Category: I-phone

In the wake of our grand unveiling of iPad.AppStorm, we’re also shuffling some other things around here to keep the content dynamic. Among these adjustments is the fact that this Game Friday column will now move to a bi-weekly schedule to make room for some more in-depth reviews. So keep an eye out for those, but don’t be dismayed: this new schedule also means we can bring you only the cream of the crop every other Friday, so it’s a win-win scenario.

In the meantime, you’re encouraged to keep sending us email tips and feedback; we love getting them and hope you continue to enjoy Game Fridays! Now with all that out of the way, let’s dive into this week’s selection…

Atari Greatest Hits

Atari’s Greatest Hits

Perhaps the biggest splash on the App Store this week was make by veteran giant, Atari, who has finally come to the iOS platform — and brought 100 of its greatest hits with them!

This collection of games obviously offers a lot of value. Pong comes for free, and you can purchase games within the app in “packs” for $0.99 each, or just buy the full 100 titles for $14.99. Regardless of your choice, you’re looking at hours of nostalgic entertainment. What makes this refresh particularly exciting is the inclusion of Bluetooth multiplayer capabilities for several of the titles (Sky Diver, Tempest, Canyon Bomber, Warlords, etc.)

Unfortunately, the controls have not made the transition with perfect grace for all of the titles, and in some cases the smaller screens make for a frustrating additional layer of challenge. Nevertheless, this is clearly an important gesture and updates will no doubt follow to clean up some of the lingering issues. Besides, what Atari fan can pass up the opportunity to carry an entire arcade in their pocket?

Price: Free
Developer: Atari
Download: App Store

Birzzle

Birzzle

Okay, so we have Angry Birds homages and we have Bejeweled copies, so I guess it was really only a matter of time until someone brought the two together. Luckily, Enfeel Inc. did a fantastic job melding these two inspirations to produce Birzzle: an extremely addictive, beautifully produced, and appealing puzzle game.

As you would expect, the goal is to group like-coloured birds together in the largest possible groups in order to cause them to explode and clear the way. More birds keep falling from the top kind of like in Tetris, and you can move birds around and stack them strategically to prepare combos. There’s an interesting system that turns large groups of birds into “power” birds that explode in more interesting ways, and you’ll eventually encounter items, locked birds and more.

There’s a lot to love in Birzzle, but the most obvious recommendation we can give is simply that it does a great job of capturing and keeping your attention.

Price: $0.99
Developer: Enfeel Inc.
Download: App Store

Spazcon

Spazcon

We all know how much of a struggle it can be to get to the top, so it’s easy to sympathize with Barry, the data entry clerk you play as in Spazcon. Barry’s goal is to become president of the company, and apparently at Spazcon they take the “climbing up” analogy to heart, because in order to reach his goal, Barry must bounce his way up to the top floor of the building.

In each level, there are a number of coffee mugs that you must collect to unlock the next level, and once you have them all, you must make your way to the elevator to progress. This is achieved by drawing lines beneath Barry to help direct him. It all works pretty well, and despite being a little on the easy side as you get started, the delicious retro art and music make it a fun ride.

Keep an eye out for achievements and bonus levels as you go, and expect more levels to appear in this simple title in future updates.

Price: $0.99
Developer: TouchTilt Games
Download: App Store

Mos Speedrun

Mos Speedrun

Still in the retro realm, Physmo gives us an amazing little game called Mos Speedrun. Everything from the glorious chiptunes to the mock-curved edges of the screen make for a thoroughly convincing old-school feeling.

Thankfully, the gameplay supports this production polish, and using either control mode feels comfortable and responsive with a little practice. As you make your way through the side-scrolling levels collecting coins, you’ll find yourself encountering zombies, bees, and other nasties. You’ll also probably die a lot, but it’s not discouraging — especially since the game features a playthrough ghost that can help you avoid making the same mistakes twice.

With the added (and VERY clever, by the way) idea of having secret levels that are accessible by opening the game via QR codes on certain websites, you’ll find yourself engrossed in this game in no time. I know I did.

Price: $1.99
Developer: Physmo
Download: App Store

Cover Orange

Cover Orange

Our last pick of the week is actually not new, but its consistent updates, great design, and fun gameplay make it worth mentioning — especially since it may have flown under your radar.

From the same folks who brought us Beyond Ynth (which we’ve covered previously), comes Cover Orange. In short, your goal is to protect the oranges in each level from the malevolent clouds that pass overhead. In each level, you must arrange the given materials in such a way as to build some sort of roof over the heads of the oranges. If you’re successful, you move on to the next of the game’s 180 levels.

Support for this game has been admirable, with monthly level updates, new Game Center achievements, and more. It’s little wonder that it’s been downloaded more than 2 million times. That many people can’t be too far wrong.

Price: $0.99
Developer: FDG Entertainment
Download: App Store

What Have You Been Playing?

We hope you enjoy this week’s titles. Tell us what’s been keeping your attention in the comments, and we’ll see you back here in two weeks time with the next collection!

In this Quick Look, we’re highlighting Sticky Notes Pro. The developer describes Sticky Notes Pro as a popular, versatile Sticky Note iPhone App. With dozens of styles, thousands of backgrounds, alarms, Bump Note Sharing, and many more features.

Read on for more information and screenshots!

Screenshots

Sticky Notes Pro

About the App

Here are the top five features you can expect to see in the latest version:

• Unlock Emoji
• Bump Technology note sharing.
• 8,000+ Wallpapers.
• Alarm note reminders.
• Categories

Requirements: iOS 3.0 and Later
Price: $0.99
Developer: TapFactory LLC

Vote for a Review

Would you like to see us write a full review of Sticky Notes Pro? Have your say in our poll:

Would you like to see Sticky Notes Pro reviewed in-depth on AppStorm?survey software

Quick Look posts are paid submissions offering only a brief overview of an app. Vote in the poll if you think this app is worth an in-depth AppStorm review! If you’re a developer and would like to have your app profiled, you can submit it here.

There was a time back in primary school when my class had a math lesson that involved sticking to a budget as we went around the classroom ‘buying’ things with money that distinctively resembled Disney Dollars. That was the first and last time that I can remember finding the task of sticking to a budget and tracking expenses as being fun. That was until I came across the app, Toshl.

No longer will you need to hastily scribble your expenses on a crumpled piece of paper or try to mentally calculate how much of your holiday spending budget you have blown on drinks and tacky souvenirs. A few taps in the Toshl app and all will become clear, complete with a few nifty graphs thrown in for good measure. Whether you want to keep track of all your expenses or just a one off budget, such as your Christmas shopping, Toshl can be a real life (and hair) saver. Let’s take a look at Toshl’s main features, functionality and performance.

Getting Started

Toshl is a free app that allows you to track your expenses and analyze your spending habits from the comfort of your phone. Downloading Toshl and registering is as easy as possible. Entering your email address, a password and selecting your currency are the only steps needed before you can start using the app.

Once you are registered you will find four categories at the bottom of the screen: expenses, tags, budget and more. You will also be prompted by a friendly, one-eyed monster to create your first expense. In fact, whether you start by entering your expenses, creating a budget or organizing your tags doesn’t make too much difference, especially as it is so straightforward and easy to edit each one at a later time.

Toshl Registration and Currency Selection

Entering Expenses

To enter an expense, you tap the plus icon from the top right corner of the screen. This brings up a new expense form where you enter the amount spent, add tags and adjust the date (if needed). You can also add a description and make the expense a repeating one. Tagging your expense is required but once you start entering tags into Toshl, they are saved for you to select on later expenses. You can also organize your tags under the tag tab. Deleting and editing an expense is equally as simple. Selecting the expense allows you to delete it straight away or use the edit icon at the top right to make any adjustments.

Entering Your Expense: Amount, Tags and Date

Creating a Budget

Creating a budget is done in almost the same way as an entering an expense is. The plus icon on the top right corner of the budget screen brings up a new budget form. The budget form allows you to enter a title, budget amount and a start date. There are two further options, the budget type (one-time, daily, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly) and deciding what the budget is for (all expenses or specific tags). However, the amount of choice you have on these last two options will depend on if you have a free or pro account. Deleting and editing a budget works exactly like expenses. Just select the budget and either delete it straight away or edit it via the icon at the top right.

Budget Overview and Creating a New Budget

The Web Element

Utilizing the web version of Toshl isn’t necessary but it can provide a more visual insight into your expenses and spending habits. Logging into Toshl.com is done using your email address and password that you set-up when you first started using the Toshl app. Your data is automatically saved to the cloud every time you load the Toshl app (you can adjust this to WiFi and/or mobile only connection) or when you manually force data to the cloud. So your budgets, expenses and tags all show up in the web version automatically.

On the web you can see your expenses, your budget(s) and all the tags that you have entered so far, with a breakdown of how much has been spent per tag. Pro account users can also add and edit expenses online.

Analyzing Where Your Money Went

On the Toshl app itself, you can see a running total of how much you have spent over a period of time. The default setting is 30 days, meaning you see your spending for the last 30 days and also for the previous 30 days. There is the possibility to change this in order to see your spending for a certain month or for ‘all time’. You can also see how much money you have spent per tag. Lastly, you can view your budgets and see how much you have spent and how much is remaining.

You can find the same information on the Toshl.com site. The only difference is that there, depending on your account type, you may be able to see the information broken down into different additional graphs.

Total Money Spent and Budget Details

Security

Finances and the internet when combined always seem to get people on their guard and understandably so. Even though the details that you are entering are in no way connected to your actual financial accounts, Toshl has thought of this and taken it on board. They promise never to give away your information and SSL encryption is used on both free and pro accounts.

Pricing

To use Toshl in its basic form is free. This does limit you to only one budget and the ability to export data only in text (.csv) form but a free account still allows you to save to the cloud and utilize the basic graphs. For $19.95 a year, you can go pro, giving you access to:

• multiple budgets
• budgets for specific tags
• exporting to Excel, PDF and Google Docs, in addition to text
• exporting data for specific months or tags
• automated email reports
• searching your expenses
• advanced graphs

There is a no questions asked money back, 30 day guarantee on going pro. So you can always try it and change your mind later.

Going Pro and the More Tab

Conclusion

Toshl is an easy-to-use, useful and attractively-designed app for keeping track of how much you have spent, where and when. It’s simple; simple in the way that has you using it straight away versus the simple that has you looking for another app to pick up the slack.

The single budget limitation of the free account is a key reason for upgrading to pro status. One budget, in addition to not being all that useful, also limits the ability to evaluate how well the app could work for your circumstances. However, for only $19.95 a year, it is unlikely that going pro before you have the app all figured out is going to break your newly created budget.

It would be great to see Toshl put a little more emphasis into the “money saved” aspect of budget keeping. A graph showing a build-up of the unused money from closed budgets, for example. Toshl could also benefit from the ability to deselect expenses without deleting them, to allow the user the ability to plan and negotiate their spending: an “if I don’t buy this DVD I can afford the magazine and 14 chocolate bars” approach. Nonetheless, Toshl’s interactive graphs and appealing design make expenses and budgets a more positive experience and perhaps even a bit fun (gasp!).

Today I’m going to show you how to make a static library for iOS. We will make a simple library and use it in a separate project.

What’s a static library

Here is what wiki has to say:

In computer science, a static library or statically-linked library is a set of routines, external functions and variables which are resolved in a caller at compile-time and copied into a target application by a compiler, linker, or binder, producing an object file and a stand-alone executable. This executable and the process of compiling it are both known as a static build of the program. Historically, libraries could only be static.

On the iPhone, static libraries have a .a extention and can only contain code. This means that any resources (xibs, images, etc…) must be packed either in a bundle or shipped separately than the library. We won’t go into this part today.

Why Use Static Libraries

There are a number of reasons to use static libraries, but the main two are distribution to others without revealing source code, and code reuse across projects.

1. Distribution:

Say you have a great idea for a view that given a few images, creates a beautiful photo mosaic. Now, others might want to use your awesome mosaic class as part of their fart-light (fart machine flashlight) app to make mosaic fart-lights from your photo library. You have done a ton of work to make your mosaic app and don’t want to just give away the code. $$$ you decide to sell your code. However, would-be thieves might not honor your awesome license and begin to redistribute the code as if it were their own (oh noooz). Boom static library.

Bundle up your code into a static library and package it with the header files. Now others can purchase your library, use it in their own apps to make fart mosaics without revealing the source and you can continue to sell copy after copy.

2. Code reuse:

So, you have like 30 apps in the store that do just about nothing. However they all have some common code, say a farting engine. Rather than dragging all of the source files in and having redundant code all over the place, you can just compile your fart engine once and use the library in all of your projects.

Where Can I Get Me One Of These?

Well, let’s dig in and create a sample static library. The project we are going to create is code-only (remember we are not going over resources in this tutorial) and will be a simple math library with two methods exposed. It will be able to compute fibonacci numbers given number n and compute a factorial value given number n (I know, pretty dang exciting).

Step 1: Starting a New Static Library Project

This is pretty straight forward as Apple has made it pretty simple to create a static library.

Open XCode and start a new project. Under iOS, select Library and “Cocoa Touch Static Library”. We are going to name ours ICodeMathUtils. This will create a nice new project for us that builds a .a file.

One thing to note is, NO class files get created by default. Don’t freak out, we will create some manually.

Step 2: Code your static library

First we need to add some files. Add a new NSObject subclass to your project and name it MathFunctions.m.

Add this code to the header file:

#import 
 
@interface MathFunctions : NSObject {
}
 
- (NSArray *) fibonacci:(NSInteger) n;
- (NSInteger) factorial:(NSInteger) n;
 
@end

Nothing fancy, just our method declarations. When we distribute the library file, this header file MUST be included as well.

One thing I should point out here is don’t make every iVar public! As a newer developer (or a stubborn lazy one: Im looking at you @cruffenach), you might think it’s cool to make a public property out of EVERYTHING. This is bad form and here is where it will bite you. You don’t want the external world being able to muck with things that you don’t want them to.

And Now the .m file for the implementation:

#import "MathFunctions.h"
 
@implementation MathFunctions
 
- (NSArray *) fibonacci:(NSInteger) n {
 
	NSMutableArray *fib = [NSMutableArray array];
 
	int a = 0;
	int b = 1;
	int sum;
	int i;
 
	for (i=0;i < n;i++)
	{
		[fib addObject:[NSNumber numberWithInt:a]];
		sum = a + b;
		a = b;
		b = sum;
	}
 
	return (NSArray *) fib;
}
 
- (NSInteger) factorial:(NSInteger) n {
	if ( n <= 1 )
		return 1;
	else
		return n * [self factorial:( n-1 )];
}
@end

This code should be very familiar to any CS 101 student : ). And that’s it for our static library. The best way to test this puppy out before distributing is to create a new unit test target, set up some unit tests, and check it out that way. That tutorial is for another day.

Building And Distributing Your Library

Once you are happy with your library, simply build it in XCode. Obviously, don’t do build and run as you can’t run it (again unless you have a test suite). Now, look under the Products group in XCode and you should see a file called lib(libraryName).a. In our case, it’s libICodeMathUtils.a.

Right click on that file and select “Reveal In Finder”. Drag this file into a new folder that you create where you will be bundling all of your library files. I just created a folder on my desktop named iCodeBlogsMathLibrary. Now, do the same with all of the .h files. In our case, just copy MathFunctions.h into this new directory. Your directory structure should now look like:

iCodeBlogsMathLibarby
|- libICodeMathUtils.a
|- MathFunctions.h

Now you can zip this folder and sell it to would-be iOS developers for millions!

Linking Your Library In A New Project

So now that you have built your shiny new static library, it’s time to test it out in another application. XCode has a number of ways to actually achieve this, but I will show the most simple and Mac-like… drag and drop : ).

Create a new View-Based project (or whatever it doesn’t really matter). I named mine MathTest.

Now, just drag this folder into the project and XCode will set up all of the linking automagically. When prompted to copy, I usually say yes, but you can do whatever you want depending on how you intend on using the library. Sometimes just linking and not copying is far more beneficial if you have multiple projects sharing a single library. It ensures that they all use the most up to date version.

You should now see the .a file along with the header files in the new project.

Using The Static Library Code

Now that all of the linking is set up, you just use your library like any other class. In the App Delegate class of my test project, I simple did this:

// Import at the top
#import "MathFunctions.h"

And in the applicationDidFinishLaunchingMethod…

MathFunctions *mFunctions = [[[MathFunctions alloc] init] autorelease];
NSLog(@"fibonacci for 10 = %@", [mFunctions fibonacci:10]);
NSLog(@"10! = %d",[mFunctions factorial:10]);

This of course prints out:

2011-04-07 11:48:49.528 MathTest[854:607] fibonacci for 10 = (
    0,
    1,
    1,
    2,
    3,
    5,
    8,
    13,
    21,
    34
)
2011-04-07 11:48:49.533 MathTest[854:607] 10! = 3628800

And there it is! Static library code being executed in a totally separate project.

Conclusion

Like I said earlier, static libraries can be quite helpful in your iPhone development endeavors. I feel that they are quite underused, but could really save time and money in the long run.

You can download the source code here.

As always, if you have any questions please feel free to leave them in the comments OR write me on Twitter.

Happy iCoding!

This is the “BrowserApp” example. I am going to show you the simplest way to open the browser, from this app you can open any site. Suppose you want to open google.com just type the url and click the submit button.

Step 1: Open the Xcode and create a new Xcode project using View base application template. Give the application name “BrowserApp”. As shown in the figure below:

Step 2: Expand classes and notice Interface Builder created the BrowserAppViewController.h and BrowserAppViewController.m class for you. Expand Resources and notice the template generated a separate nib, BrowserAppViewController.xib.

Step 3: Open the BrowserAppViewController.h file and we have to add IBOutlet UITextField *textdata; To display the textfield, mention two IBAction. To perform the given action make the following changes in the file.

Step 4: Double click the BrowserAppViewController.xib file and after that make the following changes.
A) Open the view window, first drag the Round Rect Button from the library and place it to the view window and select the button.

B) Open the view window, and drag the TextField from the library and place it to the view window.

Step 5: Open the BrowserAppViewController.m file and make the following changes in the file.

Step 6: Now build and run the code and View the Output in the Simulator.

You can download source code from here BrowserApp

Google is reportedly working on a facial recognition app that would let you snap a photo of someone with your iPhone or other smartphone and identify them — including their name, phone number, email address and other personal information. While Google says they will not debut a facial recognition app until acceptable privacy controls are in place, the technology is cause for concern nevertheless.

Google says it will require users to opt in before their photos can be identified by the facial recognition app, but can we trust the search engine giant to protect our privacy? Not according to Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr., who warns that our privacy rights “are being Facebooked, spammed and texted down to nothing.”

… in the face of concerns about intrusion, security and privacy, Google says, in effect: Trust us. Which raises an obvious question: Why? – Leonard Pitts, Jr. in Privacy: There’s no app for that

I, too, worry about the privacy issues that an iPhone facial recognition app would pose. Do we want to live in a world where there is no longer a need to introduce ourselves, because the people we encounter have already identified us with a smartphone app?

The advent of iPhone facial recognition technology may be closer than we think. Apple’s iPhoto already has a Faces feature that is fairly skilled at identifying friends in your photo albums, and the App Store has several iPhone apps with rudimentary facial recognition capabilities.

What do you think? Would an iPhone facial recognition app creep you out? Or is this a useful application of technology? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments.

iPhone Facial Recognition App: Would You Opt In? is a post from Apple iPhone Review.

You Might Also Like…

1. Will iPhone Get a Stylus? Apple Patents “Digital Ink Recognition”
2. iGorilla App is Good Model for Donation-Based Non-Profits [App Review]
3. 3 Ways the Nook iPhone App Will Beat the Kindle iPhone App

Here’s some good news for your Friday: The newest version of the classic trivia video game You Don’t Know Jack is coming to iOS. Cookie and the gang, Question Four (the question that cares), and all the rest will be on Apple’s handheld platforms sometime in the future, so you’ll be able to do some Dis or Dat, screw other players, and hit up the Jack Attack all while out and about. There’s no word on if the game supports multiplayer or not (sure it’d be tough to do without an honor system, but it’s YDKJ!), but it will have Game Center, and apparently it will have 20 full episodes to play through as well.

Great to hear. You Don’t Know Jack is definitely a classic, and it’ll be nice to have it in the more and more definitive iOS library. We’ll keep an eye out for the game and let you know when it’s released.

You Don’t Know Jack coming to iOS originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

According to a survey done by Google’s AdMob, games are the number one use of most tablet computers out there, including Apple’s own iPad and iPad 2. As you can see from the chart above, 84% of tablet owners play games on their devices, a use that’s apparently ahead of even email checking, search, or newsreading and social networking. That’s interesting — when the iPad was first introduced, Steve sat on a couch and read email and news, but it turns out that once you get these things in people’s hands, the number one thing they’re doing is playing games.

Just like the iPhone, playing games are a big deal on these mobile devices, and they’re also a big way Apple has been able to sell both apps and hardware.

Additionally, 38% of respondents say they use their tablets more than two hours a day, and 82% have been using their tablets at home. Anecdotally, I’ll guess that these are still supplementary devices, though — people are using their tablets while watching TV or otherwise engaging rather than using them directly. Only 28% of respondents say the tablet is their primary computer, but 43% say they do use the tablet more than a traditional PC. Interesting to see how usage patterns on tablets are really inserting themselves into an everyday work flow.

Survey: Games top usage on tablets, too originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

The latest version of iBooks (or possibly one of the previous versions — we’re not sure when this change went in) includes a helpful little update in it: iBooks now recognizes EPUB files, which means it can open those files directly from anywhere on your iPhone, from your email to a DropBox folder or whatever you’ve got. That includes Mobile Safari as well — you can just tap a link to an eBook, and open it right up in iBooks.

Where, you might ask, can you find EPUB files? Lots of eBook retailers sell them directly, either in zipped copies or just as a file itself. Or, if you head over to the official format site, you can find a whole list of classic titles all ready to read in EPUB format. And Project Gutenberg also offers most of its titles in EPUB format, so you can grab them from there as well.

[via MacStories]

Tip: iBooks can open EPUB books directly originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

I’ve commented that news reading apps for iOS are surging, especially, it seems, as more big news brands put content behind paywalls.

As a pretty dedicated news junkie I’m delighting in all the creative apps that are scouring the web for worthwhile morsels of news, and serving it all up in a dedicated place. I’ve already praised Zite, which looks at half a million websites and delivers news that it determines you are interested in by keeping track of what you click on.

I’ve spent a couple days now using News360, from Russian developers whose specialty has been semantic analysis, fact extraction and text classification. Those are big words that describe using artificial intelligence to get you relevant material. News360 is far more focused on just news than some of the other apps, and looks at about a thousand mainstream websites and delivers stories in selected topics, while at the same time offering related stories from other trusted news sources.

Continue reading News360 joins the iOS news party with some interesting features

News360 joins the iOS news party with some interesting features originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

I first previewed Anomaly: Warzone Earth back in January, and then saw the iOS version at GDC. It’s an excellent real-time strategy game, kind of a reverse tower defense, where you need to escort a military convoy through an area full of enemy towers. I enjoyed the game when previewing it, and if it sounds like your cup of tea, the title is now out and available on Steam for both Mac and PC as well as the Mac App Store. It’s usually $9.99, but there’s a launch sale on for just $8.99 on Steam, so if you need a free-time filler this weekend for under ten bucks, give it a look.

The iOS version is still due out soon, and I really liked what I saw of the game on the iPad, though it’s pretty different — more of a fast-paced version than the deeper desktop client. It’s supposed to be out by the end of the month, so we’ll keep an eye out for that one as well.

Anomaly: Warzone Earth out now originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

On Wednesday, QuickPick 2.0.3 was apparently ejected from the Mac App Store, according to a tweet from developer Seth Willits. A day later, Seth tweeted that the app is still in the store — as of this writing that’s the case — but update 2.0.3 had been rejected, increasing his confusion. Additionally, he mentions that an Apple rep told him that QuickPick would be “removed from sale,” citing a “confusingly similar” argument. For now, the app is in limbo.

QuickPick is a full-screen application and document launcher which offers several features reportedly missing from Apple’s app launcher — as it exists today at least. For example, the app’s dedicated preferences can set a global keyboard command or hot corner for activation, while users can identify their own most frequently used items to display and leave icons “scrambled” on screen to suit their own organizational style or lack thereof.

Most importantly, QuickPick runs on Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Apple may perceive the app as direct competition to Launchpad, one of Lion’s most highly touted new features. If users see low-cost alternatives to a potentially costly Mac OS X upgrade, they may be dissuaded from spending the time and money to make the leap to Lion when it arrives this summer (though one feature vs. all of Lion’s improvements decreases this likelihood). Perhaps Apple is simply rejecting the app to prevent confusion in their own marketplace; an argument Willits isn’t buying.

“QuickPick existed years before Launchpad…[Version] 2.0.2 isn’t any different than 2.0.3.”

Willits continues to plead his case with Apple. In the meantime, for US$10, QuickPick 2.0.2 is still available on the Mac App Store and version 2.0.3 is available through the Araelium Group website.

[via MacNN]

QuickPick update in limbo for Lion similarities originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Imagine shooting a video at a wedding with your iPhone 4. Later, as you’re watching the video, you swipe across the screen and you can see everything that was going on — the bride and groom repeating their vows, the faces of the people watching the ceremony, even the mom who took her noisy young child to the back of the room as to not interrupt the festivities.

That’s the idea behind a funded Kickstarter project from EyeSee360. The company has developed an iPhone 4 case and detachable lens combo called the GoPano micro that makes 360° panoramic videos, and will also have apps available for viewing the video. The project already has over 1,100 backers, and will be funded on May 14, 2011, but if you want to be one of the first people to get a GoPano micro, you can still back the project.

The project sponsor, Michael Rondinelli, and his crew have created some compelling videos showing just how incredible the 360° videos are. There’s a scene in one video (see next page) where an iPhone 4 is mounted on the hood of a car and driven down a street. Want to make your own Google Street View video? The GoPano micro will let you do just that.

Check out the video and head on over to the GoPano Kickstarter page for more info.

[via TiPB]

Continue reading EyeSee360’s GoPano micro creates 360° panoramic iPhone 4 videos

EyeSee360’s GoPano micro creates 360° panoramic iPhone 4 videos originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

In a research note, Analyst Brian White with Ticonderoga Securities suggests Apple is being extra secretive with its Asian suppliers when ordering parts for the iPhone 5 and is still quietly preparing the next generation handset for a June or July launch. White writes, “Although we do not have a smoking gun that definitively rules out a delayed autumn unveiling or one that supports a launch this summer, there is a pattern of activity in motion with the supply chain that makes us question a delayed launch.”

Circulating rumors suggest Apple may release the iPhone 5 in the fall instead of the summer as it has done in the past. Analysts making this prediction have pointed to a lack of component orders for the iPhone which should have been made if the Cupertino company was targeting a June launch. Other rumors point to a significant overhaul of iOS which may include a cloud-based file locker and music streaming service that could debut this fall along with new iPhone and iPod touch hardware.

White also confirms other reports that suggest Apple is using its cash reserve to secure components for its iPad 2, iPhone and iPod touch. Apple is reportedly offering upfront cash payments to suppliers to keep its production line flowing while blocking out competitors that are not as cash-rich as Apple.

Apple keeping iPhone 5 suppliers mum about launch date originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

The House approved legislation that would prevent the U.S. from enacting a proposed rule limiting lithium-ion battery shipments by classifying the batteries as hazardous materials. The legislation addresses a rule proposed by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) along with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The PHMSA rule would cost companies including Apple an initial $1.3 billion to comply with new packaging, training and handling requirements designed to limit overheating and potential explosion of these batteries while in transit. This rule would apply to stand-alone batteries as well as those included in notebooks, mobile phones, and digital cameras.

All this discussion stems from both explosions and fires caused by poorly manufactured lithium-ion batteries in electronic devices. Apple experienced trouble in the past with the batteries in select iBook, PowerBook and MacBook Pro models. The battery problem was so pronounced in the PowerBook 5300 that it earned the nickname “Hindenbook”. Since those rocky years in the early 2000s, Apple has spent much time and money improving and standardizing lithium battery technology.

[Via AppleInsider]

House passes bill protecting Apple, others from lithium batteries classification originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments