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TUAW review: Billings Pro
Billings Pro builds upon the award-winning (2009 Apple Design Award) client-tracking and invoicing software, Billings, by Marketcircle. This major release introduces support for multiple users, server software, and new client side applications for both the desktop and iPhone. While many independent workers have enjoyed Billings and Billings Touch for years (myself included), small business owners with several employees have been left out. Billings Pro fixes that. We were able to spend some time with Billings Pro, and we're happy to offer our review. Click the link below to read the full report and see additional galleries of screenshots from Billings Pro Touch and Billings Pro for the Mac. %Gallery-104989%
Pause your music intelligently with Take Five
The latest application from The Iconfactory, Take Five, is meant to eliminate one pesky problem: the realization that you've been wearing headphones that aren't pumping out any music. I'm glad to say that it succeeds. Consider this scenario. You're working at your desk while listening to music on your iPhone or iPod touch. An interruption arises, like a phone call or the need for quiet concentration, so you hit the pause button. Once the interruption is over, you're too involved in the resulting task to realize that you've been wearing headphones and listening to nothing for goodness knows how long. I've done it, and it's a bit embarrassing. Check out the gallery of screenshots below and then click the link to read our review of Take Five. %Gallery-104969%
NVIDIA launches sub-$80 GeForce GT 430 for single-slot cooler enthusiasts
The graphics card that doesn't require a fridge-sized cooler is turning into something of a rarity nowadays, but we doubt the market for quiet, efficient, and halfway-decent GPUs is ever going to disappear completely. NVIDIA is fleshing out its Fermi family today with a creature that aspires to such epithets, the 96 CUDA core-equipped GT 430. It's a patently humble GPU, as indicated by its $79.99 typical price, 49W TDP, 5.7-inch board length, and single-slot cooler design. Mind you, while those are typically considered positives, they do limit gaming performance quite significantly, with the GT 430 getting roundly beaten by ATI's (sob!) AMD's similarly priced Radeon HD 5670. So what niche is left for this card? Well, it's an upgrade over integrated graphics and it gets you on the 3D bandwagon, but on the whole we're left scratching our voluminous craniums as to why anyone would dodge AMD's more accomplished hardware for NVIDIA's latest. Hit up the reviews below and form your own opinion, if our one doesn't suit your outfit today. Read - HardOCP Read - AnandTech Read - PC Perspective Read - Hot Hardware Read - Legit Reviews Read - Hexus%Gallery-104721%
TUAW review: Sonos S5
A few weeks ago, I had a chance to visit the Sonos offices in Cambridge, MA to speak with Jon Reilly, Sonos product manager, and get a demo of the ZonePlayer S5 and the iPad app (free). Sonos makes wireless home music systems, which we've covered here before. I've also spent the last month with 2 S5 demo units. I can say that it's a fantastic product that could not be simpler to set up and use. With one in my office and one in my kitchen, my family has been rocking all month long. The S5 and iOS controllers are a beautifully executed union of hardware and software that's as simple as it is powerful and just plain fun. In fact, I'll be sad to ship these back! Here's our full review of the Sonos S5. %Gallery-104420% Click the link below to read more, and to see a gallery of the iPhone app, the iPad app and the Mac desktop app!
TUAW review: DomainBrain
I'm not much of a collector, but I do have an inordinate number of websites and domains to my name. How did that happen? You get an idea, buy a domain, and set up a site. Repeat that process a few times, and you find yourself in my situation. What's worse is that I've been storing the login creds, database details, registrar information, and so much more in text files. Trying to find any bit of data is a real hassle, not to mention a security risk. Thank goodness for DomainBrain. This super piece of software from Anthony Piraino of One Button Mouse has relieved me of my stacks of text files, organized all of that information, and made anything I'm after instantly retrievable. Here's our review of DomainBrain. Click for more on the next page, and check out the gallery of images below. %Gallery-103534%
The Daily Grind: Do you wait for reviews?
There's always a bit of apprehension when it comes to picking up a new game -- it might be great, or it might be terrible and mean that you're out time and money. Picking up a new MMO on launch day is even more of a gamble, since it could result in your being in on the ground floor of the next big thing... or it could mean wasting a month of playtime on a game you don't like. So it can be tempting to wait for a review of some kind to come in from sources you can trust. On the one hand, having a review means that you have some idea of what you're getting into before you buy. On the other hand, reviews of MMOs are difficult at the best of times and outright incomplete at the worst -- after all, it can take a long time to reach the endgame and see all the game has to offer, at which point you're no longer in on the ground floor. So do you wait for reviews? How many external opinions do you need or want before you'll commit to a new game?
The words unique to 1-star and 5-star App Store reviews
Here's an interesting bit of data from Marco Arment. He created a script to find the most commonly-used words in 1-star and 5-star App Store reviews. His script scanned the top 100 apps in every category, ignoring duplicates. Here's what he found. The most frequently-used words in 5-star app reviews were: Awesome Worth Thanks Amazing Simple Perfect Everything Ever Must iPod Before Found Store Never Recommend Done Take Always Touch An interesting list. As Marco points out, note that "simple" is included. Now consider the minor stir* that Twitter for iPad is generating over its unique UI. it's not because it's "good" or "bad," It's because users must stop and think before performing actions that seemed effortless on other applications. They don't like that. [Via Daring Fireball] *While some folks absolutely love the UI of Twitter for iPad (see here and here and here), others found its unique approach confusing (see here and here and here).
NVIDIA makes GeForce GTS 450 official, promises beastly overclocking
Say hello to NVIDIA's GF106 core (please pretend you've never met before). The company's third Fermi desktop iteration is described as "a little more than half of the GF104 implementation," which in real terms means 192 CUDA cores versus the GTX 460's 336, reduced memory bandwidth with a 128-bit-wide bus and a lower number of ROPs at 16. These disadvantages are ameliorated by 783MHz graphics and 1566MHz processor clock speeds as well as a much more forgiving power profile -- the new GTS 450 cards will require just the one 6-pin power connector for auxiliary juice. Pricing is aimed squarely at conquering the market currently occupied by ATI's HD 5750, which, as we saw over the weekend, plants the 450 around the $130 mark. You'll have to read the reviews below for confirmation, but NVIDIA promises "awesome" overclocking headroom on its new card, going as far as to suggest stable 900MHz graphics clocks aren't out of the realm of possibility. Read - HardOCP Read - Tech Report Read - Guru 3D Read - PC Perspective Read - Legit Reviews Read - Hot Hardware Read - TweakTown%Gallery-101980%
FTC makes ruling in iTunes review case
The Federal Trade Commission, of all things, has laid down a ruling in the strange case of Reverb Communications' iTunes reviews. We didn't get to this story the first time around, but a PR firm named Reverb Communications (disclaimer: I've attended their press events here in LA) was accused a while back of asking its staff to leave positive iTunes reviews on some of their clients' App Store titles. This wasn't just a request to have the staff try out and review client games -- they had an "internal user reviews" process, in which employees of the firm were paid specifically to leave positive reviews -- "not over the top" were their words -- on iTunes and online message boards. Now, the Federal Trade Commission, ruling under the recent regulations for endorsements online, has decided to settle the case. No money is changing hands, but Reverb and its executive have been asked to remove all of the reviews posted. You can read more about the agreement on the FTC's website. The FTC says that anyone endorsing a product online "should disclose the material connection the reviewer shares with the seller of the product or service," and that Reverb didn't do that. For its part, Reverb and executive Tracy Snitker would like to brush the accusations off. "Rather than continuing to spend time and money arguing, and laying off employees to fight what we believed was a frivolous matter, we settled this case and ended the discussion," she told the New York Times. But this ruling seems more important than that -- it's the FTC's first enforcement of the Internet review guidelines, and so we'll have to see what kinds of precedents this case sets.
Amazon Kindle review (2010)
Amazon's third major iteration of its flagship reading device, the Kindle, comes out of the gate looking strong: the new graphite finish (just like its big brother, the Kindle DX) with a slimmer, lighter form factor, plus a bumped refresh rate for its E Ink screen. Best of all, the WiFi only and 3G readers have newly lowered prices (though they're still not exactly bargain basement level). We've spent the past few days putting the tinier Kindle through the paces to see just how much Amazon's improved it. Though the market is increasingly flooded with cheap readers, the Kindle is arguably still the leading name in the field, and Amazon is already touting the third model as its bestselling ever -- even though there are still no sales figures to be had. So, is this the best Kindle ever? Read on to find out. %Gallery-100569%
Amazon Kindle DX Graphite review
Just over a year ago, we reviewed Amazon's jumbo-sized Kindle, the Kindle DX. And just a few weeks ago, Amazon outed a new, $379 Graphite gray version of the DX. This time, it's got the new Pearl display from E Ink, which supposedly boasts a much higher contrast ratio and a faster page refresh rate over its predecessor. Other than that, you're looking at pretty much the same unit as before, and if you like a large e-reader, that's probably a good thing. Read on for our full impressions of the device.
iMac (mid 2010) Core i3 review
There's nothing outwardly different about the new iMacs Apple just released last Tuesday, but the hardware underneath that familiar aluminum chassis has gotten faster -- particularly on the low end, where a new 3.06GHz Intel Core i3 processor and discrete ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics chip have taken over for the previous gen's 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo and integrated NVIDIA GeForce 9400m. That's a big boost -- Apple claims the new version is some 50 percent faster -- and so we actually turned down the hot-rod 27-inch 2.93GHz Core i7 iMac in favor of a stock $1,199 21.5-inch Core i3 when it came time to pick up a review unit. We wanted to see just how much bang Apple's delivering for the entry-level buck, and we weren't disappointed when the tests came back. Read on for the full review!
Rise and Shiny recap: Istaria
Each week Rise and Shiny asks you to download and try a different free-to-play, indie or unusual game, chosen by me, Beau Hindman. Some of the games will be far out of your gaming comfort zone, and some will pleasantly surprise you. We will meet each Tuesday and Friday night at 9 p.m. EDT (8 p.m. CDT), followed by this column the Sunday after. I welcome any suggestions for games, either in the comments or at beau@massively.com. Istaria: Chronicles of the Gifted is not a new game, by any means. You probably remember it being called Horizons. I have tried this game probably several times over the last few years. Despite having a decent enough time with each attempt, I never had as much fun as I have during this last week of playing. Let this advice stick: give a game several chances, if you can. Don't let a developer's financial woes dissuade you from giving it a go again. Most of the time you can try it again without spending a dime. I'm glad I returned to Istaria. Everything seemed to click for me, more than it did before. It could be that I never took the time to really get to know the quests or the abilities my character gained, and it could be that I played mostly solo during that time. Over this last week I adventured with an elf and a few dragons, and found a world, game, and community that was pretty darn inviting.
Flipboard for iPad app review
Flipboard is a new, free application for the iPad which has one basic function: to take your social networking tools (read: Facebook and Twitter) and turn them into social "magazines." As you can see from the screenshots -- which are all culled from my Twitter stream -- the application is very attractive. Read on for my full impressions.
Book Review: You Are Not a Gadget
You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto by Jaron Lanier (January, 2010) Alfred A. Knopf, 209 pages, $24.95 I'm often accused of being a Luddite -- mostly based on my fervent and affectionate clinging to several physical objects that are quickly becoming cultural artifacts: the ink pen, the paper book, and the vinyl record -- but those items haven't been the only 'evidence' my accusers have historically cited. In addition to that physical evidence, there has always been my suspicion that some of the things I valued in life -- listening to a whole album, reading an entire novel in one sitting before grabbing another off the shelf -- were also going the way of Betamax, and being replaced by short attention-spanned, sound-bited fragments of conversation that didn't convey knowledge or ideas in nearly the same way. This suspicion, this "feeling" if you will -- obviously doesn't originate with me, and it's often diluted (by the internet) into some version of "the internet is making us dumber" argument. Of course, that's not really the argument at all, but who needs to be bogged down with details these days? Enter You Are Not a Gadget, which I review below.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 becomes everyone's favorite midrange graphics card
It's rare to come across a universally lauded product nowadays, but NVIDIA's fresh new GTX 460 is just that sort of exceptional creation. Contrary to its GTX 465 elder brother, the 460 isn't a chopped-down top-tier part and is instead built on the new GF104 core. This smaller core, designed from the start to perform humbler functions, has ameliorated the famed power inefficiency that has been a Fermi signature so far, and has resulted in AnandTech describing the new card as "the $200 king." You'll get 768MB of onboard RAM at that point, but we'd splurge an extra $30 to make that a round gigabyte and enjoy some extra L2 cache and ROPs on the card. Either way, the GTX 460 seems to have completely killed off the market for the 465 and is stepping all over ATI's toes with its competitive pricing and, for once, decent heat and power metrics. Oh, and apparently it "overclocks like a monster" too -- hit the links below for the full reviews. Read - AnandTech Read - HardOCP Read - Hot Hardware Read - Tom's Hardware Read - PC Perspective Read - Bit-tech Read - Guru 3D Read - Legit Reviews
APB's Dave Jones expected mediocre reviews
Realtime Worlds' Dave Jones may have created something of a self-fulfilling prophecy when he predicted that game reviewers would be less than kind to All Points Bulletin. The recently released MMOFPS hasn't exactly torn up the scoring charts on the major review sites since its debut last month. "It's always hard when you create something new as it requires a natural learning curve. Also because APB is online multiplayer focused, it's best played as intended, with 60 to 100 people in the city with you. For these same reasons I expect the reviews to be mixed," Jones told CVG. While Massively has a long-standing policy against reviewing MMORPGs, you can read our first impressions to get a general feel for the game's open beta as well as its long-term potential.
Anti-Aliased: When playing a bad game is just so good
This week's Anti-Aliased is great for two reasons. One, it's the antithesis to last week's topic, and two, it's completely relevant to this week's events. In short, it's about All Points Bulletin. Did I just call APB a bad game after spamming screenshots from it, hosting an event in it, and offering people what basically amounts to free DLC for their game? Yes, yes I did. Does that make me a complete hypocrite? Well, yes and no. You see, I'm having conflicting beliefs over this game. The reviewer in me wants to punt it over the Seattle Space Needle, but the gamer in me wants to sit down and play the hell out of it some more. Look, this all makes sense, ok? Just come with me after the break (yes, I'm luring you with my double-sided, purposefully vague statements) and we'll get this all settled out.
iPhone 4 reviews roundup
Considering that some lucky early adopters got their new phones today and a large flood of preorders is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, it's no surprise that the embargo has fallen and the first enthusiastic reviews of the new iPhone 4 have been posted. The list and links below: David Pogue in the New York Times... "Now, the iPhone is no longer the undisputed king of app phones. In particular, the technically inclined may find greater flexibility and choice among its Android rivals, like the HTC Incredible and Evo. They're more complicated, and their app store not as good, but they're loaded with droolworthy features like turn-by-turn GPS instructions, speech recognition that saves you typing, removable batteries and a choice of cell networks. If what you care about, however, is size and shape, beauty and battery life, polish and pleasure, then the iPhone 4 is calling your name." Josh Topolsky for Engadget... "We're not going to beat around the bush -- in our approximation, the iPhone 4 is the best smartphone on the market right now. The combination of gorgeous new hardware, that amazing display, upgraded cameras, and major improvements to the operating system make this an extremely formidable package. Yes, there are still pain points that we want to see Apple fix, and yes, there are some amazing alternatives to the iPhone 4 out there. But when it comes to the total package -- fit and finish in both software and hardware, performance, app selection, and all of the little details that make a device like this what it is -- we think it's the cream of the current crop."
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 rounds up mostly positive reviews
Well, it's not quite June 1, but the GeForce GTX 465 reviews have come flooding out all the same. The official specs are exactly as a recent leak indicated: 352 CUDA cores running at 1,215MHz, a 607MHz graphics clock, and 1GB of GDDR5 memory operating at a 3.2GHz effective rate and exploiting a 256 bit-wide interface. With an MSRP of $279.99, this Fermi-lite GPU scored plenty of admiration for the value it offers, with one reviewer going so far as to call it "quite possibly the most powerful DirectX 11 graphics card for under $300." Others weren't so enthusiastic, citing the far cheaper HD 5830 from ATI as a better choice, but it's true enough that the next best GPU, the HD 5850, tends to be at least $30 more expensive than the 465, depending on brand. You'll want to delve into the game benchmark numbers in order to make up your mind about which card might make for the best bit, but be warned that NVIDIA's 465 retains the GTX tradition of ravenous power consumption -- something to consider if you're rolling along with an old school 400W PSU in your rig. Read - Hot Hardware Read - PC Perspective Read - TweakTown Read - Legit Reviews Read - Tom's Hardware Read - Guru 3D Read - techPowerUp
