Iphone Updates

LG revealed two Google-loaded TVs at CES, but never gave us prices or told us when these LED models might dangle their skinny bezels in stores. In briefings at Google last week, we heard that the 47-incher (47G2) and 55-incher (55G2) would sell for $1699 and $2299 respectively — although Amazon already has them listed significantly cheaper than that. Now, to complete the jigsaw, Reuters has quoted LG exec Ro Seogho as saying that these Google TVs will ship in the US from May 21st. In the meantime, check out our hands-on from Las Vegas, because that new QWERTY-equipped Magic Motion remote is especially enticing.

LG’s Google TV-enabled sets coming to US end of May originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 May 2012 03:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When Chinatown Fair closed in March of last year, Filmmaker Kurt Vincent went to work documenting the New York arcade’s final days, continuing to return to the location after it shuttered to work on his upcoming film, Arcade. Imagine his surprise when he ran into Lonnie Sobel, the famous amusement hall’s new owner, stocking it with new game cabinets. It’s been a few months since Vincent’s discovery, but Chinatown Fair finally reopened its doors over the weekend. Old regulars may want to brace themselves, however, Sobel’s playing a different game.

“We’re kind of a cross between a Dave & Busters and a Chuck E. Cheese,” the new owner told Gothamist, “We’re trying to do the best of both worlds.” Sobel’s hoping to merge the old Chinatown Fair’s culture of fighting games with an assortment of family friendly amusements: skee-ball, air hockey, Guitar Hero, hoop basketball and a counter for redeeming tickets for prizes. The new Fair will also sell game time for use on a Xbox 360 and games like Call of Duty, played on one of two flat screen televisions. Not all of the old arcade’s former regulars are happy with the changes, but, as Vincent noted, they “say they’re just happy it exists.” That makes more than a few of us.

[Thanks, Katrin]

New York’s Chinatown Fair arcade hits reset, plays a new game originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 May 2012 02:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Eager to get your fancy new mask on? Open up the wallet. Adobe’s freshly announced Creative Suite (we’re up to CS6, for those keeping count) is now available, with Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Flash Professional and more up for grabs. As for that subscription-based Creative Cloud option? Folks looking to pay monthly for the new wares will have to wait until Friday, May 11th. Those buying outright can get the CS6 Master Collection for $2,599, while $1,899 gets you Production Premium (or Design & Web Premium) and $1,299 nets you Design Standard. As usual, upgrade and education pricing is available for those that qualify, with all the details you could want tucked in the release just after the break.

Continue reading Adobe Creative Suite 6 now available, Creative Cloud floating into action May 11th

Adobe Creative Suite 6 now available, Creative Cloud floating into action May 11th originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 May 2012 00:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Blackberry 10 Dev Alpha we wrapped our mitts around last week didn’t tell us much about RIM’s big QNX-based OS update (being loaded with PlayBook OS 2.0 and all), but Crackberry forum user Biggulpseh seemingly has the deets that the folks in Waterloo weren’t ready to reveal. So-called internal documents reportedly detail a tilt-senstive lock screen that pushes notifications to the user based on the device’s movement (called “cinnamon toast”), a screen-sharing ability to ramp up the productivity of video calls and a robust video editor resulting from RIM’s acquisition of JayCut last year. Biggulpseh says the images come from a “trusted source,” and are part of a document that outlines upcoming features for the benefit of the firm’s employees. Ready to dive in and let your imagination run wild? Hit the source links below, just don’t forget your saliferous spices.

BlackBerry 10 to get video editor, screen sharing according to forum leak originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 May 2012 23:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s almost baffling to see a modern Android smartphone with such an archaic design in a world more accustomed to the Galaxy Nexus. Still, LG’s late-2011 DoublePlay has a slide-out physical keyboard and that dinky second screen which reminds us of a phone that’s years out of date. However, when we reviewed it, we found it to be very useful, even if it lacked a front-facing camera and weighed a metric ton okay, 190 grams. But how about you? Some of you bought this phone, some of you love it, so how has it been? Tell us in the space below.

How would you change the LG DoublePlay? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 May 2012 22:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Man-made islands; indoor ski slopes; temporary ice hotels. We thought we had seen it all in Dubai, and then the Middle Eastern city went and outdid itself with the Water Discus Hotel, a hotel that will feature a series of sci-fi styled discs, one of which will be located 21 stories underwater. For those who prefer to stay above water, Antwerp will open one of the world’s largest floating swimming pools this summer. Made from an old ferry boat, Badboot will be 120 meters long and it’ll be part of a larger facility that can host as many as 600 people. And across the point in New York, the One World Trade Center skyscraper was just crowned the tallest building in NYC.

Continue reading Inhabitat’s Week in Green: the Water Discus Hotel, magnetic LED bulbs and pig poo electricity

Inhabitat’s Week in Green: the Water Discus Hotel, magnetic LED bulbs and pig poo electricity originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 May 2012 20:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it’s easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don’t escape without notice, we’ve gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Continue reading Refresh Roundup: week of April 30th, 2012

Refresh Roundup: week of April 30th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 May 2012 19:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

Microsoft has a long history of supporting bitter rivals — even those that have long publicly disparaged the company, offering funds to Nokia, Corel and, most famously, Apple. It also has a long history of supporting e-reading. Prior to ending development last year, the company offered its Microsoft Reader software for about a decade — first on handheld devices using Windows CE and Windows Mobile and later on desktop Windows. Those two traditions intersected yesterday as Microsoft invested in a new Nook e-book business designed to compete better against Apple and especially Amazon.com.

Continue reading Switched On: Competing by hook or by Nook

Switched On: Competing by hook or by Nook originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 May 2012 18:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No, that’s not a QWERTY feature phone you’re looking at — it’s Google’s earliest Android development device, the Sooner. While the HTC-sourced phone itself hasn’t been a secret, the build of Android on this particular specimen, obtained by Steven Troughton-Smith, is something few eyes outside of Mountain View have seen. As Mr. Smith notes, this isn’t the first public build of Android that was detailed in November 2007 (M3), but rather an earlier version from May of that same year. The non-touch UI is almost totally unlike what eventually shipped with the touch-friendly HTC Dream, aside from obviously housing Android’s basic framework and apps including G Talk and the like. We won’t spoil it for you, though, so hit up the source link below to see Smith’s full walkthrough and analysis of the device that once served as the initial development vehicle for Android.

Infant version of Android gets a walkthrough on Google’s Sooner development phone originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 May 2012 17:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tonight’s Talkcast is all about you — not that it isn’t about you every week, but this week in particular. It’s our Listener’s Choice show; we discuss what you want to discuss, help solve your tech problems, mull your crackpot theories. We welcome your calls, questions and comments at 10 pm ET, 7 pm PT tonight live on Talkshoe.

To participate in the call, you can use the browser-only Talkshoe client, the embedded Facebook app, or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for +5 Interactivity, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the Talkshoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 pm EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (Viva free weekend minutes!): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 — during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8.

If you’ve got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free X-Lite or other SIP clients — basic instructions are here. Skype users with dial-out credit can call in via the service, or use those free iPhone minutes. Talk to you tonight!

Talkcast tonight, 10pm ET: Listener’s choice originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 06 May 2012 20:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Normally we turn to the TUAW Brain Trust for your opinions about hot topics in the news and your predictions about the future of tech. Today, we’re switching things up. Instead of asking about where things are going, we’re asking you about strategy.

Here’s the situation: Like many authors, TUAW blogger Steve Sande and I have fallen in love with Apple’s iBooks Author page layout tool. When writing our book about preparing your computer for the upcoming 10.8 OS X upgrade, we decided to create an iBA version for iBooks and a standard Kindle edition for Amazon.

Although frustrating to use at times (it’s still early days in iBooks-ville, such as where’s the “Split into new chapter at this point” option?), we loved the look and feel of what iBooks Author produced. It’s slick, it’s hot, it’s yummy. We uploaded our product last week using the nifty in-app “Publish to iBooks” feature.

Then people started asking us: “What about us iPhone users? Don’t we get to read the book too?” You see, here’s the problem: iBooks Author doesn’t do iPhone. It’s an iPad-only product.

And there is the heart of our dilemma. Should we invest the time, the extra ISBN, and the extremely high annoyance overhead to convert our Kindle version to an iBooks-compliant ePUB via our old creaky copies of Pages? (We mean it about the annoyance. It’s a huge pain.)

You tell us. We’re going to go with your advice. We’re giving you a poll and the comments are open for your opinion. Should ebook authors make an end-run around iBooks Author to create iPhone-compatible ePUBs that reach a wider audience or are we wasting time and effort on a format that can never really compare to the iPad experience?

View Poll

You’re Our Editor: iBooks Author or ePub for the iBooks store? originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 06 May 2012 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For whatever reason, many Amazon authors seem to be under the impression that you can only create a proper table of contents for Kindle Direct Publishing on Windows, not the Mac.

Having just uploaded our newest book (Getting Ready for Mountain Lion) to Amazon, Steve Sande and I have invested a lot of time learning the quirks of KDP and its tools, as well as those for iBooks (but more about that in another post). For any of our readers who are also budding authors or publishers, we’ll be sharing what we’ve learned in a TUAW series called “iBook Lessons.”

We thought we’d share our KDP Table of Contents strategy with you to help reduce the hair-pulling and frustration associated with document preparation. Here are the steps we use in Microsoft Word 2008 and 2011 to create our TOC.

1. Create a fresh page and add Table of Contents text line, formatted with your favorite header style.
2. Move your cursor just to the left of “Table”. Choose Insert > Bookmark. Call the bookmark toc and click Add. This creates a bookmark before the title, named in such a way that KDP’s automatic conversion tools will recognize it as the start of your Table of Contents. All the Kindle hardware and apps will be able to use it as well.
3. Generate a temporary TOC, so you have an outline to start working with. Move to under your Table of Contents header to a new line. Choose Insert > Index and Tables > Table of Contents. Uncheck “Show Page Numbers”.
4. Click Options. Choose which heading styles you wish to include. If you use custom styles (e.g. H1 instead of Header 1) make sure to add a level for those as well. Typically, most ebook TOCs use either just H1 or H1 and H2. Your call. Click OK to finish options. Click OK again to generate the contents.
5. Select the entire TOC, cut it, and paste it into TextEdit to be your guide to the next step.
6. For each entry in the TOC, locate the start of that section in your manuscript. Set your cursor to the left of each section title. Again, use Insert > Bookmark to create a bookmark at that position. Name each item with a meaningful (and easy-to-recognize) tag.
7. After bookmarking your entire document, return to the initial Table of Contents section. Paste the text from TextEdit back into your document as simple, unlinked text.
8. For each item on your list, select the entire line: i.e. every word, not just clicking to the left of the name as you did to set bookmarks. Then choose Insert > Hyperlink (Command-K). Choose the Document tab, and click the Locate button to the right of the Anchor text field. Choose the bookmark you wish to link to, and click OK.
9. Repeat for the remaining TOC entries.

Once you’ve finished adding bookmarks and hyperlinks, save your work. Go to KDP and upload the file (you may want to create a testbed skeleton book entry just for this purpose). Download the .mobi file it generates and try it out on the Kindle Mac app and/or any Kindles or iPads/iPhones you have on-hand. Amazon’s Kindle Previewer app is also available for download from KDP, and provides simulated views of your ebook on iPhone, iPad, Kindle, Kindle DX, and Kindle Fire.

Always make sure you test each link to ensure that the bookmarks are placed properly. Also test the Table of Contents button in-app and check that it jumps you to the TOC correctly.

Best of luck in your ebook / iBook publishing efforts, and look forward to more tips about publishing here on TUAW.

iBook Lessons: Creating Amazon KDP tables of contents on MS Word for Macintosh originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 05 May 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I’ve been writing these posts for the last couple of years, usually always before WWDC, as mini roundups of what I, my colleagues, and readers want to see in the next iOS release. However, as releases go on it gets harder and harder to put together lists of major features I’d like to see in the next iOS.

That’s because iOS has now become a fairly developed OS capable of doing most of what you’d ever need it to do. I mean, remember when multitasking or copy and paste were the big feature requests? What about improved notifications? Wireless sync? Folders?

All that’s been done.

The list I present now features a few big items, but many of the suggestions are small features that would really “tidy up” the OS and make it more usable. That’s not to say I don’t think iOS won’t continue to innovate, but those major innovations and brand new features will most likely be something Apple will surprise us with and not something that many people could have guessed beforehand. This list also doesn’t take software features that would require hardware upgrades into account, like a mobile payment system.

So here’s the list of what I hope to see in iOS 6. And when you’re done reading it, I’d love for you to add your own feature requests to the list in the comments below.

1. Expand Siri’s capabilities and open up the Siri API.

This is probably the biggest request on anyone’s wish list. When Siri debuted in iOS 5 on the iPhone 4S, it was easily the most touted new feature. However, after the novelty wore off iPhone 4S users quickly divided into two camps: those that do use it and those that don’t. I’m one of the guys that do. However, that’s not to say there isn’t room for major improvements to Siri, or as I call it: the most underdeveloped feature on the iPhone.

Now to be fair to Apple, Siri is still a beta feature, so it’s unfair to really judge it as if it has been completed in Apple’s final vision. It will continue to evolve over time, and here’s what I hope it can do in iOS 6:

Apple needs to expand Siri’s capabilities. The easiest way to do this would be to open up Siri’s API to third-party developers. Once Apple does this, that’s when the power of Siri will really shine. Imagine being able to say “Skype my brother,” “Tweet ‘@TUAW’ rocks,” “Shazam this song,” or “Record my weight in LoseIt.”

Those are just some simple examples, of course. If Apple were to open up Siri’s API it would be the developers who could really make Siri the killer feature. However, given the server requirements it takes to run Siri queries and the fact that it’s still in beta, it’s unlikely Apple is going to open Siri to third-parties any time soon. If they don’t, I at least hope they’ll add more features in-house, including things like asking for local movie times, telling the camera to take a picture “in 10 seconds,” and turn by turn directions.

Another thing Apple could do to improve Siri without opening it up to devs is adding the ability to toggle system services, including turning Bluetooth, Wifi, Personal Hotspot, and Airplane mode on or off. Also commands like “Go to TUAW.com” would be nice instead of the current way of navigating to a website via Siri by having to say “search for TUAW” and then clicking on the website in the search results list in Safari.

2. Multiple users (on iPad).

Let me state that multiple users on an iPhone would be ridiculous, but on an iPad I think it makes a lot of sense. Phones are personal, but iPads are shared a lot in homes. It would be great if iOS 6 adds user support to the iPad. After all, it’d be nice to let my niece use my iPad without worrying she’ll accidentally delete an important email.

There was a time when multiple users on an iPad wouldn’t have made sense from a practical point of view. After all, if each user stored all their photos and videos on the iPad, it could quickly fill up the hard drive. But with iCloud and iTunes Match — and their no doubt continued expansion — multiple users are much more feasible as each user could access all of his or her documents and media right from the cloud.

3. Facebook integration.

I use Twitter 10x more than I used to because of its integration with iOS 5. It’s so nice to be able to tweet a photo or a web link right from Photos or Safari without having to switch to the Twitter app.

Given that I’m a bigger Facebook user than Twitter user, I hope Apple adds system-wide Facebook sharing to iOS 6. This isn’t an original feature request, and it’s actually appeared in in-house beta’s of iOS before, but never actually included in public releases. The fault here, of course, probably lies with Facebook more than Apple. Apple generally likes to protect their user’s information as much as possible while Facebook, well…they want as much as that information as they can get. Until Apple and Facebook can work something out, I’m afraid we won’t see system-wide Facebook integration. That’s really a shame, more so for Facebook than Apple because, as I’ve said, iOS 5′s Twitter integration has got me using that service a lot more than I ever would have.

4. Auto-hide an empty Newsstand.

I first suggested the idea of a Newsstand-type app years ago before Apple finally introduced it in iOS 5. Magazines are a natural fit for the iPad, after all. However, while Newsstand is welcome by some, for others it’s like the houseguest that just won’t leave.

The problem with Newsstand is that it takes up a space on your screen even if you don’t have a subscription to a periodical. Now I realize why Apple did this: they wanted to encourage people to check out subscriptions. But unlike the iBooks, iTunes, or App Store apps, you don’t need the actual Newsstand “app” to search for or buy magazines and newspapers. That’s because Newsstand isn’t actually an app, much less a store, at all. It’s just a glorified folder that holds specific types of apps — newspapers and magazines. Magazine and newspaper apps can all be found in the Newsstand section of the App Store and could still be found there even without the Newsstand folder (remove iBooks, on the other hand, and you’ll have no access to the iBookstore on your iOS device).

What I’m proposing is that the Newsstand folder remains hidden until you download a subscription. As soon as you download even one, its app appears in the Newsstand folder on your homescreen. But when you delete all the subscriptions inside your Newsstand folder, the folder disappears as well.

5. Multitasking gestures for iPhone.

With iOS 5 Apple introduced four- and five-finger gestures on the iPad. Using four or five fingers you can pinch to reveal the homescreen, swipe up to reveal the multitasking bar, or swipe left or right to move between apps. Those gestures made the iPad infinitely more pleasurable and organic to use.

I suggest Apple bring multitasking gestures to the iPhone. Three finger pinch to homescreen; three finger swipe up to reveal multitasking bar; and three finger swipe left or right to switch between apps.

6. Improved Notification Center.

Improved notifications were a big request before iOS 5, and Apple hit it out of the park when they completely revamped notifications with the introduction of Notification Center.

However, as good as Notification Center is, it could still use some improvements. First, it could use more widgets, specifically on the iPad. There’s no built-in Weather or Stocks app on the iPad, but it would be nice if Apple would at least give you the option of showing the weather forecast and stock quotes in Notification Center on iPad for unity’s sake (see #7). Another nice feature would be a timer widget that shows up in Notification Center so you don’t have to tap through to your Clock app to see how much time you have left for that cake to get done cooking in the oven.

A final improvement to Notification Center: clearing notifications takes a couple of awkward taps in a narrow corner of the notification’s header. Instead it would be much more intuitive if you could swipe right, then tap a standard big red delete button to remove a notification.

7. Weather, Stocks, and Clock for iPad.

Unity is nice. And iCloud could keep stock quotes, weather locations, and alarms in sync across devices. ‘Nuff said.

8. AirDrop for iOS

Pre-iOS 5, many people clamored for a Finder app to store files on the iPhone. Apple’s answer was simpler: iCloud. However, while iCloud is a great way to keep your documents in sync across your devices, it doesn’t really help when you want to easily share a file with someone else.

Enter AirDrop for iOS. Select a file, select the Share button, tap “AirDrop” to see a list of AirDrop-enabled iPhones, iPads, and Macs in your area, then select the device you want to share with. This would work great for sharing something as simple as a virtual business card or as large as a video or Keynote presentation with other people. Extra points if the AirDrop interface had cool GUI animations where you could just slide a file from one iOS device to the next.

9. Quick access to toggle Bluetooth, WiFi, and 3G on and off.

Yeah, some people toggle their Bluetooth a lot. Right now it takes five steps. Apple could always move the Bluetooth setting to a first-level heading in the Settings app, but if you’re a “power toggler” and are constantly turning Bluetooth on and off (or 3G or Wifi) it might be nice to have quick access to these settings in another way. Here are a few ideas how Apple could do it:

• Siri — (as mentioned earlier) “Turn Bluetooth Off.” Done.
• Swipe the dock to the right — The dock in iOS doesn’t do anything when you swipe over it. Apple could easily enable left or right swiping of the dock to reveal quick-access toggle buttons for wireless services behind in.
• Swipe up at the bottom of any screen — Just like you can swipe down from the top of any screen to reveal Notification Center, Apple could enable up-swiping from the bottom of any screen to quickly reveal wireless service toggle buttons.
• Add Bluetooth to the multitasking bar — This of course is the most obvious answer. Just like you can adjust the volume or screen rotation lock from the multitasking bar, Apple could easily add a Bluetooth toggle button there too.

10. Universal passcode locks for apps.

Right now it’s up to the developer to include a passcode lock option for an app. It would be nice if Apple could add a Passcode Lock Center in Settings where you could choose to set not only a passcode for your iPhone or iPad, but also apply the same or different passcode to any app of your choice on your device. More security is always nice.

11. Multiple signatures in Mail.

Sometimes you want to send emails with different signatures. Right now iOS only lets you have one signature — and it’s either attached to every email or it’s not. Give us multiple signature options, including the ability to include or exclude signatures right within each email composition window.

12. Safari Top Sites.

This isn’t so much a feature I’d like to see on the iPhone, but I think it would rock on the iPad. This is also a holdover from my last iOS wishlist. Ever since Apple introduced Top Sites for desktop Safari, I’ve used them as my primary way of getting to my favorite sites. I love how they give me a graphical representation of when a site has new content on it, and it’s much better for the layperson than updates through RSS feeds. Enabling Top Sites in mobile Safari would make it much easier for users to navigate to their favorite sites and know when those sites have new content (something web clip icons can’t do either).

13. Ability to select default mail, calendar, and Twitter clents.

Yeah, this is a long shot, but I’m adding it to the list because so many people have requested it. Do I see this ever happening? Nope.

14. Styled Text APIs.

This is also another holdout from a previous wishlist and it’s something I hope Apple implements this time around, again, for developers’ sakes. While there are many great word processors available for iOS, Pages on the iPad is still the best. Why? Because it’s got an incredibly rich set of styled text features. Apple hasn’t made the styled text APIs used in Pages available to developers, so if developers do want to use styled text in their apps, they basically need to write all that code from scratch. If Apple decides to open up the styled text APIs used in Pages to other developers, we’ll see some great productivity apps coming out later this year.

15. Improved cursor navigation.

I originally didn’t have any suggestions for improving iOS’s text entry or onscreen keyboard, but then I saw this concept video by YouTube user danielchasehooper. The concept is simply brilliant and would make cursor navigation much, much easier on the iPad’s large screen where text entry fields are generally further away from your fingers than on the iPhone’s screen.

iOS 6 is expected to be shown off at this year’s WWDC, which runs from June 11-15.

15 suggestions for iOS 6 originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 05 May 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You’ll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what’s happening in the Apple world.

You can listen to today’s Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.

No Flash? Click here to listen.

Subscribe via RSS

Daily Update for May 4, 2012 originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 04 May 2012 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last December, Literature & Latte confirmed the company will begin porting its popular Mac writing app, Scrivener, to the iPad. Though work is under way, progress is slow because, as Literature & Latte points out, good apps take time to plan and develop.

Much of the time since December has been spent designing the app and testing which features will work best in a mobile version. When it launches, Scrivener for the iPad will include a working binder and corkboard, a rich text editor, and access to labels, status, synopses, notes and project notes. It will also let you seamlessly sync your project without having to close it on your Mac or Windows machine.

Because of the complexity of the app, Literature & Latte expects to release Scrivener for the iPad by the end of the year. You can read more about the development in a detailed post on Literature & Latte’s website.

[Via MacSparky]

Scrivener for iPad under development originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 04 May 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stick with us here. A German court has ruled that Samsung will be able to fight to protect the sale of its products before an argument over the actual patent involved in those products is resolved in favor of either company.

If that sounds confusing, it’s because it is. Usually, in Germany, companies can sue for injunctions before the patents in question are ruled valid or invalid, to stop sales of a certain product immediately. If the patent is then ruled invalid (meaning that the competitive device is actually not infringing it and will not need to be changed), there’s a compensation system in place to make good the lost sales income. If it is a valid patent, then sales were rightfully blocked.

But in the case of Apple accusing Samsung of using photo gallery technology it has previously patented, the German court has ruled that Samsung will be able to try and stop the injunction, even before the patent argument has been decided. If Samsung is able to block the injunction, then, it will be able to keep selling its phones, even if the eventual patent dispute is resolved in Apple’s favor.

Samsung sales injunction won’t kick in prior to patent validity check originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 04 May 2012 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve heard of the iPhone being used in all kinds of situations, but here’s a new one for me. Blind iPhone users are making wide use of the device for identifying objects visually. This writeup over at The Atlantic has more, telling the story of two blind women who use Apple’s little mobile phone to do things like identify the color of clothing, scan money bills for their values, and even tell them where they are, via GPS and voice controls.

The Audible app will also read books out loud, and there are apps to tell the user where they’re pressing on the screen, and even “speech texting” through HeyTell, which is an app that I know a few sighted people use as well.

In the future, these blind users would like even more, specifically better integration of Siri with voice controls (which is something that I think everyone would like), and even more location features. They mention an idea where a phone will buzz or vibrate if you happen to be near a certain location. Still, it’s amazing how much having a powerful little, location and camera-equipped pocket-sized computer has been able to change the lives of the blind.

iPhone apps help the blind in all kinds of ways originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 04 May 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP has earned accolades from critics and players for its creativity. Now its developers are asking the community to show off their own creativity, in the “Create in the Key of Sworcery” virtual jam. Over on the game’s official tumblr, they’re sharing some really incredible fan art from the game, and they’re asking for more to be made and sent in during a virtual jam, happening on May 11-13.

It’s not a contest and there are no prizes, as far as I can tell. I believe it’s just making some art for art’s sake. The world of Sword and Sworcery is certainly gorgeous, and has already inspired some great work from fans. If you are a fan with some artistic talent, we’ll be waiting to see what you and others put together with Jim Guthrie, Capy, and Superbrothers next weekend.

Sword and Sworcery devs hosting a creative jam originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 04 May 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last November, a 70 minute documentary based on “lost” interview footage with Steve Jobs was shown in a number of Landmark theaters in the U.S. Now “Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview” is returning to Landmark theaters for a limited run in 19 cities beginning on May 11.

The footage was originally recorded in 1995 when journalist Robert Cringely was working on his “Triumph of the Nerds” series for PBS. The master tapes were lost, but a VHS copy was found in London last October. After digitization and restoration, the interview footage was released to capitalize on the publicity surrounding both the death of Jobs and the release of the Walter Isaacson biography.

MacNN reports that the resolution of the film has now been enhanced using digital cleanup techniques, and that Robert Cringely provides “context and linking narrative.” The Landmark Theatres website doesn’t show the listings for the film at this time, so check your local theater listings next week for show times and locations.

[via AppleInsider]

Steve Jobs interview returning to theatres originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 04 May 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2012 second quarter ended March 31, 2012. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $39.2 billion and quarterly net profit of $11.6 billion, or $12.30 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $24.7 billion and net profit of $6.0 billion, or $6.40 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. “We’re thrilled with sales of over 35 million iPhones and almost 12 million iPads in the March quarter,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The new iPad is off to a great start, and across the year you’re going to see a lot more of the kind of innovation that only Apple can deliver.”

Professional video editors around the world have moved to
Final Cut Pro X to create faster and more
flexible workflows. New York-based production house @radical.media is flipping its entire facility to Final Cut Pro X to tackle high-profile client projects. Hollywood’s Electric Entertainment is using Final Cut Pro X to cut episodes for the new season of its hit TV show “Leverage.” And accomplished editor Knut Hake used the software to edit new episodes of “Danni Lowinski,” one of Germany’s most popular and critically acclaimed TV shows.

FileMaker, Inc. today announced the release of the FileMaker 12 database software line — including FileMaker Pro 12, FileMaker Go 12, and FileMaker Server 12 — which offers powerful new ways to create custom database apps for iPad, iPhone, Mac, Windows, and the web. New professionally designed themes and the ability to customize every detail make it easy to create databases for managing contacts, projects, digital content, and more. All FileMaker 12 products are available starting today.

At Lowe’s stores around the country, iPhone is changing customer service for the better. Using custom iPhone apps, store employees have key product information on hand, so they can check pricing, inventory, and location of items within the store, anytime, from their iPhones. And the free consumer app features how-to videos, prices and reviews, store locations, and gift card balances. “iPhone, iPad, and the iOS platform are enterprise solutions that we can build on for the future,” says Lowe’s Executive Vice President and CIO Mike Brown.

National Geographic magazine reports that ski-mountaineer Hilaree O’Neill — a member of its 2012 Everest expedition — will follow the same route Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay did in 1953, but with an iPad and
iPhone in her backpack. iPad gives O’Neill a journaling device with a solid-state data storage drive usable at altitudes where spinning hard disk drives have been known to fail. And with cell service available even on Everest’s summit, she’ll use an iPhone 4S to stay in touch instead of a cumbersome walkie-talkie.

LG’s Optimus M has lingered around metroPCS’ phone catalogue for over a year now and it looks like it’s finally getting a similar-looking, but improved, replacement. Unfortunately, the Optimus M+ isn’t quite enough to confer the title of carrier flagship. Incremental changes include a new 5-megapixel camera and a screen that’s been boosted from 3.2 to 3.5 inches. According to Pocketnow, it’s powered by a pretty meager 800MHz processor, which should be just about enough to handle the Gingerbread OS. Those middling numbers hopefully mean it shouldn’t upset the ol’ bank balance too much, but we’ll have to wait for metroPCS’ official nod for confirmation on pricing and availability.

LG Optimus M+ adds some minor hardware improvements, coming to metroPCS originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 07:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One of the most thrilling things about human existence is that you never know what’s lurking around the corner. It could be a newborn baby, a sweet job, a delicious churro — doesn’t really matter, because it’s a surprise, and surprises are fun and surprising. Just don’t tell that to the doldrum dwellers over at MIT, because apparently, they don’t agree. The same team that created a camera with light-speed shutter rates has now expanded upon their project, with a camera capable of seeing around corners. Literally. To do this, the system uses a so-called femtosecond laser to send out extremely short light pulses — so short, in fact, that their entire lifespan is measured in quadrillionths of a second. To capture an object lurking around a corner, the device aims its laser at a nearby wall, thereby allowing the light to bounce around the room before eventually landing on the concealed object. Once it hits the jackpot, the light will reflect back onto the wall, and eventually return to a detector, which can gauge the exact location of the object based on the distance the laser traveled. This happens over and over again at different angles, meaning that the system will ultimately be able to get a general idea of the hidden room’s layout. Researchers hope that their system will eventually be used in emergency rescue situations, or to help drivers see what’s around the bend, though there’s no telling when any of that could actually happen. For a diagrammatic rundown, check out the video after the break.

Continue reading MIT’s laser-powered camera can detect objects hidden around corners (video)

MIT’s laser-powered camera can detect objects hidden around corners (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 07:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Orange says it’ll bring LTE to all of its EU markets by 2015

Orange says it’ll bring LTE to all of its EU markets by 2015 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 06:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TripIt’s attempts to pull all of those travel itineraries, air miles and other loyalty cards has been given a refresh on both Android tablets and phones. On bigger devices running Android 3.0 or higher, the app gains a slight redesign, adjustable (scrollable) widgets and new interactive maps and multi-screen views. The smartphone version has been given a similar restyle — minus the maps, but tweaked to both refresh faster and chew on less data. You can upgrade to the new version now, while first-timers can download the app over at Google Play.

TripIt gets updated on Android tablets and phones: adds Honeycomb functionality, less data-hungry originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 05:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lending a bit of credence to the notion that it’ll have life beyond LightSquared, an insider at FreedomPop is now suggesting that it’ll debut a case for the iPhone 4 / 4S that features a WiMAX radio, hotspot capabilities and delivers a free (albeit, limited) data service. This rumored accessory would complement the company’s two previously known devices, which include a USB dongle and a dedicated hotspot. For those unfamiliar, FreedomPop aims to take on a role similar to NetZero — it’s said the company will offer each customer 1GB of free data per month, where each megabyte consumed beyond that limit will cost one penny. That’s not to suggest that everything is free, however: the insider also states that customers will need to front a $100 deposit for this alleged case, although that money can be retrieved at any point, so long as the product is returned in good condition. Naturally, the utility of FreedomPop’s service will be sorely limited if it’s only available via WiMAX networks, but we’ve got a hunch that a few iPod Touch owners might find it quite useful in their attempt to skirt the carriers.

FreedomPop rumored to introduce iPhone case with free WiMAX service originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 04:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft China has finally christened its first Windows Phone. The HTC Triumph (or Titan, or even Eternity, according to the official Windows Phone Blog) is out, brandishing a 4.7-inch display and double camera setup. The phone arrives unlocked and apparently loaded up with “a slew” of popular native apps. We’ll be taking a look at those once we’ve got our hands on this regional variant. We’ve included a few screengrabs of the Chinese language UI after the break.

Continue reading Windows Phone goes on sale in China today

Windows Phone goes on sale in China today originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 04:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Le Pan III hits l’FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 03:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Good news for those saddled with still using Comcast: its Xfinity TV app was just updated to support Android 4.0. The new build brings compatibility to all existing Ice Cream Sandwich devices (tablets and phones), while also patching up a smattering of undistinguished bug fixes. Eager to grab your own copy? Hit the Play store on your device, or point it to the source link below.

Comcast’s Xfinity TV app updated with Android 4.0 support originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 02:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Wallet’s prepaid experiment hasn’t been the smoothest of endeavors, but the company wants to make up for all the headaches — with cash. A few weeks ago, Google disabled a feature that allowed users to add a Google Prepaid Card to their wallets after either removing it, or resetting their apps. The move came in response to mounting security concerns, but those issues have been allayed with the latest version of Google Wallet, meaning that users can now re-add their prepaid cards and hoover up all the money that was previously on them. To make up for the “inconvenience,” Google has added an extra $5 to every prepaid card, and sent an email out to all its customers to let them know about it. So if you count yourself among the legions of inconvenienced, be sure to add your card and spend that $5 on something sublime.

Google Wallet supports prepaid cards once again, afflicted users get $5 in compensation originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 02:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s nano-SIM proposal draws fire from Motorola, Nokia, RIM originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 00:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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According to mobile ad network Chitika, Apple’s new iPad, which has already sold millions of units despite being available for less than a week, is already blowing up in network usage. The latest numbers from the ad network say that more than five percent of the total iPad traffic is from just the new iPad. Five percent isn’t a huge number overall, but considering that’s the dent Apple has made with a new unit in just five days, that’s pretty huge.

The company has actually set up an “iPad tracker” where you can see what percentage of the ad network traffic over the last 24 hours the new iPad is currently responsible for. As you can see there, these numbers are for iPad traffic only; the five percent figure is only being compared to the traffic used by the iPad 1, 2, and 3 (the new iPad). Still, the other two models have been out for much longer, so it’s fair to say that the Retina Display and all of the new iPad’s other selling features are really lighting a fire in consumers for this product.

[via BGR]

New iPad already five percent of iPad web traffic originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Frequent business and pleasure travelers become very familiar with SeatGuru.com, a travel website that’s been around for a few years. SeatGuru is the best possible place on the Internet to get information on airplane seating.

You can pull up seat maps for just about any airline and aircraft type and get an idea of how desirable that seat is. SeatGuru, which is part of TripAdvisor’s stable of travel sites, released a free iPhone app today that will help you choose the best seat on any flight.

How does the app work? If you know your airline, flight number, and the date you’ll be flying, you can enter that information into the app and it will give you a tappable list of the flight segments. Tap on the one of interest to you, and it displays a seat map of the most likely aircraft type you’ll be flying on.

This is the first edition of this app, and it does need a little work. For example, I looked up a flight I’m intimately familiar with and found that not only did they have the old, pre-merger United Airlines logo — a minor point to be sure — but also the aircraft layout was incorrect. The same issue occurs on the SeatGuru website from which the app pulls its data; the small size of this app and the requirement for it to be connected to the Internet is a good hint that this is a web app, not a true native app.

Still, travelers will find the iPhone-formatted SeatGuru to be a vast improvement over trying to use the regular website through Safari on their mobile devices. It’s also a fast way to check on flight status and search for availability and fares on future flights. The fact that the SeatGuru app is free is just icing on the cake.

SeatGuru for iPhone: Airplane seat maps at your fingertips originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 20 Mar 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As soon as the new iPad was announced on March 7, TUAW began receiving word of new cases designed specifically for the device. Since the new tablet is a bit thicker than the iPad 2, it was necessary for manufacturers to either figure out a way to hold both models securely in a case or to come out with a totally new case for the third-generation iPad. In this review, I take a look at two cases — the Targus Versavu and the Kensington KeyFolio Pro 2 — that work with the latest member of the iPad family. At the end of the review, you can enter to win one of the two cases.

Targus Versavu

Targus was the first to come to market with a case for the new iPad. This case actually showed up before the announcement, with the box clearly marked “for iPad 3rd Generation.” While Targus has a full line of cases specifically for the new iPad, the Versavu (US$59.99) is a multi-tasker that should please just about any iPad owner.

To start with, the Versavu is a sharp-looking iPad case — it comes in a pair of two-tone models (white and gray, pink and gray) and two solid color models (gray, black). The exterior is made of a soft-touch material that is easy to clean, but feels almost like cloth. For Moleskine fans, there’s a black elastic cord that keeps the case closed in transit. If you use a stylus with your iPad, Targus even includes an exterior elastic tube for holding it in place. If you’re looking for a way to turn the iPad on and off with the case, that’s not going to happen — there are no magnets to do the task.

But the one feature that really sets the Versavu apart from other cases is the ability to rotate the iPad. You can choose to spin it 360° if you wish, but most iPad owners will just use the swivel to move the case between landscape and portrait orientations.

The iPad is held in place in a hard TPU shell. The new iPad was easy to install and remove from that shell, meaning that Targus had access to dimensions well in advance of the 3rd-generation iPad announcement. Once your iPad is in place, there are three tilt angles at which you can set the case.

Like most Targus products, the Versavu is well-made, reasonably priced, and looks good. Owners of the newest iPad can’t go wrong selecting this case to protect their investment.

Kensington KeyFolio Pro 2 (removable keyboard, case and stand)

While the Versavu was designed and built specifically for the new iPad, the Kensington KeyFolio Pro 2 (US$99.99) works with both the iPad 2 and the newer model. It’s a real multi-tasker, providing protection, a stand, and a removable Bluetooth keyboard in a folio-type case.

The KeyFolio Pro 2 is a bit thicker than the Versavu thanks to the keyboard. The exterior is made of what I believe is leather — at least it smells like leather. Part of that exterior has a nice rough surface for gripping, which will be helpful to anyone who had an iPad slip out of his or her hand. As with the Versavu, there’s an elastic band to keep the case closed. Using a leather bezel cover to hold the iPad in place, the KeyFolio Pro 2 has a soft backing to avoid scratching your preciouussss.

The keyboard is held into place in the case using strong magnets. The magnets that hold the keyboard in place don’t work to turn your iPad on and off. When the keyboard is removed, you can use it in the most comfortable position for your needs. The case includes a USB to micro-USB cable for charging the battery.

As with the Adonit Writer 2 Plus keyboard, the KeyFolio Pro 2 keyboard is excellent for typing. While neither of the keyboards are as wide as the Apple Wireless Keyboard, both provide excellent typing feedback and within minutes I found myself typing at a surprisingly fast rate with uncanny accuracy. Check out the video below for some details of the KeyFolio Pro 2, and then be sure to enter the giveaway for one of these two great cases for your new iPad.

The Bottom Line

The Targus Versavu and Kensington KeyFolio Pro 2 are targeted for slightly different markets, but both are well-designed cases from longtime Apple accessory powerhouses. Whether you just want a stylish case/stand to hold your new baby, or need a Bluetooth keyboard built in for fast typing, the Versavu and KeyFolio Pro 2 are there to fit your needs.

My personal choice of the two would be the Versavu. It’s very good looking and since I don’t use an external keyboard with the iPad, it would provide the stylish protection I want while acting as a versatile stand.

The Giveaway

Of course, I don’t keep the items that I get for reviews here at TUAW. Since I now have a way to do giveaways again, I’m going to let two lucky readers get their hands on either the Versavu or the KeyFolio Pro 2. All you need to do is fill out the form below, and we’ll pick two random winners from the entries. Here are the rules:

• Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
• To enter, click fill out the form below completely and click the submit button.
• Your entry must be made before Friday, March 23, 2012, 11:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time.
• You may enter only once.
• Two winners will be selected in a random drawing. One will receive a Targus Versavu case valued at US$59.99, while the other receives a Kensington KeyFolio Pro 2 keyboard case valued at $99.99.
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

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Sweet Targus and Kensington cases for your new iPad – Enter to win originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It probably wasn’t Mike Daisey’s fabricated “theatrical work” that moved Apple to work on improving working conditions for employees at overseas suppliers, but even if it wasn’t, the company is doing a great job of making good on their plans to help those employees.

Apple is providing monthly updates on its Supplier Responsibility web pages to let the public know how they’re doing. The current focus is on making sure that people aren’t working ridiculously long hours, one issue that has been implicated in the past suicides of some Foxconn employees. Apple’s guidelines state that employees should work less than 60 hours per week, and the company reported that for January, the compliance rate with the guideline as 84 percent.

For February, there was a noticeable increase in compliance, with the rate bumping up to 89 percent. Among 500,000 workers, the average workweek was an almost-comfortable 48 hours. As we’ve noted before here on TUAW, Apple is working with the Fair Labor Association to perform audits of working and living conditions for many of the employees working for Foxconn and other suppliers.

As 2012 progresses, we look forward to seeing Apple moving ahead in the area of labor and human rights.

[via Macworld]

Apple updates report on supplier working conditions originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fantastical by Flexibits has been updated to version 1.2.2 to address, among other things, Gatekeeper support in Apple’s forthcoming Mountain Lion.

Fantastical is a fantastic tool for the Mac that I’ve been using for quite a while (here’s our comparison of Fantastical and Today). It lives unobtrusively in your Menu Bar and offers fast, natural language creation of calendar events. You can also use it to edit existing appointments, browse what you’ve got scheduled and sync with iCal, BusyCal, Entourage, or Outlook.

Version 1.2.2 prepares the app for Gatekeeper, allows for vertical resizing of the event list (Lion only) and adds notes to search results, which I appreciate. There’s more, of course, and you’ll find the full release notes here.

Fantastical requires Mac OS X 10.6+ and is available for $19.99. This is a free update for existing users.

Fantastical 1.2.2 available, prepares for Mountain Lion’s Gatekeeper originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s two big things I really don’t like about Sky Defenders. First, the game is basically a reskinned clone of the much better Tilt to Live, so if for some strange reason you still haven’t played that one yet, go ahead and download the original and see how this “reactive shooter” genre is done. The second issue I have with Sky Defenders is that the game depends heavily on Facebook integration, so much so that when it first starts up, you’re asked to log into Facebook right away, though you can still get into the game by hitting a small, gray “Play Offline” button. I really dislike being so pressured to be social — maybe that’s a reality for the developers, but if I was just coming along to this game without knowing what it was, I probably wouldn’t have gotten any farther than the Facebook login before I gave up.

All of that said, there is fun to be had here, especially today, as the game is currently available for free. You play as a superhero, and just like the aforementioned Tilt to Live, you use the tilt controls to slide around the screen, grabbing and using powerups against waves and waves of invading robots and trying to score points inside a time limit. The graphics are definitely colorful and polished, and there are quite a few different powers to try and a nice bit of depth to gameplay. There are freemium powerups to explore as well, but they come across as very spammy. Fortunately, the app just had an update that upped the amount of credits you earn just by playing, which makes the powerups a little more useful.

Of course, most of that is sadly “borrowed” from Tilt to Live. But if you really love Tilt to Live and could use a little different spin on things, Sky Defenders is a free download right now.

Daily iPhone App: Sky Defenders originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cocos2D is an open source framework that developers can use, along with Apple’s Xcode software, to help build 2D iPhone games and apps for the App Store. A lot of popular titles are built with this framework, so many that I can guarantee you that you’ve played some of them.

CocosBuilder is another tool for developers. It is a graphical interface for setting up all of the various sprites and widgets used in Cocos2D. And not only has CocosBuilder just released version 1.1, but it’s now been made open source, which means anyone can download and use it to build scenes for Cocos2D.

The app’s creator, Viktor Lidholt, says he’s been hired full time by Zynga to build and grow CocosBuilder, so we expect even more updates. Unfortunately, this isn’t the kind of thing you can still just jump in on. While Cocos2D makes things relatively simple for developers, it requires a solid working knowledge of both Apple’s Xcode software and the Objective-C language. It’s not quite as easy as a graphical SDK like Gamesalad, and CocosBuilder is still in beta, with all of the issues that come along with that.

But it’s still a great tool for devs using Cocos2D, and the fact that it’s now officially open source should be a nice boon for those interested. CocosBuilder can be downloaded directly from the site.

CocosBuilder 1.1 beta out now, open sourced by Zynga originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Anthony Kay takes unboxing to a whole new level. There’s no video, no jazzy music, and no wild photos. He has a simple unboxing method that examines Apple’s stellar product packaging.

Kay points out that packaging is often overlooked by most companies, yet the box “really is part of the overall experience of owning a product, starting before you even purchase right until the moment you finish unpacking and start using it.”

You can follow his detailed look at the iPad’s packaging on his Posterous site.

[Via The Loop]

Apple’s beautiful packaging originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not long ago, I wrote a post about using your older iPad as an extra television. Following up on that post, our beloved leader Victor asked if I could suggest other things to do with out-of-generation iPads other than sell them for cash.

Of course, handing them over to another family member is one of our favorite ways to redeploy older devices. Beyond that, there’s a lot you can do with something this versatile.

An iPad can make a beautiful art installation and a unique wall clock in addition to acting as a recipe station and instant reference library. Our favorite wall mount of the moment was written up over at Glasshouse Apps by Graham Clarke. He created a foldaway kitchen-friendly installation that keeps his iPad in instant reach.

Other readers shared a variety of installations. Irene wrote that she mounted her older iPad behind an aquarium, running a fishes app on the iPad. Other readers like Raphael have created in-vehicle entertainment systems. He writes, “Getting an iPad or iPad 2 hinged-mounted on the ceiling [offers] a cheaper alternative, providing anything from transferred movies or streaming Netflix or SlingPlayer, or other apps.” And of course, there’s the Angry Birds arcade station lovingly created with an original iPad.

So how are you using your previous generation iPads? Tell us in the comments and help inspire some ways to make the most of these devices without passing them out of the household.

Things to do with your iPad other than sell it originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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According to a rumor from SprintFeed, Sprint will soon let iPhone owners purchase Total Equipment Protection coverage for their iPhone. The service plan is an alternative to AppleCare+ which must added to your iPhone within 30 days of purchase.

The current TEP plans at Sprint cost US$8 per month and cover mechanical as well as accidental damage, loss or theft. SprintFeed doesn’t know if the new iPhone plans will have different terms and conditions which would raise the cost or the deductible. The TEP plan will have to be priced competitively with AppleCare+ which costs a flat $99 fee and lets you send in your damaged iPhone twice during the life of the plan. Each AppleCare+ claim has a $49 deductible.

[Via Electronista]

Sprint reportedly working on iPhone warranty originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple today announced it has sold three million new
iPad devices since its launch on Friday, March 16. “The new iPad is a blockbuster with three million sold ? the strongest iPad launch yet,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

The new iPad — the third generation of the category-defining mobile device — arrived at Apple’s Retail Stores and the Apple Online Store on Friday, March 16 at 8:00 a.m. local time in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, and the UK; along with Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Beginning at a suggested retail price of $499 (US), the new iPad features a stunning Retina display, Apple’s A5X chip with quad-core graphics, and a 5-megapixel iSight camera with advanced optics for capturing amazing photos and 1080p HD video. And iPad 2 is now available at a more affordable price, starting at just $399.

In his review of the new iPad, AllThingsD’s Walt Mossberg describes viewing the Retina display as “like getting a new eyeglasses prescription — you suddenly realize what you thought looked sharp before wasn’t nearly as sharp as it could be.” He praises the performance of the iPad as “buttery smooth,” and he writes that he “loves” the photos he took with the new 5-megapixel camera. Mossberg concludes, “Since it launched in 2010, the iPad has been the best tablet on the planet. With the new, third-generation model, it still holds that crown.”

Ed Baig of USA Today reviews the new iPad and declares that it “snatches the crown from its predecessor as the finest tablet you can buy. Period.” Baig calls the new Retina display “spectacular” and points out that the screen is “sharper than your high-definition television.” He also lauds the built-in battery, which allowed him to use it for an entire day without recharging. And he points out that Apple “continues to claim a huge advantage over Android and other tablet rivals” with its apps ecosystem.

Apple today introduced the new iPad — the third generation of its category-defining mobile device — featuring a stunning new Retina display, Apple’s new A5X chip with quad-core graphics, and a 5-megapixel iSight camera with advanced optics for capturing incredible photos and 1080p HD video. iPad with Wi-Fi + 4G connects to fast networks worldwide, including AT&T’s and Verizon’s 4G LTE networks, and still delivers the same all-day 10-hour battery life while remaining amazingly thin and light. The new iPad will be available in black or white through the Apple Online Store and in Apple Retail stores on Friday, March 16, beginning at $499 (US). Customers can begin pre-ordering their new iPad today on the Apple Online Store. Also beginning today, iPad 2 will be offered at an even more affordable price, starting at just $399 (US).