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- New iPhone OS 3.0 beta hits the dev center
But you knew this, right? Fire up your downloaders, another update from Apple means the digging has already begun for a) new features or updates, b) hints for a new iPhone.
Thanks to everyone who sent this in! I'd like to note that we broke this via our Twitter feed several hours ago. Even if you don't "do" the Twitter dance, it's a good way to catch breaking news.TUAWNew iPhone OS 3.0 beta hits the dev center originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - First Look: App4Mac Projector
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Enterprise, Software, First Look
In a previous work experience, I was a project manager for a certain large IT service provider with a three-letter acronym for a name. Part of the reason I left that job to become a self-employed Mac consultant was that the project management tools we used were non-intuitive, slow, and Windows-based (the fact that my boss sucked was the other part of the reason...).
App4Mac has just announced the final beta of Projector, their new project management application for the Mac platform. The official version will ship on April 24th at a price of €49 (US$65.25). Projector replaces App4Mac's previous project management offering, xTime Project. If you're an xTime Project user, you can upgrade for free to Projector by simply installing the new application and using your existing license.Continue reading First Look: App4Mac Projector
TUAWFirst Look: App4Mac Projector originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - On this Day is an iPhone app for the history buff
Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, App Review
I admit I wasn't much of a history nut when I was very young, but as I got older I found the subject more and more fascinating. Heck, I even wound up writing a book about a producer of historical epic films. I think a good perspective on history helps you understand the present, so I welcome On this Day [App Store link] for the iPhone/ iPod touch. For $0.99US it's a pretty good way to find out what happened on the current day. It includes 14,000 historical events, so instead of seeing 2 or 3 items you often get 40 or so.
There are some other similar apps for the iPhone, including World Book- The Day in History and Today's History, but neither of them have as many events, and one requires an internet connection to work.
On this Day worked with no issues, but there are a few things that would make it better. Like most people, I wanted to check my birthday and see what notable events, other than my birth, took place. But the app only displays history from the current date. That's a real downer. I talked to the developer and he says he'll change that in a future version. I also found the info button with links to support and sources a bit picky about where I tap. The developer agrees, and says he'll fix it.
On this Day adds a nice feature to the iPhone, and has some real depth. I think a really nice 'blue sky' feature would be links to Wikipedia so I could learn more about these events if the mood strikes me.
Sample screens below:
TUAWOn this Day is an iPhone app for the history buff originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - TUAW Tip: Swap out your laptop's hard disk for a spiffy new SSD
Filed under: Hardware, How-tos, TUAW Tips, MacBook
If you're looking for a significant performance boost for your middle-aged laptop, replacing your aging hard disk with a solid state disk (SSD) could give your computer a new lease on life.
Solid-state disks (pictured, bottom) differ from traditional hard disks (top) in that they're not constructed with platters and heads. Instead, they're more like giant thumb drives, containing memory chips designed to be written and re-written without wearing out. The upside to this is that SSDs are much, much faster to read and write to, making booting and starting applications lightning-quick.
I recently installed an Intel X25-M SSD, a 160GB drive, as a replacement for a 120GB Toshiba hard disk for my 2006-vintage black MacBook. Spendy, for sure, but for the performance increase and the extra life it adds to my MacBook, well worth it. Plus, I had my state tax refund burning a hole in my pocket.
The performance is phenomenal. The old disk booted in a respectable one minute, 49 seconds. The new disk booted in a blazing 31 seconds. Ridiculous. Windows also boots in less than half the time it took before. Photoshop CS3 launches in five seconds, Illustrator CS3 in nine seconds.
Getting the drive was simple: It's moving the data that takes time. Read on to see how you can migrate your data like I did -- including a Boot Camp partition -- with little fuss.
Continue reading TUAW Tip: Swap out your laptop's hard disk for a spiffy new SSD
TUAWTUAW Tip: Swap out your laptop's hard disk for a spiffy new SSD originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Another fistful of apps: Ember, Headspace, myMovies, Nozbe, Juglir and LiveView
Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, App Review
According to my completely unscientific research, about 90% of the TUAW mailbag is comprised of iPhone app announcements. In our continuing effort to not deluge you with iPhone app reviews, I present another "fistful of apps": 6 iPhone app reviews in one post. If you don't have an iPhone, you only have to skip one post. For the rest, this is some serious bang for your blog-reading buck.
I don't play games much, aside from the occasional word challenge, so the apps I've chosen to review are definitely of a more utilitarian ilk. I'd classify them as productivity apps, including a Campfire client, a 3D mind mapping app, a movie cataloger, a task-management solution, a multi-status updater and a nifty tool for developing iPhone interfaces. Read on for the nitty gritty.
Continue reading Another fistful of apps: Ember, Headspace, myMovies, Nozbe, Juglir and LiveView
TUAWAnother fistful of apps: Ember, Headspace, myMovies, Nozbe, Juglir and LiveView originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Getting started with Times, an RSS reader for everyone
Filed under: Software, Cool tools
Most RSS readers on the desktop look like lists. Times, a reader Mat covered last year, looks like a newspaper. In a "normal" RSS reader, the river of information can become a blur and users may be put off by the incessant noise. Times, on the other hand, aims to make feeds more pleasant to peruse. Check out the gallery to see the curled edges, slight texturing on the sides of the "paper" and page effects. It's the app I'd get my grandmother to use to read RSS feeds, and I think it's a great introduction to feed reading for "the rest of us." Here's how to get started.
When you click on a story's headline or body text, the page folds down, and you read. When you're done, you click the folded page and it pops back up to reveal the feeds again. Added to this basic "graze and read" functionality seen on all RSS readers is the shelf (something many readers have as well, like the clippings in NetNewsWire), a place to temporarily hold stories you are interested in. You can read these later and then throw them out. Times isn't intended to be a storage locker or book reader -- it is designed for quick scanning and reading. Likewise, the shelf is only so large and can be set to automatically clear itself at certain intervals.
The first thing you'll want to do with Times is customize the feeds. Especially if you are setting this up for someone else (like grandma), you can easily remove the pre-configured feeds and add your own. I recommend not adding dozens of feeds to Times. While power users may scan hundreds of sites, the average person may only make time for a few. NetNewsWire and other readers are better equipped to serve the sort of information overload of a "power reader" and I've included a shot of Feeds and NetNewsWire for comparison in the gallery. Times is designed for some "light" feed reading and aims to make the process more pleasant, not powerful. I recommend no more than 6-8 per category page.
Next I'll show you exactly how to set up your own category pages and fill those in with feeds. Then I'll show how to use the shelf and sharing tools.
Continue reading Getting started with Times, an RSS reader for everyone
TUAWGetting started with Times, an RSS reader for everyone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Backblaze for Mac officially launches
Filed under: Software, Productivity, Internet, Security
Back in December, online backup company Backblaze launched a private beta of its service for Mac users. Like its Windows counterpart, the Backblaze subscription service is $5 US a month (or $50 US a year) for unlimited backup space. Today, the company is officially launching its service for Mac users, along with an updated client, better support for external drives and enhanced recovery options.
Configuration and setup
Just like in the beta, Backblaze remains extremely easy to set-up and use. You just install the program (by default it will run in the background, though you can change this), enter in your e-mail address and password, and it will start backing up your files. The default setting has Backblaze running any time it finds an available internet connection. The backup process is constant and Backblaze stores multiple versions of a file for 30 days (so if you are frequently changing a document or spreadsheet, 30 days worth of revisions are saved to Backblaze).
If you want to remove Backblaze, the company has made the uninstall process easier and more intuitive. There is now an uninstaller built into the install DMG image, just double-click on Uninstall (right next to the install option) and you can take Backblaze off your system. If you trash the DMG, just download it again off the Backblaze web site for easy removal.
Backblaze won't backup your Applications (thought it WILL backup stuff in your User/Library folder, so many of your application settings will remain backed up), but it will backup your photos, movies, audio files as well as things like your iPhoto or Aperture database, various documents, and more. By default, .ISO, *.exe and *.DMG files are excluded from the backup file type list, but you can remove most of those extensions (*.ISO cannot be removed) if you want to backup that information.
The maximum single file size is still 4 GB, but keep in mind this doesn't mean your iPhoto or Aperture databases won't be safe. Those databases are actually just folders with lots of smaller individual files, that's fine. If you have individual files over 4 GB in size, those won't be backed up with Backblaze. You'll need to split the files into smaller segments or make alternate arrangements.
Continue reading Backblaze for Mac officially launches
TUAWBackblaze for Mac officially launches originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Capsuleer 2.0 for iPhone helps you track EVE Online status
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Multimedia, Developer, iPhone, App Store, App Review
Massively has a good look at an iPhone app that's a must-have for players of the space-based multiplayer EVE Online -- Capsuleer 2.0 isn't an actual client, but like the desktop app EVEMon, it allows you to monitor and track your EVE pilots from outside the game. It's also got skill queues built in (unlike other MMOs, EVE allows you to have your pilots level even while you're away from the game, so most of the strategy in leveling actually comes in choosing the next skill to work towards), a skill library, more pilot details, and even a mini-RSS feeder, incorporating a few popular blogs from around the EVE blogosphere.
The two developers of the app tell Massively that their biggest issues in developing the app were mostly by way of the limits CCP (the company behind EVE Online) places on what third-party apps can do with their info.. Most of the things they can't do are built into the game itself, and so it makes sense that a certain amount of functionality can't leave the game client (or else people might never log into the game). The app is currently free in the App Store right now, and the devs aim to keep it that way, but just recently added ads to the mix from the game's official magazine to cover server costs and bandwidth.
Finally, they say they're excited about the possibilities with iPhone 3.0 -- notifications are mentioned, and of course it would be cool to get a popup reminder every time a pilot is about to hit a skill. They're also working on a way to provide stats about the ingame Faction Warfare. Sounds cool -- EVE Tracker is still another possibility if you want to follow your EVE progress on the iPhone, but it looks like Capsuleer adds even more innovation to the mix.TUAWCapsuleer 2.0 for iPhone helps you track EVE Online status originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Is this thing on?
Filed under: TUAW Business
Hi there, my name is Brett Kelly and I'm one of the new bloggers here at TUAW.
My first Mac was a second-hand G3 PowerMac that I received as a birthday gift about 5 years ago, which has since been upgraded to a white MacBook that I use for absolutely everything (and my kids use as a coaster). I have a first-generation iPhone because I've convinced myself that EDGE is just fine -- or something.
Apple stuff aside, I'm a husband and dad, a web developer, tattoo collector and coffee enthusiast (meaning I roast it myself in my garage). I'm also something of a recovering productivity nerd, so don't be surprised if you see my name at the top of posts ogling over the latest list management application. Yes, it's a sickness.
I've been doing various blogging bits for a few years now (mostly in the realm of personal organization and "lifehacks", as it were), but nothing quite as high profile as this, that's for sure. I'm very excited to be a part of this stellar team and I look forward to presenting you with many thought-provoking, interesting posts, as well as more than a little poorly-executed humor.
Like most of the cool kids, I'm on the Twitter and would love it if you'd say hello. Thanks for having me!
TUAWIs this thing on? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Beta Beat: Grape, a new way to manage your Desktop clutter
Filed under: Software, Productivity
Grape, just released as a beta, is a new take on desktop file management. I've seen several attempts at innovative user interfaces for file management in my day, some better than others, but this is the first one I've been really excited about. In the words of the author -- Stéphane at docklandsoft.com -- "Grape is a visual and spatial way to classify and organize temporary files." I use my desktop as a sort of Inbox, saving all of my working files, PDFs of web pages and other random bits there during the day, and then tagging and bagging the collected mess once or twice a day. It's not a bad system, but I love anything that might make my life simpler and/or more interesting.
Grape takes all of the files on your desktop and puts them into a kind of three-dimensional workspace where you can pan and zoom, group files and perform various functions, including filing them to folders anywhere on your hard drive. You can zoom in and out with your scroll wheel or by holding command-space and dragging a rectangle. You can pan around the space by holding space and dragging. Once you've started organizing, you're able to create boxes and text labels to highlight groups of interest or provide highlighted areas for sorting. You can also Quick Look files, as well as choose the preview image for movies and multi-page PDF files. You can't descend into folders, but if you have a Quick Look plugin for folders, it's really easy to identify previously grouped files without jumping back to the Finder.
At this point, Grape is interesting (and fun), but lacks some much-needed functionality. Among the list of things I'd like to see: more mouse-only navigation, droppable folders, the ability to create functional drop-boxes to send files to specific folders, OpenMeta tagging (or AppleScript access to selected files for apps like Tags) and a more customizable interface (I find the default blue gradient a little overwhelming). It's a great start, though, and has really piqued my interest in more "spatial" file-management interfaces. Check out a video of Grape in action after the jump, and grab the beta here.
Continue reading Beta Beat: Grape, a new way to manage your Desktop clutter
TUAWBeta Beat: Grape, a new way to manage your Desktop clutter originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - iQuarterback 1.1 from former Ensemble Studios devs
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, Odds and ends, Developer, iPhone, App Store
The folks at FuzzyCube Software dropped us a note that their first game, iQuarterback, is in the App Store now, and it looks all right -- rather than actually quarterback a game, you mostly just try to hit passing targets. And while the game is pretty barebones right now (it's only 99 cents, and they're planning to add new modes to it in the next version), the most interesting thing about the game isn't what it is, but who's making it: the guys behind FuzzyCube are a few refugees from Ensemble Studios, the legendary developer of Age of Empires that got shut down by Microsoft on the eve of their recent Halo Wars release.
Now that's interesting -- a big time studio forced to close by their corporate overlords is finding new life in iPhone development (FuzzyCube isn't the only studio to come out of the Ensemble breakup -- Robot Entertainment, Bonfire Studios, and Windstorm Studios are all being started by ex-Ensemble employees right now, though FuzzyCube is the only group to have released a game so far). Lots of game developers are facing a crunch right now, and with the iPhone easy and cheap to develop for, we might see even more of these former larger game devs turn to the smaller screen.
Update: My apologies to the folks at Newtoy -- they are apparently the first Ensemble refugees to have released an iPhone game, dropping Chess with Friends in the App Store last December. But the point stands: bigger studios who've been asked to dissolve can seemingly find a nice place developing for the iPhone.TUAWiQuarterback 1.1 from former Ensemble Studios devs originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Verdict on Consumer Reports iPhone app: Helpful but incomplete
Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, App Review
I enjoy Consumer Reports magazine, even though sometimes the camera and electronics reviews drive me crazy. The ratings seem sometimes arbitrary, and don't always take what I think are the 'right' features into account and don't weigh those features the same way I would. Nevertheless, I find their reviews useful and another data point to throw in when I'm about to make a purchase.
Some months, ago, Consumer Reports launched an iPhone/ iPod touch app, and updated it again recently. The app, appropriately called Consumer Reports, [App Store link] is free, and has a lot of interesting info, but you don't really get links to the wealth of data back at the magazine. Even if you are a subscriber, you can't log in from the app and see magazine content.
You do get a lot of worthwhile news about consumer products, leaning heavily toward Electronics, Cars and products or services for the Home. You also get videos that are sometimes interesting, sometimes bizarre. I didn't make it all the way through the toilet paper tests.
There is some up to date reporting on topics of interest to consumers, like retailer bankruptcies, and what I would call 'tip' articles, like how to shoot a panoramic photo or tips on buying a Netbook.
There is a bit of Mac coverage, most recently a test to see if the MacBook Pro really lasted for 8 hours running on batteries. It didn't in the CR test.
Strangely, the app doesn't have any kind of search function, so if you are looking for just news about Mac laptops, for example, you're out of luck.
I still find the app full of beneficial news, and I give it a browse a couple of times a week. I wonder how Consumer Reports would rate this app? 'Recommended', 'predicted reliability good', but 'could be much better with a few changes'. On the app store users gave it an average rating of 2 stars out of 5. A bit harsh, perhaps. It's generally downgraded because there is no access to the magazine content.
Also interesting is that CR has not been a great fan of the iPhone, complaining, for example, about call quality when it first came out, but they did feel compelled to do this iPhone app. Funny old world.
Here are some screen captures:
TUAWVerdict on Consumer Reports iPhone app: Helpful but incomplete originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Billboard: iTunes prices up, sales down
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iTS, Multimedia, iTunes
I coulda told you this, though I am a little surprised that we've seen the results so fast. Despite iTunes having put the new tiered pricing into effect just last week, Billboard is reporting that they've already seen sales drop on the higher-priced tunes. The iTunes Top 100 chart has 40 different songs with a new price of $1.29, and one day after the changes, those songs dropped an average of 5.3 places on the chart, while cheaper songs moved up on average. And on the second day of the price change, ten of the tracks that saw their prices rise within 24 hours dropped a huge 12.4 chart positions on average.
Of course, we're talking only a matter of days here, and there are all kinds of things that could have affected this average drop -- lots of the tracks that became expensive were from a Rascal Flatts album, and it could be just that the album has lost popularity, bringing the average down. And don't forget that even though these sales figures may be dropping, they haven't dropped nearly enough to show a loss of revenue (though fewer songs may be selling, they're still making more money).
But for those convinced that higher prices mean lower sales numbers, these first few days of figures will seem to connect all of the right dots. We'll have to wait and see if the long-term effects match up to the figures Billboard has seen so far.TUAWBillboard: iTunes prices up, sales down originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Let your tweets incubate with Birdhouse for iPhone
Filed under: Software, Internet Tools, iPhone
Twitter is many things to many people. Some folks use it to keep up with friends or the latest news; others make it their primary tool for online coversation. There exists, however, within the throng of Twitter users, a group of people who use Twitter as the stage from which they deliver their own special brand of humor.
For these types, a tweet isn't something that's typed and quickly posted a few seconds later -- it's a chance to make his/her followers chuckle. To that end, they take great care to ensure that each tweet is finely honed and worded to deliver the maximum amount of gag within the 140-character limit. Birdhouse is an application for these people.
Dubbed by its creators as "A Notepad for Twitter," Birdhouse isn't your typical Twitter client. Instead of reading, replying to and favoriting your buddies' tweets, it focuses on composition. Got an idea for a really hilarious joke? Plug the idea into Birdhouse, then come back to it when you have time. Tweak and refine it until you've got just what you want, and hit publish.
There's no hard limit to the number of drafts you can keep at once, and it maintains a timestamped history of all of the tweets you've published. You can rate each message using a 5-star system, and it also allows you to email yourself a complete list of all pending and published tweets in case you're staring at the business end of an iPhone restore and you don't want to lose that truly golden mom joke you've been working on.
Birdhouse [App Store] is available now for $3.99US.
TUAWLet your tweets incubate with Birdhouse for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Update your ancient Quark on the cheap
Oh, QuarkXPress. My fondest Mac memories are tied in with you. It was one of the first programs I ever learned on the Mac. It was also the most frustrating piece of design software ever -- guaranteed to crash the computer at least once an hour, and don't even think about using the Auto Backup feature on the early versions. I learned Quark back in version 3.1.1 and cursed its existence through the next decade ... until Quark 7. It did something that it had never done before -- not crash on my Mac. It was a stable piece of software and while definitely not my preferred design software, it doesn't make me want to cry in a corner if I have to use it.
Quark Inc. is offering to upgrade any version of QuarkXPress - going back to version 3 - to the latest version (8.0.2) for a single upgrade price of € 399/£ 279/$299.- So what if you don't have a serial number? Let Quark know. They have a database of serial numbers and will do their best to find the missing serial number so you can upgrade. Same if you never registered your license to begin with. Quark will also accept a fax or scan of the original installation CD, disks, or receipts as proof of purchase.
QuarkXPress 8.0.2 requires OS X 10.4 or higher, G5 PowerPC or Intel processor, 1GB of RAM and 1GB of hard disk space.TUAWUpdate your ancient Quark on the cheap originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - So what if you don't have a serial number? Let Quark know. They have a database of serial numbers and will do their best to find the missing serial number so you can upgrade. Same if you never registered your license to begin with. Quark will also accept a fax or scan of the original installation CD, disks, or receipts as proof of purchase.
- HP MediaSmart Server gets an iPhone companion
Filed under: Hardware, Peripherals, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
HP is reporting that they've updated the software for the HP MediaSmart Server to provide video streaming to remote devices.
We covered the introduction of the MediaSmart Server at Macworld Expo 2009. The device is a Windows-based media server that also works with Macs. Now the system can convert videos, including unprotected DVDs, to both a high-resolution version that streams to Macs and PCs on a network and a lower-resolution version that can be played on iPhone and iPod touch.
To view the video streams, access your pictures, and listen to the music collection stored on the MediaSmart Server, you'll be able to download an iPhone / iPod touch app called iStream for free from the App Store. At publication time, the app was still pending approval by Apple.
HP announced that the updated software also provides an improved Time Machine configuration, a better HP Media Collector, and the ability to have both public and private albums in the Photo Viewer. The MediaSmart Server ex485 (750 GB of storage) retails for US$599, and the 1.5 TB ex487 sells for US$749. The device can be expanded to a maximum of 9 TB of storage.TUAWHP MediaSmart Server gets an iPhone companion originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - 16 hours of battery life for the MacBook Air
Filed under: Accessories, MacBook Air
I have a MacBook Air. Although I can get about 5 hours of mobile use out of it by dimming the screen, turning off all wireless, and only running one app at a time, there are times I'd love to be able to stay unplugged for much longer. I could always get a solar charger, but that won't work well when it's dark out.
QuickerTek has announced the MacBook Air External Battery, a US$350 external box designed to let you run your MBA for up to 16 hours before plugging in. It's relatively small (7" x 3.5" x 1" -- 17.8 cm x 8.9 cm x 2.5 cm) and adds 1.2 pounds to the weight you'll have to lug around.
In order to connect the external battery to your MacBook Air, you'll either have to send your existing MagSafe cable in to be converted for use (US$25) or buy a modified cable from QuickerTek (US$100). The final bill for the MacBook Air External Battery and the cable is almost as pricey as that solar-powered charger, but it's going to give your MacBook Air much longer battery life. Now if QuickerTek could just come out with a battery to let me play Monopoly (click opens iTunes) on my iPhone for 10 hours straight...TUAW16 hours of battery life for the MacBook Air originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - iPhone developers will need servers to push
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Former TUAW blogger Erica Sadun has a cautionary post for developers regarding the pending push notifications coming to iPhone OS 3.0: better get yourself some reliable servers. The implication, delivered via headline, is that smaller developers won't be able to afford push notification. Indeed, as Erica says, coding for an app that can run in the background is one thing -- you may need to scale things down a bit for resource management -- but deploying a reliable push notification system is a tall order by comparison.
Instead of coding once and deploying, developers will now have to manage servers to handle the load of users who will be receiving push notifications. This ongoing server maintenance issue is the sort of thing we used to laugh about when digg first started, or Twitter, or MySpace, or any number of services that grew a little ahead of server capacity. After speaking to one of the network engineers at Twitter during SxSW this year, I don't envy the task of staying ahead of these curves. But push, in my opinion, isn't as onerous as that.
Push notifications aren't serving entire pages. The difference in data throughput overall is much slimmer than even the light pages Twitter serves. Erica correctly points out that in aggregate, the push server might be hit pretty frequently; however, and there's more of a concern with reliability for a finance or medical app than something like Twitter or digg. But even when you throw in the added hurdle of security I'm guessing the resources for this are available at a reasonable cost.
I get that this is more work for developers, but Erica makes it sound a little threatening, like developers' only resolution will be to cobble together a mighty datacenter from spare computer parts. My assertion is that developers who wish to play the push game will simply need to look for outside resources and factor that into their price. Maybe fewer $.99 apps is a good thing? You certainly don't need 30 apps trying to alert you during the day -- how would you get anything done?
In the end, push notifications are welcome, and I'd rather have that than a one-hour battery life for the day. Plus, I would agree that some smaller developers will have to forget push because the potential costs are too high. Guess what? That's as it should be. If your product requires it, your cost should reflect it. There's no shortage of service providers out there, and as we've seen in the past (look at the podcast services that popped up when that blew up a few years ago) the market will fill the needs of the developers if they aren't in the business of making their own server farms. It's certainly a new twist to the iPhone dev game, and it's an opportunity for someone who can deliver a reliable push framework at a reasonable price -- perhaps one running atop Amazon's EC2, Google's App Engine or even Microsoft's Azure cloud service.TUAWiPhone developers will need servers to push originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - TUAW First Look: Gas Cubby 2.0
Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, First Look, App Review
With more than 25,000 apps in the App Store (as of this writing), it's not easy to find the standouts. One such app is Gas Cubby from App Cubby (we're written about it before), and I'm very happy to have spent a week with version 2.0. It's in my top five iPhone applications (along with its sibling, Trip Cubby. But that's another post entirely).
My day job requires me to keep track of automotive expenses. Before I found Gas Cubby, I was unsuccessfully trying to do so with pen and paper. I'd either take the pen out of the car and forget to return it or do the same with the notebook. I'd end up scribbling on anything I could find and promptly lose whatever it was. My accountant wasn't happy.
Gas Cubby solved the issue and actually made it fun for me to keep track of my expenses. That's right, fun. You can collect data on gas and service. First, I'll look at gas.
Update: Yes, this will be a free upgrade for current owners.
Continue reading TUAW First Look: Gas Cubby 2.0
TUAWTUAW First Look: Gas Cubby 2.0 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Mac Automation: Make your text speak its mind
Filed under: Features, How-tos
Have you ever wanted to type something into your Mac and have it record what you typed audibly using any one of the Mac OS X voices? It's easily done with a few Automator actions, and in this Mac Automation post, I'll show you how.
Open Automator and find the following actions, then drag them to the workflow area (in the same order):
- Get Specified Text
- Text to Audio File
Running the workflow
With these two actions in place, you can enter text into the Get Specified Text action, and a file name in the Text to Audio File action, and run it with great results. The text that you enter will be magically encoded into audio using the specified voice in the audio file action.
Read on to learn more about saving the workflow, and adding additional options.Continue reading Mac Automation: Make your text speak its mind
TUAWMac Automation: Make your text speak its mind originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - TUAW giveaway: WeightBot and ConvertBot
Filed under: Software, iPhone, iPod touch
TUAW would like to help take away a bit of the sting of tax week by giving away something for free. That's why we've teamed with Tapbots to give ten lucky US readers licenses for WeightBot and ConvertBot.
Although you'll probably be a lot lighter after the IRS empties your wallet, you may want to lose some weight. That's where WeightBot comes in handy. It's a great-looking and very functional weight tracking app for iPhone that has been featured on TUAW in the past.
Should you decide to skip the country in order to avoid paying taxes [which we do not recommend --Ed.], you might find ConvertBot's ability to convert units of measure and currency to be a big help! If you're not one of the giveaway winners, these apps are available for US$0.99 (ConvertBot) and US$1.99 (WeightBot) respectively.
Tapbots has won accolades for their innovative design of iPhone apps, and we'd like to help them come out with another really cool app. To enter the giveaway, write a comment with your idea for the next Tapbots app.
Here are the rules and a link to the obligatory legal statement:
- Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.
- To enter leave a comment with an idea for a new Tapbot iPhone app.
- The comment must be left before Monday, April 13, 05:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time.
- You may enter only once.
- Ten winners will be selected in a random drawing.
- Prize: One license each for ConvertBot and WeightBot (US$3 value)
- Click Here for complete Official Rules.
TUAWTUAW giveaway: WeightBot and ConvertBot originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 12 Apr 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - First Look: Travel organizer Tripit.com offers iPhone app
Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, First Look, App Review
Do you travel a lot for business or pleasure? If you do, then you'll find the new free iPhone app (click opens iTunes) from Tripit.com to be a great way to organize your trip plans.
Tripit.com imports and interprets your itineraries from airlines, hotel chains, ticket outlets, and other travel companies. When you receive an itinerary from one of these providers, you forward it to a special Tripit email address to have it translated into a trip plan automatically (the site supports hundreds of travel providers, and the translation from email into structured itinerary is really quite amazing). You can share your travel plans with friends or colleagues via LinkedIn, and see when your fellow travelers are heading to a city near you or when their plans align with yours.
That collection of trip plans is what you view with the Tripit.com app. The app is linked to your Tripit.com account, and displays a day by day list of flights, car rentals, and other events that make up your trips. Each event can be opened in further detail to show information such as arrival and departure times, confirmation numbers, and more. Links for airport codes bring up Google Maps of the airport vicinity, and other links can check your flight status with a touch.
Since you can always access the mobile version of the Tripit site from a connected iPhone or iPod touch, the big advantage of the native application is that the travel data is cached locally on the phone for offline review (mid-flight, for example). More full-featured apps like the $9.99US TravelTracker or FlightTrack Pro can also store and display your Tripit itineraries via the service's API, and Tripit's developers tell us that they intend to continue supporting third-party application access.
To use the app on your iPhone or iPod touch, all you need to do is sign up for a free Tripit.com account or forward your first itinerary to plans@tripit.com. Take a look at the gallery below for details of the Tripit app at work.
TUAWFirst Look: Travel organizer Tripit.com offers iPhone app originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - MLB At Bat 2009 struck out, but now back in the game with bug fixes
Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, App Review
Baseball fans were quite excited to learn that this years MLB.com At Bat 2009 iPhone app [App Store link], selling for $9.99US, would include game day audio. We reviewed the app in March and it received good notices but there was no audio to test at that time. Since baseball season began, the App Store reviews have been filled with comments from angry users saying there are frequent crashes and the audio keeps dropping out. Many wanted their money back.
The good news is that yesterday the app was updated to version 1.01 and most reviews are now positive. The crashes have been pretty much fixed, and the audio streaming is working very well. There are some scattered complaints about the game day pages being a bit behind, but generally people are now very pleased.
In my tests of the first version, I had lots of crashes, and indeed, the audio streaming was spotty. The new version has been crash-less so far, and the audio has been smooth and starts up quickly. I've listened via WiFi and 3G with no issues -- although if you are trying to use the app from your local ballpark, as Steve points out, you'll be competing with thousands of other fans for scarce 3G bandwidth and you may not be able to use the audio features (or do other things involving the cell connection, like making and receiving calls).
The app itself is a bargain, since getting audio from any game all season long costs $14.99 via MLB on the web. For 5 bucks less you get it on your phone. If you can live without streaming audio you can get MLB.com At Bat 2009 Lite for free. Now, if my hometown team just wouldn't come in last again this year all would be well. I guess the iPhone can't fix that.TUAWMLB At Bat 2009 struck out, but now back in the game with bug fixes originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 11 Apr 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Dictionary.com for iPhone. Everyone should have it
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Freeware, iPhone, iPod touch, App Review
Every so often a free app comes along for the iPhone/ iPod touch that I think everyone should have. That certainly applies to Dictionary.com [App Store link]. It's an iPhone version of the Dictionary.com web site which gives you definitions, a thesaurus, audio pronunciations, and my favorite, word origins. (I was interested to learn that the word 'waver' goes back to the 13th century German word for moving about. I love stuff like that.) The app also provides a word of the day, and examples of your specified word in sentences.
This app is every bit as good as the paid dictionary apps, and oh so more versatile. Happily, Dictionary.com does not need an internet connection for the dictionary and thesaurus, but does need it for the rest of the features. With all that information on board, the download is about 36 megabytes.
As you type a word, the dictionary auto-completes, saving you some time, and when you go back to your 'recents' list you have a choice of seeing the thesaurus or the dictionary. Nice. Pronunciations of the words are quite handy. Sometimes you get a female voice, other times a male.
One small nitpick. You should be able to click on words that the thesaurus finds and get a definition. You have to retype them.
Dictionary.com was released in late March, and I don't think the word is out sufficiently so people know it is there. Consider this the 'word', and consider the occasion a propitious one. Look it up.
Screen shots:TUAWDictionary.com for iPhone. Everyone should have it originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - TUAW Review: XRoad G-Map US
Filed under: Software, Reviews, iPhone, App Store, Road Tested, App Review
During the discussion earlier in the year about why Apple was blocking turn-by-turn GPS navigation apps for the iPhone 3G (it will be "legal" in iPhone 3.0), a reader pointed out that there have been a pair of turn-by-turn navigators in the App Store for quite a while.
Upon following the reader hint, I was surprised to find that XRoad G-Map US West (click opens iTunes) and East have the United States covered for navigation. These apps, US$24.99 each, don't have the voice prompts that most of us appreciate, but they do provide surprisingly accurate directions and a 3D navigation view that rivals the more expensive Garmin, TomTom, and Magellan dedicated navigators.
European and Canadian versions of the app are expected to be released by the end of this quarter, while Central / South America and Asian versions should arrive by the end of 2009.
Since I am the resident GPS geek at TUAW, I decided to give XRoad G-Map US West v1.3 a test drive and see how it performed compared to my Garmin nüvi navigator. While the XRoad product has some shortcomings, it's still worthy of a look if you're thinking about purchasing a navigation app. Click Read More to see how G-Map worked...or didn't.Continue reading TUAW Review: XRoad G-Map US
TUAWTUAW Review: XRoad G-Map US originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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