Category: I-phone

The survey was collected from fairly large institutions, averaging about 16,500 students. On average, 31 percent of students and 24 percent of faculty are currently using Macs on campus. An August report by Student Monitor stated that 27 percent of laptops found on campus were Macs, 24 percent were made by Dell, and 15 percent were Hewlett Packards, easily giving Apple the lion’s share of the Higher Education laptop market. The study also found that nearly half of students in the market for a laptop said that they would buy a Mac. Compare that with a survey done in 2005, where only 14 percent of students queried were interested in a Mac laptop, and about half said they were buying a Dell.

Windows is still the most prevalent operating system, but the gap is closing. Student Monitor reported that in 2003, over 2500 institutions were using Windows, while only 200 used Macs. By 2008, the gap closed dramatically, with about 2000 institutions using Windows and 1100 using Macs; only a year later, 1700 schools were using Windows compared to 1400 using Macs.

What wasn’t mentioned in any survey (and seemed a rather obvious thing to leave out): the “halo effect.” A major motivating factor in students buying Macs is that so many of them have iPods, iPhones, or iPads and have been impressed by them, making Macs a much easier sell.

The current state of Mac use in higher education originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 15 Nov 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ash is a game that hearkens back to a simpler time, when strong RPG stories could be told in just two dimensions, and enemies randomly jumped on you in dungeons only to kindly wait their turn to attack during the actual battles. Yes, it’s a Dragon Warrior-style RPG, and while the graphics actually place the game squarely in the 16-bit era, the gameplay is reminiscent of very old-school games, with an evil empire attacking the populace and a hero and his party caught in the middle of it all. Combat is turn-based, with each character choosing to attack, use skills, or heal, and townspeople not only provide you with something to do, they also offer up their shops and homes to your service as you roam the Empire of Aghaus.

If you’ve never played those old 16-bit RPGs, you might still enjoy this one. You might get lost in a few of the stranger conventions of the genre, though (and the difficulty — you definitely need to be careful and do some leveling before wandering too far into the first few areas). But if you grew up with this kind of game, Ash will probably hit you right in the nostalgia bone. For those players, it’s very well-worth US$4.99 on the App Store. Not only will you get a fun story and a solid experience to play through, but Ash will also help you remember all of those old worlds you visited before.

TUAW’s Daily App: Ash originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 15 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While people who have used both iOS and Android devices will argue over which OS exhibits a greater degree of polish, Android definitely has the better notification system. Even the addition of multitasking to iOS 4 did little to improve the state of notifications on iOS devices compared to Android.

Boxcar, which just reached version 4 on the App Store, is a great improvement over standard iOS notifications. Boxcar enables super-fast push notifications for services ranging from the internal mail app to Buzz, Twitter, Facebook, and Google Voice. An ad-supported version of Boxcar is available for free, but an in-app purchase of US$4.99 will eliminate the ads. The app is so good that TechCrunch’s MG Siegler thinks Apple should just buy Boxcar and incorporate it into iOS. At the very least, Apple should take some inspiration from Boxcar’s features for iOS 5.

[via Daring Fireball]

Boxcar 4.0 vastly improves on iPhone notifications originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 15 Nov 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Facebook has updated its popular iPhone app to version 3.3.2. The update includes bug fixes, but it also adds the long requested ability to access your account and privacy settings directly from the iPhone app without having to log into Facebook.com.

While you can now access account and privacy settings from within the app, the implementation of the account and privacy settings leaves something to be desired. Taping the Account button will bring up a menu that allows you to log out, go to the Facebook Help Center, or go to your privacy or account settings. Selecting account or privacy settings takes you to the Facebook website via the app’s built-in browser. Not the best implementation, but at least it’s accessible from within the app now.

Those hoping the updated app might provide some clues to the impending Facebook email announcement will be disappointed, as no changes in the app suggest Facebook email integration.

Facebook for iPhone updated with account and privacy settings access originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 15 Nov 2010 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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To publish your app to the app store it needs to have an icon, and it can not be the white one that you see by default in the simulator.

Lets create a new project. I’m going to create a View-Based Application and i’ll call it “iconApp”.

Creating icons is a simple task, but it used to be simpler.

Previously, when there was only one iPhone screen resolution you only had to create one version of the icon of the app. Today with the introduction of the iPad and the iPhone 4 the screen resolution has grown and you have to create a version of the icon for each device.

Older iPhones used to have a screen resolution of 320×480 pixels. Now iPhone 4 has 640×960 pixels.

The following are the sizes that must be used:

57×57 – for iPhones with the standard screen.
72×72 – for iPad.
114×114 – for the iPhone with Retina Display (iPhone 4).

To show you how to make an icon that works on any device i’m going to use the following icons: icon.png and iPhone4icon.png

Don’t worry about the rounded corners, or those shiny details of the iPhone icons, the iOS takes care of that.

The first for standard screen iPhone, the second for the iPad and the last for iPhone 4.

Drag this images to the resources folder of your xcode project.

Then it will ask you if you want to copy the files to the project folder, check “Copy items into destinations group’s folder (if needed)”.

Now go to the resources folder and find the iconApp-Info.plist, if you have a different name for your project then the file will be named [your project name].plist. Open it and locate the row “Icon file”.

There type the name of the icon for the standard screen.

Now we have to specify the alternative icons.

Click the plus (+) icon in the right to add a new row or right click the table and select Add Row.

In the key column select “Icon Files”. This kind of row is an array. If you click the arrow in the left you can see the contents.

Add two items just like we did with the plist from the Table View tutorial, the values are going to be the names of the icons: icon.png, iPadicon.png and iPhone4icon.png.

Now your plist should look like this:

And you are ready to go. Build and run the app using the iphone simulator, click the home button and you’ll see the icon.

To switch to iPhone 4 simulator select Hardware->Device->iPhone 4.

Then select the ipad simulator in the list above the “Overview” side of the Xcode window.

And build and run. Click the home button and you’ll see the iPad icon.

Notice that iOS rounded the corners and adds the lighting that makes the icon look even better.

Conclusion

This is the last tutorial of the “How to make an iPhone App” series.

At this point you have all the knowledge necessary to start developing your own iPhone applications.

I hope i see your cool apps in the appStore soon.

Good luck!

November 12th has come and gone and iOS 4.2 has not been released as MacStories had predicted.

MacRumors is reporting that iOS 4.2 should be released for the iPad on November 16th.

So why the delay?

According to MacStories the delay is a result of some iPad WiFi issues and there is a new iOS 4.2 GM on the way. It seems that if you get your iPad to connect to a local network the connection will drop pretty quickly. Quite an annoying issue and a good reason for the delay.

In other iOS 4.2 news it seems they have removed some functionality from iOS 4.2 for the iPhone 3g.

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

Back in the early days of the App Store, a developer released a $999 app called “I am rich” that did nothing more than display an image of a jewel. That app would have been more aptly titled “I have more money than brains,” but I digress. If you believe in the philosophy that only the best, or more accurately, the most expensive will do it for you, developer Paul Masson has come your rescue. Masson has created Luxury Apps and Luxury Apps HD for the iPhone/iPod touch and iPad respectively.

For the relatively modest but still over-priced tariff of $9.99, Luxury Apps searches the App Store for the priciest bundles of bits available. It then provides a list starting with the most expensive apps grouped by category. While there are certainly some outstanding apps available with prodigious price tags, these are typically specialty items for specific uses. The people that will spend $500-1,000 on BarMax are probably not searching for these apps by price, but rather by functionality, and don’t need something like Luxury Apps HD to help them. This app is clearly targeted at the same customers who would be marks for P.T. Barnum. In fact the customer base that might want an app like this might be more interested in a Vertu phone than an iPhone anyway.

Aside from Luxury Apps, Masson has several other apps that look more worthy of checking out such as Word Trainer (for intense Scrabble players) and Obscure Apps.

[via MacMegasite]

Luxury Apps helps you spend too much on iOS apps originally appeared on TUAW on Sun, 14 Nov 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Does it seem like you’ve been running Software Update on your Mac more than any other application lately? iTunes 10.1 has hit and Mac OS X 10.6.5 is in the wild, and over in the land of Apple mobile devices iOS 4.2 is about to drop.

Tonight on the TUAW Talkcast, we’ll talk all about the state of updates, what’s working and what’s not, what to expect from iOS 4.2 when it finally arrives, and even speculate about the future of Mac OS X.

If you haven’t joined us in the past for the Talkcast, you’re in for a treat. To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, or you can try out the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the “TalkShoe Web” button on our profile page at 10 PM Sunday. You can also join in through the Talkshoe iPhone web app. To call in on regular phone or VOIP lines (take advantange of your free cellphone weekend minutes if you like): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 — during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *-8. Talk with you then!

TUAW Talkcast tonight at 10 PM ET: Updates, updates, and updates originally appeared on TUAW on Sun, 14 Nov 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Although it’s too early to come to any firm conclusions, Apple’s new thin and light notebook computer may actually be hurting sales of the iPad. If true, this would be a distinct turn-around of the trend since the tablet landed earlier this year. In the months since its debut the iPad is generally credited with leading to a collapse in netbook sales.

Rodman & Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar cites anecdotal evidence that some consumers are taking a look at the new MacBook Air and deciding that its more complete functionality makes its a better option despite its slightly higher cost. Having a full keyboard, higher resolution display and USB ports make the Air more useful to anyone that has to do content creation. The lack of I/O other than the dock connector limits the user’s ability to work with media files on the iPad or even do more extensive writing.

Kumar also cites supplier checks with his assessment that production of the iPad might not be as high as some other analysts predict. According to Kumar only two million iPads are being produced each month, about one-third less than some projections. It will be very interesting to see how the sales numbers shake out when the October-December quarterly results are released in January. Can the iPad maintain it’s momentum? Or will the Air become the new champion?

Is the new MacBook Air eating into iPad sales? originally appeared on TUAW on Sat, 13 Nov 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Reiner Knizia’s classic Egyptian-themed auction and tile-collecting game Ra is not an easy one to figure out. When playing around a table, you need to collect the right tiles, look over to see what other people are collecting, keep an eye on the status of the sun/bid tiles and, in general, process a lot of changing information. If you enjoy this gameplay but don’t like setting up the game or dealing with scorekeeping, the new universal Ra app is sure to please, especially at US$4.99 (it debuted at $6.99, but quickly came down).

Ra for iOS was designed by Sage Board Games, the same people who brought us the excellent Medici and have a lot of wonderful board games in their “convert to app” sights. Because it’s such a popular game in the Eurogame community, a lot of people have been waiting for Ra, and it kind of feels like this is an important app for the developers. If it’s a success, then we expect more board game apps to come. If not, then what happens? We have no inside information on the company’s finances or strategic plan, but it’s probably not cheap to produce an app like this, and no one wants to lose money — even if they’re making things they love.

Does Ra make the grade? We think so, but read on to see what its like to get a bit of desert auction sand in your iPad or iPhone.

Continue reading App Review: Reiner Knizia’s Ra

App Review: Reiner Knizia’s Ra originally appeared on TUAW on Sat, 13 Nov 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPad users may have to wait a little longer than they’d like for features like multitasking and folder support, but at least one new feature is available right now: the iPad now supports Ping, Apple’s stab at a social media component to the iTunes Store. Via an update to the iTunes Store’s servers, Ping functionality is now available in the iTunes app on the iPad.

You’ll find all the usual Ping features in a tab on the iPad’s iTunes app: who you’re following, who follows you, and so forth. Just like when Ping came to the iPhone in early September, there’s nothing you need to do or download in order to get Ping working on the iPad other than open the iTunes app.

For some of us, Ping is a somewhat more enjoyable experience on the iPhone than on the Mac, and the same may be true of the iPad. Let us know in the comments how it works for you, and if this makes you more likely to actually use Ping.

Ping now available on iPad originally appeared on TUAW on Sat, 13 Nov 2010 23:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TUAW received a tip from reader Jared today, who sent us a copy of an email sent to him from Steve Jobs in response to a question he had asked. We verified the email headers, and it looks like the real thing.

In his email to Jobs, Jared asked if the new Apple TV would accept presentations via an iOS device or a Mac, and told his Steveness “if it will, I will go buy two at an apple store tonight.” Jobs replied, “It’s all coming soon. Stay tuned.”

As Jared pointed out, this could explain why iWork ’11 was not included in the Back to the Mac presentation in October. The software suite, which is made up of Keynote, Pages, and Numbers, might be ready to roll except for the ability to beam Keynote presentations to the Apple TV via WiFi. If that’s the case, we may see a release of iWork ’11 soon.

Steve-mail says Keynote ’11 to have AirPlay, Apple TV capabilities originally appeared on TUAW on Sat, 13 Nov 2010 16:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At least once a week, I use the iSight camera on my iMac act as the video source for TUAW TV Live. While it works very well, I sometimes need to add a second camera to the Mac in order to demonstrate something on an iPad or other device. That just hasn’t worked out too well, since many of the cameras that I’ve checked out are USB and tend to conflict with the iSight. And sometimes, I’ve just wanted a camera that I could take anywhere around my office to capture video.

SHAPE Services, the developer of a number of other iPhone apps such as Business Card Reader and Smart Scanner, has just released Mobiola WebCamera for iPhone (US$4.99). It turns your iPhone into a mobile webcam, and I happy to say that even as a “1.0 release,” it works very well.

To use WebCamera on your computer, you need to download a free client software package for Windows or Mac. One download contains the installers for both platforms, so if you have both a Mac and a PC, you’re in luck. Once the client app is installed and running on your computer, you use the app on your iPhone to connect to the computer over Wi-Fi and beam the live video to your computer.

Continue reading Mobiola WebCamera: a first look at an iPhone-based webcam app

Mobiola WebCamera: a first look at an iPhone-based webcam app originally appeared on TUAW on Sat, 13 Nov 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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