iphone | Procrastinating in the Heat

Posts Tagged ‘ iphone ’

Mass Effect Redemption is free today on iTunes

Mass Effect Redemption, the comic book which chronicles the events between the intro movie of Mass Effect 2 until you control your character is detailed here. Best of all, Bioware and Dark Horse Comics is making the iPod Touch/ iPhone version of the comic book free for only today. So fire up iTunes and download away! It’s a must read if you’re a big fan of the game and it explains a lot of key points in the story as you move along.

Be warned that this issue is just 1 of 4. But from what I’ve read and played so far. This is a good read.

2010: 02/03
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: mobile
videogames
TAGS: bioware
dark horse comics
freebies
iphone
mass effect
masseffect
RPG
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Can the Palm Pre make you drop your iPhone?

I must admit I was a bit curious when Palm announced after the New Year that they had something special at CES 2009. I didn’t think about it much since they’ve been shooting themselves in the foot for the past seven years. That was until I saw the Pre.

It’s a smart phone with a whole new OS and style.

Palm Pre UI demo (1 of 5)

There’s a lot to love about the phone but at the same time I’ve got the same amount of reservations. One, I’ve totally separated my life from Palm. My one and only PDA was the Palm IIIc (the first colored one) and it was the best. It carried me through work until the day I completely forgot about it. Also known as, it stopped being relevant for me at the time. That would be in 2003 when I purchased my first laptop. Updates were slow and getting frustrating. I wanted a music player but it wasn’t a music player. I wanted to surf the internet on it even on a cheap wifi connection or tethered on my mobile phone, it wasn’t possible without a slew of add ons. Sadly I had to let go and move on. In other words, I’m afraid that the world will move again in two years and Palm might not be along for the ride again.

Two, the their track record as a company saddens me. From an unsurmountable market share in late 90s which resembles the current iPod atmoshpere to a paltry single digit share of the current smartphone market, let alone PDA. I just hope they don’t lose steam or focus on what they need to do to be relevant again.

Three, where’s the push email? The iPhone has MobileMe and RIM has the Blackberry, where is yours Palm? For business type people who will want this phone will want their push email.

All in all it’s the iPhone + G1 = Pre. It has the openness development of the G1 and locked down apps of the iPhone but in a Palm package.

It’s too early to say if this will be an iPhone killer or a G1 killer. Let’s just say I’m glad I haven’t bought a new phone yet.

2009: 01/11
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: Uncategorized
TAGS: blackberry
CES
G1
iphone
palm
pre
RIM
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Macworld 2009 Predictions

As the mac world breathes (intended pun) a sigh of relief that Steve Jobs isn’t dying as evidenced by his letter to the public, he has spoken that everyone should have fun and fun we shall have.

Macworld bingo!

Everyone has their own take on what will come out at Apple’s (last) Macworld and these are some of mine.

New iWork 09, cloud options will be a mobile me add on, more collaborative engines (see enterprise) will have additional features linked to OS X Server 10.6

Short demo of Snow Leopard

Updated iMacs and Mac Minis probably even Mac Pros with the new display ports.

Another iPhone/ iPod Touch software update v.3 paid update for Touch users (where’s the love?)

17 inch unibody mac (actually it’s expected since it’s the only portable that hasn’t been upgraded)

I don’t think that they’ll release a net book even though I’m secretly harboring for one. They obviously love the Air despite it’s limitations, namely price. But if Phil Schiller will walk on stage with one, then I will definitely be in heaven. Even if it will be priced in the $600 I will be the first in line to get one.

2009: 01/05
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: gadgets
TAGS: apple
iphone
macworld
netbooks
Steve Jobs
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CES 2008

Over in Las Vegas, the Consumer Electronics Show is filled with news about the latest HD entertainment hardware for the masses. Let’s take a look at the major news so far.

Warner Brothers goes Blu-ray
In the current muddled world of highdef entertainment, HD-DVD and Blu-Ray have been waging a format war similar to Beta and VHS. The WB has remained on the fence until this week announcing they will stop producing their films on HD-DVD this May and focus solely on Blu-Ray. This makes the Blu discs of Sony the only carriers of Disney, WB, Sony Pictures and Fox. The only holdouts left are NBC Universal, Paramount and Dreamworks. Shortly after the announcement, the HD-DVD group canceled their press conference and rumors came out that a clause in the HD-DVD deal with Paramount suggests that they too will switch to Blu Ray.

Well this format war seems shorter than expected which is good for consumers and a pain for early adopters (like me). We’ll see in the coming months the impact on hardware sales for both formats.

JVC shows off world’s thinnest LCD screen

At just 9mm thick, it is the world thinnest LCD display. Currently just for show and no signs yet of it being commercially available. Looks like it may work it’s way to outdoor advertising.

Next week will be a very exciting week in San Francisco where the mac faithful will converge at the Moscone Center for Macworld. Apple just announced upgrades for their Xserve and Mac Pro product line which may suggest that Steve Jobs’ keynote is really packed with stuff. Will the iPhone make it to Asia as he announced last year? Or will the much rumored “ultra-portable” make it’s debut? We’ll all know on January 15.

2008: 01/09
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: gadgets
TAGS: apple
Blu-ray
CES
HD-DVD
iphone
JVC
macworld
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Weeks away from Macworld

Apple, Fox join hands in iTunes movie rental deal – Engadget

It has leaked outside that iTunes movie rentals will be announced at Macworld in San Francisco this January. This joins the news of an updated iPhone (3G for Asia?) and the ultra portable mac book.

If the rumors are to be believed, and if I understand it correctly, people who buy FOX studio movies will be able to download without added cost the digital version off the iTunes store. Or as the headline says, will be able to download the latest video releases from FOX.

In any case both of these features are interesting but we will have to wait until January 15 for any of these stories to be confirmed.

2007: 12/27
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: gadgets
TAGS: apple
iphone
iTunes
mac book
macworld
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What kind of Apple are we expecting?

Truce: iPhone 1.1.1ers | 9 to 5 Mac

When Apple released their 1.1.1 iPhone update, it basically removed all third party applications and reverted any iPhone to it’s original state. Thus any sim unlocking method use will require a valid AT&T sim card to re-activate the device or in some cases completely make the phone inoperable.

Now this has enraged a lot of people who bought the phone and loaded with another sim card. I myself am surprised by the actions that Apple has made in their decision not only to lockout those who are not on the AT&T service but remove the 3rd party applications as well.

It is understandable for Apple to lock the phones that are not running AT&T service since it is well known that they are getting a share of the airtime as well. They are bound by contract. But the 3rd party apps?

It is impossible to totally shut out 3rd party apps especially if you announced application development for the iPhone and SDK kit. There was already enough brouhaha regarding the ringtones which was supposed to be free but then the RIAA got wind of it and demanded that users pay for it. It doesn’t make sense that you just paid 99¢ for a song and now you have to pay another 99¢ for a third of the song in order for it to be a ringtone. That’s already the price of a TV show on the same store.

Apple needs to fix these issues with their iPhone. It may only be now that they realize that the telecom industry is a lot more complicated that selling songs and iPods. There is no lost love for the iPhone, it’s just we don’t like it and users will take their money elsewhere.

2007: 10/03
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: gadgets
TAGS: apple
iphone
iTunes
RIAA
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iPhone users revolt over $200 price drop

Apple’s substantial 33 percent price drop (of $200) on the 8GB iPhone just a little over 60 days after the product was introduced has left hundreds of thousands of users wondering whether Apple was just gouging its faithful customers when it priced the popular device at $599 and $499 at its launch at the end of June. Early aWell it was bound to happen sooner or later. It’s the usual pain for early adopters but as my mother would say. Can your $200 make you happy as when you bought the iPhone ahead of everyone else? Was Apple wrong in releasing the iPhone first? I had originally thought that the touch screen iPod would be the first to come out and then the phone. Or make the announcement at the same time. Well it’s their strategy and it the announcement didn’t seem to pay off in Wall St. with a 5% drop in Apple stock after the announcement. Maybe all of those were initial iPhone users or people speculating that the stock would rise on the announcement of the new iPods.Either way, it’s now a little more complicated in buying an iPod.

Apple announces major updates to iPod family, cuts iPhone price

Apple today announced major updates to the iPod family at its “The Beat Goes On” special event in San Francisco. The iPod shuffle saw a refresh with new colors and packaging, an all-new iPod nano was introduced, as well as the iPod classic (which replaces the original “iPod” in the company’s lineup), and the all-new iPod tou…Now this is the announcement I’ve been waiting for almost a year now. I have been waiting for that RED (PRODUCT) Shuffle and that touch screen iPod and for once it seems my predictions were right. But I’m really getting that 16GB iPod touch. It seems to be the perfect for users who already have a larger capacity hard drive but wanting an iPhone without the phone. The built-in WiFi is impressive and here’s hoping that they’ll be able to put the whole iTunes store in the wifi store. The Starbucks integration is a nice touch. The ability to buy and download the song playing in the store is impressive. I wont be surprised if other stores will follow suit. Seems like it was a bad call for NBC to move their shows off iTunes.

It seems to be on track

iSuppli: iPhone outsells all U.S. smartphones in July

As the link above states it seems that the iPhone is on track with it’s sales. This blogger wonders if the number would have been higher if the device was open. (Meaning not locked to AT &T). With the eminent release of the iPhone sim unlocker which liberates new iPhones to be used with any carrier the user chooses things could change very drastically in the Smart Phone market.

Either way these are still very competitive numbers for a phone maker with it’s first phone in the market.

2007: 09/04
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: Uncategorized
TAGS: apple
iphone
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iPhone Unlocked!

While I am not surprised that the iPhone has been finally unlocked for use with other services, I am however surprised that it took this long for the device to be freed. As the video (even if it is being somewhat blurred) below will show, the iPhone has ben unlocked.

So what does this mean for everyone else? I am now even more tempted to get an iPhone if it will work with my local carrier. This is absolutely great news. But sadly the legal ramifications are now underway in preventing the release of this software. But is there enough legal muscle that you would have to go to each and every country in the world to prevent the sale of this software. Is it really worth the trouble for the guys who developed the unlocking software and Apple to go after each and every corner of the Earth over it?

Whether AT&T or Apple is able to stop the release of the iPhone unlocker, it merely delays the inevitable. Phones are going to be hacked (unlocked that is) in any and every way possible. My phones are currently locked to my carrier in my country. But nothing prevents me from going across the street to have it unlocked.

Let’s face it, we’re going to have iPhones in our hands much sooner than expected.