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It has been a short while before the launch of the Apple iPhone 4 and already, we are seeing the first signs of Apple’s influence on the World Wide Web. As much as the tech industry respects and would want to live by the words that Adobe gave us: “the internet is not controlled by anyone”, it is hard to admit that Apple is at least, a very influential force.
With their latest handset easily selling over 1.7 million in just three days (and thus, we can only wonder how many have been sold by now), it is hard to say that Apple’s restrictions are not setting a new standard. Despite the fact that there are significantly more people using other smart phones with other operating system, the fact that even big companies are adapting to the new handset is astounding.
Take YouTube for example, now this is a famous web service that is technically owned by Google -a rival for Apple. They originally used Flash content for their site, but since Apple’s iPhone does not support Flash, YouTube has had to adapt HTML5 as the new format for its mobile site.
It may seem like a small victory for Apple, but it is significant. YouTube is a standard, the fact that Apple users once needed to have special apps means that the argument regarding the use of HTML5 as a new standard over Flash was hard to prove. But this goes against exactly that.
While it may seem illogical for Google to prove Apple correct about HTML5, they cannot afford to alienate over 1.7 million users from being able to tune into the largest depository of user generated video content on the internet.
In the meanwhile, both Google and Adobe have reported that they are working on their own development software and support for the HTML5 format.
Cheating during exams is a concept as old as time itself. Almost everyone has done it or has had a friend who has done it when they were younger. Unfortunately for today’s teachers, mobile phone technology is making it a bit more tricky to catch cheating students and prevent it from happening in the first place.
Because smart phones double as a web capable device, it is always easy to go online to search for the correct answer to exam questions. Since there are existing sites which are meant to be review material for specific subjects in school, students have instant access to exam answers as long as there is a live internet connection.
Storing formulas on the mobile phone is also common practice for cheating students. It would be easy to install apps which help speed up computing as well.
Texting friends is also a common means of cheating. For Bluetooth headset users, chewing gum may be used to disguise talking to friends on the phone while taking an exam. Those 5 megapixel cameras can also be used to take pictures of the exam to pass it along to the next batch of students who are set to take the same exam. Some business minded students even manage to sell these photos to others who are too lazy to study before the big test.
Since schools have to adapt to this tech savvy age we are living in, policies such as a ban on mobile phone use during school hours, restricting the use of chewing gum and keeping an eye out for students who brag about their cheating techniques through social networking sites are common. Some schools even install security cameras to minimize cheating during tests and some utilize computer exams.
The only problem with these is that students are usually more tech savvy than their professors, giving them the upper hand when it comes to discreet mobile phone usage.
The fact that smart phones come with GPS features is a pretty well established fact, and the fact that Apps such as Tom Tom’s GPS navigation feature exists for the Apple iPhone means that even the established sat nav service companies recognize the value of the hardware that a typical smart phone offers.
But when companies such as Nokia and Google announce that they will be offering sat nav services for free, it certainly changes the perspective on what technologies people should be investing in.
Just several years ago, GPS was still in its infancy and having a dedicated device in a vehicle was a sign of luxury. Now, it is a near requirement for people who need to get to locations fast without having to spend much time learning new directions (or having to stop and ask for them). GPS is slowly becoming a basic necessity. And just as companies such as TomTom and Garmin have started growing, the advancement of sat nav services also grew for smart phones.
More than just location based services Nokia and Google are able to offer full, voice guided turn by turn navigation with additional features such as live traffic updates, weather conditions and even points of interest.
This however is not going to kill companies such as TomTom and Garmin. But they will have to turn to other markets. Unlike Google, sat nav companies compile their own maps. While community based maps often contain plenty of great local information, their reliability is not one that Google is able to assure –unlike that of a professional GPS service.
Of course, while the average person does not need that much accuracy, professionals do. This means that people who seriously need sat nav –such as delivery personnel, emergency volunteers, law enforcers, fire fighters and the like will still need devices such as TomTom’s onboard GPS units.
If it is that time of the week for you and your friends to spend some quality time down at the local pub, then it would be hard to avoid leaving behind your mobile phone. After all, having a handset around will be pretty handy when you need to call the local cab service to pick you and your otherwise indisposed drinking buddies back home.
One of the nicest suggestions that we could give is to download a pub-search app. There are plenty of these kinds of apps that focus on various locations in the UK; there are several that will give you a quick rundown of suggestions for the coziest and most impressive places to catch the World Cup Matches or simply a nice quiet pub where you could talk your worries away with friends.
Another great feature about these pub search applications is that they not only provide you with the names of pubs, but also how to get there. By using a phone’s GPS features, users will be given the fastest routes to the desired location. Some apps will even provide transportation options as well, with various cab services that can be called upon when needed.
Another important tip is to bring a small bag that you can sling around your shoulders or tie around your waist. This provides people with a means to store phones and other things without having to worry about losing track of the items. As long as the bag is on your body, you can be sure that you would not be leaving anything behind.
Lastly, keep an alarm. As fun as nights out can be, nothing is worse than lacking moderation. Set an alarm on your mobile phone to remind when to call it a night and start heading back home. And before you do, it would be wise to schedule next week’s meet up and decide whose turn it is to pay for the rounds.
There are plenty of pubs that men would recommend to each other. Maybe for its great ambiance, or the friendly and personable bartender, or maybe for having some of the lowest prices in town or simply for having the tastiest shrimp available; whatever it may be, these places tend to get by on word of mouth and while this an effective form of advertising, the accessibility of the internet and smart phone technology has moved the concept of personal recommendations into a whole new field.
Before, word of mouth simply meant that the friends and family members who would actually listen to your recommendations would actually try it out. But with today’s technology, even a complete stranger might be heading off to your favorite tap on account of a properly posted Tweet.
Good customer reviews, combined with easily usable references such as recommended items on the menu, location directions and the use of technology such as GPS makes things a whole lot easier –and more encouraging for people to try out new places that they have never seen.
The presence of location based applications also affects plenty too. Foursquare not only keep track of the number of times people go to a location, but that are also ways for people to leave their virtual remarks and reviews of a store.
Of course, reviews can go bother ways. As many stores have seen how valuable getting good internet rep can be, criticisms can also mean bad news. As many of you might realize, it is far easier to discourage than to actually encourage others and if people originally had not known of a location, the less they would care about it if all they hear are complaints.
In this regard, stores these days find themselves being more rewarded and successful for being the best that the can be. Gone is the notion of having to cut down on services to save costs –the small time and energy investments to improve a store are paying themselves back more than twofold.
Google knows that people struggle with keeping their smart phones from running low on power. But with internet access, voice guided navigation, media playback and a whole host of other features, the device tends to lose plenty of energy from use. While this is understandable, having power drain when the phone is on standby is a waste. Here are some valuable energy saving tips that should keep the lights shining on your new HTC Desire for a bit longer!
The first thing that is recommended is to turn off the auto updates. This will keep you from seeing the latest tweets and Facebook updates, but these can also be checked manually. Unless you are already plugged into a charger, leaving this setting turned on will eat up energy.
Auto sync is another feature that will drain you battery when left on its own. This is very important especially for users that do not make use of the Google Life applications such as the Google calendar. Since the service auto syncs every now and then, shutting it off will save plenty of power.
From Android 1.6 Donut to the latest 2.2 version, Google has provided the Android with tools and functions for monitoring the battery drain of individual apps and functions. Check the “battery use” option to see a quick log of apps that take up plenty of energy.
Creating switch off widgets will make the task of moving a phone into low power mode much easier. While creating the widget itself will take several minutes, it turns all processes into a single screen tap command.
Of course, non Android tips also apply; keeping the screen lights low, using darker wallpapers, shutting off GPS, WiFi, 3G and Bluetooth when not needed. Also, the WiFi settings on the Android have an auto shut off feature that users might want to check out.
It is not surprising that many app makers and OS developers are cashing in on the World Cup –it’s a big event and everyone want to be in on the latest news and happenings. And while some people can afford to actually attend the matches at South Africa, the rest of us are stuck living our day to day lives hoping that England’s matches are not scheduled on our busiest moments.
Of course, that is pretty hard to avoid, but thanks to mobile phone technology, getting access to all the big happenings at any time is a piece of cake. One simply has to connect to a WiFi or 3G network and all the big updates are available. The only consideration now is finding the best places to grab the information you want.
And when it comes to info about the World Cup, it is all about the current games, scoreboards, player profiles and other statistics –and the World DroidCup app has it all. The app not only has all the information in a very concise and easy to read format, but it looks really good too. The best part is that the DroidCup app is also free.
But if you want to do a little more reading as opposed to getting just a quick overview of the latest stats, then you might want to tune in to the news. With a no-nonsense, graphic-minimal layout, the EvriThing World Cup app is the instant news feed for you. All the information is laid out in a chronological order and gives readers a good insight on the latest things that are happening. As with the DroidCup, this app is also free!
Rounding up our list of free apps is a standard issue app for any sports fan: BBC Sport News is a major free app that gives users all the big stories and highlights of matches regarding the World Cup and everything else. No fan can afford to go without this.
There is plenty to try out with the new S8500 Samsung Wave smart phone. First off, the handset makes use of the new Bada operating system (Bada means ocean in Korean). Also, the device is the first handset to ever apply the super AMOLED touch screen technology developed by the Korean manufacturer. Now, another reason has been added to the list: the device is free on some of the new offers by Vodafone and Virgin Media.
According to a recent announcement from Vodafone UK and Virgin Media, the two local network operators are offering the handset for free on their 24 month, 25 Pound tariff contract. Vodafone’s plan offers users about 300 minutes of talk time, 500 MB of data allowance and an infinite supply of text messages. Virgin offers pretty much the same deal on data and texts, but the calls are doubled at 600 minutes.
While Virgin Media’s offer may give more in terms of quality, their network coverage is not as vast as Vodafone’s –so buyers might want to determine which locations in the UK they will be travelling to when deciding which of the Samsung Wave deals suits them best.
Regardless of the plan or network that a buyer chooses, the Wave smart phone is a very practical handset. First off, the device has got plenty of power. With the ARM Cortex A8 processor providing 1GHz of CPU speed, the device is a solid match for other high end handsets.
And it will need that power for all the new Apps that Samsung has put into their app store for the Bada OS. Samsung has been getting plenty of developers to support their new open source platform and from the looks of it, they succeeded, the app store for the Bada has hundreds of tools and games to choose from.
Lastly, the handset’s 3.3 inch super AMOLED capacitive touch screen display will provide users with excellent visual quality.
Up to this day, the iPhone has constantly been proving itself as an effective game medium. Although there are some who would say otherwise, it has become quite the casual game platform of choice. Even Nintendo is recognizing its prowess and has deemed it an even bigger competition than Sony or Microsoft. Interestingly enough, the people who also make games for the hardcore crowd are cashing into the viable iPhone market and are now releasing spinoffs of their own games (such as Capcom’s Resident Evil series) or completely new IPs. Highborn is the latter and it is made by the folks over at Jet Set Games.
Jet Set Games is actually comprised of people who have worked on the original Command & Conquer games. This includes the co-founder of the PC game developer Westwood Studios, Brett W. Sperr. The company established in 2008 is situated at the heart of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Highborn is first and foremost a strategy game. It gives you a bird’s eye view of a board game like interface wherein you get to explore the map within a predetermined number of steps. You then attack enemies such as undead skeletons and take over forts. Direct attacks are animated in 3D and you get to see your troops attacking the enemies automatically.
As you can probably guess, Highborn is more of a casual strategy game rather than a micromanagement RTS. You will have a total of 9 campaigns opened up for single play, the real fun comes from connecting to game sessions with friends and having some friendly competition. You and your Facebook friends may battle it out with the use of a 3G connection or the ol’ faithful Wi-Fi connectivity.
With its wacky set of characters, a total of eighty memorable heroes and comical game assets, Highborn is a very charming game to check out if you like social networking based multiplayer games.
Smart phones are pushing technology forward, thanks to the fact that handsets, by nature, are devices that people will tend to carry around the most; it also provides the biggest room for feedback, study, analysis and direct user-reactions. Even the manufacturers themselves have one or two smart phones in their pockets all the time.
For the past couple of years, the emergence of better WiFi and 3G network technology has allowed the growth of the internet thanks to continued access from smart phones, and social networking sites such as Facebook and microblogging site Twitter has grown to new heights thanks to instant access from mobile phones.
Now, the smart phone-internet combination is getting another important new addition; GPS. Location based services for smart phones are not new, but in the past few months, they have been growing a lot. Apps such as Foursquare have become major hits as they not only allowed people to connect online, the level of interactivity also begun to involve the places they visited.
Some location based services are even taking the service one step further. While Foursquare and other similar apps offer virtual rewards, Looptstar promises actual, real life rewards to users. Ranging from free downloadable content to store discounts, Looptstar has made plenty of store deals that would make anyone’s daily errands a whole lot more rewarding.
At this point, location based networking is still at its early stages, and not many people are too keen about checking in to have this presence logged. But as the services begins to get more and more ties ups with actual establishments and more people start using it. Peer pressure is actually a lot more powerful than what one might imagine. It will have the same pull as Facebook – people have to join because opting out equates to being left out.
It has been a short while before the launch of the Apple iPhone 4 and already, we are seeing the first signs of Apple’s influence on the World Wide Web. As much as the tech industry respects and would want to live by the words that Adobe gave us: “the internet is not controlled by anyone”, it is hard to admit that Apple is at least, a very influential force.
