Category: I-phone

TechCrunch reports that Twitter is on the verge of launching its own photo-sharing service in direct competition with existing services like TwitPic and yFrog. The big news for iOS device users is this service might have system-level integration in iOS 5. According to TechCrunch, the site has heard from several sources that “Apple’s new iOS 5 will come with an option to share images to Twitter baked into the OS. This would be similar to the way you can currently share videos on YouTube with one click in iOS. Obviously, a user would have to enable this feature by logging in with their Twitter credentials in iOS. There would then be a ‘Send to Twitter’ option for pictures stored on your device.”

John Gruber of Daring Fireball thinks the service, if it does come to fruition, may not be restricted to just photo sharing. “Imagine what else the system could provide if your Twitter account was a system-level service,” he muses. Indeed, after installing Twitter for Mac in Mac OS X, there’s a right-click option to tweet any hyperlink from Safari; if Twitter sharing is going to be baked into iOS 5, this seems like an easily-implemented feature. More out in left field, integrating Twitter into iOS Contacts could also allow users to post tweets to other users directly from within apps like Messages, thus allowing conversations begun via SMS to divert to Twitter and spare users from per-text carrier charges.

There’s obviously been no confirmation from Apple that Twitter will be integrated in iOS 5, and TechCrunch hasn’t heard about similar functionality for services like Facebook or Flickr. With WWDC and iOS 5’s unveiling only a week away, we’ll know one way or the other very soon.

Twitter to have systemwide integration in iOS 5? originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 31 May 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Making good on its threats, Lodsys has filed suit today against several third-party iOS developers. According to Florian Mueller, Combay, IconFactory, Illusion Labs, Shovelmate, QuickOffice, Richard Shinerman, and Wulven Game Studios are among the developers targeted in the suit.

A series of defensive blog posts on its site explains Lodsys’s rationale for filing suit. “Lodsys chose to move its litigation timing to an earlier date than originally planned, in response to Apple’s threat, in order to preserve its legal options.” Lodsys also appears confident it will win these suits, claiming it will offer developers US$1000 if its claims aren’t held up in court. Lodsys also claims that Apple’s position, that App Store developers are covered because Apple has already paid licensing fees to Lodsys and developers are doing nothing more than using Apple’s own APIs, does not protect developers from Lodsys pursuing claims against them. “Lodsys has sent a detailed legal position on the license interpretation issue, in writing to Apple that has been previously only verbally communicated.”

Continue reading Lodsys files suit against third-party App Store developers

Lodsys files suit against third-party App Store developers originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 31 May 2011 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The iPad is an excellent device for creating and editing sound, but sometimes, just using that headphone port isn’t enough. For that, DIY musician Qubais “Reed” Ghazala built this custom-made iPad dock, which plugs the iPad into a whole row of various sound-related ins and outs, from a line input and output to even a video interface. Yes, it’s not quite as finished as a professional setup might be, but the DIY style works well here.

Read more of this post to watch a video of the dock in action that includes some tips on its construction in case you want to try putting one together on your own. Ghazala used a PodBreakout board to get all of the data he needed to and from the tablet, and a MacAlly iPad stand as the base unit.

Continue reading DIY breakout dock looks to get professional sound out of iPad 2

DIY breakout dock looks to get professional sound out of iPad 2 originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 31 May 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Have you seen the man in the picture at right? If you live in the Bay Area and you’ve seen him with a MacBook in hand, you might want to consider calling the Oakland police.

Joshua Kaufman has images supplied by the Hidden app that show this man using a MacBook that was allegedly stolen from Kaufman’s apartment. Through the use of Hidden, Kaufman was able to get some great pictures and the location of the computer, and posted those photos on his Tumblr. We picked this up after John Welch tweeted the link.

The Oakland PD is apparently understaffed, so Kaufman is pinging the Oakland Mayor’s office for help in retrieving his MacBook. In the meanwhile, consider this a Amber MacBook Alert. We’re reaching out to the Oakland PD for comment.

Update: We received confirmation that Josh Kaufman did file a police report on March 31, 2011, and that a MacBook was listed as part of the loss in the burglary.

Hidden app snaps pics of alleged crook, Oakland PD slow to respond originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 31 May 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When the New York Times fired up its paywall in March of this year, the pricing plans for digital-only access seemed a bit steep. As Mel pointed out, the differential for NYC paper subscribers ($6.20/week for weekday papers only) versus all-you-can-read digital access (web, iPhone and iPad at $35/4 weeks) was only a couple of bucks. By comparison, today’s launch of the San Francisco Chronicle iPad app pegs monthly iPad access at only $5.99.

Fortunately for longtime NYTimes.com readers, there was an exception. About 200,000 heavy users of the site received special iPhone/web access offers courtesy of Lincoln, giving them free access to the iPhone app and the site through the rest of 2011. While this didn’t include content for the iPad app, it was certainly a great deal.

That was the lure, and here comes the line. Participants in the Lincoln-sponsored deal have been getting emails with an upsell offer, and it’s a doozy: $35 for full digital access (iPhone, web and iPad) through the rest of 2011. That’s about 1/8th the cost of a full digital subscription plan. Once signed up, you get the full paper on your iPad (including all your favorite columnists and New York stories) along with the iPhone and web versions. Watch out, though; the price goes back up to $8.75 a week at the end of the year.

It may be that the Times is trying to zero in on the optimal pricing arrangement for digital customers by bracketing at the high end and the low end, but regardless of the market rationale this is a pretty sweet deal — if you’re eligible.

NY Times offers discounted iPad access to select customers originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 31 May 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This device by computer maker ECS was seen on the floor of the Computex 2011 show earlier this week in Taiwan. It’s essentially a tablet that borrows all of its computing power from Apple’s iPhone 4, sending out HDMI video to a built-in 9.7″ display, and including a larger touchscreen, an SD card slot and two USB ports in the deal. There are all sorts of reasons why a product like this wouldn’t work that well (battery life, for one, and the idea that a blown-up Retina Display probably won’t look nearly as good), but ECS went ahead and ignored those and made this prototype anyway.

The most interesting thing about the device is that it’s supposed to work with multiple types of smartphones, including iPhones, Windows and Android phones, and possibly even future iOS releases, like the rumored iPhone 5. That’s interesting — if the device works as advertised, you could just buy one tablet, and then just plug in the phone with the OS of your choice.

That seems tough to do, but apparently ECS is aiming to do it. Word from Computex says the device should be commercially available (overseas, at least) later on this year for under US$200.

ECS prototype claims to turn your iPhone into a tablet originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 31 May 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mac Security Update 2011-003 has appeared in Software Update and is available for immediate download and installation.

According to KB article HT4657, the update provides a File Quarantine definition for the OSX.MacDefender.A malware and Mac OS X 10.6.7 will now automatically update the definitions on a daily basis.

The update will also search for and remove MacDefender and its known variants. If you prefer to defuse your malware manually, be sure to refer to our guide. The update will be available later directly from Apple Downloads, and we’ll update this post with a direct link at that time.

Mac Security Update 2011-003 now hunting MacDefender originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 31 May 2011 16:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The San Francisco Chronicle’s app is out today for the iPad. It joins the roster of major newspapers like the New York Times, Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today that have all added iPad editions in the last several months. Of that group, only the USA Today app does not charge non-subscribers (of the print editions) for access.

The Chronicle app is free for 30 days. Monthly subscriptions are US$5.99 and $59.99 annually. Current subscribers will get the iPad app for free. Unlike the ‘dead tree’ version, the app continually updates throughout the day and has features the regular print version can’t duplicate, like 360 degree panoramas, animations and very current weather and traffic information.

Subscriptions auto-renew unless you notify the Chronicle 24 hours before the subscription runs out. The digital edition does have ads. I took a brief look at the app and found it stable and easy to navigate. Checking the Chronicle website, I found that a paper subscription is $9.75 per week if you live in the Bay area, making the iPad edition a pretty good deal.

Many of the newspapers and magazines are charging as much or more for electronic editions than for paper ones, and it remains to be seen if that is a very good business plan.

The San Francisco Chronicle comes to the iPad originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 31 May 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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These days almost all forms are distributed online as PDFs. However, when you need to sign one, you normally need to print it and scan it back in for an email, or even worse, use a fax. Luckily, there are apps for that.

PDF Signer allows you to fill out and sign PDF forms. You can enter text in any pre-defined text boxes the form might have, but if the form isn’t that advanced, you can enter text in text boxes of your own creation anywhere on the PDF using the “Add Text” tool.

Once you’ve filled in all the relevant information, now comes the tricky bit — getting the form signed. Unfortunately, there is no direct signing support within PDF Signer. Instead you have to overlay an image file of your signature, which you’ve created elsewhere, on the form. Once you’ve selected the appropriate image, you can resize it to fit the box and save or print the PDF.

If you’ve got an image file of your signature handy, PDF signer makes short work of signing PDF forms. But given that you can enter text on PDFs using OS X’s Preview, I would have liked to see some sort of tablet or trackpad support for creating a signature, not just inserting an image overlay.

PDF Signer is available from the Mac App Store for $9.99.

TUAW’s Daily Mac App: PDF Signer originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 31 May 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aviators for the United States Marine Corps (USMC) in Afghanistan have ejected heavy stacks of paper charts and grid reference graphics from their cockpits and replaced them with the iPad according to a report by Tony Osborne for The Shephard Group. The popularity of the iPad among marine flight crews took off last November when one Cobra pilot figured out how to load digital maps onto the device.

In Afghanistan, identifying compounds and landmarks from the air can be difficult. To eliminate guesswork and better coordinate missions with international ground forces, USMC pilots arm themselves with a plethora of maps of the region. Prior to digitization, paper charts and grids would fill cramped cockpits and require additional training and attention to read correctly. The iPad saves space and allows pilots to search for locations with a few quick taps of their fingers, making it significantly easier for aviators to identify compounds and quickly offer air support.

“It’s a game changer,” Capt. John Belsha told The Shephard Group. “It’s all about sharing situational awareness and using the iPad is much better than using a paper chart.”

Work is reportedly underway to integrate the iPad into aircraft in the US to allow Marine aviators to receive flight training with digital maps.

USMC pilots aren’t the only group embracing iPads in the cockpit. Earlier this month, Alaska Airlines announced plans to replace various flight, systems, and performance manuals (and eventually paper aeronautical charts) with digital copies on the iPad. Apple’s tablet would eliminate up to 50 pounds of paper that its pilots must lug onto every flight.

Marine Corps aviators depend on iPad originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 31 May 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Trey Ratcliff of Stuck In Customs Media is one of those photographers who constantly amazes people with his photos, and then explains his skills with High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography and the artful application of filters and textures. Back in December, Stuck In Customs came out with a US$0.99 iPhone / iPod touch app ($2.99 for the iPad version) named 100 Cameras in 1 that uses a unique and easy-to-understand user interface to make your iPhone photos look great. Unfortunately for Trey, the app hit the App Store the same day as the highly-touted Camera+ debuted, so 100 Cameras was overlooked by many of us in the Apple media.

What I’m finding after using the app over the long US Memorial Day weekend is that 100 Cameras in 1 is going to allow me to delete a lot of other photography apps from my iPhone, and I’m going to start using the iPad version of the app to retouch photos that I upload from my digital camera.

In this short review, I’ll discuss both versions of the app, and how the combination of 100 effects and excellent integration with social networking sites makes 100 Cameras in 1 an app every iPhone and iPad-owning photographer should buy.

Continue reading 100 Cameras in 1: Amazing effects, incredible integration

100 Cameras in 1: Amazing effects, incredible integration originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 31 May 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Federal agencies are undergoing an internal upheaval that threatens RIM’s stranglehold on the government smartphone market. According to an article at the Washington Post, the Obama Administration is relaxing its rules on technology upgrades. Rather than old BlackBerry handsets, the modern government employee is rocking an iPhone and ditching his or her laptop for an iPad.

More often than not, workers use current generation iOS devices at home and despise having to step back in time when they enter the workplace. Rather than put his foot down and force workers to accept devices cherry picked by the government, federal CIO Vivek Kundra has decided to let people use any device they want. In exchange for this freedom, employees must adhere to strict security policies and, in the future, use private government sanctioned app stores.

This program is apparently working as iPad and iPhones are increasingly popular in the government sector. The ATF uses 50 iPads and may soon adopt 50 more. Both the State Department and Congress are slowly adopting iOS devices and using them on a daily basis. Even the VA is opening its doors to the iPad and iPhone as a way to attract new doctors.

[Via Barron’s]

Apple gains momentum in government, while BlackBerry stumbles originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 31 May 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In addition to the iCloud reveal, Apple announced today that iWork is now available for the iPhone and iPod touch. The cost remains the same — US$9.99 per app — and they’re a free update for anyone who already owns the iPad version of Keynote, Pages and Numbers.

We will be doing full reviews on how these apps work on the smaller iPhone format later this week.

iWork now available for iPhone, iPod touch originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 31 May 2011 12:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android, iOS and RIM’s BlackBerry OS are at a standstill in the smartphone market. Results from Nielsen’s May survey show that Android is holding steady at 37 percent market share, iOS at 27 percent and BlackBerry at 22 percent. Even among the smaller players, like Windows Phone and webOS, this stalemate situation holds true.

One thing that is going up is data usage, especially among Android users. On average, Android users download 582 MB of data per month. iOS users come in second with 492 MB of usage, and webOS is third with 448 MB per month. The bulk of this usage is app downloads followed by streaming online music and mobile radio. Wonder how these percentages will change once Apple unveils its new cloud services?

Report suggests Android’s lead over iOS has stopped growing originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 31 May 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple is eyeing Charlotte for its next retail store in North Carolina. Building permits and a job listing suggest the new store will move into space #280 in Charlotte’s Northlake Mall. This second level location is 16 miles from its existing store in the South Park Mall and about 30 miles from the new data center. When it opens, it will become Charlotte’s second and North Carolina’s fifth store.

New Apple store to open near North Carolina data center originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 31 May 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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