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No Comment: MacBook perfume project smells like new unboxing
It may just be an art installation and not a commercial product, but what Apple fan wouldn't want to buy a bottle of scent offering the essences of, ink, paper, foam, sticky tape, and a hint of glue? For the enthusiast who has everything, who has ransacked the Mothership store for wardrobe, the local store for computing, and whose basement is filled with artsy Ebay-sourced Performa and Centris nostalgia, all that's possibly left to internalize the product is to become the product. Enter Air Aroma. According to the Co.DESIGN write-up, their lab "smell-analyzed" a MacBook along with its packaging to create a virtual MacBook scent out of an array of natural products: leather and lily flower, plastic film and cold metal, and of course, musk. "Musk. It's not the first thing that comes to mind when you think 'MacBook,'", Mark Wilson writes, "But maybe these secretions of a mature male deer have been in Apple's secret potion all along." To that, we say No Comment.
Creative firm declares Steve Jobs Day on October 14
A creative agency named Studiocom has started up a movement to name October 14 as Steve Jobs Day, in order to honor admire and pay tribute to the great Apple Chairman of the Board. The movement is completely unofficial, but the firm wants to get action going on social networks, and even encourage Jobs fans to dress up like their hero in real life and talk about Jobs and his work at Apple with their friends. Sure, it may be a little weird to dedicate a day to someone who's already received so many honors (not to mention has made so much money for his company -- simply buying his products is probably tribute enough for Jobs, brilliant as he is), but then again, I often celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day, and this is slightly more productive than that one. So if you want to join in the celebration of Steve Jobs Day, mark your calendar for October 14.
Anymode's Galaxy Tab 10.1 case cops Apple's fashion sense (updated)
What's the difference between a case and a cover? The Korean company Anymode is provoking just that question with a Galaxy Tab 10.1 case (cover?) that looks awfully familiar. The Smart Case, as it's known, comes in multiple colors, protects the tablet's front, and folds into a triangular stand. You might be thinking that sounds remarkably like Apple's Smart Cover, and if so, you're not the only one. Ah, but the plot thickens: 9to5mac reports that the maker of this blatant knock-off has strong ties to Samsung. Family ties, even, as their tipster claims Sang-yong Kim, the Anymode CEO, is the nephew of Kun-Hee Lee, Sammy's chairman. We couldn't confirm any blood relation, which could mean we're dealing with a cover-clone conspiracy theory. Either way, we suspect this'll lead to more billable hours for Cupertino's lawyers. [Update: Samsung has responded on its official blog, distancing itself from Anymode's product: As a general practice, Samsung Electronics reviews and approves all accessories produced by partners before they are given the "Designed for Samsung Mobile" mark. In this case, approval was not given to Anymode for the accessory to feature this official designation. We are working with Anymode to address this oversight and the product has already been removed from the Anymode sales website. The product has not been sold. Thanks, Phil.]
The iPhone nano to forgo local storage? Common sense says 'no'
Well, MWC is in full swing, where folks like LG, Samsung, Sony, and Nokia are pouring their souls out in front of us in device form. So, naturally, the rumors are swirling about... the iPhone nano. In a followup to the Wall Street Journal's big story, Cult of Mac is claiming some additional inside info from a source with a "great track record." The main idea is that the iPhone nano would rely on the cloud to such an extent that the device wouldn't really have any local storage to speak of, outside of a streaming buffer. This would of course go hand in hand with a MobileMe / Lala-powered streaming music service, and result in significant component cost savings (flash memory is still pretty spendy). While this sounds like a beautiful dream, it doesn't make much sense in 2011. Streaming all your music and other media over a capped 3G connection doesn't sound very consumer-friendly, and there are still plenty of situations where having a nice offline stash of music is a lifesaver. But there's a bigger problem: where do you put your apps without local storage? Android's historic shortage of app storage really bit it in the ass, and we doubt Apple wants to go down that route. Sure, we can see a 4GB or so ultracheap device, with a heavy reliance on streaming media (many people get most of their music from Pandora these days, anyways), but a memory-free iPhone just doesn't sound feasible at this point in time.
Found Footage: iPads take the a cappella out of the girl group
Behold the power of iPad. It can charm even the most non-technological of artists. This video highlights a Finnish a cappella group (i.e., a chorus that normally sings without accompaniment, creating all harmonies through voice) who have finally gotten their hands on iPads. Here, they rock out to Madonna's "Material Girl" using iPad-based instrument applications. It's a lovely little video and a nice demonstration of how beautifully the iPad has evolved from a basic tablet into an artistic medium. Chorus member Jani Halme tells TUAW, "Naturally, we shot this using iPhones." The iPad debuted in Finland just a week ago.
First Look: Ninja Steve for iOS
CEO. Industry Mogul. Superhero. That's the idea behind the upcoming Ninja Steve app. Inspired by the fake story about Steve Jobs being denied the chance to take shuriken onto his private plane, Ninja Steve transforms an urban legend into a deliciously silly idea for a game. It features a CEO hero named Steve, who leads a secret double life as a Ninja. The developers assure us that "[o]ur character share the name with Steve Jobs, but is a fictional character, he and his fictional company has no relation to Steve Jobs or Apple." Here at TUAW, we haven't had a chance to play the game -- and honestly, we have no idea whether it's awesome or awful -- but we were tickled by the marketing graphics and the developer was kind enough to give us an exclusive first peek at the game promo video, which appears after the jump. This is not the first time we've covered the Ninja Steve meme, here on TUAW. Previously, we saw the fake "iPod ninja" concept ad, which we thought was hilarious. Got any more Apple Ninja spoofs, games, or tributes to share? Let us know in the comments.
John Sculley on Steve Jobs' guiding principles
In an unprecedented interview, former Apple CEO John Sculley discusses his relationship, past and present, with Steve Jobs. Initially pulled from Pepsi Co. by Steve Jobs in 1983, Sculley ran Apple with Jobs until Jobs was ousted in 1985. Sculley then ran Apple as the sole CEO until 1993. In the interview with Cult of Mac, Sculley notes that he isn't in contact with Jobs anymore, and he considers his time at Apple "ancient history." Still, Sculley went on to describe what he called Steve's methodology for building great products, which includes: Beautiful design (no surprises there) Customer experience Perfectionism Minimalism Again, there's not a surprise among the bunch, and John elaborates on these and other aspects of Steve's drive in the full interview. Sculley also goes on to note that it was "...a mistake" to make him CEO: "Looking back, it was a big mistake that I was ever hired as CEO. I was not the first choice that Steve wanted to be the CEO. He was the first choice, but the board wasn't prepared to make him CEO when he was 25, 26 years old." The whole interview is broken into several parts, starting here. It's candid and, as we said, unprecedented. Go and read it for a unique look at a significant figure in Apple history.
No Comment: Just what do you think of this decal, Dave?
This MacBook decal is great, and it looks like it would work well on your iPad, too -- though you might not get that glowing effect that makes it so awesome. We've seen quite a few fun decals similar to this before, including some specifically for the iPad, some for the iPhone, and even some other great geeky ones. But none have made such a statement about the ubiquity of computers lately, so we'll just post this one right here under No Comment. Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do ...
Reminder: Woz on Big Bang Theory tonight
Finally! Tonight's the night! We first heard months ago that our own Steve Wozniak was coming to the nerdy sitcom Big Bang Theory, and tonight is the night that he makes his appearance. We're still not sure how or why he'll show up, but tonight's episode is about scientist Sheldon trying to put his brain into the body of a robot, so maybe he'll consult the Woz for a little computing insight. The show airs at 8pm Eastern and Pacific time, and 7pm Central, so either tune in or set your DVR to CBS to check it out. And if you do watch the show live, Woz has tweeted that he'll be chatting along with viewers on the iPad's yap.tv app, which is a free download from the App Store (and I guess creates a chat room for shows while they're airing). Should be a lot of fun -- we're looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.
Archeologists brave flinging bits of rock with the iPad
You hear about interesting uses for the iPad all the time, and many times, those uses are merely theoretical. Sure, using an iPad at an archeological dig sounds cool and practical and all, but does anybody really do it? As it turns out, the answer to that question is "yes." In some of Apple's online promotional galleries, the company highlights a team of archeologists making use of the iPad for tasks such as text and graphical data entry. One of those in charge of the dig says that using the iPad for this work has saved countless hours of data entry that would have otherwise been done back at the field office. Sure, the iPad needs to be sufficiently protected from the elements (such as, y'know, flying hunks of rock), but that's likely a small price to pay vs. paper notebooks with one's chicken scratch that someone needs to translate. I bet these archeologists were wishing there was an on-board camera for the iPad right about now. [via Cult of Mac]
Event streaming to stress-test new datacenter
Not much of a surprise, but nice to have some details: Cult of Mac cites a source close to Apple saying that the live stream of today's iPod event will be used to put some real-time load on Apple's new North Carolina data center. The facility isn't all the way operational quite yet, but it's apparently ready enough to play a major role in today's festivities. The NC datacenter is five times the size of Apple's similar facility on the West Coast and is officially intended to support the iTunes music and app stores. Obviously there's a lot more horsepower needed for streaming content, so here's where you'll find it. As noted last night, today's live stream is intended for Intel Mac OS X 10.6 users in Safari, iPhone/iPod touch users running iOS 3.1 or higher, and iPad users. Support for the HTTP Live Streaming methodology is included in the current version of the ffmpeg open source library, so in theory apps like Mplayer should be able to handle the stream; VLC may also work.
Dear Aunt TUAW: Apple borked my box. Now what?
Dear Aunt TUAW, I ordered a 32GB iPad WiFi+3G model back in March, shortly after they were announced. I ordered a few accessories too, each of which has shipped separately ahead of the iPad. I received the first accessory today via FedEx--the iPad Dock. I've always been a fan of Apple's packaging and the dock is no exception. As so, I'm always especially carefully when opening Apple stuff as not to damage the packaging. What I did find a little odd, though, is that they put one of those plastic tabs (as if it was hanging in a retail store) right over the only opening to the box. Despite my best efforts, I wasn't able to remove the plastic tab that was VERY well affixed to the box without damaging it and leaving glue-like residue behind. I guess I won't be saving this well-designed box for the future -- unless you can help! Thanks in advance for any advice. Love, your nephew, Andrew B.
Like iPad, blistering in the sun: Temperature issues reported
With all deference to the Violent Femmes, there's nothing upbeat about the cases of overheating that some iPad users are facing in the early days with the device. We've heard directly from two readers about the dreaded 'iPad needs to cool down before you can use it' message; Henry in Colorado and John in Tampa Bay both reported that their units went into thermal standby after being used outside. John noted that his iPad was in the (black, heat-collecting) Apple case... perhaps there's a market for reflective or liquid-cooled models. Both Cult of Mac and Next Web cite similar stories from users who have, in some cases, resorted to popping their iPads into the fridge to chill them out. Of course, the iPhone has sometimes suffered from similar thermal challenges, but there's a difference between roasting your phone in the glove compartment (bad idea) and reading a book on the porch or at the beach (perfectly reasonable activity). iPads that can't take the heat are likely to tick off outdoorsy users. Apple's thermal guidelines for the iPad cite a maximum operating temperature of 35º C / 95º F, but they also note that you might see the temperature warning with "some conditions and activities" like leaving the iPad in direct sunlight for extended amounts of time, or "[u]sing certain applications in hot conditions or direct sunlight for long periods of time, such as GPS tracking in a car on a sunny day or listening to music while in direct sunlight." A few predictions: Apple's first firmware update or hardware revision for the iPad will address overheating issues. Some clever accessory makers will make a pretty penny on sunshades and chill packs (too bad the iBrella name is already taken). And it won't be long before Amazon's ads are set in the actual Amazon rain forest. We'll see spiking thermometers and intrepid explorers frantically looking up remedies for anaconda bites on their burnt-out iPads, before turning to their cool-as-a-cucumber Kindles. Note to Amazon's ad agency: Call me. [Image from Amazon.com]
Found Footage: Singing with a quartet of iPhones
Happy weekend! Here's a girl from Korea, named applegirl002 over on YouTube, playing Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" with a quartet of iPhones as accompaniment. Sure, the song's not that great, but look at those iPhones go! She's using I am T-Pain for autotuning the singing, Beatmaker for laying out the beats, and ... she says "Analog" in the video. However, I think it's miniSynth that she's actually got running on the last iPhone. You might not be gaga over Gaga (I'm definitely not), but running a whole choir of iPhones like that is quite impressive. It's also worth noting that she accomplished this feat without pulling in some of the more popular music apps like Bebot and Ocarina. It turns out that the iPhone is an excellent way to turn out some pretty complicated music.
iPhones you'll want to sink your teeth into
We've had coverage of other iPhone edibles before, in particular the many cakes that have been created since the iPhone first came to life in 2007. Now, via Cult of Mac comes word of iPhone cookies from several bakeries around the globe. The first, as seen in the photo at right, is from the Green Gables Bakery in Japan. It has a "camera" indent on the back, a nicely framed display on the front side, and icing app icons and markings all around. These cookies appear to be made of gingerbread, which should be enough to make you begin drooling. Some hungry iPhone-o-philes might want their iPhone cookies to appear a bit more realistic, which is apparently why Chicago-based Sugarbeez is making the photorealistic consumables seen after the link below. These cookies appear to use the edible and inkjet-able frosting sheets that are used by many cake professionals. Which does seem very tasty and all
Tablet OS "has a good bit of new sexy to it"
Dan Frommer over at The Business Insider had a nice, juicy tidbit to send out to anyone who is interested in Apple tablet rumors: he's apparently heard from someone who has seen the tablet's operating system, but not the actual device. There were three little quotes from the mysterious source in Frommer's nugget of tablet gold: It's "pretty" -- obviously. "The UI has a good bit of new sexy to it." "It's a big iPhone, but it's not just a big iPhone." Frommer goes on to mention recent reports that speculate that the user interface could have a "steep learning curve." However, he also brings up the very valid point that Steve Jobs would never let a product out the doors of Apple if it was difficult to use or required a lot of learning. What's "difficult to use?" The original CultOfMac post Frommer alluded to was concerned about text entry, and cited Palm's old Graffiti method as something that people had problems with. Even Apple's own Newton MessagePad lost market credibility after its handwriting recognition was widely lampooned by the press. As for the rest of the user interface, it is impossible to imagine that Apple will introduce something that is harder to use than a Mac or iPhone. The "new sexy" could be the key Apple design touch that makes the UI something attractive, functional, and desirable. Twenty more days... and I'm sure we'll hear at least twenty more rumors.
iPhone is first smartphone to visit alien mothership, gets reception
Good news folks. When the aliens arrive our iPhones will work on their ships, at least according to the new V television series [iTunes link]. The iPhone has been seen twice on the show so far, both times being toted by the human traitor Tyler Evans, the second time when Tyler flies on up to the mothership floating over NYC. Admittedly, he is using the iPhone to take pictures of the alien lizard hottie Lisa, so his treason might be forgivable under the circumstances. But come on Ty, you've got video recording on that 3GS. Next time she does this, how about a little filming?
Stink Different with an Apple toilet
We've long heard jokes of the iCar, the iToilet, and other iCrap, but until now we'd never seen a real, working example of one of these things. Well, here's your iToilet, gang. It doesn't connect to the internet in less than three steps, but it does connect to a series of tubes. Tipster Mike Jones actually had this made for himself, but through Rival Toilets, makers of custom, printed potties. Yep, the owner of Rival, Fred, has figured out a way to get decals under a coat of specially-formulated finish (a trade secret), resulting in some glorious toilets you see in the gallery. They last, they are custom and they are really quite something to see. Rival's specialty? Sports team toilets with rival team logos in a "special" place on the bowl. I'm told the Apple version seen here has a similar "rival" logo in the bottom of the bowl. I'll leave the specifics to the reader's imagination. I don't think it's IBM, however. %Gallery-78192% Share
TUAW's Halloween roundup
A look at Halloween posts gone by... The TUAW Halloween costume gallery We asked to see your Apple-themed Halloween costumes, and you delivered. As Mac fans everywhere head off to Halloween parties, it's clear that TUAW readers have created some great outfits. A handful of Halloween for your iPhone or iPod touch Ready for Halloween on your iPhone? The App Store provides a quick fix for trick-or-treaters, and the offerings provide a little of each category. Here's a sampling. Flickr Find: Mac-O-Lantern Halloween is just around the corner, and you know what means: spooky Macs! Tim emailed us to share his instructions for making a Mac-o-lantern out of a Mac Classic. Some tape, a can of spray paint... Also of interest: Found Footage: iPhone costumes are either genius or deeply misguided Found Footage: Use your iPhone in your Halloween costume iPumpkin Macs, iPods and crazy Apple fans on Halloween
The beautifully detailed art of Mac OS X app icons
Over at his blog Cult of Mac, writer Leander Kahney published a post this morning featuring full-size 512 x 512 pixel screenshots of Mac icons. As he notes, the highly detailed icons are part of a move to make the OS resolution independent, but they're also an indication of Apple's attention to detail.Many of the icons are works of art when viewed at their full size. The TextEdit icon, for example, is actually a note from "John Appleseed" to "Kate" featuring the text of the "Here's to the crazy ones" ads of the late 1990s. The Jar Launcher app, featuring a cup of hot Java sitting on a paper napkin, reveals miniscule bubbles on the side of the coffee, as well as real Java code written on the napkin. All of these icons are indications of the fanatical attention to detail of Apple designers. After looking at Kahney's gallery of art, I gathered my own collection of icon goodness from both Apple and third-party apps. Click the gallery icon below to see what I found. If you have found any 512 x 512 icons that are incredibly good, send 'em to us at http://tuaw.tumblr.com/submit. %Gallery-71952%
