The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

We have all been waiting on an iPhone VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) solution, since we heard that Apple would allow VoIP application access while connected to WiFi. Fring has finally made our dream a reality -- and it's a reality that's available today!

Fring is a new, free iPhone application that integrates with Fring's network and allows access to the following IM/presence services:

• Fring
• Skype
• AIM
• Yahoo
• Twitter
• ICQ
• MSN

In addition to simply chatting with buddies from the above services, you can place VoIP calls to other fring users, or using Skype/SkypeOut or another SIP provider (Gizmo, Vonage, etc.). We'll take a more in-depth look/review this weekend -- so be sure to stay tuned to TUAW. In a quick test, I was able to call Skype users from my iPhone and carry on a (slightly echo-y, but perfectly audible) conversation.

You can download this application today by visiting the iTunes App Store. The application weighs in at 3.0 MB. You can also get more information about this service and the application on the Fring website.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Apple shares today reached their lowest price point since April 2007, closing at 97.07, down 3.03 points.

AAPL hit its 52-week low today, $94.65 per share, around 3:45 PM Eastern.

Early in the day, the stock was jarred with false rumors from CNN's iReport service about Steve Jobs suffering a heart attack. TUAW's own Michael Rose was among the first to contact Apple's PR VP, Katie Cotton, who said the rumors were untrue.

After the scare, prices rebounded, but never reached their highs for the day just before the rumor bubbled to the surface. Volume was at its heaviest before 10 a.m. Eastern, with about 16 million shares changing hands. In sum total, 82 million shares were traded over the course of the day.

Apple shares were slightly ahead in early after-hours trading.

If you're a long-time Mac user, the words "After Dark" conjure memories of flying toasters, Star Trek, city lights, and -- my favorite -- Lunatic Fringe.

Lunatic Fringe was a Maelstrom-like game built-in to After Dark, a screen saver utility for Mac and Windows popular in the early- to mid-90s. Fringe Player, from Sealie Software, is a app that brings Lunatic Fringe back to your new, Intel-based Mac. It supports Leopard, and there is a version for PowerPC processors as well.

You have to obtain the original screensaver module separately, however. You can get the module from your original After Dark disks (or online, if you're clever with the Google.)

Now if you'll excuse me, my Friday afternoon is suddenly spoken for.

There are plenty of Mac tools for video compression in the marketplace, ranging from Windows Media-oriented tools (Flip4Mac) to professional workflow builders (Sorenson Squeeze) to hardware-assisted H.264 crunchers (Elgato turbo.264). Few of these products, however, have hit the sweet spot of wide-ranging capability, quality output and extremely affordable pricing like VisualHub from Techspansion. For less than $25, you got Flash and WMV output that rivaled products 3x the price, plus easy conversion to iPod and iPhone-friendly formats. Along with sister apps audio compressor AudialHub and iPod-only video converter iSquint, VisualHub was a prime example of a well-built, "Mac way" media app.

Sadly, the past tense above is no accident. Techspansion's website has been shuttered and the products have been discontinued. Tyler Loch (Techspansion's founder) let us know that the difficult decision to close down Techspansion is a personal one, and he's readjusting his priorities to focus on other needs. His choice is understandable, but we will definitely miss VisualHub (not to mention the laugh-out-loud funniest release notes in software history). Best of luck to Tyler in his future efforts.

Update: For those who are inquiring, there are no current plans to move VisualHub to open source. The underlying engine for much of the compression magic, ffmpeg, is already open-source and present in other Mac tools such as Handbrake.

Thanks Brandon

Forbes is reporting that the iPhone has become the country's top eBook reader. The claim is based upon the number of downloads of Stanza [App Store link], an ebook reader for the iPhone and iPod touch (395,000 and counting), versus the number of projected US Kindle sales (380,000).

For those unfamiliar with Stanza, it's a free application that lets users download books over the air, as does the Kindle. All of Stanza's offerings are free works in the public domain, and flipping pages is a breeze with the touch screen.

Of course, it's silly to compare an iPhone to a Kindle. The screen is very tiny and I wouldn't want to read anything longer than an email message with it. However, many people will, some of whom do it just because they can. I can remember reading a Stephen King book on my old Palm ///e simply because I thought it was neat.

Still, combine the 395,000 downloads of Stanza with nearly 380,000 Kindles sold (plus the Sony eBook reader figures), and it seems that many people enjoy reading very tiny type.

[Via MacDailyNews]

By now you've probably had the opportunity to play around with the new iTunes Visualizer in iTunes 8. It's pretty cool, eh? Just like the previous visualizer, you can control this one with a few, simple key strokes. By pressing "?" while the visualizer is running, you are presented with a list of keys that customize the visualizer.

• ? - Shows/hides the help screen
• M - Changes the mode
• P - Changes the color palette
  
• I - Displays the track information for the currently playing song
• C - Toggles "auto-cycle" (which is turned on by default)
• F - Toggles the "freeze mode"
• N - Shows/hides the "smoke" in the background
  
• L - Toggles camera lock

Know of any more cool key combos for iTunes visualizers? Be sure to tell us in the comments!

Thanks to Luke and others for the tip!


Want more tips and tricks like this? Visit TUAW's Mac 101 and TUAW Tips sections.

There's a great article at Treehugger on saving money with your iPhone. Specifically, they explore four categories: automotive, travel, energy consumption and green shopping.

Applications like iGas, which helps you find cheap fueling stations, and GasHog, which measures fuel efficiency, are listed. However, what's interesting to me aren't applications.

PrimoSpot lets New Yorkers (Manhattan and Brooklyn only) find available parking spots, even identifying parking meters that are about to expire. That's pretty cool, and should save you some driving around.

SmartLinc lets you monitor your home's energy consumption and even remotely control lighting, heating and AC use, all from your iPhone. It's $1,400US to get set up, but definitely a useful service.

Many people still yearn for an Apple tablet. The iPhone is that tablet. Once you start to think of it as a computer with great telephone software, you'll begin to see that's exactly what it is.

A massive spectacle is brewing in Canada. From the 4th of October through the 12th, the two towers of Toronto's city hall will become grandiose pixel displays with the help of Project Blinkenlights. Dubbed "Stereoscope," the installation will use wirelessly-controlled lights placed behind the windows of the building to generate the pixel art. This project adds to the growing list of large-scale interactive light installations executed by Project Blinkenlights... it also happens to be as Mac-friendly as they come, thanks to some help from our friends at The Coding Monkeys.

When we talked to Martin and Dominik at WWDC, they hinted at their involvement in this project. They stayed pretty tight-lipped about it, stating only that it would be "big." Now they've unveiled a simulator for Leopard and a mobile version for the iPhone [iTunes link] which allow users around the world to watch in realtime as the exhibition unfolds. Beyond that, they had a hand in creating some of the tools which allow users from all over the globe to generate and contribute their own animations for the event.

I've been playing with both the desktop and iPhone simulators, and I'm duly impressed. The iPhone version -- with smooth, touch-based navigation and amazing 3D rendering -- is definitely not to be missed (especially since it's free). This event would be big enough if it stayed in Toronto, but Project Blinkenlights and The Coding Monkeys have made it possible for users around the world to take part in the spectacle. Check out the gallery for more shots of the iPhone version of the simulator in action.

Earlier tonight, Apple issued a Security Update for Apple TV. According to Apple, this update (version 2.2) fixes a bug in Apple TV that could allow a "maliciously crafted movie file may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution." This definitely doesn't sound good to us.

It's not all boring security stuff; Apple also added a Genius playlist function. To access the Genius function, just hold down the play/pause button while a song is playing, and a popup menu will allow you to "Start Genius," or add to an on-the-go playlist.

You can download this update by navigating to Settings > Update Software. Alternatively, Apple TV checks on a weekly basis for any new updates. If it finds an update, it will download, verify, and install the new update. You can read more about this update in this Apple support article.

Have you found another feature of the update? Let us know by sharing in the comments below, or sending us a tip!

Thanks Justin

Today, Apple updated the MobileMe control panel for Windows. Update 1.2 "provides better support for syncing a large number of contacts (more than 2,000) and prevents syncing of data between Microsoft Exchange Server and MobileMe, a configuration that is not supported."

This control panel is required to use MobileMe syncing/iDisk on a Windows computer. This update requires Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 2, or Windows Vista SP1 or later. You must have iTunes 8.0.1 or later installed.

You can download this update from the Apple Support website.