Apps

We half-expected it to show its face during Apple’s iPod/iTunes presentation last week. Maybe Amazon did too because it now it looks as if upgraded versions of iLife (and iWork?) Family Pack appear listed on Amazon.  In fact it is #3 on Amazon‘s MacOS software best seller list and has been listed since July 27th(!?).
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We’ve been ordered to take this post down.  For legal reasons, we’re complying.

A fairly undocumented feature in the new iPod touch is the ability for the device to vibrate like the iPhone. It seems this vibrate function was designed with the deaf in mind, as its primary use is vibrating when a FaceTime is received. Apple markets FaceTime as the perfect way to have a phone call using sign language, and vibrate helps hard-of-hearing users know when a call is incoming.

No word on whether this vibrate function can be used in games and such like on iPhones but hopefully we’ll find that out soon. Another change in this year’s iPod touch is the absence of the plastic WiFi antenna strip. It will be interesting to see if it has any affect on signal strength.

See internals below:

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It’s only been around 48 short hours since the launch of Apple’s Ping social music network, and the service has already managed to get one million users. According to Apple’s Chief of Internet stuff, Eddy Cue, those one million Ping accounts make up 1/3 of iTunes downloads. If you crunch those numbers you’ll find out iTunes 10 has already had 3 million downloads.
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One of the most popular iOS Apps of all time got its biggest upgrade yet, moving to version 3.0 and adding prime iOS 4 status. The app got some mad fast-app switching skillz as well as support for that hott iPhone 4 and iPod touch 4 retina screen.

Shazam also gets a fresh new look that adds features while simplifying the controls. Hit up the full release notes above, check out the new interface after the jump, and download the update here.

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Apple has just released their 3rd preview/beta of their upcoming Xcode 4 software. Hot off the heals of iOS 4.1’s golden master release, this new preview of Xcode 4 includes iOS 4.1 compatibility and a few new features. As always, bug fixes are included. — They’re free!

New features include a new activity interface for developers as well as a completely fresh user-interface for the new code completion technologies in Xcode 4. The second preview of Xcode 4 was issued to developers in late July and the first preview was provided exclusively to WWDC 2010 attendees in early June.

Twitter has just released their official Twitter client for the iPad. It’s a free universal binary (one download  for all devices) and it looks amazing!

The iPad version uses a lot of multi-touch so tweeting is fun again. We’re skipping the in-depth walkthrough (Giz has one) and going right to download. You should do the same if you want to be cool.
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If you thought Epic’s Citadel game was mindblowing ‘on a phone!’ during today’s event presentation, we have some good news for you. It is now available as a trial download for free. See what your iPhone/iPod/iPad can do:

You can download a demo of the game here. It looks insane on the iPad too (below)
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Folks, this is one for the books. Apple has announced they will be live streaming tomorrow’s music related event. This is the first time in recent (thanks, commenters) keynote history that a live stream will be offered. This gives us the sense that something HUGE is going down tomorrow and Apple wants to make sure it’s all seen. Maybe they have to show off something indescribable with live blog pictures? Who knows?

You can catch the stream at Apple.com at 10 AM sharp! Oh, and that live-audio stream we said we’ll try to find? Use this one :) Also: You’ll need a Safari rocking Mac or iOS device to catch the action, PC’s: screw you! It also makes sense that Apple will be offering this stream to ensure their WiFi doesn’t go out like at WWDC due to them’ bloggers. That said, Apple shouldn’t have much issue demoing their new video streaming service and FaceTime-capable iPod touches.

As was demonstrated earlier, Plex is now available for iOS devices and the Mac.

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Autodesk today announced the Mac release of their professional engineering and design software, AutoCAD. The initial betas of the Mac version hit in late May and up until then the software was a Windows-exclusive. On top of a Mac version, Autodesk is doing the whole 360 by releasing an iOS version to go along with it. The Universal (iPad, iPod touch, iPhone) app allows you to edit and share your funky pro-design work on the go.

Phil Schillz (Schiller, Apple marketing guru) even got in on the action saying “Apple is thrilled that Autodesk is bringing AutoCAD back to the Mac and we think it’s the perfect combination for millions of design and engineering professionals.”

The Mac version takes full advantage of Apple’s Mac OS technologies such as multi-touch (on laptop and magical trackpads) as well that neat cover-flow interface. AutoCAD for Mac and iOS will be released between August (that’s like today?) and October and free versions for them’ students will be made available then. Pre-ordering is a go on Wednesday (iDay!)

via Macworld

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Apple Australia’s chief will make a rare public appearance at a local conference while the company’s ‘down under’ wing confirms it hasn’t yet managed to create a software fix for problems with the iPhone 4’s proximity sensor.
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The official Netflix application for the iPhone and iPod touch was only released yesterday morning and today is number one in the App Store’s top free section.

And that is before Retina iPod touches have even hit the street.

One more tale from the Farewell Flash Dept.: online video service Vevo last night announced its iPhone app has been downloaded over one million times since its release on August 18.

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Netflix has launched its free app for iPhone and iPod touch, allowing members (on plans starting from $8.99/month) to instantly watch TV episodes and movies streamed to their devices.  Notice on the screen shot above it is working beautifully over AT&T’s 3G without any pixel-izing.  That might be good for those grandfathered into real unlimited plans.

Oh, this might work on an iTV as well ;)
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Orange has channeled some of its iPhone profits into creating products designed to compete with the iPad, but Apple needn’t worry as analysts expect it will dominate the tablet market all the way to 2012.

A French report in Les Echos tells us Orange is preparing to introduce its own tablet device at a price under half that charged by Apple for the iPad.
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Adobe has updated its Web-based Photoshop service, you don’t need to become a member to use the service any more.

The online image editing service has been around for three years. Yesterday the company updated many of its components, Adobe Photoshop Express Editor, Organizer, and Uploader are included in the refresh.
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Apple today announced an update to their iTunes Connect Payments and Financial Reporting website. The new site was re-built from scratch in order to provide developers with an easier gateway to information about their payments. The new interface is what Apple calls a “dashboard” setup and features a cleaner layout with four main tabs: Summary, Earnings, Owed, and Payments.

Summary as you can see above provides developers with a full glance at all payment information with large bar and line graphs. The earnings tab provides an in-depth look at payments per region as well as how many units were sold each month per region. The owed tab (surely a fan-favorite) shows how much money you are owed per region and the Payments tab lists which of the financial reports actually get paid to you for a certain month.

The September 1st event may or may not have a iTV entry. What are Steve Jobs’ latest thoughts on the industry? “Tear up the set top box and start over”.

[vodpod id=Video.4289468&w=650&h=425&fv=videoGUID%3D%7BFF922002-FA63-4B68-A326-EA12EC800612%7D%26amp%3Bplayerid%3D4001%26amp%3BplyMediaEnabled%3D1%26amp%3BconfigURL%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fm.wsj.net%2Fvideo-players%2F%26amp%3BautoStart%3Dfalse]

So, what is the go to market strategy?  (Via Syracuse)
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Apple may have a plan to insert iAds within books purchased via the iBookstore, a report explains.

Publishers are resistant to the plan as they feel the move would come at the expense of content, but as they watch profits dwindle and the decline of eReaders in the face of solutions such as the iPad, the scene seems set for ads in books.
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Everyone’s favorite (okay my favorite) iOS game finally got the much needed iPhone 4 Retina Display treatment. The developers, Lima Sky, apparently couldn’t wait to get this update out the door, so only the three most popular (arguably) levels got Retina-ready graphics. The update is a free standard update, and hey, Lima Sky, where’s the iPad version?!