While I do most of my blogging on my computer, uploading the posts and images directly through the control panel. However, from time to time I will write a post while on the go, using my iPad or even (shudder) my iPhone to write and post the update.
Whenever I do that, my choice of app is easy; because all my blogging is done on blogs using WordPress, I use the official WordPress app, which lets me do many things, such as comment management, tag and category management, and, of course, posting, scheduling and editing blog posts:
The WordPress app uses the XML-RPC framework to talk to the blog itself, and allows you to do pretty much anything that you want to do with regards to comments, posts and pages, as well as reading usage stats for the site. It allows you to configure several sites, and you can readily choose between them from the app:
Category: Apps
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Blogging on the go, WordPress for iOS
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Creating your own ringtones on iPhone
One of the most annoying things to me as a user, is the fact that I’m not able to assign my music files as ringtones. The “offical” way of adding more ringtones, is by buying them from Apple, however, you can generate them yourself, using your iPhone and a computer. To do so, you need an app that will create the ringtones for you, I use RMakerPro, but you may of course choose whichever you want. Here’s how I do it:
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FotoWeb Desktop for iPhone
It has been an exciting few months, seeing the development of FotoWare’s app for iPhone. Launched at the Tech Days at Palma de Mallorca, it received many excited murmurs.
The app does a few things that have been asked for. First off, you an search in your FotoWeb archives, and create alerts for these searches, enabling you to quickly see when new images come into the system. In addition, it contains a star rating system, allowing you to rate photos on the go.
However, easily the most exciting feature is the upload feature. You can upload images straight from your iPhone (or iPad) to the archives, editing metadata before upload. The app is straightforward and intuitive to use, and, best of all, it just works!
The app stores the searches so that they are available from the search box, and searches can be updated by pulling down and releasing the search window. In viewing mode you have sideways scrolling between photos. When you reach the end of an archive (or the hits within one that match your search), you can move to the next archive, simply by continuing to scroll sideways.
The iPhone app will be available for free from the app store as soon as it has gone through the approval process, and is supported by FotoWeb 7 SR4. If you’re interested in seeing how it works, ask me, and I will give you a quick demo!
Note: the screenshots in this post are from the beta version of the app, the app will look somewhat different when uploaded to the AppStore. The Album and Pinned options on the front page have not yet been implemented.
Caveat lector: I used to work with support at FotoWare. This blog is my own space, I am not paid to write it. I write about FotoWare and FotoWare products because I believe in them.. -
Survival – how news media should adapt to a challenging present
Over the last ten years, I have been an active consumer of online news media. This has cost me nothing, simply because the online news outlets I read are financed by ads. According to Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corporation, this trend must change if news media are to survive. While I think that his approach – simply shutting people who don’t pay out – isn’t the way to endear himself to the consumers, I do think that he has a point.
Until recently, I had a subscription for the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten. About four months ago, I cancelled it, because I never read it anyway, mostly because I already knew most of what it said already, having read several online newspapers at home, at work and in transit. Will I ever take up a subscription to Aftenposten again? Maybe. But not for the paper version. Instead, I will gladly take up a subscription to their tablet app.
I say tablet app, instead of iPad, because I am in no way certain that I’ll still be using an iPad ten years down the line, but I most certainly will still be using a tablet of some kind. The first attempt at creating a good app for news consumption from a single source on the iPad comes from Wired magazine. Their app is free – as it should be. Instead, users pay per issue they download.
Let me just say this at once; reading Wired Magazine on the iPad just works. It’s quick, it’s comfortable, and gives me more value than the magazine itself ever did. Another example of an excellent solution is MacLife tablet edition, which also shows off the strengths of the iPad format for magazine consumption.
What makes me think that this would work for newspapers? I can only speak for myself. However, I know that I only really read a very small number of newspapers, most of which more or less conform to my political views. I want editorials on subjects that interest me, and I want to have it on the go. Having an app that, every morning, downloads the most recent edition, is just what I need and want. I can bring my pad, and the app, with me on public transport, reading the articles that interest me.
Why do I think that’s how they will save themselves? By offering a two-tiered system, the newspapers reach two markets. The model I’m envisioning is something like this: The first tier only offers headlines and a little detail, with no analysis. This should be free, or ad-funded. The second tier should have detailed articles with editorials and additional content, such as guest writers. I would willingly pay for a subscription to the second tier, which would give me more news, of higher quality.
What would I want from a newspaper app? At the very least, these three criteria should be fulfilled: (more…) -
The iPad and videos – an app review
One of the things I immediately thought of when I got my iPad was how it would do when it comes to video playback. Now, according to the technical specifications, Videos, the built-in video player is able to handle both .mov and .avi. On trying to transfer .avi-files, however, I was told that the format was unsupported.
The problem, of course, is the fact that avi is simply a container format, able to contain a myriad of differently encoded movies. However, I was annoyed that I couldn’t even transfeer the files to the device. As a result, I went out and tried to find a good alternative, and found not one, but two, that both have strengths and weaknesses. Here, then, are my thoughts on the three movie playback apps I’ve got on my iPad; Videos, CineXPlayer and VLC:
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