Night Fishing – 100% iPhone made Film Awarded at Berlinale

Berlinale has awarded Korean director Park Chan-wook for his latest flick Night Fishing, which is completely filmed through the lens of an iPhone 4.

The Golden Bear award in the short film competition at the 61st Berlinale went to the 33-minute film , which was shot on an Apple iPhone 4 by renowned director Park Chan-wook and his younger brother Park Chan-kyong. The world's first ever smartphone movie won the Golden Bear of the Best Film award of the Berlinale Shorts Competition section.  Turbulent was praised for its recording effects as well as imaging techniques.

“My heart is swelling over all of the interest and support that have both exceeded my expectations,” Park said upon receiving the award. He said he would like to return this honor to all of those who helped create this movie, which alternates between fantasy - a fisherman played by Oh Kwang-rok netting the body of a shaman dressed in white played by Lee Jung-hyun -- and reality, where Lee performs a ritual for the drowned fisherman.

But some critics are wary of praising "Night Fishing" as a revolutionary breakthrough in filmmaking, as its production and budget were not much different from those made with film cameras. Due to some technological limitations, especially for the night scenes, the brothers had to rely on professional lighting and filming equipment as well as makeup and special effects. Some also point out that its success was only possible with the sponsorship of a large corporation like mobile operator KT. It took 50 days, W150 million, and a crew of 80 to make the film. In contrast, most of the other shorts submitted to the iPhone 4 Film Festival held last October had a budget of W3 to 5 million, a crew of 10 and three to five days to complete.

Park has filmed everything from night to underwater scenes with the iPhone 4. One of the most acclaimed and popular filmmakers in Korea, Park is most known for his Joint Security Area,Thirst and the Vengeance Trilogy, consisting of the 2002 Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, the 2003 Oldboy and the 2005 Sympathy for Lady Vengeance.

You can see the trailer of "Night Fishing" right here.

The 61st edition of Berlin Film Festival was held from February 10 to 20, 2011

Ready-Made Text Messages From SMSwriterLite

To help iPhone users always have the perfect text message for any occasion at their fingertips, Power App announces its latest iPhone app, SMSwriterLite, a free and easy way to share a smile with friends and loved ones.

With over 65 ready-made SMS templates, SMSwriterLite is a quick and simple way for anyone with an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad to send a funny, romantic text message without struggling to find the right words.  With just a short space to write their greeting, many users find it challenging to find something original to say.

The designers of SMSwriterLite solve this problem by giving iPhone users unique, pre-written text messages that they can send instantly or edit for a more personal touch. The SMS message templates are organized into categories of greetings, including many holidays and special occasions: Love, Friendship, Birthday, Valentine's Day, Easter, Greetings, Christmas, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Weddings, and Jokes.

SMSwriterLite helps iPhone users to:
* Send text messages quickly and easily, especially if they are busy people on the go
* Impress their friends with original SMS greetings and funny jokes
* Make a great impression on their girlfriend or boyfriend with romantic SMS love messages
* Make their loved ones smile by sending an inspirational quote or quick text message to brighten someone's day
* Keep in touch with friends and family by sending an SMS message for a holiday, birthday, or special occasion

Device Requirements:
* iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
* Requires iOS 3.2 or later (iOS 4.0 Tested)
* 3.4 MB

Pricing and Availability:
SMSwriterLite 1.0 is free and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Social Networking category.

Energy and Dynamism with iVogue

iVogue, the fashion iPhone cases and covers website, has launched the new HEX iPhone 4 case, combining color and protection for the iPhone 4.  

The HEX iPhone 4 Case is available in a range of exciting colors and brings a new dimension to iPhone 4 protections. Made from TPU Silicone the HEX iPhone 4 Case fits perfectly around the award-winning Smartphone, adding style and verve, whilst shielding against everyday knocks and bumps.  The cases have an energetic translucent effect with a hexagonal pattern making them an ideal iPhone 4 case choice.

Colours Available
Orange
Red
Purple
Magenta
Clear
Green
Blue

HEX iPhone 4 is available exclusively from the iVogue website.

Stock Bubbles 1.0 check the stock market

aYou finally can check how your preferred stocks are doing in a glimpse with Stock Bubbles. Nothing is as powerful and entertaining as this advanced visual representation of the market! Every quote is a ball that will change color from red to green according to the percentage of loss or gain, and will fluctuate towards the top or bottom part of the screen accordingly. When markets are open the price change affects the bubbles graphics in a matter of seconds. With this new app you can:

* Manage your watch list with access to all the major exchange around the world
* Check your quotes flying as bubbles with real physical simulation
* Click on the bubble to access the details, charts, news
* All this with a fun application to use, supporting shaking the device, rotation, touching and dragging your quotes around on the screen
* Tap with two fingers to switch between percentage and price
* Bubbles color and elevation changed in real time, as new data arrives from the market

Device Requirements:
* iPhone 3G, 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod touch, iPad
* Requires iOS 3.2 or later (4.x compatible)
* 1.8 MB

Pricing and Availability:
Stock Bubbles 1.0 is free and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Finance category.

Apple creates a mini version of an iPhone4

Apple has introduced a new mini-model for its iPhone 4 smartphone, according to the Bloomberg. The news agency claims it has an anonymous source, who attended the introduction.

According to the information the anonymous source provides, is much smaller than iPhone4 and will be sold for 200$ without a contract with cellular operators. Presumably, the smartphone will be introduced to the wide market in summer 2011. Apple makes no comments about this rumor- neither confirms, nor denies.

Apple is going to compete with relatively cheap Android smartphone developers with this new device. The new version will be about 33% smaller than the current iPhone 4, told a reporter to Bloomberg who has seen the prototype. According to the report by Bloomberg, this new version of iPhone will also allow dual support to use GSM and CDMA networks.

It was also reported earlier, that Apple is working to create the digital analogue of a SIM card, named universal SIM.

QuickBoot

If you're going to install the 10.7 preview on a separate hard drive or partition, it's definitely worth knowing about Buttered Cat Software's QuickBoot, which allows you to change startup disks and reboot from your menu bar.

Lion in the House

Today, Apple released a preview version of Mac OS X Lion, but only for registered Mac developers. This is a big release, not just in terms of front-end experience, but also under the hood. A lot of the changes are influenced by UIKit and iOS, hence the moniker "Back to the Mac", but there's also a fair amount of completely new goodness, some of which will likely roll down to iOS at some point.

If you're an iOS developer, but not a Mac developer, it's probably worth $99 to get access to Tiger Lion. It'll give you a better idea of where Apple is taking things.

Plus, there's just a lot of really cool stuff in there.

Interestingly, the OS preview is being delivered via the Mac App Store, which might be a hint at how paid OS upgrades will be handled in the future.

Members of the Mac developer program can log into the Mac Developer site to download Lion, the release notes, and a new version of Xcode 4.

White iPhone 5 ?!

One more interesting hot rumor that thrilled the world - the officially delayed and often rumored white version of iPhone 4 has reemerged as the white iPhone 5 . One more Next Generation iPhone!

According to the Economic Daily News, the previously unheard rumor of white iPhone 5 will feature a touch panel supplied exclusively by Wintek Company. If that’s true, then the white iPhone 4, officially scheduled for a spring 2011 should be available just prior to the launch of the next generation iPhone 5 in white, anticipated for a summer launch in keeping with Apple’s typical launch cycle.

Not claimed to be true, not exactly ideal, but it’s only the first of many related rumors to come. However, some people say that Apple created the “idea” of a white iPhone in order to take control of the media. In an exclusive interview with Steve Jobs he goes on to say …” Apple makes such amazing products and we get the press whipped up so well, we can announce a product that we have absolutely no intention to ever make…”

Is it all about marketing, or is White iPhone 5 is really going to invade the market? Who knows… 

Voices that Matter Seattle

So far, 2011 has been pretty light for me in terms of speaking. I do, however, have one speaking engagement lined up for this year: I'll be speaking at Voices that Matter in the land of Mordor Seattle on April 9th and 10th. If you're interested in going, early bird pricing ends on February 25.

You can use the speaker code SEASPK2 to get $100 off.

There's a great speaker lineup for this conference, including Andy Ihnatko.

Advanced Day Management By WEB MASTERS

WEB MASTERS has announced myDay+ 1.2 for iOS, a powerful, integrated application that provides tools for successfully scheduling, performing, and recording your day. myDay+ accomplishes its tasks through the integrated use of ToDo lists, appointments, push notifications, and email reminders. myDay+ is also a powerful communication assistant offering phone dialing, contact list management, and a email client. myDay+ also includes additional features for tracking income and expenses and photo archiving of receipts. 

myDay+ increases your productivity through extensive use of dynamic information retrieval which provides quick and accurate data input through entering only a few letters and having the system present a list of possibilities to complete the entry. The myDay+ website, myDayplus.com, adds even greater functionality by providing data backup, sync, data export to a spreadsheet or word processor, in addition to all the functions of the iPhone app.

On launch, myDay+, presents six buttons and a menu bar. The menu bar has links to the main menu, settings, a special myDay+summary screen, info screen, and links to an extensive help system. The six buttons on the main menu are: Check Appointments, Add Friend or Place, Add Appointment, Add Income/Expense, ToDo List and View/Modify Friends. Selecting any button opens its screen for data input or retrieval. The configuration and operation of all controls on the iOS app are identical to the controls on the OS X application. Upon opening the Check Appointments Screen six buttons are displayed: Last Week, Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, This Week, and Next Week; a convenient method of thumbing through a virtual appointment book.

Feature Highlights:
* Integrated, easy to use
* Plan, perform, and record your day
* iPhone or desktop app
* Store and backup data on the app's web server
* Carry information in mobile device
* Integrated phone calling and emailing
* Push notification reminders
* Photo recording of receipts
* Email reminders

Device Requirements:
* iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
* iOS 3.0 or later (iOS 4 tested)
* 2.9 MB


Pricing and Availability:
myDay+ 1.2 is $4.99 (USD) and available through the App Store in the Productivity category.

Steve turns 56 tomorrow!

Most of us are aware that Steve Jobs has made an enormous contribution to the world of technology, and is now going through some tough time in terms of health problems. As he is approaching his birthday, Apple plans to mention it with the release of their new MacBook Pro to show their support to the co-founder and CEO, who is now on medical leave.

    

If you want to show your support to Steve or share your wishes and congratulations, you can do it right  here!

Blender 2.5 beta 6 Objective-C Export

A kind reader updated my Objective-C export script for Blender to work with the 2.5 beta 6 version of Blender. You can find the new version on GitHub.

On a related note, if you make a change to your clone of any of my public repositories on Github, you can send me a pull request. I'm happy to take additions, bug fixes, and other updates back into the master repository.

Thanks to John Becker for updating the script!

Apple Outsider on the Subscription "Hubbub"

I have a very short list of "must-read" blogs. While I have a much bigger list of blogs I read as time permits, the list of ones that I check every morning before I buckle down to work consists of only about a half-dozen blogs by people in our industry who really know their stuff. One of those blogs is Apple Outside, written by former Apple Evangelist, Cocoa Guru, and all-around nice guy Matt Drance (not to be confused with the more intimidating BatDrance who is most definitely not Matt's alter-ego).

I've been keeping my head low on the whole subscription kerfuffle that's been happening in the iOS dev world. Partially that's just because I'm busy and don't have time to pen a long blog-rant, but it's also because it's a complex situation on which I don't have a fully-formed opinion yet. Matt's even-handed take on the situation does a great job of articulating the situation and is well worth reading.

Communication made easy!!!

TNT Creations today is announced the global availability of Translation Fire app for iPhone and iPod touch, the ultimate translator application that offers fast and accurate translation to and from 52 languages around the world. 

We all remember our old friend, the Babel Fish from The Hitchhiker's Guide, that become more real thanks to Translation Fire app, a universal translator application which simultaneously translates from one spoken language to another. When it comes to traveling to non-English speaking countries or, perhaps, chatting with foreign exchange students, iPhone users can be sure Translation Fire will help them to untangle their tongues and overcome the language barrier.

Translation Fire is not just another translator application, but a useful tool to learn to speak any foreign language of the globe. Phonetic Transliteration teaches users to spell out the translated message in their native language for an easy way to read and pronounce the translation. Text to Speech function allows listening to translations spoken out in 37 different languages. Translation Fire is also a social networking tool that makes the communication via Gmail chat, email or SMS with anyone across the globe much easier by translating incoming or outgoing messages on the fly. Translated Gchat is a unique feature that allows users to seamlessly chat with automatic translation. Users can also login through the App and post their messages on Facebook and Twitter from inside the App.

Translation Fire is a perfect tool that helps its users to freely communicate with their friends from all over the world with no language barrier, as well as to improve their foreign language skills. The app shines in its translation capabilities which make Translation Fire for iOS a worthy download.

Device requirements:
* Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad
* Requires iOS 3.0 or later
* 5.8 MB

Pricing and availability:

Translation Fire 1.1 is completely free for a limited time and available worldwide exclusively on the App Store in the Social Networking category.

Once more about Steve- Facts About His Health

Apple CEO Steve Jobs says he needs time to focus on his health and has been granted a medical leave from the company for the third time. Jobs, who has suffered from pancreatic cancer and endured a liver transplant, is an Apple co-founder and is credited with revitalizing the company in the mid-1990s. He has been famously guarded about his health, but concerns about his illness have dogged the brand in recent years, with each leave of absence stirring fears among investors that the company will be unable to perform to its usual caliber without him. The announcement of his latest medical leave has thrust his health into the spotlight again. 

He'd rather talk about something else. Jobs has been fiercely private about his ailments, often leaving observers -- and investors -- with little more than speculation about his health. In 2009, when Apple announced that Jobs had undergone a liver transplant, the CEO seemed to bristle at the suggestion that his health battles should be public. "Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well," he wrote in an e-mail to his employees.

He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003 ... In 2005, Jobs said he had battled pancreatic cancer the year before and was in remission. "No one wants to die," he said at Stanford University. He said he was diagnosed with an islet cell neuroendocrine tumor, a rare but treatable and less deadly form of pancreatic cancer, which usually results in death relatively quickly.

He underwent a liver transplant in 2009. Jobs had not made a public appearance for months when he finally stepped out in September 2009 to unveil a new line of iPods and revealed that he had undergone a liver transplant as well. "As some of you know, five months ago I had a liver transplant," he said. "I now have the liver of a mid-20s person who died in a car crash and was generous enough to donate their organs. I wouldn't be here without such generosity, so I hope all of us can be as generous and elect to be organ donors."

... And attributed his sudden weight loss in 2008 to a "nutritional problem."  Jobs' extreme weight loss in 2008 left him looking gaunt and raised fears that his cancer had returned. But Jobs said his cancer remained in remission. He said he was suffering from a "nutritional problem" and had already begun to feel better. "My doctors think they have found the cause -- a hormone imbalance that has been robbing me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy," he said in early 2009.

"The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I've already begun treatment."

Just days later, however, Jobs announced that he would be taking a medical leave. "During the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought," he wrote in a letter to Apple employees. "In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence."

Every time he goes on medical leave, Apple's stock takes a dip. Investors fear the company's fortunes are intimately intertwined with that of Jobs, and the company's shares dropped more than 6 percent in 2009 when the CEO announced he would be taking a medical leave. So it's notable that Apple's latest announcement about Jobs' health comes on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday when the markets are closed. Jobs said today that Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook is more than prepared to lead the company in his absence. "I have great confidence that Tim and the rest of the executive management team will do a terrific job executing the exciting plans we have in place for 2011," he wrote. 

Let's wish him all the best ! Apple really needs him!

Sad News- Steve Jobs Cancer Reports

Earlier this week photos of an emaciated Steve Jobs entering Stanford Cancer Center appeared in The National Enquirer, spurring fears of the CEO's worsening condition and causing a 5 point dip in the company's stock.The report went as far as to claim that the CEO has only 'six weeks to live' based on photographic analysis by two separate doctors.

Given the source, evidence provided, and testimony of the two alleged experts, the reports seem flimsy at best, but the impact on the company's per-share valuation was still notable, dropping from $363 to $358. In January, Jobs announced that he would be taking a leave of absence for an unspecified length of time due to health-related issues. 

The CEO had taken two similar leaves since 2004 to undergo treatment for pancreatic cancer, leaving other key executives in charge of day-to-day operations in his absence.

New iPhone App from Half Off Depot

Half Off Depot, a shopping website offering daily deals to the best shops, restaurants, bars, attractions and events in a variety of cities across the U.S. and Canada, today launched its official Half Off Depot application for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

The app, which is currently available for free download in the Apple App Store, enables deal seekers to browse discounts from 50-90 percent off at shops, restaurants, bars, attractions and events in their respective cities on-the-go.

Unlike many of the company’s competitors, Half Off Depot features daily deals, in addition to a virtual shopping mall of deals where people come to shop 24/7. The new app allows users to access Half Off Depot’s virtual shopping mall of discounts, with the option to purchase deals in just one click.

For more information click here

Little Black Box USB Battery

QuickerTek introduced the "Little Black Box", the world's first and only USB battery pack of its kind that allows you to use ANY AA battery to charge or power Apple's iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or virtually any USB powered device.

That means you can use Alkaline, Carbon, Ni Metal Hydride or NiZinc rechargeable AA batteries as long as all four AA batteries are the same kind and brand. The internal circuitry compensates for different battery voltages to supply the correct voltage for USB compatibility. Our test studies show that the best batteries to use are the rechargeable NiZinc batteries, they are the highest capacity.

The QuickerTek Little Black Box is very compact so you can take it on an airplane, camping or road trips! Never be caught with a dead battery again!

Specifications:

* Weight - 1.6 oz. without batteries
* Dimensions: 80.16 mm x 62.44 mm x 19.38 mm
* 1.2 vdc to 1.6 vdc
* On and Off switch
* Female USB port
* 4-AA batteries not included in kit

Deutsche Telekom Expecting NFC-Enabled iPhone This Year

With rumors suggesting that Apple may add near field communication (NFC) capabilities to the fifth-generation iPhone to enable mobile payments. According to Phone Scoop, Deutsche Telekom today gave a presentation at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona outlining its adoption of NFC technology for mobile payments, and during the course of the presentation noted that it expects an NFC-enabled device from Apple to debut sometime this year.

Deutsche Telekom announced that it expects NFC phones in 2011 from Apple, Samsung in Q2, and RIM & LG in Q3. The company expects mobile payments replacing cash to be the most popular use for NFC technology, followed by mobile ticketing for services such as public transportation.Engadget clarified with the report's author that the mention of Apple was included on a slide in the presentation, although Apple was not included in a press release from Deutsche Telekom describing its mobile payments initiative among other topics associated with Mobile World Congress.

It is of course unknown whether Deutsche Telekom representatives were simply speculating based on the existing NFC-enabled iPhone rumors, or if they have additional information that may have been gleaned from testing with the new device.

A Couple CGAffineTransform Goodies

Thanks to Core Animation, we iOS programmers tend to use affine transformations (by way of CGAffineTransform) a lot. By being able to combine multiple 2D transformations into a single matrix, we have the ability to do a lot of cool animation effects with only a few lines of code.

Take the following example, which is fairly typical:

    CGAffineTransform transform = CGAffineTransformMakeTranslation(0, -translation);
    transform = CGAffineTransformScale(transform, scaleFactor, scaleFactor);
    view.transform = transform;

Not bad, right? In just three lines of code, we're able to both scale and translate a view or layer. But in reality, there's actually quite a few operations going on behind these three lines of code. The CGAffineTransformScale() function calls CGAffineTransformConcat() to perform a matrix multiplication operation between two affine matrices. But, as you probably know, you can't multiply a 2x3 matrix by another 2x3 matrix. To multiply affine transformations, they have to be converted back to 3x3 vector matrices first.

On today's devices (even mobile devices), this all takes a trivial amount of processing power. But sometimes, when you're doing a lot of these transformations — say thousand or tens of thousands a second — it can be valuable to be able to avoid that conversion and matrix multiplication.

It just so happens that with certain commonly used CGAffineTransforms, you can cheat. Certain matrices can be joined together without performing matrix multiplication. For example, here are the matrices created by CGAffineTransformMakeScale() and CGAffineTransformMakeTranslation(), respectively:

         

Go ahead and multiply those two together. Plug in any number for tx, ty, sx, and sy and run the numbers. I'll wait. Okay, you don't have to. This is what you'll get:


So, if that's the result we're going to get, why bother going through the matrix multiplication in the first place? Why not just populate the matrix with both the scale and translate values right from the get-go? Well, we can. We can also do the same thing with translate and rotate.

This is all there is to it:

static inline CGAffineTransform CGAffineTransformMakeRotateTranslate(CGFloat angle, CGFloat dx, CGFloat dy)
{
    return CGAffineTransformMake(cosf(angle), sinf(angle), -sinf(angle), cosf(angle), dx, dy);
}
static inline CGAffineTransform CGAffineTransformMakeScaleTranslate(CGFloat sx, CGFloat sy, CGFloat dx, CGFloat dy)
{
    return CGAffineTransformMake(sx, 0.f, 0.f, sy, dx, dy);
}

That's it. It only saves you two lines of code:

    view.transform = CGAffineTransformMakeScaleTranslate(scaleFactor, scaleFactor, 0, -translation);

But, your stack allocation is considerably smaller (one CGAffineTransform instead of two CGAffineTransforms and an intermediate 3x3 array. It also saves you eighteen floating point multiplications and nine floating point additions. 99.9% of the time, that number of operations is going to have no noticeable affect on your application - it's a trivial amount of both memory and FLOPS under most normal situations.

But… if you're doing a lot per second, they can add up and it's nice to know there's a way that you can save yourself a little overhead in some situations.

Quality Custom Products Designed by You!

Zazzle, the world's leading platform for quality custom products, in collaboration with Speck, a leading designer and manufacturer of popular electronics cases and bags, continues to provide consumers with ways to shower their iPhone with love and adoration with the announcement today that its custom iPhone 4 cases are fully compatible with the new Verizon iPhone. Consumers looking for the perfect way to say "I Love You" , “happy Birthday”, “I miss you” or express other feelings for the respective occasions.

Zazzle's powerful customization tools and colossal marketplace of content contributed by artists and brands worldwide, promise to make this a must-have gift for shoppers.

Key custom universal iPhone 4 case details:

• The Speck Fitted case is a high quality, durable, lightweight case with custom-fit contours and openings allowing access to all ports, sensors and controls.

• Form-fit, fabric-wrapped hard shell adds maximum device protection and creates a tailored appearance.

• Fabric area covers the complete backside of your device and is 100% customizable with your own unique designs, images, or photos.

For more information click here

Nokia-Microsoft Alliance in a Win for Apple

The marriage of Nokia and Microsoft is official. The smartphone alliance combining the Windows Phone 7 mobile OS from Microsoft with the mobile phone manufacturing muscle of Nokia could be a line in the sand leading to a brighter mobile future for both, or a final desperate swan song. Regardless of how it ultimately works out for Nokia and Microsoft, though, the partnership is good news for Apple.

Al Hilwa, an IDC analyst, commented that foror Nokia to bet on Microsoft’s new phone platform is an incredible vote of confidence but it is also a natural partnership given the various points of synergies. In the long run, Microsoft will really need a stronger hardware strategy to compete with Apple and RIM and to make headway against the ubiquitously sourced Android.

Abandoning Symbian and embracing Windows Phone 7 seems like a well-orchestrated coup for Microsoft—a subversive takeover from the inside that conveniently provides Microsoft with a major smartphone development capacity without all of the financial and regulatory red tape involved in trying to actually buy Nokia.

The Nokia-Microsoft alliance is good news for Apple, though—legally speaking.  By teaming with Microsoft, Nokia has a deep patent pool to draw from and can most likely bring its legal battles with Apple to a close.

Xcode 4 Icons

Well, now that Xcode 4 is GM, it has the same icon as Xcode 3.25. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be an issue, since a GM release means you can throw out the old one and use it full-time.

Only, you may not be able to with all of your projects. Xcode 4 GM has a few issues that make it hard to go full-time with it, including a linker error that can only be worked around by turning some level of code optimization, a change that makes it hard to debug. A few of these problems impact projects I'm working on, so as a result, I have to grudgingly use Xcode 3.25 for some tasks.

Despite a small handful of problems, though, Xcode 4 is where I want to be whenever possible. Having multiple identical icons in your Dock can be a bit of a pain.

Unfortunately, I didn't save the old Xcode 4 installers. If I had, I would have just gone and stolen the old preview icon and continued using that. Since I didn't, I did the same thing I did for beta iOS releases and made a customized version of the app icon for Xcode 4. If you want to use it, you can download it here. To install, you just copy the .icns file into Xcode 4's app bundle, replacing the existing one. And, no, replacing the icon file with a new one doesn't cause problems with Xcode 4 due to code signing, though I feared it might.

This is what it looks like:

Newspaper publishers warn Apple over iTunes sales

Apple is being warned against trying to squeeze cash out of the newspaper industry by controlling subscriptions for iPads and iPhones. 

The European Newspaper Publishers' Association (ENPA) says it is concerned by the company's plans to direct online sales through iTunes. If that happens, the ENPA warns, a large cut of their profits would go to Apple. However, the technology giant insists it wants to give customers the choice. Several European Newspapers claim that Apple has banned them from offering free electronic editions to their print customers. The move sparked industry speculation that a further clampdown was imminent. Publishers' main concern is that users will not be allowed to subscribe via newspapers' own websites.

In a statement, the ENPA said that as the consumers may only have access to the newspaper of their choice via the iTunes store, where the transaction would be subject to commission. Apple currently receives a 30% share of revenue from apps and eBooks sold this way.

According to the official investigation, the publishers are also worried that if Apple takes control of sales, they could lose access to subscribers' personal information. Details such as age, sex and location are useful when selling advertising. Apple declined to comment on the ENPA's criticism. The company has previously denied that it plans to stop users from buying subscriptions through publishers' own websites. However, it has introduced a rule that newspaper apps must include an option to purchase through iTunes. Critics argue that the ease of "in app" subscription means most users will opt for Apple's preferred method. In a related move, Belgium's economy minister has called for an official investigation into Apple's plans to sell e-newspapers. Vincent Van Quickenborne has suggested that the company may be abusing its dominant position in the market.

Which type of iPhone user are you?

As everyone looks forward to the launch of iPhone on Verizon, as it was only available through AT&T before, let’s look back at the iPhone impact on our lifestyles. Upon such reflection, we realize that since the first appearance of iPhone, several types of its customers have emerged.

The Fanboy

 excited about everything that has the Apple logo. He owns every previous versions of iPhone and posts on every forum concerning Apple. Wearing an Apple T-shirt, bought from a former disgruntled Genius Bartechnician and avoids laundering it in order to prevent it from fading. When facing a problem, he blames everything on AT&T and is fully prepared to scapegoat Verizon as well, coming in February.

The Unappreciative

This particular iPhone owner got the iPhone just because it was trendy and on sale when she renewed her AT&T contact. She is not fully aware of the raw computing capability in her hand, and probably doesn’t care anyway.The unappreciative has never downloaded an app, doesn’t use a case and complains about how big the phone is. She misses her Motorola Razr.

The Overuser

Unlike the Unappreciative, the Overuser uses his phone to get the full extent possible. In fact he is always on it, to the degree that it is difficult to hold a conversation with him. He dropped 50$ on a bulky, toilet-proof case, and downloads apps out of sheer boredom.

HE even dressed up as Angry Birds on Halloween.

The Desk Job

This guy owns a Blackberry as well, from which he simply can’t cut the cord. He carries both phones around with him and mainly uses iPhone as a sweaty, glorified iPod at the gym. His corporate job pays for the phone plan, so extra 100$ a month for a phone he never makes calls on doesn’t phase him, (which drives The Fanboy nuts) Optional: walks around with in-ear Bluetooth.

The Hacker

The Hacker can’t be constrained by things like “Terms of Service” or “the FCC”. She jailbroke her iPhone the day she got it and uses it to do things like remote start her canard turn her neighbors’ TV on and off from across the street. She cut off AT&T long ago and makes free calls from Skype via WiFi instead of using a phone plan. She tries to convince The Fanboy to jailbreak as well so he can tether to his laptop, but he is too scared to do this.

The senior Citizen

No one is really sure on how this guy ended up with an iPhone. He has to hold it really far away from his face to use it, and types at 1WPM. You wonder why this guy has his cell phone in the first place and especially cringe when you hear the default iPhone ringing tone play ceaselessly from his jacket pocket while he tinkers with his hearing aid.

The Complainer

This guy does nothing but whine about the iPhone, from the touch keyboard to censorship, to Steve Job’s sweaters. He tells people he’s getting an Android as soon as his contract is up, and gets mad when he sees the Senior Citizen using it incorrectly.

But he is probably getting to get the next iPhone anyway. 

So, confess now, which type of  iPhone user are you?  

Google Translate for iPhone hits the App Store!

Last month Google came out with some new synthesized voices for Google Translate, and now the Google Mobile Blog has announced the availability of an iOS version of Google Translate, complete with voice-to-text data entry and synthesized speech. There's support for 15 languages via voice entry, but you can listen to the translation of 23 languages via those synthesized voices. Tapping a zoom icon makes the translated text bigger, handy when you want to just point and ask "where is the bathroom?" in Spanish (or dozens of other languages).

iPhone users have been able to use a mobile-optimized HTML5 version of Google Translate for some time now, but they can now finally also get an honest-to-goodness app of their own just like their Android-using friends. That brings with it a number of enhancements over the basic web app, including a speak-to-translate feature with support for 15 languages, the ability to listen to your translations in 23 different languages, and a full-screen mode that lets you show your translated text to others with large, easy-to-read text. Google is still keep a few features exclusive to the Android version, however, including the still-experimental conversation mode that allows for some on-the-fly translations-both apps are also still lacking a much-needed beatbox mode.

Of course, the web app has been around for a while, but you couldn't do the voice or speech actions. The dedicated app is free, and I've found Translate to be quite good at what it does.

MC3D - Platform Agnostic 3D Foundation

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. Things have been, well… you know. Same old story. Super busy. Which is good, but it's murder on blog post frequency.

I've recently had to port some OpenGL ES work I did from iOS to Android. It used to be that doing so would have been insanely painful (as opposed to just painful). I would have had to convert the Objective-C code to Java, and then maintain completely distinct sets of code that do the same exact thing. Fortunately, the Android NDK (Native Development Kit) allows you to write code for Android in C/C++. The version of the NDK supported on 2.2 still requires part of the Activity (Android's counterpart to an iOS view controller) to be written in Java, but does allow you to call C/C++ code using JNI. In 2.3 and 3.0, you can do entire activities in C or C++.

This is a huge step forward for Android for those of us who do performance-critical work on multiple platforms, but it's not without some pain. Debugging across the JNI bridge is… less than easy. But, being able to share code across platforms is a huge win, and being able to get native speeds in the process is teh awseome.

During these projects, I've been taking a lot of my 3D-related code and creating a new set of platform-agnostic C functions and types. I've been cleaning up and making names consistent, and placing appropriate pre-compiler macros to make sure the code compiles correctly everywhere. On iOS, the library will take advantage of the Accelerate Framework in places, but doesn't require Accelerate to function.

I've chosen C because I don't like mixing C++ and Objective-C. The object models are too different for my tastes. But I've also made sure to include proper ifdef'd extern statements so that you can import the MC3D header files from C++ without hassle.

I've dubbed this set of functions MC3D, and I'm making it open source under a simplified version of the simplified BSD license (simplified simplified BSD license?). I've taken out the attribution requirement, so the only requirement is that if you re-distribute the source code, you have to leave the copyright and license text intact. That's it. Otherwise, you can use it for free in any project, commercial or otherwise, without paying anything, without attributing, and without asking (no really, you don't need to ask).

MC3D is still very much a work in progress, and I'm only adding code to the repository that I feel is ready for public consumption. Much of what's in MC3D has been posted here before, sometimes with different names or in slightly different form.

I have other code that I plan to add in the future, including higher-level functionality like model loading, scene management, and skeletal animation, but I won't add anything until its both solid and platform agnostic.

Currently, documentation is very sparse, and I currently can't offer any support or help with using it, so caveat emptor! I will gladly accept contributions, bug fixes, and new functionality back into the MC3D codeline.

MC3D on GitHub.

Link fixed, sorry about that

Ringtone Remix Pro Puts a Ringtone Creation Studio on iPhone

Ringtone Remix Pro for iOS has been released by Electric Pocket today, putting the power of a ringtone creation studio onto iPhone smartphones. With Ringtone Remix Pro, iPhone users can easily create their own free ringtones from the music they already have in their tones and connect with Dropbox to sync and share ringtones.

Ringtone Remix Pro, by the makers of popular iOS apps such as BugMe! Ink Notes, MailTones and Nag Timer, offers iPhone users a fun, attractive and simple-to-use interface for creating a free ringtone collection from the music they already own. Rather than paying for ringtones or settling for the beginnings of songs instead of their favorite lines or chorus, Ringtone Remix Pro lets users create ringtones from their own music collections and zoom in to clip their favorite section of each song.

With Ringtone Remix Pro, iPhone users can:
* Choose any song from a music collection to use as a ringtone for callers and calendar alerts
* Zoom in and choose their favorite part of the song to use as the tone
* Preview tones to hear how they will loop
* Choose to have the ringtone fade-in as an escalating tone

For more information  click here

Super Bowl XLV: iOS users vote on Steelers!

NPolls composed a survey of 1.244 iPhone/iPod/iPad users in US, asking who voters thought were going to win the XLV Super Bowl this Sunday between the Pittsburg Steelers and the Green Bay Packers. Results were close in percentage (51% and 49%)!

This poll was created with the NPolls iOS App between 24 and 28 of January, among iOS users across USA. Majority of people voted for a Steelers victory by only 1% difference. 65% of people agree that this year’s Super Bowl game will be close in score, with less than 7 points difference between both teams.

Supporters are extremely confident in their team’s win. 96% of voters who chose Green Bay Packers were confident their team would take home the Vince Lombardi trophy. Steelers supporters had a smaller confidence percentage of 90%. One thing is for sure, supporters for both teams agree that the game will be decided by less than 7 points difference (63% among Packers fans and 66% among Steelers).

Voters were asked to predict the MVP of this year’s Super Bowl, predicting quarterbacks, Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers. Of overall votes, Rodgers received 36% of votes while the Roethlisberger received 33% of predictions. Packers’ wide receiver, Greg Jennings, was the third most voted player with 16%. 

Voters considered players Heath Miller, Mike Wallace and Troy Polamalu, as well. Among iOS users, Dallas Cowboys are considered the most favored team in the NFL, with 13% of supporters. New England Patriots ranked second with 11% of the vote. When asked about this year’s worst team performance, voters did not hesitate in claiming that the Cowboys were the most disappointing in the 2010 NFL season, with almost one third of votes (30%). Minnesota Vikings ranked second with 17% of votes. 43% of Dallas fans claimed their team was the biggest flop of the season.

When voters were asked what team was the biggest surprise of the season, four teams emerged as front-runners with only 3 p.p. difference between them: Seattle Seahawks (20%), Chicago Bears (18%), New York Jets (18%) and Green Bay Packers (17%). The biggest shock of the season, claiming 42% vote of Chicago supporters, was the Bears loss against the Packers in the NFC final.

Handcase launches Gune in 4 more languages

The Handcase Gune after launching, its search engine and added 14 new mobile tools: Google News, Bing news, Picasa, Friendfeed, Wikipedia, Delicious, YouTube, Flickr, IMDB, Bing images, Scribd, Metajam, Amazon and eBay, now supports more than four languages besides English, Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese.

Gune is a system of meta-search, mobile only, that is, their algorithm does searches on other sites and generates a single page, with a list of ten results per search engine, tuned to the screen of phones and smartphones. "The goal is to optimize the time of the user, offering a more economical and better integrated with mobile search." Ricardo Garay explains CEO Handcase.

Gune also offers a catalog of mobile sites. "As with the directory in English, which now has sites in 1500, growing an average of 140 sites per month, we invite everyone to build with us, directories for other languages. This is the face of social and collaborative Gune, and everyone is that make it what it should be, an indispensable service "summons Garay.

For more information click here

Introducing The Daily!

The Daily is a first-of-its-kind daily national news publication built exclusively as an application for tablet computing. It provides readers the engaging experience of a magazine combined with the immediacy of the web and the need-to-know content of a newspaper, all while elevating user experience beyond the printed word. The Daily is a subscription-based news product, published 365 days a year. The Daily is built from scratch for the iPad by some of the best in the business to bring you a package that’s smart, attractive, and entertaining. The Daily takes full advantage of the iPad’s storytelling and sharing capabilities. 

Stories, photos, video, audio and graphics come alive the more you touch, swipe, tap and explore. The Daily publishes 365 days a year covering breaking news, sports, pop culture, entertainment, apps, games, technology, opinion, celebrity gossip and more. The Daily is absolutely free for two weeks from the time you download it to your iPad. The Daily is available through Apple’s iTunes subscription service and via the iPad App Store for $0.99 a week or $39.99 a year. The Daily will be offered on additional tablets over the coming months. While The Daily lives on the iPad, web-friendly versions of most of The Daily’s articles and features can be easily shared via Facebook, Twitter and email. The Daily covers news, sports, gossip & celebrity, opinion, arts & life, and apps & games.

Some highlights of The Daily include:

• Original content every single day of the year

• Original videos

• 360-degree photos you can explore by swiping

• Immersive photography

• Interactive charts, info-graphics and clickable hot spots

• The option to save articles to read later

• Your favorite sports teams’ scores, news and photos

• In-app commenting — including audio comments

• Your local weather

• Crossword and sudoku puzzles every day

For more information click here

New issue of AppleUsers Spotlight now available!

The February issue of the AppleUsers Spotlight is now available for immediate download as a 2.6MB PDF! The AppleUsers Spotlight is a 30+ page digital format magazine, written and published by Apple Users for Apple Users. Commencing with the sixth issue, the February 2010 edition, the AppleUsers Spotlight is now publicly available for the wider Apple community to download, free of charge. Apple's recent announcement about the iPad means that our feature articles focus on the iPad but still, plenty of other interesting news are available as well.

Feature articles in the February issue include:

* iPad - Apple's Latest Creation

* Hands-on Impressions of the iPad

* Steve Wozniak - Before he appeared on Dancing with a Stars

* Free TidBITS News iPhone App

* "If Monks Had Macs" Available for Free

* The Bourne Identity... and other former members of Apple-Q

The regular columns are also present, including:

* AppleUsers Contest, which a great selection of applications, physical books, ebooks and Squiz Cards all up for grabs

* Joy of Tech has an iPad related cartoon

* The resident Spotlight Cook providing a delicious Crispy Apple Coleslaw

* The What's New section has been broken up into two segments - What's New for iPhones and What's New for Macs.