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First Mac-only social network prepares for launch

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MacMod announced that its new site with 5,000 community members will be launching this January 1, 2009.

“This is going to help us knock out the bugs before we go public,” said Co-founder Jacob Thomason. “It’s nice to be in the final stages of what has been a 2 year plan.” The site is repositioning itself as a Mac-only social network with lots of Mac-centric content.

In addition to having the largest library of modification guides and an active forum, the new features users can look forward to include:

State-of-the-art Profile System: Users can create an online profile, meet and befriend Mac users from around the world, leave wall comments, and share personal photos with the community.

The Big Blog: Unlike very large generic social sites MacMod has a niche to serve and this allows member blogs to be aggregated and served up in a real-time community wide blog called “The Big Blog.”

Groups: Meeting other Mac users on the new MacMod.com can happen in numerous ways, but one way to find like-minded people is to create or join groups where community members can participate in topical discussions.

Software Tools & Tutorials: MacMod is developing a large collection of software tools and tutorials for its users. These programs will specifically focus on customization and productivity. Tutorials will be published weekly to help users put those programs to use (e.g. how to rip & burn a DVD).

Activity Feed: Know what your MacMod friends are up to with a real-time activity feed that chronologically catalogs their actions on the site.

Applications: Members can install several applications to customize their profile including a Twitter Application. Several applications will be available at launch with more coming soon.

Originally posted on December 26, 2008 @ 1:07 pm

Kraft releases iFood Assistant for iPhone

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Kraft Foods announced the release of iFood Assistant, a new application for iPhone and iPod touch that offers users access to food and meal planning ideas. Unlike similar Web Apps that only link to external websites designed to be viewed on an iPhone, iFood Assistant is a resident program that can be downloaded from the Apple App Store and installed on any iPhone and iPod touch.

Fresh features of iFood Assistant include:

• Over 7,000 tested, searchable recipes with clear, step-by-step instructions – also includes an alternate horizontal view to follow along while cooking

• Users can review comments on recipes and share with others

• Shopping lists with nearby store recommendations and the ability to add custom ingredients

• High quality video demonstrations with easy to follow instructions

• Useful tips and shortcuts to aid on-the-go consumers like the “Dinner Tonight” and “Recipe of the Day” sections that feature daily recipes

Originally posted on December 22, 2008 @ 8:44 am

Can you imagine Macworld without Apple?

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This is what you call scaling back to the max. Apple announced that this year is the last year the company will exhibit at Macworld Expo.

Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, will deliver the opening keynote for this year’s Macworld Conference & Expo, and it will be Apple’s last keynote at the show. The keynote address will be held at Moscone West on January 6, 2009 at 9:00 a.m.

Apple is reaching more people in more ways than ever before, so like many companies, trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers. The increasing popularity of Apple’s Retail Stores, which more than 3.5 million people visit every week, and the Apple.com website enable Apple to directly reach more than a hundred million customers around the world in innovative new ways.

Apple has been steadily scaling back on trade shows in recent years, including NAB, Macworld New York, Macworld Tokyo and Apple Expo in Paris.

Originally posted on December 17, 2008 @ 11:54 am

Nimbuzz releases free iPhone app for calling and messaging

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Nimbuzz has released its free iPhone application that lets users call, chat and message, for free, with their friends on virtually all major instant messaging communities and social networks. The appllication can be downloaded at the Apple iPhone App Store.

Nimbuzz currently grows at over 10,000 new users per day and over 10 million logins per day.

Originally posted on November 26, 2008 @ 9:05 am

Ifbyphone releases second Apple iPhone app

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Ifbyphone announced its second app for the Apple iPhone, enabling business people to launch phone conferences instantly by making simultaneous outgoing calls to participants.

Now available for download on the iTunes App Store, the Conference Call App enables users to set up conference calls from their iPhones or iPod touch devices spontaneously, or to schedule calls in advance quickly and easily while on the go. To start an instant conference call, users create a group of recipients from the contacts in their iPhone address books and tap “schedule conference.”

The Conference Call App is Ifbyphone’s second application on the iTunes App Store, joining Ifbyphone’s popular Voice Broadcast app. Both are available for the iPhone and iPod touch. Users can share contact groups between the two Ifbyphone apps.

The Conference Call App is free to download, and includes 100 free minutes of conference calling per month, with an option to upgrade for additional minutes.

Originally posted on November 20, 2008 @ 11:52 pm