Agile Partners rock GuitarToolkit 2.0

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Brett Terpstra.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Agile Partners (who've come up at TUAW a few times) have released GuitarToolkit 2.0, a major upgrade to the original app which adds extensive features and an iPad version. GuitarToolkit boasts a range of tools geared at guitar and bass players, but now includes enough flexibility to work with any fretted instrument you can imagine. This is a free update for existing customers, and additional functionality is available as a one-time, US $4.99 in-app upgrade.

In addition to being redesigned to take advantage of the iPad's size, the new release expands from 500,000 chords to over 2,000,000 chords and scales--and now--arpeggios. There's full capo support, too: slide to any fret and scales and arpeggios automatically adjust. All of GuitarToolkit's features support six, seven, and twelve string guitars, as well as four, five and six string bass, banjo, mandolin and ukulele.

GuitarToolkit 2.0 iPad Screenshot

The GuitarToolkit+ upgrade activates interactive Chord Sheets (a great tool for composition and building chord progressions), an Advanced Metronome (with visible flash option), a drum machine and Custom Instruments. Drum patterns can contain as many as 32 tracks, and you control time signature, number of bars and have access to 75 sounds in nine different categories. The Advanced Metronome is available immediately on the iPad, and coming shortly to the iPhone/iPod touch.

The Custom Instruments capability is pretty cool, especially if you're playing something that doesn't necessarily fit into the standard guitar mold. Choose an instrument type, string and pickup type, assign a tuning, even add a capo if you like. GuitarToolkit+ includes great-sounding samples for every combination, as well as over 60 amp/effects presets powered by AmpKit.

The tuner in GuitarToolkit is highly accurate and supports just about any tuning you can imagine (including custom tunings). More than I'll ever use, I'm sure. There's also a high-contrast mode to make sure you can use it in any lighting situation.

All told, if you play a fretted instrument of any kind, the US $9.99 app (and the US $4.99 in-app upgrade) will probably pay off pretty quickly. This is the only app I've seen that offers this kind of flexibility and provides as many composition tools. Check it out in the App Store.

Agile Partners rock GuitarToolkit 2.0 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 15 Dec 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TUAW - The Unofficial Apple WeblogAgile Partners rock GuitarToolkit 2.0 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 15 Dec 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Paragraft gets iOS Markdown editing right

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Brett Terpstra.
Categories: Uncategorized.

I just discovered Paragraft, a text editor for iPad and iPhone that boasts some ingenious Markdown features (if I've lost you already, check out the TUAW Markdown Primer for a crash course).

The good parts of Paragraft blew me away enough that I'm able to overlook an ugly icon and some bad interface decisions to deliver a fairly glowing endorsement: this is the first app I've found that has really allowed Markdown on iOS to make sense.

There's no shortage of Markdown-enabled apps on any Apple platform right now, and I love that. I love Markdown, and while it's far superior to writing HTML or dealing with Rich Text in an iOS environment, I always miss the Markdown speed I can achieve in TextMate and other text editors on the Mac.

Nebulous Notes has the flexibility to start getting there, but you have to build all the macros yourself. Other apps handle auto-continuing lists, maybe adding bold and italics, but still leave you digging through multiple levels of iOS keyboards to get to some symbols. TextExpander Touch can help quite a bit, too, but none of these really tap the capabilities of the iPhone and iPad. Paragraft has made me begin to rethink the possibilities.

Continue reading Paragraft gets iOS Markdown editing right

Paragraft gets iOS Markdown editing right originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TUAW - The Unofficial Apple WeblogParagraft gets iOS Markdown editing right originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ColorSchemer Touch is out, and we have five copies to give away

Posted on December 13, 2010 by Brett Terpstra.
Categories: Uncategorized.

The designers and color lovers among you may be familiar with ColorSchemer, or at least recall it from our coverage of the 2.0 release. Well, great news: ColorSchemer Touch is available on the App Store for iPhone and iPod touch! We have five copies to give away, so be sure to enter for your chance at the end of the post.

ColorSchemer Touch is designed to make color palette creation on your iPhone or iPod touch fast and simple. It offers four tools: a Color Wheel, LiveSchemes, PhotoSchemer and Spectrum. Color Wheel and Spectrum are what you'd expect, standard means of finding colors. LiveSchemes provides one of the coolest features of the desktop version; it allows you to set points on a spectrum wheel and link them together to see what the same combination of hues and saturations will do as you move them around the wheel. PhotoSchemer, which is also translated from the desktop version, allows you to pull colors from a photo or, in the case of the iPhone, a picture you take on the spot. It's great for saving palettes when you see them in real life.

ColorSchemer Touch is tightly integrated with the ColourLovers website, which provides scads of palettes to browse, "Love" and comment on. You can add your own and interact with other people's work. It's a nice social take on the idea of palette creation.

ColorSchemer Touch is US$2.99 on the App Store. As I mentioned up top, we have five promo codes to hand out to lucky readers. If you'd like your own copy of ColorSchemer Touch for free, leave a comment below letting us know what you'd love to do with it. Good luck!

Here are the rules and a link to the legal statement:

  • Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.
  • To enter, leave a comment describing your plans for ColorSchemer Touch.
  • The comment must be left before Wednesday, December 22, 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time.
  • You may enter only once.
  • Five winners will be selected in a random drawing.
  • Prize: Promo code for ColorSchemer Touch. (US$2.99 value)
  • Click Here for complete Official Rules.

Good Luck!

ColorSchemer Touch is out, and we have five copies to give away originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 13 Dec 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TUAWColorSchemer Touch is out, and we have five copies to give away originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 13 Dec 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VoodooPad now available for your iPhone and iPad

Posted on by Brett Terpstra.
Categories: Uncategorized.

VoodooPad gets its share of TUAW screen space, and it's one of the few apps that's always open on my desktop. As one of the original "personal" wikis, VoodooPad has a simple aesthetic and a great feature set for organizing and linking your important information, notes and everything from bookmarks to movies. It's a great desktop information manager, and as of last week, a great iPhone app, too.

VoodooPad for iOS is simple, but it makes a great little wiki for iPhone and iPad. It probably has significantly more appeal to users of the desktop version than to people who just want a wiki on their iPad. It lacks some of the features that made me fall in love with apps like Trunk Notes, but the fact that it syncs with my desktop notes via WebDAV or MobileMe is spectacular.

In my testing, the sync feature over WebDAV performed flawlessly. I could see changes made on iPad or desktop on the other device immediately, and I didn't run into any unresolvable conflicts if one was left open while working in the other. It even syncs over embedded media. Like the desktop version, though, it only edits the text of pages.

Tags and other metadata can't be edited or viewed on iOS, but all of the info appears to stay intact. The same can't be said for Rich Text formatting, which is lost if you edit the page on an iOS device. iOS doesn't offer many options for the kind of customization I do in VoodooPad on my Mac, but as long as I'm using VoodooPad for iOS as a companion app for the desktop version, it's going to work out nicely. VoodooPad for iOS is available on the App Store for US$9.99. If you're a VoodooPad user (or looking for a new iPhone/iPad wiki), it's worth a look.

VoodooPad now available for your iPhone and iPad originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 13 Dec 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TUAWVoodooPad now available for your iPhone and iPad originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 13 Dec 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rapid iOS app development with FormEntry

Posted on September 19, 2010 by Brett Terpstra.
Categories: Uncategorized.

FormEntry Touch, a recent release from WidgetPress (makers of ModelBaker), makes setting up form-based systems on iPads and iPhones easier than ever. The universal app is static, in that it requires no coding; it reads forms from the application you build with FormEntry for Mac and run on the FormEntry Server. Put it all together, and it looks like a pretty great setup for rapidly creating form-based applications which interact with a central database.

There are a lot of possibilities for something like this, across a variety of applications. You could build a menu and ordering system for a restaurant [or a wine list -Ed.], and let iDevice-toting customers place their orders at any time (or provide every table with an iPad, if you could justify the cost).

Teachers and professors could easily build quizzes and tests with the available array of form field types (we're looking at you, ACU). It has a signature field form type which allows people to use the touch screen to sign submissions, so it has legal applications as well. It even handles photo uploads, which adds myriad possibilities for inventory, real estate and insurance applications.

FormEntry for Mac starts (for a single developer) at US$39, FormEntry Server at $79, and FormEntry Touch is a free download from the App Store. For a base price of $118, you could start rapidly developing applications and remote databases. Academic pricing drops it to $19 and $39 for FormEntry and FormEntry Server. For larger business applications, you can also get a Private Label version for $4,999 and white-label the whole setup. I'm curious to know if anyone has tried FormEntry out, and what they think. If you have, share your experience in the comments!

Rapid iOS app development with FormEntry originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 19 Sep 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)Rapid iOS app development with FormEntry originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 19 Sep 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PhotoNest: your Twitter stream, in pictures

Posted on March 21, 2010 by Brett Terpstra.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Filed under:

I just tried out PhotoNest, a cool new way to view just the images posted to your Twitter stream. It picks up just the photos, and presents them in a slide format, captioned with the tweet they were posted with. You can quickly flick through and see what your friends are up to (based on the photos they post).

Given that Twitter doesn't have a genuine photo-posting mechanism, this seems like a grand idea to me. I've done something similar to collect and expand just the links posted to my stream, but this app does a great job of pulling photos posted with multiple services and presenting them in an easy-to-navigate format.

The only trouble I ran into with PhotoNest was a login issue: when I mistyped my password on the first try, it gave me an error and took me back to the login screen. After that, though, a correct password just kept landing me back at that screen without any message. However, quitting the app and starting it again logged me in automatically without a hitch, so I assume it's a small bug that will be squashed in the next update.

The app will also let you post photos (with a tweet) to your Twitter account, and you can filter your view based on favorite contacts. PhotoNest is available on the App Store for $1.99US. If your Twitter friends post a lot of photos (and people with iPhones tend to), it's a fun way to keep up and worth checking out.

PhotoNest: your Twitter stream, in pictures originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 21 Mar 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)PhotoNest: your Twitter stream, in pictures originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 21 Mar 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Flickr faster with Flickit Pro

Posted on March 5, 2010 by Brett Terpstra.
Categories: Uncategorized.

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I love Flickr (and alliteration, apparently). That is, I love Flickr on my desktop, and often on my Apple TV. I've never really been in love with the mobile experience, mostly due to long wait times and cumbersome navigation. When Mike Bernardo from Green Volcano Software contacted me about Flickit Pro, his Flickr app for the iPhone, I was definitely game to try it. I bought a copy the same day in the hopes that it would bring a little joy to my mobile Flickring.

We've played with Photon before, so we know that Green Volcano knows how to make photo handling fluid and fast. That interface dexterity carries over to the iPhone app. I was impressed by the overall aesthetics, and as I played with it I quickly confirmed that it wasn't just eye candy. There are little details that made me smile, and then ask, "Why all apps don't do things like this?" My favorite of these interface gems has to be the ability to zoom a photo in quite far, drag it to the edge and hold it a sec, and watch it suck back down and load the next image. Whether or not you dislike the usual double-tap-before-you-slide on most iPhone photo browsers as much as I do, it's still a great feature and demonstrates some serious attention to detail.

The speed is impressive, the background loading isn't cumbersome or even noticeable, and the overall experience left a great impression. It was $3.99US well spent. There's a free version, Flickit (without the Pro), but I haven't tried it. I assume it's a cool app, but if you're a Flickr fanatic (or really like well-designed apps), check out Flickr Pro.

I put together a little gallery below, so in case you don't buy that whole "nice interface" spiel, you can dive in and see for yourself.

Flickr faster with Flickit Pro originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)Flickr faster with Flickit Pro originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TaskPaper for iPhone, simplified to-do lists go mobile

Posted on February 23, 2010 by Brett Terpstra.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Filed under: ,

TaskPaper, from the developer of WriteRoom, has been around for a while, and we've been talking about it since version 1.0. After what seems like a long wait, TaskPaper for iPhone is out. The super-simple to-do list with surprisingly robust capabilities is now mobile, and syncs with the desktop version (through Simpletext.ws) for a complete task management solution.

The interesting aspect of TaskPaper is that it uses plain text files with minimal formatting to create and manage to-do lists. The file is easily read by other applications, and things such as tags and due dates are handled in a very human-readable format. The iPhone version offers the functionality of the desktop version, and the two work together quite well. Current users of TaskPaper on the desktop should note the format changes in TaskPaper files.

TaskPaper costs $29.99US for the desktop version. At $4.99US, the iPhone version makes a great counterpart and a very useful addition to your productivity toolset.

TaskPaper for iPhone, simplified to-do lists go mobile originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)TaskPaper for iPhone, simplified to-do lists go mobile originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Macworld 2010: Hands-on with the 4iThumbs keyboard for iPhone

Posted on February 13, 2010 by Brett Terpstra.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Filed under: , ,

I stopped by the 4iThumbs booth to check out their product that would purportedly increase my (admittedly dismal) typing speed on the iPhone/iPod touch. It consists of a plastic overlay that puts small ridges between the letters of the standard iPhone keyboard, available in both portrait and landscape formats. The product comes with some tabs that you affix to the top and bottom of the device, and you can then slip the plastic overlay on and off. You can touch through the overlay and use the phone as usual while it's attached, although the bumps aren't terribly comfortable for swiping. There's a matching set of tabs for the back of the device which can hold the overlay when it's not in use.

I tested it out, and it works. I never texted much on any device other than the iPhone, so I can't make a direct comparison of typing speeds between an iPhone and, say, a Blackberry. I do type a lot on my iPhone, though, and I can readily say that my typing speed and accuracy increased dramatically while using the 4iThumbs overlay.

4iThumbs is $19.95US online for 1 set, which includes portrait and landscape versions and the tabs to attach them to your iPhone/iPod touch. At Macworld, you can pick up 2 for $15US, but you'll have to get there quick to take advantage of the show pricing.

Macworld 2010: Hands-on with the 4iThumbs keyboard for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 13 Feb 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)Macworld 2010: Hands-on with the 4iThumbs keyboard for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 13 Feb 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TUAW at Big Nerd Ranch: now taking (app) requests!

Posted on February 3, 2010 by Brett Terpstra.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Filed under: ,

More coverage of TUAW's inside look at developer boot camp. See below for notes & disclaimer.

It's Wednesday at Big Nerd Ranch. I'll get to meet a few of the personalities behind the ranch today, as well as meet up with some blogger friends from Atlanta. Victor is even going to stop by ... it's like visitor's day, except without the rehab or prison part.

We're well into learning to make use of the unique features of the iPhone SDK now. Yesterday we covered CoreLocation, the accelerometer, more Interface Builder and programmatically creating interface elements. I've done a little of this before, but I'm also learning solid memory management techniques, coding conventions and other areas that I definitely needed work on. My classmates are really starting to dig into their own projects, and I've put together a couple small ones of my own. I haven't come up with a great idea for a larger project yet, though, and I'd like your help with that.

My only request is that it make use of at least one special hardware feature of the iPhone (compass, accelerometer, etc.). Beyond that, I'm just looking for unique ideas from our readers for an app that would be useful to as large an audience as possible. If this app makes it to the App Store, it will be given away for free, so leave me some suggestions in the comments and I'll get working on something we can all share!

In order to give our readers the first-hand account of what it's like to experience developer boot camp, Big Nerd Ranch has permitted Brett to attend complimentary classes and has provided transportation/lodging assistance. Other than those considerations, no sponsorship or advertising relationship exists between BNR and TUAW. This series is not an endorsement of BNR's programs or teaching methodology.

TUAW at Big Nerd Ranch: now taking (app) requests! originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)TUAW at Big Nerd Ranch: now taking (app) requests! originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TUAW at Big Nerd Ranch: cabin tour

Posted on by Brett Terpstra.
Categories: Uncategorized.

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More coverage of TUAW's inside look at developer boot camp. See below for notes & disclaimer.

This is a quick video I shot on Sunday. It's a quick tour of my cabin, just to show you what the lodging and amenities at the Big Nerd Ranch look like. Participants don't spend a lot of time in their rooms, as the class schedule makes for a long day, and is usually followed by some lab time spent working on projects and getting answers to additional questions. Meals are served in the main building, so you end up spending a lot more time with the group than you do in cliques or on your own. The food, by the way, has exceeded my expectations, and the cooks have cheerfully catered to my dietary preferences (a picky pescatarian with a penchant for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches).

Read on for the video of the cabin; I should have a video of the actual campus and some footage from our daily hike up soon, too!

In order to give our readers the first-hand account of what it's like to experience developer boot camp, Big Nerd Ranch has permitted Brett to attend complimentary classes and has provided transportation/lodging assistance. Other than those considerations, no sponsorship or advertising relationship exists between BNR and TUAW. This series is not an endorsement of BNR's programs or teaching methodology.

Continue reading TUAW at Big Nerd Ranch: cabin tour

TUAW at Big Nerd Ranch: cabin tour originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)TUAW at Big Nerd Ranch: cabin tour originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone apps will run on the iPad

Posted on January 27, 2010 by Brett Terpstra.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Filed under: , ,

With today's announcement of the iPad, we heard about a new SDK for developing apps. We also heard, though, that the iPad will be capable of running all current iPhone apps without modification, downloaded straight onto the tablet from a built-in App Store. Either you can run apps normal sized on the larger screen, or, using pixel-doubling, iPhone-native apps can run full screen on the iPad. Apple has already rewritten all of their own apps using the new SDK (which will be available for download today on Apple.com), and I'm sure we'll start seeing tablet-driven development from iPhone developers immediately. A few companies, including EA, Gameloft, and the New York Times, have already gotten a head start on iPad development and showed off a few apps in the event earlier today.

While graphics-based iPhone apps are probably going to look pretty decent on the tablet, text-based applications look a little awkward when it's just bigger text. Native apps are going to be a must to really make this platform work, and I'm looking forward to seeing what current (and new) developers do with the new screen size and format.

iPhone apps will run on the iPad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)iPhone apps will run on the iPad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Billings Touch hits the App Store

Posted on January 6, 2010 by Brett Terpstra.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Filed under: ,

We mentioned its imminent arrival a few days back, and now it's here: Billings Touch [iTunes link] hit the App Store last night (Free, $15 in-app upgrade for full functionality). It's packed with time and expense tracking features, client management, invoicing, and other necessities of the freelancer/small businessperson. It's packaged to go, too.

Billings Touch syncs with the desktop version of Billings over WiFi, but one of the coolest things about it is that it's a standalone app. Without any help from its older sibling, it can handle everything a professional on-the-go would need to get paid. Track your mileage and your expenses, add clients ... then track your time (timers run even when the app is closed), add fixed-price slips, put it all together and send a professional-looking invoice right from your phone. Mark your payments received and Billings Touch will do some bookkeeping for you, and keep you posted about who's overdue and what's coming up.

Billings Touch also implements the "Blueprints" functionality from the desktop version, allowing you to create presets for your work slips. Include the title of the task, the rate, etc. and making new slips can be just a quick tap of the finger, ready to start timing. That's especially important on the iPhone because time spent typing out task names on your little keyboard is rarely billable.

I do wish I could add a receipt photo to my expense slips, and WebDAV sync would be killer, but this app really doesn't leave me wanting. I've beta tested it for a while now, and I can happily say that it's an amazing companion to Billings, and a complete package on its own. My opinion after trying just about everything on the market: Billings and Billings Touch make an unbeatable pair, and this is the time-tracking app to use if you want a complete, professional solution from client contact and estimate to invoice and statements.

Billings Touch is a free download on the App Store, and it comes with a good amount of functionality. However, syncing and invoicing require an in-app purchase of $15US, but it's a pretty cool way to let you try out the app before you make a purchase. Billings on the desktop remains priced at a competitive $39.99US. Have a peek at the gallery for an overview of the interface and some of Billing Touch's capabilities.

Billings Touch hits the App Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)Billings Touch hits the App Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Soulver brings a calculator scratchpad to your iPhone

Posted on January 5, 2010 by Brett Terpstra.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Filed under: ,

Acqualia's Soulver, a very cool "calculator scratchpad" (which we've covered before), has come to the iPhone [iTunes link]. Both versions allow you to enter expressions in regular mathematical form, or a more "natural language" form. It keeps a running total in the sidebar, and you can reference (and edit) previous lines. Of course, it can run basic functions like sin, cos, and tan, but you can also use "English" functions such as "$29.99 - 35%" to get sale prices, markups, calculate tax, etc.. As a handy touch, Soulver (both iPhone and desktop versions) also allows you to save your work in files for later reference/editing.

Soulver has always been a great alternative to standard calculator programs, and the iPhone version is -- in many cases -- a full replacement for the built-in calculator. Check out the iPhone version ($2.99US) on the App Store, and the desktop version ($19.95US) at the Acqualia site.

[via Minimalmac]

Soulver brings a calculator scratchpad to your iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)Soulver brings a calculator scratchpad to your iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Waveboard on the iPhone, Google Wave access slightly better than Mobile Safari

Posted on November 4, 2009 by Brett Terpstra.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Filed under: ,

If you're lucky enough to have a Google Wave account, you may be familiar with Waveboard. I started out using Wave via a Fluid SSB, running Wave Growl for Growl notifications and Dock badges. Then I found Waveboard, and it made things smooth enough that I haven't looked at Wave any other way since. So, obviously, I'd been anticipating the iPhone version of Waveboard. It's here, and it's, well, moderately interesting.

The desktop app is essentially a Single Site Browser, like a Fluid app, but it adds handy, Mac-like keyboard shortcuts, Growl notifications, Dock and Menubar notifications, etc. The iPhone app is the same, a webkit browser showing what Google already provides, but there just wasn't as much potential integration to take advantage of on the iPhone. They took advantage of the shake gesture to reload or log out. Websites can be opened in the same browser or sent to Safari. Landscape mode is supported. And you can kind of get push notifications, by using Prowl (which Aron has mentioned before). Setup instructions are available on the Waveboard blog.

That's about it, for now. Google hasn't offered an API, which seriously hampers a developer's ability to do cool things. More features are reportedly in the works, so we'll see if it turns into a truly useful counterpart to its desktop cousin over time.

Waveboard for iPhone is available on the App Store iTunes link for $0.99US. Under a buck, and it might be worth a look for avid Wavers (which I would be, if enough of my clients and cohorts had accounts to make it truly useful).

[via TechCrunch]

Waveboard on the iPhone, Google Wave access slightly better than Mobile Safari originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)Waveboard on the iPhone, Google Wave access slightly better than Mobile Safari originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The dark side of Skee-Ball for iPhone

Posted on October 28, 2009 by Brett Terpstra.
Categories: Uncategorized.

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I won't make any excuses, and I won't beat around the bush: I'm addicted to Skee-Ball [iTunes link], at least to the very-entertaining iPhone version from Freeverse. In fact, the reason I haven't written about it until now is that every time I get ready, I decide a little more "research" is in order, and I find myself on another Skee-bender. It's getting ridiculous, annoying my friends and upsetting my home life. I'd like to say, "I can stop whenever I want to," but I keep coming back to the warm glow of the LED scoreboard and the comforting sounds of wooden balls racking up just for me.

What makes Skee-Ball so entertaining for me is the realism of the gameplay. It sends me right back to my childhood; carnivals, arcades and Chuck E. Cheese's. The physics of the game are bafflingly realistic, with each roll responding to every nuance of the stroke or swing that launches it. Velocity, top and side-spin, friction... even the effects of bouncing off of the sides of the ramp or the edges of the cups feels natural. The prizes you can purchase with the tickets are reminiscent of the "big scores" of my youth: vampire fangs, bubble gum, fake moustaches, and glitter pencils. There's the occasional oddball prize, too (a banana, a robotic dog, a duck), presumably to remind you that it is, after all, just a game.

Continue reading The dark side of Skee-Ball for iPhone

The dark side of Skee-Ball for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)The dark side of Skee-Ball for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Look: ZenNews brings the news cloud to your iPhone

Posted on October 15, 2009 by Brett Terpstra.
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Zensify announced its latest app, ZenNews [iTunes link], this morning. It's basically an intelligent news aggregator, using algorithms to find "what's hot" from a variety of sources including the New York Times, the Washington Post, Al Jazeera, the Guardian and more. It parses Twitter and other social mediums to figure out who's talking about what, and then creates a tag cloud of hot topics. There's an aggregated view combining all sources, or you can view a tag cloud for each source. You can toggle sources and/or categories on and off in the preferences.

If a keyword in the tag cloud reveals more than 5 articles, tapping it will drill down into another tag cloud, repeated until the keyword returns a list of 5 or fewer articles. View articles within ZenNews using the built-in webkit browser, or open them in Safari. You can always switch from the tag cloud to a list view for any page, and there's a default view titled "All News" which lists all the aggregated news (in list format) at once. You can drill down to specific topics in the Categories view, and see what's new/hot from all enabled sources for a single category. As you read, you can mark any article as a favorite, and view a list of your marked articles in the Favorites view. You can quickly share articles via Twitter or email, as well.

It's all quite slick, and pretty solid for a first release. I did run into a bug which would bring up blank tag cloud pages if a specific combination of being on a certain view and losing a network connection at the right time occurred. I spoke with the developers yesterday, and I'm confident they'll smooth out any wrinkles quickly.

Zensify is offering ZenNews for free. Their plan is to demonstrate the buzz-detecting algorithms, and then offer white-label versions -- using a subscription model -- to companies with a need for up-to-the-minute buzz tracking. For the rest of us, this is a good-looking and, as far as I've been able to tell, accurate way to see what's happening in the world at any given moment. Check out the gallery below for a preview, and grab a copy on the App Store.

First Look: ZenNews brings the news cloud to your iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)First Look: ZenNews brings the news cloud to your iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chilli X has birthday - everyone gets presents, but no cake

Posted on October 9, 2009 by Brett Terpstra.
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If you look under your seats, you'll find a bevy of free iPhone apps. That's right ... you get an app, you get an app, everybody gets an app (or 16)!

We've mentioned Chilli X a few times, and I've developed a fondness for their collection of sleek, simple iPhone apps with great-looking interfaces. And now it's their first birthday, and they're giving out presents: this weekend only (starting right now), you can grab any (or all) of Chilli X's iPhone apps for FREE.

There are plenty to choose from; 16 apps in the App Store and one just submitted for approval today. We've mentioned Done [iTunes link], MyCal [iTunes link] and Playlist Alarm Clock [iTunes link], but much has happened since then. What follows is a roundup of some of the latest apps, but you can find them all by searching for "Chilli X" in the App Store.

Continue reading Chilli X has birthday - everyone gets presents, but no cake

Chilli X has birthday - everyone gets presents, but no cake originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)Chilli X has birthday - everyone gets presents, but no cake originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Get your mix on with Star6

Posted on October 7, 2009 by Brett Terpstra.
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Star6 [iTunes link], from Agile Partners, is a beat-mixing iPhone app with a lot of power behind its kitschy interface. While I see it being a fun toy for the casual user, there are some possibilities for great things, if you have the dedication to get good with it. I won't award it a heap of points for aesthetics, but the interface is highly usable and well thought-out.

You get six pads to which you can assign sounds, either from the array of included kits or from your own wav or aiff samples. Once you've got your kit loaded up, you can trigger the sounds in Grain mode, which makes it more of a sound effects machine, or in Sync mode, which will beat-match the samples to keep the rhythm flowing. While you're playing each sample, you can modify attributes like pitch, gate, speed, jitter and "size" by holding down each respective button and raising or lowering the iPhone. There were times in my trial of Star6 that I just wanted sliders, but the accelerometer-based manipulation has a definite right-brain appeal. Additionally, you can turn effects like delay, filter and distortion on and off whilst grooving away.

Star6 is running a contest right now, with two grand prizes of $500 each. You can see some of the entries by going to the YouTube Group, and join the group to submit your own. Details are available at the Agile Partners page for the contest. I'm a little late on the jump here, but the deadline has been extended to October 25th, 2009. It can't hurt to try, right?

Star6 is available in the App Store for $6.99US. Check out the gallery below for a few shots of the interface. If it looks interesting, though, definitely head over to the introductory video and samples (play before you buy) at the Star6 website.


Get your mix on with Star6 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)Get your mix on with Star6 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iTunes 9: App Management

Posted on September 9, 2009 by Brett Terpstra.
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One of the great new features in iTunes 9 is app management; I've been begging for this one (among other things). We can now organize our pages (and pages) of apps right in iTunes, no more dragging jiggly icons across 9 or 10 screens. I'm ecstatic (and wondering what took so long).

From Apple's website:

[...] it's easier to organize all the apps on your iPhone or iPod touch, because now you can do it right in iTunes, right from your computer. Shop the App Store on your computer, iPhone, or iPod touch. Then go to your iTunes library to arrange (and rearrange) your apps and add (or delete) Home screens. iTunes automatically syncs your new Home screens with your iPhone or iPod touch.

iTunes 9: App Management originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)iTunes 9: App Management originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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