Posts Tagged ‘ iphone ’

IPhone 4S delay in China sparks protests

The release of Apple’s newest smartphone, the iPhone 4S, in China hit a snag in Beijing when concerns over the crowd that had gathered caused the flagship store to cancel the event. As Elizabeth Flock reported, many did not take the announcement well:

The release of a new iPhone or other Apple product in America has always been accompanied by some level of mania. But angry customers and scalpers in Beijing took it to another level Friday, yelling at employees and hurling eggs at China’s flagship Apple store, the Associated Press reports.

The customers reacted after police announced the China launch of the iPhone 4S was canceled over concerns about the size of the crowd. Many of the customers had camped outside the store overnight.

It’s not the first such incident involving Apple in China. A similar scuffle broke out at an Apple store in Beijing in May last year when China received its first batch of iPad 2s. After a scalper cut in line, a fight injured four and shattered a glass door.

And on Jan. 3, employees of China-based Apple product manufacturer Foxconn threatened mass suicide after the company announced layoffs, employee transfers, and a change in severance pay, Forbes reports. Somewhere between 80 and 200 workers stood on the roof of their dormitory in Wuhan and threatened to jump, according to the Guardian.

The workers were manufacturing Xboxes, not Apple products, but the incident echoed Apple’s previous struggles with the manufacturer.

In May 2010, a spate of suicides among Foxconn workers forced Apple, HP and Dell to launch an investigation. In May 2011, Foxconn was accused of making its workers sign no-suicide contracts, and Apple issued a statement promising to improve the lives of Foxconn workers.

The mass suicide was averted after Foxconn met some of the worker’s demands, but the PR damage had already been done.

While the iPhone 4S is still making news worldwide, Apple is preparing for another iteration of the iPhone, and some analysts are looking for the iPhone 5 to be a significant upgrade from the 4S. As Heather Perlberg explained:

Apple Inc. may use new touch-panel technology for an iPhone 5 with a thinner body than previous models and might introduce the product in the quarter ending in June, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty said.

The Cupertino, California-based company’s is also considering new casing materials for the iPhone, its best- selling product, according to Huberty, who has an “overweight” rating on Apple.

The new iPhone may use Qualcomm Inc.’s quad mode chip with the capability to run on all 3G and long-term evolution networks, Huberty said. With a thinner body and the Qualcomm chip, the next iPhone may represent more of a change than the 4S model introduced last year as users look to upgrade.

Apple and its supply chain are “surprised by the demand for the iPhone 4S, which increases confidence in strong sales for iPhone 5 later this year,” Huberty said in the report.

Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos., said in a research note on Jan. 11 that most iPhone users, according to his survey work, were looking to purchase a new model, and that with a different design, an iPhone 5 could be “a monster upgrade.” Munster also has an “overweight” rating on Apple.

2012
01/16
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Goodbye, With. Hello, Path 2.

Dave Morin and Path’s secondary standalone app With “is winding down”, according to a tweet, email, and blog post from Path. “Now tweet who you’re with directly from Path”, the email explains. The encouraged migration signals the end of Path’s experiment with a stripped down, single feature experience.

Path’s blog posts says “After a long and friendly coexistence, two apps have become one. And the pair has settled on a name: Path 2.” With’s end just 6 months after its launch resurfaces the standalone vs comprehensive app debate. Companies have to decide whether their apps should provide many functions but bury them in menus, or offer rapid access to one function.

Path recently released its more comprehensive 2.0 update, which has led to 30x growth of the app’s user base. Rather than force users to waste home screen space and choose what they want to do first, Path 2.0 simply integrates With’s functionality. In addition to tagging who you’re “with”, you can share your sleeping habits, music, and now standard content like photos and location.

Morin’s former employer Facebook is moving in the opposite direction. This summer it released its standalone Messenger app based off of its acquisition Beluga, and we hear it’s still working on its standalone mobile photos app that leaked in June. I see this as a slippery slope where instead of bloat you get a fractured experience.

I like comprehensive apps that let me bounce from once use case to another without having to exit to the homescreen, so I’m happy to see With go. Often times the functions split between apps are highly related, and saving one extra click through a menu doesn’t seem to warrant downloading and updating an extra app. The With sunset will also keep Path’s team focused on building a distinct experience from Facebook and Twitter where you share a lot but to only your closest friends.

2011
12/19
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iPhone 4S Users Report Continuing Battery Problems

Apple iPhone 4S users are still reporting battery life issues, a day after Apple pushed an iOS update designed to fix the issue.

Some iPhone users are still reporting battery-life issues, a day after Apple pushed through an iOS update designed to fix “bugs” related to the issue.

A portion of those users are venting their anger online, complaining that their iPhones with the new iOS 5.0.1 update continue to drain battery power at a faster-than-expected rate.

“I’ve had the same problem on my iPhone 4S,” one commenter wrote on Apple’s discussion boards. “After updating to ios 5.0.1, battery life is [worse] than ios 5.0.”

“Same here as with others,” wrote another. “My 4S has worse battery life now with 5.0.1 than the original 5. Drains about 1 [percent] per 15 minutes without any use.”

Apple issued a Nov. 11 statement to AllThingsD, suggesting the matter was under examination. “The recent iOS software update addressed many of the battery issues that some customers experienced on their iOS 5 devices,” it read. “We continue to investigate a few remaining issues.”

The iOS 5.0.1 update was advertised as a fix for what Apple described as “bugs” affecting battery life. It also added multitasking gestures to the first addition of the iPad, tweaked some issues with Documents in the Cloud, and improved “voice recognition for Australian users using dictation,” according to the update screen accompanying the software push.

Reports of battery issues with iOS 5 originally erupted on the Web near the end of October, with a discussion thread on Apple’s Website quickly filling with users irate over their iPhone 4S battery life. “I checked and all my settings are similar to my iPhone 4 (i.e., Bluetooth and ping off, brightness pretty low, etc.),” one wrote. “Seems to lose 1 percent every 3-4 minutes, even when locked/asleep.” Others on the thread reported battery drain approaching 15-20 percent per hour.

In some minor ways, the situation with the iPhone 4S recalled that of the iPhone 4, whose blockbuster release in 2010 was nonetheless marred by reports of dropped calls whenever users gripped the device in a certain way with bare hands.

It took Apple some time to arrive at a solution for the original iPhone 4 conundrum, namely issuing free rubber bumpers to device owners. The bumpers blocked the device’s exterior antenna rim from skin contact, resolving the issue.

Despite the battery issues reported by users, the iPhone 4S managed to sell 4 million units by the end of its first weekend of release. Analysts expect the devices to continue their robust sales run through the holiday season.

2011
11/14
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How Angry Birds Can Change the World

How do we make creating change more fun and engaging?Yes, social innovators are jumping on the gamification bandwagon too. Like entrepreneurs and educators who are venturing into this field, we’re trying to figure out how to engage people more effectively at a time when they are becoming increasingly more distracted by the tsunami of information and content generated by everyone.

Young people, especially, are distracted by online games that are the very definition of addiction. (As I wrote this last sentence, I was notified by Farmville that I had to harvest my pumpkins, which forced me to take a 10 minute break.)But social innovators are also turning to gamification — the application of game elements to non-game settings — to address an age-old problem.

It’s a problem described succinctly by some as the “knowing-doing gap” — the unfortunate reality that there’s a gap between what we know we should do and what we actually do.

We know we should be eating more healthful foods but we gorge ourselves with hamburgers and french fries. We know we should be reducing our use of plastic bags and bottles but we rarely carry reusables with us. We know we should all reduce our carbon footprint but we _________ (fill in your own excuse).

There’s a limit to how much we can appeal to logic and reason to get people to “do the right thing.” The upper limit for recycling (of municipal waste) seems to be 30 percent, even after decades of promoting such practice. For greater success, we have no choice but to appeal to other motivations.

Games, especially video games like Angry Birds and online games like Farmville, teach us what humans are motivated by.We’re motivated by feedback that’s frequent and rapid, challenges that are not too easy or too hard, rewards that are both expected and unexpected, a real sense of purpose or epic meaning, mastery of skills, productivity, accomplishment, involvement of other people, and some degree of autonomy. Those are just a few of the more popular game dynamics.

I’ve created a social innovation competition called Fun for A Change to invite youth to create social change solutions that are more fun and engaging. And I’ve been testing this approach at conferences in Asia, working mostly with university students but also with children as young as 10.Seeing with my own eyes how engaged young people can be in this type of design process, I’ve come to believe that fun is the most powerful way to invite young people into the social change space.

I’m especially encouraged by the pilot just completed at Simon Fraser University in Surrey, British Columbia. The school’s chapter of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) held its own Fun for A Change competition and some great ideas emerged.

The runner-up, Lotto Globe, proposed a way to recycle millions of train tickets printed each year by creating a special lottery that you enter by recycling your tickets after you’re done. The prizes can come from local businesses, which allows the lottery to promote the local economy. It also sends an important message that recycling small pieces of paper can add up.

The winning idea, Image Garden, went after a more ambitious behavior change. It’s a game inspired installation that invites children to express themselves creatively in a public space and take ownership of the public spaces they occupy.

We plan to demonstrate both ideas in the coming months to measure their effectiveness.Starting in October, Fun for A Change will also be held at 16 universities in Taiwan, one in India, and a few other schools that are not yet confirmed.

Youth who are not at a participating school can also take part in the online challenge at Fun for A Change. Designed to be game-like, “players” design their social change solutions (powered by game dynamics) by completing seven simple missions.

Gamification is not a panacea. In some cases, it may even do more harm than good. But if much of social change involves behavior change, then we need to start taking cues from Angry Birds.

2011
08/29
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Print photos wirelessly with HP iPrint Photo

The HP iPrint Photo application is available for the iPhone and iPod touch, as well as smartphones featuring Symbian or Windows Mobile operating systems. This convenient app allows you to print your smartphone photos directly from an HP printer—without even turning on your PC! Find out how to download and use HP iPrint Photo, plus find ideas to enhance your camera phone photos and get high-quality prints.

Those with an iPhone or iPod touch can download HP iPrint Photo from the iTunes App Store. If you have a Symbian or Windows Mobile phone, visit the Nokia Ovi Store or the Microsoft Marketplace for your free download.

After you’ve downloaded and installed HP iPrint Photo, follow these simple steps:

  1. Click the HP iPrint Photo icon.
  2. Select the photo you want to print.
  3. Select the Print option.
  4. Choose your printer from the list.

That’s it—your print is on its way!

Get more detailed instructions to help you download and use HP iPrint Photo with an iPhone or iPod touch, or a smartphone featuring a Symbian or Windows Mobile operating system.

If you’re able to take screenshots on your smartphone, you can print images from any website—whether it’s directions from Bing maps, or pictures from Facebook and Flickr.

First, take the screenshot, then save it to your photo library and print the image—it’s that easy! HP iPrint Photo also allows you to print photos that you receive in an e-mail on your smartphone. As with a screenshot, just save the image to your phone’s photo library and print.

Want to print photos and documents from any device with e-mail capabilities? HP ePrint allows you to e-mail photos and everyday documents directly to your HP ePrint-enabled printer.

2011
04/18
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Apple release iOS 4.3 for iPhone and iPad

The latest software update for the iPhone and iPad  has been officially released by Apple as iDevice users can now download iOS 4.3 from their iTunes accounts.The updated mobile operating system, which went live yesterday evening, will begin shipping pre-installed on devices tomorrow as the Apple iPad 2 hits stores across the US ahead of a UK arrival in two weeks time on March 25th.

Downloadable via the latest version of iTunes, iOS users who sync their devices to their Mac or PCs will get a feast of new features that includes the ability to customise the side-lock come mute switch on the Apple tablet as well as adding support for the recently announced HDMI video adapter, unveiled alongside the second-generation iPad.

The biggest feature draw of the iOS 4.3 software update, however, is the ability to turn your iDevice into a personal Wi-Fi hotspot with up to five further devices able to access the internet via the single 3G to Wi-Fi conversion point. Other new additions to iOS 4.3 include increased AirPlay features that allow users to stream content direct from third party apps to the latest edition Apple TV box and compatible speakers.

What is your favourite aspect of iOS 4.3 and what are you still waiting for Apple to introduce to its mobile OS? Let us know via the T3 Twitter and Facebook feeds. If you haven’t already taken a peak, why not watch our hands-on video with the Apple iPad 2, the first device to come equipped with iOS 4.3.

2011
03/10
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