Rumor: Qualcomm- Apple iPhone Deal?

Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes reported Monday that Qualcomm is in talks with Apple "for interest in future cooperation," claims "market sources." The report said that Qualcomm is concerned about its future, because popular smartphones including the iPhone do not utilize its 3G handset chips. Currently the iPhone uses the Infineon chipset.

In November, two reports said that a Qualcomm-.powered iPhone was in the works. One report suggested the device would use a new hybrid chip, to allow compatibility with both AT&T and Verizon networks in the U.S. Another analyst said that he had heard the deal between Apple and Qualcomm is in the works, a dual mode iPhone would be impossible to release in 2010 and if there was one, it would arrive in 2011 at the earliest.

Ashok Kumar an analyst for Northease Securities, recently told AppleInsider that he believes Verizon and Apple would like to release a CDMA handset at $99, which would make the new dual-mode chip unlikely. Qualcomm expects to launch handsets based on the dual-mode chip in the later half of 2010.

Source:[therawfeed]

Robot dance contest even worse than it sounds.

Source:[therawfeed]

Ommwriter, an extra helping of zen for writers

Filed under: Software, Productivity

As part of our Back to School series last year, I covered some of my favorite writing tools. Many of the writing applications I’ve mentioned there and elsewhere have full-screen, distraction-free editing modes, ala WriteRoom, which gets plenty of mention here at TUAW. The full-screen editing feature now seems to be a standard, and most apps that offer the option do a fine job of implementing it. Therefore, if one was to write an app along the lines of WriteRoom, it would have to do something out of the ordinary to get any traction. Ommwriter, a new single-purpose writing app, does just that.

The whole idea behind Ommwriter is to provide a zen-like atmosphere, not just a blank screen. While conforming well to standard text controls in OS X, it creates an interface that’s quite pleasing to the eye. The ears are not left wanting, though, and the app provides a choice of several background soundscapes to help block out distractions. You only have 3 fonts to choose from, and they cannot be intermingled. There’s no access to the menubar, just a series of rather elegant controls to the side of the resizable writing area. The background is gray, with optional faded landscape scenery. It’s quite pretty, and is quite conducive to concentration … and writing, of course.

Continue reading Ommwriter, an extra helping of zen for writers

Ommwriter, an extra helping of zen for writers originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ommwriter, an extra helping of zen for writers originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source:[tuaw]

Take your apps to the table with these iPhone icon coasters

Filed under: Humor, iPhone

With over 100,000 applications available, there’s no shortage of ways people are using the iPhone’s features. But how about on the coffee table or in the dining room?

A new website is offering sets of coasters featuring the iPhone’s default application icons. According to the website, the coasters are genuine app icon enlargements from the iPhone 1.1.4 firmware. They also have a non-slip cork backing and are heat resistant. If you or someone you know is a big iPhone lover, this would be a great one to add to the holiday wish list.

iPhoneAppsCoasters.com is offering three sets including:

• “Core Apps” featuring SMS, Calendar, Phone, Mail, Safari and iPod
• “Home Apps” featuring Notepad, Settings, Camera, Calculator, Clock and Address Book
• “Media Apps” featuring Maps, YouTube, Stocks, Video, Weather and Photos

The three “sets” each retail for around $19 USD. Here’s some shots of the coasters:

Thanks to Chris Pirillo

Take your apps to the table with these iPhone icon coasters originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Take your apps to the table with these iPhone icon coasters originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source:[tuaw]

Editing Video On Your iPhone? Yes, There’s Even An App For That!

While it may not pack the power of Final Cut Pro, Nexvio’s ReelDirector does allow you to do what seemed impossible just a short time ago: Edit video on your iPhone and share it with friends and family.

Thanks to Apple bringing video recording to the iPhone 3GS, users can now shoot quick movies on the go and even do basic trimming to focus on just the material they want. But thanks to a $7.99 app called ReelDirector, you can do that and a whole lot more, especially now that the clever app has hit version 2.

ReelDirector 2 adds the ability to do multi-track sound editing and mixing, use still photos in addition to video and even do a Ken Burns effect (limited to a simple zoom-in, but still an impressive feature for a cell phone app). iPhone editors can also adjust the length of opening and closing titles and even automatically flip any clips that may have been imported upside-down.

According to TUAW.com, ReelDirector works well, and finished videos can be e-mailed (within limitations) or save them to your camera roll for later export. But ReelDirector can’t do everything, mainly due to limits imposed by Apple’s iPhone SDK. The biggest among them is the inability to use your iPod music for background sound. The best workaround so far is to record your music through the iPhone’s microphone.

While ReelDirector is probably best compared to iMovie rather than Final Cut Pro, the ability to edit quick videos and share them with loved ones without ever touching a computer is still quite remarkable. Nexvio’s developers have upped the ante with version 2 and continue to work on user-requested features for future releases.

Source:[therawfeed]

Mystery Pic 105: What is it?

What is it? Post your guess in the comments section below. If you're first with the right answer, you'll earn the dubious honor of getting your name in the next issue of the awe-inspiring Mike's List newsletter. The answer will be revealed in the next issue of Mike's List. Go here to subscribe. (It's free!)

Source:[therawfeed]

The Pomodoro Technique, or how a tomato made me more productive

Filed under: Software, Cool tools, Odds and ends, iPhone

I’ve alluded to my search for personal organization a couple of times during 2009. While it’s not something that I’m obsessing about, I now capture my major goals in Things, and that at least tells me what I’m supposed to be doing in terms of short and long-term goals. However, I found that sometimes I couldn’t figure out how to organize a single day in my calendar, simply because I would jump around to all sorts of projects and never get even one of them accomplished.

Back in August, fellow TUAW blogger Brett Terpstra started writing a post about The Pomodoro Technique[TM]. Being a foodie and part Italian, I knew that pomodoro is the Italian word for tomato, so I asked Brett if he was talking about cooking. What he turned me on to was a wonderful concentration and organization technique.

In 1992, a student by the name of Francesco Cirillo was looking for a way of improving his study habits. He took a tomato-shaped kitchen timer (hence the name Pomodoro) and found that if he broke tasks into 25-minute sessions, now known as Pomodoros, followed by a 5-minute break, and then took a longer 15-minute break after four Pomodoros, he was able to concentrate more fully on the tasks at hand and accomplish more work.

The technique is deceptively simple, easy to implement, and surprisingly effective. You can download Cirillo’s book for free and learn more about the technique at the official website, just to see if the method works for you. If it does, then you might want to look at the assortment of Mac and iPhone applications designed to help you time your Pomodoros and get more work done. That’s the focus of the rest of this post.

Continue reading The Pomodoro Technique, or how a tomato made me more productive

The Pomodoro Technique, or how a tomato made me more productive originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Pomodoro Technique, or how a tomato made me more productive originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source:[tuaw]

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