AIM 2.0: free and paid versions plus new features
February 28, 2009
In an attempt to capitalize on the success of the iTunes App Store AOL has decided to split its iPhone chat client AIM into a free, ad-supported download version called AIM Free (iTunes Link) and a paid version called AIM Paid.
Both versions of AIM have some new features, including the ability to use SMS notifications, multiple account support and access to the GPS for location services. Contacts from your iPhone address book can be accessed inside of AIM and then reached via IM or SMS text message. Login time for an account can last up to 24 hours, persisting even with the app is not running.
Interestingly, an SMS feature is in place due to the lack of push services for apps. Push Services were promised to by Apple last September, as we’ve discussed here and here. The SMS feature allows users to receive messages when the AIM app is not running, in lieu of push services.
The location services feature lets you share your location with your buddies, everyone or no one at all. The the first time I launched this feature, the app located me approximately five to eight miles north of my current location in a completely different town.
The paid version of this application is currently not available as it is still being reviewed by Apple, but its release is expected soon.
MobileMe gets updated, improved, and ‘pushy’ once more
February 28, 2009
Apple distributed an e-mail recently to MobileMe subscribers that detailed some improved features, but the biggest news from that e-mail was the fact that push is back.
Push was part of the initially tragic launch of MobileMe in 2008–a launch so poorly implemented that the word “push” was removed from descriptions of MobileMe until synchronization between computers and mobile devices (i.e. iPhone and iPod Touch) would perform at an acceptable level.
Now that push is in business again, syncing with Macs or PCs is faster. Any updates that you make to contacts or calendars on your Mac in iCal or Addressbook, or on your PC using Microsoft Outlook are automatically and rather quickly pushed to the cloud. Conversely, any updates made to MobileMe data at me.com, or on an iPhone or iPod Touch is pushed back your Mac or PC. Finally, all your contacts and calendars will update across your devices much faster than previously.
In order for all of this to work properly, you must be using Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.6 or the MobileMe PC Control Panel 1.3. The iPhone or iPod Touch must have firmware 2.2 or later.
Read Apple’s letter to MobileMe subscribers below and note the additional information about file-sharing using iDisk, which was previously announced a few weeks ago.
“Dear MobileMe member:
Over the past few months, we have been working hard to make MobileMe the best service it can be. Here is a summary of the improvements and performance enhancements that have recently been completed.
Easy file sharing. iDisk now makes it even easier to share files that are too big to email. Simply select a file in the iDisk web app and click the Share File button to generate an email with a download link. You can also optionally add password protection and set an expiration date for the link. For more details, view this tutorial.
Faster syncing with Mac and PC. Changes you make to contacts and calendars on your Mac (Address Book and iCal) or PC (Microsoft Outlook) are now automatically pushed up to the cloud every time you make an update. Likewise, changes you make on me.com, iPhone, or iPod touch are automatically pushed to your Mac or PC. As a result, your contacts and calendars update faster across all your devices. To take advantage of faster syncing, be sure you’re running Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.6 (Mac) or MobileMe Control Panel 1.3 (Windows).
Improved notifications and sync on iPhone. Reliability of new email notifications and syncing of contacts and calendar with MobileMe have both been improved. To get the best MobileMe experience on your iPhone or iPod touch, you should be running iPhone Software 2.2 or later.
Better web app performance. We have also improved the overall performance of the web apps at me.com including faster start time in Calendar and searching in Contacts. For more details, see this support article.”
iVerse brings comic books to iPhone, Android
February 28, 2009
There’s no question that comic books and magazines will eventually have a portable platform suited to them, just as the iPod took nearly four years to reach a saturation level as the de facto portable music player.
The Kindle 2 might have been that device, had Amazon found color e-ink to be cost-effective. For now, though, we’re stuck with struggling innovations, and iVerse Media has made a big push to get theirs out.
A photo of the Hexed cover as it appears on the G1 screen.
(Credit: Seth Rosenblatt/CNET Networks)
Earlier this month, just in time for WonderCon 2009, the big comic book and media convention in San Francisco, iVerse launched its comic book-reading app for Android, following on the heels of its iPhone app that debuted in November of last year.
The thought of cramming the detail-rich comic book page onto the tiny touchscreen of a smartphone seems ridiculous, because it is. iVerse solved the problem by chopping comics into panel-size chunks.
On both Android and the iPhone, you slide your finger across the screen to move on to the next panel. Slide it in the other direction to move back. Reading the story is surprisingly clear and clean, and although it may seem counter-intuitive, there should be no concerns about eyestrain from squinting because it’s one panel, presented in high resolution.
From there, the Android and iPhone apps diverge in functionality, though the features remain largely the same. I tested the Hexed No. 1 comic for both the iPhone and Android.
Tap the iPhone, and an “i” appears in the bottom-right corner. It’s small so it doesn’t intrude on your reading experience, but it’s also nearly invisible. This Information button wasn’t as responsive as I would’ve liked, but hit it enough times, and eventually, it will open a window with a few details about the comic and the copyright info. You can also change your navigation method from Slide to Fade to Curl, with the last one simulating a page curling back.
The print cover to Hexed #1.
(Credit: Boom! Studios)
There’s a page slider as well, so you can jump panels out of sequence, and the app remembers your last page read when you return to it. Unfortunately, there are no advanced accelerometer features, nor is there a way to bookmark specific panels or sequences.
The Android iVerse app stars similar features, although accessing them is much easier because of the T-Mobile G1’s Menu button. Press it to bring up four options in the lower fourth of the comic. Information shows a screen with tiny text, telling you who the writer and artist was, the publisher with a link to their Web site, and the copyright information. Hit Menu again to be taken to iVerse’s Android store for more comics.
The Navigation button brings up a window with a slider and a text field. You can enter the page you want to jump to directly, or you can slide there. One of the problems on both platforms is that it’s pretty clear that the panels are taken from a comic designed for print, but there’s no indication what the print page numbering is. Since most print comics tend to be 22-24 pages without ads, it can be much harder to jump around if you’re looking for a familiar spot–this is like having text search on the Kindle.
The Preferences button allows you to adjust your page movement. Slide and Fade are on the Android, but instead of Curl there’s Deck, where panels change like a card being slid from the top of a deck of cards. There’s also a checkbox for toggle page numbers appearing, but note that these are the page numbers in the Android app, not the print comic. There’s also a spot where you can register the your e-mail address with iVerse, which will allow you to copy the comic onto your SD card.
A demo that iVerse produced can be seen here.
The selection of comics available is quite large, from 99 cent “Star Trek” comics to free comics starring Flash Gordon and stories from Boom Studios, a comic book publisher in Los Angeles. Frustratingly, though, each comic you download installs as a separate app.
The comics run on iVerse Media’s proprietary comic book reader software, forcing each comic to be configured separately. I’d like to see more of an jukebox-style database interface from iVerse so that users can choose a comic to read from within a setting that keeps your comics together the way your music and movies are kept together. It’s not a perfect interface, but it is definitely legible and a sure-fire way to take at least some of your comics with you without trying to shove a longbox’s worth in your backpack.
Yahoo Mobile meets iPhone: Web app now, native app later
February 28, 2009
Yahoo Mobile
Yahoo announced last week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain that the company was working to improve consumers’ ability to use Yahoo from their mobile phones. The company has made significant improvements to it’s Yahoo Mobile service on the web and it is promising a new Yahoo Mobile app that will be available in the second quarter of 2009.
The Web version of Yahoo Mobile is available now and it works well with the iPhone. The native app itself is currently in limited beta, and we have not yet seen it. However, according to the announcement, the mobile Web and iPhone versions of Yahoo Mobile will include the following features:
Discover: using Yahoo onSearch for Web searches and Today to see and read selected news stories from Yahoo’s editorial team.
Connect: Yahoo oneConnect for staying in touch with people via email (i.e. Gmail, Hotmail, AOL, Yahoo mail, etc.), social networking connectivity through Pulse (i.e. Bebo, Facebook, Flickr, MySpace, Twitter, etc.), access to Yahoo Messenger, access to Yahoo Address Book and Yahoo Calendar. This feature is intended to serve as a social networking tool.
Stay Informed: access to breaking news headlines via Yahoo News and Yahoo onePlace which will allow users to manage their favorite content with an “Add Anything” function that lets users find what they want and add it to Yahoo Mobile. This feature will support RSS feeds, weather, sports scores, stock quotes, etc.
Yahoo Mobile Services
The native Yahoo Mobile app will include all the above, and:
Yahoo oneSearch with Voice: voice searches by simply speaking.
Maps: improved tools for locating, learning about and getting directions to different points of interest.
Opera Mini 4.2: will supposedly be integrated into the Yahoo Mobile app. We seriously doubt that this will remain intact on the iPhone version of Yahoo Mobile due to Apple’s strict restrictions–Mobile Safari will likely replace Opera in the iPhone iteration. At press time we were not able to clarify this issue with Yahoo.
Widgets: according to the announcement these are: “Enhanced mobile-optimized experiences for services from Yahoo and other brands. Users can browse, add and remove these at anytime according to their tastes.” It remains to be seen if this feature will remain intact in the iPhone version Yahoo Mobile, because it could be construed a competitor to the iTunes App Store, and introduce a way to run non-Apple approved apps on the iPhone. At press time we were not able to clarify this issue with Yahoo, either.
The Web version of Yahoo Mobile is up and running under a managed beta progra, and interested iPhone users can give it a try at http://mobile.yahoo.com/. It is expected to go live and into production in late March 2009.
Yahoo Mobile Mail
Yahoo Directions
Nokia Views on IPv6 Transition
February 28, 2009
The time for wide-scale IPv6 deployment is approaching as the pool of available IPv4 addresses is exhausting. The shared goal for all parties is to make IPv6 deployment smooth and transparent for end users, enable continuous and strong growth of the Internet, and provide affordable Internet access to a significantly increasing number of people and devices. This document communicates Nokia’s views about IPv6 transition in general, and offers specific opinions about various technologies that can be used in cellular environments for the transition. Considerations are also included for network operators, application developers, and organisations providing services on the Internet.
Series 40 6th Edition SDK World Languages Pack
February 28, 2009
Series 40 6th Edition SDK Release Notes v1.1
February 28, 2009
S60 Platform: HTTP Client API Example v2.1
February 28, 2009
This C++ application demonstrates simple HTTP GET and POST transactions using HTTP Client API. Basic HTTP authentication is also supported. The updated version provides many improvements to, e.g, error handling, Internet access point filtering, and offline awareness. The application has been tested and qualified as a Symbian Signed application. Note that this version supports S60 3rd Edition and S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 1.
Design and User Experience Library v1.2 (Standalone)
February 28, 2009
The Design and User Experience Library gathers all essential aspects of design and usability into one. The updated library includes different kinds of guidelines, material about theme design, graphics design, and game design, as well as the basics of usability. Updates to v1.2 include a new section on interaction design and a renewed visual design section. To open the library, extract the ZIP file and double-click index.htm.
Motorola’s Advanced Troubleshooting and SMART RF Solutions Help Simplify Wireless LAN Networking
February 27, 2009
Unique wireless networking solutions help organizations reduce annual wireless LAN maintenance costs