Posts Tagged ‘apps’

I first walked up to this booth thinking it was a scam. Another legal applications shop? But it’s true – You can access their store and download applications without jailbreaking your iPhone.

The program is called Your App Shop. It works in a simple way – you are basically accessing webpages that become bookmarks on your iPhone. They started because magic apps they were creating were being rejected by Apple (they are all magicians, by the way). Therefore, Maria made this web portal to give you access to these programs.

Jeffrey Powers talks with Maria about the store. We also talk about verticals – they do have another store called Sex App Shop – It is NSFW, by the way, but it does show you can get alternative programs on it without breaking Apple EULA. We also talked about the Applications and security on the site.

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Wait. I have to check my Facebook. No Messages? OK. Here I go.

iPhone Week 2

I sat down with a friend last night who also got one of the new 3GS Models. We went back and forth on what we liked and didn’t. He had a lot of paid apps, while I haven’t purchased a single one. I am taking my time and make sure that I am not paying 99 cents for something I am going to delete tomorrow.

I did play with a great little app from Master Card. It was quick and easy to use and worked phenomenally on the phone. But I think that it all is shadowed from the other functionality of the phone. Facebook and Twitter – As well as email – seems to be consuming the time.

Don’t get me wrong. I still believe a phone is made for calling someone. It is nice that I can do other things, too.

One thing that I miss though is the emulator I had on my 8125. I could put the phone on my computer screen and use the keyboard and mouse to do more work. I would love to see the same for the new phone. That, and the ability to keep the screen on longer than a minute while plugged in.

However, check out the video I created on Wed. I think it’s a pretty good quality:

Summer of Podcasts Contest

It’s now week 3 and the contest is still going. Yay! I’ve been talking to a couple more people and I think we have a few more prizes by the end of the month. The Podcast Carnivale is set for August 9th. We are looking for Podcasters to get online and talk. at 3 PM CST, we have the TechPodcasts Roundtable and at 6 PM CST we give away a lot of prizes. Gonna be a pretty cool day.

Workin on the site again

I was playing with some new software in hopes to add to the site. Also have been working on the next iteration in the “azine” line. When all falls into place, I should be able to move ahead to make everything a lot easier to do.

Podcast Rig

The Podcast Rig had some problems on Sunday. I couldn’t record “Week in tech History”, so I pointed to an episode from last year. Made me think if I am going in the right direction with this segment – after all, it’s been going for over a year now. It’s time to evolve.

Video is Tough

The studio is about 95% done. Lighting becomes critical in the creating of the video. But I am confident that the right mixture of light is there and will be testing it out next week.

The post-production, however, was tougher than before. It really makes me think about upgrading the computer, which I don’t have the funds for right now. Therefore, I have another plan which means double the production time. I am also banking on the fact that I now have a template in place as so it wont be as frustrating.

But I did have someone say to me – “Dude, you have a green screen in your basement?” Yes, I do.

It’s only the Sciatic

I had a rude awakening last week. My Sciatic Nerve flared up. Yep, I said Sciatic. I come to realize that since loosing the Gym membership (had to make some hard choices, you know) I haven’t been doing much physical activity besides playing music. Therefore, I am going to start working out again, which should be fun, and get me back on track.  That is, if I can stand…

Bad Weather

As a musician, weather can hamper your plans. This weekend was grey and cold. I lost a few shows because of it. It sucks, but it also gave me time to work on other things. That, and play with the iPhone some more…

I Can’t tell you

There is some big news that I cannot tell you. But just keep your eyes peeled as I am working on something that will help out the site.

That’s it for this week. Back to the grind, if I can stand up….

As you might have heard, I made the decicion to get an iPhone. I looked over all the smartphones – especially those with windows mobile on them (I still have a spot for the good old mobile). The one phone I wanted just didn’t seem to be going in the direction of the standard Smartphone. The screen was too small and the buttons separated. Little round dots that you need a pin to use. Not what I had in mind.

Therefore, I logged on, found out the iPhone was available right now, and made an impulse buy. Well, not really an impulse buy. Yet, this was definitely out of character.

What I like about the iPhone 3GS

The biggest improvement to me was somehow, the touch sensativity was a lot better. I could actually hit the keys on the glass keyboard and get what I was typing. There are a few mistakes here and there, but when you are used to typing using another sense (that being touch), then you find you have to relearn.

- Ease of Use

I had the device configured and downloaded all the important apps: Shazam, Facebook, Tweekdeck, Wordpress, the Zippo app, handy leveler and Bug spray. I was also able to import all my contacts and dates without issue – especially since my Outlook expected a Windows Mobile phone. The iPhone pretty much took over on the sync and went from there.

- Camera

This is a good and bad point. The good is the quality of pictures in a decent lighting situation. I would guess that dark lighting won’t be the best – especially since there is no flash. But I really didn’t buy this for the camera. Oh wait – I might’ve bought this for the video…..

Sound Quality

This is the most impressive part of this phone. Being able to turn up the volume a little more and HEAR what was said. Whomever worked on that area – I give kudos to. Even though there are some that say kids turn it up too loud and experience hearing loss – I say that I am glad the kids didn’t ruin this option for me. I need more volume.

What I don’t like about the iPhone 3GS

The one thing that baffles me is how I can put my music on the system. It won’t let me drag and drop any of my songs on the list. While it’s not a big deal, it did get a little frustrating. I’ll get the hang of it eventually.

- Camera

I told you the camera was good and bad. The bad about it is simply the button. If I am taking a self video – maybe for seasmic or YouTube, I might miss the un-tactile switch. Then the beggining and end of the video is a blur while I move to turn it off.

- I miss my Indicator Light

On my HTC 8125, it blinked red when I had a missed call or text. This phone has no indication until I hit that little button with the square on it. Heck, I could have a missed call on it right now and wouldn’t even notice.

- I Want to Keep it ON

When I plug in my phones, I like to have the screen stay on for more than a minute. The HTC was setup for 10 before the screen would go to sleep. I want the iPhone to do the same. Maybe it’s just a setting I’m missing. I am new to this device.

—

What about the HTC 8125?

If you think that the HTC will be retired, then think again. I have some ideas for that phone. I just need to back up the data, in case I need to use it as a phone.  I had that phone for 4 years and it did a lot INCLUDING surfing the web. I will also miss Bubblebreaker – although there might be an iPhone App out there. Let’s hope so.

These are just first day thoughts of the phone. I may change my tune next week. Heck, I could change it tomorrow. For now, it was well worth the investment.

Oh yeah – I still need a case and a car charger for the new phone. That is the next venture.

You might remember the products. You might remember the hype. Then, you are tooling down highway 41 years later and all of a sudden you think to yourself – “Hey, whatever happened to…”

Failed ideas. Maybe it was a great idea, but wasn’t made right, or design errors brought it down. Maybe it was just a bad product. Well, let’s take a stroll down memory lane and see if we cannot repeat these errors again.

Oh yeah, why 16? Well because we could.

The Computer Watch: Whether it was the Ruputer, the MSN Direct ‘Smart’ Watches, the Timex Data Link Watch or another gadget watch – BTW – I remember having a “Transformers watch”. It was awesome!

Still, the Dick Tracey style communication watches, the “Computer on a wrist”, never really hit it off. I even remember a watch that gave you directions. You would put in the paper tape and turn a little dial to indicate where you are and where you are going.

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Last week in this place. I ate a lot of Brats this last weekend. Goodbye to friend ‘Supergirl’. Show Prep on Google Docs. Still need an iPhone App developer.

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I – S.U.N. (Straight Up News)
Lenovo S12 on ION
Kumo or Bing – Microsoft in a transition
The 10 TB Disc – All your music and movies on a DVD
Win 7 Netbook Strategy Rethought
iPhone Painting on cover of New Yorker
Hulu LIVE – Dave Matthews Concert is the first
Aneesh Chopra CTO – Senate approves
Apple Accepts Eucalyptus – a win for an iPhone App
Followup on Craigslist Lawsuit
Google U Libraries
Diamond Encrusted Nokia
- Palm Pre – $549

JOTW – I don’t know what I’ve been told… Vista is the Army’s Gold….

II
Twitter TV? – TV in 140 characters or less.
The Vista Army – What are they thinking?

QOTC – Will you or do you have a Netbook?

III
Will Netbooks Fail? – Will we find a Happy Medium?
Circuit City Return Policy – Be ready to give up Junior.

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Red Bull Diet – Good for you?
The New Soundwave – Transformers USB 4 port hub

Steampunk PC

Bud Adjustable Workstation

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Commandment #1 – Thou shalt maketh thine iPhone App compatible doth 3.0 versions….

OK, it does make sense – If you make an iPhone app or if you want to keep the iPhone app in the store, you must update it for the new version of the software. For some, it may not need any real updates – just someone to test and say; “Yeah, it’s 3.0 compatible.”

It does get frustrating when you look through something like Firefox plugins and see an add-on that hasn’t been updated in a very long while. Even the plugins for this site: sometimes you have to watch what you install, or else you might just break the system.

Therefore, we submit this: These 1 Bitstrips for you all to obey… or at least get a chuckle out of.

Bloomberg considers the effect of the new Apple iPhone OS 3.0 on the apps store and predicts more apps and fiercer competition amongst developers. Read the full story here. See the apps store here.

Now, I do not have an iPhone and wouldn’t get one on a bet. I don’t like Apple’s walled garden. (Heck, if I had my way, I’d ditch my son’s iPod, just to get iTunes off the Windows box.)

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Come Amazon compliments to ye; come and see if ye can swerve me. Swerve me? Ye cannot swerve me, else ye swerve yourselves! Man has ye there. Swereve me? The path to my fixed purpose is laid with iron rails, whereon my soul is grooved to run. Over unsounded gorges, through the rifled hearts of mountains, under torrents’ beds, unerringly I rush! Naught’s an obstacle, naught’s an angle to the iron way!

Well, OK. It’s Ahab, not Amazon – that being a quote from “Moby Dick” by Herman Melville. However, Amazon has decided to jump from one whale to another as they will be offering an iPhone app that will allow people to read books from the popular device. So has Amazon jumped from their pursuit of one whale to another?
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