Start your own mosh pit with the Metalcore Breakdown Composer

Out in the sea of odd samplers and drum machines on the iOS platform there's one understandable blind spot for music apps; metalcore. Birthed out the hardcore punk and death metal scenes the sub-genre started promisingly before becoming incredibly repetitive. Depending on your tastes Metalcore Breakdown Composer is either a obnoxious parody of modern extreme music or a fun toy to pass time on your iOS device.

Utilizing a soundboard of various drums, guitar tones, and vocals players can tap together breakdowns -- essentially the bridge of a metalcore song -- for your listening pleasure. Whether you're making fun of a friend whose a fan or you just want to create your own simple breakdowns this app is for you.

Currently MBC lacks the ability to record or export the sounds you make which is the kind of oversight that keeps it from being easily recommended as a keeper. Still it's a funny idea that could provide the right open minded parent an afternoon full of bonding time with their metalhead child.

You can watch Metalcore Breakdown Composer's delightfully surreal video below to get a taste of just how tongue in cheek the product in question actually is. You can pick up the Metalcore Breakdown Composer for free right now in the app store. Perhaps you can bring the whole family together by starting mosh pits of love in the living room.

Apple and others reach settlement agreement in anti-poaching class action suit

The anti-poaching class action lawsuit that embroiled a number of high profile tech companies has come to an end. The New York Times reports that Apple, Google, Intel, and Adobe all reached settlement agreements with the plaintiffs party to the dispute.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but the plaintiffs had argued that the lost wages added up to $3 billion. Three smaller settlements with other defendants, which included Lucasfilm, Pixar and Intuit, were reached last year for $20 million.



"This is an excellent resolution of the case that will benefit class members," Kelly M. Dermody, a lawyer at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, the plaintiffs' legal team, said in a statement. "We look forward to presenting it to the court and making the terms available."

If you recall, Apple and slew of other tech companies entered into anti-poaching agreements from 2005 through 2009 whereby parties to the agreement all agreed not to recruit employees from one another.

The class action suit was subsequently brought forth by five software engineers in 2011 who alleged that the anti-poaching agreements minimized their job prospects and ultimately worked to compress employee salary rates in Silicon Valley.

The lawsuit made headlines many times over, often because filed court documents relayed interesting email exchanges between some of tech's most high-powered executives. For instance, some emails revealed that Steve Jobs at one point intimated that Apple might sue Palm if Palm didn't agree to stop recruiting Apple employees. In another instance, emails revealed that Steve Jobs angrily called Google co-founder Sergey Brin over Google's efforts to recruit Safari employees.

The death of an iPod

Apple's gadgets even die in the most adorable ways. Let's have a moment of silence for this fallen musical soldier.

[Photo credit: Enrico Palombaro]

The TUAW Daily Update Podcast for April 24, 2014

It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.

You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. The Daily Update has been moved to a new podcast host in the past few days. Current listeners should delete the old podcast subscription and subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.

Netatmo expands iOS-friendly Weather Station with Rain Gauge

Netatmo introduced its Weather Station (US$179) to the world in 2012, providing an easy way for iPhone owners to track indoor and outdoor temperatures and air quality at their homes or offices. Since that time, a vast number of users have enjoyed the ease of use of the free iOS app and the ability to see what's going on weather-wise not only in and around their own homes, but across the world through shared data. While I've used the Netatmo Weather Station for almost two years and have been impressed with how it just chugs along sending out data, I've regretted not having the ability to know how much precipitation has fallen at my home. The company has just released a new accessory for the Weather Station -- a $79 Rain Gauge that works with the base station to add precipitation measurement to the mix.

Specifications

• Dimensions: Funnel diameter: 5.0 in (12.7 cm), base diameter 3.5 in (8.89 cm), height 4.5 in (11.43 cm)


• Weight: 7.3 oz (206.95 gms)


• Type of rain gauge: tipping bucket


• Measuring range: .2 mm/hr to 900 mm/hr (.0078 inches/hr to 35.43 inches/hr)


• Accuracy: 1 mm/hr (.0394 inches/hr)


• Max. distance between base station and rain gauge: 100 m (328 feet)


• Power: Two AAA batteries (included)

Design Highlights

Netatmo's Weather Station is very stylish, with the interior base station being a sleek aluminum cylinder that does all of its work without being obtrusive. Likewise, the Rain Gauge is very attractive and would not be out of place on a patio or veranda.

On the bottom of the Rain Gauge is a common tripod screw mount, which means that it can be placed atop a number of widely available mounting options. For my tests, I just put the device on the ground -- not the best location, but it was for a temporary test.

The actual rain gauge is located within the body of the device under the funnel area. It uses a very common type of gauge called a "tipping bucket" -- there is a seesaw-like mechanism with two tiny buckets, one on each side of a counter. When a bucket fills with rain, it tips and empties itself while the other fills up. The back and forth motion of the mechanism is counted, which provides a highly accurate measure of just how much rain has fallen.

Functionality Highlights

The Rain Gauge was quite easy to add to the Netatmo Weather Station network, even without instructions (this was a pre-release unit). The process simply required pressing the top of the base station until the seldom-seen LED on the front of the unit glowed blue, at which point it restarted and added the gauge.

Once the Rain Gauge was added to the system, it was just a matter of waiting for rain. Here in dry Colorado, I was concerned that I might have to wait weeks until I'd be able to send the unit back to Netatmo, but fortunately we received a nice downpour last night that started at about 6 PM and dumped rain on and off for about four hours.

I own and operate a "professional" weather station, so I was able to make a comparison of the readings I got from both stations. Sure enough, both stations showed the rain starting and ending at about the same time. Looking at the hourly precipitation totals in the Netatmo app showed .06 inches in the first hour, .12 inches in the second hour, .09 inches in the third hour, and .13 inches in the fourth hour for a total of .40 inches. My other station showed .09 inches in the first hour, .15 inches in the second hour, .12 inches in the third hour, and .13 inches in the fourth hour for a total of .49 inches.

Upon retrieving the Netatmo Rain Gauge this morning I found out why it didn't measure as much precipitation as the other station -- it was located near some trees that are currently budding out and the funnel had a lot of "tree debris" that was blocking it. For the most part, though, I felt that the Netatmo gauge worked well and accurately measured as much of the rain as it could.

Conclusion

The Rain Gauge is a welcome addition to the Netatmo Weather Station ecosystem and adds another data point to any personal weather records you may wish to keep. Especially in drier climates, knowing exactly how much precipitation you received at your location can help save water used in keeping lawns and gardens thriving, and you'll always have that information on your iPhone with the Netatmo app. While the Rain Gauge is more pricy than a standard manual rain gauge, just think of it this way -- you don't have to empty the Netatmo Rain Gauge once a day.

Rating: 4 stars out of 4 stars possible

Today in the App Store -- the best free apps, new apps and app updates

Here are some of the best free apps, app updates and new apps that have landed in the App Store recently. All app prices are USD and subject to change. Some deals may expire quickly, so grab them while you can.

Apps Now Free

Flowpaper [iOS Universal; Now free, down from $0.99] Flowpaper is an interactive drawing tool that lets you make beautiful flowing paintings using your finger tip.

Video Touch - Musical Instruments [iOS Universal; Now free, down from $1.99] Great 48 videos to entertain and educate your child!

Moves [iPhone; Now free, down from $2.99] Moves automatically tracks your everyday exercise, commuting and time spent in important places.

Nightfall [iOS Universal; Now free, down from $0.99] The sun has retreated from the earth, a week ago it shone its last, and now chaos has begun.

aTimeLogger 2 [iOS Universal; Now free, down from $2.99] Application for tracking your everyday activities. Spending only a few minutes a day on this app you will get daily, weekly and monthly statistics in the form of diagrams and graphs.

tempoTeacher [iOS Universal; Now free, down from $2.99] TempoTeacher has all of the features you'd expect from a traditional metronome and adds the missing piece: clear, real-time feedback to help you improve.

MocaDeco - Visual Creator [iPhone; Now free, down from $1.99] Create beautiful visuals that make people take notice!

BoneBox™ - Hand [OS X; Now free, down from $1.99] The BoneBox™ - Hand is a real-time 3D medical education and patient communication tool, featuring incredibly detailed anatomical models of the bones of the human hand.

New and Notable Apps

Sell on Etsy [iPhone; Free] Take your Etsy shop to new places with Sell on Etsy, our iPhone app built just for sellers!

Dance Machine [iOS Universal; Free] Turn any video into a dance video!

Third Eye Crime [iOS Universal; $2.99] Third Eye Crime is a stealth puzzle game featuring Rothko, a smooth-talking criminal who can telepathically predict where enemies will move to attempt to thwart his heists.

Horde of Heroes [iOS Universal; Free] Hordes of Heroes is a Free To Play Match-3 RPG placing the player in the role of a medieval Hero whose quest is to set out and save the kingdom from evil doers, ne'er-do-wells and generally unsavory characters.

Updates you don't want to miss

Squarespace Metrics [iOS Universal; Free] Squarespace Metrics is a quick, easy and beautiful way for Squarespace customers to monitor key performance indicators for their sites and connected social accounts, all from their iOS device. Version 1.1.0 brings the following changes:

• Support for iPad with Auto play and Multi-column layouts.


• Stability improvements.

Duolingo - Learn Languages for Free [iOS Universal; Free] Learn Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, and English. Totally fun. Totally free. Version 4.0 brings the following changes:

• Winning. You can now strengthen your skills by challenging your friends or other learners around the world to a Duel.


• Feng Shui. A new navigation bar, fancy course selectors with national monuments, and cleaner design put the app in harmony with the stars.


• Nerdy. The new lesson end screens are packed with more stats that will keep you coming back for more.


• Worldwide, like Pitbull. We've added English courses for Chinese, Japanese and Hindi speakers, as well as German for Russian speakers and French for German speakers.

eBay [iPhone; Free] Tap into the world's largest marketplace with the Official eBay for iPhone app! Version 3.3.0 brings the following changes:

• Updated Home page includes Watched items, Feed and eBay Deals!


• Larger photos on search and item pages


• Product reviews now included for many items in the eBay catalog


• You can now attach photos to messages


• Selling support added for Austria and Netherlands


• Save your in-store pick up order details to iPhone's Passbook


• Brazilian Portuguese language support


• Speed improvements and Bug fixes

eBay for iPad [iPad; Free] The eBay for iPad app lets you sell, search, bid, buy, browse, and pay in an interface optimized for the iPad. Version 3.3.0 brings the following changes:

• Buy Online and Pickup Locally


• Speed and Stability Improvements


• More Search Results


• AirDrop Sharing


• Improved Shipment Tracking

The Weather Channel App [iPhone; Free] Enjoy the best day possible with the most accurate forecast available. Version 6.0.0 brings the following changes:

• Introducing our beautiful new scroll down iOS 7 redesign.


• Social Weather-Share your weather conditions with us!


• Radar maps-Faster than ever


• Design-Beautiful and easy to use. Perfectly aligned to the iOS7 aesthetic.


• Improved navigation


• App Icon

Tim Cook calls mobile payments an "interesting area" in new WSJ interview

In the wake of Apple's stellar earnings report, CEO Tim Cook sat down for a brief interview with the Wall Street Journal. Echoing a sentiment he put forth during the company's earnings conference call, Cook explained Apple's underlying goal is to release the best products as opposed to rushing products to market as quickly as possible.

"To do things really well, it takes time," Cook explained. "You can see a lot of products that have been brought to market where the thinking isn't really deep and, as a consequence, these things don't do very well."

While Cook of course didn't spill the beans as to any upcoming products or services, he did reference the fact that Apple has nearly 800 million consumer credit cards on file and that mobile payments is an "interesting area."

I think it's a really interesting area. We have almost 800 million iTunes accounts and the majority of those have credit cards behind them. We already have people using Touch ID to buy things across our store, so it's an area of interest to us. And it's an area where nobody has figured it out yet. I realize that there are some companies playing in it, but you still have a wallet in your back pocket and I do too which probably means it hasn't been figured out just yet.

And lest anyone think that Cook is just casually discussing areas he finds somewhat interesting, note that this isn't the first time Cook has brought up mobile payments. In fact, during Apple's last earnings conference call, Cook flat out said that Apple finds mobile payments "intriguing" and that "it was one of the thoughts behind Touch ID."

While no Apple product or service is ever a sure thing until an Apple executive takes the stage and announces it, it's worth highlighting a recent report from Re/Code which claims that Apple in recent weeks has been interviewing experienced executives from the payments industry.

The company has been meeting with potential applicants for two new positions at Apple focused exclusively on building a business around the hundreds of millions of credit cards it already has on file. Apple is seeking to fill head of product and head of business development positions...

Lastly, Cook had this to say about Apple's upcoming product line: "I feel great about what we've got coming. Really great and it's closer than it's ever been."