Category: I-phone

Turns out, when Apple announced it was a day you’d never forget, maybe it wasn’t talking about The Beatles. Last we heard, Google Voice was expected on the App Store “soon” … and now here it is. Apple has relented in the battle to allow Google Voice functionality on the iPhone, leaving Google open to release its own official app for the service.

It looks just as good as you’d expect — you can sign into the service from anywhere, access your voicemail or even send text messages or Google Voice calls, and get push notifications when you’ve got a new message incoming.

Obviously, you’ll need a Google Voice account to use the app, but those are free and easy enough to set up. The app is only available in the United States, according to its description, so those of you outside the country are out of luck (for now). It’s also probably not compatible with the iPad — the listing only says it’s available for the iPhone so far.

Our own Mike Rose & TJ Luoma [TJ comments below that he objects to the iPhone-only restriction on the app, as he would like to use it to send and receive SMS on the iPad or iPod touch] are jumping for joy on this one — we’ve got a lot of TUAW Google Voice fans, and having this functionality available on the iPhone is a very nice bonus even with the third-party apps already on the market. What are you waiting for? It’s here — go download!

Google Voice for iPhone is finally out on the App Store originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 14:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Welcome to the TUAW Holiday Gift Guide! We’ve sorted the treasure from the junk and are serving up suggestions to make your holiday gift-giving a little easier.

It’s that time of year again — we’re all giving and receiving gifts, and odds are there’s going to be a few new iPhones and iPod touches in your immediate vicinity. Maybe you’ve been lucky enough to get one, or you’ve given one to a spouse or family member, or there’s someone at work or school who just got one and is looking for app recommendations. For all of those people (and for you if you’re just looking for some great new apps), we’ve compiled this quick list of terrific apps to download and fill out your iOS device’s app collection.

These app recommendations come from multiple categories — some are paid, some are free. There are some games and utility apps. Some are easy to get into right away, while others will require a little more knowledge or an extra service. Some have been around as long as the App Store, while others are newcomers. But if you’re starting from scratch and install all of these on your new iPhone, you’ll get a nice taste of everything Apple’s little handheld piece of magic can do.

Continue reading TUAW’s Holiday Gift Guide: Must-have apps for your iPhone 4

TUAW’s Holiday Gift Guide: Must-have apps for your iPhone 4 originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

As you probably know, Apple has secured exclusive digital rights to The Beatles’ catalog. But for how long? According to All Things Digital, the deal extends into 2011.

EMI Music spokesman Dylan Jones told All Things D that Apple’s deal reaches into 2011 and beyond January 1st. He did confirm that the exclusivity will eventually end, but he didn’t say when. For the time being, distributors like Amazon, Spotify, Rhapsody and the Zune will just have to wait.

Writing for All Things D, Peter Kafka wonders if the band will renew the exclusivity deal or even walk away from digital entirely when it expires. The latter seems crazy to us. Paul, Ringo et al apparently got serious about digital when Rock Band: The Beatles came out. We’re betting the group has joined the digital revolution for good.

Apple’s exclusive digital rights to The Beatles extend into 2011 originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

According to Tim Wu, author of The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires and the man responsible for the term “net neutrality,” Apple is the number one danger to Internet freedom. In a one on one interview with the New York Times, Columbia law professor Wu claims that what worries him most about Apple is that “Steve Jobs has the charisma, vision and instincts of every great information emperor. The man who helped create the personal computer 40 years ago is probably the leading candidate to help exterminate it. His vision has an undeniable appeal, but he wants too much control.”

While net neutrality has been a hot topic as of late, and I can understand having some healthy skepticism about monopolistic behavior by corporations, I have a bit of an issue when someone claims that the power of a CEO is similar to that of a great nation. That’s a pretty large conclusion he jumps directly to, especially when he says that “the man who starts as the great reformer often ends his career by becoming increasingly paranoid and abusive” to back up the claim. It seems a bit superfluous at best. After all, in 1994 Time magazine wondered if Bill Gates was getting too powerful, but I never saw him transform into an evil, paranoid CEO.

What do you guys think about Professor Wu’s claims?

[via Computerworld]

Net neutrality expert calls Apple the number one threat to Internet freedom originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Apple has released another TV ad for the iPhone 4 in the U.S., this time bragging about its battery life. The ad begins by stating that the iPhone’s lithium polymer battery lets users “work longer, play longer, laugh longer…” and so on while showing off features like email, gaming, video and so on.

The first batch of iPhone 4 ads described FaceTime, while the previous spot, entitled “Every,” turned the focus to hardware; specifically, the Retina Display. This ad (still untitled as it hasn’t yet appeared on Apple.com) continues that trend by showing off the powerful battery, while slipping in software features as well. You can see it in its entirety after the break.

Continue reading New iPhone 4 ad touts battery life

New iPhone 4 ad touts battery life originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Altec Lansing has finally released its newest speaker dock, the Octiv Stage, for iPads. The Octiv Stage differs from many docks in that it has a comparatively small footprint and can support the tablet in either portrait or landscape orientation.

The iPad is clipped into a bracket on a rotating arm, and the base with the speakers spans virtually the same width as the narrow side of the tablet. While the iPad’s display has excellent viewing angles, the arm of the Octiv Stage also allows the tilt angle to be adjusted for optimum viewing. Like other Altec Lansing speaker docks, the MP450 Octiv Stage comes with a remote that allows users to adjust the volume and navigate through playlists.

According to the press release, the dock also supports the iPhone and iPods, although presumably only in portrait mode. A 3.5 mm auxiliary jack also allows the use of non-Apple players. The Octiv Stage MP450 is on sale now for US$149.95.

[via Engadget]

Continue reading Altec Lansing releases Octiv Stage speaker dock for iPad

Altec Lansing releases Octiv Stage speaker dock for iPad originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Back in August we learned of the arrest of Paul Shin Devine on charges of taking over $1 million in kickbacks from Apple suppliers. Since that time, prosecutors have been following the money trail and have now asked U.S. District Judge James Ware in San Jose, California to order the forfeiture of US$1 million in cash and assets. The government has frozen $950,000 in cash from six different bank accounts belonging to Devine.

Devine was a global supply manager for Apple until his arrest and was accused of providing confidential information to suppliers before they negotiated contracts with the company. Prosecutors are still hanging on to Devine’s computers as part of the investigation of the case. The indictment of Devine included 23 charges of wire fraud, wire-fraud conspiracy, and money laundering, each of which carries a potential 20 year prison sentence with a conviction. Devine has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and is currently out on bail.

Accused Apple manager could be forced to return $1M in kickbacks originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Data Robotics has added a new feature to the Drobo S, the five-drive BeyondRAID storage device that can be expanded up to 10 TB of space. While USB 3.0 (note the new port at far right on the image shown here) isn’t currently supported out of the box by any Apple products, there are third-party USB 3.0 PCI Express and ExpressCard/34 adapters available to bring the faster version of USB to the Mac Pro and older MacBook Pros. The second-generation Drobo S also keeps the original FireWire 800 and eSATA connections, and the USB 3.0 connector is backward-compatible with USB 2.0-equipped computers. The new Drobo S starts at a price of US$799, with a 10 TB version available for $1799.

The new edition of the Drobo S is available today from partners and DroboStore.com, and it will be available from the newest Data Robotics partner, HP Small Business Direct, on Thursday.

Data Robotics also announced that their Drobo Sync software for the DroboPro FS is now available. The new software makes it easy to sync two DroboPro FS devices over a wide-area network for offsite backups.

The Drobo dudes wanted to share the good news with TUAW readers, so they’ve come up with an exclusive giveaway. There are six chances to win, with the first prize being a free Drobo S. The second through sixth prizes? A 50, 40, 30, 20, or 10 percent discount off of your choice of a Drobo FS or Drobo S. You can double your chances of winning by retweeting a special phrase that you’ll find on the giveaway page.

Be sure to enter for a chance to win either a free Drobo S or an awesome discount.

Drobo updates Drobo S with USB 3.0, gives away goodies to TUAW readers originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Time Geeks is a charmer. It’s basically an image finder — you’re presented with a picture full of various things and goings-on and tasked with seeking out a certain item or image in that picture. There are a few of these on the App Store, and some of them are pretty lousy, but Time Geeks is anything but. You’re still just pointing and clicking, but the images in Time Geeks are just incredible. They’re gorgeous pixelated art, packed with not only great looking colors and shapes, but also nerd and geek references aplenty. I saw references to Lost, The Legend of Zelda, Star Trek, Dragon Ball Z, Lemmings, and a few other really obscure geeky properties — and that’s just the first few goals in the first level.

The game also has six different game modes to play with and seven mini-games — it’s very much packed with content. There’s even a very intuitive editor where you can create your own pictures using all of the little sprites and art that the actual game uses. The full version is just 99 cents, which is a bargain as-is, and the team has promised updates in the future. Just in case all of my gushing hasn’t yet sold you, there’s a lite version to try out as well.

I was really impressed with Time Geeks. Image search and find apps tend to be a little underpowered and are usually just attempts by the developer to build a simple game and grab a few bucks. But Time Geeks is a lot of fun, and it’s definitely a full-featured title that’s worth a look no matter what kind of games you like.

TUAW’s Daily App: Time Geeks originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

TUAW dives into Microsoft Office 2011 with reviews of the apps that make up the suite.

The legend lives on, in somewhat different form. The last time there was a version of Outlook for the Mac, it was Outlook 2001, it ran on Mac OS 9, and it only spoke MAPI (the legacy Exchange mail protocol). It lived alongside Office 2001, which already included Entourage for POP mail and contact/calendar management, so the writing was on the wall.

Once Mac OS X came along, Microsoft settled on Entourage as the new Mac personal information management app, and Outlook was long thought to be dead on the platform — until now. Is it a worthwhile part of the 2011 package, or does Apple’s Exchange 2007 support in Snow Leopard’s built-in apps match up well? Let’s discuss.

First things first: Outlook 2011 is not actually Outlook as you know, “love,” and use it on various flavors of Windows. It is essentially an upgraded and revamped version of Entourage 2008, but it’s polished up with some changes that will make some workflows smoother. I have been using it as my primary email client at my day job, and so far it hasn’t had the random fits Entourage was known for. Another thing to note is the difference in editions — if you buy the Home & Student Edition of Office 2011, you won’t even get Outlook. You have to buy Home & Business or the Enterprise corporate edition of Office to get Outlook at all, so if your focus is a shiny new email client, it will cost you (or your employer).

Click “Read More” to see the new features in this resurrected app for the Macintosh.

Continue reading Outlook 2011 review: Beyond Entourage, not quite Outlook for Windows

Outlook 2011 review: Beyond Entourage, not quite Outlook for Windows originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Ever since the success of MacHeist, it seems like resellers offering bundles of applications at heavily discounted prices are proliferating. MacBundles has an interesting new twist: a la carte application bundles. Just like buying a CD that has a few songs you really like along with a bunch of filler, the same is usually true for these packages of apps. But at MacBundles, you can now get a full slate of a dozen apps for $50, or if some of the choices don’t strike your fancy, you can select as few as five to create your own bundle.

Customers who opt for five or more programs will pay just US$5.95 for each application, a price that drops to $4.95 per if you buy ten. Of course at that latter price you are already paying the same price as the full package of twelve, so you may as well just get them all. Given the discounts on these packages, it’s usually worth just buying the whole thing even just to try out the apps. The current offering is available only until November 28.

[via Macworld]

MacBundles invites customers to ‘Build Your Own Bundle’ originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

We saw id games’ newest title, Rage, demonstrated earlier this year on an iOS device, but now there’s more details and specifics on just how it’s coming to iOS. It’s not a straight port of the PC and console shooter — rather, id is calling it Rage: Mutant Bash TV, and releasing this version of the game as an original, on-rails shooter. IGN has some video of the game running, and it looks pretty great. While the on-rails part means that you don’t control movement at all, the camera controls and shooting gameplay look like a lot of fun.

Of course the graphics look terrific — Epic Games’ Infinity Blade will apparently have some competition for the best-looking next-gen game on iOS. And while there’s no word yet on what kind of Game Center integration we’ll see (or, you know, price or date), apparently the game will have a “TV Out” option, allowing you to output the video to your television if you’ve got the appropriate cables for your iPad or iPhone. Sounds good — we’ll keep a look out for this one and let you know when it’s out.

Rage: Mutant Bash TV brings id Tech 5 to iOS originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 15 Nov 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Do you know who Scott Forstall is?

According to Forbes Magazine, you should. As part of a crowd-sourcing project for the January issue of the magazine, Forbes asked readers to suggest the names of people who will be important in 2011. One of the picks was Forstall, Apple’s senior vice president of iPhone software.

Forstall was one of the NeXT engineers who followed Steve Jobs back to Apple, and in his current role he’s the man behind the wild success of iOS. It’s estimated that iOS currently runs on over 100 million devices worldwide.

Apple’s executive profile for Forstall notes that he “is one of the original architects of OS X,” and was “responsible for several releases of the operating system, most notably Mac OS X Leopard.”

Looking forward to the future release of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, we can expect to see Forstall’s genius at work as elements of iOS make their way onto the Mac.

[via The Mac Observer]

Forbes calls Scott Forstall a ‘name you need to know’ originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 15 Nov 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments