News - page 2299

AppShopper has the full list of iPhone/iPt Apps on sale for Thanksgiving.
Highlights include:

Terminator Salvation : The official game — $0.99 (normally $4.99) App Store Link
Brothers In Arms Hour of Heroes — $0.99 (normally $4.99) App Store Link
The Sims 3 — $4.99 (normally $6.99) App Store Link
SimCity — $2.99 (normally $4.99) App Store Link
Trivial Pursuit — $2.99 (normally $4.99) App Store Link
Wolfenstein RPG — $1.99 (normally $2.99) App Store Link
Command & Conquer Red Alert — $6.99 (normally $9.99) App Store Link
Star Trek — $0.99 (normally $1.99) App Store Link
CoPilot Live North America — $19.99 (normally $34.99) App Store Link
Scrabble — $2.99 (normally $4.99) App Store Link
Tetris — $2.99 (normally $4.99) App Store Link
Shoppee — Free (normally $2.99) App Store Link

iPhone owners are more willing to pay for digital content than the wider online audience, two new UK surveys find. The results may support publishers looking to the iPhone to boost sales of digital magazines, video and other material. The introduction of the App Store, where iPhone owners purchase software from their handsets, has developed a class of consumers less resistant to digital purchases.

“It seems to be that people get used to paying for content, such as an application on the iPhone because it is so easy and the idea of paying for something suddenly becomes much less of a barrier that it is online,” said Peter Enser, partner with Olswang which creates the annual Olswang Convergence Study.

They’ve been out for the last few days, so you’ve probably already seen one or both of the two new TV spots where Apple hops in to aid AT&T. The ads attack rival carriers by flaunting the iPhone’s ability to perform 3G-related activities while on a voice call, and end with the question “Can your phone, and your network do that?” Then the  AT&T logo then flashes on the screen in a show of solidarity right before Apple’s.

The ads follow strong assaults on TV by Verizon designed to exploit what it believes is a weak chink in the iPhone’s shiny armor, namely AT&T’s 3G coverage.

But the ads also follow one early indication that young men are deserting the iPhone en masse, as reported by CoM in a previous post.

So, are these ads a show of strength? Or is Apple feeling the heat?

More men currently profess loyalty to Motorola than iPhone-maker Apple, according to a brand survey. The figures are the first clear indication of the impact of the Motorola-made iPhone rival Droid and the ad bashing between AT&T and Verizon.

After peaking at 48.1 for the month of November, Apple dropped to 22 last week, according to brand research firm YouGov. Motorola, which peaked at 32.3 this month, finished last week with a 29.3 score in the company’s BrandIndex. Study results range from -100 to 100 based on weekday interviews with 5,000 people.

When you go to the grocery store, pick me up a loaf of bread, some milk and an iPhone. That could soon be the refrain of UK shoppers as a deal between Apple and Tesco was announced Wednesday. The arrangement would put the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS in around 100 Tesco Phone Shops throughout the UK.

The agreement with Tesco Mobile, a virtual network operator, and carrier O2 would provide the Apple handsets as pay-as-you-go phones.

Did I mention I’m in love with my new sound system, the heart of which is the T-2 vacuum tube amplifier from Neuhaus Labs?

Custom designed to bring iTunes to life, the amp sounds unbelievably awesome. But in my review I neglected to rave about its aesthetics. This thing glows!

Hit the link for some more dimly-lit tube porn.

Here’s the Top 5 Secrets for making a killer website to showcase your iPhone app, courtesy of the WebDesignerWall blog.

“To compete with thousands of iPhone apps in the App Store, having a good app icon is not enough. A nicely designed website for the app is very important. A beautiful website helps to drive traffic in and also makes your app stand out from the crowd.”

Here’s the list:

• One Page — Your app’s site should be one page. No more, no less.
• iPhone Image — Use an image of an iPhone running the app as the main design element. Drop shadow or reflection optional.
• Apple App Store Badge — The download button should be Apple’s App Store badge. Easy to spot and instantly recognizable.
• Animated Screenshots — All sites show screenshots of their app, but animated screens show it in action.
• Display Pricing — It’s frustrating for prospective customers to not know the price up front.

Link.

Objectified, the documentary about industrial design, is airing on PBS tonight. The critically-acclaimed documentary features Apple’s Jonny Ive, among others, geeking out about design.

It airs at 11pm on KQED in San Francisco. Check your local listings.



A freelance designer quit his job in the most original way yet. He created a custom warning dialog resembling the unexpected quit dialogs in OS X.

The message, posted on his work machine, says:

“The designer you treat like shit has quit unexpectedly.

Your company and other employees are not affected.

Click Renegotiate to discuss terms for new contract. Click HR to find out how badly you fucked up.”

Unfortunately the “Renegotiate,” “Ignore” and “HR” buttons don’t work — it’s just a Photoshop mockup. The company is unnamed.

The message was found by one of his former colleagues, who posted it to Redditt.

The colleague said the designer was expecting his temp job to turn into a real one, but hadn’t.

“He believed he was in a temp-to-hire position, and after three months of extra hours and butt-kissing, turns out it’s just a temp position. He was a good worker too. I’d have recommended him. Too bad he burned his bridges… Obviously he had contemplated quitting long enough to make this thing, but still refused to speak to anyone about his feelings. Ironically, he complained about the ‘divas’ at his last job.”

Via Methodshop. Thanks Jon.

More Thanksgiving iPhone app sale action.

At 8:00am ET tomorrow, the CoPilot Live turn-by-turn GPS navigation app will go on sale for $19.99. The app is normally $35 and has got generally good reviews. Gizmodo calls it the best cheap GPS app (it has some quirks, but what do you expect for $35? I mean $20?).
The app features pretty 3-D maps, text-to-voice directions and monthly map updates. Maps are stored locally on the iPhone/iPt (weighing in at about ~1.3GB), which means no blackouts in the boonies.

The sale lasts all weekend. The app is fully functional, the company says, and there’s no additional fees for updated maps.

App website.
iTunes link.

How often do you find a 1TB networked hard drive that stores and pumps out 1080p high-def video wrapped in a black monolith-like enclosure – plus it costs only $250? That’s the word on LaCinema Classic HD from the hard drive folks over at LaCie.

The LaCinema Classic HD will stream 1080p videos, music or photos from your Mac (or PC) to your HD television. You can either use the included HDMI cable or the optional Wi-Fi 802.11n USB adapter for wireless media transmission to your network. A remote control is included.

The iLingual app is clever translation software that speaks foreign phrases with video of your mouth saying the words. Launch the app, snap a picture of your mouth (or someone else’s) and hold the iPhone in front of your mouth. The software animates your mouth to make it look like you’re actually talking French (or German and Arabic). Well, sorta.

Either way, it’s a lot of fun and it’s free (sponsored by the Emirates airline). Great way to break the ice with the locals, who always appreciate tourists trying to speak the language. Watch the app being tested in Paris in the video above.

• iLingual French.
• iLingual German.
• iLingual Arabic.

Via 9to5Mac and Gizmodo.

Before the iPhone beget the iPhone case, speakers were probably the most-often added accessory for computer systems. But the MacBook has stereo speakers – they just need a bit more bass in the form of a subwoofer. BassJump from Charleston, SC-based Twelve South provides that extra audio oomph, but in a definitely Mac way.

A group of more than 50 publishers, led by Time Inc., are in the final stages of creating a consortium for selling digital versions of their magazines through the iPhone, Apple’s rumored iTablet, Amazon’s Kindle and other e-readers, according to a Tuesday report.

The company, including Time Inc., Conde Nast and Hearst, would offer The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Time, People, Sports Illustrated and other magazines using an iTunes-like “any way you want” store for content, sources told The New York Observer. The deal could be “announced within weeks,” according to the newspaper.

Apple Monday joined AT&T in its attempt to counter Verizon’s attack on both the iPhone and the handset’s exclusive carrier. In a series of prime-time ads, the Cupertino, Calif. company asked viewers: “can your phone and network do that?”

The two ads show the iPhone checking e-mail and movie listings while on a phone call. AT&T’s 3G GSM network is capable of multiple voice and data connections, an ability apparently lacking from Verizon’s CDMA network.

Australian police are after an organized gang they believe is behind 80 Mac thefts from schools.

Nearly 80 Apple computers (laptops and desktops) have been ripped off  from 15 schools in the state of South Australia this year,  along with a number of screen projectors for a total loot count police place at about $90,000 ($100,000 AUD).

Thieves wore gloves to eliminate fingerprints and knew exactly how much time they had to get in and out — in one case only swiping half of the MacBooks available. The thefts took place at suburban schools, in one case a Christian K-12.

“At times there are individual computers taken but they’re more opportunistic thefts,” Chief-Inspector Dennis Lock told local papers. “The short time it took for the thieves to steal the computers before security arrived indicates this was a more planned, organized and coordinated attack.”

Do you know a lucky Mac cultist who will get Apple’s fastest and largest iMac under the tree this year? Before you wrap one of the new 27-inch iMacs with Intel’s Core i7 processor, you might want to test the machine. A number of customers of the quad-core custom-built iMacs are reporting damaged screens or computers that show up dead on arrival.

Owners on Apple’s support discussion boards report Core i7 iMacs arriving either with a crack in the bottom left corner of the computer’s screen or the desktop computer won’t boot. Some customers report a two-week waiting period for a replacement.

George Dearing‘s three-year-old son got his hands on dad’s iPhone and – oops – found himself staring at the App Store. While it was still logged in to dad’s iTunes account.

It’s not just HDTVs that are on sale this Black Friday. Lots of iPhone developers are dropping prices for the holidays also.

App Cubby, for example, maker of the popular Gas Cubby app for tracking gas mileage, is dropping the cost of its apps by 30 percent through the Thanksgiving holiday. Several other developers have also temporarily dropped prices, including DOOM Resurrection and BeejiveIM.

A good way to track apps on sale is to check App Shopper’s “prices” view. There’s a lot of crap, but to spot the good stuff, keep an eye on an app’s icon. A good icon generally means a good app. A good icon

Here are some links for apps on sale:

• Gas Cubby — iTunes — AppShopper
• Trip Cubby — iTunes — AppShopper
• Health Cubby — iTunes — AppShopper
• DOOM Resurrection $2.99 — iTunes — AppShopper
• BeejiveIM $6.99 — iTunes — AppShopper
• Tipulator $0.99 — iTunes — AppShopper
• Mathemagics: Mental Math Tricks $0.99 — iTunes — AppShopper

Please let us know if you see other good ones we should highlight.

The season finale of Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” reunites the Seinfeld cast. Larry is watching an episode of Seinfeld set in 2009. George is an iPhone developer who made a fortune with “iToilet,” a GPS app that tells you the location of the nearest public restroom. Unfortunately, George lost it all by investing with Bernie Madoff.

Via The Raw Feed.

Big-screen monitors with built-in HDTV tuners are a great way to upgrade your screen — you get a monitor and a high-def TV thrown in.

Dell Small Business offers the Viewsonic 24″ 1080p Widescreen LCD HD Television, model no. VT2430, for $249.99 with free shipping. That’s tied with our mention from last week and the lowest total price we could find by $20. Sales tax is added where applicable. Features include a 1920×1080 (1080p) resolution, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 5ms response time, 300 cd/m² brightness, built-in speakers, one HDMI input, and VGA, component, and other video inputs.

If you’ve ever stared at a painting and wanted to reach out and squeeze that adorable little putto, you’ll soon have a chance to do it without getting arrested.

Florence’s Uffizi Gallery, one of the largest treasure troves of Renaissance art, is developing a touch-screen device that allows art lovers to zoom in and take a closer look at the masterpieces.

You can flip through centuries of art — the same way you scroll through your albums on iTunes.

The program is called “Uffizi in a Touch” (sadly, a name not vetted by anyone who actually speaks English) developed by an Italian company called Centrica.

It took them four years to take life-size 100-megapixel photos that will be up for perusal in December for researchers and the more tactile groups of tourists.

No word yet on whether Apple will be after them for using the Cover Flow technology that’s been on the Cupertino company’s devices since 2006.

AT&T will lose its exclusive hold on the iPhone in June 2010, analyst Brian Marshall said recently. In a television interview, the AmTech analyst also said Apple will receive $300 per iPhone AT&T and other carriers sell, down from the current $450 subsidy from the U.S. carrier.

Talking to Bloomberg TV, Marshall said iPhone owners, who comprise just 4 percent of AT&T subscribers, use 40 percent of network bandwidth.

The phrase “putting a genie into the bottle” comes to mind as reports surfaced Monday of a malicious offspring of a prank aimed at owners of unsecure jailbroken iPhones. Dubbed the “Duh” worm, the latest security threat targets the financial data of customers using online bank ING Direct.

The worm redirects ING Direct users to a phishing site. Those phones also come under the control of a botnet in Lithuania, reports said. The attack searches for iPhones that use the default secure shell (SSH) root password of “alpine.” The jailbreaking process often requires a person to install SSH, but many fail to change the default – opening the door wide for malicious hacks.

Update: A new Apple Store Black Friday “ad” leaked again to Boy Genius Report – this time from what the site described as a “pretty credible” source bearing “more reasonable” sale prices. Among the items, iMacs and MacBook Pros starting at $1098, iPod nanos for $138 and iPod touch for $178. Apple TV reportedly going for $208, Airport Express for $88 and the Magic Mouse and wireless keyboard for $64 each.

Apple today unveiled a teaser ad on its U.S. and UK online stores, offering no details on what bargains could be available for Mac fans. The official announcement comes just days after a purported flyer (later shot down) indicating up to a 30 percent discount on items.

“Come back to the Apple Online Store this Friday for a special one-day-only shopping event,” the ad urges. “You’ll find lots of iPod, iPhone and Mac gift ideas – all with free shipping.” Unlike the UK, where the upcoming holiday is not commonly observed, the U.S. online store mentions “the day after Thanksgiving.”