Federico Viticci

10776 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

Here Comes The (Fake) Angry Birds Movie Trailer

They say you can tell the success of a franchise from the number of additional material, gadgets, toys and extra stuff it generates besides the main line of products. Angry Birds is the perfect example: it started as an iPhone app, then it landed on the iPad, Android, home consoles. Then Rovio outsourced the production of plush toys, cellphone and tablet cases, made a deal with Universal for a movie tie-in (that’s actually well done) and there are thousands of fans worldwide coming up with the craziest Angry Birds-related creations every day. Like cakes and LEGO. The next step, the discovery of a fake movie trailer on Youtube, doesn’t come as a surprise at all at this point.

The video is embedded below, and it’s somewhat disturbing. If only because it feels “real”, with the “government” studying the behavior of the birds in secret labs and the main character feeling bad about fighting pigs but killing the birds in the process.

Totally crazy. Oh, and it’s directed by Michael Bay! Check it out below. [via The Next Web] Read more

Curious iPad 2 Camera Bug Generates Color-crazy Photos & Videos

A few days ago we reported the FaceTime app on the iPad 2 might have some issues with the cameras “freezing” on the last displayed video call until a user restarts the device. I experienced this problem personally and it’s very annoying, as it forces you to close everything and reboot. Yet the issues with iPad 2 cameras reported by Cult Of Mac (and other users in my Twitter timeline last week, too) certainly are more interesting. Mainly because the screenshots taken to demonstrate the issue are completely crazy.

I compiled some still images from a recording that I made while inside a car wash. I had my iPad 2 in my bag, and I figured that, since I’ve yet to record a video on it, I could just record my trip through the car wash. During the two and a half minutes that I was in there, I noticed that the colors were “glitching-out.” It’s happened three times now.

Apparently the issue hasn’t been fixed in iOS 4.3.1, and it’s unclear whether it’s a software-related problem, a more serious hardware flaw. When I saw the first Twitpics of these crazy iPad 2 shots last week I thought it was an isolated issue happening to a couple of users, now Cult Of Mac says they received dozens of similar reports. I, for one, can say the issue with FaceTime and the cameras freezing is most definitely real, although I can’t confirm on the “color glitching” problem reported above. If you’re experiencing problems with your iPad 2’s cameras, drop a comment below or, even better, open a thread on Apple Discussions.

 

Rumor: Cloud-based iOS 5 Coming this Fall with New Location & Music Services

Following the speculation that Apple might soon seed a GM build of OS X Lion to developers, TechCrunch now reports the long-awaited major revamp of iOS, dubbed iOS 5, has been pushed back to fall, with a possible WWDC preview in June. The rumor is interesting because it breaks Apple’s usual release cycle and media event pattern: in the past years, Apple previewed a new version of iPhone OS (and then iOS) with a media event in March / April, and then released it by the WWDC, or soon after that together with the availability of a new iPhone model. And in the past years, this plan has worked quite well for Apple: developers had time to test the OS in the months leading up to the WWDC, whilst everyone else was getting ready for a new iPhone in June / July. According to TechCrunch, this is about to change.

Citing “two solid sources”, MG Siegler reports this year’s plan involves a preview of the new OS at the WWDC, and a public release “this fall”. Putting the pieces together, as TechCrunch also notes, pushing iOS 5 back to fall would play well with Apple’s usual music event in September. But why would Apple use the music event to do some major iOS-related announcement? TechCrunch speculates it’s all about the cloud: the rumored “music locker” service will be ready this fall, and being a major new feature of iOS 5 Apple might as well wait until September to unveil it. iOS 5 is also rumored to introduce a new UI, a new notification system, direct OS X integration. Read more

OS X Lion GM Coming Soon?

TechCrunch reports tonight Apple has been gathering feedback and crash reports from developers testing the first preview build of the next major version of OS X, 10.7 Lion, and the operating system is now nearing the “GM” stage. When a new OS reaches the Golden Master status, that means it’s usually ready for public release – although Apple previously announced Lion wouldn’t ship until Summer 2011. Indeed, TechCrunch also speculates a public release could happen around the WWDC – which should be scheduled for June as usual.

Specifically, Apple is gearing up to deploy an OS X Lion update to developers that they may be classifying as the “GM1″ release, we’ve heard. “GM” or “Golden Master” is a title reserved for software that is complete. But from what we’ve heard, this is only the initial Golden Master candidate. In other words, don’t get too excited just yet.

If Apple is planning to deploy multiple GM builds of Lion, that would keep them on track for another (possibly final) GM build / release candidate seeded at the WWDC and public availability soon after that. As MG Siegler notes, the GM seed of OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard was released a few weeks ahead of the public launch.

The first developer preview of Lion was seeded on February 24th. Apple decided to rely on the Mac App Store (and the redeem code system) for the distribution of the developer preview, which saw several issues with canceled downloads and slow loading times arose at first. Apparently Apple has fixed the issues with the Mac App Store distributing OS updates on a large scale, and the GM build is almost ready to go. In February, TechCrunch correctly suggested a beta of Lion was about to be released just a day before the actual developer seed. Among the new features of Lion (such as a complete Finder rewrite, new Mail app, multitouch gestures and the Launchpad), many speculate Apple might bring direct integration with the Finder and iOS devices wirelessly, through the new AirDrop utility.

The Best PDF Reader for iPad, PDF Expert, Now Available on iPhone

I am a huge fan of PDF Expert on the iPad: developed by Readdle, I choose PDF Expert when I need to read documents on my iPad (and now iPad 2) because the app’s fast, has a nice interface, can import things from Dropbox and other online services and, most of all, has support for annotations / text notes / highlights / signatures and forms. Put simply: it’s great. And now it’s available on the iPhone, too.

First off, a complaint: I don’t like the fact that the iPhone version is sold separately at $9.99 and it’s not an universal app. Considering the similarities between the two versions, PDF Expert should become a universal app priced, perhaps, at a slightly higher price. PDF Expert for iPhone is basically a “mini” version of the iPad counterpart, and by “mini” I mean that it just fits on the smaller screen. All the features of PDF Expert for iPad have been ported over: highlights, notes, annotations, forms, online services, fast engine. It’s really the same app, working on the iPhone’s screen.

If you already own PDF Expert for the iPad, you know it’s a great app. So if you would like to have it on the iPhone as well, you’ll have to spend $9.99 again. If you don’t have PDF Expert, make sure to read my initial iPad review and then choose carefully between the two versions because it’s not a universal app.

Apple Wins First Round of Patent Battle Against Nokia

According to Reuters news agency, a US panel has said that Apple didn’t infringe any patents from Finland-based cellphone company Nokia. The 5 patents claimed by Nokia in the past months included mobile phones, portable music players and computers.

A judge at the International Trade Commission, which hears many patent cases, said that Apple did not violate the Nokia patents.

In the past months, the two companies fired back at each other with a series of lawsuits. In September 2010 Apple sued Nokia in the UK over 9 cellphone-related patents the company had purportedly implemented in their products, and sued again in January challenging one of the seven patents filed by Nokia in its lawsuit against Apple in Germany. Indeed, had previously sued Apple in the U.S., U.K., Germany and the Netherlands over 37 patent infringements claiming that Apple “owed it royalties for using Nokia technology that allows such basic mobile tasks as sending email or downloading applications”.

More specifically, Nokia sued Apple in May 2010 over five patents related to “enhanced speech and data transmission, and antenna configurations that improve performance and save space” that, according to the Finnish company, Apple implemented in their iPhones and iPads. Before that, Nokia had filed a lawsuit in October 2009 accusing Apple of infringing 10 patents and demanding royalties for more than 51 million iPhones sold since then.

We’ll update this article with more information as details surface in the next hours.

Bloomberg reports a statement from Nokia:

While we don’t agree that there has been no violation, we’ll wait to see the details of the ruling before we decide on any next steps,” said Laurie Armstrong, a spokeswoman for Espoo, Finland-based Nokia.

Apple has a “no comment”:

Kristin Huguet, a spokeswoman for Apple, said the Cupertino, California-based company had no comment. The judge’s reasons will be released to the public after both sides have a chance to redact confidential business information.

Fring for iPhone Now Lets You Switch Between Cameras, Has In-App Purchases

After a series of updates that brought fullscreen video calling with “dynamic quality” and cheap calls to landline and mobile phones, the latest version of video calling + IM service fring for iPhone, released earlier this week, allows users to switch between the rear and front-facing cameras. Like in Apple’s FaceTime, you can switch cameras with the tap of a button and show your friend on the other end what’s around you and what are you looking at.

Another new feature of fring 1.2 is the possibility to purchase fringOut credit using your iTunes account. The developers have complied to Apple’s terms and have enabled in-app purchases as the easiest way to buy additional call minutes without even leaving the app.

This update also includes bug fixes and “improved battery efficiency”, but it’s no universal yet. We don’t know if the fring developers are planning to release an iPad 2 version, but we think it’d be perfect to extend the service to other iOS devices. You can find fring for free in the App Store.

Apple Releases Xcode 4.0.1

Together with iOS 4.3.1, a few minutes ago Apple released an update for its development application Xcode, which reaches version 4.0.1 and adds a number of bug fixes and stability improvements. Xcode 4 was released on March 9th.

First off, Apple fixed a bug in the installer that caused the app to hang at 99% complete, never finishing the installation process. Apple also fixed another error that prevented indexing of projects, and another one that didn’t allow developers to have automatic downloads of documentation from Apple’s servers.

You can find the full changelog below, and Xcode 4.0.1 in the Mac App Store or Apple’s website.

  • Improved Assistant editor logic when switching among different file types
  • Fixed a bug in “Install Xcode.app” that hangs at 99% complete, never finishing
  • Fixed a bug that prevented indexing of some projects
  • Fixed a bug related to nil settings in the Core Data model editor
  • Fixed a bug that prevented automatic download of iOS documentation
  • Fixed a bug in LLVM GCC 4.2 and LLVM compiler 2.0 for iOS projects
  • Additional bug fixes and stability improvements

Apple Releases iOS 4.3.1 [Direct Links]

Apple just released iOS 4.3.1. It’s available now in iTunes if you check for updates. The new version of iOS fixes graphic glitches for iPod touch 4G owners, resolves issues when authenticating with enterprise services and other bugs when activating and connecting to cellular data networks. iOS 4.3.1 isn’t available for the Verizon iPhone.

Screenshot of the changelog below, direct links after the break.

Read more