iPhone Notifications

Notifications on your iPhone can be a great thing, but can also lead to some very annoying sounds and unwanted updates. Most apps in the App Store now come with a notifications feature that automatically is turned on.

To turn off notifications for an app or two, simply got to you Settings >Notifications and then select the apps that you want to turn notifications off for. If you don't want to turn off all notifications for an app, you don't have to! You do have the option to turn off some of the different ways to notify you, while keeping others on. There are three different options for this: badges, alerts, and sounds.

Badges:

Badges are what you see on your home screen on the top right corner of an app when there is a notification for that specific app. I like to keep this option turned on mainly for my apps that I use but aren't important enough to have be alerted by a sound or something that'll pop up on screen.

Alerts:

Alerts are like what happens when you recieve a text, just without the sound. An alert will show up on your screen whether you phone is locked or you are in the middle of doing things. I use the 'Alert' option mainly for my social networking apps that I tend to use more.

Sounds:

This option is exactly what you think it is: sounds. Leaving this option on will alert you with a quick sound (or vibrate, depending on your ringtone volume) to let you know that you have a notification awaiting. Again, I mainly use this option for my social networking apps that I tend to use a lot more. I don't feel like this option is necessary for apps that I rarely use.

Quick iPhone Tips and Tricks

Everybody that has an iPhone knows that it has some amazing features that come along with it! But some people may not know all of the tips and tricks that make everyday use of their iPhone even easier than it already is. Check out these tips and tricks that I find most useful on a daily basis:




Photo Courtesy of Apple.com

1. Cut, Copy, and Paste

The cut, copy, and paste feature came to the iPhone in the iOS 3.0 software update. Most (if not all) apps actually support this feature between different apps. To use this easy feature, simply touch and hold any text until the "Select" and "Select All" buttons appears. After those two buttons appear, you can lift your finger off of the screen and select which button you would like. If you use the "Select" button, you can edit how much text is selected by using the blue brackets on each side of the selected word. After you have your text selected, simply go to where you need to post your text, hold down where you need it, and select the paste button. You can cut, copy, and paste almost any thing you may want: from text to even photos!

2. Screen Shots

Ever see an iPhone screenshot of an app or anything and wonder how they did that? It's surprisingly easy, but almost impossible to find out on your own. With the screen shot function, you can take pictures of exactly what your screen shows and automatically saves to your photos. To use this feature, simply navigate to that spot that you want to take a screen shot of. Once at the desired point, simply press both the HOME and SLEEP buttons at the same time. You will see a flash of white on your screen to show you that the screen shot has been taken. After you take the shot, if you go into your photos, it will be the last photo in your camera roll. From there you can share it however you want.



Photo Courtesy of Apple.com

3. Jump to top.

I use this trick A LOT when I'm surfing on the web or even in my Facebook app. Have you ever scrolled so far down a page or in an app that it takes you forever just to get back to the top? To make a quick jump back to the top of the page, simply just tap your status bar (the bar running across the top of the screen) and the page that you are on will automatically jump back to the very top of the page.

4. Text Character Count
If you text iPhone to iPhone, character doesn't really matter; it'll deliver the message all at one almost no matter how long it is. If your friends don't have an iPhone, it may be a good idea to watch the character count so you don't end up sending them multiple messages. To turn on the character count, simply go to Settings > Messages > Character Count. Once you tap the character count on, you will now see how many characters you have used in your text.

Photo Courtesy of Apple.com

5. Batterly Percentage Indicator
It's nice to know how much battery life you have on your phone, especially when you're out and about. The 20% warning that Apple has worked in is a nice feature that was added in but sometimes isn't enough. Since the iPhone 3Gs update, you are now able to see the percentage of battery life you have on your phone. To turn the indicator on, go to Settings > General > Usage > Battery Percentage. Once you tap the Battery Indicator switch, you will start to see the batter percentage at the top of your status bar right next to the normal battery indicator.

Well I hope these tips and tricks helped you out if you didn't already know about them. More tips and tricks will be coming soon! And if you need help with something, leave a comment about it below and I'll do my best to help you out!





WWDC 2011 Dates Announced!

If you were hoping to be at the Wolrdwide Developers' Conference this year, hopefully you acted fast when Apple announced the dates and opened up sales for tickets! The ticket prices this year were $1,599 each and, even at that price, sold out in less than 12 hours! For those of you that heard the news late, you're going to have to wait until 2012. While it isn't unusual for these conferences to be sold-out, it is a bit unusual for it to sell out in one day. The 2010 conference took eight days for the conference to sell out, while the year before in 2009 took the whole month to sell out. For those people that were lucky enough to get their ticket right away, the event will be taking place June 6 through June 10. During those days, there will be over one-hundred technical sessions for both iOS and Mac OS.

Courtesy of: Apple.com

In a press-release early Monday morning, Apple Senior VP, Phil Schiller, announced that this conference will have a 'double-focus' on iOS and Mac OS and will 'unviel the future' of the two. This year's event is expected to be much more spectacular than previous years as they have never focused both on Apple's mobile products and Mac OS.

Jesus Diaz, a blogger with tech enthusiast site Gizmodo, thinks that Schiller's statement says it all as he writes: "Obviously, the future of iOS and Mac OS X are iOS 5 and Lion." While I can't see the complete justification for Lion, I can completely see why he thinks they will unviel iOS 5. It seems to be a yearly tradition for Apple to introduce it's new iOS device at the WWDC, the spring before the release. (See models and release dates here.) Partly for developers to be able to use the new iOS to be able to support it when it is officially released, and partly, I think, so the consumers (you and I) will build up anticipation and won't want to wait weeks after it's released to go out and buy it.

But what if Apple breaks the traditions of it's past? Only time can tell, as one analyst, Michael Gartenberg says:

You get caught up in the patterns, and it holds true, until it doesn't. There is no reason for Apple to follow a predictable yearly pattern, and it keeps their competition off gaurd a little bit.

So we'll see what happens. I personally don't think it will come any later than the WWDC. I don't think that Apple would want to upset all of their consumers of one of their biggest products!

But what's your opinion? Sound off in the comments below!

64GB iPhone Prototype or is it Fake?

An iPhone recently surfaced the streets out in Hong Kong, probably a week or two ago. Looking from the pictures of the iPhone 'prototype', it does seem like it could be a possible prototype for Apple as they have used an 'X' on their prototypes as seen on their iPhone 4 prototype that surfaced some time before it was announced. The newly surfaced prototype does look exactly like the iPhone 4, so this new discovery can mean a couple of things:

1. This could be a real prototype.

Apple may have actually tried make the iPhone 4 available in 64GB but for some reason ditched it. It may have been simply that it would have cost too much and the price they would have to sell the device for would be unrealistic. If this is the case, then it is very plausible that we might see a 64GB iPhone 5. Whatever they do, I hope the memory goes up because I know my 32GB iPhone is maxed out easily.

2. The image was photoshopped.

If this photo was photoshopped, it was done by a professional! It would have taken somebody that has a lot of experience using photoshop to carefully edit this so that they didn't square off any of the light reflections on the back of the phone. And to space out the words above and below the 'XXGB' addition would have been a challenge as the current iPhone 4's don't show the capacity on the back of the phone like previous generations. Lastly, when looking in the settings to see the 'About' section of the phone, you can see that it clearly states it has 59.1GB of storage left on the phone. When comparing to the previous phones, this does seem about right as you would have to compensate for the extras that have been put into the phone just to add all of that memory.

These photos really seem more real than fake if you ask me. It seems to me as though Apple has tried to make a 64GB version of the iPhone 4 but then left it for another generation of the phone for whatever reason. It could have been something even just that they didn't want to emplament it on this generation. Either way, I really do hope and pray that Apple does come out with an iPhone with a higher capacity. 32GB just isn't doing it for me anymore!

But of course we're going to have to wait and see until the next WWDC to see what Apple has come out with! But what do you all think, is it real or fake? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

Google Instant Previews Now Mobile!

I have an iPhone and I noticed the last day or two that there was this weird 'magnifier glass' that popped up next to some of the search results. I had no idea what it was until I came across the Official Google Blog, which explained a little bit about what it was and how it worked.



Credit: Google Official Blog

Basically, when you search for something and the 'magnifier glass' shows up next to the results, if you tap on one of those magnifying glasses, it'll show you a 'preview' of the websites that were a result of your search. Google stated in their blog:

"...you can visually compare search results from web page snapshots, making it easier to choose the right result faster, especially when you have an idea of the content you’d like to see."

I tried this out for the first time and decided to make a simple search for "blogspot". Right away, I noticed that almost every website that came back as a result of the search had a magnifying glass next to it. So that part of it seemed to work just fine. I could easily tell which websites had the preview, and which ones didn't. So I took it one step further and tried the Instant Preview feature from my iPhone. First of all, I noticed that it took a good amount of time to download all of the previews of the websites. I'm talking time that I could have looked at least two, maybe three, websites and actually be able to read what was on the website. It was cool that, after all of the preview results were loaded, I could do a side-by-side comparison of what each site was like. But even with the preview, I wasn't able to tell what each website actually had on it and how much of it was relevant to my search. Using the preview feature, I was able to ditch a couple of the results because I could tell, from titles that I could read and the few pictures that it showed, that they didn't really want what I was looking for. I think that this feature is just not perfected for mobile use. Even on my iPhone, I think that the view of the site is too small. It might be easier for those you that are HTC Evolution users, but that's not a guarantee.

I don't think that this feature is a complete and total waste of time, if it is improved upon by Google. Since it is so new, I'm sure Google knows that it does have room improvement. And I'm sure that they knew that not everybody would like it when it first came out. It just needs time to grow.

New Apple Jobs Means New Online Store?

Sometime last week, a new job listing was listed on the Apple Jobs website in the "Core Services" of the online store. The online store at Apple.com has been a trademark of Apple that has barely been changed in years. The job listing (photo below) shows that this may be happening in not too long.



Credit: MacRumors.com



It's stated in the first sentence of the job description:

"Help build the next-generation Apple Online Store"

If Apple was trying to keep this new only store "under wraps", they did a horrible job doing it as the job description was found almost the same day it was posted. It'll be interesting to see what the new Apple employees come up for the new store. All I know is that it better be over the top, as everything else is with Apple!

The Sony Dash: Pros and Cons

Not too long ago, I was looking for a present to get my mom. I knew I wanted to get her some kind of tablet other than the iPad because that was just too expensive for me. So somehow, I came across this product: The Sony Dash. It seemed really cool and it was really cheap, compared to the Apple iPad, coming in at just around $200. It wasn't until I read more into it that I didn't really like and opted for something else.

PROS:

1. Completely customizable.
The Sony Dash comes with many different apps that you can download to add to your Sony Dash. Unlike the iPad, you are able to have a stream (such as Facebook or Twitter) on the home screen that updates it automatically. There's no need to have to wait to update just when you open the app; the Sony Dash updates itself in real-time.
2. Apps are completely free!
When I came across this piece of information in the FAQ, I was amazed that they offered all of their apps for free! If you tried to get all of the top apps on an iPad, you can easily find yourself up $5 for each app!

All for around $199.

This product only costs a mere $200! That amount of money at the Apple store won't get you anything except for accessories to their products.


CONS:

1. Listen to internet radio... what about my own?
Sony provides an internet radio app so that you can listen to your favorite radio station. They even say you can reach your photos and videos... online. The Dash does not actually store any kind of information. It has no storage at all. The only way to get to your own music, photos, or videos is if they are online.
2. How portable is this "tablet"?
If you go to the Sony Dash website and look through the pictures, you won't even see one that shows a power cord connected to the Dash. It wasn't until that I read on the FAQ pdf file that I realized it had to be connected to a power source the whole time it is on because it has no battery. This is directly from the FAQ page:

8. Is DASH™ portable? DASH™ does not have a battery and requires an AC power cord (included).

I don't know if it's just me, but I would have liked to know this on the original website instead of having to look through the FAQ page.
3. Read some of the reviews of the product. Some of the customers have said things like, "Waste of money", "Not Worth It", "Returning it after 2 weeks." It seems to me that most people aren't a big fan of Sony's product that's supposed to compete with the iPad.

If you have a Sony Dash yourself, leave a comment below and let me (and everybody else) what you think about it!

iPad 2 Review

With Apple’s recent announcement of the iPad 2 coming out on March 11th, many are waiting for the doors to open that day and be one of the first one’s to get their hands on the iPad 2. Until the launch, nobody will be able to know how it actually measures up to Apple’s description of it. On the Apple website, it seems to be an amazing product with it being 33% thinner, up to 15% lighter, a dual-core A5 chip, and front- and rear-facing cameras. But are these differences going to make the iPad 2 that much different than the first generation iPad? Here are some of the things that I found that I think you should know before purchasing one:

1. iPad 2 is lighter and thinner.
   
   Apple called this the all-new design for the iPad. The main physical appearance is that it is 33% thinner than before coming in a 8.8 mm. (That’s thinner than the iPhone 4.) You’ll also notice that it is 15% lighter than the first generation.
2. iPad 2 has FaceTime.
   
   It was expected that the iPad 2 would have the front-facing camera like the iPhone 4. (As well as the one on the back.) The rear-facing camera has the same resolution as the iPhone 4’s rear camera taking pictures in 720p. The only downside to the rear-facing camera is that it doesn’t have a flash like many other tablets contain.
3. iPad 2’s battery life stays the same.
   
   Even after the add-ons that Apple packed into the new sleek design, they were able to keep the same 10 hour battery life, with the also stated month-long stand-by time from Apple. (But who’s not gonna touch their iPad for a month?!)
4. iPad 2’s display stays the same as the first generation.
   
   While everybody was hoping for a larger-scale retina display, their hopes were put down with this iPad launch. The new iPad still has the same 9.7-inch display. It would definitely be expected for the third generation to have a better display.
5. iPad 2’s graphics will be amazing!
   
   During the much awaited announcement, Steve Jobs said the graphics capability will be 9 times that of the first generation iPad. That promises the improvement of games on the iPad as well as the fact that is now has the same gyroscope the iPhone 4 and latest iPod touch has.
6. iOS 4.3!
   
   The latest version of iOS ships with the iPad and will be available for iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch on 11 March. There’s faster Safari browsing performance; iTunes Home Sharing and thankfully an enhancement to AirPlay. Let’s hope it works now. (By the way, iPhone 4s can act as Wi-Fi hotspots too).
7. HDMI out.
   
   Like the HTC Evolution, the iPad will also have an HDMI out. Plug it into any HDTV and not only will it mirror what you do on your iPad, it’ll charge it while you do it. This feature will be great for those of you that like to use your Apple products for presentations and the like.
8. Shipments start on March 11th.
   
   You can order your iPad 2 on March 11th and it will be shipped to you from Apple for free! If you like to go into the stores to purchase your new product and not have to wait for it to arrive on your doorstep, Apple stores won’t start selling the device until 5pm on the 11th. But one advantage of getting it in-store, they offer free personal setup when you make your purchase.

So those are just some things that I found that helped me to make my decision to purchase the product. I’m excited to wait in line to buy mine and start using it! So what do you guys think? Is it worth the money to buy it or wait until iPad 3?