Numerous News Outlets Reporting iPhone Tethering Soon

AppleInsider, among others, is reporting that "AT&T Mobility chief executive Ralph De La Vega has disclosed that a carrier-sanctioned method of using the iPhone as a 3G modem for notebooks will be announced soon." The news came during an interview with De La Vega by TechCrunch's Michael Arrington. De La Vega stopped short of providing any details about the plan including pricing.

Tethering has long been a no brainer for the iPhone, after all it is arguably the most advanced device of it's kind and AT&T offers tethering for it's Blackberry customers for an additional $30 per month. Now that the iPhone is capable of 3G speeds it's only more so of a no brainer.

Earlier this year NetShare by NullRiver was pulled from the iTunes App store because it enabled iPhone tethering. AT&T sited that too many iPhone users trying to tether their laptop with the phone would overextend their network without having to pay any additional fees.

MacWorld Reporting No New Products For The Holiday Season

MacWorld's Jim Dalrymple is reporting that Apple has no plans for any hardware updates during the holiday season despite rumors stating the opposite. Dalrymple quotes Apple spokesman Bill Evans: "our holiday lineup is set". A number of Apple related rumor sites were reporting that Apple would release new iMacs and update Mac Minis. Also rumored were Mac Pros set to debut at MacWorld Expo in January.

So kiddies, looks like there won't be any updated or new Apple goodies under your Christmas tree this year. Don't let that stop Santa from leaving a new iPhone, iPod, or Mac in your stocking, however. Better get to writing that letter to Santa ASAP.

Vector Designer 1.4.6 Released

VectorDesigner 1.4.6

TweakerSoft $69.95

TweakerSoft announced today the immediate availability of Vector Designer 1.4.6. The new version includes support for the new MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air multi gesture touchpad. TweakerSoft also says that the new version squashes some minor bugs and improves performance. TweakerSoft bills VectorDesigner as "the perfect application for vector drawings, diagrams and illustrations, raster image handling, filtering and color correction. Out of the box, it offers everything users need to create professional level vector artwork."

By leveraging the full capabilities of Quartz and Core Image, VectorDesigner retains the feel of traditional drawing applications and features a wide assortment of tools, including smart shapes, rectangles, ovals, rounded rectangles, polygons, stars, bezier creation and editing, as well as raster to bezier conversion.

Combine shapes using unite, subtraction, xor and intersection boolean tools. Text can be fitted inside a shape or along a path preserving all the text editing capability of Mac OS X. All filters and composition may be applied non-destructively to shapes and images. A particularly useful feature is the integrated flickr browser; search texture and images by tags, or by color and download them directly inside the document.

VectorDesigner Features:

* Smart Shapes
* Bezier Creation and Editing
* Text inside shape
* Text along Path
* Layers Support
* Raster To Vector Conversion
* Native Core Image and Quartz Composer Image filters
* Image adjustment panel
* Booleans Operations
* iSight integration
* Scanner Integration
* Flickr Browser
* EPS and PDF import
* SVG Import (WebKit based)
* iLife photo Browser
* QuickLook Support

Minimum Requirements

* Mac OS X Version 10.4 or higher
* Universal Binary for PowerPC and Intel
* G4, G5 or Intel Processor
* 900 Mhz or faster
* 512 MB Memory or higher
* 8.9 MB Hard Drive space

You can get your of VectorDesigner for $69.95 but the update is free for existing owners. VectorDesigner is a pretty slick app and we use it here at AYAAW all the time. It brings an affordable vector graphics editor to non-designers that's simple and intuitive to use. TweakerSoft also provides some very nicely done podcasts that help new users learn to use VectorDesigner. Head on over to TweakerSoft to download a demo of VectorDesigner and then get started by subscribing to the podcast.

Netfix Opens Beta Watch Instantly to Most Intel Mac Users

Netflix has opened it's Microsoft Silverlight based "Watch Instantly" option to most Intel Mac users. If you're interested in participating in the program your system needs to meet the following:

• Intel Base Mac
• Tiger 10.4.8 or later
• 1GB of RAM
• Safari 3 or Firefox 2

Netflix notes that this is a beta player and if you opt in, you may experience problems watching movies on your computer. They also point out that some movies aren't available to watch instantly (we're willing to bet most aren't available) and that if you join the beta program you will no longer be able to watch instantly using Windows Media Player. Ok that last was directed at Windows user but we figured we should probably include it anyways just in case someone out there is using Boot Camp or virtualization software to Watch Instantly on their Mac.

So, if you're into watching movies on your Mac, your options for watching streaming content legally just got a boost. Check out Netfix's blog for more details and if you want to jump in here's the opt in link.

Griffin Announces iTrip Auto for iPhone

Yesterday, Griffin Technology announced the availability of iTrip Auto for iPhone.

The iTrip Auto simply plugs into the dock connector of the iPhone and offers high-quality audio, intuitive controls and Griffin's trademark station-scanning feature, SmartScan. SmartScan makes setup and operation nearly automatic -- it seeks out the best FM frequencies available, then selects the best of the best for use in transmitting the music to the car's FM stereo.

iTrip Auto automatically optimizes output volume, and the user can select stereo or mono modes for best-quality audio. Listeners can control speaker volume from the car stereo controls, eliminating the need to look at the touchscreen to adjust volume level, and features a large, easy-to-read backlit LCD screen for quick, easy reference on the road.

Simple, one cable design combines easy-to-use FM transmitter and auto charger for iPhone

Plugs into the 12V auto power outlet and charges the iPhone as it plays

Power switch with 3-color charge indicator

Save frequencies to four presets; uses any FM frequency from 88.1 to 107.9

Compatible with: iPhone 3G, iPhone, iPod touch (2G), iPod touch, iPod nano (4G), iPod nano (3G), iPod classic, iPod nano (2G), iPod with video (5G), iPod nano (1G)

For more info see the full press release at Griffins website (although we pretty much copied and pasted the full text) or visit the iTrip Auto's web page. We've never used this type of auto audio adapter before so if you have any experience with these kind of set ups let us know. Either post a comment or fire off an email to AYAAW.

Griffin Announces iTalk for iPhone & iPod and iTalk Sync for Mac

On Tuesday, Griffin Technology announced the availability iTalk voice recording app for iPhone and the iPod Touch. Griffin also announced the immediate availability of iTalk Sync, the desktop companion app to iTalk.

Griffin iTalk turns iPhone or iPod touch into an ultra-mobile, super-compact recording unit. This two-part app allows users to create high-quality recordings, and then transfer the recordings to a Mac or PC. Users will appreciate the one-touch recording controls, and the ability to pause/resume recordings and even append to previous recordings on the fly. iTalk is a two-part software application.

Download the iTalk app from the iTunes App Store and install it on your iPhone or iPod touch, for mobile recording and playback. Its companion program, iTalk Sync, runs on your computer to transfer recordings from iPod or iPhone for editing and sharing. iTalk Sync connects to your iPod touch or iPhone wirelessly via your local Wi-Fi network, and makes transfers a snap: just drag the recordings from iTalk Sync's list and drop them onto your desktop. Recordings are saved as high-quality AIFF files, playable in iTunes and most other media players.

High-quality handheld recording

Easy, convenient user interface and controls

Drag and drop file transfers wirelessly to your computer

User-selectable Good/Better/Best sample rate

Pause/resume and append to existing recordings on the fly

Recording on 2nd gen iPod touch works with the addition of Apple's iPhone headset, or with Griffin's updated TuneBuds Mobile and SmartTalk mic/control solutions

For more info see the full press release at Griffin's website.

For a limited time Griffin is giving both apps away free. They don't say how long the "limited time" is so if you want a pretty decent voice recording app combo for your iPhone or iPod Touch and you don't want to pay for it, download them both while you can. There is a small ad that displays across the bottom of two of iTalks 3 screens so perhaps Griffin is testing this as an ad supported app. The ad is very small and unobtrusive so don't let that stop you from trying it out.

Both apps are very intuitive and using them went without a hitch. Syncing via iTalk Sync was painless other than having to turn on Wi Fi on the iPhone. When the app store first opened I immediately purchased nFinity's QuickVoice and it's desktop companion app for the then special introductory price of $9.99 for both. QuickVoice has been a nice app and now nFinity is giving away the iPhone/iPod touch app. You still have to buy the companion app which is currently priced at $14.95 (nFInity's QuickVoice PC page says the regular price is $25). QuickVoice PC is certainly a more full featured app than iTalk Sync. In fact the only thing you can really do with iTalk Sync is wirelessly sync with your iPhone and then drag and drop your recordings to your Mac. iTalk and iTalk Sync are free, however, so they'll no doubt give the QuickVoice combo and all the rest of the voice recording apps on the iTunes app store a run for their money.

Oh and one more thing. Although the iPhone version of QuickVoice works well and has some pretty cool features (upside down mode for when you want to point the iPhone mic away from you) I can't get the desktop app to import any of my recordings. I go through the motions and it does import something but for the life of me I can't figure out where they go. Add to that the seriously ugly interface and OS X 2002 feel and the desktop app just seems like a bad port from a Windows version. I've filed a support request (there is a serious lack of documentation with the desktop app) so hopefully nFInity will be able to help me figure this thing out. We'll see....

In the mean time check out the iTalk & iTalk Sync screen shots below and the QuickVoice shots below that.

iTalk Sync

QuickVoice iPhone App

QuickVoice Desktop App

Jon Brown Designs Launches Mac Advertising Network

Jon Brown Designs announced today the launch of a free banner and textual ad network for Mac users only: Mac Advertising Network. The service provides a way for Mac related websites to only display Mac related ads. The service is free and allows users to exchange ads with other Mac Advertising Network users.

Mac enthusiasts may advertise their blog, podcast, application and more. Anyone may sign up to the service to place their banner or textual ads. The minimal trade off is adding a banner (or textual ad) to their site. Websites that are on the network will in turn display their ad on rotational basis. The service is free to all comers, and all ads are closely monitored. Only high quality ads related to the Mac community are approved.

"Mac Advertising Network was created out of a barrage of questions from others who were seeking alternative means to advertise their Mac related service or product", cites Brown. "I myself have purchased several apps from ads found on other websites. Hopefully Mac users will join together and help spread the news about all the great websites, apps and more for the Mac community." This is an amazing opportunity for all of Mac Fans.

For more info see the full press release over at prMac. AYAAW signed up immediately. Hey, free is free and you can't buy that at any price! Hopefully you'll soon be seeing the AYAAW moniker on all your favorite Mac sites. Well maybe you won't be all that thrilled about it but we sure will be!