Federico Viticci

10781 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

Linkie, Another iPhone App To Track Bit.ly Links. The One I’m Sticking With.

Last week I took a look at Clicks Count, a free iPhone app to keep track of bit.ly links posted by a Twitter account. By using the public bit.ly’s APIs, the app allows you to check on the clicks a link has received and nothing much, really. But it’s free, and I’m sure it’ll be just fine for many of you.

I, however, need more. I want mobile analytics and referrers. So I went digging in the App Store some more and found this other app, Linkie, which comes at a $0.99 but does everything I need. So I’m sticking with it. Read more

TabCloud, Useful Chrome Extension to Sync Sessions Between Computers

I have a MacBook Pro and an iMac, and Google Chrome is installed on both the machines. I need to keep tabs in sync, otherwise it’s a giant “let’s email open tabs links to myself” mess. In the age of sync anywhere, anytime it amazes me that Google still hasn’t come up with a reliable solution to keep tabs and sessions in sync between different machines.

I’ve been using the Xmarks service for some months now, and while I don’t really care about bookmarks and passwords sync (1Password all the way), it’s been tremendously useful to keep tabs in sync between my two computers. I just don’t like the way it forces me to open tabs: one at a time and I have to hit the Xmarks button for each tab, as they can’t open in the background. Read more

Delibar for iPhone Syncs Bookmarks In The Cloud - Review & Giveaway

I don’t really save bookmarks anymore like I used to, but I know hundreds of thousands of users out there save any kind of content every day on popular services like Delicious, Pinboard and historio.us. I’m out of the bookmarking game, maybe because my browser’s address bar became so smart I can type a few characters and get back to that post I needed. Or maybe because I save the stuff I want as starred items in Google Reader and faves in Twitter or then again, maybe I was just tired of bookmarking. Like I said, though, bookmarking services are far from dead, even if people like me stopped using them.

For this very reason you should welcome the release of Delibar for iPhone, which is, hands down, the best iOS app to access Delicious and Pinboard bookmarks. Read more

Apple Planning Additional App Store LockDown During Thanksgiving Week

Apple usually locks down iTunes Connect for developers during the week of Christmas. This procedure known as “lockdown” doesn’t allow developers to submit updates for their apps and perform price changes, as they’re basically forced to stay out of iTunes Connect, the system underlying the App Store distribution.

According to a rumor published by 148apps, Apple is planning an additional lockdown this year during the week of Thanksgiving. The lockdown is admittedly a problem for developers who need to submit fixes to their applications, but it’s also a great marketing opportunity as charts and top apps are not updated either during the period. If you’re there on the first day, you’ll stay there for the whole week. Read more

RIP, MacBook Pro→

RIP, MacBook Pro

MG Siegler:

And regardless of if storage capabilities hold it back or not, I have no doubt that the Air does point to the future of the MacBook lineup. They’re soon all going to lose their optical drives, gain flash storage drives, and work for hours on end. In fact, the only machine I can think of that I might enjoy more than this one is one that lasts even longer. To get that, I’d accept a model that’s slightly larger (15-inches), slightly heavier (maybe 3.3 pounds), but had 10 hours of battery life. That’s the future MacBook Pro right there.

Is it just me, or purchasing a regular MacBook doesn’t make much sense anymore?

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Apple’s Jobs Is Victor In War Of Words→

Apple’s Jobs Is Victor In War Of Words

It’s refreshing to see a CEO stand up and be so confident in his company and products that he is willing to speak out. In fact, I wish more CEOs had that much confidence in what they are making.

Jobs is winning the war of words with competitors because consumers are buying Apple’s products. Jobs is bringing innovative products to the market and everyone else is following his lead.

For many CEOs used to their business lingo, it’s hard to understand Jobs’ direct style.

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Sonos Wireless Dock for iPhone & iPod Now Available

Sonos, undoubtedly one of the leader companies in audio streaming technologies, has released its new product tailored to iPod Touch and iPhone users: the WD100 wireless dock, which allows you to stream audio from your iDevice to other Sonos Zoneplayers around the house. As the name suggests, the WD100 also charges your device, and relies entirely on digital audio transmission instead of cabled one.

The Wireless Dock retails at $119. Stay tuned for a full ZonePlayer S5 review soon on MacStories.

Press release below. Read more

iM: Upcoming Instant Messaging App for iPhone That Looks Beautiful

Every instant messaging app for iPhone and iPad I’ve tried so far looks ugly and comes with a lot of features I don’t need. I just want a simple app that plugs into my iChat account and lets me chat with my buddies, I don’t need a full-featured, multi-service, multi-account, multi-godknowswhatelse ugly piece of software that comes with “unique custom wallpaper capabilities” and “exclusive Facebook chat integration”.

I want something simple, focused, beautiful and stable. So that’s why I’m looking forward to iM app: developed by Trevor Sheridan and Steve Itterly and designed by the talented Mathieu White, iM aims at becoming the ultimate solution for iPhone users who’ve always been disappointed by the state of instant messaging app on iOS.

Read more

Charge Your iPhone 4 Wirelessly with the PowerMat

If you’ve ever wished to charge your precious iPhone 4 wirelessly without the need of plugging that ugly white cable into Ive’s metal washed in unicorn tears, heck - you need a PowerMat.

This $59.99 charging pad / case for iPhone indeed charges the device without any cables. It’s magical, I heard ‘em say. Or maybe it’s just the progress of science. Who knows.

You can go get a PowerMat here, and check out the pics below. [PowerMat via Gizmodo] Read more