The beautiful Tantrix Strategy game app [US$2.99] is an example of why it's sometimes good to wait for the second or third version of an iPad app before plunking down your money in the App Store. We're reviewing Version 1.1 here, and it improves on the original with an AI opponent (three levels). This is a huge boost, and it turns a so-so app into something all strategy gamers will want to at least look at. If you just want to dive in and check it out yourself right now, there is a free "lite" version of the app available here.

For the rest of you, here's the scoop. The iPad-only Tantrix app is a tile-laying strategy game that includes a fair bit of luck. It should not be confused with Tantrix Match, a $1.99 solitaire puzzle game that uses the same pieces as Tantrix, or Connext, a $1.99 two-player game that looks similar but offers different gameplay. If you're already feeling a bit confused, that's OK. The tabletop version of Tantrix is also one set of colored tiles that can be used to play a variety of different games (think dominoes or a deck of cards). The Tantrix app offers us the basic strategy game in a refined, pretty package. Read on to see if you want to get all tantric yourself or with a friend (speaking of apps that aren't this game...)

Continue reading App Review: Tantrix Strategy connects luck and strategy

App Review: Tantrix Strategy connects luck and strategy originally appeared on TUAW on Sun, 31 Oct 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple Store offline originally appeared on TUAW on Sun, 31 Oct 2010 01:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MTV Networks has released the official Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear app for this Saturday's Jon Stewart rally and Stephen Colbert march. The app features a map of the rally site, Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare integration, a portal to upload photos to the official rally photostream, news updates, and an exclusive message from the master satirists themselves.

The app also features a complete FAQ about the rally including directions on how to get there, accessibility for the disabled, the average weather forecast, and what you are and are not allowed to bring to rallies in the National Mall.

The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear takes place on Saturday, October 30 at the National Mall in Washington D.C. from noon to 3pm. The app is available now as a free download.

[via Obamapacman]

Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear app now available originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 29 Oct 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Over the weekend TUAW is going to be featuring in-depth reviews of the new iLife '11 suite -- or at least the three apps that were updated. As most of you know by now, iWeb and iDVD didn't receive an update at all. In light of that, we've compiled a list of several alternatives to iDVD and iWeb that you may want to try out. From a purely consumer standpoint, I don't think any of these apps offer the ease of use that Apple has so successfully built into iWeb and iDVD, but given that iDVD seems all but abandoned -- as should the MacBook optical drive be -- and the future is uncertain for iWeb, it's always nice to know you have some alternatives.

iDVD alternatives:

SmallDVD
SmallDVD is a simple utility that lets you take any video files and add them to a DVD image ISO which can then be burned onto a DVD using Disc Utility. SmallDVD doesn't have many features, but it will appeal to those of you who want to create very simple DVDs with static background menus. It also has the added benefit of only creating the ISO file which can then be shared to DropBox or iDisk, and then downloaded and viewed on another computer using only the ISO -- no optical drive needed. SmallDVD is a free download.

Continue reading After iLife '11: Alternatives to iDVD and iWeb

After iLife '11: Alternatives to iDVD and iWeb originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barnes & Noble introduced a new color version of its Nook eBook reader on Tuesday and as expected, it features a color touch screen. Unfortunately for B&N, this new device is unlikely to pose a significant challenge to either Apple's iPad or Amazon's Kindle.

The big advantage that both the Kindle and the original Nook had was a monochrome e-ink display which uses very little energy and generally provides excellent readability. The iPad on the other hand needs to be charged daily but its color LCD provides plenty of capability for displaying photos and video that are utterly beyond what a slow moving e-ink screen can do. This allows iPad users to utilize any of hundreds of thousands of apps for all sorts of tasks.

The Nook Color has a color LCD with a touch screen and runs on Android. But unlike forthcoming Android tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab, this device is going to be locked down and will only be able to run a limited number of B&N-approved apps such as Pandora and Lonely Planet. Even with WiFi-only, the Nook Color only runs for eight hours, at least two hours less than an iPad. With limited capability, poor battery life and a higher price than the Kindle, the Nook Color doesn't really seem like it would be very appealing to anyone. At $249 it seems like either a full featured iPad or Galaxy tab would be a much better choice even at a higher price.

[Via: Crunchgear]

Barnes & Noble intros Nook Color: the worst of all worlds originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you've been holding off on buying an iPhone 4 because you were waiting for the white version, you may as well give up and go black. Reuters reports that the white iPhone 4 has been delayed until spring of next year. If you've been paying attention at all over the past few years, you'll know that's only a few months before the iPhone 5 will likely come out, so waiting for a white iPhone 4 really doesn't make any sense now.

Apple hasn't given any reason for the delay, and the news seems doubly odd since the white iPhone 4 showed up in the update for Apple's dedicated app for their retail stores this morning. Rumor has it that Apple's manufacturers can't get the iPhone 4 exactly the shade of white the company wants. Who else thinks it's odd that Apple used to make just about everything in white, but the iPhone 4 somehow can't make the grade?

[via macstories]

White iPhone 4 delayed until Spring 2011 originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 26 Oct 2010 19:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Like a few commercial television networks before it, PBS has launched an iPad app designed to stream the network's content to your iPad on demand. PBS for iPad is available for free right now on the App Store, and has full streams of lots of classic shows. There's some new content as well -- Circus is a show that's been created just for the iPad app itself. But there's also some Masterpiece Theater and Julia Child in there, as well as other well-known standbys of the government run and donation-supported broadcasting network.

The app also has schedule information about what's on TV, as well as a DVR-style feature that will let you resume shows when you pause them while watching. There's no iPhone or iPod touch version yet, but a (slightly different) version will arrive on those devices later this year.

Looks like a great app, and you can't argue with the price of getting all that content on the iPad for completely free. At the risk of sounding like a pledge drive, we'll say that if you enjoy the app here in the US, maybe look into giving your local affiliate a nice donation in return.

Free PBS iPad app allows streaming of the network's content originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 25 Oct 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I love old movies, so much so that I even wrote a book about a 60s movie producer. Some of the best of the old classics have slipped into the public domain, which means they're free. Some of the old PD titles have been put out on DVD over the years, but a great many are in a kind of film limbo, with no easy way to see them if they don't get picked up for DVD distribution.

I'd suggest one nice solution for the iPad. It's called Movie Vault, and basically it lets you stream more than a thousand public domain titles for your viewing enjoyment, either over WiFi or 3G. Now I won't say most of these films are in pristine condition. Quite the contrary. With no studio claiming them, there haven't been any restorations, but there's a lot of gold in those PD hills.

You can search by title, by genre, or a director or cast member name. I found a lot of bad films, and some great ones. For whatever reason, Bela Lugosi was in his share of clunkers. The infamous 'Plan Nine from Outer Space' is one example. Well, sorta. Lugosi died before the film was made and director Ed Wood used test footage so he could put Lugosi in the credits. Another howler is 'Bela Lugosi meets a Brooklyn Gorilla'. It also stars Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo who do an uncanny Martin and Lewis imitation. There are lots of westerns, horror, sci-fi, romance, action and documentary films. One of the gems is 'The Stranger' with Orson Welles, playing a Nazi in hiding in the United States while being chased by Edward G. Robinson.

Continue reading Check out Movie Vault for iPad and win a free copy for yourself

Check out Movie Vault for iPad and win a free copy for yourself originally appeared on TUAW on Sun, 24 Oct 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dreambox is a powerful Linux satellite decoder machine that can be used to receive both free and encrypted channels from the air. However, its setup could be sometimes too complicated for end users and you may accidentally press certain button that create additional trouble unintentionally. If you happen to encounter error “Camd-id” each and every [...]

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A MacBook Air update already? Yes, we've had some tips about intermittent MacBook Air issues and it seems Apple's next-generation super-thin wedge-Macs are already sporting a shiny new software update that addresses "an issue where a MacBook Air (Late 2010) computer may become unresponsive while playing back movie trailers in iMovie" and a bug where the Mac becomes unresponsive after waking from sleep when connected to an external display. Oh, the the requisite "general graphics performance updates," whatever that means.

Fire up software update or check here for the manual download. The update is wafer thin like the new Air itself!

MacBook Air software update addresses responsiveness and graphics issues originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 22 Oct 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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