Fresh Apple: May 2009

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Spot the SPOD: Mac OS X rainbow cursor shows up in Pixar's "Up"
Filed under: Humor, OS, Odds and ends
Being the Disney-Pixar fanatics that we are, my wife and I went to see Up Saturday night (in Disney Digital 3D, of course) at our local theater. Remembering the appearance of the Mac startup sound as Wall-E's waking noise in last year's Pixar epic, and the brief shot of an Apple-themed racer in Cars, I decided to look for Apple-themed Easter eggs in the movie.

By the time we were at the end of the film, I was beginning to think that there weren't going to be any love letters to Apple in Up. The credits, featuring Russell's Wilderness Explorer merit badges floating by on a typed page, began to look somewhat promising. Sure enough, I spied a stylized and stationary "Spinning Pizza of Death," the dreaded Mac OS X wait cursor, on a merit badge just about at the end of the credits.

For those of you who are either Windows users or have been lucky enough to have never seen this infamous Mac icon (seen 3 times lifesize above), it's the Mac OS X equivalent of the hourglass in Windows. The SPOD (officially known as the Spinning Wait Cursor, A.K.A. the Beach Ball of Death or the Marble of Doom) appears when an application is not responding to events.

If you go to see the movie (which you should; it's funny, action-filled, and great for absolutely any audience) be patient and sit through the credits. You'll be rewarded by the sight of a SPOD on the big screen (it's after the two nuclear merit badges). If you're an Up-aholic, you can also check out the Mac game or the $4.99US iPhone game (link opens iTunes).
TUAW Spot the SPOD: Mac OS X rainbow cursor shows up in Pixar's "Up" originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 31 May 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Future iTunes versions could block the Pre, but why?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iTS, iTunes, iPhone
Yesterday, Megan noted a Fortune story saying that iTunes syncs flawlessly with the new Palm Pre. This, of course, got the water-cooler talk bubbling: "How did Palm pull it off? Will Apple allow this to happen?"

Turns out they already have. A tech note on Apple's website notes the two dozen or so third-party players that iTunes (for Mac OS X, at least) is compatible with, including Rio and Creative Labs Nomad MP3 players. True, many of the models listed predate the iPod, and the tech note itself was last updated a little less than a year ago. But third-party device compatibility with iTunes isn't without precedent.

Daring Fireball's John Gruber pointed to a story by Jon Lech Johansen that says Apple may block iTunes access to the Pre in a future update; Gruber himself said he "wouldn't be surprised if they did." I'm not so sure.

First, let's look at how it works. According to Johansen, a unique USB device ID allows iTunes to recognize MP3 players (including iPods) that it's compatible with. Johansen speculates that Palm is using one of these IDs when communicating with iTunes. If it's an iPod's unique ID, then it will work with iTunes for Windows, too; this is an important litmus test and we don't know the results yet.

I can understand Apple might not cotton to a Palm Pre specifically masquerading as an iPod USB device. Given that, allowing the Pre to freely communicate with iTunes isn't necessarily bad business sense, presuming Palm implements the functionality in a forthright manner (like other third-party MP3 players that iTunes already supports).

Why limit access to the Pre, aside from pure spite? If someone already uses iTunes, chances are they have some quantity of DRM-free iTunes Plus music on their computer. There's no technical reason why the music shouldn't be easily playable on the Pre. One of the upshots of removing DRM in the iTunes store is to facilitate device interoperability. Allow non-Apple devices to play iTunes music, and suddenly Apple has customers it didn't have before.

If Apple chooses to cut off just the Pre, and Palm is following the rules, Apple is unnecessarily cutting a stream of revenue. That's something I don't see Apple doing lightly.
TUAW Future iTunes versions could block the Pre, but why? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 30 May 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Check prices on your iPhone with Pricecheckah
Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, App Review
This app does what you would expect from its name. It checks prices. You type in a UPC code, an ISBN number (books and video) or even a name of a product.

Pricecheckah [App Store] is US$4.99 At the set up screen you can choose online retailers like Amazon or Buy.com, and brick and mortar retailers like Target or Walmart. You can also add your own. I added Best Buy by just typing bestbuy.com.

I typed in a UPC code and the app made several suggestions and did find some better prices. Of course you could do this from any browser using a site like Froogle. This app, of course, is meant to be portable, but you might not be very popular at some retailers doing price comparisons. On the other hand, unless you are in a hurry to buy something, you will likely find a better price online.

Some things I don't like: The app wants my email address and a password. I'm not wild about giving someone my email when I'm not sure what they are going to do with it. Sometimes the app is very slow; I touched the settings button and it took several seconds to get to the settings screen. It didn't happen every time, but enough times to mention it. It also locked up a couple of times and said it couldn't find a network when WiFi was on, and my wireless router was right next to my iPhone.

I also think the app is pricey at US$4.99. There is a similar app called Checkout Smartshop [App Store] which is the same price but has many more negative reviews. The developers promised a bar code scanner and it hasn't arrived. We've also looked at RedLaser [App Store], which does have a barcode scanner. It worked OK for me, but many people are having problems with it. It's US$1.99.

In summary, it doesn't look like the perfect shopping app is here, but hopefully developers will keep trying. Pricecheckah works on the iPhone or iPod touch, and checks prices in either the US or the UK.
TUAW Check prices on your iPhone with Pricecheckah originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 30 May 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sky Burger for iPhone/iPod touch free for the day
Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, Friday Favorite, App Review
Hey, the weekend is coming, so how serious can we be? Sky Burger, [App Store] a pretty cute arcade game for the iPhone and iPod touch, is free today only. Note: As of Saturday morning PDT the app is still free.

The game involves tilting your iPhone to catch ingredients to make a sandwich with the required ingredients. There are 50 possible burger orders to try and get right. You cap it all off with a bun. It reminds me a little bit of the theme of the 1982 game called Burger Time.

Sky Burger seems a bit silly but it can get pretty addictive as you try to build up points and tips. The game has good music and sound effects. Try it for free: even vegetarians will like it. Tomorrow the game goes back up to US$0.99. Even at that price, it's pretty good fun.

Thanks, Ian!
TUAW Sky Burger for iPhone/iPod touch free for the day originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 29 May 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Government / Military Mac users get PIV single sign-on from Thursby
Filed under: Software, Security
Thursby Software is a longtime Mac development firm (since 1986) that has always had a mission: integrating Macs as full players in mixed-OS environments. While Mac OS X has gone a long way toward improving the situation of Mac users in predominantly Microsoft environments, there are still situations where third-party software may be required. Thursby's ADmitMac line of software is specifically designed to ease Mac integration into Microsoft Active Directory (AD) environments.

Thursby's ADmitMac for PIV integrates US Government FIPS 201 Personal Identity Verification (PIV) with Macs. ADPIV, as the product is known, allows single sign-on with a PIV card. It verifies the PIV card against a centralized authority, obtains Kerberos tickets using PIV certificates and then makes those tickets available to Kerberized applications, and securely locks the Mac upon removal of the PIV card.

ADPIV also allows password-free access to Exchange servers by providing authentication to those servers. ADPIV is currently available at the introductory price of US$149, with discounts available for larger quantities.
TUAW Government / Military Mac users get PIV single sign-on from Thursby originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 29 May 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Found Footage: Power Mac G4 Cube Transformer Robot
Filed under: Odds and ends, Found Footage
Although the Power Mac G4 Cube is one of the all-time classic cool-looking Macs, wouldn't it be even cooler if your Cube could transform into a robot? TUAW reader W from thinkingbricks.com used a LEGO Mindstorms NXT kit and a Cube body to create a Cube-bot with both autonomous and remote control modes. The following video is one of four on thinkingbricks.com that show the 'bot in action.

Here's a challenge to W: could you take an old original Mac case and do the same? It would look a lot like the walking Mac of Bloom County comic strip fame...
TUAW Found Footage: Power Mac G4 Cube Transformer Robot originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 29 May 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Labor dispute with Apple display supplier intensifies
Filed under: Apple Corporate, Bad Apple
After gathering in front of Apple's offices in Taiwan earlier this week, protesters are now demanding a substantive response from Apple by the end of the month regarding alleged workplace labor and safety violations at Wintek, one of Apple's display component suppliers.

Labor groups associated with the protesters claim that Wintek unlawfully fired 619 workers, cut salaries without negotiation, and forced employees to work overtime without pay to fulfill rush orders. The company has since re-hired 20 of those workers and says it is operating within the law. Wintek has also threatened legal action if "company and stakeholder interests" are jeopardized. Wintek further claims that labor groups are violating their agreements and encouraging workers to demand benefits illegally.

The protesters appear to be using the popularity of Apple's brand name to get attention to their cause. "We want to go through Apple to put pressure on Wintek," said Chu Wei-li, secretary-general of the Taipei-based National Federation of Independent Trade Unions.

Apple Asia released a tepid response after the protests. Spokeswoman Jill Tan said, "Apple conducts regular audits of suppliers to make sure they comply with Apple's code of conduct. We require corrective actions when we find violations."

An audit is exactly what aggrieved Wintek employees say they are demanding. MacNN says that rights groups associated with the protests are also asking the Electronics Industry Citizen Coalition to investigate Apple's delay in responding to the matter.

Wintek was recently rumored to be the winner of the display contract for Apple's "media pad" tablet device. Some analysts predict the tablet will go on sale next year.

Apple has previously found itself in the middle of other labor disputes. In 2006, Foxconn workers protested low pay and poor working conditions while assembling iPods. Apple conducted its own investigation and found that the company violated overtime rules and unreasonably punished workers. Since then, cute pictures of Foxconn employees have thawed the image of the supplier.
TUAW Labor dispute with Apple display supplier intensifies originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 29 May 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Award-winning board game Zooloretto in the App Store now
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Odds and ends, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Chillingo is not kidding about iPhone releases lately -- it seems like every other day they're premiering a new download in the App Store, for better or worse. Their website calls them "The Leading Publisher of iPhone Games," and it seems like they're definitely pushing for quantity. But there are some good gems in the mix (have you tried Zen Bound yet?), and Zooloretto looks like it might be another. The $4.99US game is based on an award-winning board game in which you have to balance zoo animals of varying sizes with pen space, all while bringing in as many visitors as possible. Like all great board games, it looks pretty simple to start out, but more and more complicated as you go along. And the fact that it's turn-based makes it perfect for the iPhone, when you can play in small spurts and keep a strategy rolling over time.

If there's a drawback, it's that the game might be too simple -- it's meant as a family game, so really hardcore strategy geeks might not find enough here to dig into (it's too bad we haven't seen a quality Settlers port, or maybe even a version of Puerto Rico). And it's too bad there's no lite version to try before you buy. But if you're looking for a nice little strategy game to play around with occasionally, and enjoy a well-designed board game, Zooloretto is worth a look.
TUAW Award-winning board game Zooloretto in the App Store now originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 29 May 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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iPhone nabs 59% of smartphone 'net traffic, 43% of mobile web traffic
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Internet, iPhone, iPod touch

Fortune has the results of an AdMob survey up, and they're pretty surprising -- Apple has apparently taken over 59% of smartphone traffic on the Internet, and in the mobile category in general, they've got a giant 43% of 'net traffic surveyed. But there's another side here: the report doesn't just point out that Apple accounts for the lion's share of mobile 'net traffic, but it states that smartphone traffic, and specifically the iPhone in general, hugely overshadows the actual sales numbers. The iPhone has 8% global market share, but accounts for 65% of HTML traffic. And smartphones in general overshadow their sales to a lesser degree: smartphones represent about 12% of mobile device sales, but AdMob calculates them at around 35% of their traffic last month.

What does this mean? AdMob suggests it's a phase -- right now, because we're so early in the development stages of this platform, mobile web makes up the main chunk of traffic. But in the future, we may go through applications to get data, or use push notifications, and/or come up with other, more streamlined ways to get information out to mobile devices. But for now, iPhone and iPod touch users are still browsing the web, and as a result, they are accounting for way more traffic than their sales hint at.
TUAW iPhone nabs 59% of smartphone 'net traffic, 43% of mobile web traffic originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 29 May 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Some Macbook Pros are updated along with iWork '09
Filed under: Software Update, Macbook Pro
Apple pushed out a couple of software updates late this afternoon. One is for regulating the fan speed under heavy loads on older MacBook Pro laptops.

The other is a more general 42.7 MB update for iWork '09. This is the second software revision for the word processing, spreadsheet and presentation package. The update says it improves reliability when saving some iWork documents. It also fixes some issues when Keynote sessions are played back multiple times.

Update: Users of Apple's pro video editing, photo and audio apps will also see the ProKit Update v4.5, which "improves reliability for Apple's professional applications and is recommended for all users of Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Express, Aperture, Logic Studio and Logic Express."

Your software update option under the Apple menu should get you one or all updates. The MacBook Pro update is a firmware update, and it will start up automatically after a download. If you don't see this update, your laptop doesn't require it.

Here are the included update instructions:

To update the SMC firmware on your MacBook Pro:

Your computer's power cord must be connected and plugged into a working power source.

1. Quit all other open applications.

2. Click Restart in the MacBook Pro SMC Firmware Update window and wait for your computer to restart.

The SMC firmware update starts automatically. A status bar indicates the progress of the update. During the update your computer fans will run at full speed, but will return to normal once the update completes.

Important: Do not interrupt the update.

Your computer restarts automatically when the update is completed and opens the MacBook Pro SMC Firmware Update.

3. Click OK. The SMC firmware is now up-to-date.

If these instructions appear on your screen again, the SMC firmware update was not successful. Repeat steps 2 and 3.

Thanks to Matt for the MacBook Pro tip!
TUAW Some Macbook Pros are updated along with iWork '09 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 28 May 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Hulu Desktop app gives full-screen experience to Mac users
Filed under: Video, Internet, Internet Tools

NBC's online video site, Hulu, has launched a desktop app that allows Mac users to watch Hulu content without using a web browser, and with full Apple Remote support. After all of the boxee nastiness, I'm a bit surprised by the development. That doesn't mean this isn't still exciting.

For some background, Hulu has been involved in a back-and-forth battle with the social media center application, boxee, which allows users to access online content from their Mac or Apple TV and makes big-screen viewing a pleasure. The last big boxee update changed how boxee serves Hulu content, in an effort to make it more difficult for Hulu to pull the plug.

Hulu's justification (well, one of many justifications) for going after boxee was that the content is designed to be viewed from a web browser and not from the couch. Although the tagline for Hulu Desktop, "Lean-back viewing for your PC," keeps the sematic difference between a 24" LCD monitor and a 25" LCD TV in check, the execution, especially with extensive remote support, seems to say something else.

I don't know, maybe Hulu really believes that people won't be using this application with their TV-connected Macs or Windows Media PCs, but this app certainly feels like it was meant for big screens.

Regardless of the double-speak, how well does this application actually work? Well, based on my limited testing (I did want to get this post done), it is awesome. I totally want to figure out if the arbitrary system requirements can be bypassed so this can get running on the Apple TV.

The Interface

The interface is great. Although Hulu Desktop didn't take up the full-screen of my 22" external monitor when it was initially launched, a quick ⌘-F will take you full screen. I should also note that the size of the application window was larger than 1280x800 by default, so mobile users might get the "full screen" upon launch experience.

The Apple remote works flawlessly with the Hulu application. My only problem was with my screensaver -- unlike FrontRow, Hulu doesn't turn the screensaver off when playing back content. I also managed to crash the application, but that's to be expected.

All in all, finding programming to watch is easy and intutiive, not unlike the original Hulu implementation in boxee. Switching from playing a program to searching for others is easy (the Menu button) and fast-forwarding through content is a joy. As a long-time boxee user who hates trying to fast-forward or rewind Hulu playback (even before they switched serving mechanisms), this is nice. By default, my Internet connection played back everything at High Quality (you can adjust this in the settings), and the quality looked even better than in the browser.

Gallery: Hulu Desktop for Mac

Continue reading Hulu Desktop app gives full-screen experience to Mac users
TUAW Hulu Desktop app gives full-screen experience to Mac users originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 28 May 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Free access to 1800 audiobooks for iPhone
Filed under: Freeware, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, App Review
Your iPhone/iPod touch listening options just got a lot larger. Audiobooks, [App Store] a free app, gives you a large catalog of public domain classic works from Dickens to Verne for your listening pleasure.

The books come from the LibriVox library, a non-profit project that has volunteers read the books and then releases the free recordings.

The app is ad-supported, but the ads are not obtrusive in my view. The books I listened to were competently read. Downloading was quick over WiFi, ~~quite a bit slower over 3G, but usable~~.(Mea culpa. Books can be downloaded over WiFi only. I confused this with another e-book app I am reviewing.) You can start listening while the book is completing the download, which is a plus.

Downsides are that every chapter starts with disclaimers about the book being in the public domain, which kind of breaks the mood.

The search function works well, but would be better if you could search by genre. There is a nice surprise me button, which gives you a book at random, but in practice that isn't really that helpful.

The developer of this app also sells audiobooks at the iTunes Store, which we have reviewed. These audiobooks show the text synced to the audio, but I do not find that a compelling feature. I think the new app is the way to go.

Here are a few screen grabs:

Gallery: Audiobooks
TUAW Free access to 1800 audiobooks for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 26 May 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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