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My Preferred Canadian-Based ISP
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Sep
2
iPod-ATV Nation
Filed Under Apple News, Apple Updates | Leave a Comment
My oh my – lots of goodies announced today and if you’re a fan of the iPod then it’s a good day indeed – plus AppleTV goes from a hobby project to something more significant and a sign post to where Apple is heading.
So, what was announced?
AppleTV – reinvented
I’ve had an AppleTV for a while. I can stream music, pictures, rented TV shows and movies etc..to it. I can watch YouTube on it, peruse Flickr, MobileMe galleries and store these files on it as well. It can act as a remote speaker for Airtunes (now called AirPlay) and I’ve even hacked it a bit with a software offering called ATVflash. This has allowed me to play file formats not normally supported (like AVI and WMV files) as well as added interface functionality, web browsing – you get the picture. The new AppleTV is 1/8th the size, has no hard drive – it is basically an content streaming appliance.
The idea is that all content is downloaded or streamed either through the internet or through our deskops, laptops and soon mobile devices. It can peruse all the things the current model can and in the US (for now) it can even stream Netflix – which is awesome. Netflix is a DVD rental service that ships movies to your door and also offers streaming TV shows and movies for a monthly fee. So, no more owning of content – just rentals @ $.99 for TV shows, $3.99-$4.99 for movies.
Personally, I love this approach. If I wasn’t using a MacMini attached to my TV already I would go out and buy this $99 device today – yes, $99! At this price point this thing is very accessible to most users - goodbye cable. I am so tired of downloading and keeping hard drives full of movies and TV epsisodes I usually only watch once. I’ve been using Netflix through a hack for awhile now and I absolutely love the freedom of watching what I want, when I want for however long I want for a small monthly fee. We’ve given up cable for months now and don’t miss it a bit.
iPods For Everyone
Also announced were new iPod Touches, Nanos and Shuffles. The new Nano is tiny and sports a touch interface. The new Touch now sports front and back facing cameras for use with FaceTime, the new Retina display, HD video capture and more. It has the new A4 processor found in the iPad and iPhone 4 so it’s very fast. Now think about it: the iPod Touch has basically turned into an relatively inexpensive voice and video internet phone with the availability of Skype and now FaceTime – wow! All sport better battery life as well. Just follow the links for more in-depth details and pics.
iTunes 10
To take advantage of this streaming goodness you’re going to need the new version of Apple’s flagship application, iTunes. They’ve revamped the look quite a bit and I’m not sure I like it. Gone are the colours of the icons down the side to differentiate each process (Music, Apps, Books…). Instead it’s all gone grey. I find it a bit harder to distinguish what each area does and I’m not sure why the designers went with this approach. One major new feature it’s introducing is called Ping. Ping is Apple’s version of music social networking. You basically use your AppleID to allow others to know what music you’re listening to, are into etc..and let’s you know your friends preferences. You can post for the world or be selective. More than that, you can follow what your favourite musical artists are listening to, where they’re playing and what’s going on with them. There are feeds, updates and more than enough to overload our brains with stuff we don’t have time for!
iOS 4.1/4.2
Steve Jobs also introduced the upcoming update to the iOS 4 found on the new iPhones and downloadable on older phones. Many users with older 3G iPhones have reported serious performance hits with the current 4.0, 4.01 and 4.02 releases. The new 4.1 claims much better performance on these older devices as well as fixes for the proximity sensor on the new phones as well as:
HDR (high-dynamic range) photo support, so the device will shoot three times for each photo, grabbing underexposed and overexposed versions and combining all three for more highlight and shadow detail.
Also built into iOS 4.1 is support for Apple’s multiplayer iOS4 gaming platform, called Game Center.
iOS 4.1 will be available next week, free of charge, via iTunes.
Jobs also announced iOS 4.2, due later this year, with “everything for iPad”, including wireless printing.
Apple’s existing AirTunes will become “AirPlay” with iOS 4.2, expanding wireless media streaming beyond audio selections and taking advantage of multitasking in the latest iOS.
iOS 4.2 is due in November for iPad (bringing it up to par with the iPhone), iPod Touch and iPhone.
A big day indeed although it kind of sucks that the new iOS 4 isn’t coming to the iPad until November. The future seems to be streaming – and Apple went all out with a live stream of the event – a first! And the story continues and the river keeps flowing.
Aug
30
Summer Tips and Tricks
Filed Under Apple News, Tips | Leave a Comment
Hello everyone. It’s been awhile since my last post. I’ve always tried not to write unless inspiration hits or there’s big news. There was so much Apple news in July I needed to take a break and let all the dust settle. Antennae-gate seems to have subsided and millions of people continue to buy the new iPhone. I have yet to take the leap, partly because I want a white one this time (they’re delayed) and partly because I really love my current 3GS. There’s nothing wrong with it and it performs well. In fact, this has been the least exciting iPhone release for me personally – I find once I’ve hit a certain performance height with my equipment the upgrade really has to be worth it.
I thought, however, since many of you have purchased the new iPhone and may be new to the experience some tricks and tips may be worth imparting. They’re useful for old hands too! I found these put together by mashable.com and the text descriptions were culled by them. My favourite tip was number 6 (I didn’t know you could do that).
One more thing: there will be a big event/announcement by Apple on September 1st so I’ll be sure to followup with all the news. The big rumour of the day is a re-branded AppleTV (to be called iTV), a possible inexpensive subscription/rental rate for TV shows (probably available in the US only!) and most likely some new iPods (what else, it’s September).
On To the Tips and Tricks…
1. HOW TO: Add an International Keyboard
iOS4 has more language options than ever before. If you’re bi-lingual, there’s an easy way to add an international keyboard to your iPhone’s set-up so you can switch between English and Chinese — for example — on the fly.
From the home screen, go to “Settings,” then “General,” then scroll down to see “Keyboard” and tap this option. You can then select “International Keyboards” and scroll through the list to add the language you need.
Now, for all iPhone OS versions, when you have the keyboard on the screen, if you hit the little globe icon next to the space bar, you can switch between languages at the press of a button.
2. HOW TO: Quickly Add a Special Symbol
If you don’t quite see the need to add an international keyboard, but will occasionally need to use special symbols, then there’s a quick way to do it.
Simply tap and hold the relevant letter and the special symbols associated with that letter will appear on the screen. This also works for common symbols too, and is particularly useful for changing a currency sign, using alternative quotation marks, longer hyphens, etc.
3. HOW TO: Use a Sentence-Stopping Shortcut
If you’re not already using this trick, you most certainly should, as it can seriously speed up your typing. It is enabled by default, but to confirm it’s active, go to “Settings,” then “General,” then “Keyboard,” then make sure the toggles next to the “Auto-Capitalization” option and the fourth option down — “.” Shortcut — are set to the “On” position.
Now when you’re typing away, a double tap of the space-bar will add a period (or a “full stop” if you’re British!) and automatically capitalize the very next letter you type.
4. HOW TO: Add Proper Names to the Dictionary
EDIT: As many commenters have rightly pointed out, this option only appears if you have certain Chinese or Japanese international keyboards added (as we did at the time of writing, hence the error) and is not, as you might logically assume, a way to add Western words to the dictionary, even though it appears to give you that functionality. We are sorry for any confusion, and for raising false hopes.
New to iOS4 is the ability to customize the iPhone’s dictionary and add words to it that you use often, such as proper names, brands or lesser-known places.
Although previous versions of the iPhone OS’s dictionary did offer the ability to “learn” the word preferences of the user, this new feature gives the user complete control.
To add a word, go to “Settings,” then “General,” then “Keyboard,” then tap “Edit User Dictionary” and hit the plus icon in the top right to enter your word. It will then be listed alphabetically and can be edited or deleted as necessary.
5. HOW TO: Insert Punctuation More Quickly
To add punctuation to text, most iPhone users will pause typing, press the “123″ key to see the numerical and symbolic options, tap the symbol (or number) they want, and then hit the “ABC” menu to return to the alpha keyboard.
If you’re still adding in symbols and numbers this way, then boy, do we have a treat for you. This will take a teeny bit of getting used to, but from now on, the next time you want to add punctuation, pause typing, press and hold the “123″ key, then without removing your finger (or thumb!) from the screen, slide it over to land on what you want to insert.
As you release your digit from the display, the symbol will have been entered into your text and you’ll be back on the alpha keyboard.
6. HOW TO: Quickly Change .com to Other Domains
If you’re typing in the browser bar in Safari (
), the iPhone adds a handy “.com” button to the keyboard. However, there are a ton of other domain extensions that you’ll likely need to type out on a regular basis. There is a shortcut that can help you out with this — simply press and hold the .com button and other common options will come up.
Similarly, when composing an e-mail, pressing and holding the period will offer a list of domain endings to make entering e-mail addresses super quick.
7. HOW TO: Display Character Counts in Messages
It’s often useful to know how long your SMS messages are, either for Twitter (
) purposes, or to be sure that you’ll only be charged for the cost of one text. The iPhone does not show character counts by default, but it’s not hard to set-up.
Just go to the “Settings” menu, select “Messages,” then slide the “Character Count” toggle to “On.” Now when you are composing a text message — after you get to the end of the first line — you’ll see a running count of how many characters you’re sending on the right of the display, above the send button.
8. HOW TO: Delete Text Using Gesture Controls
We’ve all done it — while pecking away at the iPhone keyboard with our mind on other things, we realize that last sentence was utter nonsense. Instead of holding down the delete key while you curse your uselessness, there’s actually a more fun, and somewhat therapeutic way of deleting the text you’ve just typed.
Simply shake the handset and you’ll get a pop-up asking you if you want to “Undo Typing” or “Cancel.” Hit undo, and the latest lot of gibberish will be gone forever.
9. HOW TO: Reset the Dictionary
Although the iPhone’s dictionary will notice spelling errors and suggest corrections, it does “learn” your preferences. This means if you repeatedly spell a word wrong, and don’t take the phone up on the option to change it, it will eventually stop suggesting the easy correction.
There is a way to fix this by resetting the dictionary, although this will also delete any words you’ve added via the “Edit User Dictionary” option we highlighted above.
If you want a clean slate for your phone’s vocab, simply open “Settings,” select “General,” scroll right down to the bottom to “Reset,” select that and then hit the red “Reset Dictionary” button which will erase any settings that have been overly forgiving of bad spelling or grammar.
10. HOW TO: Change the Font in Notes
For some bizarre reason, the default font for the iPhone’s “Notes” app is Marker Felt — one that’s only a few design steps removed from the typographical outcast Comic Sans.
However, there is a workaround that will enable you to scribe your notes in the arguably more classy Helvetica. Simply add a special symbol-based international keyboard (Korean, Japanese and Chinese all worked for us) and then when you’re next in “Notes,” change the language (via the globe button), type something, and then change it back to English.
Everything you type after that will be in Helvetica, rather than Marker Felt — thanks and praise be to the font gods!
Jul
30
This Week In Appleland
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What a week it’s been (follow the links for details). New iMacs, MacPro’s, a new 27″ Cinema Display, a new Magic TrackPad offering, a strange Apple battery charger product and of course, the Canadian release of the iPhone 4! Whew! Given the recent drama of Antennagate and the poo pooing of the iPhone’s reception issues it’s interesting to note two recent thumbs up reviews (caveat: the Aussie recommendations make specific mention of and suggestions to use an approved ‘bumper’ case) from Australia and Norway’s largest newspaper. The Norwegian review actually states that it feels the antenna issue is a US specific problem as it’s testing did not find the same issues:
The paper suggested poor mobile networks may be the cause of the US reports of iPhone 4 antenna problems. It cited Amobil, a Norwegian mobile phone news site, as having ‘tested the iPhone 4 thoroughly, without finding any evidence that it is improperly constructed. All modern mobile phones have integrated antennas, and it is normal that they are affected by how the phone is held,’ VG said.
I’ve suspected this for a while as many people report awful cellular reception when visiting major US cities. Canadian carriers announced their data plans with Rogers/Fido and Bell both offering iPad 3G data plan sharing for an extra monthly fee. Of all the new products Apple released this week the one that caught my attention wasn’t the fancy new machines or even the Magic TrackPad (as cool as that may be). It was actually the new battery charger. This is a great add-on for most users as all Desktop Macs (sans the MacMini) come with the battery-powered bluetooth mouse and keyboard. The charger comes with 6 rechargeable batteries and an intelligent charging unit – a nice environmental touch and weird and unexpected new addition to the lineup.
I’m not sure I will be running out to get the new iPhone 4 just yet – partly because I think I want a white model this time and their release is delayed due to manufacturing issues – and partly because I don’t really need a new phone. My nephew will be getting his tomorrow so I fear subscribers to this blog will be subjected to another un-boxing video as he is keen to keep this new tradition alive (and it’s fun). Perhaps after I see his new shiny device my desire level will rise and the risk of succumbing to it’s purchase will overcome me. We’ll see.
Jul
19
Fall Out
Filed Under Apple News, Tech News, Views, iPhone | Leave a Comment
I’ve been asked to comment further by a number of readers on Apple’s response to the iPhone 4 antenna issue. This is a device that is currently unavailable in Canada and I’ve yet to actually see or hold one to test out the problem causing all hoopla. However, my feeling is that Apple, like Google with it’s street view project privacy issues, would have loved for this to have gone under the radar. They totally underestimated their client base and felt the pressure to respond. The idea of a recall was already partially addressed with the extension of a return policy – a kind of voluntary recall. They’re going to give away free bumpers/cases to anyone who bought an iPhone and is going to buy one until September 30th. I suspect a slight redesign after that. They also tried to dilute and deflect the issue by pointing out signal weaknesses in their competitors devices. Perhaps valid, but I somehow expected a higher road to be taken. The press conference began with the video song below – quite catchy and fun – about the iPhone 4. The chorus of the song goes:
If you don’t want an iPhone 4 don’t buy it
If you bought one and you don’t like it bring it back
(but you won’t)
This is the jist of Apple’s response. For some this will strike as arrogance. Others may see this as Apple poking fun at itself. I tend to side with the former. For Apple I think this is still a non-issue that has gotten totally blown out of proportion. As they tried to point out – most of the 3 million people using the phone aren’t experiencing this as a problem in day to day usage. The return rate is much lower than was the case following the release of the iPhone 3GS. I think the Consumers Report recommendation retraction really hit the folks behind the Apple veil. Throughout the Friday event it seemed to me that Steve Jobs was irritated – Apple hasn’t gotten bad press like this in a while and this device is another one of his babies. I’m not concerned about the lack of a recall as the problem can be worked around and from reports in the field even if it is held in the ‘death grip’ position calls are not dropped per se unless one is in a very weak cellular zone. They have been forced to address this, admit it and will probably fix the design. The important issue here is transparency. Apple got called out and is responding because the information got out. People wrote about their experiences.The press broadcasted it to the world and change is coming.
For me I’m disappointed with Apple’s handling of the whole affair and in a way they’re not really admitting to anything. I’ve written it before – not everything Apple does is good. They’re a company, a corporation, with shareholders to please. They’re not the underdogs anymore. They don’t operate out of a garage. They are an industry leader and as a leader I hope for more. The good news is this is a company that can evolve. I hope lessons are being learned.
Jul
17
The Wizard Of Oz
Filed Under Apple News, Tech News, iPhone | 1 Comment
For those of you wanting to see and hear the Steve Jobs distortion field conference:
and judge for yourself. Apple has also created a special iPhone 4 antenna page which goes over antenna issues in general, comparisons with other smart phones etc…
iPhone Antenna Performance Page
Meanwhile, RIM was none too happy being drawn into Apple’s antenna issue and issued the following statement:
“Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable. Apple’s claims about RIM products appear to be deliberate attempts to distort the public’s understanding of an antenna design issue and to deflect attention from Apple’s difficult situation. RIM is a global leader in antenna design and has been successfully designing industry-leading wireless data products with efficient and effective radio performance for over 20 years. During that time, RIM has avoided designs like the one Apple used in the iPhone 4 and instead has used innovative designs which reduce the risk for dropped calls, especially in areas of lower coverage. One thing is for certain, RIM’s customers don’t need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity. Apple clearly made certain design decisions and it should take responsibility for these decisions rather than trying to draw RIM and others into a situation that relates specifically to Apple.” - Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie
Oh my! The free bumpers/cases offer that Apple is initiating will end September 30th. Does that mean there will be a slight design change in the next round of manufacturing?
Jul
15
Apple’s Waterloo?
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Some are suggesting the recent antenna issues with the iPhone 4 – you know, the Steve Jobs described non-issue where if a user holds the new phone in a certain way the signal dies, calls are dropped, but just get a case for it problem – is Apple’s Vista. You remember Vista – Microsoft’s flop of an operating system release:
“It looks like the iPhone 4 might be their Vista, and I’m okay with that,” said Kevin Turner, Microsoft’s chief operating officer, in a keynote speech at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC)… Earlier in his talk, Turner poked fun at the reception problems that have dogged Apple’s iPhone 4 since its June 24 launch. “One of the things I want to make sure you know today is that you’re going to be able to use a Windows Phone 7 and not have to worry about how you’re holding it to make a phone call,” Turner said, referring to the Microsoft mobile operating system set to debut on smartphones this fall.
Apple isn’t helping matters either:
Apple appears to be panicking in its reaction to the widely-reported antenna issue plaguing most iPhone 4s — in its latest maneuver to attempt to ‘unthink’ the problem, company moderators appeared to delete threads which referred to yesterday’s Consumer Reports findings — only to change their mind and open these discussions again a few hours later.
This is referring to the Consumer Reports recent bombshell, which initially recommended the iPhone 4 as THE PHONE to get, but has since temporarily removed it’s recommendation until the antenna issue is addressed:
It’s official. Consumer Reports’ engineers have just completed testing the iPhone 4, and have confirmed that there is a problem with its reception. When your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone’s lower left side—an easy thing, especially for lefties—the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you’re in an area with a weak signal. Due to this problem, we can’t recommend the iPhone 4.
Well, it appears Apple is finally going to address the issue, maybe, as it has just announced that it is hosting a press conference this Friday exclusively related to the iPhone 4:
Apple on Wednesday invited select press to a special press conference to be held this Friday in California. Apple would only say that the press conference would be regarding the iPhone 4.
Recall? Free bumper cases? More Explanations? The weird thing about this issue is that’s it’s not universal. It is reproducible, but not everyone is experiencing it to the same degree as it seems very dependent on the reliability of the network where one is using it. In any event, it should be an interesting moment.
Jun
21
iOS 4 Had Landed
Filed Under Apple News, Apple Updates, iPhone | Leave a Comment
If you haven’t heard or noticed or attached your iPhone or iPod Touch to your Mac or PC today Apple’s latest and greatest mobile operating system is in the wild. Once you do you’ll be greeted with an opportunity from iTunes to upgrade your iPhone to version 4.0. Important Note:
OS 4.0 isn’t compatible with the original iPhone or the iPod touch. iPhone 3G and second-gen iPhone touch devices will get the update, but key features will be missing.
The 2009 iPhone 3GS and current generation iPod touch will gain all the new features, including multitasking, folders, wallpapers, unified inbox, multiple Exchange accounts and more
The iPad will get its turn in the fall. I’ve gone over some of what’s new in a previous post and there is lots of info all over the net and on Apple’s website. It is very important that you upgrade to iTunes 9.2 – either through Apple’s Software Update under the Apple Menu or through this link as it is required for organizing the new folders structure in the new OS. Below is an excellent 10 minute summary of all that’s in store after the update is complete:
Jun
15
(Sim) Free At Last!
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Another big day of announcements…
I don’t know about you dear readers, but I’m pretty excited about the just released news that the new iPhone 4 (and perhaps 3GS it seems) will be sold by Apple UNLOCKED!
The Apple iPhone is Sim Free - iPhone 4 FAQ
Canadian iPhone 4 News on Unlocked devices
Apple calls this the commitment-free iPhone. If you travel this is HUGE. You’ll be able to purchase a micro sim card in a country you’re travelling to and utilize a local phone/data (your phone number will change with each card so just keep that in mind – but you can always forward it…). This is another boon for people who don’t want to sign a contract with a carrier. It means you can buy a new phone and sign up and change a carrier without penalty because there won’t be a contract! The customer will finally have leverage – the fear of paying some exorbitant penalty for terminating an account over poor service, weak plans etc… is gone. I really dislike contracts. I’ve spoken with service reps from my current carrier many times to be told I can leave if I want to if I’m unhappy – but I’ll have to pay $500 or more to do so – no more!
With freedom comes a higher price tag. Commitment-free phones will cost a lot more because the carriers (Telus, Bell, Rogers, Fido) won’t be subsidizing it. However, for many people this may be worth the price of admission to a contract-free cellular experience. It also means that unlike last year, the carriers won’t/can’t turn down those users whose contracts don’t allow them to purchase the new iPhone (can you believe they even do that?). We can just buy them from the Apple Store. The iPhone is available for pre-order today (June 15th) in the US – Black models only (seems there’s a short supply of the White models). In Canada the pre-order date will be late June/early July. At the moment there is just a ‘Notify Me’ button on it’s Canada store page.
One More Thing…
Oh yeah, Apple also released a NEW MAC MINI. It just keeps coming. The new Mac Mini has been redesigned – it’s slimmer, sports an internal power supply that sips energy (10 watts in sleep mode), 4 USB ports, a Firewire 800 port and two new ports: an SD card slot for picture cards and even better – an HDMI port. This one is important as it will allow owners to attach the MacMini directly to their HD TV’s (if you have one). The processor speeds have come up as well the hard drive capacities. The price has gone up as well which won’t please a lot of people. Granted it has more features than it’s predecessors – the higher cost flies in the face of the trend for more affordable computers. Perhaps its price will fall in the next few months. For a full run down check out the links below.
First Impressions (care of 9to5mac.com)
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POST SCRIPT (5pm): My oh my – It looks like Mac OS 10.6.4 was released. This is a free incremental update for 10.6 users. As with any system update BACK UP YOUR DATA first! Also, remember, you don’t have to update.
Jun
8
Back To The Future
Filed Under Apple News, Very Very Cool, iPhone | Leave a Comment
Apple just keeps on keeping on. The new iPhone 4 was announced today at the Apple World Wide Developer’s Conference (WWDC). It’s design was leaked weeks ago by Gizmodo (whose legal woes following this breach are in progress). For many, Star Trek’s Tricorder has arrived. What can’t this device do? Multi-task, video chat, shoot HD video and edit it (goodbye Flip?), manage multiple Exchange accounts with a unified InBox (hello more business users!), an A4 processor – the same snappy one found in the iPad so you know this device is going to perform well. The marketing machine has started – check out this ad for the new FaceTime which pulls at all heart strings:
The full on video of the iPhone’s new features can be found here starring all the usual suspects:
Also announced was Safari 5, Apple’s next iteration of their web browser with better performance features, a new Reader tool for sites that support it, the inclusion of Microsoft’s Bing search engine in addition to Google and Yahoo! and more. Quite a day all in all. This is an iPhone worth waiting for. Rogers has announced it’s support, but no plan information as of yet – just a notification page that users can sign up with. Apple has their own Notify Me page as well. Official release of the new iPhone and the new iOS 4 is slated for mid-June so it looks like yet another summer of new iPhones. As usual, some of the features are not new to mobile devices, but their implementation is elegant as only Apple’s engineers and User Interface designers can deliver. I can’t wait!
Jun
3
State Of The Digital Union
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Steve Jobs – D8 All Things Digital
Steve Jobs spoke two days ago at the All Things Digital summit hosted by Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal. There are some excellent moments and it’s always interesting (and rare) to hear what Mr. Jobs has to say. He comments on all the recent events that have been occurring in the Apple universe from the stolen iPhone 4G to the Flash wars, Google, TV, the Foxconn worker situation and more. Plus there are plenty of other interesting speakers to check out as well and footage from Steve’s earlier appearances.