eBooks outnumber games in the App Store
There are a number of reasons being kicked around to explain this phenomenon. It's easier to churn out an eBook than a game app. There are more free eBook than gaming apps, since many of the eBooks are out-of-copyright classics or collections of free content; this lowers the cost of development. Once an eBook engine is built it's fairly trivial to use the framework for another book. Currently there are over 10 times more free eBook apps than paid ones. It's different in gaming where paid apps outstrip free ones by over 2 to 1.
These eBook apps will, of course, work on an iPad, but the Apple idea is to have you use one eBook reader and that would be iBooks. Jason Kincaid of Techcrunch, admittedly with no background evidence, posits that there may be an eBook purge coming. It would be very un-Apple to have an iPad owner searching for a copy of Treasure Island, and letting them find over 25 apps with differing interfaces and many of them free.
This could be confusing for new iPad owners, and more to the point, Apple can't monetize it. It doesn't sound unreasonable that Apple will do whatever it takes to make iBooks the eReader of choice at the expense of the plethora of current eBook apps. They will be doing it in the name of providing a simpler and more enjoyable user experience, but of course you can't pocket what you can't sell.
It will be fascinating to watch the eBook market about two months from now, after the first iPads have been delivered, and to see what Apple has planned.
[via The Guardian]
TUAWeBooks outnumber games in the App Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Automatically open Bittorrent files using Dropbox and Hazel
Filed under: Internet, Internet Tools
Every year there is a torrent made to let listeners download most of the music for SXSW. This year's torrent has recently been posted (previous years' are also available at the same site). I don't usually use Bittorent, so I asked around for client suggestions; Transmission seems to be a favorite among several of my TUAW colleagues.
I also remembered a tip from my friend Guillermo Esteves (who did the awesome Star Wars crawl using only HTML and CSS), about using Dropbox to start torrents remotely. Guillermo provides some detailed instructions for Transmission and µTorrent to set them up to "watch" a folder for new .torrent files, with an important caveat to make sure that you don't download the files to your Dropbox.
One additional Transmission tip: be sure that you un-check the box next to "Display 'adding transfer' options window" so that files will automatically be added, and be sure to check the box next to the "Start transfers when added" option. Guillermo shows both of those settings in his screenshots, but it took me a few minutes to figure out that I had them set incorrectly.
Then I asked myself: "How can I be even lazier?" and I remembered Hazel, a program for automatically moving files from one folder to another based on a set of predefined rules. So I added a Hazel rule for ~/Downloads/ which will move any file where "Kind is BitTorrent Document" to my ~/Dropbox/Torrents/ folder. I repeated this on both my iMac and my MacBook Pro. Now I can be on my MacBook Pro and download a torrent file to ~/Downloads/ and have it moved to my Torrents folder, and have the torrent automatically start downloading on my iMac. So when I'm done with my MacBook Pro I can just close it without having to worry about interrupting any of my downloads.
You may have noticed that we're big Dropbox fans around here. We use it for syncing Things or instead of a USB sync cable or keeping our notes with us or sharing screenshots, along with any number of other uses. Do you know of any other unusual uses for Dropbox? Let us know in the comments.
In the meantime, enjoy the free, legal music downloads from SXSW!TUAWAutomatically open Bittorrent files using Dropbox and Hazel originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
GDC 2010: From concept to Top Paid with Unity iPhone
Filed under: Gaming, Software, Developer
The company was actually founded in Denmark, but has since expanded around the world with just two products: Unity Pro and Unity iPhone Pro. The second product, as you might imagine, allows developers to put together an application that can then be exported out into an Xcode project and released on the App Store. Higgins said that they've had over 90,000 people download the software since it was released for free last fall, and that more than 500 games in the App Store were authored by Unity.
He also ran a short demo of the software at the panel. While some of the coding got a little technical (the system allows you to create and change variables on in-game objects even while the game is running in the engine), the coolest feature was the way they simulated iPhone controls: by using a real iPhone as a remote. They've released a free app on the App Store that will connect via Wi-Fi with a copy of the development tool running on your Mac, and as you touch and turn the iPhone, the editor reacts, and sends the (slightly lower resolution) output to the iPhone's screen. You can also make changes to your code as the game runs in that mode, so you can be playing and coding at the same time.
That was pretty impressive. Of course, Unity won't actually help you be a game developer -- like many of the tools on display at the conference this week, it's a professional tool that can only make your ideas and art come to life, not actually create them for you.
But when you combine Unity's compatibility across platforms (there's even a web player that will play your Unity-created game on any web-compatible computer) with the ease of development (the app just outputs an Xcode project, so you can write an app in Javascript with the tool and output it straight to the App Store, or even edit the Xcode after the output if you want to take advantage of features that Unity doesn't support by default), it's definitely worth a look as an iPhone development tool. I'm not a developer, so I don't have much insight on how the program actually works, but just in terms of creating apps for multiple platforms at the same time ("author once, deploy anywhere," as Higgins said during his talk), Unity seems like a worthwhile solution.
The Unity platform is available as a free download, and the iPhone app either comes in source code with the rest of the platform, or can be downloaded straight from the App Store.
TUAWGDC 2010: From concept to Top Paid with Unity iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Black Swan brings Google Voice back to the iPhone without the App Store
Filed under: iPhone, App Review
Google Voice on the iPhone has been something of a sore subject for me. If you need a full-recap of the whole sordid iPhone/Google Voice story see this story from December or more of our coverage. I even started a little site devoted to waiting for Google Voice on the iPhone called IsGoogleVoiceAvailableForTheiPhone.com.
It has been 6 months and 19 days since Apple claimed it had not "rejected" Google Voice but was "studying" it. During the course of Apple's "study" the company moved to purge all existing Google Voice apps from the App Store.
There were three reactions to this from developers:
Google revamped the Mobile Google Voice page so that it looks a lot nicer on the iPhone.
GV Mobile released its app for free on Cydia for those who have jailbroken iPhones.
The folks behind Voice Central went a different route. They decided to make a web app instead. I've been using it in beta for the past few months, but as of today it has been released to the public as Black Swan.
The difference between the Mobile Google Voice site from Google and Black Swan is that Black Swan is stored locally on your iPhone, like Pie Guy from Neven Mrgan of Panic.com. Riverturn calls this a "weblication," which is a fairly awful name, but apparently they aren't the first ones to use it.
An obvious benefit is that Riverturn doesn't need to wait for Apple to approve any changes, or wait for Apple to finish "studying" Google Voice. Simply go to the website and download it to your iPhone.
It works really well, much better than I had initially expected it would. You can easily access voicemails to listen to them or read the transcripts. The "Call Details" page offers a button to call or SMS them back either from your iPhone or through Google Voice. There's a list of recent calls just like the regular iPhone app. Without question Black Swan is the best way to use Google Voice on your iPhone. If you pre-loaded this on an iPhone, I doubt most people would even realize that they aren't using a "regular" iPhone app. It even works in landscape mode.
The only bump in the road for me was that it does not use the contacts list on my iPhone, but instead uses the one from my Google account. I presume this is necessary because they can't access the Contacts list through a "weblication" and the good news is that you can setup the Address Book in OS X to sync with Google Contacts. The only ones who lose out are those who are using Google Apps, as a regular Gmail account is required for Google Voice.
There are two versions of the app available: a free, ad-supported version and a premium edition for $10/year payable either through Google Checkout or PayPal. Currently they are offering a discounted price of $6/year.
In addition to removing the ads, the Premium version also adds some features including support for Contact Photos, enabling/disabling "Do Not Disturb" and direct customer support. My general rule of thumb for things like this is to use the free version first to see if you actually end up wishing you had the premium features. Personally I found the ads were distracting enough that $6 seems like a bargain, especially knowing that Apple can't yank the rug out from under them again. There is a 7-day trial of the premium version; just stick a reminder in iCal for +6 days from now to remind you to evaluate if it's worth $6.
Who knows, maybe in a year's time Apple will have finished "studying" Google Voice. Ha ha! But seriously, I don't really expect that will ever happen. The good news is that as of today, most people will miss a native application a lot less.
TUAWBlack Swan brings Google Voice back to the iPhone without the App Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Daily Deals for March 9, 2010
Filed under: Deals
Today's deals are all generated from a friendly search-based robot courtesy DealNews. We didn't pick 'em this time, so no warranties expressed or implied. Aol uses a referral code for these deals.- Apple Store: [iPods] Refurbished Apple iPod touch MP3 Players from $139 + free shipping
- iTunes Music Store: [iPhone / iPod Apps] App Store Price Drops: Pocket Heart, Diner Dash, Magellan RoadMate, more
- MacUpdate Promo: [Security/Anti-Virus Software] Lockngo 4 for Mac downloads for $10
- Buy.com: [Networkable Hard Drive (NAS)] Linksys NMH300 Two-Bay Media Hub for $130 + free shipping
- eBay: [Supplies] Quartet Magnetic Dry-Erase Board for $8 + free shipping
- Buy.com: [802.11g Wireless] Zyxel 802.11g Wireless Powerline Router for $40 + free shipping
- Adorama: [Printers] Canon SELPHY ES30 Compact Dye Sublimation Printer for $50 + free shipping
- Dell Home: [40" - 42" LCD TVs] Sharp 42" 1080p Widescreen LCD HDTV for $539 + free shipping
- Shop4Tech: [Cell Phone Accessories] Universal GPS Car Mount for $5 + free shipping
- ThingFling: [Surge Protectors] Philips 8-Outlet Home Theater System Surge Protector for $50 + $6 s&h
- Buy.com: [Mice/Trackballs] Logitech Trackman Trackball Mouse for $22 + free shipping
- 6ave: [42" And Smaller Plasma HDTVs] Panasonic VIERA 42" 1080p Plasma HDTV, Blu-ray, more for $833 + free shipping
TUAWDaily Deals for March 9, 2010 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Microsoft updates Office for Mac 2008 and 2004
Filed under: Productivity, Software Update
Microsoft has just released updates to the 2004 and 2008 versions of Microsoft Office. According to the company, the updates, which weigh in at 9.7 MB and 221.5 MB respectively, provide "fixes for vulnerabilities that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer's memory with malicious code" as well as improvements to stability and performance.
The update for Microsoft Office 2004 can be downloaded here, while those with the 2008 version can find it at this link.
As with most Mac OS X-related updates, whether from a third party app or a system update, you should consider backing up your data before proceeding.
Keep in mind, as you install this update, that right around the corner is Microsoft Office for Mac 2011. Notable updates for the next version of the suite for the Mac include the replacement of Entourage with Outlook, the return of VBA and, gasp (or hurrah!), a more ribbon-oriented user interface, à la the Windows version of Office.
TUAWMicrosoft updates Office for Mac 2008 and 2004 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Slate comes to the iPhone, along with a lot of advertising
Filed under: Multimedia, Odds and ends, iPhone, iPod touch, App Review
I've always liked Slate Magazine on the web. It's sometimes sassy and irreverent, but always interesting -- an eclectic mix of politics, culture and tech news.Now, Slate has come to the iPhone in a US$1.99 app that features all the articles from the site, as well as the blog posts, staff tweets and streaming video from the Slate podcasts. Once content is downloaded you can read it off-line, which is a worthwhile feature. Access to Slate on the web is free, and you can read Slate from any mobile browser by going to mobile.slate.com.
So why the charge for the iPhone app? Slate says it cost something to develop it, and it gives you a much richer experience in a portable form. I can't argue with that, but I can argue with the ads that appear absolutely everywhere. Even the splash screen popped up with an ad. I think that's a bit much after I've paid for the app, but I'm beginning to see a lot of this in other apps as well.
I do like the app a lot, and it is a better experience for me than reading Slate stories in Safari on the iPhone. I even prefer the app to reading the site on my desktop or laptop. I just think the constant intrusive ads are a turn-off that will keep some people from pulling the trigger on what is an otherwise laudable effort.
Slate works on any iPhone or iPod touch with OS 3.0 or greater. I expect we'll see an iPad version as well.
Full disclosure: In the dim, distant past I worked at the Washington Post Company, which owns Slate.
Take a gander at some screen shots below:
TUAWSlate comes to the iPhone, along with a lot of advertising originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
GDC 2010: Ngmoco explains how Eliminate was built
Filed under: Gaming, Software, Other Events, Developer, iPhone
They looked first at commercial solutions for game networking, and it turns out that the Quake 3 engine that they eventually used fit their ideas well. The toughest obstacle was of course the lag -- in a fast-paced game like Eliminate, even a delay of 200 milliseconds is too much. But it turns out that the way the Quake 3 engine handled dialup Internet back in the day is very similar to the way many developers are handling the slower speeds of mobile 3G. As the devs said, "a dialup connection from 1999 looks a lot like a 3G connection today."
In addition to the networking code, the Quake engine also gave them lots of other benefits during development, including graphics and lighting engines, a map editor, and an easy way to model animations in the game. The engineers said that using a commercial engine like Quake 3 allowed them to spend much more time on the out-of-game experience (the lobbies, the in-app purchases, and so on), and they really appreciated that.
Matchmaking was a little tougher -- they used console games by companies like Microsoft, Infinity Ward, and Blizzard as a model, and decided that they wanted to have players wait a max of about 10% of the time they spent playing. For console games, that turns out to be about a minute of waiting to make a game versus ten minutes of actual gameplay, but for Eliminate's shorter three minute games, Ngmoco decided they only had about fifteen seconds to make a match. Still, they were able to put a pretty robust system in the game even in that short time -- they assign players a number of various qualities (character skill, level, ping time, and so on), and then the matchmaking system searches for other game players, slowly expanding the limits on the search criteria.
In other words, when players first start searching, they'll be matched up with players of approximately the same skill, but as time goes on, that skill window grows. Fifteen seconds in, the skill differential could be up to ten times what it was when the search first started. Not all qualities "degrade" the same -- party size, for example, degrades much slower, so someone looking for four players won't get hooked up with just two or three for a while. And while the devs originally didn't include character level in matchmaking at all (they figured skill was a better match for players than actual level), a "HUGE outcry" by players made them include level in the process. Players really didn't like being connected with opponents who were at a much higher character level, even if the skill level was the same.
Ngmoco runs 16 different servers for each implementation of Eliminate: four for messaging with the clients, two for matchmaking, eight for what they call "game managers" (which are servers that run multiple game instances), and two management consoles that oversee the actual Ubuntu-based servers they're running, and update the 24 apt-get packages that make up the actual game software. Messaging servers are based in San Francisco with the company, but game servers are co-located around the world, in Chicago, Virginia, Amsterdam and Tokyo. Unfortunately, they didn't mention how many people are actually playing, but the servers were tested for up to 30,000 users just for messaging and 50,000 for matchmaking -- Ngmoco actually made a headless version of the game for OS X, installed it on "all of the hardware" in their offices, and ran it like crazy to load-test their software.
It was a pretty interesting talk -- very much on the technical side, but Ngmoco set out to create a competitive online FPS on the iPhone and that's what they did. It was cool to hear some behind-the-scenes details on how a very complicated iPhone gaming network is designed and run.
We'll have more from GDC 2010 all this week, including hands-on of the latest games from Ngmoco and lots of other game developers. Stay tuned!
TUAWGDC 2010: Ngmoco explains how Eliminate was built originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Report: RIAA pressured Apple into creating iTunes LP
Filed under: iTS, Retail, iTunes, Apple
As you might expect with any other less-than-popular product at Apple, iTunes LP isn't exactly being thrown into the spotlight, either. While a much more visual music experience would be perfect for the iPad, GigaOM notes that it didn't even merit a mention by Jobs at the iPad announcement. It's certainly possible that iTunes LP could find a new home in the future, if bands really get behind the service and make their own (a few have, as noted, but the cost seems pretty prohibitive, especially if sales aren't that impressive), but from what this anonymous source says, the LP service is a record company concession that hasn't paid off for Apple even in the way its originators hoped.
[via iPodNN]
TUAWReport: RIAA pressured Apple into creating iTunes LP originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Tekken bound for the iPhone
Filed under: Gaming, iPhone, App Store
Namco is bringing the popular Tekken franchise to the iPhone. It's not confirmed whether it's a port of the original game -- released back in 1994 in arcades, then on the PlayStation -- or the current Tekken 6. This comes a few weeks after Capcom announced the release of Street Fighter IV for the iPhone, leading to an eventual fighter game showdown in the App Store. While both games on the iPhone is pretty awesome, I'm waiting to see how they will look and play on the iPad. I also wouldn't mind seeing even more Namco titles on the iPhone - especially selections from the Tales RPG franchise.
Namco has a number of games in the store, including classics like Galaga, which was "remixed" for the iPhone, Burger Time Deluxe, which graced arcades way back in 1982!
Here's hoping for old-school Tekken.
[Via Gizmodo]
TUAWTekken bound for the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
EFF releases iPhone developer license agreement
Filed under: Developer, iPhone
In a step towards transparency, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has made the entire iPhone Developer Program License Agreement available for the general public. This is the document that all iPhone developers must agree to when they become part of the iPhone developer program. As EFF points out, public copies of the license agreement are pretty scarce thanks to developers being locked under a non-disclosure agreement as part of the contract. EFF used the Freedom of Information Act to get its copy from NASA, which is the version from approximately a year ago (Rev. 3-17-09). The agreement has been updated since then.
The EFF characterizes the agreement as "a very one-sided contract, favoring Apple at every turn," and that's not an overstatement. Some of the clauses and conditions in the Apple developer agreement do smack of "our field, our ball, our rules" thinking from Cupertino. Highlights from the 28-page document include:
- A ban prohibiting developers from making public statements about the license agreement; however the contract itself is not considered "Apple Confidential Information."
- Apps developed from Apple's SDK are only allowed to be sold through the App Store. You can't push it anywhere else (Cydia, etc.), even if Apple has rejected the app for any reason.
- Developers are forbidden to tinker with any Apple products, not just the iPhone. This includes jailbreaking.
- Apple is not liable for more than $50 in damages in case something happens on their end to your app. This is laughable, and I'm honestly surprised that Apple has not had a legal challenge over this yet.
- Devices used for testing purposes could be locked into a "testing mode," and may not be able to be restored to their original condition. That is one way to brick your device.
Mike's Op-Ed Soapbox Dept.
To get a sense of where the EFF is coming from, it's worth taking a moment to review the first sentence of Fred von Lohmann's post: "The entire family of devices built on the iPhone OS (iPhone, iPod Touch [sic], iPad) have been designed to run only software that is approved by Apple -- a major shift from the norms of the personal computer market." While that's a snappy lead, it's not technically accurate; all three of the devices are designed to run any compiled & signed application for the platform, and all developers may distribute ad-hoc builds of their apps to a limited number of users without Apple knowing or caring; enterprise developers (who pay $299 for the privilege) can distribute unapproved apps much more widely.
The point von Lohmann is aiming for is that the iPhone OS ecosystem and application distribution channel is almost entirely controlled by Apple; that's obvious and clear. While it's certainly "a shift from the norms of the PC market," it's far less alien to the norms of the cellphone and consumer electronics market, and none of the devices in question is a personal computer in the traditional sense of the term -- not even the iPad. There doesn't seem to be a similar degree of campaigning for openness around the Xbox Live or Wii online marketplaces, for example.
Although developers aren't supposed to talk about the program agreement, I'm sure we will be seeing and hearing quite a bit of public comment around it now that EFF has lifted the veil. The EFF post concludes with a call for developers to demand better terms and for users to support them; while it's unlikely that Apple is going to shift on this, some public feedback from prominent developers might make some difference.
TUAWEFF releases iPhone developer license agreement originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Found Footage: Deconstructing the iPad Ad
Filed under: Found Footage, iPad
Neil Curtis, the guy behind the adjective-filled iPad mashup video we presented last month, has taken the iPad commercial shown on the Oscar broadcast and clarified it. Our own Sang Tang did a graphical breakdown of the ad's focus earlier today, so this is a nice companion piece.
In his version, he slowed down the ad to 15% speed, which gives you a much better idea of what's really going on. He also comments on a few 'Emperor's New Clothes' moments like switching models in mid-stream and how a graphic dragged into text continues to move without any user intervention. Take a look at this iPad video and see what else you can find.
TUAWFound Footage: Deconstructing the iPad Ad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
FileMaker 11 now available with charting, reporting improvements
Filed under: Software
Apple subsidiary FileMaker has been busy; the flagship database app grows by another leap today with the release of version 11. We were lucky enough to get a pre-release demo at Macworld Expo in February and were duly impressed. As someone who's been using FileMaker since version 6, I'm thrilled with some of the additions to this update; let's get to it.Launch
Right off the bat, the introduction screen is new (after the splash screen "wobbles" into view). It's wider with more options, like a link to the online resource center. There you'll find video tutorials, starter solutions (more on that later) and access to consultants. They're all extremely useful and aimed at users and developers alike.
Charts
The big news starts with built-in support for charts. For years, developers and users have employed plug-ins and other 3rd-party solutions to get charting done, or they simply exported data to Excel. Now those extra efforts may be a thing of the past.
As you would imagine, adding a chart is super easy. While in layout mode, use the new chart tool to drag out a charting area. From there, the setup screen appears.
This is a real pleasure to use. You can select between a bar graph (horizontal or vertical), line chart, area or pie. Give your chart a name, or base its name on a field or calculation. Likewise, the X and Y axis can be labeled with your own titles or a field or calculation. If you've got more than one Y axis variable (for example, number of occurrences and procedure duration) adding each is as simple as a click. Finally, you can pull data from a found set, the current record only, or from related records -- which is awesome.
Now it gets fun. Click "Format Chart" to style all aspects of your chart. Select your color palette (options are presented as cute color samples), fonts, backgrounds and axis labels plus scale minimums and maximums. It's full-featured and nearly everything I wanted when I was stuck routinely exporting data to Excel just to make charts with version 6. In my testing this was simple and effective.
The only thing missing for me is a scatter plot option, but a line chart could do the job in a pinch.
Snapshot Link
Another feature I'm excited about is the snapshot link. Let's say you've got to share a subset of your data with a colleague, like sales figures generated from the state of California, for example. First, perform a find for invoices with "CA" in the state field, then set the sort order and layout that you want. Then, select "Snapshot Link" from the File menu to produce a snapshot of that found set as a new file, including the sort order and layout that you chose.
From there, you can email the resulting file to your colleague and s/he will see the very same found set of records, sort order and layout on their machine running FileMaker 11 (assuming they have access to the same original database). But wait, there's more! If either of you edit those records, the change will be reflected on the other's machine. Awesome, right? Yes it is.
Recurring Import
Here's another welcome new feature. Recurring Import lets you designate a .csv file or Excel spreadsheet as a target data source that will be imported each time a given database is opened. To set it up, use the import function as you typically do. But, just before you click OK, select the "Setup as recurring import" option. From then on, any changes made to that file will be sent to that database (read only) whenever that database is opened. FileMaker even creates a layout and script for you (of course, you can tweak either).
You say you don't want to re-launch the database just to update that layout? No problem. Just click the "Update" button to grab the latest data on the fly.
Back in the day, I managed a huge Excel spreadsheet of thousands of incident reports that had to remain in Excel for legacy support. We had an elaborate and time-consuming method of pushing that data into FileMaker. This would have been a lifesaver.
Quick Reports
Here's one that developers will appreciate. Quick Reports is a new way to make on-the-fly reporting incredibly easy. In fact, you don't even have to leave browse mode.
Quick Reports treats your data as if it were a spreadsheet. That's clever, as many users are coming from spreadsheets (or still tied to them), and it's a concept they're comfortable with. You can add fields and records by clicking a column or row, and even change a field's type (number, text, time, container ... even calculation or summary) right then and there.
The best part is that you can create a report with grouped data from browse mode. No more setting up the subsummaries, fiddling with layouts, etc. Just add a break field to automatically generate the summaries, add a subtotal type and you've built a grouped report in table view. That's awesome.
There's even more to this incredible release. Quick Find is like Spotlight for your database. Again, back in the day we wrote elaborate search scripts that aren't necessary anymore. Quick Find is always available and searches all of the fields in the current layout for your search term. It also automatically saves recent searches for quick access in the future as a drop-down list.
The Inspector acts much like its counterpart in some of the iLife apps. Familiar functions like alignments, positioning (front, back, etc.) and text properties have moved to the Inspector. Remember when they were in that left-hand sidebar? Me, too.
Additionally, along with the 30+ bundled starter solution databases for common home and business needs, there's a new invoice starter solution. For basic client and billing management, it may do the job for some small businesses that otherwise would have pushed towards a narrower invoicing solution.
I know this is an epic post, but it's only the beginning of what's new in this release. As a long-time customer, I'm excited about it -- even more so than when we made the leap from version 6 to version 7. If you use Filemaker in your day-to-day work, you'll absolutely want to check out this update.
A single license of Filemaker Pro 11 costs US$299. Upgrades from Filemaker Pro 10 and 9 are available at $179. Additionally, those using version 8.5 and 8 are eligible for upgrade pricing until September 23, 2010.
TUAWFileMaker 11 now available with charting, reporting improvements originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
iPad will lack some standard iPhone apps at launch
Filed under: Hardware, Software, App Store, iPad
Wired's Brian X. Chen noticed that Apple's iPad press release touts "12 new innovative apps designed especially for the iPad." Take a look at the screenshot at right and you'll see twelve apps: Videos, iPod, Maps, Photos, Mail, Safari, App Store, iTunes, YouTube, Contacts, Calendar and Notes. That means a few apps that ship with the iPhone -- Stocks, Calculator, Clock, Weather and Voice Memos -- are missing. Thus, the mystery begins. Where are The Final Five? Chen suggests that they'll be released as free apps in the App Store. John Gruber believes that design problems caused the team (specifically, Steve Jobs) to withhold the apps. I agree with John and Brian.
Consider the calculator app. It looks great on the iPhone, as the iPhone is about the size of a pocket calculator. If it were simply "blown up" to accommodate the iPad's screen, it would resemble one of those dollar store calculators with the enormous buttons for older folks. Definitely not what Apple is after. Also, the press release says, "... designed especially for the iPad" (emphasis mine). The five missing apps haven't yet received that loving attention, at least to Steve's satisfaction.
As for getting them on the iPad, I bet they'll be a part of the next OS release and in the App Store from then on. That way, Apple won't be tied to the OS whenever they want to update those apps, and they'll have time between now and then to get them just right.
TUAWiPad will lack some standard iPhone apps at launch originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Found Footage: iPad intro video as captioned by Google
Filed under: Humor, Odds and ends, iPad
Update: Some folks aren't seeing the captions. To ensure that you do, click the right disclosure arrow then make sure "CC" is selected. Next to "CC," select "Transcribe audio." It should be on by default, but if not, that's how to fix it.
Auto-captioning, introduced last year by YouTube in a pilot test, uses voice recognition to create text captions for uploaded videos (via the same massively distributed approach that Google uses for machine translation, and with the same underlying engine that Google Voice uses to transcribe voicemail). Just last week the feature was opened up to all YouTube uploaders -- but apparently it still struggled with the iPad introduction video, with unintentionally hilarious results. I now want "and it helps so many basic technology of the applications the baltic countries are going" on a t-shirt.
Yes, you've might have already seen this video, but you owe it to yourself to sit down for a few minutes and watch again. Just don't drink while watching, as a spit take is imminent.
[Via Engadget]
TUAWFound Footage: iPad intro video as captioned by Google originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Steve Ballmer compliments Apple, Hell freezes over
Filed under: Apple Corporate, Rumors
The Seattle Times is reporting that Steve Ballmer, who notoriously laughed at the iPhone, had some good things to say about it last week in a speech he gave at the computer-science building at the University of Washington. "Apple's done a very nice job that allows people to monetize and commercialize their intellectual property," he said.Ordinarily, a comment like this might not be significant, but in this case it adds fuel to the fire that Apple will replace Google with Bing as the default search engine in the next iPhone OS. Google and Apple are increasingly at odds and it's possible that Apple may see an alliance with Microsoft as a way to stave off Google's mobile growth.
For Microsoft, a deal that puts Bing on the iPhone would be a huge win as mobile search is becoming increasingly common. Smart phones are becoming more mainstream and the iPhone is increasingly dominating the handset market.
Currently Microsoft offers a Bing iPhone app. Whether Bing goes further on the iPhone remains to be seen because Ballmer, rather uncharacteristically, is staying mum. The Seattle Times cornered Ballmer after his speech and asked is there an "enemy of my enemy is my friend" thing going on, to which Ballmer just smiled, said he couldn't answer and climbed into his car.
TUAWSteve Ballmer compliments Apple, Hell freezes over originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Postbox adds Things and OmniFocus support
Filed under: Software, Productivity
The first time I heard about Postbox, it was a relatively new email client for the Mac. Based on the details in the first announcement and my trial run, I was very intrigued. I recall telling the rest of TUAW that -- if its stated goals were achieved -- it had the potential to take over my Mail.app setup.
See, I love my setup, but everything that I really like about Mail has been added by plugins, and those plugins require a certain performance and stability sacrifice. It would be bittersweet to part with everything I've built there, but it would be a welcome change if it were a step up. With better task management, great search features, tabbed views, a plugin architecture and more, Postbox has always struck me as a serious challenger.
Since the last time we mentioned it, Postbox (which is Mozilla-powered) has continued to become more Mac-like, with system-wide Address Book sync, notification integration with iCal, Spotlight indexing, and more drag and drop features. There's even a way to instantly transfer photos to iPhoto, making it easy to save all of those travel pictures your mom decided to send ... one attachment at a time. Most important (to me), the most recent release (1.1.2) has added integration features for task managers Things and OmniFocus.
If you've ever explored productivity apps on the Mac, you've probably at least tried one of these to-do list apps before. We've covered both Things and OmniFocus quite a bit in the past. The consensus that came out of the early battle between these two prominent apps was -- to put it (too) simply -- that Things (a 2009 Macworld Best in Show winner) was the simpler, more elegant one, and OmniFocus (a 2008 Best in Show winner) was the complex, more powerful one. Whichever you prefer, if your task manager is one of these, you can now turn emails in Postbox directly into tasks (with a link back to the original message in the notes). It's not a new concept to Mail.app users, but it's been something that many people who've switched to Postbox (or are thinking about it) have sorely missed. I'm hoping this is a step towards an architecture that will allow any task management app (or other note-taking/productivity apps) to do the same, in the way Mail's AppleScript dictionary makes possible. It is possible, right now, to drag a message to create a link to it in another app. I just want to be able to script that!
I won't delve into all of the previously-existing features (we've been there before), but I'll highlight a couple that have really been tempting me. First, there's a great GMail vibe to the message handling, including "conversation" views (like threaded views where you can read an entire conversation at once), and Topics (essentially tags, or labels if you're familiar with GMail). A message can have multiple topics, allowing it to exist in multiple places in your organization scheme, similar to MailTags for Mail. Instead of flagging messages (or starring, in GMail parlance), you add a To-Do item to it, and those can be easily searched, pinned and integrated with your workflow. They show up as flags or stars, too, if you view the same message elsewhere. To-Do's can exist on their own, too, without being attached to an email. The search features of Postbox are pretty stunning, too, with speed, accuracy and flexibility. If you want to see all of the images, links, or attachments in a message, conversation or entire mailbox, you can pop up a new tab and do just that. It's a powerful package.
I've only tested Postbox with IMAP, so I can't attest to its performance with POP accounts. My Google Apps account works great with it, and it causes no problems with Mail on my iPhone. I've tested it with both Things and OmniFocus, and the new integration features are working perfectly.
You can read up on the latest developments at the Postbox blog. The Things/OmniFocus integration works right out of the gate, but you'll probably want to grab the latest version of your chosen task manager just to be sure. The prior inability to link back to my emails was the biggest issue holding me back, so I'm giving Postbox an extended test run right now. We'll see if it ultimately fits in to my up-'til-now Cocoa-only organization app lineup ... I'll let you know how it goes. If you're tired of Mail.app's lack of advanced features (or the shenanigans involved with adding them), you can try Postbox for free, and pick up a license for $39.95US. If you haven't already picked a task manager, Things and OmniFocus, both have free trials as well.
TUAWPostbox adds Things and OmniFocus support originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
A look at the framework of Apple's iPad ad
Filed under: iPad
The iPad, like the iPhone, used the Oscars to make its ad debut. As is typical with an Apple ad, the iPad's ad featured a montage of different uses for the device, all while set to the backdrop of a catchy tune.
In making his case for the iPad, Apple CEO Steve Jobs noted that it would offer a better experience than a smartphone and a notebook computer in the following areas:
- Browsing
- Photos
- Videos
- Music
- Games
- eBooks
The iPad's first ad reflects this ideal. The ad, when analyzed based on the on-air time dedicated to a particular function, reveals a device that will be marketed for jack-of-all-trades functionality, with a particular focus on its media consumption appeal and differentiation.
About 80 percent of all 720 frames (30 seconds of total ad's total time multiplied by 24 frames per second) of the iPad's ad showed an app being used. And within this time, the photo app was shown the most, accounting for 26 percent of total frames where an app is being used. The mail app came in second, with 22 percent.
With 20 percent of airtime, the iBook app highlights Apple positioning the iPad to compete against eBook readers.
While a New York Times app wasn't shown, the ad, which shows the paper being displayed in a Safari browser window instead, also points to Apple positioning the iPad to appeal those who consume traditional print media publications -- such as newspapers and magazines. Although a Safari browser was briefly shown toward the end of the ad browsing Facebook, almost all Safari activity displayed the New York Times.
In a September 2009 interview with the New York Times' David Pogue, Steve Jobs provided somewhat of a glimpse into how Apple would market and differentiate the iPad. Jobs argued that while dedicated devices such as Amazon's Kindle will always exist and that they may have offer some advantages in doing just one thing, "general-purpose devices will win the day" because "people just probably aren't willing to pay for a dedicated device." The iPad's first ad clearly follows this ideal.
TUAWA look at the framework of Apple's iPad ad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
CBS Sports March Madness app will stream your games live
Filed under: Multimedia, Software, Developer, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
There is a lite version that offers up just scores and news, but the US$9.99 premium version gives you live video of all the games, and/or audio broadcasts as they happen from Westwood One (and the press release says CBS worked in conjunction with MLB Advanced Media, so I'd guess the quality is pretty good). If you're planning on watching the tournament at all, and think you might spend at least a game or two away from the television, the app will probably be worth it. It's up for download right now on the App Store -- play ball! No wait. What do they say for basketball? Tip off?
TUAWCBS Sports March Madness app will stream your games live originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.