News: Gamevil debuts ink-styled historic action RPG

GAMEVIL has announced the release of VANQUISH: The Oath of Brothers, a new action RPG presented with a unique ink and wash painted graphic style. Based on the historical novel “Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” the game's storyline follows the adventures of the hero Guan Yu as he journeys to reunite with his sworn brother, battling the generals of Cao Cao and their armies along the way. The game combines action and RPG elements, allowing…

GAMEVIL has announced the release of VANQUISH: The Oath of Brothers, a new action RPG presented with a unique ink and wash painted graphic style. Based on the historical novel “Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” the game's storyline follows the adventures of the hero Guan Yu as he journeys to reunite with his sworn brother, battling the generals of Cao Cao and their armies along the way. The game combines action and RPG elements, allowing…

  • 50 Killer Mac Apps For Under $50

       Who doesn't need more for less? We present 50 Mac|Life-approved applications--many free, all under $50--that'll guarantee you get the most from your Mac without traumatizing your wallet. The Internet is full of noise--countless different applications for every occasion, with reviews everywhere that love and hate them at the same time. While that’s hardly news, it’s still a hassle that isn’t going away. Say you picked up a spiffy new MacBook Pro, and it’s time to kit it out with the leanest, meanest software. After all, Macs have that rich history of garage-roots development, of a few folks in a basement brewing up quality software that smokes the big-name stuff. So you’ve got a feeling there’s great, affordable software just waiting for you to find it--and you’re right. But how do you sift through the zillion calendar apps and jillion media players to find the gems worthy of your hard drive space? And more importantly, your time and money?We’re here to help with a compendium of essential software. It didn’t come easily--we debated, argued, haggled, and even pleaded to secure a prized position on this list for our favorite, most useful applications. But by limiting the software we’re highlighting to 50, we’ve guaranteed you the best of the best--no Internet spew here. And by capping the cost of the software we’ve selected at $50, we’ve made sure you can reasonably buy what you need. You may love your Mac already, but you’re not gonna believe how much it can do once you load up even a few of these choice applications.   Entertainment Sure, iPods and iTunes make music and movies easier to enjoy, but they're not without headaches of their own. That's where these awesome apps come in. They take the pain out of kicking back with your favorite flicks and tunes. Simplify Media Share & stream your iTunes library over the Internet.The iPod has made several portable music formats obsolete, and we sure don’t miss schlepping around fragile cassette tapes or heavy wallets full of CDs. But even the mighty iPod has its limits--namely capacity. That’s where Simplify Media (free, Simplify Media, simplifymedia.com) comes in handy. It guarantees that the size of your music library doesn’t matter by letting you stream music between computers via the Internet. Yup, this app will play your entire library on any computer (as long as the one that has your library is powered up and online).Stream your tunes from home or the next cube.Once installed, a simple login fires up your music. Simplify Media works with iTunes just like the built-in LAN sharing does, and the remote libraries appear under Shared, alongside any local shared libraries. Even better, you can add up to 30 friends’ shared libraries, and an iPhone app ($5.99) lets you pipe your music to your iPhone or iPod touch.  SuperSync SuperSync keeps multiple iTunes collections in sync. Speaking of iTunes libraries--streaming is great, but what if you want to sync libraries across multiple Macs? SuperSync ($22, SuperSync, supersync.com) makes it so. Sure, Apple introduced limited music-transfer capabilities with Home Sharing in iTunes 9, but that feature requires computers to be on the same local network. SuperSync one-ups iTunes by syncing iTunes libraries over the Internet. It’s perfect for anyone who uses multiple Macs, and SuperSync also has a bunch of other tricked-out features. In deference to the record companies, Apple makes transferring music from an iPod to a computer unnecessarily difficult. SuperSync handles the task with ease, making it a bacon-saver when the hard drive in your Mac kicks the bucket. SuperSync will even allow you to sync libraries cross-platform.SuperSync's color-coded interface helps you synchronize your iTunes tracks across multiple Macs.  VLC Media Player Never worry about video file types again. If most of your Mac video-watching happens in the form of DVDs or QuickTime movies, you probably don’t think too much about player software. But move beyond the most basic video types, and you’re asking for trouble. With the myriad formats, containers, and encoding parameters available, the simple act of playing back a cat video can become incredibly frustrating. VLC Media Player (free, VideoLAN, www.videolan.org) is like a Swiss Army knife for digital media. It’s open source and cross-platform, and the app will play back practically any audio or video file you throw at it. VLC also handles file conversions with ease, so you can use it to convert audio and video for use online or on portable devices.It plays, it converts, it makes toast (okay, maybe not that last one.)  RipIt Backup & convert DVDs with RipIt.There are plenty of legit reasons to rip a DVD. Backup copies of kids’ movies for the minivan, watching Glee on your iPod touch while you’re on the bus, or even just saving battery power on your laptop (playing back a file from a hard drive is much more efficient than spinning a DVD).RipIt's simple interface makes ripping DVDs seamless and easy.Once the domain of ĂĽbernerds, DVD ripping is a one-click affair thanks to RipIt ($19.95, The Little App Factory, ripitapp.com). And since it makes full rips, all of the menus, bonus features, and subtitles remain intact. You can play back the resulting files with DVD Player on your Mac or use a freeware tool like Handbrake to convert your rips into iPod-friendly formats.   Delicious Library We love the iTunes Store, but we still end up accumulating books, DVDs, console games, and, yes, even CDs. Delicious Library ($40, Delicious Monster Software, www.delicious-monster.com) helps catalog your collections by--get this--taking snaps of UPCs via your webcam and then automatically organizing your meatspace content onto virtual shelves for easy sorting and browsing. You can track loans to friends, post items for sale on Amazon, and publish Web catalogs formatted for your iPhone. That way, you can avoid buying another copy of John Hodgman’s More Information Than You Require.   Connect360 We’re Apple-faithful, but that doesn’t stop us from engaging in a little Modern Warfare 2 on our Xbox 360. And since the 360 is much more than a simple gaming machine, we also use it to stream iTunes tracks to our entertainment center and view pictures from our iPhoto library on our HDTV--with the help of Connect360 ($20, Nullriver Inc, www.nullriver.com), that is. It works over wired or wireless networks, and it even streams H.264 video straight from our MacBook. Sweet!   Peel Pack rats, beware: Peel ($14.95, Hjalti Jakobsson, www.getpeel.com) can get really overwhelming, really fast. But if you’re an avid follower of music blogs, Peel can automagically grab new tracks as they’re posted. So forget all that pesky right-clicking and manually adding to iTunes. Just feed Peel a list of your favorite music blogs, and then kick back as tons of new, free tunes get downloaded straight to your Mac. You may never have to buy (or pirate) music again.    CoverScout Cover Flow is one of those features that looks great in a demo but doesn’t quite translate at home. iTunes can attempt to find the album art that makes Cover Flow actually useful, but it’s limited in scope and can’t make fuzzy matches. CoverScout ($39.95, equinox USA, www.equinux.com) scours the Internet to find your missing album art and presents you with multiple options to let you choose the best images. Don’t Cover Flow without it.   TuneUp For all of those untitled and mistitled tracks in your music library, there’s TuneUp ($19.95/one year, $29.95/lifetime; TuneUp Media; www.tuneupmedia.com). Like CoverScout, TuneUp can find and download missing album art, but its best trick is cleaning up your ID3 tags--the artist, title, and album info displayed in iTunes. A quick search is all it takes to clear up all those Track 1s and Unknown Artists in your library. It sure beats cleaning up metadata by hand. Next Page: Productivity Apps >>  Productivity Takin' care of business, every day. Takin' care of business, every way. Workin' on a Mac, it's all right. This productivity software is workin' overtime. WriteRoom Blocks distractions so you can write in peace.Proving the tired adage that “less is more,” WriteRoom ($24.95, Hog Bay Software, www.hogbaysoftware.com) is a light text editor with a full-screen mode. Start a new document, and everything else fades away--your Dock, your menubar, and other windows on your Desktop. You’re left with a black screen and friendly green text for a clutter- and distraction-free experience. The Escape key toggles between full-screen mode and windowed mode, which resembles TextEdit with a live word count.WriteRoom can save your work as plain text, rich text, or Microsoft Word’s .doc format. The preferences offer tons of customization: auto-save, character counts, the appearance of text in full-screen mode, and more. But WriteRoom’s real magic is how it gets out of your way and lets you focus on what you’re doing.  BusyCal One calendar application to rule them all.BusyCal ($40, BusyMac, www.busymac.com) is iCal on steroids. It dances circles around iCal, chanting, “Everything you can do, I can do better.” And it’s right. Sharing is a snap: You can set up two-way syncing with your Google Calendar or with other BusyCal calendars on your local network or the wide-open Internet. But even aside from sharing, BusyCal offers tons of calendaring bells and whistles: customizable views, sticky notes, weather forecasts, moon phases, graphical icons, a to-do list, notes, tags, and much more. And since it uses the Sync Services built into Mac OS X, your BusyCal calendars can sync with MobileMe and your iPhone. You can even switch back to iCal anytime without losing any of the events or to-dos you entered in BusyCal.So what if iCal is free? BusyCal is better.  Things Flexible to-do list syncs with iCal and the iPhone. For busy people like us, a good to-do list is beyond essential. But some that we’ve tried are so complicated that just managing your tasks becomes a chore in itself. So the light, easy-to-understand Things ($49.95, Cultured Code, www.culturedcode.com) is a breath of fresh air. You can go the full Getting Things Done route, adding contexts, priority levels, a tickler file, and so on. Or you can keep it simple, with one-off and repeating tasks and multistep projects. iCal syncing can get your deadlines on your calendar, and Things on the Mac can sync wirelessly with Things on the iPhone ($9.99 in the App Store). We’ve tried multiple task-managment systems, from Web-based ToodleDo to iPhone apps like ToDo to Mail’s built-in To-Do list to good old paper and pencil. Things is the cream of the crop for its good looks, quick entry, and easy syncing.Things uses tags to organize your projects in a million ways--or you can ignore the tags altogether and just work.  Express Scribe Transcriptions made easy... well, easier.Transcribing an interview, lecture, or other recording is hard enough, just with the listening and typing. Toss in the extra arm movement as you frantically click from your text editor to your audio-playback application every time you want to pause the recording or rewind a few seconds, and your transcribing job just got tougher and more frustrating. Express Scribe (free, NCH Software, www.nch.com.au/scribe) lets you set system-wide hotkeys for audio playback so you can stay in your text editor, fully control the audio, and never need to reach for your mouse.Express Scribe can also slow down your audio without changing the pitch, supports video, works with lots of file types, loads recordings from analog or digital audio recorders, and more. Plus, it’s completely free. Wahoo!  NoteBook The Mac is silly with note-taking applications (Evernote, Yojimbo, ShoveBox, MacJournal…shall we go on?), but Circus Ponies’ NoteBook ($49.95, Circus Ponies, www.circusponies.com) is a standout. If you subscribe to “a place for everything, and everything in its place,” NoteBook can be the place for notes, Web clippings, bookmarks, documents, voice memos, photos, and more. It struts its flexibility with ready-made templates for planning a trip, writing a research paper, collecting recipes, keeping a journal, and so on, while its fun spiral-notebook interface is a nice touch.    TextExpander A thousand monkeys at a thousand typewriters could produce Hamlet a lot faster if they knew how to use TextExpander ($29.95, SmileOnMyMac, www.smileonmymac.com). This wonder app installs as a System Preferences pane and lets you define shortcuts for your most commonly used words and phrases. Abbreviate long URLs, your email signoff, even your own photo or scanned signature file. Then as you type those shortcuts, they’re automagically expanded to what you really wanted to say. Brilliant.   iFinance 3 Sure, Quicken is popular and Mint.com is free, but iFinance 3 ($29, Synium Software GmbH, www.synium.de) was built from the ground up just for Macs, and it shows. The intuitive interface makes it a cinch--dare we say a pleasure?--to track your accounts, keep an eye on your cash flow, set up a budget, and graph your expenses. It can also import from CSV and QIF files for easier data entry. Plus, a companion iPhone app lets you enter transactions on the go.  FlexTime This charming timer app ($18.95, Red Sweater Software, www.red-sweater.com) lets you set up multistep routines that run once or repeat ad nauseam. Each step can be marked by a sound, spoken text, or even running a script. Once your routine is perfect, you can export the audio to iTunes--great for following a recipe’s carefully timed steps or taking your favorite yoga routines on the road.   DEVONthink Personal Another great catch-all for storing, sorting, organizing, and searching information, DEVONthink ($49.95, DEVONtechnologies, www.devon-technologies.com) can take almost anything you can throw at it. Documents, PDFs, photos, multimedia files, bookmarks, webpages, iChat logs--all of those can be imported, sorted, and read right in DEVONthink. Searching is easy, and you can cobble together a brand-new document from items in your DEVONthink database and export it to your favorite text editor for printing or as HTML for posting.  Next Page: Internet Apps >>  Internet It's a wild place, that Interweb, so there's nothing like a few primo apps to tame everything from blogging to FTPs to Twitter and Flash banners. Transmit Traveling the two-lane FTP highway.FTP has been around forever. Social networking and cloud computing may come and go, but FTP is in it for the long hall. Fortunately, there are a wealth of great FTP clients for the Mac, and the best of those is Transmit ($29.95, Panic, www.panic.com/transmit). The client utilizes a split directory window that shows the path on your computer and the path on the FTP site. With in-app search and the ability to sync folders on your Mac and on the FTP site, Transmit helps alleviate the search and drag-and-drop blues of other clients. The sync feature is especially helpful for Web developers and designers. You can even create desktop droplets for quick uploads to heavily used sites.Two-window FTP FTW.  Mac-Journal Web-based apps suck.Blogging about your life is a faux pas. Blogging about anything else that people actually care about is the proper way of utilizing of the blogging systems available out there. The ongoing problem is that most blogging platforms are bit of a pain to use because they’re Web-based. Plus, if you’re somewhere without Internet access, you can’t start laying out your blog posts for your site. MacJournal ($39.95, Mariner Software, www.marinersoftware.com) solves that problem with an easy-to-use multiplatform blogging client. Lay out your articles offline with images, video, and audio, then save them for later posting. The app includes the ability to both write in full-screen mode so you won’t be interrupted by your Twitter friends, and to record an audio podcast in the client.Create blog posts quickly and without browser issues.  Tweetie Multi-account Twitter action.After wowing the world with its iPhone Twitter app, atebits decided to release a desktop version of Tweetie ($19.95, atebits, www.atebits.com/tweetie-mac/). The app can handle multiple Twitter accounts, compose tweets in a separate window, allow you to change the account you’re sending a tweet from on the fly, and let you drag and drop pics and videos right into the Compose window. Don’t have the perfect media on your Mac for a tweet? Record a video or shoot a pic from your iSight camera directly in Tweetie. And since Twitter conversations can be difficult to follow, Tweetie displays the conversation you’re having in a timeline if you just double-click one of the pertinent tweets. The Tweetie bookmarklet in Safari also allows you to share links quickly from your browser.Have an actual conversation on Twitter with Tweetie.  Dropbox Stop, drop, and roll on home.Transferring large files can be a huge pain. Where the hell did you leave that thumb drive? External hard drives leave an unsightly bulge in your pocket, and all those cables are always getting tangled in your shoes. That’s a safety hazard, son. Dropbox (2GB storage for free, 50GB for $9.99/month; Dropbox; www.dropbox.com) is a cloud-based storage drive that you can access from any computer or iPhone. Just pop files into the Dropbox folder on your Mac, and it automatically syncs up with the online disk (which you can view on Dropbox’s website) and with any other machines you have the application installed on. You can even share folders and files with other Dropbox users. If the free 2GB box doesn’t cut it, you can upgrade to 50GB for $10 a month.Access your files from anywhere in the universe (with an Internet connection).  LogMeIn If you need to remotely access a Mac or (gasp) a PC with Windows on it, LogMeIn (free, LogMeIn, logmein.com) allows you to peer into your remote computer from anywhere. You can launch apps, move files, and adjust your preferences via a Web-based interface, as if you were sitting at that computer. For $29.99, you can get your iPhone in on the action too.   TweetDeck If you’re a Twitter power user, TweetDeck (free, TweetDeck, www.tweetdeck.com) should be in your arsenal of Twitter apps. The interface is a series of columns that displays info like your friends’ feeds, saved searches, mentions, direct mentions, and Facebook updates. You can also keep up with trending topics with just a quick glance. If there’s something you need to track on Twitter, TweetDeck can make a column for it.   Vuze Allegedly, BitTorrent steals medication from senior citizens, but isn’t it time to forget about all the evil things it supposedly does? Instead, focus on the greatness of Vuze (free, Vuze, www.vuze.com) and its ability to download legally available video files. After you’ve done the downloading, Vuze can convert your files for use on the iPhone, Apple TV, iPod, Xbox 360, TiVo, and PlayStation 3. It’ll even stream videos to your set-top boxes. Nice!   BannerZest Creating Flash banners is difficult, especially when you don’t know or own Flash. BannerZest ($49, Aquafadas, www.aquafadas.com) takes the pain out the process and gives you a simple way to create quick, beautiful Flash banners. From a standard gallery to an interactive experience, BannerZest comes with a collection of themes for different uses, and it uploads your banners to your FTP or MobileMe disk.    FileChute Sending large files over email can result in the dreaded bounced email. FileChute ($17.95, Yellow Mug Software, www.yellowmug.com) works with your MobileMe-, FTP-, or WebDAV-accessible Web server. Drop your file into the app, and it uploads it to your online server of choice and then creates a URL to add to your email. If you drop more than one file, you get an archive uploaded to your server. Adios, bounced emails!  Next Page: Content Creation Apps >> Content Creation Sure, Adobe's stuff is the gold standard, but you don't want to have to count on a good night at the poker table to pay for it, right? Cue these killer applications, which let you effectively draw, edit photos, render, animate, and even scratch for a very fair price. djay 3 Budgeted beats to grow on.You want to spin phat beats, but your slim bank keeps you from purchasing the high-end DJ equipment and software. That’s okay, young DJ-in-training, djay 3 ($49.95, algoriddim, www.djay-software.com) gives you everything you need to rock the house without losing your shirt. This surprisingly robust audio-mixing software integrates with your iTunes library and puts all the usual mixing and scratching right on your desktop. The application supports multitouch trackpad scratching and fading between tracks, so it’s especially perfect for the last few generations of MacBooks. And as you grow as a DJ, the application will grow with you thanks to its support for MIDI controllers. That means when you get the cash for those fancy digital mixers and turntables, djay will be right there with you.With your iTunes catalog at your fingertips, you'll find some pretty interesting mashups.  Audacity Free audio editor extraordinaire.Audio editing seems simple at first. Then suddenly, you’re knee-deep in samples, frequencies, and bitrates. Sound editing really is part science, part black magic, so we’re thankful that Audacity (free, SourceForge, audacity.sourceforge.net) removes one of the biggest obstacles: choosing a quality application and figuring out how you’re going to pay for it. Audacity is both terrific and free, which is kinda hard to beat. An audio-recording and -editing application, it captures up to 16 channels at once from multiple sources, features noise removal, includes a metadata editor, and supplies unlimited undos. It can handle most of the audio files out there, and it’ll work with multiple files types in the same project. Audacity is also is cross-platform, so if you’re a recent Mac arrival, you may already know about its awesome power.So many features, you'll second-guess the price: free.  SketchUp 3D for you and me.Maya, 3D Studio Max, and SketchUp--all of these will let you create magical 3D worlds. Only one will do it for free, and you probably nailed it in one--it’s Google’s SketchUp software (free, Google, sketchup.google.com) that brings the world of 3D to the average Joe. You can create your own items or utilize Google’s 3D warehouse to find models created by other SketchUp users. With all those models at your fingertips, you can create floor plans for your home, build a level for your favorite FPS, or export the files to animation software or Photoshop. The application includes tutorials that’ll get you up and rendering in no time at all… so now nothing stands between you and virtual-world domination!Build a virtual man-cave for you and your stuff.  Ringer Wham-bam ringtone, ma'am.We get tons of people asking us, “How do I make a ringtone for my iPhone?” Until recently, we told them to launch GarageBand, cut a ringtone, and export it to iTunes. Now we recommend Ringer ($15, Pixel Research Labs, pixelresearchlabs.com/ringer) as the quickest and easiest way to create ringtones from your favorite songs and audio files. Ringer has access to your entire iTunes library and works with MP3, AAC, MOV, MP4, M4V, and QuickTime files. Yeah, you can make a ringtone from a video file. A super-simple editor with waveform information makes it a snap to select the perfect section of audio, and you can fade in and out of the file and preview the ringtone before cropping it and sending it to iTunes for a sync with your iPhone.   Acorn Using an image editor doesn’t have to cost you hundreds of dollars. In fact, with Acorn ($49.95, Flying Meat, www.flyingmeat.com/acorn), you’ll get features like layers, AppleScript support, 64-bit support, drawing, and filters in a package that’s easy on the wallet. This easy-to-use software strips away most of the features most people don’t use and gives you a clean image-editing tool.   Inkscape While raster-based image editors like Photoshop are great at pushing pixels around, the vector-based drawing programs are where all the real action happens. The open-source application Inkscape (free, Inkscape, www.inkscape.org) is similar to powerhouses like Illustrator and CorelDraw, but with one important difference--it’s free. The app utilizes the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format and includes a nice 3D drawing tool that allows you to set your vanishing points.    Screenflick With Snow Leopard, Apple introduced screen-capture into QuickTime, and it’s a nice feature if you’re looking to make a quick full-screen screencast. But if you want something that has features like fixed location output at up to 60 fps, Screenflick ($25, Araelium Group, www.araelium.com/screenflick) is an application you can get behind. It’ll highlight mouse clicks and keyboard events, adding a nifty visual cue into your screencasts that highlights what you’re doing.   Bracketeer While your eye can take in an amazing range of light to dark, your camera cannot. In order to help create images that include a tonal range that the average camera can’t capture, HDR applications and plug-ins have appeared on the market. These applications take a series of images that have been bracketed from dark to light and combine them to include the darkest darks to the lightest lights in one HDR image. Bracketeer ($29.95, Pangea Software, pangeasoft.net/pano/bracketeer) is a standalone application that does just that. Adjust the saturation, the contrast, and exposure from within the application. The application will even auto-align your images in case you got the hiccups while taking your pics.   iStopMotion 2 Home Most animators’ first animation was probably a stop-motion piece with Star Wars action figures. And whether those childhood lightsaber battles have you hoping to become the next Brad Bird, or you just love the look of stop-motion, iStopMotion ($49, Boinx Software, www.boinx.com/istopmotion/overview) is a quick, easy way to create simple stop-motion animations. Use your iSight or connect a camera to your Mac and start making your own Wallace and Gromit short. You’ll feel the Force, Lu… sorry.  Next Page: Utility Apps >> Utilities Slick utilities can add crucial functionality to your Mac, so we've selected the best options for everything from secure password managers and system-troubleshooting tools to an app that will let you play Windows games on your Mac... without Windows! AppZapper Completely trash applications.Unlike using Windoze, installing and uninstalling apps on a Mac is painless. Drag an application’s icon into your Applications folder, and you’re pretty much good to go. Deleting them is just as simple--just grab them and toss them into the Trash. But if you’ve ever dug around Library or System folders on your Mac, you’ll see that even after you Trash an app, many of them leave crumbs in different parts of your machine. For cleaning up those last little bits, AppZapper ($12.95, Austin Sarner and Brian Ball, www.appzapper.com) is a must-have utility that’s also great for troubleshooting problems. Wiping out all of an application’s preferences and other random files can often turn a troublesome app into a perfectly behaved one after a clean reinstall. Completely remove unwanted applications with a simple drag and drop.  Hazel Clean and organize your Mac--automatically.Hazel ($21.95, NoodleSoft, www.noodlesoft.com) is kind of like Rosie the Robot for your Mac. Or it’s like OS X’s Folder Actions… if they were super-awesome, easy to use, and perfect for helping you keep your Mac’s folders and files organized. Hazel installs as a pane in System Preferences, monitoring locations that you choose, and performs actions on files based on your criteria. By creating simple rules, you can delegate repetitive and annoying file-management tasks to Hazel--for example, automatically add downloaded MP3s to iTunes or move DMGs to an archive on an external drive. Hazel can delve deep into metadata for complex actions like copying images into subfolders by ISO settings or reorganizing music files according to bitrate. You can even set up simple rules for auto-deleting items that have been in the Trash longer than a certain amount of time.  1Password Keep all your confidential info on lockdown.You’ve heard it before--secure, unique passwords are the way to go. Yet there you are, still using the same password for everything from your maclife.com login to your Gmail and your bank account. Do we even have to tell you again why that’s a colossally bad idea? 1Password ($39.95, Agile Web Solutions, agilewebsolutions.com) can help clean up your online act, creating and managing complex passwords for every online account and then logging you in with a keyboard shortcut. The app can also be used to securely store personal information like credit card numbers and addresses for use in Web forms. And since all of your passwords are unique, you won’t have to worry about your banking info being compromised because of a data breach at that sketchy Russian website you used to download MP3s for a penny.1Password securely stores Web passwords, logins, software licenses, and other important information.  iPhone Explorer Store & browse files on your iPhone.Breaking tradition with the iPods of yore, Apple doesn’t provide the ability to use your iPhone as a USB drive. iPhone Explorer (free, myPod Apps, www.mypodapps.com) is a simple app that will let you drag and drop files onto your phone for easy portability. The app itself is lightweight, and all it takes is a USB cable to view your iPhone’s folder structure. In addition to storing files, iPhone Explorer can be used to restore iTunes tracks from your iPod to a Mac or to rescue photographs from the depths of your iPhone’s memory. No jailbreaking is required, but more adventurous users with jailbroken phones can also recover contacts, messages, email, and other data. It’s a powerful tool, but it’s simple to use for the careful novice.  AppleJack AppleJack (free, The Apotek, applejack.sourceforge.net) is one of those things you’ll install once and never think about again—if everything goes right. But if, god forbid, your Mac starts acting weird one day--or stops acting, period--it’ll be AppleJack to the rescue. It’s a command-line utility for diagnosing and repairing problems with your computer. Use the menu-driven system to repair permissions, validate preferences files, and remove screwy cache files.  SuperDuper With Time Machine built into OS X, there’s really no good reason not to have an automatic backup. But Time Machine has its limits--a big one being the lack of bootable backups. SuperDuper ($27.95, Shirt Pocket, www.shirt-pocket.com) easily handles creating and updating bootable clones of your Mac’s hard drive so you’ll be ready to go when disaster strikes. Just plug in your clone, restart, and you’re up and running again.   CrossOver Games PC fanboys like to slag the Mac for having fewer games, but with CrossOver Games ($39.95, CodeWeavers, www.codeweavers.com), Mac users--and Linux fans too--can easily play games coded for Windows machines. The list of officially supported games is hundreds deep, and since CrossOver is based on Wine, you don’t even need a copy of Windows just to play Team Fortress 2.   Clean My Mac Hard drives are never big enough. Whether you have a MacBook Air or a Mac Pro, there always comes a point when there’s just not enough space on your internal disks. Clean My Mac ($29.95, MacPaw, macpaw.com) can help with that problem, scouring your Mac’s drive and tossing out all sorts of gunk you don’t need. Use it to toss unneeded language files, scrub extraneous code from universal binaries, and thoroughly clean up after deleted applications.   rooSwitch OS X’s Fast User Switching is handy for juggling multiple user accounts and their corresponding settings, but rooSwitch ($19, Rocket, rooswitch.com) allows you to maintain different settings on a per-application basis. Use it to manage Home and Work browser profiles, for example, or to have different profiles in your word processor for writing or editing documents. rooSwitch works with nearly any application, and it supports Automator and AppleScript for the ultimate in customizability.  Next Page: Wild Card Apps & Staff Picks >>  Wild Cards Not all Mac apps fall into your neat little categories. These five break the mold and completely deserve a place on your hard drive. Bricksmith Virtual bricks you can't lose or step on? Sold!Legos are the official plastic brick of Mac|Life--we’ve had many discussions about the empires we built in our childhood bedrooms and how much we miss “playing Legos” as the soulless adults we are today. Bricksmith (free, donations accepted; Allen Smith; bricksmith.sourceforge.net) lets you recapture the magic in a highly geeky way. It’s a 3D Lego-model creator, offering drag-and-drop construction using thousands of parts in every color of Lego’s rainbow. Tutorials and the one finished model that’s included show you the ropes, and once you’re done with your virtual creation, you can export step-by-step instructions to build it for real. There’s even a mini figure generator where you can design and outfit a matching Lego man and insert him into your model. This software couldn’t be cooler.We can't believe an application this sweet is donationware.  CameraBag Desktop Give your photos a new identity or some old-timey charm.We named the iPhone version of CameraBag one of our “101 Essential Apps for 2008,” and now the same fun can be had on your Mac, thanks to CameraBag Desktop ($19, Nevercenter, www.nevercenter.com). You drag in a digital image, and the app re-creates the look of a real film photograph--choose from Helga, Lolo, Mono, 1962, 1974, Instant, Magazine, Cinema, or Colorcross.For more variations, click the Reprocess button, and all the options will change their look and coloring just slightly. Or check the Multi-filter box and experiment with adding multiple filters to a single photo. Of course, you can export your altered images back to your hard drive without affecting the original file. The novelty of taking an everyday digital snapshot and making it look like a Polaroid image or washed-out 1974 photograph never gets old.Your digital photos, plus extra personality.  SousChef Recipe database + shopping list + cooking assistant = one kitchen lifesaver.SousChef ($30, Acacia Tree Software, acaciatreesoftware.com) edges out MacGourmet ($49.95, www.marinersoftware.com) in the cooking-assistant category for its cloud database of recipes. Every time a SousChef user enters a recipe (133,000-plus at press time), it’s synced to the cloud, and you can search those and import them into your own library. You can also opt out of sharing your own recipes so Aunt Erma’s secret matzo ball soup stays in the family.Once a recipe’s in your library, you can edit, print, email, or blog it--or even add its ingredients to your grocery list. Click the Cook button for a full-screen view of the instructions that you can read from across the room, keeping your Mac out of the splatter zone. The Mac’s built-in speech recognition lets you advance the recipe’s steps with your own voice, or you can use the Apple Remote or a Keyspan Front Row Remote.  Temporis Attractive, drag-and-drop timelines make it easy to "show, don't tell."Everyone loves a good infographic, or at least geeky types like us do. (And the geeks shall inherit the earth, don’cha know?) Temporis ($24.99, Bartas Technologies, www.bartastechnologies.com) makes it easy to create neat-looking timelines on your Mac, which you can then print or export as PDF or TIFF files that are ready for importing into your presentation software, word processor, or page-layout app.Adding new events is just a Command-click away, and it’s a snap to drag the start and end dates around on the timeline. The Arrange button will automatically stagger your timeline’s events into the most logical and easy-to-read order, and the Inspector lets you tweak fonts, colors, titles, labels, and your timeline’s span and intervals. You can even export the event data separately as an XML or CSV file.  Manga Studio Debut 4 Create your own comics and manga, and even manga-fy your photos.Manga Studio Debut 4 ($49.99, Smith Micro, my.smithmicro.com) is a must-have for fans of Japanese manga or anyone who wants to make their own comic books. Its ingenious Beginner’s Assistant groups together the tools by processes so you can intuitively wind your way through a typical manga workflow: sketch, panel, draw, tone, and add character dialogue.You can scan or draw your own art (graphics tablets supported, natch), play with the included samples, purchase manga content from www.contentparadise.com, or even import your own digital photos and watch Manga Studio make them all comicky-looking. Draw speed lines, add dialogue bubbles, move your pages around, and then print or export your finished comic book. Manga Studio Debut 4 is the younger brother to professional-level Manga Studio EX 4 ($299.99), but Debut has plenty of advanced features too, including layers, templates, customizable patterns, and more. Mac|Life Staff Picks  Bass Tuner I’m a beginning bass player--like, very beginning. So it’s a huge help that I don’t have to worry about staying in key. This terrific, simple, and streamlined little app ($9, www.rustykat.com) lets me quickly get in tune in front of my MacBook using the built-in mic. With that necessity sorted, I can fire up some tracks and tablature and focus on struggling to play along.   Multiwinia Multiwinia ($19, www.ambrosiasw.com) offers crazy replayability. You devise a strategy for your stick-figure army, then watch them take on up to four other teams in six game types on 40 vector-graphic maps. Online multiplayer against Mac and Windows players works flawlessly and keeps me coming back for more. No Napoleon complex necessary.    MetaX If you need to tag a large amount of MP4 files, you could use iTunes’ painfully slow process. Instead I found MetaX (free, www.kerstetter.net) for all my tagging needs. The app will search the IMDB catalog and plug the information into the appropriate fields, then share that info via tagChimp. You can even scan DVD barcodes via iSight!    Bean For a word dork like me, word processors are a big deal. Bean (free, www.bean-osx.com) is a lightweight, open-source word processor. It’s missing many of the blinky lights and thingamajigs of the big boys, and that’s exactly the point. Fewer distractions equals better writing, faster. And for anyone who needs to hit a certain length, the live word count rocks.    Fluid I often find that Firefox has the tendency to crash when I have too many Web applications running. But Fluid (free, fluidapp.com) lets me create a site-specific browser out of my most essential websites, like Google Docs and Flickr. Simply plug in the URL, and voilĂ ! You have a separate application running that won’t go down if something else does.   Next Page: More Gaming Bang for 50 Bucks >>  More Bang for 50 Bucks Some of the Mac's best games are also its cheapest? Sweet!Fifty bones won’t buy you even one new Xbox 360 or PS3 game, but on the Mac, you can snap up a stack of premier games for less than that. Or at least, that was our theory when we gave Florence, our new associate online editor, 50 whole American dollars and asked her to max out her Mac with the best gaming that short stack of money could buy.  Man, did she score--check out the results of her diligent “research.” Plants Vs. Zombies $16, amazon.comLine up perilous peashooters and sun-soaking sunflowers against an abominable horde of zombies in Plants vs. Zombies.This animated tower-defense favorite pits you against a horde of zombies with one thing on their (decaying) minds--invading your home for brains! Pit your arsenal of zombie-fighting plants, each with their own spectacular organic weaponry, against 26 zombies and 50 levels of adventure. Fair warning: Once you start playing this excellent game, it’s incredibly hard to stop.  World of Goo $10, amazon.comStack up adorable globs of goo to build structures and watch them band together as you help transport them across various levels.World of Goo is another addictive and totally adorable puzzle game. Created around the idea that circular goo balls make adequate building materials (naturally), the game has you solving puzzles by dragging and dropping goo to create all kinds of crazy structures that enable you to transport your goo across the level. The oh-so-cute googly-eyed blobs pack the game with charm, and you can also connect online and play against other Goo architects around the world. Braid $15, playgreenhouse.comBraid's aesthetically appealing backdrop and profound storyline will keep you engrossed until the very end.Some games defy description, and Braid might be easy to pass over because it appears to be just a mix of platforming and time control set against a gorgeous backdrop. But it subverts and transcends those two well-worn clichĂ©s with brilliant design and an absorbing story that packs a twist that you’ll never see coming. Watch the YouTube videos if you need help solving its puzzles, but just make sure you see this masterpiece through to the end. Balcassa $8, openplanetsoftware.comBalcassa has a mountain of exciting brainteasers for the puzzle fiend.Balcassa feeds off those nightmares you still have about attempting to master that archaic, rainbow-colored Rubik’s cube. And while most of you probably never cracked the damn thing (we didn’t!), Balcassa gives you a second chance. The objective of the game is to slide the cubes into a specific sequence, pattern, or orientation. It may sound like a simple task, but much like fiddling with a Rubik’s cube, figuring it all out is the real reward. Freeware Fun If you’re interested in first-person shooters and MMORPGs, Quake Live and Second Life can give you hours of entertainment at our favorite price: $0.00. Both games perform smoothly on Mac OS 10.4 or later. Quake Live doesn’t require beefy hardware because it runs through your Web browser. But that doesn’t stop it from delivering all the fast-paced action of the classic first-person shooter. Second Life, while not as packed with storyline as World of Warcraft, offers a similar massively multiplayer world where you can meet people, customize your character’s look, and participate in a virtual world that’s just like our own. You don’t even have to watch the clock to make sure you’re on time for a player-versus-player raid!You don't need fancy computer hardware to frag your way through this beloved shooter. Vital Statistics on Our 50 Killer Apps Total cost if you bought all 50 apps: $1219.83Number of apps that are free: 13Apps that have an iPhone counterpart: 15Whaddaya waiting for? (apps that have a free demo): 39Number of countries these apps were born in: 7Apps named "iSomething": shockingly... just 3!Apps that require Snow Leopard: 1Apps that require Leopard: 14Apps that promise "iLife integration!": 9 

  • 100 Greatest iPhone Apps of 2009

    From marking its first year this past summer, to boasting over 100,000 applications in its catalog, the App Store has been great for many developers on the iPhone platform this past year. With 2010 right around the corner, we wanted to take a look back at the 100 greatest iPhone apps of 2009. These applications were nominated by Mac|Life readers. All of these apps have something in common: They've helped make the iPhone better over the past year.   MobileMe iDisk (free)This little iPhone app lets MobileMe users browse through files stored on their iDisk with ease. The app also lets you view files like PDF, Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Image files, and iWork files. In addition, you can share files right from your iPhone.  Evernote (free)Evernote is the free online service/application that lets you store notes and images in notebooks for later use. The iPhone application really comes in handy, especially since it syncs with the cloud. Coupled with the new offline viewing for premium users, Evernote has to be one the best iPhone apps, hands down.    Facebook (free)It seems like all of our friends are on Facebook these days, so why shouldn't Facebook be everywhere? Well, with their iPhone application it can definitely seem like that. This application allows you to manage all of your friends, posts, messages, uploads, and otherwise use Facebook without being inside of a browser.   Shazam (free)Without this wonderful application, we would still have that snazzy song stuck in our heads without knowing the title or band. Shazam provides a great service to iPhone users for the wonderful price of free; however, if you're into product(RED), they have a Shazam(RED) version available as well.   Tweetie 2 ($2.99) It seems like Twitter is becoming as ubiquitous as Facebook, and it also seems like there are a bevy of iPhone Twitter clients. Tweetie would have to be a newcomer that won the hearts of the iPhone users everywhere. Multiple Twitter accounts, contact linkage, multiple attachments, offline mode, and more. Tweetie 2 has you covered.   Twitterrific (free)Twitterrific is the great-granddaddy of Twitter clients on the Mac and iPhone, but it doesn't disappoint. Twitterrific got a new face lift this year that updated the client to be in line with other clients like Tweetie. By far, this is the nicest looking Twitter client on the iPhone.  SimplyTweet ($4.99)With the advent of push notifications for the iPhone, SimplyTweet is probably one of the cheapest solutions for bringing push to your tweets. This app also contains all of the features of other comparable Twitter clients.   Zipcar (free)Zipcar is one of those revolutionary applications, giving you the ability to not only pick out a rental car from the Zipcar service, but also unlocks the doors on the car right from the iPhone.   Dropbox (free)This small newcomer of a company has shown time and time again that they can play with the best when it comes to online storage in an iDisk-style fashion. Dropbox offers up 2GBs of free online storage to users (along with other premium paid services). With their iPhone application, you can view and manage files on-the-go with ease.  Pastebot ($2.99)With iPhone 3.0, cut, copy, and paste became a reality on the iPhone. With Pastebot, multiple clippings in an easy to use clipboard manager become a reality. This application also lets you sync over your clippings from your Mac to iPhone and vice versa.   Stanza (free)With Amazon Kindle-like finesse, Stanza lets you read eBooks on your iPhone for free or little cost. Download free Guttenberg Project books, or paid books from several publishers right from the app; then sit back and read.   TomTom U.S.A. ($49.99)This year gave way to turn-by-turn GPS navigation apps for the iPhone. TomTom is one of the many GPS apps available that is really well designed. This app has 3D maps, fast route calculations, and a new lower price that many iPhone owners will enjoy.  Navigon MobileNavigator ($59.99)With maps from NAVTEQ, and features like Lane Assist Pro, Navigon is a great navigation app for the iPhone. The app also includes Google local search, iPod control, and bird's-eye view of maps.   Things ($9.99)Sure, it's been around since the App Store launched, but it gained tighter syncing with its Mac counterpart, which makes it all the better. Things is a complete GTD (Getting Things Done) solution for your Mac and iPhone.  1Password Pro ($7.99)What would we do without 1Password? This handy application manages all of our passwords on both the Mac and the iPhone. And with the pro version, you get all kinds of nifty features like copy/paste passwords, folders for managing, and copying multiple field values. If you're always forgetting your passwords, this app is for you.   VNC Lite (free)This application is a must have if you want to control your Mac or PC right from your iPhone. It has zoom and scroll capability, landscape mode, and support for 8 and 32 bit color modes.  AP Mobile (free)AP Mobile lets you browse local, national, and international news right from one iPhone application. Utilizing news from the Associated Press newswire services, this application sends out push notifications of breaking news straight to your device. You'll always know what's going on with AP Mobile.  Air Sharing Pro ($6.99)Air Sharing Pro gives you the ability to turn your iPhone into a wireless hard drive that can be mounted on your Mac to add files for viewing from the device. You can also mount remote file server, connect to your computer, perform advanced file operations, and print files directly from your iPhone.    Documents to Go ($9.99)Docs to Go has been around since the Palm days, but the application has also made its way over to the iPhone and it's pretty decent. The application lets you sync your Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, etc.) files to your iPhone and create/edit Word and Excel files. You can then sync the files back to your Mac or PC with the included Desktop sync utility.   Yelp (free)Yelp has definitely helped us when we're hungry and visiting a new area. This application searches for places around you like restaurants, bars, cafes, and more; plus, it lets you write and read reviews. With the augmented reality of the Yelp Monocle built right in, this app is worth a look.   Remote (free)Apple's Remote application has cut down on the clutter needed for a Mac or Apple TV. With one device you can control the ATV, iTunes or Front Row on the Mac via a Wi-Fi connection.   Pandora (free) The iPod feature on the iPhone is great, but if you're looking for a great music experience, Pandora is a good way to go. This application allows you to stream uninterrupted music from Pandoras online service straight to your iPhone in an iPhone styled application.   AOL Radio (free)AOL Radio gives you a streaming music experience from their online service and from CBS Radio. This app also lets you listen to streaming local radio stations, including live steaming sports stations. Plus, AOL Radio now streams 128kbps while on Wi-Fi, 3G, or EDGE.   Rolando 2: Quest for the Golden Orchid (free)Ngmoco did something interesting with their latest iteration in the Rolando series. Rolando 2 is free for the first chapter, but other levels can be purchased using the in-app purchases. Ngmoco has created a game play that is like no other on the iPhone with the Rolando series.  OmniFocus ($19.99)OmniFocus is similar to other GTD (Getting Things Done) applications, but it gives you the ability to manage tasks by location. OmniFocus is like a task list on steroids.    Lose It! (free)So many people try to lose weight all the time, but often time fail to succeed. This iPhone application can keep you motivated to lose weight by keeping you on track with eating and exercise habits. Lose It! is a free application that also interfaces with an online companion website.    Todo ($9.99)Todo is a great GTD task manager that lets you sync with applications like iCal, MS-Outlook, Remember the Milk, and Toodledo over Wi-Fi and 3G. You also get a full calendar view for choosing due dates.   Assassin's Creed ($4.99)Gameloft has innovated the iPhone game marketplace with games like Assassin's Creed. They've taken a game that's from another console and brought it to the iPhone, but the game feels like it has been created especially for the device. You can take this great RPG with you anywhere.   Dragon Dictation (free for limited time)Dragon Dictation gives you speech to text software for the iPhone that lets you speak what you want to say instead of typing it. This application, which is built around the popular Dragon Naturally Speaking Engine, works extremely well.    Convertbot ($0.99) Ever out and about and need to convert between two units? Convertbot lets you convert between over 440 different units with ease. It can also convert currencies and the rates are updated upon launching the app.     I Am T-Pain ($2.99)Admit it, you've been singing along to T-Pain songs and you've really wanted to make your voice sound exactly like his? Well, with this auto-tune music application for iPhone you can do exactly that. Just select your favorite song and start singing. Being famous not included.  Shoot It! (free, paid service)Shoot It! is a social network application that lets you take any picture you want and turn it into an actual snail mail postcard. You can select a photo, add an address and note, and the next business day the postcard will be printed and mailed out for you for only $0.99 for the US.   IMDB (free)The Internet Movie Database has long been the go-to destination for looking up information about movies and TV shows, and now it has its own app on the iPhone. You can get all of the information you would on their website, but now in a convenient iPhone-formatted way.   Analytics App ($5.99)Analytics App for iPhone lets us see our Google Analytics stats no matter where we may be. This app offers up a Today report, dashboard quick view, and more analytics data than you could ever want.   HyperBowl ($1.99)Sure, there are a lot of bowling games for the iPhone, but none of them match the legacy that HyperBowl has. The gameplay feels organic, with its beautiful outdoor themed bowling lanes.  Wolfram Alpha ($19.99, on sale)Wolfram Alpha is the new smart search engine that Wolfram Research recently launched. You can now have all of that power right on your iPhone with this small application.   Wunder Radio ($6.99)Wunder Radio is an iPhone application that can stream live from over 50,000 Internet radio stations. This application also includes a sleep timer and ability to listen to local NOAA weather radio streams.   New York Times (free)Always stay up to date on the news with the New York Times application. The application synchronizes with the NYT news site so you can read stories even when you don't have an Internet connection.   Occasions ($0.99, on sale) Never forget any of those important dates with this application. It syncs with Facebook and your contacts to find Birthdays and reminds you via push notifications. Also reminds you of holidays and other important events.   Doodle Jump ($0.99) This addictive little game has been likened to the original version of Mario Bros. Tilt the iPhone to move around in this 2D game. Facebook and Twitter integration means you can brag about your accomplishments to your friends.  Touch Todo ($0.99, on sale)Touch Todo lets you sync your todos with Google Calendar (not Google Tasks, however) and in turn to the native iPhone calendar. Application backs up your todos on Google Docs for safe keeping, and send tasks from one iPhone to another.   Tap Forms Database ($8.99)The Tap Forms Database lets you easily and securely store information like social security numbers, drivers license number, or credit card numbers for later look up. Handy if cards get lost or stolen, and includes AES-256 bit encryption for all data stored in it.  Bento ($4.99)Bento for iPhone is the companion application for the Mac version. It will sync with your Mac and bring over all of your databases. You can then edit and create data on-the-go.   Daylite Touch (free, additional software required)The Daylite Touch application syncs with the Daylite Server on your Mac to help you manage your business projects, contacts, and tasks all in a streamlined interface that feels very native to the iPhone.   Skies of Glory (free)Shoot World War II airplanes out of the sky in this action game. Featuring awesome graphics and great Internet 8-player multiplayer mode, this game is a great deal.    BeatMaker ($19.99)Who says you can't create music on the iPhone? With BeatMaker that's completely possible. This application is basically a recording studio in your pocket with the ability to export your creations right from the device. Comics (free)Reading comics is just plain fun, and with Comics for the iPhone, you can read over 70 comics for free from one simple application. The app allows you to browse and view nearly 700 different comics.  Ustream Live Broadcaster (free, account needed)UStream Live Broadcaster gives you the ability to stream live audio and video from your iPhone over Wi-Fi or 3G to the world via the free UStream.tv service. You can also take live polls and see the UStream IRC chat room for your stream.  The Oregon Trail ($4.99)The classic Oregon Trail game is back in an iPhone version that's just as good as the original. In this side-scrolling adventure game, you'll guide a family through the Oregon wilderness in search of shelter. Along the way, you'll have to protect yourself from wild animals and other events that take place.   Amazon Mobile (free)Amazon has changed the way many of us shop online, and they've also changed the mobile shopping experience with their iPhone application. This application lets you do all of the normal Amazon.com stuff, but you can also take a picture of an object and let Amazon figure out where the product is on the website via Amazon Remembers. Tap Tap Revenge 3 (free) A music rhythm game that started out life as a jailbroken game when the iPhone was first released has matured into a great game backed by music from popular artists. The third iteration of this game boasts extensive online multi-player support over both Wi-Fi and 3G. In addition, TTR 3 gives you weapons and shields for use when playing online. Gorillacam (free)The iPhone includes a great camera, but some of the functions are limited. Gorillacam is an application that can extend that functionality to include a bubble level, grid, time-lapse, and even a self-timer. You can also specify how many shots are taken over a specified interval.  Photoshop.com Mobile (free)Good, free, photo editing software on the iPhone is hard to find, but who would have guessed that Adobe would release their Photoshop.com software on the iPhone for free? Well, you get some basic editing functionality and the ability to upload your photos to the Photoshop.com cloud.  Mover Lite (free) Moving items like photos, video, contacts, and calendar events from one iPhone to another can be a bit of a kludge depending on what application you're using. But with the free Mover+, it's easy and cool at the same time.    Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies ($9.99)A mini game from the World at War console game, CoD:WaW:Zombies lets you frag zombies all day... right from your iPhone, too! Choose from several different modes, including an infinite mode. This game makes any company meeting go by much faster (Please note: We're not responsible for any job loss resulting from the mention of this game).   BeeJive ($5.99, on sale)BeeJive gives a lot of instant messenger bang for the buck. Not only does it support the most popular IM services, but it also lets you create as many logins as you need. Plus the application includes Push Notification support, and the ability to send and receive attachments like photos, video, and audio (recorded directly from the application).    Awesome Note (+Todo) ($3.99)Combining both notes and to do lists, Awesome Note (+Todo) has a great-looking interface that lets you organize all of your ideas and projects in one app. In addition, you can insert images into notes from the camera, and import/export to Google Docs and Evernote.    Credit Card Terminal ($0.99, on sale)This application has been shown on Apple's commercials and is quite nifty if you are a small business. Credit Card Terminal gives you the ability to accept credit card payments anywhere you may be, quickly and easily.   ReelDirector ($7.99)Who says you can't put together a full movie on your iPhone? With ReelDirector you can, and you can even include opening and closing credits, transitions, and more. When you're done, save, email, or upload directly to YouTube.  Trivium ($2.99)Test your trivia skills against the computer or against a friend around the world. Trivium has thousands of questions for you to answer and a head to head network play that works over Wi-Fi, 3G, and EDGE. Four different modes including: Endless, Endurance, 100 Questions, and Timeless.   Rock Band ($4.99, on sale)A rhythm game to end all rhythm games, Rock Band lets you play the drums, guitar, or bass. Plus, you can sing your way to the top in this game that includes 26 free tracks.  Tweetr ($3.99)Have something amazing to say on Twitter, but don't want to tweet it right now? Tweetr is an application that lets you schedule tweets for multiple accounts for a later time when it might be more relevant.   Peggle ($1.99, on sale)Pop Cap's highly addictive game for Mac and PC made its way over to the iPhone in a move that just seemed natural. Shoot your way to becoming the Peggle master in this arcade adventure game.   NetNewsWire (free)NetNewsWire changed the way that many people read their favorite RSS (really simple syndication) feeds on the Mac, but that same experience was moved to the iPhone. The earlier versions were a bit clunky, but NNW now syncs with Google Reader which makes reading feeds on-the-go that much better.    Yowza!! (free) We normally stray away from applications with two exclamation marks in the title, but this one is just that good. Yowza can end up saving you a few chunks of change with its many coupons that are sorted by your location.  WriteRoom ($4.99)Distraction-free writing at its finest on the Mac, and now the iPhone. Sync documents over with built-in syncing, and just write. Plain and simply. You can change the colors in the preferences.  Wikitude (free)Augmented reality on the iPhone was a huge hit this year, and with Wikitude you can browse the space around you and see all of the Wikipedia articles that correspond to your location. Just launch the application and bubbles will appear all around you with Wikipedia articles for cities, buildings, etc.  Mark the Spot (free) AT&T finally started paying more attention to its network and users when they launched the Mark the Spot application for iPhone. You can submit network trouble spots, which will help AT&T in fixing network problems. Sure, this app isn't the nicest looking, but it gets the job done.   Ramp Champ ($1.99)Skee ball is just plain fun, and with the Icon Factory's Ramp Champ, it's even fun on the iPhone. Choose between several different lane themes, and even purchase add-ons that will expand the available themes. Earn tickets to "purchase" cool digital trinkets.  WordPress 2 (free)Mobile-Blogging (MoBlogging) has becoming increasingly popular among people who travel, and it's extremely easy with WordPress 2 on the iPhone. If your blog platform is WordPress, then you'll be all set to connect and add content right from your iPhone.   Fandango (free)Find movies around you, watch previews, get showtimes, and even purchase tickets on-the-go with the awesome Fandango application for iPhone. You can also see critic and fan ratings for different movies.   Flickr (free)Upload, view, and share your photos with the world on Flickr with this application. In addition, you can view friends photos and comment on them from one convenient location.   DOOM Classic ($2.99, on sale) Who doesn't love DOOM? Now you can play it all day long, right on your iPhone. Includes multi-player mode with up to four players over the Internet. MapQuest Navigator ($3.99, service plan required)MapQuest started offering turn-by-turn directions with its maps. Not only that, but they offered a completely different pricing strategy than the other guys: With the $3.99 purchase, you'll get 30-days of use, after which you can purchase different tiers of service between 30-days and one year.   Where To? ($2.99)With GPS-style POI (point of interest) searching, Where To allows you to pinpoint a location, be it a restaurant, amusement park, or even an archery range. The application then locates the POI inside of the Maps application on the iPhone.     Skype (free)Skype VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) has been beneficial more than once for us, and with AT&T's announcement that they'll be allowing VoIP apps on the 3G network, we're extremely excited about Skype. This application will allow you to place calls through Skype and chat with your friends.   Fring (free)Fring is a free VoIP and chat solution for the iPhone. The cool factor about this application is that they just started doing one-way Skype video chat right from your iPhone.   SlingPlayer Mobile ($29.99)SlingBox Solo, Pro, or Pro-HD owners will appreciate the ability to stream live TV to their iPhone over Wi-Fi. In addition, you can  control the video for many set-top boxes including the Apple TV.   PocketGod ($0.99)A minigame that lets you rule over an island. You can bring life to new islanders, take life away, and otherwise demonstrate your powers in this hypnotic game.   FlightTrack Pro ($9.99)Never be in the dark about your flight information again. FlightTrack Pro lets you track your flight and get updates via push notifications. You can also see a live flight map with weather radar.   RedLaser ($1.99)Scan the barcodes of products and instantly get back product search results that includes the price online. A great way to bargain shop when in the store.   Attendance ($3.99)Always know who was missing at that last meeting with Attendance. This iPhone application lets you mark atendees present or absent for any meetings or class for later reference. You can import people from contacts in Address Book or from a CSV file on a web server.    Read It Later Pro ($4.99)Who says you can't put something off for later? Well, you can put off reading webpages with Read It Later. This application interfaces with a free online service and Firefox plugin that allows you to save webpages for reading later.   FastMall (free)Ever been in a mall and didn't know where the rest room was? Well, you could find a mall guide, or you can also bust out your iPhone with FastMall. This application lets you download mall maps (for a small fee) that will guide you around the mall similar to the way a turn-by-turn GPS does.   CBS Sports: Live College Games ($4.99) This CBS application lets you view stats and live stream video of college football and basketball games from the Big East, SEC, and Bit Ten conferences. This application will work over both Wi-Fi and 3G.   Vintage Video Maker ($2.99)Turn your iPhone 3GS into a camera that can shoot video with three different filters: 20's movie, black and white video, and 60's home video. You can assign classical 20's piano music to accompany your video or the sound of a projector running.  G-Park ($0.99)Never forget where you parked your car with G-Park. This application uses the GPS in the iPhone 3G or 3GS to park your car and locate it when you're ready to drive home.   CubeCheater (free)Solving a Rubik's Cube is fun, but you might be in the mood for letting your iPhone solve it for you. With CubeCheater, just input your cube's state and it will tell you how to solve it.   Where R U? ($0.99)Want to find out where friends or family are located geographically at a particular moment? If they have Where R U, they can let you know where they are and you will be shown their location on a Google Map. Nifty application for keeping tabs on your kids.   Photo2Contact (free trial, in-app purchase)Do you get tired of sending photos to each and every one of your friends or family members? Photo2Contact allows you to easily export a group of photos as a zip file and uploads them to an FTP location, and automatically emails your friends to let them know how to download them.    DogBook (free)Join the over 2 million pet owners who have created a Facebook profile for them. DogBook lets you see a list of your animals, their friends, and even lets you find nearby Parks. If your pet gets lost, use "Arf Alerts" to alert everyone in the area.   Qik Live (free)When you just want to post a quick video to the Internet, Qik is a, well, quick solution. Their new Live application lets you stream live video from your iPhone over 3G and WiFi. You can also send and receive chat messages with your viewers.   Cha-Ching Mobile ($2.99) Cha-Ching mobile is money management software that complements its Mac-counterpart. This application gives you the ability to manage your money and budget on-the-go and sync back later to your Mac over Wi-Fi.   Amazon Kindle for iPhone (free)Read Kindle books on your iPhone without having to purchase a separate version of the eBook. Amazon delivers the content wirelessly over Whispernet. Get an almost identical reading experience as on the Amazon Kindle.  Shelf Life ($1.99)Keep track of the expiration dates on food in your refrigerator and pantry with Shelf Life. This application uses a database that its users contributes to to determine the shelf life of foods found in your kitchen. You can also specify a custom shelf life.   Pizza Hut (free)Need food and need it quick? Pizza Hut now allows you to place an order for anything on their menu, directly from your iPhone. Checkout and pay right from the device as well without ever leaving your house.   Memento ($0.99)Send customized greetings to people through e-mail right from your iPhone. Memento lets you pick a template, add a photo and message, and send to loved ones. The application comes with 19 templates.  Eventful (free)Never be bored with Eventful. This free application lets you find local events happening in your area and lets you know what venues and performers will be heading your way.   OpenMaps ($1.99)OpenMaps for iPhone uses the open map data from OpenStreetMap.org, which contains editable maps for the entire world. The application lets you download maps for use when you don't have an Internet connection, and can use the built-in GPS to locate you.  TextGuru ($4.99)Sure, there are a lot of text editors for the iPhone, but TextGuru will let you edit HTML documents and preview them right from the device. In addition, you can download PDF files from the Internet into TextGuru for offline viewing.  Got a favorite app we missed? Drop it in the comments and share your excitement with the world.  

  • Assassin’s Creed: Altair’s Chronicles Stealthily Invades the iPhone

    Gameloft continues to release big titles for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and their most recent release is no exception. The title in question is Ubisoft's runaway success, Assassin's Creed, which was wildly successful when released for both the Xbox 360 and PS3 platforms in 2007. Prequel Altair's Chronicles came out for the Nintendo DS last year, but was met with less than stellar reviews. This year, Gameloft has ported Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles ($9.99) to the iPhone platform. Would it fare well on Apple's handheld? Let's find out. Graphics The game looks good on the iPhone, about as good as it does on the DS, judging from the screenshots I've seen online. Going from dual to single screen means that some game elements change, but it never felt like I was missing out on anything by not having the second display. Gameloft throws in a video introduction which is gorgeous, with gameplay footage taken from the PS3/Xbox 360 installment of the series. It might mislead people not familiar with the graphics limitations of the platform, but it's not a big deal. In-game CG video segments are just plain bizarre, though. Often I had trouble figuring out what was going on, and they're shown in little frames in the center of the screen, making them very, very small. Also, during non-playable interactions using the actual sprites, character movement was often improperly synced with voice-over audio, which just seems unprofessional in a title of this caliber from this particular developer. I also think that some video segments just plain didn't play, because there were times when I had no idea how I got to be where I was. Still, minor issues aside, it's a good-looking game, and gameplay only slowed a couple of times — pretty much on par with Hero of Sparta, or Gun for the PSP. Audio Despite sync issues, and problems with the game's writing and storyline, voice-over work was actually pretty impressive in Altair's Chronicles. The audio quality of the voice tracks is great, and the acting isn't terrible. There seem to be a lot of arbitrary differences between what characters actually say and what the subtitles think they're saying, but it's more amusing than anything else. Soundtrack and sound effects are both done well. I especially appreciate the sound that indicates a special action button is available, because I'd miss it without the auditory cue most of the time. My largish thumb generally obscures that part of the screen. Gameplay I actually haven't played Assassin's Creed for either the PS3 or the Xbox, so my impression of the gameplay here won't be comparative with that title, which I don't think is fair anyways, considering the disparity between the platforms. The most important factor for gameplay on the iPhone/iPod Touch, for me, are controls. In this case, Gameloft stuck with the formula that worked for them in Hero of Sparta and Brothers in Arms: Hour of Heroes. That means you control movement via an on-screen D-pad, and jump/attack/perform actions with buttons on the right side of the screen. The difference is that where those games were primarily action-oriented, Altair's Chronicles is very much a platformer. It works well enough, although there were a few very frustrating moments when it seemed like bad camera angles and awkward controls combined to make simple tasks infuriatingly difficult. In fact, that probably helps explain why Gameloft peppered in Checkpoints with such frequency. It almost makes frustrating control experiences seem like challenging gameplay. Almost, but not quite. Even so, I did finish the game the same day I started playing it (albeit on “Easy”), so the control issues weren't enough to make me give up altogether (although I did have to take a couple extended, frustration-based breaks). The game is thoroughly playable, and some of the mini-games, like picking people's pockets or interrogating people, are perfectly suited to the iPhone platform. Verdict If you liked Hero of Sparta, and/or Brothers in Arms for the iPhone and iPod Touch, you'll probably also enjoy Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles. Don't go looking for a great and illuminating story line, however, since it seems like a broken and hastily cobbled together prequel at best. Also, be ready to wish you had a physical D-pad, which for me is just part of the iPhone gaming territory at this point, and a trade-off I'm willing to make for some more traditional platform gaming from time-to-time.

  • Weekly App Store Picks: May 2, 2009

    Who's that knockin' at your door? Why it's none other than the freshest pickings from the App Store, joined by a smattering of Apple news. Before we get stuck in to this week's iPhone picks and recommendations from the App Store, let's shift our focus for a moment and have a quick recap on what went down this week. There's so much to get through here, so let's kick off by rewinding back to Monday where Apple launched a new iPhone OS 3.0 beta, sliding in a selection of new features including settings for push notification and audio scrubbing in the iPod app. Plus, David Appleyard took a look at iStat for iPhone. The $1.99 app is a useful tool for remotely monitoring your system performance and resources. The very next day, Amazon swallowed up iPhone developer Lexcycle. A significant purchase indeed because Lexcycle is the brains behind Stanza, a wonderful — and absolutely free — eBook reader for the iPhone. Also on Tuesday, our own Clayton Lai continued his Jailbreak series, looking at how to jazz up the sedate iPhone lock screen. Rumors abound as Verizon CEO Lowell McAdams has apparently, “talked to people at Apple.” Speculation has turned to the possibility of two new Apple products: an “iPhone Lite,” and apparently a “media pad.” The latter of which would essentially be an over-sized iPod touch. The latest addition to TheAppleBlog's journalistic lineup, Gavin Bowman, launched the App Store Roundtable article series. His first post brings several developers together to look at the growth of the App Store and the initial gold rush. And finally, Apple stealthily launched Live Chat support for MobileMe (it's still not going to convince me to move over from DropBox though). And in other news, UK-based artist Jon Burgerman has teamed up with UsTwo, the app developers behind Steppin and MouthOff. The team are currently cooking up an iPhone music toy, entitled Inkstrumentals, featuring a crowd of Burgerman's odd and awesome characters. Moving on to the picks, this week I've been looking at Pixel Contact, Wolfenstein 3D Lite, MusicNeon and Lilt Line. Pixel Contact (99 cents) Since purchasing my iPhone, I've been disturbingly fastidious when it comes to keeping my Address Book tidy. It's particularly important to me that I have an image for every single one of my contacts. The problem is that when swapping contact details, it can be somewhat awkward to ask someone I've just met if I can take their photo. Can give the wrong impression, you see? This app allays an awkwardness by providing an array of pixellated people that you can assign to your Address Book contacts. It's super cute and incredibly useful too. Wolfenstein 3D Classic Lite (FREE) The original PC-based Wolfenstein was, I'm proud to say, my first FPS. The seemingly massive environments, the strange new control scheme, stealing weapons from dead enemies — it was a fresh and exciting challenge, something I'd never experienced before and, crucial for me as a young lad, it felt like games had started to grow up. Doom would, of course, take all of this even further for me, but until then, Wolfenstein reigned supreme. The iPhone version hit the App Store a couple of months back for only $1.99, those looking to try before they buy download this free version and try out three levels. MusicNeon (FREE) Burgerman's forthcoming Inkstruments toy for iPhone got me on the hunt for music games in the App Store. After searching for something fun but also free, I tracked down MusicNeon. Coming from the collective mind of Shanghi Gokei, an app development outfit from Japan, MusicNeon is a nonsensical sound toy meets Bejewelled-esque puzzle game. As the clock counts down, it's your job to link the glowing neon tubes up from left to right, ensuring you trigger the seemingly useless bonuses along the way. The gorgeous glowing visual style, paired with the jaunty music selection (including a few Christmas classic, for no apparent reason) make this a tongue-in-cheek but nevertheless fun game. Lilt Line ($2.99) However, fans of music games looking for some serious action should perhaps skip the weird Japanese oddity that is MusicNeon and skip straight to Lilt Line. The game combines a deliciously messy Dubstep soundtrack — courtesy of London-based crew 16bit — with retro high-speed shoot-em-up action (except without the shooting). As a white line glides through empty neon caverns, you play by tilting the iPhone left and right and tapping the screen to the shuffling groove. Developer Different Touch describes the game as, “hack'n'slash dubstep vehicle synthesis simulation action.” Whatever it's meant to be, it's one of the most original games to hit the App Store so far and is highly recommended. That's all the picks we've got time for this week. Meet me right here, same time, same place, next week for more of the week's news alongside fresh picks from the App Store. In the meantime, what apps have you been using this week?

  • Weekly App Store Picks: April 11, 2009

    It's time for the very apex of everyone's Easter weekend, the all important revealing of this week's picks from the App Store. But it's not all about the latest fresh pickings from the App Store, before we get in to all that, I've collated the week's news in handy bite-size form — think of it as factual Easter egg, especially for your brain. The week was kicked off with rumors and speculation surrounding the next iterations of the iPod touch and iPhone. An official job posting by Apple suggested that the next generation iPod touch will feature a camera. Plus, it's looking almost certain that video recording and FM transmit/receive will be coming to the next iPhone hardware update. With the added potential for apps that the forthcoming 3.0 iPhone software update will bring, budding coders can now learn about development via iTunes. Stanford University is now running app development courses for download, available for download now and, what's more, totally free. During the week, I reviewed two new iPhone apps: novelty sound tool Amplitude and The Void, an Asteroids-esque space shooter. Note that next week, I'll be stamping my big boot of opinion down on yet more apps, including Hysteria, a creepy choose-your-own-adventure horror game, and The New York Times Crosswords Daily. We also kicked off our latest series iPhone Dev Sessions, with a fantastic tutorial on designing an Orientation-Aware Clock, courtesy of Bickbot's Henry Balanon. If you're looking to dip in to iPhone-coding, I'd highly recommend this article. Moving on to the apps, this week I've been looking at Fat Tag, RjDj Shake, Japanese Massage and Tap Tap Coldplay. Fat Tag (free) The Free Art and Technology Lab — aka F.A.T. — is behind all sorts of clever, disruptive, challenging projects, such as SelfControl — an OS X application that can temporarily block access to specific sites (or mail servers). Their latest release is Fat Tag, a simple graffiti tagging app (with accelerometer-controlled dripping paint). The really special thing about their app though is that, in-keeping with F.A.T.'s copyright free spirit, the source code is available to download from their site. It's a potentially valuable learning opportunity for fresh iPhone app coders. RjDj (free) Back in October last year, my second article for TheAppleBlog was about RjDj Album — a sound toy that the creators described as, “the next generation of walkman or mp3 player… a digital drug which causes mind twisting hearing sensation.”I talked about how RjDj could become an effective sub-platform for distributing some of the most exciting experiences available on the iPhone. That time has come. The latest RjDj app integrates scene-downloading, which means an ever-expanding library of new sonic devices to play with. Plus, you can now share your recordings via Facebook and Twitter. This is seriously innovative and exciting stuff, capturing the iPhone's true potential. Download it now. Japanese Massage ($1.99) If all the action of the week has got you aching all over, this is the app for you. It's a DIY self-help app that teaches you to squeeze, smooth and pummel that pain away, letting a river of relaxation flow through your body as if it were a blade of grass in the cool Spring breeze. Featuring 20 different massage styles, each technique contains a description and — vital to effective learning — a clear illustration. The key here is that these are all self-massage techniques, so anytime you're feeling the burn, you can use this app to help ease the stress away. Tap Tap Coldplay ($4.99) Let it be stated now. I am not a Coldplay fan. If their not-so-unique brand of proto-U2 stadium rock was a bus to town, I'd rather walk in the rain…even if it took all day and I was just wearing sandals and shorts. However, and this is a big however, Brian Eno lent a hand on their latest album, and — although it's got that Where The Streets Have No Name epic vibe (courtesy of Eno) — it's not so bad. As for the app, blending Tap Tap Revenge with Coldplay is a serious success — it makes their music fun and, for fans of the band, this is a must-have. Plus, it's got Life in Technicolor II, a great tune with a great video. That's the picks for this week. I'll return in seven days time with more from the App Store. Drop by TheAppleBlog during the week to find the latest Apple news alongside app reviews too. In the meantime, what apps have you been using this week?

  • What I Think I Know About the Apple Tablet

    I'm a writer for a blog that focuses on Apple and its products, including Macs, iPods and iPhones. So I have a duty and an obligation to write one or more posts about the highly anticipated, much discussed, and completely unknown Apple Tablet device expected to be announced on January 27. But based on the last few years, I have a bit of a unique perspective on the tablet, why Apple might create one, and why you might want to buy one if it does. Almost four years ago — about 9-10 months before the iPhone was first announced in January 2007 — I decided to give up a rather successful user experience consulting practice to follow a dream. I created a company to build and monetize a product of my own making, rather than continue to provide services to others. After some extensive research, a small team I had assembled helped me develop the product concept and strategy. Essentially, we were going to create what we called the “iTunes of apps,” an online ecosystem of applications that you could easily discover and download to all your digital devices. We determined we needed to build a tablet computer as proof of concept and get hardware manufacturers and content companies on board. We envisioned a product that looked something like the Notion Ink reported recently, and focused on creating “the first room-to-room mobile Internet device” on the market. Our plan was to focus on lifestyle applications that made daily life easier, including video recipes, home/baby/security monitoring, instructional videos for DIY home improvement projects, and a wide array of similar content. The miBook has since been launched with similar ambitions, but focuses exclusively on “how to” type of content, rather than a full ecosystem of diverse apps serving many purposes. Litl is giving something similar a whirl, but it has a keyboard and limited capability touchscreen so it can't really be called a tablet. HP's DreamScreen is a digital picture frame that, while hardwired, is also attempting to address similar needs. Alas, we weren't able to raise the significant capital required to launch such an animal, in part because no one on our team had a hardware background. We've since moved on to creating our own software and advising others in the user experience and mobile space. For us, the effort was all about the user experience. At the time — and even since with the iPhone, full-screen Blackberries, and Android phones — there was a gap in the user experience between the Nokia N series and similar mobile devices, and full-fledged computers. Something incredibly fun and easy to use, with a screen big enough to be viewed across the room (for watching video recipes, sharing photos with the family, or just watching video content of any type). Of course, the iPhone and iPod touch have addressed much of this need, except the bigger screen. Viewing distance and sharing aren't the only limitations of the mobile screen for content perhaps best consumed in a tablet style device. iPhone video, for example, takes over the screen, eliminating ability to view related text content or even publish opinions about the content you're viewing to your social networks. There's not really a good digital equivalent of reading magazines with imaginative typography, color spreads, and other graphic elements. And I have yet to see a compelling digital textbook that not only includes the original text, but also companion videos and graphics, news feeds on related topics, and updates from and conversation with the author. That's the sum total of what I know about the Apple Tablet. That there is a market for one, that many companies are trying hard to tap the market, and that there is a lot of content which would best be showcased on such a device. But what I don't know is likely far more interesting. So without any inside knowledge, here is my not-so-idle speculation about what it might or could include: Keyboard Dock: Perhaps the best use of a tablet would be a replacement for the consumer-oriented, entry-level white MacBook. But to successfully replace a laptop, the Apple tablet might just need a physical keyboard. What better way to integrate one than to simply make it a recharging dock? Third OS: My sense is there will be a new operating system for the tablet that bridges the gap between the small size, single-function nature of the iPhone OS and the larger platform, keyboard-driven, multitasking capabilities of Snow Leopard. It might be nice if the OS automatically sensed that the tablet was in the dock, and morphed slightly for keyboard optimized input. Publication Wrapper: A new multimedia format will join iTunes LP, allowing publishers of primarily text-based content to release multimedia versions of their book, magazine, or newspaper content that dramatically changes how we consume a lot of content in the home. Apple TV & iTunes Integration: The new tablet will basically become the wireless display to the Apple TV, and Apple will offer a ground-up rethinking about how content is shared among devices on a local network. Front-mounted Web Cam: Crowding around a MacBook to have a video chat with the grandparents isn't a terrible experience, but it isn't ideal. A touch-based iChat application would be far more compelling and fun. Home Controls: Expect Apple to position the tablet, an updated Apple TV, new and easier sharing of content among devices, apps like Remote, and integration with other systems as a way to make home controls a mass market. Personally, I enjoy all the rumors and speculation that some have grown weary of. I'm hoping that none of us are completely right, and that Apple will surprise us all with something that we never realized we couldn't do without.

  • Rumour Has It: Tablet Announcement as Early as January

    Source: Piper Jaffray Whaddya mean, you're skeptical about reports regarding an upcoming Tablet announcement? When did you last hear a major publisher report exciting Tablet news from unnamed sources? Oh, wait. Earlier in the week the Wall Street Journal reported on the rumors of Apple's forays into television content subscription. It also made a passing reference to the tablet coming “by the end of March.” And we'd have left it at that, except that yesterday the Financial Times also chimed in with a little more on the same theme: Apple is preparing an announcement next month that many anticipate will be the official unveiling of its tablet, but the company has so far declined to confirm the existence of the device. Wall Street analysts expect mass production of an Apple tablet to begin as early as February. Of course, when it comes to reporting about Apple's fabled Tablet device, no one ever properly cites their sources. Instead, we get fleeting, nebulous references to shady characters and nameless insiders: “Sources close to Apple told us…” or “An executive familiar with the matter revealed…” Occasionally, some enterprising analyst stares at a spreadsheet for a while and makes up some bold predictions — and then they get named as sources, their prophecies presented almost as iron-clad statements of previously super-occluded fact. Even worse, it's not hard to imagine that sometimes ( just occasionally) those same analysts become the mysterious, unidentified sources of privileged insider information, referred to almost casually as “sources with intimate knowledge of Apple.” While that's not technically incorrect, it's still wildly misleading. And unethical, too. Of course, I'm not suggesting venerable publishers such as the Wall Street Journal or the Financial Times get up to these shenanigans. However, it's at least interesting to note that earlier this month, and reported by AppleInsider, Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner offered much the same predictions for a first-quarter 2010 Tablet launch; Reiner…revealed his latest tablet news in a note to investors issued Wednesday morning. “Our checks into Apple's supply chain indicate the manufacturing cogs for the tablet are creaking into action and should begin to hit a mass market stride in February,” the note said. Reiner said Apple would likely need at least five or six weeks of inventory built up before it can release the product, positioning a likely launch in March or April. Now, I don't know about you, but when I read that an analyst has revealed his “latest” news about Apple's super-duper-secret-history-making-miracle-tablet, I gotta assume that doesn't mean his latest morsels of juicy, hitherto-unknown insider information, but rather, his “latest roundup of most reasonable rumors and assumptions gathered from around the Internet.” I guess it depends on your level of cynicism, how badly you want the Tablet, and how you choose to read between the lines. Either way, the WSJ and the FT are in competition with one another. One mustn't be outdone by the other — even if that means reporting “old” news that isn't really news at all. It's conjecture from a man who doesn't claim to have inside knowledge, but just looked into Apple's “supply chain” and offered some best guesses. That is, after all, what analysts do. You can do the same thing, by the way, just by gathering together a half dozen industry trade-press magazines. Mind you, that line which begins “Apple is preparing an announcement next month…” is pretty specific, isn't it? Specific without actually telling us anything, but then, that's what the rumor mill is all about these days, right? Frankly, I'm growing tired of all these rumors — Apple can't release this thing soon enough, as far as I'm concerned, if only so we can finally put all this frothy prognostication behind us! UPDATE: Boy Genius Report is now reporting that its own inside source is reporting a 7-inch Apple tablet launch in January is a 100 percent certainty. Looks like we may not have to wait much longer to put the rumors to rest.

  • Top 5 Windows Games You Can Play on a Mac

    First off, I probably haven’t endeared myself with the title of this piece. In fact, you’re probably wondering where you put your torch and pitchfork, and how quickly you can Google my address and come egg my house.And I can more than understand your sentiment.Still, the fact remains that the grass can look fairly green and healthy on the other side. So after years of listening to the smug kids at Best Buy and GameStop talk smack about gaming on the Mac, we went looking for -- and found -- five excellent Windows PC games that not only are dirt cheap, but perform amazingly well under Apple’s Boot Camp technology.That being said, fire up the Boot Camp Assistant, carve out a Windows partition, install Windows XP, Windows Vista, or the Windows 7 beta, and get your game on. These incredibly fun titles will level the playing field between you and those friends of yours who are always rubbing it in when a hot game isn't available on the Mac. Left 4 DeadDeveloper: Valve CorporationPublisher: Electronic ArtsPrice: $27.99 at Amazon, or $29.99 at SteamESRB Rating: MatureMinimum Requirements: Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7. 2GHz Intel Core Duo processor. 1GB of RAM. 128MB graphics card. Battling zombies in Left 4 Dead -- click to embiggen.You know, that Romero fella may have been on to something. One of the most fun games in recent memory, Valve’s Left 4 Dead puts you in the middle of an abandoned city filled to the brim with zombie-like Infected, undead mutants more than willing to tear you and your group of three other survivors to pieces. Complete with fast first-person shooter survival elements, incredible physics, clever AI, and enough varied gameplay to ensure that almost no position is truly defensible for long, Left 4 Dead gathered up lots of Game of the Year awards last fall -- and with good reason.Even with a fine blend of zombies, it’s the extras that put it over the top. While it’s inevitable that you’ll face swarms of attacking undead, it’s also easy and fun to set traps, defend your teammates, and lay down enough cover fire to sprint for the next safe room, which functions as a save point within the game’s four campaigns. Zombie-based first-person shooters have been done before, and something needed to come along to keep the genre fresh. Valve thought of this and implemented special zombies, this group consisting of the Boomer (a slow-moving, obese zombie that vomits Infected-attracting bile to you to signal the Infected to attack you en masse), the Smoker (a unit that will attempt to drag you across the map with its long tongue and will then constrict the life out of you), the Hunter (a ranged unit that can pounce your character from long distances, shredding you with its claws once it pins you down), the Witch (a crouched, sobbing female Infected that will chase after you, tearing through anything in her path to pin and shred you if disturbed by bright lights or sound), and the Tank (an enraged, almost bulletproof hulking pile of muscle capable of crashing through anything to attempt to crush your group). Left 4 Dead's Infected zombies soft-shoe on rooftops until we give 'em the proverbial gong. Where multiplayer is concerned, the title has only gotten better. A Versus mode allows you to play the part of both the human survivors as well as the Infected hunting them, a Survival mode allows you to see how long you cooperate online and live and cooperative co-op play lets you take on the four standard campaign levels with the help of friends online.For under 30 bucks, you can’t go wrong. Snag it, play it, and love it. ---Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Developer: Bethesda Softworks Publisher: 2K GamesPrice: $19.49 at Amazon ESRB Rating: Teen Minimum Requirements: Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7. 2GHz Intel Core Duo processor. 512MB of RAM. 128MB graphics card.Oblivion's role-playing is easy enough for newbies, and its storyline will suck you in. Click to embiggen.While role-playing titles can be seen like a fair amount of work to someone outside their immediate fanbase, this one can draw in nearly anyone. In Oblivion, you're an escaped prisoner trying to thwart a plot involving opening gates to a realm called Oblivion and unleashing its horrors on the mortal world. The game's open-ended environment allows the player to travel almost anywhere in the world at any given time, while taking on almost any role or class imaginable and consistently gaining new skills and feats along the way.If beautiful graphics, terrific lighting and modeling, and voice acting by Patrick Stewart don’t haul you into this game, nothing will. Oblivion combines a great storyline with a convenient interface that proves helpful to both new and experienced alike. Not sure where to go to complete a mission? Follow the red arrow on your display to reach your target, and the game points out possible side missions along the way.Oblivion's open-ended world is rendered beautifully.The customization quickly becomes interesting, and players can craft their characters with almost any weapons, armor, items, and spells imaginable. Even with its depth, Oblivion remains inviting, gently pointing out how to play without demanding the player to have memorized half the game’s manual before sitting down for the first time. The main story is solid, you get plenty of room to explore, and even after a dozen hours of gameplay, we felt we'd barely scratched the surface.---BioShockDeveloper and Publisher: 2K GamesPrice: $19.99 at AmazonESRB Rating: Teen Minimum Requirements: Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7. 2.4GHz Intel Core Duo processor. 1GB of RAM. 128MB graphics card.BioShock's first-person shooting is just so satisfying. Click to embiggen.It’s strange. It’s weird and only gets weirder -- but man, is it fun. One of the best and most surreal first-person shooters on the market, 2K Games’ BioShock takes place in an alternate 1960. After surviving a plane crash, you must explore the underwater city of Rapture, survive attacks from mutants and robots, and discover exactly what happened to turn the city on its head.Combining the best elements of role-playing and survival-horror games, BioShock has a surreal environment and a continuously progressing storyline. You must use both conventional and biological weaponry to stand a chance against progressively tougher enemies. A one-two punch of shooting fire, ice, or electricity from your hands, and then blowing the stunned enemy away with a shotgun blast often succeeds. Die, alterna-60s robots!BioShock needed some scaling down to run well under Boot Camp -- the game requires a graphics card with 128MB of VRAM, but recommends 512MB of VRAM instead. Lower-quality settings produced significantly better framerates. Still, this title gets its hooks into you and draws you in. A good AI system keeps the battles interesting. The environments blend art-deco, comic book sci-fi, and touches of steampunk in the enhancements to your weapons.It’s dark and creepy -- probably not for your kids to play. But if your Mac has a beefy graphics card with 512MB of VRAM, BioShock is hard to ignore. ---Battlefield 2Developer: Digital Illusions CEPublisher: Electronic ArtsPrice: $7.99 on AmazonESRB Rating: Teen Minimum Requirements: Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7. 1.7GHz Intel Core Duo processor. 512MB of RAM. 128MB graphics card.The multiplayer mayhem of Battlefield 2 -- click to embiggen. As intellectual and refined and dignified as video games have become, sometimes you've just got to shoot something. And if it’s your friends online, who’s to complain?Despite being four years past its initial release, Battlefield 2 remains as fun as ever. You play as a United States Marine, Middle Eastern Coalition soldier, or Chinese soldier, choosing a class (Assault, Support, Anti-tank, Special Ops, Sniper, Engineer, or Medic) and entering the battle. Once the game has begun, two teams must capture control points and/or wipe the other side out to whittle the number of tickets down to nothing and win the game.It may not have a deeper plot, but Battlefield 2 represents the first-person military shooter genre at its best. As in the original Battlefield, players find themselves rushing to attack or defend a control point, grabbing whatever vehicles or weapons are nearby, and laying waste to whatever they can before being killed and either being resurrected by a medic or waiting until the game lets them back in. The models, lighting, and terrain still look great, and the realistic physics provide an immersive feel.Ah, relaxing tank warfare.Battlefield 2 offers amazing multiplayer action, with experience points unlocking new weapons, items, ranks, and abilities. Take on the Commander role for your team and you’ll be able to easily call in airstrikes, drop equipment and supplies to specific locations, and issue orders for squads to follow. Finally, a cool co-op game mode allows you and your team of friends to take on dozens of computer-controlled opponents, with a customizable difficulty setting.This isn’t the game equivalent of Shakespeare, but for its low, low price, Battlefield 2 is worth snagging, installing, and seeing just how much destruction you can create with a tank, some explosives, and a few sneaky thoughts running around in your head.---PortalDeveloper: Valve CorporationPublisher: Electronic ArtsPrice: $27.99 on Amazon (includes Half-Life 2: Episode 2, and Team Fortress 2). $19.99 on Steam.ESRB Rating: Teen Minimum Requirements: Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7. 1.7GHz Intel Core Duo processor. 512MB of RAM. 128MB graphics card.Hmm, puzzling. Click to embiggen.One of the best titles of 2007 and proof that there’s still something original and amazing in the video game industry, Valve’s Portal is a perfect combination of a first-person shooter and a puzzle title. Here, you play a female prisoner who wakes up in the headquarters of a scientific corporation and must escape by solving a series of puzzles with the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device (also known as the Portal Gun), a device that can create an inter-spatial portal between certain flat planes.Along the way, you're continuously taunted by an artificial intelligence named “GLaDOS”, who continuously offers you delicious cake as a reward for completing the puzzles. Good graphics, terrific sound, realistic physics, and a wry sense of humor make the title work. Even if puzzle games aren’t your thing, it becomes incredibly fun to figure out how to create a teleportation portal on the fly while falling to what should be your doom.Your character has lots of tricks up her sleeve, such as using the Portal Gun to drop attack robots onto each other or to help increase your momentum in order to boost a jump across a pit. You’ll find yourself wanting to keep playing to see what lies ahead. Perhaps it’s the constant taunting from the computer, the seemingly empty promise of cake, or just the sheer challenge, but Portal becomes the perfect way to waste about 10 hours of your life. Even when you hit the wall and take a break from the game, it’s rewarding to come back and try out a new series of ideas in order to get around the challenge that was previously driving you crazy.Portal runs like a dream under Boot Camp, but must be purchased along with Valve’s Orange Box collection (which also includes Half-Life 2, and Team Fortress 2), or snagged on its own from the Steam online store. Portal is clever and original, fairly nonviolent, totally addictive, and one of the best games for any platform, hands down.---

  • Weekly App Store Picks: June 27, 2009

    It's the weekend people, so prime your downloading finger and get ready to make good use of it as I guide you through the latest picks from the App Store. Thanks to the release of OS 3.0 and the iPhone 3GS, there's been a constant stream of Apple happenings. Before we get to the apps, let's take a glance at the week's news. First up, good news and bad for the iPhone 3GS's new video functionality. The bad news is that keen eared early-adopting customers have discovered a high-pitched whining noise on their iPhone 3GS video footage. However, the incessant whining (of the 3GS, as opposed to disgruntled amateur video-makers) hasn't stopped video uploads to YouTube, direct from the iPhone. Just six days in to the device's release and YouTube has seen a surge of 400 percent in daily mobile uploads, attributed directly to the iPhone 3GS. With the official release of OS 3.0 also came an updated jailbreaking tool, enabling upgraded users to install non-Apple certified software on their device. I tested the jailbreak software earlier this week and, although it was surprisingly user-friendly, I couldn't find a good reason to keep it: my iPhone now has copy/paste, tethering and more, straight out the box. Speaking of tethering, Bryan Schuetz, one of our new arrivals at TheAppleBlog, posted a link to an excellent guide on how to activate tethering on your iPhone. I managed to test out tethering yesterday and had mixed results, it worked perfectly initially, until an hour in when I lost my data connection entirely. It makes me wonder if some carriers will be on the look out for illegitimate tethering and throttle bandwidth accordingly. Our own Sultan of Statistics and Maestro of Economic Mathematics, Darrell Etherington, posted news featuring a rather large and impressive number this week. Indeed, Etherington revealed that an utterly unprecedented 1 million 3GS iPhone's have been purchased during the first week of the device's release. And finally, Apple hasn't been the only ones launching awesome new products in to the consumer nether. British dev studio UsTwo have updated MouthOff, a sound-reactive mouth toy, for iPhone. The MouthOff Signature series includes a selection of 37 weird mouths, including 12 specially commissioned mouths by artists including Jon Burgerman, Pete Fowler and, my fave, Mikko Walamies, the artist behind Rolando's gorgeous graphics. Check out the vid I tweeted of the app in action and, if you've decide you want to get a new mouth on with MouthOff, then you can win a free promo code for the app. Simply leave a comment at the end of this post telling me why you should get your MouthOff to be in with a chance of winning. Moving on to the picks, this week I've been looking at Jukebox, App Gmail, Star Defense and Taxiball. Jukebox (99 cents) My favorite feature back on those early iPods was the music quiz. With an ever-expanding collection of digital music, I loved to test my muso abilities with the Name That Tune-style game bundled with the iPod, courtesy of Apple. Come the release of the iPod touch and iPhone, the game was curiously absent from the new devices — despite the potential for an even-more muso-centric gaming experience. That is until now, thanks the iPhone's new 3.0 update gives developers access to the music library. Jukebox is a gorgeous implementation of this old game, incorporating album artwork and custom gaming modes. App Gmail (Free) Apple's own Mail for iPhone might do the job, but in the meantime Google has been squeezing a raft of new features and improvements into their Gmail web app for iPhone. Navigational elements have been tweaked, making it easier to skim and sort messages, but the real head-turning feature is offline Gmail, via the web app. All well and good, but there's still no dedicated app for Gmail, making accessing the web app via Safari feel a tad sloppy. App Gmail meets us halfway to solve the issue — embedding the Gmail web app within the app itself — ridding us of the Safari interface elements. It's still not an official, dedicated app, but it'll do the job for now and it's free. Star Defense ($5.99) It may have come out earlier this month, but Star Defense is only just coming in to it's own thanks to the iPhone OS 3.0 update. The game itself is traditional tower defense given a graphical overhaul — the game features all the usual staples of the genre — multiple towers, waves of baddies — but the 3D graphics and Mario Galaxy-esque palm-size planets make it a thrilling experience. The 3.0 update integrates ngmoco's Plus+ network. Think of it like the iPhone's version of Xbox Live, which means multiplayer mode, challenging your friends and gamer points. What's more, if a friend issues you a challenge, the game sends you a push notification. Taxiball ($2.99) As a student, sharing a house with a bunch of messy guys, we'd settle cleaning disputes with a game of Virtua Tennis on Sega's Dreamcast. The console, sadly, died a premature death, criminally under-appreciated for what it was and the game's it offered. Aside from Virtua Tennis, one of my other favorite Dreamcast games was Crazy Taxi. For those who aren't familiar, driving your cab against the clock, you had to race across town delivering folk where they needed to go. It was massive, thrilling, looked gorgeous and played like GTA without the constant death or Good Fellas voiceovers. With that in mind, Taxiball replaces the taxi with a big yellow ball and brings the game to iPhone. It's frantic and moreish, well worth checking out. That's all the picks for this week. I'll be back in seven days with more news from the week and picks from the App Store. In the meantime, what apps have you been using this week?

  • iPhone OS 3.0: Some Things You Knew, and Some You Didn’t

    A lot of this will not be news to those of you who've either experienced the iPhone OS 3.0 beta first-hand, or who've read about it here on TheAppleBlog or elsewhere, but the official announcement of what features will be coming via the final release version of 3.0 (dropping June 17) came today via the WWDC keynote address, so here's a quick recap and breakdown, in case you've forgotten or have been hiding your head in the sand. We'll also look at the 3G S-only features that are coming with the new handset, which Apple is also releasing next week (June 19). Cut/Copy/Paste It's here, it's universal, it should work in all apps since it's built right into the iPhone's Cocoa Touch controls. This is big news for a lot of people who've been waiting for this ever since the release of the original iPhone two years ago, but BlackBerry users are probably snickering at all of us right now. All I know is, thank goodness I can finally text message complicated URLs instead of telling people what keyword to Google and what number link to click on in the results. Shake to Undo Maybe it's the lack of a physical keyboard, but I'm always doing the wrong thing with my iPhone and iPod touch. There used to be no easy way to retrace my steps, but now all it takes is a little wrist action to set things right again. Command + Z is the way of the world, and I predict its presence in iPhone 3.0 will be much appreciated. Now, there's the little matter of Redo. I humbly propose Spin to Redo. Or blow into the iPhone mic. Both would be very stupid-looking. Landscape Everywhere Portraits are nice, but sprawling landscapes are sometimes more pleasing to the eye. With 3.0, Apple has enabled landscape mode for all of its official apps, which is great for heavy Mail and Notes users. Maybe this will act as a cue to Twitter app devs? MMS Available (Selectively) Your iPhone is no longer preventing you from having MMS capabilities, though your service provider might. Twenty-nine of Apple's telco partners will have full MMS support available for iPhone users when OS 3.0 goes live in a week, but some will be left out in the cold, including AT&T users, until a later (summer, in AT&T's case) date. Here in Canada, we may be slaves to terrible three-year contracts, but at least we'll have MMS — for a price. Spotlight Search your whole phone, not just parts of it. That means music, contacts, email, notes, the works. As someone who's been using the beta since its release, I can say for sure that this is a great feature. Especially if you're an app glutton or have a large address book/iTunes library. Just swipe right or double tap from the home screen to access it. iTunes: Movie/TV Show/Audiobook/iTunes U Direct Downloads Buy, download, and view all iTunes video content directly on your device, using Wi-Fi or 3G. Not only that, if you like to read with your ears, audiobooks are now also available directly from the iPhone, as is iTunes U content for those students out there. One step closer to cutting the cord. Now where's that Bluetooth syncing? Tethering (Also Selective) Twenty-seven carriers are backing tethering via the iPhone, including Rogers in my homeland. Guess who's not? I'll give you a hint: It rhymes with “Haiti and Tea.” Not exactly clear on whether that situation is temporary or not. HTML 5, HTTP Streaming A/V, Autofill, Javascript Improvements Safari is getting a whole whack of improvements which should make the iPhone mobile browsing experience much smoother. HTML 5.0 standards support, 3X faster Javascript rendering, intelligent HTTP audio and video streaming that picks bitrate and data quality based on your connection speed, and autofill for forms and logins are all included in the 3.0 update. Over 30 Languages Supported Chinese, Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, Korean and Thai are among the new languages supported in 3.0, extending the iPhone's international appeal. Parental Controls Just as suspected, you'll be able to control iPhone content via a settings pane and age group ratings. Good for parents who are spoiling their kids with iPhones, but don't want to go so far as to let them ogle bikini babes. Find My Phone A “30 Rock” clip featuring Tina Fey as Liz Lemon having lost her iPhone was used to demo the new Find My Phone feature, which has been an option in the beta, but didn't actually do anything until now. It allows you to track the location of your phone via MobileMe's web interface, and even send it a message with a phone number for a kind stranger to call if they're feeling benevolent and want to return your device. Remote Wipe If you're worried that the person who finds your lost phone might not be so benevolent, you can always initiate a remote wipe, which will erase all your data permanently. Nice security feature. In-App Media Library Access Get at your iTunes library from within games and other apps. The demo used Gameloft's Asphalt 5, which now allows you to access your music and playlists via your in-game car's radio. Pretty cool, and something a lot of games will probably end up taking advantage of. Much cheaper than licensing music for use. Device Access Hardware peripherals can now access iPhone software via the dock connector so that third-party companies can develop apps to accompany their iPhone and iPod touch accessories. The tech demo today involved a nifty science experiment, and guitars. Lots of cool stuff possible here, though I predict a lot of buggy stuff coming to market first. Tom Tom showed off a GPS augmentation dock that could be pretty neat with its turn-by-turn software. Push Notification Text, audio, and icon badging are all supported as forms of push notification in iPhone OS 3.0. Apple didn't kid around with the tech demo for this at WWDC, which featured a medical app that can update a doctor in real time of a patient's status. It rightly awed the crowd. In-App Purchasing Let the flood of DLC begin. Level packs, magazine subscriptions, book purchases, cute hats for your in-game avatars, anything you can imagine will be made available by someone. Can't wait for fart noise add-on packs. 3-Megapixel Autofocus Still/Video Camera (3GS Only) At least in the controlled environment of the keynote presentation, the new camera looks loads better than the existing 3G's. Lots of neat “tap to focus” options, better saturation/exposure control, and video capture. Videos can also be instantly edited on the device, as many predicted. The implementation of video functions looks very slick. There is also developer API access to the still and video camera. Voice Control (3G S Only) I'm not entirely sure why this is limited to the 3G S, since the iPhone 3G has a mic and software, so it should be able to handle a little voice recognition. I guess it looks cool, though, especially with universal iPod commands (”Play my playlist” and “Play songs like this” to activate Genius) and audio track information just like the iPod Shuffle. Nike+ Support (3G S Only) It was supposed to happen, and it did. Not very surprising, but a nice addition. Definitely ups my interest. Battery Life Improvements (3G S Only) Nine hours on Wi-Fi, 30 hours audio playback, 10 hours video, 12 hours 2G talk, and five hours 3G. Again, Apple estimates, so likely exaggerated, but should beat the existing iPhone pretty handily. On a more muscular device, too. Digital Compass (3G S Only) Just as speculated, the magnetometer made it in. It allows Google Maps to know your orientation, among other things. Developer API access is also included. It's a long list, it's a good list, it's an incomplete list. iPhone OS 3.0 brings 100+ new features, many of which won't be immediately apparent. These are the ones that will likely matter to you on a day-to-day basis, and that's why they're here. If there's anything I've missed, feel free to comment below.

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