Scott Buscemi

• Tips and Tricks
• Linkbait

Want to try iOS 7 without bricking your phone? (Update: pulled)

Scott Buscemi Jun 18 2013 - 12:04 pm PT

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If you want to try out iOS 7 for yourself without the risk of bricking your phone or dealing with constant restarts, Recumbo is housing an interactive demo on the website. Besides the transitions between screens, it may feel like you’re staring at a bunch of screenshots, but it does a great job at demonstrating the newly designed iOS. If you’re using Firefox or Chrome, you can also use your webcam to take pictures in the Photos app. Be sure to check out Notification Center and Control Center while you’re at it.

Update: Not so fast! It looks like Apple asked Recumbo to remove the demo.

• Tips and Tricks
• Parallels
• Productivity
• Tips and Tricks
• OS X Mavericks

Getting TextExpander, BetterTouchTool and Parallels to behave with Mavericks

Scott Buscemi Jun 15 2013 - 9:04 pm PT

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Since the new OS X Mavericks is just a few days old, bugs and incompatible applications are to be expected until developers have time to run through the new APIs and patch up their apps. In the meantime, some non-functioning apps can be fixed with simple work-arounds or downloads.

Over the next couple of months, expect a few sites to pop up with app compatibility charts for the new OS. If you’ve found an application that doesn’t work without an available fix, feel free to leave a comment below with the information.

TextExpander & BetterTouchTool

My dependence on TextExpander is insane. I have even set up my email signature through TextExpander (so I can choose when it displays with just a couple of key strokes). Finding out that TextExpander is thrown off by Mavericks was a bit disappointing, but iDownloadBlog posted the details on how to make it work. In short, the application tells you to go through “Universal Access” in System Preferences, but you actually need to go inside “Security & Privacy”.

This work-around also works for BetterTouchTool, the app I use for simple Window Snapping and creating additional multi-touch gestures for the Magic Trackpad / Mouse. Check out iDownloadBlog’s step-by-step instructions.

Parallels

Parallels, my favorite operating system virtualization software, isn’t able to open any virtual machines when you first try opening up the application on Mavericks.

However, Parallels provides a simple workaround on their Knowledge Base until they can update the app in the near future. The company has provided a “startPD” script that gets the application and all associated virtual machines up and running again. Update: Parallels has been updated to work with Mavericks.

We’ll keep our eyes peeled for any other workarounds and update this post as they become available.

• iOS Devices
• iOS 7
• iphone camera

A quick look at the iOS 7 video recording zoom feature

Scott Buscemi Jun 13 2013 - 8:01 pm PT

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Prior to iOS 7, the native camera application’s video option could not zoom while recording. There have been many third-party applications, such as MoviePro, which have had zooming before, however, they usually require post-processing once the video is over and they don’t integrate right into the lock screen like the native app.

The quick video below shows the new zoom function in action. Be sure to enable HD mode to see just how crystal-clear the video is even with full zoom. The video zoom doesn’t pan in as close as the still image zoom, but it still manages to work up to about 2-3x or so. To top it off, there is no post-processing necessary after the video is taken. It saves to your device just like a regular video and can be replayed instantly.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YDWdv9kR0M]

• Apps

Want to know what makes you happy? There’s an app for that! [giveaway]

Scott Buscemi Jun 13 2013 - 7:57 pm PT

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I have a confession to make. For the past two months, I have been receiving a push notification at 9 PM that asks me for my mood. With a quick swipe, I scroll through the various faces and describe my mood for the day. The app also gives me the option to leave a quick comment or reason for my mood.

Now why would I do such a silly thing? Because the Mr Mood app allows me to view my moods over time and look through the notes to find out what makes me happy or sad. In addition, the new 2.0 version that was released last night brings with it new mood calculations for different time ranges. You can see if your “average mood” for the past month is higher than the past week and look through the comments to investigate.

The interface is extremely straight forward and you can set a reminder for any time of the day to receive a quick push notification that asks for your mood. It may sound crazy, but this app has actually helped me to become happier, understand what I need to do every day to stay smiling, and what needs to be gone from my daily life.

You can find Mr Mood on the App Store for just $0.99. It’s well worth it and receives an A+ from this happy guy. Check out the gallery below for some screenshots.
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• Reviews

Re-thinking CRM with the Stride app

Scott Buscemi Jun 13 2013 - 6:36 pm PT

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Lead management services are usually quite complicated. In fact, I probably have ten neglected accounts out on the interwebs from my attempts of finding a simple, straight-forward CRM or lead management system. Thankfully, I ran across Stride when they launched their website beta a few years ago and recently stumbled across their free iOS app. In a few short words, it’s “spectacularly simple”.

I spoke with Stride’s Kevin Chau about the company’s mission and how they’re tackling the CRM world. It’s quite obvious that their go-simple-or-go-home approach extends to every part of the application:

We designed Stride around simplicity because we wanted to highlight focus on the deal pipeline. Before Stride, all of us tried other CRM solutions on the market, and they were overly complex, and took away from focusing on what we feel to be most important – deals. So we set out to build our own tool, make it intuitive, pretty, and easy to use. We tell ourselves that if we need to do an on-boarding walkthrough, we went in the wrong direction of simplicity.

After spending some time manage leads with the application, I’ve found that it’s nice to be able to add tasks or update the status of a lead with just a few taps rather than waiting to get to a desktop browser. Plus, everything syncs seamlessly with strideapp.com (not using iCloud, so it’s actually reliable – zing!) for managing the information on a browser.

If you currently manage your leads on paper, don’t track leads at all, or you are simply tired of your current CRM system, give the Stride iOS app a shot! The app itself is free with an account. Their pricing starts at $12/month or they have a free plan if you want to manage less than 5 deals a month.

• Apps
• Breaking

iWork for iCloud beta now available for developers

Scott Buscemi Jun 13 2013 - 11:35 am PT

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Apple just notified developers that iWork for iCloud, Apple’s online document editing service that was announced at WWDC 2013, is now available at beta.icloud.com. However, some developers are reporting that it’s still showing the old “iWork” icons rather than the new Google Docs/Drive competitor that was demoed during the keynote while others have had it since Monday.

• Apps
• Square
• Mobile payment
• Square Register
• Square Wallet

Square Wallet 3.0 just released: faster checkout than ever

Scott Buscemi Jun 13 2013 - 2:51 am PT

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Square has just released a redesigned version of their Square Wallet, their local directory and checkout app. By opening up the application (or setting the app to auto-check in when you’ve entered your favorite store), the cashier can see your name on the Square Register app and take your payment without having to swipe a credit card. Prior to the newest 3.0 version, users had to open the app, find the store they’re in, and press the “Pay Here” button. Now, the last step has been taken out. Just tapping on the store checks you in and puts you on the customer list. For Starbucks locations, tapping on the location pops up a very large QR code that can be scanned to pay.

The new design is very media-rich, with pictures from the merchants taking front stage. Rather than having a table view of the local vendors, it takes on a gallery design to show the logos and products. This is definitely a much-welcomed update.

• Apps

Want to control living cockroaches? There’s an app for that: RoboRoach

Scott Buscemi Jun 12 2013 - 4:59 pm PT

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A new Kickstarter project gives you the tools and technology you need to control a real, living cockroach. According to the RoboRoach campaign, which is currently sitting at $4,300 of its $10,000 goal, touts itself as “world’s first commercially available cyborg”. The kit itself requires a pledge of at least $100 – cockroaches not included.

From the company videos, they show how to perform cockroach “surgery” and install the system onto roaches. Once you’ve gotten through that, you can use their app to move the cockroach left and right. It doesn’t always work perfectly – in fact, some species of roaches just stop in their tracks when you press the button – but this technology definitely has a futuristic feel to it.

Put on your tin foil hats, as it seems dogs and cats will be next… then primates… then humans!

• Apple News
• Tech Industry
• Mac OS X
• Jon Rubinstein
• mobile platforms

Former Apple SVP and Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein responds to iOS 7: ‘the Mac has webOS stuff, too!’

Scott Buscemi Jun 12 2013 - 9:17 am PT

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Yesterday, FierceWireless published an interview with former Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein. Palm released its webOS operating system in 2009 to much fanfare, however, the sales were abysmal and led to the eventual HP acquisition.

Rubinstein still remains very proud of the innovation behind webOS and believes the technology is slowly being “adopted” by other companies. With the introduction of iOS 7, many have said that features like multitasking cards resemble webOS, but Rubinstein believes the webOS influence extends even further into other operating systems like OS X and those of other companies:

FierceWireless: It seems like iOS 7 is taking lots of multitasking cues from webOS. How do you think that platform, webOS, influenced other mobile platforms?

Rubinstein: It’s not just mobile platforms. If you look at the notifications on Mac OS X, it looks just like webOS, too. We did a lot of things that were very, very innovative. Obviously, multitasking, notifications, Synergy, how we handled the multiple cards. There’s a long list of stuff we did that has been adopted by Microsoft, Apple and Android. Our over-the-air updates and mechanism has been updated by everybody. Our whole Synergy concept is now becoming much more common. I don’t think anyone has implemented it as well as we did yet, but clearly they’re all heading down that direction.

Read the entire interview here.

• AAPL Company

Downloadable WWDC Keynote now online

Scott Buscemi Jun 11 2013 - 2:44 pm PT

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After every Apple event, the company posts the video to their Apple Keynotes video podcast channel. While yesterday’s event was live streamed and the stream was available on Apple.com shortly thereafter, the video download allow for offline viewing.

Apple introduced iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks yesterday during the 2013 WWDC Keynote. We’re still finding new features like offline dictation and live feedback for the Mac and compiling them in this post. In addition, they teased a new Mac Pro, released upgraded Macbook Airs, and introduced the much-anticipated iTunes Radio.

• Tips and Tricks

New Maps icon centers around new spaceship campus location

Scott Buscemi Jun 10 2013 - 8:48 pm PT

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While some have noted that the new Maps icon doesn’t suggest you drive off a bridge like the old iOS 6 icon, we noticed something else. The blue line follows along the perimeter of the new Spaceship Campus that’s planned for 2016. It’s definitely a subtle detail, but it’s neat to see Apple embracing their new location in Cupertino and preparing their mapping application’s icon to reflect the new home.

• Apps
• Tech Industry
• iOS gaming
• Draw Something
• OMGPOP

“Draw Something” creator OMGPOP closes down

Scott Buscemi Jun 3 2013 - 9:47 pm PT

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Just 16 months after being acquired by Zynga for a reported $200 million, the OMGPOP team, creators of the once-popular “Draw Something” app, has been laid off along with many other Zynga employees. To top it off, it looks like employees weren’t properly notified of their new employment status.

I learned via Facebook I was laid off today and @OMGPOP office is closed. Thanks @zynga for again reminding me how not to operate a business

— Ali Nicolas (@ali_nicolas) June 3, 2013

Zynga has been struggling to turn a profit, so the mass lay-offs may come as no surprise. However, it doesn’t look like they were provided with great post-Zynga assistance.

@swb1192 To a bar, as quickly as possible!

— omgpop (@omgpop) June 3, 2013

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