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The Apple Community, Part II

A few hours ago, I came back from the Apple Store at Roma Est driving all the way back home after a 19-hour wait for the new iPad. Tired – exhausted, my head exploding for the absurd coffee intake I forced my body into, but happy, smiling because I knew that what I had imagined all along didn’t turn to be true – it was better.

Until yesterday, I had never waited in line for an Apple product before. I always preferred driving to the store myself after a few days, or simply asking one of my US friends to ship me an iPhone or iPad without waiting for the Italian launch. A lot of people told me “I was missing out” – that for an Apple fan, getting in line to wait for a new product isn’t just about waiting, which is boring per se, it’s about knowing the people that share your same passion, not giving a damn about spending 20 hours of their lives to get “a device”. Today I can say buying an iPad was just the tip of the iceberg for what has been an incredible experience – something that I look forward to for the next big Apple launch.

I know I am late to the party. I’m fairly certain you all know what a “Day One” looks and feels like. Long lines, security staff, Apple employees, the cheering and the clapping before and during the launch. All that felt new to me. Unexpected and familiar at the same time, as if I was getting to know for the first time a family that, however, I had always known somehow.

It’s no exaggeration to call the people I got to meet in real life last night an extended family. I wrote about the Apple Community before, but actually meeting the people I mention so often is different. I shook hands and made bad jokes 5 minutes after arriving at the line. I talked to folks I only “knew” through Twitter and Facebook, and got a chance to really know them from a much more rewarding perspective. I talked to the founder of another blog and spent two hours discussing the future, where we see things going for our sites, and the state of Italian Apple reporting in general. I introduced myself to Apple PR, finally giving a face and a smile to the people that keep in the loop about news and announcements. I shared meals, coffee – and lots of it – and exchanged phone numbers and Twitter handles. Because whilst I may have known some of those folks already, clicking on usernames and friend request buttons after knowing them felt more real. Necessary. Natural. An obvious consequence.

It was surreal. I mean, we’re talking about a bunch of people – from any kind of social extraction – waiting in line and sitting on the ground to buy a gadget. We are talking about employees of a big corporation, all dressed up in blue and clapping and shaking your hands because you are giving them money. Because you are the customer. And it was surreal, because it felt like you were there as a friend. As my girlfriend put it - “they make paying more pleasant, as if you are glad you are giving them money”. I don’t know if I’m “glad” I spent 700 Euros today. But I sure am happy to have paid for this product in that way.

On the other hand, it felt real. Surprisingly so. You are meeting up with these people you only know from profile pictures and wall posts, and you realize these are real people that have their history, their flaws, their bad jokes about food and sports, and all those traits that turn flaws into the thing we love the most about human beings: that we’re different. That we all have problems and may argue about politics and Android. But that, in the end, if 20 hours spent in line to get an iPad can make us laugh, we should celebrate those 20 hours. Appreciate them. Treasure them.

The more cynical of you might dismiss my words as the usual excitement of a nerd who is happy about paying for Apple products because it is this company’s big, evil plan to make us think we have a choice. You are free to think whatever you want. Maybe it is Apple’s grand scheme to get rich by providing a friendly customer experience. But we do have a choice, and we have chosen to make the most out of it. Those people, those stories – heck, those 13 espressos were real. There is no corporate strategy that will take that away from us. There is no exclusive or breaking news that can beat the fact that some of my readers can also be my friends.

In our review of the new iPad, Cody wrote “you won’t believe it until you see it”. I agree. The device is fantastic. But I ’ll add this: the greatest thing about Apple isn’t the product line itself. It’s the community. It’s the users and the developers and the journalists. It is you, reading this on an Apple device. It’s the Apple community using Apple products. And you won’t believe it until you experience it.

iPad (3) Review: You Won’t Believe It Until You See It

You Won't Believe It Until You See It

You Won’t Believe It Until You See It

Apple’s iPad is iconic in design. Competitors try to emulate Apple’s success, but nobody can mistake the aluminum frame and its companion piano black or pearl white bezel for any other product. While it’s a product known for its distinct shape and size, the iPad’s character is only truly revealed when you power on its display and begin to explore the contained interface. With the Retina display, the new iPad is unlike anything you’ve seen before.

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One More Thing Conference, A Unique iOS Conference In Australia Is Running Again In May

The ‘One More Thing Conference’ is running again this year in May on the 25th and 26th, and like its launch last year it’ll be located in the beautiful city of Melbourne, Australia. It isn’t a traditional programming conference, but more of a “meeting for iOS developers, designers and those who just want to come along for the ride”. In fact the aim of the conference isn’t necessarily to improve your designing or programming talent, but rather to “leave with more confidence in your abilities as an iOS developer or designer.”

The conference comprises of two parts; the main conference on the 26th of May and two “mini-confs” on the 25th. Speaking at the main conference are people such as Raphael Schaad of Flipboard, Adam Kirk of Mysterious Trousers (makers of Calvetica), Igor Pušenjak of Lima Sky (makers of Doodle Jump), Justin Williams of Second Gear (makers of Elements) and other very talented people in the iOS world. Meanwhile the “mini-confs”, are smaller (limited to 30 people) sessions where the environment is more conversational, with one focusing on design and the other on programming. Loren Brichter (formerly of Tweetie and Twitter) and Neven Mrgan are just two of the speakers that will lead these respective “mini-confs”.

Tickets to the main conference are currently selling at $249 (that’s an early bird price though, after the 12th of April it goes back to $349), whilst the “mini-conf” session tickets cost $499 but are limited to just 30 people.

Short Q&A with Organiser Anthony Aguis

To get some more information and perspective on what the One More Thing Conference is, I spoke with one of the organisers, Anthony Aguis who also ran the first conference last year.

Graham: Hi Anthony! So give us a brief overview of what the One More Thing conference is about and perhaps what you learnt from running the conference last year.

Anthony: I learned that I could actually make a conference happen and that people liked it! The feedback we got from last year’s event was fantastic. It would have been a shame not to do it again. The overall theme of the conference is still the same as 2011 - get developers confident, psyched, and ready to move from dreaming of making apps, to just doing it. The main difference for 2012 will be the lessons we will learn from the speakers. There’s some serious experience in our line up that have awesome stories to tell.

Graham: One of the new things for the conference this year are the mini-confs, one focused on design and the other on programming. This sounds like a great idea, especially considering it will promote a more conversational atmosphere between the audience and the great speakers you’ve got attending. What made you decide to have such “mini-confs” alongside the full conference?

Anthony: The mini-confs came about because some of the speakers I invited weren’t comfortable in front of a large audience, so rather than not have them come to Australia at all, Lauren (my One More Thing sidekick, who designed the website and everything else you see to do with One More Thing), suggested we just give them a smaller venue, so we did. That creates a unique opportunity to pick the brains of some super talented people. It’s like a university or college tutorial where you debate and interact, as opposed to a lecture with lots of people in it.

Graham: What are you most looking forward to yourself in the conference this year?

Anthony: I’m really hoping there’s a spate of wonderful apps released on the app store, a few months after One More Thing, inspired by what attendees have learned there. That’s why I put the effort into putting it on, to have cool apps to use myself!

Graham: The conference is being held in Melbourne, Australia, for those who aren’t from Melbourne and particularly for those overseas, can you tell us a bit about the city and perhaps why someone from the US or Europe might enjoy visiting?

Anthony: I’ve lived in Melbourne all my life, so I’m a little biased - but if you’ve never been to Australia before, Melbourne is a great place to start. It’s a very cosmopolitan and urban city, with over 5 million people of all sorts of cultural backgrounds calling it home. But not too far out from the city is some of the most beautiful countryside and scenery, you’ll ever see, with the Great Ocean Road and the Grampians National Park just day trip away. If you like sport, you’ve gotta watch an Aussie Rules football match too. I’ll even go with you!

Graham: So if our readers are interested in attending, where can they get more info and purchase tickets?

Anthony: onemorething.com.au has all the details - we have special early bird pricing if you register before April 12th, so don’t take too long deciding to attend.

Graham: Thanks for speaking with us Anthony, is there anything else you’d like to tell our lovely readers before we wrap this up?

Anthony: We’ve got a podcast up on iTunes in which Peter Wells & Marc Edwards interview all the speakers at One More Thing 2012. Plus everyone can watch the videos from the 2011 conference up on Vimeo. Great way to get a feel for what you’ll get from One More Thing in 2012.

Angry Birds Space Now Available

Angry Birds Space, the first new game from Rovio in over a year, is now available on the App Store. Officially announced back in February, Angry Birds Space takes a radically new approach to the series by setting the war against the pigs in outer space, thus bringing completely re-imagined dynamics and physics to the franchise.

From our previous coverage:

Based in a weightless environment, the basic gist of the game seems to be that in such conditions, trajectories are affected by gravity, and objects end up following curves, rather than straight lines. Using a “galactic slingshot” in footage shot on-location at the International Space Station, NASA’s Don Pettit explains how astronauts and scientists have to consider these changes in physics and gravity when they are in outer space; apparently, this mechanic will be brought to Angry Birds Space in a fairly accurate representation.

Angry Birds Space, unlike the Rio and Seasons spin-offs, brings a new gameplay that has allowed Rovio to design a whole set of different birds, levels, and in-app purchases. Angry Birds Space comes with 60 levels, new superpowers, hidden bonus levels, and a zero-gravity mechanic that, for those who have played with the Nintendo Wii in the past, somewhat resembles Mario Galaxy’s unique approach to planets and interstellar jumps.

Early coverage of the new game positively remarked how Angry Birds Space will feel familiar to the franchise’s veterans, while still adding a new way of thinking and constructing trajectories on screen. Angry Birds Space is now available on the App Store, both in iPhone and iPad editions. You can check out the game’s trailers and first hands-on videos after the break.

- Angry Birds Space for iPhone

- Angry Birds Space for iPad

- Angry Birds Space for Mac
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Adobe Releases Photoshop CS6 Beta

Adobe has tonight released the beta of Photoshop CS6, giving users a “sneak preview” of the new tools and performance enhancements that Adobe has been working on for CS6. The standout new features include an even better Content-Aware Patch tool that allows you to literally move objects around an image like they were always there, a ‘modern’ UI with much improved performance and re-engineered tools.

The Verge has a detailed look at the beta and amongst the new features, they highlight a few features such as background save, easy iris blur and tilt shift tools and even a simple video editing tool that lets you use many Photoshop tools and shortcuts. Meanwhile, Marc Edwards of bjango runs through a list of improvements and changes that matter most to him as an interface designer - highlighting some of the more minute details, such as layer searching and group clipping masks, that have a big impact on how things can be accomplished.

You can download the beta of Photoshop CS6 for free. A final release will be made available sometime in the first half of this year for $699 new or $199 if you’re upgrading (those prices are $999 and $399 if you want CS6 Extended). Jump the break for a video from Adobe that highlights some of the notable improvements and new features in CS6.

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Instagram’s New Experiment: Open Up The API for Third-Party Uploads

Hipstamatic, a photo sharing app for the iPhone that allows users to apply vintage/analog effects and filters to their photos, has become the first app to directly integrate with Instagram. The popular iPhone-only sharing service, now boasting over 27 million users and on the verge of releasing an Android app, has so far allowed third-party developers to integrate their apps with the Instagram API to only visualize a user’s photos or feed. The API hasn’t allowed for the creation of real Instagram clients for other devices, in that uploading could be done exclusively using Instagram’s own app.

Today, however, an update to Hipstamatic and a collaboration between the two services first reported by Fast Company might signal an important change in Instagram’s direction and nature as a photo sharing service. The new Hipstamatic, available now on the App Store, comes with a redesigned “HipstaShare” system to send photos to various social networks including Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr. Among the supported services, a new Instagram option now enables you to log into your Instagram account, and upload photos directly within Hipstamatic, without leaving the app. There is no “forwarding” of files to the Instagram app, nor does Hipstamatic asks you to download the Instagram app from the App Store – this is true uploading to Instagram done by a third-party, via the API.

Unlike most photo sharing apps these days, Hipstamatic puts great focus on recreating the analog experience of shooting photos and carefully selecting the equipment you’d like to shoot with. With a somewhat accurate representation of vintage films, lenses, camera cases, and flash units, Hipstamatic wants to appeal to that kind of userbase that is not simply interested in capturing a fleeing moment and share it in seconds; rather, as famous appearances on publications like The New York Times confirm, the Hipstamatic crowd is more of a passionate gathering of 4 million users looking to spend minutes, if not hours, trying to achieve the perfect setup for each occasion, spending one dollar at a time on in-app purchases that unlock different filters and “parts” of the cameras supported in Hipstamatic. Unlike Instagram or, say, Camera+, Hipstamatic isn’t built to shoot & share; the ultimate goal is undoubtedly sharing, but it’d be more appropriate to describe Hipstamatic’s workflow as “set up, shoot, then share”.

Hipstamatic seems to have realized, however, that sharing can’t be relegated to a simple accessory  that has a second place behind the app’s custom effects and unlockable items. Whilst in-app purchases and fancy graphics may have played an important role in driving Hipstamatic’s success so far, apps can’t go without a strong sharing and social foundation nowadays, and since its launch two years ago, Instagram has seen tremendous growth for being only an iPhone app. With this update, Instagram and Hipstamatic are doing a favor to each other: Instagram gets to test the waters with an API that now allows for uploading through other clients that support similar feature sets; Hipstamatic maintains its existing functionalities, but it adds a new social layer that plugs natively into the world’s hottest photo sharing startup.

Looking at the terms of the “deal” (I don’t think any revenue sharing is taking place between the two parties), it appears both sides got the perks they wanted. This native integration comes with an Instagram icon in Hipstamatic’s new sharing menu, which, when tapped, will let you log into your account. Once active, each “Hipstaprint” (another fancy name for photos) can be shared on a variety of networks, with Facebook even supporting friend tagging. You can upload multiple photos at once if you want, too. In the sharing panel, you can optionally decide to activate “equipment tagging” – this option will, alongside the client’s information, include #hashtags for the lens, film and other equipment that you use in your Hipstamatic camera.

On the Instagram’s side, things get a little more interesting. Hipstamatic photos get uploaded respecting Instagram’s photo sizes, and they get a border around the image to, I guess, indicate their “print” nature. Together with the title, Instagram will display the aforementioned tags for equipment, and a “Taken with Hipstamatic” link that, when tapped, will ask you to launch Hipstamatic. If you don’t have Hipstamatic installed on your iPhone, this link will take you to the App Store page for the app.

Overall, what really intrigues me about this collaboration isn’t the Hipstamatic update per se – version “250” of the app is solid and well-built, but I don’t use Hipstamatic myself on a regular basis, as I prefer more direct tools like Instagram, Camera+, or even the Facebook app for iOS. What I really think could be huge, both for the companies involved and the users, is the API that Hipstamatic is leveraging here. Hipstamatic is doing the right thing: sharing has become a fundamental part of the mobile photo taking process, and it would be foolish to ignore Instagram’s popularity and come up with a whole new network.

Instagram, on the other hand, is taking an interesting path (no pun intended) that, sometime down the road, might turn what was once an iPhone app into a de-facto option for all future social sharing implementations. A few months from now, would it be crazy to think Camera+ could integrate with Instagram to offer antive uploads? Or to imagine built-in support for Instagram photo uploads in, say, iOS, Twitter clients, and other photo apps? I don’t think so. Just as “taken with Hipstamatic” stands out in today’s Instagram feeds, “Upload to Instagram” doesn’t sound too absurd at this point.