Monster adds details to Heartbeats for US

post from Macnn | The Macintosh News Network on 30 September 2009 11:50:00 AM. © Macnn | The Macintosh News Network

Monster Cable late this afternoon provided greater details of its Lady Gaga-influenced Heartbeats in...

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Eltima Software releases Flash'in'App 2.5 -
Custom Cocoa Framework

post from prMac on 30 September 2009 11:50:00 AM. © prMac

Eltima Software today released Flash'in'App 2.5, a Cocoa framework which lets developers load and fully manage Flash movies right within Mac applications. This framework contains a set of classes, which offer the ability to load, play and manage any SWF files right within this application. The application can communicate with SWF file via External API, FSCommands and Variables. It also allows creating custom-shaped windows and running your Windows Flash-enabled applications' GUI on Mac.

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http://prmac.com/release-id-7783.htm

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Yale Press Drops Paul Rand-Designed Logo

post from Daring Fireball on 30 September 2009 11:40:00 AM. © Daring Fireball

There’s nothing wrong at all with the new one, but there’s nothing magic about it either. The Rand one was magic. (Via Jason Santa Maria.)

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http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/art-news/2009/09/30/yale-press-drops-distinctiv
e-logo/

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Greenpeace lauds Apple, HP in new electronics
rankings

post from Macnn | The Macintosh News Network on 30 September 2009 11:40:00 AM. © Macnn | The Macintosh News Network

Activist group Greenpeace has released a new edition of its Guide to Greener Electronics, which rank...

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Bento 3

post from Daring Fireball on 30 September 2009 11:38:00 AM. © Daring Fireball

Funny that this would ship this week. It occurs to me that Bento is a great example of the sort of thing I wish Adobe would do. FileMaker — the product, not the company — is old and big and cross-platform and there are tons of professionals who depend upon it. Bento isn’t a replacement for FileMaker; it’s a do-over alternative. FileMaker’s forte is in approachable visual database software. Bento is their answer to the question, “What would we do if we were starting over from scratch for the Mac today?”

Adobe shouldn’t scrap its existing software any more than FileMaker Inc. should scrap FileMaker. But where’s Adobe’s “Bento” for bitmap and vector image editing for the Mac? The Bentos in this space are coming from indie developers with apps like Acorn, Pixelmator, Lineform, and Opacity.

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http://www.filemaker.com/products/bento/features.html

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Sierra intros five new AirCard 3G data modems

post from Macnn | The Macintosh News Network on 30 September 2009 11:35:00 AM. © Macnn | The Macintosh News Network

Sierra Wireless has added five new AirCard 3G data modems to its lineup, including the AirCard 503, ...

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Base Mac mini shipping dates slip

post from Macnn | The Macintosh News Network on 30 September 2009 11:30:00 AM. © Macnn | The Macintosh News Network

Rumors of an immiment Apple desktop refresh were bolstered today by the addition of a delay to shipp...

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Tweetie 2: The Complete iPhone Preview

post from TheAppleBlog on 30 September 2009 11:20:00 AM. © TheAppleBlog

tweetie_2_iphone

The sequel to Tweetie, the Twitter client that earned itself the much-coveted Apple Design Award earlier this year, is on its way to the App Store as you read this.

For the past few weeks I’ve been part of Loren Brichter’s Tweetie 2 beta program, testing out new features as the former Apple engineer constructed his new Twitter client.

Brichter has rebuilt Tweetie from the ground-up. The sequel incorporates features such as app persistence, offline mode, drafts, threaded conversations, landscape support and much more.

Read on for an in-depth look at what to expect from Tweetie 2.

Look & Feel

While Tweetie 2 incorporates an updated aesthetic, it won’t be difficult for both new and veteran users to get to grips with the app. More so impressive is how the app incorporates a raft of new features without overwhelming the user.

tweetie_2_app_timeline

Even after playing with Tweetie 2 for a few weeks, I’m still discovering new functionality. For instance, when replying to a tweet you can now drag down with your finger to “peek” at the original message.

It’s a small feature indeed but finding these kind of miniscule updates brings to mind that satisfied glow we all get when discovering new features in OS X. In essence, skimming through tweets, tapping out messages and finding new folk to follow looks and feels great with Tweetie 2.

Writing & Replying

Composing richer tweets is easier now. Tweetie 2 lays out the different options clearly so that you can quickly add content to your latest 140 character micro-opus. In a given tweet you’re able to access your Twitter address-book and @ messages, search current hashtags, geotag your tweet and add photos too.

tweetie_2_app_reply

Plus, just like with Tweetie on OS X, you can now shrink URLs with the tap of a button. Obsessively attentive readers may have noticed me video tweeting from Big Bird over the past few weeks, that’s because Tweetie 2 also incorporates video tweeting from the 3GS.

tweetie_2_app_translation

There’s also a wealth of options available beyond simply retweeting a message from someone that you’re following. Now you can quote the tweet, post a direct link, translate and even e-mail the tweet to a friend — all without leaving the app itself.

tweetie_2_app_drafts

For prolific Twitter users there’s now a drafts manager. This means that you can write and save a stack of tweets for posting later on. I’ve found that it’s particularly handy to have several drafted tweets ready to go just incase you get hit by a case of tweeter’s block.

Browsing the Timeline

The app now features full persistence. This means that if you’re, say, tapping through a prolonged conversation and then you quit the app, you’re able to pick up exactly where you left off. Every single time you exit, the app remembers your place and drops you right back there.

tweetie_2_app_settings

Offline reading has been incorporated too. You’re now able to compose those witty little one-liners while offline, save them to your drafts, and unleash them on the Twittersphere next time you’re online. Even users or tweets you follow, block or favorite while offline will be synced back to the server.

tweetie_2_app_threaded_chat

Exactly like the desktop version of Tweetie, there are now threaded conversations, making it much easier to jump into an ongoing discussion and catch up with what you missed. Also, although I don’t use any read this later services, some users will be pleased to note that there’s Read It Later and Instapaper support too.

tweetie_2_app_refresh1

One of the most ingenious little additions to the timeline view is the “drag to refresh” gesture. Instead of tapping a refresh button, you simply scroll to the top of the timeline and then drag down. It works as intended and, thanks to the gesture combined with a sound-effect and flippy-floppy arrow, it feels tangible and satisfying.

Landscapes & Locations

Not only can you compose a tweet in landscape view, the entire app can be browsed in landscape view. I appreciate that some users may have been waiting for this, however it’s not a feature that I particularly wanted, nor do I make use of now that it’s here. If I could find the button to turn off auto-rotate, I would do so.

Setting that little niggle aside, the Nearby tweets feature has received a much-needed overhaul too. The original Tweetie displayed an odd looking radar animation before loading a basic, but functional, timeline of tweets nearby your current location.

tweetie_2_app_nearby

The new Tweetie loads up a Google Map and then pops up tiny speech bubble icons representing all the tweets in your vicinity. It’s an effective way of sorting through local tweets and is a more creative approach than the standard timeline view.

And There’s Even More…

There are details and small features that you almost certainly won’t come across within the first few days of using the app. For instance, Brichter has now included profile editing from within the app.

tweetie_2_app_profile_edit

Another feature that I just picked up on today is the ability to tweet simultaneously from multiple accounts. When composing a tweet you simply tap the “New Tweet” header at the top of the screen and then select the other accounts that you’d like to post the message from.

The Bottom Line

The app is a standalone purchase, as opposed to an update/upgrade. It’ll be available in the App Store soon for only $2.99, just like the original iPhone Tweetie. There’s also an update to the Mac version on the way, however this will be a free update to current owners of Tweetie for OS X.

If you’re unfamiliar with the current state of Twitter clients, we’ve got a great roundup here on TheAppleBlog. It’s worth noting that the original Tweetie came out on top as one of the top clients.

The new app definitely gets a thumbs-up from me, although I’d be interested to know which of you will be upgrading to Tweetie 2 when it comes out.

Read The Full Article:
http://theappleblog.com/2009/09/30/tweetie-2-the-complete-iphone-preview/

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Pioneer intros industry's first 12x Blu-ray disc
writer

Pioneer on Wednesday announced the release of the industry's first 12x Blu-ray disc recorder, the BD...

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Kottkes Visitor Trends and Statistics

Fascinating trends from another non-Mac site that shows tremendous recent growth in Mac users. Also worth looking at the browser trends, where Safari and Chrome are gaining fast — another year like this one and Kottke will have more WebKit users than Gecko ones.

In a footnote, Kottke mentions search engine traffic:

Google is ruling the search space more than ever. 93.2% of the incoming search traffic to kottke.org comes from Google. That’s up from 91.2% a year ago and 83.7% two years ago (!!).

For DF it’s far more pronounced. For the month of September to date, Google accounts for 98.1 percent of my search traffic. No other search engine breaks the 1 percent mark.

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Read The Full Article:
http://kottke.org/09/09/kottkeorg-visitor-trends-and-statistics

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