Farensius adds weather to your Mac menu bar
For only US$ 0.99, the OS X Farensius app is just adorable. It adds a current weather indicator to your menu bar, and offers an optional 5-day forecast in its drop-down.
It’s exactly what I’ve been missing on my desktop. I have it set to update every five minutes, and with a tiny glance up and to the right, I can keep track of the current temperature.
Farensius is one of two related apps. Its big brother, Farensius Desktop ($ 1.99) adds the forecast to your desktop wallpaper. For me, my bland white desktop background is a necessity — so I’m sticking with the basic app for now. Those looking for a whimsical weather-themed backdrop, however, will enjoy this.
Not everything was, unfortunately — and if you forgive the pun, sunny. Farensius Desktop struggled with my multi-monitor set-up, insisting on placing its background only on my secondary monitor. What’s more, when I tried adding custom backdrops, the app crashed several times.
I had no issues with the menu-bar-only version, which is even now running on my desktop.
Farensius adds weather to your Mac menu bar originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 25 May 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog
Shazam app goes universal, adds mapping features, more
The uber popular live music recognition app Shazam has received a major update today. The most noticeable change is a new mapping feature. Now users can explore a map and see what songs are being tagged in what areas of the world. Another major change is that Shazam is now a universal app. Previously there was Shazam for iPhone and Shazam for iPad, but now both apps have been rolled into one.
The iPad side of the new Shazam app has seen significant upgrades as well. Users are now greeted with a beautiful new home screen that allows them to flip through recently tagged songs. Another new feature is Auto Tagging, which tags any audio from TV shows our music playing around you without you having to tap a button. Shazam will even continue to run in the background and continue tagging songs when you leave the app. When you launch it again, everything that was tagged when you were outside the app appears on the new home screen.
Shazam is a free download.
Shazam app goes universal, adds mapping features, more originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 23 May 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog
Pandora app revamps interface, adds Facebook publishing
Pandora Radio is the granddaddy of streaming music apps, and for years now, the company’s iPhone app has been one of the most popular ways to use and interact with the service. Just today, the app has nabbed a big update, bringing it to version 4.3. The new update adds a redesigned interface, which lets you tap an album to see lyrics, artist info, or other notes. You can also publish information directly to Facebook and share recommendations with your friends.
The update has been able to share tracks to Twitter and email for a while now, so the Facebook integration just adds to the functionality. The Pandora app itself is free, and you can subscribe to a premium service, called Pandora One, from directly inside the app.
Pandora app revamps interface, adds Facebook publishing originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 22 May 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog
Vudu adds ability to download movies for offline viewing to iOS apps
Wal-Mart-owned video-on-demand service Vudu has updated its iOS apps to allow movie downloads for offline viewing. The Android phone version of the app has had this feature for awhile, but Android tablets are still unable to download and view their Vudu/Ultraviolet collection on their tablets.
Other additions to the update include a reworked player to make the app easier to use, as well as support for closed captions on the iPhone. It’s worth noting that the Flixter iOS app already allowed for Ultraviolet downloads. Ultraviolet is a digital rights authentication service that allows DVD and Blu-ray buyers to redeem unique download codes for digital viewing later.
You can find the updated app for free in the iTunes store now.
Vudu adds ability to download movies for offline viewing to iOS apps originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 21 May 2013 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog
Vudu adds ability to download movies for offline viewing to iOS apps
Wal-Mart-owned video-on-demand service Vudu has updated its iOS apps to allow movie downloads for offline viewing. The Android phone version of the app has had this feature for awhile, but Android tablets are still unable to download and view their Vudu/Ultraviolet collection on their tablets.
Other additions to the update include a reworked player to make the app easier to use, as well as support for closed captions on the iPhone. It’s worth noting that the Flixter iOS app already allowed for Ultraviolet downloads. Ultraviolet is a digital rights authentication service that allows DVD and Blu-ray buyers to redeem unique download codes for digital viewing later.
You can find the updated app for free in the iTunes store now.
Vudu adds ability to download movies for offline viewing to iOS apps originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 21 May 2013 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog
Philips Hue iOS app adds geofencing support
Sometimes it’s cool to live in the future. Take Philips Hue, an energy saving lightbulb that can be controlled by your iPhone or iPad. If you’re coming home at night with an arm full of groceries and didn’t leave the lights on, you can turn them on before you get into the house. They allow you too control the color, power, and brightness of your lighting, from anywhere in the world. Now with the latest update to their iOS app Philips has brought geofencing support to their already brainy smart bulb.
The geofencing feature allows you to activate a scene in your room automatically when you arrive at a location, without having to do it manually each time. Come in from a long day at work and have your house know you’ve come home by greeting you an illuminated living room. The alarm settings have also been improved, so whether you’re using the alarm to make it look like someone’s home when you’re away or simply to wake up, you’re in luck.
The update also includes some minor support fixes, an improved colors in the LivingColors system, and other tweaks to the alarm system, including support for a weekly alarm schedule. Head over to iTunes to grab the new app, or over to Philips to learn more about this system.
Philips Hue iOS app adds geofencing support originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 14 May 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog
Apple Continues Building iWork Team, Adds New Job Listings
Apple has been beefing up its iWork team since early February, and has posted several new job listings in recent weeks.
The latest job posting, which was added this morning, seeks a software QA engineer. As noted by Apple Bitch (via AppleInsider) the position specifies that the engineer will work on “the next generation of Desktop, Mobile, and Web application/services.”
Apple is currently hiring a number of employees for its iWork team, including three QA software engineers, a Production Specialist, a Technical Production Ninja, a Verification Engineer, and a Visual Motion Designer.
The company also has a job listing for a HiDP Image Specialist, a position that requests a person who will prepare “approved artwork and specifications for engineering implementation on both Retina and non-Retina display devices,” suggesting that the next version of iWork will support Retina devices.
Apple’s iWork suite includes Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, for both iOS and Mac. The software is overdue for an update as it was originally released in 2009 and has seen only minor improvements since that time.
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Netflix for iOS update features auto-play for TV shows, adds movie recommendations
Netflix today updated its iOS app with some features that will undoubtedly please all you TV lovers out there.
First and foremost, the app update includes a post-play feature which immediately starts the beginning of a new TV episode once a user finishes watching the previous one. This feature could prove to be delightfully dangerous for folks already watching addictive shows like Breaking Bad and Mad Men. Netflix notes that the app update now makes it easier for users to “binge” on their favorite shows.
On the movie front, Netflix has also taken steps to keep you immersed in the Netflix universe. Following the end of a movie, the updated Netflix app will now display three movie recommendations for a viewer to choose from.
Lastly, the Netflix update also includes enhanced second-screen options.
Netflix for iOS update features auto-play for TV shows, adds movie recommendations originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 09 May 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog
Apple adds 3D Maps Flyover coverage to Paris and surrounding areas
Over the past few months, Apple has consistently, and yet silently, continued to increase the number of areas which receive the 3D Flyover treatment in its homegrown Maps app.
Now, the French-language site iGeneration is reporting that Apple has added 3D Flyover support for Paris, France. The report adds that the 3D coverage extends to Versailles, Aulnay-sous-Bois, to Disneyland Paris, and to L’Hay-les-Roses
Previously, the only city in Paris subject to 3D Flyover coverage was Lyon.
Apple’s Maps team has certainly been keeping busy as of late. This past March, for example, Apple added new and expanded Flyover coverage to a number of cities, including Baltimore, Glasgow, Madrid, Rome, Barcelona, Vancouver, Portland, London, Cleveland, and Buffalo.
You might also recall that Apple’s Flyover effect comes from C3 Technologies, a company Apple acquired back in October, 2011.
The video below, shot well before C3 became an Apple property, explains how the 3D mapping process works.
As a more detailed companion to the above video, C3′s mapping process was described thusly by the MIT Technology Review back in April, 2011.
C3′s models are generated with little human intervention. First, a plane equipped with a custom-designed package of professional-grade digital single-lens reflex cameras takes aerial photos. Four cameras look out along the main compass points, at oblique angles to the ground, to image buildings from the side as well as above. Additional cameras (the exact number is secret) capture overlapping images from their own carefully determined angles, producing a final set that contains all the information needed for a full 3-D rendering of a city’s buildings. Machine-vision software developed by C3 compares pairs of overlapping images to gauge depth, just as our brains use stereo vision, to produce a richly detailed 3-D model.
Apple adds 3D Maps Flyover coverage to Paris and surrounding areas originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 09 May 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog
RunKeeper gains Pebble support, Boingo Wi-Finder adds App Store subscriptions
Popular iOS fitness tracker RunKeeper was updated on Tuesday to add support for the Pebble smart watch. And Boingo’s Wi-Finder now offers users the ability to subscribe to its Wi-Fi hotspots directly through an in-app purchase.
AppleInsider – Frontpage News
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