If you need a screen protector for your iPhone, prepare to go to Best Buy to pick one up: Apple will no longer be selling screen protectors — including protective cases and screen films — in either its online store or retail outlets. Both MacWorld and iLounge are saying that Apple is likely pulling screens in

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Apple removes screen protectors and films from online store

If you need a screen protector for your iPhone, prepare to go to Best Buy to pick one up: Apple will no longer be selling screen protectors — including protective cases and screen films — in either its online store or retail outlets starting in May Both MacWorld and iLounge are saying that Apple is likely

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Apple to remove screen protectors and films from online store

(Image courtesy of AppleInsider and iPhones.ru) Apple may take some heat for its App Store policies, but never let it be said that they aren’t constantly working to improve their developer relationships. This week’s big change came in the form of new tools to allow iPhone OS developers to set the exact release date of their applications as well as schedule price changes. AppleInsider has all the details on the new changes to Apple’s iTunesConnect web interface, which is not limited only to iPhone OS developers — it applies to all of Apple’s iTunes media partners. The new tools automate two tasks that publishers will likely see as a welcome change. Publishers can now schedule a release date in advance for both new and updated applications, which is perfect for developers who want to time an app’s release around a press release or other event. Developers can also schedule price changes to occur at a specific date, or even end them the same way, which will be useful for limited-time sale pricing. Previously, devs had to handle such tasks manually. As you can see from the screenshot courtesy of iPhones.ru above , “a publisher can choose to release an app on March 4th under pricing tier 1 ($0.99) and pre-schedule the price to rise to tier 2 ($1.99) two weeks later,” AppleInsider explains . “Successive price changes could also be scheduled in the interface; it’s not limited to two entries.” Never let it be said that Apple isn’t listening to developers and trying to make their lives easier.

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iPhone Developers Gain Ability to Automate Release Date & Price Changes

Man, Apple’s been coming down pretty hard on third party vendors lately. First it was the sexy apps, then the WiFi sniffers, then the book-only apps. In the latest round of purging, Apple takes it to the physical world. Whether it’s just because they want more store space for their own products or they’re cooking up their own screen films or they really think their oleophobic glass screens are all that tough, Apple has told screen protector vendors that they’re quits as far as the Apple Store and the website goes. Whaaat? Rumors are abounding that Apple has contacted vendors and told them they won’t be stocking anymore screen protectors. 9To5Mac links to Dan Frakes at Macworld who says he’s heard from multiple vendor sources about the heave-ho. And it’s not even confined to straight up screen protection. Even sleeve protector products that contain cling films are being asked to step outside. Image Source: iphone-products.com Personally, we don’t know anyone who doesn’t have a screen protector for their iPhone. In fact, we bought one the day we got our iPhone and put it on the moment it was registered, and the handy little cling film has never been off since. While we go out of our way not to put keys or any other hard metal objects in the same pocket with our iPhones (and many women we know have a dedicated pocket for it in their purses), we’d still never go without our screen protector. Even worse, we’d never even think of picking up an iPad with its four times as large screen without some serious cling action to protect our baby from scratches. So far, as is typical with everyone’s favorite computer company, Cupertino’s being a bit tight lipped about the whole thing

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Apple Thinks Their Screens Are Plenty Tough

9to5Mac reports that Wired magazine showed off the tablet version of their magazine at SXSW , and dropped hints of an iPhone version soon to come. It’s a whole lot more than a screen version of a print product! Wired simply ported over their entire March issue into tablet form. Swiping horizontally acts a bit like a table of contents, taking you through the ads and the first pages of sections and stories. Scrolling vertically lets you scan through the whole content of longer stories. The app is very sensitive to orientation, with different images being displayed for an article based on whether the device was tilted in portrait or landscape mode. See about 3:30 into the video below for an example. A tap brings up a scrubber that lets you scroll through the magazine, seeing thumbnails–perfect for those who tend to riffle through publications. Some articles included tap links, bringing up additional information at a touch

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Wired Demonstrates its iPad Version of the Magazine

Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad , iPad Filed under “things Apple normally doesn’t do,” it appears as if our favorite Cupertino based company has changed the function of one of the hardware switches on the iPad before making it available to customers. Apparently, as shown by the outlined diagram of the device on their website, the switch that was once in place for muting the device will now serve as a way to lock the screen rotation. Considering there have been complaints about the inability to do this on the iPhone, it’ll certainly be a nice feature to have on the iPad. Via [ 9 to 5 Mac ] Full Story » | Written by Josh Holat for Appletell . | Comment on this Article »

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iPad mute switch switched to screen rotation lock switch

Apple has redesigned its iWork.com Website for the iPad and iPhone, allowing documents to be viewed on touchscreen devices. The company also unveiled new ways to share documents, allowing documents to become public. The updated interface now allows documents to be scrolled using a finger, an action that has become common for iPhone users and upcoming

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Apple Ads iPad Sharing for iWork.com

Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad , iPhone , iPod touch , iDevice Apps , Mac Software Macintosh and iPhone/iPod/iPad product updates and announcements for March 16, 2010: Macintosh iPod Macintosh Selznick Scientific Software, LLC has announced PasswordWallet 4.5 , a major update to their best-selling password management solution for Macintosh and iPhone. The app now allows the user to automatically share all of their passwords between their Mac, iPhone and MobileMe accounts, as well as their Windows, Android, Windows Mobile and Palm Pre devices. Simple and secure, PasswordWallet encrypts and stores passwords and other private information in one, convenient location. Yazsoft has announced Playback 1.5.1 , an important update to their popular zero configuration media server for Mac OS X. Playback allows anyone to share their media with any Playstation 3, Xbox 360, or other supported UPnP compatible device. Playback can also share media stored in folders or even make entire disks available to a Playstation 3 or Xbox 360. By default, Playback will share almost any content on the users system.

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Mac, iPhone, iPod and iPad product news – March 16, 2010

Task management apps exploded with the introduction of the iPhone App Store, and leading the pack was Cultured Code’s Things , which earned an Editor’s Choice award from us back in late 2008. The iPhone version of Things had been adapted from the previous Mac iteration, and though it successfully distilled the essence of the popular program into a portable package, Cultured Code had to significantly simplify the way Things worked to fit it on the iPhone/iPod touch screen. But now, with the iPad and its glossy 9.7-inch screen on the horizon, Cultured Code is closing in on a version of Things that’ll find the happy middle ground between the two versions, pairing a touch interface like that of the iPhone with the screen real estate of a much larger device. "We have the desire to show users more information. Now with the iPad, we have much more screen space available, so now the information can be displayed again," says Werner Jainek, co-owner of Cultured Code and developer of Things for iPad. "We think it’s a huge advantage with the bigger screen." Jainek says getting the iPad project off the ground initially was a snap, since the shared OS between the two devices allowed them to reuse much of the core code from the iPhone version. This has allowed Cultured Code to focus on refining the user interface to take full advantage of the large iPad screen, which eliminates the need to drill in and out of menus as you would on the iPhone. As such, Things users will be able to pop between multiple lists with ease, utilize the new popover windows (which you’ll be seeing a lot of within iPad apps), and even access additional navigational controls when using the iPad in landscape orientation. Without actual iPad units in their hands during development, Jainek admits the biggest challenge has been developing an intuitive user interface, though it’s not for a lack of trying. "It’s pretty hard to actually see how Apple has designed user interfaces for its applications," he admits. "We have mined them all — we have looked at every screenshot in very much detail to figure out exactly how they did it." "We really don’t want to make any mistakes, and [want to] follow in the path that Apple has led," Jainek continues. "Not having a real device to play with is a limiting factor, definitely. For example, the iWork apps — I would be very interested to see how they solved certain problems, UI-wise, so that we can actually copy that for our application, or at least be inspired by it and see what we can come up with." However, despite having to work from screenshots and secondhand impressions, Cultured Code says they were greatly inspired by what Apple showed of its own iPad apps, especially with the Calendar and Contacts, which Jainek says use "real-world metaphors in [the] user interface." "Apple really put forth that paradigm that what you’re looking at are really objects behind a piece of glass that you’re manipulating with your finger," explains Jainek.

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Cultured Code Talks About Bringing Things to the iPad

Task management apps exploded with the introduction of the iPhone App Store, and leading the pack was Cultured Code’s Things , which earned an Editor’s Choice award from us back in late 2008. The iPhone version of Things had been adapted from the previous Mac iteration, and though it successfully distilled the essence of the popular program into a portable package, Cultured Code had to significantly simplify the way Things worked to fit it on the iPhone/iPod touch screen. But now, with the iPad and its glossy 9.7-inch screen on the horizon, Cultured Code is closing in on a version of Things that’ll find the happy middle ground between the two versions, pairing a touch interface like that of the iPhone with the screen real estate of a much larger device. "We have the desire to show users more information. Now with the iPad, we have much more screen space available, so now the information can be displayed again," says Werner Jainek, co-owner of Cultured Code and developer of Things for iPad. "We think it’s a huge advantage with the bigger screen." Jainek says getting the iPad project off the ground initially was a snap, since the shared OS between the two devices allowed them to reuse much of the core code from the iPhone version. This has allowed Cultured Code to focus on refining the user interface to take full advantage of the large iPad screen, which eliminates the need to drill in and out of menus as you would on the iPhone. As such, Things users will be able to pop between multiple lists with ease, utilize the new popover windows (which you’ll be seeing a lot of within iPad apps), and even access additional navigational controls when using the iPad in landscape orientation. Without actual iPad units in their hands during development, Jainek admits the biggest challenge has been developing an intuitive user interface, though it’s not for a lack of trying. "It’s pretty hard to actually see how Apple has designed user interfaces for its applications," he admits. "We have mined them all — we have looked at every screenshot in very much detail to figure out exactly how they did it." "We really don’t want to make any mistakes, and [want to] follow in the path that Apple has led," Jainek continues. "Not having a real device to play with is a limiting factor, definitely.

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Cultured Code Talks About Bringing Things to the iPad