Filemaker Inc. also produces the popular Bento line of personal databases available on the Mac and on iOS, but Filemaker Pro has been a staple in small and medium businesses and workgroups that need to create their own custom database solutions for managing business records and processes. More than 18 million copies of Filemaker Pro have been sold over the years and it is somewhat unique as a bestselling solution from Apple that runs on both Mac and Windows.

The big changes in Filemaker Pro 12 come in three parts: design enhancements, improved file and media handling and better support for iOS.

Design Enhancements

The design improvements are meant to bring some of the style and polish seen in Bento templates to Filemaker. I’ve been working professionally with Filemaker since 1994, when I started teaching introductory database classes at University of California, Santa Barbara, and one consistent feature of Filemaker Pro has been that most of the custom solutions that people create for their own use are utilitarian, if not downright ugly.

Filemaker Pro 12 introduces 40 new “themes” that can help quickly set background colors, tab and button control colors and font styling to create a more appealing design. There are also 16 redesigned starter solutions that show off the new styles, including layouts tailored for the iPhone and iPad screen. It’s now really easy to add gradients to buttons to improve their look, and the gradients are calculated in software so they look fantastic on Retina-display iOS devices like the iPhone 4/4S and the new iPad. There are five new styles of charts (bubble, scatter, positive/negative, stacked bar and stacked column) and the new guides and rulers help you layout your database with precision. I really like the new “Stencils” that help you design layouts for the iPhone and iPad screens so that you can get the sizing and placement just right.

File and Media Handling

Filemaker Pro 12 now has some great improvements to file management. You can drag and drop to store documents and files in container fields, and Filemaker Server adds the ability to stream videos, music and PDFs. The new feature that I’m most excited about is the automatic file handling, which allows Filemaker Server to organize files stored in the filesystem rather than only being embedded in the database.

This means, for example, that a law office could drop a PDF of a court filing onto a container field from the local desktop, and then that file would be saved into a folder on the server, which is also accessible from filesharing over the network. The folder path and the name of the file saved to disk can be determined by rules that automatically save it to a client folder, with subfolders for different types of documents (as set in a field in the database record), and then name the file from the name of the related matter.

Support for iOS

While the previous paid versions of Filemaker Go were popular, Filemaker Go 12 for iPhone and iPad are now free downloads from the App Store. Making the product free is a big step towards increasing mobile adoption for Filemaker databases. These apps support the new container fields with the ability to directly add files and record audio and video into the database. You can then stream that audio and video content with AirPlay. Using the design enhancements mentioned earlier, it is even easier to create specific layouts that look great on the iPhone and iPad.

Filemaker Server: First impressions

Along with the new file handling and streaming features that I mentioned earlier, the new Filemaker Server is now 64-bit so it can take advantage of more RAM to improve performance. Wide area network (WAN) performance has been improved, and the backup system now allows for progressive, incremental backups to make it easier to take more frequent snapshots of updates.

I spent some time with the new version before press time, and to test it out I built a quick solution for a client that tracks equipment rentals. I was really impressed with the look of the new themes and the ability to quickly create iPhone and iPad layouts with the stencils. I can definitely see the potential in these new tools.

Pricing and Availability

Filemaker Pro 12 is available beginning Wednesday. To upgrade will cost $299 or $179 to upgrade, FileMaker Pro 12 Advanced runs $499 or $299 to upgrade, FileMaker Server 12 is $999 or $599 to upgrade, while FileMaker Server 12 Advanced  costs $2,999 or $1,799 to upgrade. Filemaker Go for iPhone and iPad is available on the iTunes App Store as a free download.

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Here are several iPad apps that have been updated with Retina-ready graphics so everyone within eyesight can witness the pixel-pushing power of your new Apple tablet.

Besides the titles that were featured in the iPad introduction event, Apple has set up a new section on the iTunes App Store to highlight Retina-ready titles. I’ve handpicked a few titles from this list and from other updates I’m aware of for you to try out. Keep in mind that this list is not comprehensive, and there should be new Retina-optimized apps coming to the App Store pretty quickly.

Games

Real Racing 2

Motion graphics in games are particularly impressive on the new screen. Apple showed off the game apps Infinity Blade II and Sky Gamblers: Air Support at the introduction event. In addition to those, I would check out Flight Control Rocket (a new space-themed update to the beloved Flight Control series) and Real Racing 2 HD. Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation looks interesting too if you like shooters.

• Infinity Blade II
• Sky Gamblers: Air Support
• Flight Control Rocket
• Real Racing 2 HD
• Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation

Visual Arts

iPhoto and iMovie are pretty much must-buy apps for the new iPad. While the iPad’s built-in camera is much improved over the last version’s, you might want to load up iPhoto with some hi-res images from a Digital SLR just to put on a show for your jealous friends on the hi-res screen.

I would recommend SketchBook Pro, but I think you still have to display some actual talent for drawing to make this a true showpiece for your Retina display iPad. If you can draw (and I don’t mean you’ve scored some points in Draw Something), then by all means show off with this amazing app for artists.

• iPhoto
• iMovie
• SketchBook Pro

Education / Science

Star Walk is already a gorgeous app. Updated for the Retina display, this will be an absolute stunner. Solar Walk, too.

• Star Walk
• Solar Walk

Social Networking

A few of the major Twitter apps have been updated, including the official Twitter app, Twitterrific, and TweetBot. Facebook’s app is expected to be updated soon as well. These aren’t necessarily great showoff material, but people seem to love looking at Twitter and Facebook streams (I know I do).

• Twitter
• Twitterrific
• TweetBot

Reading

Kindle for iPad

The Retina display is actually really useful for showing off how sharp and crisp text is rendered onscreen. iBooks is a good place to start. The Kindle app was updated Thursday so that text would render correctly, but otherwise the graphic elements are still standard resolution. The Daily has been updated as well if you already own that news app. Instapaper should be updated in the next week or so.

• iBooks
• Kindle
• The Daily

More Apple Apps

• Apple Remote
• Find my Friends
• Find my iPhone
• GarageBand
• Keynote
• Numbers
• Pages

Personal Pick

I’m a huge soccer fan, and MLS MatchDay 2012 is awesome for keeping up with U.S. soccer action. The Colorado Rapids aren’t quite set up to make another run at the league cup, but I still like to follow all the games.

• MLS MatchDay 2012

Wallpaper

Don’t forget to pick out a full-resolution image for your lock screen and wallpaper. Apple provides some, of course, but you might want to check out this Reddit thread to find some hi-res wallpaper images to show something a little different from the built-in choices.

If you didn’t find something above or on Apple’s Featured Apps page, TechCrunch has an even longer list of Retina-ready apps that is worth checking out.

If you find something else to show off your beautiful new iPad screen, be sure to share it in the comments below.

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Smart Browsing

Two of the coolest features in iPhoto for iPad are the ability to find similar photos and side-by-side browsing. iPhoto for iPad will automatically detect pictures with similar scenes and present them to you so you can pick the best picture of the bunch. You can also put pictures side by side to compare them more carefully.

Multi-touch editing, brushes & effects

You can adjust areas of the picture by just touching and dragging on the parts that you want to change. There are also some precision tools like a loupe for precise white-balance adjustments. Brushes are used to add effects to your pictures, like removing red-eye or a blemish. The brushes and effects are a blast, and these tools might completely replace several popular photo-editing apps.

Photo Journals

Photo Journals provide a way to put together a page of pictures that tell a story. iPhoto automatically places your selected pictures into a layout, and then you can move and resize photos to get it exactly the way you want. The exciting part is that you can then share these journals online by publishing to iCloud web pages. MobileMe galleries were noticeably absent from the new iCloud, but they have come back, in a limited fashion, with this integration with the iPhoto app.

Maps

The last surprise in this update is that the location maps do not appear to be from Google. In the image below, you can see that the map of the area around Winter Park, Colo., does not look like the same area when viewed in iPhoto on the Mac.

Google Maps have been tightly integrated into iOS from the start, but Apple has made several mapping-related acquisitions over the last year as their relationship with Google has soured over competition from Android phones and tablets. While we don’t have definitive word from Apple yet, it appears that iPhoto for iOS might be the first iOS product from Apple to drop Google Maps and use a different system.

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I found a few iPad stands that will work quite well in a store setting, two of which are expressly made for Square. Some are available today, and two are prototype designs that are planned for release in the near future.

The Wallee Pivot Stand is featured in Square's product video

The wood-grain stand featured in the Square Register video appears to be photoshopped, but the aluminum stand in the video is probably the Wallee Pivot. The Wallee Pivot works in conjunction with the Wallee Case to hold the iPad in place and allows you to mount it in different locations beyond the countertop stand. The HexaPose stand and the Maclove Titan Desktop Stand for iPad provide a similar solution. These stands hold the iPad and allow you to rotate the screen from portrait to landscape. They include a hole in the upright to route USB or security cables and are designed to sit on a countertop.

The HexaPose Stand

The Maclove Titan Stand

The stands described above do not offer any security features to prevent the iPad from being stolen from the store. Security cases like the Kensington SecureBack appear to be incompatible with the Square Reader because they don’t provide enough clearance for the reader to sit firmly in the headphone jack.

However, there are a few security cables that attach to the back of the iPad using a tamper-resistant adhesive that would allow you to use one of the stands listed above and still keep the iPad safe in a store. I would look into the Kensington Mini Plate Anchor, the iPad Lock from Maclocks.com or the Tryten iPad Cable Lock. The JP-UK Apple iPad2 Security Stand and Harness Bundle looks like it would also work and provides both a stand and a security cable to attach to the iPad itself. Of course, these security cables hold the iPad in place but do nothing to prevent someone from yanking the Square Reader and walking out with your ability to swipe credit cards.

The other problem with these stands is that they are a bit awkward to use when a customer needs to sign a receipt at the end of a transaction. Basically, you have to turn the stand around to face the customer and then turn it back to complete the transaction.

That’s where two future solutions come in that are purpose-built for retail stores. They hold both the iPad and the Square Reader securely, and allow the iPad to be used as a register and flipped over to face the customer for signature. The first stand, the Mogul, is being pitched as a Kickstarter project. It is designed to hold the Square Reader and make it easier to swipe a credit card as well as lock the iPad in. A donation of $190 will get you a stylish and solid stand manufactured from CNC-machined aluminum (but only if the project reaches its funding goal of $30,000).

A prototype of the Mogul Stand on Kickstarter

The second stand is from Happy Owl Studio, a Colorado company that makes some very nice iPad cases, iPhone skins and a luxurious MacBook Air briefcase. (I’m currently rocking a Happy Owl Leather Skin on my iPhone 4S, but the bamboo one is nice too.) As a fellow Coloradan, I was really interested in their plans to produce the Cashbox, a beautiful wooden stand that holds the iPad and Square Reader, and also the cash drawer and a receipt printer, in one countertop design. There is even a slot on the side where you can slide in an Apple Wireless Keyboard.

The Cashbox has a very clever design solution to rotating the iPad back and forth to allow the cashier to ring up the sale and then present the signature page to the customer by moving the screen along an arc built into the enclosure. You can sign up to be notified when the Cashbox becomes available on the website.

The Cashbox from Happy Owl Studio

While there is a certain modern elegance to the machined-aluminum look of the Mogul, I prefer the Cashbox for its natural materials and the clever design that incorporates all of the elements of a complete POS register solution — iPad, Square Reader, cash drawer, receipt printer and even a keyboard. If you don’t need the full solution, then the Wallee Case and Pivot Stand will work great, but I would recommend pairing it with one of the adhesive security cables so that your credit card terminal doesn’t get swiped.

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The delay itself has been greeted with mostly positive reactions from developers, who are thankful for the additional time to adapt to this new approach even if they are still anxious about the long-term implications. Chris Foresman wrote a great summary of sandboxing, Daniel Jalkut of Red Sweater Software covered some of the issues that face developers of Mac software, and Manton Reece, developer of Clipstart, explained why he is dropping out of the Mac App Store to avoid sandboxing entirely. Most discussion of sandboxing has focused on the security implications of the new approach. However, I think that Apple may be playing a long game here that goes far beyond incremental improvements to the security of OS X.

Sandboxing: Security is not the end game

I don’t mean to imply that security is not an important consideration. It is. The problem is that sandboxing is only partially effective as a technique to improve security simply because outright malicious software won’t use it anyway. Wil Shipley of Delicious Monster wrote an excellent essay on the limitations of sandboxing as a security measure. Gatekeeper is likely to be s more effective security measure. So if sandboxing is not the last word on the future security of the Mac platform, what else might be going on?

What use could there be for a shift in programming conventions that requires apps to assume that all their files and settings are held in their own isolated container? That requires developers to carefully document when, where and why they need to reach out of their sandbox. That puts the OS in charge of allowing apps to access shared resources instead of unfettered access to the whole filesystem. What use is there in breaking long-held traditions of using arbitrary file access to enable shared settings? Why remove the ability to talk to other apps through Apple events?

It is not a far stretch to consider that this shift in approach might have a connection to Apple’s long-term plans to make iCloud the center of their strategy for the next decade. Apple intends for developers to move away from reliance on direct access to all of the nooks and crannies of the local filesystem on the computer and instead package up their files using the container approach. Self-contained sandboxes are more easily copied and moved between machines and are easier to back up. More and more, applications interact with online services across multiple devices. If your digital “stuff” is strewn about the cloud and across a couple of Macs (work, home, desktop, laptop) as well as multiple mobile devices like your iPhone and iPad, a dotfile on your computer might not be the best place to store settings anyway. Sandboxing could be a step towards abstracting away the local filesystem in favor of cloud-based storage.

The long game of sandboxing

While we don’t have answers now, there are a few areas to pay close attention to over the coming months as Mountain Lion moves closer to release and iOS is updated as expected later this year. (WWDC this summer will be interesting.)

The first feature to watch is entitlements, which are the list of permitted actions apps are allowed to perform from within the sandbox. Apple has expanded them a bit in Lion 10.7.3, but developers would like more. Daniel Jalkut thinks it is urgent that Apple address the current scope of entitlements. “The number one broken thing about sandboxing as it stands today, is the list of entitlements is simply too limited.” Further refinement of the available entitlements is likely, but it will be more interesting to watch where Apple expands the access granted to sandboxed apps. Will there be more direct access to places in the filesystem? More access to hardware features like serial ports? Or just more refinement to the iCloud APIs? Entitlements will be a clear indication of Apple loosening up on app restrictions or sticking to their guns.

The second area to watch is to see what Apple will do to explain sandboxing to users. If this is truly a security-focused measure, I would expect to see more prompts in OS X about what applications are asking to do (or which entitlements they have requested). If sandboxing isn’t meant to keep users better informed on what apps can and can’t do, then I would suspect that sandboxing is more about corralling developers to interact with the system in ways that can be abstracted or redirected to iCloud.

The big question in my mind, is what will be done with inter-process communication? URL schemes, as we have in iOS, are certainly much more limited than Apple events, even with call-backs. However, URL schemes also provide an abstraction where they could be made to work in different contexts, such as on a computer, on an iPhone or in a web app. Surely, something else is coming to meet the need for automation, workflow scripting and sharing between apps if the Apple events system is being phased out. This will be a key area to watch over the next few months to see where the wind blows out of Cupertino.

I can’t shake the feeling that sandboxing is part of a much bigger play by Apple and that it connects to their strategy for iCloud. While all we can do at the moment is speculate, I feel certain that developers that can suss out the larger meaning here and see a few steps ahead of the rest of us have a real opportunity. We saw companies that pulled ahead of the pack with the first generation of mobile, connected, and social apps for the App Store. There is a similar opportunity here with sandboxing and iCloud to try and skate to where Apple is looking to send the puck, to borrow a phrase from Wayne Gretzky, instead of simply complaining that the puck is not where it’s been.

Tea leaves thumbnail used courtesy of Flickr user xJason.Rogersx

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It’s this last phrase, that something is coming in the next few weeks, that has set off a new round of speculation that perhaps Microsoft intends to reveal Office for iPad on stage at Apple’s iPad 3 event, which is rumored to be taking place in early March. But would Microsoft use an Apple keynote to demo Office for iPad?

Dan Frommer from SplatF comes out heavily in favor of Microsoft being involved in the iPad event, with Apple using Office for iPad to showcase the capabilities of the iPad 3, which would further lock up Apple’s lead against competing tablets in the workplace. John Gruber doesn’t quite agree, mostly because he feels that Apple doesn’t need to share the spotlight.

Frankly, I’d love to see this happen if only to see Steve Ballmer appearing by satellite (or Skype, now that Microsoft owns them?) to announce Office for iPad, much as Bill Gates did in 1997 to announce a new version of Microsoft Office for Mac. [In the video below, skip to 4:47 to see Bill.]

Back then, Apple desperately needed Microsoft to infuse some cash into the organization and some confidence into its customers at a time when it was nearly bankrupt. Nearly 15 years later, the roles are neatly reversed, and Apple is in the driver’s seat for both the phone and tablet markets, while Microsoft is looking to stay relevant with its still-important Office business. In 1997, Apple was eager to cement their relationship with “meaningful partners” like Microsoft, to borrow a phrase from Steve Jobs’ presentation video, embedded above. In 2012, even though Microsoft is nowhere near bankruptcy, that relationship might well look quite different.

If these two things end up being true — that Office for iPad is real and that Microsoft will announce it at the iPad 3 event — here is how to tell exactly where everyone stands:

Where will Office for iPad save its documents?

Would Office for iPad save documents to Apple’s iCloud? Or will it use some Microsoft technology like SkyDrive, Office365 or Sharepoint servers? Or will it be some combination of all of the above?

Office is critically important to Microsoft. It still generates enormous revenues and, more importantly, huge profits for the Redmond, Wash., company. For Office to stay relevant in today’s always-connected workplace, a successful mobile strategy for shared documents is critical. ICloud is great for the independent user that wants to keep their own documents in sync, but it does not provide a complete solution for team collaboration in an enterprise environment. Sharepoint is central to internal collaboration tools in the enterprise market, and SkyDrive and Office365 are part of Microsoft’s hosted collaboration solutions.

If Microsoft were to adopt iCloud for users to save personal documents and Sharepoint integration for team collaboration, that would signal that Microsoft is willing to concede the personal market to get Office on the iPad in order to keep iOS devices plugged into the workgroup and enterprise solutions from Microsoft.

As Gruber put it, “if Microsoft does get a demo slot on stage during the iPad 3 keynote, Microsoft would be getting much more out of it than Apple.”

If Office for iPad only saves documents to iCloud, then Microsoft plainly agrees.

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iCloud support is significant because it potentially reduces the IT infrastructure needed for shared document storage and backup of documents and device settings. Students will be able to share documents created on the iPad with a Mac, or even share back and forth. There are a few caveats, of course. You’ll need software for both platforms that can work with the same document. The iWork bundle is an example of software that can work on the same documents on both iPad and Mac. This could be great for situations where students have iPads but might need to hop on a computer to quickly paste in an image or chart created on the Mac. The downside to all this is that Apple didn’t really design iCloud for a shared computing environment like a school, so you’ll have to figure out how to allow access in your Mac lab. If we’re lucky, there might be something like the old iDisk where you could temporarily access a user’s documents, but I’ll assume that each student will need their own user account on the Mac to make the integration work. It could be great for a Bring Your Own Device program where students can bring their own iPad and Macs are available in the school lab.

Gatekeeper is a new feature of OS X Mountain Lion that gives users more control over running only software downloaded from the Apple-run Mac App Store, software that has been signed by a registered developer (so you know the source), or any software at all. Gatekeeper sounds like it could be good for schools because it provides some restrictions against running untrusted software, but I suspect that most will continue to lock down apps by only allowing approved software from a centrally managed white list. Still, I like the possibility of a middle ground where non-IT folks could install the software they need for a class, or even just a certain unit for a few weeks, as long as it is from the App Store or signed by a registered developer. It would certainly help teachers avoid malware, but it doesn’t do much on its own to prevent kids from installing time wasters and games. You’ll still need to use admin accounts, permissions and profile manager or some other tool for that.

Notes looks like it could be a great research tool and organizer for students working on a project. I like the idea of students collecting notes on their iPad and then pulling them together to write a paper or a presentation on the Mac. Of course, I’m still hoping that iCloud syncing of notes will be workable in schools. Reminders, a simple to-do list for both iOS and OS X, seems to fit right in with Notes and could definitely be useful, but only when integrated with iCloud syncing so students can make notes to themselves when working in the Mac lab and then pick up those notes and reminders on their iPad later.

Share Sheets, Twitter, Notifications, Messages and Game Center are probably not on the top of the list for pedagogically sound uses of Macs in school, but I’m sure some creative teacher will surprise me. I suspect that most schools will be fighting with their IT departments to even allow network access to Twitter, let alone allow the students to access those features on the desktop. Messages, the new version of the iChat instant messaging application, could be a nightmare in some situations, especially since it allows for sending messages to iPhones, much like texting from the computer to a friend with an iPhone. Just one more thing to watch out for, I guess.

Which brings us to the end of line with AirPlay Mirroring. Sweet, sweet AirPlay. AirPlay Mirroring allows you to display your screen to an Apple TV hooked up to a projector or a big TV in the classroom. Airplay Mirroring is going to be great for schools that are deploying an iPad 1-to-1 program. Not because we don’t have ways to hook up computers and iPads to TVs and projectors now, but because there will be a uniform method to do so that works across iOS devices and Mac computers that doesn’t require a variety of easily lost or misplaced adapters and cables. It also helps that this uniform method is wireless and relies only on a $99 Apple TV being installed in the classroom. I think teachers will be thrilled with the options available to share their desktop with the projector, switch to their iPad so they can walk around the room and still show their notes on the screen, and then let a student put their work up on the screen — all without plugging in a single cable or wasting time trying to find the adapter that was supposed to be returned to the projector cart or their desk drawer.

None of the above-features are going to revolutionize education or create a surge in demand for Macs, but I do think that it will help tremendously in schools where iPads are being adopted. OS X Mountain Lion pulls together iOS and the Mac in a way that will make it easier for teachers and students to go back and forth with iCloud syncing (as long as you work out the policies and procedures to do that effectively), and AirPlay makes it dead simple to make use of projectors and big TV screens as well.

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When Snow Leopard came out two years after Leopard, it provided a lot of UI refinements and some important under-the-hood upgrades for developers, like full 64-bit support, Blocks in Objective-C, Grand Central Dispatch, QuickTime X, OpenCL, native Exchange support and more. Mountain Lion is a similar upgrade — it looks to improve on Lion with a lot of UI refinements and some significant changes for developers. But instead of under-the-hood improvements, the most significant changes appear to be out in the cloud this time around.

Here’s the list of changes that Apple is rolling out, and how they will affect developers:

iCloud

iCloud can store both documents and key-value pairs. The important thing to keep in mind here is that the developer is responsible for collisions and conflict resolution between different devices updating the cloud. Documents have a dialog to let users select which version of a file they want to use. If you need to merge document changes, you’re on your own. Developers will need to think really carefully about how to manage conflicts when saving to iCloud if you are syncing data between multiple devices/computers. It’s not clear yet if apps signed by the Mac developer program certs can access data stored by apps signed by the iOS developer program certs. We will have to wait and see what Apple intends here.

While Snow Leopard added Exchange, and Lion added iOS-like features, I think Mountain Lion will be remembered as the “iCloudification” of the Mac.

Game Center

Something like 25 percent of titles in the Mac App Store are games, and the percentage is also quite high on iOS. I think there is a major opportunity here for developers to port games from iOS and keep high scores, achievements and friend lists in sync. iCloud support also means keeping saved games and game states in sync across devices. I’m not sure Game Center will ever be as popular with gamers as Steam and Xbox Live, but it could be great for casual gaming. I’d love to see someone come up with Xcode achievements so I could compare KLOCs with my friends.

Developer IDs, App Signing, Gatekeeper & Sandboxing

A lot has been written about sandboxing, which is coming to the Mac App Store and Lion, in advance of Mountain Lion’s release. I don’t think I’ll try to add anything to the discussion except to point out that Gatekeeper should help to educate users on what the differences are. It appears that you’ll be able to sign your apps — and gain the increased trust of users — without having to submit to the App Store and agree to sandboxing. Of course, to use the iCloud features and other goodies like notifications, you’ll probably want to go with the App Store anyway. Overall, I think this will end up being a good thing, despite the growing pains endured during the rollout.

Ken Case of The Omni Group is optimistic about the announcements:

This seems like a very big deal to me. Partly because Gatekeeper takes a more proactive stance against malware, preventing malware developers from producing new software which infects systems rather than always retroactively tracking down the bad software and preventing it from spreading further.

But even more important to me is that while designing this feature in a post-Mac App Store world, Apple went out of their way to build a mechanism which still supports developers who distribute software through channels other than the Mac App Store. It would have been much easier for them to simply say “to get malware protection, you must use the Mac App Store; otherwise any software you use is at your own risk” — but instead they’ve introduced a new mechanism for identifying trusted developers who distribute software outside the Mac App Store’s curated experience.

Color me relieved!

Sharing

Integrating single sign-on for Twitter in iOS led to a marked increase in people signing up for Twitter accounts. Just as Twitter integration didn’t kill the sales of dedicated Twitter clients on iOS, I would expect that the market on OS X won’t be affected much. Of course, Twitter isn’t the only way to share things. Flickr, Vimeo, etc. are there as well. What I’m really curious to see is if developers will be allowed to extend the sharing sheet by registering their own apps on the system. That could be awesome.

Apple is trying to make it easy to add sharing to an app, but the real issue here is figuring out if your app needs Twitter integration or not. I’m not sure I need to tweet my word count from within BBEdit, for example, but I do like the idea of tweeting what I’m reading right from within Safari, or what I’m looking at from within iTunes or the Mac App Store. I’m hopeful about this feature, as long as developers are judicious in putting it to good use.

Notifications

I think this is one area that developers should really work to adopt. I’m curious to find out more if Apple will allow online services to send notifications to apps as you can on iOS (where Facebook sends a notification to the Facebook app, and Strategery tells you when you’ve been defeated, etc.). Because of the infrastructure needed to handle those types of notices (especially at Internet scale), I would look into Push IO and similar services to leverage so you don’t have to build it all on your own.

What Else?

I’m sure there will be much more to come as Apple makes their plans more public closer to the summer launch, but I think there is a lot of good stuff here that developers can use to improve and build on their Mac apps. I think that iCloud integration will have the biggest long-term impact on OS X, but the refinements in app signing, sharing and notifications will be important features for developers as well.

What do you think will be the biggest change to the ways you make Mac software today?

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On the surface, the functionality is roughly the same as previous versions of iChat. It supports text instant messaging with one person or in a group “conference room” and video chat with up to three other people. You can still enter multiple accounts from different services like AIM, Google Talk and other Jabber-based accounts. What’s new is that you can now connect your Mac to the same iMessage account that you use on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. When setting up an iMessage account, you can choose to use your email address, and you can optionally attach your phone number during setup.

Messages walks you through a quick setup when first launched and reveals a somewhat familiar window layout, with conversations listed on the left and the chat pane on the right. The “Buddies” window is still available to show which of your friends are online and available to chat. One thing that might look different is a Mail-like address bar labeled “To:” at the top of a new conversation, where you can just start typing the name of the recipient. It will find all the matches in your address book and present the various choices of phone numbers, email addresses and accounts associated with different chat services for that name. This is particularly important when using the iMessage service, where email might be associated with the Mac and the phone number might be associated with an iPhone.

The iMessage service supports “delivered” notifications just like on iOS, and optional “read” notifications to be returned to the sender after you’ve viewed their message. These settings are controlled in the app preferences, where you will also find general preferences, account setup, message settings, alert styles and audio/video settings.

When you launch a video chat with someone using Facetime, it actually launches the Facetime application on your Mac. AIM video chat is still available in the Messages application itself.

When I tried Messages out this morning, replies to an iMessage chat showed up in Messages on my Mac, but also appeared as notifications on my iPhone sitting next to me on the desk. I could switch back and forth between the two devices and continue the conversation on either one. The entire conversation was visible on both my Mac and my iPhone and the entire experience was completely seamless.

Conclusions

The importance of this seamless transition between devices for me is the ability to keep the context of the entire conversation in front of me, no matter where I chose to pick up and continue with my next reply. I might get some iMessage “texts” on my iPhone, but when I get back to the office, I can open my laptop and continue right where I left off.

It happens fairly often that clients (or my wife and kids) will text me about something that I need to look up on the computer to answer. As long as they are on iMessage, I can see the original question on my Mac and easily reply from there.

One nice detail is that the repeat notifications on the iPhone are muted when you read the message on your Mac. I left my iPhone untouched beside me while chatting with a friend on my Mac. I saw that the repeat notification that I usually get for text messages never showed up. This is great as long as the iMessage service knows that I read the reply in Messages for Mac. When I turned off Messages for Mac, the continued conversation now triggered repeat notifications on my iPhone.

The area that might require a little more polishing is that, when the message is unread on the Mac, it still appears to mute the repeat notification on the phone. If you left your Mac running unattended, you might not get repeat notifications of new messages on your iPhone. Obviously, this feature doesn’t affect everyone as some people might disable repeat notifications, but it does point out the necessity of being careful about working with betas and figuring out how things work, and what might change over time as Apple refines the Messages application.

Overall, I am pretty positive about the new features. I think Messages for Mac will actually be a big help in my professional and personal life and will make text/IM even more convenient. As for the big picture, I think the overall theme of Mountain Lion (including this beta of Messages for Mac on Lion) is not so much that iOS features and apps are coming to the Mac, but that the apps will work across both iOS and Mac in a completely seamless experience.

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Home theater

If you want to bring your Apple products into the home theater, you might want to start with the new Epson Megaplex projectors with an integrated iPhone/iPad dock. The Epson MG-850HD provides 720p video (and integrated speakers) from a 3LCD system with 2800 lumens: plenty bright to use for business presentations by day and movie screenings by night. You can quickly set up a screening for the kids by playing a movie from the iPad or running an app that allows video output over the 30-pin dock connector. Priced at $800, the Epson Megaplex is perfect for setting up an outdoor movie night for the kids and their friends.

Crestron is well-known for its high-end home theater and automation equipment, and it’s a first-time exhibitor at Macworld, showing off the Crestron Mobile Pro control app for iOS. The app replaces proprietary touchscreen controllers, which can cost thousands of dollars, with a software solution that works just as well on your existing iPad.

Audiophiles

On the music side, we also have consumer and audiophile offerings. SRS Labs is showing off its iWOW 3D accessory to enhance the audio for headphones or the car stereo, as well as a music player app that incorporates the company’s sound processing technology along with some high-end features like 10-band EQ and tempo adjustment.

Audioengine is showing off its DACs (digital to audio converters) for improved sound quality to powered speakers. The D1 ($169) or the wireless D2 ($599/set) DACs work great with the Audioengine 5+ bookshelf speakers the company had on display. At the high end, Peachtree Audio is also showing off its converter offerings, ranging from the small DAC•iT ($449) to the world-class Grand Integrated ($4295). All these DACs are capable of playing high-resolution 24/96 audio files, far better than what you can get from CD.

Speakers and headphones

Monster has its Clarity HD bookshelf speakers ($749) on display. You can also check out the Audioengine 5+ speakers mentioned above. Bang & Olufsen is at the show with its BeoSound 8 iPhone dock boombox and the portable BeoLit 12 AirPlay system.

Accessories

MicW has a nice calibrated cardoid mic for the iPhone and iPad you can use with a sound pressure level meter iOS app to EQ your room or concert hall. Studio Six Digital is showing AudioTools, its acoustical test and measurement app.

Blinq is demonstrating a universal remote app (and IR emitter) to control your whole setup and connect to a social program guide. Another remote is the VooMote Zapper, which combines an app with an IR blaster built into a case, coming soon to an Apple Store near you.

That’s my list of highlights for sound, picture and video fans keen on what’s interesting at Macworld | iWorld this year. Let us know if you spotted anything equally interesting.

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