MacRumors has been given the opportunity to provide an exclusive preview of an unreleased and unannounced application from Ambrosia Software called WireTap Studio, due for first release later this month.
While WireTap Studio shares a name with WireTap Pro, it is an entirely new application with a broader range and appeal. The major feature of the original WireTap Pro application was the ability to selectively record audio from any Mac application and save it to a variety of formats. Uses ranged from recording Internet radio to ripping audio from DVDs. WireTap Studio promises to provide a more complete solution with tools to record, edit and manage your audio. A few standout features should make it particularly compelling for both amateurs and professionals who distribute audio over the Internet.
As a preview, we are simply touching on the major features of the application, and this shouldn't be seen as a review. I do think that the most compelling feature is the patent pending LivePreview technology, so if you read nothing else you should at least watch the video below. Beyond that, lossless editing and lossless format selection are also very attractive features.The Controller
The WireTap Studio Controller provides you with an "always on top" window that gives you access to many of the features of the application in a compact interface:
Controller
As you can see, two different sources can be selected. Either source can be an active application or an audio input device: microphone, iSight, Line In, etc. For example, podcasters can record from their microphone as well as a second application such as iTunes or Skype. This means you can perform over-the-Internet audio interviews or lay down a background track to your voice. Most useful, perhaps, is that each track can later be normalized independently, allowing you to calibrate the volumes to match:
Normalize volume on two different tracks
Audio can of course be recorded and exported in a variety of formats and qualities, including MP3, AAC, AIFC, AIFF, Apple Lossless and WAVE formats. You can choose from presets or specify exact parameters:
Preset formats
The Library
Recordings are organized in an iTunes-like library view, which can be organized into folders and searched by keywords/tags. Audio recordings can be distributed conveniently, simply by dragging the title to the appropriate icon on the bottom "Send to" toolbar. Ambrosia tells us that they will be including "iPhone" as an export option before the application is released.
Library view
LivePreview
Now, on to the good stuff. One challenge for audio distribution on the Internet is finding the sweet spot between file size and audio quality. To address this, WireTap Studio provides a new feature called LivePreview. LivePreview gives you realtime conversion of the source audio into any supported format. This allows you to preview encoding quality on the fly.
Describing LivePreview doesn't quite capture the ease and utility of the feature, so I encourage you to watch this QuickTime movie of LivePreview in action:
Audio starts about 25 seconds into the video. The audio source is a CD.
Lossless Recording and Editing
While changing audio encoding on the fly is nice, getting to change your mind is even better. Once audio has been recorded, the audio encoding decision that you make is not set in stone.
Under the hood, WireTap Studio records everything in a full-quality lossless format. For instance, if you use WireTap Studio to record off of a CD into a 64kbps MP3 file, you can later (days, weeks, etc...) change the format to 128kbps (or 320kbps) MP3 and see the expected gain in quality. The full uncompressed audio remains available to the software "behind the scenes" to allow format conversions to work as expected.
Another related feature is lossless editing. No matter how many changes you've made to the recording, you can always go back to the original recording (at the highest quality). This feature is similar to how Apple's iPhoto and Aperture applications work on digital photos, keeping the originals intact while you apply edits over time.
Other Features
- Timed recordings with Pre-recording actions and Post-recording actions - Scheduled recordings with auto wake from sleep and auto power on for the computer - Support for Audio Unit plug-ins - Automatically Crop Leading and Trailing Silence - Mark and Crop at Silence
WireTap Studio will be offered as shareware and is expected to be released later this month with upgrade options for existing WireTap Pro customers.
iPhoneAtlas notes that the iPod Touch keyboard offers a number of additional keyboard options than the current iPhone keyboard.
The iPod Touch provides keyboards in 14 different languages as well as the following formats:
QWERTY QWERTZ AZERTY QZERTY Japanese IME
Users can also switch between two or more keyboards with a special icon on the keyboard.
Apple is expected to provide an iPhone software update later this month to introduce the iTunes Wifi Store to iPhone users. With the plan to introduce international iPhone support soon, it would not be surprising if this additional keyboard support made its way into the coming update.
PCMag posts a review of the Apple iPod Touch, which is expected to be released later this month. The review is quite favorable and starts with:
The relatively hefty $300 and $400 price tags for 8 and 16 GB, respectively, don't bug me either. Why? This is probably the best portable media player ever made.
The author describes the iPod Touch as "much skinnier" than the iPhone, a bit shorter and a hair wider. They cover many of the features and focus on some of the new features introduced with the iPod Touch. The Wifi iTunes store appears to work quite well with a full iTunes experience in your hand. The Starbucks integration has not yet been activated (due October 2nd).
One new feature in the iPod Touch that was previously demonstrated in the Guided Tour video is the "double click" on the home button.
Pressing the only tactile button on the player twice makes music controls appear over whatever screen mode you happen to be inSafari, YouTube, etc. Even if the player is locked, double-clicking will bring up a set of music controls that features track information, play/pause, forward and backward within a playlist or album, a Music button to take you directly to the Now Playing screen, and a Close button to escape.
The review also provides a final answer on the editing abilities on the Touch. There is no email, and no way to edit or enter Calendar events. Contacts, however, can be edited on the iPod Touch. The review concludes favorably however:
At $300 and $400 for 8 and 16 GB, respectively, these are not cheap devices, especially considering the storage limitations. Still, factor in the slick interface, elegant Web browser, the beautiful glass display, the seamless integration of the WiFi music store, and the iPod touch is worth the price. No portable media player has ever done this much so easily, or looked so good doing it.
Update: Apple has posted a detailed Manual (PDF) for the iPod Touch.
Ringtonator provides a easy to use application which "converts" an AAC file into a Ringtone from iTunes' perspective.
The application modifies metatags based on a followup discovery by Cleverboy about what exactly distinguishes a Ringtone from a Song files in iTunes.
In essence, Apple introduced an additional tag-type that identifies a Ringtone. These tags can be modified by Atomic Parsley manually and should provide a relatively future-proof method to convert songs into Ringtones that iTunes recognizes and treats correctly.
I then took a file I'd recorded myself, and saved as an AAC, and applied the same "stik" metadata to the file using a program called Atomic Parsley. .... The program outputted the new file, and I double-clicked on the file. The file immediately appeared in my ringtone list, and after syncing, it appeared on my phone without one iota of complaint. --NONE.
Ringtonator is a Mac application, but Atomic Parsley is available for both Mac and Windows.
Update: MakeiPhoneRingtone from RogueAmoeba has been updated to use the same described technique to make Ringtones.
Apple 2.0 puts faith in a recent note by Gene Munster claiming that the pace of iPhone sales has tripled since the price break.
By Munster's reckoning, Apple and AT&T (T) were selling an average of 9,000 iPhones a day before the price reduction, which would have put their quarterly sales at 594,000 as of Sept. 5. The two companies had already sold 270,000 phones in the previous quarter. To reach 1 million by Sept. 9, they would have had to sell 136,000 more phones, or 27,000 a day -- a 200% increase.
It should be noted that Munster and other analysts were initially extremely bullish on early iPhone sales numbers, claiming that Apple had sold upwards of 500,000 on opening weekend. Such high expectations were unfounded, as Apple announced that 270,000 had been sold.
Munster's latest claims appear to be a little more thorough, with accompanying surveys of retail stores. Munster notes that such a large surge is not sustainable, and believes sales will stabilize at a 50% increase, or 1.28 million by the end of the quarter.
Apple released Logic Studio today. Logic Studio features Logic Pro 8, and introduces a new live performace application called MainStage. Logic Studio also includes Soundtrack Pro 2, Apple's professional audio post production software; Studio Instruments, made up of 40 pristine quality instruments; Studio Effects, with 80 professional effect plug-ins; a vast Studio Sound Library; and a powerful set of production utilities.
From the fun and intuitive GarageBand to the all new Logic Studio, there's never been a better time to be a musician on the Mac," said Rob Schoeben, Apple's vice president of Applications Product Marketing. "For less than $500, Logic Studio transforms the Mac into the most powerful musical instrument in the world."
Logic Express 8 was also introduced:
Logic Express 8 delivers the power, precision, and professional toolset of Logic Pro 8including a redesigned interface that allows musicians to write, record, edit, and mix with unparalleled speed and ease.
Update: Apple also announced a recent purchaser program. Those who purchased Logic 7 on or after August 1, 2007 are eligible for a free upgrade to Logic Studio ($9.95 shipping and handling).
The folks over at iPhone Dev Wiki posted a free SIM unlock tool for the iPhone. Similar to the other solutions, this software-only solution should allow you to SIM unlock your iPhone, allowing you to use any GSM cell phone carrier. In the U.S. this limits your alternative choice to T-Mobile (over AT&T), but in other countries, GSM carriers are far more common.
The software is being mirrored (Gizmodo mirror) by a number of locations along with downloadable source code. Tutorials are still being developed but some early instructions have become available. At this time the instructions are not very user-friendly, so casual users may want to wait until a more automated solution is published.
Apple has released Keyboard Software Update 1.2. Apple states that the update is intended to provide support for Apple's aluminum keyboard special features. The 35.3 MB update requires Mac OS 10.4.10.
In addition, Apple also released Compatibility Update for QuickTime 7.2, which promises increased compatibility with iLife. The 18.1 MB update requires Mac OS 10.3.9 or 10.4.9 or later and QuickTime 7.2.
GearLog relays some comments by Apples vice president of Hardware Product Marketing, Greg Joswiak.
As has been known, Joswiak confirms that the iPod Touch and iPhone use the same software platform -- "they're both running OS X on basically the same hardware".
The iPod Touch does not have Bluetooth (despite images floating around the internet) and there are no games coming for the iPod Touch for now.
Of interest, Joswiak comments on 3rd party application development:
Apple takes a neutral stance - they're not going to stop anyone from writing apps, and they're not going to maliciously design software updates to break the native apps, but they're not going to care if their software updates accidentally break the native apps either.
RogueAmoeba has posted a small Mac application that allows you to copy unprotected AAC files into your iTunes 7.4.1 Ringtones folder. This allows iTunes to sync these ringtones with your iPhone.
The free application appears to simply automate the step-by-step free iTunes Ringtone workaround that has been previously posted.
The application works as advertised and seems to work better than Applegazette's iRing which was an Applescript accomplishing the same task.
This solution, of course, may very well break in the next version of iTunes and only supports unprotected AAC files.
Apple has flipped the switch and activated Ringtone functionality in iTunes.
A new Ringtone view has appeared in the Library column on the left of iTunes, and under the Store menu, there is an option to "Create Ringtone".
If you try to create a ringtone with an arbitrary song, a dialog box pops up and simply says "You can create iPhone ringtones from many songs purchased from the iTunes Store" and does not allow you to convert the song.
If you choose a Purchased Song to create a Ringtone, you are first taken to the iTunes Store to accept the Terms & Conditions for Ringtone sales. If the song is amongst the 500,000 allowed to be converted into a Ringtone, you are taken to the ringtone editor:
As previously noted, you must pay $.99 to convert your song to a Ringtone. The number of songs that are available to be converted to Ringtones appears very limited, however, it appears they are still in the process of updating the iTunes store.
Note: You may have to add the "Ringtone" column to your View Options (Command-J).
One of the early criticisms of the Apple TV was that it was unable to purchase content without the use of iTunes on a Mac or PC.
We don't have any solid rumor-intelligence to claim that direct-purchasing from the iTunes store will indeed be added to the Apple TV, and in general dislike speculation in our articles at MacRumors. However, in this case the evidence seems to be clearly adding up to a future software update to Apple TV.
The advent of the WiFi iTunes Store on the iPod touch and soon for the iPhone is perhaps the single largest piece of evidence indicative of Apple's intentions. Also, users will remember Apple TV's 1.1 update contains a curious iTunes Store setting:
The setting appears to have little effect currently, leading to further the idea that the menu is meant for future purposes.
Note: While we were writing this story, LoopRumorsposted claiming to have received word from "reliable" sources that just such an update is coming.
Toshiba has announced a prototype 1.8" HDD that fits 120 GB on a single platter via a breakthrough called Discrete Track Recording (DTR). The drive uses the same form factor currently used in Apple's iPod classic.
Currently, Apple uses an 80 GB single-platter drive for its thinner model and a 160 GB dual-platter drive for its slightly thicker model. Toshiba's technology would allow single-platter models to achieve 120 GB densities, with a dual-platter option going as high as 240 GB.
Toshiba plans to begin mass producing the drives in 2009.
The $39.95 image editor's design goal was said to be "simplicity":
Don't let Acorn's size fool you; it's a powerful little guy. Fancy math to keep your pencil strokes from having sharp edges, squeezing all the performance out of your computer's GPU as possible, and simple innovations to make your life easier.
iPhoneSimFree.com is now offering their iPhone SIM unlocking software through specific retailers in Australia, Germany, Saudi Arabia and the U.S.
The U.S. retailer WirelessImports if offering the software for $99.
Gizmodo recently verified that the iPhoneSimFree solution with a video of the unlock process.
The retailer you buy the unlock from will load the unlock software directly onto your phone, which will check to see if your IMEI is "allowed" to be unlocked. If it is, the software will unlock the phonea process which took us approximately 2 or 3 minutes, as you can see in the video.
Based on notes by the resellers, the software is actually not yet available so they are simply taking preorders.
Builds 8S151 (PowerPC) and 8S2151 (Intel) feature a handful of additional fixes, including ones targeted at system hangs at shutdown when unmounting an NFS volume, audio drift glitches, incorrect size reporting on Sun Mass Storage Devices, and more.
However, the site notes that a handful of known issues indicates the build is still a few weeks away at best from general distribution.
