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Fullscreen's young adult streaming service is shutting down
Fullscreen, the social-first streaming service for teens and young adults, is going kaput. Deadline is reporting that the VOD platform will close shop next year to focus on original productions and branded video content. At least all those social media stars won't be completely out of a job then.
AT&T pushes Fullscreen, FreeVIEW service in DirecTV Now's wake
AT&T's internet TV plans don't stop with DirecTV Now, as it also highlighted two Go90-ish services during an event today. The already-available Fullscreen (previously mentioned as DirecTV Mobile) offers a $6 per month subscription video service intended to be social- and mobile-first (read: this is where some of those Vine stars went), and now AT&T mobile customers will be able to get a year of free access bundled with new or existing plans.
Red vs Blue creator Rooster Teeth acquired by Fullscreen
Online content creator network Fullscreen has acquired Rooster Teeth, the wildly popular group behind the Red vs Blue machinima series and dozens of other videos that have attracted millions of views on YouTube. In a blog post, Rooster Teeth creative director Michael "Burnie" Burns explains the situation and assures fans that this partnership will mean good things for the group. "The strength of Rooster Teeth's and Fullscreen's combined resources will mean we can stay not just competitive in this exploding digital marketplace, but that we can continue to drive the direction of the industry," Burns writes, before thanking the fans and promising that the acquisition will result in even better content from Rooster Teeth in the future. Neither Fullscreen nor Rooster Teeth have disclosed the full details of this partnership, but Games Industry reports that Matt Hullum will remain CEO and that Michael Burns will continue in his role as creative director. [Image: Fullscreen]
Google brings new full-screen compose window to Gmail
It looks like those not satisfied with the recent Gmail redesign will soon have a new option to make things operate in a slightly more familiar manner. Google announced today that it's begun rolling out a new full-screen compose window that gives you more room to work with than the current option that's pinned to the lower right corner. What's more, you'll also find that the formatting toolbar is now on by default instead of requiring an extra click as it does now, and you can choose to make the full-screen view the default if you prefer it. If you don't have the new option already, Google says you should within the next couple of days.
Chrome for Android updated with tab history on slates, fullscreen for handsets
Google's like the gift that keeps on giving. Following earlier news of a Drive for Android update, the team from Mountain View today rolled out a new version of its Chrome browser for mobile devices. This update brings the same features we saw a little over a month ago in the Beta channel, however Google's now deemed them ready for prime time. That (along with some undisclosed under-the-hood enhancements) includes the pseudo-fullscreen mode that's triggered by scrolling the page and, for tablets, the ability to view the tab history by way of the browser back button. For those who decided to skip the experimental version, you'll find the app in its stable form up for download at the Google Play link below. Update: Google is back with additional news about its mobile Chrome browser, this time for the iOS version. In the coming days, iPhone and iPad users will find a new version of Chrome that allows users to submit voice queries into the Omnibox. The addition will mimic the functionality of Google Search for iOS, which accepts queries such as "How many miles from San Antonio to Dallas?" and "What's the weather in Rome?" Likewise, the update will introduce the ability to open links in Chrome from other iOS apps, along with quicker reloading of webpages from the browser cache. Hop the break for a quick peek.
Fullscreen BEAM app sends Google Glass videos directly to YouTube
Sure, using Google Glass to record a video is a pretty neat trick, but how about uploading it to YouTube without a computer? Thanks to Fullscreen's BEAM video sharing app for Glass, you can do just that. After setting up an account with the company's website, Glass owners can use their high-tech eyewear to send clips to YouTube along with a tweet linking directly to the video. If you've managed to get hold of Google's modern-day monocle and would like give BEAM a try, you can register at the source link below. As for the rest of us, at least we can watch the demo video after the break.
Productivity Tip: Focus time
In order to stay productive, you must accomplish tasks. Unfortunately, as communications have sped up and become omnipresent, our focus has been sliced and diced to the paper-thin setting. How many times a day does a calendar invite, Facebook update, email or Tweet send you off your task and down a rabbit hole? Remember when your car didn't have a phone, web browser and fart app in it? In this productivity tip I argue for a cone of silence and a focus on really doing -- by focusing. The timer As I mentioned last week, you should set a timer for each task on your to do list. I like 20-25 minutes, but I also acknowledge that there are tasks which might take more time. Just remember that your brain does get fatigued, which is why Pomodoros are set to 25 minutes each. The cone Hey, see that Do Not Disturb button on your iPhone's Settings? Activate that when you are going "periscope down." I'm not a huge fan of Apple's VIP email, so I tend to not use it to alert me to new emails from certain people. I'll handle email in some posts down the road; it's a huge topic in itself. If you're on your Mac, did you know you can quickly turn off notifications from Notification Center? If you option-click a Notification Center icon in your menu bar, it will toggle on / off those pop-ups which may distract more than help. Oh, and if you're worried about missing an appointment, here's how to avoid that anxiety: Set your timer to end with plenty of time before your next appointment. It seems simple, but if you are carving out actual focus time, you should first look at your calendar and ensure you have plenty of time. A quick glance to remind you about that meeting at 4 PM will allow you to set your timer at 3:30 for 20 minutes, giving you plenty of time to pick up and head down to the conference room. (Like email, calendar management is something we'll handle later; it's a huge topic.) If you've shut down your iDevices from making noise and distracting you, and you've got notifications under control on your Mac, it's time to focus. The workspace Without getting too far afield of TUAW's main beat, I'll just say that a clean workspace, proper lighting and a healthy body will aid your focus time immensely. But what about music? What about full-screen apps? What about a program that locks you out of social networks for a specific amount of time? Music I personally don't recommend music if you really need to focus. Sound, on the other hand, can help you focus. An app like Naturespace not only tunes out distractions by providing a seamless, repeating audio landscape, but can also help keep your mind and body calm by simulating the outdoors. I listen to music when checking email or doing reviews, but when I have to focus on numbers or edit words, I find a simple audioscape blends into the background, helping my focus without a melodic hook to distract me. Full-screen apps Full-screen apps are all the rage since Apple started featuring them in Lion, but will they help you focus? In my opinion they will, if you let them. An application running in full-screen mode will obscure that funny desktop picture, and obliterates any dock alerts or menu items. So if you find those keep nagging at your mind, use full-screen mode. Still, it's easy enough to Cmd-Tab to another app and get distracted, so I'm not convinced this alone will enhance your focus time. Social networks Better still, particularly if you have Facebook on speed dial, is an application which will (virtually) smack your hand when you access your social sites -- or cut off access altogether, if you're incorrigible. If you are constantly wondering what George Takei is posting, or how many likes, favorites or retweets that clever thing you posted 30 minutes ago received, you may need something to force you to ignore the big social world out there for a while. Since I do research online, I can't fall back to the old "turn off the internet" trick. Instead, I rely on apps to help center my attention -- and working at home introduces a whole raft of distractions we'll cover another time. There's a good roundup of "focus" apps here at Mac.AppStorm, but I want to point out two that can really help: Anti-social and Houdini. Houdini will automatically hide applications after a set amount of time, and it's free. If you combine this with an app like Backdrop, which will hide your cluttered desktop (well, mine gets bad after a day's work but yet again this is a topic for another day), you'll soon find you have drifted into a focus zone. That's because whatever you're working on is the only visible application and desktop distractions are minimized. If you routinely have more than six applications open on your Mac at a time, this can be a timesaver versus going through each one and hiding the app (Cmd-H). My favorite app for focus, besides my timer, is Anti-Social. It costs $15, but if you find yourself instinctively reaching for Twitter or Facebook in your browser everytime a pithy phrase pops into your head, Anti-Social will force you to stay focused. The application will block the social sites you specify for a set amount of time. If you want to tweet before the time limit (which you set) expires, you'll have to reboot your Mac! Of course, you could always use your phone, but let's pretend you're putting that away during focus time. Easy does it To prevent procrastination and ensure you're making time to focus, schedule time on your calendar. Turn off notifications. Turn on social blockers or enable a timer and stick with it. The simpler you make your cone of silence, the more likely you are to ensconce yourself in it at least once a day. While there are times for multi-tasking, there are many more times where it behooves you to carve out focus time and stick with it. I believe that you'll find you get more done in less time if you stick with one task at a time. As for task management, guess what? Yep, that's what we'll handle in an upcoming post.
Firefox 14 adds fullscreen support for OS X Lion
Stop me if you've heard this one: How is Mozilla Firefox like Pittsburgh's weather? Answer: If you don't like it, wait a little while and it's gonna change. The open-source desktop browser continues its drumbeat of frequent releases with Firefox 14.0.1 for Mac, Windows and Linux in over 70 different language localizations. If you're happy with version 13 (or, for that matter, version 12), the major new feature for Mac that you'll be living without is full-screen view support on 10.7 Lion. The new build also enables HTTPS secure connections for Google searches and adds some additional bug fixes and tweaks. [via Engadget]
Dear Aunt TUAW: Help me watch and work at the same time
Dear Aunt TUAW, Ever since I upgraded to OS X Lion, I've been unable to use dual monitors if I have an application running in full screen on my iMac's display. I would love to be able to fire a movie up on the second display, make it full screen and still make use of my iMac, rather than turning it into a 21.5" television that can do so much more... Any ways to accomplish this? Your loving nephew, Josh, aka Single-Display in Columbus Dear Josh, Lion's inability to properly handle full screen apps across multiple displays is truly an irritating feature, although it's one that Mountain Lion will apparently address. Instead, she recommends using QuickTime's "Fit to Screen" (Command-3) for that television watching instead of "Enter Full Screen" (Control-Command-F). Yes, this leaves your desktop wallpaper visible. So if you are really concerned about these things, hop into System Preferences and set your desktop to a solid black (System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver > Desktop > Apple > Solid Colors > Black). Auntie has found one exception to the full screen dilemma: Aperture. According to Uncle Rich, Aperture will use the second monitor when the primary one is in full screen mode. It doesn't do it by default but you can turn it on after entering full screen. This is probably because Aperture's full screen mode predates Lion, though; Aperture has always worked this way. Want to let Apple know how you feel about dual-full-screen issues? Drop them a note at their bug reporting site. Hugs, Auntie T.
Facebook updates photo viewer with high-res images and full-screen mode
No more than 24 hours after introducing you to Acquaintances, Facebook is rolling out a couple of new features for its photo viewer. The social network's fresh bits will let you get a resolutionary look at all those images shared by your friends, displaying shots "up to four times" bigger than before and at the highest resolution possible. Additionally, now you'll be able to check out those hi-res photos in full-screen mode, though you'll need to be on the most recent version of Firefox or Chrome to do so (sorry, Safari). Best of all, there's some extra Face-uh-oh-book goodies waiting for you after the break.
Reveal the Dock in Lion's fullscreen apps
MacWorld has published a nice little tip that allows Lion users to reveal the Dock while in fullscreen apps. To do so, while in any fullscreen app, simply move the pointer all the way to the edge where the Dock is pinned. Once your cursor is resting on that edge of the screen, swipe or move the mouse in that same direction again, as if you were trying to move beyond the edge. The Dock will then spring right up. Pretty cool, huh? MacWorld also points out that Apple didn't simply go with the "Hide Automatically" Dock feature in fullscreen app mode because many fullscreen apps may have buttons at the bottom or on the sides and automatically displaying the Dock when moving your cursor to the edge of the screen could cause the Dock to block the buttons you are trying to click. [via MacStories]
Hackinations: Making any OS X app full-screenable in Lion
Today, Steve Sande begged me to add a full-screen button to Colloquy. He offered me chocolate and kittens, neither of which is particularly good for me. But he's a good guy and I like him and his wife so I went ahead and figured this out. [Editor's note: Actually, she was offered chocolate-covered kittens, not chocolate and kittens.] I am so warning you: if you are not comfortable at the command line, just skip on to the next post. Seriously. Still here? Let's go then. Copy the App You probably don't want to edit the original, so copy the app to the Desktop. Locate the compiled nib files Compiled nib files can be found in the app bundle's Contents/Resources folder. In more internationalized apps, they may appear in lproj subfolders. You need to locate the nib files you want to edit. cd whatever.app/Contents/Resources grep -iRl NSWindowBacking * This returns a list of all nib files which define the NSWindowBacking key. That key more or less tells you that there's a window definition there. You can try to edit them all, or you can do what I did: just edited the three files in Colloquy's Resources folder that matched: JVChatWindow.nib, JVTabbedChatWindow.nib, and JVSidebarChatWindow.nib. Convert to XML Use Apple's plutil or my plusutil to convert each nib file from a binary property list to proper XML. plutil -convert XML1 filename.nib Edit those XML files Once converted, open the now text-based XML files in TextEdit. Search for the NSWindowBacking key/value pair in each file. After that pair add <key>NSWindowCollectionBehavior</key> <integer>128</integer> This tells the window that its behavior includes full size resizing. Save your changes and close the file. Convert back to BPlist Convert your edited files back to a binary plist. Strictly speaking? This isn't a necessary step. It just pleases me aesthetically. plutil -convert binary1 filename.nib Run it With luck, your app now has full screen zooming support. Enjoy it. Make sure to back up the original app before replacing it with your edited version. And do not expect to upgrade this version, like, you know, ever. UPDATE: If you don't mind installing SIMBL, a system level bundle loader, you can check out chpwn's well-received maximizer app as well. SIMBL allows you to enhance existing applications with new functionality and features.
iTunes and iWork updated for Lion, add full-screen support, and resume
What good is an OS update without some software that can take full advantage of all its fancy new features? Naturally, Apple's got your back, and today you'll be getting some spiffy new versions of iTunes and iWork to compliment that fearsome Lion upgrade. iTunes 10.4 finally ushers the music management app into the 64-bit era, and adds support for OS X 10.7's full-screen windows. The iWork Update 6 also brings along the distraction-free functionality, as well as resume, auto-save, and versioning for all your important docs. Not everyone is seeing the updates just yet, so be patient, it shouldn't be much longer before you're interrupted by that slightly annoying, but oh so satisfying, Software Update window.
Lion's full-screen apps: Some hits, a lot of misses
One new feature of OS X Lion that is sure to win both fans and foes is the ability for apps to go full-screen. Apple teased us with this last year when updates to several of the iLife apps -- iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand -- brought the ability to take over the entire screen of a Mac with a single click. Now in Lion, more of the standard Mac apps are full-screen apps. After using Lion and these apps for a while, my feeling is that full-screen apps are a good idea, but in the initial OS X Lion implementation they're inconsistent. How do full-screen apps work? You can tell when you're in one thanks to the double-ended arrow up in the upper right-hand corner of the app window. With a click, the app takes over the entire window on your Mac. That's right -- the menu bar and dock are nowhere to be seen. The app also gains its own Space and is accessible through Mission Control. If you need to get to the menu bar, moving your cursor to the top of the screen reveals it again. Want to get back to a normal window? Just press the Esc key on your keyboard and you're there. What apps are full-screen enabled at this time? As mentioned earlier, iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand got the full-screen treatment last year. Safari, Mail, iCal, Preview, DVD Player, QuickTime Player, and Photo Booth have also been updated to take advantage of full-screen. Using these apps at the same time in full-screen mode is wonderful. You're focused on the task at hand, but when you need to jump over to another full-screen app, one quick gesture brings you to Mission Control where you can swipe over to the other app; a left-right swipe can switch you as well. It's quick and seamless, and especially on a small-screen Mac like an 11.6" MacBook Air, it's a wonderful way to work. I love what Apple did with Photo Booth, which of course is probably the most popular app for people who are trying out Macs in Apple Stores. When Photo Booth goes full-screen, the photo window is framed by beautiful wood and a red velvet curtain. It's much more exciting than the boring windows we've seen for years. So what's with iWork? At least at the time this post was written, Keynote, Pages, and Numbers were full-screen, but didn't use the double-ended arrow to jump into that mode. That seems very inconsistent, but it wouldn't surprise me if an update was on the way to add the Lion-specific full-screen capability to iWork. Other Apple apps that aren't full-screen happy include FaceTime, iChat, Address Book, iTunes, the Mac App Store, Chess, Dictionary, iDVD, Image Capture, iWeb, Stickies, TextEdit, and pretty much all of the Utilities. I was only able to find a handful of third-party apps that went full-screen (Pixelmator is a perfect example), but they didn't properly create their own Spaces. That indicates to me that developers have a way to go to provide consistent support of full-screen mode. From my point of view, full-screen apps make a lot of sense, as they make the best use of available display real estate. While some apps can seem somewhat absurd on a large 27" display, it's nice to be able to concentrate on one application and not have anything else get in the way. When you want to slip over to another full-screen app, one or two quick gestures gets you there easily. As more and more apps become available in full-screen mode with support for Spaces, I think we'll see full-screen apps hitting their stride.
Byword 1.2, now with Markdown support
Byword is a full-screen, "distraction-free" word processor that has an interesting twist: it focuses on just the text around your cursor (or even just the current line), dimming the rest of your composition so that even that can't distract you. Byword (and its predecessors) are based on the idea that you'll be at the top of your writing game if there's nothing else on your screen. Whether you subscribe to that theory or not, it's becoming an increasingly crowded field. Thankfully, there's more to Byword than just a blank screen and blinking caret. Byword, which can also run in a windowed (non-fullscreen) mode, brings great typography along with its minimalist interface. Some of its brethren, like OmmWriter Dana, have done this as well, but if you add in excellent keyboard navigation, hyphenation support and its unique focus mode, Byword begins to stand on its own. Oh, one more thing. While I don't personally subscribe to the distraction-free idea, Byword has added one thing that always gets my attention in any writing environment: Markdown support. MultiMarkdown support, actually, with footnotes, tables and other fun stuff. Wondering what I'm talking about? Have a look at TUAW's Markdown Primer and the MultiMarkdown documentation for more advanced features. Use Markdown syntax while you're writing, then flip over to the Markdown Preview to see your rendered text. The preview mode has buttons for copying HTML source (great for pasting into blogs) and for exporting the HTML to a file (optionally including the Byword visual styling). Markdown is a great move for Byword. I'm seeing increasing support for this popular format across the board, which I think is a great thing. I do wish for a few things, including my usual plea for advanced editing tools, such as auto-pairing of brackets and automatic list continuation. I would also love to see an option for printing the rendered document directly from Byword. You could print straight to PDF that way, too. If you want a good-looking editor for plain text or minimal rich text and don't want all of the extra buttons and formatting options, this is worth a peek. There's a free trial available on the Byword homepage, and you can pick up Byword on the Mac App Store for US $9.99.
Samsung Galaxy Tab can be made to run all apps in full screen, here's how (video)
You might have noticed in our Galaxy Tab review that a number of pretty significant Android apps failed to scale to fully utilize its real estate, leaving an unpleasant black border surrounding their content. Well, you can now take that issue off your list of cons for this otherwise delectable tablet as our buddy JKK has figured out a way to overcome the scaling problemo. Using Spare Parts, a free app available in the Android Market, and a couple of reboots, he was able to convince the Engadget app to run in full screen on the Tab. He's right in guessing that we'd be happy about that, though we imagine owners of Samsung's slate will be the ones with the biggest grins on their faces right now. See the how-to video after the break. [Thanks, Mani]
XBMC on OS X releases version .1
Those following the XBMC (a.k.a. Xbox Media Center, although they'll probably need a name change soon, considering all the platforms they've jumped off to) development for the Mac have some good news coming to them: the release has reached version .1.It's still as shaky as these things come, but new to this version are fullscreen support, "bleeding edge" ffmpeg libraries, and a regular FPS in video playback. It's still not anything the average user should be running, but as I said, for those interested in following along with the development, it should be welcome news.The download is available from the wiki, and we're told it's now super simple to install (though actually running stably may be a little tougher) -- just drag into your Applications folder and cross your fingers. Thanks, Yuval!Update: They got that name change: here's the new site.
24 Hours of Leopard: Improved DVD player
Feature: The DVD Player is almost all new, with video improvements, an Autozoom feature, and a new interface.How it works: Strangely, this big update has gone relatively unnoticed. But it will be noticed as soon as you put a DVD in-- the app has a whole new fullscreen interface, including a time slider, and what Apple is calling an "Image Bar" (those are artist's renditions, so hopefully it'll look a lot better than that), which will let you access your chapters while watching the movie. There's an AutoZoom feature to deal with letterboxing, and it will "float" above your other applications, making it easier to watch movies while you're supposed to be working. Finally, videophiles will be happy to know that Apple is promising better video quality with "Adaptive Video Analyzation technology." Sounds good to us.Who will use it: Anyone who likes movies is the obvious answer here, but I'm going to go a little more subtle-- anyone who likes movies and working on their Mac. So, you know, Roger Ebert. And the folks at Pixar.
Swap full-screen Cover Flow and video in iTunes
Here comes the community at Mac OS X Hints with yet another cool trick which, in this case, should help us waste just a little more time in iTunes 7.1.1. I specify that latest version because this hint concerns Cover Flow's new found ability to run in full-screen mode: as it turns out, you can command-tab between a full-screen video and Cover Flow. This is enabled by the apparent fact that that cmd-tab doesn't toggle Mac OS X's app switcher when in iTunes is full-screened; you have to hit Escape to get out of this environment for cmd-tab to get back to its normal duties. This is a slick, very eye candy feature that, in a way, I am surprised Apple didn't do at least a little bragging about with the latest iTunes update.
Think 1.0
Applications that offer 'full screen' modes are all the rage now a days. The idea is that if you run one application in full screen mode you won't be distracted by all those other things that fight for your attention on your Mac.The good people at Freeverse are savvy to this, but they figured why bother creating individual applications with a full screen mode when you can create an app that'll let any app have a full screen mode of sorts. Thus Think was born.Think has a very cool Illumination Panel that allows you to pick from any of your currently running applications. As soon as you pick an app, Think throws up a backdrop (the color is up to you, though it defaults to black) that covers up the rest of your desktop (on your main monitor as well as any secondary monitors you might have) though the Dock remains visible. Think goes one step further and displays the icon of the currently focused app in its Dock icon, just in case you forget.It is obvious that Freeverse spent some time thinking about this application. Now, what would you expect to pay for such an application? If you said nothing, not only are you cheap but you're also correct! That's right, Freeverse is giving this gem away (Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later is required).Check out the gallery below for some screenshots. %Gallery-1471%
