Posted by Solutions Center on Tue, Jun 15, 2010
Businesses, just like humans, have adapted to technology. It's the biggest part of our everyday lives and it's interwoven so deeply with how we function that it molds the way we live, and therefore, the way we do business. And working for an IT Support Solutions Company, I see this more and more every day. Last year at this time I had an epiphany - I was going to be a "pioneer" and get rid of my cell phone. I thought to myself, "People who lived 20 years ago didn't need these to get by and neither do I." And while it still holds true that people 20 years ago didn't necessarily need to have a cell phone, my father pointed something out to me; business (and the world in general) has adapted so much to technology, cell phones in particular, that it would be almost impossible to live without one.
Sure, it would be entirely possible to live - but with the way the world is today, if you don't have a cell phone you wouldn't be able to function properly in the business world. For example, let's say have an hour ride to work and your clients want to have an impromptu phone meeting to discuss their new product line. Would they even take you seriously if you told them that you couldn't call into the meeting because you don't have a cell phone? It would hurt your credibility as a businessperson and would be entirely unacceptable - a technical gaffe that would surpass any blunder Joe Biden has ever made. You're expected to have one, and you're expected to be available on demand at all times. Otherwise, you're dropping the ball.
That being said, with the iPhone 4 and all of its new features coming out, will a new standard be created? At what point will it be unacceptable to have a phone that won't allow you to send edited HD video of the overcrowded marketing seminar you're attending to your boss? Or when will it be common practice that you attend a face-to-face client meeting over your phone? The iPhone 4 is not just going to change IT Mobility; it will reinvent the way we do business as a whole. Working in IT Support, sure, we see new products popping up all the time allowing for better mobility and the ability to multitask better than one already can. The iPhone 4 is going to take that a step further, raise the bar, and allow for an entirely modified way of doing business - just as the cell phone did.
Posted by Matt Kolowski on Tue, Jun 08, 2010
Let's be honest here, who cares about video chat?
Not I, said the pig. Well, that's not entirely true. I wouldn't have cared until about 1 month ago, when I found out my boys can swim. If you catch my meaning(babies). Now I care somewhat about video chat. If I'm away from my spawn for a night or twelve I'm sure I'd wanna see the little squirt. Of course, I'd have to buy the mother an iPhone 4 to get the whole thing to work....let's forget the whole subject for now.
HD video is where it's at, right? Who wouldn't want their own mini RED camera in their cargo shorts? People still wear those, I hope. iMovie looks hella sick. It is odd, however, that it tops out at 32GB. If Verizon gets a 64GB version within the next year I'm going to dropkick someone.
And what about Verizon? I'm not sure how I feel about being tied to ATT next summer when the iPhone 4G drops on what we will all presume to be Verizon. Speaking of which, how sweet is it that we still have to hear Verizon+iPhone rumors for the next x months? Super sweet, I bet you said.
Battery looks to be improved just to the point where it won't be annoying anymore. That's a plus. I can only drag-refresh Twitter for iPhone so many times until I have to switch to EDGE. And nobody likes EDGE.
While reading the live-blog, did anyone else completely forget that Jobs mentioned a front-facing camera at the beginning of the keynote only to make video chat his 'one more thing'? How was that even possible? Doesn't that say anything about peoples need/want for video chat? For that matter, why didn't they call it 'iChat' and allow people to chat from iPhone to Macs. Don't make me say 'game-changer' right now. Don't you make me.
Damn you, Steve. Damn you for making me want one.
Hey, remember the EVO 4G?
Posted by Matt Kolowski on Mon, Apr 19, 2010
Put down that red bull, nerdlinger.
Now that I've had a few days to goof around with, regret installing, and all around curse the newest iPhone OS, I figured it would be a good time to chat about it and review it for those interested in IT Mobility.
BIG
Remember when you used to double-click the home button to get to the camera, or even the iPod app? Wrong. You can't do that anymore. From now on, this will take you to a feature that resembles the dock at the bottom of the screen. Except this will be a hidden, secret dock, that will list your recently used apps.
At first I had major issues with this 'Tray'. You can delete apps from this tray, but as soon as you click that app again, it will show up again in this secret tray. Am I supposed to close these apps? Are they still running? I thought Steve Jobs said users won't have to worry about closing apps. Steve, we're friends. Clue a brother in.
Here are some quotes from Neven Morgan's article on OS4. He was kind enough to write about the 'Tray' and shed some light on things;
Trying to "clean out" your tray is not a habit you want to get into. It's pointless, and besides, you can never win - as soon as you run another app, in the tray it'll go. It's like the world's worst game of Whac-A-Mole. Instead, learn to see the tray as a "recent apps" area. If you're in the middle of one task - say, writing an email - and you need to switch to something for a second - say, looking up a spelling - then the tray is your friend. But once you're done with that, you're done.
And the thing is, you don't even have to use the tray. You could switch to Safari via the home screen - you'd get the same multitasking features.
So it looks like this something unrelated to the multi-tasking that has finally been enabled in OS 4. Phew.
Oh yea, multi-tasking. Looks like everyone can finally shut their mouths about iPhones not multi-tasking. You losers were getting really annoying. But wait, this is a 'special' kind of MT.
What do you really want to use on an iPhone that gets shut off when you close the app? Pandora. Streaming music. Skype. VoIP. And that's pretty much it right?
Apple has come up with a way to still allow those apps to run in the background without draining your battery or slowing down your phone. It's so smart it makes me want to high 5 ole' Jobsy. I'll take a pound if that's what he prefers.
Ok, so when you're streaming music from Pandora in OS 4 and you close the app, music will still stream. It's identical to how the iPod app works. The only piece of Pandora that will stay running will be the streaming audio portion. The graphical UI of the app will cease to run. It's not like you need to have the album art and station info changing when you're not looking at the app. There's one problem solved. (One group of naysayers shut-out.)
What about Skype? Same deal. You close Skype, the APIs that allow for incoming calls will continue to run in the background, meanwhile the interface of the actual app will no longer run. Apps will also be able to remember exactly where you were if you had to exit. Uploading a picture to Flickr using their app will no longer cause intense slamming of fists when I get a text. It will remember where I was when the app reopens.
You want to use AIM and instant messenger tools and have them run in the background? Tough. These kinds of timelines still won't run in OS 4. What are you 14? Grow up.
Mail has also gotten an overhaul. You can now enable a Universal Inbox. If you have multiple accounts they can all show in the same view. Oh, and now you can have multiple Exchange Mailboxes. FINALLY.
SMALL
There is also Gamecenter. Think XBOX LIVE for your iPhone. I can't wait to have people own my score in Doodle Jump.
Do you hate not having ads in your favorite apps? Well, you're in luck! Apple is going to provide developers with a chance to make some more cash. iAds will provide high quality HTML5 interactive ads onto iPhone OS apps. Good grief. They displayed some Nike and Pixar ads during the keynote which looked interesting. But, how long until I see good looking HTML5 ads for Philadelphia Singles, or Wack Britney Spears for a Free iPod?
Do you have pages and pages of games or utility apps that you'd prefer not to scroll through? You can now create great icons that house many apps. They're called Folders. Drag an app onto another and it will create a folder on your home screen.
The iPad OS has some nifty spellcheck features. When you misspell something and you go to the next word, the previous word will be underlined in red. Click on that word and it will give you suggestions for what you may have wanted to spell originally. I'm an amazing speller, so I don't really need that tripe. I love a good thesaurus, too.
OS 4 seems to get rid of all the minor annoyances left in the operating system. My biggest remaining gripe was I couldn't rotate snapshots in the Photos app. Praise be to Jesus, that's been fixed.
Now, AT&T, about that tethering...
For more on IT mobility solutions and other IT services that Trigon can provide you with, feel free to contact us today at 1-888-494-TRIGON or by email at solutions@TrigonIT.com.