Apple Mac HQ

Friday the Wall Street Journal reported that Steve Jobs had a liver transplant in Tennessee “about two months ago”. In the WSJ article, there was very little details about the source of the information.

Today, the program director at Methodist University Hospital Transplant Institute confirmed what some had suspected, that Steve Jobs received a liver transplant at Methodist University Hospital. Citing the patient’s private health information, no additional details were available.

Get well soon Steve!

Popularity: 4% [?]

Unless you have been under a rock lately, you probably heard of this little conference last week called WWDC. At said conference, Apple announced that iPhone 3.0 software will hit iTunes June 17th. June 17th is THIS wednesday!

I’m glad Apple decided to release the new iPhone OS and the new iPhone 3G S on separate days. The simultaneous launch of iPhone 2.0 software and iPhone 3G was a disaster.

I’m excited about iPhone 3.0 software because I’m not yet sure if I’m going to upgrade my original iPhone to iPhone 3G S. I plan on running iPhone 3.0 for a few weeks to see if I need to upgrade to iPhone 3G S.

Oh yeah, CCP stands for Cut, Copy, and Paste. Finally! What feature in iPhone 3.0 software are you excited about?

Popularity: 6% [?]

When I first started using Twitter, I used the website and text messages. Later on I started using Hahlo when I accessed Twitter on my iPhone, and Twitterrific when using my Macbook Pro. I’ve recently stopped using Twitterrific on my Mac and have started using a new Twitter client named Nambu.

Nambu has changed the way I interact with Twitter. You can see a picture of Nambu in use below.

What’s so great about Nambu?

• It’s free
• Multiple account support
• Easily view DM’s, @replies, and Favorites
• Threaded @replies
• Ability to group people to more easily view tweets
• Link organization
• Tr.im support
• And more!

What I like so much about Nambu is that you can easily slice up your Twitter stream nearly any way you like. If you are only following a few people, Nambu may be overkill. If you have multiple accounts, are following many people, or have a very active stream, you should really give Nambu a try.

Popularity: 16% [?]

One cool section of the Apple website that you may not know about is the profiles section. On a semi-regular basis, Apple showcases companies or people and how they use Apple technology. There are two of these sections, one for Pro and the other is Business.

Recently, Apple profiled the hottest company on earth, Twitter. The profile on Twitter talks about some of the Apple technology they use and mention some third-party software tools too. If you’re interested in seeing some of the Twitter office and reading about how the company uses technology, you should read the profile.

One of my favorite profiles from the Pro section is the Washington Post. The Washington Post profile is in video form too!

[Via Daring Fireball]

Popularity: 16% [?]

Newsweek posted an article late last week about the U.S. military’s use of the iPod with soldiers. The iPod is replacing hardware specially built to military specifications. Here’s the money quote if you ask me:

Typically sheathed in protective casing, iPods have proved rugged enough for military life.

If it’s tough enough for the U.S. military, it’s probably tough enough for your use!

[Via Daring Fireball]

Popularity: 19% [?]

I’ve been using Cha-Ching on the Mac for about a year now. While Cha-Ching is not perfect, it fits the majority of my money management needs. When I heard Midnight Apps was developing Cha-Ching for iPhone, I was very excited about the possibilities. After beta testing the application for a month or so, Cha-Ching for iPhone (iTunes link) has finally hit the App Store.

While Cha-Ching for iPhone is a completely stand alone application, the real power of the application lies in the integration it has with the desktop application. My review will concentrate more with the total Cha-Ching package (iPhone and Mac) than just the iPhone application by itself.

Once you have data in the desktop application or the iPhone application, you can begin using them together. To sync your data open both the iPhone application and desktop application. Go to Settings in the iPhone application and then hit Sync. Once you touch Sync, you’ll get the below screen telling you how to proceed with the sync on your Mac.

Currently everything is synced between both applications except for Budgets. Why? The budgeting function is being overhauled in the desktop application so right now they aren’t compatible. The budgeting function is a critical feature of any money management application so I hope the feature will be working within the next few beta releases of the desktop application.

Entering transactions on the iPhone application is a breeze. After hitting the New Transaction button, choose from a payee or add a new one. Once the payee is chosen, just enter in the amount and choose Income or Expense and click done. It takes just 3 taps to enter a new transaction!

Cha-Ching for iPhone allows you to schedule transactions, create new accounts, add notes to transactions, password protect the application, is location aware, and much more. Cha-Ching for iPhone currently costs $2.99 and requires iPhone software 2.2.1.

The verdict: Cha-Ching for iPhone is a winner. The application itself is gorgeous, intuitive, and features killer syncing with the desktop application. The ease of use is incredible. In fact, I actually prefer to enter transactions on the iPhone vs. the desktop application because the iPhone application is that easy to use. Currently the only downside is the lack of budget support with the desktop application. The budget feature is currently being worked on so it’s only a matter of time before that downside is erased. In short, Cha-Ching is the preferred method to track my family finances.

Popularity: 34% [?]

If you’ve been holding out for an official Skype application for your iPhone, the wait is about to be over. Skype is set to release the iPhone and iPod touch application sometime tomorrow (March 31st).

The application will be free and will have one fairly significant drawback. As with other VoIP applications on the iPhone, Skype will only work while connected to a WiFi network.

[Via New York Times]

Popularity: 27% [?]