First off, I buy these little gems with my own money, so you get no slanted or skewed reviews here! I will call them as I see them. This Months iPhone app for Graphic Designers comes from Pantone, I LOVE this app. It is extremely useful in coming up with new pallets and showing clients on the fly what colors may be at their disposal for any particular design job. Yes, before you ask, it is not 100% accurate but what rgb screen is? It is close enough to make a great start and usually gets me within one or two chips of final color. The ability to to take a snapshot and create a color palette from it is incredible. That is the one feature that would have sold me right up front. The last notable feature is being able to email palettes. Sample below.
In a counter to the impending Verizon iPhone release AT&T sent out an email blast to its existing customers touting the new 4G network. 3G, 4G what do these things actually mean? AT&T’s definition of 4G: “4G means faster mobile broadband speeds – where data transfers take less time to complete.”
What is 4G really?
4G stands for “4th Generation” and is a “cellular wireless standard” fulfilling specifications put forth by the International Telecommunication Union.
Who?
I thought you might ask, it’s an agency of the United Nations which regulates information and communication technology issues (insert golf clap here.)
What does all that mean for you?
Well it’s basically marketing hype about the network upgrades. The 4G network speed requirements set the peak download speed at 100 Mbit per second for high mobility communication (ie: trains and cars) and 1 Gbit per second for low mobility communication (ie: pedestrians and stationary users.)
Is that fast?
the old 3G system allows simultaneous use of speech and data services, and provide peak data rates of at least 200 kbit per second. AT&T is saying they expect network speeds up to approximately 6 Mbit per second on their network (it is currently testing out at that.) Of course you speed may vary depending on location, device, environment, and capacity… so yes it is a LOT faster.
It may be a while before you actually see these remarkable speeds in a mobile device depending on where you live. Obviously larger cities and metro areas will be “backhauled” first. Verizon already has a 4G network in several major urban areas but no phones as of yet, supposedly to be released mid-year. The race for 4G is on! When will the iPhone go 4G? no news on that yet, rumors abound about the iPhone 5 due out this summer. Keep your ears open!
Verizon Announces Launch of iPhone at a Press Conference in New York
Tuesday Morning Verizon announced it’s launch of the iPhone. Coming February 10th, the greatly anticipated switch may be “on.” A few things to make note of regarding this announcement, and your tentative switch, are the differences in the two phones. That means you can’t take it with you!
Current technology: AT&T’s iPhone 4 is based on UMTS 3G technology, while Verizon’s iPhone is based on Verizon’s CDMA 3GAT&T technology. You will be able to use your current iPhone like an iPod touch, I use my old one like that currently. AT&T also bumped up their early termination fees last year, so if you are still under contract it may cost you dearly to switch.
The two big things that hinder my switch… 1. AT&T actually DOES have the fastest 3G network and 2. Verizon iPhone cannot use the data link while talking on the phone, pick one. I like to be able to google things while talking to my friends and quite a bit of the time thats why some call… “hey can you google X and get me a number/address/info… It is wonderful when making plans to just pop over to the web and see if that pizza restaurant is open at 10pm! On Verizon.. “ok… I’ll check and call you back.”
The future of the iPhone wars will depend on the speed and strength of each carriers 4G networks and a 4G iPhone. Verizon has already started the rollout and AT&T will launch later this year. Verizon says its goal of 5 to 12 megabits per second speed is already being achieved… What changes will be in store with 4G? Will the iPhone 5, due out in June, add more drama to the mix? Time will tell.
Apple in the past has not allowed any third party tools that aid in app development. Specifically cross platform development tools (like Unity – a cross platfrom game engine) and any flash based (and converted) apps, the list went on. Apple has now backtracked and is going to allow the use of “tools” used to create iOS apps, with minor stipulations of course.
“In particular, we are relaxing all restrictions on the development tools used to create iOS apps, as long as the resulting apps do not download any code. This should give developers the flexibility they want, while preserving the security we need.” ~Apple Press Release
Apple has also made public the review guidelines and censorship policy, which before was just an unknown. App Developers will now have a much clearer view of the guidelines they must meet for approval. Apple will still continue in its role as “mother” as far as censorship is concerned. They have released a statement to that effect and basic guidelines that are pretty open to interpretation.
In General I think these changes are a step in the right direction for Apple, it will open up the iOS platforms to some seriously fun games and unique apps on the horizon that had been stymied by Apple’s prior rules. For more information on this update on the app rules check out Engadget’s Review, its a nice overview which is very concise on the changes. Once you have read up and produce your mac-daddy app, come over to PGprint and print up some collateral materials for sales purposes!
And some said… “but it’s not even a phone…” Apple’s “Face Time” does not work over your phone line but rather over the data link, that’s the reason they (iPhone and iTouch) require WiFi. Apple has also updated the camera to the HD model with built in editing capabilities. The iTouch also cameras on both sides of the phone as well (required for Face Time). The new screen of iPod touch is some serious technology. Apple engineers packed four times the number of pixels into the same size screen as earlier iPod touch models. 326 pixels per inch will make graphics and text look smooth and sweet at any size. These new features make the iPod touch an amazing piece of technology.
The new iPod nano has some great new features as well, upgraded specs. The new nano is 46 percent smaller, 42 percent lighter, and 100 percent Multi-Touch! 1.5-inch color display with 240-by-240 pixel resolution and uses the same standard connector as the larger models and the iphone. I’m not sure how well multi touch will work on such a small screen if you have large fingers but we shall see about the real world tests as the product flys off the shelves.
Apple Computer has applied for a patent that if accepted will block unauthorized hacks.
This time around Apple has actually put in many beneficial elements into this patent application. It covers many things that would make you want to applaud Apple, like blocking access to sensitive material (credit card, SSN, banking info), blocking unauthorized remote camera use, and the list goes on! Before you pat Apple on the back with a “Good Job” seems they do have some ulterior motives. Elsewhere in the wording it specifies detection of “…any action that may indicate the electronic device is being tampered with by being, for example, hacked, jailbroken, or unlocked,…”
See the original post on the Register for more information and more detail. For more detail in your printing come see us at PGprint
You have to love Apples use of a YouTube video at the opening of the press conference on friday (July 16, 2010)…
Song A Day #561: The iPhone Antenna Song
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2:01
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I was amused, then Steve popped out to fill us in on the research his team had done and presented some examples of several other smart phones doing the same thing…. antennagate? surely not!
In a nutshell the info derived from this media love-in was that Apple has sold 3,000,000 in 3 months, and in the 22 days since some blogs/people raked apple across the coals and into the fire, they have had .55% of iPhone 4 users complain, yes a little over one half percent! Another titbit, return rate for the iPhone 4 is one third of the rate for the 3GS. Clearly a sign of something wrong (with the media)! Sure, I am a Fanboy as they call us (I still prefer mac evangelist) but I try to provide straight up talk and opinion on this blog. If you want to see the data yourself pop over to apple’s website and have a look yourself! July 16 press conference
When you are done there bring your printing over to us for an awesome deal on full color brochures!!
Christopher Robinson
Apple’s new iOS is now ready for download and update.
I downloaded and installed the new OS update for the iPhone, Currently I am using a 3GS. The new software is running well and the graphic enhancements are very pleasing to the eye. The function of the new features is as expected. The unified inbox… Jury is still out, I will have to use it for a while to see if I like this feature (when checking 6 email accounts!) One thing to mention is that you must download the iBook app from the app store, it is free. I absolutely LOVE the folders. I am sure I will have to change the groupings and I was a little disappointed that you could only put 12 apps in each folder, more with a scroll function would have been nice. I also like the digital zoom and it preforms much better than most I have used on cameras in the past. I rate the update as a whole 5 out of 5 stars, Download it and enjoy! for more info go to Apple’s site HERE.
Don’t forget to pop by our site and order some printing today!
The new iPhone officially announced yesterday at the Apple WWDC is an amazing piece of electronics. The people I have spoken with so far are all amazed, as am I, that Apple could pull off something as advanced as much as this phone is. I can’t wait to see what they come up with next! here is the video on the new phone from Apple’s YouTube site.
Apple - Introducing the iPhone 4
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6:14
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We don’t sell iPhones but if you need brochures printed we can help you with that!
Fresh News from the Apple World Wide Developers Conference
Steve Jobs (Apple co-founder) was out on stage as a wave of huge applause washed through the room. He started with an update on the WWDC where there are 5200attendees from 57 countries. The conference sold out in eight days. He then stated “We apologize to folks who couldn’t be here… this is the biggest place we can get, so… anyway”. On to the nuts and bolts of the announcements. The iPad will now support PDF books as well, and he stated they are selling one every three seconds, over 2 million so far. Some nice changes to iBooks such as adding notes and bookmarks and the aforementioned PDF “bookcase”.
Now to the iPhone and big news, Netflix is adopting its iPad app over to the iPhone! No more waiting for chinese food surfing the web, and it will be free. They also have Mark Pincus from Zynga, they have ported over the bane of Facebook (Farmville) and its available now (golf clap).
They also previewed the new iPhone, pretty amazing stuff, “FaceTalk” Apple’s video call technology will only work on WiFi to start with. The new phone itself is an amazing piece of technology. Front and rear cameras (5M with led flash on the back side). Dual sound canceling microphones, The metal frame of the thing is actually the antenna. All stainless steel and glass surfaces and very sexy See Apple’s site here for a video preview. The screen has 2x the resolution of previous iPhones. 326 pixels per inch, wholesome goodness. Steve goes into a lot more on the technical side, which I won’t bore you with, but do have a look for yourself.
If you need some Printing done have a look at our main page! Looking for an iPad or iPhone? look at the Apple online store (link above!) or an Apple store location in you city if there os one!
