Our Remix and WIN competition, with Olivia Broadfield, Propellerhead and SoundCloud, closes on the 31st January 2012, which means you've just a few days left to submit your remix of Olivia's song 'Say.' We've had loads of entries already (some of which are very impressive), and the judges (Olivia and the TUAW team) have their work cut out for them over the next few weeks!

The winning entry will take home Propellerhead's brand new Balance audio interface and a copy of their latest DAW, Reason 6, plus a SoundCloud premium membership, a signed copy of Olivia Broadfield's latest album, "This Beautiful War", and some TUAW merchandise, too!

If you haven't already, check out our competition announcement post here for all the details on how to enter. The winning remix will be announced in February 2012. May the best remix win!

If you've had any trouble submitting your entry, leave a comment below.

Reminder: Last chance to Remix & WIN originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I've always been curious about Propellerhead's Reason software, but since I'm not really an electronic music-making enthusiast, and the fact that up until more recently Reason had no audio recording capabilities, I've always turned to other recording platforms for my music-making needs, that is until now!

For those of you that don't know, Reason is a virtual studio rack for your Mac. It even looks like a rack filled with loads of fantastic studio equipment. It has all the tools required to produce music: compressors, reverbs, synths, delays, a whole bunch of instruments...the list goes on. Previously, though, you'd have to connect this virtual rack with a DAW (a digital audio workstation like Pro Tools, Logic, Reeper or even Propellerhead's own DAW, Record) in order to actually record something through it or capture something produced form it. However, with the latest version of Reason, Record (with all the fine features you've come to expect from a DAW) has been totally integrated into Reason. With Reason 6, Reason and Record are now one, and all the better for it.

To top that off, and really hit home the fact that Propellerhead is taking audio recording very seriously. It's produced its own audio interface hardware, too -- Balance. With Reason 6 and Balance, Propellerhead provides everything the home recording enthusiast needs.

Balance is a high quality 2-in by 2-out audio interface, meaning you can record up to two sources of audio at a time. This may appear meagre, but for the average home recorder, you're not going to be recording more than two sources of audio at a time -- say a guitar and a vocal. However, you are going to add other instruments to your track by layering recordings on top of each other. Maybe add some piano and some percussion? Balance has two XLR microphone inputs (with 48V phantom power), two 1/4" guitar inputs with padding and four 1/4" balanced line inputs (two stereo pairs). This means you can have up to 8 audio sources plugged in, setup and ready to go without having to fiddle around with cables and wires while you're in the creative zone.

Another unique feature of Balance is Clip Safe. How often have you recorded the perfect take only to discover that it clipped because the level was (unexpectedly!) too hot? Clip Safe automatically does a backup recording of your take at a lower level, allowing you to go back and readjust the input level of your take after you've recorded it.

Are Balance and Reason 6 as good as they, uh... sound? Propellerhead sent TUAW a review unit of Reason 6 and Balance so I could find out.

Physically, the Balance unit is very appealing. It's all black and with a soft rubber feel, but the unit itself feels rock solid. Unlike many smaller audio interfaces, all the controls, dials and lights are raised towards you for easy visibility and access. The two most important dials, the main output level and the headphone level, are the biggest, making them easy to find and use. The other two smaller dials are the gain levels for the two inputs. For a novice user it couldn't be simpler. Hit the source selector for the input you want, adjust the input gain level, adjust the main out level and you're on your way. All the source inputs and the audio outs are neatly arranged on the back of the unit. There are no breakout cables, covers or flaps, the design is clean, simple and clear. And, of course, the audio? The pre-amps sound fantastic, especially for the price point.

It's also worth noting that the Balance interface is not tied to Reason. The interface is Core Audio compatible and will work with the DAW of your choice, though the Clip Safe feature is a Reason exclusive. Being Core Audio compatible (like just about every other audio interface for the Mac), Balance works straight away with your Mac. Run the Reason installer disc, plug it in via the provided USB cable and you're on your way.

As for Reason 6, well... I have no real previous experience with Reason (and bearing in mind that approaching any DAW for the first time can be a bit of a learning curve), I was quickly up and running recording tracks and engaging with the huge array of instruments and gear in no time. It's clear there's a vast depth to Reason 6. And while it may take a bit of time learning how to get there, the new user can happily get along simply skimming the surface, while the more advanced user will find all the power, flexibility and detail they'd expect from any other DAW.

Like Balance, Reason 6 feels clean, clear and polished. It's designed to get out of the way so you can get on with making music. It is extremely stable, too. Which brings me to my last point, Reason is a locked environment, you can't use any third party plug-ins with it. Some may see that as a deal breaker. However, there are a plethora of Reason ReFills -- additional Propellerhead approved, high-quality instruments and sounds for expanding on Reason. Seriously, I'd say you can get just about everything your home studio will need in the Propellerhead universe. In part, Reason's exclusivity is probably what makes it so sturdy.

To find out more about what Reason 6 and Balance has to offer, check out the Propellerhead website here. I also recently had an interview with UK singer-songwriter Olivia Broadfield, who is an exclusive Reason user. You can read the interview here.

Balance comes bundled with Reason Essentials and is available for around US$500.

Finally, until the end of January, TUAW is a hosting a competition with Propellerhead, SoundCloud and Olivia Broadfield, giving you the chance to win a copy of Reason 6, a Balance interface, a SoundCloud premium subscription as well as some TUAW goodies. Check out further details here.

Hands on with Propellerhead's Reason 6 and Balance interface originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 13 Jan 2012 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple has seeded Mac OS X 10.7.3 beta build 11D42 to developers. The build comes in at 989.75 MB for those updating from 10.7.2 and 1.26 GB for those updating from any previous version of Mac OS X Lion.

According to MacRumors, Apple has asked developers to focus their attention on Spotlight, Safari, Address Book, iCal and Mail. The release notes contained in build 11D42 indicate that the build will add Catalan, Croatian, Greek, Hebrew, Romanian, Slovak, Thai, and Ukrainian language support, address issues when using smart cards to log into OS X, resolve issues authenticating with directory services and address compatibility issues with Windows file sharing.

Apple's last update to Lion was in October of last year with 10.7.2, which brought support for iCloud to Macs running Lion.

OS X 10.7.3 build 11D42 seeded to developers originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Calling all producers, mixers and music-making enthusiasts. We've teamed up with UK singer-songwriter Olivia Broadfield (who we recently interviewed here), Propellerhead and SoundCloud to offer you the chance to win Propellerhead's brand new Balance audio interface, a copy of their latest DAW, Reason 6, a SoundCloud premium membership and a singed copy of Olivia's latest album, "This Beautiful War", and some TUAW merchandise, too!

In order to be in the running for this fantastic prize, you're required to remix (the best way you see fit) Olivia's song, "Say" off her album, "This Beautiful War" (we'll provide you with the audio stems). The competition closes and entries must be in by the end of January 31st, 2012. Entries will be judged by Olivia and TUAW, with the winning remix announced in February, 2012.

To enter, simply email olivia@propellerheads.se and she'll provide you with all the info and links to get started. That's it. Let the remixing begin. Any questions? Let us know in the comments below.

Remix & WIN with Olivia Broadfield, Propellerhead, SoundCloud and TUAW originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

You've probably not heard of UK based singer songwriter Olivia Broadfield before, but chances are you've heard her music at some point, especially if you watch a lot of TV. Songs from her debut album, Eyes Wide Open (released in 2009), reached over 50 TV placements on shows like The Hills, Ghost Whisperer and Melrose Place. Following that, Eyes Wide Open reached No. 3 on the iTunes Electronica charts.

Daydreams, the opening track from Olivia's second album, This Beautiful War (released in June, 2011), was featured on a recent episode of Grey's Anatomy. And if that's not enough, in her spare time Olivia composes jingles for commercials, too.

After reading that, you'd be forgiven for assuming Olivia works in swanky studios around the world while she's not touring, and that she has the backing of a big record label behind her, too. But her situation couldn't be more different.

In fact, Olivia hasn't really done all that much gigging (let alone any tours), she's not with a record label and the studio where she does all her recording, well... it's an old garage attached to the side of her house. OK, she's converted said garage into a modest-but-capable DIY studio, and yet, it's not the rock 'n roll lifestyle you'd expect. That's not a bad thing.

What really caught my attention, besides her music, was Olivia's setup. Without wanting to undermine the clear production power that it has, it's an undeniably simple setup with absolutely no frills. And to me, that's a testament to the musical creativity of Olivia, the Mac and DAW at the center of her studio and the reality that producing great music doesn't always require the most expensive gear and equipment you can (or usually can't) get your hands on.

About a week ago I was fortunate to get the opportunity to chat with Olivia over Skype. Tea cups in hand, we chatted about the tools she uses to produce her music, a little about her workflow as a songwriter, her musical and production influences and what she does to recharge her creative batteries. Read on to find out what she had to say.

TUAW: Tell me about your current setup? What gear are you using? How do you make the magic happen?

Olivia Broadfield: So I have a Mac Pro. It's got two 2Ghz Dual Core Intel Xeon processors in it with 8 GB of Ram. I've had it for a year or so. I bought it second hand off this guy on eBay who was selling off gear from his studio that I don't think worked out. I got it for a really great price. When he handed it over I could tell he wasn't too happy about it, but I was!

I'm running Mac OS X Snow Leopard. I like to stay one release behind the latest release so everything's super stable.

I've got two screens (one old school Apple one that came with the Mac Pro and one Acer one). I'm a Reason Record user, so my 2 screens make mixing and programming super quick and easy.

I'm using a Focusrite Saffire PRO 24 interface, little M Audio BX5a monitors and a Rode NT2000 mic. I have to confess I did have an outboard compressor, but sold it because I never used it as the pre-amps on the Focusrite are so great. The MIDI keyboard I use is a M-Audio Prokeys 88 SX.

TUAW: Was your Mac Pro your first Mac?

OB: Ha! No. I got my first Mac off eBay about 6 years ago! It was an old silver door G4 Mac, I can't even tell you the spec, but I know it was probably pretty teeny compared to what I have now! It still sits under my desk as a giant hard drive because it's got loads of my old music on it, but I rarely plug it in these days. Back then I was using Reason and Logic with ReWire, (which was a pain in the backside), and it struggled a bit with that, but it still got the job done.

Before that I had a PC, but really just for emailing etc. I've never been a PC for music user. Studios I used before I set up my own always had Macs and I just believed that they were more stable units for making music on. From what I can tell, they don't suffer the same virus problems, so I think I felt my music and data was safer in the hands of a Mac.

TUAW: So now you're a Reason 6 user and you've left Logic behind. Why Reason, don't all the big players use Pro Tools or Logic?

OB: Well, usually people are quite surprised when they hear I'm using Reason. People seem to get all snobbish about the fact that I'm not a Pro Tools or Logic user. They give me the look that says, "aww, that's sweet. She's playing with Reason." But when they see Reason in action, they're genuinely impressed.

At university, I did use Pro Tools, but to get Pro Tools for yourself is quite expensive. So one day I was recording at a friends house and he was using a really old version of Reason, maybe 2.0. It was quite a long time ago! But Reason just looked really accessible compared to what I'd seen in Pro Tools or Logic. So when I set up my own studio and became my own producer, because I'm not a very technical person when it comes to recording, I knew I'd need something simple and easy to use, so I got Reason. Of course, back then Reason didn't do audio recording, so I got an old version of Logic off eBay to handle that side of things, but once Reason came out with Record, I happily left Logic behind. And that's why I love Reason, but I guess I'm just used to it now.

I must add that I do have a producer (Josh Crocker) I work with as well as a few others who I bring into the mix for the final finishing touches to my music. I like to think of it as the icing of a cake, I bake it, and then get some others in to help me decorate it.

TUAW: There are so many great music apps out there for the iPhone and iPad. Do you have an iPhone or iPad? Do any particular apps assist you in the workflow of how you make music.

OB: No iPod or iPad, but yep, I have an iPhone 4 -- although I'm ashamed to say I haven't updated it to the latest version of iOS, yet! My friends give me grief for that!

I know there are so many music apps out there, but I tend to just use the inbuilt voice memo for ideas and getting down songs, particularly if I'm out and about or it's late at night and I can't be bothered to boot the studio up. As I get most of my initial ideas on piano and guitar, I find just the dictaphone on its own meets most of my needs.

The other night I was twinkling on the guitar and came up with a little skitsy idea that would work great for an advert., I was able to put the idea down from start to finish on the iPhone so I could remember it the next day. It's nothing fancy, but it simply gets the job done. I actually think the iPhone mic is pretty good for that sort of thing.

TUAW: While we're talking about iPhones... Besides all the usual suspects (the Mail app, Safari, Facebook etc) what apps do you find you use the most on your iPhone.

OB: I love Hipstamactic. And I do use the Flashlight app A LOT!

One of the weirder apps I've got is Shakra Chime. It literally plays a chime! That's it! I find it helps me calm my mind.... You know, after a busy day of making music with tunes buzzing around your head. Oh, I also like Sleep Maker, where it's just rain noise. "Gentle rain onto porch roof." That is my favorite!

TUAW: What about when you're not making awesome music, how do you spend your down time? Any games you into?

OB: When I first go the iPhone, I played games all the time. The popular ones like Angry Birds. Oh, and Bejewled. I was obsessed with trying to score a million on Bejeweled, but I only got about 700,000. I am a bit of a nerd, so I do love games like Scrabble and other word games.

I could just spend all day my iPhone playing games. So occasionally, I have to force myself to go outside and look at animals and hear bird song!

TUAW: Who are your musical influences? What artists and musicians really inspire you to make music?

OB: I like people who are versatile, people who keep it fresh. I love Gwen Stefani for that reason. Influence wise, I think Feist is a beautiful singer and songwriter, her career is the one I would probably like the most. I've seen her live and she just has this great energy, relaxed like everything comes so easy to her.

TUAW: What about recording / producing influences? Are there people out there who really inspire you about the technical side of making music?

OB: When I first set up my studio over 5 years ago, Imogen Heap's Speak For Yourself album was huge. Seeing someone go out there, particularly a woman in such a male dominated studio world, and do everything herself was very motivating.

I have to say, I'm not the most able technically, which is why I love my software, the presets are pretty amazing and I can make some great sounding stuff without having to tweak much... Or I'm just lazy... Yeah, probably the latter!

TUAW: Here's a curve ball, but If you open iTunes and click on the Top 25 Most Played playlist, what's the number one song you listen to in your music library?

OB: Um... That can't be true. OK, it's a dog food commercial song that I did. I can't believe that's my most played song in my iTunes library, especially since I just finished my album and I should have been listening through to those tracks over and over AND OVER again to make sure they were all fine. Oh well... slightly embarrassing!

OK, here's the thing. I don't listen to music on my studio Mac. I am really, totally old school when it comes to listening to music. I listen to CD's in my lounge. In fact, oh gosh, I've never downloaded a digital song...

Interview: Olivia Broadfield on Macs, apps and DIY music making originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Korg's popular, slim-line NanoSERIES USB-MIDI controllers have been updated to 2.0. We were lucky enough to get our hands on the NanoKONTROL2 control surface and put it through its paces.

Like the the nanoKEY2 (a 25 key, velocity-sensing MIDI keyboard) and the nanoPAD2 (with 16 responsive pads and an X-Y touchpad for drum input and sound manipulation) the nanoKONTROL2 adopts the same remarkably compact form factor with a micro USB connection.

The nanoKONTROL2 has 8 faders, each with a solo, mute, record-enable button and a dial knob at the top. To the left of the controller is a transport section (play, back, forward, record, stop) with a track selector, marker and cycle button.

As with the other nanoSERIES controllers, the nanoKONTROL2 automatically maps to your DAW (the one I tested worked first time with Logic Pro and Reason), but you can download the Korg Kontrol Editor software to fully re-map the controller to your specific needs.

Being that it is so light and compact, the nanoKONTROL2 feels fairly solid and sturdy. When you push a button, you know it's been pressed. The buttons light up when they're activated, too, which helps you make sense of what's happening.

Many may be wondering why you'd want an external controller to manage what can easily be done with a mouse. And it's a valid point, too! But when you have a tactile controller in front of you, it suddenly feels a lot quicker and easier to make that quick adjustment or tweak. Of course, it boils down to personal preference.

The nanoKONTROL2 is compatible with the iPad through Apple's USB connector, but only works with Korg's select apps. Unfortunately, it won't work with an app like Garageband for iOS, for example.

For around US$60, I wouldn't say the nanoKONTROL2 is a bargain, but weirdly, you're paying for the compact size here. Certainly, if you're in a small home studio or consistently on the move, the nanoSERIES2 makes sense, provided the straight-forward, simple features meet your needs. I've know a few producers to use them in cramped spaces and be more than happy with the results.

Have you used Korg's nanoSERIES? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Hands on with Korg's NanoKONTROL2 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's taken a little while, but Apple's flagship music production software and music performance software have arrived on the Mac App Store, joining Apple's other Mac App Store offerings like iWork, iLife and Final Cut Pro.

Logic Pro 9 and MainStage are now available for download from the Mac App Store at US$199.99 and $29.99 respectively. Apple has discontinued the boxed retail versions of Logic Studio and Logic Express (and apparently Sountrack Pro 3, which came bundled with Logic Studio).

Similar to Apple's Final Cut Pro transition to the Mac App Store, this is a dramatic price cut for Logic Pro 9, which was previously bundled with MainStage, Soundtrack Pro 3, WaveBurner 1.6 and Compressor 3.5 as the boxed Logic Studio for $499.

Logic Pro 9 is available from the Mac App Store now as a 413 MB download. An additional 19 GB of optional content is available via in-app download.

[Via MacRumors]

Logic Pro and Main Stage land on the Mac App Store originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 09 Dec 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Amidio is known for their mobile music creation apps for iOS devices. They've brought us fully featured apps like the recent Songineer, Seline HD and Touch DJ. But the focus of their newest app, Laugh Synth, is a little more, well... light-hearted.

Laugh Synth does what it says on the tin, it synthesizes laughs. As detailed on Amidio's YouTube page, Laugh Synth "...takes a sample of a laugh as an input, then divides it into phases and intelligently loops the most notable part, enriching it with the pitch modifications, subtle vowel alterations and crazy effects." I couldn't have said it better myself!

With 25 built-in laugh samples (some of them quite ominous), including Dracula and T-Rex, simply drag your finger around the input panel to mold, manipulate and morph the laugh samples. Take it even further with delay, chorus, bitcrush and reverb effects. And when you eventually stop laughing from all of that, sample some of your own laughs and share them with your friends on Twitter and Facebook.

Honestly, Laugh Synth will either have you chuckling away or (more likely) crying in desperation. But don't take my word for it, check out the video below and get the app for a laughable $US0.99 from the iOS App Store.

Amidio's Laugh Synth makes you cry -- with laughter? originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 30 Nov 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Earlier this year, IK Multimedia introduced the iRig Mic and VocaLive app for the iPhone. Our very own Steve Sande did a review of the iRig Mic, which you can check out here. The app is good, but it's not universal which is a big drawback for folks who have an iPhone and an iPad. Of course, you could use the VocaLive app on your iPad, but it was simply the iPhone version of the app enlarged 2X.

This month, IK Multimedia has brought VocaLive to the iPad.The new app is custom built to fit the tablet's larger screen, and has some extra features, too. Vocalive for iPad can be expanded to 8 recordable tracks and adds a fourth effect slot. Two of these four effect slots can be used for vocal effects compared to a single slot on the iPhone version.

If you love singing, karaoke, doing voice overs or just hearing your voice warped through crazy effects, then check out VocaLive and the accompanying iRig Mic. VocaLive is free on the iOS App Store with extra effects available via in-app purchase. There's also a full version which includes all the effects available for $19.99.

IK Multimedia's VocaLive comes to the iPad originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 12:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Around this time last year, Tascam introduced the Portastudio app, a 4-track recorder modeled after the legendary Portastudio 144 4-track recorder of some 30 years ago. Now, Tascam has debuted the iM2, a stereo recorder with two condenser mics and a built-in pre-amp that's based on Tascam's well known DR series of portable recorders.

The iM2 simply plugs directly into the dock connector of your iPhone or iPad, overriding your devices built-in mic to provide you with high quality recordings. The two mics are adjustable over 180 degrees for uni-directional recording, perfect for capturing a live recording as well as the ambience of the room you're recording in.

The iM2's built-in preamp can also handle 125 dbs of noise, so you could theoretically record a jet plane taking off without having to worry about any distortion to the recording, even if your own ears may suffer.

The iM2 is priced at around US$80 and is available for pre-order. For all the details, check out Tascam's website.

[Via Engadget]

Tascam debuts iM2 stereo condesor mic for iPhone originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Amidio, makers of mobile music creation apps like Seline HD, have released Songineer, a scale-based sequencer to help you create and generate melodic sound and groove while on the move.

Featuring a drum machine with 5 drumkits, a beat randomizer, 20 instruments, a DNA keyboard (which means you never hit a wrong note), on-board FX and easy recording / editing , Songineer has all the tools you need to create and compose your next big hit. And if you do happen to find you need to expand the sample library, there are more instrument and drum packs available through in-app purchase. Once you've completed a song simply export it as a MIDI file, .WAV, .M4A or multi-track dry .WAV file.

If the idea of layering beats and grooves down while capturing that perfect hook over the top appeals, all from your iPhone or iPod touch, Songineer (US$1.99) is probably right up your music-making street.

Check out this video below of Songineer in action.

Amidio debuts Songineer - Instant Composer for the iPhone originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 21 Nov 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As detailed late last week, Apple announced a replacement program for first-generation iPod nanos created between September 2005 and January 2006. These particular models may overheat and pose a safety risk. Registered users of these iPod nanos were sent an email from Apple directing them to the replacement program.

Though the replacement program indicates that it may take up to six weeks to receive the replacement iPod nano, MacRumors is reporting that some applicants have already started to receive their replacement iPods.

And if you assumed that applicants to the replacement program would receive current generation iPod nanos in exchange for their faulty first-generation ones (especially since first-generation iPod nanos went out of production nearly five years ago), you wouldn't be the only one. However, the replacement nanos appear to be first-generation refurbished models.

First-generation iPod nano replacements begin to arrive originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here's another Mac 101 tip for novice Mac users.

When I first heard about iCloud syncing iWork documents between Apple devices I became quite excited. Like many, I create iWork documents on my Mac and then access them on my iPad or iPhone on the move. Up until now, I've been using Dropbox to sync my files between my Mac and my iDevices. And though this works really well, the whole seamless, behind-the-scenes ease of iCloud really appeals to me.

Since iCloud debuted alongside iOS 5, I've been really pleased with how well this works. That is, between my iPad, iPhone and accessing my docs through a web browser. However, where I've struggled to see the seamless beauty of iCloud is when syncing my iWork docs created on my Mac to the cloud. I thought I hadn't flipped a preference switch in Pages or in my iCloud settings, but after having a complete read through of Apple's description of what iCloud does when syncing iWork docs between your devices, I realized there is no automatic syncing of iWork docs between a Mac and iCloud -- iWork docs need to be saved to iCloud manually.

To do this is not all that complicated. And while there are a few different ways, the simplest is as follows. Have your iCloud account open in a web browser. Click on iWork and then Pages (if you want to upload a Pages document, for example). With all your Pages docs visible, simply drag the Pages document from your Mac onto your web browser, where all your documents are. You will be asked if you'd like to upload the document to iCloud. That's it.

While this is convenient, it's not as convenient as saving a document on your iPad and seeing it automatically appear on your iPhone. It's likely this kind of implementation will come to the Mac in the future, but for now I'm sticking with Dropbox.

Mac 101: Getting iWork files on your Mac onto iCloud originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 18 Nov 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here is a Mac 101 tip for novice Mac users.

Running Pages in Mac OS X Lion means you never have to worry about saving a document, it just happens automatically. While this is wonderful, this new feature has caused me to scratch my head a few times while I acclimatise to this simple, but quite different way of saving documents.

In previous versions of Mac OS X, when working on a document, very often I would hit "Save as..." from the File menu to (double) check where I had saved my document or to rename my document as it went through various titles. The problem I've found with Versions and Auto Save in Lion (or where I've struggled to adjust!) is that once you've created and titled a document by saving it, you're left with "Save a Version," which means you can't locate where you've saved your document or rename the title of your document from within Pages.

Fortunately, there's an older feature of Mac OS X that helps you easily identify where you've saved your document. And I'm not talking about going to Finder or Spotlight to search for it. You can view the root path of your document right from within Pages. Simply hit and hold the Control key on your keyboard (or right-click on your mouse) and click on the title of your document at the top of the Pages window. This will bring up the root path of your document so you can easily see where you document is stored on your computer.

Note that you must aim carefully when clicking on the menu bar. If you're in an app that supports Versions, a click on the right-hand side will reveal the Versions menu, and that's not what we want in this instance. If you see the disclosure triangle appear beneath your cursor, move a few pixels to the left.

Mac 101: Locating the root path of a Pages document in Pages originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 16 Nov 2011 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to Chitika, an analytics company, Mac OS X Lion only holds 16% of the Mac OS market share, trailing behind Snow Leopard (56%) and Leopard (22%) -- indicating poor adoption of the newest operating system in comparison to previous releases.

Even though Apple announced over a million downloads of Mac OS X Lion with in the first day of its release, and in October Tim Cook announced that Apple had sold 6 million copies of Lion since its launch, claiming a massive 80% growth over Snow Leopard, according to Chitika, that pace has significantly slowed down. Chitika cites stability issues (Wi-Fi and MacBook Pro battery performance) and dislike of the iOS-like UI features as reasons for the supposed slow adoption of the new OS.

Now we've all had our gripes with Lion, but from where we're standing, we're pretty much happy with what the OS has to offer. So we thought it would be great to see just how many of our TUAW readers are running Mac OS X Lion, as opposed to Snow Leopard, Tiger or another operating system.

[Via BGR]

View Poll

Poll: Which version of Mac OS X are you running? originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to the photo search engine Skylines, iOS devices account for 39% of all photos posted on Twitter. Of the 24 million photos posted to Twitter in the week of October 22nd to October 29th, Twitter for iPhone came in highest with 21%, Instagram accounted for 13% and the iOS 5 Camera and Photos app accounted for 5%, bringing the total to 39%.

Apple's new iOS 5 introduced integrated Twitter functionality, bringing posting of photos to Twitter directly from the Camera and Photos App. iOS 5 has only been out since October 12th and it's already the 7th biggest photo client for Twitter.

Other big players were Twitter for Blackberry at 12% and Twitter for Android at 10%. Twitpic accounted for 8%, but was not counted towards the iOS percentage because it is a multiplatform client.

Read Skylines' report on their blog here.

[Via TNW]

Report: 39% of photos on Twitter posted from iOS devices originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For some time I've wondered when and if Native Instruments would enter the iOS music-making market. Being that they have such a respected presence with their awesome music software and audio interfaces in studios and with musicians around the world, it was irresistible to think of Native Instruments producing something fantastic for an iOS device.

Now their first offering has arrived for the iPhone with iMaschine. As demonstrated by musician and soul singer Jamie Lidell in the video below, iMaschine is a song creation sketchpad. With a whole bunch of drum samples and beats, the ability to create your own one-shot samples using the iPhone's mic, virtual keyboards, effects and a 4-track recorder / mixer so you can lay down some vocals too, iMaschine has plenty to offer to work up a song idea.

One of the cool features is that once you've come up with something good, you can export it directly into Maschine (the complete desktop package) or upload a loop or song directly to SoundCloud.

I'm looking forward to giving this a go as well as any forthcoming apps Native Instruments may introduce. How about Absynth or Kontakt for iOS?

Native Instruments debuts first iOS app, iMaschine originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 04 Nov 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The revamped glass cube entrance of New York City's 5th Avenue Apple Store has been revealed. While the store didn't officially open until 10:00 AM Eastern time, work was finished on the cube earlier this morning, revealing the new, streamlined structure. According to the store's web page, it closed at 10:00 PM last night so that final renovations could be completed.

MacRumors has published pictures of the new cube that were taken this morning. The new structure is made of 15 large panes of glass (the original cube used 90 panes of glass) and offers a stunning, streamlined appearance. The reconstruction began in June, 2010 and is reported to have cost US$6 million. The original cube (below) cost $7 million to construct.

Apple reveals new glass cube at 5th Avenue Apple Store originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 04 Nov 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iPod Nano watches have taken off. With the addition of a well designed strap, your iPod Nano becomes an iWatch with different time faces, a music library, pedometer and a cool touch screen interface.

But some things have been lacking. For instance, the iWatch is obviously not waterproof, like so many traditional watches out there. And what about taking your iWatch to the next level with Bluetooth? Wouldn't it be cool to be able to stream your music to wireless speakers from your wrist? Boombotix seem to think so.

Through a Kickstarter project aiming to raise US$17,000, Boombotix is hoping to release the Proof: an iPod Nano watch strap with all-round rugged protection and three interchangeable adapters. One for waterproofing, a slightly larger adapter with Bluetooth support for wireless audio devices and one that simply locks your Nano into the strap as is for use with headphones.

If this sounds like the iWatch you've been looking for, check out the Kickstarter promo video here and the Boombotix website here.

[Via PCWorld]

Kickstarter project aims to add Bluetooth and waterproofing to your nano-powered iWatch originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 04 Nov 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple's Soho retail store in New York, at 103 Prince Street, has been shut down for some major refurbishment. However, a temporary store just a few minutes walk away has been opened to make sure local customers aren't put out.

I say "temporary," but according to some photos published by Racked, you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between this temporary store and any other regular Apple store. With staff dressed in blue Apple t-shirts, a Genius Bar and all manner of Apple products displayed on blond wooden tables, it looks like this temporary store will be here for a little while at least. Perhaps the only tell tale sign that this store isn't permanent is the wooden stair case instead of the customary glass ones found in regular Apple stores.

Check out photos taken inside the temporary store and further details at Racked.

[Via MacRumors]

A look inside New York's temporary Apple Store originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

One of the frustrating things about driving a car with an iPhone (or other smartphone) in tow is syncing its contents with the car's audio or navigation system. But thanks to Toyota's new Toyota Touch Life, that doesn't have to be so much of a problem anymore.

According to Engadget, Toyota's new Touch Infotainment system lets iPhone and iPod touch users access a handful of apps directly from their iDevice. By downloading Toyota's "application launcher," a free app from the App Store, users can access certain apps on the in-car display, which mirrors iPhone's screen...in part. Only certain apps are compatible, including Garmin StreetPilot and some Internet news and radio apps like AUPEO!, plus Stitcher, Facebook and Twitter.

Touch Infotainment is exclusive to new new Toyota Verso-S, Yaris and Hilux cars. We don't know if will become available to the Avensis, Prius or Verso models or as an add-on to existing Toyota vehicles.

Toyota's Touch Life will "mirror" your iPhone's display originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Consumerist has posted a cute story about a 10-year-old girl whose purchasing of an iPod touch was made rather special by an Apple Store manager in Utah.

As the story goes, the particular young lady has wanted an iPod touch for quite some time. So much so that she saved her birthday and allowance money over the last 9 months so that she could finally afford to buy one for herself (I think a lot of us could learn a little something about this alone)!

Accompanied by her mother, she arrived at the Gateway Apple Store at 10:30 AM. Both were greeted by two Apple employees who told them that the store was closed from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM and that they could not shop now. The mother explained the situation and pointed to the young girl with her jar full of money, but they were politely told that they would have to come back later, even though it wasn't quite 11:00.

The saddened but understanding pair moved along to do other shopping, but after a short distance an Apple employee chased after them to tell them that the store manager had made a special exception to let them in. Escorted into the store, mother and daughter were given the attention of the entire staff, and after the transaction was made the store manager asked all the employees to "...give [redacted] a round of applause for saving her money and buying an iPod today."

The young lady waved goodbye and immediately called her dad to tell him the story.

For the story as told by Matt the dad, click here.

10-year-old girl has memorable experience at Apple Store originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Cupertino City Council has paid tribute to the memory of Steve Jobs by adjourning its meeting on Tuesday, October 18, 2011. As mentioned on the Cupertino City Council website, "The city is in the process of reviewing the new Apple Campus 2 headquarters project, which was Mr. Jobs' vision."

Earlier this year, Steve Jobs unveiled plans to build a new Apple Campus in Cupertino to house the growing needs of the company, alongside its existing campus at 1 Infinite Loop.

The council staff also put together a tribute video montage of extracts from Steve Jobs' last presentation to the council, amongst memorable moments of Steve Jobs career at Apple.

The last two times Steve Jobs presented at the council, he received standing ovations on both occasions. And on both occasions it was made very clear how proud the council members are to have Apple call Cupertino its home.

[Via Business Insider]

Cupertino City Council produces Steve Jobs tribute video originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

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

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

The iRig MIDI Hardware

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SampleTank for iOS.

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

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

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

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

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

The user-interface

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

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

Conclusion

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

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

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

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

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

Update: The guys at IK Multimedia have got in touch to update us on a few things. Firstly, regarding the short micro USB cable for keeping your iDevice charged while using the iRig MIDI, they say, "[W}e wanted to supply a longer one [power cable], but due to the very tight power rating requirements by Apple, regarding devices supplying power through an accessory, this was the maximum cable length we could go to. If a device like the iRig MIDI doesn't correspond to their specific requirements, Apple simply won't approve it for use."

Secondly, they've let us know that an iPad version of SampleTank for iOS is on the way. It will be a universal app and a free update to those that purchase the current version.

Finally, IK say that at some point in the future they will be adding recording features into SampleTank for iOS, but there is not specific time frame at this point.

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

Continuing in the vein of record iPhone launches stories, AT&T has announced it has activated more than 1 million iPhone 4S handsets as of Tuesday. They say that makes it the most successful launch in the company's history, which might explain why some customers experienced activation delays on day one.

AT&T is so pleased with the result, it has put together a little video with AT&T staff and customers saying how much they love the iPhone on AT&T. If you're a user of the carrier, you may feel a pang of pride!

Meanwhile, Sprint realized its best ever single-day sales on iPhone 4S launch day and Apple sold 4 million units within the 72 hours of availability. For a phone that's not the iPhone 5, the iPhone 4S is causing quite a stir!

AT&T activates 1 million iPhone 4S handsets originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Samsung shipped more smartphones than Apple in the last quarter ending September 30. According to a person "familiar with the situation," Samsung shipped 20 million smartphones where as Apple shipped sold 17.1 million in its fourth fiscal quarter, which ended September 24, as announced in Apple's last conference earnings call. [Noting that shipping units doesn't mean selling them. Samsung may have shipped 20 million smartphones, but Apple sold nearly that many. - Ed.]

As noted in Apple's last conference earnings call, sales of the iPhone slowed down in the second half of the last quarter (as predicted) due to speculation and rumor of a product refresh: namely, the iPhone 4S (check out TUAW's Chris Rawson post taking a closer look at this). However, with the iPhone 4S selling a hefty 4 million units within the first three days of its launch, things could look a bit different at the end of the next financial quarter!

Samsung reportedly beats Apple in smartphone shipments originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

On Monday, the scheduled release date for Steve Jobs: A Biography, Fortune Magazine will publish an exclusive excerpt from Walter Isaacson's highly anticipated biography of Steve Jobs.

The sections to appear will focus on Steve's working relationship with the former CEO of Microsoft, Bill Gates, which spanned nearly three decades. As stated by CNN Money, "...the co-founder of Apple and the co-founder of Microsoft were the twin pillars of personal computing -- at times fierce competitors, at times key allies."

Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs will be available on the same day, October 24, 2011. Previously the release date was set for November 21, and before that March 6, 2012. According to publisher Simon & Shuster, "...the book is based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years, as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues."

Fortune to publish first excerpt from Isaacson's biography of Jobs originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Following the announcement of Infinity Blade II at Apple's media event, Epic Games has released content pack #4 in an update to the the original Infinity Blade game. The new pack comes with "new magic rings, swords, shields, and helmets" as well as a "fierce and deadly RookBane!"

On top of that, the update comes with a sneak preview of Infinity Blade II and Infinity Blade: Awakening, a book written by Brandon Sanderson (which coincidentally is now available on the iBook Store and the Kindle Store).

The update is free (and waiting for you now in the updates section of the App Store) if you've purchased the game.

Infinity Blade update with content pack #4 available now originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 05 Oct 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Pop quiz! You've got thirty iPads. You need to sync all of them up to one Mac and charge them all at the same time. What do you do? Well, it's simple. Buy 3 Griffin MultiDocks at US$1,799.99 (or $699.99 each for one which handles 10) and daisy chain them together. As Griffin says, "[It's] the compact, flexible way to charge and store multiple iPads."

Clearly, this one's geared at schools, businesses and IT professionals, and it's a wonder there aren't more of these on the market. Monitoring, syncing and charging 10 iPads (or more) is a time-consuming hassle.

The MultiDock comes with some nifty features, including LEDs to indicate the charging status of each iPad and auto-off charging, which automatically stops sending power to a device once it's charged.

You'll find details on the Griffin MultiDock at Griffin's website. For all the details check out Griffin's MultiDock page here.

[Via Engadget, Gizmag]

Griffin MultiDock will charge and sync 30 iPads at once originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Coinciding with what we've heard about Apple making a product transition in the iPod line -- namely that the iPod classic and shuffle are to be discontinued, -- AppleInsider has pointed out that click-wheel iPod games are no longer available from the iTunes store. Previously, by clicking on the App Store menu in iTunes, there was an iPod Click Wheel Games option which has now been removed.

With Apple's forthcoming media event scheduled for next Tuesday, it's likely the removal of the click-wheel games from the iTunes store is in preparation for the announcement of the discontinuation of the click-wheel model (as well as signalling the end of an era of click-wheel games dating back to the first iPod).

If you've got an iPod classic, or one of the older click-wheel generation iPods, why not give the old wheel a swan song performance over the weekend and take some of the old, classic games (Brick, Vortex, iQuiz to name a few) for a spin.

Apple removes click-wheel iPod games from iTunes originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Welcome to iPhone 101, the series that explains the basics of iPhone operation. This time, its making tiny text easier to read using the accessibility features in iOS.

Following Stevie Wonder's high praise of the accessibility features found in iOS, we thought we'd take a closer look at some of the features available to make using the iPhone a whole lot easier for those who are visually impaired.

One of the first places to start, when wanting to make what's on your iPhone easier to read, is to make the text larger in four of iOS's major apps: Mail, Calender, Contacts and Notes. To access this feature go to Settings > General > Accessibility. From there you want to tap Large Text and select the text size that best suits your needs. The selection is from off to a rather large 56pt. The text size you select will determine the standard text size for all the text found in those apps.

Unfortunately, this feature doesn't reach across the entire OS, nor does it affect third-party apps. However, most well developed third-party apps will have a setting to edit the size of the text in the app, this feature is usually found in the settings of the app.

You can also apply the Large Text feature to the iPad too by following the same instructions.

iPhone 101: Using iOS accessibility to make text larger originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Welcome to iPhone 101, the series that explains the basics of iPhone operation. This time, its retrieving a deleted voice mail message.

One of the great features of the iPhone -- that is, one that is actually related to having phone conversations -- is Visual Voicemail. So long as your carrier (network provider) supports it, Visual Voicemail allows you to see your voicemail messages, similar to a list of text messages or emails. You can decide which messages you want to listen to, when you want to listen to them and scrub through the message to the important part you want to hear. In Apple's own words, "Visual Voicemail on iPhone is still the biggest breakthrough in voicemail since, well, voicemail."

It certainly has changed the way I use voicemail. Gone are the days of dialing in to a voicemail box and laboriously listening to all your messages in a row! But there's one unsung, often overlooked feature of Visual Voicemail: recovering deleted voicemails.

If you've deleted a voicemail message that you really wish you hadn't (say, the pin code for the alarm system at a guest house you're staying at), simply swipe down your row of messages, all the way to the bottom of the list, and tap on "Deleted Messages." So long as you haven't come here before and tapped "Clear All," all the messages you've ever deleted on your iPhone will be stored here. To recover your deleted voicemail, simply search for it in the list, select it and tap on "undelete." The voicemail will pop into your normal voicemail list ready for you to listen to again.

iPhone 101: Recovering deleted voicemails originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Earlier we reported that the Apple Store was down in the U.S. and the U.K (at least). A few hours later, the store came back online. At first, we didn't notice any changes, but in fact, Apple has introduced an iPad purchasing wizard.

The wizard breaks down the process of choosing the spec of the iPad you'd like to buy into three very simple steps. First, choose the color of your iPad. Second, choose how much storage you'd like your iPad to have and finally, select either a Wi-Fi or a Wi-Fi plus 3G model. If you choose a 3G model, you'll be taken to an additional step, which offers a choice of carrier.

Though the previous method wasn't exactly complicated, the new wizard certainly does make it much simpler to select what specifications you'd like, and change them with ease if you change your mind.

The new shopping wizard only seems to apply to the iPad. The online purchasing process for Macs, iPhones and everything else is unchanged.

[Via The Next Web]

Apple adds iPad purchasing wizard to online store originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 09 Sep 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Whether or not a prototype iPhone 5 was actually stolen from a San Francisco bar, the story has caused a media stir as anticipation for the handset rises. Combine that with the story of the pre-release iPhone 4 that disappeared in a California bar last year, and you've got a story ripe for parody.

Conan O'Brien has accepted the challenge and produced a parody iPhone commercial, in which enraged Apple employees demand the device's return. They go on, in no uncertain terms, to describe the many ways they've devised to "punish" the thief.

This isn't the first time Mr O'Brien's poked a little fun at Apple and its products, and we're sure it won't be the last.

Check out the video below.

Conan O'Brien parodies iPhone 5 "loss" originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 09 Sep 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MacUpdate is doing it again. That is, they're offering a bunch of great Mac software in one single bundle that costs just $49.99. So what's in the bundle? Here we go: Toast 11 Titanium, Data Rescue 3, FX Photo Studio Pro 2.0, Fantastical, iStat Menus, PhoneView, Concealer, EarthDesk, Mellel and Bookends. And if you're one of the first 10,000 to purchase the bundle, you'll get Printopia thrown in with it, too. Now that's some great software.

All the apps are Mac OS Lion compatible, and you'll get the very latest release of each version.

Not to throw you a sales pitch, but if you were to buy all of these apps separately you'd spend $487. Which means if you purchase the MacUpdate bundle, you'll be getting yourself a 90% discount. In these austere times, that's not something to sneeze at -- especially if you've recently purchased a new Mac and you're looking to load it up with some nifty apps.

The MacUpdate offer expires in just over 14 days, which gives you more than enough time to count your pennies.

Click here for details on all the apps over at MacUpdate

MacUpdate bundle offers 11 apps for $49 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 07 Sep 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Creative Applications has got an interesting post on the development of Björks new app album, Biophillia, as well as the in-app purchased track, "Virus."

As mentioned on TUAW a few weeks back, Björk released what she refers to as the first "app album" on the iOS App Store. The Icelandic artist is renowned for being different, particularly when it comes to her music, and the app album, Biophillia, is certainly different from most other traditional album releases.

Creative Applications got in touch with Scott Snibbe -- co-creator of the app -- to get some insight into how Biophillia came about. The post includes details on the journey of the app's development, including some concept sketches by Björk and Scott, the tools used to code the app and some of the inspirational imagery behind it.

While Biophillia is a free app download, users are required to purchase the songs of the album via in-app purchase as they are released, though the song "Cosmogony" comes free with the app. Each song brings with it an additional component to the world of Biophillia -- lyrics, the score, animation, credits and a blurb about the song. It's all very interactive and certainly a unique way to listen to an album.

If you're a fan of Björk's Biophillia app, the post is certainly worth a read. And from an app developers point of view, it's an unique eye opener into the work that's gone on behind the scenes.

Building Björk's "Biophillia" iPad app originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

So you love your sleek, compact Apple wireless keyboard and Magic Trackpad, right? Who doesn't? There's not a wire or cable in sight and you're workspace couldn't be more clutter free, functional and oh so pleasing to the eye. Until, that is, that dreadful day comes when you need to do some serious number crunching. In that moment, it's safe to say, you wish you'd gone for Apple's wired keyboard with a numerical keypad built into the side.

Well, thanks to the good folks at Mobee, now you don't have to compromise. For $29.90 you get the Magic Numpad -- a pack of three custom film layouts that you apply to your trackpad. Depending on how intensive the number crunching you're about to do is, you can apply either the classic numpad (that leaves you some tactile surface on your trackpad), the full numpad or the numpad with customizable keys. With the overlays and a free download of Mobee's free Snow Leopard or Lion compatible software, your Magic Trackpad will be transformed into a fully functioning Magic Numpad.

The Magic Numpad is up for pre-order now on Mobee's website. Availability is set for October. Head on over to Mobee's website for all the details.

[Via This is my next]

Magic Numpad turns your Magic Trackpad into a number pad originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Hot on the heels of last Friday's predictions by analyst Brian White of Ticonderoga Securities, the MacBook Air has gone on sale in China this week. According to MacWorld, all four versions of the latest mid-2011 MacBook Air went on sale in China this week, though there are dispatch delays of between five and eleven working days, depending on which model is ordered.

In a note to clients last week White said, "The new MacBook Air is poised to be a big hit in the Greater China region as more consumers can increasingly afford to own a PC, Apple fever is gaining momentum in the region and there is no laptop product on the market with the characteristics of the new MacBook Air."

With Mac sales already booming in Asia, it's safe to say that the latest MacBook Air will most certainly be a hit in China.

MacBook Air begins to sell in China originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Good news, users of Windows Phone 7 mobile phones and Apple Mac computers. Microsoft has just released the latest iteration of its Windows Phone Connector software -- version 2.0. And it's available for download now in the Mac App Store.

Windows Phone Connector is developed by Microsoft to allow the syncing of files, photos, videos and music between Mac computers and mobile phones running the Windows Phone 7 OS. And this update brings with it a whole host of new features, and fixes to previous bugs. All the juicy details are on the Mac App Store, but suffice to say, it's a good step forward in the right direction from version 1.0.

The update is compatible with Mac OS X 10.6.6 and above, and is applicable to all Windows Phone 7 device and users of the now defunct Zune HD.

[Via Pocket-lint]

Windows Phone 7 Connector 2.0 arrives in the Mac App Store originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 30 Aug 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

More Mac 101, tips and tricks for novice Mac users.

After reading fellow TUAW blogger Dave Caolo's post on Mac OS Lion and Mission Control, and then TUAW blogger Chris Rawson's Additional Tips for OS X Lion's Mission Control, I thought it pertinent to mention a few further words on Hot Corners.

With the advent of advanced multi-touch gestures in new Macs, it's easier than ever to get around Mac OS X, and even more so in OS X Lion with Mission Control. But since I don't have a newer Mac with advanced multi-touch gestures, I find Hot Corners invaluable in Lion, as I did in Snow Leopard and previous versions of Mac OS X before it. Even if I did have access to advanced multi-touch gestures, I'm certain I'd still make full use of Hot Corners.

Hot Corners are the assignment of certain features to the four corners of your desktop. A Hot Corner is activated by shoving your mouse pointer in the respective corner of your desktop screen. A Hot Corner can be assigned to turn your screen saver on, put your display to sleep, display all open windows or, as Dave mentioned in his post, open Mission Control -- which is useful if you're like me and don't have a newer multi-touch trackpad like me.

Personally, I've assigned my bottom right Hot Corner to open Launch Pad, it's a quick and easy way to access all my applications. I find using a Hot Corner much quicker than opening Launch Pad from the dock and then opening an application. My bottom left Hot Corner is assigned to show my desktop. Activating this Hot Corner shoves every open window on my desktop to the left, leaving me free to peruse files and documents on my desktop, and then by activating the Hot Corner again, all my open windows return to exactly the way they were before. My top right Hot Corner opens Mission Control and my top left Hot Corner puts my display to sleep. It couldn't be simpler!

To assign a Hot Corner in OS X Lion, go to System Preferences and click on Mission Control. You'll find the Hot Corners button at the bottom left of that window. For previous versions of OS X, go to System Preferences and click on Dashboard and Expose.

Mac 101: Don't forget about Hot Corners originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.