• Fix the names of songs you import from a CD
• Add album art to songs without it
• Show videos by the band you are currently playing
• View the band’s bio from freebase
• Recommend albums and songs to you from via amazon
• Notify you of upcoming performances the artists in your library
• View news about the artists via google news
• Purchase merchandize, tickets, and music from the band through ebay

It fixes names of songs almost always accurately. Although it utilizes 3rd party resources to identify songs, it seamlessly integrates into TuneUp, making it easy to clean up your library. It does not automatically identify songs that need a TuneUp, which is a pain because with a large music library it is hard to quickly find the songs that are not complete.

Tune-Up Album Art

Adding album art is a breeze with TuneUp, it identifies albums that need art then quickly downloads all of the covers. It does not automatically add them however, you need to approve the album art. The album art for me, has always been accurate. It does not have album art for a lot of small bands.

Tune Up is a great tool for a music guru, but not for a casual iTunes user. If you are looking for an easy user interface, with a small set of necessary features SongGenie is for you.

Pros: Mostly accurate, attaches to the itunes UI. Has a lot of useful features.

Cons: Pricey, other alternatives are better. Can be confusing to use.

It seems though in the midst of all this AT&T along with Apple are beginning to “grow up” and now allow VOIP services such as Google Voice and Skype to enter the mobile phone networking arena which means Google Voice should be suiting up their iPhone App for the App Store battle soon.

This remains unclear what will happen to Google Voice or Apples relation with the FCC and Google in future meetings to come, but for now we remain voiceless for us GV fanatics.

According to recent reports it seems this bug has been discovered when users log in and out of their guest account back into their main personal account and find their data has been wiped off their hardrive for good.

Some say this bug has caused their whole account to become “blank” with not even a folder to show on the Macintosh computer.

CNET has recently posted a video claiming and showing you how to fix this problem which can be found at CNET’s website.

Wether or not Apple knows about this issue or not I do not suggest logging on to your guest account any time soon till Apple provides all of us with some answers.

The Macbook Line

Now this one came from no where generally before new products are released their are a couple of know details about the product with these macbook’s we knew nothing.  The new line of Macbook Pro’s,  like before includes the 15 inch and 17 inch models although now the 13 inch Macbook has been re-branded as a Macbook Pro. All 3 Macbook Pro’s now include the aluminium unibody enclosure, the green battery, a backlite keyboard, along with support for processor speeds up to 3.06GHz, Memory up to 8GB, Hard drive up to 500GB, and a 128GB or 256GB solid-state drive. The Macbook line will now only carry one computer that being the Macbook 13-Inch Plastic. Next up the Macbook Air announced January of last year, it is apple’s closest competition to a netbook. The Macbook Air recieved a price drop (1799>>>1499) and a system processer update. To view apple’s new laptop lineup check out their site.

Snow Leopard
Apple’s new operating system got some attention at apple’s press event. Today apple announced the release date and a price. 10.6 (Snow Leopard) will be out septemer of this year, it will retail for an outstanding price of $29! The price point signifies that apple wants everyone who own a mac to upgrade. For those who are on tiger the upgrade will be the usual $129.

Apple today released Safari 4, the world’s fastest and most innovative web browser. Available for Mac and Windows PCs and introduced as a beta in February of this year, Safari 4 features the Nitro engine which runs JavaScript up to 4.5 times faster than Safari 3. Safari 4 makes browsing more intuitive and enjoyable with innovative features, such as Top Sites, Full History Search and Cover Flow, and support for modern web standards like HTML 5 and advanced CSS Effects.“The successful beta release helped us fine tune Safari 4 into an even better, faster version that customers are going to love,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Safari is enjoyed by 70 million users worldwide and with its blazing fast speed, innovative features and support for modern web standards, it’s the best browser on any platform.”

The free iPhone OS 3.0 Software Update includes some great new features, as well as all the features from previous updates. iPhone OS 3.0 also lets you run the next generation of iPhone apps, like peer-to-peer games¹ and more. If you’ve never updated before, now is the perfect time.

The Fastest iPhone Ever

The first thing you’ll notice about iPhone 3G S is how quickly you can launch applications. Web pages render in a fraction of the time, and you can view email attachments faster. Improved performance and updated 3D graphics deliver an incredible gaming experience, too. In fact, everything you do on iPhone 3G S is up to 2x faster and more responsive than iPhone 3G.

Video

Now you can shoot video, edit it, and share it — all on your iPhone 3G S. Shoot high-quality VGA video in portrait or landscape. Trim your footage by adjusting start and end points. Then share your video in an email, post it to your MobileMe gallery, publish it on YouTube, or sync it back to your Mac or PC using iTunes.

3-Megapixel Camera

The new 3-megapixel camera takes great still photos, too, thanks to built-in autofocus and a handy new feature that lets you tap the display to focus on anything (or anyone) you want.

Voice Control

Voice Control recognizes the names in your Contacts and knows the music on your iPod. So if you want to place a call or play a song, all you have to do is ask.

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iPhone Integration Rating: 3.5
User Interface Rating: 4
Reuse/Replay Value: 4

Overall: 4

Chess Pro is an intuitive application that allows you to play chess on your iPhone. With a realistic gameplay, hints for beginners, and 2-player mode, it’s a must-have for chess lovers.

The UI on this game was pretty good, but the menu wouldn’t respond for a few seconds sometimes when I was testing it out, which can get annoying. My personal experience with the game was pretty good, thanks to the hints, but I still lost. The two player mode is good, with a cool spin animation when its another player’s turn. I would highly recommend that 99Games adds a wi-fi 2 player feature.

The Reuse/Replay Value is high not necessarily because the app is good, but because chess is really fun. Obviously, this app is not too appealing for people who don’t know how to play yet or are just starting as it is priced a bit high. It is good for intermediate players as there are hints at your service.

Overall, Chess Pro is a good application. $2.99 is somewhat a high price, so I would recommend it for people who know how to play already, and for beginners, a lite version of a chess app is a good way to start off.

But that all changed once I heard about the TuckPack, by Speck.  Most of you are probably familiar with Speck, and those of you who arent, Speck is a company that mainly focuses in making accessories for Apple computers, iPods, and iPhones.

As soon as I opened the packaging of my TuckPack, I knew that this had the best of both worlds.  The interesting part about this sleeve is that it also comes with a strap to put on your shoulder!  So its a sleeve that you dont have to carry, but can throw on your shoudler, which I think is something unique for a sleeve.

When I first put the MacBook (White) in the sleeve, I noticed the inside of the sleeve is made of Blue Microfiber, so it doesn’t leave any scratches on the surface of the computer.  I also noticed that its made of a thick, yet light-weight material with protects the laptop inside nicely.

I actually found the TuckPack sleeve to be BOTH a case and a sleeve, since it looks like a case, but it is thin and easy to carry around like a sleeve.  The TuckPack also features something most sleeves don’t, an extra pocket to keep you papers, iPod, etc.  Sleeves made by other companies are compact, but they all don’t have the protection and features that the Speck TuckPack Sleeve offers.  The only downside to the sleeve is that although the front cover of the sleeve Velcro securely closes the flap on the TuckPack, it would have been nice so have a zipper at where the computer slips into and where the extra papers you might have go into for added security.

The TuckPack is availible in two patterns, Speakeasy Black Pinstripe (The Pattern I reviewed), and Coffeehouse Brown.  The pictures below that I took are of Speakeasy Black Pinstripe, as that was the only color I had.

In the end, I think the sleeve is a great substitute for both a bulky case and a miniature sleeve.  The TuckPack Sleeve offers similar protection to a general case, yet the compactness of a sleeve, and some extra useful features as well, and it truly does offer the best of both worlds as it appeals to the professional business man, and to a simple teen, and every laptop should have the opportunity to be carried around in one.

Pros:  Nice Size, Protection, Optional Shoulder band, Extra pocket for papers.

Cons: Not too many color choices, no zipper

iPhone Integration Rating: 5
User Interface Rating: 5
Reuse/Replay Value: 3

Overall NotePad Rating: 4

NotePad is an easy to use productivity application that is used to type notes on the iPhone, taking advantage of some of the phone’s great features. Things like special types of folders, shake to write, and computer syncing make the app really awesome.

NotePad’s UI is an amazing one, featuring just a few easy-to-use buttons, and my personal favorite feature: you can shake your iPhone once or twice to make a new note. You can also sync your notes to your desktop (which I didn’t try yet). Another cool feature is how you can make keyword or location-specific folders, making the app very advanced. My personal experience with the application was good, there was one bug that I managed to take a picture of (look at the screenshot with the popup), but other than that, the application ran very smoothly and I was very happy with it. The reuse value is weak because Notes delivers the same product and is free, but is strong due to the numerous features Notes doesn’t have: syncing and shake to write, for example.

Overall, NotePad is an OK app. Since it is $4.99 but has the same core function as Notes, which comes free with any iPhone/iPod Touch, NotePad is not worth it for your money. The cool features make it very modern and intuitive, though.

Here is a picture of Axiotron’s booth:

Axiotron's booth

This company is the first to create a commercially available tablet Mac!  Of course, this is a 3rd party modification to the plastic MacBook. They take the MacBook, remove the screen and turn it into a slate styled tablet.  The Axiotron ModBook even has a built-in-GPS!  The Modbook costs $2,250, and you can see all of it’s features etc. here: http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=modbook
But the big announcement was the ModBook Pro which features a 15 inch touch screen, but it costs $5,000-$6,000!
 

Axiotron's Modbook (Macbook+touch screen=Modbook)

I am in Griffin’s booth right now.  I am checking out their Strealine case for the iPhone/iPhone 3G.  If you haven’t heard about it, it is a really cool sport armband case.
Here are some of it’s features:

• Clear, full-face screen protector safeguards against scratches and smudges
• Screen protector allows click wheel or touchscreen use and unhindered access
• Reflective trim makes you more visible to traffic at dusk
• Washable, two-way adjustable band fits any arm in a breathable, comfortable fit that you can wear all day

I also checked out their AirCurve which is an acoustic amplifier for the iPhone.  It doesn’t have speakers or batteries.  It has a waveguide “horn” that collects sound from the built-in speaker of the iPhone and amplifies it about 10 decibels!

Griffin's AirCurve

Just a few days back, I reviewed “Things” a revolutionary task manager for the iPhone and Mac.  The copy I was using for the Mac was a release candidate (not a final copy).  Cultured Code (The company who makes “Things”) has finally released their gold master (final copy) of Things today here at MacWorld!  Anyway, here is a picture of some sketches of Things for the iPhone:

Sketches of "Things"