photography | mac | lego | open source | sap | gadgets
iPod/iPhone
What’s on my iPhone – page 0/10
2 years ago
by manfred
in iPod/iPhone
A while back, I posted a rather speedy animation of my iPhone‘s application screens. Here’s the first of many more detailed looks at what each one of them contains.
Since it’s late and I don’t have the energy to write a lot, I’ll start with the easiest of the lot: page 0 of 10. It’s the Finder.
The Finder provides a quick way of finding content on the iPhone, from mail messages to contacts.
Frequency of use: occasional
Price: included in firmware 3.0, hence free.
Next post on this topic to include something useful. Promise 
Change lenses on the iPhone camera
2 years ago
by manfred
in iPod/iPhone
Wouldn’t it be really nice to have set of lenses that could be attached to the existing iPhone‘s lens to provide a range of effects and increased photographic abilities? Maybe, such a set of lenses would look something like this:
Fish-eye, close-up, wide angle and all manner of others. Cool. To mount the set of lenses, a special case is required. The Japanese company Factron has made such a case. It is named Quattro. With an attached lens, it looks like something the Germans came up with in the early 1940′s. Maybe a sophisticated Voight-Kampff machine from Bladerunner.
It’s rather retro. I like it. Unfortunately, the back of the case is far more attractive that the front. If you can live with the eclectic styling of the Quattro, you may have a winner.
Personally, I’d wait for Griffin to come up with something a bit more rounded…
A TV Guide for ZA
2 years ago
by manfred
in iPod/iPhone
Similar in function to the Multichoice DStv iPhone application, the ZA TV Guide is a Durban-developed iPhone application. A no-charge download, the ZA TV Guide is less than 1MB in size and installs rather quickly.
The premise of the application is rather simple: a computerized TV guide for South Africans including programming information for SABC, eTV and DStv broadcasts. A brief view of the splash screen leads to the opening screen that contains favourite shows and channels as selected by the user.
The launchpad of the application provides space for favourites, both channels and TV shows. These favourites are selected from a list that the application has access to – the lists are updated over the air and refreshed whenever the application is launched and programming information accessed.
Full search functions are provided for you to find whatever programming may be relevant.
Some detail is provided for the selected TV show, providing a bit of an overview of what’s on show.
Doom resurrected for the iPhone
2 years ago
by manfred
in iPod/iPhone
The iPhone is without doubt a gaming platform to be reckoned with. The hardware and software combination Apple has put together has astounding abilities from a graphics acceleration and rendering point of view. The touch interface brings a new dimension to gaming and makes many titles easily playable: none of those pesky button combinations to worry about.
id Software ported an old classic and certainly on of my favourites to the iPhone recently. Wolfenstein 3D retains all the charm of the original, down to the soundtrack. With the port of Doom Resurrection, they have another winner on their hands. Gameplay has been adapted slightly to suit the iPhone, but the graphics are stunning and the action quite frenetic.
The purchase price is USD 9.99, which is more expensive than Wolfenstein 3D. But, Doom Resurrection is not just a port of the original. Instead, the game features a brand new chapter designed specifically for the iPhone. As I mentioned, gameplay has been altered slightly to suit the Apple device: instead of moving the character around the map, the course of movement is pre-determined and all that is required is to aim and fire and pick up items. That’s not as boring as it sounds and works rather well.
The ominous graphics remind me of the PC classic.
The gamer is guided through the game by being presented with help screens and an introduction to the story.
A nice touch is the cinematic 3D flyover of the environment during the introduction, ending in the first-person view we’re all familiar with.
Help is at hand at the beginning. The environment is exceptionally detailed. The icons in the corners of the screen are used to fire a weapon, change weapons and so on. The character moves along on a pre-determined course and the gamer needs to tilt the iPhone to aim at the nasties that lurk in the base on Mars. The control system works well.
There are eight levels in total to battle through.
Zombies and worse attack whenever possible.
When they grab hold of you, the only way out is to shake the iPhone around to escape. Not really a game you should play in a business meeting…
Doom Resurrection is another great port of a classic game to the iPhone. USD 10 is expensive, but the new levels make this a must-have for the serious Doom fan.
iPhone 3.0 and tethering
2 years ago
by manfred
in iPod/iPhone
My iPhone OS 3.0 upgrade experience turned into something of a disaster: I had been waiting patiently the entire day of the 17th of June for the download to become available. Early on in the day, it seemed as though a download link to the update had been found, but that file turned out to be the 3.0 update file for the iPhone 3GS. Finally, later that evening the update file was made available by Apple. In true herd fashion, I connected my MacBook to the home wireless network, docked the iPhone and rapidly clicked through the prompts as iTunes requested permission to download the new OS and to update the device. The best part of the evening was spent watching the file trickle down the Interwebs, finally finishing off after fifty minutes or so. That should have been the worst of it. Sadly, it wasn’t. Just a few, brief minutes into the device update and I was shown an error message: the update had terminated due to an unknown error. Would I be interested in trying again? Twice more I retried the 3.0 update, each time seeing nothing more than the message that an unknown error had occurred. A reboot and another retry without success.
I managed to restore from a 2.2.1 file I had on my hard drive, forcing iTunes to use that file to rebuild the iPhone and restore my settings. After a long waiting period, the iPhone was at last usable again, though unable to provide copy and paste…
I had a similar experience with the iPod Touch whilst on holiday in December when trying to update the OS of that device. Again, the issue occurred whilst using iTunes on the MacBook. I can’t see the MacBook being the problem. Rather, I’m rather certain that TuneUp may be at fault – though that is unconfirmed. I can only comment on how unreliably TuneUp starts up at times, hides itself behind other windows and sometimes seems not to start up properly at all.
I fixed the iPhone update issue the same way I fixed the iPod Touch update issue: by connecting the device to my Windows PC and running the update from its iTunes software install. No hassle – everything worked seamlessly.
I’ll be quite honest: the 3.0 software update is hardly revolutionary. In fact, I doubt that I have even noticed any difference over the past few days. Copy and paste is something I still need to perform. Odd, that. One would think that such a feature is indispensable, but I seem not to require it too often. Most annoyingly, I’ve found that the iPhone is no longer very good at picking up my wireless network at home. Connecting to that network takes much longer and often, the connection is simply not picked up. For the rest, everything works and the inclusion of a Finder is a godsend. Better than copy and paste any day, I’d say.
And then, there’s tethering. That’s interesting for the way Apple has made it work: seamlessly and elegantly. In fact, tethering is so simple that I found myself trying to figure out what else to configure by the time it was already working. I’m on the MTN network, but the following should work just as well for Vodacom. Open Safari on the iPhone and navigate to the following URL http://wan.to/iphone.
Simply follow the instructions and install the appropriate configuration file for your operator.
Navigate to the Network options under Settings, then General. The Internet Tethering item should be available now.
Tethering works by Bluetooth or USB cable.
I tried it with the USB cable on my Windows 7 system.
Simply enabling the Internet Tethering option establishes the connection: no worrying about modem settings or anything else. The first time this feature is used on a Windows system, the appropriate driver is installed. That’s all there’s to it.
Start browsing on the attached system, then simply turn tethering off when finished.
DStv schedule on the Pod
2 years ago
by manfred
in iPod/iPhone
It’s the applications that make a mobile device super useful and absolutely indispensable. Today, an application appeared in the iTunes app store that I was hoping for but never imagined would make an appearance: it’s rather simple, as it provides access only to a listing of TV schedules.
But as a company that is very tight and careful regarding distribution of its program listings, Multichoice for once needs to be congratulated. The iPhone DStv Guide is exactly that: a program guide to all DStv channels on the iPhone. The application is a free download and installs rather quickly – all information is gathered over-the-air.
All channels in the various bouquets are accessible. To save on data transfer times and bandwidth costs, the application displays a listing from which the user may select favourite channels to monitor.
Once ticked and selected, the channel overview screen displays the relevant scheduling information for the current time. Click on a specific channel to view a daily schedule up to seven days in advance.
It’s a really useful application and means I’ll no longer have to struggle trying to navigate the actual DStv website on the iPhone to try and view the schedule information.
Now, MultiChoice: how about opening up your schedule even more by providing media PC users with access to your online program guide?
Or else, I call on an enterprising individual who has the time and patience to use this iPhone app, a protocol analyzer and some coding skills to create a similar application to pull the OPG information directly to a media PC. Just a thought…
In the meantime, you may download the iPhone app from the iTunes app store.
iPhone on a RoadTrip
3 years ago
by manfred
in iPod/iPhone
I constantly listen to audio books and podcasts whilst driving. That’s the only way to maintain a bit of sanity. The arrival of the iPhone a few weeks ago urged me to check out some solutions that would offer in-car charging and possibly FM transmission capabilities. Though my primary device for listening to media is still the 32GB iPod Touch, there’s no reason to be device-specific and I went out looking for a suitable gadget that would fit both the iPod and the iPhone.
On that note, just one comment: it is likely that any accessory one purchases for a current iPod generation will cease to provide its full functionality to subsequent product generations. That’s something that irritates me no end, and generally seems to affect charging of the new device. The reason for this is Apple‘s inability to maintain a standard for the pin-outs on the iPod dock connector – when plugging a newer iPod into an older accessory, the “This accessory does not support charging” message is displayed. It’s an obvious ploy to keep manufacturers of accessory products in a cycle of constant evolution with regard to their products, but its a costly exercise for the consumer.
As always when I look for iPod accessories, my attention turned to Griffin. That company makes many sensible and useful products to enhance the iPod experience, though their products are by no means cheap. After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, I settled on the RoadTrip FM transmitter. The device consists of a short, bendable gooseneck supporting an iPod cradle on one end and a cigarette lighter plug on the other.
For the cradle, a whole collection of iPod adapters is provided, each of which fits neatly and snuggly on top of the connector. A display indicates FM frequencies and various options.
I can attest to the RoadTrip‘s ability to securely hold both the iPod Touch and the heavier iPhone as I travel on a rather bumpy dirt road every day. There is hardly a possibility that the device will fall from the cradle. As with the Logitech Pure-Fi Dream, making out the markings on the black plastic cradle adapters that indicate which iPod each one fits on is rather difficult – the moulded indicator on the adapter is not always easy to make out. Generally, this shouldn’t be an issue if only one device is to be used with the RoadTrip, but I tend to swap the Touch and iPhone every now and then and need to identify the cradle adapter reliably. A minor gripe, but something that manufacturers may want to address by providing a more visible marking. Maybe it’s my eyesight?
Securely fasten the correct adapter on top of the cradle, plug the device into the cigarette lighter socket and adjust. I recently had my iPhone on the RoadTrip, Bluetooth enabled and taking handsfree phone calls via the Garmin nuvi whilst checking that cool little blue blip on Google Maps update my location. It’s almost a car computer…
The RoadTrip features an FM transmitter with a three frequency memory. My frequency of choice in the greater Johannesburg area is still 88.7 and the RoadTrip provides clear, crisp sound without interference to my car’s radio. The RoadTrip does include SmartScan technology which is supposed to determine the best three frequencies for use by the car radio and presets these automatically on the unit. I wasn’t convinced by its findings and stuck to my manual setting. The device in the cradle is charged automatically.
There’s no need to fumble around with the buttons on the iPod or worse still, with the touch interface of the iPhone: the RoadTrip has three hardware buttons that provide rudimentary control over the audio stream: play, pause and skip to next track.
I can’t fault the RoadTrip, other than for its purchase price which is in the region of ZAR 850, a lot of money for an iPod accessory. The gooseneck is solid and stays in position, the cradle holds the iPod very firmly and I consider the sound quality to be as good as is possible for something relying on FM transmission. With an iPhone or iPod Touch in the cradle, you can surf the web, check out Tweetie or email and play a game or two, all the whilst listening to your selected audio. Don’t forget that you’re piloting a car, one of the most dangerous weapons mankind has ever produced, though!
If you’re in the market for a charger/FM transmitter that supports a slew of older iPod models, the RoadTrip may be worth a look.
Switching to iPhone 3G
3 years ago
by manfred
in iPod/iPhone
It’s taking many months, but I’ve finally decided to do the switcheroo to an iPhone. To be honest, the recent announcement of the 3.0 software that will introduce features that make the iPhone a more useful device had something to do with it. To be honest, the announcements surrounding the 3.0 software are not as significant as the initial hype makes them sound: the feature additions are basic and have been available in cheaper phones for a while now. But, it’s an Apple product, and that makes it desirable and cool…
Besides that, I’ve grown absolutely attached to the iPod Touch and have used it constantly on the wireless network at home. The applications are what makes a device sticky, in my opinion. The wealth of applications available on the US App Store is nothing short of impressive and is likely to become even more so once the 3.0-enable software is made available.
Getting my hands on one was a bit of a mission. The 8GB model is no longer available and has been made obsolete. The number of 16GB models to be had was also very low. I’m almost convinced that June will see the introduction of an updated iPhone, but the ability to upgrade the firmware at no additional cost on the existing model ensures that that device’s lifetime is still guaranteed for some time to come.
The insertion of my MTN simcard into the 16GB model and subsequent activation was without incident. I let iTunes complete a backup of the existing OS before downloading and upgrading the 2.2.1 firmware. Then, I permitted iTunes to stream all my applications to the new device.
Call quality is very good and I managed to connect my Plantronics Bluetooth headset without too much fuss – the longest part of that pairing procedure was me trying to remember the button combination to press to get the headset into pairing mode…
The performance of the integrated GPS is fantastic and is something Nokia should certainly look at: the E90‘s satellite acquisition time is so poor that use of the GPS is impossible at most times. The iPhone finds my location with reasonably accuracy even when I’m indoors, though that’s a contribution of the cellular network triangulation rather than the GPS. The camera is not up to standard when compared to the E90, though I have a solution in the protective case I’m using. More on that later.
Setting up Exchange synchronization took less than a minute and had all my contacts, calendar entries and emails down on the device very quickly. With the basic infrastructure set up, I’ll see how the iPhone impresses me in day to day use. I’ve been playing around with it for exactly two days now, so a review period of two weeks is realistic to give a better impression.
With my conversion to the Apple platform almost complete, I’m just waiting for that new 24″ iMac to hop onto my desk
iPhone OS update to 3.0
3 years ago
by manfred
in iPod/iPhone
Today, Apple presented a new version of their iPhone operating system.
iPhone software 3.0. Here’s what it will be able to offer when it’s released sometime in June for existing iPhones and iPod Touch devices:
- In-app purchasing of content via the existing iTunes Store infrastructure
- peer to peer interaction
- support for various accessories and protocols for interaction among applications
- maps with support for turn by turn directions, though Apple cannot provide any map content – this will need to be loaded and purchased by the user
- better Bluetooth support, including stereo headphones, though no support for keyboards and the like
- push notifications, using the server infrastructure announced many moons ago
- cut/copy/paste (at last!), as well as text selection
- landscape orientation for the new calendar
- messaging, including MMS support
- voice memos
- calendar with support for CalDAV
- a new Stock app
- Search across a variety of content
- Spotlight, available in most applications
A new SDK that supports an additional 1000 API‘s will be available soon. A beta of the new SDK should be ready for download in the next day or so. Though not revolutionary, the update to the OS is criticial to ensure the iPhone supports those features users of other devices have been used to for quite some time.
I think the time is ripe to consider a switch to the iPhone, though I’d still be worried that a brand new device is unveiled in June…
Recent Comments