Report: Microsoft Office for iPad launching on November 10

Report: Microsoft Office for iPad launching on November 10:

Last week reports claimed that an iPad version of Microsoft Office would be launching in November following several reports from The Daily who claimed Microsoft was readying the app and posted the alleged spy shots above. Today The Daily weighs in again offering an exact launch date of November 10:

Microsoft will launch Office for iPad on Nov. 10, The Daily has learned. This follows reports earlier this month that a late fall release was likely… We’ve learned that the development team within Office Mobile finished its work on the project last month, and the efforts of the design group wrapped soon after. The app is  now in the hands of a usability team that appraises software that utilizes the Metro design language for “Metro compliance” and suggests changes as needed. When approved by the team, the app likely will go to Apple for app store approval, which could take a couple of weeks.

Related articles

• Microsoft Office for iOS allegedly launching in November (9to5mac.com)

 

(Via 9to5Mac)

Advertise Your iOS App

Advertise Your iOS App

Where To Advertise An App

Where To Advertise An App

Advertise Your iOS App

Advertise Your iOS App

The TechCrunch iPad app is slick and simple

The TechCrunch iPad app is slick and simple:

If you're looking for an app-based TechCrunch experience on your iPad, here it is. The iPad app is a streamlined experience over the site in Safari, presenting a simple list of categories to choose from, and 3 basic feeds: the main river (which can be narrowed using those categories), trending stories and curated tweets. There's a lot more under the hood, however.

Commuters will be pleased to know there's a "Save for later" option when clicking the "Share" icon. You can, of course, also share stories via email or social media, and the app allows you to tie your Facebook account in (TechCrunch uses Facebook comments, primarily). My favorite feature is the easy access to Crunchbase data alongside each article.

While it's easy to click into more info, the app never goes too deep to get you lost. I can't stand when apps just layer interfaces on top, over and over, and you have to "flip" the pages just to get back to the main screen. The TechCrunch app uses a familiar "back" and "next" system, although it is often labelled in context (Saved Articles takes you back to your list but Explore may take you further down the rabbit hole of data). This makes reading articles a breeze, and makes it easy to find out more information without being overhwhelmed.

About the only problem I encountered was with the curated tweets. When jumping to a story on The Next Web, the smallish webview that takes up the lower half of the screen was overwhelmed by a slow cover-up from TNW urging you to register, or something, and it happened to cover the article I was trying to read!

Aside from things beyond the app's control, such as annoying web design habits, it's a great way to read TechCrunch on your iPad. TUAW's imaginary friend, our own iPad app, is very jealous! The app is free, so give it a try yourself.

The TechCrunch iPad app is slick and simple originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 24 May 2012 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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(Via TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog)

Apps & updates: Diet Coda goes live, Draw Something & Opera Mini go Retina, more

Apps & updates: Diet Coda goes live, Draw Something & Opera Mini go Retina, more:

A few newsworthy apps and updates already landed in the App Store today including the Diet Coda development platform that we told you about a few days ago, and some Retina graphics updates for popular apps such as Draw Something and Opera Mini. We will update the list throughout the day as more notable apps and updates are released:

Draw Something: OMGPOP’s massively popular Pictionary-style drawing game was updated today with “Bright, high resolution graphics” for users of the new third-generation iPad’s Retina display. Other improvements included in the update are a new password recovery system, a new loading screen, and the usual bug fixes. The free version of the app received the same update.

Diet Coda: We told you a couple days ago that developer Panic planned to release an iPad version of its Coda developer platform, and the app has already landed on at least the New Zealand store today. It is listed as $13.99, but it should go for $9.99 USD when it hits the U.S. App Store later today. That is a 50 percent discount as a launch special good until Thursday.

Some of the app’s features include remote editing of documents, FTP and SFTP File Management, Syntax Highlighting, and a “Revolutionary Super-Loupe” that allows for easy positioning of the cursor in iOS. It also has an “AirPreview” feature that allows you to use “your iPad as a dedicated preview window for Coda 2 on the Mac.”

Opera Mini Web Browser: Opera’s Mini web browser app for iPhone and iPad has always been a great third-party browser option on iOS, and it gets even better with a new UI today for the third-generation iPad’s Retina display, as well as a Data Usage option in the main menu, and various bug fixes and stability improvements.

Google Search for iPhone: Google released a completely redesigned Google Search iPhone app today. Get all the details here.

(Via 9to5Mac)

Google Search iPhone app completely redesigned for speed and full screen searching

Google Search iPhone app completely redesigned for speed and full screen searching:

Google today updated its Google Search iPhone app to version 2.0.0, introducing a completely redesigned app that focuses on improvements to speed and full screen browsing features. Among the new features is an auto full screen mode that hides controls when scrolling down and reveals when scrolling up, and a new full-screen image search view.

The updated app also includes “major speed improvements”, a built-in text finder for webpages, and quick links to Gmail, Calendar, Docs, and search options such as images, places, and news.  The iPad didn’t receive the same update, but both the iPhone and iPad will now be able to save images to the iOS camera roll.

A full list of features is below and the updated app is available on the App Store now.

✓ Complete redesign

✓ Major speed improvements

✓ Auto full screen: scroll down to hide controls, scroll up to reveal

✓ Beautiful full-screen image search

✓ Swipe away webpages to quickly return to search results

✓ Search within a webpage using the built-in text finder

✓ Easily switch between images, places, news, and more

✓ Fast access to Google apps like Gmail, Calendar, Docs and more all from one place

Cross-posted on 9to5Google.com

 

(Via 9to5Mac)

Google search app for iPhone, iPad re-designed

Google search app for iPhone, iPad re-designed:

For some reason I hadn't quite relegated the Google Search app on my iPhone to a folder, where most apps go to die. But it should have. The old Google Search app was atrocious -- a seemingly willful expenditure of effort on something so terrible it would serve to dissuade people from using it (or iOS) altogether. The new Google app is 100% better.

On the iPhone, I'm noticing more UI niceties, and the "app" gets out of your way as much as possible. The previous version was full of irritating usability quirks. Once Siri came along, I all but forgot it existed.

Google Goggles, however, and the picture searches possible, are great (though not new). The iPad app is really quite pleasing to use, and having all the Google apps in one handy interface is also very welcome.

It's free, so try it out and see if Google's updated Search app is your cup of tea.

Google search app for iPhone, iPad re-designed originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 23 May 2012 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

(Via TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog)

UniKey replaces physical door lock key with an app

UniKey replaces physical door lock key with an app:

Well, we really should have seen this one coming. The humble door lock key, which has been around in one form or another for literally thousands of years, may be getting replaced by an app ... or more specifically, by an app that works with a dedicated lock. It’s called the UniKey system, and it has some features that are actually kind of clever... Continue Reading UniKey replaces physical door lock key with an app

Section: Around The Home

Tags: Bluetooth, Keys, Lock, Security, Smartphone

Related Articles:

• Black & Decker previews high-tech locking system
• Flash Drive Lock fits any standard USB memory stick
• Simple, effective, revolutionary: V-Lock is the perfect keyhole
• Water bottle bike lock supplies security, not water
• STOP-Lock two-tiered laptop security system
• Use your face to unlock the door

(Via Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine)

GoSelectPass makes it easy to buy discount attraction tickets

GoSelectPass makes it easy to buy discount attraction tickets:

A lot of Americans are planning on taking vacations starting this Memorial Day weekend, and now Smart Destinations wants to help iPhone-toting tourists get discount tickets to more than 400 attractions around the US. GoSelectPass.com provides a way for tourists to browse attraction info in seven major cities, purchase tickets online, and get valuable discounts in the process.

At present, there's not an iOS app for GoSelectPass, although one will be available soon. For now, you can point your device browser to GoSelectPass.com to check out the mobile site and set up an account. Once you select the attractions you wish to visit, you pay one fee for a discounted pass. That pass appears as a QR code on your device that you show for entry to the attraction.

As Smart Destinations adds more cities to the mobile site and future iOS app, this will be a very handy way to visit museums, aquariums, TV studios, and other attractions. Be sure to check out the press release for more info.

 

Show full PR text

Smart Destinations Launches Groundbreaking Mobile Ticketing Platform at More than 400 Attractions in Major U.S. Travel Destinations
Go Select Provides Easy, Secure Purchase of Attraction Tickets via Smartphone to Allow Creation of Personalized, Dynamically-priced Mobile Attraction Pass and Fast, Real-time Validation at the Gate

BOSTON (May 22, 2012) -Smart Destinations today released a groundbreaking mobile platform that turns any smartphone into an instant, money-saving pass for guests at more than 400 museums, tours and top attractions in major U.S. cities.
The patent-pending Go Select mobile platform is the industry's first real-time dynamic mobile ticket pricing and validation system that is already accepted at the industry's largest network of attraction partners, including Boston's Museum of Science, Chicago's Shedd Aquarium, San Francisco's Golden Gate Bay Cruise, and the NBC Studio Tour in New York.
"Our attraction partners now have access to the massive amount of travelers who expect the convenience and security of instant ticketing on their phones," said Kevin McLaughlin, CEO and co-founder of Smart Destinations. "It's the only such platform for attractions that combines real-time dynamic pricing and validation with the convenience of secure paperless ticketing."
Today's launch at GoSelectPass.com means attractions nationwide can instantly accept mobile passes at their gates, while their guests enjoy big savings and flexibility of simply showing their phone for admission. A recent PhoCusWright study found three out of four travelers already use a mobile device while on business or leisure travel, and eMarketer predicts that 15.1 million Americans will book travel using their smartphone this year.
Go Select includes major attractions in New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Oahu, Miami and Orlando, with more cities being added in the coming weeks.

YEARS OF INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY
Since 2003, SmartDestinations.com has built the industry's largest network of popular tourist destinations using its proprietary dynamic pricing and packaging technology. More than 1.25 million travelers have used the company's popular Go City Cards to save money on ticket prices, get extra discounts at restaurants and gift shops and enjoy the convenience of admissions passes to dozens of attractions through one card at one low price.
Now the company's partners and mobile customers and can take full advantage of the technological ease of instantaneous ticketing on a single phone - while competitors are still forcing customers to use flimsy coupon books that are easily lost or damaged.

ATTRACTIONS GET MOBILE QUICKLY AND EASILY
For attraction partners, Go Select is easy to implement, saving both time and money for the attraction, as well as guests. That's because admission fees are immediately credited to the attraction upon admission with secure, digital ticketing - avoiding the extra hassle of submitting paper vouchers for reimbursement. It also speeds ticket purchase lines as guests arrive with their pass in hand.
Plus, the system is more secure than paper tickets that can easily be photocopied or counterfeited and Go Select is the only platform in the world that allows multiple attractions to be purchased on a single QR code to be scanned at gates. No printing is needed-unlike other mobile purchasing solutions.
"It's fantastic that we can now welcome guests who have purchased Go Select passes through the convenience of mobile," said Deleyse Langdale, associate director of travel industry sales at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. "By partnering with SmartDestinations, the implementation for us was simple and the timing was just right as we gear up for the summer travel season. We expect this to catch on fast."

TRAVELERS GET GUARANTEED SAVINGS AND CONVENIENCE
"Go Select is the only mobile technology platform of its kind that allows guests to buy and redeem multiple attraction tickets all from their smartphone and get guaranteed savings off the gate price," McLaughlin said.
To get mobile passes, travelers simply:
o. Use their smartphone to choose the attractions they want to see (2 or more),
o. Pay one low, dynamically generated price for admission to all,
o. Receive a secure QR code immediately on their phone for scanning at the front desk or admission gate upon arrival at each attraction, similar to an airline mobile boarding pass.
The more attractions travelers add to the pass, the more they can save-up to 40 percent off the retail cost of admission at the gate. Plus, at many attractions, Go Select Pass holders can skip the ticket line, as they already have a pre-paid ticket, saving both time and money.
Go Select provides all visitors with full access to photos, maps, directions, hours and other insider tips about all the attractions plus much more at no cost. The passes are available now at GoSelectPass.com and will soon be available as iPhone, Ipad, and Android apps.

GoSelectPass makes it easy to buy discount attraction tickets originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 22 May 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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(Via TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog)

Dropzone is $2 today

Dropzone is $2 today:

Today only, Dropzone is $2

***********************
Two Dollar Tuesday SALE at twodollartues.com
$1.99 for Tuesday ONLY
This is a one time only opportunity to get Dropzone at over 85% discount!
***********************

Dropzone makes it faster and easier to get things done on your Mac.

Drag a file onto the Dropzone menu item and your fully customizable grid of destinations flies smoothly out using core animation.

Drop the file onto a destination and Dropzone will take care of the rest. Whether you’re opening an app, uploading a file or sharing your photos on Flickr.

When sharing via FTP, Dropzone copies the URL for your upload to the clipboard ready for pasting into an email or instant message.

It’s a super fast way to share things with your friends.

FEATURES
✓ Open Applications
✓ Copy or move files to predefined folders
✓ Upload pictures to Flickr
✓ Upload files to an FTP server
✓ Zip & Email files in one step
✓ Share text via the Pastie service
✓ Powerful multi-tasking engine allows you to run multiple tasks concurrently and track the progress of each one

EXTEND DROPZONE
✓ Using dozens of user contributed scripts you can upload to ImageShack, TwitPic, Dropbox and many other services.
✓ You can even write your own destinations using a simple ruby based API

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
“Dropzone is a more flexible application with multiple uses offering several actions that will save you valuable minutes every single day.” – Macworld UK (★★★★★, Editors’ Choice)

“Dropzone is lightweight, unobtrusive, and extremely useful.” – Smoking Apples

“Remember how computers were supposed to make our lives easier? Dropzone does just that.” – TUAW

…More

Aptonic Limited Web SiteDropzone Support

 

Screenshots

C

 

(Via 9to5Mac)

QuickSearch PDF Reader provides powerful fast text searches

QuickSearch PDF Reader provides powerful fast text searches:

If you're someone who does a lot of work on the road, and needs to reference PDF source material, you'll find that QuickSearch PDF (US$4.99) from Olive Toast Software is the tool you didn't realize you needed. It has one job to do -- to help you find information inside large PDF files -- and it does that job well.

You type search terms into a text field, and QuickSearch PDF finds every occurrence, in every document that's been added to it. It lets you flip through each match until you find just the information you need. It's a great way of finding information for someone who wants to search, read, and get the heck on with their life.

As the name suggests, those searches are extra fast but it's the interface design that shines. QuickSearch PDF lets you tap arrows on each side of the screen to flip from one match to the next, always showing the PDF content in context. You can also scan your finger along the page index at bottom of the screen to move rapidly through all the hits.

Once indexed, searching is super-fast. It can take some time to index large files, so prepare to be patient when loading new PDFs. Getting those files indexed can take several minutes.

Unfortunately, the search field is also the field used to show indexing progress, so while you can search as it indexes (you'll only find matches in the already-indexed material), you won't be able to see how close the indexing is to being done unless you clear the search field.

Another small criticism is that you can't set where the indexing starts. If you're on a business call and you need to access elements towards the end a non-indexed book, you'd do better pulling that PDF into iBooks. Once indexed, QuickSearch PDF provides a far better search experience but for material that you're waiting on processing, it can be quite slow. That's a minor quibble, because I can't imagine that the number of times you've loaded a new file and have to wait for it to finish indexing pops up all that often.

The only way to load documents at this time is to drop them into iTunes or use "Open in" from another app. And if you already have ten other PDF reader apps (as I do), the Open In option may not show QuickSearch PDF as an option (See Open Radar for details of why this is an unacceptable iOS bug. Submit your bug report to Apple).

QuickSearch PDF does not yet support external APIs like Dropbox or Google Drive. The developer tells me that he's planning to add this support in soon. I look forward to that because I'd much rather drop files into Dropbox and do my management from there.

Those issues aside, QuickSearch PDF is a terrific app, and one I wish were available on OS X as well. The app fully gets how people want to quickly find and use information. This app isn't about book reading -- it's about locating details quickly, effectively, and simply. It does that, and it does it well.

QuickSearch PDF Reader provides powerful fast text searches originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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(Via TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog)

May 18 2012

May 18 2012

May 15 2012

May 15 2012

Sparrow for iPhone 1.2 adds new features, push will be subscription-based

Sparrow for iPhone 1.2 adds new features, push will be subscription-based:

Sparrow for iPhone just received a nice update that marks several items off users' wish lists. Among that is the ability to compose in landscape mode, create/edit labels and swipe between messages, plus additional localization. Sparrow now is available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Russian and Chinese.

However, the developers announced on Sparrow's blog that they were unable to get VoIP privilege from Apple for push notifications. Sparrow will have push introduced in a future update, but it will be done on Sparrow's side, and the company will charge an annual subscription.

Sparrow for iPhone is US$2.99 in the App Store.

Sparrow for iPhone 1.2 adds new features, push will be subscription-based originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 14 May 2012 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

(Via TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog)

AutoDesk provides impressive 3D captures on an iPad with a free app

AutoDesk provides impressive 3D captures on an iPad with a free app:

I'm always looking for impressive free apps to show what the iPad can accomplish, and I've done that this week with 123D Catch from AutoDesk.

This iPad app (iPad 2 and new iPad only) allows you to use the iPad camera to photograph any object from a number of angles and elevations. Then the app sends your images up to an AutoDesk server where the object is rendered as a 3D file. You can even create 3D files for large objects, like a building, by moving parallel to it to allow the rendering to display the changing perspectives. Even people can be rendered in 3D if they don't move during the imaging sequence. It's all covered in the included help files and videos.

This is pretty amazing on any computer, and even more impressive on a tablet. Once you get the image back, you can rotate it in 360 degrees, zoom in or out, and even change elevation if you provided the appropriate images for the rendering. You can submit up to 40 images. Rendering can take a bit of time. Some complex objects took about 20 minutes but the app will send an alert when your file is ready.

The resulting 3D object can be shared with other AutoDesk users, or viewed on a Mac or PC with a free viewer. Just trying it out on some household objects worked very well. The renderings were complete and in sharp focus. It's pretty amazing to do this on an iPad and it is a good demo if you don't mind waiting for the rendering to finish.

AutoDesk also offers an app we've previously reviewed called 123D Sculpt. It allows you to create a virtual 3D sculpture on your iPad. I consider these free apps sort of a gateway drug to get people interested in the amazing capabilities of the AutoDesk family of products. AutoDesk even sells some of its industrial strength products through the Mac app store.

Give this free iPad app a try and prepare to be impressed.

 

Gallery: AutoDesk 123D Catch

 

 

AutoDesk provides impressive 3D captures on an iPad with a free app originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 14 May 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

(Via TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog)

Sparrow to charge for push notifications with yearly subscriptions

Sparrow to charge for push notifications with yearly subscriptions:

The last we heard iOS email client Sparrow said push notifications were coming “with or without” Apple. Apple has decided not to extend the privilege of VOIP apps to Sparrow, which due to latency issues are allowed to keep an open network connection in the background for processes such as notifications. The alternative forces non-VOIP, third-party apps such as Sparrow to send push notifications from its own servers. The company initially said it wouldn’t implement push notifications itself due to security and cost concerns, but today confirmed in a blog post announcing Sparrow v1.2 that it will soon begin offering push through a yearly subscription:

 

 

About Push

You were more than 16 000 helping us on our Apple quest to get the VoIP privilege.  We can’t thank you enough for your support. Unfortunately, Apple has confirmed that they are not willing to do any exception to the rule and that Sparrow will NOT be granted with the privilege.

This means we’ll have to do Push on our side and that it will be integrated as a yearly subscription into Sparrow’s future update.

Today’s update brings a number of notable features for the popular email app. Version 1.2 includes new message navigation with up and down swiping gestures, the ability to edit and create folders and labels, landscape composing mode, and a total of nine supported languages including English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Russian, and Chinese. Sparrow v1.2 is available on the App Store now for $2.99.

Jailbroken iPhone users already have access to push functionality via a free Cydia utility called Sparrow Push.

(Via 9to5Mac)