New Posts to The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mar 29, 2010:
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1) American McGee's Crooked House, Zenonia 2, MLB World Series 2010 out now
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/29/american-mcgees-crooked-house-zenonia-2-mlb-world-series-2010/
Filed under: Gaming
Here are a few games of note that have shown up in the App Store recently. Game developer American McGee made his debut on the iPhone without much fanfare in the form of a game called Crooked House -- it's a puzzle game based on an old nursery rhyme that's as dripping with atmosphere as most of McGee's titles. If you're a puzzle fan or just want to see what an experienced game developer has done with Apple's platform, it's worth a look.
Zenonia 2 also showed up on the App Store recently -- it's the sequel to an action RPG from the iPhone's earlier days, and it adds in some character customization, a much larger world, and even some asynchronous multiplayer.
And finally, Major League Baseball is following up their extremely successful game-watching app with... a game. That's right, MLB Advanced Media has turned out an official baseball game, featuring all of the [...]
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2) Obvious: Apple fans who own Apple products can't wait to buy the iPad
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/29/obvious-apple-fans-who-own-apple-products-cant-wait-to-buy-the/
Filed under: iPadThis is probably one for the obvious department, but we'll share it with you anyway. An NPD study released last week says that device awareness for the iPad is already very high (no duh), and that it's highest among 18-34 year old current Apple owners (double duh) with $100,000 or greater income. So basically, Apple fans with money to spend can't wait to buy the iPad. That, we believe, is the legendary triple duh.
But wait, there's more. The reason all of those current Apple owners want to buy the iPad? "Liking the Apple brand." They want to buy an Apple product because they like Apple products. The multitouch screen tied for biggest reason to buy, and NPD also says that 18-34 users are interesting in actually playing music and accessing the Internet from the device.
To be fair, those numbers are all cited as "awareness" -- only 9% of those surveyed said they were [...]
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3) BBC iPhone apps on hold, maybe forever
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/29/bbc-iphone-apps-on-hold-maybe-forever/
Filed under: iPhoneTh British Broadcasting Corporation was expected to launch several iPhone apps with news and sports content in April but the apps are going to be a no-show.
Today, the BBC reports that the BBC Trust, which governs the 'Beeb,' has asked the broadcaster to postpone any plans for the apps while the business case is reviewed.
Several groups have criticized the BBC for wanting to distribute the free apps, most notably competitors who believe the BBC has an unfair advantage because it is funded by taxpayers who pay a yearly license fee to fund the broadcaster.
The BBC is among the biggest and most elite broadcasters in the world, and the apps were eagerly awaited. The corporation originally said it expected to build apps for the iPhone, and later Android and BlackBerry phones, but of course all of those plans are apparently on hold until this issue gets worked out.
Full [...]
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4) iTunes 9.1 due soon with ebook support and auto bitrate conversion
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/29/itunes-9-1-due-soon-with-ebook-support-and-auto-bitrate-conversi/
Filed under: iTunesIt should come as no surprise that iTunes is very likely due for an update this weekend, thanks to the iPad launch. MacRumors has reported on the likely features of iTunes 9.1, with built-in support for ebooks being the most obvious addition to the increasingly misnamed iTunes. According to their source, the current "Audiobooks" entry in iTunes will be replaced with a "Books" section meant to encompass both audiobooks and ebooks. Content management for portables like the iPad and iPhone will also be changed in order to allow users to sync ebook content to their devices more easily.
Genius Mixes, the series of auto-generated playlists introduced in iTunes 9, will allow users to have a bit more control over them after the update. Currently the only functionality allowed in the Genius Mix interface is a simple play/pause over the album art; in iTunes 9.1, users will be [...]
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5) WSJ: New iPhone coming this summer, and may be coming to Verizon
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/29/wsj-new-iphone-coming-this-summer-and-may-be-coming-to-verizon/
Filed under: iPhoneGet ready for the "VeriPhone." The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple will be releasing a new iPhone this summer, and "appears to be working" on a model for Verizon Wireless. They claim it's a CDMA-based iPhone, and that mass production is slated to begin in September, but it's unclear when Apple will make the model available. The report notes that one Pegatron Technology Corp. (no relation to Deceptacon Megatron) is contracted to build the model.
There have been plenty of rumors already about a Verizon compatible iPhone, but this is the most credible report that we've seen, saying it's happening sometime this year.
Since its launch, the iPhone has seen two major refreshes, both occurring during the early summer period, and it appears that Apple will be keeping with this trend. However, if true, the release of a Verizon compatible iPhone marks a significant break [...]
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6) Steve Jobs can't wait for your hands and fingers
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/29/steve-jobs-cant-wait-for-your-hands-and-fingers/
Filed under: HumorThere have been no shortage of jokes and sniggers about the "iPad" since it was announced, and it's getting more and more difficult to tell reality from a Saturday Night Live skit. Just the other day my non-technical wife asked me, in all sincerity, if "iPeriod" was a real Apple product (no, honey, just someone making a "joke" ... but there is an app for that.)
Apple isn't helping matters either. In the press release regarding the iPad's imminent arrival, Steve Jobs is quoted as saying the "iPad connects users with their apps and content in a far more intimate and fun way than ever before" and "[w]e can't wait for users to get their hands and fingers on it this weekend" in reference to the iPad's "revolutionary Multi-Touch[TM]."
Really, Steve? Really?
The only people I expect to be this excited to get their "hands and fingers busy" over the weekend are teenagers who [...]
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7) First Look: Ship Finder HD for iPad
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/29/first-look-ship-finder-hd-for-ipad/
Filed under: iPad
We had a rather in-depth discussion about Ship Finder HD over in the TUAW back channel this morning, trying to decide whether or not to feature it in our First Look series. In the end, we determined that the cool functionality outweighed the iffy design and that it was just really a neat thing to be able to track ships around the world in real time.
And that's exactly what Ship Finder HD does. It uses AIS coverage from across the globe to position ships on maps. Lee Armstrong of pinkfroot, a small iPhone OS development house, was kind enough to share this video showing Ship Finder HD in action. He writes. "[T]he new iPad's form factor enables the app to be much more functional for just the casual user and the professional mariner."
Obviously, the application would benefit from the touch of a graphic designer, especially for the ship icons. The popover views could [...]
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8) Apple hiring editorial managers for App Store
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/29/apple-hiring-editorial-managers-for-app-store/
Filed under: Apple, App StoreIf you've ever wanted to apply to work at Apple, now might be a good time to check out the job board over at TechCrunch. Late last week, Apple posted several editorial positions designed to help weed out the good apps from the bad in the App Store. Another position is geared toward promoting apps both on the desktop and in the App Store, leading TechCrunch to believe that there could be an App Store for OS X some time in the future.
Apple would not be breaking any new ground if the App Store is also pushed to the Mac. Bodega by freshcode was launched in August 2009 and has seen a growing number of users in the months since. With the concerns over editorial standards in the App Store that have plagued it since launch, I'd rather Apple focus on cleaning the App Store up before expanding it beyond the iPhone/iPad.TUAWApple hiring editorial managers for App [...]
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9) Dashboard for iPad concept app
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/29/dashboard-for-ipad-concept-app/
Filed under: iPad
TechCrunch found this sweet app by Carnegie Mellon student Rich Hong that puts Dashboard on your iPad. As you can see from the video above, it appears Hong has successfully ported Mac OS X's Dashboard directly to the iPad, though it is missing some of the iPhone's built-in apps like Calculator, Stocks, and Weather. Many speculated that, without a complete overhaul, these limited-functionality apps would look ridiculous on the iPad's large screen. Hong's solution gives those apps back to the iPad.
It is not known yet if Hong's Dashboard iPad app will appear in the iPad App Store, but I think it's fairly doubtful considering it mimics Apple software to a T. Still, it's a cool implementation and goes a long way to showing just what is possible on the iPad.TUAWDashboard for iPad concept app originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 29 Mar 2010 [...]
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10) Apple posts iPad guided tour videos
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/29/apple-posts-ipad-guided-tour-videos/
Filed under: iPadApple has posted new "guided tour" iPad videos meant to give details of the device's features. Unlike the original promo video which was a broad overview, the guided tours get into the specifics.
There are 11 videos in total, each explaining and demonstrating key iPad features, including Mail, Safari, Photos, Video, YouTube, iPod, iTunes, iBooks, Keynote, Pages and Numbers. There's also an option to watch all of the videos, one after the other. As you'd expect, they're very well done and feature best-case-scenarios; the connections are all fast, the photos are gorgeous, etc. The snapshots of my kids never look that good!
Enjoy the demos for now and bide your time until this weekend. We're almost there.
Thanks to everyone who sent this in!TUAWApple posts iPad guided tour videos originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:30:00 EST. [...]
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11) MobileMe and Dropbox, a study in opposites
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/29/mobileme-and-dropbox-a-study-in-opposites/
Filed under: MobileMe
I have been using 1Password to move from "less secure" to "more secure" passwords. Like many people, I got into the bad habit of reusing a (relatively weak) password - let's call it "pa$$word" - on many different sites. I recently made a "New Smart Folder" in 1Password tasked with finding any site where my password is "pa$$word," and have been browsing the results.
That's when realized I was using the same password for both MobileMe and Dropbox. I was surprised how easy it was to change one of them, and what a complete pain it was to change the other.
To change my Dropbox password, I logged in, clicked a link labeled "Account" and then another labeled "Account Settings." Even a web novice could manage that. Next, I entered my old password, control clicked the "New Password" field, chose the 1Password submenu, and selected "Strong Password Generator," which [...]
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12) First Look: Carter's Encyclopedia of Health and Medicine for iPad
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/29/first-look-carter-s-encyclopedia-of-health-and-medicine-for-ipa/
Filed under: iPad
When I first heard about Carter's Encyclopedia of Health and Medicine, I thought: "Why aren't they just publishing this on the iBooks store?" After all, what can an app offer that an actual iBook won't? This video offers some answers. Instead of just a static book, this app provides searchable interactive skeletons (cute touch!), a topic-specific search history, and of course, all of the medical detail that a hypochondriac could wish for.
The video shown here was provided by Keith Ahern, the CEO of mogeneration, an Australian development company. I'm a little surprised that so many developers are going head-to-head with the iBooks arena, but with a niche area like a medical reference, it looks like Carter's has a chance to stand its ground. This encyclopedia offers a beautiful reference work, but it may struggle with its relatively limited feature set when compared [...]
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13) First Look: iMockups for iPad
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/29/first-look-imockups-for-ipad/
Filed under: iPad
Developers often carry around notebooks, which they use to sketch out their brilliant ideas for the next million-dollar iPhone or iPad app. The folks over at Endloop, a Canadian iPad development company with a few projects under its figurative belt, have been "coding like madmen" recently for their latest product, iMockups for iPad.
The idea behind iMockups is to give devs a way to quickly create wireframes and layouts for iPad, iPhone, and web apps. Any project can have multiple sketchbook pages associated with it, and developers can quickly add elements from a pad at the side of the screen.
Details about the app are very sketchy (no pun intended), so there's no word on when the app will be released to the App Store, what the price will be, or if there is any way to export or print the mockups that are created. However, iMockups looks like a good tool for those of [...]
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14) Apple announces iPad Personal Setup service
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/29/apple-announces-ipad-personal-setup-service/
Filed under: iPadThe iPad will become available this Saturday, and Apple's got answers for customers with questions.
Apple announced today that their retail stores will offer a free Personal Setup service to iPad customers. New customers who buy an iPad at a retail store will be offered time with an employee to set up email accounts, install their favorite apps from the store and more. Additionally, all US Apple Stores will host special iPad workshops starting on Saturday morning.
While many of us feel we'll be OK on our own (especially the early adopters), there are a great number of customers who feel a bit uncertain about such a "novel" device (my parents are a prime example). It's nice to see Apple reaching out to those new users. If you attend one of the sessions, please let us know how it goes.TUAWApple announces iPad Personal Setup service originally appeared on The Unofficial [...]
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15) Apple boycotts Fox News because of Glenn Beck
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/29/apple-boycotts-fox-news-because-of-glenn-beck/
Filed under: Apple CorporateA two-week old report by the Washington Post is only now gaining traction in the tech section. It appears that Apple has boycotted Fox News based on Glenn Beck and his ludicrous statements, including calling President Obama a racist and branding progressivism a "cancer."
"More than 200 companies have joined a boycott of Beck's program, making it difficult for Fox to sell ads," the Washington Post reports. "The time has instead been sold to smaller firms offering such products as Kaopectate, Carbonite, 1-800-PetMeds and Goldline International. A handful of advertisers, such as Apple, have abandoned Fox altogether. Network executives say they believe they could charge higher rates if the host were more widely acceptable to advertisers."
Given that Fox has the largest cable news viewership in the US, Apple's decision to boycott them was no small decision, [...]
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16) 10.6.3 released
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/29/10-6-3-released/
Filed under: Software UpdateHead on over to Software Update to find the latest OS X dot release. 10.6.3 is now available. Here's Apple's write-up on the matter:
The 10.6.3 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Snow Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, including fixes that:
improve the reliability and compatibility of QuickTime X
address compatibility issues with OpenGL-based applications
address an issue that causes background message colors to display incorrectly in Mail
resolve an issue that prevented files with the # or & characters in their names from opening in Rosetta applications
resolve an issue that prevented files from copying to Windows file servers
improve performance of Logic Pro 9 and Main Stage 2 when running in 64-bit mode
improve sleep and wake reliability when [...]
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17) First Look: Tweeting from your iPad with Twitepad
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/29/first-look-tweeting-from-your-ipad-with-twitepad/
Filed under: iPad
In the rush of iPad apps that we've been hearing about for the last few days, the genre that seems to be missing is Twitter clients. They're very popular in the iPhone App Store, so it's surprising that we haven't seen more screenshots or videos of Twitter apps for iPad. One of the first Twitter clients to be available on iPad (as of Saturday April 3rd) will be Twitepad, an app from InfoXenter that has already been approved by Apple.
The larger screen of the iPad gave InfoXenter an opportunity to build in an integrated Web browser, support for multiple columns of tweets or an unlimited number of Twitter accounts, and other features that look pretty darned good! Check out the video above for a quick look at Twitepad. Hopefully, TUAW will have a review of this early iPad client for Twitter in the near future.TUAWFirst Look: Tweeting from your iPad with Twitepad [...]
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18) iPad suppliers forecast shipments of 8 - 10 million for calendar year 2010
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/29/ipad-suppliers-forecast-shipments-of-8-10-million-for-calendar/
Filed under: iPadAnalyst Katy Huberty at Morgan Stanley has published a research note forecasting shipments of 8 - 10 million iPads during calendar year 2010. That's significantly more than previous estimates, which showed shipments of about 5 million devices. The note, as reported in a WSJ All Things Digital post, still maintains a sales estimate of greater than 6 million iPads for the year, since shipments are not necessarily equal to sales (some production remains in distribution channels at year-end).
Huberty notes that investors who are bearish on the iPad say that it lacks a "killer app." She counters with speculation that the near-term target is for the sub-$800 notebook computer market, which currently appears to be in the range of 30 million units in the United States and 120 million units globally. In the long run, media (video, magazines, books) and apps that have been [...]
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19) Brightcove announces support for HTML5 video
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/29/brightcove-announces-support-for-html5-video/
Filed under: Video
Brightcove, a Cambridge, MA-based company that specializes in online video provisioning for media companies and content providers (like TUAW and Engadget, for instance), has announced they will officially be supporting HTML5 video for their clients. Unlike Flash, HTML5 video (when encoded using the H.264 standard) will play on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Brightcove's new HTML5 video platform will automatically detect what device the user is running and dynamically switch between Flash and HTML5 players to suit the device's capabilities. For existing Brightcove content providers, all they need to do (assuming their clips are already in H.264 format) is change the embedding code in their webpages to immediately access the HTML5-savvy version. Brightcove automatically encodes each submission in seven different formats & bitrates for optimal client [...]
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20) Four made-for-iPhone headsets from Sony
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/29/four-made-for-iphone-headsets-from-sony/
Filed under: Accessories, iPod Family, iPhoneSony has introduced four new sets of earphones designed for the iPod/iPhone: Three earbud and one over-the-ear style.
Engadget reports that only the MDR-EX38iP ($39.99 USD, pictured) is available now. The other three models -- the DR-EX300iP ($99.99 USD), MDR-E10iP (No price given), and the DR-V150iP ($39.99 USD) -- are expected to be released in May. The earbuds will feature in-line volume controls, built-in microphones, and different colors for the MDR earbuds. They are powered by Neodymium drivers that range from 9 to 13.5 mm. The DR-V150iP is aimed toward DJs, and has a 30mm ferrite driver.
The MDR-E10iP will come in pink, gold, blue, or grey; the MDR-EX38iP is available in black and white.TUAWFour made-for-iPhone headsets from Sony originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 29 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see [...]
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21) iPad shipments on their way!
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/29/ipad-shipments-on-their-way/
Filed under: iPadWe've been tipped by virtually everyone with an email address that their iPad pre-orders have begun shipping from Shenzhen, China using UPS Expedited service. While the iPad isn't set to be released for another 5 days, people shouldn't get their hopes up that they'll received their iPad before the official launch date. In the past Apple has worked with shipping carriers to hold product delivery until a certain date. Of course, accidents happen, and if you do happen to get yours a day or two early, let us know.
Just think, 5 days from now the Internet will be flooded with riveting iPad unboxing photos...
[Thanks to the sixty thousand readers who sent this in.]TUAWiPad shipments on their way! originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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22) First Look: Kobo for iPad
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/29/first-look-kobo-for-ipad/
Filed under: iPad
Here's yet another iPad app that caught my eye via a video preview. KoboBooks takes advantage of iPad-style design to offer a simple, elegant eBook reader. I love how all of the attention to detail (from bookmarks and page views, to brightness, font, and background settings) really exemplifies how apps can work on the iPad. Check out those gorgeous pop-up menus! Long time TUAW friend Jim Dovey sent over this video for us to look at.
It's unclear whether Apple is going to (or, really, should) give this app a green light. KoboBooks is in direct competition with its iBooks reader and their support for Project Gutenberg eBooks. Though, if Apple does reject it, that would be a shame. Kobo is beautiful to look at. It is designed with obvious love, and a clear simple feature set. This is another app that I'm looking forward to trying, assuming that it makes it to App [...]
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