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

Fleet, UK – E-String Technologies, Inc. is pleased to announce the launch of iPhone Developer Training Courses in the USA. The course offers developers endless opportunities in this exciting, dynamic market. The course was launched in the United Kingdom in December and was very successfully received.

One of the UK delegates said: “I attended the iPhone SDK course held in Basingstoke, UK, in December 2008. I found the course informative, stimulating and most enjoyable. I now have the technical skills to improve my iPhone application – Pocket Phonics. Thanks to Chris Walters and Julio Barros, 2009 is off to a very positive start for my business.” John Friend, appsinmypocket, London. Makers of Pocket Phonics – the leading education application for children aged 3 to 7.

Course Dates:
Manhattan, New York – February 17th – 19th
Austin, Texas – March 9th – 11th

The course focuses on providing delegates with advanced and essential information needed to start programming for the iPhone, in an intense three day course. The course objective is to enable delegates to become proficient users of the iPhone Software Development Kit.

Basic course content:
* Introduction to Objective C language
* Introduction to iPhone tools – XCode IDE (integrated development environ-ment) and Interface Builder
* Planning and organization skills – Architecture, hierarchies, model classes, views and controlling classes
* Introduction to Cocoa Touch and other relevant frameworks
* Introduction to iPhone unique features and integration with other applications – location services, animation, 3-d graphics, the accelerometer
* Application restrictions – such as platform stability and security

The course has been developed by About Objects Inc., a premier IT training and consultancy company headquartered in Reston, VA.

E-String Technologies
Course Information

E-String Technologies is an enterprise and mobile application consulting, development and training firm. Founded in 1999, E-String Technologies focuses on iPhone, Java, mobile and web technologies. Copyright 1999-2009 E-String Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are regis-tered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Herndon, Virginia – Scheduled to coincide with the release of the movie Notorious, a biographical film about Notorious B.I.G. and his life starring rapper Jamal “Gravy” Woolard as Biggie, Zerion develops the iPhone application called iGravy.

The iPhone App is a must have for fans of the movie or gravy’s music. The application is a showcase for all that is Gravy. View photos and listen to some select tracks by the artist. Using a dynamic update framework driven from a web interface, updated feeds are sent to the user with current schedule information about his appearances, concerts, and other important dates. An informative Bio is also included in the App, detailing his humble roots, to his rise to stardom.

There is also a section that includes links to popular sites, such as the Notorious movie trailer, his MySpace page, and to the site whoisgravy.com. Best of all, fans of Gravy will love the Message to Gravy section, that allows fans to send Gravy a text or audio message.

“The opportunity to represent such a prominent figure in the music industry, and now a promising actor, was something we could not pass up. We believe this is the perfect vehicle for us to showcase our ‘Branded App’ genre, which will allow us to market any artist, music or otherwise, that wishes to have exposure on the iPhone; at a minimal cost.” Sze Wong, President of Zerion Consulting.

iGravy joins Inauguration Report and Rochambeau in the growing number of iPhone applications created by Zerion Software.

WhoIsGravy
iGravy
Download iGravy

Zerion Software is a mobile application development firm. Founded in 2003, Zerion provides services in enterprise system architecture and mobile development, for the iPhone, Windows mobile, and Blackberry platforms. Copyright 2008 Zerion Software. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Los Angeles, California – It’s a unique product that offers a helping hand for those trying to juggle a mobile electronic device while trying to relax on a plane trip. The iFlyz device is an in-flight, hands-free solution designed specifically for air travelers. The iFlyz’s suction cup firmly grasps any device relieving the strain of holding it for long periods of time while watching a movie, surfing through music or reading online. The iFlyz device uses an adjustable clamp to attach to either an upright and locked seat tray or one that is open during drink or dinner service and has a flexible gooseneck that allows the attached mobile device to be turned any angle or direction.

iFlyz has a simple three step process: attach your phone or media player to the iFlyz suction cup; clamp it to a meal tray in either the stowed and locked position or unlocked and down position; and simply adjust the flexible gooseneck to the ideal angle. The product is simple, durable and compact; ideal for anyone constantly on the go. It is compatible with iPhones, iTouches, iPods, Blackberrys, SmartPhones, and PMPs of various brands. The iFlyz is 5 1/2 inches long and 2 1/2 inches wide, and weighs only two ounces.

Up to now, travelers were forced to hold their electronic devices or get creative with some crude, off-balance way to try to position it for viewing. There’s even a blog article and video circulating the internet showing how people are using barf bags on airplanes as shoddy, makeshift holsters for the electronic devices. The iFlyz eliminates the need for such makeshift efforts.

The idea for iFlyz came as a way to make life easier for travelers trying to relax. “Being an early iPhone adopter and frequent flyer, I took note of all the other users on my weekly flights taking advantage of their time in the air to catch up on their favorite movies and TV shows,” said Alastair MacGregor, iFlyz International CEO. “It was immediately evident that I wasn’t the only person loving the new technology but hating that I had to hold my device to be able to watch any video content.”

MacGregor says that while there are a few multi-purpose device mounts or cradles on the market, the iFlyz is the only one designed specifically for air travel and the only one that works with the tray up or down.

Pricing and Availability:
iFlyz sells for $29.99 (USD) and is available now online.

iFlyz

iFlyz International. Copyright 2008 iFlyz 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.

Vilnius, Lithuania – Jumsoft releases Keynote Animations 6.0 for Apple Keynote presentations. The collection maintains over 100 animated objects, which are designed to add something more than just a few small details to presentations. Keynote Animations 6.0 is compatible with all Keynote versions from 4.0 onward.

With the release of Keynote Animations 6.0, Jumsoft furnishes customers with more outstanding additions and more options with which to illustrate their Keynote presentations. Keynote Animations 6.0 includes over 100 animated objects, which will allow customers to add more than just a few small details to that special presentation. The collection consists of 25 new motion objects, such as Aquarium, Mouse, World, and Curve of Growth, as well as 100 motion objects from the previous version of Keynote Animations.

Keynote Animations 6.0’s collection includes animated objects illustrating various situations from daily life. That’s why almost every animated object can be applied in business, science, education, engineering, law, and many other fields. For example, the motion object Curve of Growth perfectly illustrates statistical information in research studies, growing business profit, and much more. Keynote Animations 6.0 will meet the needs of family members and business partners or its animated objects are usable in every stage of life.

What is perhaps most exciting is that each of the motion objects has a transparent background. Thus, they will always suit the background color of customers’ presentations documents. Moreover, Apple users can create extra-special effects. They can resize, rotate, or overlap the animated objects, as well as increasing or decreasing their opacity or adding shadows. As mentioned above, Jumsoft always seeks to expand the number of fascinating options it offers.

Keynote Animations 6.0 is compatible with all Keynote versions from 4.0 onward. It is also compatible with Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Express, and Motion. In addition, if a Keynote presentation is exported as a movie, it can also be played on PCs with QuickTime.

Requirements:
* Mac OS X Version 10.5 Leopard or later
* Apple Keynote 4.0 or later

Pricing and Availability:
Our downloadable version of Keynote Animations 6.0 costs only $45 (USD). In addition, you can purchase the Keynote Animations 6.0 Upgrade for only $25 (USD).

Jumsoft
Keynote Animations 6.0
Samples
Action

Based in scenic Vilnius, Lithuania, Jumsoft is a privately funded company founded in 2002. Committed to providing the highest quality software, Jumsoft is a dedicated group of Apple Macintosh experts whose goal is creating and marketing exciting, easy-to-use and powerful applications for the Mac Platform. Jumsoft most recently focused its attention on maximizing the potential of Apple’s iWork, quickly becoming the leading provider of Keynote themes and objects. Copyright 2002-2008 Jumsoft. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.

New York, NY – To celebrate the inauguration of the 44th President, beamME is giving away a vacation just for doing something that comes naturally: meeting new people. Beginning today and running through January 24th, every new personal or business contact made using free app beamME for iPhone/iPod Touch provides an entry into the beamME/Up Sweepstakes. Bonus entries are also available for completing fun challenges, like beaming people named Michelle or the President-Elect himself. One lucky winner and a guest will fly away anywhere in the US.

“This week tens of millions of Americans will celebrate the inauguration by joining together at events across the country,” said Gabe Zichermann, CEO of rmbrME, the developer of beamME. “Whether you’re on The Mall or celebrating at home, beamME makes socializing more meaningful – and rewarding – than ever before.”

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.

US residents can enter the beamME/Up sweepstakes just by downloading and installing the free beamME application for their iPhone or iPod Touch. Every time they meet someone new during inauguration week and use beamME to exchange their contact information, they receive an entry. Bonus challenges, detailed on the beamME website, offer an opportunity to increase the number of potential contest entries. The complete set of sweepstakes rules and restrictions can be found online.

Sweepstakes Page
beamME
Rules and Regulations
Visuals
Screenshot
beamME Icon

Based in New York City, rmbrME is best known for developing the breathtakingly powerful, simple and popular Mobile Contact Exchange application beamME for the iPhone/iPod Touch and SMS. rmbrME’s core philosophy is that digital contact exchange only works when it is 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.

Suffolk, United Kingdom – Leading internet supplier iWebTemplate, has today added to their SEO and Google Tool Sets, a web-based resource for Mac enterprise and web developers alike. Offered exclusively for click and mortar, website or online business, Search Engine Optimization Tools is a comprehensive, browser based collection of tools designed to help anyone get a better handle on their website’s SEO. The resource is completely free and offers many unique features.

iWebTemplate has labored to cultivate thirty five of the most useful tools in one convenient location. There is something for everyone, including HTML Optimizer, Meta-tags Extractor, Meta-tags Generator, Source Code Viewer, Broken Link Checker, Website Speed Test, Keyword Suggestion and Link Popularity. Users are encouraged to try out all, or discover those which are most useful to their needs.

Feature Highlights include:
* HTML Optimizer
Optimize and clean your HTML source code.

* Meta-tags Extractor
Extract meta-tags information from a web page.

* Meta-tags Generator
Generate and configure your meta-tags.

* Source Code Viewer
View the source code of a page.

* Broken Link Checker
Use this tool to check for Broken Links on a website.

* Website Speed Test
Find out how fast a specific webpage loads.

* Index Checker
Check for the total number of pages of a specific website which are present on search engines.

* Keyword Density Checker
Analyze a websites to view the optimum keyword distribution.

* Keyword Suggestion
Find related keywords matching your search.

* Link Popularity
Retrieve a number of backlinks of a specific website from search engines.

* Multi-Rank Checker
View multiple Google PageRank and Alexa Ranking in bulk.

* PageRank Checker
View Google PageRank on different Google servers.

* Rank Checker
Get an overview of a website’s ranking.

* Search Engine Position
Check your search engine positions on Google Search Engine.

* Search Listings Preview
Preview your website on Google, MSN and Yahoo! Search.

* Spider View
This tool enables you to view a perspective from a search engine spider.

Pricing and Availability:
The SEO Tool Set is completely free. iWebTemplate welcomes all comers to try out and experiment. Users are encouraged to try out all, or discover those which are most useful to their needs.

iWebTemplate
SEO and Google Tool Set

Headquartered in Suffolk, United Kingdom, iWebTemplate is a privately funded company founded in 2007 by Giuseppe Elia. iWebTemplate offers standard website, Flash and iWeb templates, RapidWeaver themes and other products that can be used as a basis for fast and high-quality website construction and development. All are completely customizable and ready for immediate download. Copyright 2007-2008 iWebTemplate. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, and iWeb are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries. Google, the Google logo, and AdWords are registered trademarks of Google Inc.

Solana Beach, CA – Nisus Software Inc. today announces their After The Expo Sale. From now until January 21, Nisus is offering both Nisus Writer Express and Nisus Writer Pro at 15 percent off the regular price. The discount also works for upgrades, family packs, and even the Nisus Writer Pro printed manual.

To take advantage of this great offer, all users need to do is place what they want to purchase in the shopping cart, then enter the coupon code “macworld2009″. They will then see the discount reflected in the cart.

Nisus Writer Express is an easy to use, lightweight word processor. Express features an elegant user interface and compatibility that has been universally praised by both users and press alike.

Nisus Writer Pro is a higher end word processor that has more features, more power, and is geared for the power user. Features such as Comments, Mail Merge, Table of Contents, Indexing, Bookmarks, Widow and Orphan control, Cross References, Full Screen, Line Numbering, and Text Wrap around images are included. An intuitive interface, powerful Find and Replace, a macro language, and a file format that can be read by just about anyone on any platform rounds out the feature set.

Both Nisus Writer Express and Nisus Writer Pro are universal binary applications and requires Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger) or later.

Nisus Software
Nisus Writer Pro
Download Nisus Writer Pro
Purchase
Nisus Writer Express
Download Nisus Writer Express

Nisus Software, Inc. develops award winning text and productivity tools for the Macintosh, such as Nisus Writer Express, Nisus Writer Pro, and Nisus Thesaurus. Copyright 2009 Nisus Software, Inc.