TechCrunch today published an article based around an iPhone developer’s experience monetizing his applications in the App Store. As part of that article, some statistics were cited that didn’t entirely make sense to me. For example, the author states that there are only 36,000 apps in the store, which seemed surprisingly low.
Long story short, I wrote some code, did some mining, and ended up crawling the entire US iTunes App Store, and from this I have compiled some statistics.
For those that have iPhones that came with firmware version 1.1.2 or 1.1.3 out of the box, your pleas for a jailbreaking and unlocking solution have been answered. Thanks to the work of Zibri and the folks from Unlock.no, it is now dead simple to jailbreak and unlock these devices – even simpler than it is for older devices. To grab the simple tool to jailbreak and unlock your device, based on Zibri’s original code, head to the Unlock.no front page.
After the resounding success of my firmware 1.1.2 guide, I have decided to put together a guide to upgrading an iPhone to firmware 1.1.3, both jailbroken and unlocked for use on any network. This guide involves a lot of steps, but it will ensure that you have the best possible result by the safest means. Keep in mind that there is no state you can get your iPhone into if you do something incorrectly that cannot be reversed, so don’t be afraid to try.
This guide is for owners of iPhones that came with firmware 1.1.1 or earlier out of the box. Unfortunately, iPhones that came with firmware 1.1.2 or 1.1.3 out of the box run a newer version of a key software component (called the bootloader) that prevents unlocking using this method. Continue Reading
I have in no way given Office 2008 a thorough working over so do not take this post as a final conclusion, but after installing the new Mac version of Microsoft’s beast and having a little poke around, I have a few first thoughts.
Microsoft Office 2008 is a prime example of Microsoft taking the proven Mac way of doing things and trying to make it better. At this task, they have failed, and what results is a mess of Microsoft thinking on a Mac framework.
The first thing that I noticed is the toolbar, which indeed mimics the standard Leopard toolbar, but is actually Microsoft’s implementation of it and as such the look just isn’t the same. This make Office stand out amongst other Mac applications, and I have absolutely no idea why Microsoft couldn’t just use the standard toolbar. These little user interface inconsistencies are one of the reasons I left the Windows platform, yet Microsoft has again felt the need to make things that little bit different.
The second most annoying thing I have come across are the useless and absurd effects applied across the UI, especially in the Mac equivalent of the ribbon from Office 07. Every click on any element in this area triggers transition effects, and while they might look pretty the first time you see them, it adds a significant amount of time to navigate around and find things in the applications. These effects extend to most of the UI, and even the small view change icons in the lower left-hand corner of the windows glimmer and blink when you point at them. Why?
The design of the Preferences window also bugs me, albeit to a lesser extent. The window pointlessly attempts to mimic the Mac OS System Preferences window, and this really just makes accessing preferences cumbersome and slow – why can the preference windows not look like they do on every other Mac application?
In any event, these UI-level problems aren’t completely deal-breakers, and I am yet to really evaluate the Office 08 applications for their intended purposes. Word is my most used Office application and I will be using the new version to put together my next review, so time will tell if it is good enough to drag me away from Pages.
Comments for this post are now closed and the guide is made available for reference only. I have published my guide to jailbreaking and unlocking firmware 1.1.3, please refer to that to upgrade to the newer firmware version.
I have been messing around for a day or so trying to get this to work, but I think I’ve nailed the method for upgrading an unlocked and jailbroken iPhone to firmware 1.1.2, and preserving the unlock and jailbreak. What follows are the steps to get your iPhone to 1.1.2 written as simply as I could manage. These instructions look long (and they are), but they are easy to follow and anyone with basic computer skills should be able to get it done. Remember: there is no predicament that you can get your phone into that can’t be repaired.
Like many, I have been watching the news related to Google, among other’s, announcement of the Android mobile platform and the Open Handset Alliance. Until today’s release of several videos demonstrating the UI and parts of the system itself, there was not a lot of meat to get excited about. Now, I am filled with cautious optimism over Android.
After viewing this video in particular, one can see that at this point in the development cycle, it appears as though Google is looking to pull in the best features of Windows Mobile and the iPhone UI. On first inspection, Android looks most like Windows Mobile, especially the home screen. Once the device is in use, however, a very ‘smooth’ quality reminiscant of the iPhone can be seen. The browser especially is obviously modeled off Apple’s efforts, though there is a lack of finish at this early stage.
The most interesting and exciting part of Android is the level of openness. The iPhone is a great product, but like many Apple releases, it is basically Apple’s way or the highway. Sure, Apple has now announced an SDK for third party applications, but it is an afterthought, rather than Google’s release of an SDK months before devices are in the hands of customers.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my iPhone, but should Android provide the same slick UI elements on an open platform, I will switch in a second. Many features demonstrated on Android so far are available on other handsets, such as Google maps, but with Google’s announcement of a $10 million competition for the best applications, I am looking forward to seeing what can be done. Particularity, I am keen to see where developers go with the built-in OpenGL support. Already Google has shown some pretty cool features, though, like Street View in the Maps application.
What I am really curious about is where this leaves the Apple/Google relationship. Google is basically releasing the best competitor to the iPhone, despite Eric Schmidt serving on Apple’s board, and Google taking a large part in the development of the iPhone. I was surprised at Google’s involvement with the development of the iPhone originally, considering its love of all things open, and this proves my point in a way.
Indeed, if Android shapes up to be the open version of the iPhone as it is appearing as at this early stage, there might just be an iPhone for sale out of my place.
After a few weeks of talking about it, I took the plundge and bought a new MacBook Pro. This isn’t my first Mac, but I have been using Windows machines only for a while. This means that the house is totally Mac now, with my better half a dedicated Mac user (iMac 20″ currently).
It is the top-end 15″ model, 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, and 160GB HD. It screams, and so far I have very little to complain about with it. My only issues thus far: the screen doesn’t open wide enough for how I sit it on my lap, my Logitech MX Revolution mouse doesn’t work quite right, and Firefox looks pathetic on Mac OS. Only one of those issues is Apple’s fault, though it is incredibly minor, and other than that I am completely satisfied with the machine and Leopard.
And yes, I am completely aware of the lack of originality in the title of this post.
On top of that, I came in to work on Friday to see my new workstation waiting for me on my desk. That box is a Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz, 2GB RAM, and twin 20″ LCDs (1600×1200 resolution each). Thanks boss, but it isn’t a Mac…
I have held off from blogging about the iPhone here much thus far, but I am going to chuck some opinion out there. This is not just about the iPhone though, it is more about how the industry needs to react because of it.
Let me say this right off the bad: the iPhone is not a device I would buy myself. It is an influential device that will do fantastically in the market, that is for sure, but its omissions are too deal breaking for me. They are also things that could have been easily remedied by Apple, and I am sure they will be fixed in a second-generation product, but for now I will do without a device that can’t record video, use 3G networks and A2DP headphones, and other things I appreciate. But more on my actual iPhone pros and cons in a future post.
What the iPhone has achieved though, is forcing the industry in general to rethink the whole user interface paradigm. Touch sensitive devices have long used a stylus, and are only now evolving to use the finger. This fact, combined with the swishing, swirling, and sliding seen in the iPhone’s UI make it a much more organic device, one that consumers may find easier to ‘relate’ to.
On top of this more organic approach to UI design, the iPhone’s interface just looks so damn good. Sure, Windows Mobile is functional, S60 is pretty, and so on, but the iPhone interface is sexy. User interface design cannot take a back seat to device design any longer, and Apple has shown us that an attractive physical design can be accompanied by a functional and attractive UI design.
While other manufacturers may not have to play catch up to Apple with technical specifications, they definitely need to with UI design. Verizon’s new Motorola Q9m features a fun circular UI enhancement, and devices like the LG Prada and HTC Touch are certainly steps in the right direction, but the iPhone just integrates everything so nicely; this is what Apple does best.
The iPhone is not the device it could have been, but for UI design, it is revolutionary. If manufacturers take nothing else away from the iPhone release, I hope it at least forces them to take a step back and reevaluate the user interface experience.
While I do like the idea of the new iMac and Front Row software, I wish it was a little more robust. Can anyone tell me if I can watch TV on it? I would love to have this as a full PVR media center, but I doubt that is ever going to happen.