Briefs
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Briefs for the Mac lets developers create interactive app demos with just a few clicks
Briefs is a design tool for the busy developer who wants to show off their beautiful app without crafting a full-on prototype. Created by Rob Rhyne of Martiancraft, the professional-level tool is filled with features that allow you to bring your app to life without typing a single line of code. We will take a look at some of the salient features of Briefs below. Timelines, Scenes and Actions Timelines, scenes and actions are the heart and soul of Briefs. They let you re-create your app and demonstrate the interactivity that a series of still images can't manage. The Timeline is the container that holds all the scenes that you create. In most projects, you'll create one timeline for each device (iPhone, iPhone 5 and iPad) that you are targeting. Each scene in a timeline is a snapshot of a screen or state in your app. It'll show the layout of your design, and you can have interactive elements like buttons that'll let you jump to another scene. These interactive elements are called actors and can be either a button, a text element or a hotspot. You make these elements tappable by assigning actions which let you pick the scene that you want the user to see. For example, you may have an image editing app that has a photo gallery. You'll want to create a "Photo Gallery" button on the opening scene and have it jump to the scene that shows the mockup of the photo gallery. You can assign different transitions and delays to each action, which will give your demo a professional look and feel. BriefsLive and Player Most of the work you do with Briefs is on the Mac, but the target device is the iPhone or iPad. Though you can demo your app on your Mac, Briefs has a convenient feature called BriefsLive that lets you see your app demo in action on your target device while you create it. All you need to do to use BriefsLive is make sure your iOS device and your Mac are on the same WiFi network and you have the Briefscase app installed on your iOS device. The Mac app will detect your iPhone and iPad and send your project to the device. You can then make changes on your Mac and test them immediately on your iOS device. When you are done creating your demo, you can then deploy it to an iOS device for testing and demonstration using the Briefs player, which is part of the Briefscase App. You can transfer your demo directly to your Briefscase app or send it via email to anyone who wants to see the mockup. The recipient will need to have the Briefscase app installed on their iOS device to view your demo. The app is available for free, so it shouldn't be too hard to convince your client or investor to install the app on their iPad or iPhone. Other Little Gems There are a lot of nice touches in the Briefs app that'll make creating your demo a breeze. The layout of the app is amenable to quick and easy editing. The stage, which is your main work area, is in the center. You can see all of your scenes on the left and on the right is the inspector, which gives you detailed information on each element in a scene. Briefs has a nice overview view, shown below, that lets you see all of scenes and how they are connected. This view is perfect for reviewing the flow and organization of your demo. Briefs ships with stock art if you need to create a mockup quickly. It also lets you import custom art work that you design specifically for your app. Last, but not least, there's support for versioning, so you can go back a version or two if you don't like your current changes. Briefs for Mac is available for US$199 from the Mac App Store. The companion iOS app, Briefscase, is available for free. If you are professional developer, you shouldn't balk at the price. Being able to create a working demo of your app in just a few hours could be the tool that gives you the edge over your competition or that big chunk of VC funding.
Vindictus spreads the love with new update and holiday
Whether you're in the mood for hard combat or soft, silky underwear, Vindictus has you covered, strangely enough. Nexon's free-to-play title is charging through February in style, starting with a Valentine's Day event and ending with its massive Lost Artifacts update. Quirky events have quickly become one of Vindictus' staples. Right now players can participate in V-Day events for special rewards. If fishing and chocolate hunting isn't your bag, you can simply purchase a Valentine's Package at the Supply Depot for "sexy Valentine's themed Inner Armor." Cute undies, in other words. Valentine's events will end after the 15th, so players are encouraged to partake sooner rather than regret it later. On the 16th, Nexon rolls out the Lost Artifact update, which includes an increase in level cap to 60, six bonus chapters, and the Hoarfrost Depths and Hilder Forest zones. Lost Artifact also features two new modes, Hero and Gauntlet, for those seeking a more challenging dungeon experience. You can check out pictures from these events as well as the Lost Artifact trailer after the jump.
App Store approval limbo boxes in Briefs
There are plenty of hurdles between a good idea and App Store success; even after your killer app hits the virtual shelves, the challenges of discoverability and competitors sandbagging your app with Astroturfed bad reviews add up to plenty of headaches. Still, once past the biggest stumbling block -- Apple giving a thumbs up or thumbs down -- things should get easier, right? Unfortunately, some intriguing apps end up in approval limbo, the stranded state between all-clear and no-thanks that's reserved for some of the most innovative and paradigm-busting apps; the apps that make Apple go "Hmm..." and force the app approval team to exercise the pocket veto. Without a clear rejection (telling the dev what can be fixed), there's nothing to do but wait. The most high-profile limbo case is Google Voice, which as far as we know is still being reviewed by Apple's team more than a year after it was submitted. The latest is Briefs, a well-regarded app prototyping tool which may be running afoul of the no-interpreted-code ban in section 3.3.2 of Apple's developer agreement, despite the assertion that Briefs doesn't work in a way that's forbidden by Apple's rules. Even though developer Rob Rhyne made a cogent case to Apple's team on the merits, and even with some high-level support from contacts made at WWDC, Briefs remains unapproved and unrejected. Rather than wait indefinitely with his 1.0 growing stale, Rhyne has decided to offer the existing version as open source, which iPhone developers can compile and install on their testing devices. Rob's colleague Jeff Lamarche at Martian Craft voices his frustration here. In many ways, this could be an App Store success story: developer dedication and innovation, open lines of communication between indies and Apple, an open source tool that can improve app development for scores of coders. The only problem is that darned silent treatment, and the missing timeline for escalation. If an app can't make it on the store, it seems the least Apple ought to do is say so and say why.
Isabodywear underwear fends off cellphone radiation
If you thought donning tin foil caps was excessive, Isabodywear is out to make those contraptions looks mighty mild. While the debate about just how dangerous (or not) cellphone radiation is still rages on, there's certainly a paranoid sect that will snap up anything that claims to "protect them," and this Swiss garb maker is latching onto said opportunity. The briefs are purportedly constructed with threads made of silver, which the company claims will fend off harmful cellphone radiation; moreover, in an effort to really prove just how effective these undergarments are, it suggests that phone calls originated within the confines of your new underwear simply won't connect. Reportedly, 4,000 pairs have been created so far, and for folks willing to give these a try and fill out a survey, the first 500 of you to email in and request one will seemingly have one sent out gratis. There's no word on when you can expect the Slipways to hit the market, but they should sell for CHF29.90 ($24) apiece when retailers start stocking.[Via Textually]
