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AirPrint Activator v2.1b4

Short post about the new version of AirPrint Activator.

Version 2.1b4 is now available for download.

 

Changes:

1. New option to automatically restart the daemon every 10 minutes. This might come handy for users that are experiencing sporadic printers drop from the list. To activate the feature go to “Advanced Settings” and select “Activate Daemon Restart” as shown below:

2. Some other bug fix.

To download go to the main AirPrint Activator page.

Siri on iPhone 4 is indeed possible

On the iPhone 4S launch date just a couple of weeks ago, 9to5 broke the news that developer Steven Troughton-Smith had successfully ported the Siri user-interface and some of the underlying code from the iPhone 4S onto the iPhone 4. Now, Troughton-Smith has followed up with Chpwn to get the server fully working on an iPhone 4 and iPod touch.

The video not only shows the Siri functionality on an iPhone 4, but is in depth and shows a side-to-side comparison against its newer, faster sibling, the iPhone 4S.

Troughton-Smith tells that an iPhone 4S jailbreak was necessary in order to accomplish the task of porting the proper files for Siri’s servers to connect to an iPhone 4.

At this point it’s all about confirming this works across devices, making it reproducible (it is working on two devices today), and documenting everything. It does require files from an iPhone 4S which aren’t OKto distribute, and it also requires a validation token from the iPhone 4S that has to be pulled live from a jailbroken iPhone 4S, and it’s about a 20-step process right now.

Troughton-Smith is only interested in the technology and making it work; proving that it works and works well on the iPhone 4 and other devices.

They also got chpwn’s iPod touch up and running with Siri after proving it works on my iPhone 4. Unfortunately the microphone on the iPod is nowhere near as good as the iPhone – you will notice that the Siri level meter hardly moves when you talk to it.

Nest, the iPod generation home thermostat

NestNest is a revolutionary new thermostat for your home.  This thermostat is good looking (I mean, really slick) and will learn as you make temperature adjustments.

Nest also learns through an array of sensors to help optimize the temperature adjustments of your home:

  • Ambiant light sensor
  • 3 x temperature sensors
  • Motion detection sensor

Nest is also WiFi connected to the internet where it can get weather forecast for your region and prepare in consequence. Through the internet connection you can also remotely monitor your home temperature and make last minute adjustments.

Nest will improve over time as you use it more and more. No more programming, no more constantly changing the temperature. The Nest Learning Thermostat programs itself in a week to keep you comfortable and save energy.

Continue reading Nest, the iPod generation home thermostat

Steve Jobs 1955-2011

AirPrint Activator v2.1b1

v2.1b1 (September 5 2011):

- new design to be firewall friendly. Simply add the aparedir helper application located in the helper folder to the allowed applications in the Firewall)

- fix an issue with firewall detection on non Lion systems

To run this new version simply drop the AirPrintActivator folder in the Applications folder and run it.

Grab your copy from the main AirPrintActivator 2 page.

AirPrint Activator v2.0b16

Quick note about the new release of AirPrint Activator 2.0b16.

This new release changes the following:

v2.0b16 (August 13 2011):

- newly compiled under XCode 4.1.1

- added a new warning window that let you know if the OSX Firewall is on and what consequence this might have on APA2

If AirPrint Activator is working fine for you then no need to upgrade.  If you do upgrade from a previous v2.0bX release simple run the new version, turn AirPrint OFF and then back ON again.  That is it.

You can download the latest copy in the main page of AirPrint Activator V2.0.

OSX Lion Nuance voices now available for download

I was checking if the new Nuance voices part of OSX Lion where still unavailable… to my surprise the Karen voice started downloading… Is Apple preparing for the release of Lion soon… maybe as soon as tomorrow… as some have speculated based on the new Apple Store 2.0 large download size…

This would be another possible sign of the imminent launch of OSX Lion!

Here is a sample of the voice reading the text above this line: karen fiona

Here are two samples for the French Canadian voices: julie felix

OSX Lion will use Nuance voices?

UPDATE 2:

Just to clarify something.  Some site are wrongfully reporting that those voices where added by Apple in Lion’s preview 3.  This is not true.  The voice samples where there with the 1st preview. I did NOT discovered the voices. Those where found way back when Preview 1 was released. What I discovered today is that that those voice samples where in fact the same voices that Nuance used to sell in their RealSpeak product.

Those voices are NOT actually usable just yet in Lion.  You get an error message when Lion is trying to install them.  They are most likely missing either from the installation package or missing from Apple’s update servers.

I hope this clarifies things up a bit.

UPDATE 1:

Apparently the RealSpeak application is now called Vocalizer.  You can find it here!  Thank you Örjan for pointing this out!  You will find a demo of the voice and I must say that they sound identical to the Apple’s voice demo in Lion!

——

Here is something I discovered while listening to the new voices sample in OSX Lion.  They are a perfect match to those that used to be part of Nuance RealSpeak Solo product…  Now, the thing is that Nuance RealSpeak Solo is no more to be found on their web sites… how strange is that.

You can still find samples of the various voices at sites like the following.

The voice samples in Lion sound a bit better than the older samples from Nuance… but one can easily link the two together.

You can also still get some live samples from Nuance by registering an account at the following link: http://212.8.184.250/tts/demo_login.jsp

I don’t know if the links above will stay up very long but have a try while it last!

This is more proof that Apple is certainly licensing Nuance products to use in the next OSX Lion. There is still a chance that they will pull it out before the GM release…

The new voices in Lion still don’t install properly (as of Preview 3)… Apple might have wanted to delay the distribution of those voices or they simply have not completed to cross all T and dot all i in the contract.

AirPrint Activator (APA) v2.0b15

Here is a small update to AirPrint Activator.  This new version fix a bug with long printer names that would exceed the maximum Bonjour name length resulting in a failure to advertise the printers.

As usual you can grab a copy from the main AirPrint Activator page.

AirPrint Activator (APA) v2.0b13

Short post about the release of AirPrint Activator (APA) v2.0b13.

What is new in this release?

  • 1st official release with PPC support.  I fired up an old version of xCode and compiled a Universal binary based on a 10.5 SDK.  Hopefully this should make APA available for PPC machine running 10.5.

     

  • New UI for the ON/OFF toggle switch

     

  • Fix for a bug with the Wireless support (hopefully)

     

  • Fixed a bug with the preference file creation under OSX Lion

     

  • Added an option to disable the auto-cleanup feature of the daemon (don’t use this please)

     

That is it for now!