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

Sedona, Arizona – Long-time Mac users and industry experts Larry Pollock and Kevin Burns are excited to announce the launch of MacSupportCasts, a new online video tutorial web site designed to provide affordable online Mac training to users ranging in expertise from novice to intermediate.

“I think users who are new to Macs or even old ‘die hards’ will get a kick out of the tutorials that we have put together,” says co-founder Kevin Burns, a Veteran Mac user and business consultant with over 15 years of experience developing software and running large-scale projects for blue-chip companies. “It’s like having 24-7 access to a very affordable Genius Bar – and you don’t even have to wait!”

MacSupportCasts’ easy-to-use video tutorials (also known as Video Casts or simply “casts”) begin with the fundamentals of using a Mac computer and then move into more detailed training on each application that is included with a Mac. Each application-specific tutorial is presented in the same manner as the initial introductory casts and covers the basics of using the application menus, buttons, preferences, templates (where applicable) and other details where appropriate.

Most casts also include a great practical demonstration of the application in action. This is especially beneficial for users of applications like Pages (part of the iWork collection). Casts are currently under construction to show examples of creating brochures, flyers, and other designs.

All tutorials are kept short. Average run time is 3 to 10 minutes, with a few exceptions where needed. Currently there are over 85 casts with over 200 expected to be posted by year end. New and updated tutorials are added each week. Videos are viewed online via streaming video at a superb 1280 x 720 full screen resolution.

Co-founder and Lead Caster Larry Pollock says that he thinks MacSupportCasts users will be excited about the short, casual, and easy to follow tutorials. “By keeping our casts short, users will find it easy to learn and retain information. Keeping them casual accomplishes our goal of being like a good friend sitting next to you helping.”

Both Pollock and Burns have a vision of creating the largest selection of Mac tutorial videos available online while also keeping it cost effective. All access memberships are available for 1, 2, and 3 years.

Pricing:
* 1 Year Membership – $47
* 2 Year Membership – $77
* 3 Year Membership – $97

Access Level: Unlimited

Minimum Recommended Requirements:
* Mac OS X Version 10.4.11 Tiger or 10.5.2 Leopard
* Latest version of Safari, Firefox, Opera or Google Chrome recommended
* Javascript active in browser
* Latest Quicktime
* Latest Flash Player

MacSupportCasts
Membership Information
Screenshot
Logo

Headquartered in Sedona, Arizona, and with a satellite office in Aachen, Germany, MacSupportCasts was founded in 2009 by Larry Pollock and Kevin Burns, both 20 year computer veterans with a passion for making technology accessible to everyone, from new users to big businesses. As Lead Caster, it is Larry Pollock’s voice users hear as they work through the tutorials. His decades of varied experience in the technology industry have given him a unique birds-eye view of how people use software and what they need in order to successfully learn and develop their skills. A native of Scotland, Kevin Burns now lives in Germany with his wife and two children and is often on the road lending his expertise to help companies overcome challenges either in business, strategic, or technological matters. Copyright (C) 2009 MacSupportCasts. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, and OS X are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Paris, France – The Secrets of Da Vinci: The Forbidden Manuscript is the first ever game created about the life and work of Leonardo Da Vinci. Players come to discover and delve inside the mysteries surrounding the hidden enigmas of the works of the great genius. “The Secrets of Da Vinci: The Forbidden Manuscript” is a major investigation and adventure game, a thrilling mystical quest into the heart of the Renaissance. It is now available for Mac OS X.

Valdo, an ambitious young apprentice working for Da Vinci’s disciple Francesco Melzi, is extremely disappointed when the scholar suddenly dismisses him. However, shortly afterwards, he receives a letter from a mysterious patron, asking him to locate one of the great master’s missing codices. To access Da Vinci’s last residence, the Manoir du Cloux near Ambroise, Valdo tells its new occupant, a courtesan by the name of Babou de la Bourdaisière, that he is Francesco Melzi’s apprentice and that he wishes to examine the inventions that still remain on the estate.

Under this cover, he starts to scour the estate: Babou’s bedroom, Leonardo’s workshop, the grounds, and dovecot, leaving no stone unturned. In the course of his investigations, he encounters a wide array of intriguing characters: Babou herself, Saturnin, a suspicious looking guardian, and the King of France himself. To accomplish his mission, he has to solve a series of enigmas devised by the great master himself if Da Vinci’s inventions are to function again. On the trail of the genius, Valdo is no more aware of the secrets he is about to unveil as of the danger lurking in the dark.

Feature Highlights:
* Total immersion guaranteed, through atmosphere, soundtrack and perfect modelisation of historic locations, such as the Manoir du Cloux, Leonardo da Vinci’s workshop and the Château d’Amboise.
* A gripping, non-linear and complex plot, based on historical facts and extensive research.
* Meticulously detailed graphics with a total respect for history. Perfect reproductions of works, decors and clothing, recreated in collaboration with experts, including the management of the Château du Clos Luce.
* Complex characters with distinct personalities and hidden dimensions: Valdo, Saturnin, François I, Babou de la Bourdaisière and Leonardo da Vinci himself.
* The game’s 14 chapters lead deep into the heart of the Great Master’s Secret.
* Dozens of puzzles, based on Da Vinci’s own work, requiring logical deduction and scientific knowledge.
* An interactive inventory system for collectables ensure a game that is easy to pick up.
* A Good and Evil gauge system: the player develops throughout the game adopting a positive or negative stance. According to the choices they make, players discover one of four possible endings.
* The portfolio, a game within a game, used by players to store manuscripts found along the way for printing, giving access to puzzles and clues.
* The player also has a journal to keep track of objectives, sketch the characters encountered and note down impressions about them.
* The developers’s renowned savoir-faire. Their list of previous productions includes Return to Mysterious Island, Journey to the Moon, Secret of the Lost Cavern.
* The Secrets of Da Vinci: the Forbidden Manuscript is a quest back through time in search of jealously protected manuscripts.

The Secrets of Da Vinci: The Forbidden Manuscript was developed in exclusive partnership with the Château du Clos Luce (formerly the Manoir du Cloux), Leonardo Da Vinci’s last residence. The Clos Luce is today listed among France’s most famous monuments. The involvement of the estate’s owners guarantees the utmost historical respect of the game, and has enabled perfect modelisation of the estate and Da Vinci’s work.

Supported Languages:
* U.S. English, French, German, Italian and Spanish

System Requirements:
The Secrets of Da Vinci: The Forbidden Manuscript is an Universal application and runs on Mac computers sporting Intel or PowerPC G5 processors.

About The Castle of The Clos Luce:
This is in the Chateau du Clos Luce, on the invitation of King Francis I that Leonardo da Vinci lived the last years of his life, working in its thousand of passions. Today, the Chateau du Clos Luce, dedicated to the restoration of the universes of Leonardo de Vinci in all its truths, invites the visitor to enter its everyday life and to discover forty of its fabulous inventions. In the Park, 16 gigantic machines, 32 translucent paintings and 8 sound points allow to understand Leonardo as a painter, engineer, architect, botanist, and brilliant inventor.

About Kheops Studio:
Kheops Studio is an independent video games developer, created in 2003. Kheops Studio is specialized in adventure games on PC and has developed more particularly: The Egyptian Prophecy, Return to Mysterious Island, Echo: Secrets of the Lost Cavern, Voyage: Inspired by Jules Verne.

Coladia
The Secrets of Da Vinci: the Forbidden Manuscript
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Based in Paris, France, Coladia was founded in 2005 by a team of experienced Mac developpers. Coladia focuses exclusively on producing and publishing video games for iPhone & Macintosh computers. With style and usability as its prevailing design guidelines, Coladia fully embraces the high expectations of Macintosh users.

Columbus, Ohio – Minder Softworks today released MYStuff 1.0, designed to be the first “stuff manager” for OS X. Combining the best features of PDF managers and home inventory programs, MYStuff adds additional features, and gives users an intuitive way of filing and finding their information.

MYStuff makes it easy to file and find information about the things you own. You simply make a new record, and key in what you bought, where you bought it, how much you paid and how you paid for it, warranty information, and other key data. Then you can add an unlimited number of files to the record: a scan of the receipt, photos of the item, a PDF of the manual, and anything else you would like to add. To make this process easier, MYStuff’s MYInbox feature allows users to quickly add files to MYStuff from other applications.

MYStuff will immediately draw comparisons to popular PDF- and note-managing applications, home-inventory applications, receipt-tracking applications, and warranty-tracking applications. MYStuff is none of these things, and yet it is all of these things. PDF managers concentrate on allowing users to file and find documents, but provide no way of entering information about individual items. Home inventory programs allow tracking information about individual items, but provide little or no way to track the documents about the item.

MYStuff has all the best features of each of these applications, and puts them in a simple, easy-to-use interface. In addition to these features, MYStuff allows you to easily back up your data, print lists for insurance claims, and view your records as lists or as images.

Every year, people throw away countless products that are still covered by a warranty. Most often, they are unaware that the product is still under warranty because they cannot find the receipt and warranty information from the time of purchase, which may have been a year ago or maybe ten years ago. As a result, they replace an item that could have been repaired for free, thus saving them money. Keeping important paperwork organized is a tremendous amount of work, which explains why so few people do it. MYStuff helps users file and find their information quickly and easily, saving them both time and money.

Minimum Requirements:
* MYStuff will run on any Intel or PowerPC Mac running OS X 10.5.8 or later, including Snow Leopard

Pricing and Availability:
A free demo is available from the website. A full license can be purchased for $29 (USD).

Minder Softworks
MYStuff 1.0
Download MYStuff
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Minder Softworks is dedicated to developing software that helps users make sense of their information, while harnessing the full power of their computer. Our aim is to develop software that is intuitive, easy to use, and a good value for our customers. Copyright (C) 2009 Minder Softworks. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Los Gatos, CA – Photo Sweets, a new photography application for the iPhone, contains a new photo skin smoothing filter that can soften wrinkles and smooth out skin. The result is a picture of a person that can look many years younger. Photo Sweets works on any picture taken with the iPhone Camera or stored in its Photo Library. Photo Sweets processes images at full resolution making them suitable for printing.

In addition to the Skin Smoothing Filter, Photo Sweets 1.0 contains three other high quality filters. The “Set White Point Filter” allows you to color correct an image by selecting a white or grey colored part of the photo. This simple adjustment can breathe new life into photos with richer and more vibrant color.

The Color Burst Filter works by preserving one bright color in an image while making the rest of it black and white. This can turn an ordinary photo into a dramatic and stunning statement. The Noise Reduction filter reduces the image noise in night photos and poorly lit shots. This help reduce the distracting grain and gives the image a more polished look.

Pricing and Availability:
Photo Sweets is available for $.99 (USD) at the iTunes App Store in the Photography category. Photo Sweets is compatible with all models of iPhone running version 3.0 or higher.

Phone Sweets 1.0
Purchase and Download
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App Icon

Based in Los Gatos, California, DVDxDV is a privately-held company founded in 2004 by President and CEO, Brad Wright. With over 14 years of software engineering experience Brad has spent the last three years creating professional audio and video production software for the Macintosh. DVDxDV products are used world-wide through-out the broadcast television and film industry. It’s high quality video conversion products have been used on The academy award winning film, An Inconvenient Truth, PBS Frontline, Speed Freaks TV and many more. Copyright (C) 2004-2007 DVDxDV. 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, developer of high-quality applications for Mac OS X, is continuing its series of updates to its most popular product, the business and finance tool, Money. This week sees the release of improved desktop and iPhone versions of Money. Enhancements to the new desktop version, 3.4.3, feature improved Snow Leopard compatibility, while Money 1.1 for iPhone, a free application, includes automatic bill payment, comment capability, and several interface improvements.

Money was first released in 2003 and has since become extremely popular with both small business and home Mac users. Fans of Money appreciate its high usability and the ease of financial management that it provides. Money allows users to track transactions to and from their wallets, bank accounts, and share trading accounts; to plan budgets and monitor actual spending; to manage bills; and to generate income/expense reports. The latest updates mean that Money is now fully compatible with Apple’s Snow Leopard, the world’s most advanced operating system. Money’s iPhone users are able to benefit even more from this simple yet powerful application.

Algirdas Unguvaitis, the general manager of Jumsoft, has said, “Jumsoft has stuck to our mission of serving our customer needs to the fullest. We are delighted to have received so much positive feedback about Money for iPhone and to see customer trust growing. This is all about staying at the cutting edge and constantly developing our products to retain their appeal.”

Other than the enhanced Snow Leopard compatibility, Money 3.4.3 contains improved portfolio calculations, sorting, and import of QIF files, expanded technical documentation, Russian localization, several bug fixes, and an updated sync with the iPhone version. The latter has been revived as Money 1.1 for iPhone and, among other fixes and major interface enhancements, it now features automatic bill payments, comment capability, and the ability to synchronize with older-generation Mac computers.

New users can download a free trial version of Money from the Jumsoft Web site. Money for iPhone is downloadable free of charge from the iTunes App store.

System Requirements:
* Mac OS X 10.5 or later (Money 3.4.3)
* iPhone OS 3.0 (Money 1.1 for iPhone)

Pricing and Availability:
Money 3.4.3 is free to existing Money users and $39 (USD) to new users. Money 1.1 for iPhone is free and available exclusively through the App Store.

Jumsoft
Money 3.4.3
iPhone Money 1.1
Download Money 3.4.3
Download Money for iPhone

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 2002-2009 Jumsoft. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Parede, Portugal – SintraWorks today released Metron 1.2, an update to their professional digital metronome for iPhone and iPod Touch. The brainchild of a classically trained musician, Metron aids in the practice of runs, excerpts and complete compositions. Featuring an intuitive front panel, you can launch and start practicing instantly, while an organized back panel provides access to powerful extra features.

In addition to the usual single and multiple beat ticks of digital metronomes, Metron offers complex time signatures with beat grouping and dynamic accellerando and ritardando through a high-precision playback engine. A bar based sequencer offers detailed control over tempo changes. Additionally, Metron incorporates a tuner that can be calibrated to cent level.

New in version 1.2:
* Option to allow screen lock during playback.
* Volume control now available from the front panels.
* The Pitch Pipe now defaults to adjustments per Hertz (per cent can still be chosen in the preference settings).
* A few bug fixes.

Features in Detail

Metronome:
* Portrait and landscape mode
* Tempo from 10 to 400 Beats Per Minute
* Accelerando and ritardando (“Variance”)
* Specify a factor between one quarter (0.25) and double (2.0) the current tempo (Useful when practicing complex sequences)
* Tap the tap pad to set the tempo
* Visual beat feedback in addition clear and crisp audio pulses

Sequencer:
* Create your own library with any number of sequences. A set with the most commonly used time signatures is included by default
* Create sequences with any number of bars
* Each sequence can set a countdown, a start tempo, a variance and whether the metronome stops at the end of the sequence or repeats the sequence from the beginning
* Each bar consists of one or more time signatures and can set a tempo and a variance starting on any beat. A bar can be set to play up to a 110 times
* A time signature can have between 1 and 64 beats over a dotted or undotted denominator (examples: 7/4, 2/8., 9/32, 1/2., 3/1)
* A time signature can be subdivided into beat groups. Grouping beats affects metronome playback. (Have accents on any beat you wish.)
* Mix bars of different meters and tempi at will, and interpolate between tempi between any two points in a score

Tuner (Pitch Pipe):
* Plays any pitch from octave 0 to octave 8
* Reference pitch: A4 = 440Hz
* Adjustable per Hertz or per cent level
* Choice of note names: C D E…etc, Do Re Mi…etc.

Minimum Requirements:
* iPhone or iPod Touch
* iPhone OS X 2.2.1 later

Pricing and Availability:
Metron 1.2 is available at the iTunes App Store for $1.99 (USD) in the Music category.

SintraWorks
Metron 1.2
Purchase and Download
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App Icon

Located in beautiful Parede, Portugal, SintraWorks is a privately funded company founded in 2006 by Antonio Nunes. Committed to providing the highest quality software, SintraWorks’ focus is developing productivity solutions for the Mac and iPhone platforms, with a major emphasis on total customer satisfaction. Copyright (C) 2006-2009 SintraWorks. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Computer Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Little Elm Texas – Silver Lining Ideas, the iPhone app developer known for their Animal Rescue support efforts, announced the start of their month long contest to name the panda in their soon to be released Lucky Day application.

“This is our first contest of this type and we are extremely excited about it,” said Steve Cobb, President of Silver Lining Ideas. “What’s really fun about this is that someone out in the world has a chance to help in the creation of this fun new application.” Currently the application, Lucky Day, has a release date of Mid-November 2009.

The “Name the Panda” contest has a start date of October 8, 2009 and will be open for entries until October 30, 2009. The winner will be announced on their website, Facebook page (silver lining ideas) and their Twitter page (Silvrliningidea) on October 31, 2009. The 1st place prize will be a stuffed Panda with the newly announced name stitched onto it, a $25 iTunes gift card and the winners name listed in the credits of the game design. Entries can be placed through the Silver Lining Ideas website.

When asked about details of the Lucky Day app, Mr. Cobb just has this to say, “Think Magic Ball but with a twist to it because it really can make someone’s day very lucky!”. For more information on the “Name the Panda” contest and the Lucky Day application, you can go to the Silver Lining Ideas website and look for the link.

Silver Lining Ideas
Name the Panda Contest
Application Screenshot

Silver Lining Ideas is small “indie” development company with a main objective of developing Apple iPhone apps for the purpose of helping Animal Rescue groups across the US. Silver Lining Ideas was created in July 2009 and is already working on their second iPhone application that they hope to have released sometime in November of this year. Copyright (C) 2009 Silver Lining Ideas. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Norfolk, UK – Charlie’s Games today announce the immediate release of Bullet Candy Perfect for Mac OS X. Bullet Candy Perfect is a fun shoot-em-up game, with sharp, super smooth 3D graphics, a cool techno soundtrack and an amazing price! The game is all about honing your skills to perfection as you attempt the perfect run! Bullet Candy Perfect is an all new version of the award winning 2006 title Bullet Candy.

Bullet Candy Perfect is a super slick, highly polished 3D game, building on the formula that made the original Bullet Candy a success. It’s a game that just seeps fun from every pore, and is described by the-nextlevel as having “Twice the awesome of a retail title at 1/60th the price.”

Along with a host of score and power-up techniques, the game uses a tactical suicide mechanic that allows you to cheat an unpleasant death at the hands of your enemies and keep your bonus weapons and score multipliers intact.

To help you on your way, Bullet Candy Perfect keeps track of your skills as you improve with its Perfect Points system, and assigns a ranking based on your ability in game. There are also 20 challenging achievements to obtain, as well as a global online high score board.

Feature Highlights:
* 50 levels
* 3 difficulty settings
* Beautiful 3D graphics
* Game controller support
* 20 achievements to unlock
* Online global high score table
* Big Fun!

Pricing and Availability:
Bullet Candy Perfect is available for Mac OS X 10.4 (Universal) and Windows PCs, with a Linux version imminent. A demonstration version is available from the Charlie’s Games website. The full version costs just a small $1+ USD donation, and entitles you to a copy of the game for each platform. Review copies are available by request.

Charlie’s Games
Bullet Candy Perfect
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Screenshot

Charlie’s Games is an independent games development studio based in Norfolk, England. Know primarily for it’s award winning original title Bullet Candy, released in 2006, and cult hit Space Phallus, Charlie’s Games is dedicated to making fun, original and affordable games for multiple computing platforms. Copyright (C) 2009 Charlie’s Games. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, and OS X are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

San Diego, California – Got an idea for a killer iPhone app? With more than 1 billion applications sold since its launch last July, Apple’s iPhone App Store has become one of the fastest-growing tech enterprises in recent history, and gained a reputation as something of a developer’s goldmine. Success stories such as that of Ethan Nicholas, whose iShoot app has earned him $900,000 in eight months, have only added to the App Store’s appeal for would-be iPhone entrepreneurs.

“The runaway success of the App Store has created the legend of the iPhone millionaire,” says Ian Maskell, principal of iPhone App Freelancer, a company aiming to make it possible to get your idea into the App Store without technical knowledge and minimal financial outlay.

“Everywhere we went people would say: ‘I’ve got a great idea for an app.’ We saw an opportunity to level the playing field and allow anyone the ability to become the next success story, regardless of their ability to program or write code.”

So Maskell launched iPhone App Freelancer, a website offering the ability to turn great ideas into apps with little or no programming knowledge.

Rob Shoesmith, a 27-year-old garbage collector from Coventry – England, submitted one of the first ideas to iPhone App Freelancer for development. Shoesmith says he has only had an iPhone for a few months, but has been following the growth of the App Store since its launch. He wants to keep the specifics of his app under wraps until its launch, but describes it as a user-generated advice service.

“The idea just popped into my head,” says Shoesmith. “I don’t have a technology background, but I do have lots of ideas. Until now I hadn’t been able to find anyone to develop them.” The App Store boom means programmers are in demand, and the cost of hiring a developer to build an app can be prohibitively expensive.

Maskell says Shoesmith’s app taps into a current trend toward social connectivity, and he expects it to be successful. “I imagine that Rob’s app will help a lot of people,” he says. “In general, people are looking for a tool to make their lives easier, or they are looking to take an area that fascinates them and share it with the world. But there are also a lot of people out there who think their iPhone can be used to open their garage doors. As of right now, as far as I know, it can’t.”

Ethan Nicholas built iShoot from scratch, spending six weeks developing the artillery combat game on his sofa. “With the exception of licenced sound and images, I developed iShoot single-handedly,” he says. The app has sold almost half a million copies, and Nicholas recently launched iShoot 2.0. Asked whether he has been surprised by its success he says, “I’m so far past surprised that there isn’t even a word for it.”

Nicholas sees no reason why other app developers shouldn’t have similar success – “iShoot certainly isn’t alone,” he says. “Many developers have struck it rich on the App Store. I’m certainly trying my hand at it again, and am busily coding away on my next game.”

Speaking the language

Apple actively encourages independent app development, offering a free down-loadable Software Development Kit through the iPhone Dev Center. But, unless you’re prepared to tackle programming languages such as Cocoa Touch and Objective-C, you may find it easier to hire a pro.

So when design engineer Maskell had an idea for a image sequencing app, and tried to build it himself, but found that the task of building an iPhone app required skills that were outside of his experience. “It proved to be very difficult,” he says. “iPhone apps are based on an MVC (Model-View-Controller) architecture, and this was something I hadn’t dealt with previously.”

Struggling to find a developer who could help, Maskell set about creating iPhone App Freelancer, to connect “ideas people” to programmers and developers. “We have approximately 800 members, and a pool of about 300 developers who receive a notification whenever someone posts a new project,” he says. “I would estimate we’ve had close to 100 projects completed.”

Maskell says he has seen “pretty basic” app ideas built for around $500 through his website, but more complicated apps, such as games, tend to command development fees of around $5,000. With more than 40,000 apps already competing for attention at the App Store, and more than 2,700 new apps being submitted every month (according to figures collated at 148apps.biz), shelling out thousands to develop an app may represent an expensive gamble.

Maskell hopes that reducing the risk factor for entrepreneurs by pairing up with experienced developers will encourage more people to submit their ideas to iPhone App Freelancer. “The future is really exciting,” he says. “Our goal is to help build 1,000 apps in the next two years. I’d love to become known as the company that created hundreds of iPhone millionaires across the world.”

Shoesmith expects his app to appear in the App Store within the next few weeks, and is recording its progress on his Twitter feed. “I hope it can make it into the App Store’s Top 100,” he says. “If I do make any money from it, I might use that to develop more of my ideas.”

iPhone App Freelancer

iPhone App Freelancer is a service that connects freelancer iPhone application developers with entrepreneurs and businesses that require custom programming, applications, graphics and development projects for the iPhone. Much like an auction, employers’ projects are posted and interested freelancers bid to complete the work. Copyright (C) 2009 iPhone App Freelancer. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Wellington, New Zealand – FarFinder, the remote file access application for Mac OS X, went on sale today for two weeks, until October 22nd. A single-user license is reduced from $35 to $20. A family licence is also available: $45, down from $65. FarFinder allows users to browse, search, view and download their Mac’s files from anywhere on the internet at any time, using any Mac, PC or iPhone.

FarFinder’s philosophy is that users shouldn’t have to think about taking their files with them, or about uploading them to a public server. Instead, everything on the Mac is available over the internet at any time. This means no more forgotten USB keys, no missing files and no being caught out by unforeseen requirements. Users can be spontaneous, accessing anything they want on a whim. Contributing to this, web browser access means that no special software is required on the client side, and a Mac can be accessed from any platform: Mac, Windows or Linux.

Web Interface:
FarFinder presents the user with a familiar interface that looks a lot like the Mac’s Finder. It uses Web 2.0 technology to provide the speed and ease of use of a desktop application, avoiding the clumsy, slow feel of many web-based services. Each Mac has its own easy-to-remember URL chosen by the user”. Behind the scenes, FarFinder takes care of keeping this URL pointing to the Mac’s current address on the internet.

iPhone Application:
iPhone users can download the free FarFinder iPhone client from the App Store. All users can connect using either the iPhone or a web browser – whichever suits the moment. Users can view any file the iPhone normally understands: iWork and Office documents, text files, images, audio and video (bandwidth allowing). Smart file conversion means that other formats such as Photoshop files, high-resolution images, RTFs and web archives can also be viewed. Files can be downloaded from the Mac and stored on the iPhone for times when no network is available, or for quick access to commonly-used files.

More Features:
* Spotlight search for easy file location. The web interface also provides a Finder-style search interface for a more detailed view.
* Send files and folders by email. Files are emailed directly from the Mac, so there’s no need to download them first.
* Download multiple files and folders at once
* Upload files to the Mac (web interface only)
* Smart slideshow of all images in a folder
* Take pictures through the Mac’s iSight camera

Installation:
Pains have been taken to make installation as simple as possible for the non network-savvy user. In many cases, FarFinder will just work with no additional setup. Where this is not possible, the user is directed to instructions for their particular situation.

Security:
All communication between browser/iPhone and Mac is encrypted using secure http, the same technology used for secure web sites like banks and online retailers. The browser or iPhone connects directly to the Mac, not via a third-party server. Further security information is available on Flying Mac.

Macs in offices, schools and other institutions:
FarFinder will work for Macs on almost all home networks and in many small offices. Because network configuration is required (either automatically by FarFinder or manually by the user), currently it may not possible to to use FarFinder to access Macs in larger institutions. Common cases are large offices, universities and student residences. Work is underway to develop a solution for these hard-to-reach Macs, and a beta version is available to interested users.

Pricing and Trial Period:
Until October 14th 2009, FarFinder costs $20 (USD) for an individual licence and $45 for a family of up to five users. Pricing for multi-user commercial licences is available on application. FarFinder has a 20 day free trial period during which the product is fully-functional. Users are encouraged to make use of this.

FarFinder
Download FarFinder
Press Pack
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Behind Flying Mac is Adrian Ross, an independent Mac developer in Wellington, New Zealand. Flying Mac also publishes Webjimbo, an application providing remote access to the Yojimbo personal information manager. Copyright (C) 2009 Flying Mac. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, the Apple Finder, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Newark, NJ – TapFactory today introduced their new iPhone app “Contact”, the only Home screen speed dial app that supports dialing, SMS and emailing. Contact allows users to generate any number of speed dials on their Home screen, each with their own unique icon that can be a custom photo or selected from the built in icon library.

“Home screen speed dials are one of those missing iPhone features,” says TapFactory, “and there is a huge deficit in apps that allow the user to generate multi-functional speed dials for their Home screen. With other apps, you either have to buy a separate app for each speed dial, or all speed dials reside within the app, which defeats the purpose of a speed dial because you have to open the app to access them.”

TapFactory’s solution is different. Their uniquely engineered app allows you to create any number of custom speed dials that when tapped can either dial a number, open an SMS, open an email, or prompt you with all three. The built-in icon library features over gorgeous Apple-worthy icons to use as your speed dial icon. You can also snap a photo from within the app, or choose from you Camera Roll. This creates infinite possibilities for you to create highly customized and highly functional speed dials. For the one-time price of $1.99, this is truly an app that keeps on giving.

Feature Highlights:
* Add any number of custom speed dials to your Home Screen.
* Set up your speed dial to make a call, send an SMS, send an email, or prompt you with all three options when the speed dial icon is tapped.
* Contact is fully integrated with your address book, so adding a contact is a breeze. Either use your address book to enter automatically or choose to enter manually with the keyboard. Contact will even ask you to use a contact’s photo if there is one attached!
* When creating your custom speed dial icon, you have 4 options: (1) Use a contact’s attached photo, (2) select from your camera roll, (3) take a photo and load it directly into Contact, or (3) select from Contact’s library of gorgeous icons.
* Contact optimizes your speed dial to open immediately without any connection to the internet!

System Requirements:
* iPhone devices 3.1 or later
* Internet connection required initially to create speed dial icon only

Pricing and Availability:
Contact 1.2 for iPhone is only $1.99 (USD) and available exclusively through the App Store in the Utilities category.

TapFactory
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Founded in 2008, TapFactory develops apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch that are elegant, intuitive, and designed with the end user in mind. Our philosophy is to strike a harmonious balance between form and function that lives up to the Apple legacy. The company is based in Newark, NJ. Copyright (C) 2008-2009 TapFactory Apps. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Computer Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Singapore – SimplyTweet 2.4, the iPhone Twitter Application adds new features and bug fixes. This is an update to their full featured Twitter application for iPhone and iPod touch. SimplyTweet combines a fast, simple user interface and a rich set of features. It supports advanced functionality such as mentions and direct messages push notifications, themes, photo search, and photo and video posting to sites including TwitPic and Posterous.

SimplyTweet is a full featured Twitter iPhone Application that has builtin support of push notifications for new mentions and direct messages. It is developed by MotionObj, run by independent software developer, Hwee-Boon Yar who is based in Singapore. SimplyTweet 2.4 has been approved by Apple and is now available on the iTunes App Store for both iPod touch and iPhone.

Some of the new features added in SimplyTweet 2.4 include:
* Multiple drafts
* Swipe menu is now customizable with retweet and favorite options
* Option to disable landscape mode

SimplyTweet features:
* Fast and simple user interface
* Supports all common Twitter usage including viewing of timelines, tweet, reply, retweet, direct messaging, search, favorites, blocks
* Push notifications for new mentions and direct messages (like text messaging alerts)
* Customized timelines with saved views (groups)
* Conversation view
* Themes
* Import accounts from HootSuite
* Multiple accounts support, with quick switch support
* Landscape drafting
* Landscape built-in browser
* Text and URL shrinking
* Notes for accounts
* Photo search
* Updating of user profile including profile picture
* Picture and video posting to sites such as TwitPic and Posterous

Requirements:
* iPhone or iPod touch with OS 3.0 or newer

Pricing and Availability:
SimplyTweet 2.4 is $4.99 (USD) exclusively through Apple iTunes App Store in the Social Networking category.

MotionObj
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MotionObj is run by independent software developer, Hwee-Boon Yar who is based in Singapore. Hwee-Boon Yar has worked both as an independent contractor as well as in companies including Fast Search and Transfer, and Microsoft. Copyright 2009 MotionObj. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Yaroslavl, Russian Federation – Game Era Studio today is proud to announce Underwater 2, a new second sequel to their match3 puzzle game for iPhone and iPod Touch. Designed specifically to leverage the iPhone’s unique gesturing abilities and peerless interface, Underwater 2 distinguishes itself from alternative Tetris-like games in that it is completely gesture based.

With a focus on simplicity, Underwater is unusually beautiful and pleasant, both to see and to hear. It features 3 compelling gaming modes with 18 levels in Story Mode (11 in Harvest Mode), with beautifully rendered graphics, and a tranquil, aquatic sound environment. The gameplay is simple; arrange/match 3 or more same-colored jellyfish in one column/row to unlock the image underneath. Each subsequent level offers a new color, new bonus, new level geometry and increasing speed for falling figures. Under Score Mode, users may play for high score only in all levels.

Feature Highlights:
* Choose the control method, including control based on accelerometer
* 3 Game Modes (Story, Harvest and Score)
* Total of 28 wonderful underwater landscapes
* Relaxing music
* Superb graphics
* Classic Tetris-like game play

“When I first tried the iPhone, it made me remember games my mom played more than ten years ago. She spent from 6 to 8 hours per day playing this game,” said Eugene Kiyanov, founder of Game Era Studio. “We felt it would be great to make something like that and the iPhone fit perfectly for this. Underwater is particularly a family game, that should relax anyone after a hard working day. In a nature setting, you can look at water flow for hours. So we decide use underwater eyecandy landscapes as main theme for Underwater. We hope people will enjoy playing it.”

The new Sequel to Underwater offers much improved and finer control with a more detailed interface. Additionally, Underwater now sports a new helper that shows where players should drop figures. It also offers better sound effects and different music styles.

System Requirements:
* iPhone or iPod Touch 2.2.1 or later

Pricing and Availability:
Underwater 2 for iPhone is only $2.99 (USD) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store.

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Located in historic Yaroslavl, Russian Federation, Game Era Studio is a privately held company founded in 2004 by Eugene Kiyanov. With a focus on ease-of-use and meticulous attention to detail, Game Era Studio is devoted to the development of high quality, compelling games specifically for the iPhone platform. Copyright (C) 2004-2009 Game Era Studio. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Computer Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Michigan City, Indiana – Directed Graph Software LLC today is happy to announce iLEVELi 2.1, an update to their versatile inclinometer utility for iPhone and iPod Touch. Designed specifically for the iPhone’s delightful user experience, iLEVELi simulates a spirit level allowing the user to focus on the measurement of slopes and angles referenced to gravity. iLEVELi’s user interface strives toward the accepted principles of data presentation championed by American statistician Edward Tufte.

Perfect for architects, carpenters, contractors and home-use alike, iLEVELi 2.1 brings a metrology-driven approach to the measurement of slopes on the iPhone and iPod Touch, with access to calibration constants and measurement uncertainty. An equatorial line indicates a null slope in the vertical dimension in Landscape and Portrait orientations (plumb), and helps when hanging doors and shelving.

Version 2.1 uses more refined digital signal processing techniques for faster measurements and calibration, and improved sensitivity to perturbations. The application uses a combination of Finite Impulse Response (FIR) and Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) filters. The FIR approach provides snappier response for the user, and better sensitivity to minor disturbances.

iLEVELi happily works in Landscape, Portrait, and Face Up Modes. Optionally, it tracks changes in the device orientation, and switches to Landscape, Portrait, or Face Up Display Modes accordingly. Users can choose to capture measurements instantly at a touch, or use a perturbation-sensitive way to capture measurements. Every touch to the device can perturb its built-in accelerometer, and the capture waits for disturbances to settle. In many cases, iLEVELi permits one-handed operation, with good accuracy and precision.

Feature Highlights:
* ADA Compliance
* User Interface strives toward accepted principles of data presentation
* Perturbation-Sensitive
* Includes a movie with English and Spanish subtitles that demonstrate the calibration procedure
* Measures slopes in Landscape, Portrait, and Face-Up modes
* Optionally tracks changes in the device orientation
* Equatorial line indicates a null slope in the vertical dimension in Landscape and Portrait orientations
* Offers the choice between dark-on-light and light-on-dark display for better readability

“Anything worth doing is worth doing right, and that goes for the job of instrumenting the iPhone’s accelerometer,” said Don Briggs, founder and CEO of Directed Graph Software LLC. “Users should have access to an instrument’s calibration constants and some estimate of the uncertainty in its measurements.”

iLEVELi lets its users check for ADA Compliance. An optional rise:run display lets carpenters, contractors and architects check for compliance to the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and building codes, in either the 1:x or x:12 format. Access to the calibration constants and measurement uncertainty give the user confidence in the results.

iLEVELi embraces accepted principles of data presentation championed by American statistician Edward Tufte, with a no-nonsense, no “ducks,” focus on presenting measurements sensibly.”

The application includes a movie with English and Spanish subtitles that demonstrates the calibration procedure. Calibration takes just 60 seconds. After calibration, the gains, offsets, and standard deviations for the accelerometer’s three channels are available on the flip side view. Additionally, iLEVELi offers the choice between dark-on-light and light-on-dark display, for better readability under different conditions of ambient light.

Supported Languages:
* US English and Spanish

System Requirements:
* iPhone or iPod touch 3.0 or later

Pricing and Availability:
iLEVELi 2.1 is only $0.99 (USD) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Utilities category. Review copies are available upon request.

Directed Graph Software
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Located in Michigan City, Indiana, Directed Graph Software LLC is a privately-held company founded in 2008 by independent software developer Don Briggs. Committed to the highest quality, Directed Graph Software LLC was founded for the purpose of developing unique solutions for both the Mac and iPhone platforms, with a major emphasis on total customer satisfaction. Copyright (C) 2008-2009 Directed Graph Software LLC. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Tapfheim, Germany – Independent software developer Martin Wengenmayer is proud to announce Cheetah3D 5.0, a major update to his very popular, professional level 3D modeling solution for Mac OS X. Developed from the ground up utilizing the latest Cocoa technologies, Cheetah3D is a lean, fast, and elegant 3D modeling, rendering, and animation package with an easy learning curve.

Perfect for graphic designers, architects and casual users alike, Cheetah3D provides the most useful features needed to get the job done, and organizes them within a beautifully elegant user-interface that is powerful, intuitive and quick to work with. It offers many powerful tools, like subdivision surface modelling, joint based character animation system, UV unwrapping, texture painting, PDF import, global illumination renderer, and much more. The possibility to extend Cheetah3D with JavaScripts and support for many common file formats, like FBX, 3DS or Collada, rounds out its feature set.

Version 5.0 adds a completely new node based material system which allows professional designers to create stunning new materials just by drag and drop. Additionally, the render engine was optimized to efficiently handle up to 16 CPU cores. The modeling tools have been extended by a new bevel tool and a bend modifier, and basic export to the Collada file format has been added. Cheetah3D now also supports pivot points. Last but not least, Cheetah3D offers many small UI enhancements which accelerate daily work.

Major new features in Cheetah3D 5.0:
* Powerful new node based material system with many procedural textures and shaders
* Optimized raytracing core which supports up to 16 CPU cores
* Many new pre-made materials
* Pivot points
* New bevel tool and bend modifier
* New tag selector to accerlerate the work flow
* Export to static Collada files
* Automatic texture reload
* German localization
* And much more

“Performing truly advanced operations in Cheetah3D will seem like second nature very rapidly,” said Dr. Martin Wengenmayer, Cheetah3D’s developer. “With its seamless Mac OS X integration, Cheetah3D has been written from the ground up using Cocoa. Its not just a simple port of a Windows or Linux modeller which ends up looking, feeling and behaving like a disappointingly un-Mac-like piece of software. With Cheetah3D, you will feel right at home using it without having to learn a completely new user interface. It packs a terrific punch for it’s tiny price. In fact, the program provides a level of productivity that you will be hard-pressed to equal in software ten times the cost.”

Language support:
* U.S. English, German, and Japanese

Minimum Requirements:
* Mac OS X Version 10.4 Tiger, 10.5 (Leopard) or 10.6 Snow Leopard
* Universal Binary for PowerPC and Intel
* 70.8 MB Hard Drive space
* 1 GB RAM
* 16 MB VRAM
* Internet Connection

Pricing and Availability:
Cheetah3D 5.0 is priced at $149.00 (USD) for a single-user license. Customers may upgrade from Cheetah31 1.x – 4.x for $69.00.

Cheetah3D 5.0
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Located in beautiful Tapfheim, Germany, Dr. Martin Wengenmayer is an independent software developer whose main goal is the development of easy-to-use yet powerful 3D software exclusively for Mac OS X with a focus on iterating state-of-the-art 3D modeling, rendering and animation algorithms into a true Mac user experience. Copyright (C) 2004-2009 Dr. Martin Wengenmayer and Cheetah3D. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, and OS X are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.