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Apple updates the iPod shuffle
At today's press event, Steve Jobs announced a full revamp of the iPod line. The new iPod shuffle is smaller than the 2nd generation device and brings back something that many users missed with the previous model. Specifically, buttons! The new shuffle has a familiar-looking click wheel on the small postage-stamp shaped model that was introduced a few years ago. It will hold 15 hours of music, is available in 4 colors and sells for US$49. As of this writing, availability has not been announced. The iPod shuffle, and all models introduced today, will go on sale (pre-orders) today, with expected delivery next week. We'll have more on this and the rest of today's announcements all day long.
iPhone devsugar: Unit testing for iPhone view controllers
Unit testing refers to a software validation methodology that allows programmers to test individual program units for correctness. It's been an ongoing question in the iPhone developer community as to whether the iPhone's view controller class is testable or not. In response to these discussions, iPhone developer Jonah Williams has written up a view controller unit testing how-to over at the Carbon Five web blog. His write-up offers examples that show how to incorporate some best practices into your code. Williams points out how broken NIB bindings are a common problem for iPhone OS applications. To address these issues, he regularly adds simple assertions that test that each IB outlet and action are set properly from inside his view controller class implementations. These assertions check that IBOutlet instance variables are not set to nil and that IBAction targets have been assigned, adding a layer of protection against broken bindings. Another typical view controller issue involves responding to application memory warnings. To respond, he adds tests that ensure that each view-dependent property gets correctly released and re-created as views unload and then later reload. By building these into test methods, he can execute this behavior on demand, and ensure that the sequence will execute flawlessly in real world conditions. Finally, Williams discusses view controller interdependencies. Often instances are tightly intertwined, with objects acting as clients for each other. For example, a simple table view controller, living within a navigation controller, might present a detail view via yet another view controller when a row is selected. That's three separate controllers to account for, when you really only want to test one at a time. Williams suggests isolating these view controllers away from their interdependencies to test each component separately and provides examples of how you can do so. What made Williams' approach pop for me is how he carefully exposes and isolates dependencies for testing. These are features that can otherwise be hard to inspect and validate in the normal course of programming. His write-up is well worth reading through, and provides an excellent jumping off point for investigating view controller unit testing.
iPhone devsugar: The need for multiple ipa delivery
App Store clutter remains an ongoing issue. In addition to "business card" applications that offer little or no functionality beyond a simple web page[1], there are lite editions, demo editions, full editions, and even in the case of Tweetie 2, completely new applications providing upgraded functionality. Each of those applications must be registered with a unique app identifier, each one takes up a separate slot when installed on your iPhone's home screen, each application occupies a separate App Store listing, complete with its own screen shots, marketing material, reviews, and so forth. Each one must be managed by you in iTunes, where you must decide which to sync, which to keep, and so forth. Add to the mix, the possibility that we're likely to see iPad- and iPhone-specific application releases in the near future in addition to the Universal Application solution that Apple has been heavily promoting. That's because iPad applications offer developers the opportunity to re-imagine their interfaces, adding features without the constraints of the iPhone's small screen and modal interaction limitations. An iPad app that adds significant new functionality may branch off and become yet another related app in a single application family.
Hands on with Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games [iTunes link] brings a mobile version of the Sonic franchise to the iPhone for this timely-themed product. It is officially licensed by the Vancouver Olympic games. With it, you can try your hand at curling, figure skating, snowboard cross, and skeleton, i.e. sports you probably never thought you'd actually be playing on an iPhone. If you're a big fan of Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog, and you like the way the Sonic games play on other devices, you'll be pleased that a lot of the same feel and gameflow have been ported quite successfully to the iPhone. As with other Sonic games, you select the character you want to portray and you are randomly matched against other characters in the Sonicverse. You can choose from single player one-sport events, multiplayer, and circuit mode, where you play all four events. The graphics are superb and the user interface development is top notch. A lot of care and programming have gone into the tiny details that make up this game. Between the animated icons (info is a book with flipping pages, settings are a rotating gear on top of a building, game selection is a happily bouncing stadium), sound design, and small interface details like how menus slide onscreen, I was really impressed; congratulations to Sega for developing an interface that really matches and works with the iPhone platform. I wish the actual game play could match the overall look and feel. Unfortunately, I found playing the events to be less thrilling and poorly conceptualized. Take the figure skating, for example. It was easily my favorite sport in the game, but the way the game you focus on tapping the right spot at the right time (you have to synchronize your tap to a shrinking circle) or tracing your finger along a given design (so you can perform spins and jumps), totally took away from actually enjoying the event. Great iPhone interactive sport apps put you right into the middle of the action. You submerse yourself into experiencing the game play and your device interaction gets outsourced to your motor control as your eyes drink in the visuals . With figure skating, I could barely see the (beautiful!) graphics, let alone enjoy the music, because the game mandates that my eyes and fingers had to be working on locating, tapping, and drawing in just the right place and at the right time. There was a big disconnect. And because of that disconnect, the actual skating seemed to be taking place somewhere else -- somewhere I couldn't really enjoy. The skeleton and snowboard cross events better offered submersive interaction. They more or less mimic every downhill iPhone game you've ever played. You ride downhill and collect gold rings. The controls are based on tilting the iPhone both side to side and front to back. For snowboard cross, you also get to ride through Mario-style cubes with question marks for special power ups. Both downhill events were pleasant enough to play. At the bottom of the pack, I found curling tedious to the extreme, which is a shame. Because if Sega had designed this event with faster gameplay and the ability to keep playing over and over in one go, it could have been quite fun. The problem isn't pushing the stone and sweeping (those parts are actually enjoyable), the problem was waiting and waiting for a turn, as the opponent operated in real time, and in all the setup/take down time for each match. The fun bits are simply lost within the administrative overhead. Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games offers a reasonable value for the money (it's a slightly hefty $4.99) but while the games were pleasant but none of them really made me want to play them again. I admired the work that went into creating the product but I can't really recommend it to anyone who isn't a big Sonic fan to begin with.
Apple confirms Sept. 9 press event
At last Apple has begun distributing invitations to a press event scheduled for September 9th. The image on the invitation, which features a classic silhouette dancer, pretty much confirms our suspicion that this particular dog-and-pony show feature the iPod (now with cameras! ...maybe). Apple typically introduces new iPods in September.This year's event will take place at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco on September 9th at 10:00 a.m Pacific time. Perhaps then we'll see that secret television ad. In any case, we think it's safe for the pro-tablet theorists sit this one out. Maybe next time, folks.Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
Happy 7th Birthday, iPod!
%Gallery-35146%It's hard to believe that 7 years have passed since Steve took the stage and introduced our friend, the iPod. Over the past few years, the iPod has gone from new guy on the block to "funnest" guy on the block. While the basic design hasn't changed much (for the Classic model at least), the features definitely have. When the iPod launched in 2001, it was basically a FireWire-capable hard drive and MP3 player -- nothing more, nothing less.The first iPod sold for $399 for a 5GB version (which was Mac-only). Apple later came out with a 10GB version of the same iPod for $499. Here's some fun facts about the first iPod via Mactracker: Codename: Dulcimer Dimensions: 4.02" H x 2.43" W x 0.78" D Weight: 0.41 lbs. iPod OS: version 1.0, upgradeable to 1.5 Introduced: October 2001 Terminated: April 2003 Hard Drive: 4200 RPM in capacities of 5/10/20 GB To celebrate the iPod's birthday, we have created a gallery to show the many changes over the years. If you want to brush-up on your iPod trivia, check out Wikipedia's iPod page. If you have any happy (or unhappy) memories of the iPod, be sure to reminisce in the comments.%Poll-21315%
What did 'ya get?
Go ahead and make us drool. Tell us all about the Mac goodies you got for Christmas. Was it an iPod video, an iBook, speakers for your iPod, or a new case to carry it all around in? How much do you love it? Is it what you wanted or were you disappointed? At our house we're loving our new Logitech mm50 portable iPod speakers. They sound great, have a rechargeable battery, come with a remote control and a case, and work with our iPod nano and iPod video (as well as other models). We haven't found any downsides yet. What about your Christmas booty?
