The Mac Café

iPhone Life Magazine

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-26T20:56:04+01:00

For anyone looking for a dedicated iPhone magazine there is a new publication from the publishers of Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine called iPhone Life, and as anyone who has read Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine you will know how good it is/was. Whilst iPhone Life is yet to be published, if it is anything like their current/past offerings then it will be well worth subscribing, despite the fact it will be biased towards the US. Planned for release in 2009 you can sign up now for the paper based, and iPhone/iPod Touch version, with a current price of $25, and an electronic version should be available via Zinio when published.

This weeks offerings from the UK iTunes Store - 25/08/2008

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-25T21:14:13+01:00

This weeks FREE single is What Up Man from The Cool Kids, and can be downloaded from here...

... and the 99p film rental is A Guy Thing, and is available from here.

Blog Postings

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-23T12:30:21+01:00

Due to some legal action be threatened against my company (Pocket PC Solutions) posts to this blog will be limited for the next week or two, but we will be back with a big bang, so do not give up on us.

As soon as the issues have be resolved I will disclose what I can with out naming any names, but the past few days have been stressful.

This weeks offerings from the UK iTunes Store - 18/08/2008

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-19T21:18:36+01:00

This weeks FREE single is LOL from Little Jackie, and can be downloaded from here...

... and the 99p film rental is A Fish Called Wanda, and is available from here.

UPDATE: It looks like for some unknown reason Apple have pulled this weeks 99p film rental A Fish Called Wanda, and replaced it with The Usual Suspects. Thanks Barry for the heads up.

iPhone 2.0.2 update

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-19T08:21:19+01:00

Apple have made available yet another "bug fix" update to the iPhone, and I updated my iPhone 3G at 1.00 am this morning (sad I know). The update went OK (taking about 10 mins to complete), but as I was getting tired I went to bed. This morning I have had a quick play, and I can confirm there are NO user experience improvements, there is still lag, poor touch screen sensitivity, and the camera is as slow as ever.

With 2 updates in the past month, the question everyone wants to know the answer to, is when will Apple fix the real bugs? so come on Apple get it sorted!!

UPDATE: I may be wrong, but there seems to be an improved 3G reception, and there seems less lag when typing text messages. If you are reading this blog and have upgraded, then post your experience in the comments section.

MobileMe Update

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-19T08:15:03+01:00

This morning the following email dropped into my mailbox, and considering all the problems with MobileMe, it is about time. To be honest I had considered canceling my MobileMe account and demand a refund, but I'm prepared to give it a second chance.

"We have already made many improvements to MobileMe, but we still have many more to make. To recognize our users' patience, we are giving every MobileMe subscriber as of today a free 60 day extension. This is in addition to the one month extension most subscribers have already received. We are working very hard to make MobileMe a great service we can all be proud of. We know that MobileMe's launch has not been our finest hour, and we truly appreciate your patience as we turn this around. Read this article for more details.

The MobileMe Team"

iPhone 3G coming to an Apple Premium Reseller near you

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-18T22:12:21+01:00

Following on from the announcement that Best Buy will sell iPhones, I have heard that Apple are planning a similar exercise in the UK, and that sometime in the next few weeks they will announce their strategy. It is unclear at this time if it will be all or just a select few of Apple's Premium Resellers that will be selling the iPhone, or what part O2 will be playing. Could this be the beginning of the end of O2's exclusivity, or could we be going to see a Pay As You Go option from O2? Only time will tell, but be rest assured we will bring you the news as soon as we know.

iPhone Apps

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-16T09:52:24+01:00

I have been meaning to write a post on the quantity and more importantly the quality of the iPhone/iPod Touch apps available on the App Store. For me about 95% of the apps on the App Store have been very disappointing, and I find myself asking myself "why?" "what is the point of this app?", and in some cases because there is no real try before you buy options (other than some lite apps), I have wasted good money on apps that I thought sounded good, but end up being removed from my iPhone as they were pointless or became too boring to keep. I personally think Apple are partly to blame for the messy App Store, as Steve Jobs seemed to keen to announce how many apps there were in the store at launch, but come on Steve how may of these launch apps did you have installed on your iPhone? That said there are now some very good, and very useful apps beginning to appear and being announced, and for me the following apps (in no particular order) have a worthy place on my iPhone:

Light - a free torch like app. Whilst looking for the app to link too, I discovered Apple have removed the app because they did not like an element of a version update!! come on Apple get you act together, you are happy for crap rip off apps to be made available, but when a developer adds a feature you don't like or agree with you pull the app.
Palringo - a free instant messenger app
Twinkle - the best free Twitter app
Picoli - a very cool image enhancement app for pictures taken with the iPhone's camera
SpeakEasy - a very good voice/sound recording app
DataCase - for me the killer iPhone app that I use to carry documents with me
TubeStatus - for free London Tube line status information
Tris - a very good free Tetris game
Bejeweled 2 - my most favorite of games

Other notable apps that I have installed, but rarely use are:

Facebook, Twitterrific and Monkey Ball.

Below is a screenshot of the apps I have downloaded (either free or paid for) from the App Store, and you can see for yourself the apps I have either removed or just decided not to install.

There are still a number of apps I plan to buy, but there is only so much money you can justify spending in a month.

I would be interested your thoughts on the app store, and the apps that you think are worthy of any iPhone or iPod Touch, so please either drop me a line, or add your comments or favorite apps to the comments section of this post.

Get Smart - iTunes exclusive clip!!

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-13T20:50:37+01:00

I hesitate to report this, as for me this has to be the most pointless freebee on iTunes, a free clip of Get Smart. Why do we have to download a clip? when all other films can be previewed online. Anyway if you are interested you can download the clip here.

DataCase for iPhone and iPod Touch

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-13T19:54:51+01:00

Could this be the killer iPhone/iPod Touch app we've all been waiting for? Well for me yes it is. DataCase allows you to easily upload, download and view files on your iPhone or iPod Touch. This afternoon I downloaded and installed DataCase to my iPhone, and in the few hours i've used it, I have been totally wowed by it. Setting up the application couldn't be easier, you just launch it, and as long as it is connected to a WiFi network you will be given two options to connect, either http or ftp.

I chose to connect using an ftp client and and to ensure that not just anyone can connect to your iPhone/iPod Touch, DataCase prompts you to accept the incoming connection. So far I have loaded an Excel Spreadsheet, a PDF and a copy of one of my websites. All of these work like a dream, and now finally I can carry files and information with me on my iPhone :)

For more information check out Veiosoft's website.

London Tube Apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-13T17:40:57+01:00

There are a few London Tube apps on the Apple Apps Store, but two of them have caught my eye.

The first one is a free app called TubeStatus and gives you up to date line status information (although this app relies on you having an internet connection, although this should not be a problem in London).

The second app is called Tube London City, costs £5.99, but is a fully featured app, giving status updates, but also, and more importantly route planning. For anyone visiting London for a holiday or day out both of these apps will come in use, and if you live in, or are a regular visitor to London, you will find these apps invaluable.

UK iTunes 99p Film Of The Week

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-12T23:43:33+01:00

This weeks 99p film offer of the week from the UK iTunes store is The Terminator, and is available here.

UK iTunes FREE Single of the Week - 12/08/2008

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-12T23:37:22+01:00

The UK's iTunes FREE single of the week is Before The Worst from The Script, and can be downloaded from here. I don't normally comment on these singles, but this is very good, and their album The Script is only £6.99, and is available here.

UK iTunes FREE TV Program - 12/08/2008

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-12T23:32:02+01:00

The UK's iTunes FREE TV Program of the week is the pilot episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and can be downloaded from here

Looney Tunes classic cartoons now on iTunes!

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-12T08:24:03+01:00

For all the millions of people out there, like myself, who grew up on the old Looney Tunes cartoons such as Bugs Bunny, you are in for a real treat. I myself have been after decent copies of the Road Runner cartoons since I can remember. Indeed they aren't available on dvd anywhere. Yet, this very night, they have been added to the list of available TV shows in the iTunes store for all us fans to enjoy!

So far we have...

(Bugs Bunny Vol. 2 is also available)

Each Volume has 10 double episodes averaging at 15 minutes each (barring Road Runner Vol.1 which consists of 7 double episodes). In my mind, especially considering these are so hard to get hold of anywhere else on any other format, these are well worth the money. I just can't wait for the rest of the volumes.

Rented films can now be played without a network connection

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-12T08:23:11+01:00

Just last night I decided to move a rented film from iTunes onto my iPod Touch and watch it in bed. Then I thought about the many user complaints regarding having to be connected to a network when you first watch a rented film in order for it to register back to home base how long you have left to watch it. And so I thought 'I wonder if that's one thing that has been fixed yet in the new firmware'. So, once I turned my Wi-Fi off on my Touch I attempted to watch the rented film. Sure enough, once I had the pop-up appear reminding me that I'd have 48 hours to watch the film, it played!

'Okay', I thought. 'But what if you try to watch a rented film on iTunes without a network connection- will it still play then?' Indeed I can confirm it does.

This was a minor gripe for a friend of mine as he wanted to rent a handful of films for his iPod and watch them while he was on holiday, but being without a network connection he couldn't. But now it is possible.

Short Films finally listed in TV Genres

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-12T08:20:59+01:00

This may not seem like major news, and indeed it is not. But I have always wondered why 'Short Films' was the only one missing under the list of movie genre's on the TV. There are some duds of course, but there are also some very well made and amusing short films available on iTunes. But the only way I could find these on the TV before today was by title search, which of course is no good if you don't know the title of the film you want.

But today I have found there has been a shift in the film listings in general- for example, all the Matrix trilogy are now listed under Sci-Fi where they should be. But the main thing I spotted was Short Films is now finally listed under genres.

So if you have 10 or 30 minutes to kill, you can now easily choose from many shorts to rent for 79p or buy for £1.49.

So much for 'bug fix' firmware 2.0.1

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-07T16:09:21+01:00

Sorry people- more woes to report. After updating my iPod Touch's firmware to version 2.0.1 a couple of days ago, I was itching to find out exactly what it has fixed, as it's description simply stated 'bug fixes'. I was please to find that I no longer had to manually right-click on my iPod in iTunes and select 'Transfer Purchases' just to transfer new apps back to iTunes, when it should have done it for me. Yes, this is one thing that is actually working as it should. So, what else is new? Well, something happened to me last night that was certainly new, but it wasn't a good thing.

I was sitting in bed, perusing the apps in the app store of my Touch, and I decided to try a free Sudoku game called 'Enjoy Sudoku Daily Free'. I downloaded it, and selected it, only for my screen to go black, and the  logo to appear a few seconds later. 'Here we go again' I thought, as I had this happen a few times before the latest update, taking me back to my home screen only to have to select the app a second time to run it.

However, this time it wasn't quite so simple. The home screen never appeared, even after waiting a good five minutes. So I reset it (by holding down the Sleep and Home buttons for several seconds) only to find the same thing. It just wouldn't go beyond the logo. After trying a few times, I gave up and decided to try syncing in the morning.

This morning has arrived, and I have now got a working iPod again. But it wasn't an easy task. I started by attempting to sync my device to iTunes, which resulted in the  logo displayed on the Touch again, and the multi-coloured 'busy' cursor appearing over iTunes so it wouldn't do anything for several minutes. Finally, iTunes told me there was a problem syncing, and that I needed to restore my device to factory settings! 'What? But I only wanted to play Sudoku!' I thought. So I clicked the button to restore factory settings, and it proceeded to 'remove software' only to then greet me with the following message...

Trying another two times, I gave up and called Apple technical support. I was greeted by a nice lady who understood exactly what I was explaining to her, and she proceeded to try a few methods with me to get the device operational again. We tried syncing as normal at first so I could tell her the error number. Then she suggested trying a different USB port, which produced the same results. Then the break-through. She asked me to connect it again whilst holding down the Home button on the device. iTunes then recognised the device as one that had previously attempted a restore, and asked me if I wanted to do so, so I confirmed. It then successfully restored it to factory defaults, and asked if I wanted to restore from a back-up. I was told by the assistant to say no to this and start again, so I did.

iTunes is syncing all my music, videos etc back to my Touch as I write, so it will then just be a case of setting up my email on it (which is fine as I use an IMAP Googlemail account), and making a few settings adjustments, and starting from the begining again on some of my app games.

What really struck me as odd and concerning is what the assistant told me regarding my error message. She said that error 1621 is usually in reference to a 'Jailbreaked' iPod, which mine most certainly is not. Checking online, I have found messages on various forums that not only am I not alone in having to restore my iPod since the new update, the error 1621 can refer to numerous things including USB connection. But basically what this all boils down to is the new firmware possibly causing more serious problems than the original version 2.0 did. Sometimes I think back to those happy days before 2.0, when I had a music, photo, and video player that was great at what it did and didn't crash once. I like a lot of the apps I have bought, don't get me wrong. But I do long for those trouble-free days again.

iPhone 2.0.1 firmware available for iPhone and iPod touch

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-05T08:01:23+01:00

If you connect your iPhone or iPod Touch to iTunes today and check for an update, you will discover 2.0.1 is available for download and install. i have just updates my new iPhone 3G which took about 10mins to download and update, and whilst I dod not have time to fully test it as I am just about to leave for the office. I can confirm however that this update has definitely fallen short of what I, and I suspect every other iPhone user wanted fixing, and that is the yellow tinge of the screen (following update it is still yellow!!), a speedier launch of the camera (after update it still takes about 5 seconds to launch) and improved touch response (I have found both my old and new iPhone touch screen less responsive with version 2.0).

I will test the iPhone during the day, and update this post with my findings later this evening.

UPDATE: I have been away for a couple of days, so could not update this post. Having used my new iPhone 3G with firmware 2.0.1, and can confirm that this firmware update has NOT fixed any of the major issues with the iPhone 3G. The screen is still yellow, the lag when opening apps is still annoying, the reduced screen sensitivity not improved and the camera takes for ever to open (I did a comparison with my wife's iPhone 1st Gen with firmware 2.0 and the camera is at least 1 second faster than my new iPhone 3G).

99p Film Of The Week iTunes offer

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-04T23:37:38+01:00

It looks like the 99p rental could be as regular as the free single of the week on the UK iTunes store, with this week rental offer being Be Cool starring John Travolta.

UK iTunes FREE Single of the Week - 04/08/2008

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-04T23:33:04+01:00

The UK's iTunes FREE single of the week is The Only Way from Gotype, and can be downloaded from here.

Apple to launch the iPhone 'nano' in time for Christmas

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-03T21:38:36+01:00

The following article has appeared on the Daily Mail on-line website, suggesting a Nano style iPhone in time for Christmas. I have to agree with the article, and as we all know in the UK when O2 launched the new iPhone 3G they announced it would be available later this year on PAYG, but at £350 and with a global recession upon us it is unlikely to sale like hot cakes. Cast your minds back to when the iPhone 3G rumors were rife, and there were pictures of a smaller iPhone screen all over the web suggesting the iPhone was about to shrink. A smaller screened iPhone Nano would make sense for Apple and its partners as these could be sold anywhere (including Apple Premium Resellers) and improve on Apple's dominance in the mobile phone market. Only time will tell is an iPhone Nano is in production, but I think the odds are good.

"Apple is about to launch a 'nano' version of the hugely successful iPhone. It is expected to be in the shops in time for Christmas.

The product will be launched in the UK at up to £150 for pay-as-you-go customers by O2, the mobile phone group owned by Spain's Telefonica. 'This will be a big one,' said an industry source.

'The iPhone 3G has been the fastest-selling phone ever in the UK, but it is too expensive to be a realistic proposition in the pay-as-you-go market.

'However, a cut down version, with the candy bar shape of iPod nano music players, would be a huge hit as a Christmas gift.'

One expert suggested the nano phone would have a touch wheel on the back and display on the front so that numbers would be dialled from behind."

1st Gen iPhone Owner Transfer

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-02T23:01:12+01:00

Following on my my iPhone 3G upgrade woes, my wife decided she would take a shine to my 1st gen iPhone, so I decided rather than make £200+ on eBay I would let her have the phone.

The process to switch her current O2 tariff to a iPhone tariff was quick and painless (thanks to the very helpful O2 lady). I was advise all that I needed to do was pop my wife's O2 sim card in to the iPhone and away she could go. It was not quite this simple! First off the iPhone did not just work with my wife's sim as I had been told it would, but instead I had to connect it to iTunes, which then would not connect giving various errors. Eventually I got the iPhone to connect, but this was only after a very lengthy iPhone erasing process.

After a day of iPhone'ing I finally have 2 working iPhones :) but the only person happy is my wife, as she as what I think is the best phone.

Come on Apple we should not be having all these woes whilst trying to update our devices, or are you trying to keep up with the Jones's (Microsoft)!!

iPhone 3G upgrade woes

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-02T22:15:16+01:00

When the iPhone 3G was first released I decided I would not upgrade as apart from 3G and GPS there was little improvement over the 1st gen iPhone, and anyway Apple released version 2.0 of the OS, so I could keep my old phone and still have access to the apps.

Well today I upgraded to the iPhone 3G, as I needed one for a project I am working on, and my woes began!

My problems do not appear to be uncommon (sadly), and below I have listed the steps I took to update my iPhone, and the issues that I had

I backed up my 1st gen iPhone as recommended.
I removed the sim card from my 1st gen iPhone and inserted in to my nice shinny new iPhone 3G.
I connected my new iPhone 3G to my MacBook and began the sync/restore, and this is where the problems started. The initial registration screens would not clear despite completing all the details asked for and clicking done. Eventually after several disconnections/reconnections I was able to get past the initial screens. I was next presented with the restore option and selected the most current backup, and away it went. All seemed well and when the restore had completed the iPhone rebooted and connected back to iTunes, where I was presented with the restore screen again! I disconnected the iPhone and checked that the phone had restored all my data etc., which it had. I reconnected, but again was presented with the restore screen, so again I restored from the most recent backup. After the restore had completed it I checked the iPhone, and it appeared that only a partial restore had taken place, as everything had restored except for my contacts, calendar!

Now that my iPhone was back in a working state I began to play with the new phone, and the disappointment continued.

The screen has the yellowish tint as report on various websites, The screen responsiveness is poor, I can not get a 3G signal in my house (this is despite being able to get a Vodafone 3G signal, and more amazingly a Three 3G signal) and more worryingly no Edge signal (this is something I always had, and still can with my 1st gen iPhone). The new look and feel if the iPhone 3G is OK, but to be honest I still prefer the 1st gen iPhone, and I think Apple have made a mistake using plastic (especially as there are now reports of cracks appearing in the plastic).

I will update this post over the coming week with further comments, so stay tuned.

UPDATE 1 (02/08/2008): Push email not working on the iPhone!

UPDATE 2 (03/08/2008): Push email is now working. I turned off push email and location services overnight, and when I turned them back on this morining push email began working.

New App sync feature in iTunes 7.7.1

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-02T07:54:26+01:00

Although I still seem to be having trouble with duplicate app files with the newly available iTunes 7.7.1, there is one fix that might please a few people. Whereas before, when removing an app on your iPhone/Touch, you would find iTunes automatically putting that app back on again when you next synced. Now in version 7.7.1, even if you have opted to sync all applications, iTunes changes this to 'Selected Applications' and unticks the app you removed on your device, there-by not automatically installing that app back on the device again.

This is a welcome addition. However, going back to the duplicate apps, there were another two app updates available for me yesterday, and this again produced a list of over a dozen of my apps on the update page. As before, the only way to remove these from the list is to download them again. And once again I ended up having duplicates in my Mobile Applications folder. Grrrrrr!

UK iTunes FREE Single of the Week - 28/07/2008

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-08-02T07:50:31+01:00

The UK's iTunes FREE single of the week is Something New from The Black Ghosts, and can be downloaded from here.

Will iTunes 7.7.1 fix app update issues?

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-31T20:16:47+01:00

Run a Software Update today and you will find iTunes 7.7.1 available to download.

As you can see, it states fixes that improve stability and performance (Apple's usual 'helpful' description). Someone has already commented that this new version fixes some bugs relating to the app updates I have previously mentioned here. So has it? When I updated, the first thing I checked was to see what the filenames were of some of my apps. Unfortunately they are still using the files with the excess numbers in the filenames, and of course the duplicates are still present in the User/Music/iTunes/Mobile Applications folder. Perhaps now is the time for me to re-name the updates to the proper title and get rid of the older versions in the folder, and see what happens. But until an update comes out for one of my apps, I don't know for certain if anything has indeed been fixed yet. I will, of course, post the moment I find out.

UPDATE: It does now seem like the app update problem MAY be fixed. When I was checking the Mobile Applications folder, I noticed iTunes telling me there was 1 update available at the bottom of it's window. So, on clicking it, it then listed a dozen or so of my apps that required updates. 'Here we go again' I thought, noticing that most of these apps haven't actually had any updates available. But I downloaded all of them as perhaps this was its way of fixing the filenames. Now, for the majority of the apps it listed, this is in fact the case. Those apps now use their proper filename. However, there were four of the apps that were still using duplicate filenames. All four apps had 3 files in the folder. For example, for the Stanza app, I have 'Stanza.ipa', 'Stanza 1.ipa', and 'Stanza 2.ipa', with the latter as the filename of the version in my iTunes library. I have now deleted the older duplicates of these and re-named the files accordingly as before. No updates are showing now in iTunes. So, are the app updates fixed now? Your guess is as good as mine.

Easy iTunes TV show tagging

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-29T18:57:10+01:00

Now I have my TV, I am in the process of converting all my dvd's using a free app called Handbrake. But what about all those TV show dvd's? Basically, when you add your episodes to the iTunes library they are automatically put into the Movies section instead of TV Shows. So, we normally have to change the episodes to be of 'TV Show' kind by bringing up the info of each one individually in order for this option window to appear-

We can then change the Video Kind to 'TV Show' instead of 'Movie'. The problem is, this can be a very laborious task, especially when some US TV shows can have 20+ episodes per season! So, how can we make the job easier and quicker? Here's how-

This is an Applescript called 'Set Video Kind', freely available to download from 'Doug's Applescripts for iTunes' webpage. There are many more available, but for our task, this particular script is the one we want to look at.

When you download the disk image, you are given a couple of files to put into your User/Library/iTunes/Scripts folder (if the 'Scripts' folder isn't there, just create it yourself first). Then, when you run iTunes, you will see a little Applescripts icon in the menubar, and clicking on it will bring up the Applescripts you have put into the Scripts folder like this-

As you can see, I have also downloaded a couple more useful ones from the same website. So, now we have our Applescript ready to go, we need to select and change the tagging of our episodes.

How do we select all the episodes easily? Well there are a number of ways. The first way is to hold 'CMD' down at the same time as left clicking the episodes, then you are adding to the selection instead of selecting one at a time. But if your episodes are all listed one after the other, then an easy way would be to left-click the first one, then hold down 'SHIFT' while selecting the last one, and all the episodes in between will be selected as well (both ways also apply to selecting files in a Finder window too).

Once you have your episodes selected, choose the 'Set Video Kind of Selected' Applescript from the menu and its window will appear. From here you can click on 'Video Kind' to change the type to 'TV Show', and there's 'Show Name' and 'Season Number' to add those tags to all selected files too. The last option is a great little feature. 'Episode Number Start' basically allows you to tell the script which episode number to assign to the first file, then it will automatically increase that number by one for each following file. Just make sure your episodes are listed in order if you use this option. Make what ever changes you wish to make, then click 'Done', and that's all there is to it.

As I said, the scripts are free, but donations can be made on the website.

99p Film Of The Week iTunes offer

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-29T18:50:16+01:00

Look in the films section of iTunes today and you may notice a new offer regarding film rentals- 99p Film Of The Week.

This week that film happens to be Ronin.

Whilst the films appearing in this weekly offer will no doubt be older titles, it is certainly a welcome addition as far as I am concerned, and a step in the right direction.

Firmware 2.1 Questions

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-28T19:01:40+01:00

There is talk on the net that firmware 2.1 for the iPhone is imminent (it has already been sent out to developers), and reportedly fixes a few bugs as well as add direction and speed detection to it's GPS system. While the GPS enhancement may prove useful for users wanting a TomTom navigation type app, it's the bug fixes that concerns me more. Since the 2.0 upgrade, my iPod Touch has been re-vitalised. I now have around 30 apps bought from the iTunes App Store on my device, which range from quite useful utilities to fun gaming. However, there are a number of problems that keep re-appearing. There have been numerous times I have selected an app only for the screen to go black and the  logo to appear as the device re-boots. Try the app again afterwards and it runs fine. Then there's the problem I, and it seems like a few others have, when apps bought on the device don't sync back to iTunes when connected. I posted an earlier article here on this, and how to reset the warnings on your device so that it asks you again if you want to transfer purchases. However, I have found this to only be a temporary solution, as it soon forgets again. I have just got into the habit now of right-clicking the device and manually selecting 'Transfer purchases', which defeats the object of automatic syncing. Then there's the app update bug I luckily found a work-around for (and posted it to several other sites as well as our own to spread the word). But again, we shouldn't have to 'work-around' anything. Updating apps should be a smooth operation done for us. And indeed it can be for the first time you update an app. But once the app brings a second update out, that's when the touble begins. Once more, not only have I had to re-name an app in order to get it's update, when iTunes tells me the update is available for the one app, going onto the update page then displays several more of my apps that don't actually have updates! The only way to get rid of them in the listing is to download them (even though it is the same version number), which will then create duplicates in your apps folder again, just like it does with the app that actually does have the update, there-by creating the same problem next time they have an update themselves! Phew!

So, for all the great things 2.0 has given me personally, it has also given me (and many more out there) a serious headache. Which leads me to version 2.1. Firstly I am hoping that it isn't just an iPhone release, and if it is for the Touch as well, then I hope us Touch owners don't have to wait any longer for it. I am also hoping, of course, that this new firmware release will fix the problems mentioned. There is another thing that concerns me- as an iPod Touch owner, I had to pay for the 2.0 firmware. As 2.1 is, as far as I can see, a bug-fix release (the GPS enhancement won't apply to Touch owners of course), will us Touch owners have to pay for it? Let's hope not.

Visit to the Apple Store part 2

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-26T21:47:35+01:00

Well for those that follow this blog, and read yesterdays entry, then you may have been wondering why I visited the Apple store yesterday. Well today I can reveal I did not have to return a faulty device, but instead treated myself to another Apple gadget, the Apple TV. This was a present for a milestone birthday, and whilst I had wanted to upgrade my MacBook to a MacBook Pro, my wife just could not afford it :( I would have helped part fund the purchase, but all my spare cash is currently tied up in a new project (which will be revealed here soon), so I decided to look at the Apple TV. It was during my investigation in to the Apple TV that I became acquainted with Barry Ward, who has subsequently become a major contributer to this blog. Barry was a great help with answering questions about the Apple TV, and wrote a great review here, and it was with his help and advise that I opted for the 160GB version. Setup was a breeze and and am now playing with the Apple TV and it features, and will post my views (but not a review) in the next week, but on first impression I am very happy with my purchase :)

Visit to the Apple Store

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-25T20:23:46+01:00

I paid a visit to my local (well local'ish, I had to drive 50 miles) Apple store today, but was it to return a faulty MacBook? faulty iPod? faulty iPhone? or did I part with some hard earned cash?

Stay tuned, and all will be revealed!!

Major App Store update bug found!

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-23T21:56:51+01:00

Before I begin, I would like to say I have already submitted a bug report to Apple (I used 'Provide Feedback' in the iTunes menu). Tonight I have found a very silly and important bug with regards to updating your apps in iTunes.

It all began when I found out there was a new update submitted to iTunes today for the rather excellent 'Cro-Mag Rally' game. So, I proceeded to my Applications menu in iTunes and expected to find a message at the bottom of the window telling me of the update (as there was with the first update of this particular game a week or so ago), but it just said 'Check for updates'. I did so, and I was told there wasn't any available. I thought this strange and checked for the game in the iTunes store. Sure enough, in the description there was mention of the update. I emailed the developer to ask for assistance, and before his reply swiftly dropped in my inbox I had found the problem. The problem is with how iTunes installs app updates.

Like I said, I had already updated Cro-Mag Rally once before. What I didn't realise at the time was iTunes didn't actually overwrite the original file- it creates a duplicate! Yes, you read correctly. iTunes created another file in the Music/iTunes/Mobile Applications folder called 'Cro-Mag 1.ipa' to sit along side the original 'Cro-Mag.ipa file.

I checked the info of the app currently in my iTunes library at that time, and sure enough, it's file name was 'Cro-Mag 1.ipa'. Now we're getting to the problem. You see, when iTunes is checking for app updates, it must be going by file name rather than app name. So, in this case, iTunes has been checking for updates for 'Cro-Mag 1' instead of 'Cro-Mag', and of course it won't find any. To prove this, I removed Cro-Mag Rally from the iTunes Library, but kept the file. Then I deleted the original file ('Cro-Mag.ipa'), and re-named the other, removing the '1' from it's name. Then I added it back to iTunes with it's new name of 'Cro-Mag.ipa' by dragging it to the iTunes window. Immediately, I had the message at the bottom of the window telling me of an update available!!!

I find it hard that this has been over-looked by the iTunes developers. Perhaps if we all submit a bug report to Apple regarding this issue, they may release a fix.

iLife software update today and still no fix for iMovie bug

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-23T19:24:34+01:00

If you have iLife '08, run your Software Update today and you will find four updates available:

According to the 'details', these include compatibility and stability improvements, as well as minor issue fixes. As for compatibility, the iLife apps now support MobileMe, so that's good news for those who use it.

As for issues, I (and many others on the Apple forums, I might add) had one with iMovie, where sharing any videos to YouTube over 5 minutes (more or less) resulted in a server error message-

yet 5-10 minutes later my video would show up on YouTube! After this update, I tried uploading one of my videos to YouTube again, and can report that unfortunately the bug is still there. What makes this worse is when a video is shared to YouTube successfully (anything a few minutes long works fine) then iMovie gives you the option to email friends, and this email is already written out for you with a link to the video. Of course when the error occurs, iMovie assumes the video hasn't reached YouTube, and therefore doesn't give the email option, so you have to do it yourself. This is a real shame, as this is one of two bugs that are really 'bugging' me at the moment (the other is the Mail app not hiding at login, as described in my earlier post). I (and I am assuming many more who have posted on the Apple forums) have sent feedback to Apple regarding this issue, as I also did regarding the Mail app bug, and it is getting rather frustrating when the feedback seems to be falling on deaf ears.

UK iTunes FREE Single of the Week - 21/07/2008

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-23T19:19:01+01:00

The UK's iTunes FREE single of the week is Intelligentactile 101 from Jesca Hoop, and can be downloaded from here.

Free iTunes UK TV Program

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-23T19:06:35+01:00

For those of you who enjoy reality TV programs, there is a new series on iTunes called Totally Calum Best: The Best Is Yet to Come. If you are interested this is all about Calum Best (the late George Best's son) giving up sex for 50 days!! Personally I think this is absolute crap, and would not waste my time or money, but if this floats your boat, then you can get the FREE intro video here.

Apple store genius to the rescue

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-21T21:42:43+01:00

Last Friday I had a slight problem with my home Macbook- I switched it on only to find this icon staring back at me...

... and that was it. It wouldn't load the operating system- it was just stuck with this unknown icon. Luckily I had my new Macbook Pro where, after doing some research on the net, I found the icon meant the operating system could not be found. I decided to call the number of my Apple store where I purchased the Macbook, and spoke to someone in technical support, who suggested I run the Leopard setup disk and run Disk Utility to repair it. After finding out my hard drive could not even be listed in the Disk Utillity app, I was then told I needed to take my Macbook to the store for repair, as it is definitely a hardware fault. An appointment has to be made for this, but conveniently, the man who was assisting me on the phone helped arrange one for the next day.

So, there I was, on Saturday, thinking I would have to leave my baby with them for a week or so while they figure the problem out. I went in and waited for my name to be called. I told the 'genius' at the genius bar the problem and, within minutes, the guy took apart the underside of the Macbook, took out the old hard drive, and replaced it for a new one. He asked if I had the Leopard disk with me, to which I said no. He said he could put Tiger on, or leave it as it is for me to put Leopard on myself, and I chose the latter. And that was that- I left with an operational Macbook within 20 minutes (I didn't have to pay anything either as I was still 8 days within my warranty period!). So, all it took was for me to put the Leopard disk in, install Leopard, and put my iTunes and iPhoto libraries back on (I could have used Time Machine to restore, but as I have changed the use of this Macbook for the sole purpose of syncing with my AppleTV, I thought it wise to start again from scratch with a new username- changing the home folder name to a new one is a pain in the rear otherwise).

The moral of the story is thus- if you have a problem like I had, don't be afraid to call on the experts. You may just get a nice surprise.

UK iTunes FREE Single of the Week - 14/07/2008

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-20T19:51:45+01:00

Sorry this entry is late, but the UK's iTunes FREE single of the week is His Nibs from Neil Cowley Trio, and can be downloaded from here.

iPhone 3G limited stocks available in the UK

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-19T13:03:23+01:00

Stocks of the iPhone 3G are now beginning to trickle in to the O2 UK stores, and on O2's website they are indicating that significant stocks will be available from the 25th July, and that they hope to re-open their online ordering and upgrade site soon after this date. If you can't or don't want to wait until then, then O2 have produced a list of stores (see here) that have available stocks at the start of each business day.

Does a Mac really need an uninstaller?

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-17T21:45:46+01:00

Well unfortunately, I would say the answer is yes. When I bought my first Macbook I was told in order to remove an app, all you need to do is move it to the Trash and delete. Sure, you can do that. But, what about the other files and folders the app may have put elsewhere on your hard drive? In most cases, an app may store files and folders in your Library/Preferences folder, or your Library/Applications Support folder etc. So, what can we do to save having to search for these extra files to remove them manually? We can install something like AppCleaner (which is freeware).

This is one of a handful of apps that not only remove the app you want to delete, but also search for the extra bits and bobs it would have otherwise left behind. With this particular app, there are three ways to accomplish the task. Firstly, you can just load the app and click on the Applications icon at the top of it's window. It will then switch (by the use of a neat cube rotation animation) to a list of the apps in your Applications folder.

Each one has a tick box next to it. Tick the box of the app you want to remove and click the Search button, and let AppCleaner work it's magic. It will, within seconds, list the app location and other related files locations too.

Again we have tick boxes next to each and, by default, they are all automatically ticked at this point. If you want to remove everything, just click the Delete button, and it will all be moved to Trash. The second way is to load the AppCleaner, and drag the app you wish to remove to the AppCleaners window. It will then start it's search as before. The third way is even easier. Just drag the app you want to remove to the AppCleaner's icon. The AppCleaner will then load and automatically search for all the files and folders and go straight to the list of things to delete. If you are someone who likes to try a lot of new apps out, perhaps you might like to have the AppCleaner icon on your dock, so it is easy to drag apps to (so long as you are careful what you drag to it of course). This isn't all the AppCleaner does. It can also remove downloaded widgets you have installed...

... and it can even remove plugins-

Let's go back to the tick boxes next to those extra files and folders it finds for your selected app. This is a great little feature, as there might be times you actually want to keep the app, but want to revert back to it's default settings. All you need to do then is un-tick the apps tick box, but leave the rest of the files ticked. It will then send everything to the trash except your app, so when you load the app next time, it's as though you are loading it for the first time. Of course all this comes with a warning: be VERY careful what you are selecting to remove. Basic rule, if you don't know what an app, or plugin does, leave it alone- it might be important to the smooth operation of your computer.

There are other app uninstaller's (I use AppZapper, which is not FREE, but I have used this for years - Ed) out there, but this one has never removed anything it shouldn't have, and has served me very well since I moved to Mac.

Handbrake, Apple TV and iPhone/iPod Touch

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-17T21:29:30+01:00

Sometime ago whilst communicating with Barry Ward (prior to him joining the team) regarding the Apple TV, Barry emailed me his custom Handbrake settings, which allows you to rip your DVD's for playback on the Apple TV and the iPhone/iPod Touch, with out having to have 2 ripped versions of the DVD. With all the iPhone events over the past week, I forgot to post the settings, so here they are for all you Apple TV users out there.

This is the main page. Pay attention to the bitrate and encoder. Notice the output isn't much different from the source. Deinterlace is off as it isn't needed in this case (indeed it is only needed for most tv show dvd's) -

Here are the audio settings -

And here are the advanced options. These must be followed exactly. I borrowed the Advanced Option String from the iPhone settings (Apple TV has a different string). I also copied the rest of the values in this tab from the iPhone settings. I think it is due to these settings being different with the 2 built in presets that videos using the Apple TV setting don't work on the iPhone/Touch.

Here are the picture settings for this particular dvd-

Films with a 2.35:1 ratio tend to have a resolution of (usually over 700)x304. But I like to trim the ends off so it will fill the screen a little more, so I like to end up with a resolution of 688x304 (cropping by about 10-12 each side). This is just personal preference of course.

To get these settings I selected the Apple TV preset, and adjusted all the values to the above, and saved it as a new preset, making it the default one too.

New FREE ebooks on iTunes

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-17T18:18:20+01:00

There is a new app available in the iTunes App Store, called Stanza. This is a completely free app, which allows you to browse it's online database of public domain books, download, and read them, all in one app. The books themselves are free too, so you have hundreds of titles to read through one application, all without paying a penny. The description of the app also mentions the use of a desktop app (which is in Beta at the moment). However, it is not needed if you just want to read your books on your iPhone/Touch.

I have tried the desktop app (available to download here), and it is quite good. There is an option to export files to the iPhone/Touch, but it basically converts it for you to read the story via Safari on your device, rather than the Stanza app. Still, you could always have a copy on your computer and a copy downloaded directly onto your iPhone/Touch using the Stanza app. Personally I'm quite happy having a sole copy on my iPod Touch.

With regards to the previously mentioned apps by AppEngines, I would still recommend these to people who want their books individually listed on their device home page.
Note: For anyone interested in reading free public domain books on their computer (of course you could always make a donation), the best resource I have found is Project Gutenberg.

The Mac Café welcomes Barry Ward

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-17T17:47:16+01:00

If you are a Mac Café regular (and there are a few of you), then you will have noticed some excellent post by Barry Ward, who has now joined The Mac Café team. Barry have provided us with the following profile, and if like Barry and the rest of the team you are an Apple fanatic in the UK and would like to join the team and write some posts, then drop us an email.

Hi, I'm Barry Ward, and I am an Apple fan. Sounds like I'm at an AA meeting doesn't it? "Welcome to Apple's Anonymous!"

The one thing that started it all, was finding out the iPods now have gapless playback with music. Even to this day, it can be hard finding such a feature in an mp3 player, when they should all do it as standard. It's no good listening to Pink Floyd when you constantly hear 2 second pauses between the tracks of an album! So I bought an iPod Nano (2nd Gen), and quickly fell in love with it and iTunes. It then got me thinking- if iTunes and iPods are this good, what are Apple's computers like?

I looked at the Apple Macs when Vista came out ('nuff said). The time then came for my wife to buy a new laptop, so I asked her if she wanted to pop into the local Apple store. We did, and she bought a MacBook there and then. Of course, I couldn't let her have one without me, so I bought one soon after. And that was it then- I was hooked!

Spring forward to today. I still own my first MacBook, but it stays at home, holding my home iTunes library (on an external drive) ready to sync/stream to my 160GB AppleTV. I now have a MacBook Pro as my personal laptop, and have replaced my Nano with a 16GB iPod Touch. Of course my wife still owns her MacBook. She is very happy with it and it suits her needs perfectly.

I have a daughter (5 years old at the time of writing), and even she likes playing with the new game app's on my Touch, and also likes being creative with Garageband. I love Garageband myself, and am on my way to completing a second album of my own instrumental compositions. I am very proud of them, as I don't consider myself a musician and had no prior experience of writing music. I also like photography (as you can tell from my picture), and own a digital SLR camera as well as a compact.

As for personal tastes, I like most types of films but mostly enjoy comedies, action, and sci-fi. I like any music except jazz, classical, and rap (if you can call it music!). I don't drink or smoke. I like to go out, but mostly on days out with the family or to restaurants. To be honest though, I get a little twitchy if I am away from my Mac for too long. Technology, and specifically anything Apple, is my main hobby. My MacBook Pro is my main source of information and communication, and if I lost it, it would be like losing the use of a limb. This is especially the case now I don't use Microsoft Windows and it's complicated UI.

I love showing off my Apple devices, and people are always wowed by them. I'm just glad I'm on the right team.

Combatting Mail's inability to hide at Login

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-16T20:33:21+01:00

Do you use Apple's own Mail app for checking your emails? Pretty good isn't it? But do you load the app automatically at login by adding it to your login items? More to the question, have you ever tried hiding it at login by ticking the 'Hide' box next to it's name? Successful? I thought not. This is a well known bug that has survived from Tiger. No matter what you try, it simply will not hide. It has been reported to Apple long ago, and so far they just seem to be ignoring the problem. Do any Apple staff use Mail? Surely it's not too much to ask for the app to load up automatically and check mail while being hidden, is it?

Of course, the one thing we can all do as Mail users is provide feedback to Apple regarding this. Perhaps the more we complain, the more likely they are to do something about it. Until then, there are a number of free apps we can use to help get around the problem (note: not all apps listed will run on Tiger, but all run on Leopard) -

1) Launch And Hide Mail. Once downloaded, you can put this app anywhere you like (I would still put it in the Applications folder myself). Then you go into your login items (under Accounts in Preferences) and add this app them. It doesn't need to be hidden, and you don't need to add the Mail app itself to your login items, as this app will launch it and hide it for you. When you login next time (assuming you have already ran the app once to confirm with Leopard that it's ok to run), you may see the Mail app window for a split second or two, then disappear. This app is very good for the job, but it's a shame the Mail app window is on screen as long as it is (a few split seconds is still too long in my book).

2) Google Notifier. Obviously, this is one just for users of Googlemail (or Gmail as it's known outside the UK). It's a pretty good app which runs on the menu bar, and checks for new mail in your Google inbox. It does NOT check the inbox of the Mail app itself, so with this app running at login, you don't actually need to have the Mail app in your login items at all to check for new emails. There may be other services (Yahoo!, AOL, etc) that might provide a similar desktop app for their dedicated emails, and they will do exactly the same as this one- checking the inbox at the server rather than your Mail app. There are two disadvantages to this approach. Firstly, if it tells you there is new mail, you will then have to load the Mail app and wait a few seconds while it checks your inbox and downloads the email itself. Secondly, if you move or delete the email, the Google notifier will still display the same number of unread emails until it is time for it to check the inbox at the server again. There are other menu based email checkers that will display the number of unread emails from the Mail app itself (available here). However, the ones I have found actually need to have the Mail app up and running, so to be honest I fail to see the use of them.

3) Dashboard Kickstart and MailWidget. This way has a very nice advantage. Downloading and adding Dashboard Kickstart to your login items will start your Dashboard up next time you login, and hide it again straight away. Now normally the first time you access Dashboard, there is a delay as it loads up all your various widgets. With this app automatically loading it up in the background, when you do access Dashboard for the first time now, the widgets should be already running. The second part to this would be to download the MailWidget and install it on your Dashboard. Selecting your email account in the widget will allow it to check your mail without needing the Mail app to be running. So instead of trying to hide Mail, we are essentially running and hiding the Dashboard at login instead, with it's own mail checker doing the job. Disadvantages are a delay again in the number of unread emails updating once you have actually read them in Mail, and the fact that some users just don't want Dashboard running at login, as it will use up some RAM.

4) MailFX. This is my personal favourite, and I use it on my own Macbook Pro. It comes as an installer (the app is certified by Softpedia for no spyware, adware, or viruses) as it needs to imbed a menu of it's own in the Mail app itself. Basically, it creates effects for when you have new mail. I have mine set to a semi-transparrent icon appearing at the top right of my screen with a nice lady informing me. You can pick from different icons, positions on screen, and voices/sounds. It's very good. However, it also (kind of) fixes the problem of Mail not hiding at login. Once MailFX is installed (keep the install app as you can use the same one to uninstall if you don't like it), just add the Mail app to your login items and tick its hide box. Reboot, and you will (unfortunately) still see, for a split millisecond, the Mail app window before it vanishes. However, it is gone so fast you will barely notice. The advantage is it is your Mail app itself that is now listed in the login items, and the hide box does now (sort of) work. Plus you have the bonus of a nice notifier when you get your new mail. The only disadvantage I can see is if you are bothered about that split millisecond of seeing the Mail window (which I personally can live with).

So, there you have it. Of course none of these are ideal solutions. The ideal solution would be for Apple to fix the Mail app themselves, but we seem to be waiting an awfully long time for this to happen. Until then, these will have to do.

iPhoneAppReview on iTunes

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-15T22:51:11+01:00

For those interested Jerad Hill (iJerad) has launched his own video podcast on iTunes, so if you like his iPhoneAppPodcast website, then you'll love this new iTunes offering. The podcasts are free, and you can subscribe here.

AppleTV 2.1 review

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-14T22:54:03+01:00

I have owned a Macbook for a year now, and used a mini DVI to VGA lead to connect it to my 42" plasma tv. I would bring up Front Row, the included media app, to browse my library of music, movies, photo's, and podcasts.

When the AppleTV first came out, it could do just the same as my Macbook, but why should I bother buying one if I can already do everything it does? Then the AppleTV had a major software update, which included a new menu system and the ability to rent films. Only renting films wasn't yet an option here in the UK, so again I held off from buying. However, we now have films available in the UK, to buy and to rent. So now there are some clear disadvantages of using Front Row. You can't buy anything from within it for starters. Plus, Apple have made a (deliberate?) omission in it's software- rented films do NOT show up on Front Row. This means, if you are using your computer to watch your films, you MUST use iTunes to play your rented films. Not only that, Apple made a clever move by only allowing us to rent HD versions via the Apple TV and not our computers. Some people have complained about these points, but if you want my honest opinion, I think I would do the same. Let's face it, Apple are trying to give us good reason to buy an AppleTV. If they offered everything it does on our computers, then I think I would have personally held off buying one still. Their tactics certainly worked in my case. I wanted to watch rented films without using iTunes. I wanted the option to rent HD films. And I wanted to be able to access all my media with one aplication. Indeed, the thing I like most about the AppleTV, now that I own one, is it's sheer convenience of having everything all together in one place, with a UI that is simple enough for even my 5 year old daughter to use. It allows you to buy, rent, and watch movies, buy and watch TV shows, buy and listen to music tracks/albums, buy and watch music videos, browse and watch podcasts, browse .mac and Flickr photo's as well as view your own albums/events, and finally browse and view YouTube videos. Phew!!

My YouTube video guides (parts 1, 2 and 3) go more into detail as to all it's various options for each of these. Needless to say I love the device, and here's why-

1) Easy to set up. Switch the Apple TV on for the first time, and it will ask you some simple questions, one of which is if you want it to sync with a computer. If you don't, you can still access online content. If you do, it will give you a five digit number. Once it does this, it sends a signal out to any computers on your network, and iTunes will then display the AppleTV as a device. Click on it and enter the code, and that's basically it. It will immediately start syncing with iTunes. Of course there are various sync options. Just like an iPod, the AppleTV has various tabs for music, movies etc. You can decide which media you want to sync (copy over) to the AppleTV. Any media you don't sync can be streamed to the device from your computer so long as it is on and you have iTunes running. This means you can have a vast library of videos (I use an external drive for mine) in iTunes and all will be available to watch on your tv with a few clicks of the remote.

2) Easy to share. I am using a Macbook for our home library of films/photo's etc. I have my own Macbook Pro (as of last weekend), and my wife owns her own Macbook. But how can we access our own libraries on the AppleTV? Simple. Select to share a library in the Computer menu of the AppleTV, and again you are given a 5 digit code. The AppleTV will then appear in iTunes on the computer you want to connect. Like before, clicking this will allow you to enter the code, and that's it- done. Now, each of the types of media on the AppleTV will show an extra option- 'Shared Video', 'Shared Music' etc etc. If you have more than one other shared library, it will ask you which one's library you want to access. Then you can browse the shared library almost exactly like you can with your synced one (more about this later), except it will stream everything instead of syncing selected items.

3) Easy to use. It's so easy my 5 year old daughter can quickly and easily select her favourite cartoon episode in seconds. The initial menu is laid out using a two panel display, where we have our initial options on the left panel like Music, Movies, Photo's. When you move up and down this list, the list of options in the second panel to the right changes to suit. So if you move onto Movies, the second menu changes to 'Top Movies', 'HD Only' etc. So for my daughter to select an episode of her favourite show, she would select 'TV Shows', 'My TV Shows', 'Spongebob Squarepants', (select an episode), done. It's also easy to rent or buy media from the iTunes store. With films, for example, you can browse the new titles, search by genre, search alphabetically etc. When you select a film, you have buttons to view the trailer, rent it (£2.49 for older titles, £3.49 for recent titles), rent it in HD (for a £1 more than the titles standard rental price), buy it (£6.99 for older titles, £10.99 for recent ones). There is a newly added button to add to this list, which will mentioned later.

4) Easy to customize. There are quite a lot of sync options in iTunes for the device. For myself, I have opted to sync over all of my music and music videos, all of my iPhoto events (rather than albums), and selected tv shows. This means that I won't need my computer turned on in order to watch/listen to any of these as they are stored on the devices own hard drive. For the rest of my tv shows and movies, I can still watch them on my AppleTV, but I will need my iTunes up and running on my Macbook in order for the device to stream them from it wirelessly. There are also various options with how the device works, like parental controls, screen saver, close captioning (movies will have the 'cc' logo if they have this available), and sharing multiple iTunes libraries (it will only sync with one, but will stream from more).

5) Version 2.1 software. The new software adds quite a bit more than the stated ability to be able to use an iPhone/iPod Touch as a remote. It also adds a new button to movie rentals called 'Add to Wish List'. When you add your first title, a new 'Wish List' option appears on the Movies menu. Clicking it obviously shows all the movies you have selected. This makes it a lot easier to browse the movie library and make a list of what you might want to watch at a later date. It's a small thing, but a welcome one, but we can now see a small thumbnail picture of the art of each music album in a list (where-as before, we would only see the album art of the highlighted album on the left). We also have a button to browse 'MobileMe' instead of '.Mac' in the Photo's menu. Regarding photo's, we have a welcome change for browsing your synced library too. With the previous software, you would select an album/event to view, and it would immediately play a slideshow. Now, when you select a album/event, you will be shown all the photo's from it in thumbnail form. You can select to view one of them full screen, or you still have the option to view them as a slideshow with a button at the top. Great.

Now for the negative points-

1) Music videos, like Front Row on a Mac, are only able to be played one at a time, with the user having to select each one. It would be nice to be able to play all videos from an artist, or a video playlist for example. But you can't.

2) It's hard to tell between films available to rent or buy. The only way of finding out is by clicking on a film to see it's details. I would like to perhaps see small icons above each title, so you can see at a glance your options available for each film.

3) Shared photo's. While the option 'My Photo's' gives you nice little thumbnails of your albums or events (how ever you decide to sync them with iPhoto) and gives you the option of a slideshow, going into a shared library (a secondary iTunes library from another computer) only allows you to view album slideshows. You don't have the option to view them as events, and you don't get to pick from thumbnail images.

4) The 'Remote' app for the iPhone and iPod Touch works in conjunction with the new AppleTV 2.1 software, and it is very good. You can select from the music, movies, etc. However, it won't let you select photo's or YouTube videos. Not only that, but it also won't browse shared libraries.

So, while there are a few negative points, I still thoroughly recommend the AppleTV. There are two sizes available- 40gb and 160gb. I'd recommend the 40gb if you know you will be streaming most of your library, as it is of course cheaper. However, one good thing about the AppleTV is it's ability to be able to play it's synced media where ever you plug it in. So, you could take it to a relatives house while you are staying for the week, and still have access to all your favourite media. With this in mind, the 160gb has a clear advantage with all that extra space. For myself, I opted for the 160gb version, simply so my daughter can watch all her favourite cartoons stored on the device without me having to turn my computer on (like I ever have it turned off!!). So bare these points in mind if you are thinking of purchasing one. But when you do, it will literally change the way you watch television.

1 million iPhone 3G phones sold

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-14T22:40:50+01:00

Apple have revealed that 1 million iPhone 3G's were sold worldwide over the past weekend. In the UK O2 sold 250,000 iPhone 3G's, so no wonder there was mayhem in the UK and the rest of the world with iTunes activations.

Below are the global sales figures for the iPhone 3G over the launch weekend.

App Store Sync Problem

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-14T22:28:02+01:00

Some people are reportedly having problems with purchases from the App Store on their device (be it iPhone or iPod Touch) not syncing back to iTunes, even though they have already opted for it to do so when first asked by iTunes. Apparently, Apple are aware of this issue. But while we are awaiting a fix, here's how to fix the problem yourself.

The solution is very simple once you know how (it's certainly not immediately obvious), by right-clicking your device name in iTunes and select 'Reset Warnings' (if you select 'Transfer Purchases' it will transfer them, but only the once). Once you have clicked 'Reset Warnings', eject your device and re-connect it, then this will appear-

Tick the box, and select 'Transfer', and your purchases on your device will now always sync back to iTunes.

iPhone and iPod Touch Gaming

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-14T07:15:19+01:00

If you are interested in gaming on your iPhone or iPod Touch, then check out touch Arcade, a website dedicated to bringing you all the latest info on games from the App Store. This website even has some video footage of games they has tested, to give you a better idea of how the games play.

iPhoneAppPodcast website live

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-13T17:59:32+01:00

If like me you are overwhelmed by the number of apps in the App Store then check out this new website iPhoneAppPodcast by Jerad Hill (iJerad). This website is dedicated to video reviews of iPhone apps, and is growing all the time. To date there are 15 video reviews, which will help you decided before you buy some of the App Store iPhone apps. Unfortunately there are no iPod Touch only app reviews, but as most will work on the iPod Touch this should not be a problem.

iPod Touch 2.0 Software Review

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-13T16:11:59+01:00

As an iPod Touch owner, I was looking forward to the 2.0 software update, and now it's here I can honestly say I am not disappointed. For a mere £5.99 it gives you the ability to install various apps from the iTunes App Store. What's more, this upgrade includes the January upgrade too, so if you haven't got your Google Maps, Mail, weather etc, then this upgrade will have it all.

So, what apps are available? Lots. There are all sorts of games for starters. I myself have chosen a Pool game, a Blackjack game, Sudoku, and a Pairs game for my daughter. Unfortunately, it's quite clear from the initial batch that apps are going to be a bit hit and miss. I have bought several good ones so far, but also a few not so good. Of course we have the advantage of user reviews on iTunes, and we will be able to use a lot more of these as guides as the weeks go on (I myself try and post a review on everything I buy), so hopefully we will be able to tell the good from the bad a little easier as time goes on.

The one difference we have as Touch owners is of course the Touch's lack of a mic. Some of the games utilise this on the iPhone, but at least iTunes lists which games are compatible. I have seen one app so far that is only listed as compatible with the iPhone when it is in fact compatible with both, and that's the IGN Game Reviews app. I wondered why such a simple app would not be compatible with the Touch and tried it anyway, and lo and behold it works perfectly. Normally these kind of things shouldn't bother me, but when Apple's presentation is normally spotless, the errors are made more apparent.

The other difference between iPhone and iPod Touch is of course the lack of a speaker. This is more apparent when you select one of your games to play and unless you have your earplugs in, you won't hear a thing. Perhaps now the iPod is becoming more of a multi-media device rather than just a music player, Apple ought to consider the inclusion of at least a mono speaker in it's next model.

I have also had the opportunity to buy a handful of ebook apps from the store too. These are from a company called AppEngines, and the stories are public domain. However there is a small price of 59p, which is well worth the money for the convenience of having a whole series of books available on your iPod. Each ebook is it's own app, so you just click on the book you want to read and away you go. Each book also remembers which page you are on.

There are quite a lot of free apps too. Some of these are obviously not going to be the best thing since sliced bread, but there are some that many might find quite handy. One of these is Apple's own 'Remote'. This is a very special piece of programming, as it allows the Touch or iPhone to be used as a remote control for your Mac or AppleTV. What's good about this is it uses your home network, so you can select your music etc from a different room in your house if need be. In some ways this is an excellent app, as you can browse songs by Artist, Album etc, or videos, TV shows, Podcasts etc. It works very well with my AppleTV, except for a number of omissions. Firstly, although the AppleTV has the ability to browse and play YouTube videos, you have no YouTube option in the Remote app. On one forum I frequent, a number of AppleTV users were hoping the new iPhone/Touch software would allow easier alphabetical search options for YouTube, so of course this is out of the question. Another omission that personally affects me, is the lack of AppleTV shared library support. Basically, you can select anything from your AppleTV's synced iTunes library, but if anyone else is sharing a secondary library with the AppleTV, you can't access it with the Remote app, as there is no option to do so. So, for the moment, the Remote app isn't as useful as I'd like, although it is an excellent achievement (and a bargain considering it's free) and will work well for a lot of people.

So, what else does the upgrade provide? Well, we have a new calculator. Now it has rectangular buttons instead of circles, but most importantly, turn the Touch on it's side and it turns into a scientific calculator, displaying another 24 buttons (of which I have no idea what they do!!).

We also get a small addition to video playback, which I am quite disappointed with. At the WWDC, we were shown video being played without the need to turn the Touch/iPhone on it's side. However, this is not the case. The video still must be watched with the device on it's side. The addition is the fact that you can turn the device on either side and it will adjust to suit, where as before you could only turn it onto it's left side. I am fully aware of how small the video window would be with the Touch in portrait position, but you could still zoom and crop the sides off and at least it would have been an option for the user.

So, there we have it. I must say, for £5.99 it is well worth the upgrade, even for people like me who have already spent £13 on the January upgrade. The App Store alone is worth the money, as there are plenty to choose from with loads more on the way. It brings a whole new dimension to your device without having to have any illegal hacks. Installing is a piece of cake, but it can take a while as iTunes backs up your device before installing, then restores your media afterwards. The whole process is done through iTunes, including buying the upgrade, downloading it, and installing it. There's nothing else for me to add, except I thoroughly recommend any Touch owner to upgrade as soon as possible- you'll bring your Touch to life.

eBooks on the iPod touch and iPhone

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-13T12:15:38+01:00

Reader Barry Ward dropped me an email today to point out that there is a growing number of eBooks by AppEngines appearing on the App Store priced at 59p. One of Barry's favourite eBooks is "The War of the Worlds", and here you can see it on Barry's iPod touch.

Checking out the number of eBooks currently listed on the App Store it is clear to see that Apple need to create a dedicated section for all eBooks, and this is reflected by the following statement on the AppEngines website.

"We share your concerns that our ebook applications are taking up too much space in the App Store. We have written to Apple, requesting a that the books can be moved to their own category. We will not submit any more books until the situation is resolved. Thank you."

Barry agrees with this statement, but like many others is disappointed. "I do agree ebooks should have their own category, but I am disappointed they aren't submitting any more until then."

UPDATE: Barry emailed me to point out that these eBooks do not require a separate reader, as they are all self contained.

MooCowMusic: Band

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-13T09:59:12+01:00

I have been looking at the available apps on the App Store, and there really is some crap out there. It looks like Apple have gone for quantity not quality, but one app that falls in to the quality section is Band from UK developer MooCowMusic. Priced at £5.99, this app looks like it will give hours of fun, and looks to be a must for any budding musician. I am not sure what any real musicians think of the app, so if any are reading this post, then please post your comments.

Apple, O2 and the past 48hrs

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-13T07:09:05+01:00

I've held off posting about the UK iPhone3G roll-out, the iPhone 2.0 upgrade and the .mac to MobileMe migration, because there has been plenty of comments/articles on the web, but 48hrs on it is time to comment. For me the fiasco really started back on Monday 7th July when O2 began offering the new iPhone3G for pre-order, and within minutes their online ordering system crashed, and although I got most of the way through the ordering process it did not complete!! Due to O2's inability to manage this promotion, I decided very early in the week that I would not be upgrading from my 1st gen iPhone to the new 3G one at release, and so I was not one of the hundreds of hopefuls queuing on Friday 11th July outside the UK O2, Carphone Warehouse and Apple stores.

Due to illness I spent Friday tucked up in bed with my trusted MacBook, and so was able to keep track of the iPhone3G roll-out fiasco as it unfolded, and was I glad I had not queued. As the day went on and following reports that MobileMe we not accessible, I decided to try and log in to my MobileMe account, and as was being reported, the service at times was inaccessible, or so slow it was unusable. As the day went on the MobileMe service became more stable and by late afternoon I was able to login and begin browsing the service. It wasn't long before I discovered that the service was far from complete, I had no calendar or contact entries, and my email was out of sync with the email arriving to my MacBook mail client. 48hrs on and the MobileMe situation has improved but is far from 100% complete. Whilst I now have my contacts and calendars visible, and my email seems to be in sync, I have been unable to sync my MacBook with my MobileMe account. This problem is (I hope) due to the fact that I still have .mac in my system preferences instead of the new MobileMe. A quick search of the web, and this is a common problem which should be fixed by a system update, but every time I check there are no new updates. Back to the web, and it looks as though Apple are having issues with this as well, adding and removing the update. One suggestion to get the update was to log out of your .mac account in system preferences, and then log back in to force the update, but guess what, this does not work either, and the following error appears!!

So that's the MobileMe problems out of the way, now for the iPhone3G and iPhone 2.0 upgrade. As per all the reports on the web, O2 had unacceptable problems, which also affected the Apple stores. First off O2's systems were unable to cope with the high demand of authorisations, and with in minutes of their stores opening their servers we crashing again, and it was taking hours for some people to be able to buy their shinny new iPhone3G. The UK Apple stores in addition to these problems also had an issue with O2's authorisation system not being compatible with Safari!! and for an Apple partner for me this is just unacceptable. Foe those lucky ones who did manage to leave a store with the new iPhone the problems did not end, because whilst O2's systems had failed, now it was Apples turn with their iTunes activation servers falling over.

Because I was ill I was not thinking straight (that's my excuse anyway), so as soon as the iPhone 2.0 update appeared I began upgrading my iPhone, which I am always apprehensive about, as you never know if any device after and upgrade will come back to life. I should have realised that if the iTunes activation servers were failing, then I would not be able to re-activate my updated iPhone, and as with so many others I was left with a bricked iPhone. 4hrs after the upgrade began I finally re-activated my iPhone, and was able to play with the new version 2.0 firmware, and to be honest on first impressions I was not overly excited.

So 48hrs after the nightmare began where are we? Well for me I now have my 1st gen iPhone upgraded to version 2.0, but with no push email working (I still have to pull my email) and no over the air synchronisation of my contacts and calendar. The MobileMe service is now accessible, but far from what I had hoped for or expected. I am still waiting for Apple to release the update to get the whole service and devices (iPhone and MacBook) synchronising and working as advertised.

The people at Microsoft must be rocking in their chairs with laughter at Apples failed attempt at what has to have been the most ambitious global consumer roll-out ever. Lets hope that Apple and in the O2 learn from this mess, and that any future roll-outs have better planning.

App Store Apps video reviews

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-12T08:55:13+01:00

For anyone who has update their iPhone or iPod Touch to version 2.0 and are wondering which apps they should try out first, then check out iJerad's website. iJerad has a number of video reviews showing some of his top apps, which helps save a lot of time if you are unsure which apps you want. Like many blogs The Mac Café uses Twitter, and you can watch the Twitterrific iPhone/iPod touch app below, or go to iJerad's website which has this and other video reviews of.

iPod touch 2.0 Software Update now available in the UK

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-12T08:30:52+01:00

Good news for all you iPod Touch owners in the UK, as this morning if you fire up iTunes and plug your iPod Touch in you will be presented with the following screen, and for £5.99 you can gain access to all the latest features and apps from the App Store :)

Thanks to Barry Ward for this update and screen grab.

iPhone 2.0 upgrade woes

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-11T22:06:07+01:00

After 4hrs my iPhone finally activated and iTunes began the restore, but all is still not well. As part of the restore the iPhone restarts to be detected by iTunes, but oh no, I get an error about the restore being interrupted, so I select the option to restore again. After the 3rd restore I decided to choose the option to cancel, but now every time I sync my iPhone I get the same error message. What's this all about? If anyone has any ideas on a fix, then please post your suggestions in the comments.

UPDATE: Fedup with this continued error, I decided to Delete Backup and hope for the best. The good news is that at the next sync iTunes created a new backup and the error has now gone away :)

STOP - do not upgrade your 1st gen iPhone just yet!!

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-11T17:58:15+01:00

As with any firmware upgrade there is always an air of trepidation, and when I discovered that iTunes had the latest version of the iPhone firmware available I took the plunge. Oh how I wish I hadn't, as following the successful install I am now left with a phone capable of only emergency calls!! This is part of the ongoing problems that Apple and more importantly O2 are experiencing, on what can only be described as the worst day for O2.

UK Apple Store currently down!!

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-11T12:31:33+01:00

Like everything else, the UK online Apple store is currently offline.

MobileMe Status Update

glyn.evans@mac.com — 2008-07-11T11:51:22+01:00

This is the message Apple are displaying on their support website