Linked List: July 30, 2010

Friday, 30 July 2010

iPhone 4 Antenna Performance, Outside the U.S. ★

Stephen Fenech, reviewing the iPhone 4 for The Daily Telegraph in Australia:

I’ve been using the iPhone 4 for nearly a week to make calls, send and receive emails and surf the web from various places around the city and suburbs.

Is the antenna an issue? No it’s not. Have I dropped calls? No, I have not.

Have I noticed an impact on the device’s performance? No.

Sourcebits ★

My thanks to Sourcebits for once again sponsoring this week’s DF RSS feed. Sourcebits offers software development services, specializing in mobile platforms like iOS (including both iPhone and iPad), Android, BlackBerry, and the web. If you’re looking for software development services, check out Sourcebits’s website for more information and examples of their work.

Creating Web App Content for the iPad ★

Speaking of web app content for iOS devices, here’s a video where Sal Soghoian shows Alex Lindsay how to automate the creation of rich web content for the iPad using Automator and actions from Padilicious.com.

Open Web Apps for iOS Are Fully Supported by Apple, Folks ★

Mike Masnick, on OpenAppMkt:

Overall, this fascinates me for two reasons. First, it’s good to get more people realizing that HTML is already pretty damn good at creating app-style experiences, without having to create special compiled code and, second, it’s a really clever way to totally route around Apple as a gatekeeper (without requiring a jailbreak), and is a reminder that even on “closed” systems, openness will often find a way.

OpenAppMkt is indeed clever, and it is a good way to get more people to see the potential in HTML5 as a mobile development platform. But it’s not “routing around” anything. iOS’s support for mobile web apps — totally open, no gatekeeping — is by design. This isn’t a loophole around the App Store. It’s a fully supported software platform.

Android Wallpaper App Developer Defends Data Collection ★

Jackeey Wu, developer of the controversial Android wallpaper app that collects user data, defends himself in a message to Android Tapp:

In my applications I collected some device data, not user data. I collected the screen size to return more suitable wallpaper for the phone. More and More users emailed me telling that they love my wallpaper apps so much, because that even “Background” can’t well suited the phone’s screen. I also collected device id, phone number and subscriber id, it has no relationship with user data.

But why collect phone numbers?

Dan Frakes Reviews Apple’s Free iPhone 4 Cases ★

All of them except for the one from InCase, which hasn’t shipped yet. Here’s my own review of Apple’s iPhone 4 Bumper.

RIM ‘Blackpad’ Coming in November, Reports Bloomberg ★

Hugo Miller, reporting for Bloomberg:

Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, plans to introduce a tablet computer in November to compete with Apple Inc’s iPad, according to two people familiar with the company’s plans. [...]

RIM plans to call the tablet Blackpad, according to one of the people familiar with the company’s plans. RIM, based in Waterloo, Ontario, acquired the Internet rights to blackpad.com this month, according to the Whois database of domain names.

OmniFocus for iPad 1.0 ★

I’m drawing a blank trying to think of another long-standing Mac development shop that’s so strongly committed itself to the iPad.

You want a review? See MacSparky for a detailed one.

Fred Vogelstein: ‘Doing the Math on Android vs. Apple’ ★

Smart piece by Fred Vogelstein for Wired:

The true comparison is between Android and iOS, Apple’s mobile operating system. Android’s activation numbers are not device dependent. Apple’s shouldn’t be either. If we are going to truly compare the two mobile OSs we need to include sales of iPads and iPod Touches. Add them into the mix and the data shows that Android is catching up but still isn’t close.

Something to think about: If Android unit sales surpass those of all iOS devices combined, can iOS remain the dominant mobile software platform? I think the mobile market is going to be more like the console gaming market, with a handful of major players each with a 20-40 percent slice, rather than the monopoly-dominated PC market. Raw market share isn’t everything.

You’ll Never Get a Story Like This With an E-Book ★

Kevin Guilfoile finds a ticket in an old book at his parents’ house. (Via Jim Coudal.)

PCalc 2.2 for iOS ★

Still the best calculator for iPhone and iPad.

OpenAppMkt ★

Gallery of iPhone-optimized web apps. Install it on your iPhone and it works like the App Store app. Interesting, but the fact that they clearly tried so hard to make it look good but that it still has janky scrolling and other visual rough edges says a lot about the technology’s shortcomings vs. Cocoa Touch.

IGN’s Sarcastic Gamer on the Xbox 360 Kinect ★

Worth it for the ping-pong joke alone.