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WWDC posts

Filed under: WWDC, iPhone, iPod touch

WWDC Demo: Zombies, a modern update of Daleks (preview)

I can't count the number of hours I spent at the UT Music Library on a Performa or Quadra or Centris (I had a Centris 610 at the time) playing Daleks. Strangely addicting but incredibly simple, the game mechanic has been repeated often in the casual game universe, and Daleks was essentially a rip of Robots on UNIX. You try to get away from something, one step at a time, as those somethings inch ever closer, one step at a time. It's turn-based "tag." There's a terribly unsatisfying and buggy version called SuperDaleks for OS X here.

Zombies is a bit of an update for the venerable classic, although there's also a classic game called Zombies using the very same mechanic -- nothing new under the sun, eh? But intead of dusting off that old IIsi, you can play Zombies on your iPhone or iPod touch. The developer added spells, allowing you to do something out of the norm each round. So, for example, you could teleport (sometimes seen in variations of this game). You can also destroy zombies with a spell, handy when you're in a no-win position.

The preview you see here is the unfinished version, but it's shaping up to be a pleasant reimagining of a classic. We'll post on Twitter when it's available.

Filed under: Gaming, WWDC, iPhone, iPod touch

WWDC Demo: Master Jumperton and Battle of Pirate Bay (preview)


Master Jumperton is a simple game where you swipe to create platforms for Master Jumperton to continually jump higher and higher. There are some similar games on the store, but Jumperton is well-crafted and features a high scores board and basic options. Master Jumperton isn't yet available on the store.

The Battle of Pirate Bay will be available July 1, we are told, and it's a more involved game. That isn't to say it is complicated, as anyone familiar with Flight Control or Harbor Master's game mechanic will understand what to do. Battle goes one step beyond time and path management to add the element of battle with waves of enemies. You have to balance ammo and the health of your base in the bay plus the routing of faster or slower ships with different capabilities all while moving your finger around to direct traffic, as it were. Very fast-paced, and it looks like a lot of fun. We'll tweet when it lands in the store this week.

Both games are from veteran mobile developers Muteki, who developed Maze Finger and Topple 2 for ngmoco. Topple 2 won an Apple design award at this year's WWDC.



Update: The Battle of Pirate Bay (iTunes link) is now available in the store.

Filed under: Software, Video, WWDC

WWDC Demo: Videro, a digital signage tool for Macs


Videro is one of those silent-but-cool application suites you've probably never heard of, but you may see it being used every day. I met some of the Videro team at WWDC, and they were happy to demo a little of what the tools do: electronic signage and interactive kiosks. If you happen to need an animated in-store (or museum) display, fed from a server, easy to set up and deploy, complete with iPhone access to check on the servers (so they say), then Videro is an impressive tool.

To start, Videro has a composition tool that allows you to drag and drop your animations, complete with images, video and audio. In fact, Videro has extensive in-app tools for cropping, rotating and otherwise "fixing" your assets for display. But wait, there's more! This isn't just Keynote all gussied up. Videro is designed for business, and a server application makes sure mission-critical displays are functioning properly. There's solid asset management support both in the client and the server applications, making sure your displays never fire off with a dreaded "black box of nothing" where a product shot should be.

Videro mentioned an iPhone app in the video but I have been unable to locate it in the store and a search on their website revealed nothing. Still, it wouldn't be terribly difficult to provide some baseline stats via password-protected web app. We weren't able to get Wi-Fi at our location, so some features weren't visible and this might have been one of them.

Unfortunately Videro's site mentions nothing about price. In my experience that means we're talking about an expensive solution, and likely a custom one for the high-end customers. If you're looking for something simpler, don't miss Dave's excellent post about using Keynote and Dropbox to create an updating and easy presentation solution that would work in a pinch.

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

WWDC Demo: Parranda for iPhone and iPod touch


The enthusiastic developers of Parranda were at WWDC to show off their app, a simple one-man-band party in your hand. Parranda (iTunes link) has a lot of polish, too, with instruments that aren't just one big button, like some "soundboard" music apps. The cowbell, for example, allows you to tap on different parts of the instrument, which any decent cowbell player will tell you, creates very different sounds. Mostly. You can zoom in or out on the instruments, something you will have to see in the video, but it is a nice effect and adds to the experience.

Parranda has pre-set rhythms to choose from, plus vocalizations to add a little spice to the performance. Already a hit in Puerto Rico, I think Parranda has a good shot everywhere, as it's a fun little app. Perhaps a bit more than you're used to paying at $2.99, but I think it's a fair price for the quality of the app.

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

WWDC Demo: Balloons!


Balloons! for the iPhone (and iPod touch) made me smile. It's like Distant Shore, but more personal and fun. Don't get me wrong, I love Distant Shore, but Balloons! reminds me of being a kid and tying a message and photo to a balloon to send up into the stratosphere. Plus, you get a real sense of community. It's just plain fun to pick up a virtual balloon supposedly drifting past you. To see what I mean, check out the video. But if you ever tied a note to a balloon and let it go, that's what this does. Except now you get to catch other balloons, have conversations and attach photos all from your iPhone.

Unfortunately Balloons! isn't in the store yet, but from the build I saw looks pretty close to being ready. The Balloons devs are looking for beta testers, which you can apply for here.

Filed under: Software, Cool tools, WWDC

WWDC Demo: MercuryMover and Highbrow


If you prefer to keep your fingers on the keyboard and away from mice or trackpads, MercuryMover will allow you to do something simple: move and resize windows with the keyboard. There are a number of hotkeys for wiggling the windows into place, in 2 different increments, and a method of resizing windows via the keyboard.

Highbrow gives you fine control over which browser opens a certain link. For example, if someone sends you a link in IM and you want to open in it Firefox, but your default browser is Safari, you'd have to copy/paste that link into Firefox, or Safari will open it instead. But with Highbrow, you can quickly choose which browser opens what. Instead of mucking around in Safari prefs, Highbrow sets the default browser via handy menu bar item. Plus, you can opt for a floating window each time you click a link, and choose on the fly.

MercuryMover is $20 and a free trial is available. Highbrow is $12 and a free trial is also available.

Filed under: Software, WWDC, Developer, iPhone

WWDC Live: Joe Michels of Software Ops

This is video from a fast-paced chat with Joe Michels of Software Ops, creator of several iPhone apps. His lineup includes several applications for secure storage of information, such as My Eyes Only (iTunes link) and ID Lock (a "lite" version of My Eyes Only). There's also Aerochive on the Mac desktop, which allows wireless archiving and visualization of the information stored in the iPhone apps, which can include credit cards, passwords and notes, among other things. With your data fully encrypted and password protected, Joe's stated mission is to keep your info safe and away from prying eyes.

Joe also mentions an upcoming application, called My Eyes Only Photo, which brings My Eyes Only security to photo storage and browsing. There are screenshots of the soon-to-be-released application up on the Software Ops site. Check out the video to hear the developer's take on these apps.

Continue readingWWDC Live: Joe Michels of Software Ops

Filed under: Software, Cool tools

WWDC Demo: QuicKeys 4


WWDC isn't all about iPhone apps. Long before the iPhone was a twinkle in Steve's eye, WWDC was all about developing for the Macintosh. I had a chance to sit down with the guys behind QuicKeys, a venerable Mac app that will save you a lot of time on repetitive typing tasks. I got a look at the beta, but the full version is now available for $59.95 ($29.95 if you are upgrading from version 3).

For example, if you are constantly typing your email signature, QuicKeys can auto-complete the typing when you type "szm" or any other character combo you like (in a similar fashion to TextExpander). QuicKeys can also create keyboard shortcuts for darn near anything, and record actions for later use. That's really just the tip of the iceberg. QuicKeys has MIDI triggers, a powerful search tool, web actions, an online repository for shortcuts and tutorials, and the company is set to release a QuicKeys remote app for the iPhone/iPod touch (so yeah, you just can't escape that little platform).

Luckily, you can try QuicKeys yourself and get a feel for how powerful it truly is. There's a 30-day trial mode, but Startly (makers of QuicKeys) has a generous "unlimited" trial period, which extends the trial app indefinitely. I know I've often downloaded an app, installed it, then come back close to 30 days later to realize I can't dig into it within the timeout period. Give it a try and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. If you are a power user, this thing is a lifesaver. If you're a casual user, there's still benefit to typing less throughout the day.

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

WWDC Demo: iTreadmill



iTreadmill (App Store link) is a pedometer app for your iPhone or iPod touch. I spoke with the developer, who demoed the app for us at WWDC. It looks nice, appears to perform well, and features a respectable number of ways to customize and tune the readings. Pedometer apps may not save the world, but if you're looking for something much less expensive than the Nike+iPod device, this will do in a pinch. There's also a Lite version (App Store link) if you want to try it yourself.

Filed under: Software, WWDC, Interviews, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

WWDC Video: AOL's Christina Wick on developing for Macs, iPhones


I had a moment to talk to Technical Director Christina Wick at WWDC. She told us about the Mapquest app, plus a cool lifestreaming feature coming soon to AIM. Christina was featured in a video by Apple about developing on the iPhone, and it's clear AOL has embraced the platform, with several apps performing exceptionally well on the store. We've covered AIM, DailyFinance and MapQuest in the past, but there are others as well (and we think a certain blog will get one someday...). Christina's team has been working hard not just on the iPhone, but polishing up the old AOL client for Mac too in a push called "Back to the Mac" -- it has been completely re-written and is much more Mac friendly than... well, it just wasn't Mac friendly at all 3 years ago. We can't wait to see what apps and desktop software her team releases in the future.

Note: AOL is also the corporate parent of TUAW & Weblogs Inc.

Filed under: Cult of Mac, Other Events, WWDC, Apple History

It's all about the music: tunes from Apple's keynote presentations

I hope this post gets filed in the "I knew I wasn't the only one!" mental filing cabinets of many. Because if it doesn't, then it makes me the only one who really looks forward to the music Apple uses in its keynotes. Whether it's a song that leads up to Steve Jobs' entrance on stage, or one used in software or hardware demos, there's no denying that music is very much a part of Apple's DNA. Heck, the company's namesake reflects Steve's love for the Beatles.

Apple occasionally invites some of music's biggest names to perform at its events because, as Steve says, "it's all about the music."

And this post is all about the music. It's all about the music that Apple has used in one way, shape, or form at its keynote events. Although by no means a definitive list, it's certainly a fair sample.

Continue readingIt's all about the music: tunes from Apple's keynote presentations

Filed under: Software, WWDC, Developer

WWDC Live: Ross Carter and Pagehand, typography-aware word processor

Ross Carter of Cocomot has a pretty cool new word processor, Pagehand, in the works. It reads and writes in PDF format, so you don't have to think twice about sending a document to anyone; they may not be able to edit it -- depending on the software they're running -- but you're pretty much guaranteed they'll be able to see it exactly the way you did on your screen. That's important because Pagehand's features are heavily geared towards making correct and beautiful typography easy for everyone, and providing many of the advanced features you'd only find in applications such as InDesign or Quark. Ross demoed the word processor for me at WWDC. Check out the video for a brief overview of the application and some of the philosophy behind it. While it hasn't been "officially" released yet, it's available for download and trial in its 1.0 incarnation.

Continue readingWWDC Live: Ross Carter and Pagehand, typography-aware word processor

Filed under: Accessories, Analysis / Opinion, Apple Corporate, Airport, Apple, .Mac, App Store, App Review

WWDC Quick/Cut: Dave Teare of Agile Web Solutions on 1Password

We, of course, had lunch with our favorite Canadian developers at WWDC. Talking with Dave, Roustem and the rest of the crew from Agile Web Solutions is something I look forward to anytime we're all in San Francisco. I didn't film the whole lunch; being filmed eating is almost as awkward as eating alone in the cafeteria, I think. So here's a quick -- but very interesting -- clip of Dave Teare explaining how cut-and-paste in iPhone OS 3.0 is going to be used in 1Password. If you're a 1Password user, you'll probably want to check it out!

Continue readingWWDC Quick/Cut: Dave Teare of Agile Web Solutions on 1Password

Filed under: Gaming, Software, WWDC, Developer, iPhone

WWDC Live: Black Pixel demos 2 new games

The guys from Black Pixel stopped by to demo 2 upcoming games they're working on, both for kids: one for very young children, and one targeted at a slightly older set, which I assume ranges up to at least 30, given that it has me pretty excited. I'm neither young (by my standards), nor a gamer, but the game currently codenamed Tatooine has me ready to go running through the streets swinging my iPhone around and firing it like a phaser, baffling innocent onlookers. Check out the video after the jump, you'll get the idea.

Continue readingWWDC Live: Black Pixel demos 2 new games

Filed under: Software, WWDC, Developer

WWDC Live: Serguei Beloussov, Parallels CEO

Serguei Beloussov, CEO of Parallels, was gracious enough to sit down with us to talk about his take on the Keynote, WWDC in general and some enhancements which were announced at the Parallels shindig at Jillian's. The acoustics in the room were very echo-y and I picked up a lot of air noise and fire trucks. The rescued soundtrack has some spooky artifacts but is completely audible.

The direct access we talk about is shown in detail in the Jillian's video linked above, and is a very impressive step forward for virtualization. Continue reading for the video.

Continue readingWWDC Live: Serguei Beloussov, Parallels CEO

Tip of the Day

Holding the Command key (aka the Apple key) and pressing Tab will cycle through your open applications. It's easier to Cmd-Tab if you are Copy (Cmd-C) and Pasting (Cmd-V) to and from various applications.


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