Category: I-phone

Here’s something worthwhile for small businesses to consider. Parallels is offering a Mac mini edition of its Server for Mac 4.0. It might be just the thing for a business or end user that wants to consolidate a few servers on one low cost piece of hardware. The software allows a user to run Mac, Windows or Linux applications on a Mac mini, or run up to two virtual machines on one mini.

The software comes with what Parallels calls ‘one-click’ tools to optimize Windows and Linux virtual machines, and the server software can be updated automatically. You can get a PDF data sheet here.

The software is available as an electronic download for US$299, and a back-up install disc is available for an additional $14.95. That might seem pricey, but when you consider all of the software that Parallels Server lets you run and play with on just a Mac mini, it’s actually rather comparatively cheap.

Parallels pairs Server app with Mac mini originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 11 May 2011 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A while ago we were sent a couple of Joystick-IT “thumb sticks” from ThinkGeek (note: ThinkGeek uses all caps for the product name — I respectfully decline to shout at readers throughout this post, and I consider this an increasingly annoying practice by marketers). Designed to give an old analog joystick feel to your iPad, the Joystick-IT sticks are little metal joysticks with conductive pads on the bottom coupled with a suction cup so that they can stick to your iPad, provide some “bounce” (with the conductive sponge) and control a game by using your fingers or thumbs. Read on for a quick review of how these work in real life and whether they are worth the US$24.99 price ($39.99 if you buy two at once).

Design

Well, I have to say these are cleverly designed. As you can see in the gallery, they provide a bit of spring from the spongy parts, and under the spongy parts is a conductive mesh to relay your controls to the screen. The metal on the sticks (necessary for these to work) feels solid and sturdy, not like a cheap plastic toy. The suction cup is necessary for sticking the thing onto the screen of your iPad, and comes off easily but not so easily it’ll pop off during gameplay.

Still, the suction cups look like they’ll eventually snap off as they are connected by a very small diameter of rubber to the stick itself. By “snap off” I mean they look like they’ll break. They definitely popped off the screen without too much pressure. Plus, while the metal is necessary, I am a little concerned about damaging my screen should I push down too hard.

Continue reading Thumbs-on review of ThinkGeek’s JOYSTICK-IT for iPad

Thumbs-on review of ThinkGeek’s JOYSTICK-IT for iPad originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 11 May 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Welcome back to another episode of TUAW TV “Not So Live.” Yes, I’m still out of town, but I was able to put together a festival of unboxing for your viewing pleasure.

On today’s show, you’ll see the beautiful and unique Blackbox Case from Golden, Colorado, the Scosche switchBACK surge g4 (the caps and italics are from the manufacturer) battery case for iPhone 4, the Samson Meteor Mic and a feast of goodies from accessory manufacturer Moshi.

You won’t need to jump over to Ustream to watch today’s show. Instead, just click the read more link at the bottom of this post to see the video in all of its HD glory, or visit YouTube for more viewing options. If you need a chat with the rest of the TUAW TV Live regulars to make it through the week, why not scoot on over to the TUAW TV Live Facebook page and see what’s going on. You can also subscribe to the video podcast to watch this and other episodes at your leisure.

Many thanks to Uri Kelman for creating the temporary logo for the show!

Continue reading TUAW TV “Not So Live”: Unboxing fest 2011

TUAW TV “Not So Live”: Unboxing fest 2011 originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 11 May 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple released iOS 4.2.2 for the Apple TV 2 just a few minutes ago, but it’s unknown what changes were made to the software yet. You can download the firmware directly here. We will update the post once a list of changes is known.

Update: The support document has been released, and the update covers several minor bug fixes.

[Via MacStories]

iOS 4.2.2 released for Apple TV 2 originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 11 May 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Augmented reality may be taking the next giant step forward with CrowdOptic, an app that will provide a graphic data overlay for live events. If you are at a concert (with the system in place), point the app at the stage and you’ll get details like those in the picture above. Point it at a player in a sporting event, and real-time statistics about the player and the play will be displayed. In fact, point it at anything at a live event and take a picture; the details and context will be saved and can be shared through social networking sites.

Once the CrowdOptic system is installed at a concert or sports venue, the magic happens through triangulation. At least two people need to be pointing their iPhones at the same thing, at the same time, and the GPS location, compass direction and time of day will be used to figure out the most likely image being viewed and display information on exactly that. The accuracy is dependent upon how many people are looking at the same thing.

CrowdOptic has raised US$1 million to build the business and negotiate deals with professional sports and premier event concerns. Apps similar to this that work by focusing on static objects are in development, but according to CEO Jon Fisher, as reported to vatornews, “No technology can affect the pictures of these moving objects until now.”

As noted by Fast Company, CrowdOptic is aiming at concert, sporting and other live event promoters and advertisers who will pay dearly to display real-time information. CrowdOptic has already made a deal with a major (but undisclosed) sports management agency to use its services. Another deal was struck with Moon Express, a privately funded lunar transportation company which used it to track and tag altitude information for the April 9th launch of the Eureka Airship, proving that any moving object can be tracked. CrowdOptic intends to beta test the app at the Women’s Tennis Association Tournament this summer.

The service is being targeted as providing profitable analytics to promoters and marketers. CrowdOptic boasts that through tagging and photo-sharing pictures with hidden metadata embedded in each shot, campaigns originating with fans can provide a “social graph” of live events and how they went viral. Venues can display ticket discounts, along with merchandise and concession promotions. Sponsors can also display offers, such as free trials and test drives.

This seems like a win-win for everyone involved. It’s reasonable to assume the CrowdOptic app will be free to users, with the venues or organizers footing the bill. This looks like it will offer a valuable service for the user while harvesting useful and profitable data to the paying concerns. Keep your eye on this one.

[via IBM A Smarter Planet]

CrowdOptic could raise the bar for augmented reality apps originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 11 May 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ever wanted to leave your Mac running unattended at night, but don’t want it running all night long? Today’s Daily Mac App will help you do just that.

Shuttie allows you to bind one of six actions to a countdown timer, allowing you to shutdown, restart, sleep or logout of your Mac, or fire off an AppleScript or an alert. You select the action you want, the countdown time and hit the activate button. Shuttie will provide periodic Growl notifications as it counts down to zero, as well as a timer on its dock icon, and then it will initiate whichever activity you’ve got selected. Loading an AppleScript is a drag-and-drop affair while your desired alert text is entered into a text box.

Sure, there are other ways of doing this kind of thing, but Shuttie is a good way to set up these tasks to be performed remotely. It’s US$1.99 in the Mac App Store.

TUAW’s Daily Mac App: Shuttie originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 11 May 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A new study released by the NPD Group on Tuesday suggests a recent decline in personal computer shipments can’t be blamed on the iPad. NPD’s results contradict conventional wisdom, which assumed shiny new gadgets like Apple’s iPad were eroding the PC market.

According to NPD’s figures, a significant majority of iPad owners never had plans to buy a PC. Only 14 percent of the study’s “early adopters,” or customers who bought the iPad more than six months ago, chose the Apple tablet instead of a personal computer. For the 2010 holiday quarter, just 12 percent of the surveyed iPad owners ditched intentions to buy a PC. According to Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD, the iPad’s cannibalization of the computer market continues to drop.

Last month, reports from Gartner Inc. and International Data Corp. (IDC) revealed the first decline in PC sales in six quarters. Many analysts leaped to the conclusion that Apple’s iPad was chewing into the PC market.

Contrary to this popular belief, NPD’s report suggests the iPad is simply adding billions of dollars in additional revenue for the technology sector. More than 75 percent of iPad owners told NPD they bought the device with no intention of buying anything else, dispelling the myth that Apple’s tablet is significantly disrupting other technology markets. Instead, NPD suggests the PC market is seeing a cooling trend following a surge of sales related to the introduction of affordable netbooks and the release of Windows 7.

“The conventional wisdom that says tablet sales are eating into low-priced notebooks is most assuredly incorrect,” says Baker. “The explosion of computer sales when Windows 7 launched, as well as the huge increase in netbook sales at that time, are much more to blame for weak consumer PC sales growth than the iPad.”

Don’t blame iPad for PC sales stagnation, says NPD originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 11 May 2011 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mike Zonrek reports that Apple has suddenly removed iAds from kid-focused applications in the App Store. Zonrek is the developer behind Dex, a Pokémon-browser that has been downloaded over 500,000 times and is a favorite among kids who are into Pokemon.

Zonrek uses a combination of iAds, AdMob and in-app purchases to generate revenue from his app. Late last week, Zonrek noticed his iAd fill rate had fallen from 16.5 percent to zero. Concerned by the drop, he fired off an email to Apple to find out what happened. Apple responded with the following statement:

We periodically review the apps in the iAd Network to ensure that all apps receiving ads are aligned with the needs of our advertisers. Currently, our advertisers prefer that their advertising not appear in applications that are targeted for users that are young children, since their products are not targeted at that audience.

Zonrek was surprised by this response as this policy change is not mentioned in Apple’s iAd or developer documentation. Such a modification would not be surprising as Apple has taken some heat for accidental in-app purchases by children. Advertisers and Apple alike may be treading carefully when the interests of children are involved.

[Via MacStories]

Apple pulls iAds from apps for kids originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 11 May 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The 64 GB Wi-Fi + 3G model is the most popular iPad 2 model according to market research firm Context. The top-of-the-line model accounted for a third of all iPad 2 sales in Western Europe. The runner-up in this sales race is the entry-level 16 GB Wi-Fi only model, which grabbed 22 percent of all iPad 2 sales. Combined, these two models account for more than half of all iPad 2 sales in the region.

Overall, Apple was, once again, the dominant tablet with 80 percent market share in the opening quarter of 2011. Context mobile computing analyst, Salman Chaudhry predicts the iPad will remain #1 in Western Europe, but will face increasing competition from Android tablets. The Android effect is already taking its toll on iPad sales — according to Context, Apple’s tablet dropped five percentage points from Q4 2010 to Q1 2011.

[Via GigaOM]

Report suggests 64 GB, 3G iPad is top seller originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 11 May 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Safari Books Online (SBO) has announced the availability of Safari To Go, its second-generation iPad app (first launched in November 2010) that offers access to SBO’s extensive library of books and videos. This free application lets users mark favorites, save books for offline reading, search by topic and more.

Speaking of SBO’s library, it’s extensive. You’ll find thousands of books and videos from over 40 publishers, like Apress, Cisco Press, FT Press* and O’Reilly. Most titles focus on technology as well as professional development and working with digital media.

Note that the app will perform best on a Wi-Fi network. The developers note that a future update will increase 3G support.

The app is free and available now. E-book junkies with a technology bent will want to add this one to their lineup.

*Full disclosure: I have a book available from Safari Books Online via FT Press.

Safari Books Online takes Safari to Go to the iPad originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 11 May 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Has the iPhone become…blasé?

Recently, I was at the check out at my local supermarket, watching the guy in front of me enter things into his iPhone. “Hey, whatcha doing with the iPhone?” I ask. Turns out he was checking his balance before deciding which debit card to use to pay.

The iPhone has long since passed parents recording videos at school concerts. During a recent trip home, I saw any number of people used their iPhones with boarding pass scanners, checking connections, finding gates and so on. These things that used to be stand out are now ordinary occurrences.

Has the revolutionary become the norm? This morning, as we’re sitting in the TUAW situation room and chatting about the iPhone in real life, we decided to throw this question to our readers: What iPhone uses have surprised, delighted or just plain excited you recently? Are there ways you’ve seen the iPhone being used that have startled you, that took you out of the moment and convinced you that there’s some new app you must buy or some new approach you can’t ignore?

Let us know in the comments. We can’t wait to hear what secret gems you’ve uncovered.

Re-discovering the iPhone magic in real life originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 11 May 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple is facing another lawsuit over its handling of location data, according to a report from The Loop. The latest complaint was filed by Lymaris M. Rivera Diaz in the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.

Rivera is asking for monetary damages stemming from Apple’s alleged practice of capturing both the device ID and location of a handset and sending it to third-party advertisers. Besides Apple, Diaz also cites The Weather Channel and Pandora in the suit.

The suit also names 10 ‘John Doe’ defendants. This tactic is used in lawsuits when the plaintiff believes there are more targets to sue, but can’t name them specifically until after the suit is filed or after the discovery process. This means there could easily be additional companies targeted by the same suit later on.

Apple is also facing an earlier lawsuit and a congressional investigation into its usage of location data stored on the iPhone. Apple confirmed in an FAQ and testified before Congress that location data is necessary for services such as local search and is not being used to track individuals.

Apple sued again over location data originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 11 May 2011 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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An original Apple-1 sprung back to life during a presentation at the Polytechnic University of Turin in Italy this week. Hand-built by a then young Steve Wozniak, the vintage computer was purchased by Mark Bogle for US$211,000 as part of a high-profile Christie’s auction. Despite its age of 35 years, the computer booted smoothly with the help of an oscilloscope to check the wave function of the clock, an NTSC monitor to display text and a MacBook Pro to send a simple BASIC program to the Apple-1’s BASIC interpreter. Much to the amusement of the crowd, the Apple-1 displayed the words Hello Polito, a charming reference to the Polytechnic University.

[Via Engadget]

Vintage Apple-1 up and running originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 11 May 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen a bevy of vintage photography apps. Hipstamatic might be the most popular, though Instagram has a solid group of users as well. But, Super 8 brings a new idea to the party: vintage videos [Of course this isn’t really “new” as apps like 8mm and Silent Film Director perform a similar function – Ed.]. Just like Hipstamatic, Super 8 will capture media from your iPhone that looks like it was photographed with an old camera. But instead of still pictures, you’ll get old film-style videos. Just like the other vintage apps, there’s a cool UI and plenty of extras to play with, including adding film scratches, titles and editing film clips on your iPhone.

When your films are done, you can email them or save them to a computer with iTunes. It’s very well done — the app is actually put together by Paramount as a promotion for the upcoming JJ Abrams movie, but it’s still very well done by marketing firm QMX Interactive and offers a lot of functionality to play with.

Plus, for now, the app is a free download, so you can check it out without paying a thing. Very cool idea.

TUAW’s Daily iOS App: Super 8 originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 11 May 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I’m a big fan of Pomplamoose, the fun indie duo of musicians Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn that often posts song covers on YouTube, and I was happy to see that their latest cover is directly iPhone-related. They’re apparently big fans of Angry Birds, and they’ve put together a “videosong” cover of the popular smartphone game’s theme song. The cynical among you may be inspired to try and fight the cheer in the video on the next page (especially since the video seems to be promoted by some Samsung smartphone), but let’s keep that to a minimum, shall we? It’s cute.

This definitely isn’t my favorite Pomplamoose song, though. If you want to hear these guys doing something a little more original (and frankly, subtle), check out their great songs Centrifuge and Always in the Season. They’re not theme songs to popular iOS games, obviously, but they are great tunes nevertheless.

Continue reading Pomplamoose covers the Angry Birds theme

Pomplamoose covers the Angry Birds theme originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 11 May 2011 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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