Best Books for Learning iOS Development
February 1st, 2011, 3 comments
The release of Todo.txt Touch on Android sparked much more interest in the Todo.txt project than I expected, especially in people who don't have an Android device. So, the community is beginning work on a native iOS app, as well as an offline webapp for iOS. I'm totally new to iOS development—in fact, I currently don't even own an iOS device, though iPad 2 will likely change that—so I asked the folks who follow me on Twitter where I should start. Here's what they said.
Google Voice Open in the U.S.
June 22nd, 2010, 8 comments
Previously invitation-only Google Voice just opened to everyone in the U.S., offering free text messaging, multi-phone management, and voicemail features which, after more than a year of exclusive use, I couldn't live without. The three things I do on my mobile phone most--text, call, and check email--are powered entirely by Google at this point with Voice, Gmail, and Android. The Gmail/GVoice experience on Android is the main thing that leaves me cold when I look at an iPhone. It's just not as good. Here's more on how Google Voice makes the phone less loathsome (similar to how Gmail made email workable).
iPhone 4 versus HTC EVO
June 8th, 2010, 13 comments
Nicole Lee does the hard work so I don't have to: feature by feature comparison of the iPhone 4 and the 4G HTC EVO. As far as I'm concerned, the EVO's the better deal: bigger screen, more customizable OS, Google Maps navigation, Google Voice native app, tethering/portable hotspot, kickstand, Sprint 4G network support, expandable MicroSD up to 32GB, and removable battery. No-brainer.
Steve Jobs announced the iPhone 4 yesterday in his WWDC keynote, and it's a gorgeous device with software upgrades that include multitasking, a video chat app called FaceTime, and more. I'm still a happy Android user, but I have to hand it to Apple. They continue to school the industry on aesthetics and marketing. Case in point: the FaceTime demo video.
Steve Jobs on Flash
April 29th, 2010, 8 comments
Steve Jobs' open letter "Thoughts on Flash" is a win for the open web, and a logical and well-articulated discussion of why Apple won't allow Flash on the iPhone and iPad. Hooray. But. While Jobs says he refuses to put his products "at the mercy" of a third party, that's exactly what Apple asks of all its iPhone app developers, to take the chance that Apple won't distribute their work for arbitrary reasons (they might "confuse" the user, they include porn, they duplicate functionality, they use unapproved hooks). Jobs' letter could be rewritten from a developer to Apple, and I hope someone takes the time to do just that. Turn this sentence from Jobs: "We cannot accept an outcome where developers are blocked from using our innovations and enhancements because they are not available on our competitor’s platforms." Into this: "We cannot accept an outcome where our apps are blocked from using innovations and enhancements because Apple doesn't approve." Just sayin'.
BillShrink hits it out of the park with a handy infographic which compares the cost and features of the current generation of smartphones: the Nexus One, the Palm Pre, the Motorola Droid, and the iPhone 3GS.
Looking at this you realize 1.) there's no clear winner in the bunch feature-wise and 2.) we all spend a ridiculous amount of money on mobile phones and service. My only nitpick with this chart is that the T-Mobile/Nexus One "Average Usage" plan should be listed at $79.99 a month, not $89.99 (unless they're counting taxes and fees). Update: BillShrink has updated this graphic to correct prices. Head inside and click to enlarge the big picture to check it out.
VisiCalc creator Dan Bricklin--you know, the guy who invented the spreadsheet--has delved into mobile development and released his first iPhone/iPod touch application, Note Taker. Rather than use keyboard, in Note Taker you jot notes using the tip of your finger on your touchscreen as if it were a pen on an index card. (See my bad handwriting in Note Taker in the screenshot here.) Note Taker looks and sounds more awkward than it actually is: the application employs some nifty interface mechanisms that make it easy to write long sentences across your screen. For example, it scrolls right while you jot without requiring swiping, and it shrinks your words to a legible version for reading while you write. Note Taker doesn't do text recognition, but you can transcribe jotted notes using the keyboard. (Update: You could also just email your Note Taker image to Evernote to do the recognition for you.) This app isn't for folks who are comfortable typing on the iPhone keyboard and have terrible handwriting, but it is for folks who like to sketch, mind-map, or list without fat-fingering small keys. You just write the way you normally would on a notepad.
My favorite part about this app is the fact that it comes from a giant in personal computing, who, after 30+ years in the business, is still motivated enough to pick up a book, learn a new platform, and release software. Bricklin explains:
Import Facebook Phone Numbers into Your Google Contacts
August 23rd, 2009, 3 comments
Android users with Facebook friends who list their phone number in their profiles will love this: Brad Fitzpatrick offers a Greasemonkey script that exports those phone numbers to AddressBookr and offers to add/merge them into your Google Contacts. Even though this was posted last November, I just gave it a test run and it worked like a charm. Thanks, Nick!
One Way Android Can Become Viable
August 19th, 2009, 8 comments
Apple guy John Gruber knocks it out of the park with this thoughtful piece on what he calls "the Android opportunity": his take on what Android can to do in order to become a viable alternative to the iPhone for technologists. Two points I couldn't agree with more: Android has to run on decent hardware (preferably a handset Google designs) and better exploit its advantages over the iPhone (like over-the-air Google apps sync, which beats MobileMe any day and is one of the main reasons I use Android). Yes, yes, and yes. Like Gruber, I really hope Google makes this play, because competition is good. Also, people will stop saying to me, "so you really like Android more than the iPhone? Really?"
Apple Blocks Official Google Voice App, Pulls GV Mobile from App Store
July 27th, 2009, 7 comments
TechCrunch got this headline just right: Apple Is Growing Rotten To The Core: Official Google Voice App Blocked From App Store. The second half was originally "and It's Likely AT&T's Fault." Apple's withheld approval of the official Google Voice application and pulled the unofficial GV Mobile app on the grounds that they "duplicate iPhone functionality." If TechCrunch is right, once the AT&T exclusive deal is done, this will likely change. Until then, as more Google Voice invites go out, Android, BlackBerry, and even Palm and Windows Mobile are looking like much more useful (read: open) mobile platforms.
Asked my Twitter peeps whether or not they were buying the just-released iPhone 3GS, and 175 replies later, the response is a pretty solid NO.
Almost 80% of respondents are passing on the 3GS mainly because they don't think the upgrade is worth the money, they're not eligible for the upgrade pricing, they think AT&T blows, they're waiting for next year's model, or they're simply happy with their current phone. The other 20% were thrilled about getting their paws on the 3GS' speed and video camera. Yes-folks said the 3GS finally feels "feature-complete," that the device replaces their GPS, point and shoot camera, and in some cases, their laptop, and others said it was the perfect reason to ditch their current crappy phone.
Out of 175 responses, 138 said they were not getting the 3GS, and 37 said they were. (Since I'm an Android user, I attract non-iPhone types, so these results are skewed by who follows me.) Here are the best replies I got, with the cleverest quips and insights highlighted.
It’s iPhone 3GS Release Day
June 19th, 2009, 4 comments
Jason Chen's excellent review of the iPhone 3GS banished any doubt from my mind that Apple wasn't kidding about that S: it does stand for capital-S Speed. (Just watch those side-by-side video clips.) But, for a whole lot of folks, the S does NOT stand for savings. As for me, I'm sticking with my HTC G1 running Android. It still has a better native Gmail client than iPhone 3.0. (But I'm not bitter about all that speed or anything.)
iPhone and Mac Talk on Copper Robot
June 15th, 2009
Had a blast last night on Mitch Wagner's Second Life interview series, Copper Robot, where TUAW's Mike Rose, ArminasX Saiman, Mitch and I got to chat about Apple's new iPhone and Snow Leopard announcements last week. Thanks to Mitch and my co-panelists for having me; if you missed the event in-world, you can watch and listen to the video here. I also posted a couple of screenshots from the event on Flickr.
Tech Goodies on Their Way
June 10th, 2009
From Google Wave to Windows 7 and this week's Apple announcements, there are some really cool future-ready consumer products right on the horizon. Over at Lifehacker this morning, I gushed about what it all is, why it matters, and when we'll have it in my feature article, Upcoming Tech That Will Rock Your World.
Artist Jorge Colombo drew the image that graces the June 1st cover of The New Yorker magazine with Brushes, a $4.99 iPhone app. Virtually "finger-painting" an image like this onto a tiny iPhone touchscreen seems insane and inconvenient, but Colombo has good reasons. The New Yorker reports:
He discovered an advantage of digital drawing on a nighttime drive to Vermont. “Before, unless I had a flashlight or a miner’s hat, I could not draw in the dark.” (When the sun is up, it’s a bit harder, “because of the glare on the phone,” he says.)
Drawing on the iPhone also offers the artist anonymity. Colombo stood in Times Square for an hour drawing this image on his iPhone and no one gave him a second look. Unlike if he had been painting with an easel, passersby just assumed he was checking his email.
Surely sales of the Brushes app will go through the roof this week as aspiring artists scramble to replicate Colombo's work. Of course, Ken Rockwell was right when he asserted that it's an artist's eye, patience, and skill that makes a good image, not the tools he or she uses. See a video of this drawing come to life below.
I'm Gina Trapani: creator of ThinkUp and Todo.txt apps, co-host of This Week in Google, founding and former editor of Lifehacker. This is my personal blog.
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You are what you write.
