iLounge

Panic Software has released Diet Coda, an iPad adaptation of its popular web code editor and development app for Mac OS X. Designed to allow users to make quick edits and adjustments to their websites on the go, Diet Coda provides an advanced web editor with an intuitive touch interface that includes remote editing with syntax highlighting, FTP/SFTP file management and a built-in SSH terminal. A new Super-Loupe feature makes positioning the iOS cursor more seamless, particularly when working in more complex blocks of code and a contextual keyboard provides access to the appropriate special characters based on whatever the user is currently working on. Users can also store chunks of code as clips to be easily inserted in a single tap and an advanced find-and-replace feature is available including a wildcard token for easily searching out and replacing blocks of text or code. Diet Coda can also be used as a companion application for Coda 2.0 via its AirPreview feature, which allows the iPad to be used as a dedicated preview screen while developing on Coda 2 on the Mac. Diet Coda requires iOS 5.0 or later and is available from the App Store for $10 as a special 50% launch discount.

Booq has rolled out its new Folio case for the third-generation iPad and iPad 2. Available in handcrafted natural fiber fabric or Nappa leather, the Folio features a tri-fold cover that allows for multiple viewing and typing angles and also sports built-in magnets for compatibility with the iPad’s automatic sleep/wake functionality, and open access to all ports, controls, and cameras. Booq’s new Folio case for the third-generation iPad and iPad 2 is available now and sells for $50-$90; for more information, see our full review.

Rogue Amoeba reports that Apple has removed its Airfoil Speakers Touch app from the App Store. In a post on the company’s blog, CEO Paul Kafasis states that the company was informed today that “Apple has removed Airfoil Speakers Touch from the iOS App Store” although he first heard about the decision from Apple two days ago and has been in ongoing discussions since then regarding the pending removal.

Kafasis goes on to indicate that he does not yet have any clear answer on why Apple has chosen this course of action, and that he believes Airfoil Speakers Touch is “in full compliance with Apple’s posted rules and developer agreements.” He also mentions that Rogue Amoeba had not submitted any new versions for approval recently, and that this removal is therefore not related to a pending review process, but rather concerns the existing version of Airfoil Speakers Touch that was approved and released in April. Notably, Rogue Amoeba went through a another issue with the App Store and Airfoil Speakers Touch 1.0.1 back in 2009 regarding the display of artwork representing the computer and source application from which audio was being streamed—images that were provided by Mac OS X itself, but were trademarked Apple images. Apple later reversed its policy on this issue, allowing Airfoil Speakers Touch 1.0.2 to reincorporate this functionality.

Kafasis indicates that the company has filed an appeal with Apple’s App Review Board and is presently awaiting further information. In the meantime, users who have already downloaded Airfoil Touch Speakers should be able to continue using the app.

Tapbots has released an update to Tweetbot adding a cornucopia of new features including support for finding tweets by geo-location, improvements to offline reading, mute filters based on keywords and several other UI enhancements. With Tweetbot 2.4 users can now easily find tweets posted near their current location or specify an alternate location to search from there; location-based keyword searches are now also supported for finding tweets based on location. The new update also allows users to mark tweets as favourites or add links to a Read Later service even when offline.

Mute filters can now be created based on keywords in addition to the previous options for people, hashtags and clients, with regular expressions also supported for creating advanced keyword patterns to mute; users can also now choose to mute mentions as well as posts in the main timeline. A number of other UI enhancements have also been made in this latest update, including an updated search view with a more efficient search box and a new browse section containing Trends, People and Top Tweets. In addition, double-tapping the search button now automatically takes the user to the keyword field for quicker entry and users can also now change their preferred location for viewing Trends. Several other minor user interface tweaks have also been made along with a number of bug fixes. Tweetbot 2.4 is available from the App Store in two separate versions for $3 each: Tweetbot for the iPhone and iPod touch and Tweetbot for iPad.

Facebook has released Facebook Camera, a new iPhone application designed specifically to focus on posting and viewing photos on the company’s social network. With Facebook Camera, users can take photos directly within the app and select multiple photos from the iOS camera roll for posting on their Facebook timeline. Users can also crop and apply any of 14 pre-defined filters to their photos and add the standard text, captions, location and friend tags when posting their photos as part of a status update. In addition, the app provides a simple view of the user’s news feed with only photo-related posts displayed, including photos not only from standard Facebook posts but also from third-party Facebook apps, with the user’s own camera roll photos displayed above the news feed for quick access. Facebook Camera is available from the App Store as a free download.

Apple has dropped its estimated shipping wait time for new orders of the third-generation iPad. Apple’s online store shows that the estimated shipment wait for all models—including both black and white variants of either Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi + 4G models, across all capacities—is now 1-3 business days, down from 3-5 days. The changes appear to apply only to the U.S. and Canadian stores, as the company’s European online stores still show a wait of 7 business days; it is the second time this month that the shipping wait times for the third-generation iPad have dropped, as the wait for new orders was 5-7 business days at the end of April.

Bump Technologies has released an update to its popular inter-device sharing app for iOS adding the ability for users to transfer photos from an iPhone to a desktop computer. Primarily designed to allow users to share common information between mobile devices simply by bumping two devices together, this latest Bump update broadens the scope of the application by allowing photos to also be transferred to any computer that the user happens to be working at, with no additional software required on the computer side.

To bump photos to a computer, users simply open the computer’s browser to the Bump web site, choose photos in the Bump app and then lightly tap the spacebar with their iPhone. The selected photos are displayed in the web browser where users can view them and download them all to a folder on the computer, drag-and-drop them directly into other apps or get a short link for sharing them elsewhere. Bump 3.3 requires iOS 4.1 or later and is available from the App Store as a free download.

Sharp will supply technical know-how to Foxconn for a new plant in China that will produce display panels for the iPhone and other consumer electronics, according to a new report. Citing the Nikkei business daily, Reuters reports that the technology sharing agreement only further serves to tie the company to Foxconn, which in March agreed to buy a nearly 47 percent stake in a Sharp LCD manufacturing plant in Sakai, Japan. That plant is said in the report to be Japan’s most advanced panel factory; at the same time, Foxconn also agreed to purchase an 11 percent stake in Sharp for roughly $844 million.

Epic Games and Chair Entertainment have released Infinity Blade II: Vault of Tears, the latest major content update for the critically acclaimed iOS game. Available as a free update, Vault of Tears adds a large collection of new single player content as well new social features for the game’s ClashMob multiplayer update released last month.

In Vault of Tears players delve further into Siris’ mysterious past with new areas available to explore and a plethora of new enemies to encounter. A new Treasure Map feature allows players to discover hidden items and rewards as well as searching out a hidden ally. New enemies include the Mass Golem, Dark Fiend, Bog Giant, Acolyte and more along with a collection of over 50 new items to collect and master. Several new achievements have also been added along with unique gems to forge and a few other hidden surprises.

ClashMob players can also now earn extra turns and invite non-Infinity Blade players on their social networks to do in-game damage by liking the player’s battle calls on Facebook or re-tweeting them on Twitter. Players can also earn bonus plays by liking and commenting on the official Facebook post and retweeting the official tweet for the active ClashMob challenge. Infinity Blade II is currently available from the App Store for $3 for a limited time.

Apple is continuing to reject charges that it conspired with publishers to fix the price of electronic books. Reuters reports that Apple has made a filing in U.S. District Court in which it argues against the Justice Department’s lawsuit and claims that it did not conspire with anyone or fix prices in an effort to undermine Amazon.com’s lead in the marketplace. “Apple’s entry into e-book distribution is classic procompetitive conduct” that helped to foster competition, Apple said in its filing. It added, “for Apple to be subject to hindsight legal attack for a business strategy well-recognized as perfectly proper sends the wrong message to the market. The government’s complaint against Apple is fundamentally flawed as a matter of fact and law.” Apple, along with Macmillan and Penguin, are continuing to fight the charges, while publishers HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, and Hachette have all reached settlements.

Noted actor John Malkovich is the star of two new official Apple ads for the iPhone 4S. As with the prior “Date Night” and “Rainy Day” ads—starring Samuel L. Jackson and Zooey Deschanel, respectively—the new ads, entitled “Joke” and “Life”, feature the star interacting with Siri to perform tasks such as checking the weather, calendar, and searching for food. Consistent with Malkovich’s quirky persona, he mainly queries Siri with single words, with “Life” consisting of the majority of the latter commercial, and “Joke” serving as the punchline for the former. Both commercials are available for viewing now on Apple’s website.

C2 Enterprises has released Photosmith 2.0, a major update to its advanced photographic workflow app for iPad and Lightroom users. Redesigned from the ground up the new version boasts significant improvements in speed, flexibility and memory usage and adds a plethora of the most-requested features by users of the original version.

Photosmith 2.0 now supports wireless two-way synchronization with Adobe Lightroom via a free Lightroom plugin and can also directly receive photos wirelessly from Eye-Fi cards. Users can sort and filter photos, organize them into collections, and apply star ratings and colour labels, all of which can be synchronized with the photos in the user’s Lightroom library. Keywords and IPTC metadata can be applied to photos individually or in batches and users can define presets to quickly apply and reuse the same settings. Users can also share photos to Facebook and Flickr or send them out via e-mail and the app includes native support for Adobe Lightroom’s Export and Publish Services. RAW, JPG, RAW+JPG and DNG formats are fully supported along with advanced file formats from many popular cameras including Canon CR2, Nikon NEF, Pentax PEF, Sony ARW. Photosmith 2.0 requires an iPad running iOS 5.1 or later and is available from the App Store for $20 or as a free update for Photosmith 1.x users.

Seidio has unveiled its new Expert Portfolio Case for the third-generation iPad and iPad 2. The Expert is a folio-style case featuring a Clean-Grip interior panel that is used to secure the iPad in lieu of a traditional frame or straps, a foldable, bendable front cover that serves as a stand with two angles and includes magnets for compatibility with the iPad’s automatic sleep/wake functionality, open access to all ports, controls, and cameras, and a synthetic leather exterior. Seidio’s Expert Portfolio Case for the third-generation iPad and iPad 2 is available now in four different colors and sells for $55.

Google has updated its universal Google Search app for iOS devices introducing a complete redesign of the user interface for the iPhone and iPod touch. Designed with an emphasis on speed and simplicity, the new version dramatically improves performance with significantly faster autocompletion of search suggestions and faster loading of results. Users can also now easily see multiple pages with a slide-in panel, use swipe gestures to move back and forth between webpages,  search results and search modes and easily locate text within any web page. Image search has also been redesigned to now display a grid view of high resolution images; users can scroll down to see additional results, tap on any image to get details about it or swipe between images and save images to the iOS photo library using a tap-and-hold gesture. Google Search is a universal app requiring iOS 4.2 or later and is available from the App Store as a free download.

Miniot has debuted its new Pouch case for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. The Pouch is a wooden sleeve-style case featuring soft interior lining, a snap lock on the interior to hold the iPhone securely inside, and a finger opening in on the side opposite the main opening that allows users to easily disengage the lock and slide the iPhone out for use. Each Pouch is also carved from a single piece of wood and can be optionally engraved for an extra charge. Miniot’s Pouch for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S is available for order now in Cherry, Mahogany, Padouk, Walnut, Wenge, or Zebrawood; pricing begins at €59, or roughly $74.

Mint.com has updated the iOS app for its online personal finance service adding support for creating and editing budgets and creating split transactions from directly within the app. With Mint 2.4 users can now set up budgets from the iPad or iPhone version while on the go or adjust existing budgets created on the Mint.com web site; a new budget slider feature also allows users to adjust their budget by increments. The update also adds the ability to create split transactions while on the go, allowing users to easily record a single transaction on the go with purchases in multiple categories without having to visit the web app later to re-adjust the transaction. Mint.com Personal Finance is a universal app requiring iOS 5.0 or later and is available from the App Store as a free download.

Apple Senior Vice President of Industrial Design Jonathan Ive was knighted today at Buckingham Palace. According to an interview piece with the Telegraph, Ive was knighted for services to design and enterprise, and honor he described as “incredibly humbling.” During the interview, Ive also made several comments about his work at Apple. “We try to develop products that seem somehow inevitable. That leave you with the sense that that’s the only possible solution that makes sense,” Ive said. “Our products are tools and we don’t want design to get in the way. We’re trying to bring simplicity and clarity, we’re trying to order the products. I think subconsciously people are remarkably discerning. I think that they can sense care.”

Ive also made some comments about unreleased products. When asked if he was to be remembered for just one of his Apple designs, which one would he pick, Ive took a long pause, and responded, “It’s a really tough one. A lot does seem to come back to the fact that what we’re working on now feels like the most important and the best work we’ve done, and so it would be what we’re working on right now, which of course I can’t tell you about.”

This week’s featured photo is from our iPhones Around the World gallery, and shows an iPhone 4S sitting on top of the famed Green Monster, overlooking Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. To share your photos and to be considered for our Photo of the Week, you simply need to submit your own photo to one of our galleries. So get out there, take some pictures featuring your favorite iPod, iPad, or iPhone and maybe your submission will be our next Photo of the Week!

INRIX has updated its traffic information and monitoring app adding new Personalize Traffic Reports designed to assist users with their daily commute. Version 4.0 adds a new “Places” page that allows users to quickly see at a glance the fastest route between two locations, the exact estimated arrival time of the two top routes and the optimal time to leave. Users can now also specify their home and work locations in the free version to help track their normal daily commute; an in-app Premium upgrade allows additional locations to be added as well as unlimited viewing of traffic cameras. The map view has also been enhanced with new icons and an optimized layout to provide a more intuitive view of en route traffic, with colours depicting traffic flow and icons used to identify specific events impacting traffic that users can tap on for additional details; the map view also now automatically adjusts to the user’s route at regular intervals to help reduce the need to zoom in and out. In addition, users can now quickly share their estimated arrival time via text message or e-mail. INRIX Traffic is a universal app and is available from the App Store as a free download.

ANDESigned has released a major update to Total Baby, its iOS app for logging and tracking baby and toddler care information. Total Baby 3.0 is now a universal app providing a native iPad user interface, including Retina Display support for the third-generation iPad and adds a new Quick Timer Entry feature for faster saving of timing information and the ability to keep active timers paused when navigating to other information screens. The new version also now allows users to select from five different alarm sounds and assign a custom alarm sound for different children and adds new swipe gestures for data selection along with a number of bug fixes. Total Baby 3.0 is available from the App Store for $5.