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Hackapalooza: making the iPhone main screen scroll!
Filed under: Hacks, iPhoneAll the buzz this evening is about developer "lg" and his wild plunge into customizing SpringBoard, the home screen application you see every time you power on your iPhone. Turns out he figured out how to burrow inside SpringBoard and get it to scroll so users don't have to use cumbersome application launchers and dock extenders. SummerBoard currently extends SpringBoard to add scrolling and wallpaper, with further features promised in future releases. The secret seems to lie in tricking SpringBoard into loading custom routines and seizing control of the application through the back door. Lg calls his modified system "SummerBoard", a name I find especially droll--although I think "SpringRoll" might have better described the software. The new software is currently available using Installer.app, which we have discussed in previous posts. digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/Hacker_makes_iPhone_home_screen_scroll'; Now to the down and gritty. This is a...

Blast from the Past: Original Macintosh manual
Filed under: Odds and ends, Blast From the Past, Apple HistoryHere's a nice find. Peter Merholz recently got ahold of an original Mac User Manual from 1984 and has posted a bunch of pics along with commentary. The most interesting thing, of course, is seeing them trying to explain basic computing GUI concepts like click-and-drag and scrolling that we take so much for granted. Like Peter, I love the helpful simile that the "Finder is like a central hallway in the Macintosh house." You know, just looking at the thing makes me want a Mac classic! [via Digg]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Toyota released iPod integration kit
Filed under: Hardware, iPod FamilyI guess this is the weekend of Apple car news. Leftlanenews is reporting that Toyota is finally shipping the iPod integration kit they announced earlier this year for current Toyota and Lexus cars. Much like the kits from VW, BMW, and others, it allows you to plug your iPod into your car via a Dock connector cable in the glovebox. Naturally you can control your tunes from the head unit (or steering wheel) and track information is displayed on the head unit display. It runs $300, presumably from dealers, and it takes about an hour for it to be installed.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

NBC responds: nuh-uh
Filed under: iTS, AppleThis is turning into a regular soap opera. First NBC Universal says it's not renewing its iTunes Store contract with Apple. Then Apple responds with a press release saying NBC wanted to double the wholesale pricing for shows, which would push per episode prices to $4.99. Now NBC is back saying that isn't true, that they only wanted "flexibility in wholesale pricing, including the ability to package shows together in ways that could make our content even more attractive for consumers." Further they complain that Apple is more interested in making money on hardware than money for content provider (no, who would have thought that Apple wants to make money for itself rather than other people). Anyway they emphasize that NBC shows will be available until December, and they left open the possibility that a new contract might be negotiated in the meantime. In general I think it's unseemly for companies to air their dirty laundry in public like this, but I'm starting...