Josh Hrach

iOS 5: What’s New

Josh on June 6, 2011

Apple held it’s keynote this morning at the 2011 Worldwide Developer Conference. The three big announcements were regarding OS X Lion, iOS 5, and the launch of iCloud.

Personally, the iOS 5 discussion was the best part for me. I’m always curious about the latest changes to the iPhone (and iPod Touch/iPad) software, and I feel Apple delivered with iOS 5. Here are some of the highlights:

New Notification Center: Did you hate getting notifications, whether from the Messages app or something else, that kept interrupting what you were doing? Well, you don’t have to worry any longer! All notifications now go in the new Notification Center. How do you get to it? Simply swipe down from the top of your screen from anywhere! All notifications will go there, too, from missed phone calls to text messages.
iMessages: Text messaging is great on the iPhone. However, services like Blackberry Messenging allowed for Blackberry users to message each other with an internal app. Well, Apple has come up with their own. Messages has been expanded with iMessages, allowing iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad owners to message each other in the same way that one would send a text to someone else. Finally, a great way to easily keep in touch with your iOS friends!
Newsstand: If iBooks was a way to manage your digital books, Newsstand is your way of handling magazine subscriptions. It looks like iBooks, probably acts like iBooks, and if you’re big into digital magazines, may be just as exciting to you as iBooks. One neat thing with this, though, is that it will automatically download the latest magazines in your subscription for you to view.
Reminders: How many times have you put in something important into the Calendar app just to remind yourself of something small, such as picking up something before you leave home? Well, there’s now an (Apple made) app for that! Reminders lets you create lists of things you need to do. However, it goes beyond simply reminding you on a certain day or time. It also can be triggered to remind you based on your location. Need to run to the bank before you head home? Reminders can send an alert as you leave work to remind you of that. Now that is useful!
Twitter Integration: Ever wish you could tweet a photo from the Photos app? Or share a cool link from Safari? Now you can! Twitter is built right in so you can tweet with most apps. Simply enter your Twitter info from Settings.
Camera Updates: The iPhone 4 camera is already impressive. But what happens when you need to grab a quick photo and you only have a few precious seconds to do so? By the time you unlock the phone, navigate to the page with the Camera app, and take the photo, you might have missed what you had wanted to capture. Not anymore! Apple has included an icon on the lock screen that takes you right to the Camera, so that you can quickly take the picture you wanted. The Camera also includes the ability to pinch-to-zoom feature, the ability to lock the autofocus and autoexposure, and optional grid lines on your photos to help with photo composition. Oh, and have you ever wished for a button on the iPhone to take a picture? The Volume Up button now works as that.
Photo Editing: You can now edit photos in the Photos app. This includes cropping, redeye removal, and photo enhancements. This makes for a quick way to touch up a photo before you Tweet it to your friends from your phone.
Tabbed Browsing and Reading Lists in Safari: Now, tabs are visible on the iPad in the same way they are in Sarafi for the desktop. Easily switch to the tab you want. You can also view articles with Safari Reader, which will remove ads and other “clutter” from an article you may be trying to read. Lastly, you can save items you wish to read later to a Reading List. (Sounds a bit like Instapaper, though).
Goodbye USB Cable: No, I’m not saying you won’t need to charge your iOS device ever again. But, you won’t need to be plugged into a PC or Mac to activate or update your device. And you can now sync your iTunes library over WiFi. It’s about time!

This was just an overview of the features announced by Apple during today’s keynote at WWDC.

Posts regarding iCloud and OSX Lion will come soon, as well.

What do you think about these updates? Comment below!

Doctor Who Theory: Why the ‘Impossible Astronaut’ isn’t River Song

Josh on April 27, 2011

SPOILER ALERT! THIS POST CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS!

I’m one of many people that saw the first episode of series 6 of Doctor Who this past weekend and was in absolute awe. I thought Moffat couldn’t make it any better than series 5. With one episode, I was proved wrong!

That said, while many questions exist, both from series 5 and this new episode, one thing was brought up by the Doctor Who fans in my circle: Who was the astronaut at the beginning of the episode?

The astronaut killed the Doctor before walking back into the water that it had come out of. Now, given that River Song is imprisoned for killing a good man, the “best she’s ever known”, some might think that this astronaut could be River.

I beg to differ, however. At this point in time, River would know who it was that she killed. If she was the astronaut, she would know that, while waiting on the beach, the Doctor’s death was nigh. Yet, even she was surprised to see the astronaut coming up the beach.

Plus, as the astronaut was returning to the water, she attempted to shoot it. I doubt she would do that if she was really the astronaut.

Thus, this is why I don’t think the astronaut is River Song. But what are your thoughts? What do you think? Discuss this in the comments!

Review: GeoRing for iPhone

Josh on February 27, 2011

Sometimes, the built in functions and options in a device are not enough. Choosing a ringtone on your iPhone is one thing. But what about having a random ringtone?

Well, there is an app for that. (Go figure!) It’s called GeoRing by XVision.

GeoRing allows you to use your entire music library as potential ringtones. Want to hear your favorite tunes when someone calls? You can! And best of all, you can add as many songs as you want to your ringtone playlist!

You can also customize at what part of the song the ringtone will begin at. Don’t like the opening to a song? Have it start ringing at a particular section. It can make it easy to find those catchy riffs in a song that you think would make for a great ringtone!

While the ringtone option is seemingly the main feature, GeoRing also allows you to map where you receive your phone calls. Ever been on a call with someone and you wish you could remember where you were at the time, perhaps because of that awesome coffee shop you were walking by at the time? Well, you won’t need to worry about that anymore! GeoRing gives you the ability to see where you were.

The app is very easy to navigate. In fact, you’ll quickly explore every page of options in the app within the first minute of playing with it! There are just two things to keep in mind when using this app:

You need to have a silent ringtone (which you can download from their site) for your iPhone, or else your default iPhone ringtone will also go off along with your GeoRing set songs.
The GeoRing app needs to be running in the background for it to operate. Do not remove it from your background processes.

I think many people that are interested in custom ringtones might find this app to suit their needs, especially those with a large music library on their iPhones.

Sometimes you’ll find apps that will not do all that they say they do. This one is definitely not one of those. Everything this app says it does, it does! I definitely recommend this app.

For more information about GeoRing, you can find it on iTunes or check out the XVision website. Or follow @XVisionNow and @GeoRingApp on Twitter.

Making an iPhone Ringtone in iTunes

Josh on February 25, 2011

So, you’re the owner of an iPhone and you want a nice ringtone. All you see, though, are ones you have to pay for. What about making your own? After all, you have all of your music to choose from!

Well, it’s actually a fairly simple process. All you need is iTunes. Here’s how to do it:

First, we need our audio clip. Presumably, you have an audio track in iTunes already that you would like to use. I’ll be using a song by Chameleon Circuit for my example.
Now, you can use a whole song as a ringtone. Likely, though, you will only hear a few seconds of it. For this song, I only want to hear the first few seconds before it repeats. So, I go into the song’s info window and choose the “Options” tab. There, I’m able to set when the song stops playing.
Once you’ve made those changes, right click on the song and choose “Create AAC Version”. This will create a duplicate listing in your iTunes library. However, you’ll notice that the new item will only be as long as the selection you had made.
Take this new item and export it from iTunes. The easiest way to do this is to simply drag the song from iTunes onto your desktop.
Now navigate to the file on your desktop. You’ll notice that it has a file extension of .m4a. Rename your file so that it now uses a .m4r extension.
Once you have changed the extension, simply drag the newly renamed file from its current location into iTunes. iTunes will import the ringtone into your library, where you can now sync it with your iPhone.

Simple enough? I think so! Feel free to try it yourself and leave some comments and feedback about this post.

Review: Baseball Superstars 11

Josh on December 8, 2010

The latest in the Gamevil baseball series, Baseball Superstars ’11, delivers a good strike to the classic ballgame. Having played both of the previous titles, I can say that this one truly is an improvement.

Months ago, I did a small post regarding a classic NES baseball game: RBI Baseball. Playing Baseball Superstars ’11 reminds me of RBI baseball. The game is easy to play, allows for you to just pick up where you left off, and overall is a very enjoyable experience.

You’re able to play multiple game modes, from single exhibition games to full careers with a character. As before, RPG elements are included, allowing for you to improve your player’s skills and abilities as the game progresses.

With some humorous elements thrown in via a subtly laid story, simple baseball gameplay, and the ability to stop and resume playing a game at any point, Baseball Superstars ’11 is definitely worth checking out.

Review: iOS 4.2 Changes [PHOTOS]

Josh on December 8, 2010

Although iOS 4.2 4.2.1 has been out for over two weeks, I figured I would share some of the changes that are included in this release. Some of them are subtle, while some might find a few of these changes to be very important.

The simplest of changes is the color of the Voice Memo icon. It is now blue (formerly red). Other than that, the default home screen remains unchanged.

One of the major updates is the ability to print. Now, there are some finer points about this that prevent some printers from operating right now. However, the option to print will pop up in some familiar places.

For instance, what if you had an email that you wanted to print out? Clicking on the icon used for replying to an email now provides one other option: “Print”. This is also true with Safari, as well. The button that brings up your bookmark options now includes the print option.

Some small UI changes have come, as well, to bring the iPhone and iPad closer together. As introduced in iOS 4, double-tapping the home button will bring up the multi-task bar. Swiping to the left still displays the orientation lock button, as well as the music player controls. However, swiping over to the left reveals a volume slider, allowing for the easy adjustment of the volume level.

Other changes include the ability to change the text-tone for each contact, much like you can change a contact’s ring tone. Restriction settings now include the ability to prevent someone from deleting apps (as a separate option from installing them). The Safari search, as well, as been expanded to allow for the searching of a term within a web page itself. This feature, something many use on their desktops or laptops, now makes it easier to locate certain information within a web page.

For a full list of changes, see Apple’s Knowledgebase article.

4 Ways to Protect Your Online Accounts

Josh on October 29, 2010

It seems that more and more people are finding their Twitter accounts hacked unknowingly. If you use Twitter, you undoubtedly have seen it. Your friends post a reply or a direct message (DM) with a link to you but from out of the blue. ‘Why would they care about my IQ?‘ you may ask yourself.

Well, here are X tips to help you stay safe on Twitter (and other online sites)!

Never give out your password – This is the most important rule. Even if someone claims to be a Twitter owner, do NOT give out your password!
Don’t click links from strangers – Remember when your mom would tell you not take take candy from someone you didn’t know? Well, even though you’re older, live on your own, and have a job, the rule still applies. Watch what strangers send you. If you get a random @reply saying “Hey, I saw you in this pic. http://badlink.com/haha”, don’t click it!
Watch for odd links from friends – Just because you have followed so-and-so for a long time doesn’t mean that all that they post is ok. Make sure that what they send is in line with what they usually send. Do they never DM you, but you suddenly receive a DM with a link? (As a side note, I’m not saying to click on links from your friends. If it’s a legitimate link, they’re sharing it with you for a reason!)
Avoid Phishing Scams – What do I mean by phishing scam? Well, let’s say someone wanted you to think you were signing in to Twitter. It may even be identical to the real login page! But, the URL might say login.twitter.com.someothersite.net. That is how you can tell if it is fake. So, how can you stay safe from this? If you need to login in a site, make sure that you’re truly at the site before you log in! For example, if you are signing in to Facebook, make sure you’re at Facebook.com before entering in your password.

In short, think before you do anything. It’s always better to play it safe. Common sense is the big key. Keep some of that and you’ll be safer already!

Review: Rock Band 3

Josh on October 27, 2010

Yesterday was the big release of Rock Band 3. Well, for some, it was midnight Monday night. Either way, I’ve finally had the chance to play the latest musical installment and have a few things to say.

I only played the game for about a half hour, but it was enough for me to experience a few things.

First, the career mode is different than before. I’m not sure how to really describe it, but it seems like it’s easier to play in shorter sittings. Most of the sets I’ve had to play were just two songs each, which you can easily do for 15 minutes if that is all you have available.

The next change, which I really like, is that new costume and customizable options become available after achieving goals in game. There is no more money in game. This makes it much easier to gain new looks, in my opinion. You just need to unlock the gear, not see if you can play enough songs to make enough money to open something up.

The ability to instantly join a song or drop out is an amazing feature. I’ve had friends play Rock Band 2 that want to drop out mid song and, when they did, we’d all complain about having to restart the song. Now, that’s not a problem. And if someone does drop out, join in, or change any settings, the game will rewind the song a few seconds so that everyone can catch up.

The song list itself is pretty impressive. Even when doing random pop and 80’s songs, I’ve found ones that I know and can play. If you haven’t checked out the song list for Rock Band 3, yet, you should!

Lastly, there’s the new instrument type: the keyboard. A full 2-octave midi keyboard is provided with the game. You can choose to play either in the standard 5-color mode, or you can go into Pro mode and actually try to play the keys that are shown on the screen. Beware: This is harder than it looks if you can’t play the keys already! But it is also quite fun!

In short, Rock Band 3 looks like it’ll be a great successor to the already great Rock Band 2. I’m looking forward to playing the keys more, which will add a little change to the game. (Note: Only Rock Band 3 songs have the option for keys, so don’t expect to be able to play them in your already massive Rock Band song library.)

The only thing I have not tested is the new Pro guitar, as I did not purchase one. However, you can easily find reviews for that online.

Have you tried Rock Band 3 yet? What do you think? Let me know in the comments!

FaceTime Beta for Mac Now Available

Josh on October 20, 2010

One of the things Steve Jobs just announced at the “Back to the Mac” event was the release of FaceTime Beta for Mac OSX. That’s right! You can now engage in FaceTime video chats with your friends that may have an iPod Touch or iPhone 4!

If you’re a Mac user running Snow Leopard OS X 10.6.4 or later, then go here and check it out: http://www.apple.com/mac/facetime/

How Do YOU Use Social Media?

Josh on October 20, 2010

I’ve been thinking about social media and how it has expanded in recent years. In the days before Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter, social networks seemed to be much smaller groups of individuals. You would have your Livejournal, Xanga, or ezBoard (now Yuku) collectives, but none of them have the reach that social media seems to have today.

In today’s online world, with just under 10% of the world’s population on Facebook alone, social media is playing an important role in the modern world. Businesses are finding more and more use for social media networks to relay information and communicate with customers.

I’m curious how other individuals and businesses use social media. Please take the time to comment on this blog and answer the question: How do you use social media?