Capcom didn't get the memo about hosting app sales this past Father's Day weekend apparently -- the company has instead put four of its titles on sale for just a buck today. Right now, you can pick up Street Fighter IV, Devil May Cry 4 refrain, Dead Rising Mobile or Resident Evil Mercenaries all for just a Washington each. Those are all solid titles, and well worth a buck of entertainment.

The great Death Rally (which, disclaimer, I'm in as a cameo) is also on sale for 99 cents, and there might be a few other sales from the weekend still poking around: Army of Darkness Defense is still free, for example. If you're interested in one of those, better grab it quick!

Capcom puts iOS titles on sale, post-Father's Day weekend originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 20 Jun 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Withings is a company with an interesting mission -- making it possible to send health information directly from measuring devices to the internet, where the data can be shared with personal computer and mobile apps. The company has just started selling its new Blood Pressure Monitor (US$129.00) in the United States, and over the weekend I tried one out.

I already have a Withings Wi-Fi Body Scale ($159), and I find it to be an indispensable part of my daily health regimen. I step on the scale every morning and let it blast my weight to the Withings website. I've been using one of the many Withings-compatible iOS apps, Weightbot ($1.99) by Tapbots, to monitor my weight fluctuations. I can also visit the Withings website to look at the raw data, share it with several services, like Google Health or Microsoft HealthVault (I use neither), or create a PDF of weight and blood pressure to send to my doctor.

Gallery: Withings Blood Pressure Monitor

Setup

Probably the coolest thing about the Withings Blood Pressure Monitor is that it is made to work only with iOS devices. If you have an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad, you're set. The setup process is incredibly simple -- you just unlock your device, if you have a lock screen set up, and then plug the cable into the Dock Connector on the iOS device. Chances are pretty good that when you start using the Blood Pressure Monitor, you won't have the free WiScale app on your device, so the monitor "tickles" your device to see if the app is there, and sends you to the App Store to download it if is not.

WiScale is designed to display your weight and blood pressure history, and it's also the app that runs the Blood Pressure Monitor and captures the BP data for you. To send the health data to Withings for sharing purposes, you need to either set up a new MyWithings account through the app or use an existing login.

That's pretty much it for the setup, as the monitor comes with four AAA batteries pre-installed. There are no Wi-Fi settings to make, since your iOS device is used to send the blood pressure data to Withings.

Taking your blood pressure

As with any blood pressure monitoring regime, you should plan on taking your pressure with the Withings Blood Pressure Monitor at the same time each day for consistency's sake. I chose to take mine first thing in the morning.

Your monitor has a cuff with a nice springy curl to it and the standard Velcro patches to make sure it is tightly attached to your upper arm. The electronics for the device are in a polished aluminum tube on the cuff that also aligns the cuff on your arm properly. Per the instructions that are printed on the tube, you align the cuff with the pulse point on the inside of your elbow, with the cable pointing down towards your iOS device.

With the WiScale app launched and the iOS device plugged into the monitor, a blank blood pressure screen appears. You can either press the large green Start button to begin the process or switch users and then press Start. The display on the iOS device shows that a measurement is underway, and a small fan icon begins to turn as the pump inflates the BP cuff. Eventually your pulse appears as a beating heart icon, the cuff begins to deflate, and finally, your diastolic and systolic blood pressures and pulse rate are displayed.

At that point, you can tap the blue Done button to quit or press Start again to take your pressure again. There's also an auto mode, which takes your blood pressure three separate times (with a pre-set time period in between each test) and averages the readings.

Viewing the results

After the blood pressure reading has been made, you get immediate feedback. If the diastolic and systolic blood pressure readings are in the normal range, a green dot appears next to the number. Likewise, if your pulse appears to be in the normal range, you'll see a green dot next to the beats per minute count. For any of the readings, a yellow dot is sign for concern, while a red dot indicates a situation that you may wish to share with your healthcare provider.

There's a "thumbwheel" at the bottom of the results to scroll back and forth through your BP readings. If you're bringing in weight data from a Withings scale, you can see your latest weight and that day's BP reading by flicking between two screens on the display.

Remember that the app has also sent a copy of that blood pressure reading to the Withings site, and it's easy to share that and your weight data with a health professional or personal trainer.

Conclusion

For anyone with a family history of high blood pressure who wants to keep track of his or her BP automatically, the Withings Blood Pressure Monitor is a worthwhile and easy-to-use tool. Having used a lot of less expensive cuffs in the past, I can't say that the Withing monitor is going to give you any more accuracy or make your BP magically go down, but it does make keeping track of your blood pressure history a snap. I found the device to be faster than many less expensive cuffs, and I like the three-reading average that is available in auto mode.

If you're a middle-aged guy like me whose background includes many ancestors with heart and blood pressure problems, your doctor has probably told you to keep an eye on your BP. The Withings Blood Pressure Monitor, coupled with your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, is a fast and fun way to get into that healthy habit and share your information with your healhcare provider.

Withings Blood Pressure Monitor: An iOS-friendly way to track your BP originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 20 Jun 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In 1939 and 1940, a world that was beginning to climb out of the Great Depression and about to descend into World War II had a brief glimpse of a bright future at the New York World's Fair. After the Fair shut its gates for the last time in 1940, the organizers took their meticulous records of the event and presented them to the New York Public Library for safekeeping. 70+ years later, the library has opened the Fair to the world again in the form of NYPL Biblion: World's Fair, an innovative and exhaustively detailed history of the Fair in an interactive iPad app. In this review, I'll discuss this amazing app -- the first in a hopefully long series exploring the NYPL's collection -- and show you some screen shots of the app in action.

Gallery: NYPL Biblion: World's Fair

User Interface and Navigation

The free app is huge -- 252 MB in size -- and contains essays, documents, photos, film, and audio from the Fair. With this much information on hand, the designers had to figure out a way to let users navigate the history of the New York World's Fair in their own way. Rather than guide users by the hand in a static timeline, the World's Fair app starts by displaying floating groups of pictures, each of which is labeled with a different title: Introduction, A Moment in Time, Enter the World of Tomorrow, Beacon of Idealism, Fashion Food and Famous Faces, From the Stacks, and You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet.

If you're new to the app and don't touch one of those groupings, the app quickly displays a magazine-like front page with suggestions of where to go next. There's a lot of animation involved in the app, which was produced for the library by Potion, and it makes great use of the standard gestures used on the iPad. Want to move between the "stacks?" Just flick between them. Tap on one of the stacks to read an introduction, and then tap on a bright blue and easy to see View Stories link to see a graphical representation of stories. Within the story groupings are colored bars: red for audio and video content, blue for featured images, orange for documents, and yellow for connections to related information from the NYPL stacks.

The user interface is everything in this app, since it's your way to browse the tremendous amount of content that's packed into it. I personally found the app to be easy to use and understand, and to give you an idea of how much I like the Biblion World's Fair app, it actually kept me entertained one evening for five straight hours. That's unprecedented for me, as I usually get bored and distracted by something else fairly quickly. I feel like the Biblion app literally takes me back in time to the late 1930's, and since I'm a history buff I can easily get sucked into wandering through the articles, photos, and other audiovisual content for hours.

Knowing how much I like this app, I was surprised by several tweets by a well-known blogger/author I know. He found the Biblion World's Fair app user interface to be "a mess." I personally think that linear thinkers might have a bit of an issue with the user interface, as it's really meant for exploration and wandering around the virtual library stacks. For me, a guy with an incredibly messy desk who is always working on about five things at once, the Biblion World's Fair app was a joy to use.

There is one complaint that I have -- there's no search function built into the app. While it's a lot of fun to zip around from subject to subject, it would be nice to be able to search for certain names or topics throughout the collected content.

Content

The Biblion World's Fair app truly brought not only the New York World's Fair to life for me, but provided excellent context into the historical significance of the event. The Fair was opened with a televised (yes, in 1939) speech by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, which was the first time an American president used the new medium. Unfortunately, no recording exists of that speech.

One wonderful find in the app is a group of short color movies by an amateur filmmaker by the name of H. Earl Hoover. The silent movies give a personal perspective of the event from a regular citizen who attended the fair, and the color and scope of the event really comes across in these movies.

The NYPL team was able to recreate the "Democracity" city of the future pageant that took place inside the Fair's iconic Perisphere, using a combination of pre-production drawings, scripts, photos, musical scores, a chorus, and computer animation to create a short video. I'm sure the recreation doesn't have the emotional impact of the actual exhibit, but it was a game attempt by the developers to show what it must have been like.

Something that surprised and delighted me was to find that many of the essays accompanying photos in the app were non-judgmental, telling the story of the New York World's Fair without the usual postmodern "interpretation" that seems to plague many historical exhibits these days. Kudos to the NYPL for keeping the majority of the essays as descriptive as possible without tainting them with personal or political judgment.

Many of the things that we now take for granted, such as electric appliances, television, suburbs, and freeways, were first demonstrated to the public at the Fair. The impending world war is a constant undertone of many of the essays, with discussions of the fate of the Czechoslovakian exhibit after the German invasion in 1938 and how the controversial Soviet Union exhibit closed after 1939 after that nation invaded Poland and Finland.

There's no way that I can do justice to the sheer amount and quality of the written and visual content of this app. Just know that if you have an interest in this period of time in our history, the portions of the New York Public Library's collection that are highlighted in this app will keep you entertained for many hours.

Conclusion

The New York Public Library states that Biblion is to become a series of applications that will "explore ... the Library's vast and awe-inspiring collection." In fact, when the app first launches, the phrase "Biblion: The Boundless Library" is displayed, and the Library intends for Biblion to become an electronic magazine of sorts that will highlight different parts of the collection and exhibits.

We're fortunate that the NYPL decided to pick the 1939-40 New York World's Fair as the topic of the first issue of Biblion, as they had a lot of material to work with. If this app is any indication of what we can expect in the future, Biblion is going to be an exciting and worthwhile collection of historical information.

If you're an iPad owner, don't worry about whether or not you like history -- download this free app and give it a try. You might surprise yourself by spending hours immersed in this fascinating look at the future as seen from the past.

NYPL Biblion: World's Fair iPad app a compelling look at yesterday's future originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 18 Jun 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple has released a new iPad 2 television commercial entitled "Now." The commercial points out how with an iPad people can interact with forms of media differently than they could in the past, such as by "watching" a newspaper. From the ad: "Now, we can watch a newspaper; listen to a magazine; curl up with a movie; and see a phone call. Now, we can take a classroom anywhere; hold an entire bookstore; and touch the stars. Because now, there's this." You can see the ad below and also check it out on Apple's official YouTube page or on Apple's iPad 2 product page.

Apple releases new 'Now' iPad 2 ad originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 18 Jun 2011 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Twitter and Facebook might be looked upon as "simple" forms of social networking if technology from an Apple patent ever sees the light of day. MacRumors has discovered an Apple patent called "Ad hoc Networking Based on Content and Location" which describes a way iPhone users can meet people with similar interests that are in their immediate vicinity. In the patent Apple states that currently growing a social network on sites like Facebook and Twitter first require that you know the people you are adding and getting to know people based on similar interests can be a pain that "often requires a substantial amount of and time and effort because identifying new persons with common interests for friendships is difficult. For example, when two strangers meet, it may take a long and awkward conversation to discover their common interests or experiences."

Apple hopes to remedy that by allowing iPhone users to opt-in to automatically sharing their interests with other iPhone users in their area. If there's a connection, the two people can agree to meet in person. Information shared would be based on questionnaires people filled out, such as favorite books, activities and movies as well as from "automatically created usage data of the mobile devices. Usage data of a mobile device can be created based on activities performed on the mobile device (e.g., songs downloaded), a trajectory of the mobile device (e.g., places traveled), or other public data available from the mobile device (e.g., pictures shared)," according to the patent.

This isn't Apple's first patent in iPhone-based social networking services. In February 2010 a patent emerged that detailed how iPhone users could share their location information with each other so they could find one another in the same city, for example. However, the services in that patent required users to already know each other and be in the Address Book on the iPhone. The new patent revealed today allows iPhone users to meet people without previously knowing them.

Apple patent wants to take the "long and awkward" steps out of making new friends originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 Jun 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A monthly report from Mobile ad network Millennial Media paints a familiar picture of the smartphone market. According to impressions data, the iPhone is the top individual phone on the ad network, while the iPad is on the rise with a 29% jump in impressions from last month. Apple was the top manufacturer with a 30% impression share.

On a platform basis, Android was the leading smartphone OS with a 53% impression share, while iOS was a distant second with a 27% impression share. Rounding out the platform listing is RIM at 17%, Symbian at 2% and Windows Phone 7 at 1%.This impressions data reflects the number of times an ad is viewed.

Ad revenue from apps paints a different picture than the impressions data. In ad revenue, iOS and Android are neck and neck. iOS had a slight lead with 45% share, while Android had a 43% share. RIM grabbed 9% of ad revenue, while the remaining 3% is picked up by other platforms.

iOS is holding a slight lead over Android, but the green robot is closing in fast. In April, iOS was at 50% and Android was trailing with a 39% share. In May, that gap narrowed and in June the two platforms may trade places.

Ad network revenue shows iOS and Android are almost tied originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 15 Jun 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Within the next month, the BBC is set to roll out an iOS app that will allow field reporters to broadcast live from their iPhone using nothing but the 3G service to carry the data transmission, an article from Journalism.co.uk states.

The app will also allow BBC field reporters to file still photos, video and audio directly into the BBC content management system from any iPhone or iPad.

As Journalism.co.uk points out, the ability to broadcast right from an iPhone would mean that reporters could no longer have to carry cumbersome satellite or codex equipment. Martin Turner, BBC's head of operations for newsgathering, told Journalism.co.uk, "Reporters have been using smartphones for a while now, but it was never good quality. You might do it when there was a really important story. Now it is beginning to be a realistic possibility to use iPhones and other devices for live reporting, and in the end, if you've got someone on the scene then you want to be able to use them. That capability is a really important one."

BBC reporters about to start broadcasting live using only an iPhone and 3G service originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 14 Jun 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Foxconn saw a large drop in revenue after the explosion at its Chendgu plant last month, according to Digitimes. Foxconn's May revenues dropped 2.14% month-over-month to US$6.95 billion. The revenue fall off was a direct result of the explosion, according to the company. The explosion that killed three workers on May 20 is thought to have been set off when aluminum dust used in a polishing process was accidentally ignited.

Just hours after the explosion, Apple issued a statement saying they were working closely with Foxconn to find out what caused the event. The plant closed for almost two weeks after the explosion before reopening on June 2. There has been no word yet on the official results of Apple's or Foxconn's investigations, but the Chinese government has urged Foxconn to ensure worker safety in light of the tragedy.

Foxconn sees financial drop after plant explosion originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 13 Jun 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

One of our readers sent us a story that was too good not to share. James, an iOS developer living in the UK, cleverly rigged his iPhone 4 against the peephole in his front door to catch a prankster that had been ringing his doorbell and running away every morning. His story is below.

For the past week, every single morning between 8 AM and 9 AM, someone has been ringing the doorbell to our flat several times and running away. We knew it was another resident of the flats -- as the outer door is locked and requires a buzzer to get in, our doorbell is obviously next to the internal door. I tried many times to catch the culprit, but the best I could do after leaping out of bed and rushing to the door was to hear the sound of footsteps running on one of the lower floors.

I'm not a morning person, as I'm usually up late learning how to build apps. I then came up with a plan to simply wait by the door and watch through the peephole. This was a failure, as not only is craning my head to watch the peephole for an hour uncomfortable, it also prevented me from being able to carry on my usual morning routine of massive coffee consumption.

Then I had a brainwave! I noticed the camera on my iPhone 4 was the same size as the peephole. With a bit of fiddling and adjusting the zoom I was able to stick my phone to the door using blue tac, thus providing a convenient window to the outside world and the ability to capture a pic of the culprit to use as evidence.

I had planned to try and stream live video from the peephole, into my iPhone and stream it to my iPad or MacBook. Sadly, I never managed to go that far as I couldn't find an app for that.

Sure enough though, this morning my girlfriend and I were sitting by the door, coffee in hand and able to chill out and watch the iPhone screen from a distance. As we hoped the culprit approached our door and rang the doorbell several times. I hit the camera button and got a great pic, catching him red handed. Turned out to be the kid next door on his way to school!

After grabbing the pic and quickly opening the door with a loud "HELLOOO!" and watching the poor rascal's skeleton leap out of his body in shock, we were able to show his mother the picture and peace was restored.

Great story, James, and it only goes to show that people are finding unconventional uses for iPhones all the time.

iPhone 4's Operation Doorbell reveals mystery ringer originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 12 Jun 2011 21:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This week TUAW and MacTech Magazine teamed up to speak to developers at WWDC about the keynote and how Apple's new technologies will help them and their customers. Over the next couple of weeks, we'll bring you those videos here, MacTech.com and MacNews.com. Also, check out the free trial subscription offer for MacTech Magazine here.

Neil Ticktin of MacTech Magazine spoke to Brian Ulmer of GroupLogic while at WWDC 2011. Brian was kind enough to give us his take on the week's announcements and how they impact GroupLogic.

WWDC Interview: GroupLogic originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 11 Jun 2011 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.