Iphone Updates

Though the iPhone was never designed to be used with a stylus, there may well be users that would prefer the PDA-ness of using one. Other styluses designed for the iPhone have been brought to market, but now QDOS has designed one that attaches to the iPhone via the headphone port (so that you don’t lose it) and comes with a cleaning pad that can also be attached…

Coolgorilla has announced a new talking phrasebook for the iPhone and iPod Touch, available in seven different languages and each containing over 500 holiday-based sound files. French, German, Greek, Italian, Japenese, Portuguese and Spanish versions allows consumers to search quickly and simply for a phrase in English and let the iPhone speak out the correct phrase, using an authentic, native accent, in the foreign language. Topics covered include eating, travel, and even flirting…

Filed under: Accessories, Found Footage, iPhone, iPod touch

For those of you who have been anxiously awaiting a way to hang your iPhone or iPod touch from your neck or wrist, your wishes have been answered! There’s a new accessory called the Danglet that plugs into the dock connector port on the bottom of your favorite device, then clips onto a wrist or neck strap. The neck strap in particular would be an excellent accessory for anyone who needs to have both hands free, yet have immediate access to their iPhone (geocaching, anyone?).

Towards the end of the video above, you can see the obviously unpaid actors swinging their iPhones around by the straps. Personally, I kept expecting to see one of the phones flying off into the trees or pavement. Much to my relief, the Danglet mechanism appears to be well-designed and kept the devices from becoming projectiles.

The Danglet retails for $14.99 and includes both a hand strap and neck strap. Do not use your Danglet to turn your iPhone into martial arts weaponry. Thank you.

TUAWFound Footage: Swing yer iPhone ’round and ’round with Danglet originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: iLife, Tips and tricks, Internet Tools

Here’s a useful corner of Apple’s enormous website. The “Find Out How” pages feature tutorials on things like Mac and wireless basics as well as web, music and MobileMe tips.

We’ve written about it before, but Apple has recently added tutorials for iLife ’09 apps, including iPhoto and an iLife ’09 overview. The tips are super handy, and even an old salt like me learned something new. For example, did you know you could publish to FTP with iWeb? I didn’t (of course, I never use iWeb).

Of course, you can check out our own Mac 101 series as well. Here’s to education!

TUAWApple’s handy “Find Out How” pages originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Accessories, Found Footage, iPhone, iPod touch

For those of you who have been anxiously awaiting a way to hang your iPhone or iPod touch from your neck or wrist, your wishes have been answered! There’s a new accessory called the Danglet that plugs into the dock connector port on the bottom of your favorite device, then clips onto a wrist or neck strap. The neck strap in particular would be an excellent accessory for anyone who needs to have both hands free, yet have immediate access to their iPhone (geocaching, anyone?).

Towards the end of the video above, you can see the obviously unpaid actors swinging their iPhones around by the straps. Personally, I kept expecting to see one of the phones flying off into the trees or pavement. Much to my relief, the Danglet mechanism appears to be well-designed and kept the devices from becoming projectiles.

The Danglet retails for $14.99 and includes both a hand strap and neck strap. Do not use your Danglet to turn your iPhone into martial arts weaponry. Thank you.

TUAWFound Footage: Swing yer iPhone ’round and ’round with Danglet originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Freeware, iPhone, App Store

Geotags [App Store link] is a free map-based application for the iPhone. Its purpose is to keep a geographic diary of sorts, letting you mark maps with tagged information you’ll want to explore again.

You can geotag your car so you can find it again, or a favorite hunting location, or a cave. I tested the app by recording some favorite spots in a nearby state park that were good photographic locations.

It’s a bit like Places in iPhoto, but it is portable. You can add photos to geotags, or an audio clip (2 minutes max recording time for each clip) that describes it, and of course some written notes.

Once you have built up a database of tags, it can all be exported to Google Earth for sharing with friends, or just to use yourself.

I found the app is a really good start, but it feels more like a beta than a finished, polished program.

The icons chosen for different functions are a bit arcane, and this is not an app you can use as soon as you download it. Expect to spend some time in the help file, which, happily, is built in. Geotags uses Google maps for data, and it pulls the maps into the Geotags interface.

There doesn’t seem any way to sync the tags to your computer, so if you lose the iPhone, or buy a new one, you have to start again. I don’t think this is a limitation of the Apple SDK, and it would be a good idea for the developers to support standard sync through iTunes. If you really start using this app, losing everything would be pretty dreadful. Update note: Our astute readers say while there are kludges, there is no easy way within the SDK to sync the data.

I don’t like to complain too much about Geotags, because it is free and pretty much works as advertised. On the other hand, it seems a few versions short of a really useful product. The concept of the wheel interface, with icons that are hard to understand, needs a thorough revising. I also noticed that the maps and features were constantly refreshing, which can really get old fast. It stops the app dead while that is going on, and frankly, I don’t know why it is constantly doing it.

There isn’t too much on the market exactly like this program, so give it a try at no cost, and hang around for some updates. The developers have improved the application since it was released late in December and they seem open to suggestions in their community forums.

With a little cleaning up, especially of the visual aspects, I think Geotags will eventually be a winner. I found some good uses for it the first day out, and I think many others will too.

Here are some screen shots:

TUAWGeotags for iPhone is a good start originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: iLife, Tips and tricks, Internet Tools

Here’s a useful corner of Apple’s enormous website. The “Find Out How” pages feature tutorials on things like Mac and wireless basics as well as web, music and MobileMe tips.

We’ve written about it before, but Apple has recently added tutorials for iLife ’09 apps, including iPhoto and an iLife ’09 overview. The tips are super handy, and even an old salt like me learned something new. For example, did you know you could publish to FTP with iWeb? I didn’t (of course, I never use iWeb).

Of course, you can check out our own Mac 101 series as well. Here’s to education!

TUAWApple’s handy “Find Out How” pages originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Qype launched a web-based iPhone application back in May 2008, but now the company has created its first native iPhone application: Qype Radar. Qype Radar offers users over half-a-million location-aware reviews of interesting places and venues including restaurants, bars, shops, hotels and nightlife, in over 15,000 cities ad towns worldwide…

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…

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

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…

Though the iPhone was never designed to be used with a stylus, there may well be users that would prefer the PDA-ness of using one. Other styluses designed for the iPhone have been brought to market, but now QDOS has designed one that attaches to the iPhone via the headphone port (so that you don’t lose it) and comes with a cleaning pad that can also be attached…

Coolgorilla has announced a new talking phrasebook for the iPhone and iPod Touch, available in seven different languages and each containing over 500 holiday-based sound files. French, German, Greek, Italian, Japenese, Portuguese and Spanish versions allows consumers to search quickly and simply for a phrase in English and let the iPhone speak out the correct phrase, using an authentic, native accent, in the foreign language. Topics covered include eating, travel, and even flirting…

Filed under: Video, Internet Tools, Beta Beat

As we’ve noted before Plex (formerly OSXBMC) is the open-source media center application derived from XBMC (as was Boxee). They’ve recently announced the release of version 0.78beta adding an interesting new feature: the Plex App Store. The Plex App Store (which actually doesn’t seem to be a store per se, at least not yet) is an online repository of plugins for Plex which allow users to add content from a variety of online streaming sources including, you guessed it, Hulu (which was working at least as of this writing).

Apparently the framework for writing these plugins is in Python and “provides an easy, XML-based method to display Flash or Silverlight content to Plex.” The plugins themselves are relatively easy to write, with many requiring only “20-40 lines” of code. This means that other developers will be able to write plugins relatively quickly, perhaps circumventing technical restrictions from the streaming sites. There are a few rough edges with the new functionality, but they expect they will all be fixed “shortly.” Nonetheless, if you were running Boxee on a Mac (not Apple TV) and are bummed by the loss of Hulu, Plex is worth a look.

Plex 0.78b is free download from Plex.

Thanks, Jayman.

TUAWPlex Media Server beta adds plugin architecture originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Hardware, Hacks, iPhone

There’s a very cool video at Ralf Ackermann’s blog showing an iPhone receiving input from an Apple Bluetooth keyboard. Of course, it requires a jailbroken phone, but Ralf claims that it works in all iPhone apps that make use of the keyboard.

This reminds me of the Stowaway Keyboard I used with my old Palm IIIe. I didn’t mind Graffiti as much as some others did, but attaching that keyboard to my Palm increased its usefulness many times over.

Of course, I’d love to use a wireless keyboard with my iPhone. Since I won’t be jailbreaking, here’s hoping Apple (or someone else) will make this available to scaredy cats like me.

TUAWApple Bluetooth keyboard paired with iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Features, AppleScript

In the last AppleScript post, I mentioned some of the useful ways to create Folder Actions, and showed you how to use one of the built-in scripts to perform a pretty useful action. In this AppleScript post, we’ll dive into the built-in scripts in more detail, and I will tell you how each of them works.

Once you create a new folder action (as we did in the last tutorial), you will have a pop-up dialog asking if you would like to attach an Apple-created script. There should be around 13 preinstalled on your Mac. Now let’s go through each of them, and see what they will do when attached:

Add-new item alert.scpt – This included script, which we covered in the last post, allows you to get a pop-up dialog upon dropping files in the attached folder. So, if you were to drop file x into the folder, a dialog would display a message that file x was just dropped in there. This script is great for networked folders, as you get a dialog when someone drops something in there.

Close-close sub-folders.scpt - This script will, when a file is dropped in the attached folder, close all opened Finder windows associated with that folder and subfolders. So, if you have that folder opened, or another subfolder within that folder, when you drop a file into it the script will close those opened Finder windows. You can use this script to tidy up your screen.

Convert-PostScript to PDF.scpt - If you have a PostScript file type (i.e. eps or ps files), then you can enable this folder action. When you drop a PostScript file on it there will be two folders created, one called “Original” and the other called “PDF.” This folder action will take those PS files and turn them into PDFs for your instant viewing pleasure. You can use it in your workflow to easily convert from PS to PDF.

Read on to learn about even more built-in folder action scripts.

Continue reading AppleScript: Exploring the power of Folder Actions, part II

TUAWAppleScript: Exploring the power of Folder Actions, part II originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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“At 6.6 pounds and 0.98 inches thick,” reports Dana Wollman (laptopmag.com), ”the 17-inch MacBook Pro is the world’s thinnest and lightest notebook with that size display.” Wollman calls it a ” a superior desktop replacement with epic battery life that you can take almost anywhere.” An “Editors’ Choice” at Laptop Mag, the 17-inch MacBook Pro earns a 4- (out of 5) star rating.

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…

The 17-MacBook Pro earns a 4 (out of 5) star rating from Cisco Cheng (pcmag.com), who calls its design “jawdropping” and its 17-inch widescreen display “magnificent; it’s about as close to an edge-to-edge screen as one can get.” Cheng concludes that “it was inconceivable that a design as attractive as the previous version could be outdone, but Apple somehow pulled it off, as the 17-inch is sexier and still the lightest in its class.”

Mac owners who “use even one of the iLife applications,” posits Ryan Faas (computerworld.com) in his comprehensive review of iLife ’09, will “find at least one new feature worth the $79 cost of upgrading to iLife ’09.” iPhoto ‘09, for example, ”is pretty much worth the upgrade price in itself.” He considers both iPhoto ’09 and iMovie ’09 “an incredible value” and GarageBand “more than worth the price.”

Dr. John Turner, an endocrinologist at the University of Toledo, has been studying the health of coral reef ecosystems, since 1997. “Reef Monitor,” excerpts from his lecture series to high school students interested in marine sciences, offers a fascinating look at the factors directly effecting coral reefs, threatening the reefs themselves and reducing the organisms that previously thrived in them.

Based on the award-winning graphic novel published by DC Comics, the highly anticipated Watchmen opens in theaters March 6. Be sure to watch the two trailers and the behind-the-scenes journal on the QuickTime movie trailer’s site. But if you really want to get into the Watchmen spirit, you’ll also want to download the free Watchmen app from the App Store and catch more journals on iTunes.

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…

Filed under: Rumors, Mac mini

In the last couple of days some images of what purported to be the next Mac mini have popped up on the Mac web, and then were also apparently shot down. The new machine was claimed to have a FireWire 800 port, mini DisplayPort, and five USB ports among the visible features, with a 2GHz Core 2 Duo and 2GB of DDR3 RAM on the inside. Now, adding fuel to the fire, a Macrumors forum participant posted the above video that looks mighty convincing.

Of course it could be an elaborate hoax, but if it is a fake I think it’s impressive that they’ve gone to this much trouble. Naturally we’d like to see it actually connected to a monitor and booting up. In any case, if this turns out to be fake, somebody has really upped the ante on the usual Mac rumor diet of bad Photoshop jobs and blurrycam shots.

TUAWRumor: New Mac mini video? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 22 Feb 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Cult of Mac, iPhone, Apple History

Since the App Store launched, there hasn’t been much that has really tempted me to jailbreak my iPhone. I don’t think Mini vMac for iPhone actually will either, but just that fact that it exists at all is a trip for the nostalgic Macheads out there. Mini vMac is an open source Mac Plus emulator that has now been ported to the iPhone (a regular OS X version exists as well).

It emulates a 4MB Mac Plus; as the video above shows, it allows you to scroll to show the full display and even load Mac OS disk images and run classic Mac software. It’s safe to say that this will never make to the App Store because it violates Apple’s rules against emulators.

Mini vMac for iPhone requires a jailbroken iPhone, and can be loaded by adding the namedfork.net repository to the Cydia installer as described on the main page. You’ll also have to round up a Mac Plus ROM image and disk images of any applications you want to run.

[via Gizmodo]

TUAWClassic Mac OS emulator for jailbroken iPhones originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Cult of Mac, iPhone, Apple History

Since the App Store launched, there hasn’t been much that has really tempted me to jailbreak my iPhone. I don’t think Mini vMac for iPhone actually will either, but just that fact that it exists at all is a trip for the nostalgic Macheads out there. Mini vMac is an open source Mac Plus emulator that has now been ported to the iPhone (a regular OS X version exists as well).

It emulates a 4MB Mac Plus; as the video above shows, it allows you to scroll to show the full display and even load Mac OS disk images and run classic Mac software. It’s safe to say that this will never make to the App Store because it violates Apple’s rules against emulators.

Mini vMac for iPhone requires a jailbroken iPhone, and can be loaded by adding the namedfork.net repository to the Cydia installer as described on the main page. You’ll also have to round up a Mac Plus ROM image and disk images of any applications you want to run.

[via Gizmodo]

TUAWClassic Mac OS emulator for jailbroken iPhones originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor, Apple, The Woz

ABC has released a promo picture of Woz and his dancing partner in the upcoming series of Dancing with the Stars, and it is amazing. Woz is looking good. I thought about photoshopping a pimp hat and a cane into his hands, but frankly, he doesn’t need it. That man can rock a pink shirt like no one else. That’s professional dancer Karina Smirnoff hanging off his arm, too — she apparently came in second place on the show a few seasons ago dancing with Mario Lopez, but she’s definitely upgraded this time around.

I stay away from reality television, and talent shows usually give me hives, but I just might have to tune in for this. Our favorite Chief Scientist strolling across the floor showing up the likes of David Allan Grier and Steve-o might be too much to miss. The series premiere airs March 9th.

TUAWWoz is set for his Dancing with the Stars debut originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Though the iPhone was never designed to be used with a stylus, there may well be users that would prefer the PDA-ness of using one. Other styluses designed for the iPhone have been brought to market, but now QDOS has designed one that attaches to the iPhone via the headphone port (so that you don’t lose it) and comes with a cleaning pad that can also be attached…

Coolgorilla has announced a new talking phrasebook for the iPhone and iPod Touch, available in seven different languages and each containing over 500 holiday-based sound files. French, German, Greek, Italian, Japenese, Portuguese and Spanish versions allows consumers to search quickly and simply for a phrase in English and let the iPhone speak out the correct phrase, using an authentic, native accent, in the foreign language. Topics covered include eating, travel, and even flirting…

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…

“I’ve used Safari 4 for less than 36 hours at this point, and I’m sold,” proclaims Ryan Faas (computerworld.com). Surprised by the “number of innovative features it offers” and its ”notably speedy rendering performance,” Faas praises Top Sites, “Tweaked tabs,” and the new address and search bars in Safari 4. And, he notes, that its implementation in Full History Search “is the most inspired use yet for Cover Flow.”

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…

The iPhone finally launched in Thailand on Friday with the True Move telco, and according to reports got an “overwhelming welcome from businessmen to hi-so people”. However, executives for the company were said to have shown mixed feelings of happiness and anxiety. First fan in the queue was businessman Krit Jiramongkol, who had the dubious pleasure of receiving a T-Shirt emblazoned with the words “I Got the First iPhone 3G by True Move”. Bet he’ll be wearing that in board meetings…

Bit specialist this one — if you’re a producer, post-production producer, editor, or anyone else needing to deal with timecode and frames (if you don’t know what that is, don’t get this app) then iTC Calc could be the iPhone app for you. It comes with two modes: “simple” offers offset calculation, timecode-frame converter and standard mathematical operations, while “complete” also gets you a duration calculator and history window. Available for US$14.99 ($9.99 / £5.99 introductory) [iTunes store link]

Filed under: OS, Software, Switchers, Odds and ends, Books

Joe Kissell is an extraordinary Mac writer, so when he took on the task of writing the first edition of Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac a few years ago, I knew he was going to do an amazing job.

Joe has just finished writing the third edition of this book, which covers every possible method of running Windows or Windows applications on your Intel Mac. In 167 pages, he talks you through how to determine the best installation option (VMWare Fusion, Virtual Box, Parallels Desktop, or Boot Camp) and how to install both the software and Windows.

Since peripherals are sometimes problematic in a virtual environment, Joe describes how to make sure those mice, peripherals, and keyboards work happily with Windows. He describes in detail how to share files between the two operating systems, keep Windows secure, and integrate the Mac and Windows interfaces.

Joe also talks about how to acquire various versions of Windows, as well as using CodeWeavers CrossOver Mac to run many applications without purchasing Windows. The ebook sells for $10, and you can easily defray the cost by taking advantage of a 10% discount coupon for VMWare Fusion and a $5 coupon for Parallels Desktop. A print edition will be available soon.

TUAWTake Control of Running Windows on a Mac, Third Edition originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Security

As if the baked-in security issues weren’t enough to deal with, Adobe has announced today that all versions since v7 of Acrobat and Acrobat Reader on all platforms — including Mac OS X — are vulnerable to an Javascript exploit that can crash Acrobat. [Correction, per The Register and Shadowserver the vulnerability is not in Javascript per se but the circulating exploits use Javascript to leverage the actual flaw. Thanks to Adam Engst for the heads-up.] The same approach could possibly give an attacker unrestricted access to the target system. More from Download Squad on the scope of the problem; Adobe and others are reporting that there are already exploits in the wild for this problem.

Mac users have, of course, a very solid option for handling PDF files other than Acrobat: Preview, installed on every Mac OS X machine. You can also turn off Javascript support in the Acrobat preferences to lock out exploits from proceeding beyond crashing the app to actually doing widespread damage.

To change the default handler for PDF files, select any PDF file in the Finder and then select Get Info from the File menu. Under the Open With section, select Preview.app and then click Change All.

TUAWAcrobat vulnerability may affect Mac users originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Though the iPhone was never designed to be used with a stylus, there may well be users that would prefer the PDA-ness of using one. Other styluses designed for the iPhone have been brought to market, but now QDOS has designed one that attaches to the iPhone via the headphone port (so that you don’t lose it) and comes with a cleaning pad that can also be attached…

Coolgorilla has announced a new talking phrasebook for the iPhone and iPod Touch, available in seven different languages and each containing over 500 holiday-based sound files. French, German, Greek, Italian, Japenese, Portuguese and Spanish versions allows consumers to search quickly and simply for a phrase in English and let the iPhone speak out the correct phrase, using an authentic, native accent, in the foreign language. Topics covered include eating, travel, and even flirting…

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…