Category: I-phone

Apple has issued a number of updates this week, in addition to iPhoto 9.2.1. Here’s what’s newly available.

Thunderbolt Software Update 1.1 is for those using Lion on a Thunderbolt-equipped Mac. Apple says it “provides support for the Apple Thunderbolt Display and bug fixes for Thunderbolt device compatibility.” Mac OS X 10.7.2 or later is required.

iMac EFI Firmware Update 1.7 is for early 2011 iMacs. According to Apple, this update “enables Lion Recovery from an Internet connection and includes fixes that resolve issues with Apple Thunderbolt Display compatibility and Thunderbolt Target Disk Mode performance on iMac (early 2011) models.”

MacBook Air EFI Firmware Update 2.2 is for mid-2011 MacBook Airs and offers stability improvements, resolves Thunderbolt display compatibility issues and improves Lion recovery from an Internet connection.

Mac mini EFI Firmware Update 1.4 is for mid-2011 Mac minis and offers, you guessed it, improved stability of Lion Recovery from an Internet connection and fixes for Thunderbolt Display compatibility. Plus, improved Thunderbolt Target Disk Mode.

MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 2.3 is also available (are you sensing a trend?). This update is for early 2011 MacBook Pros and it improves the stability of Lion Recovery from an Internet connection, fixes Thunderbolt Display compatibility and fixes Thunderbolt Target Disk Mode.

Apple issues firmware updates, Thunderbolt software update, more originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mac OS X 10.5 introduced a new feature that warned users when they first opened a file downloaded from the Internet. It’s a protection mechanism to prevent users from opening potentially harmful files. It’s also extremely annoying for users who download many files from known trustworthy. Thanks to a script from Creative Bits, disabling this feature just became a whole lot easier.

When this download warning first debuted, Macworld detailed a few terminal commands to disable this feature. You could either disable it permanently which removed all protection from accidentally downloaded files or disable it on a case-by-case basis. Running the command on demand lets you decide when you want to disable this protection, but you have to remember the command each time you wanted to turn it off. Having to look up the command was almost inconvenient as responding to the warning dialog in the first place.

To make it easier, Ivan from Creative Bits has created an Automator script that you can place in your Dock. Every time you need to download a bunch of files, you can simply click this script to disable the warning. You can download the script from Creative Bits website to try it yourself. It should work on Mac OS X 10.6 and 10.7 Lion.

Disable that Mac OS X Internet download warning originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has released iPhoto 9.2.1 via the Mac App Store and Software Update. It’s a minor update which, according to Apple, “Addresses an issue that could cause iPhoto to quit unexpectedly on Macs with the 3ivxVideoCodec plug-in installed.”

If you’re rocking the 3ivxVideoCodec plug-in, grab this puppy and say good-bye to “unexpected quitting,” which is the nice way to say “crashes like the Hindenburg.”

iPhoto 9.2.1 now available originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BlackBerry owners faced a multi-day outage earlier this month that undoubtedly caused some unhappy customers to abandon the platform, but it was the launch of the iPhone 4S that may have led to a mass exodus, says electronics recycler Gazelle. Earlier this month, the trade-in of BlackBerry devices climbed, but in the past week, the number of these trades skyrocketed by 80%. This spike coincided with the launch of the iPhone 4S, says Gazelle Chief Gadget Officer Anthony Scarsella.

Android handsets also increased 72% in the same time period and many of these trades were from Sprint customers, but this spike may not entirely be the result of the iPhone 4S, says Scarsella. Yes, this is the first iPhone for Sprint and it may be attracting some Android converts, but it’s equally likely these Android customers are trading in their older handsets before the launch of the Motorola Droid Razr and Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

Even the iPhone was not immune from the iPhone 4S effect. Customers with older iPhone models flocked to Gazelle to lock in higher trade-in prices before the iPhone 4S launch. During its peak, Gazelle was processing an iPhone trade-in every 15 seconds and has accepted a total of 65,000 iPhones since it started buying them back. At this pace, the recycler should reach 75,000 iPhones by the end of this week.

Gazelle reports BlackBerry trade-ins at an all-time high originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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On Thursday, Samsung began the appeal process that could overturn an injunction preventing it from selling the Galaxy Tab in Australia. Samsung lawyer Neil Young argued that Justice Annabelle Bennett “made errors of law in her approach” and based her injunction decision on “irrelevant considerations.” Justice Lindsay Forster, who is presiding over the appeal, allowed Samsung to proceed and expedited the process so the Korean company could have a chance to overturn the injunction before the end of the holiday shopping season. A date for the appeal has not been set, but Foster hopes to schedule it for the week of November 21.

Apple is also turning its attention to third-party resellers in Australia that are still selling the Galaxy Tab. A few brazen retailers like MobiCity.com.au and dMavo.com.au have received threatening letters from Apple. A dmavo spokesperson confirmed the company intends to continue selling the Galaxy Tab and is not responding to the request in case it goes to court.

Now that it has been granted an injunction against Samsung, Apple could file for additional injunctions against other companies. A fight against MobiCity and dMavo may be difficult as these two companies are based in Hong Kong which makes jurisdiction a thorny issue. Other retailers, like Australian-based Kogan, have complied with Apple’s request and stopped selling the Galaxy Tab.

[Via Sydney Morning Herald]

Samsung appeals Australian Galaxy Tab injunction originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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To-Fu 2 (universal) is the sequel to Tofu: The Trials of Chi, an app that we covered not too long ago. This one features similar puzzle-esque tofu throwing, some new moves and 100 all-new levels. There’s also a new time trial mode, in which you must collect as much Chi as possible. Game Center leader boards let you brag to your friends.

Fans of the first Tofu title and its wacky, sharply-angled gameplay will enjoy To-Fu 2. The rest of you should check it out, too, as it’s on sale for just 99 cents. There are some extra content packs and add-ons available via in-app purchase, but there’s plenty of content in this one even without buying anything else.

Daily iPhone App: To-Fu 2 originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Let’s open with a reality check: Siri is still in beta. Apple’s new voice recognition service is just getting started, and many of us have found out the hard way that Apple’s definition of “beta” is closer to what many other developers would call “alpha.” That having been said, The Daily Mail‘s reports of Scottish accents flummoxing Siri still had us trading Sean Connery jokes back and forth in the TUAW newsroom.

According to The Daily Mail, numerous videos have surfaced of Scottish users trying (and failing) to interact with Siri. One tells Siri, “Gonnae no dae that,” which Siri interprets as “Going Akila.” Siri interprets a Scot’s charming “Can you dance with me?” as “Can you dutch women?”

Siri’s confusion doesn’t stop at Scottish accents, of course. My father’s wife is from the Philippines, and Siri has difficulty understanding her. I’m quite curious to see how Siri responds to me; my accent has become a somewhat corrupted melange of Pacific Northwest English and New Zealand English. Apple’s more primitive predecessor to Siri, Voice Control, correctly interprets my commands only about 75 percent of the time.

Somewhat predictably, the paper tries to spin this as a disaster for Apple — “Disgruntled messages have littered gadget websites and forums” according to the Mail. That response comes across as reactionary and a bit unfair, especially since one of the YouTube videos embedded on the Mail‘s own page (and embedded below) shows Siri reacting to a Scottish accent with rather impressive accuracy. Of course, another video shows a Scot trying to get Siri to “create a reminder” for close to two minutes without success, so the service definitely has some room for improvement.

Despite decades of work, voice recognition software is still basically in its infancy. I think my dog probably understands some spoken commands better than Siri does despite all the work that’s gone into the software. Then again, my dog is a genius, and Siri has been in public beta for less than two weeks. Give it some time to scale, and eventually I’m sure Siri will far exceed my greyhound’s ability to interpret verbal interactions.

It may even exceed my abilities someday — I have a Scottish friend in Christchurch (hallooo Stuarrrrt), and I can understand maybe one out of every five words he says.

Hallooo computarrrr! Siri not yet compatible with Scottish accents originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As many people know, the screen is the greatest power draw on today’s touchscreen handsets. Did you know that you can control the amount of battery your device uses by simply changing the color of the background of your screen?

Doug Sillars from the AT&T Developer Program tested the power draw after 240 minutes on a Samsung Captivate with 3 types of backdrops. Here are the results:

 

Screen Type:                                                      Percentage of Battery Used:

Animated backdrop (800mW):                                                               58.18%

White backdrop (570 mW):                                                                    41.45%

Black Backdrop:  (370 mW):                                                                   26.91%

 

What these numbers boil down to is that the brighter and lighter your screen, the more energy your phone uses. And this is not an insignificant amount of power saved, either: the animated backdrop uses up over twice the battery power that a black backdrop uses.

Not only is this a simple change when developing, but altering the backdrop of your screen can also conserve battery life without affecting user experience, whereas other battery-saving methods call for turning off functions that the user might need, such as GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 3G/4G. One other development tidbit to consider is to make sure that you allow the screen to timeout, rather than forcing the screen timeout off, as this will also save battery.

Be sure to keep your background color and brightness in mind when developing your next app. After all, the less energy your app uses, the longer the user can spend on it!

 

You can read Doug’s original post about how screen color affects battery life on the AT&T Developer Program Blogs. For more app development resources, please visit Kickin’ Apps, a Facebook community where developers share best practices and tips, as well as work together to build better apps.

In the past I’ve mentioned Vicki Wenderlich’s free game art packages which are a great resource for anyone who needs a starting point for game graphics.

This new package is of particular interest because it’s Christmas themed!  Seasonal games have always done well – on any platform – and Apple likes to highlight seasonal apps so you may want to consider creating one.

If you are looking for some Christmas graphics you will definitely want to take a look at this.

Here’s a screenshot using the art:

What’s great about Vicki’s art is not just the amazing quality, but that it is formatted to fit the iPhone and iPad screens.

Download

You can download the art pack through Vicki’s post here.

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Site Updates

The iOS 5 tutorial listing has been updated with new Xcode storyboard tutorials added along with iOS 5 Twitter API tutorial’s and a tutorial demonstrating how to use the new turn-based gaming Game Center API.

©2011 iPhone, iOS 5, iPad SDK Development Tutorial and Programming Tips. All Rights Reserved.

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We reviewed Sandvox earlier this year, the handy WYSIWYG web editor from Karelia Software. Those looking for very Mac-friendly web design software that requires no coding (or even an iWeb replacement) ought to consider Sandvox. The time is right, too, as version 2.1.10 is in the Mac App Store at a special price (aren’t holiday sales great?).

Typically priced at US$67, you can now grab a copy of the latest version for $49. Version 2.1.10 offers a few new features, like a new Blueprint design and a revamped SFTP publishing system which includes WebDAV subsystems.

In our review, we pointed out the Objects Menu (introduced with version 2.0) which lets you add all manner of useful objects to your site, like a text box, raw HTML, Flickr thumbnails, Twitter tools, IM status, RSS tools and more. Again, no coding is required and the results look great.

Consider a purchase if you’re looking for a Mac-friendly web editor at a bargain price.

Sandvox hits Mac App Store, on sale for limited time originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The DirecTV app for iPad got a significant bump in capabilities today by adding live streaming to giving you essentially a portable TV you can take to any room of your house.

You have to be on the same network as your DirecTV receiver, and not all channels are available. I’m not seeing the pay movie channels, or the local channels, which are all a matter of rights with the owners of those channels. I counted 38 available channels for streaming, including CNN, Fox News, National Geographic, FX, History Channel, Discovery and many more. You can watch the video in a window hovering over the program guide, or watch full screen.

With my multiple tuner DVR I could be watching one channel on the iPad while someone else could be watching another channel on that same receiver, which is pretty handy.

This new update also allows you to change start and end times of a recording if you think a program time needs adjusting. The app has also added an option to set parental controls on your receiver from the iPad.

Other TV providers, notably Comcast, have been working on streaming live TV to the iPad. The app is free and requires iOS 4.2 or later.

Go get it. It’s a worthwhile update.

DirecTV adds live video streaming on iPad originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Walter Isaacson recently appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to promote his biography of Steve Jobs. In the seven-minute interview (embedded below), Stewart and Isaacson discuss the the process of writing the biography while trying to stay objective about its subject — a task Isaacson admits was difficult, especially in the face of Jobs’s long illness.

The two men discuss something I also found fascinating about Jobs when I read the book: his extremely emotional nature.

Stewart: The really interesting thing in the book is how often Steve Jobs cries.

Isaacson: He’s a very emotional person. That was the biggest surprise to me.

Stewart: He is a weeper.

They go on a bit of a tangent after that, but eventually Isaacson gets to the core of both Jobs himself and public opinion of him. “He connected emotion to technology. This is why the outpouring of grief at his death was beyond what most may have expected,” Isaacson says. “I think that emotionalism came from a deep passion for artistic things.”

The real gem of the interview comes at the end, when Isaacson describes the difference between Jobs and Bill Gates. “In the end, [Bill Gates] makes the Zune and Steve makes the iPod.”

Stewart busts out laughing, along with the audience, and responds, “That is the best eulogy I have ever heard in my life.”

The full video’s embedded below (sorry iOS users, Comedy Central doesn’t offer a non-Flash version and there’s nothing we can do about it), and it’s definitely worth watching. If you’re looking for a more comprehensive review of the biography itself, we just happen to have one right here at TUAW.

Jon Stewart interviews Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You’ll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what’s happening in the Apple world.

You can listen to today’s Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.

No Flash? Click here to listen.

Daily Update for October 26, 2011 originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When it comes to forecasting the next big thing, we turn to our secret weapon: the TUAW braintrust. We put the question to you and let you have your go at it. Today’s topic is landlines.

In the age of the iPhone, when each person can have their own voice and data center that travels with them in their pocket (or sits on their desk), what’s the point of land line.

Got no service? Your provider can set you up with a microcell to plug into your router. It runs off your cable data, adding full house-bound coverage.

Want to use traditional handsets that ring throughout the house? You can buy a Bluetooth adapter that hooks into your home wiring and distributes your phone service to the wired handsets.

Many turn to Skype or Vonage for home phones.

So what’s the point of a landline?

You tell us. Place your vote in this poll and then join in the comments with all your predictions.

View Poll

You’re the Pundit: Do you need a landline? originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Coming on the heels of the release of Walter Isaacson’s long-anticipated biography of Steve Jobs (and, if you haven’t read Chris Rawson’s review yet, stop what you’re doing and do so), PBS will premiere “Steve Jobs — One Last Thing” on November 2, time depending on local listings.

The documentary appears to be the televised version of what Isaacson’s book has turned out to be — an unflinching look at Jobs’s complex disposition and insights as seen through some of the eyes of the people who knew him best. Featured interviews include Ronald Wayne, the little-discussed third co-founder of Apple; Ross Perot, former U.S. presidential candidate who invested in NeXT Computer as the company was floundering; the Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg; will.i.am., frontman and producer for The Black Eyed Peas; Dean Hovey, designer of Apple’s original mouse; Robert Palladino, the calligraphy professor at Reed College whose classes inspired Jobs with his typography for the Mac; and more.

The documentary also has a never-before-aired 1994 interview where Jobs talks about his life’s philosophy.

Steve Jobs — One Last Thing was produced by Pioneer Productions for PBS and the UK’s Channel 4, which doesn’t have the documentary listed yet, but will most likely be added within the next couple of days.

PBS to air Steve Jobs documentary originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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