Netflix has finally released a native app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. I’ve been experimenting with it, and I am very impressed. The app is beautifully designed and very easy to use. Streaming video is smooth and clear. You can scroll through your instant queue or browse the Netflix catalog to find movies and shows. This app is killer. If you have an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch and you are a Netflix subscriber, this app is a necessity.
Textfree is an incredible app for your iPhone or iPod Touch that provides you with unlimited texting for free. I’ve been using for a few days now and it is awesome.
I already pay $5 per month for a 200-limit text message plan with AT&T. For a few of months, I’d even boosted it to the next level which gave me 1500 texts per month for $15. I think the entire texting industry is absurdly high priced. If I am already paying for 3G Internet data, simple 160-character text-only messages should come and go for free. I’m tired of paying such ridiculously high fees for texting.
It looks like I’ll no longer have to. I’ve found Textfree and it gives me a completely new phone number to use for unlimited texting, all for FREE. No longer will I be taking it in the rear from the phone company. I highly recommend this app to every iOS user, which includes iPad and iPod Touch users. The app is ad-supported in the free version, but you can eliminate all ads if you subscribe as a paying customer for $6 per year. Even as a paying customer, the price is a steal compared to paying for traditional texting via the mobile carrier.
Do yourself a favor. Check this out. Save some money.
The September 2010 issue of Macworld magazine contains an article titled, “Where Should iTunes Go Next?” I wrote them a feedback letter, shown below.
I have a suggestion for Apple regarding the next version of iTunes. Instead of packing more features into iTunes 10, I think they should simply fine tune the application in much the same way they did with Snow Leopard. Personally, I don’t want any more features than iTunes currently offers. I would, however, like to be able to download tiny point-release updates to the software without being forced to download the entire 130 MB application every time they change one line of code. Why haven’t they made this happen already? I think this should be the focus of the next version. Bigger isn’t always better, and iTunes has grown big enough as it is.
I think that all restaurants should serve breakfast until noon. This is especially true for fast-food joints. All too often, such places end the breakfast menu at 10:30, with a few exceptions. That is too early for people who want to sleep in. The best case scenario is being able to order breakfast all day. If you can’t offer me breakfast all day, then at least draw the line at noon, when it is technically no longer morning.
Everyone knows the famous song Hotel California by the Eagles. I have always loved this song. It brings back great memories when I hear it. I remember hearing it regularly back in the day when out shooting pool.
I’m not disputing that the song is great. It is. However, in my opinion, it could be superb if it didn’t have a fatal flaw. That flaw is that there is not a third chorus for, “Welcome to the Hotel California.” This has always irked me.
Since there is no third chorus, I hardly ever listen to this song all the way to the end. After the final line, “You can check out any time you like but you can never leave,” there is still 2:08 left in the song. It annoys me that it just trails off into guitar for over two minutes while never hearing the chorus of the song again.
Perhaps I am alone in thinking this way. I realize that the last line, “You can never leave,” doesn’t really warrant anything else to follow that. Still, I don’t see a reason to add two more minutes of music after the vocals are over.
My current favorite game on the iPhone is Words With Friends. It isn’t a new game, but I’ve only started playing recently. I love it!
It is a fantastic Scrabble clone that you play online with your friends. In fact, the official Scrabble game doesn’t even have the same fun online game play.
I moved the icon for the game to my home screen so I could see the notification badges when it is my turn. I’ve been playing five or more games at the same time. The fact that you’re playing with another real user is really cool. I love when I check my phone and see that Words With Friends notifies me that it’s my move.
If you have an iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad, this game is a must. There is a free ad-supported version and a $3 paid version. Personally, I paid for the app, because I despise ads. Pick either version of the app and play. I’m addicted!
I have a complaint to lodge against the iPhone. Specifically, the auto-correct feature in the iOS4 operating system that I installed on my 3GS.
When you use the onscreen keyboard, you are likely to make errors. Apple has obviously spent a lot of time determining the most commonly mistyped words, and automatically correct them. I appreciate that very much, and in a general sense, the feature works quite well. I often take for granted how well it is fixing my typos as I hammer out text.
However, it feels that with iOS4, the auto-correct feature has become overreaching. The results are not always pretty. I’m getting fed up with the changes it makes to my text. There have been countless times that I’ve had to send two text messages instead of one simply because I have to follow a bad auto-correct with an explanation. I’m tired of wasting texts!
I’ll list a few examples of what I mean, but there are many more examples than the few I’m going to mention.
- When I type the abbreviation “msg” in an email or text message, the iPhone automatically changes it to a capitalized “MSG.” This happens every single time. I can only assume that it thinks I am talking about either Madison Square Garden or monosodium glutamate. Now, why the hell would the average user write about either of these in a text message? Why in the world would this be the default auto-correct? It is truly amazing.
- Every time I type the word “hell” it is auto-corrected to “he’ll.” Annoying. The same is true for the word “well.” It is made into a contraction, but the vast majority of the time I am simply saying, “Well, blah blah blah.”
- Just a few days ago I wrote a silly text to my brother, quoting the movie Weekend At Bernies. When I hit SEND, I realized the phone had corrected my joke to “Weekend At Bermuda.” The joke was ruined, and I had to send a second text to explain the screw up. This kind of thing happens to me every day.
I’ve had to turn off the auto-correct feature. I am simply tired of every thing I say being altered into something completely different. I’ve had enough! From now on, I’ll handle my typos on my own.
My home Internet was down upon coming home from work today.
Long story short—It was fixed in an hour or so.
During the blackout, I used my iPhone to communicate with the outside world. I posted a couple of tweets to Twitter about my Road Runner connection being down. I was so frustrated! I know that TWC has a network status page, but I couldn’t find it on their overly-complex site while browsing with Safari on my iPhone.
Anyway, Twitter user “TWCableHelp” replied to me in a message and asked what was wrong with my connection. I was a bit taken aback. I should say that by the time I read their reply tweet, my Road Runner was working again anyway. So I, in turn, replied that it had been down but was now fixed and “hooray.” Surprisingly, they replied again and said that they were happy. Hmmm. I’m impressed that a bloated, mammoth company like Time Warner would have a tweeting arm to engage end users. Interesting. Hmmm some more, even.
On my drive to work yesterday, I cast my eyes on a new billboard for Miller High Life. The billboard read: “Miller High Life. Tastes Expensive.”
What a lie! Miller High Life is honestly the worst beer that I can imagine. It is truly horrid. In no way imaginable would anyone under any circumstances mistake this swill for a beer that was even slightly expensive. Trust me. Never drink this beer. Ever. This is false advertising at its best.
I’ve been looking for the perfect GPS navigation solution for my iPhone. I want something that goes beyond the Maps app. I considered purchasing the expensive Tom Tom GPS navigation app, but it ranges in price from $49 to $99 depending on the current sale price. Tom Tom is quite expensive, but it is still cheaper than a buying standalone GPS device. Still, the price for Tom Tom kept me looking elsewhere.
I’ve now found the perfect solution for my needs. I downloaded the MotionX GPS Drive app, which is currently on sale for $1. I think it usually goes for $7, but I am not exactly sure about the standard price.
I don’t need a GPS unit on a daily basis. I mainly want it for the occasional road trip. This app provides a very cheap solution for those needs. MotionX GPS Drive has turned out to be awesome! You have to pay for the speaking turn-by-turn navigation feature, but you get to use for free for the first month. After that is only $3 for a single month of use, which you can purchase any time. If you want to pay for a full year, it is $25. You could do that year after year and still make out for less than a standalone GPS unit, or the Tom Tom app. I’m sold.
One advantage of using this solution is that the maps are downloaded to the phone and cached. By default, it will use up to 2 GB of storage for the map data. You can clear and reset the maps at any time, and you always have the latest up-to-date maps for your area. The fresh maps are the advantage over using a standalone GPS unit.
I’ve been using MotionX GPS for a few days to try it out. I am very impressed. It has performed well. A bluetooth earpiece is handy if you want to talk on the phone at the same time and still be able to see the maps. My phone does get a little warm to the touch after using the navigation. Also, expect this app to eat away at your battery when you use it. The phone is doing a lot of thinking, so that doesn’t surprise me.
iOS4 now has multitasking, and MotionX supports multitasking. I can easily jump out of the app and do other things on my phone and it will continue to tell me where to go. iOS4 also includes a portrait-locking mode to keep the screen from rotating when you turn it. I love this feature of the new OS, but MotionX GPS Drive is one app that looks better in landscape mode. It still works in portrait mode, but the map and directions feel cramped.
This app has received very positive reviews. Definitely give it a try. It is the probably the cheapest professional voice navigation app on the iPhone, to my knowledge. If you have an Android phone, you’re probably snickering, as Android phones include free navigation software from Google. I am quite aware of this. If you have an Android phone, then congratulations. If you have an iPhone, get MotionX GPS Drive.
WordPress version 3.0 was released on June 17th. I use WordPress on this site, and I upgraded to version 3.0 just yesterday. I upgraded my site theme (Vigilance from The Theme Foundry) as well. The latest theme takes advantages of WordPress 3.0′s new features. I don’t utilize many of the features available in WordPress, but I am happy with the new version. If you administer a blog, I recommend checking it out.
Here is the official announcement from WordPress regarding the new version. A video is included in the link that demonstrates the newest features of the software.
On Monday, Apple released the new iOS4 operating system for the iPhone. I updated my phone and I love the new OS. I use a 3GS model, which is the best version to upgrade. Older 3G users don’t get all of the new features with the update. In addition, from what I’ve read, 3G users have reported very long installation times. My backup and installation only took about 15 minutes after the download finished.
There is an awesome YouTube video of a user demonstrating the new features of iOS4.
