Posted by Erica Sadun on Mar 10, 2010 in
Apple Filed under: Apple
Filed under: Apple
Unit testing refers to a software validation methodology that allows programmers to test individual program units for correctness. It's been an ongoing question in the iPhone developer community as to whether the iPhone's view controller class is testable or not.
In response to these discussions, iPhone developer Jonah Williams has
written up a view controller unit testing how-to over at the
Carbon Five web blog. His write-up offers examples that show how to incorporate some best practices into your code.
Williams points out how broken NIB bindings are a common problem for iPhone OS applications. To address these issues, he regularly adds simple assertions that test that each IB outlet and action are set properly from inside his view controller class implementations. These assertions check that IBOutlet instance variables are not set to nil and that IBAction targets have been assigned, adding a layer of protection against broken bindings.
Another typical view controller issue involves responding to application memory warnings. To respond, he adds tests that ensure that each view-dependent property gets correctly released and re-created as views unload and then later reload. By building these into test methods, he can execute this behavior on demand, and ensure that the sequence will execute flawlessly in real world conditions.
Finally, Williams discusses view controller interdependencies. Often instances are tightly intertwined, with objects acting as clients for each other. For example, a simple table view controller, living within a navigation controller, might present a detail view via yet another view controller when a row is selected. That's three separate controllers to account for, when you really only want to test one at a time. Williams suggests isolating these view controllers away from their interdependencies to test each component separately and provides examples of how you can do so.
What made Williams' approach pop for me is how he carefully exposes and isolates dependencies for testing. These are features that can otherwise be hard to inspect and validate in the normal course of programming. His write-up is well worth reading through, and provides an excellent jumping off point for investigating view controller unit testing.
iPhone devsugar: Unit testing for iPhone view controllers originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
iPhone devsugar: Unit testing for iPhone view controllers originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted by Mike Schramm on Mar 9, 2010 in
Apple Filed under: iTS, Retail, iTunes, Apple
Filed under: iTS, Retail, iTunes, Apple
This feature over at GigaOM has quite a few interesting insights about
the iTunes LP program -- while Apple sells it wholeheartedly as "the visual experience of the record album," it appears the story behind the story is not quite so clean. According to an anonymous source in the industry (note, not Apple themselves), the service didn't come from Cupertino. Instead, it was designed by record companies, and agreed to by Apple as a "concession" to "make a gesture in favor of album sales." The piece also states that Apple subsidized the creation of the first few "LPs," some of which cost up to $60,000 to assemble and license.
As you might expect with any other less-than-popular product at Apple, iTunes LP isn't exactly being thrown into the spotlight, either. While a much more visual music experience would be perfect for the iPad, GigaOM notes that it didn't even merit a mention by Jobs at the iPad announcement. It's certainly possible that iTunes LP could find a new home in the future, if bands really get behind the service and make their own (a few have, as noted, but
the cost seems pretty prohibitive, especially if sales aren't that impressive), but from what this anonymous source says, the LP service is a record company concession that hasn't paid off for Apple even in the way its originators hoped.
[via
iPodNN]
Report: RIAA pressured Apple into creating iTunes LP originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Report: RIAA pressured Apple into creating iTunes LP originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted by Erica Sadun on Mar 9, 2010 in
Apple Filed under: Apple
Filed under: Apple
App Store clutter remains an ongoing issue. In addition to "business card" applications that offer little or no functionality
beyond a simple web page[1], there are lite editions, demo editions, full editions, and even in the case of Tweetie 2, completely new applications
providing upgraded functionality.
Each of those applications must be registered with a unique app identifier, each one takes up a separate slot when installed on your iPhone's home screen, each application occupies a separate App Store listing, complete with its own screen shots, marketing material, reviews, and so forth. Each one must be managed by you in iTunes, where you must decide which to sync, which to keep, and so forth.
Add to the mix, the possibility that we're likely to see iPad- and iPhone-specific application releases in the near future in addition to the
Universal Application solution that Apple has been heavily promoting. That's because iPad applications offer developers the opportunity to re-imagine their interfaces, adding features without the constraints of the iPhone's small screen and modal interaction limitations. An iPad app that adds significant new functionality may branch off and become yet another related app in a single application family.
Continue reading iPhone devsugar: The need for multiple ipa delivery
iPhone devsugar: The need for multiple ipa delivery originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
iPhone devsugar: The need for multiple ipa delivery originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted by Steven Sande on Mar 7, 2010 in
Apple Filed under: Apple, iPhone
Filed under: Apple, iPhone
One of the questions that always seems to come up during our TUAW Talkcast and TUAW TV Live sessions is "When do you think
Verizon Wireless is going to get the iPhone?" According to recent comments from Merrill Lynch analyst Scott Craig, the answer to that question is irrelevant to Apple.
Craig anticipates that Apple could sell 33 million iPhones in 2010, and that number would rise to 35 million in 2011 even without a second U.S. carrier. However, the upside to Apple in selecting a second U.S. carrier -- possibly Verizon Wireless -- is that the number of 2011 sales could rise to as high as 55 million.
Other Wall Street analysts believe that Apple's decision to stick by AT&T for the iPad indicates a vote of confidence for the carrier, with analysts at Credit Suisse even going so far as to say that there's a 75% chance that AT&T will keep iPhone exclusivity for another year.
While the analysts don't seem to see a real downside risk for Apple, Credit Suisse recently downgraded Verizon from Outperform to Neutral based on the absence of the iPhone from their product line. It would definitely be in Verizon's best interest to make an agreement with Apple to carry the iPhone; however, Apple is unlikely to make agreements with non-GSM carriers such as Verizon Wireless until they are well into a transition to the 4G LTE technology.
[via
Cult of Mac]
Analyst: Apple will sell 35m iPhones next year, with or without Verizon originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Analyst: Apple will sell 35m iPhones next year, with or without Verizon originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted by Steven Sande on Mar 6, 2010 in
Apple Filed under: Apple
Filed under: Apple
Apple is a pretty innovative company, and here at TUAW we receive a lot of tips about new patents that have been filed by the company. While not all of the patents make it into products, Apple is assiduous about filing for patent protection on their intellectual property.
This week featured 4 patent applications from Apple that are all about keeping your devices cool. The first, titled "
Methods and Apparatus for Cooling Electronic Devices Using Flow Sensors," talks about using tiny sensors to determine the air velocity in a device and then adjusting fan speeds and/or computing power to keep the device cool.
The second application seems so obvious it's surprising nobody has filed it before. Titled "
Methods and Apparatus for Cooling Electronic Devices Through User Interfaces," the patent filing describes how to use input/output ports (FireWire, USB, and Ethernet) to increase airflow through a device. In particular, the application details how ports can be positioned to provide the best possible cooling of components.
The third patent filing, "
Methods and Apparatus for Cooling Electronic Devices Using Conductive Hinge Assemblies," is specifically focused on notebook type devices. Here, the hinges on a notebook's screen are effectively used as heat exchangers to cool certain heat-producing components.
The last filing, "
Methods and Apparatus for Cooling Electronic Devices using Thermoelectric Cooling Components," describes using the
Peltier Effect to actively cool components. This can be also described as "solid-state cooling."
While it's uncertain when or if we'll see any of these patents come to life in a future Apple product, it is great to see that they're trying to figure out a way to
keep MacBooks from being used as frying pans.
[via
AppleInsider]
Apple patent filings detail methods of keeping your devices cool originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Apple patent filings detail methods of keeping your devices cool originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted by Mike Schramm on Mar 6, 2010 in
Apple Filed under: Cult of Mac, Apple, Developer
Filed under: Cult of Mac, Apple, Developer
I love
these bits of art by Anders Clauson featuring iconography from
the old Aqua OS X interface -- obviously it's not a straight representation of the actual interface, but instead, it's kind of a weird deconstruction of the scrollbars. There's one that's just a random desktop screenshot, and another that shows the interface actually opened up in a Photoshop document. The overall effect is that the artist isn't just showing off the parts of the UI, he's also deconstructing the actual process of creating and using a UI as well. Good stuff.
It's also interesting to me to think that with the coming of the iPad, we may be seeing the end of interface widgets like this. When all you have is a touchscreen and gestures, you don't really need to deal with buttons and widgets -- if you want to close a window, just swipe it to the side, or to expand it, just pull two fingers apart. Of course, it'll probably be a little while before the iPad and its interface fully replaces the more traditional UI, but I think it'll happen at some point in the future.
Aqua scrollbar art originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Aqua scrollbar art originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted by Mike Schramm on Mar 6, 2010 in
Apple Filed under: Hardware, Peripherals, Apple, iPhone
Filed under: Hardware, Peripherals, Apple, iPhone
The Square credit card reader for the iPhone has gotten most of the buzz around here, especially after we saw
that impressive demo at Macworld a few weeks ago. But
VeriFone's competing reader has been given the green light by Apple itself: the unit has been granted a deal for
shelf space. VeriFone will be selling its
PAYware Mobile units inside Apple's retail stores coming up as soon as the end of March.
I'm not quite sure what the reasoning is behind this one on Apple's side, as the PAYware service seems to be a little more clunky than the Square solution: you have to pay both an activation fee and a monthly fee on top of the per-payment charge that Square asks for, and the reader itself is much bigger, taking up the iPhone's dock rather than just using the headphone port like Square's. Whatever Apple saw in them, you'll be able to get VeriFone's system right along with an iPhone or iPod touch all at the same time..
No matter which system eventually prevails (if indeed anyone needs to prevail at all -- there's certainly more than one credit card company, so there's no reason why there couldn't be more than one payment system on the iPhone), this does seems like a model that will change a lot of business transactions in all sorts of industries. It'll be interesting to see how the curve takes off once these things are up and running.
VeriFone credit card reader gets deal to be in Apple Stores originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
VeriFone credit card reader gets deal to be in Apple Stores originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted by Mike Schramm on Mar 5, 2010 in
Apple Filed under: Hardware, Software, Apple
Filed under: Hardware, Software, Apple
With all of the furor around the gigantic patent lawsuit that
Apple dropped on HTC this week, you might be forgiven for forgetting about the first big patent smackdown of the year, the
lawsuit that Nokia laid at Apple's door. But a judge in Delaware hasn't --
he ordered a suspension to both the case and its countersuit while the International Trade Commission
works out the complaints between the two companies.
Clearly Nokia and Apple have it out for one another, but apparently they're going to take it one step at a time. Once the ITC has completed its probe, which was
scheduled to take 45 days after it agreed to perform the investigation on February 22nd, then the lawsuit will presumably move forward. That's if it's still on and not settled by then, although Nokia seems in it to win it, and Apple apparently has enough bandwidth (and legal fees) to pick two fights at once anyway. So bring it, ITC, and then let's get this show on the road.
[via
Macworld]
Judge suspends Apple/Nokia lawsuit pending ITC investigation originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Judge suspends Apple/Nokia lawsuit pending ITC investigation originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted by Erica Sadun on Mar 5, 2010 in
Apple Filed under: Apple
Filed under: Apple
Today Apple announced that the iPad
will ship in April, writing that the device will "be available in the US on Saturday, April 3, for Wi-Fi models and in late April for Wi-Fi + 3G models. In addition, all models of iPad will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK in late April." Consumers will be able to pre-order their units starting March 12th, with pick-up at Apple retail stores.
With Apple's
reportedly limited stock, will pre-orders work the way they did with the iPhone 3GS? Namely, will your reservation get you first shot at an iPad pick-up until stocks run out? Or have analysts "misunderestimated" (in the words of
a certain American Idol judge) supplies, and there will be iPads available for everyone who wants to lay down the cash, starting at $499 plus local tax? There are
no firm answers at this time.
Apple has clarified that iBooks will be available as a free download at the first date of shipping from App Store. iBooks represents the first time that Apple has shipped its own major product (iWork titles will follow shortly thereafter) from App Store. If it proves successful on the iPad, keep your eyes open for a potentially similar distribution move via iTunes for Macintosh software.
TUAW has
been guessing April 2nd for the launch since early January. Nice to know we weren't too far off.
Hat tip, TwitterificiPad ships April 3. Preorders start March 12 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
iPad ships April 3. Preorders start March 12 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted by Mike Schramm on Mar 5, 2010 in
Apple Filed under: Apple Corporate, Software, Apple, Security
Filed under: Apple Corporate, Software, Apple, Security
A few Apple employees played some musical chairs this week. Executive Pablo Calamera, who was in charge of MobileMe while at Apple,
is off to work as the CTO of
Thumbplay, a company that peddles ringtones and music to mobile devices.
HR shouldn't have to change the big "35,000 employed worldwide" sign, though: former Mozilla security chief Window Snyder was
picked up by Apple this week. She'll jump in as a senior security product manager, a job that will take advantage of her work both at Mozilla and previously at Microsoft, where she worked on both Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Sure, she's got the experience, but has she ever worked for
a company that does this for its incoming employees? Didn't think so.
Incoming, outgoing Apple employees originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Incoming, outgoing Apple employees originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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