Tension Software announces Product Builder 1.1

post from prMac on 11 May 2012 02:26:00 PM. © prMac

Tension Software announces Product Builder 1.1 for OSX. Product Builder allows software developers to create packages ready to be transmitted to the Mac App Store. Product builder helps to avoid common errors in submitting an app to the app store and insures the package to submit is in the correctly signed and formatted. It allows to create the package in an automated way, saving a lot of time and error free. Standard Help and PDF User Guide included.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-42494.htm

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

The Day I Became A Pirate Book App Reaches #8 in
App Store on Fourth Day

post from prMac on 11 May 2012 02:10:00 PM. © prMac

The Day I Became A Pirate, a new Book App released to the App Store for the iPad and iPhone, has reached #8 in just four days. An exciting adventure tale told in rhyme includes fun animations, sounds, puzzles, an original song and the first ever Pirate X-Ray machine is featured as a new app in both the iPad and iPhone categories, and reached #8 for paid iPad apps in the books category. Available in the App Store from TaleSpring Publishing.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-42572.htm

Digg this

New greeting cards, frames for Mother's Day from
eCard Express iOS app

post from prMac on 11 May 2012 02:05:00 PM. © prMac

Bartsoft Inc., has published a new Mother's Day update for both the iPhone and iPad versions of eCard Express and eCard Express HD. The update includes new greeting cards and frames for Mother's Day, Father's Day, Frames, Love and Friendship, as well as new UI and stickers optimized for The new iPad Retina Display. All of these new cards are free of charge for all current eCard Express users. eCard Express now offers a total of more then 270 greeting cards and frames in 18 different categories.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-42571.htm

Digg this

Apple thinks Samsung is playing dirty, plus four
other Apple stories to read today

post from Apple on 11 May 2012 02:03:37 PM. © Apple

With so many people writing about Apple, finding the best stories and reports isn’t easy. Here’s our daily pick of stories about the company from around the Web that you shouldn’t miss:

Apple is cranking the up the drama in its legal war with Samsung. Network World uncovered a recent legal motion in which Apple accuses Samsung of destroying “vast quantities” of evidence the company was supposed to turn over to Apple’s lawyers.
Wonder why so many TV and movie characters carry MacBooks, iPhones and iPads? BusinessWeek reports on how Apple came to be the most sought-after product placement source for gadgets in Hollywood.
Starting on Wednesday, the U.S. Postal Service will no longer deliver international shipments of gadgets with lithium-ion batteries — like iPads, Kindles, iPhones — to any recipients, including U.S. troops stationed overseas. Fast Company explains the USPS’s new rule.
China Daily says CEO of Foxconn Terry Gou told reporters that his company is “making preparations” for an Apple television. It’s not a direct quote, and if you read closely it doesn’t indicate there’s been an order from Apple, merely that his factories would be ready to build them. Either way, another bit of tantalizing fuel for the Apple television rumor fire.
Mildly amusing: Ask Siri what the best smartphone is and its automatic answer is not “iPhone 4S,” as The Next Web discovered.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

Read The Full Article:
http://gigaom.com/apple/apple-thinks-samsung-is-playing-dirty-plus-four-other-app
le-stories-to-read-today/

Digg this

iOS 6 Maps

post from Daring Fireball on 11 May 2012 02:03:16 PM. © Daring Fireball

Speaking of Mark Gurman, he had a piece today on a major update to the Maps app in iOS 6:

According to trusted sources, Apple has an incredible headlinefeature in development for iOS 6: a completely in-house mapsapplication. Apple will drop the Google Maps program running oniOS since 2007 in favor for a new Maps app with an Apple backend.The application design is said to be fairly similar to the currentGoogle Maps program on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, but it isdescribed as a much cleaner, faster, and more reliable experience.

No surprise to anyone even vaguely paying attention to the cold war between Apple and Google. Jason Snell, responding on Twitter:

Does 9to5 Mac not know that the iOS maps app has always beencalled Maps, not Google Maps? [?]
Maybe it’s the Apple Kremlinologist in me, but the genericness ofMaps.app has made me always feel Google would be dumpedeventually.

The Maps app has always been Apple’s. It’s only the back-end data they got from Google. (Gurman says much the same later in the article, but the lead I quoted above suggests otherwise.)

?

Read The Full Article:
http://9to5mac.com/2012/05/11/ios-6-apple-drops-google-maps-debuts-in-house-maps-
with-incredible-3d-mode/

Digg this

iCloud Beta Website Briefly Shows Web Apps for
Reminders and Notes

post from Daring Fireball on 11 May 2012 02:03:16 PM. © Daring Fireball

Federico Viticci:

Available at beta.icloud.com, I managed to grab a screenshotbefore Apple quickly pulled the website and started redirecting itto iCloud?s public website. The beta page showed a testingenvironment, and I was able to see the Notes icon in thebackground, as tweeted by Troughton-Smith.

Over at 9to5Mac, Mark Gurman found references to an even more intriguing subdomain: developer.icloud.com.

?

Read The Full Article:
http://www.macstories.net/news/icloud-beta-website-briefly-shows-reminders-notes-
web-apps/

Digg this

QuickMatch: How to find similar fonts fast with
Suitcase Fusion

post from Manage This on 11 May 2012 12:03:49 PM. © Manage This

[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://blog.extensis.com/font-management/quickmatch-how-to-find-similar-fonts-fas
t-with-suitcase-fusion.php

Digg this

Games for the weekend: Magnetic Billiards:
Blueprint

post from Apple on 11 May 2012 12:03:45 PM. © Apple

Games for the Weekend is a weekly feature aimed at helping you avoid doing something constructive with your downtime. Each Friday we?ll be recommending a game for Mac, iPhone or iPad that we think is awesome enough to keep you busy until Monday, at least.

Magnetic Billiards: Blueprint ($0.99, Universal) is not anything like playing a game of pool. Remember back to the time you first stepped up to a billiard table, grabbed the nearest pool ball, and sent it sailing across the table crashing into the other balls. That is a more accurate depiction of the fun that is Magnetic Billiards Blueprint.

Magnetic Billiards Blueprint

The graphics are simple 2D renditions of pool balls on a billiards table. Everything is sketched out as if it were an actual blueprint. Game play takes a little getting used to — even though there is a very well articulated tutorial, you have to try and fail a few times before you really get the hang of things. Striking each pool ball is easy enough to master as interaction is similar to other pool games on touch devices. Tap the ball you want to hit, drag and pull in the opposite direction, then let go. However, where to aim, what to hit, and how to win is another matter entirely.

Magnetic Billiards Blueprint

Each ball has a colored pattern on it. The goal is to join all of the similarly colored balls on the table together. The challenge is that you cannot hit an opposite color ball first. You must hit the same color ball first. There is also a point system where you score higher by bouncing off of the bumpers and “buzzing” other balls. Buzzing refers to coming very close to an opposite color ball, without actually hitting it. As each of the similarly colored balls hit each other, they lock together. And if you happen to join them together into specific geometric patterns you earn even more points.

Magnetic Billiards Blueprint

Once all of the balls have been joined together into a geometric cluster, they are removed from the table. Once all clusters are cleared from the table, you are graded for how well you did. The higher the grade, the faster you are awarded a key to unlock the next table. This cycle of playing, scoring and getting graded continues through out the initial 20 tables that come with your initial purchase, as well as an endless arcade game.

Magnetic Billiards Blueprint

So the real question concerning the in-app purchases relates to the skeleton key, the key that unlocks all of the tables. Is it truly worth the $7.99 that the Pickford Brothers charge? In addition to unlocking all tables in the game, it also opens up the three additional levels of 20 tables (available individually for $1.99 each), and the two additional arcade games (also $1.99 each). You also gain access to two rather cool prototype games. The 60 additional tables increase the difficulty and keep the game fresh as you earn the grade of spectacular on each table.

Magnetic Billiards Blueprint

The two arcade games just stress you out by adding a countdown timer and an ever-increasing number of balls to the crowded table. But the real treasure is in the two prototypes, especially Squish, a gravity version of the classic magnetic billiards gameplay that more closely resembles a variant of Tetris. ISMMTTM, the other prototype game, is on the other hand a bit harder to explain, you will just have to try this platform-like rendition of a NinJump out for yourself. Overall the $0.99 initial investment is defiantly worth it, and if you find yourself wanting more, the added bonus of the two prototype games makes the $7.99 investment worth it as well.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

Read The Full Article:
http://gigaom.com/apple/games-for-the-weekend-magnetic-billiards-blueprint/

Digg this

Battling your iPhone has never been more fun w/
Self Aware for iOS

Oregon base Dingle LLC today announces the recent release of Self Aware for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. This wildly original puzzle game pits players against their own iPhones as they match wits with a renegade security program named STU in a battle to free their phones from this omnipotent technological menace. Self Aware is part mini-game escapism and part puzzle challenge all packaged so cleverly you might just have to 2nd guess where the game ends and your normal mobile device starts.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-42568.htm

Digg this

SMEStorage announce their Cloud File Server
supports HP Cloud Services

SMEStorage today announced that the SMEStorage hybrid Cloud File Server is now available to be used with HP Cloud Services. Perfect for small to medium businesses, SMEStorage has delivered its Cloud File Server product to be used by customers who have provisioned HP Cloud Services. The Cloud File Server features a multi-tenant file server solution for teams with a rich web interface and native clients that include Mac, Windows, Linux and all mobile devices.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-42545.htm

Digg this