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Filed under: Software, Odds and ends, iPhone, iPod touch

Five Apps (Mac & iPhone) for pilots

People who fly airplanes, either professionally or for fun, are an interesting bunch. When they're not flying, they are usually doing something to keep their skills sharp or to learn something new. This selection of five Mac and iPhone applications is a sampling of what's available for Apple platforms for the very frequent fliers who read TUAW.

1) X-Plane from Laminar Research is not just one application, but a collection of flight simulation programs for Mac and iPhone as well as "those other platforms." If you're just curious about what it takes to fly an airplane, the X-Plane mobile apps for iPhone and iPod touch are a fairly low-cost way to see if you have what it takes to be a pilot. You can actually start for free with X-Plane Trainer [App Store], which provides your iPhone or touch with a Cessna 172 in which you can learn to take off, fly, navigate, and land. X-Plane Trainer also provides you with constant tips, somewhat akin to having your own flight instructor sitting next to you correcting your mistakes.

The original X-Plane app for iPhone / iPod touch was X-Plane 9 [App Store, US$9.99], which has six different aircraft and configurable weather and daylight features. Laminar Research has also added X-Plane Airliner [App Store, US$9.99, see screenshot below] for budding airline pilots, X-Plane Extreme [App Store, US$9.99], X-Plane Racing [App Store, multiplayer, US$9.99], and X-Plane Helicopter [App Store, US$9.99]. To make life interesting, Laminar also came out with X-Plane Space Shuttle [App Store, US$1.99] so you can learn how to land an orbiter.

Continue readingFive Apps (Mac & iPhone) for pilots

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

WWDC Demo: Flogger, a flight logger for iPhone


We're winding down the last of our WWDC video demos this week, and today we're looking at Flogger, a simple but powerful flight logger for iPhones and iPod touch handhelds (despite a name that might make you look twice). I'm not a pilot, but some of the features sounded pretty nifty, including a method for exporting your logs to Google Docs, right in the app. Other nice options include a huge database of airport codes, the ability to flag entries as simulator flights, and a fast method for adding crew members from your Address Book.

Flogger (iTunes link) is currently $9.99 in the App Store.

Filed under: Video, Cult of Mac, Odds and ends

CBS green lights 'Genius Bar' TV show

Apple's Genius Bar will soon be able to add 'entertainment' to its list of things it does for people, as CBS has given two thumbs up for a show pilot titled Genius Bar. The show apparently follows the employees of a place similar to Apple's Genius Bar and their adventures with "the cool, hip and beautiful" employees of a nearby Ambercrombie & Fitch-like store.

Excuse me while I gag.

Ok, and.. we're back from the gagging break. What on earth are these people thinking? Granted, Apple is flying high right now, but hold the phone. If Apple wanted a show to pimp themselves and their products, they could have conjured (or had CBS conjure) anything cooler than this: a Matrix rip-off where all the white and candy blue code looks like AppleScript, and the Agent Smiths look more like clones of Bill Gates, or a CSI spin-off where all the lab machines are Xserves and Mac Pros, and all the camera work in the field is done with MacBooks and iSights.

Knowing CBS, the hip but slightly-too-arrogant Johnny from the Kinda-Genius Bar will have to cancel his date with Electra from Kimbercrombie & Fitch because he has to fix Heath Ledger's iPod. Ugh.

But who knows - maybe the saving grace of the show might be that its straight-from-radio pop soundtrack will be available from the iTunes Store.

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