Home / tuaw.com rss archive / September-10-2007


iTunes search now auto completes
Filed under: iTS, iTunesIt looks like Apple has unleashed another new iTunes feature tonight, in addition to ringtones. Now when you search the iTunes Store using iTunes 7.4.1 (haven't tried it in an older version) the search offers up some auto complete options. As you can see above I was searching for They Might Be Giants and like magic iTunes knew.Thanks to everyone who sent this in.Permalink | Email this | Comments

TUAW Gallery: iPhone Ringtones in Action
Filed under: iPod Family, iTS, iPhoneGallery: iTunes Ringtones Gallery iTunes Ringtones store have started going live in stages. First, a note appeared when I enabled the Ringtones column, informing me that the iTunes store allows me to create ringtones from many songs. Next, grayed-out ringtones started appearing next to some tracks. At this time, I am still unable to purchase a Ringtone but I will do so as soon as opportunity allows. I'm particularly interested in discovering how the file is named and formatted, and what its creator and type identifiers will be.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Making the impossible possible: iPod Touch VOIP
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPod Family, Hacks, iPhoneOne of the very first questions that popped into my head after hearing, during the liveblog last week, that the iPod Touch had wireless capability was how soon the hackers would get wifi VOIP running on it. Michael over at the Apple Gazette had the same thought, and he's even got a plan on how to do it-- if the iPhone's mic-enabled headphones work in the iPod Touch, we're golden.Unfortunately, I agree with what Erica said on the last Talkcast-- it's probably not that easy. But even she agreed that if someone can hook the dock connection up to a microphone, then we might be in business. Skype is already working (in some form) on the iPhone, and considering the iPod Touch and the iPhone are as similar as Apple says they are, the software shouldn't be a problem. Getting the audio in and out to the right places is where the trouble lies.But after everything we've seen come down on the iPhone, you won't catch me betting against...

iPod nano/classic take-aparts
Filed under: iPod FamilyPeople love to dismantle their expensive, new toys for whatever reason (probably the same reason I took transistor radios apart as a kid - to see "how it works"). Today, AppleInsider is pointing to fully illustrated take-aparts at iFixit.com - one for the iPod nano, and one for the classic. They note that Apple abandoned the anodized aluminum enclosure of the former nano for the scratch-hungry gloss of the original. Also, Apple used lots of adhesive with the nano, which makes getting it back together difficult.As for the classic, it has metal enclosure tabs instead of the old plastic ones, making it harder to get apart.If you're still compelled to disassemble your iPod, iFixit has the how-to.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Aspyr (not EA) releases Sims Pet Stories for Mac
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, Odds and endsGood news for you Sims completists out there (or anyone with a daughter on a MacBook): Aspyr Media has released Sims Pet Stories, the standalone Sims Pets game that lets you train, play with, and care for cats and dogs destined for the Pet Show. The reviews aren't exactly shining, but according to the user ratings at the bottom of the page, anyone who wants a cute and funny game that runs on a Mac should like it.Of course, the more cynical side of me notes that this is yet another Electronic Arts game being ported by Aspyr instead of being released directly by EA. What did they promise us at WWDC again? [via MacWorld]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Six Apart launches iPhone/iPod Touch specific Movable Type 4/Typepad
Filed under: Internet Tools, iPhoneBig blogging company Six Apart, makers of Movable Type and Typepad, have announced a plugin for Movable Type 4 that makes it possible to blog from your iPhone using a very nice iPhone specific interface (they are also offering up the same interface for Typepad which is where I host my personal blog, and have done so for the last 4 years).I played around with the Typepad iPhone interface and I must say it is very nice indeed.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Found Footage: Visual comparison of InkWell to Vista's handwriting recognition
Filed under: OS, Video, Found Footage The above video is a visual comparison of OS X's InkWell to Microsoft's handwriting recognition built into Vista. By using a Silverlight application he's able to send the pen strokes from a Mac to a remote Windows server. So he basically tries to write the same thing with each system.The author of the video seems to prefer Vista's offering, especially when writing in cursive, but grants that others may feel differently. He's also summarized his impressions. In any case, it's interesting to see the two systems side by side. Have any of you used both systems? Do you think this is a fair test? If you install Silverlight you can do the demo yourself here. [via jkOnTheRun]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

iPhone unlocks go on sale... and why don't we care?
Filed under: Software, Mods, iPhoneWell that's it. Engadget revealed that iPhoneSIMfree's unlocking solution is up and running today, and they're now on sale (in fact, our Weblogs, Inc. brethren are giving them away as we speak). Hype, prices, and sketchy profiteering aside, what's done seems to be done. If you want your iPhone unlocked, have at it.Why aren't the Mac faithful more excited? Europeans are definitely interested-- we've already heard from a few of them, including reader Callum, who really want to use their iPhones. But from my general sense of the population, iPhone owners, especially Cult of Mac folks, aren't jumping at the chance. Gadgetheads like Engadget love it, but you TUAWers, despite the AT&T hate (which I share, and I'm not even an AT&T customer yet), aren't that into an unlock. As Engadget says, the iPhone hackers aren't going to bother to reverse engineer iPhoneSIMfree's solution. The whole community seems to be saying, "meh."Part of the...

iPhone Coding: Using the Accelerometer
Filed under: iPhoneYou don't need to use a lot of fancy routines to subscribe to data generated by the iPhone's built in accelerometer. A single UIApplication delegate lets you know whenever the iPhone has updated its tilt data.When you add a method for (void)acceleratedInX:(float)xx Y:(float)yy Z:(float)zz to any UIApplication, the iPhone sends regular messages to your application giving you values for X, Y, and Z. These values are not exactly what I first expected: X = Roll X corresponds to roll, or rotation around the axis that runs from your home button to your earpiece. Values vary from 0.5 (rolled all the way to the left) to -0.5 (rolled all the way to the right).Y = Pitch. Place your iPhone on the table and mentally draw a horizontal line about half-way down the screen. That's the axis around which the Y value rotates. Values go from 0.5 (the headphone jack straight down) to -0.5 (the headphone jack straight up).Z = Face up/face down. I expected the Z value to correspond...

TUAW Tip: easy TUAW login bookmarklet
Filed under: Tips and tricks, TUAW Business, TUAW TipsA lot of folks write in complaining about the login system for commenting here on TUAW. While we completely sympathize (all the TUAW contributors have to login the same way to leave comments) in this day and age of comment spam it's an unfortunate necessity. That said, computers are supposed to make things easier, right? Well in a comment to a recent post Kalessin pointed us to a super handy bookmarklet from Alex Coles that will automatically fill in your TUAW credentials for posting comments. Of course you'll have to edit the bookmarklet with your own email and password, but I've tested it and it works great in Safari and Camino. So if your browser just won't save your personal info for whatever reason, just stick this bookmarklet in your bookmarks bar, edit the credentials, and your TUAW login is always only a click away. Obviously, the same idea can be extended to other sites, as well.Thanks Alex for this great timesaver!Read&...

PhotoBook: Facebook photo browser
Filed under: Odds and ends, FreewarePhotoBook is a very Mac-like photo browser for the Facebook social-networking site. It allows you to view friends' albums on a single page with a nice iPhoto-like resizer at the bottom. It also offers live searching/filtering as you type and slideshows with transitions. Speaking of iPhoto it includes one-click importing of any photo or entire album. If you find yourself viewing Facebook photos a lot, this looks like a great way to do it.PhotoBook is a free download from Caffeinated Cocoa.[via MacTips]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Colloquy for iPhone Debuts
Filed under: Software, iPhoneGallery: iPhone ColloquyA new IRC client debuted on the iPhone today and is available for download from Installer.app. Like many other iPhone projects, Mobile Colloquy is still in its early days, taking baby alpha release steps, but it shows excellent promise. It allows you to create server profiles, enter your user information and, of course, connect to those servers and chat.Although Mobile Colloquy uses the same core as Mac OS X Colloquy, the two projects are not affiliated. For any issues with Mobile Colloquy, the developers request that you please file reports at the Mobile Colloquy Google Code site and not at colloquy.info.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Vienna 2.2 is available
Filed under: Software, Internet ToolsJust eight weeks after the teaser announcement, Vienna 2.2 has been released. I have been happily using Vienna for months. It's light, simple, free and open. What more do you need? How about (new to version 2.2): Snappier performance Major UI improvements (no more brushed metal!) Support for RSS/Atom enclosures, plus a new Enclosure panel for articles that contain enclosures. Global search Feed auto-discoveryThere's a lot more to this major update, and you can read the full description here. Vienna is free, universal and requires Mac OS 10.3.9 or later.If you like to travel light, check out Portable Vienna, which runs on a USB keychain drive.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

iPhone versus iPod Touch: What to buy
Filed under: Hardware, iPod Family, Retail, Deals, iPhoneWith the iPod Touch set to debut any second, I've been getting a lot of mail and phone calls asking: "Which should I buy? The iPhone or the Touch?" Here's a quick reference to help you make your decision.Cost. At $299, the iPod Touch costs $100 less than the $399 iPhone. If you're looking for the least expensive entry point, your choices are the 8GB Touch or a refurbished 4GB iPhone. The Touch has double the memory for the same price.Form Factor. The iPhone is bigger and heavier than the Touch. It weighs in at 4.8 ounces and 11.6 mm depth versus the Touch's slim 4.2 ounces and 8mm thickness. Not a huge difference to be sure but those extra 4 mm definitely feel different in the hand.Built-ins. The iPhone offers a built-in microphone, speakers and 2.0 megapixel camera. The Touch does not. You can't snap a photo and email it on the go with the Touch the way you do with iPhone.Contract-free use. The iPhone is designed to be...

iPhone 101: Browser-based playlists
Filed under: iPhone, iPhone 101Call me fickle, but sometimes I don't want to hear any of the music I've got on my iPhone. What should I do when I'm away from my computer, itching for new music? Create a browser-based playlist.The Internet Archive is a tremendous source of streaming music files (among other things) that play just fine on the iPhone. Here's how to set things up. Create a new bookmark folder in Mobile Safari. I named mine "Rock." Navigate to the Internet Archive, and find some music you'd like to listen to (I chose Smashing Pumpkins) The Flash player at the top of the page will not work, but scroll down to the botto and click either of the "Mp3" files A new page will open to play the file Click "Done" at the top of the page, then touch the menu bar Add a bookmark to the file to the "Rock" folderDone! Add as many links as you like, and you've got a web-based playlist of tunes that aren't hogging storage space.Read | Permalink&nbsp...

Flickr find: Apple protoypes group
Filed under: Hardware, Apple HistoryWhile browsing Flickr from the luxurious TUAW offices this afternoon (read: That Starbucks on the corner), we came across the Apple Prototypes Flickr group. There's some very cool stuff pictured, including a penlite prototype with duodock and a transparent SE/20. As the group's administrator notes, prototype Apple hardware rarely sees the light of day. If you've got something cool lying around, consider adding a few shots to this pool (Anonymity will be granted, if desired). Because sharing is caring.Photograph used with permission from Sonny Hung. Photographer anonymous.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Journeyman: The iPhone as character actor
Filed under: iPod Family, Cult of Mac, Odds and ends, iPhoneTurns out that iPhone will play a major role in the upcoming NBC show Journeyman. When the show debuts on September 24, keep your eyes open to spot the iPhone as it repeatedly appears on-screen performing such vital acts as losing network connectivity through time travel and having visual voicemail work as an indicator of missing time. The iPhone reportedly follows the method and insisted on not bathing and gaining 20 lbs before its scenes were shot.TUAW mourns the early passing of Adam FinleyRead | Permalink | Email this | Comments

School days: Firefox Campus Edition
Filed under: Internet ToolsMore back-to-school suggestions; this one has the advantage of being free. If you haven't already downloaded Firefox for your machine, it's a good idea to have it handy for those occasional sites that aren't Safari-friendly. If you're interested in a few extra plugins with a student-friendly bent, then you might check out the Firefox Campus Edition, which is simply the current Firefox build plus the FoxyTunes, StumbleUpon and Zotero plugins in one convenient package.FoxyTunes (for controlling your music player via the browser) and StumbleUpon (social bookmarking for interesting/useful sites) are both fine, but the real power tool here is Zotero: this research tool, file manager, PDF bucket and citation editor is a boon to anyone working on research projects with Firefox. Given enough practice with Zotero, it might replace a local note manager like Yojimbo or other online tools like Google Notebook.Of course, if you already have Firefox, you can download...

Apparent edit to iPod Touch webpage
Filed under: Apple Corporate, iPod Family, RumorsTake a look at this page describing the new iPod's touch capabilities. Now, look at this older version via Google cache. Are they the same?In the current version, the first paragraph reads:"...And iPod touch features a touchscreen QWERTY keyboard perfect for browsing the web in Safari, searching for videos on YouTube, finding music on the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, or adding new contacts."In the cached version, the end of that sentence reads:"...searching for videos on YouTube, finding music on the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, entering calendar events, or adding new contacts."It seems that "entering calendar events" has disappeared. A last minute adjustment? We'll have to get our hands on one to see what's what.Thanks, Jools!Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Create your own iTunes-compatible ringtones: Part 2
Filed under: Hacks, How-tos, iTunes, iPhoneLast week, I posted about creating your own iPhone ringtones, then iTunes 7.4.1 toddled along, so here are updated instructions.iTunes uses the m4r file extension for ringtones. If you remove an AAC file from your library and rename it from .m4a to .m4r and then add it back to iTunes, the program reads it back in as a ringtone rather than a normal library track. You must then go back and rename that file back to m4a so you sync it to your iPhone. (That's what that unrecognized format error is all about.)The secret lies in making sure the name change happens properly. This isn't a big problem on Windows. On the Mac, though, the Finder tries to keep you from renaming the file extension -- this isn't to keep you from making ringtones, it's to keep you from hurting your files. That file you just named "MyTone.m4r" may actually be named "MyTone.m4r.m4a" (unless you have the Finder advanced preference "Show all file extensions" turned on,...

1 millionth iPhone has been sold
Filed under: Apple Corporate, Apple Financial, iPhoneYou can't rush excellence, but sometimes you can speed it up just a smidge. Apple reports that it sold iPhone #1 million on September 9th, just 74 days after the product introduction (and 4 days after the price drop). As Steve notes in the press release, it was two years before the iPod reached the million mark.Apple COO Tim Cook announced Apple's forecast of 1 million phones sold by "September, 2007" earlier this summer, and that's what Apple has done. If my personal experience is indicative if the phone's popularity - people still stop me in my tracks so they can see it - this should be a very good holiday season for Apple.Thanks, Tim!Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Flying Meat releases Acorn image editor
Filed under: SoftwareOkay I admit it; I was fooled. Last week Gus Mueller posted an "interview" on his blog with a "fellow Pacific Northwest developer" about an exciting new app to be released today. While I had figured out it was probably an image editor, I did not figure out that Gus was talking to himself! In any case, Flying Mean software (of VoodooPad and FlySketch fame) today announced Acorn, an image editor "built for the 21st century." Much like Pixelmator (with which I expect Acorn to be compared once Pixelmator finally ships), Acorn takes advantage of your GPU to speed up its operation. It has the normal assortment of editing tools, including layers (with filters), vector tools, as well as a built-in Python and Objective-C plugin system. The latter is particularly exciting as it will allow third-party developers to extend Acorn in potentially interesting ways.I've long thought that there was an obvious hole in the market for a reasonably priced image editor that was...