Pastebot – allows copy-n-paste between iOS devices and your Mac. A must have for sending strings of text back and forth between Mac and iOS
Dropbox – If you aren’t using Dropbox, you should be.
Instapaper – award-winning app to read web pages on the go, in the air, or on the toilet
Dialvetica – Quickly call, text or email someone in just two quick taps.
Camera+ – Much better camera app.
Motion X GPS Drive – hands-down my favorite GPS app
Deliveries – Great app for tracking packages.
Dragon Dictation – Perfect for texting while driving.
Pandora – Streaming music. Also try Rdio
Shazam – Just hold your phone up to the song to identify the track
1Password – Another must have app on the Mac and iOS
Tweetbot – My favorite Twitter client on iOS
iOS Recommendations
Categories: Apple, Tips and Tricks.
Flash no longer preinstalled in OS X
This also absolves Apple of responsibility for the distribution of Flash Player security updates. Recall the controversy last year when Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6) shipped with a slightly older version of Flash Player, with a few known security vulnerabilities. Henceforth, Flash Player security updates for Mac OS X are Adobe’s problem, not Apple’s.
This is precisely the point of them removing it. Having Flash preinstalled means a default installation of Mac OS X could potentially be remotely exploited using nothing more than having a user visit a malicious site. I agree with this removal and I support their decision. I surf the web with Safari’s ClickToFlash extension enabled by default which prevents Flash from loading on pages unless I specifically want it to load.
Categories: Apple.
AAPL Stock Slide
“Investors punished Apple for its gangbusters quarter,” Wilcox writes. No actually, they didn’t. They ramped Apple’s stock up from $245 last month to todays $309. Hardly punishment. The stock hit a peak before the conference call of $318, followed by rampant profit taking. That’s not punishment, that’s rolling in money appreciatively. Stop passively lying about how investors are spooked about Apple’s “falling margins,” because even you know that’s wrong.
It’s really sad that more investors don’t understand this. I am bummed I missed out on a tiny bit of money by not selling the day before earnings, but I’m still flush with profits from the run-up before the earnings announcement. I can’t complain and neither should the whiny analysts.
Categories: Apple.
iPhone 4 antenna
Apple has always implicitly (and sometimes explicitly) asserted you should use their products because they’re better than the competition in the ways that matter to users. Apple’s products frequently don’t win on a feature-by-feature comparison, to which Apple fans tend to reply that sealed batteries have turned out to be not so bad in practice, that we can actually find all the software we want for our iOS devices no matter how philosophically objectionable the App Store is, and that we really don’t care that the iPad has no USB port and that the iPhone cannot be used as a wifi hotspot, HD projector and five-speed blender. There is a large subset of tech users who go into apoplectic fits at that, seeing it as proof that we’re brainwashed morons. So be it.
Brilliantly put.
That fact that people are taking this personally is ridiculous. It’s a damn phone, which works fine. Works great in my experience. They will give you a free case if you want it. If it doesn’t work where you live, don’t buy it, or take it back.
One final note. Dear tech pundits, Get a life. Spend some energy about something that matters, like the oil spill in the Gulf.
Categories: Apple.
iPhone 4 first impressions
I picked up the new iPhone 4 today. Here are my first impressions:
- The phone feels great in my hand. The stainless steel frame is very elegant and rigid.
- It feels a tiny bit heavier even though its a bit thinner and narrower. Thats a good thing.
- The retina display is amazing. Words can’t do it justice. It’s flat out breathtaking. Immediately makes previous iPhones (2G, 3G, 3GS) feel dated.
- The battery life is better than expected. I got 11 hours of near constant use.
- The interface (iOS4) is crisp, fast, and not overly burdened with superfluous animations. The A4 chip is terrific.
- The dont-hold-it-in-your-left-hand reception issue is slightly annoying and frustrating. Hopefully there will be a fix.
Once again, I’ll actually enjoy using my iPhone. I’ll be up in Green Bay this weekend for a wedding, so I’ll give my full report after a few days of typical use.
Categories: Apple.