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If you don’t know about VLC – learn right now! (click here) If you’re lazy, all you have to know is that it’s a free video player (Mac,PC,Linux) and it plays almost any video format known to man – it’s one of the first must have apps for any computer owner. Now that we have taken care of that, the open source VideoLAN organization has released RC1 of VLC 2.0 – adding naive fullscreen Lion support, newly designed subtitle manager, additional RAR archive playback, advanced output modes, Blue-Ray support for Mac and a 64-bit Windows version. While you can go and download the RC-1 version (here) keep in mind that it’s still buggy and you could see CPU/Memory issues but the re-designed interface and added features were much needed. The VideoLAN foundation has also released a video showing developer contribution to the VLC open source project.

Source: 9To5Mac

While I wasn’t invited to Apple’s NYC educational event, both iBooks 2 & iBooks Author was made available yesterday – so I decided to take the latter for a spin.  First off, it might be the simplest app Apple or anyone has ever made for making any kind of interactive media. The stock templates are simple yet elegant, the built in tools are well organized and universally understood, media is easily accessed and for those that don’t what the cookie cutter approach, you can write your own java script and html5 code. Best of both worlds.

After picking your desired template layout (pictured above), you move directly into design – starting with the cover, intro media and table of contents. The great thing about iBooks Author is that it does most of the busy wok for you, like the table of contents, portrait layout adjustment and alignment – giving you plenty of time to play with media and content.

Since part of my family is from California and I had plenty of media from there, I decided to create a books about California and the museums I had visited. As you can see, I’ve started with a bold title: California : I’ve also placed a picture of some of the jellyfish at the San Francisco Museum of Natural History. So a colorful and striking intro for my book – so far, so good.

For the first chapter, I’ve placed a stunning image of the Golden Gate Bridge to the right, another bold title to introduce the first museum (San Francisco) and I’ve also placed an interactive gallery that can be manipulated (left to right) on the desktop app, as well as on the iPad. Again, this was done in a matter of minutes and since I already had the media, it was even easier.

Ok, so now we’re diving into the first section of the first chapter. I’ve name it “Animals” and placed a giant picture of a T-Rex, which is also a slide-show gallery containing a bunch of animals from the museum. Across from that, I’ve placed a picture of me standing in front of a giant redwood tree – sliced. Ok, I know all this isn’t that interesting but the fact remains that creating your own book is fun and extremely easy. So, stop looking at my book and go out and get the free app for yourself – click here.

 

Source: Apple

Apple’s NYC educational event just finished and while there was no new hardware in sight, the event was actually surprisingly interesting. When I had heard that Apple was going to re-invent the textbook, I didn’t exactly jump out of my seat but what I saw today, kind of made me wish I was back in high school. The event revolved around two main points: The release of iBooks 2 & iBooks Author – both available today.

iBooks 2: “…is an amazing way to download and read books. iBooks includes the iBookstore, where you can download the latest bestselling books or your favorite classics – day or night. Browse your library on a beautiful bookshelf, tap a book to open it, flip through pages with a swipe or a tap, and bookmark or add notes to your favorite passages….” Check it out….

• Experience gorgeous Multi-Touch textbooks designed for iPad
• iBooks textbooks are filled with interactive features, diagrams, photos, and videos
• Tap to dive into images with interactive captions, rotate 3D objects, swipe through image galleries, watch videos in full screen, and more
• Use a finger as a highlighter when swiping over text in a textbook
• Take advantage of Study Cards to help you memorize important highlights, notes, and glossary terms
• Tap glossary terms to see definitions of key topics and concepts without leaving the page

The iBookstore offers textbooks on Algebra, Biology, Chemistry, Geometry, and Physics from McGraw-Hill and Pearson. These textbooks are currently available to customers in the United States. Textbooks from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt are coming soon.

iBooks Author: ”…Now anyone can create stunning iBooks textbooks, cookbooks, history books, picture books, and more for iPad. All you need is an idea and a Mac. Start with one of the Apple-designed templates that feature a wide variety of page layouts. Add your own text and images with drag-and-drop ease. Use Multi-Touch widgets to include interactive photo galleries, movies, Keynote presentations, 3D objects, and more. Preview your book on your iPad at any time. Then submit your finished work to the iBookstore with a few simple steps. And before you know it, you’re a published author….” Check it out….

 

So what does this mean for us? Essentially, iBooks 2 takes advantage of Apple interactive iBooks Author framework, allowing classic textbooks to be converted to amazing iPad based interactive books. Educational curriculums and teaching styles can be built around these new interactive books but the real question is: Will school districts adopt Apple’s new tools? Apple already gives educational discounts to schools, teachers and students but what will Apple have to do to get mass adoption?

How effective will Apple’s inroads into the educational system and how well iBooks 2 + iBooks Author will be depends on how well publishing houses get on track with converting/creating these interactive textbooks. It isn’t enough to have schools adopt iPads and it isn’t enough for publishing houses to create amazing textbooks that no one will use – there has to be inroads from both parties. Here is a walkthrough from Engadget:

Learn more about Apple’s iBooks 2 and iBooks Author by clicking here or visit iTunes. Now, let the iPad 3 rumors start!!!

Source: Apple

Skype for mac 5.4 beta has been released today, bring with it minor UI tweaks, a few bug fixes and some small new features such as answering calls with the option of video or just audio. The 5.4 Beta also brings Facebook integration, so you can call and send messages directly to your Facebook contacts – not bad. Now let’s hope that it’s not as bug filled as so many previous versions of skype…Want in, click here.

 

Source: Skype

Rogue Amoeba, one of the best software houses for the Mac has just released Piezo, which lets you record audio from any app on you mac. Sounds simple right – that’s the point. Recording audio has always been somewhat of a tricky task, especially on a computer because you have so many apps and tasks running. Often times, while recording, you can contaminate a clean audio recording simply by opening up an app that plays a sound or if someone decides to Skype you. Recording on a computer was never easy and now it is….and it’ll only cost you $10.

Source: TheVerge

Kevin Systrom, CEO of Instagram told a panel at LeWeb 2011, that he had members of his design staff working on an Android version of the popular photo sharing app. Beyond that, we heard no release dates or any other information regarding an Android specific app but there was talk about Instagram’s inroads into monetization. Thats right, the app you love so much will have some kind of advertising built in at a future point. Does this mean there won’t be a paid versions without advertising, no but it does seem like the days of a simplistic UI – free of Toyota Ads, are limited. Personally, I can’t wait for people to fall in love with taking “Non-Filtered” pictures again.

Source: TheVerge

Flipboard for the iPad is amazing! It makes looking at content from Facebook, Twitter, New York Times and all your favorite websites so much more enjoyable than the static desktop/mobile versions. With its unique magazine+Minority Report style UI, Flipboard has really changed the way people consume and interact with digital content. Yet, there was always one thing missing…..

Today, Flipboard has announced the release of its great tablet app for the iphone – conpletely built, from the ground up, to be every bit as usefully, even on the iphone’s smaller screen. If you’ve never heard of Flipboad, check out the video below and if you have an iOS device – get downloading.

Source: Flipboard

Starbucks processed 26 million orders through its mobile apps, adding $110 million to its bottom-line for 2011 fiscal year revenue. That might not seem like a lot of money, when compared to the $11+ billion it took in from cash/credit transactions but this is a rapidly expanding minority, which is projected to explode in the coming years. Small businesses take note – start providing mobile payment options, even if it’s something as simple as Square.

Source: The Verge

Source: Photographybay.com

Path is an App and Web based social network or ecosystem, that has one thing in mind: Be social but not too social. “I’m brushing my teeth” or “A bird just flew into my window” – great but no one cares…..except your good friends and they might not care either. Path’s 50 friends limit makes sharing photos and comments more personal – more detailed and less diluted. Its straight forward interface and limited social media options enable your close ring of friends to really see a detailed view of each other’s lives.

In contrast: Facebook’s issue is that it’s too social, it’s too vast and massive, that we kind of get lost and the relationships you had with your personal friends degrades. Sure, you can limit your friends and your personal settings but you still get those damn requests from people wanting to be buddy buddy.

The new social is to be less social! The social media bubble is now starting to implode - except for twitter, which just rocks! People want less noise, less clutter and a more refined, more personal social experience – kind of like when you go out with your friends. When you’re at a bar, you aren’t talking to hundreds of people, your talking to the circle of friends you came with – Path is this social solution. Have a look:

Source: Path.com

Not happy with Skype? Qik just dropped one hell of an update to its iPhone app, allowing cross platform video and messaging chat. So, for all those people out there that have family or friends playing on the wrong side of the mobile OS war, now you can chat about your differences.

“Qik Video Connect Plus is the highest resolution mobile video communications service in the market that lets you connect and interact with your family and friends in exciting new ways with video. It is the most complete mobile video solution in the market and is used by millions globally for video chat, instant video messaging, sharing videos on social networks, and also storing precious moments.”

So what does the free version of Qik get you: Instant video sharing, Live “Friend-casting” (broadcast to friends on social networks or blogs), share videos instantly to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or send private video messages, new video feed displays all the videos shared by your friends, and makes it easy for you to stay connected with what they are doing, all recorded videos are automatically uploaded to your online video gallery for sharing. Or you can stop being cheap and buy the $3 pro version, which adds HD capability for video recording and uploading, video effects, video editing and video syncing. Sounds good, check it out here: Qik Website

Source: Electronista.com

What better way to celebrate SXSW, than by downloading IE9? Ok, so most people would rather drink, dance and be merry, at this years South By South-West conference, in Austin – Texas but Microsoft isn’t letting all this partying go to waste! They have announced that on March 14th, Internet Explorer will be released and will be made available for download – so, for all those waiting – now is your chance.

The update to Microsoft’s flagship browser, couldn’t come soon enough, as it has bleed market share to Firefox, Chrome and Safari but maybe Microsoft will get the last laugh, as the March 14th release date will beat the release of Firefox 4. Additionally, at todays CanSecWest hacking conference, Apple’s Safari browser got completely pwnaged – in 5 seconds!

One bad note for Window’s XP users – you’re out of luck as IE9 will not be supported, which is very weird, especially as XP is still the dominant Windows OS. Oh well, this is your chance to jump to Win7 – it’s worth it.

Source: Computerworld.com

Seems like this is the week of in app ads – First, Twitter further incorporates its featured or promoted tweets (Dick Bar) and now it looks like Skype is joining in all the fun:

“Today we announce something new – the launch of advertising in Skype, which will appear in the Home tab in Skype starting this week.”

From what we know so far, it looks as though these ads will only be for the desktop client and not for mobile apps, which is somewhat a good move – one Twitter should learn from. Second, Ads will appear in the US, UK and Germany and will initially focused in those markets only – so get ready for your dose of Visa ads, G8 countries. Most importantly, Skype has stated that their ad platform will not be intrusive to the customer’s use of the service – i.e. there won’t be ridiculous pop-up ads, half way through your business call or flashy trailers for Universal Picture’s new movie, while you’re talking to grandma…..or say they say. Want the whole press release – click here.

Source: Skype.com

“….The BBC’s international iPlayer iPad app will cost less than $10 (£6.13) a month when it launches later this year, according to director general Mark Thompson…”

There you go – this year….sometime… Still, for all those expats out there, having BCC content for less than $10 a month is a great price point, especially if the content is not rebranded or reformatted - as it sometimes is. While we’ll wait for more details, the pending make-or-break issue still remains, the release window for TV shows and movies. How will they be released across multiple channels before iplayer customers get their hands on that fine content? We shall see.

Source: Guardian.co.uk

News Corp’s “The Daily” has gone live and is available on itunes after a lackluster press event. So, what is the daily? Well, Mr. Murdock let us know that it will be the best of all media: pictures,HD video,tweets,facebook and 360 deg images – so that’s good. In fact, as lackluster as the press event was, the little they did show of the application was impressive and I’ll have to try it out.

Pricing: $.14 a day and $.99 a week or $39 a year – you pick your poison. There will be a new issue everyday, with new content and as breaking news stories happen, they will be pushed to the app (for better or worse). Sounds good so far but we are leaving out one crucial aspect: the content.

News Corp and its collection of publications tends to be right winged – will “The daily” be of a similar voice? Creating an app that has a beautiful UI and that takes advantage of the hardware it’s on is only the beginning. Like traditional media, it’s the content that will bring people back – not the endless cool swipe functions. Do you want to give Murdock your pennies or wait for another publication to step up? NEXT!!

Source: iTunes.com