Your Twitter Stream on Your Desk: The Trickle and Piolo Giveaway

By Cody Fink

Your iPhone provides ample opportunity for information feedback alongside your Mac, which is why the makers of Twitter app Trickle and the Piolo stand for your iPhone have joined forces to prop your Twitter stream underneath or next to your workhorse Macintosh. While Trickle streams Twitter at a readable pace in high-contrast glory, Piolo gives your iPhone the leverage it needs to reveal all sorts of juicy details without breaking your neck. Trickle gives you everything you need and nothing more, provided you want a miniature picture frame solely to display tweets from the smart, funny, and sometimes bullheaded people you find yourself enlightened by on Twitter. Piolo is a sturdy kickstand that can be easily carried with the iPhone 4 in a bag or purse, taking up zero room with its simple design and clever implementation. Together, you have yourself a the perfect combination of form and function: simplicity in Twitter at its finest, sans all the extra UI or lost desktop space. We’re going to give away ten (count ‘em) pairs of Trickle and Piolo to our readers, and all you have to do is follow the rules post break.

Tickle Your Brain With Puzzle-Logic Game Woozzle

By Cody Fink

A good time-based brain teaser takes considerable skill and mental coordination to solve, and with Woozzle you’ll be shifting colored orbs around a series of mazes to complete the colored wheels and earn your right to a perfect 3-ball’d perfect score (the equivalent of earning three stars in Angry Birds). Woozzle spits out a series of colored orbs which fall into open slots on wheels that can be spun and aligned with maze-like ramps where you can swipe the orbs onwards to the appropriate destination. Becoming increasingly complicated as you progress, you’ll soon have to manage several paths that change direction thanks to levers, while managing incoming orbs and competing to solve the puzzles as quickly as possible. The puzzles aren’t terribly difficult to solve (you can take as long as you need to get through the sometimes grueling levels), but the faster you complete the objective, the higher score you’ll obtain. Excellent management skills are a must: you’ll have to control multiple wheels at once to prevent orbs from bouncing back and to compete for the best times.

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Instagram 1.6 Gets A New Filter, Speedier Performance

By Cody Fink

Instagram is available in the App Store right this second for an update to 1.6, which includes a new filter (Brannan), improved network performance for faster uploads and downloads, and stability and bug fixes related to cameras on iOS 4 enabled devices. Instagram aims to solve both memory and performance issues with subtle network tweaks and camera fixes that are minor, but keep the everyone’s favorite photo utility snappy as you take pictures and share the results with friends. The new Brannan filter offers a new effect to play with in editing your shots, offering yet another faded vintage look (reminds me of Earlybird but lighter) . You can download the newest update from the App Store.

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Apple Supplier Cirrus Reports Manufacturing Issues with New Audio Component

By Cody Fink

Cirrus Logic, a component manufacturer that supplies analog chips for audio applications in Apple’s iPad and iPhone, are reporting manufacturing issues with a new component presumably slated for its biggest customer. In May 2010, Seeking Alpha reported that the bulk of Cirrus Logic’s revenue was derived from iPad and iPhone sales, followed by September rumors that the company could be acquired by Apple. This morning, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that a new component is having initial manufacturing problems off the line:

Cirrus late Thursday said it had determined an earlier test for a particular function of a new audio product–which analysts assume is for Apple–was insufficient to guarantee that all products met a certain standard. After a more rigorous test was developed, Cirrus found fewer working chips than previously expected, with that yield loss rising as volumes increased.

Capstone Investments analyst Jeff Schreiner said the yield issue was exacerbated by the fact the device was for Apple, which ramps new products very quickly and at high volumes.

While Cirrus has told reporters that they’ve developed a fix to mend product problems, Apple shares dropped $2 to $330.24.

[Wall Street Journal via 9 to 5 Mac]

Image via: chipworks

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Apple Poaches Microsoft’s Datacenter GM →

Linked By Cody Fink

Apple Poaches Microsoft’s Datacenter GM

Timmons left Microsoft this week and the company has confirmed his departure, though it declined to say why he left or where he was headed. But sources in position to know confirm he’s hired on with Apple.

When Microsoft hired Timmons in 2009, his responsibilities were briefly detailed by Technet:

In addition to bringing Kevin on board, we’ve recently restructured our Infrastructure Services team within GFS. In mid May we aligned the organization around five teams: Shared Infrastructure, Programmable Infrastructure, Platform Hardware and Standards, Global Network Services, and the Data Center Services team that Kevin now heads up.

Data Center Knowledge reports that Timmons was incredibly efficient at building scalable data center solutions on a budget, saving Microsoft $250 million in an initially estimated 500 million dollar project as Microsoft constructed a new data facility in Chicago (and later Dublin) in 2009.

At Microsoft, Timmons oversaw the deployment of massive new data centers in Dublin and Chicago shortly after his arrival in mid-2009, but then moved to streamline the company’s data center design and cost structure. Timmons said his goal is for Microsoft’s data center network to be “incredibly scalable at awesome cost effectiveness,” and said his team was on target to slash data center costs by 50 percent.

Some of Microsoft’s innovations during Timmons’ tenure are on display in its latest data center in Quincy, Washington, which is the culmination of years of design work at Microsoft Global Foundation Services, and offers dramatic reductions in cost and resources.

Apple has reportedly ordered up to 12 petabytes of storage from Isilon Systems, with Instor and Electrostak providing custom mounting, cooling, and power equipment to host the new influx of new blades Apple will deploy in their data center. Ideally, if Apple was going to build a rumored parallel data center in North Carolina, Timmons could oversee the remainder of the work and efficiently scale to deploy new services (whether it be for media or not).

[via Macgasm]

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Teardown: What’s Inside Apple’s Big New iPad 2 Dock (+ iPad 1 Dock)→

Linked By Cody Fink

Teardown: What’s Inside Apple’s Big New iPad 2 Dock (+ iPad 1 Dock)

iPad 2 Dock Teardown via iLounge

First, if you’ve ever wondered how Apple gets those docks to feel substantial, the answer’s not tiny sandbags. Each version of the Dock actually has a huge, heavy metal plate inside molded with a “Zinc-3” legend on its undercarriage.

That explains why the iPad 2 Dock is so heavy. iLounge also goes as far to show the comparisons between the first iPad dock with newer model. What’s interesting is that the dock appears as one solid piece from the outside, but is divided into an outer shell and a base on which the components sit. It’s an interesting design, and one that competitors probably wouldn’t mimic: they wouldn’t hide the fact that their docks are just cheap plastic or are built & glued in multiple pieces, whereas Apple goes out of their way to make their products presentable. Even in accessories, Apple does a substantial job paying attention to solid unibody designs. TUAW writes:

In terms of actual computer hardware, as you might guess, there’s not a lot – just a few chips for functionality like authentication and of course iPad synching. In fact, the iPad 2 dock, says iLounge, has more empty space than the first dock, even though the actual design is a little more compact than before.

Also of note: the weight shown in the pictures looks heavier than it feels. If I was to perceive how the iPad 2 Dock felt by looking at the picture above, I would think it’d be as heavy as the iPad 2 itself.

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Protect Your Display and Reduce Glare with the Moshi iVisorAG for iPad 2

By Cody Fink

Moshi iVisorAG for iPad 2

Apple makes some pretty glossy displays, and sometimes we wish they’d tone it down a little so we can get some work done by our open windows or underneath fluorescent ceiling spotlights. Moshi has announced a double whammy of an iPad screen protector: the iVisorAG for the iPad 2. Available in black or white to match your bezel, the iVisorAG is laid on top of your current (cleaned) display, and is designed so that no bubbles are left behind. It’s removable, re-usable, and is made to fit perfectly to protect your iPad’s display while reducing glare thanks to the matte overlay. Responsive touch remains unhindered, and you’re still free to use your favorite stylus and brushes with the iPad 2 for art and design. This scratch and smudge resistant protector is available for $30.00 from Moshi’s storefront, and comes with a free microfiber cloth so you can wipe your iPad before application.

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Sketch The Next Killer iPad App on a Dry Erase Board

By Cody Fink

UI Stencils: iPad Dry Erase Board

Quickly prototyping iPad designs doesn’t have to be done on a chalkboard, in Keynote wireframes, or via an iPad app. To get things down quickly without leaving a mess, whiteboards are perfect with your favorite dry erase markers for easy swiping and wiping across Design Commission’s iPad Dry Erase Board. Give your design a project title and screen name, and quickly mark down your favorite interface with your choice of black and red dry erase markers, topped with foam erasers to quickly undo mistakes. Not only is the board gridded and marked so you can quickly get the right perspective on your navigation headers and tab bars, but the back of the dry erase bar features a legend (an interaction key) chock full of iPad symbols, terminology, and descriptors for common iPad symbols and icons. You’ll find lots of subtle additions such as guides for positioning the sidebar in the right the place, and other additional alignment tools in conjunction with the dotted grid that helps you sketch pixel (erm, marker) perfect designs. Being able to collaborate on a whiteboard (or five) and pass around designs in the office can be a huge benefit for those not attracted to the iPad screen, and it’s made from the same folks who’ve delivered various other iPhone, iPad, and browser stencils. Available on UI Stencils for $24.95, you can pick yourself up a whiteboard for designing the next great iPad app.

[UI Stencils via TUAW, Swissmiss]

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Tablets are changing the way consumers engage with content →

Linked By Cody Fink

Tablets are changing the way consumers engage with content

With more than 165 million tablets expected to ship over the next two years, tablets are growing in popularity and changing the way that we consume content. People are spending considerable time with tablet devices and using them to play games, browse the web and search for information.

I’m not terribly surprised that tablets are becoming a hub for personal entertainment, but I am surprised at what people are using their tablets for (I figured news and reading would be on top). 28% of 1430 respondents (BGR) said the tablet has become their primary computer in the household, with 43% spending more time with their tablets than their laptops or desktops. 84% of those surveyed play games on their tablets, compared to lesser 61% who use their tablets to consume the news. Only 46% of those surveyed use their tablets to read e-books which is astounding.

Assuming that the majority of those surveyed owned an iPad, does this mean that less than 50% of iPad owners download, purchase, or read books from the iBookstore? What about Kindle and Amazon? With the amount of interactive content available on the iPad, it’s understandable people are seeking apps like Flipboard and are consuming media via their usual outlets, though I’m surprised e-books don’t have a bigger market or aren’t generating more attention.

The initial blog post doesn’t reveal too much, but the included PDF details a lot of interesting numerics for the small March survey.

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