Image: Shutterstock

A few days ago, I caught a tweet from Paul Haddad (of Tapbots), showing a screen full of obvious copycat apps from one developer. Of course, anyone who has spent appreciable time on the App Store knows there are plenty of copycats out there. Not all of them are small shops, either. But these copycat apps were truly astonishing in their brazen nature -- I mean, Plants v. Zombie? Temple Jump (instead of Temple Run)? Come on.

Luckily Apple finally woke up and rooted out a number of these cloned games from this single offending developer. I'm sure others will pop up again, but hopefully Apple will be more on top of things in the future. In the meanwhile, let us know if you see a copycat app. You can give us a shout either in the comments or using the "Tip Us" button at the top of our website.

[via The Loop]

Apple removes one iOS developer's copycat games originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I met up with the guys behind iBackflip while at Macworld, and was impressed with their passion for design. Their first iBackflip was a pretty straightforward flip-down arm sling for the iPad. Using Velcro, it offered a basic black design and minimal extras. The new iBackflip Somersault, now available for pre-order, is a thoroughly updated version. At $99, I got to see one of the final versions, fresh from their factory.

The Somersault's main feature is the ability to position the iPad in front of you while being securely fastened to your body via an ample sling. The flip-down panel securing the iPad is no longer Velcro, it is a sturdy YKK zipper now, and the iPad is more securely fastened in its own pocket.

In addition to an iPad, the Somersault has room for an 11" MacBook Air, pockets for your headphones, ID, etc. and several loops on the shoulder strap. This is made of durable ballistic nylon in the USA and looks terrific. I can't believe they're only charging $99 for them, but I'm not complaining. Take it from someone who is a bit of a luggage/case nut, the Somersault is an excellent case for your iPad or small computer if you don't need to carry a full backpack and want a great deal on a quality on-the-go style bag.

Check out the designer giving a demo below.

iBackFlip Somersault available for preorder; watch creator explain improvements originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Magic Window was one of the first apps on the App Store when the store launched. It is a simple idea, but wonderfully executed and now available for the Mac as well as iOS. Magic Window is time-lapse photography -- for iOS it serves as a relaxing "picture window" and on the Mac it can play on your desktop. Plus, by adding a projector (in the video below it is connected to an iPhone) you could have an enormous wall of a sunset slowly changing over time.

There's really a bit more to Magic Window than mere novelty, including weather (supporting micro-climates as you find here in San Francisco), sleep timers and an efficient use of your processor. Check out the demo below by Josh from Jetson Creative, the smart folks behind this wonderful app.

See beautiful time lapse images with Magic Window on your Mac, iPad or iPhone originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I'm live at the Best of Show awards, where Macworld has chosen the best products from the show (hence the name). Sorry about the lack of images, you'd basically see washed out photos of a projected image. Be sure to check out the links to each product.

3:07 Just now getting started! Up first, Boinx with iStopMotion. Florian from Boinx is doing a demo of iStopMotion. As we said back in December, it is pretty nice.

3:12 A beautiful little paper cutout animation from a kid who used iStopMotion -- really cool stuff.

3:15 PDFpen for iPad is up next from Smile. Really interesting to see how something as simple as a PDF tool (and there are several on the store) can be fresh and awesome.

PDFpen is basically Adobe Acrobat Pro for your iPad. But much, much easier to use. I just saw a signature from Photos applied to a tax document -- with transparency so it didn't block the field below! You can easily drag and drop text boxes and more. Oh, and iCloud storage. How cool is that?

There's a Mac version as well, but PDFpen looks fantastic either way.

3:20 TourWrist is up next. They call it "remote reality" -- sort of like QuickTime VR for your iPad. The authoring side of the app is really pretty nice. It uses a simple line to help you line up your images for a full panorama, better than a gyro-based solution that automatically lines them up.

3:25 The other winners:

DevMicro makes a small microphone in a cone shape that captures 6 channels of audio at once!

FileThis has a service called Fetch that will gather online docs from various financial accounts and puts them together for you.

Blue Microphones won for their Spark Digital microphone. It's a digital version of their analog mic of the same name.

i4software has a video studio app for your iPhone. It can handle multiple cameras, which is pretty amazing.

Global Delight has a product called Game Your Video, which adds effects to video (for iOS).

Ryz Media has blinQ, a remote control that uses your iPhone and adds some social sharing. Not sure how this won -- there are a bunch of apps (with hardware dongles) that do this. I'll give it a whirl and see what makes it special.

Adonit's Jot Touch won because it is the stylus that allows you to add pressure sensitivity to your iOS device. It's a cool product that will make you miss your Wacom tablet.

Lantronix won for the xPrintServer, a product that connects to your network and makes printers available for AirPrint.

3:35 And we're done! Early! Congratulations to the winners. Check out our Macworld hub for more coverage.

Macworld | iWorld Best of Show liveblog originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Last night David Barnard of App Cubby swung by our makeshift studio in San Francisco to show off Launch Center, which had only been live on the App Store for a few hours.

If you're wondering what Launch Center does, this video will explain it. Basically it's a shortcut app which allows you to save a few clicks doing things like texting someone or even doing a Google search of whatever is in your clipboard. But there are a bunch of great shortcuts in here, from tweeting to calling to launching a website. Plus, you can schedule shortcuts. I can't wait to prank someone by activating the flash on the iPhone at some time while my iPhone is on the table, explaining that it is a noxious fumes detector. (Update: OK, you can really only schedule a notification that, when you slide to open it, will then launch the action.)

If you frequently find yourself tapping too many times on your iPhone, you should absolutely give Launch Center a look. Plus, if you want to schedule certain actions on your iPhone, Launch Center is a dream come true. I think it's a great idea, and David explains a bit about why it was initially rejected by Apple, but is now allowed. Check out the video below.

Launch Center demo by creator David Barnard originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Do you have an awesome app, accessory or hardware product you'd like to demo for the TUAW audience? We'd love to see it. While we're going to focus on what's on the Macworld iWorld floor during the event, we'd like to take the opportunity to talk to anyone at the event for later publication.

In particular, if you have a hot new unreleased product you're excited about, we'd like to see it. Similarly, if you've enjoyed stellar success on the App Store, tell us your story. We only have a limited number of interview times, so you'll have to use this form to apply.

We'll be recording interviews on Wednesday and Thursday (Jan. 25-26), so let us know when you want to sit down and chat.

Sign up for an interview with TUAW at Macworld iWorld 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 21 Jan 2012 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Last year's 360|MacDev was filled with good food and great company, plus sessions with some of the best developers in the world. The annual event in Denver is one of the must-attend Mac developer conferences out there if you want to learn from the best.

This year's conference is almost upon us, but there's still room to attend. Check out the conference schedule, and if you see what you like, use the code "TUAWRocks" (no quotes) to get 20% off your pass.

Better still, caption the pic of developer Mike Lee, seen below, exercising his Second Amendment rights. Next week we'll pick a winner of a free pass to 360|MacDev! Rules below. Keep it tasteful.

• Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.
• To enter leave a comment on this post captioning the image of Mike Lee.
• The comment must be left before MONDAY, January 23, 11:59 PM Eastern Time.
• You may enter only once.
• One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: Pass to 360|MacDev Conference Feb. 3-4, 2012 (Value: US$300)
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

Discount on 360|MacDev and a chance to win a free pass originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you review cases I have to feel bad for you. With so many to choose from, it must be like reviewing bags of sugar. By now there are also only so many ways to skin an iPhone, so the cases you see tend to be decorative, protective or novelty. That's about it. And we saw hundreds of cases at CES.

In the gallery below there's a sampling of some of the hundreds of cases we saw. From scented and minimal to sporty and sturdy to gaudy and impractical, there's a case out there for each and every one of you. Walk among the aisles and wind up with the same thousand-yard stare we did after seeing such choice. Now you realize why they only carry so many in your favorite retailer's iOS accessory section. Retailers make the tough decisions of which of these cases might actually sell -- and I don't envy them in that task.

Gallery: Cases of CES 2012

The iDevice cases of CES originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Padlette solves one problem: How do you strap your iPad to your hand quickly using a big rubber band? Insofar as that one problem is concerned, the Padlette (patent pending) does a great job. You stretch the loops around the corners of your iPad and you're able to slip your hand in between, securely holding the iPad with one hand.

How secure is it? I stood over a bed and shook my hand around but wasn't too worried the iPad would fly off. In fact, you might be surprised how secure this thing is -- the rubber sticks well to the iPad but won't rip the hair out of your hand (I have moderately Hobbitish hand hair, YMMV). I suppose you could attach the iPad to a golf club or pole or use the Padlette to hold your magic wand between wizard duels, but that isn't its primary purpose.

Anyway, the Padlette isn't new, but they were at CES hoping to score some larger notice and distribution. There's also a few versions of this, but frankly I couldn't figure out why -- they appear to be grippable in different ways? There's the deefour, the deethree and the new yinyang, all using the same idea but with a different hole cut in the middle of the rubber band. I don't think this would sell well in a Target, as it seems primarily suited to trade shows or teaching or somewhere you might need to hold the iPad safely in one hand. Which isn't that often, frankly.

The Padlette comes in a variety of colors and costs $19.99 on Amazon. Oh, and it supports any full-size tablets for you cross-platform fans out there.

Padlette, for those times you need a giant rubber band on your iPad originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 14 Jan 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This has been out for a while, but in the same booth where Engadget found the Watch Your Bag crapgadget there's a giant blacklight dock that will pulse to the beat. Oh, and it has speakers. You can opt to leave the black light on if you want (no sync to music), or have it strobe. Naturally it'll work with iPods as well, so you can practically set up a nightclub in an instant. Provided you don't mind toting a 4-foot iPod dock around. At $149.99 from Sharper Image, I doubt these are flying off the shelves.

A giant pulsing blacklight for your iPhone or iPod originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 14 Jan 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here's another quickie for you from CES. I've seen a few physical amplification attempts, some good, some bad. The megaPhone from iSimple sort of sits in-between. It's a little rubbery megaphone for your iPhone which provides some acoustic amplification of your iPhone's tiny speaker. There's a port for the sync cable, and you can use it in portrait or landscape position.

How does it work? About as well as you might imagine. Enough to boost the sound a bit, but not so much that it'll fill the room or anything. Still, it's small (basically you can squish it) and if you need a bit of a boost in your audio without resorting to something like this, the megaPhone may be worth the $14.95 to you. I could see using this to placate the kiddos while waiting for food at a noisy restaurant, and I'm sure there are plenty of other uses for it.

megaPhone iPhone stand is rubbery, battery-free amplification originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bombarded by CES news? This won't take long to read. The Smart Cord app is basically just one button, designed to control a simple but clever Bluetooth power cord. If you have an outdoor fountain that you like to turn off at night, or anything that needs a remote-controlled on/off switch, Smart Cord is actually pretty neat. The app is free, but the 3-foot cord will set you back $39.95.

The ZMote folks are planning a few other remote-controlled switches and cords, but those won't be available until later this year.

Smart Cord may be the simplest app on the store, it's an on/off switch originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The AirGo is a sturdy outdoor speaker designed by Russound, a company with years of experience making quality speakers. While there are a lot of great things about the AirGo, being shown off this week at CES 2012, the most interesting thing to me was that instead of using Bluetooth or cables or even embedded AirPlay for transmitting audio from a music machine, the AirGo instead has a space on the back for inserting your own Airport Express. You buy the speaker, and then put in your own little Wi-Fi unit from Apple, which is where all the audio comes from. There are some distinct advantages to this, one of which is that you can use the Express as a Wi-Fi extender (not to mention that you might already have one lying around your house). But the AirGo has more to it than the novelty of an actual Airport Express inside.

The enclosure of the AirGo can best be described as rugged. This unit is designed to live outside. Russound did extensive testing in a variety of harsh conditions to ensure that heat, rain, and all the elements an outdoor speaker might encounter will not affect the unit. And yes, we were assured the Airport Express can withstand some pretty harsh conditions (temperature-wise). The Express is sealed inside a watertight enclosure on the back of the speaker system, and they were smart enough to provide a way to see the status light on the Express without having to open this cover. And if your Express needs an update, that is easily done wirelessly as you would normally do. If the Express dies, you won't need to buy another speaker, either, and Russound specifically designed the form factor with plenty of space, so even if Apple changes the external look of the Airport Express, the new version will probably still fit just fine.

Business up front, party in the back

The speaker base is largely metal, giving it heft and rigidity. There's a large handle up top for moving the unit around. The speaker itself is incredibly high quality, and I was very impressed with the sound even when relatively quiet, so if you like a little background jazz while sitting on your patio, you'll still hear a very crisp and clear sound at low volumes. Then there's loudness, which was more than adequate. We were in a small room for the demo filled with executives and media types chatting, but we could hear the music quite well. The speaker quickly filled the room when cranked up, drowning all the noise out. From the heavy duty power cord to metal base to metal speaker grille, this thing is designed to last. There's also a power light on the front so you know it is on. The overall design reminded me of an old TV set, mounted on a pivoting armature.

Of course, quality doesn't come cheap. The speaker sells for $399 (not including the Airport Express), which some users might balk at, but this is not some cheapo plastic Bluetooth speaker you toss in your backpack. This is a product for people who care about quality and durability, and probably spend a lot of time lounging by the pool or perhaps entertaining outside. Really, I could see some business like a caterer using these to quickly set up ambient music at an event. So if you're looking for a solid product that can withstand any number of tough uses, that price tag makes a lot of sense in the long run. You'll likely be enjoying this speaker for years.

AirGo, the ultimate wireless outdoor speaker uses Airport Express inside originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 11 Jan 2012 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you haven't heard of OnLive before, get ready to hear a lot more about them in 2012. The streaming company has been around for a few years, but is just now making some major inroads into streaming all sorts of services to your iPad.

We've already covered the OnLive offering for Mac, console and iPad gaming, and it's pretty impressive (I saw a AAA console title streaming with almost no lag using hotel WiFi) -- so I was anxious to see what OnLive Desktop had to offer. Basically, it's like having a full computer experience on your iPad. Specifically, OnLive Desktop will drop you straight into Windows 7, and from there you can tap to launch the ubiquitous Office products. Similar to the existing CloudOn or Desktone systems but supercharged with OnLive's streaming tech, the intention is to give you a remote computing 'thin client' with the full power of the desktop productivity apps.

We'll have more to say about OnLive when we meet up with them here at CES, but you can check out a video of OnLive over at Engadget. For now, know that OnLive will be offering this service in tiers, starting with a free service that comes with 2 GB of cloud storage and access to a limited suite of office apps. Later there will be a Pro version, starting at $9.99 a month, with 50 GB of cloud storage, priority server access, more apps and accelerated browsing. And then there's an Enterprise offering that'll allow the kind of control and customization you'd expect if deploying this to dozens or hundreds of client iPads.

OnLive is one of the tech companies I have been watching for a while, and I'm terribly excited by what they are doing. Unfortunately, the company hasn't done a great job of explaing and marketing their product, which means (for now) it's something you have to try it before you believe. Still, at free, and launching on January 12, pretty soon you'll be able to try out OnLive Desktop for yourself. Check out the press release below if you dare.

OnLive Desktop brings Windows 7, Office apps to your iPad originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yeah, it sounds too good to be true. But that really is an iPhone in the cylinder above. Liquipel claims to make your smartphone water resistant by bonding it inside and out with a "nano" coating which repels water. While this isn't for deep sea diving, it appears to be an ideal solution if you are clumsy or happen to be around water quite a bit. In the image below, I snapped a pic of a tissue paper coated with Liquipel technology. The tissue is impervious to water absorption, acting more like wax paper. Pretty neat stuff.

The downside (for now) is that you'll have to send your device off to Liquipel for a few days for them to coat it. A rep I spoke to said they are hoping to work directly with manufacturers to integrate their coating before you buy a phone. In that case, you'd buy a water resistant phone automatically, eliminating the need for a LifeProof case or OtterBox if you're just going to have your phone by the pool. I'm hopeful Apple will license or acquire this tech and implement it as soon as possible. While it won't help with gravity, Liquipel certainly seems capable of preventing those spills and splashes that we're all accustomed to -- the ones which make us cringe or, at worst, place our iPhones in a sealed container filled with dry rice overnight (and prayer, for the devout).

Currently the Liquipel coating costs $59 for a 1-2 day turnaround for coating your phone. While the iPhone is certainly supported, it isn't the only smartphone you can protect. But really, if you have one of those other phones, is it worth it? I kid. Check out Liquipel's YouTube videos for more of this product in action. Here's hoping Apple shows some interest in using the material soon -- I'd love my iPhone 5 to be water resistant.

Liquipel could make your iPhone waterproof without a case originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 09 Jan 2012 02:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Way back in 2006 we had a story from AppleGazette about 5 Apple products which never made it to production. Today there's a photo of an old "touchscreen" phone Apple prototyped circulating (although I remember digging this up when the iPhone was announced; we never ran the story it seems) and I wound up doing a whopping five minutes of research on Flickr for more Apple prototypes. Like fishing for Steve Jobs videos on YouTube, these diversions can be a lot of fun. It's a bit like staring into an alternate universe, seeing glimpses of Apple's ambitions -- often ahead of their time, and re-appearing years later in substantially refined form.

The Paladin is one of those Frankenstein machines you'd never imagine would emerge out of Cupertino. While the "touchscreen phone" prototype was stylish, the Paladin looks like a Duo and a fax machine took a cue from the Wuzzles and had some freakish techno-mutt. Paladin had a pull-out keyboard with trackball. The combination of a fax machine, scanner, phone and computer probably made sense before the Newton, but molded as a typical fax machine in that old beige just seems so... uninspired. Then again, this was 1994 -- not exactly an era of innovation from Apple, unless you count endless models of Performas "progress" (the market sure didn't). The Paladin doesn't even have an Apple logo up top, instead showing Apple on the label only. Of course, the pics from Jim Abeles are showing a prototype, so there's no real reason to attach a logo at this point in the process.

Mr. Abeles has a few curious prototypes on his Flickr page, including an iPhone, a 13" MacBook in very rough form, the Newton-powered Bic and Cadillac prototypes (way before the iPad), the W.A.L.T. (Wizzy Active Lifestyle Telephone), and a Mac Portable with transparent case (translucent plastic, OMG!). Apparently he's collected more, but only these ultra-rare prototypes are on Flickr. What a collection!

Remembering the Apple Paladin and other prototypes originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 30 Dec 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I'm probably a little weird, but sometimes I love listening to police scanners and various chit chat as I'm going to bed. I also like analog devices, so a Nixie Clock Radio seemed like a neat idea: the look of the classic Nixie clock merged with streaming radio and an alarm/sleep timer. It works as advertised, but there's always room for improvement.The Nixie Clock app is simplicity itself. You start it up, and it takes a brief moment to "warm up" with a few flashes of the numbers, just like a real Nixie would do. Below the time readout (which has no AM/PM, using military readout only) are three functions: the radio, the alarm and the sleep timer. Tapping on each will dissolve into the options to the right of the button. It wasn't entirely evident that you could tap on these at first, but I rather like the minimalist approach.

The alarm works fine, and you set the time by tapping each number using a HH:MM format. The sleep timer also works great, and gives you a sort of countdown on the minutes (nothing moves too fast in Nixie, so there are no seconds shown). Tapping the radio icon logically brings up radio controls and will show you what channel is playing. Speaking of channels, the selection is a little thin and made up mostly of news and talk radio stations, but the developer says he plans to allow you to add channels later.

Nixie Clock is a nifty, limited-purpose but attractive radio alarm. For a buck it's worth it for the nostalgia alone, but add to that the app is compatible all the way back to iOS 3.1.3 and your nostalgia can even extend to older iDevices not capable of running iOS 4. I have a first-generation iPhone and iPod touch which could use this app with a dock and become little radio alarm clocks on their own.

Daily iPhone App: Nixie Clock originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's a great time of the year to find software deals. Yesterday we mentioned the MacUpdate bundle, and today we're looking at the ProductiveMacs bundle, featuring (as you'd expect) a bunch of stellar productivity apps. Included in the bundle are some of my personal favorites, like Default Folder X (our coverage here) and LaunchBar (our coverage here), plus the truly awesome BusyCal (which we've covered) and the superlative Fantastical (our story here). I've never used Cashculator or Home Inventory, but they look good, and Notebook from Circus Ponies is something I've wanted for years -- and it normally costs $20 more than the bundle. Our own Brett Terpstra and Mel Martin swear by Tags. Yep, that's 8 productivity apps for just $39.99.

The bundle goes away in 5 days, plus there's a bunch of software prizes being given away, so buy these now and save a ton of money with a chance to win even more great software. I'll point out that these apps are not coming from the Mac App Store, so if you prefer to get your apps via that channel, you won't be able to do that with a bundle as Apple doesn't really allow it. That said, these are full versions of powerful apps that continue to update alongside their MAS brothers, so you're not buying abandonware. In fact, you're looking at saving over $200, which I think is worth it if you like getting things done efficiently on your Mac.

Get productive for less with the ProductiveMacs bundle originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

One of the first things I bought last holiday season after receiving a Kinect as a gift was Kinectimals. My kids loved it, but we found it can get a little tedious after a while. There it sits on the shelf of unplayed games... But perhaps when my kids get little iPod touches this holiday they'll revisit the game now that it is on iOS.

Yep, Microsoft has released Kinectimals for the iPhone and iPad, or an iPod touch -- provided you have a front-facing camera, of course. Actually the app is compatible with the 3GS as well, but that seems like a recipe for frustrating gameplay (considering the point is visual feedback between you and your pet). Perhaps it is a trust exercise on the 3GS.

The app weighs in at 178 MB, and currently costs US$2.99. This isn't the first app to use the camera as an input device, and no doubt we'll see more, but it's cool to see a Kinect game migrate to iOS nonetheless.

Kinectimals for iPhone and iPad available originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Looks like iOS 5.1 beta 2 is now available for developers, a few weeks after the first beta dropped. BGR has a nice list of what's new/fixed in this release but the big news appears to be that you can finally delete images in your iCloud Photo Stream. There's also the hope this will clear up any remaining battery issues still plaguing some iPhone users.

Apple iOS 5.1 beta 2 available to developers originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We've seen a few minor outages for Siri since its debut, but those were minor blips compared to what appears to have been a more widespread, longer lasting outage that took place earlier today in the US, Europe and South Korea (according to Electric Pig -- we can attest to seeing an error message with the service in the US, and BGR noted it as well). We asked our Twitter followers and some reported brief outages last night, but others said it's been unavailable for hours and is still down.

Of course, when Siri was announced, Apple noted it was "in beta" but I took this to mean (and Apple seemed to suggest) the "beta" meant they were adding more languages later (like Scottish?). Just like, for example, that "beta" at the top of the TUAW page, meaning "we'll keep adding features." The problem with a Siri outage, as opposed to an iCloud one, is that Siri is designed to be used at any time, hands-free, to perform multi-step tasks. When the service is offline, you can certainly do those tasks, but you can't do them by speaking into your iPhone. You're not going to see this illustrated in the Siri ads, that's for sure.

I don't intend to write up every Siri outage here on TUAW. Like MobileMe status posts (oh, did I mention iCloud IMAP also seems to be down as I write this? Apple still can't seem to grok simple email, but I digress), it will become a futile task as we chase down the percentages and Apple improves the service. Still, I think it is notable that when a competitor like BlackBerry suffers a global messaging failure (one of their "core strengths," remember?) we laugh, but when Siri goes missing we tend to shrug it off. Yes, the service is in beta, but here's hoping Apple can beef it up once more of us become addicted to telling our phones what to do with our minds.

Did you experience a Siri outage? originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Most of our editorial staff is based in the U.S., so expect light posting today. We'll try to write up as many deals as we can over the next few days, however, so be sure to check our Deals page. Also, be sure to check out these 5 apps for Thanksgiving. Then there's our ongoing Holiday Gift Guide.

For all of you spending time with family, traveling or just quietly reflecting and giving thanks today, have a happy and safe Thanksgiving. We at TUAW are thankful you're here!

Happy Thanksgiving from TUAW originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 24 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MacTech magazine is the go-to resource for Apple techs and admins, developers and IT pros. Neil Ticktin and Ed Marczak put together a tremendous publication, and we're happy to let you know about a special holiday offer for TUAW readers.

Follow this link to sign up, and the first 100 readers to apply get a free six-month subscription to MacTech. Don't worry if you aren't among the early birds; subsequent entries merit a free single copy of the magazine. Supplies are limited, and the offer is only good through Monday.

We are happy to be among the media sponsors for the recent MacTech Conference and the upcoming MacTech InDepth: Mobile Device Management and MacTech Boot Camp.

The fine print: Offer only available while supply is available and cannot be combined with other offers. Supplies are limited, and offer may terminate early if supplies are exhausted. Offer only valid for U.S. delivery addresses, and not valid for current subscribers. MacTech is not responsible for typographical errors. MacTech is a registered trademark of Xplain Corporation.

This offer is wholly controlled by MacTech and TUAW/AOL Weblogs is not responsible for fulfillment or management in any way.

Black Friday offer: Free MacTech subscriptions for 100 readers originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Welcome to the 2011 Holiday Gift Guide at TUAW. This year we're covering a lot of ground to help you make better purchasing decisions before and after the holiday season. Whether you're looking to accessorize someone's Mac or buy a new iPod, or if you receive Apple gear as a gift and wonder "what now?" we've got you covered.

Bookmark this feed for all our holiday shopping tips, or bookmark this page for all of this year's guides.

To kick things off, here are some "buying guides" for Apple's primary product lines.

Holiday Gift Guide: Buying a Mac

Holiday Gift Guide: Buying an iPod

Holiday Gift Guide: Buying an iPad

Holiday Gift Guide: Buying an iPhone

Holiday Gift Guide: Accessories for all

And here are some of our specific gift ideas for the season:

Holiday Gift Guide: Cameras

Holiday Gift Guide: External Drives

Holiday Gift Guide: Portable Cases

Holiday Gift Guide: Printers

Our suggestion for the right all-purpose Mac

The ideal iPod

Get (holiday) cooking with the Belkin Chef Stand + Stylus for iPad

Kindle Fire vs. iPad: How to decide

Choosing your next iPhone

A look at GPS apps

TUAW's 2011 holiday gift guide originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 21 Nov 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Updated: djay 4 is now available from the Algoriddim site or Mac App Store. Introductory pricing is just $19.99 (normally the app is $50).

I know we've covered djay quite a bit this year but this update, coming soon, is a pretty huge one. We were lucky enough to get a sneak peek at djay 4. I happen to like djay, which is available for iOS and Mac, because it reminds me of when I first used Premiere -- version 4 on an 8500. Except instead of going from cutting film on a big machine to editing video pixels, you're taking physical vinyl record spinning and scratching and translating it to digital audio. Djay takes a complicated setup and physical skills and turns them into a software interface, with digitized shortcuts for dummies like me. Djay, as a simulation of a dj's turntables, is nearly perfect. There's no substitute for actually touching vinyl, of course, especially if you've seen masters of the art and I'm not saying djay is magically going to make mashups. Djay does have its place for pros and amateurs alike, with some practice (and natural talent, one hopes). The tools, already strong to begin with since launch, just got a lot better in version 4.

Check out our previous coverage of djay to get the basics. The new features are impressive for live and recording artists. Here's a look at some of them.

Updated UI and Lion, iCloud integration

The UI looked great already, but now everything is on one screen, easily accessible, with better graphics than before and fullscreen support in Lion. There's a light and dark library mode so dj's don't go blind queueing up songs. iCloud support is for the Mac App Store version and iOS versions of djay, allowing sync of all user generated metadata like cue points, edited BPM, etc...

One of djay's coolest features has been the ability to analyze a song and match another's beats for mashups. Version 4 for the Mac adds impressive key detection that can distinguish between major and minor keys. You can even filter your entire iTunes library by key so it's easier to make a mashup to begin with (see the photo below, which allows you to pick a key). Note that this will take a while depending on your iTunes library, and crank your fans up depending on your Mac, so djay allows you to limit the analysis to a single playlist if you like. Further, you can adjust a song on the turntable, pressing a button to match the key of song A to song B just as you would the tempo.

While no harmony matching is perfect, I found the results were more than acceptable. Provided you know what you're doing, djay is a powerful mashup generator. There's a built-in recording manager, but the .m4a files djay creates can be accessed in Finder and simply added to iTunes so you can play your music on your iDevices.

DJ support

Live dj's are going to love djay 4 even more. There's a full "MIDI learn" system now so you can program djay to work with your gear, enhanced controller support (you can tweak just about everything), and you can export play history as PDFs. There's also more control over pre-cueing, and a mic with echo and pitch controls... But that's not all!

I could see using djay just as a replacement for iTunes if you routinely dj parties at your pad (bachelor or otherwise). The Automix feature was great before, allowing djay to choose songs, spin them up, crossfade between them or match on beats. Now you can manage your queue as well -- which is also handy if you have to take a break as a dj. Just line up what you want in the queue window and djay will handle it. When you want, you can drop easily into another playlist and keep going.

But if you are a real dj that likes to spin records and uses samples and effects, djay has improved support for both. There's a handy sample manager which allows you to sort and use them on the fly, and there's a Live Sampler. The Live Sampler allows you to record a sample any time, just by holding down the mic button in the in the sample bank's sample list. As you have six sample banks available at once (and practically unlimited samples behind each button, although you'll need to toggle between them) this give you ample opportunity to play around. Or be annoying, depending on your expertise level.

The Live Sampler section of the UI switches around, depending on what you need. There's also a bounce loop mode that lets you set up simple repeating sections which are easy to toggle on and off by using a button up top near the record button. New to version 4 is the enhanced bounce loop mode which is basically a set of shortcuts for 1/16 up to 2 second loop times. If you've ever heard what sounds like a record skipping? Well now you can do that in easy increments by just pressing on a button. It's great.

djay 4 adds some awesome realtime audio effects to your arsenal. These aren't replacements for a full keyboard or sampler, but they are super handy and fun to use. Standard FX include a couple of effects banks, which each have the requisite flanger, echo, reverb, phaser and whatnot. Then there's the Instant FX, which are presets like Twist which back the music up while applying audio effects or crush which sounds like a bit crusher with added effects. Then there's my favorite, the 2D FX pad which allows you to control multiple parameters in realtime, with your finger. Whatever you chose in the fx bank earlier will appear here, and you can tweak the parameters by sliding around a small box with your finger (trackpad) or mouse. I'm sure a real dj could do amazing things with this.

As with any proper dj software there are shortcuts for just about everything. There's even multitouch trackpad control, with keyboard modifiers to do things like pitch-bending on the fly. Not only that, but the trackpad is 1:1 multitouch, so use two fingers and where you touch it mimics on the screen.

What's exciting about apps like djay (and why I like to cover them) is that, like Premiere once did for me with video editing, they make a formerly cumbersome and complex method of expression slightly more accessible. Of course, Premiere and other digital NLE's didn't make one a better video editor, just as there were plenty of desktop publishing atrocities in the 80s (thanks, Print Shop!), but programs like djay make the tools of aspiring dj's more accessible, more affordable and in some ways more powerful than their real-world counterparts.

A dj that I know (who has a fancy music degree as well) saw djay and remarked that it was all too easy for kids to just pick it up and make simplistic mashups. I argued that this was a good thing, in the end, because just as with video, people will tend to watch (or listen to, in this case) what they feel is best. If they like sucky mashups, have at it. By contrast, the guy behind this saw djay and immediately saw how he could incorporate it into his musical workflow.

I think any tool that gives you this much power but makes using it fun deserves a look. Djay 4 is an impressive app on its own. Couple it with the iOS versions and you've got even more fun, and both are what I would consider pro-level tools at a great value. If you're itching to get your hands on djay 4, you can sign up here for updates. Djay 4 is now available!

Our exclusive preview of djay 4 for Mac - Now available originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 15 Nov 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I tried the original GeoMaster app from French mobile developer VirtuaMobile a long time ago, but the HD version is well-suited to the bigger iPad screen. GeoMaster Plus HD is a geography quizzing game. It is simple enough, flashing text on the screen and asking you to tap the appropriate location. You battle against the clock but only to beat your times. This is a basic learning tool, and is fun yet relaxed, lacking really flashy or annoying elements. As such, it is perfect for kids learning geography. You can choose from states, countries, capitals and French departments, and players need only tap the appropriate spots on the screen to register answers.

GeoMaster Plus HD adds a few things for the iPad. The larger screen makes it somewhat easier to tap the maps. Still, you can pinch to zoom and swipe to pan around if you can't hit Rhode Island with your giant fingers. The graphics are crisp and attractive, and the app really nails the chalkboard look. The drawstring on the pull-down map (which accesses the Atlas) even interacts as you tilt the iPad. The Atlas is a basic factoid lookup tool for the geography used in the game. It isn't that detailed nor is it as fun to browse as the game is to play. There are much better atlas apps, so consider this a somewhat weak freebie.

Still, GeoMaster Plus HD is a fun, accessible and useful educational game for learning geography. Even at full price I can recall paying much more for flash cards which weren't nearly this enjoyable. Pick it up if you have a friend or relative who needs to learn some basic geography fast.

Daily iPad App: GeoMaster Plus HD originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A few weeks ago Microsoft came out with a future of productivity video proposing a very touchscreen-based future for us humans. A former human-computer interface inventor for Apple, Brett Victor, has picked apart this video in a beautifully designed "rant" on his site, essentially taking Microsoft to task for proposing a limited, iterative future in 2019 -- calling it hardly a "vision" at all.

While I enjoyed the Microsoft video, and picked it apart myself for other reasons (yeah, you're gonna get to do all this stuff is everyone is a Microsoft customer, basically), Victor makes some important points. Chief among them is summarized by this sentiment:

With an entire body at your command, do you seriously think the Future Of Interaction should be a single finger?

Microsoft seems to disavow any knowledge of our bodies and its incredible array of of sensory abilities. As Victor explains, current touchscreen tablets and smartphones are limited to an interaction he calls Pictures Under Glass. What can you do with these? Basically every interaction you have on your iPad or iPhone is simply sliding your finger around. Siri is the next step in a sense, because you're now using your voice and ears to interact with the device. But still, most interactions are now being relegated to a finger. And Microsoft's video shouldn't be called a vision for that, Victor proposes, and I agree.

Just go back and read about the death of the Courier at Microsoft. Meant to feel more like a book, that is something that will engage more than just the tip of your finger. Think about real world objects that could change, think about embedded computers that never need show you some Metro-tiled interface, but rather give feedback through simple colors, or movement or even smells or sounds. Those are truly different, truly beyond what we see today, and none of it is reflected in this rather boring Microsoft video. In the end if feels more like a selling point for their Metro UI than a real vision. I would have expected better from the company who made the Kinect -- one of the most fun, amazing gaming accessories I've ever used.

Read Brett Victor's rant, however. He does an incredible job of explaining (through images as much as words) how we should be rethinking human-computer interaction, and how Microsoft's video shouldn't be a "vision" for anyone but the most staid, conservative of thinkers. Compare the intuitive leaps captured in this video with what Alan Kay managed to whip up upon seeing a tiny prototype of a flat screen display in 1968. I won't spoil it, but it could blow your mind (let's just say he was decades ahead of his time). With our vast imaginations, we can do better as a species to envision a more amazing future, I think.

Former Apple interface expert rants on Microsoft's "Vision of the Future" video originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It seems iOS 5 is full of hidden "gems" (aka features Apple didn't deem worthy of making publicly available yet), like the earlier panorama camera stitching feature. This time, hacker Sonny Dickson found an Android-like word suggestion bar tucked away in iOS 5. Personally I'm not a huge fan of these, but some people feel it speeds up typing and is helpful. I think it takes up too much real estate and looks clunky.

There are instructions on how to enable this, and just like enabling the panorama mode you'll be using iBackupBot to ensure you don't louse anything up permanently, then editing a plist file in your Library. In our brief testing we found the feature crashed Notes and Mail, and wouldn't show up in Safari, indicating it probably only works in Text Views, not Text Fields (like the Safari URL field).

Neat, but is it really necessary? Let us know in the comments if you'll be enabling this feature on your iPhone or iPad.

Auto-complete keyboard found in iOS 5 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

photo by flickr user renaissancechambara

While developers have been playing with 5.0.1 for a little while, it seems Apple has updated a few regular users' phones as well, 9to5mac reports. These appear to be via the AppleSeed program, and Apple is testing with those who have reported battery issues after 5.0 updates.

Additionally, Apple has sent a memo to Apple Store retail employees about the battery issue. It essentially says to tell users to wait for the software update, and it'll get fixed. Read the full memo at 9to5mac.

iOS 5.0.1 appears for some non-developers, Apple issues retail memo about battery issues originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 08 Nov 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As reported yesterday by Computerworld, there are two malware threats for OS X to concern yourself with (temporarily). The first, Tsunami, isn't much of a threat yet. The other, DevilRobber, may be slowing your Mac down as we speak. Here's more info on each of them.

Tsunami

Basically a ported version of some rather old Linux malware, Tsunami isn't being seen widely just yet. Still, the trojan appears to be evolving, and has even been updated for Macs in the variant Tsunami.A, as discussed on this ESET Security blog post.

What does Tsunami do? The original was a backdoor program, which uses IRC to control your machine and coordinate Distributed Denial of Service attacks. Tsunami.A adds the ability to copy itself, and includes an updated IRC command and control server (which were not active at the time ESET wrote their post).

Thus far, Tsunami is merely on the radar and appears to be in active development, but not widely disseminated yet.

DevilRobber

While Tsunami may be on the horizon, DevilRobber is out there right now, and could be slowing your Mac down. DevilRobber, as Intego reports, isn't just one thing, it's a Trojan horse, a backdoor (allowing control), it can steal data (and surreptitiously mine Bitcoin virtual currency) and it can send personal data to servers (thus making it spyware as well). Sounds nasty, eh?

Apparently the malware installs DiabloMiner, which is used in creating Bitcoins. Using this legit software, DevilRobber, aka OSX/Miner-D, can suck up processor cycles and generate the hashes used in Bitcoin's currency. Essentially the malware is using your computer to generate Bitcoins likely without you knowing what is going on.

Worse, Sophos senior tech consultant Graham Cluley told Computerworld that DevilRobber can take pictures of your screen, thus stealing sensitive info, and "it runs a script that copies information to a file called dump.txt regarding truecrypt data, Vidalia (TOR plugin for Firefox), your Safari browsing history and .bash_history" -- all of which are bad things.

So how big a threat is DevilRobber? Chances are, if you don't download torrents of commercial Mac software, you're fine. Intego's Mac Security Blog has some more info on DevilRobber, but for now it doesn't appear to be widespread. Also, as with Flashback.C, some users are reporting that if you have LittleSnitch installed and enabled the malware will bail.

As usual, we suggest you don't illegally download commercial software via Bittorrent and only download from trusted sources (a developer's site is a good bet, and don't forget about the Mac App Store). If you suspect your machine may be infected, schedule a trip to a local Genius Bar or use antivirus software to scan your machine.

Two new Mac malware concerns: Tsunami and DevilRobber originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 01 Nov 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As those of you using the free TUAW iPhone app in iOS 5 have already seen, there are a few issues with it; missing buttons, some broken functionality, et cetera. While we were expecting that the AOL team handling mobile development for us & all our sister sites would have an update ready for the iOS 5 release, that didn't happen. I was told that as of October 28, an update would be submitted to Apple. AOL has a QA process for mobile apps, and several bugs popped up once iOS 5 hit.

I did receive a new build to test on Thursday, and I'm happy to report it works well with iOS 5. That said, I do not yet know if the latest version of our app has been submitted for App Store review. Therefore, on Monday, October 31, I will ask our mobile team to provide me with an update and ETA for a properly-functioning iPhone app (noting that Apple's review process is obviously outside our control).

If the word is still "we hope to submit it this week," I will most likely pull the current app from the store so that no more new users will be wondering why an Apple blog's iOS app doesn't work. I'm hoping not to have to do this, as it won't do anything for the existing users who are frustrated and unhappy; I can only tell you that I'm just as frustrated and unhappy as you are, possibly more so.

Also, if you're wondering about an iPad app, you should check out Engadget's Distro app. Would you like this same treatment for TUAW? I have watched Distro in development, and while I think it's a cool way to skin the site into a magazine-like format, I still feel that it lacks some of the filtering and sorting tools our users would expect. That said, I also realize it is almost 2012 and we still don't have an iPad app, although our site works perfectly well in Mobile Safari.

Just as with our iPhone app, we must rely upon the mobile development team within AOL, and that team doesn't exactly have TUAW at the top of its priority list (we're sort of the pinky toe of the AOL content universe). If and when we're able to put TUAW into something like Distro, I'll be the first to let you know.

Thanks to everyone who sent in bug reports. I hope to have better news for you in November. In the meanwhile, I would encourage you to check out our site in Mobile Safari. Unlike when we used to call iOS "iPhone OS," the latest version of Safari in iOS doesn't crash miserably when loading TUAW. Those were good times, weren't they?

By the way, if you're wondering why our app has a 17+ rating, that's because Apple requires it on any app which allows you to "go" to the full web within the app (the theory being you'll go from TUAW to some inappropriate site -- Apple can be weird this way). So if we remove that option, we can lower the age limit. Unfortunately, that option is very handy sometimes. Let me know in the comments if you'd rather we ditch our web view in exchange for lowering the age limit.

My apologies for the bugs, the lack of communication and lack of an iPad app. We hope to fix things soon.

iOS 5 and the TUAW iPhone app originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 29 Oct 2011 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I ditched Photoshop for Pixelmator about a year ago, but there were a few things missing in Pixelmator which caused me to fire up Photoshop once in a while. I also recently bought Aperture in an effort to better organize and retouch photos I started taking on my new Canon Rebel. Pixelmator 2 fixes many omissions which had me reaching for Photoshop, and in some ways is better than Aperture. Read on to learn about a few features I checked out in the short time I tried out the update.

Lion Support

Full screen is great, but when dealing with images I think full support for Lion's autosave and versioning will really hit photogs and designers in the sweet spot. I also dig how Pixelmator has eschewed floating palette-mania for inline toolbars that appear when various tools are selected.

Text tool

Oh, finally we have some control over text! Here's a great example of the toolbar appearing in a document (image) window when needed, and it's really helpful. No clutter, no moving things around, just the tools you need to tweak the tool you're using.

Anyway, the Text tool finally has the fine control over text alignment, adjustment and placement that was sorely lacking before.

Vector Shapes

Mercy me, there's a vector set of tools in Pixelmator at last. Create shapes, use a proper pen tool and editing tools, etc. I'm not going to say Pixelmator matches Photoshop here, because there are still some tricks you can't do with paths in Photoshop that are still missing from Pixelmator, but the addition of vector shapes keeps me from launching something else just to add a simple shape that I can easily scale.

Smudge, Sponge, Red Eye and Healing

Smudge does exactly what you'd expect, and works great. Sponge allows you to saturate and desaturate areas of your image, and it works well also. But photographers will be stoked to use the excellent red eye feature, and even more excited by the smart healing brush.

I actually think red eye and healing work better in Pixelmator 2 than in Aperture. One thing I can definitely say: the responsiveness is better in Pixelmator. If you have ever been aggravated by Aperture's crummy pinch-to-zoom and scrolling when dealing with the red eye and healing fixes, you'll be happy to know that Pixelmator is "like butter" by comparison. Apple needs to optimize Aperture (or fix the bugs!) fast.

Mac App Store

Pixelmator 2 is on the Mac App Store for a lowered price right now ($29.99), and I gladly bought it even though I had the non-MAS version. Why? Because totaling up every penny I've spent on Pixelmator in the few years I've been using it is still about 10% of what Photoshop will cost you. There's hardly a better value out there, especially if you work with pixels on a daily basis.

Pixelmator 2.0 released with new tools, content-awareness, Lion support originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Maybe it's just me, but I love it when my machines talk to me. If my Mac could read the news when I woke up, tell me the temperature, and so on, wouldn't it be like a real personal assistant? Well, Tweet Speaker (US$2.99, App Cubby Software) is like your own little robotic reader for your Twitter feed. How does it work? Surprisingly well, with a few quirks inherent to text-to-voice translations.

Tweet Speaker is beautifully designed, with wood grain and a logical layout. The interface is similar to a radio, but instead of a dial you're looking at a timeline, and you can start "playing" your timeline with a play button to hear the iPhone's built-in voice read your Twitter streams. Tweet Speaker allows you to pick specific feeds as well, like mentions, or any lists you have set up. You can add multiple accounts and you can change the speed at which the streams are read (the speed of the voice).

While more voices are "coming soon," the built-in male voice is perfectly usable. Tweet Speaker is smart enough to read the name associated with a Twitter handle, so instead of reading "superpixels" in my case, it would read "Victor Agreda Jr" and so forth. Plus, the app reads RT as "retweet" and manages to interpret a few other common abbreviations and other Twitter quirks (like hashtags). It will also take shortened links and read the headline associated with them, which is most helpful.

There can be some unintentionally hilarious moments with Tweet Speaker, and I'm not just talking about how it reads cursing with aplomb -- job is pronounced like the biblical person Job, for example. And the app did crash on me once or twice. Still, hearing "Engadget says..." followed by the latest headlines and links is a lot of fun. It's also pretty useful if you drive a lot or just can't look at your screen. With support for Tweet Markers and Airplay, Tweet Speaker actually goes beyond mere novelty and can be a fun, efficient way to listen to your Twitter feeds without having to stare at a screen.

Gallery: Tweet Speaker

Tweetspeaker is a fun diversion from your everyday Twitter app originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 07 Oct 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Image via White House Flickr account

In an interview with ABC, US President Obama said that Steve Jobs personally gave him an iPad 2 a couple of weeks before it was unveiled. This timing would line up with the dinner Obama had with Silicon Valley luminaries like then-Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, along with Jobs (who was seated to the left of the president).

In the picture above, the White House has confirmed the president is carrying an iPad 2. Not a bad perk of the job, if you ask me.

[via AppleInsider]

Steve Jobs gave President Obama a pre-release iPad 2 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Although none of these iPhone 5 designs are really in crayon, they are certainly creative. Thanks to everyone who sent these in, we'll find out tomorrow (maybe!) what the iPhone 5 looks like.

Gallery: You design the iPhone 5

Your iPhone 5 designs originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 03 Oct 2011 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Remember the video of guitar strings oscillating, caught by an iPhone sitting inside a guitar? Turns out you can capture this outside a guitar if you just apply a ton of lights. It makes sense, as you're monkeying with the rolling shutter, which can then capture the oscillations of the guitar strings as they are plucked.

It's great fun to watch, and tipster Mike Salovich tells us he wound up using 2600 watts of industrial light to capture this effect. He also points out how important camera orientation is, as it will maximize the rolling shutter effect. Check out the video to see what he's talking about.

Using the iPhone and iPad cameras to capture external guitar oscillations originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We've been sitting on a tip for a while until things came into greater focus, but now that the speculation meter has exploded (see this CNet story), it's a good time to tell you all what we've heard. It seems that the "product transition" Apple mentioned on the last earnings call could very well be within the iPod line. Specifically, if you want to buy an iPod shuffle or iPod classic from Apple, you should do it sooner rather than later. We've heard those two iPods are getting the axe this year.

It makes a lot of sense, but only partly due to the numbers CNet mentions. The classic is a holdover from 10 years of iPod existence, bearing many similarities to the original iPod. The shuffle is basically the same form factor as the nano, minus a screen. The classic uses a platter-based hard drive, while Apple is largely transitioning to flash-based memory solutions. The shuffle's lack of a screen has been an issue since it first appeared as a memory stick with music playback functions. If Apple killed these off, all of its iPods would have touchscreens, and something tells me it wants it that way.

Obviously we can't divulge our source, but it is NOT an analyst. Most of us listen to analyst predictions with the proverbial grain of salt (or bag of salt). We feel pretty confident that Apple will soon discontinue the shuffle and classic, and we see few changes coming for the iPod touch -- unless you're super excited about it being available in white. The nano will then become Apple's lowest-end iPod (we've heard nothing about a price drop, however) and the iPod touch will remain a premium iPod with its current form factor intact.

Apple may discontinue the iPod shuffle and classic originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 27 Sep 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We've been impressed with the MacTech Conference (coming up again soon) and this week the organizers announced a series of one-day seminars laser focused on a single topic and dedicated to going "in depth" on that topic. The seminars will be different each time, and they will be in different cities. You can see what's being planned for MacTech In-Depth here. Keep in mind theses are designed for IT pros, not the average home user.

The first In-Depth covers mobile device management (MDM) and topics include what you'd expect from an IT-department's needs:

o. Security and Mobility
o. Solutions Requirements
o. Asset risks and security threats
o. Mobility Business Drivers
o. Monitoring and Control
o. Protecting the Enterprise, business, and the organization
o. Enabling Employees
o. Protecting data and devices
o. Mobility creating new business intersections
o. How to develop a mobility strategy for your organization
o. Securely supporting social media, commerce and sales
o. Defining Technology Initiatives

If you register for these early, you'll get a substantial discount. Normally US$495, if you register by October 31 you pay $295 instead for the Mobile Device Management seminar.

MacTech In-Depth events focus on a single topic originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 21 Sep 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We usually feature Mac apps on the Mac App Store in this series, but Appalicious is an exception. While not available on the MAS, it helps you browse the store in various ways that make the experience much more efficient and even fun. If you're a bargain hunter you'll find digging through sales and freebies has never been easier.

Appalicious is a front end to a database for searching, sorting and filtering apps. The toolbar at the top features preset searches and sorting methods. These alone are worth the price of admission (which we'll talk about in a moment), because you'll easily be able to find the latest and greatest apps, on sale or otherwise. You'll also find a handy Recent menu and easy access to your store favorites. One wonders why Apple doesn't do these things in the official store already. Also, as data is pulled fresh from the App Store, searching in Appalicious is often better than browsing around the actual store.

All of these searches and sorts can be customized, and you can even build advanced filters to further hone in on exactly the apps you want to see. For example, within seconds I was able to find a business card app that was on sale and in English. A handy right-click menu allows me to add the app to my wish list, which also exists as a drop-down menu. Appalicious has plenty of different ways to nail down exactly the app you want, all of which make it easy to use and quite powerful. Another drop down menu, for example, allows you to see everything about the currently selected app, including take you to their web site or support page. That's quite handy.

While you can download Appalicious for free, the service itself (downloading the fresh database) costs money after one week. After that free week, you'll have to pay $12.95 per year. The site notes a $5 discount by using the code "INTRO," but check here to see if it is still available. Also check out the training videos to see if Appalicious is right for you. TidBITS has a more thorough description of the database advantages. If you rarely buy Mac apps, perhaps Appalicious isn't worth it. But if you love finding bargains (easily done, given the ability to search by price and even monitor app prices over time), it pays for itself rather quickly.

Daily Mac App: Appalicious originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Do you like space battles? Do you like explosions? Do you like strategy games? Gratuitous Space Battles is worth a look, then. While it isn't perfect, I've spent hours playing this game because it is so much fun to zoom in to a battle and see tiny fighter ships flying around gigantic space cruisers. But first let me describe how Gratuitous Space Battles works.

You play the role of a fleet commander, and must create a fleet from somewhat limited resources. In fact, you actually "build" your ships based on a set of weapons and subsystems, and you place theses on a variety of ship chassis that range from tiny fighters to huge cruisers. You position your fleet, give a few orders (generally non-specific orders but you can set parameters to tweak the automatons piloting your ships) and set the battle in motion. During battle, which can be sped up or paused, you are a passive observer -- but that's the point. The idea is that you'll watch your wind-up toys duke it out and scoot around the screen, as you zoom and pan to watch the mayhem. As you win battles you're allowed to "buy" more powerful or efficient systems for your ships, and even unlock other races, which provide a variety of ship configurations to build upon.

Gratuitous Space Battles is an interesting mix of strategy and resource management. As you move around and zoom in/out you're treated to some great visuals and sounds. For example, zooming in you'll see each fighter (tiny compared to cruisers) flying around, shooting and you'll hear the sounds of each weapon and explosions aplenty. It's great fun to watch this unfold. Still, your fleet is on autopilot. You cannot change orders during battle. This is an unfortunate flaw, but it forces you to think more carefully about the orders you give before battle. I'd like to see a more thorough set of orders as well, however, as you cannot target specific enemy ships, as a strike team would do. In fact, early on you may become frustrated as your ships do some dumb things. But I found that if you experiment with the orders and create teams within your fleet, you stand a much better chance of simulating an AI. If you stick to merely placing your ships with default commands you will not be pleased with your dimwitted captains fleeing battle once their damage gets too low!

Despite these shortcomings Gratuitous Space Battles is fun, and even more fun to watch. I recommend pausing before jumping from fleet placement to battle, as that's when the app tends to crash. But once you see what's going on during battle you'll see why this game is processor intensive. Each weapon has a damage counter, each ship has a plan, and all of these details can be seen when you zoom in. Or zoom way out to see the bigger picture. You cannot zoom out to see the entire battle at once, however.

Gratuitous Space Battles is $16.99, but there's a free version as well. I recommend you check it out and see if you like the game play, but give the learning curve a chance. I play the game on a big HDTV and it's glorious.

Daily Mac App: Gratuitous Space Battles originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.