Filed under: Deals, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

With over 100,000 iPhone applications in the App Store, finding the right app can sometimes be a bewildering experience. Apple's getting better at refining the interface -- it's certainly easier to find what you're looking for now than when the App Store first launched -- but if you're on a limited budget or just love a good bargain, the App Store doesn't give you the tools you need if you're waiting for that $9.99 app to go on sale for $4.99.

Fortunately, there are alternatives to the App Store's built-in search engine that do let you know when iPhone apps go on sale, and they can save you tons of money. As of right now I have 74 third-party apps installed on my iPhone, and out of those, 34 of them are paid apps. Out of those 34 paid apps, I snagged 17 of them when they were temporarily available for free; almost every other paid app I've downloaded at a significant discount from the nominal, full price.

I've saved somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 on apps for my iPhone, and I got the opportunity to try out apps I might have ignored otherwise. It's all thanks to two websites and three iPhone apps that monitor App Store prices and let you know when apps go on sale. Read on to find out what they are and how they can save you buckets of cash.

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Continue reading 5 ways to save money on iPhone apps

TUAW5 ways to save money on iPhone apps originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, Rumors

During the latest episode of Diggnation, Digg's Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht interviewed John Hodgman, AKA the "PC" from Apple's "Get a Mac" ad campaign. Rose prodded Hodgman for information on Apple's supposedly forthcoming tablet Mac, but Hodgman claimed to have no inside information on the product.

Diggnation co-host Albrecht, however, claimed to know how much the tablet will cost, saying, "I was shocked at how cheap the price point is going to be." He didn't provide any information beyond that.

Price estimates for the Apple tablet have been all over the place, from US$500 on up to US$2,000. Considering no one outside of Apple (and possibly a few privileged people with inside information) even knows if the tablet exists for certain, much less what its features or capabilities are, nailing down a specific price for the fabled product seems as futile as predicting 2010 Olympic gold medal winners.

Personally, I hope Albrecht is right and the tablet Mac does turn out to be surprisingly inexpensive, because I can't see it selling well if Apple prices it as high as or higher than a full-featured, traditional portable like the MacBook.

[Via AppleInsider]

TUAWApple tablet to be surprisingly cheap? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch, App Review

fring, the free iPhone app that allows users to connect to multiple IM accounts at once, including Skype, has been updated today [iTunes Link]. fring now incorporates free video calls for fring-to-fring or fring-to-Skype chats.

Before you get too excited, you should know that on the iPhone and iPod touch, video chatting is a one-way affair. Because the iPhone's camera is located on the back of the device, fring chose to enable only incoming video for the iPhone (and the iPod touch, of course, has no camera at all). So, people can send you video, but you can't send video to them. fring's application for certain Nokia devices does have two-way video calling, but iPhone and iPod touch users will have to wait for some future (and for now purely hypothetical) device with a front-facing camera before two-way video calling will be feasible.

I tested the new video chatting feature using my home Wi-Fi (I haven't yet had the opportunity to test whether this new feature works over 3G). Video performance was fairly smooth unless I made really quick motions, and lag was minimal. Audio quality was fair, but the audio did have a tendency to drop out occasionally. Overall, video chatting seems nicely implemented, though it's nowhere near as smooth as in the simulated images in fring's promo video. Given that video chatting is a one-way street for now, I'm not certain how often people will utilize this new feature.

fring's promo video for the new video chatting feature is below. Note that the images in this video are simulated -- I couldn't find a way to make video chats fullscreen as in this video, and performance on my network was far choppier than that in the video.





[Via TechCrunch]

TUAWfring for iPhone updated with free one-way video calling originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Hardware, Rumors, iPhone

Mac Rumors has received word from Pandav, creator of iPhone application iBart [iTunes Link], that they've spotted usage records for the next-generation iPhone.

PinchMedia, the firm that provides analytics for the iBart app, allows Pandav to see what devices its apps are running on. Pandav noticed an identifier for "iPhone3,1" in their logs. The iPhone 3GS hardware identifier is "iPhone2,1", which means the next-generation iPhone is already being tested.

iBart is a guide for San Francisco's train system, which lends further credence to the rumor. The iPhone 3GS was spotted in October of 2008, again by PinchMedia statistics, and was also being used in the San Francisco area.

Based on the past three years of releases and comments by Apple's senior VP of marketing, Phil Schiller, the most likely launch date for the next-generation iPhone (iPhone 3GSS? iPhone 3GX? iPhone 4G?) is either June or July of 2010.

TUAWNext generation iPhone now in testing phase originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch, App Review

As you prepare to feast, it's not too soon to consider the impact of all that turkey and stuffing. The free Lose It! [iTunes Link] has been out for a long while now, and it's an app that people nearly always bring up when the conversation turns to good exercise/calorie tracker apps. With good reason: at one point I managed to lose over 15 pounds, and it was at least partly thanks to Lose It! on the iPhone. Its extremely intuitive interface and vast database of foods and exercises made it incredibly easy for me to track my progress and restrict my caloric intake.

The one thing I always thought was missing from Lose It! was the ability to sync information back to the Mac. The app itself had limited ability to track trends over time, so I always wished Lose It! had some way of getting that info off my iPhone and onto my computer so I could at least make a spreadsheet out of it.

Lose It! has gone one step farther than that -- they've created their own website, loseit.com, that allows you to view all sorts of information, synced directly from the 2.0 version of Lose It! on the iPhone. Not only are there heaps of information about your own weight loss, calorie consumption, and exercise trends, Lose It's website also allows you to view your friends' information and watch each others' progress, assuming you all have the Lose It! app.

Continue reading Lose It! app for iPhone updated to 2.0, introduces online sync service

TUAWLose It! app for iPhone updated to 2.0, introduces online sync service originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Multimedia, Freeware, Open Source

It's been a year in coming, but Handbrake, the multiplatform, open-source video transcoder, has been updated to version 0.9.4. It's one of the tools I included in my list of 10 must-have apps for a new Mac.


That 10% performance improvement estimate appears to be very close to the mark, at least on my MacBook Pro. Using 0.9.3, Handbrake encodes would average around 27 - 29 frames per second when transcoding a VIDEO_TS folder to H.264. In 0.9.4, using the same settings, I'm seeing encoding rates of closer to 30 - 34 frames per second. This means that on my Mac, Handbrake is now transcoding DVDs in real time or faster thanks to the improvements in the new version.

The Handbrake team has trimmed some of the fat from this release. There are no more presets for the PSP, PS3, or Xbox 360; all three have been replaced with a "Normal" preset that should work on any device that supports Main Profile H.264. Handbrake has also removed support for transcoding to AVI, OGG, and XviD. Personally I won't miss any of these, as I always transcoded to H.264, but for people who are still clinging to AVI (for whatever reason), this update will force them to abandon the format.

Another new feature that looks like it'll be incredibly useful is Live Preview, which allows you to encode a small portion of the video source using current settings and then see what it looks like. This will keep you from having to encode the entire video only to find out two hours later that one of your settings was off, forcing you to start all over again.

Handbrake 0.9.4 is a free download, available here.

TUAWHandbrake 0.9.4 released, includes 64-bit support originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: iLife, Software, Software Update

If you're running iLife '09, fire up Software Update, because Apple has a bug fix update out for you. iPhoto 8.1.1 "addresses issues affecting face recognition performance and accuracy. It also fixes minor issues in the areas of book ordering, and iPod touch support."

There's an extra step for getting Faces recognition working properly if you imported pictures in iPhoto 8.1, which Apple details on the support page for the update:

Important: If you imported photos of people while using iPhoto 8.1, there's an extra step you should take after installing the 8.1.1 update. Select all those photos, Control-click to open the contextual menu, and then choose Detect Missing Faces. This will redetect the faces in those photos and correct any face recognition issues introduced in iPhoto 8.1. You should not quit iPhoto during the Detect Missing Faces process.

iPhoto Update 8.1.1 is a 12.5 MB update available now in Software Update.

TUAWSoftware Update: iPhoto 8.1.1 released originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, iPhone

Apple's jumped into the Verizon versus AT&T fray, according to BusinessWeek, with a couple of new ads -- and, somewhat surprisingly, they come out in full defense of AT&T. Both ads show an iPhone user in the middle of a phone call who multitasks by looking up movie information, restaurant ratings, and many other things over AT&T's 3G network. The ads end with the question, "Can your phone and your network do that?" with a very prominent AT&T logo in the final seconds of the ads.

As I'm personally somewhat on the outside looking in at the U.S. telecom spats, I don't know how much US smartphone users really miss the ability to do simultaneous data browsing and phone calls while on Verizon's network. Based on what I've heard about AT&T's network reliability, however, there are some areas of the U.S. where you'll be lucky to be able to make and receive calls at all, or hold on to a call in progress, much less multitask in the manner depicted in these ads.

What's most interesting about these ads is how favorable they are to AT&T. It's no secret that Apple's been less than thrilled with AT&T over the course of their relationship, and it's even less of a secret how dissatisfied U.S. customers have been with the telco giant. It's understandable that Apple wants to paint the iPhone in a favorable light, but I'm admittedly surprised that they seem to be going to bat for AT&T at the same time. Sure AT&T is their business partner, but from my point of view this smells a lot like telling your family that your less-than-presentable date for Thanksgiving has 'a really great personality.'

Read on to see the ads in action.

Continue reading Two new iPhone ads: Apple defends AT&T?

TUAWTwo new iPhone ads: Apple defends AT&T? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Retail, Rumors, Deals

Boy Genius Report claims to have gotten its hands on Apple's Black Friday brochure. Although they had posted another brochure earlier that made less than credible claims of 30% iPod discounts and 25% Mac discounts, BGR claims this newest ad comes from "a pretty credible connect of ours." The new ad's discounts are also more in line with Apple's previous Black Friday deals, which tend to be fairly modest compared to other retailers.

Below are a few of the discounts on the "leaked" ad:
iMac: $101 off
MacBook Pro: $51-$101 off
iPod nano: $11 off
iPod touch: $21-$41 off

Boy Genius Report notes that these deals apply only on the online store, not at Apple's retail stores.

Though this ad seems legitimate on the face of it, it's worth noting that pretty much everyone here at TUAW agreed Boy Genius Report's last "leaked" ad was a fake. So take this latest "leak" with a grain of salt. However, after taking into account Apple's Black Friday deals in earlier years, whatever discounts it offers this year are at least likely to be similar to this latest ad leak whether it's the real deal or not.

[Via Mac Rumors]

TUAWApple's Black Friday ad possibly leaked? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Freeware

All new Macs come with great bundled software. Between the iLife suite, Safari, iTunes, and TextEdit, plus the ability to access and use cloud applications for free, almost all of the most basic modern computing needs get met for most users.

That said, having used four different Macs over the past seven years, there are several applications that don't come with OS X that I find myself immediately loading onto a new Mac. Most of these are big-name apps that you've probably already heard of, but it's still pretty amazing how much extra functionality you can eke out of a Mac with only ten additional programs, and all of them (save the last one) are free.

Whether you're buying a new Mac for a relative this holiday season or getting a new one for yourself, these are ten applications you should download as soon as that shiny new machine loads the desktop for the first time.

Continue reading Giving or getting a Mac for the holidays? 10 apps every new Mac user needs

TUAWGiving or getting a Mac for the holidays? 10 apps every new Mac user needs originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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