Idea Flight harnesses multiple iPads for presentation mojo

What could be more engaging than presenting from your iPad to a roomful of seen-it-all colleagues or clients? Sure, it’s keen and different, but when you come down to it, slides are slides. Pushing up involvement by distributing printed copies of the deck is one way to level up the amount of information you can convey — but the back edge of that sword is watching your audience page ahead in your carefully-crafted content, getting distracted by shiny objects and generally splintering off in different directions.

A small team at publisher Condé Nast has come up with one approach to reining everyone in during a presentation: a new app called Idea Flight. This iPad application is free for the audience (‘passengers’) and a $7.99 in-app purchase for presenters (‘pilots’); it lets the pilot walk through the presentation on his or her iPad while the passenger iPads follow along in sync. Once the deck is done, the pilot sets it free — then the passengers can roam about the cabin, so to speak, and explore the presentation at their own pace.

With full buzzword compliance (Dropbox integration, LinkedIn logins, GameKit and Core Graphics implementation), it certainly sounds good; you wouldn’t even need a fully iPad-equipped audience, as you can present to screen from your iPad 2 while running the app. How well it will work in the real world of sketchy networking and complex PDF downloads is another question entirely. I’m going to check out a live hands-on demo of Idea Flight this Friday, so once I see it in action I’ll report back.

Idea Flight harnesses multiple iPads for presentation mojo originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Apple finally going after ipods.com domain

In October 2001 Apple introduced the now iconic iPod, and since almost the same time Apple has owned the ipod.com domain name. But in April of 2002, someone registered the plural of the ipod as a domain — ipods.com. For some reason or another Apple chose then not to go after the owners of the domain even though Apple typically shows no mercy when it comes to its trademarks appearing in domain names.

However, as TechCrunch notes, Apple has suddenly moved to claim the ipods.com domain name after more than nine years. Yesterday Apple filed an official complaint; since it owns the iPod trademark it’s likely that ipods.com will be in Apple’s hands sooner rather than later. As noted by TC and many others, Apple strangely still does not own iPad.com or any other iPad-related domain names. That’s a real head-scratcher considering the popularity of the iPad, the fact that Apple now owns the iPad trademark, and that the company has enough cash in the bank to pay out several million dollars to buy the domain if that’s what it takes.

Thinking of grabbing an Apple-esqe domain name for yourself? Better check out Apple’s guidelines on Unauthorized Use of Apple Trademarks which point out examples of domain names that people are not allowed to use:

You may not use an identical or virtually identical Apple trademark as a second level domain name. Not acceptable: “imac.com” “imacapple.com” “imac-apple.com” “podmart.com”

Apple finally going after ipods.com domain originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

TUAW TV Live: The forecast is iCloudy with a chance of syncing

What better way to spend a late spring afternoon than to sit inside in front of your favorite computer watching TUAW TV Live? I mean, warm weather, clear skies and singing birds are no match for the excitement of me and the chat room mixing it up on Ustream.

This afternoon is no exception — starting in about five minutes, you’ll be able to use the chat tool and video feed on the next page to watch the show instead of getting a highly-overated and dangerous tan. After all, pale is the new tan…

The topic today? Speculation on what’s going to be said at the WWDC Keynote next Monday. We know that iOS 5, Mac OS X 10.7 Lion and iCloud are topics, but what might we hear about from his Steveness as “one more thing?”

From your Mac or PC, go to the next page by clicking the Read More link at the bottom of this post, and you’ll find a livestream viewer and a chat tool. The chat tool allows you to participate by asking questions or making comments.

If you’re driving somewhere and would like to watch TUAW TV Live while you’re stuck in traffic, please don’t — keep your eyes on the road! However, if someone else is doing the driving, you can watch the show on your iPhone and join the chat by downloading the free Ustream Viewing Application. If you’re on an iPad, you should be able to use the Skyfire Browser to watch the stream, although you will not be able to participate in the chat.

We’ll start at about 5 PM ET, so if you’re seeing a prerecorded show, be sure to refresh your browser until you see the live stream. For those of you who are not able to join us for the live edition, you’ll be able to view it later this evening on our TUAW Video YouTube channel and as part of the new TUAW TV Live podcast viewable in iTunes or on any of your Apple devices.

Continue reading TUAW TV Live: The forecast is iCloudy with a chance of syncing

TUAW TV Live: The forecast is iCloudy with a chance of syncing originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 16:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Avast! Free Antivirus for Mac beta now available

Apple released Security Update 2011-003 yesterday with protection from the MacDefender malware and its variants, but some of our readers might want to do more to protect their Macs from malware. Avast has been a longtime supplier of a free (for non-commercial use) antivirus package for Windows that is unobtrusive and fast, so it was with a great deal of interest that I read a PR blast from the company this morning.

The company has just released a beta of avast! Free Antivirus for Mac for download and testing, and like the Windows version of the software, it looks pretty good. The company previously had a download for Mac, but as noted in the user forums on the Avast site, “The current popularity of Apple products also makes them more interesting for the bad guys so we thought it would be good to prepare for the battle sooner rather than later.” The result is a product that is much more on par with the Windows product.

To install the downloaded beta app, you simply drag the application icon to the Applications folder and double-click to launch. The app uses Growl notification, so it helps if you have Growl pre-installed. The app has three shields that are in operation at all times: the File Shield, which scans the binaries of launched apps and all files that are being modified, the Web Shield, which monitors and filters all HTTP traffic coming from websites, and the Mail Shield, which monitors and filters all POP3 and IMAP traffic.

In addition, avast! Free Antivirus for Mac can do on-demand scanning of the whole file system, network volumes, or mounted removable volumes. The scanning engine is updated automatically — I’m just happy that it doesn’t speak “virus database has been updated” the way the Windows version does because that has a tendency to startle me.

Unfortunately, the app does seem to slow down page loading in Safari and I’m sure it would do the same with Firefox and Chrome. Of course, this is beta-ware, so the Avast team will most likely work on optimizing their code as the product gets closer to general release.

If you’re considering antivirus software for Mac for yourself, relatives, or employees, you might want to take a look at the avast! Free Antivirus for Mac beta.

Avast! Free Antivirus for Mac beta now available originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

First day of hurricane season means new Hurricane apps

Today is the first day of hurricane season in the Atlantic, and Kitty Code has pushed updates to its popular Hurricane and Hurricane HD apps.

Hurricane for iPhone allows users to track hurricanes in real time. Not only can you track speed, direction, pressure, and your distance from a current storm, you can also browse historical hurricane data all the way back to 1851. Additionally, text bulletins give you all the latest warnings about storms in your area. Hurricane costs US$3.99.

Hurricane HD is the iPad version of the Hurricane app. It’s just been updated to version 2.0 and sports a major UI change with added features including the ability to plot multiple storms (past and present) on interactive tracking maps, track hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones world wide, and offers push notifications for newly formed storms. Hurricane HD 2.0 is US$3.99.

First day of hurricane season means new Hurricane apps originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Twitter partners with Firefox, adds new image sharing tools

twittermbp.jpg

As TechCrunch suggested earlier in the week, Twitter announced a few new features today: improved search on hashtags and usernames, and a Twitter-branded image/video sharing service that may disrupt established players like TwitPic and yFrog (the back-end for Twitter’s service is provided by PhotoBucket). The photo service will be live in the next few weeks.

The company also announced a partnership with Mozilla to deliver a custom version of Firefox that does Twitter search in the location bar; current FF users can get the same features via a plugin.

This upgraded suite of capabilities lines up nicely with the other TechCrunch tidbit from yesterday, suggesting that part of the image service’s mission is to integrate with iOS 5. iPhone users would presumably gain a ‘Send to Twitter’ button in any image-enabled application, although there are hints that this might go quite a bit further. If it’s part of a larger plan for shared services on iDevices, that could dramatically improve the multi-app experience for people working with different sorts of data; Richard points to this Chris Clark post from a year ago with some ideas about how that might work.

Continue reading Twitter partners with Firefox, adds new image sharing tools

Twitter partners with Firefox, adds new image sharing tools originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

TUAW’s Daily Mac App: QuickNotes

QuickNote for Mac

With our Macs in front of us, many still resort to pen and paper for taking down little snippets of information. QuickNotes is a program designed to help wean you off the dead wood and ink, allowing you to quickly jot down information with just a few key presses.

Hiding in your menu bar, you can invoke QuickNotes either with a drop-down menu, or with Ctrl+Opt+Cmd+N, which pops up a small text entry window ready to take whatever text you want to type or paste into it. You can either hit Cmd+Enter or click “Add” to save the note, or click anywhere else or “Close” to dismiss the note. All your notes are stored in your menu bar ready for copying to a clipboard with a simple click or for re-editing.

There are lots of other ways of taking notes on your Mac, you can use the free Stickies dashboard widget or simply open TextEdit to name just a few; but for US$1.99 QuickNotes gets the job done easily and quickly, ever present in your menu bar.

Have you managed to ditch your pen and paper for your Mac? What programs do you use for quickly jotting down bits of information? Let us know in the comments.

TUAW’s Daily Mac App: QuickNotes originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

DC announces digital comics will arrive day-and-date with print versions

DC Comics made a huge announcement yesterday regarding its entire line of comic books, basically saying that on August 31st, the company will restart 52 of its weekly publications, bringing them all back to issue number 1 and making significant story (and costume!) changes to many of its popular superheroes like Batman and Superman. But even more importantly for those of us in the comic-loving real world, the company will start publishing digital versions of its comics at the same time that print versions hit the shelves (known in the movie/video rental business as ‘day-and-date’ release).

Previously, both Marvel and DC have held back from publishing digital and print versions at the same time, mostly to give comic book stores and bookstores a chance to sell print copies exclusively. But no more, in DC’s case — as of August 31st, you’ll be able to buy new comics on the iPad at the same time as in the stores. That might be the beginning of a death knell for a lot of comic book stores, but clearly DC has determined it’s time to make the jump.

It hasn’t been revealed yet exactly how these digital issues will be available, but I’m guessing the DC Comics iPad app will have most of them for purchase. Good news for comic readers on the iPad, and I bet we’ll see Marvel follow suit with a similar announcement soon.

DC announces digital comics will arrive day-and-date with print versions originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Hours after security update, new MacDefender variant evades it

And the cycle continues. Yes, just hours after Apple released a security update designed to smack down the recently-prevalent MacDefender malware, ZDnet’s Ed Bott reports that a new variant of the bogus ‘security’ software has been released into the wild. This version is called “Mdinstall.pkg” and it works exactly as before, installing itself on Safari without any approval needed (as long as the default “Open ‘safe’ files after downloading” setting is on, which we recommend you disable). The timestamp on the file reportedly shows that it was put together as recently as last night, which means that these hackers are actively working against any defenses Apple put in place yesterday.

The security update from Apple — so far only available for Snow Leopard 10.6.7 users, meaning that 10.5 Leopard users (not to mention 10.4 Tiger) are still vulnerable — adds a new option in the Security preference pane, seen here. The anti-malware tool apparently checks in with Apple’s servers periodically to update its definitions suite, just as you would expect it to.

So what’s the solution here? Short of Apple simply removing the ability of Safari to open up files like this at all (which would of course hamper that functionality for folks who use it), the only real solution is to do what you’ve got to do on all computer systems subject to attacks: practice constant vigilance. It’ll be interesting to see if Apple steps back up again on this one with another update (which would then incur another variant of the malware), but until then, users have to be educated and careful about what they click on in the browser.

If you’re already fighting off an installation of the Mac Defender malware, be sure to check out our handy removal guide.

Hours after security update, new MacDefender variant evades it originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

iCloud offerings might be free to those who upgrade to Lion

Lion and cloudsWhen Steve Jobs kicks off Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) next Monday, AppleInsider suggests the iconic CEO may reveal an aggressive price-point for some of the Cupertino company’s upcoming cloud services — free.

On Tuesday, Apple announced plans to unveil iCloud, a suite of cloud services expected to replace MobileMe, and Lion, the eighth significant upgrade to Mac OS X, at WWDC next week. According to the post, people familiar with Apple’s plans expect the computer maker to offer some of iCloud’s services gratis to Mac users who upgrade to Lion.

But AppleInsider notes that some components of iCloud are not likely to be free for any customer. Apple recently negotiated new licensing deals with (at least) Sony, EMI, and Warner Music, and is expected to announce its own music streaming services on June 6. Much like MobileMe today and competing music offerings from Google and Amazon, Apple’s upcoming music services will likely include a complimentary trial period, but customers should ultimately expect to pay a subscription fee to host content on the company’s servers.

Continue reading iCloud offerings might be free to those who upgrade to Lion

iCloud offerings might be free to those who upgrade to Lion originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

TUAW TV Live at 5 PM EDT: To the iCloud!

Next Monday could easily be one of the more important days in the long history of Apple, Inc. On June 6, Apple CEO Steve Jobs will take the stage for a keynote at the Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco to announce products and services that are going to have a profound impact on how users of Apple products will work and play.

TUAW will, of course, be covering the keynote in detail, but why not get a little speculation in before the fact? Today on TUAW TV Live, I’ll be hosting our viewers in an online discussion of what they expect and want from Monday’s announcement.

Will iCloud be available immediately after the Stevenote? Will it include Dropbox-like capabilities as well as the power to store your media in the cloud? How about integration with apps of all sorts? Will there be a new version of iWork for collaboration in the cloud? Inquiring minds want to know, and TUAW TV Live hosts and viewers want to speculate.

As usual, I’ll be starting the show at 5 PM EDT (2 PM PDT / 10 PM BST) sharp, and we’ll take a few minutes to chat before the demos start. To join in on the chat and watch the live streaming video, drop by TUAW about five minutes before the start time to get your instructions on how to participate. If you’re unable to join us for the show, remember that you can always subscribe to the video podcast and watch the show at your leisure in iTunes or your other favorite podcatching app.

TUAW TV Live at 5 PM EDT: To the iCloud! originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Hit List 1.0 is out, iOS app awaiting Apple approval

The Hit List showed a lot of promise when we originally covered it back in late 2008-early 2009. The last beta on record came out in March 2009, and we had sporadic notice throughout late 2009 and 2010 that the task management program, and its iOS companion, was still in development. The Hit List was also included in a MacHeist bundle in 2009.

So it’s with much surprise and pleasure that early adopters received emails Tuesday announcing that The Hit List is not only out of beta, but version 1.0 is available through Potion Factory and the Mac App Store. This version drops support for PowerPCs and adds a number of new features, including a Safari extension that allows adding tasks from your browser.

In addition to this, The Hit List for iOS was submitted for the App Store and is only waiting Apple’s approval for its release. The Hit List for both Mac and iOS can be synced using a syncing service. The service, creator Andy Kim explained, is a custom solution that doesn’t rely on the iPhone’s push sync. Kim said that the push sync caused battery issues and when the app is activated on the iPhone, syncing takes no more than two-tenths of a second.

“If you have good Wi-Fi or 3G connection, it means that you don’t have to wait long for tasks to show up on your phone while you’re on the move. It’s designed to be scalable to lots and lots of users as well,” Kim said.

The Hit List’s sync service come at the cost of $19.99 annually, with early adopters getting a free one-year subscription as a thank you for the wait. Cultured Code’s Things, whose sync service is currently in beta, will also have a subscription cost. However, that amount is unknown.

Kim apologized to users for taking so long to release The Hit List. “This, its iPhone companion app, and its sync service were the single most difficult undertaking of my life so far bar none,” he said.

The Hit List for Mac is US$49.95. It requires OS X 10.5 or higher if purchased through Potion Factory’s site or OS X 10.6 if purchased through the Mac App Store. You can try it free for 15 days by downloading directly from Potion Factory.

We will have a full review of both The Hit List 1.0 and its associated iPhone app within the next few days.

The Hit List 1.0 is out, iOS app awaiting Apple approval originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Apple files for iCloud trademark in Europe

All the pieces are falling into place for Apple’s iCloud service. On Tuesday, Apple confirmed the name and told us all it will be introduced at WWDC; Apple’s trademark application hit the European Trademark Office later that day. The trademark covers everything from telecommunications and electronic storage to photographic services and digital devices/computers.

We still don’t know what cloud services Apple has in store for its iOS and Mac users. Speculation points to a new streaming media service and a digital locker to store files online. MobileMe may also get a facelift, and some of its personal information syncing or email services may be available for free.

These are likely just the tip of the iceberg and Apple will wow us with much more next week. Anyone excited?

Apple files for iCloud trademark in Europe originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Tweeting from a Newton

Getting old technology to do new things in a creative way is fun. Take, for example, Tony Kan of the My Apple Newton blog who details how he uses twittermail, to send tweets via email and Twitter’s now defunct RSS feed to receive his incoming feed. Though Twitter no longer supports RSS, the link for your account is still live and kicking. Best of all, both services are available for free.

Using a combination of services is one way to tweet from your MessagePad, but there are other ways, too. Some folks use Newtscape, a text-only web browser for the MessagePad, to browse Twitter’s mobile website. Others like Ron Parker use email on the Apple Newton to both send and receive tweets. It’s rudimentary, but works well on the iconic Apple device.

Anyone else out there tweeting from legacy Apple hardware? If so, how do you do it?

[Via Forkbombr]

Tweeting from a Newton originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Prototypes makes iPhone mockups a breeze

This is a cool one, at least for iPhone app designers. Prototypes is a Mac app that lets you take those handcrafted mockups of iPhone screens and turn them into a clickable demo you can share with any iPhone or iPod touch user.

Prototypes takes just about any image format, including straight Photoshop PSD files. Once you drag them into your project, adding hotspots is as easy as clicking and dragging. Create a hotspot and then drag the link to whatever page should be loaded when it’s tapped. You can assign a “back” action as well. All links can have a transition (in any direction) assigned to them. You can even add notes that display when a page is loaded and then disappear.

Aside from its ease-of-use, the real beauty of Prototypes is the free web service that comes with it. When you share a mockup from within the app, you get a ptyp.es url and a PIN. Have your client, your teammates, your boss or whomever log in to ptyp.es. They’ll be asked to install the web app on their home page, after which they can enter your PIN and click through your mockup.

Prototypes currently only works on iPhones and iPod touches, but the developer expects to roll out iPad support in the next couple of months. At US$39.99, it’s not a cheap investment, but if you deal with iPhone mockups regularly, this could be a lifesaver. The fact that you get the web service without a subscription makes the up-front price seem quite reasonable, at least to me. You can try out a pre-built prototype at the Prototypes website, and purchase it directly on the Mac App Store.

Prototypes makes iPhone mockups a breeze originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments