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The Mog Log: It's the countdown
On November 1st, it's the end of the world as we know it. I'll let you know then how I'm feeling. All right, the game will still be online for another week or so, but November 1st is the last day that any progress is getting saved. You can go ahead and ignore Final Fantasy XIV after that last server photograph, unless you had an urge to spend all of your gil on airship rides but couldn't bear the thought of being broke. Not that you'll even need to worry about that after September 29th if you're not currently subscribed, as that's the last chance for people to come back even if it's just for a short period of time. It's hard to avoid looking forward to the end of the game as it stands, and the fact that we have a precise timeframe only exacerbates the problem. We've got 45 days until the ending hits, and while I've already talked about what to do with the time you have left, there are questions that need to be asked as we look at the numbers.
Battleground Call to Arms not just for weekends anymore
Patch 5.0.4 introduced a new battleground schedule in which there is always a Call to Arms battleground instead of weekends only. The Call to Arms changes every Tuesday and Friday, so that players can earn bonus honor every day of the week. You may ask, "But, Robin, why aren't all the dates covered in that calendar over there? [points to the right sidebar]" Well, I'll tell you. The new Mists of Pandaria battlegrounds have already been scheduled on the in-game calendar, even though they won't be introduced until September 25. We are currently showing only the BGs that can be played right now, but we are also showing when the Temple of Kotmogu and the Silvershard Mines will be the Call to Arms BGs after launch. You can always verify the current schedule by viewing the in-game calendar. Just make sure the Battleground Call to Arms filter is selected from the filters dropdown menu at the top right of the calendar. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
ZAGG intros a pair of Bluetooth keyboard cases for the iPad, three pairs of gaming headphones
Sometimes at trade shows we see funky-looking Windows 8 devices, other times we see bags filled with a morphing rainbow colors and sometimes we see things whose importance falls somewhere in the middle. That's the situation ZAGG finds itself in this week, as it tries to win attention at IFA amid dozens of laptop / tablet hybrids and 84-inch TVs. The company is in Berlin as we type this, showing off the new ZAGGkeys Pro and Pro Plus, two Bluetooth keyboard cases for the iPad. Both have a magnetic closure, but the Pro version adds backlighting. Those will be available at the end of September for $99 and $129, respectively. Additionally, the company announced a trio of Caliber gaming headphones, including the Stealth, a pair optimized for mobile devices, and the Axiom, which works with Macs, PCs, the Xbox and PS3. Both have in-line controls. Rounding out the list, there's the Vanguard, which offers 7.1 channel audio. Look for these in October, for $60, $90 and $130, respectively. The PR's embedded after the break, though you won't find much more detail there, sadly.
Apple's calendar subscriptions servers unavailable to users [Updated]
For years Apple has made available their own and third-party calendar subscriptions on their iCal Calendars site. Now Apple has appeared to have taken their iCalendar subscription servers offline. The servers host iCalendar files which anyone with an app that supports the iCalendar (ICS) standard can subscribe to. iCalendar files can be used in popular apps like Calendar on iOS and OS X and Google Calendars. Subscribable calendars are an easy way for people to add a mass amount of data -- like holidays or sporting team events -- to their planners. Once subscribed, the calendars automatically update when any changes are made on the server side. I've used two of Apple's own iCalendar subscriptions (for US and UK holidays) in my calendar apps for many years, but over the last few days I've noticed that the subscriptions were showing a refresh error warning icon. After trying to refresh the calendars manually an error-1 dialog request started appearing. To be clear, Apple links many calendar subscriptions on its iCal Calendars site. The only ones that are affected, however, are the ones hosted on Apple's own calendar servers (for example, those beginning with: webcal://ical.mac.com/ical/xxxx.ics). I've reached out to Apple for comment to see if this is a temporary issue or if they'll be shuttering their iCalendar services for good. Users who are currently subscribed to Apple-served iCalendars will still see events in their Calendar apps since the last time it was refreshed. However, if you delete the subscription, with Apple's iCalendar server currently offline, there will be no way to get the entries back. Update: As of 7pm GMT on 08/21/12 Apple appears to have put their iCalendar servers back online.
Mac 101: Use Spotlight for quick review of Calendar events
Here's a quick way to browse Calendar events (I still want to say "iCal") in the Finder with Spotlight. Simply enter your search keyword into Spotlight. The results are sorted by type, as usual. Move your cursor over a matching Calendar result and a pop-up appears, showing the event's placement in Calendar, as well as other surrounding events from the day. Click any event in this pop-up window to jump right to it in Calendar. Note that this works with iCal in Lion as well as Calendar.app in Mountain Lion. Sorry, Snow Leopard users. To extend your Mac calendaring fun into the menu bar, check out Fantastical or QuickCal.
Facebook redesigns Events listings, makes you an even bigger jerk for forgetting someone's birthday
Facebook, that tenuous connection between ourselves and the many casual acquaintances we've amassed over the years, has just rolled out a better way to keep track of events. Now it's possible to plan that witty annual birthday greeting months in advance, thanks to the new calendar and list views on the social network's Events page. You can also see suggested events and respond to invites from the comfort of the same page. The roll out follows the introduction the new Google+ Events page late last month, so now the two social networks can avoid awkwardly bumping into each other at parties. Update: Looks like weddings and celebrations are getting overhauled, too. Clearly, it's time to get down.
Apple tests new iCloud beta features
Developers who are enrolled in the iOS 6 beta are now able to see a new iCloud Beta portal at beta.icloud.com that is complete with new versions of Calendar and Find My iPhone, as well as two new iCloud additions -- Reminders and Notes. The expected timeframe for the general release of the new iCloud features is the same time that iOS 6 launches -- this fall. Changes that are apparent in the beta (according to a post on MacRumors) include a revision to Find My iPhone that shows the approximate battery life of the device you're trying to find, a web version of the iOS Notes app complete with yellow lined paper, a web version of the iOS (and soon OS X Mountain Lion) Reminders app. Apple announced during the WWDC 2012 keynote that more than 125 million people now use iCloud. It's good to see that all platforms -- OS X, iOS, and the Web -- will have nearly identical apps by this fall.
Google wants you to join the party, announces Google+ Events (video)
At the tail end of today's Google I/O keynote, the company demoed Google+ Events, which, as you might imagine, let's you invite your virtual buds to an in-person hangout. You've probably already guessed that there's some pretty tight integration with Mountain View's other virtual properties, including Calendar, which means that sending your friends or coworkers a "save the date" to brunch or brainstorming no longer requires clunky email, or a phone call. That's not to say that your contacts need to opt-in to the search giant's social networking site to join the fun -- email invites are still available by typing your friend's address alongside your circles, or individual friends should you wish to plan an awkward inter-group soiree. You can choose from a variety of themes for your e-vite, which integrate motion or static banners. Once the fun begins, you can hop into Party Mode from your mobile, and photos you shoot during the event will appear beside the invite -- friends can add pics to the page as well, which you can later download. For now, please accept our invitation to jump past the break, where a Google demo video awaits. Check out our full coverage of Google I/O 2012's opening keynote at our event hub! %Gallery-159279%
Google I/O 2012 app unveiled for Android, keeps attendees and outsiders looped in
Hardly any self-respecting conference can do without a companion app these days and Google has pulled out all the stops with an updated app for I/O 2012. Now available on Google Play, this year's iteration is formatted to work equally well on phones and tablets, and allows users to easily sync events with their calendars and find sessions they're interested in, as well as share them on Google+ or in other apps. The social integration doesn't stop there, as a Google+ stream of the #io2012 hashtag is built right in. The app reaches all the way back to Froyo devices, but there are advanced features like I/O Live session video streams (Honeycomb and above), and automatic synching of schedules / NFC beaming (Android 4.0+). Of course, even if you're just going to observe the event from afar, a few eagle eyed users are already wondering if one of the screenshots (above, left) is giving an early peek at the next version Android, Jelly Bean, due to the oddly styled search box. Whatever the case is, we'll find out for sure June 27th, hit the source link below to grab the app and get ready.
Microsoft details Windows 8 Calendar app design, wants to 'show your life clearly'
As part of its "Building Windows 8" blog series, Redmond has been doling inside info on apps like Mail and People, and now it's Calendar's turn in the spotlight. Steven Sinofsky blogged that one of the primary marks was to serve up a clear view of your life, and the team wanted Calendar to be easy to read and distraction free. To bring that about, it kept the info displayed to a minimum, giving users the option to easily change colors for important events and drop distracting ones from view if necessary. The designers also stressed ease of navigation, a simple interface for adding events, copious notification options and and advanced scheduling tricks -- like a full page of notes for each event. Of course, Microsoft also wanted to ensure the app conforms to Metro design standards and functionality, and it seems to fit that mold in spades. Sinofsky also said that a lot of user feedback was accounted for, so be sure to check the source to see if that "Caturday" idea made the cut.
LinkedIn leaks password hashes, iOS app is scraping your meeting notes [UPDATE x2]
It's not a good day for the social network for professionals. Recently, someone posted about 6.5 million password hashes on a Russian hacker forum; it looks like many or most of those came from LinkedIn. Hashes themselves are not enough to grant a bad guy access to your LinkedIn account, but if your password is found in any dictionary or list of common passwords, it's going to be cracked. Go ahead and change your LinkedIn password now -- then we'll get to the other LinkedIn news. Last April, LinkedIn finally got around to rolling out an iPad app. Truthfully, the iPad app leaves a lot to be desired. It's not nearly as good as LinkedIn's iPhone app. However, both apps share a new feature that lets them sync with iOS calendars, thus allowing users to view upcoming events inside the LinkedIn app itself. The only problem appears to be, as the New York Times reports, that LinkedIn is collecting a user's meeting notes and sending them back to LinkedIn's servers. Uh, oh. Why this is a big deal -- and why every LinkedIn user should be furious about this -- is because it's a major breach of privacy, it's against Apple's privacy guidelines, and nowhere is it stated in the app that enabling calendar sync will send any event notes back to LinkedIn servers. As the New York Times points out, many people include confidential notes in a calendar event. For instance, a CEO might have a calendar event for a meeting in which, in addition to the time and place, he also might have written down the corporate call-in number along with its passcode and the company's confidential financial highlights in the notes. Also, LinkedIn's calendar sync doesn't just upload your business calendars to LinkedIn's serves, it uploads your personal ones as well. So if you have a calendar event for a private medical appointment and make a note on the event saying, "Ask doctor about the lump I found," that's on LinkedIn's servers, too. LinkedIn spokesperson Julie Inouye told the New York Times the company's "calendar sync feature is a clear 'opt-in' experience...We use information from the meeting data to match LinkedIn profile information about who you're meeting with so you have more information about that person." She also noted that user's iOS calendars only sync when the LinkedIn app is open and that users could opt out of the calendar feature at any point. There are two problems with this answer: One, it doesn't explain why users weren't notified their private notes were being uploaded to LinkedIn's servers, and two, it doesn't address whether a user's calendars and notes are deleted from the servers when a user who has opted in opts out, or if the already-uploaded events and their notes remain on LinkedIn's servers forever. Until LinkedIn rectifies this (or Apple steps up to the plate and pulls the app until it's rectified) there's little a user can do if they've already opted in to LinkedIn's calendar sync. However, those who have opted in can still opt out, and thus at least prevent future entries from being uploaded to LinkedIn's servers, by doing the following: On the iPhone Open the LinkedIn iOS app on your iPhone. Select your profile (the "You" badge). Tap the cog wheel icon in the top-right corner. Tap "Add Calendar." On the next screen, switch "Add Your Calendar" to OFF. On the iPad Open the LinkedIn iOS app on your iPhone. Tap the cog wheel icon in the top-left corner. Switch "Show Calendar" to OFF. UPDATE: LinkedIn has issued a statement regarding the mobile calendar feature, saying: "We Don't: We do not store any calendar information on our servers. We do not share or use your calendar data for purposes other than matching it with relevant LinkedIn profiles. We do not under any circumstances access your calendar data unless you have explicitly opted in to sync your calendar We Will Improve: We will no longer send data from the meeting notes section of your calendar event. There will be a new 'learn more' link to provide more information about how your calendar data is being used." UPDATE 2: LinkedIn has updated their iOS app to presumably alter the way their calendar sync feature collects data. The 5.0.3 update states that the changes include "miscellaneous bug fixes" and "improvements in calendar."
Droplet and StackAR bring physical interface to virtual experiences, communicate through light (hands-on)
Light-based communication seems to wind throughout the MIT Media Lab -- it is a universal language, after all, since many devices output light, be it with a dedicated LED or a standard LCD, and have the capacity to view and interpret it. One such device, coined Droplet, essentially redirects light from one source to another, while also serving as a physical interface for tablet-based tasks. Rob Hemsley, a research assistant at the Media Lab, was on hand to demonstrate two of his projects. Droplet is a compact self-contained module with an integrated RGB LED, a photodiode and a CR1216 lithium coin battery -- which provides roughly one day of power in the gadget's current early prototype status. Today's demo used a computer-connected HDTV and a capacitive-touch-enabled tablet. Using the TV to pull up a custom Google Calendar module, Hemsley held the Droplet up to a defined area on the display, which then output a series of colors, transmitting data to the module. Then, that data was pushed to a tablet after placing the Droplet on the display, pulling up the same calendar appointment and providing a physical interface for adjusting the date and time, which is retained in the cloud and the module itself, which also outputs pulsing light as it counts down to the appointment time. StackAR, the second project, functions in much the same way, but instead of outputting a countdown indicator, it displays schematics for a LilyPad Arduino when placed on the tablet, identifying connectors based on a pre-selected program. The capacitive display can recognize orientation, letting you drop the controller in any position throughout the surface, then outputting a map to match. Like the Droplet, StackAR can also recognize light input, even letting you program the Arduino directly from the tablet by outputting light, effectively simplifying the interface creation process even further. You can also add software control to the board, which will work in conjunction with the hardware, bringing universal control interfaces to the otherwise space-limited Arduino. Both projects appear to have incredible potential, but they're clearly not ready for production just yet. For now, you can get a better feel for Droplet and StackAR in our hands-on video just past the break.
Daily iPhone App: Time to Enjoy lets you find events based on time
Did you ever find yourself ready for a night out and clueless about where to go and what to do? If you need help finding a spur-of-the-moment event, then you should check out Time to Enjoy, a time-driven event calendar. Time to Enjoy is different than other event apps which list events based only on your location or a search. It's smarter than that and uses both your selected time and location to display nearby events. If it's my lunch break and I want to make plans for the evening, I can tap on the 8 pm slot on the Time to Enjoy calendar, and it will pull up events that I can attend at that time. Once I find something to do, I can add the event to one of my synced calendars, Google it for more information or share it via Twitter, Facebook, SMS or email. If you're not sure where the event is being held, you can click on the "directions" link and the app will launch Google Maps. Time to Enjoy works best in urban areas where there are ample concerts, sporting events, movies, conferences, art exhibits, and more. Even in my rural area, though, it picked up local classes, band performances and an organic farmer's market. You can grab Time to Enjoy from the iOS App Store for free.
How to enable iCal's debug menu
ZDNet (via Macgasm) has posted a couple of neat iCal tweaks that should make your life a bit easier: Enabling the debug menu and showing two weeks worth of appointments at once. The trick involves a couple of Terminal commands. To enter debug mode, use the following: defaults write com.apple.iCal IncludeDebugMenu 1 And, if you want to remove it, use the following command: defaults write com.apple.iCal IncludeDebugMenu 0 Once you've got the debug menu activated, restart iCal. Here's what you'll see. There's quite a few tricks here, including the ability to have to multiple iCal windows open at the same time. You also can expand the week view to glimpse up to 28 days at once, which is a little too much. But like ZDNet says, being able to see two weeks at a time in week view is pretty handy. To switch the views, select the desired time from the "top sekret" menu and toggle between week and another calendar option. The new mode is enabled once you return to the week view.
Windows Phone 7.5 gets multiple Google Calendar sync, additional Gmail features
Google's improved how its calendar and email services interact with Windows Phones running the Mango update. Users can now cram up to 25 different calendars into the Metro OS's built-in calendar app. The setup's not exactly seamless; you need to navigate your Windows Phone to the Google Sync page, login and check the boxes found there. While testing on our phones, although one device was able to immediately sync, the other couldn't pick up on our multiple calendars. We had to delete and re-assign our Google account to the phone in order to get it working. However, once we did, the Metro styling lent itself well to multiple calendar listings, with the ability (like the web-based Google Calendar) to assign colors to each. At the same Google Sync page, you can now choose to enable the "send mail as" feature if you're using multiple addresses, with the option to delete unwanted emails instead of archiving. However, aside from replying from the same address that you received emails to, we haven't discovered a way to assign new mails to our multiple guises. We were able to send messages through our own Engadget mail account, although that's then used on all future missives. Despite these rough edges, it remains a welcome bit of extra functionality. Are we still longing for a dedicated Gmail app? Definitely. We just hope those devs don't drop the ball.
Doodle adds iCal connector for cloud scheduling
Mac users of the cloud-based scheduling service Doodle will be happy to learn that the company has released a beta of its iCal Connector software for Mac. Doodle is a service that lets users send out potential meeting dates to friends or clients. Those recipients see a poll with the meeting schedule options; they can vote on which date would be best for them. The tentative dates show up in that user's calendar client (Outlook, Google Calendar, etc.). Users can see what other dates people choose as well. When the original meeting organizer looks over all the dates and chooses the best one for the group, all the tentative dates are automatically wiped clean from everyone's calendar software with only the chosen one left. Until now Doodle's third-party calendar support was limited to Google Calendar or Microsoft's Exchange calendaring. With the iCal beta, now Mac users can take full advantage of the cloud-based meeting selection service, no matter what calendar service they use. If you want to learn more about Doodle, check out this short video. Doodle offers both free and premium accounts for users. The Doodle iCal Connector is a free download.
PlayBook native email, calendar and contacts finally get peeked, look ready for their close-up
We've been waiting very, very patiently, for RIM to make good on its promise to deliver a native email and calendaring experience to the PlayBook. So far, we've been sorely disappointed. Supposedly the essential productivity and contact management tools will be coming with the update to version 2.0 of the OS in February, but until now we've seen neither hide nor pixelated hair of the apps. At the BlackBerry Innovation Forum RIM finally took the wraps off and demoed the email, contacts and calendar suite for a presumably relieved audience of QNX fans. The photos snagged by BlackBerry Cool aren't the greatest, but you can see the experience has been carefully crafted for a tablet, and the smartphone apps have simply been blown up to fill seven diagonal inches. A particularly interesting feature is, as the number of appointments you have scheduled on a particular day increases, the date grows and becomes bolder to alert you to your hectic schedule (above). For a bunch more pics and few more details check out the source link.
Keepsy Calendars: Doing something fun with all those Instagram photos
Every once in a while a product shows up unexpectedly at the TUAW Labs that makes me really, really happy. A flat white box arrived at my door a few days ago, and when I opened it I saw a calendar and something about Instagram. I didn't bother to actually look at the calendar until a few days later, and what I saw absolutely delighted me: a calendar of my personal Instagram pictures from a company called Keepsy. Starting today, Menlo Park, CA-based Keepsy opens the door on a new service that will take photos not only from Instagram, but other services like Facebook, Flickr, and Picasa as well, and turn them into attractive 12-month 11" x 8.5" wall calendars for US$19.95 (or an 18-month calendar for $25.95). The calendars are a new product for Keepsy -- previously they sold books made from Instagram photos. What I was impressed with was the layout and quality of the calendar. My wife makes a 12-month calendar every year from our trip photos in iPhoto, and the print quality of the Keepsy calendar was equal to what we've received from Apple. The layout was beautiful. Every page featured anything from two to 24 photos from my Instagram feed, and whoever at Keepsy did the layout used a great deal of thought in creating clever collections of travel, holiday, food, architecture, and other genres of photos. Keepsy allows customers to gift their friends with the Instagram calendars or books. To keep people from making calendars from Instagram photos belonging to celebrities and other people they don't personally know, Keepsy makes sure that an Instagram user follows the album or calendar creator. For more details, be sure to read the PR blast below, or check the Keepsy website. These calendars look like they'll make perfect holiday gifts for your friends or family. Show full PR text Keepsy launches Instagram Calendars November 1st, 2011 - Menlo Park CA If you're an iPhone user, you've undoubtably heard of Instagram by now. The hot photo-sharing application that has taken the world by storm now has over 10 million users and hundreds of millions of photos uploaded. While some experts are scratching their heads over how the free application will eventually make money, some intrepid companies are diving in head first. One such Silicon Valley startup is riding this wave with printed books and -- starting today -- with printed calendars. "We've been really amazed by the customer feedback on our Instagram books," said Keepsy CEO Peter Weck. "The print quality has been so high that introducing new products with Instagram photos was an easy next step for us." The award-winning site now offers 11" x 8.5" wall calendars starting at $19.95. Keepsy's integration with Instagram, Facebook, Flickr and Picasa allows seamless import of photos from these online services. "With nothing to upload or download, making a book or calendar takes only a few minutes," said VP of Product, Blake Williams. The first website to allow users to create Instagram books -- Keepsy is fast becoming a leading innovator in mobile-to-print technologies. This is the second announcement in as many weeks from the company, as they gear up for the holidays. Last week, Keepsy announced a new "Gift Book" feature that allows friends and family to make printed Instagram books -- and now calendars -- using each others' photos. To ensure that albums are only printed as personal gifts, Keepsy requires that a given Instagram user follows the album or calendar creator in order to access the photos.* "If you're part of the Instagram community, we can't think of a better holiday gift than getting your friend a surprise album or calendar of their best photos," said Williams. "And now that we're shipping to 22 countries, your friends can be just about anywhere." About Keepsy Keepsy uses the power of social networks to create custom, collaborative photo albums and calendars. People can create their own custom albums and invite friends to add their own photos and messages to the album. Keepsy was founded by Peter Weck, Blake Williams, and Kai Zhao. Keepsy's investors include James Hong, Tim Connors, and Dave McClure's 500Startups fund. To learn more about Keepsy, please visit http://www.keepsy.com *Other restrictions apply. For more information, visit http://www.keepsy.com/faqs#503
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich now official, includes revamped design, enhancements galore
Google has taken the stage in Hong Kong to make the next version of Android OS, nicknamed Ice Cream Sandwich, a thing of reality. Better known as Android 4.0, the update offers a massive redesign to the user interface and adds a plethora of new features. Some of the highlights include an NFC-enabled feature called Android Beam, offline search in Gmail, new lock screen features and a fancy unlocking method called "Face Unlock," which uses facial recognition to ensure strangers can't use your phone without permission. Ice Cream Sandwich also includes enhancements in almost every native app within Android itself. The SDK is already available for Android 4.0, and the update itself will make its first public appearance on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, also unveiled tonight. After the break, we'll cover all of the nitty gritty details, along with some excellent screenshots below. So come along, why won't you? %Gallery-136926% %Gallery-136932%
iOS 5 features: Calendar
iOS 5 has arrived, and with it come some really nice updates to the Calendar app. There aren't a whole lot of new things; the app's basic functionality of saving events on dates and showing them back in various views hasn't changed, but there are a few new elements. First up are the new views. On the iPhone and iPod touch, you'll be able to see a week view where you can scroll all the way through from Monday to Sunday. On the iPad there's a new year view, where you can pick up a wide angle look of what your schedule is like. In the views where it's appropriate, you can now drag event borders around to set up the various end and start times for each event (dragging a meeting from 1 pm to 2 pm to last for an hour, for example). You can add, rename, and delete whole calendars right on your iOS device. And there are some subtle features that really make the app more polished. You can now see event times on the month view -- before iOS 5, you could only see that there was an event there, not when it started -- and when you turn pages, you'll get a nice iBooks-like effect. Calendar is better than ever in iOS 5. Whether you're a longtime Calendar user or are just setting it up to sync up with your standard calendar service, these new changes should be quite helpful.
