Home / tuaw.com rss archive / August-31-2007


Dock gets a spiffy new update
Filed under: Software, Hacks, Mods, iPhoneThings go fast in the iPhone world. Yesterday, I posted about Nate True's scrolling dock application. Today brings an entirely new generation of Dock. Dock 2.0 introduces a sunshine-bright hot spot on your iPhone's lower right corner. Drag out from there and the iPhone presents you with a curved selection arc. Move your finger along the arc to choose an application to open. The currently selected application echos just below the arc so you know which item you're selecting. It's a lot easier to use than it sounds and feels a lot like picking a name in the address book using the A-Z slide control.And now the downside. The iPhone has little tolerance for running more than one non-Springboard application at a time. (For whatever reason, it refers to these applications as UnknownPurpleApps.) When more than one purple app attempt to launch, they conflict and the new app will not run. So what does this mean? When using Dock 2.0, you cannot...

Add yubnub to iPhone
Filed under: Hacks, How-tos, iPhoneSo what are those first months of med school really like? TUAW reader Justin Schwalbe uses his valuable class time to visit us and see what's up in the world of Apple products, so apparently not all that strenuous. While reading through my recent iPhone 101, Schwalbe was hit by an inspiration. What if he could swap out the default google.com for yubnub.com instead?He pulled his magic binary editor out of his pocket and edited the MobileSafari application file to replace search.google.com (or more specifically, "http://search.google.com/search?q=%@&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8") with "yubnub.org/parser/parse?command=%@&xxxxxxxxxxxx", adding those x's to pad out the string to match the original 47 characters.Presto, chango, yubnub became his default search engine. As for me, I just want to know where you get a binary editor that fits in your pocket.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comm...

Apple also working with Jaguar
Filed under: Odds and ends, AppleWe just mentioned the rumors about Apple being in talks with VW and now comes word from CAR magazine that Apple has already been working with Jaguar on control interfaces. According to Ian Callum, Jaguar's design director, the interior of the new Jaguar XF has design cues that are a direct result of work with Apple. Apparently, the start button pulses and buttons are in general kept to a minimum. It increasingly sounds like Apple is almost becoming like a industrial design consultant. Though it would be interesting to know if Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ive are involved in any of this stuff, because it is their direction that gives actual Apple products so much of their characteristic elan.Thanks John![via Autoblog]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Apple to stop selling NBC Television shows
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iTS, AppleEarlier today we noted that NBC had decided not to renew its contract with iTunes, thereby opening the possibility that NBC TV shows would no longer be available in iTunes come December (when that contract is up). Apple has just released a press release stating that they have decided not to carry NBC's upcoming season of shows, since the contract would expire during the middle of the television season leaving iTunes buyers in the lurch. They also point out that NBC wanted to raise the price per episode to $4.99 (oh, NBC, why are you so stupid?). I assume that past seasons' content will remain available until such time that NBC figures out a way to get out of their contract earlier.Once again I am reminded that when old media tries to clutch to outmoded business models it is the tech savvy consumer that loses. Thanks, NBC!Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Apple has spent $720k on lobbying this year
Filed under: Apple Corporate, Apple FinancialThough it's small change by Washington standards, apparently Apple has dropped $720,000 so far this year greasing palms in DC, er,... I mean participating with civic-minded zeal in our representative democracy. Actually, their pet projects have included lobbying for much needed patent law reform as well as money for tech education and tax breaks on R&D spending. It's hard to get the most current numbers, but tech companying lobbying has been growing steadily for years (including from Apple). Microsoft, as you might expect, is way out in front.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Apple and VW in talks over "iCar"?
Filed under: Rumors, Steve JobsYou've got to love a story that starts: "It has been reported..." Nonetheless, leftlanenews has a report that Uncle Steve and Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn "met earlier this month in California to discuss the possible joint-venture." Apparently there's been some market research that shows a market for an Apple upgraded automobile (no, really, people like Apple's electronic gadgets?). Nonetheless, I think this one is still in la-la rumor land, though maybe this lends some credence to that Apple GPS rumor we posted about in June. In any case this makes me feel even better about a white Apple sticker on my Jetta! So what do you think, are you ready to run out and buy a VW/Apple iCar?Thanks to everyone who sent this in!Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Ambrosia releases iToner: iPhone ringtone manager
Filed under: Software, iPhoneAmbrosia today released iToner, a new piece of Mac software to manage custom iPhone ringtones. iToner allows you to create iPhone ringtones just by dropping audio files on the faux iPhone interface and syncing. Best of all it does not require any kind of "modifying, hacking or having to reset your iPhone." Of course there are free ways of doing something similar, though without the nice eye candy. And rumor has it that Apple itself will shortly get into the ringtone business, though personally I'd rather pay once than be nickle-and-dimed for each and every ringtone.In any case, iToner is available now for $15 and a demo is available so you can check it out for yourself.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

NY Post: Apple to begin selling iPhone ringtones
Filed under: iTS, Rumors, iPhoneThe New York Post is reporting that Apple will shortly begin selling iPhone ringtones through the iTunes Store by allowing users to convert any iTunes song into a ringtone for an additional fee. Perhaps even more interesting is the claim that "Apple will also allow users to convert songs they have previously purchased through iTunes into a ringtone" and that users will be able to use any part of the song. From Apple's perspective this seems like an absolute no-brainer, with the ringtones being a multi-billion dollar business worldwide. From a user perspective, however, the prospect of paying even more to turn I song I already bought into a ringtone is asinine, especially considering that there are free methods for getting ringtones on your iPhone. What do you think? What (if anything) would you be willing to pay to convert your iTunes purchases into iPhone ringtones? (The image shows a Ringtone tab in iTunes that engadget captured back in January...

iPhone 101: Change your default search engine
Filed under: iPhone, iPhone 101We're not kidding when we say that Apple and Google have developed a close relationship. When you tap the iPhone Safari address bar, a screen opens offering both a keyboard and a search field. By default, this field is tied to Google. When empty it says Google in dim gray letters. When you start to type in text the Go button changes to Google.But there's a way around that.You can use Yahoo rather than Google as your search provider. From your Home screen, go to Settings > Safari. The first setting lets you choose whether to use Google or Yahoo as your search engine. When set to Yahoo, both that gray text and the search button change from Google to Yahoo, as well as your searches.I'm not entirely sure why people might prefer Yahoo to Google, still it's good to have a choice.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Say bye bye to Heroes: NBC to end iTunes show sales
Filed under: Apple Corporate, iTSFollowing on the heels of the Universal Music/iTunes rift, NBC/Universal has declined to renew its iTunes contract according to the NY Times. The current deal is due to expire this December. 1500+ hours of NBC Universal content, including The Office and Heroes, will remain on iTunes until that time. So what happens after December? Between now and then, the two parties may return to the negotiating table--or they may not. Seems to me that iTunes sales have got to be putting some money in NBC/Universal's pocket. iTunes almost singlehandedly turned The Office into a hit, allowing people to catch up and join in with its episode backlog. To quote our own Scott McNulty, this continues the trend of content providers trying to "show their might and put Apple in its place."Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Apple crop circle
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Cult of MacReader Marc sent us pictures and video of his "Apple garden," which appears to be a large Apple logo on his spacious lawn in Jersey, just off the coast of France. At first I thought it was just a cutout of the grass, but his picture gallery shows that it's growing, so it must be seeded that way. Interesting. Does whoever plays (is that lacrosse?) on the field mind?Marc also tells us the airport is nearby, and so he says it's something for travelers to look at as it goes by. He's planning to do a flyby with a paraglider, and maybe even some timelapse footage of the thing growing. Cool stuff. For some reason, I can't help but think of crop circles while looking at this, and that makes me think of Close Encounters: "This... means something."Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments