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.

Humail: A New “Emotional” Email Client for iPhone

When it comes down to email, my choice is simple: Gmail. I use Gmail for my work email addresses (everything runs smoothly on Google Apps), and I have a dozen of personal accounts I’ve used in these past years to keep my identity well conceived on the internet. I know you do that, too. Here’s a good tip: create a Gmail account just for your signups (Facebook, Twitter, Gowalla, etc) and forget about your main inbox getting overloaded. It saved my life.

Anyway, while I use the Gmail web interface on the desktop, I’m forced to stick with Mail.app on the iPhone and iPad: the app works fine (could be a lot better though), but the main reason why I don’t use and haven’t even tried other clients is because there are no other clients on iOS. I don’t know if this is about high development costs (maybe) or some restrictions imposed by Apple (likely), still we’re not getting the possibility of installing 3r party mail clients like on our Macs and PCs. That sucks.

There are some Gmail-specific applications in the App Store: Mailroom is one of them, and I love it. It’s like a mobile version of Mailplane, a Cocoa wrapper for multiple Gmail accounts. I use it on a daily basis, but it’s not (and can’t be) my default client. I’ve recently stumbled upon this new app called “Humail” which aims at becoming your new “personal” and “emotional” email client. I gave it a try, and here’s what’s behind the marketing slogans of Humail. Read more

Finally, TED Releases Official iPad App

Good news, TED aficionados: there’s an official TED iPad application (developed by Matt Drance,who also runs AppleOutsider) out in the App Store, and it’s free. The application allows you to watch videos in low and high res depending on your connection, organize playlists, explore what TED has to offer.

You can sort videos by recency and popularity, filter by tags or themes, discover new videos thanks to the related talks feature. I’ve just downloaded the app and it works really well. It’s also elegant, minimal and polished. It almost feels like TED videos were meant to be consumed on the iPad in the first place.

From the TED blog:

The iPad presents a thrilling new platform for delivering a TED experience,” said June Cohen, Executive Producer of TED Media. “We rethought the user experience to take advantage of the portability, the touchscreen and the focused media time people have when they travel or settle in for an evening. We think TED fans will particularly love the “Inspire me” button, which creates a custom playlist to fill the exact amount of time they have free.

TED for iPad is free and available here. Make sure to read the interview with the developer Matt Drance here, and check out the screenshots below. Read more

New Version of Skype for Mac Coming “Soon”

This morning Skype launched a brand new version of its official Windows client with direct Facebook integration. That’s a biggie. And what about Mac users? We’re still left behind with a clunky old version of Skype that doesn’t even support multi-video chat, nor does it have the new UI introduced in the Windows counterpart.

Still, Skype promises we only have to wait a little more before we can put our hands on a “complete overhaul, both in terms of the way it looks, and in terms of functionality”.

No problem, Skype: we’re used to wait for Mac updates. Just one thing: where’s the iPad app, again?

The Creepiest Thing You’ll See This Week: A Chinese Fake Steve Jobs

As if copying Apple products wasn’t enough, the good folks down in Hong Kong decided that setting up a keynote with a Chinese fake Steve Jobs might be a good idea. The Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway launched its official iPhone app, and they were joined by this guy to spice up the presentation a little bit.

Check out the video below. Then follow me along into thinking that this is kind of disturbing. [9to5 via WinAndMac] Read more

iPad in AT&T and Verizon Stores October 28th

Now that the iPad is being sold at Amazon, Target, Walmart and Sam’s Club, Verizon and AT&T are two more (and big ones at that!) to add to the list of the all-time fastest selling gadget. It makes sense that AT&T is going to sell the iPad in its retail stores since they already carry the iPhone line; Verizon could be making room in their showroom for the iPad because rumors are saying that a Verizon iPhone may be here very soon.

Read more