Blancer.com Tutorials and projects

The iControlPad project seems to have fizzled out, so another group is trying to bring the dream of a hardware iPhone button-based controller to life. Controller or Bust is a new project trying to move through the long list of steps required to get a hardware controller into production. The blog is the work of Benjamin Morisse, who is looking for all kinds of help from the community to get an actual controller off the ground. “This is ridiculous,” he writes. “The iPhone was introduced over three years ago and there still isn’t a game controller peripheral available to the masses. I’ve seen several prototypes that have kicked around the internet for some time now, but nobody has stepped up to the plate and actually delivered.” All true, and Morisse hopes to change that himself.

One big issue is getting approved by Apple — in order to run a peripheral that actually connects to the iPhone hardware, the project will have to be approved in the “Made for iPhone/iPad” program, and that’s been the biggest obstacle for developers so far. But Morisse is working on that already, along with iterating on product designs, so hopefully he’ll accomplish that goal quickly.

In the meantime, we’ll wait and see. There’s certainly a demand for such a device at a reasonable price — Steve Jobs may not like buttons, but most gamers do, so the first actual production device to go on sale in this market will probably find plenty of buyers.

A controller for the iPhone … or bust originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This weekend Apple will open up its 305th retail store in the St. Louis Galleria mall, right there at Brentwood and 40-64 (which I heard finally finished construction recently). Saturday is day one, and the store should be open at 9am, so if you want to be around for the festivities (including the t-shirts and the hoopla), make plans for this Saturday morning.

I’m kind of surprised the Galleria didn’t have an Apple Store yet — the only other one in St. Louis is down at the West County Mall, but I’d have expected to see one in Chesterfield, or maybe out in St. Charles somewhere. The Galleria is a good choice, though — upscale and central, exactly where Apple wants to be. As always, if you head out to the opening and take pictures, be sure to send them along to us, we’d love to see them.

Update: Oh, well that shows how long it’s been since I’ve visited St. Louis. There is a store in the Galleria already, but according to our commenters, it’s a mini-store, and this opening on Saturday will be a full retail opening in another location in the mall. So there you go — still an opening, but not completely new. That explains my confusion — I thought the Galleria would have had a store by now, and it did.

New Apple Store opening in the St. Louis Galleria this weekend originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Honestly, I haven’t been super impressed with anything I’ve seen coming out of all of the Windows Phone 7 hoopla this week. Sure, the phones look pretty and all, and yes, it’s a huge upgrade for Windows Mobile users, but it still seems to me like Microsoft is just trying to match the iPhone rather than actually overcome it. I don’t see anything in the offerings that would make me abandon my much-loved iPhone 4. That said, Mac users who have to use Windows Phone 7 (perhaps because it’s what you get from work) will enjoy hearing that the system will indeed sync up with Mac computers, a first for Microsoft gadgets. Zune fans can rejoice, too — the new client will let the Zune sync as well.

Of course, Mac users in Windows Phone 7-land will still be second class citizens, as the client will be a beta release later on this year, and reportedly will only offer syncing for “select content.” No idea what that means — we’ll have to wait and find out later this year.

Windows Phone 7 will sync ‘select content’ with Macs originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Adding to the already bloated CDMA iPhone rumor mill, The Wall Street Journal is now reporting that Apple is in talks with Reliance Communications Ltd and Tata Teliservices Ltd to bring the much-talked-about CDMA equipped iPhone to India. Apparently, talks with Tata Teleservices Ltd have been going on for some 4 to 5 months now.

Similarly, this same CDMA iPhone is the one that has been repeatedly rumored to appear on – surprise, surprise – Verizon’s network early next year, also according to the Journal. So, Verizon folks, things are looking more and more in your favor, once again — at least until they don’t, once again.

If Apple were to introduce a code division multiple access (CDMA) iPhone, it would open Apple’s iPhone up to roughly 550 million new customers worldwide, according the latest official figures from the CDMA Development Group. This certainly would expand Apple’s iPhone market!

In India, one of the world’s fastest growing wireless markets, Apple has the potential to get its iPhone into 134 million current CDMA handset users’ hands, though Apple Insider suggests that nearly half the country may struggle to afford the phone, with individuals earning an estimated US$1.25 or less a day.

If the rumors are to be believed, a CDMA iPhone release early next year is looking more and more likely. As always, nothing is certain until we see it in the cold, hard, light of day.

[Via AppleInsider]

Rumor: Apple talking with CDMA carriers in India originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s time for TUAW TV Live, so grab some popcorn and a beverage, sign into the chat room, and get ready for some fun.

Today my special guest is John Martellaro from The Mac Observer. As I mentioned earlier today, John is the Senior Editor at TMO and has been around the Apple universe for many years. He’s one of the many Mac bloggers who call the Denver area home, so we meet up on occasion in the real world to talk computers and other topics.

How do you join on the fun? From your Mac or PC, just go to the next page by clicking the read more link at the bottom of this post, and you’ll find a livestream viewer and a chat tool. The chat tool allows you to join in on the fun by asking questions or making comments.

If you’re driving somewhere and would like to watch TUAW TV Live while you’re stuck in traffic, please don’t — keep your eyes on the road! However, if someone else is doing the driving, you can watch the show on your iPhone by downloading the free Ustream Viewing Application.

iPad users haven’t been forgotten, either, as you can tune in to TUAW TV Live on your iPad! That link will send you to a non-Flash page, although you won’t have access to our chat tool. And one final note — if the show has started and you’re seeing a previously recorded show instead of the livestream, you can always pop on over to ustream.tv/tuaw to join the show in progress.

Continue reading TUAW TV Live: TUAW and TMO tag team

TUAW TV Live: TUAW and TMO tag team originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stuart Dredge of MobileEntertainment did some digging into the paperwork behind the Ngmoco sale, and came back with some interesting figures about the company’s financials. Turns out that rumored $403 million purchase price is true — kind of. The deal includes a $100 million bonus, if Ngmoco keeps its numbers up to certain standards. The actual payment now is $303 million, which consists of $146 million in common stocks, $27 million in DeNA investments, and $128 million cash. That cash payment, Dredge reports, is about a third of DeNA’s total cash balance, so this is a significant deal for both companies.

Meanwhile, the documents state that Ngmoco has seen 50 million downloads on the App Store as of last month, and has 12 million users on the Plus+ network across 119 games (as a comparison, OpenFeint announced 25 million users this year, although of course that service is spread across many more titles).

And perhaps most interesting, Ngmoco is growing, but has spent a lot of money for that growth. In 2008, its revenues were only $484,000, and it lost $2.46 million. 2009 went better on the revenue side, jumping up to $3.16 million, but the company’s losses came out to a whopping $10.89 million. Pretty amazing that financials like that led to a sale of $403 million — both Ngmoco and DeNA must expect a lot from this partnership in the future.

Deal documents show Ngmoco’s 50 million downloads, $10m losses in 2009 originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ever the kid-friendly outfit, Apple filed a patent in 2008 that aims to make text messaging safer for the children. TechCrunch reports that today, the US Patent and Trademark office awarded Apple a patent which puts a ban on sending obscene text messages sometimes called “sexting.”

The technology will prevent an “administered device” — such as an iPhone, maybe? — from sending or receiving objectionable messages. The overall strictness of the filter is determined by the administrator of the device and would include settings by age or grade level.

In addition to offensive language filtering, the technology includes a method for requiring users to communicate in a specific language. For example, a specified number of foreign-language words could be required for each outbound message. This is an interesting tool for anyone, including children, trying to learn another language.

Even though this patent was filed in 2008, its promises have yet to be fulfilled. It is not uncommon for Apple to file patents for technology (hardware or software) on which they are currently working. Sometimes these patents result in cool new products or features and sometimes not.

Whether this technology ends up in iOS 5, or some other Apple product, remains unclear. What is certain, is that if it is implemented, it won’t take long for people to start hunting for ways to communicate that the device won’t be able to filter.

[via CNN]

Apple patents content filter for outbound text messages originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With about two weeks to go until Office 2011 ships, Microsoft is making sure that Office 2008 is safe and sound with a security and stability update. The 12.2.7 update can be downloaded and installed by running Check for Updates from the Help menu in any of the Office 2008 apps, or letting Microsoft AutoUpdate do its job.

What’s in the update? For Microsoft Excel, it’s a bug fix. According to Microsoft, the update “fixes issues that cause Excel to crash or close unexpectedly sometimes when you try to start an Excel application.” And for those of you who use Entourage (Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?), it’s about reliability. The update details there say that it fixes issues with Kerberos authentication with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and 2007 as well as an issue where Entourage would create duplicate items in the Exchange 2007 mailbox.

You can read all of the details here. The installed update takes up 503.4 MB of your precious hard disk space.

Office 2008 users: 12.2.7 update is available originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve read our reviews of the Sonos ZonePlayer S5 or their iPad and iPhone remotes, you may have said, “I’d like to get a Sonos system but I can’t afford the price.” Well, today may be your lucky day as we’re giving away a Sonos ZonePlayer S5 and a Sonos ZoneBridge to one fortunate winner!

The ZonePlayer S5 allows you to play music through a plug-and-play 5-speaker device, whereas the ZoneBridge hooks into your router and creates a wireless zone for the S5. Now all you have to do is plug the S5 into an outlet anywhere in your house and easily stream your music using free control apps (and yes, there’s a Mac app). Sonos allows you to stream not only your iTunes library, but also music from services like Pandora, Napster, Rhapsody, SIRIUS and Wolfgang’s Vault plus Internet radio.

To enter, leave a comment on this post telling us the last song you played (on any device, Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod or AM transistor radio). To learn more about the S5 and ZoneBridge, check out this Sonos page here. Full rules for the giveaway are here, plus the short version of the rules are listed below.

• Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
• To enter leave a comment telling us the last song you played.
• The comment must be left before Monday, October 18, 2010, 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time.
• You may enter only once.
• One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: One Sonos ZonePlayer S5 and one Sonos ZoneBridge (Value: US$500)
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

Win a Sonos ZoneBridge and ZonePlayer S5 originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here at TUAW, we love possibilities. Yeah, we all know that Apple’s new OS will be named something prosaic and big cat like OS X 10.7 Lion but until Apple actually makes its announcement, the waveform doesn’t collapse. Possibilities still abound.

TUAW spent this morning brainstorming alternatives to OS X Lion and puts them forth for your general consensus. Here’s your opportunity to sound out with regard to OS naming. Whether there’s anyone out there listening is another question; one that we will studiously avoid answering.^[1]

Vote for your favorite OS X name in our handy TUAW poll — or add your own suggestions in the comments that follow. Sound out! It’s your last chance before quantum happens.

View Poll

^[1]TUAW is an unofficial weblog and has no association whatsoever with Apple. Your vote is for entertainment purposes only. Contact a professional to determine if public polling is right for you. In case of inadvertent product naming, discontinue polling immediately. Seek help in the event that this poll produces irritation, rashes, or irrational blog commenting syndrome.

TUAW Poll: What’s the name of OS X 10.7? originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Have you noticed that since mid-2007, a lot of other phone manufacturers have come out with multi-touch displays that are all but identical to those on the iPhone? I certainly noticed, and it made me wonder if Steve Jobs’s January 2007 claim regarding multi-touch, “Boy have we patented it,” was just an idle threat.

As it turns out, Jobs’s claim was just a few years early. Patently Apple reports that, as of yesterday, Apple has been awarded three very important multi-touch related patents. The first patent, “Portable Electronic Device with Multi-Touch Input,” describes in detail the multi-touch input method present on the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and Apple’s multi-touch trackpads. It also sounds remarkably similar to the input methods present on competitors’ touchscreen smartphones.

The second patent, “Ellipse Fitting for Multi-Touch Surfaces,” is similar to another patent that Apple filed last year. It describes multiple input methods that all iOS device users will recognize: typing, pointing, scrolling, object manipulation, and so forth. The third patent, “Simultaneous Sensing Arrangement,” describes some of the sensing mechanisms present in multi-touch devices. Patently Apple has the full details on the patents if you’re truly curious, but they basically represent patents for both the hardware and input methods behind multi-touch.

Patents are an unusually touchy subject, particularly when lawsuits over them are involved. Apple’s initial lawsuit against HTC earlier this year sparked a firestorm of Internet rage, with many commentators complaining that Apple was engaged in anti-competitive practices and attempting to stifle innovation. That’s certainly one way of looking at it.

Another way of looking at it would be to look at something like Marco Arment’s smartphone retrospective and recognize that other manufacturers have achieved success in the smartphone market over the past few years only by copying features that Apple innovated, like multi-touch. And regardless of whether you agree with the phrase “Apple innovated multi-touch” or not, that’s now what the record shows: Apple now explicitly owns the patents for multi-touch. Frankly, I’ll be shocked if Apple doesn’t sic its patent lawyers on the likes of HTC and other manufacturers over multi-touch now.

Apple awarded three major multi-touch patents originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Would you believe it’s Wednesday already?

Today at 5 PM EDT (2 PM PDT), I’ll have a special guest on TUAW TV Live. John Martellaro is the Senior Editor at The Mac Observer, and his background in the world of Apple includes a stint at the company as a Senior Marketing Manager for science and technology, a Federal Account executive, and High Performance Computing Manager. He writes the weekly “Particle Debris” feature at TMO, which is always full of insights into Apple in particular and consumer electronics in general.

We have a lot to talk about on the show today, including Apple’s first foray above $300 on Wall Street, if the debut of Windows Phone 7 means anything to the company, what the Apple TV means to the long-term success of Apple, and more.

Join us this afternoon for live video and chat. We’ll get started just before 5 PM EDT here at TUAW.com. If you miss the show, be sure to check it out in our video archives at http://ustream.tv/tuaw.

Today on TUAW TV Live: The Mac Observer’s John Martellaro originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last week, those wanting to buy an iPhone 4 in the U.S. got good news when they heard that shipping times for the phone had been reduced. Now the UK gets to share in that good news, too.

The UK Apple Online Store is now selling iPhone 4s with a 2 week dispatch time, reduced from the previous 3 week wait. Both the 16 and 32 gigabyte models have a 2 week dispatch time, while the iPhone 3GS has a 1 – 2 week wait.

Mind you, most network providers and Apple’s own retail stores seem to have stock readily available if you’re willing to walk in and get it.

In related news, the UK Apple Online Store is now offering 6 months interest-free financing on minimum iPhone and accessory purchases of £450. This is an interesting option for those who can’t afford the cost of the phone upfront and who don’t want to be tied into a 12, 18, or 24 month contract with a network provider. Still, you’ll have to subscribe to one of the network providers for cellular service, which will naturally add to the cost. This option is probably best for pay-as-you-go-customers.

Financially speaking, and if you’ve got the time, I’d say you’re better off getting a contract with a network provider who will subsidize the cost of the phone, provided you don’t go for the most expensive price plans offered. Basically, if you want to be frugal about it, you need to balance the contract that suits your needs best with the overall cost of ownership that you will incur when the contract is over.

[Tip of the hat to macnn]

iPhone shipping times drop in the UK, 6 month 0% finance offered originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The latest application from The Iconfactory, Take Five, is meant to eliminate one pesky problem: the realization that you’ve been wearing headphones that aren’t pumping out any music. I’m glad to say that it succeeds.

Consider this scenario. You’re working at your desk while listening to music on your iPhone or iPod touch. An interruption arises, like a phone call or the need for quiet concentration, so you hit the pause button. Once the interruption is over, you’re too involved in the resulting task to realize that you’ve been wearing headphones and listening to nothing for goodness knows how long.

I’ve done it, and it’s a bit embarrassing.

Check out the gallery of screenshots below and then click the link to read our review of Take Five.

Continue reading Pause your music intelligently with Take Five

Pause your music intelligently with Take Five originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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