Category: I-phone

Today we are interviewing Ben and Doug of Amazing Books. They recently released their first two books Jack and the Beanstalk and Three Little Pigs, which were featured on the New and Noteworthy section of the iTunes store. Enjoy the interview.

Mobile Orchard: Tells us about yourself and your company.

Ben: Doug and I have been friends for years, working on various projects for television and film. When we weren’t working, we ate a lot of dinners, dreaming about ways to bring our creative visions to life. During many great meals of sushi and chicken piccata, we discussed developing a new kind of interactive book for kids.

Our company is called Amazing Books. We recognized that this simple title tells it all. It’s our mission to create the most enjoyable, highest quality interactive multimedia books available today. Our first series of books reinvents the classic pop-up book, allowing the user to participate in the flow of the animation on every page. With the ability to see the action in 3d by using any pair of red and blue glasses, the characters and scenes literally pop off the page.

MO: What made you get into iPhone app development?

Doug: Ben and I did some research and we quickly recognized that the iPhone and especially the iPad presented the most robust and unique set of tools to bring the vision of what we saw in our heads into reality. The ability to interact with your fingers on the screen without having to use a touch pad or mouse, was key to letting anyone from a 2 year old to an adult become immersed in the story and animations without any artificial barrier.

Ben: We immediately realized that the format of our book app would allow us to create multiple stories and styles of books very quickly while keeping quality at the highest level. Additionally the technology would allow updates with new features and a wonderful pipeline of user feedback.

MO: How did you come up with the idea for your Amazing Books app?

Doug: While I was animating a scene on my computer at home for a short movie I was starting, I began checking my work. This procedure involved looking at a series of frames of my animations and flipping back and forth between them very quickly in something called a flip book. My then 5 year old daughter came in the room and saw me checking my work. She quickly said, “Hey Dad, that looks like fun! Can I try it?” So I let her sit down and scrub the animation back and forth. She continued the actions for a few minutes, laughing hysterically as she controlled the character as it walked, tripped and fell, then she reversed the animation and did it again. So I thought to myself: Hmmm…. I bet a lot of kids would like the chance to do this with stories that they read. Thus the idea of Flomotion was born.

MO: How long did it take for you to get your first app from idea to the App Store?

Doug: It took about 3 months from that initial dinner I had with Ben when I first pitched him the idea, to the time our first book, The Three Little Pigs 3D, appeared in the iTunes market. But in reality it took me years to develop the skill sets I would need to get the project done. These skills included writing the stories, designing and modeling the characters, working with our outstanding voice talent, and benefiting from the amazing contributions from our legendary musical supervisor, Richard M. Sherman. Learning the ins and outs of stereoscopic technology was also a creative challenge I readily embraced.

Ben: I used the techniques I had developed for years to constantly push the app into as many hands as possible, both at its concept stage, as well as after it was completed. You can have the best idea in the world, but if no one sees it, it won’t be brought to fruition. I researched PR firms, blogs, websites and press releases to find the best possible avenues to spread the word of what we were attempting to do. Doug and I definitely want to thank Ted, Lisa and Will, our friends at Ionic Media who have been so helpful setting the social networking foundation for what we hope will be a long term and sustained marketing push as we grow.

MO: What was it like when you sold your first app?

Doug: Its was a thrilling experience. To see your work appreciated and enjoyed by other people is a fantastic feeling. I have many other stories and characters I have developed over my years in the entertainment industry, and most of those characters are sitting on my hard drive at home, where no one ever sees them. I have happily worked on some movies and commercials, working on the visions of others. But nothing can compare to spending each day bringing your own creations to life.

Ben: It’s wonderful. To have both of our first apps be so prominently featured by Apple is a great motivational factor that drives us to make more books, different types and styles as well. Our second series that will be available in late Nov., is our first in a series of travel books for kids. My First Trip to Washington D.C. uses beautiful high resolution photographs and new characters, combined with a multitude of fun facts and traveling ideas that can prepare any kid for a big city vacation. It will also be available in Stereoscopic versions for the iPad as well.

Doug: You haven’t really seen a dollar bill until you see George Washington pop right off the bill and land in your lap the way it does in our book!

Ben: Seriously.. Its amazing!

MO: What are are the challenges of developing for the iPhone?

Ben: I would say the biggest challenge we faced was finding a great programmer for our iPad app. The iPad is so new that it was surprisingly difficult to get just the right fit we were looking for in a coding partner.

MO: If you knew then what you know now what would you do differently on your first app?

Ben: To be honest, I would say that Doug and I used every negative experience we had on previous projects to avoid the pitfalls we encountered before. The lessons to constantly keep in mind as you develop projects like this are, 1. Try your best to balance the ideas you want to put into your app with the strengths you have. 2. Sit down before you start and list every contact you have developed over the years, every asset you can bring to the table, the time you can spend on development and most importantly your finances. If you do that, the goals you can realistically accomplish become quite clear when it’s all laid out in front of you.

MO: What advice would you give someone wanting to develop for iOS?

Doug: If you are an independent developer like we are, it’s probably better to get a good first version of your app out, done and in the market, rather than spend forever tinkering with every possible feature you can imagine. Five years later, you still won’t be done. Apple has a wonderful system for updates, and really seems to aid in the process.

MO: Any marketing advice for someone having a tough go at marketing their app?

Ben: Again, it’s just as crucial if not more so to make a plan to market your app. If you can afford a PR company, that’s great and they will help a lot. But if you can’t, there are blogs and websites and forums that you will need to spend time reaching out to, and keeping up with. Setting up your Twitter and Facebook pages are great assets to getting your brand out there. Most importantly, keep updating. Keep spreading the word. Eventually you will get noticed and hopefully it’s the spark that lights the flame.

MO: Thank you very much for taking the time to answer our questions. Best of luck to you with your apps.

In a hour or so Apple is going to make an announcement. What could it be? It comes as no surprise that many people are busting out their crystal ball and taking a guess. Here are some of the possibilities:

1. A cloud based music service.
2. The obvious, iOS 4.2.
3. Official Verizon iPhone announcement.
4. The Beatles music library available on iTunes.
5. Some sort of music subscription service.

Whatever it is, Apple has promised it will be unforgettable. What do you think it is?

Dropbox is one of the best free tools to ever hit the Mac. Much more than a simple backup utility, people use Dropbox in all sorts of different ways, from hosting entire websites to sharing files with classmates.

The Dropbox API makes it possible for developers to integrate Dropbox functionality into their own apps. The most popular use of this technology we’re seeing on the iPhone is a recent crop of Dropbox-compatible note-taking applications. These apps allow you to create notes on your iPhone and then access them on any computer or mobile device where you have Dropbox installed. Below we’ll take a brief look at a few of these Dropbox note apps so you can decide which is best for you.

PlainText – Dropbox text editing

We’ll start off with an app that’s simple, attractive and free; just like Dropbox. I really like the PlainText interface, it’s super minimal with attractive use of thin lines and old style serif typography.

PlainText for iPhone

Plain Text doesn’t try to be cute or give you some trendy theme but instead focuses on high usability and readability. Unsurprisingly, it’s from the same developer as Writeroom, another awesomely simple text editing application for both Mac and iOS.

PlainText also looks beautiful on the iPad:

PlainText for iPad

Nebulous Notes

While PlainText seeks to standout in its simplicity, Nebulous Notes goes the opposite route by setting itself up as one of the most powerful Dropbox text editors around.

Apart from the obvious Dropbox syncing functionality, this app has a number of advanced features including TextExpander support, customizable fonts, full-screen editing, multiline tabbing, word count with goals, and an awesome customizable macro system for frequently used keys that aren’t easy to access on the iPhone.

Nebulous Notes

Another great feature is the ability to choose from various visual themes for for coding, writing, and dream journaling. If you like the dark environment of Writeroom but want the convenience of Dropbox integration, you’ll definitely want to check this app out.

Nocs (with Dropbox & Markdown)

Nocs takes a completely different route for text editing by focusing on rich formatting. The text editors above are great for simple text, but what if you want bold headers, links or bullet lists?

Nocs (with Dropbox & Markdown)

This is where Markdown comes in. Using this simple language, you can easily apply formatting to your writing using special symbols. To learn more about Markdown, check out our recent review of a markdown email client.

Nocs, allows you to create documents using Markdown, preview them with the formatting and even export them as HTML. It also has support for a number of file types including PDFs, Pages documents, Word Documents and more.

Other Dropbox Text Editors

The three apps above represent the range of basic concepts under which developers are releasing Dropbox notes applications. There are a few more apps that you might want to check out that basically mimic the functionality of one of those above, with slight variations.

• Droptext (A text editor for Dropbox): $0.99
• Elements – Dropbox Powered Text Editor: $4.99
• Notesy for Dropbox: $1.99
• JotAgent ~ quick Dropbox notes: $0.99
• Textforce – Dropbox text editing: $3.99

Conclusion

To sum up, if you’ve been searching for a good way to create text documents and share them across all your various computing devices, check out the great selection of Dropbox text editors in the app store. Whether you’re looking for simple text and a beautiful interface, or powerful features and Markdown formatting, the apps above will get you what you need.

Leave a comment below and let us know which of these apps you use. Also be sure to let us know about any other great Dropbox utilities you’ve come across.

In the fast-paced landscape of the App Store, it’s very rare that a game can make us slow down and pause in genuine admiration. Some manage it with good humour or a clever new mechanic, others with the sheer beauty of their presentation. Sometimes the two come together. Among those few titles is Osmos: a game designed for contemplation.

Eschewing hyperactivity in favour of a more patient pace, Osmos offers gamers a gorgeous and fluid environment in which the simple task of growing your single-celled organism is explored through 2 different game modes and 8 distinct level formats for a total of 72 diverse levels. It is one of the most highly acclaimed games on the App Store and, as we’re about to discover, the praise is well earned.

What is Osmos?

If you’ve played Spore or Fl0w, then Osmos will feel familiar to you, aesthetically speaking. Similar to those two titles is Osmos’ primary goal of growing your creature by absorbing others. This struggle takes place among exquisitely detailed circular single-celled organisms that inhabit various neutral environments.

This Is You

Along the way, you will encounter several “species” of organism, some of which are intelligent and very evasive, and others that are harmless but huge. You will also have to contend with various environmental hazards including vortexes and pressure jets that add an extra layer of complication. Of course, despite the variety of gameplay situations, the underlying mechanic remains the same and is pleasantly accessible to players of all skill levels. Osmos is very much an example of a game that has something for everyone: enjoyment for those who just want to pick it up and play occasionally, as well as deeper satisfaction for others who delve into the various gameplay modes.

Gameplay

Despite its similar premise to the titles mentioned before, Osmos differs in the exact game mechanic. Instead of being able to move freely across the landscape to reach and chase other organisms, movement in Osmos requires a sacrifice of your organism’s size — each time you want to move, your little cell ejects some fluid from its body to propel it in the direction of your choice.

The difference is subtle, but the implications are not. This consequence of movement forces you to consider each motion carefully, since losing too much of your size will make you too small to absorb some of the other organisms and can actually force you to restart a level if you’re too careless. It is worth mentioning though that the designers have been judicious about just how much mass you lose for each motion; it truly is only a small amount, which ensures that navigating doesn’t end up being frustrating.

Jet Propulsion

Controls

Osmos makes liberal use of the multi-touch capabilities of your iOS device by utilizing multiple-finger taps and swiping for its controls. To move your cell, you tap behind it. Each tap releases a brief spurt of fluid that propels your in the opposite direction. The physics are realistic and momentum plays a huge role in the way you move about. Just like in the real world, the most energy needs to be exerted to begin moving, after that you can make do with fewer spurts just to adjust your course or change direction and let momentum do the rest. Another interesting aspect of this movement system is that you can actually re-absorb the liquid you expend to move — it jets out in small bubbles that continue to inhabit the environment, so if you come up against them later on you will be able to take back that lost mass.

Since some levels will require you to be extremely conservative about how much fluid you expend to move, you may have to move very slowly to absorb your first targets. Thankfully, Osmos includes a time controlling mechanic that allows you to speed up (and slow down) time by swiping left or right across the screen. Swiping faster or slower will affect the degree to which game time is affected, giving you precise control over how much of a time warp you’d like to apply. This is especially useful when you start off very small and have to navigate between many larger cells to find edible targets, allowing you to move patiently but not have to wait forever for momentum to carry you to your destination.

The menu is accessible at any time via a three or four-finger tap, and acknowledging on-screen prompts in-game is accomplished with a quick two-finger tap.

Interface

One of Osmos’ best features is its minimalistic UI design. Besides looking clean and uncluttered, the lack of obtrusive interface elements helps the game itself disappear, leaving only the experience, which can get quite immersive. This is especially true of the title when you’re playing on the large screen of an iPad, or the high-resolution Retina Display on the iPhone 4 (for which the game has recently been optimized).

Osmos

The game’s main menu appears quickly after launch (no endless ads and logos) and offers you quick access to the game’s two main modes as well as areas for adjusting settings, checking your achievements, viewing the credits and controls, handling OpenFeint connection, and — most interestingly — an entirely separate page dedicated to showcasing the artists responsible for the game’s spectacular ambient music, which you are directed to check out on iTunes right from the game.

Modes and Level Types

There are two primary game modes in Osmos: Odyssey and Arcade. As the name suggests, the Odyssey mode is something like an extended tutorial or “story” mode. There is no actual plot, of course, but it gradually introduces you to the game’s core mechanic and then begins introducing each of the 8 level types as you progress. These types are unlocked by playing the Odyssey mode and are called Ambient, Antimatter, Impasse, Repulsor, Sentient, Warped Chaos, Epicycles, and Solar. Each one features some twist on the core gameplay that adds an extra layer of challenge.

Main Menu

For instance, the Repulsor levels pit you against another cell that is magnetically repulsed by you, so you’ll have to find ways to grow big enough to corner it before you can absorb it. The Sentient levels are among the trickiest since you must struggle to absorb an AI-controlled organism that can grow and avoid you with surprising intelligence.

The second primary game mode is Arcade, which allows you to play the game in any of the level types you’ve unlocked. Each level type serves as a category with several procedurally-generated individual levels in each, progressing in difficulty from the basic one that introduces the new mechanic up to the later ones where your skill will be sorely tested.

Arcade Mode Menu

Perhaps the greatest advantage that this setup offers is that while there are certainly fast-paced and very difficult levels available for those interested in a challenge, the more peaceful ambient levels are always available for those just wishing to drop in for a quick relaxing game session.

Presentation

Where Osmos truly distinguishes itself is in the strength of its presentation. Hemisphere Games have outdone themselves here, producing a vividly realized world that feels authentic in its depiction of the strange little alien cells. Colours are attractive without being garishly saturated, and the fluid animations are perfectly in tune with the physics of the game.

Osmos

Sound design also deserves special mention because the ambient sound effects are treated very tastefully; there are no annoying sounds here, and the collection of ambient tunes is very fitting. Some tracks are more interesting than others, but all of them undoubtedly contribute to the game’s amazing atmosphere which, as they suggest, is best experienced on headphones. Fans of silence can turn the music and sound effects down or right off independently, and if you do like the music then Osmos makes it easy to find more of it on iTunes via the dedicated menu page.

Parting Thoughts

Recommending Osmos is the easy part. Describing why is trickier. On the face of it, the game mechanic isn’t hugely innovative, and even the polished presentation (fantastic as it is) is not entirely unique on the App Store. What makes Osmos different is something less tangible: the atmosphere. The way that everything comes together makes for an experience that’s legitimately immersive and the fact that it’s paced a bit more slowly than your average iOS game is a breath of fresh air.

The ideal scenario would be for Hemisphere Games to put out a free version so that people could get a feel for the game before shelling out the $2.99 for the full version, but they seem to be content to maintain the one version and simply do occasional discounts when they make it back into the charts. It’s a fair approach, but allowing people to try a few levels and get a sense for it seems like it might be a good idea. Alas, in the meantime those who have yet to check out Osmos can stick to reading about it and watching the trailer, or bugging their friends who’ve got it for a turn.

Conclusion

In the end, Osmos’ appeal to you will depend on how much patience you have for a game that challenges you without rushing you; one that compels you to appreciate its aesthetics as it draws you into its blissful atmosphere. For those people, you’d be hard pressed to find a finer title on the entirety of the App Store. For the rest, Osmos may just be a curiosity. But it is still a beautiful and deep curiosity that is worth exploring.

Which category do you find yourself in? Leave us your thoughts about Osmos in the comments!

In this Quick Look, we’re highlighting No More Socks. The developer describes No More Socks as “not just another Xmas list app – it’s the ultimate iPhone app for gift planning for Xmas and for all other events, all year round.”

“Store and organise your gift ideas, find & bookmark gifts online and go shopping without leaving the app. There is no other app like it. Add notes, set budgets, specify your first choices, do research, organise, re-organise… or, keep it simple.”

Read on for more information and screenshots!

Screenshots

No More Socks

About the App

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

• Quickly enter a note or a photo wherever you are with the Ideas Pad
• Keep a running list of ideas for each person you buy for, know what you bought them last year & be reminded about their birthday
• Search the web & create multiple bookmarks for your gift on retailers’ websites
• Export shopping lists, including bookmarks, to your computer via email
• Get everything you need from a shop in one visit with smart shopping lists

Requirements: iOS >= 3.1.3

Price: $0.99

Developer: Food for Benjamin

Vote for a Review

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Would you like to see No More Socks reviewed in-depth on AppStorm?customer surveys

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.

You may have seen MiniBooks ads here on AppStorm and have wondered what the company is all about. Though we aren’t obligated review the apps of our sponsors, this one is good enough that we wanted to share it with you.

MiniBooks is an iOS compatible app created by Groovy Squared. In this article, we’ll review MiniBooks, highlight the pros and cons of the app and discuss how this 3rd party FreshBooks add-on can unchain your small or medium business from your desk.

MiniBooks Extends FreshBooks Online Invoicing

Mike McDermott, the CEO of FreshBooks, describes his service as an online platform that was founded with the simple goal of using an online application rather than Excel spreadsheets or the Pages app to create and deliver invoices. Just about every consultant or freelancer is familiar with juggling handmade invoices and it is surprising how many small and medium business benefit from FreshBooks’ ability to solve their basic accounting problems.

Utilizing the FreshBooks API, MiniBooks fills that void and provides an elegant solution to a longstanding problem. By using MiniBooks in combination with FreshBooks, users are free to create invoices, review payments and even send snail mail paper invoices. One of the most valuable aspects of using MiniBooks with FreshBooks is that users have access to their full rolodex of customer contact information from within the MiniBooks app.

MiniBooks Light vs. MiniBooks

Two versions of MiniBooks exist. A free version and a paid version. Similar to FreshBooks’ own payment model, the difference between the free and paid versions come down to how many clients you have. Three or more clients require a full, $14.99 purchase while if you only work with 3 clients, the full app is completely free.

Since the majority of FreshBooks users have more than 3 clients in their database, having the option to try an unbranded, full version of MiniBooks with no upfront payment is a good feature.

You can download both the free and paid versions of MiniBooks directly from the App Store or on the product website: http://www.FreshBooks.com/MiniBooks/

The Major Features of MiniBooks

Reviewing the app and having an in-depth knowledge of FreshBooks, it appears as if Groovy Squared identified every major feature in the FreshBooks platform and integrated these features into the MiniBooks iOS app. Together, these features and functions provide an end-to-end solution for creating quotes and invoices on the road.

Create and Send Invoices

For many people, the ability to create and send professional invoices is what initially draws them into accounting packages such as FreshBooks and in turn, the MiniBooks iOS app for FreshBooks. After inputting basic customer contact information, small, medium and freelance businesses can create professional invoices to send to their customers via e-mail, IM, hand delivered print or even postal snail mail. MiniBooks extends this functionality, turning FreshBooks completely mobile on your iOS device.

Add a new invoice and then easily add new items to that invoice.

Record Payments

Perhaps the most important element of accounting in general is the ability to accurately record payments. It’s easy to see a client in person, put a cheque in your pocket and forget it’s there until the end of the month when it’s time to close the books. With MiniBooks, client payments can be received and accounted for immediately.

Recording a new payment involves selecting the invoice and then recording the payment method.

Create Estimates

While the days of the door-to-door vacuum salesperson are gone, MiniBooks gives users the ability to generate estimates anywhere. Long the dream of on-location support personnel, luncheon business negotiators and golf course deal closers, MiniBooks provides full access to the list of products and services available with the ability to generate e-mail, print or snail-mail delivered estimates. In MiniBooks, creating an estimate is almost identical to creating an invoice.

Issuing a new estimate is similar to creating an invoice in MiniBooks.

Track Time

This is the hidden gem of both MiniBooks and FreshBooks itself. With integrated time tracking it is very easy to track and invoice time. Much like a client-centric punch clock, it becomes very easy to account for the exact dates, times and details of labor. This feature also works well for clients who have the option to log in to their own private FreshBooks portal to view, in real time, how much time has been accrued and what the cost of that time will be.

Multiple timers can be running at the same time for each of your projects and tasks.

Reliable Data Storage and Synchronization

Businesses should be concerned with things such as security, backups and procedural data replication errors. Together, FreshBooks and MiniBooks address these issues head-on. Accounting data is automatically backed up in the cloud of FreshBooks’ secure infrastructure and since both the FreshBooks web-based software and the MiniBooks iOS software access the same data store, synchronization is occurs seamlessly.

Syncing data happens automatically with an outbox showing what is currently being transferred to FreshBooks.

Full Client Information

In order to properly address invoices in FreshBooks, it is important to have accurate, up-to-date information in the FreshBooks database. For many freelancers and small businesses, this contact database quickly becomes their go-to for phone numbers, contact names, addresses, etc. With MiniBooks, users have full access to this information on their iOS device.

Client information is easy to access and can be updated from within the MiniBooks app.

Drawbacks and Issues

MiniBooks is an almost perfect extension of FreshBooks. Any developer worth his or her salt will tell you, there are always improvements that could be made. The points below highlight the spots where MiniBooks and in some cases, the FreshBooks API itself could improve.

• MiniBooks was not developed by FreshBooks. As a result, MiniBooks retrieves and saves data using the public FreshBooks API. This means that MiniBooks is at the mercy of the complexities and shortcomings of the API.
• Setting up MiniBooks requires that the user input their unique FreshBooks Authentication Token. This token identifies the MiniBooks user and allows the software to communicate with the API. If MiniBooks was fully ingrained in FreshBooks, a unique download link could appear within the FreshBooks online software itself so that this itchy setup step could be avoided.
• FreshBooks allows companies to give employees Staff Member privileges to create invoices but not access all of the company data. The FreshBooks API is not provisioned for this feature and as a result, MiniBooks users who are employees of a medium sized business using FreshBooks can not use the app.
• Taxes present perhaps the most significant drawback of the MiniBooks app. The FreshBooks API does not allow taxes to be synced and as a result, taxes that are input in the MiniBooks app must also be manually input in FreshBooks online.
• Groovy Squared reports in their FAQ that each of these issues lies entirely in the FreshBooks API and not in their software. While these 3 issues are significant, they do not impede the day-to-day use of the MiniBooks app for the majority of users.
• Beyond the limitations of the FreshBooks API, MiniBooks allows users to access the full contact information of the clients they have input into FreshBooks. MiniBooks does not utilize the iOS core data contact API to sync contacts between the iOS contact book and to the FreshBooks API. This isn’t a limitation or a problem, but full syncing between the iOS contact book with MiniBooks would be a nice feature to have.
• Similar to time tracking and contact management, FreshBooks gives users the ability to record expenses and tie those expenses to individual clients. It would be useful to utilize the iPhone camera to attach photos of those receipts to the Notes section of the FreshBooks list of expenses. Alternatively, providing an easy way to browse to an online image and include it would be a welcome feature.

Summary

MiniBooks leverages the power of the popular web-based invoicing application, FreshBooks. By integrating familiar iOS user interface elements into the processes FreshBooks uses, MiniBooks successfully translates the web based service onto the iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad.

MiniBooks is easy to use alongside FreshBooks to provide a complete desktop and mobile invoicing and client management solution. Compared to inadequate solutions such as Excel invoice templates or expensive options such as QuickBooks Online, the MiniBooks and FreshBooks combo provides a solid one-two knockout punch for small and medium business invoicing.

Rather than focusing on a single app, we’ll take a brief look into the entire selection from a developer with a solid reputation and great selection of applications.

Today’s developer is Ryohin Keikaku Co., Ltd, creator of the popular Muji apps line. Muji Apps comprise a applications that are also incredibly practical. Below we’ll check out the three primary Muji apps: Muji Calendar, Muji Notebook and Muji to Go.

Muji Calendar

The first app in the Muji lineup is Muji Calendar. The basic inspiration here seems to be a greatly simplified version of the default iPad calendar. You’ll see many similar controls and UI features.

The design is perfect in its simplicity and will be refreshing to anyone who isn’t a fan of the pseudo-realism seen in the default apps. The screenshots below don’t really do it justice, you need to see it in action to really appreciate the design.

Muji Calendar

There are several things that I like about Muji Calendar that you won’t see in the default calendar app. For starters, the year view shown above is quite handy. The interactivity is also stellar. To navigate the app, you pinch and spread your fingers. So for example, from the year view if you want to zoom in on the week of December 5th, you do a spread gesture on December to zoom into month view, then again to see the week view. This is a really fun and intuitive way to jump around from date to date.

Other great features include integrated Google Calendar sync, drag and drop event rescheduling, todos, searching, and the ability to add icons to events.

Best of all, Muji Calendar is completely free so you should head over to the App Store and grab it now!

Muji Notebook

Muji Notebook is an innovative take on the all-in-one notes app. You can input notes via handwriting recognition (with word prediction) or typing. You can also simply draw on the canvas with your finger.

Muji Notebook

The drawing tools are pretty basic and similar in concept to that in Adobe Ideas: You can select the width, opacity and color of your marker. As for the background to your notes, you can either import an image to work over or choose from one of four page types: ruled, gridded, quadrant, and plain.

There are a few bugs that need to be worked out but it’s definitely still an enjoyable experience and is perfect for visual thinkers.

Muji notebook is currently $3.99 in the App Store.

Muji to Go

Muji to Go is a multi-use Pad utility designed for world travelers. The interface utilizes the familiar Muji red and follows the simple and attractive trend seen in the other two apps.

Muji to Go

As you can see in the image above, Muji to Go has five primary functions: weather, world clock, a power outlet reference for various countries, a currency exchange chart and a calculator (a Google search feature is also included but is basically just plain old Google).

The weather and clock section are awesome for viewing information from several places around the world all at once. In fact, I actually like Muji to Go better than many apps that are dedicated to just one of these functions. The calculator is also quite handy as the iPad is strangely missing one by default. The calculation history section makes this feature alone worth the download.

Like Muji Calendar, Muji to Go is both beautiful and free, an awesome combination.

Conclusion

The full line of Muji apps will make a great addition to your iPad, both from an aesthetic and functional perspective. At the very least, go grab the two free apps so you can decide whether they’re good enough to make you want to purchase the third.

Leave a comment below and tell us about other developers that you think are worthy of a developer spotlight. List any company you know of with a solid line of really great apps and we’ll take a look!

As technology progresses, the concept of cash, or physical money, seems less and less relevant with each passing day. With the advent of bank cards, and mobile computing, it’s no longer necessary to carry a wallet filled with bills. It’s not uncommon to see cash registers at stores that don’t accept cash. Every system available now is tailored to businesses, making it easier for consumers to make purchases. But the bank card has a major limitation when dealing with money transfers between two individuals; enter Square.

Square is an iPhone application which serves many purposes. It works for small businesses, and it works for individuals. A free application, that comes with a free Square Reader. This reader plugs into the headphone jack on your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, and now Andriod device, and requires nothing more than a WiFi or 3G internet connection to work. Empowering anyone and everyone to accept money transfers through the use of credit and debit cards.

In this article, I plan to explain the full gamut of features Square offers, but later I’m going to share a little story that I think perfectly demonstrates why Square is such a powerful concept. As I mentioned above, Square now offers their app on the Andriod platform as well. But in this article we’re only going to be covering the iOS version.

Getting Started With Square

First things first, in order to begin accepting money through square you’ll need an account. You’ll manage your account through their website at Squareup.com but to get going, you’ll need to first create an account from directly within the iOS app. You can search the app store for the term “Square”, or you can find it directly in iTunes via this link. Install the app on your device and fire it up, you’ll immediately notice how clean the UI is, and how they really seemed to focus on making this process as pain free as possible. Click the Create an Account button to begin.

Signup & Fees

As with any other credit card processing tool, there are fees involved. One thing I’d like to point out is just how reasonable the fees Square applies are. Most merchants charge a fee per transaction, ranging from 2% – 5%, and also require the purchase of expensive card processing equipment, and various other set rate fees based on the the amount you will be using the service. With Square, there is the standard per transaction fee, but after that you pay absolutely nothing. Which is a major selling point for individuals and small businesses. Here are a few other things you’ll need to know.

• Square charges two types of fees depending on the situation.
1. If a physical card is present and can be swiped, Square charges 2.75% + $0.15 per transaction.
2. If no physical card is present, and the information must be manually keyed in, Square charges 3.5% + $0.15 per transaction.
• The Square service is limited to people that have a U.S. bank account. So if you’re living outside of the States, you can’t yet use Square. You will need to provide Square with your account number
• You’ll need to provide them with your mailing address
• You’ll also need to provide them with your Social Security Number. They run a basic credit check, in order to approve you to accept payments. But I’m pretty sure this is also a means to prevent fraudulent activity, linking every Square account to an actual person.
• At the time of writing, Square is employing a $60 max transaction. Again to prevent fraudulent activity. It makes sense, but it’s very limiting for small businesses, that may have to charge more than $60. They’ve made many statements explaining that they are working on other forms of protection that should hopefully remove this cap, or at the very least increase it to a more usable limit.

The Reader

Once your account is set up and approved, Square will send out your free card reader. The initial response seemed to be more than they planned for, with my first reader taking nearly 7 months to arrive. But according to messages on their forums, they’ve caught up with the backlog and readers are being sent out much more promptly now.

When my reader finally came, I couldn’t wait to start using it, and immediately ran into an issue. When Square went live the latest iPhone available was the 3GS. So Square shipped their readers with an extra little chunk of metal at the base, providing more length to the plug. This is because of Apple’s genius idea of making their original iPhone with a longer headphone port than standard, so that you couldn’t use any other headphones without buying an adapter. The problem I had was that the iPhone 4, no longer requires this extra length, and due to the metal frame of the iPhone 4, there was a grounding problem when the metal part of the reader touched the phone’s frame, causing the app to not find the reader. I turned to the forums, and found a little trick one of their users came up with, which involved shrink wrap tubing, cut to size, and then heated to shrink the tubing around the extra metal. It was a jerry rigged solution, but it worked.

They got the issue sorted, and within a week they sent me a new and improved reader, once again, free of charge. The new reader still has the longer plug, but this time is covered by plastic at the top, preventing the metal on metal contact that plagued the first version of the reader. In the process of fixing this, they went ahead and improved the reader as well, making it slimmer, and capable of reading swipes of various speed. Overall the new reader seems much more responsive, and a bit more solid. Oh and they also send a nice sticker along with the device, which you can stick to a window, or counter to tell the world you accept payments with Square.

Square Readers

Using Square

Okay so your account is set up, you’ve got the app installed on your device, and your reader finally came, it’s time to start processing payments. This is where Square really hit a home run, it couldn’t be any easier!

1. Launch the app & login to your account
2. Plug in the reader and wait for the little icon to appear right above the keypad.
3. Type in a dollar amount you’d like to charge.
4. You can add a text description to the transaction, and even take a picture using your camera of an item to go along with the transaction.
5. When you’re ready, swipe the credit card. You’ll notice the reader icon will change to the logo of the credit card and show the last 4 digits of the card number. It will begin authorizing
6. Hand the device over to the customer, so they can sign their name on the screen, and then input their email address to get a receipt sent to them.
7. And finally, smile, because you just processed a credit card payment.

A look at the transaction process

Square will email receipts of the transaction

Managing Your Account

Now that you’re up and running, you’ll want to set up your account through the website. Head to Squareup.com and login using your credentials. Here you can see an overview of your account, including any transactions you’ve made or processed. As well as withdraw your money to your bank account, and issue refunds.

What We Like

• The whole process just works.
• The interface is well designed, and super easy to use.
• The receipts are beautiful, providing much more information to the customer than standard receipts everyone’s so used to seeing. Receipts show what was purchased and when, it shows how many times you’ve purchased from this person, and even shows a map of where the transaction took place.
• Low processing fees, and no cost for the app or the reader.
• The iPad version of the app also lets you input preset items. You can enter the item name, description, and take a picture of it. So at the point of sale, there’s no need to fumble around and input everything, just select the item, the quantity, and swipe!

Sample Receipt

What We Don’t Like

• Initial trouble with the reader, but Square addressed this issue quickly.
• It’s only available to US residents.
• Low cap of $60 per transaction.

Final Thoughts

I admit, most of this article seems to make this seem like it’s only usable by businesses, but that’s definitely not the case. I’m not sure how many of you can relate, but my best friend is a bit sheisty. We go out to eat often, and when the bill comes, he’s always using the excuse that he only has his card, and asks me to pay the bill and he’ll pay me back. Unfortunately for me, my friend loves to exploit my terrible memory, and never actually pays me back! Without telling him I received the device, I invited him out for a few drinks. When the bill came, he began his usual speech, and I promptly cut him off to let him know that I now accept credit cards. I wish I got a picture of his reaction to show you all, because it was priceless. I paid the bill, and immediately rang him up for his portion, swiping his credit card, and having a good laugh from it. So while it does work brilliantly for small businesses, I’m using my Square reader as a way to transfer money when needed, and boy does it feel great!

The app is great for so many different types of businesses. A food truck that frequents my area just began using it, and according to the business owner, it’s increased her overall sales. Mainly because it was too expensive and difficult to accept credit cards before Square, and many of her potential customers didn’t always have cash. It truly is a revolutionary idea, and one that I’m really surprised didn’t happen earlier. Cash is a dying medium, digital money is the future!

Update: No $60 Limit!

As a few commenters have pointed out below, it looks like the $60 limit is gone, making this a near perfect app in our book!

So, your App is ready and now you only need a mini-website to showcase it and tell all your friends and the whole world about it!

The only problem is that you don’t have the funds to hire a web designer and really don’t know where to start!

Worry not. Help is at hand…

The folks over at iTuts have written an amazing post that walks you through a step by step process of creating a website layout for your iPhone App using Photoshop. This is very handy as it will show you how to go about making the web page design for your App. You must have basic Photoshop skills to do this – which is not too hard to acquire with a little bit of practice.

Along the way, you will learn how to create nice effects inspired by iPhone and Apple. You will play a bit with some blending options and you will integrate some custom graphics which will beautify the layout.

Also, you will learn how to take advantage of a few fundamental tools in Photoshop such as Rectangle Tool, Shape Tool and Marquee Tool.

Here’s the full post

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Musicians love the iPad — it’s a powerful computer with an intuitive interface, and that turns Apple’s tablet into one of the best musical instruments (both real and virtual) around. Now, Damon Albarn, formerly of Blur and now frontman for the band Gorillaz, has become a fan as well. He tells NME that he’s making a brand new record completely on the revolutionary and magical device. “I hope I’ll be making the first record on an iPad,” he said. “I fell in love with my iPad as soon as I got it, so I’ve made a completely different kind of record.”

That sounds interesting — the album is apparently an official Gorillaz album (Albarn frequently collaborates with all kinds of artists for the “band’s” music), and Albarn says it should be out sometime soon, “before Christmas.” We’ll have to look forward to it — all of the iPad music we’ve heard so far sounds great, and it’ll be intriguing to see what kinds of decisions Albarn makes just by working on an iPad.

[via 9to5Mac]

Damon Albarn making next Gorillaz album completely on an iPad originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 15 Nov 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Mac OS X Server 10.6.5 update is back online, now marked v1.1 and with an incremented build number. It’s available through Software Update and for download after fixing a memory aliasing issue in Dovecot’s handling of user names.

We reported earlier that the 10.6.5 Server update was pulled briefly, coincident with reports of a number of issues. These included problems with Whole Disk Encryption, DNS resolution issues, LDAP/Open Directory master hiccups and remote connection drops.

It’s not clear yet whether the revised update is only associated with the reported security issue, or if it’s going to address the other problems reported. Our advice: Wait a few days before applying, use a non-production server to test, and back up first.

10.6.5 server update back online, with a small security tweak originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 15 Nov 2010 19:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In what I can comfortably say is a previously unimagined application, the iPad is now being used as an election promise to entice voters in Australia. ZDNet notes that the promise was made last week by Victorian Premier John Brumby as part of a proposed new state health policy, which would see iPads given to every doctor in Victoria’s public hospitals, “noting their potential to impact positively on long-term hospital problems such as scheduling across the health ecosystem”. Australia-based iSoft, an e-health vendor, has welcomed the policy due to their interest in targeting the iPad for use with its medical applications. Victoria has invested $360 million in an extensive overhaul of its record-keeping systems and iSoft is a key supplier of their efforts.

My own dermatologist uses an iPad during exams and has said it makes record keeping much easier for his nurses and assistants. Meanwhile, I just sit there thinking it’s cool to see my doctor carrying around an iPad. It’s only a matter of time before tablet computing takes over for paper records in medical settings.

[via MacDailyNews]

Australia election campaign promises iPads in every hospital originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 15 Nov 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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