It’s Here: AutoCAD for Mac Now Available

It’s been 18 years since the last appearance of AutoCAD on the Mac platform. 18 years during which professional designers and engineers all over the world were forced to use a PC, or install a copy of Windows on a partition on their Macs. Today, AutoCAD is coming back to OS X: it’s finally available for download (with a 30-day free trial) here.

Also available with educational discount for students, AutoCAD for Mac returns with a native interface and feel built on top of OS X unique capabilities, exclusive features for Mac users such as Cover Flow support and multi-touch gestures, also supported by the Magic Trackpad.

Our experience has been that AutoCAD for Mac is similar enough to the PC version that the transition is easy. We’ve found it to be a very powerful and reliable product that has all the functionality we need.”

Styles&Wood, the UK’s leading provider of property services to retailers, banks and commercial organizations, is one of the more than 5,000 participants who were part of the AutoCAD for Mac beta program. “We have been waiting a long time for AutoCAD to come back to the Mac,” said Andrew Handley, CAD development manager. “Our experience has been that AutoCAD for Mac is similar enough to the PC version that the transition is easy. We’ve found it to be a very powerful and reliable product that has all the functionality we need.

AutoCAD for Mac is available here. Check out the full press release after the break. Read more

A White iPad 2 Concept

In a few months we’ll be able to put our hands on a new iPad. Whether it’s going to be a 7-inch model, sold in double 10 / 7-inch flavor or simply have a new camera on board - it’s going to be all new. And when it’s about “all new” products from Apple, it’s never too soon to start thinking about them.

The following concept video, spotted by iSpazio, shows us a white version of the “iPad 2” with a front-facing camera and a flat back, much like the iPhone 4. I don’t know if that kind of surface would be suitable for the tablet, but sure the concept is damn sexy. Take a look at the video after the break. Read more

Clever Interactive Ads for iPad [Video]

Even though there’s no iAd program for the iPad yet (remember, it requires iOS 4), agencies are struggling to find the best way for their clients to showcase products on the tablet. And with its mainstream success, I bet clients are crying to have great ads on the iPad.

The following video, originally posted by Peter Kafka over at All Things D, showcases three cool ads for the iPad created by the MediaLets ad startup. In the video you can see a FedEx ad for the Newsweek app; a Visa ad that lets you interact with the various e-commerce possibilities offered by Visa (looks stunning); a Toyota Prius ad that allows users to draw images into the video.

Check out the video below. It gives you a taste of the things to come once iAd for iPad launches later this year. Read more

The New York Times Pulls Editor’s Choice, Releases Free Full-Content App

We knew that the NYTimes’ Editor’s Choice app for iPad was only an interesting experiment released for the iPad, we didn’t know the official, full-content NYTimes iPad would be released this week. Surprisingly enough, last night the NYTimes pulled Editor’s Choice (which has been downloaded more than 650,000 times) and released after a few hours a free version of “NYTimes for iPad”, available in the App Store here. Read more

The Power Of OmniFocus’ Perspectives→

The Power Of OmniFocus’ Perspectives

Even more on OmniFocus. Tyler Hall:

It’s hard to describe how incredibly powerful Perspectives are until you actually spend a few days with them in your workflow. Other task managers have smart folders or dedicated “Today” lists, but they absolutely pale in comparison to the flexibility that Perspectives afford.

I agree. I have four custom perspectives set up, two of them helping me “focus” on iPhone and iPad reviews that need to be done. More interesting tips in the article.

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Dave Caolo on OmniFocus and the Printable CEO Forms→

Dave Caolo on OmniFocus and the Printable CEO Forms

Why use a piece of paper when you’ve purchased powerful, expensive software?

I need both. Some information, like images, can’t be stored on paper. Also, OmniFocus is where I keep all aspects of a given project together, like files, research, email correspondence. There’s no denying that OmniFocus is tremendously powerful. The over-the-air sync alone is a huge selling point. Check it out if you haven’t.

Then there’s this: I just like writing on paper.

You can grab David Seah’s Printable CEO forms here. I want to give this method a try.

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Apple Adds “Halloween” and “Vocabulary Apps” Sections to the App Store

Just like every Thursday, Apple added two new custom sections to the App Store: a “Halloween” one is a go this week, together with another one dubbed “Language, Grammar & Vocabulary Apps”.

The Halloween section showcases “gruesome game and other ghostly delights” such as Plants Vs. Zombies, DOOM Resurrection, Pro Zombie Soccer and Halloween Soundlab. You can check out the section (which contains more than 40 between apps and games) here.

Language, Grammar & Vocabulary Apps, on the other hand,  features reference and dictionary apps, apps for kids, grammar games and poetry applications. Gems like the official AP Stylebook app and Words with Friends are in there. You can check out the section here. Read more

150 Million iOS Devices Next Year→

150 Million iOS Devices Next Year

Horace Dediu:

What seems to be happening is that Apple is pulling out all the stops and going for unrestricted iPad distribution. This may also foreshadow unrestricted iPhone distribution next year. It may also portend a CDMA iPad (or at least an LTE version) next year.

If it happens all estimates for next year need to be revised sharply. I had been expecting 100% growth for the iPad and 50% growth for the iPhone. These might need to be increased to 150% and 100%.

The consequence could be that total iOS devices sold could top 150 million for calendar 2011.

And none of them runs Flash.

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Apple Seeds Xcode 4 Preview 4 To Developers

Apple has just posted a new developer preview of Xcode 4, which reaches version 4. It’s available in the Mac and iOS developer portal.

This is a pre-release version of Xcode 4, a major new release of Xcode for both Mac and iOS development. This release requires Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, and includes the iOS SDK 4.1, to develop apps for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Please review the Release Notes and Readme before installing this software.

Xcode 4 is a major new version of Apple’s development suite which sports lots of new features and a new single-windowed UI. The first version of Xcode 4 preview was released during the WWDC in June, the second build was seeded in late July, and Preview 3 was made available on September 2.