No WWDC tickets? No matter. AltWWDC is a free, five-day event that will be held in San Francisco June 10-14, 2013. Today, the group has announced AltLabs, which will serve as dedicated lab space for attendees. Each lab will be staffed by helpful folks who are there to answer your questions or just act as a sounding board.

In addition, several special labs have been announced, including one on connectivity and web services, hosted by Matt Thompson of Heroku and AFNetworking; Isaiah Carew of Kiwi and Kirby Turner. You'll find the full run-down here.

Keep an eye out for familiar faces while you're there, including our own Victor Agreda, Kelly Guimont and Brett Terpstra.

AltWWDC announces AltLabs dedicated lab space originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 24 May 2013 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The US Air Force has opened up about how the iPad will help it realize over US$50 million in savings over the next 10 years, as 18,000 iPads replace flight manuals.

In an interview with The Street, US Air Force Major Brian Moritz described the huge drop in costs. "We're saving about 90 pounds of paper per aircraft and limiting the need for each crew member to carry a 30- to 40-pound paper pile [of flight manuals]. It adds up to quite a lot of weight in paper."

The Street notes that specific weight savings varies across aircraft. For instance, the iPads eliminate 250 pounds from a four-person C-17, and up to 490 pounds in a C-5 with a crew of 10.

In a related story from the civilian world, American Airlines recently described how its adoption of iPads has reduced the number of pilots reporting back injuries. American's VP of Airline Operations, Patrick O'Keeffe recently noted at the Tablet Strategy Conference in New York City, "We've reduced the single biggest source of pilot injuries, carrying those packs. And we are now able to save $1 million in fuel costs and stop printing all the page revisions."

US Air Force is saving huge money with iPads originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 May 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Check Software Update, because Apple has released iTunes 11.0.3. This update offers a few new features, including a new MiniPlayer that highlights album artwork and has a built-in progress bar. That should make many people happy.

Also, iTunes 11.0.3 has improved the songs view and has support for multi-disc albums, in that they now appear as a single album, which is great.

You can download it now and check out the changes right away. Have fun.

iTunes 11.0.3 now available originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 May 2013 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Brandon Ashmore from Mentor, Ohio hit the App Store lottery yesterday by downloading the 50 billionth app to be served by Apple's App Store. Namely, it was Say The Same Thing by Space Inch that allowed Brandon to collect his prize, and what a prize it is: an App Store gift card with US$10,000 on it. Have fun spending that, Brandon!

Apple announces 50 billionth app download, contest winner originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 May 2013 08:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google announced a new Hangouts app at its I/O conference, which will be available for iOS today. It's not out as I'm typing this, but the brief keynote demo showed a family of participants taking part in a long-running conversation of photos of text.

From what we saw, it looks like Messages with a whole lot more oomph. We'll have a look at it as soon as it has been released.

Google announces new Hangout app to hit iOS today originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 15 May 2013 13:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

While Microsoft has invited Apple to produce a Windows 8 iTunes app, Cupertino's response has essentially been "don't hold your breath."

Speaking to CNNMoney, Microsoft's chief financial officer Tami Reller said, "The welcome mat has been laid out [for Apple]. It's not for a lack of trying." Note that Windows 8 customers can use iTunes, but only on the desktop. That's a less-than-optimal experience, and poor Surface RT users are without iTunes altogether, as the device wont' run non-Microsoft desktop software.

As CNNMoney points out, Apple's position is understandable. With the best-selling tablet in the market, why would it rush to make Microsoft's offering more competitive?

Still, Reller believes that the Windows app store will feature all of the most popular apps from Apple's App Store by the holiday season. "That's not just our goal, but it'll be realistic to achieve that. We're almost there."

Microsoft: Apple reluctant to build a "Metro" iTunes for Windows 8 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 10 May 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TextExpander by Smile is an essential tool for folks who type as often as we do. It lets you create short key combinations that trigger -- and are replaced by -- larger strings of text. For example, I have TextExpander covert "actk" to "Apple CEO Tim Cook." It saves time.

Macworld editor Dan Miller has made a video demonstrating his top five TextExpander snippets. I always appreciate the chance to peer over the virtual shoulder of someone who knows how to use a tool really well. Dan's video is a great example of that. Go and learn something new!

Macworld shares five nice TextExpander snippets originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 03 May 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Drafts is a fast, lightweight note-taking app for iPhone (US$2.99) and iPad ($3.99) with so much more to offer than simple lists. Drafts is handy. You can use it to quickly jot down a list or something you'd like to recall later, which is great. But the app's real power is in the myriad of ways you can act on that text.

For example, you can send a list to a project manager like OmniFocus or a storage service like Evernote. Share a note with Facebook, Twitter or ADN. Create a calendar event, a reminder or even write in Markdown. Beyond that you can really geek out with automation and complex iOS workflows.

Many hardcore productivity and automation nerds have demonstrated exactly how powerful Drafts is. But that shouldn't scare off mortals like you and me. Here's what's new in Drafts version 3, as well as how I use it.

Adding and Organizing Notes

To create a note, just start typing. There's nothing to tap first, not category or tag to fiddle with when you simply want to write something down. That's been the case since Drafts was first launched. Version three introduces inbox, archives and pinned panes.

These three options let your organize notes you'd like to keep around, as opposed to something you captured for the moment. To move a note, tap its title and then swipe right-to-left. A delete button appears, as well as two icons representing whatever category that list is not in. For example, if your note is in the inbox, the archive and pin icons will appear. Tap the icon of your choice to move that note to that location. Easy!

Organizing Actions

The app's list of actions has seen a similar change. Now, you can sort actions into one of four panes. It's super handy because you can group like actions, like productivity or writing, and avoid a single list of everything. To get started, tape the action button and then tap the gear icon on the right.

The settings screen appears. Tap Manage Actions. Next a list of all your chose actions appears. Time to get sorting. Tap any action in the list -- "Email" for example -- and its sort options slide in from underneath. Finally just tap the pane you want to assign that action to and off it goes. It's very easy.

Back Up Improvements

Once you've spent time organizing your notes and actions, it sure would be a bummer to lose all that customization. Don't worry, Drafts 3 lets you create a date-stamped backup of all your note and action settings to Dropbox. You can easily restore should something go wrong. It worked perfectly for me.

Integration with Apple's Reminders has also been improved. If you create a list in Reminders called "Drafts," Drafts will import its contents and mark them as done in reminders. It goes the other way, too. You can also use an action to create new reminders or even start new lists in Reminders if a list does not yet exist. Super handy.

All in all, this is a great update to a super useful app. And you needn't be an automation fiend to benefit from it. Go and grab Drafts now.

Drafts 3.0 adds archiving, improves organization, more originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 02 May 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

StatsBar for the Mac (on sale for US$3.99 for the month of April) lets you get a quick overview of your Mac's vital statistics via a handy, unobtrusive window. It's quicker than opening Activity Monitor for at-a-glance look at what's up. I've been using it for a few days and am glad it's on my Mac. Here's my look at StatsBar.

Looks

StatsBar lives in your Mac's menu bar. The tiny little icon (I think it's supposed to be two gears but it looks like to daisies to me) is clicked to bring up the main screen, which is mostly grey and easy to read.

The main screen itself is divided into five sections: CPU, Memory, Disk Usage, Network and Power. I've got no complaints in the looks department.

Use

There are a couple of neat things here. First, there are three display options. You can opt to have the main screen disappear when you click outside of it, or float above all windows. To do this, click the anchor icon in the upper right. Or, anchor it to the menu bar icon and it'll always appear just beneath it.

CPU information is displayed in real time, and divided into user and system processes as well as idle percentage. Uptime is also displayed. You can also monitor wired, active and inactive memory and whimper as your available disk space slowly shrinks. Stop buying all those movies!

Finally, network information is available as well as handy details on your battery (I did not test this on a desktop), including its health, number of cycles, age, temp and power usage.

Conclusion

StatsBar is pretty handy and could be a first step when trying to nail down a problem before you open up Activity Monitor or Terminal. Those who like to keep an eye on what's happening under the hood should check it out.

StatsBar for Mac provides quick system statistics originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Circles for iPhone ($US1.99) is the latest iPhone app from Snowman. It's a fun memory game of the pick-up-and-play ilk, and it's kept me busy for the last week or so.

My fellow Gen-X'ers will think of Simon, the electronic memory game from Milton Bradley that became an '80s pop culture icon. Of course, Circles is more portable, playable and fun. And challenging.

Looks

Circles, ambient music and creeping panic; these make up the overall aesthetic of Circles. When first launched, Circles presents its icon plus three highly legible menus on a black background. The settings menu and store are also very easy to read. The white letters on a field of black stand out wonderfully, which I like. Because I'm old.

While you're playing, Circles presents anywhere from two to six colored circles. There's a play button in the center at the start of each game, and a button marked Continue appears if you're lucky enough to complete a level. Likewise, brief words of encouragement emphasize your every triumph.

Gallery: Circles for iPhone

The game's looks are straightforward and let you focus on the game play. Which is good, because focus is exactly what you need. Elaborate backgrounds or annoying music would have made this game even harder, so it's good that Snowman's developers left them out.

Gameplay

Oh boy, the good stuff. Here's how Circles works. When a game begins, Circles briefly highlights a pair of circles on the screen and plays a unique tone of each one. Your job is to tap the same pattern back. Two circles become three, then four, then five and so on. Once the app is finished playing a pattern, it notes how many taps were in that pattern, and counts them down as you repeat what you saw.

As you play, you progress through the game's eight sections. Each section has several levels. Complete each level successfully to move to the next section. Section one is relatively easy, with only two circle targets to keep track of. Section two introduces an additional circle target, as do sections three, four and five, which has you keeping track of six targets at once. It's fun and becomes a true test of your short-term memory rather quickly.

Section six is where Circles gets nutty. It's the "lightning round," so the patterns are presented more quickly than in previous sections (note that your response is not timed, so take your time). Section seven is even more devious, as the pattern is presented quickly and the whole field of colored circles makes a one-quarter clockwise turn after each pattern is played.

Section eight is the most devilish. All of the circles are the same grey, there are no tones, the patterns are played quickly and the circles rotate. Yikes.

Other features

Fortunately, Circles does not send you into battle without weaponry! There's a practice mode that lets you select the number of circle targets you'd like to play with. There's also a store selling weapons and chances. As you play, you earn virtual coins that can be spent in the in-game store.

Weapons are used during multi-player games via Game Center. Once you're in a game, take your turn and wait for Game Center to notify your opponent that his/her turn is ready. You could secretly add lightning to their turn, speeding up the pattern. Or "Twirl," which rotates the targets or even "Blackout," which removes color and tones. Sneaky!

Chances are also available, though you must pay real money for these via in-app purchase. Basically, a chance lets you try again if you make a mistake. In a multi-player game, your opponent does not know when you use a chance.

Giving back

While Circles is great fun, there's another benefit to the app besides the immediate enjoyment. The developers at Snowman will donate a percentage of each sale to Alzheimer's research. Not for a week or a month, but for as long as the app exists. That's pretty great.

Conclusion

I like this game. It's beyond simple to learn and challenging enough to be fun. You can move to any section at any time, so you needn't complete section one, for example, to try section eight. Plus, who doesn't want to give their brain a little exercise and support a important scientific research at the same time? Circles is available in the App Store now.

Circles for iPhone delivers old-school memory challenge originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Drafts, the iOS note-taker from Agile Tortoise, has been updated to version 3.0, and it's a big one. Drafts 3.0 is available now for the iPad (US$3.99) and iPhone ($2.99), and it's a free update for existing users.

Much like Apple's own Notes, Drafts lets you quickly jot things down (we recently featured Drafts as a Daily iPhone App) But it's so much more than that. Use Drafts to create "actions" for moving your text into other apps, or sharing with family, friends or co-workers. You can even geek out and create complex workflows that interact with other apps. Drafts can be as simple or involved as you like. In both scenarios, it's fast and useful.

There's a lot to like and play with in this release; so much so, in fact, that I'm going to pore over it a bit more for a full review soon. In the meantime, here's an overview of what to expect from Drafts 3.0.

This update adds draft management and action management. The new action manager gives you four customizable panes of actions -- ways of interacting with other iOS apps or web services.

You needn't scroll a long list to find the actions you want. You could, for example, have sharing actions on one pane (Twitter, ADN, Facebook or email), productivity actions on another (OmniFocus, Reminders and Fantastical) and writing-based actions on a third, like Markdown and send to Byword.

Draft management works in a similar way. The scrolling list is replaced with an inbox, an archive and a list of pinned drafts. Swipe any draft to pin it, archive it or move it back to the inbox. It's a seemingly simple change but it goes a long way to keeping things organized.

There's fun new geeky stuff, too. New Evernote actions let you create/append/prepend to notes in Evernote. It can process notes in Markdown now, too. Integration with Apple's Reminders has also been improved. You can now opt to import reminders right into Drafts, which is handy. You can also use an action to create new reminders or even start new lists in Reminders if a list does not yet exist. Super handy.

Additionally, if you use TextExpander, your saved snippets can now be expanded when you run a custom Drafts action. The iPhone version of the app features an extended keyboard.

There's a lot more in there -- this is a huge release. Drafts is a handy, useful tool for the iPhone and iPad. Version 3.0 makes it so much better. Keep an eye out for my in-depth review soon.

Drafts 3.0 adds draft and action management, much more originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

YoWindow for iPhone ($0.99) is a super cute weather app that combines information with good looks into a handy little utility. I've been using it for about a week and, while it won't satisfy hardcore weather junkies, those who simply want to know, "What's it gonna be like?" should enjoy YoWindow.

Looks

This is going to be divisive. YoWindow's main screen features an animation, complete with sound effects, that coincides with your local weather. For example, a sunny day generates a sunny scene. Rain, a downpour. The time of day is also represented, and you can watch as the sun and moon rise and set.

There are five animation themes to choose from: village, seaside, airport, oriental and sky (village is the default). Each animation has its own set of sound effects, and is drawn in a vector style.

Some will love it. Some will despise it. I got into the fun of the app, so I found the animations and sounds enjoyable.

Gallery: YoWindow for iPhone

The top half of the screen shows the current weather conditions as well as a seven-day forecast. Tap the current temperature reading for additional information (I'm calling this the "weather detail area" for the sake of this review), like wind speed and direction, humidity and pressure.

Use

The first time you launch YoWindow, it will ask permission to note your location. I was impressed that it found my rinky-dink town of the first try. Most of these apps select a neighboring town, forcing me to go in and fix it.

After a brief bit of research (it pulls data from the National Weather Service), up pops the display. The forecast is at the very top of the screen. Tap any one to jump right to it. Next is the timeline, which is very cool.

Tap and hold anywhere on the screen, and then slide your finger left or right. As you do, you scrub the timeline and the appropriate conditions -- past, present or future -- are reflected in the animation and weather detail area. You can even scrub through the conditions history of upcoming days. It's a fun, clever way to present a weather forecast.

Finally, a single tap on the screen hides the overlay information and lets you enjoy the animation.

Conclusion

As I said, some will be put off by the animated scenes and lack of real-time satellite maps. Others who like a bit of fun and a simple way to know if they need sunblock or an umbrella will enjoy this app. I did.

Daily iPhone App: YoWindow for iPhone is a cute, useful weather app originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 17 Apr 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Troll Touch has been manufacturing after-market touch screens for Apple computers for years. Now, the company has added the latest slim iMac to its list of supported devices.

You can get a resistive overlay that's self-installed or have the folks at Troll Touch install a built-in touchscreen on either the 21.5- and 27-inch iMac. Troll Touch is an authorized Apple service provider, and can perform in-warranty repairs on iMacs with the factory-installed touchscreen.

Years ago when I worked at a school, we had several machines with Troll Touch screens, both the overlays and the in-machine units. The latter are better suited in environments where the kids might remove the screens, of course.

Pricing on the user-installed model was unavailable as of this writing, but the factory-installed option will run you US$995 for the 21.5-inch model and $1,295 for the 27-inch iMac.

Troll Touch readies touch screens for slim iMacs originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 13 Apr 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Mail Pilot for iPhone (US$14.99, universal) is the Kickstarter-funded app that hopes to reinvent our relationship with the incessant demands of email.

Much like competitor Mailbox (our review here), Mail Pilot lets you sort messages by the date you choose to deal with them. There's also extensive gesture support, so feel free to swipe your way to Inbox Zero. Unlike Mailbox, Mail Pilot does not route your mail through its own servers, which might be a comfort to some. It also supports more than one email provider.

However, Mail Pilot lacks push support as long as the app isn't open, which will bum others out.

We'll publish a good look at it soon.

Mail Pilot wants to reinvent email on iOS originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Miami US District Judge Robert Scola is not very happy with Apple or Samsung. He recently accused both sides of having "no interest in efficiently and expeditiously resolving this dispute" and of using the legal proceedings "as a business strategy."

Bloomberg notes that the litigants have been battling in Florida since 2010 and currently account for more than 180 claims.

Judge Scola denied a request from both Apple and Samsung to reduce the scope of the case, saying, "without a hint of irony, the parties now ask the court to mop up a mess that they made." Instead of a mop job, the judge gave both parties four months to get their ducks in a row, as it were.

Judge: Apple, Samsung using courts as business strategy originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 11 Apr 2013 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cumberland Farms is a chain of convenience stores in northeastern USA. They're quite prevalent in New England, and informally known as "Cumby's." There's a location less than two miles away from my house, so I was glad to test its new SmartPay service and free iPhone app, which lets you pay for gas and groceries will saving a bit along the way.

How it works

To get rolling, first register for free online and link your checking account. Two micro transactions are made and once you've confirmed those amounts, you're good. It only took two days for me.

From there, grab the free iPhone app and enter your login credentials. Note that you must enter your PIN each time you use the SmartPay app, which is good. You don't want a n'er-do-well (or the teenage driver in your family) grabbing your phone and going nuts on gas and groceries.

Using SmartPay

I fully expected to have issues with this. Not because I lacked faith in the system, but because I live in a technological backwater. But no, when I arrived at the Cumby's, all the gas pumps had shiny new SmartPay stickers prominently displayed.

To start pumping gas, approach the tank and produce your phone. Launch the app and tap the button labeled "Pay for gas." A login screen appears. Enter your PIN.

Next you're asked for the pump number, which is on the pump itself. Enter it, confirm the store ID (which is found on the SmartPay sticker) and watch in amazement as the pump is authorized. Also, you'll see the price per gallon drop by US$0.10. That's nice.

I know it sounds like that's time-consuming, but it's not. The amount of time I spent on those steps is equal to the time I spend producing my wallet, finding my ATM card, pulling it out and swiping it on the reader.

As you fill your tank, the app notes that the pump is currently dispensing fuel. When you're done, the app notes that fueling is complete and produces a nice animation of your completed sale, as well as the amount of money you saved on that fill-up. That savings calculator is cumulative, so you can monitor your savings over time. When I got home, an email was waiting for me, announcing the sale.

The SmartPay app works inside the store, too. Simply select your items and, instead of paying with cash or a card, present the cashier with a special bar code in the app. S/he zaps it with the cashier zapper and you're all set.

Who needs this?

While driving home after my first "iPhone fill-up," I wondered who this service is really for. As I said, I can produce my debit card just as quickly. But then it hit me: business accounts. Fuel up business cars and trucks from a business account. Let your drivers do the same.

Also, if you're traveling and don't want to bring cash or a card with you, this will work. Or, why not give that teen driver an allowance for this sort of thing on his/her iPhone? There are several scenarios that are a good fit for SmartPay.

It works well and is convenient. If you live near a Cumby's, check it out.

SmartPay speeds up purchases at Cumberland Farms gas stations originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

UK retailer GAME is ready to begin selling iPads. Not just iPads, but a whole army of tablets, each ready to fly into the arms of credit card-wielding consumers.

Like other video game / console chains, GAME has struggled a bit as more and more consumers purchase downloadable games it has realized that selling the hardware that gives access to some of the world's most prolific virtual game shops is a good business move. Here's hoping an infusion of tablet goodness brings shoppers back into its stores, even if those shoppers don't come back to buy games for their tablets.

GAME in the UK to sell iPads originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In honor of Autism Awareness Month, the software developers at Kindergarten.com have made all their educational apps free. It's quite a collection and includes apps focused on speech and language, self-care skills and receptive and expressive identification.

For example, the app ABA Receptive Identification By Class teaches students to hear a word and then identify the appropriate image on the screen. Likewise, ABA Flash Cards - Actions pairs a verb with an image of a child performing its action. This is to convey the term's meaning.

Most of Kindergarten.com's apps adhere to the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) teaching technique. ABA uses techniques like repetition, positive reinforcement and chaining to increase the frequency of desirable behaviors and decrease the frequency of the less desirable.

All of these apps include great-looking, clear photos and appear to be well-designed teaching tools. Special Education teachers and parents/caregivers who have a child with developmental delays at home will definitely want to take advantage of this generous, month-long sale.

Kindergarten.com makes apps free for Autism Awareness Month originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 02 Apr 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I reviewed Call Bliss by Clarke Hill (US$4.99) in January. It's an alternative to Apple's Do Not Disturb feature that extends the service with nice additions such as location awareness, which lets you block or permit incoming calls while you're at a certain location.

I had some issues with version 1.0, and most were design-related. Fortunately, version 1.1 makes huge improvements. For starters, the introductory tutorial is much improved, as the eye-straining logo has been removed. The whole thing is significantly easier to read and more pleasant to look at.

In fact, the whole thing looks a lot better. Every screen is improved and much easier to read and understand. Kudos to the developer.

I was also glad to see that finding a contact has gotten easier. A new search box makes it easy to find just the contact you're looking for.

Call Bliss offers more fine-grain control over which calls reach your phone and when than Apple's own Do Not Disturb. Version 1.1 of the app is a nice step forward. If this is something you're looking for, check it out.

Call Bliss 1.1 improves on the original originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 02 Apr 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Shanghai Animation Film Studio (SAFS) has sued Apple for what it claims are apps containing unlicensed versions of its work in the App Store (Google translation). The group is after 3.3 million yuan (about US$530,000 as of this writing) in compensation. SAFS claims that 110 examples of its work appear unlicensed in the App Store.

A Chinese court has allegedly accepted the case, but no dates have been set.

[Via M.I.C. Gadget]

Chinese animation studio sues Apple originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 29 Mar 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Years ago I enjoyed recording my travels with Gowalla. That disappeared and so I jumped on Stamped, as it had a minor feature that let me collect a list of places I'd like to visit. It, too, went to the great App Store in the sky.

Now I'm using Rego for iPhone by Makalu Interactive. It's a simple app designed to let you note the places you've been as well as spots you hope to visit someday. Unlike Gowalla and Stamped, the social aspect of Rego is totally optional. In fact, it's turned off by default.

Looks

Rego is simple and straightforward. Up top you see a map; below, a list of your favorite places. You can "pull" the map over the list for a larger, distraction-free view. A gear icon in the upper-left produces the minimal settings options, and the "+" in the upper right lets you mark a new spot. You can zoom in and out and jump to your current location easily.

Gallery: Screenshots of Rego for iPhone

As for the list of spots, tap anyone to jump to its location on the map, or tap the arrow next to its name for photos and notes you've created about that spot. Everything is legible and straightforward. I had no "How do I...?" moments at all while using Rego.

Use

Here's what I like about this app: Rego is a list for me. There's no liking, sharing, thumbs up or comments to post out of obligation because someone you knew 25 years ago said something about a pizza place you both visited in the 80's. Instead, Rego is a list of places I love at home and abroad.

I can share if I want to, but... I don't. Instead, I add a spot by traveling to it, tapping the "+" icon in the upper right and tapping Save.

Once that's done, a new screen is created for that spot. From here I can add a note, snap a photo and read an inspirational quote. It's all quite easy.

Collections keep things tidy. You can create as many collections as you like (Restaurants, Sentimental Spots, Beautiful Views, etc.) and add a spot to any one with a tap. And yes, a spot can be in more than one category, like "Sentimental Spots" and "Restaurants."

Rego also lets you add spots you hope to visit, or aren't currently occupying. To do so, pinch the map to zoom out. You'll notice a target icon appears. Move that to the location you're after and then create a new spot as described above. It isn't entirely accurate, but I've been assured that you'll be able to add spots via address in a future update.

Conclusion

Rego is quite nice. It's easy to whip out and record, and just as useful when browsing or searching (pull down on the list of saved spots to reveal the search field). Note that you can opt to open any spot in a maps app, like Apple's Maps or Google Maps for iPhone. Now you're a tap away from travel directions!

I like keeping track of my travels, and Rego helps me to do so nicely.

Rego for iPhone is a fun way to record your travels originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 28 Mar 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bloomberg has posted a video of educators learning to use the iPad with blind students. While iPads are becoming more prevalent in schools, many teachers are not familiar with the device's accessibility features.

To address this issue, Ed Summers has designed a course to familiarize teachers with how iPads can benefit blind and visually impaired students. Summers is the head of accessibility at SAS.

Summers and his team have trained more than 200 teachers and written several manuals meant to enhance their skills. He remarked on how the iPad lets students perform tasks more easily or that were otherwise impossible, like emailing homework to a teacher.

Teachers learn about using the iPad with blind students originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 26 Mar 2013 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Earlier this month we pointed out the SpotLite 2.0 GPS tracking device by Securus, Inc. that helps you locate and find your pet. The durable, waterproof device offers 24-hour, real-time tracking or your favorite canine. SpotLite 2.0 is even backed by the American Kennel Club Companion Animal Recovery (AKC CAR) service, so finding Fido becomes a much easier process than walking around the neighborhood shouting the dog's name.

I spent a few days testing the device with my Boston Terrier Batgirl (that's her at right), who may or may not have been happy about conducting her first tech review. Here's my look at the SpotLite 2.0 GPS pet tracker.

The SpotLite 2.0 device

The "why" of this device is pretty clear: dog owners love their pets and losing one can be a stressful occasion. Anyone who has conducted an "analog" search for a lost dog -- wandering about shouting their name -- knows how ineffective and unpleasant that can be. The SpotLite lets you see exactly where the dog is in real time. That's great.

Gallery: SpotLite 2.0 GPS Pet Tracker

The SpotLite 2.0 device itself is fairly small. It's about 2.75" long, 1.75" wide and 0.75" tall (note these are my own hasty measurements, not official dimensions). Its exterior is mostly plastic and feels very sturdy indeed, and Securus notes that it is waterproof. I didn't test this but I don't see where water would get in, either.

The top of the device features an SOS button (more on that later) plus three status indicator lights. On one side you'll find a micro-USB port for charging the internal battery and a SIM card slot. Both seal tightly and the latter can only be opened with a screwdriver. On the bottom you'll find an IMEI number, which you'll need for registration, as well as the serial number.

The device also ships with a zip-close pouch with a strap on the back. Use this to attach the SpotLite to your dog's collar. It's all very lightweight and shouldn't bother most dogs who are used to wearing a collar with tags dangling from it.

Setup

The initial setup procedure is quite easy, if not a little time-consuming. First you must charge the device for about five hours, which isn't too bad. Next, go online and complete the steps that ship with your unit. None of this is tricky, but you must follow the steps in order to be successful. At last, turn the device on when prompted. It will blink away as it acquires a signal and locates itself.

While that's happening, grab the free companion iPhone app, SpotLite GPS Pet Locator.

Use

Now that you're all set up, let's have some fun! I conducted two tests with the SpotLite 2.0. First, I walked around the block with Batgirl and monitored our path with the iPhone app, to see how accurately it would report her location. Then I sent the kids to take off with her anywhere they wanted in the neighborhood and then wait for me to find them. First, the accuracy test.

Batgirl and I suited up and took off for a walk. I launched the iPhone app which found my device rather quickly. The Dashboard was my first stop. It lists the device itself and it's last known location, complete with time, and nearest physical location. It even retrieves the battery status, which is really nice.

You'll also find the alarm status (I'll get to that), current mode and LED status. Scroll down to find a live map.

Next I tried out the tracking feature. This works very well. Within a couple of minutes, I had a live feed of where Batty and I were. I was impressed with the accuracy, especially since I live in the middle of nowhere. At this point I was convinced that the iPhone app tracks the device effectively. On to test number two.

I instructed the kids to hide somewhere in the neighborhood with Batty and I'd come to find them after a 20-minute head start. They were off, I launched the app and set off.

About two minutes after tapping Tracking, I had a lock on where they were. Since I was in the car, I found them within minutes. If Batgirl had reached the chosen hiding place without any of us -- and without the SpotLite 2.0 -- I would have searched for significantly more time, wasted gas and probably recruited/alerted/annoyed neighbors.

There's a lot more to it than this. During set up, you can designate "safe zones." If your dog leaves a designated safe zone, the SpotLite 2.0 will send you a text message right away. At that moment, you know that Spot's gone.

I didn't get to test the SpotLite's arrangement with the American Kennel Club Companion Animal Recovery (AKC CAR) team, but it's impressive. They offer around-the-clock recovery assistance, further reducing the amount of time you'll spend searching.

Finally, there's an SOS button on the top of the device. If someone finds your dog and you're not around, they simply press that button and you receive a text message that includes the dog's location.

Cons

While the SpotLite 2.0 is compact, it's bulky on a small dog. I moved it off of Batgirl's collar and put it on her harness, which was much better. If your small dog wears a harness or better yet, a vest with pockets, try that.

The iPhone app occasionally took a while to find the device, but that could have been due to the poor coverage in my area. The app does pop up a warning about this, but I waited longer than three minutes on two occasions. Again, that's not the SpotLite's fault, but if you live in an area with poor coverage, keep that in mind.

Finally, at one point the tracking failed and I got stuck with a "Communication Failed" dialog box that I could not dismiss. I had to force-quit the app. Again, this might have been due to poor AT&T coverage in my area.

Conclusion

I like this product a lot. It provides huge peace of mind and an even bigger hand in finding a lost dog. The SpotLite 2.0 sells for US$119.99 plus a monthly service charge of $12.99.

SpotLite GPS lets you find your dog with an iPhone originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 25 Mar 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The first chapter of the eponymous Steve Jobs manga is now available in Japan. The comic, penned by award-winning artist Mari Yamazaki, is reportedly the graphic version of Walter Isaacson's official biography Jobs.

The story begins with Jobs asking Isaacson to write his biography. Shoppers in Japan will find the first chapter in the current issue of Kiss, the manga serial publication. We'd love to get a look if you care to send some photos.

First chapter of Steve Jobs manga now on sale in Japan originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 25 Mar 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The results of the study discussed in this post seem obvious when you think about it, but at least there's some empirical data to back it the findings. A study conducted by Pocket Gems suggests that people whose smartphones (including iPhones) have high-resolution screens are more likely to buy in-app purchases from game apps, according to AllThingsD.

Pocket Gems found that "...the iPhone 5 monetizes nearly four times that of the older-generation iPhone 3GS." Likewise, the study found that those using Android devices with high-resolution screens were "nearly 10 times as likely to make an in-app purchase" vs. their lower-resolution counterparts. Interestingly, the iPad did not follow the trend, and did not show a correlation between screen resolution and in-app buying habits.

That's interesting, but I'm not convinced that screen resolution is the determining variable. For example, those who buy the latest and greatest iPhone might have more discretionary income than those still using the 4-year-old 3GS. I don't know if these factors were taken into account, and I also don't know what the study's sample looked like (number, demographic, etc.).

Still, it's an interesting finding. AllThingsD has some infographics that represent additional information.

Study: Higher resolution smartphone screens mean more in-app purchases originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 21 Mar 2013 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to a study recently published by Strategy Analytics, Apple's iCloud and iTunes Match are tops among US consumer cloud services.

The study polled 2,300 Americans and found, among other things, that 27 percent of respondents have used iCloud and/or iTunes Match. Further, 17 percent have used Dropbox and 15 percent of participants have used Amazon Cloud Drive.

Unsurprisingly, the data skewed young, as most of those who use cloud services were between 20 and 24 years old. Apple's was the only service with more female than male users.

You can read additional detail in the press release below. To the cloud!

iCloud, Dropbox, Amazon top US cloud services originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 21 Mar 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

John Browett worked briefly as Apple's head-of-retail, and recently shared some of his experiences at the Retail Week Live conference. Among other things, Browett confessed that he "just didn't fit" at Apple, while praising the company itself:

"Apple is a truly fantastic business. The people are great; they've got great products; it's got a great culture and I loved working there; it's a fantastic business. The issue there was that I just didn't fit within the way they run the business. It was one of those things where you're rejected for fit rather than competency."

Browett made waves at Apple after attempting to make retail staffing cuts. When that move became public, Browett rescinded and addressed Apple retail employees.

Browett was eventually let go in the same swoop that also saw Scott Forstall's departure. The Retail Week interview is interesting, as it provides insight into Browett's brief experience.

John Browett comments on his time at Apple originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 15 Mar 2013 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This is going to make for a few Box-heavy headlines: the company behind Mailbox, the streamlined email client for the iPhone, has merged with Dropbox, according to the Mailbox blog. The developers note the app's huge growth and eager would-be users as the motivations to join forces.

"We can't wait to put Mailbox in the hands of everyone who wants it. This means not only continuing to scale the service, but also including support for more email providers and mobile devices. Add to that a host of new features and we've got a LOT of work to do... Rather than grow Mailbox on our own, we've decided to join forces with Dropbox and build it out together."

The post emphasizes that the app is not going away, but rather will receive the time, attention and development superpower of a combined Mailbox/Dropbox team. Dropbox, of course, has the experience and the resources required to scale a service to support millions of users.

The app's long waiting list dissuaded some potential users, as did its support for a single email service. Reading between the lines, it sounds like the new Mailbox team will address both of these concerns in the near future. Our own TUAW team shared initial reactions to Mailbox here.

Best of luck to the Mailboxers and to their new 'box colleagues.

iPhone email manager Mailbox merging with Dropbox originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 15 Mar 2013 13:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

US television network CBS has launched an app for the iPhone and iPad that offers streaming access to select programming.

CBS will add new episodes of daytime shows within 24 hours of their initial air time, and prime time episodes will appear after eight days. The network also noted that the app will also feature "second screen" features for a number of programs. It will stream content via 3G, 4G, LTE, and WiFi networks.

You can download the CBS app from the iOS App Store for free. Use of the app is limited to the United States and its territories.

CBS launches iOS streaming TV app originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 14 Mar 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to Reuters, Apple CEO Tim Cook will have to sit for a deposition in the US government's case against Apple regarding e-book price fixing.

US District Judge Denise Cote decided in favor of the Justice Department's request to have Cook on the stand. He will be made available for four hours on the day he's in the courtroom. In its request, the Justice Department argued that Cook likely had conversations with then-CEO Steve Jobs about e-books.

Apple was opposed to having Cook take the stand, saying that his testimony would be "cumulative and duplicative," but Judge Cote apparently did not agree.

Tim Cook ordered to testify in e-book case originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Alfred is one of my favorite Mac utilities (here's my review of version 1.0). After a long beta period, version 2.0 is now available. I've been using it throughout the beta period and I can say that it's a huge improvement over version 1.x. The new workflows are fantastic, the preferences are easier to use and better organized. Here's my look at Alfred V2.

Looks

Alfred's main interface is still a single input field, but now you can customize it more deeply than before. New theme options let you change the fonts, sizes and the height and width of the results window. You can even change the roundness of the corners.

Once in the theme editor, use a combination of mouse clicks and key combinations to affect different changes. Pop-up help text guides you through the process so it's easy. You can duplicate an existing theme if you want to use it as a starting point, or begin entirely from scratch.

And for the record, I like the Dark And Smooth theme.

Gallery: Alfred V2

Workflows

Let's talk about the big guns. Alfred 2's marquee feature is Workflows. Some people think of Alfred as a launcher. Workflows will change that for good.

Workflows let you combine a series of actions into a helpful sequence. You get your triggers, inputs, actions and then the outputs. What's nice is that it's entirely approachable. You needn't code a single thing, and the supplied templates and examples will get you started. A workflow can be simple or complex. Here are a couple of examples.

Every day I use a workflow called "paste to plain text." Occasionally I'd paste text into TextEdit to strip out the styling. Now I simply hit the hotkey combination I set up in Alfred -- Option-P -- and the contents of my clipboard are pasted as plain text.

One of the example workflows is called "Should I watch this movie?" Here's how it works. Launch Alfred, type "movie" and the the film's title. Hit Return, and Alfred opens the movie's IMDB page, its page on Rotten Tomatoes and its trailer on YouTube, all in separate tabs on your browser.

I also created a quick one that launches QuickTime Pro and begins a new audio recording, which is helpful when I'm podcasting.

There's so much you can do from fun to productive, from triggering AppleScripts to terminal commands. You can even share your work with others.

Other improvements

You can now have Alfred remember where you like its window to appear. You can also change the wallpaper that appears in the background of the theming preference pane. These little improvements stand out and make the experience very pleasant.

Conclusion

Alfred V2 is a great update. So how does pricing work? Alfred is a free download, and the Powerpack, which adds features, is paid. For upgrades, a single license to a mega license is £20. This been the case since the beginning of the beta. You can go from a single to v2 single for £10, and from a family license to v2 family license for £15.

Alfred 2.0 adds workflows, improves preferences, more originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Idaho's Paul Elementary School has shared a video praising the iPads and networking that iSchool Campus set up for them. Students, faculty and staff all received iPads and after two-and-a-half months, the teachers and staff are seeing great results.

Principal Colleen Johnson notes, among other things, the financial benefits of running iPads. "We've saved about $20,000 per month making copies and on paper," she says, noting also that the iPads are used to take notes and practice skills, reducing the use of consumables.

Of course, the benefits are more than financial. Fifth grade teacher Ashlee notes that, "[The iPads] have given the kids ownership of their learning. They're excited to learn ... it allows the kids to really show me what they can do and what the know."

Paul Elementary's IT director praised the iSchool system saying, "You cannot pick a better technology package," noting how quickly and efficiently the iSchool team got the school building prepped and ready.

We've seen several other schools adopt iPads on a large scale, and even require them of incoming students. For many, it's nice to see Apple regain the education market it dominated for such a long time.

iPads at Idaho elementary's 'iSchool' pilot program originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Simple Bracket US$0.99) is the Kickstarter-funded iPhone app from Dan Provost and Tom Gerhardt. It's an app for tracking the action of March Madness, when the US NCAA Men's Division I basketball championship is decided.

Provost and Gerhardt strayed from the traditional bracket-style tournament display and implemented something new with Simple Bracket. Instead of presenting a single bracket view, which is hard to read on the iPhone's small screen, their design compresses the list as you swipe while play advances. This way, you always have a nice, clear view.

The app also features what the developers call "the most statistically sound way to score a bracket."

Those interested in slick apps and NCAA men's basketball can pick up Simple Bracket from the App Store now.

Simple Bracket for iPhone is ready for March Madness originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Remember when "brushed metal" dominated the look of Apple's software products, including OS X? Stephen Hackett at 512 Pixels does, and he's put together a look at its origins.

Brushed metal didn't debut with Mac OS X 10.3, as many believe. Instead, Hackett notes, the UI motif first slipped onto our screens with QuickTime 4.0 in 1999:

"The feature that's most remembered, of course, is its UI. Gone was the Platinum look that graced almost every single window in MacOS, replaced with a slick UI with embedded buttons, dials and more."

Hackett will publish more posts exploring the evolution and eventual demise of brushed metal. We're looking forward to it.

How Apple introduced brushed metal originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

AppCubby has released Launch Center Pro 1.1 (US$2.99, currently on sale), a major update to its very useful utility for the iPhone (here's our full review of Launch Center Pro 1.0). This update brings many big additions, including native in-app actions, a re-designed Action Composer and TextExpander support in URLs.

The new Action Composer is beautiful and so much more intuitive than its predecessor. When you're making a new action, a new screen appears listing system actions, installed apps, all supported apps, featured apps and those recently added. There's also a button for using a custom URL. It's very neatly organized and presented, which makes it easier to use.

That's great, but support for TextExpander snippets is even better. If you've got TextExpander touch installed (and why wouldn't you?), launch it and enable snippet sharing. Now you can use snippets within Launch Center Pro, which is immensely handy.

There's more, of course, and we'll have a full review up soon. For now, Launch Center Pro 1.1 is a great updated to one of my favorite utilities. Stay tuned for my full run-down of this useful app.

Launch Center Pro 1.1 adds native in-app actions, Action Composer, more originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 08 Mar 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Securus, Inc. makes mobile security and safety devices, like the SpotLite GPS pet collar. This clever device attaches to your pet's collar and lets you monitor his or her whereabouts, which is perfect for those pups who like to wander.

Not only does this durable, waterproof device offer 24-hour, real-time tracking, it's backed by the American Kennel Club Companion Animal Recovery (AKC CAR) service, which means it can help you get Fido back, fast. Here's how it works.

Once it's on your pet, you can establish "safe spots" in your area or neighborhood. If Fido leaves that area, you can receive a text message or an email. Alerts will continue to come in, along with the collar's location, every 30 minutes until s/he is recovered. There's also an emergency button on the collar, so if someone recovers your pet, he can press it to let you know where they are.

There's also a mobile-friendly website that displays your pet's location.

Speaking of recovery, the SpotLite 2.0 comes with a lifetime membership with AKC CAR, so you've got someone available to help out.

TUAW will be testing the SpotLite 2.0 GPS pet collar in the next few weeks and we'll share our experiences in a full review. The unit costs US$119.99.

SpotLite 2.0 GPS pet collar lets you monitor your pet with an iPhone originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 07 Mar 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Fantastical 1.1 for iPhone (currently US$3.99) is now available with some seriously nice new features (here's our full review of Fantastical 1.0 for iPhone). Now you can add multiple alarms to an event, jump to a specific date easily, duplicate events and even detect what's on the clipboard. Here's an overview of Fantastical 1.1 for iPhone.

At last you can add multiple alarms to a calendar event! If you're a forgetful Jones like me, that's great news. You can also quickly jump to any date by tapping and holding on the title bar. A new menu appears to let you choose exactly the date to go to. As you'd expect, it's very pretty, too.

My favorite new feature makes it so easy to move or duplicate an event. Tap and hold on any event, and a new pop-up appears with two options: duplicate and move. Choose duplicate, and a new screen appears asking when you want the second event to happen. Select move and you're asked when you'd like the date to take place. It's so fast and handy.

Other niceties include weekend highlight (they appear slightly dimmer in the Day Ticker), new badge options for the app's icon, including the current date (yes!) and super-smart clipboard detection. Fantastical 1.1 now looks for text strings in the clipboard and offers to create an event based upon that information. Very nice.

There's more, of course, and you'll find the full release notes here. Fantastical is my favorite iPhone calendar app, and version 1.1 makes it better.

Fantastical 1.1 adds multiple alarms, clipboard detection, other improvements originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 07 Mar 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Zen Studios will release Star Wars Pinball for iPad tomorrow. I've spent a week with it and am happy to say that it's great. The game's attention to detail, visuals, gameplay and surprises make it a winner. There's something here for old-time Star Wars geeks as well as those who are growing up with The Clone Wars. Pinball fans will enjoy it, too. Here's my look at Star Wars Pinball for iPad.

Looks

To call Star Wars Pinball a stunner is like saying the sun is warm. There's so much to it, and I keep finding new things. The start screen is well laid out and the buttons are easy to hit and clear in their purpose. Menus are clear and easy to tap.

Of course, the real fun is in the tables themselves. You start off three to choose from: The Empire Strikes Back, The Clone Wars and Boba Fett. Each is appropriately themed with all sorts of goodies. For example, the Boba Fett table features a tentacle-waving sarlacc, a frozen Han Solo and a really cool Fett paint job. As you play, an animated Boba Fett flies back and forth.

Gallery: Star Wars Pinball for iPad

There are lots of little details, too. On the Boba Fett table, the launcher is Fett's rocket pack. On the Empire table, it's a lightsaber and on the Clone Wars table, an escape pod puts the ball in play.

Once you've selected a table, you can enjoy a "flyover" examination before gameplay begins. There's no time limit to this feature and it's a super way to find all the hidden gems, artistic touches and references that make this game so nice to look at. For example, don't miss the red R2 unit in the Empire table. He's hard to see during gameplay. Prepare to geek out, Star Wars fans!

Gameplay

Just like a real pinball table, there are many bonuses to unlock. Minor bonuses boost your point total while others are more impressive. For example, a certain combination on the Boba Fett table releases an animated Jabba the Hutt, who has a interaction with Boba Fett via a brief cinematic. Likewise, an animated Vader can appear on the Empire table, while Anakin and Ahsoka fight with battle droids on the Clone Wars table. The Empire table will even let you see brief scenes from that movie. And no, I won't tell you how to trigger these cinematics. That would spoil the surprise!

Really, that's just the beginning. There's a lot to find.

The physics work well. The game's flippers are very responsive and the ball behaves as you'd expect.

Another fun aspect of the game is your Force allegiance. Choose to support the Dark Side or the Light Side. You earn points as you plan and move along the ranks (Jedi initiate, padawan, etc.). Achievements and Game Center leaderboards provide additional challenges.

Conclusion

Star Wars Pinball for iPad is a lot of fun. Star Wars fans and pinball wizards will enjoy it. It will be available on the App Store tomorrow (pricing was not available at the time of this writing).

Star Wars Pinball for iPad is paddle-flipping fun originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 26 Feb 2013 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Magazine was launched last October and has been doing very well ever since. This week, Marco Arment has made some changes that let you subscribe to The Magazine on the web. You can also now sync a subscription between the site and the app, as well as share full articles with your friends.

The Magazine keeps improving from both a content and business standpoint. Check it out.

The Magazine offers full article sharing originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 26 Feb 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Each year, British business professionals rank global "superbrands" in a report called the Superbrand Survey. The group produces two lists: consumer superbrands and business superbrands. In the latest report, Apple placed second and first, respectively.

The top five business superbrands were, in order from the top: Apple, British Airways, Google, Visa and Virgin Atlantic. On the consumer side, the ranking was Rolex, Apple, Microsoft, British Airways and Coca-Cola.

As far as what a "superbrand" actually is, the group defines it as, "...[a brand] that has established the finest reputation in its field. It offers customers significant emotional and/or tangible advantages over its competitors, which customers want and recognize."

Congratulations to Apple on its fine showing.

Apple tops British brand survey originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.