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Word Lens
Astonishingly impressive piece of iOS software that translates text in the real world on the fly, using the iPhone camera. For example, point your phone at a street sign, and see the sign in a different language — in real time. This is the first piece of “augmented reality” software that didn’t feel cheesy to me. Amazing. “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” right?
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iPhone Timeline: Media Account vs. Affidavit
Nice piece by my cousin Brian Ford detailing differences between media accounts and the recently-released affidavit in the saga of the lost fourth-generation iPhone prototype.
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Fraser Speirs: Back In
I think Fraser nails it, here.
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On Flash
In the days since the iPad’s announcement, there’s been an ongoing discussion going on in web circles about what its lack of support for Flash means for that technology, for Adobe, for video on the web, and frankly, for the web as a whole. I’m not really sure why this debate didn’t rear it’s head when the iPhone was introduced, or when Android was introduced, or when Palm’s WebOS was introduced (since all three didn’t include Flash support), but whatever. The iPad is here and we’re talking about it now, so here are some off-the-cuff, not very well-thought-out thoughts on the matter.
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Restoring Spring to iPhone Springboard
Bruce Tognazzini has some ideas for improvements to Springboard (the app that runs what you probably call your iPhone’s “home screens”). Not exactly thrilled with his visual design, but from a usability perspective, most of these make sense. A good read.
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QuirksBlog: There is no WebKit on Mobile
PPK details the myth that is the idea that “WebKit on mobile is taking over.” His point, which is totally valid, is that while WebKit is indeed becoming the dominant rendering engine on mobile platforms, each of those platforms has distinctly different versions of WebKit, so the idea that if you build for WebKit, all of these devices will render your site the exact same way is a misconception. His point is well taken, if a bit dramatic. It’s true that there are subtle differences between each version, and it’s also true that most people don’t realize this. But, in the real-world, they’re “close enough” that targeting WebKit will generally get you a very similar experience on all these platforms.
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New York Nearest Subway Augmented Reality App for iPhone 3GS from acrossair
Ladies and gentlemen, your future has arrived. Please mind the gap as you board.
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http://iphun.tv/
iPhone game reviews with the awesome @seanbonner.
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How to Use Geolocation in Mobile Safari
This is nice. Mobile Safari now has a very simple and elegant Javascript API to the iPhone’s location functions. This means a web app can request a visitor’s location, and if the user agrees, coordinates are made available (just like with native iPhone apps). Very sweet. Can’t wait for a reason to use this.
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Whiners of the World: Shut Up About the iPhone 3GS’ Upgrade Price
Here’s the flip-side of the iPhone 3G[S] pricing debate, for argument’s sake. The guy makes a lot of good points, but he still doesn’t address my concern: Apple and AT&T; set and expectation when the 3G came out that existing iPhone owners would be able to upgrade at the two-year contract price. Now, they’ve reneged on the implicit contract created by that expectation. If the expectation had never been set, none of us would be complaining. It’s a good lesson for everyone: be very careful about what expectations you’re inadvertently setting, lest they come back to bite you in the ass.
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Apple iPhone Users Cry Foul Over AT&T’s Upgrade Policy
Basically, if you have an iPhone 3G now, you can’t upgrade to a 3G[S] for the $199 and $299 prices Apple and AT&T; are touting. Rather, you have to pay $218 more ($399 or $499, plus an $18 activation fee) — and you’ll have to sign a new contract. This is the way carriers have always operated when it comes to upgrading your device mid-contract, and it’s always been one of the most egregious offenses of customer disrespect we see anywhere. However, when the iPhone 3G came out, AT&T; and Apple worked out a deal in which owners of the original iPhone were able to upgrade to the 3G for the same price as new customers, in exchange for signing a new two-year contract. Because they did it last time, most people expected they’d have the same deal this go ‘round. Here’s my take: you can charge me more for a phone if you don’t make me sign a new contract. But asking me to pay $218 extra and sign a new two-year contract is akin to bending me over your kitchen counter and raping me anally.
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The EveryBlock iPhone app
The EveryBlock iPhone app has been released, and it’s pretty damn sweet. Joseph, Wilson, and the rest of the team did a real bang-up job, here. Love it.
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Building an iPhone web application for 97 Bottles
Over on the Blue Flavor blog, my co-worker and friend Kenny Meyers discusses some of the specifics of the mobile version of 97 Bottles (m.97bottles.com) he and Kevin Tamura recently put together.
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A look at Foursquare and Gowalla
Two highly-anticipated, location-based, IRL-style “games” for iPhone were launched at South By Southwest Interactive this year, and I thought I’d take a few moments to report on my experiences with each one.
First up is Foursquare, a sequel of sorts to the popular Dodgeball mobile tool, which was purchased by Google a few years ago and then killed very recently. The second new iPhone game is Gowalla, and it comes from my good friends at Alamofire. The two have a lot in common, but as you might expect, it’s their differences that are interesting. Let’s get into it…
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Foursquare, Hot New Phone App, Is Dodgeball on Steroids
Foursquare is a new location-based game from Dodgeball creator Dennis Crowley. Sounds like a lot of fun. I’m really anxious to try both this and Gowalla. Location-based, real-life games like this sound like a ton of fun to me.
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Agreed.
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Wait, you're not Twitter!
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Flickr Developer Blog: Lessons Learned while Building an iPhone Site
Some nice tips and lessons-learned, here.
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Photoshop for iPhone
Sweet! Via Emily, on Twitter.
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Brightkite: Sneak Peek At Our iPhone App at Brightkite
Took them long enough, but I gotta say: it looks damn sweet. The place snapping is killer.
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iPhone Developer NDA Dropped
Apple:
> We have decided to drop the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for released iPhone software.
Sweet. I’m hoping this results in a slew of how-to blog posts and the like.
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Number 2
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Number 1
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MCI, Sep 5, 2008
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Security at Blue Flavor
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Fremont, Sep 2, 2008
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On the meridian of time…
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Tom and Jodie
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B-Teezy
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Together again!
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Garrett: Why does it take so long to update iPhone applications?
I’ve wondered the same many times. Most apps are smaller than a typical MP3 — and yet it takes probably 10 times as long to install an app than it does to copy over a song. Why?
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Platte Woods, Aug 22, 2008
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iPhone GUI PSD
Apparently is prototyping elements day on jeffcroft.com. Here’s an awesome-looking PSD full of iPhone widgets. Via Wilson.
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Panic’s Steven Frank on the App Store
Steven has a great piece on how the iTunes App Store is simultaneously the best mobile application distribution platform ever and downright scary for developers who want to make their stuff available from it.
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Out with the old…
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iPhone native Apps - the great leap backwards?
John Allsop wonders aloud whether or not most iPhone native apps should be web apps, instead. Although I don’t really share John’s lack of enthusiasm for native iPhone apps in general, I definitely think he has a point. Many of the best apps on the iPhone are simply interfaces to web content. Many of them don’t offer any real advantages over a similar web app. Developers would be wise to still consider the web app direction as a possibility, unless they specifically need to access native functionality such as the camera or location data — web apps are more compatible, more distributable, and arguably easier to develop.
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Discussion with Nathan Borror
Kevin from howiworkdaily.com had my good friend and design hero Nathan Borror on the line for a 30 minute podcast. They two discuss Django, Basic Apps, playgroundblues.com, the iPhone, and more. It’s a really good listen.
I’ve said it before, but I’ll take the opportunity to say it again: Nathan Borror is absolutely the most underrated web professional on the Internet. He’s quite possibly the most talented person I’ve ever worked with. His attention to detail and breadth of knowledge across all aspects of web work is surpassed only by his sympathy for the user. I know just about every amazing designer in this industry, and Nathan would still be the first person I’d call if I were hiring.
And, he’s a great fucking guy, too.
(Nathan, you owe me dinner, or something.)
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I didn't play it, the computer did.
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Apple apologizes for its MobileMe mess, offers 30-days free
Apple has publicly apologized for the disaster that was the MobileMe launch, as well as the misleading use of the word “push,” and given subscribers a free 30-day extension to their service. A nice gesture for what was, indeed, an ugly string of screw-ups. I especially like the letter’s copywriting: no-bullshit, sincere, to the point, and personal. We all know a lot of companies would have taken a “our Terms of Service clearly indicate that we can not guarantee our services,” sort of approach. Well-done, Apple.
Now that things are running smoothly, I’m really liking MobileMe a lot. Not having to put my iPhone in its dock all the damn time to ensure I’ve got my latest contacts and calendar events on all my device is really a sweet thing. There’s no doubt this is a better service than .Mac for iPhone owners. I’m not sure it’s an improvement for those who just want to keep multiple Macs in sync — but, whatever.
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Touch Arcade
A nice looking blog about iPhone/iPod touch gaming.
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Jeff Croft
I’m a digital product designer and developer in Seattle, WA. I currently work with nGen Works, and recently co-founded Lendle, a Kindle book sharing service.
Some of my clients include Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Copious, The New York Review of Books, The Lawrence Journal-World, and the University of Washington.
I’ve authored two books on web and interactive design and spoken at dozens of conferences around the world.
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