As a newbie in the world of journalism and blogging, I’m thankful to not only live in a world where we have the freedom to create amazing content (on incredible pieces of technology), but to share it and inspire people. Hacks/Hackers has a really cool website dedicated to hacks (the people who make and share content) and hackers (the folks who make the hacks’ job possible). It’s inspiring to see people come together to share stories, develop new media, and spread the love. I encourage you to get involved with the Hacks/Hackers community if you’re all about writing and tech, plus there’s an upcoming event related directly to our newborn iPads.
Hacks and Hackers Unite: Develop Sweet iPad Applications for Journalists
Dashboard for iPad: Rejected by Apple, Available in Cydia
There’s been a lot of talking about Apple allowing widget-like applications for the iPad. Pretty much like Dashboard for Mac OS X, since the iPad was announced back in January developers wondered if it might be possible to develop and release simple widget apps and run them side-by-side with “normal” apps - again, just like you can do on the Mac.
Of course Apple banned this kind of apps, and devs were forced to drop their projects or find alternative solutions to make them available. But now the iPad is jailbroken, and what better service than Cydia to release stuff rejected by Apple?
So here comes Dashboard, a pixel-perfect rewrite of Dashboard.app for Mac, running on the iPad. You can install widgets through the built in browser (which opens the Apple.com page for widgets), delete them and, of course, use them. Too bad you can’t rearrange them with your fingers, but I bet an update is coming in a few days to fix this problem.
While it’s impressive, I don’t know if this Dashboard can be any useful. It takes a few seconds to show up, and you can’t look at a normal app, say Safari, and a widget at the same time, because the background is black and you can only see widgets on screen. So it’s a great programming achievement, but it needs a lot of work to be better integrated with the iPad environment. Let’s say it’s promising.
Check out the screenshots after the break.
Red Sweater Releases Mars Edit 3
Red Sweater has finally released the long awaited 3.0 update for its award winning blog application for Mac OS X MarsEdit, which adds a lot of features and improvement to an already excellent app to blog directly from your Mac desktop.
The new features include a new syntax highlighter for HTML editing, a media browser with support for iPhoto, Aperture and Lightroom, support for WordPress’ pages and custom fields and a full featured WYSIWYG editor. You can read the 3.0 release notes here.
Mars Edit 3.0 requires Mac OS X 10.6 and it’s available at $39.95. A 30 day free trial is available as well. Check out the screenshots after the break, and go download the app. A great update.
Apple Granted Patent for iPhone 3GS, 3G Design
Two weeks after Apple has been granted a patent for the iPhone and iPod Touch design, now it’s time for the iPhone 3GS and 3G form factor. Filed in 2008, the patent lists Jobs and Ive in the inventors of the design.
[via GoRumors]
Fnac Leaks European iPad Prices?
iGeneration has managed to get an image of Fnac’s RSS feeds, which report that the iPad Wifi 16GB will be available (at Fnac) at € 474,05. If you consider a 5% discount, the full price should be € 499,00 - just like many insiders have been saying for weeks now.
Apple still hasn’t confirmed anything about this, but you can bet that we’ll know more in a few hours, or later this week.
A Smoking Hot, Microwaved iPad
For MacStories’s usual “Something Must Be Wrong With Some People” series, today we’re very proud to present you the microwaved iPad, served hot in a 10 minutes Youtube video that is gonna make you want a last-gen microwave oven.
Not really.
But seriously, check out the video after the break. And remember: something must be wrong with some people. Next, a JooJoo.
[via CNET]
ABC Player App for iPad Can Now Stream Over 3G
A new version of the ABC app for iPad has just been approved by Apple, and it brings streaming over a 3G connection, something early adopters of an iPad Wifi + 3G have been demanding for a few days now.
You can go download the app for free here. The update also features many bug fixes, stability improvements and landscape support for all screens.
Dropbox for iPad Available [Reviewed]
Dropbox has just updated its official iPhone client to include support for the iPad. It’s available for free here.The new version takes advantage of the iPad’s portrait and landscape modes to display your folders on the list, and also makes use of popovers in the main view to email and copy links and access your favorites. Also, it’s now possible to export documents to native iPad apps such as Keynote and Pages.
Keep on reading after the break for our impressions with the app.
MacPilot 4, A Seriously Powerful Mac Utility
Koingo has been great to me as a software company. One of my favorite Mac utilities from them, AirRadar, is an essential tool I use when setting up wireless networks. ImageSmith, another often used product, is great for batch resizing photos to be shared online. One of their latest products, MacPilot 4, is absolutely mind boggling. Anything you’ve wanted to tweak on your Mac, uncover, or otherwise harness control of can now done through this single, feature rich utility.