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How To Be First In Line To Pre-Order The iPad

With just a few weeks to go before the iPad hits stores, here’s the best way to ensure you’re at the head of the line to get one (or three).
If history is any indication, the iPad will be in short supply when it goes on sale April 3. Plus there are rumors of production delays [...]

Digital Americana: A Magazine For iPad, And A Sign Of Things To Come

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Digital Americana has just popped up out of nowhere, claiming to be “the first literary & culture magazine developed especially for the interactive tablet experience.”
Or to put it another way, it will be “a new interactive magazine made exclusively for the Apple iPad”. And anyone can contribute.

The editors are looking for fiction, artwork and photography [...]

Review: Launchy Comes To OS X From Windows

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Just days after we reported on the launch of Alfred for OS X, along comes yet another keyboard-centric file and application launcher: Launchy.
Launchy has a long history as an open source Windows application, doing much the same on that platform that Quicksilver did on OS X. It too supports plugins that greatly boost its usefulness.
Right [...]

What’s On Homer Simpson’s iPhone?

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Here’s Homer Simpson’s iPhone. Pretty dull, actually. Only one page of apps, and most of them look like the defaults. No iFart? No iBeer? No iDoh?
Wait – what’s that app there? Third row down, third from left?

Ah! Couch Gag! Yeah, one of my favorite apps.

Funny, it never does that when I use it.

iPhone 2.0 Software Will Support iTunes Remote Control App?

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Since I first got an iPod, way back when Discmen roamed the earth, my fondest wish has been that I could use it as a quasi-remote control for my stereo. I could point it at a set of speakers, scroll through my music library, press the center button, and — BOOM! — music would pour forth.

Besides a few experiments with an iTrip, however, this has been wishful thinking. Until, perhaps, the next few weeks. MacRumors claims that the Read Me file for a developer release of the imminent iTunes 7.7 will finally make this dream real (well, provided you have a computer hooked to your stereo):

Use iTunes 7.7 to sync music, video, and more with iPhone 3G, and download applications from the iTunes Store exclusively designed for iPhone and iPod touch with software version 2.0 or later. Also use the new Remote application for iPhone or iPod touch to control iTunes playback from anywhere in your home — a free download from the App Store.

It’s pretty typical Apple to offer a few unannounced features on major operating system upgrades, but this one is incredibly welcome. Using the WiFi built into the iPhone and iPod Touch is a natural for this, and it’s much more convenient than using the (let’s face it) fairly inadequate Apple Remote. I just hope it will work with Front Row and AppleTV…

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About the author

Petemortensen

Pete Mortensen is a design strategist for consulting firm Jump Associates and the co-author of Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy, a book and blog that are significantly more interesting than you might initially think. Pete's particular Apple avocations are both around design--interface and industrial. Follow him on Twitter!

Email the author | Read more posts by Pete Mortensen.

5 comments

    Don’t forget airtunes.

    Will this feature allow you to “stream” iTunes content from your Mac/PC to your iPhone 3G? This would be similar to the way Apple TV works.
    I could care less about controlling iTunes from my phone, as the iMac is in a different room. Hell, I have that little Apple TV remote to do that.

    [...] iPhone 2.0 Software Will Support iTunes Remote Control App? [via Zemanta] [...]

    “I could care less about controlling iTunes from my phone”

    On the other hand, this’d be a good reason for me to buy one. My Mac’s in an office, which is upstairs. The amp and speakers for our ‘media centre’ is downstairs. Various speakers are in other rooms. Being able to access the iTunes playlist anywhere in the house via an iPhone would make it or an iPod touch a borderline essential purchase for me.

    I don’t know why this is news… With Airtunes over an airport express + the free “iPhone Remote” application I’ve been doing just this for awhile now.

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