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Keep your CPU under control with App Tamer
It's been a little while since we've heard from St. Clair Software, makers of the well-known system utility, Default Folder X (which we've covered before). You may recall that we caught up with St. Clair Software developer Jon Gotow at WWDC '09. Well, he's got something new to announce today: App Tamer, a system utility for keeping CPU-intensive applications under control. App Tamer is similar to some other utilities, in that it allows you to "freeze" selected applications so that they use up zero CPU time, leaving more processing power for other applications. What makes App Tamer special is AutoStop, which pauses and unpauses frozen applications when you switch away from or back to them. It also has options for temporarily unfreezing applications at a configurable interval, allowing apps to complete background activities even while frozen. It's quite flexible, but takes very little user knowledge or time to get it up and running.
iPort: Wall-mounted home automation for iPad
I have already seen the iPad used in home automation -- Savant is using an iPad app to hook up to some of their home automation systems, using Apple's tablet to control the TV, a whole entertainment system, or even do some remote control of house lights or HVAC, or even monitor cameras remotely with a video feed. And here's another system that does the same type of thing: iPort is a home automation system centered around an iPad, providing an in-wall port where the iPad can both charge and work as a multi-use touchscreen control. On its own, it's basically just a wall-mounted dock, but in conjunction with a home automation system, the iPort turns the iPad into a touchscreen-based interface for the home. Prices on these things are always weird -- because most high-end home automation systems are sold as solutions rather than products, they tend to run into the "if you have to ask how much it is, you can't afford it" range. But I give the iPort folks a call, and they told me that while each dealer has their own setup and pricing, the recommended price is around $500. Some of you may scoff, sure -- $500 is a bit steep for what's essentially a port with a frame around it. But like Savant told me when I saw their products, the iPad is actually a revolution in this industry. For what the same-sized touchscreen interface with similar functionality would have cost a few years ago, sticking an iPad in a wall and building an app to control an automation system is actually a bargain. [via Macsimum News]
Barnes & Noble releases NOOKstudy for e-Textbooks
As promised, Barnes & Noble has released their NOOKstudy app for both Windows and OS X computers -- you can get the app for free on their webpage now, and then use it to download textbooks for school this fall (either buying them at a discount compared to the real paper copies, or just checking out a free trial). The app comes with some study guides and over 500,000 books for free, and B&N says it has over a million e-textbooks up for sale already. It'll be interesting to see how a system like this takes off this fall as students go back to school -- I always thought textbooks were a huge hassle when I was in college (and I even made it through a few classes without ever buying them), and I think digital copies would certainly seem a little easier. Too bad for the resellers, though -- I know they make a killing selling used books every year, and a market like this is a definite threat to that one. [via Engadget]
The system requirements of Final Fantasy XIV
It's an open secret that Final Fantasy XIV is going to be quite intensive on computers. Even with the release of the official benchmark program, no one has been quite sure how accurate the test is for gauging performance. (The fact that the benchmark focuses on performance during congested periods of gameplay isn't helping.) If you've been fretting because your computer got a low score on the official benchmark, or just because you prefer having hard data instead of loose guidelines, then you're in luck -- the team at FFXIVCore has the official system requirements. Although the recommended system requirements are still going through revision, even the minimums are on the beefier side. They're nothing unreasonable, but those with older machines that manage Final Fantasy XI will need to take stock and invest in some upgrades. On the other hand, if you scored just fine on the benchmark, you'll be happy to know that there are also a bevvy of new screenshots available in the same post. Keep your eyes peeled as we get closer to Final Fantasy XIV's release, as there's little doubt the team at Square-Enix will be tweaking the code for optimal performance.
Final Fantasy XIV launches benchmark application
Curious as to whether or not your computer will be able to handle Final Fantasy XIV? We're due for an exclusive interview with Square-Enix in the very near future at E3, but that's focusing on game mechanics and story details. Luckily, much like Final Fantasy XI before, Square has made an official benchmark program available for prospective players. But it's more involved than its predecessor, allowing you to select from any of the game's races as well as supporting a test for high-definition displays. The download itself is being hosted on NVIDIA's site, at a fairly reasonable 172 megabyte download. Once you have the program downloaded (and DirectX 9.0c installed, but that's more or less a given in this day and age), it runs without any complications and produces a numerical score after it runs through tests. Anything above a score of 1500 will be able to run the game just fine, but a look at the official rundown is well worth the time -- to see how much upgrading you'll have to do before Final Fantasy XIV's launch if nothing else.
iPhone 4 pre-orderers overwhelm servers, world on the brink of ending
Look up at the sky -- is it falling? It sure seems as if that kind of doom is imminent, at least if this whole iPhone 4 pre-order situation is any indication of future tragedy. We've received hundreds of tips this morning from friends near and far that iPhone 4 pre-orders aren't going through, though a few of us here on staff were able to get a confirmation during the wee hours of the morning. From AT&T in the US to O2 over in the UK, it seems that just about everyone ambling to get their name on a future iPhone 4 is experiencing a great deal of frustration. AT&T's servers seem to be completely hosed here in America, and since Apple's own online order process has to ping those to check on your contract status, neither option is... um, working. Those who decided to line up at a local store are facing similar issues; employees aren't even able to fully process pre-orders in store due to systems being overwhelmed, and no one seems to exactly know when things will be back to normal. And you thought the most enraging part of this was the inability to select a white model. Let us know how your experience has been in the poll and comments below, won't you? Update: So, it sounds like Best Buy is taking pre-orders (even for white units), but chances are remarkably high that you're not actually getting in any line. Still, it's a working option for the moment. In other news, the Apple Store app is seeming to allow iPhone 4 orders, but it looks as if they're reserving off-contract phones (read: full price ones), so we'd only recommend this avenue if you enjoy things like "arguing about contract dates" and "yelling at brick walls." We're guessing you'll be doing both on the 24th. %Poll-48069%
iPad as desktop status monitor
Imagine this: you put your iPad into its dock next to your desktop (or laptop), and it transforms into a heads-up display of all the important stats from your machine. Maybe add some news and weather, and your "Today" list from your favorite to-do app. I'm sure there are a good number of people who could care less about this kind of thing, but ever since I saw Steve's post on Air Display, I started pondering the possibilities. This is my proof-of-concept. See the gallery for less-blurry images of the results. I set up ScreenRecycler on my MacBook Pro and used iTeleport to turn my iPad into a third monitor. That part was easy enough, and I found a few screen resolutions that work pretty well. Next, I opened up GeekTool 3 and duplicated a few of my Geeklets (little widgets that run shell commands and scripts to print data onto your desktop). These were dragged to the iPad to create a workable display configuration, including: Time and date Calendar for the month with current day highlighted Current weather (with icon) Heaviest processes by memory and CPU usage 5-minute average system load Some uptime and memory stats. I'll tell you outright that I don't recommend trying this, at least not using currently-available tools. GeekTool is strange enough about dragging Geeklets around, you don't want to try it on a network-attached monitor with a terrible refresh rate. It's downright painful. For you, dear TUAW reader, I persevere. When it's all said and done, the iStat iPhone app starts looking pretty darn good on the iPad. What I want to see, though, is a dedicated app come out with configurable modules. It doesn't need to be as flexible as GeekTool, and I really would rather not have it run as an additional monitor. I'd just love to see something similar to iStat, but with more customizability and an iPad-optimized display. A build-your-own HUD, if you will. Have at it, intrepid iPad developers. %Gallery-93640%
TUAW's Daily App: Captain Ludwig
I've already exclaimed my love for Dizzypad, and Captain Ludwig is a game in the same vein. You're tasked with navigating a character (in this case, a little man) around a series of rotating platforms. However, while Dizzypad is more of an open-ended arcade game, Captain Ludwig adds some strategy and goal chasing to the mix by emphasizing collection and exploration. The game is a series of stages, and each stage has stars to collect; the overall goal is to explore the entire "system" of spinning planets. There are a few other elements (mines and rockets both hinder and help on the journey), but the biggest innovation is just that sense of exploration. Unlike Dizzypad, where it was all about timing, Ludwig actually gives you someplace to go. You can try it for free with the lite version or pick up the full game for just US$1.99.
Gamesalad supports iPad game development
The folks over at Gamesalad have announced that they're releasing iPad functionality on their super-simple game development platform. They've already offered an iPhone development service for just 99 dollars, and now their system will export games directly to the iPad in the same type of way. I've never actually used their app, though we did get to see in action on the floor at Macworld earlier this year. It seems super simple -- you just drag and drop sprites onto a 2D field and set up different behaviors for each one. If you've been itching to make a game, but aren't quite ready to dive in to punching out code, this might be a good place to start.
VeriFone credit card reader gets deal to be in Apple Stores
The Square credit card reader for the iPhone has gotten most of the buzz around here, especially after we saw that impressive demo at Macworld a few weeks ago. But VeriFone's competing reader has been given the green light by Apple itself: the unit has been granted a deal for shelf space. VeriFone will be selling its PAYware Mobile units inside Apple's retail stores coming up as soon as the end of March. I'm not quite sure what the reasoning is behind this one on Apple's side, as the PAYware service seems to be a little more clunky than the Square solution: you have to pay both an activation fee and a monthly fee on top of the per-payment charge that Square asks for, and the reader itself is much bigger, taking up the iPhone's dock rather than just using the headphone port like Square's. Whatever Apple saw in them, you'll be able to get VeriFone's system right along with an iPhone or iPod touch all at the same time.. No matter which system eventually prevails (if indeed anyone needs to prevail at all -- there's certainly more than one credit card company, so there's no reason why there couldn't be more than one payment system on the iPhone), this does seems like a model that will change a lot of business transactions in all sorts of industries. It'll be interesting to see how the curve takes off once these things are up and running.
TUAW redux: The future of iPhone OS and Mac OS
One of the big topics of discussion yesterday in our TUAW back channel was this post from the New York Times Bits blog. In "Why can't PCs work more like iPhones," Bilton pointed out that the iPhone has given Apple a chance to build a new OS from the ground up. This is a familiar viewpoint to us here on TUAW. Last year, I asked whether the future of the Mac OS would turn out to be the iPhone. In my write-up, I pointed out that the iPhone OS was built from scratch to work with Objective C 2.0 with its properties and other modern language features. Its API, far from being cobbled together, showed ever increasing design maturity without the weight of heavy backwards compatibility concerns. I concluded that Apple might take a lesson from the iPhone OS and consider offering a ground up redesign for Mac OS X, at least in terms of core OS principles. In his post, Bilton considers how Mac OS X might integrate iPhone OS features into its user experience, suggesting a possible Front Row-like overlay layer, running an iPhone OS interface. The goal would be to craft iPhone-style GUI simplicity onto the desktop experience, so that users could move seamlessly between their mobile and desktop worlds. But as much as we believe that Apple is heading cautiously in the direction that Bilton suggests, the TUAW consensus is that a desktop OS needs far more structure and, at the same time, flexibility than what the iPhone OS offers.
Adafruit shows off the Square dongle for credit card payments on the iPhone
Adafruit is one of a few companies that has been chosen to test the Square dongle that automagically takes credit card payments on any iPhone. Even though we got to see it in action at Macworld, I think every look we can get at this thing is worth it, considering just how darn revolutionary it seems. The video on Flickr shows just how quick and easy it is -- just swipe the card, and sign with your finger on the iPhone's screen. I haven't bothered carrying cash for a few years now, and something like this only makes it easier to not only take payments for vendors, but for me to pay. Hot dog guy needs a few bucks but doesn't have a landline connection to run a credit card on? No worries, just swipe and done. Want to give to the Salvation Army guy over the holidays but don't have any money left in the wallet? Just swipe and done. Word has it that the transaction cut will be 2.9% (though the video above shows 3.5% -- maybe you can change the percentage depending on circumstances), but odds are that in most cases, the convenience will be well worth it. The whole program's still in beta, but it probably won't be long before you'll see (and maybe even use) one of these out in the wild. [Via Engadget]
Australian Broadcasting Corporation wants to be on the iPad
ABC is making moves to bring their content to the iPad, but before you get all excited about seeing the Lost conclusion on Apple's tablet, let us point out that we're talking about the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, not the guys who write Jimmy Kimmel's checks. The down-under version has told Adobe that they want to build content for the iPad as soon as possible, and while Flash is tied up in a lot of back-and-forth lately, ABC confirms that they're excited to bring some kind of content to the iPad, even though they're not sure exactly what content yet. Why? They're convinced the iPad is a whole new outlet for content consumption. They aim to use the iPad to "bring about a very different relationship with our readers than other platforms," and their head of strategic development says the iPad could create a whole new category of mobile content. While the iPhone is made for more quick hits of content delivery, the rep says that "with [the iPad] you can imagine people sitting back on the sofa and enjoying something longer." After seeing the form factor in action at Macworld last week, we can, too. It'll be very interesting to see the types of content that come from a device like the iPad, and it's great to see big content companies jumping at the chance to create it. [Via iPad Insider]
More eBook trouble for Amazon
Amazon has run into more trouble with its pricing -- after Macmillan and HarperCollins, a third company has pressured the online book retailer to raise prices on their Kindle eBooks. This time it's the Hachette Book Group, and their CEO in an internal memo says that the company will switch to an "agency model" for eBook sales. What's an agency model? Why, it's the 70%/30% split between platform and content provider currently used in the App Store, and the same model that's planned to be used in iBooks on the iPad. And it's important to note that this is exactly what Jobs said would happen -- that publishers would move away from Amazon when they had another system to go with. What we don't yet know is where prices will end up on the iPad -- Jobs said that prices would be "the same," and it's looking more and more like the $9.99 bestseller price is going to be abandoned for $14.99 or even higher. But that's only because Amazon is fighting shadows with the iPad right now. If they can actually woo some content back to their side when the iPad actually releases, we may see prices get a little more competitive. Until then, the iPad hasn't even come out and it's already shaking up the ebook industry completely.
Kevin Rose demos Square payment system for iPhone
Digg's Kevin Rose is the newest investor in this Square iPhone payment system that we've been seeing lately, and as you can see above, he's demo'ed the unit for everyone over on YouTube. It works as we've heard: there's just an addon that you plug into the iPhone's headphone jack, and then an app takes information from the swiper, and transmits it out for an actual credit card payment, with a finger doing the signature. The app, as Kevin says, will even upload GPS information, so you can make sure that payments are happening in the right place. Unfortunately, what he doesn't mention is the actual price to get payments up and running. Square's website says that there's "no contracts, monthly fees, or hidden costs," but they've got to pay for the system somehow, so you'd expect there to be a fee for setup, for the accessory, and then a fee per charge through the system, but we haven't heard what any of those will end up being yet. Depending on how steep they are, this could be a gamechanger -- accepting payments anywhere, any time, with an online record and receipt for each one, no cash involved. Would be incredible for small business owners, and probably a lot of other sales folks, too.
Mac OS 10.6.3 to bring many fixes
The release of Mac OS 10.6.3 moves closer as Apple has begun widespread testing of build 10D522. According to AppleInsider, this update focuses on stability and core components like AppKit, CoreMedia, Desktop Services, FileSync, Fonts, HIToolbox and more. The current build is 665.7MB in size. Reports indicate that nearly 60 crash-happy bugs have been squashed across more than 90 components with this update, like printing issues with iCal, Mail and PhotoBooth (fortunately I haven't experienced those). Additionally, 10.6.3 includes native support for the Magic Mouse. Apple began limited testing in December, and has released several builds since. Now that testing has become more widespread and the fixes increase, we move closer to release.
iPhone credit card reader to be demoed at CES
Coming this CES (which is actually next week): a complete credit card transaction accessory and service for your iPhone. If this thing works as expected, you might actually see it in more than a few places (think: street vendors that will take credit card payments). A company called Mophie is planning to show off an add-on that works with an app to deliver credit card payments through Square, a payment service recently started up by Jack Dorsey, a Twitter alumni. This is one of a couple such systems that will be vying to fulfill the function (and probably take a few cents from each transaction for their troubles), but so far all we've really got is demos, no actual releases planned. But maybe we'll hear more at CES. There's all kinds of applications here -- a solid, working implementation of a service like this could end up being extremely popular for anybody that regularly needs to conduct transactions out in the field.
The best of WoW.com: December 8-15, 2009
Patch 3.3 is out in the World of Warcraft, and the game is experiencing a new influx of excitement. The new Dungeon Finder system means almost anyone can jump into an instance whenever they want, and new raiding and 5-man content means players are off and questing again. Just in case you're wondering what this new patch is all about, WoW.com has you covered. Hit the links after the break for our top 10 posts of the past week, and head on over to the site for up-to-date information about the the World of Warcraft.
How many wipes does it take to end a raid?
This is probably a good question to revisit since we're heading into a patch where lots and lots of us will be running pickup raids and groups. Souldreamer on WoW Ladies LJ asks: "just when do you give up on a raid?" It's a good question, and unfortunately, the answer probably depends on the raid itself. If, going in, you're not sure just how much DPS the raid can do, and your healer says he's actually specced prot, and you were planning on going to bed anyway, one wipe is probably enough to call it. On the other hand, if you've dropped a few bosses and have an issue with the tank losing aggro for a second on a boss, you'll probably go back for another few wipes just to see. Do any of you have an actual policy? I tend to not get involved in PuGs at all if I think there's a chance they won't make it -- there are too many fish in the sea, and too many other things for me to work on rather than beating my head up against a boss. But maybe it would be good to set up a rule that most of us can agree on, something like, "three wipes and you're out." That might save a lot of time and frustration in the new Dungeon system.
The sudden popularity of GDKP
We've been seeing this GDKP thing sneak up on the forums and elsewhere a lot lately, and while Scott has mentioned it (in a somewhat disparaging way, in fact), we haven't really taken a good look at it yet. So let's do so. GDKP stands for Gold DKP, which is kind of a mishmash of acronyms. DKP, or Dragon Kill Points, are a very popular way of determining loot division in a raid -- the concept dates back to earlier MMOs, and involves players earning points per boss kill that they can then spend on gear. We've talked about other DKP systems before. But rather than awarding loot based on arbitrary points, Gold DKP, as you may have guessed, instead gives loot to the player willing to pay the most gold... to the other players in the raid. The way it works is this: You go into an instance, say Naxx, and everyone knows ahead of time that it is a "GDKP run," or a "gold run," or a "cash run." You down the first boss, and Webbed Death drops. The master looter then takes bids of gold on the item (this can be done via public chat or via an addon), and whoever bids the most gold gets the item. The person who wins then pays that amount of gold (some raids have minimum bids of, say, 100g) to "the pot," and the raid moves on. Another boss drops, another item drops -- usually all items, including recipes and mats, are auctioned off -- and another high bid goes into "the pot." Then, at the end of the raid, the pot is evenly split among all members. Everybody who joined in on the raid gets an even share of the bidded gold, including people who got no items, or the Mr. Moneybags who won them all.
