It has been a long time since my last post. Nothing like Apple to bring me to the keyboard, in the middle of the night no less.
iOS 7.
I am first to say I like the new OS especially the lack of fake green felt, and for the first time also I might just switch to iPhone, maaaaybe.
But being rather discombobulated by lack of sleep, I have to do a rant.
iOS7 is a BIG COPYCAT.
Innovation my ass. Some of the functions have been on my old N9 phone from 2 years back. Tons done by others for over a year. Jolla being the latest plagiarized victim and they have not even launch commercially yet.
To be fair to Apple, they have refined all the elements and tied them up with a nice neat pretty bow. Still, a copy cat nonetheless.
Short rant over
I do declare however, I really enjoyed the Deforstallization of the Apple interface.
Thank you Sir Ive
Update
Engadget hands on review of the Jolla Sailfish OS demo. The possible draw would be that Android apps runs native on this OS. Looks familiar Apple?
The latest gift bestowed by the Temple of Cupertino has the internet buzzing till now. From the Lost World Apple Maps to Scuffgate, more carbon has been emitted from the internet verbal sparring and in the meantime at least 5 million wallets have been raided.
I had to have a look at this latest wonder, that bestest phone EVER.
It is a lightweight smartphone. No no, not in terms of functionality, it is still the same iOS device that fans love and adore. It is light, so light that I would have thought it was a dummy phone if the screen wasn't on. Definitely an engineering feat to lower the weight that significantly. My complaint would be it is a little too light for my clumsy hands, without the weight feedback, I might drop it.
In any case, pardon the pun, my firm belief is that iOS devices should not be carried naked, with its very sensitive skin. So the irony or perhaps deliberate design is that the lighter scratchable phone will be wrapped up, becoming the thicker bulk than it is designed to be. All that lovely detailing, the shiny bevel by Jonny-boy will remain unseen. (Incidentally that bevel took quite some scrutinising before I could see it). No wonder iPhones comes in only 2 colours, how kind of them to accommodate for the accessories market.
Now the part about Hindsight 20/20.
Nokia was eager to showcase their Lumia phones before Apple, but unfortunately ended with up a PR nightmare. What was to be their key camera feature is now tainted as fake. As it turns out, all they needed was to put a disclaimer that the effect was simulated then people will at least not hot stamp a huge FAIL across their name.
All this in mind Nokia perhaps need not have rushed the presentation, after all, there is no stopping the money from flying to Cupertino. 5 million iPhones will still be sold even if ALL phone makers launched their phones on the same day featuring perfect Maps. The iOS base is just that strong.
Perhaps if Nokia presented their Drive/Navigation after everyone was introduced to Apple's Lost World Maps, they might get quite a sympathetic nod. Their setup is quite practical and solid, no need for fancy flyovers.
And the Pureview OIS, instead of pretending the Girl on the Bike was real, they could have said stated that type of stability was desired. Key to marketing is perhaps making users realise how much they NEED to have OIS then offer it in a nicely packaged Lumia 920. The limited prototypes they had would be enough to intrigue all the media/tech geeks at the event.
Either that or it does interpretive photography by default.
No the photo above is not of some paranormal phenomenon, it was taken at a concert. Sure the person has a divine voice but definitely he does not glow divinely. (Though some fans would probably say he does.) Ironic that I was lucky to get so close but the iPod Touch decided the personality was dazzling and interpreted as such.
Ok, some may ask, where was my Ricoh?
Well unfortunately, being the naive sheep that I am, I thought since photography and videography is "banned", I didn't want to chance having to foster out my Ricoh in some forsaken cubical and risk some harried staff member giving it away accidentally. So much for the ban, people actually came in with a DSLR bling-bling around their neck.
Still while I did take some shots, I do respect the artist and avoided capturing actual performances.
So much for using the Touch as a standby camera. It is only for sunny days and motionless objects unless you like interpretive photos.
Personal computers have been constantly evolving ever since the time of Commodore, Atari and Apple. In the great circle of silicon life, one company has been making in roads into our lives, well mine at least.
In the great Windows (don't call it PC please) versus Mac debate, I feel that Apple has made a winning case for it's side. At the very least they are profitting from it. The Mac side has 2 simple advantage, stability and ease of use. By stability I mean leaving your machine in standby mode and jumping back straight to work, without funny coloured screen. Sure Mac crashes too, but far less annoyingly than Windows. Linux users would probably make a strong point for their favourite OS, but sorry I am only familiar with the Mac variant of Unix. The iPad/iOS platform makes this argument even more evident.
As for ease of use, if you simply use Apple priced stuff, Macs run pretty fuss free. Just don't plug in things like Windows based keyboard while trying to change boot up options, the Mac EFI is a linguistic snob. The latest Mac App store exemplify this culture of ease of use, click buy and it pops on your dock installs. No queries of what directory, or endless clicks of NEXT. The price however is that Apple plugs into your life like a primitive version of the Matrix.
As a result, I have collected quite a few Apple aluminium pieces. Buy one Mac and you end up with more peripherals than you should have, how devious the Almighty Steve.
Life is looking very Aluminium. Expensive Aluminium.
It takes a half eaten fruit to start me blogging again. Ha. Actually its more something posted on Engadget.
We'll hand it to Apple, the phone is so thin it's kind of mind-boggling.
Mind Boggling? Really? Compared to the current iphones maybe, but I have always thought they were kind of chunky anyway. Then again being at WWDC is like stepping into an alternate universe, a magical land basking in the glory of the Great Steve.
Hey! I am not an Apple/Steve hater, just simply amused at the ooohs and ahhhs from supposedly industry insiders. As a Ricoh Fan Boy, I know the feeling, but my mind remains quite un-boggled when discussing the GXR.
The shiny new phone looks like the fruit of a secret affair between Nokia and Apple, which I do prefer over the current road hump look. Except for the BSI (Backside Illuminated) camera sensor and gyroscope there is nothing truly unique, but they look to be very well executed Apple style, they simply delivered what others have hinted at.
