Filed under: Odds and ends, PowerBook, MobileMe

In late August we told you the story of 'Jim' who had his Mac laptop stolen along with some other computers and household goods. For the heck of it, he tried using Back to My Mac to find his machine. Back to My Mac is a feature of Apple's MobileMe service. Jim was surprised to find the Mac was online. He watched whoever had the laptop searching job sites, and cruising the web. He even saw some blurry pictures of people hovering around the computer.

The local police spent some time on the investigation, and finally recovered the laptop. Just a few days ago Jim picked it up. Many of his files were gone, but the Mac itself was in pretty good shape.

The investigators said the laptop had changed hands at least 5 times, and was probably used at least once as payment in a drug deal.

The perps may never be identified because of the laptop constantly changing hands, and no one seems to be talking. A happier ending would have been to have the crooks caught, but at least the laptop is back, and Back to My Mac helped accomplish the rescue. There have been other cases of Back To My Mac rescuing Macs and Apple's Find My iPhone service (also part of MobileMe) tracking stolen iPhones.

Thanks to Jim for sharing his story with us.

TUAWStolen laptop returned courtesy Back to My Mac information and police work originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone, iPod touch

It was just last week that TomTom offered a new version of its nav app for the US (minus Canadian data) for $49.99US [iTunes link]. That didn't make people who bought the full version for a hundred bucks and never needed the Canadian info anyway filled with joy. Now, TomTom has dropped the price of the version that does include both the U.S. and Canada to $69.99 [iTunes link] until December 28, making those earlier customers even more unhappy.

Price cuts, of course, are a way of life, and no one should be surprised that competition drives down prices. In my view, most of the iPhone GPS navigators are priced too high. I think somewhere between $35 and $50 is about right considering that you are providing all the hardware. Hardware solutions have really plummeted in price, with many selling for close to $100.00. The advantage of the iPhone solution is there is only one device to carry, but navigation stops when a call comes in.

I'll have a roundup of my favorite GPS apps in a couple of days, but if you are ready to go a 30% discount on the TomTom is a pretty good deal, especially if you need to navigate in both Canada and the U.S. The well regarded Navigon app [iTunes link] is selling for $89.99, but watch for sales on that product as well. I know a lot of people are holding out for the free Google Navigator for the iPhone, but there is no guarantee that it will ever hit the App Store.

Thanks to Steve for the tip!

TUAWOther shoe drops: TomTom cuts price of US and Canada GPS app by 30% originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone

Not wanting to feel left out of the festival of updates for GPS apps, AT&T has given AT&T Navigator [iTunes link] some new features that are sure to please people who use the app.

Here's what's new:

• Full landscape view integration
• Enhanced iPod controls with the ability to search through your songs, artists, etc. from within the app
• Inclusion of AT&T Wi-Fi Hotspots in the POI listings
• Seamless blending of navigation prompts and music for easy listening

The app itself is free, but you have to sign up for a U.S. $9.99/month subscription or get a $69.99 annual subscription. You can see some more details on the upgrade and watch a video of the Navigator in action here.

One nice feature of the app is you can just sign up for a month to take you through holiday travel, and then drop your subscription. Unlike many of the GPS apps for the iPhone, this app requires a cellular signal, because all the maps and info are streamed in over the network.

TUAWAT&T Navigator for iPhone updated originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 12 Dec 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Odds and ends, iPhone

Maybe they're feeling a bit of pricing pressure? Whatever the reason, TomTom just released a stripped down version of its Navigation app that leaves out Canada. Oh my.

This USA-only version sells for US $49.99, [iTunes link] which is half the price of the version that includes our good neighbor to the north. Like the big brother version, this app includes turn by turn directions and lane guidance, and 2D and 3D driving views.

This holiday season there is no shortage of choices for getting directions to your holiday destinations, and TomTom is pitching aggressive pricing and a strong feature set. The last few weeks we've seen several of the GPS apps cut prices temporarily to get some customers motivated, but this move from TomTom looks permanent and will undoubtedly force other vendors to follow suit.

This app requires an iPhone or iPod touch running 3.0 software, or older iPhones and iPod touches can work with the software ONLY if users purchase the TomTom car kit with a built in GPS receiver.

Thanks to Dubbs for tipping us to this holiday treat.

TUAWTomTom lowers iPhone app price if you don't need to go to Canada originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone, App Review

In what appears to be a happy marriage, Where To? for the iPhone [iTunes link] now talks to the Navigon GPS app. You can select a category or search for a business and then transfer that information directly to the Navigon app for turn-by-turn directions. If you don't have Navigon, you get Google Maps directions instead.

This is a nice update because the Navigon POI (points of interest) database is contained on the app, while Where To? relies on Google information. This way you get the best of both worlds, with up to date POI info that can easily be picked up the the Navigon app for a pretty seamless experience.

While checking the app on a drive around town I found it quick and easy to find some specific places to shop. Restaurants are broken down into categories, including things like cuisine categories or other criteria like "all you can eat."

The Navigon link worked perfectly, and in real world use turned out to be handy.

The new version also adds contacts integration, and customization and deletion of categories. I liked Where To? when i first reviewed it earlier this year, and the Navigon integration is a welcome addition. Where To? is U.S. $2.99. If you don't want to spend the money, I'd suggest a look at Around Me [iTunes link] which uses the same Google data but doesn't link to any nav apps.

TUAWWhere To? updated with Navigon integration originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Multimedia, Video, iPhone, App Review

The floodgates are beginning to open. Just last week we had the first live streamer, Knocking Live [iTunes link], that worked from iPhone to iPhone. Now, Ustream is offering a free app [iTunes link] that lets you put a live or recorded stream on the web that multiple people can watch from a web browser.

This is a rather stunning turnaround from just weeks ago when Apple did not allow any live streaming of video from the iPhone. This app supports the 3G and 3GS iPhones, and allows streaming over the 3G network and Wi-Fi. You can record the stream to your iPhone for a later upload, and it even works on 3G phones that don't have built-in video record capability.

The app allows you to share your recorded stream on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook and of course the Ustream site. You can relay your GPS location and your URL appears in the video so you can tell your friends how to find you. Finally, you can archive your broadcast to the web for later viewing.

To get it all going you must create a free account. I tried it this morning, and it worked on both 3G and Wi-Fi. I couldn't try the app on a 3G phone, but it is reported to work, giving that phone video capability in its unjailbroken state. Video resolution is 320 x 240 pixels, and can be lowered to 176 x 144. In my test, video and audio were lagging about 2-3 seconds, which is to be expected. There are ads on the Ustream web page, so that's where the money comes from to support this app.

I'm not sure what is causing the change of heart at Apple/AT&T about live streaming. It may be competition from other phones, or increased scrutiny from the FCC. I wonder if the Sling application will ever be fixed so it can use the 3G network? It seems they would have a good case.

It's great to see the iPhone finally get this capability. It's lagged behind some other smartphone platforms, but it is catching up rapidly -- so get the app, and become your own TV station.

Let us know in comments about your experiences, your likes and dislikes.

TUAWStream audio and video live from your iPhone with Ustream Live Broadcaster originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Multimedia, Video, Odds and ends, iPhone, iPod touch, App Review

I have always really liked iCam [iTunes link]. It will certainly be on my 'best iPhone apps of the year' list. Now it's been updated to automatically record video when it detects motion, and it allows you to play it back on your iPhone.

This was a much requested feature, and in my testing it worked like a champ. iCam can use almost any webcam to monitor a location. I use my built-in camera on my MacBook Pro, and a Linksys wireless webcam to monitor my pet bird. I can set either camera to send an alert if they detect motion, and now, with the new feature, the software takes a very quick succession of stills (several images per second) that I can view right from my iPhone wherever I may be. You just hit the play button and you can see what or who set off the recording.

You can remotely turn on the image recording, and even the motion detection notifications. All this in a U.S. $4.99 app. To make it all work you'll need some software running on your PC or Mac, and that software is free for the downloading. If you have the cameras, iCam makes for a complete and low cost home security system. Setup does not require any firewall tinkering. It just works.

You can monitor up to 4 webcams, and see them all simultaneously on your iPhone. To get everything up and running you'll need an iPhone or iPod touch with OS 3.0 or above, the iCam app, and iCam Source for your home computer. The software runs on Windows XP/Vista/7 or OS X 10.4 or later. Here's a link to a video so you can see how it works.

Just the thing to keep track of the house/kids/pets over the holidays, or any time.

TUAWiCam updated, now records video when motion is detected originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

Put this into the 'I didn't think they could ever get this to work on an iPhone' category.

I'm talking about Dragon Dictation [iTunes link] from Nuance, the developers of the very popular Dragon Naturally Speaking for the PC. Nuance also provides the speech recognition engine for MacSpeech Dictate on the Mac platform.

To dictate on the iPhone you just launch the app, press the record button, and start talking. Your dictation can be a brief sentence, or a much longer treatise. Once the text has been created from your speech, it's possible to email it, send it as a text message, or put the result in your clipboard. After recording your message, you can edit the resulting text before you send it off for others to read.

It's pretty slick! When you record your message, it is quickly transmitted to Nuance servers where a speech recognition algorithm is run against your data. The resulting text is returned to your iPhone very quickly; my informal benchmarks showed that it took about a second for text to be processed on a Wi-Fi network, and less than 5 seconds over 3G. You'll need a data connection for the app to work, but having this speech-to-text capability is going to be very important to a lot of people, who will find all sorts of uses for it.

I tested the app for about a week and found the accuracy to be very good. Accuracy diminishes if you are in a very noisy environment, as I found when I tried some dictation while being driven down the interstate. There were a few errors, but they were easy to correct. To add punctuation to your text, you can say 'period', 'question mark', or 'new paragraph,' and Dragon Dictation adds the appropriate punctuation.

Continue reading Dragon Dictation comes to the iPhone. Wow.

TUAWDragon Dictation comes to the iPhone. Wow. originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

In one of life's supreme ironies, AT&T today posted an iPhone app that allows you to report substandard service. That's right folks. Got a dropped call? No reception? AT&T Marks the Spot [iTunes link] is designed to get that info to your favorite cell company so they can act on it.

Let's see... I don't have any reception, so I pull out my new AT&T app to notify them of the problem. Doh! No reception to do that. And the app even nicely brings up a GPS map showing where I am. The GPS signal is much more reliable of course.

Look, I know AT&T means well, but the app is a tacit admission that all is not well on the AT&T network. I know you could travel to someplace with good reception, and send the data to them, but I think this app will rub salt in an already sensitive wound. [As readers point out, the app is designed to queue up the error reports and send them later when coverage is available. -Ed.]

This reminds me of when I worked at a PBS station many years ago in Ohio. We had pretty weak reception, and the Station Manager decided to do an hour long program to tell people how to adjust their antennas if they couldn't receive us. I tried, and failed, to convince him that the very people we were trying to reach couldn't see the program. My pleas fell on deaf ears, so we did the program and great hilarity ensued as the local press chewed us up for our stupidity.

AT&T says they will acknowledge the report with an SMS (and I assume not charge for it the SMS messages are listed as free) and I truly hope that they use the information they get to improve the network, because if it is just a PR stunt it is likely to backfire. There are already reports of people sending reports and not getting any acknowledgment. Oh well.

TUAWAT&T offers app so you can report crappy service. Huh? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Multimedia, Odds and ends, iPhone, Music

The department of Computing and Engineering and the School of Music at the University of Michigan have teamed up to offer an interesting course as part of their music program. Students are learning to make music using an iPhone or iPod touch. The generated tones can be altered by moving the phone using the built in motion sensor or the compass feature of the iPhone 3GS. By combining different instruments, an entire orchestra can be created.

I doubt people are leaving the auditorium humming the tunes, but it's yet another example of the extensibility that the App Store provides, and how it seems to give birth to all sorts of creative endeavors.

Here's a link to a video about the use of the iPhone in music, and another to a concert featuring the iPhone orchestra. The University of Michigan class is doing another concert on December 9th, so there is still time for you to get tickets if you're in the area.

The iPhone has had a rather large impact in music. For example, many professional piano tuners are using an iPhone app [iTunes link] that competes very well against dedicated hardware, while others have found ways to remotely play their piano using their iPhone or iPod touch. Also, many hobbyists and musicians alike who wish to synthesize music while on the go have a wide assortment of apps to choose from.

[Via Wired Online]

TUAWAn iPhone orchestra -- something you don't hear every day originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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