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Tag Archives: Apps

Living in 2D: New barcode creates personal calling card

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Originally published in Vegas Seven
Barcodes aren’t just used to manage inventory, track shipments and scan prices at the check-out register anymore. Now consumers armed with a basic Web-enabled camera phone (not just fancy iPhones) can capture a new type of barcode image to unlock a world of information, from movie showtimes to contacts for [...]

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Keeping up with social media is tiring

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

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 I [...]

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NBC strikes gold with iPhone Olympic app, Twitter integration

Monday, February 15, 2010

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 across [...]

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What are Chicago’s best iPhone Apps?

Thursday, February 11, 2010

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 [...]

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The Apple iPad pricing is revolutionary. But is the iPad?

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

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 generally [...]

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Last.fm: My new favorite iPhone app

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

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 no [...]

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Tech’s endangered species: the stand-alone GPS unit

Friday, January 22, 2010

Even though Nokia foresaw a huge market for GPS services on mobile phones when it bought Chicago digital mapmaker Navteq in late 2007 for $8.1 billion, I’m pretty confident it didn’t plan on offering free turn-by-turn driving directions on Nokia phones. At least not so soon.
But that’s exactly what Nokia announced Thursday, saying 10 of [...]

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The Apple tablet: Will we really need one?

Thursday, January 21, 2010

I’m as interested as anyone in seeing the tablet-type product Apple is expected to introduce on Jan. 27. But there is one thing I am especially curious to find out: Will people feel they really need an Apple tablet?
Apple will not be the first computer maker to introduce a tablet. Indeed, the iPod was not [...]

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Five recommended iPhone apps, 12/21/2009

Monday, December 21, 2009

I suspect I’ll make iPhone app recommendations a reoccurring feature here. Hence, the dull — yet specific — headline. The next version might offer six or maybe eight app recommendations, but I think you’ll agree the clever use of a date in the headline will hold this series together.
The five iPhone apps reviewed:
IMDb, an app [...]

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