my minimalist frontispiece
I have the ‘classique’ model so don’t get to stream pr0n quite as quickly as the owners of the new device. However I do get the App Store *fanfare* on iTunes to buy new gadgets.
Day one of iPhone 2.0 was a disaster. The engineers at Apple clearly failed to anticipate the demand for the whizzy new gear. To handle the deluge of activation requests these fizzing jerkholes evidently switched on an old Commodore 64 somewhere and drifted off mumbling for another Starbucks. Cue seven hours of dead telephone, iTunes pathetically offering some obscure error and the Apple support forums logging a zillion outbursts from powerless punters.
Anyway. The updated version is slow and freezy. SMS is slow to emerge. Safari locks up and disappears. But look! The shiny apps. The shiny apps you can install over the air, whenever you feel like it.
- Remote. This is the winner for me, genuinely transforming how I do things at home. It turns the phone into a remote control for your iTunes. And not some crappy 6-button effort, but the full GUI. I actually prefer using the tactile rubby fingerplate to iTunes’ fastidious clicky nonsense.
- Facebook. Very nice, very useful. Again the iPhone turns out better than the web – it’s easier to get a quick view of what everyone is up to.
- Google. There’s a lot of cool stuff hidden in the simplistic interface. Even more efficient at fuelling your alcoholism and displaying the nearest bar to your location (type ‘bar’, click ‘Local’).
- WordPress. Just out today. No control over comments, but the rest is well thought out, and you can work on drafts locally.
- Aqua Forest. A physics toy like yon Phun. Make some water, tilt phone, watch water slosh around. Repeat.
- WeatherBug, NYTimes. Good daily info. “Just how appalling is the humidity today Mister Phone?”
- Jott, Light, Mocha VNC, PhoneSaber, eBay, Aurora Feint. Relegated to the third screen, rarely touched.
- No Super Monkey Baws. I couldn’t bring myself to buy it.
Still no cut and paste though. Ha fucking ha, you eppil cnuts.
23-Jul-08 at 12:32 pm | Permalink
How to take screenshots on your iPhone: hold down the button on the front and then press the power-off button. The screen will flash white – check your Camera Roll as normal.
28-Jul-08 at 9:02 pm | Permalink
You are such a geek!!
x
30-Jul-08 at 8:14 pm | Permalink
Apps update #1 from the geek.
• Yelp. Another genuinely transformational app. Hit ‘bar’ or ‘restaurant’ and you get the closest ones to your location complete with trustworthy reviews.
• Band. Drums, bass, keyboard, blues-guitar-thing to play with. Nicely done but no ordinary guitar! No time for chord practice Dr Jones. Only worth it if you’re bored.
• GuitarToolkit. A totally usable guitar tuner and chord reference. A must-have.
29-Aug-08 at 12:25 pm | Permalink
Apps update #2.
• iTrans NYC. A simple subway map, nicely done.
• Stanza. It’s an e-reader. It’s free, it’s configurable and it can download a bunch of free stuff from the web. Excellent.
• Frotz. Simply *the* best IF implementation I’ve ever seen on a phone. Comes bundles with a bunch of good games and the best bit – lets you download anything from the IFDB online. Amazing.
30-Aug-08 at 6:21 am | Permalink
> *the* best IF implementation
For a second I thought you meant this.
19-Sep-08 at 4:24 pm | Permalink
So you’re using Remote, and it keeps losing the connection to your Library? Pain in the ass, I know.
Turns out this is your OS software firewall being over-enthusiastic. I already have a hardware firewall/router, so I just killed Vista firewall – job done, no connection issues.
In other news the Guitar Toolkit update is exceptional – it now auto-strums chords as you flip through the catalog, so you can just listen out for inspiration.
20-Oct-08 at 3:43 pm | Permalink
Games roundup so far:
• FS5 Hockey. Probably the best clacky air hockey game, and it’s free. A decent CPU opponent, unexpectedly. Playing it a month from now: only for the 2-player when pub conversation lulls.
• Nanosaur 2. Control a laser-toting pterodactyl and deliver dinosaur eggs to a wormhole (that old cliche). Fairly amazing 3D and good controls once you get used to them. Playing it a month from now: probably not.
• Fieldrunners. It’s a tower defense game with great execution. Just complicated enough, great 2D artwork and animation. Updates in the works. Playing it a month from now: hells yeah.