Filed under: iPod Family, iTS, World wide web Tools, iPhone

Here’s something to look forward to. The band Snow Patrol have announced the pending release of their first “interactive album,” A Hundred Million Suns, for iPhone and iPod touch via the iTunes Store.

So what’s “interactive” about it? According to the band, users will be able to access content like lyrics, additional images and artwork plus video from the iPhone and iPod’s touchscreen. The album’s project manager called it “…a digital booklet that will take you into the videos and content.”

Sounds like a fun way for musical artists to take advantage of touch technology. Expect A Hundred Million Suns to be released in October.

[Via Steve Rubel]

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Filed under: Internet, Internet Tools

Google Gears has been around for Firefox on the Mac for quite a while. However, Safari users have been left in the cold. Google Gears grants you to access certain Google services, most notably Docs and Reader, offline (as well as other offline-enabled web services like Remember The Milk). This week, a beta for Safari has become available.

With Google Gears, for example, you can view all of your Google Docs offline — and even edit them (word processing docs only, spreadsheets and presentations are viewable but not editable). When you connect back to the internet, you will be able to sync the changes back to Google.

We’re glad that Google has finally seen the light and released a version for our Safari-using counterparts. To make Google Gears work with Safari, you’ll need to download and install the Google Gears package for Mac OS X. Once installed, navigate to a “gears enabled” page, you will be able to use the Google Gears system. Remember, this is a beta and we’ve heard there might be issues if you’ve tweaked Safari in certain ways.

Oh, and there appears to be limited support for Fluid, which is nice.

[via the Apple blog]

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Filed under: Software, Internet Tools

Panic has released Coda 1.5, a free update to my favorite all-in-one web development application.

Coda 1.5 adds several major new features, including find-and-replace across multiple files and a fully-integrated Subversion client.

Also included in the update is a user-customizable bookshelf, which grants you to specify any given website as a “book.” You can also enter a sample search URL with a wildcard character, and command-click on terms to look for them in the book you created. Syntax highlighting has also been improved, as well as performance running under Leopard. Full release notes are available, too.

The update is free for all registered Coda users, and $99 for new users. Discounts are available for registered Transmit owners, too.

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Filed under: World wide web Tools, Graphic Design

A new tool for designers (or anyone who needs client input on proofs) is premiering this day. ProofHQ is a web-based application for uploading, annotating, commenting and approving proofs with controlled access for multiple clients. It’s not Mac-specific, but it’s worth mentioning considering the huge portion of Mac users (and TUAW readers) who fit into the creative/design category. It doesn’t work on the iPhone, (why would you want to upload and proof on an iPhone, really?), but it’s fully Safari-compatible and Mac-friendly.

Using ProofHQ’s upload page or the Java-based Uploadr, you can send PDF, PSD, GIF, TIFF, JPG, BMP, Word and Powerpoint files and have them converted into Flash-based proofs at full quality. There’s currently no support for Pages or Keynote documents, but you can export PDF versions and upload those. PDF files can be multi-page, and vector support is on the way. Comments and various levels of approval can be added from the viewer. You receive a public url, private url and embed code. The embed code makes it easy to incorporate ProofHQ into other collaboration systems such as Basecamp or Central Desktop. There’s also direct API integration with Basecamp. New clients who access the proof can subscribe to it without signing up for ProofHQ, making it a less confusing system for clients than some of the other available options.

14 day free trials of all plans are available which allow full access to features. Plans range from the free personal account and the $29USD/month Solo plan up to the enterprise-level Corporate plan at $499USD/month.

[via Download Squad]

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Filed under: Software, World wide web Tools

RapidWeaver is our “favourite” WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) web design tool that gives you more flexibility than what iWeb. Realmac Software, the developer of RapidWeaver, has updated the software to version 4.1, and included some new features that are worth a look, including:

• QuickLook support is now standard
• .Mac references have been changed to show “MobileMe“
• Images pasted into a Styled Text area keep their names as specified in Finder
• Page inspector updates when/if a page changes
• PPC support for iMedia Browser

Owners of RapidWeaver 4.0 and 3.6 are eligible for a free update to version 4.1. You can see all of the updates on the RapidWeaver Version History page. RapidWeaver 4 is available from the Realmac website for $79 (US). There is a free demo available as well.

[via Ars Technica]

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Filed under: OS, Internet Tools, Developer

Apple has started seeding developers with Safari 4.0 preview 2. You may recall that the last developer preview was issued in June after the WWDC.

Safari 4.0 DP2 has a build number of 40A12. Just like the last build, this edition scored a perfect 100/100 on the Acid3 test. Developers with access to the Apple Connect website can download Safari 4.0 preview 2 for Mac OS X Leopard, Tiger, and for Windows.

The new version gives users the option to save web pages as an application that can be launched independently of Safari (similar in concept to the SSBs Prism and Fluid). There’s no word on when Safari 4.0 might be released to the public.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

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Filed under: Analysis / Thought, Hardware, Internet Tools

Sure, Apple claims the 3G is fast, but with all the problems with 3Gs connecting all over the world, just how fast is it really? The folks at Wired.com have decided to find out, and they need your help. They’d like you to test your iPhone at the TestmyiPhone.com network speed testing site, and then hit up their global ZeeMap to register your speed.

Instructions are over on their website, and they’re testing both Edge and 3G upload and download speeds, so you’ll have to run three tests total. You’ll also have to sign up for a ZeeMap account.

The eventual payoff will be a relatively clear look at iPhone speeds around the world. Wired states that they’ll eventually average global data, but there’s a lot of things that could be done with data like this — heatmaps? Speed per carrier? Once they get a good set of figures together, there’s probably all kinds of things that can be done.

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Filed under: Software, Internet Tools, Leopard, Beta Beat

KavaMovies is an interesting database application aimed squarely at all the motion picture fanatics out there. It grants you to catalog all the movies you have seen, own, hope to see or want to buy. It connects to on the internet sources like the IMDB and Amazon to download cover art and other information.

Once you’ve entered your selections, KavaMovies offers suggestions based on your collection. Finally, it also keeps track of video files already on your Mac and facilitates downloading from iTunes or via bittorrent.

KavaMovies is $35US and requires Mac OS X Leopard. It’s presently in beta and a demo is available for download.

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Filed under: Internet Tools, App Store

If you were underwhelmed by the initial release of Evernote’s client app for the iPhone (”Hey, I can’t edit these notes — what’s up with that?”) you might be a bit happier now that version 1.2 has been cleared for takeoff in the App Store [store link]. The geotagging, photo-note-taking, audio-recording backup brain now gets editing features on the device, longer audio clips, bug fixes and more.

One feature that’s been in demand from iPhone users without unlimited data plans is a failsafe switch to prevent note synchronization unless the device is using a WiFi connection; it’s present in this version, and it seems like a clever adaptation to the multi-network nature of the iPhone (of course, iPod touch users don’t know from this 3G business, and Evernote works fine for them as well). You can download the updated version or check for updates in the App Store to get it.

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Filed under: Cool tools, Odds and ends, Freeware, World wide web Tools

You know if the App Store has been out for a month and we’re posting about a web app, it has to be a good one. Google announced late last week that they’ve brought the terrific Google Translate service over to the iPhone. Of course, whenever you travel internationally, roaming charges (sometimes large ones) can come into play, but if you find yourself tooling around Spain and need more phrases than