Blancer.com Tutorials and projects

Dear Aunt TUAW,

What the heck is going on with eyeTV why after 3-4 years of promises do they still not support dual tuners, or channel sorting? i’ve tried to reach out to elgato in various different digital ways, but to no avail, does TUAW have any contacts they could touch on to figure this out?

Alternatively, is there any mac software that will do what EyeTV does, and give me support for my dual Terratec H7 Tuners?

Your loving nephew,

Ole

Dear Ole,

Auntie contacted Nick Freeman over at Elgato, to see if he could lend a hand with your question. He looked into this and here’s what he had to say.

He writes, “We’re sorry to hear that your two TerraTec H7 devices aren’t working simultaneously with EyeTV, on one Mac.

Let me tell you a bit more about how EyeTV can (and can’t) work with multiple devices.

EyeTV is able to work with many TV tuners, from a wide variety of manufacturers.

We’ve been able to get most of those devices to work well when used with EyeTV alone, and even in some combinations. For example, EyeTV software works fine when using two Elgato satellite products on the same Mac, at the same time.

We’re happy to support many TerraTec products, but we can only officially support them for individual use. We can’t certify using more than one of them on the same Mac at the same time. You have found one of the few combinations that simply doesn’t work (two TerraTec H7 units on the same Mac), but since that hardware is from a 3rd party, we’re not able to modify it to potentially add multiple unit support.

We’re constantly trying to improve EyeTV, and while we’ll try to support more products in the future, we may not be able to resolve this issue with two TerraTec H7 units. We apologize that we’re not able to offer the extra feature you desire.“

Auntie hopes that, at least, gives you some insight as to what is going on.

Hugs,

Auntie T.

Dear Aunt TUAW: Help me dual tune originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Click image for full-resolution download

iPhone-toting photographers like myself are drooling at the thought of the 8-Megapixel camera and five-element f/2.4 lens built into the iPhone 4S. We’ve seen photos from Apple already, but now the devious minds at AppVV.com (who apparently have their hands on an iPhone 4S) have taken a photo with the iPhone 4S camera to show us just how good the resolution is.

The image has dimensions of 3264 x 2448 pixels, larger (of course) than the iPhone 4’s photo size of 2592 x 1936 pixels. While iPhone 4 photos quite often appear grainy at full resolution, the iPhone 4S image seen here is remarkably sharp.

I can’t wait to start seeing some of the photographs that will be taken with the new camera later this week.

iPhone 4S 8-Megapixel photo looks incredible originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Engadget got a sneak preview of Myriad’s Alien Dalvik 2.0 running on an iPad. Alien Dalvik is a small bit of custom code that allows almost any non-Android device to run unaltered Android apps. Version 2.0 of the software allows Android apps to run on iOS.

Interestingly, Alien Dalvik 2.0 runs in the cloud, which means all the processing is going on on remote servers and not on the iOS device itself. What happens is that when Dalvik 2.0 is launched on the iPad, the iPad connects to the servers, which then send an H.264 video feed of Android back to the iPad on which users can interact with apps.

For my taste it’s too complicated of a system and the fact that it is cloud based means that an Internet connection is always required. In addition, I’ve never met an Android app I wanted that didn’t already have an equivalent on the App Store. Still, if you are dreaming of a dual-OS tablet, Alien Dalvik 2.0 might just be your thing. You’ll just have to wait a while, since it won’t be ready for the masses until the first half of 2012.

<!–

Video of Myriad’s Alien Dalvik 2.0 on an iPad originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Bloomberg reports that official details of Steve Jobs’s death have been released. Jobs died at home at approximately 3 P.M. local time on October 5. The official cause of death: respiratory arrest brought about by his pancreatic tumor. Most of us assumed that was the case, but this is one time we all wish we’d been wrong.

Apple was reportedly aware of Steve’s condition and notified local police days in advance. The empty “reserved” seat during Apple’s latest event and presenters’ somewhat somber demeanors seem to show that executives were aware of Steve’s decline. The fact that they were able to put on the presentation anyway, and that it’s only in hindsight that we realize what they must have all been going through, strikes me as evidence that Apple is in very capable hands indeed.

Steve Jobs’s occupation on his death certificate was listed as “entrepreneur.” That doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Official cause of death for Steve Jobs released originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

In what is the most high-profile Apple Store robbery to date, a gang of thugs carried out a smash-and-grab raid on London’s Covent Garden Apple Store. The store, which opened fourteen months ago, is Apple’s second flagship store. It was built in a remodeled 19th century building and features a glass roof over a courtyard that was originally designed for delivery of merchandise by horses.

The Guardian reports that shortly before 1 AM a gang of seven masked thieves rode up to the Apple Store on mopeds and motorcycles and smashed one of the store’s windows. They then proceeded to grab Apple devices including iPads, and then jumped back on their vehicles and sped away.

Shortly after the burglary, police in the London neighborhood of Islington (about a 10 minute ride away from Covent Garden at that time of night) spotted one of the vehicles used in the raid and two men were arrested at the scene. Scotland Yard said that some stolen Apple devices were recovered from their possession.

The police are asking anyone else who might have information about the burglary to contact the Metropolitan Police Service.

[image credit: Rob Shoesmith]

London’s Covent Garden Apple Store hit by burglars originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

TechCrunch and a few other sites are posting that the Facebook iPad app has finally arrived on the App Store. I don’t quite see it on the store yet, but the news has apparently dropped according to a schedule run by Facebook itself, so the app should follow soon. The app looks … about like you’d expect a Facebook iPad app to look, with a sidebar available in landscape mode, and a dropdown menu to browse the various sections in portrait mode.

One of the biggest features of the new app is integration with other apps — apparently the app can send you directly to other apps on your iPad when you browse to them from a friend’s status or news post. For example, if you read about a Words with Friends move on a friend’s status, you can click a link on that post, and be sent right out to the iPad version of Words with Friends (or, if you don’t have it installed, you’ll get sent to the App Store app to download it). That will help developers a lot with connecting users up on their various platforms.

At any rate, as soon as it shows up in the App Store, we’ll give the app a full runthrough and let you know what we think. As soon as we see a link, we’ll update this post with it.

Update: Here’s a link! Enjoy.

Facebook for iPad out now originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

This is about to get interesting. T-Mobile dropped a press release last night saying that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 will soon be available on its network. The problem is T-Mobile seems to be jumping the gun, as a court hearing on Apple’s motion for a US-based injunction against the device is just three days away.

If Apple is granted the injunction, T-Mobile will have multiple spots of egg on its face. One for telling customers the device will be available “in time for the holidays,” and another for hedging its bets that Apple will lose the case, which is sure to not sit well with the boys in Cupertino. It’s also not likely to help the company get the iPhone, as its CEO wants.

T-Mobile hasn’t announced an exact ship date or pricing. However, it has set up a web page where interested users can request notification of when the device becomes available.

T-Mobile unveils Galaxy Tab 10.1 in U.S. despite Apple lawsuit originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

On Steve Jobs’ passing on October 5th, Tim Cook sent out an email to employees saying Apple would soon hold an event celebrating Jobs’ life. As noted by MacGeneration, today Tim Cook has sent out another email letting employees know that the event will take place on October 19th. From the email:

Team,

Like many of you, I have experienced the saddest days of my lifetime and shed many tears during the past week. But I’ve found some comfort in the extraordinary number of tributes and condolences from people all over the world who were touched by Steve and his genius. And I’ve found comfort in both telling and listening to stories about Steve.

Although many of our hearts are still heavy, we are planning a celebration of his life for Apple employees to take time to remember the incredible things Steve achieved in his life and the many ways he made our world a better place. The celebration will be held on Wednesday, October 19, at 10am in the outdoor amphitheater on the Infinite Loop campus. We’ll have more details on AppleWeb closer to the date, including arrangements for employees outside of Cupertino.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Tim

As noted in the email, the event is closed to the public and only open to Apple employees. Apple’s celebration of Steve Jobs’s life is just one of the myriad tributes that have occured around the globe since Jobs’s death. Non-Apple employees who still want to send a personal message to the company about Steve Jobs’s impact on them can do so by sending an email to [email protected].

[image by Jonathan Mak]

Apple holding private event on October 19 celebrating the life of Steve Jobs originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Does your family have a bunch of digital devices that all need to be charged up simultaneously? IDAPT has released an innovative solution to charge everyone’s favorite digital toy at the same time. The IDAPT Universal Charging Station i4 (starting at US$59.99) can charge up to 4 devices simultaneously, using an innovative dock and adapter design that works with over 4,000 different digital devices.

Design

The Universal Charging Station i4 uses a dock design with three spots to plug in your devices. Each of these spots can be outfitted with a “tip” that is designed for a specific device. For the purpose of this review, I was supplied with the standard retinue of 6 tips — Nokia 2, iPod/iPhone, MiniUSB, MicroUSB, Sony Ericsson 2, and Samsung 4 — as well as an additional iPod/iPhone tip. Since I have a few digital devices around the office, it was a piece of cake to get the IDAPT set up for testing with four items charging simultaneously.

“But, wait,” you might say. “I thought you said that there are only three charging points where you can plug in your devices!” You’d be partially correct — there are three of the IDAPT tip locations, plus a regular USB connector for a fourth device. I chose to use that fourth spot to plug in an iPad 2.

The IDAPT i4 comes in black, white, and seven other colors, so you can get one to match almost any decor. If you need more than just the standard 6 tips that come with the device, there are many more available at about $9.99 each. There’s even a tip that comes with two rechargeable batteries (AA or AAA) for $19.99.

Setup is extremely easy. You just plug in the dock, choose the proper tips, and plug the tips into the dock. There’s an on-off switch on the top of the dock in case you want to power everything down or turn it on again. A red light indicates that the device is charging, while a green light appears once a device is fully charged and ready to go.

The Universal Charging Station i4 is made out of a scratch-resistant plastic material, so regardless of how many times you plug or unplug devices, it should remain scratch-free. Just remember to dust it occasionally, especially if you have the black model.

Functionality

Capable of DC output up to 13 Watts, the Universal Charging Station i4 is able to charge up a full set of devices. As you can see in the gallery or title photo, I had an old iPhone, an old iPod, a T-Mobile Android phone, and my iPad 2 all charging simultaneously. All of this is done with a box that’s only 6.7″ x 5.3″ x 1.3″.

What I like about the i4 is that it is “future-proof.” If Apple decides to change the adapter used on devices from the Dock connector to something else, all I need to do is buy a new tip and I’m ready to go.

The tips plug in easily and lock in place, and if you need to remove one for replacement at some point, there are two buttons that need to be depressed to pop the tip out. I had no issues at all swapping out the tips.

Conclusion

Anyone in a muli-device household who would like to be able to charge up to four devices at the same time should look into the IDAPT Universal Charging Station i4. It’s designed with capacity for an iPad and three other devices (all iPhones? It’s your choice!), and looks pretty good in the process. The extra tips make the IDAPT i4 your one-stop-shop for all of your charging needs.

IDAPT Universal Charging Station i4: A flexible way to charge everything originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

It’s the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You’ll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what’s happening in the Apple world.

You can listen to today’s Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.

No Flash? Click here to listen.

Daily Update for October 10, 2011 originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

HDR photography is a technique that produces images with a very high dynamic range. To produce an HDR image, you take several shots at varying shutter speeds and combine them using a technique called tone mapping to produce the final photograph.

Hydra Pro 3 will allow you to combine up to seven exposures of a scene to wring out the most dynamic range so skies don’t get overexposed and shadow details aren’t lost. This new version has a 12-preset tone mapper, ghost artifact removers, cropping tools, batch processing and export to Facebook, Flickr, Lightroom, Aperture and OS X Mail. You can create a frame around your image, but the color options are limited.

I’ve been testing the app for a few weeks and found it easy to use and getting solid results. You do get extensive control of your image, and you can make it as realistic or as surreal as you like. If you play with the HDR setting on the iPhone, you can get a taste of the technique, but HDR comes into its own when you work with a higher-quality digital camera and more exposures than the iPhone can provide for combining.

I compared Hydra Pro 3 to my first choice in HDR programs, Photomatix Pro. In each set of images I processed, I preferred the Photomatix output. There was more control, and I thought the images had better depth and color. You can see a comparison in the gallery. Hydra Pro 3 failed a few times to automatically align photos. I switched to manual alignment, and that worked fine. Although there is a help menu it did not bring up help, but instead took me to the Creaceed website, where there was no manual for Hydra 3 Pro there either. The company says the manual will be online next week. Swing and a miss.

Hydra 3 is roughly half the cost of Photomatix, and you can sample most of the features of Hydra Pro 3 using Hydra Express 3 for US$24.95. Hydra Pro 3 also includes plug-ins for Aperture and Adobe Lightroom, which is a price advantage over Photomatix which charges for those plug-ins. Hydra Pro 3 has a pleasing and clean interface without a lot of arcane sliders. Of course, simplicity is a trade-off for control, but the end result is good.

Hydra Pro is US$49.99 for the next few days, which is a 50% savings over the normal cost.

Daily Mac App: Hydra Pro 3 originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

iOS 5 is set to launch this Wednesday and the beta testers I’ve talked to say it’s a monumental leap forward. iOS 5 adds over 200 features to an already polished mobile operating system, which is arguably the best on the planet.

As many Mac users know, Mac OS X Lion is no slouch either. Features like Mission Control, Launchpad, and full-screen apps make Lion the most powerful, intuitive OS Apple has ever released.

However, that’s not to say that Lion can’t be improved. Apple only needs to look to iOS for further inspiration. Below is my list of five iOS features that I hope will migrate to OS X. Feel free to leave your requests in the comments.

5. iBooks

I actually just added this one in because I know a lot of people have asked for it. Even paperback fans can’t deny that ebooks are the future. Though they may not be quite up in Kindle territory, iBooks and the iBookstore are growing more popular by the day. While users can access their iBooks on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, there’s no way to get them on the Mac…yet.

This is one area where Apple needs to take a play from Amazon. Kindle owners can read their books on the Kindle, the iPhone, iPad and Android phones, as well as with Mac and Windows apps and a web browser. While reading an iBook on a desktop might not be the platform of choice, it would be nice if iBooks users had the option. This is especially true for people who buy research or school books through iBooks and want to reference the book on the same screen as an assignment in progress.

4. Notification Center

The Notification Center is one of the big new features of iOS 5. It allows users to see all their texts, emails, news alerts — nearly every kind of notification — all in one place. Currently OS X relies on numbered icon badges to show users notifications on a per-app basis. And while there are third-party apps like Growl that do a good job at alerting users to notifications, a dedicated Notification Center would further solidify the link between iOS and OS X and make it easier for users to see the things they need to attend to all in one place.

3. Reminders

The great thing about OS X’s and iOS’s Mail and Notes app is that a user’s email messages and notes sync between iPhone and Mac. However, iOS 5 offers a dedicated Reminders app that allows users to set reminders with an impressive array of notification options.

While a dedicated Reminders app makes infinitely more sense on a mobile device, OS X Reminders integration would be a welcome feature. After all, many of us will use the app to set reminders for tasks to be completed at our desks. Why not be reminded by the computer we are working on?

I’m not suggesting a dedicated Reminders OS X app. But what I would like to see is the Reminders app features and UI built into OS X’s Mail app, much like Notes is today.

[Note: Many readers have rightly pointed out that Reminders.app reminders are synced with iCal on your Mac. However, my take on it is that the array of ways to set reminders in the iOS app and the app’s UI should be integrated better with OS X.]

2. iMessage

FaceTime was perhaps the coolest feature of iOS 4. When it first came out it allowed iPhone 4 users to video chat with each other. Then Apple added iPod touch support and iPad 2 support. But, for me, FaceTime didn’t become really useful until Apple released the FaceTime app for OS X. When they did, FaceTime brought unity to the entire Apple ecosystem (which, incidentally, is the common theme of all my feature suggestions in this article).

iMessage in iOS 5 is arguably cooler than FaceTime because many people text a heck of a lot more than video chat. iMessage is great because it allows free texting among iPhone owners. But what’s even more impressive is that it also allows iOS users to text people on Wi-Fi-only iPod touches and iPads. Like FaceTime before it, the last piece of the puzzle is adding iMessages to OS X. It’s a lot easier for me to reply to a text from my iMac while I’m working on it than to stop and pick up my iPhone.

Of course, the arrival of iMessage and FaceTime presents somewhat of a problem. I’ve had a lot of people who aren’t the most Mac-savvy users say they are confused about the differences between FaceTime and iChat’s video conferencing. If Apple would add an OS X iMessage app, that would probably only broaden the confusion (“Is an iMessage the same thing as an AOL IM?”). While I think Apple needs to absolutely add iMessage functionality to OS X, it needs to do so without adding more clutter and confusion to its messaging (be it IM, video, or texting) apps. Do they scrap iChat in favor of an iMessage app? Or do they add iMessage support to iChat? Dedicated apps are simpler, but all-in-one apps are more convenient. It’s a tough call.

1. Siri

Siri, iOS 5’s AI personal assistant, is the start of the future for smart phones. It takes dictation, and lets you do dozens of other things using only your voice. But it’s not just voice recognition software. It’s powerful AI that knows what you want based on syntax, history, and context. There are no rigid voice commands needed. You can talk to it like you do to a human being and it figures out what you want it to do.

Right now Siri is only available on the iPhone 4S. That’s because it requires quite a bit of horsepower under the hood to accomplish its tasks. Or, quite a bit of horsepower for a phone. Every Mac sold today has more than enough memory and processing power to support Siri integration. And when Apple adds Siri to OS X it will be the start of a revolution in personal computing. Indeed it may one day even lead to the elimination of (or drastic reduction of) the keyboard and mouse. And don’t get me started (yet) on a Siri-integrated Apple television set. Goodbye remote control. But first, let’s get Siri into OS X.

Imagine being able to talk to your Mac like you do a person, saying things like:

“Pull up the Keynote for my April meeting.”

“Take me to Apple’s website.”

“Revert to the Version that I was working on last week.”

“Show me all the photos from my trip to Berlin.”

“Organize all my Word files into a folder and then sort them into sub-folders based on month created.”

The possibilities are almost endless.

Hello OS X 10.8.

5 iOS features that OS X needs originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Poietic Studio has created a unique iPhone app and musical instrument that lets you conduct a virtual floating orchestra. The instrument has 19 small spheres that float on a puff of air above individual interconnected cups. Each sphere is matched to a different instrument and will rise and fall in response to volume. Just like a conductor controlling a real orchestra, users can control each instrument and its volume via an iPhone app. The first iteration of this app-device combo uses controls on the iPhone screen, while the next version will use motion control. The Floating Orchestra was recently on display at Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Corn Exchange and Pavilion Theatre in England.

[Via PSFK]

Use your iPhone to conduct a floating orchestra originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

One of the things Android phone owners love to brag about — particularly those who have the new Samsung Galaxy S II with its 4.27-inch diagonal screen — is that the larger screens are much easier to read and watch videos on. Dustin Curtis has owned both the iPhone 4 and the Galaxy S II, and in an enlightening post on his blog, he pointed out why bigger isn’t always better.

Curtis noted that the iPhone 4’s design allows you to hold the device in one hand and touch almost any part of the screen with your thumb. You can’t do that with the larger Galaxy S II, as seen in the diagram (size is incorrectly marked by Curtis) at the top of this post. The green area designates the reach of the thumb when holding the device in one hand, and there’s a lot of Galaxy S II real estate that’s not under that field of green.

According to Curtis, “Touching the upper right corner of the screen on the Galaxy S II using one hand, with its 4.27-inch screen, while you’re walking down the street looking at Google Maps, is extremely difficult and frustrating.” He concluded the post with a point that all Apple owners instinctively know, but can rarely explain: “This is an example of one of those design decisions that you don’t usually notice until you see someone doing it wrong. It’s one of the things that makes Apple products Apple products.”

Size matters: why the iPhone has a 3.5-inch screen originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Just as the sun always rises in the morning, every time a new iPhone is about to come out, somebody gets one just before the official launch and ruins the fun for the rest of us. In this case, a video from AppVV.com appears to show an iPhone 4S running some benchmarks and also demonstrates how to change Siri settings.

In the video, the phantom user opens Settings and demonstrates the Siri settings interface, turning the feature on and off, changing language settings, and more. What’s even more fascinating is that the user runs the BrowserMark benchmark, and shows a score of 89567. Running BrowserMark on an iPhone 4 with iOS 5 showed a result of 52433, so Safari on the iPhone 4S is about 70% faster than on the iPhone 4.

Some TUAW readers are reporting that they’re receiving early ship notices for delivery on the 14th. How about you? Tell us in the comments.

Video reportedly shows Siri in action, settings, and benchmarks originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments