Blancer.com Tutorials and projects

Steve Sande and I have been collaborating on “Talking to Siri,” an ebook that will soon hit the Kindle store. It’s a how-to that will help you get the most done with your Siri intelligent assistant.

One of the questions that people keep asking us is “how do I spell out the word ‘comma’ or ‘period’,” in other words, how do you dictate the literal word instead of punctuation.

Fortunately, there is a solution for this. It’s not a clean solution or an easy one, but it can be done. To type out comma, for example, you dictate no caps on, no space on, C O M M A, no space off, no caps off.

This tells Siri to start a forced lower-case mode without spaces. You then spell out the word in question (comma, here). At the end, you return to normal dictation mode by disabling that mode.

Be aware that Siri looks for context. It can differentiate between “The Jurassic Period” and “The Jurassic.” (see that period there?) during dictation, preferring the former because the word finishes a phrase.

Like this tip? Have some more Siri power-user suggestions? Let us know. Join in the comments.

How to type “comma” using Siri originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

A band called The Turnback nabbed a few iPhone 4Ses as quickly as they could, and scheduled a music video shoot right around launch, opting to be the first to fire off a music video using just the iPhone 4S and its new HD camera. As you can see below, it looks pretty good — not quite as good as a full HD video, I think, but not bad. For a phone camera, it’s great.

The video was even shot in the new 1080p mode, and was cut together on Final Cut Pro. As a proof of concept, at least, it works, and it shows that aside from all of the splashy news around Siri, the camera adds yet another nice feature to the latest and greatest iPhone.

[via RazorianFly]

First music video shot with the iPhone 4S originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

In a recent blog post, Grammy award winning artist John Mayer recalls his eight-year relationship with Steve Jobs. It’s an interesting story about the Apple CEO that shows the gracious side of his personality, a trait that’s not often discussed.

Mayer met Steve Jobs in 2003 when Mayer called Jobs to tell him how much he enjoyed Apple’s products. Mayer offered to help Apple in any way he could. Soon after the phone call, Mayer was invited to perform the keynote music at Macworld 2004 when GarageBand was introduced and again in 2007 at the iPhone introduction. During this time, Mayer got to know Jobs and developed a casual relationship with him and his company.

A few years later, Mayer agreed to endorse RIM and told Jobs about his decision. As part of this agreement, Mayer would have to use a BlackBerry and not an iPhone. Rather than become angry with Mayer, Jobs was understanding and even sent the musician a pre-release iPhone 3G model while he was on tour.

[Via EdibleApple]

Musician John Mayer shares his thoughts on Steve Jobs originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Death Rally is a great iOS title from Remedy Entertainment, the makers of the Alan Wake game for the Xbox 360 a little while back. (Quick disclaimer: I, Mike Schramm, actually have a cameo in the game, for turning in a solid time at a press event. But I wasn’t paid at all for my appearance, and I don’t make anything from sales of the game. I legitimately think it’s a great title, though.) The game has just gotten a big update that adds something players might be surprised by: multiplayer. Up to four people can now load up the game, and race against each other using the Shrieker car, on up to six different maps, including Eureka, which was previously only available via in-app purchase.

The update also adds a new weapon, the flamethrower, available from an in-app purchase reward pack, as well as a new paint job for one of the cars, and some enhanced graphics on the iPad 2. I have to say, iOS 5 support would have been nice (it’s kind of a pain to have to re-do the game on the iPad if you’ve already played on the iPhone), but considering the update is completely free, I can’t complain too much.

If you haven’t picked up the game yet, it’s available for just 99 cents as a universal version right now. Good luck trying to blow me up in the game — you’ll get an achievement for it if you do.

Death Rally gets big multiplayer update originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Puerto Rico originated as a German board game) and has made the leap to iOS. It’ss a multiplayer strategy game that allows players to assume a different role in each round so everyone gets a chance to try something new.

In this game, you’re a colonist trying to grow crops on a plantation in Puerto Rico, which you will then sell or ship to another destination. You also build a city that provide goods and other functions that aid you in creating a productive farm and eventually govern the island. In solo mode, you’re playing against two computer-generated characters. Throughout it all, you’re trying to earn victory points in your quest to gain dominance over the island.

Puerto Rico makes the transition to the iPad pretty well, and Ravensburger does a great job with the graphics, though the game controls are a bit fuzzy and hard to deduce. I highly recommend going through the extensive tutorial before playing the game, especially if you never played the original board game. Even after going through the tutorial, I found myself relying on in-game hints until I got used to the controls and gameplay. It’s a challenging, fun game and the iPad version is available for $7.99.

Daily iPad App: Puerto Rico originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Back in July, IK Multimedia (the company that’s brought us the iRig, iKlip, Amplitube for iOS and a whole host of other music hardware and software) announced the iRig MIDI, an interface allowing MIDI instruments and machines to be connected to iOS devices.

However, the device didn’t come to market until just this last week. And while there are other ways (MIDI to USB cable) and interfaces (Line 6, Yamaha) allowing you to get a MIDI connection to your iOS device, there are only a few which have created a MIDI interface to be used with Apple’s 30-pin dock connector. And IK is one of the first to release one in conjunction with their own app, SampleTank for iOS.

Before you read on, if you don’t know what MIDI is or why and how you’d want to use it with your iPad or iPhone, check out this previous post.

The iRig MIDI Hardware

The iRig MIDI is a standard Core MIDI interface. It has 3 ports (IN/OUT/THRU), two LEDs and a micro USB port for keeping your iDevice charged. It is essentially a small, black, plastic box with a 30-pin dock connector attached to it.

Unlike the ruggedness of the iRig for guitar or even the iRig Mic, the iRig MIDI doesn’t feel particularly sturdy. In fact, it feels like if you were to accidentally stand on it, it would crack. However, it is neat and tidy, and it gets the job done. Coincidentally, it looks remarkably similar to the Line 6 MIDI Mobilizer I and II, though I haven’t physically handled one myself (white on black print, triangular, red LEDs, dock connector to the right of the unit).

Two MIDI cables and a micro USB cable are bundled with the iRig MIDI. The MIDI cables are a good meter and a half in length, which means you should find ample length to position your setup the way you want it. The micro USB cable is for keeping your iDevice powered while using the iRig MIDI (connecting to any standard USB power supply) and it plugs directly into the side of the iRig MIDI. This is a welcome feature, however the provided cable is particularly short, making it rather difficult to reach a standard USB power supply!

To get things up and running, simply plug the iRig MIDI into your iDevice (I used my iPad) and connect your MIDI cables to your MIDI device (I used an Axiom 49 MIDI keyboard). Once plugged in, you’ll be prompted to download the free iRig MIDI recorder app from the iOS App Store. This is a simple MIDI recording app which also contains the firmware to make everything work, so make sure you download it. I had no problems getting things up and running. It worked the first time, which was great!

As mentioned earlier, the iRig MIDI has two small, triangular, red LED lights to indicate when MIDI signal is being received and sent. If you’re not seeing the lights flash, you’ve probably not got the cables plugged in the right way or any power to your MIDI device. These LEDs are a simple yet very effective way of letting you know that things are really working. Speaking of power, this may be obvious, but the iRig MIDI will not power your MIDI device like a USB cable might, so make sure you’ve got your power adapter for your MIDI device if you need one!

From there, you’re pretty much good to go. The cool thing about using a MIDI interface like the iRig MID is that you’re now able to take advantage of over a hundred other apps which are Core MIDI compatible (like GarageBand for iPad). IK has conveniently put together a list of all those apps here.

The iRig MIDI costs around US$69.99, which is comparable to other iOS MIDI interfaces out there, like the Line 6 MIDI Mobilizer II.

SampleTank for iOS.

So what about the app that IK is pushing in concert with the iRig MIDI? Well, you may have heard of SampleTank before, it’s IK Multimedia’s professional desktop sampling software package. And they’ve now brought it to the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Providing over 400 instruments bundled into 16 different instrument categories, layering of up to 4 instruments simultaneiously, a whole bunch of melodic and rythmic patterns or grooves to play with and sound and effects editing to customize the sounds your playing, SampleTank is an instrument sound library compressed into one app for your iDevice. It’s not the first, but its power is in its sample quality and abundance, as well as working in tandum with the iRig MIDI.

The combination of these two makes for the perfect, light-weight solution for musicians who play using samples, particularly in live performance settings. Think about carrying your laptop and all its accessories, your audio interface and then your MIDI keyboard, for example, to a performance. Now think about your iPhone, the iRig MIDI and your MIDI keyboard. The second of these setups has a significant’y lower footprint than the first. But of course, your computer is going to be much more powerful than your iPhone, and handle much bigger samples with more integrity, right?

So the question is, how do the SampleTank samples stand up? Well, they are sampled — and we’re not talking about gigabyte sample files here — so naturally, some are going to sound better than others, and it all depends on what your looking for. But take the piano samples, for example, and have a look at this YouTube clip below.

That doesn’t sound bad at all. In fact, it sounds great! You could easily get away with using that piano sample in a rehearsal or a live performance. And most of the other instruments offered stand up well. Some in my opinion, however, fall a little short — like the orchestral strings — but on average, you’ll be pleased with what’s available, especially considering you’re using your iPhone and not your computer!

Of course, all this doesn’t come free. You get a taster of samples in the free app, but individual packs can be bought to expand a category of sounds (pianos, drums, strings) at $4.99 each. Or you can buy them all for $39.99.

The user-interface

The interface is simple enough to use when choosing instruments and preset grooves and loops. It’s also pretty straight forward to edit and tweak the sounds and samples, which is what we’ve come to expect from apps like these. There’s also a built-in virtual keyboard player, which means you can play the samples in the app without having to hook up an external MIDI device. Layering up sounds one on top of the other takes a little more time to get used to and it’s quite a basic feature — great for coming up with a few ideas, but nothing more. Yes, you could have hours of fun doing this, and it’s a great way to explore all the samples, but personally I don’t see any real musical application for it in it’s current state other than having a bit of fun. You can export these creations too, but that’s about it.

Clearly, where SampleTank shines is with its samples being used in a performance setting, and the ease of use with which it can be implemented.

Conclusion

So, is the iRig MIDI and SampleTank for iOS the combination of hardware and software for your iOS device that you’ve been looking for? Well, if your a keyboardist (or a drum machine user) and you love using a ton of different samples and sounds, then yes.

However, don’t forget that the iRig MIDI alone is compatible with a multitude of other Core MIDI apps to choose from on the iOS store. Like GarageBand, for starters, which in my opinion is still one of the best and most comprehensive music apps out there at a very reasonable price.

However, if you’re after some particular, high-quality sampled instruments, one of the nice things about SampleTank is that you can start with SampleTank Free and expand it the way you want by purchasing the samples you need. And some of those samples really do sound amazing.

Here are some demos of some of the samples on offer in SampleTank for iOS.
Or you can download SampleTank Free here.

For all the details, check out IK Multimedia’s website here.

iRig MIDI and SampleTank for iOS review originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Apple reported its quarterly earnings earlier this week and the results were lower than expected. This miss was widely reported and Apple’s stock took a hit dropping from above 420 before the announcement to under 400 on Thursday afternoon. But whose fault is this negative financial report? Is it Apple’s failure to perform this past quarter or analyst’s overenthusiastic predictions that led to this uncharacteristic stumble.

According to Fortune contributor Andy Zaky, this foible is only a minor blip created by analysts whose predictions were off the chart. Zaky points out that Apple, in the past, has reported revenue that was about 12-18% above guidance. Analysts used this historical information and issued a consensus estimate that was 5-10% above guidance. That’s how it worked. Analysts would predict on the lower side, Apple would earn on the higher side and life was good.

This past quarter, though, analyst estimates had crept up to 18.8% and Apple’s reported earnings were 13%. Though Apple’s earnings fell within its normal 12 to 18% range, analysts got ahead of themselves and overestimated Apple’s performance. And it’s their own fault says Zaky. Apple repeatedly warned analysts this was going to be a transitional quarter, but analysts failed to listen.

[Via The Loop]

Apple’s earnings “miss” more an issue with overzealous analysts originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Welcome to iPhone 101, the series that explains the basics of iPhone operation. This time, it’s making sure Siri doesn’t let anyone use your locked iPhone.

Almost immediately after the release of the iPhone 4S, TUAW started receiving emails from readers who noticed that even when they had a passcode set on the lock screen, someone could pick up their device and issue commands to Siri. This means that unauthorized persons can easily pick up the iPhone 4S, press and hold the Home button and converse with Siri. Fortunately, there’s a way to disable Siri while using a lock screen passcode.

The Sophos Naked Security blog noted that those unauthorized users can do everything from writing an email or sending a text message to maliciously changing calendar appointments. Blogger Graham Cluely notes that it’s easy to disable Siri while there’s a passcode in effect, and wonders why Apple didn’t set the iPhone 4S up that way by default.

To make sure Siri is deaf to commands when there’s a passcode on the iPhone 4S, enter Settings > General > Passcode Lock, and slide the Siri option to Off. Now, when your friends try to make a prank call to your girlfriend using your iPhone 4S, they’ll find that Siri is unwilling to be a participant in the prank.

iPhone 101: Disable Siri with iPhone passcode to prevent unauthorized use originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Siri is the talk of the town now that the iPhone 4S is in the hands of over four million customers. There has been a deluge of articles about using Siri, funny phrases it says and even clever hacks that let third-party companies tap into the service. Apple and its fans may be excited by the voice recognition technology, but one of Google’s executives is not overly impressed.

Speaking in Hong Kong at the AsiaD conference, Google’s Android chief, Andy Rubin, was sour on the utility of Siri. Rubin said,

I don’t believe that your phone should be an assistant. Your phone is a tool for communicating. You shouldn’t be communicating with the phone; you should be communicating with somebody on the other side of the phone.

Rubin may not look favorably on Siri, but he does give Apple credit for waiting until the technology was mature before rolling it out on the iPhone 4S. He noted,

In projecting the future, I think Apple did a good job of figuring out when the technology was ready to be consumer-grade.

Though Rubin claims not to be fond of voice recognition on a mobile phone, he does oversee Android’s development at Google and has allowed advanced voice recognition features to be built into this mobile OS.

Android’s Andy Rubin is not a fan of Siri originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

iOS developers around the world received a note from Apple today announcing iOS 5 Tech Talk World Tour 2011. This event, to be held in nine cities around the globe starting in November, is designed to give iOS developers access to Apple’s experts in various aspects of iOS 5.

The iOS 5 Tech Talk World Tour 2011 will be held in New York, Seattle, Austin, Berlin, London, Rome, Beijing, Seoul, and Sao Paolo. Starting at 9 AM, the one-day event begins with a kickoff keynote, a session on iPhone and iPad UI design, and the first half of a session on adopting iCloud storage.

After lunch, the iCloud fun continues in one room while other sessions start in two other rooms. The three conference tracks are roughly divided into general iOS app development, video and gaming, and books and Newsstand. After it’s all done for the day, Apple is thoughtfully providing a wine and cheese get-together. A full schedule can be viewed at the link above.

The iOS 5 Tech Talk World Tour 2011 is free to registered iOS developers. You can only register in one city and the participation is limited to the size of the venue, so register as soon as possible to insure that you’ll be attending.

Apple announces iOS 5 Tech Talk World Tour 2011 originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:30:00 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 20, 2011 originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Listen up Apple.

We know you have a sherlocking habit. That’s the slang term referring to Apple’s apparent tendency to put a developer out of business by integrating an app’s core functionality into one of its own operating systems.

Well, Apple, Our Pad (Free, iPad-only) is a concept you need to Sherlock, asap. Of course, TUAW would prefer you did this by paying the developers large sums of money rather than via simple intellectual appropriation as is your modus operandus.

Our Pad lets you browse your favorite websites using multiple user-accounts. That means you and your partner can share an iPad while maintaining separate social networking credentials.

Each user signs in individually using a clever adaptation of the Android-style unlock pattern password. Here, you’re presented with a grid of dots, and your password is a path through those dots.

Here is a discussion of the security of this approach. I slightly prefer the new photo passwords of Windows 8, but this is an elegant solution for fast user switching.

The problem with Our Pad is that you’re stuck in the blinged-up single application browser instead of providing a system-wide multi-user solution in Safari. There are just too many single-purpose browsers.

Apps like Our Pad (as well as all the VLC clones on the market, plus the Flash-enabling browsers) point out where Apple is missing the point. You shouldn’t have to hop out of Safari to get the job. These apps shouldn’t need to exist, and when they do show up, they should not be as newsworthy as Our Pad.

So how did Our Pad do in TUAW’s testing? In a nutshell, it crashed a lot (no, really, a lot), had an eerie fixation on uppercase, had terrible design aesthetics and, in my opinion, over-promises on security. It very well may be secure but I personally would not use/trust this app because I tend to avoid any third party app that wants me to trust its safe-keeping of multiple credentials. We barely know each other, and you want me to trust you with what!!??

At the same time, this is where Apple should be: offering easy tablet-minded password-protected user-switching for devices in multi-user households.

[Via Lifehacker]

Our Pad introduces multiple-account support for iOS social networking sites originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

You’re a SoundCloud user. You love playing tracks on your Mac and love the idea of SoundCloud, but hate the fact that your poor old Mac sounds like a jet engine whenever you play a track thanks to Flash. SoundCloud app to the rescue.

The official SoundCloud app brings “the full SoundCloud web experience to your Mac” allowing you to play tracks directly from your SoundCloud account, search, favorite and create playlists all using a native app. The sounds stream pretty instantly, while tag search is also supported so you can go exploring either through keyword search, through users or tags and save the good stuff for later. You can even drag-and-drop SoundCloud URLs onto the SoundCloud dock icon to create playlists.

The SoundCloud app also supports the built-in Mac media keys, so you can pause and skip tracks like you would with iTunes. Growl support is bundled too, so if you’ve got Growl installed it’ll notify you of track changes.

The only disadvantage of using the desktop app over the in-browser SoundCloud site is that only tracks which have been made available for 3rd party applications within SoundCloud will appear in the app. For the rest you’ll have to resort to the website. For me that didn’t make much difference as my favorite stuff was all present in the app without issue.

Recording your own stuff is a doddle with the desktop app thanks to the nice big “Share Your Sound” tab in the top left that reveals a massive “Rec” button that you simply hit to record from your Mac.

If you’re into SoundCloud, but hate that you have to use Flash, then check out the SoundCloud desktop app — it’s free and works pretty well.

Daily Mac App: Sound Cloud originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Dear Aunt TUAW,

I’ve had an iPhone 4S since Friday and I love how Siri is making my life easier, and hands-free. However, what’s troubling me is that when I use Siri to send or reply to my friend using SMS, I can’t figure out how to add commas and periods.

This makes the message looks odd, and Siri doesn’t allow direct editing on the message either (at least I haven’t found out).

Is there a way to add punctuations while sending a message using Siri?

Thanks!

Your loving nephew,

William

Dear William,

Just dictate the punctuation you want to use. For example, you might say:

Message Aunt TUAW. Hey comma cap Auntie exclamation point. How are you doing question mark. I asterisk really asterisk love this whole punctuation thing full stop. Love comma William

Hope this helps!

Hugs,

Auntie T.

Dear Aunt TUAW: Help me use punctuation with Siri originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Apple is poised to expand its presence in California by re-opening the Victoria Gardens Store in Rancho Cucamonga this weekend. The Victoria Gardens store originally opened in October 2004 and was impressive for its time. It had 3,000 square feet of retail space and was packed full of G5 Towers, G5 iMacs, and eMacs when it first opened its doors seven years ago.

Now the store has a new location and has received an architectural facelift. The new and improved store has doubled its footprint and now boasts of 6,000 square feet of retail space. Its entrance has also doubled to 60-feet wide and is made of stone and glass instead of steel, a design change that reflects Apple’s current retail store aesthetics.

The Victoria Gardens store will open this Saturday, October 22 at 10:00 a.m. PDT.

[via ifoAppleStore]

Expanded California Apple Store to open Saturday originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments