Tag Archives: software

Download N.O.V.A. 3 and Gangstar Rio for iOS free this weekend

Looking for some new games to play this weekend? You're in luck. Developer Gameloft is offering two of its premium titles, N.O.V.A. 3 and Gangstar Rio, for free this weekend in the App Store. Picking up both titles would normally set you back US$12 so jump on this deal quickly.

Gangster Rio is a 3D sandbox game in the spirit of Grand Theft Auto, complete with vehicles, combat and all the moral ambiguity you'd expect from a crime simulator. With over 60 missions, locations based on Rio de Janeiro and even an exploding football that as a weapon, Gangster Rio has a lot to offer for exploration.

First-person shooter fans should give N.O.V.A. 3 a spin for both single and multiplayer modes. The main storyline takes place over 10 levels of sci-fi combat, while the multiplayer is rounded out by 7 different play modes and support for up to 12 players. Most impressively the game has in-game chat for talking to your friends while you play.

Each game has micro-transaction options for beefing up your bankroll and ammo, so maybe this weekend, you will pass some of your savings from the free download into buying new weapons and vehicles. Or just revel in the knowledge that you got two free games. Either way act quickly, as this deal will be over soon.

Pick up Gangster Rio: City of Saints here at iTunes.

Pick up N.O.V.A. 3 here at iTunes.

Download N.O.V.A. 3 and Gangstar Rio for iOS free this weekend originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 May 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source

iTunes 11.0.3 now available

iTunes 1103 availableCheck Software Update, because Apple has released iTunes 11.0.3. This update offers a few new features, including a new MiniPlayer that highlights album artwork and has a built-in progress bar. That should make many people happy.

Also, iTunes 11.0.3 has improved the songs view and has support for multi-disc albums, in that they now appear as a single album, which is great.

You can download it now and check out the changes right away. Have fun.

iTunes 11.0.3 now available originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 May 2013 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source

iOS Review: BrightNest makes finding a start to spring cleaning a breeze

I'm not an organizational wizard. Neither is my wife. We've got busy schedules, artistic personalities, and cleaning is often the last thing on our minds. Worst of all, when we do finally find time to clean things have usually gotten so bad we don't know where to start. Enter BrightNest.

BrightNest is a iOS app and website that makes organizing home improvement tasks a breeze. The app is offers users eight possible areas of home improvement to choose from.

Handy for maintenance Healthy for keeping away germs Green for lessening environmental impact Savvy for saving money Curious for educational lessons Clean for keeping messes away Creative for DIY projects Hungry for meals and snacks

Each section features a list of articles that easily explain what your task is, how long it will take and what you'll need to complete it. Best of all, each task uses common household items to complete, so you won't find yourself putting off cleaning the windows because you don't have any cleaner. Turns out you just need white vinegar and corn starch.

Articles are accompanied by a heart, calendar and check at the bottom of each window. Using these buttons you can easily add an article to your favorites, schedule a task for later or mark it as complete. Because the app syncs with your free account on the BrightNest website, it's easy for a family to share on account and keep up to date on what's been done and what's still waiting in the wings.

BrightNest's user interface is clear, clean and easy to learn. Within minutes you'll be zooming in and out of articles, building your to-do list for the coming weeks. The clear instructions take care of any learning curve and the variety keeps taks from becoming stale.

Let's face it, they don't teach Home Economics in school any more. For the recent high school or college grad out on their own for the first time, or maybe a newly single 40-year-old whose never run a house by themselves, BrightNest is an invaluable tool for keeping on top of your living space.

iOS Review: BrightNest makes finding a start to spring cleaning a breeze originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 May 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source

Google announces new Hangout app to hit iOS today

Google announces new Hangout app to hit iOS todayGoogle announced a new Hangouts app at its I/O conference, which will be available for iOS today. It's not out as I'm typing this, but the brief keynote demo showed a family of participants taking part in a long-running conversation of photos of text.

From what we saw, it looks like Messages with a whole lot more oomph. We'll have a look at it as soon as it has been released.

Google announces new Hangout app to hit iOS today originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 15 May 2013 13:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source

New and notable apps for iOS and OS X – May 15 edition

It has been busy in the App Store with a handful of new apps landing on iOS and OS X. Take a few minutes and check out our list of standout apps from the past few weeks!

iOS Apps

A Beautiful Mess [iOS Universal; Category: Productivity; $0.99] The photo app from A Beautiful Mess is the easiest way to make pretty photos and to share them with friends.Add new life to your favorite photos with custom filters, fun fonts, and hand-drawn doodles by Elsie and Emma, creators of the award-winning lifestyle blog, "A Beautiful Mess".

Limelight - Your Movie Library [iPhone; Category: Entertainment; $0.99] Limelight is a new way to browse and organize your movie library. Become a movie critic and share your library with friends.

Arpeggionome for iPhone [iPhone; Category: Music; $0.99] A New Musical Instrument for Controlling Arpeggios with the Touch of a Finger. Arpeggionome for iPhone transforms your iPhone into a new and expressive musical instrument.

Audio Mastering [iPad; Category: Music; $9.99] The first fully functional audio mastering application for iPad. For everyone who wants to make own music tracks excellent quality.

Amazon Cloud Drive Photos [iPhone; Category: Productivity; Free] Protect and store all of your photos in one place with Amazon Cloud Drive Photos.

Bellyfish [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $0.99] Swim freely with intuitive controls through beautiful underwater environments. Fight your evil enemies with unique and fun power-ups. Join the adventure and see how high you can go.

Go Home Dinosaurs [iPad; Category: Games; $4.99] Go Home, Dinosaurs! Stop hordes of marauding Dinos from crashing your party in the world's premier BBQ defense simulator.

Daddy Was A Thief [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $1.99] Gain as much money as you can! Hurry! Everyone will try to catch you, but you are clever, aren't you?

MYSTIC* [iPhone; Category: Photography & Video; $0.99] On the surface, Mystic is an app. In practice, it is an experience. Yeah, You can add text, textures, frames, lights, colors...elephants, tigers, bears, and a few flying buffalos, too.

TinyLegends: Monster Crasher [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $0.99] the evil dragon has been awakened. Sound your trumpet as a call to arms and get ready for an epic challenge.

Write for Dropbox - A Beautiful Note Taking App [iPad; Category: Productivity; $1.99] Writing. Automated Dropbox Syncing. Markdown. Fastest Sharing. Free Mac Addon. Beautiful Design. Love.

Topple2 with Mobage [iPhone; Category: Games; Free] Immerse yourself in 30 levels over 6 Topple worlds that allow you to balance and stack fun and playful Topple blocks using multi-touch and accelerometer controls.

IMPOSSIBLE ROAD [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $1.99] IMPOSSIBLE ROAD is a pure, minimal arcade game about risk, reward, and rollercoasters.

OS X

Silo - Share Your Lists [OS X; Category: Productivity; Free] Silo is the delightful way to share and manage your lists.

Together 3 [OS X; Category: Productivity; $19.99] Together lets you keep everything in one place. Text, documents, images, movies, sounds, web pages and bookmarks can all be dragged to Together for safe keeping.

oneSafe [OS X; Category: Productivity; $5.99] oneSafe not only securely stores all your passwords and other confidential information, it also synchronizes all that data between your Mac, iPhone and iPad, so you can have it at your fingertips wherever you happen to find yourself.

New and notable apps for iOS and OS X - May 15 edition originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 15 May 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source

Buycott lets you boycott evil companies while you shop

An app called Buycott is giving iPhone owners the chance to make a political statement each and every time they shop. The concept behind the app is simple: when you're in a store, scan an item's UPC code to see what parent company owns the product.

"What company owns the product?" you might ask. "Wouldn't that be the name of the company on the package?"

Not necessarily. Popular brand names are often subsidiaries of bigger corporations. And those corporations might have their fingers in things you politically disagree with. This means that even though there is no way you would support the corporation's political activities (say they donate to political campaigns you don't like) you may be inadvertently supporting that corporation by buying one of its subsidiary's products.

Gallery: Buycott

Take, for example, Angel Soft bathroom tissue. The ultimate owner of that company is Koch Industries, which has extreme political views on one end of the spectrum that you may disagree with. By scanning that product with Buycott in the store, you're immediately told who the owner is (Koch Industries) and that information can allow you to make more informed buying decisions.

Buycott also allows you to create and follow campaigns covering issues you care about. These campaigns cover a wide variety of topics and allow you to make better buying decisions by not only telling you what companies to boycott, but also by telling you which companies support your ideological views (hence the "buy" in Buycott). Currently the most popular campaign is "Demand GMO Labeling," while the most trending campaign is 'Avoid Koch Industries.'

Buycott is a free download.

Buycott lets you boycott evil companies while you shop originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 15 May 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source

Pixelmator and Acorn: economic, practical image editors

Last week, after Adobe announced its move to a subscription-based cloud plan, our own Kelly Hodgkins asked me to look at software alternatives for some Creative Suite apps.

We know that none of these apps provide a full replacement for Photoshop or Illustrator. What she asked me to do was to spend time, hands on, to get a sense of what kind of options were out there.

For Photoshop, I looked primarily at Pixelmator (US$14.99 "sale" price, but it's been on "sale" since November 2012) and Acorn 4 ($29.99), with a glance at the donationware GNU Image Manipulation Program, GIMP.

I quickly discovered that GIMP is not in the same class as Pixelmator or Acorn. Both Pixelmator and Acorn have seriously targeted ex-Photoshop users, creating tool suites intended to seduce that audience. GIMP just isn't competitive in that way.

You can tell this in the key equivalents added to both Pixelmator and Acorn -- they responded properly to many of the Photoshop-standard text shortcuts I tried such as G for gradient, M for marquee selection and W for the magic wand. On the whole, Acorn seemed to support more shortcuts -- such as 0 through 9 for transparency and Command-Shift-I to invert the selection, but both apps have the sense of Photoshop users in their DNA.

In terms of general interface design, Acorn stood out. I found its toolbar easiest to understand and its adherence to Photoshop norms the strictest. It also achieves the most OS X-like look and feel. Both apps got OS X, in elevating interaction beyond Adobe's prosaic implementation. But Acorn's fine details are palpably superior.

Both GUIs were polished and stylish, although I wish both apps would offer bigger font choices for older and visually impaired users. Acorn's visuals were generally larger except for teeny tiny font choices in palettes. I found the Acorn toolbar much easier for recognition tasks.

In power, however, I lean towards Pixelmator. Although both tools have recently undergone major upgrades, I found the Pixelmator toolset more extensive than Acorn's. There were almost always extra options on the Pixelmator side that I did not find (or, at least, not easily find) on the Acorn side.

Pixelmator and Acorn economic, practical image editors

I rely on community support for my photo-editing needs. Whenever I need to figure out how to do anything in Photoshop, I turn to Google and the thousands upon thousands of how-to articles and videos found there. During my testing, I set myself common tasks like building buttons or blurring backgrounds in Acorn and Pixelmator, and quickly found myself searching for how-to answers on the web.

While both developers have provided superb how-to support pages on their sites, Pixelmator offers a far larger existing support community. To give a sense of that, the Google results for "glossy button in Pixelmator" include videos and how-to articles from a variety of sites and vendors. The first three include a link to pxm-tuts.com, a Pixelmator support page, and ehow.com.

Compare that with the results for "glossy button in Acorn." These start off with a Flying Meat support page, followed by a bunch of acorn-shaped vector links, finishing with tutorials for Photoshop, Illustrator and GIMP.

If you're looking for a knowledge-base of solutions that you can use today, Pixelmator has the edge.

On the whole, I was terrifically impressed by both apps. While I generally preferred Acorn's look and feel, Pixelmator's feature set and passionate userbase should not be overlooked.

Pixelmator and Acorn: economic, practical image editors originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 14 May 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source

Groupon launches mobile payments iPad app to challenge Square

Groupon has launched a new iPad app called Groupon POS (perhaps not the best name) in an attempt to enter the iPad mobile payments arena and take on current leader Square. As of the time of this writing, Groupon has not made an official anouncement, but the app is now live in the App Store. Here are the deets from the app's description:

A beautiful and simple way to manage your business and accept payments at the lowest rates available today.

Set up your offerings in seconds, quickly check out customers and view real-time analytics. Start running your business more effectively.

Groupon POS works also works with an optional cash drawer and printer to automate and simplify your point of sale.

Groupon POS works for a wide variety of merchants from cafes and delis, to salons, spas and florists.

9to5Mac points out that Groupon POS appears to be a scaled-down version of the Breadcrumb POS app Groupon acquired last year. Groupon already offers another mobile payments app called Groupon Merchants for the iPhone.

Update: The app has disappeared from the App Store. Looks like it was released prematurely.

Groupon launches mobile payments iPad app to challenge Square originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 13 May 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source

It’s back. It’s on the Mac. Echofon aficionados rejoice!

The other day Echofon 1.7.0 mysteriously appeared on the OS X App Store, upgraded to support the 1.1 Twitter API. We contacted the developers to find out if this was a courtesy update or if Echofon was back in development.

We're delighted to relate that a spokesperson has confirmed:

Sorry for the delayed response and thanks for your inquiry. We brought Echofon Mac back due to the overwhelming user demand for it. We intend to continue to keep our
users happy and satisfied with the product.

Speaking as a long time user, I'm very pleased with this news. Original developer Satoshi Nakagawa agrees. He tweets, "Echofon for Mac 1.7.0 works beautifully :)".

It's back. It's on the Mac. Echofon aficionados rejoice! originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 11 May 2013 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source

Adobe to go subscription-only with Creative Cloud software

Adobe to rebrand Creative Suite software as Creative CloudAs Adobe finds its footing in a cloud-based world, it pulled a move that most likely will generate a backlash from the students and creative professionals that rely on its software.

Adobe announced that the Creative Suite software will be rebranded as Creative Cloud and confirmed it will no longer develop the Creative Suite line. Adobe CS6 will still be supported and available for purchase, but all future products will be provided through the subscription-only Creative Cloud service. As part of this announcement, Adobe demonstrated the first version of the new Adobe Photoshop CC.

The move shouldn't come as a huge surprise. The writing's been on the wall since the launch of the Creative Suite subscription service in 2011 and Creative Cloud in 2012. Adobe announced in March that it would end sales of boxed versions of Creative Suite and Acrobat by May 1. New products such as Muse have been exclusive to the service.

The Next Web says that its sources told them that it was a way for the company to stabilize its income, rather than the little bursts of extra revenue when a new release, but it (and I) agree that piracy is also a huge concern.

Even with discounts, Adobe's software was out of the price range for many students and entry-level professionals. It was the thing everyone knew but didn't speak aloud -- if you had a personal copy of an Adobe product, it was most likely pirated. With Creative Cloud, it is a lot easier to access Adobe's suite of software legally. Even though you're paying more over a longer period of time, $20 to $50 per month is an easier chunk to swallow than the full price of the Creative Suite software.

But that move isn't for everyone, and therein lies the problem. As a friend pointed out to me, digital artists and freelancers don't always have guaranteed income. If income runs short one month and they can't make the subscription payment, their access to the software that provides their livelihood is cut off.

Fellow TUAW writers Erica Sadun and Mel Martin echoed their displeasure for Adobe's move, saying that it took people's choice away. "Going to web-only is a bridge too far," Erica said.

Mel agreed. "I don't want a subscription. I don't want the cloud," he said. Though Adobe is pushing that way, not everyone wants to be tied to the web service.

Adobe's subscription plan is $19.99 per month for a single piece of software and $49.95 per month for access to all of its software, plus updates. If you're using CS6 now, you can upgrade to the CC software this summer without having to worry about buying additional software. Existing CS3-5 customers can get the complete Creative Cloud for $29.99 per month for the first year and CS6 for $19.99 per month. There's separate pricing tiers for businesses and education, with the education plan being $19.99 per month for the first year and $29.99 per month after that.

Adobe to go subscription-only with Creative Cloud software originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 06 May 2013 18:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source

New and notable apps for iOS and OS X – May 6 edition

It has been busy in the App Store with a handful of new apps like Angry Birds Friends landing on iOS and OS X. Take a few minutes and check out our list of standout apps from the past few days!

iOS Apps

Toy Defense 2 [iPad; Category: Games; $1.99] Set in WW2, this action/strategy game is packed with more levels, amazing new features, a big selection of fighting units for each world and more intense action than ever.

Glory of Generals [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $2.99] Over 60 campaigns in four battlefields of World War II are waiting for your challenge.

Mind Blitz [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $0.99] It is your childhood matching game meets action puzzler.

LEGO(R) STAR WARS[TM] THE YODA CHRONICLES [iOS Universal; Category: Games; Free] Build, create and control your favorite characters and vehicles to smash your enemy, solve puzzles and complete challenges within the LEGO Star Wars universe.

Traktor DJ for iPhone [iPhone; Category: Music; $4.99] The world's #1 pro DJ software brings high-impact DJing to iPhone.

Turnado [iPad; Category: Music; $14.99] Turnado is a revolutionary multi-effect tool, crafted especially for massive real-time audio manipulation.

Infuse - The Beautiful Way to Watch Videos [iOS Universal; Category: Entertainment; $4.99] Ignite your video content with Infuse -- the beautiful way to watch videos in as many as 14 formats on your iPad or iPhone.

OS X Apps

Acorn 4 - The Image Editor for Humans [OS X; Category: Graphics & Design; $29.99] Everyone needs to edit images at some point, but not everyone has the time to learn complicated super pricey image editing programs. This is why we created Acorn.

Scapple [OS X; Category: Productivity; $14.99] It isn't exactly mind-mapping software -- it's more like a freeform text editor that allows you to make notes anywhere on the page and to connect them using straight lines or arrows. Read our review of Scapple.

Briefs [OS X; Category: Developer tools; $199] Briefs is the essential app design tool built for a professional design workflow. Read our review of Briefs.

Parcel - Delivery tracking [OS X; Category: Utilities; Free] Parcel, the best delivery-tracking app for iOS, is now available on OS X. With this application you can promptly access tracking information for 180 delivery services.

New and notable apps for iOS and OS X - May 6 edition originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 06 May 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source

Macworld shares five nice TextExpander snippets

Macworld shares five nice TextExpander snippetsTextExpander by Smile is an essential tool for folks who type as often as we do. It lets you create short key combinations that trigger -- and are replaced by -- larger strings of text. For example, I have TextExpander covert "actk" to "Apple CEO Tim Cook." It saves time.

Macworld editor Dan Miller has made a video demonstrating his top five TextExpander snippets. I always appreciate the chance to peer over the virtual shoulder of someone who knows how to use a tool really well. Dan's video is a great example of that. Go and learn something new!

Macworld shares five nice TextExpander snippets originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 03 May 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source

Drafts 3.0 adds archiving, improves organization, more

Drafts 30 adds archiving, improves organization, moreDrafts is a fast, lightweight note-taking app for iPhone (US$2.99) and iPad ($3.99) with so much more to offer than simple lists. Drafts is handy. You can use it to quickly jot down a list or something you'd like to recall later, which is great. But the app's real power is in the myriad of ways you can act on that text.

For example, you can send a list to a project manager like OmniFocus or a storage service like Evernote. Share a note with Facebook, Twitter or ADN. Create a calendar event, a reminder or even write in Markdown. Beyond that you can really geek out with automation and complex iOS workflows.

Many hardcore productivity and automation nerds have demonstrated exactly how powerful Drafts is. But that shouldn't scare off mortals like you and me. Here's what's new in Drafts version 3, as well as how I use it.

Adding and Organizing Notes

To create a note, just start typing. There's nothing to tap first, not category or tag to fiddle with when you simply want to write something down. That's been the case since Drafts was first launched. Version three introduces inbox, archives and pinned panes.

These three options let your organize notes you'd like to keep around, as opposed to something you captured for the moment. To move a note, tap its title and then swipe right-to-left. A delete button appears, as well as two icons representing whatever category that list is not in. For example, if your note is in the inbox, the archive and pin icons will appear. Tap the icon of your choice to move that note to that location. Easy!

Organizing Actions

The app's list of actions has seen a similar change. Now, you can sort actions into one of four panes. It's super handy because you can group like actions, like productivity or writing, and avoid a single list of everything. To get started, tape the action button and then tap the gear icon on the right.

The settings screen appears. Tap Manage Actions. Next a list of all your chose actions appears. Time to get sorting. Tap any action in the list -- "Email" for example -- and its sort options slide in from underneath. Finally just tap the pane you want to assign that action to and off it goes. It's very easy.

Back Up Improvements

Once you've spent time organizing your notes and actions, it sure would be a bummer to lose all that customization. Don't worry, Drafts 3 lets you create a date-stamped backup of all your note and action settings to Dropbox. You can easily restore should something go wrong. It worked perfectly for me.

Integration with Apple's Reminders has also been improved. If you create a list in Reminders called "Drafts," Drafts will import its contents and mark them as done in reminders. It goes the other way, too. You can also use an action to create new reminders or even start new lists in Reminders if a list does not yet exist. Super handy.

All in all, this is a great update to a super useful app. And you needn't be an automation fiend to benefit from it. Go and grab Drafts now.

Drafts 3.0 adds archiving, improves organization, more originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 02 May 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source

Yahoo acquires Astrid task manager

The team at Astrid has announced the company has been purchased by Yahoo. Astrid is a popular iOS and Android to-do manager with over 4 million users. In a blog post, Astrid CEO Jon Paris said:

We are thrilled to announce that we have been acquired by Yahoo. When we set out to build Astrid, we sought to help as many people as possible become happier, healthier and more productive. We're really excited to join the mobile team and continue this work with Yahoo's goal of "making the world's daily habits more inspiring and entertaining."

Astrid will continue to work as is for the next three months, but the company is no longer accepting new premium subscriptions.

Yahoo has been on a roll lately with acquisitions and revitalization of its mobile apps. Earlier this year, the company acquired Summly and integrated it into its Yahoo News app. Last month Yahoo released a weather app that has garnered universal praise. There's no word yet on Yahoo's plans for Astrid.

Yahoo acquires Astrid task manager originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 02 May 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source

Twitter for iOS updated with location-based trends, more

Twitter has released an update to its iOS app that adds new features and several improvements. The biggest new feature is the ability to view global trends. Previously a user could view local trends in the Discover tab, but now you can select global trend locations and view trending hashtags from locales across the world.

Twitter for iOS now also lets you invite friends to join Twitter from within the app. Previously this feature was only found on its web-based client. Also, retweets have been tweaked to include both the original author's Twitter handle and the handle of the person retweeting it. Finally, Twitter has improved the playback of Vine videos within the app.

Twitter for iOS is a free download.

Twitter for iOS updated with location-based trends, more originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 02 May 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source

New and notable apps for iOS and OS X – April 30 edition

It has been busy in the App Store with a handful of new apps like FocusTwist, Circles and Delicious Scanner landing on iOS and OS X. Take a few minutes and check out our list of other standout apps from the past few weeks!

iOS Apps

iLuv Drawing Vehicles HD [iPad; Category: Education; $1.99] Perfect way to introduce drawing skills to kids who love cars, trucks, planes and trains!

My Agenda [iPhone; Category: Productivity; $0.99] An organizer and planner app with appointments, todos, reminders and tasks -- all in one place.

Feed Wrangler [iOS Universal; Category: News; Free] Feed Wrangler is an RSS reader for the modern age. Designed from the ground up to make reading your news feeds as easy and quick as possible.

4Fingers [iPhone; Category: Travel; Free] 4Fingers is the new social way to rate places and events around you on your mobile.

Survivalcraft [iPhone; Category: Games; $3.99] You are marooned on the shores of an infinite blocky world. Explore, mine resources, craft tools and weapons, hunt and make traps.

Classic Note [iPhone; Category: Entertainment; $2.99] Classic Notes puts the days of one-button mice and 3.5" floppy disks in your pocket, without breaking your back.

Toy Story: Story Theater [iOS Universal; Category: Education; $2.99] Beloved Toy Story characters are ready to star in your child's movie masterpiece.

Shiny The Firefly [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $1.99] This adorable game, set in the middle of a picturesque garden, has you helping Shiny, the cute little firefly, to find his babies.

Madmonster [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $0.99] The menacing Wolfy and his gang of monsters are wreaking havoc everywhere they go. Help them tear up each city, rip through military defenses, knock down buildings and take to the skies to cause a ruckus among the stars.

Iron Man 3 - The Official Game [iOS Universal; Category: Games; Free] Become billionaire Tony Stark as Iron Man in this fast-paced, endless runner; the official game of the upcoming movie.

LEGO Batman: DC Super Heroes [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $4.99] Batman and Robin join forces with other famous DC super heroes including Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and more to stop the notorious villains Lex Luthor and The Joker from destroying Gotham City.

Tug the Table [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $0.99] A two-player game on a single device!Like tug of war ... but with a table!

OS X Apps

Torch Browser [OS X; Category: Productivity; Free] Torch, a chromium based browser released last year, provides users with a powerful browsing experience and includes features that allow them to share, search, download, and more all in one place.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Elite Edition [OS X; Category: Games; $49.99] XCOM, the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit - humanity's last hope.

KillerKeys VR [OS X; Category: Reference; Free] KillerKeys VR is a desktop application providing a virtual (VR) on-screen keyboard that displays color-coded shortcuts on each key of the virtual keyboard.

Requester [OS X; Category: Developer Tools; Free] Requester - powerful utility to send all possible requests to any server.

New and notable apps for iOS and OS X - April 30 edition originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source

Daily iPad App: Animator’s Survival Kit moves to iPad, brings in-depth look at drawing essentials

Richard Williams is an Oscar-winning animator, with an extensive history in the film business. His well-reviewed Animator's Survival Kit (US$22 on Amazon) is currently in its second edition. For a mere $959.50, you can pick up a 16-DVD boxed set showcasing all the material covered in the book.

Now, the survival kit series has finally arrived on the iPad. For $34.99, you can pick up an app that teaches core principles of animation combining both text and video into a single product.

At 882 MB, this is a big app, offering a hybrid of written explanation and interactive experience. In many ways, this app feels like an iBook -- embedded videos, the integrated sliding table of contents, but it's presented with a style that's all its own.

The design is sumptuous. You skip directly to the coverage you're interested in, whether it's running and walking or timing and anticipation -- the book / app covers all the basic principles of animation. There you find page after page with detailed explanations, embedded video links and color commentary (delightfully, this is often literally the case) that guide you through understanding how concepts transform into drawings over time. It's very well put together.

Animator's Survival Kit moves to iPad, brings indepth look at essentials

I particularly loved the embedded visits to his studio. Williams discusses topics, introducing them to the reader with a great deal of charm. For example, "Why does this app have so many pages on walks? Walks are the hardest thing to animate well." He then goes on to discuss how important it is to practice movement and how walks form the testing ground for most animation.

Animator's Survival Kit moves to iPad, brings indepth look at essentials

The book is filled with great advice. It's hard to go to any page and not learn something. Whether it's picking the correct foot to start walking ("It's unnatural to start a walk with the farthest foot from the direction we're going") to expressing speech ("The thing is to think of the word shapes and phrases, not of the letters"), the book offers Williams' years of experience, produced in a way that's sure to engage.

I can't imagine an audience who won't love this app. From school kids, just growing an interest in drawing to retirees, this book / app is perfect for anyone looking for a wonderful excursion into a new topic or attempting to expand their craft.

Animator's Survival Kit moves to iPad, brings indepth look at essentials

Want to look before you buy? There's a free sample app for you to try out, before committing to the full purchase.

Daily iPad App: Animator's Survival Kit moves to iPad, brings in-depth look at drawing essentials originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source

GateGuru for iPhone has been updated and greatly improved

I've been a fan of GateGuru since I first tried it in 2010. It's a travel app for the iPhone that provides a plethora of information of flights, airlines and airports. It's great having all of that in your pocket. Version 4.0 fixes some problems and makes GateGuru even better.

Version 3 was nice, but had nagging problems. For example, it required me to enter flight details, even when that's not the information I was after. For example, sometimes I simply want to review the amenities that are available at a certain airport. GateGuru 3 needed flight info before sharing that data.

With version 4, released today, all is forgiven. The free app now allows you to browse airport information with no restrictions. The entire app has been redesigned and it looks very modern. Plus, the amount of tapping has been reduced when you navigate, and all your travel information is on one screen.

GateGuru excels at travel info, including airport weather, terminal and gate arrival and departure info, and real-time flight information with optional push alerts for flight status. The app also provides estimated TSA waiting times, and reviews of airport food, location of ATMs and rental car information with some discounted rates for GateGuru users.

Gallery: GateGuru 4

I have one mild complaint. GateGuru caters to the traveler, and not the person who's simply doing the pickup. Yes, you can get the information on arrival times, but it's not really the purpose of the app. I prefer Flight+ which is a bit more agnostic on whether you are the traveler or the transportation. I'd like to see GateGuru add travel times to the airport based on local real-time traffic info, and travel / traffic time to a particular address like a hotel or convention center.

Still, GateGuru is an absolutely indispensable app for those traveling by air, especially since so much of air travel involves sitting at airports. This new version is one of the most improved apps I've seen this year. If you travel, I heartily recommend adding it to your iPhone's travel folder.

GateGuru for iPhone has been updated and greatly improved originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source

Mailbox is working on iPad app, desktop and other versions are in the future

In what should be one of those no-brainer decisions, the developers behind Mailbox have plans to bring the app to iPad, with desktop and Android clients not far behind, TechCrunch reports. There is no ETA on a desktop version, Mailbox developers tweeted, but it did confirm that the iPad version is in development.

Mailbox did away with its reservation system last week, the first key step in expanding to the iPad and other platforms. While the app initially gained a lot of users, expanding beyond the iPhone is imperative for users to keep using it. It was one of the key criticisms TUAW staffers had when we reviewed Mailbox collectively, and my stint with Mailbox lasted a couple days until I realized that Mailbox just couldn't integrate with my workflow as long as it remained iPhone-only.

Mailbox is working on iPad app, desktop and other versions are in the future originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source

StatsBar for Mac provides quick system statistics

StatsBar for Mac provides quick system statisticsStatsBar for the Mac (on sale for US$3.99 for the month of April) lets you get a quick overview of your Mac's vital statistics via a handy, unobtrusive window. It's quicker than opening Activity Monitor for at-a-glance look at what's up. I've been using it for a few days and am glad it's on my Mac. Here's my look at StatsBar.

Looks

StatsBar lives in your Mac's menu bar. The tiny little icon (I think it's supposed to be two gears but it looks like to daisies to me) is clicked to bring up the main screen, which is mostly grey and easy to read.

The main screen itself is divided into five sections: CPU, Memory, Disk Usage, Network and Power. I've got no complaints in the looks department.

Use

There are a couple of neat things here. First, there are three display options. You can opt to have the main screen disappear when you click outside of it, or float above all windows. To do this, click the anchor icon in the upper right. Or, anchor it to the menu bar icon and it'll always appear just beneath it.

CPU information is displayed in real time, and divided into user and system processes as well as idle percentage. Uptime is also displayed. You can also monitor wired, active and inactive memory and whimper as your available disk space slowly shrinks. Stop buying all those movies!

Finally, network information is available as well as handy details on your battery (I did not test this on a desktop), including its health, number of cycles, age, temp and power usage.

Conclusion

StatsBar is pretty handy and could be a first step when trying to nail down a problem before you open up Activity Monitor or Terminal. Those who like to keep an eye on what's happening under the hood should check it out.

StatsBar for Mac provides quick system statistics originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source