Think different apps
Clearly, apps are one of the key factors in the success of the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. The ability to download apps and customise your device to your tastes means you can to make it be what you want it to be.
That’s all except for system apps – the ones that come bundled with iOS. These are slightly different on each iOS device, but what they have in common in that you can’t uninstall them, and in some cases it’s difficult to use a replacement.
What could Apple change to give users more choice in the apps they use?
iPlayer. AirPlay. Apple TV. It’s all coming together.
It’s late on a Friday night, but I’ve just got all excited about some news I’ve read. Via Daring Fireball, I came across this article from 9 to 5 Mac. Read it, then come back here.
All done? Good. The crucial part of that article is this:
Any H.264 content from the web can be broadcast over Airplay to your HDTV.
What does that mean? BBC iPlayer comes to Apple TV. Finally.
iPhone 4 HDR Photography and Why It’s Important
iOS 4.1 just went live. Among its many updates and improvements is a feature that is specific to the iPhone 4. iOS 4.1 when running on the iPhone 4 adds an HDR photography option to the camera app.
The HDR (High Dynamic Range) technique has been around since the 1930s, but this is the first time that it has been offered as a default option on a smartphone. What does it mean and should you use it instead of the standard photo option? Let’s find out. (Non HDR shots on the left, HDR shots on the right).
When you take a photo with the iPhone the exposure is automatically set to render the best possible range of luminance based on the centre of the scene or, if you tap on a part of the scene, that area. As I’m certain you have noticed for yourself, this means quite a bit of experimentation to find the best compromise between under and over exposure. Under expose the photo and you risk crushing all the blacks and dark colours, over expose the photo and you’ll surely end up with washed out colours and very little detail in the highlight areas.