Tag Archives | apple

iOS 4.0 Review

If you own a iPhone, unless you’ve been under a rock for the past few weeks you know that iOS 4.0 was released today for download. Unfortunately for myself, this wasn’t as glamorous of a day as it normally would have been. I’ve been running the OS on my iPhone since the first beta, and installed every update along the way. I really wanted to write a review on it earlier, but knowing the NDA that Apple has, I didn’t want to draw any unnecessary attention my way. All that said, I can now officially give my opinion on this next generation iPhone OS.

My initial reaction is the same today as it was after installed the first beta. I love it. The new features added have tremendously improved the overall user experience. There are going to be a ton of blog posts out there on the OS but, I’m going to just give you my top 4 favorite new features and why.

1) Mail. The updates to mail are bar none the reason I never rolled my phone back to OS 3.1.3 anytime during the beta process. The unified inbox, threaded messages and most importantly multiple exchange accounts are by far the best update for my own personal use. I have exchange accounts for 2 different email addresses which has always been a hassle to deal with. Also, now with the connivence of the unified inbox, it makes blowing through emails no problem. With the addition of treaded message  you now, don’t get lost while trying to keep up with the email conversation. It’s incredible.

2) Spell Check. I’ll admit, I’m not the worlds best speller. You don’t have to worry about seeing me on TV in a spelling bee competition anytime soon. A good better spell check feature is a must have, especially on your phone. When you trying to type a quick response to someone, you don’t normally pay attention to spelling or sometimes you hit the wrong button. It’s very embarrassing to misspell words in todays world. With being used to spell check on your computer, we’ve started to rely on that as a culture. Now having that same spell check in mail and also texts is a great addition.

3) Folders. This was the only feature that I missed when I went back to the iPhone from my short time with a Droid. Having a folder to organize all your apps into makes life so much easier. This feature is also very smart. When you drop an app on another one, it will make the folder. It then names the folder based on the types of apps you put in it. For the most part, it’s been spot on. A few times I’ve changed the names, but that was mainly for personal preference. The only thing I have found that I don’t like so far about folders is the 12 app limit per folder. In most cases I’ve not had an issue with it, but I’m addicted to photography apps, so in that case it wasn’t enough. Give folders a try, you’ll love it.

4) Multitasking. I know, this is last on the list. And you thought this was supposed to be the big deal of 4.0 right? Well kinda. Up until the past few days 4.0 compatible apps were not being released. Now that they have started to flow in I’ve really began to see what the benefits of multitasking will be. The pandora update came today, which I’m super stoked about. It’s going to be really great once all the apps are able to take complete advantage in the advances of multitasking and 4.0. What it has done though is really made me impatient on 4.0 being rolled out to the iPad. This feature will probably move to #1 or at least #2 on my list when that happens. I’m also just waiting for someone to build a app kill app. It’s a real pain to go through and close all those apps.

All that said, 4.0 is a huge leap from 3.0 and Apple has done exactly what apple always does and thats raise the bar with each update.

I’m extremely pumped about Thursday, when my new iPhone 4 will be delivered. I got my pre-order in at the local AT&T store last Tuesday, and called yesterday to confirm it would be here. It will be interesting to dig into its new features and see how the advances in screen, camera, speed and the addition of FaceTime really work. I’ll definitely have many more post about iOS 4.0 and the iPhone 4 before the week is over.

One last suggestion, for those of you already running 4.0. Launch the Game Center and go ahead and snag your username. They things will go like crazy and you’ll have a better change at getting what you want if you do it now. You might not use it now, but its always nice to have your name secured. Mines ZackM if you want to go ahead and add me.

iPad. My Thoughts.

If your into tech gadgets at all, then I’m sure you’ve heard about the new Apple iPad that was announced today.

Just a warning, you might want to watch the Apple video on the iPad before reading this post. I am not planning on going into any details about it, just my opinions on the things I’ve thought about today. I don’t want you to feel lost.

Like many other people at 1:00 est I sat and read the live blogs as Steve Jobs gives one of his famous keynote speeches. I could hear the oooooooh’s and aaaaaaaaaaah’s from San Fransisco all the way over here in Asheville.

There have been many mixed reviews and feelings from various different people. I’ve heard …

“It’s just an over sized iPhone.” .. “I’m buying one as soon as it comes out.” .. “Now I don’t have to buy a Kindle.” And everything in between.

Here are a few of thoughts of the new “must have” Apple device.

My mindset on technology has really changed over the past few years. I used to always be the guy that wanted to buy whatever was new and now, then worry about figuring out exactly how I much would use it later. I am not like that anymore. I hate carrying around multiple devices that will do the exact same things. ( For those of you that know me that will come as quite a surprise. ) Therefore at first glace I thought, this device is cool, but I don’t think its for me. I already have a laptop, I have my Droid which will allow me to surf the web and use social networking. I actually have a jailbroken iPhone 3G that I use as a iPod. Which means I have full access to the app store. How would this device be useful for me?

Then I started asking myself, if I had an iPad, what could it replace or leverage to make work better that I use everyday? How can the iPad make my life easier. Then it completely hit me. During the day I sit through lots of meetings that require me to take notes, make presentations, and come up with new creative ideas. I go through a lot of paper and dry erase markers. Evernote is my friend.

This device could actually replace paper in my daily work flow. With the addition to the iWork suite I can use Pages to now take notes. As soon as I get done taking those notes I can send them directly to Evernote using the app or email them to whomever needs them. I can load up every presentation that I would ever need to show a client, if they like it I would be able to email it before I even leave their office. During a creative session it would become my whiteboard. Drawing out sketches and brainstorming ideas. Now, I know exactly what your thinking, you can already do all that with a laptop. You’re exactly correct. The advantage here is that a laptop is a pain to take with you. It doesn’t really look very professional and unless you have an air card you are not always guaranteed to have internet access. The advantage of the digital paper is endless. Customizing presentations while you sit there in front of the client, event taking payment for a product using a device like Square. The possibilities are endless and this is just 1 business scenario. I’m sure as the days and weeks go on there will be many many more uses and amazing apps created just for the iPad.

All and all this positive thinking has me pretty excited about the iPad. I’m really glad that it’s going to be 90 days before the 3G version comes out because that will give me enough time to decide how worth it, it is.

I would love any of your own thoughts and feedback.

What do you think about the iPad???