It’s hard to believe, but TUAW TV Live has been appearing on your screens just about every Wednesday for 10 months now. I want to thank all of you who have joined in every week for an hour of discovery and discussion; you’ve made it a pleasure to produce the show.

This week, I’ll be talking about a variety of topics; what would be good to see in iWork and iLife updates, iPad and iPhone apps (both good and bad), more iPad and iPhone cases, a demo of how to quickly make an ebook that will work in iBooks, and additional topics as well. And we’ll even have some fun giveaways on today’s show.

To watch and participate in today’s show, just come back to TUAW at about 5 PM EDT (2 PM PDT) and I’ll have full instructions on how to view the livestream and use the chat.

TUAWComing up at 5 PM EDT: TUAW TV Live originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As we suspected back in March, the iPad shipped without apps that are standard on the iPhone: Stocks, Calculator, Clock, Weather, Voice Memos and Compass. Instead of going without, we’ve found the best examples of each for you to install and get your iPad on par with your iPhone.

Clock

Our own Steve Sande pointed out several options for iPad owners, including Night Stand HD (US$4.99) and Clock Pro HD ($5.99). Go and check out the full article.

In the meantime, click below to read the rest of our list.

TUAWiPad: The missing apps originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re getting reports from various sites that Apple has released the beta version of iOS 4.2 into the wild for developer testing. This is suppose to add a number of features, especially for the iPad, in the form of multi-tasking, AirPlay, folder organization, the ability to print from your iPad and more. Developers can access the beta through the Dev Center now.

This update is scheduled to come to consumers’ iPads sometime in November of this year, so devs will have a few months to tinker around with it before release.

TUAWApple releases iOS 4.2 beta for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MercuryNews is reporting that Apple will soon announce a plan for subscribing to newspapers with the iPad. While Apple did not comment, the MercuryNews speculated on Apple’s deal with Roger Fidler, head of digital publishing at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. Fidler believes that Apple take up to a 30% cut of subscriptions on top of 40% of ad revenue.

In exchange, the newspapers’ developers will be be allowed to provide customers with a way to share statistics on just who they are. The opt-in feature will allow Apple to share user demographic data with the publishers, which they could then direct towards their marketing efforts. “[Publishers] want the data of their customers so they can integrate it into their circulation database so they know who their customers are,” said Fidler.

It’s all speculation, so don’t get excited just yet. Time, Inc. has recently been frustrated with their attempts to implement a mutually-agreeable subscription model in the App Store, and part of their complaint was over retrieving the very data speculated on by Fidler.

[Via MacDailyNews]

TUAWRumor: Apple will announce newspaper subscription plan originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dear Aunt TUAW,

I’ve recently become the proud owner of a 3rd generation iPod touch. I found the Nike+ app that uses some strange GPS/wifi-triangulation scheme to locate me and how far I run/walk.

How does the iPod touch do this? Is it magnets? Smoke? Mirrors? Is this a reliable location-reckoning system? There are a lot of rumors abounding on the Interwebs, and I know you’ll get to the bottom of it, Auntie.

Love & tickles,

Your nephew Marc H.

TUAWDear Aunt TUAW: location voodoo originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This makes my green heart happy. Above is a video of the Einstein Newton emulator running on an iPhone 4. Newton OS lives!

Sort of. You’ll notice that it’s kind of slow for now, though the project’s developers say speed will improve. Still, it’s a full Newton, with hand writing recognition and everything. They also intend to get it working on the iPod touch and iPad. If you want to get your hands on things right now, the source code is available here. Developer Matthias Melcher says he’s going to submit the emulator to the App Store, but he’s not holding his breath.

Congratulations to Matthias for the successful port, Paul Guyot for writing the emulator in the first place (and keeping it open source) and everyone who contributed to the project. I hope to have this on my own iPhone 4 soon.

TUAWEinstein Newton emulator running on iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In the Apple accessory ecosystem, there are thousands of different items for the Mac, iPhone, iPod, and iPad. Out of that huge world, I can think of only one accessory that you can actually stand on — The Withings Connected Body Scale (US$159.00). I’ve had the pleasure of using one of these internet-connected scales for about a year now, and I find it to be a help in my daily battle between being a foodie and trying to maintain a decent weight.

Although the Withings Scale can be used with any computer, I like to think of it as an Apple accessory, since I can use my Mac, iPhone, and iPad in various ways to check my diet progress. Withings provides a free iOS app (WiScale) that gives you password-protected access to your weight information, or you can visit the main Withings website to view the same data on your free account.

The scale measures and calculates your weight, fat mass, and BMI (Body Mass Index), and then it transmits that information to the Withings servers via a Wi-Fi connection to your network. Within a very short amount of time, that information can either be accessed privately via a variety of methods or can be sent to the world via Facebook, Twitter, or a blog widget.

TUAWRoad Tested: The Withings Scale, an Apple accessory you can stand on originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The guys over at Amidio Inc (Touch DJ / Noise.io) have recently released their latest app for the iPad, Seline HD (US$5.99).

Seline HD is a musical instrument designed for performance and composition of music on the iPad. One of its key features is to make easy the creation of complex melodies, while accompanying those melodies with big sound scape type pads.

With Its all new ergonomically designed interface, the ioGrid, Seline HD makes playing music a breeze, literally, without the strain (RSI, anyone?).

Seline HD’s intuitive CrystalClarity HD sound engine analyzes what you are playing to add subtle nuances to your strokes of genius. And the keys are designed to be suitable for players with all hand sizes, according to Amidio’s press release.

So, how do you play? You lay your hands down on the keys, like you’re about to play a piano. A fully adjustable 16-note scale is divided between your left and right hand, odd and even notes respectively. The idea is to place your index, middle and ring finger over three individual columns, each finger being responsible for its own column. As a result, interesting playing and improvisational input possibilities occur, but more importantly, the added comfort of knowing you will never hit a wrong note. In your face, music teacher!

But the playing doesn’t end there. Some well thought out features enhance your Seline HD skills even more. Aiming for the center of each key (in a column) will provide maximum volume, while aiming slightly off center, and to the edges, will provide less. In effect, more or less velocity.

Your thumb (or you can move and use your index finger) is left to control a center, 2 semi-tone, up or down pitch bend, while going left or right will add manual vibrato. There’s also note shift, up or down buttons, to create great trill sounds, and, in addition to this, the joystick on each side calibrates the attack of the notes being played. To add a luscious background to your melodies, activate the Drone (chorded synth pads). Analyzing what you are playing, the Drone will add sound scape backgrounds to your melodies.

Using Amidio’s CrystalClarity HD sound engine, Seline HD makes it easy for beginners to play as well as for seasoned musicians to find depth in the experience. By implementing dozens of algorithms to analyze the melody being played, Seline HD will subtly introduce character and expression to your input. For example, play an intensive solo where you land up holding the final note, Seline HD will detect this passage and add a subtle vibrato to that final note, as a finishing touch.

To top it all off, Seline HD is equipped with a full range of recording possibilities, including direct recording to .wav files. With 20 built-in factory voices (flutes, bowed strings, reeds, synth leads and more), and 9 drone voices, we’re looking forward to spending some quality time with Seline HD.

After the break, check out Seline HD’s tutorial video, Seline HD being used by The iPad Orchestra and Jordan Rudess, of Dream Theater, playing a piano accompanied by Seline HD.

TUAWCount The Beats: First look at Amidio’s Seline HD app for the iPad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nope, this isn’t a movie adaptation (though I’d like to play that game, too). Instead, it’s a physics puzzler that has you tossing little rocket-riding guys around planets of various sizes, with gravitational effects to match. The graphics are simple but effective, and the game is surprisingly forgiving — you get as many chances to try and throw the little guys around as you need, but fewer tries means a better score. There are 80 levels to go through, but play will go pretty quickly. This game has “just one more try” written all over it.

It’s only 99 cents on the App Store, and for a cheap, physics-based thrill, it delivers. There’s also an iPad version available (also for 99 cents) if you’d rather play it there. It could probably be a little more polished (there were times when I thought the puzzle solving was more about random placement rather than actual trial and error), but when you do finally figure out the solution of where to throw your little guy in between the planets, it always ends up being very satisfying.

TUAWTUAW’s Daily App: Rocketeer originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Music can greatly enhance any game when used properly.  Great games like great movies use music to accentuate the mood in a scene.  Thing thing about games is that the mood is dynamically changing, one moment things could be sailing smoothly, and in the next in danger of losing a life.

I found an interesting tutorial on how to create multiple tracks with Garage Band for different moods, and how to play those tracks seamlessly with Cocos2D.  Here’s an example of dynamic music in action:

The above video is from the game Wordsurge by Adam Allen creator of the tutorial.

You can find the tutorial here:
Give Your Game Dynamic Background Music

While the code was written using the Cocos2D open source game engine and the included CocosDenshion audio engine the principles can be used anywhere.

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©2010 iPhone, iOS 4, iPad SDK Development Tutorial and Programming Tips. All Rights Reserved.

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If you’ve done any iOS development – heck maybe even if you’ve just sent out one tweet out expressing an interest in iPhone development then you may have been approached by someone with a “great app idea”.   Unfortunately, most of the time things just don’t pan out.

There are many good opportunities out there, but even more that won’t be worth your time.  I found a good article providing suggestions on how you can avoid wasting your time.  Much of this is going to come across as common sense, but it’s nice to have a checklist of things.

The article is from iPhone developer Richard Hart who has been developing on the iPhone platform for two years, and also teaches iPhone and iPad courses at BCIT in Vancouver, BC Canada.

You can read the whole article which covers things in more detail here:
Manage Your Risk And Don’t Get Taken For A Ride

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©2010 iPhone, iOS 4, iPad SDK Development Tutorial and Programming Tips. All Rights Reserved.

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