Apps

When upgrading from Snow Leopard to Lion, there is a chance of compatibility issues between app and the new OS. A new site called RoaringApps comes to the rescue by displaying what apps are compatible with the new OS. RoaringApps provides a long table of apps showing what apps are supported and if it is available in the App Store.

Other parts of the site include a forum and IRC chat to talk apps. This makes a great way to assure that all of your Mac applications are going to work, before you upgrade.

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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9crEF_QVNU]

Gameloft has rewritten their popular N.O.V.A. 2, first person shooter, for the Mac. N.O.V.A. 2 Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance, originally available for iOS, is a game packed with 13 levels and an extensive multiplayer mode. Here are the game’s features:

AN EXTENSIVE ACTION-PACKED SINGLE-PLAYER CAMPAIGN:
– 13 chapters taking you through hostile, yet amazing environments of various Orbitals
– Varied gameplay: Run, shoot, fall, drive a motorbike, pilot a giant mech, and blast a laser
– Over a dozen weapons including the Dual Hand Guns, Assault Rifle, Shotgun, Automatic Shotgun, Sniper Rifle, Rocket Launcher, Grenade Launcher, Alien Plasma Gun, Alien Lightning Gun, Alien Laser Gun, Turrets, Frag Grenades and Mines
– 3 special powers: Freeze, Slow Time and Disc for melee combat
– Experience intense combats against a wide range of enemies with improved AI

INTENSE MULTIPLAYER MODES:
– 1~10 players online or locally
– 5 modes: Free for All, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Freeze Tag, and InstaGib
– Ranking & perk systems
– 10 maps on which to battle it out
– Play against your friends or the entire world through Gameloft LIVE!
– Worldwide leaderboards in the game & on the official website, www.near-orbit-vanguard-alliance.com

The game is available for $9.99 on the Mac App Store.

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NBC joins the Fray with their own free iPad app. Before you get too excited there are no full Episodes though it says “at this time” which leaves a wide open possibility of full episodes in the future.  For now, hit up  Hulu or Netflix.

Full description below:
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Fruity Loops, a popular music creation software for Windows PCs, has made an iOS debut. The FL Studio Mobile app lets you create soundtracks on the go, featuring 133 instruments, drum kits and sliced-loop beats. You can also import your mobile projects into the FL Studio Desktop PC version (all instruments map seamlessly), just like GarageBand (but not vice versa). The 166MB download has been launched at special introductory price of $15 in both iPhone and iPad versions. Screenies and a list of rich features right below.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DESt5cnGwNA]

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It is no secret that Apple has been taking the heat, since their new Final Cut Pro X launched, over the lack of some critical features. John Gruber has compiled some written reviews – not particularly App Store reviews – and they all mention the lack of some critical features for professionals, making the transition difficult from earlier versions of the Final Cut Pro suite.

In addition to those reviews, the Mac App Store reviews panel for Final Cut Pro X has been the scene of some nasty and extremely critical reviews from users. Amid these reviews, we have discovered that all written reviews have disappeared from the Mac App Store for Final Cut Pro X. We have checked and new reviews are possible for some people, but now all. Perhaps this is a bug, or maybe Apple wanted their software to start on a clean slate tonight. Even if it’s a bug, it’s an interesting coincidence.

Update: Looks like reviews are coming back for some people. Weird that this only happened to Final Cut Pro X, though. Conspiracy theories incoming..

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Bloomberg reports that Apple’s request for the courts to ban Amazon’s use of the App Store term will probably be denied. Amazon uses the term App Store as the header name for their online store that sells and markets applications for Google’s Android platform. Apple sued Amazon in late March of this year over possible confusion over App Stores.

Amazon, in March, responded to Apple’s claims of confusion, saying:

Based on their common meaning, the words ‘app store’ together denote a store for apps, such as the app stores operated by Amazon and Apple.

The judge on the case, Phyllis Hamilton, seems to agree, reporting that Apple is yet to provide sufficient evidence for their claim that users are (or will be confused) over Amazon’s usage of the App Store name; a name that Apple has used since 2008 to market their iOS application store and most recently their Mac App Store.

Apple’s difficulty demonstrating real evidence of actual confusion among consumers is a stumbling block for Apple, Hamilton said in court. I’m troubled by the showing that you’ve made so far, but that’s where you’re likely not to prevail at this early juncture.

The case’s judge says she will “probably” deny Apple’s request, but Apple still has the opportunity to throw more evidence into the case.

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And the top 7 too.

Does anyone benefit from the App Store more than Apple? (thanks, since changed congrats iSplash!)
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ3r-OoCj_8&w=670&h=411]

The future of medicine is now and it’s all about intelligent accessories for iOS devices. Here’s the iCard ECG, an iPhone gizmo that lets you take your own electrocardiograph readouts. You simply clip the credit-sized, millimeter thick accessory with velcro on the back of your iPhone and then press the handset against your chest. The iPhone Download blog explains:

One cool feature of the iPhoneECG is the personal heart rate trending feature. You can listen to relaxing music through your headphones and see how your heart rate is affected. This device and app are still in the process of being reviewed by the FDA in the United States, so you’ll have to register to be part of the launch.

The resulting PDF file with your ECG readouts can be easily beamed wirelessly to the AliveCor server for physicians to review. Oh, and the iCard ECG comes in red and works with iPad too, which is important if you’re Shaquille O’Neal or something.

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[vodpod id=Video.11315741&w=670&h=411&fv=]
iOS Simulator is a handy tool for developers and especially great for testing out your latest iPhone or iPad app on a computer, without having to sync the application package to your device.  What makes the iOS Simulator even better? Running it on a huge touch display, of course. Check out the above clip, showing iOS Simulator running on a 21-inch Dell ST2220T multitouch display that talks to OS X via the Touch-Base driver.

BTW, pick up that Dell ST2220T 21.5″ LED-Backlit Multi-Touch IPS LCD Monitor for $230.99 + Free Shipping after coupon code S6R5H1DX5H56MF (via 9to5Toys)

Just don’t hope the video might inspire Apple to build MacBooks with multitouch displays because…

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Pictured above: The free TiVo for iPad app, released in January 2011

It’s been known for a while that TiVo is working on new companion apps for iOS devices and they already have a free iPad app which acts as a simple remote control for the Premiere box. The June issue of CEPro magazine sheds more light on the upcoming software, quoting Bard Williams, director of retail and channel marketing for TiVo:

It offers a beautiful, easy-to-use interface; complete control over management and program selection, a multi-touch remote that features gestures-based navigation, and the ability to manage and navigate Season Pass recording, your queue and info about cast, crew, similar shows – without interrupting your TV experience. When you’re not at home, the app still lets you interact with your Premiere for basic management and recording tasks.

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The News Corp.-owned New York Post started blocking iPad readers who use Safari today.  Instead of showing content on the iPad, it gives a link to the NYPost App with the following statement:

Thanks for coming! NYPOST.com editorial content is now only accessible on the iPad through the New York Post App. If you are a current New York Post App subscriber, please visit the App Store and download the latest version to access NYPOST.com through the INDEX. If you are not a current New York Post App user and would like to subscribe, please download from theApp Store. Thank you.

Subscriptions run $6.99 per month, $39.99 for six months or $79.99 for the year, with no option for single-issue digital purchases.  News Corp also launched The Daily magazine earlier this year, the first Tablet-only daily magazine.

If the NYPost wasn’t total garbage anyway, I’d be upset.  Hopefully the backlash from this move discourages others from copying this game plan.

Interestingly, Skyfire and Opera Mini still work (below).

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The New York Times reports that Facebook has been working on an iPad application for approximately the past year and is closing up their testing ahead of a launch in the “coming weeks.” The Facebook for iPad project, which is said to be “carefully designed and optimized for the tablet,” has been overseen by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Yep, the same person who said  Apple’s tablet is not a mobile device.

People who have seen the application said it has a slick design that has been tailored for the iPad and its touchscreen interface. Facebook developers and designers have also overhauled the Facebook Chat and Facebook Groups features for the application. And the app will go beyond the features available on the Facebook Web site by allowing users to shoot and upload photos and videos directly from the iPad’s built-in cameras.

The feature set of Facebook for iPad is said to include everything from the Facebook website but will add mobile-optimized features like taking and uploading pics and flicks. The report also says that Facebook for iPad will be free, which seems pretty obvious, and does not offer a release date more specific than “in the coming weeks.” Facebook currently serves their iOS users with their wildly popular iPhone and iPod touch application.

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Bloomberg has a story about New York-based books publisher John T. Colby suing Apple in federal court today over an alleged infringement of their ‘iBooks’ trademark:

Colby bought in 2006 and 2007 the assets of various entities owned by New York publisher Byron Preiss, who had published more than 1,000 hardcover and paperback books under the “ibooks” name starting in September 1999, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan today.

Patently Apple pointed in April of 2010 to Apple’s ‘iBooks’ and ‘iBookStore’ trademark applications with the United States Patent & Trademark Office. Back then, Apple asserted a claim of priority for iBooks based on Trinidad and Tobago application number 41872, filed earlier that year, probably in an effort to have their ‘iBooks’ trademark claim granted ahead of any possible lawsuit.

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An Apple patent application which surfaced this morning in the United States Patent & Trademark Office’s database envisions advanced proactive measures that are likely to end up utilized in the free Find My iPhone service (which can locate stolen Macs, too). Entitled “Proactive Security for Mobile Devices” and credit to Apple engineer Hooman Borghei, the patent application sets the stage with the following description:

Mobile devices, such as phones and media devices, have a high risk of being lost or stolen. If a mobile device is stolen, the information contained on the device can be accessed. Various security methods have been developed to prevent unauthorized access of information stored on mobile devices. Some methods will encrypt the data to prevent access. Simple encryption ciphers can be broken and more secure encryption techniques are also more complex and thus require more resources that may not be available on some devices. Other security methods allow a remote wipe command to be sent to the mobile device over a network. The remote wipe command, however, wipes out all the data on the mobile device accept a boot file. This forces the user to have to restore the wiped data, which can be inconvenient and time consuming for the user.

So, what are the aggressive countermeasures Apple’s been exploring? For starters, they propose selective protection of your content stored on the device. This would kick in when someone enters an incorrect passcode. We are more excited, however, about cool remote surveillance capabilities, such as transmission of the images and sounds that your device secretly captures. This could go a long way towards helping one figure out the thief’s surrounding without them suspecting anything. Yeah, kinda like this guy. Warning: This article will self-destruct in T-minus thirty seconds…

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Apple’s App Store is a nice venue to discover iOS software, but it’s far from perfect – especially when browsing its virtual shelves on your device. The iTunes Preview site – as well as other web and smartphone tools like AppShopper – all help find that needle in a haystack, but they also impose annoying limitations.

Not surprisingly, Google and Microsoft wouldn’t drill through their index in order to create a dedicated search page for mobile warez so Yahoo! took it upon themselves to fill the void (after all, they don’t have a mobile platform of their own to protect). Today, Yahoo! unveiled new search tools that help seek apps for your iOS device easier than ever before. The initiative consists of a dedicated search engine called Yahoo! App Search and an iOS app dubbed Yahoo! AppSpot.

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With flat music sales and booming app ecosystem, iOS app revenue should zoom past song sales by 2015 the latest.

By one estimate, iOS developers and record labels together have pulled some $16.6 billion in cumulative revenues on Apple’s iTunes content store since its inception, according to an interesting analysis by Asymco’s Horace Dediu. Even if it involves a lot of guesswork and peering inside the crystal ball, the author’s thinking is determined by known iTunes milestones and revenue data from Apple’s quarterly findings. For example, Steve Jobs told us at WWDC 2011 that Apple so far paid out $2.5 billion to app developers.

The combined “sales rate” is a remarkable $665 million per month. By the slope of the trend lines, it would appear that app income will exceed music income within three years. Another perspective is the number of downloads per device per month. This shows that the rate of consumption of apps is increasing and is now about six apps per device per month.

“Each iTunes account has ‘consumed’ about 67 songs but also 62 apps. Remarkable parity in such a short time. And the trend speaks for itself”, Dediu concludes. Plus…

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Apple Store software wall at flagship Apple Store following June ’11 changes (Image: Jason C.)

The following is a guest post from reader Danny (@iDannyOcean):

Apple retail stores undergo several updates each year to refine the shopping experience for its customers.  These changes vary as Apple tries to continually innovate their stores, but one trend has been consistent; Apple is decreasing the presence of Mac software.

When Apple opened the doors of its first retail store in 2001 it had a substantial amount of Mac accessories and software.  The software section was comprised of aisles going down the center of store as recent as 3 years ago.  The Mac App store wasn’t released until January of 2011 but Apple began to shape the layout of their stores around its arrival beginning in 2008.  Personal setup tables and open floor space to accommodate more visitors have replaced rows of software titles:

It seems the amount of available Mac titles decreases with each visual “overnight” Apple retail conducts.  This trend was punctuated last night when Apple stores underwent an update and were left with one small section of Mac software. Apple is slowly shaping the public’s ways of installing software via a disc and promoting the use of their download-only Mac App Store. This trend will reach its summit this July when Apple’s next generation Mac operating system, OS X Lion, will exclusively be available through the App store.

The notion of delivering all Mac software via download makes sense for Apple for several reasons. First, their customers have grown accustomed to utilizing the App and iTunes stores for their media and iDevice applications.  The Mac App Store will help recent PC switchers feel comfortable installing software.  This helps decrease new user frustration. Second, it provides Apple more shelf and inventory space to sell Apple accessories, which bring in higher profit margins.

Finally, Apple will save a tremendous amount of money on software packages, shipping, bags, and paper receipts (which have been optional the last few years).  These savings can be passed to the consumer.  A great example of this is that OS X Lion will be available at launch for only $29.  No one should be surprised if this time next year Apple does not have a dedicated area to Mac software. Indeed, it appears Apple’s plan to reduce our dependence on optical drives began years ago, which is evident in the evolution of their retail stores’ layouts, Apple’s download only software releases, and MacBook Air.

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TechCrunch received numerous screenshots and documents outlining a brand new iPhone app from Facebook focused solely on photo sharing. The program is allegedly code-named either “Hovertown” or “WithPeople” and could be released either as a standalone download for iOS devices or integrated into Facebook’s existing iPhone app. Author MG Siegler says the screenshots look “amazing”, adding:

Either way, based on the images in front of us, the best way to think about it appears to be Path meets Instagram meets Color meets (Path’s new side project) With — with a few cool twists.  And obviously, it’s built entirely on top of Facebook’s massive social graph.

With an astounding six billion photo uploads each month and a total of staggering hundred billion photos (or about 150 photos per user on average), a photo sharing app from Facebook would easily become a smash hit. Count us officially thrilled.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq8sjcOdAsc]

A jailbroken app called  ‘iUsers’enables the iPad to behave a little more like your Mac by supporting multiple user profiles.

The tweak puts a user profile button on the iPad’s homepage, where users can be switched fairly simply. For now only apps, music, and other content are shared between users, but the data inside the apps (game hi-scores, etc.) are user specific. iUsers’ developer is currently working on implementing more granular user data. The tweak is making its way to the Cydia marketplace, but if you’re eager you can find the instructions to installing iUsers over at BlogdoiPhone.

Hopefully we’ll see this natively in the iPad soon, and maybe Apple will decide to Sherlock it at some point in the future.

via Engadget
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Steve Jobs isn’t afraid to publicly admit that “good artists copy, great artists steal”. He purposefully reflected on that Picasso adage numerous times in the past, as shown in a short video snippet taken from a 1984 interview included for your reference below the fold. This very saying instantly popped into our mind when we saw the new Notification Center Apple debuted in iOS 5. As anyone knows, lock screen notifications are hardly a novelty to avid jailbreakers (or Android users). In fact, we were glad to see Apple wasn’t too proud to pull Android’s notifications. Though, of course, they can never say that Android has stolen the iOS look and feel from Apple again. But Notificaton Center via a pulldown gesture isn’t the only thing Apple borrowed from others…

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Nuance, a company behind Dragon Dictation software and cloud-based voice recognition technology that the rumor mill says will power advanced voice commands in iOS 5, today released a brand new app for your iPhone. Dubbed Dragon Remote Microphone, it turns your handset into a wireless microphone for use with their Dragon Desktop software and Dragon NaturallySpeaking for the PC (v11.5 and higher). “Instead of using the microphone that comes in the retail box, users can now opt to use their iPhone as a microphone instead“, Nuance writes in iTunes release notes.heck, you can even use it with the just updated Dragon NaturallySpeaking app to update your Facebook and Twitter accounts by speaking, how cool is that? Go ahead and grab iDragon Remote Microphone, it’s a free download from the App Store.

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