Expert Blogs
According to a story on MacRumors, the video provider Brightcove is making HTML5 video playback an option for their customers, including Time magazine and the New York Times. This is big news for those of us who build Web sites with lots of videos -- like this one -- and would like them to work on the iPhone, iPad, and other Flash-free platforms.
Skype on the iPhone is old news, but the most frequent complaint about the iPhone app is that it doesn't work over AT&T's 3G network -- you have to be in WiFi range to make or receive a Skype call. Meanwhile, those of us with other smartphones haven't even had that capability, hitting our heads against shaky, unfriendly voice-over-IP (VOIP) implementations such as Sipdroid. But today's announcement of a partnership between Verizon and Skype promises to bring Skype to
According to the Adobe Flash Platform Blog, the new iPad's Web browser, promoted as "the best browsing experience you've ever had," will not support Flash content any more than the current iPhone and iPod Touch browsers do. Says author Adrian Ludwig,
MSNBC and the Today Show report on the story of American filmmaker Dan Woolley, who was trapped under rubble by the Haiti earthquake and survived for nearly three days with the help of his faith, his blood-stained journal, and his iPhone and (separate) camera. He specifically credits the iPhone's alarm clock (for keeping him from falling asleep while in shock) and an app that has been identified as Pocket First Aid and CPR, by Jive Media LLC.
The Associated Press reports that at least twice now, a glitch at AT&T has sent the wrong Web "cookies" to customers' phones, allowing them to access other customers' data on unencrypted sites such as Facebook, and to unintentionally send mail from the other customers' email accounts: http://apnews.myway.com//article/20100116/D9D8O2L00.html The story predicts that encrypted sites such as banks and e-commerce sites are probably not affected by the glitch, since it's unlikely that the the private key would be sent to the wrong device. As a Web developer myself, this story helps to underscore for me the importance of putting any confidential data on an encrypted site!
One of the stories coming out of Las Vegas this week cought my eye: Greenpeace has issued its 14th quarterly report on "greener electronics," and Apple is prominently and repeatedly mentioned as one of the three most responsible companies. One problem: that's not what the report actually says.
Yesterday I bought a new phone: an HTC Droid Eris, based on Google's Android operating system. Why not an iPhone? Because by sharing a Verizon plan with my wife's family I can save some $40 per month and get better service than AT&T offers in my area -- the maps don't lie; although there's nothing wrong with AT&T's "coverage," they have no 3G service in vast areas of the country, so when you buy an iPhone here you don't get what you pay for. But that's not what this blog is about...
My role as Web Developer for iPhone Life keeps me focused mainly on what goes on behind the scenes. The software we use, Drupal, wins awards for its functionality, not for its user-friendliness. And when I work behind the scenes, I'm not using an iPhone or iPod touch to do it. So when one of our bloggers pointed out that she couldn't post from her iPhone, that was news to me. It seems Mobile Safari doesn't yet support enough JavaScript to run our Wysiwyg editor. While we wait for Apple to improve the browser, well, there's an app for that!
We here at iPhone Life would be remiss if we didn't review the latest model of iPhone -- unfortunately The Onion broke the story first: the new phone is faster, lighter, and just all around cooler than any phone ever seen, or for that matter any that ever will be seen. We here at the magazine -- along with children everywhere -- have of course had evaluation models of this phone for months now, but we didn't realize it until th
The European Union just made a deal with mobile phone manufacturers to have only one, standard charger for future phones, and they hope to expand the standard to cameras and laptops. Can I get an amen?
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