News - page 2357

You may have heard that one of the linchpins of the federal government’s multi-pronged effort to save the crumbling American economy may include Uncle Sam himself underwriting home loans at 4.5%.

What better time then, to spend $4.99 on an iPhone app that may help you navigate the treacherous waters of real estate finance and help you make sound financial decisions for you and your family?

Foggy Noggin Software’s Loan Shark app is a timely, easy to use loan calculator. Enter the information you know, click a button for the field you want calculated, and Loan Shark fills in the amount for you.

With Loan Shark for iPhone and iPod Touch (requires 2.0 update) you can:

* Enter loans from different banks and save for later comparison.
* Calculate how long it will take to pay off credit cards.
* Determine how much in interest loans are costing you.
* See in real time how an extra payment a year affects your loan.
* Easily compare loans to see which is best.

The app lets you calculate any component of the loan, including payment, interest rate and loan amount; see the full Amortization Table for the lifespan of the loan; set your local currency in preferences; find Banks in your area. It also calculates semi-annual interest for Canada and other countries.

Foggy Noggin has some other cool looking software projects, too, including desktop and cookie managers, so be sure to check out their website.

Blogger Rick Yeager has launched iPod and AppleTV podcast versions of his whimsical on-line gadget guide.

The fast-paced podcasts feature a no-nonsense style that one reviewer describes as “perfect for people who want to learn something or pick up a new skill quickly without enduring the news digest format used by other podcasters.” Yeager’s takes on gadgetry feature instructional info and tips and tricks for the Mac-curious, geeks and professionals alike.

The MacMerc podcast subscription is free on iTunes.

Via Geek Culture

When I think of high-powered, busy professionals the first word that comes to mind is not “Zen” but that certainly has not stopped Hladecek from marketing its new collection of iPhone ringtones as “Professional ringtones designed with executives and the fashion-forward in mind.”

The iRingPro Zen Collection is 21 tones, among which you’ll find no annoying songs, or silly sound effects. The collection consists of tones – not “tunes” – that are “smart, attractive, livable alerts engineered to ensure universal appeal, and provide a high tolerance for routine use and repetition.”

Each tone features moderately longer pauses between ring repeats than what many are used to. The designers believe this cuts down on the hurried fumbling that can occur when a cell phone rings unexpectedly, giving you time to see who’s calling, often before the second ring.

And of course there is the personal branding that comes from your ringtone. A snippet of “My Humps” or “The Immigrant Song” says something about you. iRing Pro ringtones seek to ensure that what is perceived when your phone rings is technically advanced, considerate, and enviably fashionable.

The Zen collection sells for $9.95 and is available for download directly from the designer. They come in “Meeting Grade” and “Active Grade” styles, with the meeting tones being subtler, lower pitched, and richer, while the active tones are stronger, more resonant, and present. Om, baby.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one, but Greystripe, a San Francisco-based rich media advertising platform for mobile content claims to have developed ads including Flash IAB medium rectangles and game-in-game (or “tailgate”) ads giving advertisers the ability to target the iPhone audience for the first time with Flash content.

In an effort to make it easier for the online media buyer to purchase mobile, Greystripe claims to have brought creative power to the iPhone with Flash creation tools allowing brands to extend any online advertising campaign directly into mobile content as well as the ability to create miniature advertiser-branded games in Flash and place them before, during or after existing iPhone games.

“Using the iPhone’s revolutionary platform, Greystripe has solved the serving, reporting, third-party tracking and, best of all, ad creation problems that have plagued the mobile advertising industry since inception,” says Michael Cai, Director of Digital Media and Gaming at Parks Associates, according to a BusinessWire release made public on Thursday.

Michael Chang, CEO and Co-founder of Greystripe was quoted as saying, “We have made it easy for advertisers by removing barriers to execution. Brands like Jeep, RadioShack, New Line Cinema, Rock the Vote and Yahoo! have seen strong results.”

If true, this would seem to come as news to Adobe, which claims to have been thus far stymied in the effort to develop a mobile version of Flash that is compatible with Apple’s SDK for iPhone developers.

Have you seen any Flash-based ads on your iPhone?

We reported last week on developer/blogger Erica Sadun’s discovery of an undocumented feature in Apple’s iPhone SDK that allows video out from an iPhone to be displayed on a TV monitor. Friday she revealed what is sure to become a popular exploit of this feature.

Sadun contacted developers at Freeverse, producers of the popular mobile game Moto Chaser and convinced them to create a TV version of their game. In a few hours, Freeverse code monkeys were able to come up with the demo version of Moto Chaser featured in the video above, which seems to herald happy days ahead for fans of iPhone gaming.

The detailed technical ins and outs of how Freeverse managed to pull off its feat are available in Sadun’s post at Ars Technica, but it’s worth noting that the TV version of the game played best on the second-generation iPod touch. The newer touch is built on a 532MHz CPU versus the original iPhone’s 412MHz. This extra speed helps up the frame rate produced by the device, the key component for any first person interactive video game.

Via Ars Technica

Several months ago when I logged into my Netflix account to check my queue and saw the world’s best movie rental service was offering instant streaming, I got all kinds of excited. Despite the joy of impressive two day turn-around service on physical DVDs through the US Mail, I thrilled to the prospect of being able to watch something new right now.

Clicking the “Learn More” button brought me quickly to earth, however, and I must admit I was disappointed, though not surprised to learn the streaming service was, at that point, available to Windows users only.

To their credit, Netflix rolled out a beta version of their “Watch Instantly” service to a limited number of Mac users at the beginning of November, and it’s clear the company values its Mac subscriber base because Thursday it sent out an email saying the streaming service is now available to all Mac users.

Except “all” doesn’t mean “every” in this particular case. The Microsoft Silverlight-based player requires an Intel processor, so the only Mac users who can “Watch Instantly” are those who bought Macs built by Apple in the past three years. As anyone who’s been paying attention knows, that’s an awful lot of potential Netflix customers, but as an Apple fan who appreciates the extended useful life Steve Jobs’ company builds into its products and who happily tends the flame of devotion for my five year-old PowerBook G4, I feel a little left out of the Netflix party.

It’s all good, though, because now I have another reason to sing the praises of the U.S. Mail.

Via MacWorld

Internet giant Google is among several technology companies reducing their presence at the upcoming Macworld Expo, a report said Friday.

According to AppleInsider, event organizer IDG is “frantically negotiating” to keep Google and other unnamed high-profile exhibitors from bypassing the annual gathering of Mac companies.

A 20 percent drop in companies planning to attend has forced IDG to extend a sign-up discount through Dec. 8, according to the Web site.

An Australian video electronics maker will enter the cell phone business January, offering the “Agora,” the second handset to use Google’s Android operating system.

The cell phone by Kogan Technologies, will start at $193 and offers a 2.5-inch touch screen, QWERT keyboard, 256MB of memory (expandable with a microSD card) and Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 3G support. The handset allows 400 minutes of talk time and 300 hours of standby, according to CNET.

The Agora can be only be ordered from Kogan’s Web site begins shipping Jan. 29, 2009.

Apple faces yet another lawsuit over the performance of its iPhone 3G. The latest court challenge charges hardware defects cause calls to be dropped when using 3G.

James Pittman made the claims to a Northern District of California federal court in San Jose on Nov. 26.

In his lawsuit, Pittman alleges Apple of misrepresentation, violating California’s Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, unjust enrichment and unfair competition of business and professions code.

Today is a day for Mac users to be happy. Why?

1. ONE: It turns out that we’re not the meanest bunch of technology users when our beloved kit is harshly criticized in the media. The Cult of Mac is a peaceful one compared to the rapid spine-chilling rage of the Church of Blackberry. It’s true. David Pogue said so.

2. TWO: Chris Pirillo is a kindly soul, and decided that today he would spell out five good reasons for switching to Mac. I’m not sure I agree with all of them (“social benefits?” euw, no thanks), but it’s always good to see former Windows users and prominent bloggers spelling out what a good idea it is to be running OS X.

3. THREE: At long last, we know how to create a text clipping containing the “@” character. Bring on the dancing girls! The band! Anyone got a spare barn we can use to put on a show?

In other news: that new Opera 10 alpha is really quite spiffy isn’t it?

(Photo used under Creative Commons license; thanks chrismear.)

The Sharper Image at one time employed 2500 people and had a thriving catalog business along with what were, at the time, innovative retail stores specializing in high-end electronics and gifts. Early in 2008 the 30 year-old company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, closed all its stores and continued to operate as a remnant of its former self, distributing a limited number of items through retailers such as Macy’s and Dillards, and as a department under the Amazon brand.

The company released a new product on Thursday that may – or may not – signal brighter days ahead for the former cutting edge gear purveyor. Their breakout product, slated to demo at Macworld 2009, is called the “SoundBag,” a top-of-the-line backpack designed to transform the listening experience for commuters, travelers and digital music lovers.

Featuring patented “flatpanel” sound technology designed by The EnE Group, “the SoundBag embodies The Sharper Image’s reputation for innovation, form and function that translates to a terrific user experience,” according to Federico de Bellegarde, vice president of Licensing at The Sharper Image.

With marketing material using terms such as “audiophile” and “surround sound,” the backpack can store and connect any portable digital device — including MP3 players, iPods and iPhone units — to a patented flat panel speaker, which is cleverly both part of the backpack or may be detached and used independently.

A 3.5mm mini-plug in the shoulder strap links the media player to the speaker and a protective clear covering allows access to the player’s controls without having to remove it. The detachable speaker also features a built-in stand and auxiliary input that enables users to play other audio sources, such as a portable DVD players and notebook computers. The speaker offers 8-10 hours of playback powered by three AA batteries.

Suggested retail for the SoundBag is $99. If it produces “audiophile” quality sound at that price, perhaps the Sharper Image will live again.

Via PRNewsWire

Roaming charges were the two dirtiest words in mobile telephony for the longest time. Without getting into the technical details, they referred to the gargantuan spigot mobile service providers were authorized to open, sluicing cash from your financial reserves whenever you wished to make a call outside your regular plan’s designated service area. A 5 minute call back home to check on the kids during a weekend getaway to the mountains could end up costing as much as a full night in a fancy place where they put mints on the pillows at night.

As calling plans have become more “unlimited” in nature and providers’ service coverage areas have expanded, domestic roaming charges have become all but a thing of the past. But mobile service providers are ever loathe to give up easy money when they can get it, and nowhere is the money easier today than charging unsuspecting mobile data users outrageous fees for attempting to access data, such as email or web browsing on smartphones, especially when domestic users try and use their phones overseas.

Follow after the jump to hear how bad it can get and find out what you can do to avoid getting sore in all the wrong places.

Tap Tap Dance, from the makers of the wildly popular Tap Tap Revenge, is an all new music game for your iPhone or iPod Touch, featuring top hits from some of the biggest electronic artists in the world like Moby, Justice, Daft Punk, The Chemical Brothers, and more. Built on the 2.0 engine of the free app Tap Tap Revenge, Tap Tap Dance features familiar rhythm game mechanics, presented in an all new smoother, richer package for $4.99.

Tap Tap Dance features 10 dance tracks, including:

– Technologic by Daft Punk
– Zdarlight by Digitalism
– Phantom Pt II (Soulwax Remix) by Justice
– Stratosphere by Junkie XL
– Disco Lies (Remix) by Moby
– Midnight Madness by The Chemical Brothers
– Goldrush by Tiesto
– Compressor by Soul Magic Orchestra (Exclusive)
– Where’s Your Head At by Basement Jaxx
– Daylight (Exclusive Morgan Page Remix) by Sunny Levine

The game includes an exclusive track by Soul Magic Orchestra, and an exclusive remix by Morgan Page of Sunny’s Levine’s Daylight. Three of the tracks, “Technologic,” by Daft Punk, “Disco Lies” by Moby and “Phantom Pt II” by Justice come with their own exclusive themes, offering game players a portable interactive music video experience, right on the iPhone or iPod touch.

Tap Tap Dance game is available now in the US from Apple’s App Store on iPhone and iPod touch and coming to select international App Stores soon.

UPDATE: This article has been corrected to reflect Shazam’s compatibility with iPhone only and not iPod Touch, as originally indicated. We regret any confusion our error may have caused.

I’ve been wanting to write about Shazam, the music discovery software app for iPhone, for a while now, but since it’s been around for a good while and is one of the most popular downloads on the AppStore, it didn’t seem there was any news there.

Shazam’s developers announced they have extended its database to include additional North American, Asian and European content, however, and Shazam now offers the facility to recognize songs in a database that has grown to include 8 million different songs.

“This increase in our database cements Shazam’s position as the leading mobile music discovery service in the world,” says Will Mills, Shazam’s Head of Music, and adds the app’s unique user experience “has made Shazam the perfect partner for mobile phone operators and handset manufacturers across the world.”

In September the company announced that more than 20 million customers had used Shazam to identify over 100 million tracks so far, numbers that are likely to continue growing along with the size of the app’s database.

Via Distorted Loop

The New Mac Mini Concept from Sait Alanyali on Vimeo.

Behold, the work of Sait Alanyali, designer of things. His plan for an L-shaped Mac mini might leave you a little bemused, to put it mildly, but apart from the hemisphere, what other shapes have been cruelly ignored by Jonathan Ive and his Mac design minions in recent years? Why haven’t we seen a tetrahedron iMac? A rhomboidal iPod? What about iWork packaging that takes the form of a Möbius strip?

While you’re pondering that, have a look at Sait’s Ikea-hacked work station. He even painted the plastic surrounds of his cheap monitors white, so that they’d look the part.

Apple’s meteoric rise amid a crumbling economy is about to be doused with a cold shot of reality, a financial analyst warned investors Thursday. Mac sales will grow 10 percent in 2009, far below the earlier projected 43 percent increase, Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster said.

Munster cut his price target for Apple stock to $235 per share, down from $250.

“The economic and consumer spending outlook has deteriorated significantly over the last month, which we expect to continue through 2009,” Munster told clients.

The analyst expects Apple to earn $41.22 billion in 2009.

More smartphones are using Apple’s OS X operating system than Windows Mobile, a researcher said Thursday. Apple’s software now has 12.9 percent of the global smartphone market, pushing Microsoft out of No. 3 behind RIM and handset giant Nokia.

OS X-based smartphones – fueled by Apple’s popular iPhone – saw a 327 percent year-over-year increase, rising from 3.4 percent of the market in the third quarter of 2007. The increase far outstripped the 11.5 percent annual increase in the overall smartphone market, according to Gartner.

By contrast, Microsoft’s marketshare fell 3 percent to 11.1 percent.

Mac software maker Adobe Wednesday announced it will eliminate 600 jobs as the company blames weak consumer demand and the U.S. recession for less-than-expected fourth quarter revenue.

The San Jose, Calif.-based firm projected it would earn between $912 million to $915 million for the quarter ended Nov. 28, far below the $930 million Wall Street expected. Adobe had earlier estimated revenue between $925 million to $955 million.

Weaker than expected demand for Adobe’s Creative Suite 4, released in October, was given as one reason for the shortfall.

Wal-Mart may be set to sell a 4GB iPhone for $99, Starting Dec. 28, the BoyGenius Website suggested Thursday. The move would mark the return of the iPhone version dropped in 2007 in favor of the 8GB iPhone.

Although BG told readers to take the tip with a grain of salt, reviving the once $399 iPhone comes as handset makers struggle against tightening consumer spending.

“Anyone looking to spend $99 on an iPhone probably doesn’t care that much about storage anyway,” according to the blog.

If true, the action would jive with analysts who have suggested Apple could cut the iPhone’s price to $99. In October, Needham Research’s Charlie Wolf said Apple’s high margins would permit a 50 percent price drop, increasing the marketshare of the already popular iPhone.

The $99 iPhone would require a two-year contract. In October, BG wrote that the iPhone would appear Nov. 15 on Wal-Mart shelves.

A version “Dope Wars,” the game that challenges users’ math and marketing skills as well as their street smarts (released for Windows some ten years ago) has been rumored to be coming to iPhone under the name Drug Lords.

The video posted here, from Pocket Gamer, UK, indicates it was to be available by the end of November, but a report Wednesday said it has been re-branded by the developer a-steroids and submitted for AppStore approval under the name Underworld, which, according to Pocket Gamer, should make it less controversial.

The game sets you up as a small-time drug pusher, selling your stash on the local street corner to other players, and even makes use of the iPhone’s GPS functionality, meaning you can be wheelin’ and dealin’ from your realworld local street corner.

Can’t wait to see what America’s scolds have to say about this one.

Via PocketGamer UK

Long term users of fabulous text editor TextMate could be forgiven for feeling a little miffed. Before Apple released Leopard, there was excited talk of TextMate 2, and much discussion about the fact that it would be Leopard-only.

But Leopard appeared and became old news and there was still no sign of TextMate. Updates on the TextMate blog were few and far between.

What’s up? Is TextMate 2 still going to happen?

The answer is a definite YES, but with the simple caveat: BE PATIENT.

This topic has bubbled up several times on the TextMate mailing list and developer Allan Odgaard has made it plain that TM2 is in ongoing development. But like anyone who takes pride in his work, he doesn’t want to release it (or even talk about releasing it) until he’s got it up to a certain standard.

Alex Payne made passing reference to this yesterday, in his post How I use TextMate, saying he feared it had turned into abandonware. A minor update over Thanksgiving put his mind at rest, but still raised the TM2 question for others. As for what it might include, see Peter Haza’s informed posts here and here.

So, just to be clear: TM2 is coming. It’s not abandonware. It’s hang-in-there-ware.

Or, in Odgaard’s own words: “Put TM 2.0 up there with Duke Nukem Forever and be positively surprised the day it is released :)”

(Photo used under Creative Commons license, thanks to Dmitry Baranovskiy)

We stumbled across Vito Technologies’ Star Walk app for iPhone and iPod Touch and found yet one more way for Apple’s mobile devices to make us say, “wow.”

Not quite a pocket planetarium, Star Walk does boast impressive, detailed graphics showing past and future astronmical events from any place on earth and is an easy to use, annotated guide to stargazing.

Available in six languages for $4.99, the app has gotten glowing reviews on the AppStore and the developers promise updates soon supporting improved night mode viewing and mapping for deep space objects. Yes, Google Earth is free, but would you pay 5 bucks to see into infinity?

When you’ve had it with commercial radio, after you can’t take one more suggestion from iTunes’ Genius or Pandora or somebody’s Last.fm playlist, turn to your Mac.

With Bitnotic Chill 1.0 your Mac can create 100% computer-generated, user-adjustable ambient music. Though purely machine made, Chill’s music is both relaxing and listenable.

Chill plays endless songs or, in Radio mode, an uninterrupted stream of unique tracks. Once played, songs can be saved in a variety of audio formats. Albums can be exported straight into iTunes to download to iPod or burn to CD. Each song is unique and royalty free, and can be used in any public space or project without licensing fees.

Nick Vardalos, owner of Cafe Bido in Sydney, Australia uses Chill as a royalty-free music alternative for his cafe and in music projects. He says, “It’s simple enough that you can turn it on and let it go do its thing, but for the electro-geek in me it goes deeper. I can export the songs it creates as MIDI files into pro production software and build on them, replace instruments, edit tracks, collaborate with friends.”

Created with musicians, as well as listeners, in mind, Chill has a variety of features that allow songs to be used in the studio or live. Individual tracks can be saved in MIDI, WAV, and AIFF formats. Count-in, song key and tempo info, and MIDI output allow performers to collaborate with chill in real-time.

Scott Burgess, Bitnotic’s principal, says, “Chill’s music is influenced by Eno, Debussy, and musique concrete, with some New Age thrown in. The songs can be mellow or they can be evocative, but they are always music.”

Available directly from Bitnotic, at $19.95 Chill is a cost-effective alternative to pricey publicly licensed jukebox and canned music alternatives for businesses wishing to provide music for their customers, as well as a cheap tool for musicians and producers wanting to incorporate electronica into their projects.

For the individual user, Chill can provide a welcome respite or a vibe to use for relaxing, meditating, or – ahem – working late into the night on this or that…

With the arrival, finally, of Apple’s Premium earphones with remote and mic, you can now use your iPod Touch as a telephone through the magic of free software from the VoIP pioneers at TruPhone.

Actually, that’s somewhat inaccurate. You’ve been able to partake of TruPhone’s magic previously using a microphone adapter that plugs into the dock connector, or a headset with built-in mic like the one that ships with iPhones, but now that Apple’s new headsets are on the way, TruPhone’s app seems much more interesting.

Once you’ve installed the software, you can make free calls–no matter where you are in the world–to other iPod touch owners, to customers of Truphone’s Internet telephony service and to users of Google Talk instant messaging service. Support for low cost calling to landlines (PSTN) is on the way, according to company reps, as is support for calling and instant messaging to Skype and MSN (free) and free check and set facilities for both Twitter and Facebook.

The software uses the iPod touch’s Wi-Fi connection to carry VoIP calls over the Internet to its destination. There is no monthly line rental, no subscription or other hidden charges, but it should be noted calls are not handed off to the cellular network if you move beyond or lose your WiFi connection.

Still, when you bought that iPod Touch, I bet you didn’t think you were getting a telephone, too.

The guys at Tap Tap Tap, responsible for the gorgeous Classics app, churned out this extra gorgeousness – made entirely out of iPhone app icons – to celebrate the App Store reaching 10,000 apps.

That’s 10,000 apps in less than half a year.

Just imagine what amazing stuff we’re going to see in 2009. I can’t wait.

We’re really going to need a better way to manage all our iPhone apps, though. All this flippy-flapping between screens is going to get really boring really quickly once there’s 50,000 apps competing for space there.

(Pic re-used here with Tap Tap Tap’s permission. Thanks guys!)