Archive for February, 2008
Photonic 1.0
Comments(0)Photonic’s developer Barton Springs Software has just released Photonic 1.0 — a major step up from the beta.
In addition to the various bug fixes,
Photonic also received the following features:
- The ability to add favorites and photosets
- New option to send FlickrMail to the owner of a picture via a contextual menu on photos in a stream
- New option to go to the photo’s page is now a contextual menu
- Drag and drop images to the application icon or to the source list to add the image to your upload queue
- Double click now zooms in on image rather than going to Flickr
- Set favorites on Flickr now
- New tabbed preferences window
- New preference for the number of concurrent downloads (previous default was 3)
Possibly the best new feature that has been implemented for 1.0 is the full screen preview. You can now see your (or your friends) Flickr photos full-screen; this is really handy for when you want to show off a set of pictures. Photonic is available as a trial download from the developer’s website, and it’s currently purchaseable at a special price of $20 until March 15th.
Sony’s new iPod dock - Bluetooth gear
Yeah, just like that and Sony’s got a new iPod dock / clock radio — the ICF-ClipMK2 — which comes in both black and white with line-in for $100 this May. Also announced, the clippable DRC-BT15 Bluetooth A2DP / AVRCP receiver and SRS-BT100 30 Watt A2DP speakers. The Bluetooth gear is out March for $130 and $160, respectively.
Continue reading Sony squirts out new iPod dock, Bluetooth gear
(Via Engadget.)
Super Tuesday???
Speculation for Tuesday: Macbook Pro Updates - iPhone SDK Delay
February is fast approaching an end, and it is looking more and more like we won’t be seeing that iPhone SDK we were all promised. Rumors are starting to circulate that the iPhone SDK will be delayed by as much as 3 weeks. My own personal guess, since we’ve seen no indication that Apple will be holding a special event before the end of the month, is that those rumors are true, and we won’t be seeing the SDK in February at all.
I feel confident that the iPhone SDK will require a “special event” by Apple to introduce not only what it will and will not do to the world, but also how we will, and more importantly, how we WON’T be getting apps for our iPhones.
So what WILL Apple give us on Tuesday?
Well…while I have no crystal ball, or insider info, my personal guess is that we’ll be getting those new Macbook Pros to hopefully overshadow, or at least counter act, the iPhone SDK news.
What do you think?
(Via Apple Gazette.)
Pixel This! Nintendo’s Superheroes
Here’s a really great image looking back at the royal roots of the three Nintendo big boys; Mario, Link and Donkey Kong. There isn’t any monochrome character love from the old days proper, but it is quite an extensive time line nonetheless, which culminates in the modern day incarnations of our beloved superheroes. Things we have learnt from the image include the fact that Donkey Kong once had breasts bigger than Pamela, Link has been know to walk about without his hat and Mario hasn’t always had enough pixels for a well defined mustache. It is all rather shocking stuff; brace yourself and jump in for the money shot.
(Via Gizmodo.)
iPhone SDK Delayed 1-3 Weeks????
iPhone SDK Delayed 1-3 Weeks?In a brief blog post, BusinessWeek writer Arik Hesseldahl reports that the iPhone SDK may be delayed by 1-3 weeks. No reasons for the delay are known, and Apple’s plans with respect to the announced late February timeframe remain murky:<p class=”quo…”
“Couch Surfer”
Apple TV Web Browser Safari HD Rechristened “Couch Surfer”
That awesome little native web browser for Apple TV, Safari HD, is no more. It emerges from the crucible of Apple Legal as Couch Surfer—as we like to say, more original, more better. [Apple TV Hacks]
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(Via Gizmodo.)
Hands On chumby
Hands On chumby —
After about an hour of playtime with the final version of the squishable $180 Wi-Fi widget ball chumby, I want one on my desk. Is it essential gadgetry? No. It’s not meant to be. Until you’re addicted to it. galleryPost(’chumbyh’, 6, ”);
If you’re not familiar with the basic premise, chumby is a Wi-Fi gadget with a touchscreen centered around widgets. Think little snippets of the internet that it automatically picks up after you’ve subscribed to them, kind of like mini-channels. Like Chuck Norris facts. Or the weather, or MySpace, which has a pretty rich widget actually—you can add or delete friends, check out pictures or whatever. You don’t pay a monthly subscription for access, BTW.
My favorite (weirdly) was a clock that uses numbers clipped from Flickr photos. (It’s even kind of pitched as a brilliant desktop clock, ironically.) Streaming video, like for the Letterman Top 10 is a little better than YouTube. You could stream a whole half hour program and get through it, but I don’t recommend it.
Best of all, it’s not a totally closed device—it’s Linux and Flashlight 3-based running an ARM processor, and totally hackable—they’ve even thrown up the schematics online. So it’s easily to program new widgets or really dig into it to do something entirely different. The catch is that for now, you’ve gotta use the Chumby Network, which, as Saul points out, isn’t quite as open, and some widgets have ads.
The interface was designed by Susan Kare, who did the icons and fonts for the first Mac. It’s a great actually—clean, bright and attractive—only hampered by the slightly fidgety nature of the touchscreen. It responds better to taps w/ the back of your finger, but some of the widgets do scrolling, which isn’t as smooth as it is on the iPhone. But stil, fairly good.
Other than the touchscreen, there’s a button on top which sort of does everything. It’s easy to feel through the fabric, though I kind of resent it being there at all. Not really used yet are the mic (it’s developer candy) and the accelerometer, though I played a game that makes use of it which could kill hours of productivity time.
The squishability is ace, and I think kind of key to its appeal. I’m not big on the current color selection—black white and tan, but I was promised more were coming. I suggested green and blue, at a minimum, but they wanted to avoid giving off a kiddy vibe at launch.
The big question: Who is this for? Well, us, you. It’s for people with a “rich internet life” who “already have all those other things” like an iPhone. It’s supposed to sit on our kitchen counter or on our desk, bringing in little digestible bits of stuff we’re already neck-deep in, the morsels we “really care about.”
I’m not sure if they’re going to get people to care about chumby though. If you already have one, I could see it quickly becoming embedded in your personal sphere, something you look at constantly and regularly—but I think it’s going to be a challenge to get people to add another internet gadget to an already crowded desktop.
(Via Gizmodo.)
Optimus Maximus ships!
The day you’ve been waiting so very, very, very long for has finally arrived: Optimus Maximus keyboards have begun shipping out to their new homes. In addition to the pricey, OLED-studded ‘boards, the Optimus Configurator software utility is also available, allowing you to customize your new purchase to your heart’s content. In other news, Art Lebedev says that he’s planning a new project which will make you salivate uncontrollably for five years straight, and end with you taking out a second mortgage on your home to purchase it.
(Via Engadget.)
iPhone Wide Angle Lens Accessory
If you’ve already added this ridiculous zoom lens to your iPhone photography kit, you might as well go ahead and add this wide angle lens as well. While my concerns with the iPhone’s camera are more related to its crappiness than its field of view, if you’ve come to rely on it for random celebrity snaps or unexpected blackmail moments, this could make it a bit more useful. It’s easily attached or removed thanks to a clear plastic ‘cap’ that sits on top of the phone and positions the lens directly over the standard one. Just don’t expect to be able to use any of the iPhone cases on the market while this lens is attached.
You can get one from from USBfever.com for just $11.99, though it won’t ship until sometime around February 29.
(Via OhGizmo!.)
