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

Twitter, Curation and iPad: Meet Tweet Library

On the internet, some words are often overlooked. When something becomes “popular” or even a “trend”, the original concept is abused and misinterpreted. It happened with “interface”, it happened with “geek” and “hipster”, it’s happening with “curation”.

Curation: “The act of curating, of organizing and maintaining a collection of artworks or artifacts”

Curation #2: “The manual updating of information in a database”

With Apple’s “curated” App Store platform, geeks and casual users have started using the term “curation” in their parlance to refer to a collection of items regulated by terms and strict rules. With 250.000 applications and stories of rejections, curation suddenly became an internet-wide topic of interest for the everyday iPhone user. This is not what curation is all about. Read more

Apple Touch Panel Suppliers Expected to See Revenue Growth in Q4 2010

Ok, look: we know that the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad are doing fine among consumers. Well actually, they’re doing great - but let’s wait until October 18th (when Apple is having its Q4 earnings call) before we talk about sales and success again. We often forget (or maybe some of you just don’t know) that there’s a whole supply chain behind your beloved iOS multitouch screens; how are these guys doing amid the recession and Apple’s success in the mobile market?


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Apple TV Sales Estimate: 1 Million Per Quarter

It’s nice when you can transform a geek hobby to a nation-wide consumer hit. It happened with the iPhone, it happened with the iPod Touch and it’s happening with the iPad as we speak. The latest research from JMP Research analyst Alex Gauna suggests us it may be happening with the new Apple TV as well. Read more

Shawn Blanc on OmniFocus→

Shawn Blanc on OmniFocus

Getting actions in is easy. It’s in the processing of those actions where the most friction exists. However, that’s because the organization and output is what makes OmniFocus so mind-blowingly powerful. I’m not exaggerating when I say that OmniFocus pretty much organizes your lists for you. It will take your relevant tasks and intelligently order them for you so you only see what you need to see without worrying about other stuff. After years of keeping a to-do list, I just may now be finally understanding what people mean by a “trusted system”.

That’s exactly what OmniFocus is all about: giving you powerful (yet unobtrusive) tools to help you sort your tasks and projects. Integration with other applications is the next logical step.

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Latest Apple Patent: The Ambidextrous Mouse (Which Sounds Familiar)

Tech companies patent a lot of stuff. From external devices to stands and screens and touch-based interactions, patents for “inventions” are all over the place. Apple patents are the ones we usually get excited about, though, as they’re probably the most curious ones.

The latest Apple patent filing shows us an “ambidextrous” mouse, a device capable of recognizing whether you’re holding it with your left or right hand, and able to work in either mode. Read more

Instagram: A New Social Paradigm for iPhone Camera Apps

It’s not easy to build an alternative iPhone camera app: many tried, most of them failed, the one I loved was removed and the developers never got back to us. It’s not easy because Apple’s default camera application requires literally two taps to snap a picture, and there you have it in your camera roll. Where many developers failed is in simplicity and user approach: they promoted their app as the “best camera app for iPhone”, and they stashed 300+ features in it, making it impossible to use for the average iPhone owner.

So either you build an app for professionals (almostDSLR comes in mind), or you create something different. The latter option is exactly what the Instagram developers got right: they built a simple app to take pictures and make them prettier, and they wrapped it up with social features in order to create a brand new community around Instagram. A camera app with a social network inside it? The cool thing is, this could singlehandedly redefine the concept of “simple camera apps” on the iPhone for the months to come. Instagram is that good. Read more

Ouch: New Apple TV Doesn’t Trigger 24 Hour Timer for Shows Rented On Mac

Interesting bug (or is it a feature?) discovered by MacRumors about the new Apple TV: if you try to stream a show rented on a Mac’s iTunes, the 24/48 hour countdown for the rental doesn’t get triggered. Instead, you’ll keep seeing the 29+ days message as if  you never opened that file.

This only happens when you stream the file from your computer to the new Apple TV which, as you may know, doesn’t come with storage capabilities like the old model. Read more