Earlier today Skype released the first beta of SkypeKit, its official API toolkit, to Mac OS X and Windows developers. SkypeKit allows you to build applications that plug into Skype’s services without actually forcing the OS to open Skype.app. Indeed, registered developers can use the “Plugged into Skype” logo in their apps.
Posts tagged with "mac"
SkypeKit Beta Available for MacOS X
Review: IconBox 2.0, Icon Management for your Mac
I know quite a few of you MacStories readers are die hard icon fanatics. The Mac community is full of young and vibrant designers willing to get down and dirty with Photoshop, and entire communities are built around various Mac themes, icon sets, and related design mischief. Though after folders and folders of icons, you might be wondering if there’s a better way to organize your collection of icons. Today, I’d like to introduce you to IconBox, a full featured icon library for your Mac. If you haven’t heard about IconBox and their latest 2.0 release, or you’re on the fence about an application like this, I think you’ll enjoy this review.
Ostrich: A Twitter Client for Safari
We’re still waiting for Tweetie 2.0 for Mac to be announced (though we’ve heard something new is going on this week) yet a lot of developers haven’t given up on developing and refining their own unofficial Twitter clients. And since Apple released Safari 5 with the possibility to install extensions on it, it was just a matter of time until someone developed a “full-featured” Twitter client for it.
Meet Ostrich.
App Store Password Caching Causing Unintentional Purchases?
So you have a kid right? Then I’m sure you’ve done this a lot or have had this happen at least once: You download an innocent game to keep them busy, handed them your iPhone, and let them have at it. The kids get carried away, and you wake up the next morning to a bank alert claiming you’ve incurred $300 in App-app purchases. This leads to a few nasty emails sent to Apple and the developer, claiming fraudulent charges and demanding your money back.
But just so you know, developers aren’t trying to screw you over. Apple has an odd API concerning purchases and password caching. While you probably realize that Apple gives you the opportunity to purchase multiple items in the store so you don’t have to keep entering your password, you might not have realized that this caching translates to in-app purchases as well.
BRDA on Jobs: Blu-ray Will be Around for a While
So what do you do when Steve Jobs says your entire industry is going to be replaced by digital formats? Refute it of course! Jobs claims that Internet based downloads will surpass Blu-ray, stating that, “Bluray is looking more and more like one of the high end audio formats that appeared as the successor to the CD - like it will be beaten by Internet downloadable formats.”
The Blu-Ray Disc Association responds, “According to market analysis Blu-ray Disc has a rate of adoption is very similar to that of DVD at the same seniority (18 million U.S. homes with Blu-ray in Q4 ‘10, the same numbers as the penetration of DVD to Q1 of the fifth year on the market of that size, Adams Media Research), we agree that the Internet will increase its importance to both stream that content to be scarce, but we do believe that the physical media like Blu-ray Disc will continue to dominate for many years, due to ease of use, high durability, and certainly the ability to deliver high definition experience and quality available anywhere.”
Anywhere you have a Blu-ray player that is. Personally I prefer just to instantly download movies, so I’m going to side with Jobs since I’m not a fan of discs at all. But what do you guys think? Will Blu-ray continue to remain in the market for years to come because of its market penetration? Or will downloadable content cause Blu-ray to sizzle out and end up like the CDs of today?
[via 9 to 5 Mac]
µTorrent 1.0 Stable for Mac Available
You’ve come such a long way, µTorrent. I remember when I used to launch you on Windows, back in my other life when I was a PC user. Then I moved to a Mac, and started using the much-acclaimed Transmission, a fantastic client which has recently been updated to 2.0, with tons of new features and optimizations.
But like I said, you’ve come such a long way, kid.
AppChest: Manage Your Licenses, Find Hot Deals - Review and Giveaway!
One of the greatest things about the App Store is that you don’t have software licenses to keep. You have an account, you purchase apps, those apps are tied to your account. No paid upgrades to keep track of across mailboxes, no registration emails, in-app purchases at best. That’s why people buy applications in the App Store: because it’s simple and you only have to setup a Paypal account or enter your credit card details.
The same cannot be said about the Mac: there’s no unified store, and if you want an app you have to visit the developer’s website and download it. You have a license for each app, and storing all of them in a single location can be a huge time waster. That’s why softwares like AppChest come in handy and, guess what, we’ve got 5 (ahem) licenses to give away.
Fake Steve Jobs on the iPhone 4 Antenna
Congratulations, Twitter: You Blew It. [Tweetie]
Writing about Tweetie for Mac updates has become some sort of a joke to me. “Tweetie for Mac has been updated? Yeah, sure.” That’s why many people last night didn’t initially believe Twitter actually pushed an update with OAuth support, and once they realized it was real, they just didn’t update. Why? Because they’re not trusting Loren Brichter anymore. And considering what happened to Tweetie for Mac last night, go prove them wrong.