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- Resisting the Touchscreen Blight
Last weekend, New York Times’ Virginia Heffernanhit a resonant chord with me in a wonderfully crafted piece eloquently relating why she hated the iPhone experience so much she returned her iPhone to AT&T, replacing it with a BlackBerry.
The nexus of Ms. Heffernan’s iPhone discontent was mainly an issue that I can identify with — her dislike of the Apple device’s touchscreen virtual keyboard. I also detest touchscreens, and even as someone who makes his living partly from writing about Apple products, when I get a smartphone (something I’ve successfully resisted so far due to the fact that the nearest 3G or GSM wireless coverage ends some 35 miles short of where I live) I would likely opt for a BlackBerry myself because it has a real analog keyboard.
There’s something that just rubs me (pun intended) the wrong way at a very elemental level about touching display screens. I’m extremely picky about keeping my computer and iPod displays, TV screens, digital camera preview LCDs, etc. clean and free of smears and smudges, and I recoil reflexively from touching them, so touchscreens are massively counterintuitive for me to almost the degree of a phobia. But it goes deeper than that. I had a pocket calculator and organizer for a while that required data and control entry via a screen stylus, and while technically that didn’t involve actually touching the display with my fingers, I still didn’t like it as an input method.
I’m a mechanically-oriented guy, and I’m most comfortable working with input keys that visibly depress when you push on them, and whose movement registers spatially and visually. Touch screens offer no typing feedback, as typo-strewn messages from my iPhone-user friends highlight.
As Virginia Heffernan notes, with her iPhone “To answer the phone, I had to touch the screen. Years of not touching screens - so as not to smudge or scar - made me wary. But I brushed the ‘answer call’ and up came fragments of my mother's cheerful voice….I hunted for a keypad to call her back, but it was gone…”
Then there was something about the iPhone touchscreen “keyboard” that seemed to induce ineptness. “My right index finger - the only digit precise enough to hit the close-set virtual iPhone keys - seemed an anemic, cerebral thing, designed for making paltry points in debating club. I repeatedly stabbed to the right of my target letter. It was like being 4 again - or being 90. I couldn't see, it seemed; I couldn't point; I couldn't connect.”
I find myself klutzy and error prone with touchscreen input, too.
I’m also of the same school of thought as Ms. Heffernan on what she calls the iPhone’s “know-it-all suggestions.” She observes that “the iPhone seemed to want to be more human, more helpful, jollier than I was! The vaunted Apple user-friendliness was exposed, before my eyes, as bossiness and insincerity,” in a word, “smug.” That assertive busybody dynamic is one of the characteristics I really detest about most Microsoft software, and unfortunately increasingly creeping into Apple’s software applications and even hardware (eg: the ambient light sensitive screen brightness setting on my new MacBook) as well. I like to think for myself.
What worries me most is that some rumor speculation suggests that Apple’s answer to the PC netbook market share challenge could come in the form of an oversized iPod touch rather than an Apple riff on the conventional mini-laptop form factor with a real keyboard and a screen that you keep your grubby paws off of. Personally, I have less than zero interest in even an ultra-portable computer with a touchscreen keyboard, although a tablet that allowed for stylus based handwriting recognition and command input might have some utility — so long as the option remained to hook up a keyboard and mouse when practical.
I’ll be keenly interested to see what materializes, but if it does turn out to be a touchscreen netbook, I’m apprehensive that the touchscreen blight could spread into Apple’s regular notebook space, as the non-swappable battery metastasized from the MacBook Air to the 17″ unibody MacBook Pro.
Don’t go there, Apple — please!
Переслать - App Review: Amplitude — Your iPhone as a Covert Surveillance Tool
App Quick Stats
Amplitude pushes the iPhone in a new direction, transforming the device in to a hand-held James Bond-style surveillance tool. An intriguing concept indeed, but would Q approve?
Setting aside the more recent Bourne-esque gritty romps of the latest Bond movies — which are, for the record, utterly brilliant — I’ll be forever enchanted with the classic laboratory scenes where Q presents 007 with an array of innocent-looking yet lethal gadgetry.
Amplitude transforms the iPhone in to a surveillance device, allowing you listen in on distant conversations.
Covert Conversing
Originally released under the guise of iHearClear, the app was designed specifically for individuals who are hard of hearing. The intention being that the iPhone could act as a tool for amplifying quiet sounds.
Gripwire, the folks behind the app, suggested that iHearClear could be used in a variety of ways such as improving the sound quality at a movie theater or at parties and gatherings to communicate easier with friends.
Amplitude is a re-skinned, re-imagining version of iHearClear, designed with a younger audience in mind and pitched more as a tech-styled spy gadget than a listening tool.
With both apps, your iPhone essentially becomes the electronic equivalent of one of those unsettling old-time ear trumpets. Certainly not as glamorous as Bond, but perhaps a more accurate description of what the app does.
Seeing & Hearing
The app is designed to look like a kids-version of a spy gadget with all dark brushed metal, exposed screws with a couple of buttons, and a big slider. The centerpiece to Amplitude’s visual is an oscilloscope, a pulsing green screen ripped straight out of a scientific laboratory.
The idea behind the oscilloscope is that it allows the user to view, and visually quantify, signal voltages, as you’re able to see the volume of the sound your listening to. More importantly though, it lends the app some much needed visual authenticity — in short, it looks super-cool.
The slider beneath the oscilloscope controls the amount of microphone boost to be applied. This is essentially the active component of the app — the useful bit — as, in essence, Amplitude is merely boosting the volume of the sound coming in to the iPhone mic.
There’s also a mute button, enabling the app to be muted (useful in instances where the sound-level may have jumped up unexpectedly) and an info button. The info button, aside from displaying the credits, provides access to a settings screen where you’re able to set the app to mute on startup (advisable as a precaution for your ears).
Spy Games
In testing the app, I decided to try out a few different situations. My initial experiment consisted of listening in on two friends whispering to each other.
Pointing the iPhone’s mic towards the duo and plugging my headphones in (note that the app works best with headphones without a built-in mic), I discovered that, despite a bit of hum, I could hear them whispering.
However, upon removing the headphones, I discovered that I could still hear them whispering and, without the hum of the boosted iPhone microphone, everything sounded much clearer. My next test — listening to a friend’s heartbeat — ended similarly. I discovered that while Amplitude could aid me in listening to their heartbeat, my ears did a much better job.
The creators of the app posed the question, “Have you ever heard the sound of a hummingbird’s wings beating back and forth.” Yes, it’s like a tiny motorcycle being driven by a little biker man. “Using Amplitude it’s a truly amazing experience.” No, if I could locate a real, live hummingbird, using Amplitude, I’d most probably discover that the sound is slightly louder and more annoying than just listening with my ears.
Summing Up
According to the marketing text in the App Store, Amplitude can be used a tool to help fix your car. Or to spy on baseball players communicating in the batting circle. Or any number of a variety of utterly bizarre situations where, in actual fact, I doubt Amplitude really would work. Unless of course you stood next to these people, in which case you wouldn’t need the app anyway.
Amplitude is about as much actual use as a novelty fart apps. However, setting aside the grotesquely exaggerated claims of Amplitude’s ability by the app’s creators, it’s good fun as a 99 cent novelty app.
Переслать - Nine Inch Nails iPhone App to Resemble Specialized Twitter
There are a lot of music apps available for the iPhone. What do most of them have in common? Actually the question is, what don’t most of these apps have in common? Artist and musician apps in particular seem mostly to be cut from the same mold, offering very little in the way of originality, which is why I generally don’t take much notice of them. My fandom does not usually extend beyond an artist’s musical work.A few artists, however, realize that the iPhone represents more than just another conduit for your standard fan service fair, like a slightly more interactive mailing list. Nine Inch Nails, driven by the ever-experimental Trent Reznor, is among those few. He’s already set himself apart from the pack through his partnership with Tapulous for Tap Tap Revenge: NIN Edition. It was the first single-artist version of the iPhone’s most popular game, providing a model that both Weezer and, more recently, Coldplay would go on to follow. Reznor has also championed digital music and video downloads, and even torrent distribution, making him one of the few mainstream artists to really embrace Internet tech. Not to mention the fact that he once wanted to design video games.
Recently, Reznor revealed some details regarding his next project, a free iPhone application for NIN fans. He came up with the app’s concept when he saw fans standing in line for one of his shows and taking photos with their cell phones. Basically, the thought process was “Why not give these fans an easy way to share this experience with others?” And what’s the easiest way to tell a bunch of people you barely know or don’t know at all what you’re doing at any given moment? That’s right: Twitter.
Reznor revealed to Wired that the upcoming NIN app will be based on Twinkle, a popular Twitter client for the iPhone, and will basically be like a specialized Twitter for a Nine Inch Nail fan network. Users will be able to post updates and photos, and using a feature called “Nearby,” attach geo-location data to their updates and interact with other local NIN fans, for example at a concert. Reznor himself is an avid and regular Twitter user, so don’t count out seeing him interact personally with fans via the new app.
The app represents an attempt to deepen the interaction between artist and fan, and between fans themselves, rather than simply to extend the marketing reach of a musician. Hopefully it starts a trend that others follow, as Tap Tap Revenge: NIN did, though that’ll ultimately be determined by the app’s success.
Переслать - Exclusive Preview: LittleSnapper for the iPhone
The included Camera App on the iPhone is pretty much featureless: Take a picture and you’re done. You must use the Photos app if you want to view or share (via MobileMe) your photos. What if you need more?
If you’re a fan of LittleSnapper, which we have reviewed before, then the folks at Realmac Software have a pleasant surprise for you. Coming very soon to the App Store, LittleSnapper for the iPhone will tantalize you with it’s rich feature set and high utility.
Realmac Software was kind enough to give us an exclusive preview of LittleSnapper for the iPhone. You won’t find this anywhere else, so please enjoy.
What Does it Do?
So what does this fantastic app do? First and foremost, it easily supplants the supplied iPhone camera app by providing a pretty broad set of features. Let’s iterate through the list:
- A fantastic interface with a very simple mechanism to scroll through LittleSnapper’s feature areas.
- Take photos with the ability to name, rate, tag and share the photo via the QuickSnapper service. You can optionally store the photos locally within the Photos app too.
- Share photos via your iPhone Twitter client, including support for Tweetie, Twitterific and TwitterFon.
- Like the desktop version of LittleSnapper, you can also capture an entire web-page for future editing.
Show Me the Money
What does it look like? Let’s take a look.
LittleSnapper HomeThe five main options here are:
- Photo Albums - Takes you to the iPhone Photos App. What is unique is that once you select a Photo, you then return to LittleSnapper where you can add Photo details (see below).
- Snap Webpage - Opens a built-in browser to capture a web page. Currently, due to WebKit limitations, only the screen is captured, as opposed to the full web page.
- Take A Photo - Self explanatory.
- Accounts - Where you can add/edit your QuickSnapper account(s).
- QuickSnapper - Closes the LittleSnapper App and opens Safari, taking you to the QuickSnapper home page.
Options Aplenty
Once you select the Take A Photo option, and after you have taken the photo, the following screen displays:
LittleSnapper Photo DetailsFrom this screen, you can do the following:
- Give the photo a title
- Rate the photo - up to five stars
- Provide a description
- Tag the photo
- Specify the type of Photo - iPhone, Screenshot, Websnap and more
Tag It Baby!
For tagging photos, the UI is quite attractive. Let’s take a look at what you can do.
LittleSnapper Tag DetailsIf you already have tags from your QuickSnapper account, then they are displayed above the image and you can just press the tag to add it. Otherwise, type a new tag for this particular photo.
The Real Deal: Snapping Web Pages
Probably the key feature of the app, you can capture web pages with just a simple press of the screen. These pages are saved as screenshots for later editing.
LittleSnapper Web Page CaptureOk I’m Sold, What’s the Damage?
When LittleSnapper arrives in the App Store (hopefully in the next week), it will come at a modest price of $2.99. For the rich functionality that you receive, this is quite a bargain. Although there are other photo-capturing apps within the App Store, for shear value, this is the app to get.
I Want More
For an initial offering, LittleSnapper for the iPhone is very impressive. However, I would love to see the ability to sync my captured images over Wi-Fi to the desktop version of LittleSnapper. Currently, I have to share the image to my QuickSnapper account, download the image to my desktop and then add it to my LittleSnapper library.
Maybe I missed this, but on the desktop version of LittleSnapper, you can share images to QuickSnapper, Flickr and an FTP site. With the version for the iPhone, you can only share images to your QuickSnapper account.
Still, these two nits are feature requests and I am sure the folks at Realmac Software are already hard at work on them (and other delightful features) for the next release. Until then, I’ll be pleasantly using LittleSnapper for my photo-taking needs…
Переслать - Apple Places Order for 100 Million 8Gb Flash Chips
Let’s not jump to any conclusions. Maybe they just want to redecorate the Cupertino campus, and they thought covering the walls in 8Gb (gigabit, not byte) flash chips would be original and visually appealing.
Actually, that’s probably the last possible reason Apple recently placed a massive order for 100 million 8Gb chips from their suppliers, most of which will come from Samsung, according to DigiTimes, the source of the report. Yes, that is a lot of chips, and apparently the whole industry will feel the strain as the NAND flash supply will be pretty tight up until the end of May, thanks to fairly large orders by Sony and Nokia, in addition to Apple.
In case you didn’t guess, Apple is most likely going to be using the new chips for the new iPhone that’s been all but confirmed as due this June in time for WWDC ‘09. The tiny chips can be combined by Apple into larger configurations of 16GB and 32GB sizes, which is what most are expecting from the new iPhone models. For those still skeptical about the new iPhone’s imminent launch, the same thing happened last year around this time before the release of the iPhone 3G, except that time the order was only half the size. Which doesn’t mean Apple is planning on producing double the launch units, but that those units will almost definitely have double the storage capacity.
Would it be too much to ask for a leapfrog of the 32GB capacity and go straight to the 64? Probably, but I’m going to anyway. Though as it is, I don’t use the 16GB I already have. But there’s a difference being needing something and wanting to be able to do something, if the mood strikes me.
Переслать - Amazon, Wal-Mart Follow Apple's Lead, Introduce Variable Pricing
It was a sad day this past Tuesday for almost everyone except the record labels when Apple put in place the variable pricing scheme they’ve been promising since announcing their entire library would be going DRM-free. At the very least, many thought they could take refuge in the safety and comfort of iTunes rivals Amazon and Wal-Mart, both of whom also run digital music sales outlets, and both of whom had suddenly become a much better value proposition in the face of the changes.Sadly, no e-tailer turned out to be safe. Both Amazon and Wal-Mart introduced their own variable pricing schemes shortly after Apple’s went live. This was literally hours after a friend recommended switching to Amazon, since it now presented a better deal. Amazon is now offering some of its best-selling tracks at $1.29, and some at the low end for 79 cents, while the overwhelming bulk of their catalog still goes for 99 cents. True to their lowest price guarantee, Wal-Mart’s standard price point is 94 cents, with some top sellers now going for $1.24, and a few bargains at 64 cents.
The changes across the board signal an industry-wide trend, and show that Apple was not alone in negotiating a new pricing arrangement with the record labels. It’s especially noteworthy that the same tracks don’t necessarily cost the same in each store, with Apple having more songs in the top-tiered price range than either of the other two.
Both Wal-Mart and Amazon had already been selling music DRM-free, suggesting that the recording industry’s goal with dangling the DRM-free carrot in front of Apple was to pave the way for price hikes across the board. Now that that barrier is gone, expect to see digital music prices creep to the point where they more closely resemble what you’d pay at brick-and-mortar stores.
Переслать - Media Production on a Budget: Adobe Creative Suite Alternatives
OS X has long been labeled the platform for “creatives,” though in recent years it’s finally becoming known for more than that. Adobe’s Creative Suite is generally regarded as the crown-jewel of digital design, and they’re priced to match.
So what if you’re a cash-strapped creative who wants to find some alternatives to Adobe’s popular suite of applications? Here’s a look at several great options that run at a mere fraction of the cost of a Creative Suite package.
Before we begin, we should identify the core applications of the Adobe Creative Suite.
- InDesign - Page and print layout
- Photoshop - Image retouching and alterations
- Illustrator - Vector graphics
- Dreamweaver - Web development editor
- Fireworks - Graphics drawing and web optimization
- Flash - Animated and programmable graphics
- Premiere - Video editing and creation
- After Effects - Motion graphics and modeling
First, the bad news. Adobe Flash is unique and proprietary enough in nature that in my hunt, no Mac alternatives were found. (Microsoft’s Silverlight may be an option, but then again, it’s an entirely different beast.) So I’m sorry to say, this post can’t help if you’ve been looking for a way to skirt the world of Adobe’s Flash editor. Also, for our purposes here, I’ve lumped Photoshop and Fireworks together, as the alternatives generally blur the lines between the two offerings.
Photoshop
I’m more of the Photoshop persuasion, so I’ll begin with viable alternatives for that application.
- Acorn
With a minimalist interface, Acorn handles (as far as I can tell) all of the core functionality that Photoshop provides. Of course, if you’re a regular PS user, you’ll likely run into some limitations. But at only $49 it’s definitely a cheap alternative. (And if you were one of the nearly 90,000 — at the time of this writing — that took part in the Macheist bundle, you snagged it for only $39.) - Pixelmator
If you’re looking for a straight-up Mac-like user interface and experience, Pixelmator is the one for you. Shiny and beautiful, it too is a full-featured alternative to Photoshop, who’s layout is very similar too. Again, there are probably some short-comings for Photoshop users, but as I’ve used Pixelmator for a while, they seem to be holding their own quite well. $59 will get you a gorgeous Photoshop alternative. - GIMP
Standing for Gnu Image Manipulation Program, GIMP is a longtime offering that originated on Linux. It’s been ported to OS X, and runs wonderfully. The interface is different enough from Photoshop that it may take a bit of getting used to if you’re well-versed in the latter, but it’s still quite powerful and feature rich. Best of all, GIMP is free!
Illustrator
Vector based art is wicked cool, and those who are good with the tools can create incredible work with Adobe Illustrator. Happily, there are several options which are much more feasible from a cost perspective.
- Intaglio by Purgatory Design
I haven’t used Intaglio, but the feature list looks impressive. The user interface appears to be on par with our high Mac standards as well. Priced at $89, it may seem a bit steep, but there’s a free trial to try before you buy. - DrawIt by Bohemian Coding
This is the first I heard about DrawIt, and I’m really impressed. Very full-featured, and a lovely UI to boot. And at only $38, this app looks to be a real steal if you’re looking to get into Vector graphics. - Vector Designer by Tweakersoft
I’ve used Vector Designer for a while now, and like it a lot. It’s got a very familiar interface, integrating the OS X media browser and iSight camera as well. At $69.95 it’s not the cheapest, but a great tool with a free trial. - Lineform by Freeverse
The Freeverse folks put out some great software, and Lineform is no departure from that tradition. I love Lineform. It’s simple yet powerful at the same time…much like yours truly… Anyway. It’s typically $79.95, but for a limited time only, use lineform30 at checkout and get it for only $49.95! - Inkscape
An open-source project, Inkscape can hang with the rest. It is a Unix-based application, so it will require X11 to run in the Mac environment. That’s not a deal breaker, but it’s also not a typically fun to use interface, if you’re into that sort of thing. But it is free, if you’re into that sort of thing.
InDesign
If page layout is your thing, and InDesign’s price point is out of your range, there’s not a ton of alternatives.
- Scribus
I won’t sugarcoat it. Scribus ain’t all that pretty. And if you’re new to desktop publishing/page layout, it’s not too user-friendly. But it is in fact free, so quit your whining! - Pages from Apple (part of the iWork suite)
If you’ve bought a new Mac in the last year or so, chances are there was a trial of iWork already loaded, of which Pages is one of the apps. It’s Apple to the core (yeah, that pun was intended), and about as easy as it gets for great page layout work, and comes with several templates to get you started. $79 gets you the entire suite, which includes Numbers (spreadsheets) and Keynote (presentations).
Dreamweaver
It’s been over a decade since I used Dreamweaver regularly, so I realize it probably does everything including the dishes now. But there’s a plethora (and a half) of options as far as Mac-based WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors are concerned. I’m only covering some of the more popular ones here, but Google it, and you’ll be busy for sometime.
- Rapidweaver by Realmac Software
I tried Rapidweaver a while back and it was a nice app. Lots of features, and very Mac-like is design. There are plenty of themes to get you started, and development truly is rapid whether you’re new or old to HTML design. It will cost you $79 to get this rapid with your designs, though. - iWeb by Apple (part of the iLife Suite)
If your Mac came with iLife already installed (meaning, you bought it new), you’ve already got iWeb on your system. And it’s free — until the next upgrade comes out, at which point it’ll be $79 for the whole iLife suite. It’s typical Apple, and is super easy to use, with great results and many themes to choose from. - NVU
I hadn’t heard of NVU until poking around in preparation for this article. It doesn’t sport a typical Mac user interface, but it is free. Worth a try if you don’t have iLife already, I suppose. - Coda (by Panic, $99) and Espresso (by MacRabbit, $78)
Neither are WYSIWYG editors, but are so slick they deserve mention. You’ll need to know your way around HTML and other web coding to get the most out of them, but they can make web development a real pleasure, and are awesome-looking to boot.
Premiere
Movie editing is becoming more and more available to the masses, and I’ll argue, that it’s mostly due to Apple’s consumer-level offerings.
- iMovie by Apple (part of the iLife Suite)
Again, part of iLife, it should already be on your Mac. As with iWeb, the upgraded suite is $79 for all five applications. iMovie is a tremendous tool, and should get any budding video editor’s creative juices flowing. - Final Cut Express by Apple
Upping the price point a bit, we have a serious mid-level video editor. Final Cut Express brings an interface from its big brother, Final Cut Pro, as well as many of the features. It’s a great solution if you’ve outgrown the likes of iMovie. Final Cut Express runs $199. - Jahshaka
This one’s an open-source offering, which means it’s free. The last software release is a few years old, so it’s hard to say how reliable and feature rich it will be in comparison to the likes of Apple’s offerings. But with a $0 price tag you may find it to your liking.
After Effects
- Blender
I don’t have any experience with the 3D rendering world, so I can’t speak to the legitimacy of Blender as a 1-for-1 replacement of After Effects. But from what I’ve read, the features seem to cover the core functionality. Better yet, it’s free.
So there you go. Several great alternatives to paying for Adobe’s Creative Suite of applications. Ranging from free to around $100, you can pick and choose what may be most important to you. And with free trials almost across the board, you should easily find the best fit for your needs. Of course, even choosing the most expensive of the options out there, you’ll still fall well under the $1,800 price tag that Adobe asks!
And as always, if there are other alternatives that we’ve missed here, and you think they’re contenders, we’re always glad to hear from you, so please share in the comments.
Переслать - BumpTop as a Finder Replacement: Unlikely
Most people have seen the BumpTop videos on YouTube and TED by now. (If you haven’t, I’ve embedded their current demo vid below. Take a look!) The official desktop replacement has been in private beta (for Windows only) for a little while now, and I’ve had the pleasure of playing along at home. The OS X release is pending, and after what I’ve seen on Windows, I’m interested to use it on my computer of choice.Immediately, you get the cool vibe when using it. As a geek, I must say it’s just as slick as the video presentations we’ve seen. Though probably much better suited for the multi-touch interface it was designed for, at face value the features seem pretty useful. (Or at least a good alternative to the native Desktop.) But is BumpTop going to be worthy of daily use in place of the vanilla desktop we’re all used to? Right now I think its focus is a little too narrow for that. Here’s why.
BumpTop is first and foremost an application that runs in place of your computer operating system’s desktop interface. It’s neat, but it’s the Desktop, which is usually covered-up by the applications you’re actually using 90 plus percent of the time. In many cases, one of the applications being used quite regularly is probably a file browser, like Finder. This is the space into which I think BumpTop could become a great fit because honestly, who keeps the majority of their files right on the desktop?
Personally, I just don’t focus on my desktop all that much. Some of the craftier among us have begun making their desktops pretty interactive (by using widgets and GeekTool, for instance — see Lifehacker for some of the cool stuff I’m talking about), so they may have room to disagree. For now though, they’re in the minority. But I submit that many of us spend more time in the likes of Finder, looking for files to work with. If BumpTop can come up with a more file-browser-centric strategy, I think it will gain more longevity. Otherwise, I think its cool factor will wear off after a short honeymoon period and fall by the wayside for many users.
You can sign up to get updates on the availability of the Mac version by entering your email address at BumpTop’s web site. If you have a Windows machine, that version is currently available to the public, so you can download and enjoy it for yourself.
Переслать - Apple Replacing iPhones With 2.2.1-Related Wi-Fi Issues
This is news to me, and scary news at that, but it seems as though firmware update 2.2.1 has been causing some problems with Wi-Fi for many iPhone users.
I’ve not had any problems, but then again, I use Wi-Fi only sparingly, and even when I do, it’s never for an extended period. Also, I’ve updated to the 3.0 beta firmware, so I might have dodged a bullet there. If you have been having issues, and were hoping for a quick software fix, it looks like you may be out of luck.
Some users have reportedly been told by Apple to have their hardware replaced, and to make sure that when they call for a replacement, they specifically ask for an iPhone that’s running firmware of a version earlier than 2.2.1. All of which would seem to indicate that for the moment, Apple doesn’t know how to undo what they did with 2.2.1.
No one knows for sure what exactly is causing the problems, which seem to affect primarily 2G and older 3G model phones, but some believe the issues stem from Apple lifting an artificial throttling cap on the iPhone’s Wi-Fi chip, which enables faster speeds but also overheating. The theory seems to be supported by the fact that the issues are resolved and connectivity is restored when affected units are placed in the fridge for a little while and left to cool down.
As per usual, there’s no official word from Apple on the matter, and gauging how widespread the problem actually is will be difficult in this case, since a number of other factors could be affecting Wi-Fi performance. If you’re having the same problem, let us know, and maybe we can start to see just how deep this goes.
Переслать - Recent Survey Lauds Tap Tap Revenge, Advertising Power of App Store
Tapulous is obviously aware they have a hit on their hands with Tap Tap Revenge, hence the individually branded Weezer and Nine Inch Nails versions, the paid Tap Tap Dance, and the wildly successful sequel, Tap Tap Revenge 2. But a recent survey reveals that they may be more successful than anyone could have guessed, since they have the largest installed base of any application currently available from the App Store. That’s no small feat in a competitive field of tens of thousands.According to comScore, the market research firm behind the recent survey and an accompanying report, Tap Tap Revenge has been installed by 32 percent of iPhone and iPod touch users as of February 2009. That means one-third of the millions who use the App Store have downloaded Tap Tap Revenge at one point or another. I know one company who won’t have any trouble selling advertising space.
The purpose of the survey was in fact to give marketers a bird’s eye view of the App Store landscape. It also revealed some interesting facts about what kind of apps users are most likely to download and use. The top three categories that app users gravitated towards were retail, social networking and entertainment, respectively. Although I’m a little confused by the retail category (I can think of Amazon, and maybe Stanza and the Amazon Kindle app that might fit this description and be widely used), the other two make sense, especially if entertainment is broad enough to include games.
In a report accompanying the survey, comScore also pointed out that people who downloaded apps were likely to occupy mid- to high-range income brackets, who as a consequence probably have a lot more disposable income to spend on things like fart simulators and sexy pen apps. It notes that 35 percent of app store customers were likely to belong to households with an income of more than $100,000, while over 50 percent earned at least $75,000.
Basically, the final takeaway of the report is that advertisers would do well to look at the App Store as a potentially game-changing outlet from which to sell their shiny baubles. With the ad industry facing a crisis and pulling out of print and online sales, the App Store could present an attractive alternative. Since it has proven reach in a much sought-after demographic, and because of the unique content delivery method offered by apps, it avoids some of the usual failings of Internet advertising. There are no ad-blockers for individual apps, and there’s less competition for the viewer’s attention.
Personally, I’m conflicted. I like free stuff, but I hate ads, and therefore ad-supported software. My solution? Offer an ad-supported lite or trial version of all software, and I’ll buy whatever I actually use just to get rid of the marketing material. Any better ideas?
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