Dazaroonie

Blogpress post from iPhone.

2008-10-08T12:21:00.001+01:00

Well I've just bought Blogpress from the iPhone Appstore for £5.99. Apparently you can publish posts, including photos 'on the go' from an iPhone.

Test photo - Pismo Beach

Test photo - London, Liverpool St

Now to see if it posts ok.....

-- Post From My iPhone.

Listening to Last.fm in the car.

2008-09-07T12:58:00.000+01:00

I recently rediscovered Last.fm thanks to the iPhone app and have been successfully using it whilst driving about in the car. Thanks to the good 3G coverage here in the UK Last.fm works pretty much how you would expect a proper FM station to work with hardly any buffering at all. Last.fm have recently updated their iPhone software and it's now stable enough to use as your in-car solution.

The 3G usage is high so it drains the battery in no time, I have purchased a 12v cigarette charger and leave it plugged in whilst I use it. I also purchased a dummy cassette tape audio out which works a treat.

Check out my video demo below.

iPhone 2.0 'must have' features.

2008-05-23T18:34:00.000+01:00

So with the WWDC (and possible iPhone 2.0 release) only a couple of weeks away I've compiled a list of features for the 2nd gen Jesus phone. Even though I love my iPhone and wouldn't be without it I'm forced to carry two devices around with me due to the iPhones lack of everyday mobile phone features such as MMS, video camera and Bluetooth file exchange.

With more and more countries promising imminent iPhone availability, Apple really need to address the shortcomings of the 1st gen iPhone if it is to be a worldwide success.

First off are four 'must have' features that should have been included on the 1st gen iPhone but for some strange reason were left off:

• MMS support
• Video camera
• 3G / 3.5G
• Bluetooth file exchange between other handsets

I believe these four features must be included for the iPhone to be a hit in Europe and Asia.

Next are features that have been common place for years on most handsets but again were missing from Apples first offering:

• Copy and paste
• SMS forwarding
• To do lists
• FM radio
• Sound recorder

Personally I'd still buy a 2nd gen iPhone even if the above five features were missing but that said, high-end mobile phones released nowadays should include them.

Lastly if the iPhone is to succeed in total world domination Apple simply need to throw in the following four features on June 9th:

• Flash & Java support within Safari
• GPS
• Front facing camera with iChat support
• 5 megapixel camera with better quality lens

I really hope we see most of these features added in the next generation iPhone, one things for sure, a 3G iPhone IS coming soon, let's just hope Apple get it right second time around.

A guide to Twinkle, the native iPhone Twitter app.

2008-05-18T16:12:00.019+01:00

Twinkle is, in my opinion, the best Twitter client out there. If you tweet whilst on the move using a jailbroken iPhone you really must give this native app a whirl, it's even replaced Twitterrific as my client of choice, here's why.

Twinkle is very similar to most other desktop Twitter clients and reminds me very much of Twitterrific, Twinkle however offers two other features that really add depth to using Twitter. The first thing Twinkle offers is a 'Locate Me' feature, this will automatically add your current iPhone location to your tweets enabling other Twinkle users to search tweets within a given radius.

The other thing Twinkle offers is the ability to add images to your tweets right at the posting screen.

'Home' page

This is the main home page, it shows a list of all recent tweets made by you and your friends, the most recent tweets are positioned at the top of the list. Tweets with a icon indicate they have an image attached.
From this home page you can read a tweet in full, post a new tweet, refresh the list, view tweets located near you, view the 'public' tweet stream or to log out via the settings screen.

'Message' page

Clicking on a tweet in the home page brings up the 'Message' screen, from here you can read the entire tweet, reply to the tweet, send the tweeter a private message, follow/unfollow the user or view the users profile and previous posts. If the tweet has been made by another Twinkle user and contains a photo you can view the photo 'full screen' by pressing the paper-clipped photo image in the top right corner.
To post a new tweet you click the icon in the top right corner of the home page, this then takes you to the new message page.

'Posting' screen

Posting a tweet is easy, simply tap in the top white posting window and start typing :)
The location window (positioned just underneath the posting window) should auto generate your location and while not quite as precise as GPS, it locates you to within a few miles, if you'd rather not share your location you can simply tick or untick the town or city, you can also turn it off completely from within the settings page.
Tapping on theicon enables you to take a shot using the iPhones built-in camera and include it in the tweet. To remove the photo simply click.
The photo is then visible in your tweet as a thumbnail which can be enlarged to full screen by tapping on the thumbnail from inside Twinkle or clicking the url from within other Twitter clients.

Replies and private messages have a light grey background and are shown on the 'Personal' tab of the main home page, icons indicate if the tweet is a reply or a private message. Personal messages are also shown on the main 'All' tab so you don't miss them.

Direct messages & replies

New, unread tweets are shown by the generic icon which is a nice touch.

Pressing the ‘Near Me’ tab shows tweets from other Twinkle users, you can choose to display tweets from the following distances 1, 2, 5,10, 25, 50, 100, 1,000, or 252,000 miles from your current location. It works very well and allows you to find other Twinkle users nearby and to even arrange local meet-ups. I had no idea there were so many other jailbroken iPhones in my town, I also find the 252,000 miles option very handy for finding new tweets from the surface of the moon :)

If you've never tried Twinkle (and have a jailbroken iPhone) I strongly advise you give it a try. I just hope it will be available to buy from the iTunes App Store once the new 2nd gen iPhone arrives!

Mac Mini Media Center Woes

2008-04-24T16:23:00.000+01:00

I thought I’d share my recent Mac Mini Media Center experience, I have owned an Apple TV since launch day and really like it, it streams HD content from my iMac over a G network fine once converted and placed in the iMac’s iTunes. I have EyeTV record TV shows and automatically export to iTunes too.
Using VisualHub to convert a 6 GB HD movie into something iTunes can read takes about 3hrs which is a pain but as I said once it’s there the AppleTV plays it just fine.

Fed up with waiting 3hrs for the conversion each time I thought I’d go the Mac mini route, I bought a 1.83GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (1GB memory 80GB hard drive) from the online store to connect to my Pioneer PDP-427XD which has a resolution of 1024 × 768.

Straight away I ran into resolution problems, using a HDMI cable to connect I could have the edges of the screen out of view so you can’t see the menu bar and dock or turn off ‘overscan’ and have black borders top and bottom and missing edges to the left and right. I spent hours messing with settings including DisplayConfigX but nothing sorted the problem.

I then purchased a VGA cable and decided to go analogue, this fixed the problem immediately but the analogue screen was not as crisp and the colours were not as vibrant as using a HDMI cable and was a real step down in quality compared to the Apple TV (which just works fine via HDMI).

The next issue was using it, everything seemed a bit fiddly, EyeTV would crash every now and then (not often but it would happen), HD content would sometimes drop frames on playback, the remote was sometimes fiddly to use and the whole system was not user friendly like the AppleTV. I imagined if anyone else in the family was watching TV and suddenly EyeTV quits they would struggle to get things up and running again.

So I decided to call Apple and ask for a refund on the Mac mini, they instantly arranged for TNT to collect it and gave me a full refund which I thought was excellent service.

I’m glad to be back watching live TV via the Freeview box and recorded stuff via the iMac’s EyeTV recordings and the Apple TV. The only downside to the Apple TV I can see is the encoding times.

You can’t have everything I suppose :)

Vimeo video sharing

2008-04-04T14:30:00.000+01:00

I've just discovered a cool alternative to YouTube called Vimeo, the main advantages over YouTube are clip length and video quality. You get 500 megabytes of storage each week and can even upload videos in HD.

Check out my recent (well quite recent) video of our camping trip around the UK in a VW campervan.

2 Weeks Camping Around The UK in a VW Bus. from David Day on Vimeo.

Vimeo can be found here

Leopards 'Alex' Sings Depeche Mode

2007-11-17T10:52:00.000Z

I've been messing around with Leopards new voice Alex lately... I may have too much time on my hands

Now I wonder what he'll sing next...

iPhone in Europe:

2007-09-27T11:22:00.001+01:00

Well after a week of living with the iPhone (unlocked and on the UK Vodafone network) I thought I’d share my opinion of the device here. Everyone I show are simply blown away by the iPhone’s UI, the gorgeous graphics and liquid movement, flick & pinch controls actually make people whom I’ve shown gasp in amazement. The Safari web browser is the best mobile web experience by none and the large high definition screen makes this the best video iPod ever.

Sadly however the iPhone falls flat on its face in a big way, this could very easily have been the device myself and many others have been waiting years for, but this is not to be.

Here’s why:

No 3G/3.5G
I know it’s been said a million times before but I’ll say it again because it’s so important, the lack of 3G is unforgiving. We currently have 80% 3G coverage here in the UK and as someone who uses it daily I can vouch for it’s speed when checking e-mails and surfing the net. Why on earth Apple released a 2.5G internet phone to the UK (which only has a 30% EDGE coverage) is beyond comprehension. I simply can’t accept Steve Jobb’s battery drain explanation. Once your outside of a wi-fi hot spot checking e-mail and using the web becomes almost impossible and the £265 revolutionary device reverts to an iPod and phone.

No MMS
The iPhone is aimed at both the consumer and business markets, while I can understand a business user not using MMS the average 20/30 something user in the UK surely must use MMS on a daily basis. The simple lack of ability to MMS friends could make this phone a non-starter for a lot of people here in the UK.

No Video Camera
Even though 3,4 & even 5 megapixel cameras are becoming the norm on high-end mobile phones here in the UK, I personally can forgive Apple for their 2 megapixel offering. After all you only really need a 2 megapixel camera to share a funny moment with a friend anyway. What is really disappointing is the complete lack of video recording, again this will be a big turn-off for the average 20/30 year old who is considering buying this phone.

SMS omissions
The iPhone’s SMS application is really nice and gives a new slant on text messaging. It shows texting as an ongoing conversation and I feel it’s a real improvement on previous phones I’ve used. Sadly though some basic features we have become to expect on phones such as graphical emoticons and delivery reports are missing from the iPhone.

On the plus side I was really impressed with the touch screen keyboard, After a day or two I could type ‘one handed’ just as fast as I could with any other mobile phone, and this was something I thought would not be possible on a touch screen device.

I see the iPhone in the UK as a prototype, something to look forward to in 2008, something that everyone will want to own, but sadly this 1.0 version will not be replacing my current phone just yet.

Is the iPhone really groundbreaking?

2007-07-01T10:23:00.000+01:00

I’ve been following the iPhone hype quite closely in recent weeks and I must say the phone itself looks beautiful as does the UI. Even the ‘real world’ videos posted on blogs etc seem to backup Apple’s videos showing the UI to perform fast and snappy.
The press coverage of this phone is phenomenal but is it really justified? Ok the phones design and UI is like nothing we’ve seen before but for me that’s where it ends. Just take a look at the specs:

No 3G
No MMS
2MP
No video capabilities
No 3rd party applications

I find the lack of 3G amazing for an internet capable phone, ok it has Wi-Fi but that’s as useful as a chocolate teapot when your out and about on the move. The fact it does not support MMS is completely unheard of, I genuinely do not know of any modern phone that does not support MMS, how can you share photo’s, audio clips and videos to friends instantly without it?
The 2MP camera is so 2004 and it also has no flash! Again the omission of a video camera is unheard of nowadays.

People are even stating that it’s the best iPod ever made, it has only 8GB of memory! How can the worlds best ever iPod have only 8GB of memory, this doesn’t make sense to me.I’m not knocking Apple here, I’m a big Apple fan but let’s take a reality check, yes the phone looks amazing and yes it uses a groundbreaking UI but let’s not forget the phones major shortcomings.
I’m really hoping that Apple address these issues in future versions (and I’m sure they will), for me I can live with the 2MP camera but it must have 3G and be capable of sending and receiving MMS messages.

Bring on version 2.0.