App Review: Red Bull Air Race World Championship
Matt recently introduced the idea of the Three Word Wrap (a quick 3 word review), so I thought I would do a three word wrap for Red Bull Air Race World Championship and then explain myself. So here goes:
Try The Demo
You might think that’s an obvious one and in a way it is, but there are valid reasons for me saying that.
iPhone 3G to 3G S on O2 – upgrades and insurance
Have you heard? 😉 There’s been a bit of discontent about O2’s attitude towards existing iPhone 3G customers who would like to upgrade to the new iPhone 3G S, which is due to be released in the UK on Friday.
There is no special upgrade deal available (unlike AT&T users). When the iPhone 3G came out last year, existing iPhone customers on O2 with original (2G) iPhone were allowed to break their contracts and upgrade to the new device. No such joy this time.
So how can existing O2 customers get an iPhone 3G S now?
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The BBC on the future of iPlayer on the iPhone
Yesterday, there was a Twitter chat with Jason DaPonte, managing editor of BBC Mobile. Macworld and Electric Pig have reported on this, including responses to a couple of my tweets. But they missed out a few details, and didn’t mention some questions that went unanswered about the future of BBC iPlayer on the iPhone and iPod Touch.
The cheapest way to get an iPhone 3G S on O2 UK
Apple have announced the iPhone 3G S, and O2 have released their pricing for the phone, which will be available from June 19th.
If you’re thinking about getting an iPhone deal with O2, there is a page on Martin Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert site that looks at the monthly tariffs. But it’s well out-of-date now, so I’ve put together a quick guide highlighting the total cost of ownership for the new iPhone.
So whether you’re looking for Pay Monthly or Pay As You Go, read on for the cheapest way to get your hands on Apple’s shiny mobile, short of nicking it!
UPDATE: There are also articles covering iPhone deals with Orange and Tesco Mobile This article was last updated on January 7th, 2010.
Has O2 UK pulled a #totalfail with iPhone 3GS pricing?
The WWDC Keynote is done. Thanks to macrumors.com, which has the best coverage optimised for Safari on the iPhone. There was plenty to look forward to in the Keynote, and not just for the iPhone. I was a bit surprised they didn’t demo video editing, but all in all, good stuff. Voice control, not just voice dialling, looks excellent. More details are of course all over the web – try Engadget for starters.
So no massive surprises, until I checked out O2’s responses on Twitter. Oh dear O2, oh dear.
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Not long now
Have you heard? Reading this blog, you must have. It’s almost here. The keynote of Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference, and the third significant update to the iPhone’s hardware and software, is just a few hours away.
But (take a deep breath) if there’s one thing that watching Apple has taught me over the past few years, it’s this:
- Bloggers over-sell
- Apple under-delivers
What if… iPhone Video?
I had a dream on Friday night. Steve Jobs was giving the WWDC keynote address from a small fishing boat out in Weymouth bay. I can’t recall ever dreaming about a Steve Jobs keynote address before, so I guess this shows just how far my excitement levels been ramped up these last few days, with or without Steve Jobs’ presence. The reason for my excitement this time is because of one little rumour… the iPhone Video.
The importance of RAM and a hope for Monday
RAM – i.e. Random Access Memory, is all important. It’s the workspace which your phone’s OS runs in. And a critical parameter, in terms of what you can do with your smartphone, is how much RAM it has free. Free for you to do stuff. Like run a web browser, play a game, and so on.
Over and over again, in reviewing iPhone games for IPAL, I come across user reviews saying ‘Game is buggy, just crashes every time’. Now, no developer worth their salt would release a game that kept crashing. What’s happening is that the iPhone is physically running out of RAM. Starting with perhaps 40MB free, some of the fabulous 3D games need just about all of this and when the RAM runs out, the OS panics and shuts the game down. Result: one unhappy user. On my iPod Touch, with 60MB free most of the time (again, after the OS has loaded its bits and pieces up), I never, repeat never, hit RAM limits, incidentally.
App Review: Impress
I’m firmly of the belief that anyone has the ability to draw and paint. Far from being some mysterious, magical process that most seem to believe (and many Artists do nothing to refute), it’s a largely mechanical skill that anyone with a hand and an eye can learn. Actually, I’m pretty sure you don’t even need the hand.
Then again, it does require a little knowledge and practice – not a process everyone wants to go through. I’m the same with music. I’d love to be able to play a piano or guitar but I’m not interested enough to go through all that tedious ‘learning’ business. Impress aims to allow anyone to turn a photo into a painterly image with no artistic skill required.
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