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NZ earthquake hits Mac/iOS devs; Dejal Software creates relief effort
The magnitude 6.3 earthquake that hit Christchurch, New Zealand on Tuesday has caused incredible damage and hit close to home for many of us at TUAW. Developer David Frampton (@majicdave on Twitter) from Majic Jungle Software had a particularly scary few days. Although Dave lives in Wellington on the North Island, his mother Ann Bodkin was trapped in rubble for several days before being rescued. We were thrilled to read Dave's tweet when she was close to being rescued: "Mum is alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Still trapped, but talking to rescuers. So so unbelievably happy and relieved." Another developer and regular on the TUAW Talkcast is Layton Duncan (@polarbearfarm) from iOS development house Polar Bear Farm. Layton was at work when the earthquake hit, and he quickly started sending photos and videos via Twitter. You can see his office in the photo above, and read about his experience on his blog. We were very glad to see that he made it through the devastating quake unharmed, and we can't wait to talk with him on the next Talkcast. Relief efforts will continue for some time, and New Zealand expat developer David Sinclair's Dejal Software (@dejal) is helping out with an incredible deal -- he's donating 100 percent of all profits from the sales of his Mac Apps (Simon, TimeOut, Caboodle and BlogAssist) between now and Sunday to rescue and relief efforts in New Zealand. Here's your chance to do good and get some great software at the same time. Many thanks from those of us at TUAW to David Sinclair and Dejal for this wonderful outreach to the people of New Zealand. Photo by Layton Duncan
KaleidoVid turns your iPhone into a video kaleidoscope
KaleidoVid is the latest app from David Barnard of App Cubby. Working with Layton Duncan of Polar Bear Farm and Dave Keller of rocket, David decided to have some fun and make a "delightful" app. We got to see an early demo of KaleidoVid at Macworld Expo, and have been anticipating its release. If you played with a kaleidoscope as a kid, you'll be familiar with this app. Instead of mirrors and beads, KaleidoVid makes use of the iPhone's camera. To use it, simply turn it on and point the camera in any direction, then move the iPhone until you find a pattern that you like. From there, tap the screen to put a snapshot into your Camera Roll, or share your creations with Twitter, Facebook or email. Tap the screen again to resume playing. it's surprisingly fun and more of a toy than a game (I had to pry it away from my kids). KaleidoVid is available in the App Store now for US$0.99. Check out the gallery below for screenshots and some of my better creations. %Gallery-88461%
Win a copy of Convert for your iPhone or iPod touch
Convert is, as you might suspect, a tool for converting ducks to witches. No, wait! It's a simple conversion tool for your iPhone or iPod touch. Convert bears a slight resemblance to ConvertBot with a big, blue readout and simple gray icons, but I prefer Convert's simpler interface. You'll find the same features as in any converter, only in a compact, easy-to-use format.Polar Bear Farm gave us 40 promo codes to give away, and that's what we're doing over the weekend. To enter, tell us if you prefer good ol' English units like inches and feet, or the nefarious but accurate Metric system, beloved by nerds all over the world. As per the usual, the giveaway is only good in the US (we didn't make that rule), you must be over 18 and winners will be chosen randomly. Good luck!Here are the rules and a link to the legal statement: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older. To enter leave a comment indicating your preference in unit measurements: English or Metric. The comment must be left before Monday, August 10, 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. Forty winners will be selected in a random drawing. Prize: Promo code for one copy of Convert (Unit Converter by PBF), US$1.99 value Click Here for complete Official Rules.
Developers! Join the Improve The App Store Movement
It's no secret that iPhone app developers are less than happy with the App Store. The criteria for approval of iPhone apps is arcane and approval can take anywhere from a couple of days to months. There's currently no way for developers to "hook" people on apps with a free demo. It's apparent that the sweet spot for iPhone app pricing is at US$0.99, and for developers who are expendng lots of resources to design and implement great software, that is a killer. The list goes on and on...One of the more well-spoken developers who would like to see improvements in the App Store is Layton Duncan from Polar Bear Farm. His company is well-known for the Note Pad, Record, and Nice List apps, among others. Layton has used the Polar Bear Farm blog many times to express his ideas about how the App Store could be improved. Now he's started up a new website, ImproveTheAppStore.com, as a sounding board for all developers. Layton asks that developers make suggestions to Apple through the traditional Apple Developer Connection channels, but is providing the site as a public forum for ideas. If you're an iPhone developer, join the movement.
WWDC '08: Polar Bear Farm
I had a quick chat with Guy Horrocks from Polar Bear Farm on his way out of the Keynote. The video quality is well below our prestigious TUAW standards, and for that I apologize. Regardless, it's a pleasure to talk to a member of a team which has been delivering functionality deemed by many to be missing from the iPhone, such as the contact search that they previewed for us last time we ran into them. They're certainly not complaining that the announcements at the Keynote will nullify that particular application, they've got plenty more to work on. I got Guy's perspective on moving from the jailbreak scene to "legitimate" iPhone application development, as well as some thoughts on the apps presented in the Keynote. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to demo -- or even talk about -- what they're currently working on. I assume that was out of fear of the World's Toughest Programmer lurking nearby, with whom they're currently in cahoots. Of course, it could have been the NDA.
