According to Bloomberg, despite Apple’s hiring in August of executive talent search firm Egon Zehnder International, it may instead end up hiring someone internally if an outside search isn’t coming up with any results. An earlier report from Cult of Mac had pegged Apple’s current VP of Retail, Steve Cano, as Johnson’s replacement, but Apple refuted those claims.

Apple said via a spokesperson that its “search is under way with lots of interest,” and noted that the company is “carefully selecting Ron’s successor,” in a statement to Bloomberg. But in the meantime, it’s hardly business as usual for Apple Retail stores.

Just last week, Apple launched its revamped iOS Apple Store application, which provides ship-to-store ordering and EasyPay self-payment options to U.S. Apple retail locations. I argued that this represents another potential revolution sparked by Apple in brick-and-mortar sales, and now there’s a new report circulating that more changes are still to come.

On Saturday, 9t05Mac reported Apple will be making iPads the new wonder tool of the Apple Store Genius Bar, replacing MacBook Pros that have long been in service. Geniuses toting iPads would employ special software to determine if a user’s device was eligible for repair, diagnose problems and even order replacement parts. For Apple, this represents cost-savings; an iPad is much cheaper than a MacBook Pro, after all. But the real benefit will be for customers seeking Genius help, since it’ll make Genius work spaces less cluttered and more comfortable, and keep Geniuses much more mobile.

So despite Apple’s lack of a formal helmsman in place for its retail operations, the ship is sailing quite nicely, and even venturing outside its established routes. Good to see that even with a hugely successful retail model already in place, and in the midst of a highly transitional period, Apple still strives to bring its A-game to an area where it continues to have a steady, albeit les- publicized impact on a global scale.

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On Microsoft Windows, the application is the window, and you can use either alt-tab, win-tab, or the task bar to switch between windows. On the Mac, there are three main ways to manage windows, here’s a rundown of each, and how to use them to play up the strengths of OS X.

The Dock

The first way most new users to the Mac try to manage windows is the Dock. Clicking on a running applications icon in the Dock will bring that application’s windows to the front, which works great for apps that are only using a single window.

If, however, you have multiple windows open at once, like several TextEdit windows for example, clicking on the TextEdit icon will bring all of the windows to the front, which may not be exactly what you want.

The trick to using the Dock to manage windows is by clicking and holding on an icon. This will trigger Exposé in “Application Windows” mode, hiding all other applications and thumbnailing all of the open windows for that application. Then you can just click on the window you want to come to the front.

Exposé

Now that you’ve seen one part of Exposé in action, it’s time to see how the rest of it works. Open up System Preferences and click on “Exposé and Spaces”. You can think of this part of the preferences as the command center for managing windows.

At the top is “Active Screen Corners”, followed by keyboard shortcuts. Make note of the function key set for “All windows;” on mine it’s F3 to match my Apple Bluetooth keyboard. Open up a few different applications (it helps if one is a movie), and press F3. In one smooth animation, all of the open windows will shrink into thumbnails, with open windows at the top, and minimized windows at the bottom. From here you can click on any window you like to bring it to the front. If there are still too many windows open, you can press the tab key to cycle between the windows of running applications.

Having a function key is great, but too often I find that I need to look down at my keyboard to find the right key. That’s where the Active Screen Corners come in. Each corner of the screen can activate a function of window management. I always assign the bottom left corner of my screen to activating Exposé for All Windows, and the bottom right to Desktop. Then I put my Dashboard in the top right corner, and leave the top left blank. This gives me super quick access to all of my windows, widgets, and files I’m working with on my desktop.

You can also drag files into Exposé. For example, here’s a common workflow I run into all the time. To get a file from my desktop into a window open in the background, I’ll flick my mouse pointer to the bottom right corner to show the desktop. Then, I’ll drag the file to the bottom right hand corner to activate Exposé. Finally, while still dragging the file, I’ll select the window I want to bring it to the front, and then drop the file onto the window. Super easy, and super useful, once you get used to it.

Spaces

If, however, you still find yourself drowning in windows, or you just like to keep things clean and organized, you can enable Spaces. Spaces gives you extra desktops to work with. The default number of spaces is four, but you can assign up to sixteen. Personally, I’m normally happy with just two. I’m a developer, so I work in Xcode all the time. Some development tools, like Interface Builder, open up several windows, and can clutter up the screen quickly. So it’s nice to keep Xcode and Interface Builder in separate spaces. I always assign the CMD+Arrow Keys to switch between the spaces, and F8 to activate the spaces overview.

Once in the spaces overview, you can activate Exposé to see all of your windows, in all of your spaces.

Exposé, Spaces, and the Dock are the three main elements for window management. You can also use CMD-tab to switch between applications, or optionally, check out a third-party application like Witch that can give your keyboard even more control. If you’re new to the Mac, I hope this article helped, if you are experienced and think I missed something, feel free to mention it in the comments.

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Right now, most of the content you own is stored locally on our Macs or iOS devices. This content includes apps, books, videos, music and documents. The cutting edge techies have embraced Gmail, Google Docs and cloud services like DropBox and Box.net. The only thing keeping you from storing movies in the cloud and viewing those on your iPad is Internet speed. What if I told you the copy of Finding Nemo you bought from iTunes can be streamed instantly to any Apple device no matter where you were in the world — a café, driving down the interstate or in the London tube? It’s almost here.

Our future is wireless at speeds that meet what we have in our homes. This may be a decade away and if carriers make wireless data truly unlimited this will be a reality, but it scares me for a few very obvious reasons that simply can’t be fixed by technology.

Corporate Control of Our Data

Control by a single entity is my main fear. Cloud storage isn’t democratized and it isn’t open. Currently, when you buy something, it’s stored, owned and managed by the company you purchased it from. Apple has maintained DRM in its iTunes Store since 2003. I’ve authorized files that I bought the day Apple’s store opened and they still play on any one of my Apple devices. If I lose that song, Apple can allow me to re-download it after some back and forth with its support team. My apps, movies, music and music videos are locked to its devices. The same goes with Amazon’s Kindle platform. Buying a book from Amazon’s Kindle Store means that file is locked to its software and hardware. If it ever abandons Kindle, your books are useless. There’s no reason for either of these companies to do this, but people who bought music from stores that are now defunct are in a bit of a pickle with the content.

An example of a failed system is Microsoft’s PlaysForSure DRM. A number of music stores and MP3 players adopted this, but most of those stores and hardware companies have shifted directions or gone out of business. The hundreds you spent on music may be playable right now but no one can guarantee you’ll be able to in 10 years.

Let’s simply alter my argument a bit and change the delivery of this content from DRMed files stored on your hard drive to music stored on the cloud operated by Napster or Real’s Rhapsody Store. If those services go away, the music you “own” is no longer playable…ever. Going all in on a service that is cloud based is risky business. The same goes for content stored on Google Docs, Flickr, MobileMe and YouTube. If you’re not keeping hard copies of your content uploaded to these services, you’re a fool. Hard drives are cheap. Store your content and don’t rely on these web services that have been around for less than a few years to store your content forever. Personally, I use Backupify.com to keep secondary backups of all my data from Gmail, Google Docs, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and WordPress. I download copies from Backupify once a month to my hard drive.

Remember when Amazon ironically pulled copies of 1984 from Kindle devices without warning? Cloud based companies can do this. They might give you a warning but no one can come into your house and take a book. Unless what you’re storing is illegal or your hard drives are compromised, the data in your home and on your computer is safe for years as long as you’re careful. Keeping a backup of your computers on an external drive at home and a duplicate at your office is good enough and I suggest anyone do that no matter how insignificant the data is. If you store photos, music and documents on your computer, back it up off-site — no exceptions.

Apple is playing it safe with its new Apple TV. Allowing us to stream rented movies and TV shows is a good way to get us comfortable with streaming content. You can still buy the same content on your iOS and Mac devices and stream those to the Apple TV but, if you’re on a TV browsing iTunes, the only option is to rent the content.

It won’t be like this forever. Soon, streaming will be offered as a more convenient and less expensive option for us. Apple and other companies will present products where you can hit play on anything you’ve ever purchased and it starts instantly as long as you have an Internet connection from your phone, tablet and computer. Invite a friend to borrow your copy of Braveheart and they can watch it as well. This convenience will not be without problems.

In Apple We Trust

Apple is on top right now. Its mobile devices are envied by every CE company, but this won’t be the reality forever. I own 300 iOS apps, 1,200 movies, 200 music videos and over 18,000 songs where over 5,000 of those songs were purchased in iTunes. I’ve invested thousands of dollars in Apple. Thanks to limited kindness of the music industry, my music is now DRM free in iTunes Plus format so it can be played on any other MP3 player, but the other content is stuck. When Apple’s devices aren’t the best and someone else takes over, I’ll be stuck to the Apple ecosystem. The same can be said for Mac software when you make the switch to Windows 7 (for whatever reason) but it’s a reality we all need to deal with.

When you want to switch to a cooler and better mobile platform, will you be okay with giving up the thousands spent on DRMed content that can’t be played on the new device? If Apple remains the dominant leader for the next 20 years, can we trust it to be kind to its loyal fans who trust when we buy a movie stored exclusively on Apple’s cloud to always be playable and never be pulled, removed or changed? Will my copy of Braveheart always work no matter where I am or will I be greeted with an error when I’m in China with, “this movie is not licensed to be played in your region.” Where the hard copy stored on my iPad would play just fine no matter where I was? We’ll see. Apple is not a movie studio so its hands are tied when it comes to content and how that content plays just as much as any other company when it comes to music and movies.

The White Album Argument

Maybe I’m not seeing the big picture. There’s another side to this where if you ask anyone over the age of 50 how many times they’ve bought The Beatles’ White Album and they won’t be able to keep count. There was record, 8-track, tape, cassette and maybe even mini-disk. They probably also bought it in CD form the first, second and third time it was remastered. You may have bought this album eight times since it was first available in record stores.

Perhaps that’s how it’s going to be when it comes to our digital music. Perhaps, you’ll buy the same content over and over again well into your old age because there would have been a few music services between 2000 and 2050. On my 70th birthday, I may lament to my grandkids that I spent thousands on music in iTunes and they’ll laugh because music is like $20 a song now and I shouldn’t be complaining that it cost 99 cents back then.

Planning for the Future

Whatever happens next, consumers are in control. We decide with our cold hard cash. We already voted that digital is the future since iTunes sales will pass the sales of physical CDs very soon, but if we go all-in on cloud content trusting in the corporations storing and delivering it, the world may shift immensely and when you take a vacation to the mountains with your family where there’s limited cell reception, the music, movies and important work documents will all be inaccessible stored in some server that’s unreachable and you’ll have to laugh because this was the future we all wanted that corporations gave us.

Maybe I’m skeptical, but the best content is physical (bookshelf) with a digital version (non-DRM) and a backup of that digital copy off-site. If your house burns down, you’ll still have the book or CD digitally but the world we’re entering into is all digital with single corporations holding the DRM keys and now they want to store the content as well. It’s unclear what’s going to happen next. Let’s hope we know what we’re doing.

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doubleTwist already offers the ability to sync with pretty much any device, instead of just your standard Apple i-devices. And with Amazon support, there’s little reason for many to venture back to iTunes, especially since Amazon’s prices are often better than those found in Apple’s own online store.

It wasn’t too long ago that doubleTwist’s “DVD” Jon Johansen was taking flack from BART for buying legit advertising space at a very conspicuous location, and then using it to promote the iTunes competitor. With the introduction of the Amazon store, we should see that competition heat up even further.

The new Music Store looks like a very stripped-down iTunes store, and though it isn’t as fancy as Apple’s, it is clean and functional, and it doesn’t cause the program to occasionally fail, as iTunes has been known to do. It pales in comparison to the iTunes store in terms of navigation options, though, with a search bar and two small Top Albums and Top Songs lists providing your only means of browsing the Amazon catalog.

The main advantage, of course, comes for people who don’t own an iPod or iPhone (some really do exist, honest). Plug in your BlackBerry, PSP, Android phone, and any number of other supported devices, and you can immediately copy over your purchased media. You miss out on Genius playlists and other iTunes niceties, but if you don’t have an iPod, that probably isn’t an issue anyway.

It may be a small step towards making doubleTwist a full-fledged competitor to iTunes, but having a major player like Amazon onboard is nothing to sneeze at. Ideally, the next step for DVD Jon and his open alternative for the i-device deficient would be to form a partnership with major video media distributors, especially given that doubleTwist automatically converts video when it syncs to most major devices, including the PSP and the Palm Pre.

In fact, Palm could do far worse than doubleTwist in an official partnership to provide its users a dedicated software solution for syncing media instead of continuing to play leapfrog with Apple over iTunes. I’m sure something could be arranged, so long as Palm agreed to keep the software open to other devices as well.

For now, the Amazon store is only available for the OS X version of doubleTwist, but a Windows version is coming soon. You must have an Amazon.com account with a registered payment method in order to use the service.

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And that’s precisely what’s happening. Back in July, I reported here that China Unicom had secured the deal to supply to the iPhone in China. Just two weeks ago other sites were reporting the same thing and now, according to the Wall Street Journal, rival carrier China Mobile appears to be getting in on the action, too.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum, China Mobile’s chairman Wang Jianzhou said that Apple’s deal with competitor China Unicom was “…absolutely not exclusive.”

“We are still in talks,” added Mr Wang, “so I can’t say anything else.”

China Mobile was, for a time, the favorite for securing a deal to offer the iPhone in China but apparently negotiations hit a roadblock over Apple’s business model which, at that time, was based around revenue-sharing. In November 2007, speaking at the GSM Association’s Mobile Asia Congress in Macau, Mr Wang told attendees that he did not like the new business models emerging in the mobile phone industry — specifically, device manufacturers seeking to share revenues with cellular network operators. Instead, he asserted, “We still think we can maintain the operator-centric model because we have the customers, the end users.”

They certainly do. China Mobile is the country’s largest cell network operator with over 420 million subscribers. That’s more than the entire population of the United States.

This move marks the first time since the launch of the iPhone in 2007 that Apple has not expressly fostered an exclusive arrangement with a single carrier in a country, but is instead pursuing arrangements with multiple carriers.

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In my business, I need to keep track of logins for clients as well as for my own use. I keep all my client information in Daylite forms or notes, where it’s linked to all the other information about that client. But what if you just want to keep passwords secure? And what if you want to share those passwords between machines? Or what if you want your password manager to integrate into your web browser? Or keep that info with you on your iPhone? Well then, here are five password management solutions for the Mac that may work for you.

1Password

I have been avoiding using a password management app for a long time. I guess I was a little suspicious of them, or reluctant to trust one app with all that info. I bought 1Password last year, and now I’m a total convert. The desktop app integrates directly into Safari and Firefox, as well as other browsers like Camino and apps like NetNewsWire. The plug-ins help you to capture login information as you enter it, or generate strong passwords as you create logins online. You can also quickly fill out logins and other forms with personal information like your address and/or credit card information that you store in 1Password. This integration with Safari and Firefox is what has me sold on 1Password. It’s so easy to use that I don’t notice it and I love that I don’t have to leave the browser to pull up my passwords like I do with the other solutions.

The iPhone app syncs with the desktop over Wi-Fi as long as both devices can see each other on the same network. The iPhone app implements a browser inside the app to enable auto-fill. You can also sync javascript bookmarklets to Safari that will launch in Safari on the iPhone and auto-fill your password on sites in the native browser. While this isn’t as secure as some other choices, it does make it possible to avoid having to switch back and forth between the password app and the Safari browser on your iPhone to type in a username and password manually.

You can sync your password file between multiple Macs by using the Mac OS X Keychain and MobileMe syncing (not recommended) or by using file-based syncing with Agile Keychain format (recommended). Instructions for file-based syncing using a couple of solutions are provided on the Agile Web Solutions web site.

1Password is $39.95 for a single user license or $69.95 for a five-license family pack. The iPhone app is free. There is a Palm OS app available as well.

SplashID

SplashID has been around a long time and is very well respected in Palm and Windows Mobile circles. The desktop app for the Mac provides password generation and syncing with the SplashID iPhone app. You can create items with custom fields and set the labels as you like. Several types are provided to group and organize items. You can launch web sites from within the app and it will auto-fill the form on the page (at least with Safari). It doesn’t capture login information from the browser like 1Password does.

While I was using it, I found myself missing the Safari and Firefox plugins from 1Password. The variety of items that you can store compares favorably, but I think the interface is a little rough. The iPhone app will sync with the desktop and includes a strong password generator. If you want to sync your info between your Mac and a Windows Mobile, BlackBerry or Symbian device, this is your only choice.

SplashID Desktop can compare entries between two password databases and sync the results to both copies.

The cost for the desktop app is $20. The iPhone app is $9.99. There is a free Lite version of the iPhone app that is limited to 15 entries to try it out.

Password Wallet

Password Wallet works with your desktop and iPhone. The desktop interface is minimal and unobtrusive. Some may like the narrow window used to list items stored in the wallet file. You can also keep multiple wallet files, each with their own master password, if you have need for that feature. Clicking on a URL will open the page in the default browser and hover a window with auto-fill options over the browser. This works great for launching sites from within Password Wallet, but I still resent having to leave the browser to start that process. Seriously, once you’ve tried 1Password’s method on the desktop, there is no going back.

The Password Wallet iPhone app implements its own browser in the app to enable auto-fill. If you want to use Mobile Safari, you’ll have to switch back and forth.

The Password Wallet desktop app is $20 and the iPhone app is currently free.

Wallet 3

Wallet is one of the most polished desktop apps on the Mac. The user interface is very accessible and will look familiar to anyone who has used Address Book on the Mac. It follows the same three-column layout with large “+” buttons at the bottom of the first two columns and an edit button below the third. You can create custom folders in the first column to group entries, but an entry can only belong in one group. You can use the notes to tag entries as the search bar will look in there along with other fields.

The desktop app will auto-fill login forms for your default browser if you launch the page from within Wallet. The iPhone app syncs with the desktop app through MobileMe. If you don’t have a MobileMe account, you are out of luck for Mac-to-Mac syncing. iPhone syncing can still be accomplished over Wi-Fi.

The Wallet desktop app is $20 and the iPhone app is $3.99.

KeePassX

KeePassX is an open-source GPL project that is available for Mac, Windows and Linux. There is no iPhone app and there is no integration with web browsers on the Mac. Still, the databases are compatible between different platforms so KeyPassX is a good solution if you need to copy your password database around for access from different systems. It’s also free, which could be a huge plus for some.

1Password is for Me

1Password is definitely the best solution for my needs. It lets me capture login information in the browser itself, I don’t have to leave the browser to use auto-fill, and I can use it for web forms that need other information like my home address or credit card (I’m still not using the credit-card section; old habits, I guess). The iPhone app will do auto-fill with an embedded browser or the native Safari browser with the javascript bookmarklet (less secure but more convenient). If you need BlackBerry or Windows Mobile support, check out SplashID. Wallet works great if you have MobileMe and KeePassX is perfect for those that want to keep their password database in sync across platforms.

If you’ve been holding out for something like RoboForm on Windows, 1Password is as close as it gets — at least until RoboForm finally fills this Senior Mac Developer position they’ve had open for a while now.

For the next versions of these products, I would love to see a tagging feature so I can keep a taxonomy of tags for entries rather than just free-form notes. I would also like to to see a system where an entry can belong to multiple groups so I could file an entry under both a client name, a project, and a service provider, though tagging would accomplish the same thing.

What password management app do you use?

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Apple has been a “recent” devotion for me. Within the last six years have I come to appreciate the quality and design that goes into the products I use daily. So why not better understand the culture and devotion behind the company? If you love your Apple product enough to sit through a documentary or two, here are a few to get you started.

MacHeads

MacHeads is a deep dive into the culture and aura surrounding Apple. Meet dedicated people, probably not too far from ourselves, as they reveal their inner devotion to everything Apple. You’ll meet some interesting, and possibly random people through this journey, but it will give you a better understanding of why so many love their Apple products. Enjoy interviews from Guy Kawasaki, and other Apple cultists. Currently the video is available for sale or rental through iTunes and Amazon.

Welcome to Macintosh

If you’re looking for a more historical approach to the world of Apple, Welcome to Macintosh covers everything from the early beginnings, to its revitalization, and now to its evolution. Featured guests also include Guy Kawasaki. In my opinion, this one feels a bit more polished then MacHeads, and offers more than just the cultists viewpoint.

Pirates of Silicon Valley

The “classic,” if there ever was a classic, regarding the history of both Apple and Microsoft would be Pirates of Silicon Valley. Not so much a documentary, but definitely worth of mentioning. You’ll at least glimpse the early beginnings of Mac vs. PC commercials.

Non-Mac Documentaries

Just in case you like documentaries or design, I recommend checking out Sketches of Frank Gehry. It’s amazing to see the thought process and inspirations that go into his greatest buildings. Also Helvetica is a really interesting look into typography and graphic design. Coming soon from the makers of Helvetica is Objectified, a documentary on industrial design. It features an interview from none other than Apple’s industrious Jonathan Ive. It’s still in its early screening phase, so sign up for announcements and future screenings.

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Despite definite personality differences (Jobs is animated while Cook is generally cool and reserved), most accounts agree that Cook will not bring any major changes in management style to the company. According to a statement to Bloomberg.com by former Apple employee Mike Janes, who was in charge of the online Apple Store for five years, Cook has in fact already been running the company for many years, while Jobs has been the public leader.

Tim Cook’s Background

Cook joined Apple when things were not looking so bright for the computer company. He is credited with having helped turn the company around following his arrival in 1998, when he helped to correct manufacturing inefficiencies that were taking a big chunk out of Apple’s bottom line. Prior to Apple, Cook boasts an impressive resumé, with stints at Compaq and IBM.

Known for his boundless energy, Cook is a dedicated cyclist, and sits on Nike’s board of directors. Sitting on another company’s board is another trait he shares with Jobs, and the two are the only Apple executives to do so.

Cook is no stranger to filling Jobs’ shoes. He did so in 2004 when Jobs left for over a month to undergo treatment for pancreatic cancer. This time around, the situation is more grave, owing both to the proposed length of Steve’s leave, and to the perceived seriousness of his medical condition. We suggested yesterday that there may be more to this issue than meets the eye, and, judging by Wall Street’s reaction, many others tend to agree.

So What Does He Mean for Apple?

So what will Tim Cook mean for Apple this time around? All evidence suggests that he is a “stay the course” kind of guy, as befits an interim CEO. That’s all well and good, but when you’re Apple, you depend on a certain amount of dazzle, mystery, and intrigue to maintain your brand image and promote growth. Keeping the ship on an even keel is fine for a month or two, but over the course of six months, you risk becoming boring.

From now until June, Cook’s moves will be highly scrutinized. I don’t necessarily predict stunt moves and events, but I do expect some kind of hardware unveil, and possibly Snow Leopard’s introduction, between now and then, in an effort to recapture some momentum. The lackluster Macworld keynote, with its exhaustively detailed iLife ’09 review, might’ve had some major reveals taken out at the last minute to save some wow factor for Cook to bring out while Jobs is away.

Make no mistake, this is an audition for Cook. An audition for Apple shareholders, stakeholders, and likely, for Jobs himself. How well he performs will likely determine whether that “interim” ever gets dropped from his title, and possibly, the future of Apple as a company.

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This week we’re looking at Remember The Milk, Mokugyo (With Cat), Ocarina and iFriends.

Remember The Milk (free) - Remember The Milk is a clever site that gives you a selection of list-based tools for keeping track of all the tasks that life throws at you. It makes use of a great methodology called Getting Things Done. This fantastic iPhone app links in to your online RTM account, meaning you can become a blur of productivity even when you’re on the go.

Mokugyo (With Cat) (free) – While Mokugyo (With Cat) seems to be utterly useless, it’s endearing enough to warrant a quick mention. To reach a state of ‘nagomi’ (higher relaxation), you must tap on a Japanese wooden gong and what seems to be a singing bowl (used for meditation). This makes just enough sense until you try out ‘cat mode’, where tapping the bowl and gong triggers cat meows as you watch a totally weird lolcats-esque slideshow.

Ocarina ($0.99) – Rapidly becoming one of TAB’s favourite iPhone developers, Smule have created another unique app. By literally blowing in to the iPhone and pressing buttons on the screen, you can play different notes and, with a little practice, string together a tune. This is an enchanting musical instrument masquerading as an iPhone toy and certainly worth more than a buck.

iFriends ($1.99) – So far, it’s been worth steering clear of contact list management apps. They rarely bring added value, tend to be ugly, featureless and poorly-designed. iFriends, though, is potentially a worthy replacement for the phone button. The app features a dynamic top friends list with a clever friend scoring system, cutesy and slick graphics, contact searching and access to SMS too.

A recording studio in your pocket!

Before we close the gates on our fruity garden, we’ve got a few moments left to tell you about something we missed a couple of weeks back. FourTrack, from Sonoma Wire Works, is a traditional four-track recorder, crammed with a surprising number of features and functionality at the great price of $9.99.

By plugging in your iPhone headphones (with mic), you can record direct to FourTrack — effectively having a mini-studio in your iPhone. It’s great for toying round with ideas and creating quick track demos. Expect a full TAB review and tutorial for FourTrack sometime soon, in the meantime, for bedroom music makers and even pros on the go, you should grab this app and get recording.

That’s all for this week, we’ll be back next Saturday for another App Store Roundup. Drop by the comments and let us know which apps you’ve tried in the past week.

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One of my ‘pet peeves’ about OS X is the inability to force a window to remain on top of all the others. Several years ago, when using Windows, this was a functionality that I found invaluable for watching videos and keeping certain web pages or applications at the forefront of my display. Certain Mac applications offer this functionality built in (VLC for instance) but most don’t.

I was thrilled to find Afloat, a simple piece of software which adds the above collection of menu bar items to an application. It allows you to perform a whole new set of operations on a window such as keeping it on top, increasing transparency, and creating ‘overlays’.

Features

The various functions available include:

• Keep Afloat: puts a window always on top of all others.
• Transparency: lets you see through a window.
• Drag Anywhere: lets you move a window by “grabbing” it from anywhere (not necessarily the title bar).
• On All Spaces: makes a window remain on the screen even if you switch Spaces.
• Overlay: makes a window floating and transparent and makes it ignore your mouse clicks (they “fall through” to the windows below it instead).
• Show Window’s File in Finder: if a window represents an open file, it will show the file in Finder.

Keyboard shortcuts are built in for all the different functions, which saves you clicking around to find them each time you need to perform an operation. It is as simple as holding two keys and scrolling the mouse wheel to adjust the transparency of a window – it’s possible to make your desktop look very futuristic, but it is debatable how user friendly transparency really is.

The hidden drawback

The software is far from perfect, however. The main problem is that it only works with Cocoa applications — so Carbon apps such as Finder and iTunes don’t offer the Float functionality. This is a real shame, as watching videos through my media player of choice still can’t be achieved. As mentioned previously, it is possible to use VLC, but I’m still waiting and hoping that they’ll find a way to enable Afloat with iTunes.

The fact that Safari is supported is great for websites such as BBC iPlayer and similar, as their video can be floated. Equally, stock ticker sites and even chat applications such as Adium can be made much more user friendly when allowed to float above other windows.

It’s a great piece of software, and definitely worth giving a go, considering it’s free. Let us know if you find any other inventive ways it can help your window arrangement!

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