Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen I quite fancy the native Weather.app for iPhone: it’ simple and intuitive, providing some basic info about the weather and forecasts. And obviously, there are hundreds of clones out in the App Store: some apps are useful and “professional”, other are just pieces of shit thrown together into an .app bundle. That’s the truth.Today I’d like to talk about an app that has made it to the first page of my homescreen in a matter of 5 minutes and which has changed the way I “look at the weather” on my iPhone: Outside.  Outside is an application designed by Michael Flarup and developed by Will Wu of Robocats, a new and promising dev team. When I first launched Outside I asked myself two questions: “Is this the actual interface? Why would someone develop such an application?” Let’s start from the second one. Outside is a new twist on the typical weather application: it combines weather, local forecasts and notifications in a single, awesome package. It’s an application made for people who are really interested in the weather, like: “Should I wear a coat today?” and “When can I wear my favorite t-shirt again?”. Basic stuff, useful app. No complicated data or ultra-nerd graphs, Outside displays a window on the screen. A window, nothing more, nothing less.  Then, I said I asked myself if the interface was real. I mean, it’s very likely that you’ll think it’s the welcome screen: it’s so gorgeous it seems fake. After some seconds I realized the UI has been designed by Michael Flarup: Michael is 25 yo talented graphic and icon designer from Denmark, which blogs and showcases some of his works over at PixelResort. Now you understand how come it’s so gorgeous, huh? Movin’ on, let’s see what Outside could do for you.Well, it displays the... Continue Reading Original Article on Source Site
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen  Big change in TV distribution is in the wind, if the Wall Street Journal’s reporting on Apple’s “all you can eat” iTunes television plan is true. According to the WSJ, CBS and Disney are considering allowing their entire television lineup to be sold on a single-fee, all-access subscription basis. Consumers will love this, but many traditional cable companies will probably feel as though Apple shoved coal in their stockings.
Apple’s subscription strategy makes the most sense when viewed alongside the introduction of a larger screen iPod device. Some will buy the “ iPod Tablet” because it’s new and exciting, but at an average of $25 or more per season per show, iTunes as it currently exists won’t be replacing your cable company anytime soon. However, with a network-wide subscription service, the balance changes.
More devices means the same content in more places for the same monthly fee. Your Apple TV becomes the digital hub Steve always imagined it to be and, hopefully, gets upgraded by Apple to handle it’s new role as a set-top box. Your iPod Tablet becomes your TV anywhere device; not as good as your home TV, but much better than your iPhone.
Back in June, I wrote how cable companies and Apple were on a collision course, and the WSJ’s article only reinforces the points I made then. It’s not just cable companies of course; DirecTV, AT&T Uverse and other traditional media distribution companies will feel just as threatened. Cable companies, though, are the most established in the field and have the most to lose. Combined free HD over-the-air local broadcasts and a iTunes network subscription for premium content, and Apple really starts looking like a spoiler to Comcast and the like.
Cable companies bundle content to increase revenue. Subscribers can’t... Continue Reading Original Article on Source Site
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen Filed under: Software Whoa. A judge for the The U.S. Court of Appeals has just upheld an earlier verdict forbidding Microsoft from selling both Office and Word after January 11th, 2010. This suit, which was filed by i4i, a creator of a XML plugin for Microsoft Office, alleged that Microsoft's Open XML format, which uses the DOCX and XLSX extensions that have been a part of Office on the Mac since Office 2008, violated i4i's patented XML handling algorithms. The court ruled in favor of i4i back in May, and Microsoft today lost their appeal, with the judge telling them that they don't have the right to sell the software as-is.
Microsoft now either has to attempt to appeal the ruling again, or settle with i4i (read as: "Ballmer has to write a big honking check"), and is currently considering further legal options. The company is also working to remove these
Monday, 21 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen So, you’ve been put on the nice list this year, and Santa decided to get you an iPhone. Soon after getting it out of the box, you’ll realize how customizable the iPhone can be. However, navigating the world of iPhone apps can be overwhelming. With so many to choose from, how do you decide which ones to get first? It’s easy -- just check out our list of the essential apps for new iPhone users.
iPhone apps to keep everything running smoothly
First and foremost, your new iPhone is running great just out of the box, and since you’d like to keep it that way, your first download should be the System Activity Monitor. This iPhone app will keep your phone running in top shape, and also allows you to see what’s taking up your memory and then free it up. The app costs only $2.99, which is way better than waiting in line or on the phone for
Sunday, 20 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen We all knew this was gonna happen. The day Ryan Petrich announced he was working on a new application to manage backgrounded apps on the iPhone, everyone thought of Multifl0w, and how ProSwitcher (this is the name of the new app by Petrich) could become the new, best multitasking application from Cydia. And here we are today, with ProSwitcher in public beta and a multifl0w update on its way. I’ve been trying ProSwitcher for a few hours now, and I’ve already ditched Multifl0w for it.Find out why.ProSwitcher is smooth. It works like Multifl0w, basically, but it’s in details where it stands out. First, animations: when you activate ProSwitcher so that it brings the backgrounded apps on front, the windows fades in and out as if it’s powered by Mac OS’ CoreAnimation or CoreGraphic. It’s sexy. Same applies when you choose the application or quit ProSwitcher: everything feels so natural and integrated into iPhone OS you’ll ask yourself if it’s a native appllication. And I repeat, it’s the first beta, many updates and fixes will come.  Moving on, ProSwitcher comes with a large set of Preferences: you can choose to display the application’s title right under the preview window, dim the background, swipe to close, set a corner radius and many other things. Also, you can choose between 10+ activation methods, including taps / swipes on the statusbar and pinch on the Spingboard.  ProSwitcher is way better than Multifl0w right now, there’s no doubt about it. You can download the beta by adding this source in Cydia: http://booleanmagic.com/repoAs for Multifl0w, the developer Aaron Ash has just tweeted... Continue Reading Original Article on Source Site
Monday, 14 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen  Two new iterations of iPhone firmware are already in field testing, a website's access logs indicate. Records publicized by Boy Genius Report show devices with v3.1.3 and v4.0 firmware connecting, alongside hardware at or before the present v3.1.2 revision. A v3.1.3 release could be imminent, as it would be a relatively minor update and just in time to support a flood of new iPhone and iPod touch owners....
Friday, 11 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen Minco 1.0.1  Minco is a lightweight time tracker working with iCal.
The seamless iCal integration allows you to easily add tasks in any application that supports iCal. Beautiful, intuitive, and ready to work, Minco sits in your menu bar ready to start tracking your time. Minco will record your time spent working into your iCal calendars and can also export to a CSV file for further analysis. The flexible output adapter allows you to generate customized files to help with invoicing or billing.
Time tracking on the Mac OS X has never been easier. WHAT'S NEW Version 1.0.1:
Bug: Background scrolling.
Other Bug fixes and improvements.
REQUIREMENTS Mac OS X 10.6 or later. PRICE $14.95 DEVELOPER DOWNLOADS 1219 
Wednesday, 09 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen MacNN - Video hosting site Qik says it has submitted a new iPhone application to the App Store, one capable of live streaming. The present app has so far bee...  
Monday, 07 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen  Google today launched a pair of developments that promises to overhaul its core search business. The company has developed a real-time search display known as "latest" that shows new, live results alongside the original search hits. It can not only find news stories and other typical updates as they appear but also Twitter and other content that doesn't always get indexed elsewhere....
Sunday, 06 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen Mailbox Manager 1.6.1  Mailbox Manager is a utility to remote-check in one go one or several POP3 Mailboxes (i.e. Mailboxes you access through Emailer applications such as Mail, Thunderbird, Eudora and the like, or through a browser) and fully manage their messages (inspect, delete, answer/forward/redirect etc.) before downloading them.
Mailbox: it is possible to get the list of all its messages or a selection of them (ex. the last five messages, or messages from 7 to 11); and if you leave copy of them on the server, you can retrieve only the last (new) ones.
Messages: of each message you can view its partial or full content; and when necessary, the message can be answered/redirected/forwarded; and its attachments downloaded. Should you find any undesired message, you have the option to mark it as SPAM and to delete it.
Databases: the SPAM database offers criteria to mark as SPAM incoming messages; while the White List database holds the addresses of friendly mails that --when checking mail-- will be marked as such.
Quitting Mailbox Manager, your Emailer application can be automatically launched to retrieve the remaining messages (or your browser may automatically connect to a site supporting Mail OnLine).
Scheduled mail-checking supported.
WHAT'S NEW Version 1.6.1: Messages can be answered. REQUIREMENTS Mac OS X 10.4 or later. PRICE $12.00 DEVELOPER DOWNLOADS 11601  ... Continue Reading Original Article on Source Site
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Outside is an application designed by Michael Flarup and developed by Will Wu of Robocats, a new and promising dev team. When I first launched Outside I asked myself two questions: “Is this the actual interface? Why would someone develop such an application?” Let’s start from the second one. Outside is a new twist on the typical weather
Then, I said I asked myself if the interface was real. I mean, it’s very likely that you’ll think it’s the welcome screen: it’s so gorgeous it seems fake. After some seconds I realized the UI has been designed by Michael Flarup: Michael is 25 yo talented graphic and icon designer from Denmark, which blogs and showcases some of his works over at PixelResort. Now you understand how come it’s so gorgeous, huh? Movin’ on, let’s see what Outside could do for you.Well, it displays the...
