Cory Bohon

Smartphones By Cory Bohon

Original iPhone owners & Push Notifications

Editor's Note: For more information about this post, see here.We have received multiple reports from 3.0 firmware users on original iPhones who are NOT experiencing the problems described, and who do receive calls without difficulty with the push notification service turned on. Cory's original post is left as-is below; however, we no longer believe the issue is widespread or will affect most original iPhone users. Our apologies for any undue anxiety or confusion. If you bought the original iPhone, you have the pride of being the first to own one... but you will also be left out when you install and use some of the nice new features in the iPhone 3.0 update. One of the most awaited features, push notifications, requires a constant data connection. While the iPhone 3G can handle data and voice simultaneously when using a 3G/HSDPA connection, on EDGE (the cellular data service that the original iPhone uses) you are unable to take calls and maintain a persistent data connection. As a result, if you turn on the push notification service, you may be unable to receive voice calls. Some iPhone owners might consider this a slap in the face from Apple, while other iPhone users will just be glad that their phone now has notifications. Either way, the good thing is that the voice mail system uses a data connection, so you will still get your voicemails. Push notifications could also end up being a flop for other iPhone users too. Due to the structure of the service, push notifications can get lost in transit, and pushes to the same app (possibly all pushes) kick older ones out of the push queue.

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Apps By Cory Bohon

First Look: Get Home for iPhone

If you own a GPS system, then you're sure to know about the best feature ever invented for GPS: The "Take Me Home" button. Most GPS systems can store your home location and route you back to it with a single tap. The iPhone, of course, doesn't have one of these features ... until now. Get Home [iTunes link] gives you many options for finding your way back home. You can add a button to the main screen of the app that will call a taxi, find your current location, call a contact, text message a contact, get walking directions, or find a bus route. At the bottom of the app's main screen, you will find how far away you are from your home location. From this same screen, you can tap any of the buttons you've added to open the Maps app and perform the requested action; for instance getting walking directions. If you select to phone a person or text a person, those actions will be carried out immediately as well. Get Home is a good application for people who like to do a specific task from one application. The main purpose of this application, which is to find a way home, can be carried out mainly with the Maps application and saving bookmarks. That being said, Get Home does work as advertised and does have a nice interface. You can purchase Get Home from the App Store for $1.99 US.

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Apple By Cory Bohon

Snow Leopard offers more Automator "purrfection"

If you know me, then you know that I love Automator and scripting things on the Mac. I believe that Automator should be something that everyone can take advantage of, not just the select few that already know how to use it well. That's why I've been working on the TUAW Mac Automation and AppleScript series for over a year now (we're going to have more coming soon, so stay tuned). I was watching the WWDC '09 keynote, desperately waiting to see if anything new was announced for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard in regards to automation, and specifically Automator.app. Nothing was said at the keynote, but when I looked on the newly updated Snow Leopard page on Apple's site, I was ecstatic. One of the refinements listed was that Mac OS X Services would now be a feature of Automator. Services let you use features of one application while you are inside of another. In the Automator instance, you would be able to use workflows while you are inside of any Mac OS X application that supports the use of Services. In addition to updating Automator for Services, Apple has also added more starting points for workflows. You can now choose between a standard workflow, application, service, folder action, print plugin, iCal alarm, or an image capture plugin. We will have more information about Automator and Services in Snow Leopard when it launches in September.

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Laptops

Laptops By Cory Bohon

Apple updates MacBook Air

It's one of the most overlooked product refreshes of the day, but the MacBook Air still deserves some credit. Not only did the Air get a drastic price drop (specifically with the SSD model), but it also gained a few specs. The base MacBook Air now starts at $1499US with a 1.86 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, 120GB SATA drive (runs at 4200 rpm), and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics card. The second model, which adds a 2.13 Ghz Core 2 Duo processor and 128GB SSD drive will only run you $1799US. That's a huge difference considering the last SSD model cost $2499 -- a difference of $700!It is also worth noting that the MBAir now comes with a USB Ethernet Adapter in the box. You can also choose a keyboard format in either: English, Western Spanish, French, or Japanese. If you have been wanting a MacBook Air, but let the price hold you back, then there's no reason for you to complain any longer. You can see all of the specs on the new MacBook Air models by visiting either the product page or the Apple online store.

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Apple By Cory Bohon

WWDC '09 keynote stream now available via QuickTime

With all the news floating around today about the new iPhone 3G S, and the updates on the release dates of iPhone 3.0 or Snow Leopard, you might feel deprived if you didn't get to make it out to this year's WWDC. Don't fret. You can now watch the keynote stream on the Apple website and see all of the announcements from the event. Click here to go to the stream page. You can view all of our coverage from this week on the TUAW WWDC page. Update: You should soon be able to download the keynote as a podcast from iTunes via the Apple Keynotes feed, which can be found here [click opens iTunes].

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Reviews

Reviews By Cory Bohon

TUAW Review: RadTech ProCable Shortz

RadTech manufactures a lot of accessories for the iPhone and iPod, but one recently caught my attention. The recently released ProCable Shortz cables are handy in tight places where you need a USB to 30-pin connector cable. I use mine in my car to hook up my iPhone to the stereo via a USB cable. Before the ProCable Shortz, I had a regular sized 30-pin cable and it took over my glove box with a tangle of wires. These cables can also come in handy when you want to charge or sync your iPhone/iPod with your MacBook, but don't want a tangled nest of wires sitting beside you on the desk. The RadTech ProCable Shortz come in many flavors, but the most recently released USB to 30-pin iPod connector cables come in two sizes and two colors. You can pick up these cable in either 7-cm or 20-cm lengths, and either in white or black. The build quality is similar to Apple's own cables, and in some ways the cabling seems stronger. Prices are not terrible either: Only $7.95-US for the 7-cm cable or $8.95-US for the 20-cm cable. Compare that to Apple's $19.00 US dock connector cable. The ProCable Shortz are available on the RadTech website.

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Gaming

Gaming By Cory Bohon

A look at three new Gameloft iPhone games

I have been in love with Gameloft games on the iPhone since I bought my first one last year. Not only do their games have great graphics, they also have great controls and game play. Gameloft has recently released several new iPhone/iPod touch games, and I'm going to give you a first look at three of them: Terminator Salvation, Assassin's Creed, and Let's Golf. Terminator Salvation ($5.99 US)If you have followed the Terminator franchise or television series, then you may already know the plot of this game. In this third person shooter, you'll travel around as John Conner, the leader of the resistance against the machine invasion. The game is in a 3D landscape of Los Angeles in 2018, and the gameplay is what we've come to expect from a Gameloft game. There is an "analog" control in the bottom left of the screen that allows you to move around; when you are ready to pan around the landscape, you can do so my touching and dragging anywhere on the screen. By touching the fire button in the bottom right of the screen you can fire the weapon. There are four different control types to choose between: using the Virtual Pad (details described above), the wheel pad (drag your fingers along the corner of the screen to adjust viewing angle), the accelerometer (tilting the iPhone/iPod touch to move the characters around on-screen), or reversed accelerometer. You can also reverse the orientation of the screen in the controls; this is a feature that I think all iPhone games should have. In the game, you can play either the roles of John Conner or Marcus Wright -- when you assume each of the characters, you will gain different abilities. There are 6 weapons and 8 levels that you can unlock, which will undoubtedly provide you with many hours of play. This game really packs a punch in the iPhone gaming scene and is definitely worth a look. You can check out Terminator Salvation on the App Store for $5.99 US. %Gallery-63553% Assassin's Creed ($9.99 US)Assassin's Creed has been around for a few years on many of the larger game platforms (PS3, Xbox, etc.), but recently came to the iPhone/iPod touch, and puts the same great gameplay into the hands of players around the world. In the game you play a master assassin named Altaïr who goes out on a quest to find an object that will end the crusades in the Holy Land. In this realistic 3D RPG, you'll find yourself in sword fights, learning combat moves, and in hand-to-hand combat with enemies you encounter. You will be able to earn 6 weapons throughout the game, and there are mini-games to unlock. I love RPG games, and this one definitely kept me coming back for more until I completed every level. Hands-down, this is the best iPhone game that I have ever played -- I was blown away from the first time I picked it up. Beautiful graphics, great controls with virtual "analog" stick, and great cinematic cuts in-between levels and missions.You can check out Assassin's Creed on the App Store for only $9.99 US -- this will well worth the price in my opinion. %Gallery-63554% Let's Golf ($4.99 US)The iPhone has its fair share of golfing games, and I've taken a look at a few of them myself, but I have yet to find one that provides both great gameplay and great graphics. Until now. Let's Golf provides the right amount of features that any golfer would love to have, such as the ability to control what your player looks like or precision controls for your swing.You have the ability to choose between several playing modes including instant play and tournaments. There are also over 63 holes located in 4 separate 3D environments: Fiji, America, England, and Scotland. If you are a casual player, you'll enjoy the basic controls, but if you are an experienced virtual golfer, you can switch to the advanced controls where you can precisely adjust the power of the swing and even add spin. For $4.99US, this game is packed with features, and even includes a local Wi-Fi multiplayer mode that will allow you to challenge your friends to a golf match. You can check out Let's Golf in the App Store. %Gallery-63555%

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Apple By Cory Bohon

New Get a Mac ads: PC Choice Chat, Elimination, Customer Care

During tonight's American Idol performances, people not only got to see their top-three performers in action, but also got a chance to view a three new Get a Mac ads. In the first one, Customer Care, PC tells his story of technical support to an Apple Genius while Mac looks on. There are two other ads: Elimination, and PC Choice Chat. All are funny and worth a watch.

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News

News By Cory Bohon

First Look: Moments

Have you wanted to remember an event, or just remember a small bit of information for later? On the Mac there's a cool application called Stickies, but there really wasn't a great application for doing this same thing on the iPhone ... until now. [Where's the love for Evernote and the built-in Notes app, Cory? :-) -Ed.]Enter Moments [iTunes link]. This small application is your one stop for remembering small pieces of information or events.Even though this application has a simple agenda and interface, it is executed beautifully. Moments has an interface composed of three gorgeous themes: corkboard, steel, and a fabric print. Sticky notes are aligned in a grid of 2 x 3 across the screen. You can reorder your stickies, and when you run out of room a new screen will be created that is similar to the layout of the iPhone home screen. When you create a new sticky, you are able to create just a note, or a "moment." A moment has a date associated with it, and can be something in the past or future. A note just has a larger text area that will let you add more information. Overall, this application is really nice for remembering things, and looks just as good as built-in iPhone apps. However, there are three things that I would like to see: (1) User selected sticky note colors, (2) A place to add more details about a specific note or email the note, and (3) More themes to choose from. This application is really great the way it is, and is well worth $.99 US in the App Store. You can check Moments out on the App Store, or check out our gallery of pictures.%Gallery-51763%

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Apps By Cory Bohon

Beta Beat: Dropzone for Mac OS X

The Mac OS X Dock is a great UI invention, but it doesn't have all the functionality that it could have. That's why one developer is looking to expand the functionality and make it even better with an application that he calls "Dropzone." Dropzone is a small application that you can install on your Mac, and as the app name suggests, drag stuff onto. When you drop a file on the icon, you will get a list of options depending on what type of file you just dropped. For instance, you could drop a picture onto the icon and get an option to email, send to Flickr, or upload to an FTP server. Different applications can "register" to work with Dropzone by using a simple API, the documentation for which can be found on the Aptonic website. The more applications that decide to work with Dropzone, the better (developers, did you hear that?). There is currently no shipping date set for this handy little Dock tool, but you can check out a teaser video on the Aptonic website, and also apply to be a part of the beta program.

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Apps By Cory Bohon

Spring clean your Mac with smart folders

Call it what you will, but "Spring Cleaning" is just as important on your Mac as it is in real life. From cleaning out old files to organizing music/movies/TV shows that you "threw" into iTunes over the past few months, spring cleaning is a necessary evil. One way to find large files that might be eating up space on your Mac is with a smart folder; it's easy to set one up right from the Finder. To create a smart folder that will find large files on your hard drive, simply follow these directions: Open a new Finder window and select File > New Smart Folder. In the resulting window, select "Other" from the first drop-down menu (the default selection is "Kind), and search for the key word "size." If you wish this item to remain in the menu, select the "In menu" check box. Select the OK button once you select the "Size" item. Select "is greater than" from the next drop-down menu. Type in the size that you would like to search for files. I would suggest searching using 1 GB, but you can use any size you wish. Finder will immediately begin searching your Mac for any files that match the description that we just specified. When you are ready to save your smart folder, select the "Save" button from the top right of the Finder window. You will then be asked to specify a save name and location. Now whenever you want to look for large files that might be hogging space on your system, just open this smart folder, and let the search begin!Beyond this tip, if you are looking for utilities that can help you keep your storage lean and free of bloated, legacy files, you may want to check out GrandPerspective, WhatSize or OmniDiskSweeper.

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Apps By Cory Bohon

iTunes Connect now lets developers see crash reports

Apple has offered developers a glimpse as crash reporting since the iPhone 2.0 firmware was released, however, it was a kludge to get users to email you the crash reports from their ~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/MobileDevice directory. Apple has a solution that will make this a lot easier.Enter iTunes Connect, where Apple recently added the ability for developers to view crash reports from users. iTunes connect is where developers can manage applications they have on the App Store, check their sales, and get promotional codes for their apps. When you log into iTunes Connect you will be presented with the following information regarding crash logs: Crash logs for applications are now available. To view them, go the Manage Your Applications Module below, click to view the desired application's details, then click View Crash Report.When you navigate to Manage Your Applications > your app details > View Crash Report, you will be presented with a few items that could help you debug apps. Namely, developers can view most frequent crashes, timeouts, and memory usage right from iTunes Connect. You can find out more about crash logs on the iPhone by going to Apple's Developer tech note.Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

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Apps By Cory Bohon

iPhone Dev 101: The "Hello World!" app

In the last iPhone Dev 101 post, I told you a little about creating your first project using Xcode; however, in this post, I want to show you how to create your first application that will run in the iPhone simulator. In honor of staying with the classic way of teaching programming, we'll create a "Hello World!" application as our first one. Creating the new projectIf you have installed the iPhone SDK/Xcode, then you can launch Xcode by navigating to /Developer/Applications. Once there, you can double click on the Xcode application (you may also find it handy to just drag the icon to the dock if you will be using it a lot). Once Xcode launches, click File > New Project. Under the iPhone OS section on the left side of the resulting window, select "Application." Select "View-based Application" from the templates that show up on the right side, and then click the "Choose" button. You will then be prompted to specify a project save name -- this will also be the name of your resulting application, so choose your project name wisely. You're project has now been created, and the Xcode window that is displayed will contain all of your code, resources, etc. There isn't much there now, but the application is fully functional at this point. You can click the "Build & Go" button in the toolbar, and the application will be compiled and launched in the iPhone Simulator. Again, this is a fully functional application, but it doesn't do anything useful at this point -- the usefulness of the app is up to your coding, but Apple supplies you with the base code and dependencies.

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Computing

Computing By Cory Bohon

TUAW Tip: Wipe down an old Mac with Target Disk Mode

A reader recently contacted us with a question regarding her decision to recycle an older iMac computer. She wanted to know how she could clear/reformat the hard drive, but didn't have the disks that came with the system. So, we thought we would take a minute to tell you how you can cleanse your hard drives before getting rid of your computer. I'm going to show you how to wipe the hard drive using Target Disk Mode, since this will work even if you don't have the install disks. Step 1: Get a FireWire CableBoth of the Macs will need to have FireWire, which means everything between the iMac DV and the current lineup (except for the MacBook Air and unibody MacBook) is eligible. You will also need a FireWire 400 cable so you can connect one end to the old Mac, and the other end to another Mac. If you don't have one of these cables, you can easily pick up one online or at a retail store. If both of the Macs support FireWire 800, you can use one of those cables as an alternative to 400; it will be faster. If one has only a 400 port and the other has only an 800 port, a converter cable (available online for less than $10) is what you need. Once you have the FireWire cable, just simply connect the two computers together. Step 2: Boot into Target Disk Mode on the old Mac Shut down the old Mac that will be receiving the hard drive cleaning, and reboot it while holding down the "T" key on your keyboard. After a few moments, you should see a FireWire symbol appear on the screen -- when you see this, you are in FireWire Disk Mode (FDM). When in FDM, your old Mac's hard drive should show up on the new Mac as a connected external FireWire drive.Step 3: Do some Disk Utility magicOpen Disk Utility.app on your new Mac (located in /Applications/Utilities), and click on your old Mac hard drive in the selection area on the left. Note that you should click on the drive, and not the partition (often called "Macintosh HD") to ensure a complete disk wipe. The disk drive will most likely have a FireWire icon to denote that it is connected as an external disk. Once you select the drive, click the Erase tab, and click Security options.In this section of Disk Utility, you will be able to select a few different erase options that will also add security to the standard disk erase. First, lets specify a name for the drive -- in the name field type what you would like the drive to show up as when it is erased, otherwise it will default to "Untitled." Continue reading to learn about security options and how to fully erase the hard drive on an old Mac.

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Apple By Cory Bohon

New Get a Mac ads after "Laptop Hunters"

Tonight Apple released four new Get a Mac ads that feature the same, and ever so lovable, PC and Mac characters. In the first new ad, "Time Traveler," PC travels into the future to see if PCs still crash. In the ad called "Stacks," PC is shuffling through thousands of photos to find the one he is looking for; Mac then tells him about the facial recognition in iPhoto '09.In "Legal Copy," PC starts telling how "easy to use" he is, but as he talks, his disclaimer copy appears at the bottom of the sceen. The final new ad, "Biohazard Suit," PC explains his biohazard suit as he tells Mac about all of the recent viruses going around for Windows. While these ads are funny, you can't help but wonder if this is Apple's response to the recent "Laptop Hunters" Microsoft ads, although with the production schedules involved it's likely that the new Apple ads were already in the can or at least well underway when Lauren and her pals hit the screen. You can watch all of these new ads by going to the Get a Mac page on the Apple site, and we'll be talking about them on the talkcast in just a few minutes.Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

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Apps By Cory Bohon

Mac Automation: Make your text speak its mind

Have you ever wanted to type something into your Mac and have it record what you typed audibly using any one of the Mac OS X voices? It's easily done with a few Automator actions, and in this Mac Automation post, I'll show you how. Open Automator and find the following actions, then drag them to the workflow area (in the same order): Get Specified Text Text to Audio File Running the workflowWith these two actions in place, you can enter text into the Get Specified Text action, and a file name in the Text to Audio File action, and run it with great results. The text that you enter will be magically encoded into audio using the specified voice in the audio file action. Read on to learn more about saving the workflow, and adding additional options.

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Apps By Cory Bohon

Changes moves to 1.5, adds new features, gives TUAW readers a discount

Changes.app, the ultimate Mac application used to track changes in folders and text files, was recently updated to version 1.5. This new version easily integrates with Coda, Espresso, BBEdit, TextWrangler, and TextMate. When you launch Changes, you will be able to install plug-ins directly into those application right from the Changes menu item. There is a new HUD (Heads Up Display) that allows you to view changes from within the supported applications. Changes can also interface with Subversion, CVS, Perforce, Mercurial, Git, Bazaar, and Darcs for versioning control. With this new version, there is also built-in AppleScript support.Even if you're not a developer, or don't use the applications or versioning control systems that are mentioned, you can still find Changes to be useful. Anyone, not just developers, may find it useful to be able to look for differences between two support files or folders. You can download a 15-day free trial of Changes from their website. Single-user licenses are $49.95 each. Special Promo CodeIf you are planning on purchasing Changes, you can use our special promo code to get $10 (US) off the purchase of any license type. Just type in TUAWCHANGES15 at checkout. This special offer is good through April 15th, 2009.

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Apple By Cory Bohon

TUAW 1996

Welcome to the TUAW newsletter for April 1st 1996. We're really glad that our subscriber base is growing, and that you are continuing to read our daily coverage of all things Apple, including Mac and Newton. We've got a lot in store for this issue, and would love to hear your comments back, so be sure to leave us a note in the attached forum thread to let us know how you liked it.Happy Birthday, Apple!Yes, today Apple turned 20 years old. While the company has been struggling for the past year, we can only hope that a turnaround is imminent. We've definitely seen some improvements, like that shiny new Newton MessagePad 130 that Apple released a few weeks ago, but we can't help but think that Apple is missing something. Either way, Apple is still an innovative company that holds true to their slogan of bringing "The Power to Be Your Best" to the consumer and professionals that rely on their products everyday. Rumor Alert: Is Apple working on a new OS?Our sources familiar with Apple's plans tell us that Apple is actively working on a project that will eventually replace the Mac OS. According to insiders, the code name for the project is Copland. We're also hearing word that Copland will feature amazing new features like protected memory, better performance, less crashes, and be completely PowerPC native. Becoming PowerPC native will be a huge issue as the PowerPC Macs only started shipping two years ago. Apple's CEO stepping down? Who's stepping up?We've recently heard that Apple's board of directors have replaced CEO Michael Spindler with Gil Amelio. From sources, we've heard that Apple will begin a massive layoff of employees -- not good for the company. Here's hoping Gil can turn the ship around. Apple releases update to Newton MessagePadJust a couple weeks ago Apple released a new MessagePad that looks promising. The MessagePad 130 features an ARM 610 processor that runs at 20Mhz, an 8MB ROM, 1.2MB RAM, and 1.5MB flash memory for storage. There is the same 320x240 screen that we've come to love on these portable wonders, and there is a backlight included on this model. It runs the 2.0 version of the Newton OS, which has been available on the MessagePad 120 since last year. The device is powered by 4 AA batteries (or a rechargeable pack), and only weighs 1 pound! This device looks promising and we can't wait to get our hands on it. You can get your MessagePad for $800USD. **For more Apple news, be sure to sign up for The Unofficial Apple Webmailer available on TUAW.com, or you can see more Apple news on their website.**

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Apps By Cory Bohon

iPhone Dev 101: Creating Xcode projects, brief Xcode UI overview

In our last iPhone Dev 101, a continuing series on iPhone development, we talked about resources that you can use while you are coding with Cocoa. In this dev post, I'm going to walk you through Xcode and creating your first project.First we need to open Xcode, so once you have the SDK installed, you'll need to open /Developer/Applications/ and look for Xcode.app. This is Apple's IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that allows you to code, debug, test, and build all of your iPhone and Mac applications. When you open this application, nothing specially really happens, although you might see the welcome center -- if you see this, you can choose to disable it at startup by using the check box at the bottom. To create a new project, select File > New Project. In the resulting window select iPhone OS Application > View-based Application, and click "Choose." You will then need to specify a save name and location for the resulting files that will combine to create your application. In the resulting Xcode window, you should note that most of the work is already done for you!At this point you have a fully functional application. Try it out: click the "build and go" button at the top of the window and wait while the app is compiled and opens in the iPhone Simulator. The app definitely doesn't do much, but still, it's a running application you made without writing any code. Continue reading to learn more about Xcode, and get a brief UI overview.

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Apps By Cory Bohon

Mac Automation: Integrating Spotlight searches with your workflows

We've discussed some pretty neat uses for Automator workflows in the past, but did you know you can easily integrate Spotlight searches into your automation workflows? Well, you can, and it might be easier than you think. In this Mac Automation post, I'm going to show you how you can integrate it into a workflow that will burn the resulting files to a CD or DVD. Creating the workflowTo create this simple workflow, you'll need to use two actions. Find the "Spotlight" action and drag it to your workflow section; then, find the "Burn a Disc" action and drag it below the newly added Spotlight action. That's it; your workflow is now completed, but we need to tweak the actions. Using the workflowTo test the workflow, you can enter a search term in the Spotlight action, and a Disc name in the Burn a Disc action. Insert a rewritable disc, or a regular CD/DVD, and click the "Run" button in the upper right corner of the Automator window. Automator will then go to work finding all of the search terms that matched files, then will then burn all found items to the disc. This could take a while to burn, depending on the resulting files. Remember that all of the Spotlight tricks, such as exclusion, denoting kind, etc. are still available even though you're using the Automator action.

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Apple By Cory Bohon

AppleScript: Exploring the power of Folder Actions, part III

So far in this AppleScript feature we've covered what folder actions are and how to create them. In this AppleScript post, I'm going to tell you how to create your own custom scripts and add them to your folder actions list. If you work with file permissions a lot, then you know how crazy it can get when you need to change a ton of files to their correct permission types. With this AppleScript folder action, you can easily change the permissions just by dragging and dropping files in their correct folder. Creating the Script To get started, we'll open the Script Editor (located in /Applications/Utilities). Once you have the editor opened, copy/paste the following script: on adding folder items to this_folder after receiving added_items tell application "Finder" set fold_name to the name of this_folder try repeat with i from 1 to number of items in added_items set new_item to item i of added_items set the item_path to the quoted form of the POSIX path of new_item do shell script ("/bin/chmod -R +r " & item_path) end repeat end try end tellend adding folder items toThis script will change the dropped files to a permission of "0644" meaning that everyone can read the file. For information about chmod and command line permissions strings, visit the Wikipedia page. Continue reading to learn more about this AppleScript and folder actions.

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Smartphones By Cory Bohon

iPhone Dev 101: Useful Cocoa Development Resources

It has been a while since the last iPhone Dev 101 post (and I must apologize for that -- sometime life can get in the way of different things, and this was one of those times). In this Dev 101 post, I want to take you through a few of my favorite resources for Cocoa/iPhone development. Some of these resources are books, while others are sites, but all of the resources are valuable to up and coming developers (and experiences developers) alike. BooksSome books are just invaluable and couldn't be replaced with another. Aaron Hillegass' Cocoa Programming for Mac is just that book. Currently in its 3rd edition, the book gives you much of the Cocoa programming information that you need to program for both the Mac and iPhone. There are only a few subtle differences in programming for these platforms, namely the use of the Cocoa Touch. If you ever have the chance, going to one of the Big Nerd Ranch Cocoa programming classes gives you the ability to learn Cocoa hands-on. Another title that is useful to beginning iPhone developers is the Beginning iPhone Development book. This book has a useful approach to stepping into the world that is programming on iPhone. It talks about numerous topics including UI design, Quartz, and OpenGL. Also covered in the book are APIs like CoreLocation and interfacing with the camera. If you already know Cocoa and a little about iPhone development, Erica Sadun's iPhone Developer Cookbook is a great jumping off point to start development. She assumes, however, that you already understand Cocoa. Continue reading to learn about more valuable books, websites, and resources for iPhone/Mac developers.

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Apps By Cory Bohon

Q&A with Transactions app developers: Kyle Richter and Ian Baird

I recently had the opportunity to sit down (virtually) and have a chat with Kyle Richter and Ian Baird, two iPhone developers who have come up with the game-changing Handshake app for contact sharing on the iPhone (TUAW review), then released the credit card and payments app Transactions (TUAW review) which can transform any iPhone or iPod touch into a basic point-of-sale device. We talked about how they came up with the idea of their Transactions application, and they shared their experience of developing for the iPhone. Cory: What was your vision behind creating Transactions, and why did you pursue this idea and turn it into an iPhone application? Kyle: When working with a platform that is as new as the iPhone the goal is to try and find niches that haven't yet be filled or not properly filled. While I was out jogging with Ian one evening it hit me that a lot of businesses have a need to accept credit cards anywhere. It felt like a perfect solution for the iPhone so we started to research the feasibility. Ian: One of the driving influences for us has been to take advantage of the "democratizing force" of the platform. We have Authorize.net for the higher end, more professional users who will use this app on a day to day basis. We also felt we needed to make this application accessible to the farmer who's selling his or her produce at the farmer's market. Or the craftsperson selling his or her wares at a trade show. That was the motivation for including the Paypal option. It doesn't require a merchant account. That's a *big deal*.Continue reading to hear more from Kyle and Ian about their iPhone programming experience, and advice for prospective iPhone developers.

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Smartphones By Cory Bohon

Apple posts iPhone event video

As the day is slowly drawing to a close (quite literally for iPhone developers who are downloading the SDK), Apple has finally put up the video from the iPhone 3.0 event today. You can watch Greg, Scott, Phil, and others as they discuss Apple's plans for the new iPhone OS and SDK. Be sure to check out our coverage of the event, and our roundup of all the new iPhone OS features.You can watch the QuickTime stream here.

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Apps By Cory Bohon

iPhone Dev Center is back, get your beta now

Just as developers around the world are hearing about the new iPhone features, Apple has updated their Dev Center. With the new site, existing developers will get immediate access to the new iPhone 3.0 SDK. That is if you are able to login. Currently the Dev Center is experiencing extremely slow load times, and kicking some users off when they try to login. It will be interesting to see if non-developers will register for the $99/year program, just to get access to the beta of iPhone 3.0. Be sure to take part in our poll below.%Poll-27854%

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