Federico Viticci

10881 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.
@[email protected]
@viticci.macstories.net
viticci@macstories.net

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iPad, Google Voice and Incoming / Outgoing Calls [Video]

To those who said the iPad was “just a bigger iPhone”, I can now say you were right guys. After watching this video you’ll see how indeed the iPad is a bigger iPhone which lets you even make bigger calls. Yep. Or maybe not.

Thing is, I stumbled upon this video on Youtube of this guy who’s managed to create a pretty straightforward method to use Google Voice on the iPad, call and receive calls even when the screen is locked. You just have to forward your GV number to Gizmo, run the iSip iPhone app on the iPad and insert your Gizmo settings. Also, you can use a bluetooth headset for it.

I think it’s cool, and I’d love to test Google Voice someday myself. Sadly, it’s not available in Italy. Check out the video after the break.

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Checkmate Winners Announced

Thanks everyone who entered the Checkmate giveaway.We also want to thank the Hard Carved Code developers for the promo codes they offered to MacStories readers.

Here are the winners:

Weston Gallagher

Vivek

Mathew Rice

Wilfred Kidd

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You’ll receive the promo codes in your inbox in a few hours. Stay tuned for other giveaways coming this week.

You can follow the official MacStories Twitter account as @macstoriesnet or Federico as @viticci

Winscape: Your Mac-powered Virtual Window

Technology applied to real life can be awesome. Most of times it can be weird and dangerous. I really don’t know what to think about the Winscape, but it’s interesting for sure.

Basically, it’s a software running on a Mac Pro that creates fake, 3D landscapes in fake windows. There are two plasma televisions that receive the signal from the Mac Pro and “play” beautiful landscape on screen. The whole thing comes with an iPhone remote app and a sensor that checks your position in front of the screens and tells the software to rotate the scene when you move.

Seriously, check out the videos after the break.

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Articles for iPad: Wikipedia Where It Was Meant To Be

Some applications make more sense on the iPad, some don’t. When I first reviewed Articles from Sophiestication in its iPhone version, I said it was the best Wikipedia app for iPhone out there. I still think it is, as no other application has managed to get even near to the sheer amount of quality Sophia has put into that tiny Wikipedia client. But one could argue whether the iPhone is any good for reading, and that’s a complete different story. Once you try an iPad, you realize how much it is better for reading and consuming content than the iPhone, which is meant for accessing that content on the go.

As you try an iPad you realize how much a previously iPhone-only application makes more sense on it, and Articles is no exception.

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Icebird: Best New Twitter Client for iPhone.

Right after Twitter announced the acquisition of the popular Tweetie app from Atebits’ Loren Brichter, many third party developers of Twitter clients started complaining that Twitter just killed the platform by entering the market itself. We may have different positions on this, but that’s not the point.

Point is, there are lots of developers out there who don’t care about “the big names”, they just want to keep developing for the sake of it and for the user base they’ve managed to build. I respect these guys. There’s a problem though: what about those that come up with new apps now? It shouldn’t be easy, knowing that you’re just getting started and Twitter is about to release the best mobile Twitter client ever made…for free. It’s a difficult situation, but fortunately there are some developers who love challenges and are releasing their apps anyway.

Meet Icebird, a new Twitter client for iPhone which I’m falling in love with.

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