I’ve started to shy away from the bulk of text editors that hit my inbox since few bring something different to the table. There’s only so many ways you can rewrite a text editor, and while I’d love to cover everything the ones I really want to showcase have to offer something truly unique for me to sit down and crank out a review in TextMate. It’s terribly difficult to find something that stands out, but I think those disappointed with the App Store’s current offering may find something of interest here. Daedalus Touch for the iPad is different in part because of how it allows you manipulate documents in a hybrid stack & coverflow style that takes advantage of gestures, and not lists, to organize your ideas. There are no lists or hierarchy of folders, but rather stacks of sheets that contain your text. Of course it has Dropbox and TextExpander support (a must nowadays), which means you don’t have an excuse not to check Daedalus past the break.
Daedalus Touch for iPad
Kickstarter Project: SoundJaw - An iPad Sound Booster
Here’s a simple yet great idea over on Kickstarter for an iPad accessory - the SoundJaw, by Matthew McLachlan. It’s an iPad accessory that redirects sound, giving it a louder and richer tone (all without batteries). It makes an incredible difference according to Matthew. The SoundJaw is very portable, so you can keep in your pocket when not using it. He also says that it makes the biggest difference when you are outside or somewhere with a lot of background noise.
Besides sound quality, he also wanted it to compliment the slimness of the iPad with a slim accessory. The SoundJaw works with the iPad in either landscape or portrait mode, no interference with your hands. It also works with a Smart Cover as well. Matthew even says that a future, more flexible version will also work with an iPhone 4, truly making the SoundJaw a universal accessory.
Promo video after the break. Read more
Apple Updates Logic Pro, Logic Express and Adds GarageBand for iPad Import
Apple updated Logic Express and Logic Pro to version 9.1.4 a few minutes ago, improving overall stability of the apps and fixing issues reported in the previous versions. More importantly, the updates bring compatibility with GarageBand for iPad, allowing users to import GarageBand projects into Logic Express and Logic Pro.
Changelogs below:
This update improves overall stability and addresses a number of minor issues, including the following:
- Support for opening projects imported from GarageBand for iPad.
This update improves overall stability and addresses a number of minor issues, including the following:
- Support for opening projects imported from GarageBand for iPad.
The new versions can be downloaded on Apple’s website, or the Software Update panel. Full list of detailed changes available here (Logic Pro) and here (Logic Express).
Rent A Car From “Real People” Using An iPhone App
Getaround, a peer-to-peer car rental marketplace that allows you to rent a car in your neighborhood from “real people”, is launching publicly today with an iPhone app available in the App Store for free. Just like popular service AirBnB allows you to find places to stay using an app on your iPhone, Getaround lets you rent cars by day or week from actual people who are also using the service, and not car rental services that force you to pick up a car in a single location. By integrating with Google Maps and thanks to full backing from a car insurance company, Getaround lets you immediately see on your phone which cars are available and where, who’s renting them and for how long / at which rate they’re available. Furthermore, the company has also started shipping the Getaround CarKit, a device that once installed on a car will allow to unlock it without a key, only using your iPhone and a virtual “key” interface that also shows the name of the person that has agreed to share his car.
This idea of renting cars using mobile apps and web interfaces is nothing new, but Getaround’s implementation looks impressive: not only they’re building a community to help you discover people that might share your common interests, Getaround actually helps you get a car with full insurance and a kit that doesn’t need any key in your pockets. For those who decide to share their car (Getaround says most cars in the US stay sit idle for 22 hours a day on average), this service will help them earn some dollars each month, and even “review and rate” the person who took their car thanks to a full-featured community website.
TechCrunch reports a statement from co-founder Jessica Scorpio:
Getaround gives people more choices, going far beyond traditional rentals to provide more local and affordable alternatives. We’ve also found that our members like the “community building” aspect, where Getaround connects them with people who share similar values and interests. As an added benefit, we help people protect the environment by sharing resources, taking unneeded cars off the road and reducing traffic and auto emissions through better planning.
Users can sign up to Getaround for free, and the whole service is completely free to use unless you consider the 40% commission they’re taking off a successful rental. Getaround is rolling out today in the US starting with San Francisco, San Diego and other cities where “the most demand is”, though they have already announced they obviously plan to move outside the US in the future and offer mobile apps on other platforms.
#MacStoriesDeals - Tuesday
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!
Apple’s First CEO: Jobs’ Attention To Detail Is Also His Weakness→
Apple’s First CEO: Jobs’ Attention To Detail Is Also His Weakness
Jay Yarow at Business Insider has posted a lengthy interview with Apple’s first CEO Michael Scott, who ran the company from February 1977 to March 1981. The interview is full of interesting details and tidbits that are worth saving in your Instapaper queue, but here’s one we particularly liked about how Scott – who was hired by Mike Markkula to be the CEO as both Jobs and Wozniak were seen as too young and unexperienced – viewed Steve Jobs’ proverbial attention to detail at the time:
I stayed out of it but for weeks, maybe almost six weeks, the original Apple II case, Jobs wanted a rounded edge on it so it didn’t have a hard feel. They spent weeks and weeks arguing exactly how rounded it would be. So that attention to detail is what Steve is known for, but it also is his weakness because he pays attention to the detail of the product, but not to the people.
To me, the biggest thing in growing a company is you need to grow the people, so it’s like being a farmer, you need to grow your staff and everybody else too as much as you can to enable the company to grow, just as much as you need to sell the product.
Check out the full interview by hitting the source link below.
Another iOS 5 Concept: Lion-like Dashboard
With speculation running wild about Apple’s upcoming software announcements at the WWDC ‘11 – where the company is expected to showcase the next versions of iOS and Mac OS X – it doesn’t come as a surprise that the Internet is exploding with concepts and mockups of what iOS 5 will look like on the iPhone and iPad, let alone the fan-made renderings that aim at giving us a possible glimpse of the iPhone 5. Jan-Michael Cart, the same guy behind the iOS 5 voice recognition concept we posted two weeks ago, has come up with a new interface idea for the Dashboard, available on YouTube alongside his collection of iOS concept videos.
Of all the videos created by Cart in the past weeks, we think this might be the nicest and most interesting one. By taking inspiration from the Lion Dashboard, which retains the same look of the Snow Leopard one but can be launched with a single swipe to the right from the desktop, Cart imagines an iOS Dashboard that resides on the current Spotlight page on the left of the Home screen, and can be activated with an horizontal swipe. Rather than replacing the Spotlight search with the Dashboard, Cart has conceptualized a way to add widgets to this screen and start a new search by simply hitting the box at the top, like you normally would on iOS. When performing a search the Dashboard screen blurs in the background; Cart has also imagined a variety of widgets that can be placed on multiple pages on the left, such as a Facebook box and a Twitter ticker to stay on top of the latest messages from users you follow. In another video posted on his YouTube channel, Cart also describes how widgets could be created from the dedicated Dashboard page, but also dragged to the Home screen. As to how users would be able to swipe between the Dashboards and Springboard pages, Cart believes the Home button would play a key role in both cases, as seen in the screenshots below.
We have embedded the video after the break. Whilst recent rumors have claimed Apple is focusing on features like location and smart voice recognition for iOS 5, it’s likely that ahead of the public launch of OS X Lion Apple will consider porting over some functionalities from the desktop to mobile devices. The video below is a good example of that.
Read more
MacHeist Releases Official iPhone Game “The Heist”
MacHeist, the website that’s become popular among Mac users thanks to its app bundles, marketing tactics and online “missions” to complete to get access to free software and other gifts, has released today its first official iPhone game, called The Heist. Whilst there’s no official mention of a new MacHeist bundle in the app (but according to the rumors it will come soon, especially considering the latest refresh to the website’s homepage and multiple hints), the app features a “secret vault” you have to crack to earn a “valuable prize” that awaits you at the end – and we’re not saying what it is just yet to spoil all the fun.
To crack the vault and beat the game, in fact, you’ll have to solve 60 different puzzles organized in 4 types which, in pure MacHeist style, are intricate and complicated enough to keep you engaged for a good couple of hours. The game features Game Center integration with 19 achievements to earn, as well as lots of hints and easter eggs that remind us of a new MacHeist coming out sometime in the future. For instance, the tap tap tap developers managed to include a fake phone call from “Sophia” that totally mimics the Phone.app interface, letting you think that you’re getting an actual phone call from MacHeist. It’s all in the details.
You can download The Heist at $0.99 from the App Store. Check out more screenshots below. Read more
Samsung Will Hand Over Prototypes of Phones and Tablets to Apple
As noted by Cnet UK, the legal battle between Apple and Samsung – sued for allegedly copying the “look and feel” of the iPhone and iOS with its Galaxy devices – it’s far from over, with the Cupertino company now asking Samsung to hand over prototypes of unreleased phones and tablets for legal scrutiny. With the federal court ruling that Samsung will have to send these units to Apple’s legal team (and no one else within Apple will be able to see them, not even Apple’s own lawyers or hardware engineers), Samsung is being forced to send the unreleased Droid Charge, Galaxy Tab 8.9 and Galaxy Tab 10.1 to Apple, though the other two devices mentioned, the Infuse 4G and Galaxy S 2, have already been released publicly in the United Kingdom and United States, respectively.
Apple’s legal battle with Samsung has taken a new twist. The California outfit is suing the Korean corporation over alleged copying of Apple products in Samsung’s Android range, and a federal court is forcing Samsung to hand over samples of new phones for Apple to pore over.
Normally, there’d be three months before Samsung had to hand over samples, but San Jose Judge Lucy Koh has decided that Samsung has already been shooting its mouth off about the unreleased phones and can’t claim they’re secret models, Courthouse News reports. Apple points out that Samsung even gave away a Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet to all 5,000 people at the recent Google I/O developer conference.
Courthouse News further reports:
The judge was careful not to endorse Apple’s claims of infringement.
“Although the Court expresses no opinion on the merits of Apple’s claims, the Court notes that Apple has produced images of Samsung products and other evidence that provide a reasonable basis for Apple’s belief that Samsung’s new products are designed to mimic Apple’s products.”
The judge notes as a basis for her ruling that the design of Samsung’s cell phones is directly relevant to the infringement claims by Apple.
None of the devices are secret models or previously unseen units, actually: unlike Apple, Samsung has a different stance on “secrecy”, often showcasing upcoming smartphones and tablets months ahead of their launch, whilst Apple always prefers to keep new devices under wraps until they’re released or unveiled at special media events. Apple initially sued Samsung’s mobile division in April, claiming that with the Galaxy line of phones and tablets the company clearly copied the iPhone and iPad hardware, as well as user interface elements and packaging, causing confusion among consumers. Samsung fired back at Apple in the past weeks by countersuing in Europe and Asia first, then in the United States.