Iphone Updates

Filed under: Humor, Odds and ends, Found Footage, Holidays

No, not really.

The guys at Apple retailer and repair shop BeamEcho in Toronto, Ontario, Canada decided to make a horror epic for the ages and came up with the ultimate nightmare: a Mac virus. Just in time for Halloween, TUAW presents their very scary film. The production values are just what you’d expect for a shooting budget of $6. Watch this one with lights on, kids…

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Filed under: Internet Tools

Netflix has been talking about bringing its “Watch Instantly” movie streaming service to the Mac for a long time, and now Engadget is reporting that they’re finally beginning to roll it out. The “Watch Instantly” service allows unlimited Netflix subscribers to stream about 12,000 TV shows and movies to their computers (or set-top devices), but has been limited to Windows PCs since the service first appeared.

Ironically, this is being made possible thanks to Microsoft’s Flash-wannabe Silverlight browser plugin. As we noted way back in 2007, the holdup was the need for Microsoft DRM on the streaming videos and the new Silverlight-based player incorporates Microsoft’s Play Ready DRM.

Unfortunately, the initial roll-out is limited, but Netflix expects to bring “the new platform to all Netflix subscribers by the end of the year.” Sadly for PPC owners, it will be limited to Intel Macs. Nonetheless, it’s great to see Netflix finally coming through on the promise of Watch Instantly for Mac users.

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Helps remove fingerprints, dust, makeup and more from your phone’s screen

The Parrot Minikit Slim is a portable Bluetooth hands-free kit sporting a profiled, sleek design.

Filed under: Software, Internet Tools, Open Source, TUAW Labs

I was really disappointed when Google released their Chrome web browser for Windows only. When it comes to browsers, I’ve tried them all. Right now I regularly switch between Firefox and the latest nightly build from Webkit (essentially Safari). Firefox has the extensibility I rely on, while Webkit has the performance I crave. I had hoped that Chrome would magically combine those two crucial traits and become my new go-to browser. Unfortunately, Chrome is not yet nearly as extensible as Firefox, and isn’t available for Mac (yet).

So imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon the latest experimental Firefox build from Mozilla, called Minefield. This Minefield should not be confused with the unofficial optimized builds of Firefox that Brett wrote about, which are also referred to as Minefield. Minefield is Mozilla’s code-name for this generation of Firefox, and the code name is used for unofficial builds to avoid infringing upon the Firefox name.

So, what’s so special about the Mozilla Minefield build? It’s fast… smokin’ fast. This is essentially a version of Firefox with the new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine under the hood, and as Ars Technica reports, it tests even faster than Google’s V8 JavaScript engine.

As most Mac users have noted, Firefox is kind of pokey on the Mac platform, particularly compared with WebKit or even Safari, and even when compared with Firefox on a similarly spec’d Windows machine. Version 3 of Firefox was supposed to fix the performance problem, and while it’s somewhat better, it’s still not great.

Well, Minefield is great. Using Gmail or even a complex content management system is a breath of fresh air. I feel like my web apps are finally keeping up with me.

There’s one caveat, and it’s a big one: though the current version number is 3.1b2pre (the “b” denoting beta status), this is really alpha software. That means there will be bugs, and you will experience problems. Surprisingly, though, Minefield has been very stable in my testing — not yet crashing in a full day of testing. I have restarted it a couple of times due to suspicion that something strange was going on, but I can’t say for sure if it was.

If you use it with your regular Firefox profile rather than creating a new one, Minefield will complain that most of your extensions are not compatible. Using Nightly Tester Tools, I re-enabled all of the extensions that it disabled, and every single one of them appears to be working normally, even the complicated ones like Better Gmail 2 and TabMixPlus.

I’ve only had a problem with one site so far, but unfortunately it’s a big one: Google Docs. The page simply won’t load. But for now, I’m willing to open WebKit or Camino to edit my Google Docs, because I’m just too smitten with the raw speed that Minefield offers.

One last note: being a nightly build, you will likely find that new versions are available, well, nightly. Mozilla makes the process of upgrading to the latest version virtually painless by using the built-in version monitoring process that Firefox uses.

[via Ubuntu Unleashed]

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Filed under: Internet Tools, Reviews, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Update 2: Box.net will work with first generation iPod Touch units. The team is going to push an update very soon to make this visible on the app description page. You can download the program right now and it is fully compatible with all iPhone and iPod Touch units.

Update: Box.net is looking into why its new app is not working with first generation iPod Touch units and hopes to push out an update soon. We’ll keep you posted!

I love Box.net — the online file storage system that makes it easy to store and share files with other users quickly and easily. A couple of years ago, TUAW wrote up how to use Box.net as an iDisk (and this still works), but now the Box team has made it even easier to access your files while on the go, with the new Box.net iPhone app.

The app, which is compatible with the iPhone and the second generation iPod Touch (sorry 1st Gen touch users!), is simply awesome. Box.net already had an iPhone friendly mobile interface at i.box.net, but while you could access some files from that page, you couldn’t play back media and document viewing was more limited. The new application means you can play back audio and video (assuming the file is compatible with the iPhone 2.1′s firmware support for QuickTime), view PDF or Office files, view photos, and upload photos from your iPhone or iPod Touch directly to Box.net.

Even nicer, the Box.net app integrates directly with your address book, so you can share a folder or individual document with a contact, just by clicking the “Share” button and selecting the contact from the address book. The application also notifies you of any updates or changes made to your box, which is great for individuals who collaborate with other users using a Box.net account.

I have a free Box.net account (which limits me to 1 GB of storage space and puts a 25 MB cap on file sizes), but I was able to access all my files and documents with ease. On my iPod Touch, Box.net loaded PDF files faster than some other tools I have used for PDF viewing, though I did find that network activity did impact overall speed. When the bridged router I use with my non-802.11n devices was in heavy use, it could take quite some time to load a large PDF. When the G router was idle, load time was almost non-existent, even for 8 or 9 MB files.

I don’t have an iPhone, so I cannot vouch for EDGE or 3G speeds — but over WiFi, speed was solid.

The interface of this app, as you can see from the gallery, is just superb. It perfectly matches both the Box.net website and the iPhone user interface guidelines. Maneuvering through files was a cinch and I love the integration with the address book for sharing files or folders. Being able to upload photos directly to Box.net is also pretty great.

If there was anything that could be on my wishlist, it would be the ability to upload other types of tiles to Box.net as well. Of course, you can always e-mail uploads to Box.net, so this isn’t an absolute necessity.

Box.net is free and available from the App Store now.

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Filed under: Software, Odds and ends

The Big Mean Folder Machine is a useful tool from publicspace.net (developers of the indispensable A Better Finder Rename 8) that takes the drudgery out of either splitting files into multiple folders or merging files from different folders.

Why would you want to do either of these tasks? Let’s say you’re trying to back up 30 GB of photographs to DVD. You can either start dragging files to a folder and keep checking with Get Info to see if the folder size is less than the writable size of a DVD, or you can just have BMFM automagically split the group of files into folders that are perfectly sized for DVD burning. Or let’s say that you want to take individual folders for former clients and turn them all into one big “Former Client Archive” folder. It’s easy to merge all of the files in those different folders into one big archive folder. The Big Mean Folder Machine takes care of file name conflicts in that case.

Version 1.5 adds the ability to create deeper hierarchy levels (dependent on the number of files per level) and restores MP3/AAC functionality. A trial version limited to 100 files is available for download, or you can buy the application for $14.99.

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Filed under: TUAW Business, Podcasts

Last week on the talkcast, Christina led a lively discussion of the laptop announcements, the lack of Firewire on the MacBook, and more. You can listen in via the Talkshoe page, or download the show in iTunes / via RSS.

Be so kind as to join us tomorrow 10/25 at 10 pm ET for this week’s live show, hosted by me and featuring a special guest — he’s a mild-mannered industry analyst by day, a tech columnist by night… our friend Ross Rubin will be joining us, as we delve into the astonishing impact of the iPhone on Apple’s bottom line and the wireless market at large. Has our favorite computer company truly gotten past the Mac?

You can join the conversation on TalkShoe by using the shiny browser-only client; you can also use the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client that we all know and love. For the web UI, just click the “TalkShoe Web” button on our profile page at 10 pm Sunday. You can also listen in on the Talkshoe page or call in on regular phone or VOIP lines: dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 — during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *-8. Talk with you then!

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Filed under: iLife, Software, Freeware

While most people are probably satisfied to send their photos from iPhoto through their Gmail accounts using Mail, some people would rather have a more direct option. For example, sending large files through Mail seems to be no problem for me, yet from the same network with exactly the same settings, my wife’s Mail chokes and spits and frequently fails when she tries to send a bunch (or even a few) pictures from iPhoto.

Tired of playing with her SMTP settings and getting everything working for one message, just to have it fail on the next one, I finally went in search of a more direct approach. My wife and I are both “switchers,” and back in Windows we were used to Picasa, which has the ability to send photos via a Gmail account built-in. Makes sense, since Google owns Picasa, but that’s exactly what I was looking hoping to get iPhoto to do.

In my searches I came across an iPhoto plugin called iPhoto2Gmail. When I tried it last week, it hung my iPhoto instance every time I tried it and I had to force quit iPhoto. I gave up on iPhoto2Gmail, but couldn’t find anything else. In desperation, I went back to have another look at iPhoto2Gmail and discovered that it had been updated to version 1.0. Crossing my fingers, I gave it a try, and… it works great!

Though I don’t need it on my machine, I really like the direct simplicity of sending my photos from right inside iPhoto, and I think I’ll continue to use iPhoto2Gmail. If you’ve been struggling with sending photos through a Gmail account, this might be a useful option for you.

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Filed under: Airport, Software Update

Now you see it, now you don’t — and now it’s back. The very brief tenure of AirPort Extreme Update 2008-003 (it was available on Tuesday for a while, but then withdrawn) has given way to the shining reign of update 004. The update is a 2.2 MB patch recommended for all Intel machines on 10.5.5, resolving “some issues with Airport connections when roaming in large WiFi networks.”

Some of the commenters who installed the earlier build didn’t experience any obvious ill effects; others reported installation hangs, lockups on reboot or problems connecting to wireless LANs, so your mileage may vary — with any luck the new build has a steadier grip on stability.

You can download the new update via Software Update or (shortly) from the Apple support downloads page.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in

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Filed under: Gaming, TUAW Business

If you wind up finding a shiny new iPhone, iPod touch or appropriate gift card in the holiday containment vessel of your particular cultural persuasion, Freeverse and TUAW want to hook you up with some games for said device. Freeverse is giving a promo code for Flick Fishing, Flick Bowling and Moto Chaser to one lucky entrant.

Just enter us a comment below telling us the game you wish was in the App Store — who knows, it might just happen. But we’re guessing it won’t, because we have no control over wish fulfillment. This is a giveaway for those 3 Freeverse games. You could just as well type “noonan” into the entry form and be entered for the giveaway. But we prefer wishes. Rules below, and good luck!

• Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
• To enter leave a comment telling us what game you wish were available on the iTunes App Store.
• The comment must be left before December 29, 11:59PM Eastern Time.
• You may enter only once.
• One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: Three promo codes for 3 iPhone games (Flick Fishing, Flick Bowling, Moto Chaser) not to exceed $15 in value.
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

TUAWWin three games from Freeverse originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Humor, Multimedia, Found Footage

We’re late to the party on this one, but it absolutely still deserves attention. Created by Nick Greenlee as a short visual effects piece, this video depicts what would happen if Apple and Windows laptops were sentient Transformer robots who wanted to destroy each other.

This could be a whole new spin on the “I’m A Mac” tv ads. What would John Hodgman transform into? I imagine a slide rule functioning as his prime weapon. As for Justin Long … he’d overwhelm enemies with The Smugness.

Nice work, Nick. It’s a great video.

[Via TechEBlog]

TUAWMac vs. PC – More than meets the eye originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Multimedia, Software, iTunes, Beta Beat

Back in September, we started hearing rumblings that RIM was developing native OS X utilities for Mac BlackBerry users. Finally, RIM has released a preview version (on 12/19) of its BlackBerry Media Sync utility for OS X. It’s no Desktop Manager, but at least it is a start.

BlackBerry Media Sync is designed to let you easily sync iTunes playlists (minus any DRM files) with your BlackBerry device. In August, PocketMac added a similar feature to its software, which is available for free from RIM’s web site for all BlackBerry owners.

Basically, BlackBerry Media Sync will let you use your BlackBerry as an iPod shuffle (again, with the caveat that any iTunes DRM songs will not transfer to your BlackBerry). You can sync specific playlists or just have the free space automatically filled by your music collection.

There are some things you need to be aware of:

• If you have another BlackBerry syncing utility, like PocketMac or The Missing Sync installed, it will stop working after installing BlackBerry Media Sync. You will need to uninstall BlackBerry Media Sync and probably reinstall your other software to regain functionality.
• It is slow. At least in my tests, syncing using the BlackBerry Media Sync app was slower than just dragging an album/playlist over to the BlackBerry’s Music folder in Finder.
• When you sync, it seems to re-transfer playlists all over again, even if they haven’t changed.

Still, we finally have a native RIM utility for OS X. Hopefully a full-fledged Desktop Manager is in the future.

Thanks Justen!

TUAWBeta Beat: BlackBerry Media Sync for OS X originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Graphic Design, App Store

If, like me, you do a lot of your font shopping at FontShop, you’re sure to love FontShuffle.

FontShuffle is like having a copy of the indispensable FontShop catalog right on your iPhone or iPod touch. I know my dog-eared copy from 2002 needs to be updated and/or retired: FontShuffle is a nifty, free replacement. It’s ideal for situations where you know what look you want, but don’t know what font to use.

FontShuffle lets you choose from six major classifications of type: sans serif, serif, slab serif, script, blackletter, and display. Tap one, and FontShuffle shows you six more sub-categories to choose from. Tap one of those, and you’re presented with six selections from the FontShop catalog based on the look you selected.

If none of the fonts fit the bill, press “Shuffle” or simply shake the device to get six more fonts. Tapping a font lets you view a customizable string of text in that font, and even save a picture of the text to your device’s camera roll. Rotating the screen displays a specimen.

Unfortunately, FontShuffle can be frustrating if you know what font you’re looking for, as there’s no search tool. You have to shuffle through page after page of fonts until it comes up in a random selection. Also, FontShuffle doesn’t contain FontShop’s entire catalog. They promise to add more fonts in upcoming versions.

FontShuffle is free, and available from the App Store. It’s a must-have for any type geek or designer that needs a font reference handy.

TUAWFirst Look: FontShuffle puts FontShop in your pocket originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 22 Dec 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

The iPhone can certainly make life easier on a number of levels, and that has greatly increased with the advent of the App Store. There are thousands of selections for every taste, even bad taste. In 2007 Steve Jobs told us web based apps would do the trick, but he finally relented and we all benefited from the tremendous success and variety of the App Store.

So, without further ado, here are some little apps you may have missed that have made my i-life better.

• Backgrounds [App Store link] A nice little app that points you to large collections of wallpaper for your iPhone or iPod touch. You can select a category such as Movies or Nature, and browse away till you find something you like. When you are happy, download the image and it will show up in your camera roll. Do the usual tap, and select it as wallpaper and you are ready to go. The pictures are generally of very high quality, and are sourced from Flickr. The developers claim about 50,000 images are there for the downloading. The app is free, although some unobtrusive ads do show up on the margins of the images. There are a lot of other ways to find iPhone wallpaper, but this is quick, easy and free. I like it.
• Open Table [App Store link] Using your GPS (if your iPhone has one), or simply by giving your location, find the nearest restaurants that have, you guessed it, open tables. Then click on the time you want, and you have a reservation. It doesn’t get any easier than that. It works in many U.S. cities, and in London, Toronto and Vancouver B.C. I gave it a go here in Southern Arizona, and found many restaurants with tables available You can set up an account at the Open Table website, but it is not required. Without an account you can select the restaurant, the time you want, and give your name, email, and phone number. Then click on ‘confirm’ and you are good to go. If you do sign up for a free account with Open Table, you can collect ‘Dining Reward Points’ when you book a meal at a member restaurant. Collect enough points and you can get some hefty discounts off your next dinner. Open Table also works on the iPod touch. Things that should be added are search by type of cuisine, and I think there should be a direct link to restaurant websites. Open Table is free.
• Distant Suns [App Store link] I love to star gaze, and here in Arizona we get about 300 clear nights a year. There are several nice star map programs for the iPhone, but I am very partial to Distant Suns written by Mike Smithwick. This program goes way back to a PC version in 1985, and there have been Mac ports for OS9 and now there is an OS X version. The iPhone/ iPod touch version is scaled down from the big computer versions, but has excellent graphics, location awareness, and does the math to tell you what is visible at the moment and what is not. It is an impressive way to explore the universe above you. Distant Suns is $5.99 and well worth it.

TUAWLittle apps I like for the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 22 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Macworld, Rumors, iPhone

Rumors of a smaller “iPhone nano” have been flying around the blogosphere since mid-summer. Earlier this month, a TUAW post detailed how a Chinese manufacturer was allegedly starting production of a case for a diminutive iPhone.

Now a source that has accurately leaked information about the iPhone 3G and 4G iPod nano has jumped into the fray. XSKN began selling iPhone 3G cases in mid-May of 2008, almost 2 months prior to the release of the 3G. In early September, XSKN was showing off new 4th Generation iPod nano cases.

The XSKN site is currently showing a heading for the iPhone nano (see screenshot at right), although there are no actual cases displayed. Given the track record of this manufacturer for inadvertently or deliberately spilling the beans, this might be pointing towards an announcement of the iPhone nano during the Philnote at Macworld Expo 2009.

Since TUAW readers are the smartest and best-looking Apple fans on the planet, I thought I’d ask your opinion on whether or not the iPhone nano is going to become reality soon. Take our iPhone nano poll and give us your thoughts on the mini-me of the iPhone world.

Update: Sharp-eyed reader William went to http://www.iphonenano.com, and lo and behold the URL resolves to the Apple iPhone web page!

[via MacRumours]

TUAWCase manufacturer XSKN spilling the beans on iPhone nano? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Trism pulls in $250k

There’s definitely money to be made from iPhone applications, if you develop something that is approved and promoted by Apple and becomes popular. Steve Demeter has reportedly made $250k over the space of two months from his casual game Trism. “Apple has made it so easy to put [game publishing] in the palms of developers,” Steve said to CNN. “You just make it and then you submit it to Apple. If you have a relevant, fun game or application, I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t be approved.” (Via G4TV

Another solution to the limited Bluetooth functionality of the iPhone is RXS’s Bluetooth adaptor for the iPhone and iPod. Supporting A2DP and AVRCP profiles, music can be streamed from the iPhone to any Bluetooth accessory. The BTM-3303 adaptor features a remote control for playing, pausing and skipping tracks, and has an operating range of up to 10 metres. It operates from the connected device’s power…

Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, First Look

Google has ported Google Earth to the iPhone or iPod touch, and it’s such an impressive app that it deserves an Apple ad of its own.

The interface for Google Earth will be familiar instantly to anyone who has used an iPhone for more than a couple of hours. Upon launching the app, you see a photo of the Earth from space. To zoom in, you can either double-tap or use the “reverse-pinch” gesture on the screen. Swiping a finger left, right, up, or down moves the display in the chosen direction, and a two-finger rotation turns the display clockwise or counter-clockwise. There are icons on the display (see screenshot at right) for search, using your current location, changing settings, and realigning the display to North.

Things get more interesting when you tilt your iPhone; the display goes from a flat, satellite-eye view to a 3D-like image. If you’re near mountainous terrain, you get a true sense of the topographical features of the land. On many screens you’ll see Wikipedia icons, which link you to related Wikipedia articles. Read the rest of this post for more details and a gallery of screenshots.

Continue reading First Look: Google Earth for iPhone

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Filed under: Software, Universal Binary, Deals

Update 10/28: Welcome, Digg fans. CodeWeavers’ site is getting crunched under the massive demand for the free versions of CrossOver, so there is now a minimal site at down.codeweavers.com that will accept your email address; you will be mailed your registration code in the next couple of days.

— original post below —

Three months ago, CodeWeavers CEO Jeremy White offered a challenge to another CEO — the nation’s chief executive, George W. Bush. If the president achieved one of White’s six “Lame Duck” goals during the twilight of his 2nd term, White would make Windows-API enabler & WINE GUI CrossOver free to customers for one day. Some considered White’s proposal a great motivational tool for GWB; others found it smug, partisan and kind of a goofy way to promote the company’s products, but in any event none of his six challenges seemed to be on the path to achievement, so that’s where the story should have ended. CrossOver is a fine way to run Windows apps on your Mac, but as a force for political change, not so much.

Then a funny thing happened on the way to January 20th: due to global economic conditions and through no fault of the president, the price of crude oil dropped precipitously and the cost of gasoline moved in parallel… bringing the average price per gallon in Minneapolis down to the target $2.79 level called for in White’s goal #1. Can anyone say “Taco?”

The Star-Tribune is reporting that White is planning to follow through on his pledge: on Tuesday 10/28, all CodeWeavers products (CrossOver Mac, Linux & Games) will be freely downloadable. One license per customer, and we assume that the free licenses will be for the standard versions of the apps. Update: Word from CodeWeavers execs is that the free license will be for a download-only flavor of the Pro version (!), including the Games optimized build and the option to share a Windows ‘bottle’ among multiple users on the same machine. You will have to choose either the Mac or Linux product for your free copy (and I’m looking forward to the stats on that split once the dust settles). Pro licenses are eligible for support/update renewals after one year for $35.

You might argue with White’s politics or his promotional instincts, but you can’t argue with free software. CrossOver Mac normally retails for $40 and requires an Intel machine running either Tiger or Leopard.

Update 2: A number of commenters have pointed out that the original challenge rules said the giveaway day would be on the first of the month following the goal, meaning Nov. 1 instead of Oct. 28. CodeWeavers’ press release confirms that the giveaway day will be 10/28 and not 11/1. The giveaway runs from midnight to midnight CST.

Thanks Austin!

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My Little Tank

Astraware continues to find high-quality games for the iPhone with the launch of Binoteq’s “My Little Tank” arcade game. The concept is simple — destroy enemy tanks and bases, and protect your own. There are 80 levels to try and get through over a range of detailed terrain. Power-ups enable your tank to get stronger and there are various missions to complete. The game sits on the border between casual and arcade game. The tank can be controlled either by tapping the screen, using the accelerometer by tilting the iPhone, or selecting the virtual on-screen D-Pad. Here’s a video demo of the game. Available for $4.99 from the iTunes Store…

Every so often someone decides to file a lawsuit against Apple because — well, because it’s Apple, it seems. While normal people buying products from other manufacturers — heck, even normal people buying Apple gear — would simply check out a piece of kit before buying it, or at least return it for a replacement if damaged, it seems this isn’t good enough for one New York resident. We’ll leave aside the “defective 3G” and “not twice as fast” parts of this lawsuit (yes, it comes in multiple parts, folks) because we’ve already been there and got the T-shirt. Instead, let’s look at the accusation that Apple knowingly and wantonly shipped defective iPhones with hairline cracks in the casing…

While details are sketchy, Japan’s telecoms company NTT DoCoMo has announced that it is to develop and launch a mobile phone based on the Google-developed open source Android mobile operating system next year. The two companies already work in partnership to put Google’s services on NTT’s “i-mode” Internet service…

Apple has finally released firmware version 2.2 for the iPhone, ready to download via iTunes. As usual, it’s a fairly hefty download, so beef up your broadband connection for the 246MB ride. Once done, you’ll get some nifty new features. How useful they are depends on how you use the iPhone, of course. Google Maps has finally been updated to include Street View, public transport, and walking directions (let’s hear it for non-drivers – hmm, just me then?), displaying the address of dropped pins, and sharing location via email…

Gameloft has released three new games on the iPhone store: CSI Miami, Uno!, and TV Show King.

CSI Miami

“A young woman is found dead on South Beach – join the CSIs in Miami and lead the investigation in the official mobile game of the popular TV series.” Features crime scenes, autopsies, interrogation, evidence gathering, scientific investigation tools, and analysis. A must for CSI-loving iPhone users. CSI Miami: £3.49

Uno!

The classic card game recreated on the iPhone, Uno! features a multiplayer mode and all the regular gameplay of the original. Uno!: £4.99…

Nokia has finally delivered a smartphone handset which easily rivals the iPhone 3G. On paper, the specs are amazing. Let’s take a closer look, with what we know so far, and see whether it’s an iPhone killer or not. Should Apple be worried?

Look & Feel

The Nokia N97 measures 117.2 (L) x 55.3 (W) x 15.9mm (D) compared to the iPhone 3G’s 115.5 (H) x 62.1 (W) x 12.3mm (D); the N97 weighs 150g compared to the iPhone 3G’s 133g. All pretty similar. The N97 obviously has the slide out QWERTY keyboard and features a tilting touchscreen, whereas the iPhone 3G is a single, static unit.

Screen

The iPhone 3G’s 320 x 480 3:2 ratio screen is eclipsed by the Nokia N97′s true widescreen (16:9) 640 x 360 pixels. Both measure 3.5 inches diagonally. Nokia definitely wins on this one, as not only will TV/DVD based widescreen movies fill the whole screen, but there’s more resolution…

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Reviews, Macbook Pro, MacBook

As many TUAW readers know, I was dealt a bad hand with the last generation MacBook Pros, so I met the new MBPs with open arms. My first impression of the new machines: the new MacBook Pros are absolutely amazing, but not all of the changes are good (we’ll get to those in the second half of the review). Read on as I tackle each of the new features.

The New Design
I think Apple made a big improvement with the new laptop design. Overall, it is sleek and beautiful – the design is reminiscent of the MacBook Air, only thicker. Previous MacBook Pro generations had a physical latch mechanism for opening/closing the screen, but Apple has moved to the newer magnetic latch that can be found on both the MacBook Air and MacBook models.

Earlier generations of the MBP had two USB ports, but on opposite sides of the case. When you have cables coming out of both sides, it makes the system almost unusable as a notebook, and makes it look less attractive. Apple has changed this by moving all the ports to the left side of the machine, while the SuperDrive has been moved from the front to the right side. This is a big improvement.

How many people do you know who have successfully upgraded their MacBook Pros hard drive? On previous generations, this task was almost impossible due to the fact that you needed to disassemble the entire machine to reach the drive. Apple now has a door on the bottom that, when opened, gives you instant access to the removable battery and hard drive. You do have to remove the back of the machine to reach the RAM, but it only has a couple of screws.

The new casing feels sturdier when you pick it up; you can definitely feel a difference in the quality of material used to make the new MacBooks. This is largely due to Apple using the new “brick” manufacturing method. In addition, this casing makes the entire computer run cooler … in previous models, you could (almost) fry an egg on the back of the machine, but I haven’t noticed much heat being produced on the new machine.

Continue reading for the full review and pictures…

Continue reading TUAW Review: MacBook Pro (Late 2008)

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Filed under: Humor, Odds and ends, Found Footage, Holidays

No, not really.

The guys at Apple retailer and repair shop BeamEcho in Toronto, Ontario, Canada decided to make a horror epic for the ages and came up with the ultimate nightmare: a Mac virus. Just in time for Halloween, TUAW presents their very scary film. The production values are just what you’d expect for a shooting budget of $6. Watch this one with lights on, kids…

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24 Christmas Days from Gourmet Pixel is an advent calendar which can be used year after year, and makes use of several of the iPhone’s features to create an interactive, fun, and festive application. One of the features of the software is that you can’t open a particular window on the virtual calendar until at least that date. Fortunately, I’ve managed to take a sneak peek behind the scenes to bring you this review.

Look & Feel

Before December 1st arrives, a snow-filled screen appears introducing the application and telling you how many days there are left until you can open the first window. Once at the calendar screen, 24 windows (arranged as a four-by-six grid) appear. Tapping on a window before the date arrives greets you with a message that you’re too early. Otherwise, you’ll be greeted with a range of seasonal fare, including “cracker” jokes and fun facts, music, wallpaper, and a special little surprise once you get to the 24th December…

Steve Jobs made quite a big thing about the iPod Touch being made for gaming, and while the casual observer may simply have assumed that the only difference between the Touch and the iPhone was the ability to make and receive phone calls, it seems there’s a little more to it than that. According to Touch Arcade, new games coming into the App Store that are pushing the limits of the handset hardware are showing the second-generation iPod Touch performs better than the iPhone 3G. CEO of Handheld Games Corp, Thomas Fessler, has noted that TouchSports Tennis can be set to render more objects without causing performance issues on the second-gen Touch, whereas on the first generation Touch and some iPhones, it causes problems…

Another iPhone skin? Well, yes, but it’s always good to have a choice, isn’t it? This time, it’s an ultra-glossy silicone case from QDOS called the Jet Skin. It fits snugly around the iPhone 3G while still allowing access to all the ports, buttons, and the camera…

Nimbuzz has just announced its free messaging application for the iPhone and iPod touch, offering direct communication with most of the major instant messaging clients including Skype, Yahoo! Messenger, Facebook, MySpace, AIM, Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ and Jabber. Key features include the ability to chat in landscape mode, IM buddy calling, regional social network support, personal messaging that allows users to broadcast their status updates in real time, and information about who is online and where they are…

Following my review of 24 Christmas Days yesterday, I’m now going to take a look at Advent08 and provide a comparison. Advent08 has been developed by iHabitus.com and offers an advent calendar based on the true Christian dates for this year (Sunday 30th November through to Thursday 25th December) and featuring a mini “service” or devotional for each day.

Look & Feel

Advent08 has been inspired by the Book of Kells and the Lindisfarne Gospels, and as such has a very traditional, celtic look. The twenty-six doors are placed around a central cross, with each of the four Sundays (30th November, 8th, 15th, 22nd December) plus Christmas Day placed on the cross itself…

Yet again Apple has been stung by the Advertising Standards Authority over exaggerated claims of the iPhone 3G’s speed. The ASA obviously thought that the Great British public would be too stupid to assimilate the phrase “really fast” with the accompanying on-screen message “network performance will vary by location” to figure out that speed (like on any mobile or fixed broadband connection) would vary…

Yet again Apple has been stung by the Advertising Standards Authority over exaggerated claims of the iPhone 3G’s speed. The ASA obviously thought that the Great British public would be too stupid to assimilate the phrase “really fast” with the accompanying on-screen message “network performance will vary by location” to figure out that speed (like on any mobile or fixed broadband connection) would vary…

Aurora Feint II: The Arena

Following the huge success of the original and free Aurora Feint puzzle/strategy/MMORPG, the creators have developed Aurora Feint II: The Arena. Claiming it to be the first Asynchronous Massively Multi-Player World for the iPhone, it allows players to compete head-to-head with others, even when they’re not online at the same time…

Nokia has today announced the N97, its latest smartphone / mobile computer (use whichever term you prefer). It features an iPhone-rivalling 3.5-inch slide-and-tilt touchscreen plus a full QWERTY keyboard, multiple sensors, A-GPS with an electronic compass, Nokia Maps and Ovi, up to 48GB of storage (32GB onboard), Nokia Music Store support, five megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss Tesssar lens and dual LED camera flash/video light, DVD-quality video capture, and HSDPA / Wi-Fi connections…

“The 17-inch MacBook Pro is my main computer,” says Brian Cox. A particle physicist, Cox works at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, which scientists will soon use to try to recreate the “Big Bang.” Cox uses the Mac because it can run both UNIX for research and productivity apps for everything else. And he’s not alone. “When you look around a physics conference now,” he says, “you see more Macs than anything else.”

If you’re traveling this holiday season, be sure to take the Weather Channel with you. Yes, everyone’s favorite source for weather now takes to the road on iPhone and iPod touch. The Weather Channel app offers location-based weather, customizable weather maps, and severe weather alerts. You can even share a weather alert or forecast by emailing it from your iPhone or iPod touch.

Here’s a heads-up from Gameloft. Next month, the company will launch its most ambitious game for the iPhone yet. Hero of Sparta is an epic, full-3D odyssey adventure featuring “the most phenomenal monsters ever seen on a mobile screen”. Fight mythological monsters and take advantage of the iPhone’s touchscreen for performing move combos…

OneDisk is a re-branded version of A.I.Disk from Readdle, offering the ability for iPhone and iPod users to access their documents from MobileMe and other online storage services, transfer them, and share with others. It includes a built-in file viewer that can handle Microsoft Office, iWork and PDF documents, and any file stored with OneDisk can be quickly sent via email. Available from the App Store for $7.99.

Then you’ll enjoy the Forum Network Lectures brought to us by WGBH. In the mostly video lectures, we hear noted planetologists, mathematical physicists, authors, and biologists explore such subjects as the birth and death of stars, the canopy ecosystem of coastal redwoods, and time travel. Come and “entertain your brain” with the Cambridge Forum Network Lectures on iTunes U.

In Defiance, the four Bielski brothers (played by Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, and George MacKay) recruit Jewish refugees to the Belarussian forest, where they ultimately build a 1200-person strong force of resistance fighters. The film, directed by Edward Zwick (Blood Diamond, The Last Samurai), opens in theaters on December 31.

Filed under: Internet Tools

Netflix has been talking about bringing its “Watch Instantly” movie streaming service to the Mac for a long time, and now Engadget is reporting that they’re finally beginning to roll it out. The “Watch Instantly” service allows unlimited Netflix subscribers to stream about 12,000 TV shows and movies to their computers (or set-top devices), but has been limited to Windows PCs since the service first appeared.

Ironically, this is being made possible thanks to Microsoft’s Flash-wannabe Silverlight browser plugin. As we noted way back in 2007, the holdup was the need for Microsoft DRM on the streaming videos and the new Silverlight-based player incorporates Microsoft’s Play Ready DRM.

Unfortunately, the initial roll-out is limited, but Netflix expects to bring “the new platform to all Netflix subscribers by the end of the year.” Sadly for PPC owners, it will be limited to Intel Macs. Nonetheless, it’s great to see Netflix finally coming through on the promise of Watch Instantly for Mac users.

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Filed under: Software, Internet Tools, Open Source, TUAW Labs

I was really disappointed when Google released their Chrome web browser for Windows only. When it comes to browsers, I’ve tried them all. Right now I regularly switch between Firefox and the latest nightly build from Webkit (essentially Safari). Firefox has the extensibility I rely on, while Webkit has the performance I crave. I had hoped that Chrome would magically combine those two crucial traits and become my new go-to browser. Unfortunately, Chrome is not yet nearly as extensible as Firefox, and isn’t available for Mac (yet).

So imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon the latest experimental Firefox build from Mozilla, called Minefield. This Minefield should not be confused with the unofficial optimized builds of Firefox that Brett wrote about, which are also referred to as Minefield. Minefield is Mozilla’s code-name for this generation of Firefox, and the code name is used for unofficial builds to avoid infringing upon the Firefox name.

So, what’s so special about the Mozilla Minefield build? It’s fast… smokin’ fast. This is essentially a version of Firefox with the new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine under the hood, and as Ars Technica reports, it tests even faster than Google’s V8 JavaScript engine.

As most Mac users have noted, Firefox is kind of pokey on the Mac platform, particularly compared with WebKit or even Safari, and even when compared with Firefox on a similarly spec’d Windows machine. Version 3 of Firefox was supposed to fix the performance problem, and while it’s somewhat better, it’s still not great.

Well, Minefield is great. Using Gmail or even a complex content management system is a breath of fresh air. I feel like my web apps are finally keeping up with me.

There’s one caveat, and it’s a big one: though the current version number is 3.1b2pre (the “b” denoting beta status), this is really alpha software. That means there will be bugs, and you will experience problems. Surprisingly, though, Minefield has been very stable in my testing — not yet crashing in a full day of testing. I have restarted it a couple of times due to suspicion that something strange was going on, but I can’t say for sure if it was.

If you use it with your regular Firefox profile rather than creating a new one, Minefield will complain that most of your extensions are not compatible. Using Nightly Tester Tools, I re-enabled all of the extensions that it disabled, and every single one of them appears to be working normally, even the complicated ones like Better Gmail 2 and TabMixPlus.

I’ve only had a problem with one site so far, but unfortunately it’s a big one: Google Docs. The page simply won’t load. But for now, I’m willing to open WebKit or Camino to edit my Google Docs, because I’m just too smitten with the raw speed that Minefield offers.

One last note: being a nightly build, you will likely find that new versions are available, well, nightly. Mozilla makes the process of upgrading to the latest version virtually painless by using the built-in version monitoring process that Firefox uses.

[via Ubuntu Unleashed]

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Filed under: Software, Internet Tools, Open Source, TUAW Labs

I was really disappointed when Google released their Chrome web browser for Windows only. When it comes to browsers, I’ve tried them all. Right now I regularly switch between Firefox and the latest nightly build from Webkit (essentially Safari). Firefox has the extensibility I rely on, while Webkit has the performance I crave. I had hoped that Chrome would magically combine those two crucial traits and become my new go-to browser. Unfortunately, Chrome is not yet nearly as extensible as Firefox, and isn’t available for Mac (yet).

So imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon the latest experimental Firefox build from Mozilla, called Minefield. This Minefield should not be confused with the unofficial optimized builds of Firefox that Brett wrote about, which are also referred to as Minefield. Minefield is Mozilla’s code-name for this generation of Firefox, and the code name is used for unofficial builds to avoid infringing upon the Firefox name.

So, what’s so special about the Mozilla Minefield build? It’s fast… smokin’ fast. This is essentially a version of Firefox with the new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine under the hood, and as Ars Technica reports, it tests even faster than Google’s V8 JavaScript engine.

As most Mac users have noted, Firefox is kind of pokey on the Mac platform, particularly compared with WebKit or even Safari, and even when compared with Firefox on a similarly spec’d Windows machine. Version 3 of Firefox was supposed to fix the performance problem, and while it’s somewhat better, it’s still not great.

Well, Minefield is great. Using Gmail or even a complex content management system is a breath of fresh air. I feel like my web apps are finally keeping up with me.

There’s one caveat, and it’s a big one: though the current version number is 3.1b2pre (the “b” denoting beta status), this is really alpha software. That means there will be bugs, and you will experience problems. Surprisingly, though, Minefield has been very stable in my testing — not yet crashing in a full day of testing. I have restarted it a couple of times due to suspicion that something strange was going on, but I can’t say for sure if it was.

If you use it with your regular Firefox profile rather than creating a new one, Minefield will complain that most of your extensions are not compatible. Using Nightly Tester Tools, I re-enabled all of the extensions that it disabled, and every single one of them appears to be working normally, even the complicated ones like Better Gmail 2 and TabMixPlus.

I’ve only had a problem with one site so far, but unfortunately it’s a big one: Google Docs. The page simply won’t load. But for now, I’m willing to open WebKit or Camino to edit my Google Docs, because I’m just too smitten with the raw speed that Minefield offers.

One last note: being a nightly build, you will likely find that new versions are available, well, nightly. Mozilla makes the process of upgrading to the latest version virtually painless by using the built-in version monitoring process that Firefox uses.

[via Ubuntu Unleashed]

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Filed under: Internet Tools, Reviews, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Update 2: Box.net will work with first generation iPod Touch units. The team is going to push an update very soon to make this visible on the app description page. You can download the program right now and it is fully compatible with all iPhone and iPod Touch units.

Update: Box.net is looking into why its new app is not working with first generation iPod Touch units and hopes to push out an update soon. We’ll keep you posted!

I love Box.net — the online file storage system that makes it easy to store and share files with other users quickly and easily. A couple of years ago, TUAW wrote up how to use Box.net as an iDisk (and this still works), but now the Box team has made it even easier to access your files while on the go, with the new Box.net iPhone app.

The app, which is compatible with the iPhone and the second generation iPod Touch (sorry 1st Gen touch users!), is simply awesome. Box.net already had an iPhone friendly mobile interface at i.box.net, but while you could access some files from that page, you couldn’t play back media and document viewing was more limited. The new application means you can play back audio and video (assuming the file is compatible with the iPhone 2.1′s firmware support for QuickTime), view PDF or Office files, view photos, and upload photos from your iPhone or iPod Touch directly to Box.net.

Even nicer, the Box.net app integrates directly with your address book, so you can share a folder or individual document with a contact, just by clicking the “Share” button and selecting the contact from the address book. The application also notifies you of any updates or changes made to your box, which is great for individuals who collaborate with other users using a Box.net account.

I have a free Box.net account (which limits me to 1 GB of storage space and puts a 25 MB cap on file sizes), but I was able to access all my files and documents with ease. On my iPod Touch, Box.net loaded PDF files faster than some other tools I have used for PDF viewing, though I did find that network activity did impact overall speed. When the bridged router I use with my non-802.11n devices was in heavy use, it could take quite some time to load a large PDF. When the G router was idle, load time was almost non-existent, even for 8 or 9 MB files.

I don’t have an iPhone, so I cannot vouch for EDGE or 3G speeds — but over WiFi, speed was solid.

The interface of this app, as you can see from the gallery, is just superb. It perfectly matches both the Box.net website and the iPhone user interface guidelines. Maneuvering through files was a cinch and I love the integration with the address book for sharing files or folders. Being able to upload photos directly to Box.net is also pretty great.

If there was anything that could be on my wishlist, it would be the ability to upload other types of tiles to Box.net as well. Of course, you can always e-mail uploads to Box.net, so this isn’t an absolute necessity.

Box.net is free and available from the App Store now.

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The iPhone 3G was made for egrips! Egrips enhances the iPhone 3G experience, giving you a confident grip each time you pick it up, play a game or type an email! Egrips protect and prevent your iPhone 3G from sliding around wherever you put it, even face down!

Taiwanese telecoms operator Chungwa Telecom has announced that it will begin selling the iPhone 3G in Taiwan on 13th December. The 8GB model be free to those subscribers who sign up to its NTD2,549 (£40ish) per month plan for two years, with the larger capacity 16GB iPhone 3G will cost NTD2,990 with the same conditions…

The iPhone App Store has hit a milestone with ten thousand applications now available to download. The iPhone app monitoring site 148Apps has found that around a quarter of these (2,416) are free, while just over 3,500 cost 99 cents, and 1,433 cost $1.99. The average cost of applications is $3.12. Over one-third are games related, though the analysis didn’t break down how many to-do list applications there are in the store…