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iOS 4 Sneak Peek: Game Center
Jun 17th
I’m sorry to report that there just isn’t much to say about Game Center yet. iOS 4 capable devices are few, so friends and friend requests are non-existant. The first tab has a status message, and it uses your iTunes account. I can elaborate on my one and only hope for it since I can’t actually test it (and these sneak peek photos don’t say a whole lot to me). All I want is a comprehensive solution to gaming with friends. The other networks (Plus+, Crystal, OpenFeint, etc) allow the connections, but I still never ever game with anyone. It’s too complicated right now to set things up. I want Game Center to permeate every game, and have everyone use it…, so there is no excuse anymore. Hopefully the transition is smooth and encompassing.
iOS4 Sneak Peek: Folders
Jun 17th
Don’t be too surprised. iPhone owners will take what they can get, and folders were definitely something we needed. As a self-diagnosed technology obsessive compulsive disorder suffer (SDTOCD), the layout of my applications caused me much grief and anxiety. Furthermore, devoting two pages of apps to “Games” but having one too many (thus being forced to put it on the “Media” page) put me in shock daily. Medication has arrived in the form of folders. While not overly exciting, they have reduced my anxiety, and pages of apps from many, to just two…, and are attractive to boot.
A few more folderiffic photos after the break.
iOS 4 Sneak Peek: Photos.app
Jun 16th
If you’ve got iPhoto and a device with iOS 4, then be prepared to see some new features in your Photos application. While I’m sure it has been mentioned in one of the Apple keynotes, events, albums, faces and places are now selectable options. Unfortunately, these probably require iPhoto (especially faces), but maybe there’s some hope for Windows users, at the very least, they’ll get albums and places (how do Windows users sync photos anyway?). Screenshots of the new Photos application, after the jump. Forgive the edits of names and places I deem sensitive).
Albums
Probably the most unchanged in the bunch. This should look familiar to most iOS users.
Events
You know, I couldn’t remember if I had sync’ed events in the past. Did iOS 3 have this functionality? Did they just show up as albums? Regardless, this is almost a carbon copy of Albums, except… they are events. Events, if you aren’t aware, are automatically generated based on the content of the complete photo import, and the time they were taken. It was implemented as a feature in iPhoto to make organization easier.
Faces
Oh yes, iPhoto will be required for this one. Using the auto-detecting face recognition, people are sorted into albums of their own. I’m not totally sure how this is useful, unless you have a lot of friends that like to look at themselves. Still, it’s neat to see how organized everything is. If you know you have a photo of a friend, then it’d be a snap to jump right to it.
Places
Probably the biggest “check this out” feature. If your photos are geo-tagged, then they will show up on a map, just like in iPhoto. This feature definitely requires network connectivity to download the Google Map. The area is pinch zoomable for more precision. Pushpins will glide into position based on zoom level, the farther zoomed out, the more they clump together. Photos taken from a whole city, would be represented by one pin. As you move in, they spread out to represent neighborhoods, then individual streets, then finally their actual location. Photos taken on the device do not show up here automatically. They must be synced to your computer, then synced back - bummer.
So that’s all for this taste. I hope to show off a few more new little things as the information gets to me.
Icebird, Boxcar Get Notable Updates
Jun 16th
Two apps I have reviewed recently received some interesting updates. First, Boxcar (read my review here) has gone completely free. The application itself isn’t the only thing that costs nothing, individual notification services has made the transformation as well. Boxcar now uses an ad based revenue model, which I unfortunately cannot report on. Those that have paid for the application do not see these ads. In my review, I was apprehensive about recommending it, basing it on how many services someone would use. Being free, there’s no excuse not to. Oh right, it’s iPad compatible now.
Read about Icebird for iPhone after the break.
Icebird for iPhone (read review here), a lovely twitter app that just didn’t compare to the free Twitter for iPhone also got a bump to v1.1. Here are the new features:
*** Icebird 1.1 makes the application even more useful and faster. There are many new things to discover like Flickr support, inline image previews or mobilizer support. ***
+ Landscape orientation
+ Reply all users
+ Inline image previews
+ Forward link of website via mail
+ Mobilizer support when not on WiFi
+ Tap and hold on links to save them for later reading
+ Flickr, Twitpic, img.ly and TwitVid support
+ Choose between Instapaper and ReadItLater
• Fixed bug when saving drafts
• Fixed crashing issues
• Improved loading speed
• Minor bugfixes
All sounds pretty attractive, right? I have to say, it does work pretty nicely. It doesn’t however, compare to free, which remains my critical complaint.. Those that have some kind of thing about using the official application should look this one up. It’s now more on par with Twitter for iPhone in terms of features so the only thing you’d have to lose, is $3.99.
Last Minute WWDC 2010 Rumor Roundup!
Jun 7th
Okay okay, I know that all of this will be invalidated in a matter of hours. Speculation, even at the last minute is still totally exciting though. Below are some possibilities along with a probability based on no scientific fact whatsoever…, purely my instinct.
A new iPhone released. 100%
The new iPhone has (at least) a higher resolution display, front facing camera, flash, and new design. 99%
New iPhone comes in Black or White. 99%
New iPhone comes in other colors. 1% (I think this was disproven yesterday)
Apple talks about new measures in data efficiency. 10% (A response to RIM/AT&T) Apple adds new iPhone carriers. 40% (I’m actually way more inclined to believe it this year…) Other, non-iPhone products are released. 100% (With all the rumors, one of them HAS to be right, right?) You’ll be able to download iPhone OS 4.0 right away. 75% … and iPod Touch users will have to pay. 100% … and finally, iPad owners will have to wait. 75% MobileMe goes free. 20% iTunes goes streaming cloud service thingy. 15% (I’d love a subscription based iTunes!) Keynote has more, really boring app demos by developers. 100% Steve Jobs says “we really think you’re gonna like this.” 100% Alright, that’s kinda all I could come up with at the moment. We’ll see how well I do in just a little bit. I’ll be reading the live blog on Engadget and maybe streaming TWiT live in the background. After the keynote is over, I’ll be back with a recap post. Stay tuned. Keynote times: 07:00AM : Hawaii Photos used under a Creative Commons “Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic” license from adamjackson1984.
10:00AM : Pacific
11:00AM : Mountain
12:00PM : Central
01:00PM : Eastern
WordPress For BlackBerry Updated to v1.2.1
Jun 2nd
As most of you know, WordPress for BlackBerry was updated to version 1.2 just last week, with some nice new features. If you’d missed my write-up along with the changelog, you can find it here. WordPress for BlackBerry has been updated again to Version 1.2.1. The update is small, including just a minor bug fix.
Version 1.2.1 Released
- Version 1.2.1 has been released to App World today. This release contains a bug fix that resolves localization issues on some older BlackBerry devices.
- If you are experiencing issues using WordPress for BlackBerry in languages other than English, we strongly encourage you to update to this new version.
- Depending on your region or country, you might not see the latest version in the BlackBerry App World, but on your device you should now already see the latest version 1.2.1.
Via: WordPress
Feedback App Now In BlackBerry Beta Zone
Jun 1st
RIM has introduced a new app called ‘Feedback Tool’ into BlackBerry Beta Zone. The Feedback Tool can be launched from any screen on your BlackBerry. You can give RIM feedback about a native BlackBerry app or general feedback.
If you’d like to give feedback about an app, just hit the menu button
Skype For iPhone Gets Updated To Include 3G Calling
May 29th
Finally, the day has come! Even though Apple and AT&T lifted the restriction on 3G VoIP calls just under six months ago, it seems truly ironic that the only application people wanted to use hadn’t been updated to support it. This update comes about thirteen months after its original release. If it took this long just for 3G support, imagine how long it will take for multitask support.
But don’t break out the cake and party favors just yet. Skype’s VoIP calls are arbitrarily free until August, then afterward, we expect it to have a monthly fee (which appears to be undetermined at this point). I’m fairly certain this is a Skype thing and not a carrier thing. Data is data, so there should be no technical reason they need to charge — this is purely a profit thing (which isn’t wrong, just sad). I’ve tested it, it works, and the whole application feels less janky — always a plus.
Skype for iPhone 2.0
Bolt 2.1 Released - Now Out Of Beta
May 24th
BitStream has moved Bolt Browser out of Beta and included some new features. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Bolt Browser, you can read my recent review on Bolt Browser for BlackBerry, here. The changelog for Bolt 2.1 is listed below.
Bolt 2.1 Changelog:
- Support for Tabbed browsing
- Facebook integration - post messages, links or URLs from any page displayed in BOLT directly to your Facebook account without navigating away from the currently viewed page.
- Support for HTML5 audio
- Support for HTML5 video
- Expanded streaming flash video support. Newly-supported sites include:
bbc.co.uk
mtv.com
svtplay.se
hungama.com
bollywoodhungama.com
nick.com
- Support for Facebook chat and other web-based chat apps.
- Support for YouTube web apps ? search and view videos directly in BOLT
If you are already using Bolt, you should be prompted to upgrade upon opening the browser. You can also download Bolt 2.1 OTA here.
Quickpull v4 Gets Released, Brings Reliable OS 5.0 Functionality
May 18th
Quickpull has been one of the most downloaded apps in BlackBerry’s App World for a long time running and many times BlackBerry users take a lot of heat for the app even being necessary. Put simply, Quickpull is a free application that allows you to schedule your BlackBerry to reboot itself. Most BlackBerry users are very familiar with term “battery pull” and are accustomed to doing at least one reboot a day, mainly due to memory leaks and sporadic behavior in the BlackBerry operating system. A battery pull is usually the one assured remedy for this.
Quickpull is a nice way to schedule reboots during times when you won’t be using your device, in an attempt to prevent issues from arising during the day. Typically Quickpull is scheduled to reboot your device during the early morning when you will hopefully be sleeping, it can be customized to suit your individual usage patterns. The app also has a built-in memory manager which allows for the application to trigger a reboot if memory falls below a user-determined level.
Yesterday the Quickpull team released the next version of Quickpull, version 4. Don’t worry, it’s the same simple, light application you’re used to but with greater reliability, especially when using OS 5.0. In the previous version of Quickpull the application would work in a few builds of 5.0 but most (at least the Tour 5.0 builds I’ve used) didn’t work properly. As promised version 4 has fixed these issues and so far (one scheduled reboot last night) things are working perfectly on a 5.0 build that previously was not so Quickpull-friendly.
Quickpull v4 should be showing up in App World sometime this week but if you can’t wait till then you can hit this link from your BlackBerry browser for the OTA download. You can also hit the Quickpull blog for more info on the release.
