Technology Blog

With the iPhone 5 release set for 21 September Apple have today released iOS 6-

http://www.apple.com/iphone/ios/

ZDNet report that Adobe has discontinued development on their highly contested Flash mobile platform.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/perlow/exclusive-adobe-ceases-development-on-mobile-browser-flash-refocuses-efforts-on-html5/19226

This comes after a war of words between Steve Jobs and Adobe around the future and usability of Flash on mobile devices, here are Steve’s forward thinking thoughts from over a year ago-

http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/

Flash mobile platform has been buggy even on high end supported devices. Part of the problem with mobile flash platforms like Android is that its just so fragmented, there are quite a number of different hardware devices out there that do not have the horsepower to run flash apps, or the software version to support it.

This is a welcome change from Adobe, finally admitting that html5 is the way to go.

Apple have today held their yearly opening to WWDC week. This is an event where developers get together to see and use new technology released by Apple.

So today was a great event, centered around software and cloud services.

I will not go into too much detail over the different areas covered, the Internet already has many of those, here are some key areas to read up on-

Mac OS X Lion (Coming next month)

iOS 5 (Beta has already been jailbroken)

iCloud (At last!!)

Watch the full keynote here-

http://www.apple.com/apple-events/wwdc-2011/

Various articles-

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/reviews/desktop-os/2011/06/07/a-first-look-at-mac-os-x-107-lion-40093011/

http://www.engadget.com/wwdc-2011/apple-ios-5-hands-on-preview/

http://gizmodo.com/5808937/apples-new-icloud-iphone-and-mac-stuff

Apple have during this week released an update to iOS, v4.3 now suppports-

Personal wireless hotspot for iPhone 4, for up to 5 devices

AirPlay Enhancements

Safari Performance

iTunes Home Sharing

Details here-

http://www.apple.com/ios/

http://www.macrumors.com/2011/03/09/apple-releases-ios-4-3-with-airplay-and-safari-improvements-personal-hotspot/

You will probably know someone or yourself that may have an old iPhone or iPod or even an iPad with a cracked screen or dead battery?

Well, you can now get them fixed quickly and for very good value too.

Richard from iHelp provides a very good service, even same day on cracked screens.

His contact details are-

http://www.ihelp.net.nz/

021 211 8081

richardatlarge@hotmail.com

With the release of iOS 4.2.1 today, Apple have changed their offering on this previously paid for option.

Its now free to use and simple to setup, just use your existing Apple ID.

This page explains method-

http://www.apple.com/iphone/find-my-iphone-setup/

If you have an old Apple ID, one without an email as the user name, you will need to change this ID to an email address based one, sign in to your Apple ID account and you will get the option to change the Apple ID.

Then you can setup mobileme and enable the devices you require.

You can send a message to the lost device, wipe or lock it remotely.

Apple have today released the long awaited iOS 4.2.1 for all iOS devices.

This means you can now update your iPad, iPod touch and iPhone to the latest and greatest.

New features include-

Multitasking on iPad

Folders on iPad

AirPrint

AirPlay

Find My iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

And other features listed on this page-

http://www.apple.com/ios/

There is also some speculation around free MobileMe services and find my device. Not sure at this stage, time will tell. MobileMe page still states 60 day trial.

Apple have also updated the MobileMe login page and updates are on their way for the iWork apps to support AirPrint.

http://www.macrumors.com/2010/11/22/ios-4-2-notes-revamped-me-com-login-page-iwork-for-ipad-updates/

Apple have today released a minor update to address various issues -

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4013

An open source developer has written a Javascript runtime hack to enable Flash based animation on Safari web browser on the Apple iPhone-

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/01/hack-enables-flash-on-iphone/

See a few demo’s here on your iPhone-

http://paulirish.com/work/gordon/demos/

Parrot, the people who make the high end bluetooth hands free kits have released a quadricopter that you control from your iPhone/iPod touch.

Available are 3 augmented reality games that will integrate your live environment into games that can be played on your Apple device.

Parrot have opened up development for games to any developers.

More info here-

http://ardrone.parrot.com/parrot-ar-drone/en/

http://www.bestofthe2000s.com/

Apple have today released an update to iTunes v9 with an improved interface and other features.

iPhone OS3.1 also released today.

iPod range has been updated, see here for details-

http://www.apple.com/itunes/

http://www.apple.com/iphone/softwareupdate/

http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/10-best-iphone-games-for-hardcore-gamers-599016

More listed here-

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2347361,00.asp

It weighs in at a whopping 700mb download, with 1.5GB needed to install-

http://www.macrumors.com/2009/05/03/cyans-classic-myst-arrives-in-app-store/

Youtube Myst video

13 year old get US$10 000 iTunes gift card and heaps of other stuff, whew thats a lot of apps/music/goodies, winning app downloaded was Bump

http://www.apple.com/itunes/billion-app-countdown/

http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/0903lajkszg/event/index.html

Apple have announced their feature rich firmware upgrade for the iPhone, here is a quick list of new features, see link below for full story-

• Copy & Paste text. When you double-tap over text, you will get a “cut, copy, and paste” bubble dialog. Double-tap again and a “paste” bubble will appear if there’s anything stored in your clipboard.

This works across applications. You can expand your selection points using your thumbs and, if you accidentally paste something you didn’t want to paste, just shake your iPhone to undo it.

• Copy & Paste photos. You can also copy and paste photos. Now you will be able to select multiple photos by tapping the action button, copy some of them, and paste them in an email, ready to send.

• New Spotlight. iPhone OS 3.0 will allow you to search across the entire information contained in your device, no matter where, as soon as the information is supported it. If an application is written to support the new Spotlight, its data will also be available in the search.

• Search in Mail, Calendar, and iPod. These Apple applications have specific search interfaces. The search in Mail doesn’t support the message content yet, but it supports searching in IMAP servers—that will save a lot of time logging into Gmail.

• 3G Tethering. This feature will allow you to connect your iPhone 3G to a laptop, to use it as a modem to access the internet.

• Landscape keyboard. Apple has added the landscape keyboard mode to other applications, like Mail and Notes.

• Multimedia messaging. A big one to send rich content to people without mail-enabled telephones: The new MMS function will allow you to include everything, from images to sound to vcards (no word on video, however.)

• Support for new calendar types. In iPhone OS 3.0 you will be able to subscribe to calendars on the web using two protocols: CalDAV—supported by Google and Yahoo—and subscriptions via the .ics format—which is what Apple uses in iCal.

• Improved stocks application. The stocks application now allows you to read related news, so you can enjoy yourself learning about the latest market scandals, stock crashes, and executives getting bonus packages from government aid while their companies sink into hell. Thank you, Apple.

• Stereo Bluetooth audio. You will be able to pair your iPhone 3.0 with a stereo bluetooth device, like headphones or speakers.

• Note synching with iTunes.

• Automatic login in Safari. The new version of Safari will remember login credentials.

• Shake to shuffle music. If you are in your iPod application, you just need to shake it to start the shuffling mode. Hopefully this will be optional for sports people out there.

• Wi-Fi auto-login. In case you have a subscription to a paid hotspot, your iPhone or iPod touch will autolog into it.

• Anti-phising. Mobile Safari now can warn you against malicious sites trying to scam you.

• Extended parental controls. Adult content filters can now be applied to movies, TV shows, and applications, in addition to web sites and music.

Update scheduled to be released in US summer..

http://i.gizmodo.com/5171796/iphone-30-os-guide-everything-you-need-to-know

Apple have silently installed a chip into the newly designed headphones for the iPod shuffle. This move will see the third party headphone manufacturers reportedly having to insert and pay for the certification chips into products that will carry the ‘Made for iPod’ certification.

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/03/16/apple_criticized_for_ipod_shuffles_new_authentication_chip.html

Quoted from boingboing – “Just spoke with Apple. There is no encryption or authentication on the chip, so clones could conceivably be made, just not with “Made for iPod” official certification.”

Gizmodo has reviewed the recently released iPod Shuffle

http://i.gizmodo.com/5169174/ipod-shuffle-3rd-gen-review

Apple has overnight updated its iPod shuffle to a 4GB, smaller form factor and now with voiceover, price NZ$155. The new shuffle which ships in 3 – 5 days requires iTunes 8.1 which Apple mention is ‘coming soon’.

For more info see here-

http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/