More Cat Trap Screenshots!

Just would like to share with you a few more Cat Trap screen shots!

The first one shows off a new obstacle I have yet to show, these mouse traps pose a threat to the mouse! If you happen to move over one, it will end up killing you. The cats can go over them but you can't, so try to avoid these. The second picture is a possible design for the levels menu, all 25 levels visible with the blue blocks representing an unlocked level and the gray blocks for locked levels. The third picture is a view of the tutorial menu, gives you a brief instructions on how to play the game. It will work a lot like the credits page where you swipe to scroll up and down.

I plan on releasing a developer video tomorrow, It's been awhile since the last one and this new one will be fairly long I hope.

Everything is back to normal...

The website and all of its content is now back and fully operational, we are sorry for the inconvenience it may have caused some. At this point the Apple.com downloads are not working and at the moment we can't update them because our host does not allow hot-linking (It is a free host). So any files located on our servers have to be downloaded directly from the website. Though other sites like CNET Downloads will still work since the file is being stored on their servers.

As for Cat Trap, this issue was a bit of a set back but it shouldn't delay things to much. Everything is still on for a late December or early January completion date. I hope to post a lot more information this week!

Website Problems.

We are aware of the current problems associated with the website at this present time. We hope to solve these problems as soon as possible.


 UPDATE: The main website should be back online very soon, though files and downloads will not be available just yet.  We were had free hosting with a company that decided to delete our account for some unknown reason, we are in the process of transferring to another server. 

UPDATE: The .com domain is still not working although the direct link is working.
http://altvisuals.atspace.com


UPDATE: The default URL http://www.alternativevisuals.com is now working again, though at this current time direct links to images and files are still not working. Including but not limited to the widgets... We are working on hard to get everything back to normal as soon as possible.


The website is currently working but as stated before all direct links to images files and zips files are not. Tomorrow we will be taking the website down to fix everything properly. We are sorry for any inconvenience, and we hope to have it back to normal by Monday.


The website and all of downloads, and content are now working. Though we are experiencing sporadic problems with our alternativevisuals.com domain. If that domain does not load for you try this link http://altvis.byethost10.com. At the present time the widgets on Apple.com are pointing to the wrong download link for they are not up to date, any downloads will need to be accessed directly from our site. As for any other sites that were using our links for downloads and images, they will most likely no longer work. I hope to have the domain name fully operational very soon...

Cat Trap Screen Shots!

I promised a video of the app but just haven't found time, I have been really busy. I  posted 2 new screen shots showing more of the game. They show the game over screen with some scoring. The scores and data are from Survival Mode, I'll share more on the game modes and levels later on! As you can see we changed the directional pad once again, the other one was just to small to function nicely. The current one will still be tweaked just a bit but it gives a much better control, even for those with larger fingers.

There is still a whole lot left to be done, and I hope to update the website very soon. I do plan to get out a video in the coming days either a screen capture or direct video from the game on an actual device. Only problem is my camera doesn't take the highest quality video and might be difficult to see the smaller details with it.

I hope to finish it up by the end of December but the possibility of an early January release is still present.

Cat Trap Update

It's been a few days since last blog post, and as always we have been busy working on Cat Trap. We have signed up for the iPhone Developer Program, and have been spending a lot of time doing tests of Cat Trap on an actual device. I hope to post a Developer Video, maybe in next couple days, of the game being played on an iPod Touch. This will give everyone a good idea of the gameplay...

Currently we are preparing to start create actual levels and game modes now that the core gameplay has been created. It has been a busy week with everything sort of coming together all at once, and the next few weeks will remain busy.

I thought I'd share with you two screenshots (taken from an actual device) of a custom level (most likely not going to be in the game), the level is something I quickly put together demonstrating the future possibilities. You will notice the gray colored blocks, those function as "static" blocks in that they cant be moved, thus creating an obstacle to overcome. As levels progress in difficulty the static blocks and different level designs will create both a challenging and rewarding experience.

 

Cat Trap Developer Video 4

I made a new developer video, showing even more gameplay. Nearly all the gameplay elements have been constructed at this point. The only things left to be done are static blocks and obstacles such as mouse traps. Once those two things have been completed I will start work on constructing levels, scoring, and other game modes.





Also, sometime this week (most likely Friday) I will be signing up for the Apple iPhone Developer Account and can finally start testing the game on an actual device. I will definitely be sharing with you some videos of Cat Trap being played with a iPhone/iPod Touch.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cat Trap Progress Update

I would just like to share with you some of the latest details with Cat Trap and it's development thus far. As of now Cat Trap is still on schedule for a late December early January release. It's still to early to call a more specific date,  the approval process could take longer during the holiday season at Apple. I don't plan on doing another developer video until sometime next week, probably the middle of next week.

You may have seen the OpenFeint logo on the main site and we have confirmed that Cat Trap will be OpenFeint enabled. With Openfeint integrated into Cat Trap you can share scores, view leader boards, unlock achievements, and it also offers social networking features like Twitter. More information on OpenFeint can be found at http://www.openfeint.com, a full list of details and including achievements will be shared once we get closer to release.

In the next week or two we will be signing up for the iPhone Developer Program, which will allow us to test Cat Trap on an actual device, create beta versions, and eventually submit it to the App Store. Once we have it running on an actual device I will start sharing with you videos of the game on an iPhone/iPod Touch.

Be sure to check back often for the latest news and information!

The cats are everywhere!

New screen shots of Cat Trap, with multiple cats coming from all angles.

At this point we are figuring the most cats that will appear at a given time, even at the higher levels, will be 8. Keep in mind on the higher levels the cats will be faster and they will appear quicker then at the lower levels, but even so I'm having trouble trapping all 8 cats at once without letting one loose or one catch up to me. 

As always check back often for the latest news and updates!

Cat Trap Developer Video

Cat Trap Developer Video 3
 
Made a new video showing the new menus and updated GUI. I completely removed the directional pad controls for the menus and credits, it's now simply touch controlled. As for the actual gameplay, I increased the D-Pad size, removed the pause and restart button, and put the game data on the top (Blue bar is blank at moment but game information will be there). To access the pause menu you double tap the screen.

As for gameplay it shows the blocks and their behaviors, the mouse, and the cat. The cat's AI still needs improvement,  the cat is still fairly easy to exploit and it gets confused sometimes. Tomorrow I will update the site, and post some screen shots perhaps.

Little Re-Design

We decided to re-design the GUI for the game and the menus. As for the gameplay we increased the size of the directional pad, we removed the pause and restart button, and changed the upper bar a bit. To pause the game all you need to do is double tap the screen in the pause menu appears. The upper bar is now just a plain blueish bar at the top, which will display game data including; level, score, and lives.

For the main menu we completely redesigned it... We removed the directional pad entirely, now you navigate by simply tapping the desired button.

Here are some screenshots!

 

 

As stated before things will continue to change as development continues, and as always we will keep you up to date. I can almost guarantee you by this Friday I will be posting a developer video showing off all of this great progress we are making!

Three new screenshots for Cat Trap!

I was planning to release a developer video this week, but I decided to hold off another week and wait until I have a little more done to show you. To make up for the lack of a video, I'll share with you three new in-game screen shots.

 

 

Once again the game is still on schedule, ran into a few obstacles this week but I managed to overcome them and keep on schedule. I will share another developer video as soon as possible.

Cat Trap Screen Shot

This screen shot is actual gameplay thus far, all blocks and their positioning was done dynamically via the game controls! Currently their is a few things to work out... Hopefully by Friday I can post a developer video showing gameplay that involves pushing the blocks around and trapping the cat(s). Though some things are becoming more difficult compared to creating and programing the menus, everything remains on schedule without any real delays or roadblocks. At this point I'd give a rough estimate of late December for release, though this is really rough and should be taken lightly.

Quick Review: Beginning iPhone Development

Beginning iPhone Development: Exploring the iPhone SDK

I bought this book a few months ago, read it only once unlike the previous book "Programming in Objective-C 2.0". I began reading it shortly after the Objective-C book, and for anyone thinking to get this book I suggest buying another book on Objective-C then reading it first.

The book is divided into chapters that explain the different elements that can make up a iPhone Application. Every chapter has you build a basic iPhone Application to demonstrate the topic being discussed, like handling multi-view applications. For the most part the example programs are fairly straight forward and it does an okay job at explaining how and why things are being done the way they are. Though If you really want to understand it, you need to have atleast a basic understanding of Objective-C or all you will be doing is copy code without knowing what is going on.

The code your given for the most part is error free, and functions without issues. The author's website has download links to get the full projects and other files you may need. A thing that bothered me was the downloadable project files sometimes looked very then what was in the book, which could end up confusing some.

All in all the way it is written makes the book more useful for quick tutorials, if you want to add a given feature to your application. Say you wanted to add multi-touch capabilities, you could skip to the chapter that discusses touch gestures and read the explanations/examples. It's not really something you would read if you want an in-depth discussion on development for the iPhone or iPod Touch. I'm not saying you can't learn a lot from the book, but their may or may not be better ones out there for introductions to programing for the iPhone.

Pros:

• Well written error free code for most part.
• Covers a large variety of topics, almost anything you could have in an application.
• Clear cut examples to demonstrate the different elements of the application. 
• Example programs and other resources available online.
• Good for beginners to intermediates. 
  

Cons:

• Some topics could have been discussed more.
• Doesn't cover a lot of memory management techniques.
• At times if feels more like a step by step tutorial.
• Doesn't give end of chapter exercises or ways putting into practice what you learned.

From a scale of 1-10 I'd give it a 7.9 (Recommended) 

Cat Trap Developer Video

Cat Trap Developer Video 2

Posted another developer video for Cat Trap, this one features additional menu features and also some gameplay. Gameplay includes mouse movement and some basic cat AI behavior. These and a few more things can be viewed in the video below!




The next video I hope to show off behaviors of the mouse and cat with the inclusion of blocks to push around. Perhaps a few more things aswell, stay tuned!

Cat Trap Information

The development of Cat Trap is on schedule and going well. Haven't ran into any major road blocks development wise, hopefully we can continue at the current rate.

Currently I'm working on game play elements, including moving the mouse around and the cat's artificial intelligence. I hope to get another developer video out by this Friday demonstrating some of this and other things I have done so far with the App.

If things continue to go this well I hope to get it out before the holiday season, though it is also dependent on the infamous Apple Approval process.

Tomorrow or Monday I will post the review of the iPhone SDK book, I have yet to have time and hope to do it as soon as possible. So check back soon for that aswell...

Cat Trap Developer Video

Cat Trap Developer Video 1

Sorry little late on this, projected to be online yesterday but ran into a few delays... Here is a short developer video demonstrating some of whats been done with the Cat Trap iPhone/iPod Touch app. Nothing at this point is final and thing may change. Hopefully you enjoy this short little video



Expect more videos to come as the game progresses!

New Screen Shot and Dev. Video Details

Just like to share a new screen shot of the main menu, still a work in progress but it's actual game footage.

Coming either tomorrow or Monday I will post a developer video giving you a quick tour of what has been done so far with the menus and such. I'll make an effort as the game progresses to share with you as much information as possible, so always check back often!

Programing has begun! Cat Trap is slowly working its way forward.

Programing of our first iPhone/iPod touch application Cat Trap has begun. So far so good everything is coming together nicely. Though I haven't even begun planning the gameplay elements, I'm currently constructing and programing the intro screen, menus, and navigation. So this part is fairly straight forward, game play will require a lot more time and attention.

As programing progresses and the game gets put together I will be releasing short developer videos. These videos, most likely less then a minute long, will give brief looks at different aspects of the game. Once the intro/menus have all been perfected, and looking nice, I will post a short video.

Other then that, there isn't a whole lot going on at Alternative Visuals. Cat Trap has been adsorbing most of our time and efforts... not that it's a bad thing.

Friday Update: 10/9/09

Decided to make this a weekend update sorta post. And have a few things to discuss quickly with everyone!

First off it was brought to our attention today that Build A Snowman had a slight glitch where the blue scarf became unavailable. Must have happened in the last update and none of us noticed. I quickly solved the issue, quiet easily, and should be ready to download tonight.

Today I finished the "Beginning iPhone Development: Exploring the SDK" book, I hope to write up a quick review like I did with the previous book sometime this week. Perhaps someone else out there might be inspired to pick up a copy.

I started the pursuit of learning Objective-C and Cocoa Touch back in June, 5 months later I have learned a lot about both. At this point I'm just about ready to begin the programing of Cat Trap, our first iPhone/iPod Touch App. I still need to begin reading up on, getting a few tutorials, and playing around with the Cocos2d Game Engine. Once I have a good understanding of the game engine we will be using I can begin programing. And if all goes well it will be around the 3rd or 4th week of October.

Still hoping for a late 2009 or early 2010 release, either way we will keep you updated along the way.

Cat Trap Web Page Released!

The Cat Trap web page has been released, featuring in depth details on our upcoming game!

Visit The Site: HERE

Cat Trap Information: VIA the Web Page

An addicting game that requires both strategy and speed. Cat Trap will surely be a game anyone can play and enjoy!

You control the mouse as it pushes blocks in attempts to trap the cat before the cat catches you the mouse. As you move through the game it increases in difficulty as more cats appear and obstacles get in your way. Other game modes will be offered along with the classic levels ensuring hours of replay value!

Two Distinct Game Modes

• Survival Mode - Essentially a never ending attack by cats, how long will you survive?

• Classic Mode- Work your way through all 25 levels as they progress in difficulty

High Scores and Achievements

• As you work your way through the game earn achievements for mastering the game.

• Go for the high score in survival mode and brag about it to everyone!

Gameplay and Graphics

• Featuring unique gameplay elements that will challenge your pursuit of mastering the game! Including a variety of block types...

• High quality graphics that give you a retro feel for the modern age.

Cat Trap Webpage

The Cat Trap official web page will be released sometime this coming Monday, listing new details and information for our up coming iPhone/iPod Touch game. This website will be the best place to look when you want the up to date news, media, and more...

Cat Trap information...

Been awhile since last blog post so I thought I would share some information on what all has been happening lately!

I'm still working on the iPhone SDK book about 2/3 of the way through I should finish it in a week or two. At this point we were are not going to even begin development of the code for Cat Trap, I want to make sure I have a good understanding of the iPhone platform before I program for it. Once finishing the book I will need to become familiar with the Game Engine we will be using, but should not take to long.

Though programing wise nothing is being done; a lot of time is going into graphics, concepts, gameplay design, audio and much more. So it's definitely no stalled, it's just in the early phases of development. I hope to begin to program for it in Mid-October, how long it will take to finish the game from that point is anyone's guess but we are hoping for a late 2009 early 2010 release!

Also coming in early to mid October is the Cat Trap webpage featuring detailed descriptions, images, and more. This will be a great way to keep track of the development of the game and what you can expect when it does release.

As always we will keep you up to date as progress is made!

7 day celebration is coming to an end...

The 7 day celebration of 10,000 views has reached the final day, and we have saved the best for last! We have the apps page on our site up and running featuring the first brief description detailing what will be our first iPhone/iPod Touch application, Cat Trap.

An addicting game that requires both strategy and speed. Cat Trap will surely be a game anyone can play and enjoy! You control the mouse as it pushes blocks back and forth in attempts to trap the cat before the cat catches the mouse. As you move through the game it increases in difficulty as more cats appear and obstacles get in your way. Trap the cat and go for the high score Q4 2009!

Cat Trap's main web page will be released some time October feature game details, images, video, and more. As of now their is no set release date, it is projected for late 2009 possibly if delays occur then early 2010.  All information thus far released is subject to change, nothing is final at this point. The game is still in the very early stages...

We hope you enjoyed the week long celebration and we look forward to you following our company as we continue to more forward. Here's hoping for 100,000 hits!

Cat Trap Teaser Trailer

A 20 second teaser trailer for our first iPhone/iPod Touch App Cat Trap has been released, check it out on YouTube!

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEzhnrCO3pM

Additional information coming Sunday!

An iPhone/iPod Touch App!

By now you probably have figured out we are working on an iPhone/iPod Touch App and it is the big surprise that will be explained more come the end of the 7 day celebration of 10,000 views. Well to mark the mid point we have released the current logo (possibly will change) and the finalized name. That is all we can say at the moment about Cat Trap, if you want to check it out the logo go to the homepage!

Coming Saturday and Sunday will be the two more additional details about the App, those will be the last bits of information until we are further in development.

We are still working on possibly getting something out Friday as a general Alternative Visuals thing.

New Blog Service

We have transferred our entire blog, posts and all! Over into Blogger which we feel offers a better service without a cost. It will allow us to create a customized blog without the restrictions that wordpress gave us.

The blog is fully up and running and no posts or comments (or lack there of) where lost in the move, so at this point the only changes that will be noticeable to you are the visuals ones. We hope you enjoy this new blog as much as we do.

The Wordpress blog will not be fully deleted, we will remove all the posts and put a message alerting those who don't already know of the move. As for the RSS Feed Widget, it has been updated to the new feed, if you want to continue using it please download the updated version on our main site.

10,000 Hit Celebration, Almost Here!

We are a little over 500 views away from reaching 10,000! Thanks to people like you, our site will be viewed over 10,000 times soon. Considering how new we are that is quiet an achievement, we have been getting an average of 60 views a day! Sure compared to Google or Youtube it's not even a drop in the bucket.

To celebrate this milestone (also the site is roughly one year old now) we will be having a week long celebration on our site with daily events. The week long celebration will end with a rather large announcement that many will be quiet interested in. The subject of this announcement will be known at the start of the week and by the end of the week the actual announcement will be made! The smaller daily events leading up to the last day will also be nice little "gifts" to those who support our company and what we do. A detailed list of what can be expected will be posted the day before we reach the milestone (most likely)... And speaking of the date, we aren't exactly sure when we will reach it but the day after it happen (unless it happens early mourning) the 7 day event will begin.

We could expect to reach 10,000 in about 10 days I think.

Quick Review: Programing In Objective-C 2.0

The book is well written and informative, teaching the language under the assumption of no previous programing knowledge gives anyone a chance to learn Objective-C. Though those with previous programing knowledge even a little may have a bit of a head start and may want to just skim the first couple chapters.

I read the book with some prior, minor, knowledge of C++ so it helped a bit. The examples and exercises the come along with the book are both challenging and informative. If you follow along with all the programing examples and complete the exercises you are guaranteed to learn   from the book. I would even suggest for a person reading it to read it twice, as I did, it will give you a even better understanding

As some said there are a few typos but none of which really inhibit the learning process. The writer of the book is very active in his own forums always out to help anyone in need of assistance, and has helped me a few times. Also all the answers (to the exercises) and programing examples are available on his forum as well which is a nice added bonus.

Pros:

• No prior knowledge of a language needed


• Clear cut examples and explanations


• Great Exercises at end of each chapter


• Covers a wide range of topics, including a bit of C and iPhone SDK


• Active online forum with Answers, Quizzes, Examples, and Help


• Well written and concise

Cons:

• Some typos, but all corrections can be found on the ERRATA at the website.


• Some terminology used in the beginning could use better explanations, as it could be overwhelming to some.

From a scale of 1-10 Id give it a 9.5 (Highly Recommended)

Still here...

I have been busy with a lot of things lately and let somethings go a bit. I hope to get everything caught up in a timely manner...

I officially finished the Objective-C book for the 2nd and last time. At this time I can safely say I know a lot of Objective-C gran-tit it will take years to master, but I now know enough to begin iPhone/Mac Development with Cocoa. Now that I have finished the Objective-C part I'm going to start the iPhone SDK book in a week or so, once I finish that, I should be able to start developing iPhone/iPod Touch apps.

But before I start the next book I want to get caught up with a few things, the website needs a few updates, the mobile site needs updating aswell, the blog needs some work, I need to finish the Dashboard Resurfacer widget, and a few other minor things need to done.

I will keep you updated as I move along with the different projects... And for those interested in learning Objective-C I will be posting a short review of the book I read on the blog.

Dashboard Resurfacer v2.0 Video

Created a short video preview of Dashboard Resurfacer v2.0



v2.0 Feature List (As of Now)

~ Improved Graphics

~ Animated Wheels

~ Improved Sound

~ Auto-Detect screen resolution and adjusts the widget to fit (works with just about any screen resolution) and no more multiple files! :)

~ Option to turn update alerts on/off

~ Fixed minor bugs and glitches.

It's an extensive feature list and a demanding update that will take a good bit of time. I hope to release this update sometime Mid-August. Once I get closer to being finished I'll give you an exact date.

Dashboard Resurfacer... and other stuff.

I'll be honest in saying that Dashboard Resurfacer is glitchy, lacks realism, and needs an update!

I have kinda let Dashboard Resurfacer go, in all that has been going on lately never gave it the proper time. I have set to completely rebuild the widget from nearly the ground up. Implementing newer more reliable animation (including wheels that actually spin :), fix all the glitches, improve the sound, and improve graphics. I might (can't guarantee) find a way to combine the screen sizes into one widget so we don't need 4 of them. Hopefully I'll have it done in mid-August...(summer going fast)

Currently reading the Objective-C book for second time (to get a even better grasp of what is being taught) once that is done I hope to begin the iPhone SDK book. If all goes well hopefully we can start to put an App together in late September or early October. Hopefully some of our future apps will be some fun games, I have been researching game engines and have come across a nice free one! Cocos2d is a free open source 2d game engine that uses Objective-C (helps that I don't need to learn another language so soon). As for the physics aspect Cocos2d can be integrated with Chipmunk Physics Engine. The engine uses C as the primary language, so I will need to learn a little C but it's very similar to Objective-C (Obj-C subset of C) and the Objective-C book I own has a large chapter on C and the syntax.

Just a reminder anyone interested in "The Ad Network" still have lots of room for more ads.

New Look!

As you probably saw, the website got a updated look! We improved the graphics, added a few new features and improved the website as a whole. Some notable upgrades; The side scroll box featuring our widgets to show our work without cramming things, scroll box for the news as well to fit more news in a smaller space, "The Ad Network" an advertising exchange program to promote our site and to promote other people's site, and much more!

To further elaborate on "The Ad Network" other companies and websites can offer to advertise us for free, in exchange we advertise for them for free. The ads they supply will appear at random intervals on the main page below, more information on this and a form to sign up is under the Contact page.

I hope to update the mobile site soon to, and DR (Which I'm working on, been busy with a lot of things)...

Scheduled maintenance and updates.

Small bit of news in regard to Pyro Deisn, I released an update for it that fixes a small popup menu glitch. So be sure to download it when you can!

Dashboard Resurfacer update will be coming soon as well to fix some problems with it so expect it within a week.

The website and blog will have scheduled maintenance tomorrow starting at 6 pm Eastern time, the site will remain up and running but problems may occur sporadically until the maintenance is finished sometime Friday night. It shouldn't last to long and will help to clean the website, making everything more efficient.

Some News...

I have yet to mention on the blog, but most of you probably found out that I submitted the PillBox update, it fixes a few minor glitches and gives the option to turn Auto Updates off.

DR and PD are scheduled also to have small updates, PD (Pyro Design) update will fix two glitches... One, when you first install the fireworks don't always start unless you exit and reopen dashboard, The second issue is that although the widget remembers your preferences when the computer restarts or something the drop down menus revert to the default state which needs fixed.

As for DR there appears to be an apparent animation problem and a few major glitches in some of the versions that need to be addressed, not sure why they are appearing now as they appeared to be fine before release. It should be addressed within the week...

After I update the widgets, the website will be next in line for a summer cleaning... although visually not much will change both the Blog and Website need a cleaning/revamping. Especially the server we are using, for it's a tad cluttered with old useless files and such. During this period you may experience problems with downloads and web pages (they should be few and far between). When I get closer to that point I'll give a more definite time frame of when problems may occur...

We reached over 5,000 hit on our website, here's hoping to reach 10,000 by the end of the summer! If we do I might do something  special for the milestone... I'll just have to wait and see :)

ALSO! Pyro Design! is still in the top 50 list and still doing well!

Updates are here!

I have released two new updates for BAS and CAP on our site! I have submitted them to apple and they are awaiting approval.

BAS:

~Option to turn updates off.

~Option to have animated snow fall onto your snowman!

~Minor performance upgrades

CAP:

~Option to turn updates off.

~Minor performance upgrades.

I plan on releasing updates for DR, and PB soon as well. Possibly today maybe tomorrow... I noticed a minor issue with Pyro Design and it might get a quick update aswell!

Speaking of Pyro Design, it is now in the Top 50 position at apple currently at the 40th spot and moving up! Thanks for all the support.

Pyro Design! Coming July 1st

Our 5th widget is just about ready to be released this Wednesday! I made a preview video showing some of the features available in the widget.

The widget uses Quartz composition to create a visually stunning firework show for your dashboard. You can select between fountains and aerials, then you can select the color for the fountains or aerials. Once you select a color click done and enjoy the show!

For best viewing have a darker wall paper!

Video:

Screenshots:[gallery link="file"]

Friday Update: 6/26/09

I haven't been posting in a very long time, but I'm continuing work with both the site/company and the Obj-C.  I have also been busy with work and other responsibilities. I hope to get more accomplished very soon and make a few updates, and as for news we have quite a few topics to cover.

First bit of news is in regards to the three current widgets, I'm hoping to get a update out within the next 7 days for each of them. This update will fix a problem in which a blank box will appear near the widget when the computer does not have Internet access, this causes an aesthetic problem. Also we will have a surprise feature update for Build A Snowman!

4th Of July is approaching and we have been working on the development of a widget for the holiday, this will be a simple but fun widget that everyone should enjoy. At this point its still early in the development and we aren't ready to release any further details other then it should be available by July 2nd or 3rd if all goes well. That only gives us about 6 days to finish the widget and if all goes well we should meet the deadline, we will be putting alot of our energy towards this widget and make sure it is a quality widget. If the widget is not at high standards by the deadline we might postpone it, though the widget will work for just about any time of the year.

JIL, Joint Innovation Lab, who contacted us a few months ago in regards to our Widget and Web Apps have started the porting of Dashboard Widgets for use as Mobile Widgets, very soon our widgets should be added to their large collection of widgets for the mobile device. I will continue to keep you posted on the progress of the our content and JIL.

I am nearing the end of the Objective-C book I have been reading this month, I have been gaining alot of experience in the language and development of programs with it. Once I finish It I have plans to re-read it to further gain a better grasp of the language, and once I finish it for the 2nd time I will be moving onto the iPhone SDK/Cocoa book. If all goes well we might be able to get out a Application for  the iPhone and iPod Touch late summer or early fall!

Now onto the Website and Mobile site, it has been neglected a bit and I  gotten it updated or awhile but that should also change in the coming days as I hope to make a few adjustments and updates to both the Mobile and Regular website, once again I'll keep you posted as changes come.

We have been constantly promising to add more to the Misc. section of the website and we hope to add to that in the coming month with Wallpapers, Screen Savers, and Much More! So expect that very soon.

Phew! that was a lot, after a sorta slow period the coming month will be a very busy one and expect much coming from the company. It should be an exciting time for everyone.

Friday Update: 6/5/09

Summer has officially started for me even though technically the season hasn't started yet.

The two books that I ordered have arrived and I'm working my way through the first one dealing with Objective-C. I'm currently on chapter 10 of the total 19 chapters and so far I feel I'm getting a pretty good understanding and growing knowledge of the language, though I learned a lot so far their is still a lot left to be learned. Much of which will come through use and experience. If I continue at the same pace as I am I should finish definitely by end of June and most likely mid June. Once I complete the book I'll move onto the second book about cocoa and iPhone SDK.

Also once I finish the first book, I'll post a small review on the blog. Describing my views and opinions on the book and maybe influence someone else to purchase the book. So far I'd highly recommend the book to anyone wanting to learn Objective-C.

I have still been busy with other things, but I'm slowly working on the CAP Web App and to finally get it out Beta. I still need to add a minor update to all the current widget which should be easily done without problems.

And one last small note, we are still accepting donations! In fact we would greatly appreciate any small donation to our company. Any little bit counts, and helps go towards things like the Domain Name, Books, and other expenses that so far we paid with mainly our own money.

Friday Update: 5/29/09

I made a few upgrades to the website and one of the most noticeable one is under the contact section of the website. If you visit that section there is a feature on the bottom that allows anyone to leave feedback or comments. The comments left can be viewed by both us and the visitors, the feedback received can be used to improve our site and what we offer. So If you have any time please leave us a comment telling us what you like and what you don't like!

Coming in mid-June I will be applying a minor upgrade to all current widgets, this upgrade will allow the user to turn off automated alerts (when an update is available) this solves the problem of a blank box appearing when the computer is offline. I'm not sure exactly when you can expect it.

Also next by week I hope to completely finish the CAP webApp and submit it to Apple.com!

The two books have been ordered and will arrive some time Tuesday or Wednesday, and I can begin with the Objective-C and iPhone SDK learning.

Friday Update: 5/22/09

I kinda missed last weeks Friday update, but I really didn't have much to say. I don't have much for today either but wanted to make sure you knew we still cared!

I'm going to be adding some minor upgrades to our site over the weekend and hopefully add more content to the misc. page. I also hope to get CAP webApp out of beta and submit it to Apple.com

Other then that I don't have much left to talk about, been busy with finals and summer is almost here! With summer beginning I hope to purchase two books next week for Objective-C and iPhone Programing, with those I hope to begin the journey of learning Objective-C and eventually offering apps for both the computer and mobile.

Friday Update: 5/8/09

CAP webApp beta is out, and because this is a Beta it still might have a few bugs but generally is complete. Though the background option is not fully ready and currently you can only choose one background. I hope to have it out of Beta within the week and then I'll add it too Apple.com's website.

The webApp was the last planned major release for us in the foreseeable future. At this point their is nothing in the works for the future months to come, but as mention previously I hope to begin learning Objective-C and the iPhone SDK this summer and eventually we can offer iPod/iPhone apps! So you can look forward to that to come in a few months.

I do have a little bit more free time so I hope to add more content in the Misc. section of the site for anyone to use, including desktop backgrounds and perhaps more iPhone background.

That is it for now!

Friday Update: 5/1/09

It has been another quite week with little happening, though as mentioned before the Carve A Pumpkin widget is doing quiet well. As of now it is currently in the 3rd sport on Apple.com's top ten list.

I hope to begin the Carve A Pumpkin Web App this week and maybe have it ready in about 2 weeks or so.I also hope to add more content to the miscellaneous page on the website for you to access.

Lastly I made minor updates to the website and the mobile website, mainly minor visual changes and such.

That is about it for this week!

CAP on the Top Ten list!

CAP made it on the top ten most popular widgets on Apple.com! Thanks for all those who support it.

Friday Update: 4/24/09

Fairly quiet week here at Alternative Visuals, our website just recently reached the 2,000 hit mark and now it's at like 2,130 or something... The site activity has really spiked recently it seems getting about 50+ a day now, and to better analyze our websites visitors we created a site meter account to track our sites activity. These stats can also be view by the public by clicking the small site meter icon on the bottom left of each page in our website.

Direct Link: http://www.sitemeter.com/stats.asp?site=s14altvis

I will probably start work on CAP web app sometime next week with really no exact date set for release at this time, this will be the last major release from our site as of now, for a while. I think we need a creative break for a little while, which will give us time to improve what we already offer here at Alternative Visuals, and during the summer as mentioned before I hope to begin learning Objective-C and the iPhone SDK.

Other then that not much else is going on, have a great weekend!

Dashboard Resurfacer v1.1 is Here!

Dashboard Resurfacer v1.1 is now ready to be downloaded and it includes these key updates:

• Saves all settings regardless if computer is restarted or something similar...


• Update the AV Logo.


• Updated Help Box.


• Removed the "Default Resurfacer Style".


• Prevent help box from appearing automatically after the first install.


• And other minor improvements.

This was the final widget that needed to be updated. At this moment we aren't planning anything big in the near future and I won't have much to do for the time being other then possibly starting the Carve-A-Pumpkin Web App...

Build A Snowman v3.2 is Here!

Build A Snowman v3.2 is here and can be downloaded on our site or blog, and eventually Apple.com...(Once they approve it)

BAS v3.2 information:

• Settings and appearances save regardless if the widget is closed or the computer is restarted.


• Improved help information


• Improved graphics


• Some minor code improvement

Next planned update is for Dashboard Resurfacer and that will be in the next couple days.

Friday Update: 4/17/09

Fairly busy week it has been, Pillbox v1.1 was released as well as Carve A Pumpkin v2.0 just yesterday. I'm working to update all of the widgets by the end of the month hopefully.

BAS v3.2 information:

• Settings and appearances save regardless if the widget is closed or the computer is restarted.


• Improved help information


• Improved graphics


• Some minor code improvement

This update should be available Saturday, not sure when Saturday.

After Build A Snowman is updated I will begin work on the Dashboard Resurfacer v1.1 which will be a smaller update with the key feature being the widget saves settings regardless if the computer is restarted or something of that nature happens. After the Dashboard Resurfacer update I will probably begin work on the Carve A Pumpkin Web App.

Don't really have any plans as of yet beyond the Carve A Pumpkin Web App... I hope to eventually possibly over this summer (when I have more time) begin to learn Objective-C and Possibly some programing for the iPhone/iPod, this could lead to Apple Applications and iPhone/iPod Applications from our company.

Carve A Pumpkin v2.0 Here!

Carve A Pumpkin v2.o is here and can be downloaded on the blog, website, or Apple.com when available...

Carve A Pumpkin 2.0, just about ready.

Carve A Pumpkin is still a popular widget and is in the top 50 at Apple.com. We haven't forgotten about the widget, and we are just about ready to release v2.0. This is a fairly expansive update to the current 1.0 version, some key features are...

• All settings and preferences are saved regardless if the widget is closed or the computer is turned off and turned back on. Now you no longer need to make a new one each time your computer restarts.


• New control panel featuring drop down menus making the creation process easier.


• Randomize feature is also new and functions the same way as it does in Build A Snowman, it will randomly select the settings for you.


• Help box has been added to give assistance to those who are new to this widget.


• Improved graphics and stability including a better alert system for new updates.

Screen Shots:







The update should be available either tomorrow or Friday.

After this I will be working on the update for Dashboard Resurfacer, then a Build A Snowman update. Once everything if up to date I may begin work on the Carve A Pumpkin Web App.

Pillbox v1.1 Here!

PillBox v1.1 is now here and ready to be downloaded, either on our website, or blog. We have submitted the update to Apple but most likely wont be available on Apple.com until Tuesday or Wednesday since it is a holiday weekend.

Key updates include:

• Addition of the option to have additional rows to make managing your medication even more efficient. You can choose to have one, two, or three rows which ever best suits you and your needs.

• Minor graphic changes.

• Minor bugs and known issues fixed

If you have any issues with this newest update please contact us and we will work to get them fixxed. This update is thanks to those who made the suggestion that we support those who take medicine more then once a day, so if you have suggestions for this or any of our widgets please contact us.

Friday Update: 4/10/09

There really hasn't been a lot going on lately other then my continual work on PillBox v1.1 and speaking of that I wont be able to get it out to the public until some time next week. It is taking longer then what I have expected which is why I couldn't get it released this week.

Some photos of the nearly complete v1.1:





As most of you may already know, we added a Misc. page to our website and there you can find more free great content! Currently we just have iPod/iPhone wall papers but as I have more free time I can add additional items.

And thats about all there is this week.

Friday Update: 4/3/09

Friday blog posts have become scheduled and predictable so I figure I might as well give it a name that fits... And from now on blog posts on Fridays will be considered Friday Update and expect them every Friday.

Well anyways, First thing I'd like to talk about is the status of PillBox v1.1 so far everything in the update is coming as planned. If your not familiar with what it will consist of already, It will add the option to have multiple rows for those who take medicine more then once a day (a highly requested feature). Also coming is some performance upgrades, and some coding/visual glitches have also been fixed. The one feature I'm not guaranteeing yet is Growl Notification (it has been causing issues) and we might not see it until v1.2.

PillBox v1.1 Screen Shots:

[gallery link="file"]

In other news we have created a cnet download.com account and our popular widgets can now be downloaded via download.com including PillBox!

Also we hope to be adding that new page we have been promising to our website this weekend, I just have yet to get around to it because of my busy schedule.

Other then that there isn't a whole lot of news, you can expect updates for our other widgets DR, CAP, and BAS shortly after PillBox v1.1 release! And eventually I need to update the BAS WebApp... quiet frankly the next two months will be busy!

PillBox v1.1 Additional Info

After some discussion with my company partner we have come to a solution for adding support for those who take medicine more then one time a day (mourning, noon, and night). This feature has been request by quiet a few people, and I thank those who take time to give us suggestions... Their suggestions helps us improve what we have to offer.

Simply put we will be adding the option to have two additional rows adding essentially two additional times a day medicine can be scheduled.The following images is just something I threw together to give a visual idea of my concept.



Via the control panel the person has the option to have one, two, or three scheduled times throughout the given day. If your a person who only takes medicine once then you will still have the option to only see one row.

This update should also have some minor performance improvements and some visuals improvements, hopefully including growl notifications. Although fairly simple to code it will be time consuming and we may not have the update tested and ready until mid to late April as I'm fairly busy with other priorities...

I'll keep you updated as we progress with this update.

PillBox Suggestions

I have been getting numerous suggestions in regard to ways to improve our PillBox widget. The main suggestion being they take medicine multiple times throughout the day and they want the widget to support this. I hope to address his suggestion in our next update coming some time april or may, when im not entirely sure, and add the capability of Mourning, Noon, and Night.

Earth Hour

The one hour Earth Hour event has begun in our time zone and we have turned the lights off until 9:30 PM ET. The website is still fully functioning... If you haven't already you still have a chance to bring awareness to this initiative by turning off power to unnecessary items around your house or business.

Side Note: We will be adding a new page to our website within the next day or so, so keep an eye out for that.

PillBox has arrived! and some other stuff too...

PillBox has officially been released and can be downloaded via Apple.com, our Blog, or our Website. This widget is new so problems may appear as time goes on, but we gave it extensive testing and our pleased with how it works. All the features promised made it to the final release and eventually we hope to integrate Growl Notification with it. This feature was planned but never made it to v1.0, but expect it in the coming months.

http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/status/pillbox.html

http://avwidgets.site90.net/PillBox.zip

PillBox is our last planned widget we will be releasing for awhile, I plan on taking a bit of a break from programing and design for a little while although we will continue to improve our current widgets. I'm planning to update Carve A Pumpkin, Build A Snowman, and Dashboard Resurfacer by May, this will add some beneficial features to the widgets.

Now available to the public is our Mobil Website, this website has most of the features of our current website designed for use with the iPod Touch or iPhone Safari browser. It is still in Beta but fully functional and should make browsing and accessing our website even easier with faster load times and larger text. When accessing our website it will automatically detect if your using a iPhone or iPod Touch and will forward you to our mobile website. Once your there you can always choose the option to view the regular non-mobile version if you wish.

Earth Hour is this Saturday and as previously mentioned we will be participating in this event from 8:30 ET until 9:30 ET. At this time we will "Turn the light off" and we encourage you to do the same. The website will still be fully functional...

This weekend as previously mentioned as well, we will be adding an additional page to our website which will be periodically updated with custom Apple docks and icons free of charge. These custom docks can be used to personalize your Apple computer and we hope to eventually provide a wide variety of high quality docks and icons.

Side Note ~ We reached 1,000 hits on our website since the redesign! :)

PillBox Video Preivew, and more!

As promised I have released the video preview of PillBox are next planned widget that is set to release next Friday. You can view the video either below, or by visiting our Youtube Page. I hope everyone enjoys this new look at our new up and coming widget.



We have plans to add two new page to our website soon, the one page will feature custom Docks and Icons for the user to download and use for free. The second page will feature misc. programs and projects we at Alternative Visuals created and would like to share, all of these things will be free. I don't have a set date yet when these things will become available, I'll keep you up to date.

We have also been working on a Mobile friendly version of our website, making it easier to navigate and view the site with your iPhone or iPod Touch. I hope to have it up and running in the next week or so...

The last bit of news is what our site will be participating in March 28th. On this date people, companies, cities, and countries will be participating in Earth Hour. Earth Hour for those who are not familiar:

"Earth Hour is an annual international event created by the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature/World Wildlife Fund), held on the last Saturday of March, that asks households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. It was pioneered by WWF Australia and the Sydney Morning Herald in 2007,^[1] and achieved worldwide participation in 2008."

We at the site have signed up for this and we will "Turn Off The Lights" of our website in awareness of Earth Hour for one hour beginning at 8:30 PM EST. I hope that you to can take part in this world wide event.

General Updates

Happy St. Patricks Day everyone :) Just would like to share a few bits of news and keep everyone up to date on what all is going on.

As you have noticed both the website and twitter page got a little less dull looking with the addition of a new background style witht the grey stripes. The website is still fairly new and we will continue tweaking the style/layout of the site to further perfect it!

We just got done finishing the video preview for PillBox, I will release it on our Youtube account and Blog this Friday afternoon. This should give everyone a simple overview of what it will offer to the user.

Few remineders:

~ We are always accepting donations!

~ We would love for you to join our social network as well with either Twitter, Youtube, or Facebook

~ We added a digg feature to the website's widget and web app page.

That is about it for now, expect more in depth information Friday on current events/plans.

Alot of News!

It has been a couple days since the last blog post and I have a lot to share with all of you! First off the widget has officially left the coding phase, which means the widget is in working order, and it's now in the tweaking/testing phase. I hope to finish all the visual tweaks and begin the official testing this weekend.

Speaking of testing, we are looking for a few volunteers to test and critique our widget. Simply email us and we will get back to you!

Next Friday we are going to release a video preview of the widget displaying its features and how it works to give everyone a better concept of it. Everything is still set for a release date of March 27th baring any delays or problems. Below I posted five screen shots!

[gallery link="file"]

I updated the website as well with more information regarding PillBox if you want to take a look.

We have a few things in the works for some projects that will occur after PillBox has been released, we hope to get a few more things out to the user by the end of May. As we have mentioned before we will be updating CAP, BAS, and DR all of which are due for some upgrades. Build A Snowman has a Web App version and eventually I want to release a Carve A Pumpkin Web App but not sure if it will happen by May.

Our company has been growing and its popularity is doing the same, we are getting amazing support by the users. I have come to realize that we can increase our market by expanding what we have to offer. In the coming months we hope to begin offering free custom made Docks and Icons so you can have the most visually pleasing experience on your Apple computer!

Expect more news and announcements as time goes on!

Screen Shots!

Just like to post two new screen shots of PillBox, these show the back panel of the widget and some of the possible features. Nothing shown is final or guranteed to be in the released version. If all goes well I hope to begin the testing of the widget by the end of the week. Testing should last about a week to make sure everything is running correctly and as desired. I'm still planning for a March 27th release.

[gallery link="file"]

Official PillBox Description

The following are the features as of now for the next new Alternative Visual widget, PillBox!

• Track if you have taken your medication for all 7 days of the week.


• You have the option of entering the time in which your medication is taken as a reminder.


• The widget will use the time given and automatically set up alerts if you miss your medication by 30 minutes and by one day.


• The widget automatically indicates which day of the week it currently is.


• It Uses Pills as visual indication if you have taken your medication or not.


• All information and settings are saved regardless if the computer is turned off or the widget has been removed.


• You use simple clicks of the mouse to open the pill box lid and to remove the pills that are within the box.


• The Alert Option and Time Option can be easily turned off through the preferences' menu.


• Features automatic alerts when new updates are available for the widget.

A video preview will be available, hopefully coming this Friday. We have set a release date of Friday March 27 for the widget, at the current time we should easily meet the deadline if all goes well. We will keep you posted on further updates.

PillBox ahead of schedule!

When we first made the announcement of this new widget we mentioned a possible release date of April, as it stands now we are ahead of schedule and hoping for an end of March release. The date may possibly be the last Friday in March but we can't say exactly until we get closer.

We still have alot too do with the widget in regards to programing it, we are still running into technical road blocks that should be able to be overcome. Once programing is done it will go through extensive testing that may take up too a week, this will all be done to make sure you receive a well constructed working widget.

We currently don't have a set list of features just yet but we hope to get more information out soon with a possible video preview. So stay tuned for future updates with this widget.

PillBox Screen Shots

Here are some screen shots of our new widget we are currently working on. There isn't anything major but hopefully it will give you an idea how it will look.

[gallery link="file"]

Plan of Attack

March is almost upon us and we have been just as busy as ever working on Alternative Visuals to continue too keep the high standards. A big surprise recently was that Carve A Pumpkin managed to pull off a top 25 spot on Apple.com didn't expect it too keep up popularity in the middle of Winter.

The popularity of the website has also steadily increased since the redesign of the website, we have just reached the 500 hit mark the past day. We thank everyone for there support and love of what we provide.

I would also like to discuss the plan for the future months to come. I just managed recently to get some concept codes working that will be implemented into are new widget, Pill Box. This puts the development of this new widget one step forward and we hope to get it out too the public in April, but nothing if for sure yet.

In May we plan to update the current 3 widgets:

Carve A Pumpkin - We hope to redesign the control panel to look similar too Build A Snowman, we will also add the successful randomize button to this widget just like Build A Snowman. The last feature will be one I always wanted but never got it added, it will save your settings and the pumpkin's appearance regardless if your computer is restarted or the widget is closed and reopened.

Build A Snowman - Minor Stability changes, and the feature that will save the settings aswell.

Dashboard Resurfacer - feature that will save settings and minor visual changes.

Expanding Our Social Network

We have expanded are social network by adding Alternative Visual accounts on Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter. So you can enjoy great videos, participate in our Facebook group, and follow us on Twitter. We hope all of these new outlets can be used to share with those who have yet to discover the content Alternative Visuals has too offer.

So if you want, we strongly encourage any fans of our work to join one or a couple of the Social Networking groups.

New Website

The transition to the new redesigned website has been completed, at this point it is fully functional with no known errors or issues. We hope you enjoy the new look, in my opinion it's much better then what we had before!

Also the RSS widget is here, you can download it from either the website or the link on the side of the blog.

RSS Widget and Revamped Website Coming

I would just like to mention we are currently working on a RSS Feed widget, this can be used to stay up to date on all the Alternative Visual news, updates, and offers. We hope to have it out within the next couple days, shouldn't be that long since it's not a very complex widget.

The other small bit of news I would like to mention is that in the coming week we will be revamping the website giving it a nicer more professional look. This revamping process may lead too some downtime of the website, but this should be very minimal.

We hope your enjoying our Widgets, stay tuned for continual information and news.

News Update

I have a few things to mention too keep everyone up to date. For starters, we been having a few issues with the Apple Approval process and how we packaged our zip files and widget files. I hope to get this straightened out soon but each widget size might need to be separate on Apple.com for them to accept it. UPDATE: Apple accepted our widget, the widget is separated into the four screen sizes to download on Apple.com. Speaking of keeping things separate, on the Dashboard Resurfacer's main page I now have a separate download for each screen size, this will save bandwidth and maybe make things easier for you aswell.

The 2nd thing I would like too address is a new project we our working on here at Alternative Visuals. This new project is different in that, this one will be more of a useful tool then a "Just For Fun" sorta thing. This widget as of now will be called "Pill Box" like the name states it will take the idea of a pill box for managing medicine and take it too the dashboard. This widget will help those who take daily medication to remember when and if they need too take the required medicine. It will look like a real pill box container and function like one. As of now that is all we can say for it is still in the planning stages, we hope to release it at the end of March or beginning of April. This will be the last planned widget until atleast the summer of 09' and hopefully around that time we can do work on Carve A Pumpkin which is in need of update.

The last thing we would like to mention isn't completely confirmed yet, but recently we received an email from "JIL" (Join Innovation Lab) inviting Alternative Visuals to be part of there program. Here is some information regarding "JIL"

On April 24, 2008, China Mobile Limited, SOFTBANK and Vodafone announced an agreement to establish a Joint Innovation Lab (JIL) to develop mobile internet services. The three companies expect the initiative will help to accelerate the commercial deployment of mobile internet services.

The three companies will use the JIL as a platform to develop mobile services and drive innovation and synergy in the industry to the benefit of their combined global customer base. The JIL will launch projects based on emerging technologies and market demand.

The JIL will focus on the rapidly growing areas of mobile internet services, such as mobile widgets. Initially, the JIL plans to develop a platform for mobile widgets to encourage the development of innovative new services that can leverage mobile operators' unique capabilities. The JIL also welcomes the co-operation of vendors and developers in the creation of new applications and services.

This move is expected to enable different widgets and applications to run seamlessly on different handset platforms and operating systems across different mobile operators, while safeguarding customer security, data privacy and billing systems. The development of a widget platform is expected to benefit both developers and users.

They plan on using some of our widgets and get them running on "JIL" the widget and code will remain ours and they keep all acknowledgments for Alternative Visuals. We have accepted the offer and hope this will benefit both us and "JIL"

More information: www.jil.org

Dashboard Resurfacer: Download Now!

Dashboard Resurfacer is officially here and ready for download! We hope you enjoy this widget like you did our other previous widgets. I'm hoping that this widget becomes a great success, so please download and give it a try!

I have submitted the widget too Apple and we can expect it to be available through Apple either Monday or Tuesday, it will all depend on how long the approval process takes. Hopefully like our previous widgets this one will become a Staff Pick aswell.

On a side note, I would like too mention we will be releasing some information on our next planned widget this Friday, so stay tuned for that.

Dashboard Resurfacer:

Download Now (OS X Required)

Dashboard Resurfacer on it's way and email is working

The release date of Dashboard Resurfacer for tomorrow night (EST) is a gurantee at this moment as we put the finishing touches on the widget and prepare for release. Once again as a reminder if you want a gurantee download for tomorrow we suggest coming to the site for the download, Apple's approval process can take a day or two.

As we finish this widget we are already planning another widget, this widget will be another unique one for us as always. This Friday I will post more information on it including a name and short description.

Also I would like to mention the email is now fully functional and ready for use, contact@alternativevisuals.com

More News

It has been a busy week for us, with multiple things going on for the website, widget, blog and more. A lot of things have been changing and improving for the better lately, and things have just been busy for us here at Alternative Visuals. Some things I would like to mention about, current changes and future ones are as followed:

Dashboard Resurfacer: This has a new tentative release date of this Sunday night (EST) it will be a fully featured release and we hope you can wait for what is expected to be a great widget. Note: Although I'm releasing it Sunday night Apple tends to take a day or two for widget approval so If you want it that night come too our site for it.

New Email: We will be activating our new company email within the coming day, this email will be used for all contact and support and should make things easier for us and you. The new email is contact@alternativevisuals.com but don't attempt emailing us until atleast Friday night when we have it fully set up.

New Domain: The biggest bit of news is that thanks too kinda contributors too alternative visuals we managed to purchase a .com domain for our website, www.alternativevisuals.com GO AHEAD TRY IT!.

Opinions: What features does Apple need to upgrade the old stuff.

iPhone and iPod Touch are with out a doubt one of the top gadgets of all time. They are sleek, and do everything you want them to do and then some but even the strongest gadgets have there issues. Here are a list of what I (ajvizz) thinks needs to be added. 

iPhone/iPod Touch

iChat: It's hard to find a good instant messenger in App store they are either overpriced or not worth getting. iChat would be great because it would be made by apple for an apple product. Not only that but don't you think video chats would be cool for the little device. Which brings me to my next point....

Front Camera: Like I said before you can use the camera to do video chats with friends in your contacts!

Wireless Syncing (Free): Sometimes you are on the run and you don't have time to connect your device to the computer. So all you do is press a button or application and they update each other. 

Better RSS Reader: Yes, iPhone/iPod Touch both have the RSS intergraded with Safari browser but the problem is there are no badges to tell you if it updated. 

--------

Combine Mac Mini + Apple TV.

- Apple to team up with Satellite TV companies 

- DVR TV Show right from your TV

- View Photos, Movies, TV Shows and listen to  Podcast/Music in which you bought or recorded 

- Syncs with you iPhone/iPod Touch wirelessly (Even syncs live TV to your iPod devices)

- Sit in your couch and view the stuff on your TV screen. 

- Blu-ray player if you would like to watch movies.

- keeps everything organized

- App store for various features

- also Mac OS X will run on it 

...in other words its like a Satellite TV Box + iPhone that connects your TV :)

It comes in 3 flavors hehe... 250GB ($599.99), 500GB ($1099.99) , and 1TB ($1499.99) + an optional TV service (Get HD Digital TV and DVR) for 18 dollars a month.

We Donated our time, please donate some money!

Please help us get started, money will go towards making the different media will give to you for free and will also help pay for the site.  Any amount is helpful, thanks!

New: Build a Snowman v3.1

Our very first widget is one of Apple's favorites. Build a Snowman (BAS) symbolizes freedom of expression and makes your Mac's dashboard looking nicer then it ever did.

[caption id="attachment_12" align="aligncenter" width="284" caption="Staff Pick"][/caption]