Tag Archives | Apple. iPhone

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

Posted by Harry McCracken on April 11, 2010 at 12:48 pm

Must be a quiet weekend in the blogosphere: One of the major topics of discussion is how Apple chooses the times shown in stock images of its products–which happen to be 9:41am in photos of the iPad and 9:42am in ones of the iPhone 3GS.

As Network World and Fast Company noticed, Secret Lab developer Jon Manning blogged that he ran into iPhone software honcho Scott Forstall at the Palo Alto Apple Store, and Forstall said that the times are chosen to sync as closely as possible with the moment in Apple press events when the product is shown for the first time:

We design the keynotes so that the big reveal of the product happens around 40 minutes into the presentation. When the big image of the product appears on screen, we want the time shown to be close to the actual time on the audience’s watches. But we know we won’t hit 40 minutes exactly…for the iPhone, we made it 42 minutes. It turned out we were pretty accurate with that estimate, so for the iPad, we made it 41 minutes. And there you are – the secret of the magic time.

Mystery solved! What revealing proof of Apple’s perfectionism! Betcha that Microsoft doesn’t sweat details like that!

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My iPhone Wish List: A 4.0 Tally

Posted by Harry McCracken on April 8, 2010 at 3:45 pm

The day Apple released iPhone OS 3.0 last June, I compiled a list of features I was hoping to see in version 4.0. I went over it again earlier this week when Apple said it was about to preview 4.0. And here’s one last look at my June 2009 list–with both my annotations from earlier this week and a reality check [IN CAPS] of whether Steve Jobs and friends mentioned the feature today.

A bunch of things I hoped for are in 4.0; others weren’t mentioned today, but are subtle enough that I’m still holding out hope that they’ll be among the 100 new features Apple is touting.  And the update will include far more full-fledged multitasking capabilities than I had the guts to hope for next year, plus other new features I didn’t ask for but am looking forward to (such as an integrated e-mail inbox).

More thoughts on iPhone 4.0 later. Here’s the 2009 story, plus additional thoughts…
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25 Features iPhone OS Still Needs (Still!)

Posted by Harry McCracken on April 6, 2010 at 10:48 am

When Apple started inviting journalists to a press event this Thursday to discuss the future of the iPhone OS, I made a mental note to publish a list of features I’d like to see. Then I remembered: I already composed a wish list back in June of last year, on the day iPhone OS 3.0 was released. It’s not precisely the inventory of desires I’d come up with today, after spending many months with an iPhone 3GS and trying out competitors such as the Droid. And if I were asking for new iPhone OS features today, I’d be just as likely to request ones that were iPad-related.

Overall, though, my iPhone OS requests from last June are a lot like the ones I still have. So (after the jump) here’s my original story, with “2010 thoughts” embedded where appropriate. After Thursday’s news, I’ll take a look at how closely Apple’s list of Necessary iPhone OS Improvements mirrored mine.

What would you like to see in iPhone OS 4.0 and beyond?
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Line2: A Fresh, Flexible Take on iPhone VoIP

Posted by Harry McCracken on March 25, 2010 at 2:45 pm

As I mentioned in my story on Skype’s new version for Android and BlackBerry handsets on Verizon, I have this dream of using Google Voice or a Google Voice-like service to make calls on a smartphone over the data connection, thereby avoiding using up my precious supply of voice minutes. It turns out that Skype Mobile can’t help. But Line2, a new iPhone VoIP service from Toktumi, might be just what I’ve been looking for.

David Pogue reviews Line2 for the New York Times today, and he mostly likes it; I got a demo from Toktumi founder Peter Sisson yesterday at the CTIA Wireless show in Las Vegas. The service gives you a phone number that you can use via your AT&T line, over 3G data , or Wi-Fi. If you use the latter two options, you don’t use up your voice minutes. And it seems to do a remarkably good job of dealing with the fact that third-party apps can’t run in the background on the iPhone. (If Line2 isn’t running when someone calls you, you’ll get the call anyhow–it just comes in via your standard AT&T number.)

Unlike Google Voice or Skype, Line2 isn’t free–but the $15 a month sounds reasonable, and might pay for itself if you can downsize your AT&T plan to a level of service with fewer voice minutes. Sisson told me that Toktumi is working on an Android version of the app, which will make Line2’s benefits available on carriers other than AT&T.

As Pogue says, Line2 looks and feels very much like the iPhone’s standard phone dialer, only with more features; maybe you have a theory as to why Apple thought that the Google Voice app would “confuse” iPhone owners but is okay with Line2.

I’m signing up for a trial account and will let you know what I think…

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