Dec 20

It’s that time of year — well, yes, it’s almost Christmas, but it’s that OTHER time of year… the time of year when it’s cold, snowy (depending on where you live), and germs run rampant as adults and kids alike have the sniffles. Personally, I’ve dealt with at least two colds and a bout of the flu. It seems like just when I was getting over one contagion, another would come along and smack me upside the head. This, of course, got me thinking very carefully about how to better protect myself from germs and further illness. In addition to doorknobs, restrooms, computer keyboards, etc., there’s the obvious culprit that most of us use frequently in our daily lives — our touch iOS devices!

I use my iPhone 4 constantly and my iPad 2 almost constantly, with plenty of tapping and swiping. I have protective screen covers on both, but the fingerprints and smudges are clear evidence of the constant touching those devices receive on a daily basis. How many germs are we transferring from other places and people onto the touch screens of our iOS devices each day? If you’re like me, you handle your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch without a second thought about the possibility that your touch screen is a Petri dish full of nasty critters.

What’s the solution for reducing the germs on our touch devices? There are numerous cleaning products out there marketed directly at touch device owners, and I won’t go into a discussion on the many products out there, but if we all simply apply a little common sense, we can greatly reduce the germs and risk of infection and illness. We should all wash our hands often with soap and water, use hand sanitizer when available, avoid touching our faces with our hands, and it’s a good idea to *carefully* clean and disinfect our iPad, iPod touch, and iPhone touch screens on a regular and frequent basis. You might simply apply some disinfectant to a microfiber cloth and carefully wipe away the smudges, fingerprints and germs from your iOS devices.

Speak up if you have additional ideas on keeping your iOS devices clean and germ-free!

 

 

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Dec 19

With Christmas just a few days away, perhaps you are looking for a last-minute gift for the Apple-lover(s) in your life. The pocket-sized book, “I, Steve” — Steve Jobs In His Own Words — edited by George Beahm, is a great stocking-stuffer and a must-have for any Apple enthusiast and fan of the late, great Steve Jobs. Chock full of quotes from Steve, it is interesting to get a look into one of great minds of our time. Here’s a sneak peak at a few memorable quotes found in the book:
“Being the richest man in the cemetary doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful — that’s what matters to me.”
And another:
“We don’t stand a chance of advertising with features and benefits and with RAMs and with charts and comparisons.  The only chance we have of communicating is with a feeling.”
Just one more quote:
“We’re gambling on our vision, and we would rather do that than make “me, too” products.  Let some other companies do that.  For us, it’s always the next dream.”
You can pick up “I, Steve” from Amazon here or from a bookstore near you.
Dec 18

Apple is airing a new commercial toting the wonders of Siri on an iPhone 4S, helping Santa and his sleigh of eight tiny reindeer deliver presents to all good girls and boys. Both clever and fun, the commercial brings a smile to the face and, instead of visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads, perhaps we can better imagine and dream of new iPhones and iPads showing up in our stocking or under the tree. Here’s hoping!

 

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Dec 12

According to an Apple press release today, Apple’s App Store has now over 500,000 apps and customers have downloaded over 18 billion (yep, billion with a “B”) apps to their iOS-powered iPads, iPhones, and iPod touches. Apps are currently being downloaded at a rate of 1 billion per month.

Having been a smartphone user for many years now, it’s simply incredible to me to see how Apple has revolutionized the mobile app market. The sheer numbers of apps available and the number being downloaded is mind-boggling. Clearly, if you are submitting a new app to the App Store, it will be a tremendous challenge to get noticed. Even if you have an app of the likes that no one has seen before, it will take some marketing savvy above and beyond the basic submission to the App Store to get your app noticed by the teeming iOS-using masses out there.

Are there any app developers out there with a thought or two about the current state of app development and marketing?

[Apple Press Info, photo from Tech Ticker]

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Oct 25

If you have updated to iOS 5 on your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch, or if you’ve picked up a shiny new iPhone 4S, then congratulations. There is no doubt that iOS 5 brings lots of goodies to the functionality of all iOS devices. If you’re one of the jailbreaking community, maybe you held off on the iOS 5 update? Currently, with the exception of the iPhone 4S, iOS devices running iOS 5 can be jailbroken with a tethered solution, but those wanting the additional flexibility of an untethered jailbreak, the wait continues.
What is the difference between a tethered and untethered jailbreak? To put it in the simplest terms, it’s the difference of having to connect your iOS device to your computer each time your device reboots, whether it’s an intentional reboot or an accidental one (i.e., your device crashes or freezes and required a reboot). With a tethered jailbreak, you risk having a dead device while away from your computer in the event of a reboot, with the only way of restoring functionality by plugging in to your computer to jailbreak again. The highly-anticipated untethered solution requires no plugging in — you can reboot your iOS device into a jailbroken state.
Why am I holding off on iOS 5 for an untethered jailbreak? It’s definitely a personal decision, but I will settle for no less than an untethered jailbreak and iOS 5, with all of its extra features, does not give me everything I require and enjoy on my iPhone 4 and iPad 2. Namely, I use a few jailbreak apps that I consider invaluable for my iOS devices — MyWi for creating a mobile “WiFi” hotspot, My3G to dupe my device into thinking it’s on a WiFi network for purposes of downloading apps and using FaceTime on a 3G network, and LockInfo for giving me a quick look at all the necessary information from my unlock screen. To keep informed about the status of the iOS 5 untethered jailbreak, check back here or check out the Dev-Team Blog.
Oct 12

Finally! We have all waited these many long months (for some features, even years) for iOS 5 to go public, and now the time has come. If you’re the proud owner of an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, you can now upgrade to iOS 5 and enjoy over 200 new features for your iOS device. There are step-by-step posts aplenty across the width and breadth of the internet, but to keep it uber-simple, just remember to first back up your device in iTunes first, then check for updates in iTunes and iOS 5 should be available for downloading and updating. Also, be sure you have the most recent iTunes update.

What does iOS 5 bring to the table? It’s an epic update — iCloud integration, iMessage, Notification Center, Reminders, Twitter integration, AirPlay Mirroring, and much, much more. Plug in your iOS device, dig in and enjoy!

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Oct 07

Even when death must have looked certain and his time on this earth was quickly coming to an end, visionary Steve Jobs was hard at work planning the future of Apple. For more than a year, Steve worked on future iterations of the iPod, iPad, iPhone and MacBooks, with blueprints in place to fill a product pipeline for conceivably the next four years. Also, Jobs managed to get plans approved for a futuristic company headquarters in a park-like setting in Cupertino that will house 12,000 employees. A touching aspect to this land acquisition for the new headquarters is the fact that Steve had a part-time job for Hewlett Packard on the same site when he was 13 years old and he made sure that Apple bought the land as soon as it was available.

Few people in human history have impacted the lives of so many — dare I say the entire human family — and arguably Steve Jobs is one of these people. He was a pioneer in making personal computers accessible to everyday people and he did it with such enthusiasm, showmanship, and genuine delight that it was nigh impossible to refrain from opening one’s wallet. He envisioned two decades ago that the future of computing and media consumption would be portable, and not just by way of laptop computers — enter iPod, iPhone, iPad, and iCloud. Steve Jobs brought his amazing products into our lives, thus changing forever how we conduct business, social, and entertainment activities. Now, we can look forward to potentially 4 more years of products with his personal touch — thank you, Steve, for an amazing legacy that will continue to delight us for years to come.

[graphic: Jonathan Mak]

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Oct 05

The world just became less magical today. Apple announced the passing of visionary Steve Jobs, who succumbed to pancreatic cancer at the age of 56. According to a statement on Apple’s web site:
Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.
Apple has posted an email address — rememberingsteve@apple.com — for those who wish to express their thoughts and condolences. Best wishes and comfort to his family at this time.
Having grown up using the products that Steve Jobs envisioned and created, I’m shocked that he’s suddenly gone. Having so recently resigned as Apple’s CEO, his passing is unexpected. With the highest respect, I liken this day to losing the Willy Wonka of consumer electronics — he brought an innovative magic of the purest kind that changed the world.
Thanks, Steve. God Bless.
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Aug 25

As iconic as Steve Jobs is, you have likely heard already that he has abruptly resigned as Apple’s CEO and has taken the role as chairman of the board. Tim Cook, formerly the COO of Apple, is now the CEO moving forward. What will this mean for the future of Apple? It’s good to know that Steve Jobs is still very much a big part of Apple’s vision as the chairman, choosing to remove himself from the day-to-day responsibilities and pressures that the CEO must endure. His health should be his greatest concern right now and given what he has accomplished for Apple, no one can blame him for stepping away and tending to personal matters.
I can’t help but reflect on the Steve Jobs vs. Bill Gates story, depicted several years ago in “Pirates of Silicon Valley”. Indeed, Bill Gates won the battle at the time with the licensing of Windows for the PC platform, arguably an inferior product to the computing experience that Apple has offered, particularly with products like the classic MacIntosh computers. Now, given the epic turnaround of Apple starting in the late nineties under the guiding hand of Steve Jobs, it could be fair to say that he has won the war — Apple is the most valuable technology company due to revolutionary products like iPod, iPhone, iPad, and a complete remastering of their Mac and MacBook computer products.
Just as Disneyland has survived and flourished these many years after the departure of Walt Disney long ago, I’m sure that Apple will continue to amaze us with revolutionary products long after Steve Jobs has exited, stage left. Clearly he has shared a remarkable vision with the world and those of us who have bought and used anything Apple can attest to the magic. Thanks, Steve, for bringing so many amazing products to the market that have educated us, enriched us, made us more productive, entertained us, and quite frankly have just been a lot of fun. We most certainly will miss you now that you are no longer the captain at the wheel.
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Aug 09

There are rumors a’swirling about the next iPad, both about what it will be and when it will be available. There is rampant rumor-mongering on the internet about Apple breaking with their traditional annual release cycle and offering up a new iPad as soon as this September. Or, the next iPad may not hit the shelves until sometime in the first quarter of 2012. There’s also much speculation about what the next iPad will be — a more high-end iPad 2 HD with a “retina” display like the iPhone 4, or will it be an iPad 3 with numerous upgrades to display quality, processor speed and memory size?
With such important questions still unanswered, it’s hard to know what to do or when to do it as an original iPad owner. I love my iPad 3G 64GB slab of wonder, but I’m feeling a little left behind with some of the accessories now available that are geared for the iPad 2, like the ZAGGfolio for the iPad 2 that I’m lusting after — ZAGG doesn’t make it for the iPad 1. I have an itchy trigger-finger to pick up the iPad 2, but if an iPad 2 HD or iPad 3 is just around the bend, perhaps as early as next month, should I wait? Would I feel foolish buying the iPad 2 now only to have a new iPad arrive as soon as a month later, or even just a few months from now?
These are important questions for a gadget junkie like me, and since any iPad requires some serious payola to acquire, it’s not a decision to be made lightly. Or is it? Maybe the one true answer lies in the idea that whether or not you have the “latest and greatest”, if the product does what you need it to do, then why wait for the next one? Apple is quite reliable for releasing new generations of their products at least annually, so in the worst case, I could pick up an awesome iPad 2 and be “stuck” with it for a whole 13 months, right? Oh, the horror! Yet, on the other hand, I could have to go without the newest offering for a year and be in gadget geek purgatory.
This, my friends, is the conundrum I face. What would YOU do?
[Photo courtesy of NinoGadget]
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