iA Writer for iPad and Mac Updated with iCloud

Sometimes you kids ask me about what writing app is shown off in my iPad screenshots or photos. More often than not it’s iA Writer, and it’s an awesome little thing.

If you can’t live without iA Writer, you should start checking both the iOS and Mac App Stores for an available update that includes improved Dropbox integration, and now iCloud support that works between Mac and iOS.

Here’s how it works. On the iPad side you can save a document to iCloud. Saving and managing documents is a completely enhanced experience: You can move documents between the local iPad, any Dropbox folder of your choice, or iCloud for shared and cloud storage.

When you open up iA Writer on the Mac, a new iCloud submenu appears under the file menu. You can pull your documents from the cloud. Just so we’re being clear — these documents are copied to your Mac in the library folder, but they’re not available in your documents folder. You’ll get a good idea about how iCloud sandboxing works here.

If you want to save a document to iCloud from your Mac, you need to save your document somewhere first. Only afterwards can you move it to the iCloud, where it will be moved out of its original location and into your Library. So technically you’re not supposed to know where these documents exist, but everything works as advertised.

iA Writer is a custom text editor that features FocusMode and a barebones writing environment with a giant blue cursor. Currently, iA Writer is 50% for both iPad and Mac versions — if you want the app, now would be a really good time to pick it up since you can get the suite for around $10.

App Store: iA Writer for the iPad | iA Writer for Mac

Apple Releases iOS 5.1 Beta

Just when you thought it was going to be a relaxing Cyber Monday, Apple has made the iOS 5.1 beta available for download. Developers will find a new Xcode 4.3 developer preview waiting for download as well. The (9B5117b) builds weigh in at 700 MB to 800 MB depending on the iPad or iPhone versions. The 5.1 beta has lots of bugs noted, so we’d recommend holding off if you just want a peek otherwise.

Developers can download the beta in the iOS dev center.

Now back to your scheduled evening dose of online shopping and hot chocolate.

So How Does Apple Know You’re in the Store?

Long story short: An Apple employee at the Apple Store in Palo Alto, California, spills the beans on how they track customers in their stores. Employees armed with iPod touches get notified when customers enter the stores with their location-aware iPhones (for services like in-store pickup or an appointment), or when customers request help using in-store iPads. All the employee has to do is select a customer in a queue, get their position on an in-store map, and voilà! An an employee walks up to the customer and assists them.

While new Apple Store customers may be dazed by the busy store’s atmosphere and integration with technology, experienced shoppers can take advantage of a unique shopping experience tailored for the customer.

We’re basically seeing the map-side of Apple’s in-store toys like Concierge, Scout, iQueue, etc. This isn’t new technology, but as geeks it’s nice to get behind the scenes sometimes.

Read more

The MacLegion Winter Bundle 2011

I stumbled onto MacLegion earlier this year when they offered their first bundle back in April. They offer very good bundles with quality Mac apps at great bundled prices. Their new bundle is just as great. The MacLegion Winter Bundle 2011 consists of 10 quality Mac apps for $49.99 (a $480 value). We’ve seen a lot of bundles similar to this price point, but this one stands out above many of the others.

As always, MacLegion bundles focus on quality, practical and every-day apps that people enjoy using. The hand-picked line-up ensures that all applications featured within it are the latest versions each developer has to offer. Read more

Game on Santa: Best Buy Wants to Put Apple Products Under your Tree this Holiday Season

Apple Store? What Apple Store? You only need to visit your local Best Buy, America’s most well known consumer electronics store and Apple authorized reseller. Best Buy is going all out this Holiday Season with their “Game on Santa” commercials, this one in particular featuring mom as she shops for the latest Apple products. The latest in the series features FaceTime on the iPad 2 along with a variety of other products on one Best Buy’s Apple tables, with an employee reminding the viewer that they’re a one-stop shop for iMacs, MacBooks, and just about anything else you’d find in one of those fancy Apple Stores. We sell Apple stuff too!

The scene then cuts to Christmas Eve as Santa drops in, mom decidedly looking victorious having beat Santa at his own game. If Best Buy’s representation of a good Christmas is accurate, there’s going to be some seriously happy kids come Christmas morning.

Best Buy can’t give you Apple’s self-checkout shopping experience or expertise from someone at the Genius Bar, but if a jam-packed Apple Store isn’t a good idea of your good time, then Best Buy makes an OK pit-stop to pick up Apple accessories. At the very least, the Game on Santa commercials are entertaining, and you can catch Best Buy’s Apple focused promotion after the break. Gifts Under $100 isn’t bad either.

[AppleInsider via TUAW]

Read more

Tell Me Again How iPad Demand Is Waning→

Tell Me Again How iPad Demand Is Waning

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster surveyed a few Apple stores on Black Friday and found that iPad sales per hour were 68 percent higher than they were a year ago. On average, the stores Munster visited sold about 14.8 iPads per hour, up from 8.8 iPads per hour last year, more than enough to support the analyst’s projection of 13.5 million iPads sold in the December quarter.

If you’re still not convinced that Apple sales are stronger than ever based on Gene Munster’s findings, you only have to look as far as Chris Whitmore from Deutsche Bank whom checked in with over 200 stores on Black Friday. Of around the one hundred Apple Stores he got in touch with, 75% of the stores were sold out of the iPhone 4S by the end of Black Friday. In AT&T and Verizon stores? 50% sold out (Sprint apparently had adequate stock).

According to AppleInsider:

Whitmore also found strong iPad and Mac sales in his own surveys, and in particular noted that consumers showed strong support for Apple’s thin-and-light MacBook Air. He said the entry-level 11.6-inch MacBook Air, aided by a 10 percent discount on Black Friday, was the most popular option in the MacBook Air lineup lineup.

The 11.6-inch MacBook Air, on sale for $898 on Black Friday, is a comfortable size and a great all-around laptop. If you were in the market for a new laptop, the $101 discount on MacBooks was nice to take advantage of. Similarly, iPads starting at $458 (a $41 discount) pushed many of the right buttons for savvy shoppers.

Permalink

The 15-inch MacBook Air Appears on the Horizon

MacBook Air

MacBook Air

Rumor has it that Apple’s current lineup is going to be refreshed early next year with a new addition to the Air family. Digitimes reports that panel suppliers are currently pumping out 11.6-inch, 13.3-inch, and 15-inch displays for inclusion in the next lineup of MacBook Airs.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple added a big brother to the MacBook Air family. Morgan Stanely and NPD figures are estimating that the MacBook Air now accounts for 28% of Apple’s notebook shipments as of October. MacBook Airs are selling in volumes.

The latest 15-inch rumor comes just two weeks after Digitimes reported a new 15-inch model was slated for March, as upstream suppliers started moving components.

Estimated by the product planning, mass shipments of the notebook device will start in March and could be cataloged in either the MacBook Air or MacBook Pro line and could be cataloged in either the MacBook Air or MacBook Pro line.

Apple’s 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Airs were last updated in July with Sandy Bridge processors and the inclusion of Thunderbolt.

It wasn’t known at the time if the 15-inch model was for a slimmer MacBook Pro or an updated MacBook Air. It looks like the rumors are pointing towards the latter, and it would make sense given the popularity of Apple’s ultralight laptops. It’s previously been suggest thated Apple’s line of MacBook Pros would get thinner sooner than later, but it’s possible Apple’s going to offer a bigger Air before the Pros are reinvented. [Digitimes via Macgasm]

#MacStoriesDeals - Cyber Monday

It’s Cyber Monday! Many of the Black Friday deals are still active, so we’ve kept them in today’s post. Here are today’s @MacStoriesDeals on iOS, Mac, and Mac App Store apps that are on sale for a limited time, so get them before they end!

Read more

Kickstarter: LandingZone is the Docking Station you Need for the MacBook Air

Everybody loves their MacBook Airs until they have to connect their Apple Thunderbolt Displays or external monitors, no thanks to the required connections on opposite sides of the chassis. I find it funny Apple would launch a MacBook that requires one to stretch the ATD cable around both sides of a laptop. Surely someone would come along and fix it.

InfiniWing’s LandingZone is a docking station for the MacBook Air thas aims to practically solve the hassle of connecting multiple cords and cables as you sit down at your desk. LandingZone adds two additional USB ports to the Air, includes an ethernet port and Mini DisplayPort for connecting to office equipment, has a port compatible with Kensington Locks, and includes a housing to secure your MagSafe adapter for charging the MacBook Air while it’s seated (power is still supplied via Apple’s MagSafe Power Adapter). As cables are routed out the back, you’ll have a cleaner desk to work on and more ports to connect USB drives, wired keyboards, and other peripherals to.

LandingZone is brilliantly simple, featuring a latch mechanism that clamps the hub to the required ports on either side of the MacBook. As the video on Kickstarter (which is one of the best Kickstarter videos I’ve seen to date) will show off, you simply lock and unlock the MacBook Air with an elegant lever at the backside. LandingZone is everything you’d likely want in a docking station without the bulk of traditional laptop docks. It’s small, smartly designed, and looks good.

Read more