Saturday, July 24, 2010
Windows Phone 7 vs iOS 4 – Web Browser Speed Test [Video]
Disclaimer: this video was made as a part of a "first view" article that we wrote on windows phone 7. In that article we specifically mentioned that this test was taken using 3G and not WiFi, so some of the gap between the phones can be explained due to connectivity issues. putting that a side, we can also say that iPhone 3gs is a finished product while the windows 7 based Samsung device that we test is a developer phone we an OS that is still in development.
Loading the desktop version of Engadget was just a hair slower than an iPhone 4, and just as importantly, rendering new parts of the page as you scroll is plenty fast — not instantaneous, but fast enough so that you never find yourself consciously waiting for it to catch up.
Internet Explorer is surprisingly competent, and quick, given that it’s built mostly off of the desktop version of IE7. Most of the sites I went to, from Gizmodo to the Atlantic, loaded without any problems, just like you’d expect them to.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
25 Things You Can Remote Control With Your iPhone
One of the more interesting things you can do with the iPhone is use it as a remote control for other devices. Since the iPhone App Store launched almost two years ago, developers have created hundreds of remote control applications. [via gizmodo]
Some of them are for entertainment — designed to control A/V equipment in your living room. Others control household appliances, functions on your computer, or even expensive corporate security systems.
For now, most remote control apps operate over the Internet, or via a wi-fi or Bluetooth link between your iPhone and another device. But one company is developing an infrared iPhone accessory, which will open the doors for even more remote control applications.
It's conceivable that, with these apps and accessories, an iPod touch could replace the fanciest of universal remotes, and have the bonus of shipping with a Web browser and all the other apps on the App Store.
DVR
More TV providers are releasing iPhone apps to use as DVR remotes. Recently, Comcast published an app that allows some of its digital cable subscribers program their DVRs remotely. And free apps from DirecTV, DISH Network, and AT&T let you program your digital video recorder from anywhere.
Zipcar rental car
The free Zipcar app lets you find and book rental cars. But the impressive part is that you can also use your iPhone to unlock the car or make its horn beep.
Home lights and automation system
A recent Apple commercial highlights this app for the Schlage LiNK home automation and security systems. You can watch your doors, lock and unlock them, turn lights on and off, etc.
TV, other gadgets
This isn't just an app but a $50 hardware add-on that gives your iPhone infrared support.
When it ships — supposedly soon — the L5 remote accessory will let you turn your iPhone into a universal remote, replacing any number of remote controls that are on your coffee table.
Chevy Volt
This free app lets you access info for a Chevy Volt electric car via OnStar, including charging info, driving stats, door locks, horn, and lights.
iTunes
Via Apple's free Remote app, search and change the song playing on your computer's iTunes jukebox from bed, across the house, or even outside. Or change volume settings, or hit pause, etc.
Another app called PodLink ($2.99) lets you wirelessly control music playing on another iPhone or iPod touch, perhaps one that is being played in a docking station across the room.
There's also a $3.99 app to control WinAmp if you use that.
Mouse and keyboard
Apps like the $1.99 Air Mouse Pro (limited free version also available) turn your iPhone or iPod touch into a wireless trackpad and keyboard.
This is helpful if you want to kick back and don't have a wireless keyboard, or if you're using an old computer hooked up to your TV and want to access the cursor or type something from the couch.
A reader notes a free, similar app from Logitech. The $3.99 TouchPad app is another alternative.
Blu-ray Discs
Several Blu-ray discs include Internet features that can be accessed via iPhone apps. For example, the free "pocket BLU" app can act as a remote for Blu-ray discs that support "pocket BLU" — including "Bruno," "Funny People," other movies. Features include controlling playback, browsing through chapters, the soundtrack, etc.
Other Blu-ray remote apps are available for different systems, including the Sony PS3.
Roku video player
If you use a Roku video player — the cheap, no-frills box that plays Netflix, Amazon, MLB.TV videos, etc. — you can get the free Rokumote app and control your Roku without its plastic remote.
Presentations
Apple's $0.99 Keynote remote lets you control Keynote presentations if you own the iWork suite.
Other apps, like Evan Schoenberg's versatile $0.99 Rowmote can steer PowerPoint slides.
Desktop PC or Mac
This one takes a little tinkering, but free VNC — "virtual network computing" — remote desktop software on your computer (Mac, PC, Linux, etc.) will let you view and control it from anywhere, provided it's turned on and hooked up to the Internet.
A search for "VNC" in the App Store turns up more than 30 apps. The VNC app we've been using for our iPhone is the free Mocha VNC Lite; there's also a pro version for $5.99.
Logitech Squeezebox
If you use a Logitech Squeezebox home audio system, the $9.99 iPeng app seems to be the best reviewed remote control. Control volume, switch songs, etc.
Slingbox
If you have a SlingBox — a device designed to let you watch your home TV/cable service from anywhere, over the Internet — you can use your iPhone to watch TV.
The $29.99 SlingPlayer Mobile app recently got an important new feature, which allows you to stream TV from your SlingBox over 3G. Previously, it only worked over wi-fi.
iCarly - Sam's Remote
This one is for the kids: Fans of the cable TV show "iCarly" may appreciate the $1.99 "Sam's Remote" app, which includes sounds from the show.
Photoshop
A $2.99 app called PhotoKeys:Photoshop Remote puts the Adobe Photoshop toolbar on your iPhone. Not for everyone, but could be helpful for some setups.
Apple TV
Apple's free Remote software also controls the Apple TV set-top box, if you have one of those.
A recent update adds a nifty feature that lets you use your iPhone's multi-touch screen as a "gesture pad" to scoot around the Apple TV display. This is much easier than using the small, plastic remote that came with Apple TV.
You can also use the Boxee remote app to remote-control Boxee, if you've loaded that onto your Apple TV.
Sonos Home Stereo
If you have a Sonos multi-room sound system — especially the popular, newish S5 — your iPhone is a remote via the free Sonos Controller app.
Pro audio software
The ProRemote ($99.99) and ProRemote Lite ($35.99) act as sliders and other controls for pro audio editing software, including ProTools and Apple's Logic software.
Burglar Alarm
CPI Security customers can use a free iPhone app (with additional service) to monitor their home security system, turn it on and off, see activity history, etc.
X-Plane Flight Simulator
Sort of like how Nintendo's DS has a touch-sensitive second screen that often controls what's happening on the first screen, this will let you control and observe some of your flight simulator's features — on your computer — using the iPhone as a smaller, second screen.
Requires the $4.99 X-Plane Remote app and the $29 desktop X-Plane software.
Boyfriend
Ladies: We're not quite sure how this one works, but the $9.99 "Boyfriend remote" app is worth every penny if it performs magic.
You can tell it to "give me money," "forget about beer," and even "take me to the mall." Classy.
Also available: Girlfriend Remote and Parent Remote.
Boxee
If you use the free Boxee media center software on your Mac, PC, Linux box, or Apple TV, you can use your iPhone as a remote via Boxee's free app.
(What's Boxee? Think of it as a multimedia-specialized Web browser that you're supposed to steer from your couch. Lets you watch Netflix movies, MLB.TV, and other Web video streams.)
VLC Media Player
If you use the free, popular VLC (Video LAN client) media player app, you can control it with your iPhone via the free VLC Remote app or its $2.99 premium cousin.
Security Camera
Plenty of security camera monitoring apps in the App Store, depending on your rig.
By far the most expensive, though, is Lextech Global Services' $899.99 iRa Pro, which delivers "a video command center to the palm of your hand."
Digital SLR Camera
onOne software makes a lite ($1.99) and pro ($19.99) version of its DSLR remote app.
If you hook your Canon EOS or Nikon DSLR camera up to a computer via USB, you can remotely control settings, fire the shutter release, and see your camera's viewfinder remotely over wi-fi.
The main drawback is that your camera has to be hooked up to a computer.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Thursday, August 14, 2008
StealthSIM 3G SE: Unlock your iPhone 3G
Remember the days of owning a first generation iPhone, but having it come with 1.1.2 firmware? That time period was pretty painful for the folks who could only activate and jailbreak their iPhones and use them as “iPhone Touches”. But, as with anything eventually an unlock came out through a “SIM solution”. One that worked out well for a lot of people out there was the StealthSIM.
How to Unlock your iPhone 3G: StealthSIM SE Edition
Anyways, fast forward to the iPhone 3G. The makers of the StealthSIM have now created theStealthSIM SE, a new method to unlock your iPhone 3G. It works just like the old StealthSIM. It is a thin wafer circuit that goes over your SIM card, and will allow you to use your iPhone 3G on ANY GSM network. These new StealthSIMs are thinner than the last bunch. I am getting a sample coming in the mail and will have a full review up soon.
Why is Unlocking Important? Who Needs This?
If you’re using your iPhone 3G on Rogers and Fido at the present moment, you don’t need this. However, if you’re going to be doing a lot of travelling and want to use your iPhone, this could save you a lot of money. Instead of paying the excessive Rogers roaming charges overseas, this StealthSIM SE will enable you to use local GSM carrier SIM cards.
So if you’re hitting up Hong Kong for the weekend, you can just buy a local SIM and use that. Easy as pie and you won’t have to deal with the wait for a software unlock and risk of damaging your iPhone.
The StealthSIM SE currently it retails for $99 and may come as pricey to some of you. However if you desperately need your iPhone 3G unlocked, this easy and painless solution could be priceless in the long run! Click here to visit the StealthSIM SE website.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Congratulations Apple, you made the iPhone less stable than Windows Mobile
After a couple of weeks since the iPhone 3G launch, I gave in and picked up a device at the Apple store just over a week ago to personally give it a try. It is a good device, but the only two improvements over my original iPhone are the 3G support and GPS. The 3G has been very spotty, especially compared to the solid reception I am seeing on the Nokia E71-2, N95-3, and HTC Advantage. I saw 3G at work for the first couple of days, but for the last four days all I get is an EDGE connection. GPS is nice and I have actually used it twice to help me quickly navigate around traffic jams and in an unfamiliar area, but I could have just used Google Maps and the approximate position on my original iPhone to do the same thing. Recently the device has almost ended up going airborne across the room because of the constant instability with both 3rd party and native applications and I am strongly considering a return of the device this week.
As a person who enjoys trying out and using lots of 3rd party applications on my mobile devices I expected issues with some applications because not all developers are created equal and Apple doesn’t seem to be performing much of any kind of actual review in letting applications appear on the iPhone App store. However, I have had way too many experiences where I go to start an application, it appears to load and then I am taken right back to the home screen again. The only way I have figured out how to get the application back up and running is to remove it and then reinstall it on the iPhone. I also discovered that for paid applications you have to “repurchase” the application on your device and then as you go through the process a pop-up will appear that states you already paid for the application and would you like to download it for free. Thus you don’t actually have to buy the application again, but that is the method you have to follow to redownload it. I would think that the iPhone would be smart enough to know which applications I purchased before you have to get to this point and think there is definitely some room for improvement in the App Store on the iPhone.
There have also been syncing issues where I load the application on the phone itself and then when I sync it to my Mac the application disappears. Also, when I delete an application on the phone it gets reinstalled when I sync at times. I think Apple is having a difficult time managing the store synchronization between the device and a Mac/PC.
I was actually willing to forgive some of these early adoption/third party application issues, but lately I have been noticing major issues with the native Safari web browser that I never see on Internet Explorer Mobile or Opera Mobile on Windows Mobile. Over the last 4-5 days, I have noticed I’ll be just scrolling down a web page reading it when the browser will just close and kick me back to the home screen. I will then relaunch the browser and surf for a while before it kicks me off again. It isn’t even a case of trying to do something crazy like watch a video or stream something, but I am just trying to read the text on a page. I spend quite a bit of time browsing the web on my mobile devices and if the iPhone 3G is going to keep kicking me out of the browser then it is going back.
I also do not like that jumping between tabs does not always take you back to where you were on the page. The page may refresh or go back to a previous page and the browser does not seem to do a good job of maintaining the state you left it in. The browser supports up to 8 open tabs and I tend to limit myself to 6 so I can open another tab or two when I find a link I want to check out so it isn’t a case of trying to open up more tabs than are supported. This type of performance reminds me of using the Blazer web browser on a Palm device that rarely, if ever, let me go back to where I was browsing previously. I never have this issue on Windows Mobile or S60 devices and browsers.
In addition to the application sync/loading issues and browser crash issues, the iPhone 3G will tend to pause or slow down (especially noticeable when using text input and seeing a significant lag) and require me to reset the device. In the old days of Windows Mobile I would have to soft reset it from time-to-time when a 3rd party application would lock me up and the current performance, or lack thereof, on the iPhone reminds me of those good old days. I NEVER experience resets on current Windows Mobile non-touch screen devices (like the T-Mobile Dash or Shadow) and they are rock solid. I occasionally have to reset the Windows Mobile touch screen devices (like the Touch Diamond), but at this time the Apple iPhone is requiring more resets than even these devices and I don’t see much of an advantage in the iPhone over these more stable devices. I rarely (and mostly never) experience resets on S60 devices either. The Windows Mobile and S60 devices are also multi-tasking with 3rd party applications so the fact that they are more stable while the iPhone is only running a single 3rd party application with a native application or two in the background is also significant.
Other rants: As long as I am talking about some major issues I am seeing on the iPhone, I wanted to mention a couple other things that bother me on the iPhone. People used to constantly complain about Windows Mobile’s lack of ability to work as a reliable alarm clock, but that has now been fixed for the most part. I find the iPhone to be practically worthless at ever waking me up and keep going back to a reliable and loud Nokia S60 device to serve as a trustworthy alarm. Basic functions like this used to be required for a device, but we seem to let these issues slide today. Also, why do I have to turn on the device and slide across the display to get to the Home screen to see how many text or email messages I received? The notifications on the iPhone are very weak in comparison to other mobile devices.
I know that we have been clamoring for 3rd party applications on the iPhone and there are some awesome applications available (and some really stupid ones). However, the stable days of pre-iPhone 2.0 may be gone forever and Jobs may not like the can of worms that he has opened up. It is particularly a shame when the native applications on the device can’t even perform reliably and I just have to keep remembering this is the early days of the iPhone and I suppose it is similar to the early days of the Pocket PC when stability was also an issue. I did cut Microsoft and Nokia a break back then when they were starting out and I’ll keep using my original iPhone because I do think that many of the applications are useful and well designed and we will see lots more coming from developers. I expected Apple to have a better product with this second generation of iPhone though and have been disappointed with its performance. I think I’ll wait and see what the 3rd generation brings us next year (we are on a yearly cycle, right?) since it took these other companies a few tries to get it right as well.
8 More iPhone Tricks You Might Not Have Known
We recently showed you "12 iPhone Tricks You Might Not Know", and we're back to give you more. Due to all the great feedback our readers gave us, and some further iPhone experimentation (a.k.a. iPerimentation) on our part, we've found some other tips and tricks that can enhance your iPhone experience.
While you might find some of these iPhone tips and tricks elementary, I'm sure there's atleast something on this list that you didn't know of. And if you did, congrats iPhoner - now see how you stand up against the ultimate iPhone glossary.
1. Double tap space bar for a period -
When typing on your iPhone, double tapping the space bar at the end of a sentence automatically enters a period followed by a space. No need to press "123" to get to the numbers and symbols page where the period typically resides. I use this trick daily and it heavily increases my typing speed (especially when texting).
2. Tap the bottom corner to navigate home screens
When on your home screen, try tapping the bottom right/left corner to switch between pages instead of swiping your finger accross the screen.
3. Take out your SIM card during backup and sync -
We've all experienced it. You're backing up and syncing your iPhone, and the hour long back up is nearly complete. Then all of a sudden you get a phone call, and the whole back up/sync is null and void.
To avoid this happening, simply start the backup/sync, then pull out your SIM card. Do not worry, this does not damage your phone at all. Put it back in once everything is complete. This way, your backup won't get interrupted.
This tip is also useful if you need to make a phone call while your iPhone is backing up/syncing. Since unlocking your phone cancels the process, just take out your SIM card, pop it in your old cell phone, and call away.
4. Move "dock" icons
You'd be surprised how often this tip is overlooked. The 4 icons located on the grey bar at the bottom of your iPhone - Phone, Mail, iPod, Safari - are movable, just like the rest of the icons. Just press and hold the icons, then drag them while they are shaking. Press the home button when you're done. You can put any 4 icons on your dock.
In the screenshots, note the difference between pic 1 and 2.
5. Automatically capitalize and add apostrophes
The iPhone automatically capitalizes certain words ("I" when you type "i"). It also automatically adds apostrophes ("I'm" when you type "Im").
6. Double tap a column on Safari to fit-to-page
When browsing the Internet on your iPhone's Safari browser, double tap any column, word, or picture to fit it's width to your iPhone's screen. This is extremely useful for reading blogs.
The first screenshot is the page when it firsts load. The second screenshot is the page once the main text was double tapped.
7. Manually select the icon image for a bookmarked webpage
This one's a little more confusing. When you are browsing a website on your iPhone's Safari browser and want to add its icon to your home screen, press the plus sign and select "Add to Home Screen".
The image in the icon, however, is a screenshot of the page you were on. So if you want the icon to look a specific way, zoom in on a particular item on the page. Whether you want the website's logo, or some picture on the page, simply zoom in on that part of the page before you press "Add to Home Screen".
Note: This doesn't work with all websites. Popular sites like Google have special icons for the iPhone's home screen.
Go to your website of choice.
Zoom in on your favorite part.
Press the + sign and choose Add to Home Screen.
Name the bookmark appropriately (Digg - Apple).
Now that exact part of the webpage is displayed in your icon.
8. Your iPhone's headphones have a multi-function button!
You'd be surprised how many people don't know that the iPhone's native headphones have a button on the microphone.
Just squeeze the microphone together, and the button gets pressed.
The buttons functions:
In call...
- Press once to answer a call
- Press twice to send the call to voicemail
- Press once to hang up a call
Out of call...
- Press once to activate iPod and play song
- Press once to pause song
- Press twice to skip to next song
Using these 8 tips will not only increase your iPhone IQ, but improve your overall iPhone experience. For more iPhone tips and tricks, check out our older article "12 iPhone Tricks You May Not Know".
Be sure to share your new found knowledge (or atleast inform people that their iPhone's headphones have a button).
| Whether you're an iPhone rookie or a weathered pro, take a look at these quick-and-easy iPhone tips, hacks and tricks which not only save you time, but ease your overall iPhone experience. |
