Before I knock off tonight, I wanted to talk a little bit about Apple. They recently made some pretty big announcements earlier, well, sort of. If you ask anyone that owns an iPhone, they will tell you it is the best phone ever. If they don't, than 1) They really don't have an iPhone or 2) They really don't have an iPhone and wish they had one. Despite its cult like following, there are still some features left to be desired. No matter how many excuses I can come up with as to why I don't have copy and paste, it just might be time. I'll just keep telling myself if Steve wanted us to have it, we would already have it. On with the news!
iPhone OS 3.0
Apple has announced the iPhone operating system 3.0 along with an updated SDK. On March 17 the unveiling will commence. Appe says it is an "advance preview of what we're building". Building sounds like it could mean both hardware and software. Now that got you thinking. Don't get too excited though, rumor has it that any sort of street date won't happen until the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June. Apple is definitely going to have to release something competitive as we gear up towards the Plam Pre release.
Here's my wish list, in no particular order:
What additions would you like to see?
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iTunes 8.1 Released
Apple pushed through another iTunes update to go along with the updated iPod Shuffles. With the slightest mention of a performance boost, I was all over this. They 
enhanced the Genius feature to work with TV shows and movies, but I don't think I'd ever use that, I rarely use it for music as it is. The ability to import CD's as an 'iTunes Plus' format (256Kbps AAC) is a questionable addition. Yes, you get a high quality rip, but I still prefer to import as a high quality VBR mp3 which you can still do from iTunes. With the AAC format, you are required to use an iPod for any playback. A big drawback. Here are some other 8.1 overviews.
iTunes 8.1 is now faster and more responsive. You will enjoy noticeable improvements when working with large libraries, browsing the iTunes Store, preparing to sync with iPod or iPhone, and optimizing photos for syncing.In addition, iTunes 8.1 provides many other improvements and bug fixes, including:
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- Supports syncing with iPod shuffle (3rd generation)
- Allows friends to request songs for iTunes DJ
- Adds Genius sidebar for your Movies and TV Shows
- Improves performance when downloading iTunes Plus songs
- Provides AutoFill for manually managed iPods
- Allows CDs to be imported at the same sound quality as iTunes Plus
- Includes many accessibility improvements
- Allows iTunes U and the iTunes Store to be disabled separately using Parental Controls
Have you tweeted today? Most of you reading this have. Twitter is the fastest growing social network since the great FaceBook boom. But what's so different? What makes this unique? Users post short individual messages, much like a status update. This is called a tweet. These messages are limited to only 140 characters, so you better tweet straight to the point.
Twitter allows users to speak their mind about anything, anywhere, at any time. From what you ate, to what your cat just did, to your views on @BarackObama latest proposal. There is something for everyone to tweet about.
With Twitter, you can build your own news network. Politicians, famous faces, corporations, news outlets; They all use Twitter. Want tech? Follow @kevinrose and @LeoLaporte. Want news? Follow @cnnbrk and @detroitnews. Want comedy? Follow @danecook and @boburnham. The list is endless.
Marketing is good. Spam is not. That is one growing issue as of late. Fake Twitter accounts and spam bots clutter the internet airwaves. Despite its flaws, it is a great tool for businesses looking to target users across the globe at little to no cost. I see most businesses creating an online identity soon, if they haven't already. The ability to see opinions about a product or service in real time, seconds after submission is extremely valuable.
I predict that Twitter will continue to grow and expand at a rapid pace. I expect to see more integration with other social networks like FaceBook and Digg. I am proud to say, I am a Twitter addict.
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There are many Twitter apps for the iPhone, both free and paid. When you look at all the choices, it may seem a little intimidating at first. The last thing you want to do is waste money on a lackluster app. I've used TwitterFon since the very beginning of my Twitter career, but is it really greener on the other side? (paid side that is!) Let's take a closer look at TwitterFon vs. Tweetie.
TwitterFon - twitterfon.net
TwitterFon is without a doubt the best free Twitter app around. It has 
everything you could possibly want in the mobile tweet department. When you first open the app, you are greeted with a login field. Once you are set up, the main screen is displayed (image on the right). You are shown six different tabs: Friends, @ Replies, Messages, Favorites, and Search. TwitterFon highlights unread tweets from each tab and displays a numbered count at the bottom. The search tab has three features built into one. This is where you can view your nearby tweeters, top trends, searches, and hashtags.
Once you click on a tweet, you are shown several more options. You can than quickly reply, send a direct message, or re-tweet. User profiles are very easily displayed on TwitterFon, but you can't enlarge profile pictures like you can on the web. You can see the users following / followers count, as well as an option to begin following them. The screen lacks a block / unblock feature.
Posting new tweets has never been easier. You can attach a photo or shoot a new one. Photos are uploaded to your twitpic.com gallery. You can also browse your entire friends list, to quickly @ someone. This is a very nice feature.
Pros:
Cons:
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Tweetie - atebits.com
When I first used Tweetie, I won't lie, it seemed like every other Twitter app I've used before. This was the first time I paid for a social networking app. 
What sets Tweetie apart though, is it's conveniences which its competition lacked, such as multiple account support. The tab layout is almost identical to TwitterFon's except renamed. The 'More' tab is where you can go directly to someones profile, view trends, perform searches, and see what your neighbors are tweeting about.
The interface, simply put, is beautiful. Everything in Tweetie feels very 'professional'. I have never used a better UI in a non-Apple app. Scrolling is smooth and pages are elegantly colored. A single swipe across a tweet opens up a subcategory of commonly used options (reply, view profile, etc). The latest version of Tweetie added proper re-tweets (must be enabled under experimental settings), and the ability to view enlarged profile images. The one downside to posting new tweets is that you can't view your friends to easily @ someone, which is a letdown after using TwitterFon.
Pros:
Cons:
Conclusion
I want to remind you that both of these apps are very good. TwitterFon is a perfectly viable option. If though you have the luxury of being able to buy apps, then Tweetie is for you. The extra additions are a huge bonus. For $2.99, I am completely satisfied with my purchase. You simply cannot beat it. This app turned me into a mobile Twitter addict.
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I use to play Zynga poker for the iPhone all the time when it first came out. As the excitement ended though, it sat on the third page on my home screen. I hadn't open it in months, but I did still installed updates as iTunes saw fit. Now, today at 12:17AM and 8:12AM, I received two spam text messages from Zymba asking me to try other games to earn free chips. I am not alone in this, judging the recent reviews of Zymba Poker on the App Store. This is utterly irresponsible on Zymba's part. Nowhere in their privacy policy does it mention the use of your phone number for advertising purposes.In each case, we will collect and record the information you have provided. Other than names and email addresses provided at your discretion, we don't generally collect any “Personally Identifying Information” about our users (such as social security number, telephone number, street address, drivers license number, etc.), exception being for billing and payments where we store your billing information such as name, street address, phone number.
I feel that Zymba and all of their apps should be pulled from the App Store. If Apple knew that they would abuse private information like this, then the app wouldn't get approved in the first place. I reentered a phone number and deleted the game. Blah, happy Tuesday morning.
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UPDATE @ 6:33PM: Zynga responded to me after I tweeted this blog post. They apologized and offered me free chips. Free chips can't excuse the fact they misused my information. zynga@robertsmike Your feedback is important. We regret the inconvenience. Shoot your number in a direct message and you'll get a chip credit.
The last thing I want to do is send them my number again. I do hope they get what they deserve, a ban from the iTunes App Store.
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Hey there stranger.
Hopefully you didn't stumble upon this by accident. This is where I will be voicing all of my opinions in today's tech industry. Whether it be from The Pirate Bay's final judgment, or Apple's latest and greatest product, I am eager to get my voice heard on the interweb. Feel free to stay awhile and follow along. Comment on entries as you see fit. Let's get the discussions rolling!
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