Posts in the “gadgets” category

How cool, I'm glad to see Amazon offer the new Kindle Wi-Fi for just $139. Finally the Kindle price is at a price point that's interesting to me.

Immediately after I installed iOS4 on my iPhone 3G I reported that it seemed surprisingly fast. However, within two days, whatever pleasant surprise I felt about my iPhone 3G iOS performance came crashing down, and I do mean crashing.

The iPhone iBooks application, for example, crashes, a lot. Try to open a PDF in iBooks? Crash. Try to read a book? Crash. Time to wait for iBooks to open after you've downloaded 10 eBooks? I have no idea, I'm not that patient.

The Facebook app on my iPhone 3G w/ iOS 4? It crashes at least once out of every five startups.

Apple has put up a web page showing "death grips" for a collection of smartphones, including their own iPhone 4. At first I thought this would be a bad thing for Apple's image, like politicians getting into a mud-slinging competition, where everyone comes out dirty, but their web page is well done.

iPhone photos and Windows XP tip: How to download iPhone photos to a Windows XP computer.

Okay, this was surprisingly hard. I just went to download all my iPhone photos to my Windows XP computer, and assuming this worked with the normal iTunes sync process, I started the 'sync', waited a very long time, and then at the end, all my photos were ... wait ... none of my photos were downloaded from my iPhone to my Windows XP system. What the heck?

When Consumer Reports talks, people listen. If you're trying to sell something, here are a few things you don't want them writing about your product:

• "We can't recommand the iPhone 4"
• "The tests also indicate that AT&T's network might not be the primary suspect in the iPhone 4's signal (reception) woes"
• "Apple needs to come up with a permanent -- and free -- fix for the antenna problem"

This quote is actually my favorite:

iPhone HTML page size FAQ: In an HTML web app optimized for the iPhone, how do I set the page size to be the optimal iPhone page size (iPhone page pixel width)?

By default the iPhone assumes HTML pages are 980 pixels wide. When you're creating a custom iPhone HTML app, you really want to control this page size so your web app will look better.

The way you change the iPhone HTML page size (pixel width) is to use the special iPhone HTML "viewport" meta tag, like this:

iPhone HTML/web apps FAQ: Can I use the HTML SELECT tag in my iPhone HTML web apps? If so, what does the control look like in the iPhone Mobile Safari web browser?

Yes, according to the Apple Safari web developer documentation, you can use the HTML SELECT tag in your iPhone HTML/web apps.

iPhone HTML web app debugging - I'm trying to optimize my HTML/web application to look and feel like a native iPhone app; how can I debug my web app on an iPhone or iPad (presumably using Safari)?

iPhone 'user agent' FAQ: I'm trying to optimize my HTML/web app for the iPhone; how do I detect an iPhone, iPod, or iPad browser in my web application?

This Apple page shows the iPhone, iPod, and iPad user agent strings, so you just need to write some JavaScript that properly parses those iPhone/iPad browser user agent strings.

iPhone HTML web app style sheets FAQ: I'm trying to optimize my HTML/web app for the iPhone, how do I specify a style sheet to be used for just the iPhone?

There are several different approaches you can take, but with CSS3 the most direct approach you can take is to add an expression to your iPhone CSS link tag, as shown here:

iPhone HTML apps startup image FAQ: How do I set the startup image (splash screen) for my iPad or iPhone HTML app?

This quick blurb from the Apple developer documentation leads us to the answer:

On iOS, similar to native applications, you can specify a startup image that is displayed while your web application launches. This is especially useful when your web application is offline.

By default, a screenshot of the web application the last time it was launched is used. To set another startup image, add a "link" element to the webpage.

iPhone HTML app icon FAQ: I'm creating an iPhone HTML web app, and I want users to be able to save my HTML app icon to their iPhone home screen; how can I add a custom iPhone app icon to my web application?

The iPhone Mobile Safari web browser recognizes a special HTML tag that lets you add an iPhone app icon to your HTML application. Here's the syntax that lets you add an iPhone app icon to your web app:

iPhone HTML apps status bar FAQ: When creating an iPhone web app so it looks more like a native iPhone app, how can I control the iPhone status bar color?

Once you've removed the iPhone Safari browser URL bar, the next thing you can do to make your HTML web app look more like a native iPhone app is to control the iPhone status bar. The status bar is the bar at the top of the iPhone screen.

iPhone HTML web app FAQ: In an HTML web app optimized for the iPhone, how do I remove the URL bar on top of the iPhone Mobile Safari web browser so I can show my HTML app in full screen mode?

When you're creating an HTML/web app to look like a native iPhone app, one of the things you'll want to do is remove the URL bar in the Mobile Safari web browser. This is the URL bar on the top of the iPhone browser, and by getting rid of it, you can display your web app on the iPhone in full-screen mode.

iPhone "delete photos" FAQ: How can I delete multiple iPhone photos from my Mac (or from my iPhone)?

A long time ago I wrote about how to delete multiple iPhone photos from your iPhone, and that tip still works great if you want to delete multiple iPhone photos directly from your iPhone. But if you'd like a way to delete multiple iPhone photos from your Mac, or a simple way to delete all your iPhone photos, this tip can also be helpful.

MacBook Air carrying cases and sleeves: I recently bought a MacBook Air, and while there are a lot of nice things about it, an unusual thing about it is that it creates a dilemma about how to carry the thing around. Do you use a sleeve, carrying case, laptop bag, or something else?

My old laptop bag is much too big and cumbersome for the Air, so that doesn't work.

iPhone 4 Zagg protective skin review: While buying a new iPhone 4 a few days ago I took some time to look at different iPhone 4 protective cases and skins. I just wrote about one of these products in my iPhone 4 Otter Defender protective case review.

As I mentioned in that article, the Otterbox Defender protective cover made the iPhone 4 feel a little too large in my hands, so I decided that rather than use a protective case like that, I'd rather just go with an iPhone 4 protective skin.

iPhone 4 protective cases: I've written before about iPhone skins and related things like MacBook skins and MacBook protective cases and covers, but until now I've never done any research into iPhone protective cases and covers.

iPhone 4 screen cleaning FAQ: How do I clean the front screen on my iPhone 4 (the iPhone 4 glass)? Also, what kind of iPhone 4 cleaning cloth can I use?

I just bought an iPhone 4 a few days ago, and the front glass screen and oleophobic coating is pretty awesome. I used it for a while without noticing any smudges on the glass. As soon as I got a little bit of a smudge on it this morning I began to wonder, how am I supposed to clean the iPhone 4 screen/glass?

Jonathan Ive Apple news: Just returning from a vacation in Seward, Alaska ("holiday" in Europe), the first news story I read is that Jonathan Ive may be considering leaving Apple. For those who don't know of him, Mr. Ive is the Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple, and is known as the Apple designer behind many of the Apple products you've come to know, including the iPod, iMac, iPhone, and iPad.