As I’ve written in the past, I’m a big fan of MapMyRun, an extremely versatile fitness tracking app that works on both iOS and Android. I use the free version, since I don’t mind the occasional Reebok splash page when I finish my runs, and $30/year seems a little steep for additional functionality that I’m … Continue reading Just for Kicks
In light of Ben’s recent post about NPR’s new NPR One app, I figured I’d chime in on my own public radio listening habits. I really love NPR and APM (American Public Media). NPR tends to have more human interest stories, whereas APM has a strong tech- and finance- bent. I enjoy NPR’s Religion podcast, as … Continue reading Podcasting
I’ve written in the past about my disdain for many of Apple’s native iOS apps. I often find them clunky and limited, particularly in comparison to third-party (and often multi-platform) alternatives. Instead of Notes I use Evernote, in lieu of iTunes I use Spotify, and in place of Mail, I use Dropbox’s Mailbox, a superb mail … Continue reading Use Latest Photo
Android OEMs seem bent on making the most bizarre, alienating commercials they can manage. Samsung was the first offender – immediately below – but LG now seems to have taken the cake with its latest bit of insanity.
Apple did a lot right on the software front in 2013 – mostly in the form of iOS 7 on mobile and OSX 10.9 on desktops. And for better or worse, it continued the debatable trend of migrating iOS features to OS X. These changes – Notification Center, Dashboard, iMessage, iBooks, Airdrop, among others – fall into two categories: they either supplant existing third party features (Growl, Google Notifier, or the Kindle app), or supplement your desktop with an app that previously only existed on your phone. The logic from Apple’s point of view is clear: Continue reading “iMessage Not Delivered”
If The Graduate is any indication, there’s a great future in plastics, and Apple seems to think so, too. In its ad for the new iPhone 5C, “Plastic Perfected,” Apple seeks to emphasize the new phone’s “unapologetic” plasticity. Continue reading “Just One Word: Plastics”
Microsoft is acquiring the phone part of Nokia for a cool $7.2 Billion. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop is staying on board, which, I think will fuel rumors that he was a corporate trojan horse – leaving Microsoft for Nokia, only to oversee the latter’s sale to his former employer – and that he is in the running to fill Ballmer’s shoes. To that end, if will be very interesting to see if, in fact, Elop does get the promotion, because it would be indicative of Microsoft’s pivot from a PC and Office-based company to a mobile-oriented one. Continue reading “Microkia”
Here’s our first episode of the Bondcast, where, true to our mission, we “make self-aggrandizing statements on things that we’re wholly unqualified to make statements about.” A brief breakdown of the ‘cast goes as follows:
Blackberry’s chairman announced that the former smartphone heavyweight will begin exploring “strategic alternatives” to address its dwindling market share and placate unhappy shareholders. As I’ve said before, it ultimately makes sense for Blackberry to ditch its OS team, adopt Android, and just concentrate on two businesses: hardware and enterprise services like encrypted email and messaging. It seems logical for a few reasons: Continue reading “Strategic Alternatives”
IFTTT just released an iOS app, which brings all the great features of the website to iPhones and iPads everywhere. One “recipe” that the blog post mentions is the ability to automatically upload pictures from your iPhone to Dropbox or Google Drive. Pretty cool, huh?
Only thing is, many Android phones have had the feature for years, and in fact, I take it for granted that when I snap a picture on my EVO, it pops up in my Dropbox ten seconds later.
Silicon Spatula 