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It's January 6th, 2012, and today marks the end of the TUAW Best of 2011 awards. This was a massive undertaking, with 25 separate categories all requiring their own nominations and voting from our readers. We've learned some lessons for next year's event -- start earlier, watch for astroturfing in the nominations, drop some unpopular categories -- and the Best of 2012 will be even better. The editorial staff here at TUAW agreed with many of the reader picks, but we had our own opinions on some others. We want to thank all of the thousands of TUAW readers who took time to consider their favorite accessories and apps, nominate them for an award, and then vote in the competition. Without further ado, here's the full list of winners as well as our picks for the TUAW Best of 2011: Editor picks: 13" and 11" MacBook Air, 13" MacBook Pro Peripheral or Accessory: OWC Data Doubler and OWC Mercury 6G SSD Editor picks: Magic Trackpad, OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD Editor picks: Mophie Juice Pack Air, Mophie Juice Pack Powerstation, iChair Editor picks: Apple Smart Cover, AViiQ Smart Case,Twelve South BookBook, ModulR System, OtterBox Defender Editor picks: Apple TV, iCade, Mophie Juice Pack Powerstation Read More

Now that I've had my iPhone 4S for a couple of days, I'm amazed with what Siri can do. I've asked a number of questions -- real ones, not questions like "What is the meaning of life?" -- and have been totally impressed with how my interaction with the iPhone has changed. But there are more things I'd love to be able to do with Siri, which is the reason for this post. Everyone should understand that Siri is currently a beta product from Apple. A lot of the things I'm talking about here should happen once the product is out of beta and developers are given access to a Siri API. This is my way of letting some iOS developers know that I'd love to see Siri integration in their apps. Here we go: I think that Siri has the ability to become the intelligent agent that the mid-90s MagicCap mobile operating system always wanted to be. While MagicCap's TeleScript agents suffered from the lack of cheap and ubiquitous Internet service as well as public acceptance of electronic commerce, those barriers are no longer a problem. Add Siri as a super-friendly interface, and the future is going to be very nice indeed. What are some of your ideas for "serious" integration of Siri into your daily life? Leave your comments below. Read More

by on 05. Nov, 2010 in We recently interviewed Gregg Weiss, President of Blue Whale Web Solutions. You can check out their impressive >iPhone App Development portfolio on their web site. Mobile Orchard: Please tell our readers about Blue Whale App Solutions. Gregg Weiss: Blue Whale Web Solutions is an app development company based in South Florida, with offices in NYC and Chicago. We focus mainly on iOS apps but as of the last 2 months are starting to dive into Android. We have created apps for clients such as SummerFest (the largest music festival in the world), Porsche Club of America and Engadget among others. We also work with entrepreneurs and small businesses to help them define their objectives in the mobile app space. GW: Like most app development companies, our previous expertise stems from the web world. I started Blue Whale over 5 years ago doing custom website designs, application development and SEO. When the iPhone came out and the iOS SDK became available it was a natural progression. There are a lot of apps that require server side integration so there still remains a big “web” part to app development. MO: What changes the iPhone/iOS were you most excited to see? GW: Multitasking getting released this past summer was huge with the 4.0 update. Integrating twitter and facebook APIs provides that viral effect for apps that can really help get the word out in a natural way. MO: Which app has been the biggest challenge for you as far as development goes? GW: Ha – great question! Some projects are more challenging than others, but often it’s not a direct correlation between one app being more difficult to do than another. The challenges mostly arise when you have a 3rd party, like a client’s IT dept that is in control of the API and the data. Because you have to rely on someone else, that tends to add time to the project plan. Other common challenges are speaking with people who have “ideas” but no clearly defined requirements document or they havent thought about how much the entire process will cost, so they have unrealistic expectations as to what they can accomplish within their budget. MO: How do you think app developers will benefit from Verizon having the iPhone? GW: Glad to see this is finally happening after a year of rumors! Combined both carriers account for 62% Read More

Headed out to do some shopping and looking for a few good deals? Thanks to the proliferation of smartphones and their accompanying mobile applications, the ability to access geo-targeted coupons from nearby merchants on your handheld device is easier than ever. Or is it? In theory, you should be able to go into any store, launch an app and find a coupon for that business which could then be presented to the cashier. We have the technology - it is possible. In practice, however, this sort of mobilized "discount shopping" experience is still quite a ways off. In Apple's ecosystem alone, dozens of applications are returned when you search iTunes for "mobile coupons." But after some experimentation with a handful of the top names (and a couple of newcomers), the experience was less than desirable. In my tests of several of these mobile coupon apps, I used an iPhone, but many of the apps mentioned below are multi-platform, supported on devices like Android and Blackberry, too. For starters, despite living in a relatively large metro area (Tampa Bay, Florida - which, for the geographically unaware, is the fourth most populous metropolitan area in the Southeast U.S.), there were relatively few coupons available no matter which service was used. That's surprising, given the fact that nearly every major national chain is represented here. But in one app, there would be coupons for a national chain like "GNC" and in another app there would be coupons for the national chain "Domino's Pizza" and in yet another app there would be coupons for a Tampa Bay-based chain of restaurants, but despite my searches, I couldn't find a single app that housed all the offers in one comprehensive listing. Why is that? And had I actually wanted to use a particular coupon, it would have taken several minutes of launching multiple apps and searching for that business in order to locate which app offered it. That's hardly convenient when you're on the move and in a hurry. Then let's say I actually found a coupon worth using. The process for doing so is entirely different, given the app being used. For example, in Yowza!!, you're given a coupon code (similar to what you would use on a website at checkout) which you're supposed to give to a cashier - a cashier who, according to the app's included FAQ, may have no idea what to do Read More

I wrote a review of GroceryIQ just over a year ago and I have continued to use it frequently. The new GroceryIQ 2 expands on the original concept by taking advantage of the power of a connected mobile device that can tap into the cloud. These significant improvements have pushed the app from “frequently used” to “indispensable” on my own iPhone. I’ll run down the features for you and then share some comments from the developer on how the cloud and the iPhone have come together to create great software. The big update in version 2 is list syncing between multiple iPhones. In practice, this feature is incredibly valuable. Whenever my wife updates the list with something that we need, I get a push notification that something has been added to GroceryIQ. When I get to the store, I open the app and it quickly syncs my lists so that I am sure to not miss something we need. In addition, my wife instantly benefited from the effort I had put in to organize the aisles to match the layout of our store as well as the history and favorite items that I use to quickly build shopping lists. GroceryIQ 2 also adds some features related to its acquisition by Coupons.com. You can find coupons on your iPhone and print them straight from the phone to a supported HP printer. I have a Canon printer so I use the email option to send the list of coupons I selected on the iPhone and print them from my computer. The list categories show logos for items that have coupons available as another reminder. The gee-whiz feature in this release is barcode scanning to add items to your shopping list. You take a picture of the barcode using the iPhone camera and it will look up the item and add it to your list. Frankly, I love this app because it actually makes shopping easier than using pencil and paper. I spent a little time catching up Jason Boehle from Coupons.com to talk about how the 2.0 release came about and how technology has made the simple task of making a shopping list even better. Tell me about how you decided on the feature list for Version 2. List sharing between devices has been a big request by users and was part of the original vision for Grocery iQ 1.0. We’re pleased to Read More