Posts Tagged ‘Apple’

680 News now availabe on the iPhone: Does it get any better?

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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.

Posted on January 31st 2010 in Mobile Apps, iPhone | No Comments »

iPad aka iSlate aka Apple Tablet - Finally released!

Apple's iPad

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:








Posted on January 27th 2010 in Announcement, Apple, Apple Tablet, Mobile Innovation, Mobile Marketing News, Mobile technology, iPhone | No Comments »

iPhone App helped save a life in Haiti Earthquake disaster

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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.

Posted on January 25th 2010 in Apple, Mobile Apps, iPhone | No Comments »

The Apple Tablet aka iSlate - How will it impact the mobile industry?

Apple Tablet

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

Posted on January 11th 2010 in Apple, Apple Tablet | No Comments »

Mobile blog is not a blog without APPLE NEWS!!!

Thanks to BoyGenius there is report focused on the a recent patent application by Apple.

So the patent covers biometric and other embedded authentication systems and this has the tech community all riled up.  How can Apple work so hard to hinder jailbreaking and then as part of a very official document, contain images of a jailbroken device. See the images below and lets just wait and see what this is all about.

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Posted on March 28th 2009 in Apple, iPhone | No Comments »

Apple iPhone 3.0–Today was big day for the mobile world

Apple made their announcements today regarding the anticipated release of their iPhone 3.0 and Mobile enthusiasts can’t wait for what is about to come.  Some really great and exciting new features, over a hundred new added in the new release (I will not go through them all), but here are some of the big ones below:

  1. The long anticipated Cut & Paste is here and in a good way.  You can double tap over your selection and a prompt will pop up asking whether you want to cut, copy or paste. You can expand your selection area using your thumb and if you make a mistake when you are pasting, just shake it away…I love it..like eraser dust!
  2. The famous spotlight on a mac is now going to also be available on the iPhone and you would be able to search your entire device.  That is handy!  Search will also be available in Mail and Calendar.
  3. 3G tethering– this is available so you can use the internet on your phone through your computer….no word on whether the carriers are supporting this.
  4. Landscape keyboard has been added to some of the applications, most notably Mail.
  5. MMS now available for the iPhone (this should have been available on the 1.0 but I guess better late than never)
  6. Shake to shuffle music in iTunes
  7. Safety features such as anti-phishing and parental control
  8. Voice Memo application- allows for voice recording
  9. PUSH NOTIFICATION– this is a big one and it is long overdue

There are more features where that came from but and I am sure we will hear all about them in the coming weeks. Come back and I will keep you posted.

Posted on March 17th 2009 in Mobile technology | No Comments »

Mobile web apps will take over Mobile native apps

With all the hype and popularity around mobile (native) apps across smartphones and their respective app stores it’s important to remember that the web browser capabilities on most of these smartphones is quite robust and a lot of the mobile native apps out there can be achieved as a mobile web app as well.

For example let’s take a look at the Webkit browser which is being used on the iPhone, Android, and S60-based phones. It allows for mobile web apps to take advantage of the following capabilities:

  • Advanced Javascript and AJAX
  • Complex animations and graphics support (CSS3 + Canvas)
  • Embed and use a local database
  • Multi-touch navigation
  • Linking to phone and mapping capabilities
  • and more

What does this mean? With these browser capabilities the user experience seen in most native apps can be equally brought forth as a web apps - of course 3D immersive games are not included. Also, as browsers evolve and adopt other W3C standards such as the GeoLocation API, the gap becomes narrower between their native relatives. Furthermore, as smartphones get shipped with these robust mobile web browsers, the web applications can support a wide variety of devices. This is currently not the case with native applications when dealing with cross-devices

Of course, there is an obvious benefit to mobile native apps over mobile web apps - App Stores. App stores can help companies and brands easily distribute (and monetize) their application(s). Looking to how the (desktop) web exploded and is currently being monetized - I am sure similar paths will be taken.

 

A great example is the latest version of GMail for mobile web browsers. Google introduced a new version of GMail for mobile web browsers at the GSMA Mobile World Congress. It exposes a lot of the rich capabilities on smartphone (iPhone and Android only for now) web browsers and allows for GMail to be used offline much like a native app. Below is a demo of it (priovided by iPhone Buzz).

Posted on February 19th 2009 in Mobile technology | No Comments »

iPhone Copycats

Is it just me, or are all new mobile phones being released these days all look + feel exactly like the Apple iPhone? By coincidence they all seem to have very similar feature-sets as well and they all claim that they have just come up with an innovative new product. Are they really to blame? Apple may have just created the perfect mobile phone. For example, take a look at the new Palm Pre and the LG Arena KM900 that are releasing soon.

As if making their phones look and feel like the iPhone wasn’t enough, they’re also knocking off Apple’s monetizing approach with their App Store. Here’s a a list of all the App Stores announced post-iPhone:

  1. Google Android’s Market store
  2. BlackBerry’s App Center
  3. Microsoft Windows Mobile’s SkyMarket store
  4. Nokia’s Ovi store
  5. Palm App Catalog

Apple’s competitors really need to work at innovating and not just ripping off their product and strategy. At least if you do so, please do not pretend that you’ve come up with something revolutionary.

Posted on February 18th 2009 in Mobile technology | No Comments »