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Mobile Music and Spotify Premium

On November 15, 2010 in General, Other technology.
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Last week I paid out £119.00. It was a big risk. I’d used Spotify before, but never associated it with money – It’s free music, I used to tell myself. And that’s true, it is free music. However, I found myself missing the songs I was singing along to in my bedroom when I was out and about. Without having the songs on my iPhone I couldn’t listen to them in the car or when I was in a really boring university lecture.

Spotify Premium, enter stage left! So yea, I went all out for a one year membership to the premium edition, which allows you to get songs on your iPhone or other internet enabled device using the variety of Spotify applications. It’s the best thing since sliced bread! Out and about and hear a song you like the sound of? A quick shazam later you have the track and artist, which links directly to Spotify and lets you add it to a playlist.

Offline mode is good too, if you are worried about the amount your streaming. Whenever your connected to a WiFi hotspot Spotify automatically starts downloading the songs in “offline” playlists, so that even if you have no connection the songs are still playable from the device! It honestly is brilliant!

My personal favourite bit is its ability to override the default iPod on the iPhone, so it can sync up to anything the iPod could. For example my car, so I can now listen to all those great tunes, anything from Spotify(!) while i’m on the move!

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GameCity5 Stewarding – The Results

On October 31, 2010 in General.
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GameCity5 stewards badgeSo, It’s Sunday, and GameCity came to a close last night with a Mario tea party, followed by an After-Party for the stewards and staff!

During my time stewarding there, I got to talk to a lot of people. Not just gamers and geeks (If I’m honest that’s who I expected) but a much wider range of people. After all, there was a big white tent with booming music in the middle of Nottingham city centre!

I would estimate that about 60% of passers by didn’t know what GameCity was, which is what I expected. Those who came specifically already had a good idea of what it was all about.  It made me think how beneficial a mobile device application would be; marketing the event and explaining the concept behind GameCity to some of the audience who didn’t already know, and didn’t have time to stop and chat to a lovely, friendly steward!

The second thing was the schedule of the events within the festival. Due to Nottingham Council restraints (littering and other regulations), we couldn’t hand out flyers to promote the event. Because of this, stewards had to approach individuals and  talk directly about the fun things going on inside. Leaflets could be handed out inside the tent, but by that point the attendees could see what was happening. This backed up my idea for a piece of marketing software even more, free to download, which would get people’s interest and tell them of events taking place on certain days.

Not everyone would have the same device, but looking at the majority of mobiles at GameCity, I would say that the iPhone far outweighs any other device on the market. Some quantifiable research was done on site, and will be analysed soon.

sically, stewarding at GameCity5 was an awesome experience, definitely one for the CV, and one I’d love to do again next year! It also backed up my points about the added marketing of an iPhone application (or something similar) to draw even more people in and bump up attendance figures even more!

I’d like to thank Mira, who organised all the steward rotas for the event, and all the other GameCity staff, as well as everyone else involved, for making my “background literature review” so much fun!

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Delving into iPhone Development – Week One

On October 15, 2010 in Apple, Design & development, General.
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It’s been just under a week since I began looking properly into the Software Development Kit (SDK) for my Final Year Dissertation (FYD) at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) – (Apologies for all the acronyms!). Iv’e learnt a couple of really interesting things already.

For example how to combine a TabBar based application with a Navigation Bar based application to create a multi-navigational application. This comes at a price. Load times! The application is already taking about 2-3 seconds to initiate (which is simply combated with a good looking splash screen and loading animation). I’m thinking that instead of using XIB’s I should be creating various views within one XIB. (Sorry if your not a developer, that last bit might not make much sense!).

But anyway, it’s been a good experience, and I’m already looking forward to carrying on! Iv’e got my phone details registered with Apple so I can develop and debug straight onto the device itself, which is particularly nice as Iv’e been playing with the Maps View (MKMapView) and tracking my actual location.

Iv’e created 6 versions (v0.1 – v0.6 in the project span so far) so I can tell already it’s going to be a big archive by the hand-in date next April. Because of this, I’ve created a page (under the Final Year Dissertation sub-page) where all the version revisions are logged. Check it out here. There is also an ever-growing list of functions and features which I intend to add at some point.

Week one – Success!

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Design Stage Resources for iPhone App Development

On September 29, 2010 in Design & development, General.
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Today I have began collecting a couple of resources for the design stage of my Final Year Dissertation, which you can read more about HERE.

iPhone 4 GUI Retina Display templateFor the design stage, I will create a flow diagram style image of the iPhone during various user interactions. For this, I will require a template to work with. (NOTE: the screen resolution of the old iPhone is 320 x 480 pixels. The iPhone 4 is 960 x 640 pixels. For the creation, I will produce a large image and scale down the for older versions.)

To make the flow diagram look as realistic as possible, I am going to use an iPhone 4 Graphical User Interface (GUI) Photoshop template, which you can download here. This is an awesome file which has almost all the individual pieces you need to create a great looking design! You can even download the high resolution “Retina display” version of the file from here. Beware though, this file is big (20+Mb), and takes a lot of processing power (It’s 4074×2986 in dimension!), so bare than in mind before opening up and editing!

MockAppAnother great designer tool is ‘MockApp‘, which is put to particularly good use in PowerPoint presentations. This template is less resourceful than the last, and also allows you to interact with the design. For example, a product manager could, when presented with an iPhone image on a projector, click the app icon to open up the splash screen, and then the home page of the app. This gives a realism to the design which the flow diagram misses, and is a real good seller to stakeholders who are 50/50 about the idea of an app. But MockApp doesn’t stop there! Not by a long shot. You can present the PowerPoint slides on the iPhone itself, for added bumph! This is a real gem, and gives a good insight to developers and managers alike as to what the finished app will be like.

So, to conclude, the first resource any iPhone designer should use is a good high quality PSD Template, as mentioned above. Design the overall screens, and make it look fantastic! The other step is to use the lower resolution images from MockApp to design an interactive version, following the flow diagram where possible, to create an overall package which will blow whoever you present it to away!

So, that’s the design stage began. Check back soon in the Final Year Dissertation category for more blogs about my progress!

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Access Restricted (Bad IP) for Facebook Mobile

On September 17, 2010 in General, Social media.
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Having trouble accessing Facebook on your iPhone, Android or other mobile device? Getting the error message: “Access restricted: bad IP” and “You are trying to access Facebook from an IP (internet protocol) address that has been associated with abusive behaviour”. So are many other users on the Orange UK network this evening. So, don’t panic, it’s nothing wrong with your phone or Facebook account. Orange have released an announcement saying they will sort the issue as soon as possible, hopefully over night.

An Orange spokesperson said today “We are aware that our mobile customers are currently having issues accessing Facebook via their handsets. We are working with Facebook to fix this as a matter of priority and would like to apologise to our customers for the inconvenience this may cause them.”

Update: I think this is now fixed, according to the other half, although some users may continue to experience problems until the early hours.

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Facebook Places Vs Foursquare

On September 17, 2010 in General, Social media.
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Geo-tagging is nothing new. It’s been used by Twitter, Flickr and more recently Youtube for a while now. It’s quite simple really: Sharing the location of your media as metadata. This allows people and API’s alike to search by location. Useful stuff!

In March 2009 Foursquare was launched, primarily in New York, but soon found itself checking people in all around the globe! The concept is again simple: Tagging yourself instead of a photo (or other media) in the form of a ‘Check-In’. Other people can also ‘Check-In’ to locations, and a hierarchy can be build for individual locations. It’s a superb example of social media turned addictive game! It works brilliantly with the ever evolving capabilities of smart-phones and other IED’s (Internet Enabled Devices).

But let’s go back to the beginning for a moment. Dennis Crowley, one of the head developers of Foursquare created a similar program back in 2005 called ‘Dodgeball’. It was soon snapped up by internet giants Google and closed down in 2009 (to make room for ‘Google Latitude’). So, Foursquare is mature. It’s evolved. It’s developed. And it’s got competition.

Facebook Places. Announced August 2010. It’s a big hit for Foursquare. After all, who want’s to go up against Goliath? Places allows users to ‘Check-In’ much like Foursquare, but that’s about it. I see what Facebook have done, in keeping it as a simple status update style addition it refrains from encroaching on Foursquare’s USP (Unique Selling Point). But it could have been so much more! And it should have been too. I was so excited to see the new icon on the Facebook iPhone app, and thought that something being added to the home screen of the app like that would be more than an additional way of updating your status, in effect. Perhaps the Facebook team have bigger plans for Places? I hope so.

For me, Foursquare is a much more addictive, interesting and smart geotagging application. Seem’s like David may have slayed Goliath again!? It’s hierarchy scheme, locational advice/tips and badges make it far superior to Facebook Places. Personally, I will use both. Foursquare for its addictive, fun nature. And Places for it’s ability to update friends and family on Facebook exactly what I’m up to, the essence of social media.

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twitter changes interface to app style design

On September 15, 2010 in Design & development, General, Social media.
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Since it’s launch in July 2006, Twitter has rapidly became a household name for almost any surfer (internet surfer that is!) as well as being constantly in the spotlight for breaking news, celebrity rants and thousands of web trends. The micro-blogging platform gets over 190,000,000 hits per month, and generates an estimated $400,000 per quarter! Now that’s “what’s happening”?!

A little birdy told me Twitter is changing. Re-designing. Evolving. It’s been speculated for some time, but last night (September 14th, 2010) Twitter began rolling out it’s brand new user interface to some of it’s users. The 141 strong employee team have been busy, producing not only a lovely looking interface but also an impressive video to demonstrate the new features. Check it out.

The re-design strategy, much like Facebook did in 2006, 2008 and 2010, is a smart move, keeping the top-dogs of the internet fresh and up-to-date. It’s a principle which I like to follow quite closely, re-designing this site quite often! (Could be less as my final year approaches!). Sure, some people will dislike the change, but such is life. You don’t see anyone moaning about Facebook’s latest interface like you did back when they rolled it out in February 2010!

Twitter’s new layout is very interactive. One could say it’s almost trying to resemble a certain mobile device application look and feel? Not that there is anything wrong with this (Just look at the success of the official Twitter App for iPhone!). The smooth glides and efficient persona exuded by the new website succeeds in giving users the concept of a well-oiled machine. A lovely development from the Twitter team.

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Apple Lawsuit in US begins over iPhone 4 signal

On July 1, 2010 in Apple, General.
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It seems Apple have been presented with what can only be imagined as the first of many lawsuits regarding the signal issues of the iPhone 4. The suit claims two american iPhone users have claimed Apple demonstrated negligence and misrepresentation with their latest version of the phone. Although I have not seen any signal issues personally, there are thousands of complaints (as well as thousands of people saying their phone is fine! – Perhaps a product line fault?).Apple Lawsuit form

Either way, Apple have responded by claiming there was a glitch in the original software regarding the signal bars, and that an update to come soon will make the signal bars more accurate and representative of the actual signal strength. To be honest it all seems a little suspect!

But all the blame can’t be put on Apple, as mobile reception can easily be boosted by carriers. For example, back when Chris Moyles was climbing kilimanjaro back in 2008 he reportedly called O2 to moan about his signal to his iPhone. O2 responded by ‘Boosting’ the signal, allowing him to have a flawless conversation with the BBC radio 1 team! Now, obviously O2 and other carriers can’t be expected to do this for every customer, but surely something should be said to the carriers as well as Apple? Scratch that, it seems AT&T are being sued too!

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iPhone 4 launch day in UK success

On June 24, 2010 in Apple, General.
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So, it’s Thursday 24th June, 2010. That date will be in many happy Apple fanboys (and girls) heads as being the day the new iPhone 4 came out. Here’s my story on how I got my hands on one!

It started the night before, with an early night sleep followed by an early (5.00am) start. After a quick shower I jumped in the car and drove into my local town to stand outside the O2 shop in anticipation. I went prepared, with headphones and the complete ‘Inbetweeners’ box set downloaded from the night before. I got there at about 5.25am, to be greeted by a group of 7 people (6 male, 1 female) who had been there from as early as 4.00am!

As we stood and chatted for a while about the new phone, Apple/O2 marketing tactics and other things I felt part of a specialist (if not a little geeky) community – The elite and dedicated! A queue soon started to form, and by 6.00am there were about two dozen people behind me (I was 8th in line). Here’s a breakdown of the stats for my particular O2 shop;

people @4.00am – 1 (first arrival)
people @5.30am – 8
people @6.00am – 30ish
people @7.00am – 100ish
people @8.02am – 182 (official figure)

So, after making my way past the private security and into the O2 shop I looked at the handset for a few minutes and was then seated to go through the process. I soon got away and exited the O2 shop to be applauded by the ever-growing line of people (a lot of which I guess would be disappointed). One of the O2 guru’s said they had approximately 50 handsets in stock, which was a lot more than the anticipated 5 x 32GB and 10 x 16GB which they expected. Never the less over 2/3 of the line would go away empty handed.

I guess that’s it; pretty simple really. Yes, it was a major geeky thing to do, but I now get to enjoy another brilliant product from Apple as one of only a select few in my area and indeed the UK – now just got to find someone to try ‘FaceTime’ out with.

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Where to find the new iPhone announcements

On June 5, 2010 in Apple, General.
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Just been looking at a few resources which I intend to use on Monday evening, and thought I should share. I would put money on the iPhone 4G being announced on Monday 7th June at 6.00pm – 7.00pm during Steve Job’s opening Keynote for the 2010 World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC). My work colleagues aren’t so sure.

To keep track of what’s going on during the hour long keynote be sure to hit some of these links;

MacRumoursLive.com, Engadget, Live Gizmodo, iPhonealley.com and theAppleBlog.
Of cause if you use twitter you can also keep up to date by following ‘@macrumors’ or ‘@arsWWDC’, and I’m sure there will be some #WWDC based hashtags too!

So, the keynote kicks off at 9.00am hawaii time on June 7th 2010, but what about for those of us not sitting under a palm tree sipping on a coconut? (Can you tell I’m jelous?).

  • 10:00AM – Pacific
  • 11:00AM – Mountain
  • 12:00PM – Central
  • 01:00PM – Eastern
  • 06:00PM – London
  • 07:00PM – Paris
  • 10.30 PM – Mumbai

All I need now is to get home from work, turn the heating up, sit back in nothing but my pants and enjoy all the marketing keywords that Job’s can throw at me! Oh and note to self – buy some coconut juice!

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