Just last week one of Toronto’s top News Radio station, 680 News, became available for the iPhone. Although it was already available for the Blackberry, iPhone users like myself were wondering when the iPhone version would be release and how it would meet our expectations. I will review the application below and hopefully if you are a fan you will give it try.

News:
Obviously being a news application, there is a section that has the latest news. The great thing about it is that the news is local. If you are like me and you like to know what is happening in your city in short burst, 680 News articles are just right for you. They are short articles that seam quite relevant to people living in Toronto. The section in the application is done quite well, with an indicator that shows whether you have read the article or not. There is an ad at the bottom of the articles that is not overly obtrusive and seems to work. There is a feature in the app preference that allows you to select the age of your news. So if you don’t ever want to see news older than one day you can have that setting programmed. All in all, it is pretty easy to navigate and get your news.

Weather:
The weather section is quite simple. It is just one screen with a five date forecast. It shows the high and the low. Only problem is that you can only get weather for Toronto. If you live a bit outside, you do not have the option to get your weather.

Traffic:
The traffic section is fun to use. It has the MTO camera shots throughout the city and you can bookmark your favourite cameras that fall within your route. It is nice to use before you leave for your drive to work or home.

Live Audio Stream:
Although the rest of the application is quite good, the live stream is really the best part. You can listen to 680 live anytime on your iPhone. I always have the problem where I only listen to news or traffic when I get in the car. This application lets me listen from anywhere and get a quick update when and where I need. Truly a useful feature

Availability:
The biggest downfall about the application is its availability. It is only available to Rogers and Fido users so if you want to listen to 680 on your Bell or Telus iPhone you wont be able to do that. Hopefully there will be plans to open this up to everyone all 680 News listeners.

Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs has finally announced their much anticipated device and ‘latest creation’ - The iPad.  The iPod looks like a large iPhone with a enhanced OS X like interface.  Some of it’s specs includes:

• 0.5 inches thin
• 1.5 pounds
• 9.7 inch IPS display
• full capacitive multi-touch
• 1 GHz Apple A4 Chip
• 16 GB - 64 GB Flash storage
• Wifi 802.11 N
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• Speaker, Mic, 30 Pin connector
• Accelerometer
• Compass
• 10 hour battery (1 month in standby)

Other interesting points:

• It is fully capable of running iPhone applications straight out of the box (normal and stretched modes) and iPad apps that take advantage of it’s full large screen and much more
• To compete with e-book readers that have become pretty popular, Apple has created an iPad app that fully implements an e-book reader on the iPad
• Includes iWork for the iPad - which is Apple’s version of Microsoft Office that has been redesigned for the iPad  ($10 for each iWork app - Keynote, Pages, etc.)
• Easily connects to projectors
• WiFi and 3G
• 3G Models are contract-free (US only)
• $500

This is DEFINITELY a game changer when it comes to mobile marketing and the entire mobile industry.  We are now definitely going to see greater, more interactive, and enjoyable experiences while on the go.

Plastic Mobile will be fully supporting bringing mobile experiences to life on the iPad by developing iPad apps for our clients.  Please contact us for further information.

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Enjoy some pictures of the new iPad courtesy of Engadget:

RIM (Research In Motion) creator of the Blackberry seems to be really be falling behind on innovation. This is while their rivals have had a chance to come up with new products and expand on them year after year with constant innovation.

Compare them to Apple for example. In the last three years, they brought to life the iPhone and touch computing, mobile application store, and in a few weeks iPhone 4G (which probably brings about other mobile innovations). Although RIM has been playing catch up by introducing the Storm, Blackberry App World, Blackberry widgets, and more it really hasn’t pushed the boundaries.

As a fellow Canadian company, we would love to see RIM continue with it’s success and remain a leading smartphone provider around the world. However, they really need to start innovating and almost re-thinking the next-generation version of their devices, device operating systems and interfaces, development environments, simulators, and much more!

An iPhone application helped save the life of an America filmmaker who was trapped after the earthquake that devastated Haiti about two weeks ago.  Dan Wooley was trapped beneath rubble for 3 days and his iPhone may have had a hand in his survival.   When the earthquake hit, Mr. Wooley was in his hotel and the earthquake left his leg fractured and his head profusely bleeding.

Having installed a medical application on this iPhone prior to the earthquake, Mr. Wooley was able to search for treatments for “compound fracture” and “profuse bleeding”.  He found recommendations on how to treat his injuries.

” So I used my shirt to tie my leg and a sock on the back of my head. And later used it for other things, like to diagnose shock,” Woolley told MSNBC in Miami after being pulled out alive by French rescuers.

The developers that created the application should give themselves a pat in the back.  After all, how often can we say that our application saved a lifer today.  Bravo developers, bravo iPhone and I guess Apple can now claim that there REALLY is an app out there for just about anything….even SURVIVAL.

We’re going to have to wait until next to see what Apple has up their sleeves.  Will it be the new Mac Tablet or perhaps the new iPhone 4G.   Until then enjoy this Cartoon from Rob Cottingham’s Noise to Signal:

A church in the UK has held a ceremony in which about 80 participants brought their mobile phones to get blessed in a formal ceremony.   The idea came from a historic tradition where workers would bring the tools of their trade such as ploughs to be blessed on the first Monday after people return to work following Christmas.  And that is exactly what they did on this Monday January 11th, 2010 ceremony.  They brought their work tools and parishioners took out cell phones as Rev. Canon David Parrott recited a blessing over them and their electronic devices. A few held their phones up in the air as he ran through the prayer and blessed their most sacred devices.

My point proven! It really is the mobile decade when mobile devices find a formal place in the religious institutions.

With the Apple Tablet aka iSlate announcement (which has not been announced yet by Apple) being a bit over 2 weeks away and with all the rumors about what Apple may be up to… it feels just like 2007 again!

The iPhone and it’s appstore single-handedly shook up the mobile industry. So how will the Tablet change things? Well that really depends on what it will be when it’s released. With no release and lot of rumors and speculation - it’s still too early to predict it’s impact. I definitely think it will help propel the mobile industry and marketing forward like the iPhone did but perhaps not with the same force.

I’ll be waiting until January 27th to update this post and our views it. Until then, here are a few places where you can catch up on all your Apple Tablet news:

Gizmodo’s Exhaustive guide to the Apple Tablet Rumors
CNN Money
Tablet Cartoon
iSlate.org
iSlate Blog

Google has finally launched the much anticipated Nexus One phone that runs the Android operating system.  With Google’s history of market domination, is their entry into the phone market going to follow foot steps of their entry into the search engine market?

An HTC-built phone has a new tweaked and updated Android interface with a great sleek design but is it really the Google product that the world has been waiting for?

Hardware

• 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 512MB RAM, 32GB-capable microSD slot, a 3.7-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display at 800×480, a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and 720×480 video capture @ 20FPS, dual microphones for noise canceling and a trackball.
• Ultra-thin body
• Sleek curved edges
• Unmistakably and HTC device but there are plenty of design cues that scream Google.

Software

• Runs on Android 2.1
• Cool graphics and animated effects. (I only worry that this may hinder performance and speed but I can not tell just yet)
• Voice recognition that lets you speak into almost all fields.  This means you can dictate text and email messages.
• It’s fas. Partly from the Android 2.1 operating system

Battery Life

• Comparable to other similar devices and so far not complaints on battery life

Cost and Payment plans

• Unlocked for $530 or subsidized, with a T-Mobile contract for $180

The feature set seems impressive and the OS has some great applications and features that make Nexus One a good contender.  Would I trade in my iPhone for this device?  I still prefer the full touch screen capability of my iPhone, its sleek design and the 100,000+ applications that virtually let me do anything I can think of on my iPhone.  I am still waiting for “THAT” device that compels me to switch my iPhone ways.

It ’s great to see that with this wave of app-stores the focus was not just smartphones but much wider.  One which caught our attention was an announcement from Samsung:

Samsung introduced Samsung Apps as the platform to download and use apps across all Samsung devices such as HDTVs, phones, blu-ray devices, cameras, printers etc.   So imagine using some of the apps that you’ve come to love on your iPhone directly on your HDTV while watching TV!

Although the concept of an internet-connected TV (or any of the above devices) is not new at all, empowering developers to build and distribute to these broad range of devices is truly innovative and I am sure we will see many interesting applications that will captivate end-users.

This is particularly interesting to us at Plastic as we will be able to help our clients expand their applications beyond mobile devices and truly everywhere the consumer is!

Check out the presentation at CES by Samsung:

Want to read more on Samsung Apps? Check these out:
Gizmodo Coverage
Engadget Coverage