Tweetbot 3.0 for iPhone brings updated design to an already great app

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Social Networking, New Apps, Videos, $2.99,

Tweetbot is the Twitter client of choice here at Gear Live HQ, and we've been delighted by the newest version, Tweetbot 3.0. Released yesterday on the App Store, Tweetbot 3.0 is an all-new app, completely rewritten and redesigned from the ground up by the team at Tapbots. If you're a user of the older version, the new Tweetbot may seem a bit unfamiliar at first, but that's just because the team stripped away old design ideas, and decided to take on iOS 7 design language, and it turned out fantastic. New functionality makes the app faster, and it's normally ready with your fully updated timeline whenever you launch it, thanks to the integration of the iOS 7 Background Fetch API. Sounds in Tweetbot are as whimsical as ever, and the whole app just feels brighter and more open. If you're already a Tweetbot user, it should be noted that Tweetbot 3.0 is a new, separate purchase. Check out a video demo after the break.

You can download Tweetbot 3.0 for iPhone now for $2.99.

Click to continue reading Tweetbot 3.0 for iPhone brings updated design to an already great app

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TiVo out-of-home remote streaming arrives on Roamio Plus, Roamio Pro DVRs

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Home Entertainment,

If you're the owner of a TiVo Roamio Pro or Roamio Plus DVR, out-of-home streaming (a.k.a. TiVo's holy grail) has finally arrived, letting you stream and download content from your TiVo to your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad when you're away from home. Even better? You can also access one of your tuners for live television watching remotely as well, so when you're away from home and wanna watch the big game live, you can do so. For now, out-of-home remote streaming requires that your iOS device be connected to Wi-Fi, but LTE streaming is definitely in the cards, set to launch in 2014.

"Until now, your shows have been locked up in your set top box at home," said Jim Denney, Vice President of Product Marketing at TiVo. "Now with a TiVo Roamio DVR, whether it’s a hotel in Denmark, the waiting room at the dentist office, when you’re stuck at the airport, or at the gym, out-of-home streaming gives you the level of choice, control and freedom that consumers have come to expect from TiVo."

Out-of-home viewing requires a software update, which begins rolling out to TiVo Roamio Pro and Roamio Plus users today. If you have a base-model TiVo Roamio, you'll need a TiVo Stream in order to enable out-of-home streaming (support for out-of-home for the TiVo Stream is set to roll out next month.) As mentioned, remote TiVo streaming works only on Apple iOS device, and they've gotta be running iOS 5.1 or higher. Android users, don't worry, you'll be able to get in on the remote streaming action in Spring 2014 (let's be honest, you're used to watching iOS get the cool stuff first,) alongside the launch of LTE streaming.

You can pick up the TiVo Roamio Plus, TiVo Roamio Pro, TiVo Roamio, and TiVo Stream right now on Amazon.

Apple iPad Air event: All the details

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Handhelds, PC / Laptop, Software,

Yesterday, Apple made what will likely be its final product announcements of 2013, and there was plenty they had to go over during the 2013 Apple iPad event. The star of the show was the iPad Air, although some might argue that OS X Mavericks launching for free was the biggest surprise of the day. We covered all the news, and have broken everything down by category below to make it easy for you to catch up.

iPads

• Apple announces iPad mini with Retina display
• Apple announces new iPad Air

Macs

• 15-inch MacBook Pro updated, now starts at $1999
• 13-inch MacBook Pro refreshed with Retina display, starts at $1299
• The new Mac Pro launches in December for $2999

OS X & iOS

• OS X Mavericks will launch today, completely free
• Apple releases iOS 7.0.3 with iCloud Keychain, iMessage fix, Touch ID tweaks
• OS X Mavericks now available, grab it from the App Store for free

iWork

• Apple releases Numbers 3.0, here’s a look at what’s new
• Apple releases next major version of Keynote, here’s what’s new
• Apple Pages hits 5.0, here’s a look at what’s new

iLife

• iMovie 10.0 now available, here’s a list of all the new features
• Apple releases major iPhoto ‘11 update, here’s what’s new

What was your favorite announcement of the day?

The history of Mac OS X pricing: How we got to free

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Features, PC / Laptop, Software,

We had a few readers email in yesterday after it was announced that OS X Mavericks would be free, a first for a major desktop operating system release. It seems a few of you are curious about how Apple got here, and what the history is as it relates to the pricing of OS X. So, here's a quick history lesson. 

• 10.0 Cheetah: Released March 24, 2001 for $129
• 10.1 Puma: Released September 25, 2001 for $0
• 10.2 Jaguar: Released August 23, 2002 for $129
• 10.3 Panther: Released October 24, 2003 for $129
• 10.4 Tiger: Released April 29, 2005 for $129
• 10.5 Leopard: Released October 26, 2007 for $129
• 10.6 Snow Leopard: Released August 28, 2009 for $29
• 10.7 Lion: Released July 20, 2011 for $29
• 10.8 Mountain Lion: Released July 25, 2012 for $19
• 10.9 Mavericks: Released October 22, 2013 for $0

So, as you can see, both OS X 10.1 Puma and 10.9 Mavericks were released as free updates, however, Puma was released just six months after 10.0 Cheetah, so that would have been ridiculous if Apple has chosen to charge for it. Other than that anomaly, OS X updates remained at $129 each until Snow Leopard in 2009, which sold for $29. The last $129 version of OS X was Leopard, which saw massive delays due to Apple pulling engineers from it to work on iPhone OS 1.0 (now known as iOS.) Lion was also sold for $29, and was the first version of OS X to be available as a digital download from the Mac App Store. The following year, Mountain Lion debuted at just $19--the best bargain in OS X release history until yesterday, when Mavericks launched for free. The trend has always been that OS X updates would cost the same as the previous year, or less--never more (discounting the Puma issue, which was a huge bugfix patch.) As this point, it appears that OS X has gone the way of iOS, where all updates from here on out will be available for free, on an annual basis.

You can download OS X Mavericks, for free, right now.

Apple releases Numbers 3.0, here’s a look at what’s new

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop, Software,

• Stunning new user interface
• Brand-new Apple-designed templates
• Simplified toolbar gives you quick access to shapes, media, tables, charts, and sharing options
• New Format Panel automatically updates based on selection
• Quickly click through a spreadsheet using new tab navigation
• Get function suggestions as soon as you start typing a formula
• Get live formula results, error checking, exact value, and cell format with the new smart cell view
• Add your favorite functions to Quick Calculations for instant results
• Search the integrated function browser for built-in help and sample formulas
• Use gorgeous preset styles to make your text, tables, shapes, and images look beautiful
• Animate data with new interactive column, bar, scatter, and bubble charts
• Use new 2D bubble charts
• Enhanced conditional highlighting makes it easy to automatically highlight cells based on numbers, text, dates, and durations
• Easily filter through large tables with the new Filter Panel
• New star ratings cell format
• Quickly and easily share a link to your work via Mail, Messages, Twitter, or Facebook
• Anyone with the link will always have access to the latest version of the spreadsheet and can edit it with you at iCloud.com with Numbers for iCloud beta
• All-new calculation engine for fast performance
• New unified file format across Mac, iOS, and web makes spreadsheets work seamlessly everywhere
• Turn on Coaching Tips for guided in-app help

You can download the new Numbers for free if you're an existing user, or get it for $19.99 if you're a first timer.

Be sure to check out all the rest of the news from the Apple iPad event!

Apple releases next major version of Keynote, here’s what’s new

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop, Software,

Apple has released a major update to its Keynote presentation software today, as part of a greater software push release in conjunction with today's Apple iPad event. There are a bunch of new themes and animations to be found, as well as deeper iCloud integration that allows for simultaneous collaboration. Here's a rundown of all the new features found in Keynote 6.0:

• Stunning new user interface
• Brand-new Apple-designed themes
• Simplified toolbar gives you quick access to shapes, media, tables, charts, and sharing options
• New Format Panel automatically updates based on selection
• New and updated cinematic transitions and animations
• Updated Magic Move animations
• New Emphasis build animations
• Centered canvas for greater layout control
• Use gorgeous preset styles to make your text, tables, shapes, and images look beautiful
• Animate data with new interactive column, bar, scatter, and bubble charts
• Use new 2D bubble charts
• Quickly and easily share a link to your work via Mail, Messages, Twitter or Facebook
• Anyone with the link will always have access to the latest version of the presentation and can edit it with you at iCloud.com with Keynote for iCloud beta
• New unified file format across the Mac, iOS, and the web makes presentations work seamlessly everywhere
• Turn on Coaching Tips for guided in-app help

You can download the new Keynote now for free if you're an existing user, otherwise you can buy Keynote for $19.99.

Apple Pages hits 5.0, here’s a look at what’s new

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop, Software,

Apple has updated Pages to version 5.0 as part of a bunch of refreshed iWork and iLife updates in conjunction with its Apple iPad event today. Apple's word processor sees a host of new features integrated, including new writing tools, better performance, and a new design with a bunch of Apple-designed templates. Deep iCloud integration is here as well, allowing you to access yoru documents across all your OS X and iOS devices. Here's the full list of what's new in Pages:

• Stunning new user interface
• Over 60 Apple-designed templates
• Simplified toolbar gives you quick access to shapes, media, tables, charts, and sharing options
• New Format Panel automatically updates based on selection
• Enhanced change tracking, comments, and highlights; show and hide changes and comments on mouse-over
• Animate data with new interactive column, bar, scatter, and bubble charts
• Use gorgeous preset styles to make your text, tables, shapes, and images look beautiful
• Easy setup for headers, footers, and document body
• Use new 2D bubble charts
• Enhanced conditional highlighting makes it easy to automatically highlight cells based on numbers, text, dates, and durations
• Quickly and easily share a link to your work via Mail, Messages, Twitter, or Facebook
• Anyone with a shared document link will always have access to the latest version of the document and can edit it with you at iCloud.com
• Access and edit documents from iCloud.com using Pages for iCloud beta
• New unified file format across the Mac, iOS, and the web makes documents work seamlessly everywhere
• Turn on Coaching Tips for guided in-app help
• Pages is now available in Arabic and Hebrew
• Improved support for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean

You can download Pages now for free if you've purchased a Mac on or after October 1, 2013, otherwise you can grab it for $19.99.

iMovie 10.0 now available, here’s a list of all the new features

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop, Software,

Up next for today's Apple software updates coming out of the Apple iPad event is iMovie. iMovie sees a redesign, and also bring in a bunch of iCloud functionality, allowing you iMovie content to be found and played back on your iOS devices, and Apple TV. Here's the full list of what's new:

• All-new, streamlined design
• Share clips, movies, and trailers to iMovie Theater and watch them anywhere
• Video browsing mode with quick clip sharing
• Adjustments Bar for easy access to video and audio controls
• 16 new title styles
• 14 new trailer templates from iMovie for iOS
• Eight new movie themes from iMovie for iOS
• Use photos in trailers
• Plus button for quickly adding clips to your movie
• Trim video and audio clips directly in the timeline
• Simplified drag and drop for picture-in-picture, side-by-side, green screen, and audio-only effects
• One-click Enhance for video and audio
• Adjust shadows, highlights, and color temperature
• Match the color of two clips
• Ken Burns Effect for panorama photos
• Improved video stabilization
• Enhanced green screen and blue screen effect
• Volume-aware audio ducking
• Speed change controls in the timeline
• Add just a portion of a song from iTunes to your movie
• Email video clips and projects
• Sharing support for Youku and Tudou
• Import, analyze, and share clips in the background
• Native support for AVCHD video
• 64-bit support

You can find the iMovie update in the Mac App Store for free if you're an existing user. If not, you can buy iMovie for $14.99.

Apple releases major iPhoto ‘11 update, here’s what’s new

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop, Software,

As announced during this morning's Apple iPad event, the company is also updating its entire suite of creative and productivity apps across OS X and iOS. First up, iPhoto, which is bumped to version 9.5. Below is a list of what's new:

• 64-bit support
• The Places feature now uses Apple maps to display photo locations
• Adds support for iCloud Photo Sharing, including the ability to post videos to shared photo streams and the ability to have multiple subscribers contribute to a shared stream
• Adds support for iOS 7 camera filters applied to photos imported from iOS devices
• Includes a new, streamlined interface for printing
• Replaces the Create menu with an updated Share menu providing access to all sharing options, including print products such as books, cards and calendars
• Fixes an issue that could cause iPhoto to quit unexpectedly when sharing an edited photo from a MacBook Pro with Retina display
• Addresses an issue that could cause iPhoto to show incorrect file type and size information for imported TIFF and PSD files
• Comment sheet now appears correctly when sharing multiple photos to a new or existing photo stream
• Fixes an issue that caused photos with specific color profiles to display incorrectly on iOS devices after being shared via iCloud
• Captions instead of version names are now synced between iPhoto and Facebook for newly-created albums
• Privacy settings can now be managed when sharing photos from iPhoto to a Facebook Timeline
• Videos up to three minutes long can now be shared to Flickr
• Addresses an issue that could cause photos synced to iPhoto from Flickr to appear rotated incorrectly
• Fixes an issue that could cause photos synced to iPhoto from Facebook or Flickr to be duplicated and reposted
• URLs in the photo comments field can now be clicked to open the corresponding links
• Improves reliability when working with custom locations in the Places feature
• Improves reliability when copying and pasting photos to a new event
• When a single photo is selected in an album, clicking the Trash button in the contextual menu now removes the photo from the album rather than from the library
• Includes stability and performance improvements

You can download the new iPhoto now. If you're an existing user, the update is free. If not, you can download it for $14.99.

Read More | iPhoto '11

Apple releases iOS 7.0.3 with iCloud Keychain, iMessage fix, Touch ID tweaks

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Software,

Alongside all the major news coming out of today's Apple iPad event, the company has also released an iOS update. iOS 7.0.3 bring a few new features to the platform, like iCloud Keychain, which works alongside the same feature in OS X Mavericks (which was also released today on the Mac App Store) to keep your account names, passwords, and credit cards synced across your devices, while protecting them with your Apple ID. Here is a rundown of all the changes in iOS 7.0.3:

• Adds iCloud Keychain to keep track of your on account names passwords and credit card numbers across all your devices
• Adds Password Generator so Safari can suggest unique hard to guess passwords for your online accounts
• Updates lock screen to delay display of "slide to unlock" went Touch ID is in use
• Adds back the ability to search the web and Wikipedia from Spotlight search
• Fixes an issue where iMessage failed to send for some users
• Fixes a bug that could prevent iMessage from activating
• Improves system stability when using iWork apps
• Fixes an accelerometer calibration issue
• Address is an issue that could cause Siri and VoiceOver to use a lower quality voice
• Fixes a bug that could allow someone to bypass the lock screen passcode
• Enhances the Reduce Motion setting to minimize both motion and animation
• Fix is an issue that could cause VoiceOver input to be too sensitive
• Updates the Bold Text setting to also change dial pad text
• Fix is an issue that could cause supervise devices to become unsupervised when updating software

You should be able to check the Software Update area on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to grab the update now.