Filed under: Software, Deals

Until September 8th, you can buy Office for 30% off with the purchase of any Mac at Apple resellers. Visit this Microsoft Promo Page and choose "Save Now".

Students can get additional discounts by purchasing Office with academic pricing. This Student Pricing page offers tips about ongoing student discounts that aren't limited to the September 8th cut-off.

A cheap copy of Office ... what more could you want?

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: iPod Family, Bad Apple, iPhone, App Store

When a developer submits a "Pull My Finger" application, you've kind of got to expect it's going to be rejected. iFartz was rejected. Ibrate was rejected -- and that one was even raising money for breast cancer research. Today, over at Mac Rumors, I read about "Pull My Finger"'s rejection for limited utility. Right at the bottom of the rejection letter was the name "Victor Wang".

Mr. Wang has become a near legend for his rejection letters, usually long, delayed (I suspect he's second- or third-tier in the review process) and for aesthetic reasons that leave developers blinking with surprise. While "Pull My Finger" would probably not meet "Koi Pond" levels of user reach (here's our look at Koi Pond), it could have a solid audience. It's a simple, stupid joke app (notice how I'm not pulling punches here) but it's the kind of simple, stupid joke app that a lot of people would download and use because people like simple, stupid joke apps.

I've complained about this before, so apologies to everyone who has heard this point -- the next post is just a wee bit below this one, feel free to scroll -- but until Apple offers developers a firm set of guidelines, developers will continue to be ticked off by seemingly arbitrary rejections like this one. Apple is clearly refusing applications that fail the sniff test -- and yes, I know that's a little more apt a metaphor than this application deserves. "Pull My Finger" is tasteless. Apple should have rejected it for that reason, rather than pulling new reasons out from thin air.

Apple needs to step forward, and do so soon, with a clear set of guidelines that explain to developers exactly what to expect when they press that "submit" button for their new app. Developers shouldn't be wasting Apple's time with unpublishable software. Apple should not be wasting Developers' time with a secretive and arbitrary review process.

Update: The app's author has set up a plea-page

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPod Family, iTS, Software, iTunes, Software Update

Kevin Rose is at it again, with a brand new round of rumors about iTunes 8, supposedly premiered next week at the big Apple iPod event. Did I miss the meeting where we all declared him king of iPod rumors? King or not, he's got what he claims is inside information, including a writeup about something called the "Genius" sidebar, which creates recommended playlists for you, a new grid view (like Delicious Library?), and a new music visualizer.

Additionally, Rose's tipster mentions HD TV shows in the iTMS, and reiterates the previous rumors of new IPod nanos and Touches. None of these things are a huge surprise -- while the Genuis system will certainly be interesting to see (and make fun of) if real, HDTV and the new iPods are old news in Rumorville by now.

Is it OK if we hope for some faster and easier iPhone syncing with a new version of iTunes as well? Whatever is coming next week, we'll find out all about it then.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone

Once my kids were beyond putting random technology into their mouths, I have let them play with gadgets. But what about my iPhone? It started innocently enough: a Leapster for a birthday. Then I cleaned out the garage and let them "borrow" a few antique Palm devices. Then I got them hooked on an old iBook G3 running OS 9 and some great old classics (the original "Toy Story" interactive storybook is a nearly-perfect example of the genre). A Palm T|X loaded with games, music, photos and movies might have been a step in the wrong direction, as was the Dell Axim with the same. Access to those was limited until the iPhone came along.

Once a kid has used iSaber (currently unavailable from the iTunes store) or played DizzyBee, it's over. When you show them you can add yet more fun diversions the question becomes "got anything new on your iPhone?" By then it's over.

Now the question becomes, what's the harm? Is there harm? I've limited their use to the inevitable "we're waiting right now" moments. But still, no matter what we've done that day that was new and exciting, if my son plays with the iPhone for 5 minutes that's all Mom hears about when he's going to bed.

I grew up with an Apple ][ in the house and I'm sure that had a hand in my love of tech. But there's also a case for letting kids find their own way, at an age-appropriate level. I cringe when they swing my naked iPhone around using iSaber, expecting Wii-style damage to our windows and the device itself. Yet I can't help but think that getting used to technology early -- something that will increasingly invade their lives as it becomes more embedded in our world -- is maybe a good thing. Everything in moderation, of course. I certainly don't want them erasing my high scores; I'll let iTunes do that.

Son's favorite games: Cannon Game and MotionX Dice. (iTunes links)
Daughter's favorite games: DizzyBeeFree (guess I better buy it!) and aSleep (iTunes links)

We've covered MotionX and aSleep before.

View Poll

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Software, Odds and ends, iPhone, App Store

Another instant messenger app for iPhone has been released, joining the ranks of such stalwarts as Pairingo, MobileChat, and AIM for iPhone. Shape IM+ All-in-One Mobile Messenger for iPhone (click opens iTunes App Store) supports AIM/iChat, MSN/Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo!, ICQ, Jabber, Google Talk and MySpaceIM. All public IM systems can be connected through the one client, and all messages come into one shared inbox.

Shape Services GMBH is currently offering the iPhone application for free, while the Windows Mobile, Palm OS, Symbian, and BlackBerry versions retail for $29.99. Get it while it's free!

Thanks to ZaP for the tip!Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Hardware, Apple History

Alfred DiBlasi is at it again. A few months ago, he impressed us with the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh he found on ebay. What's impressive about that? It was still factory sealed. Never opened, never booted, never used. That's the kind of find that makes my beige, vintage heart flutter.

This time around, he's playing with a vintage Lisa in an exhaustive demonstration video. Before booting it up, he takes it apart and discusses the innards, piece by piece.

Next is the money shot as the computer boots up, and Alfred moves through the UI. It's a pretty cool demonstration of a nice piece of Apple history.

Thanks for sharing, Alfred. What's next?Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Terminal Tips

Are you tired of not being able to see all of your browsing history in Safari? Well, with this Terminal hack, you can easily change how many items (or how many days) Safari shows in the History menu. To do this, just open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal) and type in one of the following commands:

Limit to number of items:
defaults write com.apple.Safari WebKitHistoryItemLimit 2000 Limit to number of days:
defaults write com.apple.Safari WebKitHistoryAgeInDaysLimit 30 You can you can also use both commands to get both a day and an item limit.

Want more tips and tricks like this? Visit TUAW's Terminal Tips and Mac 101 sections.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: OS, Apple History

Reader and Flickr user ismh has posted a series of screenshots of Mac OS 10.0 to our Flickr pool. It was just seven years ago -- March of 2001 -- that Mac OS 10.0 was released to the waiting masses. I distinctly remember driving to my local authorized retailer to buy a copy, and then quickly rushing home to install it on my 333mhz G3 iMac.

What I apparently fogot was how different the UI was. Remember the pinstripes? How about Sherlock? And don't miss the list of supported hardware, including the iBook, the PowerBook G3, The Power Macintosh G3 and the good 'ol Power Mac G4.

I also remember slower-than-molasses performance and aqua lozenge buttons everywhere. Oh, Mac OS X. How you've changed.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Software

Geeks love to try out new applications, but hardcore nerds (like me) like installing new utilities.

At first glance, CheckUp by App4Mac is a system monitor. Use it to keep track of your processor(s), RAM, disks, network activity and processes. But that's just the beginning.

The UI is very nice. Each set of functions gets its own window. For instance, the "Profile" pane displays information like your machine's serial number, OS, processor(s), IP address, MAC address and more.

The "System" pane lists all installed applications and their version numbers, plus all operating systems that your machine will support, including Windows and Linux. A drop-down menu lets you switch between installed applications, fonts, drivers, Internet plugins, preference panes and login items.

The re-sizable window moves from pane to pane with a snazzy 3-D transition (either cube or swap) and is very easy to read. I especially like the "Processors" pane which lets you pop out the meters measuring processor activity.

Here's the cool part of CheckUp. You can use it to monitor a remote computer, either on your LAN or across the internet. This is very handy for IT pros who could use a quick-and-dirty glance at a far-away machine.

The purchase fee of $29US includes lifetime updates. If you're looking for a stylish system monitor that's actually fun to use, give CheckUp a try.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Video, Internet Tools

A while back we noted that Amazon was planning to bring its video on demand service to the Mac. Well, it looks like they've finally flipped the switch because the service is now live.

Much like iTunes, they're selling TV shows as well as offering movies for purchase and rent. Unlike iTunes, it's a streaming rather than a download service. Fortunately, they've got a number of free videos which will give you a sense of the quality of the service (which requires Flash).

Frankly, I'm a big fan of Amazon MP3, so it's good to see Amazon getting into the video business as well to put a little more competitive pressure on iTunes. I'm doubtful, however, that it will really affect the iTunes juggernaut.

[via electronista]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: OS, Software, Switchers, Open Source

Sun xVM VirtualBox 2.0 has arrived! We did a detailed review of VirtualBox 1.6 back in July, and now a shiny new version is available. If you want to set up a virtualization environment on your Intel Mac, but don't want to spend money on Parallels or VMWare Fusion, xVM VirtualBox 2.0 is a free and full-featured package that may fit your needs very well.

What's new in version 2.0? Mac users will see the following changes:

• 64-bit OS guest support (only on 64-bit hosts, as one might expect)
• New native Leopard user interface on Mac OS X hosts
• New-version notifier
• Guest property information interface
• Host Interface Networking on Mac OS X hosts
• Framework for collecting performance and resource usage data (metrics)
• Added SATA asynchronous IO (NCQ: Native Command Queuing) when accessing raw disks/partitions (major performance gain)

A list of bug fixes can be viewed after the break. xVM VirtualBox 2.0 can be downloaded here.

Continue reading Sun xVM VirtualBox 2 enhances the free virtualization experience

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Software, Cool tools, Education

TUAW's going Back to School! We'll be bringing you tips and reviews for students, parents and teachers right up until the bell rings.

This is the third and final installment in the "Back to School: Writing Tools" series (parts I and II are here). To round out our roundup, we'll take a look at some (possibly) unexpected solutions, as well as some utilities which can aid any writer. Read on for some final thoughts on the current array of Mac writing tools for students, teachers, professors ... and the rest of us, too.

Continue reading Back to School: Writing tools, part III

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Software, Internet, Internet Tools

Sandvox is the WYSIWYG web editor from Karelia that's won praises from users and the design community (including an Apple Design Award) alike. You can read our previous coverage here.

This week, Karelia has released version 1.5, which offers a slew of changes. You can use Sandvox to publish to any webhost (including FTP, SFTP and MobileMe) or create a blog. The pro version lets you edit the HTML and both the pro and basic version include attractive templates that you'll actually want to use. Changes to version 1.5 include

• Major improvements to media processing, making it easier than ever to create and publish multimedia and media-intensive sites
• Improvements to all pagelets, including an enhanced Contact Form and a brand new YouTube pagelet
• Seven all-new designs, plus enhancements to other designs, bringing the total to 50
• New blogging features, including a Collection Archives pagelet to better manage and display older entries, automatic navigation links between entries, and "continue reading" links to better manager longer entries

There's much more, and you can read the full release notes here. As we said, Sandvox is a very nice tool for people who want to put up a page or site with no fuss. Sandvox requires Mac OS 10.4 or later, is a Universal Binary and comes in both pro ($79US) and standard ($49US) versions. Version 1.5 is a free upgrade for registered users.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Odds and ends

You may already use one of several different Dashboard widgets for listening to BBC radio programmes over the net; but the team at BBC Labs has just released a new one that offers something a bit different.

It's part of a wider project called Radio Pop that turns radio listening into a social activity. As long as you're listening to your BBC programmes via the Radio Pop player (available in-browser or, as I said at the start, as a widget), you can "Pop" your favourites - in other words, flag them.

Your Radio Pop profile page shows what you've been listening to. Your Pops show the things you liked most, and give you quick access to programme information pages. Right now it's limited to live radio streams, but plans are underway to add the BBC's Listen Again output as well, which will make it much more interesting. (Developers: there's an API for you to play with, too.)

Since I'm in the UK, I haven't been able to confirm that this works elsewhere; YMMV. One additional requirement for making it work is a copy of Real Player, which the BBC uses for all its radio streams. Download it via the links on this BBC help page and you'll get a version that doesn't come laden with ads.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Gaming, Software, iPhone

"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn..." but not for long. A company called Digital Jokers, in conjunction with a subsidary called Mayhem Studios, is bringing HP Lovecraft's cuddly, horrible, insanity-inspiring Great Old One to the iPhone in the form of a graphical adventure game called Call of Cthulhu: The Darkness Within. It looks like fun, although if the laughable trailer is any indication, they'll need to do some spell checking and additional translation before the game actually goes live.

Still, Cthulhu fans will slog through some pretty bad software if it means there's a good Lovecraftian story in the mix. We'll keep an eye on this one -- graphical horror-based adventure on the iPhone done well could make for a good (or should we say evil?) time.

[via Macworld]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, iPod Family, Rumors, Odds and ends

The event is real, and that of course brings with it the usual flood of rumors and speculation. Latest off the rumor mill assembly line is supposedly the leaked dimensions of a new iPod Touch and nano -- iLounge has their hands on what they claim are dimensional drawings of the new iPod nano and a "Touch 2G," which, as you might guess, is an iPod Touch redesigned with iPhone 3G specs in mind. We'd say that you should make sure to take the requisite grain of salt with these, but with all the rumors Apple fans end up eating, we're kind of worried about your blood pressure by now. Better stay away from this one -- we'll know next week whether it's real or not.

We should say, though, that the nano design does look similar to the one originally posted by Kevin Rose a little while ago, which gives credence to both rumors. On the other hand, if someone was manufacturing dimensional drawings and claiming they were real, wouldn't they make them line up to the majority of the rumors so far?Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, iPod Family, Software, iPhone

Spore Origins has wriggled its way out to the iTunes store for the iPod. The game is a slimmed-down version of the early microbial stages in the upcoming PC game -- in the main game, you'll be able to take your little microbes up through the evolutionary ladder all the way up to space travel, but in the iPod game, you just guide a little cellular organism around in the primordial muck, eating what's smaller than you and running away from what's bigger.

We haven't played the iPod version, but the iPhone version, which we got a hands-on with at E3 earlier this year, is due out later this week, according to the game's creator, Will Wright. Both games pale in comparison to the creativity and polish that the full Spore game will offer -- running a creature around in the muck isn't nearly as fun as guiding it through the history of time itself, and unfortunately, as we were told at E3, online play and character transfer never made it into the final version, so the portable games have no relation to the full game at all.

So what you're left with is a little arcade game, which probably isn't actually worth the $5 it costs. There are, after all, better games out there for less.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Retail, Rumors

The Apple retail machine continues to move, this time across Switzerland, as three stores are nearly ready. ifoAppleStore reports that the store in Zurich's Glattzentrum shopping mall should be in business any time now, and they've posted some tantalizing spy shots.

A second store is scheduled to open in Zurich on Bahnhofstrasse by year's end. Job postings for these locations began to appear on Apple's job board as early as last February.

Finally, a third store on Rue de Rive (Geneva) is scheduled to open later this month.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, iPhone

I thought Line Rider kind of "jumped" the shark (so to speak) when they sold out to McDonald's, but apparently the little sandbox physics game is still kicking around. InXile, the company that makes it, is working on a version for the iPhone. There was a version available for jailbreakers, but apparently the company put the kibosh on it when they found out.

Not much else to say about this -- Line Rider is currently available for free online, and if you like it there, you'll probably like it on the iPhone, too. Personally, it's more fun to watch than to play -- whenever I try to make a run, my little guy always dies on the first curve. But maybe with a little more iPhone-based practice, I can finally get him to do that loop-de-loop I've been wanting.

[via Touch Arcade]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone

This Business Week article describes the rising demand for first generation iPhones. "Shelf prices" (using eBay values of virtual shelves) for the 16GB iPhone are currently at about $600, and $500 for 8GB models. In other words, the $250 AT&T refurb specials from March are now worth roughly double what you paid for them.

From easy-unlocking to contract-free usage to eco-consumerism, consumers are looking for those original units and paying premium prices to get them. A majority of phones are heading outside the US for resale while growing demand at home keeps resale prices high.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments