Game Center is almost out in consumers' hands, but that hasn't stopped the folks at OpenFeint from pushing forward on their unofficial social network for gamers. PlayTime is a newly-announced feature of the third-party social networking software that will allow players on both iOS and Android to play in real-time with each other, and even use voice chat while doing that. OpenFeint is splitting its multiplayer services into two different paths: "Casual" games will use highscores to offer up multiplayer and even co-op challenges, while "Core" games will actually run real-time multiplayer, in conjunction with a system from a company called Exit Games.

Sounds interesting -- the new features are being tested by developers right now, and will be available in OpenFeint sometime later on this year. Game Center will definitely make a big splash in iPhone gaming when it gets released next week, but OpenFeint is still planning on sticking around and innovating where even Apple hasn't yet dared to go. iOS game players will be glad to have both around when all is said and done.

TUAWOpenFeint announces PlayTime, real-time multiplayer with voice chat for iOS and Android originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Here's a quick tip for iTunes that puzzled a few of us this morning: once you've gone ahead and set up Ping in iTunes 10, how do you 'like' a song instead of an album? The albums have those handy thumbs-up buttons, but it's not as obvious for songs.

A bit of exploration reveals that the 'Like' command is under the pop-up menu for each song, along with the other song-specific actions like gifting, sharing, wish-list-adding and the 'Other Versions' search.

We'll have more iTunes 10 tips and tricks coming right up.

TUAWiTunes 10 quick tip: Liking a song in Ping originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Apple has just released their 3rd preview/beta of their upcoming Xcode 4 software. Hot off the heals for iOS 4.1′s golden master release, this new preview of Xcode for includes iOS 4.1 compatibility and a few new features. As always, bug fixes are included.

New features include a new activity interface for developers as well as a completely fresh user-interface for the new code completion technologies in Xcode 4. The second preview of Xcode 4 was issued to developers in late July and the first preview was provided exclusively to WWDC 2010 attendees in early June.

Power users of the command-line are no doubt familiar with iTerm, the free replacement terminal application. iTerm has been the go-to alternative for people who wanted tabbed windows and other advanced features.

Development of iTerm has been fairly slow and irregular. The initial release was back in 2002 and the 0.10 release is almost a year old. A look at the version history shows very little has happened since 2006.

A "fork" of the project is now available on Google Code and goes by the name iterm2. The current version, labeled "Alpha 6" was just released yesterday. On the surface it looks pretty much the same, until you get into the bookmarks, preferences, and profiles which have been completely rewritten.

Thanks to TUAW reader Nikola Knezevic for sending this in!

TUAWiTerm 2 in early development originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Apple seeded another release of Leopard version 10H535 today.  This one continues to focus on 3D Graphics, iCal, Mail, QuickTime,Time Machine, USB Devices and still gets foiled by VMWare.

Here’s Steve Jobs chatting about how he and Woz (his “partner in crime” from yesterdays event) used to illegally manipulate the phone networks for their own gain. “If we hadn’t made Blue Boxes, there’d be no Apple.”–Jobs

That’s something to think about next time the subject of jailbreaking comes up.

Woz’s version (below), as you’d expect, is a little more colorful.


Kottke via Giz

Here's a good sign that you've made some pretty significant changes to your application: three different people from the company write three different posts about the new design. That's what the folks from Iconfactory did about Twitterrific 3. David Lanham wrote about Redesigning Twitterrific, not just the timeline, but also the settings, contacts, filtering, and more to "optimize the user experience." Gedeon Maheux wrote about Twitterrific's Tough Love, and realizing that Twitterrific had gotten out of hand, along with the steps they took to make it better rather than just pile more on top of it. Craig Hockenberry wrote about not designing for early adopters, whose expectations may limit making something better by expecting you to simply build on what you had before.

I was an early adopter of Twitterrific on the Mac, and still compare all other applications to Twitterrific when I am using them. When I first heard about the changes in Twitterrific 3, I was sure I was going to hate them. After having used it for awhile, I still think Twitterrific is my favorite iPad app. I've been using it since I bought my iPad back in mid-June, and although I've tried some of the others, I keep coming back to Twitterrific. Many others have just started using Twitterrific 3 for the iPhone or iPad because Twitter turned off "basic authorization" logins. All Twitter applications now must use Twitter's (severely, thoroughly flawed) OAuth system for logging in.

Read on for my thoughts on the app, as well as what TUAW heard directly from Iconfactory about the future of the app.

TUAWTwitterrific 3 for the iPad: change, tough love, and better originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

If I had to make a list of the top ten features I thought would be included in the iOS 4.1 update, HDR photography would not have been on it. HDR really came out of the blue, and one developer told me he was 'shocked' to hear that the feature was included in the next iPhone update.

Let's back up a minute. HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography is a method where pictures are taken at different exposures and combined into one image. Since the iPhone and most monitors can't really display the full light to dark range of the image, the HDR software tone maps the picture, so you see details in the shadows and don't blow out the highlights, such as a bright sky. HDR images are controversial. Some people hate them, and think it produces garish pictures. Others love the flexibility to shoot pictures in challenging lighting conditions.

I like to use HDR at times when shooting landscapes, and recently documented a photo trek where I was able to use HDR apps on the iPhone.

TUAWiOS 4.1 with HDR built-in comes as a shock to HDR app developers originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Last month, Google released Priority Inbox, a system that learns which messages are the most important to you and highlights them automatically over time. It's in beta right now and Google is slowly turning it on for its users. If you're tired of waiting, or if you use Apple's Mail and not Gmail, you'll appreciate this setup from Ben Brooks.

Ben explains how a combination of rules acts as his "priority inbox" for Mail. He's got some basic rules in place, like one that identifies messages from Apple and one that files backups away. Others are more clever.

For instance, he's written one that first notices if his work address is in the CC field, and then checks if his name appears in the message body. If not, it's highlighted red and stored away. That way, it's marked "less important" in Priority Inbox terms.

Conversely, another rule searches for messages from people on a pre-defined "Important" list and flags them. Taken individually the rules are clever but not amazing. Combined, however, they make for an effective system. Go and read the whole post.

[Via Shawn Blanc]

TUAWSet up your own Priority Inbox with Apple's Mail originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Before I get rolling here, let me warn you -- I'm not a frequent user of iTunes. I don't spend all of my time purchasing new music, videos, and movies, nor do I obsess over creating playlists to share with my friends.

However, I do use it often enough that after firing up iTunes 10 last night, I immediately found some things I wasn't fond of and some other items I quickly loved. Am I going to lose sleep over the things I don't like? Nope. But I hope that it gets TUAW readers thinking about what they like and dislike about the new iteration of iTunes.

Dislikes:

1. What's with the close / minimize / maximize buttons being vertical in the top "toolbar" of iTunes 10 (see example at right)? As I stated to my cohorts here at TUAW this morning, doesn't that fly in the face of 10 years of experience with OS X and even violate Apple's Human Interface Guidlines? Fortunately, there's relief. A tweet from @rudyrichter showed how to fix this -- pop into Terminal and type or paste in "defaults write com.apple.iTunes full-window -1", press Return, relaunch iTunes and life is back to normal.
2. I miss the colorful icons in the sidebar. There used to be color in the icons for Library, Store, and Shared Items. What happened to the color? It looks so ... drab over there now. If anyone can come up with a defaults command to bring the colors back, I'll give 'em a nickel. Hey, they also removed color icons in the preferences. I want my color back! Everything is so grey and boring. Perhaps that's Apple's way of saying "focus on the content we're trying to sell you, not the application."

TUAWFive dislikes plus five likes equals iTunes 10 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

FileMaker, Inc. announced the Bento 3 Project Manager, a brand new set of templates designed to make it easy for Mac users to track their personal projects and manage their time within one integrated, intuitive place. The Bento 3 Project Manager includes a free 30-day trial of the popular Bento 3 personal database for Mac, plus two professionally designed, ready-to-use templates.

Apple has jumped into the social media pool with both feet by introducing Ping to iTunes 10. Since this is brand-new, we'll show you how to set it up and start pinging your friends. Whatever that means.

After installing iTunes 10, you'll see the Ping button. Click it to enter your Apple ID and begin the process of creating your profile. It'll pull the information stored on the account, like name and address, but fortunately you can edit it. You can add a photo to represent yourself as well. There are many PhotoBooth-style filters available, so have fun playing around.

Note that your photo won't go live until Apple approves it. Mine took a good 20 minutes to show up, and others have said the same thing. Just be patient, it'll get there.

Click below to read more.

Gallery: How to set up Ping

TUAWiTunes 101: How to set up Ping originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Ars Technica got an Apple spokesperson to relay the bad news to those Apple hobbiests that, until last week, plucked down $229 for the former AppleTV:

We confirmed with an Apple spokesperson that the maximum HD resolution of the Apple TV is 720p, consistent with recent rumors. Additionally, there will be no software update to bring the new features to older Apple TVs. Older Apple TVs will continue to work as they have been working up to this point, and they will continue to be able to purchase movies and TV shows even though the new Apple TV is rental-only.

Good news?  The Boxee community is likely to continue to update their fantastic (but often slow) offering.  Better yet, now you don’t have to feel guilty about hacking your AppleTV now that Apple has abandoned it.  (via Giz)

A few months ago, Twitter announced that they had acquired Tweetie and the web (I refuse to use the word "blogosphere" because it is a stupid word) exploded with predictions that they had effectively killed off the market for 3rd party Twitter applications by offering a free alternative.

With the release of Twitter as a universal app that now includes iPad support (read the official announcement here) I feel confident that the reports of the death of 3rd party Twitter applications have been greatly exaggerated.

The UI for Twitter for iPad is, without question, unlike any other Twitter application that we've seen. Opinions around the TUAW offices differ on whether this difference is "awesome" or "an abomination." I definitely range towards the latter end of the scale, and judging by most of the comments of people that I follow on Twitter, the initial reaction is definitely one of "too busy" and "over designed."

This is in sharp contrast to Twitterrific, which just released a major update for the iPad and iPhone where the Iconfactory made dramatic simplifications to the app, while retaining the most important features for the most users. (Craig Hockenberry talked about those changes here.)

TUAWOfficial Twitter app updated for iPad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Things 1.4.1Things is task management solution that helps to organize your tasks in an elegant and intuitive way. Things combines powerful features with simplicity through the use of tags and its intelligent filter bar. A Leopard style source list allows for quick and easy focusing. Together with a beautiful user interface, Things aims at the seemingly impossible: making task management both easy and fun.

Our screencast is a great introduction. Learn from our users why Things is different ? either on i use this or Newsvine.

• The big picture. A Leopard style source list lets you easily focus without ever switching view modes or wrapping your head around filter criteria.
• A magical tag bar automatically appears when needed and adapts to the currently displayed list. It lets you drill down even the longest list of To-Dos. Hierarchical tags? We got you covered!
• Teamwork. Things offers convenient collaboration features. Easily delegate tasks to members of your team. (This is work in progress.)
• No columns! Whether it\'s multiple tags, dates or notes, To-Do items display their information on an as needed basis. No more space wasted by empty or irrelevant column cells!
• Out of your head, out of your way. A quick entry HUD lets you enter any idea the moment it hits you. Never let the thought of an unfinished business distract you again.
• Yours forever. We won\'t lock you in. Things will use an open XML file format to store your data. (Not yet activated.)
• Things even supports GTD, so if you\'re familiar and comfortable with GTD concepts, you\'ll feel right at home.

WHAT'S NEWVersion 1.4.1:

• Fixed a bug that prevented the Quick Enty window from opening on Mac OS 10.5.

REQUIREMENTSMac OS X 10.4.11 or later.
PRICE$49.95
DEVELOPERCultured Code
DOWNLOADS72379
DOWNLOAD NOW (8.3 MB)
More information

Knox 2.0.4

Knox... As the only integrated solution for encryption and backup, Knox makes securing your files easier than ever. Create as many encrypted vaults as you want, each with separate passwords. Then schedule automatic backups. You can even reformat USB sticks and external drives as encrypted Knox vaults - moving files between Macs has never been so simple and secure.

Knox uses the Mac OS X encrypted disk images feature, the technology behind FileVault, to protect your data. This means that your vaults are encrypted by the U.S. Government’s new Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) with 256-bit or 128-bit key length. The AES algorithm is secure, but don’t take our word for it: even the NSA has found its strength to be sufficient for protecting classified national security information. The implication? Your data will be safe whether it\'s a rogue kid or a rogue nation going after it.

And because the encrypted disk images are supported as standard in Mac OS X, Knox vaults - including whole disks encrypted with Knox - can be opened even without Knox installed.

WHAT'S NEWVersion 2.0.4:

• Fixed a crash that could happen right after Knox is launched.
• Fixed a crash that could happen when a volume is mounted or ejected.

REQUIREMENTSMac OS X 10.5 or later.
PRICE$34.95
DEVELOPERAgile Web Solutions, Inc.
DOWNLOADS12684
DOWNLOAD NOW (2.5 MB)
More information

Until now, the state of Twitter on the iPad hasn’t been great. There were a few pretty good apps (I’ve been using Tweetdeck), but the field needed a champion. Enter the official Twitter for iPad app.

Early this morning, Twitter for iOS was updated as a universal app, bringing a new iPad-specific format to the existing iPhone one. Loren Birchter, the man behind the Twitter app, and Twitter itself has long heralded its arrival. So is it worth the wait?

GA_googleFillSlot("TheAppleBlog_Left_Middle_300x250");

Well, Twitter definitely has the right idea with this app at first glance. Unlike some other third-party clients I could mention, Twitter for iPad takes full advantage of the iPad’s generous screen space, and does so creatively. You won’t find the same sort of columns that Tweetdeck uses, but you will find a modular, multi-pane layout that pushes new content to the right allowing you to navigate through threads of tweets without losing the thread of where you’ve come from and how exactly you got there.

You can also use two nifty new multitouch gestures. Pinching a tweet will show you the user profile of the person who tweeted it, and pulling down with two fingers will open up a view of the entire conversation related to that tweet, if there is one. Video plays inline, or you can expand it to take up the whole screen. It also continues to load in the background if you want to keep navigating through your stream or open panes.

In terms of the differences between landscape and profile view, there really aren’t any, other than getting to see more of your history in landscape, and more of your timeline in portrait. Users of the OS X Tweetie desktop app will recognize the left-most account overview column, and it works equally well on this platform for switching between multiple Twitter profiles.

So, while some power-users might still prefer Tweetdeck’s columns, Twitter’s iPad app is a much better choice for the rest of us. It’s clean, simple, but powerful when it needs to be, and I’ve yet to run into any bugs. Plus, it’s free. This is by far the best Twitter app out there for the iPad platform.

Users who haven’t yet updated to iOS 4 on their iPhone devices might want to hold out updating for now, though, as many negative reviews in the App Store indicate that the new version crashes on iOS versions 3.1.3 and earlier. var galleryData = [{"title":"Twitter1","caption":"","thumbnail":"http:\/\/gigapple.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/09\/twitter1.png?w=48&h=48&crop=1"}, {"title":"Twitter2","caption":"","thumbnail":"http:\/\/gigapple.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/09\/twitter2.png?w=48&h=48&crop=1"}, {"title":"Twitter3","caption":"","thumbnail":"http:\/\/gigapple.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/09\/twitter3.png?w=48&h=48&crop=1"}, {"title":"Twitter4","caption":"","thumbnail":"http:\/\/gigapple.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/09\/twitter4.png?w=48&h=48&crop=1"}, {"title":"Twitter5","caption":"","thumbnail":"http:\/\/gigapple.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/09\/twitter5.png?w=48&h=48&crop=1"}, {"title":"Twitter6","caption":"","thumbnail":"http:\/\/gigapple.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/09\/twitter6.png?w=48&h=48&crop=1"}, {"title":"Twitter7","caption":"","thumbnail":"http:\/\/gigapple.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/09\/twitter7.png?w=48&h=48&crop=1"}, {"title":"tweetie_ipad_thumb","caption":"","thumbnail":"http:\/\/gigapple.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/09\/tweetie_ipad_thumb.jpg?w=48&h=48&crop=1"}];

LoadingNextPreviousPicture 1 of 8 tweetie_ipad_thumb

SelfControl 1.3SelfControl is an OS X application which blocks access to incoming and/or outgoing mail servers and websites for a predetermined period of time. For example, you could block access to your email, facebook, and twitter for 90 minutes, but still have access to the rest of the web. Once started, it can not be undone by the application or by restarting the computer, you must wait for the timer to run out.
WHAT'S NEWVersion 1.3:

• Automatic checkup safety system to eliminate permablocks
• UI refresh
• User-settable block duration/intervals
• Other minor improvements

REQUIREMENTSMac OS X 10.5 or later.
PRICEFree
DEVELOPERSteve Lambert
DOWNLOADS4553
DOWNLOAD NOW (1.9 MB)
More information

Audio Hijack Pro 2.9.7Audio Hijack Pro drastically changes the way you use audio on your computer, giving you the freedom to listen to audio when you want and how you want. Record and enhance any audio with Audio Hijack Pro - it\'s the cornerstone of your digital audio experience.

Audio Hijack Pro will allow you to record any application\'s audio, from internet streams to DVD audio and everywhere in between. If your machine can play it, Audio Hijack Pro can record it. And that\'s not all - Audio Hijack Pro will also enhance any audio, unsing industry-standard VST and AudioUnit audio effects to make your music sound incredible. Record. Enhance. Enjoy!
WHAT'S NEWVersion 2.9.7:

• The Instant Hijack component has been updated to 2.2.7, which fixes several small bugs.
• The LAME MP3 recording engine has been updated to 3.98.4.
• The VoiceOver plugin now defaults to a lower buffer size, for reduced latency.
• A bug where deleting a session which was recording could cause a crash has been corrected.
• A bug with the Minimize to Menubar Record option has been corrected.
• A bug where HotKeys failed if they included the \'A\' key (yes, really) has been corrected.

REQUIREMENTS

• Mac OS X 10.5 or later
• QuickTime 7 or later

PRICE$32.00
DEVELOPERRogue Amoeba Software
DOWNLOADS225072
DOWNLOAD NOW (6.9 MB)
More information

CenterImages 3.0CenterImages enhances the way Safari handles solo images aka \"image URLs\" (URLs that end with e.g. jpg, png, or gif.)

• The image gets centered or zoomed in.
• The background\'s brightness can be adjusted.
• The image\'s contrast can be enhanced – right in the browser window!

WHAT'S NEWVersion 3.0:

• Big rewrite for image enhancement functions. Toolbar added.

REQUIREMENTS

• Mac OS X 10.5 or later.
• Safari 5.

PRICEFree
DEVELOPERlukas drechsel-burkhard
DOWNLOADS41
DOWNLOAD NOW (58 K)
More information