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Ventilator companies are opening up critical repair documents to the public
After being called out by the US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), more ventilator manufacturers are sharing critical repair information.
Sony's NEX-6 satisfies the FCC with paperwork, guts
Still hungry for a closer look at Sony's WiFi-packing NEX-6 despite perusing our hands-on? Apparently the FCC feels the same, so it's used its government-granted authority to inspect the camera first-hand, and tear it apart in the process. This isn't the only time the 16.1-megapixel shooter has been given the ruler treatment, but a full copy of its user's manual has notably come along for its US visit. Check out the gallery below to view this NEX's guts, or hit the source link to gloss over a PDF of the instruction manual -- might as well get the boring stuff done before the package arrives in November.%Gallery-165226%
American Airlines becomes first FAA-friendly carrier to use iPads through whole flights
You don't have to wait for an FAA rethink to use your iPad on an airliner below 10,000 feet -- if you're part of an American Airlines crew, that is. As of this month, the air carrier is the first cleared by the FAA to use iPads in the cockpit at every point during a flight. The program starts just with Boeing 777 pilots at first, but it should eventually grow to save $1.2 million in weight-related fuel costs per year across the airline, not to mention a few trees and the strain of 35-pound flight bags. American is confident enough in the tablet switchover that it plans to stop handing out any paper updates to its charts and manuals as of January, just days after its entire fleet gets the regulatory nod for iPads at the end of this year. We just wouldn't anticipate Android or Windows tablet rollouts anytime soon. American isn't opposed to the concept, but it's only promising that slates beyond the iPad will be "evaluated for use" if and when the FAA applies its rubber stamp.
Airbus creates electronic flight bag apps for pilots with iPads
We've heard about iPads being given to airline pilots before. Because airline pilots usually need quick access to all sorts of information and documentation, an iPad often ends up being cheaper and easier than handling and updating all of the usual paper documents that used to go into any given airplane's cockpit storage, from various manuals about plane controls to all of the logs and information that pilots need to keep while flying. And now, another aerospace company has taken the leap into Apple's tablet. Aircraft manufacturer Airbus is now using iPads in its "electronic flight bags." The company is creating custom apps, delivered through the App Store, to help pilots look at operations manuals and figure out airplane performance while in the air. The iPad, according to Airbus, is going to be a standard operating tool going forward. [via The Verge]
iFixit introduces Dozuki, to provide and share crowdsourced service and repair manuals
iFixit is, of course, the great upgrade and repair community with all kinds of step-by-step instructions for Macs, iPods, iPhones, and almost any other devices you happen to have, Apple or otherwise. Now, the company has introduced a new release called Dozuki, which is designed to make sharing and providing manuals for service or repair even easier. Dozuki is still in a closed beta, but the idea as we understand it is that users will be able to create and share manuals via PDF across all of iFixit's outlets, including the official iOS app. Guidebook is the side of the platform that will deal with documents, while Answers will share questions and their answers with whoever needs them. Both sides of the software are currently in a private beta, which you can sign up for on the website. Dozuki is set to launch to the public later on this fall.
iFixit intros Dozuki, promises 'service manuals that don't suck'
The words "assembly required" shouldn't elicit a horrified shudder. Unfortunately we've all been on the wrong side of at least one connect-A-to-B mishap, which is where iFixit's Dozuki comes in. The service, now in beta, promises an end to user-manual aversion, providing manufacturers a new, updatable tool for delivering instructions to customers. Among other features, Dozuki provides a new form of distribution for otherwise static documents, delivering manuals through downloadable PDFs as well as dedicated apps. What's more, it gives users a say, allowing "expert customers" the ability to pitch in their two cents. The program is now available in beta and will officially launch this spring. If you're looking for a new way to say "insert x into y," full PR awaits you after the break.
Ubisoft getting greener by ditching paper manuals
Ubisoft will cease including paper instruction manuals inside its Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 boxed games, starting with this holiday's Shaun White Skateboarding (as revealed in an announcement that quietly confirms the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Shaun White Skateboarding). In place of a paper manual, a digital manual will be provided and accessible in-game. Digital manuals are often more convenient than paper ones (except if you're trying to read one on your way back from the store) and are already becoming commonplace with the proliferation of downloadable games. Plus, we're not exactly going to lament the loss of the no-frills, black-and-white manuals most games include nowadays. But how does Shaun White feel about it? "It's pretty cool that Ubisoft is making a conscious effort to go green with its new video game packaging," White said in a canned statement. "I'm excited for my new skateboarding game to come out and stoked that it will be the very first Ubisoft game to be part of their green packaging initiatives." In addition to saving money for Ubisoft, scaling back on paper manuals -- no plans to extend the initiative to Wii, DS or PSP games were announced -- is part of an environmentally-conscious program from the publisher that also introduces a new recycled "ecoTech" case for PC games packaging. Splinter Cell: Conviction will be the publisher's first PC game to sport the new box when it arrives at retailers next week.
iPad 101: User Guides and other helpful resources
You've bought your iPad. Congratulations! So are you ready to learn all the ways you can get the most from your new purchase? Here's a quick run-down of some indispensable resources as you're getting up to speed with your new purchase. Read the manuals: The iPad User Guide (pdf) provides an in-depth review. This user manual is not included in the iPad packaging. Instead, Apple hosts it on its support site. This 154-page long (!) guide covers all the basics for using the iPad and understanding how it works. If you'd like to convert this PDF-formatted guide into a format (called "ePub") that you can use to read on your iPad, there's a handy website called epub2go that will handle the conversion for you. After transforming the file to epub, just drop it onto your iTunes library and sync it to your iPad. You'll be able to read the book using Apple's free iBooks application. It won't look as nice as a standard ePub document, but you'll have it in mobile form. Take a guided video tour: Apple has posted videos that introduce many of the iPad's new features, including Safari, Mail, Photos, iPod, and more. You can watch these videos to get an idea of how each of these features work, and pick up a few pointers along the way. These aren't really meant as tutorials; they are marketing videos, but they can also work to introduce the iPad to you. Read our iPad 101 series: TUAW regularly posts tips and tricks for new users via our 101 posting series. In addition to the iPad, we often post Mac 101 and iPhone 101 hints, suitable for those just getting started with a new platform. These write-ups help introduce new concepts and don't assume that you're already an expert.
Apple as "the world's most feminine brand"?
Fortune's Bridget Brennan has a bold statement: "Why doesn't Apple make remote controls? You ask: Why Apple? Because if any company could improve one of the world's most user-unfriendly electronic devices, it would be Apple. And then there's this: Apple just may be the world's most discreetly feminine brand." Oh man. We were with her right up until that last statement: remote controls are fairly user-unfriendly, and an Apple remote (other than, you know, the one already out there) would be a thing of beauty. But "the world's most discreetly feminine brand"? That opens up a whole can of nuts we probably don't want to open. But what the heck, snakes be damned, let's open it up. Brennan says that women drive the economy, by influencing 80% of all purchases, and 61% of all consumer electronics products. And she says Apple is doing great, because in a market that's "dude-driven" (her words, obviously), they've brought elegance and style to their products. She says that Apple products don't need manuals, and that Apple's face-to-face customer service is excellent. Which we mostly agree with (while even Apple fans have their issues with customer service, they do a relatively good job). But "feminine"? Do guys not like elegance and style in their products? Do they enjoy reading manuals, or using electronics that aren't user friendly? Apple is successful for these reasons, sure, but we don't quite see how that makes them "feminine." Brennan concludes by suggesting that "Apple's success [shows] when you make women happy, you make everybody happy." But we're pretty sure that, in Apple's case, it's actually the other way around.
Palm Pre retail box and materials leak out
For staying as silent as they are about the product's details, Palm's doing an awfully good job of letting Pre rumors and speculation fly with wild, rampant abandon -- and we've got a new one here that should at least take you through the night. Actually, this one's less of a rumor and more a visual feast of reality: a retail (or near-retail) box complete with pack-ins has been spotted in the wild, where we learn once again that the device will definitely include a pouch among the usual assortment of odds and ends you normally expect to find with a phone (sadly, the Touchstone's still strictly a pricey add-on) -- and yes, the box looks pretty much like the one shown off at CES. Not as interesting as an actual Pre, we admit... but close. Check out a couple more shots after the break.[Via Boy Genius Report and PreCentral]
Show floor video: Screensteps makes documenting easier
Do you make documentation? Do you constantly find yourself having to explain step-by-step procedures to do things on the Mac? BlueMango Learning Systems has been doing this stuff for a while, and the tedium eventually drove them to create their own tool to make things faster. That's innovation for you-- if you can't find a tool, build one (that's how Plasq wound up creating Skitch). Screensteps is truly handy for anyone needing to illustrate steps, like bloggers doing how-to's, all the way up to professional manual-makers. Scott got a quick demo on an excursion to Moscone West. Video after the jump.
Gametech card case makes room for reading material
The new Game & Manual Holder 24 from Gametech is one of the few cases designed to hold a large number of DS cards-- this one (obviously) holds 24. It is also the only case we know of that has pockets for game manuals. Since we can't imagine needing the manuals after reading them once, maybe you can use those pockets for jerky, Fruit Roll-ups, or some other flat snack.The case comes in blue (above) black, brown, and white, and will retail for 1,680 yen ($14.75) when it comes out this Friday in Japan. Of course, if you can't wait, you can just make your own multi-game case.[Via ITMedia]
DS Daily: What remains
DS cartridges are tiny. Really effing tiny. So small, in fact, that with but a matchbox, one can generally hold as many games as he or she could possibly need in a single trip out.The games, of course, aren't sold as such. They come in boxes, proprietary boxes. There are very few, if any, specially made racks and stands for these cases, and many find them to be nothing more than a hindrance. Our question to you: do you keep the boxes and instruction manuals for DS games, and if you do, do you actually store each game inside its respective box? They quite literally inflate the size of the game by a factor of a hundred ... do you stand for it?
What is next-gen? CliffyB asks, Joystiq answers
[Click image to enlarge]What is next-gen, Cliff Bleszinski ponders in his developer's note, a preface to the Gears of War instruction manual. Well CliffyB, we think you are.This little personalized note sets a new precedent for the industry, where next-generation isn't just about hardware upgrades and "soul," as Bleszinski puts it. It's about celebrity. In this next generation we will begin to see the rise of popular interest in the off-the-job undertakings of the game world's celebs; a new gaming culture that builds up these personalities. We're not far from a time when, for lack of blockbuster franchises, rising development costs will prompt publishers to sell their games using these freshly sculpted celebrities' names -- the games' concepts being just footnotes. And then, wrought with betrayal and jealousy, we will strike down these primmed and pampered figures from their pedestals, greedily hastening their downfalls; and the industry with them.So, if you find yourself in the line at the EBGames at Universal Citywalk this evening (4pm, PT), waiting to get Mr. Bleszinski's signature emblazoned across your brand-new copy of Gears, just think: man, I'm so 'next-gen' right about now.
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Hidden secrets of firmware 2.80
PSP Vault has an impresive story detailing some of the potential hidden secrets of recently released firmware 2.80. Using their mad Japanese skillz, they took a look at Sony's PSP manuals for the firmware, which can be found here, here and here. The video standards have finally been revealed, and they show how Sony still refuses to make it easy on the end user.So for H.264 videos, you're looking at support for files ending with a .MP4 or .M4V extension. They must be 768kbps or under, have a framerate of 30fps or under, and be Level 1.3 or under Baseline Profile, or Level 2.1 or under Main Profile (but CABAC only). The audio tracks of these videos must be in the AAC format, be 128kbps or under, be 48kHz or under, and be in stereo.Uh... okay. Can't we just dump random files into our system without thinking about these technical specs? Another interesting discovery of the article shows how the recent firmware upgrade can allow for PSP-specific codes to be written into websites. For example, webpages can be created to offer downloads... but only for users of the most current firmware. Or, it could lead to some really exciting game and internet synergy. It appears that there's a lot hidden in the PSP; too bad Sony hasn't been upfront with all of it quite yet.
What happened to instruction manuals of yore?
1UP has a feature called Instruction Destruction lamenting the loss of creative and thorough game manuals. Early PC games often used the manuals as part of their copy protection, forcing you to navigate the manual hunting down key words; some NES titles came with bundled maps, some 16-bit titles came with walkthroughs and T-shirts. The 32-bit era brought an end to the practice. Confined by the smaller CD jewel cases and looking to counter increased production costs with lower manufacturing costs, publishers offloaded the extras as promotions for pre-ordering (think Metal Gear Saga) or premium-priced super-mega-special editions. Most manuals offer none of the thrill they used to, when you'd pour over them in the car on the ride home from the game store. The only manuals I can recall enjoying recently were We Love Katamari, which was full of wonderful illustrations of the game's characters, and Shadow of the Colossus, which used simple, elegant images to communicate the game's mechanics.[Image is from the Legend of Zelda manual, available at The Game Manual Archive]
