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Apple To Stream Tim Cook’s Presentation at Goldman Sachs Conference Tomorrow

setteB.IT notes that Apple will provide a live stream of CEO Tim Cook’s presentation at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference tomorrow. Apple has indeed refreshed its Investor page to include a link to the QuickTime audio webcast, which will be live at 12:30 PM PT tomorrow, February 14th.

Welcome to the audio webcast of Tim Cook’s presentation at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference. The presentation will begin at approximately 12:30pm PT/3:30pm ET on Tuesday, February 14, 2012. Please note that comments made during the presentation may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those forward-looking statements.

As it happened in the past when Cook was COO, we should expect interesting details and comments from the presentation. This is the first time Cook is speaking as Apple CEO – make sure to check out reports from the 2010 and 2008 conferences.

iCloud File Sharing

It is often said that Apple doesn’t offer a filesystem for iOS devices. Sure enough, it is indeed not possible to manage documents and folders on an iPhone or iPad as you can on OS X. Apple does, however, offer a very basic file management system that works with iOS apps, and you’ve haven’t probably used it too many times:

Introduced with iOS 3.2 and iTunes 9.1, iTunes File Sharing allows applications to import files copied from a Mac or PC using iTunes, and export to a computer. In iTunes, all you have to do is connect an iOS device, head over the Apps tab, and choose File Sharing below the Home screen app management interface. You can copy almost any kind of file into an app’s internal directory dedicated to file sharing, and several iOS apps use this method to import or backup files and documents such as bookmarks, videos, or spreadsheets. I’ve often used this feature to import .avi files to watch on my iPad.

iTunes File Sharing doesn’t seem to get the attention other iTunes functionalities do, and I believe there are a couple of reasons behind this. First off, it’s quite cumbersome: the interface for File Sharing is buried within an iOS device’s settings in iTunes, and there are no options to, say, automate the process of importing files or setting up favorite sources for documents. Second, iTunes File Sharing only solves a partial problem, in that the majority of iOS users don’t lament the lack of a proper Mac-to-iOS file management system as much as they’re asking for an iOS-to-iOS centralized file storage solution that would also happen to sync back to a Mac.

So, I had an idea. I think the same iTunes File Sharing feature would work a lot better as a dedicated, native iCloud app for iOS devices (and maybe the Mac too). After all, if Apple is providing an iTunes-based file management utility for Mac users, why couldn’t they build an app that enabled any third-party iOS app to save and import files from iCloud? This app would be built into the system and allow users to simply collect documents, like iTunes File Sharing. Developers could easily add options to their apps to import files from “iCloud File Sharing” and export files to it. Users would have the same feature set of the existing iTunes File Sharing, only with an interface they are already familiar with, because iCloud File Sharing would resemble the existing file management workflow of iWork for iOS or iCloud.com. The only difference is that it would be integrated on a system level, work with any iOS app, and basically be an extension of the “Open In” menu that already allows apps to communicate with each other through supported file types.

I wouldn’t call such an app “Dropbox from Apple”, as Dropbox is mainly developed as a solution to sync files between computers, running in the background all the time, whereas this would be more oriented towards giving apps a better file sharing system. In fact, I imagine Apple could go as far as indicating the apps that can receive an iCloud file as they currently do with iTunes File Sharing for better organization and to maintain the app-driven model. iCloud File Sharing would play well with this strategy, and it would offer a basic way for developers to integrate iCloud in their apps.

Apps like GoodReader have already implemented a similar system of iCloud-based file management, and some third-party developers are experimenting with providing standalone apps for file management purposes over iCloud. A default utility from Apple would have the obvious advantage of not requiring any additional download: it would be integrated as a system action in any app for iPhone, iPad (and even the Mac). Apps would still have their own iCloud libraries and synced data; the file sharing part would ditch iTunes and become iCloud-powered (iTunes File Sharing would be kept around as an option for transferring large files such as videos through USB).

You might argue that Apple is trying to eliminate the concept of the filesystem altogether by embracing the app model with data silos that are self-contained and user-friendly. As iTunes File Sharing seems to be suggest, though, I think that Apple knows the app model and iOS only solve so much when it comes to file management – Apple has to deal with the fact that many people still work with files and folders, export them, move them around, and manage them. I believe the real winning scenario for Apple would be to make the management process as lightweight and intuitive as simple by relying on iCloud. Thus, iCloud File Sharing would serve as a better solution than iTunes File Sharing, ans it would strengthen Apple’s offerings requiring no or little effort from developers, ultimately providing an accessible way to manage files atop of Apple’s existing free 5 GB of storage for every iCloud account.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the upcoming iOS 5.1 will introduce such a feature, and I’m not holding my breath for a surprise announcement during the iPad 3 event. But for the next major version of iOS, if Apple doesn’t think a better way to let apps communicate with each other is needed, I believe an evolution of iTunes File Sharing towards iCloud would be a sweet stopgap solution in the PC-free era.

Alfred 1.1 Released: Address Book, Filter Actions & More Improvements→

Alfred 1.1 Released: Address Book, Filter Actions & More Improvements

This release brings some great feature improvements to Address Book, Hotkeys and Extensions:

  • In the Address Book contact viewer, take action on contacts’ details.
  • Select text in any app & open Alfred to take action on it with a hotkey
  • Set default actions on filter extensions, like uploading a file to Flickr automatically
  • Replace existing Powerpack extensions easily when updates are released
  • Many more improvements and tweaks to make your Alfred experience even better.

It is hard to have a case of the Mondays when your week starts off with a great update to Alfred. Users of the non-Mac App Store version can download version 1.1 and start enjoying many of Alfred’s enhancements to the PowerPack features: Address Book, Hotkeys, and Extensions. From my understanding, the next update to Alfred was going to be a maintenance release but with Address Book getting so much love, the developer decided to make it a more substantial release.

PowerPack users can now view Address Book contact notes, messaging information, as well as social information from within Alfred. Also added was the ability to assign a default action or pre-existing Extension to phone numbers and email addresses. A similar Action option was added to Filters as well. There is a new configurable hotkey for more advanced options when opening Alfred and you will find a whole lot more in the official change log. I am really interested to see how the Alfred scripting community is going to run with these changes. If you find a clever way to use these new default actions be sure to share it in the comments below.

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Fair Labor Association Begins Its Inspections Of Apple’s Suppliers

The first inspections by the Fair Labor Association began today at Foxconn City in Shenzhen according to an Apple Press Release issued just a short time ago. It is the beginning of special, voluntary, audits of Apple’s final assembly suppliers that was announced earlier in January this year when Apple joined the Fair Labor Association.

“We believe that workers everywhere have the right to a safe and fair work environment, which is why we’ve asked the FLA to independently assess the performance of our largest suppliers,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The inspections now underway are unprecedented in the electronics industry, both in scale and scope, and we appreciate the FLA agreeing to take the unusual step of identifying the factories in their reports.”

A team of labor experts led by FLA president Auret van Heerdan will interview thousands of employees at Apple’s suppliers about working and living conditions, health, safety, working hours, compensation and communication with management. Inspections of the facilities and reviews of procedure documentation will also be undertaken in the FLA assessment.

An initial report with early findings and recommendations will be released by the Fair Labor Association and will be followed up by inspections of the Quanta and Pegatron facilities later this Spring. Apple’s full press release is located after the break.

Image via Wired.

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VLC 2.0 for Mac Final Design Previewed, Coming This Week

Popular media player VLC is about to reach version 2.0 final and Felix Kühne, current lead developer of VLC’s Mac OS X port, has posted a series of screenshots detailing the final user interface design that we’ll see in the 2.0 update once it goes public “later this week”. The screenshots, available over at Kühne’s blog, show a dramatic change from VLC’s current design on the Mac, with a new sidebar for your playlists, Internet sources, and media on your computer and local network. The new design was created by Damien Erambert, and the first concepts date back to 2008. The interface of VLC 2.0 for Mac will offer a series of advantages over the older version from a functionality standpoint as well:

VLC 2.0’s interface for Mac is dramatically different from its previous revision, both technically and usage-wise. Playlist and video output share the same window, service discovery modules can be easily accessed through a sidebar and various audio + video filters are available through the respective panels. Besides that, the interface is noticeably faster and easily expandable. Speaking of that, we also added support for VLC’s lua-based extensions, which allow you to get info about the current movie from Allociné, post to Twitter, fetch subtitles automatically, etc.

Previously known as VLC 1.2, VLC 2.0 is a major rewrite of the application, which now includes several bug fixes, new features, and a redesigned interface. Alongside improved performances and optimizations for Lion, VLC 2.0 comes with many new features including initial support for Blu-Ray Discs, new subtitle management and blending in video outputs, support for multiple files inside RAR archives, and an all-new 64-bit version for Windows users (VLC 2.0 for Windows won’t feature a new interface as seen on OS X). A complete list of changes from VLC 1.x to VLC 2.0 is available here; the developers didn’t mention anything specific about the “mobile port” for iOS and Android devices.

VLC 2.0 will be available later this week at VideoLAN’s website. More screenshots of the final Mac UI have been posted on Flickr.

MacStories Reading List: February 5 - February 12

The past week has been an interesting one, for a couple of reasons. First, we’ve seen Kickstarter breaking records for its most funded campaign, a record that didn’t last long as a new game by Tim Schafer quickly pulled in $400,000 in 8 hours. Then Path, the cool kids’ alternative to the “evil” Facebook, found itself in the middle of a PR brouhaha as it was caught uploading a user’s Address Book email addresses to its servers. Ouch. Luckily, the company was smart enough to reverse its decision and issue an update in less than a day. There’s more: Apple has started warning developers against manipulating the App Store’s charts, and more people every week are considering using the iPad as their only work machine.

It’s this week’s Reading List, best served with a good cup of coffee. Enjoy. Read more

App Journal, Episode 10: Daedalus Touch, Lovely Charts, Inside the World of Dinosaurs, Skip Tunes

App Journal is a series aimed at showcasing apps we have enjoyed using on our iPhones, iPads, and Macs, but decided not to feature in a standalone, lengthy review here on MacStories. App Journal is a mix of classic reviews, app recommendations, and a diary of our experiences with apps that still deserve a proper mention.

After a two month period of inactivity, the App Journal is back and we’ve got some cool apps to share. From text editing to beautiful diagrams and (gasp) dinosaurs, make sure you don’t miss Episode 10 of App Journal, brought to you directly from the MacStories Team, good coffee, and, why not, Italy’s snow.

If you’ve got apps to recommend, our Tips inbox is just a click away up in the site’s toolbar. Enjoy!

Federico Viticci - Daedalus Touch

When Cody reviewed the first version of The Soulmen’s Daedalus Touch for iPad back in May, I was intrigued by the app’s unique take on portable text editing and document management, but ultimately didn’t pull the trigger on a purchase as I didn’t believe I needed yet another take on Dropbox and text editors. Cody wrote:

Daedalus is interesting. Everything you create in Daedalus becomes a sheet, which exists under a topic sheet that creates a stack. It reminds me of writing a screenplay or developing a report with a cover sheet, but what’s more interesting is how you navigate between these sheets. A majority of the interactions in Daedalus involve pinch-to-zoom actions, which is a bold navigation choice that’s almost pulled off perfectly. You zoom in and out of stacks, and are able to browse between multiple sheets with simple flicks.

After seeing The Soulmen release a couple of updates to bring new functionalities and improve support for things like external hardware keyboards and system clipboard, I thought I could give the app a shot, especially considering it’s on sale at $2.99 on the App Store. In our review, Cody detailed how Daedalus Touch is different from the majority of text editors available on iOS as it allows you to navigate multiple stacks of documents through touch-based interactions based off gestures such as swipes and pinches to navigate in and out of sheets and paper stacks. Having used Daedalus, I think what’s really cool is that – attention to detail and elegant design/typography aside – Daedalus allows you to sync different Dropbox folders independently, meaning you’ll be able to, say, keep your standard notes in a first stack and your book writing project (with additional notes, chapters, and maybe drafts) in another stack. What I’d like to see in a future version of Daedalus Touch is support for more file formats (.md would be a good choice) and automatic sync to avoid the need of hitting “Save” every time.

If you’re looking for a different take on Dropbox-powered text editing, Daedalus Touch is an interesting option at $2.99 for a limited time. Read more

Instagram 2.1 Released: Updated UI, Lux, New Sierra Filter

A major update to photo-sharing application Instagram was released today, and for the first time it includes new interface element designed by the extremely talented (and recently hired by Instagram) Tim Van Damme. Whilst the original Instagram launched a trend of “apps with a large action button in the bottom toolbar”, Instagram 2.1 has been refreshed to include a more standard – yet beautiful to look at – toolbar with icons to browse your feed, liked items, profile, and of course take a new picture. You can see more of Instagram’s new pixels over at Tim’s Dribbble.

The new Instagram also features a new filter, Sierra, and a photo enhancing system called Lux that, according to the company, will enable you to make your photos more vibrant with just one touch. This functionality reminds me of Camera+’s Clarity effect, and it’s interesting to see how Lux is meant to enhance the original look of a photo, not apply a vintage effect. I wonder if this will signal a change in the Instagram community’s overall trend towards heavily modified photos.

We’ve given you a new way to instantly transform the look and feel of your photos. In just one tap, Lux works its magic by making your photos more vibrant and bringing out details you couldn’t see before. Use it with a filter or without.

I’ve played around with the update, and it’s solid. The app seems a little faster, the new UI is very elegant, and I think the Lux effect is very promising in that it will help users avoid the need of applying effects to photos just to make them look “different” – I like how Lux focuses on making an iPhone’s default output simply better. Other improvements in this update include the possibility of tapping on a push notification to get directly to a photo, and an option to change your profile photo from your profile page.

Instagram 2.1 is available on the App Store.