Linked List: June 28, 2010

Monday, 28 June 2010

Apple’s Apostrophe Bait and Switch 

Mike Monteiro on the iOS 4 keyboard’s apostrophe key. I disagree slightly with his suggestion to Apple; rather than make the key default to an apostrophe, they should add “Smart Quotes” to iOS and turn it on by default. Flipping single and double quotes the right way is not a hard problem to solve. Even I can do it.

The use of primes and double primes in lieu of proper apostrophes and quotation marks is far more glaring on the Retina Display than before.

The Spot 

Cameron Hunt demonstrates the magic spot on his iPhone 4 on which, if he places a finger, 3G reception stops.

Update: But Hunt can’t reproduce the problem from every location.

‘Apple of My Eye’ 

Short film by Michael Koerbel, shot and edited entirely on an iPhone 4. Someone apparently forgot to send him the memo that iOS devices are only for consumption, not creation.

Microsoft’s Windows 8 Game Plan Leaked 

So I guess their plan is to get Scott Forstall to do a “Windows 8 was my idea” commercial.

Adam Greenfield on Apple’s Infatuation With Skeuomorphic Graphic Design 

Adam Greenfield:

I’m talking about the persistent skeuomorphic design cues that spoor applications like Calendar, Compass, iBooks and the truly awful Notes. The iPhone and iPad, as I argued on the launch of the original in 2007, are history’s first full-fledged everyware devices — post-PC interface devices of enormous power and grace — and here somebody in Apple’s UX shop has saddled them with the most awful and mawkish and flat-out tacky visual cues. You can credibly accuse Cupertino of any number of sins over the course of the last thirty years, but tackiness has not ordinarily numbered among them.

This trend used to bother me as well, but I’ve grown to accept it. I think the trick is in doing it well — when it is, it makes people happy. I like the iPad Calendar app, for example. What I don’t understand is Apple’s lack of consistency in this regard. Why does the iPad Calendar app get the skeuomorphic treatment but not the iPhone version? (Notes, for example, gets it in both.)

‘AT-AT Day Afternoon’ 

Lovely short film by Patrick Boivin.

Great New Yorker Cover by Bob Staake 

Also: The New Yorker has a Tumblr site? (Via John Nack.)

Kindle for Android 

Looks very much like Kindle for iPhone (but without, for now, the just-announced audio/video support).

Copy iPhone 4’s iMovies to iPad Via Camera Connection Kit 

Great idea; too bad the Camera Connection Kit still shows 4-6 weeks for delivery from Apple’s online store.

The iPhone 4 FaceTime Ad Isn’t the Only Smartphone Ad That’ll Make You Tear Up 

Verizon’s new Droid X spot makes my eyes feel funny, too.

iOS Icons Recreated in Pure CSS 

Amazing work by Louis Harboe.

Apple’s First TV Spot for iPhone 4 

All about FaceTime. They showed a slightly longer cut of this spot during the WWDC keynote, and at the end, when the deaf couple use FaceTime to talk, the audience broke out in the loudest applause of the whole keynote.

Apparently the ad only started airing yesterday, so they’ve sold nearly 2 million iPhones before spending a dollar advertising it.

Amazon Adds Audio and Video Support to Kindle App for iOS 

Interesting: the Kindle app for iOS devices now offers more functionality than the Kindle hardware.

Yankees 8, Dodgers 6, 10 Innings 

I hope you didn’t miss last night’s spectacular Yankees comeback against the Dodgers and former Yankee manager Joe Torre. It was one for the ages.

‘How Do You Hold Your Nokia?’ 

Nokia makes hay of iPhone 4 reception issue. (Via Matt Drance.)

Update: Instructions for how to hold the Nokia 2320. And, even better, here’s video showing a Nokia E71 with the exact same problem.

First Three Days of iPhone 4 Sales: 1.7 Million 

Apple:

Apple today announced that it has sold over 1.7 million of its iPhone 4 through Saturday, June 26, just three days after its launch on June 24.

Doesn’t count any of the people waiting for the white ones.