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Apple announces iLife '11, $49 upgrade or free with every new Mac, available today
There you have it. Shockingly enough, iMovie, iPhoto, and GarageBand have all been modernized sufficiently to merit having their names appended with '11. iPhoto '11 is taking the early demo lead in the live event, with hot new slideshow themes. Gee, Steve, you're building it up nice and slow, huh? There are added Facebook and email sharing enhancements and new full screen modes that make it look a lot like ... an iPad app. %Gallery-105511% iMovie '11 will freshen up the audio editing options (finally!) and add "one step effects," a People Finder that identifies individuals in movie clips, and an apparently effortless movie trailer maker. Intriguing. The audio tweaks include per-segment sound levels adjustments as well as easy fade sliders, there are also additional new audio effects for people to play around with. 24fps video editing and output is now supported, allowing you to export more film-like trailers using the templates thrown into this new software. Good news on the upload front too, as direct sharing to Facebook and Vimeo has also been added.%Gallery-105516% Apple is adding FlexTime, Groove Matching, more guitar and amp effects, new piano and guitar lessons, and finally a "How Did I Play" feature to GarageBand '11. Groove Matching can be summarized with a quote from the Cupertino crew's Xander Soren: "it's like an automatic spellchecker for bad rhythm." As to "How Did I Play," that's a mixture of post-play analysis and a Rock Band-like live note monitor, which highlights in green the notes you strike correctly or in red the ones you miss. It works with both the guitar and piano.%Gallery-105523% iLife '11 is available today, as a free extra on new Macs or as a $49 upgrade on differently new Apple machines. Full press release is now embedded after the break.
Remote Pallette lets you paint on your iPad with colors from your iPhone
The story a while back about connecting an iPhone to an iPad for a game of darts was pretty interesting, and here's another one in that vein: a new app called Remote Palette is universal for both devices, and will let you "paint" on the iPad, while controlling the colors used with the iPhone. "Dip" your finger into a certain color of paint on your iPhone, and then when you go to touch the iPad, that color will show up as you draw. Very cool idea, and while the reviews on the app say it's not quite as great an art app as Brushes or Sketches, the wireless palette idea seems like a lot of fun. Remote Palette also has a Finger Paint mode you can use to put some outlines on the screen for kids, or you can just open up a blank canvas and paint away. The universal app is only US 99 cents, and is available right now.
iTunes 101: Play other people's music, increase contrast
Here's two tips for the new iTunes 10 that you might not have seen yet. First up, 9to5Mac shares the news that you can now plug any iOS device with music on it into iTunes 10 and listen in to whatever music is available without having to enable "manual sync mode." That's a nice bonus -- if you're at a party, and your friend wants to hear a tune you're carrying around on the iPhone, you can just plug it in, hit play, and dance the night away. I presume all of the usual restrictions on sharing music are still there (music bought on one account can't be downloaded to another, obviously), but at least just for listening, iTunes 10 makes things much easier. Mac OS X Hints also shares a tip for those disappointed by the look of the grayed-out icons in the iTunes 10 sidebar. By putting a certain line into Terminal, you can enable "high contrast mode" for the app. It won't bring back the colors (it basically just inverses the sidebar from black-on-white to vice versa), but if you need a little more action in the iTunes sidebar, you can give it a shot.
Apple patents "Exciter" technology for devices, including a "cyclocomputer"
Patently Apple has news of a new patent filed by Apple for a technology that it calls the Exciter. At present, wirelessly trading information between iPhones can be a bit of a hassle, since both phones have to find each other and then sync up. But the "Exciter" technology would simply keep an eye out for another phone that's willing to share information, and then when a certain signal is detected (it could be light-based, sound-based, or any other type of emitted information), the two devices would share information (contacts, calendar information, photos, or text) as necessary. It's an interesting idea, but the application is even more interesting. Along with the usual suspects for possible Apple devices that would use this app or technology, Apple has listed a "cyclocomputer," which is yet another hint that Apple is working on some kind of bike-related mobile device. In this case, two bikers would pass each other, their devices would recognize that there is a device to share information with, and the exchange would take place. It sounds intriguing. Unfortunately, as with all of these patents, Apple is just locking down any ideas that it has. Just because this technology is outlined and listed in a patent application doesn't mean that there's a project right around the corner; it doesn't guarantee that we'll definitely see this product. But as always, it's fascinating to see where Apple's thinking is going. The company that originally released the Mac has now become the world's biggest portable device company, and it certainly seems like it plans to continue moving in that direction.
Infinitec opens pre-orders for 'infinite' USB memory drive, touts dual-WiFi
We're guessing that the past six months have dragged on (or zipped by, depending on viewpoint) for the folks at Infinitec as they waited for this day, but the device we first spotted at the Engadget trailer during CES 2010 is finally up for pre-order. Hailed as the world's first "infinite USB flash drive," this ad hoc streaming device enables any two locally networked devices to send content to one another, and as of today, those who have longed for just this thing can get in line. The startup's also taking this opportunity to gloat about the "dual-WiFi" capabilities included (a video explanation awaits you past the break), which essentially enables an IUM-equipped laptop to connect to another device while retaining its live connection to the web. Hit the source link to part ways with your $129, and if you buy in early, you'll be gifted with gratis worldwide shipping come August 31st. And you can't beat that deal with a stick, USB or otherwise.
Found Footage: Box.net's iPad kickoff at D7 Consulting
A little while ago, I told you that Box.net had brought their iPads out here to California in order to give them away to D7 Consulting (originally given away thanks to a post here on TUAW). They also had a video team on site, and they've produced this little video that will show you what D7 is up to and what they are planning to do with all of those iPads. As I said in our previous post, this will be an interesting experiment. The folks at D7 Consulting are trying to figure out how they can use both the iPads and Box.net (along with a few other common apps) to benefit their business in a profitable and helpful way. This is the first of a few videos that Box.net is producing about the process. We'll also be doing some followup sessions with D7 to see how it is all working out. The iPad has been marketed as a consumer device, and it definitely is. However, it's also a very powerful computer, and it'll be interesting to see how these folks are able to integrate it into their everyday business, both in that office and out on the construction sites. Stay tuned for more.
Apple details location information sharing
Apple had to do some explaining recently -- after a House of Representatives probe into the company's privacy policy came up, the company sent a twelve-page letter to the members of Congress, going into detail on what all of the legalese in the company's privacy policy actually means. The biggest takeaway is that Apple does collect location data from your iPhone -- every 24 hours, an encrypted batch of locations for cell towers, Wi-Fi access points, and GPS coordinates are hooked up to a zip code and sent back to Apple. This is all true -- we've heard from customers who've noticed the daily batch of information sent out over their iPhone's data plan. Why does Apple do all of this? The company claims that it's all necessary to account for "the ever-changing physical landscape, more innovative uses of mobile technology, and the increasing number of Apple's customers." Of course, if you don't want to be a part of this system, you can shut all of the location tracking down right inside the phone's preferences -- either phone-wide, or on a per-app basis depending on what version of iOS you are using. Version 3 and below requires a visit to each app, iOS 4 allows you to shut it off at the OS level. Just go to Settings>General>Location Services and turn location data on or off. The problem then, of course, is that you won't have access to those services while you use your phone. Apple also notes that it collects the same data from Macs who use location-based services (like automatically setting your time zone), and the iAd network also sends location information every time an ad is requested. In short, Apple knows where you are, and in return, you get the benefit of location-specific information. Worth it?
More than 25% of iTunes users want the cloud
A new NPD Group survey says that if Apple ever does release its rumored cloud music service for iTunes, there will definitely be an audience. Over 25% of iTunes users polled say that they would be interested a free iTunes cloud service. And about half of those would be interested in actually paying $10 a month for services like music sharing and streaming their personal libraries through iTunes. Out of an estimated 50 million users in the US, NPD says that 15 million or so would be interested in a free service, and around 7 or 8 million wouldn't mind paying $10 a month to Apple. Keep in mind that this is a survey done in May of this year, Apple hasn't even worked their marketing magic on something like this yet, and it doesn't even exist. If a service like that was actually offered, it's not hard to think that word of mouth and/or a well-marketed feature set would drive that audience even higher. But NPD concludes, not too surprisingly, that there is an audience ready for any iTunes cloud plans that Apple wants to reveal. How 'bout it there, Steve?
The iPhone 4 and the growing art of self-photography
This little piece over on the New York Times Fashion and Style page is only tangentially related to our subject at hand, which is that the onset of the iPhone 4 and its front-facing camera has put a spotlight on the growing art of self-photography and the casually narcissistic tendencies that drive it. I still found it very interesting, both as a series of tips on how to make some fascinating self-photographs, as well as a little meditation on what it means to learn that cameras are slowly turning around on their owners. When cameras were first created, the photographer was almost removed from the equation -- viewers of photographs were given direct views of subjects. As time has gone on, the photographer has become more instrumental and important in the camera's life. At this point, in 2010, most of the pictures taken today are taken specifically to be shared on Facebook or Flickr -- here's me at the club, here's my new shirt, here's my and my girlfriend, and so on. Instead of looking through the photographer's eyes at the world, the iPhone 4's camera looks through the photographer's eyes ... back at the photographer. Maybe that's too serious for the Fourth of July weekend (and if nothing else, the NYT piece offers a great bit of advice for being on camera anywhere: "smile"). But it is interesting that, as front-facing cameras become more popular (and even technology like Microsoft's Kinect, which is basically a camera watching you, the player), the art of photography itself is changing. Going out and "taking pictures" may eventually come to mean "taking pictures of me."
Libox streams your entire media collection anywhere... so long as your upload speed rocks
So look, we're not necessarily in the business of bursting bubbles, but Libox's new beta service isn't nearly as radical and game-changing as it'd like you to believe. Instead of being a limitless version of mSpot, this particular file streaming service -- which enables users to stream their entire media collection to any device with a web browser gratis -- isn't a cloud service. Instead, it's an optimized P2P system which still relies on your home PC to be on, connected, and hooked to one wicked ISP that doesn't cap your uploads at 20kbps. Still, "unlimited" is pretty tempting if you're kosher with the requirements, so tag those links below to find your way in. [Thanks, Mark]
Video Kinect: video chat and stream sharing over Xbox Live and Live Messenger
Xbox Live and Windows Live Messenger are about to meet up in a very personal way -- Microsoft has just announced a new video chat service called Video Kinect, which serves as a logical extension of its brand new Kinect voice- and motion-sensing control system. But it's not just video calling, no sir, you'll be able to watch movies, news, sports, and the like together with whoever you're chatting with. Additionally, thanks to a motorized base and a new skeleton-tracking feature, the Kinect unit will also follow users as they move around the room. Yup, not creepy at all.
Peace in the home: Sharing an iPad with your spouse
I'm sure many of you find yourselves in the sometimes-uncomfortable position of alpha geek in your households. It's a lonely perch, with responsibility for every gadget and gizmo under the familial roof; more frustrating, your spouse and children don't share your perfectly rational enthusiasm for all things iGlorious, and can't understand your willingness to spend a Saturday morning on line with strangers at the mall. You might even be faced with some completely unfair public criticisms of your parenting skills or attention span. It's a tough spot. Believe me, I know how it is. Imagine my glee, therefore, when my wife (no Luddite, but no raving technophile either) expressed her eagerness for an iPad. She's entering her final year of graduate studies, and with so much classwork reading available as PDF files, the iPad is a natural choice for her use; besides, she has grown deeply dissatisfied with the Kindle's lack of backlight and challenging PDF handling. With bilateral consensus on the purchase -- and if you think that's an easy sell on a $500-plus expenditure, think again -- we opted to get a 32GB unit and forgo the 3G version that I had told myself I was waiting for. It's delightful, it's wonderful... and it's raised an entirely new set of issues. Taking the iPad from its core single-user metaphor and sharing it between two people, even two people who love each other and collaboratively tackle the much larger challenges of raising children together, is a tall order. I've been building a list of adjustments and adaptations, in the hope that we can help other couples find their way. Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/allyrose18/ / CC BY-ND 2.0
Apple updates MobileMe Gallery app
MobileMe has some great features, but Apple needs to stay on top of it to keep it competitive with other services. It's a bit pricey and hasn't changed all that much over the last couple of years, so new features are always worthy of notice. Fortunately, Apple made one small step for mankind by releasing an update to the MobileMe Gallery app for the iPhone and iPod touch today. Now it is easy to add your friends' MobileMe Galleries with just a couple of clicks on your touch screen. When you select "Add a Friend," the app will search your contact list and indicate which of your friends have MobileMe Galleries. Click on add from there, and it's done. Slick. It's not a big deal, but it's a nice touch, especially for a service on which updates are sparse. The update takes the app to version 1.1 and is as close as a tap on your iPhone's App Store icon, or you can head over to iTunes and grab it from there.
Infinitec officially launches IUM ad hoc streaming device: ships in July for $129
It's been a long time comin', but the little startup-that-could has just gone official with its first major consumer electronics peripheral, the IUM. First introduced at CES, this ad hoc streaming stick creates a local WiFi network (802.11b/g/n; 2.4GHz to 5GHz) for all sorts of media and data to flow from your PC to, well, pretty much anything. PC to PC, PC to Blu-ray player, PC to printer and PC to console streaming is all within reach, with HD support baked in to boot. We've already given you low-down on functionality, but today the company is announcing a July 1st availability date for consumers across the US, Canada and Europe. We're told to expect it for "under $129 depending on the location," and if all goes well, it'll ship in even more locales in due time. Hop on past the break for the full release and promo video, and be sure to give that Shufflegazine link a visit for podcasts detailing the use scenarios. %Gallery-85832% %Gallery-82076%
Infinitec details Infinite USB Memory Device functionality ahead of launch
Surely you remember Infinitec, right? You know -- that Dubai-based startup that first showcased its so-called Infinite USB memory device (IUM) at CES? Now that we've jogged your memory, we'd like to point out some new information on the product. We're told that the company is gearing up to officially launch the stick soon, promising ad hoc streaming from any Windows-based PC to just about anything you can think of: Blu-ray players, media streamers, printers, and practically any other gizmo with a USB port. New details provided to us by Infinitec ensure that game consoles are supported, as is high-def video content. The company has also laid out a number of use scenarios for those curious about how this thing could improve your daily life, all of which are just beneath the break. Stay tuned for more in the coming days -- pricing and release deets should be headed our (and in turn, your) way soon. %Gallery-85832%
Apple forces Stanza to nix USB book sharing
Those who enjoy USB book sharing their ePub and eReader files in the current version of Stanza [iTunes link] will want to avoid the 2.1 version of the software, currently being distributed in the App Store. The update notes reveal that Apple apparently ordered Lexcycle to remove the USB sharing ability. Unfortunately, Lexcycle is forbidden from explaining why they were told to remove the feature. To me -- and this is pure speculation -- this is Apple's equivalent of giving Amazon the finger. Amazon acquired Lexcycle back in 2009, and that this could be part of a series of moves by Apple to drive people toward the iPad and the upcoming iBooks software. I wouldn't be too surprised if Apple found a way to ban the wonderful Kindle app [iTunes link] from the App Store at some point in the future. Is Apple becoming the next Tammany Hall with Steve Jobs its "Boss" Tweed? For now, to avoid losing USB sharing, remember not to do a bulk upgrade of your apps and avoid any future Stanza updates.
WSJ: Tablet confirmed, Apple to reinvent old media
All of their information is centered on the alleged mystery device that will allegedly be announced at a now official event next week. Here are some of the juicier tidbits they passed on from those mysterious people "familiar with" what's happening on Inifinite Loop: Always partial to the education market, one thing this device might be used for is e-textbooks, presumably including the sort of multimedia content that goes beyond the printed page. Textbook publishers aren't the only publishers Apple has been talking to. They're chatting up Conde Nast, Harper Collins, The New York Times, and even CBS, Walt Disney Co, and Electronic Arts (for games). A "Best of TV" service is possible, with a subscription to a set of on demand programs chosen by the consumer. Those same people are also reporting there is a revamp of iTunes coming, which would separate the purchase of iTunes content from the iTunes application. The device will have a 10 or 11 inch screen, a virtual keyboard, and "sharing" is mentioned -- two ideas being thrown around are the ability to leave sticky notes on the device or even have the camera recognize faces of those using it. Price is expected to be around $1000, and they'll be selling it to people who already have iPhones and laptops as well. Of course the piece itself doesn't have a full confirmation from Jobs, so we'll have to wait until next Wednesday for that: Apple's invitation to the media event on January 27th is titled "Come see our latest creation", and is generally considered to be the public debut of a tablet-style device. But when the Wall Street Journal says there's a tablet coming, there's very likely a tablet coming, and if everything they're saying about this device is true (which would make sense -- we've heard most of it before in rumor form), look out world.
Amazon Kindle moves to App Store's 70/30 revenue split
Most of the rumors coming out about next week's event say that there'll be a tablet with a lot of similarities to the popular Amazon Kindle device, but even before Apple takes the stage, Amazon is taking one of the new ideas for its own. The online retail powerhouse announced that it is adapting a payment model for content providers that's very similar to the App Store, with a 70/30 split on pay sharing. There are a few limitations (there's still a cost for delivery, and the publisher has to conform to a number of price, feature, and location standards), but essentially, Amazon is taking the exact same model that has worked so well for both Apple and its development partners, and bringing it to the Kindle platform. The timing is interesting -- with Apple just about to release what many expect to be a Kindle competitor, you have to wonder what Jeff Bezos is thinking. You have to wonder what Apple will do, too: while there are certainly all kinds of other things the theoretical tablet can do, it's possible that, if they are as close as some people think, Apple and Amazon will end up competing over content delivery, and one or the other may have to change its royalty offerings in order to attract more premium content. That's all a ways down the line, of course -- first, Apple needs to announce the tablet, and then we have to see what happens in terms of releasing content for it. But there's no question Amazon and other companies are watching Apple's plans in the App Store, and it'll be interesting to see what comes next.
Exclusive: Infinitec demonstrates IUM ad hoc streaming device, makes it look like a flash drive
Chances are you've never heard of Infinitec, a small startup looking to make big waves out of Dubai, but multimedia junkies will probably want to keep a close eye on 'em for the next little while. The outfit dropped by today at CES to give us a sneak peek at its forthcoming Infinite USB memory device (IUM). In short, this device contains a small computer and 802.11n WiFi module within, and it's designed to create point-to-point contact between networked media (or a networked PC with media onboard) and pretty much anything else. You insert the device into a host PC, pair it up once and create a maximum size (1GB for cheap-o players that can't support larger flash drives, 1TB+ for sharing your entire NAS -- for instance), and then connect it to whatever you wish in order to give said device access to those files that you just selected. Basically, it tricks the recipient into thinking a flash drive has been inserted, when in reality it's just giving that device wireless access to media stored elsewhere. The device serves a few purposes: you can use it to give all sorts of files to other machines in your home, or you could plug it into your HDTV or Blu-ray deck in order to stream PC-bound content right to your den. The goal here was to make other devices assume that this was just one giant flash drive, with gigabytes upon gigabytes of media right on the drive. So far as the receiving PC or set-top box knows, the IUM is just a stock flash drive with a capacity of your choosing. Just drop files over like you would from a standard USB key, and it shoots across the network to its final destination. Currently, it's not suggested that you use this to send files over the internet -- the lag in tunneling just makes for a poor user experience. The demo we witnessed (watching a Simpsons episode that was hosted on a nearby netbook) was remarkably smooth, with the user being able to skip ahead by minutes at a time with no visible lag. There's even the hope that the internals could one day be integrated into laptops in order to remove the need for an external dongle, but for now, you can expect a summertime release in the US and a sub-$150 price tag. So, you fixing to get your stream on, or what? %Gallery-82076%
iPhone devsugar: SwapKit
iPhone developer Emanuele Vulcano has been working on a new iPhone OS data exchange protocol called SwapKit [Apple Dev account required for link]. Hosted on GitHub, SwapKit provides App Store-friendly application-independent ways to publish data with custom metadata for sharing between applications. SwapKit can automatically find all other SwapKit-using applications on a device and determine which of those applications can perform specific actions on that data. For example, a developer might send a string to the first Twitter-ready client it finds and request that client to post the string as a new tweet. SwapKit basically offers a Mac-style LaunchServices for iPhone. Open source and provided under the MIT license (basically "use however you like"), SwapKit remains in early development. The screencast shown above demonstrates basic SwapKit features, demoing both sending and receiving functionality.
