Category: I-phone

Adobe announced today that they won’t be making any more versions of Flash Player for mobile devices, but as usual for large companies, you have to work hard to decipher what they’ve said.

Confusing, marketing-voiced corporate communication is a terrible problem in this industry, and it’s damaging to the companies themselves. Adobe’s press release (that’s what it essentially is, even though it’s nominally a blog post) sounds sterile, aloof, disconnected and tentative – perhaps even with a note of desperation. I decided to rewrite it.

Here’s the original text:

Adobe is all about enabling designers and developers to create the most expressive content possible, regardless of platform or technology. For more than a decade, Flash has enabled the richest content to be created and deployed on the web by reaching beyond what browsers could do. It has repeatedly served as a blueprint for standardizing new technologies in HTML. Over the past two years, we’ve delivered Flash Player for mobile browsers and brought the full expressiveness of the web to many mobile devices.

However, HTML5 is now universally supported on major mobile devices, in some cases exclusively. This makes HTML5 the best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms. We are excited about this, and will continue our work with key players in the HTML community, including Google, Apple, Microsoft and RIM, to drive HTML5 innovation they can use to advance their mobile browsers.

Our future work with Flash on mobile devices will be focused on enabling Flash developers to package native apps with Adobe AIR for all the major app stores. We will no longer continue to develop Flash Player in the browser to work with new mobile device configurations (chipset, browser, OS version, etc.) following the upcoming release of Flash Player 11.1 for Android and BlackBerry PlayBook. We will of course continue to provide critical bug fixes and security updates for existing device configurations. We will also allow our source code licensees to continue working on and release their own implementations.

These changes will allow us to increase investment in HTML5 and innovate with Flash where it can have most impact for the industry, including advanced gaming and premium video. Flash Player 11 for PC browsers just introduced dozens of new features, including hardware accelerated 3D graphics for console-quality gaming and premium HD video with content protection. Flash developers can take advantage of these features, and all that our Flash tooling has to offer, to reach more than a billion PCs through their browsers and to package native apps with AIR that run on hundreds of millions of mobile devices through all the popular app stores, including the iTunes App Store, Android Market, Amazon Appstore for Android and BlackBerry App World.

We are already working on Flash Player 12 and a new round of exciting features which we expect to again advance what is possible for delivering high definition entertainment experiences. We will continue to leverage our experience with Flash to accelerate our work with the W3C and WebKit to bring similar capabilities to HTML5 as quickly as possible, just as we have done with CSS Shaders. And, we will design new features in Flash for a smooth transition to HTML5 as the standards evolve so developers can confidently invest knowing their skills will continue to be leveraged.

We are super excited about the next generations of HTML5 and Flash. Together they offer developers and content publishers great options for delivering compelling web and application experiences across PCs and devices. There is already amazing work being done that is pushing the newest boundaries, and we can’t wait to see what is still yet to come!

Pretty bad. It’s far too long, and they’re overly eager to sound like it’s business as usual. The fact is, despite being somewhat late, Adobe is doing a really brave and clever thing. The wording above dilutes that, which is a shame.

Here’s my version, which says the same thing:

Adobe’s goal is to help you create engaging content. Flash has served that goal for more than a decade, often inspiring new features of HTML, and has been very popular on mobile devices as well as the desktop.

However, HTML5 is now supported on more devices than Flash, and we’re excited about it. We’re committed to HTML5, so Flash Player 11.1 will be our last version for mobile devices, except for bug fixes and security updates (though source code licensees may still release their own implementations). Instead, we’ll focus on helping Flash developers create Adobe AIR apps for the major app stores.

We’re still actively working on Flash Player for PCs, and the recent new version 11 introduced exciting features like hardware accelerated 3D graphics and HD video. We plan to keep driving innovation online, and we’re devoted to web standards.

We think the future is bright for Flash and HTML5, and we can’t wait to see it.

To my eye (or rather, mental ear), this version sounds more earnest. Sincere, upbeat, and well-considered – without the sense of nagging insecurity and a need to prove itself.

Take time to think about your own professional communications. Don’t accept biz-speak as the right solution, regardless of how ubiquitous it is. Be human, and engage directly with people – they’ll respect you for it, and be more willing to give your business a chance.

If you’re interested in more thoughts about the human side of computing, feel free to follow me (@mattgemmell) on Twitter.

I am, unabashedly, a fan of magazines. Not only do I enjoy picking them up on a monthly and/or weekly basis, but I also like spending time flipping through the pages and pouring through my favorite articles. And in the interest of fair disclosure, I also write for several currently as well.

But magazines aren’t doing so hot as a whole, and people have been calling for the death of print media for years. They’re considered by many to be “old media,” and websites such as this one are their worthy successors. It wasn’t until the iPad came along that they had hope to transfer for the digital era, but even that wasn’t enough to really turn the tide.

With iOS 5, there’s new hope. It’s called Newsstand, and it’s completely changed the game.

From the Print Perspective

We have an interview with a developer coming up next week, a man named Emmanuel Crouvisier that worked with me at one of my previous publications. I knew that he still worked for a media company, but I didn’t really to expect it to come up while we were talking about his new app. But it did, and what he said peaked my interest.

I asked Emmanuel about how iOS 5 and Newsstand has changed what he does, and this is what he said:

It’s been tremendous. Looking at the graphs, the difference in downloads right now is literally 100 times the downloads yesterday versus two weeks ago on the same day. Basically, that’s all due to Newsstand. We had a huge, huge spike on the day that iOS 5 was released, and that was across all of the applications. Right now we’ve got three apps in there that were all ready for Newsstand on launch day. Those were New Beauty magazine, Worth magazine and Vegas/Rated magazine. One of those apps made it as a Top 5 Newsstand app for the iPhone. That just about doubled the huge spike of traffic after the initial Newsstand launch, so that has helped enormously as well.

Prior to iOS 5, if you wanted to buy a magazine for your iPad or iPhone you just downloaded an app. Every month, the app would either be refreshed and updated, or you would be able to make an in-app purchase to buy whatever new issue came out. It was a neat system, but it didn’t really work out all that well.

Newsstand for iOS 5 improved magazine distribution tremendously.

Not everybody updates their apps all the time, and even if they do, it’s easy to forget that they might have a new issue onboard. Out of sight, out of mind as the saying goes, so many times people would simply download the app, read through it once and discard it. It also meant that most publishers didn’t have a great handle on who was reading the magazine, and who had the current issue.

With Newsstand, updates are put front and center. Is a new issue available for your subscription? Well there it is on your home screen, just staring at you, ready to go. Now you know when it’s updated, no problem. And from what Emmanuel says, that’s increased readership substantially.

Potential Derivatives

Now that’s all well and good, but is that really a super exciting feature to tout to the world? If you’re a publisher sure, but not everyone is a fan of print publications and many iPad or iPhone users may be more inclined to go to the web for their content. But step back and look at the concept of Newsstand, and you get a different perspective.

John Gruber has an interesting theory about this, something I hadn’t considered until he wrote it. Apple has been toying with the television concept for a while now, but it wasn’t until Steve Jobs’ biography was published that we learned that he had “cracked” the code to make a good video product for the living room. We don’t know what that is yet, but John’s theory is interesting:

Whether Newsstand was Apple’s strategy all along, I don’t know, but I think it might have been. The app is the unit of distribution for newspapers and magazines, not the “issue” or the “article”. This puts more work on the publishers’ shoulders — they need to design, create, and maintain software, not merely publish content — but it gives them more control over the reader experience and more potential for creativity and differentiation.

Why not the same thing for TV channels?

Good question. The Newsstand concept is pretty simple: Deliver your content to you, without you having to go get it. There’s no reason that can’t be translated into other mediums, including television, so that everything comes to you without worry.

Does Newsstand have more potential applications in it?

Now integrate iCloud into the equation and you’ve got even more to work with. Let’s say you have a season pass to The Family Guy and watch each new episode religiously. Imagine each new episode automatically coming to your iPhone or iPad and being displayed in a handy little app similar to Newsstand, but tailored just for your TV shows. You can watch it on any mobile device you own, or better yet, on an app on the Apple TV or any hypothetical Apple television that happens to exist at the time. It’s content on your terms, not theirs. Brilliant.

And we’re not that far from that concept as it stands. Today, I can go onto my iPhone or iPad and download that new episode to my device using iCloud, and watch it shortly thereafter. All that’s missing is a dedicated spot on your home screen to deliver that content automatically, and you’ve got Newsstand but for your TV shows. Call it something snappy and you’ve got a hell of a product.

Final Delivery

On the surface, Newsstand isn’t a revolutionary idea that could potentially change the way we consume media. But like many things that Apple does, it’s a foundation for what could be a much larger product. We could see Newsstand-esque apps in the App Store in the coming years, and maybe even on our TV screen if the rumors hold up. Who knows about what the future holds.

That said, it’s not a perfect system. Publishers can’t sell free subscriptions — something which makes a significant segment of the magazine and newspaper market — but this is a version 1.0 Apple app. There’s more to Newsstand than just slinging paper, it’s just not realized yet.

Well, it’s not realized for us, anyways. Who knows what they’ve got figured out in Cupertino. Whatever it is, I can’t wait to see it.

Here at iPhone Appstorm, we’ve reviewed a lot of apps that would fall under the category of “Personal Finance,” but what about the finances that aren’t strictly personal? Out of convenience and necessity, we don’t all always pay our fair share of purchases and expenses at exactly the same time: sometimes a friend pays for drinks to spare you the ATM fee, sometimes an Internet bill can only be connected to one credit card. There are an increasing number of apps out there that combine the financial and the social, helping you to keep track of IOUs and split expenses between friends, families, or roommates and hopefully preventing arguments and forgotten favours.

Lets take a look at some of the best apps in this “social finance” category after the jump!

Splitwise

Splitwise is a web-based service to help you and your roommates keep track of who owes what on items ranging from utility bills to takeout food. It offers a fairly straightforward interface for adding recurring and one-time expenses, as well as a “quick add” feature for modifying balances without having to identify specific expenses. Splitwise also neatly keeps track of each roommate’s balances, focusing more on how much is owed than on the details of each expense, which helps keep things simple.

There are advantages and disadvantages to the web-based approach: It’s great that information syncs automatically, and that balances can be accessed through a web interface on your computer, however, users have reported occasional server errors, and sometimes you just don’t have access to an Internet connection. One of the most useful features of Splitwise is the fact that there are apps for both iPhone and Android, as well as the web app, so you don’t need a houseful of iPhone users to keep track of expenses.

Price: Free
Developer: Ryan J Laughlin
Download: App Store

Balances and expenses in Splitwise

OU1

OU1 attempts to simplify the process of keeping track of favours and IOUs by focusing on the “social currency” of food and drinks. Part of the idea is to keep track of those “thanks for your help, I’ll buy you a drink sometime” promises that often get forgotten, and keeping track of actual IOUs without letting things get too specific and petty. OU1 connects through Facebook, which can be a bit of a pain, but it’s pretty necessary if you’re going to be sending IOUs to people that don’t also have the app.

OU1 is refreshingly simple to use: the main screen shows only two options: send an IOU and find out who owes who, as well as displaying a list of recent IOUs. It’s interesting that while you can’t send someone else a “You Owe Me,” you can send someone a “nudge” if they’ve sent you an IOU.

OU1 is definitely a cool idea if you’ve got a bunch of friends that all use iPhones and are organized and coordinated enough to be keeping track of these kinds of things, but I don’t know how convenient it would be for the average iPhone owner.

Price: Free
Developer: Big Machine in the Sky
Download: App Store

Sending an IOU and viewing balances in OU1

Group Expense

Group Expense is specifically created to help groups of people keep track of expenses for specific events, like a group vacation or a big party. The app lets you add in contacts from your address book, then start adding bills for various events, keeping track of who paid the original bill, and who still owes money to them. Group Expense will split bills evenly for you, and lets you quickly see an overview of group member balances, payment histories and outstanding bills.

Though Group Expense was created with events in mind, it could be used to monitor everyday bills and expenses between roommates or friends, and it’s a bit odd that the developers have made the app so specific when it could easily be more generally useful.

Despite it’s very spartan interface and basic functionality, Group Expense does a very good job of making group expense tracking straight-forward and clear. I like that it can all be done locally without required involvement from other group members, but also gives you the option to send reports via email to group members.

Price: Free
Developer: Aavees
Download: App Store

Keeping track of event expenses in Group Expense

FriendCash

FriendCash performs similar functions to Group Expense, but features a slicker interface, tighter Contacts integration and iCloud support. FriendCash allows you to easily view a list of friends’ owed money in a friendly and appealing graphic list. Like Group Expense, FriendCash lets the user keep track of expenses without the input of other users, but allows syncing between devices using the same account via iCloud.

Though FriendCash will split bills evenly for you, you also have the option of customizing the way each bill is split. The app will let you customize the weight of each person’s share of the bill, so that you can account for situations where each friend isn’t responsible for the same amount.

Price: $2.99
Developer: Pierre Dulac
Download:App Store

Adding expenses and viewing who owes who in FriendCash

Bank of Me

Bank of Me is a straightforward IOU application that features Contacts integration and a flexible currency system. Bank of Me feels more serious than the other apps, with features like receipt numbers and and prompts to “email bill” that make it seem more like an invoicing app than a social app, but it definitely works just as well for both purposes.

My favourite feature of Bank of Me is the mixed currencies. Instead of only being able to keep track of dollar amounts, you can also keep track of what you owe in terms of drinks, favours, or even hugs, without having to type it in every time. You can add your own currency type, so you can remind yourself that you owe your roommate one trash take-out. My only complaint is that he “Pay Back” feature is a bit clumsy, you have to click on the person, then the IOU, then the transaction history before you get the option to pay back.

Price: $0.99
Developer: Architechies
Download: App Store

Overview and account view in Bank of Me

Conclusion

I have to say that overall I was a bit disappointed with this category despite my initial excitement. It seems like it should be easier to keep track of IOUs in this modern day and age without having to connect to the Internet or type in too many details. I’d like to be able to just tap on a name from my Contacts, tap on an expense type (e.g. drink, cash) and then punch in a number (or not).

That being said, there are definitely situations where you need a more robust solution, when you’re keeping track of travelling or living expenses, or large amounts of money.

How do you keep track of how expenses are shared or owed? Have you tried any of these apps or do you rely on old-fashioned spreadsheets or whiteboards? I didn’t get a chance to try out FriendCash (iOS 5 only) so I’d like to hear your thoughts if you’ve tried it!

Chillingo’s Contre Jour is a perfect game for chilling out, as its seller’s name suggests. This wonderfully weird title takes players on a soothing little trip through a world that’s clearly on the flipside. Contre Jour is a French term, mostly used in film and photography, that means “against daylight.” The twilight world of Contre Jour’s odd little hero fits its name perfectly.

Of course, there’s more to the story. Just click on to find out.

Gameplay

As far as gameplay goes, Contre Jour is a puzzle game. The aim is to help the player character, the mysterious Petite, make it to the glowing blue orb in each level. Petit is high on charm but low on methods of locomotion, so it’s up to the player to figure out how to utilize the landscape to get him to where he needs to go.

Swinging better than Tarzan himself!

The landscapes are creatively composed and otherworldly, full of things like earth which responds smoothly to the touch of a finger to Petit’s friends, an assortment of whimsically designed creatures each with their own talents.

Interface & Functionality

To that end, the controls for Contre Jour are simple and based on touching various elements of each stage to guide Petit on his path to the orb. The controls are so intuitive and hands-on that tutorials are probably not necessary, but they’re there. And, like everything in Contre Jour, gracefully integrated to enhance the overall gaming experience.

Not exactly the fat man's squeeze but…

Contre Jour’s title brings to mind something you might see at an indie film festival, and the game has a feel not unlike that. It’s part film major senior project, part puzzle game, and the combined effect is absolutely gorgeous.

Melancholy and moody, the dark ambience of Contre Jour somehow manages not to be depressing. This effect is doubtless due to the elegance infused in every aspect of the game. The character design, while simple — Petit is basically an eyeball with a tail — has a peculiar irresistability to it.

Design & Performance

The environments are surreal to the point of being dreamscapes, but the well crafted in-game physics immerse the player in this alternate reality. The puzzles themselves are progressively more challenging, which are themselves a reason to play the game. The puzzles of Contre Jour aren’t so difficult as to be frustrating, but they are complex enough to give the game substance.

There are three worlds, each with twenty stages, and the amount of content is substantial yet somehow it’s still not enough. This is more of a compliment than a criticism, however. The sense of Contre Jour falling short is directly related to the fact that it’s so enjoyable I just didn’t want it to end. More levels are on the way, hopefully.

Only an octopus could do better

Contre Jour’s cachet is indisputably its aesthetics. The elegance and grace with which this game is designed is impressive, and even more so when one considers the minimalistic simplicity the direction of that design. Contre Jour impresses not with an explosion of color or 3D graphics, but with two dimensional settings that could have been rendered in pen and ink or watercolor washes.

Color is muted where it exists at all, but the shades of grey in Contre Jour are never boring, just as Petit’s seemingly simple goal to get from point A to point B is always engrossing.

Value

The goals may be simple, the designs may be minimalistic, but it’s the contrast and creativity that bring this game to life. While Contre Jour’s gameplay can be compared to World of Goo or even Cut the Rope, this game has what so many others lack. Instead of focusing on a new technique in controls or some sort of technological graphics gimmick, Contre Jour is pure personality.

Gives Dhalsim (from Street Fighter) a run for his money

If the breath-stopping beauty of its visuals aren’t enough to hook you, the audio will. Contre Jour isn’t a game you’ll want to default to your playlist. For the full Contre Jour experience, it’s almost a necessity to put your headphones in and lose yourself in the gorgeous compositions that accompany the visual journey.

Contre Jour might not shock you with anything that you’ve never seen or heard before, but for a humble little mobile puzzle game it has a suprising ability to open your eyes and ears in a new way. Doing so while putting your mind to work on puzzles makes Contre Jour simultaneously stimulating and soothing.

Closing Thoughts

The $.99 pricepoint on Contre Jour might seem higher than average for a fairly simple game, but that’s only because we’ve become used to the slapdash quality of so many other simple apps. Simple doesn’t have to mean mediocre, and putting that idea to rest is Contre Jour’s coup de grace. This is certainly one of the most inspired casual games in the iTunes App Store; $.99 is a small price to pay for what amounts to a visit to a mental spa.

Once upon a time, in a galaxy not so far away, lived a simple jelly nation. Things were peaceful until one day an invasion of kiwi-flavoured-halva-shaped spaceships arrived with the intent of stealing the jelly nation’s gems. The result was a whole lot of jelly screaming and a 20+ level tower defense game for you to sink your fingers into.

I’ll leave the full exploring of the game up to you, so as not to ruin the fun and excitement. However, let me take you through a quick review of the design, gameplay and performance, plus give you a glimpse at some of the great visuals that make up Jelly Defense.

Getting Started

Jelly Defense is a tower defense game with great aesthetics and intriguing characters. After downloading and installing Jelly Defense from the AppStore, the game will load and bring you to the main menu where three jellies with signs are waiting for you. It is well worth clicking on the blue “help” jelly before actually starting the game, as the eight-screen help section is a great way to get your bearings.

Three jellies greet you on the main menu.

The “Start Game” jelly will bring you to a short introduction followed by moving you onto the game’s tutorial. As keen as you might be to jump straight into the game, value the tutorial and the opportunity to practice, otherwise it may bite you in the jelly posterior later.

The help screens are well worth reading.

Game Play

In Jelly Defense, your peaceful nation of jelly inhabitants has been invaded my monster invaders who have one goal in mind — to steal your green gems. Each level brings you face to face with fresh waves of invaders and you need to strategically build a tower defense system to keep the monsters from stealing your gems. The more gems you save, the higher your score — but if you lose all of your gems, you must replay the level.

Build a tower defense to protect your gems from the invaders.

The twist to Jelly Defense comes in the form of the towers. Certain towers do certain things, including being exclusive about who they will attack. For example, red towers will only attack red monsters and blue towers, blue monsters. Knowing which towers to place where and in which number comes down to a (sometimes painfully frustrating) process of trial and error.

The monsters also vary in what they do and how they act, from quick moving blue monsters to Mr. Jellicious who spawns large groups of mini-monsters. You can also upgrade and sell towers providing you with more power and more cash, as well as conduct “research” to invent new towers.

Different monsters do different things.

Don’t Get Distracted by the Design

From the moment you open the greyscale main menu with its selective reds and blues until you are building towers and zapping monsters, you are bound to love the Jelly Defense design. It’s attractive and inviting yet simplistic enough to not leave you trying to figure out what is what. The detailed colour screens in between are even better.

The colour screens are one of the major highlights of Jelly Defense.

The jellies themselves are cute and endearing, even the gem stealing ones, and the overall background is unusual enough to hold-up the illusion of being somewhere not quite Earth-like. All in all, this is a great looking game that entices you in from the moment it loads.

Playing Performance

With all those monsters trundling your way, shots being fired, gems sparkling and coins scattering across the screen, it’s understandable that you might be a bit worried about the game’s performance.

Help defend the jelly nation.

Surprisingly, even with monster meltdowns Jelly Defense’s playing performance holds up well. I didn’t experience any lag time or crashes during game play and loading times were generally quick. There was the odd occasion when clicking on a menu icon was a bit slow but it was hard to determine if this was something game related or if I was just having a fat finger moment.

If you lose all of your gems, you must replay the level.

Conclusion

It is no secret that the AppStore has an almost endless supply of games, so Jelly Defense has its fair share of competition. How does it hold up? On the downside, the game can be confusing at times even after the help screens, tutorial and random tips that pop-up here and there. This could be helped with some web-based tips, tricks and tutorials, which until recently were basically non-existent. However, the iDreams website appears to have had a breath of life blown into it with not only a forum and a “how to play” appearing but a “jellypedia” as well. Granted, some areas are not totally populated but once they are, this will be a welcome addition to the game.

Jelly Defense does however have some great design elements and stable playing performance going in its favour. Plus, the creative use of twists and turns means that the monsters’ movements are more interesting and suspenseful versus the “we’re coming straight at you” approach.

I can’t guarantee that you will make it through all of the levels but I am pretty sure that you will have some fun trying.

In this Quick Look, we’re highlighting Billy. The developer describes Billy as a way to say goodbye to overlooked bills, missed due dates and late fees!

The newest bill reminder app in town is here! Billy is the easiest and most convenient way to keep track of your bills. Never again miss out on due dates and save on late fees. Billy will be your most trusted and reliable bill reminder app in tracking and managing your bills the easiest and quickest way.

Read on for more information and screenshots!

Screenshots

Billy

About the App

Here are the top five features you can expect to see in the latest version:

• Local notifications
• Beautifully designed user interface
• Easily see all your bills in a list in landscape orientation
• Add recurring bills
• Email bills

Requirements: iOS 4.1

Price: $2.99

Developer: Zombots

Vote for a Review

Would you like to see us write a full review of Billy? Have your say in our poll:

Would you like to see Billy reviewed in-depth on AppStorm?

Quick Look posts are paid submissions offering only a brief overview of an app. Vote in the poll if you think this app is worth an in-depth AppStorm review! If you’re a developer and would like to have your app profiled, you can submit it here.

If you’re working with AddressBook.framework chances are you’ll want to import your own data to test against when you’re in the simulator. Without being able to sync with iTunes or iCloud you may think you’re stuck entering in addresses manually; not only is that a huge pain, but there are probably lots of edge cases already in your address book you wouldn’t necessarily think of.

Fortunately there’s another option, with a tool called iPhone Backup Extractor. Download it, run it and click Read Backups (note that you’ll need to back up to iTunes, not iCloud). Select your device, and you should see a list of apps included in your backup. Choose the last item on the list, iOS Files, and extract it to your desktop. When it’s done take a look in the folder it created. You should find two files in the folder iOS Files/Library/AddressBook, AddressBook.sqlitedb and AddressBookImages.sqlitedb.

Next, open the simulator’s Application Support folder (in the Finder menu, choose Go -> Go to Folder…, enter ~/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator, and choose the SDK you’re working with) and drill down to Library/AddressBook. Quit the simulator if it’s open, delete everything in this directory, then copy the two files noted above from your backup. That’s it! If everything went well the next time you launch the simulator you should see all your contacts.

Pretty easy, really. If address book data is a major feature of your app, you might even want to have a few trusted beta testers send you their backups so you can test with their contacts. My experience is that there are a lot of unusual or invalid contacts floating around on people’s phones, and the more opportunity you have to test the better you’ll do once you release your app.

Today is indeed Veterans Day (and we do honor all of the men and women who have served for the United States of America — thank you!), but the sales on the App Store this weekend haven’t really been labeled as such. As far as I can tell, they’re on sale just because. Nothing wrong with that!

• First and foremost, Scribblenauts is just 99 cents for the weekend. This one’s a must buy — it’s an amazing game with a terrific iOS port that you should totally check out for that price. No question.
• EA’s having a big sale with up to 80% off titles like Need for Speed, Dead Space, and Battlefield: Bad Company 2.
• Gameloft’s sale is continuing, with lots of games, including Rainbow Six, HAWX, and the great Dungeon Hunter 2 down to just a buck.
• Little White Bear Studios’ puzzler Tanzen is free for a limited time.
• Spirits for both iPad and iPhone is on sale for just a dollar.
• Street Fighter IV Volt is on sale for just 99 cents for the first time.
• Digital board game New World Colony is free to download.
• Kairosoft’s Grand Prix Story is down to 99 cents as well.
• Contre Jour HD is just a buck — this one is a really amazing title as well, grab it if you haven’t yet.
• Peggle is also a dollar, as is Madfinger’s really impressive looking Shadowgun.
• Finally, the non-HD version of World of Goo is just a buck.

Holy moly, there are some great sales in there. Scribblenauts and Contre Jour are definitely two you should grab now if you haven’t, and some of those others are steals as well. Enjoy the weekend!

Weekend sale on lots of iOS games originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Iomega introduced a new line of portable hard drives for the Mac yesterday. Called the Iomega eGo Mac Edition Portable Hard Drive, the drives come in two sizes — 500 GB and 1 TB — and are designed with a special case to withstand drops from up to seven feet.

The drives have two FireWire 800 ports and a USB 2.0 port and require no power supply, so they’re nice large backup drives to pack with you while traveling for work or pleasure. As with the previous new Iomega drives that TUAW has tested, the Helium Portable Hard Drive and Mac Companion Hard Drive, the eGo Mac Edition drives come complete with a USB 2.0 cable, a FireWire 800 cable, and a FireWire 800 – 400 adapter cable.

The 500 GB version has a suggested retail price of US$179.99, while the 1 TB version will be available soon for $229.99. For more information about all of Iomega’s newest Mac-only hard drives, be sure to read the press release below.

Iomega introduces new large capacity portable hard drives for Mac originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As first spotted by TheNextWeb, Phil Schiller has a new title at Apple. Previously he was the Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing, but now Apple’s Executive Profiles page and Schiller’s own bio state his title as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing.

As TheNextWeb points out, the dropping of “Product” in the title could be be nothing other than semantics. However, it could also mean that Schiller’s role at Apple has shifted a little. It’s possible he is assuming some of the role left vacant by Ron Johnson, Apple’s former head of retail, who has yet to be replaced.

Or maybe Schiller just doesn’t like the word “product.” Other than the title change, his official bio hasn’t been altered to reflect any new duties at Apple. This means that if any changes to his duties did happen they are probably still relatively minor, especially since Apple didn’t issue any kind of press release or investors note about the title change.

Phil Schiller gets a new title at Apple originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jean-Louis Gassée now writes a weekly column about Apple, but back in the day he was head of the Macintosh division under Apple CEO John Sculley. After his removal by Sculley in 1990 following nine years of service, Gassée started Be, Inc which developed BeOS, a multithreaded, multi-CPU operating system.

Speaking at a Churchill Club event honoring Steve Jobs, Gassée told the audience he was thankful that Apple did not buy BeOS because he “hated Apple’s management.” Instead of BeOS, Apple decided to acquire NeXT and use its OS as the basis of Mac OS X. Gassée called this decision “Jobs’s acquisition of Apple” and paved the way for him to reclaim his company.

Besides Gassée’s comments, the almost two-hour-long presentation is filled with memories of Steve Jobs from his former colleagues including Jim Atkinson, Deb Stapleton, Andy Hertzfeld, Regis McKenna and Larry Tesler. There’s even an unexpected appearance by Chris Espinosa who was not on the panel, but in the audience as an attendee. The program is embedded below and well worth a listen.

[Via 9to5mac]

Jean-Louis Gassée glad Apple chose NeXTSTEP over his BeOS originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What’s better than controlling your iPhone 4S with Siri? How about just thinking about something and having it happen? That’s what a group of hackers have accomplished with Project Black Mirror.

They’ve connected an iPhone 4S up to a setup that uses a MacBook Pro and an Arduino open-source microcontroller along with electrocardiogram pads that are attached to the head of the “test subject.” The Arduino is set up with a program that recognizes Siri commands from the ECG pads and sends them to a voice synthesizer, which then feeds the commands into the iPhone’s microphone jack.

The guys who came up with Project Black Mirror want to create a product out of this; perhaps a hat that you could wear and a sleeve that would provide the necessary input to Siri. As such, they’re attempting a Kickstarter campaign to polish up the project and bring it to fruition. Check out their Kickstarter pitch below.

By the way, the guys are in need of help starting up a business in the US (and I’m busy and can’t help them), so if you want to volunteer to give them a hand, be sure to visit their website (link above) and let them know.

Control Siri with your mind and lots of hardware originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple sent out the following emails to developers this afternoon:

iTunes Match Update

As we prepare for the launch of iTunes Match, we will be deleting all current iCloud libraries on Saturday, November 12th at 10 AM PST.

Please turn off iTunes Match on all of your computers and iOS devices. On your computer, choose Store > Turn off iTunes Match. On your iOS device, tap Settings > Music, then turn off iTunes Match. On your Apple TV, please choose Music > Turn off iTunes Match.

The songs on your computer should not be affected. As always, please backup regularly and do not delete the music you add to iCloud from your computer.
Best regards,

Apple Developer Program Support

Though Apple doesn’t overtly say that the iTunes Match launch is impending, the email differs from others Apple has sent to developers in the past by mentioning a specific time for the deletion of developer’s iCloud libraries and also states that it is “[preparing] for the launch of iTunes Match.”

On November 1st, Apple officially missed the release date for iTunes Match. They had previously said the service would be available “by the end of October.” When iTunes Match does officially launch, it will cost users US$24.99 per year. The service will scan your iTunes library for titles, match them with copies in the cloud, and then allow you to replace whatever copy you may currently have in your iTunes library with a non-DRM, high-quality 256-Kbps AAC copy.

Apple email suggests iTunes Match launch soon originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For the jailbreakers among you, you’ll be happy to hear that iOS 5.0.1 for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch can indeed be jailbroken with Redsn0w. RedmondPie has tested and confirmed that Apple’s latest version of iOS 5 can be tether-jailbreaked by using the latest version of Redsn0w. Redmond does note that the “SemiTether” patch continues to work, but iOS 5.0.1 “will not function to a satisfactory degree” on devices using SemiTether until users connect to Redsn0w on a Mac or PC.

Jailbreaking is best left to the more experienced, tech-savvy users, but if you’re feeling adventurous, RedmondPie has all the details on how to jailbreak your Apple device running the very latest iOS release.

iOS 5.0.1 For iPhone, iPad, iPod touch can be jailbroken with Redsn0w originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Next week, Landmark Theaters in 19 US cities will screen a 70-minute “lost interview” featuring Steve Jobs. The interview was done in 1996 by Robert X. Cringely for his PBS series “Triumph of the Nerds” and is being released in unedited form as Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview.

Philip Elmer-Dewitt, writing for Fortune, said that his favorite section of the interview is when Jobs answers the question “What’s important to you in the development of a product?”. His response features a scathing blow to John Sculley — “John Sculley got a very serious disease. It’s the disease of thinking that a really great idea is 90% of the work” — as well as a sweet parable about the process of designing a product.

In the interview, Jobs reminisces about an old man who lived down the street when he was a young boy. The man showed him a rock tumbler, and he and Jobs went out and got a handful of plain old rocks, then put them into the can with liquid and grit powder. They closed up the rock tumbler, turned it on, and then the man told Jobs to “come back tomorrow.”

The next day, the man opened the can and inside were these “amazingly beautiful polished rocks. The same common stones that had gone in through rubbing against each other like this (clapping his hands), creating a little bit of friction, creating a little bit of noise, had come out these beautiful polished rocks.”

Jobs goes on to say how that is a “metaphor for a team that is working really hard on something they’re passionate about. It’s that through the team, through that group of incredibly talented people bumping up against each other, having arguments, having fights sometimes, making some noise, and working together they polish each other and they polish the ideas, and what comes out are these beautiful stones.”

The interview will only be shown for two days in the US, so be sure to get your pre-sale tickets now. The theatrical trailer for the interview can be viewed below.

Steve Jobs’s story of the stones originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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