Category: I-phone

Task management is something most loathe but have to do to keep productive. Producteev, a previously web and iPhone app focused task management service has just launched a Mac app.

Producteev focuses on creating and managing tasks with the ability to connect those tasks with other people, other services and sync them to the web. You can create tasks in different categories, arrange them by due date, attach notes and files to them, and even comment on them.

You can set up alerts for deadlines and get notified through the app itself, Growl, the Menu bar or Dock icons, or even via email and Gcal with a little help from the web app. You can also apply customizable color coded labels to your tasks to help you differentiate them from one another, as well as “Star” them with a rating from one to five.

For an individual, Producteev could be a little over complicated for what you need unless you’re a serious multi-level task manager. But for a team, Producteev allows you to share tasks, create and assign them to others (individuals and groups of people) and has the potential to make collaborative tasks just that little bit easier. Comments and file attachments allow adjustments and additions to a task, while everyone can monitor progress and pitch in if needed.

The Mac app portion of Producteev is free and so is an individual account with up to two users sharing workspaces. If you want more plans start at US$5 per month and reach up to $30 a month for unlimited users and 1.5 GB of file storage (with a two-week free trial).

TUAW’s Daily Mac App: Producteev originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last summer, when the folks at iFixit first did a tear down of the iPhone 4, one of the interesting tidbits they revealed was that the iPhone 4 has two mics (which is more than most other cell phones), and that it has a white-labelled (manufacturers details removed upon request from Apple) noise cancellation chip in it. The idea being that ambient noise is identified by the second mic, and processed and cancelled out by the chip — leaving the person listening to whoever is speaking into the iPhone 4 with much clearer audio.

Furthermore, a few months ago, you may have noticed that iFixit — along side the help of Chipworks — revealed the unbranded chip to be a low power audio signal processor manufactured by Audience. The same noise cancellation chip found in the Google Nexus One phone.

While that in itself may not be all that interesting, we thought you may be interested in the YouTube video iFixit sourced to demonstrate the power of the Audience chip. The video below is a recording of two separate voice mail messages called from the same noisy location, but on two different phones. One is from an unnamed, standard cell phone, the other is from the iPhone 4.

iPhone 4 noise cancellation chip demoed with comparison video originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Raise your hand if you’ve ever found Web Outlook on your Mac ugly and unusable, particularly the “classic” style. Now, if you have an iPhone and have been forced to use this adomination of everything good about web design, you know that the painful gets even more painful when you have to constantly zoom into impossibly small targets. Of course all this would be precluded if you could use your personal iPhone with your company’s Exchange server, but that isn’t going to happen.

What do you do? First, take a look at Webmail++. This app scrapes off the gunky code in Web Outlook and presents it to you in an iOS-friendly format. For iPhone and iPad, the app does a good job of making Outlook on Webkit far more usable, even touch friendly. Check out the video for some nice touches, like floating menus.

Webmail++ isn’t just for Outlook, however. You can connect Webmail++ to a number of email systems like Yahoo but some ISP webmail systems too, including RoadRunner and Comcast.

Video App Demo: Webmail++ originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Like their big brothers, the new MacBook Air models now include a Thunderbolt port. Though it looks the same on the outside, internally the Air’s Thunderbolt controller is much different from the one found in the 2011 iMac, MacBook Pro and Mac mini line.

To fit a Thunderbolt controller in its thin chassis, the MacBook Air includes a controller that is half the size of the one found in other 2011 Mac models. Codenamed Eagle Ridge, this smaller chip includes two Thunderbolt 10 Gbps channels (instead of four) and one display port output (instead of two).

Beside size, this chip may also be less expensive, notes Anandtech, which means it might show up in machines from other manufacturers; especially those companies looking to keep the cost of their hardware to a minimum.

[Image from iFixit]

Apple using smaller, cheaper Thunderbolt controller in MacBook Airs originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dear Aunt TUAW,

So, the last time I sold a Mac I bundled it up with my Tiger install discs and sent it on its way, but having installed Lion on my MacBook and readying my bank account for the impending purchase of a MacBook Air, what happens to Lion when this laptop goes to the big eBay in the sky?

Can I sell something on if I don’t own the physical product?
If it’s tied to my iTunes account does it take records of my associated email account with it?

Your loving nephew,

Matt

Dear Matt,

Auntie is not a lawyer. She does not even play a lawyer on TV. But as a completely unqualified non-expert, here’s how the matters seem to shake out.

• App Store Lion licenses follow the account and not the hardware
• Pre-installed licenses follow the hardware, and not the account
• The install process from the recovery partition seems to follow the hardware as well.

Preinstalled Lion

Here’s what Apple says about hardware that came with Lion.

If you obtained the Apple Software preinstalled on Apple-branded hardware, you may make a one-time permanent transfer of all of your license rights to the Apple Software (in its original form as provided by Apple) to another party…

Hardware that already had Lion on it, can be sold and the license transfers with it. You can restore the machine to its virginal state and sell it off. The new user should be able to use the recovery partition to re-install the OS whenever needed. Your e-mail should not be involved.

Since the hardware is newer, should the hard drive fail, the user should be able to use the over-the-air restore process.

That process does not seem to involve any user authentication. The hardware likely checks in with some kind of central Apple database that associates the machine ID with shipped-with-Lion install, but Apple is being closed lipped as usual in disclosing how the eligibility is determined. Auntie guesses it’s the hardware identity.

Upgraded to Lion

For pre-Lion hardware, Apple takes a firmer line. Here’s what they say about selling systems to third parties.

If you sell your Apple-branded hardware to a third party, you must remove the Apple Software from the Apple- branded hardware before doing so, and you may restore your system to the version of the Apple operating system software that originally came with your Apple hardware (the “Original Apple OS”) and permanently transfer the Original Apple OS together with your Apple hardware…

So as far as Apple is concerned, you still “ship with DVDs” but you also need to downgrade to the original OS. That means completely wiping the drive to remove the recovery partition as well as experiencing all the joys of an OS re-install from DVD.

Auntie suggests another way. Starting in August, you will be able to purchase an install dongle at the Apple Store. That additional $69 may simplify the whole process and the questions behind it ownership transfer.

When you ship a dongle along with a newly dongle-installed machine, you ensure that the new user can start fresh and will have a full license of their own. Of course, that extra $69 takes a bite out of your profit margin. But you’ll be selling Lion-installed hardware rather than whatever your system started out with. (Do make sure to send the original install DVDs as well.)

Dongle installs shouldn’t be associated with your identity either. So again, you should be safe there as well.

Hugs,

Auntie T.

Dear Aunt TUAW: If I sell my old Mac, does Lion go with it? originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So, you’re in Shanghai, China with your fake MacBook Air when it suddenly stops working. What do you do? Make an appointment at the real Genius Bar for the Apple Store, Pudong in Shanghai and get help.

Fortunately for the man who brought the “MacBook Air” into the store, the Geniuses behind the bar were in a good mood and actually helped him out with diagnostics and troubleshooting. I somehow feel this type of friendly and helpful reception might be lacking if a certain colleague of mine brought her trio of hackintosh netbooks into a local Apple Store here in the U.S.

Hackintosh repaired at Apple Genius Bar originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung reported its quarterly earnings today and, for the first time, the Korean manufacturer did not report its mobile phone sales. Samsung withheld this information because the company has a new information policy that discloses less information about its mobile phones and tablets.

Samsung’s chief of investor relations Robert Yi said, “As competition intensifies, there are increased risks that the information we provide may adversely affect our own businesses.” Samsung refused to elaborate on the reason for this silence, but analysts believe it is the result of a heated legal battle with Apple.

Perhaps Samsung does not want history to repeat itself. Earlier this year, a Samsung executive said the company redesigned its Galaxy Tab 10.1 after seeing the iPad 2. This offhand comment came back to bite the Korean manufacturer when the comment was cited by a judge in a recent trademark and trade dress dispute filed by Apple.

Samsung withholds mobile phone sales data due to Apple legal battle originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last month, Daniel Spitler pleaded guilty to hacking account information from AT&T 3G iPads and faces up to 10 years in prison. His alleged partner in crime, Andrew Auernheimer, is now reportedly negotiating a plea deal as well. Auernheimer’s case is currently on hold during these negotiations.

Spitler and Auernheimer are responsible for writing an iPad 3G Account Slurper tool that parsed the SIM card numbers of AT&T iPad 3G owners and used them to retrieve email addresses from the carrier’s website. They pair and their associated hacking group reportedly grabbed over 100,000 email records and brazenly flaunted their theft before being caught. The theft was particularly stinging as many of those records belonged to government officials and military personal.

Second accused AT&T iPad hacker in plea talks originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bernstein’s Toni Sacconaghi believes that Apple is confident it will win current legal battles with HTC and Samsung, and is therefore in for the long haul. Apple has “more to lose” than its rivals, Sacconaghi notes, and a whole lot to win.

Philip Elmer-Dewitt has highlighted the most interesting notes from Sacconaghi’s statement, including:

• We anticipate that Apple will push its legal claims hard and unrelentingly and believe that the company’s key goal is to upend Android’s momentum by forcing a work around on key essential features which, if successful, could have huge, positive financial implications for Apple.
• Should Apple prevail in forcing Android to rework some of its functionality, resulting in market share shifts, it could have huge, positive financial implications for Apple…a 10 percentage point shift in smartphone market share from Android to Apple…is worth an estimated $30B+ in annual revenue and $10+ in annual EPS to Apple.

That’s a lot of dough. Steve Jobs has long said that Apple takes its patents seriously, which Tim Cook recently reiterated: “We have a very simple view: we love competition, but we want people to invent their own stuff. And we’re going to make sure we defend our portfolio.”

Should Apple win current legal battles, payoff would be huge originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cordy is a fun little platformer that was originally released on Android, but has now come to iOS. The game’s cute and relatively non-threatening — you play as an adorable little robot, and instead of going up against bad guys, the main goal here is exploration. There are four levels to play through for free, and a full in-app purchase fills that out to 27. The action can get fast if you go for the timed challenges, but really, the game’s all about just jumping around the levels, finding gears, and using the various mechanics to explore.

You can pick up the title to try it out for free on either iPad or iPhone. If you enjoy a solid platformer, give it a look for sure.

TUAW’s Daily iPhone App: Cordy originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Overseas sales responsible for the majority of the iPhone sales growth, Verizon a “small bang”.

HTC would really like to negotiate a patent deal with Apple.

Recent survey indicates consumers will by the iPhone 5 sight unseen.

EA CEO says consoles only responsible for 40% of the game industry.

Apple is selling every iPad they can make, crushing the Motorola Zoom.

If you have been visiting this site for a while, you may have noticed that I try to keep track of open source iOS game engines (and if you don’t like me using the terms game engine and graphics engine interchangeably there – get over it!).  I rarely ever mention engines anymore that have not been used within any apps available within the app store at this time.  The reason for that is that most 3D engine projects end up being given up on by their originators.

One library that I have been watching for some time is the iOS Scene Graph Library (iSGL3D).  With the recent release of the game Project Mos (if you are a space combat junkie you should check it out).  I’m happy to mention the engine on this site.

The library boosts an extensive set of features, here is the feature list taken from the project’s Google Code page:

• Simple 3D scene construction
• Lighting and shading
• Camera manipulation
• Multiple views with independent viewports
• Meshes and built-in primitives
• Particle systems
• Billboards
• Color, texture and animated texture materials
• Support for PowerVR compressed textures
• Optimised performance with OpenGL ES 1.1 and ES 2.0
• Hardware accelerated matrix calculations
• Scene and model importing from PowerVR POD files
• Bridging to Bullet physics library
• Real-time shadows
• Animation by Tweening
• Skeleton and mesh skinning
• Keyframe vertex animation/morphing
• Integrated accelerometer support
• Touch-screen events and interactive 3D objects
• Occlusion transparency
• Basic user interface creation

You can find the project’s Google Code page here:
http://code.google.com/p/isgl3d/

You can also check out the project’s homepage here:
http://isgl3d.com/

Be sure to check out the iSGL3D tutorials page if you decide to try it iSGL3D out.  Some great looking tutorials there.

©2011 iPhone, iOS 4, iPad SDK Development Tutorial and Programming Tips. All Rights Reserved.

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I am a coffee lover. I spend a great deal of time in my local coffee shop working. I like the coffee and the atmosphere and it gets me out of my home office when I can’t stand looking at the same walls anymore. This love of coffee has now officially extended to the Cappuccino […]

Everybody’s favorite yellow sticky is back in action, as Apple’s online store is down and has been for a while now. It’s the wee hours of Friday morning in the United States, so it’s not out of the question that we might see updates to some of Apple’s gear; the Mac Pro is notably overdue for an update at this point. However, with it being this late in the week, don’t be surprised or disappointed if the store is down for mere maintenance.

We’ll update this post later on once the store comes back up and note changes, if any.

Update: The store is back up, but I haven’t noticed anything different. If you see something I missed, let us know in the comments or send us feedback.

The Apple Store is down (Updated) originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 02:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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