Ok, so after hearing all of the new stuff in iPhone 3.0, I had to test it out.  I joined the iPhone dev program (which I was planning on doing this month anyway) and downloaded and installed the iPhone 3.0 beta to my iPhone.  I played with some of the new features and then loaded up all of my programs.  I then attempted to setup my work Exchange account.  I say attempted, because it never worked.  It would never get me to the step to input my actual server address.  Then I started trying to use some of my clutch programs only to notice extreme lag and some quirky issues.  Using the Facebook application, it would load all of the text and menus, but would not load the pictures for any of my friends.  Tweetie would sometimes not load all of the avatars.  Evernote just seemed to drag.  None of these are issues with the programs or the developers…it is a beta OS.  This stuff is to be expected which is why there are warnings all over the place when you download the 3.0 beta that you will not be able to downgrade back.

Of course, that is not true.  Leave it up to the wonderful mobile community to figure out that you can downgrade back to the 2.2.1 firmware, but the baseband would stay the same on the iPhone 3G.  Not a big deal.  You get an error in iTunes after the restore, but QuickPwn will get you out of that issue.  I followed the steps over at Gizmodo, but I was still having issues.  I have not had my iPhone jailbroken for a long time and I really have no desire to do it now, but if that was the only way to go back to 2.2.1, then I can accept it.

Read the rest of this entry »

I enjoy listening to the NPR station in my area on the way in to the 8-5 in the morning, and this morning they had a piece that particularly interested me.  Some mad scientists over at UCLA had hacked together a Sony Ericsson to run blood tests out in remote  third world areas.

The results of the blood sample get compared against a database to determine if the patient is infected.  This thing isn’t even a smart phone!  Obama wants to bring medical costs down; Invest in technologies like this.  You will see people flocking from misdiagnosing themselves with WebMD to getting highly accurate test results.

After listening to this broadcast, I couldn’t help thinking of any running sci-fi series where they had a handheld device to automatically scan the sick or hurt individual on the fly.  Is this the beginning of that kind of technology?  As medical research pushes the envelope of this technology, there is going to be a whole host of new applications to write and the possibilities are limitless.

Victory at long last.    Long ago I left the Apple IIGS for Windows 95 and hadn’t looked back since. This handy little guide brought me home.  I named my VM Sex Panther, because 60 percent of the time, it works every time.  That’s about the success rate I’ve had with these hacked together distros for Leopard.

In addition to VMWare’s 6.5 Workstation offering a fantastic test environment, the best ISO out there I’ve found to date is the iDeneb.  The customization options are commented so that even the average person can make sense of what they’re clicking.  Success rates may vary, but I now have my development environment set up.  If you plan on undertaking a similar project, I highly suggest either paying to become an apple developer for $500, buying a license for Leopard (even though this is against the EULA), or taking the easy way out and spending the $600 on a Mac mini.  Next on the docket is a review of the training videos/materials available through apple.

Now that we are getting into the era of Web 2.0, what do developers need to do to adapt?

I have been seeing an increasing number of developers on Twitter and Facebook.  One of the neatest things is to comment about a piece of software on Twitter only to have the actual developer of the software reply.  I think this is a really great tool for developers.  I have been using TweetBeep lately to track keywords and domains that people post on Twitter.  You will receive an email with the tweets that include the keywords.

This is a good way to keep track of what people are saying about your applications or company in the age of Web 2.0.

After some further research my journey has led me back to windows or linux.  I have a PC, and I should stick with what it runs best right?

There are a few options out there for people that want to utilize a PC to develop for the iPhone, but I can almost guarantee that none of the apps developed using these tools will see the light of day in the Apple Appstore.  Regardless this might be a good starting point for learning.

I’m starting to see VMware as my savior as much as I’ve been trying to avoid virtualization.  More on that in a later.

Read the rest of this entry »

When you think about celebrities and mobile devices, what platform do you think about?  I am guessing that most people probably think about Blackberries.  Considering all of the fuss about President Obama and his Blackberry, is it really a surprise?  I know that some celebs have been using iPhones lately, but Blackberries have always been one of their top phones.  RIM likes to do things like launch parties for their new devices that almost always involve some red carpet event to make celebs feel right at home.

Well…how has pimping their smartphones out to celebrities helped them lately?  Read on…

Read the rest of this entry »

Where do your ideas come from?

The hardest thing in the world to do is to sit down and try to think of something new and exciting.  What is it that inspires programmers to write software?  I know for some it’s the wind between their cheeks, but for the apps that are actually useful what is it that lit the bulb?

Read the rest of this entry »

If you do, then you might be using a Palm OS device right now.  Palm has been slowly dying for a couple of years now.  I guess the good thing is that they have realized it, but did they realize it too late?  To plug some holes in their business, they licensed Windows Mobile.  So now they just confused their customers.  I work as a support technician, and I constantly see people that are trying to buy Palm software for their Treo 800W or Treo Pro because it has the Palm name on it.  Now Palm is going to confuse their customers even more when they find out that there is (at this point) no upgrade path to allow all of their Palm OS programs to run on their new WebOS software.

As a developer, do you want to throw your support behind a company like Palm?

Read the rest of this entry »

Hackintoshing – verb

1: Taking a perfectly good PC and attempting to install Mac OSX 10.5.6 using a questionably obtained ISO.

2: Placing your face in your palm while repeatedly installing an operating system not natively meant for your computer hard ware.

3. Winning the battle but losing the war.

Related Words for: Hackintoshing

frustration, annoyance, masochism, repetition

Read the rest of this entry »

A lot of people are bashing Palm for putting all of their eggs in Sprint’s basket by making them the exclusive carrier for the upcoming Palm Pre in the U.S.  It makes sense since we keep seeing the fact that Sprint is bleeding away customers more and more each quarter.  AT&T has the iPhone, Verizon has the Blackberry Storm, and up until the Palm Pre, the phone that Sprint has been pushing was the Instinct.  Two smartphones vs. a dumbphone…albeit a well received dumbphone.  Now, Sprint has landed them what is probably the most anticipated phone of the year.  A phone that many analysts say will make or break Palm for sure, and maybe even Sprint.

Is there something that Palm knows that the rest of us don’t?

Read the rest of this entry »