Nota 1.2 is finally out with tons of new features. The main focus of this update was to bring the most requested feature to Nota; chords and scales. You can now browse and play almost any type of chord or scale in any key. Chords can also be inverted. A simple piano is now available in full screen landscape mode with bigger keys that are easier to play and the sound engine has been revamped for better responsiveness across different iPhone models. The Reference section can now be browsed in cover flow mode when the device is in landscape mode making it easier to browse by symbols instead of names.

Nota 1.2 Changelog:

• Chords and Scales
• Landscape mode piano
• Cover flow view of reference
• Revamped audio engine for improved responsiveness
• Minor revisions to the reference library
• Spanish localization

Nota 1.0.1 Changelog

Piano:

• The audio format was changed to improve playback performance on the iPhone 2G and 3G.
• Memory management tweaks have also helped performance in these devices.
• Playing a note repeatedly no longer cuts the audio of the previous note sound making it a lot smoother.

Quiz:

• In the previous version, Accidentals and Notes where mixed in the possible answers. This would sometimes make the answer an obvious one. Therefore Accidentals are now grouped together in the answer. This means that if the correct answer is a Sharp or a Flat, then the choices given will be Sharps or Flats, excluding regular notes. Vice-versa, if the answer is a regular note, no Accidentals will be given as possible choices.
• The High Score board now shows the percentage bar of the correct answers.
• The Save Score window now shows up if a new High Score was made.
• Corrected two G flat notes that were showing incorrectly as a G.

Reference:

• Added Alto and Tenor Clefs.
• Fixed a typographical error.
• Expanded the description of Tuplets and Triplets.
• Corrected two G flat notes that were showing incorrectly as a G.

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app store

Nota, my first iPhone app is now available on the App Store. Please go check it out: www.notaapp.com

I am bilingual and want my iPhone to understand me when I switch between english and spanish. So I started browsing the all the new settings that have been added in the recent software updates. To my delight I was able to find out the iPhone now supports multiple languages by adding an International button right next to the space bar. Press that button and your keyboard changes to the next language you had pre-selected. You can then type and enjoy dictionary and auto-correction on the selected language. Press the International button again and you are back on english keyboard. Brilliant. The following is a short tutorial on how to set this up.

Step 1: From the Dashboard choose Settings

Step 2: From Settings choose General Settings

Step 3: From General Settings choose International

Step 4: From International choose Keyboards

Step 5: From Keyboards turn on the desired languages 

Usage:

Go back to the Dashboard and launch an application that uses the keyboard. If you stay in the default english keyboard, when you start typing a spanish word you will get the auto-correction hints based on the english dictionary. But now we have an International button next to the space bar to switch the keyboard language.

Press the International button next to the space bar to switch to the next language in line. The name of the language is displayed briefly in the space bar and then the the word “space” gets changed to the selected language equivalent.

Now, try typing again and you will notice the auto-correction hints will be based on the language dictionary. Press the international button again when you want to return to english typing. 

Conclusion:  When using roman languages it is not as easy mac os x multiple languages but if dealing with non-roman languages this is a brilliant  implementation. I’m sure my mom will hate the fact that Ican do spanglish on my iPhone, but at least I will spell both correctly.

The fact that my wife and I both have iPhones is a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because well… we both have iPhones. But it’s also a curse. It has become another gadget to upgrade, to pimp up and gulp- to depreciate quickly . We were both going to get the 2nd generation iPhones but after weighting in the fact that the original ones are upgradable via software, it became hard to justify the cost of a whole new phone. Sorry, 2 new phones. So we opted for the software update, which gave us in a lot of ways a new phone. The upgrade was free, but the mostly inexpensive apps add up. This got me thinking about Fairplay, Apple’s DRM technology used throughout the iTunes store for music and now applications as well. Fairplay allows you to register up to 5 computers and unlimited iPods/iPhones synced to those computers. So… it should be easy for my wife and I to share iPhone apps with each other as long as both our iTunes are authorized to use them. All we need to do is authorize both accounts in both computers and re-download the apps. This could work in Windows, but why would I right?

Here’s a step by step tutorial on how to do it.

Scenario

I have 2 Macs, 2 iPhones, 2 iTunes accounts.

I used one account to buy a game, and another account to buy another one. The goal is to have both games playable on both phones legally with no hacks.

Solution

Have each computer be authorized for both accounts. Re-download apps on 2nd computer with 1st computer iTunes account.

Step 1: Authorize Computers

I step into my wife’s mac, launch iTunes, log out of her iTunes Store account and log in with mine. 

Step 1: Log Out and In

Still inside iTunes,  I go to the app store and click the Buy App button on the application I had bought in my computer.

      

Step 2: re-download

iTunes knows I already paid for this and just let’s be re-download it without charging me again.

Step 2: Confirm

The app then begins to download.

Once the download is complete, it now shows in the Applications section of iTunes. 

I can now log out of my iTunes Store account and log her’s back in.

Step 1: Log out and in

Step 3: Sync & Play

I can plug her phone in now and sync.

Step 3: sync

The app should transfer without any fuss.

Step 3: syncing

Once synced, it shows on her phone ready for playing.

Step 3: play

And now both our kids can take over our phones and drain those batteries out. 

Step 3: playing

Enjoy.