X-Factor News App Now Available on Store!

My 4th Application is now available on the Apple App Store
X-Factor News will bring you the latest Headlines, Gossip and Rumours direct to your device.

http://bit.ly/djhSC

Thanks
Scottio

Big Brother 11 US App Now Available

Ok The Big Brother 11 US Application is now available on the iTunes App Store!

This is my 3rd App on the Store

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=323622664&mt=8

Thanks

Scottio

Uncle Bryn App now approved!!!

Yes thats right, today I received an e-mail from Apple letting my know that my Uncle Bryn App is now ready for sale!

Here is the link http://bit.ly/nhKgu

Thanks

Scottio

Big Brother 10 News App has been approved!!!!

Ok my 2nd iPhone app that i finished has now been approved and is up for sale on the iTunes Music Store!!!

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=320536968&mt=8

Im still waiting on my 1st submitted app to be reviewed like!

Cheers

Scottio

1st iPhone App now completed and submitted!!!!!

Ok so today I have finished my first iPhone application and have submitted it to the iTunes Store for approval.

More info here http://unclebryn.wordpress.com

Thanks

Scottio

Update to the iPhone Programming

Well it’s nearly the end of April and my goal of having an application on the app store in a month may have been a bit far fetched! Learning objective c and cocoa is harder than I thought and I’m finding it hard to get to grips of.

I have been reading several different books and online tutorials but so far something is just not clicking. I’m sure Im getting it, haven’t been able to get as much time as I initially thought to just sit down and learn the languages.

I’m now setting a new goal of having a application on the app store by the launch of 3.0 firmware for the iPhone. Which will hopefully be the end of June/July.

Learning Objective C and Cocoa

Ok so iv now signed up fir the iPhone dev program, have the 3.0 beta on my iPhone and have downloaded the SDK.

Today I have been playing around with the SDK, getting to grips with the Interface Builder and started Reading up on Objective C and Cocoa.
I am Hoping to have at least 1 App in the AppStore by the end of April, and will continue to release new applications as my coding skills improve (I haven’t done any programming like this before, only basic languages like HTML and CSS).

It is quite a daunting task at first, but I am confident that I can get to grips with the syntax quite quickly.

Wath this space for future updates as I’ll be posing my experiences and findings, I may also write a review of the 3.0 beta if I find the time, and the terms and conditions of the dev programme allow it!

Thanks for Reading
Scottio

iPhone SDK 3.0 views and oppinions

Here is my 2nd post on the iPhone announcements for the SDK and OS version 3.0

In this post I will be concentrating on the SDK side of things, and what it means to the users and developers of the iPhone. There is over 1000 new API’s fir the SDK, so here are my thoughts on the ones mentioned in the keynote.

In App Purchase

So Apple have decided to let developers have the ability to charge for extra content for applications, sort of like the DLC you find on X-Box and PS3.

One of The examples shown was the Sims 3 where you cab buy a hifi to use ingame directly from the app store, but it I integrated in game. Whilst this seems like a logical step forward for the app store, I hope that applications don’t start charging for content just for the hell of it!

The only way I may use this is for an ebook reader where you can buy books directly from the application, instead of having multiple book applications cluttering up your home screen pages.

The best thing about this is that free applications will remain free, now I’m not sure if that means that there will be no additional content for free apps, or if there will just be no charge for the content.

Another feature of this is a subcription based service, say for example you have a magazine application and you get 6 months of the magazine included in your app purchase, one the 6 months are up you will be able to subscribe for another 6 months if you like what you have had before. I think this will be a good factor of the In App Purchases and will mean that content will need to stay fresh and interesting in order to keep subscribers of the service.

Peer to Peer

Peer to Peer will allow you to connect to other users of the same application using bluetooth and bonjour for multiplayer games, and other sharing applications. Whilst this is all ready done via wifi on some apps and games, the way this works seemed a lot easier to use, no need to be connected to the same wifi network anymore, just scan and select who you want to connect to. Not sure how this will effect the battery life on the iPhone though!

Accessory Applications

Apple are allowing applications to speak to accessories via the dock cable, and even over Bluetooth using the Peer to Peer mentioned above, meaning that when you connect an accessory to the dock connection you can launch an application built specifically for the accessory.

For example you dock your phone in a speaker kit, you can launch the app which will give you an equalizer for the sound, can be very handy and I hope that it will be used a lot with future accessory releases, I especially liked the johnson & johnson demo about the blood sugar reader that works out how much insulin a diabetic needs before a meal. Very nice use of real world situations, and a practical way to log this important information.

Maps

Finally applications can now embed google maps meaning that you don’t need an Internet connection to use the maps within an application, very useful for data roaming charges when abroad and will hopefully mean faster loading of maps in applications.

Another update to maps allows turn by turn GPS, it’s bring your won maps (BYOM) due to licensing, most of the major GPS companies all ready have their own maps (TomTom, Garmin, ect) so I can’t seeing this being an issue. Who knows, maybe Apple have a GPS Navigation application of their own in the pipeline. Again this feature will be well wlecome!

Push

This service was annouced in the last keynote about iPhone but was delayed as Apple seriously underestimated the popularity of the App Store for both developers and customers.

Basically it works by having an Apple push server always connected today your IM server, once you recieve a message the server will notify you by pushing a notificaion to your iPhone, but this is not just for IM applications. It will also work with any application that has an updated content system (sports scores for example)

I am not that big of an IM user on my iPhone, although I do have beejive installed, but I think that the push service will make me use it more now!

Well that is my round up of the new SDK API’s that where mentioned in the keynote, I cannot wait to see what developers come up with next,

Thanks for reading

Scottio

iPhone OS 3.0 views and opinions

Yesterday Apple launched the new iPhone 3.0 SDK and announced the new iPhone 3.0 OS due to be released in the summertime.

There where lots of new featured on both the OS and the SDK that are greatly welcomed and I cannot wait till the 3.0 software launch…….

So what is new, well let me start with the OS itself.

Cut, Copy & Paste

After huge demand from users ever since the iPhone was launched Apple have responded with a way to cut, copy and past text, images and web content between all applications on the phone. The way they Demoed the functionality of the process on the keynote showed that Apple have really thought about this and have made the entire process both simple and intuitive to use. Simply double tap on some text, drag the box around what you want to copy and select copy from the floating menu above the selection, then again double tap and select paste when you want to paste the text. If you have made a mistake where you have pasted something simply shake the phone to get a undo/redo popup appear, very nice!

The fact it allows copy and paste between applications is another big bonus. With the ability to copy and paste images allows you to finally send multiple images in e-mails!! A function I myself have been wanting for a long time.

Now I haven’t yet had the need to use copy and paste on my iPhone, but i can see how this can be very useful in the future! I think Apple have done a very good job on this one!

MMS/Messages

Another feature that should have been on the iPhone since it’s launch is MMS messaging, a lot of people said that it should have been at least a feature of the 3G iPhone. Well its finally here, Apple have replaced the SMS app with a new Messages app which combines SMS and MMS into one, seem less conversation. It looks just like it does at the moment, separate conversations with each contact and that iChat bubble look, which I love, for SMS but now MMS is integrated right in there. No separate app or inbox like most phones out there which I do like. Just press the camera button next to where you would normally type your SMS and select to choose and existing photo or take one using the camera, there is also an option to retake the picture if you balls up the first attempt.

So with MMS you can send Pictures, Contacts and Voice Memos. No videos yet but you cant even record video on your iPhone unless you jailbreak the phone. Again when you receive a MMS you’ll see a thumbnail of the file in the conversation, hopefully you can save images to the camera roll, that function was not shown in yesterdays keynote. Another thing not mentioned is what carriers are going to support the MMS function and what the cost will be for these, I know on most O2 contracts 1 MMS = 3 SMS from your bundle, however I would like it if the iPhone used the unlimited Data instead, but I cant see this happening!

MMS is not the only addition to the Messages app, you can now delete individual messages from within conversations and most importantly forward messages to other contacts, both featured are long over due and will be most welcomed with iPhone users. However I feel the cut, copy & paste function will make the forwarding a bit redundant before its even launched. You can just copy the text of a message and paste it into a new message. So im guessing there are 2 ways to do this now instead of none!

Landscape

Landscape mode is basically a landscape keyboard for Messaging, E-Mail and Note writing, again long overdue but is very welcome! That said I have now gotten used to the Portrait keyboard and can touch type with little or no mistakes quite quickly using the 2 thumb method, but I think people with fat thumbs will find the landscape mode much better.

Voice Memo

The Voice Memo application looked very nice and will be very handy to use as a dictaphone or to capture sound to send as an E-mail/MMS. However the people who wanted this feature have probably all ready purchased an application that records voice from the App Store, and may feel a little ripped off that an app they have paid for is now included with the iPhone OS.

Spotlight

The final thing Apple touched on in the Keynote was the new search feature Spotlight. With a search function now built into the Messaging, E-mail and Notes apps to allow you to search for content within each app there is also a new addition to the home screen. At the far left of your home screen there is a little magnifying glass, panning left will bring up a search bar and a keyboard. Type in say a contacts name and Spotlight will search your entire phone for matches. Now it not only searches your contacts, messages, e-mails and notes but it also searches your music and installed applications, very handy!

I am a big user of Spotlight on my Mac, I use it to launch applications and i find it a lot quicker than browsing the applications folder. So I think I will be using Spotlight a lot on the iPhone. One thing I am hoping for is a quick way to access the search, maybe double tap the home button to bring up the Spotlight page or even a pop up with the search bar to search in. But we will see what is available when its launched in the summer.

Others

There where other features in the OS that Apple briefly mentioned in the keynote, one of these is the addition of A2DP streaming over Bluetooth. This will allow you to stream your music to bluetooth enabled stereo’s and headphones or to your car! I dont know why Apple didn’t make more of a big deal about this, I have a few friends who haven’t got an iPhone for this very reason! Now they have no excuse!

Other features mentioned where Youtube subscriptions and account log-in’s, Shake to Shuffle for Music (ala iPod Nano), Auto Fill for Safari, Syncing of Notes via iTunes, More Languages, Better Parental Controls and Anti-Phishing for Safari. Some very nice additions but no information on these. There where also more additions shown on one of the slides and the mention of a total of 100 new features including all the ones above.

Ok so that is what is going to be available in the iPhone OS, in my next post ill look into what is going to be included in the SDK, how these additions will change applications and what these changes will bring the users of the iPhone

Thanks for Reading

Scottio

So ive been neglecting my blog!

Ok so I haven’t been updating this as much as I initially intended to, well that is about to change!

I will hopefully be posting at least one a week to this, maybe more!

So for now, I’ll get writing my next entry!

Yours
Scottio