Federico Viticci

10873 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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Apple Second “Coolest Brand” In The UK→

Apple Second “Coolest Brand” In The UK

According to the latest CoolBrands survey, Apple’s gadgets and computers aren’t the coolest brand among UK consumers, leaving the #1 spot to British manufacturer of luxury cars Aston Martin. The BBC reports this morning:

Stephen Cheliotis, chairman of the CoolBrands Expert Council, said: “Cool is subjective and personal. But being identified as a Cool Brand by the British public and a panel of influential opinion formers implies it is a brand that most Brits wish to own.

“Votes are based on a wide criteria of factors but these brands are clearly delivering cool in the eyes of consumers and influencers alike,” he said.

Apple’s devices are often described as elegant and “cool”, but there’s no denying Aston Martin’s James Bond cars have their very own historic charm, too. In this year’s CoolBrands index – which is voted by consumers as well as a group of “experts” in brand recognition and popularity –  BlackBerry and Google came at 6th and 7th place, respectively, with Harley-Davidson behind Apple at the 2nd spot. The full list can be viewed on CoolBrands’ website.

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Realmac’s Analog: Apply Filters & Share Your Photos

Released today on the Mac App Store after months of teaser videos and private betas, Analog is the latest creation by Realmac Software, makers of great apps for the Mac like Courier and LittleSnapper. As the early preview videos suggested, Analog is an application to quickly edit and “beautify” your photos in a way that has been made popular recently by iOS apps like Instagram and Camera+ or, on the Mac, Flare by The Iconfactory. Whilst Analog undoubtedly shares some similarities in the main concept with these applications (pick a photo, apply a filter, share it), the execution and attention to detail of the Realmac team makes sure Analog can stand out from the crowd of post-processing utilities.

I’ve been playing with Analog, and I like it because it is extremely simple, focused, and elegant. Everything from choosing a filter to cropping an image has been made intuitive and fast, with some graphical elements (like the sharing menu) inspired by recent iOS interface guidelines brought over to OS X by Apple. Most of all, Analog is fast: I tried the app on my 13-inch MacBook Air (entry model), and filters were applied in less than a second – Analog is very snappy and responsive.

When you fire up Analog for the first time, you’re presented with a large “drop” area on the left, and a sidebar for filters and borders on the right. To start editing an image, you have to drop it into Analog’s main window; once an image is in there, you can start choosing filters and borders to “give your photo some soul”, and share it with your friends. The typical navigation and usage pattern of Analog is fairly simple: import photo, process, share.

Analog offers 20 filters, which have been carefully researched by Realmac over the past months to make sure each one of them has its own personality (something we know that matters in this kind of apps) and will make your photos look great. Now I’m no photography expert, but I can recognize a nice filter when I see it. Analog’s filters range from washed out (Hefga, Golden Hour) to black & white (Noir, Dark Knight, Bromide – three B&W variations with different grey scales and contrast) to contrasty (Memory, XProcess) and other interesting options that I can’t quite classify (Kyoto, Hawkeye). Analog’s filters look good, and I definitely like the choice of 20 different filters offered by Realmac. You might argue some of them look similar to each other, but the developers have also implemented a system that ensures scratches, noise and other effects are always randomized on each processing session.

A photo processed and exported using Analog

To switch between effects you simply have to click on them; a switch button at the top of the sidebar enables you to choose borders, which will look instantly familiar if you’ve used other apps like Instagram and Flare. Read more

A Look At Instagram 2.0 Filters→

A Look At Instagram 2.0 Filters

Owen Billcliffe at my glass eye takes an in-depth look at the new filters introduced in Instagram 2.0, as well as the updated ones:

Instagram said that all the filters have been completely re-written to work with the new live preview system and to output far higher resolution images, and it seems to me the re-writes just haven’t nailed the original look. I have a feeling this may be for technical reasons, that the new engine for live preview just can’t support certain features like textures. I suppose it’s also possible the Instagram guys wanted to make some tweaks deliberately but if they did then that’s not cool in my opinion. Users preferring the social side may not mind much, but I had some favourite filters that just don’t feel the same at all and I know I’m not alone.

I don’t use Instagram as much as I’d like to, but I’ve noticed the same issue Owen has with the new filters – Instagram 1.0 had more “personality” in that developers weren’t afraid to have absurdly colorful, contrasty, washed out filters. As Gruber notes, that’s what made Instagram fun. The new filters are less washed out and contrasty, some look very similar to each other – you should take a look at Owen’s gallery with comparison shots before and after the upgrade.

The Instagram developers have a good track record with updates and I’m sure they’ll listen to feedback. Although I do wonder if these changes are somehow related to Apple’s upcoming CoreImage support in iOS 5.

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iPhone 5 Prototype from Foxconn Sold To Case Manufacturer?

With Apple’s iPhone media event now only a few days away, questions still remain weather Apple will announce a “completely redesigned” device, as several rumors claimed, or a minor revision with improved processor and camera. In the past months, rumors have indicated both possibilities – an iPhone 4S type of device with iPhone 4-like design and better specs, as well as a more powerful handset with a redesigned, thinner chassis.

In an article published earlier today, M.I.C. Gadget claims to have the details behind the proliferation of alleged iPhone 5 cases in China – according to the website, a “lost” iPhone 5 prototype from Foxconn may have ended up being sold to a Chinese case manufacturer, and thus the hundreds of the “iPhone 5 cases” we’ve seen so far.

With its past experience, one might think Apple would have been able to track that prototype down in a heartbeat. However, Apple was outsmarted. The person who had access to the prototype wiped the phone’s software, thus disabling the GPS hardware needed to track it down. It was then allegedly sold to one of the iPhone case manufacturers for RMB ¥20,000 (about $3,100). We were told that Foxconn was aware of the loss and had penalized internal management for the incident. We also heard from another source that the person who “lost” it was paid to do so.

M.I.C. Gadget says the iPhone 5 prototype was a final design, although concealed inside an iPhone 4 enclosure – just like with last year’s iPhone 4 leak, although this wouldn’t explain how a supposedly wider and taller device would fit inside an iPhone 4 case. However, according to the rumor, the device shares the thinner “tear drop” design hinted by This Is My Next back in April. Apple is also believed to have lost a next-generation iPhone prototype in a bar in San Francisco, which triggered a somewhat curious internal police investigation.

Apple is expected to unveil the next-generation iPhone on Tuesday, October 4th.

FIFA 2012 Comes To The Mac→

FIFA 2012 Comes To The Mac

Electronic Arts and TransGaming have announced the release of FIFA Soccer 12 for the Mac, The Loop reports. This is the first time the popular soccer franchise is available on the Mac platform, and as usual with TransGaming’s OS X release, the port has been done using the Cider translation engine. Cider has been used in the past years in several Mac games including the recently re-released GTA series.

FIFA 2012 comes with important changes in the physics and artificial intelligence engines:

Chosen Best Sports Game by E3 Game Critics, FIFA Soccer 12 brings to the pitch the game-changing new Player Impact Engine, a physics engine built to deliver real-world physicality in every interaction on the pitch. Revolutionary gameplay innovations inspired by the real-world game make FIFA Soccer 12 deeper and more engaging. All-new Precision Dribbling creates a higher fidelity of touch on the ball for better control in tight spaces, more time to make decisions on attack, and more control over the pace of the game. Innovations in attack are balanced by a re-designed defending mechanism called Tactical Defending, which fundamentally changes the approach to defending by placing equal importance on positioning, intercepting passes and tackling.

FIFA 2012 requires a Mac with OS X 10.6.8 or later, Intel Core 2 Duo or better, 4GB RAM, and ATI HD2600 or Nvidia GeForce 9400M or greater. You can buy FIFA 2012 for $39.99 at GameTree Mac.

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Firefox 7 Officially Released

Last month Mozilla officially introduced a new version of its browser, Firefox 6, but we noted that work on Firefox 7 was already underway as part of Mozilla’s new six-weeks fast release cycle. Firefox 7 has been officially released today, adding a number of memory and engine improvements to make the app speedier, and more reliable. Mozilla says they have “drastically improved” memory handling – this is something that Mozilla announced back in August when they claimed that Firefox 7 would use 50% less memory to address memory leaks, crashes, and general instability with lots of different open tabs. On Windows machines, a new rendering backend is said to be increasing performances of Canvas operations, whilst all platforms are getting better password and bookmark sync with Mozilla’s built-in sync tool.

The most visible change in Firefox 7 is the lack of the http:// prefix in the address bar:

The new Firefox also brings some changes for developers:

New tools in Firefox make it easier for developers to build snappy Web experiences for users. A new version of hardware-accelerated Canvas speeds up HTML5 animations and games in Firefox. This allows developers to build more compelling and interactive Web experiences like Angry Birds or Runfield.

Firefox now supports the W3C navigation timing spec API so developers can measure page load time and website navigation against bandwidth speed, website traffic and other factors. This API allows developers to test user experiences remotely and easily and quickly optimize websites and Web apps for different types of users.

From the release notes:

  • Added support for text-overflow: ellipsis
  • Added support for the Web Timing specification
  • Enhanced support for MathML
  • The WebSocket protocol has been updated from version 7 to version 8
  • Added an opt-in system for users to send performance data back to Mozilla to improve future versions of Firefox
  • Fixed several stability issues
  • Fixed several security issues

With version 7, Mozilla has also implemented a new usage statistic functionality called Telemetry that will help the company collect usage information (memory, CPU, startup speed) to improve future versions of Firefox.

Beginning with version 7, Firefox includes functionality that is turned off by default to send to Mozilla non-personal usage, performance, and responsiveness statistics about user interface features, memory, and hardware configuration. The only Potentially Personal Information sent to Mozilla when this functionality has been enabled is IP addresses. Usage statistics are transmitted using SSL (a method of protecting data in transit) and help us improve future versions of Firefox. Once sent to Mozilla, usage statistics are stored in an aggregate form and made available to a broad range of developers, including both Mozilla employees and public contributors. Once this functionality is enabled, users can disable it in Firefox’s Options/Preferences. Simply deselect the “Submit performance data” item.

Telemetry is off by default and needs to be manually enabled. The feature can also be deactivated from the Preferences.

Firefox 7 can be downloaded here. The latest version of the browser still doesn’t come with Lion-specific fixes and features, but mockups posted recently by Mozilla’s Product Visual Designer Stephen Horlander suggested the Firefox team is experimenting with new interface elements and navigation options for Firefox on OS X. Read more

Apple Confirms: Media Event on October 4th

Jim Dalrymple at The Loop reports Apple sent out invitations for a media event moments ago. The event is scheduled for October 4th and it’ll take place at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino.

Looking at the invitation posted by The Loop, it’s clear Apple’s keynote will focus on the iPhone – the tagline for the banner is “Let’s talk iPhone” – and, curiously enough, the image features four of Apple’s stock apps for iOS: Calendar, Clock, Maps, and Phone. We wouldn’t look too much into a possible hidden meaning on this image, but all these apps were mentioned in a rumor that claimed to have details on Assistant, an upcoming software feature of the iPhone 5. Obviously, the image itself is a representation of the event’s details (October 4th, 10 AM at Infinite Loop), but it’s not like Apple hasn’t hinted at upcoming features/products in invitations before.

Apple is widely expected to unveil the next-generation iPhone at is next keynote. Speculation surrounding the device in the past months has failed to pinpoint exactly how the next iPhone will look like, and iPhone 4-like parts surfaced this summer suggested Apple could also plan a minor “iPhone 4S”  upgrade. Others claim the “iPhone 5” will be a completely redesigned device with thinner form factor, and possibly a bigger screen. Either way, the next iPhone is rumored to feature the company’s A5 processor, 1 GB of RAM and an 8-megapixel camera – as for the iPhone5-iPhone 4S speculation, you can read more about it in our rumor roundup and retrospective.

At WWDC in June, Apple announced iOS 5 with iCloud integration would ship “this Fall” to customers. iCloud is cross-compatible with iOS devices, web browsers, PCs and Macs – OS X will need an update to version 10.7.2 (currently in beta with developers) to work with iCloud. Other software updates expected to hit with iOS 5’s release are iTunes 10.5 (required for iOS 5 device syncing) and iPhoto 9.2 (for Photo Stream integration).

JotAgent 2: Quickly Save Notes In Dropbox or Evernote

Last year, I reviewed JotAgent, a quick and easy way to save notes in your Dropbox account with a few taps. JotAgent 2, released earlier this week, improves on every aspect of the original app, adding support for Evernote and a refreshed user interface both on the iPhone and iPad. Just like the first JotAgent, you can configure the app to save text notes in your Dropbox account (you can pick your own folder for notes); in this version, you can also log in with your Evernote credentials, and select a notebook where new notes will be saved. If you configure both Dropbox and Evernote, you can easily de-activate one of the two services in JotAgent’s main screen, which has got service, settings, and queue icons in the lower section.

As soon as the app launches, you can begin writing. When you’re done with a text note, you can hit Save to send it to Dropbox or Evernote – the saving process will require a few seconds depending on your Internet connection. If you’re offline, JotAgent allows you to queue notes for later, and upload them when you’re back online. Two interesting features of JotAgent are TextExpander support for snippets and title formatting: the latter lets you change the default template for your notes’ titles, and you can choose between a nice selection of modifiers available on JotAgent’s website. Thanks to these modifiers, I’ve been able to customize the way notes are saved in my Evernote account to show only the month and day of creation.

JotAgent 2.0 doesn’t want to be a full-featured text editor as its focus is completely different. It’s a lightweight app to quickly send a note or idea to the cloud – as I wrote last year, it’s like Captio for text notes. You can get JotAgent 2.0 now at $0.99 on the App Store, or jump after the break to enter our giveaway. Read more

Magical Weather: A Beautiful Weather Station For Your iPad

When Sophiestication invited me to try a beta of her upcoming weather app, I was curious to see how the typical style of Sophia’s apps (Coversutra, Articles) would fit with this kind of software – I’m no Ben Brooks, but I’ve tried several weather apps for iOS in the past year, and I know that putting too much focus on the presentation, rather than data, can be counterproductive for the developer and an app’s success. That’s one of the reasons why apps like Weather HD quickly sold thousands of copies on the App Store, but never really got the weather geeks’ attention and long-term usage.

Magical Weather by Sophiestication might just hit the right spot between available weather data and attention to beautiful pixels. When you start the app for the first time (Magical Weather is iPad-only for now), you’re presented with a grid of thumbnails for different cities, labelled with their names and current temperature. You may notice the thumbnails are actually generated in real-time based on weather conditions, but more on this in a bit. The first item in the grid is “local weather”, which is obtained by default. You can add new locations to the app’s main screen by searching (city, ZIP and Airport codes are supported) and, with the Edit button, you can remove locations at any time. From the Settings popover in the upper left corner, you can set the temperature to Celsius and Fahrenheit, and tweak Wind Speed to the unit you’re more comfortable with.

When you tap on a location, the app brings you to a full-screen view of the current weather conditions. This new screen is gorgeous: Sophiestication built in several different animations that look great, and provide an instant summary of what’s going on. If it’s raining, you’ll see dark clouds and rain; if there’s a thunderstorm, you’ll see thunders animated on screen. But the real treat isn’t the weather animation itself – it’s the combination of beautiful artwork and data in the right sidebar.

As you open a location, in fact, Magical Weather will launch a weather animation and a sidebar containing a forecast, current temperature, and the following data:

  • Current temperature with today’s high and low
  • Relative humidity
  • Probability of rain
  • Atmospheric pressure
  • Wind speed (in Beaufort, knots, mph, kph, or mps)
  • Change in temperature since yesterday
  • Current UV index

If you don’t understand the icons displayed on screen, you can hit the “?” button to make a handy guide appear explaining all the data points offered by Magical Weather. This sidebar, however, offers two additional views: you can “hide it” by dragging it at the bottom of the screen – thus displaying only the current temperature in a corner – or expand it by revealing an additional section with a hourly forecast. Weather icons and typography are extremely clear and legible, and look elegant no matter the background they’re visualized against.

At $0.99 on the App Store (limited time offer), Magical Weather is a great piece of work with beautiful graphics and data that doesn’t confuse the user. The app isn’t complex and doesn’t require a learning curve, it’s fun and intuitive to use. Magical Weather may not be enough for the uber-geek, but it’s a fine weather app for everyone else. Get it here.