Macgasm

[Download] [00.6 MB] [0:01:10]
Hosted by: Josh Schnell & Grant Brunner

In this episode, Josh talks about Apple’s One Billionth app.

I try to steer clear of jailbroken applications, but this one’s so sweet I thought I’d pass it along. If you guys want to see more stuff about jailbroken apps, let us know and we’ll be sure to include more. qTweeter lets you access twitter and facebook from anywhere on the device. If you’re in Safari or checking your email you’ll be able to quickly send out a Tweet or Facebook status update. It’s super sleek and hopefully we see some integration into the SDK for applications like this, but don’t hold your breath. Instead of writing out how the application works I thought I would put together a quick video of the application in use.

qTweeter is awesome for its accessibility.  It lets me tweet immediately instead of having to load an application constantly.  If you want to “communicate” it’s not ideal, but if you want to use twitter how it was designed to be used you seriously need to check out qTweeter.

[Download] [01.2 MB] [0:02:40]
Hosted by: Josh Schnell & Grant Brunner

In this episode, Grant and Josh talk about Blu-Ray on OS X.

A couple of days ago, Grant and I waxed philosophical about Blu-ray and Apple on the daily podcast.  We talked about some of the blu-ray players on the market, and the possibility that Apple will ship some in their machines in the future.  I’m not sure where I stand still, but the new beta version of iTunes clearly illustrates that Blu-Ray support is coming to iTunes.

The loading screen for 8.2 show Blu-Ray “Disc” support, but we have to wonder why we watch DVDs in a stand alone application, and now Blu-ray and DVD support seems to be listed for iTunes.  We might be on the verge of a complete reworking of the “media” situation in OS X. I for one would welcome iTunes into video watching setup.  DVD players days may be numbered.

[via 9to5]

Rock N Roll Music Lessons in GarageBand

I’m pretty sure that if you need John Fogerty to teach you how to play “Fortunate Son,” you fail as a guitar player; but, it should probably be pointed out that these lessons aren’t for you.  I mean if you can play by ear you’re probably well beyond lessons.

It’s cool getting music lessons from rock stars, and had I been picking up the guitar for the first time yesterday, I probably would have fallen in love with the concept. I could pay ten dollars per lesson from a wannabe Fogerty down at the local guitar shop, or I can get them from John Fogerty.  Hrmm, a bit of a no-brainer right?

The concept’s pretty cool in and of itself, but what we really need is some feedback. We need someone to tell me that I’m butchering the song, after all how else are we gonna learn?  How amazing would it be if during these “lessons” you recorded yourself, and if you’re missing notes and chords, or you simple can’t keep up, a clip plays of the artist berating you?  How Rock N Roll would that be?

Anyway, now for the news…

Apple has released a couple new “lessons” for Garageband, two from Sting, and one from Sarah McLachlan.  They’re $5.00 USD (6.49 CAD) a piece. You can find them in Garageband.

Google recently introduced a new feature for Gmail users who wish to sync their iPhone contacts with Gmail contacts; Microsoft Exchange Support.

It is quite simple to setup, with only a few steps. I’ll outline these below.

Step 1: Setup your iPhone or iPod Touch

There are a few requirements before we begin.

Step 1A: is you’ll need to be running iPhone OS Version 2.2 or later in order for this to work. You can either click on the ‘Check for Update’ button in iTunes or you can head to http://www.apple.com/iphone/softwareupdate and obtain the latest version.

Step 1B: Next, and most importantly BACKUP YOUR PHONE. Make sure you have a good backup because this will ERASE ALL OF YOUR CONTACTS that are on the phone. I cannot stress this enough.

Along with your contacts your Calendar will also be deleted, so make sure you follow Step 1B. Mail syncing is not yet supported, so you will get an error when you try to use it.

Step 2: Setting up the Account

Step 2A: Go to the Settings.app
Step 2B: Scroll down to ‘Mail, Contacts and Calendars’ and click on it.
Step 2C: Click on ‘Add Account’.
Step 2D: Select ‘Microsoft Exchange’.
Step 2E: Fill in the ‘Email’ field, with a description.
Step 2F: Fill in the ‘Username’ field with your full gmail address.
Step 2G: Fill in your password in the ‘Password’ field.
Step 2H: Click on ‘Next’ button at the top of the screen. Gmail will verify the information you entered. At this point, I got a certificate error. See image 1 for example.

Image 1.

Step 2I: Once your information is verified in Step 2H, a new ‘Server’ field will appear. Enter in ‘m.google.com’.
Step 2J: Click on the ‘Next’ button at the top of the screen. Your information will be verified again.
Step 2K: Once your information is verified, you will be presented with a ‘Sync’ screen. As stated before, Mail syncing isn’t working as of right now. I presume this will be working in the near future. Select which items you’d like to sync.
Step 2L: Click on the ‘Done’ button at the top.
Step 2M: As the screen will show, and as stated previously ALL YOUR DATA WILL BE ERASED FROM THE PHONE. You can choose not to sync at this time, which is what I have done on my phone, since all I want is the mail syncing. With this, you’re all done.

There are a few things to remember, you can only have one exchange account at a time. Therefore, if you already have a work account setup, you cannot setup gmail for exchange. Secondly, mail support is not setup yet, so you cannot have your email automatically pushed to your phone. My prediction is that this will change once iPhone OS 3.0 is out in the wild, but I have no basis for this guess.

Overall, this is a great solution for those who need to sync their Google contacts or calendars with their iPhone and have been using some kluge methods of syncing iPhone contacts and calendars. So, give it a try. Just remember to do a FULL BACKUP first.

Stanza, everyone’s favourite iPhone ebook reader application has been purchased by that ebook giant that goes by the name of Amazon.  Early indications point to the possibility that the developers will be joining their application at Amazon, and they’ll continue to develop the program on Amazons behalf.  No financials have been released, but we can only imagine the coin that was tossed their way.

When this news is coupled with the news that Apple and Verizon are apparently in talks to set up two new wireless devices, we might see a real competitor to the kindle.  If that tablet/netbook type device that’s been coming up frequent on rumor sites has 3G built in, Amazon mas made a pretty smart choice in acquiring Stanza.

The iPhone OS has copious choices in terms of twitter applications. Some are free, some are paid. They’re all inherently the same, but some extend beyond Twitter’s native functionality. Let’s look at five different iPhone OS Twitter clients today.

LaTwit

LaTwit has emerged as one of the first Laconi.ca and Twitter applications in one. It has some unique features, which includes combining multiple timelines into one view, the ability to turn on and off accounts, and your choice of which url shortening service to use. LaTwit is available in the App store and is $2.99.

Tweetie

Tweetie, just like the desktop based application, is maintained by the folks over at Atebits. Tweetie includes several features that have been cropping up in twitter applications lately. with the iPhone 3G you have a GPS receiver, and tweetie uses this to find twitterers near you. Which is something useful if you need to find a good place to eat while traveling, or to find other people to follow in your area. Tweetie is $2.99 and is available in the App store.

TwitterFon

TwitterFon is a basic twitter application, it doesn’t include all of the features that some other applications have included. It keeps with the traditional iPhone OS application style and is clean, neat, follows visual standards and does not add unnecessary features that would detract from just getting the basics done. TwitterFon is entirely free and available in the App store.

Twitterific

Twitterific, much like it’s desktop cousin, was one of the first iPhone OS Twitter applications.It’s maintained by the folks over at the iconfactory. The features of the Iphone OS twitter client are the same as though of the desktop application. They include favorites, replies and direct messages, as well a location specific options. There are two versions, the free ad-supported version and the $9.99 paid version without ads. Both are available in the App store.

Nambu

Nambu, by the folks over at nambu.com. Nambu has a few features which aren’t necessarily present in other Twitter applications, like Friendfeed, pic.im and ff.im. Nambu also support Laconi.ca as well as identi.ca and ping.fm. So it’s definitely a multi-social networking application. Nambu is absolutely free and available in the iPhone OS App store.

These are by no means nearly all of the twitter applications. These are just a few of the ones that are available for the iPhone OS on the App Store.