The MacTrack – iPhone, iPod, iPod Touch and Mac News

New York, NY – For the first time, MacWorld attendees have the opportunity to win a vacation just for doing something that comes naturally: meeting new people. During MacWorld 2009 (1/5/09-1/9/09), every new personal or business contact made by attendees using their iPhone and free app beamME provides an entry into the beamME/Up Sweepstakes. Bonus entries are also available for completing fun challenges, like beaming people named Wozniak. One lucky winner will fly away to sunny Hawaii.

“Meeting new people at a conference is a big part of why we attend,” said Gabe Zichermann, CEO of rmbrME, the developer of beamME for the iPhone. “This year, we’re making networking into a game that anyone can play…and win.”

beamME is the world’s most popular service for mobile contact exchange, enabling any mobile to “beam” a socially-networked vCard to any other device, without handset or carrier restriction. Card recipients need no special hardware, software or registration to retrieve their new contact and – in most cases – can add directly to their phone or PC address book with a single click. beamME is available as a free download for the iPhone or iPod Touch from the iTunes App Store.

To enter the drawing, MacWorld attendees must register on the rmbrME website and download the free beamME application for their iPhone or iPod Touch. Every time they meet someone new, using powerful and popular beamME to exchange their contact information generates an entry into the contest. Bonus challenges offer an opportunity to increase the number of potential contest entries. A number of rules and restrictions apply to the beamME/Up Sweepstakes – a complete list of which can be found online.

beamME/UP Contest Website
beamME on the Web
iTunes Store Download
Backgrounder and Visuals

Based in New York City, rmbrME is best known for developing the breathtakingly simple and popular beamME for the iPhone/iPod Touch and universal contact exchange using SMS. The company’s design philosophy is that digital contact exchange only works when it’s device, carrier and social network independent, lifting the requirement for recipients to have special hardware, software or registration before being able to access new contacts. Copyright 2008 rmbrME. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.

American Fork, UT – Izatt International is reminding all interested students that the Early-Bird pricing of $1850 is only available for two more days, til 12/31/08, for the new iPhone Development Course. Standard price is $2395. The course will be held January 20-23, 2009 at the Noah Building in Lindon, UT. A consortium of expert iPhone developers representing prominent iPhone development companies such as Izatt International, Pixio, and InfiniteNIL have been assembled to cover topics ranging from XCode and Interface Builder to the Accelerometer, Core Animation, and Open GL ES.

The iPhone course is being offered in response to an increasing demand for smart phone development skills in Utah’s ‘Silicon Slopes’ technology sector.

“As an iPhone application developer, Izatt recognized the need to grow the iPhone app developer skill set in Utah. Rather than reaching outside the state for talent, we elected to offer training in collaboration with other iPhone development shops,” remarked Jason Izatt, CEO of Izatt International. “Our hope is that education opportunities like this will generate increased entrepreneurial activity and keep Utah on the forefront of technology innovation.”

Information on the iPhone Development Course, including cost, curriculum and pre-requisites can be found on the Izatt International website.

Developer Course Details

Izatt International develops and delivers best-in-class education, business utility and entertainment applications for smartphone computing platforms. Our current line of applications is designed for the iPhone and iPod Touch. In addition to developing our own line of original applications, we partner with organizations interested in extending their solutions to a smartphone platform. For more information on Izatt smartphone applications and services, please contact us at 801.372.6031, email us or visit us online. Copyright 2008 Izatt International. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.

American Fork, Utah – MileBug, a premier iPhone mileage log application, is now available for HALF OFF the regular price! Only $1.99 for a limited time only. Start off the New Year right by keeping proper records for reimbursement or tax deduction. MileBug helps those driving their own vehicles for business, charity, medical, or other reasons receive their reimbursement and/or tax deduction. In the U.S., IRS business rates are 55 cents/mile for 2009. MileBug for the iPhone/iPod Touch helps people track their miles and provides emailed reports for easy submission to employers, accountants, and the IRS.

“MileBug is a mileage tracker for your iPhone or iPod Touch that makes it super easy to. . .track your mileage. This is great if you need to report your mileage to your boss. . .the [IRS]. . .or for any personal reasons.” – AppStoreApps (December 13, 2008)

“In my job, I need a way to track mileage for work trips around town. MileBug does a great job of providing a really simple (and IRS friendly) method of tracking my trip logs. I really like how I can export the reports to email for reimbursement and reporting.” – The Apple Blog (October 27, 2008)

What’s New?
* Option for kilometers vs miles (General Settings)
* Custom deduction rates
* Define multiple business rates (reimbursement vs. deduction)
* “Other” business category for percentage tax filers
* Foreign and other special characters supported in reports
* Notes included in reports
* SPANISH version

MileBug answers the call from the many international customers. Inside the General Settings is now an option to select kilometers instead of miles. From within the Presets, users can define custom rates for business, charity, medical, and other categories. If you get one rate from your employer for reimbursement, and another rate from the IRS for your side business, you simply create two different business rates.

As an added bonus, MileBug supports Spanish. Simply select Spanish as the language of your iPhone or iPod Touch in the General Settings –> International area and restart MileBug. Bienvenido a MileBug!

MileBug
Download and Purchase
Izatt International

Izatt International is an iPhone/iPod Touch application development company in American Fork, UT. Izatt develops applications internally as well as accepts outside development projects. Copyright 2008 Izatt International. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Toronto, ON/Canada – Fusion Ads, a new ad network aimed at a web professionals, announces their upcoming launch on January 1st, 2009. Serving relevant ads to 10,000 engaged readers every day, Fusion is the catalyst advertisers need to connect with their target audience. With a focus on designers, creators and productivity gurus, Fusion is the perfect vehicle for Mac vendors to reach their desired audience at a reasonable price.

Fusion rethinks advertisement by offering well-designed, premium advertisements to an engaged audience of web and creative professionals at a low price point. The distinguishing factor between Fusion and other ad networks is that only a single Fusion ad is shown per page, and each ad is displayed prominently ‘above the fold’ on all sites in the network.

There are currently ten advertisement spots available, and all ads rotate equally between each of the ten sites.

Purchasing a Fusion ad gives you a month of exclusive access to a community of loyal readers that are interested in your product. Fusion ads include a 130 by 100 pixel image and an additional 80 characters of text. All animation is forbidden. The current rate is $640 USD per ad per month, and is valid through January 2009.

Fusion believes that by combining quality content with premium advertisements they can create the ideal platform to distribute and communicate your messages – and a big part of that is being affordable. Fusion offers the greatest value, quality ads at a cost-effective and attractive price point.

“Given how successful The Deck has been, and how much better I believe The Deck’s basic model to be versus “regular” web advertising, I’ve long wondered why there weren’t any other Deck-like ad networks. Now there is one: Fusion Ads. Good ideas deserve to spread; I hope this blossoms.” – John Gruber

There is currently a limited number of ad spots available for the month of January. Visit the Fusion website or contact Michael Mistretta for more details.

Fusion Ads

Fusion aims to provide advertisers with a targeted and effective platform to distribute their messages to an influential audience at an affordable price. Copyright Fusion Ads 2008 All Rights Reserved (C).

San Diego, California – TinyPlanet Software has released version 1.1.1 of Knapsack, the personal travel organizer for Mac OS X Leopard, and is offering a New Year’s promotion for both single-user and family-pack licenses.

Knapsack version 1.1.1 is a maintenance release which includes performance improvements, trip scheduling enhancements, fixes for minor display issues, and additions to the built-in help system. The new version is is a free upgrade for existing customers and is recommended for all users.

Knapsack 1.1.1 is available for download as a free 30-day full-featured demo and for purchase as a single-user license for only $39.95 USD or as a five-user Family Pack for $59.95 USD. From December 31st to January 15th, 2009, TinyPlanet Software is offering 25% off all purchases. Shoppers can provide the coupon code, NEWYEARS2009, and TinyPlanet Software’s online store will automatically apply the discount. The discount also applies to gift purchases.

Originally released in March of 2008, Knapsack is the personal travel organizer for Mac OS X Leopard. Knapsack gives users the tools to plan, organize, and relive their travel adventures with many user-friendly features including map pins with location postcards, a flexible itinerary planner, trip checklists, and professional-looking printed itineraries.

Minimum Requirements:
* Mac OS X Version 10.5 Leopard or higher

Knapsack is built from the ground up on Apple’s latest technology and will continue to advance with every new version of Mac OS X.

TinyPlanet Software
Download Knapsack 1.1.1
Purchase Knapsack
Knapsack Screenshot
Knapsack Icon

Headquartered in San Diego, California, TinyPlanet Software is a privately funded LLC co-founded in 2006 by Chris Boykin, Ruby Lee, Brad Willoughby, and Merrilee Willoughby. With a passion for the Mac platform, TinyPlanet Software aims to bring simple, friendly, and easy-to-use applications to the ever-growing world of Mac users. Copyright 2006-2008 TinyPlanet Software LLC. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, are registered trademarks of Apple Computer.