Tag: iPad

Posted on

Top 10 Features of Apple iOS 5

With the upcoming release of the iPhone 4S, I decided to upgrade both my iPad 2 and iPhone 4 to the new iOS 5 operating system prior to picking up the 4S.

Apple boasts over 200 new features tied to the OS, with some specific to the iPhone & iPad. After a few tries, I was able to upgrade both and have spent the last 24 hours identifying what I find useful in the new OS and have narrowed the list from 200 down to my top 10.

Here is my top 10 list of what I found the most useful:

1) NOTIFICATIONS – I really like the new approach to notifications. With an integrated approach that feels much better from a UI perspective, notifications feel like an extension vs. intrusive. This extends to apps such as Facebook as well.

Lock screen notifications


In App notifications


Swipe Down notifications – Swipe down from the top of the screen and you will drop down your notification center. This area can be configured to show weather as well as the latest notifications, updates and even track your stock portfolio.

(2) iCLOUD – I am a fan of the new iCloud service. In order to use the free service* you must be on the iOS 5 operating system. Once you upgrade you have the ability to use:

  • iTunes in the cloud
  • Photo Stream
  • Documents in the cloud
  • Apps and Books automatically downloaded
  • Backup multiple iDevices
  • Activate the Find my iPhone/iPad feature


*You start with 5GB of free storage and can purchase more

3) PHOTO ENHANCEMENTS – Simply Double Tap the home button on the lock screen to pull up a shortcut to activate your camera. This is extremely helpful, especially at events.

  • Double click the home button when the device is asleep to bring up a camera shortcut
  • Volume up to take a picture
  • Optional grid lines to line up shots
  • Pinch to zoom in the preview screen
  • Swipe to camera roll from preview screen
  • Tap and hold to lock focus & exposure (iPad 2 & 4th gen iPod touch)


4) PHOTO EDITING – In addition to the upcoming 8 megapixel camera in the 4S, the iOS 5 update added much needed Editing support for photos.

  • Crop & Rotate
  • Red Eye Removal
  • One Tap Enhance
  • Organize photos into albums

5) TWITTER INTEGRATION – With Apple’s decision to align with Twitter, iOS 5 highlights their commitment to further integrate the micro-blogging service into the experience.

  • Sign-in once in Settings & tweet directly from Camera, Photos, Maps, Safari & YouTube
  • Add location to any tweet
  • Here is how to configure Siri to work with Twitter if you now have the 4S.

6) SAFARI – With most changes on the back-end, the features that impact usage are the Reader List and Reader Button.

  • Reader Button – allows users to strip away the stylized elements of an article to focus on the content
  • Reader Lists – allow users to add articles to running lists that can be shared across devices.

Example of a Reader Button Activated Article

Example of the Reading List Display

Example of Reader List activation for Safari on my Mac.

(7) MAPS – Not major changes here, but I do like the fact that you can now share map locations via multiple options.

If you have Siri via the 4S, then you also have the ability to ask for directions via voice commands and Siri will remember your previous request. Here is my analysis of Siri.

8) iMESSAGE – allows you to interact with other iOS 5 users with unlimited text, photo & video messages.

  • iMessage uses a Blue send button whereas SMS uses Green
  • Delivery & Read Receipts
  • Group messaging
  • Works over cellular network & wi-fi

(9) NEW APPS – With each new update to the iOS new apps normally follow and this launch was no exception.

  • Reminders (Auto installed) – Syncs with iCloud, iCal and Outlook including location based reminders which is a great feature
  • Newstand (Auto installed) – Automatically organizes magazine & newspaper subscriptions on home screen
  • Cards – Create greeting cards directly from your iPhone
  • Trailers – Watch the latest movie trailers, also integrated with iTunes, of course what isn’t from Apple?
  • Find my Friends – Share your location with people. Good for parents to track their kids. Note must be using iCloud & iOS5
  • Airport Utility – Manage Wifi & airport base stations

(10) Wireless sync to iTunes – Enough Said!!!

Follow Tom Edwards @BlackFin360

BlackFin360

Posted on

iAd

With the iPhone OS 4.0 Keynote today the announcement of iAd caught our attention in the office. Moreso than multi-tasking & the thousands of API’s iAd offers the chance for a true revolution in mobile advertising.

The ability to provide Rich Media advertising within the application is key for marketers, brands & developers alike. There were some great quotes from Steve Jobs today:

“On a desktop, its about search. On mobile, search hasn’t happened. People aren’t searching on their phones. People are spending their time in apps. The average user spends over 30 minutes using apps on their phone. If we said we wanted to put an ad up every 3 minutes, that’d be 10 ads per device per day – about the same as a TV show. We’re going to soon have 100m devices. That’s a billion ad opportunities per day!”

For now Apple will sell and host the ads with a revenue split (60/40 with devs getting the 60) and ads are done in HTML5 (Sorry Adobe). The apps will be fully interactive like their rich media web counterparts and the fact that ads have access to location to tie into geo-location is another win.

If I were a dev/marketer/agency I would get the SDK yesterday!!!

Follow Tom Edwards @BlackFin360

BlackFin360

Posted on

iPad Launch Day – Review

Part of my job is tied to staying on top of emerging technology and the latest entry launched today in the form of the Apple iPad. After being in and out of my local Apple store in 10 min it was on to the setup. I found updating to iTunes 9 to be an issue as I continued to run into service issues. Once those were resolved I decided to go with a fresh install vs. importing settings from my iPhone. The iPhone app experience on the iPad is not ideal. The apps work but are optimized for a certain size. I actually removed any iPhone apps that made it through the setup and was on the iPad app store to see what was available.

So far I have been impressed with the device. I have enjoyed the smooth web browsing and e-mail interface. I was really surprised by how seamless the Netflix integration was upon execution of the app. After logging in I was able to instantly stream within seconds. I was also surprised by the number of apps that were available at launch. With 400+ games (I stopped counting after page 34) there is plenty to review.

Also, being a current Kindle owner I was very curious to see how iBooks compares. And at this point there really is no comparison. With the additional functionality mentioned above as well as a color/touch interface the iPad will officially become my default e-reader. With that said the Kindle App for iPad/iPhone is usable and the experience is adequate. I still have access to all of my Kindle purchases and the app has been updated from the iPhone version to be optimized for the iPad. So for now it will be a combination of Kindle App/iBooks but either way from a hardware perspective I will be quickly auctioning off my Kindle.

Is the iPad an essential device? Not yet. It is an amazing casual browsing and entertainment device and I see the value in it even beyond a netbook which surprised me. The real appeal for me is being able to pick it up like my phone, check my e-mail, status updates and browse relevant articles quickly and with optimal portability.

I see the potential moving forward as the iPad evolves and hope to see Flash enabled as well as the ability to manage multiple apps at the same time and a solution for an integrated webcam but for now I am happy with the device for what it is. Also, the battery life has been holding up as well.

Today I also did a guest blog post for Playground Dad. If you are not familiar Playground Dad is targeted to the thirty something dads that are interested in staying connected with their kids and ideas to maintain work life balance. The post provides recommendations on how the iPad can bring you and your kiddos together in a variety of ways.

iPad Kids

Here is Grant watching Veggietales via Netflix instant stream. The iPad Case serves as a great way to position the iPad for optimal viewing.

grantipad

Follow Tom Edwards @BlackFin360

BlackFin360

Privacy