MacWorld, the first ever Apple-related conference we attended in 2013, is sadly no more after a brief announcement earlier today from IDG. According to the official website, MacWorld is currently on hiatus and will not take place next year in San Francisco. As for the MacIT portion though, it will still live on with details to be announced “in the coming weeks”. Despite this loss, it doesn’t come entirely as a surprise, the MacWorld magazine shut down earlier this year after 30 years of being in print. Here’s the rest of the statement from IDG:

Since 1985, Macworld events have brought together a community to celebrate the incredible innovations that Apple has brought into the world, shining a spotlight on the developers who add value to the user’s experience in infinite ways. As Apple products and the related ecosystem have changed, so has the marketplace, and we are proud to have played a part in that evolution. Literally thousands of companies and hundreds of products have come to market at Macworld, and countless professional relationships have been forged. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Apple community for allowing us to host these events and be a part of the incredible story that is the Apple market.

We are committed via our MacIT event to bringing together the product developers innovating with enterprise iOS and OS X based solutions, and the growing legion of professionals empowering their organizations through these tools. We are exploring exciting new partnerships, venues and delivery opportunities through which MacIT can continue to serve this market, and we look forward to announcing our plans for this event within the next few months.

Looking towards the future, we hope to see the MacWorld Expo revived at some point and wish the best of luck to all of their staff.

Macphun Software, a long time Mac App Store and photography software developer, has announced their updated educational pricing program called Pay It Forward. In this program, Pay It Forward recognizes the contribution students and faculty members have on the Mac and Photography industry by giving them with a generous 50% discount on qualifying products like Snapheal Pro, Intensify Pro, Focus 2 Pro and the Creative Kit bundle. Students and faculty who wish to take advantage of this discount can head over to the official website for all the detailed information. But in order to qualify, college students or teachers grades K-12 level must be verified through SheerID.

“Pay It Forward is an initiative that allows Macphun to give back by putting our software in the deserving hands of students and educational professionals at an affordable price,”  said Paul Muzok, co-founder and CEO of Macphun Software. “Students and teachers who are well versed in current digital imaging technology and efficient workflows can ultimately have an immense impact on the world.”  Muzok concluded.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Macphun to verify students and faculty for their Pay It Forward initiative,”  said Jake Weatherly, CEO for SheerID. “Now every professor, teacher and college student can access Macphun’s generous offer, regardless of whether their institution issues .edu email addresses or not.”

As of now we’re unaware of how long this program will go on for, however, it’s probably safe to say for another few months until the discounted pricing ends. We’ve been long time fans of Macphun‘s photo software, so if you get a chance we highly recommend applying for the discounted price if you are eligible.

Continuing on with our post-MacWorld coverage and announcements, an intriguing app by the name of ZenDay was unveiled at the conference last week with the iOS version making its big debut. ZenDay is a personal and digital assistant that combines calendar information, tasks and to-dos in a 3D user interface that allows you to see what is ahead for your day and week. Unlike any other app that we have seen before, ZenDay lets users create “floating tasks” which are added to their calendar whenever time is available. Going a step further, tasks are automatically rearranged within the app depending upon other priorities. Once these floating tasks are complete, they are automatically deleted to make room for more. In addition to the feature we just mentioned, ZenDay also allows you to debrief your previous weeks and see how you did with completing tasks efficiently and on time. With that said, another goal of the app is to help you be aware of time and improve getting tasks done when they should be.

While at MacWorld last week, we were able to get an in-person demo and talk to the CEO, Richard Phan, on his app and what he plans to add in the future. That being said, it was interesting to hear him talk about where it all began with ZenDay and why he created the app. Even though our time was limited to do a quick interview and get a demo, ZenDay is another favorite app of ours from MacWorld 2014. If you’d like to see the app in action, check our photos from the Day 2 roundup.

“ZenDay’s mission is to make your life easier by displaying all the things you have to do in a unique time perspective 3D timeline, that gives the feeling of moving forward in time, helping users keep commitments and resist procrastination,” said Richard Phan, the CEO of ZenDay. “But beyond a simpler organizer, ZenDay is a real Time Coach that helps you stay Zen, despite a busy and stressful life, and allows to rate yourself on your achievements in order to improve and become more effective.”

Features:

• Schedule tasks and meetings.
• Sync with all your calendars.
• Sync with all your iOS Reminders.
• Prioritize your tasks and set future tasks.
• Dynamic scheduling: your tasks follow the flow of time.
• Set your deadlines and start dates.
• Debrief on your previous weeks.

Interested? ZenDay on the App Store for free by clicking here and best of all includes no in-app purchases. For those that already a calendar set up on iCloud, Exchange, or Google, ZenDay will sync with those services and copy everything over seamlessly.

Seen as how MacWorld 2014 was almost a week ago and with our extended coverage of the event, we thought it would be time for some really good nostalgia. For those that may not remember or even know, Apple used to play a huge role in MacWorld every year up until 2009 when they left for good. Well two years prior to Apple leaving, Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone at MacWorld 2007 which set out to change the mobile/cellphone world and shape it into what it is, even to this very day. Admittedly the first iPhone had its problems and wasn’t perfect, however, it was still a huge game changer back then. Throughout the following years and even until now, Apple has continually improved the iPhone while still maintaining the same basic concept in terms of the home button, lock button and overall design. Even though the video below is a bit long, watching it all the way through may be the highlight of your day.

Also, be sure to stay tuned for more extended coverage of MacWorld 2014 with announcements, reviews and much more.

Continuing on with our post-MacWorld coverage, PhatWare has also announced their latest iOS app WritePro, a word processor and note-taking app for iPhone and iPad that is available on the App Store for $9.99. Building upon PhatWare‘s handwriting recognition technology, WritePro features rich text editing that can be combined with images, custom drawings, text, and access to various system resources like email, contacts, maps, and more. Not only can the app create HTML and PDF documents, it also supports Microsoft Word formats, RTF and HTML files for editing. In addition there are advanced shorthand features which allow users to format text using written commands. Using these commands, users can change font, paragraph and other formatting options, insert user-defined text blocks, show the in-app translator, and much more. Those who want to share documents with friends or colleagues in other countries can take advantage of the integrated translator. So for example, a note can be written in English then converted and sent in Spanish or 15 other languages. Taking it a step further, any document in WritePro can be synced with Box, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, iCloud, Evernote, and Google Drive.

Features:

• Handwriting recognition, including self-learning adaptive handwriting recognition engine, statistical vocabulary analyzer, and multilingual support (English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish).
• Spell checker with user dictionary and customizable auto-corrector.
• Customizable shorthand commands.
• Supported document formats include text, HTML, RTF, and Microsoft Word.
• Text formatting includes all standard options, including font formats (size, face, bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, and color) and paragraph formats (alignment, ordered list, unordered list, hierarchical lists, and indent).
• Sketch capability – allowing users to insert custom drawings or handwritten text into HTML documents.
• Integration with contacts, maps, events, email and iCloud.
• Social media support, including the ability to post to Twitter or Facebook from within the app.

Interested? WritePro is available as an universal app for both iPhone and iPad on the App Store for $9.99.