The guys from 280 North have been hard at work completing a couple very impressive tasks. First, 280Slides.com is up and running in beta. It’s a simply amazing Keynote knockoff that takes web applications to an entirely new level. Seriously, if more web applications were this easy to use, more of us would be using them. The second feat accomplished by the guys is the pending release of a new framework called Cappuccino, based on the newly created Objective-J language. What does this mean for everyone?

I’ve already touched on the biggest impact for users: interface improvement. 280Slides looks and acts just like a real desktop application. All the standard keyboard shortcuts for copy/paste and undo/redo are supported right within the web app itself. Take a minute to tour the application and see how it compares to other online presentation applications. It feels more like Apple’s own Keynote, right?

Developers have even more reason to be excited. The whole Javascript/HTML/CSS design process to manipulate the DOM is abstracted to a higher layer with the introduction of Objective-J. The Objective-J language allows developers to write code in a style more like writing for traditional desktop applications. The developer doesn’t directly interact with the DOM or style the page with CSS. Instead, Objective-J itself manages all the views and drawing the objects to screen. More so, the Cappuccino framework provides functionality that is traditionally lacking from other Javascript frameworks, such as:

• copy/paste
• undo/redo
• document management and archiving
• vector graphics
• animations

This is a tremendous advantage for developers, allowing focus to be placed on the unique aspects of the web application itself. Cappuccino will be open-source and available soon, so keep a lookout at the Objective-J website. I think that we will see some amazing applications begin to rise in the future and this might possibly fuel a new era of apps on the web.

Also be sure to check out a newer article about SproutCore, a similar Javascript framework already released and in use in Apple's MobileMe platform.

Objective-J website

280Slides Application

Ajaxian Interview with 280 North team

With the introduction of Spaces in Mac OS X Leopard, the community mourned the loss of Virtue, a wonderful virtual desktop manager for Panther and Tiger. However, Tony has been hard at work since December 2007 I’ve learned, bringing the features missing from Leopard’s virtual desktops implementation to Leopard with a new application called HyperSpaces.

HyperSpaces boasts such features as named spaces, desktop labels, different desktop pictures and desktop tinting. It makes heavy use of Leopards Core Animation and Core Image to beautifully let you organize your work. Currently in a private beta, check out the HyperSpaces website to register for a notification when HyperSpaces comes out in public beta shortly.

Related Links:

CocoaBots Software

Tony Arnold | Lead HyperSpaces Developer

Cocoia Blog | Creating the HyperSpace Icon

Today saw the official release of a new kid on the FTP block: Flow, from Extended Mac Software .

Flow is exciting for a few reasons. First, it’s Leopard only. This means that the interface is super slick (lickable as the developer describes it). Views are animated and everything is simply gorgeous and simple to use. Leopard technologies such as Quicklook are also employed in the app. Quicklook files from your servers!

The first thing you’ll notice when launching Flow, is that it just feels right. It’s super responsive and fits in perfectly with the Leopard UI. Complete with tabs and a simplistic and intuitive interface, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.

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I don’t believe that I’ve really ever seriously discussed automative matters on the site before, but since I made a major purchase about two months ago and bought a new car, I thought I’d share my experiences with others in the same situation.

First off, I was searching for about the cheapest thing with four wheels, while still being stylish and fun to drive. In my quest for my first new car, I seriously looked at the Toyota Yaris and the Honda Fit as about the only other affordable options. The Mazda 3 Hatchback as well as the VW Rabbit are two beautiful pieces of machinery, but were out of my price range.

The 1.8L engine coupled with the 6 speed manual transmission makes the Versa a much more thrilling car than either the Yaris or the Fit. Quick acceleration makes for fun city driving or agility to pass, and 6th gear allows for easy and quiet interstate driving. Gas mileage is rated slightly lower (about 31MPG) than the competitors, but performance and fun was more important in this little car compared to a few extra miles per gallon.

Overall, the Versa has a nice feature set. With a base price around 12,500, features such as air conditioning and a CD player are included. There are of course several options available, but I only opted for the Power package, which included some random items as well as power locks/windows and cruise. The sound system is astounding as far as I’m concerned. The cabin is filled with sound and retains quality even with lots of bass.

I’m not a fan of the sedan version, but I love the hatchback I bought. It’s a thrill to drive and has all the features I wanted in my first car, minus one. I would have liked to have an audio input jack in the car, but that was only available with the SE model.

Nissan Versa Website

I’ve had my iPhone for about 3 weeks now and I talk discuss the pros/cons and overall thoughts on the phone. I also take a look at Installer.app for hacking the phone and share what’s new in the v1.1.1 update released this week and what is missing from the update as well.

Music this week is “Better Than Me” by Hinder.

 

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Yesterday was a very surprising day in the Apple community for several reasons, not the least for the ugly new iPod Nanos. But I’m skipping ahead of myself.

First off, there were tons of new products introduced that fulfilled many of the rumors circulating the event. The biggest announcement of the day was the new iPod Touch. Basically, it’s a stripped down iPhone, but not in a bad way. The iPod Touch has the wonderful multi-touch screen that displays video and all your media beautifully and because of that is the first ‘full-screen’ iPod, even though there have been rumors about this for years now. The new iPod Touch also features Wi-Fi, letting you browse the web with Safari and download music directly from iTunes via the new iTunes Wi-Fi Store. You can grab one in any color you like, as long as it’s black and there are 8GB and 16GB versions with impressive battery life.

There were also new regular iPods released, albeit re-branded under the iPod Classic name. These new iPods feature interface enhancements, such as CoverFlow, longer battery life and a new all-metal enclosure that seems pretty sexy. The updated iPod Nano is sadly enough the “fatty” circulating the web a few weeks ago. It is smaller and slim, but because of a bigger display to allow the Nano to finally play back video, it looks really fat. The colors aren’t that attractive either, but they may appear better in person. There are also new iPod Shuffles, available in four new colors.

iPhone Update

The iPhone didn’t see a new product release, but is still causing a stir because of yesterday’s keynote. Because Apple released the iPod Touch, with it’s sleek design, built-in Wi-Fi and multi-touch display, Apple lowered the price of the iPhone by 200 USD. So instead of a 4GB version at 499 and a 8GB at 599, the iPhone comes in a 8GB version at 399. Very impressive price dive indeed, just to keep it competitive with the new iPod. However, this led to lots of very unhappy early-adopter iPhone customers and Steve Jobs released a letter to the public today on the reasons for the price cuts and offering 100 USD in Apple Store credit in compensation to the loyal Apple customers. Overall, a very nice way to deal with an angry/adoring public Steve!

On the iPhone note, if you’re thinking about buying one, now is still a good time. I just orded a 4GB version (discontinued) for 299USD. That’s a steal as I’m concerned, and brand new from the Apple Store, not refurbished or anything. So, in about 24 hours I’ll have an iPhone and I’ll be reporting back to everyone shortly.

Read Jobs’ letter to iPhone Customers

So I finally had the opportunity to play on an iPhone this past weekend, and it was an experience.  I wasn’t caught up in the hype  around the iPhone until recently when Apple posted some videos online about using the phone.  After viewing those, I decided that I wanted to play on one myself and see if it was as great as it seemed.

I went to my local Apple Store and waited for a few minutes so I could get to on of the eight or ten iPhones available on display.  Just picking the phone up from the dock and sliding your finger across the screen to unlock it was a wonderful experience.  The device is superbly made, the screen is gorgeous, and all the flicking and pinching and tapping works like a charm.  I even believe that the keyboard would be easy to get used to after using it for a few more hours.  And it is the perfect video iPod with that gorgeous screen!!

The only thing I would have liked to try out (I played with everything, even the YouTube app) was making an actual call, just to hear how loud and clear the call would be.  Other than that, and the price point, I would have bought one in a second as it was perfect in all respects.

And as a delightful sidenote, the website worked perfectly on the iPhone, though it was a tad slow to load, even on the Wi-Fi at the Apple Store.  If any of you out there have iPHones and would like to share some thoughts, I’d love to hear them.

Jobs faced a very tough audience this past Monday as he delivered his keynote speech to over 5000 attendees at Apple’s annual World Wide Developers Conference. With the previous announcement of the iPhone and the delay for Leopard, everyone was wondering what Jobs would pull out of his box of tricks this time.

Sadly enough, this WWDC wasn’t quite as exciting as we’d been led to believe. At last year’s conference, I was thrilled with several of these features and spent a week in hands-on sessions learning about the technologies. Therefore, most of this was a repeat for me. I had still held out hope for the “secret” features to be announced. There were a few new features announced, but nothing that blew me away like I was expecting. However, Leopard is a huge release and should thrive for several years. It will really shine once we start seeing applications that are Leopard-only. The possibilities are simply amazing. Let’s discuss some of the finer points of Leopard.

Multicore Support

This is a major improvement for all Intel Mac users. Even first generation Macbook users and all the early Intel adopters should see performance gains in Leopard. Tiger was designed to run on one-core processors, which was fine at the time. However, all Intel Macs have at least 2 cores, with the high-end “Ocho” Mac Pro having 8 all together. Can you see the reasoning here? With Leopard optimized to make the best use of all those cores, and new ways for developers to further improve their programs (read more about NSOperation and NSOperationQueue ), Leopard should see a significant performance improvement.

Safari 3 for Windows

I’m not sure if Safari 3 for Windows is a “secret” feature of Leopard or not. I’m actually using the beta on Windows right now to write this article and so far it has behaved itself rather nicely. The attention to detail in making Safari for Windows just like Safari on Mac is incredible. Even the contextual menu (right-click) gives you the same options, such as “Save Image to Desktop”. I mean, that’s just crazy.

Boot Camp

Most were hoping for Jobs to announce some amazing virtualization technology built right in to Leopard. I’m rather glad that this approach wasn’t taken for a few reasons. First, there are already two options on the market today: Parallels and VMWare. Parallels has proven they are dedicated to providing new features and constantly improving the software. I love Apple, but if they incorporated virtualization into Leopard, the updates would be few and far between when compared to Parallels. Just check out Parallels new 3.0 release to get what I mean.

What Jobs did tell us is that Boot Camp will allow you to switch between Windows and Leopard faster. Quick example: If you’re in Leopard and need to switch to Windows, be sure to use the “Restart in Windows” option from the Apple Menu. This will place Leopard into a hibernating state and, if you’ve previously used Windows, should start Windows from where you left off. This will make the process much more relatable to “Suspending” a virtual machine in Parallels.

New Desktop

The redesigned Desktop is touted as the number one feature for Leopard. However, I don’t see anything revolutionary or amazing about it.

• The Menu Bar has a new look. It’s very comparable to the trashy-translucent taskbar in Vista. I’m not excited, but I’ll put my concerns aside until I see it in person.
• The Dock has seen a facelift. Your icons now sit on a silver background that reflects any window behind it, making it look 3D. Might look cool, but is that really a feature?
• No blue background. I’m very sad. For me, the Mac experience has always included a new, cool Aqua background with every major release. Jobs explicitly stated that no one ever uses these and it’s a waste of time. I like them Steve!
• Anyone else notice that the hard drive icon wasn’t on the Desktop. Very minimalist look.
• Stacks. I’m actually fairly excited about this new feature. Basically, it’s a way to organize your files and preview the contents in a cool new way, without opening a Finder window. This was originally rumored to be included in Panther, then in Tiger, and now in Leopard. Nice to see it finally made it in. All the demos show the stacks being used in the Dock. I wonder if we’ll be able to use them other places. I love the concept, but won’t use it that much if I have to use them only in the Dock.

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AppFresh is a new application available that lets you easily keep track of the updates available for all your applications on your Mac. Nice interface and it integrates with IUseThis.com too! Features will certainly be added as it’s still in development, but very promising and useful little app all the same.

Download AppFresh here.

Read about Pixelmator here.

 

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Joost is a new application for Mac and PC that allows you to watch the TV programs you want, the way you want it, on your computer. With a super cool interface and instant playback, the Joost beta shows amazing potential for taking it’s place as my TV solution. Listen in to the review here.

Read more about Joost and how to get an invite here.

View some screenshots here.

Be sure to participate in the discussion in the Message Boards as well.

 

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