When Apple released the third-generation iPod shuffle in 2009, I saw it as a perfect example of the design hubris that many Apple detractors point to. From a usability perspective, there really wasn’t anything wrong with the second-generation iPod shuffle — it had a minimal number of buttons, true, but their functions were fairly obvious. In a textbook example of the emphasis of form over function, Apple’s third-generation... 

Epic Games, creator of the Unreal 3 game engine , has been working on getting Unreal Engine 3 running in iOS for a while now. They showed off some of their efforts with a demo of “Project Sword” at Apple’s iPod event , and Mike Capps of Epic Games talked about the direction he saw gaming on iOS devices taking in the future. The fact that the Unreal 3 engine now runs seamlessly on iOS devices is a huge deal. This is the same game... 

If you have a secret love affair with shoulder padded t-shirts (that you wear around the house when no one’s looking), and you instinctively roll up your sleeves when you put on your favourite blazer jacket (and don’t get why people look at you funny), then here’s an app for you. Back in June Akai Professional released SynthStation for the iPhone / iPod touch, and we got excited. Very excited. Why? Because we love synths, especially... 

You saw them in the keynote today, now watch them again in the privacy of your own home: the new iPod touch and iPod nano television ads are live on Apple.com and on Apple’s YouTube channel . “All kinds of fun,” indeed. (If you’re a fan of NBC’s Chuck , like some of us are, you may appreciate that Cake’s Short Skirt/Long Jacket — the show’s theme song — is featured in the new nano ad.) [via... 

The public servants at the FCC are earning their keep today, favoring us with several PDFs full of lovely, detailed images of both the internal and external design of the soon-to-ship iPod touch . Check out the gallery below for several of the pictures, and consider how much nicer it will be when you actually have the new hotness in hand. Gallery: iPod touch internals from the FCC [via Engadget , their video hands-on of the new iPod is after... 

In case you’re just getting off of work, just waking up, or your plane just landed after a 15-hour flight, here’s all of today’s Apple news condensed into one quick post: Steve Jobs looked good at today’s event, which was attended by Steve Wozniak. Steve J. did a nice shout-out to his “partner in crime” at the beginning of the presentation. Jobs announced that there are now 300 Apple Retail …  Read More →

Not much of a surprise, but nice to have some details: Cult of Mac cites a source close to Apple saying that the live stream of today’s iPod event will be used to put some real-time load on Apple’s new North Carolina data center . The facility isn’t all the way operational quite yet, but it’s apparently ready enough to play a major role in today’s festivities. The NC datacenter is five times the size of Apple’s... 

Most of you noticed something a bit… oddly specific about Apple’s streaming announcement for the 9/1 event: Apple(R) will broadcast its September 1 event online using Apple’s industry-leading HTTP Live Streaming, which is based on open standards. Viewing requires either a Mac(R) running Safari(R) on Mac OS(R) X version 10.6 Snow Leopard(R), an iPhone(R) or iPod touch(R) running iOS 3.0 or higher, or an iPad[TM]. The live broadcast... 

It looks like Apple has decided that it’s finally time to let the public in on their press events — the company will be streaming live footage from the event tomorrow on its website. Traditionally, the company has depended on third parties (like, ahem, us — we’ll still be metaliveblogging the event here on TUAW, don’t worry), but it looks like tomorrow’s event is free for everyone to watch. That’s assuming... 

With all of the speculation flying around about tomorrow, a few people are poopooing any idea that Apple will mention the iTV at all. The invitation doesn’t say anything about it being “show time.” Images like the guitar are usually reserved for iLife and the iPod , and it’s unlikely that Apple will put a brand new iTV into that somewhat crowded mix. But there’s something about the iTV that makes me think we’ll... 

Autodesk , proprietor of popular 2D/3D design software AutoCAD , is about to bring AutoCAD back to the Mac after a nearly two decade estrangement. AutoCAD is to engineering and architecture design what Photoshop is to photo editing, so this is a Pretty Big Deal. Like many software makers (and users), Autodesk bailed on the Mac platform during the early 1990s, at least as far as AutoCAD is concerned. Since then, it’s been one of the biggest…  Read More →

With the September 2010 Apple media event just days away, here’s a quick team round-up of our takes on the likely product introductions. Victor Agreda : I’m betting on an iPod nano with touchscreen (because flicking is the new scrolling), and an iPod touch with a camera and retina screen. As for the “One More Thing?” How about a digital shelf in iTunes for your music for MobileMe subscribers? I’m expecting a new... 

Apple set another milestone over the weekend when it reached 250,000 apps available in the App Store. Last Saturday, 148Apps recorded 252,227 apps currently available for the iPad and iPhone/iPod touch. Expect Steve Jobs to tout these numbers on Wednesday at the beginning of Apple’s scheduled press event . As Electronista reports , Apple still has the numbers when it comes to mobile app stores. Unofficial statistics suggests that there... 

Sunday night is the funnest night of the week, when you can join the TUAW staff for an hour or so of live banter about what’s happened in the Apple world in the previous week. This week, we’ll also be chatting about the mystery Apple press conference on Wednesday, which probably isn’t too much of a mystery given the past history of September press meetings. It’s also the time of year when the kids are …  Read More →

Zombie Dice is one of a new breed of board games that was released almost simultaneously in real life and in digital form as an app for the iPhone/iPod touch. It wasn’t supposed to be that way, but the popularity of the free Flash demo that Steve Jackson Games developed for its website made someone realize an iPhone app might not be a bad idea. Fast forward a little while and we can now download – for free*, yay! – a slick...