TECH411.ORG

By Jon M. Cohen

Their is no doubt that FREE is GOOD! Blackberry users have known this for a few years now. Blackberry owners have had a leg up on the rest of the mobile phone market by offering a free service to allow users to chat with each other. The service was called PIN-ing in the beginning and developed to become an application on the Blackberry simply known as BBM.  I was a member of the elite club of BBM (Blackberry Messenger) users for many years. In fact I was lucky enough to be one of the first users in North America ( I hacked my blackberry at the time with the OS from China).

Today I am using an iPhone and it was a hard decision to make, switching away from RIM the Blackberry makers. But now after 6 months or so with the iPhone 3GS I am happy I have made the move.

A bit of history

It should be noted that I had been using the Blackberry since 2003 and was a HUGE fan of the device. I had owned over 10 different models in the 6.5 years of using Blackberry and I was always wanting the newest and best model. I had gone as far as buying US models of the phone and unlocking them to work here in Canada. (Ironic since RIM is a Canadian company) So the title of Blackberry FanBoy would have been appropriate.

I did indeed try twice before 2009 to move away from the Blackberry by getting the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G. In both older models of iPhone I was not happy with the speed, the functionality and the lack of key features. It should be noted as well the the two iPhones mentioned were using OS 1.0 and 2.0, both an immature operating system in my opinion.

Back to the future

Now that I have made the move to iPhone, it would be very hard for me to go back to the Blackberry. I really love the iPhone and all of the Apps that are on the App. store. The two things that I found are missing on the iPhone when compared to the Blackberry where; 1. Spell Check, 2. Chat Client like BBM.

Well it was pointed out to me by a friend that Apple does have an App. for Spell check, it is not free but it does work most of the time. But until today Apple didn’t have an App. for Chat. This is were “Ping” [iTunes Link] comes in. It is a slick chat client that will give you a nice clean look and feel and also offers a unique user name for your iPhone or iPod Touch. With this unique user name this App. gives iPhone users the same FREE chatting capability that PIN-ing gave Blackberry users in the early days while still embedded this functionality in an App.

Ping is not perfect, but it will get there. Right now the App. which launched on Sept. 29th. 2009 is getting a lot of good hype and more and more users are joining Ping by downloading the App. and signing up. (No actual sign up is required)

The early tests I have done on Ping have shown great function, it is easy to use, and it is quick and the notification option works like it is suppose to.

Their are a few concerns that I have and I hope to interview the developer to see if he can address these issues.

Firstly if Ping can grow and still function? With so many users of the iPhone can a P2P chat app scale to handle the large volume of iPhone users.

Second, what is the privacy policy? Since the chat is P2P it must so through Ping’s servers and because of that I would want to know if it is encrypted, as well if it is publicly visible to anyone other then the two people chatting.

Third, user name? How is Ping going to avoid the issues that have plagued Twitter and Facebook with regards to user names being untrue. I expand on this questions by using this example;  if Oprah is my user name what will stop me from letting people believe that I am the real Oprah (TV Star)? How can Ping police this, what is there plans to validate the user is who they say they are.

Forth, Battery drain. Since I have installed Ping I have noticed a bit of battery drain (5%-10% loss)  and I assume that since Ping does use notification service that when I turn that function off my battery life will improve. It would be great if the developers of Ping would be able to figure out a way to improve battery life while keeping notification on.

In closing, as it stands today, Spell Check App and Ping App fill the only two voids I had on my iPhone following the switchover. If Ping can not or does not address user concerns thenI will have no choice but to re-think if I’d want to continue to use this App. My assumption is that like most developers the authors of Ping [iTunes Link] will want to have a great product and will welcome constructive feedback like the kind listed above. Once again I will state that Ping is a great App. Go out and  downloaded it ASAP (While it is still free).

By Jon M. Cohen

Well, Sept. 9. 2009 has come and gone, and Apple did make a few announcement that are big deals, but I will have to admit that I was wrong about my prediction on “The Beatles”. I guess I was a victim of my own wants and needs. I was really looking forward to iTunes offering “The Beatles”, I still do believe the addition of the greatest music band in history is not far away, I just hope it does not take to long to get them signed on.

As for my other prediction of the camera in the iPod Touch, well I think that was indeed suppose to happen but due to a glitch in production Apple held off on including it. My gut tells me we will still see an iPod Touch with camera before the year end.

Some nice new Apple toys announced on Sept. 9th. 2009 where the addition of a video camera in the iPod Nano, and new colors for the Nano and iPod Shuffle.

Other then that and some basic add ons to iTunes (Social Networking and LP (Extended Art for the Album)) Apple really didn’t “WOW” me with this event.

I hope the next event will be better.

By Jon M. Cohen

With all the speculation running wild about Apple, the Internet is full of rumors.  I thought this would be a good time for me to jump in and propose my own predictions for the upcoming Apple media event.

The event is scheduled for September 9th, 2009, and the choice of dates is not by accident. You might ask yourself why this date? What does the number 9 have to do with Apple? Well their is a few things that need to be considered about this date. First, it is the end of the back to school promo. This means Apple should have sold most of the older stock of iPods and Macs. Secondly, if you are somewhat familiar with the music group “The Beatles” then you may also be well aware of the theory of the hidden messages laced in the track “Revolution Number 9“. The theory is that if you play the song backwards then you will find a hidden message. This is a belief that most music fans know about regardless of being Beatles‘ fans or not. With that being said, if Apple has finally been able to add “The Beatles” to its iTunes music store then it would be a great marketing idea to launch this new addition on 9/9/09.

Another idea that I believe to be true is that Apple will add a new model of iPhone 3GS to its lineup. Already featuring a 16GB and 32GB version of the most popular smartphone in today’s market, it is my assumption that an 8GB iPhone 3GS will be released and priced at $99.00 (with contract from cell phone provider). Once again playing on the theme of the Number 9.

I am certain that Apple will add new iPod’s to this product launch event. Included in this will be the new iPod Touch, now being offered with a 64GB capacity. Apple will maintain the 32GB, 16GB and the 8GB model as well. But the new pricing will show that the 8GB iPod Touch will be $99.00, if so, then that will be amazing value! Chances are that the 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB editions will feature a camera as well. While the 8GB will be based on the older generation body style.

My next prediction is the addition of a new iMac that will either fit on the lower end of the price spectrum or be a super iMac that will be the new top of the line. But I don’t think they would refresh the whole lineup of iMacs at this point. I don’t have any idea of the new speeds and specs of the iMac, just a feeling that something new is coming.

So, with 9 days to wait for this big announcement I only have one last topic to mention. That would be the Macbook Nano (Macbook Touch). This long time speculated new device that will create a new category in the market. This will be a touch screen device like an iPhone but in either a 6″ or 10″ size category. This new product will most likely be announced on September 9th, 2009 but will not be for sale until January 2010 or June 2010. This 2010 release date will allow developers a chance to create Apps and port over any already existing Apps.

So their you have it, my September 9th, 2009 predictions, like most predictions that people make only time shall tell if I am right or wrong.

I leave you with this final thought; If Apple does want to capitalize on the marketing of “The Beatles” and playoff of the multiple decades of theories of “Revolution Number 9” then it would be a smart marketing idea to have all products revolve around the number 9, from pricing to the number of products introduced. By my count with 3 new iPod Touches, 1 new iPhone, 3 new iPod Nanos/Classics, and 2 new touch screen devices, and a 1 new iMac brings us to 9 new products being released on top of the addition of “The Beatles” to iTunes. Thus a fitting media event that would perfectly represent 09/09/09.

By Jon M. Cohen – New Media Specialist

“What is Twitter?” My 65-year-old mother asks me? This question emerges after she is told that Elizabeth Taylor is on Twitter (A celebrity she is fond of). I look at my mother and just pretend she never asked the question and go on with my day. I think to myself; “Elizabeth Taylor is on Twitter, this may be a sign of the end of the world”. Yes, I do say that tongue in cheek, but the real significant point to take from this fact is that Twitter is getting big, real big and even for people who are so non-technology related (both in age and knowledge).

As for the masses, the average everyday person who is using Twitter and loving it we have seen a great step forward in how and what people can tweet about. Like traditional mass media that evolved from print to audio to video we see with the addition of video to the new Apple iPhone 3GS great changes are on the horizon. With the native ability to post video from the iPhone to YouTube, Mobile Me or share it with email or MMS it gives iPhone owners a lot of choices; but the missing parts to this equation in my view is the ability to share these rich media files with Twitter, Facebook, and FriendFeed. But like in most situations like this, when we see a gap in the technology we can find ways to fill the gap, thus with the iPhone SDK, developers have had a chance to create Apps that can help bridge the gap.

One Video App that I have had a chance to test out is an iPhone App called TweetReel. It is a simple and clean looking App that offers great functionality. Colin from TweetReel was kind enough to disclose to me that even though the App is launching July 7, 2009 and is a great way to share your videos and pictures from the iPhone; this will not stop the TweetReel development team to continue improving the App. He feels that TweetReel will see some great improvements from the soon to be released iPhone 3.1 software update.

From my testing, I have had good experiences with this App. The only issue that I have seen with this App is related to a short video I took and was posting it to my Twitter when a phone call came in, after the call the iPhone went back into the TweetReel App but was not able to keep video saved. My solution to the issue is to capture the video in the native camera app and then just use TweetReel to post the video to my Twitter feed. A simple and effective solution!

One of the nice features of TweetReel is the easy user account setup, and because TweetReel uses your Twitter name your followers have a consistent way of finding you. The price for TweetReel will be $0.99 on launch day (July 7, 2009) and then move up to $2.99. In my opinion this is a small price to pay to get this level of integration to Twitter. Some other future plans for TweetReel include the addition of Facebook, as well being able to save video (thus fixing my above stated issue).

I would highly suggest giving TweetReel a try; it is a great App that has a lot of value for anyone who likes to share video in his or her Twitter feed. My TweetReel, My Twitter

By Jon M. Cohen

As you might be aware of already, the new iPhone is set to launch on June 19th. 2009. With the release of this new hardware device we see a lot of new added features. But what about the little iPod Touch? Yes it does get the great 3.0 software upgrade that allows for many improvements, but does it really matter on the same outdated hardware? The answer is maybe. The real interesting thing to note is that Apple has posted on its website that the new 3.0 software upgrade for the iPod Touch with allow for stereo bluetooth connectivity a feature that has been long asked for by iPhone users. You may say big deal, the iPhone and the iPod Touch now with OS 3.0 have many great new features, but the real big deal is that the current iPod Touch does not have any bluetooth built in and thus a claim of bluetooth connectivity can only suggest that new hardware will be coming out soon.

With this expected hardware upgrade it would be wise of Apple to also include a camera. Only time will tell and if my guess is correct we will not need to wait very long to see this new iPod Touch.