Category: I-phone

One of the great features of the Mac App Store is the notification system that tells you when there is an update to one of you apps. However as we’ve seen, unless you buy all your apps through the Mac App Store, you won’t receive notice of updates to apps purchased or download outside the store.

Luckily there is a very handy widget I’ve used for years (and that we’ve noted before) that automatically scours the net for updates to installed apps on your Mac. AppUpdate is the brainchild of Georg Kaindl and with the click of a button searches three software tracking sites: Apple’s (soon to be defunct) Downloads page, MacUpdate, and Version Tracker (now owned by Cnet).

After running the widget, you’ll see links all the updates to the apps on your Mac. You’ll still have to click the links to go to the app’s download pages, but running this widget is a lot less time-consuming than going to all of the software tracking sites and entering your apps manually, or even running the “Check for Updates” menu command that many apps offer. (If you prefer a non-widget update manager, both Cnet’s TechTracker Free and the under-development Appfresh are worth checking out.)

The developer notes that he knows Version Tracker has been rolled into Cnet, and that he will be updating the widget to scan Cnet’s Download pages in the future. As for the Apple Downloads pages, the scanning works for now. But even without these two sources, I’ve found MacUpdate always offers the most current listings of any app updates.

AppUpdate is a free download — best of all it works on any Mac that is running Mac OS X 10.4 or later.

Keeping your Mac apps up-to-date without the Mac App Store originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just a few days ago we told you how the U.S. Senate rules had been opened up to allow Macs into Senate offices with official permission. Well, it turns out that Macs are quite popular in the House as well. Our example: the newly named House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA). In the picture above, he is at his iMac-equipped desk calling President Obama about the confirmation of Rep. John Boehner as House Speaker.

A close look will also reveal Cantor’s iPad in the black Apple case. According to his staff, the Congressman has had an iPad since the day it was released, and uses it quite a lot to read his hometown newspaper, the Richmond Times Dispatch (via the paper’s app). Congressman Cantor has been a Mac user for many years, while his office is split between Macs and PCs based on the preference of the staff member.

With a loosening of the restrictions on Macs on the Senate side, and the increasing popularity of the iPad as a quick way to catch up on the news and deal with email, I’d look for more and more Apple products showing up on Capitol Hill — even in such previously off-limits areas as the House floor.

Check the gallery below for some more pictures of Congressman Cantor using his favorite computer and tablet. Thanks to the congressman’s staff for the pictures and detail for our story.

Congressional Mac maven is new majority leader originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Line2 is a tri-mode calling app for your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. It uses data, WiFi or even cellular voice connections to make and receive calls — a first for iPhone. While there’s a 30-day free trial, the service ultimately costs $10 per month. But for that fee you get unlimited calls, unlimited texts and a powerful voicemail system. Check out the gallery for some screenshots of the app in action.

When you’re in a WiFI area, Line2 uses that for calls and texts. When you’re in an area with data available, Line2 is smart enough to use the data connection for your calls. This app could save you around $50 a month on your bill, but even more if you drop down to the cheapest iPhone calling plan available.

The app itself is quite nice, with all the features of iPhone calling, including merge calls, speaker phone, mute. Plus, you can transfer calls or set up a conference call as easily as you can in Skype. Texting is nicely done with a great interface similar to Apple’s. Voicemails are handled as you would expect and you can easily send them to others via email. Personally I like the implementation in Line2 of voicemail and calling features more than Apple’s in some ways. The pop-up menu for emailing or forwarding a voicemail, for example, seems more intuitive than Apple’s secondary menu.

If you’re looking for a cheap way to make and receive calls, or you have issues with AT&T’s coverage (and who doesn’t?) you may want to give Line2 a shot. It just might be what you’re looking for.

Line2 adds unlimited phone, voicemail and texting to your iDevice for $10 a month originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pixelmator is an image-editing app for Mac that has a lot of fans. For just US$59, it performs many of the tasks that can also be done with the much more expensive Adobe Photoshop. The developers, Saulius and Aidas Dailide, have announced that Pixelmator will now be available exclusively through the Mac App Store. The price tag for Pixelmator has dropped as well; for a limited time, you can purchase the app for $29.99, making it even more of a bargain.

So why did the developers decide to move Pixelmator to the Mac App Store? In a blog posting on the Pixelmator site, they cite the following reasons (quoted from the post):

• The Mac App Store is the future of Pixelmator (and probably of all other great Mac apps, too) sales and distribution.
• Thanks to the Mac App Store, installation of your favorite image editor becomes easier than ever.
• Because we are always improving Pixelmator, you will rest assured that your Pixelmator is always up-to-date with the latest improvements and features within the Mac App Store.
• With the Mac App Store, you can easily re-download Pixelmator anytime you wish. This is especially useful when you get a new Mac.
• With the Mac App Store, the headaches of dealing with all those serial numbers and anti-piracy system stuff are gone forever.

Peter Cohen at The Loop interviewed Saulius Dailide, and the interview reveals insights into the price change — it’s basically a way for existing users of the app to transition to the new Mac App Store purchase and upgrade infrastructure without being penalized. By purchasing the app at the lower price point now, buyers receive a free upgrade to the upcoming Pixelmator 2.0.

Several of the TUAW staffers have made Pixelmator their first Mac App Store purchase, and during the transition period it’s certainly a good deal for a great piece of software.

Pixelmator now $30, available exclusively on Mac App Store originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TW.Apple.pro has posted drawings of what’s suggested to be the next-generation iPhone. There’s little more here than sketches of iPhone parts, but they do seem to line up with images from a YouTube video of suspected “iPhone 5” parts. That video was recently pulled from YouTube at Apple’s request, suggesting validity.

One point of note is that the break in the external band that forms the antenna has been moved. We can only assume that means a new design will be in place on the next iPhone. We couldn’t glean any other major revisions from these sketches, but you’re welcome to take a crack at it.

[Via MacRumors]

Are these next-generation iPhone drawings? originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bloomberg is reporting that Apple is helping to drive U.S. corporations to the most-profitable Q4 since Bill Clinton’s early days in the White House, when the PowerBook Duo was the latest in subnotebooks (and only weighed a mere 4.1 pounds!)

Of course, this isn’t exactly news to us, as Deutsche Bank speculated a couple days ago that holiday Mac and iPad sales were far better than expected. Bloomberg estimates that Apple’s net income rose 47 percent to US$4.97 billion during its fiscal first quarter, which ended in December and included those all-important holiday sales.

We’ll know exactly how well Apple made out during the company’s quarterly earnings call on Jan. 18, with the possibility of a Verizon iPhone announcement just a couple days later.

Bloomberg: Apple’s net income rose 47 percent originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We stopped by the ShowStoppers event at CES 2011 this evening, a special event in the Wynn hotel in Las Vegas for a few CES exhibitors and select press, and there we found none other than the prince of Auto-Tune himself, rapper T-Pain. He was there shilling a brand new microphone gadget that will automatically Auto-Tune your voice, just like the iPhone app released a while back that bears his name.

T-Pain (can we just call him Mr. Pain?) tells us a little bit about the making of his app, and why he’s brought the technology into the microphone. Plus, we got to meet T-Pain (and he wasn’t even on a boat). But you should definitely try that I Am T-Pain app out — it’s pretty great. The microphone will be available this fall for US$39.99, so look for it in stores then. Shawwty!

TUAW talks to T-Pain at CES ShowStoppers 2011 originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Over the past few months, the rumors of a Verizon CDMA-based iPhone have reached a fever pitch. Now the folks over at BGR think that they’ve come up with the exact date that the fabled VZW iPhone will hit the streets — February 3, 2011.

Why the day after Groundhog Day? Well, they based it on confirmed stories from “sources close to Apple” that retail employees have been told that they cannot take vacation between Thursday, February 3 and Sunday, February 6. This is a usual Apple retail response to the impending release of a new product. We reported on this vacation moratorium yesterday, but the timeframe was vague. Now it’s been pinned to a specific four-day period.

The Loop is also reporting that there’s a Verizon special event planned for 1/11/11 at 11 AM ET. The event, which will be held at Rose Hall in the Time Warner Center (the home of Jazz @ Lincoln Center) in New York City, may or may not be about the Verizon iPhone — for all we know, it could herald the availability of yet another Android phone.

Our sense is that it would be out of character for Apple to let Verizon make the announcement without an Apple-controlled event being held in Cupertino or San Francisco, but there is the contrary notion that outside the US, second or third carriers picking up the iPhone barely merited a press release from Apple HQ. Obviously, AT&T losing its exclusivity is a big deal… but we don’t know yet what’s happening next Tuesday. Update: Well, if you like reading tea leaves, consider the fact that Gizmodo hasn’t yet received an invitation to the Verizon event; that’s unusual, considering there’s no particular bad blood between the site and the carrier. That’s not true for every company out there, obviously, and if it turns out to be an Apple/VZW collaboration then the edited guest list would make a lot of sense. As of Friday afternoon, though, Macworld hadn’t gotten an invite either.

As BGR points out, the iPhone 4 was launched over a 4-day period (June 24 – 27, 2010) that was also a Thursday to Sunday slot. Verizon also likes to launch new products on Thursdays, and as far as we know right now, Apple has no other big surprises (i.e., iPad 2) to amaze the world with in that timeframe.

Personally, I’d love to see a Verizon iPhone that runs on their new 4G network and allows tethering. If that happens, I’ll be jumping to VZW faster than you can say “Can you hear me now?” How about you, TUAW reader? Would you drop AT&T for Verizon? Take our poll.

View Poll

Verizon iPhone rumored to launch on February 3 originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple is requesting that changes be made to the @CEOSteveJobs Twitter account, citing requirements of a recently-passed California bill that criminalizes certain online impersonations. The state’s SB 1411 identifies criminal and civil penalties for certain online impersonations that demonstrate an intent to harm, intimidate, threaten, or defraud another person (not necessarily the person being impersonated, either). In addition, a tipster told TechCrunch that Twitter has received a “valid report” that the account is in violation of its Impersonation Policy.

You’ll remember that back in June, the UK’s Daily Mail quoted a tweet from the account as actually originating from Steve Jobs.

The account’s owner has added the word “parody” to the account’s bio, and is considering adding a work like “fake” to the handle, though he complains that “all the good ones are taken.”

Meanwhile, there’s still no word from the Empire on the validity of @DarthVader.

Apple goes after @CEOSteveJobs Twitter account originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With much glee, tap tap tap announced today that not only has it sold the millionth copy of Camera+ for the iPhone, but it’s also made a million dollars in revenue from that app plus the effects pack that’s an in-app purchase (after Apple’s cut, of course).

Fellow blogger Steve Sande reviewed Camera+ a few months ago and found it a worthy addition to your iPhone photo-app arsenal. Camera+ is currently on sale for 99 cents.

taptaptap’s John Casasanta also took the occasion to muse on the future of the mobile market, gnash his teeth at grubby venture capitalists and make the argument that there will always be a role for high-quality paid apps in the iOS world.

tap tap tap makes a million – in both sales and profit – from Camera+ originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — being a TUAW blogger is dangerous in that I see way too much cool stuff that I end up wanting to purchase. The Grantwood Technology MacVelope for MacBook Air is precisely what I’m talking about. Fortunately, these fun interoffice envelope lookalike sleeves have a nice light price tag of US$21.99 (sale price, they’re usually $29.99), so I’ll be able to spend my January paycheck on it (just kidding).

The MacVelope is a play on what Steve Jobs did at the introduction of the original MacBook Air at Macworld Expo 2008 — he fished it out of a manila envelope before waving it at the crowd. The MacVelopes come in two flavors, one for the 11″ Air and another for the “big” 13″ model. Both are made of a yellow vinyl material that’s actually a bit more yellow than most manila envelopes I’ve ever seen, with a velcro closure and a fun red string closure that adds to the illusion. The inside is lined with a soft ballistic nylon that makes sliding the MacBook Air into and out of the case a breeze.

One commenter in Grantwood’s online store noted that “the best part is the look on people’s faces when a computer comes out of such a small envelope,” while another said “it offers a BIT of protection-from-theft in that most casual observers wouldn’t assume it contains a laptop.” The company also offers a companion bag for $10 that the MacVelope snugs into, but I think I’d just carry my Air in the MacVelope. Click Read More to learn how to enter our giveaway.

Continue reading Grantwood Technology MacVelope for MacBook Air: Review and giveaway

Grantwood Technology MacVelope for MacBook Air: Review and giveaway originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Parents, the safest way to keep your kids from accidentally spending your money in any of the iTunes stores, including the App Stores, is to give them their own iTunes Account that doesn’t have an associated credit card.

Whether you want to let your kids play around safely, or just don’t have a credit card, you can use an Apple Account with no credit card to try one of the hundred free apps in the new Mac App Store or download free apps on an iPhone or iPod touch.

You can’t create an account in the main iTunes Store without a credit card, but you can from the App Stores.

From iTunes, if you’re already signed into an account, sign out. Choose your country (use the country flag at lower right), then navigate into the App Store section using the top nav bar. Now, you must try to “buy” a free app, such as Apple’s iTunes Remote. You’ll be prompted to Create a New Account. Go through the process, making sure to choose “None” for your payment option. Check your email and click the link to verify your account. The process is essentially the same from an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, but you’ll specify your country after you click Buy.

Now you have an iTunes Store Account without a credit card on file, and you don’t have to worry about your little snowflakes raiding your wallet for the latest holiday edition of Angry Birds.

We found this tip in the new Mac App Store Support site. For a step by step guide, along with instructions for setting up the free account from an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, see Apple’s Knowledge Base article.

UPDATE: In the comments, some readers are saying this is not working for them. I’ve confirmed on the iPhone, in iTunes, and even in the Mac App Store itself: as of 10 PM UTC on 7 January 2011, this tip still works as described. Sign out any existing ID. Find a free app, click to buy, and follow the steps to create a new account. For your Credit Card type, choose None, exactly as shown in the screenshot above for iTunes, the button labled “None” in the Mac App Store, or the last item in the scrolling menu on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Get an iTunes or Mac App Store account without a credit card originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Denon AVR-4311CI
• Denon AVR-3311CI
• Denon AVR-991
• Denon AVR-A100
• Denon N7 Networked CD Receiver and 2.0 Channel Speaker System
• Marantz SR7005 A/V Receiver
• Marantz AV7005 A/V Preamplifier
• Marantz NA7004 Network Audio Player
• Marantz M-CR603 Networked CD Receiver

Denon and Marantz originally promised to deliver the update for free until November 7, but the company missed that mark and is now delivering the update for the full $49. Denon and Marantz are not the only AV company embracing AirPlay. Earlier this week, both Klipsch and Bowers & Wilkins announced AirPlay-compatible AV equipment.

[Via Engadget]

Denon and Marantz release AirPlay update for $49 originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A day after it was needed, the Mac App Store support page has gone live. It largely contains information found in the help file in the Mac App Store app itself. It does address the pesky ‘error 100’ issue that we reported on Thursday as well. If you don’t happen to have an up-to-date OS, Apple helpfully points you in the right direction for downloads and the forums where you can discuss the pros and cons of the 1-day-old store.

Mac App Store support page a day late to the party originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple just released the Mac App Store, and with it came one very unfortunate feature. It was well-intentioned, but poorly executed, and it ends up being an “attractive nuisance,” meaning that it’s something that you’re really better off ignoring: third-party apps not purchased via the Mac App Store may appear as “Installed” there, leading to unrealistic expectations of what you can do with Apple’s latest service.

Here’s a quick overview of how the Mac App Store works, in case you haven’t tried it: 1) you search for an app, 2) when you find an app you want, you click on the button showing “Free” or “Buy” with the price listed, 3) the button changes to “Installing” while the the app is downloaded to your Applications folder and 4) the button changes to “Installed” when the app is fully installed.

The problem is that the Mac App Store also recognizes apps that you have purchased outside of the Mac App Store if the version of the app matches the Mac App Store version exactly, using something called the “Bundle ID.” For example, if you noticed that the Mac App Store showed iPhoto as “Installed,” even though you bought it through the boxed iLife set, but the Mac App Store did not notice that you already have Pages installed, it may be because you haven’t installed the latest iWork update.

As you might expect, this has led to quite a bit of confusion, so it bears repeating: if you have not purchased an app through the Mac App Store, you cannot re-download it or get any future updates through the Mac App Store. For that, you will have to continue to check for updates using the app’s built-in mechanisms, or check the developer’s website. The folks at Panic and Barebones have written very good posts about this, as have the folks over at Macworld, so check them out if you’re still unclear about how this works.

Continue reading Third-party apps not purchased via Mac App Store may appear as Installed

Third-party apps not purchased via Mac App Store may appear as Installed originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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