Federico Viticci

10880 posts on MacStories since April 2009

Federico is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of MacStories, where he writes about Apple with a focus on apps, developers, iPad, and iOS productivity. He founded MacStories in April 2009 and has been writing about Apple since. Federico is also the co-host of AppStories, a weekly podcast exploring the world of apps, Unwind, a fun exploration of media and more, and NPC: Next Portable Console, a show about portable gaming and the handheld revolution.
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@viticci.macstories.net
viticci@macstories.net

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Is This Toshiba’s Answer to the iPad?

Just as we predicted months ago, everyone wants to release its own tablet now. Apple has created a new market with the iPad (some say it has reinvented an already existing market that only needed a kickstart) and now we’re seeing tablets popping up from anywhere in the industry.

Now, Toshiba wants to release a tablet computer as well, to fight the incredible success of the iPad. They have this prototype, and they call it “Libretto” - which stands for “small book” in Italian. It doesn’t look exactly like a tablet computer, but more like a touch-enhanced netbook. It’s an interesting prototype, so let’s take a look at the specs.

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Canabalt, Now Native on iPad

Canabalt, one of the most popular games available for the iPhone, has just been updated and it’s now a universal application that can run natively on the iPad.

The update comes with iOS 4 bug fixes and a new soundtrack by Danny Baranowsky. For those unfamiliar with Canabalt, it’s a very addictive game which features retro-pixel graphics, and you just have to run avoiding obstacles and jumping from one building to another. It’s one of my favorite games in the App Store.

Available at $2.99, free update for previous customers.

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Moodagent, Tweeb, MoneyBook Winners Announced

Thanks everyone who entered our giveaways in the past week. We’d also like to thank all the developers who offered their products to MacStories readers, so be sure to drop a “thank you” in case you’ve won something!

Anyway, you’ll find the winners after the break. Congratulations!

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Life Web Browser: Yet Another Alternative to Safari?

So many developers have tried to build alternative browsers for the iPhone on top of Webkit. See, Apple gives you the tools to create your own customized browser, and I’m not blaming them for the attempt. I’m blaming them for the experience they failed to achieve, developing alternatives just for the sake of it. And people, the average App Store users, seem to appreciate this trend, perhaps because they’re willing to accept every single alternative some devs give them. Look at the success of Opera Mini for iPhone, and look at how bad it is when you compare it to Apple’s MobileSafari.

What I’m trying to say is, you don’t mess with MobileSafari. Sure you can try to add thousands of features, and you can also promote your app by saying that it does whatever MobileSafari doesn’t. Seriously, it’s fine. But you can’t really think someone won’t notice and eventually talk about your crap. That’s why we usually avoid to talk about these “alternative browsers” on MacStories.

Developers are now realizing that, with 2 million iPads out there, the tablet might indeed be a profitable market for “alternatives”. I won’t go into all the details, but just so you know - this thing has been the top paid iPad app for days. Is it possible to develop a decent alternative to Safari for iPad?

Let’s look for the answer in Life.

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