Inspirational Innovation » Cell Phone

Iphone Hacks and Applications That Will Transform Your Iphone to Something Truly Different

ti-zary — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 08:52:38 +0000

In this article I will give some insight into the hackers environment of iPhone and give you some reference to some interesting sites that will provide you with resources if you ever want to wander down this road yourself. However, we take no responsibility for any third party links, nor the content found therein either. If you want to jailbrake your iPhone, then you have to be aware of one thing, you will depend much on your own knowledge about how to maneuver with your new modified iPhone.

However, it is fun, it opens a totally new world for use of the iPhone. You will be able to take part of some very innovative use of the Mac operating system as well as its user interface. It is a world with almost no limitations.

If you want to, you can wait for Apple’s release of its SDK and wait for some developers coming up with some official applications for your iPhone. However there are thoughts in the market that Apple will not reveal all of iPhone’s potential through its SDK and therefore it will be utilized for development of applications Apple themselves find convenient for iPhone and especially for the business related side of iPhone.

We will start our search for resources and you are more than welcome to take a peek behind some of the links and begin to learn the true potential of your iPhone.

http://iphone.dashbuster.com/

Manage Your Blockbuster Queue From Your iPhone

You can view your shipped and queued movies, as well as drag and drop Queue reorganizing. You will also be able to search for and add movies as well as add movies from Blockbusters RSS feeds.

http://www.modmyifone.com/forums/

Here you can get tips as well as apps and downloads for your iPhone, such as Firmware, iPhone Software, Modded files, Stock files, templates, themes and Widgets for the iPhone.

http://www.iphonehacks.com/

Here you will find iPhone Hacks. It is your source for the latest Apple iPhone Hacks JailBreak Unlocking News Applications Tips & Tricks Reviews Rumors Blog on the Apple iPhone … Fix for iPhone’s

http://www.iphone-hacks.com/

iPhone Hacks, Cracks, Homebrew, and Modifications. All your iPhone underground needs! … Hack your Apple iPhone Welcome to the source for all your iPhone Hacks . iPhone hackers . This is another source for all iPhone Hacks. iPhone hackers, developers, and researchers around the globe have been working hard to open the device in hopes to achieve what Apple never intended. iphone-hacks.com aims to share all the hacking, mods, cracks, and discoveries with you — in one central location.

http://www.iphonestalk.com/

On this site you will find the latest iPhone Accessories, News, Reviews, ringtones and more.

http://forums.iphonehacks.com/

iPhone Hacks Forums :: Forums for the latest Hacks News Applications Tips & Tricks Reviews Rumors on the Apple iPhone.

http://www.iphonefreak.com/iphone_hacks/

News and hacks for your iPhone can be found here. Some tricks and tips are also found here.

http://www.iphonegizmo.com/

If you are looking for downloads for your iphone then you might like this great site we found where you can get heaps of iphone downloads – PLUS PLUS!!! – plus videos, PLUS movies, PLUS music, PLUS TV shows like “The OC”, PLUS games (and a stack of other downloads!).

If you look for the Iphone Guitar application, it is available on installer.

Some interesting tips and reference to pages with this installer can be found at http://code.google.com/p/pocketguitar/

Is the Iphone Boom a Business Boom?

ti-zary — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 08:55:44 +0000

Is the iPhone Boom a Business Boon?

We all know how the iPhone frenzy has grabbed popular imagination since it was first announced in Jan 2007. With its cool feature set, slick appearance, powerful computing capabilities, beautiful display and intuitive touch navigation, this poster boy of the mobile generation has captured the imagination of gizmo freaks and tech phobics alike. To get some measure of iPhone’s success, one only needs refer to Tim Cook’s (Apple’s COO) recent statement at a conference – he said that the company had “really good confidence” the company would hit 10 million iPhones sold by the end of 2008.

According to a research from IDC, 70 percent of those polled who own, or plan to purchase an iPhone in the next year, consider it to be for both personal and business use.

Considering the vast proliferation of iPhones in such a short span, it is natural that all those who own a iPhone would want to extend its use to business as well. And it is no joy carrying around a Blackberry and iPhone in either pocket. All that does is to exert extra downward pressure on the belt. It is no wonder then, that iPhone’s usability in a business context is a raging debate nowadays. That is still a secondary question, because the fact remains that present and future end users of iPhone see is as something they want to use for business.

The Bad News

Unfortunately for corporates, iPhone was created mainly for the meatier consumer market, and never really meant to be a business tool.

What Obstructs “iPhone for Business”

- It’s mainly a PIM

- Third party applications not supported

- Lack of Exchange Support

Mainly a PIM – iPhone mainly has PIM(personal information manager) capabilities (email, contacts, calendars, calendars, notes) and not meant to be used for team collaboration, which requires the ability to share and work togather on information.

Sorry Third Party Developers – iPhone runs on a custom built operating system called the “iPhone OS”, and at this point does not allow third party applications to be built & installed on this native OS. Users are restricted to applications prebuilt into the system (mail, sms, calendar, photos, etc). This meant no special business centric applications could be created to make use of iPhone’s computing & display capabilities and internet-ability.

No Exchange Support – The gravest ommision was a lack of support for MS Exchange, which meant that users could not view even the most most elementary business information – business mail, contacts, tasks, and calendars, on their iPhones, what to speak of advanced collaboration. The only way to achieve this was complicated and unreliable workarounds.

The Good News

iPhone’s Business Friendly Features

- Rich Safari Browser

- Web 2.0 Applications Allowed

- Internet Friendly

- Recent Apple Announcements

Hurray for Web 2.0 – The good news is that they allowed a small window, through which an elephant could be pushed. Soon after its launch, Apple announced that it would allow third party web applications supporting web 2.0 standards, to run on iPhone though its rich Safari browser. This effectively meant that iPhone could be part of the web 2.0 revolution, and access all the rich applications therein.

The Safari Browser – iPhones web browser Safari, is a full web browser with the works. It is light years ahead of the custom made web browsers of traditional corporate handhelds like Palm’s Blazer browser, Blackberry browser, etc. It is not just comparable to a desktop browser, but is a desktop browser. This allows iPhone to ride high on the current web 2.0 wave, rather than just being a bystander.

According to AT&T and Google, iPhone generated 50 times more search requests than any other mobile handset.

Internet-ability- iPhone allows internet access through wi-fi or wide area EDGE networks. One important prerequisite for a mobile to be an effective remote collaboration tool is the willingness and comfort level of users to use the device for web access. With no little thanks to the large display & the safari browser, the iPhone has been a huge success as a device for web access. The iPhone increased the average wireless data usage as much as 30 times higher than on other phones.

Apple finally Awakens from its Slumber – Only lately has Apple has woken up to the previously ignored aspect of business usage. This was largely caused by the hue and cry raised by the media and users over its frustrating lack of business friendlyness. Even as I write, there is news of iPhone finally offering Exchange support, and an iPhone SDK (software development kit) which will allow programmers to develop applications specifically to be installed on the iPhone.

But these new developments are not just in their infancy, but even foetal stage. It will be some time before these new applications find their feet, an truly provide trouble free functionality to businesses.

Exchange support at this time is issue riddled and works only for companies that support Exchange 2007 or Direct Push on Exchange 2003. Moreover, this and the launch of installed applications for iPhone wont take place until a firmware update slated for June 2008.

Webapps to the Rescue : HyperOffice as a case in study

Amongst the first companies to regonise the oppurtunity presented by iPhone for rich business applications was HyperOffice. Already well experienced in the web based business collaboration domain, they developed HyperOffice for iPhone, an iPhone specific version of their flagship product, HyperOffice.

This allowed business users to use almost the entire feature set HyperOffice right from their iPhones. Rather than an isolated personal information manager, HyperOffice allowed iPhone to be used as a dynamic collaboration tool through which users could access the company intranet, share contacts and calendars, plan projects, share and edit documents, schedule meetings, & many other things.

They also realised early on that a major pain point for users looking to use iPhone for business was a lack of Exchange support. HyperOffice allows users to get past this hurdle easily by acting as a bridge between Exchange and iPhone. It allows users to receive information directly from Exchange, or access Outlook information (mail, contacts, calendars, tasks) right on iPhone, with or without Exchange. No matter where users access mail and other information – Outlook, iPhone’s email client or on any other web device, information is automatically synched. Users always get updated information.

Bluetooth Device And Popularity

Sally Thompson — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 07:23:27 +0000

Bluetooth device is one of those electronic gadgets that have swiftly and speedily gained popularity in the consumer market of electronic devices. They are modern, sleek and fashion symbol. Nobody is left there in the race to buy the most modern Bluetooth device for their fashion statement.

If you have multiple devices and electronic computer systems then you can use Bluetooth as the perfect gadget to listen to the voice or music on them. Many people use them as the hands-free device to listen and receive the calls on their mobile systems.

These Bluetooth product and accessories are available at various price ranges. You can find a good piece of Bluetooth with its accessories for around $50. You may wish to buy a model more highly priced such as $200 for its unique and high end performance. You can buy any model within this price range according to your specific needs.

There are many convenient features built in the Bluetooth device such as hands free calling, no need to use hands to answer a call and also last but not least voice dialing option.

There are many types of Bluetooth devices which offer the user a large range of numerous designs, styles and various built in features. These elegant electronic gadgets are available in a variety of colors and shades as well. These models are not only attractive but hold the potential to impress any type of user and his needs.

Since there are various manufacturers so there are numerous designs and styles available in the market. Some Bluetooth devices are found in sleek designs from metallic shining bases to neutral colors. Design excellence in conjunction with the user comfort and ease is the name for Bluetooth technologies.

The built in fan in many models is used for cooling down the device while it is in continuous use. The Bluetooth models are available both in wired form or wireless as per requirement of the user.

The docking base available with many models of Bluetooth as an accessory is another great gadget. It may work as platform to the Bluetooth and also change the Bluetooth into speaker when placed inside the docking base.

The increasing demand of the Bluetooth devices is compelling the manufacturers of this product to launch more innovative gadgets to compete the other. Whether you have to listen to the music or respond to a call during drive or work without using your hands Bluetooth device is the gadget for you.

Bluetooth users are increasing day by day and its popularity is not coming down at all. The compatible transmitters allow you to experience music and call feature with ease each time. Latest models are often launched into the market of mobile industry with innovative improved feature each time.

With the rising popularity of Bluetooth gadgets and accessories it may not be wrong to assume that they will be one of the most consumed or used gadgets of all over the next couple of years.

If you are interested about the Author`s site visit Car Hifi. This article was written by the business marketer from powernetshop.at, check out Auto Boxen, and what it can do for you..

Create, Design & Launch Your Iphone Application

ti-zary — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 08:52:08 +0000

The Apple iPhone is an amazing device that invites creativity. You’ve probably said to yourself: ‘I wish I could do that on my iPhone.’

With the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK), programmers can make your ideas reality – even if you yourself don’t know the difference between a C-pointer and a SQLite database.

More than 200 iPhone application projects have already been posted on Elance.com. Check out these tips in this article to get your project kick-started.

We focus on the development of applications for the Apple iPhone, and we asked Nick Dalton, iPhone SDK specialist, to give Elance buyers a few tips on how to scope and post an iPhone Application project. Here’s what he had to say:

The iPhone is an amazing device that invites creativity. If you’re an iPhone owner I’m sure you’ve said to yourself: ‘I wish I could do that on my iPhone, or I have a great idea for an iPhone application’.

With the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK), programmers can make your ideas reality – even if you yourself don’t know the difference between a C-pointer and a SQLite database. But before you go ahead and post your application idea to the buzzing iPhone project area on www.Elance,com. here are some pointers to get your project kick-started:

Study the Masters
Apple has already spent a lot of time thinking about how to present information and build interactive applications on the iPhone. The applications that come with the iPhone are the results of this research. Study them in great detail and try to apply as many of the user interface metaphors as possible to your application.

Not only will Apple be flattered if you imitate the user interface in their applications, but they actually mandate it to a great level of detail as described in their Human Interface Guidelines.

Dream in Color Screens
Most applications for the iPhone will be very visual. Therefore it makes sense to provide your requirements as screen images or sketches. You don’t have to be a graphics artist to do this effectively. An iPhone programmer is looking for the following information:

- The type of layout each screen should have

- The buttons on the screens

- The actions associated with each button

The exact shape and format of your screen sketches is secondary. As long as they are readable, it’s a great way to communicate your application design to a programmer.

Be Realistic About Your Budget
Look at other iPhone projects posted on Elance to get a sense for the bid amounts on these projects. Read the descriptions of these projects to see if they seem to be larger or smaller projects than what you have in mind. If you set your budget to under $500 for something that is realistically going to take a programmer two months to implement, you are not likely to attract many bidders.

From a programming perspective, some things are easy to do on the iPhone, while other seemingly simple things are very time consuming. For example the beautiful cover-flow animation used in the music application on the iPhone should be simple to use in other applications. Unfortunately you can’t. If you want this animation within your application it will have to be written from scratch, probably costing a one month of work.

If you talk to an approved iPhone developer early in your application design process you can learn how to get most out of your budget by avoiding the things that are really difficult to do on the iPhone.

Don’t Be Too Original
iPhone users already know how to do certain tasks on their phones by convention. For example, if you tap an item in a list that has a > icon next to it, you expect to be taken to another screen with more information about that item. If your application needs similar functionality, don’t be creative and come up with a new way to solve the same problem. Use the conventions already established by Apple.

New conventions are difficult to establish especially with the touch interface because there is no way to discover how your application works on the iPhone. Unlike a website where you can hover with the mouse pointer over areas that look like you can interact with them and a tool tip or the status bar will reveal some clues to you.

Know Your Limitations
The current version of the iPhone SDK, which is used to write applications for the iPhone, has many restrictions and limitations. Some of them are common sense, e.g. you can’t send text messages from an application. Imagine an application that sends out thousands of text messages without your knowledge, who is going to pay the phone bill for that?

Other restrictions are maddening: applications cannot access the log of phone calls, or interact in any way with the calendar or the music stored on the iPhone.

To Apple’s credit, the iPhone SDK is an amazing piece of software especially given that it was publicly released as a Beta just three months ago. Some of the shortcomings listed above will likely be addressed in future releases of the SDK.

As a buyer with an idea for an iPhone application, you should educate yourself about these limitations before you spend too much time designing an application that is impossible to implement. Talk to a developer or company that specializes in iPhone development (and there are many available on Elance) and they can help you get on the right track from the start.

About
Nick Dalton (username: 360mind) is an experienced iPhone SDK specialist and Elance.com service provider. He has 15+ years of background in programming, and currently focuses his business, 360mind, 100% on the development of iPhone applications. For more information on Nick, check out his book, 101 iPhone Tips and Tricks.

Make Your Cell Phone Smarter With Trendy Accessories

Dave White — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 07:49:50 +0000

The present life of people is updated with the use of technology and science. You can observe the drastic change in the lifestyles of people and the credit completely goes to new era which is dominated by science and technology. The modern technology has blessed us with some great devices that are useful to the people of every age. The door of communication has reached to the new phase with the introduction of expertise and technology.

The increase in popularity of these cell phones and its usage has led to the drastic increase in the utilization of the linked accessories. These days the market is flourished with a new range of some useful trimmings which can be employed to enhance the appearance of your handset. On the other hand, some cell phone accessories can form an important part in the life of people who owe a touchtone phone.

These garnishes take the account of Bluetooth headsets, chargers, screen protectors, batteries, leather cases, some trendy straps and many more. The Bluetooth dangles, USB Data Cables, SIM cards, Memory Cards, housing, LCD screens, portable speakers, audio adapters and some more accessories of the same kind can form an important part in the life of people who owe a multimedia handset.

Always remember that these accessories can reflect your personality as well as taste on the people that surround you. These accessories can form an important and crucial part in the life of the mobile owners. The signal boosters are an important part for your handsets. Apart from all these trimmings, the cases for your handsets, batteries, boosters and the mirror screen protectors can be employed to enhance the functions of your handsets.

Cases which are manufactured for your handsets are important accomplices that can averts your cell from any somewhat external damage. There is a wide range of these cases that can be used for giving a shelter to your handset. The market is flourished with the designer cases that can adds a style statement to your handset. These covers are prepared from soft and delicate materials.

Apart from the cases, the Bluetooth headset can form an important part for your touchtone phone. Plantronics, Jabra and the BlueAnt are the most common and highly recognized handsets which can be employed to for receiving the calls when you are busy with your drive. They can provide you the help to receive calls on your handsets on a handy and convenient way.

The cell phone accessories add a charm to your handsets. They have become the great equipments that can improve the functions of your handset

The cell phone accessories can easily improve the attractiveness and support the functioning of the cell phones. The accessories further increase the convenience in using the functional facilities available within the gadgets. To know more about latest cute cell phone accessories please visit us.

10 Things to Hate About the Iphone

ti-zary — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 08:54:13 +0000

10 things to hate about the iPhone

I took delivery of my iPhone at the start of September, the start of a trying month personally that saw me out of the office for very long periods and only in touch with the world via my phone. It was a baptism of fire for me and the device.

You will have seen the adverts, played with it in phone shops, looked over fellow commuters’ shoulders, borrowed your friend’s … great isn’t it? Or is it?

In this article I touch on some of the things about the device that have really irked me. Just a bit or quite a lot. And to maintain the celestial karmic balance I have a companion article on some of the things about the iPhone that I absolutely love. There’s enough material for both articles, I assure you!

So here we go, in reverse order, the 10 things that you should hate about the iPhone!

10. Grubby fingers and the onscreen keyboard

The iPhone’s onscreen keyboard is surprisingly effective and doesn’t take long to get used to.

Just remember to wash your hands before you do so, however! This isn’t just cosmetic: For some reason I manage to leave a sticky mark under my right thumb that attract dust, biscuit crumbs, or whatever, right over the erase key. Usually the crumb lands there just as I finish the 2 page email and starts to rub out the whole message character by character! This is not an exaggeration!! It is, however, not a daily occurrence!!

9. External memory

I went the whole hog and took the 16GB iPhone immediately. I don’t regret it! I haven’t been selective with my music collection and have more or less all my ripped CDs stored on the iPhone. That’s 14GB. Which leaves precious little room for real data.

On other devices this is rarely a problem and non-volatile storage is usually flash memory of some description, the size of which obeys Moore’s law and doubles in size and speed every 9 months or so and halves in physical size every 2 years or so with a new “mini” or “micro” format. I have yet to run out of space on a mobile phone or smartphone, even with an address book of over 500 names.

The problem on the iPhone is that there is no external memory slot and no way (short of wielding a soldering iron) of expanding the internal memory. A shame. The iPod Touch has recently spawned a 32GB version and I imagine that the 32GB iPhone is on its way. When that happens the legacy user base will be left wondering what to do next.

8. Battery and battery life

The iPhone is sleek – barely a centimetre thick and enticingly smooth with those rounded edges. There are few buttons, no little doors to come open and break off in your pocket and no memory slots to fill up with fluff and dirt.

One of the reasons for the smooth design is that the iPhone does not have a user removeable battery. The battery can be changed by a service centre, and over the two years I will keep this device I expect to have to change the battery at least once, but I cannot do it myself. Also the battery is surprisingly small – it has to be to fit into this neat little package.

The price you pay for this is battery life. My device is now 6 weeks old and have been fully cycled about 5 times (I tend to keep the battery on charge but allow it to run flat at least once a week). If I am not using the device constantly, just checking the device twice an hour and answering calls, using 3G and Push, I can rely on a full working day of 10 to 12 hours between charges. If I turn on WiFi this drops to 6 or 7 hours. If I use the GPS without WiFi, autonomy drops to 4 or 5 hours. If I wanted to be really frugal and last a full 24 hours, I would need to turn off both Push email and 3G, and reduce screen brightness to a minimum.

For some people this is a major issue. For me, since I usually either have a PC on and can trail a USB cable, or spend the day driving with the iPhone hooked up as an iPod and being charged by the car, it is less of a constraint. But it remains an annoyance. I haven’t yet seen an iPhone equivalent of the Dell Latitude “Slice” – a battery “back pack” for the iPhone that could more than double autonomy with minimal extra thickness, but I assume that someone, somewhere, is working on an aftermarket device.

7. Document management

There is no equivalent of the Windows Mobile File Manager or Mac Finder on the iPhone so there is no way of manipulating file objects on device.

Admittedly the iPhone does a credible job of shielding you from the need to do any file level manipulation: For example the Camera has a photo album that is also accessible in other applications that need to access images (for example, the iBlogger application I use to write short articles on this site). But there are still occasions when you need to manipulate individual file objects.

One is during installation and set up when installing root certificates for SSL so that the device can talk to an Exchange server: Unless you use Apple’s enterprise deployment tool (which locks down the device and prevents further configuration changes, so not always desirable), the only ways to set up the device for Exchange are to set up a temporary IMAP account and download an attachment that you open, or to set up a website with the root certificate and define the appropriate MIME types on the web server (I could not get this to work, incidentally!). How much easier it would be to download the certificate onto the device using Windows explorer (connecting to a PC via USB exposes the devices memory as an attached storage device) and to be able to open the certificate file from memory on the iPhone.

The other key need for this functionality is when manipulating attachments on email messages. There is no way of saving attachments, or attaching documents selectively to a new or forwarded message.

6. Navigating through email folders

I tend to keep a lot of emails in my mailbox. I archive once a year, and usually towards the end of the following year. I’m also fairly busy and work on a dozen consulting and business development projects at a time. That means two things: a lot of emails, and the need to organise those emails sensibly.

I organise my emails into trees – consulting projects in separate folders and these folders organised by client, all kept separate from companies I’m invested in and from my personal stuff. Probably 40 or 50 folders.

On Windows Mobile devices I can organise this quite cleanly, with the ability to expand or collapse sections of the folder tree. The iPhone recognises the tree, but gives me no means of collapsing the hierarchy. The Inbox is always at the top: Junk email is always at the bottom. Moving incorrectly junked emails means traversing the whole tree, which is a pain even using the classy flick scroll gesture. It’s clumbsy and unnecessary.

5. Filtering offline email content

The other side of this complexity is managing how much of my “online archive” to take with me.

There is no need (and no space) to take it all with me: I am quite used to placing sensible limits on the section of the mail folder to take with me. Windows Mobile allows me to take 1, 2 or 3 months worth of email with me, to say whether I take attachments with me, all the email or just the headers. I can even select which folders to take or leave behind. And I don’t need to worry if I go away and find I am missing a crucial folder – I can change the parameters and the device will download what’s missing.

The iPhone is slightly less flexible. It won’t let me download attachments pre-emptively: It will only load the message header and leave the attachment behind unless and until I select the email manually. I can define how many days of emails I download from 1 day to 1 month, but beyond that I cannot specify a limit. I have a filter on the number of messages within a folder that I display from 25 to 200 messages but the interaction between this setting and the time limit is not entirely clear. If you are a light user this is less of an issue: For a heavier email user with a complex folder hieracrchy you have less control and can run into memory management issues as a result.

4. Message management and Exchange

The worst problem with message management on the iPhone is actually specific to Microsoft Exchange.

I am an expert user and really love Microsoft Exchange. It isn’t just my mail server: It’s a full collaboration engine, with group and resource scheduling, rich address book, “to do” lists, journaling, contact histories etc. I don’t use it for fax and voice mail yet, but that is just a question of not having made the time to buy the interface box to the PBX and turn that feature on. So I am up there with the other 60% of enterprise mailbox users that are hooked on Exchange.

When the iPhone first appeared the Exchange interaction story was weak. It could do IMAP, but that’s just a fraction of the story. No problem, that wasn’t Apple’s intended primary audience either, but the enterprise users clearly wanted the iPhone, so Apple got to work.

To be fair to them, Apple have done a lot with iPhone 3G to improve the Exchange story. Most of the security protocols are there, including critical features like remote wipe and SSL, and it supports Push. Enterprise deployment is straightforward too with a dedicated enterprise setup tool that supports remote device configuration. Unfortunately Apple seem to have stopped halfway through the API and a lot of Exchange functionality is overlooked. Some of this, like losing some data richness within calendar and contact items, doesn’t affect all users equally. Other elements are more critical, however.

The best way to describe this is how you forward email messages with attachments. The Exchange API permits clients to forward the message without the message content being stored locally: You can forward the header and the server will attach the attachments and other rich content before forwarding. The iPhone doesn’t understand this: First it has to download all of the message and attachments from the server to the iPhone, then it has to add the forwarding address and send the entire message back to the server. Moving a message between folders is the same and involves the same telecommunications overhead. A nuisance for me, but no more than that: If you aren’t on a data bundle and pay by the MB then you need to be wary of this.

[Another side effect of this issue is that server-side disclaimers and signatures get placed at the end of the forwarded message, rather than under new message text.]

3. Reading HTML and rich text messages

I love HTML emails. I know that is considered a cardinal sin in some quarters, but as someone once said, if email had been invented after http would email have been done any other way? HTML is ubiquitous, it is clean and it works.

And of course being the best mobile web device on the market, the iPhone should be a fantastic HTML email reader, shouldn’t it?

Well, it very nearly is. It does some things really well. It gets the layout, it renders inline graphics, it’ll even show some background. But what if the text is really wide? It’ll wrap won’t it? No, it won’t. It’ll shrink the text to fit. It’ll make the text really, really small. And you can’t cheat by rotating the device, making the screen “wider” and the font larger, because the mail client doesn’t support landscape presentation (why???).

Of course you can zoom in, because it’s HTML, but then you have to scan the whole line, whizzing across the page to the end of the line, then whizzing back again to get the start of the next line. Oh dear!

2. Task switching

The iPhone is a lovely, clean design. And part of the cool, clean look comes from the absence of nasty short cut action buttons.

The iPhone has only three buttons on the edges of the device: the on/off button on the top, the volume up/down toggle on the side and the excellent single button mute button above the volume toggle. That’s it. The only other button on the device is the “home” button on the front, below the screen.

The home button stops whatever application you are engaged on and takes you to the home page of the device – the pretty page full of icons that start up each application on the device. Good job it’s pretty, because you see an awful lot of it.

There is no way to jump straight to your calendar, or address book, or email. Apart from the one “double click” action (user configurable to either select phone favourites or iPod controls), the only way to start a task is to go back to the home page and up again into the application you want. Find an interesting URL in an email that you want to look at in Safari? Memorise it well, or write it down, because unless the text has been created as a link you’ll have to go back to the home page, start Safari, type the URL, realise you’ve got it wrong, press the home button again, start email, open the email, find the URL … and start again.

Or you could just select the URL and cut and paste it into the browser address bar … except …

1. How on earth do you cut and paste?

Once Xerox had invented the mouse, the GUI and WYSIWYG editing, it was up to Apple to take that technology and make it affordable with the Lisa and the Mac. And Microsoft to make it ubiquitous, of course.

One of the joys of using the mouse, or any pointing device, is that it gives you a third dimension as you move around the page. You aren’t constrained by the line or the word or the paragraph – you can jump straight to any part of the document. And you can select parts of a document by dragging over a word, a line, a paragraph, and do something with it. Like cutting it out. Or copying it. Or dragging it. It’s normal. That’s just what you do. You don’t have 3 hour seminars and training courses on using a mouse (or a stylus) to point and select, click and drag. You demonstrate it once, the student understands and does it.

But the company that helped the mouse escape from the lab and get into the shops seems to have forgotten all about it. Get out your iPhone. Write a sentence. Write another one. Oops – that second sentence would make more sense BEFORE the first one. I’ll just cut and paste the sentence. Oh no you won’t!! Because there is no cut and paste on the iPhone. Hear that? No? Well, I’ll say it again! THERE IS NO CUT AND PASTE ON THE IPHONE.

Google around a bit and you’ll find dozens of articles on the subject. You’ll find surprise, indignation, horror. You’ll even find brave Apple gurus explaining sagely that you don’t need cut and paste because the iPhone gives you more direct ways of using information, like linking URLS, or detecting phone numbers, or, er, something.

The most likely explanation is that once Apple has decided to do away with the stylus, the only UI gesture was to use two fingers and drag that over the page to select some text. But that gesture had already been taken with the excellent pinch zoom movement used on large documents and web pages.

There is a way out, however. Some very credible proof of concept demonstrations have been put on the web showing how a sustained point and drag with single finger (like the stylus selection action in Windows Mobile) would be workable and not conflict with any other screen action on the iPhone.

Let’s hope that the concept demos work and we see cut and paste implemented in an upcoming firmware release. In the meantime, at least twice every day I bet every iPhone user will silently curse, shrug and give up writing that urgent memo because they just can’t be bothered to type it all again.

So that’s it. Please don’t get me wrong, I think the iPhone is a wonderful, iconic and transformational device. As with the Mac, it has changed our perception of what a mobile device should be. Mobile phones and smartphones will never be the same again.

It’s just that for all it’s brilliance, it remains flawed. The iPhone is the product of a prolific and brilliant yet highly introspective group of engineers. Left free to innovate, unrestrained by any notion of reality or practicality or what the user currently thinks he or she wants, Apple have created a concept device. I’m grateful they have, but I fear that it will be up to other companies, with a clearer grasp of what the user can use, in particular what ELSE the user is doing, to take the iPhone to the next step.

Blackberry Storm Vs Iphone 3g: Will Rim’s Blackberry be Iphone Killer?

ti-zary — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 08:54:09 +0000

Recently I had published a side-by-side comparison of the iPhone 3G and T-Mobile G1 DVD Converter which evoked an interesting debate.(from:iphonehacks)

Here comes another side-by-side comparison of Apple’s iPhone 3G with RIM’s BlackBerry Storm, which is considered as another iPhone Killer.

BlackBerry Storm is expected to be released some time in November exclusively by Verizon in the US and Vodafone in UK.

Hardware Spec
Dimension:
Storm = 4.4 x 2.4 x 0.6 inches
iPhone 3G = 5.5 x 2.4 x 0.48 inches
Weight:
Storm = 155g
iPhone = 133g
Screen Size:
Storm = 3.2 inches
iPhone = 3.5 inches
Camera:
Storm = 3.2M pixel
iPhone = 2M pixel
Memory:
Storm = 1GB on board + 16GB expandable with MicroSD
iPhone = 8GB / 16GB (No expansion)
Battery:
Storm = 5.5hrs talk time / 360 hrs standby
iPhone = 5hrs talk time / 300 hrs standby

Unlike T-Mobile G1 that we have reviewed earlier, BlackBerry Storm “steals” the design and looks much like the iPhone 3G. However, it does not look as sleek as iPhone 3G. It’s a little bit thicker (0.14inches more) and heavier (22g more) than iPhone 3G. And, surprisingly, BlackBerry Storm does not come with Wi-Fi support or they probably consider Verizon’s 3G network is good enough.

BlackBerry Storm’s screen is also a little bit smaller (3.2 inch) as compared to iPhone 3G (3.5 inch), however it sports a slightly higher resolution (460×360 pixels) than iPhone 3G (460×360 pixels).

Winner: iPhone 3G

Tips: How to convert DVD to iPhone 3G

Input Method

With the success of iPhone’s multi-touch interface, touch is now the standard for any new smartphone. Like iPhone, Storm does not have physical slide-out keyboard and uses the screen as input, in fact its RIM’s first smartphone to feature a touch screen. However, RIM highlights that the touch technology developed on Storm is somewhat different to other touch screen smartphone available. RIM refers its touch technology as “Clickable Screen”. That means, when users press key on screen, they can actually feel the key pressed and release, just like you press the mouse button. They call it a game changing touch technology that makes on-screen keyboard more appealing.

Also, like T-Mobile G1, it will have built-in cut and paste capability across applications a feature missing from iPhone 3G.

Winner:Its difficult to call a winner on this one, until we get feedback from users on RIM’s touch technology. We love iPhone 3G’s revolutionary multi-touch interface.

Multimedia
Multimedia support is not the strong area of RIM smartphones, as they predominantly targets business users. Storm is developed with multiple support in mind to lure more casual users. Standard feature like music and video playback is included. A wide range of audio format (including MP3, AAC, WMA, etc) and video format (including MPEG4, WMV, etc). Storm also allows you to sync iTunes music files via BlackBerry Media Sync and has its own media software to manage your music.

iPhone 3G is the best iPod Apple has ever created. The music and video playback experience is awesome. And, Apple continues to update features like Genius Playlist into iPhone makes iPhone’s multimedia support nearly unbeatable. With its seamless integration with iTunes Store, you can download songs wirelessly or sync it between desktop using iTunes. iPhone 3G also supports a wide range of music formats but only plays Quick Time video.

Winner: iPhone 3G

Camera & Video Recording

Apple did not upgrade the camera in iPhone 3G, its still a basic 2 megapixel camera while Storm comes with 3.2 megapixel camera and includes video recording capability. Storm also includes a flash and auto focus for its camera.

Winner: BlackBerry Storm

Modem Capability
iPhone 3G does not support tethering and Apple tends to ban any applications in App Store that adds this capability. The only option you have is to jailbreak the iPhone and use jailbreak apps such as PDANet, iPhoneModem etc. BlackBerry Storm, on the other hands, comes with tethering built-in.

Winner: BlackBerry Storm
Tips: How to convert DVD to Blackberry with Daniusoft DVD BlackBerry Converter?

Enterprise Feature

Apple has made quite a few strides to take market share from RIM in the enterprise area. iPhone 3G, with built-in support for Microsoft’s ActiveSync protocol, lets enterprise users to access Microsoft Exchange’s services. Also, it takes a great step forwards to support Cisco IPsec VPN, which is a standard in enterprise wireless security. Further, it incorporates a feature to let administrator to wipe data remotely, in case the iPhone is lost or stolen.

RIM is always the leader in enterprise wireless devices. Storm, by no means, continues to lead in this area. The enterprise support is outstanding that different security policies can be defined, such that administrator may enable or shutdown specific bluetooth profiles; and even, to disable its digital camera access.

Winner: BlackBerry Storm

To sum up, BlackBerry strikes a balance between business and causal use. It’s, by far, the sleekest BlackBerry; which should help RIM lure causal customers.

Is it another iPhone killer? Its difficult to conclude. iPhone 3G and BlackBerry both come with some unique features that neither have and they are positioned differently in the market.
However, I still fail to understand the omission of Wi-Fi in BlackBerry Storm, its true that BlackBerry is targeted at the business users who use it primarily for email, but still it seems like a major disadvantage over iPhone 3G.

As a consumer device, iPhone will definitely win thanks to the iPod application, its Safari browser which is easily the most advanced web browser on a portable device which makes browsing the internet on the iPhone a treat and overall for its cool factor. But if you turn to some business-savvy users and enterprise, BlackBerry is still the de-facto choice.

RIM has also not disclosed the pricing or the official shipping date.

You can checkout the demo video of BlackBerry Storm to get an overview:

BlackBerry Storm, T-Mobile G1 and soon to be released Nokia’s XpressMusic phone (Nokia’s first touch screen phone) might or might not end up being iPhone killers but they are healthy competition to Apple’s iPhone 3G that will ensure that Apple constantly innovates which in the end is beneficial for consumers like us.

Let us know which one is a winner from your point of view and why?

Open a Whole New World of Entertainment Via 3G Iphone

ti-zary — Mon, 31 May 2010 09:01:31 +0000

The invention of iphones has revolutionized the whole concept of mobile phones. Earlier the invention of mobile phones was considered to be the highest achievement of technological advancement. The iphones gave a whole new dimension to this concept. After Apple declared its decision to launch iphones the arrival of iphones was waited upon by all. The techies specially wanted to check out the special features and technological processes that were implemented for its production. Soon after the launching of iphones its unlocking devices were also created which allowed the user to access others as well as restricted connections.

When Apple came up with its newer version of 3G iphone, they said that it would be impossible to unlock 3G iphone; however, the 3G iphone unlock were created within few days by techies throughout the world. If you want to unlock iphone 3G and you do not have adequate knowledge about the process you can still do it easily by applying software’s specially designed for that purpose-to unlock 3g iphone.

The software that initiates iphone 3G unlock facility can be downloaded easily from any well-known website that participates in the sale of such software. However, before you get the software downloaded you should check out the genuineness of the website. Improper website can charge you money and give you some software that doesn’t serve your purpose at all. For this reason the authenticity of the websites services needs to be checked properly. Rather than serving the purpose to unlock 3G iphone the software from false websites can cause severe damage to your iphone.

There are other methods as well that you can apply to unlock iphone 3G that you can use and avail the facilities that an unlocked iphone can provide. Iphone sim card unlock is also considered as viable option that can be facilitated for your iphone. This method is highly popular and many people have adopted it to unlock iphone 3G. This system works with the application of duplicate sim card that is placed on top of the original sim. This duplicate thin sim card help in the procedure of iphone 3G unlock. The greatest thing about this system is that other than 3G iphone unlock it also helps in the unlocking other versions of iphone. The greatest feature about the iphone sim card unlock is that it doesn’t disable your actual sim card but functions along with that. Iphone sim card unlock is a reliable method to unlock iphone 3G and has served a positive purpose for many who have used this procedure to unlock 3G iphone.

Iphone 3G unlock serves an excellent purpose as it opens up other website services to your iphones. Through this process you can easily download entertaining games, latest software and you can also enable accessibility to other iphone functioning. Through 3G iphone unlock you can not only unlock iphones but also various mobile phone connections.

Get 3G iphone unlock today and ensure excellent services and facilities through your iphone. It would open a whole new world of fun and enjoyment for you and you will never regret having done such experimentation with your iphone.

Why choose iPhone as a third generation mobile?

ti-zary — Sun, 30 May 2010 08:53:16 +0000

18-04-2009

There are number of smart phones like Blackberry Storm, LG Dare, and LG Voyager are available in the market but the main reason to choose iPhone is obviously its function , features and application that iPhone provides. The display of iPhone is not only smooth but also more responsive as compare with other mobiles. Beside this iPhone has a heat sensitive flush screen with one-touch access to apps on the iPhone with great sensor detection. The screen is also capable of rendering up to 262,144 colors and more.

The market price of iPhone is quit higher as compare with other smart phones. Beside this the iPhone has a great demand in market due to its satisfaction functionality that only iPhone can provide. The iPhone Application not only support wide variety of user requirements, from teens to adults, but also offers mind blowing applications that one can not imagine. In iPhone a person can get optimum use of it’s software and hardware.

On July 11, 2008, the iPhone 3G was released. It supports faster third generation data speeds and Assisted GPS.The 3G iPhone have 128MB DRAM and a flash memory up to 8 to 16 GB. iPhone requires minimum hardware interface and provides more user interface while using iPhone applications.

Iphone is a third generation Revolutionary device having wide flush multi-touch screen and a great resolution screen with 480×320 pixels. iPhone has Built-in rechargeable, non-removable battery. The iPhone features an internal rechargeable battery. It is not user-replaceable, similar to the batteries of existing iPods, and unlike those of most existing cellular phones. iPhone sustain variant of various application, such applications are so much unusual which you can’t get in traditional mobile phone. Moreover, iPhone it self contain various multimedia applications, visual voice mail, portable media player (iPod) and of course a GPS functionality.

Perception system has knowledgeable experts programmer who are working on iPhone Application Development. Perception System has developed various iPhone Mobile Application & Website Development, iPhone Programming. We can make third party iPhone applications for such a revolutionary device up till now and moving ahead.

Iphone Developers use the iMac and simulator to make such powerful Iphone applications. Recently the developers of Perception System has made iPhone games, shopping cart, travel booking, search tools, GPS tracking, touch screen application, and other utility software regarding iPhone applications. For more details log on to our website, http://www.perceptionsystem.com/iphone-application-development.html

Regards,

Irfan Pathan
http://www.perceptionsystem.com

Develop a Relationship with your Hired iPhone Developer & get Customized iPhone Applications

ti-zary — Sat, 29 May 2010 08:51:57 +0000

Hire iPhone application developer for the development of iPhone applications, iPhone games development, iPhone icon & themes development and development of other various mobile systems which is now just at the distance of few clicks and a phone call.

For using things in the better way, it is very necessary that it should be done by the expert professionals for getting desired results. In the age of customized services in the field of information & technology, developing a mutual understanding with your hired professional is the best way of getting the things according to you. iPhone application development is the process of implementing creativity with perfect technological expertise and hiring iPhone programmer is the easiest way for the development of desired iPhone systems.

Getting connected with your hired iPhone programmer allows you to enhance your personal technological knowledge about your iPhone and different innovative ways of using the latest mobile technology in the better way. Exchanging the thoughts regularly with your hired iPhone developer not only helps you get the desired applications but it develops the relationship between you and your programmer. In the mobile industry iPhone technology is not very old concept, so it is very obvious that people are not having more expertise in short span of time. Hire special iPhone developers is a smart move to get the things done faster and learn more professionally about the technology and get the desired results according to your need.

iPhone application development is not only following the guidelines provided by Apple Inc in form of SDK (software development kit) for the error-free work. It requires professional technological expertise in mobile application development to implement the technology and practical experience to handle the process systematically for the quality results. Hiring iPhone programmer helps you to overcome the various complex situations in the mobile application development and making you aware about the new systems & process, which can help you further in the optimum use of iPhone applications easily. Hire SDK programmer is the solution for future, as technology only grows to provide more sophistication in the use of latest versions and get updated with them.

Working with the new technologies of the age in mobile industry is not easy, for nowise people, as everybody do not practice for the application development such as iPhone applications and other mobile related jobs. As iPhone technology is the latest in the mobile industry and created a large segment of iPhone users rapidly, among the large segment of iPhone users everybody is having their unique priorities for using the iPhone such as users are crazy for the dissimilar iPhone applications. In the army of iPhone lovers, there are many who use iPhone applications for business, some of them for entertainment purpose and many of them for fun of games. The demand for a variety of iPhone applications is touching sky in very short span of time.

Hence, hire iPhone application developer is the ultimate option for those who want optimum and customized use of their latest communicative device called “iPhone”.

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