Category: I-phone

Back in the day, it was not uncommon to sit down in a booth at a diner and find a box with lists of songs that you could browse and play back through the jukebox. Fast forward to 2010, and the Delta Airlines terminal at New York City’s John F. Kennedy airport. With most people carrying a jukebox in their pocket, eateries like Croque Madame have installed Apple iPads in the booths that allow travelers to place food orders, check their email or read the news while waiting for their connection.

OTG Management is installing as many as 200 iPads in the Delta JFK terminal and plans to do the same at LaGuardia soon as well. Since travelers typically have limited time before they have to catch flights, OTG isn’t implementing any time limits, but hopefully they are putting some sort of anti-bacterial, anti-grease screen protectors on the tablets. Considering how many people go through major airports, using a touch-dependent device like the iPad in an area where people are eating probably isn’t for the germophobic.

[Via Engadget]

Delta’s JFK terminal goes iPad crazy originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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On the topic of iPad 4.2 and Apple TV 4.1, the first version combination to support video streaming via AirPlay, we might as well get all the caveats out of the way first. Yes, you still can’t push streaming audio or video from your Mac to your iPad without third-party apps. No, you can’t use AirPlay to show videos from your iPhone’s camera roll, and people are plenty steamed about that. It’s not a codec issue, as iTunes can easily stream the same videos to the Apple TV, so most likely the iPhone 4’s AirPlay implementation isn’t quite fully baked yet to handle those streams.

You can’t play video from most iPad apps until they’re revised for iOS 4.2 (which may not be possible yet, see note below); right now it’s the Video app and YouTube for videos, Photos app for picture slideshows, iTunes for streaming from your Mac. Aside from audio (supported from most applications) that’s all there is. Some iPad apps (Hulu Plus, for example) may never allow AirPlay support for licensing reasons.

[Update: As noted by a commenter below, the current version of the iOS SDK does not expose the video portion of the AirPlay APIs to third parties, meaning that any app developers who are reportedly looking to implement video streaming (like Netflix) are going to have to negotiate support with Apple on a case by case basis. If the SDK is revised once the frameworks stabilize and third parties do get access to the AirPlay video streaming capabilities, that changes the landscape considerably.]

Doesn’t matter. AirPlay is astonishing. In a stroke, the $99 Apple TV has been transformed from a capable but somewhat pedestrian streaming player and video rental device into a true digital hub — the home entertainment equivalent of a Star Trek replicator. Pushing content to the Apple TV feels fundamentally different than pulling from iTunes, mostly because it’s so much easier to control and switch when sitting in front of the full library.

Pushing video from the iPad to the big screen is revelatory; it looks and sounds fantastic, and knowing that I can walk into any Apple TV-equipped household and instantly show any media on my device is going to make that holiday gift list for the grandparents a lot easier.

It’s true that the lack of iPhone camera roll playback is pretty surprising, and for a lot of people that potential feature was a big driver in going out and getting the Apple TV in the first place. I hope it gets corrected soon, but there’s plenty more in AirPlay that’s worth exploring.

Let’s walk through the one-click Apple TV update process and take a look at the basic AirPlay functionality.

Continue reading Hands on with AirPlay: iPad and Apple TV updates make a magic combination

Hands on with AirPlay: iPad and Apple TV updates make a magic combination originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You may have already heard about the Iconfactory’s new game Astronut, but just in case you haven’t, we’ll happily be the ones to tell you. From the makers of Ramp Champ and Twitterrific comes a game that’s sort of a mashup between Dizzypad, Captain Ludwig and Doodle Jump. You play a little astronaut bouncing from planet to planet and trying to make his way up the screen, all while avoiding aliens and other traps and troubles along the way. Astronut’s a little more forgiving than most of the other “jump”-style games. Not only are there three sections of your heart to go through, you can pick up more hearts, shields and other items along the way. You also get a “boost” that allows you to invincibly fly past any number of bad guys or enemies (as long as you’re pointed in the right direction).

As a result, the game is a whole lot of fun to play. Rather than trying to time out each jump perfectly, you constantly bounce around the map, ascending and sometimes even landing huge jumps for bonus points. There’s Game Center integration in the form of leaderboards and achievements as well, so there’s quite a bit of game here to play.

There are 24 levels total, and the first four are included in a free download that comes more than recommended — it’s a lot of fun. If you like it, you can buy the rest of the game for US$1.99 via an in-app purchase. The Iconfactory never disappoints when it comes to well-executed, solid designs, and Astronut is another great app in their growing library of quality App Store titles.

TUAW’s Daily App: Astronut originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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And you thought that store-bought $10 cake you got for your birthday was cool. Sure to be the envy of Apple fanboys everywhere, Chris Samuels — an independent iPhone and iPad developer — received this detailed iPhone cake for his birthday from his wife Cath.
Everything on (and inside) the cake is edible, with the icons carefully made from frosting and food coloring. With all the work that must have gone into this cake it would almost be sad to eat it. Almost.

This certainly isn’t the first Apple device made in cake form. Check out this iPhone wedding cake, these icon cupcakes and this tasty chocolate Apple I cake.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Samuels. We look forward to seeing what Cath makes for you next year. Maybe a chocolate-covered iPad? Some iChocolates? Be sure to let us know!

Edible iPhone birthday cake originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Although the print book has been out for more than a year, The Berenstain Bears Give Thanks by Jan and Mike Berenstain (US$2.99) has just hit the App store in time for Thanksgiving. This is the tenth in the series of Bear books released by Oceanhouse Media, and it employs the same excellent engine used by all their books. Instead of having one picture per page, the engine allows for lots of panning and zooming, so one picture can be used for multiple pages. I consider this a good idea since kids like to swipe pages, and although there are only 35 pictures in the book, it will take 108 page swipes to get to the end. This cinematic approach is very appropriate for this type of book since it allows the virtual camera to uncover parts of larger graphics when they are appropriate, keeping the story and the reader’s interest flowing.

The story is appropriately simple. Papa Bear bartered some furniture for a few cases of Farmer Ben’s best Apple Blossom honey along with Squanto the Turkey, who will stay at the farm until fattened and ready for Thanksgiving dinner. Sister Bear becomes attached to Squanto and wants to keep him as a pet. Her wish is eventually granted via a bit of Thanksgiving magic.

Continue reading Just in time for Thanksgiving, The Berenstain Bears Give Thanks

Just in time for Thanksgiving, The Berenstain Bears Give Thanks originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Momento is a journal type of application, but with a unique twist. Instead of just recording one journal entry a day, with Momento you are supposed to record interesting moments throughout the day. Whenever there is something you want to remember, you just open up Momento, which allows you to record it quickly. This app is a fantastic alternative for those who like to keep some sort of diary each day.

Features

For only $1.99, the creators of this app sure packed a lot of features into it. As you record each moment, you can tag people, places, events, and even add custom tags in order to quickly search for and find certain moments. You can even add photos to moments for a visual reminder, and rate them based on how good they are. A calendar view allows you to jump to a specific date, those of you with iOS 4 can backup your moments, and you can even set a password to prevent other people from viewing your moments. You can also connect with certain websites to import information and activities you share online.

Review

The first problem I noticed is that is does not support multitasking.  This means if you answer a call or respond to a text while creating a moment, you will lose it and have to start it over. Hopefully this issue is addressed in the next update and they add support for multitasking.

Aside from that Momento is a great application. If you already keep a diary, I would suggest trying this out as a substitute, and if you do not keep one but want to, this is a great way to get started. This app not only simplifies the process of keeping a journal, it also adds many features that you would not have with a regular journal. As opposed to writing everything at the end of the day, it is now a quick and easy process to create a moment, and adding tags and pictures to keep them organized is a breeze. The ability to type in landscape mode is always welcome, and the feeds are a great addition. Momento does an excellent job at making it fun to keep a journal, and even if you think you have no interest in it, trying this might get you hooked!

All of the aforementioned features of Momento give it a huge advantage of the standard way to keep a diary. A diary is static and limited; it is more difficult to change, and if you want to find a specific event from a specific day it could take quite a while. Momento changes all of this, and allows you to edit any of your moments and make revisions as necessary. Want to show your friend a few cool parts of your most recent vacation? Tags speed up the process of finding them. Every feature contained within this app was designed very well, which makes this app a perfect choice for keeping a journal.

Conclusion

Momento is a fantastic app for anyone who keeps a journal or wants to start keeping one. Even if you don’t, it can’t hurt to give this app a try, because it makes keeping a journal, easy, quick, and fun. With tags and photos, finding moments is just as easy as making them, and the pictures are great for being able to recall the moment exactly as it happened. The ability to rate moments is great for things like vacations, allowing you to quickly find which days were the best and which ones were not so great. The password protection option is a handy feature for those of you who are concerned about privacy, and the ability to backup your data is always a benefit. I don’t understand why this app does not supports iOS 4 and multitasking, but hopefully that gets added soon, as that seems to be the one drawback of Momento.

After what seems like an eternity Apple has finally released iOS 4.2 for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod. Apple is really talking this release up for iPad owners:

“iOS 4.2 makes the iPad a completely new product, just in time for the holiday season,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Once again, the iPad with iOS 4.2 will define the target that other tablets will aspire to, but very few, if any, will ever be able to hit.”

In other news Apple has made the ‘Find My iPhone’ app available free of charge. Previously this required a MobileMe subscription. This app has many cool features including the ability to remotely wipe your iOS device.

PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit (US$4.99) is the first of what will be a series of PopOut! books published by Loud Crow Interactive Inc. It tells the well-loved tale of naughty Peter Rabbit getting into Mr. McGregor’s garden, eating his fill of all the yummy vegetables, and when he’s discovered, escaping back to his family. Many of us have a warm place in our hearts for this story, having enjoyed it as children. It’s an old story, dating back to 1902. The app is similar to the wonderful Alice for the iPad in both the old world look and feel and in the sheer elegance of execution.

The pages look like they were printed on old parchment, and the Beatrix Potter watercolor illustrations are both intact and improved. On most of the pages, the backgrounds, when tilting your iOS device, come alive and move. Most of them were created on two or three planes that move at different times, creating a multi-plane illusion of depth that is both gentle and effective. Most everything you touch moves, revealing hidden objects while appropriate sound effects play. A lovely touch is that the interaction often varies. For example, tapping on a bush drops a large blackberry but subsequent taps only produce berries intermittently. Tilting the device allows the berries to “roll” onto the next page, and tapping a berry itself squashes it.

Similarly, on a page with leaves, every few taps brings up a different leaf that moves. This is all done to the perfectly chosen strains of Claire de Lune by Debussy. Options are given to have the book read by a wonderfully expressive and appropriately British female voice, or you can read it yourself, keeping the music and sound effects intact. When having it read, each spoken word is highlighted for young readers. Either way, tapping on a word speaks the word; that’s a nice feature that more and more interactive books have adopted.

Continue reading PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit raises the bar for interactive children’s books

PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit raises the bar for interactive children’s books originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here are two good pieces of news for iOS gamers. First up, World of Goo, the practically classic indie game that has you building little structures out of blobs of goo, is headed to the App Store just as soon as Apple approves the app for iPad. The app will feature one-screen multiplayer, with up to 11 fingers building up and drawing goo paths out on the screen. There’s no iPhone version yet, but it’s not outside the range of reason, as long as 2D Boy can make it run “buttery smooth.”

And Sega’s classic side-scroller Gunstar Heroes is now out on the iPhone as a $2.99 app. Early word on the game is that it’s an excellent port of the much-loved Genesis title. As with most ports, the controls simply consist of on-screen buttons, which can sometimes get in the way of the action. But if you’re a Gunstar Heroes fan, you’ve probably headed over to the App Store to download the game anyway — it’s got quite a rabid following.

And finally, if you are an iOS gamer, stay tuned later on this week. I’m expecting to see some gigantic sales on the App Store for Black Friday, and we’ll be covering and collecting as many of them as possible. Be sure to follow us over on Twitter as well — sometimes we’ll fit in even more quick sales over there.

World of Goo coming to iPad, Gunstar Heroes out now originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Minecraft Mac was cute and all, but if you think that was the pinnacle of Mac-related creations in Minecraft, you’re underestimating our readership. Reader Simon sent along this set of Flickr pictures, which shows off an entire recreation of the Fifth Avenue Apple Store, complete with glass cube on top and a store full of products down below. Unfortunately, there’s no way to model out iPads or iPhones in Minecraft, so there’s just a whole bunch of what looks like Mac minis on sale. But then again, that sounds like a great store, too.

Very nicely done, Simon. I’d like to know how long something like this takes — I’ve built a few things in Minecraft myself, but nothing this, err, realistic, and definitely nothing of this magnitude. Awesome stuff, though — what’s next?

Fifth Ave. Apple Store recreated in Minecraft originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just last week we wrote about iPads being given out to doctors in Australia, and now we are seeing another hospitality-based use for them — tracking food donations and pickups for Melbourne’s FareShare food charity.

An iPad app developed by volunteers and employees of FareShare acts as a data-entry point for their drivers, who enter the amount and ingredients of donated food they have collected on their routes. This information is then accessed by the chefs who can plan their meals according to what food will be arriving back at the kitchen later that day.

According to FairShare’s Food Donations and Logistics Manager Chris Scott, the information “is helping our kitchen plan what to cook, and is increasing the number and diversity of meals we can make. We can also re-distribute packaged food straight to charities’ doors faster than ever before.” Use of their app has also streamlined the charity’s record-keeping and freed up more time to work on charity-specific endeavours rather than paperwork.

FareShare runs their app on three donated iPads and hopes to receive three more to equip even more drivers with the technology. With iPads (and tablet computers in general) being deployed more and more for corporate use, it’s nice to see them being used for charity work, too.

iPads now helping food charity feed the hungry originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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