Federico Viticci

10876 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

This Week's Sponsor:

Inoreader

Build your own newsfeed and cut through the noise

Skype 5.1 for Mac Released, Design Competition Launched

Skype, the popular VoIP and video calling service, released earlier today an update for its official Mac client, adding a number of fixes, new features and design improvements following feedback received by users in the past months since the release of Skype 5 for Mac.

The latest update, version 5.1, includes “improvements to the group video calling interface” as participants in group calls can now easily identify and focus on active speakers. Another addition to the app is the possibility to select recent numbers in the dial pad – which was redesigned in Skype 5. Among other bug fixes, one for iSight FireWire webcam detection. Skype 5.1 for Mac is available for download here.

Together with the new release, Skype is also launching a design competition with many Apple-related prizes (iPads, a MacBook Air, Apple TV) to redesign the look of chat in Skype for Mac:

When we first launched our new Mac app, we were delighted to see so many custom styles emerge from the design community, so we thought we’d make it official.

Between now and the 14th April, we’re inviting you to design your own chat style for Skype for Mac. We’ve assembled a team of experts to choose the very best, and if you’re the winner, we’ll include your design in a future version of Skype for Mac so that it can be enjoyed by millions of people around the world (as well as giving you a brand new MacBook Air, an iPad 2 and a year’s subscription to Unlimited World Extra).

When Skype 5 for Mac came out, many people were indeed disappointed by the new UI and created custom “themes” for the app. Skype noticed, and is now giving designers a chance to be included into the next major release of the app and win gadgets and development books. Not a bad deal, right? Check out the details here, and a demo video of Skype 5 for Mac below.
Read more

T-Mobile UK iPad 2 Subsidies: No 32 GB and 64 GB Models Tomorrow, 2-Year Contract

According to Geeky Gadgets, carrier T-Mobile UK will begin selling the iPad 2 tomorrow with online and phone orders, and there will be upgrade options (with different prices) for owners of the original iPad.  The website reports the following prices with a 2-year contract:

  • iPad 2 16 GB WiFi + 3G:  £199 upfront + £25 per month for existing customers
  • iPad 2 16 GB WiFi + 3G:: £229 upfront + £27 per month for new customers

The two-year contract with T-Mobile UK gives 1 GB of data per month and an additional “quiet time” 1 GB for usage between 12 AM and 10 AM. Online and phone orders with T-Mobile UK will start tomorrow at 5 PM – same applies if you want to buy an iPad 2 at the Apple Store tomorrow in the 25 countries that will get the device.

iPad 2 Makes Its Way To The Top Of A Volcano

Here’s a story about the iPad 2 we thought was interesting and worth mentioning. Tech writer Robert Evans over at I4U News and  TechEYE recently made a trip to Guatemala, and decided to bring the just-bought iPad 2 along with him, inside his backpack. As he landed in Guatemala and took a bus to the city of Antigua, the iPad became an irreplaceable companion: kids Evans met at local bars and shops were fascinated by the device, especially by the Photo Booth and GarageBand apps. He says some kids (who never saw a touchscreen before, or an Apple device for that matter) spent an entire hour making music with GarageBand, which turned out to be intuitive and enjoyable.

Every morning, I’d flit into a nearby cafe to eat my breakfast and take care of my morning work. The place was always filled with ex-pats and missionaries working in the outlying villages. Within a few short mornings, my iPad 2 was the “go to” email machine for all of my new friends.

But it wasn’t until I travelled to the sleepy town of San Lorenzo that my new iPad was really put through its paces. Five minutes of tooling around on GarageBand was enough to convince me that the iPad 2 was the perfect device to keep a gaggle of little kids entertained. A local youth mission was only too eager to help me test that theory out.

Then the iPad 2 was put inside a backpack as Evans found his way onto the Pacaya volcano. Evans says he only had to charge the device twice during his trip, and the iPad even resisted being sat on (inside the backpack) and exposed to the moisture of Pacaya. Evans even used Photo Booth next to a geo-thermal cave to shoot some pictures, while they were roasting marshmallows using the “boiling geothermal heat” radiating out of the volcano.

Perhaps the iPad 2 wasn’t meant for rural bars and volcanoes in Guatemala, but it sounds like it might work just fine over there. Read more of Evans’ story (and check out the photos) here.

“No Acrimony” Over Serlet’s Departure - A Planned Transition→

“No Acrimony” Over Serlet’s Departure - A Planned Transition

Following this morning’s news that senior vice president of Mac Software Engineering Bertrand Serlet is leaving Apple after 22 years of collaboration with Steve Jobs, John Paczkowski at All Things Digital puts the pieces together and says this is a planned transition that’s been in the works for months:

There’s a reason Craig Federighi, who is to take over Serlet’s role, handled demo duties for Apple’s Lion preview demo last year (see video below). And there’s a reason Serlet has been selling off Apple shares recently. They’ve been preparing for this day, which sources tell me is not at all the result of a spat over differences in strategic direction or the diminishment of OS X’s importance to Apple.

“There’s no acrimony there,” one source close to the company told me. “Bertrand’s just decided it’s his time to move on. Avie (Tevanian, former senior vice president of software engineering) handed off to him and now he’s handing off to Craig. It’s just a changing of the guard.

Serlet says he wants to focus on science now. People speculated this morning that Serlet might have left because of the iOS-like approach Apple is taking with Lion, but that sounds like a really stupid theory. I bet Serlet himself saw the evolution of OS X into something like Lion years ago.

Permalink

WSJ Starts Selling Single-Issues Using In-App Purchases

As reported last night, the Wall Street Journal has updated its official iPad application to include the possibility for readers to buy single issues for a specific day. These single-issues downloads are available as $1.99 in-app purchases, whilst “regular” WSJ monthly and weekly subscriptions are still being sold through a website – which is embedded into the WSJ app for login and purchasing option. At this point, it seems that the WSJ is slowly complying to Apple’s in-app purchase and subscription policies but it’s not quite there yet. Recently, Apple started enforcing a rule that requires developers to implement in-app purchases as an option by default in iOS apps that come with extra, purchasable content.

Single issues (up to a week) can be viewed in the “start screen”. Here, you can choose to buy one or subscribe to the WSJ. iPad subscribers also get free unlimited access to WSJ.com, iPhone and Blackberry apps. Single issues don’t carry any kind of additional benefit as they’re simply tied to an iTunes account.

The WSJ app for iPad is free, and it’s available here. Read more

Apple Wants To Pay More To Have Continuous Touch Panel Supply

With several Japanese manufacturers struggling to bring their facilities back into operation after the earthquake and tsunami, Digitimes reports Apple is willing to pay more to have a constant, steady flow of touch panel supply for the coming months. After the release of the iPad 2 and with several reports about Apple facing issues with low tablet shipments from Asian manufacturers, the rumor is interesting as it suggests Apple is re-considering the amount of money that goes into pre-production deals with companies in China and Taiwan.

In order to secure sufficient supply of touch panels used in the iPad and iPhone, Apple has talked with Taiwan-based makers, considering some room for them to hike quotes, according to these makers.

With Apple’s capacity, It is a reasonable strategy from Apple to allow suppliers to hike quotes, and it will be a great help to the overall supply chain, even just for the short term, but will increase pressure to other vendors for tablet PCs and smartphone, touch panel makers believed.

In the past week many publications reported the Japanese earthquake might have not affected the stream of supplies necessary for the iPad 2 production. Apple is clearly looking ahead though, with an iPhone 5 set to debut this summer and likely ready to go into mass-production in a few weeks. Digitimes claims Apple is taking 60% of the current touch panel market, and a deal to pay manufacturers more to ensure availability may spell bad news for competitors like Samsung or Motorola, both heavily betting on Android-based tablets for 2011. [via MacRumors]

Friends 1.6 Released: Improved Facebook Support, New UI and Search

Over the past months we’ve followed closely the development of Friends, an iPhone app by Taptivate that aims at changing the way you stay in touch with your friends on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Version 1.0 was released in December, and the developers quickly iterated with version 1.5 released in February adding Read It Later support and improved notifications.

Friends 1.6, released a few minutes ago, is another major update to the app that introduces redesigned sections, powerful search functionalities and completely revamped Facebook support. Friends can now upload photos to Facebook, and users can also comment on photos posted on Facebook. This kind of integration with the service was highly requested in the previous versions, and works just as advertised. Furthermore, the app is now capable of searching for friends across Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn – again, a welcome addition that uses a beautiful toolbar running along the top of the app.

Every post comes with its own timestamp in version 1.6, and every post can also be retweeted at any time from within the timeline. The interface has been refined and looks more gorgeous than ever; I also noticed syncing times seem to be improved with this latest update.

Last, Friends is on sale at $0.99 in the App Store. Go get it now, as it’s an amazing deal for a great iPhone app. More screenshots below. Read more

Apple To License AirPlay Video Streaming To TV Makers?

Bloomberg reports Apple may be seeking to expand the compatibility of its AirPlay technology with external devices by licensing video streaming to makers of television sets. Currently, Apple is only licensing audio streaming through AirPlay to brands like Pioneer; video streaming compatible with iOS devices embedded directly into televisions sold to consumers could dramatically increase the popularity and market share of AirPlay as a standard.

Under the plan, Apple would license its AirPlay software to consumer-electronics makers that could use it in devices for streaming movies, TV shows and other video content, said the people, who asked

An expanded AirPlay would let users stream programming wirelessly from an Apple mobile device to a TV that carries the technology. That may spur wider use of Apple’s services and devices in consumers’ living rooms.

According to the report, Apple takes $4 off every AirPlay-enabled audio device sold thanks to the licensing deals with manufacturers. Building AirPlay support into TV sets and other monitors (AirPlay is a collaboration of Apple and BridgeCo, a company that’s been talking to TV makers for years to make web-connected devices) could easily help Apple expand to living rooms without releasing new devices. Apple sells the $99 Apple TV that is the only AirPlay videor receiver for now, but the plan makes sense: build AirPlay into actual televisions so content from the iTunes Store and other Apple partners (example: Netflix) can be streamed without buying additional gear (that is, if you already have an iPhone, iPad or Mac).

In the past, Apple was also rumored to be considering a streaming technology for iOS games that would allow users to beam a game played from a mobile device directly to the television. With the iPad 2, this is possible thanks to HDMI support. AirPlay for games (video-out) with a chip embedded in new television sets would be an interesting scenario for Apple.

IMDb App Adds AirPlay Support, Watchlist - Lets You Buy Movie Tickets

Back in November, IMDb released an improved version of its official iOS app introducing a major redesign and several new functionalities like ratings, entertainment news and international showtimes. Today IMDb is releasing another update to the app, which reaches version 2.1 and adds several new features like the much-requested AirPlay compatibility.

The IMDb app can now beam movie trailers from your iPad or iPhone to the Apple TV, or to another iOS device using an app like the AirTuner receiver. Being AirPlay one of consumers’ favorite features in the latest versions of iOS, it’s nice to see IMDb has adopted the streaming technology as a way to share content in a local network. IMDb 2.1 also improves several aspects of the previous update: there’s a ratings history menu now that lets you see all the movies and TV shows you rated on IMDb and entertainment news have been improved to display more content.

IMDb 2.1 introduces a watchlist to keep track of the movies and TV shows you’re interested in: from now on, instead of maintaining a text note with the shows you want to follow, you can just do it with the Watchlist on the iOS app. This update brings other enhancements as well, such as search results as-you-type and possibility to purchase movie tickets in the US, UK, Canada and Spain.

IMDb for iOS is available for free in the App Store.