Has it really been a year since we started reviewing true turn by turn GPS solutions? It’s a one year anniversary for Navigon in the App Store, and the company is celebrating the event with a half off sale on almost every nav app and upgrade offered.

Here’s a breakdown:

MobileNavigator North America (includes maps for Canada & US): US $39.99 instead of $79.99
MobileNavigator USA: $24.99 instead of $49.99
MobileNavigator Canada: $29.99 instead of $59.99
MobileNavigator US MyRegion East, Central or West: $14.99 instead of $29.99, additional regions $11.99 instead of $14.99.

In-App Purchases
Traffic Live lifetime subscription: $12.99 instead of $19.99
Panorama View 3D: $4.99 instead of $9.99

TUAWNavigon has a half off sale on pretty much anything originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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QuakeCon is going down this weekend in AustinDallas, Texas — the annual celebration of everything id Software (makers of Quake and Doom, among a few other classic PC titles) features tournaments and panels on some of the hottest PC games around. But there’s already been one big Apple announcement: John Carmack has demonstrated id’s newest game, Rage, running at a full 60 frames per second on the iPhone.

We first heard of this game at QuakeCon a couple of years ago, and Carmack has always said that making sure it ran on the Mac would be a priority, but it looks like he’s delivered the goods. The demo was run on an iPhone 4, but Carmack said it worked great on the iPad as well. Carmack said the iPhone version would be out sometime this year, before the full version of Rage arrives on consoles and PC.

Oh, and icing on the cake? All of id’s iPhone titles are on sale during the show this weekend — Doom II RPG is down to just 99 cents, along with Wolfenstein 3D. Doom Classic and Doom Resurrection are US $1.99, down from the usual price of $6.99. If you’re in AustinDallas, don’t forget that QuakeCon is free and open to the public as well. All hail the great id!

TUAWRage demo’d at 60 fps on iPhone, id games on sale originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yesterday, we posted that Intuit was basically discontinuing Cha-Ching after hiring the developers and purchasing the app, and it was a little disappointing that they weren’t offering any upgrade plan. While Mint.com is free (and some of the Cha-Ching know-how was going to go into the Mint.com iPhone app), it’d be nice to at least get a discount on Quicken or something like that for current users. Fortunately, competitor Jumsoft is stepping up into the void — they’re offering 50% off of their Money app for OS X to current Cha-Ching customers. Usually, the app is $40, but if you submit proof of a Cha-Ching purchase (as I said yesterday, Cha-Ching was included in a MacHeist bundle a while back), they’ll give you half off until September 30th.

Jumsoft also has a free iPhone or iPad app of their own to sync with. So if you need a new financial app because Intuit has left you high and dry, this sounds like a great deal. Of course, Cha-Ching isn’t going to stop working just because it’s not for sale, but going forward, it will eventually need to be updated along with OS X, so if you depend on it as a financial app, you might have to look at switching over. Good on Jumsoft for picking up Intuit’s slack.

TUAWJumsoft offering 50% off Money for Cha-Ching customers originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gartner is reporting that worldwide sales of mobile phones running Android OS have surpassed iPhone sales for the second quarter of 2010. 10.6 million phones running the Android OS shipped during the last quarter, representing a 17.2% 2010 market share, compared to 8.74 million iOS phones, representing a 14.2% 2010 market share. The two top dogs are still Symbian, with 41.2% of the market and RIM with 18.2% of the market.

Google’s cheerleaders may cry foul, but to be fair to Apple, during the quarter they shipped exactly 3 phone models with iOS on them while carriers shipped over 20 different models of Android phones. We could also mention that a true Apples-to-apples comparison would include the non-phone iOS devices (the iPod touch and iPad) which continue to expand the iOS installed base at a furious pace.

Also, Apple was dealing with a transition to iPhone 4, which lead to constraint issues with the iPhone 3G and 3GS. As Gartner pointed out in its report, “Apple’s sales would have been higher if it had not had to face tight inventory management in preparation for the arrival of the iPhone 4 at the end of the second quarter of 2010. Apple also suffered from some supply constraint on the new device. We expect that a wider global roll out of iPhone 4 will sustain Apple’s sales momentum throughout the second half of 2010.”

Will the rest of 2010 be the Revenge of the iOS? The fact that the iPhone 4 is still sold out at over half of Apple’s US retail stores is a big check mark in the “yes” column. Whichever way this goes, it looks like one thing is certain — RIM is virtually sure to lose its second place position next quarter as both Android and iOS phones increase in popularity and market saturation.

TUAWAndroid sales worldwide pass iPhone totals for Q2 2010 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With the addition of the Safari Extensions Gallery to Apple’s website, TUAW will be highlighting extensions that we think are special, useful, or just plain fun.

TUAWSafari extension highlight: Facebook Photo Zoom originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While iOS 4 is a significant upgrade to Apple’s multi-touch operating system, it is not without its quirks. And one of these quirks (an extremely annoying one) is the Nike+ app. Simply put, the app is so buggy that it is almost unusable (the operative word here being “almost,” since it takes a lot of fiddling around to get it to work correctly).

A search for “Nike+ iOS 4” on the Apple and Nike support forums and Google will produce a smorgasbord of user complaints. I’ll address some of those here and offer some possible remedies.

TUAWNike plus is a minus on iOS 4 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Marketcircle has confirmed that Daylite will be coming to the iPad. I’ve been using Daylite and Daylite Touch for years (here’s our initial look at Daylite Touch). It’s a terrific productivity suite that keeps me on task and working (plus it looks great). Daylite Touch syncs with the Daylite server I’ve got happily running on an old G4 iMac. As I said, I love it, but I’ve also been wondering if and when it’ll move over to the iPad.

Work has begun on the app and they intend to have parity with the current version of Daylite Touch, so synchronization and licensing will be the same. I’m most eager to see how it makes use of the iPad’s larger screen. The calendar in the screenshot at right looks great and so much roomier than the iPhone version.

Good luck to the Marketcircle team. We’re eager to see what you make.

TUAWDaylite coming to the iPad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Released back in April, Chaos Rings for the iPhone became a runaway hit and a top seller soon after its debut on the App Store. Reviewers praised the title from Square Enix, and many of them felt that the US$12.99 iPhone title could easily have been a successful game on the Nintendo DS or Sony’s PSP at more than twice the price.

Square Enix promised that the game would be coming to the iPad, and it has delivered on that promise. Chaos Rings for iPad has just debuted and is now available for $15.99 on the US App Store. As far as we can tell from the screen shots, it’s essentially the same game as the iPhone version, but the resolution is bumped up to the iPad’s 1024 x 768, which allows for crisper details and a less cramped UI.

To celebrate the launch of Chaos Rings for iPad, Square Enix has reduced the price of all of its App Store games for the next two weeks. Chaos Rings for iPhone, for example, has gone from $12.99 to $9.99. Final Fantasy I has gone from US$8.99 to $6.99, and Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes has been deeply discounted from US$9.99 to $4.99. Square Enix’s games tend to be higher-priced than most others on the App Store (and deservedly so, given the quality of its titles), so if you’ve been holding off on checking out some of these titles because of pricing, now’s the time to jump in.

TUAWChaos Rings comes to iPad – all Square Enix games on sale originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve covered the issue tangentially before, but in case our guides on EPUB and the process itself haven’t been enough to inspire you would-be authors to self-publish your book in iBooks, Greg Mills has a step-by-step guide just for you. Of course, the hardest part may be actually writing the book, but once you’ve gotten that out of the way, you’re just a format check, a registration, and an upload away from becoming an e-published author.

It’s really not complicated, and while there are a few hoops to jump through (you need to make sure that your files match up exactly to the store’s format, and then, of course, you need to let Apple know that you’re legit and responsible), Mills’ steps make the process almost completely transparent. The toughest part (besides the technical tweaking and forms to fill out) might be going through the ISBN application process, but even that’s just standard bureaucracy.

It’s pretty amazing that with just a standard Mac, a little patience, and the right information, almost anybody can publish on Apple’s iBooks store. If you go through the whole process and get a title published, send us a tip, and let us know how it went.

TUAWHow to publish an Apple iBook originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This is great! Photographer Jordan Hollender and musician Scott Harris put together this music video that covers Survivor’s classic anthem and uses only iPad apps as instruments. The video itself was recorded with a couple of Canon HDSLR video cameras, but as you can see in the embedded version above, all of the music is created with iPad apps. Unfortunately, they don’t identify the apps used, but that sounds like a great job for you TUAW commenters. I think I saw Pianolo HD being played on the floor there, and Pocket Drums is being used as percussion, but I couldn’t find the guitar app or the DJ app that they are using.

Of course, what I really want to know is where he got that sweet lightning bolt iPad strap. The video’s great, though. Apparently it was all lit in one day and shot in another. There’s no word on how long it took to make the song, but with the iPad involved, it was probably both magical and revolutionary.

(Thanks, Rachel!)

TUAWi(Pad) of the Tiger originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One of the best things about Mac OS X is its built-in support for PDF files. Instead of testing your sanity while you wait (sometimes it can seem like forever) for Adobe Acrobat to open a PDF file, you can use Preview.app to open them up quickly. However, built-in PDF support allows you to do other neat things as well. Here are five of my favorites.

Print
At the top of the list is the ability to create a PDF from almost any document. Whether it’s a Word or Pages document, a spreadsheet, or a Web page, in most instances you’ll be able to create PDFs out of them. Many Windows users print to a PDF printer in order to create a PDF file, and in a similar manner, creating PDFs on Mac OS X involves selecting the print option from the app that you’re working in. Within the app, click on “File” and then select “Print.” Then, you’ll be presented with a dialog box with a “PDF” button on the left. Click on this button and select “Save as PDF.”

Annotate
Once you’ve created your PDF, you can annotate it. Open up your PDF in Preview.app, click on “View,” and select “Show Annotations Toolbar.” After doing so, a toolbar will appear on the bottom left of your document. Alternatively, the toolbar will also be displayed if you select any of the annotate options under the “Tools” menu. Annotations include the ability to create text boxes (useful for filling out forms), add notes, or highlight and create shapes (among other things).

Rearrange
You can also move pages around within Preview.app (like rearranging the songs in an iTunes playlist). Simply choose “Contact sheet” or “Thumbnail” view from the sidebar, and then drag and drop your pages as you see fit.

Bookmarks
Let’s say that a couple of pages within a PDF interest you, and you want to revisit them later. To do this, click on “Bookmarks” in Preview.app and select “Add Bookmark” (or use the Cmd+D shortcut). One of the neat things about this feature is that, even if your PDF isn’t open, you can still access your bookmarks.

Crop
I’ve made no secret about my fondness of Preview.app’s image editing ability, and this extends to PDFs as well. One neat image editing feature for PDFs is the ability to select an area and create a new image based on this selection. To do this in the PDF, click on the “Select” tool, select an area, and copy it. Then, in Preview.app, click on “File,” select “New from clipboard,” and voila, your selection is in a new document. This document can be saved in a variety of formats, including PDF, JPG, and PNG.

PDF parsing and rendering are core features of Mac OS X and iOS. While providing for native support for PDF files, it also served as the foundation for the recently released Web-based jailbreak for the iPhone.

TUAWMac 101: Five tips for working with PDF files in Mac OS X originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Solipskier is kind of a mix of the growing line drawing genre and the classic Line Rider game. A little headphone wearing skier (at least he wears headphones as long as he can keep them on) travels along a snow ridge that you actually draw with your finger as you play the game; he speeds up or slows down based on the slope that you trace out with your finger. The gameplay is simple to pick up, but it turns out to be pretty deep. You can draw quick ramps to make him jump, or you can draw sliding slopes that really send the guy moving along through all of the gates, tunnels, and jumps that get placed in your path.

There’s a really great pick-up-and-play vibe to the title, and it’s fun enough to keep you coming back again and again. If you don’t believe me, give it a shot online right now for free. If you enjoy it enough to spend the money, you can grab a universal version on the App Store for just US $2.99.

TUAWTUAW’s Daily App: Solipskier originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple (finally) released iOS 4.0.2 and iOS 3.2.2 firmware to patch the PDF exploit, the very large security holes exploited by @comex in the 2nd incarnation of jailbreakme.com. The only problem is they outright abandoned iPhone 2G and iPod Touch 1G users! and on the other hand iOS 4.0.2, 3.2.2 is NOT jailbreakable ATM which means all other iDevices running iOS 4.0.1 or lower are still vulnerable.

Even though Apple acknowledges in their security update the severity of these holes, they left iPhone 2G and iPod Touch 1G owners high and dry — completely vulnerable to truly malicious variants of jailbreakme (these variants aren’t out yet, but they’re sure to come!).

Luckily for Apple, the Jailbreak community isn’t so callous. All the iPhone 2G, iPod Touch 1G and all other iDevices users running iOS 4.0.1 and do NOT want to update to iOS 4.0.2 to keep their iDevice jailbroken, can still patch the PDF exploit without updating to iOS 4.0.2 firmware.

Saurik, the guy behind Cydia and a respected member of the Dev-team has released the PDF Patch, a fix for PDF exploit, in Cydia. The PDF Patch is now available in Cydia for free and you can download and install it now.

PDF Patch fixes the security hole that let Comex develop JailbreakMe 2.0 and could potentially be used to inject malicious software on your device. Open the Cydia, search for PDF Patch and install it. That’s it! you have secured your iPhone 4, 3GS, 3G, 3G, iPod Touch 3G, 2G, 1G and iPad without updating to iOS 4.0.2 or iOS 3.2.2.

NOTE: All those users who have updated their iPhone/iPod Touch to iOS 4.0.2, and iPad to iOS 3.2.2, there is no need to install this patch. This PDF patch is for all iPhones/iPod Touches running iOS 4.0.1 or lower and iPads running iOS 3.2.1 or lower.

To test that it’s working properly, visit jailbreakme.com again.  After you slide to jailbreak, you should no longer see a dialog box pop up (you’ll just see the star background).  That means you’re no longer vulnerable!

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