So iOS 8.1 is released tomorrow and I really hope that there is a slew of fixes for the keyboard issues. This is the latest problem – a keyboard appearing over the home page:
Instagram’s Hyperlapse
Instagram, Facebook’s $1B lovechild, this week released a new iOS app called Hyperlapse that allows time lapse videos to be shot without the shakes that are usually associated with such videos.
I took a quick example on the bus into town yesterday and as you can see it is really steady. With hindsight I wish I had held the camera in landscape mode!
If all this sounds familiar that will be because Microsoft Research documented just such a technique earlier this year which got widespread attention including on the BBC. So congratulations to Instagram for getting this out so … Read the rest
Creating Good Looking Product Shots on Devices
A while back I wrote about what I described as “One of the most amazing websites” I had seen and it was great. Placeit allows you to create screen mockups by uploading a screenshot that is then rendered into a chosen device. Unfortunately when I went back recently the prices had sky rocketed. To download even the most basic image now costs $8 a pop and a “casual” plan is $29 a month. For someone that uses the service about once a year that was prohibitively expensive.
I should state at this point that I have absolutely no issue with … Read the rest
A Tale of Two Chromebooks
A couple of years ago I spent weeks searching high and lo for a Samsung Series 3 Chromebook which was the first of the really affordable cloud laptops. I finally found one and paid £240 – nothing compared to the price of some Windows and especially Mac laptops.
Initially I was amazed at the start-up time of seconds and the fantastic battery life. I found that I could access my email and calendar through the browser (as I had been for a while since ditching Outlook) and do all my general web-browsing. I was hooked and decided that, away from … Read the rest
A Potentially Dangerous Experiment
Being mobile means I have to work in a number of different places on a number of different machines. The one constant is that no matter where I am I want and need to have my files with me. While I have Dropbox and Google Drive and and iCloud and Box and OneDrive and OwnCloud accounts I found that files that were in the Documents and Downloads folders on my iMac weren’t available to me on the move.
This led to a light bulb moment. What if I could store my Documents and Downloads folders in cloud storage? And so … Read the rest
Microsoft Office for iPad
Now here’s a funny thing. I have deleted my iWork apps from my iPad and replaced then with their Microsoft Office equivalents. More than that I am also considering an Office 365 subscription just so that I can edit Office docs on the go. Why on earth would I do that?
Quite simply because Office is the defacto standard for work documents and while there is a real convenience to Google Docs (the real-time collaboration is unbeatable) nothing renders an Office document better than Office and that includes iWork.
While I have dabbled with iWork on my Mac I regularly … Read the rest
4G Arrives in Reading (sort of)
I noticed this morning that my iPad was now showing a 4G notifier in the header rather than the usual 3G.
Three, my network provider, have been very good saying that they wouldn’t charge any more for this unlike other operators. Today I found out why – it doesn’t work, at least not in Reading where I am.Switching to 3G I immediately got a lovely fast signal whereas on 4G nothing.
I am hoping that this is a temporary thing and will quickly improve when more cells are rolled out. Here’s to super fast mobile access.… Read the rest
3 Things Evernote is Missing
I an a keen and active user of Evernote paying for the service not just to gain access to the “pro” features but also because I want to repay Evernote for the use I derive from it.
That’s not to say that it is perfect though so here are three things that I would add to it from the normal to the whacky.
Better table support
Evernote has support for tables but it is pretty basic. Once created you cannot add new columns, change the width, add new rows anywhere but at the bottom and you cannot apply any styling … Read the rest
Textever Pro – a Quick and Beautiful Editor for Evernote on iOS
Evernote is great but on iOS it is just too slow to start up when you want to add a quick text note which is a real disincentive to using it on the go. To get round this I have been using Squarespace Note on my iPhone as this is quick to start and has Evernote integration. This has worked well but I have lost notes a few time when I have been offline, which was frustrating.
Enter Textever Pro a well designed iOS app that was built specifically for this use case: getting text notes quickly into Evernote. One … Read the rest
Authorising 3rd Party Apps with Passcode Lock on in Evernote
On iOS Evernote provides a useful facility to be able to protect your notes by adding a four digit passcode lock that you have to enter before you can see them. You can also choose how long before the code is asked for on subsequent opens, such as immediately, after one minute etc.
Once enabled this means that you will be initially be asked for your four digit code on opening and then on subsequent opens after the time out period has expired unless you have chosen “immediate” as your option in which case you will always be asked for … Read the rest