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Before I get rolling here, let me warn you -- I'm not a frequent user of
iTunes. I don't spend all of my time purchasing new music, videos, and movies, nor do I obsess over creating playlists to share with my friends.
However, I do use it often enough that after firing up iTunes 10 last night, I immediately found some things I wasn't fond of and some other items I quickly loved. Am I going to lose sleep over the things I don't like? Nope. But I hope that it gets TUAW readers thinking about what they like and dislike about the new iteration of iTunes.
Dislikes:
- What's with the close / minimize / maximize buttons being vertical in the top 'toolbar' of iTunes 10 (see example at right)? As I stated to my cohorts here at TUAW this morning, doesn't that fly in the face of 10 years of experience with OS X and even violate Apple's Human Interface Guidlines? Fortunately, there's relief. A tweet from @rudyrichter showed how to fix this -- pop into Terminal and type or paste in 'defaults write com.apple.iTunes full-window -1', press Return, relaunch iTunes and life is back to normal.
- I miss the colorful icons in the sidebar. There used to be color in the icons for Library, Store, and Shared Items. What happened to the color? It looks so ... drab over there now. If anyone can come up with a defaults command to bring the colors back, I'll give 'em a nickel. Hey, they also removed color icons in the preferences. I want my color back! Everything is so grey and boring. Perhaps that's Apple's way of saying 'focus on the content we're trying to sell you, not the application.'
TUAWFive dislikes plus five likes equals iTunes 10 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple has jumped into the social media pool with both feet by introducing
Ping to iTunes 10. Since this is brand-new, we'll show you how to set it up and start pinging your friends. Whatever that means.
After installing
iTunes 10, you'll see the Ping button. Click it to enter your Apple ID and begin the process of creating your profile. It'll pull the information stored on the account, like name and address, but fortunately you can edit it. You can add a photo to represent yourself as well. There are many
PhotoBooth-style filters available, so have fun playing around.
Note that your photo won't go live until Apple approves it. Mine took a good 20 minutes to show up, and others have said the same thing. Just be patient, it'll get there.
Click below to read more.
TUAWiTunes 101: How to set up Ping originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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A few months ago,
Twitter announced that they had acquired Tweetie and the web (I refuse to use the word 'blogosphere' because it is a stupid word) exploded with predictions that they had effectively killed off the market for 3rd party Twitter applications by offering a free alternative.
With the release of Twitter as a universal app that now includes iPad support (read the official announcement here) I feel confident that the reports of the death of 3rd party Twitter applications have been greatly exaggerated.
The UI for Twitter for iPad is, without question, unlike any other Twitter application that we've seen. Opinions around the TUAW offices differ on whether this difference is 'awesome' or 'an abomination.' I definitely range towards the latter end of the scale, and judging by most of the comments of people that I follow on Twitter, the initial reaction is definitely one of 'too busy' and 'over designed.'
This is in sharp contrast to Twitterrific, which just released a major update for the iPad and iPhone where the Iconfactory made dramatic simplifications to the app, while retaining the most important features for the most users. (Craig Hockenberry talked about those changes here.)
TUAWOfficial Twitter app updated for iPad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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If you have a secret love affair with shoulder padded t-shirts (that you wear around the house when no one's looking), and you instinctively roll up your sleeves when you put on your favourite blazer jacket (and don't get why people look at you funny), then here's an app for you.
Back in June
Akai Professional released
SynthStation for the iPhone / iPod touch, and we got excited. Very excited. Why? Because we love synths, especially when they are the old school type (cue Terminator soundtrack). And it just so happens to be that Akai has got a rather large name for itself when it comes to synths, especially the old school type. So we decided to take a closer look. You know, any opportunity to lay down some ominous beats over a sea of warm pulsating analog synth.
SynthStation is an all-in-one mobile music creation setup. It comprises of three virtual analog synths sonically tailored for melodies, chords and bass lines respectively. To go with your texture, there's a comprehensive and customizable drum kit, too. Add some awesome sounding synth effects, a sequencer, on the fly input and tweaking, a mixer to pull it all together and you've got yourself a package that
Thom Yorke may even appreciate for his next solo project.
TUAWCount The Beats: Akai brings the analog synth to your iPhone, and more originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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CommentsBillboard has announced that it will be giving awards out for iOS music apps (of all things). At the Music App Summit on October 5th,
Billboard will choose winning iOS apps in six different categories, from Best Artist App and Best Music Creation App to Best Branded Music App. You can find the full list of nominees after the break, and there are some recognizable names on there, including
a Phish touring app, TUAW favorite
I am T-Pain, and
the now Disney-owned Tap Tap Revenge.
Winners will be announced at the summit, and they will be
selected by a panel of judges that includes (not kidding about this) MC Hammer and a bunch of CEOs and marketing folks. It seems silly (and let's face it... it is), but
Billboard is a big deal in the music industry, and this means that the dinosaur-like recording giants are at least starting to notice the effect that apps have on artist profiles. Plus, it's good to see LaDiDa get a little more attention --
I liked that one.
TUAWBillboard nominates music app awards originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments ");
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document.write("Sometimes you roll along, having a pretty good day... and sometimes, you just want a giant worm to rise up out of the ground and destroy everything.
Super Mega Worm is for that second type of day. (You'll have to find something else for the first -- Doodle Jump, perhaps?)
It's a game where you control a gigantic worm on a 2D field. You use a slider (or the accelerometer) to direct it through the soil and up onto the surface of the Earth, where puny little humans await their inevitable destruction. The game is funny in a morbid way; you end up cheering for the little worm as it grows (and learns new abilities) over time, and eventually, you'll find yourself reveling in the destruction of the human race.
Quality pixelated graphics and excellent sounds help immersion a lot, and the control scheme is surprisingly fitting for the kind of movement that the worm does. There's even a little mini-game in jumping off of various vehicles into the atmosphere and exploring the game field in both directions. Super Mega Worm isn't really a title for the faint of heart; even though the graphics are pretty retro, things get gory fast. But if you've ever found yourself laughing at or cheering for the monster in a horror movie,
Super Mega Worm will probably dig its way into your free time. The game is US$2.99 on the App Store right now.
TUAWTUAW's Daily App: Super Mega Worm originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Have you been waiting all day for
iTunes 10 to go live? It
finally has. Although the download page remains a little spotty, this direct link seems to work fine for downloading. We're installing our version right now and will update with fun iTunes facts as we discover them.
Happy Pinging, everyone!
Update:
Windows link to supplement the OS X one above. And an
x64 link as well. (
Thank you to everyone pitching in in the comments!)
Update: See our gallery of installation and setup screenshots.
p.s. Hey, we're on Ping! Come share our awful musical tastes (Erica Sadun, Steven Sande, Victor Agreda, Dave Caolo, etc)! And let us share yours!
TUAWiTunes 10. It lives originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 21:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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CommentsIn case you're just getting off of work, just waking up, or your plane just landed after a 15-hour flight, here's
all of today's Apple news condensed into one quick post:
- Steve Jobs looked good at today's event, which was attended by Steve Wozniak. Steve J. did a nice shout-out to his 'partner in crime' at the beginning of the presentation.
- Jobs announced that there are now 300 Apple Retail Stores in 10 countries, with new stores opening in Spain soon. The Apple Stores get more than 1 million visitors combined on some days -- the primary reason why the company dropped their presence at Macworld Expo.
- Other stats -- 120,000,000 iOS devices, 230,000 new iOS activations per day (not including updates), 6.5 billion downloads from the App Store, 250,000 apps on the App Store.
- iOS 4.1 will be out next week, featuring fixes for the proximity sensor, Bluetooth, and iPhone 3G issues. There will also be support for HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos, the ability to upload HD video to other devices (Apple TV) over WiFi (this is known as AirPlay), 99¢ TV show rentals, and GameCenter. The latter will bring a new level of interactive gaming to the platform.
- In November, we'll see iOS 4.2 for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. This adds printing support, AirPlay, multi-tasking, and folders (among other features) to the iPad.
TUAWA roundup of today's Apple news originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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