Tag Archives: IPHONE

Distimo says Android Market will soon overtake the App Store

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Shaun

Distimo published some figures last week proclaiming that the Android Market would soon overtake the iOS app store in terms of app volume. The question remains, which store has the best quality apps? Many iOS users users say that Apple’s has, but I believe it is largely impossible to tell because there are so many available, too many to check.

The Google Android Market eclipsed the Apple App Store for iPhone in terms of free applications and now has 134,342 free applications, while the Apple App Store iPhone has 121,845 free applications.

If all application stores maintain their current growth pace, approximately five months from now Google Android Market will be the largest store in terms of number of applications followed by the Apple App Store for iPhone and iPad, Windows Phone 7 Marketplace, BlackBerry App World and Nokia Ovi Store. The Windows Phone 7 Marketplace will also be larger than the Nokia Ovi Store and BlackBerry App World prior to the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace being available for even a full year.

One year after launching the iPad, Apple will be confronted with its first serious competition as both BlackBerry and Google enter the emerging tablet market. Apple has already seized momentum and grown the App Store for iPad in the first year to 75,755 applications developed by 21,975 publishers. Daily downloads in the Top 100 Overall paid and free applications for iPad combined exceed 500,000, while the daily revenue in the Top 100 paid is approximately $400,000 excluding in-app purchases.

Many of the top publishers on the iPad already publish cross-platform. Fifty-eight percent of the 50 most popular publishers have already developed applications for non-Apple platforms.

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How many times do you have to hit your home button?

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Shaun

I had a quick peak at the white iPhone 4 unboxing video on TiPb (possibly the most boring video ever) and noticed one of the reader comments-

“Damn, he only had to hit the home button once to get a response! Nice when they’re new, huh?”

My iPhone 4 does this. Sometimes I have to hit it 2,3 or 4 times to get a response and thought it was just software lag (maybe it is). Does yours do this?

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Apple’s Chinese workers treated ‘inhumanely, like machines’

Posted on April 30, 2011 by Shaun

Fascinating stuff from The Guardian today. I think the title says it all really. Shocking…

“Excessive overtime is routine, despite a legal limit of 36 hours a month. One payslip, seen by the Observer, indicated that the worker had performed 98 hours of overtime in a month.

Workers attempting to meet the huge demand for the first iPad were sometimes pressured to take only one day off in 13.

In some factories badly performing workers are required to be publicly humiliated in front of colleagues.”

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ooTunes Radio version 4.0

Posted on April 30, 2011 by Shaun

The wonderful ooTunes has been updated to version 4.0 and the changes are significant. By far my favourite smartphone radio app-

1. Universal – iPad2, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch: all generations
2. Easier to use – finally the power of ooTunes at your fingers, simply, elegantly
3. Improved layout – fewer icons and screen jumps, less duplication, more features
4. Bigger database – over 30,000 streams from user-requests world-wide
5. Folders for Favorites – group streams as you like from Search or add one by one
6. Navigate – skip directly to, or step by song, within Live or Recorded streams
7. Share via Email, Twitter, Facebook what you are listening to
8. Fullscreen Nighttime Clock – dim or brighten by touch, new backup alarm sound
9. Schedule recordings – set duration as well as start time
10. Export/import favorites via email (iOS 4 or higher required for import)
11. More Artwork support for more stations
12. Scrobble to Last.FM what you listen to
13. Play YouTube video of what is Now Playing live directly from app
14. Hi-Res retina Icon – new and relocated icons for Share, Recordings,Favorites
15. Numerous bug fixes – check out Radio Roolette now for example

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Take your iPhone back to the 1970′s in style

Posted on April 29, 2011 by Shaun

When I was a child my Father owned a turntable with a cassette player on the right, radio on the front and two stonking big speakers that seemed to take up half the living room. I want those times back and if the concept from Yanko Design below ever becomes reality I’m in.

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Captain CupCake and the Donut Disaster for iOS

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Shaun

It’s got food, it’s got a hero and it’s free. Why would you not get Captain CupCake and the Donut Disaster for iOS? Released today by Astraware and jolly good fun. Check out the video below for a demo.

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What’s so special about white?

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Shaun

People are queuing up for the white iPhone 4. Not just resellers looking to make a quick buck, but real people who seem to feel that there is something special about a phone that is white.

The white iPhone 4 is a black iPhone 4. A white phone is surely designed for girls because men don’t carry white phones. OK, shoot me down- some men do carry white phones, but some seem to have developed a fascination with the white iPhone 4 because it hasn’t been available for a year. This has created an irrational longing for a product that is already available, but in a different colour.

Even more worrying. Why does a little part of me, just a little part, want a white iPhone 4?

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No notes, just email

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Shaun

I have over 900 notes synchronised between Evernote and Awesome Note on my iPhone and they hold a huge amount of information that is useful to me or just nice to keep. It is a system I have been wanting for a long time, but it still doesn’t fulfill a task that has alluded me for many years which is reminding myself of information that I can use later in the day.

Excuse the spelling mistake in the image…

To do lists, note apps and everything like them just don’t work for me. I forget that the information is there and it just stays there never to be viewed again or acted upon as it was meant to be. There is, however, one place that I go to multiple times a day and that is my email account. Email has been such a part of my life for so long that it is the natural place for me to view information and so I have been copying links and tweets and emailing them to myself for a long time now. The process is clunky and fiddly to say the least, but it does work.

What I needed was a method to automate the sending of notes to myself and the discovery of One Minute Idea Memo just exactly what I wanted. You copy some data (URL, a Tweet or whatever) and open the app and paste it in. Tap ‘send’ and an email will pop up pre-formatted in a logical way. That’s it- the email will then appear in the email account you have already set up. You can also type in a reminder to yourself and it will do the same thing. It is so simple and completely free.

Despite all of the excellent note takers available for smartphones today some of us still need the data to be presented up front and centre and in my case email is central to everything I do. This simple tool has saved me lots of time and made me a lot more organised than I ever expected.

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What does a white iPhone 4 really need?

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Shaun

Today is the day that the white iPhone 4 should finally arrive and I can think of no better accessory for it than the new iMagnum leather case from Piel Frama. Looks fantastic!

Compatible with all versions for iPhone 4.
High quality cowskin leather.
Sync through travel cable.
Rotable and completely removable Ultra Belt Clip (the knob is also removable).
Polypropylene inner structure.
Soft leather lining.
ABS inserted protection.

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How Google’s Freewheeling Ecosytem Threatens the iPhone

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Shaun

Interesting article at Wired suggesting that Android will one day seriously threaten the iPhone. Some of you will agree, others won’t, but only time will tell.

“Andy Rubin needed a hit. It was January 2009, three years since Google had bought the company he cofounded, a little startup called Android.

Rubin had created a slick operating system for mobile phones that allowed customers to surf the web, send email, play music, and install apps. He had hoped that Google’s money and power would help turn Android into a major force in the burgeoning smartphone industry. Instead, Android had been a disappointment. Despite months of press buildup, the first phone to run the system, HTC’s T-Mobile G1, was greeted with tepid reviews and lackluster sales. Rubin had tried to find a bigger wireless carrier that would agree to partner with Android—he and his team, including Android cofounders Rich Miner and Nick Sears, had lobbied Verizon for the better part of a year—but without success. And then there was Android’s biggest competitor, the iPhone. Introduced in 2007, it had become an instant commercial and cultural phenomenon. Unless Rubin could come up with a breakthrough Android phone, and quick, he might have to concede the entire business to Steve Jobs…”

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Today’s news: Apple comes clean, Nokia cleans out…

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Shaun

Nokia has issued a press release detailing its plans for Symbian in the near future and the restructuring of its workforce. “Earlier today, Nokia announced plans to form a strategic collaboration with Accenture that would result in the transfer of Nokia’s Symbian software activites, including about 3,000 employees to Accenture. In addition, Nokia also plans to reduce its global workforce by about 4,000 employees by the end of 2012, with the majority of reductions in Denmark, Finland and the UK. In accordance with country-by-country legal requirements, discussions with employee representatives started today.”

To me this offers the final nail in the coffin for Symbian- without Nokia, it really isn’t even worth considering now. It is a real shame for the 4,000 who will lose their jobs, but I guess we could all see it coming.

Apple has come clean on the iOS location tracking issue by posting a Q&A on the subject- “Sometime in the next few weeks Apple will release a free iOS software update that:

  • reduces the size of the crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower database cached on the iPhone,
  • ceases backing up this cache, and
  • deletes this cache entirely when Location Services is turned off.

In the next major iOS software release the cache will also be encrypted on the iPhone.”

RIM has acquired Tungle which will potentially offer the ability to share calendar data over different platforms on PIM hardware. That would be more than useful on the PlayBook… “This is exciting for you too as we expect the Tungle service to only get better. Our plan today is what it has always been – for Tungle to become integrated with your daily activities and be ubiquitous within the applications you’re already using. When you think scheduling, Tungle should be at your fingertips.”

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How much for a new iPhone 4 in the UK?

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Shaun

You would think that in a mobile market as competitive as the UK, the iPhone 4 would be priced similarly on each network. You would think wrong then.

A colleague at work has been considering upgrading his iPhone 3GS to a 4 on O2 now that his contract has expired, but O2 wanted close to £200 to upgrade on a £35 / month contract. This seemed high to me and so I had a look around at the various pricing options. I am using a 32GB iPhone 4 as the example on a £35 / month (approx.) new 24 month contract and this is what is on offer-

Update: it seems that the Carphone Warehouse price is for the 16GB iPhone 4- 32GB not available.

I admit that I have been on a bit of a love-in with 3 over recent months, but the reception has been near perfect everywhere I travel, the customer service has been exceptional and the pricing (£15/month on PAYG offers me lots of minutes, thousands of texts and truly unlimited data) is unbeatable.

Looking at the table above, it is only 3 who breaks ranks with the monopoly that is smartphone (and in particular iPhone) pricing in the UK. I haven’t included Tesco because the only tariff options available are £25 and £45 / month and this skews the pricing completely although they do offer good value.

If we move away from the pricing alone, it is hard to see value when 4 providers offer 14,400 minutes over two years and 12,000 mebabytes of data over the same period.

3 offers 48,000 minutes (+ 120,000 3 to 3 minutes) and truly unlimited data over the same 24 month period.

I recognise that different parts of the country have different coverage patterns, but I know a few people who found 3 to be poor 2 years ago and who are amazed with the difference today. If you have good 3 coverage where you live and travel and want an iPhone 4 there really is only one choice.

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App of the day: SplitApple

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Shaun

SplitApple is one of many archery games for iOS, but few are as beautifully presented or as fun to play. It is one of those simplistic titles that keeps you coming back for more and there is a promise of many more features in the near future. These new features would be welcome because it is a bit of a one trick pony currently, but the potential is huge.

“SplitApple is a fun archer game, the perfect mix of arcade and simulation. With beautiful and running smooth graphics, the game reproduces the feelings of archery.
Use your skills and accuracy to reach the bull’s eye. Aim right, adjust your shot power and pay attention to the wind and gravity.

Reach the highest score in the tournament and time trial modes. Take risks and aim for apples up in the trees to perform a “SplitApple”. You might lose a shot but you can win a big reward if you get it right!”

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Android now most ‘desired’ mobile OS

Posted on April 26, 2011 by Shaun

New figures from nielsen show that an Android phone is the planned purchase of 31% of respondents with iOS on 30% and 20% not sure. BlackBerry is on 11%, Windows Phone on 6% and webOS on 1%. This compares favourably for Android compared to the last report which had iOS on 33% and Android on 26%.

Add to this the fact that 50% of recent acquirers bought Android with iOS on 25% and RIM on only 15% and it’s not difficult to see where the momentum is going. Some will argue that Apple still makes the most money from mobile, which is true, but it does bring into question the path of slow hardware updates which must be having an impact. The fact is that Android will have the largest market share anyway, but once a year iPhone updates are surely needed at the very least from Apple.

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LEICA i9 for iPhone 4: drool…

Posted on April 26, 2011 by Shaun

The LEICA i9 for the iPhone 4 may only be a concept, it may not be practical to make in bulk, but I don’t care. It is so incredibly cool and could be an early taster of what me may see in the future.

The Leica i9 Concept is a dream project that addresses a desire to combine two great products, while considering both the consumer’s and company’s needs. It’s common practice to combine a smart phone with a digital camera, but how do you combine a great smart phone with a great digital camera when you brands may speak to very different categories?

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