The evidence of a shift in Apple's wireless chipset choices for upcoming iDevices is growing stronger. First there was Engadget's strongly sourced report indicating that Qualcomm (the key innovator/inventor in the CDMA space) was going to take over the radio component sourcing for both the iPhone 5 and future iPads, instead of the Infineon hardware that's been used up until now.

Add to the pile this new post from jailbreak impressario Zibri, who says that there are key items in the current iTunes build that clearly show support for a Qualcomm baseband. It's great that they're there, don't get us wrong, but chances are they're in place to cover the forthcoming/announced Verizon iPhone rather than future unannounced iPhone and iPad versions. In fact, as far back as August of 2010, TechCrunch put a stake in the ground and predicted a January 2011 launch of a CDMA Verizon iPhone based entirely on the chain of component orders that could be traced back to Qualcomm's manufacturing partners.

Any time there's a drastic shift in the architecture of an Apple product, the component story has to change along with it (see the 68040 to PowerPC transition, PPC to Intel only five short years ago, and hard-drive-based to flash memory for iPods as past examples). Chances are we will be hearing a lot more about Qualcomm in the weeks and months to come.

Thanks to Zibri for sending in the tip.

Zibri spots more Qualcomm evidence in iTunes originally appeared on TUAW on Sat, 22 Jan 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Area/Code's Drop7 was one of the first big games on the App Store, and it was even recently featured in the iOS indie bundle sale over the holidays. But the developer probably can't wear the indie label too proudly any more -- the studio has been acquired by social gaming giant Zynga, and will be renamed "Zynga New York."

In a blog post on the website, the company doesn't really reveal what it's working on next, but it sounds like social gaming on a large scale will be the focus (right after, we hope, Drop7 gets ported into a social browser game, though they can leave the microtransactions out of it, thanks).

This is of course the second big iOS-related acquisition (and rebranding) that Zynga has done, after it bought Words with Friends developer Newtoy earlier this year. I don't think this is the last buy we'll see Zynga make off of the App Store, either -- the company is flush with Farmville cash, and has been on the hunt for talented developers for a while. The only question is who they'll bring in next.

Zynga acquires Drop7 developer Area/Code originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 21 Jan 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

XBMC has had a presence on the iTunes App Store since 2008, when a remote for the open-source media center program became available. Despite being originally designed for the Microsoft Xbox console, versions of the app have become a popular media interface for Mac OS X and Apple TV among other platforms. Erica Sadun recently wrote about how an XBMC install on an Ubuntu Linux box is utilizing AirPlay.

Now the developers of XBMC are going a step further -- they're developing a full-fledged XBMC client for iOS and the second-generation Apple TV. It's not a stripped-down client streamer or transcoder; rather, it has the same sort of programs and features that you can find for XBMC for Mac, Windows or Linux -- and both it and XBMC for ATV2 are available today for jailbroken devices.

XBMC for iOS is now available through a Cydia-compatible repo. XBMC for ATV2 is available through an apt-get install.

I had the chance to talk with Scott Davilla, who has a lengthy history of working with XBMC and Apple TV. He is the author of atv-bootloader and atv-usbcreator. He also developed a kernel extension to enable HD playback on the first-generation Apple TV and is the lead developer for XBMC for Mac OS X.

In the second half of this post, read about what XBMC for iOS will entail, and see exclusive footage of XBMC running on an iPhone, iPad and second-generation Apple TV.

Continue reading XBMC for iOS and Apple TV now available

XBMC for iOS and Apple TV now available originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 20 Jan 2011 20:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

This is fascinating to me -- musician Matthew Irvine Brown has compiled a set of 18 musical tracks, about an hour of music total, designed to be played in random order on the iPod shuffle. There was a lot of care and thought put into this as he designed the music to be atmospheric pieces. Even when shuffled they'll work together no matter which order they're played. He also designed the sound of the music to fit with the iPod shuffle, hiding the glitch heard as the iPod switches tracks. As a final bonus, Matthew designed separate cover art for each track, so as a tune plays in iTunes the cover art shows a very rough "animation."

You can see a two-minute sample of the work after the break, and download all of the music for free in a zip file if you want to give it a shot. Brown also says that the work is an example of "skip button as instrument," too. You can hit the skip button whenever you want to jump to the next track and change tempo or tone as you see fit. It's a cool composition meant specifically for Apple's smallest iPod.

Continue reading Music for Shuffle features music designed for the iPod shuffle

Music for Shuffle features music designed for the iPod shuffle originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

This is fascinating to me -- musician Matthew Irvine Brown has compiled a set of 18 musical tracks, about an hour of music total, designed to be played in random order on the iPod shuffle. There was a lot of care and thought put into this as he designed the music to be atmospheric pieces. Even when shuffled they'll work together no matter which order they're played. He also designed the sound of the music to fit with the iPod shuffle, hiding the glitch heard as the iPod switches tracks. As a final bonus, Matthew designed separate cover art for each track, so as a tune plays in iTunes the cover art shows a very rough "animation."

You can see a two-minute sample of the work after the break, and download all of the music for free in a zip file if you want to give it a shot. Brown also says that the work is an example of "skip button as instrument," too. You can hit the skip button whenever you want to jump to the next track and change tempo or tone as you see fit. It's a cool composition meant specifically for Apple's smallest iPod.

Continue reading Music for Shuffle features music designed for the iPod shuffle

Music for Shuffle features music designed for the iPod shuffle originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

We all like our apps, right? We especially like some of those beautifully designed OS X icons that Apple has created through the years. But did you know that a few of those very same icons have some secret meanings that many people don't know about? Thanks to Electricpig, we can now understand the secrets, history, and even inside jokes that those Apple icons put on display but many of us miss.

From the map on the iPhone's Maps icon being 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino (Apple's home base) to the iPod artist silhouette being of one-time Apple partner Bono to actual Java code written on the napkin in their Java icon, Apple has a long history of embedding secret meanings and Easter eggs in their icons. While some Apple fans may own a limited-edition print of the original Mac OS icons or even felt keychains in the form of iPhone icons, not too many of us know all the secrets inside our icons -- until now.

Do you know any other hidden secrets in either OS X or iOS icons that were missed? If so, please be sure to let us know about them!

The hidden secrets inside Apple icons originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Here's some speculation that definitely came from the House of Crackpot Theories, but since it's kind of a slow day with the holiday today, feel free to let your imagination run wild. This video suggests that the next iPod touch could use its internal gyroscope and the Facetime camera for a sort of psuedo glasses-free 3D. Icons on the home screen could tilt and shift according to how you're looking at the phone, and games could bend and shift around as you move the phone and your own head in the camera.

It's highly unlikely that we'll ever see this in the official iOS, however. Nintendo is set to release its glasses-free 3DS system in Japan this week, but Apple has never really shown an interest in the technology, outside of various random patents and some compatibility features for OS X.

Still, it's definitely possible to create this kind of visual with an iOS device, and while I've never seen an app use the Facetime camera for head-tracking, it certainly seems like it wouldn't be tough to do by a talented developer. Maybe as the 3DS gains some popularity, we'll see some developers try more of this on Apple's iOS platform.

Video: Glasses-free 3D using iOS accelerometer and camera originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 17 Jan 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Modern working life is generally full of problems, irritation and frustration. You can’t run away from deadlines, demanding bosses, unreasonable customers, etc. If you can’t manage your stress well or find a way to deal with it, it can turn into a serious disease and affect your life and relationship with others. Stress Relief is [...]

Related Articles:

• Agile Lie Detector Available Now For iPhone And iPod Touch
• Download Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool To Stress CPU Functionality
• Solution for Motorola Mobile Phone that Cannot Be Charged Up
• Brain Challenge Via Unblock Me Free Puzzle Game For iPhone
• Pamper the Head with Head Time Scalp Massager

My Digital Life had previously given away free FBVPN accounts. For MDL readers who crave for more, My Digital Life has partnered with FBVPN to giveaway free VPN accounts again, this time for more. A total of 100 free VPN accounts from FBVPN which valid for 1 month will be sent to the winners. FBVPN [...]

Related Articles:

• Free Giveaway
• Free VPN (1 Month FBVPN US IP Address) Giveaway
• HideIP VPN (HideIPVPN) Free US and UK VPN Lifetime Account Giveaway
• 12vpn US and UK VPN (with OpenVPN & P2P Torrent Support) Premium Accounts Free Giveaway
• Free VPN (VPNTraffic 1 Month Multiple Countries Accounts) Giveaway

After having used almost every Microsoft Operating System since MS-DOS, I’ve to say that Windows 7 is the best Microsoft OS to be released since Windows 98 Second Edition. W7 addressed many flaws that were present in its predecessor Windows Vista and according to Microsoft it was a phenomenal success in terms of sales as well. Anyways here’s some news that might interest you if you are one of the millions running Windows 7 on your PC or Laptop - A Release To Manufacturing (RTM) build of the...