Archive for the ‘Apple’ Category

Posted on August 21, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

Three FaceTime calls in one day due to more friends with the iPhone 4

Despite antennagate and no white iPhone 4, more of my friends are purchasing the new iPhone and that means more FaceTime calls. You see, I have this thing for being the first person people make FaceTime to. It’s the geek in me. So far I’m around 15 FaceTime first calls with various friends across the USA and today I had three FaceTime first calls with @TheRab, @DavidbThomas and @Corvida. Take a look:

Here’s sldeshow of 11 of my FaceTime calls.

If you have an iPhone 4 how often do you use FaceTime?

Posted on August 18, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

Video: New Apple iPad app commercial shows Twitter but wait, there’s no official Twitter iPad app released yet

Take a look at the new Apple iPad is Delicious commercial below. It shows a variety of new and old iPad apps. Flipboard is featured along with a variety of other apps showing iPad gaming, drawing, and calculating capabilities. If you look at the 19 seconds mark it shows the Twitter “website” then the words friendly. The only problem is there is no official Twitter iPad app yet. I know the video wasn’t necessarily about Twitter but it seem to be about iPad apps. Was it that important to show the iPad “tweeting” even though there is no official Twitter iPad app available yet? #justsayin

Your thoughts?

Posted on August 12, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

Video: i(Pad) of the Tiger: An iPad music video

When something is awesome you just have to post it right? Hat tip to Mike Schramm @mikeschramm of TUAW for posting the i(iPad) of the Tiger music video. According to the post we don’t know what apps the band used but those are three iPads being played in the video. Now we can say that Apple will kill music instruments! Joke! But still, think about how much equipment bands travel with and what if they could use a few iPads and have the same or better quality when preforming. Apple could change the offline music industry in an entire new way. Don’t believe me? Just watch the music Video: i(Pad) of the Tiger: An iPad music video below.

ipad + “Eye of the Tiger” from Jordan Hollender on Vimeo.

Eye of the Tiger by Survivor.
All instruments were played using ipad applications downloaded from itunes.
Scott Harris – musical production and arrangement
Starring Scott Harris, Harold O’Neal AKA Kid Jazz and Shea Butta
Directed by Jordan Hollender in collaboration with Diane Collins and Zbabam Productions
www.jordanhollender.com

Richard Bell / Jon Vachon: Gaffer / Grip
Bryan Lynde: Hair & Makeup
Alex Johnstone: Stylist
KM Camera and Studio Rental

Do you think we’ll see more bands use iPads for music videos and preforming at shows?

Posted on July 7, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

iPad Temperature Warning: Things not to do when it’s 100 degrees outside: leave your iPad in the car.

iPad Temperature Warning: Things not to do when it’s 100 degrees outside: leave your iPad in the car. Warning message reads: “iPad needs to cool down before you can use it.”

Lesson learned!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Posted on July 6, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

Latitudie a new Google Latitude app for the iPad & iPhone slips through the App Store but it’s not made by Google

As many of you know there’s an unofficial no google apps allowed rule in the iTunes app store. Well, not really but we’re still waiting on the official Google Voice and Gmail native apps to be approved. In the mean time developer Alberto García Hierro has managed to have approved a Google Latitude app called “Latitudie” [iTunes link] .

Google Latitude lets you see your friends on a map on Google Maps for mobile and iGoogle. Use Latitude to plan an impromptu meetup, see that a loved one got home safely, or just stay in touch with friends.

So, how does Latitudie work? It does a few things; one it uses your iPhone 3G and up or iPad GPS to find your location, updates your Google Latitude location and it shows your location account. Latitudie also has a location history view where you can delete past locations. Sounds simple enough right? But wait there’s more, it also runs in the background. Sounds like automatic checking in to me.

Reading the reviews, some have said this app will drain your battery in 30 minutes or less because even if you’re not running iOS4 Latitudie will run in the background and update your location every minute causing massive battery drain. The developer has stated this is a bug in version 1.0 and will be fixed in version 1.1 as soo as Apple approves it or if Apple approves it. Here’s a note from the developer on the upcoming Latitudie 1.1 features:

Latitudie 1.1, adding the following features, has been sent to Apple for review and should be available soon:

- Added support for location updates in the background using high precision
- Added support for periodically updating your location when running on the background, even if you haven’t moved
- Added support for temporarily hiding your location
- Fixed a bug which updated your location too fast

But wait.. should have Apple have approved this app from the start, being that it’s Google Latitude and it doesn’t work like it should have?

Regardless if you’re looking for a Google Latitude app for the iPhone or iPad Latitudie is available. Something Android users have installed by default.

Do you use Google Latitude? If so how? Do you have Latitudie installed?

Posted on July 2, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

Apple to fix the iPhone 4 problems to show you have more bars in less places! tip @techmeme

Now this is news. Straight from the press contact. No rumors, guesses or fake emails. Apple has officially announced they will release a software update for the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3G/ 3Gs. Apple has admitted a problem with the way the iPhone 4 bars drop bars and the formula they used to calculate signal strength on the AT&T network. Also they admitted the signal drops if you hold the iPhone 4 a certain way but also says it worked the the same for previous iPhone models. Here’s an excerpt from the official press release via Apple.

Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong. Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength. For example, we sometimes display 4 bars when we should be displaying as few as 2 bars. Users observing a drop of several bars when they grip their iPhone in a certain way are most likely in an area with very weak signal strength, but they don’t know it because we are erroneously displaying 4 or 5 bars. Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place.
To fix this, we are adopting AT&T’s recently recommended formula for calculating how many bars to display for a given signal strength. The real signal strength remains the same, but the iPhone’s bars will report it far more accurately, providing users a much better indication of the reception they will get in a given area. We are also making bars 1, 2 and 3 a bit taller so they will be easier to see.
We will issue a free software update within a few weeks that incorporates the corrected formula. Since this mistake has been present since the original iPhone, this software update will also be available for the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G.
We have gone back to our labs and retested everything, and the results are the same— the iPhone 4’s wireless performance is the best we have ever shipped. For the vast majority of users who have not been troubled by this issue, this software update will only make your bars more accurate. For those who have had concerns, we apologize for any anxiety we may have caused.
As a reminder, if you are not fully satisfied, you can return your undamaged iPhone to any Apple Retail Store or the online Apple Store within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.

Wow! We’ll maybe all the blogging, YouTube videos and fake emails worked. I hope everyone can calm down now and just wait for the iOS 4 software update.

What are your thoughts on the Apple press release? Are you going to return your iPhone 4?

Posted on July 1, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

I got 3 words for everyone who is complaining about the iPhone 4 if you own an iPhone 4

Just scan to the front page of Techmeme.com to see some of the news about the iPhone 4, Apple and lawsuits. Despite selling a record number of iPhone 4 mobile phones at launch problems about the iPhone 4 actually started coming in before the launch date ranging from yellow spots to bad cell service. I was one of the brave (some call fools) individuals who stood in line for an iPhone 4 and so far I have noticed the cell service is not as good as it was with the iPhone 3 Gs but it’s not terrible either. I did purchase a non bumper case a few days ago and I have seen no difference in cell phone performance.

Regardless of the iPhone 4 problems or not, the amount of blog post, tweets and news we’re seeing about the iPhone 4 is ridiculous. If there is a real problem with the latest iPhone I’m sure Apple will release a fix soon. In the mean time, there are people starving, an economy in trouble and some people creating some awesome products in the tech world that we could be blogging about and covering instead of complaining about the iPhone 4. Especially if you own an iPhone 4. Create your youtube videos, do your test, tell your friends that you’re having problems with your iPhone 4. But remember it was just last week and you’re under the 14 day window to return your iPhone and if you’re that unhappy about the iPhone 4 take your $199 and buy the HTC EVO or wait for the Droid X or just go back to your iPhone 3Gs if you havn’t sold it.

So please stop complaining about your new iPhone 4 or just Take It Back!

Via Wayne Sutton a proud iPhone 4 customer.

Posted on June 26, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

Video: Apple Employee Talks to Puppet using FaceTime video chat on the iPhone 4

Here’s a fun how to handle weird customer support phone calls without getting freak out story. You knew someone was going to do something crazy when it was announced that Apple had setup a 1-888-FACETIME (188832238463) number so iPhone 4 users could test out FaceTime and talk to an live Apple rep. Now we have a YouTube video of a puppet making a FaceTime call. I wonder after this will we see Darth Vader and more cast of characters making FaceTime videos on youtube. Regardless check out the funny video below to see what happens when a puppet makes a FaceTime call to Apple.

I’m glad the employee didn’t hang up or get mad or insult the puppet or we would probablly see a rush in blog post about bad customeor support and/or “Apple Employee hangs up on puppet” type post. But this is another example of good customer service by Apple and for anyone on how to handel weird/puppets phone calls.

I’m a big fan of FaceTime, as it’s one of the reason I stood in line for 4 1/2 hours to buy an iPhone 4. Here are a couple of screenshots testing FaceTime with @Jakrose and @evancarroll.

Hat Tip to @Tiffani for the Puppet video tweet and @Gizmodo for posting.

If a puppet calls you on FaceTime how would you react?

Posted on June 25, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

Video: How to use scotch tape to fix the iPhone 4 signal problem. Who needs bumper cases when you have scotch tape?

Ok, this is sad and funny but it works. Use scotch tape on the iPhone 4 to fix the signal problem. This is some Macgyver style signal hack for the iPhone 4 going on here! Are we in the 90s or 2010? No wonder Apple wants everyone to buy the Bumper cases.

I first saw the tweet from @Andybeal about “red duck tape” and was like what in the world. So I clicked on it, taking me to the @Fastcompany article about using scotch tape on the iPhone 4 to fix the signal. Here’s the link: The $0.001 DIY iPhone 4 Antenna Fix. But I wanted video proof, so I found a video from chedacheese on @Youtube. Take a look at the video to learn how to use scotch tape to fix your iPhone 4 signal!

Apparently Mr. Steve Jobs sent an email saying to just hold the phone another way or buy a bumper case. I’m shaking my head at you Steve! You can read more about that on @Techcrunch “Steve Jobs Responds To The Antenna Issue: Hold It Different Or Use A Case”

Do you think Apple new about the signal problem and who’s adding scotch to their shinny new iPhone 4?