When people complain that the iPad doesn’t have multitasking, a camera, a full-fledged desktop OS, or an exposed filesystem, they’re missing the point. They’re forgetting what came before: a slew of tablets from the likes of HP, Lenovo, Fujitsu, Asus, Toshiba and others. What do all of these existing tablets have?
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Now that my (still awesome) 15″ MacBook Pro is 2 generations behind the latest and greatest, I wonder:
What would be the cheapest way for me to get a new Mac?
Would it be with my ADC student membership? Or would it be with the standard student discount?
I bought my iPhone on the first day it was released. That was June 29, 2007 — well over a year ago. The battery still works well — usually lasting a full day under normal use. But if it’s taken to areas with weak cell coverage, and used extensively for maps, traffic, email, news, and so forth, it can run out pretty quickly. So it’s very nice that the MacBook Pro (and, I believe, any Mac) supports charging via USB when the computer is in sleep mode. On most PCs I’ve used, the USB ports get no power when the computer is asleep.
My latest iPhone/iPod touch app, Whiteboard Lite, is now available in the iTunes App Store.
This semester, I’m a Lab Assistant (also sometimes called a Teaching Assistant or TA) for the new ITP 499 iPhone App Development class here at USC (the University of Southern California). The most well-known iPhone App Dev class done so far was at Stanford University (CS 193P); props to them for posting some of their course materials online.
Tags: Apple, development, iphone, programming, stanford, USC
The iPhone offers good localization support the same way Mac OS X does. For strings, developers use a file called “Localizable.strings”. It’s a bit tricky, though. The syntax of the file is strict; any small error will cause it to stop working without warning. Unfortunately, the compiler (which doesn’t touch the file at all) can’t give any warnings or errors when a mistake is present in the file. So check your Localizable.strings closely.
Tags: development, iphone, ipod touch, localization, programming, sdk
Well, I haven’t blogged in a long time, and now school’s about to start again, so I’d better get to it.
Tags: apps, iphone, programming, websvn
I used to highly respect Apple. I bought an iBook, a few iPods, an iMac, and an iPhone. I’ve purchased several songs on iTunes, and I’ve used the Safari beta. They’re trying to remove DRM from iTunes music. They were a good company.
But as of today, I’ve lost all respect for them. Let me explain.
Today, Apple realized Microsoft’s success, and decided to follow them as a role model. They forced their Safari web browser on Windows users of iTunes, QuickTime, or Bonjour.
Sneakily, the Apple Software Updater will run and pop-up automatically on the screens of Windows users who have iTunes installed. This is fine. The problem is that it now has Safari, and it’s checked to install by default.
Even if you have never installed Safari before. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Apple, bonjour, deceptive tactics, itunes, malware, monopolies, quicktime, safari, software
Chinese company Lenovo, which acquired IBM’s computing division in 2005, today is throwing around the word “perfection.” And I think this could very well be the closest a laptop has ever come. They have released the ThinkPad X300, a 2.9 lb. wonder. Far less than an inch thick, it’s the lightest and thinnest ThinkPad ever made. Amazingly, it has not only a TrackPoint, but a TouchPad as well – which is the signature ThinkPad “UltraNav.”
Naturally, when thinking of extremely thin laptops, the recently-released MacBook Air comes to mind. Here’s a head-to-head comparison, which shows clear ways in which the X300 wins out:
Tags: Apple, change, computers, lenovo, macbook, macbook air, technology, thin laptops, thinkpad, thinkpad x300, x300
On my birthday, Apple released a new software update for iPhone. Thankfully, it’s free. Apple really does treat their iPhone users well 
Tags: Apple, GPS, huge download, iphone, large, location, software update
Apple announced today (my birthday the release of the MacBook Air, which they claim is the world’s thinnest notebook. What I’d like to know is: what was the thinnest notebook before today?
The MacBook Air is 0.76″ at its thickest point. There is a hard drive option (80 GB 1.8″ hard drive) and flash memory drive option (64 GB), which would make it the first mainstream OS X computer running on flash memory. I suppose you can count the iPhone, but it’s not really a full-blown computer.
Since the new laptop doesn’t have an optical drive, you can use a new product called “Time Capsule” with it to backup files wirelessly. Time Capsule is a wireless router with a 500 GB or 1 TB hard drive, which looks like the Apple TV and will probably be a popular accessory for the MacBook Air.
Overall, the MacBook Air reminds me of the canceled Palm Foleo. I’d like to get an Air when the price comes down. Or would someone like to give me a review unit? Update: The X300 seems more suited to me. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: , air, Apple, ipod touch, macbook, macbook air, new features, thinnest notebook
