iPad, Magazines, and Newspapers — An Open Letter To Steve Jobs

Dear Mr. Jobs,

First of all: Congratulations to you and your team on the announcement of iPad. It’s exciting to imagine the possibilities this new device will offer us in just a few weeks. As an early adopter of eBooks (Specifically on the Kindle) I am particularly enthusiastic about the iBooks application and the accompanying bookstore. Both look extremely promising. There’s something, however, that seemed oddly amiss in your announcement: An integrated solution for electronic periodicals.

While I understand that iPad is still under development and additional details may still be announced, it concerned me that the New York Times was asked to present a dedicated iPad application during last week’s keynote. Does this suggest that publishers should develop one application each for every newspaper and magazine subscription? While this is certainly a possibility I’d like to take this opportunity to outline a few weaknesses to this approach:

• Subscriptions will clutter the home screen.
  I already find myself shunning iPhone applications that do little more than displaying the content of one particular blog; dedicated RSS readers can pull all my favorite blogs into one place without cluttering up my home screen.
• Hassle to maintain.
  Users will need to monitor each application separately for new content. I’m concerned that they might simply forget about the applications; leaving them behind — unchecked for weeks at a time — on page five and six of their home screens. This is neither practical for us (the user) nor profitable for the publisher. Eventually subscriptions will expire or be canceled.
• Dilution.
  Each magazine/newspaper will create its own user interface, syncing mechanism, and bookmarking system; unnecessarily convoluting the experience.
• Steeper (than necessary) learning curve for publishers.
  Producing a magazine/newspaper within an application requires a set of complex programming skills that many independent publishers may not wish to acquire or even have the resources for; hence, artificially heightening the barrier of entry.
• Noise.
  Magazines and newspapers may get lost among the “real” applications in the iTunes store.

On the other hand, an integrated subscription service (or one integrated within iBooks) would offer the following advantages:

• Easy access.
  All subscriptions will be loaded in one place, at the same time, ready for instant consumption.
• Integration.
  Articles can be bookmarked, synched, shared, and searched, all within the same application. A unified interface will also help transition users from a physical to an electronic experience.
• Exposure.
  Periodicals will stand out from the noise of the iTunes ecosystem. This will be especially important for independent and self-publishers.

Since the ePub format seems far too limited for heavily formatted magazines with thoughtful layouts, multimedia content, and a specific set of font choices (and PDF’s seem too “inflexible” to make for a great periodical file format), I would like to suggest that Apple introduces a dedicated — open source — file format for magazines and newspapers.

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Google Street Traffic Inaccuracies

The idea of street level traffic overlays in Google Maps is obviously appealing. In theory, it eliminates the guesswork involved in trip planning during heavy traffic times. Where I live in Los Angeles (universally known for its shallowness congested highways), drivers often abandon the freeways in search of a less congested side street. Knowing the status of that side street before taking your exit should be a huge help.

Google announced this feature, available in major cities, in August. It gathers data from a variety of sources, including pulling speed information from smartphones running Google’s Map application. Herein lies the problem. My experience has shown that this traffic data is less than accurate.

I noticed this problem while driving across town and trying to choose between freeways and side streets showing all yellow and red. I was traveling at night, around 9pm, and suspected that the street traffic may not be as bad as the Maps application on my iPhone indicated. None the less I was worried about this large red patch on my route:

When I arrived to the problem area, I was not surprised to find that the traffic was not nearly as bad as the map was showing. In fact, I snapped this picture right after taking the screenshot of the map:

As you can see, I am the only car on the road! Notice also that traffic on the other side of the street shows yellow on the map, and is also extremely light in reality. I suspect that the problem comes from how Google utilizes the data it gets from mobile users of its Maps application. For example, if the application polls the speed of a user while they are sitting at a red light, and the speed is returned as 0, how does google treat this anomaly? What about when someone is parked in the car and looking up directions? I know that the data displayed by Google is close (but not exactly) in real time, but the red block in question existed for 30 minutes before my arrival and continued to be red for ten minutes after I had passed through. The issue did not seem to be a jam that cleared just before I arrived. Further, traffic jams do not clear immediately, they should change from red to yellow to green as the traffic lightens.

As with any crowd-sourced technology, valuable data comes from the collective average of all users, not from any one specific user. I suspect that the way Google is treating the data relies too heavily on individual results, rather than a more accurate average of many users. These issues are likely to become less of a problem as use of the Maps application becomes more widespread, especially if it is integrated in the iPhone’s Map application.

Save Now on Select TomTom GPS

Watch TWIT Live Video on your iPhone

Here’s something for fans of Leo Laporte’s podcast network TWIT. Besides the regular podcasts (which include long time favorites like This Week in Tech and Macbreak Weekly) the network also streams live video of the shows 24/7 at live.twit.tv. They also publish this stream on USTREAM and Stickkam. Despite USTREAM having an iPhone client to watch live video, the TWIT stream had not been accessible, until now. Thanks to TWIT sending out some additional iPhone compatible video, you can now grab the USTREAM app from the app store and watch away! Inside the app, popular and featured channels are listed on the front page, and unfortunately there does not seem to be a way to point the app at a specific channel, or add bookmars or favorites. Just enter TWIT into the search bar for a quick way to find the right place. Bonus: if you have 3G Unrestrictor you can even watch the video over 3G (normally, the USTREAM app is restricted to wifi). Even on 3G the video buffers quickly and looks great!

Better iPhone Macro Shots – at No Cost

Several articles about taking macro shots with an iPhone have been circling the web lately. The first seen here, instructs people to destroy a DVD player and extract the laser’s focusing lens. A second article posed on Make Magazine’s Blog uses the front lens from a disposable camera to achieve a similar result. The results from both methods are impressive. However, I will show you a few much simpler methods which are easier, faster, cheaper, and produce better results!

Magnifying Glass:

Don’t ruin that DVD player! The simplest way to shoot macro on your iPhone is with a humble magnifying glass! The penny seen on the left (click it to see the full rez) was taken using this method. Simply hold any magnifying glass (this one would work just fine) over your camera lens and shoot away, no need to take anything apart! The magnification provides a real boost to the 3GS, which has an autofocus lens that allows you to get relatively close to the subject, and older fixed focus models benefit even more. I’ve used this method since the original iPhone to shoot things like boring barcodes, closeups of parts I need and even dangerous wildlife. See the examples below:

Backgrounder updated, 2.2 features return on 3.0

Backgrounder (everyone’s favorite Jailbreak app) has been updated to restore some features lost after the iPhone 3.0 update. These most visible change is icons badges to indicate an app’s status in the background.

While this is useful, I’d love to see a setting to disable badges for Apple native apps like Phone and Mail. Since these apps always run in the background, they are permanently stamped with Backgrounder’s admittedly ugly badge. Also returning is the Always Enabled application list in the Backgrounder preferences.

This gives you a simple way to select which applications should be automatically backgrounded every time you start them. It is great to not have to remember to enable backgrounding every time you launch an app. The process of terminating an app is still the same, hold the home button until you see “Backgrounding Disabled.”

Unrestricting iPhone Data Use – The Moral Conundrum

Apple imposes limitations on data use over 3G. No Skype. You cannot download anything over 10MB in iTunes. Can’t get an app over 10mb either. I understand AT&T is concerned about the reliability of their network, afraid of millions of iPhone users streaming movies and pulling down speed. However, no such limitations are imposed on other handsets. Blackberrys and WinMo phones are free to do as they please.

So why the difference? It’s easy to consume lots of data with an iPhone. With nine million on the AT&T network, they fear a complete meltdown if everyone used lots of bandwidth at once. The AT&T phone network, like every network, is designed with a certain “maximum capacity” in mind. It just couldn’t support every user at once. The data network is no different. If all iPhone users consumed every byte of their 5 gigabyte monthly limit, the network would have to pass 43 petabytes each month.

If we make the (erroneous) assumption that all this traffic is spread evenly over all geographic locations and hours of the day, every single tower would have to spit out a constant 16 Mbps stream, 24 hours a day. In the real world we know that towers will experience significantly higher traffic in densely populated areas and especially during peak hours. That’s not even accounting for handling calls at the same time.

Of course, AT&T knows that not everyone will use that much data. In fact, the average iPhone user only consumes 400MB of data per month, or about 1/12th their allotment. Users of other smartphones only use 30-40MB per month, or 1/24th of their 5GB plan.

And now- The Moral Conundrum: If you are paying for 5 gigs of data, shouldn’t you be able to consume all of those 5 gigs any way you want?
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Jailbreak Central – 3G Unrestrictor

In this episode of Jailbreak Central, learn how to remove the 10MB limits and VOIP blocks on 3G.

In prior incarnations, 3G Unrestrictor was known by the less memorable name voipover3G. The purpose of the original app was to enable the use of VOIP applications like Skype or Fring on the 3G network. Apple mandates that VOIP apps only work on a wifi connection, probably to appease the byte mongers at AT&T. Of course, the bandwidth available on a 3G or even EDGE connection is enough to support a VOIP call. Voipover3G, first released for iPhone 2.2 software, tricked applications like Skype, Fring and Truphone into believing they were on a wifi network. There was even a preference file advanced users could edit to trick more applications. The problem was, it barely worked. Few other applications could be tricked successfully and keeping Skype tricked was a moving target.

The release of the iPhone 3.0 Software Update eventually brought with it an updated 3G tricker in the Cydia store called 3G Unrestrictor.
As you can see in the screenshot above, 3G Unrestrictor gives you an easy interface to toggle which apps are tricked. After a simple install from Cydia (and a payment of $2.00) you can simply use the list of apps to check off the ones you want to work on 3G. Skype, which was difficult to force onto 3G in the past, works flawlessly when using 3G Unrestrictor. Combine this technique with Backgrounder (which I talked about in an earlier post) and you have an always-on Skype connection which will ring when your friends can call. Just tap on Skype when you hear the ring and accept the call. It couldn’t be easier.

Even cooler, 3G Unrestrictor allows you to download podcasts and apps of any size. This is perfect for that moment in the airport where you realize you forgot to sync your iPhone and have no new podcasts to listen to on the flight, or when you really need to get that huge Worms update but are nowhere near WiFi.

If all you only want to use Skype on 3G, to make cheap international calls or save some cell minutes, the original voipover3G is still available, and better yet, it’s free. You can find them both in Cydia, but I fully recommend dropping the 2 bucks for 3G Unrestrictor. To read more or check if the app you want to unrestrict is compatible (most are), visit the developer’s site here.

My 13″ Macbook Pro Case

Today was a big day.

I committed to buying a laptop sleeve. The battle came down to memory foam vs. neoprene for protection and I finally bought the Isis Dei 13″ Memory Foam MacBook Sleeve. Memory Foam? From the Isis Dei website:

Made from the stuff NASA engineers created in the 90’s, memory foam is a high-tech, super shock-absorbant, polyurethane material. Our memory foam sleeves are covered in a knit, polyester fabric and have zippers ¾ around the sides so you can use your laptop while it is sitting in your Isis Cover. In relationship to its bulk, memory foam provides perhaps the best shock protection for your laptop.

The choice was between the Isis Dei and the Case Logic Reversible Neoprene Sleeve
. While the Case Logic is appealing for its style and snug fit, it has a one major flaw. The top flap is cute, but makes it impossible to slip your laptop in without pulling the sleeve all the way out of your bag. It also prevents you from safely inserting your laptop while, say, sitting at a table or standing. With normal zippered sleeve, you:

1. Unzip to open the sleeve
2. Place laptop down inside open sleeve
3. Zip closed

In this way the laptop never leaves the safety of whatever it is sitting on. The Case Logic sleeve, in contrast, requires a different type of insertion. I found myself holding the sleeve up in the air with one hand, using my fingers to hold the flap open, and bringing my laptop over in my other hand. I would then grab the corner of the laptop with the hand holding the sleeve (sock puppet style) while i transfered my second hand to the other corner, where it stretched out the sleeve and let the laptop drop down.
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Jailbreak Central – Backgrounder

Scenario: You are listening to streaming music with an app like Pandora when you get a text message. You click reply and go to the Messaging App. But what happened to the music?

The problem lies in how the iPhone OS handles processes (applications). In the default behavior, pressing the Home button closes an application and exits the process. Hence, Pandora can’t play music while you switch applications. There are only a few exemptions to this rule. The iPod app, for example, can continue to play music in the background while you use other apps.

While Apple stubbornly refuses to allow 3rd party applications to run on the background, developer gaizin blesses us with a solution.

His app Backgrounder allows you to send an application to the background without quitting the process. Background Pandora and stream music while you browse the web, get directions in Maps, send texts, anything. Background your favorite twitter app and get live updates. Better yet, background Skype so your friends can ring you for free at any time!

My favorite use for Backgrounder is to send Fstream, my favorite free audio streaming client, to the background so that i can listen while following directions from Maps in my car.

iPhone Activation: Hope You Didn’t Plan to Use Your Phone Today

Well, we hope that all of you happy iPhone owners out there didn’t try to restore your iPhones today, because if you did, you won’t be using it for the next couple of hours.

After restoring my iPhone today (I was advised to do so by a Genius in order to try and fix a faulty battery meter) iTunes was not able to re-activate my phone with AT&T since “iPhone activations are not currently available due to scheduled AT&T system maintenance.”

The text continues to explain: “We apologize for the inconvenience this causes. To activate your iPhone, please connect it again after 3pm EST Sunday.”

Excuse me, but are you kidding me? For years we’ve been making fun of Microsoft and its rigorous activation policies for Windows and now we’ve become a victim of it ourselves?

Activation in itself always presents an annoyance, but the least AT&T and Apple could do is to make sure that customers don’t ever need to spend hours without a working phone. Activation should NEVER be down for maintenance. A backup has to be in place. Alternatively, the iTunes store should maybe check BEFORE restoring your iPhone if activation is available or not. Afterwards it really doesn’t help much any more.

Either way, this sucks. Bad Apple. Bad AT&T. You’ve really screwed this one up.

Thank you for cutting me out from the world.