defined by four major components: the monitor, mouse, keyboard, and CPU. Just looking at Apple's iMac line of products, they have already combined the CPU and monitor. Imagine if Apple or another company elaborated a bit more on that concept and discontinued the keyboard and mouse all together.
I am not implying that slapping a touch screen on a current Mac or PC and calling it a day. But rather I believe that in the next few years we will see the standard of the personal computing interface change dramatically, and possibly take a backseat to practicality.
As consumers are we beginning to see the keyboard/mouse dynasty come to an end as touch screens become more advanced? Perhaps this is propelling us into the next level of home computing where the nerd fantasy of owning the Minority Report computer becomes a reality.
Click here to save cost on your IT demandsПереслать - BurnBall: Surprisingly Addictive
At first blush, I wasn’t convinced that BurnBall had the stickiness necessary to merit replay in my oh-so-valuable free time. As it turns out, the deceptively simple yet addictive game play make for a great and fun way to kill time on the iPhone or iPod touch.
The hand-drawn, comic book feel of the graphics are by design, and go right along with the comic book back story to the game. In tilt-controlled BurnBall, you roll your Sonic the Hedgehog looking guy — named Roy — around each stage with the goal of recoloring the world which the evil Dr. Grey has desaturated. Sections of the stage regain color when you successfully complete a line starting and ending in colored territory. In sort of a classic snake game fashion, there are baddies in each stage that take away a life if they touch your uncompleted line.
Believe me, I get it — BurnBall may not sound like the game you’ll keep coming back to when you’re waiting at the Dr.’s office, or sitting in the bathroom… But there’s something to it, and it just hooks you. The replay value has proven to be fantastic in my experience. The more you play it, the more strategy you develop for getting higher scores faster. Like I said, deceptively simple yet addictive.
But don’t take my word for it. Try out BurnBall Lite for free, and if you find yourself going back for more, consider paying $2.99 for the full version. There’s even a Facebook page (with nearly 600 fans), where you can post your high scores and compete for prizes. I recommend you check it out, and join in the fun!
Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM’s Green:Net.Переслать -
- Daily Apple: Social Fruit, Suggestions of Subsidies, & NVIDIA Take-Backs
Apple Brand Most Social of All, Crowds Top 20 - Using statistics concerning how many blogs (like this one) and micro-blogged comments make mention of brand names, and how often, social media services company Vitrue developed an index of the top 20 “Most Social” brand names. Apple took four of the spots, including number one. Microsoft was a distant second with two.
Useful Data Privacy Tips to Celebrate Data Privacy Day - Today, TUAW marked the “global initiative to highlight information security rights and practices” by providing seven tips to help you stay secure. Most of them are very common sense suggestions, which is exactly why they bear repeating. Your Mac may be tough, but it isn’t invincible.
Blackberry Storm More Expensive to Make Than iPhone - Say what you will about the Blackberry Storm, Research In Motion spared no expense when it came to putting the thing together. According to iSupply, the touchscreen device costs $203 to make, compared to just $173 for the iPhone. How much is better design worth, though?
More Rumors About Subsidized Apple Notebook - Like a broken record, rumors of an AT&T subsidized Apple notebook continue to surface. This time, the source is AT&T’s Emerging Devices president Glenn Lurie, who hinted about the prospect in an interview with Fortune magazine.
NVIDIA Update Gets Pulled, No One Knows Why - This was the patch released only earlier this week, that was meant to fix “cursor issues,” but that didn’t fix the screen distortion issues users were having when connecting displays via the Mini DisplayPort to Dual-DVI adapter.
Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM’s Green:Net.Переслать - First Look: iWeb '09
It's been a heady few months. The updates to iWork '09 and iLife '09 have, for the most part, been as impressive and inspiring as we've come to expect from Apple. I upgraded both suites the very second I could. I can't tell you how much I love these products.
Except…iWeb '09. (Liam looks to the ceiling, gathers his thoughts…tries not to get agitated.)
If you didn't already know, iWeb is a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) website authoring tool. It's an end-to-end solution that makes it supremely easy to create a complete, sort-of-professional-looking website from scratch. Only, I have some issues with it. Where to begin…
I should begin by explaining something: I'm not a "lite" user. I've been developing websites and web applications for over a decade, and I've become accustomed to the power and flexibility offered by the like of Adobe Dreamweaver and (yes) Microsoft Expression Web. (Although, given the choice, I'd rather use Visual Studio 2008.) So I understand — I really do understand — that iWeb is not supposed to be competition for those other solutions. iWeb isn't really for me. Nor does it try to be. It's supposed to be something very simple, very easy to use. It's supposed to be intuitive and accessible. It's supposed to provide a seamless experience for anyone with even the tiniest bit of creative vision. And you know what — it does all the things it's supposed to do. It just doesn't do enough.So, before I get agitated again, let's take a look at the new release and feel thankful for what it does do.
The interface hasn't change much, save for the introduction of a vertical panel along the right-hand side of the window, called the Media Browser. This gives easy one-click access to Audio, Photos and Movies on your Mac. Nothing the Media Inspector didn't do before, except for the final tab - Widgets.
Widgets
Widgets make it quick and easy to add rich-media to web pages.
MobileMe Gallery
While the Gallery pages iWeb creates always have allowed users to hook-in to their .Mac or MobileMe galleries, this widget makes it possible to add a single, self-contained gallery-link to a page without the need to use iWeb's more cumbersome "My Albums" section to your site. What you get is similar to the Events view in iPhoto; a square panel that shows thumbnails of photos in your chosen MobileMe Gallery. When you pass your mouse over the panel, you get different thumbnails of the photos that lie within. Clicking will open a new page that loads the original MobileMe gallery.
YouTube
Exactly what you'd expect. You paste a link to a chosen YouTube video into a popup dialogue box. It embeds the video on your page.
Google Maps
I really like this Widget. It doesn't move the earth, it does precisely what you'd expect, but it takes the hassle out of coding these things by hand. Drag this Widget onto your page and you are presented with a sheet asking for the address you want to display. You can set zoom level, and choose which user-controls are available (such as zoom controls or the Google Maps search bar).
Google AdSense
Precisely what proportion of typical home-users are Google AdSense customers is an interesting question. I would hazard a guess it's really not so many. In which case, this seems like a tip of the hat at providing something useful to more advanced users. Except I cannot see iWeb being used as a tool-of-choice by sufficiently advanced users (and by that, I'm referring to anyone who wants to create a truly decent, individual website — but more on that later).
iSight Photo
You could have done this before using PhotoBooth. Only now it's built-in to iWeb. This widget starts you iSight camera and allows you to take a photo for instant-inclusion in your web page.
iSight Movie
Precisely the same as the iSight Photo option above. Only with movies.
Countdown
I could see this being popular with websites announcing upcoming weddings and birthdays. In short — completely pointless and not exactly something the websphere was crying-out for. Still, it's something new. Enjoy selecting your birthdate for next year and watching it automagically work out the number of seconds between now and then. And count them down. (meh)
RSS Feed
Finally! A truly useful widget that was not previously easily-done. Except there is a catch — it doesn't create an RSS feed from content in your page; it imports a feed from outside your site. If that's what you want to do, this is a nice and simple way of making that happen.
HTML Snippet
Ironically, this is the most powerful widget of the lot. It allows you to construct your own HTML and generate pretty much anything you want. Of course, Apple expects you to be doing nothing more advanced than adding someone else's banner, visitor tracking button or analytics script. If you want to embed anything more fancy than that - why on earth are you using iWeb?
Nothing to See Here…Move Along…
After the initial excitement with Widgets fades, you'll realize there's nothing else of any real added-value in this version of iWeb. There are only two new themes — "Leaf Print" and "Fine Line" — that would have been impressive in 1997. Today they look rubbish. Oh sure, they're tidy and simple. But they're not particularly exciting or fresh. Apple must know this — after all, they're never gonna publish websites using those themes, so I don't know why they imagine it's alright to foist them upon the rest of us.
There I go being a power user again. I'm sure Aunty Mavis would just love Leaf Print (rolls eyes).
Going to Press
The publishing options have been expanded somewhat. As well as the option to publish to MobileMe, you can also publish directly to a third party hosting service of your choice using the FTP connectivity new to iWeb '09. The process is simple.
Once you've entered and successfully tested your FTP login details, it's business as usual.
I Do Facebook, Too!
Since iPhoto '09 so nicely integrates with Facebook, it seems the iWeb developers felt they had to do something — anything — to get in on the action. Sounds interesting…what could they possibly do, though?
Imagine it — by hooking-in iWeb to a Facebook account, the possibilities are endless! You could scrape your Facebook Wall updates into your personal website, link your Facebook/iPhoto galleries with your iWeb site so changes in one propagate automagically to the others, synchronize your iWeb blog with Facebook's Notes, synchronize your Applications to publish their updates to your iWeb site, synchronize your Facebook Status Updates with your iWeb home page…actually, the more you think about it, the more exciting it becomes! The possibilities just go on and on.
Unfortunately, it seems iWeb's developers weren't thinking about any of these possibilities, because the Facebook integration we get in this upgrade amounts to nothing more than the following line, published to your Facebook Wall, whenever you make changes to your website.
And here start the problems I find in iWeb '09…
Crazy URLs
A perennial complaint (really — Google it — you'll find a lot of people complaining about this for years now). Whether you publish to MobileMe or your own web server, iWeb still insists on creating bonkers-crazy long URLs. And there's just no excuse for this, there really isn't. For example, my personal website is http://www.liamcassidy.co.uk and my iWeb website was originally named "liamcassidy.co.uk".
The effect this had on the final published site was a URL to a home page that looked like this:
http://www.liamcassidy.co.uk/liamcassidy.co.uk/home.htmlI've since changed the site name to something shorter, but it's still utterly ridiculous that iWeb doesn't provide the option — just the option — to override this crazy URL structure/naming convention. Apple, I have a humble suggestion for you — not everyone wants to publish to MobileMe. Let your customers decide what's best for them, and don't make them suffer this laziness! A simple toggle in the Preferences ought to disable this kind of silliness so anyone more competent than Aunty Mavis will feel less embarrassed by the addresses iWeb spits out. This sort of thing is entirely avoidable. It's simply shocking Apple hasn't done anything about it.
Obsolete Themes
No one with any kind of appreciation for contemporary design, or accessibility concerns, is going to use the pre-built Themes that ship with iWeb. A very tiny select few look beautiful — but they're still lacking. iWeb '08 shipped with some nice new themes but, unfortunately, they dated quickly. The stingy two new additions in iWeb '09 are laughable.
Nasty Markup
OK, this is something only more experienced web developers will care about so I won't bang-on about it too much. It's worth mentioning because 1) other WYSIWYG editors manage far cleaner code, and 2) there's nothing semantic about this markup. There aren't even any helpful comments to guide the curious. The CSS markup is packed-to-bursting with redundant markup (example: "border-top: 0px", "border-right: 0px", "border-bottom: 0px"…you get the idea.)
Painful Publishing
It takes forever to publish pages. Whether you use MobileMe or your own FTP address, publishing a simple 6-page site can take five or more minutes. This is ridiculous, given that any other (free) FTP software can get your files published in much, much less time. Not the "…within moments…" promised by the happy voiceover in the iWeb tour video. Oh no.
The fastest way to publish your site is to not publish it at all — by selecting the confusingly-titled "Publish to Local Folder" option. This dumps all the relevant web pages and assets into a folder of your choosing on your hard drive. This takes seconds, but then it's up to you to get those files to a server somewhere.
As a sidenote, this may be the best way to overcome the problem with the crazy long-URL's. Publish the site to a local folder, then use another FTP solution to upload the files to your own web server. You'll have to mess around with links here and there to make sure the whole site works as planned, but at least you won't have to deal with six-mile-long web addresses.
Punishing Publishing
Oh yes, and just a final word on publishing. If you don't use MobileMe as your hosting platform, you can forget about your blog's comments working properly. And kiss goodbye to your blog's Search functionality. That's gonna go, too. Seems Apple really wants you to use MobileMe.
Tough Love
It might sound like I'm bashing iWeb, but if I am, it's only in the way a pushy parent might berate an under-achieving child for not doing as well as they could. iWeb could be, and should be, a far more powerful and impressive tool than it is today. I was expecting some interesting and exciting things with this upgrade — as it turns out, what I got wasn't worth the wait.
I know Apple is not trying to compete with other more professional web authoring solutions, but that doesn't excuse sheer laziness when it comes to upgrading this software. iWeb has the potential to be a killer-application. Seriously — plenty of professional web developers would be happy to use it if only it didn't suck so bad. And, in truth, there aren't so many fixes required, either.
Obviously, the Themes are a joke. Where Apple could shine here is build an iWeb Themes gallery, much the same as the Web Apps gallery that countless iPhone owners (myself included) practically lived-in until native applications could be installed on that device. Apple already features third-party developer software on its own website — why not showcase the best iWeb themes, too? Or, better still — why not create some really breathtaking themes worthy of that lugubrious (and indelible) credit, "Made on a Mac"?
As well as vastly-improved themes, add a long-needed fix to the crazy URL issue, CSS editing and the ability to fine-tune the (cleaner, semantic) HTML markup, and you have a web creation tool that is still simple and intuitive, yet doesn't try to compete with the big-kids already dominating the playground. If that means releasing a standalone "iWeb Pro" package that does for my websites what iWorks does for my documents, I'd gladly pony-up the cash.
In the end, "simple and easy" doesn't have to mean "crude and clunky." Apple proved that with Pages and Numbers in iWork. The updates to iPhoto and iMovie (evolutionary and revolutionary, respectively) are nothing short of breathtaking. In this company of Kings, though, iWeb is an embarrassing, backward cousin.
Click here to save cost on your IT demandsПереслать - How Should Apple Address the Netbook?
With all the interest in Netbooks these days, many eyes are on Apple to see what kind of move they may make in this relatively new space. Some analysts believe that Netbooks are a risky idea for all PC makers, while others foster the belief that Apple could be in trouble because of such devices. I think the speculation and analysis of Apple’s plans has been done to death (as with anything that Apple hasn’t announced yet), so this is my view of how I think Apple should address the Netbook market.
Definition
Quickly, let’s define a typical Netbook. Generally sized around 6″ by 9″, these are small, ultramobile computers. The hardware tends to be severely underpowered, that is, relative to the notebook and desktop computers we are used to using these days. And it’s commonplace for optical drives, and most ports (ethernet, display, etc) to be absent in order to save space. So these are small, limited capability machines that can go nearly anywhere and accomplish run of the mill computing activities like email and web browsing.
The Rub
On one side of the coin are fears coming from PC makers themselves. They don’t want to cannibalize their high-end computer system sales by addressing the Netbook market. Profit margins on Netbooks, after all, are nothing like the high horsepower gaming and multimedia machines they love to sell for big bucks. Apple, being mostly a premium-only computer maker, could very easily fit into this line of thought. The other side of the coin however, is that Apple’s relatively small market share can only be diminished by such inexpensive rival computer offerings, especially in these difficult economic times. Apple’s Achilles heel is that (with the exception of the relatively low-powered Mac mini) they don’t offer low-end machines. Analysts feel that they need to get into this space to have a chance at holding the footing they’ve fought so hard for.
On Their Way
I think the recent upgrades to Apple’s notebook line have greatly blurred the lines between consumer and pro, leaving plenty of space for a Netbook-size offering. Of course if something is indeed in the pipeline, Apple will lie through its teeth about it until they’re good and ready for a proper unveil. My suspicion is that whatever Cupertino’s concept is of a Netbook, it bears very little resemblance to what the rest of us are becoming accustomed to from the likes of Dell, HP, and other current Netbook manufacturers.
In a manner of speaking, Apple has already entered this market, albeit, incognito. Disguised as a cellular phone and MP3 player respectively, the iPhone and iPod touch are on the verge of being an ultramobile computing platform. I’m not saying they that these devices do in fact fill this space — there are after all, lots of shortcomings when compared to a true Netbook (lack of x86 architecture and no copy/paste come to mind, for example) — rather, that they’re a peek at the potential from Apple.
Fellow GigaOm blogger, jkOnTheRun’s Kevin Tofel, shared with me, “The market is trying to shoehorn a full desktop OS on to these devices, but that may not be the best idea.” Interestingly, Apple has already shown us a modified version of OS X running on these devices — possibly a step toward addressing Kevin’s gripe. Unfortunately, the ugly truth is that an unsubsidized 16GB iPhone costs nearly $700, which is nearly double the typical Netbook price tag. In order for Apple to compete with conventional Netbooks within their price range would be a monumental task, at least by conventional thinking. Perhaps it’s time to think different…
“I Got Vision & The Rest of The World is Wearing Bifocals”
I believe Apple will put to use the strong partnership they’ve forged with Intel and Nvidia to cram some powerful parts into a small package — mostly because they don’t seem capable of bringing anything less to market. And I’m guessing the interface will be something Multitouch-based, only taken to the next level. I’m envisioning something along the lines of a full half of the clam-shell being akin to the glass trackpads of today’s unibody MacBook line.
Despite super tiny hard drive options now a days, I can see Apple pushing MobileMe as a cloud storage solution (hopefully once MobileMe is running like the well-oiled machine we all expect from Apple). In doing so comes a possible option to alleviate a small bit of the pricing if a MobileMe contract is agreed-upon at purchase. The way Apple has pushed .Mac in the past leads me to believe that this isn’t too far fetched. Then to address further costs, subsidized pricing may come as this device is offered via partnership with AT&T and their 3G service, for nearly ubiquitous connectivity.
Last, Kevin mentions the relatively poor battery life of current Netbook offerings. Between Apple’s efficient hardware architecture designs, and the new moldable battery technology in the 17″ MacBook Pro, I’d say there’s yet some more huge potential for Cupertino to turn the Netbook market on its ear.
Last Words
If Apple can overcome the pricing hurdle, I’ve no doubt they’ll bring a whole new degree of sexy to the Netbook market. With the iPhone, they’ve proven their ability to enter an already established market and hurtle themselves to the front of the pack. Why not with something like a Netbook that could bring even more users into the fold? (Ha, I say ‘users’ as if Apple is a drug. Perhaps I’m on to something…)
In my completely unsubstantiated opinion, I think it’s safe to say that the Netbook market is much more viable for Apple to consider than the Tablet space has been, and that an announcement is inevitable in the next year. How that product will look and function, or how its price will stack against the competition is anyone’s guess. But as someone who’s hungrily eying some of the current Netbook models (to be lovingly made into a Hackintosh to hold me over), I’m anxiously anticipating hard news from Cupertino on the subject.
Got some wild, Apple-worthy ideas of what their Netbook may look like? Do share in the comments! Oh, and bonus points if you know where the “bifocals” quote is from…
Click here to save cost on your IT demandsПереслать - Higher-priced Premium Game Section Coming to App Store?
One of the barriers to big studios developing big name titles for the iPhone and iPod Touch has been pricing. The kind of investment that goes into making blockbuster titles requires a pricing scheme that the App Store probably couldn’t currently support. Users are now used to the extremely low prices most of the apps are offered at, and games tend not to do well if priced over $9.99, and even then most developers cut the price to around $5.99 a few weeks after its release.
PocketGamer.biz is now reporting that the App Store will soon see the introduction of a special Premium Games Section, offering a range of titles at a price point of $19.99. The club will be an exclusive one, with membership only open to large developers, and not the indie folks who’ve brought most of the innovation to the App Store thus far. I’m really hoping the move doesn’t inhibit the great independent development that’s been going on so far, but I’d also like to see studios like SquareEnix go all out, instead of just sort of going with half-measures like Crystal Defenders.
The date suggested by PocketGamer.biz for a possible launch of the new section is Apple’s World Wide Developer’s Conference (WWDC), which takes place in June. If true, this would explain the recent slowdown of releases from major studios like EA and Gameloft, who for a while were keeping their pipelines flowing at a fairly steady rate. Such a release might also coincide with the advent of new iPhone hardware from Apple, if recent rumors prove true. That would make a lot of sense, since any hardware update will likely bring improved specifications, including processor power, graphics rendering capability, and possibly control refinements as well.
I think this could work well for Apple, as long as they don’t allow it to balloon. A jump from $10 to $20 dollars is one that I think avid gamers, and especially those for whom the iPhone is their only mobile platform, will go along with. It might take some time and marketing to ease the transition, but it’ll still be cheaper than your average big name DS or PSP title. But if pricing increases get out of hand, and enter into the $30 to $40 range, Apple will probably have a hard time getting iPhone gamers to follow. Unless they allow the Seaman spin-off after all. That, I’d pay $40 for.
Click here to save cost on your IT demandsПереслать - Evidence Points to New iPhone: Two, Count'em, Two Sources
Once again, the future is being told in code. Firmware code, specifically. MacRumors has discovered evidence that suggests a major hardware revision is in the works for the iPhone line.
They arrived at this conclusion after finding a section of code in the latest iPhone firmware that makes reference to an “iPhone 2,1″ model. Apple uses this kind of naming to identify their hardware in code. The iPhone 3G is identified by the tag “iPhone 1,2″, while the original is dubbed “iPhone 1,1″. The numbers don’t change at all for storage bumps, so a new number means a significantly updated device.
Before you go thinking that this is just a case of a site that deals in speculation chasing ghosts in the code, consider that the iPod touch, originally referred to as the “iPod 1,1″ in iPhone firmware code, became the “iPod 2,1″ when it received its recent major update. Considering the iPod got a built-in speaker, volume controls, a faster processor, microphone support, and a built-in Nike+ receiver, it seems like a good bet that the “iPhone 2,1″ will boast a number of improvements. If I were a betting man, I’d put my money on the processor boost for sure, and there are rumors of a multicore processor in the works, and possibly Nike+ integration if that many transmitters in one device doesn’t cause some kind of trouble.
Backing up the evidence found in the firmware are ad serving reports from Pinch Media, which now sometimes list an “iPhone 2,1″ model in addition to those devices previously included. The numbers are still small, but it looks like Apple is at least live testing the device in-house. Might they be prepping for a June release, to mark the one year anniversary of the iPhone 3G?
Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM’s Green:Net.Переслать - Make Your eBay Experience More Mac-Like With GarageBuy
I’ve been a fan of GarageSale for a few years and, while I don’t use eBay regularly, I tend to use OS X software when placing a listing. It always results in something which looks stunning and makes the item you’re selling a great deal more appealing.
A friend recently told me about a similar eBay app called GarageBuy, developed by iwascoding. Rather than providing a tool to sell your item, GarageBuy assists with searching and tracking items you’d like to purchase.
I hadn’t really ever considered the need for a local OS X application for browsing eBay, but have been impressed with GarageBuy after using it for a few days. It provides a full featured method for searching and browsing eBay, watching auctions, bidding and integrating your eBay purchasing with local apps such as iCal.
The Interface
The interface itself is very similar to GarageSale — the fairly dark gray, complicated layout has echoes of other iwascoding releases. While this isn’t my favorite style (I generally prefer applications with a little more white-space), it gets the job done in this case.
There are three different layouts for browsing results: list, list with thumbnails, and images. When choosing the image version, small sticky notes are superimposed over the image to let you know the price and whether the item is a bid or ‘buy it now’ listing. Upon selecting a result, all the relevant details are displayed beneath it. One slight criticism here is that when resizing the application, the listed features don’t adjust evenly — it would be quite easy to end up with details being cut off on a smaller screen.
Fortunately, another option exists for viewing the actual eBay listing below the thumbnails when clicking on a particular result. I’m a fan of this option, as I quite like being able to see the result on the actual eBay site itself.
Results can be narrowed easily by category at the top of the listing, which is great when searching for a product which has a bunch of accessories for sale (there were around 1000 iPhones on sale, but over 16,000 accessories!) After performing a search, the results are stored in the sidebar to return to later. These saved searches have their results updated automatically, and you’re notified if any new ones appear. GarageBuy can integrate with Growl to notify you in any way you specify.
As eBay grows and expands, their categories and data changes format regularly (categories for iPhone accessories certainly wouldn’t have existed a few years ago!). Fortunately, GarageBuy is perfectly capable of downloading updates to support new categories as they are adjusted.
Bidding and Buying
At present, GarageBuy is unable to support items requesting immediate payment. It does, however, provide functionality for Buy it Now and standard bidding listings. After authorizing GarageBuy to access your eBay account via a token, all this can be done from within the app.
AppleScript support is integrated to allow you to create a script which will automatically bid a predefined amount on a particular item. This is a really interesting solution, and makes it easy for a ‘power’ eBay user to automate their business — through the use of iCal reminders (see below) and AppleScript, set bids can be placed in the last few minutes of an auction.
Integrating with OS X
The beauty of managing your eBay purchases locally is the ability to integrate directly with other local applications. Two such features are provided:
- Mail: Clicking ‘Tell a Friend’ will automatically open an email containing information for the listing currently being viewed. This includes the current price, shipping information and eBay item ID.
- iCal: Selecting ‘Generate iCal Event’ can create a separate calendar within iCal for tracking eBay items, and will display an alarm notification a set number of minutes before the end of the auction. I’ve found this to be really useful to avoid kicking yourself for just missing the end of an auction. It can of course be done manually, but it’s nice to have the feature integrated.
GarageBuy for iPhone/iPod Touch
As a companion to the desktop application, a piece of software is available for the iPhone/iPod Touch. It allows you to search for, and bid on, eBay items from anywhere. It’s usable almost anywhere, supporting 16 different eBay Sites including the USA, Canada, Germany and Great Britain. Downloading it is completely free, and it provides an excellent addition to your iPhone. Arguably, I would expect to get more use out of the mobile version as I’m not a huge fan of the eBay mobile site.
Other eBay Tools
We’ve previously posted a collection of different eBay utilities for the Mac. Many deal with listing your own items, but there are a couple of useful Dashboard widgets which you may be interested in checking out as an alternative to GarageBuy.
Conclusion
Unlike a few of iwascoding’s other products, GarageBuy is completely free to use. There’s no barrier to downloading it and having a play for yourself. You may find that it doesn’t add a great deal over using the eBay site itself, but if you’re a regular eBayer it can add a range of really useful functionality.
Is it an app that captures your interest, or do you use another tool for simplifying eBay purchasing?
Click here to save cost on your IT demandsПереслать - Daily Apple: Imaginary Apple, Bad Android, & NVIDIA Fail
Crazy Apple Concepts From 90’s, No Grunge Model Though - Here are some great Flickr photos of concept designs of Apple products from the early 90’s. Some of it is just bizarre, and others are not so different from concepts that continue to crop up to this day, which is a sad reflection on how badly we want a tablet Mac.
Android Has Malware Scare, Now Apple’s Iron-Fisted Rule Makes Sense - Apple gets a lot of flack for their App Store approval process, but Google recently had a near miss with a malware app that makes it look pretty reasonable. The app in question, MemoryUp Personal, apparently deletes memory cards and spams people. Good feature set.
NVIDIA Display Fix Doesn’t Fix Everything - Distortion issues on monitors connected to MacBooks via Mini DisplayPort to Dual-DVI adapters were not fixed via Monday’s update, says Gizmodo’s Jason Chen. The issue is an intermittent one that resolves after a few reconnects, but still, this isn’t amateur hour Apple.
Speaking of Concepts, Here’s a Whopper - A tri-fold Macbook design? Kooky. It’s a magic little MacBook Mini, or in other words, what an Apple netbook might look like. I often wonder what else these people designing Apple concepts do with their time. Maybe show little poor girls pictures of ponies they’ll never, ever have?
Steampunk-y iPhone Design… On a Shirt! - This thing is really cool. I like the pan flute part, and the compass-dial thingy where the Home button should go. Another wonderful, impossible device that I will sadly never be able to have.
Click here to save cost on your IT demandsПереслать - Apple's Multi-Touch Patent: A More Realistic View
So Apple is finally awarded their multi-touch patent, and the hue and cry from the Apple Bashers is pretty loud. But not only Apple Bashers are worried, Daring Fireball had this to say:
Very broad language - taken at face value, Apple effectively owns the IP rights to multi-touch in the U.S. This sucks.
DF’s major beef is with the patent office awarding the patent in the first place due to its broad language. However, what other type of language does one use for the concept being patented? We’re talking a whole new UI here. The implication seems to be that the patent is short on specifics, yet it’s 358 pages! When you’re patenting a new UI, I’m thinking you’re going to have to brush with broad strokes lest you forget a corner of the canvas that a competitor uses to white out your picture.
Other comments I’ve read on various blogs are more alarmist. Apple will become a monopoly. Apple is evil. I hated them before, I hate them even more now. Apple will kill innovation. Apple hates competition. Blah, blah, blah…
And all of this without Apple even lifting a finger. I guess it’s easier to yell and scream first, and then look for justification later.
What’s Really Going On?
My view of the whole thing is that Apple remembers a painful lesson, and has no intention of letting it happen again. They invented the computer GUI we’ve been using for 25 years and got precious little for it. It was ripped off, and those goods rammed down our throats through means that are still questionable, at best.
Back then, the idea of patenting or copyrighting software or a UI was pretty fuzzy (just ask the inventor of Visacalc, it must suck to see a bajillion dollars of Excel sold every year and get bupkis). It also didn’t help that the ‘85 agreement between Microsoft and Apple could have been worded better, but I’m not so sure that back then Microsoft would have been stopped from their rip-off Windows shell even without that agreement. Today we know better.
Apple spent millions of dollars and several years developing the premiere touch user interface, and they had no intention for any other company to simply copy the primary elements and then claim it’s the same thing. Not this time.
Does Apple Deserve This?
For those claiming Apple doesn’t deserve the patent because they did not “invent” multi-touch, who did invent it? Jeff Han? Did he not rely on the works of others? Doesn’t everybody? More to the point, who is everybody modeling their product after? That’s right, that would be Apple. No one is ripping off Jeff’s, or anyone else’s, designs for the simple reasons there was nothing practical enough to rip off.
At some point, when you perfect an idea, and actually make it work, and usable, and practical, and bring it to market, and it’s affordable and reliable enough to be a huge hit then, yes, you “invented” it. Apple absolutely did this with the Macintosh, and they did it with the iPhone OS.
Will It Kill Innovation?
As for the idea that this kills innovation, please re-think that question using incentive and history as your guides:
- Incentive, because why put in the massive amounts of time, money and effort to truly innovate — and put up with all your competitors mocking and ridiculing it until the product becomes a huge hit — only to watch them change their tune and just start ripping it off? The incentive is that if you take those huge risks (does anyone not appreciate what a risk this was for Apple?) you’ll get rewarded by being afforded some level of protection. That potential reward encourages innovation, it doesn’t kill it. In fact, it’s a major reason for the patent system in the first place.
- As for history, did Apple’s lack of control over the computer GUI give us innovation? Are any of you seriously going to argue the DOS shell known as Windows was innovative? It could be argued that not being able to stop Windows ultimately set the computer tech world back 15 years. Please. Blatant knock-offs from those trying to make a quick buck (or even just survive) is not innovation, it’s stolen IP. Let’s not get all teary-eyed over supposed suppressed innovation. The rip-off artists aren’t interested in innovating anything.
And please try to think back to only two years ago, when much of the planet was mocking Apple and the iPhone. How short some memories are! That every phone should be like this seems self-evident now, but it was Apple who realized it and did the work to make it so. I do not (and should not) care that someone was demoing resizing photos on a huge screen with expensive equipment in an implementation that was not at all practical outside of a lab, or university, or demo room. That’s not what the iPhone is. That’s its genius. That’s what is being patented.
Finally…
It remains to be seen how Apple will use this patent to protect their IP. I do not dispute that many patents are used as weapons to club everything in order to make a buck. We see a lot of such “patent trolling,” but does anyone seriously think Apple is going to be a patent troll now? I mean, surely you know they have better sources of revenue, right?
I just don’t see Apple having the time nor the inclination to try to make a few bucks that way. It’s about trying to stop blatant copycats of a major game-changing design in a way they could not 25 years ago. Good for them.
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