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Camera+ now available in App Store


CameraPlusThe Camera+ application that you reviewed in the Nov/Dec 2010 Buyer’s Guide issue of iPhone Life was removed from the iTunes Store in August 2010 because of some issues. It seems you should check before you publish! Too bad, it was probably a great app!


Char


 As of December 31, 2010, Camera + was back in the App Store ($0.99, app2.me/2583). Unfortunately, this does not guarantee that it will be there when you read this. Apple pulls apps periodically for a variety of reasons. If the problems are fixable, the developer corrects them and resubmits the app. After the approval process, it shows up in the App Store again. 


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As a print publication, we work with lead times. The nominal November/December issue was sent to the printer in mid-September. The app reference for Camera + was checked before the app was pulled. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Rich Hall, Managing Editor


Play iPhone movies on my TV?


I have an 8GB iPhone 3G and was wondering if it is possible to connect it to my TV and play movies accessed from the iPhone on my TV’s larger screen?

Ihab Al-Aloul


 You have a few options. You need a cable that goes from your iPhone’s dock to your TV. Apple sells three such cables, a Composite one (red/white audio and yellow for video), a Component one (red/white audio and red/green/blue for higher definition video), or a VGA cable for a computer monitor or VGA-enabled TV. These cables are sold at the Apple store, Best Buy and Radio Shack. The VGA cable is good for Keynote presentations but it doesn’t transmit audio, and it doesn’t have a USB cable so you are limited to your iPhone’s battery life.


When you play videos in the Videos app, you’ll have the option of displaying them on the external monitor, but there may be limitations based on copyrights. If you bought a movie on iTunes, you might not be able to display it using high definition cables (component or VGA).


Another option is to use AirPlay to “send” a video wirelessly to an Apple TV. I’m excited about this. You can start a movie on the iPad, send it to the TV, and then put it back on the iPad and take it with you (to the restroom, etc.) without wires.


Todd Bernhard



Foosball HD is an iPad game!

Foosball HDYou misclassified Foosball HD in the “Top 5 ‘Hot Seat’ Games” article (iphonelife.com/issues/2011January-February/Top5HotSeatGames). It’s listed as an iPhone game, but it’s an iPad game. 


Anson Liu


 Not sure how we missed that one, especially since I played it for hours on the iPad :). Thanks for contacting me about this, Anson.

Mike Riley


How about a rating system?

I wanted to congratulate you on a truly first-rate magazine, which I am delighted will now be published bimonthly! I became interested in iPhone Life when I bought an iPhone 3G (which I recently upgraded to an iPhone 4) to use exclusively for my psychotherapy work. Now I eagerly await each issue, with the excitement of a child on Christmas Eve! In particular, I enjoy the Tips & Tricks section for discovering the shortcuts and hidden features that are not included in the user manual, the profiles of how people in different industries use their iPhones, and of course, the accessory and app recommendations.


My only suggestion would be that you add a rating system (e.g. 1-5 stars) to your reviews, in addition to highlighting your picks for Editor’s Choice. You might also include a short list of pros and cons so readers can easily compare features of similar products. Thank you again and I wish you continued success.


Laura Paulson


 In theory, I agree with your suggestion for a rating system. However, in practice, the engineer in me finds star ratings too subjective and inconsistent. We have at least 20 authors per issue, and it would be very difficult to standardize star ratings, and to a lesser extent pros and cons about every product. Further, given that there are 200,000 apps in the App store, if we write about it in our magazine, chances are it’s a top app, so the difference between 3 and 4 stars wouldn’t be meaningful. Having said that, a rating system is an ongoing discussion, and eventually likely you will see it here.


Hal Goldstein, Publisher, Executive Editor – Hal@iphonelife.com


Give me some travel tips


I really enjoyed reading your article “iPod Touch…A Backpacker’s Best Friend” (Jan-Feb, 2011, p. 72). Like you, I have a passion for traveling, and I will go on some backpacking trips in the near future. Do you have any tips regarding tickets, lodging etc? 


Georges-C Woodbridge


 I’m glad you enjoyed my article. Where are you planning on traveling? I can give you more specific tips depending on where you’re going (backpacking in India is very different than backpacking in Europe). But to get you started here are a few general tips:


  1. Lonely Planet (lonelyplanet.com) makes excellent travel guides geared towards backpackers. I never travel without one.

  2. Here is a very good article on traveling for free or very cheap (matadornetwork.com/notebook/how-to/how-to-travel-for-free). The article mentions Couchsurfing.com. I can’t recommend Couch Surfing enough. Not only do you get a free place to stay, but many times your host can show you around the town. It’s a great way to get outside the tourist traps and really experience the local culture.

  3. Finally, don’t over-plan. One of the great things about backpacking is the freedom. It’s good to have a general idea of your itinerary, but don’t feel that you need to have every hotel and every bus ticket purchased in advance. Most of that stuff is very easy to figure out while you’re traveling.


Hope this helps. I’m always happy to help a fellow traveler. Let me know if you have any more questions.


David Averbach, Davida@iphonelife.com


Cloud computing not for everyone…yet!

Just finished reading “iTunes: Apple’s Most Important—and Most Troubled—Application” (Jan-Feb 2011, p. 26). I frequently read about the value of cloud computing. Unfortunately, many of us do not have high speed Internet. The fastest I can get is AT&T Edge, and even with 3 or 4 bars there are many times I can’t access the Web. For me, trying to download a simple file from the Internet could take a very long time.

Perhaps one day, all of us will have high-speed access. For now, I will keep my files on a portable drive, where I have instant access to them.


Howard Coy


 Your point is well taken. Oddly enough, a few of the worst areas for coverage are very large US cities, and San Francisco is a prime example. The cause of San Francisco’s problems is a combination of heavy demand, an enormous number of mobile device users, and the fact that most people don’t want cell phone towers in their backyard. My father and mother are in the same boat you are—almost no 3G signal at all in their city. I think that several things will help this situation over time.


First, Apple will almost certainly offer the iPhone on additional carriers. (Verizon may already be offering the iPhone by the time you read this.) This will help because some areas with weak AT&T coverage are covered well by Verizon. The competition from other carriers also means that AT&T will have more incentive to improve their coverage.

Second, the 4th generation of download technology (Verizon calls it LTE) is coming on line and will really start to roll out this year. This promises a very large leap in download speeds, on the same magnitude of the increase we have seen from Edge/2nd generation to 3G.


Third, new Wi-Fi standards will mean faster data speeds and broader coverage. Some of the burden of downloading or streaming from the cloud via 3G and 4G networks can be relieved when Wi-Fi coverage is available and by making it seamless to the user when you switch from cellular to Wi-Fi.


Fourth, I believe Apple will slowly transition the different types of content to the cloud. (I emphasize “slowly.” If Apple pushed everything to the cloud all at once, it would probably bring down AT&T’s network.) I believe that this will be a smooth transition, allowing users to sync in multiple ways.


Recently, an Apple patent was approved that addressed this. It was a model for applications that would know when to switch from the cloud to local storage and back again, without user intervention. The gist of it was that you could have cloud-based and local storage at the same time. The device would figure out when to use each and would automatically keep data in sync.


These are all optimistic scenarios. Unfortunately, as new bandwidth becomes available, end users and service providers take advantage of it and use it up. Still, broadband will become faster and more widely available.


Bryan Schmiedeler, bryanschmiedeler@appleinfocus.com


Issue: 
March-April 2011
Department/Section: 
Regular Departments
TOC Weight: 
10