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Sprint will offer unlimited data on the next iPhone

by Dave Caolo on April 25, 2012 in Articles with No comments

That is, if the next-generation iPhone offers LTE. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse told CNET that the company is happy to offer unlimited data to its iPhone customers:

“Frankly, it’s a marriage made in heaven. We’re clearly attracting customers from our competitors.”

Indeed. The iPhone was a bright spot in an otherwise dismal first quarter report from Sprint. The company posted a net loss of $863M, yet sold 1.5 million iPhones, the majority of which went to new customers.

I’m currently using AT&T because I’m grandfathered into the unlimited data plan I purchased when the original iPhone was released. I really dislike AT&T and would consider jumping to Sprint if unlimited data is still available when I’m eligible.

Enjoy National Park Week with your iPhone

by Dave Caolo on April 23, 2012 in Articles with No comments

Those traveling to North America’s national parks between April 21-29 will enjoy free admission and special events, as it’s National Park Week here in the States. Further enhance the experience with your iPhone. There are several apps available to help you get the most out of our national parks. Here are some of my favorites.

1. National Parks by National Geographic (free). This app is absolutely beautiful, and provides information on 20 parks, from Acadia in Maine to Zion in Utah (unfortunately my local Cape Cod National Seashore is not represented).  Each listing presents the current weather as well as stats like the number of visitors in 2010, the size of the park, local time and date established. Download a park’s full guide for unique photo hints, park “secrets” like tips to enhance your trip and details on what to see and do. It’s all presented beautifully. This is a must-have for those traveling to a national park with an iPhone.

2. Chimani Guides (free during National Parks Week). There are 10 Chimani guides available. Each provides a huge amount of information on the park it covers. You’ll find much of what you’d expect, like visitor information, maps and scheduled events, but that’s just the beginning. Explore park-specific details like a tide chart, museum hours and information, sunrise/sunset hours and lots of photos. These apps are comprehensive and useful. I recommend them highly.

3. Fotopedia National Parks (free during National Parks Week). Here’s another app that’s long on looks. Fotopedia National Parks contains over 3,000 photos of some of the most beautiful scenery in the continental United States. You’ll also find detailed planning information like parking shuttle schedules (very nice), points of interest and the very handy “smart suggestions,” which notices where in the park you’re standing and suggests the best of what’s nearby.

You’ll also find park-specific apps in the App Store, so I recommend conducting a search to see what you come up with. The three I’ve listed are suggestions, and very good ones at that. Then, go and experience some of America’s most beautiful scenery with iPhone in hand.

Enable iPhone Airplane mode, keep WiFi while traveling

by Dave Caolo on April 19, 2012 in Articles with No comments

Traveling internationally with an iPhone can be extremely expensive. Even if you arrange for an international plan with your provider, it’s possible to find a staggering bill at the end of the month. Your best bet is to disable cellular data and restrict Internet access to Wi-Fi, but how can you be sure you’ve set your iPhone up properly? It’s easy with Airplane Mode and the Wi-Fi settings. Here’s how.

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LodgeNet Mobile turns your iPhone into a hotel TV remote

by Dave Caolo on April 19, 2012 in Articles with No comments

Those traveling with an iOS device, take note: LodgeNet Mobile (free, universal) lets you use your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch as a remote control for hotel TVs. The app’s developers, LodgeNet Interactive Corporation, claim that the app is compatible with TVs in “hundreds of thousands” of US hotel rooms, including those from Hilton, Starwood, Marriott, Hyatt, Omni Hotels and many more.

Not only does it control the TV (on/off, volume, channel selection), LodgeNet Moble will let you view in-room movie listings, order movies and other video-on-demand features and even find local events and restaurants. That’s great for when you’re traveling with your iPhone or iPad, and super for people who don’t like to handle hotel remote controls (you know who you are).

I haven’t used it, but the apps’ got a four-star rating across 64 reviews on the App Store right now. Since it’s free, there’s nothing to lose by trying it out.

[Via USA Today Travel]

iCloud email outage

by Dave Caolo on April 18, 2012 in Articles with No comments

Many iCloud customers have been without email for more than a day. A conversation on Apple’s discussion board has entries from users across the US and even a few from London.

I’ve been without my iCloud email since 3:00 PM on the 17th. I spoke with two Apple reps in so many days, and the second one told me that the issue is affecting “less than 0.2% of customers.”

Looks like I win.

[Via Apple Insider]

Smartphone as camera

by Dave Caolo on April 17, 2012 in Articles with 4 Comments

Last week I spent 11 hours in a huge, crowded theme park. I saw rides, sweaty children, overpriced commemorative plastic cups and lots of people taking photographs. There was the occasional weirdo with a DSLR (who can navigate an amusement park with one of those monstrosities?), but most people were point-and-shoot photographers. And most of them were using phones.

As the camera optics in smartphones improve, I don’t know how camera manufacturers are going to keep up. I bought a Canon PowerShot about a year ago and rarely touch it. Why should I? My iPhone 4S is always with me. It’s got 8-megapixel resolution and a flash. It’s small, light and has decent storage. Plus, the iPhone lets me immediately edit and share photos in a huge number of ways. The Canon makes me wait until I’m home. Even then, I must connect to a computer, upload the photos, get them into an app and then work with them.

My own observations suggest that people use phones to take casual photographs more often than point-and-shoot cameras. That’s anecdotal, of course, so let’s look at some empirical data.

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Boston to Orlando with an iPhone

by Dave Caolo on April 17, 2012 in Articles with No comments

Last week I traveled to Orlando, Florida from Boston, Ma. I managed every aspect of the trip, from packing to sending a thank-you card, with my iPhone. I rarely touched paper and never felt unprepared or wanting. Here’s how I managed a quickie vacation with an iPhone (and you can, too).

Planning

I’d be staying with my parents (more on that in a future episode of 11 Minutes) so finding a hotel wasn’t a concern. My initial needs were:
1. Write a packing list
2. Find flights
3. Find bus transportation
4. Research the destination

There are many ways to accomplish these tasks with an iPhone, including several apps. I used Kayak, Evernote and a destination-specific app I’ll describe later.

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Drafts for iPhone is a quick, useful notepad

by Dave Caolo on April 7, 2012 in Articles, Reviews, Software with No comments

A couple of weeks ago I got a copy of Drafts for iPhone ($0.99) to play with from Agile Tortoise. Today it has earned a spot on my iPhone’s home screen and replaced once-favorite Birdhouse, which has been flaky lately. Drafts lets you quickly record text and then share it in several useful ways. Here’s why I’m loving Drafts.

I’ll preface this post by saying I don’t like typing lots of text on my iPhone. It’s time consuming and I make typing errors. When I first saw Drafts I thought, “Nice, but it’s a note-taking app. I don’t really use those.” However, when I realized it could replace Birdhouse, I became intrigued.

I like storing potential tweets as drafts. Yes, several Twitter apps offer drafts as a feature, but it’s often buried. Drafts lets me launch the app, type and close it again. The next time I open the app, I’m presented with a new note. The older one has been moved to the queue.

Of course, Drafts does more than store tweets. For one, it supports Markdown and converts Markdown notes to HTML, so good news if that’s your thing (plain text is supported too, of course). Notes can be as lengthy as you want, so type away.

To active a note in the queue, simply tap it. To create a note, hit the “+” button. The action button on the right offers several sharing options (above):

  • Tweet (using iOS 5′s built-in tweet function)
  • Send to Tweetbot (I have several Twitter apps installed, but Tweetbot is the only option that shows up here. I don’t know why.)
  • Email as text
  • Email as HTML (converted from Markdown)
  • Copy to clipboard as HTML (converted from Markdown)

That’s a darn useful list. Drafts also displays each note’s word count and character count, has a search function and several UI settings, including four themes and three font sizes (small, medium and large) across 13 fonts. Finally, any note can be edited, even after it’s been shared.

It won’t convert me into an iPhone typist (dictating notes to Siri is still quicker), but the fact that I can get notes out as easily as I put them in is huge. There’s no sync support, so abandon your Dropbox and iCloud dreams. But I don’t really care about that. Drafts is a win.

You’ll find more screenshots and a demo video after the break.

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Week in Review April 2 – 6

by Dave Caolo on April 6, 2012 in Articles with No comments

iPad Mini

John Gruber mentioned that Apple has a “7.85 inch iPad that runs at 1024×768” in its testing labs, and Apple sites went nuts. My first response echos what Jim Dalrymple said on Amplified on Friday: of course Apple is testing a smaller iPad. It’s safe to assume that Apple didn’t ship a 10″ iPad without first testing a slew of other sizes. Further, I don’t doubt that Apple is fiddling with larger and smaller models to this day.

This is how big companies work. Do you think something as beautiful as the Pontiac Aztec just happens?

The question is about Apple’s intention. Will it see a need, a reason, to produce and ship a smaller model? I don’t know the answer, but I do know that Apple won’t ship one without a compelling reason, and “to compete with the Fire” is not a compelling reason.

A.T. Faust III wrote a nice piece in favor of the 7.85-inch screen. Meanwhile, Federico Viticci at MacStories describes the “technological issues, software questions, and market debates” that leave him skeptical.

I’m with Federico. I don’t see why Apple would ship a smaller, less expensive iPad when the current model is selling so well. But Apple has a habit of seeing things I miss.

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Google re-imagines BluBlockers, customers blink approvingly

by Dave Caolo on April 5, 2012 in Articles with No comments

Google’s Project Glass is compelling, but I can’t see it becoming an actual product. The point-of-view concept video features a young man wearing Internet-enabled glasses with an integrated heads up display. He goes about his day while responding to alerts, creating reminders, taking photos and more all from his glasses.

This is nothing I’d ever want to do.

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