Our big news this week is a 50-percent-off Take Control ebook sale to celebrate the unveiling of the new Take Control account management system. In between dealing with technical issues related to that launch, we found time to examine the noteworthy releases of Skype 2.0.1 and iBooks 1.1.2 for iOS. Also this week, Glenn Fleishman wrote about Apple donating the MacPaint and QuickDraw source code to the Computer History Museum, Chris Pepper contributed a warning about how using a Bluetooth keyboard with an iOS device can have unexpected results, and a punchy Jeff Carlson turned Apple’s record-setting Q3 2010 financial results into a quiz. The issue is anchored by a pair of articles by Matt Neuburg and Adam, looking first at how iOS handles document mapping and how this causes headaches for people trying to serve Internet-based files to iOS device users. Finally, don’t miss the DealBITS discount on PDF Shrink! Other notable software releases this week include 1Password 3.3, Wiki Server Update 1.0, Firefox 3.6.8, and iTunes 9.2.1.
To celebrate the opening of our new Take Control account management system, we're having a 50-percent-off sale on all ebooks through 3 August 2010. It's a great opportunity to stock up on all sorts of helpful titles about the Mac and iPad.
Skype 2.0.1 for iOS brings background call continuation, notification of incoming calls when Skype isn't the foreground app, and higher call quality. Skype also reversed a previous announcement, and will not charges for calls placed over 3G.
iBooks 1.1.1 fixes one glaring error and adds a few minor features, but still lags behind GoodReader in basic PDF functionality. iBooks 1.1.2, released shortly afterwards, fixes a problem with updating iBooks.
See who won copies of PDF Shrink 4.5 in last week's DealBITS drawing, and if you're not among them, read on to save 20 percent on Apago's PDF compression software.
Through the good offices of Steve Jobs, Apple has donated the source code to the original MacPaint and QuickDraw software that introduced the world to graphical user interfaces, onscreen drawing, and image creation. The code is available for review at the Computer History Museum.
Apple's welcome support for Bluetooth keyboards with the iPad and, in iOS 4, for recent models of the iPhone and iPod touch brings with it an unfortunate risk: if you regularly travel with a paired Bluetooth keyboard, be careful that it doesn't drain your device's battery, lock you out, or erase your data.
Are you current with Apple's quarterly finances? Take our friendly, informative quiz to learn all the details of the company's best-ever financial quarter.
A brief meditation on the mysteries of why it's so hard to know what will happen when you try to open a document on an iOS device.
Trying to distribute Take Control ebooks directly to iOS device users is proving difficult, because iOS’s handling of how apps open specific document types is haphazardly implemented. Whether you shop for ebooks or are just curious to know more about what publishers are thinking these days, read on!
Notable software releases this week include 1Password 3.3, Wiki Server Update 1.0, Firefox 3.6.7, and iTunes 9.2.1.
The black iPhone 4 will become available in 17 more countries this week, while the white iPhone 4 will now be delayed everywhere until later this year. In other iOS device news, the iPad will be tested for use in academia by quite a few colleges and universities, the joke Antenn-aid lets you solve your iPhone 4 antenna troubles with a custom Band-Aid, the "Don't Hold It Wrong" blog points out holding instructions from other mobile phones, and if you want an iPhone 4 case for free, you can now order it via a free iPhone app. Finally, we recommend you read about how Safari can reveal your personal information via AutoFill, along with Jeffrey Rosen's excellent article about the ramifications of data persistence on the Internet.