On March 15, the best show since Arrested Development comes back:
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Enriching Lives
As I write this, I’m about ten miles from home. I’m at Shelby Farms, a huge park in the middle of the Memphis Area. I rode here on a paved trail that cuts through the eastern half of the city.
I took the photo above with my iPhone 4S, and am writing this in the iOS WordPress app.
On my ride over, I listened to a podcast, while I had a GPS app tracking my time, mileage and speed.
Living With a 17 Year-Old Keyboard
At the office, I use an Apple Extended II keyboard. I use it hooked up via a Griffin iMate, with a LED Cinema Display and 13-inch MacBook Pro.
Built in 1995, my model is still in great shape, with very little discoloring and no damage. The sound it makes is deeper than newly-built mechanical switch-driven keyboards.
The main problem with using an older keyboard on OS X is the lack of media-specific function keys.
Status: Shipped
Two things shipped today:
- My new 16GB black iPad
- 512 Pixels t-shirts
US readers should get their shirts this week, with international readers a few days later. Except for Federico Viticci, whose shirt is going to take about 10 years to get to Italy.
Farewell, iWork.com
On July 31, the beta services will join iTools, .Mac and MobileMe in the great eWorld in the sky.
More on Linked Lists
I’ve thought a lot about this over the last few days.
Currently, everything on 512 Pixels would be considered a “post” on a DF-style blog. That is, that the headline goes to the permalink for the post itself, not to the linked content.
The most common criticism of this set up is that it seems like I’m double-dipping for page views. (Granted, I’ve gotten a whole two emails about this in 4 years.)
Rare Johnny Cash Photos Surface
‘Bullshit’
Ben Brooks calls Apple out about the AT&T iPhone 4S showing “4G” in the menu bar when running iOS 5.1
I agree with Ben. This leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
On Apple, iPhoto and OpenStreetMap
After my post yesterday on the map tiles in iPhoto for iOS, I heard from several people who have worked with map tiles.
The general consensus is that Apple is using OpenStreetMap data, but has rendered their own tiles.
There is strong evidence that this is what Apple is doing, at least outside of the US.
Furthermore, the OSM Foundation has confirmed Apple is using the group’s information outside the US, but that the data is old, dating from April 2010.
Discovery
Today, with iOS 5.1, Apple’s added a second gesture to the lock screen.
Previously, getting to the camera required a tap on the camera button, which only appeared after double-clicking the home button.
While that’s not that convoluted, in hindsight it clearly lacked the ease of discovery Apple usually ships features with.
The new gesture, with its ever-present icon is much easier to discover.
Apple’s even taken care of those of us trained for the old way of doing it — tapping the new button makes the screen jump, showing off the movement needed to now launch the camera.
iPhoto for iOS Not Using Google Maps [Updated]
Whatever map tiles are in iPhoto for iOS, they don’t look like Google Maps:
Apple, back in 2009, bought PlaceBase, a mapping company. Rumors have been circulating for years that Apple was developing its own mapping solution. Last year, the company bought C3 Technologies, a group working on 3D map tiles.
The desktop version of iPhoto uses standard Google Maps:
These two images show the same location. The top one — Google Maps, in desktop iPhoto — is more accurate, showing the land correctly, and labeling the golf course a “Recreation Ground,” as it is known today. The second image, from iPhoto on iOS, isn’t as accurate, and has the old name:
Thoughts on Today’s Apple News
iPad: The Hardware
Retina display iPad. Is there anything else to say? I cannot wait to take a look at this thing.
Without changing the case or button layout, Apple has re-defined its tablet offering. It’s all screen, and with four times the pixels, it’s got to be breath-taking.
4G/LTE caught me a little off guard. Historically, LTE chips have been very power hungry. With the new iPad being a tad heavier and thicker than its predecessor, my guess is that while Apple has gotten the power consumption down on these chips, it still had to pack some extra battery in there to make up the difference. I suppose we’ll know when iFixIt tears one down next week.