Category: I-phone

Techland reports that Apple has pulled iTunes off of the “Christian Values Network.” The network operates an online shopping portal, CVN.org, which “plugs you into a special online shopping network that helps your chosen organization just by shopping, without adding any additional cost to you” according to the site. Many big-name companies were indirectly associated with the site in this manner, including Apple.

Why has Apple chosen to withdraw its affiliate program from the site? According to Techland, the Southern Poverty Law Center has determined that many of the religious groups associated with the site are classified as “active hate groups.” Family Research Council, for instance, is an active lobbyist against rights for LGBT individuals and insists that divorcing couples with children be subject to a one-year waiting period before the divorce can be finalized. Many other religious groups associated with CVN are active campaigners against homosexual rights.

Ben Crowther launched a petition to convince Apple to withdraw iTunes from CVN, and given Apple’s past support for LGBT issues, it’s not surprising Apple followed suit. However, in this case Apple isn’t exactly blazing the trail; Microsoft withdrew its support from CVN two weeks earlier, and Wells Fargo, Delta Airlines, and Macy’s did as well.

More than 35,000 people signed the petition, which began on July 5. I’ve often been skeptical of the utility of online petitions, but this one definitely got Apple’s attention.

(Comments on this post will be strictly moderated.)

Apple withdraws iTunes from ‘Christian Values Network’ originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 27 Jul 2011 19:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has updated its proposed answer to the Lodsys suit against third-party developers. Lodsys has recently expanded its patent suit to include big-name iOS developers like Rovio (of Angry Birds), EA, Atari, Take-Two Interactive and Square-Enix, according to The Mac Observer.

Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents points out that Apple’s amendments to its proposed answer are very minor, however, and a readthrough of the amended document bears this out. Critically, Apple’s argument remains that its licensing of Lodsys’s patents should be sufficient to allow third-party developers on its platform the right to use in-app purchasing tools without having to license them independently. Mueller is not fully convinced this tactic will succeed, however, and believes that Apple should instead challenge the validity of the patents themselves. Some third-party developers have already filed for invalidation of the Lodsys patents, but Apple’s motion to intervene hasn’t gone nearly that far yet.

Lodsys obviously believes it has a strong case if it’s graduated from suing smaller developers to going after industry titans like EA and Square-Enix. Mueller seems to be asserting that Apple’s response to the case thus far has been lackluster, and it’s hard to argue with him; considering what’s at stake, it is indeed disappointing that Apple has yet to unleash the firepower of its fully-armed and operational battle lawyers upon Lodsys.

Apple updates its response to Lodsys suit, but doesn’t move to invalidate patents originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 27 Jul 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After one week on the market, the first good benchmarks of the new MacBook Air models are beginning to show up. Macworld ran benchmarks of the i5-based 11.6″ and 13″ MBAs and found them to be quite fast in everyday operations. The Macworld lab is in the process of fine-tuning their SpeedMark benchmark for Lion, so the tests were performed by timing tasks like duplicating, zipping, and unzipping folders, importing and exporting files from Pages and iMovie, and so on.

Not surprisingly, the tests showed that the new MacBook Airs were faster than the last generation models and the final generation of the MacBook. The MBAs beat even the current 13″ i5 MacBook Pro in the file duplicate and zip tests. Strangely enough, though, the previous model 13″ Core 2 Duo MacBook Air bested all comers for importing a movie archive to iMovie ’09, had the best results with the Cinebench R11.5 graphics benchmark, and the highest framerate while playing Call of Duty 4.

If you do a lot of AAC to MP3 encoding in iTunes 10, then the 13″ i5 MacBook Air is going to be your best friend. It was faster than even the latest 13″ i5 MacBook Pro, although not by much. The bottom line is that these new MBAs are fast, due in part to the SSDs used for storage, but slower than their predecessors in some graphics operations.

Why? The previous MacBook Air models used Nvidia GeForce 320M integrated graphics, while the new models use the Intel HD Graphics 3000 capability embedded into the silicon of the i5 processor. The Nvidia graphics chip was faster, but the i5 with graphics is less expensive than the Core 2 Duo / Nvidia combo used before.

With the specs of the MacBook Air approaching those of the MacBook Pro line and rumors of a 15″ Air-like Apple laptop on the horizon, it’s interesting to conjecture that Apple may eventually get to one line of MacBooks — the MacBook Airs.

Macworld plans on running more tests in the future using various configure-to-order options of the MacBook Air, and we’ll be waiting to see what they find.

Macworld benchmarks i5 MacBook Airs originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Similar to playing an instrument, Knot tying is a skill that is developed over time with much practice. It’s one of those skills that you don’t know you need until you find yourself hiking in the woods and want to tie up a temporary shelter with something other than a basic bow knot used for tying your shoes.

The next best thing to finding an old salt to show you the ropes is an iPad app, Knot Guide HD from WinkPass Creations. Knot Guide HD has 95 knots that are organized into 17 different categories. There are 83 unique knots and a handful that are variations. You can view the knots via categories, alphabetically, or a customizable favorites list. You can even search if you know the name of a knot.

The iPad app has a picture of each finished knot and describes how each knot is used. There is also a set of step-by-step directions that show you how to tie the knot. If two strands of rope are used, each strand is a different color so you can tell the two apart. A description accompanies each knot-tying step and you can even add your own custom notes for personal hints, tips or tricks. If there are knots you want to remember, you can add them to your favorites list for easy access.

Knot Guide HD is designed as a reference guide and it looks excellent on the iPad screen. The images of each knot are crisp and clear, though they could be a bit bigger. The descriptions for each step in the tying process are very helpful as they make it easier to understand how you need to move each strand. Only two major items are lacking — a quiz /game mode and videos. Other apps in this category include videos to demonstrate the knot and a quiz mode to test your knowledge. Some apps even tie into Game Center so you can earn achievements while you learn.

Despite these drawbacks, Knot Guide HD is a very useful reference guide for anyone that wants to learn the fine art of knot tying. Knot Guide HD is available in the iTunes App Store for $2.99. There is also an iPhone and Mac OS X version.

TUAW’s Daily iPad App: Knot Guide HD originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TUAWloha, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of TUAW TV Live. Since more viewers and readers have had a chance to install Lion since last week’s live demos, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to give everyone in the chat a chance to ask questions and supply tips about the latest version of OS X.

Below, you’ll find a Ustream 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 App. It’s a universal app and is wonderful on an iPad, both for viewing and participating 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 TUAW TV Live podcast viewable in iTunes or on any of your Apple devices.

TUAW TV Live: Bring your Lion questions and tips originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OS X Lion is only supposed to cost US$29.99 to install on any Macs associated with your iTunes account. Some Lion buyers who purchased it through PayPal are seeing charges way higher than thirty bucks, however. Multiple users have reported the issue on Apple’s support forums, and Lion buyer John Christman emailed us earlier today saying PayPal showed nearly $4000 in fees associated with Lion.

Apple support is now aware of the problem, and it’s been classified as a “known issue” that they’re looking into. Meanwhile, several affected customers are seeing their bank accounts significantly overdrawn, with all of the heinous additional bank fees that go along with that, so hopefully Apple also makes good on those additional fees.

If there’s a lesson to draw from this, here it is: if you pay for iTunes purchases through PayPal, it’s probably a good idea to switch to another payment method until this gets sorted out. If you haven’t bought Lion yet and you’re worried about paying 100 times more for it than you’re supposed to, you can always pay for it with an iTunes gift card.

PayPal reportedly overcharging some customers for OS X Lion originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There was a time when the majority of games were played on dedicated consoles like the Xbox or PlayStation but, as they say, “those times are a’changin.” Speaking to IndustryGamers, EA CEO John Riccitiello said consoles are no longer the dominant force in gaming. Up and coming devices like the iPad are:

Consoles used to be 80% of the industry as recently as 2000. Consoles today are 40% of the game industry, so what do we really have? We have a new hardware platform and we’re putting out software every 90 days. Our fastest growing platform is the iPad right now and that didn’t exist 18 months ago.

Riccitiello does admit that consoles can offer better graphics, but he doesn’t see those graphics benefits lasting forever. Sooner rather than later a mobile device like the iPad will be able able to offer the same graphics as the Xbox. And he believes graphics won’t be the driving power in console adoption in the future. “I would argue that there’s more to be provided in terms of value for the consumer in micro-transactions and social experiences and driving those better in cross-platform gameplay between a console and a PC and a handheld device and a social network than there is supercharging graphics.”

EA current has 32 games for the iPad with many more to come judging from Riccitiello’s statements.

EA: our fastest growing platform is the iPad originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Darryl Peck has a 25-year long history of working with Apple; first as a software developer, then as a reseller at outpost.com. Four years ago, the seasoned businessman decided to open his own retail store, PeachMac, and now he competes head-to-head with the Cupertino company.

Even though Apple has five stores throughout Georgia, Peck still manages to draw in customers. Similar to Apple, the secret to his success is ample inventory, attractive store layout and exceptional customer service.

Peck fills his stores chock full of Apple products and over 1500 accessories, as compared to the 300 or so carried at Apple Stores. Each accessory is carefully selected and tested for product compatibility before placing it on the shelves. Inventory inside the store is well-organized and pleasing to customers.

Peck also places a high priority on customer service. He hires top-notch people and offers different programs and workshops not offered by Apple retail stores. Because he runs a small operation, Peck can focus more on his customers and believes the programs he offers are better than Apple’s.

This strategy is working out well for Peck. Despite the odds, PeachMac is thriving. The entrepreneur has five PeachMac stores in operation and plans to open three more by the end of the year.

[Via Business Insider]

How one independent retailer competes with Apple Stores originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The second Apple store in Glendale, California will open at 10AM this Saturday — and it’s only 600 feet away from the entrance of the first Glendale store. That makes the two Glendale store the closes Apple stores in the chain, according to ifoAppleStore. Apple’s first Glendale store was the second Apple retail store to open and visitors say that it’s so packed it’s hard to get shopping done, which is probably the reason Apple opened another store so close.

ifoAppleStore also offers some other location trivia about Apple stores. After the Glendale stores, the next two closest Apple stores are the Palo Alto and Stanford stores. They’re just 3,738 feet apart. New York City, Las Vegas, and Honolulu are the “most packed” cities with Apple stores. All three cities have three stores within a 4.1 mile radius. The state with the most Apple stores is California, with a whopping 19 stores.

Second Glendale, California Apple Store to open Saturday originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Being able to decompress the plethora of archive types that are flying about the intertubes these days is essential. Stuffit Expander, the free extract-only part of the Stuffit suite is a great utility to have when Finder, or even the Unarchiver, just can’t help you out.

There are quite a few free extraction tools available for the Mac. We’ve got the Unarchiver and TinyExpander just to name a few, but Smith Micro’s Stuffit Expander handles several file formats that most others just can’t, including Smith Micro’s .sitx files, with aplomb.

It’s simple to use, either open the archive from Finder with Stuffit Expander, drag-and-drop the file onto the Expander program or open the archive directly within the app. You can even just drag-and-drop your file onto Stuffit Expander’s dock icon to quickly extract the file. If you’re going to use it as your primary archive extractor you can also assign various different archive file formats to Stuffit Expander from within the program preferences.

When other extractors just can’t cope with that unusual archive type, Stuffit Expander steps in. From MIME, StuffitX and yEncode, to AppleSingle, ARC and .btoa files, Stuffit Expander can get you what you need and for that reason, regardless of whether you use the Unarchiver or its kin, it’s an essential free Mac app.

Stuffit Expander is available for free from the Mac App Store.

TUAW’s Daily Mac App: Stuffit Expander originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a world where there are plenty of PDF tools, PDF Expert distinguishes itself with a few key features. I’ve been a fan of Readdle’s past products, and PDF Expert aims to give you a truly universal tool for dealing with PDFs, whether you are a student, educator, lawyer, doctor or anyone dealing with the “paperless office.” Dave gave it a look back in March, but some new features have been added.

With PDF Expert you’re able to sign documents with your finger or stylus, send documents to 9 different services (Readdle has their own) and my favorite: fill out PDF forms. On top of these features you get the usual stable of PDF management tools for sorting and annotating your files.

To see a walkthrough of these features, check out the video below. [Video was pointing to the wrong place for a bit there, apologies. -Ed.]

Video App Demo: PDF Expert originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google has released a new developer build of Chrome that fixes some of the browser navigation gestures that were disrupted with the release of Lion. On pre-Lion systems, a three-finger swipe inside of Chrome would move the user a page forwards or backwards in their web browsing history. Under Lion however, that same three-finger swipe is a system-wide gesture that moves users between different full-screen apps.

The newest developer build of Chrome for Mac, version 14.0.835.0, fixes the gesture confusion. Now in Chrome users will use a two-finger swipe to move a page forwards or backwards in their web browsing history. This adheres to Lions built-in gestures, leaving the three-finger swipe for full-screen app switching. No word yet on an exact release date for this next version of Chrome, but Cnet thinks it will be at least a few weeks until it’s rolled out to all users.

Google Chrome team working on multi-touch gestures originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I still have Lion on the brain, so today’s all-live broadcast is going to feature your questions about Lion in the chat room and my attempts to answer those questions. My broadcast machine is now running El Gato Grande, so I’ll be able to fumble around looking for an answer while you watch.

As many long-time viewers know, we use Ustream for the show. Well, just yesterday the company came out with a new version of Ustream for iPad (free) that is awesome. Not only can you watch the show or broadcast your own show if you so desire, but all of the chat tools are now available on your favorite tablet.

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 any other favorite podcatching app. The past shows are also available on the TUAW YouTube channel.

TUAW TV Live today at 5 PM: Stump the chump with Lion questions originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I love Lion’s idea of consumer-grade version control, which Apple calls Auto Save and Versions. I’m just not particularly happy with its GUI. That’s because it relies on a new vocabulary of menu choices and on users understanding what’s going on under the hood.

Take the save options for example. You can “save a version,” “duplicate,” etc. These are very good tasks to do. My question though is if these are the right tasks and the right names for the typical Lion user.

If you go out and ask a bunch of people what the “save a version” menu item means, you’re going to get a lot of answers, many of which don’t agree. In Lion, this menu option creates a new revision point for your document, committing your changes into the version control system for your file.

After saving a version, you can later revert to that save by browsing versions or by reverting to the most recent commit point. It’s like Time Machine for document edits, and it’s very, very handy.

As a developer, that’s familiar ground. We’ve been doing this stuff for aeons.

For consumers, it’s new. It’s somewhat ground breaking. It’s really putting the consumer’s needs first. This is what Apple should be doing, where it should be innovating.

The problem is this. That “save a version” description doesn’t really communicate what’s going on. This is why you get all those diverging and conflicting “explanations” of what the menu option does. It’s not expressing itself well.

I personally think Apple should have left the menu item as “Save.” Save describes what’s going on with the file, and communicates that in just four characters. “If I click Save, the computer will save this file.” If Lion passively creates versioned backups, all the better. Not only am I using a simple 4-character command, Lion’s adding value to that 4-character command for me.

Awesomesauce.

Engineers shouldn’t feel obliged to differentiate new features when people can keep on using them as if they were the old ones. Apple could have just used the original name and added value to it behind the scenes.

The old save was good. The new save is better. But Apple really should reconsider that menu option.

OS X Lion Version control, the File menu, and me originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple and arch-rival/partner Samsung are both looking at creating consumer electronic devices powered by the sun, but don’t expect to see them in the marketplace anytime soon.

According to a post on Asian technology website Digitimes, Taiwan-based solar firms are being considered as part of the supply chain for solar-powered devices from Apple, but these companies think that for the foreseeable future they’d be niche products. To get costs down, devices would need a standard-sized solar cell that could be mass-produced and extremely light.

A number of solar cell manufacturers are looking at organic photovoltaic cells, which have a fairly low conversion efficiency, light weight, and low production cost. Only about 5 to 8 percent of the light energy falling on these cells is converted to power, meaning that the solar cells either have to get more efficient or be sized larger. The latter option is contrary to contemporary electronics design, and it’s unlikely that consumers would want to move to larger devices.

One technology that’s being considered is the solar cell on paper invented at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). These organic photovoltaic cells are extremely light, but at present a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate is being used by most manufacturers due to poor yields for the paper cells.

Still, it’s good to see that our favorite manufacturer is looking into solar-powered devices. I look forward to the day when I can charge up a MacBook Air simply by working outside or under a bright light.

Apple reportedly considering solar-powered devices originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 27 Jul 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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