Steve Jobs at Apple Town Hall Meeting on Google, Adobe, Next iPhone, 2010 Macs and More

Steve Jobs held a town hall meeting with Apple employees late last week following the iPad launch. Wired reports on what was said at the meeting by Steve Jobs. Two of the biggest topics included Google and Adobe.

On Google, Jobs conf...

Omni Group Commits to Bring Five Productivity Apps to iPad

OmniPlan for Mac OS X
In a blog post, Omni Group has committed to bringing five of their productivity apps to the iPad including OmniGraffle, OmniOutliner, OmniPlan, OmniFocus, and OmniGraphSketcher.

Remember how Maci...

Apple Corrects iPad Demo Video; Reconfirms it Has No Plans to Support Flash

Apple vs. Amazon vs. Macmillian — Begun These e-Book Wars Have?

According to the NYT’s Bits blog, Amazon has pulled Macmillan e-books due to a dispute over pricing, with Amazon wanting to hold the line at $9.99 and Macmillan wanting to raise it to an Apple iPad iBooks-like $14.99.

Eerily similar to Apple and iTunes Music, where Steve Jobs resisted the music industries desire to raise prices from $0.99 a song, and finally came to an agreement for flexible pricing up to $1.29 in exchange for DRM-free 3G downloads in January 2009. Previous to the change, Amazon was able to use music industry dissatisfaction to offer DRM-free Amazon MP3 music at $0.89. The industry was willing to take the loss in an attempt to break Apple’s control, and now it looks like their hoping similar pressure and competition from Apple’s iBooks will break down Amazon.

Ironic, poetic? Here’s where it stands:

Macmillan offered Amazon the opportunity to buy Kindle editions on the same “agency” model as it will sell e-books to Apple for the iPad. Under this model, the publisher sets the consumer book price and takes 70 percent of each sale, leaving 30 percent to the retailer. Macmillan said Amazon could continue to buy e-books under its current wholesale model, paying the publisher 50 percent of the hardcover list price while pricing the e-book at any level Amazon chooses, but that Macmillan would delay those e-book editions by seven months after hardcover release. Amazon’s removal of Macmillan titles on Friday appears to be a direct reaction to that.

And here we thought when there was competition, prices were supposed to go down…

[Note: Amazon has merely stopped selling the e-books for now, they haven't remote-wiped any that were already purchased, the above graphic is entirely satirical!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Apple vs. Amazon vs. Macmillian — Begun These e-Book Wars Have?

Catan: The First Island brings tabletop gaming glee to iPhone

Filed under: Gaming, Features, iPhone, iPod touch, App Review

Catan. If you've ever visited, there's a good chance you're passionate about it.

First unveiled as a traditional board game in 1995, the now-classic trading and settlement game has evolved over the years to include dozens of scenarios, expansions and reworkings, from limited edition game maps to browser-based Internet versions. Naturally, the Settlers of Catan is now also available for the iPhone [iTunes link], and it's a a damn good condensed version.

First things first. This is the full, but basic, game. The original ruleset isn't condensed at all, but none of the expansions are present in the current version. While long-time board gamers might scoff at simple "vanilla Settlers," the basic game as presented in Exozet's iPhone version acts just like the tabletop big brother. You can choose to play on the fixed beginner board or a random map, you can play with three or four people (or bots), you can trade, you can go for longest road, etc. All the things that make Catan such an enduring game are here, and that's great to have in your pocket.

Read on to find out more about Catan: the First Island on the iPhone (and iPod Touch).

Continue reading Catan: The First Island brings tabletop gaming glee to iPhone

Catan: The First Island brings tabletop gaming glee to iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Catan: The First Island brings tabletop gaming glee to iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Got some time? Crush the Castle

Filed under: Gaming, Odds and ends, iPhone, iPod touch, App Review

I admit it. I am iPadded out. I am iTired. I am suffering from iBurnout. So it was with pleasure that I found a addicting little game for the iPhone and iPod touch called Crush the Castle [iTunes link]. It's a free medieval game where you use an ancient trebuchet to smash a variety of castles and the inhabitants standing nearby. Crush the Castle is physics based, so you have to swing a heavy projectile in the air and release at just the right point to flatten the castle off to the right of the trebuchet. After a few tries it gets damned addictive.

You have more than a dozen castles to crush in two different kingdoms. If you do well, you get some medals. If not, you are rebuked by the king. The animation is good, the physics seem accurate, and the sounds of castles coming down and soldiers screaming adds to the fun.

At each new level, the distance to the castles from your siege machine increases, so you really have to get the release point for the projectile just right.

Crush the Castle is a port of a Flash-based game which you can play for free online. If you really get into the mild mayhem, I'd suggest you look at the US$1.99 version [iTunes link] which has 90 levels, 10 types of ammo, and an editor so you can design your own castles before you knock them down.

Both versions get great reviews from users, and I'm in agreement. It's helping me forget all the endless iDebates over the iPad and work my iAggressions out on my iPhone.

The free version is no risk, except for the time you are sure to lose. Let me know if you get hooked too. Check out more screen shots below:

Got some time? Crush the Castle originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Got some time? Crush the Castle originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple Corrects iPad Promo Video to Show No Flash Capability

In response to confusion surrounding the iPad promotion video, Apple has replaced the video with a more accurate version.

The iPad promo video originally had mocked up scenes showing the iPad browsing the New York Times complet...

How-to: Make Your Jailbroken iPhone Look Like and iPad

Redmond Pie has a nifty tutorial up for those who want to give their Jailbroken iPhone and/or iPod touch an iPad look-and-feel (or just a hint of iPhone 3.2!). Here’s what you need:

• Winterboard
• “Simple iPad Theme”
• MakeItMine app
• Shrink app
• ProSwitcher
• NYTimes app
• Classics app
• Kindle app

Making your old device look like an unreleased new device is hallmark of the hacking community (hey, I had the marimba ringtone and iPhone theme on my Treo 680 for months!), so if you want to get your iPad on, check out Redmond Pie and the video after the break!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

How-to: Make Your Jailbroken iPhone Look Like and iPad

iPhone OS 3.2: Support For Video Calls, Multi-Tasking, File Downloads, SMS And Handwriting Keyboard

The iPad’s future shock

Fraser Speirs says that the iPad is an attempt to address the tech industry's greatest failure: the inability to make technology easy for regular people to use, so they can get on with their real jobs and lives.

Virgin Mobile Canada lights up HSPA+ network, iPhone 3GS, Bold 9700 in tow

Virgin Mobile Canada lights up HSPA+ network, iPhone 3GS, Bold 9700 in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 10:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Will iPad’s A4 Chip Make Its Way to iPhone 4G?

iPhone 3.2 SDK on iPad — iChat Video Calling, File Downloads, Telephony Support, Handwriting Keyboard… And Coming to iPhone?

Engadget has been getting tips from deep code divers who are exploring Apple’s latest iPhone 3.2 SDK for the iPad and what they’re finding includes code/hooks for iChat-style video Calling, file downloads from Mobile Safari, support for telephony like SMS and calls, and some prototype support for a “handwriting keyboard”. The video conferencing news is especially intriguing:

We’re told that there are hooks to accept and decline a video conference, flip a video feed (which suggests a front-facing camera) and — most importantly — run the video call in either full screen mode or in just a portion of the screen. That means you’ll be able to chat and do other things at the same time, which could mean there’s at least some type of multitasking going on here.

Could this be another example of the iPad being “unfinished“, or of Apple removing a camera at the last minute — like the iPod touch G3 — because they couldn’t get an implementation that was good enough in time for the big reveal?

Looks like there’s some good news (or good speculation at least) for iPhone owners as well, since the devices all share the same OS code base:

chpwn also tells us [...] both the new landscape orientation for the homescreen and keyboard support appear to be destined for the iPhone itself when 3.2 comes out.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone 3.2 SDK on iPad — iChat Video Calling, File Downloads, Telephony Support, Handwriting Keyboard… And Coming to iPhone?

Apple iPad Promotional Material Updated to Remove Flash Content, Adobe iPad Porn Fail Removed from TheFlashBlog

And 9to5mac finally puts to bed the does-iPad-support-Flash flood they kicked off yesterday by noting Apple and their advertising agency have updated promotional videos and images on Apple.com to properly reflect the lack of Adobe Flash support on the iPad, including the blue lego bricks of plugin fail we iPhone users are so used to.

As we were told by our source at the secretive organization, Apple came crashing down on them with urgent requests to change the video.

In other no-Flash-on-the-iPad news, TheFlashBlog has removed the lone porn fail image from their condemnation graphic, while Merlin Mann at Kung Fu Grippe [via Daring Fireball] points out that if the graphic had been in Flash rather than a JPG, no iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch owner would have seen it anyway… (Or would they, as Gruber updates to pass on that the site in question has an iPhone version that replaces the Flash with QuickTime. D’oh!)

Thus ends the latest flare up in the never ending Flash on iPhone OS saga. Right?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Apple iPad Promotional Material Updated to Remove Flash Content, Adobe iPad Porn Fail Removed from TheFlashBlog

Review: Palm Pixi Plus smartphone

The "Plus" in the Palm Pixi Plus really means one thing: the addition of Wi-Fi connectivity.

iPhone Tip: How to Turn Off Camera Notifications

iPad UI gets ported to the iPhone and iPod touch

At this particular point, 50-something days away from the earliest iPad deliveries, we doubt too many people are up in arms about the iPad's ability to act as a jumbo iPhone. On the other hand, if we told you you can take pretty much the entire iPad experience and distill it down to your iPhone OS device, well you'd probably care a lot more, wouldn't you? To get that extra 3D flavor to your UI, including the fetching iBooks shelf and other iPad-specific touches, you'll need a jailbroken iPhone or iPod touch, access to the Cydia app store, and the manpower to click past the break for the full instructional video. Come on, you know you want to.

[Thanks, Taimur]

Continue reading iPad UI gets ported to the iPhone and iPod touch

iPad UI gets ported to the iPhone and iPod touch originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 04:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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