Michael Terretta

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Stories By Michael Terretta

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    Tablets
    Tablets By Michael Terretta

    iOS 4.3 rumored to have PhotoStream service, iPad FaceTime, PhotoBooth apps

    They're not just rumors any more, or Apple's setting us up for a big April Fools Day. The developer release of iOS 4.3 Beta 2 has a home page icons image that's used in the wallpaper settings, showing the standard icons on your choice of wallpaper to show you how your choice will look. This new overlay file, aptly named Home Screen Overlay Facetime ~ iPad, has three more icons: FaceTime, Camera and PhotoBooth. FaceTime will let iPad 2 owners video chat with their iPod touch, iPhone or Mac toting friends. PhotoBooth will make a lot of social photo sharers happy, as the beta already includes photo filters such as Thermal Camera, Mirror, X-Ray, Kaleidoscope, Light Tunnel, Squeeze, Twirl and Stretch. Camera could mean a front- or rear-facing camera, and will presumably work much like the iPhone or iPod touch app, but the big rumor here is a "photo streaming" service called PhotoStream, which will upload your last 30 days of photos to MobileMe and sync them across all your MobileMe devices, so they can be shared with other people. Taking pictures with your iPhone 4's great camera but sharing them around the table on your iPad or MacBook is a common wish. This rumor gives all of us something to look forward to, not just the iPad 2 dreamers. [Via MacRumors]

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    Apps
    Apps By Michael Terretta

    Get an iTunes or Mac App Store account without a credit card

    Parents, the safest way to keep your kids from accidentally spending your money in any of the iTunes stores, including the App Stores, is to give them their own iTunes Account that doesn't have an associated credit card. Whether you want to let your kids play around safely, or just don't have a credit card, you can use an Apple Account with no credit card to try one of the hundred free apps in the new Mac App Store or download free apps on an iPhone or iPod touch. You can't create an account in the main iTunes Store without a credit card, but you can from the App Stores. From iTunes, if you're already signed into an account, sign out. Choose your country (use the country flag at lower right), then navigate into the App Store section using the top nav bar. Now, you must try to "buy" a free app, such as Apple's iTunes Remote. You'll be prompted to Create a New Account. Go through the process, making sure to choose "None" for your payment option. Check your email and click the link to verify your account. The process is essentially the same from an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, but you'll specify your country after you click Buy. Now you have an iTunes Store Account without a credit card on file, and you don't have to worry about your little snowflakes raiding your wallet for the latest holiday edition of Angry Birds. We found this tip in the new Mac App Store Support site. For a step by step guide, along with instructions for setting up the free account from an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, see Apple's Knowledge Base article. UPDATE: In the comments, some readers are saying this is not working for them. I've confirmed on the iPhone, in iTunes, and even in the Mac App Store itself: as of 10 PM UTC on 7 January 2011, this tip still works as described. Sign out any existing ID. Find a free app, click to buy, and follow the steps to create a new account. For your Credit Card type, choose None, exactly as shown in the screenshot above for iTunes, the button labled "None" in the Mac App Store, or the last item in the scrolling menu on your iPhone or iPod touch.

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    Cybersecurity
    Cybersecurity By Michael Terretta

    Mac App Store devs need careful code validation, otherwise downloads can be copied

    John Gruber of Daring Fireball reports that Mac apps whose developers didn't follow Apple's advice on validating apps (link for registered Apple developers) can easily be copied by users. Gruber notes if Mac App Store developers are following Apple's advice, the technique for using a copied app won't work, but many apps aren't following that advice. He suggests Apple test for this in their review process and reject apps that are vulnerable. Sean Christmann explains on his blog, CraftyMind, how developers can better protect themselves against copying apps. He recommends hard-coding receipt bundle identifier and version identifier strings into applications rather than depending on strings in an app's info.plist file, because that file is easy to find and duplicate. You may read that "the Mac App Store has been hacked," but the instructions floating around out there aren't how to "hack" the App Store; they're how to steal certain apps if a developer didn't follow the guidelines well. Devs, check your code. Users, support developers. This is new for everyone. It's certainly a very interesting time for software delivery models -- putting indie developers on the same shelf space as Fortune 500 companies -- and there are bound to be hiccups along the way.

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    Apps
    Apps By Michael Terretta

    Disney has delivered 1 million iOS book apps

    Parents must be finding it easier than ever to keep kids in the backseat distracted -- Disney Publishing has hit 1 million downloads of its Disney Book Apps for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. Disney Publishing has 9 book apps on the App Store, all of which have been seen in the top 10 paid book apps since the iPad debuted in April. Four of the apps are currently listed in the Top 10 in the iTunes App Store Books category, with Toy Story Read-Along in the Top 5 Book Apps in 35 countries.

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    Apps
    Apps By Michael Terretta

    How the Mac App Store works, and get Twitter for Mac free

    The new Mac App Store is online, and ready for you to use. It's an incredibly simple way to find, install, and manage your favorite software. First of all, to see the Mac App Store at all, you'll need to run your Software Updates (under the Apple menu) and get Mac OS X 10.6.6 System Update, or run the combo update you can download here. After you reboot, you'll see a new icon in your dock, right after the Finder icon. Click that to launch the app store. If you don't want it taking up dock space, you can also get to the Mac App Store through the Apple menu, right under Software Update. The app store looks and works almost exactly like the iPad App Store, featuring the same home page of new and popular apps. Most apps cost less than you may have seen them at retail, but some, like Things, are priced higher than we've seen them in bundles. In the Gallery accompanying this post, you can walk through getting the much-anticipated Twitter for Mac app. The release was teased yesterday and showed up on time early this morning. As expected, the app is free. Its predecessor -- known as Tweetie before its developer was acquired by Twitter -- hadn't been updated in quite a while, so folks looking for Tweetie 2 will want to check this out. Check out all of the steps to installation in the gallery below. We'll have an in-depth review of Twitter for Mac up soon. Enjoy! %Gallery-112983%

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    Apps
    Apps By Michael Terretta

    TekTrak phone locator offers two-use free version

    Just because Apple released a Find My iPhone app and then made it free, doesn't mean there isn't room for a little friendly competition. TekTrak originally took on Apple's built-in iPhone location service by offering TekTrak Pro at a one-time US$4.99 price point as opposed to Mobile Me's $99 annual fee. Now that Apple made it free to iOS 4.2 users on iPhone 4, iPad and fourth-gen iPod touches, TekTrak is answering back with a free version that allows two uses for locating your phone, plus additional uses for inviting friends. This week, TekTrak launched a new free app to let anyone with a iPhone 4 or 3GS find their phone, track its previous locations and remote ring the phone from any web browser.

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    Apps
    Apps By Michael Terretta

    iWork 9.0.5 Update adds ability to share presentations on iWork.com

    I've been waiting for the ability to share a Keynote presentation as an actual presentation on iWork.com, and it's finally here. In another update (yesterday brought iLife updates for iPhoto, iMovie and Garageband) squeaking in before the Mac App Store launch, Apple has released an update for iWork 9.0 and later as both a download and a software update. The release notes mention the usual miscellaneous bug fixes as well as some improvements: Adds support for playback of Keynote presentations on iWork.com public beta, with over 15 animations and effects, when using the latest version of Safari. Adds support for Keynote Remote 1.2, including high-resolution slides for the Retina display. Addresses an issue in Keynote with ruler numbers when moving or resizing a shape or scrolling. Addresses an issue when exporting a Keynote presentation to iTunes/iPod when iTunes 10 is installed. Improves the readability of ePub documents exported from Pages. Includes public sharing and private upload document sharing options for iWork.com to Keynote, Pages and Numbers. Apple is recommending this update for users of iWork 9.0 and later, and those of you using the iWork.com beta are invited to test the sharing options and provide feedback. For more detailed information about this update and individual application changes, see Apple's iWork Update 5 knowledge base article.

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    Apple
    Apple By Michael Terretta

    Apple awarded patent for multi-touch gestures on electronic documents

    Today Patently Apple reports Apple has been granted another major multi-touch patent relating to e-docs. Remember the first time you saw an iPhone television ad, showing the iPhone in action? The touch gestures seemed effortless, magical, like nothing you'd ever seen. Skeptics insisted the TV ads couldn't be real, prompting comparison videos after the iPhone's release. Four years later, multi-touch is taken for granted. It's become "obvious" to other vendors how handhelds should work, so multi-touch is seemingly used on every new device you'll see at CES this week. Apple thinks this competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal theirs, and it keeps stockpiling the ammunition it needs to defend its innovations. In December, Apple received a patent for one of the primary elements of multi-touch, which we expected would help in its patent suit against HTC.

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    Accessories
    Accessories By Michael Terretta

    Fling adds a joystick to your iPad

    The Fling tactile game controller is a real joystick that attaches to your iPad so you can instinctively feel what you're doing with your thumb and increase your accuracy. Xbox and PlayStation controllers taught console gamers to use a left thumb joystick for movement or aiming. Action games on the iPad simulate that with a virtual joystick controlled with your thumb on the touch screen. Problem is, there's no touch feedback from the iPad's flat glass screen. It's hard to keep track of exactly where your thumb is, making games like GWars:Touch or Rage HD harder than they need to be. Fling is a physical joystick giving you real feedback. Use the suction cups to position it properly centered for the game, then use your thumb on the thumbstick to control the game. The joystick is made by Ten One Design who came up with the Pogo Sketch stylus for iPad, so they're experienced in making touch input devices with great accuracy. The Fling FAQ confirms you can use two of these for "dual joystick" games, but points out that most first person shooters and role playing games only use the left joystick, while the right side of the screen has virtual buttons instead. Watch the Fling iPad joystick in action on YouTube and visit Ten One Design on January 6 to pre-order. [via CrunchGear]

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    Accessories
    Accessories By Michael Terretta

    Iomega SuperHero iPhone dock backs up photos to SD memory card

    We forget how important our photos are until we lose them. The 5 megapixel camera in the iPhone 4 encourages a lot of picture taking, but most of us put our phones on a charger over night instead of docking with our computers, so our photos aren't getting backed up. The Iomega® SuperHero™ Backup and Charger for iPhone aims to solve that problem with a dock that backs up your camera roll photos and contacts while recharging your iPhone. Keep it by your bed, and you won't forget. The charger and accompanying backup app will be available later this month. To make photo backup part of your daily routine, you'll need to download the free SuperHero iPhone Backup app from the Apple app store, and run the app when you dock your phone. The dock and app support iPhone 3G, 3GS and 4. For US$69.99, the Iomega SuperHero dock comes with a 4 GB SD memory card, but if you shoot a lot, or keep a year's worth of photos and videos on your camera roll like some friends I know, you can swap that out for a 16 GB or 32 GB SD card. If your phone is lost, damaged or stolen, you should first restore your latest backup from iTunes (you are backing up at least occasionally, aren't you?), then restore last night's backup of contacts and photos from the dock. The dock doesn't back up email or apps, but your email is on your email server and you can re-download apps from the App Store, so those aren't as critical as your once-in-a-lifetime photo ops. To get notified when the dock is available, sign up at the Iomega SuperHero product page, and while you're waiting, head on over to Engadget to watch Iomega's video ad reminding you just how many moments can lead to needing this dock. [via Engadget]

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    Health
    Health By Michael Terretta

    iPhonECG turns your iPhone 4 into an affordable cardiac event monitor

    Quick -- you're watching House, M.D. with a friend and he suddenly complains of lightheadedness and heart palpitations, then passes out on your couch. Is it a common atrial fibrillation, or is it a third-degree atrioventricular block needing emergency atropine and an electrical pacer? Soon, assuming you're either a medical professional skilled in electrocardiography or you play one on TV, you'll be able to make the differential diagnosis using just an iPhone 4 and the AliveCor iPhonECG. The iPhonECG is a sleek, low power case that turns the iPhone 4 into a wireless, clinical quality cardiac event recorder. It was invented by Dr. David Albert, a self-described "serial entrepreneur and inventor who happens to be an engineer and a physician with 30 years in cardiology." Dr. Albert sold his last company, Data Critical, to GE Medical Systems, where he then worked as Chief Scientist of GE Cardiology. Albert's goal was to make heart monitoring affordable both for chronic heart patients and third world caregivers. Instead of devices costing tens of thousands, he wanted to make a device anyone could afford.

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    Apps
    Apps By Michael Terretta

    UltraEdit makes the leap to Mac OS X

    UltraEdit for Mac was officially released this month. A favorite of Windows developers, UltraEdit was first released in 1994 as one of the earliest "Notepad" replacement text editors for programmers on Windows. When you use your computer for programming, you live in your text editor. Mac developers love TextMate's project management and plug-ins, BBEdit's built-in code validation, or its freeware sibling TextWrangler's fantastic find and replace. For web development, I use Coda with built in syntax highlighting, source code versioning and a CSS editing mode. But for Windows users, switching from Windows to Mac has meant giving up a favorite Windows editor, which can feel disorienting. TUAW readers who switched from Windows have been wanting UltraEdit for years, some even running Windows in a VM (virtual machine) just for their text editor. Back in 2007, reader Jon Niola commented, "As a switcher, the app I miss most on Windows is UltraEdit ... I wrote to IDM (makers of UltraEdit) to ask them if they were ever going to port to OS X and ... it sounds like it is something they are headed towards eventually." After 15 years, it's here.

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