Yearly Archives: 2010

Survive the App Store

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I am constantly asked by people, “What are the best apps?” or, “How do you know if this app is any good?”

Here is my answer: Surviving the App Store. The eBook is a how-to manual that will help anyone to master the App Store. It covers basics such how the App Store is organized, finding apps and organizing them on your device.

More veteran iPhone/iPad users will still benefit from the “Apps Starter Pack” I created, which lists the best free apps available.

Thanks to all those who have been following my reviews at AppCraver, iPadNewsDaily, and the other sites I have contributed to. Surviving the App Store is currently available for Kindle (download it here) and Nook (download it here). An iBooks edition is on its way.

A World of Apps

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The app stores just keep coming. Google launched its Chrome web store today, promising to bring the simplicity of finding apps to your web browser.

There are already some excellent apps, like The New York Times, Springpad and TweetDeck. The bigger story is that we are entering an era dominated by apps. It isn’t just our mobile devices: web browsers, computers (think the forthcoming Mac App Store) and televisions have an app storefront. Continue reading →

Get These Essential iPad Apps

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Looking for some “must-have” apps for the iPad? Start with these. The list is from a story I wrote for iPadNewsDaily describing excellent, free apps for first-time iPad users. A link to the article is here.

If you are curious as to which apps made the cut, here they are:

Windows Phone: A Solid OS Missing the Hype

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There was no line outside circling the block. No employees handing out burritos to hungry patrons. No four-hour wait for a phone that I had already preordered.

This was launch day for Windows Phone 7. Fanfare was nowhere to be found. But inside the AT&T store was a device that boldly rethinks what a modern smartphone operating system should be like.

It just may be too late. If we lived in a different world Microsoft would take another six months and work out the bugs from what really feels like a beta OS. But they don’t have that luxury. In fact, Windows Phone 7 comes about two years behind the rest of the smartphone makers who scurried to start adding iPhone-esque features to their devices.

What I believe separates Windows Phone from the Droid line and others is that it is not another imitation of the iPhone. Yes there is a browser and apps, but the interface is reinvented. The live tiles are easy to glance at, flick and peruse. Continue reading →

The Windows Phone Moment

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Microsoft is the 700-pound underdog. After more than three years of mobile mediocrity Redmond is hoping to relaunch itself into the lucrative smart phone business with an unveiling of Windows Phone 7 in New York and London on Monday. At stake? Nothing less than its future in mobile computing and CEO Steve Ballmer’s credibility.

A few quick thoughts on the questions tomorrow’s launch raises:

  • Is it too late? We are now on the fourth iteration of the iPhone and there are numerous excellent Android devices. And even with its market slipping there are still plenty of BlackBerry loyalists. At least half of mobile phone users still have not made the smartphone leap, so can they be lured to Windows Phone?
  • What happens if the iPhone really does land on Verizon in 2011? Does the Windows Phone’s limitation to AT&T and T-Mobile severely hamper its ability to be competitive?
  • Will the apps be good enough? According to Microsoft over 2,000 are in Windows Marketplace at launch. Today’s consumer has been trained to want good apps. Will they be that good at the launch of a new operating system?
  • Can Microsoft get anyone to switch? Android and iPhone owners have high levels of device satisfaction. Can Microsoft get some converts?

The fun begins early Monday morning.

Getting More Social

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It goes against my recluse nature but there are a couple of other social networks I have been toying with recently that are pretty exciting.

One site is tumblr, which just got some huge publicity in a recent New York Times article. What I enjoy about tumblr is how effortless it is to share text, links, photos or other media. It feels far more content-driven than Facebook with less visual noise than Twitter. The iPhone app is outstanding and makes posting very easy. I’m not quite sure what to do with it yet, but if you are bored you can check out my tumblr page.

Scribd is a platform geared toward writers who wish to share their content. A few components still feel buggy, but overall I like the concept. Since it is geared toward longer content the updating occurs through uploading documents. While this is a bit cumbersome for sharing blog posts, it really lends itself to stories and articles. Google Docs integration is there so one can easily port those over. My latest Scribd posts can be found here.

If there are other social networks you are excited about, feel free to share in the comments.

BlackBerry’s Problem: Brand Loyalty

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In a previous post I discussed the obsessive fanboyism of iPhone and Android users.

Despite how annoying the fanboys are, they are good for business. These users are fiercely loyal to their brand, and when it comes time to buy another device most are likely to stick with their preferred operating system.

A recent Nielsen survey confirms this. It found 71 percent of current Android users plan to get another Google-powered device come upgrade time, while 89 percent of iPhone owners plan the same. However, only 42 percent of BlackBerry owners want another model.

That is a huge problem for Research in Motion. The BlackBerry needs some defining features that set it apart from the competition. The iPhone has the best music player and zillions of apps. Android has excellent Google integration and plenty of options.

The BlackBerry has…a great keyboard. The OS in its current form is dated and still best suited to the corporate users who once made it a status symbol. An overhaul is underway with OS 6 with a needed focus on a vastly improved browser and its messaging strengths. Continue reading →

Android vs. iPhone: The New Mac vs. PC

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The irony here? I took this picture with my iPhone.

Look anywhere on the Internet for an article or blog post that mentions Android phones or the iPhone. Then, scroll down to the comments and duck as venom will begin to spew through your computer screen.

The vitriol, name-calling and idiocy that once were the hallmark of Mac vs. PC debates has been overtaken by fanboys of Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android devices.

It is one thing to enjoy your favorite mobile platform. It is quite another to ridicule and throw insults at users of the competition. It seems that many people (mostly men) get a ridiculous, Alpha Male attachment to their phone and must defend its honor when any perceived criticism arises.

The reality is each device has its distinct advantages and weaknesses. The iPhone benefits from Apple’s maniacal focus on design and control to create a smooth and minimalistic user interface. Its control of the App Store prevents some buggy and unnecessary apps from making it onto the device. Of course in exchange you surrender some freedom: your choice is only one device on one network (and for now just one color).

Android offers more flexibility and choices of devices and carriers. There is a good Android phone now on all four of the major carriers. Some have keyboards, some don’t, and two even have enormous screens. Heavy users of Google products like Gmail get tight integration with those services and are not locked into iTunes. Yet more and more Android phones are getting loaded up with bloatware and have ugly skins like Motorola’s BLUR or HTC Sense running on top of them. This forces users to wait for the latest version of Android while the carriers and device makers figure out when it won’t break their software. Continue reading →

The iPhone Problem That Won’t Go Away

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One of the iPhone 4′s highly-touted features has become its biggest PR nightmare.

The irony is that the now infamous external antenna was supposed to be a breakthrough design that would end the misery of AT&T’s sometimes pitiful network coverage.

I have only been able to duplicate the signal loss issue in a few rare circumstances, and this Engadget post shares the experiences of various editors. While it is clear this issue is not experienced to the same degree by everyone, the Consumer Reports feature determined it is a problem with every Phone 4.

The real danger for Apple is the company is acting like a political team fighting off a scandal: deflect and deny. First it was Steve Jobs telling Ars Technica “avoid holding it that way.” A few days later the edict came down that it was a software issue. Continue reading →