Apple News

Filed under: Steve Jobs

During a surprise appearance at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto, California, Steve Jobs joined California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to help advance organ donation legislation.

Last year, Jobs flew to Tennessee to receive a liver transplant, and spoke briefly of this. "There were not enough livers in California to go around," he said, according to the San Jose Mercury News. "I was advised by my Stanford doctors to enroll on a list at a Memphis hospital, because it was more favorable to get a liver there. I was fortunate."

And without the transplant, Jobs said, "I could have died."

Steve Jobs returned to work at Apple in June 2009 and, according to the report, told other transplant survivors that he is currently feeling fine. "It's been a pretty good last few months."

If passed, the legislation could help save more lives by making it easier for Californians to affirm their preferred organ donor status. The current system, says Jobs, "is an obscure process." Full text of the legislation, Senate Bill 1395, can be viewed here.

To find out more about organ donation, visit Donate Life America, the Mayo Clinic's 10 myths of organ donation, and, lastly, state organ and tissue donor registries at OrganDonor.Gov.

[via Silicon Alley Insider]

TUAWSteve Jobs helps push organ donation legislation originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: iPad

Last week at GDC 2010, I talked to quite a few iPhone developers, big and small, and they all told me exactly the same thing when I asked about the iPad: "No, I haven't gotten my hands on one yet." But apparently there are at least a few developers out there who've gotten test models from Apple, according to Business Week, and the requirements that come with them are as strict as you can imagine. There are 10 pages of rules and regulations, and those include that the iPad has to be kept secured to a fixed object in a windowless room, and the company actually requires photographic proof of compliance before they'll actually ship the device out.

Sounds crazy, but clearly there's reasons for such a strict agreement from both sides: developers really want to get a head start on what will surely be a huge market for apps and content starting on the iPad's release, and obviously Apple wants to make sure that the device stays under cover until it releases. You might think that they'd actually benefit from a little exposure, but don't forget: this is Apple -- they depend on the hype and interest that secrecy before release creates. After it comes out, seeing the iPad out in the world will likely sell even more units, but pre-release, Apple's customers are happy to stand in line to be the first to use the iPad.

Of course, this is all from anonymous sources -- it'll be interesting to see if any of these "iPads in the wild" find their way out to the public in the form of pictures or video. Until then, the rest of us (including many developers who've played big parts in building up the App Store to where it is today) will have to wait until April 3rd.

[via Engadget]

TUAWiPads sent out to select developers, kept under cover for now originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Apple

China Mobile announced at a news conference that it's going after service for Apple in that country -- it wants to host both the iPhone and the iPad in China for Apple. Currently, the iPhone service there is provided by China Unicom, but China Mobile has said that if the iPhone is ported over to its government-approved 3G service (similar, it seems, to the rumored deal with Verizon), then China Mobile would be interested in offering both.

Officially, Apple hasn't said anything about this -- it has been confirmed to be in talks about the iPhone, but those are only talks, of course, and it hasn't been talking at all with China Mobile about the iPad. Still, being that China Mobile is the largest data provider in the world, with over 520 million subscribers, Apple might eventually be enticed, especially if they need to widen the potential audience to sell more handsets. Plus, if the rumored deal with Verizon actually happens, Apple won't really have reason to be exclusive in the rest of the world, either.

TUAWChina Mobile angling for iPad, iPhone service in China originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Found Footage

After spending years trying, failing and trying again to teach a number of mature Apple users how to use various Apple products, I got a kick out of this video. It's funny because it's true, and it also shows that there are some less than optimum uses for an iPad. This iPad parody was made as a school project for a Comm 340 class. I think you'll get a chuckle out of it on this late Friday afternoon.

Thanks Justin for sending it in.

TUAWFound Footage: Grandma gets an iPad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: iPhone

Square is a very cool piece of hardware for the iPhone and other smartphones; when combined with the Square service, you can accept credit card payments right on your iPhone. TechCrunch reports that charity:water used Square at SxSW to collect donations, and other uses are already cropping up; flower carts and political fundraisers, for instance.

If you haven't seen it in action, check out our in-person walkthrough from Macworld Expo, or the official YouTube video demonstration. The demo features Adam Lisagor (creator of Birdhouse for iPhone and part of my favorite podcast You Look Nice Today) and Jason Permenter, who walk through a very simple real-life scenario: what do you do if you want to sell something, like a couch, to someone who wants to pay with a credit card? Square not only makes it possible to do that, but it adds some cool features such as showing a picture of the buyer and seller on the iPhone to verify their identity.

Square was born after Jim McKelvey couldn't sell a piece of art because he couldn't accept a credit card, a process that has traditionally been complicated and expensive. Part of Square's vision has included charitable giving, where a donation of 1¢ is made from every transaction to a cause of your choice.

When I was growing up, using a credit card meant that the clerk had to reach under the counter, pull out a device where you would carefully line up the credit card, then put special receipt paper on it, including two carbon copies (remember carbon paper?), they would push the handle across the device and it would push the numbers on the card into the carbon paper, then they would hand it to you to sign, and then the clerk would take it back, pull out one of the carbon copies, and hand it to you. If you were standing in line behind someone paying with a credit card, you'd react much the same way people do these days if someone pays with a check. Nowadays those PIN-pad credit card readers are in all the major stores and at gas stations. Being able to accept credit cards is almost a necessity in today's world.

Square could give individuals and small businesses the same opportunity, using a device that millions of people are already carrying around in their pockets. Check it out; even if you aren't a seller, you may want to sign up for Square to be registered as a buyer once it's out of private beta.

TUAWSquare used for fundraiser payments at SxSW originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft said the search engine app was 'inadvertently made it available to all countries' and has pulled them in favor of localized apps coming in the future.

We lost track of this news when it happened two weeks ago, but it's worth getting in the record. For the third year in a row, Apple has topped Fortune's list of the world's most admired companies. Although Google came in second (passing Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway), Apple's margin of victory was the greatest ever. Amazon.com placed fifth and Microsoft was eleventh.

 

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Seven months after Apple’s self-imposed deadline flew by, Bharti Airtel finally announces that the iPhone 3GS is "coming soon" to India.

Filed under: iPad

Do you believe in miracles? If you clap your hands, will Tinkerbell appear? Are you willing to submit an application developed solely in a simulator and hope that it will work on real hardware? With real customers? In a real App Store? Well, now is your chance to find out.

tweetmeme_url = "http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/19/apple-is-now-accepting-ipad-app-submissions/" tweetmeme_source = "tuaw" According to an email just sent out to devs, Apple is now accepting iPad application submissions through iTunes Connect. You can submit your application today and "receive feedback" on its "readiness for the grand opening."

digg_url = "http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/19/apple-is-now-accepting-ipad-app-submissions/" Simulator-only apps developed with the iPhone SDK 3.2 Beta 5 can be submitted as of today for initial review. Upload your apps by 5pm, Saturday, March 27th, and the App review team will e-mail you with submission feedback about the readiness of your application for App Store distribution. You will also receive information about submitting your apps for final review, before the iPad ships and (for most of us) before we even own hardware.

If you're thinking about waiting: don't. Apple states that "[o]nly apps submitted for the initial review will be considered for the grand opening of the iPad App Store." An Apple spokesman further confirmed that "[W]e are looking forward to having an amazing line up of apps available when the iPad ships on April 3." The iPad App Store will launch at the same time as the iPad device.
Developers have expressed both excitement and concern about this development. iPhone developer Scott Lawrence told TUAW "I think it's pretty risky, knowing how 'accurate' the simulator is with respect to actual iPhone performance." Most developers insist on testing not only on hardware but on a wide range of models and firmware installations before an app is generally released. From software compatibility to hardware, the simulator approximates but does not equal actual device performance.

As I have written elsewhere, the simulator uses many Macintosh frameworks and libraries, offering features that are not actually present on the iPhone. Applications that appear to be completely operational and fully debugged on the simulator may flake out or crash on the device itself. You simply cannot fully debug any program solely by using the simulator and be assured that the software will run bug-free on the iPhone. Here at TUAW central, we're assuming (or at least hoping) that Apple will be testing device builds on real devices.

iPhone developer Greg Hartstein points out, "I'm not sure Apple really had a choice. Even with a store of 150,000 iPhone apps, Apple knows that new users are going to want to see what the iPad can really do rather than simply use their iPhone apps larger." With our impatient culture, it's make or break for the iPad. Apple needs to put its best face forward and get the most exciting apps it can out there for its new iPad community, despite access limits to early development units.

As one of our commenters writes, "Let the farts begin!"

TUAWApple is now accepting iPad app submissions originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Build and test your iPad app using iPhone SDK 3.2 beta 5 available on the iPhone Dev Center. Only iPad apps built with iPhone SDK 3.2 beta 5 will be accepted for this initial review.

• Upload your distribution signed app through iTunes Connect by Saturday, March 27, 5pm PDT.
• The App Review Team will review your app on iPad and email you details about the readiness of your app.
• You will also receive additional information about submitting your app for final review before iPad ships.
• Only apps submitted for the initial review will be considered for the grand opening of the iPad App Store.

Developers, Click here…

Filed under: Jailbreak/pwnage

A few weeks ago, I wrote lovingly about GPS. For me, at least, GPS on the iPhone OS family is often more about the social features that location unlocks than about simple positioning. With GPS, you can track your trips to share with friends and family, see what people have been Yelp-ing about, and find what's happening right now, right near you.

When I heard about GPS for iPod touches, I got excited. For a while, I've been reading about roqyBluetooth (aka roqyBT). It's a system hack that allows you to connect an iPod or an early model iPhone to an external GPS receiver over Bluetooth. Yesterday, I finally got a chance to put RoqyBT to the test.

Retailing for 8 Euros (about $11), roqyBluetooth is a jailbreak application sold through Cydia and the Rock Store. Its Bluetooth stack implementation hooks into the iPod's Core Location system services. In use, any application that normally queries for Core Location data gains access to the Bluetooth-originated GPS data (including location, elevation, and so forth) just as it would normally receive WiFi positioning or, in the case of the iPhone, cell tower positioning.

It works. I bought a simple Bluetooth GPS unit from Semsons.com for about $20. After installing roqyBluetooth and pairing it with my BT GPS, I was able to run Trailguru and track my progress through several trips as I walked and drove to various locations. The Trailguru results were similar to the trails I recorded simultaneously on an iPhone 3GS using the same software. All in all, success.

So what were the ups and downs of the process?
There are some definite negatives to this approach, despite the overall win. First of all, purchasing and registering the roqyBT software is cumbersome. Even using a free license provided by the developer reinforced how e-commerce in the jailbreak world is far more of a burden than the smooth App Store process.

Jailbreak software purchases really lack a consistent process. Admittedly, jailbreak commerce is relatively new and unformed but it definitely could be improved. To purchase a roqyBluetooth license, you must install the application, retrieve a complex serial number and register that number with the site, which then magically communicates back to the app that you're good to go.

Once installed, you really need to read the product FAQ and follow the instructions exactly. Make sure to disable the standard built-in Bluetooth and enable CoreLocation in settings. Only then should you run the application and pair your device. Once paired, you can quit the app and run any CoreLocation application, which will now use the paired GPS device for positioning.

Then, there's another negative. The GPS unit I bought has the battery half life of an anxious Mayfly, which is to say that it only made it about halfway through my walk yesterday. I suspect that's typical for the breed. Inexpensive GPS is really meant to be used in the car (it ships with a free car adapter), not in your pocket.

Once the GPS unit died, Trailguru kept crashing -- I suspect from some sort of issue with CoreLocation and roqyBT. It was not happy with whatever it was receiving from the iPod system calls. Normally, Trailguru is pretty solid. With the GPS unit out of commission, each Trailguru launch ended in failure until I switched off roqyBT.

Why Trailguru? Why not some GPS-specific application? The bottom line there is that those apps are generally submitted to the App Store for sale and installation only to GPS-enabled iPhone devices. Trailguru is platform-agnostic, so it was running on my iPod already and could take advantage of the improved CoreLocation data. Higher-end apps are not as easily installed. Keep that in mind should you consider going for the whole jailbreak-iPod-Bluetooth GPS solution.

I normally have to use an external battery when using Trailguru (it's a battery hog). Its clear that the GPS system could use an external booster as well. That means that for walking around, the roqyBT solution involves a lot of extra devices -- probably more of a burden than you're willing to put up with.

Everything worked far better in the car, however. I already have an iPod power cable hooked up. It was easy to add a GPS power cable as well. With a steady source of power for both units, Trailguru performed flawlessly as it tracked the car over a number of trips.

In the end, I came away very impressed with roqyBT. It did what it said it would do and seems, at least so far, to be doing that job pretty well. In the near future, I'd like to see what kind of navigation apps I might be able to test with the roqyBT system on the iPod touch, if I can find them. (Please feel free to suggest some alternatives to Trailguru in the comments.) And, of course, I can't wait to test it out on a jailbroken WiFi-only iPad. But that's going to have to wait for a while.

TUAW is commonly provided with not-for-resale licenses or promo codes to permit product evaluations and reviews. For more details, see our policy page. Promo code requests are not guarantees of reviews.

TUAWhacksugar: Putting iPod touch GPS to the test with roqyBluetooth originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BusyMac remains, well, busy, pushing out yet another small bug-fix update to BusyCal, their iCal-replacement calendar program with sharing capabilities. BusyCal 1.2.3 fixes problems unpublishing calendars from Google Calendar and fixes time zone discrepancies when publishing calendars to Google (but note that Google Calendar still doesn't support "floating" time zones, making it unusable for workgroups dispersed across time zones who are trying to coordinate events at a conference where everyone will be in the same time zone, for instance). Several cosmetic bugs have also been squashed, attachments and to-dos are no longer removed from WebDAV calendars by default, and more. Full release notes are available. ($49, free updates, 5.6 MB)

 

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Apple is now accepting iPad apps for a “grand opening” of the iPad App Store, according to an email just sent to registered developers. “iPad will begin shipping soon and your opportunity to be part of the grand opening of the iPad App Store starts today,” the email says. There’s no details about when the store’s grand [...]

In an e-mail to iPhone developers, Apple says it will begin reviewing iPad applications on March 27 for inclusion in the "grand opening of the iPad App Store."

Happy Friday! Here’s this week’s selection by Mac Games and More featuring fun casual games you can play into the weekend. The games include a $10 million treasure hunt, the excellent Murder, She Wrote, an opera for one and more. Stone Loops of Jurassica – Play an addictive game or 10 of this innovative twist on [...]

The Mac beta for StarCraft 2 is reportedly going to drop in April, following the appearance of a Windows beta which became available a few weeks ago. Few burrs under the saddle chafe a Mac user more than Windows gamers having more fun than them, so this will please a lot of people. Don’t get [...]

Filed under: iPad

A few months ago Macworld asked where's the iPad's Dvorak keyboard? Well, in the iPhone SDK 3.2 Beta 5, which was released on Tuesday, there's support for hardware Dvorak keyboards in the OS; however, still no sign of a soft keyboard layout for Dvorak fans.

A source sent us the above screen shot from the iPad simulator, showing Dvorak layouts as a hardware choice -- and if you've seen a Bluetooth Dvorak keyboard lately, let us know. This setting would presumably allow you to use a standard keyboard with the Dvorak layout, however, and apply stickers to the keys if needed.

Apple's official tech specs for the iPad still only list keyboard support for the following: English (U.S.), English (UK), French (France, Canada), German, Japanese (QWERTY), Dutch, Flemish, Spanish, Italian, Simplified Chinese (Handwriting and Pinyin), Russian.

As Wikipedia states, on a Dvorak keyboard, the letters and frequently-occurring punctuation are organized the letters and frequently-occurring punctuation "so that the cumulative distance traveled by the 10 fingers when touch-typing typical English text is closer to the minimum than when touch-typing that same text via the dominant QWERTY layout. This reduction in distance traveled was originally purported to permit faster rates of typing, but in later years is also purported to reduce repetitive-strain injuries, including carpal tunnel syndrome." The Dvorak keyboard was patented in 1936 by August Dvorak.

[Update: In the original post I used the explanation of a Dvorak keyboard from Wikipedia. While I did originally link directly to the Wikipedia article in the paragraph, I failed to explicitly state or use quotations that I had done so. I apologize for any confusion that this caused and thank the readers who pointed my error out. The error was mine and mine alone.]

TUAWiPad support for hardware Dvorak keyboards in latest SDK beta originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Philadelphia PowerBook User Group (PPUG) will meet tomorrow Saturday, March 20, 2010 from 12 noon to 3 p.m. at the Manayunk Brewing Company along the beautiful Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, PA. We usually have lunch (or a brew) while we talk mobile computing.

Now that Apple has announced the iPad, where does it fit in the mobile technology landscape? Does it overlap with the iPhone and the MacBook? Or does it fit exactly in-between the two?

At tomorrow’s PPUG’s meeting I will dissect the pros and cons of Apple’s new “tablet” Mac and will discuss its advantages and disadvantages over a netbook.  If you’re thinking about the iPad, come to the March meeting and we’ll set your straight.

Rob Parker, Bob Snow, as well as Youngmoo Kim will also be on hand to talk about latest developments in mobile technology.  We’ll talk about all the news and announcements from Macworld 2010 with a healthy serving of Q&A. Join us for a great meeting, it’s free and open to you and your guests. Feel free to bring items to sell or swap as well.

Manayunk Brewing Company
4120 Main Street
Philadelphia, PA 19127
215.482.8220

It’s time for our weekly digest of tiny iPhone reviews, courtesy of iPhoneTiny.com, with some extra commentary exclusive to Cult of Mac. This time, we review 4×4 Jam, A Doodle Fly, Business Card Reader, Gorillacam, Magnetic Joe, Magnetic Joe 2, Neocell Fighters Evolution, Noise.io LE, Rasta Monkey, Samurai: Way of the Warrior, and Ultimate Video [...]

Filed under: Odds and ends

PCMag.com's recent article The Best Apple Product Alternatives couldn't smell any more like "bait" without being covered in worms.

Hoping to appeal to those who have some innate desire to not buy from Apple due to "a limited budget or an anti-Apple stance," PCMag put together a list of "alternative" products to Apple gear like the iPhone, iPod touch & iPod shuffle. The headline will surely grab attention, but as a friend of mine used to say, "Is there any meat in that sandwich?"

They start out comparing the iPhone 3GS to the Google Nexus One. The Nexus One will save you $20, but even PCMag rates the Nexus One 3.5/5 stars while the iPhone gets 4/5. The Samsung Mythic SGH-a897 will save you $70 and gets 4/5 stars. Only one catch: it's not a smartphone. It has "Web-based widgets" and apparently shows broadcast TV. Oh, and it's on AT&T too, so if you're turning down the iPhone because of the network, this isn't for you. So far this sounds like comparing my car to my bike and telling me the bike is better because it doesn't require gas.

tweetmeme_url = 'http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/19/pcmag-offers-best-alternatives-to-apple-products'; tweetmeme_source = 'tuaw'; Next is the iPod touch, listed in the category of "Portable Media Players," and here even PCMag can't keep a straight face: "We won't lie: You won't find a PMP that outperforms the iPod touch. Name another player that's basically an iPhone without the phone, and, well...you can't." They give the iPod touch a 5/5 rating. Their "ideal alternative" is the Sony X Series Walkman NWZ-X1051 (who names these things?) which will cost you $299.95. Oh, remember how the "hook" to this story was lower prices? This one is actually more expensive than the iPod touch. PCMag does offer one other suggestion: you could get a Zune.

Sadly, it gets worse. Read on.

[hat tip to Shibani Joshi]

Statistically insignificant anecdotal side note: I know exactly one person who bought a Zune. He went to Best Buy to buy an iPod and they were sold out, and the salesman talked him into the Zune. One day after he bought it, he was asking me to help him figure it out. A few months later he was cussing at the Best Buy salesperson and himself for not buying the iPod. Also, it was brown.

Let's move on the the iPod nano, which PCMag says has "gone through several iterations, getting better every time" and "is the best player in its price range," which explains the 4.5/5 rating. The Samsung Q2 is $70 cheaper, but only gets a 3.5/5 rating, and PCMag can barely muster two sentences about it. Their third option, the $50 Coby MP705, gets only one run-on sentence which ends by telling you it has "earbuds that won't fall out of your ears." Oh, and it has a 3/5 rating.

Skipping down a bit, they compare the MacBook Air with the Sony VAIO VPC-Z116GXS which they rate 4/5 ahead of the MacBook Air's 3/5 stars, but the price is $1 more than the MacBook. There goes the old "Macs are more expensive" myth again.

What about the MacBook Pro? I was interested in this because the article starts off with this teaser: "Whether it's a limited budget or an anti-Apple stance that stops you from shelling out, say, $2,500 for a MacBook Pro, take solace in the fact that you'll find plenty of competing PC laptops that will serve you just as well." First of all, $2,500 is more than double the starting price of a MacBook Pro. "The MacBook Pro, on the other hand, to many, is laptop perfection" says PCMag. (Is Mr. Gideon channeling Captain Kirk or Christopher Walken?) They compare a $1700 MacBook Pro to a "Dell Studio XPS 16" (seriously, again with the names) which comes in at $1,804.

To recap: the article begins by grossly exaggerating the price of a MacBook Pro, then goes on to call the $1700 MacBook Pro "laptop perfection" but suggests that you spend over $100 more on an alternative.

It gets better. They describe a $1200 iMac as "basically a flat-panel HD monitor with a top-notch computer built-in. If you're a Windows person, however, this does you little good." Could someone visit PCMag's offices and drop off some brochures about Boot Camp, Parallels, and VMware Fusion? Before you bring up the additional cost of buying Windows, let me point out that their alternative, the "HP TouchSmart 600-1055 PC" (I'm not even going to comment on that name) costs four hundred dollars more than the iMac. They also say that this computer "shows how touch screen interfaces are going mainstream." Call me back in two years, PCMag, and tell me how great the touch screen interfaces are going on desktop computers.

For a "less-expensive alternative" they offer the $700 Lenovo IdeaCentre A600: "With a love-it-or-hate-it design, the Lenovo IdeaCentre A600 gives the value PC buyer an all-in-one option that's more powerful than a cheap nettop, though power users will want more." Really? That's what you're comparing to the iMac? I can't even look at you anymore, PCMag.

Look, there's more... they talk about the Mac Mini and suggest the "Dell Inspiron Zino HD" (ugh). They look at the AppleTV and suggest that you get an Xbox 360 for $70 more.

But honestly, the "meat" of this article is intellectual tofu. You can shape it like a turkey, but you're not going to fool anyone. You've got to have a heavy layer of Apple-hatin' mouth froth to seriously consider more expensive or lower-rated alternatives as better than what Apple has to offer.

Two things bother me the most about this piece. First, the dishonesty in describing the MacBook Pro as a $2,500 computer; not that you can't configure one for that much, but the way it's presented is deceptive. Second, praising the iMac and then saying it isn't something a Windows person can use. There are several perfectly good ways for people to run Windows on their Macs, and those approaches have been available for years.

TUAWPCMag offers "best" alternatives to Apple products, redefines "best" in process originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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