Do you treat web sites like Gmail or Facebook like a complete application instead of a web site? Fluid allows you to complete the transformation and actually create a site-specific browser. So now you can run one of these sites in a separate browser from Safari with its own Dock item, menu bar, preferences and memory space.
While Spades is usually a game for four players, it turns out to be a pretty good solo game against computer opponents as well. Multiplayer Tiki Spades offers both this single-player option and the ability to connect with others. Unlike a lot of other Spades games, the AI is pretty decent and the interface is excellent.
Last Friday Snow Leopard, Mac OS X 10.6, came home to live on many Macs around the world. Most updates went smoothly. Some issues centered around users not having the latest patches to iWork and various third-party applications. Some third-party applications do not have a Snow Leopard-compatible version out yet, but that is rare since Snow Leopard has been available for developers to test on for about 18 months.
But Apple doesn’t seem to be resting after this major release. They have invited press to a special event on September 9. The only hint as to the content of the event is that the invitation shows an iPod and the words: “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it.” So there will most likely be announcements about iTunes and the iPod.
Apple may offer new hardware, perhaps a new Nano and iPod Touch. They may also release iTunes 9. There are strong rumors of them offering song-based ringtones for sale directly from iTunes. Currently, you can purchase whole songs as ringtones and select your own 30 seconds to use as the actual ringtone.
September 9 is the official release date of the remastered Beatles catalog on CD, so it would also make sense that the Beatles songs will go on sale for the first time in the iTunes store. But it would be odd for the event to be named after a Rolling Stones song, in that case.
I’m surprised it took LucasArts so long to realize that its old Monkey Island games were perfect for adaptation to the iPhone. The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition for the iPhone is a re-hash of one of the old games from the series. If you have never played Monkey Island games before, you should get a kick out of it — a point-and-click adventure with both clever puzzles and a sense of humor. And if you haven’t played it since it was first released 19 years ago, it could be fun to re-live the adventure.
Ever want to cool your MacBook down a little more by boosting the fan speed? With smcFanControl you can take manual control of your internal MacBook fans and monitor their speeds. The latest version is a bit hard to find on the site. As of today, you can download it from this post.
In Safari you can open Web pages in multiple windows, and multiple tabs in each window. Go to the Safari Preferences, Tabs to enable Tabs. If you have tabs in multiple windows, you can drag the tab by clicking and dragging on the tab at the top of the window and dragging it to the tab area in the other window. You can combine two windows into a single window with tabs this way.
There has been a lot of controversy lately about how Apple handles iPhone app store submissions. The app store is a strange distribution platform. It is similar to past distribution platforms in some ways, but has its own unique mix of problems.
Previous to the iPhone app store, software on mobile phones worked one of two ways. The first was that a developer could get an application on a phone only with the approval of the phone company, phone manufacturer, or both. The second was that a user could download and install software through their computer. Some phones only supported the first method, while others allowed both.
The problem with the first method was that developers had to figure out how to get their apps into the system so they could be downloaded on to the phones. Some systems didn’t even reveal to the public how it worked. As a developer, you had to track down the right people, make connections, set up meetings, spend money, and convince someone to get your app on to the phone. Even then, you had further convincing to do if you wanted your app to appear in the phone’s listing of purchasable applications in such a way that you might actually get people to notice it.
Phone companies favored apps by established developers with brand-name licenses. New or small developers had very little chance of getting the app listed on the phone. It was like retail — there was only so much shelf space and getting your product on the shelves was a mysterious and costly process.
The second method, where users could choose to download an application on their computer and transfer it to the phone, was much more open, as long as the phones and carriers that allowed it. But only a few people would go to all the trouble. A vast majority of mobile phone users would just purchase an app from their phone and wouldn’t bother to learn how to install applications from non-official source. So, for developers, it was tough to make a living doing it this way.
The iPhone app store is definitely in the first category because Apple is the gatekeeper and you have to convince Apple to allow your app to get on the iPhone. But it is different than all of its predecessors in that the app store has room for a virtual infinite number of apps — there isn’t limited shelf space. In addition, Apple has revealed the exact process to get your app to the store, even providing the software development environment, tutorials, a Web portal, etc. They are still the gatekeeper, but they are letting 99% get into the store.
So, what’s the problem?
Well, the problem that people are talking about is that 1% that doesn’t get into the store. Why doesn’t it get in there? Apple apparently follows a set of rules, and has a team of people that try to apply these rules to every app that is submitted. But being people, not machines, they are not all applying the rules in the same way. So whether a developer’s app makes it into the store, depends a bit on chance.
It seems that some of the rules are easy to apply literally and apps were rejected one ridiculous grounds. For instance, a dictionary app was rejected because profanity is not allowed. I guess those words shouldn’t be in the dictionary. An e-book reader was rejected because it is possible to find an e-book copy of the Kama Sutra. You can view that e-book in Safari on the iPhone. Other apps have been rejected on the grounds of “duplicate functionality” such as email clients or podcast feed reading. But these provided alternate methods to do these things, and were clearly not duplicates of existing Apple-created apps.
But rejection isn’t the only nightmare that app developers face. Do you see the apps on the front page of the App Store in iTunes? They probably make a ton of money for the developers. But how about the 50,000 other apps that Apple doesn’t bless with front-page recognition?
Obscurity is just as deadly as rejection in the iPhone app development world. When an individual decides to poor hours, days or months into creating something, only to find it buried in the app store, it spells ruin for that app and that developer.
So there is limited shelf space in the app store. It is still like a retail store, with room to display only so many products. The difference is the iPhone app store has “more in the back” that most people won’t ever bother to ask for.
So in the end, the app store is more like the traditional closed mobile phone app market, restricting success to the few. And it certainly favors large developers and brand names, as anyone who goes to the app store front page can see.
However, the small developer can break out of that and find success — like the American Dream. Let’s call it the “App Store Dream.”
That’s why developers are doing it. Not because they are sure of success, but because they hope for it. And I’m glad they do, because it is clear that this is where innovation will come from. It won’t be from the established developers rehashing their old games or purchasing brand licenses.
I just wish Apple would do more to more to help App Store Dreams come true. They need to speed up the app store review process. They need to use more common sense when approving apps. They need to provide a reasonable remedy system for apps that are rejected so developers don’t have to launch media campaigns to get wrongs righted.
If Apple believed in the App Store Dream, it would not only mean more success for developers, but for the iPhone as well.
I could swear that the front page of Apple looked like this for a minute tonight. Maybe I was imagining it…
Or, maybe it was this:
Or, perhaps:
Apple shocked the Mac news world on Monday with the announcement that Snow Leopard would be released in only 5 days. Tomorrow, Friday August 28, it will be available in Apple stores and ship on new Macs.
The price of a single upgrade from Leopard is $29. Anyone who bought a Mac on or after June 8 can get it for $10 if they sign up at the Apple site and order within 90 days of their Mac purchase.
You can find out more about Snow Leopard and how to upgrade in this week’s videos: Snow Leopard FAQ and The Top 10 Reasons to Upgrade to Snow Leopard.
Analysts at Piper Jaffray have forecasted that the new version of Mac OS X will sell 5 million copies in this next quarter. Meanwhile, other reports are coming in that computer sales in general are up, with Apple leading the pack in growth once again. Apple has started running some new TV spots as well.
Do you hate wasting a few minutes every morning while your Mac starts up? You can go to System Preferences, Energy Saver and click on Schedule to set your Mac to wake up in the morning before you get to your desk. You can even set it to do so only on weekdays.
Sick of paying $1000+ per megabyte for SMS messaging on the iPhone. There are plenty of apps that will allow you to bypass AT&T and send and receive text messages for free. And some apps, like Textfree will use the iPhone’s notification feature to alert you of new texts even when you are not running the app. The full version allows unlimited text messages, while a free trial version limits you to 15 per day.
Looking for something a little different than iMovie, but without the complexity and price tag of Final Cut Express? MediaEdit might fit the bill. A video editor with a traditional timeline and plenty of features, MediaEdit is easy on the wallet at $60. One cool feature is the ability to draw in a layer over the video. There is a free 30-day trial.
