Sep 22

Apple’s Relaxed iOS Developer Rules Barely Help Adobe

Posted in: adobe, Apple, developers, flash, ios, ipad, iPhone, Phones, Today's Chili

Apple’s newly relaxed iOS developer rules allowed third-party programming tools to be used to program apps for the App Store. However, the move doesn’t do much for Adobe, who sells a tool that automatically converts Flash programs into iPhone apps.

Adobe’s CEO Shantanu Narayen said during an earnings conference call that the revised iOS developer rules had a “muted” short-term impact on Adobe product sales, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In other words, when the news broke about Apple’s new developer rules, programmers didn’t rush out to buy Adobe Creative Suite 5, which includes Adobe’s Packager for iPhone, out of excitement over the opportunity to code Flash apps that they could also sell to iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch customers.

This is hardly a surprise. Every iOS developer I’ve spoken to has agreed that anybody serious about creating iOS apps is going to use Apple’s native SDK in order to get the best results. The people who would’ve wanted to create iOS apps using Flash were probably already Flash developers to begin with, hence the “muted” effect on sales.

That doesn’t go to say that the removal of the restrictions was trivial. When Apple imposed the ban on third-party toolkits (notoriously known as section 3.3.1 of the iOS developer agreement) it sparked controversy among programmers debating about the implications on creative freedom in the App Store.

Also, there was some collateral damage incurred on creators beyond Adobe. For example, the app Scratch, which displayed stories, games and animations made by children using MIT’s Scratch platform, waspulled from the App Store.

John McIntosh, creator of the Scratch app, said on Twitter that he was still awaiting a response from Apple on whether Scratch would be approved in the App Store in light of the new developer rules.

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Sep 22

Writer for iPad Aims For Focus, Beauty, Simplicity

Posted in: ios, ipad, Tablets and E-Readers, Today's Chili

Image from InformationArchitects.jp

In design and intent, the iPad is a focus-producing machine. Nearly the entire device is a screen, and every application consumes the entire screen. Information Architects’ new Writer app brings that same hyperfocused aesthetic to word-processing.

Writer is not, like Pages, a desktop publishing application. It’s not really even a textual editor, in the sense that it supports easy correction or rearrangement of already-typed text. When you put the application in “Focus Mode,” it doesn’t even have spellcheck or cut-and-paste. Instead, it’s all about textual production — writing this phrase, this sentence, this word at this moment. As the creators note, “the idea is to activate it when you get stuck, blinding out everything else.”

It’s not particularly customizable, but again, that’s the point. Don’t screw around picking out margins or a font. We’ve picked it for you — and it’s already optimized for your screen. There are a few smart additions, like Dropbox integration and a “reading time” feature that estimates how long it will take a reader to make their way through your text.

More features and tweaks are (naturally) promised for future versions, as is a desktop app. According to iA, it would actually have been easier to release the desktop application first, but the iPad offered something unique: “In spite of its passive character, the awkward keyboard, the stubborn iOS and its many other faults, the iPad has the power to drag you in and make you forget about the world around you.”

Version 1.0 dropped today and is available in the Apple Store for $4.99. With the iPad getting printing with iOS 4.2, there’s a good chance we may see an explosion of document production apps for iOS, each offering something distinctive.

H/T to Liz Danzico/Bobulate.

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Sep 22

Pocket-Sized Bluetooth Keyboard Folds Out Like Tranformer

Posted in: Accessories and Peripherals, bluetooth, ios, iPhone, Today's Chili

If you really, really have to have a physical, clickety-clackety keyboard to get your words onto a screen, the Jorno might be just the thing. The Bluetooth keyboard gives you the full QWERTY experience but folds up into a pocketable package. The keys themselves are just 15% smaller than full-size, big enough for touch-typists with accurate and not-too-fat fingers.

After key-feel, which you’ll have to try for yourself, the next most important specification is size. Folded out the Jorno is 8.5 x 3.5 x 0.3-inches. Concertinaed closed it measures just 3.5 x 3.5 x 0.9-inches, and all the time it weighs the same 8.8-ounces, including the li-ion battery which lasts a month.

A keyboard like this is clearly best suited to the iPhone, as fast typing is pretty easy on the iPad’s larger screen. With this in mind, the Jorno ships with a separate stand for phones. It will of course work with anything that uses the Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR standard, and Jorno has a photo of an iPad balancing precariously on the small bracket.

Small, add-on Bluetooth keyboards seem to be getting more popular, or at least more numerous, since Apple opened up its iDevices to allow them. I have a feeling that the multi-year delay in allowing these accessories wasn’t for technical reasons but for training purposes, to get us used to the soft touchscreen keyboards. It worked, too. You almost never hear griping about the iPhone keyboard anymore.

The Jorno can be pre-ordered now, for $100 (with $20 off until the end of October 2010).

Jorno keyboard product page [Jorno via Cult of Brownlee]

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Sep 21

Google Earth 3.1 for iOS gets its ocean layer, Eric Schmidt’s undersea base conspicuously absent

Posted in: Apple, Google, ios, ipad, iPhone, ipod touch, IpodTouch, Today's Chili
Google’s recent addition of ocean layer content and ocean bathymetry (which, we were shocked to discover, had nothing to do with bathing) meant that Android users finally got access to underwater locales on the Google Earth. No need to feel left out anymore, iOS users — Google Earth 3.1 for iPod Touch, iPad and the iPhone is finally yours as well, with over a hundred pictures and videos and native support for the Retina display. Check out the App Store to get started, or (if it’s your wont) simply snap the QR code after the break.

Continue reading Google Earth 3.1 for iOS gets its ocean layer, Eric Schmidt’s undersea base conspicuously absent

Google Earth 3.1 for iOS gets its ocean layer, Eric Schmidt’s undersea base conspicuously absent originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Sep 2010 10:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceGoogle LatLong Blog  | Email this | Comments

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Sep 20

ComScore: Google’s Android surpasses Microsoft in US smartphone market share

Posted in: Android, Apple, Google, GoogleAndroid, ios, market share, marketshare, Microsoft, palm, Today's Chili, webos, Windows Mobile, WindowsMobile

Considering that Steve Ballmer himself said that Microsoft “missed a cycle” in the smartphone sales universe, we guess it’s not too shocking to see Android leap past Windows Mobile and Friends in ComScore’s latest US smartphone report. If you’ll recall, we saw back in July that Google was tailing Microsoft by the slimmest of margins, and now that the latest data is live, it’s clearer than ever that Android is rising while the competition is slipping. The research firm’s MobiLens report found that Google’s market share in the US smartphone sector surged five percent in the three month average ending April 2010, while RIM sank 1.8 percent, Apple 1.3 percent, Microsoft 2.2 percent and Palm… well, Palm remained flat with just 4.9 percent of the pie. Of course, one has to assume that Microsoft loyalists are holding off on upgrades until Windows Phone 7 hits the market, but there’s little doubt that the flurry of higher-end Android phones has done nothing but help Google’s cause. And if Gingerbread actually brings support for serious 3D gaming? Look out, world.

[Thanks, S.H.]

ComScore: Google’s Android surpasses Microsoft in US smartphone market share originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Sep 2010 07:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 20

Napster app arrives on iOS, completes the circle of life

Posted in: app, Apple, application, audio, ios, ipad, iPhone, ipod touch, IpodTouch, itunes, MP3, Music, sound, stream, streaming, Today's Chili

Before the iPhone, the iPod, and iTunes, there was Napster. The original gangster of digital music distribution has undergone many changes since its heyday as a pirate’s Shangri-La, though this latest one seems to be the most fitting. A new app for the aforementioned iOS devices as well as the iPad has been launched, giving you the full Napster experience in a more portable form factor. That means that for $10 a month you can stream and cache music from a library of 10 million songs — yes, offline listening is available too — essentially turning your iDevice into the Apple equivalent of a Zune Pass-equipped music station. Good times ahead, eh sailor?

[Thanks, Louis Choi]

Napster app arrives on iOS, completes the circle of life originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Sep 2010 03:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 19

Einstein brings Newton OS to the iPhone, handwriting recognition and all

Posted in: Apple, diy, hack, ios, iPhone, mod, Retro, Today's Chili, video

Palm OS on the iPhone? Check. Android on the iPhone? Quasi-check. Newton OS on the iPhone? As of today, that’s a trio of affirmations. Developer Matthias Melcher has wisely used a good bit of his free time to port one of the world’s forgotten-but-not-forgotten operating systems onto Apple’s iOS platform, and while things are understandably sluggish right now, he’s currently working on performance optimizations that’ll hopefully have it running like a clock before long. He’s also made the source code available to anyone willing to tinker with the emulator, and somehow or another, he’s even managed to bring over the much-hyped handwriting recognition aspect. Don’t believe us? Hop on past the break and hit play.

Continue reading Einstein brings Newton OS to the iPhone, handwriting recognition and all

Einstein brings Newton OS to the iPhone, handwriting recognition and all originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Sep 2010 01:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink TUAW  |  sourceYouTube (quadraturencoder)  | Email this | Comments

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Sep 18

As Apple relaxes App Store rules, C64 emulator for iOS gets BASIC again

Posted in: Apple, AppStore, ios, iPhone, ipod touch, IpodTouch, Today's Chili

If you weren’t already convinced that Apple is seriously easing back on some of its more annoying App Store restrictions with the appearance of titles like GV Voice (a Google Voice client), this news might help. After a wild ride of ping-pong approvals and pulls, Manomio’s C64 emulator has reappeared in the Store with its BASIC interpreter fully intact, and available for your coding pleasure. We’ve tested the software and can confirm that you will indeed be able to revisit your youth (provided your youth took place in the early 80’s) via the newest version of the software. Of course, it’s not super fun to program using the tiny, virtual C64 keyboard provided onscreen, but couple this with a Bluetooth keyboard of your choosing, and you can pretty much go wild. The emulator is available right this moment for $4.99, and obviously it’s a free upgrade for those who’ve already bought in.

As Apple relaxes App Store rules, C64 emulator for iOS gets BASIC again originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 18 Sep 2010 12:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Daring Fireball  |  sourceCommodore 64  | Email this | Comments

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Sep 17

Parallels’ Windows virtualization goes mobile with iOS app

Posted in: Apple, ios, Today's Chili, video, Windows

There’s already a number of options available to virtually run Windows applications on your iPhone or iPad (even ESPN is doing it), but users of the recently released Parallels Desktop 6 for Mac now have what looks to be a particularly seamless option at their disposal. That comes in the form of Parallels Mobile, which will work on the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, and will let you access any virtual Windows machine running on a Mac that’s using Parallels Desktop 6. Head on past the break to check it out in action, and go grab the app in the App Store right now — it’s free, but you’ll have to shell out $80 for its desktop counterpart.

[Thanks, Xon]

Continue reading Parallels’ Windows virtualization goes mobile with iOS app

Parallels’ Windows virtualization goes mobile with iOS app originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 18:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 17

Apple TV Runs iOS; Apps, Jailbreaking Possible

Posted in: Apple, apple tv, Hacks, household, ios, Today's Chili

Apple TV image from Apple.com

There have been two mysteries about the new Apple TV. 1) Was it still running the old Apple TV’s “Back Row” version of OS X? 2) Just how small is its new pared-down hard drive? Mystery #1 has been solved: just like the iPhone and iPad, Apple TV is now running iOS 4.

This is important for two reasons:

  1. Right now, there are no apps (and no app marketplace) for Apple TV. Now we know there could be — and not on some imagined next-generation device, but this one, in the not-too-distant future.
  2. The new Apple TV could be amenable to the same jailbreaking techniques that have worked on the iPhone and iPad — so even if Apple doesn’t start a TV app store, someone could start their own if they’re willing to live on the wild side.

Both of these consequences, though, are still a teensy bit dependent on the answer to that other mystery. Until we get a teardown, nobody’s sure exactly how much storage the new Apple TV is packing. There might not be room enough to store a whole bunch of apps, even if you could sideload them through that teensy micro-USB port.

I’ll let Chris Foresman at Ars Technica explain how we know Apple TV is running iOS:

Apple stores configuration information about how various iOS devices can communicate with other devices over its dock connector in a file called USBDeviceConfiguration.plist. Entries in this file have revealed early evidence of new iPhone and iPod models, and an entry labelled “iProd” later turned out to be the first iPad.

An entry in iOS 3.2 was referred to as iProd2,1, and we suspected that it was likely an early prototype of a next-gen iPad. However, an updated configuration file in iOS 4.2b1 reveals the same numeric product ID is attached to an entry for AppleTV2,1, referring to the second major hardware revision of the Apple TV. This presents solid evidence that the new Apple TV is running iOS proper, instead of the other customized version of Mac OS X used for the previous one—that should save Apple from duplicated development effort.

So if Apple TV is running iOS now, why not announce it and invite people to start making apps for it? Wouldn’t that get everyone more excited about the relaunch of Apple TV? I could think of two reasons why they wouldn’t:

  1. There’s no natural interface to run existing iOS apps on Apple TV: no touchscreens TVs, definitely no multitouch, no accelerometers, no camera, etc. Until one or more of those things change, or somebody writes some nifty code to make a remote control do the same thing, you can’t port apps over. If that changes, it’s off to the races.
  2. The App Store is already fragmented; not all apps work on every device, or even the same device running different versions of iOS. Throwing Apple TV in the mix, with a bunch of TV-specific applications that might or might not work terribly well on the iPad or iPhone, just makes the store more confusing. And Apple’s trying to make its TV products, especially, as simple as possible.

Confirmed: ‘iProd 2′ is the new Apple TV (TUAW)

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