Apps

Angry Birds artwork by ijul

Does it bother you that you cannot continue playing a game on your iPad right where you left off on an iPhone? It always frustrated me that Game Center, Apple’s social network for games, only keeps record of your achievements and leaderboards but not other game data pertaining to your progress and current state of the game.

Unfortunately, until a system-wide sync of app data across all iOS devices via cloud iTunes takes off – if ever – it’s just a pipe dream. Well, not for Angry Birds developer Rovio Mobile. These guys are aware enough of the issue to come up with a solution of their own. They call it Angry Birds Sync and it’s coming soon to a platform near you…

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Just as Microsoft promised last week, the first major service pack for Office for Mac 2011 is now available. Go to any Office application on your Mac and choose Check for Updates from the Help menu or grab a standalone installer from the Office for Mac website. The 246MB download “fixes critical issues and also helps to improve security,” the release notes say.

Also, it includes fixes for “vulnerabilities that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer’s memory with malicious code.” It will also improve the speed and stability. There are several new features as well…

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Hot off the presses, new tidbits hit us following the launch of Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 and new iPad apps from Adobe, both announced this morning. TUAW reports that Adobe’s video training resources now support iOS-friendly streaming to iPhones, iPods and iPads. Creative pros can now learn new tricks as they commute on train, go for a lunch break and so forth.

It’s an interesting – and rather telling – departure from Adobe’s stubborn insistence on serving Flash-formatted content only to iOS users. Another tidbit comes from MacRumors which profiles Photoshop Remote, the first third-party iPad app built using the Photoshop Touch SDK. Check it out in action right after the break.

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The gaming industry was served when Chair Entertainment launched Infinity Blade as the first iOS game built around the Unreal Engine. A number of iOS games utilizing the engine are now being developed, including Dream:scape that TouchArcade spotted today. The game puts you in the shoes of “a coma patient unlocking his past by exploring the dreamscape of his memories,” the publication explains.

Being developed by an indie developer, Dream:scape looks as a high-profile, big budget release, courtesy of the same Unreal Engine that powers Infinity Blade. It sports over 30 acres of explorable landscape and fully realized interior settings, with a bunch of secrets and new areas to discover throughout the game. More info plus awesome in-game footage right below the fold.

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If you can’t beat them, join them. Another great publishing brand has accepted Apple’s in-app subscription terms that require publishers to surrender 30 percent of proceeds from digital magazine subscriptions sold inside apps. The official Bloomberg Businessweek app for iPad app just launched with the unusual $0.77 price point for an introductory print subscription.

Other pricing subscription options include three bucks for four issues which is actually lower than the five bucks price at newsstands. Each week’s issue is available from 10pm on Thursday New York time. Other tidbits and a couple of shiny screenies right after the break.

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Adobe today launched Creative Suite 5.5. With it comes the new Photoshop Touch Software Development Kit that facilitates the creation of apps for smartphones and tablets that can talk to desktop Photoshop app. This opens interesting possibilities and Adobe announced three new iPad apps built using the new SDK that showcase several scenarios. Called Adobe Eazel, Adobe Nav and Adobe Color Lava, these programs will land on the App Store next month, priced between two to five bucks. Check out a video demonstration and brief app descriptions right below the fold.

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http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=21968394&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0

I was just blown away when I saw this new online shopping technology called 3LiveShop from Stockholm-based B-Reel and Hi3G Access. Instead of tirelessly skimming through endless static product lists, 3LiveShop lets you engage in a one-on-one video session with a sales rep. But instead of a dull Skype-like voice chat, the sales representative on the other end converses with the customer augmented-reality style via a multitouch screen.

This is where the fun part begins. The setup allows the sales rep to drag phone images and other useful information across the screen, seen by the shopper as cool Minority Report-like overlays on top of the video feed. It’s just too cool not to mention it here. Imagine this tech put to work at the online Apple store. Wonder how this works? Read on…

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Apple’s portable base station called Airport Express is only able to stream music from iTunes, but not to third-party applications. In addition, some rare third-party programs can stream music to Airport Express or AirPlay devices. As noted by MacRumors, developer James Laird has fixed this by reverse-engineering the Airport Express private key to create Shareport, an open-sourced AirPort Express emulator that contains an RAOP server to stream music from iTunes and iPods to third-party software and hardware. Laird explains:

My girlfriend moved house, and her Airport Express no longer made it with her wireless access point. I figured it’d be easy to find an ApEx emulator – there are several open source apps out there to play to them. However, I was disappointed to find that Apple used a public-key crypto scheme, and there’s a private key hiding inside the ApEx. So I took it apart (I still have scars from opening the glued case!), dumped the ROM, and reverse engineered the keys out of it.

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True to its new mid-cycle release schedule, Adobe has upgraded the Creative Suite 5 suite to version 5.5. InDesign, Flash Professional, Dreamweaver, Premiere Pro and After Effects were all upgraded with new interactive features to help create rich HTML5 web apps, stereoscopic video and touch-based apps for smartphones and tablets. A new subscription-based model has debuted alongside the suite that lets you rent individual programs for a monthly or yearly fee.

Photoshop will set you back $35 a month, while the entire Design Premium CS 5.5 costs $95 on a monthly basis. The full CS 5.5 Mater Collection suite costs $129 a month. Additionally, open-source framework Flex 4.5 will land on the Mac in June.

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Apple has updated its Boot Camp software with support for early 2011 MacBook Pro models. From release notes: “This Boot Camp update addresses issues with shutdown, Japanese and Korean keyboards on early 2011 MacBook Pro”. You can download a standalone Boot Camp 3.2 installer here.

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Remember when Valve drummed up the arrival of Steam for Mac by releasing a series of teaser images to the press? They’re doing it again with new teasers that form a puzzle which hints at Portal Alternative Reality Game’s Portal 2. As you know, the game is set to launch simultaneously via Steam for Macs and Windows PCs on April 19.

ValveArg.com has collected all teasers that Valve’s co-founder Gabe Newell has been sending to the media. Each individual image forms a part of the Portal 2 teaser puzzle, shown above. Being a fan of the original Portal game, I’m looking forward to playing Portal 2 on my Mac and PC. The game will be also released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 as well.

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Cross-platform media center Plex is one of those programs that you’d expect from Apple. Sure, Mac OS X has FrontRow, but seriously – when was the last time you enjoyed your media in FrontRow? It’s a lousy media center replacement that most people avoid so no wonder it’s lingering in a state of limbo. I’ve been using Plex for years to manage and enjoy my media collections on my desktop. Their awesome iOS app that lets me stream my media effortlessly to iPhones, iPods and iPads was the only missing link.

They just updated the Plex for iOS app with a bunch of new features such as AirPlay and TV out. You can also search your device, media server and online media repositories. This lets you, say, use your iPhone to search your home media server miles away, find a movie in your collection, stream it to your device over 3G while beaming it to a friend’s big screen TV via AirPlay.

It’s a major upgrade with lots of new functionalities so hop over to the App Store and download the new Plex for iOS app version 1.1. You may also want to read a handy guide at MacStories.net or check out the full features list plus some screenies right after the break.

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You know how Apple sometimes freaks out about protecting intellectual property, even disabling certain features to discourage piracy and push users to their own digital content stores? A good example is the iOS ecosystem – desktop iTunes is to this day needed in order to load your device with movies, TV shows, music and other personal media collections residing on your computer. In the case of the iBooks app which supports industry-standard ePub file format, the only way to transfer ePub-formatted e-books to the iBooks app was through – you guessed right – desktop iTunes and its file sharing option. Not anymore, though. Read on…

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“For the price of a movie”, the holding company that bears the name of the classic gaming company, offers 100 classic 2600 and arcade hits for $14.99 or various “Game packs for $.99/ea.  Pong is free with the download.  The App is universal, though you aren’t going to see much improvement with 8-bit graphics on bigger screens.

Atari’s Greatest Hits brings the best of retro gaming to iOS with 100 Classic Atari Games. This suite brings you the hottest Arcade and 2600 titles from Atari. For those who love the classic gaming experience this handheld breakthrough is sure to guarantee hours of fun.

What we feature is:
• 18 Classic Atari Arcade Games including PONG
• 92 Atari 2600 Games
• Bluetooth Mutliplayer for head to head play for titles such as Pong, Warlords, and more!
• Original Cabinet and Box Art

If you want the full experience, why not bump yourself up with a Joystick or an iCade iPad enclosure from ThinkGeek.

Full description and screenshots below:
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The Office for Mac team confirmed via a blog post that the first major service pack for Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 is scheduled for next week. Expect a speedier, more stable and more secure performance plus “some new features.” Support for Exchange based server-side rules, editing of existing messages and two new Outlook buttons – Redirect (redirects the message to a person with the replies delivered to the original sender) and Resend (does what the name says) – are in the cards as well.

Speaking of Outlook, expect a better syncing support and (finally!) calendar syncing between Outlook for Mac and any service or device that supports Apple’s Sync Services, including the iPhone and iPad. There something you should know about Outlook calendar syncing though…

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Here’s a video from June 2010:

Her app was of course rejected by Apple. You’ll recall that Apple just yesterday took this idea and ran with it with their iAds Gallery. Fair?
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QuarkXPress 9, the next major version of this once popular desktop publishing software, is coming April 26 and there is a 30-day free evaluation version available for download from Quark’s website. The evaluation version comes with all the bells and whistles of the commercial product, including saving and printing.

Additionally, you will be able to convert the evaluation version into a full retail copy by entering a validation code to continue working on your projects created in trial version. New features include the following treats…

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Just a little tidbit from the great people at Ted Talks. Their updated iPad app now supports Airplay, meaning that you can now share the excellent Ted Talks videos on the HDTV.

BIG Update: The CNN App is now also Airplay compatible so you can…wait for it…now watch CNN on your TV.  Mind=Blown.
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http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1106196796/the-gopano-micro-a-lens-for-capturing-360-video-on/widget/video.html

The big brains at Carnegie Mellon University have created a Kickstarter project to fund a little gadget that, with their app, turns your iPhone into a little Google Streetview Car. Sign up here.

This is no April Fool’s Day Joke or Onion article….  Today, Apple released the iAd gallery app which is just a bunch of ads in a gallery.  Yep, that’s it.

Great ads. On-demand. In your pocket.

The iAd Gallery is a celebration of advertising, featuring iAd campaigns from some of the world’s best brands and their advertising agencies. The iAd Gallery gives you easy access to a selection of the fun and informative ads that have run in some of your favorite apps. Use the Browse feature to discover ads you haven’t seen, or to find those you want to see again. Even lets you tag your favorites to a Loved section that’s all your own.

Features:

• Updated regularly to include a selection of the latest ads running on the iAd Network
• Explore by spinning the wheel of iAd banners, or search by advertiser, category or ad feature
• Learn about the featured ads, including the advertising agencies behind them
• Easily access your favorite ads anytime by placing them in your Loved section
• Tap into the More section to find additional details about the iAd Network

We’re not sure if Advertisers are paying per impression in this app (which is, again, just ads) but it would be interesting if they are.    More screenies below.
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Well, that didn’t take long – even by Apple’s standards. We told you last Sunday that Toyota was offering a custom user interface theme pack as part of their advertising campaign for the 2011 Scion tC. Unfortunately, such an unusual move to promote the vehicle via a custom theme made available through a rogue store that happens to carry unsanctioned apps for jailbroken iPhones has backfired. Read on…

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