Features Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Interview: Olivia Broadfield on Macs, apps and DIY music making

by Matt Tinsley (Dec 14th, 2011)

You've probably not heard of UK based singer songwriter Olivia Broadfield before, but chances are you've heard her music at some point, especially if you watch a lot of TV. Songs from her debut album, Eyes Wide Open (released in 2009), reached over 50 TV placements on shows like The Hills, ...

Daily iPad App: Boinx iStopMotion brings stop motion animation to iOS

by Steven Sande (Dec 13th, 2011)

Boinx Software is one of my favorite Apple development companies. I use their Boinx TV app to produce TUAW TV Live every week, and all of our onsite video from Macworld Expo 2011 went through Boinx TV. Their Fotomagico software has been a slideshow favorite for years, and their You Gotta See ...

Logitech's Fold-Up Keyboard brings comfortable typing to the iPad 2

by Steven Sande (Dec 12th, 2011)

If there's a complaint I have about the many keyboard folio cases for the iPad, it's that the keyboard is sized to match the long dimension of the device. What that means is that the keyboard is usually quite cramped, and a fast touch-typist like me finds that he or she is constantly making ...

Thunderbolt devices are still irritatingly thin on the ground

by Richard Gaywood (Dec 11th, 2011)

Apple's announcement of Thunderbolt on Feb 24th was greeted by excitement, as Mac users became aware of the tantalising possibilities of this new high-speed port. There's lots of things Thunderbolt can do that were simply not possible before -- driving multiple external displays from a single ...

5 iOS Apps for Skyrim

by Kelly Hodgkins (Dec 9th, 2011)

Skyrim is an action, role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios that's filled with magic, potions, and dragon shouts. The game follows the main character's quest to defeat Alduin and the other dragons that returned to Skyrim. It's the fifth installment in the Elder Scroll series and ...

Amazon introduces $6 million Select program for exclusive Kindle authors

by Erica Sadun (Dec 9th, 2011)

Yesterday, Amazon introduced Kindle Direct Publishing Select (KDP), featuring a multi-million dollar seed fund. KDP Select allows authors to earn royalties by lending out their books through Amazon's Prime Kindle Owners Lending Library. Authors who choose to participate will share in a ...

Holiday Gift Guide: Docks

by Megan Lavey-Heaton (Dec 8th, 2011)

Welcome to TUAW's 2011 Holiday Gift Guide! We're here to help you choose the best gifts this holiday season, and once you've received your gifts we'll tell you what apps and accessories we think are best for your new Apple gear. Stay tuned every weekday from now until the end of the year for our ...

You're the Pundit: Is in-app purchasing out of control?

by Erica Sadun (Dec 8th, 2011)

When it comes to forecasting the next big thing, we turn to our secret weapon: the TUAW braintrust. We put the question to you and let you have your go at it. Today's topic is in-app purchasing, or IAP for short. We've been having a house debate recently about the proper role of IAP in game ...

OnLive iPad app delivers console-quality gaming, custom touch controls

by Mike Schramm (Dec 7th, 2011)

OnLive is one of the most impressive gaming options out there -- it's a cloud gaming service with the games actually 'playing' on remote hardware. That may sound clunky, but it works like a charm. Instead of running the games from a local executable on your PC, Mac or console system (as you ...

Apple sweeps PCWorld satisfaction survey

by Steven Sande (Dec 7th, 2011)

Despite the occasional report of issues with new models, most Macs tend to be quite reliable. Most Mac users intuitively feel that they're getting a quality machine for their money, and now the PCWorld 2011 Reliability and Service Survey validates that feeling. Apple desktop computers (iMac, ...

Talkcast tonight: The silly season

by Michael Rose (Dec 4th, 2011)

It's time again for the TUAW Talkcast! We'll be live on our usual TalkShoe meeting place, podcast fates and bandwidth permitting, starting at 10 pm Eastern time. When the tech news cycle goes into holiday hibernation mode between Thanksgiving and New Year's, we often see the emergence of some ...

Why Siri is like skeuomorphic UIs: the magic is just skin deep

by Richard Gaywood (Dec 1st, 2011)

By now you've probably heard of the widely reported case of Siri's alleged pro-life stance. Walking the dogs this morning, I thought through what I hoped would be an interesting blog post about what I feel this means about Apple and our relationship to technology. I see an interesting link here ...

Snap and send photos from your iPhone to Ceiva the networked picture frame

by Erica Sadun (Dec 1st, 2011)

Right now for about a hundred bucks, you can buy a Ceiva picture frame. This device allows you to email pictures to a physical photo frame, allowing you to connect your digital lifestyle to your loved ones. If you have parents or grandparents who don't spend their days hunched over email and ...