Keep Your Word

post from Find Mac Stuff on 21 March 2009 11:28:22 PM. © Find Mac Stuff

Do you want to learn a new language? Do you want to memorize a long list of medical terms? Do you[...]

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Sally's Spa for Mac

post from MacNN | The Macintosh News Network on 21 March 2009 07:00:00 PM. © MacNN | The Macintosh News Network

Macgamestore.com has released the sequel to its Sallyís Salon game for the Mac, Sallyís Spa. In the ...

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GlobeSurfer III update

post from MacNN | The Macintosh News Network on 21 March 2009 06:40:00 PM. © MacNN | The Macintosh News Network

Nova media has announced an update to its 3G wireless router GlobeSurfer III. The device works by co...

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Weekly App Store Picks: March 21, 2009

post from TheAppleBlog on 21 March 2009 06:06:00 PM. © TheAppleBlog

iphone3

It’s the weekend, traditionally a time for quiet contemplation of the freshest iPhone releases, welcome to the App Store Pick.

Hang on there one moment though because before we run headlong in to a stack of apps, we’ve got but a few moments to look at the latest happenings on TheAppleBlog this week.

First up, Neil Gaiman’s creepy Coraline just hit the App Store in eBook form. It’s available to download now for $5.99 but we’ve got four Coraline promo codes to giveaway. If you’d like to bag yourself a copy of Coraline, just drop a comment at the end of this post (and make sure to leave an address for us to email the code to), we’ll dish out the promo goodness on a first come first served basis.

Over in iTunes, HD movies are now available for sales and rental too. It’s great that we can reap all the benefits of HD via download, however the price point, $19.99, seems super expensive and thus utterly ill-considered to me. In other film-related news, in a rare publicity move, Apple has opened an official Twitter account, specifically for new trailers, check it out at twitter.com/itunestrailers. Those who doubt the account’s authenticity should check out the Apple Trailers site which now sports a Trailers on Twitter link.

None of this matters though when we consider the real Apple news this week: the long-awaited über-happening that was Apple’s iPhone OS 3.0 event; and though they may be Jobless, that didn’t stop a flurry of rumor-mongering activity and excitement focused on the unveiling of the latest iPhone software update, arriving this Summer.

For me, it didn’t disappoint, while there’s still no mention of Flash coming to the iPhone, cut/copy/paste will finally arrive, as will MMS and push. There’s also an array of awesome new features beyond those must-haves. For instance, there’s the iPhone’s new Spotlight page — it brings search to the iPhone — meaning you can simultaneously hunt through contacts, messages, mail and music.

For developers, there’s some serious potential for advanced apps that the iPhone update’s APIs will bring. In particular, access to the iPod library for apps — potentially bringing an added dimension and layer of interactivity to our music collections: think Tap Tap Revenge creating new levels with your iTunes music library.

Moving on to the app picks, this week I’ve been looking at Nimbuzz, Yamanote Soundrop Lite, iGamesDev and Cardsnap.

picture-117 Nimbuzz (free)
Over at GigaOm, Om Malik mentioned that he’s looking forward to checking out Nimbuzz, a super communication app that touts just about every major IM service, alongside VOIP too. On first look this app is undeniably impressive — setting up is quick and easy, even providing a degree of control over the buddy list — essential for users with tons of contacts over several services. The app looks and sound great too, even — quite unexpectedly — flipping in to landscape mode when needed. For me, and I suspect many others, this is an essential download and has already taken pride of place on my Home screen.

yama Yamanote Soundrop Lite (free)
I’ve got a soft spot for absurd apps that seem to slip in to the App Store, created by developers who seem to have no notion about who their target demographic might be. I think this is a good thing — it shows that there’s still a spirit of fun floating amidst the dirge of quick-buck, sound-fx apps and useless business tools. This app plays the music from various stations on what I think is a Japanese train-line. With its absurdly long twinkly melodies, this app is useless and cute and, as such, made me smile.

picture-35 iGamesDev (free)
The concept behind this convoluted game of cards is fantastic. The app is intended as a witty critique of the iPhone game development. The game itself, though, is crazy complicated — resembling something more akin to The League of Gentlemen’s Go Johnny Go Go Go Go, with its nonsensical myriad rules. Unfortunately, the game ends up being amusing only because it’s ironic that this iPhone game about iPhone game development is so poorly coded.

picture-44 Cardsnap ($9.99)
I’m always interested to know if the expensive apps are actually worth it or if the price is simply the developer’s wishful thinking. Cardsnap — an app for snapping images of business cards which are then processed server-side and synced to your address book — isn’t really worth the price but I imagine business-folk will buy it anyway. The big issue is that the iPhone camera immediately fails when it comes to taking pictures of business cards. The idea is great but the iPhone just ain’t up to it yet.

That’s all from the App Store for another seven days. I’ll return during the week with TheAppleBlog App Review and, as always, on Saturday with my Weekly App Store Picks.

In the meantime, what apps have you been using this week?

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ex-Googler startup imo.im Launches Skype Support,
Voice & Video

post from prMac on 21 March 2009 05:55:00 PM. © prMac

imo.im have announced their free online service that aims to make online communication more intuitive and accessible. Co-founded by ex-Googler Georges Harik it couples voice, video, and text chat capabilities with the most popular instant messaging protocols. Currently in alpha stage development, the startup has released an update that introduces major new features and makes imo.im one of the only multi-protocol instant messaging services to offer Skype support.

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Quietube: YouTube Without the Distractions

post from Daring Fireball on 21 March 2009 04:05:00 PM. © Daring Fireball

Bookmarklet for stripping all the visual clutter away from YouTube videos. (Via David Weiss.)

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WaterField Designs Introduces SleeveCase for the
Dell Adamo

post from prMac on 21 March 2009 03:27:00 PM. © prMac

WaterField Designs, a leading manufacturer of custom-fitted computer cases and bags, introduces a new protective laptop SleeveCase size 25-18 for the Dell Adamo. This rugged and stylish SleeveCase adds itself to WaterField's 50+ custom laptop sleeves for the Apple and PC market.

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Despair Over Obamas Financial Policy

Paul Krugman does not like Geithner plan:

In effect, Treasury will be creating — deliberately! — the functional equivalent of Texas S&Ls in the 1980s: financial operations with very little capital but lots of government-guaranteed liabilities. For the private investors, this is an open invitation to play heads I win, tails the taxpayers lose. So sure, these investors will be ready to pay high prices for toxic waste. After all, the stuff might be worth something; and if it isn?t, that?s someone else?s problem.

As Krugman wrote yesterday: “This administration, elected on the promise of change, has already managed, in an astonishingly short time, to create the impression that it?s owned by the wheeler-dealers.”

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Product Manager 1.1 released - Manage company
products of any kind

Tension Software announces Product Manager 1.1. Product Manager is a software to manage on Macintosh, company products from different points of view. It's document based and can manage an unlimited number of documents each with an unlimited number of products inside, subdivided in families.

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illumineX Donates Free Software to Apple User
Groups

illumineX announced today a free software give-away to Macintosh User Groups as part of their 2009 MUG sponsorship program. In exchange for a banner link on the MUG web site, participating MUGs will receive ten licenses for HoppiX. Each Macintosh User Group can use the software however they like: raffle the software to raise money for the MUG, or give away the licenses as door prizes to boost meeting attendance.

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