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1) 360iDev: Marketing and promotion on the App Store
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/360idev-marketing-and-promotion-on-the-app-store/
Filed under: Developer
To start off day 2 of 360iDev here in San Jose, California, Henry Balanon hosted a panel to discuss the marketing and promotion of iPhone and iPad apps. Panelists Brian Chen of Wired, Rana Sobhany (author of "Marketing iPhone Apps" from O'Reilly), Doodle Jump creator Igor Pusenjak, and Playhaven's Raymond Lau held court and spoke to developers about how to promote and market their apps, both, with the press and on the App Store.
The suggestions ranged from the broad ("have a good idea") to the specific ("Use the What's New section in the App Store to promote your other apps"), but over the hour or so, the panelists came up with a lot of solid advice for developers looking to get the word out about their App Store offerings.TUAW360iDev: Marketing and promotion on the App Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 22:00:00 [...]
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2) CameraBag makes the trek over to the iPad
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/camerabag-makes-the-trek-over-to-the-ipad/
Filed under: iPadCameraBag (U.S. $2.99) is a popular little utility that has had life on both the Mac and PC platforms, as well as the iPhone. Now it's made it onto the iPad, where it will be welcomed by photographers.
CameraBag is a photographic cropping, framing, and filter tool. The app comes with some preset filters like "Helga," which gives you a square format image with washed out highlights and some vignetting. "1962" provides dynamic black and white images, and "Magazine" delivers saturated tones to your photos. There are other presets as well, plus a button that generates a random variation of an existing preset. If you don't like what you see, you just keep hitting the button until you get something you like.
What are the downsides of CameraBag? Well, there's no control of the cropping, so you can't move the object in the frame. The frames are pretty basic, and there's no [...]
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3) iPhone Screentaker updated with iPad templates
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/iphone-screentaker-updated-with-ipad-templates/
Filed under: Software, iPad
Fabian Kreiser has recently updated his screen capturing app for Mac OS X to include support iPad screen captures. Like previous iterations of the app, version 1.2 of iPhone Screentaker allows you to add certain design elements to your iPad screenshots. These include encasing them an iPad and setting the orientation background color. Images can then be saved as either JPG or PNG, with the option to scale to fit iTunes.
One little quirk about the app is the "Capture Screenshot" button. While its existence would seemingly indicate an associated action, in my experience clicking on it didn't do anything. I wasn't able to find anything documenting its function, either.
While you can certainly accomplish a similar end with an image editor, such as Adobe Photoshop or Pixelmator, that may prove too time consuming or difficult for some.
Screen capturing has been a [...]
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4) Hands on with Hangman RSS HD for iPad
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/hands-on-with-hangman-rss-hd-for-ipad/
Filed under: iPadI am fond of fellow TUAW blogger Dave Caolo and friendly with Brian Akaka, and were it not for those associations there is no way I would have tried out Hangman RSS HD for iPad by Finger Arts, because on paper the game just sounded absolutely dire. But Dave had given it a spin at Macworld and found it playable, and Brian Akaka asked very nicely if I would give it an honest try.
And what do you know? I liked it. A lot. Hangman RSS HD turns out to be insanely addicting and challenging.
It's a standard hangman game played with real time RSS feeds from all over the world. That means you're just about as likely to find a story about horrible events as one that's...family friendly. The first game I played was about a 9-year old Yemini bride. I nearly didn't make it to the second game, but I'm glad that I persevered. Once you understand that the game uses unfiltered, real [...]
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5) From iPhone to iPad: Revisiting Labyrinth 2
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/from-iphone-to-ipad-revisiting-labyrinth-2/
Filed under: iPad
How do old favorites hold up on the iPad? In our "From iPhone to iPad" series, TUAW revisits iPhone applications that have transitioned to the iPad. We look at their latest incarnation and see how the new measures up to the old. Today, TUAW looks at Labyrinth 2.
I loved Labyrinth 2 when I first tested it for iPhone. So I was delighted when developer Carl Loodberg of Illusion Labs offered me the opportunity to try out the updated version for the iPad. As I wrote about the iPhone version, Labyrinth 2 offers a beautifully designed and fun-to-play classic wooden labyrinth with metal ball game that's fun to use, even for the manually uncoordinated like myself.
Labyrinth 2 for iPad is all that -- and more. Loodberg has brought all the visual appeal that made the iPhone version a treasure and upgraded the graphics and interaction for the iPad display. Unlike many [...]
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6) The kids are iAlright, says Gene Munster
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/the-kids-are-ialright-says-gene-munster/
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster says more kids want iPhones. The Apple 2.0 blog has Mr. Munster hanging out with high schoolers for one of his semi-annual surveys of teen buying habits in the US.
In a research note on the survey, Munster said, "Apple's dominance in the [consumer electronics] and online music markets is going seemingly unchecked."
According to his findings:
Plans to buy an iPhone in the next six months have risen from 16% a year ago to 22% last fall to 31% today
14% of the kids surveyed already own an iPhone, up from last year's 8%, but down a point from last fall's 15%
87% of the kids surveyed own an MP3 player, 92% of which are iPods.
While 82% of teens download music, only 43% do it legally. But, of that 43%, 92% say they buy their music from Apple's iTunes Store.
All of that gives Apple the hand that rocks the cradle. Or as Munster puts it, "...the teen [...]
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7) Apple releases software update for today's MacBook Pro refresh
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/apple-releases-software-update-for-todays-macbook-pro-refresh/
Filed under: Macbook ProWell, that didn't take long. Apple has already released a software update for the 15 and 17-inch MacBook Pro's that were released earlier today.
MacBook Pro Software Update 1.3 is recommended for all 15 and 17-inch MacBook Pro mid 2010 models; it contains improvements for graphics stability (for high-performance video and gaming applications) as well as various bug fixes.TUAWApple releases software update for today's MacBook Pro refresh originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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8) 360iDev: Saurik on the mobile application market
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/360idev-saurik-on-the-mobile-application-market/
Filed under: App Store
Jay "Saurik" Freeman took the stage here at 360iDev last night to explain the mobile application marketplace. The entire mobile application marketplace, that is. Most people wrongly perceive the App Store to be a simple user-and-developer relationship, but in reality, it's a much more complicated place, with lots of inputs and outputs for time, money, and work. You can see the big picture of his chart above -- the "user" is the faceless woman near the middle, and the "developer" is the bearded man to her left. But everything else is a company or a connection that Saurik spoke about.
Saurik runs the jailbreak app store Cydia (which has over 10,000 packages available, hundreds of which for a fee, on which they've pulled in over $1.3 million so far), and so he's closely interested in almost all facets of this relationship chart, and how money can flow from users of [...]
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9) Ivy Leaguers asked to lay off the iPad
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/ivy-leaguers-told-to-lay-off-the-ipad/
No iPads for the Tigers. Princeton University's Office of Information Technology is asking students to please stop using Apple's latest wonder gadget on the campus wireless network.
According to the OIT, the issue is as follows: "Network monitoring has shown that many iPad devices are causing a problem on the campus network. These devices are continuing to use an IP address they have been leased well beyond the time they should."
The university tech types say they've seen the quirky DHCP behavior from the majority of iPads connecting to the campus WLAN. They blame a bug they believe exists in the iPad OS. The Princeton tiger team has hit Apple up for help but, until the fix is in, the OIT recommends not connecting an iPad to the campus network, as it is likely to malfunction.
The OIT says users who keep trying to connect may find their devices blocked, so that the stability and [...]
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10) From iPhone to iPad: Revisiting Zen Bound 2
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/from-iphone-to-ipad-revisiting-zen-bound-2/
Filed under: iPad
How do old favorites hold up on the iPad? In our "From iPhone to iPad" series, TUAW revisits iPhone applications that have transitioned to the iPad. We look at their latest incarnation and see how the new measures up to the old. Today, TUAW looks at Zen Bound 2.
It was just about a year ago when I first played the original Zen Bound game on the iPhone. Having been recommended to me by Dave Caolo after it was originally reviewed on TUAW by Mike Schramm, I loved the game's beautiful graphics and sound design. Starting its life as a physics emulation game called Zen Bondage, Zen Bound became be a huge breakout hit on the iPhone.
You play the game by wrapping rope around objects until you've covered a certain percentage of the object in question, avoiding running out of rope in the process. You progress by ascending a "game tree," unlocking new puzzles as you succeed [...]
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11) hacksugar: Hiding Apple's built-in applications
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/hacksugar-hiding-apples-built-in-applications/
Filed under: Hacks, iPhoneTUAW reader Joe Thompson pointed us to this hint over at Mac OS X Hints that helps you hide the standard applications that ship with the iPhone, without jailbreaking. This allows you to use those spots for your preferred 3rd party alternatives without sacrificing valuable home screen real estate or messing with a lot of ugly application rearrangement in iTunes. Thompson writes, "I've removed Stocks, Weather, and Notes, as I have better 3rd party apps for all three."
You'll need a Windows-based system to sync your iPhone and at least a trial copy of iBackupBot. The technique involves enabling parental restrictions and editing your springboard property list (the file that controls how your iPhone home screen behaves) to flag the application and update the icon layouts. The iBackupBot program allows you to replace that property list file on your iPhone after [...]
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12) Hands On: Alice for iPad shakes up storytime
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/hands-on-with-alice-for-ipad/
Filed under: App Review, iPadYesterday, after I posted the Alice for iPad preview video, Ben Roberts, who is one of the app creators, emailed us here at TUAW with promo codes for the application. I downloaded a copy of the app, installed it on my iPad, and spent a lovely half-hour reading out loud to my son.
If you like reading with your kids, the iPad (and especially Alice for iPad) demands accommodations. The app is engaging. Almost too engaging. The urge to shout "Stop doing that with my iPad, it will BREAK!" recurs frequently, especially when the boy realizes you can make Alice's neck grow or send candies flying around the screen.
So sit on the floor, not on the couch, preferably on a carpet rather than on wood. Seriously: a typical boy + a standard iPad + an app that encourages said boy to strongly shake the iPad = a disaster waiting to happen, unless you take precautions.
That [...]
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13) Big Kahuna: The new 17" MacBook Pro
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/big-kahuna-the-new-17-macbook-pro/
Filed under: Macbook ProThose who need a mobile studio and have very strong backs may be inclined to consider the Big Papi of Apple laptops, the 17" MacBook Pro. Today's update adds even more brawn to Apple's beast. Here are the details.
There is one main configuration, featuring the 2.53GHz Intel Core i5; the 2.66GHz Intel Core i7 CPU is a build-to-order option. As with the other models, the 17" starts off with 4GB of RAM (upgradable to 8GB), and comes standard with a 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive, with the following upgrade options:
500GB Serial ATA Drive (7200 rpm)
128GB Solid State Drive
256GB Solid State Drive
512GB Solid State Drive
That huge, high-resolution display is available with either a glossy or anti-glare finish (for an additional US$50). But this machine's real appeal is in its performance.
The customer who buys a 17" MacBook Pro typically needs to run [...]
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14) 360iDev: Interview with keynote speaker David Whatley of Critical Thought Games
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/360idev-interview-with-keynote-speaker-david-whatley-of-critica/
Filed under: Developer
David Whatley gave the keynote yesterday at the opening of 360iDev here in San Jose, CA. (a conference for iPhone and iPad developers that is taking place in the first half of this week). He's a developer himself (his company, Critical Thought Games, has released two games (Update: Three -- we forgot geoSpark) in the App Store so far, and he's got plans for more), but he's also become a sort of guru for iPhone devs, giving guidance in terms of how to get noticed and sell apps in the App Store, and on the tactical and motivational fronts as well. Here at 360iDev, he gave a rousing speech about how self-made developers need to put together vision, a commitment, and lots and lots of persistence in order to get their apps just right, and out on Apple's platform.
After the talk (which included anecdotes about Coca Cola founder John Pemberton's original vision to mix [...]
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15) Little buddy: 13" MacBook Pro details
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/little-buddy-13-macbook-pro-details/
Filed under: Macbook ProNever intimidated by its larger siblings, the 13" MacBook Pro is the closest many users will get to the fabled 12" G4 Powerbook. Today's update gives it more to brag about, like extended battery life and improved performance.
This machine comes with either a 2.4GHz or 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor. As with the other models, the 13" starts off with 4GB of RAM (upgradable to 8GB). The factory hard drive in this machine is smaller than in its siblings at either 250GB (2.4GHz) or 320GB (2.66GHz). Both are serial ATA drives at 5400 rpm (there's no 7200 rpm option for the 13" model) with the following upgrade path:
500GB Serial ATA Drive
128GB solid-state drive
256GB solid-state drive
512GB solid-state drive
Both feature a NVIDIA GeForce 320M for graphics and Apple's bold claim of up to 10 hours of battery life. They're using a technology called adaptive [...]
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16) Overview: The new 15" MacBook Pro
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/overview-the-new-15-macbook-pro/
Filed under: Macbook ProEarlier today, Apple released new MacBook Pros. The 15", middle-of-the-line model hits the sweet spot for many MBP customers, and this latest iteration is just as desirable as its predecessors.
This model comes in two main configurations, distinguished by either an Intel Core i5 (2.4GHz or 2.53GHz) or Core i7 (2.66GHz) processor. Apple claims that they boost performance by 50% over the previous generation MacBook Pros (I can only imagine what my experience would be switching from a 2GHz Intel Core Duo).
All configurations start off with 4GB of RAM (upgradable to 8GB). As for the hard drive, the base 2.53GHz i5 and 2.66GHz i7 feature a 500GB Serial ATA Drive (5400 rpm) with several upgrade options, including:
500GB Serial ATA Drive (7200 rpm)
128GB Solid State Drive
256GB Solid State Drive
512GB Solid State Drive
That 512GB solid state drive will run you [...]
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17) Behind the scenes, Optimus (not) at work on new MBPs?
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/behind-the-scenes-optimus-at-work/
Filed under: Macbook ProUpdate: While Engadget originally reported that Optimus was behind the MBP power-saving switch feature, AppleInsider is citing NVIDIA representatives that the feature isn't based on their tech -- they say it's home-grown by Apple. Thanks to our commenters for pointing this out.
Great power is lurking inside the new MacBook Pros, just waiting to be unleashed. Along with support for up to 8GB of RAM and the heftier i5 and i7 processors, the new machines also include on-the-fly GPU switching courtesy of NVIDIA's GeForce GT 330M and 'Optimus,' as the company calls its dynamic handoff feature. which NVIDIA says is Apple-original. The power-saving trick has already appeared on several Windows laptops.
As was pointed out by Gizmodo back in October of 2008, the original dual-GPU MacBook Pro models (with the 9400M/9600M GT card combo) were capable of dynamic switching [...]
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18) 360iDev: Brent Simmons on NetNewsWire for iPad and iPhone OS 4.0
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/360idev-brent-simmons-on-netnewswire-for-ipad-and-iphone-os-4-0/
Filed under: iPad
The iPhone is home to a lot of great new developers, but it's also the new home for a lot of old-school Mac guys as well; Brent Simmons is of the second kind. His NetNewsWire is a classic Mac app that's been remade for the iPhone, and now the iPad, with the clean, quick simplicity that Simmons' work is known for.
We caught up with him right after his "Best Practices for Content Apps" talk here at 360iDev in San Jose, CA this week, and had a quick chat about how the iPad version of NetNewsWire is doing. Jenny Blumberg of NewsGator's developer support team also joined us. Simmons told us both how the iPad version of his app has made more money than you'd expect, and what he's most excited about from Apple's iPhone OS 4.0 announcement last week. Read on for more.TUAW360iDev: Brent Simmons on NetNewsWire for iPad and iPhone OS 4.0 originally appeared on The Unofficial [...]
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19) Steve Jobs: Apple owns "Pad" trademark
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/steve-jobs-apple-owns-pad-trademark/
Filed under: iPadIn an email from Apple, journalPad developer Chris Ostmo was told he would need to remove the word "pad" from his app's name in order to get his app updated on the App Store. Ostmo then sent an email to Steve Jobs asking him why the App Store policy had changed after a number of apps had already used the word "pad" in their names. Jobs' reply? "It's just common sense not to use another company's trademarks in your app name."
The problem with Jobs' answer is that Apple does not own any trademark on the word "pad." In fact, a quick check of Apple's Trademark List reveals only two trademarks with the word "pad" in them: iPad and MacPAD. This isn't the first app Apple's rejected for using the word "pad" in the name, either -- as Jesse Waites, the developer behind ContactPad found out last week. interestingly, a few developers I've talked to say that Apple does not seem to [...]
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20) The $5 iPad dock
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/the-5-ipad-dock/
Filed under: iPad
Despite the glut of fancy iPad dock accessories flooding the market, a trio of enterprising Dutchmen have come up with a brilliantly simple iPad dock. As you can see from the picture, the good Dutchmen have taken a block of wood and sawed a groove into it and... that's it. Told you it was simple. The dock is made from ild treewood which is both light and non-scratching, making the accessory easy to carry in your iPad bag.
The creators note that the current product is only a pre-production model and that they're still working on it. The next step is to smooth and finish the ild treewood. Production starts when they get 50 people to sign up for pre-orders. All stands are handmade. Best of all, it only costs $5 (or free, if you make one yourself).
[via Wired]TUAWThe $5 iPad dock originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 11:00:00 EST. [...]
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21) Apple patents "Smart Covers" for devices
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/apple-patents-smart-covers-for-devices/
Filed under: Apple
Apple has patented a new kind of cover or skin for devices like the iPhone and iPad. The "smart covers" deliver a paradigm shift for electronic device covers, according to the patent. Apple notes that traditional skins and covers only provide protection from dents and scratches. A smart device cover would add at least one electronic function to traditional skins, allowing not only protection of the device, but augmentation of the devices capabilities.
Force sensors, solar grids, lighting effects, illuminated bezels, and even video conferencing are among the myriad uses the patent discusses for various smart covers. Additionally the patent discusses adding a physical keyboard and game pad smart cover to touch screen devices.
As always, just because Apple patents a device doesn't mean it will ever see the light of day. One is also left to wonder about the [...]
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22) New MacBook Pro models are out now
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/new-macbook-pro-models-are-out-now/
Filed under: Macbook ProAfter an early morning bit of store downtime, Apple has released new MacBook Pro models this morning, as rumored/longed for/expected lo these many weeks. The 15" and 17" models now use the i5 and i7 Intel dual-core processors (at 2.4, 2.53GHz or 2.66Ghz, respectively -- gigahertz numbers no longer displayed quite so prominently on the product page), giving them a big performance boost and permitting hyperthreading (up to 4 virtual cores).
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They also include the GeForce GT 330M graphics chip, and the NVIDIA-driven Optimus technology to switch from the high-end video subsystem to integrated graphics on the fly to improve power management -- this [...]
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23) National Geographic TV app a disappointment
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/nat-geo-tv-app-a-disappointment/
Filed under: iPhoneI love National Geographic Magazine. I love their HD cable channel. I really dislike the free app they have released today for the iPhone.
The app is designed to let you know what the cable channel is airing, and you can certainly browse the schedule. But there is no search option, so finding what you want to watch is a festival of fruitless finger flicking. Not very helpful really.
Then there is a button marked video. Sounds good to me. Tap it and you get a list of videos, like 'Finding the Titanic.' Sounds interesting. Tap it and you are taken to a page that says video 'not available on mobile.' What!!? I tried them all. How many videos played? Not a one. This is a pretty incredible mistake for an app that advertises video. There is even a 'Safari' button, so I thought I could tap that and play the videos in Safari. Not a chance.
There is a blog button, and I [...]
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24) Rhapsody on an iPad
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/rhapsody-on-an-ipad/
Filed under: iPadNo, not the music service. I'm talking about OS X's grandfather. And here it is booting on an iPad.
Developer Steven Troughton-Smith saw the video of Windows 95 running on an iPad in emulation and was inspired to try the same thing with Rhapsody -- the development OS was developed by Apple in the time between the purchase of NeXT and Mac OS X. He used a modified version of the Bochs emulator to accomplish the feat. Why? "Just had to one-up Engadget's post."
He notes that it took a good five minutes to boot, and another five just to log in. Icons and a desktop appeared that. Unfortunately, a mouse cursor was left out of the equation, which Steven noted could have been due to installing the VMWare mouse driver for Rhapsody.
This isn't the first time he's thrust an obsolete OS onto his iPad via emulation. Check out these screen shots of Windows 1.01. As for the BeOS, "I [...]
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