David Winograd
Articles by David Winograd
Good news for Australians: Apple drops iPod prices
Apple often charges more for products sold outside of the US, but with the Australian dollar coming over parity with the value of the US dollar (currently less than a four cent differential), the company has reduced Australian prices of the entire iPod line. The 160 GB iPod classic was reduced A$30 from $329 to $299. The 8 GB iPod touch was cut $30 from $289 to $259, and the 32 GB version was lowered $29 bringing it from $378 to $349. The 64 GB model was slashed a full $50 taking it from $499 to $449, which is the largest price decrease in the line. The smallest price decrease was only $4, lowering the iPod shuffle from $69 to $65. The iPod nano 8 GB is down $20 from $199 to $179, and the 16 GB version was lowered only $10 from $229 to $219. Perhaps it's a slow seller in Australia. I really hope that Apple has taken to heart the ebbs and flows of the US dollar as compared to other currencies and will follow suit in other countries.
iPads are becoming as important to doctors as their stethoscopes
For many doctors, iPads are becoming "...as important to patient care as their stethoscope," according to a segment on CNBC. Last year about 22 percent of doctors started integrating iPads into their practice. At Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, iPads became a mainstay in patient care from day one. Describing medical conditions to patients using the graphics of iPads made maladies far more understandable to many. Additionally, a rush to use Electronic Health Records (EHR) is being fueled by a US Government program called Meaningful Use, in which doctors and hospitals can be reimbursed by Medicare and Medicaid for technology when meeting certain criteria. This, and the clarity brought to patients, is causing medical software companies to quickly scramble to get medical apps ready for the iPad and other tablets. The iPad should benefit most from this initiative since it's a known quantity and (as long as you're not looking for an iPad 2) readily available. Hospitals can settle on a tablet now without waiting for what might be coming out later. This can also be a boon to the sanitizing business, since products like Lymsat are a much more elegant solution to keeping tablets clean and safe than using a Ziploc bag, which our own Erica Sadun swears by. After the break is a video showing doctors at Beth Israel Deaconess in action with their iPads.
The DIRECTV iPad app in depth
The DIRECTV iPad App, a free app that we briefly wrote about when it was first released, is one of the best, most complete iPad apps I've used. If you are one of the 160,000 DIRECTV customers with a Wi-Fi connection to an HR20, HR21, R22, R23, HR24, H21, H23, H24 or H25 model receiver (or multiples of these for that matter), download the app before reading any further. Those with other models can't set a recording, but can browse the program guide. This app is almost perfect with only a few minor caveats, which I'll get to later. In function, it does all that the free iPhone app does (like searching for shows) and much more. I don't have a 3G iPad, so my testing was Wi-Fi only. When you first run it, it will find all of your connected receivers. If it fails, you'll need to execute the following steps on your remote control: Menu button > Parental Fav's and Setup > System Setup > Whole Home > External Devices > Allow. To confirm that you've done it correctly, touch the little gear in the upper right corner to produce a screen that looks something like this: This screen not only lists your DVRs, but it also gives you a great deal of control over how the app will operate. I suggest that you check out every option before you really start playing with the app. Tap the little arrow on the right, and you'll find out if your receiver has an IP address and can be used with the app without using a wired or wireless Wi-Fi connection. In my house, I have connections to Theater 1 and Theater 2, and checking each with the arrow tells me my IP address and that control is enabled. All the rest show no IP address and can eventually be used if I connect them to Wi-Fi. At the bottom left of the screen, you can see your enabled receivers as well as which one is controlling your TV, marked with a check, as seen on the next page.
Two 17-year-old Irish students create Penguin Slider! for iOS
Penguin Slider is a game (US$1.99 for the iPad and $0.99 for the iPhone and iPod touch) created by Mark Thompson and Ashley Hunter, two 17-year-old students at The Wallace High School, a 1200 student Co-educational Grammar school in Lisburn Northern Ireland, near Belfast. They are shown above with their proud principal Deborah O' Hare. Mark and Ashley were guided by their ICT teacher, David Cleland, but they did the work themselves, both in and out of school, over a three-month period. All proceeds from the game are going into the students' college funds. Mark hopes to be an architect, while Ashley (pictured on the right) would like to be an ICT teacher later in life. I had a chance to interview the teacher and his two students via email, and everyone is very proud of the students' accomplishment. The project was completely driven by the kids, who pulled skills from their ICT class as well as their Moving Image Arts and Art classes. The hardest part of coming up with the game was getting the idea. "Having a winning idea is the challenge," they said. "We just wish that we came up with Angry Birds." Doesn't everyone? Angry Birds and Cut the Rope both provided some inspiration for Penguin Slider -- they're both "puzzling, addictive and challenging games titles that want you coming back for more." The game took three months to go from idea to completion, and both versions were accepted by the App Store on the first submission, which made them both quite happy. Ashley, who is a self-taught programmer in C#, Java, Objective C, VBA and HTML, took care of the coding, while Mark looked after the design and the artwork. When done, the game caused quite a buzz at their school, as "all pupils bought the game and then compared scores and challenges." I was told that people of all ages have fun with the game, which starts out simply but gets quite difficult over the 36 levels, as you guide your penguin across ice-fields to his destination. Future versions of the title will add "additional levels, features and something very special." A free version will be popping up on the App Store soon, so I'd advise you to take a look and, if it sparks your fancy, help send two very bright Irish kids to college. %Gallery-119333% TUAW is commonly provided with not-for-resale licenses or promo codes to permit product evaluations and reviews. For more details, see our policy page.
iPad 2 launch: not Apple's finest hour
Jason O'Grady, writing for ZDNet's The Apple Core, penned an incisive piece on the five ways that Apple screwed up the iPad 2 launch. I agree with every point. Usually, Apple has been very good on getting information to the huddled masses waiting for the next new iThingy, but this time the company side-stepped the issue and let everyone fend for themselves, to the liking of no one. Here's what Apple got wrong: Not allowing pre-orders: Allowing potential customers to pre-order new products helps assure they can get the new stuff in their hands on day one. This time, not so much. There are plenty of reasons pre-orders might have been infeasible, including lack of inventory or a bad component delaying shipments. Still, in a perfect world, Apple should have taken the high road and allowed pre-orders, even if the number of units allocated was slim. No availability tracker: Apple has been good about providing information on in-store availability of new products. In the past, the company has put up a page (it no longer exists), providing a grid of what stores had particular models. This prevented the stress of going to your store and coming up empty. If you were in a populated area, with a few Apple stores, you were given alternatives. This time, no such information was provided.
The Going to Bed Book: An interactive book for toddlers
Loud Crow Interactive Inc. is taking a new direction in their interactive children's books with The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton (US$2.99 for the iPad Version or $1.99 for the iPhone). Instead of the very similar PopOut takes on Peter Rabbit and The Night Before Christmas, in their third outing, they decided to do a 14-page board book for very small children. These are small books on very thick cardboard stock (perfect for teething). The story involves a bunch of animals on a boat preparing for bed by taking baths, putting on their pajamas, brushing their teeth, exercising and finally rocking to sleep. It's short, simple and quite well done for this type of book. What makes it different from the print version is that The Going to Bed Book gives you the option to read it yourself or have a "big guy" read it to you. There is a slider to adjust the volume of, or turn off, the very soothing music, and touching a word speaks that specific word. This stops the narration but touching a little open circle reads it again. The interactions are tailored for toddlers and are easy to find, or marked if it's something special. %Gallery-119182%
Violet strikes again in the Mystery Next Door: an interactive iOS children's book
Our friend Violet is back in the third original installment of this excellent modern series of interactive children's books from My Black Dog Books LLC. Violet and the Mystery Next Door (US$3.99) is a universal app that looks great in landscape mode on any iOS device. The book tells the story of how Violet finds a mysterious new neighbor, just her age, and goes about finding more about him in the snow. The Violet series has added more play value with each story, and this one adds branching. At two points in the story, you are asked a yes or no question. Depending upon your answer, you are taken to a number of pages that follow that line, eventually ending up at the same place and continuing the story. This adds much more variety for small children since they can follow a number of branches, making the book shorter or longer. Eventually, kids will take all the paths, causing them to spend more time with Violet and her world. This was an excellent design decision and really adds a lot to the book. Another good choice was to put a book icon in the upper left that lets you scroll to any page in the book. In one branch, you are asked if the mysterious boy sees Violet sneaking up on him. Answering no causes the boy to go into his house, where you see that he has a lot of toys. Then he runs outside to make a snow angel and vanishes, so Violet has to find him. When she does find him, they have an interactive snowball fight. If you tell the app that the boy did see Violet, she chases him to his Clubhouse, where you'll find an empty snowman. You can build the snowman by moving his eyes, nose, buttons and some other things onto it, providing even more play value. Violet and the mysterious boy eventually wind up at the snowball fight, and the story takes off from there. %Gallery-118930%
Three Little Pigs and the Secrets of a Popup Book brings a new twist to the genre
Three Little Pigs and the Secrets of a Popup Book (US$3.99) from Game Collage LLC brings something new to interactive children's books on iOS. The original book was published in 1904 and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke, a popular illustrator of the time. Along with the usual wheels, tabs and spring loaded animated objects that move things around, they included X-Ray Goggles (really a tappable button), which let you see the gears, clockwork, springs and pulleys that make the animations work on most of the pages. This fits in well with the tone of the book since it was originally published during the second Industrial Revolution. Just when I thought that publishers had run out of new ideas for this genre, this wrinkle arrives with a lot of fun. Outside of the well-known story, you are given a faux backstage peek of how it all works. Sure, it's a gimmick, but it's exceptionally entertaining, even for "older kids." Often seeing how items are affixed to a gear gives you a good idea of what the page can do, providing a better experience playing with the movable objects after viewing the schematics. There are a lot of objects that can be manipulated either by pushing them around or tilting the screen and having the accelerometer do it. There is a lot to see. On one screen, instead of a few objects, there are 20 apples, all connected to strings and a tab that feeds out or pulls in the brightly colored strings. Looking at the X-Ray, you'll find pulleys and gears that raise and lower the apples when you push a tab up or down. Another tap brings you back to the story. I would consider this a real benefit for kids who invariably ask "why." You can compare the graphics and the X-Rays in the gallery below, and then hit the "Read More" link to read the rest of the review and see a whimsical video of how the book was developed. TUAW is commonly provided with not-for-resale licenses or promo codes to permit product evaluations and reviews. For more details, see our policy page. %Gallery-118916%
Problems syncing after iOS 4.3? It might be your photos
I just updated to iOS 4.3 on my iPhone, which is connected to a MacBook Pro, and when the installation was done, I tried to sync. The sync stalled at step four of four on syncing photos, with a message telling me that the sync could not complete because "The required file cannot be found." I called Apple right away, and the support rep, after checking with a few higher levels of tech support, asked me to uncheck the box to sync photos. The sync worked. I was then told that the problem had to be with one of the photos in my iPhoto library, and I would have to find it using the process of elimination. This didn't sound like fun since I have over 3600 photos, and this would take quite a long time to accomplish. I tried to find a simpler solution and found it. Incorrectly thinking that it might be in the last import, I had my iPhone 3GS sync all events except the last one. The sync worked flawlessly. Then I added the last event, and the sync still worked. Next I added all the albums and faces, and the sync worked again. I girded my loins and decided to try to sync all photos, events and faces ... and was able to sync perfectly. My iPad had the same issue, but first unchecking syncing and then re-syncing everything (which took a while, as all of the photos were re-optimized and copied over) worked just fine. So, at least for me, there was a problem with syncing photos, and in both cases, deleting the photos and then having the computers and iDevices sync all photos, events and faces solved the problem. I don't know how widespread this problem might be, or if it even affected anyone but me, but if you are in the same boat, give this a try.
It's called the iPad 2: an Auto-Tuned song for the release
iTuned Steve Jobs is at it again. He previously Auto-Tuned the original iPhone introduction as well as the iPhone 4 Keynote. This time, using a JibJab like approach, Steve plays instruments while singing about the virtues of the iPad 2. The song is kind of catchy, and Steve does play some mean guitar, piano and drums. View the video on the next page and see what you think. [via Obama Pacman]
A funnier iPad 2 parody video? [NSFW]
When we posted the banned iPad 2 video, a number of commenters wrote about a funnier one. Let's see if you think they're right. This parody introduction of the iPad 2 comes from dandobi and contains some salty language which is definitely not workplace friendly. It answers the burning questions of how to pick a song for an iPad 2 commercial, why the Smart Cover isn't called the iCover and what all this has to do with Wolverine. Take a gander after the break and let us know if you think this one is better than the previous instance.
Stephen Colbert can't sleep or eat until he gets his hands on an iPad 2
Last night on the Colbert Report, Stephen was beside himself with anticipation for the iPad 2. A desperate Colbert complains that Apple wouldn't send him one "through the TV," despite having the technology. After all, Colbert notes, its A5 Dual Core Processor allows the iPad 2 to "Not run Flash nine times faster." You'll find the video after the break. Take a look and get ready to chuckle. [via Business Insider SAI]
Ultimate Dinopedia brings dinosaurs to life on your iPad
The Ultimate Dinopedia (US$5.99) from National Geographic is a wonderful reference app that will quickly become the go-to source for kids who want to find out everything about dinosaurs. There are other dinosaur apps in the store, but this is by far the most complete and expansive. It started as a hardcover book last year and has since been turned into a terrific iPad app for kids four and older. The app is broken down into three parts: Discovering Dinosaurs, Meat Eaters and Plant Eaters. It's chock full of paintings of many dinosaurs by Franco Tempsesta, and the text was written by "Dino" Don Lessem, just as in the book. (Don even has a dinosaur named after him.) The app covers about 700 dinosaurs. Each dinosaur comes with a button to play a sound of the correct pronunciation of its name, plus much more information. For many dinosaurs, that's all you get, but others have full-page paintings, Dino Stats (which give you info from the overview page) and a paragraph on the story of the dinosaur, which you can either read yourself or have read to you in a slightly sinister sounding narration paired with nice sound effects. Each of these pages have Fun Facts like "Riojasaurus had only five teeth in the front of its top jaw and 24 more behind them. So chances are it gulped down its food and digested plants in its stomach." There's also Picture Info, such as "Riojasaurus fed in the southern forests of Pangea, the single landmark that stretched across the middle of the earth". Along with this, there are 13 very short CGI videos showing a number of dinosaurs in action. The videos certainly aren't up to the quality of Pixar, but they get the job done. The videos are the only part of the app that works in landscape mode. %Gallery-118554%
The iPad 2 video Apple doesn't want you to see
YouTuber ooLDEoo has made another of his banned videos -- the videos that Apple doesn't want you to see. Previously he made one for the iPhone 4 and the original iPad introduction. This one is a parody of the iPad 2 introduction video. I thought it was pretty funny, especially since it features Apple's only black and female employees. Make sure you watch it to the end. http://www.youtube.com/user/ooJLEoo
JFK Historymaker: an iOS biography app for the 35th President
JFK Historymaker (US$4.99) from MultiEducator, Inc. is an extensive and comprehensive multimedia biography app for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. The amount of information is massive and includes 250 photos, 200 full text documents and 25 videos chronicling the life of John F. Kennedy, the United States' 35th president. In structure, it's very similar to an earlier app from the same company about the Civil War. Both apps have many positive attributes, but also quite a few nagging problems. The design of the app lets you easily get to and keep track of information. With its larger screen, viewing it on an iPad is far more satisfying since, in landscape mode, there is always a menu on the left side of the screen that shows the categories and sub-categories of information. On the right of the screen is the content. The menu isn't there in portrait mode, but tapping on a menu button makes it appear. In the iPhone version, all you see is the menu; tapping on an item brings up the content, making things more difficult to navigate. The menu items contain distinctive icons that let you know if the item contains a video, photo, audio file or text. A list of Recent places is kept, and anything can be marked as a Favorite so that you can build your own list of interests. Everything but videos can be sent to email as well. Text and photos can be pinched or stretched, which really comes in handy on a small screen. Organization is important in this type of app, since there are around 35 topic-oriented categories that range from JFK's early life to his assassination. Within each category is a sub-menu that lists the content. Tapping on an item brings up the text, photo, video or audio. It sounds complicated, but after a few minutes of using it, I could easily get anywhere quite quickly, and saving Recents and Favorites made it even easier. There is a button letting you go back to the last category; in the unlikely event you did get lost, there is a Contents button that will bring you back to the main menu. On the iPad there is also a search box to get you to the right place. Categories are grouped well and break everything down to bite-sized topics, such as Civil Rights, Bay of Pigs, The Navy and so on. Many categories start with an overview then drill down to an in-depth discussion of the topic. Under that are all the supporting items. A great deal of the text is comprised of transcripts of speeches, minutes of meetings and scanned documents, including JFK's report card from the Canterbury School in 1930. (He wasn't a terrific student.) When looking at anything other than a video, there is an Info button on the iPad or a tab on the iPhone to get specific information on what is being viewed. %Gallery-118371%
Two apps to teach spatial relationships and the alphabet to kids
Apps to teach small children letters and words have come a long way since my own kids were playing StickyBear ABC on an Apple ][+. Here are two examples: Lola's Alphabet Train (US$0.99) for the iPhone and iPod touch (it's also available for the iPad as Lola's Alphabet Train HD at $1.99) and KidzBlox ($0.99), which is a universal app. These are both simple (with Lola being harder since you need to know some words) and repetitious, which may bore the stuffing out of parents, but they seem totally appropriate for small children. Lola's Alphabet Train Lola's Alphabet Train (by BeiZ) features Lola the Panda, a bear who wants to buy presents for her friends. She must travel to the shops by train. The game features easy, medium or hard modes. To get the train moving, certain tasks need to be completed; some are harder than others. The simplest is a simple letter recognition task. Three letters are displayed as the name of one is spoken. The player must touch the correct letter, which is shown in a text block. Two successful trials move the train onto the next task. A matching activity presents six letter tiles. Several tiles are displayed quickly (I would have left it on the screen for a longer time) before flipping over. There are three pairs of matching blocks on each screen, and the object is to touch the matching two, which will cause them to vanish. When you touch one, you hear the letter spoken, which is great for reinforcement. Once that task is complete, the train moves on to the spelling task. An object is displayed and the letters need to spell its name are scattered about. The player must arrange them properly. As you touch a letter, its name is spoken, and when all the letters are in the right place, the name of the object is spoken, which moves the train to the store where you can buy one present. At the store the you'll find items like a robot, car, sheep doll, etc., all at different prices. You "pay" for items with coins collected by completing the aforementioned tasks.
The iBookstore gets Random House books
We posted that Random House had made a deal to finally get their books in the iBookstore. Well, it's in the process of happening. This morning the Random House published-Millenium Trilogy by Steig Larsson is available for purchase and the first two books are even at decent prices. Now we'll have to wait and see if Random House's other imprints, and there are around twenty-five of them, make it there as well. My guess is that they will. Maybe there's hope for the iBookstore after all. By the way, along with the Apple store, the Random House site is down as well. I have a feeling this will come up at today's event.
The case for an Apple stock split redux
Just about a year ago I wrote a post explaining all the hoopla over an expected AAPL stock split which never happened. At that point AAPL shares were trading at $202.86 and many felt that it was just too expensive for most small investors to buy. Last week, Apple closed at $348.14 after a few weeks of a roller coaster ride taking the stock down from a 52 week high of $364.90. No one really knows why the fairly quick drop happened. Rumors covered everything from the health of Steve Jobs and the question of a succession plan, to delays of the iPhone 5 and the iPad 2; but the fact of the matter is that an annual increase in price of around $145 ain't chopped liver. The vast majority of AAPL stockholders are investment firms, with the little guy being mostly left out due to the high stock price. It's emotionally unsatisfying to buy a handful of shares, and with only five or six shares in your portfolio the profit potential is decreased. That's mostly emotions talking, but the market is strongly influenced by emotions like fear, excitement and greed. So what would happen if Apple decided to split its stock anywhere from two to one, up to a four to one split? AAPL has split two for one three times, in 1987, 2000, and 2005 -- but it hasn't happened in the last six years. Philip Elmer-DeWitt writing for Fortune's Apple 2.0 posed an argument asking if the time is right. He made a reasoned case both for and against splitting.
Video tour of Mac OS X Lion developer release
Ian Bauters presents an overview video of many of the new features in the developer release of Mac OS X 10.7, also known as OS X Lion. Many of the changes bring Mac OS X closer in appearance and behavior to iOS 4 on the iPad and iPhone. Some of features and changes covered include: Finder changes, including changing folder view with a slider Launchpad Safari 5.1 Dashboard Address Book iCal Quicklook Mission Control Preview For those of us that aren't developers (including me), this is a must-view. Note: Unfortunately, Apple has been pretty keen on going after these sorts of things, so the video has been taken down from YouTube.
The silly season: Two fun, fan-made videos of the iPad 2
With all the buzz of anticipation of the iPad2 expected release on March 2nd I thought it would be fun to put up a couple of videos circulating the Internets on just what to expect. The first one by Exkild is a full and detailed explanation of all the new magical features of the new 27" device. My favorite part of this 6:45 tour is expaining the new features in iTunes which will automatically download good music, delete bad music and if it finds a song by Justin Bieber, it self-destructs. The second one is a 1:45 action movie opus made by Evan Larimore, a guy who is really into movies. A huge iPad2 with the eye of HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey descends from space and wreaks havoc in the hand-held style of Cloverfield. Take a look. They're bound to give you a chuckle or two.