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Apple Releases iAd Producer 1.1, Updated for iOS 4.3

Together with the release of Xcode 4, now also available for non-registered iOS and Mac developers in the Mac App Store, Apple also pushed an update for iAd Producer, its iAd design and development software for OS X.

Version 1.1 (weighs in at 91 MB) brings iOS 4.3 compatibility and the possibility to create ads with multiple banners. As promised last year, the iPad is fully targeted in this release with fullscreen banners as well.

Full changelog:

  • Improved compatibility with version management systems
  • Creation of ads with multiple banners
  • Support for full-screen banners on iOS 4.3 devices
  • Importing and editing of custom JavaScript and CSS extensions
  • Improved stability and performance

iAd Producer is available in the iOS Dev Center.

Kickstarter Project - Meglio: Rotatable Handle & Stand for the iPad

It’s just another iPad stand right? Maybe you’d be intrigued if I told you this particular handy iPad accessory was made out of Carbon Steel. The Meglio consists of an iPad grip that rotates on a handle that can be gripped with your hand, or stood on a table face down or face up for typing. An intriguing concept, the Meglio is built around the idea the iPad is just too heavy and flat to comfortably accommodate your computing needs. In fact, the handle can be used to free-ball your iPad from the shower railing. Carbon steel probably doesn’t rust, but I wonder if he realizes that he’s one mis-flush away from triggering the water sensor in his iPad?

If you pledge $40 or more, you’ll get a Meglio of your very own to accompany your iPad (and iPad 2), and you can catch the project pitch after the break.

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MacStories Product Review: Seagate GoFlex & GoFlex Desk For Mac

Storage is both incredibly cheap and amazingly portable these days, allowing us to carry gigabytes upon gigabytes of iTunes media, Time Machine backups, and HDD clones in our messenger bags. Too, hard drives are getting much more sophisticated, adaptable to both local Mac and network sharing. I’ve had the chance to play with a pair of GoFlex external hard drives for the Mac that offer some notable flexibility.

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Readability Launches Mobile Webapp with Full iOS Support, Offline Reading

Web service Readability announced a few minutes ago that, with an iOS native application still waiting for Apple’s second review, they are rolling out today a full-featured, mobile optimized web version of their reading tool. To use the new Readability on your cellphone or tablet, just head over Readability.com with your browser and save the website to your homescreen. Readability’s new mobile app is indeed an HTML5-based application that runs on iOS, Android handsets & tablets and a plethora of other devices available in the market.

Underneath the hood is…the web. Readability for mobile is a web application specially fitted for mobile and tablet devices. It’s a great example of what can be achieved by building apps on the latest web technology.

A final thought regarding our iOS submission: our overarching goal is to deliver the best possible experience to users of Readability. We re-submitted the Readability app to Apple along with an appeal approximately two weeks ago. We haven’t heard back yet.

Readability made the rounds of the Internet a few weeks ago when they announced a completely revamped service (based on a revenue split model with publishers of content consumed through Readability) and went public with an open letter to Apple about the rejection of their official iOS client for iPhone and iPad, heavily based on Marco Arment’s Instapaper (Arment is also an advisor to the company). According to Readability, Apple rejected the app because of the lack of implementation of app subscriptions – the ones where Apple takes a 30% fee off every subscription processed inside an iOS application. The company didn’t understand the rejection as, in their own vision, Readability isn’t a publishing app but a web service that aggregates articles produced by others on the Internet.

Readability’s move to HTML5 is interesting because they’re proving they can have a reading platform that works on a variety of OSes without being forced to go through Apple’s approval process and subscription policies. They’re relying on the power of modern open web technologies to deploy a beautiful application that works anywhere, anytime thanks to offline reading support. An app that also lets you quickly paste URLs to read articles in an uncluttered, elegant view meant for mobile devices. The Readability webapp also senses your device’s orientation and changes the on-screen graphics accordingly for an optimized reading experience. We can’t wait to try it out tonight.

As the team stresses on the company’s blog, this app was put together in two weeks. While it’s still unclear whether the native iOS client will go through the App Store’s gate or not, cheers to Readability for delivering what the service’s users were waiting for. Read more

Kickstarter Project - LetterMpress: A Virtual Letterpress on Your iPad

If you’re a typenerd like myself, you enjoy things such as serifs, kerning, ligatures, logotype, mean line, metrics, multiple master font, orphan line, outline font, just to name a few. I went to school for this stuff, so don’t hate me for dropping typenerd lyrics on you. If you have ever experienced the craft of a letterpress, I don’t have to explain to you how cool it is. I got into the newspaper industry after the letterpress was pulled away and replaced with computers, film machines and direct-to-plate technologies but the relics were still around, plus it was mandatory to experience it in college typography classes. The design process of an age-old letterpress process is this: you arrange type and “cuts,” or artwork, on a press bed, lock and ink the type, then print.

Video and screenshots after the break. Read more

iOS 4.3 for iPad 2 Suggests iPhone 5 Will Get Apple A5

Code references found in the iOS 4.3 firmware for iPad 2 released (in three versions) earlier today suggest the upcoming iPhone 5 will use the same Apple A5 dual-core processor of the iPad 2. Several developers have, in fact, spotted references to a N94AP device in the code, and they’re assuming that’s the internal model number for the next-generation iPhone. The Verizon iPhone, for example, was labelled N92 internally.

Digging into the included N94AP kernel, developers have found out that it’s associated with S5L8940 – another codename, this time for the A5 chip. For this reason, speculation has mounted leading many to believe that the iPhone 5 will feature the same CPU we’re going to see in the iPad 2 later this week.

At this point it seems very likely that the new iPhone (to be released this summer) will carry a dual-core CPU for faster processing times and improved performances. Code references in iOS firmwares are usually a good and reliable indication of things to come, so we’re very confident the iPhone 5 will indeed get the A5. [via 9to5mac, iLounge, @chronic]

iPad 2 Video Tutorials Posted on Apple.com

As noted by 9to5mac, Apple has tweaked the “apps for iPad” webpage to include guided tours of the new iMovie for iPad, GarageBand and iBooks. iBooks isn’t exactly new, but everything has been re-recorded with shiny new white iPads. The voice over is also pretty good and clear, the tutorials make movie editing, music making and recording look simple and fun. Some details that weren’t demoed at Apple’s keynote are also featured: GarageBand has a dual keyboard mode, there’s a selection of Apple-designed amps to choose from and iMovie picks up songs from the iPod library or its built-in sounds seamlessly.

Videos are available here. The iPad 2 comes out on Friday, and we’re going to get ours as soon as we can. Look for lots of iPad 2 coverage on March 11 here on MacStories.

Update: Apple has posted more tutorials for every built-in iPad app. Check them out here.

iPhone Configuration Utility 3.3 Released

Today is “Apple updates everything” day. A new version of the iPhone Configuration Utility was released a few minutes ago – 3.3 for OS X and Windows machines. The iPhone Configuration Utility lets you create and manage configuration profiles for iOS for things like WiFi networks, VPN settings, authorized applications, Exchange accounts. Configuration profiles are especially used in enterprise and schools to tweak the settings of iOS devices deployed for employees / students.

There’s no changelog for this new version, so we guess it’s just been updated to work with iOS 4.3. Mac download here, Windows counterpart available here.

Could Smart Covers Help iOS Notifications?

With much talk going around about iOS notifications and Apple’s plans to purchase a third-party developer to improve the system in iOS 5, it doesn’t come as a surprise that someone decided to realize yet another mockup of how notifications should work. What is interesting this time, though, is that the brief concept video put together by Tapmates is actually based on Apple’s Smart Cover promo video, with a twist. Tapmates thought that the possibility to quickly open the Smart Cover and take a peek at the iPad’s screen would make for a perfect implementation of the new iOS unread badges / notifications. If the Smart Cover reveals a portion of the screen when you start opening it but you can’t use the iPad like that, wouldn’t that portion of the screen be perfect for quick notifications?

This is a curious mockup for something that will likely never happen, but it makes me wonder whether or not there’s more than just display awakening in the future of the Smart Cover. What about a “smart lockscreen” that takes advantage of the cover? This is an incomplete mockup, of course, but I like the idea of replacing a part of the screen with useful information. Perhaps unread badges aren’t perfect, though. Anyway, check out the fake promo video below and discuss below if you think Apple could re-imagine the way the Smart Covers work just a bit. Read more