Spring is a great time to get out and walk, ride your bike or just head to the local playground. As parents, we revel in getting outdoors to enjoy the weather and get some exercise. Indeed, my wife and I love to walk around Chicago. The kids would much rather hang out at the playground [...]
The Apple OS 4 iPhone software upgrade announced Thursday is the first of what should be a busy few months of product news from the Cupertino, Calif. company. Here’s what else you can expect: A new iPhone model this summer plus partnership agreements with new wireless carriers. I discussed these pending developments with host Greg [...]
This item is an excerpt from my weekly Vegas Seven column As we ask our smartphones to do more stuff—find restaurants, post videos to Facebook or watch TV—more speed means your mobile Web life can move as quickly as your connected home life. One thing a fast mobile phone helps with is augmented reality, a [...]
Each time I pick up my iPhone these days, the App Store icon informs me there are apps that need updating. And each update description includes the following phrase: “Optimized for the iPad.” Pandora, Acid Solitaire and IMDb are just a few of the apps I use often that have included that description. The Pandora [...]
This post is really just a test, but I must say that the WordPress app for the iPhone is completely unreliable. Moments ago, I tried to write another post from my iPhone. A call came in while I was writing; I took the call but when I returned to the WordPress app, my work was [...]
I have one rule when it comes to downloading an iPhone game for my kid: It must be free. Now, I know many parents will not download games for their kids, believing that one, having your kid play with your iPhone is a recipe for disaster, or two, video games are addicting and they don’t [...]
This story first appeared in Vegas Seven “Do you have any raisins? No? Then how about a date?” Thanks to the iPhone, I’ve got a million of these pick-up lines in my pocket. (It’s good I’m happily married—technology hasn’t made pick-up lines any better.) If you have an iPhone and are on your way out [...]
I have no great insights beyond that headline. I just spent about 15 to 25 minutes updating my profiles on LinkedIn and Twitter, checking my Facebook news feed and glancing — but not committing — to the chatter that filters through on Google Buzz. Sometimes I think of checking up on all those virtual hangouts [...]
In a pleasant surprise, NBC has delivered an iPhone app for the 2010 Winter Olympics that lives up to the promise of the games themselves. When I downloaded the free app — awkwardly titled NBC Olympics on AT&T — I expected a TV guide-type utility, where I would find the schedules for the events airing [...]
Well, that’s a loaded question. The best apps, in my view, are the ones that provide the most value to the user. So when Chicago Magazine asked me to explore the topic of Best iPhone Apps for Chicago for its January issue, I considered the apps I use each day plus the ones I thought [...]
Originally published in Vegas Seven Apple iPad attracts attention but other options are worth a look, too. The first generation of tablet computers didn’t create much buzz, yet a range of new and improved devices have become the talk of the tech world. Apple’s iPad may have attracted the most the attention when it was [...]
Reading ebooks on the Apple iPad’s big screen will probably be more enjoyable than reading on the Amazon Kindle or the Kindle app on the iPhone. (Some people may prefer actual books.) But will it matter if you’re reading an ebook using the Kindle app on the iPad or Apple’s new iBook app? Frankly, I [...]
A round-up of the breathless coverage surrounding the Apple iPad announcement today. 8 things that suck about the Apple iPad, from Gizmodo. Harry McCracken has more questions about the Apple iPad than answers. Good questions, too. Will Wired readers buy the iPad? Most said no. Underwhelmed is how I described the Apple iPad in my [...]
Apple’s iPad is iCandy, that’s for sure. But based on the demonstration I saw today — from the Internet and not live — I was largely underwhelmed with the exception of one key area: price. The iPad looks like a giant iPhone or, more precisely, a giant iPod touch, a device I don’t think is [...]
If there is a type of iPhone app that could be considered my favorite, it would easily be those that stream music or radio. When I work, I listen to music. It keeps me relaxed and focused; but if there’s a drawback, it’s that I listen to so much music that I crave variety. Look [...]
