• app store,  apple,  chrome,  google,  ios,  ipad,  iphone,  ipod touch

    Google Updates Chrome Browser for iOS

    April 10, 2013 /

    Today, Google released a new version of their Chrome browser for iOS devices.

    When running on a compatible iPhone or iPod touch, you are now able to run Chrome in full screen mode by scrolling the entire screen up, pushing the URL toolbar off the top of the screen allowing you to interact with the web page.  To get the URL bar back, simply scroll down again.

    But I think that the more interesting update is Google adding the ability to print using their own Google Cloud Print service, or by sending your print job over the air to your wireless printer using AirPrint.

    Anti-paper, are ya?  No problem.  Google still has you covered because you can now also save any web page as a PDF document in your Google Drive.  That’s pretty nifty

    You can download the latest update from the App Store icon on your iDevice, or you can install Google Chrome from the App Store for the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch (link).

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  • apple,  cydia,  ios,  ipad,  iphone,  ipod touch,  jailbreak

    Another iOS MultiTask Redesign Concept

    March 29, 2013 /

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRt5qagkGBU]

    Not that long ago I was talking about Auxo, a jailbreak tweak for iOS devices that replaces, some say enhances, Apple’s implementation of multitasking on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

    A new concept video has been posted that builds on what Apple has done and blends it with the card based multitasking analogy that was developed by Palm for webOS.  We all know that I have a soft spot for Palm and webOS, so I encourage you to check out this concept video.  Let’s hope that Apple takes it, and what the Auxo folks have done, and builds in some to those ideas into iOS 7.

    Here’s a look at what multitasking cards looked like on Palm’s Pre running webOS.

    [Via iDownloadBlog.com…]

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  • apple,  ios,  mac os x

    Does the new iOS Podcast App Foretell the Design Changes Coming to iOS

    March 28, 2013 /

    A few days ago, Apple released an updated version of their Podcasts app for iOS.  That app not only got me listening to podcasts again, but may foretell of the coming changes to iOS 7 and beyond.

    If you will recall, back in October of 2012, iOS chief Scott Forstall was pushed out of Apple’s inner circle, and the company.  You get to pick the reason; whether it was his personality, his management style, his vision for iOS, or his refusal to publicly apologize for the problems with Apple’s Maps app – a disliked replacement for Google Maps.  Whatever the reason, CEO Tim Cook ejected Forstall and put long time Apple hardware designer Jonathan Ive in charge of both hardware and software designs.  Known for his sleek and simple designs, we where left wondering how that might impact iOS.

    With the new Podcasts app, I think we’ve gotten our answer.  The new Podcasts app is still familiar, but looks much better.  Gone are the design elements mean to mimic real life items.  So the goofy reel-to-reel screen, that I kinda liked, are gone.  The new interface is flat, clean, and colorful, but not in the big splash of color kind of way that Microsoft has taken up with Windows 8 and Windows 8 Phone Metro look and feel.  I like the new feel.

    So what does this mean for iOS and future versions of Mac OS X?  I think we’re going to see a lot of small changes to Apple’s user interface, or UI, design language.  The tan leather and stitching we see in the Calendar app probably won’t be there much longer.  The charcoal grey linen backdrop that appears in the iOS Notification Center and the Mac OS X login screen may or may not go away too.  And personally, I hope the annoying Music/iPod app interface on the iPad goes away too. I really find that wood trim effect so annoying that I very rarely ever use the Music app on my iPad.

    What I don’t expect to happen is a complete redesign of iOS and Mac OS X this year.  This will be an iterative change spanning over many months.  I feel that while UI changes are important to keep the look and feel of iOS and Mac OS X on par, I think it is more important for Apple to be looking at ways to add new features that users will find helpful and a delight to use, and to continue the hard work of further integrating iOS, Mac OS X, and iCloud.  (Making iCloud easier for application developers to work with is also high on my list, but probably won’t be addressed this year.)

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  • apple,  gmail,  google,  ios,  ipad,  ipad mini,  iphone,  ipod touch

    Gmail App for iOS Updated

    March 28, 2013 /

    Yesterday, Google released and update for their popular Gmail app for iOS.

    The updated email client now allows you to swipe left and right while reading messages to move to the next or previous message.  Additionally, once you select one message in your mailbox, a new “edit” menu appears at the top of the screen giving you quick access to archive, delete, or more options.

    If you are a Gmail user with an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, you will want to install this new version of the app.  The ability to apply Gmail tags to messages from my iPhone is the one features that I wish Apple’s stock mail app had.

    But there is one other reason that you will want to consider installing the Gmail app for iOS if you use Gmail heavily, Google is gradually dropping support for “push” email notifications.  In the future, the only way to get push Gmail notifications of new messages is to switch to the Gmail app for iOS or switch to an Android smartphone.

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  • apple,  apple tv,  ios,  ipad,  iphone,  ipod touch

    Apple Releases iOS 6.1.3 Update

    March 20, 2013 /

    Earlier today, Apple released iOS 6.1.3, a security and maintenance update of iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

    iOS 6.1.3 fixes the lock screen bug that was introduced in an earlier version of iOS 6.  The update also includes minor fixes and updates for the Japanese version of Maps.

    You might recall that iOS 6.1.3 started out life as iOS 6.1.1 back on February 6th.  A number of serious bugs where discovered in iOS 6.1, 6.1.1, and 6.1.2, forcing the originally planned iOS 6.1.1 to become 6.1.3.

    iOS 6.1.3 is available now for current model iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch models.  To upgrade your device OTA, go to: Settings > General > Software Update.

    Apple has also released Apple TV 5.2.1 update for second and third generation Apple TVs.

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  • apple,  mac,  mac mini,  mac os x,  mac pro,  macbook pro

    Apple Releases Mac OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.3 Update

    March 16, 2013 /

    Earlier this week, Apple released Mac OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.3.  This maintenance upgrade is recommended for all Apple customers running Mountain Lion on their Macintosh.

    You can upgrade your Mac by clicking on the Mac App Store icon in the Dock and then clicking the Updates icon on the top right of the App Store toolbar.  If you are running the upgrade on a MacBook, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air, it is strongly recommended that you plug in your power adapter before starting the upgrade.

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  • apple,  laptop,  macbook pro,  seagate,  upgrade

    Seagate’s Hybrid Disk Drives Are An Excellent Upgrade

    March 16, 2013 /

    Recently I started looking around at ways to upgrade my mid-2009 MacBook Pro 17-inch to extend it’s life another 12-18 months before I have to “upgrade” to a smaller 15-inch model.  Last year I upgraded my MacBook to 8GB of RAM and this year it was time to do something about the pokey 5400-RPM stock disk drive.

    I started looking a purely solid state flash memory disk drive option and they turned out to be too expensive for anything over 400GB.  750GB and larger traditional disk drives are cheaper, but was a speed bump from 5400 to 7200-RPM really going to help get rid of the annoying spinning beach balls that we all hate to see on our Macs?
    I ended up settling on the Seagate Momentus XT 750GB 2.5-inch disk drive.  This drive met my requirements for installation into my MacBook Pro.  They are:
    • 2.5-inch form factor would fit into the stock drive bay
    • At less than $150 the price was right
    • 250GB of additional storage space
    • 1,800-RPM improvement in platter rotation speed
    • 8GB of flash storage on the drive’s controller board
    It’s that last point that gives a hybrid drive like the Momentus XT it’s edge.  The disk drive is presented to the Mac, or a Windows PC, just like a standard SATA disk drive.  But internally to the disk drive, the controller board is monitoring which data you access most frequently, and moves that data off the traditional disk platter and into the 8GB flash storage.  As your computing habits change, the Momentus drive continually reevaluates what data should be moved to the flash space to boost performance.
    Editor’s Note: Seagate has recently upgraded their line of hybrid notebook hard drives.  You can learn more about them on the Seagate website.
    Upgrading your MacBook or Windows PC will vary by manufacturer and model, but the physical upgrade to my MacBook Pro took about 20 minutes.  Apple publishes memory and hard disk upgrade guides on their support website.
    To “clone” or copy the contents of my stock Apple hard drive to my new Seagate Momentus XT drive, I used Carbon Copy Cloner, which sells for $39.95.  The round trip copy job took about 3 hours.  (Two hours to an external disk drive, and one hour from the external to the new drive.)
    Overall, I’ve noticed an significant boost in performance on my MacBook Pro.  I immediately noticed that spinning beach balls show up far less than they used to.  There has also be a significant improvement in application launch times.  Launching iTunes, iPhoto, or any of the Microsoft Office 2011 apps was a painful go-get-another-can-of-Diet-Coke-while-the-app-launches experience.  Not so after installing the Momentus XT.
    If you are looking to extend the life of your MacBook or MacBook Pro that uses a traditional spinning disk drive I strongly recommend that you consider upgrading to a hybrid disk drive. (Doubling your RAM is also recommended if your hardware will accept it.)
    The bottom line for me is that Seagate has long been a trusted brand for me, and the Momentus XT 750GB drive is no exception.  For the cost of the drive there has been a significant boost in performance that will allow me to put off having to purchase a new MacBook Pro for at least another year.
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  • apple,  iphone

    Has the iPhone Become “Boring?”

    March 13, 2013 /

    With Apple’s hardware design relatively unchanged since 2010, do people see the iPhone as “boring?”

    In a piece on iMore.com, Rene Ritchie, seems to think that Apple is facing a challenge of keeping the iPhone fresh – and by extension – interested in the fruit themed smartphone.

    “Thanks to Apple’s tick-tock product cycle, where a new design is introduced one year, and that design is iteratively updated with new internals the next year, both of those problems — consumer presumption and competitive counter-programming — become amplified. 

    When the impression is that Apple will “only” release an S-class phone in any given year, consumers might be more interested in seeing what else is out there. They might be interested in seeing something different.”

    I happen to like the iPhone 4/4S/5 form factor to that of the iPhone 3G/3GS.  (The original iPhone is sort of a compromise design that I could live with, but I’m not excited about.)  I’ve also said that if you read technology blogs like Smartphone Fanatics, we’re not the target market for Apple.  Or Samsung for that matter.

    I have a lot of respect for Rene’s work and I recommend that you read his ‘The “iPhone 5S” Problem’ article on iMore.

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  • apple,  iphone,  rumors

    Rumor: New iPhone Models Coming In August

    March 2, 2013 /
    It seems that rumors and hushed whispers are always going on these days about future Apple products and I’ve become more skeptical of them as time goes on.
    That said, I do catch myself getting a little excited about news of the next iPhone, rumored to be the ‘iPhone 5S’.
    The latest rumor de jure is that the iPhone 5S will be going on sale in August, 2013.  That is not as late in the year as October, when my iPhone 4S went on sale, and later than June when older models went on sale.  It’s also later than some of the rumors that put the launch date in late May or early June.
    As with most of these rumors, they come from somewhere deep in Apple’s supply chain and come to us via websites that we can’t read without running it through Google’s translators, so take all of this with a grain of salt.
    In addition to the iPhone 5S, the rumor also goes on to say that the often rumored in expensive iPhone designed for ’emerging markets’ will also begin shipping with a body made out of polycarbonate – the same material Apple’s retired white MacBooks were made out of.
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