Federico Viticci

10804 posts on MacStories since April 2009

Federico is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of MacStories, where he writes about Apple with a focus on apps, developers, iPad, and iOS productivity. He founded MacStories in April 2009 and has been writing about Apple since. Federico is also the co-host of AppStories, a weekly podcast exploring the world of apps, Unwind, a fun exploration of media and more, and NPC: Next Portable Console, a show about portable gaming and the handheld revolution.
@viticci@macstories.net
@viticci.macstories.net
viticci@macstories.net

Apple Updates iWork Suite for iPad With Bug Fixes

Earlier today Apple issued an update for the entire iWork suite for iPad (which includes Pages, Numbers and Keynote) to address bugs found in version 1.3, released in November.

The minor 1.3.1 update for all the three apps of the suite fixes an issue with the predictive text menu when using Chinese or Japanese characters; Numbers for iPad went under a deeper bug-fixing procedure with a resolved crash due to Region Format in the Settings and the inability to save cells when the app was quit and restarted.

You can find the updates here. [Thanks, Willy]

New iOS Features? An Apple Social Network? Photo Stream and Media Stream

Digging into the latest iOS 4.3 beta build seeded to developers a few hours ago, we found references to two new features related to MobileMe called “Photo Stream” and “Media Stream”. There are several files, folders and code references buried deep into iOS that point to these new features as part of MobileMe and accessible through a device’s Settings.app.

As detailed by the folks over at 9to5mac, who also found out about these new features and went ahead to discover more of the implications of “Photo Stream” and “Media Stream” in iOS, Apple may be working on a serious MobileMe overhaul to offer social networking functionalities that would allow Apple to directly fight Facebook in the future, perhaps with iOS 5, with a social network built into iOS and tied to MobileMe and the Cloud. Read more

Security Cam for iPhone Keeps An Eye On Your Stuff, With Motion Detection

Now this is an interesting app I’ve recently discovered in the App Store. Months ago, I began thinking about setting up a homemade wireless security system in my house; I saw that the system could be easily put in place with a couple of hundred dollars, and I was getting serious about purchasing all I needed to get it up and running. As usual with my personal projects I dream about and save in my “someday” list, it didn’t happen. Work got in the way, priorities changed, I didn’t set up a home security system. As my to-do list suggests, I may actually do it “someday”.

Home security and monitoring, anyway, is a personal requirement (and hobby, I guess, or obsession) that can change according to one’s needs, workplace and items to protect from unwanted eyes and hands. This is why I think Security Cam, a $0.99 app for iPhone, may be just what the average user is looking for. Read more

Old Macintosh Plus Becomes Time Machine Server

Oh, the things modders and geeks can accomplish with old Apple hardware and a bit of creativity. We saw and old Macintosh computer becoming a DJ headset last week, now it’s time for a 1986 Macintosh Plus to have its inner parts modified and adjusted to work as a Time Machine server.

Macenstein reader Dean Gray took a Macintosh Plus and filled the innards with 6 hard drives to get to 2.3 TB of storage. He put an Intel Atom motherboard in there, together with a 10.4” display and he says WiFi connection is coming soon as well. The unit is now acting as a Time Machine backup destination, similar to an Apple Time Capsule or a Drobo configured on OS X. Only it’s all happening inside a Macintosh Plus.

We can’t get enough of these cool mods. In 20 years, it will be nice to see the original iPad or a unibody MacBook become modders’ targets.

iPhone Case and Solar Charger Doubles Battery Life

We’re big fans of solar charging technologies here at MacStories: we got excited when Apple patents detailing screen-integrated solar charging surfaced last year, and we couldn’t help but be intrigued by the foldable solar charger for iPad. And even when someone tried to apply the same concept to the iPhone with an awkwardly huge accessory, we were curious.

The Eton Mobius iPhone battery pack is another take on the integrated solar charger for iPhone that looks better than anything else we have seen so far. It doubles your device’s battery life, it gives you 20 minutes of talk per sun hour and, most of all, doesn’t look that bad as an iPhone case. Sure it adds 20mm of thickness to the iPhone, but it sounds like a fairly acceptable compromise when it comes to keeping your phone alive, in the sun.

Too bad it’s always raining these days in my town. [Gizmodo via Geeky Gadgets]

New Guardian iPhone App Launches, Introduces Subscription Model

Early in December, rumors pointed to The Guardian about to launch an updated version of its iPhone app that was set to feature a new iTunes subscription model which could grant readers access to the app for either 6 or 12 months. The story was interesting because it was the same week blogs speculated Apple may unveil iOS 4.3 with the new rumored “iTunes app subscription” feature very soon.

The updated Guardian app is now live in the App Store and it comes with the previously reported £2.99 / £3.99 price point (for six and twelve month access, respectively), but it doesn’t seem to be using any of Apple’s upcoming subscription system. Rather, the Guardian publishers and developers have implemented standard in-app purchases to allow readers to enjoy the digital newspapers for a limited period of time. The app is a free to download with subscriptions for UK readers, but it’s ad-supported in the US. According to The Guardian, US readers account to only 8% of the downloads.

As explained by the team in an introductory blog post, users who downloaded the first version of the app will have free access for another six months.

The Guardian for iPhone is available here. Check out what’s new in this version below. Read more

No Retina Display On The iPad 2?

Following speculation of a higher resolution “Retina Display” to be implemented in the next generation iPad (“iPad 2) that has surfaced in the past months, Daring Fireball’s John Gruber weighed in last night, claiming that according to his sources the iPad 2 won’t have a Retina Display:

I asked around, and according to my sources, it is too good to be true: the iPad 2 does not have a retina display. I believe the iPad 2’s display will remain at 1024 × 768. Its display may be improved in other ways — brighter, better power consumption, thinner, perhaps. Maybe it uses the new manufacturing technique Apple introduced with the iPhone 4 display, which brings the LCD closer to the surface of the touchscreen glass — making it look more like pixels on glass rather than pixels under glass. But my sources are pretty sure that it’s not 2048 × 1536 or any other “super high resolution”.

Read more

From Last Year: “Why The iPad Will Fail”→

From Last Year: “Why The iPad Will Fail”

The only real gem I remember from last year’s iPad announcement backlash is this one, courtesy of Mike Halsey:

Quite simply this time Apple have got it wrong.  All the tech press is saying the same thing and comments made by readers of those websites are echoing, mostly anyway, their sentiments.

The iPad is nothing more than a large iPod Touch.  It’s lacking a 16:9 screen and while the bezel has to be of a reasonable size to allow for holding the device with your hand without your thumb poking the screen all the time, it’s simply too big.  Finally those few people who’ve already used it are saying that having a standard keyboard on a device that you can’t rest easily on your lap and that is intended to be used one-handed is lunacy.  Just look at the curved corner keyboards Microsoft introduced with the tablet editions of Windows to see how they should have done it.

It turns out, there is a large market for “large iPod touches” and it may even grant you billions of dollars of revenue. But then again, Microsoft nailed the “large iPod touch” segment in 2010, right?

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