Federico Viticci

10779 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

Apple Confirms: iPad 2 Event on March 2

According to The Loop, Apple just sent out the invitations for the previously reported media event on March 2 – where the company is expected to announce a new iPad.

Apple on Wednesday sent an invitation to media inviting them to a special event on March 2 in San Francisco, Calif.

According to the invitation received by The Loop, the event will be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts at 10:00 am. This is the same venue Apple has used to introduce a number of products in recent years.

For a summary of the iPad 2 rumors surfaced on the Internet from September until today, check out our iPad 2 rumors timeline. The event will take place at 10 AM Pacific Time, and you’ll find our meta-liveblog coverage on MacStories, as well as posts as iPad 2 details will start coming in. The new iPad – dubbed “iPad 2” so far – is widely believed to introduce a front-facing camera for FaceTime, a thinner and lighter design, an updated version of iOS 4.3 with Photo Booth capabilities. It’s still unclear whether or not Apple will also include a rear camera and a USB / Light Peak port on the device.

Looking at the invitation, it appears that Apple is kind of putting a reference to other tablets from competitors in there: it says “Come see what 2011 will be the year of”. That’s a nice tagline. Does this mean we’ll only see an iPad 2 in 2011, and not an iPad 3?

Tune in at 9.30 AM Pacific Time on Wednesday for our live coverage of Apple’s iPad 2 event.

Canned Mail Lets You Save Time Sending Pre-Composed Emails

There are cool utilities for the iPhone, and then there are must-have apps you just can’t work without anymore once you’ve tried them. That has been the case for me with Canned by Sky Balloon, a neat little iPhone app that allows me to send pre-composed text messages to my favorite contacts, thus saving time typing when the subjects are always the same over and over. I’m talking about stuff like “Hey mom, remember to buy some pizza” or “Meet me in 5 at the station”. Canned, of all the apps I have, is probably the one I use the most.

But Sky Balloon knew that text messages were just the beginning, and so they listened to their userbase’s requests and developed a new version of Canned that’s meant for emails. Canned Mail, available at $0.99 in the App Store, lets you create pre-composed emails to send at any time to one of your Address Book contacts, or multiple ones at once. You can in fact create complete emails with subject / To / CC / BCC fields, save them in the app’s main screen and tap on them to send them in seconds.

If you find yourself sending the same emails every day, you need Canned Mail. Go download it here.

The Power Of The iPad Illustrated In Infographic

If there was any doubt the iPad is a very strong product among consumers, an infographic by Yudu Media is here to confirm Apple achieved a huge success with its first tablet. The full image is available here, but let’s break it down a bit. 9 out of 10 consumers are aware of the iPad, not a surprise considering Apple’s massive advertising strategy. Those consumers who have bought an iPad, however, have made 9 in 10 app purchases from the App Store (this is not very clear), and 91% of them have downloaded at least one app. 63% of iPad owners have downloaded at least one paid app. That’s not a bad number – I can tell you many of my friends are that kind of users that refrain from entering their credit card information in iTunes and only download free apps on their iPhones. Perhaps the iPad shows bigger paid app numbers than the iPhone? This is an interesting subject.

The infographic also reports Apple is expected to make $15 billion from app revenue in 2011, 3 times the total of 2010. Overall, iPad owners “are more likely to view, interact with, and buy as a result of viewing advertising than other device users”. Whatever that means in our daily iPad usage, we’re pretty sure Apple’s commercials play an important role in this.

Check out the infographic here.

Image Editing and Photo Booth for iOS Surface in Apple Patent

A few days after Apple released the first beta of iOS 4.3, several developers and bloggers did a little bit of digging into the SDK and new firmware file to find out whether Apple had  managed to hide references to new hardware and features into iOS 4.3. iPad camera files aside, icons for FaceTime and Photo Booth surfaced, as well as strings in the code that pointed to new camera effects finding their way to iOS. These effects looked very similar to the ones used by Apple in the iPod nano fifth generation: X-Ray, thermal, light tunnel, kaleidoscope, and so forth.

A new patent design uncovered by Patently Apple today confirms that engineers and designers at Cupertino have been studying the implementation of Photo Booth with image effects for iPhones and iPads, but the most interesting part is perhaps the adoption of image editing features system-wide, configurable in the settings, that users will also be able to manipulate with sound, motion, GPS and touch. Read more

Sixth Beta of 10.6.7 Now Available in Mac Dev Center

A sixth beta of Mac OS X 10.6.7 has been seeded to developers, and it’s available now for download in the Mac Dev Center. Build number is 10J860. No known issues have been reported in the build’s seed notes, and like the previous beta focus areas include Safari, Bonjour, Mac App Store, AirPort, SMB and Graphic Drivers.

The fifth beta of OS X 10.6.7 was seeded 5 days ago to developers. Apple is clearly accelerating the development of the new version of the OS, which should come out soon.

Seas0nPass Untethered Jailbreak for Apple TV 4.1.1 Released

A few minutes ago the FireCore team announced the availability of a new version of Seas0nPass for Mac that brings untethered jailbreak for the Apple TV 4.1.1 – also known as iOS 4.2.1 for all other devices.

All credit for the untethered jailbreak process goes to the Chronic Dev Team. Seas0nPass for Windows is also being finalized with the untether and will be available soon.

The latest Beta3 version of aTV Flash (black) is compatible with Seas0nPass, GreenPois0n and Pwnage Tool jailbreaks.

A previous version of the app with tethered boot option was released in January. There aren’t many tweaks and apps available for the Apple TV yet, so feel free to try this if you’re really willing to experiment with the little black box.

iPod Nano Software Update Lets You Control Music with Sleep Button

Earlier today Apple issued a software update for the iPod Nano 6th generation, which brings a useful feature to the device: you can now control music and radio playback using the Sleep / Wake button without looking at the screen.

With iPod software update version 1.1 for iPod nano (6th generation), you will be able to:

Completely turn off the iPod, rather than just put the device to sleep.

Control music or radio playback using the Sleep/Wake button without having to look at the device.

Another notes provided by Apple on the iPod Nano 1.1 update:

  • When the iPod nano is off, you will not hear or be alerted to any alarm or reminder set on the iPod. When you turn iPod nano back on, alarms or reminders that haven’t yet expired will occur as scheduled.
  • If you turn iPod nano back on within five minutes of when it was turned off, it will remember your music playlist and what was playing. However, if you turn iPod nano back on more than five minutes after it was turned off, the device will not remember what you were doing on the device or which application was active.

More information about the update available here.

Intel Launching Light Peak on Thursday, MacBook Pros Launch Not A Coincidence?

CNET reports Intel will hold a press event on Thursday to officially “roll out” (presumably to manufacturers) its Light Peak technology:

Intel on Thursday plans to roll out Light Peak, a high-speed connection technology that Apple is also likely to adopt, according to an industry source familiar with the details of the event.

Intel released a statement to the media today saying that on Thursday in San Francisco it will “host a…press briefing to discuss a new technology that is about to appear on the market.”

There will also be a media event held the same day at the Intel campus in Santa Clara, Calif., where the chipmaker will conduct technology and product demonstrations.

The rumored February 24th release date for the new MacBook Pros doesn’t sound like a simple coincidence at this point. Several bloggers noted that it’d be unusual for Apple to introduce new hardware on a Thursday, but the Intel media event backs up previous rumors that the new MBP line will feature the fast Light Peak technology. We’ll see.

Apple To Unveil “Joint Venture” Service at Retail Meeting This Weekend

Earlier today a report from AppleInsider suggested Apple might hold a “secret”, all-hands meeting with Apple Store employees this weekend, most specifically on Sunday right after the stores’ regular closing time. Speculation among blogs and publications were quick to indicate that the meeting could be about the new MacBook Pros (although we don’t know why, considering they’re rumored to come out on Thursday), the next iPad or an upcoming Apple event.

While it appears that both the iPad 2 and an Apple event are happening next week, BGR reports that the meeting will focus on a new retail service called “Joint Venture”. The service, aimed at small businesses and “prosumers”, sounds like a new kind of technical support provided by Apple’s Geniuses:

Joint Venture is an extension of Apple’s current Genius Bar services that is aimed at small businesses and prosumers. Subscribers of the new service will be able to speak with a store-based Apple technician — lovingly referred to as Geniuses — over the phone for one-on-one consultation and troubleshooting, or they can request an on-site visit.

The interesting part is that, currently, Apple Geniuses can’t provide phone and on-site support. Apple is expanding its support policy which, if you ask us, is just a great thing. Employees will be briefed about this new service on Sunday. On a side note, TUAW reported yesterday Apple is changing the way the Consultants Network handles requests.

Update: Stephen Hackett at ForkBombr (former Apple Genius) shares his thoughts on Apple’s plan to include on-site and phone support in the Genius Bar offerings:

On-site support and time for one-to-one care are two things that have set Apple-Authorized Service Providers and members of the Apple Consultants Network apart from Apple retail. Apple has been ramping up its in-store business sales teams over the last 18 months or so, and so far, that has paid off for third-party Apple shops in the form of numerous small business installs and support gigs.

If Apple store employees do venture out into the world, it could spell bad news for small Apple shops (like the one I used to manage). If given a choice, many may choose an “official” Apple support route over a third-party. That would cripple many small companies.