Skip to Content

Submit your nominations for the Luxist Awards' Best in Decor
AOL Tech

Holidays posts

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, App Review

Happy puzzling holidays! Triazzle Holiday Edition is in the App Store




We loved Triazzle 3.0 [iTunes Link] when it came out in July, but with winter nearly upon us it's time to dust off the sleigh bells and dreidels because Triazzle Holiday [iTunes Link] is here in a new seasonally-inspired version. This slightly cut-down version of the US$2.99 app sells for US$0.99, and runs on any iPhone or iPod touch running OS 2.2.1 or higher.

Triazzle is a puzzle game where you are given a sectioned triangle board and 9 (down from 16 in the full app) smaller triangle pieces that fit in the larger triangle like a jigsaw puzzle. The pieces are moved to the board and rotated to get the proper orientation, when all nine are in place, you have won. The rub is that many pieces can look maddeningly similar and there is only correct solution to each puzzle. So even if it looks right, you can be wrong. When you are right, you are rewarded with an animation and the match counter increments.

This version of Triazzle is chock-full of holiday lights, Santa Claus, Christmas trees, Dreidels, Nutcrackers, and a litany of other things to make you think of the holidays. The game has 4 difficulty levels ranging from one for kids to level 3, which is really quite difficult. Animated hints are available along with an option invoking the Triazzle Tiki Gods to solve the puzzle for you.

What sets Triazzle Holiday apart from just about anything else is its craftsmanship. Every screen is more gorgeous than the next, and the level of detail of the graphics can leave you breathless. If the visuals get too complex you can choose to display simpler backgrounds to make things easier to see. You can also adjust whether or not snow will fall, and you can set the volume level of music, ambient sounds, and game sounds.

Music is a large part of the game. Right after the splash screen you are advised to use headphones. Drag them out of the closet for this one -- it's worth it. The music is wonderfully recorded and reproduced using such favorites as Jingle Bells and the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies from The Nutcracker Suite. In addition there is a lot of original music, including a spirited Klezmer number backing up a game full of Dreidels.

Triazzle Holiday will only be available through the holiday season, so get your copy now, put on your headphones, and immerse yourself in this impressive game.

Filed under: Apple Corporate, Retail, Holidays

Apple to bring changes to retail stores

As the holiday season brings additional shoppers to Apple's retail stores, they'll be making changes to ensure a pleasant experience for the new customers, ifoAppleStore reports.

First, they're going to ditch the color-coded Starfleet uniform T-shirts, which shoppers have found confusing. Instead, all employees will wear the same color. Next, the handheld checkout devices will be swapped out for specially-equipped iPod touches. A new scanner accessory will interact with point-of-sale software on the iPods. Best of all, employees will be able to accept cash from customers right where the stand, eliminating the often time-consuming walk to the cash register.

Watch for these changes at an Apple Store near you.

Filed under: TUAW Business, Podcasts

Talkcast reminder: Macs that go bump in the night! 10 pm ET


It's the Sunday before Halloween, and that can mean only one thing! No, not that you should have set your clocks back an hour -- that's next weekend. Tonight is about scary tech and the users that love it: Apple's most frightening products of all time. Whether the fuzzy-scary iPod Socks or the just-plain-scary Performa series, there are plenty of bonechillers out there... pick your favorites over at Apple History, the Apple Museum or Wikipedia and bring your nominations to our chamber of terrors tonight!

To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, or you can try out the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 pm Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VOIP lines (take advantange of your free cellphone weekend minutes if you like): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *-8. Talk with you then!

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Desktops, Rumors, iMac, MacBook

New iMacs and MacBooks coming soon?

Maybe so, if you believe the predictions of some analysts at Wedge Partners. They proclaim in their neverending analyst-y wisdom that in the next few weeks, Apple will again refresh its lines of iMacs and MacBooks, including a slimmer iMac and an only slightly updated MacBook. Why would Apple announce such a thing, especially so soon after the recent June revamp? Windows 7 is apparently the answer -- Apple wants to distract from Microsoft's big release, according to the analysts

Personally, it all sounds kind of hokey to us -- Apple's already got their back-to-school lineup all set, and while there probably is room for one more update before the holiday season, it's hard to believe they're going to announce some extremely minor updates in a desperate grab against Windows 7.

And not even the analysts will guess at a netbook or tablet release -- they say neither one of those is coming up for an announcement any time soon. You have to think that if Apple is doing one more update before the holidays, it really will come up in the next few weeks, so by the time Halloween candy starts dropping in pillowcases, we should know for sure.

[via PC World]

Filed under: Apple Corporate, Retail

Apple Store window displays receive awards

When I was a young lad in Scranton, Pa, pierogi in one pocket and anthracite coal in the other, my mother and I would wait for the Colts bus in front of the Globe Department Store. Now, before you assume that this post will be nothing more than endless, irrelevant Andy Rooney-style sentimentality from Dave, I'll tell you that it's only in the first two paragraphs.

The Globe staff created ornate window displays with those animatronic figures that seemed festive at the time but would later scare the daylights out of me. I was reminded of Scranton and The Globe last winter during a visit to Boston's Boylston Street Apple Store, where I photographed the elf at right. The adjacent window had a similarly-stylized Santa holding an iPhone, and both were very cute with a 1960's claymation appeal.

The Association for Retail Environments must have liked them as well, as they awarded Apple's "Holiday Santa iPhone" window display "Best Visual Presentation," along with the "Back to School" and "Cherry Blossom Nano" displays. You can read more details on the awards here or download a PDF with additional details. Well done, Apple!

Filed under: Humor, Cult of Mac, Steve Jobs, Holidays

Happy Easter from TUAW


Today is Easter for those of you celebrating around the world, and what better way to celebrate than with Peeps? Specifically Peeps attending an Apple event -- these guys were made by Sarah Kohari and Erin Mastrangelo of Washington, and are part of the Washington Post's yearly Peeps diorama contest. This one is number 38, and they also made number 39 as well.

We like it, obviously, especially the little Steve Jobs peep, as well as the iPeep nanos (in, apparently, all of the different colors Peeps come in). Happy Easter to everyone -- may you have candy and chocolate of all kinds (if that's what you're looking for today), and may all of your egg finding go well.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor, Holidays, App Store

Christmas iPod touch and iPhone gifts boost App Store volume


Hello and welcome once again to The Obvious News. Our top story today: the sky remains blue, and we'll have a full report by our man on the scene Chip Thompson about that later. But first, this: apparently App Store downloads are up thanks to large holiday sales of the iPhone and iPod touch. This comes as a shock to absolutely no one, but reports are coming in from developers, publishers, and browser reports and search terms alike that App Store downloads and interest have jumped up three and four times over, thanks, it seems, to more people receiving iPhones and iPod touches for Christmas and the other winter holidays.

John Sargent of The Obvious Institute tells us why: "Well, iPod touches are pretty boring without apps, you know? And I guess people probably want to try out apps on their new iPod touches." Thank you, John -- painfully obvious. Our technology analyst Ms. Common Sense also tells us that any time Apple sees a bump in sales of their devices, the App Store will have its own sales bump soon after.

In other Obvious News, having too many meetings can apparently make you grumpy. We'll be back after these messages. Obviously.

Filed under: Software, Deals

Get VMWare Fusion 2.0 at a steal, after rebates, free upgrade

If you have been waiting to get your hands on VMWare's Fusion, then now is the perfect time. Fusion is the software that allows you to run Windows, Linux, and now Mac OS X Server in a virtual machine right inside of Mac OS X! And you don't have to pay the regular $79.99US for it either.

MacMall is currently offering VMWare Fusion 1.0 for $14.99US after a $20US mail-in rebate. Fusion 1.0 can be upgraded to the newest version (2.0) via a free upgrade available from VMWare. You can grab this after-holiday sale item from the MacMall website.

Know of more holiday sale items online? Tell us about them in the comments!

Thanks to Karl for the tip!

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Memento developer offers free holiday greeting card app

A while back we told you about Memento, a quick way to send e-cards right from your iPhone. The developer of that application is back at it again with a Holiday card application. Memento Xmas [iTunes link] is a free application that allows you to send holiday-themed greeting cards to your friends and family, just in time for the holidays.

The application acts just like its older brother, Memento, but it is limited to only 4 greeting cards. With each of the greeting cards you have the ability to snap a photo (or use one from your library), and you can also edit the included text.

You can download and try out Memento Xmas from the iTunes App Store. In a pinch, this application could save you from writing out all of those holiday greeting cards (unless you still want to have friends and family).



Thanks, Duncan!

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, Humor, Apple, iPod nano, iPod classic

"Next Christmas, the iPod will be dead, gone, kaput."

It's the end of the year, a time of reflection, in which we look back at the year that was and what happened during. But The Independent isn't stopping there -- they went back and dug up some of the world's most famous incorrect predictions. And yes, Bill Gates' 640k is in there, as is Ken Olsen's "...there is no reason for any individual to have a computer at his home." Whoops. But there's also a good iPod one in there -- apparently on the iPod's release, someone from Amstrad claimed it a fad, saying that, "Next Christmas, the iPod will be dead, finished, gone, kaput." A few Christmases have come and gone since then, and of course, the iPod is still huge.

That list also reminded me of the famous Nano hater, Motorola's Ed Zander, who said of the iPod nano's release: "Screw the nano. What the hell does the nano do? Who listens to 1,000 songs?" He, of course, was distraught that Apple's then new invention might take attention away from his new Rokr phone, and despite the fact that Motorola later claimed he was joking, we all know the Rokr went on to not only become the USA's most popular handset, but it's the Rokr who has ads all over the place this holiday season.

Oh wait. We might be wrong about that one. Everyone makes mistakes, no?

Thanks, Jean!

Filed under: Software, iPhone, Holidays, App Store, iPod touch

Nice List is...uh...a nice list

This has gotta stop. Three times in the last two weeks, I've said, "Wouldn't it be nice if there was an iPhone app that did this?" -- and then received an email the next day from a developer who has released the app I was thinking about. I may need to put on my tinfoil hat to keep iPhone devs from reading my mind.

The latest mind invasion happened last night, when my spouse and I were out Christmas shopping for two low-income families. Barb had a list in iPhone Notes, but no way to check off the items we picked up. Today I received an email from Polar Bear Farm, announcing that they'd released Nice List, a Holiday Gift Manager for iPhone and iPod touch.

If somebody has been especially nice this year, you can add 'em to your Nice List from your address book. Once you know who you'll be gifting, you can add gifts and an estimated price. Mark off when you've bought, wrapped, and shipped presents by tapping on a special icon for each task. You can be a secret Santa by password-protecting your list.

The US$2.99 app just arrived in the App Store last night (click opens iTunes). With just 19 shopping days until Christmas, this might be a big help for your last-minute buying frenzy.

Filed under: Features, Holidays

Gift Guide for the new parent

From baby monitors to daily organizers, finding the right gift for the Mac-wielding new parent isn't as easy as it sounds. They're just so busy with all that "good parenting" nonsense. Here are plenty of ideas at a variety of price points that should make any parent's job a little more pleasant.

iPhone/iPod touch apps


I mentioned this before, but it's worth repeating. Baby Monitor ($4.99US) by CodeGoo calls you when Jr. starts to fuss. Simply launch Baby Monitor and put it in his bedroom. When he starts to cry, Baby Monitor will call a pre-determined phone number, like your home's land line. It's not a substitute for a genuine baby monitor, but certainly useful for when you forget to bring the real deal to Grandma's house.

When my son was new, we purchased a white noise machine for his bedroom. It produces five sounds, including stream, car, heartbeat, music and white noise, and cost thirty dollars.

For $0.99US, Ambiance [iTunes link] plays more than fifty sounds. You can combine sounds to create new ones and adjust settings like duration, fade out and a lot more. Updates of the app always include new sounds, and you've got the option to delete sounds you dislike to save room.

Grocery IQ ($0.99US) [iTunes link] is an application I didn't anticipate using. I'm a pen-and-paper guy (read: old geezer), and dislike typing on the phone for extended periods. It's not the iPhone's fault, the keyboard is great. I'm just quicker with a pen.

Despite this, Grocery IQ has earned a spot on my home screen. Not only is creating a list as easy as a click, you can save frequently-purchased items and even a standard list. Plus, it's a lot easier to de-select an item you've tossed into the cart than cross it off of your paper list after Jr. has tossed your pen.

I've mentioned iChalky ($0.99) [iTunes link] before, too, but both my 3-year-old and my 5-year-old love it. Poor Chalky is a physicis-aware stick figure who is subject to your kid's whims. Shake him, flip him, hang him from a push pin. It's just the ticket for avoiding a full meltdown in the middle of the post office.

Read on for hardware, software and accessory recommendations!

Continue readingGift Guide for the new parent

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, Rumors, Apple, MacBook

Rumor: Nvidia-powered MacBooks on October 14th


TUAW is hearing from various sources that new MacBooks are right around the corner, and that they might even have some extra Nvidia power in them. A source tells us that Nvidia is showing off new MacBooks to their employees, and word is going around that the new versions will be released as soon as October 14th.

Of course these are all rumors, so don't be surprised if 10/14 comes around and there are no changes in Apple's lineup. But the rumors have been adding up -- we've heard for a while that MacBooks were due for a refresh, and we're not the only ones hearing about Nvidia units being included as well. Not to mention that Apple has apparently finally realized that gaming is worth embracing, and the next logical step for a gaming upgrade would be the MBP line.

Don't put money on it, but if you're planning to buy a MacBook and can wait another few weeks, you might want to wait and see. I'm getting close to being in the market for a new laptop, and as a gamer, I'd love to see a MacBook with a little more graphical oomph to it.

Filed under: Features, How-tos

Mac Automation: holiday photos

Now that you have downed the Egg Nog and feasted on the holiday food, it's time for the worst part of Christmas ... importing and organizing all those photos. Thanks to Automator and iPhoto, this task can be extremely easy. In this how-to, I will show you how to import your photos, carefully tuck them away in a new photo album, and e-mail them to friends and family. This tutorial assumes that you are using Mac OS X Leopard, and iPhoto 08; however it may work with Tiger and iPhoto 06.

Continue readingMac Automation: holiday photos

Filed under: Gaming, iPod Family, Software, Odds and ends, Universal Binary

Two new Mac games: Bomberman and Peggle

Boy, it seems like everyone was waiting for me to write up my gift guide before releasing some interesting Mac games this year. First Horde of Orcs comes out, then Sonic of all things appears on the iPod, and now here's two more fun gaming experiences appearing on the Mac.

First, our sister gaming blog Joystiq reports that PopCap's crack casual game Peggle has appeared for OS X, and just like most of PopCap's games, it's so addictive it should probably be regulated by pharmacologists. It's a universal binary, too, and right now it's only $10 (50% off from a sale on PopCap's site). Be prepared to disappear from your relatives for long stretches of time over the holidays, though-- anyone who can only play one round of this at a time is either not human or just in serious trouble with their spouse.

And MacNN reports that Bomberman has now appeared on iTunes as well. Hudson Software has produced an official port that features an "intuitive control scheme" (that I'd be interested to see), an exclusive boss stage for the iPod, and the option to play the game's music or your own during gameplay. Wild. That game is $5 and available as a download from iTunes.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas for Mac gamers-- turns out there may be more underneath the tree than we hoped earlier in the year.

Tip of the Day

Use Spotlight as a reference tool. Type any word in the Spotlight box and one of the top entries will be a definition. Click on it, and it will bring up the dictionary application to check the word in either the dictionary, thesaurus, Apple database, or Wikipedia.


Follow us on Twitter!
 TUAW [Cafepress]

Featured Galleries

DNC Macs
Macworld 2008 Keynote
Macworld 2008 Build-up
Google Earth for iPhone
Podcaster
Storyist 2.0
AT&T Navigator Road Test
Bento for iPhone 1.0
Scrabble for iPhone
Tom Bihn Checkpoint Flyer Briefcase
Apple Vanity Plates
Apple booth Macworld 07
WorldVoice Radio
Quickoffice for iPhone 1.1.1
Daylite 3.9 Review
DiscPainter
Mariner Calc for iPhone
2009CupertinoBus
Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D
MLB.com At Bat 2009
Macworld Expo 2007 show floor

 

More Apple Analysis

AOL Radio TUAW on Stitcher