Iphone Updates

The Mac is energy efficient by design, but you can help conserve even more energy by taking advantage of Energy Saver options. Using the Sleep pane, for example, you can set the Display to sleep after your Mac has been inactive for a specific amount of time. But don’t make your Mac wait to get some sleep. Find out how to team Energy Saver with Exposé to put your Mac to sleep immediately.

Filed under: Software, Productivity, Internet, Security

Back in December, online backup company Backblaze launched a private beta of its service for Mac users. Like its Windows counterpart, the Backblaze subscription service is $5 US a month (or $50 US a year) for unlimited backup space. Today, the company is officially launching its service for Mac users, along with an updated client, better support for external drives and enhanced recovery options.

Configuration and setup

Just like in the beta, Backblaze remains extremely easy to set-up and use. You just install the program (by default it will run in the background, though you can change this), enter in your e-mail address and password, and it will start backing up your files. The default setting has Backblaze running any time it finds an available internet connection. The backup process is constant and Backblaze stores multiple versions of a file for 30 days (so if you are frequently changing a document or spreadsheet, 30 days worth of revisions are saved to Backblaze).

If you want to remove Backblaze, the company has made the uninstall process easier and more intuitive. There is now an uninstaller built into the install DMG image, just double-click on Uninstall (right next to the install option) and you can take Backblaze off your system. If you trash the DMG, just download it again off the Backblaze web site for easy removal.

Backblaze won’t backup your Applications (thought it WILL backup stuff in your User/Library folder, so many of your application settings will remain backed up), but it will backup your photos, movies, audio files as well as things like your iPhoto or Aperture database, various documents, and more. By default, .ISO, *.exe and *.DMG files are excluded from the backup file type list, but you can remove most of those extensions (*.ISO cannot be removed) if you want to backup that information.

The maximum single file size is still 4 GB, but keep in mind this doesn’t mean your iPhoto or Aperture databases won’t be safe. Those databases are actually just folders with lots of smaller individual files, that’s fine. If you have individual files over 4 GB in size, those won’t be backed up with Backblaze. You’ll need to split the files into smaller segments or make alternate arrangements.

Continue reading Backblaze for Mac officially launches

TUAWBackblaze for Mac officially launches originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Multimedia, Developer, iPhone, App Store, App Review

Massively has a good look at an iPhone app that’s a must-have for players of the space-based multiplayer EVE Online — Capsuleer 2.0 isn’t an actual client, but like the desktop app EVEMon, it allows you to monitor and track your EVE pilots from outside the game. It’s also got skill queues built in (unlike other MMOs, EVE allows you to have your pilots level even while you’re away from the game, so most of the strategy in leveling actually comes in choosing the next skill to work towards), a skill library, more pilot details, and even a mini-RSS feeder, incorporating a few popular blogs from around the EVE blogosphere.

The two developers of the app tell Massively that their biggest issues in developing the app were mostly by way of the limits CCP (the company behind EVE Online) places on what third-party apps can do with their info.. Most of the things they can’t do are built into the game itself, and so it makes sense that a certain amount of functionality can’t leave the game client (or else people might never log into the game). The app is currently free in the App Store right now, and the devs aim to keep it that way, but just recently added ads to the mix from the game’s official magazine to cover server costs and bandwidth.

Finally, they say they’re excited about the possibilities with iPhone 3.0 — notifications are mentioned, and of course it would be cool to get a popup reminder every time a pilot is about to hit a skill. They’re also working on a way to provide stats about the ingame Faction Warfare. Sounds cool — EVE Tracker is still another possibility if you want to follow your EVE progress on the iPhone, but it looks like Capsuleer adds even more innovation to the mix.

TUAWCapsuleer 2.0 for iPhone helps you track EVE Online status originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, Odds and ends, Developer, iPhone, App Store

The folks at FuzzyCube Software dropped us a note that their first game, iQuarterback, is in the App Store now, and it looks all right — rather than actually quarterback a game, you mostly just try to hit passing targets. And while the game is pretty barebones right now (it’s only 99 cents, and they’re planning to add new modes to it in the next version), the most interesting thing about the game isn’t what it is, but who’s making it: the guys behind FuzzyCube are a few refugees from Ensemble Studios, the legendary developer of Age of Empires that got shut down by Microsoft on the eve of their recent Halo Wars release.

Now that’s interesting — a big time studio forced to close by their corporate overlords is finding new life in iPhone development (FuzzyCube isn’t the only studio to come out of the Ensemble breakup — Robot Entertainment, Bonfire Studios, and Windstorm Studios are all being started by ex-Ensemble employees right now, though FuzzyCube is the only group to have released a game so far). Lots of game developers are facing a crunch right now, and with the iPhone easy and cheap to develop for, we might see even more of these former larger game devs turn to the smaller screen.

Update: My apologies to the folks at Newtoy — they are apparently the first Ensemble refugees to have released an iPhone game, dropping Chess with Friends in the App Store last December. But the point stands: bigger studios who’ve been asked to dissolve can seemingly find a nice place developing for the iPhone.

TUAWiQuarterback 1.1 from former Ensemble Studios devs originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, App Review

I enjoy Consumer Reports magazine, even though sometimes the camera and electronics reviews drive me crazy. The ratings seem sometimes arbitrary, and don’t always take what I think are the ‘right’ features into account and don’t weigh those features the same way I would. Nevertheless, I find their reviews useful and another data point to throw in when I’m about to make a purchase.

Some months, ago, Consumer Reports launched an iPhone/ iPod touch app, and updated it again recently. The app, appropriately called Consumer Reports, [App Store link] is free, and has a lot of interesting info, but you don’t really get links to the wealth of data back at the magazine. Even if you are a subscriber, you can’t log in from the app and see magazine content.

You do get a lot of worthwhile news about consumer products, leaning heavily toward Electronics, Cars and products or services for the Home. You also get videos that are sometimes interesting, sometimes bizarre. I didn’t make it all the way through the toilet paper tests.

There is some up to date reporting on topics of interest to consumers, like retailer bankruptcies, and what I would call ‘tip’ articles, like how to shoot a panoramic photo or tips on buying a Netbook.

There is a bit of Mac coverage, most recently a test to see if the MacBook Pro really lasted for 8 hours running on batteries. It didn’t in the CR test.

Strangely, the app doesn’t have any kind of search function, so if you are looking for just news about Mac laptops, for example, you’re out of luck.

I still find the app full of beneficial news, and I give it a browse a couple of times a week. I wonder how Consumer Reports would rate this app? ‘Recommended’, ‘predicted reliability good’, but ‘could be much better with a few changes’. On the app store users gave it an average rating of 2 stars out of 5. A bit harsh, perhaps. It’s generally downgraded because there is no access to the magazine content.

Also interesting is that CR has not been a great fan of the iPhone, complaining, for example, about call quality when it first came out, but they did feel compelled to do this iPhone app. Funny old world.

Here are some screen captures:

TUAWVerdict on Consumer Reports iPhone app: Helpful but incomplete originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iTS, Multimedia, iTunes

I coulda told you this, though I am a little surprised that we’ve seen the results so fast. Despite iTunes having put the new tiered pricing into effect just last week, Billboard is reporting that they’ve already seen sales drop on the higher-priced tunes. The iTunes Top 100 chart has 40 different songs with a new price of $1.29, and one day after the changes, those songs dropped an average of 5.3 places on the chart, while cheaper songs moved up on average. And on the second day of the price change, ten of the tracks that saw their prices rise within 24 hours dropped a huge 12.4 chart positions on average.

Of course, we’re talking only a matter of days here, and there are all kinds of things that could have affected this average drop — lots of the tracks that became expensive were from a Rascal Flatts album, and it could be just that the album has lost popularity, bringing the average down. And don’t forget that even though these sales figures may be dropping, they haven’t dropped nearly enough to show a loss of revenue (though fewer songs may be selling, they’re still making more money).

But for those convinced that higher prices mean lower sales numbers, these first few days of figures will seem to connect all of the right dots. We’ll have to wait and see if the long-term effects match up to the figures Billboard has seen so far.

TUAWBillboard: iTunes prices up, sales down originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Accessories, MacBook Air

I have a MacBook Air. Although I can get about 5 hours of mobile use out of it by dimming the screen, turning off all wireless, and only running one app at a time, there are times I’d love to be able to stay unplugged for much longer. I could always get a solar charger, but that won’t work well when it’s dark out.

QuickerTek has announced the MacBook Air External Battery, a US$350 external box designed to let you run your MBA for up to 16 hours before plugging in. It’s relatively small (7″ x 3.5″ x 1″ — 17.8 cm x 8.9 cm x 2.5 cm) and adds 1.2 pounds to the weight you’ll have to lug around.

In order to connect the external battery to your MacBook Air, you’ll either have to send your existing MagSafe cable in to be converted for use (US$25) or buy a modified cable from QuickerTek (US$100). The final bill for the MacBook Air External Battery and the cable is almost as pricey as that solar-powered charger, but it’s going to give your MacBook Air much longer battery life. Now if QuickerTek could just come out with a battery to let me play Monopoly (click opens iTunes) on my iPhone for 10 hours straight…

TUAW16 hours of battery life for the MacBook Air originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When Forrester Research released the results of its annual survey on customer satisfaction, says Jim Dalrymple (macworld.com), “Apple not only topped the list, it blew away the competition.” In fact, Apple “dominated in each category” that the survey assessed, “scoring 82 percent (Useful), 86 percent (Easy to Use), and 72 percent (Enjoyable).”

Next Wednesday, you can celebrate Earth Day 2009 by watching Earth, which opens on April 22. Narrated by James Earl Jones and directed by Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield, the team who produced the Academy Award–winning Planet Earth, the first film in the Disneynature series offers incredible cinematography as it follows three animal families over the course of a year. Enjoy.

Mountain Gorillas have fascinated us since the earliest days of the 20th century. And that was well before we knew that they were our closest genetic relative on Earth, sharing close to 99% of our DNA. Now, thanks to iTunes U and Open University, you can learn all about the Mountain Gorillas still surviving in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda.

Filed under: Software, iPhone, iPod touch

TUAW would like to help take away a bit of the sting of tax week by giving away something for free. That’s why we’ve teamed with Tapbots to give ten lucky US readers licenses for WeightBot and ConvertBot.

Although you’ll probably be a lot lighter after the IRS empties your wallet, you may want to lose some weight. That’s where WeightBot comes in handy. It’s a great-looking and very functional weight tracking app for iPhone that has been featured on TUAW in the past.

Should you decide to skip the country in order to avoid paying taxes [which we do not recommend --Ed.], you might find ConvertBot‘s ability to convert units of measure and currency to be a big help! If you’re not one of the giveaway winners, these apps are available for US$0.99 (ConvertBot) and US$1.99 (WeightBot) respectively.

Tapbots has won accolades for their innovative design of iPhone apps, and we’d like to help them come out with another really cool app. To enter the giveaway, write a comment with your idea for the next Tapbots app.

Here are the rules and a link to the obligatory legal statement:

• Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.
• To enter leave a comment with an idea for a new Tapbot iPhone app.
• The comment must be left before Monday, April 13, 05:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time.
• You may enter only once.
• Ten winners will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: One license each for ConvertBot and WeightBot (US$3 value)
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

Good luck!

TUAWTUAW giveaway: WeightBot and ConvertBot originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 12 Apr 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

Do you travel a lot for business or pleasure? If you do, then you’ll find the new free iPhone app (click opens iTunes) from Tripit.com to be a great way to organize your trip plans.

Tripit.com imports and interprets your itineraries from airlines, hotel chains, ticket outlets, and other travel companies. When you receive an itinerary from one of these providers, you forward it to a special Tripit email address to have it translated into a trip plan automatically (the site supports hundreds of travel providers, and the translation from email into structured itinerary is really quite amazing). You can share your travel plans with friends or colleagues via LinkedIn, and see when your fellow travelers are heading to a city near you or when their plans align with yours.

That collection of trip plans is what you view with the Tripit.com app. The app is linked to your Tripit.com account, and displays a day by day list of flights, car rentals, and other events that make up your trips. Each event can be opened in further detail to show information such as arrival and departure times, confirmation numbers, and more. Links for airport codes bring up Google Maps of the airport vicinity, and other links can check your flight status with a touch.

Since you can always access the mobile version of the Tripit site from a connected iPhone or iPod touch, the big advantage of the native application is that the travel data is cached locally on the phone for offline review (mid-flight, for example). More full-featured apps like the $9.99US TravelTracker or FlightTrack Pro can also store and display your Tripit itineraries via the service’s API, and Tripit’s developers tell us that they intend to continue supporting third-party application access.

To use the app on your iPhone or iPod touch, all you need to do is sign up for a free Tripit.com account or forward your first itinerary to plans@tripit.com. Take a look at the gallery below for details of the Tripit app at work.

TUAWFirst Look: Travel organizer Tripit.com offers iPhone app originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You may have used Disk Utility to format, verify, repair, or partition disks on your Mac. But the Mac OS X Leopard utility also offers a great way to protect any sensitive or confidential data you’re sending to colleagues or clients. Encrypt a folder on your Mac as a .dmg file, and you can confidently email it or include it on an optical disc or thumb drive you overnight. Like to see how easy it is to create a .dmg in Disk Utility?

It’s unofficially official — Championship Manager is coming to the iPhone very soon. The Times broke the story earlier today, pairing the article with a rather nasty screenshot of the existing mobile version which I’m sure does no justice to the finished article. Though no-one can officially announce the game yet, it seems likely that it will be available in the next few weeks. Hopefully, we’ll get hold of some proper screen shots and a review copy soon so that we can truly herald in what will hopefully be an amazing port. I loved Championship Manager – having it on the iPhone could well set off a new addiction. Watch this space…

The LG Arena is the latest handset to stand up to the iPhone 3G. Has LG pulled off a decent alternative to Apple’s wonder phone? Read on for the full specification low down and scroll to the end for Lucy’s video review, then make up your own mind.

Look & Feel

The LG Arena phone measures 105.9 x 55.3 x 11.95mm, compared to the iPhone 3G’s 115.5 x 62.1mm x 9.9mm, so it’s a little thicker (not much) and slightly smaller. Weight of the LG Arena isn’t known yet.

Screen

The LG Arena features a three-inch (diagonal) colour WVGA touchscreen sporting 480 x 800 resolution (like the Toshiba TG01). That’s a rather interesting 3:5 (or 5:3) aspect ratio compared to the iPhone’s 320 x 480 (2:3 / 3:2) aspect ratio. Neither offers “true” widescreen TV format. The LG Arena’s screen appears to be much glossier than that of the iPhone (not sure if this is the glass or the underlying display itself) which means on bright, sunny days it can be more difficult to use…

Filed under: Cult of Mac, Apple, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Could it be Apple has delivered almost a billion iPhone/iPod touch apps (both free and paid)? The answer is a definite yes, and Apple has posted a page counting down (or counting up, really) to the big event. As I write this they’re at 928 million apps and change.

It’s an amazing number, and Apple is celebrating the event with a contest. Fill out a form, no purchase required, and have a chance to win a $10,000US iTunes gift card, an iPod touch, a Time Capsule and a MacBook Pro. Apple will let you enter up to 25 times a day (!) until the billionth app is sold. Gee, I could use an app that could automate all those entries. (Clarification: Downloading an app from now until the contest closes counts as an entry. You can do that 25 times per day.)

Apple also has a link to the top selling free and paid apps (link opens iTunes). FYI, the most popular free apps are Facebook, Google Earth and Pandora. The most popular paid apps are Crash Bandicot Nitro Cart 3D, Koi Pond and Enigmo.

When Apple hits that billionth app it will be a big deal, and stand by for a big blast of publicity and commentary. It will also spark more conversation about the copycats who are jumping in the pool at Microsoft, RIM and Google (Android).

Congrats Apple. How long will it be before you hit 2 billion?

TUAWA billion iPhone apps downloaded. Coming soon. originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 10 Apr 2009 11:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Have you gone Flick Sports Fishing? The Freeverse game — one of the all-time top 20 apps on the App Store — lets you virtually cast and reel in some really big fish using iPhone or iPod touch. You can play against friends and brag about your latest catch. And for a limited time, if you download Flick Fishing — or any other app on the App Store — you could reel in a really big catch in the Billion App Countdown Promotion.

We’re always happy to do our bit for charity, so it’s cool that one of the most recent games to hit the iPhone application store is helping out Mind, via London Marathon sponsorship. Finger Marathon II tests your finger endurance while raising money for the leading UK-based mental health charity…

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, iPhone, iPod touch

I ended up going with an iSkin Revo for my iPhone as a thin little protective case, but now that I’ve seen some of these crazy cases, I’m reconsidering just a little bit. Who wouldn’t want to encase your iPhone in what appears to be bacon, or try out the tactile iPhone case above (which transmits button presses to a customized home screen — not something I’d want to use all the time, but it is wild and it has a purpose).

That Dexter case is cool too, though there are probably plenty of promotional cases out there. It’s almost too bad — when I picked up my plain black case, I was thinking a lot more about function than appearance. There’s all kinds of cool things out there to put your iPhone in.

[via Urlesque]

TUAWTen crazy iPhone cases originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Enterprise, Software, Odds and ends

Employers: do you want to know exactly what your employees are doing every second of the day on their Macs? Would you like to be able to log every keystroke they make, take screenshots of their Macs every once in a while, or even take pictures of them with the iSight that’s built into their Mac to make sure that they’re working? If so, ActyMac DutyWatch is just your cup of tea.

Without your employees knowing, you can monitor everything they post, open, and use. DutyWatch captures all keystrokes and logs every program that is launched or quit. If an employee uses certain keywords, DutyWatch sends you an email so you can scrutinize that person even more closely. DutyWatch also records every email, chat, website visit, or web search. Make sure that your employees aren’t reading TUAW on your dime!

In the example above, your employee Michael has been spending a lot of time watching QuickTime movies and IM’ing in Adium. Of course, he’ll lie to you and tell you that he’s been watching training movies and texting the Miami office, but you’ve got just the proof you need to fire him. That’ll get those other slackers in line!

You can purchase ActyMac DutyWatch for US$99.95 direct from the website, and quantity discounts are available.

TUAWBig Brother! ActyMac DutyWatch spies on your employees originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, iPhone, iPod touch

I ended up going with an iSkin Revo for my iPhone as a thin little protective case, but now that I’ve seen some of these crazy cases, I’m reconsidering just a little bit. Who wouldn’t want to encase your iPhone in what appears to be bacon, or try out the tactile iPhone case above (which transmits button presses to a customized home screen — not something I’d want to use all the time, but it is wild and it has a purpose).

That Dexter case is cool too, though there are probably plenty of promotional cases out there. It’s almost too bad — when I picked up my plain black case, I was thinking a lot more about function than appearance. There’s all kinds of cool things out there to put your iPhone in.

[via Urlesque]

TUAWTen crazy iPhone cases originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Hardware, Software, Odds and ends, Developer, iPhone, SDK, iPod touch

This is interesting — Alex Winston, Ltd. has come up with what they call the Wolfenstick, a little iPhone app that can control Wolfenstein 3D Classic with a second iPhone through the audio port. Obviously this isn’t a very practical setup, as buying a second iPhone just to control games on the first one probably isn’t in anyone’s interest. But it does open up a whole slew of possibilities for how a connection like this might be used — as you can see in the video above, not only are controls and the accelerometer able to be transferred, but even game and app information can be sent across the cable.

Of course, the 3.0 update casts a nice large shadow across ideas like this — we know for sure that there will be more hooks for accessories to work with apps on the iPhone, so having to go through the audio port may end up being more of a novelty, as it’ll likely be much easier to go through the connector on the bottom of the iPhone. But if you want to play while the unit is charging (or just want to connect two iPhones with nothing more than an audio cable), there’s definitely some promise here.

TUAWThe Wolfenstick app can send and recieve data through the iPhone audio port originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Recommended for all those using Aperture 2, the Aperture 2.1.3 Update — available as a free download from the Aperture site or the Apple support site — improves overall stability and provides fixes for issues related to database integrity and compatibility with specific file types.

To create Back from the Dead, a new album from Spinal Tap scheduled for release in June, music producer CJ Vanston tapped Logic Studio. In fact, he says “every piece of the album was made using Macs running Apple’s Logic.” PCs, the engineer adds, “aren’t allowed within 20 feet of me. There’s always a problem with them, whether its a virus, defragging the drive, or something. They just slow you down.”

iTunes U now lets you sample some of the delightful content — David Hockney using Twitter to answer questions about his art, tours through the palace and gardens of Versailles, Patti Smith singing about the early life as an artist in Paris — available at three of the leading European museums: the Tate, Château de Versailles, and Fondation Cartier.

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Last night while watching House, I saw what seemed to be a new iPhone commercial featuring some pretty interesting applications. Despite the fact that I was watching this particular episode on my DVR, I stopped fast-forwarding through the commercials so I could catch the latest Apple showcase of iPhone applications.

For many people, if you’ve seen one commercial for a given product, then you’ve seen all the commercials you need to see. Not so with iPhone. As these commercials so ably show, the iPhone isn’t just one product, it’s thousands of products. Thanks to the App Store, the iPhone and iPod Touch have become a tour de force of gaming, productivity, networking, and so forth. The success has become so ubiquitous that I am even willing to watch a commercial to learn of new applications that could enhance my life.

The good news is that after stopping by MacDailyNews I discovered that there are a total of three new iPhone commercials available for your viewing pleasure; all without having to interrupt any commercial-skipping. MDN has the hot scoop replete with YouTube vids to fill your stomach with all sorts of unicorn teary goodness. You can also check out the new advertisements, “Itchy,” “Office,” and “Student,” in extremely huge resolution over at Apple.com

Via MacDailyNews

TUAWNew iPhone ads appear, bring joy and good cheer originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 08 Apr 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Multimedia, Odds and ends, Freeware, Apple

Mac users in the UK have been waiting a long time (like, years) for Channel 4′s Video on Demand “Catch Up” service to come to their platform, and finally, after long last, the day is here. And they’re sorry, Mac users — they say so with the cute video above. Of course, the reason why it’s now compatible is because it’s the Flash-based web version linked above, and not actually the desktop app that Windows users had. But late and web-based is still better than never, right? Right?

At any rate, it’s nice to know they care enough to make a funny video. The site features Channel 4 content for up to 30 days after broadcast, so if you happen to miss Hollyoaks, Skins, or Fat Pets (I’m just kidding — being an ignorant American, I have no idea what those shows are or if they’re any good), there’s your chance to catch up.

TUAWChannel Four on Demand: Sorry, Mac users originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 08 Apr 2009 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In his InfoWorld review, Tom Yager explains why he considers the new Mac Pro “the perfect workstation.” The new Nehalem-based Mac Pro “is impeccably built, extraordinarily configurable and expandable, owner-serviceable, quiet, green, friendly, fast, and custom-made for Snow Leopard.” The new systems, he says, “establish a new bar in the price/performance/watt trifecta.”

Filed under: Enterprise, Hardware, Xserve

Astute readers noticed some Apple store downtime earlier this morning. While I was hoping for something soaked in Unicorn tears, I guess I’ll settle for a drool-worthy Xserve update.

The rumors were right on target, and the new Xserve sports Intel’s “Nehalem” Xeon processor (just like the recent Mac Pro refresh), which Apple is touting as offering “twice the performance” when compared to last year’s model.*

* There is always an asterisk in these types of comparison so please read the fine print before taking any marketing slogans as gospel.

The new Xserve systems look really hot. Check out these specs for the $2999US base model:

• a single 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Xeon 5500 series processor with 8MB of fully shared L3 cache
• 3GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC RAM
• a single 160GB 7200 rpm SATA Apple Drive Module
• dual Gigabit Ethernet on-board
• two PCI Express 2.0 x16 expansion slots
• NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 256 MB with Mini DisplayPort output
• two FireWire(R) 800 and three USB 2.0 ports

And of course, the requisite unlimited client license for Mac OS X Server version 10.5 Leopard.

If the standard offerings aren’t powerful enough, the Xserve can be customized to include two Quad-Core Xeon’s running at 2.26, 2.66 or 2.93 GHz. An 8-core 2.26 Xserve configure like the base system runs $3599US.

The new Xserve also offers an optional 128-GB SSD boot drive, as well as options for RAID cards, and dual or quad channel 4Gb Fibre channel cards.

This generation of chipsets is more energy efficient and Apple is touting the newest Xserve as the “greenest ever.”

The new Xserve is available now at Apple.com and at your local Apple store or authorized dealer.

TUAWXserve gets a performance boost originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

One thing we don’t lack for on the fairer platform is snippet / notes managers. Nonetheless, I always find myself curious about the new applications, perhaps because nothing ever quite gets everything just right. ShoveBox is one of the newer entries in the snippet sweepstakes, and while it has been out on the Mac for a while they’ve just recently released an companion iPhone app (iTunes link).

ShoveBox’s main advantage is its very simple interface. The little ShoveBox icon sits in your menubar waiting for you to drop something on it: URL, text, images, etc. Without any fuss the box opens and accepts your newest shove, ready to be accessed at some later time. My impression is that ShoveBox is best not so much for things you want to keep in the long run (though it will do that), but perhaps more as a scratchpad or an updated and more advanced URLwell.

The iPhone companion app does exactly what you’d expect, giving you access to your notes, etc. on the go. One particularly nifty function is a bookmarklet that allows you to import a website on both the desktop version (from Safari) or the iPhone version (from mobile Safari). So if you’re reading something on the go, but want to make sure you save it for later as well, this looks like a great feature.

ShoveBox for Mac is $24.95 and a demo is available; the iPhone version is $3.99 from the iTunes App Store.

TUAWShoveBox for Mac and iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Cool tools, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

I admit I have a real love for astronomy and other science apps. Mike Smithwick, the creator of Distant Suns [App Store link] has come up with another winner for the space minded. Grand Tour [App Store link] is a $4.99US application that will let you tour the solar system in very smooth and realistic animations. Named after the NASA Voyager missions* of the ’70s that explored the outer planets, Grand Tour will let you move to Mars, explore its two moons, and then shuffle off to Jupiter, Saturn and beyond. The program beautifully renders the starry background accurately, as well as presenting the Milky Way.

The app is loaded with information about the planets and moons, and with a flick of your finger you can rotate the planets and see their relationship to the sun and their satellites in real time. You can also speed up or reverse time, illustrating the orbits of the planets and their smaller companions.

Another nice touch is when you look at the earth, the images of the clouds are in real time (updated every 3 hours) so you are pretty much seeing the real thing in the palm of your hand.

I still marvel at how esoteric iPhone apps are getting. There is truly something for everyone, and the ability to hold a scale model of our solar system and interact with it would have seemed like science fiction a few years ago. Thank goodness Apple decided to bless real apps last year. The experience offered by programs like Grand Tour would really have been lame as a web app.

Grand Tour runs on the iPhone and iPod Touch with OS software 2.1 or greater.

* One of our readers correctly points out that the original NASA Grand Tour missions never happened, because of deep budget cuts. Many of the ideas from the mission were incorporated into the Voyager missions. Thanks for the clarification Mark.

Check out the gallery for some screen shots.

TUAWGrand Tour for the iPhone is a grand exploration of the solar system originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: iTS, iTunes, Software Update

Check the old Software Update, folks: there’s a 68 MB iTunes 8.1.1 upgrade awaiting, or you can get it direct from Apple’s site. The notes on the new version are as follows:

iTunes 8.1.1 adds support for renting HD movies and provides a number of bug fixes, including addressing issues with VoiceOver and syncing with iPhone or iPod touch.

The recent influx of HD movies onto the iTunes store (full list of titles here) promised but did not deliver rentals for HD titles; this update should take care of that detail. Let us know your mileage if you update.

Thanks Bruce!

TUAWiTunes 8.1.1 showing in Software Update originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Deals

UPDATE: Just as we suspected, the $500,000 blew past and now everything is unlocked.

It took a while for the US$39 MacHeist 3 bundle to raise US$400,000 for charity, but it happened yesterday and now the US$199 BoinxTV Sponsored Edition application is unlocked for everyone who is participating in the fun. In case you’re not familiar with BoinxTV, it’s referred to as a “TV studio in a box” and it’s wonderful for easy, yet professional-looking video editing.

The Boinx TV unlock apparently opened the floodgates, because MacHeist 3 has raised another US$25,000 for charity since the US$400,000 level was reached. The new goal is a cool US$500,000 raised for charity, and when that happens, Espresso and The Hit List will be unlocked. This has to happen in the next two days, since this is a limited-time offer.

Since we last talked about MacHeist 3, Cro-Mag Rally and the Times newsreader have been added as bonus apps. You also get Delicious Library 2 and Multiwinia if you tweet about your purchase (which caused Macworld editor Peter Cohen to firmly state the case against Twitter as a spam medium), as well as several other applications that have been slipped into the mix since the bundle started.

The total value of MacHeist 3 is now at US$981, available to you for just US$39.

Click here to visit the MacHeist 3 website.

TUAWBoinxTV unlocked in MacHeist 3 — next up, Espresso and The Hit List originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Critically-acclaimed newcomer Nicole Beharie joins an all-star cast of Academy Award–nominated (Alfre Woodward, Michael O’Keefe) and Emmy Award–winning (Charles S. Dutton, Xzibit) actors in a film about Dee Roberts (Beharie), an African American single mother accused of being a drug dealer. Together with an ACLU attorney (Tim Blake Nelson), Roberts struggles to prove her innocence. The film opens April 17.

For two weeks now, Evan Doll and Alan Cannistraro have enjoyed the rapt attention of their students. Eager to learn how they can write apps for iPhone and iPod touch, they’ve signed up for “iPhone Application Programming,” a ten-week course offered by Stanford University’s School of Engineering. Like to sit in? No need to matriculate; simply subscribe to the free course on iTunes U.

Filed under: Rumors, Beta Beat, iPhone, SDK

It might seem like a big leap from a phone with no real video capabilities to one that will trim and clip your creations on the fly, but that’s the implication of a few graphic elements sussed out of the iPhone 3.0 firmware by Ben at benm.at (original site in German, translation here). He’s spotted some art resources that seem to show editing, scrubbing and clip functions in the next version of the iPhone’s firmware.

Note that Engadget Mobile pointed out an “Upload my Video” button in the MobileMe area of a 3.0 iPhone last month.

Even though there are jailbreak apps now that leverage the iPhone’s camera for video use (ustream and Qik, in particular), Apple hasn’t yet shown its hand on video directions in 3.0. Giving users the ability to edit their video on-device before uploading, emailing or MMS-ing would be a spectacular feature, and there’s a lot to like about the idea of a pinch/stretch UI for managing a video timeline. iPhone, meet iMovie? Still, if you planned to do a lot of video work on your phone, a 32 GB model with a faster processor and better camera would be ideal…

Thanks, Ben

TUAWRumor: iPhone OS 3.0 to include video editing tools originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 05 Apr 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Liz McKernan, a journalism student at Arizona State University’s Cronkite School of Journalism, enjoys being at the cutting edge of digital journalism. Armed with her MacBook, Final Cut Pro, and a video camera, McKernan does it all, researching, writing, shooting, and editing stories seen in more than a million households. How did she learn how to do what many veteran journalists cannot?

Offering proof that you can find “iPhone apps for nearly every waking minute,” Deborah Yao (mercurynews.com) documents how iPhone gets her through the day. “My iPhone,” she explains, “is a pedometer, a voice recorder, a gym coach and a budget tracker. It promises to find my parked car, give me a shoulder massage and even repel mosquitoes.” Now, she laments, “if only my iPhone can do my taxes. Wait. There’s probably an app for that.”

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Odds and ends, Bluetooth, Apple, iPhone, iPod touch

When all of those iPhone 3.0 features were first announced, one of the features that stuck out most to me was the incoming A2DP ability — the new iPhone OS will let you stream out music to a Bluetooth source, like headphones… or your car. And over at Cars.com, the guys got their hands on a Toyota Venza with Bluetooth capability, and did just that, as you can see in the video above. It’s pretty slick — no wires, no annoying pairing, just hit the Bluetooth button on the iPod, choose the car’s Bluetooth source, and press play. We’re not sure about audio quality (it should be at least listenable), but it looks super cool.

There are, as usual, some catches. I for one was disappointed to hear that this A2DP ability won’t work with first-gen iPhones like mine — you’ll need to have a 3G to do something like this. And of course, this will require the iPhone OS 3.0, which isn’t technically out yet (though devs in Apple’s development program are playing with it right now, which is why you can see it in the video above). And finally, you’ll need a car with the Bluetooth capability, which (though I haven’t owned or shopped for a car for a few years, so maybe things have changed a bit) is still kind of hard to find.

But hey, even if you’re not there yet, here’s a look at the future. Where we’re going, you won’t need wires to get your iPod playing music on the car stereo.

TUAWStreaming iPhone via bluetooth in the car originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cubes rule in Edge. The red hot videogame — it’s won numerous industry awards, received accolades from gaming sites, and earns rave reviews from rabid iPhone fans — has a simple premise: navigate your Cube around a polygonal universe, collecting prisms, climbing walls, and solving puzzles along the way. Play is infectious. And, with 43 levels and tons of obstacles to overcome, challenging.

Filed under: Software, Developer, Deals

Changes.app, the ultimate Mac application used to track changes in folders and text files, was recently updated to version 1.5. This new version easily integrates with Coda, Espresso, BBEdit, TextWrangler, and TextMate. When you launch Changes, you will be able to install plug-ins directly into those application right from the Changes menu item.

There is a new HUD (Heads Up Display) that allows you to view changes from within the supported applications. Changes can also interface with Subversion, CVS, Perforce, Mercurial, Git, Bazaar, and Darcs for versioning control. With this new version, there is also built-in AppleScript support.

Even if you’re not a developer, or don’t use the applications or versioning control systems that are mentioned, you can still find Changes to be useful. Anyone, not just developers, may find it useful to be able to look for differences between two support files or folders.

You can download a 15-day free trial of Changes from their website. Single-user licenses are $49.95 each.

Special Promo Code
If you are planning on purchasing Changes, you can use our special promo code to get $10 (US) off the purchase of any license type. Just type in TUAWCHANGES15 at checkout. This special offer is good through April 15th, 2009.

TUAWChanges moves to 1.5, adds new features, gives TUAW readers a discount originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Apr 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Developer, iPhone, SDK

There’s a great tutorial at Apokalypse Software for getting the iPhone 2.2.1 SDK working on a PPC Mac (up until now, doing development for the iPhone meant getting an Intel-based Mac). It takes some work, but nothing that will pose a problem for most developers. Before you begin, remember that you must have 6GB of disk space available. Also, if you’ve tried to install the SDK on your target volume before, you’ll have trouble until you uninstall Xcode with /Library/Developer/3.1/uninstall-devtools.

If you don’t want to go through the hassle, you can buy an installer for just $5. As a guy who still uses his G4 iMac, I understand the appeal of using an older Mac.

TUAWiPhone 2.2.1 SDK on a PPC Mac originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Apr 2009 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: iPhone, App Store

In the hustle and madness of yesterday’s wayback machine activity, there were a couple of App Store introductions (and a notable upgrade) that might have slipped through…

First up: The long-awaited version of Quickoffice for iPhone that allows editing of Word and Excel files hit the store today and was demoed at CTIA. [Looks like the new Quicksheet is available now, but the full bundle and the Quickword standalone app aren't on sale yet as of Thursday morning.] While QO has had a ‘mobile files’ tool on the iPhone for a while now, this is the first build of the venerable portable office suite (which has been a favorite on Palm handhelds for years) that can do editing in both formats.

Quickoffice for iPhone can do font formatting and cut, copy and paste within Word documents — presumably to be tied in with system-wide C/P in the OS 3.0 world-to-come. Both the Excel and Word tools will support landscape mode for extra editing area.

Files on the iPhone can be transferred off the device using WiFi to a local Mac, or straight to a MobileMe account. Quickoffice for iPhone is shipping now for an “introductory price” of $19.99, but if you just want the Excel spreadsheet editor (formerly MobileFiles Pro) you can have it for $12.99; the Word document editor is also $12.99. Quickoffice Files (previously known as MobileFiles 2.0) is $3.99 and offers similar file transfer capability to Readdle and other file managers. We’re getting a review copy for a more thorough walkthrough later this week. It’s worth noting that a Microsoft exec hinted at a version of Office itself for the iPhone that may be coming sometime in the not-too-distant future.

Second… who doesn’t love a good robot game? For $4.99, you can now dive into Pangea’s classic Otto Matic series with the company’s new title for iPhone, Otto Matic: Alien Invasion. The B-movie style game pits Otto against the attacking Brain Aliens from Planet X; his job is to save as many humans as possible. Otto Matic: Alien Invasion features 10 levels and 25 different enemies, multiple weapons and activities, and quite a bit of fun.

Lastly, the TUAW top pick Evernote has been updated with a nifty landscape mode, thumbnail viewing, improved performance, favorites sorting, and an embedded web browser to reduce the tap a link –> Safari –> back to home screen –> scroll around –> relaunch Evernote loop-the-loop annoyances. Evernote 2.0 for iPhone remains a free download, and the basic Evernote service is also free; a year of pro-level service costs $45.

TUAWiPhone app roundup: Quickoffice, Otto Matic, Evernote 2 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Apr 2009 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Accessories, Apple, Blast From the Past, TUAW Bookshelf


Apple was kind enough to include a veritable encyclopedia of information with my Apple ][. Inside the big, red manual, you'll find complete step-by-step instructions for setting up the machine, adjusting a tape recorder for optimal use, plenty of programs to get you started, and a handy reference for the hardware inside.

Apple introduces a little design philosophy in the manual, which is a welcome break from the volumes used to learn the 5100, for example. Rumors on our sister site Engadget say Tandy is working on a consumer machine with BASIC and a human-readable manual as well, but I'll believe that when I see it. Anyway, the Apple ][ manual has some sample code for making actual audio tones using the built-in speaker (a novel idea, by the way). Why use audio in a program? Here's the design philosophy I found interesting:

"Computers can perform marvelous feats of mathematical computation at well beyond the speed capable of most human minds. They are fast, cold and accurate; man on the other hand is slower, has emotion, and makes errors. These differences create problems when the two interact with one another. So to reduce this problem humanizing of the computer is needed. Humanizing means incorporating within the computer procedures that aid in a computer's usage. One such technique is the addition of a tone subroutine."

It's like they want to make the computer more *personal*, somehow.

TUAWTUAW Bookshelf: Apple II Reference Manual originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thanks to its Intel Nehalem Xeon processors and a next generation system architecture, the updated Xserve announced today delivers up to twice the performance of the previous system. It’s available with up to two 2.93 GHz Intel Xeon processors, industry-leading storage options, and up to 3TB of internal storage. Starting at $2,999, Xserve includes an unlimited client license for Mac OS X Server version 10.5 Leopard.

Riding the buzz surrounding the new Fast & Furious movie, Oberon Media and Universal Pictures have released the Fast & Furious iPhone game. It closely follows the storyline of the new blockbuster movie and uses social networking and Internet features including the ability to upload fastest races to YouTube, site posts and race challenges, plus full use of the accelerometer and Wi-Fi connectivity…

Sky has announced that its new Sky+ Remote Record iPhone application is now available as a free download from the iTunes App Store. The application gives Sky subscribers access to the seven day Electronic Programme Guide (EPG). This can be browsed, and programmes scheduled to record. Once a recording request has been sent to the customer’s set-top box, a message appears on screen confirming that the show will be ready and waiting for them when they get home…

Mac OS X Leopard lets you make your Mac as secure as you’d like. You can use its built-in tools to prevent others from casually observing the content of the documents you’re working on. You can even encrypt the contents of your Home folder, preventing someone who steals or gains access to your Mac from seeing or copying your files. Find out how by watching the latest Mac OS X Quick Tip.

Filed under: Software, Open Source

We had a lot of mail from users eager to let us know that the NeoOffice 3.0 is now available. NeoOffice is a Mac OS X native open-source office suite originally crafted from the code used for OpenOffice, and its developers are boasting about the following features not found in the current release of OpenOffice for Mac:

• OS X Services support
• Media Browser support
• Native floating tool windows
• Magnify and swipe trackpad gestures
• Menus available when no documents are open
• Import images from scanners and cameras
• Command-clicking on window titlebar
• Mac OS X Leopard grammar checking support

A more in-depth look at these features can be found here. The suite is a fantastic alternative to paying full price for Microsoft Office and has come a long way in the past few years.

NeoOffice 3.0 is a universal binary offers separate Intel and PPC packages, and it requires OS X 10.4 or higher, 512 MB of RAM and 400 MB of free disk space. Please note that Universal Access support from OpenOffice is not available on NeoOffice at this time, so using OpenOffice, Microsoft Office, or iWork is suggested to access that feature. A token donation is requested of all downloaders to help support the project.

TUAWNeoOffice 3 available for download originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Features, How-tos, Developer, iPhone, iPod touch

In our last iPhone Dev 101, a continuing series on iPhone development, we talked about resources that you can use while you are coding with Cocoa. In this dev post, I’m going to walk you through Xcode and creating your first project.

First we need to open Xcode, so once you have the SDK installed, you’ll need to open /Developer/Applications/ and look for Xcode.app. This is Apple’s IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that allows you to code, debug, test, and build all of your iPhone and Mac applications. When you open this application, nothing specially really happens, although you might see the welcome center — if you see this, you can choose to disable it at startup by using the check box at the bottom.

To create a new project, select File > New Project. In the resulting window select iPhone OS Application > View-based Application, and click “Choose.” You will then need to specify a save name and location for the resulting files that will combine to create your application. In the resulting Xcode window, you should note that most of the work is already done for you!

At this point you have a fully functional application. Try it out: click the “build and go” button at the top of the window and wait while the app is compiled and opens in the iPhone Simulator. The app definitely doesn’t do much, but still, it’s a running application you made without writing any code.

Continue reading to learn more about Xcode, and get a brief UI overview.

Continue reading iPhone Dev 101: Creating Xcode projects, brief Xcode UI overview

TUAWiPhone Dev 101: Creating Xcode projects, brief Xcode UI overview originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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