I Just Backed the HAND Stylus on Kickstarter
» View project page on Kickstarter
I’m very excited! This is easily the best looking stylus for capacitive touch screen devices (iPad, iPhone, Kindle Fire, Android tablets and phones, Windows devices, etc) that I’ve seen so far. The tip is retractable, it looks like a mechanical pencil, and, so far, it has the smallest tip of any stylus on the market. The tip size was the primary reason that I decided to back the project. Oh, and the replacement tips are very inexpensive.
If you are looking for a stylus for your iPad (or any other modern device with a capacitive touchscreen), you should really have a look at this one. It’s already fully funded and will ship in July.
Now I have to decide what color and finish I want.
A photo of the Moon, Jupiter, and Venus that I took this evening. All three were visible in the sky.
Taken with an iPhone 4S and edited with Camera+ (“night” filter applied) and Penultimate (text added).
Others have tried to do digital textbooks and failed. Apple, however, has the clout, hardware (iPad), and user base to make this happen. I downloaded the textbook sample shown in this video and it’s amazing. I found myself wanting to touch every part of the screen where I could interact with the content. That sort of interaction keeps a kid’s attention and makes learning fun. I would have loved these textbooks when I was still in school.
The future is finally here.
I love iOS 5’s new typing shortcuts.
If you aren’t yet familiar with them, launch the Settings app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch and tap General, then Keyboard. Scroll down to the section labeled “Shortcuts” and add whatever you like.
Why Zite Decided to Make Its iPad App Available on the iPhone Instead of Android Tablets
Zite CEO:
Users wanted the iPhone. It was in demand.
Android tablets are irrelevant right now. So, why develop for a tablet that’s not being used?
Zite could use some of the code from the iPad app to make the iPhone app.
View Link: Why Zite Decided to Make Its iPad App Available on the iPhone Instead of Android Tablets
Taposé Has Been Submitted to Apple
I’m pretty excited about this. I backed the Taposé project on Kickstarter a while back and the developer has finished the app and submitted it to Apple for review. If it’s approved, it should appear in the App Store within two weeks.
Gmail App for iOS, Take 2
I have no idea why it took them a couple weeks to fix a simple bug, but Gmail is back in the App Store. Can’t wait to see the response this time around.
Update: Okay, apparently they fixed more than just the Push Notification bug. Thankfully, that includes HTML image rendering. Read all about it here — if you can get their shitty new dynamic view Blogger blog to load (I can’t).
“In the short time the app was public we received a lot of helpful feedback and feature requests.”
Heh.
I just don’t understand why they went with a native app wrapper around a Web view. They had an opportunity to create a great Gmail app. Instead, they took the easiest route. The result: mediocrity. I’ll probably still use the app for my main email account, because it gives me the ability to star messages and browse my folders/labels, but I’m mostly disappointed in terms of usability.
Here are three basic features that I think are missing:
Signature support. I see that my signature is not inserted when I create a new message or reply to one. Seriously? This is basic email stuff, guys. This might just be the most standard of features other than, you know, the actual sending and receiving of email messages.
Support for multiple Gmail accounts. Like many people, I have several accounts. I’d like to be able to log into all of them at the same time and quickly switch between them. Again, a standard feature in good native email clients.
Automatic placement of the cursor when I reply to a message. The cursor should be placed at the top of the message edit field so that I can just start typing my reply, rather than being required to tap the screen to position it myself. I’m not sure if this can be done without creating an app that’s not just a wrapper for a Web view. Once again, a standard feature that I’ve come to expect from any email client.
I suppose that Google would call this app a good starting point, but that’s the kind of attitude I expect from a small startup, not a multibillion dollar corporation with great engineers. I love Gmail. I want to love the official Gmail app. Make me love it.
View Link: Gmail App for iOS, Take 2
IconSettings: Create Homescreen Shortcuts to Specific iOS Settings without Jailbreaking
One of the most beloved apps in the iOS jailbreak community is SBSettings because it makes it easy to quickly access frequently modified settings. Since I haven’t jailbroken my iPhone in about three years, I don’t have access to this great utility. I’d still like to create shortcuts to certain settings on my iPhone’s homescreen because drilling down to a setting that I frequently access is a hassle. It seems that this is rather easy to do now with iOS 5.
Many (all?) of the screens within the iOS Settings app can be accessed via a simple URL, so it’s possible to get right to a specific screen if you know its address. Enter IconSettings, by iPhoneZA. This simple Web-based solution makes it easy to add shortcuts to settings right to your homescreen. When you tap the icon on the homescreen, Safari will open and immediately launch the Settings app, bringing you right to the screen for the setting(s) you wanted.
Adobe Manager Puts Partial Blame on Apple for Mobile Flash Failure
[Mike Chambers,] an Adobe product manager has pointed to the fact that Apple had refused to support Flash on iOS as a major reason for the company’s decision to halt development of the Flash Player for mobile devices. (source: AppleInsider)
iOS has a market share large enough to make or break technologies, but Adobe is to blame for Flash’s problems. They did not spend enough time fixing them and Apple wasn’t going to let Flash ruin the iOS experience.
View Link: Adobe Manager Puts Partial Blame on Apple for Mobile Flash Failure
The over-the-air update to iOS 5.0.1 was totally painless on both my iPhone 4S and iPad (1st generation).
Subscribe