Peekaboo! Guess Who? (US$1.99) from Bacciz Apps is a lovely little educational iPad game for toddlers and young children. It teaches kids to identify the sounds animals make.

Gameplay is simple and features both a "Kids Mode" for very young players and a "2+ Mode."

First, kids choose a setting -- Farm, Ocean, Jungle or Circus -- and are guided to the appropriate screen. Players next hear a sound made by a hidden animal (in 2+ Mode, the animal is briefly displayed at the start of the turn). Next, three animals appear in circles and the player taps their choice of who made the sound.

If correct, the circle changes to a smiley face and the child is rewarded with a big "Yay!" or "Yippee!" The animal's name is displayed as it emerges from behind a curtain, barn door pile of leaves or forest of seaweed, depending on the level being played.

If the wrong animal is chosen, the face frowns and another choice can be made.

The game also fosters independent play. For example, kids are prompted through gameplay by a dopey, Wallace Shawn-sounding voice. Also, if a player hesitates for a certain amount of time, a hand appears and points out the hidden animal's location. Finally, you can switch between Kid Mode and 2+ Mode at anytime with a tap.

Gallery: Peekaboo! Guess Who? Gallery

Continue reading Peekaboo! Guess Who? an inviting game for the smallest of iPad users

Peekaboo! Guess Who? an inviting game for the smallest of iPad users originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 27 May 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Asian tech industry blog Digitimes has reported on two seemingly contradictory stories regarding how Friday's tragic explosion at the Foxconn plant in Chengdu China will affect iPad 2 production. In one post, Digitimes states that production has been suspended at the Chengdu plant. Although the Chengdu plant produces less than 30 percent of iPad 2s, the production suspension report has caused concerns over availability constraints in the near future. The majority of the devices are manufactured at a plant in Shenzhen.

However, Digitimes has also posted that, according to Commercial Times (a Chinese-language financial newspaper), the disaster will not affect iPad 2 assembly lines since the explosion and subsequent fire occurred at a location used to store chemicals and coatings, leaving the assembly lines unscathed. Foxconn has stated that iPad 2 production will continue as previously planned.

This may be Foxconn PR spin to try to put the brakes on the 5 percent drop in its stock last night during Asian trading. It may also be due to Foxconn's intention to ramp up assembly at its Shenzhen facility, which is expected to increase production from 2 million units per month to 4-5 million units per month in the second quarter. The manufacturer hopes to raise output to 9-10 million units per month in the second half of the year.

It's too early to tell how this will play out, but our collective hearts and prayers go out to the victims of this horrible tragedy.

[via 9to5 Mac]

iPad 2 production may not be affected by explosion at Foxconn plant originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 23 May 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

RiffSync (US$9.99) in the Mac App Store has found very clever way to perfect RiffTrax, ... but before I get to the Riffsync app, you might need a little background about RiffTrax.

If the names Gypsy, Tom Servo, Cambot and Crow T. Robot sound familiar, you know about Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K). The premise was that Joel Robinson was trapped in space on the Satellite of Love by Dr. Clayton Forester and was forced to watch horribly bad movies, mostly science fiction stinkers. With the assistance of four robot pals, Joel (later replaced by the show's head writer, Michael J. Nelson) and the robots provided running commentary as the movie played. A large cult grew around the show.

After the show was canceled, some of the MST3K gang created RiffTrax. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett and a host of guest riffers sell audio tracks (usually about $3.99 each) to be synced with movies, bringing the MST3K experience to a huge catalog of current films. By running the film in the DVD Player application, VLC, iTunes or a physical DVD player, and simultaneously playing the MP3 RiffTrax in iTunes or QuickTime Player (if iTunes is playing the film), the guys recreated the art of skewering movies for the current generation of bad movie enthusiasts.

Though the results are hilarious, syncing the RiffTrax to the movie is a challenge. RiffTrax tries its best to help by giving you a chapter listing of how the RiffTrax relates to the film. They even give you a DisembAudio robot narrator that repeats a line in the film every so often to help sync. This can be tricky when you're trying to figure out whether the movie or the RiffTrax is slower. If you want to pause the movie, you have to pause the film and the RiffTrax audio separately.

RiffSync solves this audio-sync problem and gives a few additional options to improve the movie experience. Read on for a full review of RiffSync.

Continue reading RiffSync for Mac perfects RiffTrax from the MST3K gang

RiffSync for Mac perfects RiffTrax from the MST3K gang originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 16 May 2011 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The field of interactive children's books for iOS has become pretty staid as publishers have gotten used to using engines created for their first book and just plugging in new content. But Scott's Submarine (US$2.99), the first entry from Square Igloo, adds some great interactive touches that I haven't seen, and it adds new levels of interactivity to the genre.

The story is a simple one. Scott and his friend Aiko explore the ocean in a small submarine and discover the wonders of undersea life. But the story isn't what makes this book special; it's the host of options and new features that make this universal app really stand out.

Among the many options are the ability to turn the voice and word display on or off, adjusting the ambient sound volume, and language choices (English, Spanish, French or Japanese) that appear textually on all screens and can be heard as narration. You can also set the story's complexity level, ranging from a simple abbreviated narrative to a more complex story that offers much more color and detail.

Gallery: Scott's Submarine Gallery

Continue reading Scott's Submarine adds some new twists to interactive children's books

Scott's Submarine adds some new twists to interactive children's books originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 16 May 2011 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Augmented reality may be taking the next giant step forward with CrowdOptic, an app that will provide a graphic data overlay for live events. If you are at a concert (with the system in place), point the app at the stage and you'll get details like those in the picture above. Point it at a player in a sporting event, and real-time statistics about the player and the play will be displayed. In fact, point it at anything at a live event and take a picture; the details and context will be saved and can be shared through social networking sites.

Once the CrowdOptic system is installed at a concert or sports venue, the magic happens through triangulation. At least two people need to be pointing their iPhones at the same thing, at the same time, and the GPS location, compass direction and time of day will be used to figure out the most likely image being viewed and display information on exactly that. The accuracy is dependent upon how many people are looking at the same thing.

CrowdOptic has raised US$1 million to build the business and negotiate deals with professional sports and premier event concerns. Apps similar to this that work by focusing on static objects are in development, but according to CEO Jon Fisher, as reported to vatornews, "No technology can affect the pictures of these moving objects until now."

As noted by Fast Company, CrowdOptic is aiming at concert, sporting and other live event promoters and advertisers who will pay dearly to display real-time information. CrowdOptic has already made a deal with a major (but undisclosed) sports management agency to use its services. Another deal was struck with Moon Express, a privately funded lunar transportation company which used it to track and tag altitude information for the April 9th launch of the Eureka Airship, proving that any moving object can be tracked. CrowdOptic intends to beta test the app at the Women's Tennis Association Tournament this summer.

The service is being targeted as providing profitable analytics to promoters and marketers. CrowdOptic boasts that through tagging and photo-sharing pictures with hidden metadata embedded in each shot, campaigns originating with fans can provide a "social graph" of live events and how they went viral. Venues can display ticket discounts, along with merchandise and concession promotions. Sponsors can also display offers, such as free trials and test drives.

This seems like a win-win for everyone involved. It's reasonable to assume the CrowdOptic app will be free to users, with the venues or organizers footing the bill. This looks like it will offer a valuable service for the user while harvesting useful and profitable data to the paying concerns. Keep your eye on this one.

[via IBM A Smarter Planet]

CrowdOptic could raise the bar for augmented reality apps originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 11 May 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

On Friday morning, a smash-and-grab robbery of yet another Apple Store took place at the Crocker Park Apple Store in Westlake, Ohio, an upscale suburb of Cleveland. Around 4:30 AM, three burglars smashed in the front window activating the burglar alarm as well as the store's security cameras, which caught it all on tape. The well-organized thieves were in and out in thirty seconds after stealing twenty-four notebooks and one iPod touch. The culprits, wearing all black, left no apparent trail, and so far, the Westlake police have no disclosed leads.

This comes quickly on the heels of other such incidents. Just last month, the San Diego, CA store was hit resulting in one burglar being shot and killed by a security guard. Also in April, a thief was shot during a heist at the Chula Vista, Calif. store along with the Chestnut Street San Francisco store being hit without fatalities. Earlier, it was the Pittsburgh, Pa. store, which had been broken into twice. This follows a rash of break-ins at other Apple Stores and resellers throughout 2009-2010. In all, over twelve Apple Stores have been robbed.

After the break, you can see the video as posted by WKYC News 3.

Continue reading Another smash and grab at the Crocker Park Apple Store in Westlake, OH

Another smash and grab at the Crocker Park Apple Store in Westlake, OH originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 10 May 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Last September we wrote about a fascinating project that, if successful, may ring in the future of digital curricula for K-12 education. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, a major publisher of textbooks with an abiding interest in technology, embarked upon a large scale pilot project in digital education.

As soon as their new Holt McDougal Algebra 1 textbook was finished, it was decided to re-imagine it as an iPad app named HMH Fuse Algebra 1. The app would include exactly the same content as the 950-page book, but it would also contain over 400 videos, animations, a graphing calculator, multiple presentation methods and numerous other features. John Sipe, the general sales manager of HMH, blueprinted what he wanted the app to be and worked with developers to bring it to fruition.

The free app, which weighs in at 141 MB, only gives you a taste of how it all works, but it doesn't include any course content. Seeing that requires a US$59.95 in-app purchase. Loading all the content takes up a whopping 4-6 GB of space, but chapters and videos can be downloaded, erased and reloaded at any time.

HMH took this quite seriously and poured some major money into a full-year pilot project; four California school districts were chosen, and teachers were asked to volunteer to teach a number of classes using the textbook and other classes using the app for the entire school year. HMH wanted to measure if students tested better using the app over the textbook and explore attitudinal changes in both teachers and students. All classrooms using the app needed to be Wi-Fi enabled. There was no intention of replacing teachers or turning them into mere facilitators in the HMH Fuse classes. Sipe and HMH wanted to see if delivery methods affected learning, and if so, how?

Continue reading HMH Fuse and the future of K-12 mobile education on the iPad

HMH Fuse and the future of K-12 mobile education on the iPad originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 05 May 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

HBO GO allows an HBO subscriber to stream over 1400 programs on a computer with a Flash-enabled browser, but just last week, a few days ahead of the scheduled May 2nd release, HBO released the HBO GO iOS app. This free universal app is pretty amazing.

If you are an HBO subscriber and your provider is among the favored ones (AT&T U-verse, Xfinity, DIRECTV, DISH Network, Suddenlink, Verizon FIOS or some flavors of Comcast), you now have the ability to stream a world of HBO content to your iPad, iPhone (3GS or iPhone 4) or iPod Touch (4th generation) away from your home, as long as a WiFi or 3G connection is available.

Given the size of the iPad screen and the design of the app, the experience of navigation and viewing is far more enjoyable on an iPad than other iOS devices when using HBO GO. On the iPad, the app works in both landscape and portrait mode, but on anything else navigation can only be done in portrait mode, while programming plays in landscape mode.

Continue reading HBO GO for iOS lets you play over 1400 programs from just about anywhere

HBO GO for iOS lets you play over 1400 programs from just about anywhere originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 03 May 2011 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Those wild and crazy guys from Taiwan's Next Media Animation have weighed in on the Locationgate blow-up, and as usual, they haven't let the facts get in their way.

The video states that the location information is sent to Apple's servers for all sorts of nefarious purposes -- but of course, it was made before Apple's announcement today. As we posted earlier, the data is used to help your phone zero in on its own location as quickly as possible, and it may represent cell towers that could be 100 miles away. Take a peek and see what you think.

The video is a little bit NSFW, so think before you click.

Continue reading NMA explains Locationgate in animated form

NMA explains Locationgate in animated form originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Along with the Snow Leopard Font Upgrade, iPhoto 9.1.2 has just shown up in Software Update. Outside of the usual bug squashing, it brings a few new features and tweaks including new card themes and some enhancements to making photo books. Here's what you'll find in this sizable update:

o. Addresses an issue that prevented the Zoom slider from being accessible in Magnify (1-Up) view
o. Fixes an issue where Toolbars were not auto-hiding in Full Screen view
o. Search field now correctly performs an "includes" search when searching by text string
o. Fixes minor formatting issues with book, card and calendar themes
o. Message Size of emails now correctly updates when changes are made using the Photo Size menu
o. Addresses an issue that prevented some iPhoto 5 libraries from upgrading correctly
o. Multiple book pages can now be drag-selected when in All Pages view
o. Design tools in print project panels are now accessible via separate Layout and Options buttons
o. Photo backgrounds applied to a book are now preserved when book type is changed
o. Tab key can now be used to navigate through all text fields in a book project

The update is recommended for all all users of iPhoto '11, whether you bought it with iLife '11, or got it with a new Mac. It can be downloaded either here or through Software Update.

iPhoto 9.1.2 released originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

South Park is starting its 15th season on Wednesday, and Apple will be there. Comedy Central has posted a very short clip of Steve Jobs presenting the newest iThingy, which seems to be a mash-up of an iPad and The Human Centipede. The latter is a movie so bad that it garnered a Rotten Tomatoes audience rating of 29 percent. The clip is slightly NSFW (Not Suitable For Work), so be forewarned.

Thanks to Keith M. for the tip

Continue reading South Park introduces the HUMANCENTiPad

South Park introduces the HUMANCENTiPad originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Jonathan Gay works as a project manager for a pre-school in Newton, PA and has created a project he named Art of the iPad. He wanted to see how creative very young kids could be using new technology without the usual prerequisite of training.

Not wanting to use any of the existing art apps for children, Jonathan decided on using ArtRage (US $6.99), a fully featured painting app with a simple interface that includes pencils, brushes, rollers, spray paint and other tools that can create quite realistic painting effects with a swipe of the finger. ArtRage3 is far more than a coloring book and is not geared to use by kids.

In turn, each child, who was given next to no instruction, had a go to see what they could come up with. Jonathan watched the first child. "I watched him scan up and down the device and I watched as a sudden spark lit up the room as soon as the student touched the screen for the first time." The child was amazed as "all of a sudden, his finger became a burgundy crayon that produced a line across the page." The class took to the iPad with no trouble at all and quickly adapted to the idea that their fingers can create.

Children used different tools. They mixed paints to come up with new colors, some layered paint to build textures, and one even used the eraser to create white lines. Art, on a simple level, seemed to transcend age as the children used techniques and styles not usually attributed to their age group.

Gallery: iPad art created by small children

Continue reading Art of the iPad brings out the creativity of toddlers and tots

Art of the iPad brings out the creativity of toddlers and tots originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 24 Apr 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The newest winner in the "there's an app for that" sweepstakes has to go to the DASH app and its supporting system. It's putting the iPod touch at the heart of a system that allows surgeons to make it easier to do hip and knee replacement surgery. This medical system, developed by Smith & Nephew along with Brainlab, has allowed doctors at the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai to effectively perform three knee replacement surgeries.

The system comes in a rolling box with a precision camera and everything needed to take exact measurements and landmark registrations critical to such an operation. The iPod touch is slipped into a case and the software does the measuring and computing. Without this assistance, highly trained surgeons would have to "eyeball" measurements that the DASH does for them. This is said to reduce the learning curve and, at least in India, lessens the certification process for surgeons performing replacement procedures. Operating times are also reduced. This system is currently awaiting FDA approval in the US.

You can download the free DASH iOS app, which provides movies covering specific functions and operations of the DASH system, or watch the remarkable video on the next page that demonstrates the entire process.

[via onlygizmos.com]

Continue reading Mumbai surgeons perform knee surgery replacements using an iPod touch

Mumbai surgeons perform knee surgery replacements using an iPod touch originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

After being introduced to the US market on March 11, it's still not easy to get your hands on an iPad 2. D.L. Horton decided to do something about it, which lead to FindOne, a free iOS app that checks the online inventory of Target and Walmart to see what they have in stock.

Depending upon your criteria -- such as AT&T or Verizon, color, storage capacity or Wi-Fi only -- you enter your zip code and up pops a listing of what's in stock, along with addresses and phone numbers of the stores. Since inventory levels change minute by minute, you are strongly advised to call the stores and find out if the results are accurate and perhaps to reserve an iPad 2.

I called a few stores and found the app to be fairly accurate. It's not perfect by a long shot, but it's a great way to start your search. I live in a heavily populated area and got a lot of results, some of them as far as 45 miles away and some as close as only 4 miles. The site mentions that Best Buy inventory will soon be added to the app.

Yes, it would be nice if the app contained all vendors of iPad 2s, but first, it's free (ad-supported), and second, it's anyone's guess whether the other vendors have an online inventory system that FindOne can tap into. It's basic, but I think that FindOne has the potential of helping out some frustrated would-be buyers.

Gallery: FindOne Gallery

FindOne for iOS helps you get your hands on an iPad 2 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Onion, one of our favorite sources for fake news, has done a talking heads analysis of whether the unemployed should buy Apple computers. In typical Onion fashion, they miss the point -- on purpose.

The consensus? Of course the unemployed should buy Apples! You can do graphic design and look cool at Starbucks. The only person with a semi-reasonable point winds up getting tossed off the show for knowing nothing about the problem.

As one analyst mentioned: "I didn't know that we'd be drinking the Apple Kool-Aid here." For a good dose of said Kool-Aid, check out the video either on the free Onion app, or on the next page.

Continue reading Should unemployed Americans buy Apple gear? The Onion weighs in

Should unemployed Americans buy Apple gear? The Onion weighs in originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iTunes 10.2.2 has just appeared in Software Update for both Mac and Windows. The update seems to include some important bug fixes, but possibly no new features.

Here's what's under the hood.

o. Addresses an issue where iTunes may become unresponsive when syncing an iPad.
o. Resolves an issue which may cause syncing photos with iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to take longer than necessary.
o. Fixes a problem where video previews on the iTunes Store may skip while playing.
o. Addresses other issues that improve stability and performance.

iTunes 10.2.2 is available either through the ever-popular Software Update, or it can be grabbed directly here.

The software update also references a KB document on security issues, but there's nothing to be found specific to this update.

Get it while it's hot.

iTunes 10.2.2 now available originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 18 Apr 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iOS 4.3 brought us Home Sharing, which allows you to share iTunes libraries on up to five authorized computers on the same network and also have them show up on your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. But if you have more than one Mac with a library to share, you may be in the same boat I found myself in.

I have three Macs, but Home Sharing would only bring up one library on both my iPhone and iPad. It wasn't always the same library; the one that appeared was totally random and often changed. I could never get more than one library to show up at once, so I called Apple. I was told that they would sort it out and get back to me.

After two weeks with no response, I called again and went up three levels of senior tech support. During the call, they were easily able to replicate the problem and told me this was the first time they had heard of it. They said it was a definite bug in the iOS software, thanked me for finding it and said they would contact me regarding when it would be corrected.

Continue reading iOS Home Sharing bug found while using multiple Macs

iOS Home Sharing bug found while using multiple Macs originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 15 Apr 2011 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Intel is going to support USB 3.0 in the 2012 client platform. We're going to support Thunderbolt capability. We believe that they're complementary." CNET reported this remark from Kirk Sakaugen, a VP of the Intel Architecture group, in a presentation streamed from the Intel Developer Conference in Beijing. This dual-I/O support will arrive in the first half of 2012 with the rollout of the "Ivy Bridge" processor, which will be the next generation after the "Sandy Bridge" technology currently built into the the newest MacBook Pros.

This is the first time in ten years that Intel has built the most current USB technology into its processors. Currently Intel uses USB 3.0 in a small number of high-end motherboards, sourcing a component from NEC to make it work. USB 3.0 is ten times quicker than USB 2.0, topping out at a theoretical speed of 4.8 Gbps. Thunderbolt, in turn, beats out USB 3.0 easily; it allows transfers of data and DisplayPort video simultaneously at speeds of up to 10 Gbps on one cable.

Although nothing specific has been said about when Intel will integrate Thunderbolt technology, The Inquirer notes that the January launch of "Sandy Bridge" would have been the perfect time for Intel to build USB 3.0 into its silicon. By dragging its heels, the company may be promoting the integration of Thunderbolt. Currently Apple is the only computer maker using Thunderbolt, but AMD as well as Intel have said they will eventually include Thunderbolt support.

Intel announces USB 3.0 in "Ivy Bridge" and will support Thunderbolt originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Reuters reports that Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics giant that produces iPods, iPhones and iPads in China, is in ongoing talks to invest US$12 billion in building manufacturing facilities in Brazil.

Dilma Rousseff, the Brazilian president, reportedly said that this is under consideration, and she has said that she considers tablet computing as a viable option to inexpensively bring the internet to the lower-middle class of Brazil (around 80 million people). However, a rough translation from Digital&Midia suggests that it's a done deal and that iPads will be coming out of Brazil by the end of November. That report should be taken with a large grain of salt. We don't have a Portuguese speaker in the house, unfortunately, so we'd welcome a more direct translation.

It's easy to spot some pitfalls in Brazil for Foxconn. The manufacturer is in the business of finding the cheapest cost of production; Brazil has one of the highest import tariffs in South America and is considered to be quite an expensive place to do business, due to such factors as heavy taxes, poor labor laws and a possibly overvalued currency. So at first blush, Foxconn doing business in Brazil doesn't seem to make sense.

On the other hand, if it were to happen, import tariffs would be avoided, allowing Apple to step into the highly taxed Brazilian market at lower cost. Right now the cheapest iPad in Brazil sells for $860 while the US price of the lowest end iPad 2 is $499. If iPads were manufactured in Brazil, the selling cost would drop locally and in neighboring South American countries.

So will it happen? Talks have been progressing for three months according to Aloizio Mercadante, who serves as Brazil's Science and Technology minister, and there are ongoing negotiations with other technology manufacturing companies at the same time. This leads us to question the Digital&Midia story saying that a deal has been struck. We'll be keeping an eye to the south for more news soon.

iPads to be made in Brazil? originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 12 Apr 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

On the heels of the March 25 iOS 4.3.1 release, BGR suggests that another update is on the way. iOS 4.3.2 is rumored to be released within the next two weeks for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. There's not much information yet, but it's expected to fix some security issues, add a few enhancements and squash some bugs that have bitten users. Do I smell a battery life fix coming?

iOS 4.3.2 rumored to arrive within two weeks originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Piper Jaffray has been polling US teens on their iPhone adoption rates twice a year, and the current bi-annual report was released yesterday. In the survey, 4500 teens were asked about the iPhones that they already own or plan to purchase over the next six months.

Of those surveyed, 17 percent responded that they already own an iPhone, and a full 37 percent told Piper Jaffray that they plan to buy one (or have their parents buy it for them) over the next six months. If this sample is any indication, the future looks great for Apple in the teen segment. I thought the six month time frame was telling, since even the most conservative of pundits believe the iPhone 5 will be out six months from now.

Apple still owns the MP3 market with 80 percent saying they own such a device, and out of that, 86 percent own some flavor of iPod with everyone else being left in the dust. This is not all hearts and flowers though, since in the poll taken last spring, 92 percent of teens owned an iPod, with total MP3 adoption of 86 percent. It may mean that more teens are using iPhones to listen to music, with over half reporting that they listen to music on their cell phone, the highest number reported for that stat. Though it's not specifically stated, I don't think it would be a stretch to say that more teens are listening to music on Apple devices than any other brands in the category.

In a question about tablet sales, 22 percent of teens say they already have one, with another 20 percent planning to buy one in the next six months. I think that we can all agree that the lion's share of those purchases will be iPads as well.

[via Apple 2.0]

iPhone use by teens at a record high and growing originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple often charges more for products sold outside of the US, but with the Australian dollar coming over parity with the value of the US dollar (currently less than a four cent differential), the company has reduced Australian prices of the entire iPod line.

The 160 GB iPod classic was reduced A$30 from $329 to $299.

The 8 GB iPod touch was cut $30 from $289 to $259, and the 32 GB version was lowered $29 bringing it from $378 to $349. The 64 GB model was slashed a full $50 taking it from $499 to $449, which is the largest price decrease in the line. The smallest price decrease was only $4, lowering the iPod shuffle from $69 to $65.

The iPod nano 8 GB is down $20 from $199 to $179, and the 16 GB version was lowered only $10 from $229 to $219. Perhaps it's a slow seller in Australia.

I really hope that Apple has taken to heart the ebbs and flows of the US dollar as compared to other currencies and will follow suit in other countries.

Good news for Australians: Apple drops iPod prices originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For many doctors, iPads are becoming "...as important to patient care as their stethoscope," according to a segment on CNBC. Last year about 22 percent of doctors started integrating iPads into their practice. At Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, iPads became a mainstay in patient care from day one. Describing medical conditions to patients using the graphics of iPads made maladies far more understandable to many.

Additionally, a rush to use Electronic Health Records (EHR) is being fueled by a US Government program called Meaningful Use, in which doctors and hospitals can be reimbursed by Medicare and Medicaid for technology when meeting certain criteria. This, and the clarity brought to patients, is causing medical software companies to quickly scramble to get medical apps ready for the iPad and other tablets.

The iPad should benefit most from this initiative since it's a known quantity and (as long as you're not looking for an iPad 2) readily available. Hospitals can settle on a tablet now without waiting for what might be coming out later. This can also be a boon to the sanitizing business, since products like Lymsat are a much more elegant solution to keeping tablets clean and safe than using a Ziploc bag, which our own Erica Sadun swears by.

After the break is a video showing doctors at Beth Israel Deaconess in action with their iPads.

Continue reading iPads are becoming as important to doctors as their stethoscopes

iPads are becoming as important to doctors as their stethoscopes originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The DIRECTV iPad App, a free app that we briefly wrote about when it was first released, is one of the best, most complete iPad apps I've used. If you are one of the 160,000 DIRECTV customers with a Wi-Fi connection to an HR20, HR21, R22, R23, HR24, H21, H23, H24 or H25 model receiver (or multiples of these for that matter), download the app before reading any further. Those with other models can't set a recording, but can browse the program guide. This app is almost perfect with only a few minor caveats, which I'll get to later. In function, it does all that the free iPhone app does (like searching for shows) and much more. I don't have a 3G iPad, so my testing was Wi-Fi only.

When you first run it, it will find all of your connected receivers. If it fails, you'll need to execute the following steps on your remote control: Menu button > Parental Fav's and Setup > System Setup > Whole Home > External Devices > Allow. To confirm that you've done it correctly, touch the little gear in the upper right corner to produce a screen that looks something like this:

This screen not only lists your DVRs, but it also gives you a great deal of control over how the app will operate. I suggest that you check out every option before you really start playing with the app. Tap the little arrow on the right, and you'll find out if your receiver has an IP address and can be used with the app without using a wired or wireless Wi-Fi connection. In my house, I have connections to Theater 1 and Theater 2, and checking each with the arrow tells me my IP address and that control is enabled. All the rest show no IP address and can eventually be used if I connect them to Wi-Fi. At the bottom left of the screen, you can see your enabled receivers as well as which one is controlling your TV, marked with a check, as seen on the next page.

Continue reading The DIRECTV iPad app in depth

The DIRECTV iPad app in depth originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Penguin Slider is a game (US$1.99 for the iPad and $0.99 for the iPhone and iPod touch) created by Mark Thompson and Ashley Hunter, two 17-year-old students at The Wallace High School, a 1200 student Co-educational Grammar school in Lisburn Northern Ireland, near Belfast. They are shown above with their proud principal Deborah O' Hare. Mark and Ashley were guided by their ICT teacher, David Cleland, but they did the work themselves, both in and out of school, over a three-month period. All proceeds from the game are going into the students' college funds. Mark hopes to be an architect, while Ashley (pictured on the right) would like to be an ICT teacher later in life. I had a chance to interview the teacher and his two students via email, and everyone is very proud of the students' accomplishment.

The project was completely driven by the kids, who pulled skills from their ICT class as well as their Moving Image Arts and Art classes. The hardest part of coming up with the game was getting the idea. "Having a winning idea is the challenge," they said. "We just wish that we came up with Angry Birds." Doesn't everyone? Angry Birds and Cut the Rope both provided some inspiration for Penguin Slider -- they're both "puzzling, addictive and challenging games titles that want you coming back for more." The game took three months to go from idea to completion, and both versions were accepted by the App Store on the first submission, which made them both quite happy. Ashley, who is a self-taught programmer in C#, Java, Objective C, VBA and HTML, took care of the coding, while Mark looked after the design and the artwork.

When done, the game caused quite a buzz at their school, as "all pupils bought the game and then compared scores and challenges." I was told that people of all ages have fun with the game, which starts out simply but gets quite difficult over the 36 levels, as you guide your penguin across ice-fields to his destination. Future versions of the title will add "additional levels, features and something very special."

A free version will be popping up on the App Store soon, so I'd advise you to take a look and, if it sparks your fancy, help send two very bright Irish kids to college.

Gallery: Penguin Slider! Gallery

TUAW is commonly provided with not-for-resale licenses or promo codes to permit product evaluations and reviews. For more details, see our policy page.

Two 17-year-old Irish students create Penguin Slider! for iOS originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 20 Mar 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Jason O'Grady, writing for ZDNet's The Apple Core, penned an incisive piece on the five ways that Apple screwed up the iPad 2 launch. I agree with every point. Usually, Apple has been very good on getting information to the huddled masses waiting for the next new iThingy, but this time the company side-stepped the issue and let everyone fend for themselves, to the liking of no one. Here's what Apple got wrong:

Not allowing pre-orders: Allowing potential customers to pre-order new products helps assure they can get the new stuff in their hands on day one. This time, not so much. There are plenty of reasons pre-orders might have been infeasible, including lack of inventory or a bad component delaying shipments. Still, in a perfect world, Apple should have taken the high road and allowed pre-orders, even if the number of units allocated was slim.

No availability tracker: Apple has been good about providing information on in-store availability of new products. In the past, the company has put up a page (it no longer exists), providing a grid of what stores had particular models. This prevented the stress of going to your store and coming up empty. If you were in a populated area, with a few Apple stores, you were given alternatives. This time, no such information was provided.

Continue reading iPad 2 launch: not Apple's finest hour

iPad 2 launch: not Apple's finest hour originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 17 Mar 2011 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Loud Crow Interactive Inc. is taking a new direction in their interactive children's books with The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton (US$2.99 for the iPad Version or $1.99 for the iPhone). Instead of the very similar PopOut takes on Peter Rabbit and The Night Before Christmas, in their third outing, they decided to do a 14-page board book for very small children. These are small books on very thick cardboard stock (perfect for teething). The story involves a bunch of animals on a boat preparing for bed by taking baths, putting on their pajamas, brushing their teeth, exercising and finally rocking to sleep. It's short, simple and quite well done for this type of book.

What makes it different from the print version is that The Going to Bed Book gives you the option to read it yourself or have a "big guy" read it to you. There is a slider to adjust the volume of, or turn off, the very soothing music, and touching a word speaks that specific word. This stops the narration but touching a little open circle reads it again. The interactions are tailored for toddlers and are easy to find, or marked if it's something special.

Gallery: Going to Bed Gallery

Continue reading The Going to Bed Book: An interactive book for toddlers

The Going to Bed Book: An interactive book for toddlers originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 16 Mar 2011 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Our friend Violet is back in the third original installment of this excellent modern series of interactive children's books from My Black Dog Books LLC. Violet and the Mystery Next Door (US$3.99) is a universal app that looks great in landscape mode on any iOS device. The book tells the story of how Violet finds a mysterious new neighbor, just her age, and goes about finding more about him in the snow.

The Violet series has added more play value with each story, and this one adds branching. At two points in the story, you are asked a yes or no question. Depending upon your answer, you are taken to a number of pages that follow that line, eventually ending up at the same place and continuing the story. This adds much more variety for small children since they can follow a number of branches, making the book shorter or longer. Eventually, kids will take all the paths, causing them to spend more time with Violet and her world. This was an excellent design decision and really adds a lot to the book. Another good choice was to put a book icon in the upper left that lets you scroll to any page in the book.

In one branch, you are asked if the mysterious boy sees Violet sneaking up on him. Answering no causes the boy to go into his house, where you see that he has a lot of toys. Then he runs outside to make a snow angel and vanishes, so Violet has to find him. When she does find him, they have an interactive snowball fight. If you tell the app that the boy did see Violet, she chases him to his Clubhouse, where you'll find an empty snowman. You can build the snowman by moving his eyes, nose, buttons and some other things onto it, providing even more play value. Violet and the mysterious boy eventually wind up at the snowball fight, and the story takes off from there.

Gallery: Violet and the Mystery Next Store Gallery

Continue reading Violet strikes again in the Mystery Next Door: an interactive iOS children's book

Violet strikes again in the Mystery Next Door: an interactive iOS children's book originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 13 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Three Little Pigs and the Secrets of a Popup Book (US$3.99) from Game Collage LLC brings something new to interactive children's books on iOS. The original book was published in 1904 and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke, a popular illustrator of the time. Along with the usual wheels, tabs and spring loaded animated objects that move things around, they included X-Ray Goggles (really a tappable button), which let you see the gears, clockwork, springs and pulleys that make the animations work on most of the pages. This fits in well with the tone of the book since it was originally published during the second Industrial Revolution.

Just when I thought that publishers had run out of new ideas for this genre, this wrinkle arrives with a lot of fun. Outside of the well-known story, you are given a faux backstage peek of how it all works. Sure, it's a gimmick, but it's exceptionally entertaining, even for "older kids." Often seeing how items are affixed to a gear gives you a good idea of what the page can do, providing a better experience playing with the movable objects after viewing the schematics. There are a lot of objects that can be manipulated either by pushing them around or tilting the screen and having the accelerometer do it.

There is a lot to see. On one screen, instead of a few objects, there are 20 apples, all connected to strings and a tab that feeds out or pulls in the brightly colored strings. Looking at the X-Ray, you'll find pulleys and gears that raise and lower the apples when you push a tab up or down. Another tap brings you back to the story. I would consider this a real benefit for kids who invariably ask "why." You can compare the graphics and the X-Rays in the gallery below, and then hit the "Read More" link to read the rest of the review and see a whimsical video of how the book was developed.

TUAW is commonly provided with not-for-resale licenses or promo codes to permit product evaluations and reviews. For more details, see our policy page.

Gallery: Three Little Pigs and the Secrets of a Popup Book Gallery

Continue reading Three Little Pigs and the Secrets of a Popup Book brings a new twist to the genre

Three Little Pigs and the Secrets of a Popup Book brings a new twist to the genre originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 12 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I just updated to iOS 4.3 on my iPhone, which is connected to a MacBook Pro, and when the installation was done, I tried to sync. The sync stalled at step four of four on syncing photos, with a message telling me that the sync could not complete because "The required file cannot be found."

I called Apple right away, and the support rep, after checking with a few higher levels of tech support, asked me to uncheck the box to sync photos. The sync worked. I was then told that the problem had to be with one of the photos in my iPhoto library, and I would have to find it using the process of elimination. This didn't sound like fun since I have over 3600 photos, and this would take quite a long time to accomplish.

I tried to find a simpler solution and found it. Incorrectly thinking that it might be in the last import, I had my iPhone 3GS sync all events except the last one. The sync worked flawlessly. Then I added the last event, and the sync still worked. Next I added all the albums and faces, and the sync worked again. I girded my loins and decided to try to sync all photos, events and faces ... and was able to sync perfectly.

My iPad had the same issue, but first unchecking syncing and then re-syncing everything (which took a while, as all of the photos were re-optimized and copied over) worked just fine. So, at least for me, there was a problem with syncing photos, and in both cases, deleting the photos and then having the computers and iDevices sync all photos, events and faces solved the problem.

I don't know how widespread this problem might be, or if it even affected anyone but me, but if you are in the same boat, give this a try.

Problems syncing after iOS 4.3? It might be your photos originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 09 Mar 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iTuned Steve Jobs is at it again. He previously Auto-Tuned the original iPhone introduction as well as the iPhone 4 Keynote. This time, using a JibJab like approach, Steve plays instruments while singing about the virtues of the iPad 2. The song is kind of catchy, and Steve does play some mean guitar, piano and drums.

View the video on the next page and see what you think.

[via Obama Pacman]

Continue reading It's called the iPad 2: an Auto-Tuned song for the release

It's called the iPad 2: an Auto-Tuned song for the release originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 09 Mar 2011 05:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When we posted the banned iPad 2 video, a number of commenters wrote about a funnier one. Let's see if you think they're right. This parody introduction of the iPad 2 comes from dandobi and contains some salty language which is definitely not workplace friendly. It answers the burning questions of how to pick a song for an iPad 2 commercial, why the Smart Cover isn't called the iCover and what all this has to do with Wolverine.

Take a gander after the break and let us know if you think this one is better than the previous instance.

Continue reading A funnier iPad 2 parody video? [NSFW]

A funnier iPad 2 parody video? [NSFW] originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Last night on the Colbert Report, Stephen was beside himself with anticipation for the iPad 2. A desperate Colbert complains that Apple wouldn't send him one "through the TV," despite having the technology. After all, Colbert notes, its A5 Dual Core Processor allows the iPad 2 to "Not run Flash nine times faster."

You'll find the video after the break. Take a look and get ready to chuckle.

[via Business Insider SAI]

Continue reading Stephen Colbert can't sleep or eat until he gets his hands on an iPad 2

Stephen Colbert can't sleep or eat until he gets his hands on an iPad 2 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Ultimate Dinopedia (US$5.99) from National Geographic is a wonderful reference app that will quickly become the go-to source for kids who want to find out everything about dinosaurs. There are other dinosaur apps in the store, but this is by far the most complete and expansive. It started as a hardcover book last year and has since been turned into a terrific iPad app for kids four and older.

The app is broken down into three parts: Discovering Dinosaurs, Meat Eaters and Plant Eaters. It's chock full of paintings of many dinosaurs by Franco Tempsesta, and the text was written by "Dino" Don Lessem, just as in the book. (Don even has a dinosaur named after him.)

The app covers about 700 dinosaurs. Each dinosaur comes with a button to play a sound of the correct pronunciation of its name, plus much more information. For many dinosaurs, that's all you get, but others have full-page paintings, Dino Stats (which give you info from the overview page) and a paragraph on the story of the dinosaur, which you can either read yourself or have read to you in a slightly sinister sounding narration paired with nice sound effects. Each of these pages have Fun Facts like "Riojasaurus had only five teeth in the front of its top jaw and 24 more behind them. So chances are it gulped down its food and digested plants in its stomach." There's also Picture Info, such as "Riojasaurus fed in the southern forests of Pangea, the single landmark that stretched across the middle of the earth". Along with this, there are 13 very short CGI videos showing a number of dinosaurs in action. The videos certainly aren't up to the quality of Pixar, but they get the job done. The videos are the only part of the app that works in landscape mode.

Gallery: Ultimate Dinopedia Gallery

Continue reading Ultimate Dinopedia brings dinosaurs to life on your iPad

Ultimate Dinopedia brings dinosaurs to life on your iPad originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading The iPad 2 video Apple doesn't want you to see

The iPad 2 video Apple doesn't want you to see originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 05 Mar 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

JFK Historymaker (US$4.99) from MultiEducator, Inc. is an extensive and comprehensive multimedia biography app for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. The amount of information is massive and includes 250 photos, 200 full text documents and 25 videos chronicling the life of John F. Kennedy, the United States' 35th president. In structure, it's very similar to an earlier app from the same company about the Civil War. Both apps have many positive attributes, but also quite a few nagging problems.

The design of the app lets you easily get to and keep track of information. With its larger screen, viewing it on an iPad is far more satisfying since, in landscape mode, there is always a menu on the left side of the screen that shows the categories and sub-categories of information. On the right of the screen is the content. The menu isn't there in portrait mode, but tapping on a menu button makes it appear. In the iPhone version, all you see is the menu; tapping on an item brings up the content, making things more difficult to navigate. The menu items contain distinctive icons that let you know if the item contains a video, photo, audio file or text. A list of Recent places is kept, and anything can be marked as a Favorite so that you can build your own list of interests. Everything but videos can be sent to email as well. Text and photos can be pinched or stretched, which really comes in handy on a small screen.

Organization is important in this type of app, since there are around 35 topic-oriented categories that range from JFK's early life to his assassination. Within each category is a sub-menu that lists the content. Tapping on an item brings up the text, photo, video or audio. It sounds complicated, but after a few minutes of using it, I could easily get anywhere quite quickly, and saving Recents and Favorites made it even easier. There is a button letting you go back to the last category; in the unlikely event you did get lost, there is a Contents button that will bring you back to the main menu. On the iPad there is also a search box to get you to the right place.

Categories are grouped well and break everything down to bite-sized topics, such as Civil Rights, Bay of Pigs, The Navy and so on. Many categories start with an overview then drill down to an in-depth discussion of the topic. Under that are all the supporting items. A great deal of the text is comprised of transcripts of speeches, minutes of meetings and scanned documents, including JFK's report card from the Canterbury School in 1930. (He wasn't a terrific student.) When looking at anything other than a video, there is an Info button on the iPad or a tab on the iPhone to get specific information on what is being viewed.

Gallery: JFK Historymaker Gallery

Continue reading JFK Historymaker: an iOS biography app for the 35th President

JFK Historymaker: an iOS biography app for the 35th President originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apps to teach small children letters and words have come a long way since my own kids were playing StickyBear ABC on an Apple ][+. Here are two examples: Lola's Alphabet Train (US$0.99) for the iPhone and iPod touch (it's also available for the iPad as Lola's Alphabet Train HD at $1.99) and KidzBlox ($0.99), which is a universal app. These are both simple (with Lola being harder since you need to know some words) and repetitious, which may bore the stuffing out of parents, but they seem totally appropriate for small children.

Lola's Alphabet Train

Lola's Alphabet Train (by BeiZ) features Lola the Panda, a bear who wants to buy presents for her friends. She must travel to the shops by train. The game features easy, medium or hard modes. To get the train moving, certain tasks need to be completed; some are harder than others. The simplest is a simple letter recognition task. Three letters are displayed as the name of one is spoken. The player must touch the correct letter, which is shown in a text block. Two successful trials move the train onto the next task.

A matching activity presents six letter tiles. Several tiles are displayed quickly (I would have left it on the screen for a longer time) before flipping over. There are three pairs of matching blocks on each screen, and the object is to touch the matching two, which will cause them to vanish. When you touch one, you hear the letter spoken, which is great for reinforcement. Once that task is complete, the train moves on to the spelling task.

An object is displayed and the letters need to spell its name are scattered about. The player must arrange them properly. As you touch a letter, its name is spoken, and when all the letters are in the right place, the name of the object is spoken, which moves the train to the store where you can buy one present. At the store the you'll find items like a robot, car, sheep doll, etc., all at different prices. You "pay" for items with coins collected by completing the aforementioned tasks.

Continue reading Two apps to teach spatial relationships and the alphabet to kids

Two apps to teach spatial relationships and the alphabet to kids originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 03 Mar 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We posted that Random House had made a deal to finally get their books in the iBookstore. Well, it's in the process of happening. This morning the Random House published-Millenium Trilogy by Steig Larsson is available for purchase and the first two books are even at decent prices.

Now we'll have to wait and see if Random House's other imprints, and there are around twenty-five of them, make it there as well. My guess is that they will. Maybe there's hope for the iBookstore after all.

By the way, along with the Apple store, the Random House site is down as well. I have a feeling this will come up at today's event.

The iBookstore gets Random House books originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Just about a year ago I wrote a post explaining all the hoopla over an expected AAPL stock split which never happened. At that point AAPL shares were trading at $202.86 and many felt that it was just too expensive for most small investors to buy.

Last week, Apple closed at $348.14 after a few weeks of a roller coaster ride taking the stock down from a 52 week high of $364.90. No one really knows why the fairly quick drop happened. Rumors covered everything from the health of Steve Jobs and the question of a succession plan, to delays of the iPhone 5 and the iPad 2; but the fact of the matter is that an annual increase in price of around $145 ain't chopped liver.

The vast majority of AAPL stockholders are investment firms, with the little guy being mostly left out due to the high stock price. It's emotionally unsatisfying to buy a handful of shares, and with only five or six shares in your portfolio the profit potential is decreased. That's mostly emotions talking, but the market is strongly influenced by emotions like fear, excitement and greed. So what would happen if Apple decided to split its stock anywhere from two to one, up to a four to one split?

AAPL has split two for one three times, in 1987, 2000, and 2005 -- but it hasn't happened in the last six years. Philip Elmer-DeWitt writing for Fortune's Apple 2.0 posed an argument asking if the time is right. He made a reasoned case both for and against splitting.

Continue reading The case for an Apple stock split redux

The case for an Apple stock split redux originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 27 Feb 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ian Bauters presents an overview video of many of the new features in the developer release of Mac OS X 10.7, also known as OS X Lion. Many of the changes bring Mac OS X closer in appearance and behavior to iOS 4 on the iPad and iPhone.

Some of features and changes covered include:

• Finder changes, including changing folder view with a slider
• Launchpad
• Safari 5.1
• Dashboard
• Address Book
• iCal
• Quicklook
• Mission Control
• Preview

For those of us that aren't developers (including me), this is a must-view.

Note: Unfortunately, Apple has been pretty keen on going after these sorts of things, so the video has been taken down from YouTube.

Continue reading Video tour of Mac OS X Lion developer release

Video tour of Mac OS X Lion developer release originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 27 Feb 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.