News
Archive of all the latest news and blog posts
A man walks into a bar in California carrying the latest iPhone 4G (or is that iPhone HD?). The brand new iPhone 4G is bigger, faster and more powerful. Its new features include a camera flash, a ceramic casing, front facing camera and a higher resolution screen, but this is no joke and there is no punch line. For the Apple employee who mistakenly (read drunkenly?) left the latest Apple iPhone 4G in the California bar, these are not tales of drunken hilarity.
The result of this public relations holocaust for Apple has been the centre of much speculation and delight in recent hours. According to gadget site Gizmodo, the latest Apple release dubbed the “iPhone 4G” or “iPhone HD”, was found unattended in a pub in Redwood City some 20 miles from the Apple HQ in Cupertino. If you are a follower of tech news site ‘Engadget’, speculation suggests the phone was actually found lying on the floor. Steve Jobs had initially planned to announce the launch of the iPhone 4G in June. Instead, he now has to contend with the lucky punter who stumbled upon it, touting it to every tech blog in the world in exchange for hard cash. Reports of a $10,000 asking price seem microscopic given the amount of hype surrounding this latest revelation.
One thing is for certain, Apple want the lost iPhone 4G to be returned very quickly. Unfortunately, California law dictates that the finder of the property must inform the rightful owner. However, given that Gizmodo and Engadget was not ‘the finder’ of said property, it puts Apple in a potentially difficult position.
Since the iPhone launched in 2007, Apple has released a newer and better version every year. The anticipation and buzz surrounding the release of any new feature upgrade is usually welcomed amidst a blizzard of excitement and fanfare, as Apple enthusiasts scramble over one another for a glimpse of a leaked photo or video blog.
Reports suggest that Apple is less than forgiving when it comes to this type of internal balls up. Its unlucky for them, but great for anyone who is interested in getting their hands on an iPhone 4G. Given some of the latest features appeared to be present in the iPhone 4G, it gives iPhone developers a good chance to get ahead of the game.
What apps would you like to see on the iPhone 4G? Use our Facebook Connect login system to let us know…
Anyone outside of the USA eagerly anticipating the international release of the Apple iPad will have to wait. Apple announced yesterday on its website that it intended to delay the launch of the iPad until the end of May, as it had sold more units than originally anticipated. This could indicate that Apple are struggling to source enough units from their manufacturers in the Far East to keep up to speed with PR buzz and the associated swelling demand for the product.
Having delivered in excess of 500,000 units in its first week on sale, demand for the Apple iPad is continuing to grow as more people come into contact with the product and its ferocious marketing drive. Apple has also indicated a flurry of early orders for the 3G version of the iPad.
Demand for the Apple iPad in the USA has effectively forced Apple to take stock, reevaluate and delay the launch of the product internationally until the end of May. The good news for early adopters in international markets is that Apple intends to announce pricing and taking pre-orders for the iPad on Monday 10th May. Apple was apologetic to eager customers outside the USA for the delay of the iPad and hinted that the products success stateside should be a source of encouragement for international customers.
Clearly in the USA, sales of the Wi-Fi enabled iPad have been promising. To what extent will the 3G-enabled iPad outperform its weaker counterpart in terms of product sales?
Let us know your thoughts using the Facebook Connect login system…
After some considerable downtime on the Apple online store yesterday, the Californian bigwigs finally unveiled the latest version of the much-anticipated new MacBook Pro series. The new 15.4” and 17” models come fully equipped with Intel’s Core i5 and Core i7 processor chips. For the meantime, the 13” will have to wait patiently for an overhaul.
It’s an all-round refresh for the MacBook Pro family as the machine now comes equipped with 4GB of RAM as standard. On some of the bigger models users can also choose between a range of different processors and graphics card options.
If you’re interested in buying the new 15.4” model, you also have three types of screen to pick from: a glossy widescreen display, a high-res glossy widescreen display and a high-res antiglare widescreen display. Other enhancements include the battery life, now up to 10 hours from a single charge on the 13” model and between 8-9 hours for its larger 15.4” and 17” counterparts.
There hasn’t been a great deal of variation in price, with the exception of the 13” model where buyers can potentially save around £200.
What are your thoughts on the new series?
Even for the most avid Apple fan, the hype surrounding the release of the iPad must seem somewhat bemusing. If you already have a MacBook and an iPhone, buying an iPad seems like buying a scooter, when you already own a car and a motorbike. Clearly, almost 1 million people have found a compelling reason to purchase an iPad on the weekend of its maiden voyage. Apple predicted that the launch of the iPad in the USA would bring about between 200,000 and 300,000 unit sales. This target appears to have been obliterated with a reported 700,000 sales between its release early on Saturday morning and the close of play on Sunday night. It took Apple nearly over two months to sell a million of the original 2G-iPhone handsets. As such, the latest Apple iPad sales figures will make for some encouraging reading. Am I missing something?
The iPad looks graceful, elegant and unfamiliar to current technologies. It may act as a suitable replacement to the notebook, as in turn; the notebook has to some extent replaced the use of the traditional desktop PC. Perhaps some of the associated challenges with the iPad, such as application development and content creation, can be overcome using peripheral devices (a docking station and keyboard would probably be a decent place to start). Were you one of the lucky few to purchase an iPad on Saturday? Do you intend to buy an iPad when they go on sale in the UK? Let us know your thoughts using the Facebook Connect login below.
The hype surrounding the release of the Apple iPad has been cranked up a notch with some iTunes tweaking. The Cupertino wonder kids have released version 9.1 of iTunes and included some changes that provide a teaser in anticipation of the iPad’s official launch in the UK next month. These changes come in the form of some features that will enable iPad owners to manage their book collection within iTunes.
Before anyone gets too excited, these changes are largely cosmetic ahead of the iPad’s USA launch this Saturday and provide only a slight alteration when compared with the previous software update. The most notable addition is the ability to now synchronise your iTunes software with the iPad hardware. This means that when the first lucky iPad customers in the USA plug their iPad into their laptop or desktop, they can transfer all of their existing movies, music and apps.
There are one or two other notable updates in the form of support for iBooks and some alterations to the Genius feature. By enabling support for iBooks, iPad owners will be able to share books between different devices. The genius feature updates are not specific to the iPad and enable users to better manage their music within iTunes 9.1.
The purpose of the update is to ensure that the launch of the iPad in the USA goes smoothly ahead of the launch this Saturday 3rd April. This will enable Apple to identify and fix any bugs ahead of the launch of one of the most potentially significant products in the history of Apple.
Waracle are iPhone and iPad developers located in Dundee, Scotland. The company works with clients throughout the UK including London, Glasgow and Edinburgh to produce high quality apps for the iPhone and iPad. If you are interested in developing an application for the iPad or iPhone to enhance your business, please contact Waracle directly on (01382) 529528
The Apple iPad looks set to continue the theme developed by the iPhone, with a number of game developers set to enter the market. A survey from Flurry Analytics has revealed a detailed breakdown of the types of apps likely to be available when the iPad is released in April 2010 including entertainment, social networking and sports. One clear advantage the iPad has when compared with the iPhone is its sheer size. In order to convert popular web based games to the iPhone, developers have cleverly utilised a somewhat restrictive touchscreen interface and screen size. The iPad offers additional screen ‘real-estate’ and greater flexibility when building touchscreen game controls.
Mashable columnist Amy-Mae Elliott enquired as to why so many developers are looking to games to create success on the iPad. If the iPhone is anything to go buy, bar GPS apps such as the Tom Tom, presumably many of the highest grossing apps will in fact be games. Angry Birds, Street Fighter and Grand Theft Auto are all recent examples of applications that have hit the commercial sweet spot. However, in order to make good games, developers will have to focus on more than just the perceived commercial merit of a particular app. To date, the greatest and most successful iPhone apps have been created using ingenuity, skill and innovation, with commercial success, if at all, following a close but less desirable second place. Does the iPad offer game developers greater flexibility than using the Sony PSP or the Nintendo DSi or even the iPhone? Let us know what types of games content you would like to see on the iPad. You can now leave your comments using Facebook Connect
Yes, it is a dreadfully confusing name for a mobile operating system. The world agrees on that. What seems to be an issue of contention though is what these devices will look and feel like.
Firstly, here is the WP7S promo video from Microsoft :
Why This?
What we can see here is based on the Zune OS. Although not many people will know that because not many people own, or have even seen (myself included) a Microsoft Zune.
Microsoft haemorrhaged cash into developing the Zune to compete with Apple’s iPod and their maiden voyage was a brown (yes – brown, way to score an own goal guys) 40GB model, which was packed full of less than wonderful DRM. This meant that the Zune just wouldn’t play ball with the vast majority of your media collection, be it legal or not. Despite promising that Zune would sync with iTunes, reality proved the device had flaky iTunes support at best.
Anyway, one failing aside leads us to the next – Windows Mobile.
For me personally, I find WM 6.x to be dreadful – ‘it just stinks’. I have seen many a poor consumer be sucked into the so-called iPhone alternative only to be dismayed by the clunky, slow glitchy interface and abysmal app store. At last count there was a paltry 1,200 apps. Compare this to Apples 160,000 or Androids 20,000. Anyone who has attempted to wrap their head around developing for WM6.x will see why – it’s a horrific quagmire of flaky, ‘dot netty’ and downright depressing development tools.
So Microsoft needs something new for mobile phones; and they need to start from scratch.
What Exactly Is It?
Well we only know so much. It certainly looks like the first mobile OS that can challenge the almighty iPhone in terms of slick smooth transitions, however this doesn’t necessarily mean it can challenge in terms of usability. History tells us usability is a whole different ball game. However the ‘brag factor’ is definitely important and WP7S certainly seems to tick this box.
There is a lot of mention of Sliverlight being banded about, this is Microsoft’s sparsely adopted answer to Adobe Flash and allows developers to create flash-like applications using .NET languages like C#. Whether or not the OS’ interface is purely Silverlight is unknown at this point, but it certainly seems that Silverlight will play a big part in app development for this platform.
This is a good thing for Microsoft as one thing they don’t do well is making development environments for slick interfaces (Xbox 360 notwithstanding).The thought of trying to reproduce an interface like that in the promo video using a minced down version of the Windows GDI makes me physically shudder. Silverlight could actually go a long way to solve this.
What Will it Look Like?
This is where Microsoft are actually beginning to act sensibly. The days of Microsoft selling their mobile OS to anybody, for any device to do whatever the heck they like are gone - and good riddance. Too many WM6.x devices have been butchered by device manufacturers and mobile carriers in a futile attempt to make their product stand out or function anything like a modern Smartphone. Microsoft have set out strict rules for the three form factors that any manufacturer wishing to bear the new OS must adhere to:
-Large touch screen
-Expect to see tweaked versions of the HTC HD2 here
-Minimum 4-point multi touch capable
-Slide-out keyboard
-Apparently Ballmer refuses to admit this is unnecessary and many manufacturers still build phones in this form factor.
-Candy-Bar
-Stuff like Samsung slide phones and more traditional layouts.
First in the internal requirements is speed, only systems with at least 1ghz ARM chips such as the snapdragon and a dedicated GPU need apply. Next is interface – 4 point capacitive touch screen is a must and a ‘Bing’ button is also mandatory. Also, screens must be of high quality and must sport a high resolution. Required Accessory features are GPS, 5MP camera, accelerometer and oddly enough an FM radio.
First Impressions
I certainly welcome this OS. I think it’s high time somebody pushed a realistic alternative to the iPhone into the limelight. Many speculated Android would fill this position, but because of Google’s reluctance to enforce anything on users or makers of Android devices it just doesn’t carry the cleanness that an iPhone competing device needs. Microsoft could very well have the next generation of smart phone here. Lets just hope developers like ourselves aren’t banging our heads off walls to make software for it.
Waracle create software applications for the web and mobile. With a dedicated team of highly skilled developers, Waracle are committed to the creation of high quality mobile applications for iPhone, Google Android and Windows Mobile. If you would like to develop a mobile application to enhance your brand, engage users or drive revenue, please contact Waracle directly today on (01382) 529528
What is Facebook Connect?
Over the past two weeks you may have noticed some strange alterations to the way our news section functions. This is because we have been busy integrating an exciting new product called Facebook Connect. Previously, we had utilised a traditional comments system on our news as a way of engaging users when browsing content on the Waracle site. By integrating Facebook Connect into the Waracle site, we can make it easier for our community of readers to discover, share and engage with our content. The Facebook Connect feature enables our users to login to the Waracle site using their existing profile details and share content between the news section and their Facebook profile pages. There are still a few bugs that we need to iron out, but please have a look around and leave feedback using the Facebook Connect login. We have only started to scratch the surface in terms of what Facebook Connect can do, so please stay tuned for new features and developments.
What are the benefits of Facebook Connect Integration?
Facebook Connect enables extended community reach and increased site membership. According to Neilson, “Facebook is the worlds most popular social network”. As Facebook becomes a ubiquitous platform for enjoying and sharing different types on content with your friends, we feel it will become an important component of any online community. As a web site owner, you can now extend the reach of your brand and increase the effectiveness of your social media campaign.
How can Facebook Connect help your business?
- Allow Facebook users to quickly log into your site with their Facebook ID
- Leave comments with a user's Facebook username, avatar and friends list
- Publish stories and news to a user’s Facebook wall
- Easily invite other Facebook friends to join your site
Waracle are offering you the chance to be amongst the first site owners in Scotland and the UK to have your very own Facebook Connect login. If you own a website, or online community and would like to learn more about the features and benefits of Facebook Connect integration, please contact us directly on (01382) 529528.
Rumours are circulating the Internet today regarding a 4G iPhone that is bigger in size than its predecessors. iPhone repair shop specialists iResQ claims to have the front panel component of the eagerly anticipated iPhone 4G, allegedly hitting set for announcement in June 2010 (we previously thought it might be released in April…). iResQ has provided a couple of teaser screen shots to demonstrate how and why the new model will differ in shape and size.
Mashable has today suggested that the new iPhone 4G will be taller in order to accommodate for new hardware components (remember, we recently discussed that the ‘4G’ in ‘iPhone 4G’ represents fourth generation and not 4G super fast broadband). If the pictures that iResQ have posted online are the real deal, they may provide some clues as to what the beefed up iPhone 4G handset might possess.
Early reports are suggesting that the new model will have a ‘reflective, mirror-like’ surface positioned closer to the top of the iPhone 4G hardware. This sensor can be used to identify when a user is holding the phone to their ear, so that the iPhone can cleverly conserve valuable battery life whilst the user is talking. If this mysterious description of the new iPhone 4G is anything to go by, it may mean that Apple has additional features planned that will make use of the proximity sensor.
As with most of these stories regarding the new iPhone 4G, please take any speculation with a pinch of salt. Assuming there is some truth in it, what might these features be? Please feel free to add comments at the bottom; we are currently in the process of integrating Facebook Connect on comments to make this a bit easier for you!
Waracle are a leading iPhone development studio based in Tayside, Scotland in the UK. Waracle create apps for a range of mobile devices including iPhone, Google Android and Blackberry. Waracle specialise in the creation of high quality web applications to give your mobile software a competitive advantage. If you are interested in creating exceptional applications for the web and mobile devices including the iPhone, please contact us for a chat today on (01382) 529528.
If you haven’t already read my previous post regarding my iPhone battery experiment, for one weekend (Fri, Sat, Sunday) I reduced my iPhone to the simple role of making phone calls and receiving SMS messages. The task was to see if I could get the device to last a weekend of normal phone use without needing re-charged.
Today, I’ll summarize the results and talk about some great battery saving tips for those of you with iPhones that may occasionally require long-distance trips between charges.
Firstly, the phone made it. By 10:30pm on Sunday night I was left with 19% charge. Impressive enough, but it must be noted that I turned the phone off at night while I slept.
This shows that an iPhone can indeed be used for a weekend-long trip away from power, great news for festival goers, campers and hill walkers alike.
So how did I coax this extended marathon out of such a normally power hungry device like the iPhone?
1. Screen Brightness
Probably the most effective means of reducing power needs, turning the screen brightness all the way down goes a huge way to extending battery life. If nothing else, this should be your first port of call if your running low – but still need the other data services the device provides.
2. Turn off Wi-Fi
Fairly self-explanatory, but any time the device or any application requests a data connection the wifi is fired up to search for available networks. This is made worse in a situation where you are likely to be away from power as the antenna will be boosted and amplified when the device struggles to make a connection – further increasing power drain.
3. Disable Push Notifications
Push notifications generally work by keeping a persistent connection open to Apples servers. This causes CPU overhead and requires constant connection to a data service, sucking valuable volts in the process.
4. Disable 3G
3G networks are great for awesome data-rates but good old fashioned 2G wins hands down. In fact, using 2G over 3G can actually half the power used when making a call. Also, as 3G networks are generally more sparse than 2G the phone will constantly try and boost its 3G signal draining power.
5. Disable Email Fetch
Having emails arrive in your pocket is nice, but not entirely essential. Simply disable this to stop unnecessary data connections and save some juice.
6. Disable Bluetooth
As I’m sure its becoming clear by now, wireless connections drain power. While Bluetooth is an incredibly power-efficient wireless protocol, it’s hardly an essential when your out of power.
7. Disable Location services
Location services use a combination of GPS and carrier triangulation. Both of these methods put drain on power, neither of them are required to make phone calls. Not a big sacrifice, and a fairly attractive power saving.
8. Switch off in low signal areas
If your in the middle of nowhere and there isn’t a signal, don’t waste power trying to search for one. As I have mentioned power usage for any radio system is increased many times if the device has to continuously boost the signal both incoming and outgoing. If you are in a low signal area, the iPhone will boost the signal many times in an attempt to keep a working connection open.
9. Disable Vibrate
A tiny saving, but none the less helpful. Also, keeping the volume low may also help if your desperate. Apple also says to disable the iPod EQ. But seeing as your unlikely to be using the iPhone as anything other than essential communication by this point, I didn’t make a big deal out of it.
10. No Facebook
Apps drink juice. Unfortunately, data centric apps such as Facebook are even worse. And need I say it…Don’t even think about playing games!
