Tuesday Tech Talk #69

Hello folks and welcome to another edition of Tuesday Tech Talk. I apologize for the later posting but the Fab Four is always worth waiting for I believe. So lets dive into the news.

Ladies and Gentlemen...THE BEATLES!!!!

Yes, earlier today The Beatles catalog became available in the iTunes Music Store. The long wait for the Fab Four has finally arrived! Now based on Apple’s homepage yesterday, a lot of people were expecting something big like maybe a cloud based iTunes. But considering the announcement went up yesterday on the Apple.com site and wasn’t a scheduled press event based invite a week or so ahead of time, I wasn’t thinking cloud and had a suspicion it was The Beatles based on them having 4 clocks one of which was London time. My first download was Hey Jude followed by Let it Be and The Long and Winding Road with more tracks and albums to follow I’m sure.

Facebook rethinks Messaging

Yesterday Mark Zuckerberg announced a new messaging system for Facebook that will be rolled out over the next couple of months. It basically adds IM, texting, and email into a single communication model. You will get a @facebook.com style email address as part of it but it is more of an informal communication model with no subject line like in email. Once I get an invite, I will play around with it and write more about it later.

iOS 4.2, where art thou?

There was much speculation last week that iOS 4.2 would arrive on Friday but then news broke of the iPad having WiFi issues with the developer gold master which a updated version was seeded to developers but this will probably push back the release date to hopefully sometime this week. Apple has officially stated 4.2 will be released sometime in November so they really have 2 weeks left to stay within their promise, but I think iPhone and iPad users will be using AirPlay on Thanksgiving Day myself.

New York Times to rank E-Book bestsellers

With more and more people buying their books on Kindle, Nook, iPad, and other electronic devices, the New York Times early next year will rank E-Book fiction and non-fiction bestsellers. This is long overdue considering the Kindle has been around for quite sometime. I myself use the Kindle app on my iPad and looking to get the new Kindle itself early next year for my reading in long sessions.

Next generation iPhone and iPad may support glove use

Hitachi is developing a new touch screen that recognizes insulator based touching (gloves or stylus), this technology could then be based in the iPhone 5 next summer. Not really a big problem down in these parts, but for people in the Midwest or Northeast, this might be welcome news during those harsh winter months.



This Week’s iPhone/iPod touch/iPad apps

Talking Tom Cat (FREE) - This cute basic app is really fun! My friend Dave alerted me to this app. Basically you can speak things to it and it will repeat what you say in a cute high pitched voice. You can also pet it, “stomp” on its paw or just slap it around a bit...yeah it’s weird and would offend PETA, but it is free.

Facebook (FREE) - I may have discussed the Facebook app before but it has been updated since. One of the new features is Places, similar to FourSquare you can check into places but Facebook has used its popularity to partner with business to have special offers at places. For example, my wife and I were in Nashville this past weekend and when we checked into Chipotle, there was a Post-it icon next to Chipotle in the list of locations. Upon clicking on Chipotle, it described the offer which was when you buy a burrito, burrito bowl, salad, or taco, you get a second entree free. Being that it was my wife and myself, it was perfect as we saved about $6 on the second entree. It was a weekend offer only but it looks like Chipotle will be offering it again this weekend. This is how location checkin will take off in the mainstream. FourSquare is nice but it is just a competition to become mayor of places.

Nightstand Central for iPad (FREE) - This is a handy app for anyone staying at a hotel or with family. Just load up the app before heading to bed and set your alarm if you want. It has several alarm options, my favorite is Church Bells. It will also display the current city or town you are in and the temperature outside. Another nice feature is sliding your finger up and down the display will brighten or dim the screen so it isn’t glaring as you try and sleep. There is also an iPhone version as well. But the iPad version gives you more of a standard alarm clock feel.

Windowshop by Amazon (FREE) - This is how browsing the Amazon Store should look like on an iPad! It is like browsing the Amazon Store on a desktop or laptop computer but fully customized to the iPad. Trust me, wants you try it, there is no other way to browse Amazon. I actually use it anytime I want to look at Amazon.

Well, that is going to do it for this edition of Tuesday Tech Talk, see you all next week for #70! Wow, I had no idea when I first started to write Triple T over a year ago, it would reach 70 posts. Just proves how much I love to blog and how much I love technology.