Hello folks and welcome to another edition of AppleTalk Thursday. Let’s see what is happening in the world of Apple this week!
iOS 4.3.1 Update
Last Friday Apple released the update to the iOS 4.3. Among the fixes is indeed the battery issue on the iPhone. Since updating the 666MB update for my iPhone (yes, I know it is a creepy number), I have noticed a great improvement in the battery life on my iPhone 4.
WordPress optimization for iPad
Automattic Inc., the company behind WordPress has partnered with Onswipe to make blog viewing on the iPad a more pleasurable experience. With the help of Onswipe’s plug-in, viewing a WordPress blog looks very similar to FlipBook. In-fact this blog is now viewed this way on the iPad after I downloaded the plug-in and installed it. Let me know what you think!
Skype Mac Design Contest
Skype has announced a contest for a design for its upcoming Mac release client. I really like this because Skype really designs an ugly interface for the Mac side. The grand prize is an 11” MacBook Air, iPad 2, and a one year subscription to Skype’s Unlimited World Extra calling service. There are also runner up prizes such as an iPad 2 and AppleTV and CSS3 for Web Designers.
Apple working on a TV?
Here is an interesting tidbit about Apple possibly looking at making their own TV. Given last week’s news that they may license AirPlay to TV makers, I am not really putting too much stock into this story, but who would have thought Apple would make a phone one day.
Digital Locker Roundup: MobileMe, Amazon Cloud Player
Another bit of speculation about the upcoming MobileMe revamp and possible digital locker service costing $20 a year. If you saw the news this week of Amazon’s new Cloud-based storage, this would be the new MobileMe service right in the ballpark. Course maybe Apple is working out deals with record labels first before launching the service and not releasing the service before a deal is in place.
5-1 Connection Kit for iPad
Check out this little dongle device! Tired of unplugging one device and plugging in another? This may solve that issue and the $45 price is not too bad considering it is like a Swiss Army knife for the iPad.
Course if you just need an HDMI and USB dongle, your in luck too although the price is a bit steeper at around $73 US, oh did I mention it is only available in Japan?
WWDC What to Expect...and What not to Expect
Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference sold out within hours after tickets went on sale earlier this week. If you were one of the lucky ones to buy a ticket...you may not see the iPhone 5, but it sounds like you will see some really cool stuff in both OS X 10.7 Lion and the iOS 5 with deep voice command integration. When I first heard that, I pictured my iPhone talking like the late Barry White, but there is more to it than that and a Fall release of an iPhone 5 would make sense if it were to be an LTE capable device.
Personal Hotspot put to the Test
Finally today, Steven Sande of The Unofficial Apple Weblog decided while attending a trip with his wife who was attending a conference at a hotel, decided to utilize the new Personal Hotspot feature in his iPhone instead of paying for the hotel fee of $11 a day for WiFi. You can read his review of it here.
iOS App Reviews
Pocket Casts ($1.99) - I had grown frustrated with a bug in the iPhone that was displaying incorrect artwork for podcasts. They would display music genius like artwork for example. Even after the 4.3.1 update the issue remained. Than after posting about the issue in the GSPN Community page under Help, I Got a Mac, I came across Podcast Answer Man #200 where Cliff Ravencraft discussed how much he loves this app called Pocket Casts. So I took a chance and spent the $2 and you know what? He is right! First, you can have it scan your iPod app on the iPhone for all your subscribed podcasts and adds the feeds to the app and will show the latest 2 episodes per show in the download window, if you need more episodes, just select on the Show All Available Episodes to list and download each one.
Another cool feature is it will send push notifications and list a badge number for new episodes available for download...something the iPhone or iPad can’t do. You can even stream the episodes without downloading and save space on your iOS device. After using it for a day, I went ahead and downloaded all the episodes I have in iTunes and than un-synced podcasts to my iPhone to save space and I now use Pocket Casts to listen to my podcasts. Note although you can use it on the iPad, it is not a universal app meaning you will have to expand it 2x to get full screen on the iPad but hopefully they will update that part in a future release. Oh, and it will work over not just WiFi, but 3G and EDGE too.
Here is a video of how it all works.
<iframe src=“http://player.vimeo.com/video/20643630?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0” width=“400” height=“225” frameborder=“0”></iframe><p><a href=“http://vimeo.com/20643630”>Pocket Casts App Demo.</a> from <a href=“http://vimeo.com/nathanswan”>Nathan Swan</a> on <a href=“http://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>
Vimeo (FREE) - I have come to really love Vimeo, unlike YouTube, Vimeo is HTML5 which means videos will play on iOS devices. Well, now they have an iPhone app which allows you to both view and record videos and edit your recorded videos. Pretty cool stuff, maybe not as feature rich as iMove for iPhone but considering it is free, that is nothing to sneeze at. My only issue is it did crash on me a few times but that is expected on a product first release. Sure an update will patch that issue.
QR Reader (FREE) - One thing that was promoted a lot at PodCamp Nashville was QR Codes. This feature was born on the Android, but it has grown to other devices and I have found a lot of reader apps for the iPhone, but this is a nice basic free one that can scan QR Codes and display their meaning within the app. Now I want to design one for my website to place on a business card.
Well, that is going to do it for this week’s AppleTalk Thursday. See you next week for more exciting Apple news.
Showing posts with label Skype. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Skype. Show all posts
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Tuesday Tech Talk #83
Hey all and welcome to another edition of Tuesday Tech Talk. Let’s see what is going on this week.
Microsoft delaying tablet OS until 2012?
For some reason this does not surprise me. People are not looking for a desktop OS solution on their tablet devices, if that were the case Apple would run Snow Leopard on the iPad. I think people are starting to have Windows Fatigue and when you spend time at a workplace on a workstation that runs Windows, you just want to pull out a device and escape from that. Besides, who wants a BSOD on their tablet?
Samsung Chief Disses own Tablet after iPad 2 Announcement
Say what you will about Lee Don-Joo VP of Mobile for Samsung, but he clearly expects better from their 10.1” Galaxy tablet and he isn’t afraid to hold back his words about the matter. I like his style, will hurt its sales but I like it!
Skype to show Ads
Skype will now display ads on its home tab. Was only a matter of time and it will be interesting to see if the added revenues will allow it to make some services that they now charge for, free at some point. They should start to roll out the ads this week.
Local Assistant Principal named Apple Distinguished Educator
Finally today I want to give a shout to Niki Peel who is the Assistant Principal at Tupelo High School for being named by Apple has an Apple Distinguished Educator for using technology in educating students. Congrats Niki, you definitely deserve this high honor!
Well, that is going to do it for this edition of Tuesday Tech Talk. Come back by Thursday where we will have more Apple news in AppleTalk Thursday. Have some iPhone and iPad news that has come out since last week.
Microsoft delaying tablet OS until 2012?
For some reason this does not surprise me. People are not looking for a desktop OS solution on their tablet devices, if that were the case Apple would run Snow Leopard on the iPad. I think people are starting to have Windows Fatigue and when you spend time at a workplace on a workstation that runs Windows, you just want to pull out a device and escape from that. Besides, who wants a BSOD on their tablet?
Samsung Chief Disses own Tablet after iPad 2 Announcement
Say what you will about Lee Don-Joo VP of Mobile for Samsung, but he clearly expects better from their 10.1” Galaxy tablet and he isn’t afraid to hold back his words about the matter. I like his style, will hurt its sales but I like it!
Skype to show Ads
Skype will now display ads on its home tab. Was only a matter of time and it will be interesting to see if the added revenues will allow it to make some services that they now charge for, free at some point. They should start to roll out the ads this week.
Local Assistant Principal named Apple Distinguished Educator
Finally today I want to give a shout to Niki Peel who is the Assistant Principal at Tupelo High School for being named by Apple has an Apple Distinguished Educator for using technology in educating students. Congrats Niki, you definitely deserve this high honor!
Well, that is going to do it for this edition of Tuesday Tech Talk. Come back by Thursday where we will have more Apple news in AppleTalk Thursday. Have some iPhone and iPad news that has come out since last week.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
AppleTalk Thursday #7
Hello everybody and welcome to another edition of AppleTalk Thursday. Quite a bit of Apple news this week so as always let’s dive right in.
Verizon announces price plans for iPhone
Verizon yesterday announced its pricing plans for the iPhone 4. Which are the same as their other smartphone plans. Existing Verizon customers can order their iPhone TODAY! All you AT&T (and other carrier) switchers, will have to wait until next Thursday.
Skype 5 out for Mac
Great news Skype has released Skype 5 out of beta for the Mac. There is one catch to it though, group video chat is now a premium feature. You can go with a monthly fee of $9 or a day pass of $5 for the service. I couldn’t imagine doing the $9 a month as it is a feature I hardly use, however the pay as you go $5 plan is appealing. If I do video chat it is usually 1 on 1 and not a group video chat. I guess we can call this the “Leo Laporte Fee” as he relies on Skype video group chat for his TWiT podcasts with contributors that are not in the TWiT Cottage.
Apple wants eBook makers to offer in-app book purchasing
Ok so this one is looking nasty. Apple rejected Sony’s eReader app on the basis that it lacked an in-app purchase of book content. Now keep in mind Apple approved the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes & Noble Nook apps, both of which when shopping for content, open the mobile Safari browser to access the Kindle and Nook eStore...just like the Sony eReader app does. So this is baffling but Apple has offered an explanation in that it is simply enforcing a pre-existing rule in the app store and that developers must offer both in-app purchase content along with web-based store access. So does this mean that Apple will be pulling the Kindle and Nook apps soon? I sure hope not as I rely on the Kindle app for my book reading and if they did pull it I would buy a Kindle before using Apple’s own iBookstore and iBooks reader app. I hope Apple rethinks this policy quick.
Apple introduces Paid Subscriptions to iTunes App Store
With The Daily coming out yesterday, Apple announced it now supports subscription plans in the iTunes store for publishers content. I think The Daily will be the first of many publishers under this new plan. Which leads me to the last article of the day....my initial review of The Daily!
The Daily: Initial Review
So yesterday Rupert Murdoch the CEO of NewsCorp announced The Daily for the iPad. It was also released about an hour after the announcement. I downloaded it right around that time and I have to admit it is pretty cool! The photos of the stories are great quality and video is sharp. Also it has the ability to read out articles to you so you can be doing something else while still getting caught up on the events of the day. It will also update throughout the day so in essence it is a live paper. During the first 2 weeks it is free courtesy of Verizon, after which it will cost 99 cents per week or $39 a year. That is a great deal for a daily publication. The closest thing I can compare it to is the Wall Street Journal app also owned by NewsCorp, but even better. For now The Daily is strictly an iPad publication but the door is open to other platforms making tablets such as Android once that market has established itself.
Well, that is going to do it for this edition of AppleTalk Thursday. See you all next week for another edition.
Verizon announces price plans for iPhone
Verizon yesterday announced its pricing plans for the iPhone 4. Which are the same as their other smartphone plans. Existing Verizon customers can order their iPhone TODAY! All you AT&T (and other carrier) switchers, will have to wait until next Thursday.
Skype 5 out for Mac
Great news Skype has released Skype 5 out of beta for the Mac. There is one catch to it though, group video chat is now a premium feature. You can go with a monthly fee of $9 or a day pass of $5 for the service. I couldn’t imagine doing the $9 a month as it is a feature I hardly use, however the pay as you go $5 plan is appealing. If I do video chat it is usually 1 on 1 and not a group video chat. I guess we can call this the “Leo Laporte Fee” as he relies on Skype video group chat for his TWiT podcasts with contributors that are not in the TWiT Cottage.
Apple wants eBook makers to offer in-app book purchasing
Ok so this one is looking nasty. Apple rejected Sony’s eReader app on the basis that it lacked an in-app purchase of book content. Now keep in mind Apple approved the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes & Noble Nook apps, both of which when shopping for content, open the mobile Safari browser to access the Kindle and Nook eStore...just like the Sony eReader app does. So this is baffling but Apple has offered an explanation in that it is simply enforcing a pre-existing rule in the app store and that developers must offer both in-app purchase content along with web-based store access. So does this mean that Apple will be pulling the Kindle and Nook apps soon? I sure hope not as I rely on the Kindle app for my book reading and if they did pull it I would buy a Kindle before using Apple’s own iBookstore and iBooks reader app. I hope Apple rethinks this policy quick.
Apple introduces Paid Subscriptions to iTunes App Store
With The Daily coming out yesterday, Apple announced it now supports subscription plans in the iTunes store for publishers content. I think The Daily will be the first of many publishers under this new plan. Which leads me to the last article of the day....my initial review of The Daily!
The Daily: Initial Review
So yesterday Rupert Murdoch the CEO of NewsCorp announced The Daily for the iPad. It was also released about an hour after the announcement. I downloaded it right around that time and I have to admit it is pretty cool! The photos of the stories are great quality and video is sharp. Also it has the ability to read out articles to you so you can be doing something else while still getting caught up on the events of the day. It will also update throughout the day so in essence it is a live paper. During the first 2 weeks it is free courtesy of Verizon, after which it will cost 99 cents per week or $39 a year. That is a great deal for a daily publication. The closest thing I can compare it to is the Wall Street Journal app also owned by NewsCorp, but even better. For now The Daily is strictly an iPad publication but the door is open to other platforms making tablets such as Android once that market has established itself.
Well, that is going to do it for this edition of AppleTalk Thursday. See you all next week for another edition.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Googling Friday #16
Hello everybody and welcome to the first Googling Friday on 2011. It has been a couple of weeks so let’s see what is happening in the world of Google.
Google looking to launch digital newsstand
The Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece on how Google is looking to launch a digital newsstand for Android devices similar to Apple and Amazon but offering to take less of a percentage of sales than the other 2. If Google really wants to do this right they could utilize their new Bookstore app as the distribution point offering it to iOS devices as well and not just Android. It wouldn’t benefit Google to be a closed platform service when they are known for their openness, an advantage they have over Apple.
Google makes free calling to US and Canada via Gmail for all of 2011
Google announced that calls made to the US and Canada via Gmail will continue to be free in 2011...YAY!! I was hoping this would be the case and it gives them an advantage over rival Skype in this area. The best way to take advantage of this is to sign up for a Google Voice account as it gives you a dedicated phone number. Oh if your not using Google Voice by now, then you really should cause you won’t need a long distance plan on your landline if you are still even doing such a thing.
Google looking at mobile payment system
Imagine going to the grocery store and buying groceries and simply waving your mobile phone at the register to pay for everything. Well, that is what Google is looking to do. I admit this idea has both a great potential and a security issue concern. But I will be interested to see how it plays out and deployed.
Google Translate Review
For this week’s review, I wanted to tell you about Google Translate. Pure and simple, you type in words in the language you speak and it will translate how to say it in another. They even support Latin which as a Catholic I am very happy about.
Pretty cool huh? It’s an easy interface and as you can tell from the picture, it even has a listen button so you even know how to pronounce it. Google Translate supports over 50 languages (sorry but Aramaic is not one of them). It is a free web-based service so go give it a try and it also works in reverse, you can copy and paste in a foreign language and it will translate it for you. Pretty cool!
Well, that is going to do it for this edition of Googling Friday. See you all next week!
Google looking to launch digital newsstand
The Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece on how Google is looking to launch a digital newsstand for Android devices similar to Apple and Amazon but offering to take less of a percentage of sales than the other 2. If Google really wants to do this right they could utilize their new Bookstore app as the distribution point offering it to iOS devices as well and not just Android. It wouldn’t benefit Google to be a closed platform service when they are known for their openness, an advantage they have over Apple.
Google makes free calling to US and Canada via Gmail for all of 2011
Google announced that calls made to the US and Canada via Gmail will continue to be free in 2011...YAY!! I was hoping this would be the case and it gives them an advantage over rival Skype in this area. The best way to take advantage of this is to sign up for a Google Voice account as it gives you a dedicated phone number. Oh if your not using Google Voice by now, then you really should cause you won’t need a long distance plan on your landline if you are still even doing such a thing.
Google looking at mobile payment system
Imagine going to the grocery store and buying groceries and simply waving your mobile phone at the register to pay for everything. Well, that is what Google is looking to do. I admit this idea has both a great potential and a security issue concern. But I will be interested to see how it plays out and deployed.
Google Translate Review
For this week’s review, I wanted to tell you about Google Translate. Pure and simple, you type in words in the language you speak and it will translate how to say it in another. They even support Latin which as a Catholic I am very happy about.
Pretty cool huh? It’s an easy interface and as you can tell from the picture, it even has a listen button so you even know how to pronounce it. Google Translate supports over 50 languages (sorry but Aramaic is not one of them). It is a free web-based service so go give it a try and it also works in reverse, you can copy and paste in a foreign language and it will translate it for you. Pretty cool!
Well, that is going to do it for this edition of Googling Friday. See you all next week!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
AppleTalk Thursday #3
Hello all and welcome to the first AppleTalk Thursday of 2011! Got a lot to get into over the last 2 weeks so let’s dive into it!
McAfee warns Apple users of viruses in 2009...2010...2011
Yeah, we have heard this before, a company who makes money by selling antivirus software warns of how the Mac will be targeted for viruses, yet the threat never materializes as compared to a company in the Pacific Northwest that makes an inferior OS. I have never bought an antivirus program for my Mac and don’t intend to start now. Go scare someone else McAfee!
iPhone maintains lead over Android and BlackBerry in the US
Despite what Apple haters and Andorra fanboys say, the iPhone is still king in America over the Android and BlackBerry smart phones. Yeah all that talk about the iPhone 4 antenna issue was overrated too. A recent story said it was the biggest tech disaster of 2010, I disagree...that belongs to GoogleTV IMHO.
Mac and iOS alternatives to Delicious
Concerned about Yahoo’s long term prospects? Yeah, you are not alone. MacWorld recently wrote a great article about alternatives to Yahoo’s Delicious service. I really don’t use Delicious, but I know many of you might so it might be worth checking out.
Skype brings video chat to iOS devices on WiFi AND 3G
To quote VP Biden, this is a pretty big @#$% deal! Skype has a lot of users and now if you are out and about with your iPhone, you can now Skype video chat with friends on other iOS devices or desktop clients of Skype and you can do it on 3G as well. Which begs the question, when will FaceTime support 3G? Yahoo also supports video over 3G and WiFi as well with its Messenger app. But Skype is a bigger deal as it is based on audio and video communication. If you have an iPod touch and in a WiFi zone you can also join the party, The iPad can view video but until it has a camera (which is rumored in the iPad 2), then you can only watch one way on it.
Verizon iPhone by Valentine’s Day
Yes, another rumor regarding the iPhone for Verizon, but again it is coming from a reliable source. The timeline makes sense too and this will only help Apple maintain the iPhone lead over the Android and BB throughout 2011 in the US.
Well, that is going to do it for this edition of AppleTalk Thursday. The rumored Mac App Store may arrive in time for next week so I will have a review about it. See you next week!
McAfee warns Apple users of viruses in 2009...2010...2011
Yeah, we have heard this before, a company who makes money by selling antivirus software warns of how the Mac will be targeted for viruses, yet the threat never materializes as compared to a company in the Pacific Northwest that makes an inferior OS. I have never bought an antivirus program for my Mac and don’t intend to start now. Go scare someone else McAfee!
iPhone maintains lead over Android and BlackBerry in the US
Despite what Apple haters and Andorra fanboys say, the iPhone is still king in America over the Android and BlackBerry smart phones. Yeah all that talk about the iPhone 4 antenna issue was overrated too. A recent story said it was the biggest tech disaster of 2010, I disagree...that belongs to GoogleTV IMHO.
Mac and iOS alternatives to Delicious
Concerned about Yahoo’s long term prospects? Yeah, you are not alone. MacWorld recently wrote a great article about alternatives to Yahoo’s Delicious service. I really don’t use Delicious, but I know many of you might so it might be worth checking out.
Skype brings video chat to iOS devices on WiFi AND 3G
To quote VP Biden, this is a pretty big @#$% deal! Skype has a lot of users and now if you are out and about with your iPhone, you can now Skype video chat with friends on other iOS devices or desktop clients of Skype and you can do it on 3G as well. Which begs the question, when will FaceTime support 3G? Yahoo also supports video over 3G and WiFi as well with its Messenger app. But Skype is a bigger deal as it is based on audio and video communication. If you have an iPod touch and in a WiFi zone you can also join the party, The iPad can view video but until it has a camera (which is rumored in the iPad 2), then you can only watch one way on it.
Verizon iPhone by Valentine’s Day
Yes, another rumor regarding the iPhone for Verizon, but again it is coming from a reliable source. The timeline makes sense too and this will only help Apple maintain the iPhone lead over the Android and BB throughout 2011 in the US.
Well, that is going to do it for this edition of AppleTalk Thursday. The rumored Mac App Store may arrive in time for next week so I will have a review about it. See you next week!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Tuesday Tech Talk #48
Hello folks and welcome to another edition of Tuesday Tech Talk. The World Wide Developers Conference is a week away so Triple T #49 should have quite a bit of coverage from the WWDC keynote. But as for this edition of #48 lets get right down to it!
New Facebook Privacy Settings
Facebook has taken a lot of heat lately for it’s privacy settings or lack there of. But the biggest social networking site (500 million users) announced last week a new set of easier to use settings for controlling your privacy and content. Speaking for myself I tend to lock down my status updates to just my friends. But the new settings they announced are a huge step in the right direction.
Comcast to offer extreme 105Mbps internet
So if you can’t wait for Google to launch their fiber optic network in your neck of the woods, then you might want to check and see if Comcast is offering their 105Mbps Extreme speed internet where you live. Oh, did I mention the install price is $249 and the price for this speed is $200 a month? I love having fast internet, I’m not spending $200 a month on it though!
New slimmer Kindle on the way?
According to Bloomberg News Amazon maybe rolling out a thinner but still black and white screen Kindle in August. With the Kindle already 0.36” thin, one has to wonder just how much thinner can a Kindle get?
LG 84” 3DTV
So if you have the space and money available, LG has a 3DTV for you! All 84 inches of it. Course you will need a TV provider with 3D programming or a 3D DVD player to take full advantage of it and some glasses I suppose otherwise you just have a blurry picture.
Concrete incased USB drive
So you need a 128GB hard drive? How about one in concrete? Well its not out yet, only a concept at this point.
This Week’s iPhone/iPod touch/iPad apps
Skype (Free) - Skype has updated their iPhone app to be able to make Skype to Skype calls over 3G. So I guess this begs the question, how soon until we see the Google Voice app for the iPhone?
Barnes & Noble eReader for iPad (Free) - B&N has released their eReader app for the iPad. So now your options for book buying on the iPad now includes iBooks, Kindle Store, and now Barnes & Noble’s ebook’s store.
Well that is going to do it for this edition of Triple T. See you all next week with some big news items from the WWDC.
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