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Filed under: Gaming, Odds and ends, Freeware, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Normally we'd just send out a tweet about this (that's usually what we do with free app deals, so if you're not one of the almost 40,000 people following us yet, you definitely should be), but this is a good one, and it's a holiday, so we wanted to make sure you knew. Sega is feeling particularly generous this weekend, so they're giving away free copies of their Columns Deluxe, a port of the old Genesis game, for the iPhone. The game is a pretty straightforward port -- it doesn't have any extras, and the accelerometer controls are a little tacked on from what we hear, but if you like the puzzler gameplay of Columns, and you should, it's a fun one to pull up for a few minutes at a time.

Plus, it's free -- from July 3rd to Monday, July 6th, Sega says it'll be on sale for the low price of nothing at all. Sounds good to us -- sit back, put a few brats and burgers on the grill, grab a Corona (and lime, of course), and enjoy some old-school dropping block gameplay for no money at all.

TUAWSega giving away Columns on iPhone for free all this weekend originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store, Road Tested

Like my colleague Mel Martin, I've had a serious GPS jones for quite a while. When I was in much better shape, I rode the local trails on a mountain bike with a Garmin eTrex Summit. It didn't have any maps, nor did I really need any for what I was doing. My next GPS receiver was a Garmin GPSmap 60cs that I used for geocaching. It had a nice color screen and some limited maps, but really didn't do a very good job of helping me find my way around town.

The third GPS unit was another Garmin, and in this case it was my first real "navigator." I still have it; it's the Garmin nüvi 660, which is an awesome little unit that can help you find your way around the US or Europe (depending on the model you purchase), act as an MP3 player, or even work as a fairly serviceable hands-free unit for Bluetooth phones. tweetmeme_url = 'http://www.tuaw.com/2009/07/03/road-tested-atandt-navigator/'; tweetmeme_source = 'tuaw'; I've used mine with my iPhones since way back in 2007, and have enjoyed hearing the amplified voices of callers blasting out of the nüvi.

It's best capability, of course, is as a navigator. In this post, I'm going to compare the AT&T Navigator app [App Store] and service with the nüvi, and give you my take on how this free app works. Mel already filled you in on some of the details in his earlier post; we agreed that I'd give you the road test perspective.

Continue reading Road Tested: AT&T Navigator for iPhone

TUAWRoad Tested: AT&T Navigator for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Gaming, Software, iPhone, App Store

Just in case you haven't yet heard, ngmoco has released Rolando 2 out into the App Store for the premium price of $9.99. The game's subtitled Quest for the Golden Orchid (in this one, you're rescuing a relic rather than a prince), and though it's not cheap by App Store standards, but on the other hand, it's as quality a game as you'll find on the iPhone. We were big fans of the first one, and the second one ups the ante with a brand new 3D look (though still the same great 2D gameplay), and lots more types of Rolandos to roll and jump and fly and drive around the more than 45 new levels. It's fair to say that if you liked the first one, you'll love this one, and if you've never tried rolling a Rolando around, this is a perfect opportunity to start.

There, unfortunately, no lite version of the second game yet, but there is a version of the first one to try, and there are lots of movies to watch over on ngmoco's site, so you can probably get the idea from there. If you're interested in gaming on the iPhone at all, Rolando's on the short list no matter what your tastes are.

TUAWRolando 2 out now on the App Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, App Review

When the fireworks stop and the smoke clears, it would be a great weekend to look at our beautiful summer skies. Pocket Universe [App Store] is a US$2.99 app that has been updated to make star finding easier for those that have a new iPhone 3GS.

The app uses the position sensors and the compass to orient your phone to match the real sky. As you turn or tilt the phone, the sky map changes to give you a very accurate picture of where you are pointing, with lots of labels and links to more information. This is one of the first examples of an augmented reality app to hit the platform since the introduction of the 3GS.

If you have an older iPhone or iPod touch running OS 3.0, you can tilt the phone to match where the real sky is, but you'll have to manually set the direction you're facing.

This changes everything for the novice astronomer. I tried the feature and it worked really well, even though I was near a large metal building. As I turned my phone the display of the sky changed very rapidly to keep up with my movement.

Other nice features from the last version are intact. You can tap the 'locate' button to find any object that is above the horizon. Select it and it centers on the map. Tap a pop-up for more info and you get a quick summary of the object. In the new version of the app a further tap gets you a Wikipedia entry.

You also get a list of meteor showers, lunar phases and a very nice 'tonight's sky' feature that tells you right away what's up and worth seeing.

Some things I'd like to see improved: The app could support finger-pointing to an object to identify it in addition to going to the locate menu, and the Virtual Sky feature is buried in an options menu. I'd like to see an onscreen button to turn it on and off.

The 3GS features are similar to a Celestron product called the Sky Scout that is a dedicated astronomical instrument. The Sky Scout has a lot more information, and audio tours of the skies, but it costs $200.00. If you're really serious about the stars and planets I'd give it a look.

Meanwhile, another favorite astronomy app, Distant Suns [App Store] has been updated recently, and is now on sale for US$3.99. It has added features to the wonderful tour guides and now includes more information about the objects displayed, including travel time at light speed to the planets. It also includes some breathtaking images from the Hubble Space Telescope.

This is the International Year of Astronomy, so it's a great time to get outdoors and look up. It's fun to do, and the iPhone apps really make it a more compelling and educational experience.

Here are some screen shots of Pocket Universe in operation:

Gallery: Pocket Universe screen shots

TUAWPocket Universe ups the astronomy app ante originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: iPhone

If there's one thing Apple wants you to know about the iPhone 3GS, it's that this is the device to get for mobile video. Witness the latest TV ad for the new phone, "Skateboard": it could hardly look easier to shoot, trim and email your clips from the neigborhood skate park.

The ad is airing now, and continues the feature-focused ad series for the 3GS that started with Copy & Paste and Voice Control. It's a shame they can't do ads for Tethering & MMS, or Cooking An Egg.

Side note: does it seem weird to anyone else that the "Itchy" ad features a compass app (Tommy Westerberg's Compass Go) that came out prior to the release of the 3GS?

Thanks Chris F.

TUAWLatest iPhone TV ad highlights video editing originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: iPod Family, Developer, iPhone, SDK

Last week, TUAW showed you how to sign iPhone applications for informal developer-to-developer distribution. That approach lets you share applications between members of the iPhone developer program by using your signing credentials to authorize the application for use on your development units.

iPhone applications compiled for the Intel-based simulator can also be shared between developers. And, since the free developer program offers access to the simulator, the apps can be distributed even more widely than with the re-signing approach.

Simulator testing does not offer the full suite of device-specific capabilities. You cannot simulate the onboard camera or retrieve proper accelerometer feedback. The simulator does not vibrate or provide general multitouch input. (You can pinch, but that's about it.)

The strength of simulator-based distribution is that it lets you send out applications for early testing and feedback. Sim-only tests strengthen the preliminary design process; this approach helps solicit feedback on user interface and general program layout before the main development push gets underway.

Simulator-based apps are easy to transfer and easy to use, cutting out a layer of overhead that's needed for when you go to a full ad-hoc beta.

To distribute a simulator application, go to the Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/User/Applications/ folder in your home directory. There you'll find the application sandbox folders that are currently installed for your simulator. Each folder is named with a unique id (i.e. 56E66CE5...DC028F) that does not reflect the folder's contents.

You'll have to peek inside to determine which folder is which.The folder contains the application, and three sandbox directories: tmp, Library, and Documents.

To share a simulator folder compiled for 2.2.1 and earlier, you must zip up both the folder with the application and the .sb (sandbox) file that shares the same name as the folder. 3.0 and later applications do not use a .sb file. Just zip up and share the folder.

Install the shared app by decompressing its sandbox folder (and, for 2.x, its .sb file). The recipient must have installed the iPhone SDK. Drop it into the simulator's Applications folder on another machine and launch the simulator. The app should appear in the simulator, ready for testing.

TUAWDeveloper-to-developer: application sharing for the iPhone simulator originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Retail

The Clarendon Apple Store in Arlington, VA is closed today as police investigate a shooting that took place there this morning. The Washington Post reports that a woman was injured via a gunshot to the shoulder during an armed robbery attempt. TV station WJLA adds the detail that the victim was an employee who went to answer a knock at the store's rear service door.

I've shopped at the Clarendon store, and the staff has always been unfailingly helpful and courteous. I hope that the victim of the shooting enjoys a complete and prompt recovery, and that the Clarendon team can also recover quickly from what must be a very traumatic experience.

Via jdonels tweet, thanks Chris Anderson.

TUAWVA Apple store closed due to shooting, armed robbery attempt originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Freeware, Friday Favorite

When I consider what should really be system software, I always think of three little beauties that belong on every Mac: Alarm Clock 2, AppTrap and TimeMachineEditor. They are all one-trick-ponies, take up little space, are free for the downloading, and Apple should buy them up for Snow Leopard.


Alarm Clock 2, currently up to version 2.4.5, sits nicely on your menubar ready to awaken you with your favorite song, or remind you that your dinner is ready to come out of the oven. You can set an alarm to use any song from your iTunes library, or if no song is chosen, it will just beep at you.

It has an Easy Wake option that slowly brings up the volume of your chosen song over an adjustable period of up to two minutes. As any good alarm clock, it comes with a snooze feature, which is also adjustable. I use it mostly as a kitchen timer that keeps me out of the kitchen. Multiple alarms can be set of course, and if you happen to have an Apple remote lying around, pushing the pause button will tell an alarm to 'snooze'. Since downloading it, I can't think of a day that that I haven't used it at least once



Apptrap is a preference pane that allows you to delete applications more completely than dragging to the trash and emptying. Trashing the normal way usually leaves support files in your library folder that will never go away and do nothing more useful than take up space.

With Apptrap installed, whenever you drag an application to the trash and try and empty the trash, you are presented with a window showing you the file and all support files that go along with the application, allowing you to trash them all together in one stroke. There are no settings, options or anything else to worry about. Just install it and forget it. The next time you delete an application, it will be there for you.

Note that AppTrap is open source but is no longer being actively maintained; the developer is looking for someone to pick up the project. If you want a commercially supported uninstall tool, you can check out the $12.95US AppZapper or the highly-recommended and multicapable file organizer Hazel for $21.95. Mat also wrote up a helpful Mac 101 on uninstaller tools last year.


TimeMachineEditor stops Time Machine from backing up every hour. On my network, with four Macs backing up to Time Machine, hourly, the network slows down to a crawl. This is especially annoying since my information isn't critical enough to be backed that frequently. TimeMachineEditor allows you to set exactly when Time Machine will run.

You can set backups for hourly intervals, like every 12 hours, or set up calendar backups which allow you to backup daily, weekly or monthly at any time you set. The hourly calendar interval is new to version 2.1. I have my Macs backup once a day during the wee hours with each Mac staggered by an hour or so to keep the network hit to a minimum.

Download all three and see how these brilliant little afterthoughts improve your Mac life.

TUAWFriday Favorite Triple Pack: Alarm Clock 2, Apptrap, and TimeMachineEditor originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

Not really -- if you really are planning to grill up some meat (or mushrooms and pineapples, they're good too) today or this weekend, you'll need a little more heat than your iPhone will give. But it's true, Apple's little handheld can get nice and toasty when it's really working*, and illustrator Chad Covino made a little Fourth of July BBQ-themed sketch about that very subject. We love it -- very nice work!

My iPhone does get hot, but not so hot I can't pick it up -- usually when I'm running 3D for a longer stretch of time or when the phone is doing some serious calculating like audio or photo editing, I start to feel the heat coming off the back. Batteries are to blame for some of the more extreme problems, however, and that's not a huge surprise, given that batteries in any mobile device have their issues. The good news in that case, however, is that the phone is unlikely to actually explode -- the repair guy Wired talks to says that "a little bit of smoke eventually is probably the best bet." Not that a smoking iPhone is a good situation at all, but you can at least be sure that your iPhone is not quite as hot as the fire under your burgers this weekend.

[* Note that the Apple KB article referenced here about temperature warnings/"don't leave the iPhone in the glove compartment" for the iPhone 3G and 3GS is not a new post, nor is the temperature alert screen unique to the 3GS; the KB was simply updated to include the newer device. Jim Dalrymple at The Loop has a solid rundown. FoxNews incorrectly reported that the support article was specific to the 3GS, but then did cite PC World's Melissa Perenson and David Coursey with personal stories of wicked-hot 3GS units. If your 3GS is overheating, check in with Apple support or your local AT&T store. -Ed.]

TUAWWant to BBQ with the iPhone? You don't even need an app originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Macworld's offices are closed today in celebration of Independence Day in the United States. Hints will return as usual on Monday. -rob.

On July 7, continuing our well chronicled saga, SciFi will officially become the much-dissed Syfy, and to help in usher the change, motion graphics firm Blind created a set of 15-second idents that blow away the old SciFi. As... Armin http://www.underconsideration.com

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, App Review

I love GPS. in the mid 1990s I had a Garmin unit that had no maps, just a bread crumb trail of where you were and where you'd been. I lived in England at the time, and thought I had a highly original idea to take it to the Royal Observatory at Greenwich and walk across the Meridian line and watch the screen as the numbers dropped to zero longitude. When I got there, I was hardly alone. I was surrounded by other geeks doing exactly the same thing. Oh well.

GPS has come a long way, and AT&T has released their subscription based Navigator [App Store] for the iPhone. It requires OS version 3.0. It is fee based, and will set you back US$9.95 a month on your AT&T bill. It is loaded with features, and has voice guided turn by turn directions. It also offers:

• Automatic rerouting
• Updated maps with no additional charge
• Real time traffic updates
• Fuel Price searches and navigation to those locations
• Point of interest searches in all the usual categories like ATM machines, hospitals, restaurants, airports

The map gives you a 3D view from a position just above and behind your vehicle. On the setup page you can chose flat maps if your prefer. I found the maps easy to read but would have preferred a landscape view instead of portrait (there is no option to change the orientation). I saw a little lag when driving, but generally the response was fast.

The app really needs a 3G connection. It works on the EDGE network, but was slow to load graphics. If you are somewhere where you have neither you are out of luck. No maps are contained on the app and nothing is cached. In essence, the app is only as good as the AT&T network, and if you do a lot of driving where the network is weak or absent, you'll be navigating on your own.

I found the voice very hard to hear. This is a limitation of the iPhone speaker. It just wasn't designed to be played at a loud volume. On the highway, with road noise, good luck hearing that warning to turn. Of course, the directions are on the map, but the whole purpose of voice instructions is to keep you from looking at the map.

Other features are a high altitude view of your entire trip from beginning to end, a list of your turns on a scrollable page, directions to the nearest AT&T WiFi hotspots (nice), and the ability to set your default navigation method like shortest, fastest, traffic optimized, prefer highways or streets, or pedestrian routing if you're not driving.

I found the voice alerts were too frequent. Frankly, the app is a blabbermouth, and it kept reminding me of a faraway turn too often for my taste. It would be nice to be able to set just how aggressive the voice warnings are.

The big question for most iPhone users will be whether to wait for other nav apps to appear. TomTom is imminent, as is an app from Navigon. They both download the maps to your phone, so you are not dependent on the AT&T network. You only need GPS, and that signal is everywhere. You could also buy an inexpensive dedicated unit; on the low end that will cost about the same as a year of the AT&T subscription, and will certainly have a better speaker. Of course, there will be fees to update the maps, but in my experience you can use a GPS for years without doing that. Points of interest change, but the iPhone provides other sources like Google for up to date info.

I also think it is a bloody shame that the AT&T app has no access to your address book. Apple has walled that data off from 3rd party apps, (Update: Apple provides the ability, the Navigator app hasn't implemented it) and it is just senseless to have you type everything in again. You can copy and paste the data, but it is a needless pain. The AT&T app has this access when it runs on other phones like the Blackberry.

In summary, the app works, and is feature laden. I'm not sure it is the best option for in-car navigation, and you might want to wait for other solutions to appear. Of course, you can always get the AT&T app and cancel. It's a month-by-month charge.

So how is it like to drive with this app? My colleague Steven Sande did just that, and his report will follow soon.

Before you go, here are some screen shots to give you a look at some of the features on AT&T Navigator:

Gallery: AT&T Navigator

TUAWCruising with the AT&T Navigator originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Apple, Security

Apple is apparently alerting ALI forum members that Learning Interchange account passwords have been compromised. In a message forwarded to us by several TUAW readers, Apple warns that members who commonly use the same credentials on multiple sites may be at risk. If you are an ALI account user, please consider updating any accounts that use identical credentials. Here is the Apple quote that was sent to us. We recently learned that the security of Apple Learning Interchange (ALI) members' names and passwords may have been compromised. These accounts are limited to accessing the ALI discussion board and do not contain sensitive information such as credit card or social security numbers.

While ALI member names and passwords are not linked to your Apple ID, our records indicate that your ALI member name and Apple ID are the same. For this reason we strongly recommend that you change your Apple ID password as well as any others that might have the same name and password combination.

At the time of posting, the ALI site (also linked to in the Source link) is unavailable. We do not have confirmation from Apple about this situation, although we have contacted them for a statement.

TUAWApple Learning Interchange: Security Compromise originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: iPhone

While most of us at TUAW (in the US, anyway) are staring out the window, running down the clock to hit the lake or ocean or pavement in some manner, the intrepid bloggers of Engadget never take a vacation. Here are three* iPhone stories they posted today:

Apple patent applications offer glimpses of haptic screens, RFID readers, fingerprint ID
Oh man, haptics on the iPhone would be so sweet, and finally give us a little more than annoying clicks when typing. RFID and fingerprints? Well, that I'm not so keen on.

Apple patching nasty iPhone SMS vulnerability
Good ol' security maven Charlie Miller poked into the soft underbelly of the iPhone and discovered a pretty gnarly SMS hack that could potentially have your phone activating GPS, the phone's mic, and other nastiness. Perfect setup for a Tom Clancy novel or totally scary vulnerability? Read the HotHardware piece and see for yourself.

iPhone facing potential trademark issues in China?
Yeah, who'd have thunk there would be a trademark dispute over the name iPhone in China, right? Funny thing is, Apple has a trademark on iPhone in China... just not on mobile phones. Oops.

[Thanks to the tipsters who sent these in a while ago, there's fresh beer in the fridge in the garage!]

*OK, four stories. MG Siegler over at TechCrunch has a linkalicious report on Facebook's upcoming new iPhone app featuring... video uploads! (gasp, applause, nausea, use as directed)

TUAWBecause you can never have enough iPhone news... three more stories originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Retail, iPhone

Mac Daily News and other sources are reporting today on a leaked AT&T memo that states that the company retail stores had their best day ever with the launch of the iPhone 3GS.

"iLaunch day 2009 was one for the record books, as AT&T customers scrambled to get their hands on the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet.

Here's a look at some of the milestones we achieved:

* Best-ever sales day in our retail stores
* Second-largest traffic day in our retail stores
* Most transactions processed via our IT systems in a single day
* Most upgrade eligibility checks in a single day
* Largest order day in att.com history
* Largest features sales day in att.com history

On this year's launch day, iPhone sales exceeded sales recorded on 2008's iPhone launch day, Black Friday 2008 and Dec. 26, 2008 - all heavy-volume sales days. In fact, this year we surpassed 2008's launch day sales at about noon Central time, and sustained our previous peak hour record, also set in 2008, for 11 straight hours."

If the numbers are accurate, the iPhone blew by most analyst predictions that the iPhone would not sell as well as the 3G iPhone released last summer.

Even better news, numbers like these should give Apple some leverage to force the wireless giant to improve what for many is a mediocre experience using the AT&T network. The iPhone exclusive is up next year, and rumors persist that Apple is talking to other carriers, most notably Verizon.

via Mac Daily News and TechCrunch

TUAWiPhone is humongous for AT&T originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: WWDC, iPhone, iPod touch

I can't count the number of hours I spent at the UT Music Library on a Performa or Quadra or Centris (I had a Centris 610 at the time) playing Daleks. Strangely addicting but incredibly simple, the game mechanic has been repeated often in the casual game universe, and Daleks was essentially a rip of Robots on UNIX. You try to get away from something, one step at a time, as those somethings inch ever closer, one step at a time. It's turn-based "tag." There's a terribly unsatisfying and buggy version called SuperDaleks for OS X here.

Zombies is a bit of an update for the venerable classic, although there's also a classic game called Zombies using the very same mechanic -- nothing new under the sun, eh? But intead of dusting off that old IIsi, you can play Zombies on your iPhone or iPod touch. The developer added spells, allowing you to do something out of the norm each round. So, for example, you could teleport (sometimes seen in variations of this game). You can also destroy zombies with a spell, handy when you're in a no-win position.

The preview you see here is the unfinished version, but it's shaping up to be a pleasant reimagining of a classic. We'll post on Twitter when it's available.

TUAWWWDC Demo: Zombies, a modern update of Daleks (preview) originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Confessions of a Compact-camera Shooter

…for once in my life I wanted to just walk around and totally enjoy the experience…

Guilty as charged. It’s true, I took most of the photographs in this article with my Canon PowerShot G10 compact camera, including the opening photograph of a rusting truck. The locations for my shoots were Socorro, New Mexico, and nearby Bosque del Apache, where I was co-leading a photography workshop with famed wildlife photographer Greg Downing for NatureScapes (www.naturescapes.net).

I use the word “confessions” in jest because I’m known for shooting with top-of-the-line digital SLR cameras that produce knockout images in all lighting conditions, indoors and out. In addition, these digital SLRs accept more than 50 lenses and dozens of accessories that expand the camera’s capabilities. So like some pros I know, I’d have to plead the Fifth (tongue in cheek) when asked about shooting with a less-than-the-best camera.

Why did I use a compact camera for taking important images in these totally cool locations—places I’d never been before? I wanted to see if I could get good shots with a basic camera. What’s more, for once in my life I wanted to just walk around and totally enjoy the experience without lugging around my 40-lb SLR backpack, although I did have it nearby in the trunk of my car at all times.

So friends, here are some compact-camera images, along with some important info about compact cameras. I promise to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Opening arguments
I love this shot. It’s clean, meaning that it has very little digital noise. I took it with my compact camera on the first day of the trip in Bosque del Apache. I put the camera on a tripod, set the ISO to 100, the exposure mode to Av (Aperture Priority), activated the self-timer, and took the shot.

At low ISO settings, compact cameras deliver relatively low-noise images as long as the light level isn’t too low. It’s in low light and at high ISO settings where noise increases, and it’s in low light and at high ISO settings where digital SLRs really shine when it comes to minimizing noise.

I also took this shot with my compact camera. Check out the detail and color before you read on. Take your time. Nice shot, don’t you think

Okay, I’m kidding. I actually took this shot earlier that morning with a Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II and 24–105mm lens, using the same settings that I used on my compact camera. It’s also one of my favorite images from the shoot. It’s a beautifully clean image, and I challenge anyone to see, at least on the pages of this magazine, any difference in image quality between this and the previous image. That goes for making an 8×10″ print of each image, too.

Here’s a test shot taken earlier that morning with the compact camera. For this shot, I set the ISO to 800 and hand-held the camera to test the noise, which is evident in the image, but that was expected. So one of the key differences between the two types of cameras is noise.

Cross-examination
Another key difference, and the reason I will not get divorced from my digital SLRs, is that I can use dozens of lenses on my digital SLRs, whereas my compact camera has only a built-in zoom. For this photograph, I used a Canon 400mm DO IS lens on my Canon EOS-1D Mark III to get the shot.

Unlike my compact camera, my digital SLR focuses much faster; has no shutter lag (although it’s not bad in the G10); has more focusing points (allowing it to focus more accurately in more situations); has a higher frame rate, not to mention a much larger image sensor for higher-quality images and enlargements; and an on-sensor noise-reduction feature.

Perhaps what I miss most in compact cameras are very wide lens settings, such as 14mm, 15mm, and 17mm. I especially like those focal lengths for landscapes and when shooting in close quarters indoors. And, of course, I miss the telephoto zooms. But you know what, whenever possible I do what we did before we had zoom lenses: I zoom with my feet!

In the compact camera’s defense, it has many of the exposure modes (Av, Tv, P, M) that my digital SLR offers. It even has exposure compensation, offers a histogram, and features an overexposure warning. What’s more, it shoots movies—not high-def like my Canon 5D Mark II, but movies good enough for fun and for posting on YouTube. Speaking of YouTube, one of my Bosque del Apache movies is posted on YouTube (www.youtube.com). Type Rick Sammon in the Search field to check it out.

Witness tampering
This shot from a compact camera was taken in bright light with the ISO set to 100. Check out the color, detail, sharpness, and lack of noise. I took this picture so that I could compare it to the following picture.

Here’s another shot of the bus taken shortly before sunset. This time the bus was in the shade, and to get the depth-of-field and shutter speed I needed, I had to set my ISO to 400. You may not be able to see the grain in the image in this magazine, but it’s there in the shadow areas. Also, the picture looks a bit flat.

No problem. Photoshop to the rescue! With a few basic adjustments, some in Adobe Camera Raw, I was able to transform a lackluster shot into an image with vibrant colors.

A confession on the stand
Okay, now it’s time for another confession: All the compact-camera images you see here were created from JPEG files. That’s right! Rick “RAW Rules” Sammon shot JPEGs for the first time in nine years to test the camera’s capabilities. And guess what? Processing those images in Camera Raw (which you can do in Photoshop CS3 and CS4), combined with a few additional tweaks in Photoshop, yielded some very nice images, including this photo of a caboose.

The mug shot
I’ll end this article with a photograph of me that was taken with my G10 during the presentation at the NatureScapes event. Surely it’s a grab shot with a harsh shadow caused by the on-camera flash. But it’s a fun shot, and that’s what compact-camera photography is about—having fun without the bag-drag that’s associated with professional photography.

It’s also about knowing what the compact camera can and can’t do, and how to use the camera’s capabilities to get great shots—some, like the second photograph in this article, can’t be differentiated from a photo taken with a high-end digital SLR.

From now on, I’ll never leave home without my compact camera, and I’ll never stop shooting with SLRs for my serious work.

Unlike the serif font family, these hand drawn fonts looked less serious but they tend to give and convey strong human touch wherever they are applied. Hand-drawn fonts are hard to stand on it’s own, but they are utmost perfect for these following situations...

Adobe Exchange is a free resource on the Adobe website for adding features to your Adobe applications.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Bad Apple, Apple, iPhone, iPod touch

As if the waters surrounding the App Store approval process weren't murky enough, one developer has just hit an unprecedented wall. Apple rejected his app, iKaraoke, citing that it duplicated functionality of the iPod application. Of course, the "duplicate functionality" reason is nothing new, but Apple's next step is: just a few weeks after rejecting the application, they have filed a patent for including karaoke functionality into the iPod app.

A brief look at the demo iKaraoke's website will quickly tell you that, while the app does bear a light resemblance to some of the menus found in the iPod application, the actual interface that the user interacts with to select and download a song is far from duplicating the iPod's polished interface. Another key point is that the file format used by iKaraoke is known as the .kar format -- an unofficial extension of the MIDI specification that enables lyrics to appear in time with music. The lyrics are then displayed on the screen, and highlighted as the song is played. Does any of this sound like functionality found in the iPod app? We didn't think so.

So what exactly was duplicated then? According to apple, iKaraoke "duplicates the functionality of the built-in iPhone application, iPod, without providing sufficient differentiation or added functionality." But they didn't just stop there. The reviewer went on to say that the application "downloads media files that are not managed by the iTunes application, which also manages media files, we believe this would be confusing to the user." Now, hold on a minute here... it's fine for several other apps to stream and download media files that are supported by the iPod without being managed by iTunes, but it's not OK for an app to download media that isn't natively supported, and provide functionality that isn't natively provided by the iPod?

This wouldn't be much different from your typical app rejection if the story stopped there, but it doesn't. This morning, Apple filed a patent [application here] which details built-in Karaoke functionality being added as part of the iPod application, with some additional bells and whistles such as monitoring the pitch of the user's voice. So it seems the functionality that was duplicated is functionality that Apple has not yet released, and possibly not yet even begun to develop. Maybe the $99 iPhone Developer Program fee should include a crystal ball for testing apps before submitting them.

As with the many other patents Apple has filed, this feature may never see the light of day. But is it really acceptable to reject an application, based solely on what appears to be a duplication of a feature that may or may not even be released in the future? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Update: As a few of you have pointed out in the comments, although the patent application was published today, it actually was originally filed back in April of 2008. While this does indicate that the patent was indeed filed long before the SDK was even released, questions still remain about whether or not Apple may choose to reject applications based on functionality found in unreleased features.

Similar rejections have occurred with apps that offered podcast downloads prior to the inclusion of podcasting functionality in iTunes, for example. Essentially, what needs to happen is that Apple needs to clear the air on what exactly is considered a duplication of functionality, and to be clear with the developer on exactly what aspects of their application are in violation of this requirement, rather than sending a vague form letter and ignoring inquiries for additional information from the developer.

TUAWApp Store Rejections: Apple rejects iKaraoke app, patent filed published for a karaoke player originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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