appMobi XDK delivers free cross-platform dev environment to Chrome Web Store

The Chrome Web Store welcomed a new arrival today, and it goes by the name of appMobi XDK. While the addition is targeted squarely at developers, it’s entirely free and packs quite a doozy — cross-platform HTML5 software development from within the web browser. As you might expect, the tool is perfect for making applications to run within Google Chrome, but get this… it’s also capable of creating native apps for submission to Apple’s App Store and the Android Market. Like any competent development environment, it features a full set of debugging tools, along with the ability to test your apps via on-screen emulation and directly from your target device. Hardware integration is accomplished with JavaScript hardware abstraction, which enables access to the camera, GPS, accelerometer and the like. Further, the platform boasts full compatibility with PhoneGap, which means you can easily transition if you’ve got a project in the works. If you’re already hooked, be sure to check out the PR after the break, which describes such goodies as in-app purchasing and secure user authentication, which are made possible with appMobi’s cloud services.

Continue reading appMobi XDK delivers free cross-platform dev environment to Chrome Web Store

appMobi XDK delivers free cross-platform dev environment to Chrome Web Store originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Aug 2011 01:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Get Handwriting Recognition Software for your iPhone

This article was written on April 16, 2008 by CyberNet.

A couple of weeks ago we wrote about how Apple posted a job for a handwriting recognition engineer to create technology that “may extend beyond Mac OS X to other applications and the iPhone.” With that we were wondering if Apple has plans in the works to incorporate handwriting recognition into the iPhone. Well Apple, we have news for you. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel and spend time coming up with the software because a Chinese developer has beat ya to it!

Apple iPhone School has some decent screenshots of the software called HWPen 1.0 (in beta) that only works for phones that are jail-broken. Here are a few of the images:

iphone handwriting iphone handwriting 2

HWPen 1.0 is very similar to what you’d see when using the handwriting software on Palm and Pocket PC devices. The only problem? Well, there’s a reason it’s in beta. The Apple iPhone School tried it out and this is what they say about it:

Now, you can select either ABC or 123 on the right side depending on what you want to type. I have found that the number recognition works great, even with number more than one digit. The letter recognition is a little trickier. It does pretty well! Though, there is no option to switch between capitol and lowercase letters so, it can be tricky making it recognize the difference. And, it pretty much doesn’t recognize if you write an entire word. It will recognize small two letter words but, that is about it. Single letters yes, two letter words sometimes, full words no!

If it can’t recognize full words, at this point it sounds like there’s a lot of work to be done, but it might be fun to play around with. At least it’s a start, although I don’t know how useful it will be to people who’ve gotten used to typing on an iPhone. Most everybody I know who has spent some time typing on an iPhone eventually prefers the iPhone keyboard over other keyboard or input methods.

Here’s the source for this app: http://iphonecake.com/src/new

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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iPhone 5 Already Being Tested By Telcos… Inside Special Secret Boxes

Locks

IPhone prototypes may be locked up tighter than this lamppost in Naples, Italy. Photo Charlie Sorrel

Does the name of today end in a “y”? Why, yes. Then it must be time for another iPhone 5 rumor. This one, as unsubstantiated as any other, is worth passing on simply because of the crazy levels of paranoia contained within.

According to Charles Arthur at the Guardian, iPhone 5 units are already installed in carrier facilities and are undergoing testing. Of course, being an Apple product, it must remain secret at all costs, and you can be sure that the handsets weren’t tossed into a Jiffy bag and mailed over to AT&T and Verizon. Nope. The iPhone 5s are locked inside specially constructed boxes, like pirate treasure:

[M]y understanding is that barely anyone inside the carriers gets to open those boxes, and even when they do the hardware is encased in a dummy body which means there’s no clue to what the actual phone will do.

Arthur goes on to speculate on the methods Apple might have to instantly identify any leaks, and also asserts that the whole Antennagate mess could have been avoided if Apple had simply let more people test the handset in the wild before launch.

I love this story, and I imagine that top level telco employees have to undergo an Indiana Jones style quest every time they need to access to iPhone 5. The liver-spotted, besuited executive enters a secret floor of the AT&T building carrying aluminum briefcase which is handcuffed to his emaciated wrist. At each of several progressively heavier doors he has to scan his watery retinas and worn-out fingerprints to gain access.

Finally, in the Testing Chamber, he unlocks the case. It hisses as the air pressure equalizes, and he draws out a small light gray microfiber bag, printed with the Apple logo in darker gray. Inside the bag is a small, polished weight, perfectly spherical but for a small flat circle the size of a dime. The executive places it on an empty plinth next to the unibody aluminum box securing the iPhone. He waits. His breathing stops. The sphere sinks a millimeter and something inside the box clicks. The lid pops open. The executive breaths, and the giant stone ball remains safely in its niche in the wall, ready to chase an unauthorized invader at a later date.

Next iPhone in October? I’ll stick to September – and here’s why [Guardian]

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Korean regulator fines Apple $2,800 over iPhone location tracking controversy

The iPhone location tracking saga took yet another twist today, with South Korea’s communications regulatory body ordering Apple Korea to pay three million won (about $2,828) for collecting personal information without authorization. The fine certainly won’t break Cupertino’s bank, but it does set a precedent, marking the first time that a regulator has taken Apple to task over the issue. A few weeks ago, a Korean court ordered the company to pay about $1,000 in compensation to an individual who brought action against Apple, as part of a case that is expected to blossom into a larger, class-action suit. Kim Hyung-suk, the lawyer spearheading the campaign, told Reuters that he’s looking to file the lawsuit “by next week.” Apple’s Korean unit, meanwhile, is still claiming innocence, with spokesman Steve Park saying: “Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone. Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so.” Park, however, would not say whether the company will agree to pay the fine.

Korean regulator fines Apple $2,800 over iPhone location tracking controversy originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Aug 2011 07:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Groupme 3.0 goes international and cross-platform, questions everything

Groupme 3.0

Groupme, the little group messaging service that made a bit of a splash at Google I/O, turns 3.0 today. There are some shiny new features on board, including a simpler way to exchange private messages and “Questions” for sparking conversations when you’re not sure who to talk to. But, the big news — Groupme 3.0 is now platform and nation agnostic. With the latest update, the service will be available in 90 countries and add Windows Phone 7 to its list of supported OSes, alongside iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android. Even if you’re sitting in front of your desktop you can still take part in the mass messaging fun. The website has been overhauled and now sports all of the same features, like photo-sharing and group management, as the mobile apps. Check out the source link to get the latest version for your handset of choice — provided you’re not a Symbian fan — and don’t miss the gallery below.

Gallery: Groupme 3.0

Groupme 3.0 goes international and cross-platform, questions everything originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple iCloud and iWork beta for iOS hands-on

We’ve had a few weeks to get accustomed to iOS 5 and Mac OS X Lion, but one headlining feature has been notably inaccessible since it was unveiled earlier this summer. During his WWDC keynote, Steve Jobs touted iCloud as a service that will sync many of your Apple devices, for free. Macs, iPhones, iPads, and even Windows computers can synchronize documents, contacts, calendar appointments, and other data. You’ll also be able to back up your iOS devices remotely, use an Apple-hosted email account, and store your music in the cloud. Well, this week Apple finally lit up its cloud-based service for developers, letting some of us take a sneak peek at the new service.

Apple also announced pricing, confirming that you’ll be able to add annual subscriptions with 10GB ($20), 20GB ($40), or 50GB ($100) of storage ‘atop your free 5GB account. We took our five gig account for a spin, creating documents in Pages, spreadsheets in Numbers, and presentations in Keynote, then accessing them from the iCloud web interface to download Microsoft Office and PDF versions. We also tried our luck at iOS data syncing and the soon-to-be-controversial Photo Stream, so jump past the break for our full iCloud hands-on.

Continue reading Apple iCloud and iWork beta for iOS hands-on

Apple iCloud and iWork beta for iOS hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Aug 2011 17:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Iomega Mac Companion Hard Drive offers 3TB of storage and a filling station for your iPad

How to get a hefty new hard drive for your Mac without making your other gadgets jealous? Iomega is offering up a solution with the fairly elegant Mac Companion Hard Drive, a two or three terabyte external drive designed with Apple computers in mind that adds a high-powered charging port for your peripherals. The drive also packs additional USB and FireWire ports (no Thunderbolt, guys?), plus a set of four LEDs, which let you know how full it is with a glance. The drives are available via Apple at $195 and $295, for 2TB and 3TB, respectively.

Continue reading Iomega Mac Companion Hard Drive offers 3TB of storage and a filling station for your iPad

Iomega Mac Companion Hard Drive offers 3TB of storage and a filling station for your iPad originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone app makes learning to read music even less appealing (video)

From Paul McCartney to Irving Berlin, the list of songwriters who famously never learned to read music before hitting it big is a long one indeed. Why? Because it’s hard, mostly. Of course, they’ve managed to have successful careers as songwriters, even without the aid of an iPhone app that could read music for them. Surely they could have found some use for the new app from Kawai, which scans music notes from sheet paper and plays them back in real-time or with a delay, should you so choose. The app is available in the Japanese App Store ¥350 ($4.50). Japanese language video of the app in action after the break.

Continue reading iPhone app makes learning to read music even less appealing (video)

iPhone app makes learning to read music even less appealing (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple launches iCloud and iWork betas, confirms pricing for extra capacity

MobileMe’s impending demise just got one step closer, folks. Apple’s updated iCloud.com to now sport an official login page with what we’re assuming is Cupertino’s rendition of a CNC-machined aluminum unibody badge. It looks like those of you rocking iOS 5 or OS X 10.7.2 and who’ve also created an iCloud account are probably already busy frolicking through email, editing contacts and slinging calendar events all from the comfort of your browser. Those services already existed under its predecessor, but it looks as if Cupertino has spruced ’em up with fresh paint jobs. A screenshot from MacRumors also shows the addition of an iWork section, which we’d surmise means the previously siloed iWork beta now has a new place to call home. We couldn’t get past the migration step with our trusty MobileMe account (disappointing proof is after the break), but you’re more than welcome to tap the more coverage link and have a go yourself.

Oh, and if you’re wondering how much it’ll cost you to claim more than those 5GB that Apple’s tossing in gratis, the folks over at Electronista have confirmed that an extra 10GB will cost $20 per year, while an extra 20GB runs $40 / year and an extra 50GB will demand $100 per annum.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Apple launches iCloud and iWork betas, confirms pricing for extra capacity

Apple launches iCloud and iWork betas, confirms pricing for extra capacity originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 21:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Getting to know you: Comex, the boy behind iOS’ JailbreakMe

See that kid above? That’s Nicholas Allegra. He’s the hackdom Harry Potter to Apple’s Ye-Who-Shall-Not-Jailbreak-Our-Wares, and Forbes managed to sniff him out for a little bold-faced exposé. The 19-year old hero of the iOS community, better known as Comex, got his self-taught start with Visual Basic when he was still in single digits. After graduating through a venerable online forum education, the precocious coding lad set his smarts to homebrew Wii development, and the rest is JailbreakMe history. The self-described Apple fanboy admits his background is atyipcal of the cybersecurity industry, but with a former National Security Agency analyst praising his work as years ahead of his time, we don’t think he should worry. For all the trouble his code has caused Cupertino, Allegra’s not trying to be the embedded thorn in Jobs’ side. Rather, the iPhone hacker claims “it’s just about the challenge” and plans to keep on keeping ol’ Steve on his billion dollar toes.

Getting to know you: Comex, the boy behind iOS’ JailbreakMe originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 20:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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